Tunisia’s first freely elected president, Beji Caed Essibsi, passed away in July, leaving a legacy of ground-breaking changes in how women are treated in this Arab country. While he was in office, the country’s parliament passed a bill introducing new criminal provisions and increasing penalties for multiple violations against women. Essibsi helped change a law banning Muslim […]
Women's Rights
Who was the 19th c True Woman?
Many 21st century women think they have a long way to go to secure the same rights and privileges 21st century men enjoy. I’m one of them. Still, life has gotten better. Here’s a description of what was expected of 19th century women. It ‘s a good explanation of why Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her […]
New woman’s suffrage book published
Barbara Berenson, a recently retired Senior Attorney at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, has published Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers,” about the fundamental role Massachusetts activists played in the movement over the course of three generations. “It’s important to have a knowledge of history,” Berenson said. “What that has shown us is that a step […]
Soccer women sue for salary and support
The U.S. women’s soccer team, winner of four Olympic gold medals, three World Cup championships, and ranked No. 1 in this year’s World Cup match that began June 7 in France, is suing U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination. The class action suit declares that, compared to the men’s team—which has never won a World Cup […]
Celebrating a 70-year struggle to vote
It took seven decades of steady, often brutal, campaigning to get United States women the right to vote. The activism began in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and friends shocked the local patriarchy by getting together in a church to tell their menfolk what they expected out of life. At that point, men should have […]
Richmond women: no horses, no pedestals
Richmond, VA is turning over a new leaf. The former seat of the Confederacy, renowned for honoring men and war, is erecting 12 statues of women, most of whom I’ve never heard of. And that’s the point. Until recently women’s history was practically an oxymoron. That is changing. In contrast to New York City, which […]
