Female activists in Iran continue to face state punishment and arrest for their peaceful demonstrations, which protest discriminatory laws against women under the Iranian theocracy and the killing or jailing of fellow activists.  The Mourning Mothers group, thirty-three of whom were arrested Monday during a protest in Tehran, was formed after the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26-year-old Iranian woman who was shot and killed last June on the outskirts of another anti-government protest.  Agha-Soltan's death was caught on a video tape seen throughout Iran...

In celebration of the anniversary of the infamous pro-choice ruling of Roe v. Wade, local New York feminist filmmakers are holding screenings of two films this Thursday, January 14th. Obvious Child, co-written and produced by previous BUST intern Anna Bean, is a romantic comedy about an unplanned pregnancy, an abortion, and a great first date in an unlikely location. The second film, I Had an Abortion, documents the views of 10 women (including famed feminist Gloria Steinem) as they explain their experiences regarding women's choices...

  Have you ever had a dream where Kathleen Hanna asks you to house-sit for her, and the minute you know the coast is clear, you seek out her private diaries and personal letters, make a heap of it all on the floor and jump into it, as you would a pile of leaves? No? Um, me neither. But if you ever wanted to do something similar, you should head to the NYU library and check out the donation of old zines, and other such writings that she's...

As if working mothers don't carry enough guilt with them as they set off for the office every day - imagine how the good hardworking mums of London felt when they saw this poster emblazoned on the side of the capital's famous red buses - 'CAREER WOMEN MAKE BAD MOTHERS' ... Apparently it was designed to promote the effectiveness of billboard advertising. Hmmmm. I bet the ad exec who thought that one up didn't have two little kids at home and a whole lotta bills to...

As far as social networking sites are concerned, I often find myself somewhat of a late-in-the-game participant. I swore I'd never join Twitter, but after some coaxing from friends and a few laughs at celebrity posts, I took the plunge. One of the first people I decided to follow was Yoko Ono, because well, I think she's fascinating. Yoko's daily posts are an injection of positivity and wisdom, stemming from her many years involved in art, the peace movement, and her famous relationship with John...

Anne of Green Gables, Jo in Little Women and Pippi Longstocking - three fictional females who inspired me when I was growing up. In fact, these literary ladies featured on a long list of hearty heroines on my pre-teen bookshelves. Maybe my parents were pro-active in picking positive role models for my sister and I to aspire to, or maybe I grew up in less gender-specific early years reading times, but I was interested to read an article by British writer Viv Groskop where she...

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, our favorite recent pop culture phenom, Lady Gaga, finally admitted to being a feminist, a term which she has rejected in the past. Speaking with music critic Ann Powers, Gaga said, ""I'm getting the sense that you're a little bit of a feminist, like I am, which is good. I find that men get away with saying a lot in this business, and that women get away with saying very little . . . In my opinion,...

  Elizabeth Simbiwa Sogbo-Tortu was disqualified from running for chief in an election in her home country of Sierra Leone, because she is a woman. Not only was she barred from the election solely based on her gender, but as of Monday, she could not return to her home because it had been besieged by members of a Sierra Leone traditional group and her convoy pelted with stones. She has taken refuge in the capital and at the time was being protected by armed police, UN officials,...

Author Barbara J. Berg, Ph.D., who will be speaking at 92Y in Tribeca next month, answers that one with a resounding NOPE.  Her most recent book, in fact, is Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future.  Her title lacks subtlety, but so do most calls to action.  That is, Berg's book is very much intended as "a wake-up call," and that's what it's often described as by both professional and amateur reviewers.  According to the author's own introduction, inspiration for the book came...

     How would you feel if you were going for a surgical procedure and had to pay taxes on it? It may just be the case. This issue is stirring up in the media with supporters and protestors alike. The subject with taxes on elective surgeries are included in a provision in the Senate Health Care bill. (You may have heard of this referred to as the "Bo-tax.") So, what's the deal? The bill includes a 5% tax on these elective procedures. A shot of Botox runs...