by Cindy Cooper

What revolutions do we need? "We still need the feminist revolution," Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said in a video commentary to On The Issues Magazine. It’s now posted Online with Merle Hoffman’s commentary, Revolution Lite (scroll down on the left). "We’re still fighting for family planning, abortion rights. We keep on moving ahead, they push back," she said. "I think we’re moving forward; it feels good," she said.

Liza Sabater comments about

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Feminist Revolution: Carrying On

by Lauren Guy McAlpin

A young woman, we'll call her Amanda, walked into an agency she saw advertised in her college newspaper. Having missed her period, promises of a free pregnancy test and confidential options counseling seemed like the best next step. A woman in a white lab coat accepted her urine sample and placed it next to a store-bought pregnancy test. They spent about twenty minutes discussing her sexual activity, her religious beliefs, and what she plans on doing if she is, in fact, pregnant.

The counselor's warm tone changed the moment the young woman mentioned she's considering abortion. The counselor launched into a tirade about how she would never be forgiven if she "killed her …


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“Crisis pregnancy centers� are threats to reproductive justice

by Jessica T. Solomon

What if the people responsible for protecting our nation, writing our laws or discovering new medicines were encouraged to be artists, too? I function under the notion that we are all capable of using creative means to solve problems and unlock potential. If "Revolution" were a movie, let the way we do the work be the theme music.

Creativity is not an illusive entity relegated to a certain group of people or professions. It’s in everyone – realizing that may be a revolution in itself. It’s our responsibility to tap into our creative selves…there’s too much to lose if we don’t. Our communities are craving change, and pregnant with possibility. We have an …


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Tapping Our Creative Selves for Social Change

by Emily May

HollabackNYC started in 2005 the way a lot of good revolutions must begin - as conversations with friends over a couple of drinks. The seven of us commiserated over being whistled at, cat-called, and propositioned, with each story earning a chorus of “uggg� “ewww� and “gross!�

The trouble was that we felt there was nothing we could do. If we walked on, we felt victimized. If we yelled, we felt angry. Witty comebacks had their charm, but they always came late, and street harassment was more or less protected under laws of free speech. Then we realized – why not take pictures of these street harassers and post them on a blog? And so, with the clink of our cocktail …


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Gender Harassment: From Our Revolution to Yours1 comment(s)

by Hannah Miller

A growing group of organizations work on what is called "media democracy," that is, changing the structure and legal framework of the media so that it reflects something a smidgeon closer to the actual public – including women.

In all its complexity, the media – TV and cable, newspapers and film, magazines and podcasts – can be understood quite simply: it's just a group of people sitting in a circle, talking to each other, debating over the issues they care about.

But in American culture – our common circle – some speakers are deemed important than others. Some speakers always go first and speak as long as they like; some utter a few words. More often …


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Finding the Power in Women’s Voices

by Donna Schaper

Attach fair and just policies to the "emergency" economic stimulus bills and you will find a powerful anti-depressant, the kind that brings people up enough to truly be active citizens again in building a new world.

Economically, this moment of great difficulty is also a time of great possibility. Isn’t it great news that the old economy is dead? It benefited the few and ignored the many.

I have full hope and support in my heart for Obama as President. Nevertheless I need to criticize his starting with the banks and working down. I want a leader to start with the people and work up. There is nothing like a good solid catastrophe to drive us back to first …


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Populism Needed to Shovel Out the Old Economy

by Myra Kovary

We are living in a new era for persons with disabilities. One sign of this occurred in the last week of February when the first session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities gathered in Geneva. The Committee is charged with monitoring implementation of the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century - the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or CRPD, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 13, 2006. On February 24, 2009,

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Unprecedented Recognition for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

by Lesley Cohen

Healthcare remains a forefront issue for the American public. With a new president who acknowledges the need for healthcare reform, midwives are in an optimal position to assert their importance as principal members of America's primary care providers.

As a member of this midwifery profession, I have the honor and privilege of providing care to women, guiding them and assisting them in their family planning, gynecological and primary health. At its core, midwifery embraces the spirit of feminism. Midwifery means literally "with women." Translated into practice, midwifery is a profession dedicated to providing women with comprehensive care throughout their lifetimes.


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Midwifery Reborn: Politicians Take Note

by Diana Whitten

Women on Waves, an organization that uses a ship to help women in countries where abortion is illegal, recently secured a major victory from the European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled in early February 2009 that Portugal violated Women on Waves’ freedom of expression when it ordered two warships to blockade the boat’s entry into the Portuguese harbor in 2004.

Women on Waves is a Dutch organization led by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. Its ship sails to countries where abortion is illegal and transports women to international waters, 12 …


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New Waves for Abortion Access in European Decision

by Diana Egozcue

I get a lot of questions and statements when I explain that I am campaigning for the Virginia ratification of the ERA, one of several states where campaigns are active. "What’s the ERA? Why do we need that? I thought that passed years ago."
 
From men, I often hear: "The ERA is dead! You’re already covered by a lot of laws, so you don’t need it." But, sometimes, if it’s a woman making the comment, I am screaming inside.

The ERA is the Equal Rights Amendment which passed the U.S. House and Senate in 1972. It simply says: "Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States …


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Who The Revolution Left Behind

by Mahin Hassibi

A clear consensus exists among women writers of varied ages, educational backgrounds and life circumstances in the anthology Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopias and Dystopias, edited by Judith A. Little and released in 2007. They agree that not only societies as they are constituted now, but all Utopias envisioned by men do not change much about the fundamental expectations and the roles that are assigned to women.

Indeed, the gender role assignment becomes more simplified in these worlds, and the punishments for deviation become more brutal. In …


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Whose Utopia?

by Gloria Feldt

Lars Larson is a conservative radio talk show host with a following of four million listeners. His producer assured me, when asking me to appear for Roe v Wade’s 36th anniversary, that Lars is respectful, though he would take views opposite to mine. No problem, I said, as long as I can speak my piece.

My “pieceâ€� led me to talk about where I think the debate should be: squarely on women’s human rights to make their own childbearing decisions, access to preventive family planning services, and economic justice, as well as abortion. It flipped Lars out. When he couldn’t keep the conversation on pitting the innocent baby against the murderous woman who stupidly …


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A Do-Over for Reproductive Justice

by rebecca s. a. connie and Tara Malik

When TOMS Attack is the name of a short video created by Global Girls in Chicago to describe the problem of sexual harassment and assault by mature men who prey on young girls. The males are the “TOMS� of the title, which stands for “Thirsty Old Men� who terrorize girls by following them in cars and on the street, attempting to pick them up. One visual in the film says: “These nasty creeps try to get me in the sheets … In reality they know I’m just a child, but in their sick fantasy, I’m a piece of meat.�

The video was made in conjunction with Chain of Change, a Chicago-based project that works …


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Youth Videos Push Back Gender Violence

Spring 2012 Café --Level the Playing Field: Girls, Women and Sports

Winter 2012 Café --Abortion

Fall 2011 Café --Activism

Summer 2011 Café --Women, War and Peace

Spring 2011 Café --The Ecology of Women

Winter 2011 Café --The Conning of the Feminists

Summer 2010 Café --EQUALITY...How much further away?

Spring 2010 Café --The Feminist MInd

Winter 2010 Café -- Passion, Freedon & Women

Fall 2009 Café -- Race, Feminism, Our Future

Summer 2009 Café -- Our Genders, Our Rights

Spring 2009 Café -- Lines in the Sand

Winter 2009 Café -- New Revolutions we Need

Fall 2008 Café -- What is Terror for Women?

Summer 2008 Café -- Works Hard for her Money: Feminists and Prostitutes

Spring 2008 Café -- HIV/AIDS Blowback hits Women Hard