“Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” ― Cheris Kramarae, Women’s Studies Scholar
WOW2 is a four-times-a-month sister blog to This Week in the War on Women. This edition covers women and events from August 1 through August 8.
The next installment of WOW2 will be on August 13, 2022.
“As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need prosperity of kindness and decency.”
– Caroline Herschel, German astronomer, first woman to discover a comet
“Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”
– Mae Jemison , NASA Astronaut first African American woman in space
“We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing.”
– Maria Mitchell, Astronomer and professor, first American woman to be a paid professional astronomer
The purpose of WOW2 is to learn about and honor women of achievement, including many who’ve been ignored or marginalized in most of the history books, and to mark moments in women’s history. It also serves as a reference archive of women’s history. There are so many more phenomenal women than I ever dreamed of finding, and all too often their stories are almost unknown, even to feminists and scholars.
These trailblazers have a lot to teach us about persistence in the face of overwhelming odds. I hope you will find reclaiming our past as much of an inspiration as I do.
has posted, so be sure to go there next, and catch up on the latest dispatches from the frontlines:
Many, many thanks to libera nos, intrepid Assistant Editor of WOW2. Any remaining mistakes are either mine, or uncaught computer glitches in transferring the data from his emails to DK5. And much thanks to wow2lib, WOW2’s Librarian Emeritus.
Polar bears are the largest terrestrial carnivores on earth, but their ferocious appetite doesn’t make them any less loving when it comes to their cubs. Mother bears tend to give birth to two cubs, although occasionally triplets will occur. The first order of business for an expectant polar bear mother is to dig a den deep in the snow where she'll have her cubs.
Once born, a polar bear’s cubs will stick by her side for over two years, soaking up all of her knowledge about survival in one of the harshest environments on earth. She will protect her cubs with her life, often from aggressive males who have no involvement in child raising and frequently attempt to cannibalize cubs. These brave mothers battle the elements and other bears to ensure their offspring have the greatest chances of success in the wild.
Polar bears are on the Most Endangered Species list. Only about 31,000 polar bears remain in the wild. They rely heavily on sea ice to access the high-fat food supply they need to survive. As global temperatures rise, sea ice is melting for longer periods each year or disappearing altogether, making it increasingly difficult for polar bears to hunt and carry out other life-sustaining tasks. As polar bears are forced onto land, they become undernourished and less capable of feeding their cubs.