EqualityQuilt

Occupied Bodies: Women of Color Speak on Self-Image Call for Submissions

Tasha Fierce of Red Vinyl Shoes is soliciting essays for an anthology on women of color's self-image/body image as shaped by family, friends, media, society, history, lived experiences, etc. She is looking for   "smart, accessible, and snappy personal narratives that also offer nuanced analysis of the underlying constructs that affect how we perceive ourselves." The voices of women of color that are not often heard or represented are especially encouraged to participate. Women of color such as trans* WOC, disabled WOC, queer WOC, WOC outside the U.S., WOC with eating disorders, working class/poor WOC, and fat WOC. 

For more information about this project and specific guidelines visit Red Vinyl Shoes. Read a PDF copy of the call for submissions.

Child Care Works, Plays!

Congratulations to Child Care WORKS for great execution of a great idea.  They help one of their child care providers with hands-on work for one day, gets them out of their policy wonk world and... well we at the Consortium want to copy them.  Here's video of two distinguished advocates in different roles for a change. Though it still seems they are impervious to dirt.

 

A Summer of Learning

For the past couple of days I have been trying to come up with my final blog post, but I haven't really been able to come up with anything.  Nor have I had much time to write one - life is tough when you have to spend the middle of every day watching a movie for work :)  But in the last hour of my internship I decided I would do a sort of "reflection" on the summer.  St. Olaf professors you are wearing off on me - how many end of semester reflections have you made me do and now I'm doing one voluntarily? 

Looking back at my first post I was incredibly excited for this summer thinking of all of the things I was going to learn about the Consortium and living on my own.  And I sure have learned a lot!  I could probably bore you with a long list of things, but for you're sake (and because I'm running short on time) I'll give you some highlights.

• The Consortium is AWESOME!  Not only do they provide an incredible resource to MN women and non-profits, the women who work here are great.  I've learned a lot from reading the weekly e-note, College Feminists Connect is going to be a good resource when it gets going, and the eldernomics program is also great.  Lunch was possibly where I learned the most, it was great to have intelligent conversations about feminism, the art of being a vegan, and any other random topics we came up with.
• There are so many non-profits in the state of Minnesota that I want to work for!  I originally said that coming out of this summer knowing what I want to do in a year would be ideal.  This partially happened - I came up with a bunch of things I want to do.  I'm keeping my options open.
• I learned my way around the Twin Cities pretty well - I've learned not to rely on the river to tell me which direction I'm going.
• Making your own food can be fun, but also mundane...I made myself a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.
• I found another person (Catherine) who likes to analyze pop culture as much as I do!
• I discovered Twitter.  This may prove to be detrimental once school starts again...
• For someone who isn't a big sports person, I now know a whole lot about the history of women in sports!  And went to my first WNBA game.
• I discovered the art of blogging.  I may have to write guest blog posts so my roommates don't get sick of all of my rants about pop culture.
• And finally I found another activity to keep me busy while at school - I'll be the St. Olaf College Feminist Connect liaison.

If you couldn't tell I've really enjoyed my summer and can't believe it's over.  But now it's back to school with a whole lot of knew knowledge to share with all of my friends!  -Kim

Women Artists Exhibit

The Women's Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM) has another intriguing exhibit in the Women's Building, 550 Rice Street, St. Paul  The 3-woman exhibit, Mary Bergs, Farida Hughes and Rashaun Kartak, extends through September 10.  Farida Hughes’ abstract paintings stem from an envisioning of crowds at events such as festivals, street fairs and parades. Hughes is interested in the gathering and dispersing of crowds, the mingling of groups and their collective movements, and the manner in which natural and artificial boundaries shape us.   Visit the building any weekday, 9AM - 4PM! 

Image: Travels by Night, Oil and alkyd on canvas, 2009 (click to enlarge) 

Feminist Film Fest Sneak Peek

On Friday, August 20, the Consortium will show Whip It as part of our annual Feminist Film Festival. Whip It is a female written and directed film about Bliss Cavendar a small town teenager who joins a roller derby team. Touching on the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship and social expectations for young women, Whip It is not only a refreshing new perspective of the female coming-of-age tale but also a fun female empowerment story. This film is rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language, and drug material.

Whip It will be shown at 11:30 AM at the Minnesota Women's Building, 550 Rice Street, St. Paul. Bring your lunch and a friend. Popcorn will be provided. 

Official College Feminists Connect Launch

The date is set... the College Feminists Connect site will officially launch on September 17, Noon, at the Minnesota State University-Moorhead's Women's Studies Program Colloquium on Moorhead's campus.

College Feminists Connect is an online space where feminist students, faculty, and alumni across Minnesota colleges and universities can connect, share resources, and network. The site will be student-run, faculty-supported, and will offer a safe space for open dialogue and discussion of what it means to be a feminist on a college campus today.

A few of the benefits of participating in CFC include:

• Networking opportunities with Minnesota non-profits, specifically Consortium group members
• Easy access to local volunteer and internship opportunities via the Internship tab
• Stay updated on campus women's centers and departments activities
• Opportunities to share stories of successful events and speakers
• Opportunity for alumni and feminist professionals to connect and enter into dialogue with current feminist students

Check out the site here: www.collegefeministsconnect.org.

For more information or to get involved, email intern@mnwomen.org.

A Vacation Back In Time

A few weeks ago the Consortium was nice enough to give me a week off to go on a family vacation. Our family vacation to Minocqua, WI has happened every year for my entire life. The week following the 4th of July, all eleven cabins at Blue Lake Resort are filled by my extended family. The week is spent sitting on the beach, reading, swimming, skiing, and of course getting the yearly sunburn. Due to previous summer jobs I have been unable to go for a full week at the lake for a few years; this was the first year I have gone since beginning college and taking women's studies classes. And boy did that fact shed new light onto life at Blue Lake.   

About half way through the week I started noticing a trend: around 5 or 5:30 every evening all of the "moms" would no longer be sitting around the beach with everyone. They were all back in their cabins making dinner while all of the "dads" and kids (I use kids in the broadest sense of the word - essentially my generation, anyone under the age of 31) continue to sit and relax on the beach. Everyone left sitting on the beach is capable of helping make dinner- in fact seven of us live on our own and make ourselves dinner everyday. But we all, yes even I, conformed to the traditional gender stereotypes and let the women make dinner. Following dinner I noticed another trend- all of the kids and dads would return to the beach sooner after dinner than the moms. Once families were done eating mom stayed and cleaned up and everyone else left to head back to skiing and relaxing. While I'm guilty of being a part of this first trend, I can proudly say I have no part in the second. For as long as I can remember the rule in our cabin was that Mom made dinner and the kids cleaned up. Even though my siblings and I are older this rule still holds true. When we're done eating everyone helps clear the table and then everyone but Mom took turns doing the dishes. So this year my parents and I cleaned off the table together and my Dad and I took turns doing the dishes. 

Throughout the week I can't count how many times I heard "well he's a guy" as reasons for why someone did or didn't do something. The "he's a male" reasoning was used for a variety of things from why someone didn't clean up after themselves to why someone was acting the way he was. I thought we had moved past using gender as the reasoning for doing (or not doing) something...

Feminist Sneak Peek: Princess Mononoke

On Thursday, August 19, the Consortium will show Princess Mononoke as part of our annual Feminist Film Festival. Princess Mononoke is a Japanese animated historical fantasy film by world renowned writer and director, Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, Princess Mononoke tells of the struggle between the supernatural guardians of the forest and the humans who consume its resources. Like the majority of Miyazaki's film, Princess Mononoke features strong, independent women who lead their followers into battle to save their way of life as well as an eco-feminist perspective. This film is rated PG-13 for images of violence and gore.

Princess Mononoke will be shown at 11:30 AM at the Minnesota Women's Building, 550 Rice Street, St. Paul. Bring your lunch and a friend. Popcorn will be provided. Check back next Friday for a preview of the final film, Whip It.

Feminist Film Fest Sneak Peek: Amreeka

On Wednesday, August 18 the Minnesota Women's Consortium will show Amreeka as part of our Annual Feminist Film Fest. Amreeka is the story of Muna, a single mother, who leaves her home in the West Bank to join her sister in rural Illinois. As a Middle Eastern immigrant, Muna not only struggles to find a job but also to cope with the prejudice she and her son face in a post-9-11 era. Amreeka is "a universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home." This film is rated PG-13 for brief drug use involving teens and some language.

Amreeka will be shown at 11:30 AM at the Minnesota Women's Building, 550 Rice Street in St. Paul. Bring your lunch and a friend. Popcorn will be provided. Check back next Friday for a preview of Princess Mononoke.

International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA)

Women Thrive Worldwide has created the 31 Days of Action campaign for the month of July to coordinate grassroots activism around the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA).

Why IVAWA? One in three of the world's women will be violated or sexually abused during her lifetime, according to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In some countries, women face a 71% likelihood of violence across a lifetime. Studies show that reducing violence against women can help reduce poverty. IVAWA, reintroduced to Congress in February 2010 with bipartisan support, seeks to empower women in effective, sustainable ways by focusing on local solutions.

To help get IVAWA passed, Thrive has teamed up with Amnesty International USA and the Family Violence Prevention Fund, but the bill still lacks crucial support in both the House and Senate.

By signing up for the campaign, you'll receive a few brief emails giving you a list of actions, the longest of which takes about three minutes to complete, intended to support IVAWA.

By the end of the month, Thrive hopes to raise $3,100. But even if you can't donate money, you can help by donating your time, your voice, and your mind.

We're Hiring Fall Interns!

Passionate about gender equality, women's rights, politics? Then a Consortium internship is right for you!

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The MN Women’s Consortium is looking for an self-motivated individual who can assist the organization in its work during the fall months. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Coordinating the College Feminist Connect program which connects and informs campus feminist groups and Women’s Resource Centers across the state
• Tracking federal and state legislation
• Assisting Consortium staff with special projects
• Assist staff in fundraising, event, and meeting planning including the Fall Membership Meeting and Celebration
• Weekly blogging for Equalityquilt.org
• Management of our Twitter and Facebook accounts
• Research topics and issues the Consortium is highlighting for things such as the Women’s Action Plan, Special Newsletter Inserts, or events
• Assist in the development of an in-house email list serve including database management and compiling a bi-weekly calendar for the E-Consortium Notes
• Assist Consortium staff with answering telephones and general office work as well as any special projects that should arise.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Applicants must have strong commitment to equality for all women and girls. An applicant must be flexible, responsible, and willing to take on new projects.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Minnesota Women’s Consortium is willing to work with students and their school to provide the supervision needed for students obtaining credits for the work. The position is not stipend.

HOW TO APPLY:

A resume, cover letter, and writing sample are required for consideration. Send these documents to Erin Parrish at erin@mnwomen.org.

Feminist Film Fest Sneak Peek: Itty Bitty Titty Committee

On Tuesday, August 17 the Minnesota Women's Consortium will show the award winning Itty Bitty Titty Committee as part of our annual Feminist Film Fest. Anna, a young high school graduate who works in a plastic surgeon's office has been rejected by the college of her choice and her high school girl friend. After meeting Sadie the leader of C(I)A, a radical feminist group, Anna discovers feminism and her true self. This film is not rated but contains sex and nudity.

Itty Bitty Titty Committee will be shown at 11:30 AM at 550 Rice Street, St. Paul, MN. Bring a friend and your lunch. Popcorn will be provided. Check back next Friday for a preview of Amreeka.

Minnesota Girls & Women in Sports Night

Show your support for women in sports! Join the U of M Women's Center and the Minnesota Women's Consortium as we partner with the Minnesota Lynx for Minnesota Girls and Women in Sports Night on Sunday, August 8 at 6 PM at the Target Center. A portion of each ticket sold will benefit the Women's Center in honor of their 50th Anniversary!

A pre-game reception will be held on the suite level of the Target Center from 4:30 - 5:30 PM. The reception includes door prizes, a chalk talk, and free Lindsay Whalen bobble-heads. Then watch former Gophers Lindsay Whalen and Janel McCarville face off.

Get your discounted tickets here!

Feminist Film Fest Sneak Peek: Girls Rock

On Monday, August 16 the Minnesota Women's Consortium will show Girls Rock! as part of our annual Feminist Film Fest. Girls Rock! is a documentary that follows four 8 - 18 year olds girls as they attend a Rock 'n' Roll Camp for girls. At Rock 'n' Roll Camp the girls are taught that "it is 100% okay to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." Brought together in a space where they are free from a society that sexualizes them and pressures them to conform, the girls go on a liberating journey together. Check out more about this film at Girls Rock! the Movie. Girls Rock! is rated PG for thematic elements and language.

 

Girls Rock! will be shown at 11:30 AM at 550 Rice Street, Saint Paul, MN. Bring a friend and your lunch. Popcorn will be provided. Check back next Friday for a sneak peak at the award winning film Itty Bitty Titty Committee.

Feminist Film Fest Picks

It's finally here! The line-up for our Annual Feminist Film Fest is as follows:  

• Moday, August 16: Girls Rock 
• Tuesday, August 17: Itty Bitty Titty Committee 
• Wednesday, August 18: Amreeka
• Thursday, August 19: Princess Mononoke 
• Friday, August 20: Whip It

Every August, in honor of Women's Equality Day on August 26, the Minnesota Women's Consortium hosts a week long feminist film fest. The films we show depict feminist concepts or characters. In past years, the films have prompted interesting discussion about feminist theory and women's issues. Bring a friend and your lunch. Popcorn will be provided. All films will be shown at 11:30 AM.

Also, check back every Friday afternoon for a sneak peak of each film.

Intern Confesses to a TV Addiction

I'm going to admit to having two bad habits. 1). I'm addicted to (bad) TV  2). I binge watch said bad TV shows.

Allow me to give you a few examples of some of my "favorite" shows. I have seen every episode of One Tree Hill; even the most recent ones that no longer have half of the original characters. I own every season of GREEK on DVD (although I would argue that this is not really that awful of a TV show - my parents watch it after all). And the new CW show Life Unexpected. As far as reality TV goes I watched last season of the Bachelor with Jake and Vienna and am watching the current season of the Bachelorette. 

With my weekly shows on hiatus for the summer I have found new shows to watch this summer: Friday Night Lights and Make It or Break It. Now you're probably thinking "Kim, these aren't new shows and they don't air during the summer" and you're right, which brings me to my second awful habit - binge watching TV shows. Thanks to Netflix on Demand and a friend for letting me borrow his netflix account, I have access to every Friday Night Lights episode at anytime of day with no commercial breaks. What more could a TV addict ask for? And ABC Family has season one of Make It or Break It online. Needless to say, I've already watched many episodes of both. 

Now, I don't just mindlessly watch all of these episodes. I routinely analyze scenes and story lines and what they say about gender, race, class, and any other messages they might be sending. This is partially why I love watching these shows so much, it's like a real life application of both my American Studies and Women's Studies. So really, the habits aren't that bad, right? It's academic research...that's what I like to tell myself.

Now I could write an entire paper on the gender, race, and class aspects of any one of these shows, or even a shorter paper on any given episode of one of these shows, however, right now I'll just give you a few of my favorite examples. 

You're doing WHAT this summer?

"Oh. Ummmm, that's nice!" Cue the polite smiles, raised eyebrows, and slightly tilted heads: I've just informed someone of what I'm doing this summer.

This is a tame reaction, generally received from friends of my parents. Close friends have outright laughed in my face, mocking me to no end for choosing to work on "man-hating stuff" for the summer. Granted, my group of friends specializes in sarcasm and gently making fun of one another (builds character!), but this was something I was not expecting. One friend in particular even felt the need to post on my facebook that he had been searching for this very blog, so he could "have something to laugh at while he was at work." (Tom, I hope you found it!)

People have laughed, told me to get a real job, and felt entitled to make fun of my "feminist gig" simply because they're tucked safely away in their cubicles, putting in their 9 to 5 plugging numbers into an Excel spreadsheet. And that's completely fine by me. I don't feel the need (nor do I feel entitled) to ridicule my friends who are interning for law firms, accounting firms, engineering companies, nannying, or teaching art classes this summer. To each their own.

So what is it about feminism, or women's rights (as I was informed is a less socially aggravating way to describe my work), that still gets people all riled up? I find it fascinating that well-read, well-educated, and generally in the know individuals still associate feminism with bra-burning and man-bashing.
Not only that, but young girls of today still have these associations as well. Which then got me all hot and bothered about how (or if?) feminism is being taught and described to young girls in today's society.

For example, I picked up my little sister and her friend from an arts camp at a local high school. As I was driving them home, the friend (pretty randomly, now that I think about it) asked me what exactly it was that I'm doing this summer. Faced with the task of describing my work to a twelve year old, I went with my standard "Oh, I'm interning for the Minnesota Women's Consortium, a non-profit that focuses on women's rights in Minnesota."

US Women Connect Presents Tribute to Speaker Pelosi

For more info, visit US Women Connect.

You're a Feminist and You Didn't Even Know It

I attended an all girls high school for four years. Following this, I lived in an all-girls dorm on my college campus for the first three years of college. In pondering where my feminist self came from, I found myself ruminating on this fact. It is my four years spent in an all girls high school that I feel really solidified for me, in retrospect, without realizing it at the time, the basic concept that women and men should be on an equal playing field in all aspects of life, and that as a woman growing up in the 21st century, my future was wide open. At school, it was never a discussion over whether someone did or did not achieve student body presidency or capitan of an athletic team solely because of their gender. These positions were always earned based on merit.

Our dean of students, head of school, and the majority of teachers were all women. Girls were the Editor in Chief of the yearbook and the newspaper, and founders of new clubs such as the Robotics Team and Current Events Club. To an impressionable fourteen year old, the concept of a woman in power was nothing unusual, but rather, the every day norm. It was this constant subconscious reinforcement that I feel intensely instilled in me the feminist principles that make up such a defining part of who I am today.

Some criticize the idea of an all girls school as not truly empowering young women because there aren't any  men  that women need to 'overcome'  to reach their position of power. I completely disagree with this view. By eliminating the gender card, my high school experience provided me with an environment that didn't have to hold special meetings or conferences on empowering young women and instilling a strong sense of individual worth in them (which isn't to say there wasn't a couple...maybe two in my whole four years), but rather demonstrated that message day in and day out to each and every young woman in the school.

Not only were we given real life examples of strong, independent, and intelligent women in our Dean, teachers, Head of school, as well as through each other as students, but because it is a unique Catholic high school, we were also able to interact and form relationships with some of the brightest and most interesting women I've met so far in my life: the Sisters.

Let's Not Celebrate Women, Let's Make a Difference in Women's Lives

Occasionally, I have attended feminist events where the purpose is to celebrate women. I've left these events wondering what exactly did we just accomplish in there. It never seems as though something occurred that would make the world a better place for women or diminish gender discrimination. However, I haven't been able to articulate why I feel wrong about these events nor have I been brave enough to speak up. 

Fortunately, Courtney over at Feministing articulated my feelings very well on this matter. 

Of course I love to recognize the incredible gifts, achievements, and dedication of my sister friends. But I actually feel like we're diminishing our work when we constantly talk about it in this way.

I would add not only does this type of event make me feel that we diminish our work but it also directs our attention away from real action making a difference for women everywhere. I would love it if feminist leaders would pledge to require a meaningful action for every event or meeting they host so that we can see real progress in all women's lives not just those deemed worth honoring. Read the entire post here. -Erin