Iceland's PM: Gay Woman

The biggest story this week is that Iceland's new PM is a gay woman!

From the Star Tribune:

"Iceland's next leader will be an openly gay former flight attendant who parlayed her experience as a union organizer into a decades-long political career. Both parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support the appointment of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, as Iceland's interim prime minister."

From Fox News:

"Sigurdardottir was a labor organizer when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines — now Icelandair — in the 1960s and 1970s. She was first elected to Iceland's parliament in 1978 and served twice as social affairs minister, from 1987-1994, and again since 2007. Despite her veteran status, many Icelanders regard her as more independent than her fellow legislators."

From CNews:

"Sigurdardottir will lead until new elections are held, likely in May. She will remain in office longer only if her centre-left Social Democratic Alliance becomes the largest group in the election - an unlikely prospect, since it trails the Left-Green movement in opinion polls. "

From News Day:

"While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.She lives with journalist Jonina Leosdottir, who became her civil partner in 2002, and has two sons from a previous marriage.Sigurdardottir is best known for her reaction to a failed bid to lead her party in 1994. "My time will come," she predicted in her concession speech."

Iraqi Women & Politics

From the International Herald Tribune:

"Of the estimated 14,400 candidates, close to 4,000 are women. Some female candidates have had their posters splattered with mud, defaced with beards or torn up, but most have been spared the violence that has claimed the lives of two male candidates and a coalition leader since the start of the year.

For many of these women, the elections offer a chance to inject some much-needed fresh air into councils that are currently plagued by deep corruption and dominated by men and big political parties that are often ultraconservative.

But even if they win, they face numerous hurdles, particularly the entrenched attitudes of most Iraqi men, who view women as either sex objects or child bearers who have no place in the rough-and-tumble world of politics.

Despite the recent gains in security, some women continue to face threats, while others say the whole thing is a charade and not worth the effort."

Cancer Vaccine

From the New Zealand Herald:

"More than 38,000 secondary school students will receive the cervical cancer vaccine in the first term this year. The vaccine, called Gardasil, is expected to cut New Zealand's cervical cancer mortality rate in half. Parents and caregivers of girls aged 12 to 18 from the 296 schools involved in the programme will be sent letters requesting consent when school resumes.

Clinical trials have involved more than 27,000 women from 33 countries, including New Zealand. More than 26 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed worldwide. The vaccine must be taken in three doses over six months in order to provide protection. It targets the human papillomavirus which causes abnormal cells to grow on the cervix and is responsible for 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine addresses 70 per cent of those cases."

School girls in Australia were vaccinated in 2008.

Divorce: New Study

From the Times of India:
"It seems the popular belief that men get fleeced by their divorces while women get richer is a myth, for a new study has revealed that male incomes rise by a third after a marital split their while females face financial hardships. Researchers in Britain have found that divorce makes men significantly richer because their available incomes rise by around one third, while the average woman’s income falls by more than a fifth and can remain low for many years.

When a man leaves a childless marriage, his income immediately rises by 25%, while women suffer a sharp fall in income — in fact, separated women have a poverty rate of 27%."

21st Century Feminism

From the Times of India:

"Some women adopt their husband’s name because they want to. But many elect to retain their maiden name or hyphenate it with the husband’s surname. The irony is that both decisions invite criticism. Women who change their surnames are accused of giving up a ‘feminist right’. Those who don’t change their names are criticized for departing from established practice. Clearly, several decades after feminism breached many barriers around the world, Indian women are still denied the unchallenged right to choose. Even urban educated women are plagued by self-doubt and confusion over the choices allowed to them.

So too domestic responsibilities, which remain the same for housewives and women who work outside the home. Looking after the children and the house are considered the woman’s responsibility even though she may work the same hours as her husband. It is a form of subordination.

These mixed messages add to the confusion women feel as they make personal choices. Is feminism at war with feminity? Are western clothes, for example, a sign of modernity and feminism? Or do they sexualize a woman and make her a traitor to the cause? "

Roe V Wade

Yesterday marked the 36th anniversary of the historic Roe V Wade.

From the Examiner:

"Americans have witnessed a historic week as President Barack Obama became the first African-American U.S. president, and the celebration continues as today marks 36 years of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that recognized a woman's constitutional right to abortion.

Some view this reproductive day of emancipation as an opportunity to further their agenda to impose their view that women’s bodies belong under the jurisdiction of government. Pro-choice Americans believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare; and a private matter between a woman and her medical provider.

Over the last several years, access to abortion has been restricted or made more difficult by many new state laws. These include requiring expensive ultrasound tests; mandated waiting periods that increase the cost of the procedure; parental involvement requirements; and targeted regulation of abortion clinics that make operations costly and difficult. Other state efforts, such as those designed to establish fetal personhood, are intended to create a test case for the Supreme Court to use in overturning or further limiting Roe."

Methodist "Glass Ceiling"

From USA Today:

"The United Methodist Church, which boasts a history of ordaining women clergy, is seeking to shatter the so-called "stained-glass ceiling" blocking female pastors from its largest pulpits. The nation's second largest Protestant denomination has launched a new initiative, the Lead Women Pastor Project, to examine barriers to women being appointed pastors to Methodist churches with more than 1,000 members.

In 2006, women accounted for 34.4% of enrollment at U.S. seminaries that are open to female students — a headcount of nearly 28,000, according to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

The National Council of Churches notes, however, that it's difficult to know how many of those women go on to be pastors. Similar organizations that monitor church activities either don't track or have current data on female pastors in the U.S. About 15 Protestant denominations allow for women to be pastors.

Women and men pastors who lead large United Methodist churches are being asked to complete a survey, which includes questions about leadership styles, pastors' salaries, demographics of their church and community and what kind of challenges and conflicts they face. The results of the survey are slated to be released sometime in the spring."

State & Status of Women

Excerpts from Sarwar Bari's article for the News International:

"For many years we have been witnessing women being prevented to participate in the electoral process both as voters and candidates. Shamelessly, despite their cutthroat competition, the religious and so-called liberal parties engaged in this fraud. And the Election Commission of Pakistan has never taken any action against this clear violation of its code of conduct. In addition, the state has been ominously silent on the closure and burning of girls' schools and women's colleges in some parts of the country. It also must be noted that recently, when the Islamic Ideological Council announced some pro-women recommendations on divorce, the mullahs aggressively opposed them, while the so-called pro-women parties did not bother to defend the recommendations.

Is it not an irony, especially when the Constitution of Pakistan (Articles 25 and 34) guarantees equality between the two sexes? Let us not forget that Pakistan also signed the Convention for the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In order to achieve the objectives of CEDAW, Pakistan has also launched a Gender Reform Action Plan. In short, it could be concluded that the constitutional and policy framework of the state of Pakistan is externally pro-women, but inwardly it has no shame when its own laws are violated.

As long as the state is dependent on these two retrogressive forces [mullahs and feudal/tribal sardars] we will neither see any improvement in the status of women nor in governance in Pakistan. The implementation on the Constitution of Pakistan, the CEDAW and the MDGs will remain only a dream. The unholy alliance of mullahs-feudals and the state will not let us, and the world, have peace. "

Please use the link above to read the full article.

SoS: Hilary Clinton

I think its fair to say that the appointment of Hilary as Secretary of State comes as no surprise to anyone.

From the Star Tribune:

"The Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state Wednesday as President Barack Obama moved to make his imprint on U.S. foreign policy, mobilizing a fresh team of veteran advisers and reaching out to world leaders. The Senate voted 94-2, with Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina opposing."

Congratulations Hilary!