Feminism 2008
May 2, 2008
Army Specialist Monica Brown, recipient of the prestigious Silver Star, was removed from combat because of Army restrictions on women in combat. Brown, a 19-year-old medic, used her body to shield wounded soldiers. However, the Washington Post reports that days after she saved her fellow soldiers, the Army removed her from combat.
Lieutenant Martin Robbins, a platoon leader with the cavalry unit in which Brown was serving, told the Washington Post that they were not supposed to take Brown with them on missions but that they had to because there was no other medic. When she was pulled out by the Army, Lt. Robins said that the cavalry unit had wanted to keep her as their medic.
Staff Sergeant Aaron Best, a gunner on the day Brown heroically protected the wounded soldiers, said, "I've seen a lot of grown men who didn't have the courage and weren't able to handle themselves under fire like she did. She never missed a beat."
In a comment on the Washington Post story, one person wrote that Brown's story indicated "why the policies of the testosterone laden military needs to change. If she can do the job and willing to put herself in danger, then why is she being removed?"
Army regulations of women in combat is a hurdle to the passage of the Equal Rights Ammendment (ERA).
Media Resources:Feminist Newswire 03/12/08; Washington Post 05/01/08, 05/02/08; ERA.org; Feminist Majority
US Circuit Court Hears Asylum Appeal in Female Genital Mutilation Case
A panel of judges for the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Tuesday in the case of three women who were denied asylum by the Board of Immigration Appeals after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Guinea.
According to the Associated Press, the judges were disturbed by the Board’s decision to allow the women’s deportation back to Guinea since the mutilation had already occurred and therefore the women could not suffer further persecution.
One woman testified that she feared her daughters would face FGM if they are forced to return to Guinea, where, according to the women’s lawyer, as many as 95 percent of women are subjected to the practice, reports the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report.
The UN launched a campaign through UNFPA and UNICEF in February to combat the prevalence of FGM. UNICEF defines FGM as partial or total removal of external genitalia.
The UN News Centre says that FGM leaves "physical and psychological scars" and increases health risks especially during childbirth. The UNFPA program works to eradicate FGM through educational programs in schools as well as training for health and social workers. The program also advocates reform on the government level.
Only the Men Survive : The Crash of Zoe Cruz
Media Resources: Associated Press 4/29/08; Women’s Daily Health Policy Report 5/1/08; Feminist Daily Newswire 2/22/08
If that meeting in Mack’s office had been the meeting she was hoping for, Cruz would have made history: No woman has ever been CEO of a Wall Street firm. Now it looks like that won’t change for a very long time—there are no other high-ranking women in serious contention for a top job.
If women across Wall Street viewed Cruz’s firing as a blow, there were men at Morgan Stanley who seemed almost gleeful about it. The woman they had nicknamed the “Czarina,” the “Wicked Witch,” and, most famously, “Cruz Missile” was out of the picture. They joked that it was worth the $9 billion loss to have her gone.
In her rise through the company, Cruz had become not just one of the most powerful women on Wall Street but also the most loathed. It’s a matter of opinion whether those two things are inextricably linked, but for Cruz the same qualities that propelled her almost to the top also prevented her from reaching it.
More...
The Equal Pay Act FAILED TO PASS.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment