Latest news with #genderinequality
CBS News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Grammy Award-winning artist teams up with Lynx to donate $250,000 to 10 Minnesota nonprofits
Grammy Award winner Justin Vernon, the frontman for Bon Iver, is teaming up with the Minnesota Lynx to give back to the community. Vernon is using his star power to help those working to end gender inequality, domestic violence and sexual abuse. Through his 2ABillion campaign, he's giving $25,000 each to 10 different Minnesota nonprofits. "The players, the league has been going for a long time, and I'm just lucky to be around it and to amplify what's already happening," said Vernon. On Monday night, Vernon, alongside Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman and Lynx Hall of Famer Seimone Augustus, played hoops with dozens of young girls from She Rock She Rock, a Twin Cities nonprofit that empowers women and girls through music. It was special for Vernon and the Lynx to spend meaningful time with the people who are directly benefiting from this partnership. "It's why we do what we do. It's helping the community. It's giving back. It's helping overcome societal issues," said Carley Knox, president of business operations for the Lynx. The She Rock girls were in awe of meeting a star musician they look up to. "It was very honoring, honestly. I was very happy to be in his presence," said Jordan Dunkley, a She Rock She Rock participant. These girls shared how much the nonprofit has impacted their lives over the years. "For me, it helped me with teamwork and be able to help put myself out there in ways I wasn't able to before," said Brynhilde Gilbertson, a She Rock She Rock participant. Jenny Case, co-founder and artistic director of the nonprofit, said they've already put their $25,000 donation to use. "We hired additional staff, we gave away a lot of scholarships to campers that wouldn't have been able to attend otherwise and we got some new equipment that we desperately needed," said Case. It was a special moment for Heideman to take a break from the high competition with the Lynx. She uses music in a big way to improve her own game in the WNBA. "I'm always listening to music, 24/7. Whatever mood I'm in, music has always been an outlet for me, so just being able to have it as an outlet is special," said Heideman, whose pregame song of choice is Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan. Vernon has been a long-time Lynx fan, growing up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He says joining forces with his favorite team made perfect sense to him. "Watching the Lynx play is like watching the John Coltrane Quartet play," said Vernon. The Lynx and Vernon say this partnership is just the beginning, and they plan to continue to give back to the Twin Cities community for seasons to come.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
Almost half of women have been dished sexist insults playing sports, survey shows
ALMOST half of women have faced sexist jibes while playing sport – with many being told they "throw like a girl", "look like a man", or are "not strong enough". The shocking stats come from a UK-wide survey of 3,000 female athletes and amateur players, revealing the widespread abuse women face on and off the pitch. The poll found 42 per cent had been told women weren't as good at sport as men, while nearly one in three (32 per cent) had been labelled 'soft' or inferior. Male strangers on the street (47 per cent), male athletes (44 per cent), and even male coaches (36 per cent) were named as the most common culprits behind the abuse. Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, deputy chief medical officer at AXA Health Insurance, which commissioned the research, said: 'It can be a lose-lose situation for women sometimes. 'Despite the progress which has been made to improve access to women's sport, the research shows there's still a long way to go to making sport an equal playing field for all. 'Comments about physical ability or derogatory statements about gender have no place in sport or exercise.' Other barriers holding women back include menstrual health – with 39 per cent saying their performance was affected – and 29 per cent reporting low energy levels. Olympic gold medallist Sam Quek said: 'Speak up and you're difficult – stay quiet, and you're weak. 'As a woman in sport, I've experienced and also heard a number of insults, problems and accusations. ''Oh, she's hormonal, oh, she's on her period, she throws like a girl, she's not strong enough – the list is endless. 'One area in women's sport which I have loved to see evolve is the menstrual cycle and women's periods, because whether you like it or not, it does affect sporting performance. 'We are not using it as an excuse, we just needed a greater understanding.' The research also revealed that 78 per cent believe female athletes don't get the credit they deserve, despite 94 per cent of parents saying it's important to set a good example when it comes to exercise. Shockingly, 58 per cent of women who've been on the receiving end of sexist abuse admitted it made them consider quitting sport altogether. To change things, nearly nine in ten (88 per cent) said people in sport, from coaches to spectators, need to do more to stop the abuse. Suggestions include calling out bad behaviour (74 per cent), promoting equal chances (65 per cent), and praising women when deserved (56 per cent). Dr Bradshaw added: 'Sport and exercise – from running to rugby, lacrosse to lifting weights, can have huge benefits both physically and mentally, and help keep bones, joints and muscles healthy as we age. 'It's important we ensure that women are treated fairly, so we need to normalise flexing training plans to suit women's needs, such as using the stages of the menstrual cycle to benefit training. 'We know that certain stages of the cycle women can feel more fatigued, but there are stages where they might feel stronger, too – so they can use this to their advantage. "Women menstruating are also more likely to suffer injuries, so this should be factored into training plans. 'And as female athletes get older, we need to ensure they have the confidence to challenge expectations and reset their own priorities to find what works best for them, rather than giving up entirely.' Sam Quek added: 'Sport for me is magical. It's for everyone. "To any female involved in sport who has been told they're too much – you're not, you're you. And to any female who has been told we're not enough, we are enough.' SEXIST ABUSE FACED BY WOMEN PLAYING SPORTS: 1. Being told women aren't as good at sports as men 2. Mocking or belittling women's sports as inferior or 'soft' 3. Being told that you 'throw like a girl' as an insult 4. Sexual comments or harassment during or after playing sports 5. Being wolf whistled 6. Being told you're 'too emotional' to handle high-pressure situations 7. Being told you should 'smile more' while playing 8. Criticism focused on appearance instead of athletic performance 9. Being asked about relationship status or family plans instead of their skills 10. Doubts cast on your sexuality for playing 'masculine' sports 2
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Women in legislatures across the US fight for ‘potty parity'
For female state lawmakers in Kentucky, choosing when to go to the bathroom has long required careful calculation. There are only two bathroom stalls for women on the third floor of the Kentucky Statehouse, where the House and Senate chambers are located. Female legislators — 41 of the 138 member Legislature — needing a reprieve during a lengthy floor session have to weigh the risk of missing an important debate or a critical vote. None of their male colleagues face the same dilemma because, of course, multiple men's bathrooms are available. The Legislature even installed speakers in the men's bathrooms to broadcast the chamber's events so they don't miss anything important. In a pinch, House Speaker David Osborne allows women to use his single stall bathroom in the chamber, but even that attracts long lines. 'You get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat from Louisville, reflecting on the photos of former lawmakers, predominantly male, that line her office. The issue of potty parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders, said Kathryn Anthony, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Architecture. 'It's absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population,' said Anthony, who has testified on the issue before Congress. 'And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people.' There is hope for Kentucky's lady legislators seeking more chamber potties. A $300 million renovation of the 155-year-old Capitol — scheduled for completion by 2028 at the soonest — aims to create more women's restrooms and end Kentucky's bathroom disparity. The Bluegrass State is among the last to add bathrooms to aging statehouses that were built when female legislators were not a consideration. In the $392 million renovation of the Georgia Capitol, expanding bathroom access is a priority, said Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff with the state's Building Authority. It will introduce female facilities on the building's fourth floor, where the public galleries are located, and will add more bathrooms throughout to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'We know there are not enough bathrooms,' he said. Evolving equality in statehouses There's no federal law requiring bathroom access for all genders in public buildings. Some 20 states have statutes prescribing how many washrooms buildings must have, but historical buildings — such as statehouses — are often exempt. Over the years, as the makeup of state governments has changed, statehouses have added bathrooms for women. When Tennessee's Capitol opened in 1859, the architects designed only one restroom — for men only — situated on the ground floor. According to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks, the toilet could only be "flushed' when enough rainwater had been collected. 'The room was famously described as 'a stench in the nostrils of decency,'' Weeks said in an email. Today, Tennessee's Capitol has a female bathroom located between the Senate and House chambers. It's in a cramped hall under a staircase, sparking comparisons to Harry Potter's cupboard bedroom, and it contains just two stalls. The men also just have one bathroom on the same floor, but it has three urinals and three stalls. Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, who was elected in 2023, said she wasn't aware of the disparity in facilities until contacted by The Associated Press. 'I've apparently accepted that waiting in line for a two-stall closet under the Senate balcony is just part of the job,' she said. 'I had to fight to get elected to a legislature that ranks dead last for female representation, and now I get to squeeze into a space that feels like it was designed by someone who thought women didn't exist -- or at least didn't have bladders,' Behn said. The Maryland State House is the country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, operational since the late 1700s. Archivists say its bathroom facilities were initially intended for white men only because desegregation laws were still in place. Women's restrooms were added after 1922, but they were insufficient for the rising number of women elected to office. Delegate Pauline Menes complained about the issue so much that House Speaker Thomas Lowe appointed her chair of the 'Ladies Rest Room Committee,' and presented her with a fur covered toilet seat in front of her colleagues in 1972. She launched the women's caucus the following year. It wasn't until 2019 that House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first woman to secure the top position, ordered the addition of more women's restrooms along with a gender-neutral bathroom and a nursing room for mothers in the Lowe House Office Building. 'No longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic' As more women were elected nationwide in the 20th century, some found creative workarounds. In Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, female senators didn't get a dedicated restroom until 1988, when a facility was added in the chamber's cloakroom. There had previously been a single restroom in the senate lounge, and Sen. Shirley Marsh, who served for some 16 years, would ask a State Patrol trooper to guard the door while she used it, said Brandon Metzler, the Legislature's clerk. In Colorado, female House representatives and staff were so happy to have a restroom added in the chamber's hallway in 1987 that they hung a plaque to honor then-state Rep. Arie Taylor, the state's first Black woman legislator, who pushed for the facility. The plaque, now inside a women's bathroom in the Capitol, reads: 'Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we'd have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall ... Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic.' The poem concludes: 'In mem'ry of you, Arie (may you never be forgot), from this day forth we'll call that room the Taylor Chamber Pot.' New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Liz Thomson recalled missing votes in the House during her first year in office in 2013 because there was no women's restroom in the chamber's lounge. An increase in female lawmakers — New Mexico elected the largest female majority Legislature in U.S. history in 2024 — helped raise awareness of the issue, she said. 'It seems kind of like fluff, but it really isn't,' she said. 'To me, it really talks about respect and inclusion.' The issue is not exclusive to statehouses. In the U.S. Capitol, the first restroom for congresswomen didn't open until 1962. While a facility was made available for female U.S. Senators in 1992, it wasn't until 2011 that the House chamber opened a bathroom to women lawmakers. Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to a congressional seat. That happened in 1916. Willner insists that knowing the Kentucky Capitol wasn't designed for women gives her extra impetus to stand up and make herself heard. 'This building was not designed for me," she said. "Well, guess what? I'm here.' ___ Associated Press writer Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed. ____ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Statehouses are the public's houses, but the fight for potty parity continues
For female state lawmakers in Kentucky, choosing when to go to the bathroom has long required careful calculation. There are only two bathroom stalls for women on the third floor of the Kentucky Statehouse, where the House and Senate chambers are located. Female legislators — 41 of the 138 member Legislature — needing a reprieve during a lengthy floor session have to weigh the risk of missing an important debate or a critical vote. None of their male colleagues face the same dilemma because, of course, multiple men's bathrooms are available. The Legislature even installed speakers in the men's bathrooms to broadcast the chamber's events so they don't miss anything important. In a pinch, House Speaker David Osborne allows women to use his single stall bathroom in the chamber, but even that attracts long lines. 'You get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat from Louisville, reflecting on the photos of former lawmakers, predominantly male, that line her office. The issue of potty parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders, said Kathryn Anthony, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Architecture. 'It's absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population,' said Anthony, who has testified on the issue before Congress. 'And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people.' There is hope for Kentucky's lady legislators seeking more chamber potties. A $300 million renovation of the 155-year-old Capitol — scheduled for completion by 2028 at the soonest — aims to create more women's restrooms and end Kentucky's bathroom disparity. The Bluegrass State is among the last to add bathrooms to aging statehouses that were built when female legislators were not a consideration. In the $392 million renovation of the Georgia Capitol, expanding bathroom access is a priority, said Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff with the state's Building Authority. It will introduce female facilities on the building's fourth floor, where the public galleries are located, and will add more bathrooms throughout to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'We know there are not enough bathrooms,' he said. Evolving equality in statehouses There's no federal law requiring bathroom access for all genders in public buildings. Some 20 states have statutes prescribing how many washrooms buildings must have, but historical buildings — such as statehouses — are often exempt. Over the years, as the makeup of state governments has changed, statehouses have added bathrooms for women. When Tennessee's Capitol opened in 1859, the architects designed only one restroom — for men only — situated on the ground floor. According to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks, the toilet could only be 'flushed' when enough rainwater had been collected. 'The room was famously described as 'a stench in the nostrils of decency,'' Weeks said in an email. Today, Tennessee's Capitol has a female bathroom located between the Senate and House chambers. It's in a cramped hall under a staircase, sparking comparisons to Harry Potter's cupboard bedroom, and it contains just two stalls. The men also just have one bathroom on the same floor, but it has three urinals and three stalls. Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, who was elected in 2023, said she wasn't aware of the disparity in facilities until contacted by The Associated Press. 'I've apparently accepted that waiting in line for a two-stall closet under the Senate balcony is just part of the job,' she said. 'I had to fight to get elected to a legislature that ranks dead last for female representation, and now I get to squeeze into a space that feels like it was designed by someone who thought women didn't exist -- or at least didn't have bladders,' Behn said. The Maryland State House is the country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, operational since the late 1700s. Archivists say its bathroom facilities were initially intended for white men only because desegregation laws were still in place. Women's restrooms were added after 1922, but they were insufficient for the rising number of women elected to office. Delegate Pauline Menes complained about the issue so much that House Speaker Thomas Lowe appointed her chair of the 'Ladies Rest Room Committee,' and presented her with a fur covered toilet seat in front of her colleagues in 1972. She launched the women's caucus the following year. It wasn't until 2019 that House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first woman to secure the top position, ordered the addition of more women's restrooms along with a gender-neutral bathroom and a nursing room for mothers in the Lowe House Office Building. 'No longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic' As more women were elected nationwide in the 20th century, some found creative workarounds. In Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, female senators didn't get a dedicated restroom until 1988, when a facility was added in the chamber's cloakroom. There had previously been a single restroom in the senate lounge, and Sen. Shirley Marsh, who served for some 16 years, would ask a State Patrol trooper to guard the door while she used it, said Brandon Metzler, the Legislature's clerk. In Colorado, female House representatives and staff were so happy to have a restroom added in the chamber's hallway in 1987 that they hung a plaque to honor then-state Rep. Arie Taylor, the state's first Black woman legislator, who pushed for the facility. The plaque, now inside a women's bathroom in the Capitol, reads: 'Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we'd have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall ... Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic.' The poem concludes: 'In mem'ry of you, Arie (may you never be forgot), from this day forth we'll call that room the Taylor Chamber Pot.' New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Liz Thomson recalled missing votes in the House during her first year in office in 2013 because there was no women's restroom in the chamber's lounge. An increase in female lawmakers — New Mexico elected the largest female majority Legislature in U.S. history in 2024 — helped raise awareness of the issue, she said. 'It seems kind of like fluff, but it really isn't,' she said. 'To me, it really talks about respect and inclusion.' The issue is not exclusive to statehouses. In the U.S. Capitol, the first restroom for congresswomen didn't open until 1962. While a facility was made available for female U.S. Senators in 1992, it wasn't until 2011 that the House chamber opened a bathroom to women lawmakers. Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to a congressional seat. That happened in 1916. Willner insists that knowing the Kentucky Capitol wasn't designed for women gives her extra impetus to stand up and make herself heard. 'This building was not designed for me,' she said. 'Well, guess what? I'm here.' ___ Associated Press writer Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed. ____ The Associated Press' women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Science
- RNZ News
More diversity, better ideas: Dame Athene Donald
In her book Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science , leading British physicist Professor Dame Athene Donald explores how diversity is crucial to solving the problems of today. Sharing her own experiences and those of other top scientists who are women, she highlights the factors that drive women to give up on a career in science. From societal expectations, prejudice, and hostility, to unconscious and systemic bias. Athene is Professor Emerita in Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge. She has spent her career in Cambridge, specializing in soft matter physics and physics at the interface with biology. She was the University of Cambridge's first Gender Equality Champion and has been involved in numerous initiatives concerning women in science. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 and appointed DBE for services to Physics in 2010. Photo: OUP
