All
articles are taken from Women
Enews
Commentary
Confronting
Racism Would Enhance U.S. Security -- by Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich
A U.S. civil rights leaders returning from the U.N. conference
on racism argues that its participants, including key women, devised
a path that could diminish terrorism: agreeing to discuss and
address racism: " The connection between a raucous global
gathering of people arguing about ways to eliminate racism, which
the United States rejected out of hand, and the cross-hairs in
which we Americans today perceive ourselves to be, is more linear
than not. We need allies, but we need greater finesse and humanity
in attracting them. The United States reneged on the Kyoto Protocol,
intended to control and manage global warming, and received a
very negative review of its six-year-overdue report to the U.N.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. We are
going to have a hard time building anti-terrorism alliances with
a number of countries affected by this behavior."
Culture
Gilded
Age Women Artists Given Boston Show -- by Mary Meier
A new exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, "A Studio
of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870-1940," recalls a
time when women were thought to be unable to accurately depict
male anatomy and were not allowed to display their works alongside
those of male artists. The 90 works by 40 artists on view span
the bloom of female painters, sculptors, photographers and fine
craftswomen who, for a time, placed Boston in the forefront of
American art.
Education
Women's
Enrollment in Florida Colleges Drops -- By Nancy Cook
Lauer
According to results recently released by Gov. Jeb Bush, admissions
of women to Florida state colleges declined this year, apparently
as a result of Florida's "race- and gender-neutral"
college admissions programs, known as "One Florida".
Advocates for women and minority men say that Gov. Bush's anti-affirmative
action plan would have been badly defeated at the polls if he
had put forward a statewide ballot proposition to do away with
the 5 percent set-asides for women and minority men. No one seems
to know why the number of women is dropping while the state pumps
millions into alternative ethnic recruiting programs and race-blind
admissions policies.
Health
and Environment
Experts:
Spanking Harms Children, Especially Girls -- by Melinda
Rice
Wife beating is no longer acceptable, but in 23 states it is legal
for school teachers and officials to spank and paddle children.
A growing number of experts believe that children, in general,
and girls, in particular, should not be spanked at home or subjected
to corporal punishment at school. Experts say such spankings can
precondition girls to accept violence and boys to rely on it.
All studies show that boys are spanked significantly more than
girls, but there are special concerns with girls who are spanked,
particularly the sexual aspect of spanking.
Lives
of Women of Color Create Risk for Depression -- By Deborah
L. Rouse
Many
women of color suffer depression and stress brought on by persistent
racism, gender bias, violence, poverty, big family size and social
disadvantages. Yet therapy is rare, access to mental health services
is poor and the quality is poor.
International
Global
Education of Girls Is Key to Development -- by Stephan Farris
UNICEF says that, worldwide, 1 billion adults are illiterate--two-thirds
of them women. Nearly 100 million children in the developing world
don't have access to education. And for every boy out of school,
two girls are unable to attend--70 million girls. But for each
year a girl is in school, her wages as an adult rise by about
15 percent. Female literacy has also been linked to a drop in
infant mortality: babies born to mothers without formal education
are twice as likely to die before age five.
U.S.
Muslim, South Asian Women Target of Insults, Harassment
-- by Siobhan Benet
In the aftermath of the U.S. terrorist attacks, Muslim American
and Arab American women -- recognizable by their distinctive head
scarves, or hijabs -- have become the targets of violence. Many
women are terrified to leave their homes and fear for the safety
of their children and husbands. South Asian women -- Hindus, Sikhs
and Christians -- have been harassed because of their looks and
clothing. In a demonstration of solidarity, some non-Muslim women
across the country have adopted hijabs in order to show that they
oppose prejudice, racial profiling, and violence.
Outrage
of the Week
Chile
High Court Defines Contraception as Abortion
Chile's Supreme Court has banned emergency contraception, arguing
that it actually is a form of abortion. Abortions are illegal
in Chile even if necessary to save a mother's life or in cases
of rape and incest. The country's highest court recently accepted
the argument that pregnancy begins at the moment of fertilization,
the union of egg and sperm -- contrary to overwhelming medical
evidence that it actually begins when the already fertilized egg
is implanted in the wall of the uterus. Anti-abortion groups assert
that life begins at the moment when a sperm and egg unite.
Store
Pulls Women-as-Meat T-Shirts
Urban
Outfitters, a major national retail chain, has agreed to remove
men's T-shirts depicting naked women as "tender, juicy beef"
after receiving complaints.
