"Star Wars" Without Rey, NFL History and More: Gender News Weekly

Where39s Rey Toymakers Directed to Exclude Star Wars CharacterThe hashtag wheresrey was trending on Twitter this week as fans became outraged after discovering that Rey the main character and heroine of quotThe Force Awakensquot had been excluded from a significant amount of new Star Wars merchandise Many fans cited the newest Hasbro Star Wars Monopoly game which features four counters based only on male characters as the most glaring example The Telegraph reports As fans remained puzzled and expressed their disgust over social media an anonymous industry insider has stepped forward claiming that the omission was not accidental According to the source toymakers were quotspecifically directedquot to exclude Rey from merchandise in fear that female characters would not appeal to young boys quotI39ve spoken with Disney people and they were completely blindsided by the reaction to the new Star Wars charactersquot John Marcotte founder of Heroic Girls told Sweatpants and Coffee The Telegraph reports quotThey put a huge investment into marketing and merchandising the Kylo Ren character They presumed he would be the big breakout role from the film They were completely surprised when it was Rey everyone identified with and wanted to see more ofquot Now those execs are stuck with Kylo Ren product that isn39t selling he added Hopefully the public39s outrage and demands will spur positive change in the industry Marcotte concludes8 yr old asks How could you leave out Rey in SW Monopoly LetToysBeToys HasbroNews PigtailPals WheresRey pictwittercomEnOs56PQE5amp8212 Carrie Goldman CarrieMGoldman January 4 2016Is the quotJust Not Sorryquot App Keeping Women Trapped in a Man39s WorldIf you39re a working woman in any industry at some point you39ve probably been advised to be mindful of your use of quotsorryquot and quotjustquot in business emails and maybe even have installed the quotJust Not Sorryquot Chrome extension which is designed to highlight keywords and phrases that might make you sound like a pushover in the officeamp160 But is limiting these tendencies keeping women trapped in a man39s world In an oped in the Guardian this week Women in Leadership section editor Harriet Minter weighs in quotIn accepting that a woman39s vocal and written characteristics are holding her back what we39re really saying is that it39s still a man39s world and to win in it you have to act sound and write like a man How depressingquot While these apps seminars and other programs are designed to help women succeed we need to stop devaluing the way women behave and communicate which in this case is much more politely and instead demand that men behave differently she concludesKathryn Smith Makes NFL HistoryKathryn Smith the Buffalo Bills39 new special team39s quality control coach is the first fulltime female assistant in NFL history The Washington Post reports Before signing on to the Bills Smith spent 12 seasons working in various roles for the New York Jets under head coach Rex Ryan who is now leading the Bills and brought Smith with him In case you39re wondering a quality control coach is an entrylevel coaching position which involves breaking down video and reporting an opponent39s strengths weaknesses and tendencies weeks in advance of the game amp8211 a crucial role in game preparation Smith39s father commented on Ryan quotThe fact that he asked her to go wherever he ended up is a big vote of confidence for herquotBREAKING Kathryn Smith is the Bills new special teams quality control coach the first fulltime female NFL coach pictwittercomr2MkWX4pR3amp8212 Buffalo Bills buffalobills January 21 2016ADHD in Girls amp8211 Another Gender GapWhile Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD has become a common diagnosis for young boys clinical psychologists are reporting an uptick in diagnoses among young women and girls with some alarming consequences Quartz reported this week In a 2015 study parents reported an increase in ADHD diagnoses of 55 in girls between 2003 and 2011 compared to 40 for boys Yet because ADHD manifests dramatically differently in girls Dr Ellen Littman author of Understanding Girls with ADHD explains girls continue to be misdiagnosed and put at health risk quotAnxiety and depression turn into low selfesteem and selfloathing and the risk for selfharm and suicide attempts is fourtofive times that of girls without ADHDquotamp160she comments Unlike boys hyperactivity is not usually a symptom for girls with ADHD instead girls experience inattentiveness and disorganization which continues to get worse over time Another problem arises in ADHD research which is focused almost exclusively on boys only 1 looks at ADHD in girls quotGirls are being told still by pediatricians and primary care doctors that 39you are a girl you can39t get ADDquot Littman addsOther Headlines this WeekThere39s No Formula for Gender Diversity in the WorkplaceAt A Biotech Party Gender Diversity Means Cocktail WaitressesYes there is one great contribution men can make to feminism pick up a mopProminent Actresses Star in Videos to Tell Women39s Personal Stories of AbortionWomen in Space Seek More Women in SpaceHow to Bridge That Stubborn Pay Gapamp160The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

"Star Wars" Without Rey, NFL History and More: Gender News Weekly

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Connor Zickgraf

The Ad Council, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation and Amazon Announce “The Mind Set” to Support Mental Health - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

"Star Wars" Without Rey, NFL History and More: Gender News Weekly

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Connor Zickgraf

The Ad Council, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation and Amazon Announce “The Mind Set” to Support Mental Health - Ad Council InSites

The payment was successful

Cookies