Before I even begin, I urge you to follow up your perusal of this post with a reading of the harrowing Economist article I’m drawing information from.

This year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences “showed what can happen to a country when girl babies don’t count.” The one-child policy in that nation has led to sex-selective abortion and infanticide — not to mention high suicide rates among young women who cannot bear living with the guilt. CASS says within 10 years one out of every five Chinese men will be unable to find a bride (assuming he wants one) because of the sexual discrepancy of individuals presently 19 years old and younger.

According to CASS, China in 2020 will have 30m-40m more men of this age than young women. For comparison, there are 23m boys below the age of 20 in Germany, France and Britain combined and around 40m American boys and young men. So within ten years, China faces the prospect of having the equivalent of the whole young male population of America, or almost twice that of Europe’s three largest countries …

Beyond the stomach-turning truths mentioned above, another hazard of such a large young male population is an increase in crime: “A rising population of frustrated single men spells trouble.” According to the article, crime in China has nearly doubled over the past 20 years, “with stories abounding of bride abduction, the trafficking of women, rape and prostitution.” A study found that mismatched gender ratios were responsible for one-seventh of that hike.

Supposedly “governments are doing more than it ever did to persuade people to treat girls equally (through anti-discrimination laws and media campaigns).” Let’s hope so.

Six women in the Newark, New Jersey area are currently under treatment at hospitals due to the consequences of allowing ill-advised “physicians” (who aren’t even licensed to practice what they’ve preached) to inject their backsides with Grade Z silicone.  The compound allegedly used is similar to that of, well, shower caulk.   The women receiving treatment at a Newark hospital had undergone surgery in order to reverse the damage that had been done by the faulty silicone and also had to endure a round of antibiotics, should any infection present itself.

According to the Associated Press, “non-medical grade” silicone was used in all six, unrelated at this point, cases.

You know, I’m not judging a woman for wanting to alter her appearance — whether you do or you don’t, it’s none of my business and all your prerogative.  The beauty of choice.  However. If you’re going to go and physiologically change things up on your body, at least use the forethought to go to a plastic surgeon — or physician — that’s licensed and knows what he or she is doing.  As for those who might cry, ‘well, these procedures are so expensive, it’s no wonder these women are seeking black market bootys,’ — get a clue.  If you can’t afford to pay for butt implants, maybe there are other, more meaningful things you should be worrying about — like spending money on health insurance that’ll probably help out with your ill-advised back room body reformations.

For a feminist site, you’re probably wondering the relevancy at this point, no?  I know I’d be, especially as a self-proclaimed Louis Vuitton-boycotter.  I’ll give it to you flat: this is the first line of clothing that I’ve seen in a long, long time that didn’t have see-through boob slots, thigh-high slits that expose emaciated hipbones and chain mail-like mesh.  Haute couture was a little haute for someone like me who scours antique boutiques and thrift shops for the edgiest, most retro fashions available.  I think it’s pretty sweet that fashion is coming full circle again and is becoming universally appealing — and is also avoiding the pitfalls of clothing designed for overly-slender, 6-foot-tall women who won’t wear the garbage they’re modeling anyway.

I always had a penchant for retro, vintage pieces and this particular line, well … Gear it on up, Jacobs, I’ve got some spending to do.

Check out the pics in the photo gallery and tell me if this stuff is actually stuff that you, as a “normal” woman, would wear.

Today, female pilots from the World War II era gathered at the Capitol to receive the recognition that they so valiantly deserved.  Approximately 175 to 200 female pilots who fought in WWII and are part of the Women Air Force Service Pilots were honored today with Congressional Gold Medal awards.   Tom Brokaw and other military heads ran the ceremony today in which many attended, though few from the WWII era had survived.

Women who piloted planes during World War II were often disallowed from collecting war and military benefits that their male counterparts had previously been entitled to.  Women who were killed in the military efforts received no honorable burial and were also unable to be considered anything other than civilians.

My husband and I visited New Orleans this past week, and as dorky as some of you might consider it, one of our main destinations was the National World War II Museum in Center City.  Distinguishing between men and women aside, the individuals who fought this war were of a different fiber; a different caliber.  Tom Brokaw, who spoke at today’s service, considered this generation the “greatest generation” and penned a regarding World War II and its soldiers book featuring that same phrase as its namesake.

Congratulations to the women honored during today’s ceremony and posthumous felicitations to the women and men either killed in battle or by inevitable age who deserved the same honor.  Despite what many historians believe, you will not be forgotten.

That’s what you can find out with the BBC’s Sex I.D. test. Nope, mind and body don’t always conform. Salon.com’s Tracy Clark-Flory recently took the six-part test and found that her brain does in fact match her bits:

My brain is female – very female, according to the BBC’s Sex I.D. test. I’m empathetic and able to accurately read people’s emotions. I’m attuned to changes in my environment, but suck at spatial judgment. I use words, lots of them. Therefore, the complex bundle of neurons and synapses in my skull can be essentialized as female — a pink brain, a cranial stereotype.

It sounds like a glorified Cosmo quiz, I know, but as it happens, the I.D. test is based in actual science — just like Match.com’s personality test, Clark-Flory notes. Still, the essence of sex or gender is never that simple, so even though the test has scientific research on its side, it may not be quite what it puffs itself up to be, that is:

The implication is that the test reveals the most innate, defining characteristic of your mind, the thing that makes you you.

If you have the time to take the approximately 20-minute  test, I hope you’ll post your results in the comments section — I’m interested to know if you agree or are surprised. I’ll be doing the same just as soon as I can figure out which of my browsers will support the damn thing.

Hustler magazine has recently put in a bid to procure crime scene photos of Emerson’s murder scene and has intentions of publishing the photos in an upcoming spread.  While many individuals (including the slain girl’s mother) have voiced a public outrage against this monstrosity of an idea, Hustler states that the photos, if received, would be part of a news story related to the crime.

State Representative Jill Chambers, who also hails from Emerson’s home state of Georgia, states, “Meredith has no way to give permission to have her body exposed and lusted after by people who derive pleasure from this” and is attempting to enact a bill to prevent publications such as Hustler to receive photos of murder victims.

Hopefully legislation will pass to prevent bloodsucking vile-mongers from even requesting such shocking prints or information in the future because not only is it a horrible thing to want to run in a publicly-viewed venue, it’s also shocking and torturous for surviving loved ones to have to relive again and again.

Rest in peace, Meredith.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a practicing OB-GYN interviewed on the Early Show recently and discussed healthy pregnancies with the viewers.  The primary advice that Ashton doled out revolved around not eating undercooked meats, avoiding non-Pasteurized dairy products and avoiding the urge to eat … paint chips.

In most cases, pregnant women are intelligent enough to avoid undercooked food because the undercooked entrée that sounds so good when you’re not pregnant can produce problems down the line that are even further exacerbated when you are pregnant.  As for the paint-chip-eating thing, Ashton states that nine times out of ten, the desire to eat weird non-food items can be chalked up to a pregnancy-induced iron deficiency, which, in my experience, can be cured by a lovely pack of prescription iron pills that result in your stool coming out like, well, a stool.

Regardless, my point in this article is that Ashton makes good points — if painfully obvious ones — regarding responsible diet during pregnancy, but what about the people who take it completely out of context and go overboard with the “eat this and die” advice?

During my one (and currently only) pregnancy, there were a select group of women that I worked with that absolutely shot me with visual daggers if I so much as picked up a half of a cup of coffee or tea.  These were the same women that stated I shouldn’t eat meat of any kind and especially shouldn’t expose myself to the sun, wind, rain, snow or dark closets with serial murders lurking in its shadowy depths.

It’s completely understandable that you have more to account for when you are pregnant, but when people go overboard in either direction — whether it’s totally overreacting or on the other end of the spectrum, treating you like you’re an imbecilic invalid — it’s a little hard to listen to and even harder to swallow.

What about you ladies that have endured pregnancy?  What’s the best-worst advice you’ve ever gotten?

I digress.

The Swiss company known as Lamprecht AG collaborated with Switzerland’s government to address a startling epidemic: twelve to fourteen year-old boys are having sex and aren’t using protection.

Switzerland, incidentally, has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe and previous attempts to spread awareness about protected sex have fallen upon many deaf ears.

I’m so completely torn by this.  I am most assuredly of the mindset that children will have sex and it’s best to educate them to protect themselves and others, but twelve years old?  Where has the innocence gone?  I commend the Swiss government for taking such necessary steps in preserving the welfare of these young children but it’s positively alarming that a “normal” age for children to be having sex in this day and age is twelve.

Do you remember what you were doing at twelve years old?  I do.  I was reading Babysitters Club books and climbing trees and occasionally playing dress up at my Nana’s house.  I was going to baseball games and wearing an ugly one-piece bathing suit to jump off the docks into the lake.  I was still holding my parents’ hands in public (not because I was forced to; because I wanted to).  I was having “movie marathons” with my younger brother and pigging out on popcorn and Mountain Dew on Friday nights.

It’s a grand thing that government and private entities alike are preparing children (children!) for the real world and offering them the ammunition that will enable them to make the best decisions that the circumstance calls for, but goddamn.

Where has the innocence gone?

A woman in Florida was arrested this past weekend after wrecking her car. The reason behind the accident?  She was grooming her nether regions. While driving.  On her way to meet her boyfriend.  Her ex-husband had taken the wheel while she stripped down and Bic-ed her button.

Thirty-seven year-old Florida resident Megan Barnes wrecked the car, crying “distraction!” and yet, shouldn’t have been driving to begin with.  Authorities state that the woman’s license had been suspended for previous counts of DUI and also driving with a suspended license.  When the crash was reported, Barnes’ ex-husband tried to take the rap for the crash, but was unsuccessful upon examination.  The passenger side airbags had deployed, burning the man, but the driver’s side airbags had not.  Guess who didn’t have airbag burns.
No word on whether the woman’s current boyfriend, ex-husband or estranged pubes posted her bail.

The holiday, which has remained a secret to many people in certain areas of the globe, has been celebrated since the early 1900’s and was initially implemented as a Socialist political movement to continue the fight for women’s equal rights in society.

In today’s society, however, International Women’s Day means a little bit more than celebrating women’s advancements in a public arena; the International Committee of the Red Cross is taking matters into their own hands and are using the day to spread awareness about the tragedies and hardships women endure who are “displaced” by wartime conflicts.  It’s widely known that women who are displaced by conflicts and shifts in socio-economic trends are often more likely to be sexually assaulted and poverty.

However, Women’s Day is not yet celebrated worldwide.  The only current countries that recognize International Women’s Day as an official holiday are Afghanistan, China, Laos, Madagascar, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam, just to name a few.  Currently, the United States does not recognize International Women’s Day because I guess they must consider it to be a replica Mother’s Day … hah and as if.

Regardless … Do your part to celebrate International Women’s Day, even if you didn’t really know too much about it to begin with!