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Keep up-to-date on goings-on with The New Agenda! Planning a house party or meetup? Want to organize a protest or letter-writing campaign? Talk about it here! This is an open thread for your news, plans, ideas, and suggestions.
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I would love to go protest Favreau in front of President-Elect’s headquarters in Chicago, or be in the background in NYC where I live at the morning shows and hold up a sign that says, “Obama, this will be your main speech-writer?” with a big blow up of the infamous picture.
I think it would be great if we can get media coverage of a group of people in front of Obama’s office calling for the firing of Favreau. And then go to the White House, if Favreau is there. If we don’t let this issue go, it will become an issue that has to be addressed by someone, eventually.
These two quotes from Winston Churchill describe my feelings on this:
Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.
If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
When we have more members would it be possible to have a thread dedicated to each state (plus one for other US territories). Along with an umbrella thread entitled ‘National’. Maybe even an ‘International’ thread for US citizens living overseas and for our foreign sisters to offer support.
Maybe a forum would work better. Not necessarily a free-for-all, disorganized forum.with hundreds of threads. I am thinking more along the lines of a systematic forum that could become a great resource for activists. When threads get too big they could be moved to an accessible archive and replaced with a thread of the same title (simply differentiated by start date)..
It would ideally be an invite-only forum, at least in the beginning, to avoid trolls. Once the tone is set it could be opened up to everyone who agrees with the goals of The New Agenda. It would need to be moderated well with the removal of posters who do not agree with the goals of TNA. We surely do not need to spend time arguing with misogynists, sexists, self-hating women etc. It is futile. Refer them to feminism 101 and be done.
Each state sub-forum could be structured like this:
- Sticky One – Start with an ‘Introduce yourself’ thread. The first post could be a list of questions: Where do you live? Where else have you lived? Age?, Gender? Ethnicity? Family? Education? Employment? Skills? Religion? Political philosophy? Personality type? Describe yourself in ten words. etc Members could answer one, some or all the questions. No pressure. People do need to show caution over revealing personal data online but I think it would be useful to get a sense of how each of us see ourselves and live our lives. Hopefully we will find commonalities and understand differences.
- Sticky Two – Next have a general brainstorming thread. Members could suggest ideas for the website development (search site button, tags, a way to see the posting history a members troll alert button, trusted member status symbol). They could also suggest topics for future blog posts,
- Sticky Three – This would be the place for ‘I don’t know where to post this’ posts. Administrators could relocate the post to one of the existing threads if it fits. Or they could create a new thread where appropriate. This would also be the place to move off-topic posts from other threads. This messy mish-mash thread would hopefully keep the other threads on target.
- Post action alerts. Protests, girlcotts of anti-women companies and products and directing ‘purple dollars’ to pro-women organizations. Petitions, letter-writing campaigns and phone-in complaints. Calls to provide balance to web polls and comment sections on news/blog articles, Draw attention to our own blog postings for comments and linkage. Build a female-positive network so other women and girls can (and male supporters) can find us.
- Post local events. New Agenda meet-ups. Women artists exhibitions or performances. Sports competitions for female athletes. Women-owned business openings. Female-oriented charity and health/safety events, Celebrations of women’s history. Take back the night events.
- Discuss relevant local news stories. Violence against women and girls. Missing women and girls. Femicide. Cases of discrimination against women and girls. Sexual Harassment lawsuits. Balance with positive stories of female successes. Heroines, award-winners, activists, etc Inspirational and heart-warming stories.
- Conduct a sexism and misogyny watch on local media. Identify repeat offenders. Seek out any voices that speak out against bias and bigotry against women and girls. Challenge all-male panels on anything except men’s issues. Provide rebuttals to male supremacists.
- Conduct a sexism and misogyny watch on locally powerful people (politicians, legislators, high-level government employees, law enforcers, academics, religious leaders, business leaders etc).
- Keep a check on our state government policies and legislative changes. Push for the Equal Rights Amendment ERA in the relevant states. Get to know your House Representatives and Senators. Push for Federal-level improvements.
- Campaign for the fair treatment of all female political candidates running for local or state election. Sexism and/or misogyny used against any woman is wrong. I am on this site because of the way in which Sen. Clinton and Gov. Palin were abused during the past year. Issue-wise I am far closer to Clinton but that has no relevance to the outrage I felt on behalf of Palin. The stereotypes, the double standards and the hate speech in words and imagery. I am struck by the utter bravery it takes for a woman to run for political office.
- Identify potential female candidates for elected or selected office from local news stories or our personal lives. Utilize the latest research on leadership qualities/experience sought by the voters.
- Share information resources. Government reports on the status of our gender. Women’s history collections. Female writers and musicians that get left out lists created by males. Let us discover our cultural heritage. Our collective pride in our gender needs raising. The patriarchy tends to elevate the male approval-seeking, self-hating women and girls as the ideal. I do not condemn their complicity because I see it as a dealing-mechanism. However, we need to ensure that the younger generation has the opportunity to celebrate positive role models.
- Identify and invite potential partner organizations. The local women’s groups. Local political groups that support equal rights. The women’s center at a local university. Maybe even a coffee-shop or cafe that becomes the meet-up location for TNA and lets us put up posters etc. We really should have a purple directory like out gay brothers and sisters have a pink directory.
- Construct and co-ordinate member outreach strategies. Post comments in blogs and forums with links back to this site. Post a prominent link to this site on your own webspace. Put up posters, givie out bumper stickers, buttons etc in your local community. Recommend reliable women professionals and tradespeople to each other. Tell them where you heard about them. Say you are doing your part to counteract the economic imbalance between the genders. Wear purple. No really. Purple is the color most associated with the struggle for civil rights for women. Luckily purple is also the blending of blue and red so it conveys our non-partisan agenda too. Wear a purple pin or earrings, wear a purple scarf, carry a purple shoulder-bag. Give purple colored gifts. If someone comments on the item then let them know what it symbolizes.
I know the extroverts will be doing the meet-up thing but for introverts like me the online connecting works really well. I really enjoy information gathering/sharing. I think tweeter, facebook, stumbleupon, digg, message-boards, blogs, news articles comment sections, web polling, etc were important in this election and will be increasingly influential in future elections. Our grassroots movement needs a strong web presence alongside a dedicated ground-force.
Okay, brain suitably stormed. Tweak or trash as you wish.
I agree with Anne-Marie.
Hit one point over and over.
“Did the Groper write this speech?” protesters need to be at every Obama speech. Including at the Inauguration. You can bet the news stations will cover it.
oh my gosh, Egallantry….brain suitably stormed indeed!
Egallantry,
Wow those are some great ideas. Several people are working on the website as fast as possible but there just never seems to be enough time to get it all done! In the meantime just post info where it makes the most sense and hopefully we will be able to use all the suggestions to make it better and better.
Great ideas above! I posted this in another thread, but wanted to post it here as well so the resources listed are readily available. Zee, great idea to hit one point over and over. Let’s hit the Favreau issue over and over!
Yesterday’s Washington Post article on Favreau is thoroughly annoying. It looks like a planned, positive-spin-damage-control-piece to get Favreau out of the dog house and to endear him to the public . . .
We need to KEEP THE PRESSURE ON and to keep Favreau’s behavior and what it represents in the media! Time for another press release?
Suggested Action Plan:
1. Go to the latest Washington Post article and KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING–to counter the negative comments there, and to teach the public why Favreau’s behavior is unacceptable and why he should be fired. And to repeatedly ask why hasn’t he been fired. Here’s the link for COMMENTS:
Here’s the article:
2. Blanket the Obama people with emails and letters ASKING THAT FAVREAU BE FIRED. Each of us can devise a short letter (there are lots of wonderful words to use on this site). So, create your email, and send it to the following:
3. Email Valerie Jarrett, who is part of Obama’s Transition Team at vjarrett@barackobama.com
4. Send your email to info@barackobama.com
5. Copy your email to your Senators and Representatives:
* find your elected officials’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
6. Leave your comments on Obama’s transition website. There are three places you can leave your message:
http://change.gov/page/content/contact/
http://change.gov/page/s/yourstory
http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision
7. Talk with your press contacts. Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper. Write editorials and commentary. Involve your friends and colleagues. Here’s a great list of media contacts from Alagre’s Corner: http://alegrescorner.soapblox......diaryId=16
8. Here are two Fire Favreau petitions you can sign, and encourage your friends to sign:
http://hillarysvillage.net/showthread.php?p=37868
http://www.ipetitions.com/peti.....n-Favreau/
9. Here’s a Fire-Jon-Favreau website: http://fire-jon-favreau.blogspot.com/
10. Invite all of your like-minded friends and colleagues to join The New Agenda. See Egallantry’s post on this thread for ideas to use in an invitation to your friends to join The New Agenda. Thanks Egallantry.
11. Perhaps most important, CAN A COALITION OF WOMEN’S GROUPS JOIN TOGETHER TO ISSUE A STATEMENT / PRESS RELEASE (1) stating that Favreau must be fired and outlining what it means if he isn’t, (2) asking directly for a response from Obama, and (3) asking Obama what his plan is to do away with sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, and what are his plans to create equality and parity.
Act soon! We can’t afford to let the Favreau incident fade. And thank you to all involved with The New Agenda for your hard work in many venues. As Sheryl says, “It’s not over by half.”
Great links and info ER!
Reposting from another thread to tie-in with ER’s action plan, #10
……………………………………………………………………………….
I think it is vital to put links to this site on article/blog comment sections that are brimming with anti-female bigotry. There are probably lots of pro-female lurkers that just do not want to engage in communication with the ranters. I’m developing a ‘calling card’ to invite those people to our site. Here’s my first try:
To the women (and women-friendly men),
I loved the article. I skimmed the comments. I felt perplexed by the level of anti-female bigotry. There is a futility in arguing with misogynists and male supremacists. Their beliefs are not based on logic. They are without a sense of fair-play. I know it can be fun to toy with them. I enjoy laughing at them too. Still, activism feels even better.
So, if you have a clear head and a kind heart. If you believe in seeking civil rights for women (and girls). If you want to achieve gender equality in the political, economic and social spheres. Point your passion towards this goal. Join The New Agenda (a non-partisan group for women’s rights).
http://thenewagenda.net/blog/
………………………………………………………………………………
BTW, thanks for the positive feedback. I enjoy reading all the posts on this site. I’m not much of a joiner but I just feel inspired by this place.
From ER on December 20th, 2008 12:44 pm
You can leave your comments on this issue at:
It’s easy and anonymous. So far, the comments are good
WE NEED EVERYONE’S HELP ON THIS. There is a one-page spread in today’s Boston Globe Magazine that ‘honors’ Jon Favreau as one of 6 “Bostonians of the Year”. How insulting!
You can find the article here: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/ or here: http://www.boston.com/bostongl....._in_chief/
As insulting as this latest episode is, it is a good opportunity for us to raise a big ruckus, send press releases, contact the media, demand that Obama respond, raise the visibility of TNA, and to keep the Favreau issue alive. Imagine a front page article in the Boston Globe “Readers appalled by choice of Favreau as one of the Bostonians of the Year—larger implications for sexism, misogyny and our country—we need a return to values”. I may be too hopeful here, but this is an opportunity to speak out! I encourage everyone to do the following.
Suggested Action Plan:
1. Can TNA make this issue a major blog entry so that many people will see it? Please do so if it fits with the strategy. Also can TNA issue a press release—one of it’s own, and one with a coalition of women’s groups?
2. Go to the Boston Globe Magazine and COMMENT on this issue. This is an opportunity to counter the dismissing comments there, and to teach the public why Favreau’s behavior is unacceptable and why he should be fired. And to repeatedly ask why hasn’t he been fired. Here’s the link: http://www.boston.com/bostongl....._in_chief/
3. Write a letter or email and send it to the following Boston Globe Magazine contacts. They are the reporters and editors for this piece:
• Charles P. Pierce is the reporter who wrote the article on Favreau: cpierce@globe.com phone: (617) 929-2724
• Doug Most, Editor of the Globe magazine: dmost@globe.com phone: (617) 929-3454
• Susanne Althoff, Senior Assistant Editor: Althoff@globe.com phone: (617) 929-1543
• Anne Nelson, Assistant Editor: anelson@globe.com phone: (617) 929-2776
•
4. Letters to the Editor: Send a Letter to the Editor’ to the Boston Globe Magazine and to the Boston Globe newspaper (which publishes the Boston Globe Magazine every Sunday). Here is the contact information:
• Boston Globe Magazine, Letter to the Editor: magazine@globe.com or by mail at: The Boston Globe Magazine/Letters, PO Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.
• The Boston Globe newspaper, Letter to the Editor: letter@globe.com or online at: http://bostonglobe.com/news/op.....px?id=6340
5. Send your letter or email to Ellen Goodman, a Boston Globe Columnist. I anticipate she will understand the issue and, hopefully, write a good editorial.
• Ellen Goodman – ellengoodman@globe.com
6. Copy your letter or email to your Senators and Representatives. Ask them to take up the issue of sexism in the media and to ask Obama to fire Favreau. You can find your elected officials’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
7. Talk with your press contacts. Write a letter to the editor of your own newspaper. Write editorials and commentary. Involve your friends and colleagues. Here’s a great list of media contacts from Alagre’s Corner: http://alegrescorner.soapblox......diaryId=16
8. Invite all of your like-minded friends and colleagues to join The New Agenda.
9. Can a coalition of women’s groups join together to issue a statement / press release: (1) noting how inappropriate it was to make Favreau a Bostonian of the Year; (2) stating that Favreau must be fired and outlining what it means if he isn’t, (2) asking directly for a response from Obama, and (3) asking Obama what his plan is to do away with sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, and to create equality and parity.
Act soon! We can’t afford to let the press gloss over the Favreau incident. And thank you to all involved with The New Agenda for your hard work in many venues.
ER – we will look into it!
Thanks Amy!
Thanks ER! I’m typing angry letters all day today and will add your info to the list!
Thanks Thia!
From
Carole Krechman on December 22nd, 2008 4:24 pm
This woman I met at the Encore Summit earlier in the month works with Wisconsin rural women and she thought it would be great to have a women as Secretary of Agriculture. I just got this e-mail from her today about Obama’s appointment.
“Greetings: I don’t usually send these kind of things but I am really
tired of the fact that no one is fighting for small family farms who are trying to grow good, local healthy food. This is coming from Mary the farmer not Mary the director of WRWI. Prior to the election, according to a few organics leaders, it was hopeful that an Obama election meant sanity for the future of agriculture. Well,
this hope has been dumped by the appointment of a pro-GMO guy from Iowa.”
The link below gives detail and a chance to sign your opposition to this appointment. Just sad.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.....n_KEY=1783
Thank you Toonces for directing us to “US: Soaring Rates of Rape and Violence Against Women: More Accurate Methodology Shows Urgent Need for Preventive Action” on the Human Rights Watch website at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/200.....inst-women
Quoting from their website:
“Human Rights Watch’s national recommendations include:
• The Obama administration should appoint a special adviser on violence against women in the US;?
• Congress should restore full funding to the Office on Violence Against Women;?
• The Department of Justice, through the National Institute of Justice, should authorize comprehensive studies that more accurately track sexual and domestic violence in the US, especially among individuals who are least likely to be surveyed by the National Crime Victimization Survey;?
• Congress should increase funding for sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and treatment programs;?
• Congress should amend the federal Debbie Smith Act, a grant program designed to eliminate the rape kit backlog, but that states can and have used for other kinds of DNA backlogs;
?• The US should ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which obligates states to prevent, protect against, and punish violence against women.”
Possible strategy:
1. How about a press release on this and the need for Obama to address this important issue?
2. Publicly ask Obama to follow the recommendations of the Human Rights Watch group, including appointing a special adviser on violence against women in the US.
3. It will be harder for Obama’s administration to dismiss women as a ’special interest group’ as data like this (increasing violence against women) becomes widely known and disseminated. It also makes clear we aren’t just complaining, but that major problems exist that must be addressed.
Please ignore the question marks in the above post. It’s some sort of formatting error.
from
ER on December 23rd, 2008 6:13 pm
Our work has just begun. There are more stories on Jon Favreau, and a number of papers are reprinting the earlier Washington Post article edifying him. His PR team is working hard. . . We need to act now! The positive aspect of this lousy situation is that our comments can have visibility in the media all over the country.
PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT FAVREAU ON THESE SITES, where he is being edified. (Since we likely need to have large outpourings of comments on many sites, you might want to keep a copy of the comments you’ve used previously to edit as needed and use again):
1. Kansas City Star article, “Meet Obama’s Speechwriter”: http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/16180
2. Minneapolis Star Tribune article, “Word for Word with Obama”:
3. The Charlotte Observer article, “Obama’s word man has the world waiting”: http://www.charlotteobserver.c.....27997.html
4. Daily Contributor, “Jon Favreau: Obama’s Speech Writer”: http://dailycontributor.com/20.....ch-writer/
5. And, of course, the Boston Globe article anointing Favreau as one of 6 Bostonian’s of the Year. There are some great comments here if you need ideas, and the site is still taking comments: http://www.boston.com/news/pol....._in_chief/
6. You can also write Letters to the Editors for these papers, and others.
Together we are strong!
Why aren’t you speaking up for Caroline Kennedy?
TNA issued a press release (see our Media tab) asking Gov. Paterson to pick a qualified woman to take Hillary’s seat. Kennedy is one of the 11 women on our list. Based on member feedback so far, Maloney and Gillibrand seem to be TNA member favorites. When asked (we have been), TNA has publicly stated that our first objective is to have a woman take the seat.
In the New Year, we will be issuing a questionnaire to the candidates mentioned in our press release, and possibly others.
HERE’S A NEW IDEA TO KEEP THE FAVREAU ISSUE IN THE MEDIA hence, keeping the issues of sexism and misogyny in the media.
On the wikipedia page describing Jon Favreau, it states:
“On December 5, 2008, a picture of Favreau performing a suggestive gesture to a cardboard cut-out of Hillary Clinton surfaced on Facebook. Favreau issued an apology to Clinton[7], whose spokesman referred to the photo as “an example of just good-natured fun between former rival camps”[8].
Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. If anyone knows how and has the time, please edit the wikipedia page on Jon Faveau!
Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.....echwriter) and click on [edit] on the right side of the page. Should stick to the facts, and footnote them, but they are damning—i.e., here are some possible words:
• Favreau, Obama’s 27-year-old chief speechwriter, stood next to a life-size cutout of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the incoming US Secretary of State, and groped the figure in a sexually explicit manner while being photographed. http://latimesblogs.latimes.co.....vreau.html
• Many have called for Obama to fire Favreau [list footnotes and URLs here].
• The New Agenda noted . . . [citation}
• Etc!
ER – I love this idea and hope you will e-mail it to TNA directly. Perhaps they’ll make it a thread to draw attention so it doesn’t get lost in these posts on a thread that has already fallen off the first blog page. Love the way you think! Concrete and creative.
Thanks Anna! What is the email address?
Kudos to Lynn! And to Amy and everyone at TNA!
Lan, keep on posting that story. How insulting! The story also reminds me that we need to keep the issues of sexism and misogyny front and center, and in the press. One way to do this is by keeping the Favreau story active in the press. Favreau is still employed and is writing Obama’s inaugural speech.
There continue to be positive spin stories on Jon Favreau in the press, and a number of papers are reprinting the Washington Post article edifying him. His PR team is working hard. . .
Action Plan:
Here is some updated information about where you can write Letters to the Editor.
PLEASE WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITORS OF THE FOLLOWING PAPERS THAT ARE SPOTLIGHTING FAVREAU. These newspapers have reprinted Eli Saslow’s Washington Post article that spins Favreau as a wonderful guy . . .
1. Kansas City Star article, “Meet Obama’s Speechwriter”: http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/16180
• Letter to the Editor (up to 150 words): letters@kcstar.com or via paper mail to: The Kansas City Star, Letters, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108,
• Mike Fannin, Editor and Vice President: mfannin@kcstar.com
2. Minneapolis Star Tribune article, “Word for Word with Obama”:
• Letter to the Editor: Dennis McGrath, Editor, StarTribune.com/Politically Connected, djmcgrath@startribune.com
• Nancy Barnes, Editor and Senior Vice President for News, Star Tribune, nbarnes@startribune.com
3. The Charlotte Observer article, “Obama’s word man has the world waiting”: http://www.charlotteobserver.c.....27997.html
• Rick Thames, Editor, The Charlotte Observer, rthames@charlotteobserver.com
• Ann Caulkins, President and Publisher, acaulkins@charlotteobserver.com
• Dee-Dee Strickland, Senior Editor, deedeestrickland@charlotteobserver.com
• Street address for mailed letters: The Charlotte Observer,?600 S. Tryon St.?Charlotte, NC 28202
4. And, of course, the Boston Globe article anointing Favreau as one of 6 Bostonian’s of the Year. There are some great comments here if you need ideas, and the site is still taking comments: http://www.boston.com/news/pol....._in_chief/
The Boston Globe Magazine wasn’t printed today. We hope there will be letters to the Editor in the next edition to come out next Sunday. Let’s keep the issue alive.
Send your Letters to the Editor at the Boston Globe:
• Charles P. Pierce is the reporter who wrote the article on Favreau: cpierce@globe.com phone: (617) 929-2724
• Doug Most, Editor of the Globe magazine: dmost@globe.com phone: (617) 929-3454
• Susanne Althoff, Senior Assistant Editor: Althoff@globe.com phone: (617) 929-1543
• Boston Globe Magazine, Letter to the Editor: magazine@globe.com or by mail at: The Boston Globe Magazine/Letters, PO Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.
• The Boston Globe newspaper, Letter to the Editor: letter@globe.com or online at: http://bostonglobe.com/news/op.....px?id=6340
Together we are strong!
A NEW YEAR’S ACTION PLAN:
Right now, the Obama transition team is soliciting questions from the public via their website: http://www.change.gov . Visitors may “vote” for the best questions, which will apparently be responded to by the Obama team. In addition, you can submit your own questions –i.e., read: we can all ask questions about what Obama plans to do for women.
Instructions for Voting / Submitting Questions:
1. Visit http://change.gov/page/content.....s20081229/
2. Click the small “Sign In” text near the bottom of the screen. Sign-in with your email and password on the right. (If you haven’t signed-in before, just fill out the short form on the left.)
3. In the search box on the left side of the screen, you can type in “WOMEN”. This will take you to questions on women’s issues.
4. To vote for the questions you would like the Obama transition team to address, click the small “check” box beside it. Or, click the “X” if you don’t like the question, or consider it irrelevant.
THE BOTTOM LINE HERE is that we can vote ‘yes’ on the good questions and on each other’s questions that will help advance women’s issues in many areas. The more ‘votes’ the good questions get, the better.
5. To Submit a question, click the “submit a question” box at the bottom of the screen and type it in. Here are some sample questions (feel free to post them or something similar):
• The latest data show soaring rates of violence against women. The Human Rights Watch recommends that the Obama administration appoint a Special Adviser On Violence Against Women in the US. Will Obama appoint such an Advisor?
• There is an urgent need for preventive action given major increase in the rates of rape and violence against women. Will Obama push Congress to restore full funding to the Office on Violence Against Women?
• The US should ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which obligates states to prevent, protect against, and punish violence against women. Will Obama work to make this ratification happen?
• Given the vast increase in violence against women, will Obama work with Congress to increase funding for sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and treatment programs?
• Jon Favreau, Obama’s chief speechwriter, showed public disrespect for our next Secretary of State with his drunken behavior that was posted on Facebook. For the President-elect to not call him on it is a sexist insult towards not just Hillary Clinton, but toward all women. As with racism, everyone loses when sexism is tolerated and excused. Will Obama fire Faveau? If not, why not?
• Jon Favreau, Obama’s chief speechwriter, publicly insulted our incoming Secretary of State, Senator Clinton. Favreau’s drunken behavior has broader implications– about how diplomats, national leaders — and ordinary Middle East citizens see our new Secretary of State and the new President who appointed her but allows his own White House chief of speechwriters to publicly insult her. Will Obama speak out on this? Will he fire Favreau?
• Take a look at the latest data from Human Rights Watch, and their article “US: Soaring Rates of Rape and Violence Against Women: More Accurate Methodology Shows Urgent Need for Preventive Action” at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/200.....inst-women. Will Obama consider very seriously their recommends to reduce and prevent violence against women?
This is an opportunity to have some input. I encourage everyone to go to the website and use your voice. http://change.gov/page/content.....s20081229/
Need to do it SOON, as the transition team often has very short comment periods.
P.S. This is also a great way to keep the Favreau issue alive!
Harkening back to Thia’s lovely piece about Laura Bush, I’m just giving everyone a heads up that there is a piece about First Lady Bush at American Thinker today (sadly, it’s not Thia’s piece). Unfortunately, the author has created the very dichotomy that TNA is working hard to chip away at regarding old notions of liberals and conservatives, and in so doing, the author has diminished Clinton en route to praising Bush. This is a great opportunity for all of us to descend upon that site and do a bit of educating. In short: Why must one woman fall in order for another to rise? Here’s the link for anyone interested in posting. (No need to register at that site. Posts are moderated, but most go through rather quickly. I don’t think they allow anyone to embed a link in their post.)
http://www.americanthinker.com.....nolia.html
It’s hard to find CNN contact information to protest CNN’s inclusion of Governor Palin with the rogue gallery. From their website:
CNN
One CNN Center, Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30303-5366
Phone: 404-827-1500
Fax: 404-827-1906
Email forms for all CNN news programs
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.pt.html?50
CNN.com executives: http://www.cnn.com/about/dotcom_executives.html
However, I found the following website which looks quite interesting and a good resource for media contact information. You can search for media contacts here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/
Here is the CNN contact information from the same site: http://www.congress.org/congre.....rg_id=3187
Thanks ER!
ER
I went to change.gov and searched “women” and I almost had a stroke! I didn’t like any of the questions! Half was about abortion and the other half was anti-Israel. I only made it through the first few pages but I will have a cocktail tonight and try again.
Thia,I agree. You can add your own questions at the site, and we can then vote on them.
If you search for “Favreau” there are only a few questions and votes. Hard to believe isn’t more of a response. I encourage people to go to change.gov (instructions in above post) and vote/post on Favreau questions as well.
One caveat: a number of people believe that censoring is going on at the site.
Newsweek has a positive spin article, “An Inexact Analogy”, on Rick Warren in its January 12th issue. http://www.newsweek.com/id/177790 The article mentions his “helping to fight global aids” and other issues. We know his views on domestic violence are unconscionable. We know his alleged AIDs work has harmed rather than helped: http://www.thedailybeast.com/b.....-in-africa (Thank you Sis for the link.)
Action Plan:
1. Write to Newsweek and ask them to tell the whole story and the real effects his work and views have had and will have:
Contacts:
a. Here is a list of editors and correspondents at Newsweek: http://www.congress.org/congre.....org_id=305
b. for Letters to the Editor
Newsweek ?251 W 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 ?
Phone: 212-445-4000 ?
Fax: 212-445-5068 ?
Letters to the Editor: letters@newsweek.com2.
2. This has likely been done – send TNAs press release on Warren to Newsweek.
3. Does anyone know how to get an article/commentary published in Newsweek—and other media–on the real truths about Warren’s ‘work’?
Together we are strong!
Ignore the ?-marks in the above post in the Newsweek address and phone numbers. More formatting problems.
UPDATE ON THE BOSTON GLOBE’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH JON FAVREAU:
The lead article in today’s Boston Globe Magazine, “Can Political Speeches Make a Difference? Just Words,” edifies Jon Favreau and his relationship with Obama. http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....?page=full
This article is brought to you by the same reporter, Charles Pierce, and the same publication that honored “the Groper” Jon Favreau as one of 6 “Bostonians of the Year” in their December 21st issue. You can find that article here: http://www.boston.com/bostongl....._in_chief/
Although the article isn’t about Favreau specifically, his name is mentioned eight times in the last portion of the article. Quote from today’s article:
“Only after working on John Kerry’s campaign in 2004 did Favreau meet and begin writing speeches for Barack Obama, and, like Sorensen and John Kennedy, the two men worked so closely together in so many places for so long around the country that Favreau soon found his voice indistinguishable from Obama’s.”
It’s frustrating that the Boston Globe Magazine has not printed any of the Letters to the Editor protesting Favreau’s selection as a Bostonian of the Year. Perhaps they plan to print a letter later (they printed letters about their December 14th issue today). . . 67 people had commented on the December 21st Favreau article, many negatively.
The Boston Globe itself (not the Boston Globe Magazine which selected Favreau as a Bostonian of the Year) printed one very short letter on Christmas eve (guaranteed not to have many readers), but that letter has been removed from their website.
SUGGESTED ACTION PLAN:
1. Let’s keep the issue alive. Send your Letters to the Editor at the Boston Globe to both addresses below:
• Boston Globe Magazine, Letter to the Editor: magazine@globe.com or by mail at: The Boston Globe Magazine/Letters, PO Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.
• The Boston Globe newspaper, Letter to the Editor: letter@globe.com or online at: http://bostonglobe.com/news/op.....px?id=6340
2. Send your comments and letters to those involved:
• Doug Most, Editor of the Globe magazine: dmost@globe.com phone: (617) 929-3454
• Charles P. Pierce is the reporter who wrote the article on Favreau: cpierce@globe.com phone: (617) 929-2724
• Susanne Althoff, Senior Assistant Editor: Althoff@globe.com phone: (617) 929-1543
3. Go to the Boston Globe Magazine and COMMENT on the article: http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....?page=full
4. Copy your letter or email to your Senators and Representatives. Ask them to take up the issue of sexism in the media and to ask Obama to fire Favreau. You can find your elected officials’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
5. Invite all of your like-minded friends and colleagues to join The New Agenda.
6. **STRATEGIC IDEAS: After Obama’s inauguration, there will likely be more positive press about Favreau writing the inaugural speech. How do we want to respond? CAN TNA FORUMULATE A STRATEGIC PLAN for responses? Is it a good idea to use it as a jumping off point to repeatedly address the rampant sexism and misogyny we see everywhere, the lack of response and respect, and what this means? Not sure what the best path is here.
We can’t afford to let the press continue to gloss over the Favreau incident; it’s a symbol of the rampant sexism and misogyny going on today. And thank you to all involved with The New Agenda for your hard work.
The Ms. Magazine cover is insulting. It feels like such a betrayal. Not only does Ms. Magazine have such a cover, they are also PROMOTING AND SELLING A POSTER OF THE COVER . . . http://www.msmagazine.com/
Action Plan (updated):
1. TELL MS. MAGAZINE TO PULL THE COVER AND THE POSTER. Let them know what you think.
a) Write a Letter to the Editor: letterstotheeditor@msmagazine.com?
b) Email their editors:
• Senior Editor, Michele Kort: mkort@msmagazine.com
• Associate Editor Jessica Stites: jstites@msmagazine.com
• Web Editor Alysse Bortolotto: abortolotto@feminist.org
• Online News Editor Beth Soderberg: bsoderberg@feminist.org
c) Suggest content (e.g., an editorial on how inappropriate their cover is, what the real facts are, etc): contentsuggestions@msmagazine.com
2. Call Ms. Magazine and let them know what you think. Toll Free: 1-800-787-1414 or 1-310-556-2515.
3. Contact their publisher: The publisher of Ms. Magazine is Liberty Media for Women, LLC which is owned by the Feminist Majority Foundation. There is also a form for comments here: http://www.feminist.org/forms/comments.html
The Feminist Majority has East and West Coast Offices:
1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 801
Arlington, VA 22209
703-522-2214
703-522-2219 (fax)
433 S. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310-556-2500
310-556-2509 (fax)
3. Nominate the Ms. Magazine issue for NOW’s Media Hall of Shame.
http://www.now.org/issues/medi.....stion.html
4. Boycott Ms. Magazine and any products they advertise. Let the advertisers know you will be boycotting their products.
5. Perhaps most importantly, can all of the like-minded women’s organizations get together, write a press release, and sign a letter from all? This would send a powerful message if a number of women’s organizations and groups were involved and spoke together in one voice.
ER,
Can you please post this on the How Feminism Became an F-Word piece?
Done! Thanks Amy.
SAMPLE LETTER TO SEND TO GOVERNOR PATTERSON. BULLETED POINTS ARE OPTIONS TO SELECT DEPENDING UPON WHERE YOU LIVE AND HOW YOU WANT TO DEFINE YOURSELF.
Dear Governor Patterson:
I am writing to you as
· A resident of New York State
· A concerned American citizen
· A political activist
· A woman
· A registered Democrat
regarding the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat currently held by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
New York State’s loss will be America’s gain when Senator Clinton is sworn in as our next Secretary of State. However, I am deeply concerned that her Senate seat be filled with a person with the same degree of experience and commitment to those values embraced by Senator Clinton, including that of women’s rights.
As
· A woman
· A feminist
· An ardent supporter of Senator Clinton
I feel strongly that her seat be filled with another woman, and one with outstanding qualifications.
As you review prospective candidates, I hope you will not prematurely narrow the field to Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo. While Ms. Kennedy is female, she hasn’t the credentials worthy of this most awesome job of being a United States Senator. And, while Mr. Cuomo has the professional credentials, we simply cannot afford to loose a seat once filled by a woman, to a man. As I am sure you are aware, that although women comprise 52% of the population in this country, we only hold 17% of the seats in Congress. We need to hold every one of those seats and make gains. We cannot afford a loss.
In a state as populated as New York, the field of qualified women to choose from is large and impressive. As such, I would like to offer a few suggestions that I hope you will seriously consider:
Name and 1-2 sentence bio
Name and 1-2 sentence bio
Name and 1-2 sentence bio
Thank you for taking the time to make a thoughtful decision about this most important matter.
Contact page for Governor Patterson:
http://www.ny.gov/governor/contact/index.html
What happened to Egallantry? Haven’t seen any posts for a while and miss this valued member.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2.....ce,00.html
“The Rev. Sharon Watkins, pastor of a Protestant denomination with about 700,000 members in the United States and Canada, will deliver the sermon at the National Prayer Service that caps the inauguration activities of Barack Obama.
Watkins will be the first woman to give the sermon at the traditional event, to be held Jan. 21 at the National Cathedral in Washington.”
RE: THE MS MAG COVER – I’VE ADDED CONTACT NAMES AND TITLES FOR THOSE WISHING TO FAX AND / OR MAIL LETTERS:
The Feminist Majority has East and West Coast Offices:
1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 801
Arlington, VA 22209
703-522-2214
703-522-2219 (fax)
Ellie Smeal, President
433 S. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310-556-2500
310-556-2509 (fax)
Kathy Spillar, Executive Vice Presdident
SAMPLE LETTER RE: MS. MAG COVER
_________________________________________________
Dear
I am writing regarding the cover of the upcoming issue of Ms. Magazine. You appear to be suggesting that Barack Obama is a champion for women’s rights by your insulting suggestion that he will swoop in to rescue us all, Superman style. Surely you must be aware that Barack Obama has no great track record as a feminist, with a number of recent events to support this assertion.
Obama’s silence on the matter of Jon Favreau has been deafening. By not speaking out about his Director of Speechwriting groping a life-size image Senator Hillary Clinton, he sent a message that such modes of behavior towards women are acceptable. The fact that Favreau was interacting with an image of Senator Clinton makes his actions no less reprehensible. Images are symbolic and they have meaning.
By selecting Tim Kaine as the new DNC Chair Obama missed an opportunity to name a woman as Chair while selecting a man whose views on choice are less than rigorous.
Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation on Inauguration Day is a sad statement of what little regard Obama has for women’s rights, as Mr. Warren has made it clear that he believes domestic violence is not grounds for divorce.
With Larry Summers on Obama’s economic team, he has yet again sent a message that he welcomes into the fold men with degrading views of women, in this case a man who thinks women are genetically inferior to men in areas of math and science.
Meanwhile, having named only 5 women to his cabinet, Obama has set women back as President Clinton named 7, and even George Bush named 4. In the 21st century, is it not yet time we had gender parity at the highest levels of government, including the Cabinet?
As for Obama’s economic rescue plan, his focus is on infrastructure that will result in jobs for men, but few for women.
I could go on.
In sum, Obama is no feminist and Ms. Magazine of all magazines should not be in the business of disseminating such disinformation. Women already have plenty of that to content with in the mainstream media without those who should be our allies abandoning ship. I strongly urge you to change the cover in order to maintain your integrity as a voice for women’s rights.
Sincerely,
Thia – Just saw your post at 12:30 re: Ms. Watkins. Perhaps that info s hould be a thread and not be buried in this location.
Now that you have at least one flyer and at least one piece translated into Spanish, perhaps it would be nice to put up an Espanol link along the top bar that would bring Spanish-speakers to those pieces. And, hopefully, it would be an ever-growing place. I say this because the piece that was recently translated will fall off the main blog page soon and having a Spanish button people can click on will be a way to keep translated pieces grouped so Spanish-speakers don’t 1) look at the site and give up seeing nothing in Spanish, and 2) make it easier for those who might not give up immediately so they don’t have to scrounge around trying to find whatever there is to find in their language.
Yahoo names a woman as their new CEO:
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/.....DMQ–
Anyone know anything about her?
ACTION NEEDED NOW!
The U.S. Senate will begin voting on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act soon — as early as tomorrow.
Quoting from the National Women’s Law Center:
“The House passed both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act last week. Now the Ledbetter bill is heading to the Senate, and we’re hopeful that the Paycheck Fairness Act will not be far behind.
The fight is far from over. Last year, when the Senate voted on this bill, it came up just three votes short. This year, we have a real chance of reaching the 60 votes needed to move the bill forward.
Women in this country still make only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. And for women of color, the numbers are even worse. This is our chance to make a difference — now, when the economic downturn means women are depending on every penny of their income.”
ACTION PLAN:
1. Write to your Senators today! Here’s a quick way to do it; the letters are already written – just add your comments: https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=271
2. Send emails to your friends and colleagues with the above link:
3. Post this information on your women-friendly websites.
Action Plan following Amy’s CNN Interview:
Wonderful interview Amy! Well done. Thank you.
1. Keep up the pressure on Ms. Magazine. Email, fax, mail the Ms. Magazine contacts listed earlier in this thread.
2. The Ms. representative on CNN was Katherine Spillar. Here is her contact information:
Katherine Spillar
Executive Vice President
Feminist Majority Foundation
Executive Editor, Ms. magazine
433 South Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90212
310 556 2500 phone
310 556 2509 fax
Email: kspillar@feminist.org
2. Consider SENDING A COPY OF YOUR CORRESPONDENCE with Ms Magazine TO CNN CONTACTS. The CNN reporter was: Jason Carroll. CNN will see that there is a large outcry against the Ms. cover, not just 2 people.
Here is a great list of CNN contacts:
http://www.congress.org/congre.....org_id=554
3. Additional CNN contact information:
CNN
One CNN Center, Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30303-5366
Phone: 404-827-1500
Fax: 404-827-1906
Email forms for all CNN news programs
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.pt.html?50
An interesting op-ed piece on gender-related double standards:
http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....standards/
The Boston Globe Magazine section letters to the editor from the issue about the 6 Bostonians of the Year came out today. There are a couple of letters about Favreau, with one edited down to a single sentence that at least addresses the fact that he groped a life size image of Clinton:
http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....8/letters/
Thank you Anna for posting the follow up. I know the Globe Magazine must have received many letters protesting Favreau. They printed one – one sentence long.
Quick ACTION PLAN:
1. Leave your comments about Favreau and the Globe’s barely acknowledging the comments and mail they received about their appointing Favreau as one of 6 Bostonians of the Year. You can comment here: http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....8/letters/
2. Nominate the Boston Globe Magazine for for NOW’s Media Hall of Shame.
http://www.now.org/issues/medi.....stion.html
(They ask for a URL. The original Globe Magazine article is here: http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....in_chief/)
Perhaps TNA could make a 2-sided flyer by having a bulleted-point list of issues that could educate the public. It would make use of the reverse side of the paper and start spreading the word about things the public is woefully unaware of thanks to the msm. It could have a lot of white space, just providing 1-2 sentence highllights of importance issues such as 16% Governors, 17% in Congress, Rick Warren’s positions, etc.
Anna,
I have tried printing on both sides of the flyers but it doesn’t work unless you buy a thicker grade of paper. Standard paper makes both sides unreadable with bleed through even if they are hanging against a background. They look even worse if you are just holding them in front of you and trying to read.
Thia – Yeah, I realize front and back designs require heavier grade paper. I usually go to a paper supplier, tell them my needs and they show me what will work. Then I go to Kinkos to have them make the copies. I usually type (over) or (see reverse side for additional information) at the bottom of the main page. But, I never presume to do this with a flyer than any org has created as their own without permission.
I hope TNA will, on occasion, address issues that affect elderly women. They often seem to disappear from the equation. Also, if you’re going to change the photo on the home page (please God, I hope so), I hope some elderly women will be included in the group. If you change the photo, I hope it won’t have a hazy screen effect across it and I hope the women won’t all be wearing the same color, which to some may suggest how we are united, but which also suggests that we are somehow all the same. Gut impact: too contrived and unnatural.
Suggested ACTION PLAN:
1. Work for PARITY IN ALL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLICLY-FUNDED POSITIONS. How can we work to legislate this?
2. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR WOMEN. The numbers are clear. It worked for minorities. Any lawyers and historians out there who understand how Affirmative Action was put into place in the past? Can we do the same for women now? What legal avenues can we take? (At a minimum, pursuing Affirmative Action for Women will keep the issue visible).
3. Work to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. However, we need to work on many other levels at the same time! (see above).
Less ambitious ACTION PLAN than ER’s (who I am ever-thankful to on this blog!!!!)
If someone hits the contribute button on the home page, it should bring them to a page that not only helps them contribute, but which provides the usual lawyerly line about donations being tax deductible to the fullest extend allowed by law. (BTW, congrats on getting your non-profit status approved, TNA!). And, perhaps add a bit about what the money goes towards.
Less ambitious ACTION PLAN than ER’s (who I am ever-thankful to on this blog!!!!)
If someone hits the donate button on the home page, it should bring them to a page that not only helps them contribute, but which provides the usual lawyerly line about donations being tax deductible to the fullest extend allowed by law. (BTW, congrats on getting your non-profit status approved, TNA!). And, perhaps add a bit about what the money goes towards.
Praising Governor Paterson
Does anyone have handy a donation link for Governor Patterson? Someone was suggesting donating $20.10 to him in recognition of the risks he took in standing up to the Kennedys and Coumos and nominating a qualified woman instead.
fsteele – I’ve seen this donation suggestion. But, if someone’s not running for office, what is there to donate to? If I’m right on this (not sure), you could always consider making a donation in his honor to a charity that you like.
Anna, I wouldn’t write off the Paterson donation idea without checking with Paterson’s office. Hillary had a “senate 2012″ fund going even while still in the Senate, which seems like the same situation Paterson is in: serving in office and taking donations toward re-election to the same office.
Gillibrand has a re-election fund now for 2010.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/.....ittee.html
Gillibrand informed the Federal Election Committee today that she will be closing her House campaign committee and creating a Senate fundraising committee, which allows her to begin raising money to seek a full term.
Just heard a snippet from The News Hour on NPR about a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court to hear a gender/sex discrimination case in TN under Title 7 (I think) of the Civil Right’s Act. Didn’t hear the entire story, but it came around the mid-point of the show. Seems like something we might want to follow.
fsteele
Great point (as usual). I did a search and couldn’t find a site for Paterson’s campaign, but there must be one out there. But, here’s a media piece related to it which confirms your hunch that there is a campaign one could contribute to:
http://www.1010wins.com/Paters.....rs/3692836
This may need an Action Monday night and Tuesday morning! Pelosi seems to be on the right side this time.
Officials: Family planning money may be dropped
WASHINGTON – House Democrats are likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following a personal appeal from President Barack Obama at a time the administration is courting Republican critics of the legislation.
Several officials said a final decision was expected on Tuesday, coinciding with Obama’s scheduled visit to the Capitol for separate meetings with House and Senate Republicans. [....]
Several Democrats said Monday night that Obama had spoken personally with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., about removing the provision. Waxman is chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over Medicaid and a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The main Action on the Family Planning vote Tuesday will be to call your own Congressman and Senators.
But Waxman will be influential on this also. Here are his contacts:
http://www.henrywaxman.house.gov/contact.htm
(202) 225-3976 (phone)
(202) 225-4099 (fax)
(323) 651-1040 (phone)
(818) 878-7400 (phone)
(310) 652-3095 (phone)
(323) 655-0502 (fax)
fsteele
Thank you. I wish this kind of vital news wasn’t buried in this section. This is what micro, bottom-up action involves and needs to be front and center.
General Action(s)
While TNA has many long-term goals, there are several short-term, time sensitive issues before us that we need to be acting on:
1. The run off race in Gillibrand’s district (assuming her district is maintained as a discrete one). We need info on who is running, if there are women running, what their positions are, etc, so we can lend support.
2. Polis’s gender equity letter needs all the support we can give. Contact your Representative and urge them to sign it.
3. Related to #2, above, and fsteele’s post, above, the stimulus package is winding its way along with issues that require our immediate attention. This requires vigilance and ongoing action now.
I agree with the problem that these good action suggestions are buried here in the TNA website.
What about having a button on the main webpage at the bottom that takes people directly here? That way, people can go to the website and click on a highly visible button that takes them here where they can see the latest action plans.
Whoops. I just noticed there is a green button on the main webpage that says “organize”. Somehow, though, this particular section here seems less visible.
ER
I have no say so in any of these matters, but I do believe that if TNA purports to be an activist org, there should be an Action button! Have suggested it many times. I assume they are either too busy with other priorities or not interested at this time. For me, the bottom line is taking information and acting on it. I’m not sure why many interesting posts don’t have an added action incorporated into them at the bottom and/or with Action Alert at the top. I’ve never received an action via e-mail as is promised per one of the perks of joining so not sure what’s up. I also think TNA needs to have a Resource Center with links to media, elected officials, tips on letter writing, etc.
????
Great idea Anna.
1. TNA could have and ACTION BUTTON on the main page for actions that could be carried out that day or that week. This would be different than the ‘organize’ button as it would be for current actions to be taken now.
2,Action Sections (or something like that) from each blog thread of current actions TNA participants could take could also be in the Action Button section. If this was organized well, it would work I think.
3. On each separate blog thread, there could be a smaller Action Button that was linked to the main Action Button Action Section, so participants could immediately go to the details of how to take action.
4. TNA could check out how other websites do it. Puma Responders comes to mind as one to look at.
TNA, how about and ACTION BUTTON or something similar so TNA participants can take quick and easy actions on the issues?
Link to the Congressional Women’s Caucus. Lists all women, broken down by House and Senate and identifies the co-chairs.
http://www.womenspolicy.org/si....._women_111
TNA should try to get connected up with this group, no?
It looks like provisions to expand access to affordable family planning will likely be stripped from the economic stimulus bill. What this means is the elimination of family planning funds for low-income individuals and families.
Family planning funds for low-income individuals and families that Obama may be cutting would save the federal government $200 million over five years by helping women voluntarily avoid pregnancies that otherwise would result in Medicaid-funded births. (The Congressional Budget Office, 2007)
ACTION PLAN ??
1. Email, fax, or call your Senators and Representatives and ask them NOT to reduce or eliminate family planning funds for low-income individuals and families. You can find your elected officials’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml??
2. Please call the White House immediately and ask President Obama NOT to cut family planning funds in the stimulus package.? Call the White House today at 202-456-1414 or 202-456-1111.
2. Leave a comment online at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
4. There are also good Action Plans and comments here: http://riverdaughter.wordpress.....ift-focus/
SIMPLE ACTION IDEA
Go to the “contact us” page for your Congressperson and Senators.
Click on “e-mail.”
Check the list of issues to choose from to see if your elected official includes “Women” on the list.
If they do, thank them.
If they don’t, e-mail them with a request to include it.
Here’s a sample letter you can use:
I am writing to urge you to add “Women” as a category among your list of issues to choose from for e-mail communication. While women comprise 52% of the population in the United States, we remain woefully underrepresented in government (16% are Governors and 17% hold seats in Congress), only a fraction of the CEO’s for Fortune 500 companies are female, we earn 77 cents on the dollar for every dollar earned for the same job held by a man, and 4 of us are murdered every single day in the United States as a result of domestic violence. In sum, millions of American women continue to live on the fringes of society in terms of having their voices heard and their lives and work respected. If these are not reasons enough to include us as a topic to select as a relevant issue, I don’t know what would be.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my suggestion. I hope that the next time I visit your site I will see “Women” listed as an issue a constituent may select. And, I look forward to the day when we have made headway such that it is no longer necessary.
Obama signs LLL into law:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....r_wh/obama
Curiously, he goes out of his way to say that this is not just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue. True, but it’s odd that he steers clear of stating it plain regarding women’s rights.
BEING RE-ACTIVE AND PRO-ACTIVE
With so many battlefronts to attend to, it’s easy to get caught up in reacting to what often feels like a never-ending onslaught of sexist bs. But, if we keep reacting, we’ll miss the forest for the trees at critical junctures. I think a balance of being reactive and proactive is crucial.
Thinking about being proactive, I reflected back to how WomenCountPAC decided after the faux Dem convention to work within the party to bring about change. I believe they were maligned by some for this decision. However, I think it should not be dismissed as one approach in a multi-pronged vision.
If we want to make sure, for example, that our conventions are the real deal, we need to be involved with the major parties so we can be delegates. We need to volunteer on Election Day to be a poll watcher, when you volunteer for a party and you are in a position to call registered voters to get out the vote. We need to look ahead to upcoming elections, see what prospective candidates are on the horizon and get involved with their campaign. If we want to reduce (I know: End) domestic violence, we need to educate ourselves about which organizations are central to this issue and get involved with them. And so on…..
I fear that if we only react, we will remain mired in our one-down position.
Just as we need to give strong negative feedback on sexist and misogynistic behaviors when we see them, we need to give POSITIVE FEEDBACK when we see respectful positive behaviors that we want to see more of.
From Lili (thank you Lili):
“PLEASE THANK HIM?
Thanks to Bob Herbert for so forcefully pointing out the sexist comment by Dick Armey and demanding an apology. . . .?Please everyone, write to thank him at the New York Times.”
Action Plan:?
1. Write a thank you email to Bob Herbert. Go to: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/.....index.html then, next to the bottom of his picture, click on “Send and E-mail to Bob Herbert.” This will take you to the page where you can email him.
2. You can find out more about Bob Herbert here: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/.....index.html
Perhaps he can become a TNA ally. Maybe he could write a good OpEd piece for TNA on an issue –like RESPECT for women.
Positive sources for helping to build strong girls and women:
1. http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/
The White House Project, a 501(c)(3), aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency—by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women. . . . At The White House Project, we believe that if you add women to the ranks of leadership, you change everything.
2. http://www.swsg.org/about_mission.htm
Strong Women, Strong Girls is an emerging not-for-profit organization that supports the leadership and self-esteem development of women and girls. The mission of Strong Women, Strong Girls is to build upon the lessons learned from strong women throughout history to encourage girls and young women become strong women themselves.
3. http://girlshealth.gov/
GIRL POWER! is paving the way for girls to build confidence, competence, and pride in themselves, in other words, enhancing girls’ mental wellness.
4. http://www.respectrx.com/about.....ct_rx.html
Respect Rx LLC is a social entrepreneurial venture that empowers girls, women and their advocates to respect themselves, create mutual respect in relationships and to spread respect for all.
Does anyone have any news about what’s going on with the run-off race for Gillibrand’s seat? If so, please share. We should be involved with that, if possible, in my view.
Check this out. Seems Martha Washington is being reframed as a seductress rather than a frump. Lordie, will we ever get out of some either/or, virgin/whore dichotomy? Sheesh:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....3.html?g=1
Wow, thank you for that link, Anna! I can’t believe they’re putting a third wave gloss on her and acting so tongue in cheek about “revisionist history,” which the press railed against for all of Bush’s tenure. And did you catch how it was her fault she was always known as such a frump, just for adhering to convention and burning their correspondence? FFS!
Well, it seems yet a third person in Obama’s admin (or potential admin) has tax issues. This time it’s a woman, and unlike her two male predecessors who hung in or are hanging in and who appear to maintain Obama’s support, she has decided to withdraw her name. We’ll never know if it was truly her personal decision or if the administration invited her to do so. I’m not cheering breaking the law or having our political leaders elevated to positions of power if they do so, but I find it interesting that the female steps down. Perhaps I’m being overly paranoid and it’s nothing more than coinicidence, but….
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....a_killefer
Anna Belle – You’re welcome. What a crock of bs on so many levels, no?
Re: My post at 1:02 pm
Ao much for my conspiracy theory. Just heard that Daschle withdrew. What a freaking start to this new administration!
Until TNA gets an Action and Resource Center organized, I suggest that whenever we post actions or important resources, that we type a clear and specific heading, such as:
FAVREAU ACTION PLAN
MONSERATTE ACTION IDEAS
FAIR PAY LETTER TO THE EDITOR
etc.
That way, things won’t get lost in this blur on this “Grassroots” superhighway and may be a bit easier to pluck out. If there’s a way to bold the heading, all the better, but I haven’t figured that out (though that’s not saying much since I’m a total computer ninny!)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For anyone who would like to send her a card, here is the contact info. She is expected to be hospitalized for at least the next 10 days:
Memorial Sloan Kettering
1275 York Avenue
New York, NY 10065
TIPS FOR WRITING LETTERS TO THE MEDIA
Keep your letter within the maximum number of words set by the newspaper. The shorter, the better. The range is from 150 – 500. Check the specific newspapers for their guidelines. Op-ed pieces can be longer. Bottom line: There’s no point in writing a letter if it’s so long it won’t be considered for printing!
Make sure your opening paragraph clearly identifies your reason for contacting them.
Working within a word limit you basically have two choices: Pick a very specific topic to focus on and get into it in some detail OR open with an overarching point and then simply list the numerous issues that support that point without getting into detail on any of them.
Stick to the focus of your opening statement. Don’t wander off into several other areas of concern unless they directly relate to your opening statement.
Keep the tone professional and about the facts and the issues more than about your emotions.
Make sure you can back up with your saying with evidence. Reference an article or some other form of corroboration. Don’t expound on rumors.
Letter the first draft of your letter sit for at least a few hours if not a day or two. Go back to it and edit and hone your ideas. A fresh eye often helps clarify what you want to say even further.
Use spell check.
Sending letter by snail mail typically has more impact than via e-mail. To cover your bases, do both if possible.
If you send a letter via e-mail, make sure you come up with a clear subject heading since Editors are busy and inundated with mail. This will help your piece stand out and catch their eye.
Thank you Anna! And thank you for sharing your letters to the editors, etc. It’s helpful to see the words and ideas to get us going on our own letters.
MEDIA SAVVY IN THE INTERNET ERA:
Here’s an interesting resource, “Media Savvy in the Internet Era”. It gives some good ideas about how to have your message heard.
Check it out here (it may load a bit slowly):
http://www.davidhenderson.com/.....netEra.pdf
Here is a TERRIFIC VIDEO CLIP. I encourage you all to watch it and to send it to your friends. Maybe we should send it to our senators, reps, media outlets, and the government: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
The video says it all!
http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/
For a list of what was cut from the stimulus bill (Nelson/Collins) see:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITI.....index.html
Would someone please explain. If this passes in the Senate does it go back to the House for them to add things back in?
Nicholas Kristof has been writing many columns that address women’s issues. The column on Feb 8 really reached me because I have been working on providing metrics/evidence that women’s under representation in better paying jobs with good future prospects is not due to women’s inadequacies or just women’s preferences. I am listing a link to his blog from which you can access the column, which was published in the NYT, and other references relating to this specific issue.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/
I will post more specifics on the work I have done later, when I have more time. Hopefully it is an issue that will resonate with others, and maybe can lead to collaboration—to develop additional data points, expand my efforts to move the political class, etc.
Hey all. Check this out. 56-year-old becomes first woman to swim across the Atlantic:
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/ne.....;type=lgns
Sally. Thanks for your post. Will definitely check out the linkk when I have a chunk of time when I can really focus.
Economic stimulus package passes Senate:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....s_stimulus
Stocks tumble due to lack of specificity re: how the stimulus will work:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....all_street
Does anyone know who is on the committee that is currently working on the stimulus bill? If so, please post. I need the info stat. Thanks.
I think the silver lining (if one could call it that) of the worldwide economic crisis is that it focuses on how the men–who ignored, discriminated against, and fired the women– completely blew it, and how millions of people are affected by their “bad boy’s club” behavior. This is a window of opportunity for TNA and other like-minded groups to demand and legislate, for the good of us all, that women hold a certain percentage of positions at the very top levels, and at all levels, of every corporation, business, government, academic and other institutions, boards, etc.
ACTION STRATEGIES:
1. Bottom line: I propose a continuous, professional, scientific (i.e., supported by studies) ongoing effort to keep prominent in the media long term, the issue of why it should be mandated / legislated / required that a certain percentage of WOMEN SHOULD HOLD POSITIONS at the very top levels of every corporation and institution in this country. It is time now for parity / equal rights / affirmative action for women in the US. And it’s clearly dangerous for us all when the men run our financial and other institutions and women have little or no voice or power!
Why? Here’s some of the rationale
• The men blew it big time.
• The women warned and tried to have a voice to prevent this huge economic crisis but were ignored and devalued.
• The men discriminated against, and, in some cases, fired the very women who may have saved the country had they been listened to.
• The men have driven this country, and the world, into an economic crisis of monumental proportions. The resulting human suffering is enormous.
In addition to the facts and figures regarding the percentages of men in each corporation / institution that failed or is doing poorly, our strongest arguments may be the scientific ones. It’s harder to argue with data. Studies show the following:
• In France, Michel Ferrary, a professor at the business school Ceram, recently conducted a study that concluded that French companies with the greatest percentage of women in management have performed the best during the crisis.
• John Coates, a researcher at Cambridge University, who once ran a trading desk on Wall Street, recently conducted a novel survey that analyzed saliva from 17 male traders in London’s financial district. Coates concluded that traders made the highest profits when they had the highest levels of testosterone in their spit. The downside, he said, was that ELEVATED TESTOSTERONE ALSO LED TO RISKIER BEHAVIOR, a formula for disaster as well as profit. “If you had more women on the trading floors, you would probably eliminate some of this instability,” Coates said.
• Catalyst found that stronger-than-average results prevail at Fortune 500 Companies where at least three women serve on the board of directors. http://www.catalyst.org/public.....-on-boards
2. Kevin is looking for additional studies (thank you Kevin!). I encourage all of you to help in this endeavor. Quoting from Kevin on another TNA thread:
3. I propose a series of press releases, editorials, commentaries, blogs –a continuous and steady dissemination in the media – to keep the above data in the media. Let’s spotlight every study. Let’s frequently point out the numbers – until the public is on board with the need for change.
4. And, as we do the above, let’s propose legislation that will guarantee women a place at the table. Call it affirmative action for women, quotas, civil rights, or whatever. Such legislation worked for race; it must now work for gender.
IDEA FOR TNA PRESS RELEASE:
• Point out this beheading (first-degree murder);
• Point out the rising violence rates against women;
• Mention the Monserrate situation;
• note what kind of world the US will want for Obama’s daughters;
• NOTE THAT THIS IS A HATE CRIME AGAINST WOMEN – We need to start educating the public on this concept 24/7.
• Work with the coalition against hate crimes that is described in the prior TNA post (2/17/09) to pursue this together –perhaps as a joint press release.
• Then recommend the steps below recommended by Human Rights Watch, especially the need for #1 to be done immediately and the rest to follow in short order.
For additional information: here is the latest data from Human Rights Watch, and their article “US: Soaring Rates of Rape and Violence Against Women: More Accurate Methodology Shows Urgent Need for Preventive Action” on the Human Rights Watch website at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/200.....inst-women
“The Human Rights Watch’s national recommendations include:
1. The Obama administration should appoint a special adviser on violence against women in the US
2. Congress should restore full funding to the Office on Violence Against Women
3. The Department of Justice, through the National Institute of Justice, should authorize comprehensive studies that more accurately track sexual and domestic violence in the US, especially among individuals who are least likely to be surveyed by the National Crime Victimization Survey
4. Congress should increase funding for sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and treatment programs
5. Congress should amend the federal Debbie Smith Act, a grant program designed to eliminate the rape kit backlog, but that states can and have used for other kinds of DNA backlogs
6. The US should ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which obligates states to prevent, protect against, and punish violence against women.”
The TNA issue that should be given prominence now is women in high paying and influential jobs. I believe if we do not explicitly bring this issue to the forefront at this point of change, women’s participation in a decision making role will continue to be marginalized. Not just in politics, but in business as the financial industry is presently demonstrating.
In 2005 Larry Summers made his infamous remarks that women lacked the innate capabilities to be strong performers in the science, engineering & technical fields. In response to Larry Summers’ comments the Center for Work-Life Policy (http://www.worklifepolicy.org/) did a study (Reversing the Brain Drain) on the representation of women in science, engineering and technology in the workforce. The study was published in June 2008. One of the conclusions of this study is that women are well represented in the lower levels of the corporate workforce (41%); and leave as their influence and compensation reaches levels of impact.
In the same year that Dr. Summers made his comments the US approved 267, 131 visas for foreign workers in specialized occupations, that is computer scientists, engineering, accounting http://www.uscis.gov/files/nat.....istics.pdf. The legislation allowing visas for foreign workers for high paying jobs is reported to be capped at 65,000 with an additional 20,000 for individuals with Masters and PhDs.
While a respected person like Dr Summers is saying that women are not suited and/or available for good paying jobs, the US government is going along with businessmen who say they need more technical workers, and allowing, and not regulating, an influx of overwhelmingly male and lesser experienced specialized workers. The end result is women are underrepresented in science and technical positions. Labor wages are lowered. The current leadership is further entrenched.
Women need to stand up to comments that diminish them or their capabilities, insist on proof/metrics, and take action to keep the issue of women being at the table where decisions are made a priority. Anecdotally there are 4+ million foreign workers in the US filling specialized occupations. If the US is going to make education the primary vehicle for growth in the future, importing foreign workers for high paying jobs is sending a contradictory message especially just when women are overtaking men in earning a college degree.
I have been working on providing metrics and other data on this issue to specific decision makers who are in a position to change regulations/policies. For example, I have sent metrics/arguments to Senator Chris Dodd, the senior senator for CT up for reelection in 2010, who is head of the banking committee.
If anyone has metrics on this issue I would appreciate knowing about them.
Thanks
Sally
Thank you Sally for your great ideas! I agree with providing data / metrics. It’s hard to argue with scientific studies and data.
Here are some study results. The first has easily accessible data.
• Catalyst found that stronger-than-average results prevail at Fortune 500 Companies where at least three women serve on the board of directors.
http://www.catalyst.org/public.....-on-boards
• In France, Michel Ferrary, a professor at the business school Ceram, recently conducted a study that concluded that French companies with the greatest percentage of women in management have performed the best during the crisis.
• John Coates, a researcher at Cambridge University, who once ran a trading desk on Wall Street, recently conducted a novel survey that analyzed saliva from 17 male traders in London’s financial district. Coates concluded that traders made the highest profits when they had the highest levels of testosterone in their spit. The downside, he said, was that ELEVATED TESTOSTERONE ALSO LED TO RISKIER BEHAVIOR, a formula for disaster as well as profit. “If you had more women on the trading floors, you would probably eliminate some of this instability,” Coates said.
Sally and ER: good thoughts.
I’m in a letter-writing mood. Who else can we write to besides Dodd?
This is a great paper (recent, too):
http://www.ey.nl/?pag=808&publicatie_id=3400
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT VIOLENCE MUST BE PREVENTED AND TAKEN SERIOUSLY:
To use in Press Releases and Everywhere:
A new study shows that traumatic childhood experiences such as child abuse can alter the structure and function of genes that control stress, which could increase the risk of suicide in adult survivors. This study, from McGill University, is the first to show a link between psychological trauma and genetic function in humans. This work supports earlier studies showing abuse can alter DNA function. They also found that these genetic changes occur in adults.
Quoting from one article:
Another quote:
The original article citation: “Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse.” Patrick O McGowan, Aya Sasaki, Ana C D’Alessio, Sergiy Dymov, Benoit Labonté, Moshe Szyf, Gustavo Turecki & Michael J Meaney. Nature Neuroscience Published online: 22 February 2009. doi:10.1038/nn.2270
I’m posting this as it gives us more ammunition in our fight (and press releases) regarding violence against women (and children and men).
Satire or not, it’s not funny. The fact that it isn’t labeled CLEARLY as a satire (if, indeed, it is a satire) is damaging and disrespectful to women. Many may believe the story is true.
ACTION PLAN:
Compose your letter / email and send it to the following:
1. Here is the email for Letters to the Editor for the Irish Times: lettersed@irishtimes.com Guidelines for writing a Letter to the Editor are here: http://www.irishtimes.com/about/p_letters.htm
2. Email for Irish Times online Editors:
a. Patrick Logue, Online News Editor: plogue@irishtimes.com
b. Conor Pope, Deputry Online News Editor: cpope@irishtimes.com
c. Deirdre Veldon, Deputy Editor, Online: dveldon@irish-times.ie
4. Email for Irish Times Opinion section editor: opinion@irishtimes.com
Need some ammunition to write about?
It should be mandated / legislated / required that a certain percentage of WOMEN SHOULD HOLD POSITIONS at the very top levels of every corporation and institution in this country. It is time now for parity / equal rights / affirmative action for women in the US. And it’s clearly dangerous for us all when the men run our financial and other institutions and women have little or no voice or power!
Why? Here’s some of the rationale
• The men blew it big time.
• The women warned and tried to have a voice to prevent this huge economic crisis but were ignored and devalued.
• The men discriminated against, and, in some cases, fired the very women who may have saved the country had they been listened to.
• The men have driven this country, and the world, into an economic crisis of monumental proportions. The resulting human suffering is enormous.
In addition to the facts and figures regarding the percentages of men in each corporation / institution that failed or is doing poorly, our strongest arguments may be the scientific ones. It’s harder to argue with data. Studies show the following:
• In France, Michel Ferrary, a professor at the business school Ceram, recently conducted a study that concluded that French companies with the greatest percentage of women in management have performed the best during the crisis.
• John Coates, a researcher at Cambridge University, who once ran a trading desk on Wall Street, recently conducted a novel survey that analyzed saliva from 17 male traders in London’s financial district. Coates concluded that traders made the highest profits when they had the highest levels of testosterone in their spit. The downside, he said, was that ELEVATED TESTOSTERONE ALSO LED TO RISKIER BEHAVIOR, a formula for disaster as well as profit. “If you had more women on the trading floors, you would probably eliminate some of this instability,” Coates said.
Catalyst found that stronger-than-average results prevail at Fortune 500 Companies where at least three women serve on the board of directors. http://www.catalyst.org/public.....-on-boards
SOME GREAT RESOURCES FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH:
1. A moving video clip: http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/
2. International Museum of Women: http://www.imow.org/home/index
One more resource:
http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/
The White House Project, a 501(c)(3), aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency—by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women. . . . At The White House Project, we believe that if you add women to the ranks of leadership, you change everything.
From Phyllis Chesler’s Blog, Chesler’s Chronicles.
Please sign the petition for Muslim Women
http://www.petitiononline.com/savenow/
Save Women Now. The Upcoming London and Washington, D.C. Rallies Mean Muslim Women.
I stopped marching or rallying a long time ago. Chalk it up to older age and common sense. Sadly, I have not celebrated International Womans’ Day for years now because I can no longer march with people who use womens’ rights to argue for “anti-racism” i.e. who carry signs and chant anti-American and anti-Israel slogans. You know who I mean: The anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist, anti-globalism crowd. In their view, Islamic/Islamist values deserve to exist globally; the values of the Western Enlightenment had better keep atoning for its many alleged sins and crimes.
However, this March 7-8th, two International Womans’ Day rallies promise to be different. I wish I could “dance at two weddings.” One rally will take place in Washington D.C., the other in London. Neither march is owned by any political party or by any existing ideology. Both are daring to focus on the enormous and profound oppression of Muslim women, both in Muslim countries and in the West.
The Washington, D.C. rally has just come to my enthusiastic attention. A group which calls itself Responsible for Equality And Liberty, (R.E.A.L.), will be holding a rally at 1pm on March 8th, to Save Women Now. The rally will take place in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool which is alongside Maryland Avenue SW, which connects to Third Street SW.
The group is asking people to “show your solidarity in calling for our representatives and international world bodies to recognize and act against the ideology of Islamic supremacism that is threatening women today.” The group plans to “address the global challenge of women oppressed and killed in the name of Islamic supremacism. They call for “national and international action against Islamic supremacism” to Save Women Now, and to defy those who believe that mutilation, oppression, and murder of women is an Islamic supremacist “right.”
There is also a petition which you may sign: “Save Women Now” which demands that U.S. government and United Nations representatives recognize the ideology of Islamic supremacism as a source of oppression and violence to women in America and around the world.
Ahh, GC, you’re talking about the Trots and Marxist (Leninists). They are the reason I stopped participating in women’s marches and rallies, rallies in support of environmental issues, political rallies for health care reform, native lands rights rallies. You name it. Their purpose is to co-opt other movements, take over the agenda, funds, energy.
Sis; Those are Phyllis Chesler’s words. She wrote the feminist bible”Woman’s Inhumanity To Women”. Chesler gives voice to both yours and my feelings.
Check out her blog here:
http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/
Read her book, “The Death of Feminism” which is all about the male left and those slices of it that call them self feminist but try to make us forget that women are a caste globally and what happens to one, affects all our status and rights, regardless of color, culture or religion, all of which are patriarchal attempts to divide women and obscure their oppression.
Whew, that was a long sentence. “Death of Feminism ” is a good book. No page has a sentence that long.
When we try to speak about the women’s Union those leftists call us right wing. Or like NOW’s Grady they start to blather about cultural relativism or compare apples and oranges saying they are all fruit and therefore the same thing.
We are feminist. Neither right nor left. Feminists ask only, does this promote freedom and autonomy for women and girls? Eco-feminists, such as myself, include children, animals and the earth itself.
Please sign the petition. We are separating the wheat from the weeds.
A PROPOSAL FOR VALERIE JARRETT’S FIRST PROJECT:
The Boston Globe published a horrifying article today titled “Many Boston teens surveyed say Rihanna is at fault for assault”. The article reports the results of a survey conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission.
Here are a few quotes:
ACTION PLAN:
1. A TNA Press Release on violence against women that includes the following:
• The rising incidence of violence against women. See the Human Rights Watch article: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/200.....inst-women
• HIGHLIGHT this latest study of teens’ views
• IMPLORE Valerie Jarrett and her White House Commission on Women and Girls to make this issue a priority and address the views of teenagers immediately. She should undertake a massive and immediate PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE GIRLS, TEENS, AND ADULTS ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
• Speak out on the Rihanna – Brown case. Apparently there are even worse videos and evidence here that you can utilize (scroll down their blog to find the post on this): http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/
2. E-mail Valerie Jarrett about this and implore here to start with a massive public health campaign to educate girls, teens and adults about violence against women.
Here’s the email she used when she was heading Obama’s Transition Team: vjarrett@barackobama.com
3. Send your comments insisting Jarrett and her office making this issue an immediate priority that we want to see tangible action on to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ (500 character limit)
4. Comment on the Boston Globe article here. (Need to counter the few idiotic comments posted there). One strategy would be to note in your comments what you would like Jarrett to do: http://www.boston.com/news/loc.....r_assault/
I’ve posted an Action Plan which is awaiting moderation. I meant to include the following link to the Boston Globe article, ” Many Boston teens surveyed say Rihanna is at fault for assault”, in my post.
Here’s the link: http://www.boston.com/news/loc.....r_assault/
WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION:
Please post your comments at the Boston Globe site in response to their article, ““Many Boston teens surveyed say Rihanna is at fault for assault”. We need to counter the incredibly misogynistic, dangerous views about violence against women being posted there now in much greater numbers!
1. POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE: http://people.boston.com/artic.....6828983711
2. Please activate PUMA RESPONDERS! Please post this to other women’s sites that can respond. Thanks.
3. Need more information? Brown’s abuse against Rihanna is even more horrific than that reported in the general media. See “Unseen Rihanna Photos Are Worse” here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/v.....n-rihanna/
More information here: http://guerillawomentn.blogspo.....lt-on.html
FYI, this monday, tuesday (March 23&24 @9pm) PBS will show the suffragette movie “One woman, one vote. please spread the news. maybe Anna Belle can mention it in her history blog on Monday.
Thank you, Sheryl, for your terrific writing, and for keeping us up to date with Monserrate the Monster. http://thenewagenda.net/2009/0.....ment-13746
So this is what a NY State Senator looks like? And Monserrate allegedly continues to collect his $79,500 base pay . . .
ACTION PLAN:
1. Email the NY state senators demanding that Monserrate step down immediately. Some suggestions:
• Note that a Grand Jury charged Monserrate with 6 counts of assault, 3 of which are a Class D felony.
• He has been arraigned in State Supreme Court on 6 assault charges
• Is this what a NY state senator looks like?
Here are the emails of all of the NY State Senators, including Monserrate’s: http://www.senate.state.ny.us/.....e?openform
2. Malcolm A. Smith, the NY State Senate majority leader, held a fundraiser for Monserrate last week. Let Smith know what you think about this.
• You can email Smith here: masmith@senate.state.ny.us and
• Leave comments on his website via his contact form here (scroll down): http://www.nyssenate14.com/14/Contact.aspx
3. Formally invite Valerie Jarrett and the entire White House Commission on Women and Girls to attend The New Agenda’s Violence Against Women Forum in New York City on April 18th at the Benjamin Hotel.
4. E-mail Valerie Jarrett about the Monserrate issue and implore her to start with a massive public health campaign to educate the American public about violence against women.
Here’s the email she used when she was heading Obama’s Transition Team: vjarrett@barackobama.com
5. Send your comments urging Jarrett and her office make violence against women an immediate priority that we want to see tangible action on: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ (500 character limit)
The chairwoman of a Senate task force on domestic violence, Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, would not comment on Mr. Monserrate’s treatment. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. Told of the backlash from some women’s rights groups, Ms. Hassell-Thompson said, “ I’m sorry that’s their opinion, but they haven’t expressed that to me.”
ACTION PLAN:
1. Let’s make sure that Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson hears from us, since she says she hasn’t. Write to her here:
Email: hassellt@senate.state.ny.us
Her FAX and Mail:
District Office
959 E.233rd Street
Bronx, NY 10466
Tel: (718) 547-8854
Fax: (718) 515-2718
Albany Office
612 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Tel: (518) 455-2061
Fax: (518) 426-6998
2. Write to Senator Martin Golden and THANK HIM for speaking out against keeping Monserrate in office.
Email: golden@senate.state.ny.us
His quick online Contact Form (and office numbers) are here: http://www.senatorgolden.com/22/Contact.aspx
3. Puma Responders –can you post this on the Puma Responders website?
4. Please see the Action Plan above (March 31st) for additional steps to take.
Let’s make sure these NY State Senators hear from us!
There’s a new blog called ‘in the Ladies Room’. ‘in the Ladies Room’ was created by Pamela Teagarden, an expert in the field of corporate behavioral psychology. Pam notes:
Take a look at ’in the Ladies Room’ here: http://www.intheladiesroom.net/welcome/
Please ignore the ?? marks in the last post–it’s some formatting error.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I am 50 years old woman. I have been abused all of my life. I am so grateful to have my Saint Sisters active on behalf of ALL females! I plan to go back to school, since I dropped in 9th grade. I never gave up hope. We can do it together!
Good for you DawnAquarius! At only 50 you can have a whole second life. We’re working together to make the next 50 years better for all of us. Good luck with school!
Check out the letter to the editor in this week’s Boston Sunday Globe titled, “Whistle-blower’s case calls Summers into question”
Quotes from the letter:
You can read and comment on the letter here: http://www.boston.com/bostongl....._question/
Good discussion. The only way we can change things is to speak out and move to action. Have you taken action?
It looks like the commercial is only one of Burger King’s soft porn commercials with crude lyrics and objectified women that are used to advertise to children. Check out this website: http://evilburgerking.tripod.com/
In addition, Burger King has just announced this week that it will increase its advertising spending this year. See “Burger King Corp. to Increase U.S. National Advertising Expenditures” http://adage.com/article?article_id=136081 and http://investor.bk.com/phoenix.....highlight= Do we want to see more of this?
My concern is that Burger King and Nickelodeon are teaching our youngest generation that it is ‘okay’ to degrade and sexualize women. I think TNA can lend a strong voice against this.
UPDATED ACTION PLAN:
How about a TNA Press Release on this issue and its broader implications? It’s another way to point out, and keep in the public awareness, sexism, misogyny, and the sexual objectification of women in the media. In my opinion, it’s a powerful strategy (and a moral imperative) as these corporations are promoting not only their product, but the sexual objectification of women, to children. In addition to the issues noted above, points and resources in a Press Release could include:
1. MSNBC TV presents a discussion of the Burger King / Nickelodeon SpongeBob ad and a second Burger King culturally insensitive ad, “Texican”, where reference is made to burger “with a little spicy Mexican”: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21.....9#30213779
During the video segment, Dr. Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and a psychologist at the Judge Baker Children’s Center (a Harvard Medical School affiliate), notes that Burger King and Nickelodeon are using a popular male cartoon character to degrade and sexualize women.
Emily York of Advertising age – doesn’t get it. She starts to acknowledge that the culturally insensitive Texican ad complaints have had some “traction”, but she disregards and plays down any complaints about the SpongeBob ad that degrades women. Here we are again with racism not being okay, yet sexism is. . .
2. Here, the ads shown are disgusting, and the Today Show (MSNBC) anchors’ comments after the video segment, “Using Ads to Sell Burgers”, are dismissive at best: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/.....2#30261432
3. It appears that Burger King has used a series of sexist, degrading ‘soft porn’ ads to market to children (!) and adults including:
• The current Sponge Bob ads noted above
• http://evilburgerking.tripod.com/
4. Burger King has been accused of other corporate ethics violations:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind.....urger_King
5. Nickelodeon which sells itself as “the only network that puts kids first”, nominated Chris Brown—the guy with two felony charges for battering his girlfriend, Rihanna—for their Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. . .
6. Nickelodeon apparently says one thing and does another: “Nickelodeon bans characters from pushing junk food” Not! http://www.brandrepublic.com/N.....ILC-SEARCH
7. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood can provide more information and good quotes, especially from Dr. Linn (mentioned above). http://www.commercialexploitation.org/
Additional Action Steps:Updated from the steps under Take Action in the original post above:
1. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has launched a letter writing campaign. Click here for a quick letter you can send online: http://salsa.democracyinaction....._KEY=27008
This is a great organization. You can learn more about them here: http://www.commercialexploitation.org/ TNA and CCFC are on the same page in many areas.
2. Email, fax and call Burger King corporate headquarters. Tell them that their sexually suggestive advertising is inappropriate for children, morally and ethically irresponsible, degrading of women, and violates their Corporate Social Responsibility Mission Statement: Fundamental respect for all people, and our planet, guides our corporate conscience. Tell them you will not visit their restaurants until they withdraw the ad and change their advertisements.
a) Call Burger King Corporation Consumer Relations (305) 378-3535 Staffed M-F, 9am–5pm EST?
b) Email / fax / write to:
John W. Chidsey
Chief Executive Officer, Burger King Corporation
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126
Phone: 305-378-3000
Fax: 305-378-7262
His email: jchidsey@whopper.com
Russ Klein,
President of Global Marketing Strategy and Innovation
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126
Phone: 305-378-3000
Fax: 305-378-7262
(Can anyone find his email on LInkedIn or elsewhere? Possible email: rklein@whopper.com)
Email Amy Wagner,
Burger King Investor Relations
Phone: 305-378-7696
investor@whopper.com
Susan Robison,
Burger King Corporation Media Relations
Phone: 305-378-7277
mediainquiries@whopper.com
3. Call / Email / FAX Nickelodeon, which bills itself as “the only network that puts kids first.” Tell them that to profit by teaching children to objectify women is wrong, and that you will purchase no more SpongeBob merchandise until the offensive ad stops running.
b) Email / fax / call / write to:
Nickelodeon
1515 Broadway?
New York, NY 10036?
Phone: (212) 258-6000 and 212-258-7500
FAX: (212) 258-7575
Ms. Cyma Zarghami
President, Nickelodeon
Possible email: cyma.zarghami@nick.com
Dan Martinsen
Executive Vice President Corporate Communications
Nickelodeon
Possible email: dan.martinsen@nick.com
Marva Smalls
Executive Vice President, Public Affairs
Executive Vice President, Global Inclusion Strategy
Nickelodeon
Known email: marva.smalls@nick.com
4. For those who are on Facebook, and apparently for those who aren’t, there is an open group regarding this issue. Quoted on another site: “Please join and invite your friends. Once we’re at 10,000, we can start calling in mass corporate and our local franchises.”
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92228140218
5. Boycott Burger King and Nickelodeon.
6. Forward this action alert to your friends and colleagues.
Today, April 28th, is EQUAL PAY DAY.
Equal Pay Day is the day in 2009 when the average woman’s wages will finally catch up with those paid to the average man in 2008. The day serves as an important reminder of the persistent wage gap and the urgent need to take action to ensure that women can receive equal pay for equal work. For more information see: http://www.nwlc.org/fairpay
ACTION PLAN:
1. Write to your Senators to support The Paycheck Fairness Act, which was passed by the House in January 2009, and would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages. The bill also allows women and men to receive the same remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subject to discrimination based on race and national origin. For a quick and easy letter to your Senators, go here: https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=295
2. Blog for Fair Pay: http://action.nwlc.org/site/Pa.....r_Fair_Pay
The continued sexism and misogyny reminds me daily of how important The New Agenda is for all of us! We have much work to do.
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, FAMILY MEMBERS AND OTHERS TO THIS WEBSITE AND ASK THEM TO JOIN US and to donate so that TNA can grow and continue its essential work for opportunity and safety for all women, equal rights, parity, and the future for our children.
Join us: http://thenewagenda.net/join-us/
Donate: http://thenewagenda.net/events…..ory-books/
We need your support to call out a blogger, Matthew Holt, on his blatantly sexist and misogynist comments.
Here are his comments on The Health Care Blog:
Title: “By the numbers, on single payer the Democrats are pussies”
“Now before I explain why I say the Democrats are girlie-men, let me say . . “
ACTION PLAN:
1. Go to Matthew Holt’s blog and let him know what you think: http://www.thehealthcareblog.c.....mment-form
He needs to hear from a lot of us!
2. Please post also on Puma Responders!
Thanks!
Leave your Response
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