the digital giraffe

All About Women

Our Woman of the Month Award for November, 2025, goes to the Statue of Peace at the Unied Nations Headquarters in New York. It depicts a woman riding a horse with an olive branch in one hand and a globe in the other. The statue was created and cast in Croatia. The artist commented, "peace would be far better protected if the decision rested with women instead of men."

The Royal Institute of British Architects has published a damning report saying that women architects undergo dreadful working conditions and a damaging culture. The toxic conditions leave women "feeling humiliated, objectified, undermined, ashamed, and in, some cases, traumatized." The survey results came from a study of 635 people working in the industry. It appears that an earlier study from 2003 called "Why Do Women Leave Architecture?" gave the same results and little or nothing has been done to change the culture. When asked "How do you report your male boss in a company led by male partners?", the answer was "You don’t.”

A study from the University of Oslo in Norway found that male brains shrink faster than females during aging. The researchers examined over 12,000 brain scans from patients aged 17 to 95. They discovered that female brains lose gray and white matter much more slowly than male brains. To be noted, only 5% of published research into the biology of the aging brain took gender into consideration.

After revealing that only 13% of contested electoral seats were won by female and minority candidates, Syria has acknowledged that "severe shortcomings" were at work. It turns out that there was no popular vote, but rather a selective process that clearly did not pay attention to the underrepresented segments of the nation. At least 21 seats remained unfilled due to security breaches that postponed elections. At the end, women represented only 14% of the 1,500 candidates, while Christian representation was restricted to only 2 seats.

The theme of male aggression in orchestras has been brought to the fore since the principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony alleged that the concertmaster had made a "sexual advance". Another player came forward about the "repeated violations of decency, honesty, and respect" for women displayed by the same concertmaster. Apparently no action was taken by the Orchestra to examine the validity of the claims and/or take action to prevent what appears to be a corrosive working environment.

An article from the Harvard/Chan School of Public Health highlights the risks to the health of both infants and mothers from the discontinuance of the federal maternal health database. The monitoring system involved has improved the health of women and children for almost 40 years with survey data from 46 participating state health agencies taken from women post partum. Since April 2025 the entire CDC team managing the database was placed on leave before they could release the 2023 data. The state of Mississippi has suspended data collection and the future of the entire federal database is at risk.

Ms. magazine reminds us that suppression of women's reproductive and LGBTW rights are earmarks of authoritarian regimes. Among other troubling events, it mentions the growing boldness of harrassments against abortion rights activists, a new global health strategy that excludes women, the elimination of both the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues and the Pentagon'a Women, Peace and Security Program. The Athens Democracy Forum this month focused on the reduction of gender rights worldwide, while cuts in reproductive health care put the U.S. in company with El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland.

Cornell University researchers are launching a new initiative called Menopause Health Engineering, to foster a better scientific understanding of menopause. Among other issues, the study will look at the long-standing reliance on male subjects in biomedical research and clinical trials, a much-needed multidisciplnary approach to menopause and multi-organ diseases, and a progression from innovation and technology to changes in therapy and clinical care.

India has boasted the world's first female train driver. Surekha Yadav has been driving trains in India for more than 30 years. She has commented, "Machines don't see gender; they see your strength." Today there are over 2,000 women train drivers in India, but such was not the case when she began. At that time, lack of washroom facilities or changing rooms for women were standard. At her recent retirement she was given a grand farewell by her colleagues, including dance performances and beating drums.

Under a new Trump rule, it appears that more than a million women may get a pay cut. At issue are the wage protections previously given to care workers during the covid pandemic. These jobs, deemed "essential", are now seen as obsolete and their redesignation will come at the expense of over 1.5 million home care workers. Under the new rule, these workers will not even be guaranteed a $7.25 minimum wage.

A strong objection is occurring to family courts who onsist on "Reunification Therapy". The opponents argue that, "We wouldn’t send a soldier with severe PTSD back to war, so why are family courts sending children back to parents who have sexually abused them?" Children who have encountered sexual abuse by a parent or other family member should not be forced to interact any further with their abusers. Instead the courts must respect the child's wishes and desire to be safe.

The U.N. reports that global conflicts are accelerating wars on women. 676 million women worldwide now live within 30 miles of deadly conflicts. Conflict-related sexual violence has increased by 87% in just 2 years. Civilian casualties among women and children have quadrupled. Women are also being eliminated from peace talks, although it is clear from historical data that their presence increases the likelihood that peace will succeed. As an example, in 2024, 9 out of 10 peace negotations included no women. Additionally, global military spending surpassed $2.7 trillion USD while women's groups in conflict zones only received 0.4% of assistance. The conclusion reached is that there is an urgent need for a "gender data revolution" as well as the necessity for women to be at the decision-making tables.

Although women compose half of the the world's population, a new study reveals that they are almost invisible in global news. This grim statistic has not changed in the last 15 years. In addition, gender-based violence is seldom reported. Fewer than 2 in 100 stories cover the abuse. Some improvement has been noted: 41% of reporters in traditional news media are now women. But the bottom line appears to be, " backlash is real, progress is stalled, and accountability cannot wait.".

We try to link you to reliable sources, which is becoming more difficult in today's altered news environment. We also have no way of knowing which items are AI generated and partially or totally fabricated. Please read with caution.

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Last updated July 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