GUEST POST: Boy Support for Hillary

Well, HRC's days as a candidate in the 2008 race may be numbered, but not so the impact she's had on the electorate. Weighing in here today is Kristen Loveland, offering an inter-gender, intra-generational conversation with her brother, Andrew. Kristen, an MPhil in Modern European History and a staffer at the Association for Jewish Studies, has a great blog called The Choice. While an undergrad at Columbia University, Kristen co-founded the university's first progressive student magazine, Ad Hoc, and became its Editor-in-Chief. I am proud to call her my (very over-qualified) summer intern, and to introduce her as a new regular here on GWP. Welcome, Kristen! -GWP

An Inter-gender, Intra-generational Conversation
Kristen Loveland

Taking my view that it’s better to dialogue than snipe to the streets, I found someone even younger than me (age 24) to talk about Hillary’s candidacy. That person? My brother, Andrew, who’s 17 and one of the only Hillary supporters in his high school. As an Obama fan myself, I think it’s possible both to be a feminist and to not support this particular female candidate. But after speaking with Andrew about his classmates’ take on a woman president, I almost wanted to switch teams.

Kristen: So let’s cut to the chase: why don’t your classmates think Hillary should be prez?

Andrew: Well, a lot of them joke about her not having masculine characteristics and say her crying on TV proves she couldn’t run a country. They joke that she should be making sandwiches for the men instead.

K: Do girls in your class object to this sort of thing?

A: Well, they don’t say girls should just make sandwiches, but some don’t think a woman can run the country. They think it’s all about perception and that a woman leader wouldn’t be respected, especially when dealing with leaders of other countries where women are second-class citizens.

K: But what are they taught in history? Don’t they know about England’s Margaret Thatcher, or Israel’s Golda Meir, or Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, who led a Muslim country?

A: They never talk about other women leaders. They just say women are generally too weak. But the guys are more vocal and use a lot of Family Guy jokes to put Hillary down.

K: Family Guy? But isn’t Peter (the husband) a complete idiot in the show and Lois (the wife) the smart one who always gets him out of scrapes and drunken stupors?

A: Yeah, but they ignore that and just think it’s funny that Peter always puts Lois down for standing up for women.

K: I feel like in my day, which was not so many days ago, girls were being told that they could be the first female president, and Murphy Brown was a high-powered news anchor, and Jessie Spano was class president and calling A.C. Slater a chauvinistic pig… What’s changed?

A: We learn in history about the 1950s “cult of domesticity” and it seems like nothing has changed. In business class we were trying to determine projected earnings and some of the kids said women would make less than men. When our teacher asked why, they said it was because the girls would have to stop working to stay home with the kids.

K: Do you think they assume this because their moms are stay-at-home?

A: Maybe, but it’s also TV shows, where you primarily see women home making dinner. Even in Arrested Development, which is an awesome show, all the women do is spend money while men solve the problems. And Laguna Beach is really bad: you have a lot of stuck-up girls, who don’t work, spending their husbands’ or fathers’ money. So the girls get into this idea and then guys think girls are weak because all they want is handbags.

K: So, why do you support Hillary?

A: I do like Obama and they share many of the same viewpoints, but for me it’s like picking out a car; sometimes one car just feels better than the other. Also, I think she’s a better public speaker, and her views on women’s rights are more progressive.

K: Would you consider yourself a feminist?

A: Well…I’m not much into protesting, and I do think Family Guy’s funny, but I guess I take it more seriously than others. Even if shows portray women in a certain light, we shouldn’t take that as the way it is in real life. Oh yeah, did I tell you how my “Bush’s last days” sticker got keyed off my car? And my Hillary sticker would have, but I pasted it on the inside of the window.

I think a few conclusions can be drawn from our convo. First, high school history curricula must be augmented with a critical supply of celebratory women’s history. The National History Women’s Project is a good place to start, but this must be implemented on an expansive basis—and not just during Women’s History Month. Second, role models are some of the most important factors influencing girls’ perceptions of their future selves—and we need better ones. Third, we need to continue the conversation. I hate to draw conclusions from afar. (I’m infuriated whenever writers condemn today’s college hookup culture without seeming to have ever spoken with the many women I knew who engaged with it on their own terms.) It’s vital to talk with young people so as to better understand the cultural and social factors that influence placid acceptance of patriarchy and misogyny in their generation. Oh, and finally, my brother’s kind of awesome, even if he does compare choosing a president to picking a car.

Media Lost and Found

Alissa Quart--who I'm off to meet with this morning--has the cover story of the Columbia Journalism Review this month. (Go Q!) Do check out her piece, "Lost Media, Found Media: Snapshots from the Future of Writing." A chronic bridger, I think I might actually fall somewhere in between. Alissa interviewed a range of old (lost) and new (found) media types, including feministing's Jessica Valenti, of whom she writes the following:

The young found media types I spoke with tend to focus more on invention than destruction. They were, for the most part, unflaggingly upbeat. Jessica Valenti, for instance, the twenty-nine-year-old founder and editor in chief of the popular feminist blog Feministing, which aggregates news items ranging from feminist responses to the presidential campaign to condom manufacturers’ responses to a new study of young women and STDs. The news hits are all interspersed with tart, partisan, intelligent, and sometimes raw commentary and opinion. Whatever Feministing is—blog, think tank, digest, “women’s” pages, feminist magazine—it’s a fine example of the new media as an improvement over the old. Unlike the “Hers” sections of yore—women’s magazines, or even Ms. Magazine—Feministing is not shaped by the fear of being offensive or “unrelatable” for “the average female reader.” In this way, like some other feminist blogs, it is head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media. “I don’t see a lot of nostalgia from young feminists for the time when things were a lot worse,” said Valenti, who is tall with black Veronica bangs, and speaks a decibel or two louder than you do. “I studied journalism a bit but I didn’t find my voice until I had a completely open forum in the blogs.”

Like Valenti, my younger journalist friends and colleagues imagine a kaleidoscopic future where the hoarier codes of journalism are put to rest: goodbye inverted pyramid, hello a nearly reckless immediacy; goodbye measured commentary, hello pungent or radical or vulgar commentary. Yet beyond style, the new reality is that there is no clear, long-term career plan for Found Media-ites—or even for most of the rest of us. We’re in the sort of moment in history that some people will say they were glad to witness, but only twenty years hence.

Read the full article here.

For the Bride...A Reader

It's true, it's true. Marco and I are getting married this summer. We're doing a small wedding kind of thing, very DIY. And wouldn't you know it, I just came across a site called IndieBride!

One of the site's creators, Elise Mac Adams, published a book in February called Something New: Wedding Etiquette for Rule Breakers, Traditionalists, and Everyone in Between. I don't think there's a rule Marco and I aren't in some way breaking, but hey. Of greater interest, there's an interesting reading list posted over there. Thought I'd share highlights, with some additions of my own:

Marriage, A History by Stephanie Coontz

A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom

Wifework: What Marriage Really Means For Women by Susan Maushart

Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law by Nancy Polikoff

Here Comes the Bride: Women, Weddings, and the Marriage Mystique by Jaclyn Geller

In spite of it all, I'm still game. Other titles readers would recommend? I'm taking suggestions!

My Next Blogging Seminar: June 7, NYC

Strategic Blogging for Organizations, Women’s Research Centers, and Feminist Experts

JUNE 7 (time TBD)
Kimmel Center / New York University

Sponsored by the National Council for Research on Women, this session will take place during the Council's annual conference this year (June 5-7).

In this 3-hour intensive, I'll lead participants through the basics of blogging—both logistical and philosophical. Participants will leave with a sense of the ways in which blogging is changing the media landscape—especially for women!—and tools for starting one for your organization or improving one that’s already off the ground. Topics will include: young feminism and activism online, the momosphere, possibilities for personal voice, and how to publicize events and publications through blogs.

There is no separate registration required for the workshop. To register for the conference, click here. Questions? Please don't hesitate to email me at girlwpen@gmail.com.

[Shameless self-promotion alert begins]
"I had just started my own blog when I attended Deborah's workshop. Deborah opened my eyes to the vast world of feminist bloggers and got me excited about the number and kinds of people I could reach. She also exposed me to options – and vocabulary – that I just didn't have. Blog carnivals? Springwidgets? A feminist bloggers conference? Who knew? Not me! Not until Deborah's workshop, packed with inspiration and instruction."
- Nancy D. Polikoff, Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University
[Shamelessness alert ends]

Beyond "Diversity Fatigue"

Lately I've heard the term "diversity fatigue" used to describe a) the genuine frustration that diversity programs at corporations haven't made more progress, and b) the eye-rolling backlash against affirmative action.

Offering a fresher take, there's a great post over at the NYTimes blog Shifting Careers called "Diversity at Work: More than Just Numbers" in which Marci Alboher interviews Natalie Holder-Winfield, an employment lawyer turned diversity consultant and author of Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce. The book, says Marci, is "a well-researched and eye-opening account of why minority employees flee workplaces even when employers have so-called diversity programs in place."

Based on interviews with professionals from various backgrounds, Holder-Winfield seeks to provide managers, employees, and students with advice for navigating the overlay issues of cultural and generational diversity. The book looks great, but from a "making it pop" perspective, I kind of wish it had a catchier title. This one would be hard. I'm coming up dry. Which is probably why they went with the title they did?!

Read excerpts from the interview here.

GUEST BLOGGER: Reaching the Next Generation

Welcome back from the weekend! I'm psyched to start the week off with this next guest post from regular Courtney Martin. Here she is, with some quintessential Martin-style wisdom for individuals and orgs wishing to reach younger people through their writing and their work. -GWP

Reaching the Next Generation

One of the most interesting things, in my humble opinion, about the next generation is the way that it approaches altruism. Long gone are the days when writing a check or signing a petition were action enough for the socially conscious individual. And also long gone are the strict bifurcation between nonprofit and corporate, do gooder and go getter, giver and saver.

Through a variety of technological innovations like Facebook Causes and You Tube appeals, young people have changed the landscape on “doing good.” And it’s not just a technological shift, but a whole new paradigm that has been born thanks to the kids of the 80s and 90s.

Organizations like Drinking Liberally have spawned a whole new, very fun way of approaching public awareness and political community. And one of my favorite new sites is All Day Buffet, which calls itself “a social action brand for the cool kids.” It seems that everyone is striving to put the fun back in fundraising.

Including myself. Check out the piece I wrote for The American Prospect about my own little contribution called the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy.

And keep this in mind if you are trying to inspire young people to get involved in a cause. We like to feel engaged, but not drained. We like to kill many birds with one stone.

We like to get a little tipsy.

Hillary and Louise

One more must-read, just in case you (like me, gulp) missed it: Susan Faludi's recent oped at the NYTimes. Writes Faludi:

As Thelma, the housewife turned renegade, says to her friend in “Thelma & Louise” as the two women flee the law through the American West, “Something’s crossed over in me.”

Senator Clinton might well say the same. In the final stretch of the primary season, she seems to have stepped across an unstated gender divide, transforming herself from referee to contender.

What’s more, she seems to have taken to her new role with a Thelma-like relish. We are witnessing a female competitor delighting in the undomesticated fray. Her new no-holds-barred pugnacity and gleeful perseverance have revamped her image in the eyes of begrudging white male voters, who previously saw her as the sanctioning “sivilizer,” a political Aunt Polly whose goody-goody directives made them want to head for the hills.

I know it's over. I imagine she knows it's over. But I admit, I'm truly enjoying that glee in her eyes. That woman is one tough cookie, and I mean that in only the best of ways.

Where's the Outrage?

Marie Cocco has a poignant piece in yesterday's Washington Post that's well worth a read. In "Misogyny I Won't Miss," after cataloguing the range of sexist insults lobbed at Hillary Clinton from right and from left, Cocco concludes, "For all Clinton's political blemishes, the darker stain that has been exposed is the hatred of women that is accepted as a part of our culture."

Culture = Democrats included.

Writes Cocco,

I will not miss the deafening, depressing silence of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean or other leading Democrats, who to my knowledge (with the exception of Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland) haven't publicly uttered a word of outrage at the unrelenting, sex-based hate that has been hurled at a former first lady and two-term senator from New York. Among those holding their tongues are hundreds of Democrats for whom Clinton has campaigned and raised millions of dollars. Don Imus endured more public ire from the political class when he insulted the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Depressing indeed.

AmBITCHion, Revisited

As promised, my quick report on this week's "Women and Ambition" panel co-sponsored by the National Council for Research on Women and PricewaterhouseCoopers:

The thing I love about corporate panels is that they start and finish on time. They are impeccably moderated. They serve food. This one delivered on all fronts, and went a step beyond. Every audience member was given a remote control devise by which to cast votes, enabling the moderator to poll us in real time and post the results on a big screen up front. It was cooler than Oprah, I swear.

There were some interesting results from the audience poll: 75% of the women in the crowd described themselves as "ambitious." 94% of the men in attendance said the word "ambitious", when used to describe someone, carried a positive connotation, but only 57% of the women agreed.

Women's ambition is certainly a hot-button issue these days. Everyone agrees that we should be much further along in terms of our representation at the top tiers of corporate and political leadership than we are. How are ambitions born? What impedes then? What can companies do to help women nurture and realize theirs? Panelists--psychiatrist and author Anna Fels, the White House Project's Marie Wilson, entrepreneurship scholar Myra Hart, law partner Marsha Simms, and economist Lise Vesterlund--sounded off on these issues, and more.

Some memorable quips:

Moderator Jennifer Allyn: "We've been talking about critical mass since the 1970s. There has to be more than 16% [the percent of women in Congress] before women can stop being seen as the 'only' and constitute more of a critical mass."

Marie Wilson: "Anytime you have only one woman in a top position, all you see is their gender--hair, hemlines, and husbands." "You cannot be what you cannot see. So we have to make the women who are in leadership more visible."

Myra Hart: "Research shows that women straight out of Harvard Business School land the same kinds of jobs at the same compensation of men. But 5 years later, women's career paths indicate a change. Much of it may be self-selection, but some of it is not."

Lisa Vesterlund: "Research shows it's not that women are under-confident about their ability to compete and win. It's than men are actually over-confident about theirs."

And my personal favorite:

Marie Wilson: "In the last 6 months of media coverage, Hillary Clinton's ambition has been described as 'unquenchable.' John McCain's ambition hasn't been mentioned at all."

For more on women's leadership, consider joining me at the Council's annual conference this year, titled "Hitting the Ground Running: Research, Activism, and Leadership for a New Era," on June 5-7 at NYU. To register, contact Jessyca Dudley at jdudley@ncrw.org, 212/785-7335, x205 or visit www.ncrw.org.

Kids with Pens/Keyboards

For those in NYC looking to be inspired, come join me on Sunday afternoon for a reading by kid writers in Bryant Park!

Writers at Writopia Lab (pictured) have been arduously developing short stories, memoirs, op-eds, scripts, and poetry over the past six months under the tutelage of journalist Rebecca Segall and her team. They'll be sharing them on Sunday, May 18th, from noon to 3:00pm. There will be a tent set up in case of rain. The youngest writers (ages 9-13) will read from noon to 1:30pm; the teens will read from 1:30-3:00pm. Folks can come and go as they wish.

This summer, I'm excited to be teaching a class for Writopia Lab. More about that, and more, in the e-newsletter I'll be sending next week!

Girl with Tutu

This is my cousin Shaina, at her ballet recital. She's a bumble bee. Aw. I took ballet at Shaina's age too and didn't quit til college. When the ballet teachers started telling some of the girls in my classes to lose weight I cut loose. I liked me my HoHos. So enjoy the dance of the bumble bees Shaina, but if you keep at it, fight for the right to your Hoho, too :)

Calling Working Women: Take This Survey!

The economy may be Issue No. 1, but what do working women have to say about it all?

The leading labor-rights organization, the AFL-CIO, and its community partner, Working America, are collecting data online for their Ask a Working Woman survey between now and June 20. The survey is a chance for working women to tell decision-makers what it's like to be a working woman in America in election years. It's open to all. They want to hear what working women need – health care, pension benefits, flex time? – to make the crazy juggling act that is working womanhood easier.

Findings will be announced to decision makers and released in nationwide media in order to highlight and help improve the status of the working mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, nieces, you get the picture. In 2006, more than 22,000 working American women took the survey. I hope in 2008 they get even more.

There's more background information about the survey available on the AFL-CIO News Blog.

Bloggers Unite for Human Rights

The devastation in Myanmar and China has been so overwhelming as to render me silent on it all. But this morning I caught a segment on the news, and later read in the paper, about all the Chinese parents who have lost their only child. And I lost it.

There's a Bloggers Unite for Human Rights challenge going on today and so here I am, still wordless, carrying unspeakable grief in my heart all the while knowing it's nothing compared to what the victims of the cyclone and the earthquake are feeling on the other side of the world.

Amnesty International has posted links to a number of their campaigns--ways to get involved in human rights and aid efforts around the globe. And here is a link to the Red Cross' donate page.

But here's my lingering question for this day, and I know I have much to learn from others on this front: When devastation is so emotionally overwhelming that your impulse is to turn away, what can you do in that moment, really do, to stay human and not just let yourself turn away?

Sex Ed at Starbucks

I just got an email from a coordinator at Current TV, where they just released a compelling video that profiles "Ducky Doolittle" as she travels across the country teaching people about sexual empowerment. So I'm sitting here at Starbucks (yes, evil Starbucks) and I open the link for the video and before I know it Ducky is shouting "THIS IS THE CLITORIS!" through my computer, for all of Starbucks to hear. Hehe. I guess that's kind of the point--and I'm all for it. But still, I'm left here at Starbucks kinda wanting to crawl under my chair.

A GWP Giveaway!

I'm late and light on posting today because this morning I went to an 8am panel on "Women and Ambition," sponsored by the National Council for Research on Women's Corporate Circle. Those corporate ladies start early!

A true post about it coming before week's end, but in the meantime, I wanted to share a little good fortune: I realized once on the subway that I already own the two amazing books that were included in the giveaway package. So I'd like to offer them as giveaways to the first two people who email me at girlwpen@gmail.com with their snail mail addresses. Please specify your choice. The books are:

1. Anna Fels, Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women's Changing Lives
2. Marie Wilson, Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World (with a new afterword)

And an aside: I just did a quick Google image search using the word "ambition" and all the pictures that came up featured guess who...men! Except for this one above. Hmmm.

Post-Mother's Day Roundup

Just of few of many links, culled from around the internets:

NPR host Renee Montagne reports on "The Mother's Index," which compares the well-being of mothers and children in 146 countries.

Broadsheet sounds off on some pop culture mom-ranking.

MotherTalk blog tours Choosing You: Deciding to Have a Baby on My Own and The Working Woman's Pregnancy Book.

And PunditMom smartly rants on the media branding of families, from the perspective of an adoptive mother.

Meet Janus Adams

The second class of PWV is well underway, and already I miss being a part. So yesterday I sat in--ok, lurked--on a Progressive Women's Voices conference call with Janus Adams, the Emmy Award-winning author/historian, publisher/producer, creator of BackPax children’s media. Janus herself was one of four children selected to end de facto segregation in New York in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. These days, in addition to hosting a talk show, she writes a weekly column, her latest one titled, “25 Books that Changed African-America--Book #4.” In case you're wondering, Book 4 is Freedom's Journal, a newspaper launched on March 16, 1827 by Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm. These two launched not only a newspaper, but the history of African-American journalism as well.

Paging Feminism

I'm just curious to know whose idea it was over at Washington University to grant Phyllis Schlafly an honorary degree. Genius. NOT! And hey, wait, Phyllis, what are you doing accepting an honorary doctorate when women are supposed to be barefoot in the kitchen? Um, hypocritical much?

Feministing weighs in here, and Katha Pollitt weighs in at The Nation. (Thanks, Va, for that heads up the other day. Oy.)

Late Fertility and the New "Choice" Narrative

The brilliant Alissa Quart (of last month's NYTimes mag spread on transgender youth fame) has a short piece up at Mother Jones about the new fertility-movie genre that's definitely worth a read.

In "When Chick Flicks Get Knocked Up," Alissa questions the happy ending substitute of baby love and emphasizes their conservative bent. She also notes that these "embryo pics" invert film themes of yore:

The prenatal pics don’t mean to irk their viewers, of course: they are simply are a corny replacement for the serrated romantic comedies of the 1940s, in which sparkling, independent female protagonists, sporting sharply tailored suits and sharper repartee, wound up getting their comeuppance in the form of a rake who could finally domesticate them. In fertility movies, the rake taming all female powerhouses is an infant. Worse, embryo pics have inverted another film theme. Women who once chose an unusual life path picked child-free independence—liberated Klutes or unmarried women. Now, conceiving of an infant without marriage or even love is the filmic symbol of independence. In this way, these films recast the "pro-choice" narrative of feminists' personal and political past as a different, less politically dangerous sort of pro-choice story—a woman's right to choose from a smorgasbord of late fertility options. Once, in the recent age of “Murphy Brown” having a baby as a single woman was the most rebellious and politically radical thing our heroine could ever do. Now becoming a single mom onscreen makes a film heroine more conventional.

Thoughts?!

Thank you David Crary

David Crary, an AP reporter I admire and a winner of the 2008 Council on Contemporary Families Media Award, had a piece up at Yahoo news last week called "Feminists Sharply Divided Between Clinton, Obama" that is one of the few truly thoughtful pieces on the divides in a MSM venue I've seen. Thank you, David, for being interested in the issues and not in the alleged fur and claws.

Mother's Day, Observed

You MUST check out this piece by the Women's Media Center's very own Rebekah Spicuglia (pictured here with her son Oscar), called "Mother's Day, Observed." Read it, absorb it, and then please, go make your mother proud.

Coming Soon: Amy Richards' Opting In

Last night I went to one of those fabulous book parties that remind me why I love New York (and believe me, I needed the reminder; it had been a hectic week and this city often wears me down). The fabulousness was not the food (which was delicious) or the space (which was mind-blowing), but the people. It was fabulousness of a feminist variety.

The party was hosted by Gloria Steinem and in attendance were trailblazing women like Suzanne Braun Levine, Alix Cates Shulman, Joanne Edgar, Mia Herndon, and Amy's longtime writing partner Jennifer Baumgardner, who beamed in the back as Amy was properly celebrated. I promise to share thoughts about Amy's book Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself which is why we were all there, of course, in another post very soon. But first let me just share that Gloria introduced Amy as "the smartest person I know." If that isn't a compliment, I don't know what is.

Reader Comment: Gryff

Ok, hey, it's Reader Appreciation Day over here at GWP :) I decided to post Gryff's comments too. Gryff is a Canadian (self-described "white male") who urges me to put away the remorse and writes passionately about the historical moment. "Be part of the stuff that will be in school history textbooks - not just for whoever the nominee is - but the Democratic Party itself, and American Democracy," he says. And here he is:

You, as a supporter of Hillary Clinton, and the supporters of Obama are doing something special for the Democratic Party. You are helping to break the 'glass ceiling' that has kept the preserve of the 'most powerful politician in the world' for white men only. You are helping to at least change the Democratic Party!

In a democracy, we all have a vote (age and citizenship restrictions aside). Some people don't bother to vote - and in my view have no reason to complain if they don't like the government they get.

Some vote, but kind of think that it ends there.

Others, like you, commit to a candidate. By going out and persuading, cajoling, converting peoples ideas etc., you end up with more than one vote! Each one you persuade is an extra vote -- and they in turn might persuade someone too, perhaps a neighbour, a relative or a spouse.

You will see bitterness and nastiness in replies at the Guardian and elsewhere - that's almost the nature of the internet.

Whenever I was doorknocking for a candidate and had the door slammed in my face, I would always remember those people who I managed to bring around to my candidate. The glass half full --- as opposed to half empty ;-) Personal success for me was the number of extra votes I helped bring in.

I see from your blogs and website that you are a writer, speaker and consultant. Use those skills to go out and make sure that the 'glass ceiling' for President is smashed completely. Help open doors for women and people of colour .... because once they are open, more will follow them.

gryff :)

(A white male by the way.)

Reader Comment: Marjorie

While I'm being ripped to shreds over at Comment Is Free (!) for my piece called "A Hillary Supporter's Remorse," I'm sharing a comment from Marjorie here on GWP in a post. I urge folks to check out what Gryff has to say in our comments too. I love it when there's this kind of back-and-forth going on over here, and just wanted to thank both of them for their insights and thoughts. Here's Marjorie, with an eloquent essay of her own:

I vowed way back in 1992 that, no matter where I lived in the world (at the time I thought I'd be living in Asia or Europe), if HRC decided to run for president, I'd drop everything and return to the US just to help out in her campaign.

As it turned out, I'm in Colorado and have devoted some of my weekly columns for the local paper on her campaign and credentials, not to mention donated some hard-earned cash to her campaign. However, as far as putting my life on hold to volunteer my heart out...er, let's just say that that hasn't happened yet.

I suck at fundraising (my own family turned down a request to donate $25 each to an awareness walk for a disease that I have), can't stand the telephone, and literally break out in hives when I have to do any kind of public speaking. I can barely make it to my next door neighbor's house without shaking in my shoes. In other words, I'm not the kind of campaign activist you want on your team. And yeah, I feel like I let HRC down, too.

I would love to see HRC win, but while I remain the eternal optimist, the numbers are not looking good. However, I appreciate the McCaskill quote you referenced in your article. Hillary's a big girl, she can handle her own campaign and will step down from it when she's good and ready. At this time I still think she's the best candidate and always will, and apparently millions of others feel the same way. If nothing else, I appreciate that HRC seems to understand the loyalty and passion her supporters feel for her and the responsibility that entails. To retreat now -- even if that would seem to be the logical choice -- would be an awful blow to those who worked so hard on her behalf.

I think that, for her as well as for myself and countless others, this election is about more than just a call for "change." What bothered me about the 2004 election (and why I didn't vote for Kerry but for Nader instead) is because I felt that the Democratic theme seemed to be, "It's better than the alternative." There didn't seem to be a really strong push to field a worthy candidate, just a half-assed attempt to throw any warm body into the ring as an alternative to Bush.

Now, though, not only do we have two strong candidates, but they're both non-traditional ones. Now that we have an election worth bothering about, it's actually become personal, far more than any election I've ever witnessed in my lifetime (I'm 36). Suddenly, I'm seeing my hero, a woman I've admired for 16 years, whose life and accomplishments I've followed for just as long, on the verge of literally becoming the leader of the freakin' world.

For that reason alone, I think that even if you've worked in politics in the past, I can only imagine that losing now would be even more difficult simply because we had a chance to make history...and failed. This isn't about a Democrat winning anymore, but a woman actually winning the White House, something a lot of us didn't think we'd see for decades.

By the way, I would be very surprised if Obama extended the olive branch and offered Clinton the VP-ship, and even more so if Clinton accepted it. Maybe I'm just projecting my own profound disappointment, but I can't imagine that happening after the exhausting bitterness of the last few months. And quite frankly, that would hurt like hell.

Cheers,
Marjorie

In Need of Some Hip Tranquility

I'm sad. The Woodhull writers' retreat where I was to teach this weekend has been canceled, due to power outage up at the house (don't worry -- this doesn't happen often). So here I am in this crazy city, trying to quiet my mind and regroup. All of which reminds me that I've long been wanting to do a post on Kimberley Wilson, the Hip Tranquil Yoga Chick herself.

I met Kimberley up at the Woodhull house last year and was quite taken by her calm--and her style. A few years back she came out with a book, called guess what, Hip Tranquil Chick: A Guide to Life On and Off the Yoga Mat. She's also created an impressive hip and tranquil empire -- the Tranquil Space Yoga studio in Washington DC, the Tranquil Space Foundation (which assists young girls with finding their inner voice), podcasts, a blog, a column, charity soirees, and a clothing line. Her website, as Marci reminds me in comments this week, is an excellent example of "platform" and pulls everything together well.

You know, I'm always interested in what authors write in books when they're asked to sign them. I've seen "With lots of feminist love," " "In sisterhood, uninterrupted" (guess who), and "Blessings." Kimberley signed the copy she sent me, "Keep shining." But my favorite thing of all about the Shine Girl is this: She describes herself as "a self-diagnosed bibliophile whose heart begins to race when she enters a bookstore," and "a teacher, designer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur, with a master's degree in women's studies."

If you're jonesing for a taste of some of this hip tranquilty, or some tips for a mindfully extravagant life, you can catch Kimberley teaching a week long yoga course at the Omega Institute on June 1-5.

So what's the moral of the story here. Let's see. When one retreat closes, another one opens? Hmm. There's another Woodhull nonfiction writers retreat I'll be teaching at 0n July 11-13, too.

GWP on Hillary Over at The Guardian

A piece I wrote for Comment Is Free over at The Guardian is now live: "A Hillary Supporter's Remorse." Is anyone out there feeling the same? Please feel free to weigh in, there or here. (And thank you to Gryff for your awesome comments below! You motivate me.)

Nowhere to Grow

As promised, my thoughts on Tuesday's Leaders Who Lunch event, sponsored by Woodhull, on the theme of intergenerational issues among women at work:

Sitting at a table of leaders from various organizations, I was struck once again by the ubiquity of a problem within the organizational structure at many small nonprofits. There are entry-level jobs and director-level jobs, and not much in between. Hence, for many young people who enter small nonprofits, there is nowhere, really, to grow.

I worked at a small, national nonprofit fresh out of college. I was a research assistant. I loved my job and was mentored well. Following the path of many who work the nonprofit circuit, I went back to graduate school for a PhD, thinking I'd like to teach. Once I realized I didn't (want to teach college, that is), I returned to the same nonprofit, by then under new leadership, as a Project Director. And again, I loved my job. But in the end, and to my surprise, I found myself facing the same dilemma as my younger colleagues: nowhere, really, to grow.

As Courtney, Gloria, Kristal, and I also do regularly at our WomenGirlsLadies events, Woodhull's gifted facilitator Karla asked us to think of one thing we'd like to share with our elder--or younger--colleagues about the kinds of generationally-tinged struggles we sometimes face. So here's what I offered, in the context of that safe space:

To my elders in women's organizations:
1. Have a succession plan in the works for the executive director, and start grooming.
2. Make room for us. Some organizations seem to have distinct limits in terms of voices of leadership. If there is room for more, those of us who end up leaving may instead decide to stay, and help the organization grow.
3. Try to operate from a psychology of abundance, rather than one of scarcity. Your staff are not your competition, but allies.

Whew -- pretty feisty for so early in the morning, huh? I just got back from trying a spinning class for the first time in years, which must be giving me the chutzpah to speak my mind.

Gratitude to Woodhull, and again to In Good Company, for a very rich event. Woodhull is running an Intergenerational Leader Retreat up in Ancramdale on May 16-18. Note: I won't be there, but I urge folks to check it out.

New Blogger on the Block

From time to time, I offer a snapshot of a new blogger on the block. Here I offer a quick Q&A with PursePundit, who started blogging in January of this year. Offline, PursePundit goes by the name of Jacki Zehner, and was the youngest woman and first female trader invited into the partnership of Goldman Sachs. She left in 2002. Now an impassioned philanthropic visionary and social change activist committed to the economic empowerment of women, Jacki is becoming a frequent media commentator on women’s success in the workplace, investing, current market events, women and wealth, and high-impact philanthropy. Here we go!

DS: What made you decide to start a blog?

JZ: I’ve been writing forever, but my work has generally been buried in my journals. Recently I read The Artist's Way which suggested that the way to unleash your creativity is to commit to writing every day and I am trying to do that. Most of the time what I write about is people I’ve met with, or opportunities I’ve heard about, or what is going on in the markets, so I thought, why not share it? I’m also very interested in writing a book, and want to get myself out there as a writer. The blog is a place to start.

DS: I see you started by blogging about the markets—why start there?

JZ: What’s going on in the credit markets is unprecedented. As an ex-mortgage trader and an investor, I’ve been following the markets with great interest and I feel compelled to write about what’s happening. Given my experience, I feel I have a credible voice and want to share what I think, like I used to do with my clients.

DS: Tell us something about the blog’s name, “Purse Pundit.”

JZ: I love the whole idea of a purse as a symbol for the economic power of women and I believe that positive change will happen when women really start to use that power. Money is a tool that we have to shape the world that we live in—by how we invest it, by how we spend it, by how we give it away.

DS: Your tagline is “Musings on Money, Markets, and Changing the World.” Do these things really go together?

JZ: My goal with this blog is to expand the dialogue that women are engaging in about money, and inspiring them to use their money in smart and meaningful ways. Women account for more than 50% of all stock ownership in the U.S and we do most of the consumer spending. By 2010, women will account for half of the private wealth in the country, or about $14 trillion. There’s a lot of power in our collective purses.

After doing this Q&A with Jacki, I went and bought a new purse. For more musings from PP, visit www.pursepundit.blogspot.com. You can also now find Jacki blogging over at 85 Broads and Huffington Post.

Last Night's Ladies Write Now Event...

...which I sadly could not make sounded awesome. Basically, GWN mentors came together with teaching artists from Teachers & Writers Collaborative for Ladies Night, an evening of readings. Readers included GWN mentors Grace Bastidas, Mary Roma, and Erica Silberman, plus teaching artists Nicole Callihan and Sheila Maldonado. For upcoming events from these folks, check out the GWN calendar, here.

GUEST POST: Reaching the Next Generation

Our next monthly guest blogger needs no introduction, but just in case you don't know her yet, Courtney E. Martin is a writer, teacher, and speaker whose book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body, was published to critical acclaim in April 2007 and will be released in paperback by Penguin in September. Courtney writes a column on politics and gender for The American Prospect Online and is the Book Editor of Feministing. She writes regularly for Crucial Minutiae, Alternet, Women's eNews, the Christian Science Monitor, and metro. And now, she also writes monthly for GWP! Courtney is the resident youngin on our traveling panel, WomenGirlsLadies: A Fresh Conversation Across Generations and teaches me things daily about writing and life. Here's Miss C, with some intergenerational wisdom to share for all those seeking to write for popular audiences--which include, of course, the young folk.

Reaching the Next Generation

When Deborah talks about “making it pop”—i.e. translating academic or movement-specific messages for the popular culture—I sometimes imagine that sound my high school best friend used to make with her gum when she was intent on interrupting our painfully boring biology teacher….POP!

Which is as an apt anecdote for what I’ll be writing about in this monthly column: reaching the next generation. One of the most coveted and challenging populations to reach is us youngins. In an age of Facebook, 24/7 news, and competitive college admissions overload, young people don’t have much spare attention to go around. So what can you—teacher, writer, evil marketer (just kidding, sort of)—do to make it pop specially for Generation Y (defined, for our purposes, as those born in the 80s and beyond).

Lesson #1: Don’t fall for trendy schemes.

Whether we’re talking politics or sex education, young people’s least favorite thing is to be confronted with forced intimacy and/or adults who think they only know how to communicate in acronyms (LOL, BFF etc.). Recent studies from Young Voters Strategies, a project of The Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, reveal that young people are still most likely to get involved in the political process via peer-to-peer, face-to-face interactions, not text messages or YouTube videos of candidates (though they do check these out).

This isn’t to deny that we’re IM-ing, texting, and writing on one another’s walls (if you’re an adult over 40 and you’re confused by any of this, it is a good sign that you’re not trying too hard--congrats), but to say that just because we’re communicating that way doesn’t mean that a) we want you to and b) we don’t still value good old fashioned in person interactions. In fact, expressly because our communication has gotten so remote, chatting over a meal or while sitting on the grass in the park is more special than ever to young people.

In sum, acknowledge our technological communication habits but don’t reduce us to them. In return, we promise not to make fun of you when you talk about how cell phones used to be the size of Bibles.

Ok, so I never had a Bible-size cell, but I do remember VCRs and (gasp) Betas. Edsel, anyone? Tune in next month for Lesson #2.... -GWP

Special Offer: Nonfiction Writing Intensive at Woodhull, with Moi

So yesterday I attended a really great intergenerational conversation hosted by Woodhull, housed in the lovely conference room at In Good Company, a place whose company I'd love to one day keep. More on that event soon! But in the meantime, I wanted to let folks know that a special GWP discount may be available for this weekend's nonfiction writing retreat, "Raise Your Voices: An Intensive Nonfiction Writing Retreat for Women", where I'll be teaching along with Kristen Kemp and Katie Orenstein. For more on that, please email me (address below) or Elizabeth Curtis, ecurtis@woodhull.org. Just don't forget to tell them GWP sent you in order to receive the discount.

For Love or Money (or Both)

My father always told me, "Follow your passion and the money will follow." Since leaving the academia track, I've definitely been following my passion, and the money, well, still kinda waiting for it to catch up in spades. Along the way, however, I've found my bliss so I know that there's no turning back. The topic is the focus of a blogger roundup over at The Art of Nonconformity. Definitely worth checking out. And big thanks to Marci Alboher, who has covered the topic in her New York Times column Shifting Careers, for the heads up.

Image cred

Coming Tomorrow...

The next in our lineup of new monthly guest bloggers will be Courtney Martin, with a column that extends on the theme of "Making It Pop". Courtney will be sharing tricks of the trade and inside scoop on writing in ways that will help you reach the next generation. So stay tuned!

GWP Seeks Website Models

And while I'm on the topic of platform, I'm personally looking for models of author websites that incorporate blogs and workshop listings, because my workshop offerings are expanding. I'm working with a fabulous intern this summer (Kristen Loveland) to revamp things a bit over here at GWP. So far on my list I've got Elizabeth Merrick and Marci Alboher. Anyone seen anyone else that's doing this on their site, and doing it well? Thanks for leads, in comments!

And PS. Keep an eye out for some guest posting from Kristen in this space too. I'm going to be learning a lot from her, I know.

Blogging for Platform

I often suggest that writers I'm working with start blogs to start building a platform around their book. My colleague Ashton (of the post below, and not a coaching client of mine, btw) has done just a good job of that, I wanted to send her a shout out and make her blog visible as a model for others of you who are trying to do the same. Again, the site is called So When Are You Going to Retire, and what I love about it is that Ashton has included lists on the side called "Stories I'm hearing," "Stuff I'm reading," "Questions I'm asking," "Zeitgeist," and then she also has a bibliography link. These categories are great not only for folks interested in her work (whether interest means participating or coverage) but also for Ashton, who can then go back to these links later as she's ready to return to this material for the book. She's also written, right up top, the following: "questions? critiques? stories? please comment or email me" to encourage reader response.

Has anyone seen other examples of good platform building blogs? If so, please add them in comments!

Not Your Grandma's Grandma

So in addition to it being Jewish American Heritage Month and all, it's also Older Americans Month. I told Marco this just now and he said, "Hey, a month for me!" (Note: he's not really Jewish, just really likes my tribe. And he's not truly old, just kind of.)

Anyway, here are three important facts about older Americans to start off your day, courtesy of Ashton Applewhite and CCF:

MORE MARRIAGE: Men and women over 65 are more likely to have partners than at any time in history. They are now more likely to be married (as opposed to widowed or divorced without remarriage) because both men and women are living longer and because the gap between sexes is narrowing. In addition, people are more likely to remarry at older ages, although unmarried elders are also much more likely to cohabit than in the past.

HOT SEX: There's no association between menopause and reduced sexual desire, once we control for other factors. Nor are post-menopausal women less likely to be orgasmic, although some report their orgasms are less intense. And Americans in their sixties and beyond are certainly interested in sex: they're fueling a booming Viagra market.

MORE POVERTY: Widowed and divorced women who took time off from work to raise children are especially vulnerable to poverty because almost all retirement income is based on work — theirs or theirs spouses'. And Social Security is the only source of income for more than 40 percent of older women living alone.

Ashton is currently working on a project about older Americans called So When Are You Going to Retire: Octogenarians in the Workforce. For much, much more on any of this, contact Ashton at applewhite@earthlink.net.

Little Red Lighthouse That Could

This weekend I participated in The Great Saunter--a walk around Manhattan, sponsored by an environmental conservation group called ShoreWalkers.  Their motto is "See Manhattan at 3MPH!" Full disclosure: My crew and I walked from 42nd St to the northern most tip, then took the subway home.  But still, it was an amazing chance to just walk and talk and talk and walk and take in the Hudson River.  This here is a pic of that little red lighthouse underneath the George Washington Bridge.  There's a kids' book about it, and I'm here to say the lighthouse really does exist.

Those Wellesley Gals Are at It Again

And thank goodness they are. In an earlier post I commented on the CCF panel on hooking up and wrote about the scarcity of research on adolescent sexuality. Well, I just learned that researchers at the Wellesley Centers for Women have been following a sample of Gen Y kids* through six grade and, over the next year, new research from the study will look at children's friendships, adolescent romantic relationships, puberty and adolescent health, risky behavior and aggression, school achievement, the black-white achievement gap, and more. For more info on the study, click here. And to sign up for the WCW's e-newsletter, try here.

*Gen Y is that cohort name for children born to Boomer parents between 1981-1995.

Go Ye Mama PhDs!

Caroline Grant, coeditor of the forthcoming anthology Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life, just gave me the heads up that InsideHigherEd.com is launching a new Mama PhD blog, and seven of the book's contributors -- Libby Gruner, Megan Kajitani, Susan Bassow, Dana Campbell, Liz Stockwell, Anjalee Nadkarni and Della Fenster -- will be blogging regularly for them. As Caroline notes, "This is a terrific opportunity to bring the discussion of academic work/ family life balance issues out of the book, into the blogosphere and from there into classrooms and campus administrative offices." Hells yeah.

Megan, of the very cool blog Having Enough, will be writing a weekly advice column. For more on everything, check out the book's website here. And congrats, you Mama PhD powerhouses out there! I'll be sure to blog more about the book in this space when it comes out.

Spy Cat

Regular readers know I rarely catblog. But Marco just sent me this image, and I just couldn't resist. This, my friends, is the sneaky Amelia Bedelia in the tub, who we are convinced has been on some secret government mission all along. This confirms.

End-of-the-Week News RoundUp

Four quick hits, thanks to Rebekah over at the Women's Media Center, below. To subscribe to the WMC's daily newsfeed--which I highly recommend for those looking for a way to keep up with women-focused news headlines--click here. (And next roundup I post, I promise to include links!)

Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat
Washington Post: In Afghanistan as well as Iraq, female soldiers are often tasked to work in all-male combat units -- not only for their skills but also for the culturally sensitive role of providing medical treatment for local women, as well as searching them and otherwise interacting with them. Such war-zone pragmatism is at odds with Army rules intended to bar women from units that engage in direct combat or collocate with combat forces.

Women As Catalysts For Change: New Organization Starts Micro-Lending Fund
Fairfield University Mirror: Nine students and their professor have direct micro-lending to women entrepreneurs a reality by creating the Sustainable Equity for Women (SEW) Fund. The SEW Fund lends money to female entrepreneurs in developing countries to aid their business ventures.

Iranian Feminist Faces Lashings, Jail
Australian News: Iran has handed a feminist a suspended sentence of 10 lashes and six months in prison, the Kargozaran newspaper has reported, in the fourth such punishment for a women's rights activist in Iran within weeks.

The Folly of McCain-Care
The New Republic: In just the last few weeks, this issue has started to become a political liability for McCain, thanks mostly to Elizabeth Edwards, who--in addition to being a well-known cancer patient--is also a well-known policy wonk.

(Image cred)

MOMocrats Best ABC Moderators

As MOMocrats aptly notes, the most recent debate between the Democratic candidates was disappointing to most of us, with questions again directed more towards mud slinging between the candidates rather than substantive issues about domestic and foreign policy. So the MOMocrats and their readers came up with a list of "Questions We Wish ABC Had Asked." Then they submitted them to the candidates.

In a MOMocrats exclusive, Barack Obama answers the questions that should have been asked during the last debate. Click here to read the interview, in which "he finally gets to discuss the issues, not his apparel or acquaintances."

Did HRC respond, does anyone know?

Introducing: The Frisky

I may be late to the party on this one, but I just came across a blog called The Frisky, a sexy site--or, in their words, a "Venuszine"--for women highlighting women in music, art, film fashion, and DIY culture. The Frisky sent me an email (target marketing to feminist bloggers, and hey, it worked!) with links to some awfully misogynistic and creepy sexist ads, with their critique attached: "First we seriously question the Disney Push Bra. Does this fall under "soft" kiddie porn? And well we are speechless about this one."

Do check em out--The Frisky.

CCF in the News

Lots of people have been asking me about last weekend's Council on Contemporary Families conference, which I blogged about here. For more coverage, check out the Chicago Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor. Veronica blogged a bit about our blogging workshop here. And if other GWP readers who attended happened to blog about the conference, please do post your links in comments, to share!

Feminist Orgs and Web 2.0

Veronica Arreola, blogger and blog mentor, alerts us over at Viva la Feminista to the way NARAL Pro-Choice America successfully launched a blog with integration on Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. For all your orgs out there, do check out the way they've navigated all three. It's IMPRESSIVE! And inspiring too, for all of us still trying to figure out the ins and outs of Web 2.0. In Veronica's words, "[G]o check out how NARAL Pro-Choice America is using blogging + social networking to = one kick ass feminist network." What she said.

Paging Dr. Television!

A hearty welcome to the blogosphere to Dr. Television, aka Elana Levine, a supersmart colleague of mine from my graduate school days at the University of Wisconsin. I blogged here earlier about Elana's book, and I'm THRILLED that she's thrown her voice into the blogpool, because this gal has got it going on.

Pop Thursday

Three random quick hits plus one titilating picture--under the general rubric of "women and popular culture"--before I head out for a morning jaunt this sunny Thursday morning:

Over at feministing, Courtney thanks Madonna (left). The queen of self-reinvention launches another album today, as covered in the NYTimes. At Salon, James Hannaham asks "Does Madonna Still Matter?" The article's tagline reads: "On Hard Candy, the 49-year-old disco queen gracefully walks a tightrope between sex, motherhood and aging." Um, that matters, to me anyway!

At Purse Pundit, Jacki Zehner muses on teachings from the First Lady of American Magazines, Cathie Black.

And Broadsheet sounds off on "The Hannah Montana Virginity Debate."

Enjoy!

Blogging Opps for Social Changers

A shout out to Kathy LeMay, the genius behind Raising Change, for forwarding info about a great blogging opportunity for social change bloggers (or folks who want to be). Here's the deal:

Apply to be a Blogger for Change.org!

Want to blog on an issue you are passionate about for an audience of hundreds of thousands of activists and nonprofit leaders?

Want to create the premier online space for your issue and become a leading voice for social action?

Change.org is launching a social action blog network this summer and is currently hiring a team of part-time bloggers/editors to help create a movement for change around the major causes of our time.

Each blogger will lead an online community focusing on a different social, political, or environmental issue, maintain a daily blog covering news and offering commentary, convene leading nonprofits and activists working on the issue, and help people translate their interests and passions into concrete action.

For more info, click here.

The image to the left comes courtesy of Catherine Morgan, who published a great list of 375 political women bloggers back in March. For more on that, check out Catherine's The Political Voices of Women Blog.