LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? FOLLOW ME! This is an eclectic feminist blog. I try to relate the articles back in some way to feminist and/or women's issues. I am particularly interested in ecofeminism, including animal activism, the environment, and current events. Contact Cherie: cherwyro@wowway.com
"I am thankful for all forms of freedom ... However, freedom of choice means the most to me in a broader sense than just the constitutional right for women to choose as it relates to bearing children. Overall, our ability to make our choices for what we want and want best for our lives is a freedom every human being of sound mind should be afforded." --Rhonda Walker, WDIV anchor and founder of The Rhonda Walker Foundation.
The foundation's goal is "To empower inner city teen girls towards becoming strong, confident, successful and moral future leaders."
"I'm not saying you shouldn't use common sense and watch out for signs of danger, but the ultimate honus (sic)* to keep from committing a crime fall on (duh,) the person who is actually thinking of committing the crime, and I think we need to be reminded of that more often." -- Jamie Peck, thegloss.com
I don't think I need to say any more about this poster. Thanks to my Facebook friend KK for sending it to me. *(The correct word is onus, meaning burden or blame -- cwr.)
"I realized that the song I was looking for didn't exist, and I was going to have to write it myself." -- Helen Reddy on her hit "I Am Woman."
Thirty-nine years ago today, America first heard Helen Reddy sing her signature hit "I Am Woman." The song that would go on to become the anthem of the women's movement in the 1970s was not an immediate hit, but by December of 1972, it was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Reddy co-wrote the song with Ray Burton when she could find no other songs that expressed her new-found positive sense of self she found when she joined the women's movement.
"I Am Woman" earned Reddy a Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance." In her acceptance speech, Reddy thanked God, "because She makes everything possible."
Reddy was also the first native Australian to top the U.S. charts and also win a Grammy. She went on to record, perform and act in the years to follow.
Reddy in 2010
She officially retired from show business in 2002 and is now a practicing hypnotherapist in Australia.
In 2006, she penned her autobiography titled "The Woman I Am."
In an interview with California-based Daieda Magazine in 2010, Reddy, 69, said she has no regrets about leaving show business, and emphatically states she has no plans to return.
"I have no regrets about leaving show business when I did. I have to say that the last 10 years have probably been the happiest of my life," she said.
Reddy also told the magazine that she is still involved with feminist causes "in as much as it's possible to be."
"I'm still involved with battered women's shelters and things like that. Feminism was a big threat to a lot of guys when it came out. I was upsetting the applecart with 'I Am Woman.' I remember after I gave my Grammy speech and thanked God 'because She makes everything possible,' one woman wrote in and said, 'If you think God is a woman, then she and the Virgin Mary must be lesbians. Is that what you believe?'
Reddy believes there is still much to be done in the name of feminism, despite its negative connotation in today's media.
"... it's very hard to fight the media and the media's representation of feminism and feminist issues. The media turned feminism into a dirty word. So much hard work was undone and so many gains were lost in the eighties. Now there's a whole generation of young women who want the benefits of feminism but don't want that word. They don't want to say they're feminist or associate as part of a feminist cause."
Reddy also revealed her one guilty pleasure: "Chocolate. It's my one sin."
Listen to Helen Reddy's classic "I Am Woman" here, lyrics included:
Once upon a time in Toronto, a cop said something like, "If women don't want to be victimized, they shouldn't dress like sluts."
"This is victim-blaming mentality," said the women of the city. So, they dressed in their finest provocative clothing and took to the streets. And it became their mission was to send a message that a particular mode of dress is not justification for sexual assault or other abuse. Soon, other women took up the cause around the world.
Slut Walk in Austin, Texas photo by Rhettwp All rights reserved
They've walked in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and even India, and now they are coming to Detroit, "to bring awareness and to stop slut-shaming, no one deserves to be raped, assaulted, or harassed."
Organizers told MOTORCITYBLOG, "We want all Sluts AND Allies there-- dress as you please, whether it's a corset and fishnets or sweatpants and a t-shirt. Because victim-blaming affects people of all genders, and no matter what you're wearing, you don't deserve to be targeted for it."
Originally scheduled for Saturday, June 25, the Detroit event has been postponed while organizers team up with "a major media outlet" to "gain more visibility in hopes of making SlutWalk Detroit as powerful as it can be."
Jennifer Martin, Ph.D., teaches women's studies at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. She describes the SlutWalks as "an organic, grassroots movement -- highly contentious in the women's studies community."
"They have sprung up nationally as well as globally in response to dress based victim blame for sexual assault," Martin said.
"I see the 'slut' in Slut Walk as being implicitly placed in quotation marks, as irony. Women should not be blamed for sexual assault, this is what they are trying to illustrate -- putting the issue into the public's view -- imploring people to face it."
Yet some fear the irony of the movement might be lost on younger women, adding to their confusion surrounding society's sexual double standard.
"While the organisers of the SlutWalk might think that proudly calling themselves "sluts" is a way to empower women, they are in fact making life harder for girls who are trying to navigate their way through the tricky terrain of adolescence ... They have been told over and over that in order to be valued in such a culture, they must look and act like sluts, while not being labeled slut because the label has dire consequences including being blamed for rape, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and self-mutilation."
Yet, Lena Ellis, one of the organizers of Detroit SlutWalk says one of the SlutWalk's goals is to "reclaim the word slut."
She says, "I would love to see all hateful words gone from existence, but that’s not possible. The word slut has been used for years to scorn women and make them feel ashamed, but I feel by redefining it and reclaiming it we are giving power to the word in a positive sense."
But is it possible to assign any positive connotation to the word "slut?" It's most basic meaning since the 15th century has been "a sexually immoral woman."
Also, "Slut" is a word that women use against other women to degrade, demean and devalue them. Embracing the word does not take away its power in the "girl-on-girl crime arena," where it is incredibly powerful. It's all about context.
Dines and Murphy say activists' time could be better spent, "exposing the myriad ways in which the law and the culture enable myths about all types of women – sexually active or "chaste" alike. These myths facilitate sexual violence by undermining women's credibility when they report sex crimes."
And further:
"Women need to take to the streets – but not for the right to be called "slut". Women should be fighting for liberation from culturally imposed myths about their sexuality that encourage gendered violence. Our daughters – and our sons – have the right to live in a world that celebrates equally women's sexual freedom and bodily integrity."
Here is one of the best SlutWalk discussions I've heard from NPR's "Tell Me More." Give it a listen:
It's a story we all share. It's what brings us together as a people, and yet, when it comes to the great American story, it turns out that we know so very little of it.
Palin at Boston's Old North Church. Photo by Mark Garfinkel
Sarah Palin's lack of historical knowledge was painfully exposed on her recent One Nation bus tour. At the Old North Church in Boston, Palin gave details of Paul Revere's famous ride that erroneously included bells and gun shots.
And while the media and her critics were quick to point out her mistakes, Stephen Colbert put it in perspective when he said, "without her, no one would have checked into what actually happened."
A depiction of Revere's ride sans bells and gun shots.
But, Palin isn't the only one who's lacking historical knowledge. Elementary, middle school and high school students don't fare much better. It seems that history is not a priority any more.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "The results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that U.S. schoolchildren have made little progress since 2006 in their understanding of key historical themes, including the basic principles of democracy and America’s role in the world.
"Only 20% of U.S. fourth-graders and 17% of eighth-graders who took the 2010 history exam were "proficient" or "advanced," unchanged since the test was last administered in 2006. Proficient means students have a solid understanding of the material.
"The news was even more dire in high school, where 12% of 12th-graders were proficient, unchanged since 2006. More than half of all seniors posted scores at the lowest achievement level, "below basic." While the nation’s fourth- and eighth-graders have seen a slight uptick in scores since the exam was first administered in 1994, 12th-graders haven’t."
When I returned to college at midlife to pursue my journalism studies, a study of American history was one of the first things I included in my personal curriculum, regardless of university requirements. It was quite simple. I felt -- and still feel -- that a journalist should have a good basic knowledge of where America has been in order to understand its current role on the world stage and report on today's events in context.
My American history classes were well worth taking. My overview of our common story became a timeline for my other studies. I often referred back to my history notes for insights into women's studies, journalism, literature, law and ethics.
Back in the '80s, Billy Joel inspired a study of history with his hit song "We Didn't Start the Fire." In the days just preceding wide access to the Internet, Joel, a self-proclaimed history buff, strung together historical events in a catchy, rhyming sequence that caught our attention and had us heading for our history books to find out what he was singing about. I remember school children making elaborate time lines to match the song -- and they were loving it!
Is it possible to reignite that spark for knowledge? I'd love to see Joel pick up where he left off and do an updated version of the song, and perhaps include a little HERstory for good measure.
Cherie's challenge: Start naming significant events since 1989. See if you can weave them into Billy Joel's classic tune.
