Dear Followers, It's pretty common knowledge that I really love stories about women who set a goal for themselves and then reach it. Today's blog is about an ethno-pop singing group composed of a group of older women who have been dubbed "elderly grannies" by the media. The women perform in embroidered pinafores that have been handed down from generations of earlier Udmurt women, and some of their head scarves are over 300 years old. Known as … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, Most American women owe a huge debt to Emma Hart Willard (2/23/1787--4/15/1870), because she was one of the first women's rights activists and education pioneer for women. The photo above is of the Troy Female Seminary, which she founded to help both boarding and day students receive a quality education. Opened in September, 1881, it was the first center for higher education for women--and offered classes in philosophy, … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, Can you imagine--at the age of 81--happily going to work each and every day, and loving what you do? Meet Mildred Spiewak Dresselhaus, who was born in Brooklyn on November 11th, 1930 and is an Institute Professor and Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering (Emeritus) at MIT. She has taught there ever since she became a visiting professor of Electrical Engineering in 1967, and she has been a tenured faculty member since … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, Last week's top grossing movie, BRAVE, represented another milestone for women. After 17 years of feature filmmaking (and a dozen box office hits) Pixar has given audiences it's first female animated protagonist. Merida (Kelly Macdonald), the film's heroine, is a doer rather than a princess who is merely waiting to be rescued. She rides a Clydesdale named Angus, and lets her long orange-red curls frame her face like an unruly … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, I've been out of touch recently because--thanks to force of nature Sonia Cooper (Cooper & Holly)--Tony and I (plus the ever-enjoyable Ed Broderick) spent the last week in Colorado, where I had two keynote speaking engagements. The first was at the University of Northern Colorado (Greeley), where I spoke at the graduation ceremony for Las Chicas Matematicas, and met amazing young girls (14-18) who knocked my socks off with … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, In the past, I've written about a variety of  troubling women's issues around the world: child prostitution in Cambodia, genital mutilation in Africa, Saudi Arabia refusing to allow women to drive, Afghanistan making it hard for girls to attend school, Japan's use of "Comfort Women" in WWII, Somalia's Islamic Militia terrorizing nomadic women, etc., etc., etc. Today I'd like to introduce you to Dr. V. Mohini Giri, who has … [Read more...]

Dear Followers,It seems fitting this week--when so many eyes are focused on London due to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee--that today's blog be focused on another amazing white-haired much-admired Englishwoman. I have been a fan of P.D. James ever since 1980, when I read Innocent Blood, which was her first best-selling novel in America. By now, of course, her dozens of books have earned her millions of fans around the world.Born on August 3rd, … [Read more...]

Dear Followers,Wednesday night's season finale of Revenge will leave TV viewers hungry to see more of Madeleine Stowe's complicated character Victoria Grayson. Just when her career was at it's peak after The Last of The Mohicans movie, Stowe decided to turn her back on the entertainment business and move with her husband (Brian Benben) to a 400 acre cattle ranch in Fredrickburg, Texas (14: Selective Disassociation).Fortunately, the 53 year old … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, It came as a real surprise last week to learn that Donna Summer (aka The Queen of Disco) had died of lung cancer even though she didn't smoke. Years ago I met and interviewed her at the Mayfair Hotel in London and was blown away by how open and warm she was. I had expected to meet a larger than life diva with attitude, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that the only oversized thing about her was her talent. She was one of the … [Read more...]

Dear Followers, The cute illustration of elephants (above) was created by Serge Bloch to accompany an article in the New York Times by Natalie Angier about the importance of "The Spirit of Sisterhood."  Her article, which appeared last month, addressed the fact that "...female friendship is one of nature's preferred narrative tools."  Some of the examples mentioned include: Female chacma baboons with strong sororal bonds have lower … [Read more...]