Dove conducted an experiment about how women perceive their own beauty. Very interesting to watch.

[Update 4/18/2013: I have heard as much negative about this ad as positive over the last several days. Posting was not an endorsement but rather a spark of conversation. My personal opinion: On one level, this is fascinating to see the difference in how people view themselves from how they’re viewed by strangers. To me, the difference in the second drawing was more a tone, a confidence, that makes someone more ‘beautiful’. On a different level though, I’m bothered by the homogenous subjects (just women in their 30s and 40s of mid-range weight and appearance with no normal blemishes or other noticeable appearance features) even though Dove usually does a better job than most with showing a range of women, and also the idea that beauty means narrower face, less freckles, fuller hair, etc. At the end of the day, I don’t think this ad/experiment is really helpful, and the interesting qualities would be better served outside of the beauty brand context. That’s my take.]

Happy International Women’s Day!

Here’s to all the women who live life to the fullest, those who have paved the way for increased opportunity in the past and present, and those men who have chimed in with their undying support. It is my wish for women worldwide that we continue to raise our voices, proudly work and raise families if we choose, and celebrate our unity and spirit.

Read more about celebrations, history, education and advocacy happening today around the world.

The Super Bowl statistic we aren’t talking about. via The Enliven Project: 1 out of 6 men on the field next Sunday could be survivors of sexual violence. That’s right, 1 out of 6. Just to be clear, we don’t know whether specific players have had specific experiences.  We simply want to you to look at the men in your class, the men in your family, and the men on your favorite sports team with this statistic in mind. Too much shame and stigma exists for all victims of sexual violence. But the stigma is even greater for men, many of whom believe they should have been able to protect themselves or fear that friends and family members will think less of them if they come forward. There have been a handful of brave and courageous men – R.A. Dickey, Tyler Perry, Scott Brown, and Keyon Dooling to name a few – who have stepped forward and are generous in sharing their stories and experiences so that others can be less afraid to break silence.  But these men are not the exception.  And their stories are more common than you think. I respect and support this awareness campaign. Share if you do, too.
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The Super Bowl statistic we aren’t talking about.

via The Enliven Project:

1 out of 6 men on the field next Sunday could be survivors of sexual violence.

That’s right, 1 out of 6.

Just to be clear, we don’t know whether specific players have had specific experiences.  We simply want to you to look at the men in your class, the men in your family, and the men on your favorite sports team with this statistic in mind.

Too much shame and stigma exists for all victims of sexual violence. But the stigma is even greater for men, many of whom believe they should have been able to protect themselves or fear that friends and family members will think less of them if they come forward.

There have been a handful of brave and courageous men – R.A. Dickey, Tyler Perry, Scott Brown, and Keyon Dooling to name a few – who have stepped forward and are generous in sharing their stories and experiences so that others can be less afraid to break silence.  But these men are not the exception.  And their stories are more common than you think.

I respect and support this awareness campaign. Share if you do, too.

HR Tip: Know Your Job Description

This interesting article from New York Magazine highlights how even high-powered women like Valerie Jarrett know they do a lot, but can’t quite put a finger on it. The job description is amorphous, and it’s worth defining.

A job description is never perfect, but it should be written, periodically reviewed with a direct supervisor and other team members as appropriate, and followed to the extent possible. Usually, there is a catch-all line for flexibility (ie: Assist with other office duties as needed), so neither you nor your company will feel pigeonholed. Having an active and recognized job description is really a win-win for you and the company; it gives you a personal guideline and self-advocacy tool, and it gives your employer a way to evaluate your job proficiency and understand what is on your plate. Plus, when you’re looking to that next step career-wise, whether it’s in the same vein or completely unrelated, you can use this tool to evaluate what has worked for you and what hasn’t.

I’m curious to add some personal anecdotes; what has been your experience with job descriptions?

10 Fascinating Meetings in Modern History

I thought it would be fun to include a slide in my upcoming class about the history of meetings, and my research yielded an awesome list of 10 fascinating meetings in modern history. Here’s an excerpt:

Thomas Stafford & Alexei Leonov

Picture 1-64

On July 15th 1975 two men aboard the Soyuz (from the Soviet space program) and three men aboard the last Apollo mission (from the US space program) were launched within seven and a half hours of each other The Astronauts & Cosmonauts were to perform some experiments but the primary purpose of the mission was symbolic and was an attempt to ease the tensions between the two superpowers. On July 17, Stafford and Leonov met and exchanged the first international handshake in space through the open hatch of the Soyuz. The spacecrafts remained linked for 44 hours, long enough for the men to pay visits to each other’s ships,eat together and converse in each other’s languages. The Soviets remained in space for five days, the Americans for nine days.

Interesting Fact: The Americans and Soviets exchanged flags and gifts including tree seeds which were later planted in the two countries.

Something neat about the 10 meetings selected is that the two people are not always natural allies, but the meeting is completely civil and invited. Part of my enjoyment of effective meetings is having two parties come to a table from different perspectives to discuss mutual goals or to share a unique ideology for the dual purposes of informing and learning. This actively engaged communication helps communities and people grow instead of fester in one-track mindsets.

An observation: none of the meetings featured include women, which is a reminder of how recently it’s been since women have been recognized in history. Why not include, for instance, when Harriet Tubman met WIlliam Still in 1849, from which meeting the Underground Railroad could grow significantly? 

Free birth control in the United States starts TODAY. Beginning on August 1, 2012, the Affordable Care Act guarantees women access to preventive health care services (e.g. cancer screenings, HIV and STI testing, well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, prenatal/post-partum care) without copayments or deductibles. That includes prescription contraception, the prohibitive cost of which can often mean the difference between safe sex and an unplanned pregnancy. For more information on whether your health plan is offering women’s preventative services with no co-pay, check out this easy-to-follow guide at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Image via Ultraviolet Share with your networks!
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Free birth control in the United States starts TODAY. Beginning on August 1, 2012, the Affordable Care Act guarantees women access to preventive health care services (e.g. cancer screenings, HIV and STI testing, well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, prenatal/post-partum care) without copayments or deductibles. That includes prescription contraception, the prohibitive cost of which can often mean the difference between safe sex and an unplanned pregnancy.

For more information on whether your health plan is offering women’s preventative services with no co-pay, check out this easy-to-follow guide at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Image via Ultraviolet

Share with your networks!

(via nodamncatnodamncradle)

Source: lenachen

Interview with Natalia Petrzela about intenSati, the Intrepid, and HealthClass 2.0

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is an intenSati instructor, college professor, mom, and ambassador of awesome (just google her!). The next amazing event that she’s speaking at is less than two weeks away (March 11), and spots are filling up fast. I spoke with her about what it’s going to be like to celebrate our bodies and exercise in a high-powered workout-for-a-cause on the Intrepid.

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Jen Bokoff: I love that you’re having people sweat it out to benefit a good cause: HEALTHCLASS2.0. Can you share a bit about what makes this such an important cause?

Natalia Petrzela: HEALTHCLASS2.0 defines education and health broadly by focusing on learning about fitness and food as vectors to develop children’s reflective and decision-making capabilities, and to cultivate a strong sense of self. In each session, participants exercise, eat a healthy, locally-sourced snack, and engage in a thoughtful discussion of the food they are consuming. HC2.0 is a really interesting project because it brings together new work across the fitness, food and nutrition studies, and educational reform fields.

Supporting this kind of curriculum is crucial, because as schools have tighter budgets and increasing pressure to perform on high-stakes tests, programs that focus on wellness and social-emotional health are often dismissed as frills. Most HC2.0 sessions take place in Phys Ed classes during the school day, which sends a really important message about how this type of work is central to empowering students to do well in all areas of their lives, including academics. The concept that kids should work out and eat well is an old idea; plenty of programs support that notion. But, the fact that we teach intenSati and base our food curriculum around the 30 Project’s philosophy is really different. Kids don’t just work out; they call out affirmations connected to a larger theme like making choices, or practicing self-care and appreciation. They don’t just learn some nutrition facts; they eat a healthful snack right there with us and talk about the experience, which is a real break from the common experience of mindlessly eating “whatever is there.” Discussions about food are related both to personal decisions and to bigger systemic issues, like the circumstances that make healthful food expensive and harder to access in certain neighborhoods. Finally, students are always equipped with strategies to integrate these lessons into their own lives through  the themes of the affirmations. By creating a really coherent learning experience, students will be engaged and empowered to be agents of change in their own lives and communities.

HC2.0 also provides a new model of the way higher education, private enterprise, and the public schools can partner in innovative ways. BlueprintJuice very generously provides the snacks and juice; The New School, where I teach, is where our college leaders are trained and get the intellectual foundation to be informed leaders; in working together with public school teachers, administrators, and students, it seems like we are really creating value in a new way.

JB: In intenSati, every workout begins with a conversation. What do you plan to talk about to kick off this event?

NP: HC2.0 co-founder Ellen Gustafson and I will kick off the event discussing the founding of HC2.0 and why an empowered approach to food and fitness is so crucial to changing ourselves and the world!

JB: The Intrepid is one of NYC’s most unique venues. How’d you lock it in for the biggest intenSati class ever?

NP: The director of events there had taken my class in the past and also knew I had done work on gender issues (the event is part of the boat’s “Salute to Women” celebration of Women’s History month), and asked me to teach the intenSati class to benefit a charity that had not yet been decided. I told her about HC2.0 and it seemed a perfect match!

JB: Can you give us a sneak peak of the affirmations we’ll be shouting out?

NP: Nope! It is a surprise that intenSati creator Patricia Moreno, who is teaching the class, will spring on us!

JB: As a university professor and intenSati leader, you clearly have a passion for helping people to realize their potential and be the best they can be. What’s the number one thing that motivates you?

NP: I adore my work as a scholar and an intenSati leader, and feel that this love pushes me not only to work very hard, but to feel exhilarated rather than exhausted by the process (most of the time!). If I can help others find their passions, and be a model of how the pursuit of excellence doesn’t have to be painful drudgery but instead, very exciting, then I feel I am adding something to the world!

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If you’re feeling amazing endorphins after reading this, come on March 11 and check out other intenSati classes, too! You can also follow Natalia on Twitter and ask to be put on her monthly email blasts.

Interview: Rachael Goodman-Williams, Founder, anditwaswrong.com

I had the privilege to interview Rachael Goodman-Williams who founded And It Was Wrong, a website devoted to collecting and sharing women’s experiences with sexual assault. I was drawn to the poignant simplicity and comforting rawness of the website, and the fact of its mere existence. A storytelling class that I’m currently taking has made me realize very quickly that certain themes aren’t shared enough, and a poignant story can make all the difference in understanding. Even though the topic is weighty, it’s uplifting, too.

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Jen Bokoff: What made you start collecting stories?

Rachael Goodman-Williams: The project itself was actually around for quite a while before it ever went online. In January of 2006, I was sitting in my freshman dorm room watching The L Word. In a Season 3 episode, one character is confronting another about how he had violated her. There is a moment where she asks him if he has any sisters. He responds by saying that yes, he has two younger sisters. She then tells him that she wants him to call his sisters and ask when the first time was that they were violated or intruded upon by a man. He asks her what makes her think that this has happened to his sisters. She answers that it has happened to every woman, at one point in her life or another. She says that sometimes it relatively benign and sometimes it hurts a hell of a lot, but it has happened to all of us.

I remember sitting there and wondering whether that was true. Had that happened to me? Soon after, a good friend called and told me about the previous night - about her night of being touched by a friend while she tried to sleep, a friend whom she had trusted completely - she kept saying that maybe he had been tired or maybe he didn’t mean to. She told me that it was really no big deal.

In that moment, I realized these things are a big deal. All of them. For some reason, for so many reasons, we try to write them off and push them away. We look at the sort of ‘stranger-in-a-dark-alley-rape’ image that we see recognized by society, and say to ourselves “That isn’t what happened to me, and I don’t see what happened to me being talked about anywhere, so I guess what happened to me just isn’t a big deal.” I realized that we needed a space to speak to these experiences and redefine what is a ‘big deal’ and what is worth talking about, so I started And It Was Wrong.

JB: Who did you share the stories with before there was a website?

RGW: At the beginning, I shared the stories at Take Back The Night rallies, open mics, and pretty much any other safe venue that would have me. Later, I used the stories as the basis for a sexual assault  prevention program that I facilitated with incoming college freshmen. Then as an Americorps member in Oregon, I incorporated the stories into the Girls’ Empowerment Groups I  ran at local high schools.

JB: I really respect how every story ends with the same, true words “And it was wrong.” Where did that concept come from?

RGW: It was a concept that came from watching so many of us write off our experiences because of what they weren’t. Often they weren’t violent; often they weren’t legally rape; often they weren’t strangers, and because of all of the things they weren’t, many of us came to the conclusion that they weren’t a big deal. I don’t care whether we call these things rape, I don’t care whether we call them sexual assault, let’s just call them wrong.

JB: What is your ultimate goal for the website, and what do you need to make it happen? 

RGW: My primary goal is to provide a space for people to grapple with and come to terms with their experiences, both through hearing about others’ experiences and possibly sharing their own. Beyond that, I am open to the project going in many different directions. I’ve used the stories as a basis for a sexual assault prevention program that I’ve facilitated with incoming college students—I’d love to continue with that. I’ve thought about the stories ending up in a book someday, too. To make it happen, I need people tol continue to share their experiences as well as their feedback on what would make this project meaningful for them.

JB: What advice do you have for women who have been in an uncomfortable situation but don’t know how to talk about it?

RGW: The first woman who submitted a story to And It Was Wrong wrote that when she told her friend what had happened, her friend said “It happens to all of us, it’s just something that we don’t talk about.” My advice to everyone is that we need to talk about it. We need to recognize that these things are not OK. Everyone deserves to be respected and to have their consent - their active “yes” - be asked for and given before their body is touched in any way. Believe that’s what you deserve, believe that’s what others deserve, and work toward a society that doesn’t accept any less.

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And It Was Wrong is always accepting submissions and will continue to have impact if shared with a larger community, so I encourage you to share this with people you care about.

Susan Komen would not give in to bullying or fear. Too bad the organization bearing her name did.

Judy Blume, on twitter today after the disgusting announcement by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure that they would be cutting off grant funding to Planned Parenthood because of politics. As Cecile Richards, the CEO of Planned Parenthood also reflected, “It’s hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women’s lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying. It’s really hurtful.”

We can’t change anything if the people empowered to do good don’t work together.

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