Feminist Events Calendar

March-Women's History Month:
-1st: International Women of Color Day
-8th: International Women's Day
-10th: National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers (NDAAP)
-22nd: Back Up Your Birth Control Day

April-Sexual Assault Awareness Month:
-7th: World Health Day
-8th: Feminist Leadership Institute
-9th-11th: National Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference
Register Today!
-19th: Pay Equity Day
-22nd: Earth Day

May:
-1st: International Worker's Day
-4th: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day
-8th-14th: National Women's Health Week

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Call us toll free at either the East coast office (1-866-444-FMLA) or the West coast office (1-866-471-FMLA) . You can also email us at campusteam@feminist.org. We are always happy to hear from you and answer any questions or concerns!

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Women's History Month
March is Women's History Month! Students and groups around the country are hosting speakers, discussion groups, movie screenings, and other events in order to recognize and honor women who have come before us. Need ideas on how to join in the celebrations? Check out our NEW Women's History Month webpages on Feminist Campus and take our Women's History Quiz for a chance to win a free t-shirt!

Back Up Your Birth Control Before You Go On Spring Break!
Another opportunity to take action this month is on the 22nd with Back Up Your Birth Control (BUYBC) Day. Take control of your reproductive health by planning ahead for Spring Break with Emergency Contraception and Condoms, and expect a mailing from us soon with a Spring Break BUYBC Kit!

*photo courtesy of PBS

Watch SISTERS OF '77--a new documentary on women's history airing during March on PBS!
During one historic weekend in November 1977, the first federally funded National Women's Conference brought 20,000 women and men including the most influential leaders of the burgeoning women's movement - Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Smeal, Ann Richards, Coretta Scott King, Barbara Jordan and others, to Houston, Texas, where they caucused, argued and finally hammered out resolutions that revolutionized the women's movement in America.

SISTERS OF '77 weaves archival footage and interviews with past and current activists and conference participants. The documentary is a fascinating look at that pivotal weekend and how it changed American life and the lives of the women who attended. It will air nationally on the Emmy-winning PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by Susan Sarandon, on Tuesday, March 1st at 10 p.m. (check local listings.)

Feminist Leadership Institute
One day before the National Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference, FMF will be holding the FLI to assist members of Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances (FMLAs) and affiliate groups to build and hone the leadership and activist skills of the individual participants of their groups, as well as strengthen feminist leadership on their respective campuses.

During this half-day institute, student activists will attend interactive workshops on creative programming, media, technology, and improving campus groups. Participants will also have the opportunity to apply newly honed leadership and organizing skills to their own campuses by developing organizational strategies and action plans for their campus. For some participants the FLI will be a chance to learn new skills--for others it will be an opportunity to take their leadership and activist skills to the next level. No matter what your level of experience, there will be something at the FLI for you!

The workshops for this year's FLI will include:

• Training in media, fundraising, and advanced organizing techniques.
• Information on the structure and history of the women's movement.
• Discussions of the role of language and clothing in women's equality.

Learn more about the FLI and register online!

Texas State University
Kara Sweidel, a junior in Applied Sociology and FMLA co-founder at Texas State University, was honored with the Outstanding Student Award at Texas State's Women's History Awards Luncheon on March 2nd. Congratulations!

Marymount Manhattan College
The Marymount Manhattan FMLA, in addition to wrapping up the Vagina Monologues, finished a clothing drive for a local shelter recently. They've also begun a campaign to get condom dispensers in the bathrooms on their campus.

New FMLAs!
We would like to welcome FACE (Feminist Activists Creating Equality) of the University of Florida, and SAGE (Students Advocating Gender Equality) of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, both new affiliate groups, to the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance community!

Laura Heston, one of the Leadership Team members of FACE, notes the following activities that have made their semester a hit so far, "We helped host the first open mic night at a local feminist bookstore (the only one in Florida), Wild Iris. We gave an enlightening presentation at the Women's Leadership Conference entitled 'The F Word'. In the presentation we dispelled myths of feminists and feminism, discussed some issues and history, and then had all our participants draw their 'ideal feminist.'"

SAGE has done some amazing events this semester as well, including a well-attended "Teach In" on the status of women's reproductive rights in the U.S.

Remember the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Is your Women's Center handicap accessible? What about the auditorium where you hosted your last speaker? Remember that working to end discrimination of all kinds, a core feminist principle, includes avoiding any discrimination on the basis of disability. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you are hosting your meetings and events in venues that are accessible to all. For more information about the ADA visit the Dept. of Justice ADA Homepage.

US Withdraws Part of Controversial Amendment to Global Agreement
March 3, 2005-The US delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women today withdrew part of a controversial amendment but has so far still refused to reaffirm the Platform of Action on Women's Rights. The amendment would have stated that no new right to abortion was created through the women's rights platform, which was first established at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. However, the amendment still specifies that the platform "does not create any new international human rights." More

Kansas Attorney General Seeks Women's Abortion Records
March 2, 2005-Two clinics in Kansas are fighting attempts by Attorney General Phill Kline to subpoena unedited medical records of 90 women and girls who sought late-term abortions in 2003. Kline's attempt to force the release of private medical files began in secret last fall, according to the Kansas City Star. "I find the potential to reveal very personal health histories of women and girls extremely troubling," said Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D), according to the Knight Ridder. Although Kline claims that he needs these records in order to prosecute child rape, in a brief filed with the state Supreme Court the clinics called Kline's action a "fishing expedition," the New York Times reports. The age of legal consent in Kansas is 16, but Kline has also subpoenaed the records of women over the age of 16. More

Senate Holds Hearing on Previously Blocked Right-Wing Nominee
March 2, 2005-The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to consider the renomination of William Myers III for a seat on the Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals. Myers was one of seven judicial nominees resubmitted by Bush after having been blocked by Democratic filibusters. Myers was blocked for being what the committee's ranking democrat Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) calls "the most anti-environmental nominee sent to the Senate" as well as for past statements praising what he considers the Supreme Court's "retreat" from the protection of privacy, on which the rights to birth control and abortion rest. More

More Feminist News

Feminist Activists Increasingly Targeted By Extremists in Iraq
March 3, 2005-Prominent women's rights activists are increasingly being killed by Islamic extremists in Iraq. Twenty women have been killed in Mosul alone and a dozen more in Baghdad, reports Newsweek. As a result, women are living in fear, attendance by female students in school has declined, and more and more women are choosing to wear the hijab (headscarf) to avoid harassment and violence. Despite these challenges, 94 percent of Iraqi women want legal rights, according to a poll commissioned by Women for Women International. More

More Global Feminist News

Global Conference
The Feminist Majority Foundation's National Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference will be held on April 9, 10, & 11, 2005!

The goal of this conference is to educate and mobilize young people on a range of foreign policy issues and create a supportive network for progressive US foreign policy.

Join members of Congress and leaders from human rights, peace, environmental, anti-sweatshop, and women's groups on Saturday, April 9th and Sunday, April 10th from 9am-6pm for workshops including:

• "Who Dies to Make Your Shirt?": Globalization and its impact on labor, women's rights, child labor, the environment, and human rights.
• "We Talk the Talk, but We Don't Walk the Walk": The US failure to ratify international humanitarian and environmental treaties.
• "Trading Lives": The passage of international trade agreements and their impact on human rights, women's rights, wages, and the environment.
• "Where Are Our Dollars Going?": The federal budget and its funding of foreign aid, military, and family planning.

On the last day of the conference, Monday April, 11th, join us for a Congressional Visit Day. This will be a time for attendees to visit Capitol Hill and the offices of members of Congress.

What are you waiting for? Register Today!

Also, spread the word about the conference, with our NEW flyer! Fill in the blank with your own campus contact info. and organize a delegation from your campus.

• Highlight faculty and administrators on your campus that embody feminist ideals and strive to empower women in their daily work.
• Show films that showcase women's strength and power or emphasize women's role in history.
• There are many women who are making a huge difference on a global scale. Design a display board, perhaps a world map, which highlights women around the world and the countries/regions in which they are doing important activism and/or advocacy work.
• Table in a high-traffic area and ask people about strong women and/or important feminist influences in their lives.
• Approach a local establishment owner or campus hangout about holding a Women's History Month Trivia Bowl Night/Fundraiser.

Visit our Women's History Month webpage for more details about how to pull off these actions and much more!

Rise and Resist: Young Queer Women Do Activism
Submit a paper to be included in this new anthology!

This is a call for personal essays written by lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women (in their late teens to early thirties) on their participation in queer activism(s).The authors of the anthology want to create a snapshot of what young queer women are doing to resist the current oppressive political climate that engulfs our lives.

This is an outlet for the legacy of creative queer women's resistance and an offering of hope for future endeavors in queer activist struggles. Possible topics may include, but are certainly not limited to:

• How one became involved in queer activism/learning how to become an activist
• Everyday activism(s)
• Historical presence of activism
• What we've learned from lesbian separatism/the current place of lesbian separatism
• Queering the queer: bi and trans activisms
• Coalition-building politics
• Gender activism as queer activism
• Experiences in activist organizations/circles
• Activist families (chosen or biological)
• Support networks in queer activism
• The importance of street activism(s), radical activism(s), etc.
• Queer activism in this particular political climate

Submissions must be received by June 31, 2005
Send one hard copy of your submission to:
Maura Ryan
Department of Sociology
University of Florida, Turlington 3219
P.O. Box 117330
Gainesville, FL 32611

Find a feminist internship or post-graduate job!

Job Search Tips:

• Considering moving for a job? Find out the cost of living before you move. Average salaries vary from city to city.

Each issue will have new tips to help you succeed in finding a feminist internship or job. Have a great tip for this section? Submit it to campusteam@feminist.org!