March 25-March 31 is National Farmworker Awareness Week.  National Farmworker Awareness Week (NFAW) is a week of action for students and community members to raise awareness about farmworker issues on our campuses and in our communities. 

85% of our fruits and vegetables are harvested by hand, but the farmworkers that harvest our produce remain largely invisible.  Farmworkers are one of the most exploited and marginalized group of workers in the US.  They are exempted from many of the US federal and state labor laws that protect workers.  Issues that farmworkers face include low pay, job insecurity, health and safety hazards such as pesticide poisoning, inadequate housing, child labor, social isolation, food insecurity, and barriers to accessing healthcare.   Many farmworkers come on H-2A guestworker visas or are undocumented and therefore fear retaliation or deportation for speaking out against these conditions.

When we think about farmworkers, we usually imagine them to be men. While farmworkers are mainly young men, women make up 22% of the agricultural workforce in the U.S.  Farmworker women endure all the issues that farmworker men face, as well as issues that are unique or amplified because they are women.  Female farmworkers are frequently even more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and marginalization than farmworker men.  Farmworker women face issues such as hiring and pay discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, and violation of reproductive rights.

Farmworker women face hiring and pay discrimination  within our agricultural system.  H-2A guestworker visas are generally not given to women, so more farmworker women must come into the US as undocumented to work, which creates conditions that are ripe for exploitation and marginalization.  Also, farmworker women are under greater pressure under the piece-rate system of pay and often need to work longer hours in order to earn the same income as a man.  For example, the average personal income of farmworker women is $11,250, compared to $16,250 farmworker men.  Women also face discrimination in accessing more desirable jobs, such as machinery operation or pesticide appliers, or being promoted to supervisory positions which are better paid.

Sexual harassment is a major and prevalent issue that farmworker women face.  In a survey of farmworker women in California, 90% of women identified sexual harassment as a major problem.  Sexual harassment of farmworker women can range from inappropriate touching and comments to rape.  Many women are forced to have sex with supervisors to keep their jobs or put up with constant propositions for sex by supervisors.  Farmworker women may not report instances of sexual harassment and abuse for fear of losing their jobs or being deported, especially when they have families and children depending on them.

Additionally, farmworker women face violation of their reproductive rights.  Women in the fields are exposed to toxic pesticides, of which pregnant women (and their fetuses) are particularly vulnerable to.  Exposure to pesticides is linked to infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects.  For example, a child, Carlitos Candelario, was born in 2004 without arms and legs after his mother was heavily exposed to pesticides while pregnant and working in tomato fields in Florida.  Farmworkers face barriers to health care and for farmworker women this means barriers to accessing prenatal care while pregnant and also other reproductive care, such as access to birth control.

These are just some of the issues that farmworker women face.  Farmworkers play a vital role in harvesting our food, but are the most exploited and marginalized group of workers in the U.S.  and farmworker women are even more vulnerable than farmworker men.  These hardworking women are part of the backbone of the U.S. agricultural system while also holding their families and communities together.   When working to advocate for and improve conditions with farmworkers, we must not forget about the issues that farmworker women face.

To take action and get involved:

-Come out to an event being hosted on UNC’s campus as part of National Farmworker Awareness week!  Events are listed here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/207363392698801/

-Join Alianza, the farmworker solidarity group at UNC!  Email alianzaUNC@gmail.com and like us on facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alianza/234322143298572

-Sign Alianza’s petition asking Board of Governor David Powers to meet with UNC students to discuss the abuse of farmworkers that is occurring in North Carolina! http://act.aflcio.org/c/758/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=3122

-Visit www.saf-unite.org to learn about Student Action with Farmworkers, get involved in one of their programs, learn more about farmworkers, and hear their stories.

Sarah is a member of FSU, a member of Alianza, and a student organizer with Student Action with Farmworkers.  At UNC, she is currently working on the Reynolds Campaign with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) to bring justice to tobacco farmworkers in North Carolina. 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Sources:

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/injustice-on-our-plates

http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/food-justice/food-justice-resources/farmworker-sexual-violence-facts/

http://nfwm-yaya.org/resources/farm-worker-issues/women%E2%80%99s-issues/

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/files/like-machines-in-the-fields.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmworker

We’re back from spring break.  Midterms are over. Graduation, which will steal away far too many of our beloved members, is a mere 2 months from us! I’d say it’s about time to have some serious fun.  Who’s with me?

GREAT! Then in that case -FSU is glad to announce that we will be hosting renowned poet & activist Andrea Gibson! 

AND you are cordially invited to join us on March 21, 2012 in the Stone Center Auditorium for what is bound to be an unforgettable spoken word experience. I’ve sampled a bit from her bio (which you can read in its entirety HERE ) to give you an idea of what to expect if you are unfamiliar with her work:

Andrea Gibson is not gentle with her truths. It is this raw fearlessness that has led her to the forefront of the spoken word movement– the first winner of the Women’s World Poetry Slam –Gibson has headlined prestigious performance venues coast to coast with powerful readings on war, class, gender, bullying, white privilege, sexuality, love, and spirituality.

“Gibson is among the nation’s most admired and emulated poets. Her verse is at once personal and political, feminist and universal, filled with incinerating verbs and metaphor, and delivered with gut punching urgency.”

— Metaphor Media

“Andrea Gibson is a truly American poet, or rather, she represents the America I want to live in. Her work lights a candle to lead us where we need to go.”

— Cristin O’ Keefe Aptowicz

Thursday, following this performance (3/22), Andrea Gibson will be leading us in workshop focused on the poet’s responsibility in the current political climate. We will read and discuss poems by contemporary writers focusing on issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, patriarchy, and capitalism, after which we will use the shared poems as writing prompts to inspire our own radical voice.  12:30pm in Student Union Room 2518A-B

Space for the workshop is limited, so if you are interested, please register immediately. The first 48 to register will receive an email confirmation within 24 hours of the workshop.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFZfb2kwaXZPaXQzNjdwd1FjYTNIQXc6MQ

Tickets are available this Thurs (3/15) at no charge through the Union Box Office.  Space is limited, so act now (or Thursday)!!

Doors open @7:00pm and opening performances by spoken word group EROT will commence @7:30pm. At 8:00pm any remaining seating will be opened up to non-ticket holders.

For more details you can check out our Facebook Event Page

This event is sponsored by Feminist Students United! and The LGBTQ Center!!

The goal of this training is to allow participants to gain an understanding of what reproductive justice in the US means, the roles and services of Planned Parenthood, the conflicting messages that pregnant people face when confronted with the possibility of abortion, and the specific challenges that LGBTIQ individuals in the US face in the arena of reproductive justice.

Free lunch will be provided!

We would greatly prefer if you would register for this event so that we can know how much food to order, but if you show up without registering, we won’t turn you away!

To Register for this workshop: Click Here

For more information, check out our  Facebook Event Page

The theme of this zine will be, quite generally, Reproductive Justice & Freedom!

This collection of awesome will be a celebration of SEX, Sexualities, Women’s Rights, and anything else you dream up.  Have you been searching for a way to vent your frustrations with recent attacks on said rights? Here’s your chance!! Do you want to express your opinion or share an experience with how our legal and social norms limit these rights? We want YOU!

That means:

• Art work
• Poetry
• Stories
• Information
• Anything your heart desires!

About:

• Contraception
• Education
• Periods
• Sexualities
• Stigma
• Social Norms and how/why they suck
• Pregnancy
• Abortion
• Exams
• Health care
• Sexual Experiences

In addition, we are looking specifically for short anecdotes surrounding sex education, Planned Parenthood, sexual relations and the like.

Tell us: What went wrong? What went right? How did being educated impact this experience – OR – how did this experience demonstrate the importance of sexual education?  Have a notable experience with PP?  We want to hear about it!!

The deadline has yet to be set, but we welcome submissions immediately and will keep everyone updated.

Email your submission as an attachment to: uncfsu@gmail.com and be sure to include your name and any other relevant personal information so that we can give proper credit.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with an questions OR if you would like to be added to the VOX listserv! 

Follow us on Twitter @VOXforPP or join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2200126824/

Peace and Solidarity,

VOX!!

Talking about women in computer science can be a bit of a downer, so I figured it might lighten the mood a bit and open this post with a bit of a game.  The rules are simple:  Go to the Wikipedia page on the “History of Computer Science,”and count the number of times women are mentioned.  It’s okay.  I’ll wait.  Alright, you back? Truth is, that wasn’t a very fun game, was it? At any rate, (At the time of this writing) here’s the answer (Drum roll): 1 time!  Did you spot where?  I’ll go ahead and quote it here:

Just chillaxin at Harvard, doin some computing.

“Before the 1920s, computers (sometimes computors) were human clerks that performed computations. They were usually under the lead of a physicist. Many thousands of computers were employed in commerce, government, and research establishments. Most of these computers were women, and they were known to have a degree in calculus. Some performed astronomical calculations for calendars.”

Oh cool, degrees in calculus!  They were known to have them!  That’s right y’all: the place of women in the history of computer science is, according to the Wikipedia narrative we all know and love, as predecessors to the literal objects that we know today as computers.  This certainly would be a disheartening story, were it actually representative of the part women have played in computer science.  Luckily for us, this isn’t exactly the case.  Truthfully, despite rather distressing rates of under-representation, women have taken an active and vital role in the development of modern computers, and continue to do so to this day. Just to name a few:  Grete Hermann, who did foundational work on computerized algebra; Grace Hopper, the mother of COBOL and writer of the first compiler ever for an electronic computer; Mary Allen Wilkes, inventor of the first minicomputer OS; Roberta Williams, a pioneer of adventure gaming and developer of King’s quest; Frances Allen, first female recipient of the Turing award, famous for her invaluable work on compiler optimization.  Each of these women has done invaluable service to the field.  But before any of them had even been born, before the first computer had even been manufactured, the very first computer program the world had ever seen had already been written, and by a woman to boot.  On that note, then, let me introduce you to the mother of computer programming, the author of what is widely acknowledged as the first computer program, the namesake for the programming language Ada, and general all-around smarty pants: Ada Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace: A Badass

Augusta Ada Byron was born in England on the 10^th of December 1815, to Lord George Gordon Byron (Yes, that Lord Byron), and Anne Isabella Milbanke.  Ada never knew Byron, since he opted to leave her and her mother while she was only a month old, then proceeded to kick the bucket while she was nine. Understandably, this disappearing act did little to endear Lord Byron to Ada’s mother, and, in an attempt to ensure that none of the poetic insanity of the father took hold of the daughter, Ada was schooled in mathematics and science from a very young age.  She quickly proved adept in her lessons, and by the age of seventeen had been noted by the prominent mathematician Augustus De Morgan (of De Morgan’s laws) as having the potential to become a “mathematical investigator, perhaps of first rate eminence.”

Ada soon began to attend Court and met many prominent personages of the time, among them Charles Dickens, Michael Faraday, and importantly, Charles Babbage.  She married William King in 1835, and in 1838 gained the title of “Countess of Lovelace.”   Lovelace and Babbage maintained a correspondence for many years, and, noting her mathematical prowess, Babbage dubbed her the “Enchantress of Numbers.”

It was in 1842 that the work for which Ada is so well known began.  Originally, Ada was to produce a translation of Luigi Menabrea’s notes on Charles Babbage’s proposed “Analytical Engine,” the first Turing-complete design for a mechanical computer.  But the translation work was quickly supplanted by the addition of a lengthy (significantly longer than the translation itself) collection of notes of her own design (which are available for your perusal here, if you’re up for a bit of a dry read) detailing the hypothetical workings of the analytical engine.  Buried deep within these notes, in “Note G”, Ada details what is widely recognized to be the very first computer program, geared toward the algorithmic calculation of Bernoulli numbers.  It is likely that even beyond this translation, Ada had an active hand in the development of the analytical engine, but little is known of the further extent of her influence.  Regardless, her design of the first computer program and her astute observations on the future of computer utility beyond mathematical calculation had a profound impact on computer science (She even predicted that electronic music might be composed via computers.  In the nineteenth century!).

Unfortunately Ada didn’t live to see the construction of the Analytical engine.  She passed away in 1852 at the age of 36, due to medical complications related to the treatment of uterine cancer.  But her work was not forgotten.  A programming language commissioned by the US DOD in the 70′s to replace the hundreds of languages previously in use was named Ada in her honor.  The British Computer society awards the Lovelace medal annually to those who have advanced work in Information systems.  Annually, Lovelace is honored in a celebration of Ada Lovelace day, intended to raise awareness of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Certainly her work, as well as the work of many other women in computer science, has not gone unrecognized, Wikipedia references or no.

The Dire State of Digital Diversity

                But visibility of these contributions to those outside the field is low.  The situation of women in computer science is a dire one, despite the invaluable contributions of various women to the discipline.  We are facing a demographic crisis, as computer science is one of the very few disciplines which has become gradually more male-dominated over the last 30 years.  A recent study by the Computing Research Association puts the percentage of female recipients of Bachelor’s degrees in computer science at around 14%; this is certainly a far cry from the figure of nearly 40% participation taken in the mid-80s.  The question of why participation by women has declined is a complex one, and certainly one which requires a reevaluation of how we as a society choose to socialize our children, among other things.  But what is not in doubt is that this dire imbalance needs to be addressed – The lack of women in the discipline is not only embarrassing for the computer science community but detrimental to progress.  It is not a question of whether or not brilliant women have been dissuaded from entering the discipline, but, unfortunately, a question of how many.

Way to castrate Turing, Britain

Though the focus of this post is on participation by women in computer science, I would be remiss to conclude without addressing the overwhelming heteronormative and cisgendered biases also present.  By all rights, computer scientists should be natural allies in the fight for queer rights; perhaps the most brilliant, influential man in the history of computer science, Alan Turing, committed suicide after being forced to undergo chemical castration by the British Government for that most heinous of crimes: being homosexual.  This despite the fact that his work was invaluable to the British in breaking German ciphers during World War 2 (way to go y’all).  The designer of the instruction set for the enormously successful ARM processor was Sophie Wilson, a transgendered woman.  Lynn Conway, another transgendered woman, was the inventor of generalized dynamic instruction handling, an important advance in computing efficiency used by most computers today.

This is not even to mention the dearth of black, latino, (or really non-white, non-east or southeast Asian) computer scientists.  Diversity abounds among the great minds who have contributed to the field of computer science as well as among those who may yet contribute.  Yet the canonical image of the computer scientist is decidedly male, heterosexual, cisgendered, and one of a very small set of ethnic backgrounds.  This is an injustice to the myriad of brilliant contributions made by those who do not fit into this restrictive stereotype.  There is nothing inherently male, inherently white or Asian or Indian or straight or gay or cis or trans or anything about computing.  So let me end this post with a plea.  Don’t be fooled by the stereotypical image of the computer scientist.  Encourage your sister, your daughter, your friend, your mother, your roommate, anyone of any gender or sexuality or race or age or creed to seriously consider the discipline.  Don’t let the preconceived notion of who is well suited to computers and who is not influence the future of computer science.  Don’t let a computer scientist tell you that, well, there’s a certain set of people who just “get” computers.  That’s bullshit.  This is a discipline whose efforts have had far-reaching effects the world over as the world advances into the digital age.  The computer science community has enough white, straight, men in its ranks; We will need a diversity of experiences and opinions if we are to have any hope of contributing meaningfully to progress for us all.

Let’s say I started my period today. There are no tampons in my dorm; I haven’t bought a pad in ages. Having lived, until very recently, with an awareness of only two ways to stem my monthly flow, I am surprised to find myself prepared despite my padless panties. Let’s step outside the menstrual product dichotomy. Today there are several products often neglected both by public schools’ already lacking sex ed classes and the ‘Feminine Hygiene’ aisles.

One option is the cup. Marketed at the Keeper, Diva Cup, Moon Cup et al. names, they fit inside the vagina over the cervix. Your humble blogger has no personal experience with cups, but has heard almost universally positive reviews of the product: they don’t spill; they’re easy to sanitize; they completely change approximately five of every twenty-eight days of your life. Critics often point out how difficult to adjust and remove they are. Touché. Like all TRULY REVOLUTIONARY products, cups require significant effort to become accustomed to. I recommend easing the transition by using disposable cups first: they bend more easily, and are a less impactful financial commitment for those who want to try several different menstrual products.

Many Women’s Studies 101 students have seen the famous poster from 1976 endorsing sea sponges, or have heard its slogan “Less profit from women’s blood!” As a fan of composting, I find the poster’s recommendation to feed plants on menstrual flow extremely appealing. The fact that sponges are cheap and exceptionally durable when wet are mere perks in comparison. Facts about the environmental impact of harvesting sea sponges are not forthcoming, but some may have concerns about using animal products. I personally find sea sponges an environmentally responsible option: sponges usually grow faster than trees and break down faster than plastic.

My personal favorite is Gladrags, or Lunapads, or products that take the basic form of a large, comfortable, patterned, reusable cloth pad. Mine has polka-dots. They are highly absorbent, and last for approximately five years. There are tutorials on how to make your own online, but reusable pad products are becoming more widely available in stores, online and at product-selling parties.

Wear your alternative products with pride. If you use one not featured here, write a blog about it, spread the news via word of mouth, or by making a gift of one to a friend. How better to bond with someone you’ve synched with?

In her acceptance speech for this award, Kleinman reminds us of the work that remains and the women who are deprived of opportunities to advance:

I’d like to thank everyone who nominated me for this award, especially
students, former and current, who work against sexism and ALL systems of
privilege and oppression in this society.

The description of the award states that it “recognizes contributions to the
advancement of women at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.” It
is crucial for us to recognize that many women at the university do not have
the same opportunities to advance as others.

I started working at the university as a professor in a tenure-track position,
with the possibility of promotions and job security. Lecturers do not have the
same opportunities; they usually teach more courses per semester than
tenure-track or tenured professors, for less pay, and without the
possibility of tenure. Women are overrepresented among the fixed-term
faculty and underrepresented among tenure-stream and tenured professors. On our campus, women make up only 34% of tenured and tenure-track professors,but 56% of fixed-term appointments. And only 25.6% of faculty in the higher ranked category of full professor are women.

There are women in staff positions who are paid so little that they must
have 2 or more jobs to make ends meet. Under these conditions, conditions
faced by many of the housekeepers here at UNC, there is little opportunity
to advance.

I like to think I’ve played a part in communicating the feminist idea that
every decision we make has consequences for others, and that we should work *together* for justice rather than focus exclusively on individual career
advancement. Working with others continues to be a meaningful and moving
experience for me at UNC, Chapel Hill, and I thank everyone who has been a
part of the struggles and joys of this ongoing journey.

This past Friday, the Obama administration rejected lobbying efforts to limit women’s access to free birth control. According to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, providing women with a means to control the amount of children they have is a “direct attack on religion,” and is a violation of the clergy’s religious freedoms.

Should President Obama have accommodated the Draconian requests of the bishops, then employees of Catholic Churches, along with employees and students at Catholic universities, would have been out of luck. One protester, a student at a Catholic university, explained why she opposes the idea of a religious exemption on a Change.org petition: “I spend $25 a month on my birth control pill through a non-profit clinic. If I filled my prescription through CVS the cost would be almost $40 a month. I’m a college student with rent and bills to pay and food to buy. I can’t afford to keep doing this. And I certainly can’t afford to have a child right now!”

The exemption the bishops were calling for would also violate the separation of church and state clause of the US Constitution. In truth, it is simply not up to the Catholic Church, or any religious organization, to influence government in such a way that would limit a person’s access to medical care. This should be obvious. However, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops would like us to believe that they have the religious freedom to deny women their reproductive freedoms. It’s like saying that, should the Catholic Church one day deem it necessary to corral tithe through robbery of local grocery stores, clerics should be allowed to do so on the grounds that … they’re religious and they want to. It may be a stretch, but it is a useful parallel when thinking about how “religious exemption” is used to argue that certain groups of people should have the right to ignore the law, just because. Plus, it’s funny to imagine the Pope running out of Harris Teeter carrying sacs of money. Just saying.

Ultimately, President Obama has required that all insurance policies, regardless of whether or not they are provided by religious institutions, fully cover medical contraceptives for female bodied people.

Though this decision is marked as a success for the pro-choice community, this is not the only religious battle to have been fought over women’s bodies recently. The “Women’s Right to Know Act,” passed right here in North Carolina, is a clear example of how Christian ideology has infiltrated the law books. One aspect of the act, passed in October, requires that abortion providers state the following religious phrase to the person having an abortion: “The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique living human being.” If suggesting that a woman is a murderer for exercising her reproductive freedoms is not a direct attack on women, I don’t know what is.

During the break we were presented with a number of exciting opportunities for the coming months, the details of which will be revealed in good time, but suffice it to say, this is not the semester to miss! It’s a good thing too, because after having a somewhat relaxed semester (in terms of group activity) we are more than ready to get on the good foot and engage in some serious feministing.

To start with, FSU is proud to announce that VOX – Voices for Planned Parenthood is now a subcommittee of our group. If you are interested, VOX is a great way to advocate for full reproductive justice and rights. If you think that FSU isn’t exactly for you, VOX is yet another venue through which to exercise…well, your VOICE!

We are also proud to announce that, in addition to the many political/activist events and ventures in which we will be involved, there will be more emphasis on the social aspects of feminist communities. The hope is to provide an informal environment where feminists can feel supported in their beliefs, but where activism and political planning take a back seat to community, interaction, and good times. More details to follow shortly!

Most importantly:

We have officially set this semester’s general body meetings to 7:30pm on Wednesdays starting January 18th 2012. We hope to see you there!

Much love,

Your FSU