Women’s News Round-Up, November 1: 5 Important Stories About Women
1. Icelandic Women Protest Pay Gap by Leaving Work Early
Thousands of women in Iceland left work in a mass protest in late October to protest the pay gap in which they earn between 14 and 18 cents less than men per hour. The New York Times explains that this translates into “women effectively work[ing] for free after 2:38 pm,” so that is when the protesting women left work. The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Gender Gap report shares that, while a quarter of a billion more women are working than in 2006, women’s annual pay is only equal to the amount men earned a decade ago.
2. Female Water Protectors Play Vital Role in Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
As the largest mobilization of indigenous people in North America since Wounded Knee continues in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, indigenous female Water Protectors have been at the forefront. EcoWatch shares interviews of several of these women, carried out with Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network, including this quote from LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (pictured above):
“First and foremost we are water protectors, we are women who stand because the water is female, and so we must stand with the water. If we are to live as a people, we must have water, without water we die. So everything we do as we stand here, we must make sure that we do it in prayer, and that we do it in civil-disobedience. We do it with goodness and kindness in our hearts, but we stand up. We will not let them pass. We stand. Because we must protect our children and our grandchildren.”
Emmy-winning producer Shannon King is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to create a documentary about these women called End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock.
3. SheFighter Offers Women New Opportunities to Learn Self-Defense in the Middle East
SheFighter is a self-defense studio in Amman- Jordan, the first of its kind. Women are trained in self-defense techniques at different levels (pink, silver, black, and gold) with a goal of bolstering their physical strength and abilities as well as self-esteem. In September, actress and activist Emma Watson was trained at the SheFighter. This studio hopes to train millions and end violence against women. As stated in their website, they “strongly believe that efforts to treat violence against women must take protective approaches into consideration.”
4. First East Coast Black Female Comic Book Store Owner Featured on Variant Iron Man Cover
Ariell Johnson is the owner of Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Philadelphia. ABC News tells us that she has been a collector for over a decade and credits the discovery of the X-Men character Storm as a child as “the bridge that got me into this world.” Johnson will be featured on an upcoming variant cover of Invincible Iron Man #1 with the new Marvel superhero RiRi Williams.
5. Art Mart in Fredericksburg, VA Shines a Light on Female Artists with Ladies Night Show
Art Mart, a unique art venue in downtown Fredericksburg, VA offers a variety of inclusive and creative art shows, art and design services, purchasable local goods, workshops, classes, and community events. On November 4th, they will host the opening of their popular annual Ladies Night, a “celebration of female artists and art patrons in the Fredericksburg area,” including Jayme Jams Bauguess, Bug the Artist, Alien Aphrodisiac, Beck Lane, Sage Evans, Cecilia Aquino, Amy Byne, and more. You can learn more about the event here.
*Extra News Flash*
Mansplaining Definition Appears in Final Jeopardy:
Mansplaining was recently included in the Oxford English online dictionary and has now made it to Jeopardy as well. It was featured in the “That Explains It” category with this clue:
“This 21st century word happens when a male patronizingly tells a female about a topic she already understands.”
-Julia Travers is a writer and artist. Her writing portfolio is here and she runs the artist interview site Ask Artists.
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