image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbietabbie
We wanted to wish everyone in the U.S. a very happy Thanksgiving! And for those who don’t celebrate the holiday, happy Thursday (to read more about U.S. Thanksgiving, read here)! Below are some fun articles to read about Thanksgiving; don’t forget to check out our blogroll to keep up with international news and blogging!
We return to blogging Monday.
See you then,
-the editors at GAB
Thanksgiving articles:
- Goldman Sachs To Take Out Garbage At Thanksgiving from NPR News
- For those still looking for recipes for Turkey Day, Feministe and friends of Feministe have some great ideas in Your Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
- A heartwarming story: Families flock for free Thanksgiving supplies from the Boston Globe
- The 10 Best Thanksgiving Movies of All Time from HuffPo, for those in the mood for some film
Hey all,
We just wanted to let you know that we’re taking a break from GAB starting today, November 23 to Monday, November 30. If you want to keep up on your international feminist news and blogging, take a look at our blogroll or you can check out our Twitter feed!
See you next week!
-all of the editors at GAB
Hello global feminists!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. For those of you in the U.S.–hope you’re getting excited for a yummy Thanksgiving feast! Below has links that we find interesting from this past week. Please leave what you’ve been reading/writing in the comments, we want to hear from you!
Also, as a sidenote: GFLL won’t be back until Monday, December 7 because of the holiday. But, not to fret, we will be covering some awesome links/posts from the two weeks (November 23 – December 6) prior to that!
From the blogs
Hair and race in Dominican Republic (from Jump off the Bridge)
Women’s Media Center Speaks Out Against Newsweek’s Sexist Palin Cover (Majority Post)
You can help lift sex education to a higher level by donating to Scarleteen, the premier online sexuality resource for young people.
And from RHRealityCheck, Who Pays for These Abortions?
U.S. and Japanese Versions of the cover of Spice & Wolf (from Sociological Images)
When you get punished for defending yourself, you don’t even want to fight anymore (from Flip Flopping Joy)
Is a Poltergeist a Ghostly Interference or a Manifestation of a Suppressed Female Psyche? from Juliet Cook for Associated Content
From the news
SOUTH SUDAN: Media Give Us a Fair Deal – Women (via IPS News)
Children’s health and the invisible Ethiopian men (via Gender Masala)
Comparing the House and the Senate Healthcare Proposals (from the NY Times)
Somali Woman Stoned for Adultery (from the BBC)
Royal Bank of Scotland loses landmark wheelchair access appeal (from Times Online)
IAAF says no resolution yet to Semenya case (via Reuters)
Paralympics To Vote On Inclusion Of Athletes With Intellectual Disabilities (From Disability Scoop)
Image from Telegraph.co.uk
Since the Track and Field World Championships ended in August, the world has been anxiously awaiting the IAAF’s (International Association of Athletics) decision on whether or not to strip Caster Semenya of her gold medal. For those who don’t remember Semenya, she is the 18-year old South African 800m runner who is under scrutiny for having an extremely muscular build and rapidly improving her times. Readers might also know her as the “hermaphrodite” runner. From a recent article in Sports Illustrated, a deal between Semenya’s lawyers and the IAAF was made allowing her to keep her gold medal and prize money from the World Championships.
I specifically put hermaphrodite in the paragraph above in quotes for a reason. The IAAF has not released ANY information regarding the results Semenya’s gender verification tests and probably will keep the results confidential. However, if Semenya is not seen in future races, it is obvious that results have classified her as a male for competition purposes. The hermaphrodite gossip originates from a September article in The Daily Telegraph, an Australian newspaper claiming
…she has three times the amount of testosterone that a “normal” female would have. According to a source closely involved with the IAAF testing, which included various scans, has revealed she has internal testes – the male sexual organs which produce testosterone.
A lone cyclist pedals past the fresh breezes along the lakeside in Chicago, IL., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Recession has brought several unforeseen benefits, including an improvement in the quality of environment. The decline of the industrial activity in North of England has led to a significant reduction in factory smoke emissions. While people struggle to put food on their tables, at least the environment they breathe in is much healthier. (THP Photo/Maria Khan)
Recession has and continues to affect all of us in a myriad of ways. From job loss and home foreclosures to suicides and family breakdowns, the list could go on for days. Yet, there are always two sides to a coin and it is time to flip to the other side and question ourselves if recession is a curse or is it in fact a blessing in disguise? I choose to think the latter.
Sometimes the race against time prevents us from appreciating the simple things in life, but recession has once again fine tuned our lives and reconnected us to the priceless pleasures of life. What are some of these invaluable, simple things in life?
According to a new research conducted by the University of Nottingham, simple pleasures like a bar of chocolate, a long soak in the bath, a snooze in the middle of the afternoon and a leisurely stroll in the park are identified as things that make us the most happy and keep our sanity in check. read more…
- Image by anniekate via Flickr
Today marks the eleventh annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day set aside to honor the lives of those who have lost everything to transphobia, a day to stop ourselves from forgetting the victims of a society that teaches one acceptable narrative of bifurcated gender and teaches hatred for all those who do not fit its strictures. At least 162 transgendered people have been killed since the last Day of Remembrance. The actual numbers are likely much higher as the same hatred which leads to such murders often leads to silence about the identities of those killed and the reasons why they were killed. Even among the listed deaths, many of the victims’ names remain unknown.
They have been all but erased, and today is a day to speak against their erasure. read more…
Only boys throw punches: the ponytail scandal with University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert
Elizabeth Lambert (image via Rick Sciabelli Jr. for the New York Times)
Women’s soccer in the U.S. rarely gets this much attention (positive or negative) as it has been since a video was released on Youtube about two weeks ago. Elizabeth Lambert was suspended from playing soccer on the women’s University of New Mexico team due to physically attacking another player. The video of the physical assault by Lambert can be seen at ESPN here—it’s a pretty graphic video (in fact, she apologized for her wrongful actions). And like Lambert, I’m not going to excuse her horrible actions, but I find that the media surrounding this incident is treating her differently than if she were a man.
On ESPN, commentator Julie Foudy, a former captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team says that “jostling and even hair pulling were part of the women’s game, but ‘if you’re going to pull someone’s ponytail and about snap their head off with it, that’s going over the line,’ “(via NY Times). Other commentators and sports fans have condemned Lambert’s actions, including a Facebook page that calls her a “sexy butcher.” read more…
At the mere age of six Robert Bergman began to explore the world of photography, and he has been hooked ever since. The now sixty-five year old has been waiting since that young age for his work to be recognized, and it finally seems his wish has been granted. This recognition has come in the form of his own exhibition, taking place in two galleries: one at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C, and the other at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York City.
Last week, I had the opportunity to check out Bergman’s exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in D.C and was impressed to see the usually conservative gallery give such prominence to Bergman’s provocative photographs. Found on the first floor and housed directly adjacent to sculptures of 19th century nudes, the placement of Bergman’s work in the museum could not be more fitting, the subjects of his photographs conveying such a private emotional state that they seem almost naked themselves. read more…
Just a few months ago, next month’s Copenhagen Summit was being described as the last chance to save the Earth (which really means save humanity) from global warming. Today it looks like the odds of any binding agreement coming out of the summit are zero to none. Some national leaders will be sending lower-ranking figures rather than attending it themselves. Canada is sending Environment Minister Jim Prentice rather than Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Ironically, US President Barack Obama, who recently spoke of the need for the US and China to cooperate with each other on environmental issues, will be going to Oslo to accept his Nobel Peace Prize but maybe not to Copenhagen. He intends to outline a plan for environmental protection in his Nobel speech. Rhetoric, however, isn’t what is needed now. read more…
Photo credit/TED
TED India wrapped in Mysore last week. In case you’re not familiar with the awesomeness that is TED (stands for Technology, Entertainment, & Design), I’ll explain. It’s a small organization devoted to putting on thought-provoking and powerful talks by some of the world’s wisest and most innovative thinkers. The vision is to build a platform on which to share important knowledge with far-reaching effects. And through the magic of very expensive technology, those ideas are spread for free via the web.
Being a girl is so powerful that we’ve had to train everyone not to be a girl.
- Eve Ensler, TED India
I was turned on to TED after begrudgingly watching one-too-many science-tinged talks pushed by my eager biologist boyfriend. So, begrudging at first, but totally appreciative after all. These talks are almost always interesting, they’re clear, they concern important issues for our globe, and you can watch them in your pajamas. For a jaw dropping talk, check Richard Dawkins’ atheist call to arms in 2008.
So TED took over in Mysore, Karnataka (one of my favorite places I’ve been ever.) for several days this month, showcasing creatives and visionaries from India and beyond. For a good overview of the entire TED conference, read one participant’s blog here. read more…
