Feminist Friday – August 06, 2021

The illustration above and in our banner is from a series published by HBO for Women’s Equality Day in 2019. Check out the full series here.

Right around the corner on August 26, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the passage of the 19th amendment. Bella Abzug and NOW saw it as an opportunity tp push for the passage of the ERA as the 28th amendment. NOW-NJ PAC will announce its general election endorsements in an in-person press event open to NOW members in Westfield, NJ. Keep a lookout in your inboxes – more details to come!

NOW BREWING IN TRENTON…

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK — On July 28, the New Jersey Monitor became the newest member of the state’s competitive political press scene. The NJ Monitor will focus on news about policy and politics with a stated mission “to hold powerful people accountable and explain how their actions affect New Jerseyans from Montague to Cape May, with no paywall and no pop-ups.” Check out their very first front page story tackling the lack of diversity in the state legislature.

COMMON SENSE POLICY — The latest controversy surrounding teaching sex ed in school has garnered a lot of publicity. Jeff Edelstein of the Trentonian weighed in with his common sense take: “To not teach this stuff in school is backwards-thinking. Of course it should be taught in school. Kids have questions, and who better to give them answers than people trained to do so.” Research has shown that when children are not actively taught this information, they will seek out other sources on their own which often leads misinformation to spread rampant. As Edelstein succinctly put it, “There’s a little something called the internet these days. Pretty sure these kids know how to use Google, right? Why we wouldn’t want to teach our children this stuff is beyond me.”

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT — “Laura Wooten’s Law” was signed into law in July, mandating civics education for all New Jersey middle schoolers starting in the 2022-2023 school year. The law is named in honor of the longest continuously serving poll worker in the US, Laura Wooten, who served for a total of 79 years. The bill was first proposed in 2018 but was subsequently stalled. It was then revived in the wake of the Jan 6 Capitol attacks, which gave it the momentum it needed to push through with bipartisan support from the legislature.

ON YOUR RADAR…

BYLAWS AND RESOLUTIONS — The NOW Conference is wrapping up with Bylaws voting on Saturday and Resolutions voting on Sunday. Make sure to vote for the Menstrual Equity Resolution and Anti-Asian Hate Resolution, both proposed by NOW New Jersey President Anjali Mehrotra! Check out the full list of proposed resolutions here. President and VP election results will also be announced at the conclusion of the conference on Sunday.

MEETING ALERT — Our next quarterly State Board meeting will be on August 21 virtually via Zoom. Our meetings are long (typically 9:30 AM to 3 PM) but very informative. If you would like to join or listen in, please register using the link below. If you would like to get more involved in our different coalitions to advocate for different bills, reach out to us at info@nownj.org. We are always looking for more help on our Reproductive Rights Taskforce, Menstrual Equity coalition, and more!

NOW NEW JERSEY IN THE MEDIA

PROTECTING OUR YOUTH — The recent attacks on New Jersey’s policy of LGBTQ inclusive sexual health education by New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli are a real step backward. In 2019, New Jersey was one of only nine states that promoted LGBTQ-inclusive sex education. The Center for American Progress’s 2018 report attributed New Jersey’s lowest-in-the-nation teen pregnancy rate, 11% lower than the national average, to the state’s comprehensive sex education curriculum. Comprehensive sex education or the lack thereof has real world consequences for our teens and youth. NOW-NJ recognizes that consent-based curriculum promotes healthy relationships, and to advocate otherwise is simply irresponsible.

PANELS, PANELS, PANELS — NOW conference events this past weekend were jam packed with plenaries, workshops, and issues sessions. NOW New Jersey President Anjali Mehrotra was a panelist on the PAC Brunch plenary, where she discussed her current run for NJ General Assembly in Legislative District 21. On Sunday, NOW-NJ PAC Secretary Shree Mehrotra spoke on the Strengthening Democracy panel in her new capacity as Co-Chair of the National NOW Young Feminist Committee. If you missed either panel, watch the PAC brunch here (timestamp 24:45) and the Strengthening Democracy panel here (timestamp 18:30).

TOP BILLING — In July, Insider NJ released their first ever Insider 100: Cannabis Power List featuring the major players in the budding industry and those responsible for passage of marijuana legalization legislation. Both Thrive NJ and NOW New Jersey had ads featured highlighting each organizations’ goals on page 14 and page 76, respectively. This week the Insider 100: Policymakers Publication came out and Thrive NJ’s ad to “Pass the Reproductive Freedom Act” is a real stand out featured on page 2 of the publication. NOW New Jersey’s push for the RFA was featured as well on page 45.

IN THE NEWS NOW…

Women in the Biden White House earn 99 cents for every $1 earned by men — 19th News

The Radical Courage of Simone Biles’s Exit from the Team USA Olympic Finals — The New Yorker

Many Black women felt relieved to work from home, free from microaggressions. Now they’re told to come back. — Washington Post

Domestic violence raged in the shadows. Now, housing insecurity compounds problems for survivors. — The Star Ledger

WHAT WE’RE READING NOW…

Gloria Steinem raved about the author saying, “Beck knows that feminism includes all women and girls by definition, and is writing to overcome anti-feminist divisions that divide and defeat us.” The opportunity to discuss this critical work with the author herself comes at no better time, as NOW continues to center underrepresented voices and focus our activism on intersectional feminism. Pick up a copy and sign up here to join us for what’s sure to be a lively and thought-provoking discussion!

FROM THE VAULT…

GIRLS NIGHT OUT — In the latest edition of sh*t that people say, this 1930 article, dug out of the New York Times archives, reports how a husband *almost* accompanied his wife to a “manless dinner” and narrowly escaped being the “laughing-stock of London.” Wow the absolute horror!

Source: @nytgender