sexism

As yet another female Tory MP announces she is to stand down, the soul-searching has begun about why women still find life in the Commons so unbearable. Laura Sandys says she is leaving politics because of "family demands". But the impression given is she is part of a growing exodus of recently elected women; "rising stars" forced out tragically early by the macho posturing in parliament.

A little while back a lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court to disallow funding of political parties that do not include women in the party list.

I do not know what happened with that suit - I have not yet heard that it has been discussed or decided upon, so I assume it is still an open case.

Some lawmakers have decided not to wait for the Supreme Court decision, and are taking the same idea via a different route - legislation in the Knesset.

It's raining machismo in France. Chucking it down, in fact.

From parliament to local councils, via national media and regional newspapers, storms have erupted as French men indulge in misogynist outbursts that could have come from the cave age.

Now, thanks to the name-and-shame tactics of social media networks, France's long-suffering women, who might previously have shrugged off such attacks as everyday sexism and machismo, are hitting back.

Despairing news from Iran...

Nina Siahkali Moradi, 27, was barred from taking up her seat in Qazvin by the conservative electoral review board.
An electoral candidate who won a place on a city council in Iran has reportedly been barred from taking up the seat because she is too attractive.During the polls in the city of Qazvin, 27-year-old Nina Siahkali Moradi received 10,000 votes, placing her 14th out of 163 candidates.

Women are defined in American society by the men who are or aren't in their lives. From the time we're little girls into young adults, we're encouraged to find our prince charming and never let him go. People quietly frown upon single women, wondering what's wrong with women like me who haven't married yet or may never marry.

Continuing our series on women in federal politics, we meet the Hon Kate Ellis MP (ALP), Federal Member for Adelaide, Minister for Early Childhood, Childcare and Youth, Minister for Employment Participation and Minister for the Status of Women.

The 43rd Australian Parliament was extraordinary for several reasons but perhaps most notably for how Labor women confronted sexism and misogyny.

The Georgetown law student Rush Limbaugh labeled a "slut" and "prostitute" because of her comments before congressional leaders about insurance coverage of contraception in 2012 has joined a training program for Democratic women with ambitions of running for public office. Sandra Fluke, then a student at the Catholic university, objected to not being able to acquire birth control through the university's plan.

Fluke, a native of Pennsylvania, will be representing Emerge California's class of 2014. She hopes to get women more active in California politics.