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The U.K.-based site, Mumsnet, is hosting what could shape up to be the Gladiator of all online political advertising battles: The quest for the mom blogger vote. From Advertising Age magazine:

Jean Shinoda Bolen is asking you to sign a petition for a Fifth UN World Conference on Women. Said petition would be delivered to the UN Secretary-General, to the chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and to the woman who will be appointed to head the new women's "super-agency" in March 2010. Shinoda Bolen explains:

 "Only one bathroom?" The woman behind me looked ahead, at the half-dozen other passengers waiting for the tiny toilet to be available. I smiled and nodded, raising my eyebrows in a what can you do? kind of way.

The end of the year is for reflection.  I like to take a look back at all the feminism & gender issues I covered for BlogHer.  Since it's hard for me to remember what happened an hour ago, let alone in July or, heaven forbid, January, this is an important exercise for me. It reminds me what feminists accomplished, what still needs to be done, and what I'll can only laugh about or else I'll be curled up in the fetal position whimpering.  This year, I sorted stories by topic. 1sts

When Nordette Adams, another contributing editor at BlogHer, told me about the Danish anti-violence program, Hit the Bitch, I thought it must be some sort of joke. It wasn't. Nordette had read a post on Feministe, in which the author "hit the bitch" avatar as many as 15 times, watched her cry and cover her bruised face, and then was rated "100% gangsta" when the "bitch" collapsed. As the online abuser observed her status, the words changed.

For the past four years, the World Economic Forum has studied the gender gap - that is, the amount of resources dedicated to boys and girls and women's opportunities to fully participate in society - in over 100 countries, then ranked them. (In 2009, the Index included data from 134 nations. At least 12 of 14 indicators used for the Index must be available in order for a country to be included.) The goal, according to the 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, is:

1 Man, older and less educated than the woman 1 Woman, at least 5 years younger (be sure to check freshness date!) and smarter than the man 0 Couples of the same sex 0 Previous divorces 0 Cougars Place man and woman in same home. Stir. Voila! Enjoy your happy, lasting marriage!

Ever since the HPV prevention drug Gardasil hit the market in 2006, I've been very suspicious. The marketing campaign says that it is the "only vaccine for cervical cancer," but what Gardasil actually protects against are some strains of HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that may cause cervical cancer. This is very misleading, not to mention that it is possible to prevent HPV infections through safe sex practices. What also got my dander was how quickly it got pushed on the public.

In the current discussion and debate about health care reform proposals the methods of paying for, administering and delivering universal basic health care benefits in other countries are often raised as models of either what we should emulate or what we should fear adopting.

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BlogHer Voice of the Week: Seeking Elevation

Last year I went to Africa for vacation, in the Zulu region of South Africa. When I returned I didn't really have much to say. I feared any word...

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