Gender

Merely to ask certain questions is to invite scorn and ridicule, but what the heck. Bothering me for some time is the question: In what sense are women equal to men? Here's why I ask. I've never seen sexually integrated professional boxing matches, football games, basketball games, 100-yard dashes or ice hockey games. Is that because male chauvinists deny women the chance to compete? The military response to the conspicuous absence of women in male-dominated areas suggests a remedy for professional sports.

Whatever the shortcomings of "Switch," casting Ellen Barkin as a man inhabiting the body of a woman wasn't one of them. Barkin has loads of sex appeal, as she's shown in "The Big Easy" and "Sea of Love. " Her image as a sex symbol sharpens the contrast of the movie's gender-reversal gimmick. She also seems like the kind of woman who would make a pretty good man. I say that because Barkin occasionally flashes a steely aggressiveness that, if not downright masculine, at least suggests that if she were a man, she'd kick your butt.

When Barbara Appleman first ventured into politics in 1989, she knew she faced a tough fight from an incumbent for a seat on the East Pikeland Township Board of Supervisors - not only did she have to defeat her Republican opponent in the primary election but also in the election last fall when he switched political parties. Now the battles continue as Appleman wrestles with the challenges of growth and day-to-day life in the mostly rural township. And she plays a political game.

Don't get Chrissy Glen wrong. After four years spent coping with the heartache of infertility treatments that didn't work, she considers herself blessed to have a healthy baby girl finally conceived through in-vitro fertilization. Jenna is a gift, she says, but if they are lucky enough to produce another child, Glen and her husband, Tim, hope for a boy to balance the gender ratio in their family. Two years ago, 16 of her eggs were mixed with his sperm in a laboratory dish, yielding seven embryos.

IN "BEARDS Are for Shaving: A 007 Cabaret," the Bearded Ladies Cabaret combines comedy, classic James Bond plots, commonwealthclassictheatre.org and the secret-agent films' famous ladies. But this is about more than shaken, not stirred martinis. The experimental cabaret group uses Bond's army of beauties as a fertile foundation to explore gender roles with the guidance of Judith Butler's theories on gender. Butler's ideas concerning power, gender, sexuality and identity have significantly contributed to feminist theory and sexual studies.

Considering how little theater survives from the era of Oscar Wilde, the durability of his 1895 featherweight comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is best left untested. Or so it seemed prior to the updating and gender reversal at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival on Thursday. Wilde words weren't always comfortably framed, but in a limited way the play thrived. Upon entering the Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 5, viewer expectations needed to be immediately adjusted.

The Sacramento Kings reached an agreement in principle with Paul Westphal to be their fourth new coach in just over 3 years. But, according to a report on ESPN.com, the Kings offered Los Angeles Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis the job first. The report, citing league coaching sources, said the Kings offered Rambis the position hours before the Lakers' loss to the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday. Rambis has said he wants to wait until after the playoffs to make a decision about his future.

It was the first time anyone could remember a judge breaking up an all- female jury. But Common Pleas Judge Gary S. Glazer didn't care if he set a precedent. He waited until the 12 women were about to deliberate the fate of a former cop charged with rape before he replaced two female jurors with male alternates - ignoring an objection by the district attorney's office. Yesterday, the jury acquitted John Grier of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, but convicted him of indecent assault.

Question: I am six months pregnant with my first child and I desperately want a girl. I'm not sure why, exactly - I have great relationships with my father/brothers/nephews/husband - but the desire is so strong I'm a little concerned. I've insisted on not finding out the baby's gender. I'm claiming I want to be surprised, but really it's because I'll be devastated if it's a boy. If it is a boy, how do I handle the disappointment and avoid being unfair to an innocent little baby?

The results of Caster Semenya's gender tests are expected to arrive at the IAAF headquarters in London any day, and it's unlikely the world 800-meter champion will lose her gold medal. IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told the Associated Press yesterday that it would take about 2 weeks for a group of medics and anti-doping experts at track and field's international governing body to analyze the results. Speculation about South African's gender was sparked by stunning improvements in times coupled with her muscular build and deep voice.