Story here. Excerpt:

'A LOUGHTON mum's claim that she was the victim of sexism at a City bank has been dismissed by an employment tribunal.

Anna Atkins, 52, said she was passed over for promotion at Standard Chartered because of a macho culture where meetings ended up in strip clubs.

During a six-day hearing at the London Central Employment Tribunal last month the account manager said her department was "typified by late-night drinking and cigar smoking" from which women were excluded.

A judgement issued on Monday (March 11) dismissed her three allegations of sex discrimination and six allegations of victimisation by senior executives at the bank.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For many years television advertising was plagued by what we today consider to be ridiculous stereotyping with a woman portrayed as pretty much a subservient extension of her husband whose only role was to make him happy.

Today those kinds of ads are no longer broadcast and I’m glad to see the change. But there is one area where sexism in advertising seems to be ok, when it is used to portray men as dumb idiots who can’t cook, clean, take care of kids, etc.
...
But imagine if the same technique were used to show woman as helpless with a car, or unable to do household repairs, or driving badly ? The same ads in the same humorous spirit would be quickly banned under protests from advocacy groups.'

Article here. You won't see the author discussing the bat speed and hand eye coordination necessary to hit a 98 mph fastball. You also won't read anything about the difficulty of throwing a ball from the '408 foot sign at Yankee stadium to gun down a runner at home. Don't expect to read about the strength, balance, and stamina needed by a catcher during a three hour game. Excerpt:

'Girls face ostracism from boys who were their friends outside the game. “When they were young, if the girl was really good enough, sometimes she would be accepted by her teammates,” Cohen said. “The older she got, the more hostility she would face because the stakes are higher.” Scouts from professional teams and colleges are looking for prospects “and boys still feel that their masculinity is threatened because they’re going to be struck out by a girl or woman…. There’s a lot of gender issues involved when it comes to accepting a woman athlete on par with a male athlete on male teams.”

Article here. Excerpt:

Story here. Excerpt:

'Peter Bacon, who denies raping the woman, said she smiled at him and touched his leg with hers before they made their way upstairs to her bedroom.

The 26-year-old told police after his arrest that sex with the lawyer was 'reciprocal' and that she had plenty of opportunities to say no.

'She was drunk, but she was still able to hold a conversation with me. She gave the impression that she was enjoying it,' he insisted.
...
The alleged victim, who is in her 40s, claimed that she woke after a night drinking wine to find Bacon lying next to her in bed.

He had been invited round to the house by the woman's former flatmate but the lawyer claims she was so drunk that she did not even remember him arriving.

She told Winchester Crown Court that when she woke up she told Bacon to get out and told him: 'It's because of b******** like you that the law has been changed.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Particularly in the M.T. case, Ms. Timson blames the girl’s actions on "a very retro scenario," an "ages-old pre-feminist scenario" in which girls believe they have no power on their own. So they convince themselves that they must attract a man and keep him at all costs, even murder.

During a recent interview on NPR's Morning Edition Valerie Jarrett,
the head of the newly-created White House Council on Women and Girls, remarked, "Domestic violence is still a major issue, not just for women but also for girls," and stated that in regard to the prevention of violence against women, the first thing the council would do is "take a look at all of the federal agencies and inventory everything [they] are currently doing...[they] are not leveraging the federal dollars as well as [they] could...and [they] could really do more to enhance the lives of women and girls."

While on the surface Ms. Jarrett's stated objective for the Council seems sincere and business-like, conspicuously absent was the plight of male victims of domestic violence as well as the need to maintain integrity in the nation's fight to prevent domestic violence, which is compromised by the ever-present weapon of false allegations that lead to the destruction of families.

Ms. Jarrett's comments intimate that the dynamics that are wrong with VAWA at present will not only be ignored, but will actually be worsened.

Brief article here.

'FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Fairfield police say they rescued a screaming husband with bite marks on his torso and arms who was handcuffed to his wife, who was attempting to reconcile with him.

Police charged 37-year-old Helen Sun with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and unlawful restraint. She was due in Bridgeport Superior Court on Tuesday.

Police say Sun told them she wanted to have a full conversation with husband Robert Drawbough without him leaving. Police say she changed the locks on their bedroom and handcuffed herself to Drawbough while he was asleep.

Drawbough used a cell phone to call police, who heard his screams when they arrived at the couple's Fairfield home. He was treated at a local hospital.'

She wasn't charged with a crime that has the word "domestic" in it.

Article here. Excerpt:

"In ridiculing President Obama's establishment of the White House Council on Women and Girls, Kathleen Parker presented a misleading picture of the persistent pay gap between men and women ["Bring the Boys Along," op-ed, March 18].

Ms. Parker would like us to believe that men and women are simply making different "choices," and that this explains the gender pay gap. This view overlooks evidence to the contrary. A study from the Government Accountability Office concluded that even after accounting for "choices" such as work patterns and education, women earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar that men earn.

Moreover, the GAO has found that women with children earn about 2.5 percent less than women without children, while men with children enjoy an earnings boost of 2.1 percent, compared with men without children. So mothers pay a penalty for their choices while fathers receive a bonus.

Equal pay is not just a women's issue, it's a family issue that also affects our fathers, husbands and sons.

Article here. Excerpt:

"The need for some return to sanity is presented pretty clearly in an article in the April issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. The article details how some women find themselves leaving men in favor of relationships with partners of their own gender.

One recently divorced academic describes what attracted her to a future female lover. “She got up and gave me the better seat, as if she wanted to take care of me. I was struck by that,” she said. “I felt attracted to her energy, her charisma. I was enticed. And she paid the bill. Just the gesture was sexy. She took initiative and was the most take-charge person I’d ever met.”
...
"The women interviewed in the article appear to want someone to take charge a bit — there is an attraction to, if not a need for, some hierarchy. And in a culture in which masculinity — well, at least in men — is so often suspect, some women seem to be looking to reinvent the masculine themselves."

Article here. Excerpt:

'FAMILY Court judges seem reluctant to order that children spend equal time with parents in the most bitter and complex disputes, with only 15 per cent of such cases resulting in a 50-50 parenting split.

Mothers are more likely to be granted the most time with their children in the most acrimonious cases contested in court, according to Family Court figures.

Of mothers involved in contested cases, 60 per cent were granted main residence, or the majority of time.

Of fathers in such cases, 17 per cent were granted the majority of time. The analysis is based on almost 1450 cases contested in court that were finalised in 2007-08.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Boston, Mass. - A fathers’ rights group says it is suing the Massachusetts Trial Court for what it says are unconstitutional child support guidelines that are decimating household budgets.

“There are people who are literally being driven out of their homes and apartments because of their inability to pay,” said Ned Holstein, founder of the nonprofit Fathers & Families. “We believe in guidelines that will well take care of all the children and also be fair between the adults. These guidelines do not do that.”

Holstein said the group intends to argue that the child support guidelines, because they have the potential to increase child support payments, represent a tax increase. Under the constitution, he said, only the Legislature has the power to authorize new taxes. The changes, approved in November by the Chief Justice of Administration and Management of the Trial Court Robert Mulligan, took effect Jan. 1, 2009.'

Story here.

'Twenty-five-year-old Teresa Gilman was also sentenced to 30 years behind bars for child abuse resulting in death and four counts of child abuse.

The ninth judicial district attorney says Gilman's son, six-year-old Lorenzo Cabral, Jr. died from blunt force trauma to the head in January of 2007.

Gilman reportedly believed the child was possessed by the devil.

Three other children were home at the time of the killing.

Police say Gilman forced the oldest child to watch the abuse that led to his sibling's death.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Henryville woman is accused of molesting two 12-year-old boys she knew from church and that her husband reportedly coached in a youth football league.

Sheila Granger, 33, is charged with five counts of class A felony child molesting, three counts of class C felony child molesting and one charge of class B felony child solicitation. She is being held without bond in the Michael L. Becher Adult Corrections Complex, awaiting her first court appearance.

Lt. Rachael Lee, a detective with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, said Granger’s husband coached the two boys in a football program in Henryville. Lee said Granger and the two boys attended the same church.

Lee said Granger knew them “through a personal relationship with the parents of the boys.” She said the investigation began after a school resource officer received information about abuse and followed up on it.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) - A Columbus woman who recanted her story of being sexually assaulted by a man she met over the Internet has been fined and told to pay restitution.

Janae McMahon pleaded no contest to attempted false reporting. Last week she was fined $150 and ordered to pay the court $1,671 in restitution.

The 27-year-old had reported in May last year that a 38-year-old man from Meadow Grove sexually assaulted her after they watched a movie at her home.

He told police the sex was consensual.'