#whm2018

I don’t remember how old I was the first time I watched Star Wars. Episode I was released when I was five, and my family had VHS copies of the original trilogy that floated around the ranch between houses, until it was hard to tell who owned which copy anymore. I’m sure I watched the movies long before I could comprehend what was happening, but with all of the special effects and costume designs, I’m sure I enjoyed it plenty. My brother and I watched Return of the Jedi so many times, parts of the beginning are scratched and scenes cut out a bit. I’m sure my mom has the old copies somewhere, like yearbooks, stashed away with other old memories.

As I grew up, a young girl in a male dominated environment, the movies offered me someone to identify with. While my brother and male cousins had many a male characters to fanboy over, I found Princess Leia and in turn, Carrie Fisher, as the role model I needed. It wasn’t until I was an adult did I ever realize how important of a person she truly was.

“On this day in 1913, Harriet Tubman died. The woman who escaped slavery then fought and freed hundreds of slaves.  Rest in Power!”

This App Makes Your Phone Buzz When You Approach Places Where Women Made History

“The SPARK movement is aiming to put women on the map. After the non-profit noticed that Google’s daily doodles featured women only 17% of the time, they reached out to the tech giants. Google agreed with them, and the two have worked together to feature more history-making women. In addition, SPARK was invited to actively research and honor notable women through a mapping project powered by Google’s Field Trip app.

Now, when app users log into Field Trip and switch on the history notifications, they are alerted when they are approaching the exact location where a woman made history at one point in time, and can then read a bit about her and her achievements.

One of the most unique things about SPARK is that they are a movement by and for girls, ages 13-22. All of the research and work behind the On the Map project was performed by the girls, who hope to educate themselves on inspirational women in addition to spreading the word.

The team has researched and mapped around 100 notable women on the app so far, and invite those who are interested to nominate their favorite historical women to be featured.”

WEBSITE AIMS TO TRANSFORM THE PHILOSOPHY CANON BY HIGHLIGHTING WOMEN

“Project Vox is a website that “seeks to recover the lost voices of women who have been ignored in standard narratives of the history of modern philosophy.”

Led by a Duke philosophy professor with a team of staff and students, along with colleagues at Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, the siteaims to intervene at a few different points in the “vicious cycle” that keeps early women philosophers’ work marginalized within the canon.

From Lady Masham, Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway in England to Émilie Du Châtelet in France, many women played significant roles in the development of modern philosophy, but their contributions have often gone unnoticed. The website has three primary goals. First, it seeks to provide students at all levels with the materials they need to begin exploring the rich philosophical ideas of Cavendish, Conway, Du Châtelet and Masham. Second, it aims to provide teachers with the material they need to incorporate these four figures into their courses. Third and finally, it aims to help transform our current conception of the canon.

It also has the happy side effect of making loads of information—biographies, out-of-print texts, sample syllabi—easily accessible to those of us who aren’t in academia. So if you want to get your self-taught Ph.D. in early modern women’s philosophy, get on it.”

Read the full piece here

Graphic byJonathan Lee

TW for footbinding, gender violence

“Here’s a short comic about my Chinese grandmothers. Thank you to all the amazing women who make life better for those who come after. #HerStoryOurStory #IWD2018 

“Since 1987, March has been designated Women’s History Month in the United States. The celebration has roots in the socialist and labor movements, starting with February 28, 1909 – a year after garment workers strikes took place in New York – which marked the first Women’s Day. By the 1970s, feminist activists lobbied for a week-long celebration, in part because history books overlooked the contributions of women. But it wasn’t until 1987 that March became Women’s History Month, thanks to the Women’s National History Project.

As we continue to celebrate the holiday, Latinas – much like other women of color – continue being disregarded. That’s why there’s no better way to celebrate the month than by reading about women who have changed their worlds, created art, and lived intensely. Below are seven memoirs, book of essays, and poetry books that tell the stories of incredible Latinas in their own words.”

WATCH THIS! Schoolhouse Rock - “Sufferin' till Suffrage”