BLOG – Women of 2013

“The main problem, is me being a female.”

“Women who drive cars could cause damage to their ovaries and pelvises and they are at risk of having children born with ‘clinical problems.'”

 

Looking back on 2013, here are just a FEW Fabulous Females who inspired, empowered and made a difference by standing up, speaking out, and ultimately making our lives better.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI

This Pakastani sixteen year old, addressed the United Nations in July, is the youngest person to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, has a book and campaign “I Am Malala”, and might end up running her country.  Her journey began at eleven years old when she began blogging for the BBC about life under the Taliban (the religious militant group of men from Afghanistan and Pakistan who do not believe girls or women should be educated or have rights).  When she was fourteen years old, the Taliban shot her in the head while on her school van.  She was taken to England where she MIRACULOUSLY recovered.  Her whole family moved there as well (her father is an educator and great inspiration and supporter) and Malala returned to school, continuing her education.  This year she went on a tour of sorts, which included charming John Stewart on The Daily Show so much he wanted to adopt her.  On a visit to The Oval Office, she also told President Obama to STOP using drones (one of her causes), and was up for Time Magazine Person Of The Year but lost to the Pope.  “Let us pick up our books and our pens.  They are our most powerful weapons.”  http://www.malala-yousafzai.com

ELIZABETH WARREN

The Senior Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, former Harvard Law Professor, mom and author is a true representative of the people.  She called out and told off corporate America, the banks, (including introducing legislation to make student loan rates the same as the banks; “Let’s give students the same great deal the banks get”) fights for income equality, minimum wage, expanding social security, cutting the military budget (using that money for education) increase taxing the rich, and a ton of other causes that will improve the lives of everyday Americans. “I’m really concerned that too big to fail has become too big to jail. That just seems wrong to me.”  http://elizabethwarren.com

WENDY DAVIS

The Texas Trail-Blazing Fifty Year Old Senator (who was a nineteen year old Single Mom) stood on her feet for almost almost eleven hours, filibustering to defeat a bill that would close a load of abortion clinics (leaving only FIVE OPEN!) in that giant state.  She couldn’t and didn’t use a bathroom, eat, drink, talk off-topic or lean against furniture.  This Harvard Law School graduate is now running for Governor.  “People are hungry for leadership that’s not afraid of political consequence.”  Watch it and her here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcjfv2BF9f0

http://www.wendydavistexas.com

KIRSTIN GILLIBRAND AND JACKIE SPEIER

New York Senator and Democrat Gillibrand and California Congresswoman and Democrat Speier went to bat for the twenty-five year long despicable untenable and UNBELIEVABLE crisis of sexual assault in the military.  Said Gillibrand  “…sexual violence is reported to be the leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder among women veterans”.  Once you watch this and learn what’s been going you will become incredulous and outraged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqM6-Upn2V4

AMY ZIERING

And speaking of Sexual Assault In The Military – it was this Fabulous Female who brought so much attention to the crisis by producing the Oscar nominated documentary “The Invisible War”. http://invisiblewarmovie.com

SHERYL SANDBERG

Women in Corporate America….disgraceful with only 4.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEO jobs going to the gals!!!  Absolutely unacceptable. Ms. Sandberg is trying to change it.  This Mom and Harvard Graduate with many male mentors is the COO of Facebook.  She published her book Lean In and created her campaign Leanin.org which inspires and empowers girls and women to be more assertive and LEAN IN to their ambitions and goals and not let anyone or anything hold them back. She is controversial for saying things such as: “Until women are as ambitious as men, they’re not gong to achieve as much as men.”  But I am a big fan of her message: “Believe in yourself and negotiate for yourself. Own your own success.  I’d like to see where boys and girls end up if they get equal encouragement – I think we might have some differences in how leadership is done.”   http://leanin.org

MARISSA MAYER

Another Female Corporate (and controversial) Trailblazer, she is President and CEO of Yahoo.  Our young girls NEED to see women in these roles.

MARY BARA

DROVE right through the automotive industry’s glass ceiling as the first female CEO of General Motors.  Major Trail-Blazing! 

JANET YELLEN

ChairPERSON of the United States Federal Reserve – First Female for the big job.

MAKERS.COM

Super cool on line digital platform filled with inspiring, empowering and IMPORTANT true stories of Fabulous Females who make America, developed by PBS and AOL.

http://www.makers.com

KRISTI JACOBSON and LORI SILVERBUSH

Two Fabulous Females who produced and directed this heartbreaking documentary about hunger in America…. http://www.catalyst-films.com/film-tv/place-table/

JENNIFER LEE

Is a Fabulous Female Filmmaker, mom and feminist who wrote and produced Feminist Stories From Women’s Liberation,  a documentary covering the women’s movement from 1963-1970.  Why?  “One day in 2004 I watched a segment of “Meet the Press” where five men were discussing how to overturn Roe v. Wade. I thought, ‘Where are the women?’  The next day I talked about it with a co-worker and she leaned over and whispered, “Are you a feminist?”  http://www.feministstories.com

MELANIE KLEIN and WAM

WOMEN, ACTION MEDIA is an organization that fights for gender justice in America.  They led the fight to successfully campaign to remove all misogyny, hate speak and violence against women from Facebook.  Just one of their campaigns.  Melanie Klein is a writer, speaker and Associate Faculty member at Santa Monica College, teaching Sociology and Women’s Studies.  And she is my SHESOURCE sister!

http://www.womenactionmedia.org  (http://www.shesource.org)

ARAYANA SAYEED

A singer/songwriter who made headlines by refusing to wear a veil.  In Afghanistan.  On National Television – as a judge on their version of The Voice.  Receiving death threats did not stop this Fabulous Female from making a statement and risking her life. “The main problem, is me being a female.  For a woman, anything she does in Afghanistan is a problem.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC-hjI0xRQY

SAUDI ARABIAN WOMEN

“Women who drive cars could cause damage to their ovaries and pelvises and they are at risk of having children born with ‘clinical problems,'”  said a leading Saudi cleric.  Of course!  THAT explains MY two teenage daughters’ behavior!  Oy!!!!  But a bunch of incredibly courageous Fabulous Saudi Females drove anyway on October 26th. Five were arrested and “dealt with accordingly”  (what does THAT mean???). Saudi Arabia is the only country in the whole wide world that does not allow women to drive.

Like I said, just a few fab females doing what they can for equality and social justice.

Happy 2014 Everyone.  Get out and vote!  The Midterm Elections are really important this year.

UPCOMING SHOWS:  March is Women’s History Month!

MALIBU

Sunday March 16th at 7:00PM

Presented by Carla and Leigh McCloskey, whose beautiful private home called OLANDAR is an event venue, filled with amazing art. Come a little early and enjoy the exhibit before the show.
Donation: $20.00
Location: Olandar, home of Carla and Leigh McCloskey in Malibu, CA
RSVP as space is limited.
For address, more information and RSVP: Please email carlamccloskey@aol.com or call, 310-457-5398

SAN DIEGO

THE WOMEN’S MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA

http://womensmuseumca.org

2730 Historic Decatur Rd. Barracks 16

San Diego, CA 92106

(619) 233-7963

Saturday March 15th at 7:00PM
BUY TICKETS

 Sunday March 16th at 3:00PM
BUY TICKETS

Don’t forget to listen to my Fabulous Female Facts every Thursday on Nicole Sandler’s http://radioornot.com/.  I am on at 8:20AM Thursday mornings.  (You can listen to the podcasts which are archived) and  – as always – get your Women’s History on with http://sheshistory.com/.  Here are a few photos of my year highlights.  (I’m better in front of the camera than behind it….)

 

********************

*******************

*******************

*******************

*******************

*******************

*******************

Who Said: “I think…that the young women of today do not and can never know at what price their right to free speech and to speak at all in public has been earned”.

It was Lucy Stone in 1893. And still sadly true today when we know all about Kim Kardashian and nothing about Lucy Stone. We celebrate Woman’s Equality Day on August 26th, honoring the momentous event ninety-three years ago, when women got suffrage – the right to vote in – 1920, with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Ahhh. Lucy Stone was the first American gal to get arrested for civil disobedience – she would not pay her property taxes because she could not vote. You had to be a white male property owner to vote.

Lucy Stone (read more)

Fabulous Female Fact: Lucy Stone

Voting is the most powerful way to affect change. (Unless you agree with Emma Goldman, who said; “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” ) And as we look back ninety three years ago, could we have imagined such a powerful change as a black president? How many of us know how hard the gals fought to free the slaves – were INSTRUMENTAL in getting the Thirteenth Amendment passed? Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her crew over at The Loyal League (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ topic/647185/Womens-National-Loyal-League) got 400,000 signatures on a petition abolishing slavery! (Imagine what these suffragists could do with Facebook andTwitter?) But the gals were not free to vote. “Votes for all or votes for none! Universal Suffrage!” said Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony when they were asked after the Civil War, to fight again. This time for the freed slaves’ right to vote. “Black male suffrage is paramount. Tis the hour of the Negro” they were told, which pissed off some of ‘em so much that it split the movement, setting back the gals efforts for their own right to vote another fifty years.

There were very FEW gals in positions of power in 1920. In 1917 Montana’s Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives (they had to build a Ladies Room for her).

Jeannette Rankin

http://sheshistory.com/site/category/fabulous-female-facts/page/4/

And Pioneering Attorney Belva Lockwood ran for President – TWICE – in 1884 and 1888. Back in 1872 the scandalous, history-making, glorious, Victoria Woodhull (AKA Mrs. Satan), became the FIRST woman to run for President (and spent election day in jail for what she published in her newspaper).

http://sheshistory.com/site/category/fabulous-female-facts/page/5/

Speakin’ of gals who run for President, who woulda thought back in 1920 that a woman who MIGHT be running for President, is so apparently powerful, an entire political party VOTED to ban CNN and NBC from airing their Presidential debates. CNN’s planned documentary and NBC’s planned film about the life of Hillary Clinton is the cause of the brouhaha. Wow! Here we are in 2013 and the power is on as we inch our way toward equality with ninety-eight women (out of five hundred thirty-five) in Congress. This would thrill Jeanette Rankin and the amazing activist/suffragist (and author of The Equal Rights Amendment) Alice Paul. In 1917, Alice Paul and a bunch of her gal pals were thrown (literally) into jail for peacefully picketing the White House for the right to vote. These gals went through HELL sacrificing and suffering, enduring physical abuse and hunger strikes, ALL SO WE CAN VOTE!

And thanks to the late great New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug, every year since 1971, The President of The United States issues a proclamation commemorating August 26th as Women’s Equality Day!

**************

SHE’S HISTORY! plays The Lounge Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday October 13th at 2PM.

BUY TICKETS