Story here. Excerpt:

'SENECA FALLS — Tuesday’s national election results were good news to Eleanor Smeal, former president of the National Organization for Women.

Smeal, now head of the Feminist Majority organization in Arlington, Va., spoke Saturday at the New York State NOW convention in Seneca Falls.
...
Smeal said President-Elect Obama’s policy committee has some excellent members, including several very strong feminists with a knowledge of the issues.

She said with the Obama-Biden team in the White House and bigger Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, feminists should “think big,’’ despite the conventional wisdom that a more centrist, bi-partisan approach is being advocated by many in light of the serious problems the country faces.
...
The delegates were also asked to sign a reaffirmation of the Declaration of Sentiments , a product of the first women’s rights convention conducted in Seneca Falls in July 1848.

Story here. Excerpt:

'NORWALK - Although a jury found Mary Ann Langley guilty of killing her husband by throwing gasoline on him and lighting him on fire, she could still inherit his $1.2 million estate, family members and attorneys said.

This turn of events was made possible by a jury of eight women and four men who did not convict Langley of murder two weeks ago after a seven-day trial at state Superior Court in Stamford. The jury was unable to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary Ann Langley intended to kill her husband by throwing the gasoline on him, and instead found her guilty of intentional first-degree manslaughter in the December 2006 death of her husband, James, 55.
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"I don't think it is right. If you kill someone, why should you profit?" said Willie Langley, James' brother and executor of his estate. "I think if you pour gasoline on someone, you meant to kill them anyway, but (the prosecution) couldn't prove that."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'In addition to the changes he will enact on the professional level, Obama's approach to governing can be expected to have some indirect impacts in college sports. Coaches, athletes and administrators in a number of so-called minor sports, such as wrestling, have long been wary that their sports will be eliminated to meet the equality of gender requirements of Title IX, and they cannot be happy about Obama's election. With President Bush in the White House and Dennis Hastert, a former wrestling coach, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, participants in those sports had some hope that Title IX requirements might be diluted.

Bush and his staff looked hard at Title IX and the possibility of enacting changes in the regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that govern Title IX, but they backed away as opposition to any changes grew.

Obama, the father of two daughters, might not be sympathetic to those hoping to lessen the impact of Title IX.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting), a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's domestic violence laws, says false allegations of domestic violence have become widespread. In fact, according to a RADAR report, at least one million restraining orders are issued each year in which violence is not even alleged.

There is no other court in the land where the penalty for perjury does not exist - you can lie and not be punished for it, but actually be rewarded for it. There is no other court where you are presumed guilty until proven innocent. And for non-custodial parents...especially fathers...going through a divorce...and the never-ending litany of custody issues and all the rest that goes with it...it can feel like eternal damnation.'

Essay here. Excerpt:

'So, where are the cries for men’s gender equity?

Author and family therapist Michael Gurian argued in 2005 that “there is no big network that protects the needs of boys” and also commented that “if we create a generation of men who aren’t getting an education, that’s bad for women.”

It seems that the voices speaking up today for men’s equality in college admissions and college athletics are few, and it seems that they are speaking against a much louder voice of media images and traditional notions that say being male means not needing someone else to fight for you.

In reality, many of these problems start before college. The average male faces a dangerous statistic that says he will drop out or lose motivation during his early academic career. No wonder the competition among women in college admissions grows ever harsher, while most men merely follow their ambitions and boost the all-important gender ratio.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'In 2004, 16 percent of elementary teachers in U.S. public schools were men, according to federal data. It’s also the norm in Washington: One male per six women elementary teachers.

In Clark County’s largest school districts, the ratio is more like 1-to-10.
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So, what does this mean for elementary schoolchildren? Does it affect performance or discipline — for boys or girls?

Education professionals in Washington cannot cite studies that definitively link a dearth of male teachers to poor outcomes. But they agree the disparity can’t be good, and say they see pupils’ hunger for male role models.

“I’m not so sure it isn’t close to a crisis,” said Michael Henniger, associate dean of the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Along with Central Washington University, WWU is the state’s top producer of new teachers.'

This story on the BBC site shows proof of what we've all been saying for ages - that males (and boys) are constantly being portrayed as 'bad' in our culture. Quote:

"Negative images of boys are making people less willing to adopt them, a national adoption agency has said. The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) said that at one of its "hard-to-place" agencies, 63% of cases were boys.
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The BAAF is concerned that people are put off adopting boys by constant negative portrayals in the media. An ICM poll for the BAAF found more than half of those asked felt boys were portrayed in an overly negative light.
...

The poll found 53% of the people surveyed said they felt the media portrayed boys in an overly negative way. Men felt this more than women, with 55% of men agreeing, compared to 50% of women.'

Related: Adoptive parents believe boys are 'too much trouble'. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Stories of Turkish girls forced into arranged marriages in Germany are well known. But hardly anyone talks about the men who are forced into marriage -- sometimes harassed, blackmailed or beaten.

Azad will never forget that day in September 2005. It was the day of his wedding in Stuttgart, but for Azad it was filled with hours of shame. "It's really bad, when you have to force yourself to have sex with a relative," says the 20-year-old Kurd. "It's sick. With my first cousin."

When Azad was 16, his parents informed him that he was to be engaged to a cousin from eastern Anatolia, who was also 16. When he refused, his mother threatened to commit suicide. "You will find me hanging from a rope in the basement," she said. At 17, Azad and the cousin were married in a civil ceremony during a family vacation in Turkey. When he was 18 his bride came to Germany, and ornate wedding invitations were sent out. The wedding ceremony took place in a midrange hotel in southwestern Germany. "It was pure horror," says Azad.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"Harriet Harman's husband has told how he thought his house was being burgled when two fathers' rights activists dressed as superheroes climbed onto the roof.

Speaking at the protesters' trial, Jack Dromey said he thought Fathers4Justice campaigners Jonathan Stanesby and Mark Harris were trying to break into his house.

Trade unionist Dromey, 60 - who has taken part in numerous political protests himself - said the invasion of his home 'was a matter of alarm and continuing distress'.

The Labour Party Treasurer and husband of the Labour deputy leader went on to criticise direct action on people's private homes as 'out of bounds'.

Jonathan 'Jolly' Stanesby, 43, and Mark Harris, 49, who are both from Devon, scaled Mrs Harman's three-storey home in south-east London on June 8 this year.

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Are males becoming an endangered species?

That's the question scientists and researchers have been pondering since alarming trends in male fertility rates, birth defects and disorders began emerging around the world.

More and more boys are being born with genital defects and are suffering from learning disabilities, autism and Tourette's syndrome, among other disorders.
...
High miscarriage rates and a unusually high number of children suffering from asthma were also noted by researchers.

Although the link between pollutants and human reproduction has not been firmly established, there is growing evidence that the birth sex ratio can be altered by exposure to certain chemicals, such as dioxin, PCBs and pesticides. Brophy said studies done in the United States, Japan and Europe seem to support the theory that the so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals have a particular effect on males.'

Not only a news article... it is very pertinent to our cause. Article here. Excerpt:

'USA 2008 – Estimates on citizens falsely prosecuted for criminal offenses each year range from 12% to 35% according to qualified statisticians. This is an alarming, factual occurrence – one which should be dealt with sooner than later, but will probably be much later. To ignore or postpone an appropriate response to this travesty of justice allows the criminal justice system to nibble away at our rights as citizens living in a free society. Eventually, the apathy will lead to a pandemic of innocent victims suffering under the boot of despots, because no one will be left to give a damn.

Some readers will wonder, "What's the point here?". The point is that it was unthinkable that a "cross-dressing" man could run for public office and win. While it is true just from everyday observations that women still enjoy a far wider array of dress and deportment options than do men, it is a sign of progress to see that despite the widespread acceptance of "cross-dressing" styles allowed to women and the opposite level of acceptance for men, at least one man can have the cajones to do what this one is doing and also get elected to public office. Excerpt:

'Meet Stu Rasmussen, he's the mayor-elect of Silverton, Oregon. He's also a tranny.
...
Rasmussen actually says he is straight and has a girlfriend. He is just partially a woman. He has no plans to change his gender, but he does have breasts. Stu says he identifies most with heterosexual men, but adds "I just like to look like a female."

...it looks like Rasmussen is the first transgendered mayor in the United States. He'll be governoring in a dress and high heels.'

Who doesn't remember the woman in Plano who violently ripped the arms off her 10 month old baby and got a slap on the hand in a "rehabilitation center" (i.e. spa)? Yeah, well, as expected, she's being released. Excerpt:

'DALLAS, Texas -- A woman who killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms with a kitchen knife is being released from a state mental hospital.

Dena Schlosser killed her baby, Maggie, in 2004 and was found not guilty by reason of insanity two years later during a second capital murder trial.

She'll be released into outpatient treatment within the next month, Collin County prosecutor Curtis Howard told The Dallas Morning News in Friday's online edition.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Dr Catherine Hakim argues that existing legislation has already eradicated sexism against women, and that the remaining gender pay gap is down to the different career choices made by men and women.

She accuses feminists of peddling "myths" about the extra hours put in by women and their thwarted career ambitions to justify "futile and perverse" attempts to help them balance work and family life.

And Dr Hakim, a senior research fellow at the London School of Economics, warns that any further strengthening of equality laws on employment – for instance by forcing both mothers and fathers to share parental leave – risks damaging the career prospects of men.'