Better Late Than Never

To file under the "ya think?" category, this from our friends at the New York Times: A Growing Disenchantment with October Pinkification. During this month's pinkification of every-single-thing, I bit my tongue. Last October was my first fall in the USA in a while, and the pink-washing hit me full force. Then I spouted off enough to alienate numerous friends and colleagues. If you missed it, read my post on that here. So this year I was mum. Well, almost. But now the mainstream media has decided it's time to ratchet back the glowing pink-licity, so perhaps the tide has turned. As…

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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…

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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…

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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.…

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End Campus Rape

Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino are the inspiring forces behind the Department of Education's investigation into over 55 US colleges and universities for violations of Title IX, which bans discrimination based on gender in schools receiving federal funds. The schools are being investigated for their handling - mishandling? - of rape cases on campus. Clark and Pino are also featured in the excellent documentary, The Hunting Ground, and founders of endcampusrape.com. If you can see the movie anywhere, go. You will think differently about colleges, campus security, fraternities, and college athletics as well. And you'll feel inspired by what…

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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…

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A Mighty Girl

      Does A Mighty Girl (www.amightygirl.com) really have the world's largest collection of books, toys, music, and movies for "smart, confident, and courageous girls"? Well, I can't prove that 'world' claim, but it's the best compilation I've seen in a long, long time. For those of you who go nuts at the still prevalent stereotypical female roles in movies and wonder why entirely pink aisles in toy stores persist or wish there were more books about girls doing interesting things - and not just forced pedantic bios of Marie Curie - this website is a godsend. In addition to all those books, toys,…

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Spoiled: September

  First reading of SPOILED Friday September 26  - 7 PM Theaterlab 357 West 36th Street NYC, 3rd Floor Performed by Elizabeth Hess, Talkback after the performance moderated by Karen Hilbe   A Performance in Pre-Production What Are We Doing to Our Men? An Exploration of Men’s Attitudes and Gender-Based Violence Summary: SPOILED: A theatrical exploration of masculine self-image and its connection to violence against women (VAW) in India and the USA. Project in Development: What’s up with men these days? In India and the US, the world’s largest democracies, recent acts of violence against women have catapulted onto the…

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The Daily Show and Pink October

I received many comments on my Pink October post which took a rather dim view of corporations  sharing our Breast Cancer pain. (If you missed the original post, read it here.) Now the folks at the Daily Show - good ole John Stewart and Samantha Bee - have their own take on this subject, aired December 3rd.  Yes, those pink drill bits really do exist. And Breast Cancer Action is featured too. Check it out here.  And get out those pink ribbons.    

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