International Women's Day

Since Tuesday was International Women's Day, here are some fun articles to check out about women followed by some fun quotes:

*Why is a picture of Obama, a man, my photo for international women's day? Because I believe that feminism is a belief that women and men are equally valuable that needs to be shared by men and women alike. Check out Nicholas Kristoff's article about the many men who are involved in women's rights around the world and how women leaders aren't the only step in promoting women's rights - and that often by time women leaders get to the top, they have had to compromise so much of their "women" agenda to become accepted by a very men-dominate power structure, that they no longer seem like women's rights are tops on their list, whereas men leaders have the luxury of getting to be pro-women's rights AND at the top. I think - and I think Kristoff agrees - that it all comes back to feminism being the belief that men and women are different, but equally valuable and must be equally empowered. Check out the article here and let me know what YOU think.

*A video by some folks at Wesleyan University in response to ideological attacks on Planned Parenthood, called "I have sex". One of the most critical ways we can empower women - in the US as well as around the world - is by allowing them to control their own reproduction. Having kids when you aren't ready or don't want to have kids is one of the easiest ways to change the plans of the rest of your life. This can be in a really good way, if you're ready and excited to have kids, but it can also mean that you don't finish school or don't take that leap at a great career or don't get to travel around the world or spend as much time with friends and family, that you aren't able to wait for the partner who completes you. Institutions like Planned Parenthood allow women to have this power and must be supported.

*and perhaps the most touching article of all, a report on the many mothers who leave their children in order to provide a future for them sent to me by my sister

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some fun quotes about women:

Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes."

~Clare Boothe Luce

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute.

~Rebecca West

Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.

~Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler

Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths.

~Lois Wyse

I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.

~Alanis Morissette

"Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President's spouse. I wish him well!"

- Barbara Bush