This weekend, The Daily Beast and Newsweek hosted their third annual Women in the World Summit. Among the many accomplished and inspirational speakers and panelists were Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Ms. Magazine founder Gloria Steinem, Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, and many-Oscars-winning actress Meryl Streep.The sold-out summit took place at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater in New York, and managed to send Twitter briefly over capacity with the hashtag #wiw12. The Daily Beast has posted lots of clips of highlights...

In case there was any doubt left in our minds that Republican lawmakers viewed women as little more than baby vessels, this week Arizona's Senate passed what they're calling a "wrongful birth" bill. This legislation allows doctors to opt out of informing pregnant women about prenatal complications because such information could lead to an abortion, a totally legal medical procedure. In addition, if shit hits the fan (you know, like the expectant mother dies) as a result of the doctor neglecting to share critical information,...

As I was surfing the girl wide web this morning, I came across a video series put together by The New York Times, “About Time” on three female boxers as they prepared to compete for a spot on the first ever (that’s right, the FIRST) U.S. Women’s Boxing Team competing in the Olympics this year. Men have been competing in Olympic boxing since 1904 but women’s professional boxing wasn’t recognized until 1993 after 16-year-old Dallas Malloy filed a lawsuit which removed a ban...

  Late last month, 800 battleground state voters were asked how they felt about Congress's war on women, and the results are in: they're pissed off!  Among those polled in 8 battleground states, a near consensus exists that women should have access to birth control, that insurers should cover it, and that the decision to use birth control is a private one. Kind of a no brainer, considering nearly every woman will use some form of contraceptive in her lifetime.   Responders showed strong opposition(60%) to the Blunt Amendment,...

The big day has arrived, and I think this year we need it more than ever. In light of the recent anti-woman three ring circus that is our political system, it's important that we celebrate all the wonderful things about being female (in all its glorious shapes and forms.) Check out this hilarious statement on slut-shaming through the art of .gifs over at Ann Friedman's blog. Gifs are my absolute favorite way to express myself on the Internet. Thanks, Ann! Image sources Pinterest, Ann Friedman ...

My first interaction with military culture was in high school, when lots of my friends signed up for the JROTC program. It was cool to see them marching in the early mornings with the flag, dressed in their crisp tan uniforms. My young feminist self loved to see my girlfriends doing drills, out running among the athletic boys. I thought that the military had a culture of equality, and I thought that soldiers didn't go to war to necessarily protect the nationalist ideas of their...

Tomorrow, March 8th, is International Women’s Day. It's a good time to celebrate women’s achievements, but any day's a good one for educating ourselves on the power and influence of ladies across the globe. According to Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet team, female farmers produce more than half the world’s food--about 1.6 billion women worldwide rely on farming for their livelihoods. Sadly, not all of these farmers have access to banks that can provide essential financial services. But women around the world are coming up with solutions...

Here at BUST, we’ve been following the story of Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke and the fight for affordable contraception pretty well. We’ve also followed the aftermath, which notably involved radio host and creep extraordinaire Rush Limbaugh verbally abusing Fluke, calling her a “prostitute,” and demonstrating his general lack of understanding of the way birth control and contraception work (explained brilliantly by the fabulous Rachel Maddow). The backlash to Limbaugh was immediate and strong; social media campaigns were launched condemning him and pressuring advertisers to withdraw...

This Thursday is International Women’s Day, a day observed across the world to celebrate the accomplishments women have made over the last century. To celebrate the day, Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC) & Compass Box Whisky Co. are hosting an evening of cocktails in New York. Their 3rd Annual Whisky and Women Unite Toast to Women is hosted by Julie Reiner (she was featured in our Dec/Jan issue on women mixologists!). Proceeds from this event will be donated to Bottomless...

Finally, FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, has lifted its infamous ban on headscarves. The ban, created due to “safety concerns,” was instituted in 2007. FIFA has now proposed a  headscarf that is fastened with Velcro instead of pins, and is permitting female soccer players to test them out over a trial period of four months.  As a fan of both soccer and human rights, all I can say is, “It’s about time!” I remember so clearly when the Iranian women’s national...