LalaLala, LalaLala Civil Rights (To the tune of Elmo's World)

Dear Sesame Place Associates,

I would like to express my concern about an experience at your park today. I noticed today that you have two designated nursing rooms for nursing mothers and their children, which is great and I commend your park for this. However, while waiting to meet up with our guests, I observed a young mother and her screaming infant waiting for the door to be unlocked by your staff. She had to call at least 3 times (and I am not sure if it was more as I was not able to stay with her to find out) until someone came and opened the door for her. While I am glad that you have this space available and a phone located at the door for the convenience of calling to open the door, I would like you to reconsider your policy about the nursing rooms.

I feel that it is unfair to have a literal door/gate keeper for the nursing room areas. To be fair, I do not know what your policy and reasons for doing this may be, however may I suggest another scenario. Instead of making nursing women and their familes feel like their civil liberties are under lock and key, how about upon entrance to the park, families who would be in need of the nursing room get a key with a deposit or leave an ID such is required of the lockers, and can use it as needed?

This is an open letter that I am posting to my website and Facebook. I look forward to sharing your response with my readers and friends as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Carly Goldberg MSW, LCSW
Founding Collaborator/Director
Women's Collaborative Circle

Speaking Their Voices - Goals for Girls

“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.

Photo credit - Maciej Okraszewski

Rethinking the Therapeutic Milieu on World Social Work Day

Rethinking the Therapeutic Milieu: The Women’s Collaborative Circle

     Reading about the debate in Congress over health care reform, I was profoundly struck by the discussions regarding women’s health. That a United States senator would argue against the need for insurance companies to cover basic reproductive care, for example, left me in dismay.

     

     My astonishment did not come from a place of naiveté--I am more than aware of the controversies surrounding many aspects of the proposed bill—but as a reaction of absolute anger and sadness that after so many decades of battles fought by women and men alike in support of equality for women, there exist those who continue to try to take away what accomplishments we have already won and those who do not recognize or believe that there is still a fight to be fought. Some would argue that we live in a post-feminist era and need not be concerned with or pay attention to “women’s rights,” but women continue to be shaped by the decisions and laws that are made for us predominantly by men and influenced by a male-oriented culture, perpetuating women’s often silent feelings of inadequacy, shame, fear, ambivalence, and failure. Decisions made on Capitol Hill may not seem so significant to any one individual woman, but the message that these decisions send trickle down to a woman’s very core and whispers to her that she is still an other, affecting all aspects of her personal and public life.

     The Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960’s recognized this paradigm and led Carol Hanisch to pen the popular adage “the personal is political” in her 1969 essay of the same name. Hanisch speaks about the act of consciousness-raising, not as “therapy,” but as a means to inform women that their personal problems are political and that there are no personal solutions at this time. I would argue that while this sentiment helps us understand how the larger community that we live in impacts our daily actions and inner-selves, without addressing the personal, there exists no good way to work through the effects of the political once the personal feelings are brought to the surface.
     
     As a social worker and a woman, it seemed glaringly obvious in my work and within my relationships that what is needed among the many opportunities and challenges posed in our society is an organization that allows for the exploration of a gendered self in relation to one’s world. That organization, the Women’s Collaborative Circle, was founded in the spirit of the feminist consciousness-raising movement along with psychodynamic theories and social work core values. From many conversations with friends and colleagues, it appeared apparent that women were in need of a space and a new model of self-care and preservation to allow for a full exploration of how a woman experiences herself in her gendered world, and allow for multiple opportunities and modalities for development and growth. It is my hope that through participation and collaboration with women from all walks of life, we address the need and find the space to speak our minds and have our voices heard.

Article written by Carly Goldberg MSW, LCSW and originally appeared in an edited verson in The Clinician: The University of Pennsylvania DSW Student Publication. Winter/Spring 2010, Vol 2(1). 

Photo of the most awesome tattoo, courtesy of Courtney Knight. 

International Womens Day Event - March 4, 2010

One night only... Check local theatre listings for a showing near you! Read this Huffington Post article for more information.

Advisory Board

Dear Collaborators,

I am putting out an open letter for anyone interested in becoming a member of the Women's Collaborative Circle Advisory Board. Please review and contact me with your interest.

September 8, 2009

I would like to invite you to participate in the development of the Women’s Collaborative Circle as an advisory board member. I believe that your participation would be instrumental in the ongoing developmental endeavors of the organization.

The Women’s Collaborative Circle (WCC) is a women-centered, feminist-based organization with a mission to support, empower, and educate women, providing an online space as well as a physical, free-standing center that allows for women to speak their minds and have their voices heard. From young girls to older adult women, the WCC provides individual counseling, support groups, workshops, educational programming, and a space to just be you! The WCC is a safe and nurturing environment for women to receive support, exchange information, and through personal and collective empowerment, create change.

At this time, the Women’s Collaborative Circle is an incorporated entity and has a website with numerous resources and information to generate thinking outside and inside of ourselves, provide information about our needs locally and globally, and act as a catapult for networking within the local Philadelphia community and beyond. Through networking efforts, the WCC has already been contacted by a number of individuals and organizations to offer words of praise and collaborative services.

What is needed now is you and your voice. Below is a description of qualities needed in a WCC board member as well as member responsibilities and expectations.

Desired Qualities of a WCC Advisory Board Member:
· An interest in the organization and belief in the importance of its mission.
· A shared women-centered, feminist vision for serving women’s needs locally and globally.
· A willingness to commit time, energy, and resources to the development of the WCC.
· A desire for personal and shared growth for yourself and fellow board members.
· An open mind and desire to have your unique voice heard.

Responsibilities:
· Participate (in person or via conference call) 3-4 board meetings per year.
· Participate in subcommittees.
· Open to other responsibilities as agreed upon by board members.

Current WCC Priorities:
· Form an active advisory board
· Establish 501 c (3) (non-profit) status
· Devise a business plan and budget
· Develop programming
·Networking
·Fundraising

I am aiming to have our first board meeting in November. If you are unable to attend in person, then I will make sure you are able to phone in on a conference call. Again, your voice, knowledge, and skills are very important to not only the WCC but women everywhere. I hope that you will consider becoming a member of the Women’s Collaborative Circle.

If you have any questions, thoughts or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at (610)930-3025 or by email at carly@womenscollaborativecircle.org.

Sincerely,
Carly Goldberg MSW, LCSW
Founding Collaborator