Men lack backbone for pregnancy: So says the research. Really.

Describing "Mad Men," the critically acclaimed television series centered around employees of an advertising agency in 1960, Marcia Yerman writes that "the show could be a window for today’s young women, illustrating the conditions that shaped previous generations of feminists, from whom they often feel estranged."

It also forced me to look at and acknowledge how male behavior was constricted by formulated societal roles. Where The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit was a look at the mid-’50s simultaneous to the unfolding of the Eisenhower era, Mad Men is an examination in hindsight. Before anyone dreamed of a women’s movement, black power or gay liberation, the show’s characters experienced the first stirrings of awareness.

The Boston Globe editorial board recently asked the three leading Democratic presidential candidates a question unique to his or her campaign. Here’s Sen. Hillary Clinton on what difference would it make if a woman is president. Sen. Barack Obama was asked if the baby boomers have it wrong, and John Edwards answered a question about what he learned from his campaign loss in 2004.

"Wal-Mart Stores suffered a legal setback on Tuesday in its attempt to head off the biggest sexual discrimination case in United States history when an appeals court allowed the case to remain a class-action lawsuit," reports Reuters. "The plaintiffs estimated they could win billions of dollars in lost
pay and damages and that as many as two million women who have worked for Wal-Mart in its American stores since 1998 could join the suit." Wal-Mart, of course, plans to appeal.

Caroline Kennedy turned 50 last month and celebrated in part by posing for the cover of AARP magazine.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin, a founding editor of Ms., spoke recently at the Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches luncheon about her relationship with Judaism and social activism. From the Palm Beach Daily News:

"What is activism?" she asked. "It’s basically summarized by that wonderful line from the movie Network — ‘I’m mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.’ And then saying, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’ Because a lot of us get mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore and we don’t know what to do next."

She urged the women to donate to causes that make a difference.

"Look at your checkbook stubs," she said. "If you get hit by a truck, what would your checkbook stubs say about you?"

–Christine