Melisende

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Anna - Countess of the Covenant

Melisende posted an article on - Feb 8, 2012, 12:28 am
I have just finished reading the fascinating story of Lady Anna Mackenzie - Anna, Countess of the Covenant by Lady Mary McGrigor - and what a tale it is. Lady Anna was the daughter and co-heiress of Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, who aged 19yo, married young Alexander Lindsay, Earl of Balca...
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Aviatrix Bessie Coleman

Melisende posted an article on - Feb 2, 2012, 12:14 am
From DoD Live:A young woman from rural east Texas, who grew up in a hardscrabble existence as one of 13 children born to poor sharecropper parents, became an unlikely choice to pave the way for future African-American accomplishments in aviation and the U.S. Air Force. Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman...
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Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 29, 2012, 6:36 pm
From the Chronicle Herald:FAMOUS CANADIAN women abound. But while many people know the names Roberta Bondar, Alexa McDonough and Hayley Wickenheiser, fewer probably recognize Eliza M. Jones, Elizabeth Smellie and Kathleen Parlow. The leader in agriculture, first female colonel in the Canadian Army a...
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Canada - Honour Killing

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 29, 2012, 6:19 pm
From the Sydney Morning Herald:An Afghan immigrant couple and their son have been found guilty in a Canadian court of first degree murder over the "honour killings" of four female family members, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Shafia family had come to Canada in 2007, after living in Austr...
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Egypt: Attacks on Women Continue

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 26, 2012, 4:50 am
From albawaba:Two articles that tell of the continued distress of badly-treated women in Tahrir, including foreign Arab American who was stripped of clothes and assaulted in Egypt's Tahrir Square. Article One:Heather still doesn’t know how she made it home on Wednesday night after being in Egypt...
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Bizarre History of the Pregnancy test

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 26, 2012, 4:41 am
From i09:Nowadays, finding out if you're pregnant is relatively easy — but it wasn't always that way. Over the centuries, people have come up with downright strange and sometimes revolting tests to figure out whether or not a person is knocked up. Some of them were useless, some required being a c...
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Bangladeshi Women & Dowries

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 25, 2012, 4:52 am
From IOL News:Farzana Yasmin sought a divorce just hours after her wedding when her new husband's family demanded dowry payments. Despite the stigma of divorce in Bangladesh, she is not worried about her future. She wants other women to be brave enough to maintain their dignity in the face of dowry ...
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Wanted Women - Martyr & She-Devil

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 23, 2012, 4:01 am
... Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui,” is the story of a martyr and a she-devil. Or the story of a she-devil and a martyr, depending on your perspective. However, the author (a prizewinning international journalist) subscribes to neither view. B...
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Columbian Women & Politics

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 23, 2012, 3:56 am
From Women's Enews:Unlike U.S. women, Colombian women have made great strides in the political arena in a short period of time, says Barbara Frechette in the book "Sharing Power." In this excerpt, she compares this progression to the one in the United States. In Latin America, conservative Colombia ...
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50 Women We Admire

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 20, 2012, 9:35 pm
From today's Herald Sun Weekend:On our list, there are some obvious choices: such as the trio of incredibly courageous women who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize, including Yemeni activist Tawakel Karman, a true force behind last year's Arab Spring. And Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu ...
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Book: The Origins of Sex

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 20, 2012, 9:31 pm
From the Guardian: We believe in sexual freedom. We take it for granted that consenting men and women have the right to do what they like with their bodies. Sex is everywhere in our culture. We love to think and talk about it; we devour news about celebrities' affairs; we produce and consume pornogr...
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Saudi Women Target Guardianship Laws

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 17, 2012, 2:58 am
From Eurasia Review:It’s the law of the land. A woman must carry around a permission slip from a man to function in Saudi society. As violent protests roil through the Middle East with ruling monarchies facing uncompromising demands from its citizens for a greater voice, women’s rights is emergi...
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Women's Education Society of Ceylon

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 17, 2012, 2:57 am
From the Daily News:The genesis of Buddhist women's education in modern Sri Lanka goes back to March 24, 1889, when a group of women gathered at the Colombo headquarters of the Buddhist Theosophical Society. The BTS had been formed nine years before at the behest of Madame Helena Petrovna and Colone...
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Author & Historian Kate Williams

Melisende posted an article on - Jan 17, 2012, 2:54 am
From the Guardian:Could historian Kate Williams be the next Doctor Who? She can build her own Tardis, after all. Sitting in the Edwardian elegance of her north London house, the academic and novelist confides: "When I was a child one of my first games was a time machine which I made for my brother ...
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Begum Nusrat Bhutto

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 29, 2011, 7:49 pm
From The Nation: Born Nusrat Ispahani, the young woman from an Iranian Pakistani family, who grew to love her adopted country, rests today in the soil of Sindh.Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s political role does not start with Ziaul Haq, but it was during his rule that her determination was forged of an unb...
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Women in Tunisia

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 29, 2011, 7:47 pm
From the Financial Times: Suad Abd al-Rahim, a tall, elegant, 47-year-old Tunisian woman with dyed red curls, is no one’s idea of what an Islamist politician should look like.Yet the businesswoman, who says she has no plans to don the Islamic headscarf, has just been elected to Tunisia’s new con...
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Wallis Simpson - That Woman

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 29, 2011, 7:40 pm
From the Sydney Morning Herald:ALMOST everyone knows the story of King Edward VIII's abdication to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson but few have read the mountain of books about the saga. That Woman, the first biography by a woman of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, is for them.Anne Se...
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Stephanie Dray - Song of the Nile

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 19, 2011, 4:41 am
Sorceress. Seductress. Schemer. Cleopatra’s daughter has become the emperor’s most unlikely apprentice and the one woman who can destroy his empire… Having survived her perilous childhood as a royal captive of Rome, Selene pledged her loyalty to Augustus and swore she would become his very ow...
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Rogues Gallery of Restoration Actresses

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 14, 2011, 11:45 pm
... provoked salacious frenzy, which theatre companies hoped to harness to their profit. The showcasing of beauties in "breeches roles" exploded ideas of decorum. Actresses welcomed the chance to demonstrate the virtuosity demanded by parts such as Viola and Rosalind. But the display of their shap...
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From Sex Trade To Second Chance

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 14, 2011, 11:40 pm
From the Daily Beast:“There was no way to go back and erase a criminal conviction in New York,” says Sienna Baskin, co-director of the organization the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center. SWP is a legal advocacy organization that helps sex workers of all kinds, from trafficked indiv...
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Historian Marjorie Reeves

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 14, 2011, 11:32 pm
From the Wiltshire Times:The nephew of a renowned historian and educator, who grew up in Bratton and went to Trowbridge Girls’ School, is bringing her memoirs to the reading public. Medieval history specialist Marjorie Reeves, the daughter of Robert Reeves, the owner of R&J Reeves and Son ironwork...
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Who Was Gladys Porter?

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 14, 2011, 11:30 pm
From Nova News Now:Due to repairs on the Gladys Porter Bridge in Port Williams, many motorists waiting for the light to change are wondering, who was the namesake? According to the Women's Institute history of the village, the current bridge is named after Porter because she was the MLA responsible ...
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Japanese Warrior Women

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 11, 2011, 5:54 am
From Archaeology News Network:'The archaeological evidence, meager though it is," writes historian Stephen Turnbull in "Samurai Women 1184-1877" (2010), "tantalizingly suggests a wider female involvement in battle than is implied by written accounts alone." Armor and weapons have been found in the ...
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Burma: Endemic Sexual Violence

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 11, 2011, 5:35 am
From Mizzima:Three Chinese women were gang-raped last week by Burmese government troops in northern Kachin State, the Kachin News Group (KNG) reported on Monday. According to witnesses, the women were raped on October 7 by about 10 Burmese soldiers in Shadan Pa, located between the Namsan Hka River ...
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Beauty Beyond Ego

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 11, 2011, 5:32 am
From African Colours:Gallery Watatu presents master photographer Giulio d’Ercole in his lyrical ode to the women of Africa in 'Beauty Beyond Ego', showing from Sunday October 16th – October 30th 2011. You are invited to attend the opening day, Sunday October 16th, 2011 at 2pm. The guest of honou...
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Northern Women's History Online

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 7, 2011, 10:32 pm
From the Yorkshire Post:A new website providing information about Yorkshire’s women in history goes online this week. Chris Bond reports. HISTORY, it has often been said, is written by the victors. That may well be the case but it has also usually been written by men, at least until recently, whic...
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Exhibition: Prague & Her Daughters

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 7, 2011, 10:20 pm
From Czech Position:The Czech name for Prague, “Praha,” is grammatically feminine – but the city’s history is usually depicted from a male point of view. Emphasis is placed on warfare, rulers, inventions and significant events. Prague and Her Daughters, a new exhibit at the City of Prague Mu...
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Nobel Prize Winning Women

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 7, 2011, 10:16 pm
From The Nation:History was made yesterday when Liberian and Africa’s first democratically elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, led two other women to win the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The others are: a Liberian peace activist, Leyma Gbowee and a woman who stood up to Yemen’s authorita...
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Diane Cilento

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 7, 2011, 9:56 pm
From the Telegraph:Diane Cilento, the actress, who died on Thursday aged 78, appeared in films, television shows and stage productions, but was perhaps best known as the first wife of the actor Sean Connery. Her heyday came in the late 1950s and 1960s, with her most memorable film part being that o...
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Afghan Womens' Rights Threatened

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 5, 2011, 5:36 am
From BBC News:Women's rights in Afghanistan are under threat after 10 years of progress, two leading British aid agencies have said. Oxfam and Action Aid said many Afghan women were worried that improvements could be sacrificed to secure a political deal with the Taliban. An Action Aid survey of 1,0...
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Womens' Rights Campaigner Warns of Yemani Uprisings

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 5, 2011, 5:35 am
From The Guardian:A campaigner for women's rights in Yemen has claimed that key figures in the anti-government protest movement are abusing human rights and have been responsible for some of the worst atrocities during the unrest. "To those who talk of a pro-democracy Arab spring in my country," she...
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Proof: Women Are Tougher Than Men

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 1, 2011, 2:07 am
From The Star:Researchers have pieced together strong evidence as to why women are born tougher than men. Science has long believed the “male flu,” or men’s higher susceptibility to infections, colds and disease, is real. The reasons pointed to the basic genetic difference: two X chromosomes i...
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Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 1, 2011, 2:05 am
From Media Bistro:It’s Friday and it’s lunch time, so you’re probably done with the heavy work load and already thinking about watching the most illegal move in wrestling history. Or maybe that’s just us. Either way, it’s a good time for a list, and Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Bu...
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Loretta C Ford - Hall of Fame Inductee

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 1, 2011, 2:01 am
From Democrat & Chronicle:When Loretta C. Ford was a pediatric public health nurse in the 1960s, she was often the sole medical practitioner available in rural areas near Boulder, Colo. It prompted her to co-develop the nurse practitioner model at the University of Colorado in 1965. In 1972, when th...
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Nigeria: Women Seek Relevance

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 1, 2011, 1:59 am
From The Tribune:The journey so far marks 51 years of Nigeria's independence. Looking at the prospects available to the society, men glaringly appear to be privileged and advantaged. And the women? Their song has been that of marginalisation in all spheres. As Nigeria celebrates its 51st Independenc...
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Saint Katharine Drexel

Melisende posted an article on - Oct 1, 2011, 1:56 am
From Philly Burbs:She was an assertive Philadelphia debutante who dreamed of changing the world and had the family fortune to make it happen. In a time before women could vote, she built more than 60 schools and founded Xavier University for blacks in the segregated South. Katharine Drexel became a ...
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BBC Accused of Belittling Florence Nightingale

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 28, 2011, 8:23 am
From the Telegraph:A group of nursing academics has written to Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC trust, claiming the corporation has made at least two films containing "unsubstantiated and fictional portrayals" of the founder of modern nursing. They have written to bring up what they describe as "the...
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Saudi Women Welcome Suffrage

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 7:35 pm
From Voice of America:Saudi women are hailing King Abdullah's promise of expanded political rights, with the hope it is another step toward equality in the ultraconservative kingdom. The king's announcement that women may run for office and cast votes in the next round of municipal elections, set fo...
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Kenyan Nobel Laureate Dies

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 7:32 pm
From Inside Africa:Kenyan Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize, died Monday after a battle with cancer. She was 71. Maathai, an environmentalist, had long campaigned for human rights and the empowerment of Africa's most impoverished people. More than 30 years ago...
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Forgotten Female Artists of the 19th Century

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 6:35 am
From the Epoch Times:Although in Art History one hears a lot about artists from prior centuries, and recently more and more work is being done on women artists in general, there is one specific group of female painters that has been all but forgotten. The rare women artists who were Old Masters, suc...
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Quakers: Burqa Wearers of the 17th Century

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 6:32 am
From the Guardian:In 1630, a certain oatmeal maker was examined by the highest church court in England, accused of preaching without a licence. Before an audience of bishops, he kept his hat firmly on his head. Doffing it momentarily to a secular representative, he turned again to the bishops, cryin...
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10 Stories of Inspiration

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 6:28 am
From Asian Scientist:Women across the world have made remarkable contributions in the year 2011. In politics, Yingluck Shinawatra of Thailand and Julia Gillard of Australia have made history as the first female prime ministers of their countries. Christine Lagarde of France will take the helm at the...
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Exhibition: Catholic Nuns in American History

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 6:24 am
From the Observer:South Bend's Center for History is hosting the national traveling exhibition "Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America," an interactive tour through American history that chronicles the sisters' 300-year history in the country. The exhibition details the stories of the nuns who ...
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Top 25 Women in Banking

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 6:21 am
From American Banker come a list of the top 25 women in banking. Nice collection of short biographies - well worth the read.
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Saudi Women Have Right To Vote

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 2:54 am
From the New York Times:King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Sunday granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, the biggest change in a decade for women in a puritanical kingdom that practices strict separation of the sexes, including banning women from driving. Although poli...
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Dahomey's Women Warriors

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 25, 2011, 6:41 am
From Past Imperfect:It is noon on a humid Saturday in the fall of 1861, and a missionary by the name of Francesco Borghero has been summoned to a parade ground in Abomey, the capital of the small West African state of Dahomey. He is seated on one side of a huge, open square right in the center of th...
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Tomb of Mayan Female Ruler

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 23, 2011, 6:23 am
From National Geographic:A woman ruler's skeleton—her head mysteriously placed between two bowls—is one of two royal burials recently found at the Maya ruins of Nakum in Guatemala. The roughly 2,000-year-old tomb was found underneath another, 1,300-year-old tomb filled with treasures such as jad...
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Ancient Thracian Burial

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 20, 2011, 6:42 am
From Novinite:The archeological team, led by Daniela Agre, has discovered a treasure during digs at a Thracian mound near the southern village of Borisovo, in the vicinity of the town of Elhovo. The precious items were placed in the tomb of a wealthy Thracian woman and are from the end of the 1st ...
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Text Reminders for Abortions

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 17, 2011, 9:50 pm
Disturbing article from the Telegraph:Britain's largest abortion provider said it is introducing reminders because some girls and women had forgotten about their procedures. Critics said the move, by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), gave a disturbing insight into casual attitudes to ab...
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Tortuous Life of Women & Girls in Brothels

Melisende posted an article on - Sep 17, 2011, 9:47 pm
From the Times of India:One doesn't expect socialites to spend a languid rainy afternoon listening to horror stories. Especially when it's a diminutive 62-year-old narrating the tales. But when it is one Anuradha Koirala doing the talk, the glamour quotient doesn't matter. The grit that fuels this c...
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