Friday summary - gender in the news

• Vicky Beeching is hosting a wide-ranging discussion on her blog about the biblical role of women in church and marriage - tons of comments, so do go and join in!

• Back in May on our Facebook page, we asked for suggestions for film clips that could be used to talk about girls and leadership, and reaching your potential. There were a few, but as many have commented there's a distinct lack of female role models in film that aren't Disney princesses. So it's worth checking out Arrietty by Japan's leading animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Based on Mary Norton's book, The Borrowers, Arrietty is a little person who lives in the basement of a 'human bean's' house with her mum and dad, Homily and Pod. She shows courage, takes risks and makes mistakes, and is a feisty character - I loved it.

• Lots of newspapers carried the story earlier this week that children as young as five are being treated for anorexia, and quoted the Institute for Child Health study from April that three in every 100,000 children are affected by early-onset eating disorders. The Daily Mail blamed ultra-thin celebrities, but I liked the more thoughtful responses from Hadley Freeman and Laurie Penny in the Guardian, both of whom have come through anorexia, and who question that simplistic link.

• The government is currently consulting on Modern Workplaces - asking questions about flexible parental leave, flexible working, and equal pay. The Fawcett Society have published their response on their website and say, 'Current working practices mean combining work and home life is a struggle for many people. Outdated ideas about the role of work in people's lives, and frankly sexist ideas about the differing roles mothers and fathers tend to play when it comes to raising children, have left the UK with workplace regulations that aren’t fit for the 21st century. The plans unveiled today have the potential to revolutionise the way work is structured in the UK. The Government has set the bar high: we could see Britain become a world leader when it comes to parental leave and flexible working, with common sense and progressive policies that work for both employees and employers the norm not the exception.' You can contribute to the consultation on the Business, Innovation and Skills website.

Comments

[Vicky Beeching]

Thanks for the support of my blog post :-)