Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate

Welcome to July! Hope you an enjoyed your holiday week. This week in our roundup, read an update on the first Saudi Arabian woman set to compete in the Olympics and a new conscience clause case from Florida. We’ve also got some links to new stories on women in entertainment, gaming, French feminists, and more.

Last week we reported that Saudi Arabia would be sending its first female athlete to the upcoming London Olympics. This week we learned that Saudi showjumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas was ruled out of the games, leaving the nation to search for other potential female athletes to send in her place.

While many – including us – were glad to see Saudi Arabia sending a woman to the Olympics, not all feel the same way. Notably, some female Saudi athletes are speaking out against sending women to the Olympics at this point in time.

Here’s why: while there’s no written law prohibiting Saudi women from participating in sports, they can’t “register sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government.” Furthermore, Saudi girls in public schools do not receive any physical education.

Instead, some women who seek to play sports turn to underground leagues – and many of these women say that their teams are not ready to compete on such a high-stakes, international level due in part to their limited access to sports. Some of the women participating in these underground leagues even fear that Saudi leaders will crackdown on their teams after the London games.

Saturday is Title IX’s 40th birthday – but we want to give it an extra-long birthday weekend, so we’re kicking off the celebrations today with a blog carnival!

Today we’re sharing stories about how Title IX has helped women and girls in the classroom and on the field for the past 40 years, as well as looking forward to the work that remains to fulfill the promise of this great law. From STEM and sports stories to the protections the law provides to students who are bullied, harassed, and pregnant or parenting, we’re honoring it all!

After the jump you’ll find blog posts from NWLC staff and our wonderful participants. Have a blog you’d like to submit to the blog carnival? Leave a link in the comments section on this post or email it to djackson@nwlc.org.