the digital giraffe - Y Not

All About Women

Our Woman of the Month Award for March, 2024, goes to Dr. Esther Mahlangu, South Africa's acclaimed visual artist and Cultural Ambassador of the Ndebele nation. Her latest exhibition, reflecting 7 decades of work, is titled "Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting".

A report by Goldman Sachs has revealed that Black women are unable to create generational wealth due to a broad range of economic stumbling blocks. The effect is to diminish individual dignity, family cohesion, and political clout. More Black women with full time jobs also have a part-time job or "side hustle". Few have savings for retirement and fewer own their own homes compared to the general population. Many more of them support their extended family than the nationwide average. In addition, more Black women are burdened with college loans.

The Biden White House has dedicated $100 million US dollars for research in women's health. The goal is to increase funding for research into conditions like endometriosis, MS, and other problems that heavily affect women. In addition to under-funded research, women's medical startups also get much less financial support. Called "Sprint for Women's Health", the initiative hopes to insure that girls and women no longer hear the phrase, "it's all in your head".

"Musa Gringa" is the title of admiration given to Samantha Flores for being the first non-Brazilian dancer to take a major role in Carnival. Flores' costume included a bikini woven with 12,000 petite stones and a headdress made of 500 pheasant feathers in her role as Yemanja, Goddess of the Sea, celebrated by Afro-Brazilian religions. Flores learned the samba by trading English lessons for dance lessons. She adknowledges that it is rare for a foreigner to dance the 80-minute samba routine skillfully and finds it intimidating to perform in front of 90,000 screaming fans.

At the University of California, San Francisco, surgeons are working on a new technique to operate on fetuses before birth. At the nearby University of California at Berkeley, new methods for CRISPR gene editing have achieved renown. In the future, it is hoped that these 2 technologies can be combined into a new field known as fetal genome surgery. Called Surgery Without Scapels or Sutures, it is projected to stop disastrous medical conditions before they start. The main problems involve the health of the mother, and the risk of unanticipated mutations in the fetus with the danger that these mutations could be passed on to other generations. Another curative CRISPR therapy, Casgevy, has been recently approved for sickle cell disease. The field is being led by Dr. Tippi MacKenzie, herself a contrast to the expected male physician described as "decisive, athletic, macho, all ego and sinew". The trials and multiple disappointments in developing this new therapeutic system have failed to stop MacKenzie - this article lays out the difficult path that she and her patients have followed.

"Suni and the Seven Princesses" is the name of a group of older women rappers in South Korea who rap about farm life. The leader of the group, at 81, has led them to more than 77,000 views on YouTube. In a country where 20% of the population is over the age of 65, young women and men are moving to urban centers and choosing not to have children. The rap group hopes to lure them back into rural areas, performing in baggy pants, bucket hats, and metal jewelry. Lyrics promote, "Picking chili from a chili farm ... Picking watermelon from a watermelon farm. So happy to be back home!" The group's influence has extended to other older Koreans, hoping to fight dementia and loneliness.

New studies are examing the differences between the brains of women and men, exploring the myths that postulate the superiority of male brains.

Oracle Corp. has settled a sex discrimination lawsuit by agreeing to pay $25 million USD. The suit was brought by 4,000 women in California alleging that the company paid less money to women than to men for the same jobs. 1/3 of the funds will go to attorneys and the rest to the women themselves, meaning that each woman could receive $4,000. The settlement requires that Oracle hire an independent expert to make sure that the company fulfills its equal pay obligations in the future.

Some doctors are concerned that AI is being used to make diagnoses with tools that are untested and unregulated. One major problem is that procedures, once approved, are expected to be stable and safe for years after their approval, whereas AI algorithms are constantly shifting as more data is added to them. Another complication is that the FDA is currently understaffed and underfinanced. The hope is that eventually AI will provide health care and products to everyone regardless of their ability to pay, but that future lies somewhere down the road. The first AI drug was tested in 2023 by the biotech company Insilico, with Stanford Professor and Nobel Laureate Michael Levit on its Board of Directors. Insilco's website outlines its current projects on AI medications and Dr.Levit's optimism for the future. On the other hand, a London-based biotech AI firm called Benevolent AI had to fire half of its staff after its main AI drug failed; the company is currently restructuring.

Young women on college campuses are being affected by the amount of construction going on around them. Poor lighting and less pedestrian traffic makes construction areas more dangerous for female students, including an increase in the number of catcalls. Statistics indicate that more than 50% of sexual assaults take place at or near the victim's home, with 80% attributed to someone known to the victim. Aggressive legal defense tactics deter women also, like the "affluenza" defense argued for a male Stanford University athlete.

By now you have heard of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children, even when stored in nonuterine vessels. The blockbuster decision is already reverberating in multiple fields and has encountered heated discussions. I urge you to keep updated as this important matter is discussed and questioned. The MIT Technology Review has weighed in with their analysis.

In an age of loneliness and online communication, it appears that some young Chinese women are turning to AI companions for friendship and romance. Particularly in major urban areas where traditional dating is limited by demanding work schedules, women are using websites like "Glow", "Wantalk", and "Weiban" for companionship. These AI chatbots appear to offer the compassion and understanding that real-life relationships seem not to offer.

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 March 1, 2024 - 30 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