Journalists go undercover to reveal the plight of Mumbai sex slaves

By Vanessa Thorpe
(Sept. 28, 2013 | Guardian.Com) -- Photographer Hazel Thompson, 35, has spent a large part of the last 11 years in Mumbai learning about, and living with, the sex slaves who are held captive, often in cages, in the maze of backstreets known collectively as "the lanes" in Kamathipura, the city's oldest and biggest red-light district. Read more

"Surprising side of feminism" in Masters of Sex

Read the AP analysis posted on The Washington Post on September 26, 2013

Universities ban Blurred Lines on campuses around UK

By Abby Young-Powell & Libby Page
(Sept. 20, 2013 | The Guardian) - Blurred Lines, the song by Robin Thicke, has been banned by the universities of Derby and West of Scotland (UWS). They join Edinburgh and Leeds in taking a stance against lyrics students say "undermine and degrade women". The song will also not be played on SubTV, a channel broadcast in over 100 universities. Read more

With NAACP seeking its next president, the call is on for a female candidate

By Krissah Thompso
(Sept. 20, 2013 | The Washington Post) - “Though African American culture is still enamored with charismatic race men, the NAACP can send a great signal that a change has come by choosing an African American woman to head the organization.” Brittney Cooper, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers, Salon.com, Sept. 10. Read more

Analysis: Male-pattern violence

By Jennie Ruby
nOffOurBacks.Org) - There seems to be a kind of statistical dyslexia that people get when feminists start talking about male violence . . . read more

25 reminders of what 'Obscene' really is

By Soraya Chemaly
(Sept. 19, 2013) - People are quick to label things as "obscene" these days—including teen girls' online photos and pop star performances. So Soraya Chemaly wants to clarify what obscene really means when it comes to girls, women, bodies, what they do, what they're for, and what happens to them in our country. Read more

All-woman shortlist for BBC short story award 2013

By Liz Bury
(Sept. 20, 2013 | The Guardian) - An all-female shortlist for the eighth annual BBC national short story award has been greeted by the chair of judges, Mariella Frostrup, as evidence that the style is "suited to the innovative brilliance of women writers." Read more

Saudi Arabian cleric says female drivers risk damaging ovaries
Conservative's comments aimed at activists protesting against Islamic Kingdom's male-only driving rule

(Sept. 29, 2013 | A Reuters report posted on guardian.com) - A conservative Saudi Arabian cleric has said women who drive risk damaging their ovaries and bearing children with clinical problems, countering activists who are trying to end the Islamic kingdom's male-only driving rules. Read more

GENDER, CLASS & WAGE
The states where women make the most and the least compared to men

By Jordan Weissmann
(Sept. 27, 2013 | The Atlantic) - At some point or another, you've heard the stat that American women earn just 77 cents for every dollar that men make. But what about state to state? Is it as bad in New York as, say, Ohio or Wyoming? Read more

Pakistan magazine's controversial cover on female suicide bombers

(Sept. 27, 2013 | The Guardian) -- The latest cover of a magazine called Newsweek Pakistan is nothing if not controversial.

Under the headline "Lady parts", it carries a provocative image of two tampons in which one is treated as a sort of fuse that leads to an exploding bomb. Read more

To address gender gap, is it enough to lean in?

By Eduardo Porter
(Sept. 24, 2013 | The New York Times) - Does Sheryl Sandberg speak to American women? Judging by the popularity of her best-selling book, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead,” the answer would seem to be yes.

But Ms. Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook and one of the richest women in America, ran into a wall of criticism for playing down the institutional constraints that make it so difficult for most women to advance their careers while having a rich family life, from impossible school schedules to inflexible business hours. Read more

Gender Studies Resources

Research:
- Feminist Media Studies
- Women’s Studies in Communication
- Media Report to Women

Teaching:

TED talks on gender and women issues

Video resource on gender (including GLBTQ) talks

Video resource on topics about women

An inside look at the creepiest $5 billion industry in America

By Elizabeth Plank
(Sept. 20, 2013 | PolicyMic) - Although we could all agree that a French Honey Boo Boo would probably be very entertaining, don't expect to see one on your television any time soon. The French Senate voted Wednesday morning to ban beauty pageants for children under the age of 16 for reasons blatantly obvious to anyone who's ever watched Toddlers & Tiaras: Pageants disturbingly hypersexualize children.Read more

Related story:
French Senate approves ban on pageants for young girls

Some Red Lines aren't metaphorical: Rape is a prohibited weapon

By Soraya Chemali
(Sept. 18, 2013 | The Huffington Post) - World leaders continue to do a high-wire dance on the red line of Syria's use of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons are prohibited for good reason. But not all weapons are created equal. Take rape. Rape is an unlawful weapon during conflict, but how many states can you name that have been challenged for use of rape as a prohibited weapon? Read more

The social and legal arguments for allowing women to go topless in public

By Jessica Blankenship
(Sept. 18, 2013 | The Atlantic) - In early August, 33-year-old Phoenix Feeley began a 16-day jail sentence in New Jersey for refusing to pay fines from 2008 when she was arrested for sunbathing topless at a Spring Lake beach. She spent nine days on a hunger strike before being released early from Monmouth County Jail on August 14. Read more