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“The Well Project is looking for two energetic, innovative and passionate individuals to intern with our organization and support our outreach, development and online services. One internship is based in California and one is based in New York.

Job descriptions are attached or check out the postings on our website at www.thewellproject.org.”

-Shalini Eddens

The Monologues were messy.  Let’s face it, no conversation about sexuality, gender, birth, or violence can be sterile and honest at the same time.  The scene opened on four young women, standing with mics under their own spotlight, speaking openly about their fears and insecurities.  The monologues that followed were based on vagina interviews, which did the unprecedented—asked women to talk about their vagina.  Provocative, funny, heartbreaking and relentlessly honest, the monologues said what few women are willing to say and every woman should hear.  This production was a spotlight campaign to raise awareness of the violence against women in Haiti.  Proceeds went to local women’s shelters and programs, as well as shelters and legal service centers for victims of violence in Haiti.  It was clear the students involved with the production had entirely too much fun with it.  It would be impossible to enter that theater and witness that play without a level of intimacy and irreverence.  In a way, it was honest of them to decorate the entryway as a giant vagina.

The opening ceremony began with drums.  I came, expecting to be an outsider, an observer, the quiet girl in the back with the camera.  Organizers brought out dozens of hand painted signs.  I had to choose carefully.  I came to observe and report, but it was picking my sign, deciding for myself what I wanted to say, that I realized I was going to participate.  It was my first protest, and I chanted my throat raw.  I met some amazing men and women that day.  It was difficult maintaining the march, our group was separated at nearly every intersection, and the lines were so long it was difficult to keep the marchers in the front and the back in sync.  Even if we weren’t always chanting the same words, or chanting to the same rhythm, we were unified in spirit and purpose.  When we got to City Hall, we put our signs on display.  There were speakers, including Council member Rose Herrera, who has been fighting for women’s rights for years, and has been wonderfully supportive in SJSU’s celebration of Women’s History Month.  I learned a lot that day, about the struggles of women before me, and the issues women face today.  There was even a performance by two young girls, the future of the women’s rights movement, singing “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.

The Women’s Resource Center has a community internship opening.  Applications are due 3:00 PM, Friday, May 20th, 2011.  Please bring your completed application packet to Bonnie Sugiyama, the assistant Director of the Women’s Resource Center.

For qualifications, responsibilities, submission directions and the application form, please click on the link below.

WRC_Communtiy_Internship_Application

Thank you Bonnie Sugiyama for sharing this with us!

Hello Students,

I thought I would let you know that the AFAM department is offering a summer course this summer, The Changing Majority, which satisfies D2 for your General Education credits.   It is listed as AAS 25, Asian American Studies, but in the catalog it is crosslisted as AAS/AFAM/MAS 25.

Spread the word.  Dr. Ruth Wilson is the instructor.

-Dr. Ruth Wilson

WORD NIGHT was my first uniquely university experience.   I had no idea what to expect.  I showed up a little early and sat at a table in the corner nursing my coffee, a pencil and notebook at the ready.  The Mosaic crew played music while they set up, a lot of nineties artists.  It was hosted by Womyn on Womyn’s Issues, during women’s history month, so playing any popular music from the year 2000 on was out.  The speakers were amazing.  I was struck  by the bravery it took to stand up and speak their mind.  The first speaker was shy, but as she read the words of a Palestinian woman addressing Israeli soldiers, her voice was strong and unwavering.  Speaker after speaker stood and offered some kind of disclaimer, apology, or nervous laugh, before weaving words of pain, beauty or struggle.  Some of the poets were experienced writers.  They wove words like wicker baskets, simple, effortless and artful.  All the speakers made me think.  They made me question.  As they challenged themselves to be stronger and braver, to stand and be heard, they challenged me to do the same.  It was a bit of a culture shock.  I was raised not to be too loudly emotive where people are eating in public, and here the artists were pouring their unedited souls into a microphone.

March 16, 2011  Engaging Men’s Capacity to End Gender Violence
12 noon  Pacifica Room, Student Union

What role do men and masculinity play in discussions of gender violence?  How do we constructively engage men as we envision a violence-free future?  Come hear Dr. Jason Laker (Office of the President) address this important issue.

March 17, 2011 Sowing the Seeds of Justice: The Story of Cruz Reynoso
6  pm  Morris Dailey Hall

Come watch a film about lawyer/activist/former Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, followed by discussion with Reynoso and film maker Abby Ginzberg.  Suggested donation $5 for students and $10 general admission. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please mark your calendars for next Tuesday, March 22 for two events aimed at helping us understand the interconnected nature of women’s reproductive health issues.

2 – 3:15 pm MLK Library 255/257
Why Midwifery Matters with Allana Moore

A History of Self-Help Reproductive Movements with Pati Garcia

6 – 8 pm Guadalupe Room, SJSU Student Union
Know Your Own: A Smart Sex Workshop with Pati Garcia

Allana Moore is a professional doula, birth educator, and case manager with teen moms at the nonprofit Bill Wilson Center.

Pati Garcia is a professional doula, assistant midwife, and Somatic Sex Educator (CSB) trained at the Institute for Advanced Study in Human Sexuality.

Flyers are here in pdf and in MSWord formats; please help us distribute!

On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, the Global Fund for Women (GFW) looks back over the past year and celebrates some of the extraordinary victories won by women’s movements around the world. From progressive new national and international legislation to mass mobilizations for peace, we celebrate the hard work of our grantee partners. These 10 victories remind us that despite enormous odds, women are paving the way to a more just and equal world.

#1  Domestic Workers to Win Workers’ Rights

Despite restrictive working conditions and limited infrastructure, domestic workers worldwide organized, advocated for, and won a victory in June that began the process through the International Labor Organization (ILO) to extend basic labor protections to millions of women employed in other people’s homes.

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Spread the word….

FALL 2011

WOMS 169: Sexualities and the Body

M/W 1:30-2:45pm

Taught by Dr. Tanya Bakhru

• Learn about the politics of sexuality and the body from a feminist perspective
• Explore various aspects of sexuality and gendered bodies including identity, community, and social movements

For more information email Dr. Bakhru at Tanya.Bakhru@sjsu.edu