Herald's First Woman Editor

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

THE Herald has been published since April 1831, through depressions and wars into the internet age, but until yesterday afternoon never has a woman been its editor. Amanda Wilson is now the first.

Previously deputy editor, she has acted in the role since October, when Peter Fray was made editor-in-chief of the Herald and its sister paper, The Sun-Herald.

Wilson, a journalist for more than 30 years, said she had no idea why it had taken so long for a woman to be appointed to the role given the number of talented female colleagues with whom she had worked. ''We have always had brilliant women journalists at the Herald,'' she said. ''One of the people who helped me here was Lis Sterel and in my opinion she should have been the first woman editor.''

Treason Against the Queen

From the Perogatives of a Queen Consort of England:

Of Its Being Treason To Plot Against Her - Compassing or imaging the Death of our Lady Queen, violating the King's Companion, is Treason.

The following article pertains to the curious case of Anne Boleyn:

Masouda Jalal: Harbinger of Equality

From Gulf News:

Afghanistan's first woman presidential candidate, Dr Masouda Jalal, helps women stand up to the male-dominated society.

Dr Masouda Jalal belongs to a growing number of women who dare to oppose deep-rooted derogatory traditions in Afghan society.

A paediatrician, along with being Afghanistan's first woman presidential candidate and the former minister of women's affairs, Dr Jalal has been working towards improving the status of women in her country. Through her organisation, the Jalal Foundation, she has empowered several women and is a beacon of hope. Her work earned her global recognition, including the UN Watch Human Rights award in 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Weekend Review, Dr Jalal talks about her organisation and life in Afghanistan.

Historic First as Kamala Harris Sworn In

From Black Voice News:

Kamala Harris, former San Francisco District Attorney became the first woman, first African American, and first Asian Indian to become the Attorney General in California. Hundreds attended the historic occasion. Several history makers were in the audience: former speaker of the House Willie Brown, an Assembly members, law enforcement officers and attorneys, business leaders, union leaders, ministers, elected officials, state leaders, national NAACP board members, Black newspaper publishers, and people who wanted to be a part of history. Excitement was high as a large crowd waited in the courtyard of the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

Female Torah Scribe

From BBC News:

Avielah Barclay is an Orthodox Jewish woman who aims to live "sincerely and 100%" inside the traditions of her faith.

She leads a fastidiously observant life, wears a head covering and a long skirt - in line with Orthodox views on female modesty - and keeps a kosher kitchen.

Yet she is, in many ways, a most unorthodox Jewish woman.

Avielah is a scribe. She writes and restores sacred Jewish texts, a job traditionally done by men.

In fact, for years she has been wondering whether she is the first female scribe in millennia of Jewish history.

Fully trained and certified, getting commissions to restore the sacred texts, and teaching students, she is aware of the importance of her work.

The scrolls she restores today will be used in ritual for generations after she is gone.

Film: Rebel Queen

From the Guardian:

The film Rebel Queen tells the remarkable story of the last Sikh ruler of Lahore – a fearless Maharani who waged two wars against British rule in India. She is an inspiring figure for young Asian women today.

An Indian woman wearing a crinoline over her traditional clothes, and emeralds and pearls under her bonnet, walks in Kensington Gardens in 1861. She is the last Sikh queen of Lahore, the capital of the Punjab empire, and her name is Jindan Kaur. She died two years later, in 1863, and was buried in west London.

Maharani Jindan Kaur's life – much of which was spent raging against the British empire for cheating her out of the Punjab, then a vast country stretching from the Khyber Pass to Kashmir – is the subject of a film called Rebel Queen, which premiered at New York's International Sikh film festival and is set to be shown in the UK in February.

Mistresses: A History of the Other Woman

From the Telegraph:

The role of the mistress is as old as love and matrimony, but harder to define than either. Elizabeth Abbott, a Canadian academic whose previous books include a history of celibacy, has taken up the challenge in Mistresses: a History of the Other Woman.

Abbott writes that it was while researching her book on celibacy that “I came to realise that mistressdom is, in fact, an institution parallel and complementary to marriage. Though many people assume that adultery undermines marriage,” she notes, “many others believe that, paradoxically, it shores marriage up.” The material, in short, could hardly be richer or more complex.

In 13 chapters, beginning with illicit love in the ancient world and concluding with the changing role of the mistress after the sexual revolution of the Sixties, Abbott considers the careers of mistresses in a variety of different eras and cultures.

Virgin Mary According to the Qu'ran

From Winnipeg Free Press:

One of the most intriguing and touching stories of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, is the story of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Mary is a highly revered figure in the Qur'an, not just because she was the mother of Jesus, but also on her own right as a woman of great devotion.

She is auspiciously referred to as chosen, purified and truthful. Mary is depicted in terms that transcend the confines of natural law and as a manifestation of God's blissful grace. Her story is vividly told in two chapters of the Qur'an; first chapter named after her family (Family of Imran) and the second named after Mary herself.

Geraldine Doyle (aka Rosie the Riveter)

From the Washington Post:

Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan "We Can Do It!," died Dec. 26 at a hospice in Lansing, Mich.

Her daughter, Stephanie Gregg, said the cause of death was complications from severe arthritis.

For millions of Americans throughout the decades since World War II, the stunning brunette in the red and white polka-dot bandanna was Rosie the Riveter.