Megan Kamerick

Law Protecting Afghanistan Women Blocked By Conservatives

huffingtonpost.com — KABUL, Afghanistan -- Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked a law on Saturday that aims to protect women's freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of marriage.

He Beat Me When I Didn't Do His Homework

thedailybeast.com — Freedom is the ability to act, speak, or think without restraint. In my first year of college, my freedom was stripped away by a boy who thought his interests trumped mine, and no one said a word. Paul was a tall, blue-eyed, blond baseball player.

Where have all the women gone in movies?

latimes.com — There's one mountain in Hollywood that even "The Hunger Games'" scrappy heroine Katniss Everdeen hasn't been able to move: the number of roles for women. Despite the success of recent female-driven movies such as "Bridesmaids" and the "Hunger Games" and "Twilight" series, female representation in popular movies is at its lowest level in five years, according to a study being released Monday by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet

feministing.com — Yale is being fined for underreporting sexual assault cases. " It was exhausting. Exhausting to figure out how to respond to the relentless misogyny from men who are otherwise kind and educated, who would never think of themselves as chauvinist assholes." Lucy Liu discusses racism in Hollywood.

Crowdfunding campaign aims to buy Tribune’s papers

poynter.org — Indiegogo.com While concerns among some journalists mount concerning interest from Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers over the sale of the Tribune Co., activist group The Other 98% proposes a different kind of community journalism. They've begun a campaign on Indiegogo.com called Free The Press, which aims to raise $660 million to "democratize the Tribune Company."

American Apparel's Unisex Ads

businessinsider.com — American Apparel When perusing American Apparel's website for "unisex" wear, you might notice a strange trend. While men in gender-specific shirts are shown modeling the clothing in innocuous poses, - looking straight at a camera or smoking a cigarette - the female models all seem to forget their pants.

Twitter Users Risk Damnation, Say Saudi Religious Police

kunm.org — "The head of Saudi Arabia's religious police has warned citizens against using Twitter, which is rising in popularity among Saudis," the BBC

Japan WWII 'comfort women' were 'necessary' - Hashimoto

bbc.co.uk — A prominent Japanese politician has described as "necessary" the system by which women were forced to become prostitutes for World War II troops. Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said the "comfort women" gave soldiers putting their lives at risk a chance "to rest". He acknowledged that the women had been acting "against their will".

SPJ Condemns Government Seizure of Phone Records

nmspj.org — SPJ President Sonny Albarado issued a statement condemning the government's seizure of the AP's phone records. Albarado called the actions "shameful and outrageous" and said they demonstrate the need for a federal shield law for journalists.