Teen Voices: May the Faith Be With You
“Raise your hand if you would have died in the Holocaust,” our teacher asked.
Australia
Latest in Australia
‘Shades of Grey’ Frenzy Moves to Lingerie Rack
On Sept. 26 Target Australia will begin selling a collection of lingerie inspired by the international best-sellers. Critics of the dominating, kinky billionaire at the heart of the books aren’t happy.
Fat Acceptance Makes for Happier Sex Lives
Lady Gaga has launched a “body revolution,” while a Wisconsin news anchor shoots back at a fatphobic bully. In line with that, a researcher in Texas says that when fat women practice self-acceptance it can lead to a more enjoy-able sex life.
Surf’s Way Up for Women Going Pro as Wave Riders
Female surfers’ biggest annual competition starts this week in Australia. Prize money lags behind men’s, but women’s participation in this daring sport is way up. Credit goes to gutsy role models, better gear and “Blue Crush,” the 1995 surfer flick.
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Tiptoe Around Plan B
Republican candidates are either dodging discussions of emergency contraception or quietly opposing it. Pro-choice Republicans, however, think front-runners are all more moderate on the topic than the Bush administration.
Australian Widow Charges Courts with Gender Bias
An Australian woman is challenging a 140-year-old law that allows judges to reduce a widow’s compensation claim upon the death of her husband if she appears likely to remarry.
Judge Rules Rape of Aboriginal Girl ‘Traditional’
An Australian judge ruled that a 50-year-old Aboriginal man’s statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl is not a serious crime, but traditional culture. But feminists say violence against women is a result of relatively recent history.
Pro-Marriage Politicians Rely on Flawed Studies
Political leaders in the U.S. and Australia are promoting marriage as the cure for social ills, and cite statistics to prove their point. But for many women and their children, divorce is the best thing that could happen to them.
Australians Battle Over Definition of Fatherhood
When federal court in Victoria, Australia, ruled that single women could not be barred from fertility treatments, the Catholic Church and the national government entered the fray, insisting artificially conceived children have a right to two parents.
Aussies Trying to Stop Proposed Women’s Prison
Australia has only a tiny number of federal women prisoners–about 1,200–but the number has doubled in the past decade, prison construction is increasing and advocates say that indigenous, immigrant and refugee women are disproportionately jailed.
