When Elaine Hamel started Girls at Work out of a pickup truck back in 2000, she initially feared that there wouldn’t be enough interest in her girls-only woodshop classes. Fast forward 12 years and the New Hampshire-based nonprofit has given nearly 6,000 girls across New England the opportunity to try their hands at woodworking.  “As a builder I never met women in the field,” Hamel told us. “But we recently held ... Read More

A study at Northwestern University looks at the way we judge politicians to help explain the gender gap in politics. The study denies that people rationally consider candidates, and instead states, “research indicates that people use shallow decision heuristics, such as impressions of competence made solely from facial appearance when deciding whom to vote for.”  73 students (38 women and 35 men) looked at facial photos of ... Read More

  A press release featuring a new line of lingerie in the style of Victoria’s Secret made its way onto the web this week, featuring a slew of slogans and phrases heralding the importance of communication and consent between sexual partners. And while it would be lovely to imagine that this is evidence of Victoria’s Secret responding to recent criticism by making an effort to push a consent-based message, the ... Read More

It’s about time that Hasbro began marketing their famous Easy-Bake Oven, which has been aimed towards preteen girls since its conception in the 1960s, in a more gender-neutral manner. Inspired by her little brother, one 13-year-old New Jersey girl has started a petition on Change.org to get the company to make the toy oven more boy-friendly. McKenna Pope of Garfield, N.J. wants the company to drop its all-girl advertising ... Read More

    Employee of the Month, a podcast hosted by comedienne extraordinaire, Catie Lazarus, is having a Holiday Office Party show at UCB East and we want to be there—not only to hear her banter and possibly meet her dog, but because she is having a few very special guests.  Hari Kunzru, a renowned novelist (and free-thinking badass), can tell us about how he almost got arrested for fighting censorship.  Lazarus is ... Read More