Whither the Women? [Washington Post] Women's rush to employment stopped in 2000 and started to decline, as they began to join their male counterparts in retirement, go out on disability and delay paid employment to get more education. Some economists think the high-water mark of female participation in the labor force was in 2000, when it hit 60.3 percent.

Women Face Growing Disparities in Family Planning. [Ms. Magazine] A new study published in June shows marked disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion among women of different socioeconomic backgrounds. The study shows that women below the poverty line and women without high school diplomas have fallen behind their more affluent, college-educated women in their capacity to plan pregnancy.

The Status of Women in South Carolina. [Orangeburg Times Democrat] During the 20th century, the status of women rose dramatically. Women made significant strides in economic, political and social advancements. Nevertheless, women do not have gender equity. When key indicators — political participation, employment and earnings, economic autonomy, reproductive rights, and health and well-being — are examined, the inequity is more apparent.

Pregnancy Centers Found to Give False Information on Abortion. [WashingtonPost.com] Federally funded "pregnancy resource centers" are incorrectly telling women that abortion results in an increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and deep psychological trauma, according to a minority congressional report.

Highway Patrol Looking For More Female Troopers. [WRAL.com] Just 2.3% of state troopers are women, a nationwide issue. South Carolina has 2.9%, while females make up 5.5% of Virginia state police. The Raleigh Police Department has a much higher percentage of women on the road, at more than 11%. Recently, all 43 female troopers were called to Raleigh to give advice on how to better female recruiting.

Carroll Hospital Welcomes First Female General Surgeon. [Examiner.com] Carroll Hospital Center’s first female general surgeon just completed her first week at a time when male surgeons dominate operating rooms nationwide. Dr. Sarah Lentz, 36, a wartime doctor who treated hundreds of U.S. soldiers injured by explosives in Iraq, said working in a man’s world is nothing new to her, especially as a servicewoman in the Air Force.

Lions Elect First Female President. [Hattiesburg American] After 79 years of male presidents, Douglas, 53, was sworn in Friday during a luncheon at Southern Oaks House and Gardens along with other officers for the Lions Club - a community service organization. Her husband, Wayne, and son and daughter-in-law, Wesley and Stephanie Foster, were present for the historic moment.

Study: Women Still Lag Men As Executives. [Houston Chronicle] Women's progress in getting the top jobs in American business is so slow that at the current rate women are becoming corporate officers, it would take 40 years before they caught up with men. Women occupied only 16.4% of corporate officer positions in Fortune 500 companies in 2005.

City Council Revises Ordinance for Women-Owned Businesses. [MSNBC] The Memphis City Council has revised an ordinance designed to help women business owners get city contracts that instead was excluding legitimate businesses from eligibility. Language in the city's Minority and Women Business Enterprise Procurement Program essentially qualified only white and black women-owned businesses, excluding other ethnic classes.

Unsafe Sex 'Common Among Female Drug Users'. [Independent Online, South Africa] Many women in the United States who are injection drug users and are also infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, do not routinely use condoms with their uninfected regular partners or with casual sex partners.

A Tale of Two Cultures. [New York Times] Whatever the reasons for them, the different ways of responding to public molestation led to different emotional reactions. Though many of the Greek women reported feeling anger and fear, they didn't talk about feeling helpless, as many American women did. Equally dreadful was the sense of isolation: Though you're in a crowd, something is happening only to you, and no one else knows.

Aldred, Pioneering Female Jockey, Dies. [Thoroughbred Times] Anna Lee Aldred, one of the first women in the United States to be licensed as a jockey, died on June 12 in Montrose, Colorado. She was 85.

Female Weightlifter Abbye Stockton Dies at 88 in California. [San Jose Mercury News] Abbye Stockton, a pioneer of female weightlifters who helped establish the popularity of Muscle Beach and inspired women through columns in a fitness magazine, has died. She was 88.

Corpsman is First Female Fleet Master Chief. [Bethesda Journal] Jackie DiRosa assumed duties as Fleet Master Chief, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, making her the first female to hold the office of a fleet-level master chief. "I hope that I can be a role model that inspires young female Sailors to say, 'You know what? The Navy does have great opportunities, no matter what my background is, no matter what my gender is, my race; it doesn't matter.'"

Increase in Lifting Weights Led by Women. [Contra Costa Times] Women are pumping more iron, with nearly one in five doing semiweekly workouts, a new federal study shows. The desire for a more attractive body, along with worries about bone loss, probably contribute to the trend, experts said.

Fighting to the Top, Female Boxers Gain Ground. [Marquette Mining Journal] When Micaela Arce of Reno, Nev., first started boxing, she faced some tough opposition — but not from an opponent in the ring. “When I started boxing, they didn’t want girls,” she said. “They would say, ‘No, this is a guy’s fight. What are you going to be doing in this?’

Lone Female Ump to Work Futures, Derby. [FOXSports.com] In her fourth year at Double-A, Ria Cortesio is the lone woman umpire in professional ball. Picked from the Southern League, she will be at third base Sunday when top minor league prospects play in the Futures Game.

Grand Prix's Only Female Driver Makes History. [NBC11.com] One person who's bound to get a whole lot of attention at the 2006 San Jose Grand Prix is the event's only female driver, Katherine Legge, NBC11's Susan Siravo reported. The British champ-car driver is paving the way for young women who want to follow her on the racetrack.

On Golf: LPGA's First Female Commissioner Rides Out Bumpy Start. [San Jose Mercury News] When Carolyn Bivens took over as commissioner of the LPGA last September, expectations were high that the can-do executive would make a hot sports league even hotter. Ten months into her tenure, the new commissioner faces an angry faction within the powerful Tournament Owners Association (TOA).

Wie Question Saps Credibility of Women's Tour. [The Australian, Australia] The commissioner's biggest problem is that the best 16-year-old golfer in the world, Michelle Wie, wants most of the time to play on the men's Tour and not with the women. The compensation is that publicity of any sort brings attention to women's golf, but if Wie was a member of the LPGA then she could be used specifically to promote that Tour.

Golf Becoming Hip Sport for Women. [7Online.com] Women represent by far the fastest-growing segment of the golfing population. According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of women playing golf is up 43 percent.

World Cup Coverage Reeled in Female Viewers. [Charlotte Observer] More women watched live television coverage of soccer's World Cup this year than ever, a change that could signal a shift in advertising patterns at the next event in 2010, a study found. About 41% of the cumulative 5.9 billion audience in 54 selected countries were women.

Women Oncologists Face Challenges, Make Strides. [Wilkes Barre Times-Leader] In 2004, the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that women made up 45% of that year’s graduating class and 50% of its entering class of medical students. But the number of women working as doctors has yet to equal the number of young women who aspire to enter the medical field.

Female Students Leaders of the Pack in Vet School. [Great Falls Tribune] Nobody claims to know why the numbers have climbed so dramatically, but women now occupy three-quarters of the seats in 28 U.S. veterinary programs. Male vets still outnumber female vets, but the number of female U.S. practitioners rose 25.4 percent from 1999 to 2003, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Male numbers decreased slightly.

EKU’s Female Physics Graduates are High Ranking. [Richmond Register] Women who graduate with a baccalaureate degree in physics from Eastern Kentucky University are more likely to earn a doctorate degree than physics graduates from most other Kentucky colleges, according to an article recently published in the Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Sciences.

The Reality of Gender Problems in Education. [Boston Globe] In the 1990s, reports of a crisis among girls, allegedly caused by pervasive sexism in schools and in the larger society, were soon followed by counter reports debunking the alarm. A new study, titled ``The Truth About Boys and Girls", reviews the data about educational achievement and concludes: ``The real story is not bad news about boys doing worse, it's good news about girls doing better."

Women Sought as Engineers. [Deseret News] "Some girls think it's not acceptable to be smart or guys aren't going to want to date somebody smart." University leaders in Utah are trying to change that stigma, recruiting more women into high-demand fields like engineering and science where women have historically been underrepresented. Without being able to see successful engineering women, the next generation of female engineers may get discouraged and fall away.

Sadists in Stilettos. [Chicago Tribune] Of course, there are still male bosses who exploit, harass and undermine female employees. But I've always found it curious--and painfully sad--that women who supervise other women are so often willing to take all the "progress" of feminism and fling it at their assistants as if it were a Chanel coat they couldn't be bothered to hang up.

Study Sheds Light on Domestic Violence. [Beaumont Enterprise] In the state in 2004, 83,349 victims were served by the the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Family Violence Program. A report showed that 53% of victims reported experiencing physical or emotional abuse and 80% were female. Abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional and verbal. Financial coercion also is common.

Many Abused Women Reluctant To Seek Help. [Fort Smith Times Record] Sometimes women, especially in the South, have religious beliefs that wives should be subservient to their husbands. According to Linda Grovenburg, the assistant director of the Crisis Center for Women in Fort Smith, that belief can be used to prevent reporting abuse.

Prevention Key Focus Of Program. [Fort Smith Times Record] Penny Erwin spends the school year traveling to schools in six different Arkansas counties, armed with pamphlets, statistics and an enthusiasm for teaching students about domestic violence. The program, which the Crisis Center developed and Erwin has “tweaked,” covers the dynamics of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, dating violence and healthy relationships.

Vacations For One: Single Women Increasingly are Hitting the Road. [Toledo Blade] “Women are traveling alone or with female companions (sisters, mothers, best friends) in record numbers,” according to Gutsy Women Travel.

Brown: 'Women Should Know Their Place'. [Contactmusic.com, UK] Soul star James Brown confesses he has treated women abominably, but he insists, "A woman should know her limitations, as a man should know his obligations. I'm going to stay into that philosophy. Unless I quit reading the Bible."

Group Discusses Negative Images of Black Women in Music. [Fort Worth Star Telegram] The portrayal of black women in popular music and videos is too often degrading and the black community must find a way to change these images, best-selling singer Jill Scott said Monday. "It is dirty, inappropriate, inadequate, unhealthy and polluted," Scott said. "We can demand more."

Funny and Very Female-Friendly. [Kansas City Star] “Menopause the Musical” introduces four archetypal characters — Earth Mother, Soap Star, Iowa Housewife, Power Woman — who fight over a lingerie sale at Bloomingdale’s and then become pals. They spend the day singing to each other about the challenges of middle age.

Nine Parts of Desire: The New Female Sexuality. [PR Leap] Ancient Eastern texts have declared that sexual desire is 1/10th the man’s, and 9/10ths the woman’s. From a Western perspective, one of the most influential books has been the Shere Hite report, a compilation and analysis of a series of questions posed to women about their lives, sexuality, preferences, etc.

A Female Voice Men Will Actually Listen to for Directions. [DetNews.com] Car navigation systems have reversed thousands of years of human behavior -- now, thanks to GPS technology, males finally accept directions from a female voice.

What Women Want When It Comes To Their Wireless Phones. [PhoneMag.com] Sprint announced today the results of “Women in a Wireless World,” a compilation of female-centric data points from recent Sprint surveys. The findings show that 89% of female wireless-phone subscribers say their wireless phone is a time-saver and more than 50% make at least half of their calls from their wireless phone.

Giving Day-Care Cash to Stay-at-Home Parents. [Wall Street Journal] Canada's new Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has ventured into territory where few men dare to tread: the mommy wars. Mr. Harper's first budget included a new policy that takes effect this month and has become a lightning rod in the debate between stay-at-home moms and their working peers.

Minorities Have Fewer Babies. [Toronto Star, Canada] While visible minority women in Canada have more babies on average than white women, their fertility rate is declining even more swiftly than the general population as they adapt to the national norm.

Help for Female Job Seekers. [Toronto Sun, Canada] Marie Heron, the regional manager of the On-Track Pre-Employment Program, offers women 28 years old and up a three-week career exploration program -- a lifeline for women looking to return to the workforce. On-Track helps women in career exploration, job maintenance and lifelong learning.

Female Students Shunning IT Careers. [Toronto Sun, Canada] They may use computers on a daily basis, but few female students are turning that know-how into a career because information technology (IT) is perceived as boring, a survey by Microsoft Canada reveals.

Grit Female Caucus Thinking Pink Book. [Ottawa Sun] Women in the federal Liberal caucus are putting a lighter shade of lipstick on the party's politics by drawing up a so-called Pink Book on women's issues. Belinda Stronach, said the women's caucus is determined to ensure such issues as women earning just 74cents for every dollar men make are forefront in the party's policy platforms.

Mexico Closes Probe into Women's Killings. [San Jose Mercury News] Federal officials have quietly closed a three-year inquiry into the rape-strangulation of 14 women and teenagers in the border city of Juárez, leaving relatives with little hope the killings will ever be solved. The federal Attorney General's Office intervened in 2003, promising it would try to solve cases plagued for years by allegations of state police corruption and incompetence

San Luis Rio Colorado Voters Hoping for Solutions. [Yuma Sun] Thousands of city residents voted for mayor and president of Mexico in a smooth and tranquil atmosphere. Mayoral candidates included Adriana Aceves of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Aceves expressed being satisfied with the campaign work and with the high voter participation. She considers it time for a female mayor, "because a woman's word is more than any man's".

Miss Latina US™ Wins Miss Latin America® Crown. [PR Web] 27-year-old attorney Melissa Quesada from New Rochelle, NY was crowned Miss Latin America® 2006 recently at the international pageant held in Mexico. A total of 23 candidates from countries around the world competed for the title during the two-week long pageant extravaganza.

Medal Moment for Females. [Nassau Guardian, Bahamas] Teaming up for the first time in their careers Wednesday night in Cartagena, Colombia, the extremely talented quartet, separated in age by two-year intervals, blasted the national record in the women's 400 metre Freestyle relay. In so doing, they won another historic swimming medal for The Bahamas.

Women to Blame! [The Nation Newspaper, Barbados] It's the women who are encouraging smutty lyrics in calypso, says reigning Pic-O-De-Crop Monarch David Kid Site Piggott. He told the Daily Nation that generally they were the most vociferous at tents and the ones calling for encores.

Opinion: The Power of Women. [Cayman Net News, Cayman Islands] Somehow, a quiet revolution has been taking place, and clubs that were once male bastions have become feminized. Since the recent induction of the President of the Rotary Club of Cayman Brac, all the service clubs on Cayman Brac are currently headed by women.

Cuban Female Basketball Win at CentAm Games. [Prensa Latina, Cuba] Cuba´s Female Basketball Team won its ninth crown in Central American and Caribbean Games after defeating Puerto Rico on Saturday. On her part, Yamilet Martinez, 36, who excelled as sixth player or role player (pivot) of the Cuban team, feels happy to having gotten her fourth title.

It's Not a Gender Issue, Say St George's Teachers. [Jamaica Observer] Teachers at the all-boys St George's College in Kingston have denied that their opposition against the female principal to be appointed for the new school year was gender-based, but that their discontent was based on the selection process.

Amnesty International Urges Jamaica to Fight Violence Against Women, Girls. [Ohmy News] Amnesty International urged Jamaica's government on Thursday to confront "widespread" discrimination and sexual violence against women and girls, including better protection for witnesses in rape cases.

Miss Puerto Rico Crowned Miss Universe, Collapses. [Reuters] Forty minutes into her reign as Miss Universe, Miss Puerto Rico Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza collapsed during a post-pageant news conference and was rushed offstage on Sunday night. Pageant officials immediately said the lithe 5-foot-9 18-year-old was all right and had fainted.

Police: Female Carjacking on the Rise. [Trinidad & Tobago Express] While men continue to be the prime targets of carjackers, a growing number of women are now falling victims, police have said. With a greater number of women driving they are being looked at as easier targets.