Millions of girls around the world undergo a brutal and unnecessary surgery. Gambia, which banned the practice, is set to reverse course. Doctors in Somalia perform a repair surgery on a patient who had previously undergone female genital mutilation, 8 February 2022....
Everyone has an origin story. For one woman, that story begins with the love between a husband and wife. And a petri dish. Lab staff prepare small petri dishes, each holding several 1-7-day-old embryos, at the Aspire Houston Fertility Institute in vitro fertilization...
There isn’t much of a gender gap in Iceland, except in its maritime industry. But go back in time, and you’ll find women pulling in nets and steering the helm. A painting of Foreman Thurídur by Marian McConnell. Habitually clad in trousers, a rust-coloured...
For the world’s most gender-equal country, Iceland has a maritime industry that is surprisingly gender inequitable. Why and how has the status of Icelandic seafaring women regressed over the years? This piece by Ashley Perl gives an overview. In the article’s accompanying classroom activity, have students try their hand at uncovering the history of traditionally gendered professions in a research assignment well-suited for Women’s History Month.
Exercise: Read the article as a class, and then discuss the factors that have contributed to an increasing gender gap in the fishing and maritime industries in Iceland. Afterwards, have students select a profession that has a large gender imbalance in your country (perhaps teaching, nursing, engineering, etc.). Instruct students to research the history of the profession to see if these gender imbalances were the case historically, too. As part of this assignment, you may consider teaching research skills like assessing source credibility and using databases like Google Scholar.
The Kurdish people in North Syria are attacked by Turkey to the north and Syria to the south. No one wants them there but they have nowhere to go. People attend the funeral of four Kurds in the town of Jinderis, Syria, 21 March 2023. The assailants shot the Kurdish...
Across cultures and times, midwives have been at the side of women, helping bring healthy babies into the world. Finally, the world recognizes their value. Midwife Sifa Ndeze attends to mother and baby. (Credit: UNFPA DRC/Junior Mayindu) Call them “baby catchers,”...