Women's Rights - Change.org: 2009 Predictions for the Women's Rights Movement

2009 Predictions for the Women's Rights Movement

Published December 31, 2008 @ 03:01PM PT

Well today I pulled out my crystal ball and tried to see into what 2009 will mean for the women's rights movement. Here are a few of the ideas that I had about what might happen in the realm of politics, media, health and hollywood. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments section!

1. Females to Garner More of the News Media Spotlight. The rise of Katie Couric, Campbell Brown, and Rachel Maddow has proved that LGBT and female anchors can increase viewership and lead to greater diversity of thought and gender in the media.

2. Economic downturn will hit women the hardest. Women will unfortunately be hurt more by the suffering economy and mortgage crisis than any other demographic.

3. The Internet to Become More Female Friendly. Despite Facebook's decision to disallow mother's breastfeeding photos to appear on the social network, I am hopeful that with greater awareness of the power that women have online, there will be pressure for social networks and websites to be more female friendly.

4. Reversal of Anti-Woman Agenda Abroad. With the election of Barack Obama, I anticipate that the United States will offer a renewed focus on gender based violence in areas such as the Congo and the Global Gag Rule will be reversed. I hope that there will be more aid dollars going to women and children's causes abroad and in particular, that the funding for the UN family-planning program will be restored.

5. Amending The Family Medical Leave Act. With a near majority of Democrats in Congress, perhaps 2009 will allow family rights activists to work with elected officials to amend the Family Medical Leave Act and open up FMLA leave to all employees without requiring them to use their own sick/vacation leave.

6. Congress will Pass the Fair Pay Act. I am optimistic that the Democrats will finally be able to pass the Fair Pay Act - making equal pay for equal work a reality.

7. Women to Maintain 16% of the Senate. Hillary Clinton's seat will be filled by a female from New York, which will maintain the existing percentage of women in the Senate and raise hopes of more female senators to be elected in 2010.

8. A Seat In the Supreme Court Opens Up. A Supreme Court Justice will retire - likely Justice Stevens who is at the ripe age of 88 - which could open up a seat for another female, or at least someone sensitive to women's issues, to join the robed ranks.

9. Move over Carrie Bradshaw, hello Bella Swan. Women will find empowerment through Vampire-themed entertainment replacing the Sex and the City fanaticism of past years. While Sex and the City Movie was the highest grossing film featuring women of all time, the movie, Twilight, is quickly surpassing the females from Manhattan in terms of money grossed and devoted fan base. Will the triumph of apples over cosmos be evidence of shifting ideas about sexuality amongst young women?

10. HPV Vaccine to Be Encouraged for Men In order to protect women from the risk of cervical cancer caused by HPV (human papillomavirus), it is likely that U.S. doctors will start recommending the HPV vaccine which is suggested for women under 26 to be distributed to men as well.

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Oh yes, we should all be like Bella Swan, a girl who puts up with her boyfriend stalking and controlling her because, after all, he's a VAMPIRE for goodness' sake. *sarcasm*
Twilight has convinced thousands of preteen/teenaged girls that Edwardesque behavior in a significant other is perfectly okay--in fact, he's held up as the ideal boyfriend, despite his penchant for creepy examples of classic obsessive stalker behavior: sneaking into Bella's bedroom to watch her sleep BEFORE they were even friends, let alone in a romantic relationship, disabling her car so that she couldn't travel, and then having the gall to explain it all away by saying, "I feel very protective of you."

Uh-huh. I agree that holding up Sex and the City as the women's ideal life is ridiculous, but holding up Twilight as a far better ideal is even more ridiculous. At least Sex and the City *somewhat* mimicked real life. Twilight has scores of impressionable young women fantasizing about obsessive, controlling vampire boyfriends. And you call that more empowering?

I call it sad, disgusting, and downright pitiful.

Posted by Heather Kelley on 12/31/2008 @ 11:56PM PT
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Maybe one day our government will even discourage honor killings.

Posted by Judi Purcell on 01/01/2009 @ 02:52AM PT
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Heather - I think you're right - I'm not excited by this new vampire stalking boyfriend trend, but merely making a prediction.
Empowerment may have been the wrong word choice - but I have observed women who feel that way about the series (I don't).

Posted by Jen N. on 01/01/2009 @ 10:31AM PT
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Jen, let's hope that most of these predictions come true! Some said 2008 would be the year to GoGreen! and wow were they right. GoWOMEN!!!!

Unfortunately, the important message of Twilight (Abstinence before marriage) gets lost in the "traditional" vampire genre - which includes the stalking & brooding. Fortunately, most of my young students (who are girls) seem to understand the no-sex-before-marriage thing through the eyes of Bella, and as a teacher, I say whatever works

Posted by Lisa Smolen-Jenk... on 01/01/2009 @ 02:29PM PT
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Jen - I am a nearly 63 year old ultra liberal male who joined NOW at its inception. My mother was professional, and know that many of her dreams were shattered by ceilings that were yet to be manufactured. I believe that if any of her three sons would have exhibited any chauvinism, that we would not have seen adolescence let alone adulthood. LOL.

One of the earliest Woman's Rights issues - in the early seventies - was whether or not the Woman's Movement would include lesbians. The answer for the most part was not NO, but a resounding NO WAY. There was a fear that the Right Wing would paint the " femi-nazi " as a "dyke". Yes, a GAY MAN here....one who has been partnered for nearly 33 years, married legally for 5, and raising a son who will be 6 in a week or so.

Rick Warren has been a MAJOR ISSUE OF BETRAYAL for the Obama administration to the GAY RIGHTS advocates. After all, he has said that we are equal to those engaged in paedophilia, incest or bestiality.

BUT, Women's Rights advocates, Rick Warren called you FEMINAZIS....AS IN FEMINIST WITH NAZI OR HOLOCAUST EQUALS ABORTION.....GET THE CODE WORDS AND TIE-IN?

Do I hear indignation from my straight sisters? Do I hear any support for your lesbian sisters? or gay brothers? This is such an old right wing " divide and conquer" tactic, eh? After all, are not these issues or causes separate?

Do you really think so? I know that there are exceptions here like Lisa and Lee on my friends list who advocate here and there.

Women have the right and obligation to their own bodies. The actions of pregnancy termination under the law is a painful and emotional ordeal for a woman. Again, Warren said that women who do this action are guilty of holocaust. He used the term to make feminazi and holocaust synonymous among the right wing religionists.

I PREDICT that the Woman's Rights and the Gay Rights Caucuses will unite when their common interests are affected in the short term, and more often until we both realize a common outcome for 2009.

Posted by A B on 01/02/2009 @ 05:14AM PT
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What about passage of the ERA?? Isn't it about time women have the same rights as men??

Posted by vicki lancaster on 01/02/2009 @ 07:46AM PT
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Vicki - ERA was supported by Republican First Lady Betty Ford as well as Democratic First Ladies Carter, Johnson, Kennedy Onassis, that is, until the neo-liberals and neo-conservative hijacked both parties. It must pass both litmus tests in order to pass. It failed ratification by the states.

However, an amendment first proposed to the states in 1791 is the last ratified only a few years ago, and is giving Mrs. Clinton some constitutional issues about accepting the State Department.

All civil and human rights minorities should get together. We are all in the "same boat."
" I want to play only in my sandbox", is the pre-K attitude that keeps us, all of us, without our rights.

Posted by A B on 01/02/2009 @ 07:58AM PT
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Wow, looking back at my earlier post, I'm a little embarrassed about how incensed I got, but the stalking thing in Twilight just happens to be one of my buttons. Jen - when I read your prediction, it seemed that while you were simply observing that other women find the series empowering, you found the series to be empowering as well. Sorry for misunderstanding and lashing out.

Lisa - I agree that Twilight promotes a commendable message of abstinence before marriage. At the same time, I've talked to and observed countless young women who wish to remain abstinent but, because of Edward's so-called "honorable" behavior, think nothing will happen if they allow their boyfriends to sneak into their bedroom and sleep in the same bed with them - they don't seem to realize that they're playing with fire.

I just think it's sad that what Stephanie Meyer intended as enjoyable, fantasy entertainment has become such a source of obsession for and is taken so seriously by so many young girls. It's rather unfortunate.

Posted by Heather Kelley on 01/02/2009 @ 10:40AM PT
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Well, of course, Heather, and that's where parenting comes into play. There will always be works of fiction, romantic fiction, where stuff like that happens. But we have to teach our kids that THAT is not the correct behavior. Of course, we're talking about mythological creatures who have little to no chance of getting caught by their girlfriend's parents. I doubt a normal fumbling teenage boy would get away with it for long!

We all "got away" with stuff as teens, but in the end, I know at least for me, the boundaries set by my parents were the most important part of learning how to function.

I personally watch my teenage students fawn & swoon over these books, but I'm finding in general they seem to understand the difference between a vampire & a real boyfriend. HOPEFULLY when the time comes for them, they'll have parents teaching them the right ways.

The only thing I would say is that this book shouldn't be read by middle school girls - it should be reserved for older high school girls because they are more mature to deal with understanding the difference between reality & fantasy.

But I do agree, Heather, that it is a little scary how obsessive the girls became over these books!!!

Posted by Lisa Smolen-Jenk... on 01/04/2009 @ 05:24PM PT
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Well said, on all points! My concern is mainly for girls who either don't have enough parental guidance or common sense to be able to eventually rise above the hype - and especially, as you said, middle school aged girls who tend to have a rougher time distinguishing between reality and fantasy. You're right, this kind of stuff in fiction has always been around, but Twilight seems so widespread, so universally popular among young women in a way that doesn't seem to happen very often, and that's really my biggest concern - that the obsession is just so prevalent (although of course, you're very right about the large difference between what a normal teenage boy and a fictional vampire could get away with). :)

Of course, it's all very likely to blow over in a few years, as every literary fad (i.e. Harry Potter) always does. I have no doubt it will retain a lot of its popularity, but the widespread obsessiveness will hopefully die out.

Posted by Heather Kelley on 01/05/2009 @ 04:06PM PT
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Well, I'm going to admit that I got sucked into the romanticism of the book BUT I'm an adult & I'm looking at it through "nostalgic" eyes - in other words I remember what it was like to be in love at 18... anything seemed possible. The books are fun, entertaining, they're not literary classics by any stretch and the writing style isn't anything earth shattering. I wonder if much of the success of the books has something to do with the movie?? Or the hype surrounding the movie prior to its release.

Anyway, yes, it is about guidance and middle school girls have NO CLUE!! Hopefully they have parents (especially a mother) teaching them the difference. I do find that because I'm an "outsider" to these girls, I'm a "safe" adult for them to talk to. A lot of them had questions about some of the stuff in the books, and I'm honest, but also try to laugh about things in the hopes that the "forbidden fruit" syndrome doesn't kick in! If you make a big deal out of something, kids want it more. The ones who have asked me about it I often say, "It sounds like fun being Bella, but really high school boys aren't as mature as Edward" or "Vampires are less dangerous than hormone driven boys!"

On the flip side, hopefully parents of boys are teaching them they shouldn't try to act like Edward in order to get a the girls, either....

Posted by Lisa Smolen-Jenk... on 01/06/2009 @ 09:33AM PT
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At the start of the year till the end of this are being predicted by some of our fortunetellers and economists. Anything can happen on our country and other country. Seers and prophets should be able to foresee payday loans in their future, because there isn't much money in guessing how 2008 would turn out. (Nostradamus himself was actually kicked out of college for lying on his application.) This year did not go as predicted at all. For instance, the $4 per gallon is now about $1.50, and the next President of the United States is indeed Barack Obama. No one can guess the future, but 2009 ought to be quite the year indeed. To read about predictions gone wrong and some thoughts on <a title="READ I Predict Payday Loans in My Future" rev="vote-for" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2008/12/29/i-predict-payday-loans-in-my-future/">payday loans</a>, check out this article.

Posted by Douglas K on 01/06/2009 @ 09:27PM PT
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Women and children are being killed. Yet the media does not report this news.

http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/text/crimevictims.html

http://www.cohd23.com/Colorado_Victims_List.html

http://voiac.org/

http://www.douglassreport.com/immigrationwnd.html

Posted by Sam Houston on 01/07/2009 @ 01:22AM PT
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In Asian countries，women there is no right to speak in politics and cultural education!!!
Society as a whole do not give women the opportunity for economic independence, even no one to Care about their health !!!
This is the truth !!!

Posted by anlen Grat on 04/17/2009 @ 07:30AM PT
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Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

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Author Biography

Jen N.: Washington, DC; Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media.