FYI - ✒ Typo Competition Winners ✎

Design Sponge has announced the winners of the Design Your Own Alphabet contest I posted about at the end of October. My personal favorite, the hand drawn font called Peacock above, won a $100 bonus prize.

Wikipedia - Get Editing!

Picking up the video I posted a couple of days ago, Helga of the German team-blog Mädchenmannschaft wondered about Wikipedia's gender balance. Her article was entitled "Das Frauenproblem der Wikipedia", or, in English, "Wikipedia's  issues with women". Helga's findings for Germany resembled Rachel McCarthy James' findings for the UK: Wikipedia pretty much ignores women on the main page. On average, only one of about ten articles featured on Wikipedia's starting page mentions a woman. On some days, there is no word of any women at all on the front page. As Rachel put it:

To look at Wikipedia's main page on August 24, 2010, you would think that men made and did everything, and women had nothing to do with anything.

Since most authors on Wikipedia are male - according to Rachel only 13% of Wikipedians are women - this might not be very surprising. However, both Rachel and Helga argue that Wikipedia needs to a) promote more articles written by women to the main page, b) highlight new articles about women on the main page, and c) explicitly invite more female editors to participate in the project.  Writes Helga:

Are women irrelevant? Do we not know by now that, often enough, history has been made by men who simply ignored female accomplishments, or, even worse, ascribed them to men? History seems to repeat itself on Wikipedia.

Pretty

 

Via PinkStinks. 

Essay Competition in European Philosophy

Has Western philosophy been built on the exclusion of certain groups of people? 

The University of Kentucky would like to know! The topic may be addressed historically and/ or systematically, and the winning essay will receive a prize of $1000. Please find more information and detailed submission guidelines here.

Cathrin Karras

Having lived in South East Asia for a year myself, I took special interest in historian Cathrin Karras' blog. With a focus on Vietnam, she covers anything from politics and popular culture to traditional blood soup dishes.

Follow the jump below for one of my favorite interviews so far, and to get to know yet another female blogger who has had to put up with death threats because of her views...

"Sexy, but not Sexual"

Photo: Source

Hugo Schwyzer analyses Paris Hilton's remark about being sexy, but not sexual, and explains why it is important to give young people "tools to navigate their way through the bewildering blitzkrieg of messages which they receive about sexuality". The task is, Schwyzer finds, to stand up for sexuality while standing against sexualization. Found at Jezebel via Mädchenblog.

Wikipedia Needs Your Support

For German Readers: Bloggerinnen leben gefährlich

Die Ruhrbarone haben meinen Post über die Morddrohung gegen die Bloggerin Asmaa Alghoul aus Gaza heute Morgen auf Deutsch veröffentlicht: Bloggerinnen leben gefährlich.

Tavi will Become an Editor

Blica alerted her readers to the fact that teenage blogging wonder Tavi of Stylerookie will soon be editing her own magazine, modelled after American example Sassy of the early ninties. Cool, maybe someone should send her a copy of Missy Magazine, too? For inspiration only, like fashion bloggers would say.

Bloggers Live Dangerously

Lina and Asmaa in Cairo, Oct. 2010.
Source

Blogger and journalist Asmaa Alghoul from Gaza, whom I met at the Young Media Summit in Cairo, has received a death threat: Someone calling himself 'Masirek' has threatened to kill her in front of her son's eyes. Lina Ben Mhenni, who was also a participant of the summit, has written a solidarty post in French, where she rightly condemns Masirek's verbal attack. According to Egyptian blogger Tarek Amr, the threat was not prompted by any particular post, but by Asmaa's stances and points of view in general. Asmaa has been fighting against so-called honour killings and for the rights of Palestinian women.

Physical threats to bloggers, by the way, are not as rare as you might think. Even in Germany there have been cases of severe harassment, up to the involvement of Police - as has also been demanded in Asmaa's case. It is important to remember that threats, even if they aren't followed by action, are a) litigable and b) abuse, too. See this related post on verbal abuse for more information.

From London with Love: Maria & The Mirrors

Last night I ran into two of the three members of Maria & The Mirrors in a Berlin washroom. In between "Entschuldigung" and hand soap, I asked them whether they had any acapella or unplugged clips I could use for my blog. Bewildering looks. "We have live clips?" It dawned on me that maybe their music wasn't for me - and, frankly, it wasn't at all - but the girls were real nice, and I liked this picture, so I wrote a post about them anyways... Industrial tribal beats, anyone?

Kirsten Brodde of Grüne Mode

Today, please meet author and activist Kirsten Brodde. With an interesting biography and lots of front-line editorial work experience, her blog Grüne Mode is certainly worth a visit.

Follow the jump below to read up on Kirsten's environmental background, why she thinks that choosing an unmistakable blog name is essential, and why to Kirsten, blogging is purposeful work.

For German Readers: "Sign of Life"-BotschafterIn gesucht!

Die Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) sucht  noch bis zum 10. Dezember 2010 eine/n BotschafterIn für die Belange von Mädchen und jungen Frauen in Afrika. Zu dessen Aufgaben  soll in erster Linie Öffentlichkeitsarbeit für die von der EU finanzierte "Sign of Life"-Kampagne zählen; im März 2011 steht aber auch ein einwöchiger Trip nach Kenia auf dem Programm, währenddessen man sich einen persönlichen Eindruck der Situation vor Ort verschaffen kann.  Klingt gut?  Finde ich auch!

Weitere Informationen zu der Ausschreibung, der DSW und dem genauen Bewerbungsablauf finden sich hier.

RSS-Feeds Save You Lots of Time by Surfing for You!

Here's the English version of my German article on RSS feeds. Have you ever wondered what the symbol to the left means? Or what RSS feeds are? Just follow the jump!

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U (Live)

On Verbal Abuse

Liisa pointed out a post discussing verbal abuse and calling for a change in our approach to the topic:

The way that children are educated about abuse needs to change. The way that people involved in interventions, like police officers and crisis counselors, needs to change and these people need to be involved in helping people identify and name verbal abuse. Helping people articulate what is happening. We need to stop telling people that words can never hurt them.

Reem of Reemsite.com

I am honored to introduce to you today Saudi Arabian blogger Reem of Reemsite.com, whom I met at the Young Media Summit 2010 in Cairo. Reem usually blogs in Arabic, but in order to facilitate intercultural dialogue, she has been working on an English version of her blog, too. Want to know what life as a female Saudi Arabian blogger is like? Just follow the jump! 
Photo: Hardy Prothmann
 

RSS-Feeds sparen Zeit, indem sie für Dich surfen!

Wolltest Du schon immer wissen, was dieses Symbol bedeutet oder wie ein RSS-Feed funktioniert? Nach dem Sprung gibt's des Rätsels Lösung...

Photo: Ahn Sun Mi

Worldwide, Two Thirds of Bloggers are Male

Technorati has more information in their analysis 2010 State of the Blogosphere.

Nicola Kuhrt of Kuhrtgesagt.de

Nicola Kuhrt is a freelance science journalist. On her blog Kuhrtgesagt, she keeps an eye on the pharmaceutical industry. 

Follow the jump below to track Nicola's development from neighbourhood blogger to health care expert, and to find out more about a certain minister's member of staff who decided to engage in a discussion on her blog in a rather ungallant way...

Coming Soon: The OH, REALLY? - Series

"Oh, really? You can do that?" is the standard reply I am getting from fellow female bloggers whenever I mention my favorite RSS feed reader, Twitterfeed, or timed blog posts. Because I'd rather hear a hard-boiled "Yeah, I know, and even better is...", I have come up with a new posting series explaining some basic technical terms and tools of blogging called OH, REALLY?

Ever wondered what a VPN connection is? Or what a certain process really meant? Drop all time-consuming research, place your question in the comment section - or anonymously via email - and watch this space... I promise I'll try my best.  ;-) 

"Oh, wirklich, das geht?" ist die Standardantwort, die ich erhalte, wenn ich befreundeten Bloggerinnen von meinem Lieblings-RSS-Reader, Twitterfeed oder geplanten Blogposts erzähle. Viel lieber würde ich "Na klar, ich weiß, und noch viel besser ist..." hören. Daher habe ich mir eine neue Serie ausgedacht, in deren Rahmen ich einige Grundbegriffe des Bloggens erläutern möchte: OH, REALLY?

Habt Ihr Euch auch schon gefragt, was genau eigentlich eine VPN-Verbindung ist? Oder habt Ihr schon lange eine Frage bezüglich eines anderen bestimmten Vorgangs? Lasst die mühevolle Recherche sein, stellt die Frage in das Kommentarfeld unter diesem Post - oder anonym per Email - und behaltet Girls Can Blog im Auge... Ich werde mein Bestes geben. ;-)

(Picture taken from PostSecret.)

Kristina Roder of A Cocktail A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Kristina Roder started blogging at the tender age of 16. Her current project A Cocktail A Day Keeps the Doctor Away is a far cry from her first attempts at it, though.

Follow the jump below to find out more about one of the few female-run Swiss blogs I know - and in order to check out Kristina's great link recommendations from HTML to fashion...

Host Your Own Salon!

(Image by Anna Niestroj)

Suited to the occasion of the upcoming Girls on Web Society meeting in Berlin in December, Carola Muysers has written a post on how to host a successful salon* (Wie gründe ich erfolgreich einen Salon? Tipps aus erster Hand).

Amongst other things, she recommends you settle on a certain topic, name your event, and hold a round of introductions. Being friendly and curious is equally important to encourage diversity and  controversial points of view in discussions.

So, if you can't make it to our meeting in Berlin, why not host your own bloggers' get-together in your region? Free online services like Doodle offer coordinating tools that make finding a date and time at everyone's convenience easy as pie. And any small party is better than no party, right?

* Wondering what a salon might be? Wikipedia has the answer either in English or German.

 Danielle Depicciotto

Stacey Kent - Raconte Moi

The Independent on The Gender Gap in Upbringing

"I do think girls are more vulnerable in our society - all the more reason for me to make my daughters feel empowered by treating them the same as I would boys."

Helga found an interesting article describing how mothers, sometimes unintentionally, treat their sons and daughters differently. PinkStinks is mentioned, too. (Via Mädchenmannschaft)

Demo in Munich: My Body, My Choice!

 

(Via Mädchenblog)

✒ Typo Competition ✎

Almost two weeks to go still! More info at Design*Sponge.

Cold Landscapes @ The Palpable Obscure

Anastasia has uploaded Cold Landscapes, a beautiful new photo collection.

What makes "A Good Wife"?

Egyptian blogger Eman Hashim tears apart a TV series called The Good Wife, starring Julianna Margulies, in an article asking What's so good about this “Good Wife”? Eman touches upon issues like single partenting and societal expectations of female behaviour, and would surely appreciate your comments.

Tagesspiegel Diversity Scholarship

The German daily Tagesspiegel and the European School of Management are offering a full-tuition MBA scholarship for applicants from Germany who are first or second generation immigrants to the country:  

As managers who come from diverse backgrounds are still under-represented in German industry, ESMT aims to support talented young people with a migrant background on their way to leadership positions.

Applicants have to meet certain requirements, write an essay demonstrating that they have approached the idea of diversity in their career or private lives, and submit an online application before 15 November 2010.

For German Readers: Migrantinnen in Führungspositionen

Heute bittet die FH Bielefeld um Unterstützung des Forschungsprojektes „Migrantinnen in Führungspositionen“, das vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) gefördert wird: Es werden noch Frauen mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund in Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft sowie in Selbständigkeit gesucht, die an der Onlineumfrage des Projekts teilnehmen. Alle Daten werden wie üblich "rein statistisch und anonym" ausgewertet. Freiwillige vor!

Mariam of Frau mit Bart

Today's guest on GCB is Mariam of Frau mit Bart ["Bearded Woman"], who caught my attention when she was introduced by Helga of the Mädchenmannschaft last August. 

Follow the jump below to find out why Mariam started blogging, what life has been like since she's started to let her beard grow, and why a certain amount of readers is important to keep blogging.

For German Readers: Axel Springer Preis für junge Journalisten

Du bist Journalist/in und nicht älter als 33? Bestens, dann kannst Du Dich nämlich noch bis zum 10. Januar 2011 um den Axel Springer Preis für junge Journalisten bewerben. Ausgezeichnet werden Beiträge in den Kategorien Internet (!), Print, Fernsehen und Hörfunk. Teilnehmen lohnt sich: Es warten Geldpreise im Gesamtwert von 54.000€. Viel Erfolg!

D.I.Y. Foreign Aid

Elaine, a friend of mine working in American politics, alerted me to a New York Times article entitled "D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution". In it, Nicholas D. Kristof, co-author of the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide introduces women of all ages, who have accomplished extraordinary achievements for communities all around the world - often making immense personal sacrifices. One of the women portrayed is Maggie Doyne, 23, who extended her gap year indefinitely and - instead of going to college - founded her own school and orphanage for Nepalese children. On Maggies blog, I found the video of a presentation she gave, letting us in on her motivation, progress, and aspirations. Other projects portrayed in the article include Elisabeth Scharpf's initiative to provide sanitary pads to women as to curb absenteeism at work or school during menstrual periods (Sustainable Health Enterprises or SHE Innovates Blog), or Lisa Shannon, who started Run for Congo Women, an NGO raising money for women suffering from war and rape in eastern Congo.

For German Readers: Wer liebt ihre Vagina?

Wer's noch nicht auf dem Mädchenblog oder bei der Mädchenmannschaft gesehen hat:

Entdecker Danilola sucht die Urheberin dieser netten Berliner Streetart-Aktion. Kann jemand helfen?

Swap Your Clothes Online @ Kleiderkreisel

Fr. Jona&son wrote an interesting post on a new German clothes swapping platform called "Kleiderkreisel". It was modelled after a similar Lithuanian concept, and registration and use of the service are free. Very interesting! 

Kiersten Essenpreis of Twaggies

A while back, I stumbled upon Kiersten and Twaggies on Twitter. The idea is simple, but clever: Twaggies illustrates Tweets.

Follow the jump below to find out which other blogs Kiersten maintains, what kind of topics get covered on Twaggies, and why focusing on the negative aspects of blogging might just leave you... dead or something.

Lykke Li - Live

My Choice is Not a Crime!

In Queensland, as in other Australian states and territories, women and doctors can be tried under 19th century criminal codes and face years of imprisonment for choosing an abortion. These laws have already seen women seeking abortions after sexual assault turned away from public hospitals, and left doctors fearing imprisonment for providing advice and treatment.  Abortion has to be dealt with in the health code, not the criminal code! 

Support the Australian National Petition for Choice in their efforts to legalize abortion by signing their online petition today.  
(Via Mädchenblog)

For German Readers: Reise in die Vergangenheit

Die transsexuelle Svenja erinnert sich in einem rührenden Post an ihre erste große Liebe Dian, die sie im Sommer 2010 nach dreißig Jahren wiedersah...

Watch What You Watch

...Only why is everyone in the video made up like they are?

Either way: Don't thoughtlessly copy famous people - think for yourselves! 

More info at watchwhatyouwatch.org.
 

For German Readers: "Tief im Herzen ist jeder ein Integrationsverweigerer"

Scientist and blogger Elke Brüns wrote an article for the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau. In it, she discusses the 'symbolic universe' of Berlin-Neukölln and asks whether we all aren't intergration deniers at heart. Accordingly, she entitled the article "Tief im Herzen ist jeder ein Integrationsverweigerer".

Blog Action Day: WATER!

As promised, I am participating in today's WATER initiative by introducing to you Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of world famous explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. 

I first heard of her in the summer of 2008, when I was interning with CNN International in London. Producer Abi Moore (one of the minds behind the PinkStinks campaign) and director Georgi Banks-Davies had the idea of  featuring  Alexandra on Principal Voices, a show portraying leading experts in climate change and energy.

Alexandra runs both her own blog Blue Legacy and Twitter account, where she informs about critical water issues. Her goal is to inspire people to take action in meaningful ways: By saving water, by raising awareness, and by participating in regional efforts to preserve local watersheds.

Alexandra herself is setting a good example: Currently, she and her team are on a 14,500-mile journey across North America to investigate water issues “in the backyard” of one of the world’s leading economies. Check out her photo collection to learn more about that most recent trip.

Julia Stelzner of juliastelzner.de

By way of exception, I'm introducing to you a second fashion-arts-culture blog in ten days: political scientist Julia Stelzner's. Like Anna of Kalinka², Julia is writing on design-related issues for a living: Working as a copywriter during daytime, Julia is spending her evenings charging her blog with clothes and culinary delights. Sounds good to you?

Just follow the jump below to learn more!

(Picture taken from postsecret.)

Are Bloggers Pimpled and Bald?

And, if so, would it matter? Andrew Marr of the BBC obviously got something wrong when he said that "a lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting." He went on about how "the so-called citizen journalism is the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night." If, like me, you disagree, why don't you send an e-mail to his office, setting the record straight? Mine read:

Dear Mr. Marr,

I think you got something wrong when you said many bloggers were "socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting". In fact, there are lots of female bloggers, too, and quite a few of us are pretty. Please see for yourself:

http://girlsblogtoo.blogspot.com/search/label/Blogger%20Portrait%20Series

Best regards from Berlin, where I'm sitting at my very own desk - as opposed to: in my mother's basement.

Annina Luzie Schmid

Feel free to use, alter, copy and paste! 
(Source.)

For German Readers: Annina bei Radio Fritz über den #YMS2010

Last Saturday, the gorgeous Lili Masuhr of Radio Fritz asked me a couple of questions regarding the Young Media Summit for a radio show called "Trackback". Like the title suggests, it deals with all things web-related. My interview is about seven minutes long and in German - hope you guys will like it!

Wer wenig Zeit hat, spult am besten gleich zu Minute 15.17 vor, da geht's los. ;-)