EqualityQuilt

Staff Appreciation Day!

Written by Cecelia Watkins

    This past Friday, May 22, was the Consortium's Staff Appreciation Day! Friday morning we all piled into the car to drive up to Betty Bredemus's house. We were greeted by Betty and Lorraine, a jigsaw puzzle all ready to be put together, and Betty's impressively agile cat, Muffin. After a fabulous lunch, puzzling, and much Mamma Mia-ing we took a walk down to the lake--all while solving the problems of the world, of course. We then played a great game of Loaded Questions, and to give you greater insight into the minds of all the wonderful Consortium women, here are the answers to the question:
If you could have any symbol on a necklace, which symbol would you want?

Bonnie- swirl!

Erin- Gawan Yin

Marie- a lotus flower

Lorraine- L like Laverne

Cece- a tree

Betty- my initials

Some other great answers were "Punctuation" (Suma's answer to what is college good for), "head cheese/whipping cream/garlic" (Lorraine's answer for grossest food combination), and "Emma Goldman and The Tick" (Erin's two greatest heros). In the picture, clockwise from top left: Erin Parrish, Marie Nelson, Cecelia Watkins, Lorraine Hart, Suma Setty, and Bonnie Watkins  More beyond the fold....

New Afghan Law and Women's Responses

by Cecelia Watkins
As an Islamic/Middle Eastern Studies major, I am especially interested in issues involving Muslim women, and in clarifying misunderstood issues. One commonly misunderstood current issue is the new law in Afghanistan which places women further under the control of men. This law forces Shia women to obtain permission from their husbands or male relatives before leaving a house and permits a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night, whether she is willing or not. Clearly, this isn't a good thing. In figuring out how to combat this law, we must first understand it. So let me clear up a few points:

1. Most believe President Karzai signed this law to win the favor of the Shiite clergy in the upcoming election. However, this law is not Islamic! Although official federal law in Afghanistan does follow Islamic law, Sharia, this law goes against Afghanistan's Islamic constitution. It says in Article 22 that "The citizens of Afghanistan – whether man or woman – have equal rights and duties before the law".
2. Despite fewer legal restrictions of women after the Taliban's rule, many Afghan women still experience all the subjugation that the Taliban had imposed. Many women feel that the law doesn't change anything, as many households never followed the laws giving women more rights in the first place. Schools for girls get burned down, and legal cases against women's right's violations get lost or shoved aside.
3. HOWEVER-- many Afghan women do experience much more freedom than in Taliban times and have truly benefitted from less restrictive laws. They realize this new law officially condones unjust traditional practices thus greatly impeding progress towards gender equality. Even though the law only applies to the Shia minority, it is a step in the wrong direction and could soon be extended to apply to all Afghan women. On April 15, about 300 Afghan women bravely protested this law, despite massive throngs of violent counter-protesters. Go them! Because of this protest and international pressure, Karzai has vowed to amend the law. This is nice to hear, but will he change the law enough? And even if he totally scraps the law, will the situation improve for Afghan women? As American feminists we must support Afghan women who are fighting against this law.

P.S. from Bonnie:  Also check out the recent post from U.S. Women Connect, with photo of the awesome UNIFEM Director for Afghanistan.

Minnesota Women’s Consortium: Building Coalitions through Common Goals

    The following was reflection was written by our Spring 2009 Suma Setty as a class assignment. We so appreciated her thoughtful critiques and praises that we thought it should be posted for our EqualityQuilt readers to enjoy as well.

    Through the course of my experience at the Consortium and while I have been developing a personal philosophy about advocacy and feminism, I am often reminded of Vera Miao's theories about coalition politics. The Consortium's small staff is mostly white. They have three permanent staff members, and two under contract, one of whom is an Ecuadorian immigrant trying to develop the Latina Women's Association, utilizing the Consortium's resources to start her project. Their ages range from 26 to 60. The Consortium is located in the Women's Building, and most of the people I encounter are white. But does the women's consortium fall into the dangerous trap of essentializing women's experience, “privileging...gender as the locus of experience for women" which reveals the "universal Woman of feminism as implicitly white" (Miao 1998)? On a certain level, I suppose one could critique the consortium from a theoretical standpoint upon this basis, but its mission, the range of its member groups, and its diversity of interests illustrate that it does not serve to essentialize the experiences of women. I believe the Minnesota Women's Consortium exemplifies Miao's theory that differences within coalitions are "strong forces toward a progressive politics defined by its heterogeneity" (Miao 1998).

Introducing Cece!

 My name is Cecelia Watkins and I'm happy to announce that I will be doing a volunteer internship with the Women's Consortium this summer. I am a rising junior at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, majoring in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. In the fall I will be studying abroad in Amman, Jordan, which is both scary and really exciting to think about.
As you may be able to guess from my name, I'm Bonnie's daughter, and thus I have grown up surrounded by feminism here in St Paul, MN. In college I have been exposed to many issues of social justice and injustice, and the more I learn and discuss these issues with friends, the more convinced I become that our society needs a little tweaking (to say the least). I'm especially passionate about issues surrounding the environment and the possibilities of peace--as well as issues of gender equity of course!--and how all three intertwine. This past semester I elected to take a course titled Diversity of the Muslim Woman's Experience, and this has inspired me to take action on women's issues beyond academic discussion by working here in my home community. I am excited to learn all about the issues Minnesotan women face and how all you wonderful people are working together to overcome those obstacles. Looking forward to working with all of you!

AAUW National Executive Meets MN Leaders

Minnesota AAUW co-presidents Karen Kirkwood & Mary Parcheta hosted a roundtable conversation with national AAUW executive director Linda Hallman and 13 leaders of Minnesota women's groups recently.  The American Association of University Women is over 100 years old and deeply committed to gender equity on all fronts. 

Great conversation!  I'm always impressed when any of us busy people get out of our organizational silos and connect.  Highly recommended:  connect with national AAUW and/or Minnesota AAUW to check out their awesome research & other resources.  Special thanks to Karen & Mary for delicious food, and Dave Kirkwood for greatest name tents ever and other backup.  -Bonnie

L-R:  Linda Hallman, Karen Kirkwood accepting her Consortium award.  Below: representatives of the Consortium,  National Women's Studies Association Journal,  Minnesota ACE network, Mary Parcheta (end of table), Minnesota Pay Equity Coalition and Business & Professional Women.  Obscured or not in photo:  representatives of Child Care Works and Women Candidate Development Coalition.