Women's Firsts

1. In Saudi Arabia in 2008, the first women only university was opened.

2. In the year 2000, Ingrid Daubechies is the first woman to win the National Academy of Sciences Medal in Mathematics.

3. 2010, Giorgia Boscolo is the first official woman gondolier in Venice.

4. Astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson became the commander of the International Space Station in 2007.

5.Senator Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire presidential primary and made history by becoming the first woman to do so.

6. Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin became the first female vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

7. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.

8. Kathryn Bigelow wins the Best Director Oscar in March 2010 becoming the first woman ever to win the award.

9. 2006, Effa Manley becomes the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

10. November 1, 2010 Dilma Rousseff is elected Brazil's first woman leader.

As long as women are still accomplishing things for the "first" time then women are still not equal to men.

Happy 90th to the 19th!

Today is the 90th anniversary of the 19th ammendment. For those of you who do not know which one that is- it is the one that gave women the right to vote. It is true; women have unfortunately only been voting for 90 years in this country.

Sometimes I cannot believe how fresh an idea equality for women really is. But on the bright side, women have come a very long way in 90 years. And what is most remarkable about the women of the early 1900'sis how determined they were and how hard they fought to pave the way for women today.

Their determination and courage are admirable and I think that these qualities are what is missing from women today. For the most part,the feminist struggle has almost died out and has become replaced with virgin/whore pop icon. Girls today want to grow and be like Britney Spears all the while having no idea who Elizabeth Cady Stanton is and what she has accomplished. It seems we have almost forgotten that women have brains and because of the suffragettes we are able to use them. But some women prefer to play the role of the dumb blonde.

Today most women no longer feel the need to rectify the sexism in the workplace, on tv or at home in our own families, while the women responsible for the 19th ammendment marched in streets and conducted meetings at Seneca Falls and rewrote the Declaration of Independence. Today's women seem more preoccupied with clothing labels and Coach bags and less about making the world better for their daughters so that maybe one day there will be a female president.

For the most part, women have forgotten about the struggle and the hard work and sacrifices. Not one news broadcast has mentioned the fact that the 19th ammendment is celebrating its 90th birthday. It would be tragic to forget that women were not considered equals and for the most part are still not. We need to remind each other that women have worked hard to get to where they are now.

Keep the memory of the 19th ammendment alive!

The Virgin/Whore Dichotomy

If you're a woman then you are either a virgin or a whore. There is no grey area. And if you are a virgin then you are automatically considered "good" and if you are labeled a whore then you are automatically considered "evil." This is an age old issue for women while men are praised for the amount of notches they can add to their belts.

The problem is that women are most often judged solely based on their sexual experiences, this is where their value and worth stems from. People have a hard time NOT judging women based on who is or has been in their beds, when it is none of their business in the long run and for the most part we are misjudging what important characteristics and talents women can bring to the table because we are afraid of how comfortable they are sexually.

It is no secret that men and women are anatomically created to enjoy sex, so why do we act so surprised when women participate willingly in sexual activities? Why is society so afraid of strong, vocal women who are comfortable with their bodies and their sex lives? Men are encouraged to lose their virginity as soon as possible while women are encouraged to save it for as long as they can. Why does there have to be an influence at all?

Little girls are named Chastity and Prudence in hopes that they will instill these virtues throughout their lives. Instead of being taught that sex is not evil they are taught that if a boy really loves you he will wait until you are both married. The instillment of marriage is another problem all together but I'll save society's interference on marriage for another day.

Every woman knows what it is like to be the virgin and the whore at some point in her life. The virgin is eventually made to feel guilty once she crosses over that threshhold and instead of encouraging young women the proper healthy way to be sexually active and being in control of their own bodies we brainwashing them into thinking that they must remain virginal little girls well into adulthood.

These are the only two types of women presented in the bible through the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. These are the only types of women that girls get to be familiar with and neither of these "types" have accomplished anything worthwhile other than abstaining from sex. How the hell does abstaining from sex have anything to do with women as individual people?!

It is not easy for men and women to see women as people who have individual interests, talents, and personalities when we are too busy teaching boys and girls that good little girls remain virgins and bad little girls are sexually active. Next time you find yourself juding a women on her sexual experiences rather than her actions perhaps you will take the issues in this blog into consideration.

Perhaps you will teach your sons and daughters that the virgin and the whore is as ancient and outdated an idea as the world is flat and not round.

Mutilating Our Little Girls

It's amazing how many violent and horrible things are being done to women all over the world and little we know about it in the U.S. Topics like rape, and torture like female genital mutilation are often touched upon on talk shows and new shows but we really don't do anything about them. Maybe we feel bad for moment that we are being told these horrible stories, but that's all. The reason that feminism comes in waves and dies out is because we as women don't stick together. We don't see each other as sisters, as a team. We're all in competition against each other and that's the way it has been since the beginning of time.

But when there is something as evil and degrading going on in other parts of the world, we forget that women really need to be united because it is our mothers, sisters, and daughters out there who are being tortured and rights for one group is a step in the right direction for everyone.

The topic of female genital mutilation is extremely important to EVERY woman in the world and the actual procedures involved are not often clear. However, the first step in improving a this situation is being aware of it and unless you watch Oprah you probably don't know all that is involved in this type of torture.

The young underaged girl is held down and forced to undergo the procedure either for cultural or religious beliefs but is the removal of most of a woman's sex organs necessary to honor god? I know lots of people have done crazy things in the name of religion but is destroying our natural bodies a sign of devotion?

Mothers are involved in letting this happen to their daughters; none of the women have a choice. Can you listen to your daughter screaming and struggling as she is being cut into- a torture that will only inflict more torture for the rest of her life because she is risking all types of infections and not to mention painful intercourse and child births

The first step to making a difference in the world is obtaining the knowledge; so even you inform one more person about the horrible acts that are being inflicted on women, you have already made a difference.