Gender
NASA has scheduled the first-ever all-women spacewalk
On July 25, 1984, cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. Now, almost 35 years later, history will once again be made as the first all-female spacewalk is scheduled to take place March 29. A total of 213 spacewalks have taken place since 1998, all of which have been Read More...
How 343 women made French history by talking about their abortions
On April 5, 1971, in France, 343 filmmakers, writers, actresses, singers, and philosophers ended a long-held silence. “One million women have abortions each year in France,” they wrote in a manifesto published in the magazine Nouvel Read More...
These women are peacekeepers in one of the most dangerous places on Earth
The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali has the grim distinction of being the deadliest active peacekeeping deployment in the world. Still, that hasn’t stopped nearly 500 women from working for the Blue Helmets. Have a look here to see what life is like for these brave women, and why the UN wants Read More...
Why women in South Korea are destroying their make-up collections
Women in South Korea are publicly destroying their cosmetics to protest the high standards of female beauty that have become a norm in their country. Korean women are urged to pursue a “pore-less” look, which is achieved by carefully applying skin-care and make-up products daily. Fed up with Read More...
California becomes first U.S. state to require women on company boards
Canada has as many female as male ministers in the government. The new Spanish government has more women than men. And recently, for the first time, women foreign ministers of almost 20 countries came together in Montreal. At the same time, gender equality still requires much more effort. That’s Read More...
Why this infant sat front row at the Nelson Mandela peace summit
Being the world’s youngest female head of state, as well as a new mother, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is constantly breaking down new barriers for women and making history. This week she did it again when she attended the Nelson Mandela peace summit in New York City with her Read More...
This big English football club will offer free sanitary products to female fans
Brighton & Hove Albion, a football club in the English Premier League, wants to make their club more inclusive for women. That became apparent this week when the club announced it will offer female fans free feminine hygiene products in the women’s toilets at their stadiums. Thirteen smaller Read More...
Women were the big winners of the House elections
There was something very notable about the results of this week’s House midterm elections: more women secured a Democratic or Republican nomination for the House than ever before. As of Tuesday night, at least 168 women had captured a nomination, surpassing the previous record of 167. A recent Read More...
New survey shows traditional views of gender roles are rapidly being abandoned
Traditional views of gender roles are on the decline, according to a new survey, as 72 percent of the British public disputed the conservative view that women should dedicate themselves to housework while the men are out earning a living. Compare that with the mere 33 percent who disagreed 30 years Read More...
The first 2,000 women can finally drive in Saudi Arabia
It started yesterday at midnight local time: for the first time, women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive a car on their own. The moment caps a 30-year campaign to end the world’s last ban on female drivers. The first licenses were issued earlier this month and about 2,000 female drivers now Read More...