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Britain

domestic disturbances

Britain: Making It Easier For Women To Stay Home, And Reinforcing The Stereotype That They Should

As if there hasn't been quite enough said about the work-life choices women get to make, Nicola Brewer, the chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in Great Britain, ignited a debate about maternity leave and its effect on women's careers this weekend that has landed her in a spot of hot water. Recently, the government decided to change the laws on maternity leave to require employers offer mothers up to a year off instead of the current nine months, which sounds totally great on the surface but for one thing: men get 2 weeks paternity leave. What that means is that the government is sanctioning the expectation that women will be the primary caregivers, making it nearly impossible for men to share in those responsibilities (or to take them over) and doing nothing to advance the cause of actual equality. More »

Minding the (wage) gap

Harriet Harman Wants English Women To Make More Money

Harriet Harman is the Equality Minister in the UK and, as such, is pushing legislation to force government agencies and private firms with government contracts to disclose the average salary differences between men and women, and all private firms will be strongly encouraged to do so (under the threat of being required to do so). The legislation would additionally allow firms to proactively discriminate in favor of women and minorities in hiring if all other qualifications are equal. Of course, she's catching quite a bit of flak for this, since some people say women choose to make less money for doing the same work in order to care for their families. No, seriously, people are saying that. More »


girl on girl crime

British Schoolgirls: Now More Violent Than Ever!

Although the number of youth crimes has dropped overall in Britain, girl crime has risen by a quarter since 2005, reports the Guardian. New research from the Youth Justice Board shows that the types of misdeeds most often committed are theft and petty violence. English psychiatrists are trying to figure out why these girls are so angry, and their conclusions leave me wanting. Dr. Ann Hagell, who co-authored a study about anti-social behavior in 1998, says you need to look at long term trends and not be swayed by tabloid headlines about "happy slapping." Hagell thinks girls are more violent these days because of the influence of teenage boys. "Before, we had single-sex peer groups, but now they are more likely to be socialising with boys. In the 1950s they just didn't have the chance to do that," Hagell tells the BBC. More »

food for thought

At What Age Is A Kid Too Old To Breastfeed?

Extraordinary Breastfeeding is a documentary that aired in England a few years ago and focused on the country's discomfort with breastfeeding. Issues raised in the film included the right to breastfeed in public, breastfeeding adopted children, and at what age children should be weaned off breast milk. (The average age around the world is four years old, and the World Health Organization recommends that children be breastfed until they are at least two and a half years old.) One woman in the documentary, Veronica, believes that children should decide for themselves when they want to stop. Her daughter is about to turn eight, still breastfeeds, and has absolutely no plans of stopping. Clip — which is somewhat NSFW — above.

Related: Little Britain: Meeting The Parents [YouTube]

foreign affairs

Women Around The World Swear That British Men Suck

This one goes out to Tad Safran (you remember, the guy living in the UK who wrote that British women were unkempt fatties?): Women who move to the UK from abroad find British men highly disappointing, writes Julia Llewellyn Smith for Telegraph. Jennifer Rohn moved to London from Idaho. She says British men are "witty and charming" but terrified of women: "Basically, they charm the pants off you but then they run away when they see your knickers." More »

end of days

Oprah Pushing The Finding-A-Moral Agenda A Little Too Hard

  • Oprah's golden retriever Gracie died in May after an unfortunate choking incident and still Oprah is talking about it, only now she's putting that Oprah-branded spin on it saying that Gracie's death was really a hidden message that she needed to slow down and take more time to appreciate her own life. Seriously, we don't even have a response to this. [USA Today]
  • Oh yes: That's what's missing in the EU — machismo! [BBC]
  • Memo to People magazine: Please do not ever ever put that Jenny McCarthy eats nachos as an item under the tag "breaking news". Ever. [People.com]
  • Not shocking: Republicans don't want to pull out (from Iraq). But they don't want to give a Plan B either. Draw your own conclusions from this heavy-handed metaphor. [CNN]
More »

penis envy

British Newspaper Not Exactly Doing Any Favors For Small-Trousered, Male Readership

God we love British newspapers. This morning — and hot on the heels of yesterday's story about how penis size doesn't matter to women — the British tabloid The Sun is reporting that nearly half of all men are "unhappy with the size of their willies" and 40% of those blame the unrealistic images common to pornography. But even better than The Sun's recycling of its previous day's piece? The graphic that accompanies it: A handy clip-'n-save "Pecker Checker", which, ironically, undermines the paper's best intentions with the subtle implication that cocks in the Commonwealth only hit half a foot at most. More »