Stunning Cyanotypes of Sea Algae by the Self-Taught Victorian Botanist Anna Atkins, the First Woman Photographer and a Pioneer of Scientific Illustration

English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (March 16, 1799–June 9, 1871) is considered the first woman to take a photograph and the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. This she accomplished in an era when women’s formal foray into science was yet to come.

Less than a year after the great polymath Sir John Herschel invented the cyanotype photographic process — one of the 100 ideas that changed photography, which was originally used for architectural sketches and which lent its azure tint to the origin of the word “blueprint” — 44-year-old Atkins began applying the technique to sea algae, determined to overcome “the difficulty of making accurate drawings” of these marine species and ushering in a whole new medium for scientific illustration. In October of 1843, she self-published the resulting images in the pioneering volume Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/04/08/anna-atkins-algae/

These are the big lies about women’s economic security: Are you angry yet?

Lie 1: Unpaid work is just cooking and cleaning – it has no economic value

Waring, who starred in the documentary Who’s Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex Lies and Global Economics, believes there’s great irony in putting a dollar value on “unpaid work” when international rules like gross domestic product and national accounts gravely undervalue the significance, impact and opportunity that this work provides to society.

In an attempt to give “authority” to the argument that unpaid domestic work – largely undertaken by women across the globe – is economically significant, Waring sought to estimate its monetary value. “[But I] realised that by inviting estimations of unpaid work, I was inviting us to give market values [according] to a system that said ammunition and wars are valuable, everything that devastated our seas and our air are valuable … I now don’t think that at all.”

“When you start putting dollar value on a polar bear as a species or the time people spend caring for kids, you strip away what we’re actually talking about.”

If Sweden and Germany can roll out “very generous” parental leave schemes that oblige both mothers and fathers to take time off, and New Zealand can establish universal basic income for its senior population to age with dignity, Waring challenges Australia to reflect on bigger ideas too.

Lie 2: Superannuation is universal

Australia’s superannuation industry systemically rips off women, said Denniss.

With the national gender pay gap averaging above 15%, Denniss said superannuation magnifies inequality between men and women even further.

Waring believes there’s a possibility for Australian women today to bring about legislative change through a class action lawsuit before the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) committee.

Any Australian citizen who has exhausted all domestic legal remedies can access CEDAW to trigger an international human rights obligation, she said.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/big-lies-womens-security-angry-yet/

Women get same billing as men at World Twenty20 in Australia

In a significant coup for women’s cricket, the ICC World Twenty20, to be hosted in Australia in 2020, will see the women’s and men’s competitions receive equal billing, with both finals to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cricket Australia is hoping that the women’s final – scheduled to take place on International Women’s Day (Sunday 8 March) will break the world-record attendance for a women’s sporting match.

International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson praised Cricket Australia and government “at all levels” for their commitment to women’s sport.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jan/30/more-inclusive-womens-world-twenty20-given-equal-billing-as-mens?

Do the hard things and set ambitions as bold as ‘leapfrogging’ a global industry

Professor Michelle Yvonne Simmons’ Australian of the Year win could help close the gender gap in the Australian science industry, according to a leading education advocate.

Prof Simmons is a pioneering physicist who leads the quantum physics department at the University of New South Wales.

During her acceptance speech, Prof Simmons said her industry is male-dominated and she hoped the win would shatter expectations of what careers women should pursue and achieve.

https://womensagenda.com.au/uncategorised/hard-things-set-ambitions-bold-leapfrogging-global-industry/
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/nsw/we-must-set-the-bar-high-and-tell-students-we-expect-them-to-jump-over-it-michelle-simmons-20180126-h0olnh.html
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-of-the-year-win-will-help-close-science-gender-gap-education-advocate

Julia Gillard & Hillary Clinton fight ‘unlikeable’ stereotype of female leaders

Clinton and Gillard forged a friendship many years ago and their experiences as women in positions of power are similar. Uncannily similar, Gillard concluded after reading Clinton’s book about the presidential campaign.

Both were subject to rampant sexism, vile abuse and unadulterated misogyny, and both are now openly talking about it. So it is unsurprising that Gillard and Clinton have announced they are joining forces to challenge negative stereotypes of females who aspire to be political leaders and to encourage more women to run

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/julia-gillard-hillary-clinton-team-fight-stereotype-female-leaders/
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/julia-gillard-and-hillary-clinton-join-forces-to-confront-bias-against-female-leaders-20180126-h0onkf.html

What the Gender-Pay Gap in Clothing Says About U.S. Wage Growth

Thinking of a job selling clothes? Better try a men’s store — and avoid women’s wear — if you want to make decent money.

Workers at men’s apparel stores earned an average $23.13 an hour in November, a whopping 56 percent more than the $14.81 wage at women’s retailers — a gap that’s widened from less than 10 percent about two years earlier, according to Labor Department data.

Women are also losing when it comes to jobs in these kinds of stores. Clothing and accessories retailers cut 25,200 women from payrolls in the 12 months through October 2017, while adding 3,200 men, according to a December report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/what-the-gender-pay-gap-in-clothing-says-about-u-s-wage-growth

Indigenous children in care doubled since stolen generations apology

The number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care has doubled in the decade since the 2008 apology to the stolen generations, according to figures released by the Productivity Commission.

The rate at which Indigenous children were removed from their families increased by 80% between 2007-08 to 2016-17, from 32.7 per 1,000 to 58.7 per 1,000.

Meanwhile, the proportion of children placed in accordance with the Aboriginal child placement principle, which states that children must be housed with Indigenous family members, other kin, or with an Indigenous foster carer, decreased from 74% in 2007-08 to 67.6% in 2016-17.

The growth in child removal indicates that Australian governments have not learned the lessons of the stolen generations, New South Wales Greens MP David Shoebridge said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/25/indigenous-children-in-care-doubled-since-stolen-generations-apology?

No equality in the honours: two-thirds of Australia Day awards go to men

The gender imbalance in Australia Day honours continues, with only a third of 2018’s awards going to women.

This proportion in the general division of the Order of Australia has remained relatively similar for the past 20 years, according to figures available from the the governor general’s office, with no apparent trend toward equality.

Since the awards began in 1975, men have outnumbered women in almost all categories, with the exception of the library and disability categories.

The journalist Tracey Spicer, whose investigations have highlighted sexual harassment in the media and entertainment industries, said the honours imbalance demonstrated that society needed to value women’s work equally to men’s. She also pointed the finger at the gender mix within the Council for the Order of Australia, “which is by no means gender-balanced”.

“It’s disappointing … we need to nominate more women,” Spicer said. “After all, women do the bulk of society’s unpaid labour and volunteer work.”

The process for awarding honours is notoriously secretive and there have been numerous calls for increased transparency. In 2012 the federal court rejected a freedom-of-information request for documents pertaining to policy and criteria used in the awards process.

The Victorian government on Friday announced it would appoint a dedicated awards officer who will be tasked with putting forward an additional 200 nominations of Victorian women each year to address the gender imbalance.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2018/jan/26/no-equality-in-the-honours-two-thirds-of-australia-day-awards-go-to-men?

Girl, 17, subjected to pattern of hazing at Victorian country fire brigade, report reveals

Firefighters duct-taped a 17-year-old girl to a fire truck as part of a pattern of hazing during which she was also dragged by her hair and kicked at a rural Victorian Country Fire Authority brigade.

An investigation was launched after CCTV footage emerged in November showing the girl being dragged by her hair, kicked and left soaked by sprinklers by four middle-aged men.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/25/girl-17-subjected-to-pattern-of-hazing-at-victorian-country-fire-brigade-report-reveals?

‘You do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again’: Larry Nassar sentenced to 175 years in prison

Disgraced former USA Gymnastics coach, Larry Nassar will spend the rest of his life behind bars, convicted of sexually assaulting more than 160 young female gymnasts in his care.

Another Olympic gymnast, McKayla Maroney, labeled her former physician a “monster human being”. Other victims alleged that the abuse had led to eating disorders, post traumatic stress, and one even claimed that Nassar’s behaviour had caused her father’s suicide.

Like Biles, most victims criticised USA Gymnastics for ignoring their complaints and accused stakeholders of being more occupied with avoiding bad publicity than supporting their athletes.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/not-deserve-walk-outside-prison-ever-larry-nassar-sentenced-175-years-prison/