Recently in Activism Category
The Washington Post has an article on interns at PETA. It describes a few of the protests that PETA has held recently. Many of which, of course, involve naked women:
This self-assured knowledge is useful when the PETA interns are naked, which happens occasionally, like at a recent Friday demonstration when Kelsey Jaye stands with another "PETA Beauty" in a makeshift shower on Pennsylvania Avenue by the National Archives. They languidly wash each other with cruelty-free soap and ignore heckles from the gathering crowd.
This isn't an unusual display, of course. PETA has a long history of objectifying women in the name of animal rights. What I found to be interesting about the article was a quote from one of the female interns. Jaye, from the shower scene above, has participated in many demonstrations. She describes another naked protest, this one against bull-fighting:
"There were 50 demonstrators in a big naked pile, with arrows sticking out everywhere....It was totally empowering. It's great to be able to use your body as a tool."
I don't like PETA's tactics, but THIS woman finds those tactics empowering. I am uncomfortable getting all paternalistic towards another woman regarding what she chooses to do with her body: "Honey, I know you THINK this is empowering, but that's because you're too cold to feel the sexism."
This isn't too far from the "sex work as empowering/degrading" argument. I don't have a particular point I'm trying to make here. I just wanted to put the article out there for the rest of the community to think about.
Mozilla, creator of Firefox and other cutting-edge web applications, has decided to do something about the pitiful figure of having just 1% of Open Source developers belong to the female sex.
They have launced WoMoz, which in the words of the organziation, "aims to increase the participation of women in open source projects: understanding why this gap exist, reaching, and making products and projects more attractive for women."
A link to the project's website can be found here.
Below is the project's logo, created by Anamaria Stoica.
I live in Maine.
Yesterday I was at a bar in Bangor with organizers from all over "northern" Maine as we debriefed and then watched the results come in. First we were optimistic - the numbers were in our favor. We watched as our lead shrunk, and then we fell behind.
I don't think I will ever understand how this can happen, much less how this could have happened 34 times at this point. I'm 22 and I have been fighting for equality since I was 12. Obviously I'm not going to stop fighting, but I just don't understand.
I cried long and hard last night as we drove back from Bangor to Ellsworth, and then as I drove myself back to Bar Harbor. And I know that, had we won, there wouldn't have been heartbroken people on our opposition's side crying. Their campaign was about fear and homophobia and lies. Ours was about love. I just don't understand, and I don't know I ever will.
I am so grateful for the amazing people I met during this campaign. Beth, Fran, Mkayla, Vince and Jeana are all amazing people and I feel so lucky to have them on my side. And I know we will win this. But, again, it hurts.
Even if you don't believe in marriage because it's a patriarchal institution, or it's not something you want for yourself or you don't believe that people should have to be coupled to get tax breaks or whatever you reasons - please be kind to your LGBT friends who do believe that marriage equality is important. I walked into the cafeteria today and a friend of mine took one look at me and just gave me a hug, and then her boyfriend did the same. It means so much to have supportive friends - let's all be kind for awhile here, and not play the blame game, yes?
With all these posts about brains and gender I thought I would post this list on I.Q. and cranial mass and brain size...
The first four are sites that are pretty straight forward and there is more out there on perception shaping results...
The fourth entry is about that even when a women is hired in a blind interview that she may still have the rug pulled out from under her when people find out it's not swinging a dick.
The last post is a favorite book fiction but with good insight on the topic.
I had become so disillusioned with feminism. In a way, I still am.
It seems like all we do is talk. We don't agree on anything, there's nothing we are trying to accomplish. We talk. We blog. We examine. We analyze
I need to feel like a part of something. Something bigger than myself, something bigger than feministing.
I feel like part of why feminism is so reviled in US society is because we're not really visible as a cohesive unit, trying to solve a real problem.
Rape kits are being untested. Let's do something.
European countries are requiring photoshopped ads to have disclaimers. Why can't we fight for that here?
Women's breasts still have to be covered in the vast majority of states, a sexist tradition that allows others to define our bodies. Let's form a group and fight this.
Instead of just groaning when anti-choicers assault our rights, let's form some groups and publicly defend our rights! As a group, publicly state that abortion is a necessity, we demand that it be a safe legal and accessible option!
Please don't flame me for this. I just need to feel like I am a fighting for something. I'm just a nineteen year old girl in a red state, and I just feel so useless. I don't know how to do it on my own, if I did I would have already. Advice is appreciated.
Feminist Friends,
I know we were all shocked and disgusted by the passing of Oklahoma House Bill 1595 which blatantly disregards women's basic rights and privacy by posting intimate details of her life on a public website. Well, as it turns out, there IS life in Oklahoma. College students across the state are uniting against the new legislation. Here is the exciting press release issued by the University of Oklahoma's Women's and Gender Studies Student Association. Pass it along to everyone you know!
"College students from across the state of Oklahoma are taking a stand on Oklahoma’s newest abortion law, enacting the Statistical Abortion Reporting Act. In a response to this legislation, the students are planning Reproductive Rights Week on the campus of the University of Oklahoma and all events will culminate with a statewide protest at the Oklahoma State Capitol on November 6, at 9am.
The legislation, H.B 1595, is a new provision on Oklahoma abortion laws that now requires an official record and reporting system of all abortions occurring within the state. This information would be made public and includes specific demographical information on the women. The bill also restricts the types of abortions or reasons for women having abortions. In addition, this website will cost upwards of $281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year.
Although this legislation has been in the works since the beginning of this year, college students from across the state were shocked to hear that it went into effect with such little public discussion. More importantly, they were surprised that there was not more mobilization around the issues.
“Everybody kept waiting for a response from the community,” Sandra Criswell, English and Women’s and Gender Studies senior at the University of Oklahoma said. “We were hearing plenty of outrage but there seemed to be no place to focus all of this energy. Hopefully, this protest will do that.”
Bishops are threatening to excommunicate MPs, 500 thousand people and counting have stormed the streets and an apparent 71% of the population are in disagreement with new legislation. Spain is in turmoil , and it’s the new equality minister who sparked this ruckus. She, Bibiano Aido, has done her job well and has made some serious changes since she came into office. Alongside the Socialist Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, over the past 4 years Spain has legalized gay marriage, penalized domestic violence and rape assailants and fast-tracked divorce legislation. But all of this was a cinch compared to what the two now have in store for women’s rights in Spain.
This is pretty badass:
The channel owner has a ton of videos if you're interested.
By Kim Nacita, Queens University Student Panelist at the Feministing Tour
I was asked a couple of weeks ago by a friend to speak during Person's Day about what it is like to be a feminist today. I declined because the thought of public speaking makes me want to vomit. Which, I gotta say, I've been doing a good job of not doing so far. Anyways, when I mentioned this to another friend she said "Oh, what does she want you to say? That being a feminist today sucks?" And I laughed, because we both knew that's exactly what it is. Being a feminist today is HARD. And I don't mean to diminish the struggle that feminists have gone through before our generation. But right now, trying to talk about feminism to people outside of my Social Science-y university group that I surround myself with is like trying to prove to our Prime Minister that we have a colonial history. They don't understand where you're coming from, they don't care and they think you're joking. And I don't blame them because feminism is a term that I learnt much later on while I was doing my undergraduate degree. Growing up, I was suspicious of the Catholic Church's disapproval of homosexuality, I was aware of the prevalence of violence against women and realized how racism affected men and women of colour differently. But I didn't think that fighting against these issues as well as a whole host of others, were what this whole idea of "feminism" was until about my third year here in Kingston. I say Kingston, and not just Queen's because my involvement in the Kingston community is one of the things that has saved me and continues to save me from going insane in our little university bubble. I realized once I stepped out of Queen's and into Kingston that there were women who fought these battles on the ground as opposed to on paper. Those who know me, know that theory makes me uneasy. It's not that I don't think theory is important, but to put it crudely, although theory helps me to understand why I feel safe walking home at night, it doesn't make it any less dangerous for me to do so.
But getting involved in the community is different when you've got an expiration date. For most of us, as students, we assume that we're only going to be here until they hand us our degree. I mean it's no wonder that some of us are hesitant to create new traditions here since sustainability is such a huge problem. The Women's Centre itself continues to struggle to find people to fill in spots once we leave. Time, for us, as students, is very crucial since we practically live on deadlines and marks. I'm saying this not only for the students who feel like they're the only ones trying to juggle school, social life and personal missions, but for the community members who might at times reasonably doubt our commitment to Kingston. We struggle on both ends trying to balance our lives while attempting to navigate all of these newfound ideas of feminism.
Written by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights,
National Women's Law Center
I don’t deserve health care that meets my needs.
I shouldn’t demand fairness in my health care coverage.
I can’t do anything about it anyway.
That’s what the health insurance profiteers want you to think.
They aren’t thinking about the mother who is struggling to find insurance because she had a Caesarean section. Not the woman who survived domestic violence and now must face rejection by an insurance company for having a so-called “pre-existing condition.” Not the woman who pays more than a man for the same health coverage, even when maternity care isn’t covered.
Being a woman is NOT a pre-existing condition.
Watch the video and take action.
Here at the National Women’s Law Center, we’ve worked hard to uncover and fight against the outrageous insurance practices women face. Now we’re leading the charge to make sure the voice of every woman in America rings through the halls of Congress in the final push for health care reform. Because we know that women and their families need health care reform that works for them — and they need it now.
Be a part of our new campaign, Being a Woman is Not a Pre-existing Condition. Visit www.AWomanIsNotaPreexistingCondition.com.
And spread the word to all the women in your life. You’re not a pre-existing condition — and neither are they.
The New York City elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough presidents, and city council representatives are Tuesday November 3rd. Join NARAL Pro-Choice New York as we call voters, empowering them to vote pro-choice.
Pro-Choice Election Phone Banks
Tuesday, October 27th
Wednesday, October 28th
Thursday, October 29th
Monday, November 2nd
All phone banks run from 6pm-9pm.
Join us as we make calls to ensure that New Yorkers vote pro-choice up and down the ballot this November 3rd! You can either join us in our NYC office or make calls from home using our web-based system. To make calls from home all you need is a computer with high-speed internet access and a phone. Laptops and cell phones are okay! You will receive all the log-in information when you RSVP.
Training is provided for everyone and dinner is provided for those joining us in the office. Our office is located at 470 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor in NYC. Space is wheelchair accessible.
To RSVP, please contact Lalena Howard at lhoward@prochoiceny.org or 646-520-3506.
Check out more opportunities to volunteer on NARAL's Community Events Calendar.
Crossposted at http://jennyknopinski.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/angry-letter-to-amc/.
Like Melissa of Shakesville, I Write Letters. Today's letter is about an old commercial that has popped up recently during episodes of Mad Men. Here is the commercial:
Here is my letter:
Dear AMC:
I love Mad Men, and I watch it religiously every Sunday night. One of the most fascinating aspects of the show is seeing the female characters struggle to find a voice and an identity within the confines of an oppressive, sexist culture. I love watching this journey because it reminds me of how far women have come in the last few decades. So you can imagine my disappointment when I am treated to the incredibly offensive "Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead" Bridgestone tire commercial during the break. This commercial depicts a woman being frightened by aggressive driving (which can be a form of domestic violence), and then makes a joke out of her mouth falling off so her complaining won't annoy the man anymore. It is a hurtful throwback to the era of Mad Men with its assertion that women should be seen but not heard. Bridgestone should be ashamed of themselves for capitalizing on the idea that women ought to be silenced to try to sell tires, and you should be ashamed of yourselves for airing it during a show like Mad Men. I hope you will consider how your female viewers (and enlightened male viewers) feel when this ad comes on and remove it from your network.
Thank you,
Jenny Knopinski
I encourage everyone to make your opinion heard if you don't like something you see on TV. If you are interested in contacting AMC, the email address is amccustomerservice@rainbow-media.com
Seeking Passionate Young Activists!
If you are a high school senior committed to activism and defending civil liberties in your community, then we have an opportunity for you: the ACLU is now accepting applications for the 2010 ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship Program. For those of you who don't know the ACLU, they are our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee to everyone in this country.
Now more than ever, young people around the country are taking a stand for their rights, as well as the rights of their peers. Despite the adversity they face in their efforts, these passionate young leaders refuse to back down! Every year, the ACLU honors and celebrates these civil libertarians through an opportunity to participate in the Youth Activist Scholarship Program.
In this year's program, 15 high school seniors will win a $7,000 scholarship towards their first year in college. Scholarship recipients will also attend the "Youth Activist Institute" at the ACLU National office in New York City, where they will hone their activism and leadership skills and learn about civil liberties directly from the ACLU staff. The program is a great opportunity for young leaders to meet other activists from around the country and be recognized for their accomplishments!
Check out the ACLU National website where you can find more scholarship information and read about last year's scholarship winners and their remarkable achievements towards civil liberties, tolerance, free speech, and equality.
Seeking Passionate Young Activists!
If you are a high school senior committed to activism and defending civil liberties in your community, then we have an opportunity for you: the ACLU is now accepting applications for the 2010 ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship Program. For those of you who don't know the ACLU, they are our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee to everyone in this country.
On Saturday, October 10 at 7pm, rallies will be held in front of movie theaters across the country and abroad in response to the startling media and Hollywood support of Roman Polanski, the film director convicted of sexual assault and fleeing the country. These powerful demonstrations happening on October 10 are part of a global campaign, Rape IS Rape. PAVE is seeking support from all moviegoers to join in helping shatter the silence of sexual violence. People in cities across North America will gather signatures at movie theatres for a petition that supports survivors and the awareness campaign calls for a boycott of movies by Polanski's supporters.
Visit: http://www.RapeIsRape.com
Or
http://promotingawarenessvictimempowerment.wordpress.com/
WHY?
According to the US Department of Justice, every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes, with 60% still being left unreported. The outcry of support for a sexual assault perpetrator is a strong message we are sending out to victims across the country that they will be forever silenced and blamed for these atrocious acts.
Atlanta will be here, but there are protests across the country:
We'll be outside of the Midtown Art Cinema
931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta
I've been a big fan of feministing for going on three years so I really respect the the thoughts an opinions expressed in the community, and obviously on the main page.
Sexism is so prevalent, and I notice it even in my own every day actions. I work at a law firm and since they have a small percentage of women attorneys I find myself assuming that all of the women I speak with on the phone are assistants (like me).
Keeping this in mind, I try to cut other people slack. I totally identify as a feminist, and try to rid myself of all of these behaviors that seem ingrained. So for someone who does not identify as a feminist, who maybe has not put in as much time and energy researching theory and keeping up with legislation, where do you draw the line?
I think a big part of being effective is choosing your battles, but it's pretty clear that regardless of when I react people say I am hypersensative. The thing is, I DO let a lot of things slide. And it is uncomfortable to disagree with your friends and family, but it is more uncomfortable to know that not speaking out can guarantee the same comments, "jokes" and otherwise sexist occurences to happen again.
Every time you hear or read a remark that is sexist or demeaning, how do you decide when to speak? What do you take into account?
"But no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time in the world. Whatever it meant." Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
College activism has the potential to be the most unfulfulling fight you'll ever face. You typically spend four years toiling for your cause, and then you leave, ready or not, whether your work is done or not. You're expected to move on, prosper, give 'em hell out in the real world. But who's left to take up your cause? Who will fight in your stead?
For four years, my friends and I fought to bring our Jesuit, Catholic university into that real world they were so rigorously trying to prepare us for. We fought for administrators to recognize and fund a support system for gay and lesbian students on our campus... and then we graduated and were forced to leave our goal unfinished.
Today, I got a phone call confirming not only that someone picked up our cause and fought in our stead, but that the fight was won. Today, my alma mater became the 28th and final Jesuit university to establish a support organization for its gay and lesbian students.
Not an organization lumped in with the women's center, or shunted under Catholic life. An independent organization with a budget and an executive board, I've been told.
For me, the news was colored by a rush of bad memories surrounding my time fighting for this cause. It took a while for my denial to fade, but when it did, I was in tears right along with my best friend, who called to give me the news. It was her fight more than anyone's, but we shared every step and misstep, every victory and defeat. And now, one big celebration.
I joined this cause in college because I felt it was my duty to fight for equality, for all women, not just straight ones. It's not that our Women's Center wasn't amazing, but who doesn't want a room of their own?
As it turns out, booking a room for a GLBTQ meeting was the least of our worries. There was an ultra-conservative bishop to deal with, not to mention a dean of students not willing to go to the mattresses for the people she was hired to serve. I mean, it's in her title, dean of STUDENTS; it doesn't take a doctorate to figure our whose side she should have been on.
And she and the other administrators would stand there and talk about Jesuit ideals: "cura personalis" or "care of the whole person." How can you care for the whole person if you don't care for their sexuality? You should have seen their faces when we pointed that out to them.
Knowing my alma mater, and its administrators' penchants for shoving news like this under the rug, this isn't a story that will make headlines anywhere but the school newspaper, Aquinas. But it has happened. It did happen. And we were there.
I now proudly call myself a graduate of the University of Scranton.
Marc,
Thank you so much for this post. It has been a lot easier for me to doll myself up and try to be charming on these cocktail waitressing interviews knowing what a large community there is that supports me -- not just my personal friends and family, but people who I've never met. We as a community obviously are proving doubters wrong. Really the whole argument reminds me of the general attacks against Obama that suggested he himself was all talk, and no action. While his term isn't over yet, I think the similarity makes it clear that this is an issue of human rights, in addition to women's rights. Transgendered people, racial, ethnic, or religious minorities, people with disability, people abroad in economically struggling countries, and people from working-class families all face the same kind of issues that I am facing right now, and worse, every day.
This is why I've decided that, in the event that the donations I receive exceed the initial down payment, I will donate the proceeds to GEMS. Girls Educational and Mentoring Services was founded by Rachel Lloyd, an acquaintance of mine and a former sex worker herself. Her program, which has now grown to have international recognition, began when she gave a safe haven to girls out of her own home, is doing amazing work with young girls in NYC who have been forced into sexual exploitation. Sometimes girls who have been forced into sexual exploitation -- and are not legally old enough to consent to sex -- are nonetheless prosecuted as adults, for "solicitation of prostitution." GEMS offers them a chance to find meaningful work, finish school, and get back on their feet.
Given the resistance we are seeing to Roman Polanski's arrest, I think this is obviously a very pressing issue that is not being taken seriously enough. I hope we can turn this act of kindness on all of your parts into an event that is about something much greater than just my personal health issues.
Best,
Alexandria Brown
Wednesday, October 7th , 7:00-8:30 pm
Community Art Center, 119 Windsor St, Central Square
For more info, email info@bostonnow.org
Greater Boston NOW is the new host of the popular Feminism and Dessert series, held on the first Wednesday of every month. In honor of the upcoming municipal elections in Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge, October's discussion topic is on local government. Come hear Avi Green from MassVote (www.massvote.org ) and Caprice Taylor from EMERGE (www.emergema.org ) discuss how local politics work, why they are important, and what role women have in them.
*Originally posted at de-three.blogspot.com
Recently a friend and I had the "when did you become a feminist?" discussion. For many feminists I have spoken with, if they were not raised with the idea of feminism in their family there usually was an "aha" moment of putting together the pieces of all the injustices and inequalities around them and that eventually (or sometimes immediately) evolved into feminism.
Here's my story: Like every high schooler all over the United States of America I had body image issues of not being pretty enough/ thin enough/ cool enough, etc. I thought I was alone in these thoughts, that I was the only person in my high school who was struggling with these insecurities. Then, my senior year my college credit English teacher introduced me to Jean Kilbourne and her book Can't Buy My Love. Suddenly I realized that not only was I not alone in thinking I was not a good enough person because I didn't fit the beauty standards shown in my Seventeen magazine, but in fact advertisers were actually trying to make me have lower self-esteem so that I would buy their products to make myself more "adequate" to society. This was a revolution in my mind. During this time I also discovered The Vagina Monologues and the V-day campaign. I knew that as soon as I got to college I had to find a safe place to express my views and help me grow in my feminism.
Enter: the Women's Center. This was a place where I truly grew in my college career. I had the opportunity to be in and co-direct the Vagina Monologues, hear internationally renowned advocates speak on women's rights, march with Take Back the Night, have conversations with other people interested in human rights in all capacities, etc etc etc. It was truly a growing experience for me.
I now dedicate my life to working toward human rights for all people, especially women and girls. Feminism has made something positive and wonderful out of the negativity that society throws at us because of greed- and this is why I am a feminist.
If you are looking for a way to engage in activism today, please consider working on behalf of Hoa Nguyen. After misreading, and missing a court date in August, Hoa is scheduled for involuntary deportation, despite being married to an American citizen. As I know Hoa personally, I can attest that she is an asset to her local, national, and global community. You can find out more information about Hoa, as well as multiple ways to act on her behalf, by following the link below. Thank you, and I urge you to help Hoa if at all possible.
The media convey messages as horrifying as they used to be in the 60s, even if they look different. Young women are no more invited to dream about becoming wives, mothers and housekeepers (not only, at least): what is sold like female success now passes through TV shows, humiliating outfits and scripts, disfiguring plastic surgeries, scandalmongering papers, starvation diets, advertising campaigns with women looking like dolls, now even ministerial posts… and, to keep up with tradition, countless beds. Female success passes, in a word, through men. Today, just like yesterday.
http://truthseekers.cultureunplugged.com/truth_seekers/2009/09/roses-too.html
While perusing the Washington D.C. City Paper website, this ad, which links to the anti-trafficking organization Shared Hope International, popped up in the website header.
First of all, the incredibly loaded, sexual phrase “GET OFF” used as a double entendre—meant literally that johns will not get off scot free legally, but also calling to mind “getting off” in a sexual context—is disgusting and in poor taste. Really? A sex pun in an anti-trafficking ad?
Also interesting and discomforting is the use of the second person address, which frames the broad Internet audience—anyone who views the ad—as a potential john, and, in the language of the ad, a sexual predator. It also assumes a male audience, and focuses on deterrence through threat of repercussion (assuming that “they will do it if they can get away with it”). Another interesting language foible is the original use of “underage prostitute,” followed by “underage girl” later in the ad. First of all, the use of “prostitute” constructs a particular criminal sexuality—it is a dehumanizing, stigmatizing word and erases the complex discourse around sex work and why individuals engage in sex work. As an aside--I recommend checking out Different Avenues ' work on no-prostitution zones and the policing of certain bodies in relation to sex work in Washington D.C.. Secondly (perhaps obviously) the use of “girl” erases the lived experiences of anyone who is not a girl who engages in sex work or has been the victim of trafficking, rape, or coercive sex. The entire advertisement sets up a victimizing discourse, particularly when it says “having sex with an underage girl makes you the worst kind of criminal.” It removes any agency or possibility of consent from the “girls” in question, and generally fixes the bodies of young girls as the vulnerable bodies of victims.
Lastly, the bolded and italicized statement “One that other criminals love to hate” does nothing less than evoke the threat of prison rape, implying that johns deserve not only incarceration, but also rape, something that absolutely no person deserves. This also is an incredibly loaded statement to toss up on the header of a web site that serves an area with the fourth highest incarceration rate in the United States. D.C. is also an area that has a huge problem with their treatment of transgender prisoners, particularly transwomen being placed in men’s prisons, a situation in which sexual abuse and rape is often a reality.
I understand that ad space is expensive and ads have to do a lot in a small space, but the language of this advertisement is sensational, dehumanizing, and nothing less than triggering.
Jenna B.
Party for 365 days of choice!
Vandy and I (Co-hosts of Fair and Feminist) will be at the PP volunteer party Tuesday night! Stop by and hang out, support the pro-choice cause in Bryan college station! The loafers..I mean lifers...will be on the other side o' the fence.
Feel free to bring snacks, signs, posters, revolutionary thoughts etc. We are gonna hang out and have a few beers and celebrate the awesome staff and volunteers at our PP clinic in Bryan, Texas.
Starts at 6pm!
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! University at Albany's E-Journal transcending silence... is looking for undergraduate work that brings awareness to Human Rights and promotes social consciousness. Suggest work includes but is not limited to: Art, Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Photography, Audio, Media, Film Reviews, Book Reviews, etc!
Deadline for submissions is October 16th 2009!
VISIT www.albany.edu/ws/journal FOR INFORMATION ON THE JOURNAL AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES!
Join our facebook group too!
Hey Feministing. This is the kind of thing I usually wouldn't cross post from SAFER's blog as it doesn't directly have to do with our work, but a woman in Chicago contacted us trying to raise more attention on the current ad campaign the Chicago Transit Authority has endorsed by allowing the below ads to run on city buses. Please contact them if you're as angry as we are.
These are the promotional ads for Tucker Max's new film currently running on the side of some Chicago buses .
A columnist for the Chicago Tribune has also spotted a bus ad that says, “Deaf Girls Can’t Hear You Coming.”
I’m not even going to bother explaining AGAIN why Max’s messages are horrendous [even though, these ads take it to an even more horrifying level by...I don't even know? Is this really a joke about assaulting blind and deaf women? Can he really be that derranged? I get the double entendre too but...holy shit]. But this is different from the film or his in-person speeches—you can always just choose not to attend those. These ads are being forced on the public because the Chicago Transit Authority approved them. You can contact the CTA here .
Last year was the first year that Advocates for Youth ran the Great American Condom Campaign and I’m glad to say it was a HUGE success! Here are some highlights:
- 3,500 college students applied to become a SafeSite.
- 1,500 students were accepted as SafeSites, representing over 800 colleges and universities.
- SafeSites were located in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
- 50 percent of all accepted SafeSites in 2008/2009 reported limited or no condom access on their campuses.
- 217 SafeSites were Residential Advisors
- 750,000 condoms were distributed
SafeSites were located on every kind of college campus including community colleges, trade and technical schools, music schools, culinary schools, military schools and more!
After a summer off, we are excited to announce that we are ready for the 2009-2010 school year. Applications to become a Fall Semester SafeSite are now open! If you are a college student in the United States and excited about providing condoms and sexual health information to your peers as well as get involved with advocacy efforts around sexual and reproductive health rights, then this is the campaign for you! Selected SafeSites will receive a box of 500 Trojan condoms to be distributed to their peers.
For more information about the campaign, go to www.amplifyyourvoice.org/gacc. Applications will be open until September 27, 2009.
Comments from SafeSites from the past year on various topics after the jump.
I wanted to give a shout out to my brother who got an A+ in his Women's Health class last semester at the University of Michigan. While I'm always proud of my brother, I'm especially proud because he was willing to take a class that isn't always popular among guys.
Throughout my college career, I encouraged my guy friends to take a Women's Studies class. I told them not only will it help them to think critically, but it fulfills a race and ethnicity course requirement (at least at the University of Michigan).
However, I was always met with a wall of skepticism.
In this case, perhaps, the stars were aligned. My brother wants to become a pharmacist so I mentioned that he would benefit from a Women's Health class. In my college days, I had taken the general Women's Studies class. The Women's Health professor came to speak one day during class and I was just blown away--she made me want to start a career in health! I heard her class was so popular that there was always a waiting list so I told my brother to register early. A few weeks later he called me to tell me that he got into the class---my brother was still surprised to discover that the current waiting was in fact a mile long!
I asked my brother what he learned from the class and he said that it was helpful to learn about a variety of viewpoints and issues that are different than his own. I also asked him if he would recommend the class to other guys--he said yes, especially for people who are interested in health.
So here's my question for the feministing community, how do you encourage guys to learn about feminism? Has anything worked particularly well?
Let's show some support to the people who access Planned Parenthood services here in Columbia.
Anti-choice protesters have been gathering every week to shame those who access Planned Parenthood for abortions (as well as contraception, STI testing, and sexual health education), and their "40 Days for Life" campaign is starting today! They will be protesting 7 am to 7 pm everyday that Planned Parenthood is open for the next 40 days. (http://www.columbiamissour ian.com/stories/2009/09/14 /40-days-life-campaign-kic koff-columbia/ )
People shouldn't be shamed for responsible access of health care and education. Let's get together and talk about when we can get out there and counter-protest!
Please join and invite allies to join the Mid-Missouri Pro-Choice group on facebook and forward this email to anyone you think would be willing to help.
We are hoping to meet Tuesday night (exact time TBD). If you join the group you can keep up to date with meeting times and our plans. You can also email any questions to midmoprochoice@gmail.com
Mid-Missouri Pro-Choice
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144574578704&ref=nf
Originally posted at WireTap Magazine
Every day we see signs of communities of color and low-income communities being disproportionately affected by everything from the economy and healthcare to pollution and education. One of the many components in fighting for racial justice is taking care of our health and ensuring that everyone has access to quality food that is both nutritious and beneficial for the community and body.
I interviewed Shereen D'Souza, director of the Berkeley-based California Food and Justice Coalition (CFJC) , about the work she and her colleagues are doing to achieve justice in the food system.
WT: Can you talk a little bit about the current campaigns and policies the California Food and Justice Coalition is focused on and the kinds of work you specifically are involved in?
CFJC: CFJC recently launched our newest campaign, Grow Local (PDF ). The goal of the campaign is to increase access to land and resources and to rebuild local food systems by shifting relevant local-level policy. CFJC and Grow Local prioritize the needs of low-income communities and communities of color. The benefits are numerous, including a strengthened local economy, green collar jobs, increased access to healthy food [and] decreased greenhouse gas emissions, to name a few.
CFJC is a statewide coalition of mainly grassroots organizations working for justice in the food system. Our member groups have created innovative and effective programs that address the various food system ills that exist in their communities. Their projects include garden-based education programs in under-served schools, community gardens for WIC recipients, and farmers markets that accept EBT .
Because these programs work, we feel that policy should reflect and replicate them, instead of undermining them. What if all the vacant lots in our neighborhoods were used as community gardens? What if the permitting process to install a greywater system was accessible to everyone, as opposed to cost-prohibitive? What if all city institutions increased the percentage of locally-grown food they purchased? If our cities adopted these types of policies, our food system would be a lot healthier, and we would be healthier as well.
As a justice organization, one of the problems we see with policy change is that the process usually excludes most people. Only "experts" get to participate in policy conversations. That does not lead to long-lasting change.
So, a major focus of Grow Local is training community leaders and grassroots organizers on understanding the role policy can play in supporting their efforts and how to advocate for the policies they want to see for their communities.
Hey Feministing Community!
(Bear with me for the informational part of this post... what you can do to help will come at the end.)
I'm sure a lot of you already know about Raising Women's Voices, a small non-profit that works to get quality and affordable healthcare for all women and our families. We are based in NYC but have regional coordinators across the country and have held a number of speak-outs, having women with poor (or no) insurance share their stories.
We have all heard stories of women without insurance who suddenly get sick or injured and run up thousands of dollars in debt, or women who cannot get covered for the type of birth they would prefer to have, or women who believe they have comprehensive coverage, but get dropped when they get really sick and need their insurance the most. We also know that women are charged premiums at a much higher rate than men, partly because we use our insurance more, and oftentimes simply because we are of child-bearing age.
Raising Women's Voices works to ensure real women's stories are heard while working to change policy to provide comprehensive coverage for all women.
As I'm sure you can imagine, things are pretty intense right now, with health care reform in sight, but conservatives working hard to spread confusion at the least, outright lies at their worst. Last night (September 10th) we held a myth-busting session to dispel some of the rumors that pervade the health care reform debate. We heard from Alice Berger of Planned Parenthood NYC, and Tim Foley from NYC for Change among others, who assured us that there are no such things as death panels and that health care reform will not hurt small business owners.
And in his speech on health care reform, President Obama stressed the urgency of health care reform and re-centered the debate on the benefits it will bring. He also highlighted that it's not simply the uninsured that have something to gain from reform: "But the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem for the uninsured. Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too. More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day."
What we need from you, feminist activists, is to make a call to action. Over the next few weeks we need you to let your representatives know that you care about women's health, and are committed to seeing reform to our current system. Let your representatives know that we need reform that meets the needs of women, our families, and our communities.
See here for Raising Women's Voices talking points, and give your representaties a call at 1.800.828.0498 with a sample phone script:
"I am glad that Congress has taken up the issue of health reform. I'm a constituent and I'm calling to let you know that I support reform that has strong public health and prevention provisions, and would provide coverage to the un-and under-insured and offer consumers the option of choosing a 'public plan' for health insurance coverage. I support reform that includes comprehensive women's health care, and makes sure that we all get the care and services we need. I urge Sen./Rep. ___________ to work to pass affordable, comprehensive health reform legislation, that meets the needs of women their families, this year."
Now, more than ever, our voices are needed. Now is the time for us to continue to raise our voices for quality, affordable health care for ALL.
Hi Everyone!
I live in Chicago and am very interested in volunteering/interning at women's rights organization (particularly with a global focus)
I was wondering if any of you knew of any such places? I know there is a lot of awesome ones in NYC and DC, but I just can't seem to find any in Chicago!
Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
In following the Caster Semenya case I found this.
Check it out and I must add.
Here is the real thing not all men are faster then all women. And training and diet can affect that even more. Finally if she were a "he" no one would be looking for Adasen's disease which causes a man to produce too much testosterone and become aggressive one of the Kennedy's had it, Bobby?...No one is looking to check the CHROMOSOMES OF MALE ATHLETES etc...at most they under go doping charges.
When I swim and I'm not that fast I can easily out distance the average male if I were six feet and trained I could probably outstrip 90% of most trained male swimmers.
Recently, my mother dared me to be in our city's scholarship pageant (it's the local pageant that eventually leads to Miss America). We both though it would be funny, and everyone who heard about it said it was a laugh, mainly because it was out of character for me. I ended up as 2nd attendant at the end of the pageant.
Now, the director of the pageant wants to know if I would compete again next year. I'm torn. On one hand, I'm a feminist and I'm offended by being given a scholarship for looking fit in a swimsuit and buying a sparkly dress. On the other hand, I was really drawn in by the platform. The winner of the pageant gets to do her platform, sponsored by the city. My platform was about raising awareness about, attempting to prevent, and support victims of sexual violence (living in Utah, the state with the highest number of rapes per capita, I think this is a very important issue).
I'd like to be able to bring this issue forward, especially in a state where sexual violence is largely ignored and kept under wraps. Domestic abuse, incest, rape, gay- and slut-bashing, all of it is very common, but most Utahns will say that "it doesn't happen here" or are not aware of how common and widespread it is. I want to bring the issue to people's attention and start programs in schools and within the city in order to decrease the amount of sexual violence in our community, increase awareness of it, and have resources for victims.
The question becomes: Do I try to win next year's pageant so that I can do my platform or do I not participate and continue activism with less money and support? And, if I do decide to do the pageant, how do I make it less about my body or looks and do this on my own terms?
NARAL Pro-Choice New York is hands-down one of my favorite progressive nonprofits. They're on the political, legislative, and community fronts working to secure safe and legal abortions for all women who want them. They also publish key resources like a pro-choice voter guide (here's the one for September's primaries); the Book of Choices, a comprehensive state-wide list of options for women facing unplanned pregnancies (in English and Spanish); a city-wide resource guide for free and low-cost reproductive health care; and a list of open-minded, pro-choice doctors who specialize in adolescent health (again, in English and Spanish).
That's why I'm thrilled that they are seeking new members aplenty for their Activist Leadership Circle, a group of volunteers that Shira and I have been a part of since January.
We've written quite a bit about our work with NARAL, which has included calling voters directly during group phonebanks, distributing condoms and information about emergency contraception, rallying support for the Reproductive Health Act, and getting pissed when our efforts were essentially derailed by the childish behavior rampant in the New York state senate. We've also covered their fabulous Choices event series (though I'm sad to say I couldn't make it to any of those three lectures).
Please consider donating your skills and pro-choice passion to this incredible organization. Here's what's involved in joining the Activist Leadership Circle...
Wednesday, 9/9/09, 6:00-8:30 pm: Welcome & NARAL Pro-Choice New York 101
Saturday, 9/12/09, time and location TBD: Pro-Choice Election Day of Action
Wednesday, 9/16/09, 6:00-8:00 pm: How to Talk About the Issues and Take Action
Wednesday, 9/23/09, 6:00-8:00 pm: Graduation and Welcome Party
All events (except the day of action) will take place at the NARAL Offices, 470 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor (you'll need ID!).
And here's what to expect when you join...
The Circle has three Action Groups that allow members to get involved in the work that is most exciting to them.
After attending our four-part series of new member trainings, you'll be able to join one of three Action Groups:
Outreach Action Group: The Outreach Action Group is responsible for getting more people involved in NARAL Pro-Choice New York's activist efforts and disseminating life-saving resources and information through tabling at events, street canvassing, and on-line event posting.
Political and Legislative Action Group: The Political and Legislative Action Group participates in efforts to elect pro-choice candidates such as election phone banks, disseminating voter guides, and representing NARAL Pro-Choice New York in campaign offices. Members will also help pass pro-active, pro-choice legislation by participating in legislation phone banks, petitioning, and lobbying efforts.
Reproductive Health Education Group: The Reproductive Health Education Group's current project is researching the issue of Crisis Pregnancy Centers in New York State in order to develop a strategic advocacy plan. The Reproductive Health Education Group will also be a space to discuss emerging reproductive health issues and develop new initiatives to address them.
You can read more about the project details here and here.
If you are interested in joining the Activist Leadership Circle, contact NARAL's community organizer Lalena Howard at lhoward@prochoiceny.org or 646-520-3506. Feel free to email me at womensglib@gmail.com if you have any questions about the structure or current projects of the circle.
The Boston premiere of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell happened in Cambridge last night. For those of you that haven't been following, (and I hope this applies to most of you), it is the film adaptation of a book, which was a based on a blog. The blog, in turn, is largely based around the exploits of Tucker Max (and here "exploits" is exactly the right word): getting women drunk, performing sex acts on them, and then writing about it. Many of the encounters detailed in the blog, book, and now the film, meet the legal definition of rape (this should come as no surprise). It is almost unbelievably predatory, so it should also come as no surprise that it was, for a time, very popular.
I first heard of Tucker Max a few years ago, but as I have yet to come accross a media personality named named "Tucker" that is not a complete asshole, I didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until Wednesday, when my boyfriend was alerted of a protest organized by NOMAS in response to the premiere of the film, that I really took a closer look.
Tucker Max' writing represents the worst sort of trend in American males. It's not enough to say that he doesn't respect women - it's that it would never occur to him to respect them. To disrespect them would be a conscious decision on his part (which he does sometimes make - at one point his friends dare him to say something insulting to a woman and he says, " I'm sorry, did you just call out Tucker Max? About disrespecting a whore? My friends know how to push my buttons, so fasten your seatbelts folks, good times are ahead...") - instead, what he exercises in is a complete denial of their personhood. And, of course, like all mysogynists, he is under the impression that this does not mean that he hates women. In fact, on his own website, he responds to accusations that his page is sexist, anti-women, and mysogynistic by saying the following:
"This always confuses me. For fucks sake, I originally put up a page dedicated to getting a date; how is that sexist? How in hell does that imply I hate women? I hate a lot of things... but nowhere on that list is women. I LOVE women. Now, do I treat some women like shit? Yes, sometimes, but I treat EVERYONE like shit, not just women. Sexism is treating one sex differently from the other(s). I treat people as individuals." Of course, it's a bit hard to swallow that he treats women as individuals when he refers to almost all of them, at some point, as a random whore.
Written for the Hyphen Blog on August 27, 2009.
One of the first things a (good) transnational activist learns is the practical meaning of solidarity -- which, as the latest issue of New York Times Magazine illustrates , is a concept not easily grasped by even the worldliest and most committed of advocates. This week's installment of the NYT Magazine manages (for the most part) to thoughtfully and contextually explore the plights of Third World women, while examining some of the the hard realities of transnational activism. Nevertheless, the clear subtext of the articles belies the contributors' apparent commitment to building real and lasting solidarity movements. As journalist Edwin Okong'o points out , the lead feature paints a rather two-dimensional (albeit compassionate) portrait of life in the brutal third world, but shies away from covering the efforts of impactful Third World activists and movements in favor of spotlighting the high-dollar (emphasis on the $) development projects of western nonprofit organizations.The collective implication of the pieces (particularly as underscored by articles like "The Power of the Purse ," "Do It Yourself Foreign Aid ," and the issue's own title: "Saving the World's Women") outlines a rather paternalistic view of solidarity, in which the savagery of the Third World must be resolved through the philanthropic efforts of the West. Tragically, for the Third World, solidarity is not about westerners recognizing how terrifyingly crappy things are "over there," and subsequently dedicating a relatively minuscule portion of their grossly exorbitant resources to save the undeveloped from themselves. If only progress and partnership were so simple.
And: if only Asian Americans, by virtue of our heritage(s), were innocent of the above-mentioned paternalism. Unfortunately, you don't have to be white to bear the White Man's Burden -- Sheryl WuDunn, one of the issue's key contributors, is herself Chinese American. And, as Americans, egoistic benevolence is part of our national identity. On the bright side, we do have one up on our Western counterparts: while we can certainly appreciate the value of a dollar with regard to international development, some of us may also have distilled from our multicultural rearing a more practical understanding of the profound importance and subtle complexities of this mysterious thing called solidarity.
To put it simply, solidarity is about more than simply joining forces for the common good. Rather, it's about forging coalitions based on mutual interests, trust, and -- most importantly -- the equitable distribution of power and resources amongst stakeholders and supporters. (In the jargon of the unenlightened: stakeholders = people who need help, while supporters = people with money to help them.) That last point is where most well-intentioned, would-be do-gooders flub.
After all, it's pretty easy to build a relationship based on mutual interests and trust when everyone at the table has big hearts and great intentions. It's quite another thing to build a relationship based on equitably distributed power when half of the table has all the money (and the clout that comes with it) while the other half of the table has none (but desperately needs to get it). That's precisely where foreign aid by way of western NGOs become a tad iffy, and where Western donors (AsAms included) lose their way (and their cred).
While the issue's contributors rightly emphasize the profound importance and overwhelming potential of women-based aid and development projects, they might do better also to encourage their readers to consider critically how the power dynamics involved in charitable giving foster or stifle development. If we had been doing this kind of critical thinking ages ago, we wouldn't have condoned the decades of discriminatory and ineffectual male-centered development projects that have brought this very issue to the front page of NYT Magazine now. Assuming we know what's best for the Third World, without actively engaging in a dialogue with Third World stakeholders, has never worked in the past -- no matter how much money you throw at it.
Moreover, a major failure of the issue is the contributors' own failure to analyze our place, as Americans, in upholding systems and policies that keep women of the Third World down:
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Hey, Kristof and WuDunn : What role do IMF and World Bank policies (which we fund) play in restricting public education, limiting women's healthcare and exacerbating the poverty debilitating the women about whom you write so passionately? Certainly in a globalized world like ours, their problems don't start and end exclusively within their own borders...
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And you, Belkin : Though you''re very impressed by the extent of Western women's charitable giving, touting the "power of the purse," what about the starvation wages paid to the women who constructed those designer, powerful purses? I want to read a feature about that!
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And, of course, New York Times Magazine : How about criticizing the structures that caused this kind of inequality in the first place instead of pretending like soft hearts can trump moneyed institutions? Supporting stakeholders to the point that we can honestly acknowledge our own mistakes and remodel ourselves -- that would be an act of solidarity!
By all means, read the issue, sincerely thank the New York Times for putting it together, and definitely donate to the wonderful organizations that the contributors recommend -- but know that doing so is an act of charity, and not solidarity. Charity does wonderful things for individual people (most of the time), but solidarity addresses the roots of injustice and unites disparate people to make a better world for everyone. Solidarity forces us to critically examine and better ourselves, before presuming that we can do so for others.
For tips on building solidarity, be sure to check out next week's column. For the uninitiated: read the introduction to Idealize This! to learn more about Hyphen's Handbook for Practical Idealists.
Horrified by what the International Association of Athletics Federation has put Caster Semenya through? The National Sexuality Resource Center has a petition demanding that the IAAF stay out of Caster's pants.
Stand with Caster , and with everyone who’s borne the brunt of fear and discrimination because they don't fit a rigid definition of what is male and female. You can add your name here .
Here's the petition:
To: The International Association of Athletics Federation
We, the undersigned, demand that the IAAF stay out of Caster Semenya's pants.
Your efforts to make champion Caster Semenya 'prove' she is a woman are shameful and unnecessary, and undermine the integrity and dignity of women athletes. Requiring select athletes--based purely on looks--to undergo 'scientific' testing that others do not is unfair and humiliating.
Gender is not a science, and biology does not make--or unmake--a woman. Oppression based on looks, however, is real, and forces women athletes to adhere to a sexist standard that does not foster true competition or personal excellence. We applaud Caster Semenya's skill as an athlete, and the way she creates more space for women--of all shapes, sizes and looks--to succeed.
We demand that you stop selective gender testing now, and put in place new policies that support all athletes, regardless of gender expression or identity.
This job might end up being fucking amazing.
I honestly had no idea what to expect. I do know that I didn't expect to only see about three protesters present when I rolled up at 10 am. Granted, it's not like I'm looking for a big raucous crowd where I might end up having to fight somebody, because that's bad juju all around. But I was prepared for more than I saw. Even the lady in charge said it's pretty boring most of the time, although things can flip quickly.
Over the course of a couple hours, only a half-dozen or so protestors showed up. Overall, it's not something that would be worth a post, except every single one ended up fitting some basic archetype that, while I had never thought about them previously, seem like they might exist at any clinic protest ever held.
Old Yeller: Calls out "Choose life!" at everyone going into the clinic from the sidewalk, despite the fact people are cracking up at him. Blissfully oblivious to the fact 97% of the clinic's patients are not involved with an abortion.
Singing Lady: Walks up and down the sidewalk singing the same six lines ad infinitum. Can't actually sing. Amusement value increased by the fact she has to continually read a little card with the words.
The Reverend: Shows up in a minister's black suit with white collar. Unknown if he's actually clergy or had to steal it from someone.
Sign Guy: Possesses very professional-looking banners. Usefulness to cause mitigated by absurdity of banners (AbortionBreastCancer.com say what?) and absolute crap jury-rig job erecting the signs with PVC pipe and zip ties lodged in the open windows of his car. Struggles with placing and dismantling signs so mightily escorts actually consider finding ways for him to do it faster, except that would mean he'd stay longer instead of leave sooner.
Silent Prayer Guy: Stands at the sidewalk with a rosary and stares at the clinic door. Does not speak. Presumably wears sunglasses so he can look elsewhere without losing whatever "effect" he's having (or being busted for hypocrisy).
The Giver: Stops people at the driveway and hands them rosaries and pamphlets. Almost everyone stops and takes something so as not to be rude. Absolutely unfathomable that this guy actually gets something accomplished.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Not seen, but told of; described simply as the married protesters. No one remembers which is which.
I've actually had no intention of telling people I'm doing this because I don't want it to look like I'm showing off or whatever, but I couldn't resist calling a friend of mine, explaining where I was, and holding the phone up so he could hear Singing Lady go on. As we talked, every time she walked by he would say, "Jesus christ, is that the same woman?"
I realize there are places where the regular protests are nastier than the special-occasion ones here, and part of me wishes I was at one of those because they need more support than relatively peaceful places like this. Much respect to the workers at those places. But I can only react directly to what I see, and what I saw today was ridiculous beyond anything else.
Any other "types" I should possibly expect to see?
In 2008, political violence erupted throughout Zimbabwe as a result of highly contested national elections. Between May and July alone, local organizations estimate that state-sanctioned groups abducted, raped, tortured, and beat over 2,000 women and girls due to their political affiliations. Local police have ignored these women's pleas for protection, justice, and accountability, and national leaders have been equally unresponsive. Hear Us - a video co-produced by Zimbabwean Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and WITNESS - features four of these women who have come forward to demand justice from the Zimbabwean government and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Next month, the SADC summit is being held in Kinshasa from September 2-8 2009. Help us collect 2,000 (or more!) messages of support to be delivered to SADC leaders at the summit. Add your voice to the call for justice for the Zimbabwean women - sign our petition , record a video message , tweet the campaign , or leave a comment below.
Support the women of Zimbabwe by going to http://hub.witness.org/HearUsStandWithUs and adding your voice to the call for justice. Here are 5 ways to take action now:
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Sign the petition calling for justice and accountability
Record a video message of support to be delivered to the leaders of SADC and the Zimbabwean government (we can help you do this via skype if that is easiest for you).
Ask your networks, friends and colleagues to support the campaign
Send a message to your followers on Twitter using the tag #HearUsZim
Spread the word on Facebook and YouTube
Even small things can make a big difference and your involvement is much needed and greatly appreciated.
What is the value placed on Women worth in the Courtroom?
I've been following some horrible cases in; N.Y., Mass., that one may involve three states (Mass., N.H., and Maine.), and involving some kind of violence against women or girls. And the out comes do not look like justice. A young girl in Albany N.Y. was brutally murdered a few years ago and her body stabbed around twenty times left in a residential area...no witnesses of course but when I visited the place there was a drug look out...Her life had been a living hell put in special ed. Because she was being threatened by gangs and told to leave school and arrive at different times.
The other cases rape and murder victims so ceremoniously left after their killings that one has to gasp. One woman was left three days decomposed after being transferred from Mass. to Maine in a cook's shirt and stuffed in a garbage can, and some of the others where women whose corpses where left barefoot and facing east in Atlantic City, again no one seeing anything...
Now have to ask since rape in this country requires D.N.A. And some of the other victims in the case of the body in the garbage can tried to bring charges against the suspect in this serial rape and murder case and for the most part they failed.
Rapes involves a perfectly good witness who is usually female but do to the fact that the value of your testimony in court is tied to ones income and a women is valued to make less over a life time then a man so our courtroom value is lower then a mans, and thus fewer convictions if the female is the victim and in rape our word so devalued we must be swabbed for D.N.A..
I was called this recently, by my well-intentioned grandmother. Last I checked, I was a nearly-eighteen-year-old young woman who belonged to no one. Even the connotation of the phrase- that my daddy dotes on me- is disturbing. I don't even live with my dad, and I see him once a week, usually. Yeah, I am the daughter of my father, and I love my dad.
But I am not daddy's little girl.
So much so to the point that I am changing my name after winter quarter (because I turn eighteen in the middle of it). Of course, it's not the only reason, but, recently (what with all these posts about name changing!) I've been thinking: I already hate my name. I hated my last name especially when I was little because I wanted to have my mom's last name (my parents were never married- it was hard to explain this to my seven-year-old friends when my parents separated), because I didn't want to be related to my dad by way of name.
I wanted people to read my name off the attendance list (because, at eight years old, that's where your mind goes when you think last names) and say, "Oh that's the daughter of this woman!" I sound like such a feminist-y child, but I just wanted to have a different name! My hatred of my (entire) name has persisted, and now that I'm so close to changing it, and people are realizing I'm serious about it, they're asking why. I tell them, "Because I hate my name. It's common, fluffy, and has no power in it. It's unremarkable and dull. I didn't get to choose my name, and now I do."
I’ve heard a lot of people claim that feminists ought to be participating in some sort of feminist activism (I don’t remember exactly what posts on this site I saw this claim being made, but I have noticed it a number of times, and I’ve also heard it frequently in books and by feminists I know in real life). This is a sentiment that I agree with wholeheartedly in principle, but at the same time, I’ve been wondering exactly who may be excluded by this definition of feminism.
Here’s the thing. I’m disabled, in the sense that I have neurological issues that mean I will probably never be able to hold down a job outside the home, and I am extremely limited as to what I can do on a daily basis (lack of energy, need to avoid noise and bright lights, need very regular food and rest, etc.)
I do sign petitions and write letters and what not, and of course try to be as socially responsible as possible in my personal life. But none of this really fits the image I have in my head of activism. When I think of activ ism, it is, well, active. It involves things like community organizing, participating in marches and rallies, or volunteering at organizations you think help the community. It takes time, energy, and commitment.
But I absolutely do not have energy, time (I know no one has much time, but a small activity becomes very time-consuming when any activity requires several hours of rest before and after doing it), and the ability to commit to things. Some of the people I admire most in my life are activists who spend enormous amounts of time and energy involved in their activist work – but they are also the most energetic, healthy people that I know. So while I admire them deeply for the work they do, I also know that they are working from a certain amount of privilege (and that same privilege is operating when they look down on me for not joining them).
As I said earlier, I am wholly in favor of saying that feminists ought to be engaging in feminist activism. But I also know that such a definition of feminism necessarily excludes myself and all others who have similar - or more severe - conditions.
Am I the only person who perceives a preference for out-of-the-house, energy-consuming kinds of feminist work? I am fully willing (and would be quite happy) to learn that most people see writing letters and whatnot as perfectly adequate activism. I do have a tendency to feel a great amount of guilt about my limitations, so it is quite possible that I have imagined this preference from my own guilt and a couple of overly-judgmental friends. But if it is the case that work such as volunteering, organizing, and marching is considered the most important kind of feminist work (outside of what we do in our private lives), do people think there may be some kind of ableist bias in that preference?
This is my first post, and I’m relatively new to the blogosphere in general, so please be kind!
Candlelight vigil - Dupont Circle - Monday Night, August 3 - 8:15pm
In response to the tragic murders of three innocent teenagers at the LGBT Center in Tel Aviv, the DC Jewish and LGBT communities invite you to stand in solidarity with the victims and their families in mourning this crime and praying for the speedy recovery of all those injured. This vigil is open to all who seek community to grieve and to recommit to fighting hatred, violence, and discrimination wherever they occur. Tentative speakers will include local rabbis, DC policy leaders, and community activists. The candlelit vigil will take place at the fountain in Dupont Circle at 8:15 PM.
RSVP at the Facebook event site: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=257742240392&ref=nf
AHAVA is an Israeli cosmetics company whose luxury products, like bath salts and botanical skin care, have long been sought-after commodities for visitors to Israel. Although the products are now widely available, AHAVA and its beauty and skincare products like mineral mud from the Dead Sea still hold intrigue for consumers. The company claims a commitment to environmental responsibility and doesn’t test on animals. Its name even means ‘love’ in Hebrew. Aside from caveats about how cosmetic companies target women and make them feel that they need to continually buy products to fix manufactured and/or imagined flaws, and then profit from women’s insecurities, AHAVA sounds like pretty nice company, right?
Unfortunately, behind its statements of environmental consciousness and message of love, AHAVA is hiding a dirty secret: although its products say “Made in Israel,” its plant is in the occupied West Bank. That means that the Dead Sea Mineral Mud is made from exploited natural resources – AHAVA is appropriating the mud from the Dead Sea and passing it off as an Israeli product. Under the Geneva Conventions, it is illegal for an occupying force to take from or profit from the natural resources of the occupied country. AHAVA’s products are illegally made and sold: they are stolen goods.
This week, CODEPINK Women for Peace launched its Stolen Beauty campaign to address AHAVA’s business practices and lies. CODEPINK wants the public to know that there is nothing loving about what AHAVA is doing to Palestine. With events across the nation and the world, the Stolen Beauty campaign encourages peace activists to ask local stores who sell AHAVA to stop stocking the company’s products, and to build a boycott movement of AHAVA. Stolen Beauty is CODEPINK’s contribution to the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which aims to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and to support human rights for Palestinians.
There have already been several high-profile actions worldwide: during a Gaza delegation, CODEPINK activists investigated for themselves the AHAVA factory and staged the first protest in a spa in Tel-Aviv’s Hilton Hotel. There have since been actions at a Tel-Aviv beach event in Central Park, NYC, at a cosmetics trade event in Las Vegas, and local actions at upscale beauty salons in Washington DC and Santa Monica. A group in Paris, France also staged a demonstration at the Champs-Elysées Sephora. You can see pictures and videos from these actions here .
Check out CODEPINK’s campaign at www.stolenbeauty.org to learn more and to find out how to stage your own local action.
Originally posted at Adventures of a Young Feminist .
Today, I received an email from a reader who raised concerns about armchair philosophy and me not taking any action to further the cause of feminism. From the outset, I would like to say that I have since addressed the issues that this individual had and we have worked towards a resolution, so this is in no way an attack on this individual. I simply wanted to express my inspiration for this post.
The question I want to address is: is blogging an act of feminist activism?
Of course the blogging in question would have to be feminist in nature; not all blogging could be considered a form of feminist activism. (Note: feminist in nature does not necessarily mean specifically about feminism, just with a feminist leaning.)
I think that there is a general conception in society that feminist activism is all about marches and "taking to the streets." In the 70s, that's what got people's attention. "Sisterhood" was strong and radical things needed to happen (not that radical things don't need to happen today). Today, in the third wave, we are all about individual freedom and choice (I know I am generalizing, which is usually not a good thing, but the purpose of this generalization is to show the difference in activism between the 70s and today).
Today, activism can take many forms. Activism, to me at least, is all about enacting change in any way that you can. This can be done through volunteering, participating in activism organizations, writing letters or otherwise contacting elected officias, companies with sexist practices, etc. with your concerns, and anything else you think can make some sort of change. And yes, activism still involved protesting, but it is not the only part!
For me, part of feminism is making sure that everyone's voice is heard, especially the voices of people who are usually silence by society. I see blogging as a great way for these voices to be heard. Anyone can start a blog, therefore anyone's voice can be heard.
Feminist blogs are a great addition to the conversation that is going on in the blogosphere (I must admit that I am a little biased). And because of this, the voices of the people who write feminist blogs (and comment on them!) are being heard. While this may not seem like a lot, feminist blogs raise awareness about feminist issues, therefore are enacting a form of change. Raising awareness about feminist isseus is an important part of activism and that is precisely what feminist blogs do!
I do not want this post to seem like some form of excuse of a guilty conscious for not participating in other forms of activim, because that is not true. I started my blog as a compliment to other forms of activism that I participate in. As the reader who emailed me correctly said:
any attempt to change must surely be active - it must involve a discourse between yourself and others, between culture and the individual, and through this active self sacrifice and imposition of a different 'narrative' the forms and connexions of power may shift in a way that you consider favourable.
Activism has to be active, has to be about conversation, and ultimately comes down to some form of self-sacrifice.
I see blogging as active because you are doing something about your personal beliefs in feminism rather than just sitting there wallowing in your anger over the state of the world. But if you are going to enact change, there has to be more than blogging. You have to partake in other forms of activism to enact change. This is not to say that feminist blogging is not adequate activism (because I would not completely negate all that I just said). Feminist blogging is just one aspect of feminist activism that is used to raise awareness of feminist issues and enact change. So to Feministing and all the feminist bloggers out there: keep doing waht you are doing and be proud of the change that you are enacting through raising awareness about these very serious and important issues.
We’re looking for bright, energetic, resourceful people with excellent research and writing skills. Our interns help gather and fact-check information, work on specific office projects, and participate in creating the magazine's National News section. This is a great opportunity to learn how the editorial side of a non-profit magazine operates -- from the inception of an idea to the final printed product -- and a great place to gain new feminist perspectives. Open to highly motivated undergraduates and recent graduates, the winter internship runs from October 1st through December 23rd at our West Coast office in Los Angeles, California. Come join us for an extraordinary winter term and an opportunity to immerse yourself in feminist journalism!
Applicants with background in both journalism and feminist activism will be given priority. Applications are processed on a rolling basis. Early applications preferred.
To Apply:
Mail or e-mail a cover letter, resume, writing sample (journalistic writing preferred), and two letters of recommendation or two references to:
Jessica Stites
Ms./Feminist Majority Foundation
433 S. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
phone: 310. 556.2500
fax: 310. 556.2509
e-mail: jstites@msmagazine.com
Animal welfare is a feminist issue --- and not just because of the awful, objectifying campaigns that PETA runs.
I've been a vegan and a feminist since I was 14, and am now 19. Many of my peers, my teachers, and other adults in my life have responded patronizingly, treating it as an indication that I am overly upset and emotional, since, you know, women don't think, we only feel. And we just love baby animals.
When I told some people I had decided to become vegan, particularly guys my age, I was met with responses like "I think it's really sweet when girls don't eat meat." Because, obviously, emotions are female, caring is female, and veganism is a result of overactive womanly tendencies towards nurturing. Similarly, another common one is, "Cows aren't even cuddly! Why do you care about them?" Because, again, the only reason to be vegan would be because animals are adorable --- not because of a desire to reduce pain when possible or a concern about global warming.
Moreover, the perception that being a vegan girl meant that I couldn't tolerate images of violence or discussions of mistreatment of animals was also constant. I felt this stereotype hanging out with friends watching horror movies, in class debates about animal welfare, and in discussions I had with teachers about completely unrelated issues. Vegan was code for emotional.
I think that my experiences illustrate the extent to which stereotypes about overly emotional women are used against us when we choose to take strong stands on political issues. It is far easier to discount devotion to animal welfare, and many progressive social issues, as a product of women feeling too much then as a result of measured, thoughtful research. I'm not a vegan because I feel; I'm a vegan because I think. My gender identification has nothing to do with either.
Just wanted to share. Somewhere between Thank-you-not-quite-Thursday-anymore, brilliant women, and activism.
The Guardian has an interview with Katherine Rake, who has lead the UK's Fawcett Society.
After the mandatory "oh look, she's a reasonable human being! Not an angry ugly bitch at all!" the interview turns really well. And make sure you get to the end.
The piece can be found here.
One thing I tend to have a lot of trouble with is now being a freshman and being a feminist. Why? When you go to a very conservative school like mine, you tend to have a lot of opposition.
I go to a white, Christian, conservative, small public school. You tend to stand out and be questioned when you don't have a purity ring - and if you don't have one you better already have your order in.
Sex is a no no. Sure, we joke about it all the time but you touch a boy...you're a slut. I realized in about early 7th grade that most people don't wait until marriage - and there is nothing wrong with that. At my school, you are supposed to feel ashamed. I've had quite a bit of experience with slut, whore, hoe, etc. What I've found the most effective is just NOT using those words. Also pointing out the guy in the equation.
ex."Well, I think he's had more girlfriends than she's had boyfriends...is he a slut too?" Most people realize quickly of the double standard.
If you think sex is taboo, I sure hope you aren't gay or bisexual. Just a bout everything is followed by, "Thats so gay. God this homework is so gay. That shirt is so gay. You're so gay." Etc.
You know what I do? Say, "Who's gay?" they realize that it doesn't quite make sense.
But does anyone have tips on abstinence only sex ed teachers that come in and spew misinformation to ones that need it the most? I make it clear to my friends what she's saying is wrong (No, condoms do not give you cancer. No, condoms do not fail 2/3 times. No, BC will not make you fat. No, condoms DO protect against STDs. Etc. Pathetically.) I also will go up afterward with tables from the FDC/CDC to show her some more info.
But does anyone have anymore tips? Any tips on being a feminist in high school? Thank you guys so much! :)
[cross-posted at femmalia.wordpress.com]
Two weeks after the much-publicized death of Iranian protester, Neda — whose final moments were famously captured by a cell phone camera and distributed the world over — a couple dozen performers put together a music video tribute slash “non-violent resistance” anthem filmed (appropriately?) with nothing but a cell phone camera. Described by CNN as “a call to action against human rights violations by the Iranian government against Iranians,” the video’s creators/stars rap and harmonize about non-violence, their fuzzy, pixelated faces crooning between clips of the now historic footage of Neda’s death.
The graphic clips excerpted by the creators of the video for the the purpose of spreading their message of solidarity and pacifism have generated a cacophony of international outrage, sympathy, outright disbelief, and controversy since their initial circulation a few weeks ago. While the footage has galvanized protesters in Iran, creating for them a martyr to rally around as they strive for real, lasting change, it has also prompted enthusiastic Americans to wear green and tweet about revolution in what has already been described by numerous commentators as a superficial and ineffectual display of “solidarity.” The “United for Neda” video, as well-intentioned and misguided as any green-clad American, seems to fall into the latter category. Like Americans who continually replay the Neda footage in order to sustain a dimming sense of shock, outrage, and civic duty while imagining a connection to a less complacent world, the music video appropriates the controversial images of Neda with the aim of fostering activism through the propagation of sensational violence.
Plenty has been written on the subject already. Virtually every reporter covering current events in Iran has addressed the issue of Neda’s death in some way or other — sometimes dramatically (in the case of CNN, who broke the story) and sometimes tenderly (in the case of Roger Cohen, who never fails to convey a sense of humanity and compassion in his thoughtful articulations of the events unfolding in Iran). Some have gone so far as to suggest that the Neda video was a hoax based one source’s “obvious rhetorical flourish” when recounting the event, while others have criticized our macabre fascination with the woman’s death (as evidenced by the video’s propagation).
Perhaps the most interesting bit of commentary I’ve read on the subject, however, is a piece on a personal blog which suggests that Americans’ sense of humanitarian duty is only activated by their vociferous consumption of violence against people of color:
On blog threads, commenters are thanking bloggers for posting the video of Neda’s death [...]
I understand these readers’ sentiments, but why? Why must we see an Iranian woman die on a city street in order to understand the gravity of the country’s political upheaval? Why must we see brown bodies bloated and floating to give a damn about the tsunami in Myanmar or the hurricane in New Orleans? Why did we have to see Oscar Grant killed in cold blood by police on a BART platform to talk about racism and the justice system? Why did it take the mangled body of 14-year-old Emmitt Till to give America an inkling of the tyranny and danger that black folks faced in the South every day?
Hey folks,
I was hoping to get some advice/suggestions from fellow feminists on how to go about organizing a sexuality workshop for Sexual Assault Awareness Month this year. For several years now, students at my university have put together a sexual assault awareness week, which includes tabling with information on sexual assault, hosting a "Day of Expression" (a venue for victims of sexual assault to express themselves, as well as for other students to show their solidarity with these individuals through music, poetry, reflections, etc.), ending the week with Take Back the Night. As an upcoming senior, I will be one of the people organizing the event this year. I've always felt that something was missing from this week-long event, or that we could simply do more during the year to keep this issue at the forefront of college issues. Thinking it over, I've realized that a workshop on sexuality would be a great complement to our promotion of Sexual Assault Awareness. I'm looking for one that focuses on healthy consensual sex, understanding personal sexual needs, heterosexual/homosexual sexual roles and how they overlap with societal gender roles--basically a feminist workshop that promotes open dialogue about sexuality, taking into account the ways in which race, class, gender, and sexual orientation, and perhaps religion (but that might be asking too much) affect our sexual expectations and actions.
So, any suggestions?? I'm looking for something relatively affordable (I go to a SUNY school, after all), and preferably with a group from NY state (to cut down on travel expenses). Please let me know!
I'm also looking to hold a teach-in on sexuality and would really appreciate some article suggestions on the politics of sex.
Thanks!
As part of the younger generation of both queer and feminist activists, I find myself feeling as though my peers have adopted apathy over responsiveness. However, being a young activist forces me to recognize that I and my colleagues in the struggle to end systemic oppression are diverse in race, class, sexual orientation, gender, and age, and in this diversity, there are individual and personal reasons for joining the fight. It forces me to recognize that we are all in this together, fighting for change - that we, the young activists, are making history in our own era.
There are young people identifying as activists but perhaps their definition of activist, queer, feminist is different; perhaps their approach, in response to their definition, is different from that of tradition or what some may claim to be the mainstream. There is no unity in definition - only in the ultimate goal. It is safe to conclude that the ulimate goal of all queer activists is equality based on gender identity and sexual orientation; it is safe to conclude that many of these activists - that most feminist activists - have the ulimate goal of total equality across all classifications. It appears that younger generations - my generation - have taken a more apathetic view of both queer and feminist social change activism due to the rise in technology-based community building and communication, movement disorganization, and ultimately the lush feeling of inheritance. But this is certainly not the whole picture, and to allow it to cloud the work that is being done is to deligitimize this work and the activists who've accomplished it.
Computer technology has been a significant aspect of the growing-up experience of younger generations. For many people, the internet has become the hub of communication in various aspects of life and in all types of relationships. Forums and blogs and networking sites like Facebook and MySpace provide places for people to exchange ideas and opinions, as well as to meet people in and out of their communities. For people utilizing these sites, their participation can become a kind of activism. In writing a cultural critique or a political commentary on a blog, an individual might feel that they are engaging in activism. And in a way, they are. These writers are actively copying down and publishing their ideas and opinions, putting them out there for the whole world to see. In doing this, writers hope to reach even a small portion of the masses and influence their opinions through new perspectives. When people read blogs and other commentaries such as posts on facebook and news articles, a new thought process and perhaps even a conversation (whether online or face-to-face with others) may ensue.
Reading and writing such things on the internet is exchanging ideas and therefore, is activism and even community building. However, the exchange of ideas - while the core of having an opinion and acting on it - must be balanced with on-the-ground direct action such as policy revision, workshops, petitioning, rallying, voting, etc. Without the direct action component, internet participation is only an exchange of ideas. For example, where would we be if the patrons at Stonewall only talked about how they felt when the police raided the bar rather than rebelling against them as they did? Reading and writing - blogging and internet networking - are indeed parts of activism and not everyone should be expected to both blog and petition. But without both, the blogging is meaningless. So leftist bloggers must hope that they are damn good writers, capable of influencing the Republican news columnist, the gamer, the porn surfer, and the college student who swears up and down he doesn't follow the news. But it's possible, and it happens every day.
Having an organized movement is arguably key to such collective energy. (Whether or not it inspires or spews from collective energy is sort of like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg.) For clarification sake, let's compare the activism today to the activism of the 60's and 70's. The onset of the culture wars brought clear goals and smaller goals with which to reach the larger. Second-wave feminists had the Equal Rights Amendment (among many other things) to work towards and while perspectives, theories, and approaches to feminist activism differed (and still do), activists rallied together in an organized movement for ultimate gender equality. Today, young feminist activists rally together for social change, but without the large goal to guide the complete goals, the activism feels more scattered - accomplished, but scattered.
As a Black feminist who spent two years organizing as a National Organization for Women (NOW) employee in Kim Gandy’s administration, nothing was going to keep me from attending this past weekend’s election conference. It had been decades since NOW had elected its first African American president, Eileen Hernandez, and I was excited to cast my ballot for the second one. I am proud to say that along with the fact that Latifa Lyles’s team had years of experience and skills needed to run NOW that having a woman of color represented was one of the reasons I cast my ballot for Latifa Lyles. It was clear to me that the diversity of her slate across age, race and socio-economic status stood to change the demographics of NOW’s electorate and perhaps the national feminist constituency. This diversity would be a signal to many women who have been marginalized in some sectors of mainstream feminism that they would be granted a safe space in which to organize. I was also certain that Latifa Lyles’s administration would institute policies that incrementally change NOW’s structure and make it more friendly to over-employed and underemployed women who want to take action in NOW’s ranks.
Now that dream is deferred.
It would be one thing if the reason behind defeat were that we were simply out-organized. But it was more than that. Terry O’Neill’s slate was elected on the basis of division, anger and, most of all, second wave feminist dogma of the worst kind. Furthermore, some of the tactics utilized by some of the supporters of Terry O’Neill’s slate were downright racially biased.
Starting with the latter, while the N-Word wasn’t used (to my hearing) other code words were used in its place and references were made about Lyles to undermine her run for president. Rumors ran rampant in the hours preceding the election that Lyles did not have a self-identified lesbian on her slate because she was homophobic. There was no evidence for this preposterous claim, and Lyles wasn’t even aware of such rumors until a voter approached her. The willingness of O’Neill’s supporters to suggest Lyles is homophobic harbors potential racial implications, when one considers the tendency of today’s media to collapse blackness and homophobia. Further, some supporters of Terry fixated on Lyles’s educational status as a reason for why she should not be elected. They reasoned that O’Neill’s JD degree gave her an edge and made her more qualified to be president. In this way, Lyles’s educational status became a point of discrimination against her, despite the fact that she had significant organizing and leadership experience within NOW.
These offensive claims were accompanied by anger, division and second wave feminist dogma. Now a brief aside on the use of the wave model: I know it can be fraught with problematics. However, I use the term “second wave” to modify the dogma exerted by some feminists because some of them actually self-identify as being “second wave.” Or, in other cases they joined NOW in the early years and occupied a space of white and socio-economic privilege along with a perspective on feminist policy that focused on the needs and concerns of white, middle class women.
Mainly though, at the root of support for O’Neill was the notion that the previous administration did not do all they could to support Hillary Clinton in her historic run for president. This was evidenced in hateful e-mails that were circulated throughout the organization and in the forceful comments of women who interrupted conference plenaries on economic justice with their thoughts on Clinton and Sarah Palin. And all this anti-sentiment was seething in the room more than a year after Clinton, herself, pledged her support to Barack Obama. The zealous preoccupation with Clinton’s run exhibited by her supporters is perhaps the most nocuous hindrance to the growth of today’s feminist movement. While Kim Gandy’s slate supported Clinton, and continue to support her, many of O’Neill’s advocates allege that women who did not support Clinton were (and are) not feminists and, therefore, not fit to lead. I learned this firsthand at a NOW board meeting where I was asked to leave the room because a tape had surfaced where I pledged my support for Barack Obama. My support for Barack Obama’s historic run somehow subverted other self-identified feminists’ ability to trust me as an ally for feminist policy, activism, and change. Feminists like Latifa Lyles and Kim Gandy refuted this dogma at the height of the Democratic primary season, maintaining that women who didn’t support Clinton were still valuable, respected members of NOW and the feminist community.
On the contrary, supporters of Terry O’Neill sought to ostracize women who did not support Clinton. They called their long years of clinic defense and feminist policy work into question and outright disrespected them with personal attacks. This is why the election of Terry O’Neill is such a disappointment to many feminists. It’s not a personal slight against O’Neill and her slate; her election represents the victory of the worst brand of feminist dogma. In these times, we need feminists who are open to having principled debates when they disagree. The feminist-litmus test approach to disagreement is counterproductive and has no place in a movement that hopes to survive and thrive.
The newly elected slate of leadership is a group of people who should be rightly recognized for their contributions to the feminist movement. Also, on the matter of feminist policy: health care, ending violence against women, clinic access the slates had similar priorities. While some have wondered what the fundamental differences policy-wise between the slates are, the general principles and issue focus are mostly mandated by the organization and the current membership. Alas, the major issue at hand was implementation and representation. In any event, I have worked closely with three out of four of them on feminist projects and they have never disrespected me or espoused feminist dogma in disagreements I have had with them. However, they have much work to do if they are to stamp out the intolerance and racism presently in NOW’s midst.
Here are some recommendations:
In the last couple of years there have been some stunning examples of people standing up to their governments to demand their human rights, and the hundreds of thousands of Iranian protesters are the latest example of what true bravery is.
Positive, constructive, lasting progress comes from within a society for the good of the society. Societies are living, evolving entities just like the people who comprise them. As a Muslim woman, I'm thrilled to see so many women take to the streets of Tehran to protest what they believe is a blow to their quest for equal rights.
In my job, I have had the good fortune to meet many of the women around the world who are the early trail blazers in their societies including Ket Noeun, a Cambodia woman who uses the legal system to combat violence against women; Gamilah Ghaleb Al-Sharie, a Yemeni woman and devout Muslim who brings family planning to rural women; and Agnes Pareiyo, a Maasai woman from Kenya who pushes her community discourage early marriage for girls in favor of more education.
These women have changed their societies by pushing down one form of oppression against women. Encouraging individual women like Gamilah and Anges, or the thousands of Iranian women currently protesting in the streets, is what we can do to help.
Funding UNFPA, which supports women around the world, is what our government can do to help. A vote is scheduled in Congress for today. We need your help now. Start by declaring your support today.
--Anika Rahman
Hello everyone. This is the first time I'm posting on Feministing and it's sadly because I've realized a sad truth recently. I'm 17, still in high school and have been an active ally to people underneath the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer/questioning, intersex) spectrum for years. I am an activist. It is as simple as that. I've been a feminist since before I knew what that meant and how much power that gave me.
However, in my high school... there are NO resources for girls whatsoever. I want to start a feminist club at my school but I don't know where to turn for help or ally-ship amongst adults. I know that in the queer community there are a fair share of organizations that help youth organize. In the Chicago-land area for example there is the Illinois Safe School's Alliance, the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, About Face Theatre... the list goes on. But, for feminists there really is nothing. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough or found anything that could really help? I don't know. I'm reaching out to the Feministing crowd to help me find some organization or anyone that could help me organize youth at my high school to be allies to girls and stop the sexism. Even if you have ideas or anything that could help, it would be greatly appreciated.
Much Love and Power
Last Thursday, the organizations behind the campaign to get CVS to finally stop locking up their condoms held a rally in front of a CVS in Dupont Circle of Washington, DC. As we've detailed extensively , despite the fact that Walgreens and RiteAid have both made national policies to keep condoms unlocked, CVS has failed to do so. In fact, a recent study shows that while CVS has open condom access in wealthier communites, it keeps their condoms locked up in communities of color, areas that typically have higher rates of STD/HIV.
Yet Amanda Carpenter of the Washington Times chose to totally distort the entire purpose of the campaign in her column last Friday:
Pro-union organizations are waging war on a major pharmacy chain because it keeps condoms locked up in some of its stores.
But not the store they chose for a protest Thursday.
Change to Win, a coalition of labor organizations, held a news conference outside a Dupont Circle CVS on Thursday urging the drugstore to enact a corporate policy of keeping condoms unlocked at all times.
However, when The Washington Times called the store at 6 Dupont Circle NW, the person who took the call, who declined to be named, said that store's condoms are not locked up. A trip to the store later confirmed this.
Also, given that Change to Win's "CureCVS" accuses the drugstore of limiting access to HIV/AIDS prevention in predominantly minority areas, it seems odd to choose a wealthy neighborhood known as a gay mecca to make the point.
No... actually if you had bothered to read what the campaign is about , you would know that this is a perfect example of what we're fighting against. In wealthy, white communities, the condoms are unlocked. Yet CVS locks them up in communities of color. Also, at no point in her column does she mention that Walgreens and RiteAid have national policies against this practice (and yes, the scourge of "condom shoplifting" hasn't put them out of business).
But hey, misleading distortions have never gotten in the way of the Washington Times, so why should we expect anything else from them.
What you can do is sign our petition to tell CVS to finally unlock the condoms in all of their stores. It's time for CVS to join their competitors and end this archaic policy.
Um, not to brag, but we’re assuming you’ve heard of Planned Parenthood . You might know us from our political and advocacy work , which helps ensure that US policies protect reproductive and sexual health. Perhaps you’ve visited one of 850 Planned Parenthood community health centers to receive quality, affordable care. You may even be hip to our international program , which helps women, men, and families in 17 countries around the world overcome barriers to accessing reproductive and sexual health services.
No matter how much you know about Planned Parenthood, one thing is clear: we are everywhere, and we’re more than most people think.
With access to health care becoming an increasingly important issue for Americans, we want you to know that we’re on your side, and we’re fighting for you. Health care is a vital part of keeping women, men, and families healthy and happy, and Planned Parenthood wants to ensure that everyone has access — but we can’t do it alone. Connect with us on our various social media pages to learn more about what we do (I’m betting you’ll be surprised!), and discover various ways you can help all Americans get the health care they need and deserve.
Through one of the other blogs I read, I found this. There's going to be a March on Washington Columbus Day weekend for LGBT rights.
Here's the official site: http://www.nationalequalitymarch.com/
I hadn't seen any other post about it, so thought I'd bring it to the attention of the community.
Yesterday I moderated a panel of fantastic women on the subject of Health and Reproductive Rights as part of the Igniting Change conference sponsored by the National Council for Research on Women.
An important point that came out yesterday - and that I've been thinking about since - is the "silo" issue. Is women's health a silo within discussions of women's rights and empowerment? Further, is family planning a silo within the issue of women's health?
Too often, we separate ourselves for discussion purposes - based on our constituents and stakeholders. That's because, in the United States, women's health and rights tends inevitably to be associated with abortion, care for the uninsured or whether doctors are too quick to perform Cesarean sections. On the other hand, in the global arena, women's health and rights is focused on maternal mortality, access to family planning, how to get women to a health facility in case she needs a Caesarian section and women's political and legal equality. Yet, in the U.S. we discuss these issues separately. And it is to our detriment since we loose the vision underlying our demand for women's health.
It's tempting for organizations and programs to forgo "controversial" aspects of women's health out of fear of jeopardizing all of their work. "Controversial" typically means abortion but let's not forget that contraception is also victim of political expediency and uncertain funding. It doesn't help that, in this country, contraception is not really considered a "health" issue despite being tied to women's annual gynecological check-ups.
The truth is that women's needs are distinct. Everyone needs clean water but only women can die in childbirth. And the duel challenge of more complex health needs yet less value placed on women's lives in many parts of the world means that often "women's health" is just ignored. And that often leads well-meaning people to address limited aspects of women's health - skilled birth attendants, HIV prevention, etc. But, while it's crucially important that such things are addressed, doing so piecemeal is no solution.
We cannot truly address women's health without simultaneously working to promote women's rights any more than we can elevate the status of women without improving women's health. We'll get nowhere until we crush this silo approach and address the needs of women comprehensively and collaboratively.
There are plenty of us out there - my fellow panelists especially -- who understand the need for us to address the whole of women's health - and within the context of their status and rights.
Finally, the most repeated theme of yesterday's panel was that, despite a greatly improved political environment, we are actually at a point where we need to work harder to build grassroots support for women. No one is going to gift wrap equality for us. We have to demand it.
Americans for UNFPA is building a grassroots movement. We need your help now. Congress will soon be voting on the Foreign Operations budget and we need increased funding for women's issues. Start by declaring your support here.
Every day in Utah, 12 teenage girls get pregnant. Abstinence-only education is the education norm in Utah and our students and children are paying the price of ignorance with their health: 67% of new Chlamydia infections of 55% of new Gonorrhea infections were found in kids aged 15 to 24.
The Utah Legislature Health and Human Services Committee will hold an interim session meeting to discuss comprehensive sex education next week. The bill up for discussion will allow teachers to provide our students and children with vital information on how to protect themselves against becoming one of these staggering statistics.
If you, friends or family reside in Utah and want to support this bill, please join Planned Parenthood Action Committee on Wednesday June 17, 2009 at 9:00 AM at the State Capitol Room 250. We need as many raised hands as we can get.
I realize that not many of you readers, writers, and commenters live in Utah, but if you have family or friends who do please let them know about the interim session. The bill will be up for a vote early next year and we need to start garnering support now. I didn't have comprehensive education in high school and 4 girls in my year were pregnant by graduation, comprehensive sex education is desperately needed. If you would like to get more involved in this Utah campaign, please email me at mnc240@nyu.edu. Thanks!
This is our 3 day Annual Conference that begins at 9 am every day.
Basically, the conference has a bunch of intellectuals from a variety of fields like nonprofits, big business, and higher education.
There are many different debates and events that will be held throughout each day, with each main subject given its own time period. The subjects that will be addressed range from reproductive rights to pop culture/gender images to politics and activism...with many other subjects as well!
You should at least check out our website and see if it interests you, and if it does, then register through our site!! And you should also be aware there is a discount for students :)
http://www.ncrw.org/events/conference2009/
This is a really great opportunity for a bunch of feminists to get together to debate about what needs to be done about our current situation for a better tomorrow for all of us!
I'm reallyyy excited and I look forward to seeing many of you there!!
by Beth Herstein
Three weeks ago approximately 150 women, all volunteers, rolled up their sleeves and helped renovate gutted homes just outside of New Orleans, as part of the Women's Rebuild Week of the nonprofit St. Bernard Project .
Liz McCartney, the Project’s co-director, states that participants in Women’s Rebuild continue the work of the organization generally, rebuilding homes in St. Bernard Parish (a parish is what other States call a “county”) in Louisiana.
“It’s a great opportunity for women both locally and out of town to be a part of the solution, and also to interact and hear from each other,” McCartney told WVFC a while back. “People really, really love it.” As a result of its popularity, for the first time Saint Bernard Project is adding a second Women’s Rebuild later this year, from October 12 to 17, 2009.
Read more at Women's Voices For Change.
I'd like to think my very own feminist life has been divided into pieces.
The very first piece, of course, was Hillary. I'm a young'n, so it was the first time my politics and my campaigning were feminist, the first time I could actually engage in discussion about feminism and work to make a ticking time bomb campaign a success.
Next came Women's Initiative at school, and then interning at The Feminist Majority Foundation. Mix a few conferences, stir well...
And now, I have THE LINE.
THE LINE is an awesome documentary by Nancy Schwartman, a filmmaker from New York, that explores consent, rape, the "grey area," and sexual boundaries by exploring her own experiences abroad.
As an intern for Nancy, I'm heading up THE LINE Campaign, which is structured around using the movie as a tool on college campuses, perhaps in conjunction with her appearance, to begin discussions about setting boundaries, seeking consent, etc. on college campuses and link female and male students to local and on-campus resources that have to do with sexual assault and sexuality. It's sex-positive, it's honest, it's open, and it's really interpersonal.
I feel as though the feministing community would love it, so check out the film's website, and on Twitter, and on Facebook.
Thank you, fellow activists, fellow feminists. (For you college kids, you could even try to bring her to campus!)
This will just be a quick post, one that I'm sure has been written many times. But I'm in need of some help!
I'm fairly new to feminism, having just taken my very first women's studies class. I have learned a lot about feminist issues, but I have no idea how to put them into practice. I make it a habit to point out sexism, etc in my daily life (much to the chagrin of my more conservative friends, but it doesn't stop me), but I feel like I need to do MORE.
I want to do something tangible in order to help the feminist movement. I have devoted my summer reading to books and articles on feminist issues, but I feel a huge need to do something real, especially after the news about Dr. George Tiller.
The main problem is that I live in a small Iowa town. We're incredibly lucky to just have a Planned Parenthood located nearby. I have no idea where to go to find information on getting involved where I live. Can anyone give me any advice on how to get involved?
I want to be able to call myself not just a feminist, but an activist as well!
I am still left speechless at the horrific death of Dr. Tiller in Kansas. While there were no 'advertised' vigils for Tiller in Maine -- there was a candle light vigil for the unspeakable gruesome murder of an 18 year old high school student in Portland, ME who was murdered a week ago this Friday by an evil sadistic man nearly twice her age. She is one of the thousands of domestic violence victims murdered each day in America. While her death has only received local press, Dr. Tiller's has spanned the country and the globe.
The fact he was murdered in his sacred place of worship is cowardly at best. I am deeply saddened for his loss. How can there not be outrage? Have we once again become complacent? The Pro-Life movement has been trying to murder this courageous doctor for years and now they finally have. Are they happy? I second the question, how can you be pro-life and still believe and sanction murder? There used to be federal protections in place for Abortion providers -- but they have since and long ago gone by the way-side. I say bring them back!
I live in Southern Maine, close to Seacoast region of NH and it feels as if feminism has left, walked out on this most northern part of New England. People here have been left to hold vigil in there homes to honor the life of Dr. Tiller and countless others who have sadly gone before him.
Okay, so when reading Marc's comment on sbherold's post about Dr. George Tiller, I had an Idea.
What Marc said to give me this idea was:
"I only wish there were a bumper sticker that says, "Support the Abortion Providers," abortion provider discounts, abortion provider appreciation nights and such. You deserve it."
And, well, I don't own a business, so I can't do anything about the latter two desires, but bumper stickers? There's a website for that. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, buttons, whatever we want.
I move that we, the members of the Feministing Community Blog, set up a CafePress store in honor of the memory of Dr. George Tiller, selling products which honor the devoted service of abortion providers. And when people purchase an item, the proceeds from it will go directly to a non-profit--I'm thinking Medical Students For Choice, but if anyone has other suggestions, leave them in comments.
The only hitch (and the reason I'm posting here rather than just setting up the store myself and getting to work right now) is that I'm not artistically talented. My creativity extends to poetry and prose-writing, not to visual arts. I'm sure I could create some thing on Paint, but it wouldn't be as good as something made by someone who actually has artistic talent.
So...if there's anyone here who IS artistic and who would like to make a design...have at it. As many people as want to, I'd like this to be as big of a group project as it can be. My e-mail address is gendusquesne@gmail.com.
sorry if I'm offending anyone but I'm very frustrated.
After hearing about Dr. Tiller's murder I was very shaken. I immediately started looking for vigils or other relevant events in Los Angeles (or anywhere in southern California for that matter). I couldn't find ANY.
I have been donating to a few feminist organizations including the feminist majority foundation (who sent me updates on dr. Tiller's clinic previously) for a few years. So I decided to call them. The person who picked up the phone told me that everyone is in a lunch meeting and that they will call me back with info.
I thought that maybe they are all in a lunch meeting planning a vigil.
Instead I got a voice mail an hour later saying:
"We're not sure whether there is a vigil in los angeles, We know that there is a big one in NY. Sorry we couldn't help you with that but hopefully if there is one you'll find out where it is. good luck! Bye!"
I am fuming. I knew about 10 other vigils going on and I didn't need them to tell me that they heard there is "a big one" in new york. I expect groups like this to do something to bring people together at times like these. I don't know what to do with all these huge lazy organizations that I send money to every week. Should I stop sending money? Should I send an angry letter to their headquarters on the east coast telling them about this?!
Los angeles is officially a lonely place to be a feminist.
Come check out the National Council for Research on Women's blog on The Big Five issues for women in today's society. What is the next step for LGBT activism? How will new energy policies and health care affect women with the new Obama administration?
Share your thoughts here.
Also, be sure to check out our new facebook page and become a fan.
The site will have information on our annual conference, "Igniting Change: Activating Alliances for Social Justice."
I spent four weeks last July learning how to go door-to-door, appealing to latent activists, and asking for their monetary support. I was given 5 hours in which to knock on as many doors as possible, and hopefully connect with about 40 people. Of those 40 people, 5-8 of them should, statistically, have given me money. My job was to make sure those givers gave me total, over the course of the night, at least $110. This was a job that took tremendous communication skills, the ability to think on your feet, and, surprisingly, is much more in your control than you would otherwise guess. So, in essence, the world to a canvasser is divided into givers and non-givers. But it put me in an interesting position to observe how people present themselves to strangers, which also said a lot about them. How they said "No" to me was particularly revealing.
It's canvassing season -- canvassers across the country are going door-to-door to talk to you about their pet issue. I didn't unpack this fully. But I found the notes I made last August and wanted to write what I remembered -- because it's important for women who are faced with these decisions (either at their door or on the street) to understand that there is more going on than someone asking you for money for their pet political cause. Here are some things to think about, if someone knocks on your door:
I'm angry. In exactly one week, I will be graduating college. Trust me, the anger does not come from that, if I have to make one more footnote, someone is going to get hurt. What I'm angry about, is that it took me this long to discover feminism. Until I took Psych of Women, I had no idea that someone like me could even be a feminist. And by someone like me, I meant your average vodka slinging/boy chasing/eye liner wearing/paris hilton sycophant/ party girl heterosexual. Granted, I'm as liberal as they come. But, I was also raised in a generation that believed Feminists were lesbians, Feminists were angry, and feminists sure as shit don't get drunk and sexy dance at bars. So, I'm pissed. I spent all of my teen years, and the majority of my college years not even knowing what a feminist was. Upon my feminist HolySHIT moment, I was compelled to tell every girl I knew, guess what - you're feminists, too. I'm sick of the smart girls around me denying that they're feminists because they have no god damn idea of what it means. So, as activists - we have realized - getting angry doesnt do shit. It's all about the action. So here is my proposal, let's get the word out to our YOUNGER girls. The amazing feminists I know have already gotten to work on destigmatizing it, but what if we could reach people who don't even have this horrible misconception yet. My god, if someone introduced me to feminism a while back, I probably would have felt a bit more empowered after a grope fest at frat parties, or more importantly, understood why it was WRONG. Why was I raised on the ideals of tolerance and activism, yet no one said a God damn word to me about feminism until I was 20 years old? Feminism to me was a synonym for lesbian, or a word that went along with suffrage and angry broads in petticoats. Let's get the word out of what a FEMINIST really looks like. Learning what it really means to be a feminist changed my life, and allowed to me to challenge the choices I have made thus far, and it has given to the ablity to think critically about my surroundings. Let's teach our next generation this, before the culture of rape and misogyny gets them first. Let's bring feminism to middle schools and high schools, show our girls what powerful women they will one day become.
Dear Friends,
I am a long time reader, but have never posted. I felt the need to post today.
This morning I was deeply disturbed by an email that I received from my husband's grandfather claiming that S909 The Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act is a bill that will offer federal protection to pedophiles. Yup, that's what he said, protecting pedophiles. Nevermind that nowhere in this bill does it negate, ya know, the crime of pedophilia. But....let's move on. *sigh*
Disturbed by the rhetoric in the email and the weight of the hatred that emanated from it, I decided to go find the text of the bill and find out exactly where they are pulling this INSANE position from. Here ya go:
(1) The incidence of violence motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim poses a serious national problem.
Apparently, where the folks who want to see this defeated are taking issue with the words “sexual orientation” because there is no “definition” of such in this legislation. We all know where they have gone with that.
Secondly, they are all ranting about how this will lead to persecution of “speech” and “thought-crimes.” There is nothing in here that talks about inhibiting the freedom of speech. It is talking about federal protection and funds for prosecuting VIOLENT CRIMES. The allowances they are taking here, and flat out lies being perpetuated. are misleading at best and downright criminal at worst.
I will spare you all my rant on the rhetoric and how it echoes (sometimes almost identically) the rhetoric that was rife during the 1950’s and 60’s amidst the Civil Rights Movement and over federal civil rights legislation. I know so many of you are already aware of this. I do find it telling that anytime a bill like this comes up that there is rhetoric espoused that claim these laws will somehow endanger a segment of the population – of course, a segment of the population that is deemed in need of white male protection. First, it was "protect white womanhood!" Now, it's "protect our children!" What better way to get people on your side than to scare them with the specters of racial/sexual danger.
So, let me get to my point. I am preaching to the choir here. But.....choir......we need to sing and SING LOUD!
Women know that war is SO over. We know it in our hearts, in our guts, in our wombs. We know that the madness in Iraq and Afghanistan has to end, that we cannot keep sending our children to kill the children of mothers across the globe. Last month at an appearance in Turkey, President Obama himself said "...sometimes I think that if you just put the mothers in charge for a while, that things would get resolved."
It is nearly 140 years since Julia Ward Howe wrote her Mother's Day Proclamation, a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. It flowed from her feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level. Every year since CODEPINK began in 2002, we have worked to remind the public and media that Mother's Day isn't really about Hallmark and Teleflora, but was a call for women to gather in "the great and general interests of peace." Howe knew then what we know now. It will take women's leadership to undermine what have become the USA's greatest exports: Violence, Weapons and War.
I'm running a bit late for blog against disablism day -- last weekend was our big fundraiser, so it's been a bit crazy -- but I think I still have some pertinent stories to tell.
I work as a family service coordinator for Early Steps, the Louisiana state early intervention program. If you haven't heard of early intervention (EI), the idea is that children who receive therapy at the earliest possible age are more likely to develop the childhood skills they need. Programs like mine help children with developmental delays and disabilities BEFORE they are thrown into a classroom with 30 other children and one teacher who is overwhelmed, underpaid, and struggling to handle a class with a wide range of abilities. The state pays therapists (occupational, physical, speech, nutritionists, etc.) to go into the home once a week and work with the parents to teach them skills to help their child, whether the child is having trouble holding a spoon to feed himself or not picking up speech very quickly. My job is to assist the family in finding resources to help them (from Medicaid to SSI to other non-profits that help them if they are hungry, homeless, unemployed, in foster care, etc.), to help families and therapists set reachable goals for the children at 3- and 6-month intervals, and to coordinate other therapy activities. I only work with children from birth to 3 (then they pass to another program), but the 40 kids I have on my caseload range from those with minor speech delays to kids with cerebral palsy, down's, rare genetic disorders, microcephaly at birth, and just about everything in between.
Working this job for five months has given me the chance to encounter attitudes and resistance (from my friends and family, the families I work with, my co-workers, the state, therapists, and others) that both shocks and saddens me. My kids and their families have taught me so much about the world, and I wanted to share that here.
1) Disability is not a pity party. When I tell people what I do, I often get, "Oh, that must be so sad" or "how do you deal with that?" Deal with what? My kids don't need your pity; if anything, YOU need their courage and their heart. These kids work and play so hard in therapy. I love visiting these children who teach me how to color outside the lines. Every day they show me the will and strength it takes to overcome people's expectations and pity to be the strongest, happiest, best kids they can be. And if you have ever seen a child with down's syndrome smile, you know you have met the happiest child in the world.
2) There is no such thing as "normal." The more "evaluations" I see, the more I speak to therapists, the more I realize there is no "normal" child. We have this misconceived notion of when a child should learn a skill or how a child should perform a task. But the truth is, not every child will walk by 12 months, 2 days, 10 hours. Often the guidelines are just that - guidelines. If you are looking for a problem, many evaluations will find one (or more). Most of the evaluations done by the school and the state involve 5 questions at max in each developmental area. That's bullshit. These "tests" do not determine your child any more than standardized testing does. Just like adults, children have their own personalities and time schedules. Some will walk before they crawl. Our culture is so conditioned to see a child and label them as "normal" or "not normal" that we do not understand the quirks and individual needs of each child.
3) We need more education and awareness. I can't talk about this enough. People are unaware of this program. They are unaware of whether their child has a delay or a disability and may need some help - even many doctors have no idea how to address their needs. Many of my families balk at ideas like teaching sign language - babies understand signs before they can understand verbal communication, and both are effective in helping a child express his wants and needs. But some parents see sign language as foreign, scary, or negative. Families often won't get help through government and non-profit programs because they are afraid of being charity cases or having other people accuse them of depending on the government. Parents don't know where to go for help or how to advocate for themselves and their children. Often the parents are so overwhelmed and emotional because they feel like God has dealt their children a bad card and they cannot handle the medical bills, day-to-day difficulties, other people's opinions, and lack of knowledge. All of these issues could be addressed if we discussed disabilities, if we worked to increase education - through the media, in schools, in medicine, and in communities, and if we recognized the damage of social stigma and misinformation.
Well, I need to get back to work. But I'd love it if you left me what you have learned in the comments - as a person with a disability, as a parent of children with disabilities, learning disorders, developmental delays, etc., as a person who works with people with disabilities, or as someone who simply recognizes that there should not be a (dis) in "(dis)ability" but instead a recognition that everyone is abled - we just perform our abilities in different ways using different means. My personal favorite is "(who are you dissing?)ability."
P.S. On the problem of invisibility -- why is there no category this post could fall into?
I grew up in a small town in central N.H., and I remember at my grade school the most popular insult on and off the playground, by a landslide, was "faggot." I can't look at this bill as a sweeping change to the mentalities of many people in the state, but that it has made it so far though the state gov't - albeit narrowly - gives me some hope.
As I understand, the bill is only moving forward because of an amendment made to it:
The amendment distinguished between "civil marriage" and weddings sanctioned by religious groups, spelling out that the state would not force those groups to marry same-sex couples. It also clarified that the bill would not eliminate the option to select "husband" or "wife" when applying for a marriage license, even as it would add the gender-neutral term "spouse."
The Senate version "recognizes the sanctity of religious marriages and the diversity of beliefs in our culture" while also addressing a form of state discrimination, Senate President Sylvia Larsen said in an interview after the vote.
Still sounds pretty discriminatory to me, although if the full privileges and benefits of a hetero marriage are applicable after a service by a Justice of the Peace, that doesn't seem like a bad thing. If someone wanted a religious service they could always call Rev. Gene Robinson <3<3<3. Is this a different standard than in Vermont or Massachusetts or other states?
Any readers living in NH (or not!) I encourage to contact Governor John Lynch, who is a very popular democrat in the state - he has never said he would pass a same-sex marriage bill, but maybe people can help change his mind:
Office of the Governor
State House
25 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603)271-2121
(603)271-7680 (fax)
So recently I've been active with our local Planned Parenthood. I've felt the need to become an activist for quite some time. I knew that being a feminist was more than just spewing rhetoric on the evils of patriarchy. It's about making a difference and fighting patriarchy on the front line. But as I become more experienced with activism, I've learned that it's so much more than just fighting the good fight. Activism yields a certain quality of life.
Making new friends
I met some interesting people through activism. And I'm not using interesting in a derogatory sense. These people are truly interesting with a fascinating past. I've met a woman who worked at an abortion clinic, and a form NOW MO Chapter President. I've met a woman whose passion for feminism was only matched with her passion for Coca-Cola. And that's only to name a few! As I talked with these women and listened to their stories, I couldn't help but admire them. I felt the urge to capture their image on paper through writing so that they can be admired as well. It's a privilege to have met and talked with these women, and I hope to do so again!
The American humorist Will Rogers once said, "It ain't that we're so dumb; it's just that what we know ain't so."
Certain things we know to be true. We know that the South kept slaves, and the North fought a righteous war of liberation. We know that the slave trade was legal right up to the Civil War. We know that the Emancipation Proclamation freed all the slaves, and that the United States has been slavery-free ever since. These things we know - and none of it is true.
On the other hand, most of us do not know that slavery not only exists throughout the world today; it flourishes. Slavery is legal nowhere, yet it is practiced everywhere. With an estimated 27 million people in bondage worldwide, it is the second or third most lucrative criminal enterprise of our time, after drugs, and maybe guns. More than twice as many people are in bondage in the world today as were taken in chains during the entire 350 years of the African Slave Trade. In seeking to place blame, we're tempted to point to the "emerging nations" as the culprits, whereas in fact slavery is alive and more than well right here, thriving in the dark, and practiced in many forms in places you'd least expect.
The Baltimore Choice Avengers (formally known as the C.R.A.B., Communities Resisting Abortion and Birth Control Bans) invites you to a pro-choice happy hour at The Windup Space. Enjoy the company of like-minded activists while we discuss important pro-choice issues affecting your community.
Happy hour specials available until 8pm! FYI: The Windup Space does not serve food, but allows customers to bring in food, so feel free to purchase dinner from a nearby restaurant or pack a snack.
Next Tuesday, April 28, is Equal Pay Day, which marks the point in 2009 when the average woman’s wages finally catch up with what the average man earned in 2008. It's an opportunity to reflect on the movement for pay equity — and the impact of unfair pay. Women still earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men — and for women of color, the numbers are even worse.
On Tuesday, you're invited to take part in Blog for Fair Pay Day 2009 by blogging, tweeting, or posting to Facebook about pay equity for women. Last year, more than 80 bloggers participated.
More details on pay equity and on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that's already passed the House and is now pending in the Senate, are available on NWLC's website.
Thanks to everyone who's signed up so far to join us for Blog for Fair Pay Day 2009! If you haven't yet, please sign up to blog, tweet, and post to Facebook next Tuesday — and help us spread the word!
So, I've been thinking recently that my college needs a "student organiziation" that concerns itself with feminism, women's rights or something in that lovely genre. However, I really can't think what I would want to call said group, or what it would focus on. I was wondering if those of you who were and/or are in a group in college would share about any feminist or women's rights groups you were active in in college so that I have ideas to start one on my campus!
If you could have any feminist issue that is something our federal government could do? What would it be? A new grassroots feminist movement is forming around a call for a new Presidential Commission on the Status of Women to look into the problems that women still face here and around the world.
This week WomenCount is asking what you want a presidential commission on women to do? Take a look at the text of the legislation and offer your suggestions on WomenCount's blog. They'll summarize the responses and submit them to Rep. Jackie Speier's office.
Also if you wish join the Call for a Presidential Commission on Women on Facebook. It's time for your voices to be heard in the halls of government.
The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is the leading feminist group locally, here in Singapore. They've done quite a lot of stuff: offering secular sex ed, calling for protection of foreign domestic workers, trying to get marital rape criminalised, starting a campaign against workplace harassment. There's of course been criticism about the fact that - probably in order to stay acceptable in our conservative society - AWARE doesn't actively speak up for lesbian or trans* women; but even so, there's no denying the fact that they've done a lot of good.
Recently their 2009 elections made it to the newspaper. The Straits Times online report is reproduced partially here , and in full at some other blogs. Basically, what's happened is that a sizeable number of members joined all at once, at the start of the year. AWARE's annual general meeting was held in March, typically with low turnout, but this time there was a strong influx of new members voting, with the result that 75% of the new executive committee were new members. The president, Ms Claire Nazar, was an old member, who quit very suddenly after about a week in office.
Though it isn't spelt out in the online version of the newspaper report, checking the membership registers uncovered the fact that some of the new members have actually written to the newspaper forum before. In 2007, a Penal Code revision might have repealed Section 377A, which criminalises male-on-male sodomy (a hangover of British colonial law); there was an outcry of conservative protest, and apparently some of the new AWARE members have been known to be among that vocal lot.
The full article can be seen at a local blog here , and here's some telling excerpts:
A check showed that some of those at the AGM and on the new committee have appeared in The Straits Times Forum Page.
Ms Chua, Ms Thiang and Dr Alan Chin, a male member of Aware who attended the AGM and supported the newcomers, all wrote letters to this newspaper between August and October 2007.
In a letter on Oct 17 that year, Ms Chua said NMP Siew Kum Hong had overstepped his non-partisan role and advanced the homosexual cause by tabling a petition in Parliament to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalises homosexual sex between consenting men.
In another letter on Oct 25, she took issue with a Straits Times report which said NMP Thio Li-Ann had been 'visibly distraught' when she opposed Mr Siew's petition vigorously.
Ms Chua said Ms Thio had dealt with several points succinctly, with humour and passion.
Dr Chin and Ms Thiang both wrote letters to caution against the risks of promoting the homosexual lifestyle.
That casts a very disturbing light on this:
one outspoken new member from the floor, who identified herself as Angela Thiang, said questions about the new office bearers' religion and their stand on homosexuality were not relevant.
I accept that AWARE has relatively low visibility even in Singapore, and of course much less internationally; but even so, it has played a significant role as a secular women's group in Singapore. This news should be given a lot more attention in the press (though that, I admit, would be unlikely); the good thing, though, is that a considerable number of bloggers have been focusing on this:
Local feminist blog Glass Castle
Just to share something that might've been off the radar for some.
(crossposted from Amplify )
Has your college campus recently made condoms more difficult to access?
Is your school board making a decision about what sex education curriculum will be taught in your schools?
Did your local paper run an op-ed against same-sex marriage?
Is your state legislature considering legislation that limits access to abortion?
If so, you find yourself in a position where you need to mobilize people to act quickly. However, you might not have a database of activists at your fingertips, or have the resources to create an easy form for people to act.
But that's where Amplify comes in!
Amplify is proud to offer our new feature, the Create Your Own Action Alert . All you need to do is fill out our online form providing us with the target(s) contact information, a draft of the Alert Email, and the Letter to the Target. We enter it into our system, and then send you an email with a link to send out (here's what the alerts look like ). We can also send the alert out to Advocates for Youth's ginormous youth activist network in your area if you’d like us to. It’s as simple as that!
I encourage everyone to check out this feature and see if you can use it to mobilize people to act in your own community. You no longer have to wait for organizations to do the work that is needed... you can just do it yourself!
I think I just loss all faith in humanity. No, seriously.
I am a member of V-DAY, a group started by Eve Ensler on college campuses across the nation to bring awareness to the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. To say that I am a dedicated and passionate young feminist is to describe me accurately. However, lately I have been seriously disturbed by all the recent violence produced by the Mexican drug cartels. This morning in my Latin American/Gender class my professor showed a picture of 6 heads laying on a floor with no bodies. These people had been beheaded recently by the drug cartels. This ruthless violence is getting to me, to say the least. So, when I got home tonight I turned the google safe search off and went to work to see if I could figure out what was really going on. I consulted the campus research sources, Google Scholar, Google for regular people, Youtube, and all the major newspapers. One thing led to another and I ended up researching the psychological effects of rape.
I accidentally ended up on a gangrape website (I refuse to post the link because it was so gruesome i bawled for hours). I cried and cried. This website had videos of hundreds of young girls being raped, and not sicko porn raped, up for purchase, in a multitude of categories. There were fiery asians, virgins, gay violence, latinas (the list goes on in an equally brutal and offensive manner.) Being on a college campus I have the power to reach other young girls. 1 in 5 college women will experience rape, and 85% of women know their attacker. Most women that are raped know their attacker an average of 1 year. Only 16% of college rapes get reported, and 30% of these women contemplate suicide. These numbers are unacceptable to me, especially after what I was just forced to witness.
i want to reach out to other women, younger or older. I want to be the Eve Ensler of my generation. I was in the Vagina Monologues and it was one of my proudest moments. I am asking for the help of fellow feminists in how I can reach out to other young women on a college campus. i WILL reach out, as of right now I am just frustrated and need some ideas on how to do it.
Help me fellow and creative feminists!
I checked my email today and noticed a message from Courage Campaign about a hateful homophobic ad recently put out by the National Organization for Marriage. The ad uses shameless scare tactics and basically no logic to push it's message of hate:
According to the Courage Campaign, this ad is showing on televisions across the US and is shown up to eight times a day in California, where the Courage Campaign is based. To combat the efforts of the National Organization for Marriage, the Courage Campaign is asking for donations to fund training for marriage equality activists in California. If you would like to donate, you can do so here. I'm not affiliated with the Courage Campaign, so I cannot vouch for them, but I know that they have done good work in the past (getting together names to send to Obama in support of specific legislation, etc).
Anyway, I'd like to know what else we could do to combat the hate being spewed by this National Organization for Marriage advertisement, both in California and out. I want to deter them, but don't know the best way to go about it.
(crossposted at Amplify )
As I'm sure everybody who reads Feministing knows by now, a Virginia high school student faces a two week suspension and possible expulsion for the terrible, terrible crime of... taking her birth control pill . The most atrocious part of this sad affair is that school policy gives the same punishment for carrying a loaded handgun, and even a more lenient policy for possessing heroin.
This calls for immediate action. The Fairfax School Board and Virginia's state school board need to rectify this ridiculous policy immediately.
Please send the board members this letter , telling them that taking birth control (which is quite responsible behavior in light of the rise in teen birth rates) is in no way a comparable crime to possessing a handgun or heroin on school grounds.
Let them know that we need common sense in our schools, not irrational policies that treat birth control like a lethal weapon.
Wow!
Just got back from my lecture on Women's Rights at the University of Bahrain and it was a major success. My first professional experience as a feminist lecturer in a university - it was like a dream come true!
The college is HUGE and lush and covered in grass and trees, absolutely beautiful.
Even though the lecture was offered during the students two hour break for lunch the turn out was really good, about 30 students, mostly Saudi and Bahraini, 7 or 8 of them were young men and a few Americans, including one Fulbright scholar.
I was a bit nervous to give my lecture because I would be discussing what is a VERY controversial topic in the Middle East: women's rights. Last year a teacher at another Bahraini university was fired and nearly sent to prison for displaying a picture of Prophet Mohammed and here I was about to discuss some very provocative issues. I debated whether or not I should refrain from my more harsher critiques of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in particular but I decided that I had to be true to myself and display the facts truthfully and academically.
So, after Dr Hillis and Dr Cavell (the two American professors in charge of the American Studies Centre) introduced me, I began my lecture.
I divided my lecture into 4 main sections:
1. The state of women in the world. I discussed statistics such as 70% of people living in poverty are women, 2/3 of all labor hours worked in the world are worked by women but women only make 10% of global wages, 70% of all food is produced by women and yet they own less than 2% of all farmland, 1 out of 3 women in the world will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime and 40% of women will experience domestic violence at some point in their life. I also discussed the growing prevalence of female genital mutilation in Africa and the Middle East. 140 million women live with FGM and 3 million little girls are mutilated every year, usually between the ages of 5 and 10, and is carried out in unhygienic conditions, with no anesthesia without the child's consent, which frequently leads to shock, infection, death, sterility, etc.
(crossposted at Amplify )
Today CNS (Cybercast News Service, formerly known as Conservative News Service) posted an article with the scary title: “Federally Funded Group Advises Teens on How to Decide if They Are Gay”.
Oh yea, and that group they are talking about is none other than those crazy cats over at Advocates for Youth (you know where I work and the group who runs this website).
To put it out front, yes, we have all kinds of amazing resources for young people about their sexual and reproductive health. As for the federal funding, as the article points out, none of it goes to our website development. You can even read the article for clarity:
(crossposted at Amplify Your Voice )
Like blogging about sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people? Even better, want to get paid for it?
Amplify has a couple of spots open for front page bloggers aged 16-24. Each of our front page writers will have a weekly blog on the front page of www.amplifyyourvoice.org – you may be assigned to cover one of our issues , or we may just want your unique perspective on sex in our society. And you’ll get paid for it! (monthly stipend of $100)
You must have your own, regular Internet access to be a front page blogger. The responsibilities for this position will include :
- 1 weekly blog on your topic or focus area
- 2 additional posts a month, which can either be on your topic or whatever else you choose, within the constraints of the site’s mission and Advocates For Youth’s 3R’s Vision
- Commenting on at least 5 other Amplify blog entries per week and contributing feedback on Amplify as we develop it as a blog and activism tool.
To apply, please send the following:
- A brief description of what you’d write about. What issues will you tackle, or what is your point of view? What will be the tone? What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? We are especially interested in recruiting bloggers on the topics of reproductive justice, international issues, and HIV.
- Two sample entries - examples of what you would write in your blog if we hire you.
- A previously published article, such as a newspaper column or posting to another blog or your own blog; OR, a third sample entry.
- Your contact info.
For more information, contact joe@advocatesforyouth.org.
I am a long-time reader of Feministing and its community blogs, but this is my first time posting. I decided to attempt the change from reader to poster because I could really use some input, and people here give such good, well-informed advice.
I'm the Administrative Assistant for three departments, one of which is Women's Studies, at a small New England college. Women's Studies is a minor here, but the department has been working toward making it a major, which would be awesome. Since starting at this job about a year and a half ago, I've gotten involved with various feminist causes and events on campus, and have just been so thrilled to finally be a part of a feminist community!
A faculty member from a different department (though one of my three) and I have taken it upon ourselves to bring a space to campus that is woman-positive and woman-centric; eventually, we want to call it a Women's Resource Center, but we can't call it that yet for various bureaucratic reasons (use of the word "Center" is, apparently, only used in very specific conditions). So, we hope to some day have it be an official Women's Resource Center after going through all of the necessary steps. That's fine, I have no problem with that - whatever they need us to do, we'll do it!
We do, however, have the blessing to go ahead and basically do everything we've been planning on doing anyway, we just have to use different wording. And we have to essentially beg, borrow, and steal for anything we need for this center - er, sorry, place - because we're not yet qualified for funding. Again, I have no problem with that either - just forces a little more creativity! And we are unbelievably fortunate to have been granted a space on campus for our - you know, the thing, the place. And we can start moving in and making it our own over the summer, if I understand correctly. I couldn't be any more excited!
We know that we want to be a central point of reference for women students and faculty (and eventually, we hope, for women in the community as well, but we'll have to see if that's possible), so that if they want to know where to go on campus for various services, we can refer them. That's probably going to be the primary service of this "center". But also, I'm sure we'll want to have books, magazines, likely internet access, as well as just having it be a comfortable and welcoming place for women to hang out together and make connections. We'll also do programs specific to women, and maybe have movie nights, that sort of thing.
So - wrenching this back to the question part of this post - does anyone here have experience with this kind of thing? If you wouldn't mind sharing any experiences, words of wisdom, words of caution, and anything else related, I would be ever so grateful! And of course, if any part of this post isn't clear, or if you need more info, just let me know, and I'll do my best to clarify.
Thank you all so much for your consideration!
A California congresswoman is pressing forward with legislation to set up a permanent federal commission on women just weeks after President Barack Obama created an interagency council to focus the government's policies towards women and girls.
"I don't see them at all in competition. I see them as complementary to each other," Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told POLITICO.
Speier said she plans to introduce a bill today that would set up a 13-member federal commission similar to one President Kennedy created in 1961 at the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt, who also served as the panel's chairwoman.
"I would say, 'We've come a long way, baby' ... not," Speier said, putting a twist on the old Virginia Slims cigarette slogan. "If you look at statistics, it's very telling. Women represent only 17 percent of Congress. The amount women make in comparison to men is only 77 cents on the dollar. ... It's that kind of insidious discrimination that lingers."
Here is what a new women's group calling themselves WomenCount is saying:
"You've probably seen the news recently about President Obama creating the White House Council on Women and Girls. It's an important step, and we applaud the President for taking it.But the White House Council serves a very different purpose than the Commission created by this bill. The Council coordinates all federal policy dealing with women's issues, whereas the Commission would take a step back and look at every aspect of life for women in America.
The Commission would develop the policies that create equality and opportunity for women, and work with the White House to implement those policies."
I guess the main difference between the Presidential Commission on Women and the White House Council on Women and Girls is that the latter-- as I read it in news reports--
1) would consist primarily of periodic Cabinet-level meetings between mostly male Cabinet heads on how the work of each department affects women and girls, to be coordinated by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.
2) to me, this sounds more like analyzing how the government currently works and how that work impacts women and girls in particular. The problem is that these meetings will be constrained by existing structures of how Departments operate and the discussions will take place mostly between the men who lead these departments-- not necessarily the people who know the most or are most passionate about issues affecting women and girls.
I think the Council was a great move by Obama but frankly, if I was a Cabinet member I would see these meetings as important -- but a sideshow, if not a chore.
A Presidential Commission, on the other hand,
1) would have more of a permanent staff, directly focused on issues affecting women and girls. Rather than just a series of meetings by mostly male Cabinet heads, the permanent staff would study womens' issues directly without being constrained by existing government operations.
2) they would be able to do research, create reports and recommendations, and build a critical mass.
I really think it's important for us feminists to have a voice in government-- I think even seeing that such a commission is created would embolden more women to speak out about the issues women face.
This plan will be unveiled today, April 2 and the White House has not yet made a decision on this. The White House keeps a tally of all the calls and mail they receive by topic and it is reviewed periodically. If you support this idea go here, or call the White House comments line at: 202-456-1111.
What do you think?
Dear Feministing Community,
This isn't a rant. This isn't a post about some problem I've witnessed, or some theory i have. This post is to tell you what I did tonight.
I took back the night.
This week is Sexual Assault Awareness Week on my campus. April - tomorrow - is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Tonight, various groups and people on my campus came together to march through our neighborhood and across our school to raise awareness about sexual assault on our campus and in our society and to end the silence about rape and sexual violence.
I'd like to share some of our chants with you.
"People Unite.
Take Back the Night.
Men out there, show you care."
"Hey hey, ho ho!
Sexual Assault has got to go!"
"What do we want?
SAFE STREETS! [safe campus]
When do we want them?
NOW!"
"Silence is not consent!"
"Two, Four, Six, Eight.
No more silence, no more hate!"
"Yes means yes. No means no.
Whatever we wear,
Wherever we go."
I've been a member of a student group organized to educate my campus about rape and sexual assault for three years now, and this is my third year as a participant (and very loud shouter) in Take Back the Night. Why do I do it?
As an update to the last post about the military's lack of insight in rape education, I am asking for your help to kick off a series feminist activities that may help in changing that.
The letter of the editor that I wrote can now be seen here.
The next step in getting the attention of military brass is to make this the only issue discussed within the newspaper for the next few weeks.
The way to do that is to write more letters in support of a revamping of rape education to "letters@stripes.com" It especially means a lot when you have a military connection or deal with rape survivors on a regular basis.
As well - and this is a good thing - the military is starting a task force to study its responsiveness to sexual assaults and what it can do to make this better.
Recently, they were here in Iraq and will be traveling to military bases around the world to gauge their responsiveness. Those interested in providing feedback about how the military does with its support of victims can go here (www.dtic.mil/dtfsams/) or email assist@wso.whs.mil. This is especially critical because later this year, the task force will be presenting its findings and recommendations to Congress. This can be a good first step in getting policy change.
Thirdly: as soon as I get the chance here, I will be writing my two senators to ask for a change in rape education within the military. Forward-deployed personnel, it seems, always get the attention of their senators, so I am using this to my advantage.
But I am also asking you to contact your senators and representatives. Hopefully, if we play our cards right, by this time next year, we'll be having feminist education of rape within the military.
I am not looking to reinvent the wheel, so if anyone out there knows of good, solid prevention of sexual assaults programs (such as "Real Men Don't Rape" or "May I Kiss You?"), please contact me.
Hello, feministingers.
I'm hoping to get some advice. For my women and gender studies class, we are doing an activism project. I'm conducting a survey via facebook to find out student attitudes about rape and sexual violence. Then I intend to publicize the results and debunk any possible misconceptions. Also I plan to hold a Take Back the Night rally.
My question is - what exactly do you do at a TBTN rally? I know it's about raising awareness and standing up to predators, but I'm just not sure how to go about it. Do I need the city's permission? Is it a march? A vigil? I just don't know, this is my first time organizing any kind of activist goings-on.
Thanks for your help.
Thanks from ActionAid to everyone who took part in the Put Your Foot Down campaign to end violence against women and the spread of HIV. The great news is that, thanks to everyone's support, we have surpassed our target of 2,876 signatures. We have collected a signature for every women who contracts HIV every day.
Many of our supporters posted us shoes. With them Riita Ikonen, Young Creative Network, has sculpted an inspirational piece of art on the themes of women, violence and HIV. The sculpture was unveiled in the Foyer of the Department for International Development in the UK, and handed in along with all your virtual shoes, to Minister Ivan Lewis.
The customized shoes tell women's stories. Those painted black represent the silent voices of women who have suffered violence and contracted HIV.
Ivan Lewis, the Minister in charge of HIV and AIDS, spoke to ActionAid at the unveiling. He emphasised that DFID was strongly committed to doing more on violence against women, and promised that the UK would encourage other countries and the international community to follow suit, and put women's rights at the heart of the struggle against HIV.
In the coming months, ActionAid will be following up both of these commitments. Watch this space!
Many thanks to everyone who has supported the put your foot down campaign, your support has sent a powerful message that it is time to take action on violence against women.
About Face Theatre is in danger of closing it's doors, which would be a huge detriment to LGBTQA community.
For those of you who don't know About Face Theatre in Chicago, you SHOULD. AFT is the only theatre in Chicago, and one of the few high profile theatres anywhere, dedicated to creating work by and about the LGBTQ experience. Pulitzer Prize winner I am My Own Wife appeared there, as did Moises Kaufman's production of Tennessee Willaims's One Arm, Mary ZImmerman's M. Proust and many other vital performances that might not have been able to be performed elsewhere.
And perhaps most significantly, they have extensive youth programming, that creates a safe space for amazing youth artists and activists to express themselves. I worked with the youth theatre for two years, and I could go on for days about the incredible work that happens within this space. This past summer, for example, we put up FAST FORWARD at the Center on Halsted, an original production presented by and for young people about sex education and HIV awareness in our educational system. Previous productions have explored issues of identity, homelessness, coming out, allies and much, much more. The youth theatre was created in response to Matthew Shepard's death, and in the past ten years a lot has changed, for the better for young gay people and their allies. But the struggle is far from over, and without a space like About Face Youth Theatre, it would be a lot harder.
If you want more information about About Face, you can check out video testimonials here. To donate, you can go directly to the website. If you're based out of Chicago, you can also find other ways to volunteer, and help save AFT.
Thanks so much for your help! Please help us spread the word about this incredibly vital theatre company.
The story's I tell, that had become my life are told not to benefit me, but to help you. You who have been abused, whose life at times never ended the pain. The women who suffered and some who died tell of times in their lives that cheated them of humanity and dreams. The world took away from the reality that should have been and placed them in pain. It often amazes me at how women survive, but we do, and we do so others can survive too. My travels have taken my home to a place now that I can be heard, that when I speak my words are believed. It took me a long time to get to this place, and years and scars are etched upon my face. But I am beautiful just like you, and desire the human kindness that had so long been denied me.
Hi everyone!
Thanks, in advance, for your help.
I have been asked to give a lecture/workshop on Women's Rights at the University of Bahrain.
I have lived in Saudi Arabia/Bahrain my entire life, although I am an American. I am currently pursuing my PhD on Poli Sci/Gender Studies, so I like to think that I am prepared for giving this talk.
However, these young women and young men have not had any fem 101 classes, and often see feminism as an unwanted Western intrusion, or a diatribe againt their religion or culture. And as much as I passionately hate all organized religions and the woman hating, violent cultures they spawn, I really can't touch on that subject without fear of being kicked out of the country.
Most young women I talk to here in Bahrain do not even think that more women's rights are that necessary and they view the current system as pretty good.
This attitude in a country where 3 young men recently abducted and raped a woman and are about to go free with a slap on the wrist because, in the female defense attorney's words: "They meant no harm, it was just harmless fun."
This attitude in a country steeped in a misogynistic culture that arrests and imprisons girls for being alone at night with an unrelated boy.
This attitude in a country where to sign any legal document you need 2 MALE witnesses.
This attitude in a country where billboards depicting little girls are slashed, ripped down and destroyed.
This attitude in a country where FGM is on the rise and still goes unprosecuted and uncommented upon.
Bahrain's young people are just like many people in the world, focused on mainly material things: who drives the biggest Hummer, the shiniest ferrari, and has the latest designer clothes.
I want to WAKE up their rage and OPEN their eyes to the atrocities being committed all around them.
In an effort to not set them on the defensive I wanted to begin my lecture with general facts about the conditions of women around the world, really reveal just how mistreated and abused women are.
Then introduce them to the women's rights movements, a bit of history, etc.
Then share with them some of the specific current global issues, and finally close with a bit of "What YOu can do" and discuss some of the things going on right here in Bahrain and what we can all do about them.
That is the basic outline. I was hoping you could help me with some ideas about activities/discussions/etc that you have used or experienced in the past that really made you or your students CONNECT with feminism and see it's place in your life. I'm especially looking for interactive activities that won't just require me to drone on and on, but really require the participation of the students.
Thanks for your help, I look forward to hearing your suggestions.
Hello there!
I was browsing on the New York Public Library Website and came across the NYC Commission on Women's Issues!
The website states:
"On Thursday, March 5, 2009, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the launch of the NYC Women's Resource Network , a free, online, searchable database of over one thousand nonprofit organizations and government agencies that provide a variety of services to women and families in New York City."
How awesome is this! I spent some time looking through the resources and it is an amazing website! Even if you are not from the NYC area, you should still definitely check it out!
I could write a more elaborate blog about this topic, but I'm just going to post a conversation I had with a woman named Melissa from Feminist Magazine.
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Feminist Magazine (217834901)
To: Gabe "End the Drug War" Rivera (448871069)
Date: Mar 2, 2009 3:35 PM
Subject: The bulletin on what would you do with a woman
Hi Gabe,
I responded to your comment on the bulletin..
Were you referring to the comment that was left by someone or the bulletin itself?
With respect,
Melissa
Fem Mag
Ken Starr , the dean of Pepperdine University's School of Law, is arguing before the California Supreme Court in defense of Prop 8. His goal is to nullify 18,000 same-sex marriages and has argued that by allowing same-sex marriage we as a people have "diminished a public commitment to protecting the welfare of children."
Starr argues against gay families by claiming that there are "substantial adverse consequences for children that often flow from alternative household arrangements."
Yesterday, lawyer David Gibbs , "told rally participants gay marriage would 'open the door to unusual marriage in North Carolina. Why not polygamy, or three or four spouses?' Gibbs asked. 'Maybe people will want to marry their pets or robots'."
What's with these lawyers?! I always thought lawyers needed hard facts and evidence to back up their claims and their agendas? Forgive me for valuing research but studies to date have shown that children of lesbian and gay parents have positive relationships with peers and adults of both sexes and are fully engaged in social life. Their happiness is not affected by their parents' sexual orientation and they develop strong relationship with hetero and homosexual family members, peers, and friends. The only "substantial adverse consequences" that i can think of includes the hatred, intolerance, and discrimination that kids of gay and lesbian parents encounter from people like Ken Starr. The way I see it, Ken Starr is the "substantial adverse consequence" that he is trying to "protect" children from.
Sign the petition and tell Starr that his, "attempt to nullify the marriages of 18,000 loving couples in California is misguided and malicious. The rights of a minority should never be stripped by a simple majority vote, and the idea that divorcing parents could help the welfare of children is disgusting."
(cross posted at Feminist Gal .)
Cross-posted @ Choice Words
It’s that time of year again! It happens every spring: shades of pink and red, bouquets of flowers, chocolate… vaginas? That’s right- it’s V-Day ! Eve Ensler, international activist and author of The Vagina Monologues , started the V-Day Organization as a way of combating violence against women and girls. Through V-Day, she has made many of her plays, including the Monologues , available to campus and community groups for free. In return, groups producing her plays must donate all of their proceeds to local charities that work to end violence against women and girls.
I am proud to say that I have just concluded my fourth year of active involvement in the V-Day movement. I work at a college in Illinois, and part of my job is to increase civic engagement on campus. A few months ago I decided that one great way to achieve that goal would be to bring The Vagina Monologues to campus. The show is a wonderful way to raise money for local charities (in this case, our beneficiary was the local chapter of Take Back the Night ) while simultaneously raising awareness of the issues that contemporary women face.
I participated in the show as an undergrad, and this year’s experience was very different from any I had while in college. At BGSU, The Vagina Monologues was an entirely student run project. Students acted, directed, booked space and equipment, sold tickets, and made chocolate vaginas to sell on campus to promote our work. At the college where I work now, I was shocked- and a little dismayed- on audition day when only three students showed up! As a result, I found myself with a cast comprised primarily of staff (including my boss!), faculty, and active community members. In fact, I was the second-youngest woman in the cast. Most of my fellow actors were old enough to be my mother- or even my grandmother.
While passing through Tate Plaza today at the University of Georgia I noticed a booth selling t shirts for Relay for Life. I went over to get one since I'll be walking for my 2 aunts and was HORRIFIED to see that the shirt literally said "Can You Keep it Up All Night"?
Last semester when they had pin the nipple on the boob for breast cancer, I was miffed. Now I'm pissed. Why do we sexualize everything? Why do we feel that to raise money for cancer we need to make it funny, a gimmick? The Relay for Life Committee at UGA has very poor taste in what is appropriate.
Last week regulations to restore affordable birth control were included in the 2009 Appropriations Bill and successfully passed through the House. At this moment, the Bill is currently being debated in the Senate and is timelined to be on President Obama’s desk this Friday. Today, Senator DeMint offered Amendment 649, a move that would strip affordable birth control from the Bill! DeMint has characterized the Affordable Birth Control Provision in the bill as “an earmark for Planned Parenthood” even though it is of no-cost to the government.
A result of the Deficit Reduction Act, birth control prices have skyrocketed on college campuses the last two years. Students have reported seeing a rise of their prescriptions from $3 to $10 to $30 to $50.
Take a moment to call your Senators NOW and encourage them to work hard to keep Affordable Birth Control in the 2009 Appropriations Bill and to strike Amendment 649 down. Stand together with women across the country in demanding affordable birth control now! Together we can get affordable birth control back in our clinics and on our campuses!
Find your Senators’ phone numbers here and suggested talking points at the bottom of this page.
After you’ve called, let us know how it went!
Thanks for joining us in the fight for affordable birth control!
Choice USA
Cross Posted @ Choice Words
NARAL Pro-Choice New York is organizing grassroots support in support of a woman's right to choose and we want feministing community members to join us!! Help us guarantee a woman's right to control her reproductive health in New York State by working with us to pass the Reproductive Health Act.
For more information about the Reproductive Health Act visit our website.
There are two important ways that you can take action to pass RHA, that can be done from anywhere in New York State. Check out the info below and contact Community Organizer, Lalena Howard at lhoward@prochoiceny.org to get involved today!
Thank you for reading. Hope to work together soon!
I know allot of Canadian women read Feministing, and would have put this on calendar but there's no Canadian citites there, so here we go, an action following up on the Oan Canadian Rebelles conference from last October 2008. If you're not from Montreal,and want to see if there are other events please see here :
The Young feminists' pan-Canadian day of decentralized actions for International Women Day 2009:
PROTEST-ACTION IN MONTRÉAL
Friday, March 6th
Women-only feminist gathering at 5PM at the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre (1420 Sainte-Catherine West)
Bring your signs, drums, whistles and all that jazz!
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY THIS IS A CALL TO ALL FEMINISTS
22% of American women experience domestic violence. In the city of Philadelphia, populated by 1.5 million people, there is only ONE shelter for women escaping these domestic violence situation. That shelter has 100 beds and is on the brink of being shut down due to budget cuts. This is the one place for these women to escape these dangerous, harrowing situations before they become deadly. Maybe you saw the Philly Weekly article about it a few weeks ago. Maybe you caught the Metro front page article on Monday stating that two women were slaughtered over the weekend by their intimate partners. Maybe it's time for all of us to do something before there is NO place for these women to run to.
I am involved in this year's production of The Vagina Monologues -- Philadelphia, the proceeds of which will benefit Women Against Abuse, the organization that runs this shelter. Additionally, The Vagina Monologues is a fantastic experience for everyone, vagina or no! Together with Philadelphia's Stop Modern Slavery group, The Vagina Monologues is focused on bringing awareness, inspiring open hearts and minds, and stopping violence and hatred.
Our website is phillyvaginas.webs.com -- this links directly to the VDay Website and provides a link for purchasing tickets. In years past, The Vagina Monologues -- Philadelphia has charged $25 per ticket. However, all of us have felt the economic woes directly in our wallets, so we decided that tickets this year (for the same venue!) will be $10 in advance and $15 at the door. We are hoping that people who might not be able to afford a pricey show can experience our performance and people who can afford will donate to the cause!
If you haven't been before, The Vagina Monologues is definitely an experience. Some people go multiple times per year -- different performers and optional monologues provide a completely different feeling. Additionally, there is a new message for each year. This year, writer Eve Ensler is striving to bring awareness to the situation of systematic rape and torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She calls it femicide.
If you are in the Philadelphia area, I hope to see you there!
(crossposted at Amplify )
It has been a crazy Spring application cycle! With the help of Facebook, our applications for Spring Semester 2009 SafeSites nearly doubled. More than 2,100 students from over 900 campuses in 48 states applied to be SafeSites. It took awhile, but we now have 1,000 SafeSites doing amazing work on college campuses across the country. Already 400 SafeSites have recieved their boxes of condoms and 600 other SafeSites will recieve their condoms in the upcoming weeks.
What is even more exciting is all the amazing flavors we now have at the Great American Condom Campaign . We have SafeSites at traditional four year, community, technical and online colleges, but we also SafeSites at religious, military, culinary, music, art and design schools. We are on Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as Hispanic Serving Institutions.
It’s so exciting to see college students across the country standing up to provide their peers with the information and products necessary to have sexually healthy lives!
As I’ve done in the past, here are a few of my favorite SafeSite quotes from this application cycle:
Although I've been busy and have not written for a while, something was brought to my attention yesterday by Emily that needs immediate action. So, if you'll take action with this, I'd much appreciate it.
As you may know, the internal armed conflicts in Guatamela has lasted for the better part of 30 years - for the most part, the conflicts were clashes between the Guatamelean government - backed by the US military, and its indigenous people, who took arms in part to defend themselves. During these conflicts, many war crimes and human violations took place - to include using rape as a weapon of war.
Although the conflicts ended in 1996, some ring leaders remained in power and have since then, until present day, continue to inflict human violations upon those who chose to speak out against them. One of the people who chose to speak out is an indigenous leader named Manual Calel Morales.
Together with some international NGOs, Calel Morales has organized neighbors and friends, and those who have family members who have been victimized by human rights violations to speak out and tell their stories. Last fall, he even did a speaking engagement tour here in the US - not for profit, of course. In short, think of the things Morales does as sort of being similar to what South Africa did after apartheid, in terms of telling victims stories to raise consciousness, and, of course, to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations.
**TRIGGER WARNING**
I apologize upfront for the punny title. There's nothing funny about the growing number of women being beheaded world wide. Actually, it is revolting... a sad reminder of the lengths men will go to in order to establish and maintain control over women. It also speaks volumes about the difficulty inherent in seeking power over another person. Power over others is always illusory. It is false, which is why any attempt to control others inspires escalating violence. We only ever have legitimate power over one person -- ourselves. The fact that men feel it is necessary to use threat, force, coercion, rape, and murder to control women says a lot about the true nature of power, but enough of that... We all know that patriarchy is nothing but a sham. It is a world turned inside out... and it is changing.
My response to the grotesque murders of Aasiya Z. Hassan , Nahla Hussain , Xin Yang , and countless others has been to start a garden. That's right. I'm growing food. Right now it is lettuce, though I have an assortment of other vegitables and fruits on the way. The lettuce has just grown fastest.
My plan? I'm going to donate all the food from my garden that I don't personally eat to my local domestic violence shelters. I'm going to give some to the brave woman next door who left her abusive husband and I'm going to use the gift of food as an opportunity to create a bond between us, as neighbors, as sisters, and as human beings.
I want other women to know that they are not alone, that they are cared for by their community, that they matter, that others have been in their shoes... that they are loved.
I would like to advocate not for victory gardens but rather for humanity gardens. It is time we walked away from violence as a "problem solving" tool, and embraced our shared humanity. The first thing I can think of that is proactive and solutions oriented is to help out by producing healthy, organic, FREE food for families in need.
It solves the multiple problems of poor nutrition, lack of comunity, feelings of isolation after leaving an abuser, widespread economic challenges that are cripling many non-profit organizations, the lack of exercise I get, and environmental dammage. That's right... My lawn is gone. No more mowers, fertilizers, herbicides... My little patch of (rented) earth is growing food that will soon be on the plates of women and children who are survivors of humanity's most heinous crimes -- that of violence against the weak, by the strong.
Please join me in growing food to help struggling domestic violence shelters stay afloat. If you're new to gardening please educate yourself. I recommend looking into permaculture, or three sisters planting, if you're new to organic gardening. Google can help you find information on how to grow a garden organically and where to donate your home-grown produce.
We can help eachother in concrete ways. This is just a beginning. Get creative. Think of the five most pressing problems you care about, seemingly "unrelated" problems... then come up with an action based solution that helps address all of those problems simultaneously. Get going synergystically. It's time to make a difference.
Please, raise your voices... then get to work.
Dear Feministing community,
I need your help, advice, hints, anything.
I live in California, and have been reading a lot lately about the heartbreakingly large backlog of untested rape kits sitting in the state's police departments. As the economy here gets worse, and more and more cuts are made (several departments in my area have put down their cold case departments), I fear many victims will never get justice. A big reason their cases will never be heard is that there is a statute of limitations on rape cases.
California's is 10 years, which seems like a long time, but when you figure in bureaucracy and budgets, it can take at least that long for something to happen. I would like to try to get a proposition on next year's ballot eliminating the statute in cases where there is a usable DNA profile. As I understand it, the statute was put in place to prevent unfair convictions based on faulty eyewitness identification. But an accurate DNA profile changes everything.
I know this will do no good for most rape victims, who get raped by people they know. But any dent in the sadly large number of rapes that go unpunished is good. Moreover, this particular proposition would hopefully not mess with our economy further; it would just give cops and prosecutors more time in a budget crunch.
I have a few contacts in local law, but I am looking for local groups who might back me on this. Also, I would really love to get a good legal opinion on this.
Can any of you amazing folks help?
Hi everyone! I'm so thankful to be a part of the feminist community and I regularly read feministing. I've been trying to figure out a way to meet other feminists, sometimes I feel like a lonely little feminist.So I thought I would post my myspace and facebook and have you add me, or post yours and I will add you.
Myspace
Mama Cash is an international women's fund known for its daring support of women's human rights initiatives worldwide. Right now, Mama Cash is hosting the first-ever global dinner party for women's rights, and you are invited.
You can help women's rights groups all over the world "Cook Up a Revolution" by hosting a real-life or a fun virtual dinner party right on Mama Cash's Campaign 88 Day's website. On your virtual dinner party page, you can upload recipes, pictures, video and audio. Then invite all your friends to talk about women's rights at your virtual dinner table.
The party for women's rights is happening now at 88days.mamacash.org. Please join us!
I think by now everyone has probably seen or read about some of the horribly violent, misogynistic, degrading commercials that were aired during the Superbowl. Personally, I sent emails to the worst offenders explaining why I didn't like the commercials and that I would no longer buy their products. Today I received this response from Frito-Lay:
Hi Jenny,Thank you for contacting Frito-Lay. Your comments are important to us, so we appreciate your sharing them with us.
Please know that we are sorry that you found the ad for DORITOS® Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips offensive. It was intended to be a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted way for us to talk about our Doritos. Over the years, Frito-Lay has tried to present humorous ads that are enjoyed by all. The objective is to present our products in fun and entertaining ways and along the way, interest people in our snacks. The great challenge in this is to be entertaining without offending.
Your feedback indicates that we fell short of your expectations and for that, we apologize. We hope our future actions will restore your confidence in our name and will earn back your trust and support.
Best regards,
Linda
Frito-Lay Consumer Affairs
To me this basically reads like a "I'm sorry you feel that way" non-apology. It's not the worst response they could have had, but far from the best.
Has anyone else written letters complaining about commercials? Have you received responses? What would be a satisfying response to you?
Hey! So, I'm slightly new to specifically feminist activism and really want to see some events happen in Chicago! I've been on this site since the summer and haven't come across anything! So, any of you fellow feminists from Chicago or near by, lets make something happen! I'm also a dancer and would love to put something together that incorporates arts! I'll leave my e-mail so we can get something together!
Okay, here's the deal: I'm the president of my all-female residence hall at my university. I love my home and I love helping form this community of strong women leaders for my campus. But one thing that has come up in our meetings (particularly with out brother and sister halls) is that people refer to our residents as "girl" not as "women." I try to always use women because we're (mostly) all over 18 which means that legally we're women (just like the males living in our brother hall are men). Is there anyway that I can bring up this issue without looking like a bitch? I don't think the rest of hall government would be very responsive, and I don't want to alienate people if I don't have to. Any suggestions?
hello, i'm freddy, long time reader, first time poster.
so i'm having an issue. how do you be, i mean, really BE a feminist? i try to bring it up whenever possible. i've gotten into my share of arguments defending the need for feminism in this day and age, and how important it really is in our society. i do "little things" like when i debate the importance of feminism whenever possible, or i hide magazines that are degrading to women in supermarkets, stuff life that, but i can't help but feel like i'm not DOING anything.
the whole "butterbodies" (eff you nick coles) thing got me fuming. i really wanted to do something. i thought about creating a facebook group called "until nick coles is fired, i'm protesting spike" or something along those lines. but i wonder if it will work.
i feel like i'll get like, 5 people to join and that'd be it.
so, what can i DO? i feel like i'm not doing enough.
(crossposted at Amplify )
Yes, literally clowns. And not just just any clowns. Clowns who teach middle schoolers sex education!
The good folks at the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland were kind enough to send this info to me touting the work of one Derek Dye , the latest in the long, funny and sad line of abstinence-only sex education heroes. Dye uses his juggling clown schtick to draw the middle school kids’ attention, and then… Wham!
“Having sex before you are married is just like juggling machetes!”
“Sex before marriage will destroy all of your life’s dreams!”
Check out this must-see video of Dye at work in a middle school classroom:
As clownish as Dye’s words may sound to you, they are unfortunately not rare ones for young people to hear in classrooms all over the country. Thanks to George W. Bush and a complicit Congress, we currently spend $1.5 billion a year to fund abstinence-only until marriage sex education in our public schools. And yes, that money goes to people like Derek Dye, as he is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center that received a $800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence until marriage. His qualifications? A “Bachelor of Fun Arts” from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.
(crossposted at Amplify )
Bad news on the international AIDS front...
The Obama transition team has asked Ambassador Mark Dybul to remain in place as Global AIDS Coordinator, flying in the face of opposition by many HIV prevention, youth rights, and reproductive rights groups, 50 of whom recently signed a letter calling for a change in leadership. Ambassador Dybul helped enforce the exportation of abstinence-only programs denying millions of young people around the globe access to information about condoms. As if that isn’t bad enough, he has also been an opponent of integrating HIV prevention and reproductive health, a major mistake given the tremendous numbers of young girls and women at risk for HIV infection.
Much more on this from Jodi Jacobson’s blog on RH Reality Check
This is not the change young people in this country voted for. This is not the change young people around the globe need and deserve.
But there's still time to rectify the situation : Contact the Obama transition team to register your protest and stay tuned to Amplify as this story develops.
(crossposted at Amplify )
Last semester, Northern Kentucky University student Dennis Chaney was literally arrested for trying to distribute free condoms to students. At the freshman orientation, they told him that doing so with his student group was "against school policy", and when he refused to stop, he spent the next 12 hours in jail.
This semester, thanks to the Great American Condom Campaign (GACC), Dennis Chaney will have another chance.
Chaney was one of the 550 students selected by the GACC to be the host of a "Safe Site" on their campus. The GACC provided him with a box of 500 condoms to distribute at NKU, so that anyone who needs a condom can receive one. Chaney has already handed out condoms at New Years Eve parties on campus, and plans to hand out more at the student union once the semester starts.
But he's not alone! Last semester the GACC provided over 300,000 condoms to the 550 Safe Sites, focusing especially on campuses where condom access is limited or against school policy. Here are some of the testimonies of students around the country who are distributing condoms at their school.
And right now we're gearing up for giving out even more during the Spring 2009 semester! The applications to be a Safe Site for this semester are up right now at the GACC page, so if you want to join in the underground grassroots movement to improve condom access for students, or know someone who would, please head on over and check it out !
The deadline for the applications is January 25th, so get them in soon and you might get your condoms by Valentine’s Day. If you know someone who might be interested in this, please pass it along!
(The video below is the story of Dennis Chaney from last semester. Arrested for condoms??? Ridiculous...)
reposted from Racewire.org
As I write this there are no less than 6 helicopters circling overhead in downtown Oakland. On the first day of the 10th year since Amadou Diallo was brutally gunned down by police in New York City, Oscar Grant was fatally shot in the back by a BART police officer, and the event was caught on video.
As I write this, rumors are flying and media is fanning the riot flames - car and trash fires, police in riot gear and tanks, restaurant windows being smashed, tear gas and rubber bullets being used. We won’t know the full picture till the night is over and the smoke clears, but the story of the successful nonviolent protest earlier this evening has been overshadowed by this angry chaos.
What is absolutely clear is that folks are furious about the murder of Oscar Grant, furious that a week has passed with no statement or acknowledgment of what happened. What is clear is that we currently don’t have community accountability over our police here in Oakland. In this bubble of progress we are hampered by the same brutal power dynamics that plague the rest of the nation. Racially driven policing that allows the use of lethal weapons in the pursuit of justice is a failed model.
What we need:
n an effort to fight the stigma and stereotypes associated with growing up in an alcoholic household, I have been contributing to the Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) article on Wikipedia (note that the article is about the group of people, not the 12 step program). However, the article has recently come under heavy censorship from a number of editors.
In particular, the article contained a list of notable ACOAs. Everyone in the list had written or spoken publicly about growing up in an alcoholic household, or had a published biography that discussed their alcoholic parent(s). Included on the list was Eve Ensler, the author of the Vagina Monologues. The list was removed without discussion. After I restored it and started discussion on the topic, the editor made misleading changes to the article and requested a review. The review, based on erroneous information, resulted in the removal of the list again.
I reported the incident on an admin board, hoping that other editors would be more sensible. However, the list was removed yet again, by an editor who said, among other things "I removed the list. It is so unhelpful. I'd guess that 5% to 10% of people in the country have a parent with an alcohol problem." This editor was trivializing a group of people due to being a minority!
I know there is an ACOA presence on this blog, and I urge anyone who cares about these issues to view the article and contribute to the discussion.
Lately there have been a couple of Feministing posts about anti-violence programs that place the responsibility for preventing violence on the shoulders of girls, followed by discussion of the reasons this is ineffective, including that it ignores the sociocultural factors that cause boys/men to be violent and absolves boys/men from being responsible for their own actions by subscribing to the stereotype that they're just a bunch of lunkheads who need to be forced into good behavior by girls/women.
With this in mind, I wanted to give a shout-out to an organization based out of Louisville, KY called MENSWORK who are seeking to educate and enlist men to fight violence against women. I've had the opportunity to hear their founder, Rus Funk, discourse on the need for men to hold one another accountable for their actions and step up to eliminate violence against women. He and the organization really seem to get that it is important for men to recognize how the factors that shape and inform masculinity can also be factors in men's violence towards women. Their message is that instead of being passive and/or tacitly accepting of violence toward women committed by some men, the majority of men need to step forward and actively protest it.
So, props to MENSWORK for recognizing that violence against women isn't a woman's issue, it's a human issue that men have a profound responsibility to address.
Their website is here; it's only a few months old and is not updated frequently, but there's a lot of good information on their mission and some of their accomplishments. (I don't know if that web address is going to show up as a link or not; I'm not sure how to make it do that, so apologies for my technological ineptitude.)
Over drinks and dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday last night with my fabulous grad student/scientist/alpha female cohort, out of post-holiday stories, new year's resolutions, and current events discussion came a spectacularly funny and personal idea for celebrating the outgoing administration: we are going to shave/wax away the bush to mark the historical occasion of No More Bush.
Now this is a group of women who don't generally put fashion, glamour, or grooming trends at the top of the to-do list as we are all a bit on the alternative/hippie/nerd/free-thinker/bleeding heart liberal side of the continuum and like to stay busy protesting in the street, fighting the patriarchy, curing cancer, and saving the world. We completely missed the Brazilian craze, but No More Bush seemed to make sense as well as make us (and probably a table or two near us) laugh hysterically. It's a purely silly gesture that smacks of our collective inappropriate sense of humor and it's completely private and personal (no one will know but us and maybe our partners...who may or may not be thrilled) and also symbolic of our ability to make our own decisions, whether serious or silly, about our parts and also celebrate the merciful end of an era that tried to change that.
I've haven't been "bare" down there since before puberty (and that one time in junior high when I did some emergency shaving because of a crappy unlined bathing suit that just about killed me via embarassment at summer camp), but I figure just this once, why the hell not?
(crossposted at Amplify )
Are you on a college campus that makes free condom distribution as difficult as humanly possible, or doesn't exist at all? Do you have to get the condom by filling out paperwork at a health center? Does your school require that the condom comes with abstinence-only literature? Are your friends and fellow students engaging in unsafe sex simply due to the lack of availability of condoms?
Well, Advocates for Youth is thrilled to announce that the Spring 2009 applications for the Great American Condom Campaign are now open!
This is how the GACC works: We are looking to distribute 1,000,000 free condoms to campuses across the country, which will be distributed at designated "SafeSites". If you are interested in creating a SafeSite on your campus, fill out the application form on the GACC page.
Last Fall , we distributed a box of 500 Trojan condoms to 550 different SafeSites around the country. This Spring, we're looking to distribute even more, and hopefully have them delivered by Valentine's Day.
SafeSite applications for Spring Semester 2009 are currently being accepted on a rolling basis through January 11th, 2009. Keep in mind that the sooner you apply, if selected as a SafeSite, the more likely we will be able to get condoms to you by Valentine’s Day. In previous years, the GACC has received more SafeSite applications than the number of condoms available for the campaign. As such, priority will be given to applications received from students attending colleges/universities at which condom availability is limited . We will also take into account the number of applications received from each school and the individual applicant’s distribution plan. So please be creative when you write about how you want to distribute your condoms, who you want to work with, and if you have any activities planned!
Apply now!
This semester I had several female volleyball players in one of the classes I teach. They were all very tall, physically powerful, intelligent, well-read, and confident. But you never would have guessed by the way they carried themselves - in the hunched over semi-apologetic manner that tall women are supposed to have in our culture. As if being a tall woman is an offense to all the men you encounter who are shorter than you, so you have to hunch your shoulders down, duck your head, and keep your elbows close to your sides so as to not harm any male egos. This attitude is not new to me, being tall myself, but it irritates me that tall women are still made to feel this way. Obviously they've internalized the cultural message that it's inappropriate for women to take up so much physical space and be imposing in any way.
A few years ago I researched this topic and read a number of studies on gendered use of personal space for a paper I was writing. It's an interesting topic. Generally speaking, the use of personal space matches a person's social status. So when two people interact, the one with higher status is more likely to invade the personal space of the other. Of course, this follows gender lines, and men use more space than women and are more likely to invade the personal space of a woman. One study used hidden cameras in train and bus stations in Europe to show that when women are sitting on a bench they keep their arms folded, elbows tightly at their sides, knees together, etc in order to minimize the space they need, while men sprawl out on the bench, spread their arms on the back of the bench, extend their legs out, even if their knees end up invading the space of a woman sitting next to them, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've experienced this on an airplane, where the man next to me thought it was pre-ordained that the arm rest and half of the floor space in front of my seat belonged to him. A similar study looked at men and women walking in public spaces. When the path of a man and woman are going to cross, it's always the woman who's expected to alter her path to avoid a collision. In addition, women restrict their stride as compared to men, and tend to hunch their shoulders and not initiate or maintain eye contact.
So after I did this research my friends and I started messing around with this. We found that if you don't alter your path when walking toward a man, a lot of men will almost run right into you, or bump their shoulder against yours, and then turn and give you this weird look. The weird looks you get are increased if you stand up straight with squared shoulders and take longer strides. I habitually walk this way now, and I continue to get puzzled looks by men who turn around after I pass them and watch me with an uncertain look. Part of it is because I'm fairly tall and refuse to hunch over or refrain from wearing boots with a heel (which make me 6'1") if I feel like it. But also, if it's not easy or the most natural for me to alter my path, I don't. Oftentimes the man will have more space on his side of the sidewalk and I would have to step off onto the grass, or pause and wait for him to pass me first. I refuse. This really does bring strange reactions from men, but I don't think they quite understand what seems so strange to them. Hence the puzzled looks. I also insist on owning my space in bars and restaurants where women are expected to yield their space, and I don't shrink from eye contact or look away first. The strange thing is, once men get over the puzzled reaction, the usual response is fascination (except for the really insecure ones who feel threatened). But I see this as more than a fun social experiment (and now a habitual way of carrying myself). I think it's subversive for women to abandon the sexist expectations to which they've been socialized to conform. By challenging these profound but unspoken signs of dominance and hierarchy, you can defy sexist attitudes every day without even being aware of it anymore. And that kind of kicks ass, in my view. So my challenge to feminists is to own your space. Become aware of how you sit/stand/walk/make eye contact, and stake your claim. A few weird looks from men isn't going to hurt you, and it's amazing how moving through the world in a confident manner changes your own self-conception over time.
(crossposted at Amplify )
This holiday season, Swanson Broth (a subsidiary of Campbell Soup) decided to make a very sweet advertisement promoting their product. The ad features the story of a lesbian couple preparing their meal on Christmas Eve with their young son, and it was featured in The Advocate, who has many GLTBQ readers.
No problem, right? Well, not to the far-right gay-haters at the American Family Association . The organization, known for boycotting Disney, McDonalds and Hallmark for "embracing the homosexual agenda", sent out the following email blast:
Send an email to Campbell Soup Company President Douglas Conant. Tell him you want his company to stop supporting the gay agenda.
In the December, 2008 and January, 2009 issues, Campbell Soup Company bought two, two-page advertisements in the latest issues of the nation's largest homosexual magazine, "The Advocate." The ads promote their Swanson line of broth.
In one of the December ads, the Campbell Soup Company highlighted the lives of two lesbians with their son. The others feature New York City chefs. See the ads here.
Campbell Soup Company has openly begun helping homosexual activists push their agenda. Not only did the ads cost Campbell's a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support. They also gave their approval to the entire homosexual agenda.
What lovely holiday spirit, eh?
Fortunately, Campbell Soup is standing their ground, as company spokesperson Anthony Sanzio replied :
"We support all types of families, regardless of how they're defined, [and have done so] for more than 100 years," Sanzio offers. "We advertise in a variety of different media outlets that appeal to a broad spectrum of society. That's what we're doing here, and that's what we'll continue to do."
Bravo to Cambell Soup for standing up for human decency and against this ridiculous homophobic bigotry.
I, for one, am going to go buy a can of Campbell Soup and mail it to AFA headquarters, with a note telling them that I fully support Campbells and will continue to happily buy their products. Here's their mailing address, if you'd like to join in:
American Family Association
P. O. Drawer 2440
Tupelo, MS 38803
(crossposted at Amplify )
By Selene Kaye, Advocacy Coordinator, ACLU Women's Rights Project
Lisa Valentine's arrest on Tuesday is yet another example of the discrimination that Muslim women who wear hijab (headscarves) face on a daily basis. Valentine was told that she could not enter the courthouse in Douglasville, Georgia, unless she removed her hijab, and was jailed for contempt of court when she refused to do so. "I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights," the AP reported Valentine saying. The ACLU of Georgia has expressed grave concern over policies that deny court access to Muslim women and followers of other faiths who wear religious headgear.
Muslim women and girls have been prohibited from wearing their headcoverings in a number of contexts. They have been fired from jobs, thrown off school sports teams, denied access to public places, and otherwise discriminated against because they wear hijab.
This isn't just a Muslim issue. This is also a women's rights and a human rights issue, because when Muslim women are denied the right to wear hijab, it's a statement that they are not free to choose how to express their beliefs. In a moving video we've just released, ACLU client, Jameelah Medina, spoke about her experience of being forced to remove her hijab in jail in San Bernardino County, California, and how it ignited her activism:
"How many times have we experienced discrimination or hate because we're a woman, because we're a Muslim woman…? But we don't speak up, we just accept it, and we say, 'Someone else will do it; someone else will stand up and they'll make a difference, then I'll join that fight.' …I look forward to working with and… inspiring other women: whatever the issue is in your communities, that you stand up and say, 'I'm going to be the one.'"
Jameelah gave this inspiring speech at a conference sponsored in November by the ACLU Human Rights Program entitled, "Keeping Your Faith in Post 9/11 America: Religious and Ethnic Discrimination and Human Rights," where advocates and members of the Muslim community gathered to discuss the various rights violations that Muslims have faced in recent years. Jameelah also blogged recently on Feministing about what wearing hijab means to her and why being forced to remove it was such a violation of her rights as a woman, generating quite a lively discussion.
To learn more about Muslim women's rights and other hijab cases the ACLU has handled, check out www.aclu.org/muslimwomen .
I am helping my local Planned Parenthood plan a sexual education festival in our area this upcoming spring.
This is a first for us, and I know you awesome folks might have been to one of these before. I live in a college town in the south, and we expect a good turnout of college folks.
If you have any ideas of anything creative, unique, wonderful that is a must-do/get/have/serve/give, please, please share!!!
As a christmas gift to me, my father has offered to make a donation to a charity of my choice. I would like to choose a charity that is either explicitly feminist or includes a feminist slant to its aims. Can anyone suggest a worthy cause?
Cross Posted on my blog There's More to This Than Waves
Neckties I mean.
As some of you may know one of my friends and I started what we call NeckTie Tuesday . Basically the premise is that on Tuesdays you wear a necktie to question the gendered (and classed) representation of it.
Necktie Tuesday was started because of a coincidence. Both my friend and I decided to wear a tie on the same day. So then we decided that through ties and looking awesome we could start a feminist revolution. Of course we were really only expecting a total of 7 people to join. To our surprise we have over 30 members on our Facebook group. Not many but it's a start.
The thing that I noticed about my friend and I is that we tend to be much more confident while wearing ties. Like having that thing around our neck makes us a little more likely to say what we are thinking. It actually gives me so much confidence that I have been wearing them to my exams.
So this raised the question. Why? Why does it give us this confidence? What about that piece of fabric is powerful?
For me ties have always been a gendered thing. Only men wore ties. Women were to wear dresses (much to my mother's dislike I refuse to do that anymore). When I think about ties I generally end up thinking about powerful, rich, white men who get to do or say whatever they want to. So to me by putting on a tie it's like I get to indulge in a little bit of the power and confidence not normally afforded to me.
Maybe it just ends up gendering the tie even more.
But in the end I think that even when I take off the tie, even if I'm not noticed as much I still get to say what I want to and sometimes I am even heard.
(crossposted at Amplify )
This summer Advocates for Youth re-launched the Great American Condom Campaign - an underground movement to distribute one million condoms on college campuses where there otherwise would be little or no condom distribution. Advocates solicited applications from college students from across the US. Each successful applicant became a “SafeSite” on his/her campus and received 500 Trojan condoms for distribution.
Applications for Fall 2008 SafeSites opened in September and by the close of the application cycle we had 1400 applicants! While it did take a bit longer than we had hoped to get condoms out the door, by the end of the day, boxes of 500 Trojan condoms were sent to 550 SafeSites on college campuses in 48 states!
Now some people may ask why this campaign is so important. Here are some quotes I pulled from applications highlighting why the GACC exists:
Does your school have a condom policy?
“Yeah - no condoms. Very religious school, still segregated dorms, men and women separate. This is a great idea, please... these will be greatly received by the folks here. This is a small town, and if you go buy condoms, its almost like the people tell people and everyone knows by the end of the next day!” SafeSite, Gardner-Web College
Are condoms available at your school?
“...the Board of Trustees requires that every condom is packaged individually in an envelope printed with a strongly-worded advertisement for abstinence. We're also struggling because, for reasons unknown, the students have decided the condoms provided on their residence halls are ineffective and of poor quality and refuse to use them.” SafeSite, Davidson College
“You must go to the health center, fill out personal information and submit before you're allowed free condoms.” SafeSite, University of West Georgia
Why do you want to be a SafeSite?
“As a young person living with HIV, I feel that I have a responsibility to my generation to do whatever I am able to do to raise awareness of and cure ignorance about HIV/AIDS.” SafeSite, Minneapolis Community and Technical College
“I have countless friends who have become unplanned mothers/fathers. Perhaps this can help others in being more careful.” SafeSite, San Francisco State University
As condoms are distributed, it is our hope that SafeSites share their distribution stories on Amplify. If you are interested in becoming a SafeSite, keep a look out here for Spring 2009 applications which should open soon!
Over the weekend, I was casually talking with some people about politics at a school-sponsored event. We were discussing whether we were pro-choice or pro-life and I ended up mentioning that I was a feminist. To my surprise a couple of other girls I previously had never spoken to told me they were also feminists. They are both underclassmen (well, underclasswomen) so this means that someone can succeed me in the club after I graduate this year! I mentioned starting a feminism club and they thought it was a good idea!
Ok, I have not gone through the "official" club formation process yet, but I will soon!
I never would have imagined that this would happen while I was still in high school. I always was like "well, next year when I am actually involved in activism, I will do __________". I would think of ideas, but hesitate to discuss them because I was afraid of what people would think of me.
Any high school feminist group leaders or members, I want you to get in touch with me ASAP( my email is LilithianNun@gmail.com ) . I want to know what other groups do and possibly start a high school feminism clubs alliance. I mean, many high schools already have clubs such as Young Democrats, Young Republicans, Gay-Straight Alliance and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. All of clubs are politically based or promote some sort of agenda that could be related to politics.
I think that there needs to be more feminist activism in high schools. High school is a time when people change and face all sorts of problems that could be alleviated if they knew how to empower themselves and move beyond rigid social expectations. I know my first few years of high school would have been better if I had known about feminism then.
So, I guess my final message is:
STOP WAITING UNTIL COLLEGE!
So I have grown very conscious of how lucky I am this year, to have a roof over my head and food on my plate. Besides large numbers of Americans who are struggling, charities are struggling as well. It stands to reason, that when people have less money they make less donations to charities.
In the spirit of the season, and with a deep sense of gratitude for all I have, I would like to make several donations to charities this year.
My question for you, dear Feministing readers, are what charities do you support that promote women's rights? I'd especially like to donate to charities that support the education of young women.
Any suggestions?
Hi everyone,
We rarely make appeals for specific cases and specific women who call the EMA Fund for help, but today is a different story. We are currently fundraising for a 12 year old girl who was raped by an adult and became pregnant as a result.
Due to her circumstances, she is too far along in her pregnancy to terminate in Massachusetts and needs to travel in order to have her abortion. The total cost is $6500 and her procedure begins on Monday. We hope that you will consider donating now to help us raise enough money for this girl to receive the health care that she needs.
You can donate to the EMA Fund via the Network for Good website. If you make a donation online, please note in the designation box that it is for this girl. You can also send a check to the EMA Fund and designate your gift for this purpose. In either case, please also send an e-mail to emama@nnaf.org, so that we know your gift is on its way and we can increase our pledge to help this girl accordingly.
Visit our Facebook page.
PS - Please feel free to pass this message along to your like-minded friends, family, and colleagues.
We REALLY need your help! With only one month left of 2008, we still have 500 copies of our 2009 Dreams for Women Calendars left to sell! The money raised by selling these calendars is instrumental for us to launch Antigone For Girls (a magazine written by and for girls aged 10-15 that will encourage them to get involved in leadership and politics).
The 2009 Dreams for Women Calendar is a non-profit calendar featuring 12 postcards sent in from around the world depicting men and women's Dreams for Women (Ex. 'I dream of a world where no woman is seen and not heard'). The funds raised from the sales of the calendar go to the Antigone Foundation (www.antigonemagazine.wordpress.com).
Please forward this info on and let everyone know what a great project, organization and calendar this is. Buy copies of the calendar for yourself or as holiday gifts for family and friends. Or buy one for a special woman in your life who has helped YOU make your dreams come true!
For Bloggers:
We're giving FREE calendars to the first 15 bloggers who write about the calendars and pay a $5 shipping fee at this link.
For Non-Profit Organizations:
Raise money for your organization by selling calendars! We sell calendars to non-profits at half price and allow them to sell them to raise money for their organizations! Find out more information here.
This is a great opportunity to buy a cool feminist gift for the holidays and to support a great organization! See below for more information about the Dreams for Women project and calendar!
"The Montréal Massacre of December 6, 1989, in which 14 women students at the École Polytechnique were systematically killed and 13 other students wounded by a lone gunman, is indelibly imprinted on the minds of Quebeckers and others who struggled to comprehend the worst single-day massacre in Canadian history."
SACOMSS (the Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students' Society) puts on an annual memorial for the women killed at UdeM's ecole polytechnique on Dec 6, 1989. The memorial will include speakers on gendered violence, and some music from Effusion (an A Capella group). it takes place on Saturday Dec 6, at 1pm., at the Birks Chapel which can be found on 3520 University, just north of Milton (west side of the street). If you are looking for more info on the Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students' Society, you can find it here. If you are looking for more info on this shooting, you can find it here.
Please come out and remember with us
Someone may already have posted on this, but I'll give it a shot, for posterity.
An article ran in the Washington Post earlier this week about a DC man named William Kellibrew. When he was a child, his mother and brother were murdered by his mother's ex-boyfriend; just recently, one of his best friends was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend.
According to the article, "an average of three women are killed each day in the United States by a husband or boyfriend, and estimates of physical abuse run as high as 3 million cases each year." In the DC area:
"[...]the numbers are staggering. According to the latest report of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 12,800 cases of domestic violence were reported to D.C. police in the first six months of 2007. In Maryland, almost 22,000 cases were reported in 2006. In Virginia, 51,600 people contacted domestic violence programs that year."
To combat this, Kellibrew has proposed creating a registry of domestic abusers, "similar to those for sex offenders."
I think this would be a huge step in eliminating a problem that has plagued so many people and cost so many lives since...well, the beginning of time. Any other thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
I can speak from personal opinion that often times the women who work in and manage animal shelters across the continent are unsung heros. Let me tell you, it's not a pretty job and you don't see a whole lot of men stepping up to the plate to care for the world's unwanted pets (although there are a few...).
Almost twenty years ago I remember standing with my mother in a trashed building as she looked around and scratched her head. She had decided, in her late twenties that she was going to establish an SPCA in our hometown. She took this on with little help and today works in that very same building. Her staff is mainly female and they work these dirty, low paying jobs because they want to. Because it is important to them.
This (and most) shelters also supports women who are the victims of domestic violence by caring for the pets of women who are forced to flee their partners due to abuse. Often times part of a woman's reason for staying has to do with her fear for the fate of the family pet. This relieves them of this fear and allows them to start over knowing that their pet is safe, and will be returned to them when they are able to care for it.
However, this time of year and with the economy so bad we often get wrapped up in other agendas and forget about NPOs that might be struggling to get by the holiday season. Shelters often experience a dramatic population increase following the holidays because of "pet gifting". Getting a puppy for Christmas may be a nice idea in theory, but when people aren't prepared to make a life long commitment to that pet, they are brought to the shelter. Sometimes they are even left on the doorstep in the cold.
This holiday season please keep a few things in mind. Animal rights (to the extent that they are safe and unabused at the very least) is a feminist issue. So is doing good in the world around you. This year, remember the animals who aren't spending the holidays chewing gift wrap and eating left over turkey. Remember the ones who are sitting in cages waiting for a home. Don't give any one a gift of a puppy or kitten, not unless you have talked it through at length and the person is ready to make the necessary commitment. Remember the hard working women who have taken it upon themselves to be the guardians of smaller creatures who can not speak for themselves. Donate a can of dog food, a chew toy, or a leash. Put on your parka and walk a dog.
With all the anti-gay legislation that has recently passed and the following protests, there can be no slowing on this important issue. So I came across this website today and felt that it was important to share with all the women that I know read this site, which I have read for a long time now.
This is a very different type of non-violent resistance without a public protest persay.
Keep up the movements to change the anti-gay legislation that ultimately hurts both women and men equally.
The Canadian parole board is set to release a convicted child rapist and murderer into the city of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Harold David Smeltzer was convicted for the rape of two preteen girls as well as for the murder of a little 5 year old girl. He is also suspected of commiting 40 rapes on women and children.
After 25 years in prison, the parole board has determined that Harold David Smeltzer is cured and no longer presents a danger to the community. Despite community outrage, he will soon be released to a halfway house.
Canadian citizens interested in signing a petition to protest the release of violent sex offenders into society can do so here.
Well, I myself am not a UVA (University of Virginia) student, I thought I'd forward my friend's plea out to the feminist world.
UVA is putting on a production of The Laramie Project tonight (11/14/08) at 6:30 in the chapel, and apparently Fred Phelps and his "church" are coming to protest it. They plan on standing in the back of the chapel and disrupting the presentation by creating a ruckus.
UVA students are putting out calls for help in the Charlottesville area and anyone who is willing to make the trip to physically block the WBC from entering the chapel.
So if you're in central or western Virginia, please help out the students! As a Virginia Tech student, I remember all too well when the WBC wanted to come and disrupt our campus and the funerals of those who died nearly two years ago. I will not be there due to an exam, but several of my friends will be.
In the 50s and 60s, the Civil Rights movement galvanized around the Black community. In the late 60s and 70s, women got into the movement in a more serious way, and in the late 70s and 80s (especially after the AIDS epidemic began) gay people got into the movement in a more serious way. But ever since then, there's been a debate about whether gay rights is a civil rights issue.
It is. Period. I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but being gay isn't any more of a choice than being straight. I never chose to be heterosexual anymore than my sister chose to be homosexual. Ergo, this argument that "gay rights isn't civil rights, cause being gay is a choice" is bullshit. Gay rights is civil rights.
Homosexuals are a subset of our population, and hating someone for being gay is bigotry. I'm sorry to have to break that to you, but it is. Hating someone for being a woman is bigotry in the form of sexism. Hating someone for being Jewish (a choice, oddly enough) is bigotry in the form of antisemitism. Hating someone for being Hispanic is bigotry in the form of racism. Hating someone for being from Iran is bigotry in the form of xenophobia. Hating someone for being gay is bigotry in the form of homophobia and/or heterosexism. I think that, in the 21st century, we can all agree that bigotry is not a desirable characteristic in our society or government.
But bigotry isn't just hate. A lot of the time, bigotry is a lot more subtle. It's voting for measures that prevent gay people from having rights -- or in the case of Prop 8, voting to take