The National Association for the Advancement of Female People Club (NAAFP) has been meeting at the high school level this year. It has been difficult to increase our membership to include more girls at all grade levels in the high school. We have been discussing improvements that can be made and have come up with several. We are still going to meet Tuesdays at lunchtime, but the meetings will be at a more central location at the high school and also on the ground floor rather than several levels up. We will also place meeting announcements in the girls’ restrooms next to the mirrors where they will be noticed! We’re hoping we will get increased attendance by making these small changes. There are many topics that can be addressed that the girls have put on the table, and fund-raising activities which would help girls and women in the community. Maybe we will have a dynamic NAAFP Club during the 2010-2011 school year. Hopefully, there are many other clubs in schools around the country that are addressing issues of importance to girls and women who need our help to maintain their dignity and self-confidence against magazines, music and movies that send negative messages. Start one at your school!
Brave Movie Critics
May 14th, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerBravo to A.O. Scott of the New York Times who is stepping up to the plate to discuss obscene levels of violence in movies such as Kick Ass that are marketed to young people (Sunday April 18, 2010). Our society needs to address violence and hate that are prevalent in movies and video games. We also need to address the profanity that dumbs down our communication. Parents who allow their children to watch and play this type of media are not being responsible parents. It’s easy to buy a computer and/or TV for your kid’s bedroom and say go watch TV. The kids are just indoctrinated with hate, violence and are desensitized to real emotions. A.O. Scott should be applauded for writing about this troubling aspect of our “culture”…just more gratuitous violence that ignores real human emotions. The NAAFP hopes that everyone who is concerned about this issue will write to the movie studios and NOT support these types of movies. Also, write to your local movie critics and ask them to speak up about this important subject. Our children deserve better and more positive movies!
Another Woman Supreme Court Nominee!
May 10th, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerHooray for President Obama-he just nominated Elena Kagan for justice of the Supreme Court! If she is confirmed, there will be THREE women justices. This is wonderful news for the entire country. Females are the majority of the population, so it is about time we had more representation on the Supreme Court. Good luck, Ms. Kagan. The NAAFP is hoping you are confirmed as soon as possible!
Belated Happy Mothers’ Day!
May 10th, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerIt’s never too late to tell all the moms out there “Thank You” for doing so much for us every day. We should honor moms who step up and speak out against sexism and disrespect. It is important to take a stand as a mom so your children will learn your values and how to be kind to others and productive citizens in society. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a mom who did just that. She wrote many speeches and constantly pointed out inequlities that women had to bear in society while advocating forcefully for the women’s right to vote. As part of National Women’s Suffrage Day, students would be educated about all the intelligent, brave women who fought against convention and helped women obtain their rights to be full participants in the elecoral process! Where do you start in getting a National Women’s Suffrage Day passed? I’ll do some research and find out. Meanwhile, give your mom a hug, and help future generations of boys and girls study Women’s History by talking to teachers, curriculum specialists and legislators to get this day as part of the school year calendar! Maybe the fourth Tuesday in March, since March 8 is International Women’s Day. Then, the month could be focused on prominent women when studying history!
Crazy “Culture”
April 27th, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerThese are unfortunate times for culture in the USA. Our news is saturated with how people stoop to new lows-it could be an NFL quarterback stalking and assaulting young women, or some cinematic ultra-violent 11 year-old female spewing obscenities, or elderly women calling themselves Ho’s on reality TV. Where are the thoughtful, mature people? You can be a mature 20 year old or a mature 70 year old. It’s not impossible to be playful and love life and still have some dignity. It would be terrific if the media would promote higher forms of entertainment. It is possible to make movies with interesting characters that don’t have to be violent or belch every five seconds to try to be funny. Please encourage movie/TV producers and writers to put some class back in the content of their shows and do NOT patronize tacky and violent movies/TV. The NAAFP encourages you to help our culture take the high road and help get it out of the sewer!
Courageous Men
April 8th, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerAre there any courageous men who will speak up for Women’s Rights in this day and age? Yes-you can count them on one hand, but that’s better than none! Just as William Lloyd Garrison, the abolistionist, who sat with the women at the anti-slavery convention held in London in 1840 (the women, who had worked so hard to free the slaves were told to sit behind a partition and not allowed to speak), there are some men who speak up for women today. Bob Herbert and Nicholas Kristof, the columnists for the New York Times, have spoken against the poor treatment of women and girls. Tony Hicks, a columnist for the Contra Costa Times (and father of daughters), just wrote a column for the April 4, 2010 edition against the awful Japanese videogame, Rapelay that was described on the CNN website. Thank you to men everywhere who are brave enough to speak out against misogyny in all its forms. Jackson Katz, Thomas Keith, and Byron Hurt have created films for the Media Education Foundation that condemn the way various forms of media disrespect women and girls. Please follow their example, and teach your sons (and daughters) that treating females with respect and speaking up against violence is the right thing to do!
Not An April Fool’s Joke
April 3rd, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerThe past week has been an unfortunate one for women and girls, and for human beings who are concerned with our “culture” in the USA. Last Saturday there was an op-ed piece in the New York Times by David Elkind entitled “Playtime is Over” about schools hiring recess coaches because children do not know how to take turns or play together in a civil manner. Also, due to bullying, a young high school girl killed herself last January, and the teenagers who were the bullies have been charged with felonies including statutory rape. There was a story on CNN’s website about a videogame in Japan called RapeLay where you get points to try to get a bunch of your pals to sexually assault girls…the article said in Japan even child porn is legal. I feel like trading in my Japanese- brand car, and getting all of my friends to follow suit! I know, that’s a dream, but it’s a nice thought! There is a new movie out starring Miley Cyrus who is a star for little girls, and although the movie is rated PG, it uses the term b**** in it. You see how our society is sinking to the lowest common denominator…OK, not as low as Japan, but when are people going to wake up and not purchase tickets to movies that demean women and girls? I heard there is also domestic violence in this movie as well-why isn’t it rated PG-13? People get up in arms about characters smoking cigarettes in movies-where’s the public outrage about sending 8 year-olds to movies that depict men hitting women and using the term b****? Our daughters/grandaughters deserve better treatment! There is a new story on CNN about a group of men in New Jersey who assaulted a 15 year-old girl and her 7 year- old sister! Girls and women deserve to live in a world free of disrespect and violence. When are MEN and BOYS going to actually have some courage and speak out about treating women and girls with respect. Don’t they have mothers, sisters wives and daughters who deserve a better society?
Facing Reality
March 31st, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerAs Women’s History Month draws to a close, there are a couple of encouraging signs that the issue of sexism in America is tip-toeing into the conversation again. In Newsweek magazine (the March 29 issue) there is an informative article on Women and Power that tells of the female reporters’ plight at the news magazine in 1970 and today. The statistics are somewhat disheartening when you think of how well females do in school only to be held back by gender bias when they land a job. This isn’t only in the field of journalism! The global Gender Gap Index-a ranking of women’s educational, health, political and financial standing by the World Econmic Forum-found that from 2006 to 2009 the U.S. had fallen from 23rd to 31st, behind Cuba and just ahead of Namibia! Read the article in Newsweek for more astounding statistics on how poorly females are treated in our society. Susan Douglas has written a new book called Enlightened Sexism which is a term she uses to describe how our culture uses a few high-profile success stories to mask persistent inequality. I just bought the book and it sounds fascinating! The NAAFP is very aware of the disrespect for women and girls in America. Please read the Newsweek article and read Enlightened Sexism by Susan Douglas-and start taking action-sound off about the discriminatory way our culture treats women and girls!
International Women’s Day
March 23rd, 2010 by Diane Bell-RettgerGreetings to all females and males who realize the importance of International Women’s Day. I have just returned to the USA from Europe and Asia, and believe me, Women’s Rights is a very hot issue in Europe and especially Asia, where many women are still treated as property. I hope that women in the United States as well as other western cultures appreciate the freedom we have, and not take it for granted. It was interesting reading newspapers and watching the news in different parts of the world. Women were very vocal about economic empowerment at a meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Women in India were campaigning for the right to have at least a one-third female representation in their government. It seems that many western women are not as engaged in politics or economic issues as women overseas. It is refreshing to hear women speak up about issues that affect them and their families. The NAAFP believes women deserve respect and fair treatment in the workplace and on the homefront. It would be terrific if western media would give these issues the same importance as Tiger Wood’s interviews!