Tag Archives: Women and Girls

The Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City Relaunch Event – You’re Invited!

Join the Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City (YWTF NYC) for “Cocktails and Conversations”

YWTF NYC

Thursday, July 24th, starting at 5:30 pm at the Loreley Restaurant and Biergarten in Lower Manhattan (map)

Learn about YWTF NYC and our mission – State your mission – Find out about open board positions and ways to get involved your own way!

YWTF NYC is back, but not without you! At the first official event of the summer, we want to know, what YOU want out of your membership? Networking? Career advice? Mentorship? Work/life balance tips? Do you want to lobby our representatives to advocate for women’s issues? If you answered “yes” to one or all of the above, we can’t wait to meet you!

Originally founded in 2005, YWTF NYC is an organization devoted to younger social justice and women’s rights activists. YWTF chapters in cities around the country work on a variety of issues in different ways as an arm of the Association of American University Women (AAUW), an organization with well over 100 years of experience in advocacy, philanthropy, education, and research. For more information about YWTF, please visit aauw.org/YWTF.

Please join us for “Cocktails & Conversation” to learn more about us, talk about the issues that matter most to you, and find out about ways to take action with YWTF. We will be serving light appetizers and encourage you to bring your friends along! Please help us spread the word and share this information with other activists in the region.

For more information and to RSVP, please visit: “Younger Women’s Task Force NYC – Cocktails & Convos” or email YWTF.NYC@gmail.com

Remarkable Women in New York State History Reading

On Sunday, July 27, the Poughkeepsie Branch’s Sunday Author Series will explore the book, Remarkable Women in New York State History, a collection of short biographies of notable women from across the state throughout its history. The book is the end-product of an AAUW NYS project, “Women Making a Difference” and coauthored by Marilynn Smiley and AAUW NYS Historian, Helen Engel. Both Smiley and Engel will be on hand to introduce the book.

The program runs from 2:00-3:00 pm at the Gallery in Beacon (199 Main Street, map). Please contact Wendy Maragh Taylor with any questions.

Remarkable Women in New York State History

Program:

Introduction by authors Marilynn Smiley and Helen Engel

Catharyna Brett 1687-1763, Barbara Wilman (author)

Sojourner Truth 1797-1883, Helen Engel

Maria Salmon Mitchell 1818-1889, Helen Engel

Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962, Eleanor Charwat* (author)

Jane Matilda Bolin 1908-2007, Wendy Maragh Taylor* (author)

Ruth Stafford Peale 1906-2008, Marilynn Smiley

Anna Oder Buchholz 1921-2007, Barbara Mindel* (author)

Lucille Pattison 1935-2013, Judith Linville* (author)

* Members of AAUW Poughkeepsie Branch

Let’s extend the deadline to ratify the ERA

Ask Senator Schumer to co-sponsor the extension

ERA Button

The ERA, as you know, is not dead. Nor has it been ratified.

Last year Tammy Baldwin (WI) submitted a resolution to remove the seven year deadline. This spring my Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) submitted SJ Res. 39 to remove the deadline. Recently he was here at my retirement community and spoke eloquently about the need for ERA and that he believes the deadline can be removed. The Resolution will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee in a few months. Florida is working furiously to ratify.Earlier this year the House in Virginia ratified.

Getting the three states is not out of the question.

WHAT WE NEED: Sen. Schumer is on the Judiciary Committee and has not signed on as a co-sponsor. We need calls to his office 202-224-6542 as soon as possible.

– Susan Hoover, AAUW NYS Public Policy Chair.

The ERA was written in 1923 by Alice Paul, suffragist leader and founder of the National Woman’s Party.  She and the NWP considered the ERA to be the next necessary step after the 19th Amendment (affirming women’s right to vote) in guaranteeing “equal justice under law” to all citizens.

bullet Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
bullet Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
bullet Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

AAUW Kingston at the Women’s Health & Fitness Expo

AAUW Kingston's Women's Health Expo Booth 2012

Several branch volunteers spend a great day talking with many of the thousands of women at the Expo Saturday. We heard lots of concern that the country is moving backwards when it comes to the issues women care about. Here’s a picture of our booth.

Thanks to volunteers Susan Holland, Vivi Hlavsa, Susan Hirsch, Dhere Dorian, Lydia Mellos, Erica Weiss, Marge Roberts who worked the booth with Ruth Wahtera, and Ruth Bean and Delores LaChance who helped set up on Friday night.

“Who Needs Feminism?” Microbloggers Answer the Question

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.”

AAUW Kingston Receives Planning Grant

Enjoy Omega!

Congratulations to us and thanks to Omega!We’re grateful to receive a grant for the branch to attend the Omega Women Serving Women Summit in May.

We’ll use the time to set priorities and plan for the coming year — especially following up on the Miss Representation/media literacy project.  We have reserved space for 25 people, members and people interested in collaborating with us. You can read about the details here. Call or email Adele Calcavecchio, Susan Holland, or Ruth Wahtera to reserve your space.

Kingston Branch to Host Screening of the Award-Winning Film, Miss Representation

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:

 Watch the Miss Representation trailer here

Purchase tickets for the screening here: $10 on-line, in advance; $15 at the door

If you have any questions, please email: events.aauw.kingston.ny@gmail.com

This film is rated TV-14 DL