:: Netwoman ::

:: Saturday, January 31, 2004 ::

Web and Aging: Challenges and Opportunities

Special Issue for Universal Access in the Information Society Journal here.

A significant increase of the older population has led to various studies investigating the effect of age in utilizing the Web as an information resource. A report by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2001 stated that the estimated change in the total size of the world's elderly population between July 1999 and July 2000 was more than 9.5 million people, growing at an average of 795,000 people each month. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Recent research shows that older adults are beginning to incorporate Web use in their daily activities, mainly because the Web presents an opportunity for them to maintain a high quality of life. As a consequence, a variety of new opportunities and challenges related to the use of the Web by older adults arise in a Universal Access perspective.

The main objective of this special issue is to bring together work by researchers, academics and practitioners from various disciplines who are interested in the interrelationships among web access, web usability and ageing. Contributions on novel methodologies, theories, products and design guidelines that address these issues, as well as on related case studies, are solicited.

Main topics

Authors of submissions should carefully explain how the work and results presented contribute to facilitating and promoting universal access.

Contributions are solicited in, but not limited to, the following topics:

· Information architecture and the older user.
· Ageing-related disabilities and accessible design of web technology.
· Empirical studies on web usability and older users.
· Analytical studies & computational modeling of the older web user.
· Social aspects of web and aging, including the effects of web use on personal well-being, as well as social determinants of successful web use (e.g. educational attainment, socio-economic status, etc.)
· Emerging applications and interaction techniques with high relevance for older web users (e.g., WAP)
· Social policy implications of web access for older users, especially including issues of public access to computing facilities, access to government services, and social/civic engagement.
· Web-based learning and training for the elderly.

The call for papers and any updates about this special issue can be
found here.

:: Netwoman 11:27 AM [+] ::
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You can be Anything!

The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) is pleased to announce the release of its NSF-funded video, "You Can Be Anything." The three-and-a-half-minute, high quality video presents diverse images of successful women in science and technology careers and targets girls and young women ages 12 - 20. Already the video has won its first award - the prestigious Gold World Medal for 2004 in the category of Best Original Music/Lyrics by the New York Festivals. The 2004 International Film & Video Awards will be presented in New York on Friday, January 30, 2004. Claudia Morrell, CWIT's director and executive producer for the video, and Michael Bacon, who composed the music, will accept the award. Information on the event can be found here or more specifically here.

The short, fast-paced video uses the techniques of music videos and the power of media to portray a wide variety of women, both past and present, working in diverse careers using technology. The music and images are combined in exciting ways that appeal to young people, engage their emotions, capture their attention, and convey the message that science and technology are cool, exciting fields for women as well as men.

Of course, no short video, no matter how skillfully conceived and executed, is likely by itself to persuade young women to prepare for a high-tech career. CWIT intends the video to be used together with a speaker who will discuss the attractiveness of informal programs, classes, and careers in more detail. What the video will do is capture young people's attention, offer them a presentation of women's involvement with technology that appeals to the emotions and the senses as well as to the intellect, and make them more receptive to the speaker's message.

To access and download the video and learn more about the Speakers Bureau go here.

:: Netwoman 11:13 AM [+] ::
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Inequities Persist for Women in Media

"The glass ceiling in media companies appears shatter-proof. Not only do women's pay and promotions continue to lag behind those of men, the gap widens as women log more years on the job and gain experience, a sort of reverse reward system."

Article located here.

Not surprising is it?

More resources here:

The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania--
"The Glass Ceiling Persists: The Third Annual APPC Report on Women Leaders in Communication Companies, Dec. 22, 2003":
here.

Poynter Online--
The American Journalist Survey:
here.

Women's eNews--
"Studies Show Women's Role in Media Shrinking":
here.

:: Netwoman 9:43 AM [+] ::
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More on Orkut

Yes, the flurry continues, as does the backlash....strange men adding me as friends and then disappearing, strange men emailing me about my pictures, the spam messages in the Inbox (someone has figured out how to send bulk messages to about 2000 members), people disappearing from Orkut and so forth.

Alex thinks it's a fad, Jeremy also agrees. I am wondering the same. I spent considerable time on Orkut this weekend, it was fun. But what will I get out of it? Yes, I can connect with others - note the huge increase in the Blogger Community - but can I do this without Orkut?

Maybe I will find my "soulmate". Me and Ophelia blogged about Blogosphere Romance here noting how Red and Accordian guy connected through their blogs. They are now a couple. But really, you need to have a big audience to meet people through blogs. So is Orkut so bad?

Not sure what Orkut will offer that will distinguish it from other social network programs (like Friendster)...but it is an entertaining way to pass the time....

I suspect that there will be some 'communities of exclusion'. A friend in my social network sent me a problematic description in one of her communities. It is a Lesbian community - organized by a self identified "straight" Pizza man - Jeremy.

"A safe and welcoming hate-free zone for women, young and old, to discuss lesbian-related issues and other thingies or whatever it is lesbians talk about. BISEXUALS STAY OUT!"

It sounds to me that this may be a voyeuristic place where men can get their "jollies" by observing conversations that Lesbians have (there is another straight man in the community) - with a presumption that Lesbians don't talk about 'man-loving' in any form, or that sexuality isn't on any kind of continuum at all. The description is offensive (to say the least) and exclusionary. Of course, I had to join the group and voice my disatisfaction about the group's description, and encouraged my friend to unjoin the UNSAFE space.

So it seems that Orkut faces many of the same problems as any other chat room or social network community. Where do we go from here?


Update: Jill has something to say as well.

Second Update:
We've taken orkut.com offline for a few days as we implement some improvements and upgrades suggested by users. Since orkut is in the very early stages of development, it's likely to be up and down quite a bit during the coming months. None of the data you've entered will be deleted, and none of the connections you've made will be lost. And, if all goes well, you should see some significant improvements when we come back online.
We'll send an email once everything is ready and running again. Thanks for your feedback and for bearing with us as we work our way up the learning curve.
The orkut team

:: Netwoman 11:17 AM [+] ::
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Orkut is Growing

Is anyone else feeling the Orkut flurry that is going on right now? Check out Orkut.com here. My email is going crazy with invites (I am so flattered).

Jeremy blogged about it the other day, and he was waiting for an invite too (everyone wanted to be invited)....guess someone did because Jeremy was nice enough to invite me, as it is invite only.....but the blogger community on Orkut is growing. It is a neat way to connect with people - so far I like it better than friendster.

What is interesting is that I recognize numerous bloggers there. I read their blogs daily, and feel that I know them - but really, they don't know me. So, while I considered adding a couple of them as 'friends', they probably won't recognize me. This really made me think about how the blogosphere can bring people together, but in a very distant way.

:: Netwoman 12:05 PM [+] ::
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Blogs Aren't a Safe Space

There is much going on in the Blogosphere lately about people commenting negative things to women's blogs - to the point where some women don't want to blog anymore.
I am not surprised - I have blogged about this before on this blog. But it makes me sad. I don't blame women who are tired of fighting everyday - it gets tiresome and wears you down. It often seems that nothing is changing - that many men feel they have the right to troll women's blogs. However, the fact that there are these trolls out there (who are often less likely to say these things to your face - cowards!) means that we need to keep doing what we are doing - even if it is painful.

Having said that, there are also many men who are supportive and advocate for women's rights. Not all men are trolls, and not all women are supportive of other women.

Here is a synopsis of what is going on.

Liz at mamamusings comments on how bloggers at misbehaving are not blogging as much because of the trolls in the comments. Liz notes that criticism is fine, but often the tone sounds like a personal attack - one which can be taken very seriously.

Dana Boyd writes a moving blog post about her feelings on the negativity in Blog World.

"While i may feel attacked here, in my own digital home, i feel outright demolished at misbehaving. Unlike many group blogs, this one has an identity. It's a blog about women and tech. It's a blog by women involved in tech. It's a blog by thinking women who think, say, and create far more than a few posts a month on the site. There is an unspoken context. These are things that i take for granted. I try to keep posts short, but in doing so, i fail to lay out the framework and thus i'm attacked both for what i say and what i don't say. Instead of creative suggestions, "perhaps you forgot this," i usually see you're wrong/foolish/inappropriate. Sometimes i wonder if we created misbehaving as a tool to increase our masochistic lashings. It's certainly not a forum for interesting conversation in a safe space."

Shelley respondes over here.

"I was surprised when Liz responded, both in comments and in her weblog about the hostile nature of my comment and that of another person. I thought I had taken great pains to not be seen as hostile, and the other person's comments, while strong, didn't seem hostile. Or at least, not to my perception. "

Kimberly notes in the comments that there is no such thing as a public safe space. This I have to agree with. As an active feminist voicing my opinion in public spaces is never safe and is subject to much scrutiny and negativity. Yet, onward I plod along.

Fuyuko says this:

"i don't think there is a safe place for discussion where you won't face ciriticism/insults...not online or offline. the only safe place is one's own head. blogging makes finding of such reactions easier but doesn't mean there aren't there. as a person who believes in knowing is better, i prefer to have them."
I think that everyone has their trigger points. If your views on race or sexuality (for example) are constantly be challenged in a demeaning or derogatorty way, it can and does wear you down.

Raena reflects on the negativity from other women here.

"It's not just the usual flak from dickheads and trolls, but catty comments that 'seem to come consistently from other women.'"

So, where do we go from here. I think all these discussions - negative or not - are important. We need to keep talking/blogging about these things and raising consciousness. It won't be easy, trust me - but worth it in the long run.

In the meantime, keep blogging - but if you comment, remember that there is a real person reading the comment, and when you read the comments, remember that CMC loses much of its context vs F2F.

:: Netwoman 11:27 AM [+] ::
...

Online Canadians

Vancouver, BC - Online Canadians, especially young online Canadians, are embracing the Internet as a way to meet new friends and stay in touch with old friends according to an Ipsos-Reid study. Almost seven-in-ten online Canadians (69%) have used the Internet for social interaction.

This includes such activities as taking part in online chat, playing games with other people, using the Internet to contact someone they've lost touch with, participating in forums or bulletin board discussions, using online personals or dating services, or taking part in an online telephone call. Younger online Canadians are especially likely to use the Internet in their social lives. In fact, 82% of those 18-34 years of age have taken part in some form of online social activities. The study involved 1,000 telephone interviews with Canadian adults and 1,000 online interviews with Canadian Internet users in September and October.

located here.

:: Netwoman 6:03 PM [+] ::
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Unravelling the blogosphere

Dina points me to this thread.....

MacManus notes in Ito's comments:

"Blogging is an individualistic activity, in that you're expressing yourself via the Web in your writing and other multimedia. But blogging is also a fractal activity because, even though you're doing an individualistic thing, you're also "part of something bigger". When you blog, you're participating in a group activity."

MacMahuns then blogs about a structural system in the blogosphere here. Apparently I am a social Blogger with a community of less than 100...though I am not sure why bloggers have to "fit into a suitable bogging pattern" - why not just blog?

"What I hope a Fractal Blogosphere will enable is that new bloggers can immediately decide where on the scale they fit in. Currently I get the feeling that a lot of bloggers see the blogosphere as a 'dog eat dog' world - survival of the fittest, where Fittest = Popular. Maybe that is turning some potential bloggers off? But if we have a series of structural levels defined, then we broaden the scope of blogging so that people no longer compete - compare themselves - with people who are working at a different level."

Clay blogs this:

"We can and should talk about the type of inequality we want - right now, for example, most of the high-flow webloggers are men. We can ask why that is, whether we should do anything about it, and if so, what? We can't ask how we can level out the difference between the high-flow end of the popularity curve and the rest of us, or at least we can't ask that unless we are advocating the destruction of the blogosphere. The interesting and hard question is "Since there is to be inequality, how shall it be arranged?"

Joi Ito says this:

"Clay is willing to consider what we might do about the fact that the most influential blogs are by people in positions of privilege."

Interesting commentary - though I wonder why when men (of priviledge) blog about this stuff, it gets attention. Isn't this what many of us here and here have been saying all along? Or is because if women talk about inequality, we are written off as complaining?

:: Netwoman 10:59 AM [+] ::
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This Blogging Break is Over!

I'm back! (and good thing I told you where I was - Alex's mom was worried since he hadn't been blogging).

After Five grueling days of writing about gender, gender and more gender - it is done. Thanks for the emails, the comments and words of support (thanks for the flowers Janet!). Now I must wait to hear back if I passed!

Anyway - I am trying to catch up on what I missed on the Blogosphere...

Cloned embryo implanted in woman - here. "A 35-year-old woman is hoping to give birth to the world's first cloned human being after a freshly-cloned embryo was implanted in her". Note how the author's talk about how desparate the poor woman is - how she really needs to have children....

Kaye blogs about "biting you in the blog" and Alex comments on it as well. Also comments on Crooked Timber here.

"I'll be interviewing people at MLA, and, trust me, we've 'Googled' every job candidate to establish whether they are a good 'fit' for our institution. Watch what you say."

Also some stuff here -

I generally write things that I would be prepared to stick to in a face-to-face situation. I think that if someone is going to hire me, they are going to hire all of me - all my personality, both good and bad - it's a package deal. If people ask me what I think about something, I tell them the truth. You always know where you stand with me - both on my blog and face-to-face. Maybe that limits my chance of 'fitting in' but I have to work there too! I hope that my blog contributes to my career.

Mamamusings and Zephoria are trying to define blogs over here and here.

Torill blogs The Blogging Iceberg.

"Blogging in Buffalo: private life writ large" article here.

Hilde's paper "Negotiating gendered positions in the discourse of computing (pdf)" located here.

Why we Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. - here.

Feminism--My Style - interesting piece located here.

Damn Canadians (wink) - check here.

Ok that is enough for now - apparently I missed a lot....more tomorrow.

:: Netwoman 7:42 PM [+] ::
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Blogging Break

Well, in 13 hours I start my gender comprehensive exam (qualifying exam). I am announcing my five day Blogging Break in case anyone is wondering where I am. I wanted to blog today but I am far too stressed and nervous. Sorry.

Helpful Hints when writing an exam at home:

-Make sure that your house is clean so that you can't use this as an excuse to not write your exam
-Stock up on groceries - this includes coffee and cigarettes - oh and pet food (don't forget to feed them when you are writing)
-Turn off the ringer on your phone
-Turn off your cell phone
-Turn off your Pager
-Turn off your PDA (you get the picture)
-Do not connect to the Internet (repeat this to yourself continually if necessary)
-Clean up your workspace and desk. Prepare your material - rabbit's foot, four leaf clover, lucky pen, lucky paper, lucky computer and so forth for writing
-If you have crazy pets, take them to the kennel (don't forget to pick them up when you are done writing)
-If you have kids, the same applies - well, to another relative's house or something
-Paint your nails the day before your exam so that you won't chew your nails until your fingers are bloody stumps
-Above all stay sane - McDonald's is always hiring.

Back Soon!

:: Netwoman 8:42 PM [+] ::
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Blogging is a Privilege

I almost missed this post from Zephoria. I have been catching up on blog reading today (yes, I know I should be studying).

"Privilege is a funny thing. Often it opens up opportunities that we don't even realize. Take time, for example. Who has the time to sit online and read, write and discuss all day? A working mother? A migrant worker? Time is money. Very few people have both time and money and most people spend most of their time trying to make ends meet or trying to calm their nerves from the stress induced by the former. Having time to "waste" is privilege.

Next, take voice. Who is taught that they have the right to vocalize any thought about the world to the rest of the world? A proper lady does not spoke unless spoken to. Who has the privilege to critique those in power?

Take a look at the public self-referential blogging culture. We've often noted that there are few women. Yet, what percentage are people of color or queer? More notably, what percentage are of working class? And btw: the goal isn't to be able to successfully name one... but when i look around the blogging world, i will think that it is an equalizer the day that people are represented at least proportionately to their representation in the rest of the world. Until then, i'm committed to my belief that there are factors embedded in the blogging culture that only draw specific types of people. And that those factors edge along notions of privilege. Until we decipher how our technologies promote privilege, we cannot create equalizing technologies."

Thanks for blogging what many of us are thinking....

Also, have a look at Brayden King's blog post asking "Are blogs transforming society?"

:: Netwoman 5:47 PM [+] ::
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Feedster Search

Kaye blogs about her new Feedster search. What a great idea! I had to jump on the blog bandwagon and do the same. I find this handy if I need to find a blog post I wrote, but can't remember when.

Thanks Kaye!

:: Netwoman 10:19 AM [+] ::
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My So-Called Blog

New York Times article today by EMILY NUSSBAUM talks about Blogging Teenagers.

Snipits:

" J. had had his Blurty journal for about a year. He called it ''better than therapy,'' a way to get out his true feelings -- all the emotions he thought might get him in trouble if he expressed them in school or at home. Online, he could blurt out confessions of loneliness and insecurity, worrying aloud about slights from friends. "

"Blogging is a replication of real life: each pool of blogs is its own ecosystem, with only occasional links to other worlds. As I surfed from site to site, it became apparent that as much as journals can break stereotypes, some patterns are crushingly predictable: the cheerleaders post screen grabs of the Fox TV show ''The O.C.''; kids who identify with ''ghetto'' culture use hip-hop slang; the geeks gush over Japanese anime. And while there are exceptions, many journal writers exhibit a surprising lack of curiosity about the journals of true strangers. They're too busy writing posts to browse. "

:: Netwoman 3:13 PM [+] ::
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Good News for Women

by Katha Pollitt, The Nation, January 12, 2004 - found here. This is the whole piece - very interesting!

There was plenty of gloomy news for women in 2003. American women make
just under 80 cents on the male dollar for full-time, year-round work. We lost Carolyn Heilbrun, Carol Shields, Rachel Corrie, Nina Simone and Martha Griffiths.

Russia tightened its abortion laws; in Slovakia Romani women were sterilized without their permission; Iraqi women were freed from Saddam but confined to their houses by crime and Islamic fundamentalists. The Globe ran a slutty cover photo of Kobe Bryant's accuser. The New York Times reported that women are having painful and potentially crippling surgery on their toes in order to fit into their Manolos and Jimmy Choos, while in China, where short people are subject to major discrimination, they are undergoing excruciating operations to lengthen their legs. What's the matter with people? Don't answer that.

Still, it's the end of the year, so let's break out the champagne for good news around the world for women in 2003--accomplishments, activism, bold deeds and grounds for hope.

1. Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Iranian feminist and human rights crusader is the first Muslim woman to receive this honor. The ayatollahs are furious!

2. Hormone replacement therapy was further debunked. Instead of protecting you from Alzheimer's, it doubles your risk. The unmasking of HRT is a major triumph for the women's health movement, which has claimed for decades that its supposed benefits are drug-industry hype. You can read all about it in Barbara Seaman's devastating exposi, The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth.

3. Antiwar activism got a feminist edge. The Lysistrata Project saw 1,029 productions of Aristophanes' hilarious, bawdy comedy performed all over the world on March 3. Code Pink took on Bush--and Schwarzenegger--with nervy humor.

4. Barbara Ransby's moving and invaluable Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision illuminated a behind-the-scenes heroine of the civil rights struggle. As Ransby showed, there are other, more egalitarian ways to move forward than by playing follow the leader.

5. A Department of Education commission rejected energetic efforts to water down Title IX, the main legal vehicle promoting equality for women's athletics in schools; the Supreme Court didn't overturn affirmative action.

6. Some movies had leading female characters who were not wives, girlfriends, prostitutes or assassins: Whale Rider, Bend It Like Beckham, Sylvia, Mona Lisa Smile. Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation got raves. Older women were beautiful and sexy in Swimming Pool, starring the ever-fabulous Charlotte Rampling, and in Something's Gotta Give, where 57-year-old Diane Keaton gets to choose between grumpy-old-man Jack Nicholson and boy toy Keanu Reeves.

7. One in four people in Ireland saw The Magdalene Sisters, the movie that exposed the lifelong virtual consignment to hard labor in convent laundries of Irish girls who fell afoul of the church's harsh double standard of sexual morality by, for example, being raped.

8. Afghan women set the gold standard for courage with major conferences in Kandahar and Kabul to push for women's rights in the new constitution. At the loya jirga, 25-year-old delegate Malalai Joya electrified the world when she accused the mujahedeen who control the assembly of destroying the country in the early 1990s.

9. In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws criminalizing gay sex. The Massachusetts Supreme Court, headed by a woman, ruled that the state Constitution required that gays should be able to marry.

10. Amina Lawal, condemned to death by stoning by a Nigerian Sharia court for having sex out of wedlock, was set free on appeal.

11. Prodded by an ACLU lawsuit, Michigan stopped drug-testing welfare recipients (only 7.8 percent came up positive, by the way--the same as at your office) as well as applicants.

12. Jessica Lynch showed herself a real heroine by refusing to go along with the propaganda parade.

13. Seventy-eight-year-old Essie Mae Washington-Williams confirmed longstanding rumors that she is the daughter of racist Senator Strom Thurmond and his family's 16-year-old black maid, Carrie Butler. That Strom died at 100, reputation intact, definitely proves that God does not exist.

14. In New York, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the 2001 ruling in Nicholson v. Scoppetta that child services can't take away the children of battered women.

15. Louise Gl|ck, who has written poems that are burned into my brain, became Poet Laureate, only the ninth woman to hold the post in the past sixty-six years.

16. Desperately poor women in Nigeria's Niger Delta staged militant demonstrations--including stripping--against Shell, demanding that the company employ locals and share the wealth with the community. They won!

17. An FDA panel gave the thumbs-up to making emergency contraception an over-the-counter drug. Teen pregnancy, still too high, has hit a historic low.

18. Under heavy attack from women, DaimlerChrysler abandoned its sponsorship of the Lingerie Bowl, a pay-per-view Super Bowl halftime event involving models playing full-contact football in their underwear. Turns out women buy cars too.

19. Lieut. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, who thinks Allah is an idol and that God put Bush in the White House, quoted his ex-wife as follows: "I don't love you anymore, you're a religious fanatic, and I'm leaving you."

20. The Dixie Chicks survived. Pro-war crowds stomped on their records, Clear Channel refused to give them airplay and Christopher Hitchens called them "f**king fat slags." But they're still singing to sold-out crowds, and they re still great.

:: Netwoman 12:21 PM [+] ::
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First Monday Article

"Globalization of prurience: The Internet and degradation of women and children" by Indhu Rajagopal with Nis Bojin - available here.

Abstract -
"This paper explores some key questions: How does the Web facilitate the production and dissemination of pornographic materials? How, and why, does pornography that depraves and corrupts unwary children, and exploits women, go untrammeled through the Web?"

An interesting article that raises some good points. I would like to have seen a more 'feminist' approach to the material - other than a reference to Dworkin. I do have problems with situating women as victims - as this article does. While they do mention that women are also consumers of porn - there is no room for empowerment or resistance here.

"One easily notices that consumers accessing pornography are mostly male, and thus it is easy to examine to what extent the process dehumanizes women and girls. However, this is small consolation for those who argue that pornography is unquestionably a violation of human and civil rights of an individual, and therefore it does not matter whether it is male or female who is the consumer; it is the victim who matters".

:: Netwoman 10:59 AM [+] ::
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The Digital Home

New York Times article today: Intel to Invest $200 Million in Home Media Networking
By LAURIE J. FLYNN

"The "digital home" has been a rallying cry for Intel executives, who have been promoting a vision of the futuristic home powered by Intel microprocessors. "As more entertainment and educational content becomes digital, people want to edit, manage and access that content and share it among multiple devices, including TV's, stereos, PC's and hand-helds," said John H. F. Miner, president of Intel Capital"

:: Netwoman 1:07 PM [+] ::
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LEAF

Women’s E-quality and the Law of Internet Communications February 6th – 8th 2004, Ottawa, ON

More and more women, of increasingly diverse backgrounds, are using the Internet to communicate, to network, to strategize and to learn. Yet for those determined to maintain women's inequality in our society, the Internet has also become a new tool of oppression, of harassment and abuse. How has the law responded to these new technological realities? Are we regulating enough? Are we regulating too much? Are we effectively applying existing equality provisions and analyses to these new laws, or lack thereof? Do we know how to legally respond to perceived technological abuses? These are issues that LEAF Ottawa proposes to explore in its upcoming consultation on Women's E-quality and the Law of Internet Communications to be held in Ottawa, Canada, Feb. 6-8, 2004.

LEAF Ottawa is inviting you to participate in this two-day series of plenaries and workshops on Women’s use of the Internet as this is affected by Criminal law, Civil law, Privacy, Charter, International law and Human Rights. We are currently seeking participants to enrich the consultation process. Participants may choose to participate in one legal category per session and will be asked to prepare for the consultation by reading working papers outlining the ‘status quo’ in each legal category of their choice. These working papers have been prepared by feminist legal scholars, practitioners, and frontline workers for the purpose of generating discussion on ways to advance the law.

After the event, notes from the consultation will be compiled and a final report issued, to be widely circulated within the Canadian feminist community.

Please note that there are a limited number of seats available for the consultation so early registration is suggested. To participate or for further information please contact leaf@uottawa.ca. We look forward to hearing from you.

:: Netwoman 1:02 PM [+] ::
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Blogging Break

You may have noticed that I have not been blogging much. Besides fighting colds and viruses, the holiday season was quite busy. I am also writing a comprehensive exam next week (in the US they call it a 'qualifying exam') so I have been trying to study and not consume my time on the computer.

I will be back soon - so keep checking back!

:: Netwoman 1:00 PM [+] ::
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