The event will take place at Thomson Reuters headquarters in Times Square. Evites will be going out in the next week. Space will be limited!

Check for our Benefit Committee list on the home page of our website in the next couple of days.

If you or your company would like to join the Benefit Committee, or you would like to indicate interest in attending, you can respond here.

“Women’s progress is human progress, and human progress is women’s progress once and for all.”

You can read and watch more of Secretary Clinton’s remarks at the UN Commission on the Status of Women here.

But as the Tea Party infuses conservatism with new energy, its leaders deliberately avoid discussion of issues like gay marriage or abortion.

snip

Tea Party leaders argue that the country can ill afford the discussion about social issues when it is passing on enormous debts to future generations. But the focus is also strategic: leaders think they can attract independent voters if they stay away from divisive issues.

“We should be creating the biggest tent possible around the economic conservative issue,” said Ryan Hecker, the organizer behind the Contract From America. “I think social issues may matter to particular individuals, but at the end of the day, the movement should be agnostic about it.

snip

Jenny Beth Martin, the leader of the Tea Party Patriots, complained that she spent the days after the convention answering questions about social issues.

“When people ask about them, we say, ‘Go get involved in other organizations that already deal with social issues very well,’ ” she said. “We have to be diligent and stay on message.”

snip

Raising social issues, the movement’s leaders say, risks fracturing the strength it has built. “Every social issue you bring in, you’re adding planks to your mission,” said Frank Anderson, a founder of the Independence Caucus, based in Utah. “And planks become splinters.”

Agree with the Tea Party’s core mission or not, no one can doubt the effectiveness of their strategy or deny the impact they’ve had. It should come as no surprise that one of their primary tactics is unity and focus. For regular readers of our blog, this is not a new concept.

From the beginning, we chose a nonpartisan, big tent path, specifically not taking a stand on the abortion issue. This was the “new” in The New Agenda. The founders of our organization had the wisdom to see that the abortion issue was a divider for women. They asked themselves, “Have we come a long way baby?” The answer was, “No. We need to go further and this divisive issue is holding us back.” The goal of The New Agenda was and is to organize women around issues which unite us and bring women and girls forward in our country. We’ve been hammering that point over and over again. Yet the strategy which the Tea Party has embraced is slow to catch on with women. Can the women’s movement learn a lesson from the Tea Party?

It is possible for women to look beyond one issue and see what is waiting down the road? Can we envision a place where women feel safe at home and walking down a street at night? A society in which sexualization of our daughters is not a constant concern? A workplace where women are paid the same as men for the same work? A Congress with 50% women? A Madame President? A thriving country benefiting from having both halves of the population represented at all levels of government?

Have women been so focused on one issue for so many years they they cannot see that a better life is possible? Can women see that unity is the strategy of getting to that place?

I hope so. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a long way to go baby! But it can be done if women and like minded men unite. Will you join us?

Since the beginning of Women’s History Month, I’ve been thinking about the women who have inspired me the most with their drive, intelligence, and accomplishments. I’ve been considering the accomplishments of the incredible women that I know personally, and of the female public and historical figures that I most admire. Many of these women are politicians, or authors, or actresses. Perhaps because of my own interests, one of the women who most inspires me is a psychologist and a scientist: Dr. Sandra Lipsitz Bem.

Starting in the early ’70s, Dr. Bem became an enormously influential figure in the world of psychology with her work on gender schema theory and psychological androgyny. She created an instrument that conceptualized and measured gendered characteristics along two separate dimensions (femininity and masculinity), rather than along a single scale. This allowed individuals to be assessed as having a high level of feminine traits without necessarily having a low level of masculine traits (and vice versa). An individual who demonstrated both high masculinity and high femininity was considered psychologically androgynous.

Gender schema theory attempted to explain the cognitive process that occurs as we learn and internalize gender roles. This theory suggests that for most of us, gender becomes a primary lens through which we learn to see the world, understanding people, things, and traits as being inherently masculine or feminine. Much of the danger in this, she warns us, is that viewing the world in this way effectively makes our self-esteem conditional on successful performance of the expected gender role.

These two concepts, gender schematism and psychological androgyny, sparked a flurry of psychological research into gender and how it influences mental health. Much of this research found that psychological androgyny was associated with positive psychological outcomes (especially in women). This line of research continues to this day, and Dr. Bem’s theories have become extremely well-known. Dr.  Bem has permanently influenced the way that the field of psychology looks at gender. More information on her theories are available in her book “The Lenses of Gender.”

Beyond her academic work, she has also led by example in her personal life. Dr. Bem and her husband (Dr. Daryl Bem), have carefully structured their marriage and family life to be as egalitarian as possible, with equal division of parenting and household responsibilities, and equal consideration given to both careers. This family situation was so unique at the time as to be a subject of enormous curiosity, leading the couple to accept several opportunities to publicly speak about their relationship. This relationship is also explored in depth in Dr. Bem’s book “An Unconventional Family.”

As I continue to learn about Dr. Bem’s life and work, I am continually impressed by her intelligence and commitment. She has worked unremittingly for forty years, and in that time she has had an enormous impact on psychological theory and practice. Her theories have impacted the lives of women and men around the world.

Women’s History Month encourages us to remember the accomplishments of women in the past. It also gives us the opportunity to recognize women who are making history today, and to inspire women and girls to make history tomorrow. As I consider the life and work of Dr. Sandra Bem, I hope that I can be part of the next wave of women in psychology who are building on her work, and changing the world ourselves.

Results today for the Special election to fill Monserrate’s State Senate seat:

Peralta 66%
Monserrate 27%
Beltrani 7%

Turnout was 14%
Total votes cast 15,260

Lydia Pinkham (1819-1883)

According to Doris Weatherford in American Women’s History, Lydia Estes Pinkham was the first American woman to become a household name through advertising. This is hardly the extent of her claim to fame, of course, for she was also known for her medicinal remedies and business savvy.

Though she herself came from an affluent family, Pinkham’s marriage was marked by financial insecurity, and her husband eventually served time for being unable to pay debts during the Depression of 1873-1879. Like many women throughout American history, financial hardship created an opportunity for Pinkham to utilize her existing talents, and she started a small business with her four children.

Like many herbal and medicinal remedies of the time, getting the business going was the biggest part of the enterprise. It wasn’t until Lydia Pinkham herself posed for a picture that would grace the cover of her products that she found success in an overcrowded market loaded with sham artists and literal snake oil salesmen. Her image on the product lent trustworthiness to it. That and the fact that her products were marketed to women to address womens’ health issues catapulted her products to market prominence.

From there she developed a business empire that included several popular health books and even a commercial “advice column” that served her successful newspaper marketing attempts. Her children continued to help her run her business until calamity stuck. Lydia Pinkham died in 1883, two years after both her sons succumbed to tuberculosis, a disease she could not cure. Products bearing her name are still sold today, more than 125 years after her death.

Additional Sources:

A Baby in Every Bottle: The Story of Lydia Estes Pinkham

Grand Dames: Direct Marketing’s Pioneering Women

Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., along with Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Susan Davis, D-Calif., led the push in Congress to get the women recognized.

Hutchison noted at the ceremony that when the unit was disbanded in 1944, many of the women had to pay from their own bus fare home from an airfield in Sweetwater, Texas. When some died on duty, it was fellow female aviators who helped pay their funeral expenses, she said.

After a long fight, the WASPs achieved veteran status in 1977, however, only about 300 are still living. About 200 of them were able to attend the ceremony to receive their award.

In accepting the award, WASP pilot Deanie Parrish, 88, of Waco, Texas, said the women had volunteered without expectation of thanks. Their mission was to fly noncombat missions to free up male pilots to fly overseas.

”We did it because our country needed us,” Parrish said.

Let these amazing women be an inspiration to us all!

At the ceremony, the first woman to serve as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said it perfectly:

‘Women Airforce Service Pilots, we are all your daughters; you taught us how to fly.”

This weekend, I was honored to represent The New Agenda as one of  300 international leaders at The Daily Beast’s Women in the World summit. Tina Brown  blogged: Will the Hudson Theatre explode with so many female fire-eaters under one roof?

Women in the World was convened to discuss international women’s issues such as human trafficking, rape as a war weapon, and improving the lives of girls.  Despite the summit’s focus on international women’s issues, so many of the themes are central to our battles here at home:  unity, gender representation and empowering our girls.

I was proud that The New Agenda was amongst a handful of domestic organization in attendance. So much of what was discussed can help us lead the charge at home to improve the lives of women and girls.

After three amazing days surrounded by some of the most powerful women in the world, I wanted to share some of my personal highlights:

• Sallie Krawcheck’s smile when I shared our support for her becoming the first female CEO of a Wall Street bank;
• A sisterly embrace with Cherie Blair shortly after she announced an initiative to deliver 100,000 cell phones to women and girls in developing countries;
• An impassioned speech by Queen Rania of Jordan on improving the lives of girls in which she asked the audience to put aside political party in support of the work of Secretary Hillary Clinton;
• Ambassador Melanne Verveer declaring the 21st century to the century of gender equality.

You’ll have the chance to meet many of Tina  Brown’s female fire-eaters, including our honoree Lynn Forester de Rothschild, at our May 6th event.  You’ll also hear our vision for getting more women into positions of leadership.

Another major topic of the weekend was empowering our girls and keeping them safe.   Join us at The New Agenda Foundation’s Teen Dating Violence event on May 6th to learn how to improve things at home.

Even if you cannot attend our events, I hope that you will consider becoming a member or making a donation as an investment in improving the lives of women and girls.

In school, we had just last month celebrated Black History Month. There were speaker announcements, newspaper articles and classroom discussions all commemorating the importance and history behind the month. This week was “language week” where my school hung posters, had announcements given in foreign languages and held activities for those learning a foreign language. Next week will be “random acts of kindness week”. One thing is surely being disregarded these weeks and this month of March, Women’s History Month.

After speaking to an administrator of the lacking importance being placed on the should-be celebration, it was clear – nothing is planned for the ever important month.  And it isn’t just my school that is writing off this piece in history. Across the country, behind the doors and at the heels of the classrooms, you’ll find chalkboards everywhere barren from talks of Hillary Clinton or Alice Paul or any of the suffrage movements that sprung up in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s.

Barack Obama’s presidency has definitely given an arousal to Black History Month. You would think it would have the same effect with women like Hillary Clinton & Sarah Palin blazing through trails and advancing the historic accomplishments of females for that of Women’s History Month.

I encourage The New Agenda’s readers to call their local school districts and ask: what is being done to celebrate Women’s History Month?

Maybe, women’s history and the learning of equal rights should be made a requirement in the curriculum’s of public schools. Perhaps, schools administration’s think it’s inappropriate to teach women’s history because there are both sexes of students attending school. However, as a male myself and a senior I believe it’s not only important for honoring and celebratory purposes, but to also leave school with a wealth of knowledge about the diversity and historical integrity of our country could really benefit us all.

Date: Friday, March 12
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Place: Grand Central

To get more information on meeting place, you can email us here.