A Joke or Not?? Saudi Arabia Awarded Seat on Commission on the Status of Women

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A Joke or Not?? Saudi Arabia Awarded Seat on Commission on the Status of Women

In an appalling act of absurdity, The UN Economic and Social Council voted days ago to award Saudi Arabia a four-year term on the Commission on the Status of Women. beginning in 2018 

“Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s absurd.”

“Every Saudi woman,” said Neuer, “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.”

“I wish I could find the words to express how I feel right know. I’m ‘saudi’ and this feels like betrayal,” tweeted a self-described Saudi woman pursuing a doctorate in international human rights law in Australia.

Saudi Arabia was elected by a secret ballot last week of the U.N.’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Usually ECOSOC rubber-stamps nominations arranged behind closed doors by regional groups, however this time the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley  U.S. forced an election, to China’s chagrin.

Filmmaker Erika Lust Brings 'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On' Pt 2 To Netflix

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Filmmaker Erika Lust Brings 'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On' Pt 2 To Netflix

“Porn today is sex education,” says Erika Lust, a Barcelona-based erotic filmmaker in the first episode of Netflix’s new docuseries, 'Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On'. A spinoff of the 2015 documentary of the same name, this new show explores sex and relationships in the Internet age. 

The six-episode series was produced by Rashida Jones, Jill Bauer, and Ronna Gradus, the team behind the original film. At launch, the project followed a group of teenage girls entering the amateur porn business in Miami. In the new episodes, they expand their content focus from porn into all aspects of human sexuality online. Vogue explains: "One episode revolves around a cam girl and her intimate relationship with one of her customers, whom she’s never met in real life. One chapter explores the question of whether a woman can ever be empowered in the porn industry—the answer is murkier than you might believe. Another centers on a pair of female erotic filmmakers and their efforts to try and challenge the pervasive, and often aggressive, male gaze in pornography."

Military Issues New Orders Against Using Non-consensual Images As Cyber-bullying & Revenge Porn

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Military Issues New Orders Against Using Non-consensual Images As Cyber-bullying & Revenge Porn

The US Navy and Marine Corps took action Wednesday around the recent sharing online of non-consensual photos of military women. Both branches of the military officially barred service members from distributing nude photos without the consent of individuals depicted in the images. 

The change was announced in an all-service message signed by acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley as an interim update to the official book of Navy regulations. When a new edition of the document is printed, the prohibition against photo distribution will be included.

Prohibited behavior now includes physical electronic sharing of intimate photos without legal justification or cause and without knowledge of consent, writes the Military Times. "These photos cannot be distributed with intent to realize personal gain; with the intent to humiliate, harm, harass, threaten, or coerce the subject; or with "reckless disregard" as to whether sharing the photos would have such an effect, the language of the new regulation states."

2017 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon Doubles Entries Of Women Artists

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2017 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon Doubles Entries Of Women Artists

The fourth annual 2017 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon happened in over 200 events held around the world in March 2017. Over 2,500 global participants edited the inclusion of over 6,500 women artists with new or expanded Wiki entries. Created after a 2011 survey confirmed that less than 10 percent of Wikipedia contributors were women, the 2017 events nearly doubled the impact of the 2016 campaign. 

Ultraviolet O'Reilly Protest Hires NYC Plane To Fly “FOX: #DROPOREILLY, THE SEXUAL PREDATOR” Banner

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Update: Fox News announced on Wednesday, April 19 that Bill O'Reilly would not be returning to the network. Tucker Carlson will take over the 8pm Fox timeslot. 

Male Supreme Court Justices Mansplain Judicial Law To Female Justices, New Study Concludes

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Male Supreme Court Justices Mansplain Judicial Law To Female Justices, New Study Concludes

If you thought America's female supreme court justices are spared the growing epidemic of 'mansplaining', think again. A new study of oral arguments from Northwestern University researchers found that as more women have joined the Supreme Court, "the reaction of the male justices and the male (lawyers) has been to increase their interruptions of the female justices."

Interruptions are often regarded as an assertion of power through verbal dominance, according to the study's authors Tonja Jacobi, a professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and Dylan Schweers, a J.D. candidate at the school. If that's the case, then women in positions of power should be interrupted less. Yet at the pinnacle of legal power, female Supreme Court justices "are just like other women," they write for Scotusblog, "talked over by their male colleagues."

Gal Gadot Auditioned For 'Wonder Woman' Tuned To Beyoncé's 'Girls Rule The World'

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Gal Gadot Auditioned For 'Wonder Woman' Tuned To Beyoncé's 'Girls Rule The World'

Actor Gal Gadot covers the May 2017 cover of W Magazine, lensed by Craig McDean. The 'Wonder Woman' star is styled in Gucci, Prada, Diane von Furstenberg and more by new editor-in-chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful. 

NBC's Andrea Mitchell Says She's Never Seen Such A Lying White House In Her Long Career

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NBC's Andrea Mitchell Says She's Never Seen Such A Lying White House In Her Long Career

Veteran reporter Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of MSNBC's 'Andrea Mitchell Reports' spares no words in her new interview for The Global Politico weekly podcast on world affairs in the Trump era.

Mitchell has covered every US president since Jimmy Carter and she declares that Trump is the most hostile to the press she's ever seen. Same for telling the truth, says the 70-year-old breast cancer survivor who outpaces reporters half her age. Mitchell is pushing back hard against a White House staff using the briefing room as a daily disinformation machine. Both the president and secretary of state are making every attempt to undermine the ability of reporters to do their job, says Mitchell. 

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Advertisers Fleeing Bill O'Reilly Top 50, In Spite Of Trump Rallying Boys Club Behind FOX Anchor

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Advertisers Fleeing Bill O'Reilly Top 50, In Spite Of Trump Rallying Boys Club Behind FOX Anchor

America's President Donald Trump made it clear to the New York Times Wednesday that he stands with his friend Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, under fire over an expose about previously unknown Fox settlements over sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. 

“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said Mr. Trump, who during the interview was surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides, including the economic adviser Gary Cohn and the chief of staff, Reince Priebus, along with Vice President Mike Pence.

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” said Mr. Trump. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

Erin Gloria Ryan responds gloriously for The Daily Beast: "In a life characterized by ideological, financial, and even marital inconsistency, there’s one thing President Donald Trump has remained fairly consistent on: defending men accused of sexual assault or harassment." 

More RedTracker Daily

Dr. Annie Sparrow & Dr. Rola Hallam Speak For Syria At 2017 Women In The World Summit

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R. ANNIE SPARROW AND DR. ROLA HALLAM AT THE 2017 WOMEN IN THE WORLD SUMMIT IN NEW YORK CITY.

Dr. Annie Sparrow & Dr. Rola Hallam Speak For Syria At 2017 Women In The World Summit

Two women doctors -- Dr. Annie Sparrow and Dr. Rola Hallam -- shared their Syria experiences in a moving discussion from last night's  April 5, 2017 Women in the World Summit in New York. Dr. Hallam tells a gut-wrenching story about a severely burned child whose flesh was so singed that she knew he would not live, although he said he was doing okay. She gave him a drug -- "so he would slip away."

My heart stopped when she said that -- for fear that the Trump administration would stop all her funding, as they are to all the women's health clinics around the world, even if they have nothing to do with abortion. The pro-life contingent believes that Dr. Hallam is a murderer . . . that she should have let the child suffer until he died naturally -- the flesh singed off his precious body. It's a very sad world on multiple fronts that we are living in, that this thought would pop into my mind. ~ Anne

Melania Trump's First Lady Body Language Is Not Welcoming

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Melania Trump Goes Arms-Crossed Defensive Pose, Putting Strong Barrier Between Her & American People

About those Crossed Arms

Both arms are folded together across the chest as an attempt to put a barrier between the person and someone or something they don't like. . . Crossed-Arms-on-Chest is universal and is decoded with the same defensive or negative meaning almost everywhere. It is commonly seen among strangers in public meetings, in queues or cafeteria lines, elevators or anywhere that people feel uncertain or insecure.

Bottom line with crossed-arms-on-chest main Melania Trump message: she's not coming out and you're not coming in.

When the crossed arms then become the Double-Arm-Grip as Melania Trump is posing, additional reinforcement is achieved in a form of self-hugging. Westside Toastmasters explains that in extended, hostile debates, the arms are easily gripped so tight that one's fingers and knuckles can turn white, with blood circulation being cut off. The pose shows a very negative attitude and definitely a message of "I do not want to be standing here."

Daily News: Samira Wiley In 'The Handmaid's Tale'; Prince Harry Honors Diana on Landmine Free World Day April 4

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Celebrating Two New Malawi-Born Daughters, Madonna Releases 'Her-Story' A 12-Minute Film For International Women's Day

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Celebrating Two New Malawi-Born Daughters, Madonna Releases 'Her-Story' A 12-Minute Film For International Women's Day

Madonna said her daughters will keep their birth names of Esther and Stella to preserve their identity as Malawians, and a Malawian nanny will travel with the children to the United States to ease their transition, according to the ruling. Her son David Banda and daughter Mercy James are now 11.

Judge Mwale noted that the pop star has raised $7.5 million for her latest project in Malawi, the construction of a pediatric surgery ward at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre. The ward is scheduled to open early next year

Hillary Clinton Returns In Fighting Form Imploring Us To: RESIST, INSIST, PERSIST, ENLIST!

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Hillary Clinton speaking in at the Professional Business Women of California’s annual conference in San Francisco, 3/28/17. Vogue photo courtesy of AP

“Obviously, the outcome of the election wasn’t the one I hoped for, worked for, but I will never stop speaking out,” Clinton said on Tuesday night at the Professional Business Women of California’s annual conference in San Francisco. “I am thrilled to be out of the woods, in the company of so many inspiring women.”

Clinton delivered a four-word mantra to the crowd which was focused on women and diversity in the workplace: RESIST, INSIST, PERSIST, ENLIST! Almost five months after the election, Clinton is not only back, but blazing writes Michelle Ruiz for Vogue.  

I'm fighting for a fairer, big-hearted, inclusive America. And the unfinished business of the 21st century can't wait any longer . . . Now is the time to demand the progress we want to see . . . and I'll be right there with you every step of the way."

Clinton criticized Trump for having the fewest number of women in top jobs "in a generation", with four women out of 23 positions. She called out White House press secretary Sean Spicer who told American Urban Radio Networks House correspondent April Ryan "Please, stop shaking your head" during Tuesday's press briefing.  "Too many women have had a lifetime of practice taking this kind of indignity in stride," Clinton said.

Hillary also had choice words regarding Bill O'Reilly's recent comment about Rep. Maxine Waters's (D-Calif) hair. 

The Fox New host called it a "James Brown wig," an insult that some interpreted as racist and sexist. Since Trump's election, Waters has repeatedly blasted the president's rhetoric and agenda.

"One of our own California congressmen Maxine Waters was taunted with a racist joke about her hair," Clinton said on Tuesday. "Too many women, especially women of color, have had a lifetime of practice taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride."

"But why should we have to?" she said. "And any woman who thinks this couldn’t be directed at her is living in a dream world."

Clinton called on Silicon Valley to improve diversity and inclusion, particularly by introducing paid parental leave policies. 

“These are not buzzwords to throw around or boxes to check,” Clinton said. “A crucial part of solving these problems is recognizing that, important as it is, corporate feminism is no substitute for inclusive concrete solutions that improve life for women everywhere.”

In Ruiz' words: "She's back, and here's hoping she is as nasty a woman as ever!"

Fearless Girl's Standoff With Wall Street's Charging Bull Will Continue Thru February 2018

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The standoff between 'Fearless Girl' and Wall Street's Charging Bull will continue for another year. With large numbers of New Yorkers seeking a permanent home for 'Fearless Girl', New York Mayor de Blasio's office gave her a lease through February 2018.

“In her short time here, the Fearless Girl has fueled powerful conversations about women in leadership and inspired so many,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Now, she’ll be asserting herself and affirming her strength even after her temporary permit expires — a fitting path for a girl who refuses to quit.”

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Brie Larson Set To Play 'Victoria Woodhull' In Amazon Film On First US Woman Presidential Candidate

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Actor Brie Larson will play Victoria Woodhull,who ran for the US presidency in 1872, nearly 50 years before American women could even vote. The women's rights suffragist was also a published author, creating the radical publication 'Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly' in 1870 with her sister. The duo also started the first woman-run stock brokerage company.

Woodhull ran for president under the banner of the Equal Rights Party—formerly the People’s Party—which supported equal rights for women and women’s suffrage. The party nominated her in May 1872 in New York City for the uphill battle against incumbent Republican Ulysses S. Grant and Democrat Horace Greeley. Woodhull selected as her running mate Frederick Douglass, former escaped slave-turned-abolitionist writer and speaker, writes Politico.

The only problem with the vice-presidential nomination is that "Douglass never appeared at the party’s nominating convention, never agreed to run with Woodhull, never participated in the campaign and actually gave stump speeches for Grant."

Amazon has bought the package, with Ben Kopit writing the script for the Woodhull story. Larson also will produce with Whalerock Industries’ Lloyd Braun and Andrew Mittman, and Anne Woodward will executive produce, writes Hollywood Reporter.

At Austin's SXSW Female Heroines Kick Ass Back: Anne Hathaway, Brie Larson, Charlize Theron

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As Austin's SXSW festival comes to a close, a new kind of hero took center stage, writes Joanna Robinson for Vanity Fair. "the battle-tested and badly bruised action heroine."

In a year when throngs of women are still reeling from Clinton's presidential election loss and the ascendancy of a narcissistic, Twitter-crazy megalomaniac to the White House, our commitment to resistance is bolstered by kickass heroines who get knocked down and rise up again. They include Anne Hathaway in 'Colossal'; Brie Larson in 'Free Fire'; Charlize Theron in 'Atomic Blonde'. 

There’s been a resistance growing—even among those who clamor for more female-fronted stories in film and television—against the catch-all phrase “strong female character.” Those three little words are often thrown up in defense of characters who are two-dimensional at best. If she can punch like the guys (or, as is often the case, better than the guys), then she must be strong, right? But actual progress is not about women being superior to their male counterparts; it’s about them being treated equally. And when most action films starring women are precious about their leading ladies, seeing the real consequence of violence on a female body is both shocking and refreshing. The heroines of SXSW offerings Free Fire, Atomic Blonde, and Colossal, just like generations of male heroes before them, grit their teeth through swollen faces, split lips, and bullet wounds to keep fighting their way out.

Read on: 'The Women of SXSW Take a Licking and Keep on Kicking Vanity Fair