Jaymee Coonce
Congratulations to the women of the Franklin Bridge highway overpass project along I-84 in Idaho, recently completed ahead of schedule. Although women make up less that 10% of the construction industry, they served as three project managers for the bridge: Jayme Coonce, transportation department; Kadee Porter, general contractor; and Rita Wilson; design. Fox12 Idaho quoted Porter:
The best part of my job is seeing something get built from the ground up. Something that’s going to benefit the public. Something that’s going to stand for many, many years.
We’re building something at …

Sharp-eyed readers have let us know about three concerns we haven’t had time to cover this week: a Jack-In-The Box commercial calling menopausal women “Street-Rat Crazy,” biased media treatment of reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Kate Gosselin, and reports of another Hustler porn video starring a Sarah Palin look-alike.
After our coverage of Burger King’s sexualization of girls and Wendy’s positive role models, Ellen D. posted:
OK – would someone please comment on why we aren’t going after Jack in the Box for their commercial showing a woman going through …

This essay is cross-posted from the blog Raising Scientists.  The author’s opinions are her own, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
I just received notification that my grant application hasn’t been funded.  I am getting used to rejection, and I somewhat expected it.  It isn’t the rejection that is upsetting me so much as the reasons why.  The reviewers were pretty positive; there were a few minor issues with the proposed research, but they thought that I had come up with a good collaborative project that would establish me as …

This essay is cross-posted from Tennessee Guerilla Women.  The author’s views are her own, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Quote of the Day:
Some lawyers just don’t like to be questioned by a woman
– Judge Guido Calabresi, former dean of Yale Law School, sits on the Second Circuit with Judge Sotomayor.
Judge Calabresi was defending Sonia Sotomayor from the charge that she is a “temperamental” shrew or a woman with a “sharp tongue.”  In an article in the New York Times, Judge Calabresi added that the charge that Sonia Sotomayor is too …

Mary McAleese is the president of Ireland. This is an excerpt from her commencement address at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Mary McAleese, President of Ireland
Over 40 years ago when I was in my mid-teens, I announced at home that I had decided to become a barrister [lawyer]. The first words I heard in response were “You can’t because you are a woman.” It was the voice of our parish priest. The next voice I heard was my mother’s saying, “Don’t listen to him.” To my mother’s surprise, I heeded her …

Our daughters are watching us!
UNITY!
Sisters – I am going to keep asking and asking. Can we lay down our arms, and instead join together arm in arm and move forward?
You’ve heard me preaching about unity on our blog here and here. And I’m going to keep going and try to win over women and like minded men one by one and here is why: our next generation is watching!
Last weekend, the media reported a story about a 6th grader named Piper Smith. Seems some of the …

The New Agenda welcomes first-time contributor Janis, who expresses her own views, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
It’s been a hot topic here and elsewhere lately:  why did The New Agenda bother to defend Nancy Pelosi, who went out of her way to sabotage a politician who was probably one of the most qualified candidates for President in recent history?
We’ve been dancing around the answer.  And the answer can be put as a series of questions for all of us:
Is it ever OK for a woman to be sexually …

The degree to which Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would be an activist judge, and whether that would be a good thing, is a valid subject for public debate.  However, Sotomayor skeptics are framing the issue in language that they would never apply to a man:  they are discussing Sotomayor’s “feelings.”  There’s even a T-Shirt.
Lawmakers Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley and John Thune all emoted about Sotomayor’s “personal politics, feelings, and preferences” in what one of our readers called a “parade of guys using code words for hot flashes.”
Here’s …

Democratic strategist and CNN commentator James Carville defended the producer of the Republican National Committee’s video that likens House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the James Bond villain “Pussy Galore,” and railed against The New Agenda for protesting the video. Speaking on CNN’s Situation Room, Carville said:
It’s a YouTube, stupid, that’s all it is. And this New Agenda Crowd, they need to get a new agenda… This guy was just having a good time. He did absolutely nothing wrong…
OK, I lied. James Carville did and said no such thing. Or rather, he said …

The New Agenda has been speaking out against Burger King’s sexualization of girls, so we thought it fair to present information on an alternative style of fast-food marketing. Karen, a college history student, aspiring author, and part-time Wendy’s employee, expresses her own opinions, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
In sharp contrast to Burger King’s sexism, Wendy’s has begun offering kids’ meal toys featuring the cast of WordGirl, a PBS cartoon designed for teaching children ages six and over about the English language.  It is one of the most …