When Rose Gottemoeller began negotiating the new nuclear treaty with Moscow, the U.S. diplomat got questions on the usual topics: missile defense, warheads, inspections.

And then there was this one from the Russian generals: "How come you've got so many women?"

To the Russians' astonishment, an array of American women faced them across the negotiating table. Gottemoeller led the American team during the negotiations, which concluded in March. Her deputy was Marcie Ries, another diplomat. The top two U.S. scientists were female. And helping to close the deal on the New START agreement was Ellen O. Tauscher, a State Department undersecretary and former congresswoman.

 

Back in the 1950s, things were simpler. Cars with tailfins were majestic, your local mechanic knew you by name, companies had finally figured out women could do physical labour-intensive jobs and lawsuits rarely, if ever, happened.

Jessica Gilbank, owner and head mechanic at Ms. Lube by Mechanchik garage at Bathurst and College streets in Toronto, wouldn't mind going back to those simpler times.

Although she has built and branded her unique-to-North-America all-women garage on the principles of the 1950s -- smiles, honesty and customer service -- ever since being asked to participate on the hit CBC show Dragons' Den (where hopeful entrepreneurs try to strike deals with wealthy investors) by one of the show's producers, her old-school mentality has been tested and she's been thrust full speed into the litigious nature of the 21st century.

Ms. Gilbank is being sued by Mr. Lube-- a nationwide chain of garages partially owned by Jim Treliving, an investor on Dragons' Den -- which alleges she is piggybacking on its success and damaging its image.

The members have names for their cars like LowLita, Veronica, Cherriot and Hanna. They use personal handles like Trouble Galore, Rat Pink and Hot Rod Girl. And they drive their cars nearly every day from May to October. This is an 'all-girl' car club and they call themselves The FenderSkirts.

These women are very much a part of the classic car culture and they won't be parked on the sidelines. They build and improve their cars in winter months and attend dozens of car shows in the fair weather. Their dress is often as unique as their cars and, when they put on a car club display, it's all pink and parasols.

Krista Tjorhom doesn't remember when special interest cars weren't part of her life. Her father Carl, owned one of B.C.'s best known hot rods in the 1950s and is an inductee in the Greater Vancouver Motorsports Pioneers Society.

She graduated from a 1956 Ford pickup to a 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 that rides low and just oozes North American high style.

This picturesque southern Colorado town known for decades as the sex-change capital of the world — thousands of gender-reassignment operations have been performed here — is becoming a beacon for victims of female genital mutilation.

Dr. Marci Bowers has performed about two dozen reconstructive surgeries on mostly African born women victimized as children by the culturally driven practice of female circumcision. Bowers is believed to be one of the few U.S. doctors performing the operation.

Bowers, who underwent a gender reassignment operation in the 1990s at age 40, said she relates to what her mutilation patients describe as a loss of identity, of not feeling whole.

"It took me so long to get there in my own life. I know what the feeling is like, seeking my own identity," she said.

Susan notes: Rachel Veitch, 92, drives a 45-year-old car she calls Chariot. Her story, featured on Growing Bolder, a self-described "one-of-a-kind intergenerational social network," has racked up millions of page views, while she continued to rack up miles on the road...