Don't forget Women's Equality Day!

Thanks to Michele Hush of NYWICI for this piece on Women's Equality Day, celebrating (only) 90 years of having the right to vote-- thanks to the 19th Amendment. (This is what constitutional amendments are supposed to be about!)

Girls Poisoned for Attending School

Anyone doubting the oppression of girls needs to read this story: Afghan school girls are being poisoned merely for pursuing an education. Taliban fighters are accused of gas attacks that have so far sickened more than 80 school girls. When the Taliban ruled the country (1996 - 2001), they institutionalized discrimination against girls and women--and girls were prohibited from attending school.

Glee's Feminist Message

I love the new show, Glee, the musical comedy focused on members of a high school glee club. I watch it regularly with my daughter and we both think it's hysterical. 

I never looked at the show as a feminist one--but last night's episode, titled "The Power of Madonna," included several feminist messages:

* Quinn talks about wage disparity: "The fact that women still earn 70 cents to every dollar for doing the same job. It starts in high school."

* Teacher Will points out to the boys their misogynous behavior.

* Tina rebels against Artie with a feminist tirade after he criticizes her appearance.

* Guidance counselor Emma complains about the poor role models for girls today--"Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Ann Coulter."

I recommend this show for its great comedy and likable characters--and now its feminist bent is one more reason to tune in. Looking forward to next week's show!

What "Kotex Classic" Taught Tina Fey

Yesterday I attended the Matrix Awards sponsored by New York Women in Communications to honor outstanding women in the industry.  Amidst all the speeches--some a bit too long--Tina Fey's stood out.

When she started as a writer on Saturday Night Live in the 90s, it was considered a "boys club" that was almost impossible to break through. 

Numbers are what eventually made the difference: the more women in the room, the more people there were that understood her humor. It took a while before she convinced the mostly male staff to run the hilarious skit "Kotex Classic" --since the men just didn't get it. (View the video.)

Her advice? Encourage, support, mentor and hire women. 

Padded Bras in Little Girls' Bathing Suits? Boycott Justice stores.

I was disgusted yesterday when I took my 11-year old daughter shopping at Justice--since all their tankinis had padded bras! And I'm talking about little girls' size 10! What kind of message is Justice sending to little girls in doing this? That their bodies are inadequate unless they have boobs—fake or real? I e-mailed a complaint to the company, and will report on the response I get--but I don't expect much. I never liked Justice anyway--the clothes are gaudy and pricey--but I think we should boycott this store and any others that sell these types of items. 

Role Models, Part 2

I'm looking for ideas for role models for my 11-year-old daughter--since my recent attempt was less than successful. Since my daughter claims to be interested in environmental causes--touting "go green" on her t-shirts and books--I took her to a discussion by Annie Leonard, who created the Youtube video The Story of Stuff--about the environmental waste of all the useless stuff we buy. I thought she might enjoy seeing an important woman in person, not just on the Web or TV. But five minutes into the lecture, my daughter fell asleep, and was out cold for the rest of the night. Granted, it was a busy school day, she had missed her nap, and the lecture was at night--but I know if it was some pop idol like Taylor Swift she would have stayed awake.
     Any suggestions?
     In the meantime, take a look at this video--I thought it was quite interesting...

Flying High: New Record for Women in Space

Today, with the launch of the Discovery, four women astronauts are now in orbit--and that's a record high! Three of the seven astronauts on Discovery are women--former high school teacher Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, robotic arm expert Stephanie Wilson, and Naoko Yamazaki, the second Japanese woman to reach space. They'll be joining chemist Tracy Caldwell Dyson at the International Space Station, forming history's largest gathering of women in space. 
     Metcalf-Lindenburger (shown above), a geologist, wants her three-year-old daughter to view her accomplishments as unspectacular, claiming, "My daughter doesn't know that there's a big deal or not a big deal. To her, flying is cool, running around is being cool, and just running around and growing up as a kid is cool. And there's not a lot of distinction, and that's how I want it to be." 
     Wilson, an aerospace engineer, is making her third trip to space. "I hope that part of our legacy is that we continue to inspire young women to pursue careers in science, engineering or math," she said. 
     Yamazaki, also an aerospace engineer, commented, "It was especially important to me that my husband quit his job and made it possible for my family to stay together" for her training in the U.S.
     Read more on the history of women in flight.

Women's History Month: Ida B. Wells

It's depressing that my sixth grade daughter has never heard of Ida B. Wells. When you look at this amazing woman, you'd think she'd at least warrant a mention in history textbooks. . . 

 Ida B. Wells (1862 - 1931) risked her life to stop the violent and repulsive act of lynching. And not only that--she also was a journalist, newspaper owner, author, teacher, civil rights activist, suffragist, wife, and mother. All this from a woman that was born a slave.

Ida B. Wells was also Rosa Parks before there was a Rosa Parks. In 1883, Wells sued the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad because she was forbidden to sit in the ladies coach because of her race. While she won the case, this significant victory was short-lived—it was overruled by the Tennessee Supreme Court, which ordered her to pay the court fees.  She wrote about this experience for a weekly paper called The Living Way, sparking her interest in journalism. In 1889, Wells became a part owner of the black-run Memphis newspaper, the Free Speech and Headlight.

Wells used the power of her writing to great effect in her campaign against lynching. Wells tried to . . .

Sports Illustrated: Lindsey Vonn's great ass! (Oh, yes, she's also a great skier.)

Tell me this photo isn't sexist. I assume Lindsey Vonn posed on a flat surface and Sports Illustrated tilted the photo so her butt would stick up right into the lettering. She is of course very attractive and photogenic--NBC couldn't keep the camera away from her during its Olympic coverage. But please, this is a bit much.

Daughter headed to college? Watch out for serial rapists.

When I was leaving for college, my older sister told me to "Stay away from the upper classmen--they prey on freshman girls."* And they do, according to a recent NPR report about college date rape. Freshman women--often vulnerable, less experienced with alcohol, and looking to fit in--are the women mostly likely to be sexually assaulted on campus. 
       Maybe that's not surprising. But what is surprising is that many of the college men committing these assaults are actually serial rapists. While one common myth has been that college date rape is often a one-time "bad decision" by a drunken perpetrator, in fact, that's not the case. Serial predators account for nine out of 10 rapes on college campuses. This is according to research done by psychologist David Lisak of the University of Massachusetts, in which he interviewed 2,000 college men ...

National Women's History Project: Writing Women Back Into History

Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less.--Myra Pollack Sadler

I was struck by this quote I found on the Website of the National Women's History Project (NWHP). NWHP is the group that successfully lobbied Congress in the 1980s to proclaim March as National Women's History Month. Recognizing the achievements of women in all facets of life – science, community, government, literature, art, sports, medicine – has a huge impact on the development of self-respect and new opportunities for girls and young women. NWHP continues to fight to get women recognized in school and college textbooks--and their theme for this year's Women's History Month is "Writing Women Back Into History." Learn how you can help at the NWHP Website. 

Women's History Month: Alice Stokes Paul

The organization New York Women in Communications is profiling famous women this month on its blog. Here's an excellent piece on Alice Stokes Paul--suffragist and tenacious fighter for women's right to vote and the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). When you read this piece, written by Michele Hush, you really need to wonder why this hero is not a household name.

Women's History Month: Sylvia Pressler

For women's history month, I'll be highlighting a few women that have made a difference for girls' progress.

Thanks to Sylvia Pressler, young girls have more opportunity in sports. A jurist and an author, Pressler is best known for her 1973 ruling that opened the doors for girls to play Little League baseball. The case involved 12-year-old Maria Pepe of Hoboken, NJ, who had joined the local Little League team but was forbidden to play by the League's national officials. With the help of N.O.W., Pepe sued. Pressler ruled in her favor, claiming, "The institution of Little League is as American as hot dogs and apple pie. There's no reason why that part of America should be withheld from girls." The following year, Little League baseball agreed to allow girls to play on its baseball teams--and it started a softball division as well. Pressler later rose to be the presiding administrative judge of the New Jersey Appellate Division. She passed away earlier this year at the age of 75.

I was born too soon to benefit from Pressler's ruling, and also to fully benefit from Title IX--the landmark 1972 act that mandated equality in educational programs and revolutionized girls' sports in school and college. But as the youngest of four girls I was always an athlete, a.k.a. "tomboy"--and I do believe my . . .

A Mom's Valentine for Her Feminist Daughter

Veronica I. Arreola writes the blog Viva la Feminista, and she recently wrote a touching piece titled "Gender Roles and Rainbows: A Mother's Love." Here's an excerpt, but do read the entire piece:

Growing up I knew I would be a mom, somehow. I knew one day I'd be responsible for another human being that goes beyond my wildest dreams. While most women day dream about cute dresses and those adorable ruffle-bottomed tights, I dreamt of teaching her to keep score at a baseball game and to hopefully avoid the pitfalls that continue to consume me. 
(Go to the full article.)

Herstory Month?

I recently asked my kids, grades 6 and 11, what famous women they've learned about in all their years at school. The answers? Sacagawea and Rosa Parks. The high schooler added Queen Elizabeth I. Pretty pathetic. I admit I had forgotten about  "Women's History Month" and that it's in March. My kids' schools don't cover it at all! (Do your schools?)

Obviously we all need to be diligent about teaching our daughters and sons about "herstory" since they're not learning about it at school. There are many famous women writers, scientists, political figures, athletes, explorers, etc. Here are two links I found that might help:
100 Important Women in History
National Women's Hall of Fame

PS The famous woman above is astronaut--and fellow Syracuse grad--Eileen Collins.

More Books for Feminist Girls

Our kids' book collections can always use more girl-positive books. Here are two interesting reading lists I recently came across. Enjoy!

 --Anti-princess reading list--12 pages of books featuring "strong, smart, spunky girl protagonists" from mommytracked.com/.

--Books for the anti-princess girl-feminists--Five top feminist books for girls aged six through eight from bitchmagazine.org/. 

Spain to Limit TV Beauty Ads (They're More Dangerous Than Alcohol Ads)

Kudos to Spain's Parliament, which is close to enacting a law that would ban TV advertising for certain beauty products before 10 pm. According to Advertising Age, ads for items that "encourage the cult of the body" and "have a negative impact on self-image" would be banned--including plastic surgery, dieting products, and beauty treatments. Since alcohol products are permitted to be advertised starting at 9 pm,  the government is sending a clear message that "body worship" products pose a serious danger to its youth.

Society's obsession with beauty is unhealthy for both the mind and the body--and it affects girls disproportionately. Let's hope Spain's new law represents a small step in reducing this obsession.

Sexist Superbowl Ads: Hopefully Your Daughter Wasn't Watching

The ads during the Superbowl last night were not only uncreative and boring, but so many were blatantly sexist.  If your daughter was watching, she may have come away with a message that women are naggers, their opinions don't matter, and men need to escape them. Unless, of course, they're hot and in skimpy clothes--those women get attention, sometimes even more than the beer.

See the 10 Most Sexist Superbowl ads according to the blog Blag Hag.

Here's GoDaddy's ad--apparently their ads are always sexist. No more domain registrations with them!

Abercrombie Gets What it Deserves: Customer Rejection

Sales for clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch dropped 18% last year, more than most of its competitors in industry. It's nice to see customers are rejecting this brand! You may recall that Abercrombie was the maker of disgustingly sexist t-shirts for young women with phrases across the chest like "Who needs brains when you have these?" (pictured at right), "I see you've already met the twins," and "I had a nightmare I was a brunette." When I heard about those shirts a few years ago, I vowed never to shop there and told my daughter she couldn't either, and of course, explained the reason why. Unfortunately the brand is still popular among tweens and teens, but let's hope its end is near.  

Six Steps to Raising a Feminist Daughter

Some great advice from an article on ehow.com:

1. Educate your daughter about the history of feminism and the struggles women have faced in the past and still face today.

2. Surround your daughter with strong confident women. Give her real-life role models that are inspiring and encouraging. 
3. Teach your daughter to respect others. Show her by your example that people with differing opinions and value systems are important to a democratic society.
4. Let your daughter try a variety of pastimes and hobbies. Give her the freedom to define her own interests. Raise her to try new things.
5. Treat your daughter with respect and love. Set boundaries so she learns that her actions have consequences for herself and others.
6. Encourage your daughter to speak with grandmothers, aunts and other women in her life about feminism and their experiences from different generations.