Abortion and the Super Bowl...hmmm?

Focus on the Family is at it again...getting ready to spend nearly $3 million on an anti-abortion ad during February 7th's Super Bowl. And despite previous decisions not to allow 'issues ads' CBS is planning to air the ad, which tells the tale of Tim Tebow's mother's decision against abortion. So what's the point...I haven't yet seen the ad but isn't abortion rights about choice--the choice to have an abortion or not to? But that is most likely too idealistic of a view, given that it is Focus on the Family who created the ad. Pay attention folks...using popular culture (i.e. media and the super bowl) to target issues like abortion is very intentional. Also interesting is that the super bowl watchers are predominantly male--all of which will never become pregnant. The red flag is up, why this ad, this topic during the Super Bowl??

Here are few articles/commentaries to check out:

Huffington Post
Take action with the Feminist Majority

Seneca Falls Film

Check it out!
Seneca Falls Film

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Woke up this morning to my very talkative 2 1/2 year old daughter. We sat together and watched Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous I Have a Dream speech. And we talked. We talked about people and all that we have in common, we talked about freedom and what that means, and we talked about justice and the role she has in living her life for justice. OK she's 2 but I believe that she needs to grow up with an appreciation of history and a consciousness for community. I believe that these conversations, even at 2, inform who she is and who she'll become. And I believe that children are underestimated every day and that they understand far more than adults generally give them credit for. And so we talked. And we will keep talking every day--even when I lose her attention and the pre-teen eye rolls begin, and when she has 'better things to do' than listen to me...we will talk.

Fight Like a Girl...2nd edition!

I'm working on a second edition to Fight Like a Girl and am looking to enlist your help! Send me an email to megan@fightlikeagirl.org and let me know what you'd like me to keep, change, update, and/or get rid of in the next edition of the book. I'm very interested in your feedback. Thanks!!

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

October 18, 2009
Sacramento, CA

Supergirl vs. Strawberry Shortcake

My 2 year old daughter wants Strawberry Shortcake (how she knows about her is beyond me). At the store today I wandered down the 'boy aisle' to see what dolls (hmm...excuse me, 'action figures') were offered. A possible alternative to Strawberry Shortcake?? And I found SuperGirl! I snatched her up and presented her to my daughter. She screwed up her face and asked me where Strawberry Shortcake was. I begin to highlight Supergirl's powers, strength...and the awesome fact that she could change the world. I mean c'mon she has both heat vision and freezing breath. My daughter's response...but you can brush Strawberry Shortcake's hair and she smells like fruit. My heart sank...what is a feminist mom to do? Can Supergirl compete with those qualifications? Should she have to?

As if I were not distraught enough...upon closer inspection of Supergirl I was devastated. Not only is she the only girl in the line up of Marvel figures on this particular store's shelf but she has breasts that give Barbie a run for her money. The size of her waist line makes you wonder if she could even hold up those ginormous breasts! And the main movement she can do is bend her knees (as in get down on her knees). And let's not forget that I found her in the 'boy aisle'-- she is marketed to boys...young boys. Package says ages 4+ Seriously?

Strawberry's body is much more girl like (despite the size of her head). And she has a community of young women around her...Plum Pudding, Raspberry Torte, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, & Blueberry Muffin. They come in different colors...a rainbow--gay friendly? A sign of diversity? So they flit around, dress up, and have tea parties...it could be worse, right?

Has it come to this? Am I honestly arguing the redeemable points to Strawberry Shortcake and her girls because Supergirl in toy form is so disappointing? Can there be no mainstream action figures/dolls that support girls as girls? Highlight their strength? Teach them to be empowered by their capabilities? Is this asking too much?

30th Annual Women Take Back the Night

Join me
for the 30th Annual
Women Take Back the Night
march and rally
Saturday, October 3, 2009
6pm at the West Steps of the State Capitol
Sacramento, CA