Employ Every Medium
Fierce and Female: A Self-Defense Expert Challenges Women To Define What is Non-Negotiable
We often think of power as being a concept that is disembodied and theoretical. But it’s also very physical.
I previously posted here about Ellen Snortland, whose book, Beauty Bites Beast, about the psychological value as well as the physical importance of women becoming proficient at self-defense I always recommend to my students when I teach Women, Power, and Leadership.
Now comes Dr. Ruthless with yet more practical tools for what she refers to as the “Killer Instinct…to preserve and protect life.” And, she says, women need to forge their fear into fire. Read on…and share your experiences with physical fear and strength.
Q&A With Dr. Ruthless on her “Dharma of Defense” and Why we Must Venerate the Warrior Spirit
What happens when you combine primal self-defense methods with the insights of a psychotherapist and the heart of a warrior?
Meet Dr. Ruthless, also known as Melissa Soalt. An award-winning women’s self-defense expert and Black Belt Hall of Fame recipient, Dr. Ruthless emerged at the forefront of the women’s self defense movement in the mid 1980’s and has created her own “Dharma of Defense.” You can see her in action in her acclaimed DVD, Fierce & Female.
Her teachings encompass the physical and spiritual dimensions of self-defense. She unabashedly advocates for women to leverage their Killer Instinct —not for the sake of destruction, but to preserve and protect life. In this interview, Dr. Ruthless shares her perspective on the female warrior spirit and why we must learn to mobilize our survival instinct and forge fear into fire.
Brooke Axtell: What attracted you to training in self-defense and teaching other women how to defend themselves?
Dr. Ruthless: In my late teens, I lived in the Middle East and traveled around Asia. I was attacked multiple times and violently groped. I learned I was a scrappy bitch. I successfully fought off rape attempts in Israel and Pakistan and I suffered a lot of indignities. Women who have been violated know what it’s like to be reduced to anti-matter. It’s utterly dehumanizing. I also witnessed appalling inequities, the ways women are controlled by men. This birthed my undying reverence for female disobedience and the need for women’s self defense.
Read MoreShe's doing It: Catherine Engh Wants More Female Characters Like Leslie Knopes
Catherine Engh is a feminist and an aspiring writer particularly interested in the ways that girls and women are represented in fiction and television. She wrote this piece for 9 Ways–it’s a great example of No Excuses Power Tool # 8: Employ Every Medium. Plus there are some useful tips on how to be a media activist.
Catherine also likes to do as much yoga as is possible–perhaps she’ll write about that next.
Why Television Needs more Leslie Knopes
Recently, I couldn’t help but notice that many of my favorite television shows are about men. Don Draper, Nucky Thompson, Walter White, Hank Moody and Vincent Chase are just a few male lead roles that come to mind.
It is not news that stories about the identity struggles of white men sell. Thus, they are more commonly aired than shows that explore women’s lives and choices. Though women are more likely to watch entertainment programming than men, the majority of those involved with television creation are male. Women’s Media Center reported that in the 2010-2011 year,
Read MoreShe's Doing It: Women's Media Center Honorees in the Spotlight
Honoree and CBS News Chief Foreign Corespondent Lara Logan talks courageously about being assaulted in Tehrir Square with WMC’s founding president Carol Jenkins.
Read More“Employ very medium” is No Excuses Power Tool #8, and the honorees of the Women’s Media Center first ever Media Awards gala fundraising event November 30 lead the way. I’ll post the video that event chair and filmmaker extraordinaire Donna Deitch created for the event when it’s available, so please check back for it. Meanwhile, here is Marianne Schnall’s first hand report about the evening, originally posted here on the WMC blog.
I’m proud to serve on the board of an organization that is tackling one of the most important issues of the day with the big vision of making women visible and powerful in the media.
Check out the WMC’s Facebook album if you’d like to see more pictures from the Media Awards, including Arianna Huffington, Sheryl Sandberg, Business Media Award Recipient Maggie Wilderotter, Carol Jenkins Young Journalist Award Recipient Yanique Richards, and many others!
Friday Round Up: The Revolution Must Be Funded Edition
While there was plenty of political intrigue and sex scandal dominating the news this past
[caption id="attachment_6847" align="alignright" width="237" caption="Courtney Martin"]
[/caption]
week, the most provocative article I read was Courtney Martin’s “’You Are the NOW of Now!’ The Future of (Online) Feminism.”
Courtney, a leading young feminist writer and an editor of Feministing.com, last year
Read MoreShe's Doing It: Brooke Axtell – Employing Every Medium to Break The Silence of Sexual Abuse
“Isolation is an illusion. So many of us have suffered through violence against our bodies, souls and minds. I hope that by sharing my story and what I’ve learned through recovery, women will be inspired to break open their own silences. Suffering can be the seed of awakening. When we awaken, we encourage others to do the same.”
You may have heard of the name Brooke Elise Axtell through her wonderful work as an artist and activist to eradicate sexual abuse. If not, I predict you will very soon.
A survivor of sexual assault, abuse and domestic minor sex-trafficking, Brooke uses the power of her beautiful and passionate voice through her numerous talents to bring her own healing message to others.
She is not only a musician and an award-winning writer but through powerful, multi-media presentations, she has a unique way of articulating the importance of feminist leadership in changing how culture deals with sexual abuse. Brooke’s work is an inspiring example of No Excuses Power Tool #8, Employ every Medium. And she is the focus of this week’s She’s Doing It.
See Brooke in this appearance with MyFoxAustin sharing her story.
Read MoreFriday Round Up: DADT Away Yay! Edition
About 40 years ago, someone close to me told me she was involved with another woman and asked me how I felt about that. “I don’t know,” I replied. That was my honest answer at the time. You see, this “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) business has been around for a long time. Nobody asked, nobody told, nobody really talked at all about sexual orientation with me as a heterosexual woman, and certainly not in the social justice and human rights context as I now understand them to be.
But change can happen. This week I joined many other Americans, gay and straight, to celebrate the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” an event that culminates decades of LGBTQ movement building and educating people like me about the fundamental fairness and justice of ending discrimination based on sexual orientation. It’s not the end of the battle, but certainly a great milestone. This Friday Round Up is a tribute to the end of an unjust and unworkable policy on gays in the military, with particular emphasis on its impact on women…
Read MoreFriday Round Up: Inspiring Women and Taking Leadership NOW
Greetings from Tucson, I couldn’t be more excited to be here today to keynote the 2011 Annual YWCA’s Women’s Leadership Conference on my favorite topic, No Excuses and doing a brief workshop on the 9 Ways Power tools with about 400 women.
I’m honored to be tag-teaming with the inspiring Shoshana Johnson, the first African American female prisoner of war (POW) of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Plus, we were Glamour Women of the Year honorees together in 2003! I can’t wait to hear what she has to say.
Thursday was a big day as I was getting ready for Tucson…
Read MoreShe’s Doing It: In New Book, PunditMom Examines Mothers in Politics and Activism
This week’s She’s Doing It features popular blogger ‘PunditMom’ Joanne Bamberger. She is not only illuminating women’s clout and influence both online and in the political realm but uses her voice to get out the message of the importance of political motherhood and mothers in politics. Joanne is an amazing example of No Excuses Power Tool #8, “Employ Every Medium”…
Seriously? Must a Woman Be Like a Man to Get Ahead?
That question comes up every time I speak with women about their career aspirations.
A second question just as surely follows: if we can’t be authentically who we are, why would we want to “succeed” in male-dominated organizations or professions? Many women who leave the corporate world to stay home with children or enter entrepreneurial or nonprofit fields—or alternately, remain quietly in their jobs put only to find themselves doing the work but not getting the promotions—say they do so because they don’t want to become like men.
Yet all signs point to a potential breakthrough moment for women even as we debate the pros and cons of taking on male camouflage.
Read MoreFriday Round Up: Aggregation Edition–What Are Your Faves?
This is a roundup of roundups. We are oversaturated with information from a multiplicity of sources and communications platforms. I don’t know about you but I am turning increasingly to trusted sources of aggregated news and opinion.
In the spirit of No Excuses Power Tool #8, Employ Every Medium, I’m curious about something. What news aggregations you check first thing in the morning?
Read More