Eye | UAE Pilot Major Mariam al-Mansouri Leads UAE Air Strikes Against ISIS | Domestic Violence Tab Put At $9.5 Trillion Annually

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RedTracker

Forbes axed a column and future columns from contributor Bill Frezza, an MIT graduate and alumni president of MIT’s Lambda Chi Alpha chapter, after Frezza’s column Drunk Female Guests Are The Gravest Threat To Fraternities hit the digital airwaves. Forbes quickly pulled the column but not before Gawker Media jumped on it. Jezebel has reprinted the column for posterity.

Frezza, who writes that he chronicles “the decline and fall of entitlement democracy” argued on Forbes last month:

As recriminations against fraternities mount and panicked college administrators search for an easy out, one factor doesn’t seem to be getting sufficient analysis: drunk female guests.

Clearly the threat of drunk coeds is front and center in Frezza’s mind. Last month, his Ban Kegs From Fraternity Parties? Require Them Instead column described the scope of the problem:

I have the privilege of serving as the president of the alumni corporation for my MIT fraternity. This puts me in the role of loco parentis to 40 college boys, a responsibility I take seriously. While MIT undergrads may not be entirely representative of the country’s college students, even the smartest kids are still capable of doing stupid things. And if you think teenage boys can be stupid when it comes to alcohol, the girls seem to work overtime to do them one better. I have witnessed 95-pound, 18-year-old coeds standing in line outside a fraternity party chugging fifths of vodka because they know they won’t be served once inside. (They call it pre-gaming.) Does anyone really believe this is safer than allowing them to sip on a beer?

A small, 2009 study of 500 students on five universitty campuses found that students placed in coed housing are much more likely to binge drink each week than students living in gender-specific housing. 42 percent of students in coed housing reported binge drinking on a weekly basis, while only 8 percent of students in gender-specific housing reported the same.

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Anais Mali Pays Tribute To Warrior Women In 'Amazon' By Urivaldo Lopes for French Revue De Modes #25

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Anais Mali Pays Tribute To Warrior Women In ‘Amazon’ By Urivaldo Lopes for French Revue De Modes #25

In Greek mythology, the Amazons were fierce female warriors who descended from Ares, the god of war. Amazonian women are frequently pictured fighting on horseback with bows and arrows, axes and spears. Frequently Amazons carry a crescent-shaped shield. As patriarchal values soared in Greece and especially under Aristotle, the Amazons were portrayed as man-hating women.

The Amazon River in South America is believed to have been named by the Spanish explorer Fransisco de Orellana in 1541 who encountered female warriors on his voyage through a territory then called Maranon.

Kurdish Women Fighters In Syria Say ISIS Fears Women Soldiers So Much They Shake

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Kurdish Women Fighters In Syria Say ISIS Fears Women Soldiers So Much They Shake

In a media world assaulted with ISIS videos and threats of yet another beheading, the most fabulous story of heroism has emerged around a group of about 7,000 young Kurdish women in Syria who have armed themselves and joined the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, “which grew out of the wider Kurdish resistance movement.”

I’ve covered this story in small bullet points on Eye, but this NBC News feature of dramatic images by New York-based photographer Erin Trieb are an inspiration for our ISIS media-weary souls.

Unlike the Iraqi soldiers who ran from ISIS, the Women’s Protection Unit is fighting to keep their people safe against attacks from Bashar Assad’s government, ISIS militants and the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.

Eye | Angelina Jolie To Direct 'Africa' | 'I Am Eleven' Movie | Are Conservatives Happiest In Liberal Countries?

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RedTracker

Ta Prohm Temple Is Home To Cambodia’s Female Apsara Spirits Anne’s Sensual Rebel Blog

Today the conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm — but in a style that pays homage to its current state of nature gone wild — is a partnership between the Archaelogical Survey of India and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).

The authorities at APSARA know that Apsara (also spelled as Apsarasa) is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in both Hindu and Buddhist myths. In fact, apsaras are an important motif in the stone bas-reliefs of the Angkorian temples built in Cambodia in the 8th-13th centuries AD.

Several years ago, I quoted Cambodian writer Kounila Keo, who contrasted the history of women in Cambodia and America:

Looking Beyond Notions Of Erotica In Prehistoric Art NPR

Were we happier in the stone age? The Guardian

‘The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: ‘Poison Touch’ via Pitchfork.com

I love reading that New York indie pop group The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will be heading out for a road tour with The New Pornoraphers.

Hear The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s new single Poison Touch on Sound Cloud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopetracker

Inside the Minds of 11-Year Olds From Around the World GOOD Magazine

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Eye | Violence Against Women | Scalia & Women's Rights | Matrilineal Mawlynnong

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RedTracker

Excellent analysis on the topic of violence against women from Anne’s friend Soraya Chemaly:

Change Culture, Not Cabs: Woman-Only Taxis and Commodifying Female Fear Huff Po

SheTaxis (known as SheRides in New York City) is a newly-launched app that will help women-only passengers find women-only taxi drivers. If you are a woman, the creators argue, it makes sense to use this car service, because taking taxis and Ubers driven by men can be dangerous. There is a whole lot of money to be made helping women adapt to this problem.

This approach to “keeping women safe” is based on the sex segregation model of harassment and stranger rape avoidance at the heart of women-only subway cars in Japan and women-only train compartments in India. It’s the car version of a million “don’t get raped” products, the latest of which is drug-sensing nail polish that women can paint onto their fingertips and dip into drinks. Most solutions advocating segregation or self-defense are variations of “shrink it and pink it” consumer product and public space design. Even Women.Com, a new social network designed as a (safe) space for women only, takes this approach — that women have to take themselves out of spaces shared by men or risk the consequences.

‘Ladies Special’ Trains Roll Indian Women Into the 21st Century AOC Archives Anne’s Blog

Evangelical megachurch begins closing branches after pastor calls women ‘penis homes’ Salon

The Washington-based evangelical megachurch Mars Hill has begun closing branches across the Northwest. Church officials are blaming current financial difficulties on “negative media attention” over founder Mark Driscoll’s “well-documented homophobic and sexist remarks”.

The New York Times recently accused Driscoll of inappropriately using church funds and consolidating power so tightly that it is almost impossible to challenge or question him.

For some time the tide has been turning against Driscoll, who has made a spectacle of himself over the years with his anti-LGBT, anti-woman remarks, many of which he has espoused as key elements of his theology. Preaching theological “complementarianism,” in which women are considered men’s followers and subordinates, Driscoll has expressed a belief that women should always be submissive. According to one report, the pastor once instructed a female congregant to get on her knees and apologize to her husband for failing to bend to his will, then give him a blow job.

In Conversation: Antonin Scalia New York Magazine

In his new indepth interview with Jennifer Senior, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia explains his fundamental views about the role of the Supreme Court in interpreting the US Constitution. Speaking generally about the Supreme Court, Scalia explains:

What I do wish is that we were in agreement on the basic question of what we think we’re doing when we interpret the Constitution. I mean, that’s sort of rudimentary. It’s sort of an embarrassment, really, that we’re not. But some people think our job is to keep it up to date, give new meaning to whatever phrases it has. And others think it’s to give it the meaning the people ratified when they adopted it. Those are quite different views.

Within this frame of reference, a punishment of flogging is “immensely stupid, but it is not unconstitutional” says Justice Scalia. While agreeing that the Fourteenth Amendment covers discrimination against women, the Justics says with ambiguity “If there’s a reasonable basis for not letting women do something — like going into combat or whatnot … “

Read on for Justice Scalia’s views on a wide range of cultural topics.

12 Things No One Told Me About Sex After Rape Thought Catalog

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Eye: Beyonce's Feminism, Moms Against NRA, Women Newscasters, Kurdish Women Soldiers Face ISIS

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RedTracker

Why It Felt So Amazing When Beyonce Stood in Front of That Glowing “Feminist” Sign Slate

It’s no surprise that Beyoncé identifies as a feminist: She featured a speech on feminism by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on her song “Flawless” and wrote a piece for the Shriver Report titled “Gender Equality Is a Myth!” But the VMAs statement was next level—an unusually mainstream flaunting of feminist pride in our image-driven culture. And man did it feel good.

Diane Sawyer Steps Down As World News Anchor Huff Po

 Katie Couric on Diane Sawyer: ‘I Wonder Who She Blew This Time’ The Daily Beast

News executives and network publicists have been distracting themselves from this summer’s seriously depressing or otherwise alarming world events by passing around and pouring over bound galleys of The News Sorority, veteran journalist Sheila Weller’s gossipy chronicle of the rise (and occasional stumbles) of three of television news’ best-known women.

Saudi Arabia Implements Electronic Tracking System To Monitor Women’s Movements - See more at: http://viralwomen.com/post/saudi_arabia_implements_electronic_tracking_system_to_monitor_womens_movements#sthash.agu5oqY2.dpuf
Saudi Arabia Implements Electronic Tracking System To Monitor Women’s Movements - See more at: http://viralwomen.com/post/saudi_arabia_implements_electronic_tracking_system_to_monitor_womens_movements#sthash.agu5oqY2.dpuf
Saudi Arabia Implements Electronic Tracking System To Monitor Women’s Movements - See more at: http://viralwomen.com/post/saudi_arabia_implements_electronic_tracking_system_to_monitor_womens_movements#sthash.agu5oqY2.dpuf

Moms Push Back Against ‘Sexist’ NRA Attack Huff Po

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Eye: Nicer Future, Cathy Horn, Women's Wages, Marley Coffee

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Bombshells And Femme Fatales Aren't For Fashion Posers

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Bombshells And Femme Fatales Aren’t For Fashion Posers

Victoria’s Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel fronts the campaign for the brand’s newest fragrance update Bombshells In Bloom. I was never a fan of the Michael Bay, testosterone-driven bombshell mentality of VS Angels jumping out of helicopters and strutting across the tarmac like they were about to cut off some guy’s testicles. Nor did I like the vulgarity of a Diamond Bombshell Bra. But this Bombshell In Bloom positioning is one I like: Forever flirty. Always sexy. Decidedly playful.

The word ‘Bombshell” and more often ‘Blonde Bombshell’ first made it into the dictionary around 1942.

Film | Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken' Olympic Preview

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Universal Pictures released the first trailer for Angelina Jolie’s ‘Unbroken’, the true story of Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner who survived a deadly plane crash in World War ii, next lived for 47 days lost at sea only to be captured by the Japanese Navy and taken as a prisoner-of-war.

The trailer, narrated by Tom Brokow, made its debut on NBC’s coverage of the Olympic games on Sunday. 

Angelina Jolie Dazzles In Saint Laurent At BAFTA Awards

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Angelina Jolie was a showstopper, wearing Saint Laurent to London’s Royal Opera House BAFTA awards. Brad Pitt wore Valentino to the event where the couple were on hand to support Pitt’s film ‘12 Years A Slave’ in which he stars and acts as producer.

Jolie must have mesmerized the judges (just kidding) because after losing one key race after another ‘!2 Years a Slave’, directed by Steve McQueen was named best film of 2013 at the EE British Academy Film Awards, better known as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Now we just spotted this fabulous photo of Angelina Jolie and Oprah at BAFTA, where Oprah was supporting ‘The Butler’.Lupita Nyong’o didn’t win Best Supporting Actress for ‘12 Years A Slave’ but she wowed the crowd in a magnificent green silk gown by Christian Dior.

Google Search Takes Aim At Anti-Gay Russian Olympics

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Russian president Valdimir Putin isn’t the only person to flex major muscle at the opening of Russia’s Olympic games. Now the corporations have been declared people, too, by the US Supreme Court, Google is taking an impossible not to notice stand on Russia’s anti-gay policies. Will these two testosterone-infused giants go head-to-head or co-exist in a Mexican standoff?

Today’s ever-changing Google search page daily doodle carries this images of the Olympic games created in the rainbow colors of the LGBT movement.Below the search box is a quote from the Olympic Charter. It reads:

The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak recently advised both spectators and athletes not to promote gay rights during the Olympics. The mayor of Sochi, home of the Olympic games, said last month that the city was devoid of gay people. Perhaps they were deported?

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon addressed the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and also offerred support to the LGBT community, saying that “Many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice.”

The same Google search page is operating in Russia. Will the censors take it down? Stay tuned.

 

Dean of Harvard Business School Apologizes To Women | Davos Attendees 16% Women Is No Problem Says Klaus Schwab

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Dean of Harvard Business School Apologizes To Women | Davos Attendees 16% Women Is No Problem Says Klaus Schwab

Women make up a record 41% of this year’s MBA class.

Nohria’s comments come after an in-depth front-page article in The New York Times that described the school’s two-year experiment in dealing proactively with gender inequality. The story fueled dialogue and debate around gender inequality in male-dominated business schools. At Harvard, a third of the female junior faculty left from 2006 to 2007.

Abigail Disney Defends Meryl Streep's Calling Walt Disney A 'Gender Bigot'

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Abigail Disney Defends Meryl Streep’s Calling Walt Disney A ‘Gender Bigot

Bravo Meryl Streep, a quintessential Smart Sensuality woman. Of course, a furor from opposing sides ensued after Streep called Walt Disney an anti-Semitic gender bigot. The great-niece of Walt Disney supported the actress. Abigail Disney, 54, an activist and filmmaker wrote that although she has “mixed feelings” about Walt Disney, she “loved” Streep’s comments about her famous relative.

Anti-Semite? Check. Misogynist? OF COURSE!!Racist? C’mon he made a film (‘Jungle Book’) about how you should stay “with your own kind” at the height of the fight over segregation.’King of the Jungle’ number wasn’t proof enough!! How much more information do you need?”