Often a justification for wage gap between the genders is attributed to the ‘tendency’ of women in quitting the job first or before the stipulated time. However, recent study asserts that women are no more likely to quit their jobs than men, since the early 1990s. Statistics Canada stated in the report, Female workers are traditionally considered more likely than men to quit their jobs, to be absent or to take more days off for family reasons. However, recent findings, which documents gender differences in resignations and absenteeism, shows that disparities between the sexes have been shrinking since 1994 to the point where gaps have virtually disappeared. The study also found, on average, men took two sick days a year, while women took about four. But there were no gender differences in most other paid and unpaid absences. The only exception was women with young children. On average, they took two more days of unpaid absences than women who did not have young children.
Women no more likely to quit jobs than men: Study
May 6th, 2012Women only social networking site launched!
May 6th, 2012A new social networking Web site has launched at Girlfriendscafe.com. Geared toward women in the United States and Canada, the online community provides a safe haven for women to communicate to one another and have fun. The site is gonna be free of cost and women would have wide range of choices laid at their disposal. Right from creating online profile, chatting, posting, and blogging, women would be free to access. Girlfriendscafe has also set up a post office for its members to send and receive e-mail. Two long time friends, Linda and Lee, devised the online community. Their motto – Created by girlfriends for Girlfriends, says it all. The online community’s founders have learned diamonds are nice… but the best things in life a woman can have are Girlfriends! hmm… sounds interesting, ain’t it ?
Want to trim the flab on your waist?
May 6th, 2012Most of the time, it happens with each one of us. Our weighing machine shows that we have lost weight but waistline refuses to show signs of slimming. And one feels bad when it becomes really difficult to trim this area even especially when you strictly follow all diet norms and devote adequate time to exercise. However, don’t you worry about that, here are a few tips that would help in keeping a check on your waistline: 1. Have a whole-grain cereal and skimmed milk followed by a fruit every morning in breakfast. 2. Check for hidden calories in foods like candies, coffee with cream and sugar, soft drinks, sodas and alcohol. Avoid bringing them in your house and workplace, this way you are not exposed to unnecessary temptations. 3. Consume at least ten glasses of water per day it flushes out all the toxic waste from body. 4. Whenever you feel those untimely hunger pangs, just indulge in some kind of activity other than eating. 5. Exercise in the limits your body, don’t overindulge yourself, otherwise, it would do more harm than benefit. 6. Learn to eat less and spend at least twenty minutes over each meal. People who finish their meal in minutes are often the overweight ones. 7. Avoid sitting for long hours. If you have a desk job, it would be advisable to take some walking breaks in between. So what are you waiting for? Get on that weighing machine, check your weight and get going on with these simple but effective steps.
Are you confronting stress at workplace?
May 5th, 2012With the mounting pressure in nearly every field, stress has taken its toll and is slowly but certainly becoming a bane in every society. Increased work pressure is leading to stress, which in turn is affecting health of the employees. One or more of a host of physical and mental illnesses manifests job stress. In some cases, job stress can be disabling. In chronic cases, a psychiatric consultation is usually required to validate the reason and degree of work related stress. I thought of sharing this with you all. Here are some good stress busters that would definitely relieve you with the mounting pressures: 1. You can disseminate some amount of work among our colleagues. This will not only help in doing the work properly but also reduces stress. 2. Stay away from distractions like talking with the co- workers, this not only consume your time but also reduce the work efficiency. 3. Move away from your workplace, in the office, occasionally. Grab a couple of minutes in the quiet this would let you focus better on your work. 4. The most common reason for stress is work relationships. Therefore, it would be advisable to talk about it rather than accumulating prejudices against anybody at the workplace. Stress has become as much a part of our work culture today as the coffee machines. Dealing with it positively is the best way to combat it.
Australia: McKew to overtake Howard’ Can this really happen?
May 5th, 2012Australia was the second country after New Zealand, to give women the vote but few sparks of criticism has been ignited with Maxine McKew’s proposal of dethroning the Prime Minister at the forthcoming elections. Why? Can’t a woman occupy a position of authority in the nation? Even before, she secured for nominations, Maxine for PM emails started floundering all over, forget about her occupying of the position. Australia’s record of accomplishment on women political leaders is poor and is not likely to be changed by the individual success of a political star such as McKew. In January, in the same week that a woman began her historic bid for the US presidency, the Australian Prime Minister restructured his cabinet and condensed the number of women by one-third. If we look back at the country’s history, we find that not many women have gained the authoritative positions in any government. It could be anticipated that France might have a woman president by next year and it is for sure that Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton will take on the States’ political stage. Then there are women presidents in Chile, Finland, Latvia, Liberia, the Philippines and Switzerland. It is 105 years since, Australian women became entitled to sit in Parliament and 31 years since Margaret Guilfoyle became Australia’s first cabinet minister. Yet the number of women in cabinet and thus qualifying for prime minister-ship remains extremely low. The main reason for such a scenario is that, woman candidate has to gain majority from within but since there’s hardly any women in powerful positions, which makes the situation more tough. Although, women are now making up 24.7% of the House of Representatives yet it is difficult to arrive at a position that has a woman leading a party, that is, in office within the next 10 years. Women are often associated with their maternal and domestic prowess. Julia Gillard was condemned for not having children and for having a kitchen that was too clean. The criticism came not from her colleagues or the public but from journalists, including women correspondents. In many ways, the media is more uncomfortable with women political leaders than the public. Voters wouldn’t have any problem with a woman prime minister. It’s the political parties and media that seems not be ready. Talking about media and political parties, well, Carmen Lawrence’s case is the exact example. Her political career collapsed because of media persecution and colleagues’ criticisms, even when she enjoyed the support of public. When it comes to prime ministers, Germany is led by a woman. So are Jamaica, New Zealand, Mozambique, South Korea and the Netherlands Antilles. New Zealand’s past two prime ministers have been women and when Helen Clark first assumed office, the leader of the opposition was also female. Even countries like India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Korea have produced women political leaders. Women are assuming political leadership around the world. Nancy Pelosi is now Speaker of the House of Representatives, the first woman to hold that powerful position. Hence, if we look at the political scenario of Australia, we find that for sparklers such as Maxine McKew, the road to the top is strewn with seemingly insurmountable barriers. But it’s really a matter of great pride, that, at least, she is taking a stand.
The US: Indian women immigrants’ entrepreneurs, driving a new wave of globalization!
May 5th, 2012Women who have migrated from India and other parts of world are one of the fastest growing segments of small business owners in the US. Robert Fairlie, an economist observed that in the past three years, 310 of every 100,000 immigrant women created a business, in comparison against 220 of 100,000 native women. The reasons for initiating ones own business are for child rearing, to avoid barriers that come with traditional jobs or their skills do not translate well into Corporate America. Small businesses make use of a little more than half of all US private-sector workers and these women are venturing their place in the economy as job creators. Immigrant women are prone to taking risks, stated Farhana Huq, of CEO Women, a San Francisco NGO that helps low-income immigrant women start businesses. Thus, three trends are coming up across the US, the changing face of small business, the rise of personal business and the emergence of entrepreneurial education. American entrepreneurship will reflect a huge upswing in the number of women. The glass ceiling that has limited women’s growth in traditional corporate career paths will send a rich talent pool to the small business sector.
Mirror, mirror on the wall…
May 5th, 2012So I haven’t even reached 25 yet but I can already see that I’m going to have to do something to freeze my appearance at that age forever. Because somehow the message going around so strongly out there is that you cannot age and live a happy life. I find that hilarious and exasperating at the same time because I remember that hardly three years ago I was dying to grow up. It just shocks me that in three years from now, I’ll be dreading growing up anymore. Sounds insane? It probably is. And what’s even more insane is the pressure on the women of all ages to look like they just turned 23. I mean what is so morally wrong about being over thirty, or even forty? Not getting what I’m trying to get at? Take a look around. All the billboards have pictures of 14-year old skinny tarts screaming out how being young is the only way you’ll be considered pretty, how being thin is the only gauge of your sexiness, how if you don’t look ready to appear for the miss universe pageant, you’re not worthy of being called a human being. Seriously when was the last time you heard Andie McDowell saying ‘I don’t need to glop my face with ridiculously expensive anti-aging treatments, because I’m happy with my natural middle aged self, AND I’M STILL WORTH IT’? Have you noticed, that of the 20-21 years Oprah has been on TV, at least a good decade worth of her shows focused on her weightgain/weightloss and she still obsesses about it every other show? That when she is the richest female entertainer and one of the most influential and easily recognizable people in the world. And why aren’t there any old female celebs and icons around? All the Madonnas and the Demi Moores of the world are way too busy twisting and torturing their bodies so they don’t look their age. Why is it that when Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson and Pierce Bronson get crows feet its sexy, but when Meryl Streep starts showing a few lines on her face we switch to rhetoric mode and talk about how graceful she ‘still’ looks? Why isn’t there a website called www.judi_dench_is_hot.com? Why exactly are we going along with this facade that’s making us dread natural aging? Why can’t we let women be comfortable going into middle-age these days? Why is there so damn much pressure on us to look good all the time? Everyone is quick to lay the blame on the wretched media. True, media does project a very strong image about the aesthetics of beauty. But I suppose the problem lies within ourselves, in our own attitude and in the standards we accept for beauty. But think about it. If the African-American people continued to buy into the notions of white-western beauty, black would never have been beautiful. And if we did not iconize Jennifer Lopez’s sumptuous behind, Beyonce would still be stuck with her head down the loo trying to shed weight and the term ‘bootilicious’ wouldn’t even exist. So can we not make being middle-aged fashionable too? And I’m not talking about the creepy way most celebs with botox-frozen faces, surgically lifted God-knows-what-not with paid-trainer buffed bodies and really, really expensive ensembles are. How about a natural and real middle aged female icon, something like the late Princess Grace of Monoco, or Camilla Parker-Bowles or even Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel, or maybe Oprah without her weight obsession and makeup (she looks good even without the layers of face-paint and product-infused hair. I’ve seen it on her show)! I believe there are more important things in life than perfectly set hair and nails. But somehow we seem to prefer someone having a bad attitude with the ‘perfect look’ over an amiable person with the wrong shoes. It’s like somehow being insulted publicly by Paris Hilton is more acceptable than being seen with your overweight wife. I completely agree with author Lauren booth as she observes that: It’s just a pity so many women of 40 are scared of showing off how much they have achieved, without feeling they have to pretend their beauty is still only skin deep. You resolve to spend the rest of your life denying or delaying time – or you resolve to enjoy it. And I join her in asking: Why does there have to be such a terror of becoming a little dowdy? Why should we be cowed by the fearsome modern pressure – promulgated by the media and a host of horribly glossy celebrities – to look fantastic all the time? Can’t we learn to treat our gradual slide from sex kitten to drowsy old tabby as proof that we are supremely confident in ourselves, our friendships, our partners and our sex lives? Can’t we re-train ourselves to realize that our self-esteem does not have to be bound up in the way we look? I just hope that by the time my fortieth birthday comes around, you get to show off the lines on your face with pride. However, to perceive this clearly, you need loads of wisdom, apparently for which you’ll have to pay a heavy price, i.e. ‘AGE’.
First woman in space Valentina Tereshkova marks her jubilee!
May 4th, 2012Valentina Tereshkova, who pioneers amongst the female astronauts celebrated her 70th birthday on Tuesday and asserted that she still dreams of flying to Mars – even on a one-way ticket. Hey that’s cool! She earned name in history books by spending 71 hours in orbit in June 1963. She was then twenty-five years of age. Her trip to space on Soviet Vostok spacecraft was able to score propaganda points for the Soviet Union in its Cold War space rivalry with the United States. She came from a very humble family her father was a minor peasant. Thus, her journey gave her wide acclaim and she became an idol for young Soviet women. President Vladimir Putin invited her to his residence near Moscow to celebrate her birthday. And stated that her flight remained an inspiration for the resurgent Russia of today. After the collapse of Soviet Union, she vanished from public life and presently heads an obscure international cooperation association under the auspices of the foreign ministry and takes part in private projects helping orphans.
NASA fires astronaut Lisa Nowak
May 4th, 2012Lately, astronaut Lisa Nowak has been fired from NASA, a month after she was charged with trying to kidnap a woman she regarded as her romantic rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot. Her dismissal did not reflect the space agency’s belief in her guilt or innocence instead the agency lacked an administrative system to handle the allegations. Since, Nowak was a naval officer on assignment to NASA, rather than the organization’s civil servant so she would be returned to the military. She would be assigned to the staff at the Chief of Naval Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas, starting in two weeks. Navy Cmdr. Lydia Robertson said she didn’t know what specific job Nowak would be doing. It was the first time NASA has publicly fired an astronaut and she being the first active astronaut to be charged with a felony.
International Women’s Day 2007- The fight for equality continues!
May 4th, 2012March 8, marks, the International Women’s Day, a day that is celebrated each year particularly, is a time for asserting women’s political and social rights and for reviewing the progress made by women. If we look around, we find there’s hardly any arena left where women have not made any unprecedented progress yet, their condition is deplorable. 8th March 2007 marks the 150-year anniversary of a garment factory workers’ strike in New York City the first recorded organized action by working women anywhere in the world. The women were campaigning for better working conditions and equal rights. United Nations 2007 Theme The United Nation’s theme for International Women’s Day 2007 is Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls. Despite the many leaps and bounds that many countries have made in stopping violence against women and girls, it still exists. The evidence, worldwide, is chilling and not to be ignored or forgotten. This year, the United Nation’s theme for International Women’s Day is based on ending this violence. If we take a quick look across the globe, we find: 1. Women going in for self-immolation in Afghanistan. 2. Growing practice of women executions by Shiite Militias in Iraq. 3. Sexual violence is mounting in Darfur. 4. Graph of domestic violence escalating in Korea. 5. No end to violence against women in Pakistan. 6. ‘Honor Killings’, a deep-seated tradition in Turkey. 7. Monster of domestic violence engulfing women in Mozambique. 8. Women stuck in the labyrinth of family violence in New Zealand. 9. Domestic abuse, silent killer of women in Vietnam. 10. Status of women in Taiwan is still grim. 11. Violence against women escalates, despite an end to war in Angola. 12. Violence against women plaguing Algeria. 13. Deplorable plight of women in Syria. 14. Domestic violence in South Asia, tolerating the intolerable. 15. Women abuse, a distressing sight in Maldives. 16. Women victims of violence in Rome. 17. Escalating graph of women abuse in Canada. 18. Discrimination persists in workplace, despite the ranks have changed for women in Japan. Bottom line Media discuss the issue continuously but has it really affected the target audience that is the question. However, I can say that there is at least awareness of the problem and with awareness will come a higher sensitivity and less tolerance towards those who commit these kinds of crimes. Various NGOs and organizations are committed to work for the cause at various national and international levels. We are hopeful that the numbers of women killed/abused will recede even more in the upcoming years.