Women of the Week: Lady Runners

As anyone may have noticed, in the past month this here blog has fallen a wee bit by the wayside. There is, however, a good reason for this: I was in the final throws of training for a marathon. Yes-sir, I was making a mad attempt to follow that elusive unicorn that it the Boston Marathon. As the marathon was yesterday I thought today would be an excellent day to honor lady runners of all sorts, particularly those taking part in the whole marathon process.

Who: Kathrine Switzer
Age: 64
Why she kicks some serious butt: In 1967 Ms. Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. Throughout the race she was harassed, shoved, and was attempted to be forcibly removed from the race by an official (shown above). Not only did she finish the race, she then went on to win the New York Marathon in 1974 and take second in the Boston Marathon the following year. It is truly awe inspiring to me that someone could have the guts to carry on through such an experience like that and not become down hearted and just plain quit. It is challenging enough to train for a marathon, even when you have the most supportive group of friends and family, so going it alone seems staggering to me. Ms. Switzer's courage opened doors for many, many, more fantastic and talented female runners and it certainly leveled the playing field (so to speak).

Who: Kara Goucher
Age: 32
Why we like her: To me, Kara Goucher represents the dozens of incredible elite female runners all around the world. She has long been touted as "America's Sweetheart" of distance running, and she is just so darn hard not to like! Her times are incredible even though she is not a winner all the time. But what is so impressive about Ms. Goucher to me is that she ran the Boston Marathon this year only a short time after having a baby! And she came in fifth! She demonstrates the kind of go get-em attitude and dedication to sport that often gets overlooked in women's sports; but with Kara it is hard to ignore. Congrats Kara!

Kelley Moodie (L), and me (R)

Who: Kelley Moodie
Age: 21
Why she is awesome: Okay, so I admit this may be an addition to make up for all those long lost "familiar face friday" themes of yore, but she just fits so darn perfectly with the theme of this week! Kelley is one of my closest friends of all time, and together we have tackled some of the more challenging races in Boston (yesterday's marathon to be included. Yes, thats me looking dweeby after our first half together last fall). Kelley inspires me as a female runner because she is always dedicated to running for a cause. Although she was a short-er distance runner in high school, personal events have led her to jump in to distance running with a vengeance. Most of these distance runs lead to fundraising for cancer research; this year alone Kelley raised just over $3600.00 for Dana Farber Cancer research. But it is not the running, or the raising money that stand out alone. Kelley represents the type of female runner who is dedicated to helping other people through her personal endeavors. She is not alone in this venture (about one fifth of people who run the Boston Marathon run for charity...and thats just in Boston!), but she is certainly a stand out to me. 


So cheers to all you female runners out there! Your dedication to yourself, and others is truly inspiring!

Woman of the Week: Eve Ensler

Its been a challenging  past few weeks for the world. With all the disaster and tragedy, unrest and violence occurring all over the place it has been hard to focus on something so minute as blogging. So this week I have decided to honor a woman who has been acting how many of use wish we could in times of huge global crisis, and pinpointing a small way to help that makes hugs waves.

Photo Credit: randomhouse.org

Name: Eve Ensler

Age: 58

Occupation: Playwright, Activist

Why she is making waves: Aside from writing her witty, controversial, eye-opening play The Vagina Monologues, recently Ms. Ensler has been working with something a little more hands on. She has started what could be termed a "women's center" in the Congo, called the City of Hope. This center was built with the full purpose of being a place where local women who are the victims of violence and rape can come to work, share their stories with one another, and to heal. It also focuses on educating the women with the hope that they can then turn around and work to fix their government and their broken communities. The New York Times recently wrote a very thoughtful article on the mechanics of the City of Hope which can be found here. I agree with the Times when they reference the project as "gutsy", considering many of these women are illiterate and "un-educated". However, the idea that educating women about their sexual and domestic choices can lead to safer and stronger communities is not new, it is just that up until recently the rest of the world hasn't thought to share the greatness of this idea with under-developed and struggling countries. I don't think it is "gutsy" to try this idea out on un-educated women in Africa, I just think its gutsy to have been one of the first to actually do it instead of talking about it. So cheers to you Ms. Ensler for having the guts to build a feminine community and incite hope where there is often so little. 

**An organization that contributes strongly to a cause just like that of the City of Hope is called "The Girl Effect". More on this at a later date, but if you are interested please click here for more information: http://www.girleffect.org/video.

"The Flipside of Feminism"...A Response

One of the reasons I started this blog was to encourage a dialogue among women, and I find there to be no better way to start that than a response to an interview I read early this morning. Boston University recently interviewed an alumn of theirs, Susan Venker, who has recently finished her book The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know-- and Men Can't Say (WND Books). While I will state right now that I have not read the book, (yet) the interview, which you can read here, sparked some interesting thoughts. 


Although from the get-go I was hesitant to be completely on board with Ms. Venker, mostly because of the stigma-ed way in which she is introduced by her interviewer, most of my issues lie in response to her interview answers and less to her over-all concept. I am always attempting to be true to what my mama taught me as a little girl (and private university education has somewhat re-enforced): to have a strong argument, no matter what it is, you need to acknowledge both sides of the story. Throughout the interview Ms. Venker continuously references "feminism"; however, nowhere in her answers does she define her view of feminism. I find this to be an especially pertinent issue considering she ties it closely to many negative concepts including "self-pitying" and "narrow minded" view points. I hesitate to jump all over her responses right out of the gate simply because it appears to me she is using "feminism" as a blanket term for the negative aspects she doesn't agree with instead of fully explaining who she is talking about. This only serves to further pigeon hole her in the interview making it challenging for the reader (or at least for me) to really be sympathetic to either side of what she is arguing because it is so ambiguous. You mean you want me to either side with an un-defined group you think is irrational, or side with you? No thank you. 


I take greater issue with this lack of definition because it is just one of the reasons that I began this blog. To agree with Ms. Venker on some level, "feminism" does get a bad wrap from a lot of people. When I told my close male friends that I was starting a blog and what it was about they took one look at it and said in rather joking or intimidated tones, "oh yeah, its a feminist blog". Which brings to the table the bigger issue in my mind: why does the idea of "feminism" have to be so scary? It almost seems that like any other movement or argument, the concept that sticks in people's minds is the most radical part. Ms. Venker seems to draw on this in her interview, referring to one small faction of the feminist movement to define her entire "enemy". But it seems to me that her idea of the enemy is a little out-dated. The feminists of today are not all angered, man-hating, bra-burning females be-moaning their lack of domestic and work-related rights. The feminists I see are women who have learned to appreciate themselves and their abilities, and who have been taught that they have options. They are women who have been taught that there is power in believing in your ability (as cheese-ball and motivational-speaker-y as that sounds), and that there is value in relationships in which both people's needs and goals are recognized, not just that of one person's. I find nothing in these ideas that is self-pitying or negative, rather that they are empowering. And not just to American women; women all over the world see value in these concepts (in fact, in quite a few non-western cultures these ideas are the foundation of domestic life). Why is it seen as negative to associate yourself with these values by people who are otherwise forward thinking? 


I am interested to hear what others think on this matter. I welcome your comments, questions, and rants; share them with everyone! Again, if you missed it the first time around you can read the interview RIGHT HERE.


EDIT: Today is Women's Day! I totally forgot! Isn't that a little ironic? (This is not something I made up. I promise. See: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ . More on that later.)
  

Woman of the Week: Rachel Lloyd

Photo Credit: GEMS Website

Name: Rachel Lloyd

Occupation: Executive Director and Founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)

Why she is inspiring: Ms. Lloyd founded GEMS as a support group for young girls who are affected or involved in commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking after surviving her own youth as a sexually exploited teen. After escaping she went on to receive her bachelor's degree as well as her masters in applied urban anthropology. Her group strives to function as a safety net for these girls, as well as to work for legislation that will help and protect them. I think the most profound element of Ms.Lloyd's work (and company) is her interest not only in helping youth escape exploitation, but also in helping them realize their potential in other ways. GEMS focuses on the idea that every survivor has a story to tell, and a right to be heard. The implementation of this concept is more widespread than just this single cause. Ms. Lloyd herself acts as a prime example that awful experiences can be turned into productive feedback and networks in the community. Hopefully her work will travel nationally. Cheers to you Ms. Lloyd!


For more information on GEMS please visit their website: www.gems-girls.org

Familiar Face Friday!

To kick off the community-based element of this blog I want to feature one of the original women who inspired me to start this blog: my sister! Although I am a little biased towards her good genes I think she is a perfect fit for what I'm trying to accomplish here.

Name: Fiona Smith

Age: 23

Occupation: Ski Patrol Woman, Telluride, CO. Former National Geographic Young Explorer.

Why she kicks major boo-tay: In my mind, Fiona is the perfect pick for my first "Familiar Faces" segment. She has always represented the kind of go-get-em gumption that I admire. After graduating from college last year Fiona and two of her friends planned and executed a kayak trip through the Haida Gwaii wilderness. After that she upped and moved to Telluride, CO to follow her dream of becoming a ski patroller; she is one of ten women on a 70 person team and still manages to hold her own in an unfamiliar town. And if that weren't enough she has been a mentor and friend to hundreds of kids a year acting as a counselor and unit director at a Northwestern YMCA camp. I've haven't heard of that many women who have the guts to go out into the wilds of Canada almost completely un-accompanied and brave the Colorado Rockies, let alone I get to be related to one of them (maybe some of her fearless-ness will rub off on me...)! Fiona has always been true to herself and inspires me (not to mention her friends and campers) to go for it and not be limited by hard situations or what other people may think. I can't wait to see what she'll do next and neither can her community! Kudos to you Yon!

***Like this segment? Have a special lady in your community that you find inspiring and that you think should be featured? Tell me why and send me a photo at reach.ladynet@yahoo.com !)*** 

Woman of the Week: Michelle Obama

Photo credit: Official White House Photo

Name: Michelle Robinson Obama, J.D.
Age: 47
Occupation: Current First Lady, Founder of the "Let's Move" campaign, former Lawyer
Why we love her: Its no secret that I love Michelle Obama. She has been intriguing to me ever since her Mr. Obama stepped on the scene as a young politician. But the more she has been in the spot-light the more reasons emerge why she is a fantastic role model for women the country over.  Prior to first-lady-dom Ms. Obama led an incredibly successful career, first with a legal firm but later in a variety of community-development arenas. Her ability to be a powerful career woman while developing a family is astounding in its own right.
      But clearly her accomplishments continue to shine through in her work as first lady. Ms. Obama strongly but subtly supports the American fashion industry with her wardrobe selection, supporting young American designer like Jason Wu and Peter Som in addition to larger companies like JCrew. Through her sartorial choices Ms.Obama stands in the public eye as pulled-together, stylish, but friendly and approachable. Her look is professional yet individualistic, and is chronicled through many a fashion blog (my favorite being mrs-o.org).
     If this were not reason enough to find her impressive Ms.Obama's "Let's Move" campaign is the icing on the cake. She has spearheaded an initiative to teach America's youth the value in good eating habits and good exercise, targeting the spreading obesity in our country. But I believe there is another value in the concept of "Let's Move" that is more pertinent to this blog: that by educating youth about healthy eating and exercise Ms.Obama is acting as a role model for young girls to learn about healthy body images and consumer habits. She is not only starting this campaign, she is the icon of it; she demonstrates that despite a busy life with work and family and other problems (like, oh...world politics) it is possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Cheers to you Ms. Obama!

Woman of the Week: Marissa Mayer

***Because this blog is basically a constant love-note to impressive lady-folk, I figured I would get this business off the ground appropriately and launch the first official post on one of my favorite girly holidays. So here is a Valentine to one of my personal favorites***:

Photo: Vogue.com

Name: Marissa Mayer
Age: 36
Profession: Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google
Why she is inspiring: I have always had a soft spot for ladies who work science jobs ever since my brief career on a high school robotics team, so its no wonder that I chose Ms. Mayer as our kickoff woman. It takes serious gumption to go to work every day and be surrounded by a lot of men-folk, let alone run the whole darn thing. Ms. Mayer proves that not only can you be successful in the tech world at a young age, but you can do it with every-day class and style. She is a huge part of the reason millions upon millions of people are attracted to Google as a search engine. Without her we would still be using search engines like "hotbot.com"...seriously. She is an exceptional role model for girls in math and science fields who aspire to great things; kudos to you, Ms. Mayer. Happy Valentines Day!