Middle East | Iran | Activism

Some Iranian women take off hijabs as hard-liners push back

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The simple act of walking has become a display of defiance for a young Iranian woman who often moves in Tehran’s streets without a compulsory headscarf, or hijab. With every step, she risks harassment or even arrest by Iran’s morality police whose job is to enforce the strict dress code imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. “I have to confess it is really, really scary,” the 30-year-old fire-safety consultant said in a WhatsApp audio message, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. But she is also hopeful, saying she believes the authorities find it
North America | United States | Career

Kylie Jenner, Beyoncé And The Highest-Paid Women In Entertainment 2019

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For the second time ever, Taylor Swift has sung and danced her way to the top of the annual global Celebrity 100 list of the world’s highest-earning entertainers, making $185 million in the last 12 months. She’s joined on the list by fellow musicians including Beyoncé (No. 20 on the overall list, $81 million), newcomer Ariana Grande (No. 62, $48 million) and divas boosted by lucrative Las Vegas residencies: Jennifer Lopez (No. 76, $43 million), Lady Gaga (No. 90, $39.5 million) and Celine Dion (No. 100, $37.5 million). Though the top of this year’s Celebrity 100 is packed with femal
North America | United States | Business

Google reviewed pay equity and learned it was underpaying men

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When Google reviewed its own pay structure recently, it yielded an unexpected result: It was underpaying more men than women for doing similar work, the company revealed in a blog postpublished Monday. The annual analysis comes as Google faces a class-action lawsuitthat alleges it denied career opportunities to women and systematically paid them less than men preforming similar work. The tech industry as a whole also is grappling with enduring criticism about a lack of diversity and dysfunctional work environments.
North America | History

The Forgotten History of Female Mapmakers

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In the 1970s, early in her career as map librarian at the New York Public Library, Alice Hudson started researching women mapmakers throughout history. With few other women in her chosen field, she wondered how many had come before her. “I thought I might find 10,” she tells CityLab. But over the years, as she combed through maps, censuses, newspapers, and tips from colleagues, she was amazed by how many women there were in the early days of mapmaking. By the late ‘90s, she’d found over a thousand names of women who had drawn, published, printed, engraved, sold, or traded maps prior
Africa | Ghana | Business

Ghana’s market women were once so powerful they were targeted by the military

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There are corporate-feeling malls and glossy supermarkets popping up all over the West African country. Still, more than 90 percent of people here still do their almost all their shopping at open-air markets, where the stalls are dominated by women, each running a small business. It’s an encouraging trend, but behind this bright statistic is a dark history: during Ghana’s military coups of the 1970s and 1980s, market women became the target of government terror, blamed for an economic crisis gripping the country. To understand why that could have happened, you have to first see the marke
Europe | France | Health

French woman wins disability grant for ‘gadget allergy’

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A French court has awarded a disability grant to a woman claiming to suffer from a debilitating allergy to electromagnetic radiation from everyday gadgets such as cellphones. The applicant, Marine Richard, 39, hailed the ruling as a "breakthrough" for people afflicted by Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). The condition is not recognised as a medical disorder in most countries, including France, but sufferers insist that exposure to mobile phones, wifi routers, televisions and other gadgets cause them anything from mild discomfort to life-ruining disability.
Europe | Greece | Corruption

Mother of Greek ex-minister withdrew $178,000 before capital controls

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The 85-year-old mother of Nadia Valavani, former Greek deputy finance minister from the ruling Syriza party, admitted that she withdrew 200,000 euros ($178,000) from her bank account in Crete on the eve of the imposition of capital controls in the country. “The money was my life savings, I was scared and I took it home,” she said in an interview. After the revelation, many raised political and moral issues after connecting the the two events, accusing the former deputy of fraud.
North America | United States | History

Meet the Women’s Wimbledon Champion Who Was Also a Spy

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Alice Marble’s tennis career was enough to make her a legend. She was the No. 1 female player in America between 1936 and 1940, a winner of 18 Grand Slam championships, an International Tennis Hall of Famer and the first woman to adopt the serve-and-volley style of play. Her aggressive nature on the court led some to say (critically) that she played like a man. But it’s the fascinating life Marble lived off the court that makes her more than just a memorable athlete. By the time her career got underway, Marble had overcome a great deal of adversity. In her second autobiography, Courting
North America | United States | Corruption

Did NAACP president lie about her race? City investigates

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The City of Spokane announced Thursday it's investigating whether the president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP violated the city's code of ethics in her application to serve on the citizen police ombudsman commission. Rachel Dolezal serves as chair of the independent commission, in addition to her work as an adjunct faculty member at Eastern Washington University and president of the NAACP local chapter. On her application to serve on the commission, she identified herself as African-American. But public records, including Dolezal's own birth certificate, list her biological parents as
Europe | Germany | Politics

Angela Merkel is finally having her feminist moment (and I’m saying a silent ‘hallelujah’)

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Angela Merkel is the 'most powerful woman in the world'. She’s Chancellor of the country with the fourth largest global economy; she bosses around all the blokes in the European Union; has won three elections; and even has a physics degree in her back pocket. But the extraordinary rise of Germany’s 'Iron Lady' isn’t by default a triumph for women’s rights. From a feminist perspective, she’s Deutschland’s equivalent of Margaret Thatcher: advancing the cause by smashing the glass ceiling of her own career, without making it a priority to give others a helping
Middle East | Iran | Educational

6 pervasive misconceptions about Iranian women

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The historical narrative of the “woman question” in Iran is an intricate labyrinth, not a story that can be accurately recounted by portraying women as either “oppressed” or “liberated” during a particular historical period. In fact, that audacious history winds through unexpected twists and turns, gains and losses, triumphs and defeats. Yet the complexity of this story is often lost amid misperceptions. The popular version of events goes something like this: During the Pahlavi Monarchy, women were on an upward trajectory. In a nation on the cusp of modernity, women actively par
North America | United States | Society

Women Are a Driving Force in Nation’s Shift from Gun Control to Gun Rights

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Women have emerged as one of the fastest-growing demographics of new gun buyers and concealed carry permit holders in the country, and in the process, they have become a driving force in the shift in American attitudes from pro-gun control to pro-gun rights. In January, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that “women [are] buying more guns than ever.” And the result of this surge in women gun buyers has been an expansion of firearms and firearms accessories made to cater to the female market. Many of the accessories are often designed and marketed by fellow women gun owners.
Asia | China | Recreation

More women on the fairways

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The increase in male golfers has also led to a hike in women golfers Shenzhen resident Chen Xing is among the lucky ones whose job is also her passion. The 40-year-old loves playing golf, and is the director of the club member affair department with Shenzhen Golf Association, an non-government organization that aims to promote golf among Shenzhen residents and beyond, and the only legal organization that can represent the Shenzhen municipality to take part in international golf association events. Chen's job allows her to get to know and make friends with people whose jobs are associa
Middle East | Israel | Society

At 65, hassidic woman from Bnei Brak becomes oldest in Israel to give birth

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Haya Shahar, a 65-year-old hassidic woman from Bnei Brak who was unable to have a baby during her 46-year marriage to 67-year-old Shmuel, gave birth on Monday to a healthy baby boy by cesarean section at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. It made her the oldest woman in Israel to give birth – not far behind the world record holder, Spain’s Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, who was a few days shy of 67 when she gave birth to twins.