feminist blogs

The women’s suffrage movement was characterized by many outrageous acts, but one of the most radical had to be a speech that was given by Sarah Walker Fitzgerald. The content of the speech wasn’t so radical – she was simply demanding that women be given the right to vote. What made this speech so scandalous was that Fitzgerald delivered it in her bathing suit.

Fitzgerald majored in political science at Bryn Mawr, where she founded the Student Government Association. This set the stage for Fitzgerald to become one of the first women elected to the House of Representatives after women finally obtained the vote. She served as an officer of several suffrage associations, and was a popular speaker on the suffrage campaign circuit.

In 1912, Fitzgerald argued that women were not equal to men, but that they should be given the right to vote in order to uphold the value of fairness.

The Government touches upon every phase of our home life and largely dictates its conditions while at the same time the woman is held responsible or them and is working with her hands tied behind her back . . . she asks the vote in order to do her woman’s work better.

For More Information:
Susan Walker Fitzgerald Papers at Bryn Mawr Special Collections
Wikipedia

2010 is the Bicentennial year for Margaret Fuller, one of the most influential women in American history. A committee of historians, authors, congregations, and activists is using the occasion to ensure that Margaret Fuller is not only remembered this year, but for many years to come.

The committee has planned a year of celebrations in several states to honor this fearless feminist. Readings, dramatic presentations, worship services, and guided tours of New York City, Boston, and Florence, Italy are among the events.

There are also several ongoing and upcoming exhibits in honor of Fuller’s Bicentennial. Additionally, Unitarian Universalist congregations nationwide will be holding “Margaret Fuller Sunday” worship services on May 23rd, Fuller’s birthday. (Fuller had a lifetime involvement with both Unitarian and Transcendental societies.)

So what’s all the fuss about?

Although currently less celebrated than Susan B. Anthony and other early feminists, Margaret Fuller was one of the most influential women in American history. Fuller is the proud “first American to…” of several impressive categories. Fuller’s book, Women in the Nineteenth Century, was the first book about women’s rights ever written by an American. Generations before Rosie the Riveter, Margaret Fuller was the first American female foreign correspondent, writing under combat about the revolution in Italy. In a time when colleges were closed to women, Fuller became the first woman to enter Harvard Library for research. She was also the first full-time book reviewer in the U.S. and the first woman writer for the New York Daily Tribune.

My favorite fun fact about Margaret Fuller: by the time she reached her 30s she had gained a reputation for being the best-read person in New England. I can think of fewer things I would rather have a reputation for than being well read!

Fuller’s supporters and friends included Elizabeth and Robert Browning, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Bronson Alcott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Henry David Thoreau. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a close friend, cared deeply for Fuller and called her “my vivacious friend.”

While Fuller boasted an impressive range of supporters, her critics often accused her of being arrogant, outspoken, and aggressive. Sounds like my kind of woman!

Fuller’s book Women in the Nineteenth Century was very ahead of its time, criticizing marriage and other institutionalized forms of sexism. The book is thought to have greatly influenced the women’s rights movement, which began a mere three years later in Seneca Falls.

Yet Margaret Fuller did more than pay lip service to the cause of women’s rights. Fuller used her talent as a writer to bring attention to important social causes of her day. Among the causes she took up Fuller did an extensive investigation into the world of women’s prisons, even sleeping overnight at Sing Sing prison to complete research. Following her investigation she became a lifelong advocate for prison reform and halfway houses.

This amazing feminist pioneer truly deserves to be recognized, both for her Bicentennial and because of Women’s History Month. To learn more and to see how you or your organization can honor Margaret Fuller this year check out the following sites:

Margaret Fuller Bicentennial official site.

Full list of Bicentennial events.

Get Involved.

Margaret Fuller U.S. Postage Stamp Nomination Letter.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Laurie James, the chairperson of the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial. The interview will be featured in an upcoming post.

This is the 15th post in a weekly feature here at Spare Candy, called "In History." Some posts might be little more than a photo, others full on features. If you have any suggestions for a person or event that should be featured, or would like to submit a guest post or cross post, e-mail me at rosiered23 (at) sparecandy (dot) com.

Guest post! Today's column comes via V. Sobol, a communications professional striving to raise her pre-teen daughter as a feminist, and author of the lovely blog "Raising Feminist Girls," where this piece was first posted. Many thanks for allowing Spare Candy to share your writing!

Thanks to Sylvia Pressler, young girls have more opportunity in sports. A jurist and an author, Pressler is best known for her 1973 ruling that opened the doors for girls to play Little League baseball. The case involved 12-year-old Maria Pepe of Hoboken, NJ, who had joined the local Little League team but was forbidden to play by the League's national officials. With the help of N.O.W., Pepe sued. Pressler ruled in her favor, claiming, "The institution of Little League is as American as hot dogs and apple pie. There's no reason why that part of America should be withheld from girls." The following year, Little League baseball agreed to allow girls to play on its baseball teams--and it started a softball division as well. Pressler later rose to be the presiding administrative judge of the New Jersey Appellate Division. She passed away earlier this year at the age of 75.

I was born too soon to benefit from Pressler's ruling, and also to fully benefit from Title IX -- the landmark 1972 act that mandated equality in educational programs and revolutionized girls' sports in school and college. But as the youngest of four girls I was always an athlete, a.k.a. "tomboy"--and I do believe my pursuit of sports kept me out of trouble in those early teen years. Rather than hang out and drink and smoke, my friend Angel and I played basketball with the boys every night at the outdoor basketball court--lit by a single lightbulb--at the local schoolyard. We had fun, avoided trouble, got exercise, and learned how to deal with boys as friends, not just boyfriends.

I'm a strong believer that playing sports offers benefits for all kids, and I've always encouraged my daughter to participate. Hats off to Sylvia Pressler for giving all girls a bit more opportunity.

I could see my reflection in the window and in the retina of my eye the whole earth and sky could be seen and reflected. ~Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla knew that she wanted to be an astronaut was when was only 12 years old. She was fascinated by the local flying club in her hometown of Karnal, India and the stories that the pilots often told about “perseverance and courage.”

Chalwa earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, and then obtained an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. She completed her educated with a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Chalwa began working for NASA in 1988.

Chalwa’s first space flight was in 1997. She was the first Indian-American woman to go to space, and only the second person of Indian decent to fly a space mission. When she was on board the Space Shuttle Columbia, she pointed out India to her crewmates. Chalwa’s second mission didn’t happen until 2003. She was a part of the ill-fated Columbia STS-107 mission. The entire crew died during a faulty reentry.

For More Info:
Wikipedia
NASA
Space.com

There have only been two women who have led the United Nations General Assembly. One of them is Liberian Angie Brooks, who became president of the UNGA in 1969.

Brooks was born on August 24, 1928 in Virginia, Liberia. She was one of nine children. Brooks’s father was a Baptist minister, and her mother was a seamstress. Brooks’s family was very poor, and Brooks learned to type by the age of eleven so that she could pay her way through school by typing for government agencies. Her government connections allowed her to appeal to Liberian President William Tubman, who paid Brooks’s way to study in the US. She studied at Shaw University and the University of Wisconsin, then earned her law degree from London University.

When Brooks returned to Liberia, she eventually served as Assistant Attorney General, as well as Assistant Secretary of State. In 1954, she became Liberia’s representative to the United Nations. Her work at the UN focused on former colonial countries. When she was elected as the president of the UNGA, she was the first African to serve in that position.

Brooks died in 2008 in Houston, Texas. Her body was returned to Liberia, where she received a state funeral.

For More Info:
UN.org
Wikipedia
All Africa

Thoughts this Sunday go out to those involved in earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards and any other non-weather yet-stressful events. This week's links:

The Canadian women's hockey team is getting a lot of flack for celebrating their gold medal win with alcohol and cigars, on the ice, in front of no one but a couple photographers. It's *ridiculous* and frankly, kind of unbelievable. Would it have been better if it hadn't taken place on the ice, but instead in a bar? (And why?) Or if they were men? Anyway, Eye Weekly has a good article, "The case for a women's professional hockey league." The Vancouver Sun writes "Canadian women play hockey like girls in golden performance." (It's not what you think.) At least there won't be a formal investigation. And be sure to check out this lovely satirical piece from The Albatross, "Concern Grows Over Unfairness to Women: In Hockey."

Somehow the fact that as women get older, they have fewer eggs with which to create babies is new news. A couple of really good responses to the topic:

• Feminists for Choice, "Media Again Pushes Women to Reproduce Young."
• The Sexist: "Your Decrepit Ovaries May Be Sabotaging Your Career."
• Small Strokes: "The Baby Boom."

Meanwhile, the EU is working on longer maternity leave time: 20 weeks, with pay. And while that's happening, Nicaragua is denying a pregnant woman the cancer treatment she needs because it might harm the fetus. Somehow I think her death would harm the fetus, too. For a good roundup of abortion-related news, check out Antonia Zerbisias' Broadsides column, this ABC story from Nebraska, "Proposed Abortion Bill Focused on When Fetus Feels Pain," and this Washington Post story: "Minnesota abortion provider helps meet need in South Dakota."

This week's winners for Most Absurd Claims: GOP House member Trent Franks, says abortion is worse for black people than slavery (see the NYT's story "To Court Blacks, Foes of Abortion Make Racial Case"); Virginia state delegate Bob Marshall says women who have abortions for their first pregnancy are more likely to have disabled children later because God is punishing them; and the editor of the New York Times Book Review says "The Amy Bishop Shootings Prove That Feminists Should Shut Up About Women Being Victims."

In other reading:

• On the heels of the forced blowjob anti-smoking ads from France comes some rather awful ads from Durex.

• The Toronto Star: "Canadian women's rights in decline, report says."

• New York Times: "France May Make Mental Violence a Crime." As in domestic abuse.

• Reuters: "Pentagon OKs lifting ban on women in submarines." About time! 

• Slate: "I Should Have Read My Islamic Marriage Contract."

• CNN: "Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ."

• The Smithsonian magazine has a pretty cool article, "How Dolley Madison Saved the Day." (President James Madison's wife, not the snack cake.)

• The New York Times writes about "cellar door."

This is the 14th post in a weekly feature here at Spare Candy, called "In History." Some posts might be little more than a photo, others full on features. If you have any suggestions for a person or event that should be featured, or would like to submit a guest post or cross post, e-mail me at rosiered23 (at) sparecandy (dot) com.
 
Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) -- first black woman in the House, first woman Democrat to run for president and first black person to run for president (in 1972). In 1969 she joined the Congressional Black Caucus as one of its founding members, and she was also one of the four founders of the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

Chisholm is also the star of this fantastic image:


Some of her campaign materials:



For further reading:

• ShirleyChisholm.org
• Gloria Steinem's piece at the International Museum of Women's Web site.
• Wikipedia (cool pop culture references)
• "Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Campaign"

And be sure to read her 1970 speech on the Equal Rights Amendment, which includes this:

This is what it comes down to: artificial distinctions between persons must be wiped out of the law. Legal discrimination between the sexes is, in almost every instance, founded on outmoded views of society and the pre-scientific beliefs about psychology and physiology. It is time to sweep away these relics of the past and set further generations free of them.

Each Women’s History Month the portrait of Susan B. Anthony decorates classroom walls around the country. What many people this year will not realize is that a heated debate is taking place involving the life of the 19^th Century suffrage leader, and of all things, whether or not she opposed abortion.

Several conservative organizations, calling themselves feminists, have joined forces to manipulate the history of Susan B. Anthony to promote an anti-choice political agenda. Using her image on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and other anti-choice materials, these organizations have painted a woman who devoted her life to securing votes for women, of being publicly opposed to abortion.

According to Mary Krane Derr, an author and member of Feminists for Life, there are “bits of evidence” that prove Susan B. Anthony opposed abortion. Convincing.

One “bit of evidence” these anti-choice groups claim is that the weekly journal Anthony ran, The Revolution, refused to run ads for abortion aides (as many other magazines at the time did). Ann Gordon, one of the leading experts on Anthony argues that, as a homeopathic patients, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stady Canton refused to run ads for any “patented medicine advertisements.”

The Revolution’s motto was: “The true republic — men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”

Normally I would discount this type of thing as Religious-Right-Wing-Nut activity. Surely I am aware of “feminists for life” groups. And surely most rational people would agree that it is impossible to know how Susan B. Anthony would feel about abortion issues in today’s context. But this time, it’s personal.

A member of Feminists for Life America has purchased the birth home of Susan B. Anthony, a historic landmark, and plans to create an anti-choice exhibit of sorts on the premises.

I truly value Susan B. Anthony and am thankful to her for dedicating her life to ensuring those who came after her enjoyed more rights than she did. I also care about those who will come after me, and in good conscience cannot allow future generations to be fed false information about a woman who deserves to be honored by everyone, regardless of political persuasion.

It is appalling that women who claim to be feminists would exploit the memory of a beloved American hero to advance their own agenda, and that they would do it in a way that blatantly pits women against each other.

Such actions are far from feminist, despite their claims.

Feminism is not merely playing lip service to the basic inherent value of women, but trusting women, as adults, to make choices that influence their lives. Now there is certainly room within feminism for opposing viewpoints and even a debate on abortion access, however, actions become anti-feminist when the goal is to force women into one course of action the way these radical anti-choice groups do.

The organizations involved in the “Susan B. Anthony movement” have been heavily involved in pushing for the Stupak/Nelson amendments, and oppose abortion in all cases, a viewpoint seen as radical by most Americans.

I nearly shudder to wonder if these groups would prefer for young feminists and history enthusiasts such as myself to begin devalue and dismiss the memory of Susan B. Anthony for supposedly being anti-choice.

Well I won’t fall for it.

A website by the name of Susan B. Anthony Museum has been started to combat the exploitation of this influential woman. Support them by sharing it with someone today.

To read more about the debate over SBA legacy, click here. http://www.womensenews.org/story/abortion/061006/susan-b-anthonys-abortion-position-spurs-scuffle

This is the 13th post in a weekly feature here at Spare Candy, called "In History." Some posts might be little more than a photo, others full on features. If you have any suggestions for a person or event that should be featured, or would like to submit a guest post or cross post, e-mail me at rosiered23 (at) sparecandy (dot) com.

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 1862-March 1931) really lived a life. She was a teacher, and a journalist, most known for her work on documenting lynchings, and she was active in the civil rights and women's rights movements. Her parents were slaves, freed at the end of the Civil War. She wrote books, and books have been written about her. Wells' life and her work are fascinating. If you don't know much about her, take a couple minutes and read up. I'd suggest going here, here and here to start.

Just came across the new magazine HerStoria.  It's a UK publication that promises to uncover the lives of women - offering a history of women where none has done before.  The website link is here:

http://www.herstoria.com/

Without doubt, it's about time!  And aside from the rather plonky name and look to the thing, it seems interesting. Reviews thus far have said it's glossy and well-researched.  I might check it out at the library before sending the £16 for a subscription. I'm a student.  I'm cheap.