New Pink Power

Time to take a political stand for women?

Some things I find incomprehensible. That all of a sudden in this country we have to fear politicians taking away our rights. That we are even having the conversation about access to contraceptives. That women are in essence raped by the state forcing them to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound in order to have an abortion. That politicians all of a sudden have become all Taliban on us. What is next? Will they force us to cover our faces and bodies? But nothing shocks me more than to see that some of the people behind these ideas are also women. How can that be? For a woman to support any of this is unacceptable. How can she look at her friends, mother and daughters, see how far they have become and stand for these violations? Maybe it is time to take a stand. Time for women to really stand together to ensure these cavemen don't take us back to the middle ages. Is it time for someone like Hillary Clinton maybe to take a stand and for all of us to stand behind her? Read more at http://nyti.ms/yWH5Y5.

Moroccan teen forced to marry rapist commits suicide

How outrageous is this? A young girl is raped and on top of the violation she is forced to marry her rapist to "clean" the family's honor.  When will cultures stop believing that the family's honor lies inside the body of women rather than in important matters like education, respect for ourselves and for others, hard work, etc?  That is the true meaning of honor. Working hard to become better people and better members of a community, not using women and especially young girls as items that can be used, controlled, and discarded. 

Are some of our societies causing girls to feel that they are better dead?  The answer is sadly yes! It is important to notice however the work of the Morocco's Democratic League for Women's Rights working  hard now to change the laws that force girls to marry their rapists.

Read more about the Moroccan teen forced to marry her rapist who committed suicide.

 

Women don't have ambition? Really?

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO attributes the lack of equality in the workplace to women's lack of ambition.

“Until women are as ambitious as men, they’re not going to achieve as much as men.” – Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

This is such an unfair representation. Are there women who don't have ambition? of course! the same way that there are men with no ambition.  But to characterize the inequality and injustice that women face in the workplace as our own fault, is going a little to far. 

Let's see...

• We go to work knowing that we will have to work harder than men to even be noticed
• Knowing we will be paid less than a man to do similar jobs.
• Knowing that we will see other people be promoted continuosly with no achievement over us other than having the right gender.
•  Knowing that for every sign of leadership and courage - any attribute celebrated in men - we will be labeled "a B".
• Knowing that there is a glass ceiling that apparently can only be broken if we have the right mentor.
• Knowing that we will juggle all this while being moms, wives, daughters and keeping our households running.

 If  this is not a sign of ambition, frankly I don't know what is. Anyone that manages to work and succeed under this circumstances has nothing BUT ambition!

 

Do you think you are too old to go after your dreams?

This thought has crossed my mind at some points in my life.  At 44, I now find myself working on my second master degree and although I did wonder for a while if I was too old to go back to school with 3 kids at home under the age of 12, a husband, a small business to run, and well.. did I mention I am 44? I have to say that this is the best decision I have made in a long time. It has been a breath of fresh air. It has given me an opportunity to learn a whole new field, to re-activate my brain, and basically to start planning the next 40 years of my life.

It wasn't until recently however, that I realized that our understanding of "age" has changed a lot. Look at Frances Hesselbein for example.  She is 96 years old. Yes! 96! and she is the CEO of the Peter Drucker Foundation. Now called the Leader to Leader Institute and soon to be renamed "The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute".  So if France can be CEO at 96, I think the sky is the limit and those of us who question whether we can go after our dreams at 40 or 50 or 90 for that matter, should stop and realize that the whole definition of "age" has forever changed. Women like Frances are an inspiration.  Read Frances hesselbein's story. Buy her book at Amazon.

Miss Representation - A film exposing how the media erodes female self-worth!

A documentary revealing the damage mainstream media does to women! In a film directed by Jennifer Siebel Newson, she exposes how American media erodes female self-worth. How TV, Film, and Web content teach us that our worth is based on our desirability. How women leaders are trivialized, and how Hollywood green-lights few female protagonists especially if the role does not involve landing a man.

Watch Miss representation's official trailer below. And then look for a screening near you.

How craiglist enabled sex slavery!

Much has been said about how Craiglist being forced to shut down their adult services section was a violation of the first amendment.  When you look at it from the outside, you may agree with that statement, until you dig a little and realize that Craiglist was a major venue for the trading of young girls for sex. Did you know that about 100,000 girls are traded for sex annually in the United States? and the majority of them are trafficked by pimps online. And unfortunately Craiglist had become the wal mart of the child sex trade in America.

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights was founded to advocate for justice, dignity and policy reform for vulnerable women and girls in the United States and in Africa. They believe that women and girls possess the right to live free of gendered inequity and violence, and that investment in their leadership creates healthy, safe, and strong communities.  Learn more about the Rebecca project at http://www.rebeccaproject.org/index.php.

So while some people may focus on the fact that this may look like a violation of the first amendment. I personally feel that if it somehow limits the ability of some pimp to trade young girls for sex, it should be lauded.  As a society we have an obligation to - at the very least - protect vulnerable girls from sex abuse even if we don't do more to help them become useful members of society.

 

Helping Women Survivors of War Rebuild their Lives

Women for Women International intends to change the world one woman at a time.  It provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.

Women for Women International works with socially excluded women in eight countries where war and conflict have devastated lives and communities. They enroll women in a one-year program, and provide them with job skills and business training so they can earn a living. They come to understand their rights and how to fight for those rights in their homes, their communities and their nations and become leaders.

Get Involved. Help a woman survivor of war rebuild her life. To make a donation go to https://mywomenforwomen.org/donation/donate-now.php?wfw=webgen

 

 

Climb Wyoming - Providing Free Training and Job Placement to Singe Mothers

Did you know that In Wyoming:

• Nearly half of the families living in poverty are headed by single mothers
• Almost half of the babies are born to mothers on medicaid
• Women earn an average of 60 cents for every dollar earned by men creating the largest wage disparity in the nation

An Non-Profit organization is trying to change that.  The uniquely comprehensive CLIMB program model was developed in 1986 to help move single mothers out of poverty - permanently. The program has helped over 1000 families reach self-sufficiency to date, the effects of which will be felt for generations.

To meet Wyoming's workforce needs, the CLIMB programs are helping women enter construction and energy trades as well health care, office careers and more.

The basis of the model is a job training and placement program – but there is more to permanent life change than finding a job. Other skills are needed – skills that ensure successful relationships on the job and in the home. Core to the model are mental health services that address personal barriers that have impeded success in the past.

They operate through grants and donations. We can all help.  To make a donation, go to http://climbwyoming.org/support.html.

 

 

Isabel Allende Tells Tales of Passion

I just finished listening to the short speech by Isabel Allende.  It is so wonderful to hear more women delivering the message that we all need to deliver: how the empowerment of women can change the world.  In her own words: "we need to make the world good. Not better! Good!".   See the video here. It only takes 17 minutes of your time.  After that, please share this page with your friends.

Getting Girls into School

We all want more children around the world to go to school.  But did you know that most of the benefits that accompany increased education are attributable to girls, who use their schooling more productively than boys?  Women in the developing world who have had some education share their earnings; men keep a third to a half for themselves.  Yet, 60% of the kids OUT of schools are girls.  And in some areas in the world, only 1 out of 5 get any education at all. When girls go to school, they marry later and have fewer healthy children.  With 5 years of education, her child has a 40 % better chance of living to age 5.  Some studies even indicate that a girl with education is 3 timess less likely to contract HIV/AIDS. Donor nations are increasingly reaching the consensus that global education, especially for girls, is the key to development.  But the main problem is not only funding, but changing the culture in parts of the developing world.  Parents will need to understand that in the long run, their families will be better off if girls get educated. Watch the video on the Girl Effect at http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/