the digital giraffe

All About Women
Our Woman of the Month Award for February, 2025, goes to Ginny Ruffner renowned Seattle glass artist.

A political deputy at the Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan warned the Taliban that they should not be denying an education to women and girls. Sher Abbas Stanikzai told an audience at a religious school event that "just as there was no justification for it in the past and there shouldn’t be one at all." He went on to point out that in a population of 40 million, basic rights should not be denied to 20 million of them. Although Stanikzai has previously spoken out in favor of education as a right for all women in his country, this is the first time he has publicly called for a change in government policy.

It appears that young women are twice as likely as young men to get a cancer diagnosis. Generally, cancer diagnoses are appearing more often in younger adults rather than older and in women rather than men. Breast and thyroid cancers are specifically changing the data. In addition, Black women seem to get breast cancer at a 4% lower rate than White women, but they are 41% more likely to die from it. With prostate and uterine corpus cancers, Black patients' risk of dying is double that of White people, while death rates from liver, kidney, cervical, and stomach cancer kill 2 to 3 times more Native Americans than White people. Geographically, less than 150 per 100,000 patients die from cancer in Hawaii, Utah, and New York, whereas over 210 in 100,000 die of it in Kentucky, Mississippi, and West Virginia. On a brighter note, the overall mortality rate in the U.S. from 1991 - 2022 dropped by 34%.

In prehistoric times, questions of where a couple should live tended to be patrilocal, ie women left their family homes and moved to wherever their husbands' families were located. On the contrary, it has been discovered that in a Celtic tribe during the Iron Age in Britain (roughly 100 BCE to 100 CE) women were the center of social networks. The group called the Durotriges in southern England appeared to have a rare matrilocality in which women stayed in their own communities. Although these women didn't seem to dominate positions of authority, they exerted considerable influence over family finances, property, and decisions. Matrilocal societies are not common, but they do occur in 15% of the anthropological data. These matrilocal groups tended to speak a different language from their neighbors, suggesting that they probably migrated from elsewhere and potentially could have been successful warriors.

In a plan recently approved by the NCAA, women's basketball teams will be paid the same as men's. The decision has been hailed as "long awaited, hard fought for and well-earned". Similar to the men's compensation package, the women's funds are unrestricted, meaning that institutions and conferences can choose how to award the money for performances, strong schedules, and post-season wins.

A gender imbalance is being protested at Japan's top university. The University of Tokyo has only 1 woman out of 10 researchers and only 1 woman out of each 5 students. Objectionable comments being highlighted include "I prefer cute, silly girls over smart ones" and "you're a girl, so local college is good enough". According to data from the OECD group of developed nations, Japan ranks at the bottom for female participation in math and science. In 2018, a national scandal occurred when the private Tokyo Medical University confessed to deliberately reducing the entry test scores of female applicants; their excuse was that faculty felt wommen were unable to work as many long hours as men do. An investigation by the government revealed that 3 other institutions were using the same procedure.

Across India, body-building has been a sport reserved for men. Women were supposed to follow traditional feminine activities. But a new group of women is challenging the norms. Although still small in number, some women curl biceps, tense quads, and defy family expectations. It was only in 2016 that the first female competitor was accepted into the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation. One woman describes her upbringing as an inactive childhood where she was not even allowed to play outside with other children. It was only after intense objections from her family that she decided to pursue bodybuilding professionally. Some traditional complaints were made against women showing off their bodies. Now, those few who have defied the old norms are being forced to carve out a niche for themselves.

After Meta changed its guidelines, Facebook now allows women to be called "household objects or property". Transgender or nonbinary individuals are now referred to as "it". The new policy also permits discussions in favor of "gender-based limitations of military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs." The alterations are felt to be Meta's attempt to curry favor with the new administration.

"Ladies night" at restaurants often offered discounted food or drinks, with the large numbers of women attracting men as well. Now lawsuits claiming discrmination are forcing some small family-owned restaurants out of business. These businesses simply cannot afford the costs of defending the suits in or out of court. At least 22 states and the District of Columbia make gender discrimination illegal but these laws are being exploited in ways not originally intended.

Some women are protesting the refusal to accept female rage as legitimate and acceptable. Furious women are seen as violators of society's norms. A new movement however is insisting that women have just as much right as men to feel and outwardly express their anger. Look for t-shirts that say, "Rude bitches change the world." This article on Frieze examines the history and biases that have kept women's feelings corseted.

Over the past 100 years, a new study indicates that men have gained weight and height twice as fast as women. Data from the World Health Organization covering dozens of countries suggest that the demands of reproduction make women "more ecologically constrained". Although taller people tend to earn more money, they also seem to be more prone to developing cancer.

If you live in Washington State, we draw your attention to SOLA, Support of Old Lady Artists. Founded in 2016 by renowned glass artist Ginny Ruffner, it offers cash awards to "accomplished, yet under-recognized, mature women visual artists."

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 February 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