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Friday, Aug 8, 2008 9:47 PM UTC

Slipped through the cracks

Stories we didn't get to cover: Women more concerned about the economy than men, sex for food, and why are males the gender most likely to adopt?

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Topics: AIDS, Adoption, U.S. Economy, Broadsheet, Great Recession, Love and Sex,

No money, more problems: The recession has everyone fretting these days, but apparently more women than men are anxious about their economic state. According to a recent poll by the National Women’s Law Center, 59 percent of women claimed they were “worried and concernd” compared to only 46 percent of men. The poll suggests men and women have different priorities: More women than men said the government should increase its role in helping people plan for retirement and its funding for childcare, and 77 percent of women want to see the government address the issue of pay equity.

More men adopt?: It’s the first time the CDC has gathered adoption stats from men, and the findings may surprise you. Twice as many men as women adopt children. The numbers are clear, but the trend is complicated. Some attribute the glaring imbalance to divorce settlements, which usually place children with their mothers, leaving remarried men more likely than their wives to adopt stepchildren. Others credit the lack of options for gay men who want children: Gay men generally adopt, while gay women can have their own children.

Keep your hands to yourself, perv: New York subways are telling passengers to mind the gap — not the one between the train and the platform, but the one between you and the person next to you. Over the next three months, MTA will circulate 2,000 posters that say, “Sexual harassment is a crime in the subway, too — a crowded train is no excuse for an improper touch. Don’t stand for it or feel ashamed, or be afraid to speak up.” The ad campaign is a response to last year’s unsettling report that 10 percent of women were sexually abused and 63 percent were sexually harassed while riding New York City Transit.

Remember the old-fashioned days, when people just had sex for money?: First it was sex for real estate, then it was sex for gas. The increasingly disturbing sex trade trend has stripped down to the essentials: sex for food. Growing food prices worldwide have forced women in the Pacific and Africa to offer sex in exchange for vital items like fish and cooking oil. It may be the only way for many women to get food, but the consequences are potentially deadly. U.N. officials say the horrifying trend is contributing to the spread of AIDS in malnourished women who aren’t likely to survive an infection.

Stepford lives: Repression, subjugation and inequality aside, the ’50s were totally great! Actually, besides that Great Depression and the subsequent war, the ’30s and ’40s were even better! For three women who think they’re literally living in the past, having no dignity isn’t so bad — it’s heaven. The women dress and live like they’re living in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Sure, the women’s desire to retreat from the rampant materialism of the present is reasonable, but the results are downright disturbing: “My job is to devote myself to Martin. He has a physical, stressful job and he loves coming home to a wife who looks pretty, has his meal ready in an immaculate house and has all the time in the world for him.”

More Logan Scherer.

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