Nobel Laureates Fight Sexual Assualt

By Gloria Feldt | May 25, 2011 |

My grandmother used to say: “The rich suffer too but they suffer in comfort.”

Apparently for the wealthy deposed IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, suffering in comfort won’t come easy. He has been denied the right to live in one comfortable NY apartment after another as a consequence of his alleged sexual assault upon a hotel maid.

Without making judgments about “DSK” who will soon enough have his day(s) in court, I take this shunning as a positive sign that the world is awakening to the dirty big secret of sexual abuse, which is almost always perpetrated by men against women they perceive as less powerful than themselves.

As further proof of this awakening, this week, Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, and Mairead Maguire are leading a conference to addresses sexual violence in conflict regions at the Nobel Women’s Initiative Conference. The conference is entitled Women Forging a New Security: Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict and includes over 120 leaders from around the world.

The highlight of the conference will be Thursday’s online day of action, which will seek to target governments and pressure them to give sexual violence the attention it deserves. The link provides several ways for women around the world to participate, and I would love to hear if any of you, Heartfeldt readers, take part.

I’m hoping that in light of the many kinds of sexual abuse, harassment, and just plain bad behavior that has dominated the media in the last few weeks, these influential Nobel Laureates will address a broader range of abuse issues than those that occur in areas of conflict, and will use their platform to connect the dots among the various ways sexual violence and harassment are used to maintain gender inequality.

You can also follow each day of this important event by following Feministe writer and author of Yes Means Yes, Jaclyn Friedman, as she live blogs about the event.

No one, rich or poor, should have to suffer the pain and indignity of sexual abuse.

Sex, Power, Irony, and Why Maria Shriver Will Be Back

By Gloria Feldt | May 20, 2011 |

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has put all his movie projects on hold, including one called “Cry Macho.”

Oh the irony of that title. Let me get him a hanky so Mr. Macho himself doesn’t douse those phallic cigars he puffs on with his tears.

There’s also a yummy irony in the fact that the woman who brought down this powerful man is near the bottom rung of social power, a household worker. Sexual hubris and belief in their own entitlement to whatever they want whenever they want it, including women’s bodies…Are these men like babies who think people can’t see them when they have blankets over their heads?

[Video] Wonder Woman Again Puts Political Into Personal Media Images

By Gloria Feldt | March 20, 2011 |

Wonder Woman: who she is has morphed many times during her seven decades of existence. Depending on who was in control of her image, and what role the prevailing culture wanted women to play in society, she has been a superhero and a boutique owner, her muscles and attire symbolic of strength and courage and of bombshell sexiness. This latest documentary being developed by filmmakers Kristy Guevara-Flanagan & Kelcey Edwards, is called The History of the Universe as Told by Wonder Woman. It’s a project worth supporting–which you can do here.

How Can Women Reach Parity in Elected Office?

By Gloria Feldt | March 15, 2011 |

I just finished recording this Blogtalk Radio program “Feisty Side of Fifty” hosted by the wonderful Eileen Williams. The other guest was Terry Nagel, currently mayor of Burlingame CA, now running for San Mateo County Supervisor–a woman who walks her talk.

Feisty Side of Fifty Blogtalk Radio 3/15/11

Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts on Eileen’s main question: How can the U.S. get more women in elected office?

“It’s Her Choice” – Really?

By Gloria Feldt | March 7, 2011 |

Thanks to Ann Crittenden for submitting this guest post, which was originally published at Moms Rising Ann shows that the politics and personal aspects of motherhood are very intertwined. Be sure to check out Ann’s book The Price of Motherhood for a more in depth look.

I was struck recently by the persistence of an old argument used to kill the Fair Pay Act – and every other measure that would make life easier for mothers. You know it by heart: many women “choose” to earn less than men, and if they choose to earn less, then what’s the big deal about a little wage inequality?

This so-called “choice” argument can be superficially persuasive. Most women probably do prefer cleaner, relatively lower-paying jobs. Most women would rather be beauticians than coal miners, art teachers than mechanics. (Although this begs the question why teachers and beauticians earn so much less than mechanics and miners). Women working full-time often work fewer hours (for pay) than full-time working men. And in recent surveys, far more working women than men say they would prefer to work part-time.

Women, in short, are different from men. They’re just not as into dirt, long hours and making money. Maybe they are just …. more French!

But before you buy into this one, remember that those who benefit from the status quo always attribute inequities to the choices of the underdog. And women are still underdogs in the job market. Women working 40 hours a week still earn 86 cents for every dollar a man earns, a bigger gap than in many developed countries with more family-friendly policies. But if American women accept this willingly, then there’s nothing to worry about. It’s their choice. No one “made them do it.” So no one has to do anything about it.

What Do Academy Awards and Women’s History Month Have in Common?

By Gloria Feldt | March 3, 2011 |

No, I’m not talking about Melissa Leo’s use of that other-than-feminism “f-bomb” at the Academy Awards last Sunday evening. I want to compare two of this year’s Oscar winners and how they illustrate the way women’s history is told—or not.

For Afghan Women, “Finding Voice” Is a Revolutionary Act

By Guest | February 6, 2011 |

As Egypt continues to roil with change and I receive news daily about the UN Commission on the Status of Women 55th session that will convene in New York starting February 22, my No Excuses focus on women in the U.S. is shifting to global mode. And when my fabulous feminist journalist friend Lynn Harris told me about her work with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, I immediately asked if I could share it with you. Please read her post below, let us know your thoughts, and if you’re moved to action you’ll find out how you can help.

Video: Women, Power, Media, Politics Panel Leaves Questions Unanswered

By Gloria Feldt | February 1, 2011 |

Yesterday the New York Times reported that women constitute a mere 13% of Wikipedia editors. This is a completely self-selected effort. No closed doors, no glass ceilings.

What’s the problem? There are no excuses, though many reasons remain for this disparity–not unlike the behaviors of women in politics (or not), in business, and women in top media positions.

I had the opportunity to moderate (if one can call it that) a panel of fabulous women at the 92Y Sunday 1/23. It was icy outside but The Nation columnist Katha Pollitt, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY 18), and Rebecca Traister, author of the Big Girls Don’t Cry, warmed things up quickly inside.

How Can Women Reach Political Parity in a Chaotic Time?

By Gloria Feldt | January 20, 2011 |

You know I believe chaos is opportunity. But are women carpe-ing the chaos? With all those groups helping women run for office, why aren’t we moving the dial toward political parity faster? At the rate we’re going, it’ll take us 70 years to get there. And even if we do, will it be a plus or a cruel joke if, say, Michelle Bachmann becomes the first woman president? Isn’t it time for progressive women to come out of the closet and acknowledge that a women’s agenda is more important than her gender?

I’m excited to have a chance to ask questions like these about women, power, media, and politics of three of the most politically savvy women I know at the 92Y in New York this coming Sunday night 1/23, at 7:30 pm. You are most cordially invited.

Giffords Tragedy: What’s the Message to Young Women?

By Gloria Feldt | January 10, 2011 |

I wrote this article as an exclusive to the Women’s Media Center, and reprint it here with permission. It can’t begin to describe the pain in my heart for those killed or injured, their families and extended networks of friends.

When an angry young man aimed his semiautomatic handgun at Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a Tucson Safeway store on Saturday, he didn’t just critically wound her and kill or wound 19 others. He fired a shot through the heart of American democracy.

It will fall to rising leaders like Giffords—and girls like nine-year-old Christina Green, killed by the assailant’s gunfire just days after she was elected to her school’s student council—to transform our political community to one where differences can be debated safely and policies decided without fear for anything but re-election prospects.

I feel a deeply personal connection to those horrendous events that occurred during the latest “Congress on Your Corner” public meeting the third-term Democratic congresswoman has held routinely in her district. Though I was witnessing them from New York, I’m a resident of Scottsdale, 120 miles north of Tucson, and from 1978 to 1996 was CEO of Planned Parenthood in Arizona. I know the state’s wild-west politics quite well. And I’m so familiar with violent extremist attacks upon reproductive health providers that my first reaction was to swing reflexively into “how can I keep colleagues safe and courageous” mode.

Ironically, a moment before the carnage, I was urging Arizona Democratic party activists via Facebook to stop arguing about arcane party rules and get on with fixing the state: to stand firm against roiling bigotry toward immigrants, slashing public education funds while advancing legislation to allow guns in schools, and other retrograde policies that threaten to make the state an object of derision throughout the country.

Almost immediately after the shootings, I received messages inviting me to a candlelight vigil at the state Capitol. It’s important for people to come together to share their grief while they are absorbing the reality of an unspeakable crime.

But as important as a candlelight vigil might be to heal the rips in our individual souls, healing the social fabric requires infinitely stronger threads.

Gender