The New Agenda Blog

As a political scientist, I think a lot about power: how it is allocated, how one acquires it, and who possesses the authority to wield it. In our image-soaked and media-infused world, the message constantly conveyed is that the only women who are powerful are beautiful women. From magazines to movies, the women who get the good jobs, the great guys, and the happy lives are only those women who are beautiful. More than pretty, they are perfect. Perfect hair. Perfect bodies. Perfect smile. Perfect skin. Perfect clothes. Perfect mix of sass and smarts. These airbrushed, spray-tanned, retouched, and overly-scripted women haunt my movements and invade most moments. Their mannequin-like “perfectness” is oppressive. It is also powerful. It is, in fact, a tyranny, which is defined in politics as a state characterized by “oppressive power.”

As a woman, I often wrestle with this conception of perfection. In the middle of a sleepless night, in the department store dressing room, in the aisle of a grocery store, I wonder whether I am “enough.” Blond enough. Tall enough. Thin enough. Smart enough. Funny enough. Pretty enough. I compare myself to these perfect images time and again. And I find myself wanting. Not perfect enough.

On the eve of my forty-second birthday, I’ve decided that it’s enough. Enough criticizing. Enough comparing. Enough of living under some delusional belief that perfection is attainable. Only statues — ivory, bronze, or plastic — can be perfect. And they’re perfect because they’re not alive. Not breathing, they miss both the joy and the tears that come with life. They touch nothing and nothing touches them.

Paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson, it’s high time “to throw off” this tyranny of perfection and declare my independence. The video linked to below talks about how and why this tyranny of perfection is damaging to girls and women. I hope you’ll watch and then decide to join me in founding a “new republic,” where women help each other accept ourselves and compliment – rather than criticize – ourselves and each other!

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

Earlier this week, just a day after the US Women’s National Soccer team won their Olympic qualifying tournament, a devastating blow hit the women’s sports world. Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) announced it was canceling its 2012 season due to a legal dispute with one of the teams’ owner, Dan Borislow. This decision came just a few weeks after the league has received approval from the U.S. Soccer Federation to play their season with only five teams rather than the usually require eight to be considered a first division professional league provided that they increase the number of teams to 8 by the 2014 season. The league has essentially become a regional league with all teams based on the east coast after teams in the Midwest and west coast had folded in earlier seasons. The 2012 season would have followed the American team’s second place finish in the 2011 World Cup and in the midst of the 2012 Summer Olympics—which many of the league’s stars would be participating in. In other words, this 2012 season would have come when interest in women’s soccer is at its peak. As ESPN commentator and former women’s national team player, Julie Foudy, writes:

The thing that saddens me most is the league was coming off such a high from the summer. It was entertaining, competitive and showing signs of a potential fan base post-Women’s World Cup. Sure, sustaining a league at a local level is a much different task than supporting quadrennial international tournaments, but I argue there is a loyal women’s soccer fan base that could support a pro league. And there are owners out there who could sustain losses for longer stretches and watch it turn a corner. There is a business model that could work.

Some attribute the season’s cancelation to the aforementioned team owner, Dan Borislow’s renegade actions and brash persona and league leadership’s reaction to his action. Wherever the blame ultimately lies, the cancelation of the season begs women’s professional sports to be looked at in a broader context. Had a similar situation happened in an established men’s league, would it cause the season to be canceled? Would it put the league’s future in potential jeopardy? Likely not on both accounts. This is not an explicitly an issue of gender disparities, although, it wasn’t until forty years ago that girls had equal opportunity in athletics in high school and college through Title IX legislation. The success of women’s professional athletics, especially among team sports, may be a lagging indicator of the additional opportunities in sports afforded to women at an amateur level. The question remains as to if and when women’s professional sports will become a sustainable endeavor. Will the right combination of business savvy, initial investment, creativity, team location, and fan interest ever be achieved to make women’s sports leagues sustainable over the long haul? (more…)

Our event at Rutgers University this past Monday was a huge success.  More than 100 college women showed up to an event co-hosted by TNA-on-Campus and Rutgers Career Services to hear Amy’s presentation about economic empowerment and navigating success as a woman in the real world.

If you would like host an event at your college or alma mater, please contact us at editor@thenewagenda.net.

Read the full article here:

Ready for some empowering events this quarter?  Meet us here:

Rutgers College - January 30th – Trayes Hall (see details)
TNA on Campus and Rutgers Career Services present:  A Girlfriends’ Guide to Making it in the Real World

Athena Film Festival - February 9-12 - Barnard College
The New Agenda is a sponsoring organization.  See the film schedule and trailer.

Cornell University - March 3 – TBD
TNA on Campus and Cornell Career Services present:  A Girlfriends’ Guide to Making it in the Real World.

Want a free ticket to Athena?
We are offering free tix to the Athena Film Festival to the first 5 members who respond!  Email us at editor@thenewagenda.net.

GIRLFRIEND, BUILD YOUR NETWORK!
Have you started to build your network at The Mentor Exchange?
No?  Sign up here right away!
Yes?  Tweet that you did with hashtags #MentorUp #WomanUp !

Watch our launch on Fox & Friends with Pioneer Mentor Gretchen Carlson:

The New Agenda is proud to once again be a partner of the Athena Film Festival, which will be held from Thursday, February 9 through Sunday, February 12 on the Barnard College campus in Morningside Heights.  Please visit http://athenafilmfestival.com/program/schedule/ for more information and to purchase tickets.

Here is the trailer for the Film Festival.

Films have power: the power to create conversation, to reveal truths and to inspire. But for too many generations, women’s voices and women’s stories have not been appropriately represented in mainstream films. The stories of women as change agents and heroes who have made a difference in their countries and communities have the power to spur social change. When young women see role models on screen, they better understand their own potential to bring freedom and justice to their communities. When women activists witness remarkable women in action, they better understand that they too can change the world for the better. (more…)

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

According to the New York Times, Marc Cenedella, “a Republican businessman laying the groundwork for a possible run for a United States Senate seat in New York” against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, just took responsibility for publishing a blog with these kinds of offensive entries. Hernandez also shares that:

The interview was the first time that Mr. Cenedella commented publicly on the matter since The New York Times reported on Monday that until recently, entries containing random observations about sex, women and drugs were on a Web site that bore his photograph and the title “The personal blog of Marc Cenedella.”

In an entry titled “A New Holiday for Men,” there was a link to a separate site that designates March 14 as a special occasion on which women are encouraged to offer steak and oral sex “to show your man how much you care for him.” Another entry linked to a site that purports to provide biblical justification for a man’s having more than one wife. “I wasn’t so sure about all this Bible stuff,” the entry accompanying the link said, “but I’m starting to cotton to it.”

(more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

To view the full press release, please visit here.

NEW YORK, NY –The New Agenda, a national pro-women advocacy group, today announced a new “Mentor Exchange” spearheaded by 20 standout women in their careers. Young women professionals logging onto the new online social media hub (http://www.thementorexchange.org) will benefit from the experience and savvy of “Pioneer Mentors” such as Fox & Friends Co-Host Gretchen Carlson, New Jersey’s first woman Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono, Gurwitch Product’s CEO Claudia Poccia, former Goldman Sachs partner and philanthropic leader Jacki Zehner, internationally recognized author-filmmaker Jean Kilbourne, Washington Supreme Court Justice Faith Ireland (Ret.), former White House domestic policy advisor Terrell Halaska, and award-winning journalist and television host Bonnie Erbe. (For a full list of Pioneer Mentors:http://www.thenewagenda.net/pioneer-mentors/). Watch this introductory video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PO0b_Zo_JQ