At long last, American military women may now officially serve in direct combat. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting a ban which previously barred women from serving in armed combat jobs, opening up hundreds of thousands of front-line jobs to women. This decision overrides a 1994 Pentagon ruling that prohibited women from filling positions in [...]
Pauline Friedman Phillips, author of the beloved “Dear Abby” advice column, passed away on Wednesday. She was 94 years old. Pauline began dispensing what would become her classic no-nonsense-yet-caring advice under her pen name Abigail Van Buren in 1956, the year she got a job as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Before long [...]
Thursday’s announcement of the Academy Award nominees included nods to the usual suspects (Django Unchained, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Lining Playbook are among the nominees for best picture) and some surprises (such as Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow being snubbed for best director). However, the most noteworthy theme of this year’s list of nominations is, [...]
In response to this disturbing case that resulted in a dropped rape conviction because the victim was unmarried, California State Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), chair of the California Women’s Caucus, decided it’s time to expand an 1870s rape law that currently applies only to married victims. The new legislation, SB 59, would replace “spouse” [...]
For the first time since its inception in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act no longer exists. House Republicans of the 112th Congress failed to renew the legislation, which is credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives by providing important protections for victims of abuse and designating millions of dollars for battered women’s shelters, [...]
A Los Angeles-based state appeals court just overturned a rape conviction because a woman who was raped in her sleep by a man impersonating her boyfriend is unmarried. The victim, who at first thought the man was her boyfriend, tried to stop him once she regained consciousness enough to realize he was an imposter. However, [...]
On Monday, Hasbro announced that it will debut a gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven, after McKenna Pope, an eighth-grader from New Jersey, started a petition on Change.org asking the company to feature boys on its packaging. The 13-year-old garnered support from more than 44,000 people, including celebrity chef Bobby Flay. Pope, who started the widely publicized [...]
When a group of Mormon women began promoting “Wear Pants to Church Day” this month as a way to encourage a stronger voice for women in church affairs, they received an abundance of attention, ranging from encouraging support to bitter outrage. Apparently, some people were so threatened by the idea of women wearing pants to [...]
At least 27 people died at the hands of a gunman who unleashed terror at an elementary school today in Newtown, Ct. This mass shooting, the second-deadliest in United States history, is made even more tragic by the fact that 20 of the victims were elementary school-aged. “The majority of those who died today were [...]
Amid fervent protests and desperate pleading, the Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday that will drastically weaken public unions in a state once known for the strength of its organized labor force. Hours after passing the House, two “right to work” bills, which ban a requirement that nonunion employees pay union fees, were signed [...]
