Speed Blogging, Mon 9/16/2013: On Women

Note:  Not all these are from the last few days.

First, the Taliban in Afghanistan is waging a physical war against women in the public sector, by killing female police officers, by burning down girls' schools, of course, and by killing other women who have used their voices.  These moves serve deeper desires to keep women restricted to the home and to make sure that women don't vote, for example.

Second, good news about teenage pregnancy rates in the US.  They are falling, and the most likely cause seems to be an increased use of contraception.  So what is being reduced are unintended pregnancies.

Third,  a rumored death of an eight-year-old bride in Yemen has created a debate about child marriages in that country.  What makes the debate more difficult are the religious arguments:

In 2009, Yemen's parliament passed legislation raising the minimum age of marriage to 17. But conservative parliamentarians argued the bill violated Islamic law, which does not stipulate a minimum age of marriage, and the bill was never signed.

Activist groups and politicians are still trying change the law, but more than 100 leading religious clerics have said restricting the age of marriage is "un-Islamic."

Fourth, and as usual (for this debate is one we always have), Hanna Rosin argued last month that the gender gap in wages is total hogwash because men and women mostly work in different occupations and even industries and that the actual pay difference for  identical work is very small.  But one recent report suggests that the story isn't that simple.   If you want to learn more about this all, have a look at my gender gap three-part series, available here.

Fifth, and finally, this piece and the picture attached to it are hilarious.  Talking about it properly cannot be done in speed blogging, and in any case I must refresh my mascara and learn about Syria, to be a proper feminazi. 

But a quick look at the pic might be something we can fit in here:  A room full of pretty and thin young white women, one being available as a keyboard table and in the middle of it all, one lucky guy!  It has the flavor of those nineteenth century European paintings about harems. 

Nah,  I just don't care enough about the Goldberg phenomenon to take it seriously, though naturally I'm willing to contemplate posts on fashion, makeup and dating should that make me, too, very rich.