(SCIENCE DAILY) 13 June 2008:

There are some remarkable figures from the UK on the number of people who have body piercings: Fully 10 percent of the adult population have one somewhere other than on their ears.

It isn’t that much of a surprise to find that there are more women than men with such piercings, nor that the most popular site is the belly button.

What will come as more of a surprise is that twice the number of men than women have piercings on their genitals. Something which, given that 25 percent of all piercings experience complications and 1 percent require hospital admission, is still a bit shocking.

Odd lot the British.

(THE PROVINCE) 11 June 2008:

The group that runs high performance driving training courses says that, while many more men than women take their courses, they’re seeing more and more women applying.

As they do they’re also seeing that the two groups take the training very differently. The women are there to learn: to find out what is safe, what are their own limitations and those of the cars. The men, in contrast, seem to be much more interested in demonstrating to the trainers what they already know: to prove, as it were, that they don’t need any more training.

Men showing off, eh? Now there’s a surprise.

(STAR TRIBUNE) 26 April 2008:

The Marine Corps is traditionally seen as the most macho and male orientated institution in the country. It might surprise some to know that they are actively recruiting women.

The USMC has employed women in support roles since 1918. While it’s true that combat roles are still out of bounds for women in the USMC as they are in the other services, women recruits go through the same basic training as male recruits.

Its also true that the Marines advertised for female recruits back in the 70s, after the end of the draft. What really seems to have changed now is not the role of women, rather, the eagerness with which the Corps is persuing them and perhaps the skill with which they are doing so.

(NEW SCIENTIST) 1 April 2008:

Apparently stock traders experience hormone surges when they trade.  Successful trades are associated with increased testosterone, and failed trades with cortisol, according to a small scale research project conducted by Cambridge University in the London Stock Exchange.

Interestingly there is some debate whether this is cause or effect.  Increased levels of testosterone at the beginning of the day usually mean more success during the day.

So, does this mean that trading on the stock exchange is not the logical, rational activity that we are lead to believe?  Well, it looks like it is highly controlled by the emotions arising from the effects of hormones – only this time it’s the men who are reacting.

Next time my husband blames my spending on my hormones, I have a good answer up my sleeve…

(THE ADVOCATE) 26 March 2008:

Thomas Beatie is a normal guy. He and his wife Nancy live in Oregon and are expecting their first child. Except Nancy is not the one carrying the child. Thomas is pregnant.  Thomas is transgender female to male, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. When Thomas had his sex reassignment procedures, he kept his female reproductive organs. Nancy has a hysterectomy and therefore is unable to carry a child for the couple. When the couple decided they wanted a child, Thomas stopped taking his testosterone injections. After four months, his body knew what to do. He was able to get pregnant without the aid of fertility drugs or any additional hormone treatments.  The sperm came from a sperm bank. Many people they’ve encountered are hostile and angry, but they are thrilled that the pregnancy is free from complications and they are expecting a baby girl on July 3.

(INDEPENDENT) 28 January 2008:

It’s well known that men (in general) are better at spatial tasks, women at those requiring empathy or emotional intelligence. Another way of putting this (although it’s an analogy, not a description) is that men work on testosterone, women on estrogen.

In this analogy the testosterone leads to the puffing and showing off to which men are prone, while women work together better when in groups.

Author Fay Weldon says that men get dumber in groups (just look at Iraq) while women become more intelligent in groups (women’s self help groups in Africa).

(THE BOSTON GLOBE) 11 January 2008:

In the wake of Hillary Clinton’s tearful moment in the New Hampshire primaries women are speaking up about the double standards (or perhaps different standards) to which they are held in the workplace. When men show emotion, anger perhaps, or frustration, this is considered to be normal. But when women show their emotions at work, this is thought of as a regretable lapse, a showing that they are not fully with the program.

An example of the way in which male norms still dominate the workplace perhaps.

(FOXNEWS.COM) 18 January 2008:

“A transgender woman in California has gone to court, claiming that a Catholic-affiliated hospital discriminated against her when it denied her request for breast augmentation surgery.The man-turned-woman, Charlene Hastings, filed the complaint in December and said she wants to have the surgery because it will make her look more feminine, but the hospital has refused to operate because she was not born a woman.

Hastings completed gender reassignment surgery in fall 2006 to become female at another hospital. Shortly after, she requested the breast augmentation surgery be performed at Seton Medical Center because her surgeon was affiliated with the hospital. The hospital denied her request and an official told her that “God made you a man,” according to the complaint.”

(LIVE SCIENCE) 3 December 2007:

We might think of this simply as an example of the enduring power of stereotypes. Researchers showed videos to groups of men and women. In those videos were a variety of couples, some with the men conversationally dominant, some with the women. Those with the women dominant (or “in charge”) were viewed more negatively than those where the men took the stereotypical role of being in charge.

We could indeed look at it as evidence of such assigned gender roles: or we could take it as advice. Women should talk less than their partners because it makes the couple as a whole look better.

Does this spell trouble for Hillary? Are women still this far behind?

(NEWSWEEK) 26 November 2007:

Disney’s new Princess Division is not for kids. As Disney executive Jim Calhoun explains, “We want women to have a little bit of Princess every day.” Especially the BIG DAY.

Princess is a $4 billion business. When it was created in 2000, it was marketed to little princesses but, really, how much disposable income does a five-year-old have? There’s a line of Princess wedding dresses with jewelry and tiaras. Sleepwear and housewares are coming out soon.