Minnesota Valley NOW

Minnesota Valley Chapter of the National Organization for Women

Archive for August, 2007

SAVE THE DATE: MN Women’s Consortium Conference: Women’s Dreams, 1977-2037

Posted by shan on August 29, 2007

November 15-16: Minnesota Women’s Consortium Conference: Women’s Dreams, 1977 – 2037. SAVE the DATE and SEND YOUR CLIPS!

The Consortium is planning a television show to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s Meeting in Houston, Texas, in 1977. Please mark your calendar and start sewing your sparkly gown to wear to the premier of the event, set for Thursday evening, November 15. You can wear your jeans to the conference the next day, November 16. Member organizations that have video footage or exceptional photos of women or girls in action – please send (ideally as CDs or DVDs) to Bonnie Watkins, MWC, 550 Rice Street, St Paul 55103. The pieces selected will be part of a montage showing where we have been in the past 30 years, and where we are heading for a better future. As always the Consortium wants to promote your organization and your cause – but we need your help to make that happen.

For additional information go to the Consortium’s website at www.mnwomen.org.

Posted in Events, MN Women's Consortium, Minnesota Valley NOW, Save the Date | Leave a Comment »

Videos from the Feminist Antipornography Conference

Posted by shan on August 27, 2007

Check out the videos on our right sidebar from the Feminist Antipornography Conference: Pornography & Pop Culture – Rethinking Theory, Reframing Activism held at Wheelock College in Boston on March 24, 2007.

Thanks to MN Valley NOW’s Media Watch Activist, Micki Lechner Riehle, for bringing these videos to our attention.

Here are direct links to the videos on YouTube and our pod at VodPod:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22feminist+antipornography%22

http://mnvalleynow.vodpod.com/

Posted in Activism, Antipornography, Events, Feminism, Feminist Videos, Media Watch, Minnesota Valley NOW | Leave a Comment »

News from New Moon Magazine, August 15, 2007

Posted by shan on August 25, 2007

Not A Dent, But An Impact

The latest Youth Worker News from the National Youth Development Information Center talks about the powerful and positive impact that youth generated media has on youth. From the newsletter:

“Youth media is an exciting way for young people to express themselves and create change, especially in a time when young people are so often portrayed negatively in mainstream media. By creating their own media, young people begin to realize that their voice matters and that they can make a difference in communities.”

This speaks directly as to why Nancy Gruver founded “New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams” almost 15 years ago. Learn more about the impact of youth media by clicking below. Help us by telling your friends about “New Moon” and other youth generated media out there!

Youth voices matter!

“Girls Rock!” The Movie

Girls Rock is a documentary about a community of women who are using rock and roll to empower and transform the lives of girls of all ages through the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls. The camp provides “a place where it is 100% O.K. to be exactly who you are.” Through the stories of several of the girls, the movie charts the powerfully positive impact the camp and rock has on the rising epidemic of low self-esteem in girls.

The movie hits theaters in 2008 but there is already an online community inspired by the movie and the camp. Check it out to learn more about “Girls Rock” and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls.

Rock on!

Plastic Surgery?!

A recent survey conducted in Australia shows that a quarter of the 4000 girls surveyed (ages 11-18) say they would get plastic surgery. Dr Jenny O’Dea, associate professor of child and adolescent health at the University of Sydney said “I think the whole trend towards plastic surgery is very worrying because there’s a big myth that it can actually build true self esteem. In the long term, what makes teenage girls really happy are their friends, their relationships and what they do with their lives — nothing to do with how they look.”

Read the rest of the results on The Border Mail website. http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/bm/national/896766.html

Also, a new study published in the August issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery states that women who get plastic surgery are more likely to commit suicide. Read more about the report and its results by visiting our blog. Don’t forget to leave your comments about the rising popularity in getting plastic surgery and its effects on women and girls.

Blog it!

Inner Beauty Camp: One Girl’s Dream

Recently, 14 year old Tayla wrote to us about her vision of starting an Inner Beauty Camp. We are so inspired by Tayla’s dream, that we wanted to share it with you! Tayla on why she wants to start an Inner Beauty Camp:

“With all the media images and fake information that tells teenagers they are ’supposed’ to look a curtain way it can be hard to stay true to your inner self. By starting this camp, I hope to guide the girls away from the media images and toward their own unique beauty and inner self.”

Visit our blog to read Tayla’s full letter and to learn how you can help make her dream a reality.
Go Tayla!

hangPROUD

A new global online community has popped up called hangPROUD. Founded by two business women, their mission is “to powerfully and positively impact women around the world to hangPROUD and be confident in themselves and their unique strengths in a world dominated by celebrity style, behavior and lifestyle.”

The site includes a store (with real women models, yay!), a special section for girls and articles.

Check it out and hangPROUD!

About This Newsletter

New Moon’s Friends News is a free email newsletter published by New Moon® Publishing. It contains news and information of interest to adults who care about girls.

From Melanie McDowell, Administrative Assistant, and the rest of the New Moonies

New Moon®
2 W. First St. #101
Duluth, MN 55802

Click here to sign up for New Moon’s Friends News!

Posted in Activism, Girls Rock, Minnesota Valley NOW, New Moon Magazine, Young Feminists | Leave a Comment »

Minnesota’s Anti-Choice Health Commissioner Resigns

Posted by shan on August 25, 2007

From NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota, August 22, 2007

After a turbulent career as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health, Dianne Mandernach resigned her position yesterday, effective October 2.Mandernach’s resignation comes on the heels of controversy regarding her decision to withhold information from the public regarding 35 cancer deaths related to taconite mining on Minnesota’s Iron Range.NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota has long criticized Mandernach as an anti-choice ideologue who has repeatedly put politics and personal opinion before science and research. In 2004, Mandernach supported a Department website posting that suggested there is a link between breast cancer and abortion, a claim that has been disproved by countless authorities, including the American Cancer Society and the American College of OB/GYNs. After pressure from pro-choice lawmakers and organizations, the posting was eventually removed.

We welcome this resignation as an opportunity for Governor Pawlenty to appoint a new commissioner with more experience and a greater respect for the public’s right to accurate, honest health information.

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about Dianne Mandernach’s resignation.
Tell-a-friend!

Posted in Minnesota Valley NOW, NARAL, Women's Health Issues | 1 Comment »

Minnesota to Cut Birth Control Costs in Half

Posted by shan on August 25, 2007

From Feminist Daily News Wire, August 20, 2007

Minnesota enacted a new law this month that will make birth control more affordable and accessible. The law gives family-planning clinics the right to buy birth control at bulk rates through cooperative purchasing agreements. Peg LaBore, executive director of a Minnesota family-planning clinic, estimated that the legislation will reduce the price of contraception “by at least 50 percent,” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

In the past, clinics were forced to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies on their own, frequently resulting in orders that proved “too small to receive the best prices,” according to the Star Tribune. With the passage of this law, the Minnesota commissioner of human services will work with clinics to made contraception more affordable. The new law also increases access to birth control by allowing nurses to dispense contraception under the supervision of a medical director. This new arrangement will address the problems faced by small, rural clinics that may not have a full-time doctor on staff.

“For younger women especially, affordability and one-stop shopping really matters. They are more likely to use contraceptives responsibly if they can get what the need in one place,” LaBore told the Star Tribune.

This legislation marks a victory in a time when the cost of birth control is skyrocketing for clinics serving low-income women and college students due to a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which reduced incentives for drug companies to offer discounted contraceptives to low-cost health-care providers. The change, which went into effect at the beginning of this year, can cause financial stress for both individual women and family planning clinics. Ms. magazine reports that some clinics “may be forced to shut down if prices aren’t soon reduced, leaving poor women with even fewer resources.”

LEARN MORE Read “Sticker Shock, a report on the skyrocketing price of birth control in the Summer 2007 issue of Ms. magazine — on newsstands now!

JOIN Join the Ms. community and receive the premier feminist publication delivered directly to your door!

Media Resources: Star Tribune 8/4/07; Twin Cities Planet 8/1/07; Ms. magazine Summer 2007

Posted in Birth Control, Minnesota Legislation, Minnesota Valley NOW, Women's Health Issues | Leave a Comment »

Be a part of V-Day 2008! Open auditions for ‘The Vagina Monologues’

Posted by shan on August 20, 2007

V-Day LogoV-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

MN Valley NOW has partnered with The Chameleon Theatre Circle for performances of The Vagina Monologues in February 2008 as part of V-Day 2008. This will be the 10th anniversary of V-Day.

The Vagina Monologues is a collection of monologues read by a number of different actresses. A recurring theme throughout the production is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment and individuality. The Vagina Monologues is performed annually around the world to bring attention to V-Day in thousands of cities and colleges. The performances generally benefit rape crisis centers and similar resource centers for women.

The Chameleon Theatre Circle will hold auditions on Saturday, September 8 and on Monday, September 10 at the Arts at River Ridge at 109 River Ridge Circle in Burnsville, Minnesota (formerly known as the Minnesota River School of Fine Arts). Each candidate will have three minutes to perform a monologue. Auditions will be by appointment only. Please e-mail andi@seetheatre.org or call 952-937-5645 to set up your audition time.

Please note that these positions are unpaid and will require rehearsal commitments that will be several hours in length 2 to 3 times a week for the six weeks prior to performances.

Posted in Activism, Chameleon Theatre Circle, Eve Ensler, Events, Minnesota Valley NOW, Sexual Assault, Vagina Monologues, Violence Against Women | Leave a Comment »

‘Rape is Indefensible’ Rally

Posted by shan on August 20, 2007

Twin Cities NOW is planning a rally in response to Attorney Earl Gray’s comments to the Star Tribune regarding his client’s, Dominic Jones, charges of sexually assaulting a woman while she lay unconscious. Gray states that he believes his clients case is defensible because there were, “no weapons, no injuries and no force” alleged.

This is a multi-coalition effort and you are invited to stand together with the National Organization for Women to tell Earl Gray, and those who believe as he does, that sex with an unconscious woman IS rape, and that RAPE IS INDEFENSIBLE.

The Rally is tentatively set to occur simultaneously with the next pretrial hearing on September 18, 2007 from 9am to 10am with a press conference at 9:45.

We will post additional details as they are made available. Please email MN Valley NOW if you are interested in participating in the event and/or helping to prepare signs and materials for the rally.

Posted in Activism, Events, Minnesota Valley NOW, Sexual Assault, Violence Against Women, Volunteer | Leave a Comment »