The Our Bodies, Ourselves crew has a new book on women's health out. Our Bodies, Ourselves has been publishing feminist health info since their first cheaply printed and stapled booklet appeared in 1970 and started a revolution in women's health care.

After a two-year gestation, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth has arrived!

The new book addresses the questions and needs of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the "fourth trimester" of early motherhood. It covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Choosing a provider and birth setting
• Making decisions about prenatal testing
• Arranging for continuous labor support
• Exploring options for pain relief
• Recovering from birth
• Adjusting to life as a new mother

Here's some good news about Persimmon Tree, the online magazine that publishes writing by women over 60: They're going to start having open poetry calls twice yearly, and will be calling for work by region; each of these two annual issues will publish ten poems chosen by a Guest Editor for poetry.

Judith Arcana will be their first Guest Editor for poetry. She'll be editing the issue for the Northeastern region of the USA (defined as all the New England states + New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania).

The Chicago Area Women’s History Council (CAWHC) is launching a new project to help document the Chicago 2nd Wave women's movement. Both oral histories and written documents are being collected so that they may be saved and shared with the public.

The kickoff event will be held at 1:30 on March 16 at the Chicago History Museum. Speakers include:

• Sara M. Evans, Regents Professor of History, University of Minnesota
• Mary Jean Collins, Organizer; Activist; Sr. Vice Pres. People for the American Way
• Erin McCarthy, Oral Historian; History Faculty, Columbia College of Chicago
• Elizabeth Myers, Archivist, Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University

Book Launch and Reception

Wednesday, March 12, 20085 p.m. - 7 p.m.

UNITE! HERE

333 S. Ashland, Chicago IL

On the Global Waterfront by Suzan Erem and E. Paul Durrenberger tells the story of the Charleston 5, who became an international labor cause celebre when they were falsely accused of inciting a riot after police attacked a longshore protest in Charleston, South Carolina. The dockworkers were protesting the attempt by a multinational shipping conglomerate to shift to non-union labor.

Suzan Erem is a former Chicago labor organizer who wrote the book Labor Pains about her experiences as a SEIU staffer here in the Windy City. You can meet Suzan and get her autograph on the book by attending the celebration at UNITE! HERE on March 12.

Faculty from nine universities and colleges will hold the largest ever conference on black and Latina/o sexuality on April 11-12 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Race, Sex, Power: New Movements in Black and Latina/o Sexualities," the culmination of more than two years of planning, will bring together academics, activists, and artists to address topics ranging from intimacy and desire to HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy to humor and Hip Hop. 

Organizer Cathy Cohen, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, calls the conference "a bold effort to rethink what sexuality means for the two largest racial minorities in the US." Dr. Jocelyn Elders, the former United States Surgeon General appointed by President Clinton, will open the conference on Friday morning, April 11.

The nursing profession faces enormous challenges in the coming years, particularly in hospital settings. Aggressive cost-cutting, higher patient acuity, physician/nurse relations, inadequate staffing and the intense physical and emotional demands of the work are driving experienced nurses from the field and discouraging new recruits.

Join the RN2RN Network on Saturday, February 23 to learn more about these issues and their impact on patient quality of care at a conference sponsored by the RN2RN Network. Discuss strategies to address these challenges and chart a new course for the nursing profession.

The RN2RN Network was launched by nurses from Resurrection Health Care hospitals, who are part of HEART/AFSCME, to bring together nurses from around the state to organize for improved patient care and better staffing in Illinois hospitals.

In an effort to remake Chicago into a "global city" – one attractive to businesses and tourists worldwide – Chicago's educational, environmental, employment and housing policies have been rewritten over the last two decades. These changes in policy and funding priorities have effected Chicago residents differently by class, race and, as we focus on here, by gender.

Feminist scholar Jo Freeman has long been one of our most astute observers of the often surreal world of U.S. politics. In her new book We Will Be Heard: Women's Struggles for Political Power in the United States, she collects some of her best essays about women in politics into one volume.

According to the publisher, the book will be hitting the shelves on March 28, 2008. If you order at the prepublication price , you can receive a substantial discount.

From J. Ellen Foster's address to the 1892 Republican Convention to Nancy Pelosi's 2007 election as the first female Speaker of the House, women have worked to influence politics at every level. Well before most could vote, women campaigned for candidates and lobbied to shape public policy. Men welcomed their work, but not their ideas. Even with equal suffrage women faced many barriers to full political participation.

Gertrude (Trudy) Alma Pax, 70, died February 9, 2008, of pancreatic cancer, at her home at Camphill Village Minnesota. Trudy was born March 9, 1937 in Celina, Ohio to Gertrude (Jenniges) and Leo Pax and was the youngest of eight children. Raised on a farm, Trudy attended college at Marquette University, Milwaukee, and graduated with a degree in sociology. After working with a service organization in Brazil for four years, Trudy moved to Chicago and continued her involvement in social justice and political activism. Trudy worked in the steel mills in Chicago from 1975-1980. She married Tom Farr in 1974. Nic was born in 1981 and Daniel joined the family in 1983 when he was 3 years old. Trudy received a master’s degree in ESL and taught adult education classes.

When did feminism become the "F" word in todays modern world? Film maker Therese Schecter tries to answer that question in her movie, 'I was a Teenage Feminist". Armed with interviews and music by Ani DiFranco, Gina Young, Moxie Starpark and Helen Reddy, the film has earned great reviews from Bitch Magazine, Yahoo Movies, Educational Media Review and our good friend Paula Kamen.

To view the entire film online, please visit Free Speech TV. For more info on how to purchase the film or to arrange a showing, please visit Trixie Films.

You can watch a preview clip below:

The Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls is a place where 8-18 year olds come from all over the country to learn Rock DIY-style--forming bands, writing songs and building community, and “Girls Rock !” is the movie about their journey.

Film makers Arne Johnson and Shane King  have put together a story that focuses on 4 girls  at the camp learning how to be the people they really are as they make a whole lot of joyful noise.

The film opens in Chicago at the Music Box Theater at 3733 North Southport.

Join the National Organization for Women Foundation, National Council of Negro Women, and the Institute for Women's Policy Research for the 2008 Summit on Economic Justice for Women, April 11-12 in Atlanta, Georgia. The summit is dedicated to "Bringing Together Research and Advocacy--from Local to Global--to Advance Economic Justice and Empowerment for Women"

Don't miss the reduced early registration fee. Make your plans now to join with grassroots activists, researchers, and academics to address the critical economic issues facing women in the U.S. and abroad.

Historian This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is writing a biography. No, not of Betty Friedan the author, but of The Feminine Mystique, a book: its history and influence.

Stephanie Coontz needs your help.If you are willing to talk about this, or can direct her to someone else who might, you can send her your memories directly, or you can correspond informally by e-mail, or she can send you a few survey questions, whichever is easiest. Please address correspondence to her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . And if you have suggestions of other people for her to talk to, all such suggestions would be gratefully received.