By Chris Lombardi

Why is it dangerous to call the Ohio kidnappings “a domestic-violence” situation? Because we are all too familiar with—and consequently, numb to—the horrors embedded in violence against women.

A mother teaches her daughter about “true” role models; a film counters the stories of women instrumentalists in the jazz movement; Marie Dutton Brown traces her journey in the publishing world over the last 43 years; Dr. Jackson Katz argues that violence against women should be reframed as a man’s isssue; and, after they’ve attracted more than 10 million YouTube views, meet the Internet’s “Cutest Couple Ever.”

In this week’s Wednesday 5: Afghan Journalist Najiba Ayubi wins a ‘Courage in Journalism’ Award; a father’s well-intentioned letter to his young daughter about keeping a “man’s interest” turns controversial; the “Great Gatsby” film unearths a myriad of misrepresentations and stereotypes about the 1920s flapper; “Scandal,” as ridiculous as the plots are, works because of cast chemistry; and a poignant video re-imagines a world where hate crimes don’t exist.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

The Kentucky Derby is always the first Saturday of May. I know it is a horse race, but today I was only interested in the filly from New Jersey named Rosie. That would be Rosie Napravnik, the only female jockey in today’s race.

In this week’s Wednesday 5: Women behind the lens at the recent Tribeca Film Festival; TV shows that hired no women writers in 2011-12; Jenna Lyons takes J.Crew from “ugly duckling to fashion arbiter”; a centenarian, Kathryn Wasserman Davis, dazzles us; and Saudi Arabia launches its first anti-domestic-violence campaign.

By Chris Lombardi

Women from very different worlds, including a Hollywood star; senators; congresswomen; and veterans from all branches of the military, converged in Washington, D.C., last month to address an age-old crime.

By Deborah Harkins

The (pleasant) challenge for 40-year-old director Kirsten Kelly: Mount a play involving 50 brides and 50 flight-suited, helicopter-dangling grooms on the stage of a 60-seat theater.

In this week’s Wednesday 5: The world’s oldest yoga teacher is a 94-year-old woman; can black women ‘Lean In’ like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg?; the women of TIME’s 100 most influential people; women are not the only ones to blame for being their worst critics; and a hilarious clip of when TV anchors get a case of the giggles.

By Emily Bernard

What Mrs. Michelle Obama has put on display, and perhaps “overexposed,” is her commitment to women’s work. It’s a radical act—even feminist—in that she has become a champion of women and the work that is expected of us. She may not ever be able to go to Target again without drawing a crowd, but she has made her life as a spectacle an opportunity to advocate for two of the most neglected and unglamorous groups in this country today: veterans and obese children.

Leslie Morgan Steiner reminds us that domestic violence can happen to anyone; student-loan debt is growing fastest among adults 60 and older; what happens when you replace food aid with cash payments?; righting a 22-year-old wrong done to architect Denise Scott Brown; and Indian women plant trees each time a girl is born in their village.

Is Huma Abedin ready for the challenges of a new mayoral campaign with husband Anthony Weiner? Yes, but only if she’s the candidate.

When a woman is the main character, it makes the show all that much harder to resist: part of me is still in mourning for Geena Davis’s short-lived 2005 ‘Commander in Chief’. Which is why, despite some misgivings, I’m actually looking forward to the return of Julia Louis-Dreyfus in HBO’s ‘Veep.’

To me and to many others, all of the president’s “You have to be careful to first say” praise sounded like one of those cover phrases, as in “I’m not a sexist, but . . .” Kamala Harris deserved better.

If Caroline Kennedy is, indeed, appointed ambassador to Japan, sources speculate, she—like Hillary Clinton—could be a powerful force for the rights of women.

The “Barbie paradox” (yes, there is such a thing); women in Saudi Arabia can ride their bikes in public; the feminist politics about the thong; Hyeonseo Lee, a refugee from North Korea, talks about a childhood where public executions were normal; and Audrey Hepburn on embracing aging.