Hillary's challenge to be seen as "authentic", may not be in her control.

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One of Hillary's many barriers to cross........women have a higher standard to meet to be considered "authentic". Men get much more acceptance, or a pass.

http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-women-problem-explained-369153

And I think that's only one of many subconscious prejuduces that any woman has to contend with, but when you are going for the presidency those biases may be amped up significantly.

I may have told this story on SL before, but I think it fits here.....

I have a naturally lower-toned voice which when I was teaching I thought gave me an advantage as being perceived as having authority. I sound sure of myself, confident - often more so than I was, I think. When I started teaching high school I was still 21 years old, I had some male students who were 18 years old and much bigger than I was.  I asked myself through that first semester "what do I do if they won't obey me?" It never happened! In 25 years of teaching high school and college, I never had a discipline problem with any student.

When working for Dept of Army I, on about 3 or 4 occasions, had men tell me that I was intimidating, which surprised me. On one occasion, I was a peer of the man and had hired him to train some facilitators in my program. I sat in as a participant of the training. At one point he said it was absolutely necessary to have a 5 year and 10 year career plan if you are to be successful. I countered, in what I thought was a pleasant way, that the two jobs that I had held in Dept of Army had each not been in existence 10 years before I got the job and the one he and I both held at that moment had not been in existence 5 years before, so we could not have planned them, that sometimes you have to be open to opportunity. ......He was not happy with my response.

A few days later each trainee had to do a sample facilitation with the group. I did mine and waited at the front of the room for feedback from the group. He said "I think you were intimidating in your presentation." I thought "o.k. Jean, listen up, you may learn something." And I asked what I had done that Was intimidating. He said, "you walked up to the easel, planted your feet, squared your shoulders and seemed overly confident." I said "o.k.." Fortunately I didn't have to say anything else because two women who knew me slightly answered him. One was a young Captain who said," that's exactly how officers in the military are trained to make a presentation, you know what your goal is and you stand tall on two feet and present. I thought Jean showed confidence and competence about what she was doing and led the group just the way we have talked about all week." I could have kissed her! A civilian woman spoke up saying "I don't think anybody on Ft Dix thinks Jean Perry is intimidating. She's trained all of us at one time or another and she's a good trainer." More mental kisses...... 

I find women have a very fine line to tread and it isn't always easy to see, or feel, the line. Most of the time I think we don't even know we've crossed someone else's line as to what they think is ACCEPTABLE for OUR behavior. My good thoughts go out to any woman who is stepping up/out/over the line that has been drawn for us over centuries by the power group who has made the rules and don't understand the "other's" experiences, which they haven't have, but judge the "other" nontheless.

Jean

Oh Joy!, or Not! Will Hillary Disappear in the Patriarchy?

Oh Joy! Oh Joy! Oh Joy!

 I received in this morning's mail a book that I happened on - I know not where  :P - but when researching for it, I  found it at Amazon for .99 + 3.99 shipping, and how could I pass that by!!!

It's titled Women of Ideas: & what men have done to them by Dale Spender, an Australian feminist who has written several books about women's place in history including Man Made Language and Invisible Women.  When my husband handed me the package and I felt the bulk of it, I wondered "did I order two books?" It's 700 pages plus, but looks like a wonderful read of women's writings over centuries about how it is to live in the "men's world" and what happened to the women's opinions, publications and thoughts.

I am reading the preface and find it very au courant. She gives a little philosophical introduction about her thinking that brought her to compile and write this book. - In reading the feminist literature of the 60s and 70s about patriarchy and women living in the male world and how that impacts on us, and discussing it with other women, they began to ask "are we the first generation of women to have felt this way?" Some of them were vaguely aware that women did have a past of asking these questions, but it was shadowy and random.

She lists a whole paragraph of women writers who shared similar concerns from Abigail Adams to Alice Rossi (1973) and says "With the advent of these publications the question of whether women had thought and felt 

(isolated, invisible, ignored, demeaned, laughed at, considered to be 'sick', because they questioned the systems and posed that patriarchy was a problem)

 before, was put to rest - THEY HAD! Another question arose in its place: why didn't I know, why didn't WE know?........Why were women of the present cut off from women of the past and how was this achieved? " She comments that if we don’t find out, it can happen again……….ala ”war on women.” [Pg3]

I felt it was a currently apropos question because as she continued to talk about what it is to be an "x" in an "o" world and how the people in charge of society can force those without control to abide by their rules or be ostracized, I began to think about what is happening about women's/ racial issues today, about how any "x" gets treated similarly in other "o" worlds. Just exchange the words "male control" with the words "white privilege."

We have seen very clearly the attacks on Pres Obama as he dared to become the president of the U.S. Just imagine what it will be like if Hillary becomes president - at least Obama is a male, thereby having some regard by some of that half of the population - or how bad it will get for her in the election period. A huge part of her unfavorable numbers, I am sure, is that she is a woman challenging the male powerhouse. She must be untrustworthy, because she has the audacity to want to have the greatest power/control on earth! There must be some witchcraft in her somewhere! How could a mere woman have the intelligence, experience, competence to know she shouldn't share classified information???? etc. etc. It's going to be very ugly!

Remember how Hillary's poll numbers improved in the 2007 campaign when she got emotional in NH ? ...... She became "a woman exhibiting proper behavior" for many. What a shame.

I am going to enjoy this book and will probably share more of it with you as I go along. It's going to take a while - 756  pages! I really wish I had the women's group that I was a part of in the early 70s where we discussed so many of the feminist writings, to talk with about this book. What fun that would be!

In sisterhood, Jean

Caitlyn's image of women

Caitlyn seems to think being a "woman" means, on a daily basis, pain, hours of preparation to look "womanly", having many "beauty" enhancements, etc.

"Nursing Clio" http://nursingclio.org  in her blog today spoke to "make-up, a necessity or a pleasure? " the blog was stimulated by a comment from a woman who said "oh, i have to get a pedicure" during a discussion of it being warm enough for sandals. I like NC's self-questioning list for why she may be applying make-up. ............I think this is a good feminist attitude.

"So I am taking a stand for self-aware beautifying. Here is my stab at codifying my personal guidelines for assessing each element of my own beauty regimen:

• Does it provide more pleasure than pain?
• Would I rather spend the time/money on this than something else?
• Are my beauty practices damaging to people/things around me?
• If I feel I “need” to do this, would I feel the same way if I were a man?
• Have I tried skipping this part of my routine, or this aspect of self-presentation, to see how it feels to go without, and realize that the sky won’t fall?
• Am I appreciating other people’s appearances, and talking about beauty, in ways that support others’ self-expression?

For me, this means that Brazilian waxing is out, nail polish and lipstick are occasional, and face powder with SPF is routine for summer. I admire friend’s glitter toenails and salon highlights, but I don’t use them myself.........." 

JP again: I am confounded about what happened to our 70s fight for women to be comfortable in their dress and appearance. All around me i see women in shoes and clothing that are obviously making them phtysically uncomfortable. WHY? There are obviously many outfits and shoes that we can wear that are perfectly comfortable. Are they so influenced by society, media, men, that they are willing to pay for their approval by being in pain, embarrassed, unable to sit down, unable to stride across a room, or run from an attacker? By the way striding across a room, rather then shuffling along because your dress is too tight or your heels too high, is much more sexy and powerful, if that's what you are going for! 

It's too bad that Bruce lived in a household of women who taught him that glamorous, time-consuming accessories, and painful accoutraments are what make him a woman. 

Woman hero of WWII

More from Elder Chicks blog

ElderChicks.com shared A Mighty Girl's photo.

6 hrs · 

Sounds like fiction, but it's not.

A Mighty Girl

At age 23, British secret agent Phyllis Latour Doyle parachuted into occupied Normandy in May 1944 to gather intelligence on Nazi positions in preparation for D-Day. As an agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), Doyle secretly relayed 135 coded messages to the British military before France's liberation in August. For seventy years, her contributions to the war effort have been largely unheralded but, in December, the 94-year-old was finally given her due when she was awarded France's highest honor, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. 

Doyle first joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force at age 20 in 1941 to work as a flight mechanic but SOE recruiters spotted her potential and offered her a job as a spy. A close family friend, her godmother's father who she viewed as her grandfather, had been shot by the Nazis and she was eager to support the war effort however she could. Doyle immediately accepted the SOE's offer and began an intensive training program. In addition to learning about encryption and surveillance, trainees also had to pass grueling physical tests. Doyle described how they were taught by a cat burglar who had been released from jail on "how to get in a high window, and down drain pipes, how to climb over roofs without being caught."

She first deployed to Aquitaine in Vichy France where she worked for a year as a spy using the codename Genevieve. Her most dangerous mission, however, began on May 1, 1944 when she jumped out of a US Air Force bomber and landed behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Using the codename Paulette, she posed as a poor teenage French girl. Doyle used a bicycle to tour the region, often under the guise of selling soap, and passed information to the British on Nazi positions using coded messages. In an interview with the New Zealand Army News magazine, she described how risky the mission, noting that "The men who had been sent just before me were caught and executed. I was told I was chosen for that area (of France) because I would arouse less suspicion."

She also explained how she concealed her codes: "I always carried knitting because my codes were on a piece of silk -- I had about 2000 I could use. When I used a code I would just pinprick it to indicate it had gone. I wrapped the piece of silk around a knitting needle and put it in a flat shoe lace which I used to tie my hair up." Coded messages took a half an hour to send and the Germans could identify where a signal was sent from in an hour and a half so Doyle moved constantly to avoid detection. At times, she stayed with Allied sympathizers but often she had to sleep in forests and forage for food. 

During her months in Normandy, Doyle sent 135 secret messages -- invaluable information on Nazi troop positions that was used to help Allied forces prepare for the Normandy landing on D-Day and during the subsequent military campaign. Doyle continued her mission until France's liberation in August 1944. 

Following the war, Doyle eventually settled in New Zealand where she raised four children. It was only in the past 15 years that she told them about her career as a spy. In presenting the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour to Doyle, French Ambassador Laurent Contini commended her courage during the war, stating: "I have deep admiration for her bravery and it will be with great honor that I will present her with the award of Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest decoration."

To read more about Phyllis Latour Doyle's incredible story, visit The Telegraph at http://bit.ly/1I1nvi2

For an excellent book about both famous and little known women heroes of WWII, we highly recommend "Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue," recommended for ages 13 and up, at http://www.amightygirl.com/women-heroes-of-world-war-ii

A complementary book telling the stories of heroic women of WWI was also recently released: "Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics" at http://www.amightygirl.com/women-heroes-of-world-war-i

For two highly recommended novels about women resistance fighters of WWII, both for ages 13 and up, check out "Code Name Verity" (http://www.amightygirl.com/code-name-verity) and "Rose Under Fire" (http://www.amightygirl.com/rose-under-fire). 

For more books about girls and women living through the WWII period, including numerous stories related to the Holocaust, visit our "WWII & Holocaust" section at http://www.amightygirl.com/…/history-biograp…/history-world…

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I recently heard about two women, Barbara Fleisher and Thelma Reese, two retired college educators who started a blog titled Elder Chicks and have written a book titled The New Senior Woman. On yesterday's blog they posted the music and lyrics to the song "June is Bustin' Out All Over and asked if our Junes are bustin out yet?

Yesterday being May 1st, this was my response...........

May 1st turned out to be a very good day for me. I have days when i feel like education, experiences, skills, ideas i have are not valued by anybody any more. But, a few weeks ago i read in the Historyo News Newsletter about an event called a “History Camp”, basically an “unconference” where people just show up at a pre-arranged place and time and decide what they want to talk about, within a perimeter.

I was one of the founders of the Alice Paul Institute, an agency that owns AP’s house and whose mission is to keep women’s history alive – especially the suffrage and ERA history, and is a center for training women and girls in leadership skills. I thought it might be an event that they would be interested in collaborating on, so i sent it on to several women involved with the Institute with not much hope of getting a response (as with most public history sites and especially those related to women’s history, they are very short staffed and short of funds).

Surprisingly, it was apparently the right idea at the right time. Yesterday, two API staff members, a public historian from Rutgers U and i had an initial brainstorming session for a “history camp” type of event in the Spring of 2015, for public history sites in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area. It was exactly the kind of grass roots, brainstorming/planning exercise that i have missed so much having retired about a decade ago and having only intermittent brain-challenging activities since then. As the meeting ended i recalled that i had once heard someone say that her Mother had told her “if you can’t find an event/activity that you want to participate in, start it yourself!” I thought “maybe i just did that.”

I left there and stopped at my library to pick up your book The New Senior Woman which was on hold for me, having requested it after hearing about “Elder Chicks” online or on tv, don’t remember which. So June isn’t bustin’ out yet, but May started out pretty well for this Elder Chick. I’m looking forward to your book and your blog in the coming weeks.

Women who sustained the movement

The Makers was a wonderful documentary of the contemporary women's movement. I wish someone would go down a layer and write a book about not just the queen bees of that movement, but the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of the women drones who have sustained the movement in many, many ways. 

I use drone in a most positive sense. If the Newsweek, LHJ strikes and other high profile events had been the only ones that happened in the country, they would have been a small triumph for the movement. Those examples can be expanded to untold numbers of examples of women and men who expanded the movement into all corners of the country by becoming community activists for women's equality and other concerns of women and girls.

There are the women who have spent their whole lives in vocations  or avocations working for the progress of women in all areas of society. There are the women's groups throughout the country who sued their employers for equal pay and equal opportunity.  There are the women who started NOW chapters in their communities and have kept them operating for five or six decades or who started consciousness-raising groups to give women a sense of I-am-not-alone-in-my-thinking, or it's-not-just-me.

There are women and men who were attorneys and judges and police officers who made the justice systems more supportive of women, especially abused women, and there were the people in communities who started women's shelters to give women and children a safe place to escape to. 

There are women who started women's studies and women's history courses so there were forums for discussion once consciousness-raising groups became passe and so we wouldn't forget our past. There were organizations of volunteers who preserved women's history artifacts and birthplaces and important sites in women's history.  

There are traditional organizations like the YWCA and LWV and AAUW and the Girl Scouts who have had women's and girl's concerns at the top of their agendas for decades.

There are all the local women and organizations who lobbied and petitioned and spoke and marched for the ERA and continue to do so today and the men and women who literally put their bodies between the clients of reproductive health clinics and the anti-abortion demonstrators who are there to harass them, to say nothing of the people who work at the clinics.

There are the women whose jobs are to ensure that women get equity in the workforce like the hundred's  of Federal Women's Program Manger's in the federal government. Their jobs  also include training the total work force in prevention of sexual harassment and assisting women who have been the victims of sexual harassment, who train supervisor's in opening their minds to placing women in non-traditional jobs and assist women with the difficulties that come with being the women in those jobs. There are the Directors of Divsions on Women, or whatever the local and state agencies are called, who lobbied and educated to make sure that government funds and grants were available for programs assisting women and girls. There are the women elected officials who are also supportive in that legislation.

There are the individuals and organizations that enlighten girls and young women in assertive communications and leadership skills and public speaking skills and self-empowerment skills. There are thousands of women and men who act as mentors to young women in corporations and in small businesses so breaking the glass ceiling becomes more likely for them.

This is only a short list, I'm  sure you can add a myriad of other examples to the list. You may question "Where would one start to do research on these 'drones'?" I have in my circle of friends and acquaintances someone that fits into each of the examples I have given, and I'm sure I am not unique, they are everywhere throughout the country. Please won't someone write that book?

Why aren't you a feminist?

http://spydersden.wordpress.com/category/feminism/

So true! Yeah, there are feminists who mat be too radical for some if us, but when you compare that statement to the history of MAN, and i literally mean MAN, feminists come out smelling like lilacs. ( i'm not fond of the smell of roses, but i do love lilacs.) 

Why have so many people refused to take on the label? It's like the word "liberal" and the word "union", or the words "community organizer". We have let the opposition define the word and they have put every negative connotation on those words and society has bought those connotations? How come?