This is an excerpt: What is the cost of beauty? I’m not sure that there’s an actual dollar amount, but what I am certain of is that women are paying for it with their careers, health and sanity when they don’t measure up to the narrow standards of our image-obsessed culture.

This is an excerpt: Throughout the summer, the YWCA USA will be celebrating our sisters in arms, the women who volunteer for the United States armed forces.

This is an excerpt: YWCA USA will host a free, live webinar entitled “Beauty and the Beholder: The Politics of Beauty and Image” to address the issue of Appearance-Based Discrimination. The webinar will explore the impact of discrimination based on looks for all women across the nation. The webinar will also focus on this issue within the context of the mission of the YWCA: Empowering Women and Eliminating Racism.

This is an excerpt: It took me a minute, but I’m glad she’s around. Some of you shake your head when you think of her, but something about her still commands your respect and maybe even your secret adoration. Who is “She?”

This is an excerpt: Fifteen out of 16 rapists never spend a day in jail. Undetected repeat offenders commit 91% of all rapes. Yet across the nation, hundreds of thousands of rape evidence kits remain unprocessed.

This is an excerpt: As 2010 graduates are approaching their first full year out of undergrad, many have settled into post-undergrad careers all over the country—but there is one student whose vibrant potential was silenced last year.

This is an excerpt: I hope that they got the message that cutting CCDBG (Child Care and Development Block Grant Act) and CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) is not the answer. These cuts are going to impact our women and children in our communities. It will create more unemployment and we still have not recovered from the recession.

This is an excerpt: My name is Mikeya Jackson-Harper and I am a Junior at Washington State University who is majoring in Sociology and Digital Technology and Culture. This is my first time attending the YWCA National Conference USA in Washington, D.C.

This is an excerpt: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke out against cuts and elimination of government programs that serve women yesterday at the YWCA and Feminist Majority's "Women, Money and Power" Summit Luncheon in Washington, D.C.In addition to Pelosi, luncheon speakers included

This is an excerpt: Live Stream from 2011 "Women, Money and Power" Summit in Washington, D.C., April 7-9, 2011

This is an excerpt: Every news station in America right now is leading with the possibility of a government shutdown. The chasm between the two sides appears to be growing rather than moving toward agreement.

This is an excerpt: Join young women like yourselves for a special "30 and Under" Meetup this Friday night, April 8, during our 2011 YWCA National Conference in Washington, D.C. Watch this space for updates!

This is an excerpt: Follow our live Twitter stream from the 2011 YWCA National Conference in Washington, D.C.! Want your Tweets to appear here?