Ladyfest got its start back 2000 in Olympia, Washington and since then, has become an overarching label for similar events around the world. Its purpose is to shed light on the current challenges that women face, and to remove existing limitations on socio-cultural expectations. The three workshops include a broad range of relevant and engaging activities. A bike repair session is to be followed by an adult sexuality discussion and a women’s resource panel of Grand Rapids women professionals. A concert featuring only female-identified Michigan bands from genres ranging from punk rock to mellow electronic pop will conclude the evening. Dani Vilella, Planned Parenthood’s Public Relations Manager, has been a primary coordinator of the event. “We want it all female, but female-identified,” Vilella said. “Male or trans, it’s about how you identify and what you do with that. It’s not our job to define what ‘woman’ means.” Featured performances include hip-hop’s Irawniq and electronica queen Superdre, the three piece punk rock band Doctor’s Wives, British songwriter Fiona Dickinson, mellow pop’s Jes Kramer, and bluegrass group Nobody’s Darlin’. MC’ing for this unique plethora of feminine performance will be local comedian Sarah Jean Anderson. Also included will be live art by Georgia Taylor, a photo wall by Katy Batdorff, and a host of local artist vendors throughout the day.

The hope is to draw a younger generational crowd to the all-ages event and to create an opportunity for an annual presence of Ladyfest in Grand Rapids. Performing artist Jes Kramer also stresses the importance that Ladyfest is not only for the ladies. “It’s as important for men to come and see women do these things as it is for women to come and do these things,” Kramer says. “No one should be boxed into what we can and can’t do.” Doors open at 4:00p.m. Tickets are $5 for the variety show, $6 for the headlining event, and $8 for both events.

Ladyfest would also like to express its appreciation for its sponsors and their incredible support!

Lead Sponsors:

Pyramid Scheme

The Meanwhile

Absolut Vodka

Urban Pharm

Clothing Matters

DVQ Studio

Griffin Properties

Simply Born

One Girls Treasure

Sponsors:

Plenty Creative

Sparrows

The AntiBride

Issue Press

West Michigan Female Non Profit Executives

Of these tenets, Which do you think is the most important and/or relevant to feminism today?  Which is the most important and/or relevant to you, personally?  Do you think any are irrelevant or unnecessary at this point? Why?

Answer one or all of these questions in a 500-800 word essay, to be judged by the executive board of NOW-GR.  Five finalists will be selected by the board and invited to read their essays at our annual Then & NOW event.  The winner of the essay contest will receive an additional $25 prize and will be announced at the event.

The tenets are:

Constitutional Equality Amendment: Equality in pay, job opportunities, political structure, social security and education will remain an elusive dream without a guarantee of equality in the U.S. Constitution. The progress we have made—and must continue to make—towards women’s equality can be lost at any time because those advances depend on legislation that can be (and has been) weakened or repealed by Congress. Although we did not succeed in ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, winning a constitutional guarantee of equality for women remains one of NOW’s top priorities.

Reproductive Rights: NOW affirms that reproductive rights are issues of life and death for women, not mere matters of choice. NOW fully supports access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control and emergency contraception, to reproductive health services and education for all women. We oppose attempts to restrict these rights through legislation, regulation or Constitutional amendment.

Racism: NOW condemns the racism that inflicts a double burden of race and sex discrimination on women of color. Seeing human rights as indivisible, we are committed to identifying and fighting against those barriers to equality and justice that are imposed by racism. A leader in the struggle for civil rights since its inception in 1966, NOW is committed to diversifying our movement, and we continue to fight for equal opportunities for women of color in all areas including employment, education and reproductive rights.

Lesbian Rights: NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, health services, child custody and military policies. NOW is committed to educational efforts that combat the adverse effects of homophobia, promote positive images in the media and ultimately ensure civil rights protection for all. NOW asserts the right of lesbians to live their lives with dignity and security, and the rights of equal marriage for all.

Violence Against Women: NOW is unique in its approach to the issue of violence against women, emphasizing that there are many interrelated aspects to the issue—domestic violence; sexual assault; sexual harassment; violence at abortion clinics; hate crimes across lines of gender, sexuality and race; the gender bias in our judicial system that further victimizes survivors of violence; and the violence of poverty emphasized by the radical right’s attacks on poor women and children—all of which result from society’s attitudes toward women and efforts to “keep women in their place.”

Economic Justice: NOW advocates for wide range of economic justice issues affecting women, from the glass ceiling to the sticky floor of poverty. These include welfare reform, livable wages, job discrimination, pay equity, housing, social security and pension reform, and much more.

Of these tenets, which do you think is the most important and/or relevant to feminism today?  Which is the most important and/or relevant to you, personally?  Do you think any are irrelevant or unnecessary at this point? Why?

Answer one or all of these questions in a 500-800 word essay, to be judged by the executive board of NOW-GR.  Five finalists will be selected by the board and invited to read their essays at our annual Then & NOW event.  The winner of the essay contest will receive an additional $25 prize and will be announced at the event.

Terms and Conditions

Contents

I. Writing Guidelines
II. Prizes
III. Deadlines
IV. Submission Guidelines

I. Writing Guidelines

1.  Entry must be between 500-800 words. (The title is not included in the word count.)
2. Use Times New Roman (size 12 font) or Arial (size 11 font), double-space in the email.
3. Word count should be noted at the end of the entry with your personal information.
4. Each entry will be evaluated by the NOW GR executive board based on connection to NOW’s mission, content, creativity, and mechanics and structure.

II. Prizes

1. Five finalists will be chosen.
2. Five finalists will receive a one year new membership to National Organization for Women (Grand Rapids chapter: MI0135). ($45 value).  *Renewal membership not included.
3. Five finalists will have their essays presented at the 2012 Then & NOW annual fundraiser on April 11 2012.
4. First place will also receive a $25 reward.

III. Deadlines

1. Contest – Deadline is March 15, 2012 (11:59pm EST)

IV. Submission Guidelines

Email your submission to fundraising@nowgr.org.

Please submit your entry as an attachment or copy it into the body of the email. (Documents may be in .doc or .docx format ONLY)

In the subject of your email write “NOW GR essay contest: [insert your last name]”

Use the following order for your email entry:

Title
Your FIRST and LAST name
Address
Phone number
Email address
WORD COUNT

Have fun writing.

Disclaimer/Context: I am a 22-year-old single, straight, middle class, college educated, white, non-religious, feminist, self-identified woman.  In the four years that I have been sexually active I have had seven sexual partners, two pregnancy scares, and used emergency contraception once.  The opinions expressed in this post are my own and not necessarily representative of NOW or NOW-GR.

This Sunday, January 22, 2012, marks the 39th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which prohibited many state and federal restrictions on access to a safe, legal abortion.  The majority opinion, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, states that “[The] right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action…or in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.  The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying this choice altogether is apparent.”  However, he goes on to say that the court does not support completely unrestricted access to abortion and the issue of “viability” comes into play when considering an abortion, and so privacy ends up being conditional.

I’ve always found it interesting that the (provisional) right to privacy—rather than women’s rights or even the separation of church and state—was cited as the reason for the ruling.  Don’t get me wrong, I completely agree with the concept that what I do with my body is none of your business.  But in my experience, all anti-choice arguments are rooted in either patriarchy or religion (usually both).  If you believe that abortion is murder and therefore in violation of one of God’s commandments, fine.  If you believe that life begins at conception, and from then on that single-cell entity which cannot think, breathe, or survive on its own takes precedence over your own health, habits, financial situation, desire (or lack thereof) to be a parent, and anything else you may have had planned for your life, fine.  If you believe that a woman’s sole purpose in life is to bear children, or that women are incapable of making mature, healthy decisions about their own bodies, fine.

But that is your belief system, your morals, your religion.  NOT mine.

In a nation founded on civil liberties, inalienable rights, and the separation of church and state, the very idea that a fetus’ right to life trumps a woman’s right to a life of her own choosing seems utterly ridiculous.  But the controversy surrounding Roe v. Wade continues to this day, proving that the personal is extremely political.  In fact, 2011 showed record levels of new restrictions on abortion, demonstrating that our fight for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy is far from over.

There have been bright spots over the last year as well, though.  Just this week the Obama administration rejected an exemption to the 2010 Affordable Care Act that would have allowed many religiously-affiliated employers to opt out of providing coverage for contraception.

So this Sunday I will be celebrating the ownership of my own uterus by enjoying some sushi and wine, and I encourage everyone to take a moment to think about the choices we take for granted, and—if the tenuous premise of Roe v. Wade and the mass efforts of conservatives in 2011 to undermine it are any indication—how easily some of our choices could no longer be ours.

National NOW’s stance: http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/

Local abortion/support services:
http://www.heritageclinic.com/
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/west-northern-michigan/
http://www.fountainstreet.org/content/view/189/266/

Dani Vilella is on a mission to make West Michigan a safer, healthier place for women

On Saturday, November 12, 2011 from 2pm-6pm in Smith Hall the National Organization for Women’s Greater Grand Rapids Chapter will be holding their annual 50/50 Holiday Craft Sale. Come get an early start on your Holiday shopping. Choose from creative crafts and baked goods to give for that special someone on your list. We will have a wide range of vendors present that will be donating 50% of sales back to the Grand Rapids chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Please consider stopping by and seeing what we have to offer and make sure to invite your friends too!

If you are interested in being a vendor at the event, or have questions, please contact Kelly at fundraising@nowgr.org

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Disclaimer

By Laura C.

Love Your Body Day is just around the corner. October 19^th is a day to celebrate your body the way it is, even if it doesn’t fit the ideal that is portrayed by popular culture and media. This year the Grand Rapids chapter of the National Organization for Women and Grand Valley State University’s Women’s Center will be hosting a showing of Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly 4. In the documentary, Kilbourne discusses the negative impact that advertising has had on how women are viewed in our society, and how they view themselves on an individual level.

Negative body image is a struggle women and girls deal with around the world. 81% of American girls have dieted by the time they are 10 years old, 25% of Swedish 7 year olds have dieted to lose weight, and 41% of Japanese schoolgirls who were as young as 6 think they are too fat.  This is not an issue that girls grow out of. One study indicated that 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their bodies

Such a large issue needs attention. Love Your Body Day aims to spread awareness of not only negative body image, but also the consequences that stem from it such as depression and eating disorders. Please join us October 18^th at 7 pm at the Eberhard Center Auditorium on GVSU’s Pew Campus. It’s sure to be a great event that provides a lot of food for thought!

http://jeankilbourne.com/

http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html (goes to all statistics)

http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/thefacts.html

By Jill Baylis

‘Domestic violence stops when men challenge men.’ Tom Cottrell’s simple statement Thursday night at the Step Out, Step Up March underlined a desperate need for male accountability in American society.  It is an unfortunate reality that Americans live in a culture of violence, and that there is a sickeningly skewed percentage of male perpetrators of this violence. The Bloom Collective teamed up with NOWGR Thursday evening to literally blow the whistle on this societal disease.

Step Out, Step Up – Men Against Violence was not only a call to men to speak up but also a chance for all attending to give a voice to the anger and pain of those that have and continue to suffer due to violence. Armed with whistles and signs, participants braved the rain and marched to various significant points of the city, hearing speakers along the way.

Dani Vilella, President of NOWGR, kicked off the march at Rosa Parks Circle, highlighting Rosa Parks and her struggle against culturally accepted violence and degradation against African American women and men. Marchers then walked to a point behind Van Andel Arena where Colette Seguin Beighley recounted the beating that took place against a member of the LGBT community this past year. Colette underlined the refusal of Grand Rapids Police to report this beating as a hate crime, even when faced with substantial evidence that the beating was motivated by homophobia. Participants next marched to Tini Bikinis, where Jeff Smith explained why the bar is one of many examples of the use of women as marketed products for men to consume at will. Jeff explained how objectification plays a role in normalizing violence. Participants lastly marched to the YWCA, where Tom Cottrell spoke of the history of the organization and the need for men to stand up to other men and challenge one another’s views concerning violent behaviors.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of violence please contact the YWCA of greater Grand Rapids at (616) 459-4681. If you would like to get involved in stepping up against violence please contact Jeff Smith of the Kent County Sexual Assault Prevention Action Team.

Resources:

Kent County Sexual Assault Prevention Action Team:

http://www.kentcountydvccrt.net/sexualassault.php

West Michigan YWCA

http://www.ywcawcmi.org/

Grand Rapids Chapter of NOW

http://www.nowgr.org

GVSU LGBT Resource Center:

http://www.gvsu.edu/lgbtrc/

The Bloom Collective:

http://thebloomcollective.org

http://voicemalemagazine.org

Newly formed Men Against Violence group at GVSU:

Wrighmarc@gvsu.edu

Zines on Gender Justice:

http://zinelibrary.info/english/gender