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Week of
December 22, 2011 | | SURPRISE Americans groaned when French women voted Anne Sinclair as France's woman of the year in a poll. After all, Sinclair had stuck by her husband, former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, as he was humiliated by charges of rape and admitted to a voluntary sexual encounter with a hotel maid. But writer Leslie Bennetts says Sinclair's triumph wasn't evidence of deep sexism in French society. Sinclair is a celebrated television journalist with the stature of Barbara Walters, as well as a best-selling author and blogger. The fact that Sinclair only narrowly beat out her husband's female successor at the IMF, the powerful French finance minister Christine Lagarde, is revealing. "The French simply reacted with a collective Gallic shrug and a verdict that acknowledged both the old-fashioned wronged wife and the formidable new leader," Bennetts says.
FURY A shocking video of an Egyptian woman being stripped and brutally beaten by military police has galvanized the country's women's movement—and prompted an apology from generals. Since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, Egypt's interim military government has touted itself as leading a post-revolutionary democracy. But women continue to endure sexual harassment and physical assault under the new regime, writes Sarah Topol. The latest televised beating provoked a harsh rebuke from Hillary Clinton. Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces followed up with an unprecedented apology, reaffirming "women's right to protest" and to "participate in the political life on the road to democratic transition." Back in Tahrir Square, women protestors told Topol they felt they are now finally being heard—for the first time since the revolution. MAGGIE'S MOMENT She fell from power in 1990, but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to keep the United Kingdom from adopting the struggling euro has put her legacy in a fresh perspective. It's apt that a new film hits theaters this month starring Meryl Streep as Thatcher. In a Newsweek exclusive, Streep tells writer Amanda Foreman, "I wanted the film to have authenticity…I don't mean in documentary terms. I mean in human terms." And of Thatcher's controversial reputation, Streep explains that the prime minister's rejection "even from feminists" seems to "have something to do with our profound discomfort with women in power. Or our terror of it." MIRACLE Monique van der Vorst's life truly defies science. When she was 13 years old, complications from a routine ankle surgery led to nerve damage and a complete loss of feeling in her left leg. The Dutch teenager, an avid hockey and soccer player, became wheelchair-bound. She channeled her love for sports into racing hand-cycles—three-wheel bikes powered by arm strength. Eventually, she qualified for Beijing's 2008 Paralympic Games. And then something truly remarkable happened. When Monique took a spill on her cycle and was rushed to the hospital, she felt a tingle in her leg. Within a few weeks, she was up on her feet, walking. Now she's on a two-wheel bike, confounding doctors. "Sometimes you have to fall and rise to get where you need to be," she says. EXCLUSIVE As U.S. troops pull out of Iraq, writer Abigail Pesta checked in with two women famously taken captive at the start of the war. Jessica Lynch had joined the Army to get a college degree. Eight years and 21 surgeries later, she became a college graduate this month. Her sleep is riddled with nightmares. Her arms, legs, and spine are held together by metal parts. But, she says, whenever she feels upset by her struggles, she remembers that she is fortunate to have survived: "I'll remind myself: I'm alive. I'm here. Take some ibuprofen." Shoshanna Johnson, another woman in Lynch's unit, had enlisted in the Army with dreams of becoming a chef. She'd planned to cook for soldiers and earn money for culinary school. Today, she has completed culinary-arts school and is pursuing a bachelor's degree, but struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, as well with physical challenges from being shot in both legs. But, like Lynch, she's grateful to be alive. To help veterans of war, visit Service Women's Action Network. | | 
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