What else we're reading

Saudi government to women: Feel free to start your own businesses, but please, no heavy lifting. Also, a U.K. school bans girls' "Ooompa-Loompa" look.

Published July 7, 2006 11:45PM (EDT)

QJ.NET via Feminist Law Professors: Ease up guys. A Sony spokesperson says the company's controversial "White is coming" Dutch ad campaign, which features a white woman threatening a black woman in a sexualized skirmish, is just an innocent attempt at highlighting the color contrast between black and white PSPs. We feel so much better now.

Feminist Majority Foundation: A Portuguese court revived a 2004 case in which a doctor and his assistant were acquitted of charges of providing illegal abortions; three women were also acquitted of having abortions. But with fresh "evidence from gynecological exams," the five were again charged.

Reuters: Women with diabetes have an increased risk of hip fracture, according to a 22-year-long study.

San Francisco Chronicle: A synagogue's newfound "eruv" allows Jewish mothers with young children to avoid rules against carrying things -- like babies or young children -- during the Sabbath. "It gives me a lot more freedom," Barbara Schubert told the Chronicle. "You're able to connect more with the community on Shabbat."

Human Rights Campaign Foundation: Just over half of Fortune 500 companies now offer domestic partner health insurance benefits, and 86 percent of the companies have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation, according to HRC's "The State of the Workplace 2005-2006." Hooray! Next, we'd like to see the number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies climb above 10.

Ms. Magazine: Women can now launch their own businesses in Saudi Arabia. Just not in unwomanly fields like construction or real estate. For those professions, Director General of the Ministry of Commerce Muhammad Atiq Al-Harby said, "women need the help of a man."

The Mirror: In response to the scourge of female students wearing heavy, caked-on foundation, a U.K. school has banned young girls from wearing makeup to school. In response to the ban, quick-witted 14-year-old Charlotte Charnley cracked, "It will ruin the chances of girls having relationships as boys will see what some of them really look like." But hey, maybe boys will find facial imperfections preferable to what has been dubbed the "Oompa-Loompa" complexion.


By Tracy Clark-Flory

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