feminist news round-up 16.09.12
Adelaide women protect themselves from sexual predators
A spate of sexual attacks and attempted abductions have happened recently in Adelaide. In response, self-defence classes for women have expanded and more women are walking together to avoid attacks. The city has also extended their CCTV network and police have released images of the attackers.
People care about Naomi Woolf’s vagina
Recently, Naomi Woolf, lauded writer of the feminist polemic The Beauty Myth has released her new book, Vagina. The book has inspired a series of reviews which have condemned the work as cissexist and heterosexist, ‘self-help marketed as feminism’, scientifically inaccurate, and, well, not feminist (The Huffington Post has done a thorough round-up).
In related news, the Apple iBooks store has censored the title of the book. If you want to buy it, you’ll have to look up the title “V*****”.
Professor breastfeeds while teaching
Assistant professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, D.C. (and single mother), Adrienne Pine, brought her sick baby daughter, Lee, to work when she was too ill to go to childcare. It was also the first day of her course, Sex, Gender and Culture. In the lecture theatre, Lee was slung on her mother’s back, was allowed to crawl around, and was rocked by a teaching assistant. After growing restless, Pine opted to breastfeed her and a number of students complained. You can read her essay on the incident here.
Women engineers make strides
In 1978, less than 2 per cent of professional engineers in the US were women. Today the figure is about 10 per cent, and growing. In the US, colleges have focused on recruiting and retaining more female engineering students. Whether the disparity was caused by teachers discouraging strong female math and science students as early as elementary and middle school, or watching women slink away in intimidation at being the only female in college classrooms, there wasn’t much being done to bolster the number of women in the field until quite recently.
Covered in Brief
Chris Brown gets a tattoo of Rhiana’s abused face, Republican Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall 2010 statement that giving birth to a child with disabilities is punishment for previous abortion is being re-circulated, the ACL is responsible for horrible remarks about homosexuality, and Pantene wants you to donate your hair – all here. Additionally, lip reported that a Mexican journalist is facing death threats while she researches the sex trade.
