The blindspots of Western feminists. Anne-Marie Slaughter, a professor at Princeton University and former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department, recently made a splash when the Atlantic published an article she wrote entitled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All". The piece is problematic, not for the excellent conclusions that it draws but for the premises from which it flows. Slaughter, a highly distinguished professor and, from what it sounds like, a committed and loving mother, makes the case for the many ways in which "The Workplace" can be adapted to accommodate the many peculiar needs that working mothers face.
Slaughter is particularly concerned that women are having children later in life, causing the children's most difficult years to coincide with the peak of their mothers' careers. Accordingly, more and more women are finding themselves having to negotiate complicated professional careers in a third-wave Western feminist world that has embraced a very hands-on notion of motherhood. Women in parliaments: Contested geographies. Paris, France - The war in the US over women's reproductive rights is appalling. The all-men panel at the congressional hearing that discussed female contraception was patently offensive as much as it was ironic. The pressure on women's health in the US is particularly disturbing because it takes place in broad day light, in a democratic context of a country that claims to be a world leader in individual freedoms. While some societies appear to grant women considerable political equality, the form and content of political debates can be symptomatic of underlying structural inequalities that rarely receive scrutiny.
There are many ways to analyse the current erosion of women rights in the US; one of them is that women's voices are too often absent or marginal when crucial decisions are made. On International Women's Day, it is worth pausing to assess the presence of women in politics. Where women are politicians Trends and perspective The presence of women matters. A measure of development. Pentagon to Loosen Restrictions on Women in Combat. The decision, the result of a yearlong Pentagon review ordered by Congress, allows women to be permanently assigned to a battalion — a ground unit of some 800 personnel — as radio operators, medics, tank mechanics and other critical jobs. In actual practice, however, women already serve in many of those jobs, but as temporary “attachments” to battalions — a bureaucratic sidestep that has been necessary with the high demand for troops during the last decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon’s new rules largely formalize existing arrangements and in many ways are simply catching up with realities on the battlefield. The new rules keep in place a ban on women serving in the infantry, in combat tank units and in Special Operations commando units. Nonetheless, many women in Iraq and Afghanistan have served in combat as attachments to infantry foot patrols, and in many cases they have come under fire and fought back.
Ms. How one religious scholar fought for women's rights and won. Oxford, United Kingdom - "Tradition" is usually taken to be an obstacle to reform. "Traditional societies" are assumed to be reluctant to change, or worse, harbour nostalgic notions of going back to some mythical golden age. Gandhi was criticised for imagining an India of ancient "village republics" for which no historical evidence could be found. In the Islamic world, traditionalists are often assumed to wish to return to medieval times, in a pejorative sense. In many contexts the term "traditional" is actually used to mean "backward". But can some "traditionalists" bring about radical social reform of a very "modern" sort?
One of the hallmarks of backwardness is how "traditional" societies treat women. Democracy, after all, is supposed to be a great equaliser. Some people argue that it is not possible to give a "liberal" twist to ancient scriptures and commentaries which were composed in very different times. Hindu widow remarriage Modern reforms Abolition of 'sati' Reproductive rights and the Republican primary. San Francisco, CA - As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision recognising a woman’s constitutional right to have a safe and legal abortion, the Republicans running for their party's presidential nomination, all men, are competing to prove who would be the most dangerous candidate for women.
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have all taken the most extreme position on abortion by signing Personhood USA’s so-called Personhood Pledge, promising to support a "human life amendment to the constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th amendment protections apply to unborn children. " By signing Personhood USA’s pledge, these men are stating their opposition to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
After going through a "transformation", Texas Governor Rick Perry also signed the pledge, before dropping out of the race.