Gardasil Mandatory for Citizenship

A little fact that I just discovered:

Since 2008 Gardasil has been a mandatory vaccination for WOMEN ages 11 to 26 who are applying for permanent residency or women who are applying for refugee status in the United States.

Recently, a 17 year old woman who was attempting to establish citizenship in the U.S. was denied citizenship because she refused to get the Gardasil shot. This woman refused to get it on moral grounds. For many women seeking citizenship, getting the Gardasil shot is a huge financial burden in a process that is already very expensive.

Obviously the Gardasil vaccine is a great way to reduce cervical cancer in women, but I find it disturbing that we are imposing this vaccine on immigrant and refugee women...

ABDC

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I have this little, not-so-very secret obsession...

DANCE SHOWS!!!

And while I loooooove pretty much any show where people get their groove on, the one I love most of all is America's Best Dance Crew, for a multitude of reasons... and this season has been particularly great.

Not only has the show featured two amazing all-female crews, as well as my personal fav, an awesome vogueing crew (Vogue Evolution, comprised of four gay men and a transgendered woman), the top two crews competing this Sunday night in the finale show are We Are Heroes, an all-women pop and lock group, and Afroborike, a salsa troupe with three guys and three strong and sexy women. Also, in a surprising turn of events, these different factors have been treated rather tactfully (with the minor exception of Lil' Mama's weird comment about transgendered Leiomy) and in a non-exploitative manner(hey, it's MTV... you never know with them).

Hip-hop is generally a male-dominated dance form (particularly on ABDC... the two pervious winners of the show have been all-male break dancing crews), so I think it is fantastic to see two different groups of women DOING WORK!!! Tune in Sunday night to see not only some awesome dancing, but also women taking this title for the first time, regardless of which group wins.

The Dalai Lama is a Feminist, you guys!!!

“I call myself a feminist,” said the Dalai Lama. “Isn’t that what you call someone who fights for women’s rights?”

How awesome is this? If only more people realized that feminism is not anti-men, or just for women!

Healthcare Humor

Anyone a fan of Mad Men, Will Ferrell, Scrubs, Heroes, or House? Click here!!

Just a little welcomed humor about the ongoing healthcare debate... :)

Anything that points out how ridiculous of anti-healthcare reformers are makes my day. Especially since healthcare reform could greatly improve the lives of all Americans especially women! who are disproportionately left out of the current system.

Also, remember Senator "You lie!" Joe Wilson?

As he crusades to defeat healthcare reform, it turns out his home state of South Carolina has some of the worst Women!'s healthcare and reproductive health services in the country. Check out Rachel Maddow's "Magic Map Trick" segment that maps out HPV vaccination rates, teenage pregnancy, and infant mortality in the Senator's home state.

Week of Women!

"What is Feminism" Campaign is this week: For those of you who were able to make it to our meeting you will recall that this week we will be conducting a short and simple campaign called "What is Feminism" to send a positive message about our organization, our goals, and the feminist initiative as a whole.
This will entail...

• A "quilt" in the cooler: it is basically a space on the wall that will be filled with pieces of paper which have the collected definitions of feminism from people on our campus.
• Monday - Friday: Tabling in the Quad during lunch collecting definitions of feminism from the student body for the "quilt"
• FRIDAY at lunchtime = all female-artists DJ set in collaboration with KOXY!!!! Send your favorite all female (or at least female front-woman) songs as an attachment by Thursday afternoon. Empowered songs only.
• If you would like to participate we still need volunteers for this upcoming week!! Email: tdarcangelew@oxy.edu to sign up for shifts of (12-1:30 MWF and 11:30-1:30 Tues and Thurs)
• You will be provided with sheets of paper for their definitions, markers, a "questions to consider" sheet to help participants with their answer, a sign up sheet in case anyone is SO interested they want to join our group, and an instruction sheet...so it is really easy!! All you have to do is be there for your shift!
• Women! also needs volunteer to help in the afternoon hanging up the responses.

Thank you so much for all who made the meeting last week! We cannot wait to see you all again this week at lunch. Come show your support and fill out your portion of "The Quilt" any time this week.

Women! Tonight

Come see what Women! is all about tonight at 6:30 in the Center for Gender Equity. We will talk about the upcoming semester and get input from all of you! Yummy snacks to be served.

(The Center for Gender Equity is located on the bottom floor of Stewie Hall. You must enter on the side that faces away from Stewie Beach and toward Bell Young)

Women-Friendly Horror Films (Yes, they actually exist)

Ok, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t watch many of the horror movies that come out today (especially what people are calling torture porn) . I’m just not that interested in watching people (mostly young pretty people) die in sick and twisted ways. To me these movies just further sexualize extreme violence, especially against young women. So here are some alternatives to “Sorority Row” and “Saw 8 (or whatever number they are up to)”:

1) Teeth. Go out and rent it. It tackles issues that are important to many women, such as: female sexuality, the dangers of abstinence only education, and there is even some environmentalism thrown in there, just for kicks. The main character is sweet, naïve, and for the most part a victim of a patriarchal system that is trying to repress her sexuality. Until, she bites back (dun dun duuuun). Ok, I will say no more, and simply warn you that most men will probably find this a painful movie to watch. So get your women-friends together and watch it now!!

2) Ginger Snaps. Its original, funny, scary, and… the female characters have (GASP) personalities!! Seriously though, this movie is AMAZING. There are too many good lines to count and it is full of interesting social commentary (sexual standards are flipped). Lots of blood and gore, of course. Also, there is a really interesting blog about the film over at Tiger Beatdown which does a better job of explaining why this movie is so good.

3) Jennifer's Body. I haven't actually seen this yet but it looks pretty funny and scary. Plus its written by Diablo Cody, an openly feminist screenwriter, which is always promising. The only thing that makes me a little nervous about this film is how much it seems to be catering to the male gaze (OMG hot girl kiss!!!). Sure, Megan Fox is killing boys, but judging from the previews she is EXTREMELY sexualized in the movie (sex sells, especially to horny teenage boys). Then again all the sex in the previews could just be a way of getting teenage boys into the seats and then hitting them with some serious feminist messages (which I approve of btw)... I guess I will have to wait to see how it all plays out.

This is by no means an exhaustive list (There must be more than 3 women-friendly horror movies out there)... so if you would like to add a few to the list then comment away!!!