Women’s Campaign School – you MUST go!

You have to consider going to this year’s Women’s Campaign School. It is looking to be one of the best schools in the 11 years that the Canadian Women Voters Congress has been putting it on (and I’m not just saying that because this year I’m involved!).  But seriously, the skills that you will learn at this amazing 3-day school will be invaluable to everyone who is interested in running for office, participating on a campaign or helping an advocacy group. This school will help you understand how politics works and how you can succeed within the political system.

Don’t take my word for it though! In the last election, 20 of the 39 WCS graduates who ran for office were elected. Recently elected women like Sarah Blyth, Jenny McGinn and Constance Barnes talk about what the WCS meant to them: http://www.youtube.com/WomensCampaignSchool.

Here are the details:

On March 27 – 29, the Canadian Women Voters Congress will host the 2009 Women’s Campaign School at SFU Harbour Centre in Vancouver.

The School is a unique and inspiring 3 day course offering women the tools they need to engage in the political process. Training includes:

The ABCs of Government • Campaign Strategies • Securing the Nomination • Campaign Ethics • Media Relations • Presentation Skills and Public Speaking

Early bird registration for this year’s School runs from Feb 2 – 22, with general registration closing March 13. Please spread the word to the women you know!

www.womenscampaignschool.org

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 Canadian Women Voters Congress http://www.canadianwomenvoterscongress.org

RESULTS CANADA- ending poverty and hunger in Canada

RESULTS CANADA is a national network of volunteers committed to creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty in Canada and around the world.

Come join us on February 26th to find out how individuals like you can make a difference.

 WHEN: Thursday, February 26, 2009; 6:30pm – 8:30pm

WHERE: Calhouns Coffee Shop (3035 West Broadway)

RESULTS Canada National Director Chris Dendys will be here to tell us more about RESULTS and what we are accomplishing. We’ll also discuss this month’s action: “Celebrating The Success of Microcredit.”

Questions? Contact us at vancouver.results@gmail.com

Everyone is welcome!

The Vagina Dialogues

The Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate Student Association (wags-gsa), the Gender Performances Project, the Women’s Studies Undergraduate Association, UBC VDay and the Pussy Posse…

are proud to present a critical and respectful response to eve ensler’s the vagina monologues…

the vagina dialogues

the trouble with a monologue is there’s only one voice.

Please join us for a roundtable discussion about gender, race, class, sexuality and feminist activism in the vagina monologues and vday.

Free, accessible and open to the public. Safe and positive space. Refreshments provided.

Chilcare available upon request; contact jenny.fawcett@gmail.com.

Thea’s lounge (6371 crescent road, UBC) |Thursday, February 26th | 6pm

Science finds that ‘sexy’ pics of women make men see them as objects

File under things that don’t surprise me:

Men are more likely to think of women as objects if they have looked at sexy pictures of females beforehand, psychologists said yesterday.

Researchers used brain scans to show that when straight men looked at pictures of women in bikinis, areas of the brain that normally light up in anticipation of using tools, like spanners and screwdrivers, were activated.

Scans of some of the men found that a part of the brain associated with empathy for other peoples’ emotions and wishes shut down after looking at the pictures.

Susan Fiske, a psychologist at Princeton University in New Jersey, said the changes in brain activity suggest sexy images can shift the way men perceive women, turning them from people to interact with, to objects to act upon.

The finding confirms a long-suspected effect of sexy images on the way women are perceived, and one which persists in workplaces and the wider world today, Fiske said.

For more information check out the full article.

Saudi Arabia Appoints First Female Minister!

Saudi Arabia has taken a huge step forward for women’s equality by appointing it’s first female minister:

Nora bint Abdullah al-Fayez, a US-educated former teacher, was made deputy education minister in charge of a new department for female students, a significant breakthrough in a country where women are not allowed to drive.

“This is an honour not only for me but for all Saudi women. In the presence of a comprehensive operational team, I believe I’ll be able to face challenges and create positive change,” she told Arab News. Fayez said she would study the state of girls’ education in Saudi Arabia before commenting on the task before her.

[…]

“This is a successful step. We’ve always suffered from having a man occupy the position,” she told the Saudi newspaper Arab News after her appointment as deputy education minister with special responsibility for female education.

She added: “A woman knows what problems and challenges her peers face. It’s a change for the better.”

Check it out for more information.

Dreams for Women

Thank you all for your patience! Sorry that I didn’t have these postcards up last week, however, I was frantically trying to get my anti-homophobia exhibit up. However, here are the postcards that I received last month from the University of Central Florida. Thank you so much ladies from UCF! You rock! The postcards are absolutely beautiful! A special thanks goes out to Leandra from UCF, who I met at the University of Southern Connecticut State’s Girls Conference.

I would also like to remind everyone to pick up their Dreams for Women 2009 calendar! Check it out here! They are now on SALE for only $5, plus shipping and handling. Buy one for yourself, buy a bunch for your friends as gifts or buy copies to sell as a fundraiser for your non-profit organization!

Antigone Magazine is facilitating a Feminist Postcard art project! We want to know what your Dreams for Women are.What are your own dreams for yourself, your friends, your sisters, your daughters? Paint, draw, write, sketch or decoupage your dreams on a postcard and send it to the address below:
Antigone Magazine
C/O WILLA UBc
Box 61-6138 SUB Boulevard
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6T 1Z1
OR
antigonemagazine(at)hotmail.com

With your postcard submission, we ask that you make a donation (if you can!) to Antigone Magazine for anywhere from $1 to $10. You can send your money along with your postcard or donate on our blog: http://www.antigonemagazine.wordpress.com/
But don’t worry… if you don’t have the money, just send along the postcard and tell people about this program.
What is Antigone Magazine? We’re a grassroots national magazine that works to encourage young women to get involved in politics in Canada. We work to empower young women to engage politically and civically and to actively take part in leadership roles.We are raising the money in order to help launch the Antigone Foundation, a national foundation that will encourage young women aged 10-30 to get politically and civically engaged. Help support Antigone as we help to make the dreams of young women come true!

‘Homophobia Kills’ Outweek Art Exhibit…

So, this week’s Dreams for Women is going to be delayed as I am frantically trying to put together the following exhibit! It is awesome! You must all come out!

CSIS, with the support of Pride UBC, is putting on a showing of local artist Mary Taylor’s show Homophobia Kills during Outweek:

February 9-13, 2008 in the SUB Art Gallery.

The show will be free to students and the public Monday through Friday from 11:00-4:00 each day. Everyone is welcome to attend the Opening Party on Monday, February 9th from 4:30-6:30 (snacks provided) where artist Mary Taylor will be present to answer questions about the work.

The show will feature Taylor’s acclaimed exhibit that memorializes people murdered in North America since 1998 because they were alleged to be, or were, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual. Homophobia Kills illustrates both the heinous nature of these crimes and the ideologies that justify them.

For more information about the exhibit, please see http://www.marytaylor.ca/Homophobia.htm