http://womanstats.org/blog.htm WomanStats News and Blog en-us Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:14:40 -0800 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#barbie In December 2011 America’s National Advertising Division banned Proctor & Gamble’s CoverGirl mascara ad because of its misleading photo created by Photoshop. It was a great baby step forward, but there is a lot of work to do in regards to Photoshopping ads. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:14:40 -0800 RSSPECT-001650575 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#gunsautos Does the tradition of American women not knowing how to tinker with their automobiles stem from the same ideology that kept them from gaining an education? Is it one factor keeping them economically disadvantaged? There are obvious connections between who has a certain skill or knowledge and who holds the physical and economic power. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:02:24 -0800 RSSPECT-001638854 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#senegal I never imagined I’d end up living in Senegal for six weeks, it just sort of happened. I applied for a French Study Abroad program on a whim, always hoping but never really expecting for it to become a reality. But somehow or other I ended up on a plane to that little pac-man shaped country I knew so little about. Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:28:26 -0800 RSSPECT-001620669 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#uganda Whenever I had a few spare moments to talk with women who weren’t being interviewed for the research I had come to do, I would always ask them to tell me about their lives and their views of the world. Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:21:57 -0800 RSSPECT-001492501 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#costarica At the WomanStats project we have a saying: "once a coder, always a coder." You’re trained to see the world and its anecdotes as data points that display an overarching attitude of a country. By experiencing Costa Rica through this lens, I realized how important this project is to humanity across the globe. Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:10:03 -0700 RSSPECT-001457511 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#depression Out of 34 students only 6 believed that it was a medical problem and five of those people were boys. I sat and watched as the students in groups of four (most of them being consisting of all girl groups) stand up and say how depression was solely emotional and could be solved by simply changing your life-style and living healthier or talking to your friends. Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:21:11 -0700 RSSPECT-001447373 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#mars As clearly demonstrated by the picture, men seem to believe that the female gender is a puzzle of more complexity than any Rubik's cube; and whose complete manual is beyond the first volume shown in the picture. Clearly, the concept of "men are from Mars and women are from Venus" still permeates in the American culture and likely is prevalent in most other cultures. Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:05:57 -0700 RSSPECT-001440161 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#freak My self-defense teacher taught us to be freaks today. The best techniques for self-defense, I’ve learned, are utilized before the attacker is even close enough to touch you. . . . It’s time for us to fight again. I think it’s time for women to get freaky, to be loud and crazy, radical and assertive. To call attention to a society that has attacked, continues to attack women, to objectify and subjugate them. In a society where you can’t be feminine and powerful, we need to redefine power, to take back our identities as women--professionally, politically, sexually. Thu, 15 Sep 2011 06:29:33 -0700 RSSPECT-001434948 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#menbirth On a recent outing with a few friends I found myself in a discussion on the various options for childbirth. Having just watched 'The Business of Being Born' and having read up on different articles addressing the same issue, I felt that I had a few insights to bring to the table. However, this being a group of mostly women I found myself defending not my opinions, but my right to an opinion. The logic was simple. Since I do not have to suffer the physical pains and risks of child birth why should I have a say in how a child is born? Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:43:51 -0700 RSSPECT-001393561 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#holland Lynn Holland was at home one night, watching the news--something that most of us do, but what Holland saw and did was unique. In fact, it became a first. She saw an American police officer standing in Haiti with a woman who had been injured in a domestic violence situation. Because of the laws and state of security in Haiti, nothing could be done to help the woman. The American asked for other American officers to come to Haiti and help train the Haitian National Police. Holland describes seeing this woman: "I jumped out of my chair and said, "I’ve got to go help that woman." Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:04:18 -0700 RSSPECT-001366068 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#birth2 A recent study conducted by the Child and Family Research Institute and University of British Columbia surveyed almost 1500 pregnant women and found that fewer than 30% attended prenatal childbirth classes and a high number of them did not know the pros or cons or safety issues regarding epidurals, episiotomies, cesareans and other childbirth options. Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:59:49 -0700 RSSPECT-001357604 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#local I just got home from the Rape Crisis Outreach Center. It feels good to be able to type those words, to be able to know what I know. It also reminds me that there are many, many people - many of them women - who will never know that such an institution exists, or have access to it. Perhaps there are some readers who have no idea what I’m talking about. I didn’t know what a rape crisis team was until about 2 years ago. But knowing about it has changed, forever, my life and my view of gender. Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:27:01 -0700 RSSPECT-001332060 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#indiasr Individuals unfamiliar with this pressing issue may assume that with declining numbers of women, dowry prices would decrease which would ultimately lead to a higher valuation of women. This argument seems logical because from an economist’s standpoint theory dictates that when supply falls, and demand rises, the value of the good increases. In the example of dowries, potential brides should be able to "shop around" for a husband and because he wants to be married, he will be willing to settle for a lower dowry. However, this is exactly the opposite of what is actually happening and seems very perplexing. Instead of falling dowries, they are increasing and consequently the value of women is eroding. Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:29:42 -0700 RSSPECT-001328582 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#taiwan In order for Taiwanese women to fully achieve gender equality and strengthen the family, stereotypes must be quelled, the government must provide a more balanced policy package for families, and men and women must seek for more parity in the home. Thu, 19 May 2011 07:52:50 -0700 RSSPECT-001308384 http://womanstats.org/blog.htm#merkel Reading these statistics makes me wonder why we are so worried about women in government representation when it would be a feat for millions of women just to be able to live decent lives. Why are women treated this way? Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:36:12 -0700 RSSPECT-001292145