daily feminist news: 02.09.13
Image via Dunkin’ Donuts
A Thailand franchise of Dunkin’ Donuts has released advertisements for their ‘Charcoal Donut’ which feature an image of a women in blackface with bright pink lipstick. The tag line of the advertisement claims that the chocolate donut ‘breaks all the rules of deliciousness.’ Human Rights Watch has called for Dunkin’ Donuts to withdraw and apologize for the ‘bizarre and racist’ ad campaign. I’m not sure if Don Draper would be infuriated or delighted.
Financial incentives may be pushing up the rate of C-sections.
According to a new study, obstetricians are more likely to perform more caesarean section births if there are financial incentives to do so. Sounds like fairly simple findings, however there are a number of social implications of this kind of medical decision-making. Currently in the United States one in three babies are delivered through c-sections, compared to one in five in 1996. Over this time period, medical costs have risen dramatically. The study also found that obstetricians are less likely to perform unplanned caesareans on patients who are themselves physicians compared to those who are not.
Woman becomes pregnant after world first ovarian tissue graft.
An Australian woman is pregnant with twins in a world first ovarian tissue graft. Mum-to-be, Vali, had some tissue frozen after she lost her second ovary to cancer seven years ago. Carried out by Melbourne IVF and the Royal Women’s Hospital, this is the first sustained pregnancy where the tissue was implanted in the abdominal wall, where follicles grew and produced eggs, which were then transferred into the uterus. According to project leader, Associate Professor Kate Stern: “This pregnancy provides unequivocal evidence that normal ovarian function and pregnancy can occur at a non-ovarian site.”
New law in Vietnam prevents online discussion and coverage of current events and news.
If you were in Vietnam right now you would not be reading this post because a new law has been passed banning online users from discussing or sharing news and current affairs. The law states that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, along with blogs, are only to be used for exchanging personal information. The law has been condemned by human rights groups, internet companies and the US government, who all claim that the law is a breech of fundamental freedoms.
