Amongst Canadians, are men are more likely to ask for directions than women?

The stereotypical male, according to urban myth, would rather have a few fingers cut off than ask for directions to avoid getting lost.

Women, on the other hand, being infinitely more sensible and less prone to macho posturing, take the easy way out and ask a local how to find the place they’re looking for. Continued

One of the issues that many people are reluctant to deal with honesty is population. Not only are some religious groupings violently opposed to any kind of contraception or abortion, the widespread sentimentality towards children and families tends to throw suspicion on those who advocate a voluntary reduction in the number of children as a means to deal with poverty, hunger, and epidemic diseases. To date, only China has taken the problem seriously, but its typically authoritarian solution doesn’t seem to offer an answer other nations would be willing to countenance.

That’s why I was interested in this article by Johann Hari from the British newspaper, The Independent (“Are there just too many people in the world?”). It’s an honest attempt to come to grips with all the doubts and complexities that surround this issue, not just jump into either a pro or an ante position.

So after studying the evidence, I am left in a position I didn’t expect. Yes, the argument about overpopulation is distasteful, often discussed inappropriately, and far from being a panacea-solution – but it can’t be dismissed entirely. It will be easier for 6 billion people to cope on a heaving, boiling planet than for nine or 10 billion – and we will only get there by freeing women to make their own reproductive choices. To achieve this green goal, it’s necessary to mix some oestrogen into the environmentalist palette.

Continued

Ruth Ostrow, who writes a regular column for The Weekend Australian Magazine, raises a tough question in her article “Harassment’s thin line.”

Referring to a A$1 million-plus sexual harassment claim made by a woman who claims she was the victim of repeated and unwanted sexual advances from two bosses, she writes: Continued

Claire Fowler, writing in The Guardian blogs (“Who needs role models?”), poses some interesting questions, especially for women seeking to get on in business and destroy the last remnants of the ‘glass ceiling.’

Here’s a taste of what she says: Continued