A thought-provoking newsletter comes out from MissRepresentation.org every week inviting readers to not only speak up but also take action for the rights of women. We must keep struggling for the sake of the girls and young women who are only learning these inevitable truths in their own lives. As their mentors, women need to question all the misleading images of girls and women rampant in all forms of media.
I try to keep the ideas at the forefront of my mind and incorporate positive actions into my every day life. It's difficult to keep #TheConversation (Ashley Judd's article) going, even though I vow to myself that I will help the young women around me realize they are feminists regardless of whether or not they self-identifying as such.
Women who have public voices and followings, such as Jessica Valenti and Naomi Wolf, can reach a vast audience via social media or various public appearances. Fortunately, there are many other informed women and men who are also online discussing important subjects like the Violence Against Women Act (VAMA).
While I have nowhere near that reach, I can keep the conversation going among my peers, students and other young people I meet or already know.
From the MissRepresentation.org newsletter:
It's an opportunity to not only challenge the media's limiting labels, but to question how we value ourselves and the women around us.
Another great blog entry about why feminism matters is at Fem2.0, which would give many people food for thought if they'd dare read it. I linked to it through a post on another blog I follow(Anything But Beige). Take the @RepresentPledge today at www.missrepresentation.org!
She's all over the blogosphere and twitterverse in the last few days taking up for women who suffer from unnecessary scrutiny in the media. Ms. Judd challenged the denigration of women not only by men but from each other, further empowering the patriarchy and disempowering females. She is quickly becoming a spokesperson for the innumerable women who are pummeled in the press about their looks equating their worth with no mention of their character, humanity or contribution to society.
Judd's response
Jezebel article
NPR blogs
Salon.com
This woman is intelligent, eloquent and speaks for us all. So timely, needed and appropriate. Let's face it (no pun intended), Ashley Judd kicks ass. Her comments are re-posted in their entirety at Ashley Judd website. (and credit to the AP for the photo)
As a side note, I'm so glad to see MissRepresentation getting its due attention. One such case is at EntertainmentTime.
