...and we're back!

Good afternoon ladies!! Hope you all had a great break... I know we've been back for over a week, but I'm sure you would agree that it has been a bit stressful jumping back into the middle of the semester. The work is piling!

So, today on the subway I finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, a fictional narrative by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston began to gain recognition during the Harlem Renaissance, and this book was the first significant feminist novel in Afro-American tradition. With that said, I leave you with a particularly beautiful quote that struck me while reading- it is the main character's response to a derogatory comment made by her husband:

"Naw, Ah ain't no young gal no mo' but den Ah ain't no old woman neither. Ah reckon Ah looks my age too. But Ah'm uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat's uh whole lot more'n you kin say."

Cheers to that! I hope as young ladies we can all aspire to have the same attitude someday.


P.S. If you haven't already, read Hurston!

Uncommonly Lethal

Everyday, the news bring us stories of terrorists and suicide bombers, who all hold one thing in common; they are male. Today BBC news has reported a story; "Female Bomber Kills 6 in Iraq." Gender-biased as it may be, I have never really thought about women in the role of suicide bomber. Reading the article made me chilly, and it is disturbing to say the least. The anonymous martyr is the eighth woman in Iraq to do it, this year. One reason for the increase, is the ability, for women to more easily hide things under their clothes. You may not be as taken aback by this article as I was... but what do you think??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7304444.stm


**P.S. It has been my observation that almost no comments are being made to the posts!! This is a forum for young women to discuss! I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity and open the dialogue!!

Hmm...

As I am sure you are all aware, Eliot Spitzer resigned from his post as governor this afternoon. The reason for this was of course, the $80,000 tab that he racked up on prostitutes. While on the treadmill yesterday, I caught "Hot Topics" brought to us by none other than, the ladies of The View. During their discussion they brought up the significance of Spitzer's "apology" and presence of his wife at his side, through the press conferences. If any of you have seen clips of these, you'll notice the unmistakable sadness in her eyes. It's truly painful to witness. Whoopi and the girls talked about why they thought Mrs. Spitzer was standing by her husband. Perhaps she feels a sense of loyalty, wants to avoid her own media attention, she's being strong for her daughters... there are a million reasons why and we can only speculate. But what do you think? ...and would you be able to/ want to do the same??

Look who's in the news today....

MMC's own VIP alum.

Interesting comments that she made... let's discuss!

March 10

Ladies (and gentlemen?) today, March 10, is National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. (Yes, I know it sounds made up, but according to Planned Parenthood, "March 10 is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. David Gunn, the first abortion provider murdered. It is a day to remember and honor Dr. Gunn and others who put their lives on the line daily to make reproductive choice possible. Without abortion providers, there can be no "choice."")

Today we should remember Margaret Sanger who made so many advancements in the field of birth control. In fact, she started the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood. She received lots of opposition during her time, but she held fast to her beliefs.

Thank you, Margaret Sanger, for being such an Uncommon Women and making the world what it is today.

Tragic

This came in an e-mail I got from NOW...

"Last month the Tri-City Herald in Washington State printed a letter from a 13-year-old girl that said,

"I think that having a woman president would be a bad idea for our country. Women are not meant to rule countries and be in charge."

In a country where sexism is so acceptable that a newspaper thought it was fine to print a letter saying women couldn't lead and a 13-year-old girl was taught that women aren't capable of being president, we are fortunate to have Hillary Clinton, a capable, smart, and confident woman demonstrating that women can lead.

She has gone further in her race for the White House than any other woman before her. Make no mistake, Hillary's way was paved by Victorial Woodhull, Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, Patricia Schroeder, Carol Moseley-Braun, and others. And now Hillary is paving the way for countless more women to run."

Click on the link that goes to the letter....it's pretty tragic that some people--little girls, especially, think that. This is what we are trying to change.

Rivalry

Very often I think about the close friends I have that are female; I'll be honest they are in small numbers. I have always credited that fact with just getting along better with males... sometimes brushing it off as a personality flaw. But I would be lying to say that I haven't observed the same "flaw" in other women... including within my small group of friends. So without rambling... I was reading this month's "HOT TOPIC" in Harper's Bazaar, that addressed this very issue! In fact, it confirmed that my observations in others of the same sex, are valid! The column is written by Philippa Gregory, the author of The Other Boleyn Girl. She blames our difficulties communicating with one another and sustaining relationships, on our innate tendency for rivalry. I try everyday to be a good friend whatever that may entail, to my girlfriends, but know I am not always successful. She includes humorous how-to tips on avoiding cattiness and being the best women we can be! I urge you all to pick up the March issue of Bazaar, and check it out!

P.S. What are your thoughts??

Updates

Love this BLOG! These topics are awesome to read and better than watching the Today show in the morning.  Way to go ladies!

side note:  "Hey guys! Guys, look at this" hmm...the universal term for a group is guys.  Is this because Women have been given equal status as Men or the other way around?

NEWS!!!

Uncommon Women Bake Sale Today in the NUG 1130-1 BE THERE

Male Voice Auditions at 11am outside of Room 702 We will have sides for you

Tickets go on sale Monday! 

Please E mail UncommonWomenMMC@gmail.com with your name and the number of tickets, you will receive a confirmation E Mail

There are limited tickets for each show, get them fast!

Dates and Times are:

Friday March 28 330 RP Room

Sat March 29 330 8th Floor

Sun March 30 2pm R P Room

"Hillary, Buckeye Girl"

If Hillary Clinton were a state, she’d be Ohio.

This is just a funny little op-ed piece about Hillary/Barack and Ohio. It's quite chuckle-inducing...I would suggest giving it a read.

It talks about some interesting points though... calling Hillary's the "anti-glamor" campaign, and saying that if it weren't for the fact that she is going against Barack Obama, that she would have walked away with the nomination long ago.

What do you all think about this?

"Guys"

I was thinking last night about something that strikes me every so often... The transition between being called a "girl" and a "woman" is very different from that of "boy" to man." Males have a transitional label that females don't..."guy." I feel like women are called "girls" for much longer than men are called "boys." It just made me wonder why that is. I suppose we had "chick" once, but now that's sort of pejorative. Funny how yesterday's endearments are today's insults--"babe" can be one, "doll" is almost definitely one (my brother called my mom that once and boy was there a scene!).

Can I just not think of the female equivalent of "guy" or do we think that there really isn't one?

Alice

PS. Something I just learned: in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" the word "girlies" was used to mean both boys and girls, and "harlot" was used to mean a man. Hm.... I wonder what else we can find about shifting meanings of words...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/magazine/02sex3-t.html?ex=1205038800&en=3e43d392424fe756&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Hey guys, It's a long article, but worth a read: "Teaching Boys and Girls Separately" about single-six public education. Let us know what you think!

Woman Behind the Blog

Having been a fan of Wasserstein for quite some time, I needed little reinforcement of my admiration for her. However, I came across this quote written about her shortly after her death. She was and remains a true role model for all women.

"She was known for being a popular, funny playwright, but she was also a woman and a writer of deep conviction and political activism," Mr. Bishop said. "In Wendy's plays women saw themselves portrayed in a way they hadn't been onstage before — wittily, intelligently and seriously at the same time... She was a real pioneer."

The Female Influence on Power

"Hillary was so busy trying to prove she could be one of the boys — getting on the Armed Services Committee, voting to let W. go to war in Iraq, strong-arming supporters and donors, and trying to out-macho Obama — that she only belatedly realized that many Democratic and independent voters, especially women, were eager to move from hard-power locker-room tactics to a soft-power sewing circle approach."

I am aware that this strays a little from the article that was posted earlier, but I felt it was nonetheless worth sharing. Without bringing my own political beliefs into this, I just wanted to comment on the irony of the above statement. Hillary is the first woman to run for president, and yet her lack of sensitivity and femininity is what has hurt her campaign the most. Though Barack Obama is male, it seems as though he has captured that softer, more female approach and found a way to use it in his fight for candidacy. This got me thinking. In a typical workplace/office setting, sensitivity expressed by a woman and the exposure of "feminine behavior" in high level positions is viewed poorly (in most cases). These women are perceived as being "weak" and many times incapable of moving farther up the professional ladder. I find irony in the fact that as a nation, the public is more forgiving receptive of a man who exhibits the same qualities, and while he's campaigning for the most powerful position our country has to offer! What are your thoughts? Where do we find a balance, and when is it more advantageous?

Click here for the rest of the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/opinion/24dowd.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=quien%20es%20less%20macho&st=nyt

New York Times

Hey everybody, here are some articles I found on the New York Times website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/fashion/17celeb.html?scp=2&sq=girls+will+be+girls&st=nyt

It's all about the difference in tabloid attention that male and female celebrities attract.

"Ms. Roy said that troubled male stars like Robert Downey Jr. are encouraged to move past problems to a second act in their careers, while the personal battles of women like Lindsay Lohan or the late Anna Nicole Smith are often played for maximum entertainment value.

“With men, there’s an emphasis on, ‘he had this issue, but he’s getting over it,’ ” Ms. Roy said. “But with women, it’s like they keep at it, keep at it. It’s almost like taking the wings off of a fly.”"

This one is really great, "Girls Will Be Girls"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10wwln-lede-t.html?scp=1&sq=girls+will+be+girls&st=nyt

I think it really speaks to what "Uncommon Women and Others" is about.... what does it mean to be a girl? And it also brings the issue into the 21st century.... how is this different from what it means to be a boy?

Check 'em out, they're not that long.

Lets discuss!
Alice

Welcome to Uncommon  Women!

This Blog is a Forum for Current Events dealing with the issues discussed in Wendy Wasserstein's play Uncommon Women and Others....as well as anything else we want.

Let's go!