Children's Books and Women in Politics

Over Thanksgiving break, I got to see my two female cousins who happen to be twins and are just starting to read. Their birthdays are a couple days from Thanksgiving, so we always celebrate their birthday on Thanksgiving with the family altogether.

This year, instead of giving them more clothes or princess dresses (which my mom gave them last year), I asked my mom if we could get them books that showcase stories about successful women.
Having them read about ambitious, driven women who succeed in all different fields is so important to start when they are young. Because they are both interested in science and love to play sports, we ended up getting them books called "Women in Sports," and "Women in Science," which include one page bedtime stories that cover all different successful women in those fields.



After findings these books, I then researched if there was a "Women in Politics," children's book. And unfortunately, there wasn't one (at least by the same author, Rachel Ignotofsky). While there are some children's books that cover women's activism in politics, when I researched the topic, it was clear that there wasn't an equal emphasis on the importance of this issue.

While it's important to showcase to young women that there have been successful women in all fields, it's interesting to me that when it comes to politics, there's a much weaker urgency to get those messages out there. The reason for this reality beats me, but it was something that really struck me. I think it's time for a "Women in Politics," children's book. Maybe I'll write to Rachel Ignotofsky and ask why books on women in sports and science came first.

Why everyone's talking about 'Lady Bird,' and why you should be too [Chicago Tribune]

On Monday, I shared with everyone that my first reaction to Miss Representation was thinking that many of my male friends wouldn't want to see a film about the struggles that girls and women face. That afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised when one of my best guy friends asked if I wanted to see 'Lady Bird' with him and my other guy friend, who had already seen it once and wanted to see it again. Since they are people who normally rave about Star Wars and Marvel films, this was definitely unexpected coming from them.

After watching the film with them today (and crying together), I just wanted to share the movie and my experience because 1) Lady Bird is a new favorite of mine, and 2) I learned that perhaps more now than in the past, men are willing to listen to and care about women's stories. It's such a powerful story focused on a young girl and her mother, and I can see why it's 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I chose this article to share because I think Schmich does a good job of pointing out what's different about this movie and other movies that have been labeled as "feminist," such as 'Wonder Woman.' In particular, I thought this quote was especially important:

“Lady Bird” helps to widen the lens. It’s exactly the right movie for this fraught moment, in which many people are opening their eyes to the truth of sexual harassment and how it can harm women’s opportunities and view of themselves.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has seen this film, and if they have thoughts on the article!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/schmich/ct-met-lady-bird-mary-schmich-20171128-story.html 

Miss Representation and Reece Witherspoon's Work in Film Production

The movie "Miss Representation" discussed the need for more women to not only have the starring roles in movies (and hold them independently of men), but also produce and direct more movies. While we still have a lot of progress to make, here is a video that showcases some of Reece Witherspoon's advancement on this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKKRBnpDpBY

Understanding Miss Representation through Rose McGowan

Directly after finishing Miss Representation, I popped onto Facebook and this little clip came up. The eerie similarity between the issues she brings up and those elaborated on in Miss Representation made me feel like she was an important figure into evaluating Hollywood right now and the effects of discrimination in Hollywood on a single human. I especially liked her quote the discrimination is a result of "Institutionalized stupidity"

    

https://www.facebook.com/StrongOpinionsLooselyHeld/videos/775618815953466/?hc_ref=ARR68HF8dxxg0haWUxJSZT5M17SnVk4Wst2ctuyouCAWTMmpkPKylJyozmsb8l-WsxE

Mcgowan is one of the women that first came out with their accusations of Harvey Weinstein, triggering an increase in stories against Hollywood big names. In the following article,  the controversy between Alec Baldwin highlights how blatant the boy's club is and complicit men are in the abuse. To summarize, Baldwin admits that one of the biggest rumors in Hollywood is Weinstein’s rape of Mcgowan and that everybody knew. Mcgowan responded by saying, "Told you everyone knew. No one cared. Men ran the show. Women toed the line. No more." Though this side of the story was also discouraging since one of the biggest news articles surrounding the controversy centered around Baldwin, I think it highlights an important underworking of Hollywood that these assaults and cases of harassment are not completely secret but rather a complex web of complacency and the heads of the industry actively diminishing women's stories.  http://ew.com/movies/2017/11/04/alec-baldwin-twitter-leave/

To build off of this point, I was shocked when I googled to find out more about Rose Mcgowan just from the short clip I had discovered, that the first page of news articles featured headlines such as the following:

Rose McGowan Arrested For Felony Possession Of Drugs

Evidence for the media bias described in Miss Representation in every way. Mcgowan was accused of cocaine possession while, ironically, en route to the Women's March in Washington. Mcgowan strongly denies the allegation saying it was a “load of horseshit.” and"Are they trying to silence me?" https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/rose-mcgowan-speaks-out-about-her-arrest-on-drug-charges This article goes into how Weinstein hired private investigators into the felony charges and wanted to leak them to the press. The hearing won't begin until January 23rd but I think the case has the potential to be a clear indication of the media industry attempting to take down the image of a woman who poses as a threat to the abusive patriarchy of Hollywood. The language of the headlines place the blame into Mcgowan's hands and occupy the space once taken up by the case of rape. This could be an attempt to deface and delegitimize her in the eyes of the public, and even if it proves to be a true incident, it's current success of overshadowing the work Mcgowan has done demonstrates how the media operates without the fact to back it up and the bias it takes.

(http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/entertainment/rose-mcgowan-arrest/index.html)

Throughout this brief research, I've overall been disappointed by the disjunct information on her I've been able to parse. Perhaps the reason we don't see the accurate or clear reporting on this figure is that the news stories I've gotten my information from are all under the same hoods as the large corporations that, as Mcgowan points out, are attempting to protect themselves in the matter.

McGowan has a new, said to be revealing, book "Brave" set release for January 30th.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for January 23.

Interview with Anita Hill and Women in Congress

I came across this article in the Washington Post a couple days ago that is an interview with Anita Hill and some of the women in Congress at the time who demanded that she should be able to testify during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings. It's a super interesting read since it also talks about how little Joe Biden and other Democratic male congressman did to help Hill during the hearings.

It talks about the Senate Gym as a place where many deals were made but which most women would not go to. They also discuss the "Year of the Woman" which was super interesting.

From Greenwich Village to the Nation, Leading the Push for Women’s Rights

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society looks at some of the radical figures who made Greenwich Village a hotbed of suffragist activity.  Read more...

Me Too Movement and the ERA

This article outlines the recent push for the ERA in connection to the cultural movement of "Me Too," that several blog posts have given insight into. These politicians see the ERA as an answer to the call for action many are making after the onslaught of accusations. They mention of the main reasons the ERA is not being pushed for in our time is that 80% (according to a 2016 study) of the country believe that women and men already have guaranteed equality under the Constitution. Democratic senator Ben Cardin states that "“I think there would be more of an outrage, and particularly with what we’ve seen recently." The article mentions opposition much like the argument we've studied in the past two major pushes for the ERA, which is that it will repeal existing protections under the law or is necessary. Something I thought of which the article addresses right at the end is the difficulty of pushing something like the ERA through right now when there's immense political urgency and risk amongst many issues. Cardin acknowledges this truth by saying, “It’s not the ideal moment, but I think the issue of gender equality and the need for Constitutional protection has never been more obvious,” Cardin said. “I know the political climate we have, but I think the case is pretty strong right now.” I think it's also interesting that Cardin himself is the only political voice included in the article. Though this might show some form of ironic discrimination, it might also demonstrate the importance of male allyship. Could this be the moment for the ERA? How has America reshaped its perceptions of women's rights since its last push? In some ways will this be more difficult?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/18/me-too-movement-renews-equal-rights-amendment-push/875903001/

Conservative and Liberal PACs Promoting Female Candidates for 2018

I can across this article in the Business Insider and I found it both uplifting and intriguing. In the conservative and liberal factions of politics, new PACs are being formed (backed by major donors and party leaders on both sides) that are looking to expand the numbers of women candidates running for political office.

On the left, Senator Bernie Sanders is leading an initiative that is looking to support both women of color and working class women in American politics. On the right, a new PAC, called "Winning for Women" backed by prominent GOP donors, is looking to promote conservative female leaders in politics. Reading this article was both refreshing and made me excited to see a new wave of women getting involved in politics in both the local and national stage.
For more information here is the link to the article: http://www.businessinsider.com/women-pac-gop-winning-for-women-congress-senate-2017-10

The Hillary Effect

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/opinion/sunday/the-hillary-effect.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront


This New York Times OpEd explores the idea of how the campaign against sexual assault would be different if Hillary Clinton were president, rather than Donald Trump.
Susan Fowler,  who wrote the blog post about sexual assault about Uber that lead to the CEO being fired, thinks it would be different. She stated "before Donald Trump's election, women in Silicon Valley were speaking up but no one was listening... but it was different this year because Trump won and people felt powerless". Donald Trump has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, and also seems to support other men who have been similarly accused.
But would having Hillary Clinton in office really create a better environment for people talking about and fighting against sexual assault? I am not convinced she would be much better, especially considering the fact that with Hillary as President, Bill Clinton would be second in command. People may be afraid to speak up with Hillary as President because of Bill Clinton's history with women, specifically Monica Lewinsky. Moreover, Hillary supposedly demonized women as "liars, bimbos, trailer trash, or troubled souls when it seemed clear they were truthful about her philandering husband".
Clearly, "politics is clouding the issue of sexual harassment", and this has been the case for many years. Nevertheless, it is unclear if having Hillary, or someone else, as President would help resolve the sexual harassment war.

Women Walked the Talk on Tuesday (NY Times)

This article is a brief summary of victories that women candidates had in the recent election. I thought it was especially inspiring to see how far Emily's List has come since Barbara Mikulski was elected into the Senate in 1987. For example, the author mentions:

"Emily’s List endorsed 55 candidates nationwide for Tuesday’s races, and 33 of them won. So far, 13 of its 16 endorsed candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates have won (a couple of them may face runoffs.)"

I also wanted to highlight the author's observations regarding why there was a surge in female candidates:

"That so many women landed on ballots this year was remarkable, but their skills and organizing talent, not their gender, proved most persuasive. Most who won had strong roots in the jurisdictions they now represent. Careers in medicine, education, law, community organizing and other fields equipped them with ideas for tackling issues voters cared most about: health care, guns, criminal justice, opioid addiction."

I think it's important that women are being recognized not because of their gender, but because they are qualified and experienced to serve in office. However, I also think the author kind of downplays the impact that electing underrepresented groups into office can have, including women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. If you have any thoughts on this or the article in general, please share!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/women-elections-democrats.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-editorials

Good Reads and Listens By Shirley Chisholm

Here are some of the essays and speeches I was talking about in class on Tuesday:

Click here for her speech declaring her presidential bid in Brooklyn 1972. She mentions some things about her policy positions, like the environment and political corruption, but mostly tries to set her own stage as a candidate that represents more than just her colour, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Click here for an AWESOME essay she wrote titled "The Politics of Coalition" where she discusses the establishment's use of political and institutional power to reenforce gender and racial roles in society, then flips it on its head to demonstrate why oppressed groups should band together and generate power from their own coalition - joint political action is the only way we can pull apart the reification of the white male establishment and put ourselves between the gaps. Love love LOVED this one, not just because what she said was right and so well crafted, but also because she wrote it so eloquently for a scholarly journal in a time where professorship and doctorates were restricted to only men.  Can't publish to the AJPS? No problem- Chisholm finds another avenue to the people that matter. Someone today could have wrote this and it would have still been so fitting. She was ahead of her time.

Click here for a speech she made a UCLA. She made a lot of speeches at college campuses - I remember somewhere she said that the reason she ended up considering running for president was because of a student that asked her "If not now, then when?" at one of the speeches she delivered. She talks about the importance of understanding political power and what it can do for you. She wasn't about anarchy or hating on the structure of governance or American democracy: she was all about working within the system and proving that it's built for more than just a white dude.

The Post trailer

So the trailer for the new movie The Post came out last night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrXlY6gzTTM) and it looks really good! It's about the Washington Post and their publication of the Pentagon Papers. It stars Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the US's first female publisher, and Tom Hanks, as Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Washington Post, and it's directed by Steven Spielberg.

From the trailer, it seems like it will focus a little bit about Graham's struggle with being the first female publisher in the United States and how that meant many of the men seemed to think she would not be capable and would not "have the resolve to make the tough choices", which is why I thought it would be relevant to post here. I always like journalism movies so I'm super excited for this!

Miss Peru Contestants Startle Peruvians By Sharing Stats On Gender Violence

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/11/02/561414660/miss-peru-contestants-startle-peruvians-by-sharing-stats-on-gender-violence

Hey guys,

This is a pretty popular article and event happening right now but I absolutely loved it and thought it tied in well with our conversation! We discussed before a protest at a Miss America pageant and here it is again in the form of the contestants preforming a form of protest.

Its a really powerful video and I thought it was really cool!

Let me know what you guys think!

Betsy Devos and Title IX Rollbacks

This is an interesting article, in advance of our conversations on Title IX. It's written by a Harvard Law Professor - the first Asian-American woman tenured by Harvard Law. I believe she's a scholar of sexual assault law, and she's written controversial articles about the difficulties of teaching rape law with trigger warnings.

I think (??) shes's still fairly liberal, but she seems to be agreeing with Betsy DeVos and The Department of Education's decision to rollback Title IX - though she seems to be distancing herself from her lack of support for LGBTQ students.

I'm not sure how much I agree with the article, but it is something interesting to keep in mind as we learn more about the politics and history of Title IX.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/betsy-devos-title-ix-and-the-both-sides-approach-to-sexual-assault

Amazon TV Series: Good Girls Revolt

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/good-girls-revolt-inside-lawsuit-that-inspired-amazon-show-w447701

Stumbled upon this article this morning about a new Amazon series looking at the role of female researchers at Newsweek in the 1970s. According to the article, the series will demonstrate the consciousness-raising groups at the time (especially pertinent to our readings this week!) as well as how women combatted with "nice guy" sexual harassment. Very relevant topics to our class!

Women's Emotional Labor

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12063822/emotional-labor-gender-equality/

At the beginning of the school year, I came across this article in Harper's Bazaar on emotional labor and the unequal imposition it places on women, and particularly, mothers. I quickly showed the article to my mom, dad, and sister, as I recognized that I, as well as my other family members, definitely took part in placing undue efforts of emotional labor on my mom. The article above reminds me of the different arguments presented in "The Politics of Housework" piece we will discuss next Monday in class. I believe many of the counter-arguments presented to the statements made by men embody this concept of emotional labor--it should not be solely the mother's job to do all of the housework herself, or to think about what needs to be done in the house and ask others to do it. All members of a household should take part in the mental and physical energy necessary to keep it within certain sustainable living conditions. Both the Harper's Bazaar article and "The Politics of Housework" definitely shed light on the traps that me and my family fall into (i.e. "Mom, I like my room messy, I don't mind it!") that place extra emotional and physical labor on my mom. I hope that by sharing this article with my family we will all work to pull our own weight in the maintenance of the house as well as the care of one another (both emotionally and physically) in order to become more compassionate and just people.

The "Sexuality" Pay Gap

This is in response to some of our earlier conversations about the wage gap, but here is an interesting study/article that documents the existence of a "sexuality" pay gap. The study suggests that lesbian women on average actually earn more than heterosexual women, which is pretty counter-intuitive.

The article explores some explanations. I wonder if this stems from constructions of masculinity and femininity, and how employers might perceive (perhaps inaccurately) differences between lesbian women and heterosexual women.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/gender-pay-gap-lesbian-premium/

"Bad Moms" and "The Feminine Mystique"

Today I came across this CNN article in my newsfeed and I found it quite interesting. Recent studies by  JAMA Psychiatry have found that between 2002 and 2013 "high-risk drinking," defined as consuming four or more drinks a day, rose among women by 58%, compared with a 29.9% rise for the general population. Popular culture, including television shows like "Cougar Town" and "Modern Family" as well as movies like "Bad Moms" have given rise to phrases like "mommy juice"to refer to wine and other alcoholic beverages that a mom consumes. Seeing women blitzed or using alcohol as a means of coping is a damaging message being sent to society at large. The author of this article connects this "liquid patience" for mothers to the "strange stirring" Betty Friedan explored decades ago in "The Feminine Mystique." One recovering alcoholic mother Britini de la Cretaz commented that she found this new cultural wave to be quite alienating as as sober mother. She commented, "Even as someone who was really secure in my sobriety, I found I couldn't relate to other moms. There was always this wink and a nod about how you have to have that glass of wine." Some questions I thought of where how this culture could connect to some of Betty Friedan's arguments in "The Feminine Mystique?" Also, how does American society, where we do not have universal paid child leave or economic support for mothers without jobs contribute to this dangerous trend of "problem drinking" that has risen by 83.7% (between 2002 and 2013)?

Here is the article for your convenience: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/health/wine-moms-strauss/index.html