Women’s News: Women’s W/ Cup: Swiss referee for Nigeria, U.S clash
Women’s News: Women’s W/ Cup: Swiss referee for Nigeria, U.S clash
September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Women’s Health: Happiness Gene Discovered In Women, Says New Study
September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Inspirational Woman Of The Day: Betty Friedan
September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Inspirational Woman Of The Day: Betty Friedan
September 4, 2012 by 4 Comments
Betty Friedan was a feminist writer and rights activist. She studied at Smith College and went on to marry and have three children. From her experience, she wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963), exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their traditional roles. She also helped advance the women’s rights movement as one of the founders of the National Organization for Women.
Writer, feminist, and women’s rights activist. Born February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois. With her book The Feminine Mystique(1963), Betty Friedan broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their traditional roles. She also helped advance the women’s rights movement as one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
A bright student, Betty Friedan excelled at Smith College, graduating in 1942 with a bachelor’s degree. Although she received a fellowship to study at the University of California, she chose instead to go to New York to work as a reporter. Friedan got married in 1947 and had three children. She returned to work after her first child was born, but lost her job when she was pregnant with her second, according to The Christian Science Monitor. Friedan then stayed home to care for her family. But she was restless as a homemaker and began to wonder if other women felt the same way. To answer this question, Friedan surveyed other graduates of Smith College. The results of this research formed the basis of The Feminine Mystique. The book became a sensation—creating a social revolution by dispelling the myth that all women wanted to be happy homemakers. Friedan encouraged women to seek new opportunities for themselves.
As an icon in the women’s rights movement, Betty Friedan did more than write about confining gender stereotypes—she became a force for change. She co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, serving as its first president. Friedan also fought for abortion rights by establishing the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America) in 1969. She wanted women to have a greater role in the political process. With such other leading feminists as Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug, Friedan helped create the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971.
In 1982, Betty Friedan published The Second Stage, which sought to help women wrestling with the demands of work and home. It seemed to be a more moderate feminist position than her earlier work. While in her seventies, Friedan explored the later stages of a woman’s life in The Fountain of Age (1993).
Betty Friedan died of heart failure on February 4, 2006, in Washington, D.C. She is remembered as one of the leading voices of the feminist and women’s rights movement of the twentieth century. And the work that she started is still being carried today by the three organizations she helped establish.
Read More: http://www.biography.com/people/betty-friedan-9302633
Women’s Health: Happiness Gene Discovered In Women, Says New Study
September 4, 2012 by 4 Comments
The Huffington Post | By Emma Gray
Money may not buy you happiness, but according to new research, genetics might be able to … if you’re a woman. A new study has isolated a gene that researchers believe is related to happiness in women. Unfortunately for the other half of the population, this doesn’t hold for men.
Researchers from the University of South Florida, Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health found that a type of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene was connected to higher levels of self-reported happiness in women. The study, published this month in the journal Neuro-Psychopharmacology & BiologicalPsychiatry, looked at the DNA of 193 women and 152 men, reported Fox News. Researchers then compared these results to the participants’ levels of self-reported happiness, controlling for factors such as age, gender, race, income, marital status, self-esteem and physical health. Women with at least one copy of the low-expressionversion of the MAOA gene reported significantly higher levels of happiness than women without the gene as well as men both with and without the gene.
Hamian Chen, an associate professor at the USF College of Public Health and the study’s lead author, expressed surprise at the results in a press release. Happiness isn’t the only attribute that the MAOA gene has been linked to. “I was surprised … because low expression of MAOA has been related to some negative outcomes like alcoholism, aggressiveness and antisocial behavior. It’s even called the warrior gene by some scientists, but, at least for women, our study points to a brighter side of this gene.”
Chen and his research team said in a press release that they believe that the reason for this connection is that the MAOA gene allows larger amounts of dopamine, serotonin and other mood-elevating neurotransmitters to stay in the brain. (These are the same neurotransmitters that are released during orgasm, and really, who doesn’t have their mood lifted during the big O?)
The scientists said in a press release that they hope that this study will shed light ongender differences in happiness. Although women experience mood and anxiety disorders more frequently than men do, according to the study press release, women’s self-reported happiness tends to be higher than men’s across the board. Previous research on happiness has found mixed results when it comes to gender. A 2007 feature in the NYTimes reported that there was “a growing happiness gap between men and women” — with men coming out on top.
What remains unclear is why men with the same type of MAOA gene don’t experience the same increased self-reported happiness that women do. Chen surmised that testosterone could be to blame. However, he also stressed that more research needs to be done on the topic. After all, social factors could also be coming into play. Genetics are only part of the happiness picture.
Women’s News: Women’s W/ Cup: Swiss referee for Nigeria, U.S clash
September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A Swiss referee, Esther Staubli, will be at the centre for the semi-final match between Nigeria and the United States at the ongoing U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The Media Officer of the U-20 women national team, Falconets, Ejiro Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
“ Esther Staubli, who handled the Argentina versus Canada group match, will be in charge of Tuesday’s encounter that comes up at 8am Nigerian and 4pm Japanese time.
“Staubli has been a referee since 2000, but became internationally acclaimed in 2006,’’ the statement said.
The Falconets defeated Mexico 1-0 in the 19th minute of the extra time to get to the semi-finals, after both sides recorded no goal at the end of the regulation time.
The statement added that penalty shoot-out dominated Monday’s training of the Nigerian team ahead of the Tuesday’s match.
It said the coaching crew was not taking anything for granted since it was through penalties that Nigeria defeated the Americans two years ago in Germany.
Nigeria knocked out the U.S. 4-2 on penalties in the quarter-final in Germany two years ago, after regular time ended 1-1.
“Anything can happen at this stage, even though we have always practiced penalties during our training sessions.
“But this time, we felt it is pertinent to step up the tempo because of the possibility of the match going into extra time,” it quoted Coach Edwin Okon as saying.
LadyRomp 