For me, Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with friends and Twitter helps me keep up to date on the latest news.  And sometimes people complain that I’m on my Blackberry too much.  But for girls around the world, it seems that information technology can offer girls and young women new pathways [...]

What’s the difference and why does it matter? Being female is both a sex and a gender. The two words are often used interchangeably, but they actually mean different things. Sex refers specifically to the biological differences between men and women…the physical characteristics of our bodies. On the other hand, gender refers to the social [...]

“The damage of the quake of Tuesday is beyond one’s imagination. Although it is very difficult to determine the exact figure I have seen bodies all along the main street of Port-Au-Prince. I have heard the voices of children trapped in the rubble of their schools,” says Plan’s Director in Haiti, Rezene Tesfamariam. Women and [...]

Today I learned that its possible to see gender discrimination as divided into five areas: invisibility, capacity, physically and mentally, family and household responsibilities, and traditions and customs. Invisibility This includes pre-birth gender selection, lack of birth registration and public environments, which are unsafe for girls, marginalising them and discouraging their visibility. Capacity This affects [...]

Today someone with the alias “Male Superiority” posted some pretty negative comments here on the blog.  In one, it was suggested that I get back into the kitchen and make him a sandwich.  I deleted that one, because it was inappropriate, but I think it also brings up an important point. It sounded like the [...]