Love this story about the Burka Avenger, a Pakistani cartoon series featuring a woman who is a school teacher by day and dons the Burka by night to fight the “bad guys” who try and shut down gir
ls’ schools.
Blogger SE Smith argues that we need to acknowledge that racism and sexism combine to influence how boys and girl’s behaviors are evaluated in schools.
This is a great example of how everyday interactions and cultural norms influence girl’s perceptions of themselves. When normal body functions are treated as something shameful and embarrassing, girls learn that a fundamental part of their lives is something to dread and hide. Check out this hilarious video that re-frames girls starting their periods as something to be proud of and as the “Red Badge of Courage.”
Here’s an example of what Barbie would look like if she reflected average measurements. The creator of these photos asks, “If there’s even a small chance of Barbie in its present form negatively influencing girls, and if Barbie looks good as an average-sized woman in America, what’s stopping Mattel from making one?”
The article draws from a blog published by artist Nickolay Lamm – another example of an “everyday” person bringing national attention to a gender-related issue via social media.
This article contains very helpful information about stay-at-home Dads, changing roles of fathers with childcare, and how little of this has caught up with their portrayals in popular culture. Great examples and links to relevant publications throughout!
Kenya, the Philippines, Columbia, Saudia Arabia… not necessarily countries you might associate with “progressive” views of gender. Yet all these country’s governments provide paid paternity leave.
This is a wonderful outreach that moves beyond “it gets better” to how can we make changes right now for queer and transgender teens to prevent bullying? It encourages a better understanding of gendered norms and promotes asking the “double why.”
Transgender civil rights are gainer wider national attention. Here’s a great example of how Kristin Beck, former Navy Seal, came out as transgender after retiring from the military. She talks about how she had to hide the “real me” for 20 years in the military because people who are transgender are banned from the armed services.
In 2013, Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo was the subject of much controversy after ordering all telecommuting workers to start working out of a Yahoo office.
Many decried how this affected working parents, especially working mothers. Here’s an interesting opinion piece about Mayer’s decision and Mayer’s misguided criticism of feminism.
There has been a great deal of talk about how men are losing their jobs in the recent recession, but little about how mothers who work outside the home are affected by it. This article describes how the cultural assumptions many employers hold about women in the workplace affects mothers looking for jobs especially. Recent research showed that married women with children who had lost their jobs had a 31% lower chance of finding a new job than a father with children.