the digital giraffe

All About Women

Our Woman of the Month Award for April, 2026, goes to Shere Hite, who 50 years ago taught women to talk openly about pleasure and sex.

Shohini Ghose treats us to a review of women in physics. More specifically, she describes what has happened to their careers and how they have been written out of history. This article is taken from her book, "Her Space, Her Time", which explores in depth the remarkable achievenents of women who made substantial contributions to society and then dropped from sight.

TED Talks features Gretchen Carlson in a presentation titled, "How we can end sexual harassment at work". Her mantra is persuasive: "We will no longer be underestimated, intimidated or set back. We will stand up and speak up and have our voices heard. We will be the women we were meant to be."

The Guardian newspaper describes the Chelsea Flower Show as a sex garden that breaks taboos, referring to "pleasure gardens" filled with blooms related to love and sex. The show was sponsored by a company that sells vibrators. The garden on view is called, "Aphrodite's Hothouse" and was designed by James Whiting, founder of Plants By There.

Eve Ottenberg writes in Counterpunch, "Save the Children...From ICE!". She describes how more than 3800 children in the past year have been confined in filthy places with insects, mold, and unnhealthy food, sometimes for as long as 6 months. The program is led by a man called a "MAGA warrior" and is concentrated on the nonwhite "other", feared as being either criminal or potentially criminal. History, the article reminds us, has proven what happens when a vulnerable population is deprived of their rights and rendered stateless.

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.

Engineers at MIT have produced a test to identify disease-related clues in a person'a breath. The results are available almost instantly. The new test is contained in a portable chip-scale sensor that catches and reads the biomarkers of disease. Previously such detection required machinery not found in most doctors' offices. Now, for example, pneumonia can be identified using the new method, dubbed "PlasmoSniff". The researchers plan to embed the new sensor into a handheld device. Note that a woman is the lead author of the study.

GatesNotes, from Bill Gates, points out the lack of emergency care or ambulances for millions of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Lacking a 911 system, hundreds of thousands of women and babies die every year from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. A new system called m-mama has been developed to allow local health care workers to call a free hotline. They reach a trained nurse dispatcher who figures out what help is needed, where it is available, and tracks the progess of the emergency help until it arrives. The new method also handles payments. Since 2013 m-mama has saved roughly 5,266 lives. Most impressive is that m-mama did not require extensive funding. Rather it utilizes resources already in place.

The cost of prescription eyeglases has risen dramatically over the years. A new system has appeared that claims it can output prescription eyewear at a fraction of the cost. Called Clarity Blue Glasses, the system says it can adjust vision problems whether distance or near. The product is said to be self-adjusting and prescription-free. This clearly is an advert - I would urge caution.)

The Getty alerts us to an ancient kingdom run by women. It was called Nubia, where females in authority were celebrated. The women's supremacy seemed to peak between 270 BCE and 350 CE. The period was known for prosperity, artistic innovation, and long-distance trade. Unlike other ancient regimes, where queens were expected to stay quiet, Nubian queens were considered equals to the reigning kings and sometimes ruled on their own. Funerary monuments clearly depict female rulers as power figures, not symbolic partners.

CounterPunch identifies what they call "The Man-Child Goblins", wealthy mediocre men who never heard the word No during their upbringing. These are men who never learned that there were consequences to their offensive behavior - cruel actions were never corrected and every whim was gratified. Unfortunately, these men are now in the seats of power world-wide.

Web MD has identified some unexpected risks for heart attacks in women under the age of 65. Called ambiguous symptoms, these should be identified hopefully before intervention.

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