This just in, from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and their Say NO To Violence Against Women Campaign:

Did you know that one in 3 women may suffer from abuse and violence in her lifetime? This is an appalling human rights violation. UNIFEM is working to attain 1 million signatures for this movement by November 24, to take a stand and build a community around this cause. On November 25, UNIFEM will present these signatures to the UN Secretary General….

I hear they’ve collected 50,000 signatures already. Impressive. You can join the Say NO To Violence Against Women Campaign by helping them spread awareness for this movement online and posting this kicky widget.

(Thanks, Jenny!)

Interesting convo going on over at Broadsheet about this poster, which the ladies at the Bust blog love and the Broadsheeters, not so much. Where do GWPenners weigh in, I wonder?

A little, um, levity to lighten your day:

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off – Watch more free videos

(Thanks, Rebecca! LOL!)

From Sarah Palin’s wardrobe to sex on college campuses…Hmm, not sure how to make the transition here, so I won’t try. But I’ve been wanting to share this list of some of the latest on the college kids and the sex. A couple of my brilliant colleagues at the Council on Contemporary Families recently pooled suggestions of books on a related subject and came up with the following list, some of which I’d heard of, some of which I hadn’t:

Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses, by Donna Freita
Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus, by Kathleen Bogle
What Women Want–What Men Want: Why the Sexes Still See Love and Commitment So Differently, by John Marshall Townsend
Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties, by Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner

And on the guy side of things of course:

Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, by Michael Kimmel
Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School, by CJ Pascoe

Are we missing anything?

Girl with Pen, a group blog that bridges academic and popular feminist spheres (YEP, THAT’S US!), is seeking an intern to help with outreach. Founded by author and Woodhull Fellow Deborah Siegel , Girl with Pen is at an exciting moment as it transitions to a group blog comprising diverse voices of all stripes: psychologists, sociologists, women’s studies scholars, book editors, historians, and well-known feminist bloggers. Girl with Pen is seeking to expand its presence in the web through Web 2.0 social networking tools and listserv use, and we need someone to help us do this. We are seeking someone who is a self-starter, tech-savvy, and interested in getting involved in the feminist blogosphere. While we cannot offer to pay at this point, working at Girl with Pen will allow you to network, network, network. The internship, which involves 5 hours/week of work and weekly call-ins with the GWP team, will take place over a 3 to 4 month period.

And thanks for spreading word!

Nice new site up over at The Feminist Majority, complete with requisite pink background (sorry, Veronica, who I know hates pink!). Check it out, muse, share, etc. Just VOTE, early and often, as those of us from Chicago like to say. Ok, ok, I shouldn’t joke, I know.

(Thanks to Jackie for the heads up.)

Yep, that’s right, it’s Health Education Week–and Healthcare Quality Week as well.  If you’re looking for material to blog about, here are some orgs and blogs I’ve recently learned about (thank you, Ejima!).  Just wanting to spread the word:

National Women’s Health Network
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
RHReality Check
University Coalitions for Global Health blog
BlogHer Health and Wellness
Women’s Health News
ACLU’s reproductive rights blog

Has anyone heard of any blog actions on health taking place this week? If so, please share in comments!

Two fast things that make me smile: One, this photo of Marco shaking the lulov on Sukkot (thank you, Segalls!) and two, this poem from Visala, age 13 and a student at Writopia Lab, where I teach sometimes:

Recipe for Hope
By Visala Alagappan

Push your feet in the soft sand
let the water’s foam bleach your skin
Allow the embracing breeze to tickle your face
Smile, laugh, let your lips stretch
Sit in the water
let it kiss your skin
Now stand up
Look at the waves
Realize they will be back tomorrow

Just a quick hit today on a book I’m about to get my hands on, titled The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future, by Guy Garcia. Coming on the heels of Michael Kimmel’s most excellent Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, I’m eager to see how it, um, measures up.

From the Publishers Weekly review:

Garcia (The New Mainstream) explores disturbing trends of men leading increasingly socially isolated lives and dropping out of high school and college in record numbers, naming them victims of an invisible epidemic. According to the author, modern men have failed to forge a new and productive role in the 21st century. Garcia charts the rise of feminism and the changing societal roles of both men and women, illustrating how and why men have become so confused about what defines masculinity; having lost their traditional role as provider and protector, men flirt with hollow substitute identities—drawing on Jackass culture (men pretending to be boys), gangster culture (boys pretending to be men) and metrosexual obsessions with grooming and body image—that have reductively redefined manhood and led men away from compassion, responsibility and family. Garcia wisely avoids degrading feminism or pitting men against women; instead, he offers an astute and well-researched meditation on how men might reclaim their identity and place in modern America and why such a transformation is important to future generations of both men and women. (Oct.)

Paging Clark Kent?

My all-time favorite term of this race has just been coined: “The Feylin Effect.” Read more, over at The Guardian.