From the female viewpoint

It’s been a while since I have contributed to the Rust in my ‘reporter at large on female issues’ role and to a degree the explanation this has been because in recent times these have been being treated as mainstream fodder in the world’s media and not simply confined to the ‘gossip, fashion and kitchen cul-de-sac’, as one of my old editors on Good Housekeeping used to complain regularly at editorial meetings in the 1980s.

And so for – for female Rusters, metrosexual-pretenders and even died-in-the-wool Neanderthals desperately seeking either enlightenment and/or subjects to rant about – today I bring you a pot pourri of media stories or pieces that have caught my eye already this week:

ON MEN, SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS

A quarter of a century ago, when it first came out, I found the phenomenonly-successful Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus guidebook by relationship counsellor John Gray both amusing and strangely compelling. Now, according to new research, it seems it was all froth and nonsense – though I’m not sure I really believe it – see here, from the website of the – DAILY MAIL

Why am I not surprised at this sort of research study finding? See here Sophie Borland’s piece in the Daily Mail on women and sexual health/attitudes – DAILY MAIL

A new study has made the stunning discovery that a large proportion of British women are dissatisfied with their sex lives. When I mentioned this to a well-known fellow Rust male colleague he commented without apparent irony that he was sure that, now he had passed the age of sixty his declining sexual powers had something to do with the findings (!) … thereby proving that some men’s attitudes and arrogance never change – see here – THE INDEPENDENT

ON BODY HEALTH

21st Century life is demanding and stressful enough for both sexes but sometimes we need to take heed of key symptoms – see here for Alex Matthews-King on the subject of fatigue from – THE INDEPENDENT

ON WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

Here’s a report by Hilly Janes on two women with some sound practical advice, as seen on the website of the – DAILY TELEGRAPH

ON FASHION AND PRACTICALITY

From the ‘Sometimes you just have to lie back and smile’ department, here’s a piece by Zoie O’Brien on a new swimming pool accessory that appears on the website of the – DAILY MAIL

What every woman over a certain age needs to know, from the website of the – DAILY MAIL

Here’s Zoe Williams on a subject that is close to women’s hearts, as spotted on the website of – THE GUARDIAN

Here’s a feature on hot-weather shared solutions or short-cuts by Siofra Brennan that I caught on the website of the – DAILY MAIL