SOFTIE the Film

Here it is, folks, a cool combo of issues: Kenya, politics, photography, film, and the trade-offs between cause and family. Watch SOFTIE, the award-winning film about Boniface Mwangi, a photojournalist/activist, and candidate in the 2017 Kenya election, then listen to a panel discussion this Friday, April 22nd, at 7 PM EDT. Free AND enlightening. Who could ask for anything more? Sign up here: https://museumofpoliticalcorruption.org/

  • Post category:MusingsWorld
  • Reading time:1 mins read
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A Message to Corporate America

Companies – where are you!?  Asking on behalf of America’s women here! Y’all just gonna let this Texas anti-abortion bill pass and do …nothing? All you companies who pride yourselves on your "diversity," all you companies who market to women, and all you companies who happily line up on breast cancer awareness month: where are you now? You think you can sit this one out?! Y’all just gonna let this one slide because “it doesn’t affect you?” Do you really think this is about ‘religion’ so you should stay away from the issue? Please. Of course it’s not. This is…

  • Post category:MusingsWomen
  • Reading time:2 mins read
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Cuomo: Three Fallacies

Cuomo: Three Conditioned Fallacies That Helped This Abuse Persist The universal privilege accorded white men, especially powerful white American men, is so omnipresent we almost don’t see it. But the Cuomo investigation and subsequent resignation make clear a few things: one, that the vibrancy of the #MeToo movement persists and is benefitting us all. And two, that we need to look more closely at some of the reasons why actions like Cuomo’s persist. I suggest three fallacies that we can learn from. First fallacy: that older (usually white) men are caught in the flux of changing mores and social norms…

  • Post category:MusingsWomen
  • Reading time:4 mins read
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SPOILED – the Film Version. Watch it NOW!

I first began developing the concept that would become SPOILED when I lived in India. I became convinced we needed to look at gender-based violence from a male perspective; it was clear we needed to do more to understand how our societies produce attitudes and behaviors so hostile to women and gender-nonconforming people. Some of you will remember the premiere of SPOILED in 2015 in NYC. Others will recall that UN Women USA was planning to promote a live showing of SPOILED in 2020 during CSW (pre-COVID!) Yet events every day, every week, right here in the USA, remind us…

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Cuomo and Women – Is this Corruption? My .02

Many are struggling with the abuse of power vis a vis women aspect of the Cuomo scandal (I am not addressing the nursing home issue here). People are trying to weigh and value these alleged abuses, often comparing them to the “good” Cuomo has done. They are trying to figure out, in effect: "how bad is this, anyway?"  Our ability to weigh and understand these alleged abuses  - and thus assess Cuomo - relates directly to how we understand and how we weigh women’s rights.   We are in a time of rapid social change around our understandings of the role…

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No More Superwomen – Why I’m Not Cheering for Buffy Wicks

Understanding Gender Equality Part I: "This Woman is a MF Boss!" The image of California state assemblywoman Buffy Wicks voting while holding her newborn last month seemed destined to go viral. That slightly harried-looking working mom, that one-month-old swaddled in a color-coordinated striped blanket – it was perfect clickbait. And in case you missed it, on August 31st Assemblywoman Wicks was voting late at night with a nursing baby in her arms because there were no provisions for proxy voting during maternity leave. Many news outlets and social media posts rightly chastised the California legislature for such rules, tsk-tsking them…

  • Post category:MusingsWomen
  • Reading time:6 mins read
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Open Letter to Sarasota County and the City of Sarasota

Discrimination Lawsuits – There is a Better Way Sarasota County just paid $68,000 to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit, and reports indicate the City of Sarasota has paid $220,000 to settle similar claims in the past five years. The City is looking at ways to encourage employees to “express concerns” and will “emphasize the importance of speaking up.” This may be helpful, but there is a more direct approach. The City of Sarasota is already on that path. Cities for CEDAW* is a nationwide effort that provides tools and structures to help cities become more gender-equitable, proactively. The idea is…

  • Post category:CEDAWMusingsWomen
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Join me Wednesday 9:30 AM WSLR 96.5

  We hear that women are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. What does that even mean? Isn't EVERYONE affected? And even if that is true, why is it an issue? Join me Wednesday, July 19th at 9:30 AM on the Peace and Justice Report, WSLR 96.5 Community Radio to find out all this and more. Bob Connors, Tom Walker, and I will help you sort out all you need to know about women and COVID-19.

  • Post category:HealthMusingsWomen
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