National Equal Pay Day is April 20th

Next week, the average U.S. woman will finally have earned, by working through all of 2009 and through most of 2010, what the average U.S. man earned in 2009. This article by the National Women's Law Center seeks to raise awareness of the continuing gendered wage gap. This relates to our recent class discussions.

Is Body Hair Only for Men?

This New York Times article on recent spottings of celebrities who do not shave their legs and/or armpits is a great discussion of the cultural pressure in the United States to perform certain beauty rituals that alter the body. These practices ultimately create more work that women and girls must perform in order to be socially acceptable. How does this track with your learning in this course? Reactions?

Backstreet Abortions: Few Other Options in Kenya

Thanks to classmate Rachael Capone for bringing this article to my attention, particularly as it's timely to our recent discussions about the State's regulation of women's reproduction. The connection between restricted abortion access and the maiming and/or deaths of mothers and fetuses is not a U.S.-only epidemic. I hope you'll read this troubling article in CNN.com.

Myth of "Gay Lifestyle" Fuels Discrimination

As we've discussed in class, terminology is political. Take, for example, the term "gay lifestyle," which suggests that homosexuality is a chosen, aberrant, way of life that differs dramatically from the "natural" heterosexual way of being. LZ Granderson's essay on CNN.com takes issue with this use of a mythology of difference as a means for discrimination. What's your reaction, vis-a-vis our course?

SMAD Spring Diversity Lecture 4/5, 7pm, 1261 Harrison

"A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement’s Adaptation into Cyberspace." The white power movement is steadily adapting its racist agenda into "user-friendly" cyber formats, ranging from social network websites to information databases. Adam Klein will discuss his research on twenty-six leading white power websites and their use of the Internet. Klein is SMAD Diversity Fellow for the spring 2010. He is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mass Communication & Media Studies program at Howard University. He is the author of numerous research articles and papers and the forthcoming book, A Space for Hate (Litwin Books). The presentation is sponsored by the Office of Diversity, the Honors Program, and the School of Media Arts & Design.

The Clothesline Project 3/26, 12-6, Transitions

The Clothesline Project is actually a series of clotheslines displaying thousands of tee-shirts, each made by a sexual assault survivor or survivor ally. The shirts bear witness to both the pervasiveness of sexual violence in our nation and the extent to which violence harms physically and psychologically. Walking among the shirts, reading the stories, I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of shirts--so many testimonials of pain, anger, and strength. Today, our class will visit the Clothesline Project. Please take as much time as you can so that you can fully experience the point of the Project. You are also welcome to make a shirt if you feel so moved. Information about campus and community resources on sexual assault prevention, education, and support will be available. This event is sponsored by Residence Life and UHC's Student Wellness & Outreach.

Assignment: By Monday, 3/29, at 5:00 p.m., please post a reply to this blog entry that will serve as your commentary for next week. Your commentary should draw a connection between your experience of the Clothesline Project and one of the assigned essays from Chapter 10, "Resisting Violence Against Women." Your commentary must quote the essay as per the usual commentary assignment. Your commentary may either advance an original idea or respond to one previously posted here.

Unwanted Touching, Race, and Gender

Allison Keye's essay on National Public Radio, "Keep Your Hands Off the Hair," is about the frequent and strange compulsion of others to touch her hair. An African American who does not chemically straighten her hair, Keyes seeks to understand and explain the relationship of a 400-years-old racialized history of assumed permission to her recoil. The essay does not discuss the aspect of gender as another assumption of free access to her body, but it surely exists and is germane to our recent discussions in class.