Books for 2012

The Wicked Wives by Gus Pelagatti

In The Wicked Wives by Gus Pelagatti, we are given the opportunity to look into the lives of a group of both women and men that were responsible for the murders of the women's husbands in the 1930s. The story is based on a true set of crimes, and the strange and unethical reasons understate how little it takes for someone to cross over to the side of murder. During this time in Philadelphia, the scandal resulted in seventeen wives being arrested for murdering their husbands. It would take one man to stand up for the victims and uncover the acts that would bring justice.

Calories and Corsets: A History of Dieting over 2,000 Years by Louise Foxcroft

Medical historian Louise Foxcroft explains in her new book, Calories and Corsets: A History of Dieting over 2,000 Years. Foxcroft fixed on the topic of weight-loss schemes after speaking to a friend who's a medic. "She said that whenever she gives talks, as soon as she mentions diet drugs, everybody in the audience perks up. I thought that was so interesting, so I decided to see if I could use the history of dieting to throw light on the assumptions we make about our health."

A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France By Caroline Moorehead

A Train in Winter is the story of brave women hailing from villages and cities of France united in their hatred and defiance against their Nazi occupiers. The book is based on interviews with these women, their families and brings to surface the historical archives and documents held by World War II resistance organisations covering this darkest chapter of human history. When Moorehead began writing this book, seven of the women were still alive and she talked to the ones whose health allowed them to. Moorehead has heavy relied upon interviews with survivors and their relatives giving this overlooked corner of history a new urgency and meaning.

Film: Mozart's Sister

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

In the 18th century, social convention dictated women in Europe were not allowed to play the violin. Maria Anna ''Nannerl'' Mozart, born in 1751, was brilliant at it. Women were not meant to be composers. Nannerl was an inspired composer.

But she had a talented younger brother, Wolfgang, who got all the attention

The story is only partly speculative, told as if from inside the Mozart family. It is definitely intriguing and perhaps a little sad. After the first burst of life as a young prodigy, Nannerl's evident talents had to be left unused when Wolfgang overtook her place in their father's ambitions.

Podast: Women in Ancient Europe

From the Womens News Network:

Gender archaeology is a method of studying past societies through their material culture by closely examining the social construction of gender identities and relations. Gender archaeology itself is based on the ideas that even though nearly all individuals are naturally born to a biological sex (usually either male or female, although also intersex), there is nothing natural about gender, which is actually a social construct which varies between cultures and changes through time.

Gender archaeologists examine the relative positions in society of men, women, and children through identifying and studying the differences in power and authority they held, as they are manifested in material (and skeletal) remains. These differences can survive in the physical record although they are not always immediately apparent and are often open to interpretation. The relationship between the genders can also inform relationships between other social groups such as families, different classes, ages and religions.

 

Podcast: Play in new window

Gaston Hospice: A Story of War Brides

From the Charlotte Observer:

She left France 65 years ago, a war bride with a baby boy.

Speaking no English, with little money and only the clothes on her back, she found bad news waiting in the U.S.: Her GI husband wanted her to go home and leave the infant behind.

Even though the soldier offered to pay for the trip, Josette Laney, then 23, knew there would be more opportunity in America.

In Gaston County, where her husband was from, she built a new life as a single parent. She worked in textiles and raised her son, Jim. They supported each other, and she helped put him through college.

At 88, Laney recently came under the care of Gaston Hospice, where staff heard about her experiences.

Officials with the nonprofit - celebrating its 30th anniversary this year - put Laney's story on the front of its winter newsletter. As the face of hospice, she helps call attention to the soon-expanding program.

 

According to the World War II War Brides Association, about 65,000 women married American soldiers and sailors; 7,000 came from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

German Man Admits To Assault on 1000 Women

From the Times of India:

A man in Germany has admitted to raping or sexually assaulting more than 1,000 women by copying a trick from the movie " The Silence of the Lambs".

Forty six-year-old Joerg P admitted to more than 1,000 offences against women in a crime spree that spanned 22 years. The trial has begun in Germany, Daily Mail reported.

Joerg used a trick from film "The Silence of the Lambs" to lure his victims into feeling bad for him.

While in the movie, the killer fakes a broken arm to get his prey to help him and then hits them on the head, Joerg pretended to have a similar injury while knocking on doors and asking to use the toilet.

He has not only confessed to 20 rapes in Holland, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, he has also asked for another 1,000 sex offences to be taken into consideration.

He admitted that he has a burning hatred of intelligent women and told a court in Dusseldorf that he had an insatiable need to degrade them.

UK: Virginity For Sale

From Yahoo7 News:

Four members of a child prostitution ring are facing jail in the UK after they attempted to sell the virginity of young girls to wealthy Arab businessmen for up to STG150,000 ($A247,000).

The gang were caught in an undercover Scotland Yard sting after offering their services in a hand-written letter to the owner of the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, central London.

A police officer contacted the gang by telephone posing as a potential client and was told they could provide girls from Iran, England and Eastern Europe aged between 14 and 20 for sex.

"This case highlights the fact that trafficking is not just a crime that involves foreign nationals being brought in the UK. It is something that happens within the UK as well.

Poll: World's Ugliest Women

From Christian Today:

British women won 22.4 per cent in the survey conducted by the Real Holiday Reports website, followed by American women with 16.7 per cent.

The results suggest that while many British women are attracted to the ladette image, the rest of the world does not share their opinion.

The results of the survey were published in today’s Daily Mail. Germany came in third place with 15.7%, followed by Eastern Europeans, Spaniards and Turks.

Gary Hewitt, who runs the website, said Britain women needed to sharpen up their behaviour abroad.

Northern Ireland: Women Rescued From Prostitution

From the Guardian:

Fifteen women have been rescued from sex traffickers in a major crackdown on brothels in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.

The women, who are from EU countries, were being forced to work as prostitutes in Belfast, the PSNI said. Police arrested three people in connection with the raids.

Detective Chief Superintendent Roy McComb, head of the PSNI organised crime branch, said: "This is modern-day slavery where human beings are treated like commodities by sophisticated organised crime gangs who are making substantial criminal profits from the sex trade.

"These gangs have no thought for the health and well-being of their victims. They see them simply as instruments to help them generate cash."

Uzbekistan: Sterilisation of Women

Further to this post: Uzbek Women Sterilised By Stealth, comes this article from Associated Press:

According to rights groups, victims and health officials, Rakhimbayeva is one of hundreds of Uzbek women who have been surgically sterilized without their knowledge or consent in a program designed to prevent overpopulation from fueling unrest.

Human rights advocates and doctors say autocratic President Islam Karimov this year ramped up a sterilization campaign he initiated in the late 1990s. In a decree issued in February, the Health Ministry ordered all medical facilities to "strengthen control over the medical examination of women of childbearing age."

The decree also said that "surgical contraception should be provided free of charge" to women who volunteer for the procedure.

It did not specifically mandate sterilizations, but critics allege that doctors have come under direct pressure from the government to perform them: "The order comes from the very top," said Khaitboy Yakubov, head of the Najot human rights group in Uzbekistan.

Uzbek authorities ignored numerous requests by The Associated Press to comment on the issue. Most Western media organizations have been driven from the country, and government officials face serious reprisals for contacts with foreign journalists. However, the AP was able to interview several doctors, sterilized women and a former health official, some on condition of anonymity.