This evening we talked more in-depth about the types of activities we'd like to engage in for this semester and also had an open discussion that discussed concerns about sexual double standards, sexual harassment, and reproductive health decisions. The questions/issues we explored and raised were: Should immigrant women be mandated to take the Gardasil vaccine, or is it a personal choice? What are the risks of egg donation, and why aren't women being informed when they donate? How does sexual education or lack thereof in public schools affect the mentality of men and women, and to what extent does it limit their choices? How does segregation between men and women in different countries reinforce that women are responsible for the sexual behavior of men? and Should women who are coerced into domestic trafficking be legally tried?
As a group, we also approved the following activities for the next few weeks:
- Feminist Music Day - September 30th and October 7th, Kimmel 909, 7 PM. We will be using the first half of these two meeting days exclusively for listening to awesome feminist music. Please send one or two MP3s of your favorite songs to me, at sa1523@nyu.edu , with the subject title, "NOW Feminist Music" and it will be added to our playlist for these two evenings. We will be enjoying the music, and discussing the themes. All sorts of music are welcomed, whether explicitly feminist or subtly empowering. REMEMBER TO COME TO THIS WONDERFUL EVENT - YOU MAY GET A FREE CD OF THE ENTIRE PLAYLIST IF YOU DO :)
- Open Discussion Forum - Thanks to the idea of a fellow NOW member, we will be having a weekly open discussion on the NOW-NYU website on topics that regard women's rights and the complexities of gender inequality. I will be posting the topic/question on the website and you are free to respond in a comment. No google account is required - you can also post anonymously if you wish. Feel free to send possible questions to Sarah Betz, Vice President of NOW at: seb420@nyu.edu.
- Important upcoming activities are: the Icarus Workshop, Breast Cancer Walk, counter-protest to the 40 Days of Life Campaign and the GEMS monthly volunteering and training. For more information on all of these or if you just need to jog your memory, see this post.
Thanks to everyone who attended today's meeting and made the discussion so engaging. We look forward to seeing you next week on Feminist Music Day, same time, same place. To a great idea of another one of our wonderful NOW ladies, we might also be having a Bring a Guy to NOW day...more information to come. But either way, feel free to BRING GUYS whenever you want, as we do need both men and women to share their perspectives. FEMINISM IS NOT JUST ABOUT WOMEN - IT IS ABOUT MEN TOO! So let's hear your voices, gents! For those who could not attend this meeting, no worries - you can join NOW anytime. Even if you can't always make the meetings, you can also engage with us on the topics we'll be posting. :)
See you all next week,
--Shahida
No comments:
Post a Comment