* On Tala Raassi's 16th birthday, she was taken to a prison in Tehran, where she lived, and given 40 lashings on her back with a whip. Her offense: wearing a miniskirt (she had worn the skirt in the privacy of a friend's home). Today she is a fashion designer in the U.S. In an interview in Marie Claire, she said: "At my new home in D.C., surrounded by American women who were free to wear what they want and think what they want, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: I would become a fashion designer. Because to me, fashion equaled freedom."
* A report by the World Economic Forum ranked Sweden as the world's "most advanced country" for women, with greater levels of equality, power, health, and well-being among women than anywhere else. (The survey ranked the U.S. at 17th place, one above Costa Rica.) From Marie Claire: "Sweden ... has a long history of female-friendly policies. The government gave women equal rights to inherit property way back in 1845; in 1901, it introduced the world's first formalized maternity-leave program. In 1958, the Swedish Lutheran church changed its doctrine to permit women to become priests. And today, female politicians make up around half of the Swedish parliament. The goal of equality starts young: 'Anti-Sexism Awareness Training' begins in kindergarten, where male toddlers are encouraged to play with dolls, and females with toy tractors. In school, classes in cooking, sewing, metalworking, and woodworking are compulsory for both sexes. All education, including college, is free, and girls routinely outperform boys; in 2005, women made up more than 60 percent of all Swedish college students. All this adds up to more flexible gender roles later: As one Swedish website puts it, 'In our country, women drive the buses and men push the baby buggies.'"
* Australian anthropologist Fiona Graham has become Japan's first-ever Western geisha. She has a PhD from Oxford but spent a year learning how to pour tea, and she must greet her senior geisha sisters on bended knee. As a geisha, she goes by the name Sayuki. From Marie Claire: "'Geisha are full-time working artists, not sex objects,' says Sayuki, apparently eager to dispel the popular myth that geisha are prostitutes or subservient, glorified waitresses. As highly skilled practitioners of traditional Japanese music and dance, she says, their role is to provide classical entertainment to rich and powerful Japanese men. The profession originated in the 17th century in response to male demand for cultured female company. According to Confucian custom, most marriages were loveless affairs arranged purely to produce heirs. While licensed courtesans existed to meet men's sexual needs, geisha carved out a separate niche as artists and erudite female companions. Their clients today include politicians, businessmen, and celebrities, who each pay an average of $400 per hour to attend private banquets and relax in an atmosphere of nostalgic beauty. 'An experienced geisha can converse knowledgeably on any subject of interest to her clients, from international trade relations to domestic political intrigue, and she'll never reveal what was said,' says Sayuki."
* From a Marie Claire interview with Amanda Ripley, author of "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes -- And Why": Women tend to fare better than men in events like hurricanes and floods. Why? “They’re more likely to evacuate when they’re advised to do so,” says Ripley. “Men tend to take more risks.” But research shows that men, especially blue-collar single men, are more likely to do heroic things, such as risk their lives to save others.
* Stormy Daniels, a 30-year-old adult-film star (she has made more than 150 adult films -- including "Operation Desert Stormy," in which she plays a C.I.A. agent who fights terrorists while clad in camouflage hot pants), says she will run for a seat in the Louisiana state senate. From an interview with Marie Claire: "Q: Do you think you're more qualified than [incumbent] Sen. David Vitter? A: Absolutely not. But in one movie, I did play a Secret Service agent marooned on an island controlled by North Korea. I butt heads with dictator Kim Jong-il and come out on top."