Roller Derby: forming lasting bonds

Roller Derby is a sport of contradictions: a full-contact sport just for women; a demanding sport that requires good cardio and hardcore dedication, but also one that anyone can play; a sport where you are crashing into a woman in a bout and then hanging out over drinks afterwards. It's a sport with theatrical roots but grounded in physical prowess, endurance and skill. In other words, it's pretty awesome.

'I like that it's contradictory. It's an aggressive, full-contact sport, but it's a women's sport. It's tough but it's a big sense of family. It's tough but with expressions of femininity,' said Wined Up, a member of Central Maine Derby, who is a professor of sociology at the University of Maine when she isn't cutting up the derby track. 'I love anything that challenges our normative ideas of femininity of what women are and what they should be. I love the contradiction.'

It's February and love is in the air. Celebrating Valentine's Day really focuses my mind on love - and money.  I think about my beautiful gender and how we think about finances, and I worry about us women. 

The growing field of behavioral finance examines the differences in men and women and money. And as a woman, there is reason for worry.

Paper mill jobs are becoming a popular occupation for females

BANGOR - Finding work is still a struggle for many Americans, but a small group of Maine women has found employment in what some would consider the most unlikely of places: the state's paper mills. Over the years, many of these mills have been at risk of closing and some have even shut down for good like the Eastern Fine paper mill in Brewer that is now home to Cianbro. But despite these economic challenges, these steel-boot, hard-hat-wearing females have not only remained fiercely focused but held onto their jobs too.

In a field predominated by men, women in law enforcement still tend to stand out. It's a field defined by dangers and takes a toll on its ranks regardless of gender. We took the time to sit down with several women from different departments in the area about what the job involves, advice they have for women looking to get into the field and the very real challenges they face.

And though the percentage is small, there are some strong examples of women in the ranks in every aspect of law enforcement from municipal to county, state and corrections. We chatted with just a small percent of the small percent (in alphabetical order).