August 20, 2005
A Women's Group - Looking Twice and It Looks Nice
Last week, a women's organization offered a $5,000 prize in a college essay contest that is limited only to female college students and asks "what you think it means to be an independent woman in the year 2005." My first impression was, "Oh, boy. Another man-hating feminist group brainwashing young women." Well, mark it on your calendars, because today I am admitting that I am wrong. I did a double-take and found that it is a feminist organization, but in the good sense, and one in which parents could be proud of their daughters' participation. The group is the Independent Women's Forum (IWF).
In viewing their list of issues, I was surprised to see that they accept that men and women develop differently because of biology rather than society. What a concept! Then, they have a section on the rewards of dating and romance rather than just "hanging out together." There is another section on rights for the women of Iraq. They take positions on a broad spectrum of matters--from judicial appointments to balancing work and family.
This organization has strong common-sense women who can help properly teach young women and further their needs in life and business--without being radical and hating men. How refreshing! You may want to read some of their studies and refer them to others. In fact, suggest to any college women whom you know to enter their essay contest about being an independent woman. There's nothing wrong with that and the way they approach it.
I'm glad that I was wrong today. It's nice to see examples of women being strong without being filled with hate and bitterness. Now if we can just train them to cut the grass...okay, okay--I'm just kidding. Now, go read about them.
Posted by GM Roper at August 20, 2005 12:10 AM | TrackBackGreat site. I loved the piece on the Hollywood babes having babies. Who would've ever expected to hear of a woman's group standing for self-reliance coupled with personal responsibility and not once was the word "vicitim" mentioned. My hat goes off to these ladies. Even if they won't let me enter thier contest. As the father of 3 lovely ladies and having a very strong and independant wife, I could give you one heck of an essay on Independant Women in 2005.
Where you find'em I don't know but please keep finding them.
Posted by Veracious at August 20, 2005 02:14 AM
Hey! Thanks for the ref! Looks pretty interesting.
Of course, I think the idea that "... they accept that men and women develop differently because of biology rather than society" is a lil unbalanced. It's pretty well established that both nature AND nurture play significant roles in a child's development. Probably the emphasis on the "nature" side is a counterbalance effect, eh?
(And yeh, I'm well aware of many of the physiological differencesâ€â€Âendocrinologocal, neurological, etc., down to even some fundamental cellular differencesâ€â€ÂON AVERAGE, between the male and female of the human species. Viva la difference! :-)
Posted by David at August 20, 2005 01:12 PM
Just dropped In to let you know I have enjoyed reading you blog. I posted your link on my blog for the weekend.
I will read more later. later...
Posted by Karen at August 20, 2005 01:41 PM
David, you said it right...people develop how they do because of both biology and society. I meant to point out that this organization has enough common sense to see the weight of the biological issues.
I particularly liked this section of one of the articles on the site:
XY Files: IWF Panel Challenges Assumptions of AAUW
http://tinyurl.com/aglqy
"Hasbro, a major toy company, wanted to market their playhouse to both boys and girls. This is not because they believe there are no gender differences or that they are egalitarian androgynous feminists, they simply wanted to double their profits, which will happen if you can find a toy that appeals to both boys and girls. So they brought children into their 'fun lab' in Providence, Rhode Island, to observe how they interacted with their playhouse. The girls came in and played constructively with the baby carriage, the dolls, the stove, and the refrigerator -- basically played house. The boys came in and catapulted the baby carriage from the roof."
Posted by Woody at August 22, 2005 11:05 AM
This site is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Thanks for the heads-up.
Posted by civil truth at August 22, 2005 01:06 PM
