the digital giraffe

All About Women

Our Woman of the Month Award for March, 2026, goes to Shonda Rimes, brilliant television writer, creator, producer of hit shows like Bridgerton, Scandal, and Grey's Anatomy.

Researchers from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have created a tiny wearable breast ultrasound device to enable earlier detection of breast cancer. Slightly larger than a cell phone, the device costs roughly $300. to make. The system takes wide-angle 3D images and sends them to the motherboard to be processed in real time. The process can image as deep as 15 cm into tissue without pressing onto the breast like current ultrasounds. It also uses less power than standard mammograms. Efforts arre underway to make the method commercially available.

Denmark has developed policies to make it easier for working mothers to stay employed. Statistics reveal that motherhood severely penalizes women, not only right after giving birth but for many years ongoing. For example, the average Danish woman loses roughly $120,000. in earnings over the first 20 years after first giving birth. Assistance includes paid parental leave and child allowances, meaning payments made to parents of children under 18. Denmark also offers housing allowances, available to all Danes but increased for parents with children living at home.

Under new rules for gender and race, Texas A&M has eliminated women’s and gender studies degree programs. Six courses were completely discontinued, with faculty commenting that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It appears thar roughly 200 courses have been targeted to be canceled or altered. PEN America has responded, "Limiting what can be taught in a university classroom is not education, it’s ideological control."

Women have inluenced mapmaking for centuries, although their contributions have largely been overlooked. Men have traditionally captured attention, from Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to land surveyors like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Female figures in several poses and states of dress were frequently used in Europe to show land features. World War II opened up opportunities for women in cartography as men were sent to the battlefield. Think of Milly the Mapper and the Military Mapping Maidens. In the 1950's Evelyn Pruitt at the U.S. Office of Naval Research created the term remote sensing to describe the use of satellite imaging in measuring the Earth, while Gladys West developed the mathematical models employed in GPS. Since data sets on the results of disaster typically omit the experiences of women, new efforts are currently being made to correct the gender gap. Groups like Women in GIS, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, and YouthMappers’ Let Girls Map offer education and training.

Purdue University has opened a new Women in Law organization dedicated to making careers for women in the legal field more accessible. The group focuses on community building and professional development. Advice includes creating resumes, networking, professional attire, social media, and familiarity with legal-style analysis.

The New Yorker magazine offers an in-depth and personal account of a woman trying to navigate herself and her children through the formidable process of an ICE detention. Migrant-heavy areas in major cities are increasingly being targeted by federal agents, with women particularly trapped in the chaos. The first-person account is harrowing.

Cornell University is studying the unintended consequences of written consent. Those who sign often feel locked in, even though the form gives them the right to back out. An over-emphasis on written consent is re-enforcing the perception that those presented with these forms feel they have no choice but to sign. They also find it difficult to withdraw consent, and intimidating to think of legal resources to change their mind.

According to Ms. magazine, young women are caught in a bind between the 2 main political parties. It appears that right-wing adherents view young women as a burden, while the left seem to take their support as inevitable without addressing their concerns. The right is worried that young women want to regain abortion rights. Polling results indicate that in fact young females are worried about immigration, inflation, and threats to democracy. In both cases there seems to be a lack of decisive action on essential issues.

A site called Evernow is pushing for improved standards of care for menopause. Women spend more than half their lives in menopause, but it remains understudied and overlooked. Data reveal that 2.2 million women enter menopause annually, 75% can't find treatment, and 80% of doctors don't feel well-prepared to treat these women. Among the under-researched problems are mood swings, weight gain, vaginal dryness, depression, and fatigue.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities of Nursing faculty is weaving whole person health concepts into their Doctor of Nursing Practice Program. The policy aims to create holistic learning experiences so that nurses are prepared to deal with the inter-connectedness of body, mind, and spirit. Lifestyle choices, community involvement, culture and environment are also studied. This whole person approach to a Doctorate is unfortunately rare, making this university a leader in integrative health and healing.

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, 2026 - 32 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