Save Bitch!

SOS from my friends at the fabulous magazine Bitch: Feminist Critique of Pop Culture:

The print publishing industry as a whole is staring into a void. Across the board, newsstand magazine sales are in a slump, subscriber numbers are down, and paper and postal costs continue to rise. But it's not magazines like US Weekly or Vogue that you'll see disappearing from the newsstands—they have the parent companies and the resources to weather industry ill winds. It's the small, independent magazines like Bitch that will disappear, because the odds are already stacked high against us. And simply put: We need to raise $40,000 by October 15th in order to print the next issue of Bitch....

Read the rest.

Palin Studies (Um, Can We Have Liz Lemon Instead?)

Six new articles of interest, courtesy of Rebekkah of course over at the WMC:

McCain and Palin Want Women's Votes But Do Women Want Them?
9/8/08
RH Reality Check: Instead of clear policy stances on these issues at the GOP convention or in the surrounding media attention what we have been privy to are endless distractions about Sarah Palin's family, the personal matters and private choices Ms. Palin and her family have made over the last few months and a religious right bloc that has firmly cemented their support for said choices - support that falls in direct conflict with the rhetoric, agenda and policies they promote for the rest of American families.

Fusing Politics and Motherhood in New Way
9/7/08
NY Times: Sarah Palin's baby shower included a surprise guest: her own baby. He had arrived in the world a month early, so on a sunny May day, Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, rocked her newborn as her closest friends, sisters, even her obstetrician presented her with a potluck meal, presents and blue-and-white cake.

Parents of Special-Needs Children Divided Over Palin's Promise to Help
9/6/08
NY Times: Gov. Sarah Palin directed an emotional appeal to the hearts of millions of parents with children who have special needs, promising they would "have a friend and advocate in the White House." Ms. Palin's offer of friendship sparked hope in many parents, advocates and lawyers as the often-marginalized subject of disabilities rights took center stage.

Bristol's Choice
9/5/08
Slate.com: Pundits were quick to point out that Bristol Palin's "decision" to have her baby must have been at least somewhat constrained by her mom's position-as articulated in November 2006-that she would oppose an abortion for her daughters, even if they had been raped. Palin is an outspoken advocate of parental veto; she called the Alaska Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down that state's parental-consent statute "outrageous." So what exactly, one wonders, was young Bristol permitted to decide?

Sex Ed In Schools: Little Connection Between What's Taught, Teen Behavior
9/8/08
USA Today: The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and the pregnancy has reignited the national debate over two different approaches to sex education: abstinence-only vs. comprehensive.

Palin & Press: A Testy Start
9/8/08
Washington Post: From the moment Sarah Palin stepped onto the national stage, she was mauled, minimized and manhandled by an openly skeptical media establishment. But By six days later, after a speech in which she chided the journalistic elite, the previously obscure governor of Alaska was being hailed by many of the same media gurus.

Image cred

Media Studies: "Bias, Punditry, and the Press" - the PDF

Here tis, as promised, from the White House Project, the Women's Media Center, and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, and written by moi:

SoundbitesReport - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: SoundbitesReport

Here We Go Again....

Just when we thought we'd had enough of media (and everyone else's) sexism. Sigh. For a Sarah Palin Sexism Watch, hop on over to Shakesville. They're doing a great job. And meanwhile do check out Marco's post over at Open Salon, "Mom, Guns, and Apple Pie."

Me, I'm heading off today for South Carolina, where I'll be giving a talk tomorrow at the University of South Carolina Upstate. I just added a TON about Palin and the sexism coming her way after only less than 48 hours. Here's the description:

Talkin 'bout My Generation: Youth, Gender, Race, Class and the 2008 Election

SYNOPSIS: Young voters—and female ones in particular—have been the subject of heated debate in an election when race and gender matter like never before. But what do young voters really think about gender, feminism, race, and the Presidential election? In this talk, cultural critic and feminist Deborah Siegel sheds fresh light on media myths and real-life generational rifts that surfaced during primary season, creating an interactive forum in which members of the so-called postfeminist, post-Civil Rights generation are invited to freely speak their minds.

(And hey - to bring me to your campus, contact info@speakingmatters.org !)

Start WAM!ming

I've presented at the Women, Action, and Media (WAM!) Conference twice now and highly recommend it for its colleagiality and bloggy networking opportunities. The organizers are currently collecting proposals for their 2009 conference, which takes place on March 27-29 this year at MIT. CFP embedded below (you can click on the image to make it larger). Have at it, GWPers.

WAM!2009CFP - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: WAM!2009CFP

Isn't She Lovely!

For anyone not yet acquainted with the Michelle Obama Watch blog, today is probably as good day as ever to stop by for links to all things Michelle. And for MOW founder Gina's blow by blow from the floor of the convention, go here.

Personally, I thought Michelle rocked the house last night. Seen any particularly interesting commentary or analysis out there? Feel free to post links in comments!

Convention Day--It's Here!

Yes, Happy Convention Day! As Allison Stevens reports, this year women are running much of the show and helping craft the script.

A quick reminder for those of you lucky enough to be in Denver this week:

The Women's Media Center and The White House Project will both be reporting on the latest from the DNC--where together they are hosting a panel, Soundbites to Solutions: Bias Punditry and the Press in The 2008 Election, along with The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Panelists include:

* Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor, Newsweek
* Michele Martin, Host, "Tell Me More" on NPR
* Maria Teresa Petersen, Founding Executive Director, Voto Latino and Commentator for MSNBC (and a fellow PWVer)
* Jamal Simmons, Political Analyst, CNN
* Rebecca Traister, Senior Writer, Salon.com

At the panel, they'll be releasing an accompanying report (authored by yours truly!) called BIAS, PUNDITRY, AND THE PRESS: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Report available to public today too--I'll be sure to post info when it's up. Registration for the event required at www.seachangecom.

More women-focused DNC events posted here and here.

And hey--if you're reading this from Denver and would like to post something about the events you attend here on GWP telling us about it, please email me at girlwpen@gmail.com.

Overly Sexy Girls

Anytime Jean Kilbourne has a new book out, I pay attention. And last week, I came upon her latest while hunting for that new ProBlogger book at B&N. Kilbourne's latest is called So Sexy, So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids, and it's coauthored with education professor Diane Levin.

I was waiting for someone to come out with this book. Like The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It (note the similarity of the subtitles), the authors accuse the media of sexualizing children. No surprise there. But what does sound surprising is the extremity of the anecdotes. Here's from the Publishers Weekly review:

Constantly, American children are exposed to a barrage of sexual images in television, movies, music and the Internet. They are taught young that buying certain clothes, consuming brand-name soft drinks and owning the right possessions will make them sexy and cool—and being sexy and cool is the most important thing. Young men and women are spoon-fed images that equate sex with violence, paint women as sexually subservient to men and encourage hooking up rather than meaningful connections. The result is that kids are having sex younger and with more partners than ever before. Eating disorders and body image issues are common as early as grade school. Levin and Kilbourne stress that there is nothing wrong with a young person's natural sexual awakening, but it is wrong to allow a young person's sexuality to be hijacked by corporations who want them as customers. The authors offer advice on how parents can limit children's exposure to commercialized sex, and how parents can engage kids in constructive, age-appropriate conversation about sex and the media. One need only read the authors' anecdotes to see why this book is relevant.

Any of you parents--or girls studies experts--out there got your own advice on dealing with this phenomenon? Inquiring minds are eager to know.

Women - and a New Report! - at the DNC

I'm thrilled to announce that a report I took the lead on for the Women's Media Center, the White House Project, and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, will be released and distributed at the DNC in Denver on August 25. The report, "Bias, Punditry, and the Press: Where Do We Go From Here," includes recommendations for the media and consumers of media and will be available for download after its official release.

Additional happenings of interest going on at the DNC, all conveyed via Carol Jenkins (thanks, Carol, for the heads ups!):

-On August 25, there will be a reprise of the WMC/WHP/MIJE forum, From Soundbites to Solutions: Bias, Punditry and the Press in the 2008 Election, on which the report is based. This time the panelists will be Michel Martin of NPR, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, Patricia Williams of The Nation, Rebecca Traister of Salon, Jamal Simmons of CNN, and María Teresa Petersen of Voto Latino, among others. Video clips from the original forum, which took place at The Paley Center, can be accessed from the WMC website.

-On Tuesday, August 26, Senator Hillary Clinton will address the delegates. That is the 88th anniversary of the day the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution became law, which gave women the right to vote in 1920. Senator Barack Obama accepts the nomination on Thursday, August 28th, before a public audience of 75,000 people. That is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

-On Wednesday, August 27, the WMC is hosting a panel with Women's eNews at which six leading congresswomen (Loretta Sanchez-CA, Rosa DeLauro-CT, Carolyn Maloney-NY, Gwen Moore-WI, Lois Capps-CA confirmed so far) will discuss WEN's The Memo-- a status report of six areas that the candidates and delegates must address. The congresswomen will address the media's handling of women and the economy, immigration, women in the military, international issues, war and peace, and health. Do check out my fellow PWVer Pramila Jayapal's Election Dispatch on Immigration and Jennifer Hogg's Election Dispatch on Women in the Military.

-And finally, this year, the convention is chaired by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the highest ranking woman elected official in the country, co-chaired by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. The CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee is Leah D. Daughtry.

XX/XY: XXOO

It's my delight, as always, to bring you this guest post from GWP regular Virginia Rutter, prof of sociology at Framingham State College, to whom I send out a big batch of xxoo! -Deborah

At the American Sociological Association meeting this past weekend, Pepper Schwartz, Barbara Risman, and I spoke on a panel on gender and the media: The case study of the "opt out" story—covered here at GWP recently—helped get everyone on the same creepy page about how reportorial anecdotes get transformed into a mythic cultural truth…until the facts finally get the light of day.

Quick recap on opt-out: In the opt out story, the narrative was that women were choosing to leave the work force and join the mommy track. Heather Boushey and

others did the research to show that first, the work force is the mommy track—more than ever before mothers of small children—college-educated even more so than others--go to work. But there's more: our crash and burn economy currently means that women, like men, are getting laid off and losing jobs. Women aren't opting out, there are fewer jobs for them, just like men, to opt in. Evidence trumps myth.

But, as I reminded the little crowd at our ASA talk, there is a lot that goes right in our media in terms of making gender a mainstream topic, not an academic buzz word. The women and science debate set off by remarks Lawrence Summers made at Harvard has caused us to look explicitly at gender bias (thanks Larry!) and then of course to detect it in our imperfect public conversations about it. Hillary Clinton's campaign also brought about a platform for everyone to think about gender. The thinking is sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes ugly (check out the Women's Media Project's sexism sells video), but it is mainstream, as this public editor essay from the Times shows us.

So, on Sunday, it felt good to read Jennifer Finney Bolan's op-ed in the New York Times on "The X-Y Games." She gave us a textbook lesson on gender and sex. She reports that:

Last week, the organizers of the Beijing Olympics announced that they had set up a "gender determination lab" to test female athletes suspected of being male. "Experts" at the lab will evaluate athletes based on their physical appearance and take blood samples to test hormones, genes and chromosomes.

Bolan, who is an English Professor at Colby College, provides a history of sex tests at the Olympics (nudity worked in 776 BC, ocular assessment was the tool in 1968, and now we do chromosomal tests). The stories she tells are fascinating. But the lesson is crucial: even sex—what we think of as our biological profile as "xx" or "xy"—doesn't fit neatly into boxes, what with chromosomal anomalies and transgender and transsexual people. This reality with respect to biological sex reminds us that gender, too, doesn't fit neatly into boxes. (Pepper Schwartz and I write about this in our book, The Gender of Sexuality.) We can't, for example, determine whether someone is a man or woman by what they wear, who they love, whether they have babies or whether they can have babies or whether they like babies.

Bolan gave us a great lesson until her conclusion. She argues gender isn't what's on the outside, it is on the inside, which means it is about how we feel and think about ourselves. But, remember the opt-out narrative? Here's the deal: no woman has to feel any particular way about herself or her identity in order to be subject to 1. cultural narratives that place her in a box or ascribe meaning to what she's doing or 2. economic forces that make her more likely than men to be impoverished or to earn a lower wage or 3. a whole bunch of other social forces that mean that gender is not just about identity but about group membership and social class. Same for the boys: No man has to feel a particular way about himself in order to be subject to 1. the threat of violence based on homophobia or 2. workplace sanctions—formal and informal—for using family leave for domestic caregiving.

But the bigger lesson is this: we're talking about gender—not in code (at least some of the time its not in code) but in direct, clear, and therefore debatable terms. We're not just talking about it in academia (which from my academic point of view is also a great place to talk, just different). We're talking about it all over the place. And learning as we go along. So give me xx/xy and I'll give you xxoo.

Next Class of Progressive Women's Voices Announced

A hearty congratulations to the members of the Final 2008 Class of Progressive Women's Voices! The new participants will join us (we?) alumna of the program to ensure that women are visible and powerful in the media. Tidbits from the press release:

Launched in January of this year, Progressive Women's Voices has provided 33 women from a variety of fields with intensive media training and ongoing support to promote their perspective and message into the national dialogue. Since the program began, the Women's Media Center has already had an impact at the highest levels of the media. Participants have appeared on such media outlets as CNN and CBS Evening News, been quoted by The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, placed op-eds in national papers including the Washington Post, and blogged about issues from the economy to race.

"You can't change the lopsided numbers of women working at top levels overnight," said Carol Jenkins, president of The Women's Media Center. "That's why we created this year-long, intensive program that includes briefings from experts, conversations with media professionals, pairing with mentors-as well as pitching to media outlets. The women get on-camera and op-ed writing training, and constant feedback. They have a support system, and it shows."

Participants in the third training class include authors, policy leaders and journalists - 11 women whose diverse backgrounds reflect the diversity of women's experiences in the United States. They join 22 current participants, forming a stable of progressive women who will add their voices to the national conversation in areas of economics, politics, health care, immigration, women's rights, workplace policy, and other important issues. The program is funded primarily by a generous grant from the NoVo Foundation and with additional support from the UN Foundation and other supporters.

A personal shout out to Veronica Arreola and Alissa Quart. For a full list of participants in the third class, click here.

Meet the Ladies

A little slow to posting today...

A bit o history making over the weekend, as reported by Adele Stan over at Huffington Post: Sunday's face-off between the McCain campaign's Carly Fiorina and the Obama campaign's Claire McCaskill on NBC's Meet the Press served up an historic television moment; it was the first time in the show's history, said moderator Tom Brokaw, that two women had appeared together on the show as the surrogates for opposing campaigns.

I'll Be on Pacifica Radio Tonight...

Taking time out from prep for next week's bridaldom, I will be on Pacifica Radio tonight (in Houston, KPFT, 90.1 FM ) at 9pm ET tonight discussing media sexism and the election, particularly in light of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. If in Houston, tune in! If not, I'll post the web link (which stays live for 60 days) here soon. The program is the Progressive Forum, with host Lillian Care. Joining me will be Isabelle McDonald of FAIR.

Watching the Michelle Obama Watch

So I'm finishing up a report this week on media coverage of race, gender, class, and age in the 2008 primaries. And I'm so jazzed by Gina McCauley's Michelle Obama Watch and what I've learned about it so far that it merits another post. And another, and another to be sure.

I corresponded with Gina yesterday and learned that there have been over 90,000 page views in the 20 days since the site's been up. A recent piece about MOW in The Baltimore Sun tentatively asks "Michele Obama Ties Black, White Women?" and notes, "Gina McCauley's blog on African-American women in pop culture has never attracted this kind of attention. But she launched a new Michelle Obama Watch blog in June to monitor and critique media coverage of the potential first lady, and since then, feminists of all colors have been linking and commenting."

The solidarity is key, and Gina knows it's about something more. As she wrote to me in an email:

"[T]his ultimately isn't about Michelle Obama, it is an exercise in how the nation, the news media and entertainment industry in particular, an deal or not deal with an African American women who defies the dominant stereotypes perpetuated about us. If we let them get away with their chicanery with a Harvard-educated attorney, then the next Black woman to walk in her footsteps would have to to trod a more difficult path."

Hells yes.

The site currently has 13 volunteer contributors who have contributed 88 posts. Got a news tip for the site? Direct your concerns, complaints, or praise about the media's treatment of Michele Obama to michelleobamawatch@gmail.com. And watch for more from Gina over at What about Our Daughters, which has received credentials to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August.

One Day 'The Glass Ceiling' Will Be the Name of a Fairy Tale...But Not Yet

Just two quick hits about women as op-ed writers and women as sociologists (how's that for a connection?!) before I really sign off:

1. San Francisco Gate: The Opinion Pages: Mostly A Man's World

When it comes to the opinion pages of some of the most influential American newspapers, it's far too often a man's world. One reason for the disparity is obvious: Women are still breaking through glass ceilings in business, government and academia.

2. Inside Higher Ed: Women in Sociology - Satisfied, but Not Equal

Women in sociology, 10 years after earning their Ph.D.'s, are achieving substantial professional success and high levels of research productivity, but also differ from men in some ways in their career trajectories, according to a new study released by the American Sociological Association.

Among the key findings:

-Male sociologists in the cohort were more likely than female sociologists to be married or living with a partner (83 percent vs. 68 percent), or to have children living with them (62 percent to 50 percent).

-Among sociologists who are parents, women are much more likely to be divorced (21 percent vs. 1.4 percent). Roberta Spalter-Roth, director of research at the sociology association and one of the report’s authors, said one reason for this was that many more women than men come to graduate school as single parents, having already been married and divorced.

-Many sociologists who do have children do so before their tenure reviews, with the largest group having a first child 3-4 years after earning a doctorate.

-Parenthood does not appear to limit research productivity, at least as measured by the number of articles published in refereed journals — a key measure for the discipline. Mothers and fathers reported an average of 10.0 refereed journal articles since they earned their doctorates, while childless men and women reported an average of 9.5.

-Mothers appeared, on average, to earn less than others in the cohort. The income question was asked with categories, not exact amounts. The median income for sociologists who are fathers, and for sociologists who don’t have children, was between $70,000 and $99,000. The median income for sociologists who are mothers was between $50,000 and $59,000.

-On many issues, mothers and fathers both reported high levels of stress related to advancing their careers while also caring for their families. Child care, the tenure process, and teaching loads were key issues for parents.

(Go Katie O and The Op-Ed Project! And thanks to Rebekah Spicuglia of the Women's Media Center Daily News Brief for the tips.)

Media Studies: Bias, Punditry, and the Press

For a very thorough post on last week's forum on gender, race, class, age, and the media's coverage of the 2008 elections, sponsored by the White House Project, the Women's Media Center, and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, check out Marcia Yemen's latest in HuffPo. A report based on the findings and recommendations from that forum--drafted by yours truly--is coming soon! I'll post more details when it's ready, later in the summer.

Meanwhile, Carol Jenkins offered a great turn of phrase at that forum when she noted that members of the media have embedded themselves in the war room of this election, turning themselves into "embedded pundits." Case in point: I'm sitting here watching MSNBC and on flashes the headline "Does Obama Need Clinton as Much as the Media Thinks?" I'm screaming back at my tv: "Who the BLEEP cares what the media thinks?" Talk about simulacrum, I tell ya.

Job Opening at the WMC

The Women's Media Center has just announced an opening for a Media Director. Know anyone? Pass it on! This is a fantastic job for the right person. Here's the scoop. -GWP

Description: The Women’s Media Center (WMC) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem to make women visible and powerful in the media. The WMC is looking for a Media Director in its New York City office starting immediately. This person will build relationships with press (print, broadcast, local, national, entertainment and news), pitch women-centered storylines and spokespeople to the media, act as a resource to journalists and train women to become better media spokespeople.

Job Responsibilities
• Build and maintain relationships with media professionals including print, broadcast, local, national, entertainment and online reporters, editors and producers
• Pitch stories to media professionals, resulting in maximum coverage and visibility for women’s perspectives
• Oversee and administer media spokesperson training program in New York City
• Identify, research and document trends and developments within the media industry and recommend/implement WMC media campaigns
• Provide rapid response media support to organizations and individuals trying to raise the visibility of issues of importance to women and lead the WMC’s rapid response efforts
• Field media requests-sometimes on very tight and/or off-hour deadlines-maintaining contact databases, organizing resources, assisting reporters with stories of importance for women and assisting WMC-identified spokespeople with booking & preparation for interviews
• Plan, write, edit and send materials including press releases, alerts, e-mails and letters to media professionals
• Monitor assigned media outlets on a daily basis and track issues pertaining to the WMC.

Qualifications
• *Required: Strong written and oral communication skills (writing samples will be requested)
• *Required: At least four years of work within media or communications in some capacity
• *Required: Demonstrated success in media relations (examples of media placements – written or broadcast - will be requested)
• *Required: Demonstrated knowledge of women’s issues.
• Media rolodex a must
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to work under pressure
• Excellent relationship-building skills and extremely positive attitude required
• Must demonstrate strong organizational skills, ability to manage multiple tasks to meet deadlines
• Web knowledge and savvy a must
• Background in being interviewed by print, online and broadcast media a plus
• Demonstrated commitment to team work among staff and volunteers
• Ability to work effectively with people of diverse races, ages, ethnicities and sexual identities
• Research skills a plus
• Bachelor’s degree a must
• Excellent knowledge of word processing, database programs, internet research
(Lexis Nexis and Bacons) and spreadsheet programs

Supervision:
The Media Director is supervised by the Vice President of Programs and Administration.

Compensation:
Salary is between $68-75,000 depending on experience. Benefits include, but are not limited to: Escalating vacation beginning with three weeks; Paid sick days and holidays; and Organization-paid health benefits for employees.

Contact:
Glennda Testone
glennda@womensmediacenter.com
No phone calls please.
Note: The Women’s Media Center cannot pay for relocation at this time.

Of Pantsuits and Reporting

Well now THIS is interesting, a mea culpa (of sorts) from the Public Editor at the NYTimes: Pantsuits and the Presidency.

(More from me in a little while...)

Beyond Cindy v. Michelle

In an article in yesterday's Newsday, Lisa Witter issues a rousing plea to the media to unfetter our potential first ladies' intellect on the campaign trail. Excerpts:

The new focus on Obama's hair and hemlines comes right on the heels of the gender-biased way the media covered Clinton's campaign. If we let this go on, we risk losing an important opportunity to have a national dialogue about sexism. We should be holding the media accountable for perpetuating stereotypes. If a white woman is strong, she's considered cold - as the coverage of Cindy McCain has shown. If a black woman is strong, she's obviously angry - so go the accusations about Michelle Obama....

While America's women and girls lost the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the top job this round, what we can't do is lose the opportunity to change the way women - and first ladies - are portrayed. It's a tough line, no doubt. For the most part, we want to feel and look beautiful. We love our families and feel proud about our personal and professional accomplishments. But if we let the conversation about the first ladies focus mostly on the role and status of the conventional "Mrs.," we've lost a huge opportunity to reframe gender and marriage dynamics in our country. We all need to take it upon ourselves to strike up a conversation about how we can end sexism in America. Contact the press when they get it right - and not so right. And I'm going to write Michelle Obama to let her know that when she portrays herself as strong, I feel strong, too.

Well said, Lisa. For more from Lisa, do check out the just-released book she coauthored, titled The She Spot: Why Women Are the Secret to Changing the World and How to Reach Them. Lisa is chief operating officer of Fenton Communications, and an inspiration to many. I definitely recommend her book!

Watching Michelle

For those obsessed, like me, with how the media is and will cover Michelle Obama, do check out the new blog Michelle Obama Watch. The site is designed to be “a repository of all of the criticism, praise, and general chicanery thrown at Michelle Obama between now and November." And for any who missed Michelle Obama on The View, here's the clip: