Viva la Feminista

Favianna Rodriguez is at it again! The pic is from when I met her at Netroots Nation 2012. She is an amazing speaker and I have followed her art for awhile.  No surprise that she has created a beautiful web series on immigration. It is a must see! Here's the first episode in the series. 

CALL FOR PAPERS Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection   "This is What a Feminist Slut Looks Like": Perspectives on the Slutwalk Movement Editors: Alyssa Teekah, Erika Jane Scholz, May Friedman and Andrea O'Reilly DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: April 15, 2013! PUBLICATION DATE: May 2014 We seek various and diverse feminist perspectives on Slutwalk as both experience and movement. In April 2011, a team of five people put together Slutwalk Toronto, a protest responding to slut shaming and victim blaming culture, exemplified by a recent event at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. In the name of campus "safety", Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti advised "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized". The sentiment of those in the over 3000 crowd that day were shared by folks around the globe - leading to over 200 Slutwalks internation...

I am so honored to know Brittany and even more proud of all the work she has done in the reproductive justice movement. She's like a fish to water. Here she is telling her story in Ebony ! When 28-year-old Brittany Mostiller got an abortion in 2008, talking about it with her family was hard enough. She never expected she’d be telling her story in high schools or in the Chicago neighborhoods where she now passes out condoms and information on laws related to reproductive health. But the organization that helped pay for her procedure, Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF), invited her to join a group of women who meet regularly for peer support and to organize in their communities. Last year, CAF raised $60,000 to help 184 low-income women access second trimester abortions. Four out of five women who receive funds from CAF are of color, said its executive director, Gaylon Alcaraz. The process of getting these women engaged takes time. After checking in to see what help they need post-...

First, for the past few days I've been posting infographics from the Guttmacher Institute . I love infographics. They pack in so much information in an easy-to-consume format. They really could act as a FAQ on their own, which is why they were posted without comment. I know I get asked those questions a lot. This year's theme is for Blog for Choice 2013 is to share personal stories of choice. This was cross-posted at Flyover Feminism yesterday: I cannot recall how many times people have asked me if becoming a mother has changed my feminism. It is a question that I suppose people think I will answer with a tale of being changed by having my daughter grow inside of me for 40 weeks and that I believe in feminism in theory, but in practice, I am a wee bit conservative now. A so-called feminist mom wrote such a post for the NYTimes Motherlode over the weekend: “Yes, we believe in a woman’s right to choose. No, we don’t actually believe she should use it in the face ...

Photo by Judy Rand I cannot believe it has been one year since I boarded a plane alone and arrived in Mexico City to meet a whole new family. I knew going into the trip it would be a life-changing experience and it certainly was. Sadly I've been a huge failure at properly writing up the trip, but really, how can one properly write about this trip without taking an equal amount of time to do so? So I write here and there. Mostly I tell stories to people face-to-face. A little known fact...Because I moved out of my parents' home right into an apartment with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, the 11 days I spent on this trip was the longest I have spent on my own. I spent most of my time with my new sisterhood, eating, talking, reflecting on the stories we heard earlier in the day. But at night and early in the morning I spent in my head. And I needed that. Despite the hassle the trip was in terms of my doctoral classes, it may be pivotal to them. Most of the challenges and pr...

Infographic courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute 

I was too busy with homework to see this live, but OMG, so happy that the Chicago Abortion Fund got a mention on the Melissa Harris Perry Show. According to their latest newsletter , there should be a shiny new CAF website on the 22nd. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy

Infographic courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute

Infographic courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute

Infographic courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute

Infographic provided by the Guttmacher Institute

40th Anniversary Roe v. Wade Come celebrate the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade with the Chicago Abortion Fund! Join us at a speak out! Tell your abortion story! Talk about Roe v Wade! Explain the work you do in the movement! Yell about injustice! Sing a song about abortion! Counselors will be on hand. Organizational information will be available. Refreshments will be served. January 22nd 2013 * 6 pm until 8:30 pm Jane Addams Hull House Halsted and Polk Street parking lot across the street public transportation accessible (#8 Halsted Bus and Blue Line Halsted stop)

CALL FOR PAPERS Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) Supporting and Empowering Mothers in the Academe:  Strategies for Institutional   Change and Individual Agency June 24-27, 2013, Toronto, Canada  The conference, "Supporting and Empowering Mothers in the Academe: Strategies for Institutional Change and Individual Agency," will examine the subject of mothers in the academe from scholarly and activist perspectives by drawing on academic papers and interactive workshops. It will join scholars that specialize in academic motherhood research with individuals and agencies that support mothers in the academe. According to recent studies of both academic women and mothers, gender discrimination in general, and that targeting academic mothers, is pervasive in academia. According to a recent Statistics Canada Report women comprise only 35.6 percent of all tenure track/tenured university faculty in Ontario. In 2009 a...

Three Events planned for the Fortieth Anniversary of Roe V. Wade !!! Planned Parenthood Illinois is sponsoring a Fortieth Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, January 23, at 6:30pm at Carnivale, 702 W. Fulton Market, in Chicago. Featuring David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama, and honoring Dawn Clark Netsch for her unrelenting commitment to promoting equality and justice. It’s a benefit. Tickets are $40 and no doubt the food will be delicious. More info at www.ppiaction.org . The ACLU of Illinois is sponsoring a Fortieth Anniversary of Roe V Wade Lunch and Panel Discussion, on Friday, January 25, from noon to 1:30 at Sidley & Austin, One South Dearborn, in Chicago. Featuring Lorie A. Chaiten, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Rights Project, and Sylvia M. Neil, lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and founder of the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law at Brandeis University. It’s free but RSVP is required. More info at ...

During last night's college football championship game, ESPN announcers Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger took some time to gawk over Alabama's quarterback's girlfriend. Not just gawk, but I think Beavis & Butthead acted cooler in front of girls better than them. See for yourself: This is shameful. First of all, let's remember that Alabama is playing against Notre Dame, who totally botched a rape investigation and many people believe they covered it up. And continue to cover up rapes connected to the football team. Second, most decent human beings are still in shock over the Steubenville, Ohio football rape case .The photo above comes from the protests held over the weekend. A little girl simply saying that she is more important than football. Her sign is not just a call to prosecute any football players who participated in the rape, but a call to stop treating her like a thing. That sign is demanding recognition of her humanity; the humanity of all gir...

Welcome to a new feature for Viva la Feminista: Shine Makes Me Whine. Yes, I'm talking about Yahoo! Shine , the lady part of their news content. For the record, I do like to know what celebs are wearing on their wedding day and recipes. But too much of Shine's content is just over the top DUMB! So when I run across a dumb headline, I'll post it here, of course with a snarky remark. --- OMG! The First Lady actually wore the same dress TWICE and on the same trip! THE HORRRRRROR! And it's from Target!! She's just like us! Wait, am I supposed to be shocked she wore the same dress twice or shocked that she likes to shop Target? Shine Makes Me Whine is a VLF feature that points out the dumbest Yahoo! Shine headlines.If you have one you want to share, drop me a line !

CALL FOR PAPERS Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI)   Mothers and Work; Mothering as Work: Policy, Ideology, Experience, and Representation June 24-27,2013,Toronto,Canada The conference, taking place at the same time as the Academic Motherhood and the Communicating Mothers Conference will explore the topic of mothers and work and mothering as work across a wide range of perspectives and themes. Topics include but are not limited to: Work/Life Balance; "The Mommy Wars"; "Opting Out"; Maternal Activism; Motherhood Movements; Mothers and Leisure; Representations of Working Mothers and Mothering as Work in Literature, Film, Art, and Social Media; Mothers and Education; Other Mothering/Co-Mothering; Mothering and Migration; Migrant Mothers; Transnational Mothering/Mothers; Carework; Motherwork and Feminism; Maternal Thinking; Maternal Practice; Breastfeeding/Pregnancy and the Workplace; Reproductive L...

Zooey Deschanel is a fucking feminist! She doesn't annoy me as much as she does to other people. I actually think she's pretty cute in "Elf." Yeah, "Elf" is my fave Zooey movie. But the news is that she comes out as a feminist, a raging feminist in the latest Glamour magazine. And thus, I gotta love her for this moment. Of course, this then leads to ponder, why do feminists (Tina Fey, looking at you!) take roles that are not very feminist?  There's another call for men to stand up for women at conferences. This time the focus is on tech conferences and for all men to take a pledge to not speak on all-dude panels.Sadly the public list was taken down due to trolls who think it's ok to have all dude panels. Big sigh. Of course we are just weeks from SXSW and I'm sure there will be a lot of reports of all-dude panels. How many do you think there will be? Let me know in the comments and we'll get a pool going. Do you love books? Then apply ...

I'm not very good about New Year's resolutions. In fact I suck. I normally set goals...things I can work on. Yes, I know, same thing, right? But wording is super important to me. Other than continuing my goal to treat myself once a month to either a haircut, manicure or massage (which I've been pretty good at getting a manicure on a regular basis), my goal for 2013 is to blog more and Facebook less. Specifically to stop using Facebook as lazy blogging. Fewer super long FB updates from me, more short blog posts. So if you feel like this blog has exploded with posts, this is why. I'm not setting a huge goal to write an essay every day, but I know there are news items that I share on FB that can just as easily be posted here. I don't know if that means you'll see 5 super short blog posts or one blog salad post a day. We shall see. The idea is to use this space more often and not feel bad if a post is 2 lines long with a link to a story. One other commitment...

E.J. Graff does it again. In her latest piece at the Prospect, she reveals at the US government does not appear to believe that stealing children in developing countries so that they can be adopted by US citizens is trafficking. Apparently the line the government uses is "what is best for the children." I've heard this argument before. That being taken from your poor Guatemalan mother to live in the luxury of the USA is better for the child. Of course this means that some people consider things to be of higher regard than one's family. Yes, I know that children in the developing world have a very tough life and yes, they very well might choose to live in the USA, but deception should never be involved. And of course, coercion via monetary gain is a fine line to walk.

Demeter Press will be publishing an edited collection, A Reader, on Mothering-Motherhood Across Differences in Maternal Subjectives/Experiences . We have in place chapters on Latina Mothers, Aboriginal Mothers, Queer Mothers, Young Mothers and so forth. We are seeking chapters on the following mothers. Chapters will be approximately 25 pages in length and will explore theories on this particular group of mothers as well as the experiences of such mothers. The chapters will be due July 1, 2013. The  book will be published late 2013 or early 2014.  If you are interested in writing a chapter on one of the following, please send a bio of your expertise on the topic by Jan 15, 2013 to Dr. Andrea O'Reilly, editor of the collection,  aoreilly@yorku.ca . Information on Demeter Press available on our site  www.demeterpress.org   1) Older Mothers 2) Low Income/Poor Mothers 3) Single Mothers 4) Immigrant/Refuge/Migrant Mothers 5) Workin...