Laura Gottesdiener's Posts

Global Roundup: Uganda Outs Gays; Mexico’s Bravest Woman; Abortion Railroad

This week: India sends cash to pregnant women, a Ugandan newspaper outs 100 gays and lesbians (and endangers their lives), Congolese women transcend victimhood and march against rape, Polish women travel to Germany for abortions and 20-year-old Marisol Valles Garcia becomes Mexico’s bravest citizen. INDIA: With Millennium Development Goal #5 as its target, India announced [...]

“For God, For Country and For Men”: A Yale Alumna Speaks Out

When incoming freshmen enter their Yale dorm room for the first time, they encounter a blue banner with white lettering that reads, “For God, For Country and For Yale.” Initially this banner strikes many–including my freshman self four years ago–as outdated and overly earnest. But allegiance to Yale ends up sticking with many students and [...]

Global Roundup: South African Strikers, Malawi “Witches” and More

This week South African trade unions reached a hard-fought settlement, Malawi activists sought the release of women jailed for witchcraft, an Australian couple charged with procuring an illegal abortion is off the hook, Nepal considered raising the legal age for marriage and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked to put cell phones in the hands [...]

Support Christiane Amanpour on Sunday!

It’s about time feminist activism included lounging on the couch on Sunday morning, cup of coffee in hand, basking in the glow of a great woman TV journalist. Welcome to the Women’s Media Center‘s “Watch In” for Christiane Amanpour on ABC’s The Week–a campaign to increase the ratings of one of television’s top news anchors. [...]

Global Roundup: Brazil’s Elections, Congo Rapes Arrest, More

This week, Brazilian presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff  wins the popular vote but heads to a runoff, the U.N. arrests a Congolese officer for leading the rapes of more than 300 women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indian protests against the EU-India trade agreement get violent and Liberia launches Africa’s second radio station for [...]

We Spleen: The Sexists Running the Tribune Company

Owner of the Tribune Company Sam Zell and his right-hand man Randy Michaels have a joke to tell, and it’s not sexist. That is, it’s not sexist–even if it’s about the “knockers” on a senior vice president–because the duo rewrote the sexual harassment handbook for the the second-largest media company in the United States. According [...]

The Cross-Dressing Girls of Afghanistan

Life & Style is not happy with Angelina Jolie’s daughter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, and her boyish new look. The four-year-old’s short hair, boy’s pants and total lack of frilly summer dresses has got the tabloid crying child abuse. And as Feministing notes, this media frenzy over a young girl who dresses like a boy reminds us [...]

Dear Network Television: Get Your Mitts Off Women Cops

Dear NBC, FOX, TNT and CBS, As the Fall TV season kicks off, I’d like to thank you for the growing number of women cast as cops, police detectives, medical examiners and lawyers over recent years (Megan Boone and Regina Hall in the new Law and Order: Los Angeles, Emmy-winner Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer [...]

Global Roundup: MDG, Women Cabbies, the Roma and More

In the last two weeks, the United Nations hosted the Millennium Development Goals summit, women cab drivers navigated Cairo’s streets, the dispute between France and the European Union over Roma expulsions heated up and women’s rights activists stepped up the legal pressure to decriminalize abortion in Argentina. Global: Last week, the United Nations hosted a [...]

Newsflash: U.S. Has “Failed” Rape Victims; Senate to Hear Testimony

Congressional hearings trade in statistics, so here’s a preview number for a subcommittee hearing tomorrow: Three percent. That’s the number of rape cases that ultimately lead to a rapist’s incarceration, according to a 2010 report by End Violence Against Women International. At 2:15 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled “Rape in [...]

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