• Illinois’ controversial parental notification law for minors seeking an abortion has been delayed at least until Wednesday morning as officials meet to verify that girls can waive the notification process by petitioning a judge, who has 48 hours to rule on it. The parental notification law does not give parents consent, but requires that they be notified. An exemption is made in the case of a medical emergency or if a girl puts it in writing that she was sexually abused. [Chicago Tribune]

Here at The Frisky, we spend an awful lot of time reflecting on, pontificating about, and debating the state of things for women of the world today. How would things be different without feminism? Did it even work? Are we better or worse off than our grandmothers? Mothers? But no dialogue can be complete if not placed within the context of history. That’s why I am so excited about journalist Gail Collins’ new book, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, which is currently on the bestseller list. Not only was Gail the first woman to be an editor at The New York Times, where she continues today as a columnist, but now she has penned the new must-have text for modern feminists. Her simple message to our generation: We must not take our astounding journey for granted. While we all know the big moments in women’s history—getting the right to vote, appointing the first woman to the Supreme Court, etc.—I’ve wondered what smaller moments Gail thinks had a huge pull on who we are today. After the jump, Gail breaks down for us the five most historically significant moments for women that no one knew were huge at the time. It’s an inspiring herstory lesson.

Here’s a strange study for you. Gynecology professor Aletha Akers just led a study about the sexual activity of teenage girls, surveying almost 7,200 girls about risky sexual behavior. The survey concluded that girls who are underweight, healthy weight, and overweight are equally as likely to have had sex. But apparently girls in the overweight and underweight categories are more likely to have had risky sex—they’re more likely to fail to use condoms, have sex while drinking, and to have had sex with more than four partners. Akers believes that this effect has more to do with a teenager’s self-perception than with the actual number on the scale. Women on the ends of the spectrum may feel dips in their self-esteem, which maybe leads to some of these behaviors? Also interesting, the type of unsafe sex can be predicted to a certain extent by the girl’s race. For example, overweight Caucasian girls are less likely to use condoms than Caucasians of normal weight, and African-American teenage girls who are underweight are less likely to use a rubber. Why on earth is there a difference? [Salon]

• Six women’s bodies were found at the home of Anthony Sowell, 50, of Cleveland, Ohio, when police arrested him on a rape and felony assault warrant last Thursday. Sowell already served 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape of a 21-year-old woman. Although the bodies have not yet been identified, at least two women who lived within several blocks of Sowell went missing over the summer. [CBS News]
• Illinois’ parental notification law, which requires physicians to inform a parent or guardian when a girl under the age of 17 wants an abortion, will go into effect tomorrow. The parent or guardian will not be allowed to give consent, but he or she must be notified about the abortion. Girls can bypass notifying their parents by going before a judge, but the judge has 48 hours to rule. Parental notification also isn’t required in the case of a medical emergency or if the girl declares in writing that she is the victim of sexual abuse. [Chicago Tribune]

I’ve been pretty fascinated by the New York Times’ series “Women at Arms,” about lady folk in the military. Yesterday’s front page story might have been the most interesting so far. It looks at the lives of women who’ve returned from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now dealing with the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Obviously, this affects dudes as well, but the article makes the argument that it can be even more severe for women, who feel such a disconnect between who they were before and after war that they isolate themselves from friends and family, sometimes for years. One woman in the story describes feeling paranoid of her kids. Another says she beats her husband in her sleep during especially intense combat dreams. Yet another woman reported wanting to jump over the counter and attack an Arab store clerk the other day, for no apparent reason. Experts at the newly formed Women’s Center at the VA Hospital in Tampa, Florida, explain that these are classic PTSD symptoms, but that women feel a whole ‘nother level of insane for having these thoughts because they are so typically “unfeminine.” And to add another layer to this story, these women feel ultra misunderstood because most people assume women in the military don’t see actual combat, when in truth many of them witnessed explosions and saw friends die. This year, more than 8,500 women have been diagnosed with PTSD, and those are only the ones who sought treatment through the VA. The VA expects that number to double over the next year. Anyway, read the whole article. And make sure to give it up for veterans, of both genders. [NY Times]

Rody Alvarado Peña, now 40, was 16 when she got married in her home country of Guatemala. Her husband severely beat her for more than 10 years—pistol-whipping her, using her head to smash windows, chasing her with a machete, dragging her down the street by her hair, and kicking her repeatedly in the stomach in hopes of aborting their baby. In 1995, Rody ran away to the United States and sought asylum. See, generally, asylum here is only granted to people who are part of social group that is persecuted—abused women traditionally do not count. But lawyers in Rody’s case argued that they should, because women in Guatemala are persecuted in a targeted way—more than 4,000 women in the country have been beaten to death by their husbands in the past decade, and only 2% of the cases were ever solved. Still, Roday has spent the past 14 years in constant court cases and hearings, trying to get asylum officially granted. While lawyers and immigration officials debated her case, she has been able to stay in the United States—she lives in California and works as a housekeeper at a home for elderly nuns—but she never knew if she’d have to pack up and leave. Finally, the Obama administration has taken the bull by the horns and recommended that Rody be granted asylum. Which is awesome. But of course, this case has much larger implications than Rody continuing her life here. This sets a precedent that battered women are a persecuted group and qualify for asylum. This could be big news for women horribly abused in other countries where domestic violence is part of the culture. [NY Times]

Do you scratch your head when people shriek about sex being too graphic on TV when someone is getting punched or shot before every commercial break? Yeah, me too. A new study by the Parents Television Council (granted, a conservative organization) should have everyone concerned. It counted over 400 acts of violence against women and female teenagers on prime-time ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox shows from February until May of this year. When the group conducted the same study five years ago, they counted less than 200 acts of violence against women. The PTC clocked an increase of over 120 percent for beatings, murder, threats and rape of adult women, as well as an over 400 percent increase against teenage girls. I don’t even know what to say about these stats.

• Bea Arthur, the “Golden Girls” star who passed away earlier this year, left $300,000 for a homeless shelter for LGBT youth. Thank you for being a friend, Bea! [PinkNews]
• Iceland is the best place in the world for women, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. The index ranked 134 countries based on women’s access to resources and opportunities like income parity, health care, paid maternity leave, and political empowerment. Iceland took Norway’s place this year as the best place in the world for women to live, while both the USA and the UK slid down the list. [Forbes]
• Five people have been arrested in connection with the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a homecoming dance in Richmond, California, last week. So far all of the men arrested are under the age of 21, which is depressing. But what is even more horrifying is how police say possibly as many as 10 suspects took part in the gang rape while as many as 20 stood by and watched. [ABC News]

Emily Gould should know about women writers and criticism. In the spring of 2008, the former editor at Gawker published an article in the prestigious New York Times Magazine about nastiness in the blogosphere—to a certain extent, it was her own nastiness towards Gawker’s victims that she was referencing. Plenty of other writers responded in kind, mostly critical, and some of the critics were women annoyed with both Gould’s gossip-blog past as well as her sexily-reclining-on-her-back cover photo, saying: Emily Gould does not represent us.

Recently in an article called “What Are Women Fighting About?” for More Intelligent Life, Gould tackles the issue of how “women are often the cruelest critics of other female writers” for not accurately portraying women’s lives. Gendered critiques of women writers are a problem that’s dragged on for a long time (Anna Clark wrote about their “ambition condition” for Bitch magazine over a year ago). But Gould’s analysis is at least refreshing because, by her essay’s end, she has pledged to be more aware of her overly-critical-towards-women ways.

Cue a sarcastic “We’ve come along way, baby!” joke: A recent study by the children’s magazine Highlights found girls are assigned more chores at home than boys. The survey polled 845 kids between the ages of 5 and 12 and found 73 percent of girls do chores, while 65 percent of boys do. Eight percent may not sound like much; however, these findings are consistent with a 2006 study by the University of Michigan. Researchers polled 3,000 10- to 17-year-olds and discovered girls spend seven hours a week doing housework, while boys only spend five hours a week. Possibly explains why some grown-up dudes aren’t so proactive with the Clorox, doesn’t it? Was this your experience growing up? Did you do more chores than your brothers did?  [NY Times]

David Letterman, we haven’t forgotten about you and your staff member-diddling ways! Nell Scovell, the second female ever hired to write for “Late Night with David Letterman” recently penned a piece for Vanity Fair‘s website alleging that sex between high-level male and lower-level female staffers led to a “hostile” work environment:

“Without naming names or digging up decades-old dirt, let’s address the pertinent questions. Did Dave hit on me? No. Did he pay me enough extra attention that it was noted by another writer? Yes. Was I aware of rumors that Dave was having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Was I aware that other high-level male employees were having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Did these female staffers have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did I believe these female staffers were benefiting professionally from their personal relationships? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no. Here’s what I did: I walked away from my dream job.

“Mad Men” acolytes with eagle eyes might’ve noticed that the book Betty Draper brought into the tub with her on last night’s episode was none other than The Group by Mary McCarthy. Published in 1963 but set in the 1930s, The Group is a subtly scathing portrait of a circle of educated, upwardly mobile New York society women who all went to Vassar College—at the time more of a finishing school than a bastion of liberal education – together. The book follows these eight frenemies as their lives unfold and unravel after graduation, seeing them through abusive marriages, extra-marital affairs, birth control, familial conflict, class war, Communist sympathies, lesbianism, suicide and the ever-elusive female orgasm.