Tomorrow at 3:00 pm, join Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14, D) and student advocates and leaders from Know Your IX, the National Women Law Center, and AAUW in an online conversation about what actions the Department of Education should take to protect students from sexual violence on campus.
Please click Google Hangouts on the Air to learn more, RSVP, and listen in.
The Miss Representation Education Committee will meet before the open board meeting on December 6, at 3:15 PM at the Kingston Library. All Branch members are more than welcome to attend. We will be discussing ways to bring the movie Miss Representation and its messages into area schools. The movie examines the way women and girls are represented (and under-represented) in our media and the impacts those depictions have on society.
If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Mayfield at jennifer.a.mayfield@gmail.com or Adele Calcavechhio at adeleacts@gmail.com.
Microblogs and internet memes are not often the medium of choice for social commentary. More often, they host flighty trends like this year’s “Breading Cats,” last year’s “Batmanning,” or the antique (at least in internet years), “Socially Awkward Penguin.” Still, the Arab Spring proved to the world how effectively social media, including microblogs, can be used to effect social change. So it’s not surprising that 16 Duke University undergrads took to Tumblr when assigned a final project focused on social change in their Women in the Public Sphere class.
The students started the Tumblr blog, “Who Needs Feminism?” as a platform to discuss gender equity and a “PR campaign” to rehabilitate the word “feminism” in the Duke Community. In an interview with Mashable, senior Amy Fryt said, “[w]e discussed this extensively and concluded that there is a disturbingly apathetic sentiment toward feminism, both on campus and on a broader societal scale.” The blog was started as a way to “aim to challenge existing stereotypes surrounding feminists and assert the importance of feminism today.”
“Who Needs Feminism?” took off, spreading fast and far. A diverse audience contributes to the wide array of posts which range in scope from very personal and individual issues to systematic and international matters. It is definitely worth reading, sharing, and maybe even contributing to. And, for a more tongue-in-cheek feminist Tumblr, you should also check out “Feminist Ryan Gosling.”
Too often media and advertising send boys and young men the message that they should be in control, violent, and unemotional and women should be treated like objects and second class citizens.
Miss Representation, the award-winning documentary introduced at Sundance in 2011, assesses the impact that the media has on attitudes toward women and girls in American society. It explores links between limited, often negative or overly sexualized, representations of women in media and the continued underrepresentation of women in positions of power.
AAUW Kingston is hosting a screening and panel discussion of Miss Representation at the Rosendale Theater March 7, 2012 at 7:15. Purchase tickets for the screening here.
The film presents examples of those media messages and introduces startling facts and statistics through interviews with a diverse group of concerned men and women. The discussion includes politicians, journalists, entertainers, young students, activists, and academics such as Condoleezza Rice, Katie Couric, Corey Booker, and Rosario Dawson.
AAUW’s screening of Miss Representation will be followed by a panel discussing these issues and exploring some of the action steps needed to bring about a more accurate and inclusive representation of women. Panelists include:
If you have any questions, please email: events.aauw.kingston.ny@gmail.com
This film is rated TV-14 DL
Cross
ing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, AAUW’s new research report on sexual harassment in middle and high schools, which was released online Monday, has gotten significant media attention from a number of outlets including the Associated Press and the New York Times. This report — the first of its kind in 10 years — provides valuable information for all of us who are concerned about the next generation.
Parents, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and, most of all, students need this report to shed light on the issue of sexual harassment in schools. AAUW is ready to amplify the conversation and give people the facts and best practices they need to work toward a solution.
You can get a PDF of the Executive Summary and/or the full report here.
Watch this site for more discussion about what we can do.
Anita Hill testifying 20 years ago - Clarence Thomas Senate hearing
Anita Hill put her personal and professional life on the line when she testified about Clarence Thomas’s sexual harassment. It was a turning point for women. No longer do we consider sexual harassment of anyone business as usual.
This weekend hundreds of people gathered at Hunter College to reflect on what has happened, what we’ve learned, and the work that remains. The conversation was fast moving and the questions from the audience provoked differences in opinion as well as insight into the intersections of race, gender, power, and politics.
You can watch the video of the panels at Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference here: Anita Hill Speaks 20 Years Later | C-SPAN
Speakers included Anita Hill, people involved in the hearing, like Catharine MacKinnon and Judith Resnik, scholars like Kimberlé Crenshaw, and current day activists like AAUW fellow Ai-Jen Poo, Jamia Wilson, and Emily May from Hollaback to name just a few. This was a terrific conference, well worth carving out some time to watch.
Some of our members were fortunate to be there. Whether you were there in person, watched the live stream, of watch the video, please add your impressions of the day or thoughts on sexual harassment in the comments