Feminism For The Cure!

To whomever hacked the Susan G. Komen website and posted this hilariously truthful banner,

Thank you.

Hackers changed the ad promoting the Komen Marathon to ask donors to help them "run over poor women on [their] way to the bank" this morning. This is just one current example of online feminism, and I love it.

Pro-Choice Theatre at Ramapo!

Next Tuesday, The Women's Center is working with Professor Mandy Restivo to bring the play Words of Choice to Ramapo! Words of Choice is a play that depicts twelve short scenarios of individuals, couples, and families facing the decision of whether or not an abortion is an appropriate or available option to them. Some stories are empowering; others are heartbreaking. All are very realistic depictions of struggles that occur in the lives of hundreds every day. Tickets are free at Roadrunner Central! Come out and see this performance!



This play, in my opinion, perfectly embodies the purpose of the arts in social justice. It takes the creative energies of a few people and uses them to channel the anger that many activists feel into a work of art more palatable to the public. A play about reproductive justice, if well publicized, could have just as much of an impact as a rally would. In fact, I would say artistic means of protest and activism are more well-recieved in general. If a person feels passionately about issues of social justice and possesses some level of creativity, I believe artistic forms of outreach can raise awareness and rally folks to the cause.

A few recent developments on the topic of reproductive justice include the withdrawal of sponsorship from Planned Parenthood by the Susan G. Komen foundation. Despite the other services offered by Planned Parenthood, all funds were withdrawn because one of the recently appointed board members identifies as pro-life and does not support access to abortion. Read more about this event in the blog Lexi posted yesterday!

The national initiative, Repeal Hyde Art Project, will introduce the first Day of Action on February 10. This encourages college students and other groups dedicated to social justice to color birds (the original art idea) and display them in an art installation in public. Photographs of the installations will be sent to representatives to encourage them to cease reinstating the Hyde Amendment annually. Learn more about the initiative at the Repeal Hyde Art Project website.

"Don't Take Away My Cancer Sceenings"

In this race for the presidency, women’s rights, especially reproductive rights, seem to have become the hot button issue. Week after week, in every debate, candidates are discussing birth control, abortion, and ultimately, morality (because there seems to be some belief that these are all related) as an easy way to prove that they are more conservative than the other candidate. As a female-bodied person, I find this not only stifling but also infuriating that anyone feels like they have some say over my own reproductive rights.

The newest snafu isn’t directly connected to the presidential race, but I can’t help but think that the political climate regarding women’s health has something to do with it. The Susan G. Komen foundation, the nation’s leading breast cancer charity, announced that it would be cutting ties with the organization Planned Parenthood because of their opposing opinions of abortion. This means that because PP refuses to stop helping women who want abortions, they will lose a huge amount of money in grants that would go towards health care, especially breast screenings.

By pitting two of the biggest women’s health organizations against each other, a gross amount of underprivileged women will suffer from this lack of funding and access to much needed health care. I guess in this race, the Republican candidates aren’t really concerned with poor women’s votes. Personally, I think it’s time to remind them that women, especially middle and working class, are in fact the majority in this country. Our rights and voices matter, and its time they finally recognize this instead of abusing it.

We've Got A Long Way to Go *Trigger Warning*

This past week, threatening messages directed at the queer community were found at Montclair State University. While not outright directed at specific individuals, messages stating that gay students would die on February 7th were found in a bathroom and in a note left at the campus LGBT center. MSU president Susan Cole stated in an email to the campus, "These actions are grossly unacceptable in our community and a clear violation of university policies, as well as the basic tenets of human decency."

It is sad that in this day and age we still have people who are targeting LGBT members within their community, especially on a college campus where people are supposed to learn to challenge and expand their world views, not propagate hateful ignorance. As if this was not enough, reading the comments left by readers on the local news site I read this on disturbed me. Readers posted such things as:

"LBGT center......really, they need all of that? Sounds like a tough place to be a straight guy.....yuck."

"Oh my god someone offended the gay community everybody watch out."

"Whoever did this is guilty of vandalism for writing on the wall, that's it. There's no hate/bias crime here. The freedom of speech applies to all not just oversensitive gays. Why doesn't Montclair State have a Heterosexual Center, I mean they have a LGBT center? Sounds like the university is discriminating against heterosexuals."

"Do we have a 'normal center'?"

"Hey, if they die, than they die.. who cares really."

These are just a few of the many comments left that leave me astounded at the sheer number of people who are so wrapped up in hatred and ignorance that they would take the time to actively condemn members of the queer community who have had to deal with death threats at their university, a place that is supposed to be their home. The Ramapo College Women's Center's thoughts are with MSU, and we hope that the students there can find peace and security in the face of these hateful messages. We've got a long way to go, but we will get there together.

For anyone at Ramapo College who has been particularly affected by this incident, our confidential queer support group meets Mondays at 9:30pm in the Women's Center, and our staff is always available for peer listening should it be needed.

A loving husband kills his wife for having a baby girl and his mother, the wife's mother in law, assisted in this horrific act. In the country of Afghanistan being a woman is one of the hardest and most disgraceful things. According to Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, since the Taliban times of violence women have gained rights against such acts and have gained a sense of identity, but because they are "women" according to some people's cultures women are the inferior gender and due to this belief practices are conducted against women degrading, assaulting and abusing them. What was the point of the rights and laws enacted for them? Who is responsible for not taking charge? What can they do to increase the likelihood of a CHANGE happening? What would be classified as formal equality in this situation? What would we consider the baseline of equality as in the baseline for women in Afghanistan?

Women and girls have no one to turn to because although rights have been implemented men in the country are still superior and believed over women. The government has played no real role in authorizing that women are treated with respect or alone as human beings. Moral equality has no relevance in this country, human rights are not of importance unless it pertains to the men. Women's rights are human rights, these traditions should not be seen as only a crime against women but as a flaw of the country as a whole. I believe not only as women should they have the right to safety, security, and life but they shouldn't fear that they are always at risk of harm. Having a society full of men would be useless in a sense of procreation and pointless in a sense of the household life, which is believed to be taken care of by women. It is contradictory for them to believe men are superior and that when their wives have girls it is a doom to their family, but then they need women to create more lives and form a stable home. How in any situation could a women control the sex of her child, as well how does this constitute as a reasoning to be murdered? Who places the pricing of a male-identified baby having a more successful or productive life than a female? This is absolutely unacceptable and an extreme call for justice and speaking out.

Feminism in the Theater

Being a theater major, I have had the opportunity to be exposed to many different kinds of theater and performance. However, only a small portion of that has been able to be categorized as having feminist themes. Young Jean Lee’s Untitled Feminist Show is my first exception. I had to go see this show last Saturday knowing only that I expected it to be weird and full of nudity. Seeing the title Untitled Feminist Show, I realized that even as a feminist, I have a lot of bias and preconceived notions on what would make it a feminist show. I totally expected it to be this angry, in your face, piece about the right way to be a feminist, and if you aren’t that specific type of person, you’re a terrible human being. I really couldn’t have been any more wrong about this, however.

Young Jean Lee’s Untitled Feminist Show at Baryshnikov Arts Center is a show made up of short sequences that encompass every different kind of feminist and questions gender politics. It was performed by six female-bodied actors but not all of these performers identified as female. This intention was super interesting to me because it’s a choice so subtle that if you didn’t read the program, you wouldn’t know. However, it’s really important for bringing every side of the feminist experience into the show.

The show itself was more of a whimsical dance, full of humor, that created connections between a Utopian feminist culture and the world we live in now. The piece had no written text, so all the stories and characters were portrayed through movement. This choice gave them the ability to stay away from just spewing ideologies, and instead, they focused on opening the minds of the audience to new possibilities

If you have the chance, I totally recommend going!!! It was a great experience to see feminism at work in the theater community and in the world.

Domestic Violence Bills That Make No Sense

Two new bills proposed in New Hampshire would severely affect the handling of domestic violence cases, making it much more difficult to stop abusers and protect survivors.

The first, House Bill 1581, would be a huge blow to the power police officers have when responding to a domestic abuse call. The officer would have to witness the actual abuse happening or leave to get a warrant to arrest an abuser, rather than using clear evidence and their own common sense.

The second, House Bill 1608, would affect how abusers with restraining orders against them are dealt with by police. Instead of being able to arrest someone for violating his or her restraining order, the person in question would only be able to be arrested if they violated the restraining order THREE times.

I am honestly shocked by the message that these bills send and the effects they would have on people involved in abusive relationships. For a state that has some of the strongest domestic abuse laws in the nation, New Hampshire is on the brink of trading that status for laws that would limit the chances of survivors to escape their situation as well as put them in harm's way. I cannot conceive of a way in which these bills would actually reduce domestic violence or properly deal with the perpetrators of this abuse; both bills would make it easier for abusers to escape arrest and prosecution, as well as keep survivors of violence trapped in situations where their abusers could easily continue to inflict pain and suffering upon them. One instance of abuse is too much, and these laws would give abusers the ability to continue to do so, so long as they don't get caught three times (Because we all know that no instance of violence is really severe enough to warrant an arrest if it's only the first or second documented violation, right?) or do it before the police show up to witness the violence.

Here's hoping that these bills are not signed into law, because they would be a serious setback to dealing with domestic abuse that put innocent lives on the line.

History, Abridged.

The Tea Party has been one of the more noticable political parties in recent months. Whether you support or reject the platform the are based on, you have to admit they attract attention. Recently, the Tennessee Tea Party has drawn quite a bit of attention from a wide range of Americans by their shocking proposal to the state legislators.

The proposal's purpose, as worded by Hal Rounds (spokesperson for the Tea Party at the event) is "educating students the truth about America." This would be executed by passing legislation that dictates what material may or may not be present in history textbooks. Specifically, the proposal states “no portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

Take a moment to reread that statement. Let it sink in.

This proposal suggests we remove from school textbooks all references to historical events that put the (generally) white male government in poor light. Specifically, it would be minority experiences that would be eliminated, even though it is acknowledged that these events legitimately happened in American history.
If you haven't quite wrapped your head around the implications of such a piece of legislation, let me put it in perspective. If passed, all Tennessee textbooks would completely breeze over events of historical significance such as slavery and the Japanese internment camps of World War II, among others.

I'd hate to break this to the Tea Party members who support this proposal, but these things happened. They are a part of history. The idea behind the proposal is to prevent the Founding Fathers and other leaders from being portrayed negatively due to their participation in the slave trade, or other acts that are now unthinkable. In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a history class is to learn from the mistakes of the past to have the potential of growing as a nation in the future. It seems much more logical to use these sad events as teaching points. Instead of hiding them out of shame, we can use them to our advantage.

State of the Union

Greetings and many happy returns WC blog readers! Welcome back for the spring 2012 semester. To kickoff our collective activist thinking and conversations this year, here is a video and full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address from last night.



Video source: YouTube

Transcript under the cut!

Too Young for the High Seas?

Laura Dekker has become the youngest person to sail around the world with her 518 day voyage beginning in 2009 and ending in 2011 in St. Maarten. Decker first had the idea to sail solo at the age of 13 with the support of her parents, but due to legal obstacles, she had to wait until she was 14. After dealing with opposition from Dutch authorities, Child Protective Services, and her teachers, Dekker finally set sail and traveled a total of 27,000 nautical miles.

Dekker and her family planned the route around the world to stop at what they considered “safe” docking ports and also navigated a way that avoided areas that had high seas and pirates.

While on her trip, Dekker kept a blog documenting her trip and describing the vast area of places she visited such as the Canary Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia, and South Africa.

Her adventure drew audiences from all around the world who felt that she was too young to undertake such a dangerous and possibly traumatic voyage. Many psychiatrists believed that she would suffer from extreme depression being alone for the long amount of time she planned to be sailing. Others said that the trip was too dangerous for just a teenager, and she could face problems such as high seas, shark infested waters, and pirates. Dekker argued that she would keep human contact by docking at different ports throughout her trip and visiting the locals.

While I admire Dekker’s courage and zest for adventure, if I were her parents I would never let her sail by herself around the world. The risks would be too great and I think an undertaking like this is meant for someone much older and wiser when it comes to knowledge about the ocean. Her parents claim that she has been sailing since she was 6 years old, but does that make her an expert sailor? I don’t think so. The fact that she made it home I find a complete miracle and while I give her props, why couldn’t she have waited another 10 years? I think her parents pulling her out of school for that long to go on essentially a vacation is not very responsible of them.

With about a thousand things that could go wrong in this situation, I don’t think this trip was the wisest. But good for her, because now she will have to find something to do in her life that will top the trip she took when she was 14.