Article here. Excerpt:

'Listed companies in the European Union must work toward a 40 percent quota for women in non-executive board positions by the year 2020, according to legislation approved by European Parliament last week.
...
According to parliament's figures, only 17.6 percent of non-executive board member seats are held by women in 2013. Under the new rule, listed companies must take effective and binding steps to ensure equal access to non-executive board positions. While qualifications and merit remain the primary criteria, preference must go to the woman candidate when candidates of equal qualifications are presented.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'One reason men make more money than women is because they work so much overtime.

The gender gap in pay persists due to the fact that men are more likely than women to work 50 hours-plus a week, found a recent study (pdf) published by the American Sociological Review. The extra hours—known as “overwork”—result, on average, in an extra 6% in hourly wages across all occupations. This difference has exacerbated the gender pay gap by around 10%, the study claims.

In 2000, 19% of men worked 50 hours or more per week, compared to 7% of women. The researchers suggested that women are less likely both to enter a job that demands overworking and to stay in it. And despite moves toward equality, women still tend to be more responsible than men for housework and childcare—hours that hardly count on the job but make them plenty overworked, too.'

Also see this article.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Over the last 12 months, the tech industry added 60,000 jobs, and 36,000 -- or 60% -- of those positions went to women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Usually, men make up 70% to 80% of the new hires, but according to the BLS, the tide seems to have turned in the last year.

"Overall, it's a surprise to see there's a sudden increase, and obviously, it's too soon to know if a few months is a trend," said Shravan Goli, president of Dice.com. "There's been so much awareness building and activity from companies to pursue diversity, plus you've got the Sheryl Sandbergs and Marissa Mayers of the world -- I think all of that is starting to result in increased awareness and an attraction toward technology roles for women more than ever before."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Doctors in America are usually circumcised or married to men who are circumcised. They have little experience with normal, intact, healthy penises. They also are often ill informed about the risks of the procedure.

“What did they do to you?” a Scandinavian woman asked an American man while they were making love. She was upset that part of his penis had been amputated. Taking off the foreskin deprives the penis of both length and width. The foreskin protects the glans of the penis, keeping it moist and sensitive. A circumcised penis has a head that has hardened (“keratinized” is the medical word for this). She couldn’t believe it when her American lover told her that circumcision was considered normal in the United States.
...
So it is no wonder that Maggie Rhode, an African American mom from Memphis, Tennessee, thought she was bringing her 3-month-old son in for a safe operation in August. The circumcision at Christ Community Health Center, the doctors told her, would take only 20 minutes.

Instead it lasted three hours. Not only did the doctors botch the circumcision, they handed Rhode her son, who was screaming in pain, without telling her that anything had gone wrong.

“After I went home and I discovered that my son’s penis was not there, I immediately froze, like, oh my God,” Rhode, who is speaking publicly about what happened to Baby Ashton, told My Fox Memphis. Ashton went to the doctor with healthy genitalia, now he has a partial penis. He urinates through a hole in his penis and screams in agony, his mom said.

Complications from circumcision, though rarely this extreme, are more common than parents realize.

One in 500 boys will experience acute complications from circumcision, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and that is probably a conservative estimate.
...

A very happy Thanksgiving to MANN readers and their friends and family! Especially, thoughts go out to parents (these are of course mostly fathers) who can't be with their kids today for whatever reasons, be they court-related or not.

Some of the low-down on how this came to be a national holiday in the US is found here. Be prepared to have a few long-held beliefs tossed out.

Also, in case you didn't know, today is the very rare convergence of T-giving and Hannukkah, hence "Thanksgivukkah". Extra Hannukkah gelt for those good kids who finish their turkey, maybe? :)

Article here. Excerpt:

'The "knockout game" -- and the media underreporting of it -- combines the breakdown of the family with the media's condescending determination to serve as a public relations bureau for blacks. The "game" is a dare in which a young man -- all the perps appear to be male people of color, mostly blacks -- tries to literally knock out an innocent bystander with one blow. Both National Public Radio and The New York Times say these reports of the "knockout game" being widespread are overblown and do not represent a trend. Really?
...
So why is this happening? Look to the family.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In time, “never depend on a man” turned into the full-blown belief that men are superfluous. In 2010 Jennifer Aniston claimed women needn’t “fiddle with a man” to have a child.

This may strike you as an isolated case of stupidity, but Aniston’s willingness to put it out there speaks volumes about modern cultural attitudes. No actress would have said such a thing in the 70s, 80s, or even early 90s.

Fortunately, most women come to the realization that they do, in fact, need a man—at least if they want a family.
...
This is the conclusion to which most women have come. Research shows that what women want more than anything else is not to work full-time and year-round but to live balanced lives.

How will they do it? That’s the number-one conversation among women today.

... The answer is obvious.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Husbands who secretly watch Internet porn will have to confess to their wives when new family filters come in, UK Prime Minister David Cameron says.

From next year people will have to opt in if they want their Internet service provider to allow them access to pornography at home.

Asked by BBC Radio what that would mean for those who may access such content without their partner knowing, Mr Cameron said they were "going to have to have a discussion" about their surfing habits.

President Barack Obama is closely watching Britain's moves to block abusive images from being seen, and to track down those responsible for making them.'

Story here.

'A former NFL cheerleader accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in his Murfreesboro home received probation Monday as part of pleading no contest to a reduced charge of felony reckless endangerment.

Elizabeth Leigh Garner, 42, who cheered for the Tennessee Titans in 2005, 2006 and 2008, received 18 months probation and a $500 fine when she appeared in court in October.

She was originally charged on March 14 with aggravated sexual battery and solicitation of a minor for rape of a child, according to her arrest report.

As a condition of Gardner’s probation, she is required to attend Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous twice a week, have no contact with the victim and his family, and submit to drug testing.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'On December 20, on AVfM Radio Program, a caller said that men and women are treated more equally in Europe and mentioned Sweden and Switzerland as the prominent examples.

Although I am sure that it was not the caller’s intention to spread disinformation, at least as far as Sweden is concerned, I beg to differ on that statement big time.

As a Swedish speaker and a connoisseur of the misandric matriarchal society of the gender utopia called Sweden, I took the liberty to look through the Swedish laws and translate some of them in order to make the readers get an idea of how it is to be a man in Sweden.

Article here. Excerpt:

'When it comes to sexual matters, the French tend to be much more liberal and close-lipped than their American peers. Here, it is largely considered a private concern.

But lately, sex has taken center stage of French public debate, splashed across editorials and magazine covers and featured on television news programs, as French lawmakers this week debate whether to penalize clients who pay for prostitutes.

A wide range of critics disagree with the plan, from Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), which says that penalizing the client will only push prostitution further “underground,” to a group of influential writers and other personalities who balk at the government legislating what they do in the bedroom.
...
“For the first time in history we are tackling prostitution on the right side of the problem, which is the client,” says Anne-Cecile Mailfert, the spokesperson for Osez Le Feminisme, or “Dare to be a Feminist.”
...
Prostitution itself is not illegal in France – although various aspects of it are, such as pimping or soliciting underage women. The new law would add an extra punishment that places the burden on clients, fining them some $2,000 for their acts, a sum that would double if they are caught again. It would also give aid to vulnerable women, particularly foreigners who are trafficked into France and have no papers. The government counts between 20,000 and 40,000 prostitutes in France.

Maud Olivier, the socialist lawmaker who co-wrote the bill, told the French daily Le Monde that the point is to make clients aware that they are participating in the sexual exploitation of prostituted persons, which does not respect the fundamental human rights of France.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'When Crystal Mangum falsely accused several Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006, there were 160 television news stories in the first five days after the players were arrested, but in 2013, when Mangum was convicted of murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison, there were only 3 television news stories, a difference in coverage of 5,233%.
...
Although the rape claims by Mangum were totally false, she was not charged with a crime.
...
Those 160 television news outlets included ABC’s World News Tonight, Nightline, Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, the Today show, NBC Nightly News, CNN Live, Fox News, MSNBC’s Scarborough Country and Countdown, and myriad other TV news programs.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The health and education editor of the student newspaper at one of Canada’s most prestigious universities has advised the world that Movember — the month-long pledge by men to grow hair above the upper lip to support men’s health awareness — is “sexist, racist, transphobic, and misinformed.”

In his 1,120-word essay in The McGill Daily, Ralph Haddad calls “the idea of suggesting that men show solidarity with each other by growing moustaches” to raise awareness about prostate cancer and other issues “completely absurd.”
...
The English and cultural studies major argues that Movember “implies an archaic view of gender that implies that only a male/female gender binary exists, and that you aren’t really a man if you don’t necessarily identify with that binary.”

He asks: “How are people who do not identify with that binary and have a prostate supposed to partake in this cause?”

Article here. Excerpt:

'College men should have their sexual partners send them a text message before they get down to business to avoid a false rape charge, according to Roxanne Jones, a former vice president at ESPN.

Jones offered this bit of advice in an op-ed published by CNN Tuesday, in which she focuses on combating "stupid girls" and discloses that she gave her son 300 condoms when he went off to college.

Jones writes:

"Never have sex with a girl unless she's sent you a text that proves the sexual relationship is consensual beforehand. And it's a good idea to even follow up any sexual encounter with a tasteful text message saying how you both enjoyed being with one another -- even if you never plan on hooking up again.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Winter Haven, Fla., mom is accused of shooting and killing her daughter while the girl held her 4-month-old daughter in her arms.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Adele Bing, 52, told police she shot her daughter in a case of mistaken identity and that authorities should lock her up "for good" according to an arrest report.

Ruby Bing went to her mom's house on Monday night. Adele Bing told authorities her 26-year-old daughter was banging and kicking her door. Bing thought the person at the door was her boyfriend, whom she had just had a fight with. Bing armed herself with a .22 caliber gun, opened the door and shot her daughter in the chest, authorities said.'