What's new? An update on people and issues featured in Moxie's first year

One year ago, the first issue of Moxie hit newsstands with a story on South Carolina's low percentage of female legislators. Since then, we've aimed to cover a range of topics from lighthearted (12 ways to pamper yourself while spending less, best locales for girlfriend getaways) to life-threatening (how to lower your risk of breast cancer, the prevalence of domestic violence in our state, a look at women's No. 1 killer -- heart disease). Through question-and-answer interviews, we have highlighted 52 successful local women, many of whom inspired us.

This week, we revisit some of the people, groups and issues featured in Moxie's first year to find out what, if anything, has changed.

Ready to roll: Derby team practicing for first bout

The Lowcountry Highrollers, Charleston's first roller-derby team, was practicing for its first competition when we met them in March. We wondered whether the Holy City would support a sport described as "a catfight on wheels," with some players donning miniskirts and fishnet stockings.

Turns out Charleston has embraced it.

The 800 seats at the Omar Shrine Temple were sold out for the first bout, said Wendy Jernigan, aka Red Dread. So the team moved its remaining three home bouts to The Citadel's McAlister Field House, where 1,500-1,800 spectators showed up each time.

The team has won two bouts and lost five, and has two (away) bouts left in the season.

The Highrollers have heard from enough women interested in roller derby that they anticipate having two or three teams instead of just one next season said Jernigan, who is co-founder, team captain and board vice president. Tryouts will be held Oct. 24, with workshops the week before. Details can be found at lowcountryhighrollers.com.

"The exciting thing is that we're growing, and we're growing so much that we can divide (into teams) and play each other on our home turf," Jernigan said.

The team also is planning a shindig for the Oct. 2 premiere of "Whip It," a movie about roller derby directed by Drew Barrymore. The public is invited; look for details on the team's Web site as they become available.

Where are the women? S.C. ranks last in percentage of female legislators, and Where are the women now: S.C. House net gain 2 seats

Last September, we examined the consequences of and possible reasons for having so few women in the state Legislature. We reported that South Carolina had a lower percentage of female legislators than any other state.

Sadly, the state didn't lose that designation with the November elections, though the percentage of state women lawmakers increased from 8.8 percent to 10 percent. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the state Senate became an all-male institution.

We won't have a chance to shake the ranking until 2010, but the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics has begun aggressively recruiting and training women for that election.

The Columbia-based nonprofit's goal is to hold 10 campaign training workshops across the state this year, said board member Deb Sofield. Previously, the institute hosted one or two each year.

It announced a fundraising workshop Monday to be held Nov. 14 in Charleston. Details can be found at scelectswomen.com.

"I believe when you have a good mix represented in the state Legislature that reflects your population, you have a much better chance of creating laws that are fair to all involved," said Sofield, who is also president of The Women's Campaign School at Yale University.

Of note, Politico.com reported last week that a study by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Chicago found that women are more effective lawmakers than men. Researchers based their preliminary conclusion on the fact that women in Congress bring home more money for their districts, introduce more bills and attract more co-sponsors than men in Congress do.

Taking a stand: Protesters gather against new Planned Parenthood site downtown

A story in October described a group of anti-abortion protesters who appeared regularly at the site of a yet-to-be-opened Planned Parenthood facility. While Planned Parenthood officials said they had no plans to offer abortions there, protesters said they worried the facility eventually would.

The health clinic opened Dec. 15 and does not performing the procedure, said Janet Stevens, health center manager. The number of patients has been slightly higher than expected, with the most popular services being contraceptives, annual gynecological exams and STD testing.

In late October, the center will begin offering colposcopy, which is used to take a closer look at abnormal cells in the cervix. The procedure is being added because the center noticed the long wait time for colposcopy for many uninsured women, Stevens said. For information, visit pphsinc.org.

The number of protesters has decreased slightly, and there have been no major conflicts between them and clinic staff, Stevens said.

Preventing domestic violence: Round-table brings agencies together to tackle problem

In June, we reported that about 50 men and women from various local agencies had gathered to identify initiatives that were preventing domestic violence and to determine what else could be done. South Carolina ranks second nationally in the rate of women slain by men, and 98 percent of the victims knew their killers, according to the Violence Policy Center. The Zonta Club of Charleston, which organized the round-table, told Moxie at that time that its next steps would be distributing a report of the event along with a database of those who attended in order to keep the conversation about domestic violence alive.

Recently, the club's president, Vladia Jurcova-Spencer, said the report is being proofed and would be distributed this week to participants, legislators, mayors and others. The report also will appear on the club's Web site, zontaofcharleston.com.

Regarding the database, Zonta has created a group on LinkedIn.com called "Preventing Domestic Violence in Charleston" to help attendees and others involved in the cause network.

"It's going slowly because not everybody is on LinkedIn yet, so they have to set up profiles, but people are signing up," Jurcova-Spencer said. "It's good because we know what everybody else is doing, at least the ones that are on there, and that was one of things that participants had asked for -- one place where we all can share this kind of information."

The club is in the process of selecting which of the projects suggested at the round-table to pursue, Jurcova-Spencer said. Recently, its priority has been creating a workshop for girls called "Love does not beat you down," to be presented at the National Women and Girls Summit on Oct. 16-18 in North Charleston. Visit natlwomengirlsummit.org.

The Purse: Never-ending search for perfect handbag

Melanie Balog, online editor and Moxie team member, wrote in January about how much she hates carrying a purse. "I think there's a conspiracy between women's clothing manufacturers and bag manufacturers," she wrote. "After all, men don't need purses. They have pockets. Nobody would think of making pants for men without pockets."

Recently, we asked Melanie if she has since started carrying a purse regularly, and if she still thinks there's no such thing as a perfect handbag. Here's what she told us.

"The purse I am carrying now is from the Center for Women purse auction. It was designed by my friend and Moxie team member, Kristen Hankla.

"I was first struck by its eco-friendly chic. It's crocheted from plastic grocery bags with fabric flowers on the side. The purse is literally an open, er, bag. No closures of any kind, no pockets, snaps or zippers. Just something to carry things in.

"Which begat more searches, for the perfect zippered compartments to store stuff in there so I can find it faster, and also so things don't spill out inconveniently (though the latter still happens).

"Is there a perfect purse? The perfect purse is one that somebody else would carry for me. Or one that would defy the laws of physics by being small and stylish but having some kind of reversible black hole that would send all its contents to an alternate universe, until I needed them."