Boots' enlightenment began after Twitter user Sean E. Gray posted a photo from the store, with the caption "not impressed." It revealed the store's "Girl Toy" section, featuring princess gear and mini tea sets, and the "Boy" section -- chock full of Science Museum brand kits.

As the Guardian reports, Boots initially defended the placement, saying its real estate choices were based on "customer feedback" and making the stores "easier to navigate." But in the face of mounting criticism, it has since retreated, promising on its Facebook page that "It was never our intention to stereotype certain toys. It's clear we have got this signage wrong, and we're taking immediate steps to remove it from store."

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Last Wednesday, novelist Amanda Filipacchi published an Op-Ed in the New York Times recounting her discovery that Wikipedia editors were culling women authors from Wikipedia's list of "American Novelists" and relegating them into their own subcategory: "American Women Novelists."

"The intention appears to be to create a list of 'American Novelists' on Wikipedia that is made up almost entirely of men," she wrote, noting that there was no "American Men Novelists" subcategory. (Although, amusingly, just such a category was created shortly after the Op-Ed appeared.)

In the furor that erupted on Wikipedia in response to Filipacchi's article, it was quickly determined that the bad behavior she noticed appeared to be the work of a single misguided Wikipedia editor. One could argue that, if true, this made the Times' headline "Wikipedia's Sexism Toward Female Novelists" unfair and inaccurate. All of Wikipedia was being tarred by the unthinking stupidity of one bad editor.

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Seems his fellow Republicans did not appreciate what Kush said on Twitter and Facebook regarding a 19-year-old female at the meeting, "Nice hat Working America chick but damn you are a radical bitch." Nor did it enjoy his remarks depicting the organization's state director Chelsey Evans as "Uh oh another Working America chick," or his observation that she had "nice boots…I know she makes more than min wage." And they definitely didn't find it too amusing when he declared that she "was hot enough to almost make me register democrat."

He's currently suspended, indefinitely, without pay.

"It was an ill-fated attempt at humor," Kush told Watchdog.org Wednesday. "Do I regret it? Yes … I absolutely crossed the line."

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As American (woman) novelist Amanda Filipacchi explained in the New York Times on Wednesday, the process has so far affected women writers whose last names begin with A or B, but others have been moved as well:

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Critics responded that the "niceness" of a top editor at one of the largest newspapers in the world is not news, and that Byers' and others' scrutiny is a product of Abramson's gender, not her qualifications to lead. Others suggest that traits characterized in Abramson as shrill have been celebrated as strengths in other, specifically male, editors.

Let's see more of what Twitter has to say about the matter here:

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That's the question that has set British gym shorts in a proverbial twist in recent weeks, after a man decided to sue London's Kentish Town Sports Centre for offering 442 hours a year for women-only hours.

Writing last week in the Daily Mail, patron Peter Lloyd explained his beef with the gym, noting that "they still charge them the same full-price membership fee as women, but refuse to offer the equivalent option of male-only sessions." Jezebel promptly labeled Lloyd a "jerk," who should "give us our 442 hours a year and stop crying." Wonkette, meanwhile, less charitably referred to him as a "Limey nutsack."

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The California-based chapter partnered with Women in Games International to design the requirements and curriculum for the patch. And while the new focus area isn't recognized organization-wide yet, they hope that will change, soon: "Fostering interest in technology and video game development in females of all ages ... is the main inspiration for working towards a national badge," Sheri Rubin, president and CEO of Design, Direct, Deliver and a member of WIGI's steering committee, told NBC News in an email.

"Our plan is to start by working with the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles to introduce a local patch and once successful open it up to other councils where game developers are prevalent," she added. "We hope this can be accomplished over the next couple years."

In addition to designing their own games, scouts will also be learning to code them using a customized version of design program Gamestar Mechanic.

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What could possibly be missing from those factual tales of successful retreat in VT, Germany, and the bowels of Amsterdam? Why children and vagina's of course. While the tales relate the actions of a solitary male the outcome cannot relate to similar situations where children and women and mothers are the potential victims.

Hansen's use of synecdoche outraged his Democratic and Republican colleagues, prompting Democratic state Rep. Rick Watrous to respond:

"Children and vagina's"??!! Are you really using "vaginas" as a crude catch-all for women? Really? Please think before you send out such offensive language on the legislative listserve.

NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire weighed in, too:

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White House press secretary Jay Carney said today that Obama called Harris and apologized for the comment and the distraction that it caused, saying he "did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's professional accomplishments and her capabilities."

"He fully recognizes the challenges women continue to face in the workplace and that they should not be judged based on appearance," Carney said.

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Scientists at Duke University’s Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics are close to perfecting an “invisibility cloak,” a breakthrough they have been working on since 2006. While I appreciate their efforts, I want to give them a tip: If you want to make a person invisible, just put them in the shoes of an over-fifty woman and abracadabra, watch them disappear.

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It is not "difficult to call a woman good-looking in public," not in a world where women's looks are considered public property, to be commented on, uninvited, whether it's on the street, in a job interview, or in the press. Many people find it quite easy to do, many of them men, and many people who should know better, like Barack Obama.

This is hardly the first time Obama has been smarmily sexist under the guise of paying a compliment. In the same New York magazine story on Christine Quinn in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg was notoriously quoted saying, "Look at the ass on her," Obama got a pass for a more politely phrased brand of creepiness. According to the piece, Obama said to a Republican legislator, 32-year-old Nicole Malliotakis, that she didn't look a day over 23. Quinn promptly joked that Malliotakis should become a Democrat, and the president chimed in, “Come on, honey! I said you’re pretty! I said you look 23!”

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Reporters Michael Grynbaum and David Chen provide a few lines in the front-page story to explain that Rudy Giuliani was also a political hothead and that Republican mayoral candidate Joseph J. Lhota once challenged a 77-year-old Holocaust survivor to “be a man.” The rest of the piece includes passages like this:

A session of the New York City Council had descended into chaos, and lawmakers were openly questioning her leadership. Ms. Quinn, the Council speaker, decided there was one person to blame: Betsy Gotbaum, then the city’s public advocate, who had been presiding.

The response was sudden and fierce. Ms. Quinn summoned Ms. Gotbaum to an office nearby and, with little warning, began shouting at her in increasingly angry tones about appearing weak in front of other lawmakers.

“You were like Bambi in there!” Ms. Quinn exclaimed, slamming her hand on a table for emphasis, according to Ms. Gotbaum, who was on crutches at the time.

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All of this was a key Republican strategy in taking back the House, and while there were lots of reasons the Democrats lost and Pelosi was dethroned, it achieved the desired result. Since the next big electoral battle will be control of the House in 2014, and a Democratic win would presumably put Pelosi back in charge, expect to see more Pelosi boogeyman-ing.

"It didn't bother me, I figured they thought I was effective and therefore they had to take me down," Pelosi told Salon at the premiere Thursday night of "Fall to Grace," her daughter's HBO documentary on former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey. Still, she worries about the message it sends to other women who might be considering a run.

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After facing significant backlash for the clip, the station sent out this tweet and issued a formal apology, deeming the objectifying footage inappropriate: “The video should never have aired. FOX CT will publicly apologize on today’s newscasts, as well as through our social media platforms. We are also implementing procedures to keep this from happening in the future.”

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In order to stay afloat (like boobs in the ocean), they've undertaken a pretty ambitious rebranding effort. The franchise is hoping that by creating a "sleek and comfortable" environment and adding salads to the menu, they can attract the Chipotle-eating masses and, you know, the womens.

And it's maybe kind of just a little bit working?

A new brand index report reveals that both men and women have a more positive opinion of Hooters than ever before. But despite minimal gains, the chain remains in hilariously low standing with both genders.

Still, the report did find that women seem to hate Hooters less than they used to. Researchers asked women to rank their feelings about the restaurant on a score from 100 to -100. In the latest round of surveys, women's impression of Hooters improved from -26 to -21. For men, the chain moved up from -3 to 2.

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On a recent speaking engagement at the University of Richmond, one anxious senior asked me, “I want to be a professional feminist—do I have to work at a women’s nonprofit? How do you bring your feminism with you into the ‘real world,’ especially if you end up in a work culture where they just don’t get it?”

I fear that college students are led to believe that, in order to be dedicated feminists, they have to work for nonprofit organizations specifically devoted to girls and women’s issues or go the academic route. If young women, or young men for that matter, want to go in this direction, more power to them. But there is a lot of valor in braving the kinds of organizations that don’t yet “get it” in this student’s parlance, and agitating for change from within. Audre Lorde warned against the perils of dwelling in “the master’s house,” and yet, there are such rich opportunities there—especially for young people with the energy for some serious remodeling.

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Except the famous Facebook COO is the opposite of uppity, personality-wise (look away from her wealth and privilege for just a moment, if you can. It’s hard, but try.) In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about “Lean In” is the way she constantly reassured us that she knows our objections to her argument, and they bother her. If you took out her caveats and provisos -- that she respects stay-at-home mothers and knows she writes from the pinnacle of privilege and is aware her advice might not help a single mother in a minimum wage job and understands that many women don’t aspire to climb the corporate ladder and she doesn’t judge anyone, except probably Hitler -- the book would be at least a quarter shorter, and a better read.

Sandberg needs someone to write a book that says: No matter how you layer in apologies for not writing an entirely different book, a book that will help every single person on the planet, people will savage you for it, anyway. Maybe she’ll do that next.

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Discrimination isn’t just an insult to our most basic notions of fairness. It also costs us money, because those who are discriminated against are unable to make the best use of their talents. This not only hurts them, it hurts us all, as some of our best and brightest players are, in essence, sidelined, unable to make their full contributions to our economy.

Over the past half century, America has made considerable strides in reducing discrimination against women and racial minorities. But recent research suggests that we still have a long way to go. What’s even worse: Progress against discrimination – particularly racial discrimination — seems to have largely stalled out. And there are signs that other forms of discrimination are getting worse. --David Futrelle, Time Magazine

The struggle against social injustice is fueled by a narrative of moral appeals. The logic of good guys vs bad guys, and how the long arc of justice inevitably bends true is compelling and beautiful. In appealing to the heart, the hope is that the mind, and the body politic, will inevitably be moved in the direction of the Common Good, and towards a set of forward thinking and evolved public policies

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