Public concern that high-impact sports such as football, hockey, and boxing leave their participants with traumatic brain injuries has increased dramatically in recent years, but preliminary results from a study conducted at the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health suggest that women in head-butting…

Nike is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX with an ad called "Voices." Using the hashtag #maketherules, female athletes — Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza, women's basketball legend Lisa Leslie, WNBA star Diana Taurasi, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the world's first gold medal for women's marathon at the…

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 05: (L) Singer Justin Bieber holds up a belt for Floyd Mayweather Jr. before Mayweather Jr. takes on Miguel Cotto during their WBA super welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Aww, his first black-and-blue shoot. Timberlake did one, as did Lindsay. Guess this means The Beebs is all growed up?

Officials from The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) nearly incited fisticuffs when they implied that the first ever Olympic female boxers will be required to enter the ring in skirts. But, calm down, Panicky Von Anxoius O'Feminista— they only might be required. Official uniforms for Olympic women's…

The profile of boxer Keisher McLeod-Wells in the New York Times today includes details about her persona as "the Boxing Diva" — she likes Gucci anything, pink Juicy Couture knee-socks, Prada platform heels, Tory Burch tops and Bulgari eyeglasses. But some of the facts from the piece are plain-old depressing:

[Edinburgh, Scotland, January 14: Amateur boxer Louise Mitchell will be the first woman to box for Scotland in a match against Wales at Meadowbank Stadium—the third of four Bring Back Boxing Home Internationals. Image via Getty.]

The BBC is going to be airing women's boxing for the first time in all its bloody glory. And we say: go for it.

• More and more details are emerging about Chelsea's impending nuptials. She's picked the place (the Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New York) and the rehearsal dinner caterer (Terrapin restaurant). She even purchases some "understated" pillows from a local shop.

The role of women as both fans of and participants in organized sports has varied greatly in the U.S., as Karlene Ferrante demonstrates in her article* about gender and baseball.

• Breakups hurt. Amber Lee Ettinger, aka Obama Girl, says she's disappointed in the President's first year, and would like to see him focusing more on "jobs and the economy." •

[London, January 21. Image via Getty]

[Tokyo, November 25. Image via Getty]

• 23-year-old Katie Taylor has swiftly become Ireland's real life million-dollar baby, and possibly their best hope for the 2012 Olympics. Although women's boxing is a new sport, Taylor is already expected to win the gold. •

• Residents of Mansfield, MA are not happy with a new salon about to be opened in their town. "Knockouts" is a Texas-based chain that offers "haircuts for men" from women dressed in boxing gear. •

Life for disadvantaged Muslim girls in India, says the WSJ, follows this pattern: stay at home, help your mother, and, hopefully, marry a man who can care for you. But some are actively finding, and fighting, a different way.

Saturday night, for the first time ever, two women were the main event at a major mixed martial arts bout. MMA is a full-contact, male-dominated sport: