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  • Paulatakingpix-1466

    Paula Lerner Remembered: Emmy Award-Winning Photographer of Afghan Women

    Afghan businesswoman Rangina Hamidi remembers the late award-winning photographer Paula Lerner, who has died of breast cancer at the age of 52. Lerner was the principal photographer for the Emmy Award-winning project, "Behind the Veil: An Intimate Journey into the Lives of Kandahar’s Women Featuring Photography." "Even though she’s physically gone, I would urge more Americans to get involved the way Paula did, because Paula...
    Mar 16, 2012 | Story
  • Gaskin

    Ina May Gaskin on Rising U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate, Midwifery and Home Births

    As the controversy over women’s access to contraception continues, we look at women’s access to safe, affordable and comfortable birthing options. Pioneering midwife Ina May Gaskin is the founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee. Last year, she won a Right Livelihood Award "for her whole-life’s work teaching and advocating safe, woman-centered childbirth methods that best promote the physical and mental...
    Mar 19, 2012 | Story
  • Gaskin

    Ina May Gaskin and the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project Focus on High U.S. Maternal Mortality Rates

    In part two of our interview with pioneering midwife Ina May Gaskin, she describes the women who died of pregnancy-related causes and are commemorated in squares of the Safe Motherhood Quilt. [includes rush transcript]
    Mar 19, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • Button-adrienne-rich

    Adrienne Rich (1929-2012): Alice Walker & Frances Goldin on the Life of the Legendary Poet & Activist

    The legendary poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich, who died on Tuesday at the age of 82, was one of the most celebrated poets of the last half-century and a lifelong advocate for women, gay and lesbian rights, peace and racial justice. Rich drew widespread acclaim for her many volumes of poetry and prose, which brought the oppression of women and lesbians into the public spotlight. She was a key figure in the women’s movement and an...
    Mar 30, 2012 | Story
  • Selmajames

    Housework as Work: Selma James on Unwaged Labor and Decades-Long Struggle to Pay Housewives

    A debate over housework shook the presidential race last week after a Democratic strategist accused Mitt Romney’s wife Ann of never having worked a day in her life. Ann responded: "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work." Today we bring a historic voice into this discussion: the longtime activist, writer and political thinker Selma James, known for her pioneering work on women’s rights and...
    Apr 16, 2012 | Story
  • Selmajames

    VIDEO: "Sex, Race and Class" — Extended Interview with Selma James on Her Six Decades of Activism

    Watch our complete interview with the pioneering activist, writer and political thinker Selma James. She launched the International Wages for Housework Campaign three decades ago, controversially arguing that women should be paid for housework. That argument is still timely today as a debate over women’s work rocks the presidential race. [includes rush transcript]
    Apr 18, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • Vatican

    U.S. Nuns Face Vatican Rebuke for "Radical Feminism" in Stances on Church Teachings, Social Justice

    The Vatican has reprimanded the largest group of Catholic nuns in the United States, saying they have focused too heavily on issues of social justice, while failing to speak out enough on "issues of crucial importance," such as abortion and same-sex marriage. In a report issued last week, church leaders accused the nuns of promoting "radical feminist" ideas and challenging key teachings on homosexuality and male-only priesthood....
    Apr 27, 2012 | Story
  • Olympics-sarah_attar-1

    From Saudis to Soccer, Women Make Strides at Summer Olympics, But Are They Pawns of Backward IOC?

    One of the many records broken during the 2012 Olympic Summer Games was the number of female athletes participating from the conservative Islamic nations of Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia only allowed the women to compete after the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, threatened to bar the whole team unless women were included. The controversy over the Saudi athletes is just one of the many ways in which women athletes and gender...
    Aug 10, 2012 | Story
  • Paul_ryan_-_2012

    The Paul Ryan Vision of America: Ban Abortion, Defund Contraception, Outlaw In Vitro Fertilization

    We look at Mitt Romney’s newly announced vice-presidential running mate Paul Ryan’s record on women’s reproductive rights. Ryan opposes abortion in all situations, including cases of rape and incest, and opposes abortion in cases that endanger an expectant mother’s health. Planned Parenthood has also criticized his endorsement of a so-called "Personhood Amendment," which supports defining a fertilized egg as a...
    Aug 13, 2012 | Story
  • Todd_akin

    Akin Defies GOP Pleas to Exit Missouri Senate Race Before Deadline After Rape Comments Spark Uproar

    Republican Rep. Todd Akin has refused to drop out of Missouri’s Senate race, defying calls from leaders of his own party who say he could hurt Republican chances this November. Akin sparked a national controversy over the weekend after he told an interviewer that women are somehow capable of blocking pregnancy during what he called a "legitimate rape," a comment he later apologized over. Republicans, from presidential candidate...
    Aug 22, 2012 | Story