Gender Equality
Lenexa man’s exercise obsession underscores eating disorders’ gender neutrality
At one point when he was in college at Kansas State University, Jon Smith would jog as many as 20 miles a day. “If I wasn’t in the library and not in class,” he said, “I was running.” But Smith was far from healthy. His over-the-top regimen was a manifestation of an eating disorder known…
Paving the launch pad for female astronauts: KC woman shares her experience in the Mercury 13
When Sarah Ratley received the invitation to be part of a secret project testing women as potential astronauts in 1961, she was at the beauty parlor. While working as an engineer for AT&T, Ratley had gone to get her hair done over the lunch hour. “They traced me down to the beauty salon,” said Ratley,…
KC nonprofit spotlights women in media
The 2014-2015 season of Community Cinema kicks off this Saturday with “MAKERS: Women in Hollywood.” As part of the MAKERS series, which celebrates trailblazing women, “Women in Hollywood” spotlights the roles ladies have played in front of and behind the camera. Kansas City Women in Film and Television is co-sponsoring the screening, and some its…
Ladies-only camp gets women fired up about the great outdoors
Michelle Manning is sporting a huge bruise on the inside of her upper arm. She shows it off, pulling up her shirt sleeve to expose the injury that she refers to as her “prized possession.” While learning how to shoot a bow and arrow earlier, Manning accidentally snapped her arm with the bow string, which…
KCMO begins implementation of women’s empowerment blueprint
Joni Wickham, director of public affairs for Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., is one of eight women in the mayor’s 12-person staff. She is currently working, with a team of other women city employees and the mayor himself, to implement the Women’s Empowerment Blueprint. Wickham agrees with the need for this blueprint on…