In honor of the fellowship named after our founder, Rita Henley Jensen, we are planning to hire a seasoned DC-based reporter to provide immediate, insightful, and compelling coverage of the momentum building on Capitol Hill.
arts
U.N. Embraces ‘Sold’ As Way to Fight Trafficking With Art
|
The movie is heading into U.S. theatrical and I hope it will stoke a global movement against this horrendous crime. Teen trafficking is also the subject of “Spirits’ Homecoming,” inspired by Korean “comfort women” and opening March 25.
India
Fetal Sex Testing Won’t Fix India’s Daughter Shortage
|
Female feticide may be illegal in India but old structures of patriarchy combine with medical technologies to keep it going. We need basic awareness campaigns, not government mandates that will first invade a woman’s privacy and then backfire.
Movies
‘Sweet Bean’ Is Profoundly Poetic and Humane
|
“The Little Prince” is another must-see movie opening this week. This first animated feature based on the Antoine de Saint-Exupery classic presents a delightfully feminist twist on the iconic coming-of-age fantasy.
Government
It’s Time for Women in Government, Public Service to Speak Up
|
As the National Women’s History Project celebrates the important roles women have played in public service and government leadership this month, Page Wilson tells her own tale of a life in this arena.
arts
Idealized? Sexy? She draws women who don’t care what you think.
|
It’s common for women depicted in cartoons and comics to have idealized, exaggerated features: Think of the impossibly small waists, extra-long legs, and ample chests in comic books — a medium still overwhelmingly drawn by men.
arts
‘Marguerite’ Wrings Suspense Out of Self-Delusion
|
This exquisitely realized French tragi-comedy tops my list of movie openers this week. I can also recommend “About Scout,” a femme-centric shoestring budget indie film about a teenager on a challenging road trip.
arts
‘Zootopia’ Wins Prize for Mass Marketing Stereotypes to Kids
|
And as previously mentioned, “Trapped” is out March 4, to help everyone mull over the ruling that is now pending in the first major Supreme Court case on abortion restrictions in years.
Commentary
Gender Parity in Violence? Not by a Long Shot
|
Why are killers usually male? It’s a question worth exploring when the emergence of female terrorists could make the media even more prone to gloss over the maleness factor in U.S. mass killings.
For every hate tweet this woman receives, she’ll donate $1 to charity
|
There’s a lot of hate online. A prominent Muslim woman in Australia can tell you about that.
India
After the floods come the human traffickers, but these girls are fighting back
|
The Sundarbans — a collection of densely populated islands in India’s sprawling Ganges delta — are so remote that the only way to get there is by boat. But human traffickers still manage to get in, and that’s left many families with missing daughters.