California NOW

Diane Middlebrook, noted feminist biographer and intellectual, passes away

Diane Middlebrook, noted feminist poet, biographer and teacher died Saturday in San Francisco of terminal cancer. Middlebrook became famous largely for her biographies of 20th century women poets and authors, most notably those of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. Her work affirmed and celebrated the complex women behind the public personas, and made literary history accessible to scholars and laypeople alike. Middlebrook was also deeply involved in a life of intellectual discovery and creative exploration through literary salons and her time at Stanford. Said one of her contemporaries, “... Diane was interested in people, especially in women and what they were encountering in their professional lives.” “[She] was fabulous at drawing us out, making an environment where women could talk about their dreams, about things they wanted to invent and do," said San Francisco artist Squeak Carnwath. A pioneer in feminist academia, Middlebrook’s articulate voice will be sure to influence generations of intellectuals in years to come.

Inspiration from the Past: It's About Change, Sisters!

Just now, I'm preparing for my final for that women's history class you have all had to hear about.  Even in the very last class we hit a disagreement.   The great part is that one of the question options for the final asks us to explain why the first wave was a success and the second was a failure.  No bias there, eh?  I can't wait to write my response.  By chance I met another graduate student yesterday who is in the same class-he shared my frustration.

As I sit here and study the first and second wave I am struck by the similarities that we in the third wave share with our predecessors.   We continue to struggle against those who claim they are protecting "traditional roles."  The anti's have been making this claim since the nineteenth century!  What they don't seem to understand is that traditional society as they see it never existed.  There have always been women who stood up to tyranny, worked outside of the home, demanded safety, voiced political opinion, sought education, etc.   

What I have come to believe is that as activists we must truly embrace change.  We are demanding that the world around us change: we can expect no less from ourselves.  It can be scary and uncomfortable.  It can shake us to our very core.  But if we expect revolution we must first be willing to accept it for ourselves.   Such daring and courage is what I admire most in the women who have come before me, and what I wish for all of us in the movement today.

Back to the classroom...

Another fun day in my undergraduate women's history class.  While lecturing on early twentieth century shifts in relationships my professor looked out upon a room composed predominately of women and asked how many of us remember our first boyfriends.  After a pause and a glance over at one of the few men in the class she added "or girlfriends" to the question. 

I couldn't let it go, so I respectfully sent her an email after class, explaining my perception of the situation and a suggestion that gender neutral language be used in the future. 

She responded by saying she does generally use gender neutral language.  She went on to say that I misinterpreted the situation, as she was not looking at anyone in particular when she posed the question, and added "girlfriend" when she saw a man in the class "grimace."  I think she missed the point that she looked out upon a class of women and made an assumption about romantic partner preferences.

She then included two long paragraphs about her perception of lesbian history in the early twentieth century.  Apparently, a lesbian graduate student of women's history would have no concept of this history!   I suppose since this is a women's history class I expect a feminist environment.  Is that an inappropriate expectation?  Am I being too hard on this professor?  Perhaps I just can't get over the whole "the second wave was a failure" debacle from last month...   

UC Berkeley: Do the Right Thing. 1. Take Down the Barbed Wire Fences 2. Save the Oak Grove

$80,000 was spent to put up the 2nd barbed wire fence to enclose the tree-sitters who are protesting the erection of the Student Athlete High Performance Center in the Oak Grove at  UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley Police are arresting supporters who hand up food and supplies.

UC Berkeley needs to do the right thing as in bring down the fences, honor the Oak Grove as a permanent historic and memorial site and build the Student Athlete High Performance Center in an  alternative area and start honoring the fact that the Citizens of Berkeley have a right to protect what they deem precious. And while they are at it spend the money not on police and fences and fighting the City of Berkeley and locals in court—get those 300+ staff and faculty immediately out of the seismically unsafe Memorial Stadium offices and into safe portable structures until the separate Memorial Stadium issues are resolved.

Letters and calls are needed to oppose this waste of tax-payers money, to save the Oak Grove and respect the wishes of the students and residents of Berkeley.

Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau
University of California- Berkeley
200 California Hall #1500
Berkeley CA 94720
Phone: 510-642-7464

President Robert C. Dynes
Office of the President
University of California- Berkeley
1111 Franklin Street , 12th Floor
Oakland CA 94607
Phone: 510-987-9074
Executive Assistant to the President: eileen.OCallahan@ucop.edu
510-987-9076

Governor of California and President of the U.C. Regents
Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento , CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633

Send letters to the San Francisco Chronicle editors

Abstinence Ed Proven Ineffective, So Let's Put Millions of Dollars into it!

(cartoon via our friends at Women's eNews)

More sick irony Washington DC-style: in the same week the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a report saying, flat-out the $1.5 billion going towards abstinence-only-until-marriage programs is a waste of taxpayer money, the U.S. House allocated $141 million MORE dollars for it!

The study examined both comprehensive sexual and abstinence-only education programs and found that of the 48 programs studied, the only programs that delayed sexual initiation were comprehensive sex education programs.

Duh!

Every respectable study done has reached the same conclusion. Every logical person who was ever a teenager could tell you the same thing.

Comprehensive sex-ed is the only way to go. Too bad our government doesn't believe in using facts, or research, or common-sense to make decisions.

Women's Law Center: New Report

The National Women's Law Center's groundbreaking new report, When Girls Don’t Graduate, We All Fail: A Call to Improve High School Graduation Rates for Girls, finds that one in four girls drops out of school, and that the numbers are even worse for girls of color. Plus, the economic costs of dropping out are particularly damaging for girls. Female dropouts earn significantly lower wages than male dropouts, are at greater risk of unemployment, and are more likely to rely on public support programs.

The Center emphasizes that interventions to address the dropout crisis must be tailored to the different needs of boys and girls of all races and ethnicities, based on the distinct experiences of these students and the enhanced research and data collection recommended by the report. Policymakers, educators, students, and parents all have a role to play in ensuring that students are provided the support they need to stay in school. A fully comprehensive dropout prevention strategy also requires: Combating sexual harassment in schools.
Providing better support for pregnant and parenting students   
Ensuring equal access for girls to career and technical education classes   
Ensuring equal access for girls to after-school programs, including athletics programs.

Join the Center for an online training on this topic, When Girls Don't Graduate, We All Fail: Strategies to Help Girls Stay in School. This webinar will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Register now.