(The Mail) 25 April 2008:

Naturally conceived identical triplets are very rare; 200 million to one, actually. Carmela Testa of the U.K and her three new babies have beat the odds. She has three adorable baby girls  that were born a bit early but are fine now.

Testa said: “I found out at my 12-week scan I was having triplets.

“I knew they would be identical because there was just one placenta, so they were from the same egg.

“I was very shocked. They weren’t planned. I’m quite small – only 5ft tall – so at the unit they joked that out of all the midwives it would have to be me that gave birth to triplets.”

(SEATTLE TIMES) 13 January 2008:

In the 70s and 80s there was something of a storming of the barricades, as those institutions previously male only (think Rotary, Lions, and Elks) either started to admit women or close down entirely. The pressure was partly societal, partly legal.

Then there was the movement to creating girls only events and happenings: the girls’ night out for example. The two trends have moved so far in opposite directions that all female groups now outnumber all male by something like 100:1. Given the way in which both sexes act differently (not necessarily better, just differently) when together and together but separately, it shouldn’t be all that much of a surprise that there is now a trend back to all male gatherings.

(CNN.COM) 3 January 2008:

“Health officials have touted the Gardasil vaccine as an important new protection against a cancer-causing sexually transmitted virus.  In recent months, they’ve also noted reports of pain and fainting from the shot.

During its first year of use, reports of girls fainting from vaccinations climbed, but it’s not clear whether the pain of the cervical cancer vaccine was the reason for the reaction.

“This vaccine stings a lot,” said Patsy Stinchfield, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, speaking at a recent meeting of vaccination experts in Atlanta, Georgia.”

Would the fact that most people receiving the vaccine happen to be teenage girls have ANYTHING to do with the fainting?

(YAHOO.COM) 3 December 2007:

Celebrity gossip blogs have torn apart a photo of a newly engaged Jennifer Love Hewitt cavorting on a Hawaiian beach in a bikini. Some called her fat. She may be Hollywood fat but in the real world, she had a curvy, lovely figure, with a healthy weight and BMI. Instead of becoming anorexic like other starlets who have been called “fat,” she fighting back. She said she’s “…upset for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image.” She says she loves her body.

The same blogs that call her fat include photos and negative statements about skinny actresses who are too thin. We can only wonder what that perfect weight is, and if it is indeed possible to attain.

(TIMES LEADER) 25 November 2007:

A recent finding reveals that gender separation leads to greater flexibility about gender roles. The study revealed that students from single sex high schools choose more gender neutral majors in college.

You would expect it to work the other way: that those used to the presence of the other sex through school would be more open to thinking about non-traditional roles. However, it seems that the socialization pressures in the teenage years work the other way: both boys and girls are pressured by their peers into the stereotypical methods of thinking about gender roles.

(HINDUSTAN TIMES) 22 September 2007:

A survey has shown that rates of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia are more common in teenage girls than in women in their twenties. Also, that the same diseases are more common in men in their twenties than teenage boys.

Not surprisingly, the same survey also finds that the annual number of sexual partners is higher in teenage girls and twentysomething males than the other two groups.

The survey however, failed to make the obvious point: men do indeed tend to chase women younger than themselves, women in their 20s are more mature than their male counterparts and nobody, but nobody, is, despite the interest they themselves show in the subject, interested in having sex with teenage boys.

(THE INDEPENDENT) 11 March 2007:

Quoting recent research showing that men and women form friendships in different ways and for different reasons, British commentator Sarah Sands believes that friendships are in fact solely a female thing.

Some research suggests that men form shallower relationships while women stick at a friendship through thick and thin.  Sands writes, “Girls continue to form friendships; men join teams.”  She also writes, “Girls love social networking internet sites; boys lose interest once they have posted pictures of themselves and given their opinions.”

Perhaps it’s not that men don’t form friendships, they just form them in a different way.  The friendships formed on a sports team by men mean just as much to them as womens’ friendships do.

(REUTERS) 12 January 2007:

Taiwan is considering a bill addressing the sex education of teenagers. The feeling is that in a society that hopes to foster gender equality, sex education should not place the onus of refusing to have sex upon teenage girls. Boys should be equally responsible.

A possible response to that idea is that those complaining have never actually met a teenage boy in full hormonal rampage but that in itself would be a sexist comment.

One further controversial suggestion by school headmasters is that sex education should promote chastity and abstinence. The response from one first year high school student was instructive. Why teach us about abstinence when our parents already say that all the time? Which rather proves the point about teenage boys, wherever they hail from.

(USA TODAY) 17 August 2006:

The US Department of Education is preparing to release final regulations on how public schools can set up single-sex classes and schools without being open to lawsuits.

While a growing body of research reveals that boys and girls learn differently and may do better in a single-sex classroom, the ACLU is poised to attack single sex classes and schools.

Although boys seem to be gaining most from the single-sex classroom, girls may also benefit.  Researchers are looking into ways to boost girls’ math and science performances with single-sex classrooms.

In order to be successful, the single-sex classroom or school must focus on adjusting for different learning styles, not reinforcing sex and gender stereotypes.