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I'm pleased to welcome Lee Reid, as a regular guest poster. Lee is a writer and feminist activist who is a senior at SUNY Purchase College majoring in History and minoring in Women's Studies. She's currently working on her senior thesis about Helen Rogers Reid, her great-grandmother, and former President of the New York Herald Tribune. After she graduates she plans on teaching high school.

Encouraging Words

I pointed out to you the stars (the moon) and all you saw was the tip of my finger--Sukuma Proverb

You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.--Isabel Allende

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. --Paul Valery

The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity.-- Ruby Dee

“When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid”--Audre Lorde

What Does Choice Mean to Me?

Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 07:53PM

RHRealityCheck asked me to answer this question for the 1/22 anniversary of Roe v Wade. What does choice mean to you?

What does choice mean to me? Forget about Roe v Wade and legalities for a moment. Just a few minutes ago I received this message via e-mail from a professional colleague:

I saw my granddaughter born last March and it is because I value life that I

value choice. I think we should speak out for ourselves - perhaps even

as grandmothers who know a thing or two.

So speaking as another grandmother who knows a thing or two (ahem), I'll be happy to tell you what choice means to me.

Even though I worked within Planned Parenthood for over 30 years, in roles ranging from local volunteer to national CEO, I've never diminished the passion for what I believe is women's human right to make their own childbearing decisions, and I still get goosebumps when someone says to me--as happens almost every day even though I've been on my own as a writer for four years now--"You saved my life." I know what they mean. It isn't me they are talking about but about things like the birth control pill that allowed me as a 20-year-old

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What's Kathleen Turner Up to Now?

Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 11:23PM

Ever the Powered Woman, Kathleen recently shares her philosophy of life and acting with students at her alma mater, Missouri State University. Thought you might enjoy. She tells many of the stories we wrote about in Send Yourself Roses. And note that she called out the women after all the questions came from the men in the audience. (Thanks to Els Van Landuyt for tipping me off to the video.)

How Did Women Advance in the Oughties?

Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 03:37PM

Katha Pollitt, The Nation columnist and author of a new book of poetry, The Mind Body Problem asked a great question today on a media listserv we're both on. She wanted to know what we thought were the places where women and/or feminism made advances, went backward, or were treading water.

How do you think women advanced during the last decade? (We can deal with the backward steps in another post...at the beginning of a new year and new decade, let's start with a nod to the advances.)

Here are my two top-of-mind, unfiltered answers that I sent to Katha, mostly to the positive.

1. The rise of social media has given women the opportunity for a much bigger voice individually and collectively. The asynchronous, information-rich technology and the ability to create "rooms of one's own" appeal to women who have for so long been overtalked by louder male voices. As a result women are over 50% of bloggers and 57% of the people on Facebook and Twitter. Social media offer a way to connect, share, find support systems, and organize.

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Thursday

31Dec2009

Are You a Virgin?

Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 07:01PM

With the New Year about to begin, I thought you'd enjoy seeing this video trailer by Therese Shechter, called "How to lose Your Virginity."

You know, like Madonna sings, we're all new again in the New Year--"like a virgin for the very first time."

Virginity is a social construct that has been use to disempower women through the ages. I can't wait till Therese gets the film finished and encourage you to help her do so. Check out her blog and while you're there take the quiz to see how honest you are about sex. if you really want to know that is :-)

Our new trailer! "How To Lose Your Virginity" from Trixie Films on Vimeo.

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Thursday

10Dec2009

Not Under the Bus This Time

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 10:29AM

December 10 is Human Rights Day. Appropriately today, there's a new campaign for women's human rights that I want to share with you.

On the heels of the Senate’s defeat of anti-abortion measures, Bart Stupak published a defense of his amendment in the New York Times (“What My Amendment Won’t Do,” 12/8). His aggressive protest clearly illustrates the crusade against women’s rights won’t stop any time soon.

The Women’s Media Center is proud to announce the launch of its new media campaign NotUnderTheBus.com, a platform that amplifies the voices of women and organizations devoted to a health care reform that is fair to women.

NotUnderTheBus.com’s first call to action is to stop the Stupak Amendment, the Hatch-Nelson Amendment, and others like them which are the most draconian restrictions on women since the 1977 Hyde Amendment that cut federal funding for abortions by Medicaid.

NotUnderTheBus.com will serve as an aggregator and media resource center in the fight to safeguard women’s reproductive rights in the national health care reform debate.

“Women must not be thrown ‘Under the Bus’ in health care reform!” says Jehmu Greene, President of the Women’s Media Center. “We won’t let Congress run over women’s health, because our health care is central to the health of America; it is not for sale! We are furious that our reproductive rights and our health have been compromised by politicians in Congress, who in the skirmish for political gains oppose national health reform to the detriment of more than 16 million women.”

NotUnderTheBus.com calls on all women and men who support women’s equality to take the initiative, climb aboard and start driving the bus right down Pennsylvania Avenue to ensure that health care is fair, safe, and accessible to all.

To speak with WMC President Jehmu Greene, or to book other experts on health reform, health care politics, or women's reproductive rights, please contact Rebekah Spicuglia, (212) 563-0680, rebekah@womensmediacenter.com.

About the Women's Media Center: The Women's Media Center is a non-profit organization making women visible and powerful in the media. The WMC ensures that women are represented as they are: powerful newsmakers, informed experts, and sought-after media professionals. Please visit WomensMediaCenter.com to learn more about our work.

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