This Saturday Elena Kagen will be sworn in as the nations 112th Supreme Court justice. Kathy Kiely writes for USA Today that
"[t]he 63-37 vote was a victory for President Obama, who has doubled the number of women ever named to the Supreme Court with his first two nominees.
"I am confident that Elena Kagan will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," Obama said in Chicago, where he was traveling. "And I am proud, also, of the history we're making with her appointment."
Mazal Tov, Elena! We look forward to your work along side of Supreme Court justices Bader Ginsburg and Sotomayor.
Following on the heals of President Barak Obama on The View, I would like to take a more concentrated look into joblessness and poverty in the US and around the world. Poverty is insidious and spares no one. One group in particular who are affected by poverty at alarming rates are lesbians. Curvemag.com shares an article by Victoria A. Brownworth The Silent Majority: Lesbians and Poverty questioning and examining why lesbians are falling below the poverty line and at such alarming rates. What is so striking to me in this article is that it recognizes that women who are self identified as lesbians and live beyond the poverty line and fall victim to silence and invisibility; therefore, their needs go unnoticed, unaddressed and unmet.
Brownworth writes in her article that "factors for lesbians in poverty include the number of young lesbians forced out of their families of origin. These young women start out at an economic disadvantage that may never be bridged. Homelessness impacts queers under 25 at a rate nearly ten times that of their heterosexual peers.
Lesbian activist Jeanne Cordova notes that butch lesbians have more difficulty finding jobs because of their looks, and thus are also more likely to fall into poverty. In her award-winning book Stone Butch Blues, writer Leslie Feinberg, who experienced such discrimination herself, charted the difficulties this presents for many butch lesbians...'No one wants to be poor...[b]ut being poor makes you hidden. It’s a whole other closet we have to climb out of.'"
Globally movements through media such as The End of Poverty? are a call to raise consciousness, perspective and an outlet to take action against poverty globally. The End of Poverty? boldly asks the question "with so much wealth in the world, why is there still so much poverty?"
With the development of the new Women's Collaborative Circle website coming soon, stay tuned for various interactive opportunities for social action, activism and ways to take action in the fight against poverty domestically and globally!
“Please Donate to Spread the Word: Girls Can Play Soccer, Too”
What would you do if everyone around you – even your own family – stood in the way of your ambitions simply because you are a girl? That’s exactly the question Argentine filmmakers Ginger Gentile and Gabriel Balanovsky are pursuing in their upcoming documentary film Goals for Girls: The Movie. Currently in production, the film chronicles the challenges of a girls’ soccer team from the slums of Buenos Aires struggling to play soccer, a sport that is off-limits to women in Argentina.
Despite the fact that soccer is a national obsession in Argentina, women have largely been kept on the sidelines of the sport. Unlike in the United States, there are no professional women’s soccer teams in Argentina and no laws equivalent to Title IX that would guarantee equal government funding for women’s soccer programs. On top of these institutional barriers to women’s soccer there are societal ones as well. It is less culturally accepted for women to play soccer and the sport is primarily followed by male fans.
In defiance of these obstacles, a group of girls from a shantytown in Buenos Aires have formed their own soccer team. Even though their parents would prefer for them to stay home and clean house and the neighborhood boys mock their practices, these girls refuse to hang up their cleats. Instead, they hope to continue playing and use the sport to climb out of the cycle of poverty. A few girls are even participating in this year’s Homeless World Cup being held this September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The slum girls’ soccer players portrayed in Goals for Girls: The Movie are sending the message to girls around the world that they don’t have to live inside the confines of the stereotypes that society often forces upon them. By proving that progress can be made when a group of girls come together to achieve a common goal, this story will motivate other females around the globe to fight for an equal opportunity to accomplish their own goals, whether on or off the soccer field.
The more girls who view Goals for Girls: The Movie, the stronger our communities will be. That is why your donation to the movie is so critical. By making a donation to support the production of Goals for Girls: The Movie you will help ensure that the film can reach the widest audience possible when it is released next summer during the Women’s World Cup in Germany. Your donation will also help fund an educational video workshop for the girls so that they can take part in the filming process and gain a valuable and marketable skill.
Please go to www.goalsforgirlsthemovie.org to donate today and help bolster the voices of this important girls’ soccer team and visit their facebook page.
Article written by guest contributor Emily Robbins, United States contact for “Goals for Girls: The Movie.” For more information please contact Emily at emily@goalsforgirlsthemovie.org.
I stumbled across this short film and I thought I would share it with you all. I recently took a rare day to step away from my numerous email accounts, telephone calls, messages and the daily demands to be called upon. Caution: taking time to turn inward may result in the reduction of stress, clarity of purpose and rekindling of passion. Enjoy!
