How Women Use Fashion to Assert their Power

This NYT article was written in response to the recent opening of the "Women Fashion Power" exhibit at the Design Museum in London, and discusses how fashion can be a tool for women, especially those in politics.  It cites examples of powerful women such as Wendy Davis and her Mizuno sneakers, and argues that fashion empowers women rather than belittles them.  The idea that women seem to be criticized more than men for their image is something that we've touched on in class, and is an interesting way in which our society views female politicians differently than male politicians.

Here's a quote from the article:
"Indeed, in a Daily Beast article last year about Ms. Davis and her sneakers, the liberal pundit Sally Kohn wrote that noting what women wear “undercuts the leadership of women and quashes their voice.” It seems to me, however, and this exhibition shows, that the situation is the opposite: What women wear is an embodiment of their voice, and identifying it helps identify their agenda (as it does with men, for that matter). "

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/the-women-fashion-power-exhibition-at-the-design-museum-in-london.html?rref=style/international&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=International%20Style&pgtype=Blogs

If Men In Politics Were Described Like Women In Politics

So when I can't sleep at night, I browse through BuzzFeed. And I stumbled across this. I found it humorous, and reading some of these felt kind of strange, because we don't talk about men in politics this way. So why do we about women?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/if-men-in-politics-were-described-like-women-in-politics

The Gender Gap in Voting

It is no surprise to anyone, I think, that older (white) men are key to Republican victories. Thinking more about our discussion of the election, this article gives a nice breakdown of both age and gender gaps in voting the other day. I am generally very intrigued by the victory of various female GOP candidates, particularly since we still see women tending to vote for Democrats.

This also makes me curious about how the gender gap may or may not change in the future. We see more general support for "women's issues" from the left, but perhaps increased female GOP representation will cause that to shift and will lead to a decrease in the gender gap. The Republicans know how important older men are to their success, but the party that lacks organization and diverse support is definitely trying to reshape its image and identity, and in turn gain support from a variety of demographics. It may be up to these new female GOP representatives to narrow the gender gap in voting.

Lena Dunham wants you to vote! (and voting selfies)

As I was looking up women in the midterm election results, I came across this Glamour Magazine article, titled, " Will Women Turn Out to Vote in Tomorrow's Midterm Elections?  Democrats are Counting On It."  The article outlined some of the "women's issues" that we have been discussing in class, and interestingly had its own "Glamour Poll" of whether or not you were going to vote.  Here were the results:

This makes me wonder the reasons why the 8.57% said no!

Also, the article had a link to a video from a partnership of Lena Dunham and Planned Parenthood (link directly to video here).  I thought this was an interesting partnership between Dunham and PP, as Dunham seems to be using her celebrity status to further her political views, and PP is leveraging their partnership with Dunham to get the attention/support of her fans.  

On another note, here's the CNN article titled, "Selfies at the ballot box illegal?"  The article also has the celebrity selfies at the top, just like we talked about in class (look, even Kendall Jenner voted!  If a Kardashian can vote, so can you.)

Some "firsts" for women in Congress

Elsie Stefanik, a 30-year-old Republican from New York, has become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

Mia Love of Utah has become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress.

Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, is the first woman Senator elected from West Virginia.

Joni Ernst, a new Republican Senator, is the first woman elected to either house of Congress from Iowa. She's also the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate.

Mississippi is now the only state to have never elected a female governor or sent a woman to Congress.

Just saw this hilarious satirical "reasons why men shouldn't have the vote" piece why men shouldn't have the vote and thought of womens suffrage

Judy Harvey Sahak on Going to A Women's College in The 1960s

A few years ago I did an interview with Judy Harvey Sahak about her experience as at a women's college (she's graduated from scripps in 1962) in the 1960s. She echoes a lot of what Collins says in chapter 2 about the pressures young women felt to get married, so I thought it was worth sharing!