NYTIMES: Gay Unions Shed Light on Gender in Marriage

Gay Unions Shed Light on Gender in Marriage By TARA PARKER-POPE

“A growing body of evidence shows that same-sex couples have a great deal to teach everyone else about marriage and relationships”

Al-Qaida’s stance on women sparks extremist debate – Yahoo! News

Ok, I thought this was an interesting story. On first blush, I’d want women to be respected and included and to contribute fully to any enterprise. But wait! The relevant enterprise is the use of violent means for political gain. I’m not sure that I want these folks to leverage their gender diversity in order to be more effective in their core mision.

Nevertheless, I can’t help think that if women were truly included in the top level leadership, the “movement” would tend to gravitate away from senseless violence and immolation and toward more practical, sensible, and ultimately constructive strategies.

So wait, perhaps I do want women to be fully included?

An Economist Goes to a Bar and solves the mysteries of dating.

Journal Article: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MATE SELECTION: EVIDENCE FROM A SPEED DATING EXPERIMENT By RAYMOND FISMAN,SHEENA S. IYENGAR,EMIR KAMENICA,ITAMAR SIMONSON

I came across a column by Maureen Dowd on NYTIMES.com that referred to a study looking at what influenced the evaluations that men and women made about each other in a speed-dating context. The study was written up in Slate magazine under the same name. It contains some discussion of stereotypical gender roles and some discussion of interracial evaluations.