Jezebel: Romania

What's Up, Doc?

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 16:45:00 EST

Bucharest, Romania, Jan 29: Girls wearing rabbit outfits attend celebrations of the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Rabbit will begin on February 3, 2011.

Romanian Witches Protest Taxes With Spells & Hexes

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:10:00 EST

Something is going down in Romania, and it's not good. People who claim the profession of witch, astrologer and fortune teller will have to pay taxes for the first time, ever. Many are not happy. More »

Nicolas Cage's Latest Meltdown Is Captivating, Epic

Sadie Stein — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:44:00 EST

Seriously, if "I'll fucking die because of honor" doesn't become a meme by the end of the day, we'll have lost our faith in the Internet. More »

Witches & Fortune Tellers Are Spared Taxation

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:40:00 EDT

Romanian senators have rejected a bill that would tax witches and fortune tellers, make them produce receipts, and hold them liable for incorrect predictions. One lawmaker claimed the senators were afraid of being cursed. Really? More »

Help Wanted

Anna Holmes — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:10:00 EDT

[Bucharest, May 26. Image via AP]

Nestlé Ad Shows Women Have Only Held Back Humanity's Progress

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST

This Romanian Nestlé wafers commercial demonstrates how women have hampered human innovation throughout history by making men listen to their stupid ideas. This is, of course, absurd — as countless ads have shown, men never listen to women. [Sociological Images] More »

Swing Out, Sister

Anna Holmes — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:10:00 EST

[Raducaneni, Romania; November 12. Image via Getty]

Scent Of A Woman

Anna Holmes — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:10:00 EST

[Bucharest, November 10. Image via Getty]

Behind The Iron Curtain: Herta Mueller Wins Nobel Prize For Literature

Anna North — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EDT

Herta Mueller, a 56-year-old member of Romania's ethnic German minority, has won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature for her stark depictions of life under Communism. More »

The Candidate

Anna Holmes — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:10:00 EDT

[Targoviste, Romania; June 4. Image via Getty]

Rumples, Stilts, Skin

Anna Holmes — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:10:00 EDT

[Bucharest, May 28. Image via Getty]

Bride & Prejudice

Anna Holmes — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:10:00 EDT

[Bucharest, May 17. Image via Getty]

Bikini Bottoms Now Promote Genital Mutilation Awareness • Romanian Court Says Penis Worth $800K

Maria — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Bathing suits in Barcelona now feature hygienic protectors in swim bottoms that feature a picture rusty razor blade that sits right under your ladyarea to raise awareness about genital mutilation. Wow, genius and kinda gross. • Josef Fritzl is apparently writing his memoirs while in prison, much to the horror of his daughter/rape-victim for 24-years, Elisabeth. • Mothers who give birth to unexpected twins are more likely to be depressed and anxious after pregnancy, however women who conceived with IVF or other fertility treatments are usually less blue. • This one is for the dudes: having sex less than once a week will increase the likelihood of developing erectile dysfunction. More »

It's sort of weird to be celebrating an...

Jessica G. — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:45:00 EDT

It's sort of weird to be celebrating an abortion, but um, we're really happy that the 11-year-old girl who was knocked up by her 19-year-old uncle in Romania will be allowed to have an abortion in her own country. A government committee has decided that "the girl's mental health would be severely affected if she had a baby," according to the Mail on Sunday. Originally the girl was planning to travel to the UK, where a wealthy Romanian expat had agreed to pay for her travel expenses and for the procedure. In a letter read at the committee yesterday, the girl said, "I want to go to school and to play. If I can't do this, my life will be a nightmare." [Mail On Sunday] More »

Romanian Girl Impregnated By Relative May Will Not Be Denied An Abortion

Jessica G. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EDT

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Last week it was Polish 14-year-old who was caught in a choice battlefield, and now, news of a pregnant by rape 11-year-old Romanian girl has hit the international news wires. The legal time limit for abortions in Romania is 14 weeks, and because this girl is, you know, eleven, she didn't realize she was pregnant until her parents took her to the doctor because she was feeling sick, the Guardian reports. (At least that's better than Romania under Communist rule — as the drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days made disturbingly clear — abortion was completely illegal back then.) Oh, and if this story couldn't get any sadder, the man who raped this tween is her 19-year-old uncle, who has subsequently disappeared. Now 20 weeks pregnant, the girl's parents want her to travel to Britain, where the abortion limit is 24 weeks, and a wealthy Romanian living in England has volunteered to pay for her plane fare. So what's the problem? Romanian government committees disagree about what the girl should be allowed to do. More »

Romanian Abortion Drama 4 Months Opens To Rave Reviews

Jessica G. — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST

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I've never seen a critical reception as uniformly positive as that surrounding the release of the foreign film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The movie follows a pregnant college student, Gabita, her best friend, Otilla, and their attempts to procure an illegal abortion for the former. (The title refers to how far along in her pregnancy Gabita is when she sets out to terminate it; the film is set in 1987, more than 20 years into the dictatorial regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, under whom abortion was outlawed.) 29-year-old actress Anamaria Marinca plays Otilla, the film's protagonist, and her nuanced performance has sent reviewers into paroxysms of praise. "Foremost among the many revelations is Marinca's stellar turn as Otilia," says Variety. "It's not just the way she transforms scripted dialogue into real-speak (a quality shared by the rest of the stellar cast), but her ability to convey all her inner struggles in silence." More critical acclaim, after the jump. More »