Weekly Minutes

I. General Announcements
    1. explanation of committees:
           a) pink and green party planning
           b)march 8th int'l women's day banquet
           c)feminist art exhibition
    2.taking photo for millicent
    3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LOVELY CO-PRES, NANCY!

II. Check Ins

III. How to table. please table! contact us if you would like to help us with sproul tabling.

IV. Blogging Workshop

V. Committee discussions

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announcement:

 Courtney Martin and Ariel Boone from Feministing.com are speaking on campus.

When: Tuesday February 16th

Where: 145 Dwinelle

Time: 7pm

Courtney Martin, editor and contributor of the popular website Feministing.com, is coming to speak, hosted by Berkeley NOW, on feminist blogging and its potential and limitations in pursuit of truly activist, intersectional work. Speaking with her is Ariel Boone, our own ASUC Senator and guest editor and contributor on Feministing.com! Afterwards, there will be a Q&A/discussion. This is a very exciting opportunity, so please take this chance to attend and hear what they have to say. Bring questions, and bring your friends!

A Little Poetry, Without Lines

It's good to get a little Staceyann after a long day's work. Check her out if you don't already know how intricate her beauty is.

Click here.

Cuntail tomorrow 1/29!

Hello wonderful people,

Tomorrow night BNOW is hosting a Cuntail for all of us, old and new members, to get to know each other in a social setting. It will start at 9pm at Sherman Co-op (2250 Prospect St.) This is a wonderful and fun opportunity to meet your fellow feminists and get a feel of the kind of people involved in BNOW.  Cuntails are safe spaces, with mingling, games, music, cuddling, and light refreshments.  So join us tomorrow, even if just for a little bit.

Feminist Love,
Angie

Event on campus this thursday!

UC Berkeley's Institute for the Study of Societal Issues’  Center for the Comparative Study of Right-Wing Movements along with the Beatrice Bain Research Group, the Center for Race and Gender, Religion Politics and Globalization Program, and the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies present

Dispatches from the Abortion Wars:

Two Authors Discuss Domestic and Global Battles

over Women’s Reproduction

Thursday, January 28, 12:00-1:30pm

370 Dwinelle Hall

University of California, Berkeley

  

Michelle Goldberg, M. Jour. '98, journalist and author of The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World  (Penguin, 2009)

Carole Joffe, M.A. '67, Ph.D. '70 Sociology, Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of California, Davis and author of Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients and the Rest of Us (Beacon Press, 2010)

The assassination of Dr. George Tiller last May marked an upsurge in violence and intimidation by the anti-abortion movement in the U.S.  At this event, two experts on domestic and international battles over women’s reproduction will discuss recent developments in the U.S. anti-abortion movement and situate it within the larger, global movement aimed at limiting women’s reproductive rights.

Speaker Bios:

Michelle Goldberg is a journalist and author based in Brooklyn, New York. Her most recent book is The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World, which was published in April 2009 by Penguin Press and won last year's J. Anthony Lukas Work in Progress Award. Researched in four continents, The Means of Reproduction tells the story of the global battle for reproductive rights, and argues that the oppression of women is the great human rights issue of our time. New York Times columnist Nick Kristof wrote that the book is "full of wonderful insights and stories...Goldberg is exactly right." Goldberg is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. She is a columnist for The Daily Beast and a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, and her work has appeared in The New Republic, The Nation, Glamour, The Los Angeles Times and many other publications. Goldberg received a Masters in Journalism from Berkeley in 1998.

Carole Joffe is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of California, Davis, and a Visiting Professor at the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health.  Her research focuses on the social dimensions of reproductive health, with a particular interest in abortion provision.  She is the author of Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion Before and after Roe v. Wade (Beacon Press, 1996) and The Regulation of Sexuality: Experiences of Family Planning Worker (Temple University Press, 1986). Some recent articles which have resulted from her research are "Abortion and Medicine: A Sociopolitical History,” A Clinician’s Guide to Surgical and Medical Abortion; “The Abortion Procedure Ban: Bush’s Gift to his Base,” Dissent; “A Descriptive Analysis of Abortion Training in Family Medicine Residency Programs,” (with Dalia Brahmi et. al), Family Medicine; “Integrating Abortion Training into Family Medicine Residency Programs” (with Christine Dehlendorf, et. al), Family Medicine; “Pro-life and Abortion Rights Movements,” (with Tracy Weitz), Encyclopedia of Sociology; “The Religious Right and the Reshaping of Sexual Policy: An Examination of Reproductive Rights and Sexuality Education,” Sexual Research and Social Policy and Sexual Panics, Moral Panics, (NYU Press, 2009). Dr. Joffe has a track record as a "public intellectual," publishing her work in both academic and lay media. She has just completed the book, Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients and the Rest of Us (Beacon Press, 2010). Dr. Joffe was awarded her graduate degrees from U.C. Berkeley.

This event is free, wheelchair accessible, and open to the public. For directions go to: http://bbrg.berkeley.edu/directions370dwinelle.html

Copies of Michelle Goldberg's book, The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World, and Carole Joffe's book, Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients and the Rest of Us, will be available for sale (cash or check) and signing at this event.

For more information call (510) 642.0813.

"Stand up for your right, take back the night!"

Flickr User: Frizzetta

First Meeting of the Semester!!

Join us tonight at 6pm in 106 Wheeler for the first meeting of the semester.

Rally and March Tomorrow

BACORR is organizing a counter protest to the Walk For Life in SF tomorrow starting at 10am, and BNOW will be tabling and many of us will probably be marching once that part of it begins. This should be a big event, one that will serve as visual evidence for why we are all so needed, and why we keep doing the work that we do. If you want to make (good and respectful) signs for the event, go ahead. The more visuals and the more people we have on our side, the better. A note, please be aware of how your sign could be interpreted by the media and any opposition. It is very easy to get misquoted in big events like this.

This semester we are going to hold workshops during meetings that should prepare you all (if you aren't already) for work like this, and this is a great opportunity to get the experience that we'll be referencing during those workshops. So come, advertise, do whatever you can. We need people.

BNOW is meeting at the Dowtown Berkeley BART at 9am to go over together. Contact me with any questions at 408.859.9947. Spread the word!

Dec. 2 Day of Action against Stupak

ALL Activists,

As most of you know, the Stupak Amendment is a huge and very real threat to women's reproductive rights. If passed, it would not only codify the Hyde Amendment (which prohibits federal funding abortions except in the extreme cases of rape, incest, or danger for the life of the mother), but would go even further and largely limit women's access to abortion care by limiting insurance coverage. Women would not be able to use government insurance plans to cover costs associated with abortions. But the whole idea of public coverage is that it's there for us when we find ourselves in unexpected situations...like unexpected pregnancies.

To be able to provide abortion coverage under the Stupak Amendment, an insurance company would have to create two entirely separate plans, one with abortion coverage and one without. The one without would be cheaper, easier to manage, and more preferable for any individual or company (many women have healthcare only because their company covers them) who doesn't have the money or desire to pay for the more expensive plan just in case. Since it would be a big hassle for insurance companies to keep track of two very differently managed plans, and since the abortion plan is less likely to be paid for by those that might at some point need the coverage, the fear is that the insurance companies will eventually just stop providing it. And then women are without coverage. SCARY!

So, Berkeley NOW will be joining in on the December 2nd national day of action, along with most feminist organizations that...exist. The Stupak Amendment already passed in the House, but a lighter -- though still quite harmful -- Senate bill was recently moved to the floor for debate and will be voted on on Dec. 7th. We need to make sure that any anti-abortion measures don't make it into the final version of the Senate bill, and we need every voice we have to be heard to make it happen. So, now is the time for you to call your senators and LET THEM KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT THEY VOTE AGAINST ANY ANTI-ABORTION PROVISIONS THAT GO BEYOND THE CURRENT LAW.

Refer to http://www.capwiz.com/now/dbq/officials/ to search for who to call, or if you want to call your Senators for CA, they are:
Sen. Feinstein
DC Office: (202) 224-3841
SF Office: (415) 393-0707
Sen. Boxer
DC Office: (202) 224-3553
SF Office: (415) 403-0100
If you want to be connected to the national switchboard, that number is (202)225-3121.

Berkeley NOW will also be on Sproul tomorrow, Dec. 2, with these info sheets and a petition that you all can sign and we will send in at the end of the day. You can make calls with us on Sproul, you can make calls at home, you can make calls on your way to class, just please make them! You don't have to go into a lot of detail; just explain that you are a constituent and that you are counting on [senator's name] to keep any anti-abortion provisions that go beyond the current law out of the senate bill. You can say that you are calling on behalf of NOW if you wish (just please don't say anything that could possibly paint us in a negative light!). If you are feeling more confident, feel free to say a tiny bit about why you think it's so important, given the info included above or any knowledge you have of your own too.

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Quick summary/inspiration for calling purposes:

While I support health care reform, I do not support selling women's fundamental rights in order to buy votes.

Do not support the Stupak Amendment. If incorporated into the final version of health insurance reform legislation, will:

* Prevent women receiving tax subsidies from using their own money to purchase private insurance that covers abortion;
* Prevent women participating in the public health insurance exchange, administered by private insurance companies, from using 100 percent of their own money to purchase private insurance that covers abortion;
* Prevent low-income women from accessing abortion entirely, in many cases.

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Thank you for standing up for women's rights!

For additional information: http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=14342106

In honor of LYBW

found at Sociological Contexts

Oh how social norms change. 

Love Your Body Week

Facebook Event