Not Enough

I realized too late that the You Are Loved Chalk Project was on October 10th this year.  I was happy to walk across campus and see some chalking near the fountain.  Perhaps next year, we can make a group effort on campus.
http://www.chalkmessages.org/Getting_Involved.html

Dan Savage, columnist of The Stranger and Savage Love podcaster, is probably best known for the It Gets Better Project and the It Gets Better book.  I first heard him on This American Life and enjoy listening to his podcast.  We have  his book at the library if you are interested and his column and podcasts are easy to find online:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=10480174

Recently, David Valdes Greenwood wrote the article, "It Got Better for Me...But That's Not Good Enough" in The Huffington Post.  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-valdes-greenwood/it-got-better-for-mebut-t_b_1021006.html

It struck a cord with me thinking about my friends growing up and wanting to make sure they knew I was "straight but not narrow." Along the way, there were people that struggled.  There were people who lost the struggle and, I know that sexuality may have been a factor.  I hope that the publicity of the recent gay teen suicides will be a call to action.  Years and years ago, there was quiet speculation but today, things are different. So, things should be different altogether.  We should be an accepting society that is aware of what is going on around us and educating children to grow to be tolerant, accepting teenagers and compassionate, unprejudiced  adults.  

But that am I doing? How am I making the world better?  It is great that I am an open minded liberal who wants everyone to love everyone, but that isn't enough.  Being  isn't enough. We need to DO.

So, I am trying to teach love and acceptance to the children in my life and, as I read the little ones stories about a shiny finned fish and the fish that stands up to the big shark, I am going to nudge them between the lines.  And, as a librarian, I will find more, age appropriate books to teach them acceptance and liberal thinking.

Radford University's Minor in Women's Studies

Representatives from RU Women's Studies attended the Majors/Minors Fair in Heth Hall on Wednesday, October 5th. Some of the questions that students asked were: what is Women's Studies? And, what can I do with a minor in Women's Studies?  Since registration starts next week, I thought it would be a good idea to answer these questions.

What is Women’s Studies?

Women’s studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on women, gender, and issues of diversity and (in)equality both locally and globally.

What can I do with a minor in Women’s Studies?

While Women’s Studies does not have a particular career attached to it as do programs in Law, Education, or Journalism, a major or minor in Women’s Studies can be a valuable asset in a variety of fields. 

Many of our graduates have either gone on to graduate programs or have found related work in fields such as education, social services, healthcare, and counseling. Women’s Studies graduates worldwide have also found meaningful work in politics, human resources, media, criminal justice, business, etc.  

What Women’s Studies does do for you is offer you a set of skills that more and more employers are listing as desirable: effective written and oral communication, critical thinking abilities, a broader perspective on both local and global cultures, and a respect for diversity that fosters the ability to work well with others. In a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal,

Keisha Smith, global head of recruiting for [Morgan Stanley] … says "the most important thing is to select an institution and academic curriculum that will challenge you intellectually beyond your comfort zone. That's what best prepares you to handle the never-ending learning curve that you experience once you're here."

RU Women’s Studies students often remark that they enjoy WMST courses because they learn through their reading, writing, and participation in class discussions to think about issues from perspectives they had never considered.  These are the kinds of skills that managers like Keisha Smith have come to appreciate. 

Transferable skills are increasingly important in a competitive and global economy and Women’s Studies Minors are being prepared for such competition in a variety of ways. But, getting a job is not necessarily the first or only reason for students to choose a minor in Women’s Studies.  Most students select Women’s Studies because they are truly interested and invested in the materials and issues that Women’s Studies courses ask them to examine.  Perhaps Nikki Anyanna Stewart said it best in a 2007 issue of Ms. Magazine when she was asked, “What Can You Do With a Degree in Women’s Studies?” Her response: you can “transform the world.”

Know Your History; Know Yourself. Build the Future.

The minor in Women’s Studies at RU requires 15 credit hours of coursework that starts with WMST 101: Women in the World* and includes 12 credit hours of electives chosen from the following support courses:

COMM 457. Diversity in Communication.*

CRJU 365. Diversity in the Criminal Justice System.*

ENGL 453. The Female Literary Tradition.

HIST 306. History of Women. (May be taken twice as course topic changes.)*

HLTH 325. Diversity of Health in U. S.*

HLTH 453. Human Sexuality.*

HUMD 201. Marriage and Alternative Lifestyles

HUMD 300. Human Growth and Development: Birth through Adolescence* 

HUMD 301. Human Sexual Development

HUMD 401. The Family 

NUTR 316. Nutrition in the Life Cycle I: Maternal and Child

PSYC 250. Psychology of Diversity.

PSYC 343. Social Psychology.*

PSYC 391. Psychology of Women.

PSYC 393. Psychology of Human Sexuality.

RELN 305. Religion and Women.

SOCY 250. Social Inequality.*

SOCY 326. Men and Women in Society.*

SOCY 331. Race and Ethnic Relations.*

SOCY 333. Social and Cultural Diversity.

SOCY 389. Sociology of the Family.

SOCY 390. Sociology of Sport.*

SOCY 441. Global Inequalities.

WMST 290. Topics in Women’s Studies.

WMST 490. Seminar in Women’s Studies.

WMST 499. Internship in Women’s Studies.

*Indicates courses being offered in Spring 2012.

As you prepare to register for Spring 2012 classes, you might ask yourself … what can Women’s Studies do for me? To find the answers, please contact the RU Women’s Studies Program Director, Dr. Moira Baker, or the Women’s Studies Program Assistant, Dr. Michele Ren. If you already know that you would like to pursue a Minor in Women’s Studies, please fill out this form, and stop by Dr. Baker’s office (Russell 138) for a signature.

               

Anita Hill, 20 Years Later: Sex, Power, and Speaking Truth

 A few weeks ago, while discussing the “waves” of feminism in the United States, I asked my Women’s Studies 101 students who had heard of Anita Hill.  Sadly, only one (out of about fifty) had even a vague idea of who she is and/or why she is well known. 

Next week marks the 20^th anniversary of Hill’s testimony before the Senate Confirmation Committee that convened to question and confirm (or deny) Clarence Thomas as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.  

On this day in 1991, The New York Times first reported that Hill had accused Thomas of sexually harassing her when they worked together at the DOE and the EEOC:

In 1981, the time cited by Professor Hill, Judge Thomas headed the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education and she was his personal assistant.
In her affidavit, Congressional officials said, Professor Hill said that typically after a brief discussion of work, Judge Thomas would turn the conversations to discussions about his sexual interests. She described his remarks as vivid as he discussed sexual acts he had seen in pornographic films.

Professor Hill, the officials continued, said Judge Thomas, who was separated from his first wife at the time, dropped the sexual talk when he began dating someone else. Since the remarks had stopped, she said, she accepted an offer to follow him as a personal assistant when he became chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There, she said, he soon resumed his advances.

Hill’s testimony began four days later, on October 11, 1991. 

While the allegations did not stop Thomas’ confirmation (he took the oath of office on October 23, 1991, and will soon celebrate his twentieth year on the bench), the proceedings did bring the discussion of sexual harassment to the forefront of the national discourse.

The hearings also helped to ignite what many refer to as the Third Wave of Feminism in the United States.  Two months after Hill’s testimony, Ms. Magazine published Rebecca Walker’s response to the hearings and subsequent call to action “Becoming the Third Wave” in an issue titled Rage + Women = Power.

In honor of this twenty year anniversary, Hunter College, New York City, is hosting the conference: Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later:  “The conference will bring together three generations to witness, respond and analyze present day realities in law, politics, the confluence of race, class and gender, the persistent questioning of women’s credibility, issues of black masculinity and current cases of sexual harassment.” Professor Hill is both the keynote speaker and the honoree.

Students in Higher Education, Comparing Women and Men

I don't think I have anything particularly insightful to add to this topic, but I wanted to point out a couple of recent articles that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

For Women on Campuses, Access Doesn't Equal Success by MaryAnn Baenninger
http://chronicle.com/article/For-Women-on-Campuses-Access/129242/

Saving the 'Lost Boys' of Higher Education by Robert B. Smith
http://chronicle.com/article/Saving-the-Lost-Boys-of/129243/

Some general trends (she does stress that, of course, individuals from groups can have more differences between each other than the general differences between groups) that Baenninger notes:

"Women underestimate their abilities and express lower levels of self-confidence than their abilities suggest. Men overestimate their abilities and express higher levels of confidence than their abilities warrant. This difference arrives with them as first-year students and leaves with them as seniors...both of those profiles have some good attributes and some bad attributes, and there is an optimal level of self-confidence to ensure the best results. Underestimating one's abilities probably results in more time in academic preparation and a more team-oriented approach to problem solving. Higher levels of self-confidence probably support innovative practices and may help one nail a job interview."

"Men in college spend significantly more time in leisure activities (especially, for example, video-game play and athletic pursuits) than do women. College women are hyper-scheduled participants in co-curricular activities."

Smith brings up some statistics in his article, concerned with gender disparities in enrollment:

"In April 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau released data showing that, for the first time, women have sailed past men in obtaining both bachelor's degrees and advanced college degrees. "

"Nationally, the female-to-male ratio in higher education is roughly 60 to 40 percent."

Now that we are mid-semester, have you noticed anything that conflicts or confirms what either of these two articles discuss? What have your classroom experiences taught you?

Happy Anniversary, Justice Ginsburg!

On October 4, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined the Supreme Court. Here's a look back at her first day:


"Freshmen Supreme Court justices generally keep their thoughts to themselves. But not Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

During the opening day of the Supreme Court's term, Ginsburg dominated. She was quick to question lawyers as they stood at the lectern, tearing apart their arguments, demanding evidence for their generalizations, grilling them on statutes.


"What is the proof of that?" the newest justice asked at one point. "Is there any support in the case law for this . . . ?" she asked later. "Why not?" she questioned an apparently flustered lawyer, who, somewhat like Ginsburg, was involved in his first case at the court but, unlike Ginsburg, likely was suffering a confidence crisis.

Gone was the tentative, measured cadence that America saw during Ginsburg's summer confirmation hearings. Her voice even seemed louder. Her queries ran from broad constitutional concerns of due process in one case to the minute details of voting rights law in two others."

Ginsburg was the second female Supreme Court Justice, and the first Jewish Justice since 1969.

From: Biskupic, J. (1993, October 5). Ginsburg debuts as dominant and active voice. Washington Post, p. A10.

Women's Shelters in Afghanistan

October is a difficult month as we recognize Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. Recently, there have been articles acknowledging that one of the justifications for our fight in Afghanistan was to liberate women. Ten years later, there have been few strides forward, and some steps backward, and we have begun to see it isn’t as simple as some had imagined.

In the U.S., we want our government to step up for us and offer protection. It doesn’t always happen that way, but we do have that expectation.

This morning, NPR reported a victory for women in Afghanistan. Last year, there was talk about putting women’s shelters under the Afghan government. There was an outcry from women’s rights activists saying that by doing so, they would create a prison environment. The law said that before women could enter the shelters, they would government approval and to submit to virginity tests.

In recent months, there has been progress in making the law more acceptable and allowing the shelters to continue to be independent. However, something they are continuing to fight to change is the regulation that a woman leaving the shelter can only leave if she is moving into the home of a male relation. In many cases, the male relation may be the reason she is in the shelter in the first place.

Overall, this is a victory for women in Afghanistan.

Lawrence, Q. (2011, September 26). Afghan Women Fight Back, Preserve Shelters : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved September 26, 2011, from http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140709134/afghan-women-fight-back-preserve-shelters

Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Awareness Month at Radford University

October is Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Awareness Month at Radford University.  RU will be participating in three campaigns:

The Red Flag Campaign, “a public awareness campaign designed to address dating violence and promote the prevention of dating violence on college campuses.”

The International Purple Ribbon Campaign, which seeks to end all personal violence/support those who have been victimized. 

The White Ribbon Campaign, an international movement to educate men and boys; men who wear the white ribbon “Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls.”

Both White and Purple Ribbons will be available Monday, October 3 from 11:00am-2:00pm at the Bonnie Plaza.  We encourage you to pick one up and wear it all month.

Events and activities to promote awareness and, hopefully, action to end violence against women and girls include:

The improv show, Sex Signals, will take the stage on Wednesday October 5, 7:00 pm in the Bondurant Auditorium.  Part of New Student Programs’ Success Starts Here Lecture Series, Sex Signals aims to provide “a safe space to have a candid, positive conversation about the confusion and realities of dating, sex, and non-stranger rape.”

A Brown Bag Series, discussions sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley will continue throughout the month. Bring your lunch and join the conversation on October 6, 13, 20 and 27, from 12 – 1 pm, in the Bonnie Room 229.

The Clothesline Project will be displayed on October 19^th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Bonnie Plaza. The Clothesline is “a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence.” Members of the Radford University community can add their anonymous testimony to a t-shirt by contacting the SAVES Office at 831-5709. 

The Silent Witness Program, will be take place at the Bonnie Plaza on October 20^th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Silent Witness is a display of “free-standing, life-sized red wooden figures, each one bearing the name of a woman who once lived, worked, had neighbors, friends, family, children--whose life ended violently at the hands of a husband, ex-husband, partner, or acquaintance.” Sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, Inc.

Dr. Kathleen Barry, author of Female Sexual Slavery, The Prostitution of Sexuality, and Susan B. Anthony: A Biography, will discuss her latest book Unmaking War/Remaking Men. Tuesday, October 25^th at 7:00 pm in The Bonnie room 249/250.  Dr. Barry’s visit is sponsored by CPC, Peace Studies, Sociology Club, and Women’s Studies Club.

On Wednesday, October 26^th, at 7:00pm in the Bonnie Auditorium, SAVES and Women’s Studies Club present a 20^th anniversary showing of the film Thelma & Louise, which was dubbed “the last great film about women” by The Atlantic in August 2011.

A round table discussion: Thelma & Louise: 20 years later will follow the film on Friday, October 28^th at noon in Heth Hall, Room 22.  Participants in the talk include Dr. Mary Atwell (Criminal Justice), Dr. Michele Ren (English/Women’s Studies), Ms. Sarah Kenney (Health Education), and Mr. John Leonard (Student Activities). The roundtable is sponsored by the Women’s Studies Club.

We hope you will join the SAVES office, CPC, SHAC Peer Educators, Sociology Club, the Peace Studies Program, Women’s Studies Club, New Student Programs, the Radford University Police Department and the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley in educating yourselves and others about the problem of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence both locally and globally.