Rachel Balkovec has become the first woman to be hired as a full-time hitting coach by a major league organization after joining the Yankees coaching staff. Even though Balkovec has impressive qualifications, including two master’s degrees in the science of human movement and experience at several minor league clubs, it’s been a long road for her as a woman in sports. Balkovec’s new position with the Yankees, along with the MLB’s increasing inclusion of women coaches, umpires, trainers, and scouts, is hopefully indicative of greater parity to come for women in baseball—and sports as a whole. NY Times
Yet another sign of the changing culture of the lingerie industry has surfaced— Victoria’s Secret (3.0 stars) has officially canceled its 2019 Fashion Show. According to the brand’s parent company, the move to cancel the show is part of larger efforts to evolve the brand’s messaging. While the fashion show was once one of the most-watched fashion events of the year, viewership has been steadily declining, mirroring the consumer shift to more inclusive lingerie brands that has strangled Victoria’s Secret’s profits. Fortune
Johnson & Johnson (4.0 stars) subsidiary Ethicon has been found guilty by Australia’s Federal Court of failing to warn patients and surgeons of the risks posed by vaginal mesh implants. In October, the company agreed to pay nearly $117 million in settlements over similar pelvic mesh lawsuits in 41 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Lawsuits over the company’s vaginal mesh products are ongoing in Canada and Europe. BBC
Quick Hits
The Latina Pay Gap is growing, with their equal pay day last week falling 18 days later than last year. In 2019, Latinas earned a cent less on the dollar than in 2018, bringing their overall pay down to just 53 cents on the dollar, a far cry from the already unacceptable 80 cents figure most often cited in equal pay discussions. This op-ed from Mónica Ramírez, the organizer of the National Latina Equal Pay Day of Action, is a must-read to learn more about the obstacles keeping Latinas from fair pay. Fortune
Manspreading is kind of objectively the worst, but orthopedic surgeon Barbara Bergin is on a mission to convince women to adopt sitting positions that are more closely aligned with male posture. According to Bergin, sitting with your legs crossed or pressed together can increase the risk for musculoskeletal problems and joint pain. Ideally, she says, the best way to sit to reduce pain is to position your legs at “11 and 1 o’clock.” This is certainly something to think about the next time someone tells you to sit like a lady. The Washington Post
According to a study from the University of Bath, the ideal percentage of income for a man’s wife to provide is 40 percent. The study followed 6,000 heterosexual American couples and recorded the husband’s stress levels in relation to household income. The men reported the highest stress when they were the sole breadwinner in their household, but surprisingly were not at their happiest when their wives contributed more or even the same amount as them. The ideal 40 percent apparently is enough to significantly help out but not so high that it emasculated them. Just imagine the fragility: “Sorry honey you made 41 percent of our income to my 59 percent, and that really bothered me:/” VICE
Art and Culture
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, the Baltimore Museum of Art will only purchase works of art for its permanent collection from women creators in 2020. Furthermore, all 22 exhibits of the year will be women-focused, with 19 of those featuring women artists exclusively. Museum director Christopher Bedford summed up the daring policy saying, “To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.” The Baltimore Sun
Women took home the top prize for two of the National Book Award’s largest categories. Susan Choi won the National Book Award for fiction with “Trust Exercise,” a novel set in the 1980s about a group of teenagers attending a performing arts school that was praised for its examination of sexual consent. Sarah M. Broom won the National Book for nonfiction with “The Yellow House,” a memoir about her home and family in New Orleans outside the city’s grandiose mythology. Well, looks like that’s two more for our reading list! NY Times
GRAMMY awards nominations were announced last week, and women led the way, outperforming male artists in the categories of album-of-the-year, song-of-the-year, and best new artist. Among other women’s nominations, Lizzo picked up eight, Billie Eilish scored six, Ariana Grande and H.E.R. both received five, Beyoncé and Yola both got four, Taylor Swift was nominated for three, and Lana Del Rey for two. Fortune
Around the World
Italy: The Italian government will approve 12 million euros ($13.5 million) of funding on Monday for scholarships, medical expenses, and training for children of women who died from domestic violence. News of the measure came as thousands of women marched on Rome Saturday, which was the U.N.’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The funding is a start, but the protestors called for more support for women’s shelters and quicker responses from police for those who file complaints of abuse. The Washington Post
France: Tens of thousands of protesters also took to the streets in Paris on Saturday to demand greater action from the French government to address domestic violence. According to the activists, 130 women have been killed in France this year by a current or former partner, many of whom had tried to seek help from police prior to their murder. France has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Europe, with a 2014 EU survey finding that 26 percent of French respondents report experiencing physical or sexual abuse by a partner. The French government is expected to unveil new measures to tackle domestic violence on Monday, such as improving police training and seizing firearms from individuals suspected of abuse. Bloomberg
United Kingdom: Over 1,100 women have registered to run as candidates in the UK’s general election next month, making up a third of the total nominations. This wave of women candidates has shifted the gender makeup of Labour Party elections to 53 percent, marking the first time a major political party in the country has offered women as the majority of its nominations. The Guardian
Mexico: For the first time in the magazine’s more than 120 years of publishing, Vogue will feature an indigenous muxe (pronounced MOO-she) woman on the cover of its Mexican and British editions. Muxes, whose name derives from the Spanish word for woman “mujer,” are transgender individuals from the Zapotec culture of Oaxaca, where they occupy a third gender status. Many muxes are assigned male at birth but identify as women, while others have more fluid identities and gender presentations. The Vogue cover next month will feature 37-year-old Estrella Vazquez wearing a traditional huipil garment adorned in colorful flowers and holding a pink fan. You’re definitely going to want to check out this NY Post article to see the cover and more stunning photos of Estrella. NY Post
