Money: Smart Techniques To Get A Raise

With Pay Equity Day having just passed slightly over a month ago, I stumbled across this article in the New York Times, that highlights several successful ways that empower women when it comes to negotiating their salaries. I found this article to be a must read road map for women who are looking to receive the salary they truly deserve. I encourage you to read this article and empower yourself! Please pass this on to any women who you feel can truly benefit from these simple and successful steps, it is about time we are finally paid what we deserve!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/your-money/15money.html?pagewanted=2&ref=general&src=me

Our May Activist of the Month!

Julie Morrison!

Photo credit: (BETTINA HANSEN / HARTFORD COURANT / May 11, 2010)

For her dedication and commitment to humanitarian causes. Julie, a 16 year old young woman from Glastonbury, was recently featured in a news story in the Hartford Courant. She has inspired many of us with her leadership in raising funds to support Haiti. She continues to organize a "Hope for Haiti" can drive and is using her musical talent to organize an upcoming benefit concert that will also support Haiti. We believe that one person can make a difference and Julie is a terrific example of how one individual can have a big impact not only on her local community but the world as well. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do! You are an inspiration to women (especially young women!) everywhere

Seriously?

Ok, so my husband works in the sports field and yesterday he came home from work and said to me, "You are not going to believe what's on the cover of Triathlete Magazine." Then, he showed it to me and I gasped. Why, oh why, is the woman on the cover posed with her hand on her bathing suit bottom and why is this sports magazine that claims to empower athletes over-sexualizing female athletes?? Truth be told, that's really a rhetorical question because I already know the answer. I went out to the world wide web to find some "expert" opinions to share with you.

According to an article by the National Women's Sports Foundation:

"In response to the athletes who choose to expose their bodies on magazine covers and centerfolds, Mary Jo Kane, director of Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, said that it's their decision to do so, but for those who choose to show off their bodies for the sake of gaining respect for women in sports, this action trivializes and marginalizes women in sports. One of the major questions in this central discourse becomes why do athletes pose in these magazines and why is Nike promoting this type of campaign? If consumers are buying products because it is marketed in this way, they are feeding off of sexualized images of female bodies. In the marketing strategy, consumers receive a false assumption that suggests certain products can make the consumer equivalent to the model shown in the ad. The ad exposes a sexuality that lures consumers into buying the products because it's a physicality to aspire to. Similarly, athletes pose to lure viewers, specifically male viewers, into what they are doing – to bring attention to their sport. But the notion doesn't reflect their sport or their athletic accomplishments. Instead, it eroticizes their bodies and undermines their efforts to publicize female athletic strength and prominence in their sport."

And, here is a quote from Pat Griffin who is part of the social justice education program at the University of Massachusetts. "When it once was enough to feminize women athletes, now it is necessary to sexualize them for men," putting them in their place and making them non-threatening, Griffin said. "Instead of hearing, 'I am woman, hear me roar,' we are hearing, 'I am hetero-sexy, watch me strip.'"

So what can we do about this? Write a letter to the editor of these types of magazines and let them know how you feel! Here is the contact info for Triathlete Magazine:

Online Editor Liz Hichens: Lhichens@competitorgroup.com
Triathlon Editorial Director: T.J. Murphy, Tjmurphy@competitorgroup.com

Make Your Vagina Green! (ok, well not literally)

One of the sponsors of the CT NOW Love Your Body 5K is the fantastic company Seventh Generation. They have a somewhat new line of organic tampons and we'll be giving them out to participants of the run/walk.

You might be wondering, why organic tampons? Deanna Neil says it best:
"The average maxi-pad or tampon is chlorine bleached, which releases toxins into the environment when made, and could also leaves residuals in your or your loved ones vagina. Gross. No one wants a toxic vagina. The dioxins used in chlorine bleaching get stored in the fat in our bodies and never, ever go away. They just accumulate with time. And yes, they are carcinogenic. Maxi-pads are increasingly being made with plastics ... enough said."

You might be surprised to find out that organic tampons are reasonably priced, equal to OB or Kotex. If you want to try something totally new, go for the Diva Cup. I think I'm giving it a try this month! Perhaps I will report back, unless it's too much information for you, our readers!
Watch a video about the Diva Cup here: http://vimeo.com/8091361

Excited to be on Blogspot!

Hi all! CT NOW just moved our blog over to blogspot (it was at word press) so all the posts below are old posts that we moved over from our other blog. We are looking forward to using blogspot which is very user friendly. Please follow our blog!

A Must Read!

This Hartford Courant letter to the editor speaks for itself and needs no introduction. Please pass this on to any college student, faculty member, or parent you know. My only request is that after reading this please ask yourself how can I make a difference and help women across college campus's so they may never endure a similiar experience?
"Umasking the Commen College- Age Rapist"
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-freidman-college-rapists.artapr25,0,87848.story

Pay Equity Day 2010- Get Angry?

If there is one day that women should be shouting from the roof tops about their insufficient pay, it is today. Today is a reminder that women are still paid far less than their male counterparts, yet year after year this day goes by without much change occurring. I stumbled upon this blog post on momsrising.org, which dares women to use this knowledge of inequality in a radical way. The crazy idea, "get angry" and demand that your Senators pass the Paycheck Fairness Act NOW! Please read this blog for a little inspiration, and take action to help all women receive the salaries they deserve!
http://www.momsrising.org/blog/this-paycheck-fairness-day-lets-all-be-peggy-olson/

"We declare that beauty is truly beautiful"

"Stand up for beauty that makes you laugh. That makes you think. That makes you get out there and create some beauty of your own"... So reads the most recent pledge from Cover Girls latest ad campaign, Defend Beauty. It is rather ironic how creative words mixed with a feeling of empowerment can for a short time cause one to forget the real perception of what our society deems as beautiful. In reality this entire snippet makes Cover Girl a very large hypocrite. The kind of "beauty" that is defended in our society is perfection, a level that is impossible without the help of air brushing or extreme dieting, do I really want to defend that?

However what perhaps is the most disturbing part of this ad campaign is the lack of acknowledgment as to what chemicals and toxic materials are put into Cover Girl cosmetics, that will create this beauty we are being asked to defend . I encourage you to read the Beauty Schooled article below, to draw your own conclusions and to decide what type of beauty you are willing to defend?
http://beautyschooledproject.com/2010/03/17/glossed-over-covergirl-says-beauty-is-the-victim/#comment-647

Long Term Life Benefits of Sports

I remember being rushed off to a few to many softball practices as a young girl, begging my mom for just a few more minutes in the pool. Perhaps I knew even then that I was not Olympic softball material. However in hindsight, I realized how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to play on a team of young women who were just as passionate about clothes, middle school, and trying to win softball games as I was.
A recent article in the New York Times, suggests that women playing sports has a larger effect on their adult life! An added bonus, for sure, after seasons of silent car rides home, tears shed, and the underlying question of " when are we going to win a game!"
I have included the link to the New York Times article below that has changed my view of my sport experience. Perhaps all the team parents were right, losing only makes you better in the long-term? Either that or they just could not think of anything else that would console their very emotional teenage daughter, ha ha.
Enjoy: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/as-girls-become-women-sports-pay-dividends/?em

How Many More Women Must Risk Their Lives?

On January 17th a young mother and wife was brutally murdered in West Haven, CT. Actually both Shengyl Rasim and her husband Selami Ozdemir died January 17th, Shengyl by Selami, and Selami by his own hands. I was outraged by the reporting of this case as just another "murder-suicide", given that very few details of the couples past was reported in the 30 sec sound bites on the local news stations. Below are the real details behind Shengyl's tragic death and glimpses of various ways her life could have been saved.

Just this past September Selami, Shengyl's husband, was arrested for third degree assault and risk of injury to a minor (The minors in this case are the couples two young boys, one is six and the other is seven months ). Even after being charged with third degree assault, Selami was simply "barred him from threatening or harassing his wife", meaning regardless of assault charges he was still allowed to live in the house!!!( CT Post, see the link below to the full article below)

Flash forward to the night of January 17th, at this point Selami is still living with the family, since he is not breaking any laws in doing so. The police were first called to the house over an argument between Selami and Shengyl. The Connecticut Post reported that after police were called to the scene, "Ozdemir spent about 90 minutes in custody Saturday evening, while being booked on charges of disorderly conduct, risk of injury to a minor and third-degree assault. He was also charged with violating the September court order, which barred him from threatening or harassing his wife." ( CT Post, see link below). Strange, those charges soundly very similar to what he was charged with September?

Selami was released the night of January 17th on the grounds that he would not return to his home or have any contact with his wife until they had their court date on Tuesday. This understanding is called a temporary protective order, created to protect the victim. Yet since we all know the tragic ending, Selami did not follow the temporary "protective order".
At 3:32 am that same morning Shengyl called police to let them know that Selami had returned to their home. Then just before 4 am another 911 call was placed from the home, but the dispatchers could only hear banging and crying noises. When police arrived at the home, they found both bodies. The children have been handed over to DCF.

Just yesterday domestic violence advocates testified before the State's Domestic Violence Task Force pleading for additional funding and better laws for perpetrators. This West Haven case is the perfect example of how the current laws fail the victims of these crimes. Protective orders will not protect victims if the perpetrators can choose if they want to follow them or not.
After reading about a case like Shengyl's it is hard not to wonder, how much longer will the State have to investigate Domestic Violence to conclude it is a problem? How many more women must be killed or injured at the hands of a husband or boyfriend before we as a State demand that victims are granted the services to save their lives. Also how can we change the system to protect victims better?

I encourage you to please read the Hartford Courant article and the Connecticut Post article listed below for more specifics about this case and the advocacy that is taking place on behalf of domestic violence victims.
Connecticut Post: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Questions-remain-in-West-Haven-murder-suicide-327054.php
HartfordCourant:
http://www.courant.com/news/domestic-violence/hc-dv-task-force-0126.artjan26,0,7408079.story

Connecticut Celebrates Women of Innovation

Noteworthy women were in abundance at Wednesday's 2010 Women of Innovation Awards dinner. Among those attending were, from left, Lynn Hines, Lyndsay Tanner, award nominee Linda Strausbaugh, Elizabeth Greene and Milly James. (MaryEllen Fillo mfillo@courant.com / January 21, 2010)

Congratulations Ladies!!
I was so thrilled to read MaryEllen Fillo's article in the Hartford Courant about the Women of Innovation Awards Dinner that took place right here at Connecticut's own Aquaturf! The event was sponsored by the Connecticut Technology Council, who chose to honor 60 women in 2010!! These women were honored for their creative and fearless contributions in the fields of science, business and education.

One innovative women told MaryElen, "When I got my Ph.D. at Wesleyan, I was the only woman," said award nominee Linda Strausbaugh, who teaches molecular and cell biology, and developed University of Connecticut's professional science master's program. "Today in my program, 71 percent of the students are female."

Another honoree of the night told MaryEllen, "I do believe I am an innovative woman," said Heidi Douglas, who received the Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership award. "When I first started out, as a woman I was always in the minority, even in high school, when I was the female science geek," said Douglas, who founded Nuventis LLC, a shoreline consulting agency for high-tech companies. "But I became comfortable with it, and I got used to being the only woman at technical conferences. It is lovely to be recognized with this kind of award."

This night of celebration is a perfect way to highlight the positive outcomes of women being fearless and intelligent. It is hard for many of us younger ladies to imagine being the only female in a classroom, and thanks to the amazing innovation of the 60 women honored at this event, we wont ever have to be!

Am I a "bad" feminist?

Ok, I have to be totally honest about this. I have read the Twilight series books (by Stephanie Meyer) multiple times and can't get enough of them. I'm one of those die-hard fans that sees the movie on opening day and wishes the book series never had to end. That said, I am a feminist and I do think these books send a bad, bad message to young women (teens in particular) about depending on men for happiness. I just saw the new movie New Moon and while I found it entertaining, that part of my brain that shoots up red flags at all things sexist, made me really wonder if somehow I'm being a "bad" feminist. The movie was full of examples of how the main character Bella just can't live without some male romantic interest (whether it be her vampire love or Jacob the werewolf). That is certainly a message that I don't agree with.

However, this topic really brings up a lot of feelings for me. As a young(er) feminist, under age 30, I think that it should be totally ok for me to like these books, and if anything, be glad that I have a feminist consciousness that allows me to not buy into some of these messages. So I put it out there to you, can someone still enjoy something that is outwardly sexist and still be a card-carrying feminist?

Here is a great article about the sexism of the Twilight series: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-spillar/new-moon-same-old-sexist_b_367925.html

Healthcare Reform: "Throwing Women Under the Bus"

Many young women take legalized abortion for granted, the thought of it as illegal is just beyond our comprehension. However now in 2009 we are getting quite close to this unfathomable idea. This past weekend the US Congress passed monumental Healthcare Legislation, however one amendment of that bill silently strips women of their rights to access to abortions. Susan Campbell's recent blog post describes the severity of this amendment and what we all can do to help!

Susan Campbell: Throwing women under the bus:
"On Sunday, a group of Hartford-area organizations sponsored a "Speak-out for Reproductive Rights" event at Trinity College. The night before, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to severely limit women’s access to abortion, and Sunday’s mood was somber.
Amid the afternoon’s seasoned activists and young women who stepped up to tearfully said they’d had abortions and told no one, one 20-year-old stood to say, voice shaking, that she’d never felt so mistrusted by her government to make her own decisions about reproductive destiny.

If ever you thought a woman’s right to choose was carved in stone, that notion could be abandoned based strictly on the Stupak-Pitts amendment [PDF] contained within the pages of the health care reform bill. That amendment, said one writer, "effectively bans insurance companies from selling insurance plans that cover elective abortion on the individual and small group market." This is the kind of compromise that turns a horse into a diseased gerbil. In favor of health care reform, we throw women under a bus. This is progress?

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had a huge hand in the language of the bill -- which seems odd to me because I didn’t vote for a single one of them. They are not my elected representatives, and I do not hold share their view of a woman’s place in the world -- this one or beyond. (Not everyone agrees they bear much of the blame.)

Ah, but we’re not done yet. It’s now the senators’ turn. Contact yours. Contact any one you care to. Let the powers that be know we’re not going back to the bad old days, no how and no way."
Please contact your Senators, we must protect our Rights!!

FDA Study: High Lead Levels in Lipstick

We continue to be very upset that the FDA has no regulations for beauty products. You would think that the release of their latest report on lead levels in lipstick would be a wake up call but they aren't even releasing the names of the worst offending companies. How are women (especially pregnant women) suppose to protect themselves with no identification of which lipsticks to avoid? Outrageous, majorly outrageous...

FDA Study: Lead Levels in Lipstick Much Higher than Previously Reported
FDA won’t say which brands had most lead; still has no standard for lead in lipstick
San Francisco – A new study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found lead in lipstick at levels much higher than those detected by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC) in a 2007 study that received international attention.

FDA found lead in all 20 lipsticks it tested, at levels ranging from 0.09 parts per million (ppm) to 3.06 ppm – more than four times higher than the highest lead level of 0.65 reported in the 2007 CSC study. FDA used a new testing method to analyze lipstick and concluded that earlier methods likely underestimated the amount of lead in lipstick.

FDA noted that three manufacturers had the highest levels of lead, but they did not name those brands. In 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report also found that a few brands had consistently higher lead levels, including L’Oreal, Maybelline and Cover Girl.
Health experts say lead in lipstick is a health concern in any amount.

“Since recent science suggests that there is truly no safe lead exposure for children and pregnant women, it is disturbing that manufacturers are allowed to continue to sell lead-containing lipsticks," said Sean Palfrey, M.D., a professor of pediatrics and public health at Boston University and the medical director of Boston's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
“Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, because lead easily crosses the placenta and enters the fetal brain where it can interfere with normal development,” said Dr. Palfrey.

“Lead builds up in the body over time and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels,” said Mark Mitchell, M.D., MPH, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states: “No safe blood lead level has been identified.” The agency suggests avoiding all sources of lead exposure. Yet FDA has no standard for lead in lipstick. “Pregnant women using lipstick are unknowingly exposing their fetuses to unknown and unregulated levels of lead. FDA should immediately set standards to require manufacturers to make lipstick as safe as possible,” said Lisa Archer, national coordinator for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund.

The FDA study found an average level of lead in lipsticks of 1.07 ppm – more than 10 times higher than its own standard for lead in candy. FDA’s standard for candy is based on the lowest lead level that can be achieved. A similar standard should be applied to lipstick.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics also urged FDA to release the names of the brands tested in the study and lead levels found in each. “The public deserves to know which lipsticks contain the most lead. FDA used taxpayer money to conduct this study and the results should be fully and readily available to the public,” Archer said.

Sens. Kerry, Feinstein and Boxer demanded that FDA take action on lead in lipstick, following the release of the CSC report. Nearly two years later, the FDA study was released in the July/August issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Science, and made available at a cost of $35.

"We have more to offer"

German candidate campaigns on cleavage
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 6:06pm
If you got it, flaunt it. At least that's what my grandmother used to say, and I imagine if she could see the campaign ads coming out of Germany this week, she'd probably laugh. And Vera Lengsfeld, who is running for a parliament seat in Germany's upcoming September elections, is banking on the fact that constituents will have a sense of humor.

The ad (shown above) pairs pictures of Lengsfeld and none other than Chancellor Angela Merkel, shoulder to shoulder showcasing the bountiful assets bestowed upon them by Mother Nature -- two very ample bosoms barely contained by two seriously wide and plunging necklines. The line that runs across reads: "We have more to offer."

No doubt, where there's more chest, there's more attention. Lengsfeld, who did not clear the ads with Merkel, reports that traffic to her blog has increased, getting as many as 17,000 visitors since this campaign went public. Her takeaway on all this?

If only a tenth of them also look at the content of my policies, then I will have reached many more people than I could have done with classic street canvassing." It's an interesting acknowledgement on Lengsfeld's part, she's clearly aware that the show-stopping photos aren't appealing to the thinking minds of men and women, though it sounds as though she's hoping the ad's wit will trump the old T&A approach.

Many of those not laughing are likely to be women who find the posters, and the ploy behind them, cheap and offensive. The glass ceiling runs far and wide, thicker over some places than others, and apparently the profiles of men cast long shadows, even over the most powerful women in global politics. Truthfully, I'd like to see a man foolish enough to market his campaign "package" in the same fashion ... Or has Berlusconi kind of done that already?
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Thanks to The New ForeignPolicy.com for posting this shocking campaign. It is so disturbing that intelligent, powerful women are using their bodies as a way to get the public's attention. What are we teaching our daughters?

Great New Report About Chemicals and Reproductive Health

The Center for American Progress recently released additional research on the link between chemicals and reproductive health. This is an issue CT NOW has been working on and has identified as a top priority. It is outrageous that companies can get away with using these types of chemicals with no regulation! Here is the introduction, to read the full report go to http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/07/pdf/reproductive_roulette.pdf Another great website where you can actually look up your products is: http://www.safecosmetics.org/

Jessica Simpson to Host New Show on Beauty

I came across this yesterday and it just didn't sit right with me. My favorite part of this article is the last paragraph where her friend says she thinks it will be "fun" to try some of the "insane" things people in other cultures to for beauty. Seems a bit ethnocentric (wow haven't gotten to use that word since women's studies!) to me. Other cultures look at some of the things American women do (breast implants, lipo, lip injections) and think we’re “insane.” Jessica Simpson was quite the interesting choice to host this show. We’ll be watching to report back with more juicy feminist critique! Or- perhaps we'll be pleasantly surprised...

Facebook's Advertising Plays into Gender Stereotypes

Many of us hip and happening people have facebook pages these days. Have you ever noticed that once you tell facebook your gender they create customized ads on the right hand side of your page? I made a copy of mine and snipped it for you below. I guess I care more about fashion, baking and having a flat stomach than I do of anything of real substance. I mean seriously?

I couldn't figure out how someone who isn't on facebook can email them to ask them to stop using sexist stereotyping in their targeted advertising. To all of you who do have facebook you can easily email them once you're logged in!