Cities for CEDAW: Sarasota

Cities for CEDAW Officially Launched in Sarasota! Quick quiz: - do you think men and women should have equal rights in America? - do you think women should have equal access to job opportunities? - do you think men and women should earn the same salary for doing the same job? If you answered yes to any of these questions, sounds like you support CEDAW! Which means you too can help make Sarasota - or New York, or your city - a CEDAW city! CEDAW is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It's been…

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Mary Catherine Bateson

For those of you who are already fans of the writer and cultural anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, you'll be interested in her October 1st interview with Krista Tippett on the radio program "On Being." And if you have never discovered her thoughtful wisdom, then start by listening to this. (Download the program here.) Among other things, Bateson sees some hope for climate change, discusses why humans are actually more biologically and evolutionarily hard-wired for cooperation than competition, and reflects on how 'juggling' is such an anxiety-producing metaphor for the artistry, the composition, that is our lives. The daughter of celebrated…

  • Post category:MusingsWomenWorld
  • Reading time:4 mins read
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CEDAW* Makes National News

Thanks to the attention of so many world leaders here in New York for the UN General Assembly, CEDAW – the *Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - is back in feature articles of major newspapers. (See my earlier post on CEDAW here.) On Saturday, September 26, President Xi Jinping of China hosted a meeting to recognize a landmark women’s rights conference in Beijing 20 years ago. Presidents and Prime Ministers from all over attended the meeting. And, while China was criticized for jailing prominent female activists, the US was taken to task for failing…

  • Post category:CEDAWMusingsWomen
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MAVA Mumbai

  Who? Based in Mumbai, Men Against Violence and Abuse - MAVA - is a group I discovered while doing research for my play SPOILED. One day I cold-called Harish Sadani, MAVA's founder and 'chief functionary', from Delhi, seeking information about how boys and young men in India develop attitudes toward women and what some typical experiences were. Harish was gracious and helpful, sending me links and information. When I traveled to Mumbai last year, we had a long lunch together. He fielded all the questions I could think of and supplied both hard data and an authentic, local perspective. You…

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All Is Good Here: Quick News Flash

What's not to like? It's hard to find anything wrong with this news item - there's just too much that's right. As per today's New York Times: New York City Prosecutor Using Millions Taken From Banks for Rape-Kit Testing The crib sheet on this one: Apparently Cyrus R. Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, is sitting on millions of dollars available for, well, worthy stuff. About $800 million. The money came from settlements with large banks when they violated US laws. Think HSBC, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas. The cases are brought in NY, but they're banks with national and international reach.…

  • Post category:MusingsWomen
  • Reading time:4 mins read
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Alpha Montessori Update

It was a total delight to visit Alpha Montessori this past April. The first class of nine students just graduated in an emotional and inspiring ceremony. (See photos below or watch the ceremony here.) Many of these children started in the very early days of the school when Alpha Montessori was not much more than a concept, a vision of what education could bring. Yet all have now been accepted into English medium upper schools, a fantastic accomplishment. They are stunning examples of how confident, competent, self-directed, and articulate Montessori children can become, regardless of background. The students presented individually chosen and…

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High School Graduation Circa 2015

For the record, I am a big fan of alternative education programs. I’m opposed to the thrust and consequences of both No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, especially their emphases on extensive standardized testing and connecting teacher assessments to student test scores. The Montessorian in me fully recognizes that all students learn differently, that there are many paths to success, and that there are multiple measures of knowledge. I want to see students encouraged to develop individual strengths and not penalized by failure on narrow, inappropriate skill assessments. But are there limits here, folks? Are there NO…

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La Violencia – Justice in Guatemala?

  The civil war in Guatemala officially ended in 1996, but like many deeply rooted disputes about power, land, and control, this one seems not to have really ended. Reconciliation, justice, and reparations are slow to come, and a violent life is still the norm for many in Guatemala. At the always-wonderful Through Women's Eyes Film Festival in Sarasota this weekend I saw La Violencia, directed by Til Frohlich and Pia Janning, a documentary about the toll of the civil war on the Mayans of Guatemala. Many women bravely spoke up uring the trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. They detailed…

  • Post category:MusingsWomenWorld
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News Flash!

SPOILED on Screen   A video of SPOILED will be shown TONIGHT - Friday, March 6 - in New York at the International Conference on Masculinities. We are thrilled to be a part of this large gathering of social scientists, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and activists, all working together to enhance gender justice. Here's some of the info from our program to put the performance in context. Violence, Masculinity, and the Making of SPOILED All the stories in SPOILED are based on recent incidents in India and the USA. Two girls, living in a home with no toilet, were raped and…

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SPOILED – Staged Performances

Thanks to the wonderful support from many colleagues, family, and friends, SPOILED will be on the stage in workshop performances In New York this February. We received great comments at the reading this month and rehearsals are beginning now. Will you be in New York on February 15, 16, or 17? Come to Stage Left Studio! Tickets for the February shows can be purchased through Stage Left Studio, here: Tickets: SPOILED Still interested in supporting the play - and the cause - but can't make it to the show? We need donations NOW to bring SPOILED to conferences later this spring. We…

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