WMC News & Features
July 31, 2009 | C. Stacy Beam |
Health
It’s All About Choices: A Nurse’s View of Health Reform
If health care reform is enacted—and if it works to lower costs and keep Americans healthy—nurses will be a large part of the solution, argues the author. Trust her: she’s a nurse.
WMC News & Features
July 30, 2009 Arts and culture
Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg: A Story of the “Oprah of Her Day”
Before Lucy Ricardo, there was Molly Goldberg. The author interviews prize-winning filmmaker Aviva Kempner, whose documentary brings to life the star, writer and producer of the first TV sitcom, “The Goldbergs.”
WMC News & Features
Will Healthcare Reform Be Fair to Immigrants?
For reform to work, argues the author, it must fully include immigrant communities, whose members already struggle to afford decent medical care in the United States.
WMC News & Features
Liberia’s Difficult Path Toward Reconciliation
Having emerged from a long and violent civil war, President Sirleaf and the people of Liberia try to inch their way toward a just peace, while former president Taylor is on trial for war crimes against the citizens of a neighboring country.
WMC News & Features
Midwest Teen Sex Show: Can Sex Ed Actually Be Entertaining?
As the author reports, the creators of the podcast believe humor and honest information about sex for teens do mix, and programmers at Comedy Central think they may be on to something.
WMC News & Features
July 16, 2009 | Rinku Sen |
Race/Ethnicity
What the NAACP Means to Me
The author, a social justice activist from the Indian American community, explores the role of the venerable rights organization and the kind of leadership necessary going forward in a multiracial nation.
WMC News & Features
Who We Are, and What We See
The author, a psychologist/psychoanalyst, explains how Judge Sonia Sotomayor is naturally informed by her gender and ethnicity as she performs her duties on the bench.
WMC News & Features
What’s Behind the Rise of Women’s Philanthropy?
The author, a veteran fund-raiser, explains new data on women’s generosity—and how the projects they support strategically expand possibilities for women and girls around the world.
WMC News & Features
White House Focuses on Violence Against Women
Based on her past performance, advocates—including the author, who worked with her in New Mexico—have high expectations for Lynn Rosenthal, the new White House advisor.
WMC News & Features
Reality and Hope at the White House
At a recent White House reception, the author learned, on LBGT issues, the difference between having a leader or an ally in residence.
WMC News & Features
Dancing on the Side in Senegal
The author celebrated her 73rd birthday in a way she could hardly have imagined—surrounded by women who would now be able to draw water year-round in their own village.
WMC News & Features
July 02, 2009 | Sahar Driver |
International
Movement or Revolution? Learning From Developments in Iran
Yesterday in Iran, presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi called the government illegitimate and asked for protests to continue. Iranian-American commentator Sahar Driver tells us that, whatever happens in the near future, the reform movement has already achieved significant gains.
WMC News & Features
The Undiagnosed Problem: The Twilight “Saga”
Harmless fantasy-romance? Or influential prototype of a controlling lover? The author asks her (somewhat) younger sister-readers to take a deeper look at the popular series.
WMC News & Features
Responsible Solidarity: An Appeal to the Public on the Matter of Iran
The author urges us to stand against the violence threatening the masses of protesters in Iran, but to insist that our leaders not infringe on Iranian sovereignty—as has happened in the past. Her commentary is based on a speech she delivered on Tuesday at San Francisco City Hall.
WMC News & Features
June 24, 2009 | Latoya Peterson |
International
The Iranian Election and the Global Politics of “Pretty”
With reporting opportunities strictly limited in Iran, images carry the narrative, many of them focusing on young, attractive women. The author wonders about complexities hidden behind the emerging icons.
WMC News & Features
“Supa”: A Report from Kenya
The author, a medical doctor and writer, learned in an African village the truth behind the alarming worldwide maternal health statistics—when she was asked to treat a patient whose only resource was her mother, frantically urging her to “push.”
WMC News & Features
Celebrating Women's Media Successes
WMC’s first awards event honored the best work by women in news and entertainment. The recipients, however, cautioned those assembled to pay tribute: many barriers remain.
WMC News & Features
QWOC Film Festival Focuses on the Immigrant Experience
Produced by filmmaker Madeleine Lim, herself an immigrant from Singapore, the San Francisco festival gives newly trained queer women of color a showcase for their short films—and also feeds into the...
WMC News & Features
June 17, 2009 | Karin Lippert |
Health
The OHIP Card—the Benefits are Priceless
Don’t be misled by the rhetoric of opponents of single-payer health care, says the author, who has experienced the insurance systems on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. She has a decided prefer...
WMC News & Features
Finally, the Magical World of Disney Is About to Include an African American Princess
Granted, it’s a fairy tale—the furthest thing from reality. But a wide audience of little girls is likely to take Tiana, the new Disney character, to heart. The author asks how likely is it that the mainstream company can produce an effective role model for them.
WMC News & Features
June 11, 2009 | Reverend Debra Haffner |
“Common Ground” Is Reducing the Need for Abortion
On Sunday, May 31, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated in his church. In the escalation of words and the threats of violence that followed, the President’s counsel seems both inadequate and naïve.
WMC News & Features
Addressing the Muslim World, President Obama Reached Well Beyond the Arab Dignitaries
The author wonders if his pre-speech visit to a kingdom where women are oppressed weakens his appeal on behalf of women’s rights.
WMC News & Features
A Theatre Season To Savor
As Broadway celebrates with the Tony Awards Sunday night, the nominations recognize some, but hardly all, of women’s great successes in theatre during the last year. The author analyzes why an industry that is bucking the economic downturn continues to shortchange productions by and about women.
WMC News & Features
June 04, 2009 | Sarah Seltzer |
Media
Scarborough Country: Where Anti-Choice Extremism Is Swept Under the Rug
The murder of Dr. George Tiller has been the top news story of the week. But as some have noted, the tragedy has gotten scant notice from one MSNBC personality. The author sees the omission as part of a broader sexist pattern.
WMC News & Features
June 03, 2009 | Alida Brill |
Media
On Dr. Tiller’s Death
When right-wing commentators and talk-show guests characterize such good and compassionate men as criminals and worse, can we be surprised at the outcome? The author argues that, to honor George Tiller, we must insist on a public debate that reflects reality and the rule of law.