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March 6, 2008 issue

ASU’s Programs for Women’s History Month Begin March 17

Story by Bernadette Cahill

March is Women's History Month—a time to honor and celebrate women’s experience and achievements—and ASU is providing several programs that recognize herstory in the world and the variety of challenges women have met. The schedule includes five events, kicking off Monday, March 17.

The Werewolf Slave March 17

Dr. Merry Wiesner-Hanks brings an insight into slavery and the exploitation of women in Renaissance Europe through the story of Tognina Gonsalus. Gonsalus had hair all over her body—the very rare werewolf syndrome. Discovered in the Canary Islands in the 16th century, bought as a slave and transported to Spain, she was sold around the high courts in Europe where she was shown off as a freak. Despite her status as a slave, Gonsalus witnessed many of the momentous events of her era from the inside.

Gonsalus’ story is about someone who was completely exploited because of her condition and provides insight into the culture and attitudes of the time. The presentation is Monday, March 17, at 5:00 p.m. in the Linville Falls Room in the Plemmons Student Union.

Wiesner-Hanks is distinguished professor of history at the University of Wisconsin and has researched and written extensively about women in Renaissance Europe.

Want To Go?

What: The Werewolf Slave
Date: Monday, March 17
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Linville Falls Room, Plemmons Student Union
Cost: Free

Gender, Race, Money March 18

On Tuesday, March 18, the Multicultural Center presents a program entitled Gender, Race and Money at 7:00 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Ballroom in Plemmons Student Union. During the presentation, participants will learn about historical and current trends in the distribution of wealth that affect all Americans. Audience members will participate in exercises that lead to a better understanding of their own wealth, how the privilege of birth and circumstances, including sex and race, influence that wealth, and how those who lack wealth are not necessarily the ones to blame for their circumstances. Everybody needs and has to use money, and this presentation seeks to empower individuals with tools for making connections with others to work toward a more just economy. Sociologist Kimberly Dark who writes, performs and travels across North America and Europe, is facilitator.

Want To Go?

What: Gender, Race, Money
Date: Tuesday, March 18
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Blue Ridge Ballroom, Plemmons Student Union
Cost: Free

Orientation, Religion and Individual Dignity March 19

A talk entitled Religion and the Right to be Gay examines religion and controversy about gays on Wednesday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 114 at Belk Library. Presenter Dr. Chris Cuomo is professor of philosophy and director of Women's Studies at the University of Georgia.

Cuomo, who has written award-winning books on feminism, has also written extensively on lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer studies. Her talk will provide insight into the ongoing national debate regarding gay marriage, the continuing high rate of homophobia and how religion informs much of the antagonism to alternative lifestyles in the current political climate.

Cuomo is also renowned in the field of eco-feminism and environmental ethics and was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study the effect of environmental changes on the indigenous peoples of Alaska. Appalachian's External Scholars Grant has funded Cuomo’s talk.

Want To Go?

What: Religion and the Right to be Gay
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Room 114, Belk Library
Cost: Free

Women and Civil Disobedience March 20

Antigone was a tragic Greek heroine who stood up to an authoritarian regime, and this historical and literary character is the model used to examine women’s experience under dictatorship during the mini-symposium called Antigone’s Legacy: Dictatorship and Women’s Identity. Part of ASU’s Humanities Thematic Series, the mini-symposium includes four consecutive presentations, one of which examines the impact on women of the modern political dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner who ruled Paraguay from 1954 to 1989.

The 1.5-hour program begins at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, and will be held in the Price Lake Room in the Plemmons Student Union.

Want To Go?

What: Antigone’s Legacy: Dictatorship and Women’s Identity
Date: Thursday, March 20
Time: 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Price Lake Room, Plemmons Student Union
Cost: Free

Rude Nudes March 27

On Thursday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m., a Women's Studies seminar focuses on a traditional art form from the British Isles, the Sheela-na-gig. These are mediaeval stone carvings of old, bald naked women in exhibitionist poses. No one now knows definitively what they represent or where the name came from; that information has been lost during the centuries since they were carved.

The evening begins with a slide presentation that illustrates many of the extant sheelas in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England and a short play follows that links these “rude nudes” with cultural forgetfulness and Alzheimer’s disease. Playwright and actor Georgia Rhoades teaches in the English Department at ASU. She has written and performed feminist theatre since 1995 and has presented her work at several venues in Ireland, England, and the United States. Appearing with Rhodes is Boone massage therapist Kirsten Tiedemann.

Want To Go?

What: The Sheela-na-gig
Date: Thursday, March 27
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Table Rock Room, Plemmons Student Union
Cost: Free/donations accepted

 

Women’s History Month

March has been designated as Women’s History Month since 1987 and is an ongoing initiative to recover the forgotten and ignored history of half of the world’s population. Its purpose is to increase consciousness and knowledge of women’s history by promoting it during one month of the year.

As recently as the 1970s, women's history was virtually unknown in academia, in schools and among the general public, but in 1978, educators in California started a special time during school to highlight women’s history. They chose the second week of March to observe herstory at the time of International Women’s Day on March 8. Interest spread so rapidly that commemorations took place countrywide within a couple of years, and in 1981, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representative Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) co-sponsored the first Joint Congressional Resolution for a National Women’s History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month. Congress has passed a resolution for Women’s History Month and the President has issued the proclamation every year since then.

 

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in Europe on March 8, 1911, its establishment prompted by the raging worldwide controversy over women’s right to vote. Even though two world wars and economic depression forced women’s rights out of the limelight, International Women’s Day continued and when, in the 1970s, interest in women’s issues reawakened, many women began to realize that the history of half the population had been neglected.

In 1978, educators in California chose March for their first Women’s History Week to coincide with International Women’s Day that the United Nations recognizes. March 8 each year still marks International Women’s Day, but this year, the United Nations’ special events take place on Thursday, March 6.

 

Check Out the Watauga County Library

In commemoration of Women’s History Month, the Watauga County Public Library has created a display honoring and commemorating women’s achievements.

Be sure to look for it the next time you’re in the library.