Mary Beard, talking to the Radio Times, has been the latest to jump into the debate triggered by BBC head of television Danny Cohen’s decree that there should be no more all-male gatherings on the corporation’s…
The hairband I’m rockin’? Mum bought it.
amslerPIX
Families where mothers earn as much as or more than fathers are no more likely to split up than those where mothers earn less, according to new research published today. In fact, the evidence shows that…
Should sexuality play a central role in constructing our own identity?
MTC, photo Jeff Busby
British playwright Mike Bartlett’s contemporary comedy of manners Cock opened on the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) main stage last week. Highly anticipated after winning an Olivier Award with its London…
Julia Gillard and Helen Clark supposedly suffered from a problem with their leadership style - and so, it seems, does every other woman in a position of power.
AAP/David Foote
Historically, geographically, culturally – there are many points of comparison between Australia and its neighbour to the east, New Zealand. But there are notable differences. This week, The Conversation…
Masculinity must be learned and there are severe consequences for not upholding it.
Vladimir Byazrov
On Sunday, So You Think You Can Dance Australia returned to Channel Ten, promising spectacular performances from male and female dancers around the country. And yet, in the non-TV world, it seems the men…
Torah Bright is one of many Australian women competing in the Winter Olympics and challenging perceptions about women in sport.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games were declared the “women’s games” – with female participation in all sports and every nation represented by at least one female athlete. Although the Sochi 2014 Winter…
Muscular women such as Serena Williams issue a challenge to received ideas about femininity.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
We don’t see many muscular women in popular culture – and the display of much heavier and obviously stronger female bodies can be overwhelming or shocking. Professional tennis playing sisters Serena and…
Lupita Nyong'o and Alfre Woodard star in Steve McQueen’s new biopic.
Chris Pizzello/AP
The United States was in the middle of a civil war 150 years ago and, while Abraham Lincoln had just issued the emancipation proclamation, it would still be another 18 months until freedom finally came…
The headlines The Guardian: Male and female brains wired differently, scans reveal The Atlantic: Male and female brains really are built differently The Independent: The hardwired difference between male…
Role reversal: evolution is not the only way to explain gender differences.
Linh Do
On a TV show or in a movie, if a guy and a girl are at a party and one approaches the other to strike up a conversation, chances are that it was the guy who approached the girl. That is because we have…
EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall is one of few women at the top of UK business.
Steve Parsons/PA
In the UK, women make up just just 17.3% of FTSE 100 companies’ board members. This puts the UK 5th in the world behind Norway, Sweden, Finland and France. Things are certainly improving: 44% of new appointments…
The binary categories of male and female don’t align with the reality that sex and gender may be fluid.
Keoni Cabral
Earlier this month the High Court indicated it was prepared to hear a legal case that tests the ability of intersex Australians to be legally recognised as being neither male or female. The High Court…
An excerpt from Alison Bechdel’s comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For (1985).
Wikimedia
Four cinemas in Sweden recently pledged to rate films based on whether they pass what is known as the “Bechdel test,” a means of evaluating gender bias in film, named after American graphic artist Alison…
Aborting a foetus just because of its sex seems repugnant to most of us.
Shutterstock
A Melbourne doctor is being investigated by the medical professional standards body for refusing to refer a woman to another GP after she sought an abortion. The case raises important questions about doctors…
Women who take time off research to have children face funding obstacles when returning to the workforce.
Cia de Foto
Kim Jacobson, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
A glass ceiling remains in place for female medical research scientists in Australia. Although approximately 50% of PhD students and postdoctoral scientists are female, males run the majority of research…
Emotional fallout: undervalued, paid less and under pressure to look good.
Christine Cassis
Martin Baggaley pulled no punches last week in his assessment of the dire state of mental health. The Medical Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust said the system was in crisis, inefficient…
Gender justice: women take more prominent roles on ICC than other courts.
ICC-CPI
The African Union will hold a summit from October 11-13 to consider a mass withdrawal of the 34 African member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This would be in response to the trials…
A twerking, tongue-poking Miley Cyrus at the Video Music Awards in Brooklyn earlier this year. Does the pop singer represent third wave feminism?
EPA/Jason Szenes
Since her tongue-poking and “twerk”-filled performance at the American Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus has been the subject of intense media discussion. This has only magnified in the past week, after…
Gender-based violence is a deeply embedded problem in many societies and cultures. Despite this, efforts to challenge it are rarely seen at a primary school level. There is a perception that children aged…