On Tuesday, March 21, 2006, at 7:00 p.m., Pace Law School is sponsoring a panel discussion, “Feminism and Women Under 40,” as part of its Public Policy Lecture Series. Here is a description of the program:
As baby boomers enter retirement, likewise “feminism” is fading from the mainstream and becoming a reference point for the past. Of the social movements of the last 30 years, the women’s movement is perhaps most at risk of “slipping backwards” in the first decade of the new millennium but do the women it impacts most even care? There are challenging political, professional and cultural paradoxes – is Hillary Clinton bringing women closer to the top of the ticket or further away? Can corporations do more if women don’t want to ? Is Lara Croft a feminist icon or a feminist nightmare? Why have Ali McBeal and Murphy Brown been replaced by Desperate Housewives at the same time business schools are becoming dominated by women? Is feminism extinct, obsolete or evolved? Has the notion of a “social movement” been replaced by a new emphasis on”personal choice”? This panel examines the current needs and challenges for feminism to engage and involve the generation that must drive it into the new millennium.
The moderator for the panel is Carolyn Carter, President and CEO of Grey Global Group Europe, Middle East & Asia. Speakers include Bridget Crawford, Jean Sera, Rachel Littman, Courtney Martin, Jehmu Greene and Enshalla Anderson. Speaker profiles here.
The event is free and open to the public. Directions and reservations are available here.
–Bridget Crawford
[...] Last month, during the panel discussion at Pace Law School on “Feminism and Women Under 40,” an audience member asked, “Can a person be pro-life and still be a feminist?” Opinion among the panelists and audience members was divided. Some answered the question in the affirmative, explaining that a person can believe that the decision to have an abortion is a tragic and painful choice that she would never make for herself, all the while identifying as a feminist. There were others who sharply disagreed, explaining that the label “pro-life” itself reflects a desire to prevent other women from making the choice to have an abortion, among others, and that such a position is antithetical to feminism itself. [...]