Glamour's Stupids-worthy hints include not driving while reading the newspaper (or brushing your teeth), and not putting popcorn inside your vagina. According to the ever-obvious "dos and don'ts" section, you should also not expose your buttcheeks to public view. And woe betide the woman who tries to be "perfect" — she might end up falling down the stairs and breaking her daughter's leg, like Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski. Using Brezinski's accident as a cautionary tale about "doing too much too soon" seems like a stretch, but if editors couldn't generalize individual women's experiences into prescriptive "tips for all women, ladymags wouldn't exist — and neither would Cover Lies.

•  Last night John McCain told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren that he thinks people are being too hard on Sarah Palin, even if he does find it kinda funny. "I'm entertained and sometimes a little angry when I see this constant, vicious attacks by people on the left. I've never seen anything like it," he said. • According to a recent poll, 86% of men in Canada would rather be a driver than a passenger in bad weather. Unfortunately, 50% of men also claimed that they don't slow down in the snow, which makes things a little more dangerous for the rest of you up north. •  Researchers have found that a particular type of fertility treatment, ICSI, may produce more baby girls than boys. Even though few babies are born through this method, the authors conclude: "because our findings suggest that ICSI may reduce the sex ratio, we recommend that ICSI only be done if medically necessary, in an effort to prevent this potential side effect." •  19-year-old pimp DeShawn "Cash Money" Clark has become the first person to be convicted of human trafficking in Washington state. Clark faces up to 18 years in prison for his crimes. •  Years after doctors told her she was infertile, Sarah Wilkinson took an emergency trip to the hospital because she felt some pain in her stomach. Turns out, she was having a baby. She says she feels "fantastic" now, even though the pregnancy was a huge shock. • Did you know that there have been women in the Scotland Yard for 90 years now? Women first started working as officers in 1919, when they were introduced in order to help deal with prostitutes and suicidal women. Plus: here are some of their spiffy outfits. •  Vicki Kennedy told Oprah today that she has absolutely no interest in running for the senate seat left empty by her late husband, Edward Kennedy. She also told Oprah about the last days of her husband's life, including his determination to survive to see Obama elected president. •  Two teenage girls from New Zealand have been convicted of the murder of a retired school teacher. The girls, aged 18 and 15, broke into his house and beat him to death with his own walking stick before trashing the place and leaving with his wallet. •  Three lacrosse players from Sacred Heart University have been accused of conspiring to sexually assault a female student in a dorm room. The victim was engaging in consensual sex with one of the boys when his two friends crept in "as a prank," but their lawyers claim they had no contact with the woman. •  Lobna Abdelrehim used to work at a Wall Street publishing firm, until she got fed up with the rampant racism and sexism. She says she was constantly mocked for her faith and her looks, and has brought a lawsuit against the company. •  Michele Bachmann admitted to the St. Cloud Times that she sometimes says stupid shit: "I wish I could be more artful in the way I say things. But she went on add some qualifying statement about "bias in the mainstream media" and so on. • In other Bachmann news, she's headed to Nashville to join Sarah Palin for a Tea Party. Sadly, not the fun kind. •  A new study from the UK confirms that police often don't believe rape victims due to prejudices about their background, class, and "behavior." Officers were also found to be inadequately trained for dealing with rape, which can result in police that would rather "do nothing at all" than risk doing something wrong. • 

In what's to be the first of a series of posts on gender and travel on the New York Times Freakonomics blog, Eric A. Morris lists some differences between men's and women's driving habits. Men typically have longer commutes than women, and women tend to take shorter trips in general. Men also make up a large majority of truck drivers and chauffeurs. And perceptions of female drivers remain mired in stereotype. Morris writes,

What's more, the "woman driver" stereotype hasn't quite deserted us entirely; as Tom Vanderbilt reported in his book Traffic, men and woman are more likely to honk at woman drivers than male ones. And, perhaps surprisingly, University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz reports that in 9 of 10 households that identify themselves as "feminist," the man does most of the driving when both partners are in the car.

This last statistic hits home with me, as a longtime feminist and driving-hater. Whenever I'm in a relationship, the dude does 99% of the driving. I once set out on a road trip with a boyfriend, in my car, and then pulled over after ten minutes so he could take the wheel. It's not that I'm into traditional gender roles on the road — I'm just deeply embarrassed to have anyone, especially someone I love, watching me drive. I'm not actually that bad a driver — I've never (knock wood) been in an accident, and I've only gotten one ticket (for going a blistering 41 mph). It's just that I've never really gotten comfortable behind the wheel, and I feel like driving actually destroys the traits in me that I associate with feminism. Ordinarily a confident and independent person, I become nervous, dithering, and indecisive, and I frankly don't want anyone to see me like that.

Of course, the reason I never learned to love the open road may be gendered as well. My parents were restrictive about my early driving in a way they weren't with my brother, forbidding the freeway and preferring that I got rides from friends rather than driving myself. Then again, I'm also the firstborn, and I was a manifestly shitty driver at the beginning, largely because I have no hand-eye coordination and I can't tell left from right. I'm not sure if I would have gotten over my distaste if I were male, and forced by social pressures into the driver's seat, but I do know it's just as unfair to expect men to be awesome drivers as it is to expect women to be terrible ones.

I go back and forth about whether my driving problems or a flaw in my feminism. On the one hand, it's not great that any boyfriend automatically becomes my DD. On the other, driving isn't particularly good for the planet, and in an ideal world, we'd all do it less. Since I moved to New York, I don't have a car anymore, and construction aside, I heartily enjoy letting the subway conductors do my driving for me. I still think the fact that men are the default drivers in feminist households is troubling, and it disturbs me that many still assume women will be worse drivers than men. The truth is, some of the calmest, most confident drivers I know are women — and for now, I'll yield the wheel to them.

Sex And The SUV: Men, Women, And Travel Behavior [NYT Freakonomics Blog]

• A new survey suggests that fathers are better at giving driving lessons than mothers, who tend to panic, while dads just swear. • Brazilian researchers have found that among teenage girls, there are alarmingly high rates of STDs that often go undetected. • The BBC has an amazing video of a monkey teaching its young to floss with human hair. • More monkey news: zoologists have found that monkey tantrums should never go ignored. • From the Institute of No Shit Studies: men in their 60s drive the most powerful cars. • A Miami evangelist claiming to be the anti-Christ has gone into hiding following a court ruling to pay his ex-wife $2.2 million. Wonder if Satan will help him out of this one. • Some asshole put his wife up for sale, describing her as "Nagging Wife. No Tax, Not MOT. Very high maintenance - some rust." He says he was shocked that he received several offers. • The Hijabi Monologues, a little known play about Muslim women who wear the headscarf, is currently showing in LA. • A little over a year ago, Wajeha al-Huwaider made a pledged to get the Saudi ban on women driving lifted by Women's Day 2009. Sadly, the ban is still in place. • The man who threw his shoe at our esteemed former President has been sentenced to three years in prison by an Iraqi court. • This is not exactly news to any American college student, but the American Dietetic Association has found that 58% of "kid cereals" are actually being consumed by adults. • Sad: a survey of Boston teens found that nearly half of them believe Rihanna was responsible for Chris Brown's assault on her. •  Could Coulter's reign of terror be coming to a close? Ann Coulter's new book Guilty isn't selling nearly as well as her others did. • 

"The woman tried to escape when she saw a police car and in the process hit another car, which was slightly damaged," said a police spokesman. The woman, whose name and nationality were not released, was turned over to the Saudi Prosecution and Investigation Commission for investigation. [CNN]

Given Mom's outburst, it's no surprise to me that moms use car trips as a chance to talk to their kids. According a study by insurance company Sheilas' Wheels [we don't get the placement of the apostrophe either — maybe it's an Australian thing?], 11 percent of moms have give their kids a ride somewhere just to get a chance to talk to them. And 56 percent say it's easier to talk in the car than other places. Some mothers cited limited eye contact as helpful when bringing up sensitive topics, but the article also brings up another perk of the car conversation: kids are trapped. Unless you want to jump out at fifty miles an hour, you have to listen — or, in my case, promise. [Telegraph]

• A 31-year-old Iranian, blind from an acid attack by a spurned suitor, is demanding that the judge follow the ancient tradition of "eye for an eye" punishment and blind her attacker. • Bollywood-style dance classes, which mix traditional Indian folk dances with hip-hop moves, are a growing trend in fitness. • Virgin has instituted a "kissing ban" at one of their U.K. train stations because they believe that kissing couples were delaying trains. The introduction of a "kissing zone" outside the station really saps all the romance out of a goodbye kiss. • European medicine watchdogs have concluded that the HPV vaccine Gardasil did not cause seizures and loss of consciousness in two Spanish girls who had just been vaccinated. • New research indicates that physical activity improves the quality of life in postmenopausal women. The study found that women reported better mental health even if they did not lose weight. • This month's E-Poll indicates that women are most likely to make an effort to watch daytime dramas, but they would really miss Judge Judy if her show were to be canceled. • A Valentine's Day Craigslist ad in Texas has been revealed as a prank. The ad, which offered sexual favors to men, showed a photo of a woman named "Jennifer" and promised that she would "moan like Shamu." • UMen, a Middle Eastern men's magazine, recently ran a feature titled "Reasons Why Women Can't Drive." The list of "reasons" included: women have dogs in the front seat (??), and women "lack the driving gene." • Paula Oliveira, the Brazilian woman who was allegedly attacked by Swiss skinheads, has confessed that the entire story was an elaborate lie, complete with self-mutilation. • Doctors hope that a new device, implanted under the skin near the collar bone, will help sufferers of chronic obsessive compulsive disorder by sending pulses of electricity to the brain. • A 20-year-old Kansas City woman was explaining that she no longer loved her ex-boyfriend, only to be interrupted by gunshots. She was unharmed, but police later found the bullet, shot by her ex-boyfriend, tangled in her weave. • China's economic slump has lead many professional Chinese women to seek jobs as maids and nannies. • This Friday will mark the first time women are allowed to compete in ski jumping in the Nordic skiing World Championship. Athletes hope that the Olympic committee will also open the sport to women. •

For years, Iraqi women were seen as more vulnerable to violence than men. Many men carried weapons, and some harassed or even threw acid at women without headscarves. But now, twenty-five-year-old driving student Hadeel Ahmed says, "It bothers me to have to depend on my brother or father to take me everywhere. [...] I want to be independent." She adds that, "driving means someone is brave. [...] They're strong. Not only in their body but in their spirit." And bravery is an important quality for drivers in Iraq, who must deal with U.S. checkpoints, blast walls around many buildings, and the complete absence of traffic lights.

Some women have a motivation beyond independence. Leila Muhaibis needs to learn to drive the blue Honda parked outside her parents' house. It's her brother's; he has been missing for three years, ostensibly taken by U.S. forces. With her brother's return increasingly unlikely, the car is her responsibility now.

As more women get behind the wheel, more women are directing traffic as well. Many are entering the police force, both because they want to help their country and because limited education for women has left them with few other career options. But female police officers make less than men — the equivalent of $500 a month to men's $600. And most of them are not allowed to carry guns.

As Turmoil Ebbs, Iraqi Women Seek Freedom Of Road Again [Washington Post]
Female Officers At Risk In Iraq [UPI]

Though these luxuries are common internationally, in Iran they are seen as features for women who can't handle a complex machine. And while the introduction female-specific cars only highlights the gender gap in Iran, some Iranian women are using cars to their advantage, as drivers in Iran's new women-only taxi service.

Female drivers are not uncommon in Iran (unlike Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden to drive) but there are still many restrictions on women. Iranians may not be in the company of an unrelated member of the opposite sex, a crime punishable with lashes or jail time. Public transportation is segregated, with women sitting in the rear of buses and on separate train cars, but the rules are more lax in cabs. Women commonly share taxis with male strangers in breach of Iranian law.

However the male creators of the Womens' Wireless Taxi say that the service was not created to enforce religious edicts, but to provide a safe travel option for women in Tehran. The company was created in November 2006 in response to increasing instances of rape and sexual assault in Tehran. Police estimated that 30% of sexual offenses were committed by male taxi drivers and women were advised not to travel alone in cabs.

"Our agency is a symbol of freedom and democracy, not of segregation," said Mohsen Oroji, Womens' Wireless Taxi's managing director in The Guardian. "We are providing a service for those women who choose us. It's not obligatory."

The male directors claimed shortly after the company's creation that their goal was to be agents of female emancipation by creating jobs for women, and so far this has been the case for their employees. The company only accepts female applicants for their telephone operators and taxi drivers and currently employs 700 drivers who handle an average of 2,500 calls per day. The drivers have to turn in a share of their profits to the company, but they can set their own work schedules.

Driving a cab enables Parvaneh Soltani, a 35-year-old divorced mother of two, to take home more than $12,000 a year, almost twice Iran's average annual household income. It also gives her the luxury of not needing to re-marry. Another driver, Zahra Farjami, 30, has earned more equality at home, as she makes nearly $10,000 a year, much more than her husband. "Men always think that women can't be better than them; I didn't used to think they could either," she said, "But once I got this job, I realized that women can earn more than men."

While unemployment rates for Iranian women are still high, self-employment among women is on the rise, partially because women are learning how to use the gender divide to their advantage. "Women have been able to turn gender segregation on its head," says Roksana Bahramitash, author of the forthcoming book Veiled Employment. "They are entering into the labor market, they are educated and they want to have an independent lifestyle."

The Islamic Republic's Women at the Wheel [Time]
In Gender-Sensitive Iran, A Car Designed Specially For Women [The Guardian]
Driving With The Wind In Your Headscarf [Portfolio]

Despite the rose-red fabrics, the reviews from the few female journalists attending the hotel's opening ceremony aren't completely rosy. They are miffed that the hotel was inaugurated by seven princes, instead of one of the many princesses who actually own it. One female journalist says there is already a backlash forming. "You know what they're saying about this place," she says. "That it's the hotel for lesbians."

In other gender news in Saudi Arabia, although the Saudi Government has announced that women will be able to drive by themselves without a male relative in the car, the law will not be passed without a number of caveats. The Saudi legislature, the Shura Council, has recommended that women be permitted to drive, but only if the following conditions are met, says the Middle East Media Research Institute:

• The female driver must be under 30.
  
• The female's driving is conditional upon the permission of a relative [father, husband, brother, or son].
  
• The female driver must obtain a driver's license from the center for teaching women to drive.
  
• The female driver must be modestly dressed.
  
• The female driver will be permitted to drive alone in the cities, but outside the cities she must be accompanied by a relative.
  
• The female driver will be permitted to drive Saturday through Wednesday between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM.
  
• The female driver must have a cell phone with her, so she can call for help in an emergency.
  
• The female driver must pay a certain sum when her license is issued; this sum will be set aside for car repairs.

Saudi Arabia Opens Its First Women-only Hotel [Reuters]
Saudi Shura Council Recommends Allowing Saudi Women To Drive With Limitations [MEMRI, via The F Word]

Earlier: Milestones
Safe Driving Is A Rare Luxury For Many Iraqi Women

"Iraq won't be back to life again until I can drive without fear," al-Awkeel said. "Until I can stop at a red traffic light and can drive away when it turns green. Only then I can say that everything is back to normal."

The only woman interviewed who still and drives consistently and without a headscarf is Azhar Abbas. Abbas is a real piece of work — she wears tight leopard print shirts and huge gold jewelery and only dons the scarf when she gets gas (gas stations are controlled by the Mahdi Army and women will not be given petrol with bare heads). Abbas drives children to school and when her son asks her why she won't stop driving, she says she can't — it's in her blood.

For Iraqi Women, Driving Poses Unique Challenges [NPR]

One could argue that maybe gay men and straight women have social lives and therefore don't spend loads of time playing video games, and so are not as quick to navigate virtual reality as straight dudes. But whatever! The fun thing is this: An article on the study, titled "Straight Men Better Drivers", was published in The Sun today; but in February 2003 the paper printed a story called "Women Are Safer Drivers"; in November 2005, it featured a piece titled "Women Are Tops At Wheel"; and in March 2006, a story called "Women Are Better Drivers" (written by someone named Emma Parker Bowles) was published. So! While Dr. Qazi Rahman may have conducted a study that has him stating, "Women are going to take a lot longer to reach their destination, making more errors, taking wrong turns etc." we're pretty sure we could find a way to commit a moving violation should he step in front of our vehicle. We'll get our gays to help!

Women And Gay Men Are 'Worst Drivers' [Telegraph]
Straight Men Better Drivers [The Sun]
Related: Women Are Safer Drivers, Women Are Tops At Wheel, Women Are Better Drivers [The Sun]

Earlier: Women Drivers Don't Know How To Shift Gears, Start Cars, Or, For That Matter, Dress Themselves
Riding In Cars With Girls

The study noted where one-handed drivers preferred to put their spare hand. It found that 46 per cent of men rested it on the gear stick. Just 31 per cent of women did this.

But although only 27 per cent of men put their spare hand in their lap, 39 per cent of women did.

Why Women Drive With Two Hands And Men With Only One [DailyMail]
Earlier: Why Don't More Women Love Cars [Jalopnik]
Women Drivers Don't Know How To Shift Gears, Start Cars, Or, For That Matter, Dress Themselves
One Problem With Last Night's Sopranos Finale