the digital giraffe

All About Women
Our Woman of the Month Award for January, 2025, goes to Biljana Vokanova, Director of the Center of Global Changes and full Professor at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia, who was recently fired for supporting a more inclusive world that included China and Russia.

A new fertility IVF technology has resulted in the world's first live human birth. The researchers used stem cells that enabled an embryo to mature outside the body. Gameto, a biotech company led by women, calls the technique Fertilo and claims that the method is faster, safer, and "more accessible" than standard IVF. They report that this is the first application of iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell) technology in IVF. Fertilo uses ovarian support cells taken from human-induced pluripotent stem cells and mixes them with an immature egg. Gameto says that this new technique avoids 80% of the hormone injections required by traditional IVF procedures and shortens the duration of a treatment cycle to 3 days. Maturing eggs outside the body requires minimal hormonal intervention and reduces the side effects produced by high doses of hormones. This first Fertilo baby was born in Lima, Peru. So far, Gameto has received regulatory permission in Australia, Argentina, Japan, Paraguay, Peru, and Mexico. Note: viewers might want to watch the Netflix film, "Joy", celebrating the first IVF procedures, with a fine cast including Bill Nighy and James Norton.

Initial reports indicate that an mRNA injection could reverse the effects of pre-eclampsia. The shot contains instructions to create a protein that reverses damage to the placenta, protecting both mother and developing fetus. It appears that pre-eclampsia results in 75,000 maternal deaths and half a million fetal and newborn deaths every year worldwide. The condition produces very high blood pressure, reduced blood flow to the placenta, and occasionally seizures. The medications currently being used lessen the symptoms but do not improve the condition. Restoring the protein is essential to a cure - the challenge remains to deliver it. The new approach, tested in mice, has been called "innovative". This article also discusses the history of Covid vaccines.

Viewers might want to look at the works of British artist Paula Rego, who focused on the oppression of women. Rego challenged the assumptions made by male artists. Widely acclaimed in Portugal and the U.K., she has received minimal attention in the U.S. She rages against abuse and injustice, mistreatment, genital mutilation, and authoritarian regimes. Her intense interest in illegal abortions corrects an absence of the subject in art history. Working primarily in black, white, and many shades of gray, Rego succeeded in emphasizing the drab starkness of the settings and the isolation of the women. She described these pieces as "born from my indignation". The article notes that abortion in Portugal was illegal and punishable by prison until 1984.

First Lady Jill Biden is leading the fight against underfunding and lack of research in the fields of women's health. She quotes geneticist Dr. Mariena Fejzo who remarked, "We have been able to walk on the moon for decades. Yet women are still dying from nausea and vomiting of pregnancy." Fezjo noted that her own doctor chided her for exaggerating her pregnancy symtons in order to get attention. Biden expressed her concern that much of the progress being made may well be rolled back by the incoming administration. Women working in these fields point to the misdiagnoses of perimenopause, ignoring symptoms, and inadequate access to care. Effects like sweating are shamed; the possibility of a connection between menopause, Alzheimer's, and hormone therapy ignored. Biden vowed to continue her efforts after she leaves the White House.

A new book by Sharon McMahon called "The Small and the Mighty" describes a woman on a white horse wearing a gold crown and a long white cape. The woman in question was called the "poster girl of radicalism". The year was 1913 and Inez Milholland was advocating for women's right to vote. She and the 5,000 women attending her protest were attacked, slapped, and spit upon. But I will leave you to read the book to see what followed.

5 years ago a women-only Ladies Lounge was opened at the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart. Tasmania. The installation was created by artist Kirsha Kaechele who was married to Mona's owner and founder David Walsh. It included "lavish decor" and a butler who served champagne. Recently a man was denied access to the Ladies Lounge and subsequently sued the Museum for discrimination. A trbunal ruled that the Lounge had to stop denying access to men, so Kaechele closed the installation rather than giving men access. Kaechele was not to be stopped, however. She appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. As a result, the Ladies Lounge will open for a "Lap of Honour" from December 19 to mid-January 2025. Men are barred, but a few of them will be allowed to enter where they are given lessons in "domestic duties". Kaechele is calling the Ladies Lounge a "living artwork" which will appear as a popup "anywhere at any time, especially in centres of male power". The entry ticket will state "entry for women and exclusion for men".

It has been reported that some hospitals across the U.S. are giving patients medications used routinely for pain during childbirth, in epidurals, or cesarean sections and then reporting the women to child welfare authorities as drug abusers. Some of the women were reported to the police and others were threatened with removal of the babies to social services. In states as widespread as New York and Oklahoma women are losing their newborns even though the mothers had no drugs in their systems prior to birth and were given standard medications during delivery. One hospital, Mass General Brigham in Boston, has changed its policies, stating, "The hospitals are at fault. The clinicians are at fault. Our policies are at fault."

Women in Afghanistan are no longer allowed to study nursing or midwifery. The ban re-enforces the Taliban's ban on education for women after the 6th grade. The ban is especially harsh because in some provinces women are not allowed to be treated by male medical professionals. According to the U.N., every 2 hours a woman dies in Afghanistan from complications related to childbirth.

"Elegoo with Her" aims to bring more women into the field of 3D printing. 30 women will be given 3D printers, software, and materials in addition to online workshops. Initially the program will emphasize fashion and art.

In a world-first, sex workers in Belgium will receive pension rights and maternity pay. The women will also get employment contracts and legal protection. Additionally, the women have the right to refuse sexual partners, can refuse to participate in certain acts, and can stop an act at any time. They also cannot be fired for these refusals.

Be sure to email giraffe@giraffe.com with your suggestions, be they articles, videos, images, cartoons, music, or comments, so that we can share our celebrations and our concerns with each other.

Last updated January 1, 2025 - 31 years of monthly Web publication

Corinne Whitaker - Artist, Editor, Author, Poet, Sculptor, Publisher, Composer, Betaphysician, Chief of the Newanderthal Tribe

Best of Foster City 2016
Best of Palo Alto 2013

Golden Web Award, 2001 and 2000

Artist of the Month, Artisan Bazaar, 2000

Best in Cyberart Award, 1999

winner of BATech's "Catch of the Day"

winner of Fractal Design's "Artist of the Month"and "Image of the Day"

Featured Master Artist, Shadowart Galleries, 1997 and 1998

Guest Artist of the Month, Hampton Click Salon Online
Exhibit below from Virtual Gallery online