CWLU Herstory Blog

November 6, 2008
Women's Media Center
Story by Peggy Simpson

Far more women than men voted this week, and a larger proportion of women favored Obama over McCain, showing a 7 percent gender gap. Eight women will serve as governors in 2009. Women newcomers took two U.S. Senate seats and 10 in the House. Not much can match the emotional wallop of seeing the election of the first African American as president.

Former Judith Arcana was in town recently doing a reading from the anthology Fresh Water , a book of essays by Great Lakes women about life next to America's inland seas. The reading took place at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and included a visit by a great blue heron as the program was closing. Perfect.

The nomination of anti-feminist Sarah Palin to be vice-president of the United States has mobilized the feminist movement to oppose the Republican ticket even more strongly. As many news reports attest, Sarah Palin has a terrible record on issues important to feminists. She made rape victims pay for their own rape kits. She opposes reproductive choice and sex eduation. She has done nothing to deal with the long standing racial discrimination in Alaska and has ignored the findings of the Alaska Advisory Committee to the US. Committee on Civil Rights. The list goes on.

Among the many feminist projects to stop McCain/Palin is the website Women against Sarah Palin. Visit them and arm yourself with information.

This is a guest posting from Saul Schniderman, president of AFSCME Local 2910 at the Library of Congress and the secretary of the Labor Heritage Foundation. .

If you ever visited Adelphi, Maryland you probably have noticed the historic marker on Powder Mill Rd. in front of the Hillandale Baptist Church, near the intersection with Riggs Rd. The marker was erected in December, 2000 by the Maryland Historic Trust and it reads as follows: "Mary Harris 'Mother" Jones', the legendary labor organizer, spent a lifetime fighting for unions and the rights of workers. She died at the Burgess Farm near here on November 30, 1930, aged 100 years."

Radical Women is celebrating is 41st anniversary by holding a conference in San Francisco on the theme of socialist feminism. The Radical Women conference is an opportunity to grapple with ideas, examine the limitations of reformism, gain the confidence to challenge the system, and build the ranks of socialist feminists.

From time to time, we get requests for posters, photos, songs and documents to include in videos, radio shows, public exhibitions and the like. We try to meet these requests in a timely manner and for the most part we succeed. Here are some of the recent requests we have received:

Bitch Magazine has long been one of the brightest lights of feminist publishing. In an era that celebrates superficiality and cultivates stupidity, Bitch has the audacity to be both smart and entertaining. Focused on the intersection of feminism and culture, the publication not only wants its readers to think, it wants its them to take action as well.

Sarah's Inn is an oasis for women and their families who are suffering through domestic violence. Located in Oak Park and the Austin neighborhood in Chicago, Sarah's Inn offers services to many near west communities.