Culture & Identity

Sexism still permeates culture through the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes as well as misogynistic, negative and violent imagery in mass media. Perceptions of identity and gender roles are influenced, reflected and reinforced through myths, narratives and stories. Cultural cues about appropriate gender roles can have a negative and harmful impact by, for example, defining strength and rationalism as ”masculine” and submissiveness and emotionalism as ”feminine.” NCRW and its members are promoting awareness through research and critical analysis that uncover the tensions and assumptions involved in identity and gender roles.

Reaching Common Grounds: Culture, Gender and Human Rights, Equality and Empowering Women

Submitted by afiorino on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 4:28pm

This chapter outlines the United Nations’ work toward promoting gender equality, including the Beijing Platform for Action. The report also describes the obstacles women still face today, with an emphasis on cultural impediments. A list of recommendations for future action coincides with a list of lessons learned.
 

URL: 
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2008/en/03_promoting_gender_equality.html

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40° 42' 17.2368" N, 74° 0' 26.0784" W
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Kyla Bender-Baird, Research and Programs Manager, is providing the Council with a wide range of research and communications support. She received a BA in Sociology from Principia College and an MS in Women’s Studies from Towson University. Her thesis focused on transgender experiences of employment discrimination. During her time at Towson University, Kyla was a graduate assistant with the Institute for Teaching and Research on Women. On completion of her master’s degree, Kyla served as a Vaid Fellow with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. Kyla first joined the Council as a research consultant for The Big Five initiative. She has interned previously with Planned Parenthood and the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.

Location

New York, NY 10005
United States
40° 42' 17.2368" N, 74° 0' 26.0784" W
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This is What a Feminist Looks Like

Submitted by jmumbey on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 4:23pm
What do America Ferrera, Larry David, and Amy Brenneman have in common? They're all proud to call themselves feminists.Celebrate Women's History Month with them and other feminists by watching the special This Is What A Feminist Looks Like video.
Video URL: 
Untitled
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Member Organization: 
The Feminist Majority Foundation

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United States
38° 58' 50.88" N, 76° 56' 14.28" W
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Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

Ruth Enid Zambrana, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Women’s Studies, the Director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, the Former Interim Director of the U.S. Latino Studies Initiative (2007-2009) at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. 

Location

College Park, MD 20742
United States
38° 58' 50.88" N, 76° 56' 14.28" W
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United States
38° 53' 42.4032" N, 77° 2' 10.9176" W
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Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the National Council of Negro Women. She served previously as NCNW's Director of the Research, Public Policy, and Information Center for African American Women. She is also an affiliated scholar at the Institute for Women's Policy Research, where she was formerly the Director of Poverty, Education, and Social Justice Programs. Her work examines the causes and consequences of poverty on the well-being of low-income women and families while identifying effective programmatic strategies that result in poverty reduction.

Location

Washington, DC
United States
38° 53' 42.4032" N, 77° 2' 10.9176" W
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United States
40° 42' 13.932" N, 74° 0' 49.8744" W
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Silvia Henriquez is responsible for the overall management, fundraising and administration of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Silvia has positioned NLIRH as one of the leading organizations working to advance the reproductive health and rights of Latinas. Within the first two years of her tenure, she increased national visibility through the 2004 March for Women’s Lives and the National Latina Summit. Subsequently under her leadership, NLIRH has developed a successful organizing and leadership development training curriculum, a national policy agenda and built coalitions with state and national partners that advance a reproductive justice advocacy effort. Through her work at NLIRH, Silvia has published articles in “Social Policy, Organizing for Social and Economic Justice and Democratic Participation” and “Conscience, The Newsjournal of Catholic Opinion.”

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New York, NY 10004
United States
40° 42' 13.932" N, 74° 0' 49.8744" W
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United States
36° 4' 3.3744" N, 79° 45' 24.5196" W
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Dr. Julianne Malveaux is the 15th President of Bennett College for Women. Recognized for her progressive and insightful observations, she is also an economist, author, and commentator, and has been described by Dr. Cornel West as “the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country.” Dr. Malveaux’s contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts, are shaping public opinion in 21st century America. A committed activist and civic leader, Dr. Malveaux serves on the boards of the Economic Policy Institute, The Recreation Wish List Committee of Washington, DC, and the Liberian Education Trust. She is the Founder/President/CEO of Last Word Productions, Inc. a multimedia production company headquartered in Washington, DC. Dr. Malveaux received her BA and MA degrees in economics from Boston College, and earned a Ph.D in economics from MIT.

Location

Greensboro, NC 27401
United States
36° 4' 3.3744" N, 79° 45' 24.5196" W
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United States
42° 19' 0.3072" N, 71° 3' 31.2876" W
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Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy

Carol Hardy-Fanta is Director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMass Boston's John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from Brandeis University's Heller School, an MSW from Smith College, and a B.A. from Occidental College. Dr. Hardy-Fanta is author of three books: Latina Politics, Latino Politics: Gender, Culture, and Political Participation in Boston (Temple University Press, 1993), Latino Politics in Massachusetts: Struggles, Strategies and Prospects (Routledge Press, 2002), and Intersectionality and Politics: Recent Research on Gender, Race, and Political Representation in the United States (Haworth Press, 2006) . She is a nationally recognized scholar on Latina/o politics and has published widely on the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity in politics and public policy.

Location

Boston, MA 02125
United States
42° 19' 0.3072" N, 71° 3' 31.2876" W
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News Coverage of the Veil and the Muslim Women's Movement

Submitted by Kyla Bender-Baird on Tue, 01/26/2010 - 3:01pm

December 16, 2009 posted by admin

The Christian Science Monitor featured several articles this week on the veil and the Muslim Women's Movement. They're well worth the read! From "Behind the veil: Why Islam's most visible symbol is spreading:"


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43° 36' 45.4716" N, 116° 12' 39.8736" W
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Dr. Lisa McClain is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of Gender Studies at Boise State University. She researches the issue of domestic violence and sexual assault perpetrated against women with disabilities. She serves as a board member of the Idaho Equal Access Collaborative, a partnership of the Boise State University Gender Studies Program with statewide disability and domestic violence/sexual assault organizations. Through this work, McClain examines and proposes changes to the systems responding to women with disabilities who experience sexual and domestic violence. In history, her fields of specialty include the history of Catholicism, the history of religion during the Renaissance/Reformation era and gender and popular culture in early modern Europe.

Location

Boise, ID
United States
43° 36' 45.4716" N, 116° 12' 39.8736" W
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