In Japan, married couples are legally obligated to have the same last name. While the law doesn't say that it has to be wives that take their husbands names, centuries of patriarchy mean that - much like here in the US - 96% of Japanese women take their husbands names. Well now, five women are suing the Japanese government over this law that they deem unconstitutional.

Sometimes, women have to do things they never thought they would in order to navigate and survive the misogynistic societies in which they live. The New York Times today has a stunning profile of three Muslim women from Syria, each formerly a member of ISIS' all-female Khansaa Brigade, the morality police.

Yesterday, the members of the UK Parliament voted 305 to 287 against removing a VAT on women's sanitary items, because they're deemed - and I'm going to try not to burst out laughing as I type this - "non-essential, luxury items." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. OK, I couldn't do it.

Feminism seems to have made such a dent that companies now see being anti-sexism as a way to sell products! It’s almost as if women are a majority of the population and it would be a smart business move to market products with their interests in mind, or something!

Sometimes it's the simplest things that provide the sharpest commentary. Elle UK believes that we need #MoreWomen in positions of power. Check out the video above!

After a successful campaign to honor women's suffrage for its 100-year anniversary in 2020 by finally putting a woman's face on a common piece of US currency, the US treasury has announced they're planning to put a woman on the $10 bill! And you know what's even better? The winner chosen by the campaign is none other than famed slavery abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

Didn't realize today was Equal Pay Day? Well, Batgirl did! Check out the video above in which you can see 1970s Batgirl fighting for fair and equal pay regardless of gender. There's also some important facts and figures about how the disparity in pay based on gender may affect you. We've definitely seen improvement in this area, but there's still a long way to go. If left alone, the gender gap in wages won't equalize until 2058.

There are a lot of confusing things happening in the Middle East: many girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan are discouraged and get hurt for trying to go to school, and when you combine that with a strong fear of technology, you get a whole lot of gender and education inequality. But there's a brave woman trying to fix that.

Artist Maia Weinstock has created an amazing tribute to the women of the Supreme Court by immortalizing Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan as custom LEGO minifigures! As she says on her site: This set of custom-designed LEGO minifigures, U.S. Supreme Court replica, and SCOTUS library/study aims to celebrate the accomplishments of women in the legal realm, and to encourage girls and women to work toward high positions in the U.S. judicial system.

The year 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and the Women on 20s campaign wants to commemorate this by replacing Andrew Jackson with a woman onto the $20 bill. W20 has a list of candidates for the public to vote on.

What do LOTR, The Avengers, and Inception all have in common? That's right. Special effects. But how often do women working in special effects get the credit they deserve?

If you've ever taken a taxi alone and late at night in New York City, you probably understand the need for this.

This series of illustrations by Carol Rossetti highlight the difficulties faced by women in our society—but they also serve as empowering reminders that will have you pumping your fist in the air. She's also done other illustrations in different languages, which you can find her on her Facebook page. Now it's time to let the images speak for themselves.

While we can all agree that the actors announced in yesterday's Star Wars cast will do an incredible job with whatever material they're given, a lot of people were very concerned by the overabundance of white guys in the cast. Well, hold on to your blasters, because there's still one part that hasn't been cast yet.

Doesn't matter if you're young or old, straight or queer, cis or trans, Gryffindor or Slytherin. Today belongs to all of us. Cheers to you, women of the world, and to the men who stand beside us. Let's get out there and make things awesome.

It probably shouldn't come as a shock, but as Amanda Hess's new piece for Pacific Standard Magazine points out, women on the Internet get harassed a whole bunch more than men do, and there's nothing that anyone can do about it. Hooray! In other depressing-yet-obvious news, the universe is an unfeeling place, and we are all going to die one day.

We all know women only care about two things: non-fat yogurt and birth control. At least, that's what advertisements tell me, so it must be right, right? Megan Amram and Yahoo's sketch comedy series did a fantastic parody of condescending women's advertisements: a commercial for both yogurt and birth control, at the same time, finally giving us women exactly what we want. Watch for a painfully accurate portrayal of women in advertisements (laughing with salad) and don't miss the hilarious cameo at the end. (via Upworthy) Previously in Women