Fem Dems of Sacramento invite you

The Fem Dems of the Sacramento Region invite you to a Happy Hour supporting

Dr. Ami Bera, Candidate for Congress (CA-3)

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When: Thu, June 24, 6:00pm – 7:30pm


Where: Lounge on 20 - 1050 20th Street, Sacramento, CA
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CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK!


With Hosts:

Sacramento Stonewall Democrats

Sacramento Young Democrats

Ryan McElhinney

Jeff Dorso

Amber Maltbie

Christina Lokke

Hatzune Aguilar

Kathryn Nelson

Kelly Rivas

Melissa Vargas

Nichole Petter

Ronak Daylam

Cynthia Guerrero

Tiffany Mok

Kate Enos

Cindy Marroquin

Jennifer Thompson

Udochi Okeke

Mariko Yoshihara

Pat Dennis

Pamela Bachilla

Brian Rivas

Eric Guerra

Rachel Linn

Igor Tregub

Vernon Billy

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Host Committee $50


Individual Tickets $25

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Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to Erin Mincberg aterin@beraforcongress.com or 916-686-5244.

Contributions to Bera for Congress are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are limited to $2,400 per person for the 2010 Primary Election and $2,400 for the 2010 General Election. Spouses may each give up to the limit. Qualified federal multi-candidate PACs may contribute up to $5,000 per election. Contributions from unions, corporations, national banks, federal government contractors and foreign nationals not admitted for permanent residence are prohibited.

April 14, 2010 Meeting Agenda

Our next meeting is tomorrow - Wednesday, April 14th.

Our agenda is below - please spread the word and bring your friends.

 

Time: 6:00-7:00pm

Location:1107 9th Street, Second Floor conference room

Agenda

I. Officer elections - If you would like to run for President, Vice President, Community Outreach, or Secretary/Treasurer please come with a prepared statement.

 
II. Updates about the CYD/CDP State convention

III. Guest Speakers: Dr. Ami Bera, candidate for the 3rd Congressional district, and Tobi Dragert, on behalf of Proposition 15, the "California Fair Elections Act."

Rep. Lungren (R-CA) and anti-choice crowd applaud Folsom facility

Recently in the news there was an article announcing the opening of a “pregnancy alternative center” in Folsom. If you think that description sounds benign enough, consider who attended: Republican Congressman Dan Lungren (CA-3) and 200 opponents of reproductive freedom.

A Democratic Underground poster frames it perfectly:

“Ultra-conservative, Dan Lungren (CA-3), helped open a new _"pregnancy center"_ in Folsom, California, that promises "information from 'both sides' when it comes to pregnancy options." (Ha! And if you buy that, I've got a bridge for sale....) 

This incumbent has to go! He's been _kowtowing_ to the far right, was part of the rabble-rousing mobs against HCR, and has fully thown himself in with the anti-choice crowd."

Lungren, of course, is a member of the far right that believes stem cells should each get their own personal burial rather than be used for science. According to “On the Issues” Lungren’s record reveals that he:

Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007) Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005) Voted YES on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005) Has a 100% from the anti-choice organization National Right to Life Committee. This year, Dan Lungren faces what may be the toughest political battle of his congressional career. He is facing a formidable Democratic opponent, Ami Bera, who has already out fundraised him. As feminists, we should all pay close attention to the battle brewing in Congressional District 3, as the outcome so intimately affects our goals.

March Events

Below are some March events to attend and share with your friends and family!

Cesar Chavez Youth Leadership Conference & Celebration - Art, Education, Job and Health Fair

               DATE:  Saturday March 20, 2010   

               TIME:  8:00 AM – 3:30 PM

               Location: Robert C. Cooley Middle School

               9300 Prairie Woods Way, Roseville CA 95747

               Conference Coordinator: Rene Aguilera Email: raguilera@surewest.net

Sacramento Regional Chapter Spring Mixer - with special guest Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada
               DATE: Monday, March 22nd 2010
               TIME:  5:30 to 7:30 pm
               Location: Lounge on 20 
               1050 20th Street #100, Midtown Sacramento
               Please RSVP for this FREE event before Friday, March 19th

Join us for an evening of networking, fun, and invigorating conversation.  The Sacramento
Regional Chapter of California Women Lead encourages new, existing and potential members to network with and support one another. This event enables women to develop invaluable leadership skills and professional contacts that are needed today.  Hors d'oeuvres provided, No-host bar.

 10th Annual César Chávez March   
                 

DATE: MARCH 27, 2010 - 10:00 AM-  

                TIME:  10:00 AM

                March begins at: Arteaga's Supermarket
                Location: 940 Sacramento Ave./Jefferson Blvd
               West Sacramento, CA 95606
               (Arrive at Cesar Chavez Park 10th & J streets. Bring your family, friends, signs & banners. Free RT Bus & Rail tickets all day.)

               For Info: (916) 446-3021  E-mail:  nadm916@aol.comnadm916@aol.com  
               Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, AFL-CIO

Stop Violence Against Women

The International Rescue Committee has launched this petition campaign to urge Congress to support the International Violence Against Women Act. You can contact our Congresswoman, Doris Matsui, here.



In the chaos of conflict and disaster, women and girls can suffer unspeakable violence, exploitation and abuse. The odds are against them as they struggle to survive and protect themselves and their families.

Urge Congressional leaders to support the International Violence Against Women Act and ensure that Congress passes it without delay. This legislation will empower women to claim their most fundamental human rights. With the necessary resources for medical care, counseling, economic opportunities and education, women and girls can win in the fight against violence.

We, the undersigned, support the International Violence Against Women Act. We urge you, as leaders of the Congress, to support this bipartisan legislation to stop violence against women and girls worldwide. We ask your help to ensure Congress passes it quickly.

As a supporter of the International Rescue Committee, I am concerned about violence against women living in conflict zones. I find the horrific abuse of women’s rights in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Pakistan an outrage on our conscience. And after natural disasters, such as the terrible earthquake in Haiti, I know that women are vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse.

The United States must lead the way to ensure a safer, more secure future for women and girls. This legislation is a critical first step towards curbing violence against women by aiding survivors, protecting those still vulnerable and preventing further violence through desperately needed international programs and foreign policy measures. We have a responsibility to protect and empower women and girls around the world who face unspeakable violence and abuse.

My Womb is Not a Vehicle for Your Agenda

I left lovely Sacramento, CA a few days ago to come home to Florida and visit with my mom and her 800 cats. (Just kidding – she only has four, two of which are purring next to me right now). I basically fled Florida at the age of 18 because I knew as an ambitious, left-of-the-left, queer liberal feminist,   my chances for personal and professional success would probably be greater elsewhere. At least one of the measures filed in this year’s Florida Legislature remind of why.

Sponsored by Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, HB 1097 would criminalize most abortions now allowed under state and federal law, increase penalties for physicians who perform such services and require pregnant women to receive more information on adoption.

The bill is 53 pages long (you can read the whole thing here), and plainly seeks to overturn Roe v. Wade. In the rambling findings, HB 1097 says it is “fundamentally unfair” to base the constitutionality of a law on a women’s liberty interest. Indeed, our right to privacy is certainly less valuable than the right to say, own a gun. Among the measure’s major provisions:

·         Makes induced abortions illegal and punishable by up to life in prison

·         Allows doctors and hospital to refuse to provide abortion services.

·         Continues judicial bypass that allows minors to seek a judge’s order instead of telling a parent or guardian.

·         Prohibits abortions resulting from pregnancies involving rape or incest.

·         Requires a second physician to sign-off on the procedure when a doctor believes an abortion was medically necessary to save the life of the mother.

·         Requires women to receive information on adoption as an abortion alternative

The sad thing is that the House Speaker here, Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, is actually taking this bill seriously. “He is a very passionate guy and he believes that needs to have some public discussion,” Cretul said of Van Zant. “I told him, ‘Work your bill, and we’ll see what happens.’” The state director of Planned Parenthood states the obvious demise of this bill, however: The bill is totally unconstitutional. "This is the most rigid and inflexible ban on abortion in the United States…Not only does it ban abortion, it also has absolutely no exceptions for rape or incest."

Perhaps Van Zant forgets that we are in the 21st century.

Woman's Last Stand

Weeks have gone by since the 2010 Super Bowl, but the flurry of criticism from women’s rights groups hasn’t ceased. And well it shouldn’t – in this year’s much-hyped advertisements, women were compared to chattel, incubators for future sports heroes, and bluntly called pains in the ass that warrant some form of relief (i.e. a masculine Dodge Charger).

This of course is nothing new. As Jaclyn Friedman writes:

“I'm hardly the first to point out that the Super Bowl's fans, athletes and institutions aren't always friendly to independent women. The commercials that air during the game seem to actively compete for the Most Jaw-Droppingly Offensive Ad Award, and they feature only two kinds of women: one the one hand, sexually available and easily manipulated hotties invarious states of undress, (as in this ad, in which men can literally control elite racecar driver Danica Patrick and compel her to take off her clothes, get into a shower and make out with another woman); or, on the other hand, unlovable shrews who make men miserable (as in this ad, in which we discover that football refs know how to keep their cool under pressure because they're already used to their wives screeching at them at home). For decades, these spots have appeared to target either 12-year-old boys, or men with the equivalent level of emotional maturity. This, despite evidence that the actual Super Bowl audience is now nearly 40 percent female.” 

 So its no surprise that this year, women are hitting back with mocking ads of their own. Taking on a Dodge Charger ad, in which men lament the difficulties of “being civil to your mother” and “carrying your lip balm,” women respond with a biting ad that mocks the self-entitled whiney-ness of Dodge men:

EQUALITY NOW executive director Taina Bien-Aimé told POLITICO that the Super bowl ads were "saddening." "What they tell us is that women are either considered as fungible objects or emasculating individuals when a man chooses daily responsibilities (cleaning up after yourself, participating in the household) versus enjoying what social masculinity offers (football game)."

Upcoming event at McGeorge Law School - Defining what Feminism Means Today

In from the McGeorge Women's Caucus

We invite you to join McGeorge Women's Caucus in a candid and interesting discussion about what feminism means today. We are thrilled to announce that Professor Pruitt of UC Davis Law School will be our keynote speaker.


When: Tuesday, February 23rd, 5pm-6pm
Where: Rotunda, McGeorge library

WINE AND APPETIZERS WILL BE SERVED. All are welcome! Please join us!


Professor Lisa Pruitt teaches feminist legal theory, law and rural livelihoods,sociology of the legal profession, and torts at the UC Davis School of Law. She will speak about the aspirations, expectations, and career prospects of the generation of women now in law school—women who sometimes embrace the term “third-wave feminist.” Before joining the UC Davis law faculty in 1999, Professor Pruitt worked abroad for almost a decade in settings ranging from international organizations to private practice. Professor Pruitt’s past positions include Gender Consultant at the International Criminal Tribunal in Kigali, Rwanda; Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Morris Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; and Legal Assistant to Judge George H. Aldrich of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in TheHague, The Netherlands.

Professor Pruitt has been an active advocate for increasing opportunities for women within the legal profession and legal education. She is currently the Chair-Elect of theSection on Women in Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), has previously served on the No Glass Ceiling Task Force of the Sacramento County Bar Association, and has been a rape crisis victim advocate. Professor Pruitt’s publications include Toward a Feminist Theory of the Rural (2008); Place Matters: Domestic Violence and Rural Difference (2008); and A Kinder, Gentler Law School? Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Legal Education at King Hall (2005).

Professor Pruitt earned her J.D. from the University of Arkansas, where she was Robert A. Leflar Fellow and Editor-in-Chief of the Arkansas Law Review. As a British Marshall Scholar, Professor Pruitt also earned her PhD in Laws at the University of London, where her thesis was a gendered critique of the legal regulation of speech. Prior to joining the UC Davis School of Law, Professor Pruitt also taught at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, and at the Northwestern University School of Law.

 

 Best,

Catherine

MWC President

 

Fem Dems 2010!

Save the Date! The next Fem Dems general membership meeting will be on Wednesday, March 10th at 6pm at 1121 L Street, Suite 102. Meetings will be on the second Wednesday of each month in 2010. An agenda will be emailed out in early March.

 

Be sure to check out the California Young Democrats homepage to find Young Dem activities in the area and in the state. There are some great YD activities in the coming weeks to participate in. Please note that the CYD endrosement meeting is on the weekend of Feb. 26th - 28th here in Sacramento. All young dems are strongly urged to attend. If you are interested in going please email your interest back to femdems916@gmail.com. We definitely need to have representation and feminist votes there!