All posts tagged: women

In Lebanon, jiu-jitsu gives young women more freedom : NPR

In Lebanon, jiu-jitsu gives young women more freedom : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Palestinian girls train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut. Aline Deschamps for NPR hide caption toggle caption Aline Deschamps for NPR BEIRUT — In a makeshift gym in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp, the participants in this martial arts class are unlearning much of what they have been taught about how girls and women should behave. It’s the end of a two-month course in Brazilian jiu jitsu – a form of the Japanese martial art – and the small space rings out with yells and the sound of shuffling as coach Mirella Atallah drills her students on how to get leverage against a much stronger opponent. Mirella Atallah, Lebanese-Canadian, is a trainer of jiu jitsu and former world champion who now trains women and marginalized communities around the world – in societies where there’s little awareness about gender-based violence and talking about sexual abuse is considered a taboo most of the times.  Aline Deschamps for NPR hide caption toggle caption Aline Deschamps for NPR Atallah, though, doesn’t …

Mind-bending photos show the pain and dreams of Afghan women : NPR

Mind-bending photos show the pain and dreams of Afghan women : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

This photo, from a series of pictures by two anonymous cousins, is entitled “The Music of Poverty and Violence.” The subject is playing an automatic weapon as if it were a string instrument. Mahnaz Ebrahimi|January 2026 hide caption toggle caption Mahnaz Ebrahimi|January 2026 Do these photos depict fiction or reality … or both? A bicyclist whose dark, flowing burka enfolds her body from head to ankles sits with hands perched on the handlebar, seemingly undaunted by the meshed veil that covers her eyes and restricts her sight. Her determination is suggested by the photo’s title, “It will not stand in my way.” This photo of a woman wearing a burka while riding a bicycle is titled “It will not stand in my way.” Somayeh Ebrahimi/February 2025 hide caption toggle caption Somayeh Ebrahimi/February 2025 A similarly clad figure swirls so swiftly that the billowing fabric appears to lift her into the air like a bird in flight; scribbled in Farsi across the brick wall in front of her is the phrase, “I dreamed that my homeland …

Woman Working Construction Is Fighting The Blue-Collar Boys Club Environment

Woman Working Construction Is Fighting The Blue-Collar Boys Club Environment

Published by Jenni Sidey

There are still a lot of unfair stereotypes about women in the workforce, but it’s simply a fact that there are many more men than women working in blue-collar jobs. Seeing a woman working in a field like construction isn’t an everyday occurrence. But, for Abbi Donovan, it’s just a regular day on the job. The 27-year-old transitioned into working in a painting and decorating union several years ago, and is determined to fight the inherent sexism in the industry and show other women that there’s a place for them there too. Donovan admitted her job isn’t perfect, but she’s carved out a place for herself. For those interested in her unique role as a woman in a blue-collar job, she regularly posts TikToks with behind-the-scenes looks at her work. In one video, she said she chose to pursue a job in construction because of how bad the job market had gotten, but she was surprised to find a good salary and excellent benefits. Another video, posted in honor of Women in Apprenticeship Day, featured …

Why Workplace Confusion Drains High-Achieving Women

Why Workplace Confusion Drains High-Achieving Women

Published by Jenni Sidey

You just got hired for your dream job. On your first day, a manager pulls you aside, lowers their voice, and criticizes a coworker—hinting that they may be fired soon. Later that day, and in the weeks that follow, they reinforce this dynamic in meetings. You get a knowing glance. They triangulate you against that coworker. At first, this feels like validation. The message is unspoken but clear—you are the exception. In reality, it’s the beginning of a setup. This manufactured intimacy is a structural manipulation tactic. By making you feel uniquely valued, the system quietly isolates you. It exploits your desire to keep that privileged status by slowly loading more work onto your plate. By combining manufactured intimacy and strategic ambiguity, these systems systematically reduce your ability to push back. Stress spikes because the rules of engagement are unspoken and based on shifting alliances. You never truly know where you stand. In a toxic environment, high-achieving women often default to a “tend-and-befriend” stress response. Instead of fighting or fleeing, our biological impulse is to …

Brain scans shed light on why women develop romantic feelings for AI companions

Brain scans shed light on why women develop romantic feelings for AI companions

Published by José Betancourt

Two studies in China found that female university students are most likely to become romantically interested in artificial intelligence agents that are both physically attractive and highly interactive. The perceived interactivity of a virtual agent also affected the patterns of brain activity the students displayed during their interactions. The paper was published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. Virtual agents are computer-based systems that can interact with people or digital environments in a partly independent way. They can answer questions, give instructions, make recommendations, perform tasks, or simulate conversation. Some appear as simple chat windows, while others feature a voice, an animated character, or a specific role inside a digital game or virtual world. These systems use artificial intelligence to interpret text, speech, or other data to choose responses that fit a user’s request. Modern examples include customer service bots, virtual tutors, digital assistants like Siri, and video game characters. Unlike a simple script, an advanced virtual agent can adapt its behavior to different situations. However, it does not truly understand or feel emotions, as …

The Mental Load: The Second Job Women Do at Work

The Mental Load: The Second Job Women Do at Work

Published by Jenni Sidey

The “mental load” is often discussed in the context of households and caregiving, but increasingly it is entering conversations about work as a form of labor that quietly shapes many employees’ daily experiences. The term mental load refers to the constant work of remembering, planning, anticipating, coordinating, emotionally managing, and relationship-building that runs silently in the background alongside formal job responsibilities. Though often invisible and unrewarded, it shapes how employees experience work, how leaders evaluate potential, and how women advance across career stages. Sociologist Leah Ruppanner argues that the burden stems not only from performing labor itself, but from the ongoing cognitive responsibility of anticipating needs, monitoring responsibilities, and ensuring things do not fall apart. Most jobs do not formally describe these demands. Yet for many women, they are part of work itself. For example, before a woman even speaks in a meeting, she may already be making multiple calculations: Will confidence be interpreted as competence or arrogance? Should disagreement be softened to preserve likability? Will visibility help me professionally or make me a target? …

Anti-smoking women are upbraiding smokers in China : NPR

Anti-smoking women are upbraiding smokers in China : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Despite public smoking bans in a number of Chinese cities, smoking is still a big thing — mainly among men. Johannes Eisele/AFP/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Johannes Eisele/AFP/via Getty Images Hilda Wang scolds smokers and posts videos of the encounters. She says she’s a natural introvert –- but she gets so upset about smoking that her personality has changed. In a widely shared clip, she’s lecturing a man with a cigarette in hand. He says she has no right to put him on video. She tells the man he’s an embarrassment, and he walks away. Wang comes into contact with a lot of smokers. She lives in China, a hard-smoking nation, and smoking habits tend to fall along a gender divide. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, about 45% of males and 2% of females above the age of 15 smoke tobacco. In Shenzhen, a densely-packed city of almost 20 million residents just north of Hong Kong, Wang is one of many women who have been confronting men smoking …

What ‘Strangers’ by Belle Burden Says About Women and Money

What ‘Strangers’ by Belle Burden Says About Women and Money

Published by Jenni Sidey

Warning: Spoilers ahead. If you are a woman and haven’t yet picked up a copy of Belle Burden’s bestselling memoir, Strangers, I suggest grabbing a copy. A personal recounting of Burden’s marriage and divorce from a high-powered attorney-turned-hedge-fund-executive, it reads like a flashing warning sign for women who are married, engaged, or contemplating marriage to consider what would happen to them if their spouse decided to leave. As she was a product of generational wealth and opportunity, including university and law school at prestigious institutions, it is at first hard to understand how such an accomplished and privileged woman could compromise her financial footing so willingly. As a divorce attorney, I’m not surprised. Not only do I see it every day, but on the cusp of my own divorce, I was, in many ways, like her. After having relinquished my financial well-being to my husband for years, I found myself with not even enough money to buy myself a chai tea. Like Burden, I should’ve known better. Yet I, too, chose to leave my financial …

Politics Home Article | Women Labour MPs “Disappointed” By The Prospect Of Another Male Leader

Politics Home Article | Women Labour MPs “Disappointed” By The Prospect Of Another Male Leader

Published by Sam Flores

Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner, Bridget Phillipson, and Lisa Nandy have all served as Cabinet ministers in Keir Starmer’s Labour government (Alamy) 5 min read6 hr Female Labour MPs are “disappointed” by the prospect of a man replacing Keir Starmer as prime minister, with the Labour Party not having had a permanent female leader in its 120-year history. Members of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), including some who would back Andy Burnham or Wes Streeting in a future race, told PoliticsHome that the party is overdue a female leader. A formal leadership challenge has not yet been launched to topple Starmer. However, either a contest or a coronation is widely seen as likely soon, after Streeting stepped down as health secretary last week and announced his intention to stand when a contest is underway, and Greater Manchester mayor Burnham announced that he will stand in a parliamentary by-election to re-enter Parliament. If Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election in June, he is the top choice among Labour members to replace Starmer as leader – …