The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro caused a serious pollution problem. Brazilian scientists and environmentalists reported that the influx of 30,000 attendees left the area around the Riocentro conference site mired in sewage after overtaxing local treatment facilities. Fernando Almeida, a scientist at Rio's Federal University, calculated that the 12-day Earth Summit added nearly 13,000 gallons of barely treated sewage to nearby streams and rivers, killing thousands of fish and boosting pollution levels on beaches nearly six miles away.

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A woman sued a moving company for damaging her furniture, even though she signed a contract waiving such liability. Her lawyer argued that since the movers were tired and in a hurry to leave, and since women are socialized to be concerned about the feelings of others, signing the document without reading it was acting reasonably from the female point of view.

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An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education described the annual meeting of the National Women's Studies Association. It was supposed to "heal fractures that crippled the organization after a large group of minority women staged an angry walkout after the 1990 conference." The 1992 meeting's theme was "Enlarging the Circle—the Power of Feminist Education," and it started with a screening of the video "I Am Your Sister."

The organization's president then urged the association's members to find a common background. However, within a half-hour a speaker had offended a lesbian member of the audience by making "heterosexist" remarks. Other women complained that a white woman should not have been the opening speaker if the conference's goal was to welcome back minority women.

Meeting organizers also had to apologize to Jewish feminists for scheduling a meeting on the Friday night sabbath. Eco-feminists, who believed in "a feminist approach to environmental issues," were also upset that every meal served at the conference included meat. Finally, one woman asked that at future meetings, attendees should be asked to forgo hairspray and perfume which other members find bothersome and offensive, and another feminist group wanted "aroma-free" zones so as to protect one another from offensive perfumes and odors.

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