Women's Equality Day

Hello everyone! Happy Women's Equality Day!

In case you're too lazy to click the link or simply like consolidation,

What is Women’s Equality Day?

At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.”

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women’s Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, or other activities.

Bueno! Considering my knowledge on feminist history is very limited in comparison to many I know, this blog entry is going to be a little bit more whimsical than some of my other entries. But perhaps it's good to embrace the fun side of it since today is a happy day (even though we do have a long way to go)! So, two fun videos I came across and some fun facts about my relation to feminism (and I hope you'll share yours too in the comment section):





Now, fun facts about me (because I know you're so enthralled):



1. When I was a child, I apparently loveeeedddd Wonder Woman. Although, for some reason or another, I had problems with similar sounding words. I'd run around the house yelling, "WHEN I GROW UP I WANNA BE WOMAN WOMAN." My babysitter evidently tried to correct me that it was Wonder Woman and not Woman Woman but my parents thought it was too cute to correct.

2. I think my favorite quote by a feminist, because it carries so much weight, is "Your silence will not protect you." - Audre Lorde. I love it for trauma-related reasons but it also carries a great deal of political significance to it too, don't you think?

3. Upon buying an incredibly awesome bumper sticker that says "EVE WAS FRAMED," I had decided to strategically place it under the bitten apple logo on my mac laptop. A lot of people caught onto it and appreciated it, and I remain to be fairly amused by the placement. My fellow feminist friend, Amelia, now owns this laptop and carries it around with pride. I bought another EVE WAS FRAMED bumper sticker and it proudly sticks to my bookcase (an equally good place to put it I think).

4. I have a "Haters Gonna Hate" shirt if only because Jessica Valenti has that little guy struttin' away on her formpsring account, and because really, feminists have to deal with so many Haters.

5. When I was a child, Annie Oakley was my heroine. I begged my 5th grade teacher to let me write a report on her. I still think she is one incredibly badass woman.

6. The reason I got into feminism, ironically, was through a English class I took in Spring 09 entitled Rise of Raunch where we studied the impacts of porn upon American society. And, being an English major at the time, I decided to use that class to study how the words "slut," "cunt," "bitch," and "whore," could be used as sexually empowering words for women rather than derogatory words. I became so intrigued by this one final research study that I turned it into a SOC 499 Independent Study course entitled "Feminist Sociolinguistics," and wrote a 47 page paper on it. One day, I will hopefully write a book about this.

7. I model in my spare time - and while this can be seen as somewhat... hypocritical, I find it to be empowering. I use modeling as an attempt to truly focus on my body and its feelings, per se, so that I grow more connected to it. As a trauma survivor, it becomes easy for me to dissociate from and ignore my body. Modeling forces me to focus on my body and notice its strengths and weaknesses, and reinforces that its okay for my emotions and body to link. Naturally, I will and have run into photographers who do not have good intentions and have not treated me the way I should've been treated - and I never work with them again. And I would caution and advise other girls who want to get into this sort of thing to approach it the same way. Always always remember how valuable you are.

8. My dream, as many people know, is to work with sexual assault survivors and provide writing therapy for them - and hopefully, through this, increase awareness of sexual assault and change the language dynamics of how we approach a woman's sexuality. Essentially, the mission of this blog, my grad school studies, and my career.

Hope you enjoyed the random media and life facts! I would love to hear any of your stories, favorite quotes, favorite feminists facts, or quirky feminist tidbits! Happy Women's Equality Day!