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Veteran Feminists of America web-zine |
VFA
2009 ARCHIVE CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE 2012 FRONTPAGE
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BLAST FROM THE PAST... BARBARA LOVE QUOTED
HAYWARD (CA) DAILY REVIEW
OCT 31, 1969
PROBLEMS FOR WOMEN IN MASS COMMUNICATIONS
By Sylvia Reice
"A healthy woman is more easily influenced, less independent, less adventurous, and less competitive than
a man."
This statement, believe it or not, was made in a recent study conducted by Dr. Paul Rosencrantz of Holy Cross.
Prejudice against women is alive and well in our society today. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Negro woman elected
to Congress, said recently : "I have been more discriminated against as a woman than as a Negro."
Gloria Steinem
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And when Gloria Steinem, a versatile, brilliant political writer, returned from a two-year Asian Fellowship, she
was offered a job writing about lipsticks. "Would a man with my education want to write about shaving creams?"
she said.
Sometimes, at a moment of achievement, one becomes aware of how much there is yet to achieve. At a recent reception
honoring the upcoming publication of Foremost
Women in Communications 1970,
many of us who had indeed worked hard for position in the communications world appreciated the comments of Barbara Love.
The 32-year-old editor-publisher of the new reference work which lists some 7,000women, said : "The women in this directory are very uncommon, but
they need not be.
The emotional, sexual, and psychological
stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says,
"It's a girl."
~Shirley Chisholm
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They are the ones who had the courage
to aspire to higher goals. They have chosen to do more than is expected of them. They represent a select group
- a kind of meritocracy."
Maurine Neuberger, the former Senator from Oregon, told us that even the jobs of Senate steno clerks - at a salary
of $24,000 ($24,000 in 10/69 = in $136,532 in 02/09) - were held entirely by men. "The whole area of politics
and the arena in which it is played is considered off-limits to women. "In fact, she says, when she retired
from the Senate in January 1967 she received a plaque which is engraved, "Senator Maurine Neuberger, having
been duly elected by the citizens of HIS state, etc." She says she never complained. "It's funnier this
way."
One "foremost lady" said, "In the past and even now, the general thinking of young girls has been
that it really doesn't matter how you plan your life because you'll get married, have children, and live happily
ever after. Maybe this directory will act as an incentive to all young women."
More practical advice about how to make it in communications comes from other distaff communicators: a TV script
writer says, "Learn rejection. Those who succeed are those who stick
with it." Barbara Love says:
"Start in a small pond where you can learn everything - production, writing, editing, even floor sweeping." An ad executive at J. Walter Thompson says, "If you
don't have samples of on-job experience, take a popular ad in a magazine and show how you would plan a program
or promotion for that account or several products."
Best advice, I think, comes from a Detroit executive who says women in business under-value themselves; they're
afraid to ask for the jobs and money they deserve.
Hopefully girls today will escape this hang-up. But the fact remains that a girl has still got to be a lot better
than a guy to make it big in most jobs. As one advertising boss-lady is fond of saying : "Everywhere there
are mediocre men holding down jobs that only super-women are allowed to fill !"
Comments to Jacqui CeballosL jcvfa@aol.com
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VFA JOINS THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY PROJECT
IN CELEBRATION OF RACHEL CARSON, THE WOMAN WHO INSPIRED US TO SAVE OUR EARTH
In 1962, Rachel Carson’s exposé, Silent
Spring, identified the devastating
and irrevocable hazards of DDT, one of the most powerful pesticides the world had ever known. What a firestorm
of controversy she caused! Some even questioned Carson's integrity and her sanity.
Like Harriet Beecher Stowes's Uncle
Tom's Cabin a century before, Carson's
Silent Spring launched a new social and political movement that mobilized
people to stop the littering, pick up their trash, to recycle and re-use.
As the woman who took the lead to save our planet, The History Project is telling her story this year to dramatize
their theme, "Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet."
VFA urges you to get her books for your children, grandchildren, and for yourselves.
Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature now in paperback! This biography by Linda Lear shows the
origins of Carson’s fierce dedication to natural science.
Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson, a handsome picture-book biography for Grades 3 to 5, introduces
children to a woman who loved the woods, wrote about the ocean, and finally published Silent Spring, her landmark
work about the poisonous pesticides that were killing wildlife.
A Sense of Wonder just released on DVD. This sublimely written and choreographed
performance brings to life the remarkable spirit of a woman who changed the way we see our world.The 55-minute
film shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler depicts Carson during the last year of her life as she
battled cancer-- and the chemical industry.
"Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental
issues. . . . Her picture hangs on my office wall among those of political leaders, presidents, and prime ministers.
It has been there for years-and it belongs there. Carson has had as much or more an effect on me than any of them,
and perhaps all of them together." -- Al Gore
CLICK HERE TO: Visit The Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder website:
SOME BOOKS BY RACHEL CARSON:
Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
Under the Sea-Wind (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
The Sense of Wonder
The Sea Around Us
Silent Spring
Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
Comment to Jacqui Ceballos: jcvfa@aol.com
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From
VFA Member Joanne Kantrowitz of Chicago:
Even the Neo-Conservatives admit: We've
won!
Two of us cooperated in the University of Chicago's attempt to document the experience of women as students there:
Heather Booth spoke of her experience as an undergraduate in 1966. I spoke of my/our experience as graduate students
in the English and Sociology departments from 1956-1963. (My husband's Ph.D. in sociology is dated 1965; I finished
the Ph.D. in English in 1967 and subsequently published my thesis in 1975. It is now a "standard citation"
in pre-Shakespearean drama circles.)
The following is a response to my oral history which discussed the women in the university neighborhood during
that period. Ms. Megdal acknowledges the changes that now affect young women in our era. As a center of neo-conservatism
during the last 30 years, the University seems to be mending some fences, particularly with the election of President
Obama. Ironic, of course, since the Friedman school of economics is firmly entrenched at the University of Chicago.
This describes the effect of the "gender" center there.Established in 1996, the center was thelast in
the movement around women's history and black history. Both were controversial in the 1970's and attacked viciously
by the right wing. The exhibits were opened with receptions and the appearance of the upper administration. So,
we've won. This response of the hard-core right testifies to that victory.
Women’s changing roles at the University
The University of Chicago Youth Committee Against
the War protests in 1939. (Archival Photographic Files)
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As she immersed herself in the oral histories of women
who came before her, Deborah Megdal, AB’08, couldn’t help but see her experience as a woman at the University of
Chicago in a new light.
On one hand, the University was the progressive place that accepted women as students from the day it opened its
doors in 1892. On the other hand, it was the place where nepotism policies through the middle of the 20th century
prevented some women from pursuing careers at the University if they were married to a tenure-track professor.
“The image I recall the most is of one woman talking about how each morning, nine out of 10 housewives sweeping
their row house steps in Hyde Park have PhDs,“ says Megdal, who will attend Yale Law School in the fall. “I remember
thinking as I listened that I’m lucky that I would never have to do that today.”
Then she thought about where she fit in that narrative: “I think back to the people who got me involved in gender
studies, who changed the trajectory of my life—the kind of attention and support I had—those women had none of
that.”
The University’s women’s baseball team (Courtesy
of Cap and Gown, Vol. 7, 1902. Archival Reference Collection)
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Megdal transcribed many of those interviews for a project by the Center for Gender Studies, begun in 2004. Excerpts
from the 71 oral histories she and her fellow undergraduates plumbed now provide the soundtrack for a University
Library exhibition, “On Equal Terms”: Educating Women at the University of Chicago, which will be on display through
July 14 in the Special Collections Research Center. Research for the exhibition also spawned an undergraduate course
on the history of women and a companion exhibition at the Center for Gender Studies.
“The title sums up so many moments when the University administration, really in good faith, thought they were
providing what was best for women,” says Monica Mercado, who is a co-curator of the Library exhibition along with
fellow doctoral History student Katherine Turk. “Reality often conflicted with that ideal.”
Through photographs, archival material, and audio recordings, “On Equal Terms” illustrates the everyday students,
faculty, staff, and even faculty wives at the University.
“It’s a very uneven story where the University was out ahead in certain aspects of co-education and behind in others,”
says Deborah Nelson, Director of the Center for Gender Studies. “It’s really an evolving story of higher education
that’s still going on right now around the hiring and promotion of women faculty and the Work-Life initiatives
coming out of the Provost’s office.”
Contact Joanne Kantrowitz:
kant1@rcn.com
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FINDING LOVE ON
THE INTERNET HAS JUST GOTTEN EASIER!
BARBARA LOVE ANNOUNCES THAT FEMINISTS WHO CHANGED AMERICA IS ON GOOGLE'S BOOK SEARCH.
Millions
of people will now have access to biographies OF PIONEER FEMINISTS.
GOOGLE''S Book Search is used by librarians, scholars, booksellers, and readers worldwide. Book Search gives browsers
a taste of the book, much like browsing in a bookstore or library. In Limited Preview mode users can search the
full text for relevant terms, but they can see only 10% or so of the book's content.
*Feminists Who Changed America ~ 1963 - 1975 edited by Barbara J. Love of the Pioneer Feminists Project in partnership
with Veteran Feminists of America, a tax-exempt organization created to document feminist history, inspire younger
generations, and rekindle the spirit of the feminist revolution. The book that documents the contributions of more
than 2,250 feminist women and men is now a reality after a decade of effort. Feminists Who Changed America, 1963
-- 1975 has been published by the University of Illinois Press, a press with "a good feminist consciousness."
Here is the Google Book Search record for Feminists
Who Changed America:
Feminists Who Changed America Google Book Search
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SANDY
OESTREICH REPORTS ON FLORIDA ERA
FLORIDA ERA READY TO PASS... MONEY NEEDED TO ACCEPT $50,000 DONATION.
The ERA barely passed in 1982. It squeaked in by 3 states. Florida was one of the three. Two ratification bills
were filed since 2003, and it was voted successfully out of FL Senate Judiciary Committee last April. ERA is now
a-Blaze !
GREAT NEWS IS THAT we received 50,000! But we must raise $10,000 to match this magnanimous gift! We have "only"
$8,950 yet to raise. PLEASE, PLEASE sendus ANY amount from $5.00 up. We need $ for lobbying, to maintain our web site, for billboards and media
so we can accept this gift that will power ERA's passage by the Florida Legislators.
Please, please donate what you can
RIGHT NOW TO:
ERA Inc.
305 173 Ave. E.
St. Petersburg FL 33708
If you plan to claim a tax-deductible contribution, send to: ERA Education, Inc. at same address.
We thank all who have donated so far..You are Treasures! To others, please send whatever you can now. If you don't
want your name posted in a Thank You, please tell us. And, please visit our web site, www.RatifyERAflorida.net to see how fast ERA has grown!
THANKS A MILLION !
Sandy and ERA Action Teams, Board, and Staff
P.S. Your Post cards are Cracking ERA Opposition!
Please continue to swamp the Speaker of the House with more post cards urging him to hold an ERA Hearing: Address
it to Speaker Ray Sansom, 99 Eglin Parkway NE, #18, Ft Walton Beach FL 32548. Tell him "Florida wants the
ERA. Please hold hearings in 2009!" Be sure to put your name and address.
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SIGN
UP AT WOMENCOUNT TODAY!
Sign Up Here: http://cts.vresp.com
WomenCount
SOMETIMES THERE IS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN HISTORY WHEN IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THINGS MUST CHANGE AND LEADERS MUST ACT. THAT MOMENT IS NOW FOR THE WOMEN OF THIS COUNTRY.
We are calling for the creation of a Presidential
Commission on Women in the first 100 days of the new Administration.
THE LESSONS OF THIS CAMPAIGN WERE ABUNDANT:
- As the economy became the single most critical
issue in the election, the role that women play in our economic structure has never been clearer. Women are the
backbone of the nation’s workforce and control 70 percent of its buying power.
- The candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin,
while inspiring women and girls around the country to imagine what can be, exposed extreme gender bias in the media
and throughout our culture.
- Women, who make up 56 percent of the voting population,
were targeted as never before as the critical bloc that would determine the outcome of the election.
In 1961, as the nation grappled with the issue of women in the workplace, President John
Kennedy convened the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as its
chair. Kennedy recognized the moment was right.
By the time of her death in 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt
had become a beloved and influential politician whose power still influenced the White House. John F. Kennedy had
actively sought her endorsement for his Presidential campaign; he named her chairperson of the President’s Commission
on the Status of Women in 1961. She in turn pressed him to appoint women to powerful positions in the administration.
Indeed, her legacy remains strong today in national and international politics.
That was 47 years ago, and it’s time to do it again.
As in 1961, women are at the forefront of our political discourse – and we are committed to keeping them there.
A record number of women are seeking ways to participate
more fully in all aspects of American life, politics and policymaking. A Presidential Commission on Women is the
right vehicle to initiate a national conversation on the future of women. If Not Now, When?
Contact WomenCount: WomenCount@mail.vresp.com
Sign Up Here: http://cts.vresp.com
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VFA
SALUTES TWO RECENTLY FOUND HEROES OF TITLES VII AND IX
TWO GREAT STEPS FOR WOMANKIND!
VFA receives fascinating emails and phone calls
- from women and men who are writing books and articles or making movies about the movement, from the media, from
many who need help and advice, and often, from pioneer feminists who have just discovered VFA. Recently we heard
of two heroes of the landmark cases, Titles VII and IX. For awhile it looked like we'd have a continuation of the
political party which was chipping away at all we'd won in the past 50 years, putting these landmark cases in jeopardy.
If that had happened we'd be urging you to get back out into the streets to fight to keep them intact…but now we
can afford to celebrate! So it is with great joy that we honor an introduce our newly found heroes to you - Merikay
McLeod and Vincent Macaluso, and while doing so, celebrate them and Titles VII and IX. Our next issue of ENEWS
and our webpage are dedicated to Merikay McLeod and Vincent Macaluso.
MERIKAY McLEOD AND TITLE VII
In 1971, 24-year-old Merikay McLeod
Silver, a writer and devout member of the Seventh-day Adventist church was thrilled to be hired by her church's
West Coast publishing house.
With a woman founder of the church, Ellen G. White, and non-discrimination written into the church's wage guidelines,
Merikay expected to be treated equally in every way by her employer. But her expectations were soon shattered.
Not only did she earn far less than the other (male) assistant book editor, she earned barely enough to subsist.
She filed a class discrimination lawsuit under TITLE VII in 1973 and settled out of court in 1978 as a single litigant,
after the judge had reduced the case from a class action sex-discrimination lawsuit to that of a single litigant.
Merikay was supported in her efforts by fellow-employees Lorna & Gus Tobler, her male counterpart, Max Phillips,
and her attorney, Joan Bradford.
The EEOC, using Merikay's evidence, reinstated the class action in 1978 and, eventually, won the equal-pay battle.
In 1983, $600,000 was distributed to women workers in the publishing house, and wage scales were more equalized
throughout the denomination.
Merikay tells her story in "BETRAYAL."
She's donated her book as a gift to all donors of $200 or more to VFA. Said VFA's board chair, Muriel Fox , "
This is the most riveting book I've ever read about a woman's lawsuit against sex discriminating employers - I
couldn't put it down till I'd absorbed every exciting word."
VFA highly recommends this book as "a must read". One that should be in every library in the land.
MERIKAY McLEOD IN HER OWN WORDS:
I became a women's advocate in the early 1970s because of a group of managers who were determined to keep from
paying women fairly for their labor. At the time I was in my mid-20s, working as an assistant book editor at a
Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in Mountain View, California.
About six months after I was hired, I learned that my male counterpart earned 40 percent more than I. When I asked
our supervisor about the disparity, he explained that the church had a "head of household" policy, in
which the main wage earner in a family took home more money.
A few months later when my husband, Kim Silver,
lost his job and said he wanted to go back to college, I encouraged him, reasoning that I would then be the main
wage earner in our family and could receive head of household status. But, when I requested head of household,
I was denied. In fact, I learned that no woman had ever received head of household status at Pacific Press.
Being an idealistic optimist, I was certain that the men in management simply did not understand that they were
breaking federal law. So I and others, spent months trying to convince them to change their pay practices. When
it became clear that the men were not going to do what was right, and that I was the only woman in the publishing
house with a clear-cut male counterpart, I filed a class-action lawsuit (Silver vs Pacific Press Publishing Association,
Civil Action #C-730168 CBR).
I was supported in this endeavor by Lorna Tobler, long-time editorial secretary at Pacific Press. She knew where
all the records were that proved women were systematically denied equal pay and equal opportunity for advancement.
I could not have successfully pursued litigation without her or my attorney Joan Bradford. It was definitely a
team effort!
I have been told that I was the first person in the nation to successfully bring to bear Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 on a religious employer. My suit and those that followed, changed the pay practices of Pacific
Press and, in a domino effect, the pay practices of church-related schools, hospitals and colleges. My case and
those that followed, including a suit by the EEOC and one by the US Dept of Labor, were precedent-setting and have
been repeatedly cited in other sex discrimination lawsuits against religious employers.
My case was cited in the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court case of Ohio Civil Rights Commission v Dayton Christian Schools.
I was able to be at the Supreme Court that day in support of Linda Hoskinson, the church school teacher whose contract
was not renewed because she had given birth and the men managing Dayton Christian Schools believed she should stay
at home with her infant rather than return to her teaching position.
(One point of interest: Linda and I had been
classmates at Mattawan Elementary School in Michigan in the 1950's. She read my book, Betrayal: The Shattering
Sex Discrimination Case of Silver vs Pacific Press Publishing Association, and said it gave her the courage to
pursue her case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled 9-0 in her favor.)
Since I helped Pacific Press improve its employment practices, I have pursued education, earning master's degrees
in sociology, women's studies and spirituality. And I continue writing, both as a freelancer and as a daily newspaper
reporter.
In 2006, I was named a Woman of the Year by the Adventist Association of Women, in recognition of the Pacific Press
case. AAW posted a video interview of me on You Tube. Much of my writing supports women and men doing good in the
world - from those who work with foster children to those who help AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe.
I hope my stories encourage and inspire others to do what they can to make a positive difference in this life that
we all share.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil
Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., others look on. photo Cecil Stoughton
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
a landmark piece of legislation that outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment. Conceived
to help African Americans, the bill was amended prior to passage to protect women, and explicitly included white
people for the first time. It also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In order to circumvent limitations on congressional power to enforce the Equal Protection Clause imposed by the
Supreme Court in the Civil Rights Cases, the law was passed under the Commerce Clause, which had been interpreted
by the courts as a broad grant of congressional power. Once the Act was implemented, its effects were far reaching
and had tremendous long-term impacts on the whole country. It prohibited discrimination because of race or sex
in public facilities, in government, and in employment . |
Watch Merikay McLead "You Tube" Video:
Merikay's You Tube Video
Contact Merikay McLeod: firstof31946@yahoo.com
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VINCENT
MACALUSO, A HERO OF TITLE IX, RECEIVES VFA'S MEDAL OF HONOR
Bernice (Bunny ) Sandler, the person considered the most responsible for the passage of Title IX contacted us recently
urging us to present Vincent Macaluso with our Medal of Honor. Said Bunny, emphatically, "If I am 'the Godmother
of Title IX,' Vincent Macaluso is the Godfather." The development of Title IX would have been impossible without
Vince's help. As the Assistant Director of the Office for Federal Contract Compliance at the Department of Labor,
he not only secretly wrote the first sex discrimination complaint I filed under a little known Presidential Executive
Order, he made it possible for me to file sex discrimination charges against about 250 colleges which received
federal contracts.
Vincent Macaluso with Bernice (Bunny) Sandler
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Why so late to recognize this great man? "Vince would have lost his job if he'd been known to be working on
women's issues and helping me generate complaints against the Department of Labor. As the years went by, we'd lost
track of one another but I realized he was either retired or no longer alive. In any event, he was safe from any
retaliation," says Bunny. "Friends reunited us recently, and at last I was able to thank him personally
for his enormous contribution."
In 1969 Bunny approached Macaluso for advice on getting the Order enforced with regard to sex discrimination in
academe. At the time, the various laws that prohibited sex discrimination exempted educational staff employed in
schools and colleges, all other professional women, and also all female students. Sandler had made the connection
that many colleges and universities had federal contracts and therefore, the Executive Order covered women faculty
and administrators in educational institutions that had federal contracts. Since all relevant federal laws exempted
these women, the Executive Order was the only way in which sex discrimination charges against colleges and universities
could be filed at that time. The Department of Labor had taken no steps whatsoever to enforce the Order with regard
to sex discrimination until Sandler began filing complaints.
Without Macaluso's advice, Sandler would not have thought to send copies of charges to members of the Congress
and asking them to write the Secretary of Labor to enforce the Executive Order with regard to women faculty in
colleges and universities. She also urged other women to do the same, eventually forcing the Department of Labor
to take action against sex discrimination.
Among the people who received copies of
the complaints was Rep. Edith Green from Oregon who was Chair of the House of Representative's Special Sub-Committee
on Education which oversaw higher education legislation. Rep. Green was keenly aware of sex discrimination in education
and had been thinking about introducing sex discrimination amendments to the current legislation, but held back
because there was little data and no apparent constituency. With Sandler's complaints Rep. Green now had both the
data and the constituency. It was time for a change in the laws.
A few months later, Rep. Green introduced the bill that eventually became Title IX. Hearings were held in June
and July of 1970, with Sandler suggesting the majority of the witnesses, and also testifying. After the hearings,
Rep. Green hired Sandler to put the written record of the hearings together and thus she became the first staff
member in the Congress to specifically work on women's rights issues.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination against students,
faculty, and employees in education institutions receiving federal funds. The passage of Title IX is the most important
law for women and girls since the suffrage amendment of 1920.
VFA honored Bunny in May of 1999 at the Sewall Belmont House in Washington, DC for her work with Title IX.
VINCENT MACALUSO - IN HIS OWN WORDS
Fired up by FDR'S "Fireside Chats" as a boy during the '30's I resolved to become a lawyer.and slay some
dragons! My education was interrupted by WorldWar II which I spent in Colorado and Italy with the U.S. Army's 10th
Mountain Division. After I returned and finished school I practiced labor law for a dozen years.
When Kennedy was elected, I came to Washington and for twelve years, beginning in 1964, administered various national
anti-discrimination and affirmative active programs and projects with the President's Committee on Equal Employment
Opportunity and the Department of Labor's Office of Contract Compliance. My first job was to see that industrial
government contractors developed acceptable affirmative action programs ("Plans For Progress"). Then,
I had a national program to require construction contractors to hire Blacks and Hispanics for skilled trades. Next,
I had task forces to design regulations and guidelines for a new law to provide reemployment rights of Vietnam
War veterans and to develop regulations and guidelines for another new law to get people with disabilities employed
and accommodated in the workplace.
I met Bunny Sandler when I was developing and just beginning to administer guidelines to remedy sex discrimination
in employment. Enough time has now elapsed for me to confess that my definition of "administer" was quite
loose. Those were days of considerable social ferment, as many of us will remember. The reason I loved my work
so much during this period was that I had a burning desire for the kind of social change that we finally achieved,
to some measure, during those years. And when I got a chance to work with people like Bunny Sandler I was just
delighted. As I did whenever I encountered a real activist, I took her on as a client and pushed every legal and
political button I knew. And we had a great time!
BERNICE R.SANDLER'S BACKGROUND
BERNICE R (Bunny) is a Senior Scholar at the Women's Research and Education Institute in Washington, DC. She is
known for her expertise in women's educational equity in general as well as in sexual harassment. An Adjunct Associate
Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine , she's given over 2500 presentations, written more than 100
articles, directed the Project on the Status and Education of Women at the Association of American Colleges. Among
her long list of firsts: the first reports on campus sexual harassment, gang rape, campus peer harassment, and
the chilly climate for women, the first report on how men and women are treated differently in the classroom. The
first person appointed to a Congressional committee staff to work specifically on women's issues she was the first
to testify before a Congressional committee about discrimination against women in education. She was the first
Chair of the now-defunct National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs. She has taught counseling,
worked as a psychologist, a research assistant, a nursery school teacher, a guitar instructor, and, like many women,
a secretary.
Bunny has a degree in counseling from the University of Maryland . In 1994 she received a Century of Women Special
Achievement Award from Turner Broadcasting System. She also consulted with The Citadel on their "female assimilation
plan," and served on the Women's Health Initiative Advisory Board of the Bayer Corporation.
Among her recent publications are, The
Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women with Lisa A. Silverberg and Roberta M. Hall, Sexual Harassment on Campus: A Guide for Administrators, Faculty and Students with Robert J. Shoop, and Student-to-Student Sexual Harassment,
K-12: Strategies and Solutions for Educators to Use in the Classroom.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states: "No
person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Although the most prominent "public face" of Title IX is its impact on high school and collegiate athletics,
the original statute made no reference to athletics.
The legislation covers all educational activities, and complaints under Title IX alleging discrimination in fields
such as science or math education, or in other aspects of academic life such as access to health care and dormitory
facilities, are not unheard of. It also applies to non-sport activities such as school bands, cheerleaders, and
clubs; however, social fraternities and sororities, gender-specific youth clubs such as Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts,
and Girls State and Boys State are specifically exempt from Title IX requirements.
Contact Bernice Sandler: sandler@bernicesandler.com
Website Bernice Sandler: www.bernicesandler.com
photo images source: The Decade of Women, Ms Magazine
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FOUND - ANOTHER PIONEER FEMINIST!
JULIETTE GORDON - ARTIST AND FEMINIST ACTIVIST,
A FOUNDER OF Women Artists in Revolution
In 1969 women artists were
fighting to be taken seriously by art historians, museums and galleries. They formed WAR - Women Artists in Revolution
and conducted their own war against the male dominated art world. They demonstrated, published articles and joined
other feminists in actions . They marched with their art in the great Women's March for Equality on August 26,
1970 on Fifth Avenue.
That's when I met Juliette Gordon. She was one of the founders of WAR. Those were exciting times, when thousands
of women were rebelling against restrictions of all kinds.
They would join existing organizatons, form new ones, meet at demonstrations and meetings and, as soldiers who'd
fought bloody wars together, were bonded forever.
But 40 years is a long time to keep track of everyone. The formation of VFA got most of us back together, but some
- such as Juliette Gordon -- seem to have disappeared into the stratosphere. So when VFA honored feminist artists
in 2004, she wasn't included. I couldn't understand how a New York artist wouldn't know that we were honoring feminist
artists. I couldn't imagine what had happened to her.
But something is in the air. "Lost" pioneer feminists are finding us! Not only did I hear from Merikay
McCleod, and Bunny Sandler about Vincent Macaluso, but I received a call from Sam Weinreb, Juliette's partner and
father of her son. Urged by artist Sylvianna Goldsmith, he'd checked out our 2003 Salute to Feminist Artists on
the web, and "Your name rang a bell," he said. He wanted Juliette to receive recognition for all she'd
done, so he called and gave me news of her.
"I met Juliette in the Art Workers Union, said Sam. Among protests we participated in was the Artists Against
the Vietnam War. At a meeting of the Art Workers our president, Tom Lloyd, wanted a black wing at the Museum of
Modern Art. Juliette interrupted . 'How about a women's wing?! she demanded?!"
And the art world did begin to open to women. One of the immediate results was the great Women's Art Musuem in
Washington, DC.
Juliette was also doing well. She had many one-woman
shows at the Star Turtle Gallery, the Alan Stone Gallery and for several years at her own Juliette Gordon Gallery
on East 73rd Street in New York. She exhibited at the 17th biannual print exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in 1971
and took part in many exhibits on the East Coast.
But in 2002 she almost lost her life in a fire in her loft. Her 21 year old son pulled her out of the burning building
just in time. After months of recuperation she was left unable to care for herself, and had to go into an assisted
living home, where she lives today. Her heart is strong, but sadly her right wrist was damaged and she can't hold
a paintbrush. She misses her art and her friends, but hearing that VFA will honor her perked her up.
Sam, an artist himself, sent photos of Juliette's beautiful work. He visits her often and reports that she was
delighted to hear that VFA will present her with a certificate and medal of honor. Jacqui Ceballos
Juliette's Art: riverhealing.winkflash.com
Juliette's address: Leo Tolstoy Nursing Home
100 Lake Rd, Valley College, NY 10989
Phone.845-268-3561 (Call around 9AM or 7 PM)
Sam Weinreb: samweinreb@aol.com
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THE
CENTAUR FOR WOMEN: MEMOIRS OF THE STUDENT FOUNDER OF WOMEN'S STUDIES
by Carol Rowell Council
Email: cnclcarol@yahoo.com
Told in the personal and political, Council's book is a fascinating read. The pages turn
themselves! Women's Studies may be the most important development of the Feminist Movement. That it is in almost
every university in America assures that silence about women’s oppression from time immemorial has been lifted,
and creates forces to fight for women's freedom worldwide.” ." Alice Donenfeld, attorney, TV producer, former
NOW speaker, NY. "Carol Council brings the feeling and passion of the times so close you can hear the music
and feel the angst of those struggling for women to attain their rightful place in universities, work and the world.
Following generations owe her a debt… This book is a must for all to read - lest we forget..
Carol Rowell Council has a B.A in Public Administration from SDSU, and an M.F.A. in Art History from Rosary College
Villa Schifanoia in Florence, Italy. She is the former director of the San Diego Women’s History Museum and Educational
Center.
At age 21, in 1969, Rowell Council co-founded the first women’s studies program in the world, the Women’s Studies
Department at San Diego State University. While still a student, she served as faculty, teaching a course in Field
Experience. Today there are over 700 women’s studies programs in the U.S.
In 1972 she helped found The Center for Women’s Studies and Services (now the Center for Community Solutions),
where she was director for 20 years. The Center started a domestic violence shelter, a rape crisis center, and
organized arts festivals, poetry readings, and performances. Today, Carol continues as a women’s rights activist,
an art historian, and public speaker. She is at work on a book of art historical fiction.
BookStand Publishing: http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/m/carolrowellcouncil/
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Don't
Bite Your Tongue
Ruth Nemzoff
CONTACT: RNEMZOFF@bentley.edu
Parents make enormous sacrifices helping children become healthy and autonomous adults.
And when children are older, popular wisdom advises parents to let go, disconnect, and bite their tongues. But
increasing life spans mean that parents and children can spend as many as five or six decades as adults together:
letting go is not an option for families anymore.
Dr. Ruth Nemzoff--a leading expert in family dynamics--empowers parents to create close relationships with their
adult children, while respecting their independence. Based on personal stories as well as advice that she has accrued
from years of coaching, this lively and readable book shows parents how to
- communicate at long distances
- discuss financial issues without using money as
a form of control
- speak up when disapproving of an adult child’s
partner or childrearing practices
- handle adult children's career choices or other
midlife changes
- navigate an adult child’s interreligious, interracial
or same sex relationships
- No other book treats the challenges of parent
and adult offspring relationships as part and parcel of a healthy family dynamic. This practical guide will help
parents play a vital and positive role in their children's lives.
About the Author
Dr. Ruth Nemzoff is a resident scholar at Brandeis
University's Women's Studies Research Center and lectures widely on family dynamics. Her papers are archived at
the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University where she also holds a doctorate in social policy. She has served
three terms in the New Hampshire legislature and is the mother of four adult children. She lives in Newton, MA
with her husband Harris Berman.
Website: http://www.dontbiteyourtongue.com/
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GRACIA
MOLINA PICK APPOINTED TO SAN DIEGO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Gracia Molina Pick, a VFA vice president (International, Intergenerational) has been appointed to the San Diego
Human Relations Commission by Mayor Jerry Sanders of the City of San Diego.
L-R: Sra. Herminia Enrique, Chicana Elder, Tecihtzin,
and Gracia Molina de Pick during the Opening Blessing ceremony.
Photo by Geneva Gamez
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Gracia was born and raised in Mexico City in 1930 where she began her first fight as a female activist, demanding
for women’s right to vote when, she said, “ Women had no rights other than to get married. ” Ironically, Mexican
women won their right to vote in 1957, the year she moved to San Diego, California, “so I never got to vote in
Mexico” she laughs, “but I’m still proud of the accomplishment.”
Gracia has fought for women’s rights, indigenous people, labor and immigrants, and has served as patron for the
arts and a mentor and educator to hundreds of leaders.
She once said, “I began fighting for Chicano rights, even before Chicanos knew they were Chicanos.” She has been
honored many times for her work. Last year she was honored by the Mayor of San Diego. The photo taken in 2005 on
her 75th birthday on International Women's Day.
Gracia Molina Pick E-Mail: graciapick@aol.com
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Elaine Partnow
of
"The Quotable Woman " NEEDS YOUR HELP
Dear Sister FEMINISTS:
"The Quotable Woman, The First 5,000 Years" is undergoing a major revision–it’s 6th. The new book will
have 5,000 women and 20,000 quotations.
The goal, as always, is to be eclectic: notable women who are scientists, writers, athletes, artists, soldiers,
politicians, inventors, musicians, physicians; movers and shakers from Nairobi, Spain, Uruguay, Greenland, the
Ukraine and the U.S.A.; whether they were born in 1950 B.C.E. or 1950 C.E., they’ll be there!
Please send names of notable women you would like to see in the next edition, and don’t state the obvious: Hillary
is there, and so is Eleanor as well as current national American figures like Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, and Nancy
Pelosi. And don’t include your mother (unless, of course, she’s famous!)
To ensure inclusion, send some info about the women on your list: year of birth (and death), nationality, ethnicity,
occupations, major achievements. If you have some quotations, that would be even better (if you do, though, be
sure to include the source of the quotations.)
Whether it’s one suggestion or one hundred-- please send your list to ASAP! Please pass this on. And make sure
and the subject heading reads: The Quotable Woman: Lists.
Contact Elaine: ElaineBPartnow@aol.com
www.TheQuotableWoman.com
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YOUNGER
WOMEN'S MOVEMENT
Yes there is one! Feminism won’t die with us. Young women are in NOW and into their own organizations around the
country. Their interests and issues may be different from ours, but the times are different. Because of our work
all women can now do almost anything , even run for the highest offices in the land. No matter that they may be
fundamentalists who are against women's rights! And they are backed by some of the very men who've fought us for
generations. In fact, male supremacists now have the greatest fighter squads ever -- women who believe as they
do!
It looks like the feminist movement of the future will no longer be only women, with a few male supporters -- but
women and men who believe in equality and human rights for all. And, not just a handful of men who support feminists
emotionally and help with legal cases now and then, but thousands. There may also be male organizations fighting
for women's rights. So it’s time for the men who are with us to stand up and be counted!
Speaking of men who have supported and helped us in the Second Wave, please read the article on this page about
Vincent Macaluso, a great man without whom, says Bunny Sandler, we'd never have seen Title IX passed. Jacqui Ceballos
TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS!
CHECK OUT THE YOUNGER WOMEN'S TASK FORCE
The Younger Women's Task Force is a project of the National Council of Women's Organizations, a nationwide, diverse, and inclusive grassroots movement dedicated to organizing younger
women and their allies to take action on issues that matter most to them. By and for younger women, YWTF works both within and beyond the women's movement, engaging all who are invested in advancing
the rights of younger women.
E-MAIL: shannonl@ywtf.org
PHONE: 202.293.4505
WEB: http://www.ywtf.org
Younger Women's Task Force
1701 K Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, District of Columbia 20005
TEL: 202 293-4505
FAX: 202 293-4507
EMAIL: deva@ncwo-online.org
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House
Passes Bill to Honor Woman Suffragist Leader Alice Paul with the Congressional Gold Medal
May 15, 2008
Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy
Today the House of Representatives recognized Alice Paul for her role in winning women's suffrage by passing legislation
to award her the Congressional Gold Medal. Paul was one of the leading figures responsible for the passage of the
19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote and penned the early version of the Equal Rights Amendment that
would enshrine women in the Constitution. This long overdue honor recognizes Alice Paul as one of the great women
in history for her work to promote women's rights, freedom and equality.
The National Organization for Women salutes the work of Representative Joe Baca (D-Calif.) as he gathered 412 bipartisan
sponsors for H.R. 406. The House passage of the bill is the first step toward honoring Alice Paul with a Congressional
Gold Medal. We will be working with the bill's counterpart in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.),
with the goal of having the Gold Medal award posthumously to feminist heroine Alice Paul.
It was because of women like Alice Paul, who dedicated her life to the women's movement, that organizations like
NOW have been able to be legitimate and pertinent forces in politics and in our culture today. It was only 89 years
ago that women had no voting rights, little power, and married women had no separate legal status.
With the help of Paul and her tenacity to do what was right, women now can not only vote, but own homes, run businesses,
play sports, be a U.S. senator, or become the first woman president.
To honor Paul is to honor her life and work. She was the author of the Equal Rights Amendment, founder of the National
Women's Party, and a lifelong activist for women's equality. Paul fought tirelessly to ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment until her death in 1977, and though the ERA is still not in the Constitution, Paul's legacy continues
today.
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The closest I'll ever get to Sacha Baron Cohen
BITCH MAGAZINE and LINDA STEIN by
Debbie Rasmussen
I'd seen photos of Linda's sculptures,
but seeing it first-hand was incredible. Her most recent work, titled "The Power to Protect," focuses
on women warriors, and encompasses sculpture, drawing, painting, and found objects. She was extremely interested
in the work we do, and was particularly excited about our recent piece on Wonder Woman, because Wonder Woman is
the original inspiration behind her Knight series.
Linda's not just an amazing artist. She's also a bad-ass, unapologetic feminist who's also well-known for her appearance
in the film Borat. She told us how Sasha Baron Cohen and his crew duped her into participating by promising her
that the intent of the film was to help women in other countries, that it would never be shown to US audiences.
For those who've seen the film, she's the one who walked off during the Veteran Feminists of America interview.
In fact she was the only one who kicked him out during movie production.
A small crowd soon gathered and we had an intense conversation about the realities of feminist publishing, the
upcoming election, and sexism and misogyny in pop culture, including the problems with Sasha Baron Cohen's approach.
For the record, she did get her revenge by including him in a recent series of sculptures.
Visit Linda Stein's Website and Art
Work http://www.lindastein.com
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VFA
URGES YOU TO TAKE PART IN BREAST CANCER RESEARCH
The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the
Avon Foundation, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women.
The Love/Avon Army of Women revolutionary initiative has two key goals:
- To recruit one million healthy women of every
age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate
in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.
- To challenge the scientific community to expand
its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.
Join us in this movement that will take us beyond
a cure by creating new opportunities to study what causes breast cancer—and how to prevent it.
Invite
all the women you know to join the Army of Women.
In the United States and Canada, call toll free:
(866) 569-0388 or email us at info@armyofwomen.org
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Memories: 1972
Young lawyer, EMILY GOODMAN, (now Judge Goodman) defends
young sculptor and makes a point for feminism.
In 1972, as president of NYC NOW I was planning the Eastern Regional Conference to take place at the old Commodore
Hotel near Grand Central. And I thought, "Wouldn't it be great to have a march after the end of the conference?
And we could place a statue of Susan B Anthonynear Father Duffy's on Times Square!" (photo by Bettye Lane)
So I called artist Suzanne Benton and asked her to make us a papier maché of Susan B for the event, but
Suzanne was in midst of planning an exhibition so couldn't do it. However, she was so inspired that she later sculpted
a beautiful cast bronze statue of our foremother which she brought along to feminist events for years. Later, the
original welded steel Susan B. from which the cast was made was sold to David Miskin, who later moved to Paris
and recently donated it to the American Embassy there. Vivien Leone bought the second cast and it is now at the
Susan B. Anthony house in Rochester, NY.
Meanwhile Kate Millett, whom I'd also asked to make us a statue, got young architect Lorna McNeur in on it. Lorna
not only made a huge one of the great Susan B, but at the demonstration suddenly scuffled up Father Duffy and placed
our statue on his head. The policemen who were "protecting" our demonstration watched her, and when she
slid down they arrested her. JoAnn Evansgardner, in from Pittsburgh, rushed up. Stretching her 5-foot 2-inch frame,
addressed the officers, "What's
wrong here? I'm Dr JoAnn Evansgardner. May I help?" But they ordered her into the patrol car to take her to the station with Lorna. By this
time JoAnn's husband Gerry rushed up to help her, and he too was carted along.
Among the witnesses to this brouhaha was 90-something Jeannette Rankin and our own Emily Goodman, a deceptively
quiet young pioneer feminist lawyer. A few weeks later we met at the courthouse downtown, Emily, JoAnn, Lorna (shaking
with fear) and me. I'll always remember tiny Emily standing before the judge seated several feet above her. He
listened to the story and talked to her in a gently patronizing manner. When he set a date. Emily said, "We want the hearing on August 26, your Honor." "OK,
August 26," he agreed. "And we'd like a woman judge, your Honor," Emily continued. "What!" came
the thundered angry reply, "I'll
tell you, young woman, you'd have a better chance with me!" (There was only one woman judge then, and a rather unsympathetic one, as were most successful
women in the man's world as it was then). Quietly and firmly, Emily said, "You've just disqualified yourself, your honor." The judge rose in fury and stalked out and the case was dismissed. (In that wonderful era
of feminist activism, our mayor John V Lindsey and most New Yorkers were sympathetic to almost anything feminists
did.)
And, by the way, this was just one of the cases young Emily, now Judge Emily Jane Goodman, handled so beautifully
and so successfully for feminists.
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CONTRIBUTE $200 OR MORE TO VFA
AND RECEIVE
FACES OF FEMINISM
signed by Sheila
Tobias
"This is the
book about feminism I've been waiting for,"
said Betty Rollin, "a book that...is just a plain wonderful read."
Gloria Steinem weighed in with "Faces
of Feminism underlines
the continued importance of replacing the patriarchal either/or with a feminist agenda" and Wendy Kaminer
in the N.Y. Times Book Review praised the book as "An especially welcome resource for young women trying to
make sense of the women's movement."
Published in 1997 by Westview Press but just as relevant and eye-opening today, it can be yours for that contribution.
Send a check to VFA and Sheila will send you the book... it's that easy.
Please fill form and send with your contribution to VFA's treasurer, Amy Hackett,
473 Westminster Rd,
Brooklyn, NY 10218.
CLICK
HERE FOR CONTRIBUTION FORM
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JUDY
KAPLAN'S PRIVATE COLLECTION OF AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY
VFA member Judith Kaplan is Secretary
and a director of the National Women's History Museum to be located in Washington D.C. Ms. Kaplan owns one of the
world's largest private collections of American women's history.
Kaplan's contributions to the feminist revolution were mainly focused on the importance of researching and documenting
women's history and insuring that the knowledge of women's contributions and achievements are included in the education
of future generations. She is the creator and producer of the women's history collectible series "The Women's History Series of First Day Covers by
N.O.W.- N.Y.," which helped
induce the U.S. Postal Service to recognize and honor the contributions and achievements of Women to the History
of the United States by having them commemorated on U.S. postage stamps. Discussion of her women's history work
is included in "Feminists Who
Changed America 1963-1975"
as a part of documenting her feminist achievements.
For More on Judy Kaplan's FDCs Please
Visit The Knottywood Website at: http://www.knottywood-treasures.com/id67.html
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WANTED: Chicago Area Feminists, 1960s - 1980s
"The world as we know it would not exist without the women …thousands and thousands who were a part of this
empowering movement."
Acknowledged in the Feminist
Who Changed
America directory, activists stood to a round of
applause. photo: Karen Kring
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Mary Jean Collins, a founder of Chicago NOW,
addressed a standing - room only crowd in the Chicago History Museum, thanking Chicago area feminists, "without
whose work none of us would be here". She further acknowledged the historians and archivists preparing to
capture "our legacy for future generations." Together, the Veteran Feminists of America and the Chicago
Area Women's History Council* organized a collaborative event on March 16th, 2008 to reunite feminists and to launch
the CAWHC's new project, Documenting the Women's Movement in Chicago, 1960s-1980s.
Earlier, historian, Sara M.
Evans of the University of Minnesota and Tidal Wave fame, elaborated on the unique character of Chicago activism
during this 20 year period. A panel discussion featuring Evans, Collins, and Chicago - area archivist, Elizabeth
Myers, of Loyola's Gannon Center and Erin McCarthy, Oral Historian gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions
about the importance and procedures of preserving our history. Afterwards, the more than 160 attendees shared a
congratulatory cake, as well as their reminiscences, with historians and would - be archivists and oral interviewers
to honor the Chicago "Feminists Who Changed America."
The "Documenting" project will attempt to further uncover the stories that Editor Barbara Love relayed
in the "Feminists Who Changed America" directory.
CONTACT MARY JEAN COLLINS: MJCollins@pfaw.org
SEE THE FULL STORY. CLICK HERE: CHICAGO VFA
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Susan Koppelman's
BETWEEN MOTHERS and DAUGHTERS
This multicultural collection of
18 stories written between the 1840s and the 1980s explores an ancient relationship with fresh vision. In these
stories, mothers and daughters describe their conflicts and consolations, their trusts and mistrusts, their loves
and their hates.
Competition for the love of men separates them, as betrayal brings them together. In some stories, a mother sacrifices
and struggles in order to provide her daughter with the opportunities she herself had been denied. In others, mothers
and daughters share a renewed awareness of women’s dependence on one another for survival.
Other works by Susan Koppelman available
at TheFeministPress.org: The Short Stories of Fannie Hurst "The Strange History of Suzanne laFleshe"
and other stories of Women and Fatness "Women in the Trees:" U.S. Women's Short Stories about Battering
and Resistance, 1839-1994 Between Mothers and Daughters: Stories Across a Generation.
Order your copy today at the feminist press.org
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ON THE ISSUES
MAGAZINE IS BACK!
VFA is very happy to announce that,
Merle Hoffman's great feminist magazine,
On The Issues, is back as an online
publication!
Across nation-states, pimping, "living off the
earnings of a prostitute," is illegal. But proprostitution movements in the West now propose to decriminalize
pimping so that pimps can be treated as lovers or husbands, not enslavers of prostitute women. But it is a fact
of prostitution that once a woman "tricks" for a man, she is never again not his "whore." He
thinks of her as such, whether or not he is otherwise known to her as husband, lover, brother or father. -READ
FULL STORY-
To join Merle in this online
adventure sign up for periodic updates online at www.OntheIssuesMagazine.com and read her welcome letter telling why she feels now is the time to bring feminist voices
to the fore again. Thank you Merle! VFA wishes OTI great success and will do all we can to help promote it.
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our mission!
Veteran Feminists of America
VFA is a nonprofit
organization for veterans of the Second
Wave of the feminist movement.
The goals are to enjoy the camaraderie forged during those years of intense commitment, to honor ourselves and
our heroes, to document our history, to rekindle the spark and spirit of the feminist revolution and act as keeper
of the flame so that the ideals of feminism continue to reverberate and influence others.
Contact VFA: jcvfa@aol.com
Veteran Feminists
of America
PO Box 44551,
Phoenix, AZ 85064
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