Women for Women International is hosting a worldwide campaign on International Women's Day, March 8th, 2010, to honor women across the globe who are survivors of war. On that day, women (and men) worldwide will meet on bridges to "demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development for the future." People will be meeting on bridges from Rwanda to The Democratic Republic of the Congo, from the US to the UK, from San Francisco to Sudan,...

  While there's nothing at all wrong in my mind with the idea of being a parent, sometimes I become frightened at the idea of turning into a Mommy.  You know, the type of person that can't seem to talk about anything else BUT the minutiae of her own kids to anyone foolish enough to place themselves within earshot.  There's a subtle whiff of that old Victorian The Angel in the House nonsense in the hyper-selfless bleating that seems to constantly come from those who partake...

Last Wednesday, Spain passed a new law that lifted restrictions on abortions, including allowing 16 and 17 year olds to attain abortions without parental consent. According to an article by the Associated Press on MSNBC.com: “Under the previous law, which dates back to 1985, Spanish women could in theory go to jail for getting an abortion outside certain strict limits — up to week 12 in case of rape and week 22 if the fetus is malformed.” It’s not perfect, though: the law was amended “so...

In an effort to cut down on teenage smoking in France, an organization called Droits des Non-fumeurs (Non-smokers Rights) is launching a new ad campaign targeting young people.  The tagline: "To smoke is to be a slave to tobacco."  Innocent enough- it even makes sense.  But apparently the only images they could think of to pair with the slogan are these ridiculously offensive images of young boys and girls sucking on the cigarette dicks of creepy older men.  He's pushing her head down, she's looking...

 This whole time, women haven’t been allowed to work on U.S. submarines. But finally, the Pentagon is moving to end a ban that prohibits women from serving on these U.S. Navy underwater vessels, several media outlets are reporting. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates wrote a letter to Congress Friday requesting that it be reversed, and it looks like it’s happening. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is a longtime supporter of the lift, telling the Daily Press back in September, “Women ought to have full career choices for a...

Awesome news today: Secret (the deodorant company) has launched a Facebook-based campaign devoted to getting women ski jumpers in the 2014 Olympics. Last week, we reported about the nonsensical policy to not let women ski jump in the Olympics (WTF: Women Can't Ski Jump in the Olympics), so we're pretty excited to see the whole situation garnering more press. While I personally tend to be wary of social-activism campaigns backed by corporations, I’ll give them props for getting the word out there more. Check out...

4000 Years for Choice, a new campaign created by designer/artist/activist Heather Ault, sends beautifully designed postcards exhibiting facts about ancient forms of contraception and abortion to women's health clinics across the country on a weekly basis.  A direct response to anti-choice groups such as 40 Days for Life who spread horrific anti-abortion messages to the same clinics, 4000 Years for Choice dispels the common notion that abortion and contraceptive rights began with the twentieth century women's liberation movement and sheds light on these practices' ancient...

Just in case you need another reason to love the man, in a recent meeting with President Obama, the Dalai Lama brought up the need for more women in leadership roles: "I also mentioned the female, biologically, more sensitive about others’ pain … about others who are suffering. I wish, you see, the amount of leadership more female … should take the leadership role." While a part of me bristles at the assertion that women are biologically more sensitive and empathetic, I get where he's coming from. ...

In a recent interview on Laura Flanders' news and arts discussion program, GRITtv, Kathleen Hanna discusses what it was like breaking into a male dominated music scene, being a "three-dimensional-icon," donating her zine archive to the Fales Library's Riot Grrrl Collection at NYU, and why she is hopeful for the future.   Always focused on collaboration and progress, Hanna is reluctant to call herself a role model though she surely serves as one, exhibiting qualities that are often absent in those considered to be icons today.  Whether...

Some disturbing news: according to a survey done in London reported by the BBC, women are more likely than men to place blame on rape victims. Wait, what? According to the article: “Almost three quarters of the women who believed this said if a victim got into bed with the assailant before an attack they should accept some responsibility. One-third blamed victims who had dressed provocatively or gone back to the attacker's house for a drink." Furthermore, “Of the women who believed some victims should take responsibility,...