Thank a Feminist

I have posted this previous years on International Women's Day. I think it merits a repost.

If you're female and... 

...you can vote, thank a feminist.
...you get paid as much as men doing the same job, thank a feminist.
...you went to college instead of being expected to quit after high school so your brothers could go because "You'll just get married anyway", thank a feminist.
...you can apply for any job, not just "women's work", thank a feminist.
...you can get or give birth control information without going to jail, thank a feminist
...your doctor, lawyer, pastor judge or legislator is a woman, thank a feminist.
...you play an organized sport, thank a feminist.
...you can wear slacks without being excommunicated from your church or run out of town, thank a feminist.
...your boss isn't allowed to pressure you to sleep with him, thank a feminist.
...you get raped and the trial isn't about your hemline or your previous boyfriends, thank a feminist.
...you start a small business and can get a loan using only your name and credit history, thank a feminist
...you are on trial and are allowed to testify in your own defense, thank a feminist.
...you own property that is solely yours, thank a feminist
... you have the right to your own salary even if you are married or have a male relative, thank a feminist
... you get custody of your children following divorce or separation, thank a feminist.
... you get a voice in the raising and care of your children instead of them being completely controlled by the husband/father, thank a feminist.
... your husband beats you and it is illegal and the police stop him instead of lecturing you on better wifely behavior, thank a feminist.
... you are granted a degree after attending college instead of a certificate of completion, thank a feminist.
... you can breast feed your baby discreetly in a public place and not be arrested, thank a feminist.
... you marry and your civil human rights do not disappear into your husband's rights, thank a feminist.
... you have the right to refuse sex with a diseased husband [or just "husband"], thank a feminist.
... you have the right to keep your medical records confidential from the men in your family, thank a feminist.
... you have the right to read the books you want, thank a feminist.
... you can testify in court about crimes or wrongs your husband has committed, thank a feminist.
... you can choose to be a mother or not a mother in your own time not at the dictates of a husband or rapist, thank a feminist.
... you can look forward to a lifespan of 80 years instead of dying in your 20s from unlimited childbirth, thank a feminist.
... you can see yourself as a full, adult human being instead of a minor who needs to be controlled by a man, thank a feminist.

-Author unknown

The Best Places To Be A Woman

It's the 101st International Women's Day on Thursday. The Independent explores the best places to be a woman today. There are some surprises on the list: Rwanda, Burundi and Guam made the top 20 but my country, Canada, did not earn a place.

Wheels of Change: How The Bicycle Empowered Women

National Geographic‘s Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) tells the riveting story of how the two-wheel wonder pedaled forward the emancipation of women in late-nineteenth-century America and radically redefined the normative conventions of femininity.

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel.” ~ Susan B. Anthony, 1896

Via Brain Pickings
Thanks Bruce!

Standing up for justice

I think this video is appropriate on International Women's Day:

"Today we are sharing a new video about Cleofé Neyra, a farmer in Peru’s northern province of Piura. In 2005 she participated in a demonstration against an illegal mining exploration operation in an environmentally sensitive area of her community and was abducted and tortured, and eventually released after three days. She and the 27 others who survived this ordeal (one man died) asked the government to investigate the police and mine security officers allegedly involved and prosecute those responsible for these human rights violations. Instead, prosecutors charged the campesinos who organized the demonstration with terrorism."Oxfam America Blog

See me somewhere else

Style Substance Soul, a well put together website for women asked me to add my blog to their Showcase. After checking it out I was thrilled to do so. Loads of good stuff for sisters here.

On International Women's Day

Transcending: Words on Women and Strength by Kelly Corrigan

Why International Women's Day matters

Three films about key issues that affect women in the developing world.

Old women in the news

The world's oldest person died in Japan at 114. I wonder what it's like to be the oldest person in the world. There are some mornings when I feel like that person but it's probably not the same.
Mississauga mayor, Hazel McCallion was on the news last night making a transit announcement and she looks like the oldest woman in the world (right).
Brooke Astor has (finally) died at 105, likely not knowing how old she was or even who she was.
At the age of 107 Canadian born Mary McCarthy, though wheelchair-bound, is still going strong in Cuba despite the fact that the US government has frozen her assets since 1959. The situation's desperate - she's running out of money for booze and smokes.
In other old lady news, The Nag has decided to slow down and smell the roses (also weed, feed, spray and prune them). Yes, I am retiring once again! If I live to be 117 I should have almost enough time to do all those things I've always wanted to do.