America's military engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq has gone on for a decade and change now, and we've finally gotten far enough down on our checklist to address a pretty glaring oversight: we kindasorta forgot to make woman-specific body armor. Whoopsie-daisy.
In most countries, women aren't allowed to serve in combat roles. However, that doesn't mean they don't end up on the front lines, and female soldiers in the U.S. have complained that the restriction just means they aren't getting enough training for when they do end up in combat. Today Australia's military took a big…
Women aren't supposed to serve in military units whose primary focus is ground combat, but that doesn't mean they don't fight. And the prohibitions against combat may actually be bad for female soldiers.
Last year a British soldier, Private Kayle Donnelly, unknowingly fought in Afghanistan through the seventh month of her pregnancy. While serving as a machine gunner from March to September, Donnelly thought she was gaining weight due to the stress of being at war. Then during her vacation she started having…
Here's a riveting photo essay of the female U.S. marines who are trained to go where male soldiers cannot. Above, one of our favorite shots from the full collection.
The controversial Don't Ask Don't Tell policy has a much larger negative impact on female service members than male, and serves to maintain sexism found in every level of the armed forces.
• According to the Daily Mail, there is a such thing as the Jennifer Aniston Effect. No, this has nothing to do with weeping silently into your pillow over your lack of babies or Brad — it's about your hair.
• Jamie McCourt, baseball's highest-ranking woman, has been fired from her position as the Dodgers' chief executive by her estranged husband Frank McCourt, who is the team's owner. Now she's believed to be trying to regain control of the team.
• A CDC advisory committee has recommended GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix, which is similar to Merck's Gardasil vaccine, for use in girls and women. But, some say Cervarix is overpriced because it offers less protection than Gardasil. •
Australia is set to join the handful of countries that allow women to serve on the front lines. But many fear that women simply are not strong enough.
• In an attempt to make the odious tradition of throwing the bouquet a little different, an Italian bride had her flowers flung from a plane. Unfortunately, they got sucked into the plane's engines, causing it to crash. •
• Michelle Obama is inspiring women the world over. "She shows women that it's OK to have dark skin and to not have a son. She's quite real to us," said Heather Ferreira of Mumbai.
A soldier stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina has been arrested for the murder of Megan Lynn Touma, a pregnant solider who was found dead in a motel bathtub a little over a month ago. The connection or relationship that Touma had with the arrested solider, Sgt. Edgar Patino, has not been elaborated on by police…
