the digital giraffe

All About Women

Our Woman of the Month Award for April, 2025, goes to Sandra Bullock, an actor who has taken on roles that would daunt the lion-hearted. I have been watching some of her films - The Blind Side, Two Weeks Notice. Miss Congeniality - with admiration for her versatility doing both drama and comedy.

And a special nod to NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who so brilliantly narrated the splashdown of the 4 astronauts during their return from space. She made 17,500 miles per hour for 17 hours understandable and memorable.

New studies are beginning to identify problems that occur during perimenopause. Some of the symptoms are so severe that they raise fears of early Alzheimer's disease. Although this complete article requires a subscription, the Mayo Clinic does offer a description of some effects to be expected.

In a move to intensify women's dress code requirements, Iran is using drones and digital apps to encourage "state sponsored vigilantism". The United Nations reveals that people are encouraged to report violations of the code in private vehicles like taxis and ambulances. Women who protest or defy the laws are punished severely, with beatings, arrests, and rape while in custody.

A new report suggests that women need to be cautious when taking tylenol during pregnancy. The study looked at more than 300 women over a 5-year period, finding that some of these women gave birth to children who were twice as likely to have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). It seems that the negative result occurred 6 times more often in girl babies than in boys, although the researchers are not sure why. The affected children were studied for 8 to 10 years after their birth.

Maryam Mirzakhani was considered a math genius for her studies in hyperbolic geometry while a graduate student at Harvard University. She became the first woman to be awarded a Fields Medal, the highest award in math. Unfortunately she died of breast cancer in 2017 at the age of 40. Her studies aimed to bring to life the "universe of unimaginable shapes", meaning shapes that by definition could not be drawn. The beauty of her work is being recognized and further explored today.

The BBC writes about the jacket-and-necktie revival that more women are adopting. Men have been wearing this combo for hundreds of years. When worn by women, however, it is considered subversive. Current fans call it a "statement of power and authority". The look is appearing not only on runways but across the fashion world as well. This is not the first time that the necktie has been used as a power synbol: it was worn by suffragettes at the start of the 20th century, and in 1930 Marlene Dietrich wore a bowtie and jacket in the film "Morocco". Yves Saint Laurent introduced Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women in 1966. Men, on the other hand, have recently abandoned it in business and politics.

Rahima Benhabbour PhD hopes to bring a new 3D printed drug delivery system into the lives of women. She and several other researchers have established a startup called AnelleO. Their first product releases progesterone, important at the start of pregnancy and throughout the 9 months. They have produced an intravaginal ring that delivers the hormone for 28 days. Unlike other rings, theirs features a smooth comfortable design and sustained controlled drug release. It is also the first 3D printed intravaginal ring to apply for FDA approval. The device is touted as "Technology Created by Women, for Women".

A new report reveals that in the past 15 years, 1 in 8 women killed by men was over 70. Too often a lack of media attention combined with an absence of specialists has resulted in the abuse of women being hidden or overlooked. Another finding shows that older people tend to be abused by a child or grandchild as often as by a domestic partner. Older women are also less likely to discuss abuse for fear of not being believed. Older women are also more likely to be murdered during a burglery than younger women, with indications that their deaths were due to misogyny.

In 1970 a group of all women climbers led by Grace Hoeman tried to be the first all-female team to climb to the top of Denali, the highest peak in North America. Previously societal norms held women climbers back, like an insistence that they wear skirts and a prohibition against women sleeping in a hut with men. In addition, men's accounts often omitted the names of women in their group, if they included them at all. On the rare occasion when a woman succeeded, her achievement was attributed to something men had helped her to do. The article goes on to reveal the history of other female climbers, usually referred to as the "weaker sex".

Frieze magazine briings us an interview with Donna Haraway, subject of a new film on her work and life. Haraway, feminist theorist, talks about "living well and giving heart". Haraway admits to the difficulty of maintaining a private life and offering a narrative into her thinking, a process she calls articulating lives. She believes deeply in the importance and love of place - in her words, "one of the deep crises of our larger global problems is the degree to which people are violently removed from place in forced migration, loan foreclosures, mortgage crises, unaffordable rents, drought, land seizures, you name it." Haraway is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department at UC Santa Cruz, USA and the author of 12 books.

Since 1979, Iranian female vocalists have not been allowed to perform or record solo. In a project called "Listen", photographer Newsha Tavakolian has made photos of women singers as if they were in front of a large audience. She says of these 'muted divas', "a woman’s voice represents a power that if you silence it, imbalances society, and makes everything deform. I let Iranian women singers perform through my camera while the world has never heard them."

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 April 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