The F word

As we read CLICK! for our book group we should also think about how feminism is turned into an epitath and used to keep women in their place. We need to gather our power, and use it for good.

Gloria Steinem on eroticizing (!) equality:
http://bigthink.com/ideas/24806


Happy T-day

Gloria Steinem on Feminism today

http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2010/10/19/is-pop-culture-dumbing-down-feminism/

Say What????

Somehow I don't believe we are post-feminist quite yet....there is still way too much to do to reach equality! Yet, feminism/feminists have a bad reputation (thanks to Rush, et al) so many people do not call themselves feminists, even though they believe in feminist ideals and goals.
What do you all think?

CNN has an article posted re: is Feminism Obsolete
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/10/just-sayin-is-feminism-obsolete/#comments

Feminists Are Needed

This past weekend I did a workshop on Feminism and Eleanor Roosevelt (ER)for the first session of GirlsLeadership Workshop, one of the premier programs at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at ValKill. Of these 29 young women from around the globe, only 6 identified as feminists, most were "I am not a Feminist But I believe that women should have [equal rights, pay equity. . .].

ER herself did not support women's right to vote until her husband did--she was at that point still the perfect Victorian wife--supporting her husband's ventures and popping out 6 children in 10 years. BUT when she did support women's rights, she did so with gusto--calling herself a feminist,too.
Feminists are still much needed--there is still not pay equity, adequate and affordable childcare and eldercare, women's reproductive healthcare is threatened, in some states fetuses will have more rights than the woman whose carrying them, violence against women--from rape to battering to murder-- is still out of control. . .

This is from today's collection of articles on Alternet http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/89703/?ses=43c3dc6d895041efb9a9c723ae55e83e

A Political Glass Ceiling?

The LATimes has been running a series of "dustups" between young and old feminists,Amanda Marcotte and Katha Pollitt, about the state of women in politics. The first of the series is at
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-marcotte-pollitt2-2008jun02,0,3755296.story at the end, click on the subsequent days, 5 in total.

And, from the New Republic http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2c2ec3a8-e813-4d4e-b566-510e0f19eced

Feminism & Mothering

Amy Richards (co-author of Manifesta) has written a new book Opting In: having a Child Without Losing Yourself which takes on Belkin's reporting on the 'Opt-Out revolution"-- (upper middleclass) young women who are opting out of the workforce to take of baby.
Richard's book takes on the big and small decisions of being a feminist, & being a feminist mom.

Here is an interview with her
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/83813/?page=entire