RenoVous

  First and foremost, today is the anniversary of her first solo album, 1981. As a kid I had a single on vinyl, and I still love this song. The B side. "Kind of woman that'll haunt you," I think speaks to her own enigmatic presence. She's mystical, witchy, bohemian, ethereal.... This was the third single from the album, and is considered her "signature solo anthem." Now let's go back to 1973, when she and her then boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham released their first album as a duo, to little success.  In 1975, they joined Fleetwood Mac - which had started in 1967, with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, as a British blues band. The self-titled 10th album was a global pop-rock hit. Her look, her sound, and her songwriting helped transform the band. Their next record, Rumours, would become one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Over the weekend the internet erupted with opinions about Olivia Rodrigo wearing babydoll dresses. "A grown woman wearing children's clothes...." They call it pandering to pedophiles, but she isn't the first young woman to juxtapose her adult music with femme sweetness.  The riot-grrl style clearly influenced her, and she is on record stating she had posters of Courtney Love as well as Kim Bjelland on her wall as a kid.  Now, the one above is simply ugly, not cute.  But here: Much more 90's style all around. The fashion of it was popularized in the 60's mod era, worn by the likes of Twiggy. In each of these decades though, the point is the same: Empowerment. Allowing women to define their own fashion and style. To disrupt and subvert the tropes of girlhood and femininity. One comment I particularly agreed with said, "Stop blaming women for wearing what they want and blame the men who've made it 'creepy' to do so."

 Harriet Tubman Day honors the day of her death, 1913. She was born into slavery as Araminta Ross in 1822, but married a free man, John Tubman, in 1844.  Any children they would have would be enslaved though, and by 1849 she was in the process of being sold, so she decided to escape. She returned from Philadelphia to Maryland to help free her family.  One group at a time, she got them out of the state, guiding others as well.  They called her Moses. After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she had to travel farther north into Canada. In 1858, she met John Brown and helped him plan and recruit supporters for the raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859. During the Civil War, she was a cook and a nurse before becoming an armed scout and spy.  She guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated 700 enslaved people.  She is thus credited as the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the United States. After the war, she helped establish an elderly home for Af...

  First, because Miss Universe has also been in the news, let's distinguish the two. Miss World was founded in 1951, emphasizing humanitarian efforts and the motto, "Beauty with a Purpose." Miss Universe was founded in 1952, focusing on global ambassadorship and the motto, "Confidently Beautiful." Each country holds its own national pageants in order to select the representative on the global stage. In Chile, contestant Ignacia Fernandez recently shared her talent. She is the lead singer of progressive death metal band, DECESSUS. Here's hoping she gets to represent Chile next year! The current Miss World was crowned in May, Suchata Chuangsri of Thailand. Recently, the Miss USA pageant was held here in Reno.  Miss Nebraska will compete for Miss Universe later this month.

 TIME has only been celebrating Athlete of the Year since 2019, but Caitlin Clark is the first WNBA player to earn the honor. She is the reigning Rookie of the Year, scoring 769 points over the season, which is a rookie record.  She also had 337 assists, 122 three-pointers, both records, and 2 triple-doubles, the first by a rookie in WNBA history. She led the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016, and the team played the most watched WNBA games ever.  The entire WNBA saw an all-time record of 54 million unique viewers across all its national broadcasting platforms. When asked to define her year in one word, Clark chose "historic." The article mentions Serena Williams and Simone Biles, how it's one thing to rally around star athletes during global spectacles, but quite another to turn a regular season of a league long neglected into appointment viewing.

I'm at a loss for today.   Moments in history that led to dictatorship and Civil War, not boding well. But this was just a random picture I posted 5 years ago. "When a problem comes along, you must whip it." So yeah.

  We're getting a little political today as we're nearing the election.  Sure, women have the right to vote, but if you've been paying attention, our rights are still questioned. On this day in 1850, the first National Women's Rights Convention was held in Worcester, Massachusetts. Planned by members of the Anti-Slavery Society, more than 1,000 delegates showed up from 11 states. Activist Lucy Stone was a lead speaker that day, stating "We want that women should attain to the development of her nature and womanhood."  And we have come a long way.  A woman may become president.  But did you know that women do not have equal constitutional rights? The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923, was not officially ratified.  Congress stipulated a deadline, and many states did not do so by 1979.  Nevada only ratified in 2017!  Florida still hasn't, but enough have to meet the requirements.  While scholars may believe that effectively makes it...

  Voice of Baceprot is a heavy metal band from West Java, Indonesia. "Baceprot" means noisy in Sudanese. The band has gained a large domestic following with songs that focus on progressive themes like female empowerment, pacifism, and environmental preservation. Their lyrics mix English, Indonesian, and Sudanese.  "I just want to sing a song to show my soul." \m/

  Today is International Women in Music Day, and that is Olivia Rodrigo's girl band. They rock. With female guitarists in mind, I found out about Nili Brosh. On such a list is also Nancy Wilson, of Heart, a classic. Her sister Ann has a new song with David Draiman of Disturbed. Perhaps you've heard about Beyoncé's new country album - one of the songs is called "The Linda Martell Show."  Linda Martell was the first successful black woman in country music.

  Girl Scouts was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low when she organized the first Girl Guide troop in Savannah, Georgia. Stated mission: To build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Low wanted girls to get outdoors and become more independent and resourceful.  She organized camping trips and community service.  The girls mastered skills and received badges of commendation. In 1917, the first cookies were sold as a way for a troop in Oklahoma to finance activities.  It has evolved into a entrepreneur program, teaching kids goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.  Sales also enable collaboration and integration, working together towards common goals. On the side there you can see the current mission still includes outdoors and life skills as well as entrepreneurship - and STEM.  "Giving girls the know-how to invent the future." 100% of the revenue raised from cookie s...

  Today is International Women's Day, and this year's theme is to inspire inclusion. Women make up less than a third of the workforce across science, technology, and engineering. But we're going to meet five women who have been selected by the UN's Environment Programme to receive the Champions of Earth award. Wildlife biologist, Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, founded the Hargila Army to protect an endangered bird species, the greater adjutant stork. Wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founded the Conservation Through Public Health, and has been safeguarding mountain gorilla communities across East Africa. Engineer and inventor, Nzambi Matee, founded Gjenge Makers, a company aiming for a solution to plastic pollution.  She developed a prototype for a machine that turns discarded plastic into paving stones. Xiaoyuan Ren founded MyH2O, a data platform that tests and records groundwater quality across a thousand villages in rural China into an app that lets reside...

  Effa Manley was the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, on this day in 2006. She was a sports executive and co-owner of the Newark Eagles in the Negro League. She was a civil rights leader and an advocate for Black ballplayers. Her racial background is uncertain though, and census takers may have been biased in assuming she was African American, being raised by a black stepfather.  She identified as black. The Eagles' first game took place in 1935.  She ran day-to-day operations such as schedules, travel, payroll, contracts, equipment, publicity and promotions.  She was able to get New York City mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, to throw out the first pitch. At this time, most blacks were barred from practicing medicine.  With money raised from the Eagles, the Booker T. Washington Community Hospital was opened, which offered training to black doctors and nurses.  They also raised money for black Elks lodges and other groups that promoted the we...

  This year's theme is to Embrace Equity. That is to be fair and impartial, and it refers to value.  According to the International Labour Organization, globally, women earn 51 cents for each dollar earned by men. So we continue to raise awareness about discrimination, and we celebrate women's achievements. Recently I learned about Elizabeth Magie. Lizzie was born in 1866 in a progressive home.  Her father was a newspaper publisher and abolitionist who toured Illinois with Abraham Lincoln.  She was a writer of short stories and poetry, and she was an outspoken activist for the feminist movement. She believed women were as capable as men in inventing, business, and other professional areas.  At the age of 26, she received a patent for her invention that allowed paper to go through the rollers of a typewriter more easily.  At the time, women were credited with less than 1% of all patents. Lizzie was also an advocate of Georgism, a single tax movement.  I...

  On this day in 1965, Patsy Mink was sworn in as the first Asian American woman in US Congress. As a representative from Hawaii, she was a strong supporter of women's rights as well as an advocate for children, labor unions, and education.  She was one of the first proponents of a national daycare system and an early supporter of Head Start. She was a key author of the Education Amendments of 1972 which outlawed sex discrimination.  In 1995, she spoke with a group of top women basketball players. "It's rare as a legislator that you fight for legislation you believe in and stay around or live long enough to see it come to fruition." She served until her death in 2002, at age 74. ***** On this day in 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House.  At the time, she was also the first woman to get that close to the presidency. "It is a moment for which we have waited over 200 years." Pelosi was one of only 25 women who served in both the House...

 

  The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was used during WWII to calculate ballistic trajectories.  Six women were hired and became the first modern coders. Jean Bartik, Betty Holberton, Frances Spence, Marilyn Meltzer, Kay Mauchly Antonelli, and Ruth Teitelbaum. For decades, historians had no idea who they were, or that they were instrumental in the computing process. When the ENIAC was introduced in 1946, the male designers were applauded, but no mention was made of the women who would be working it.  They weren't invited to the Army dinner celebrating the machine, and when pictures appeared in the press, their names weren't even mentioned.  It was assumed that if women could do it, it must not be that difficult. However, when men returned from war, they didn't know how to operate the computer, so the women were kept on to teach, and new women began to enter the field. Since it was "women's work," pay and prestige remained low.  Programmer,...

  After finishing Shadow of the Wind , which is now an all time favorite - and before April, when I like to read Shakespeare - I decided to look for some female authors in this collection to end Women's History Month. First I read Dorothy Parker's Big Blonde.   An interesting, sad story. I'm now reading Willa Cather's Paul's Case. This one is more intriguing.  Not that I knew what was going to happen with Hazel in Big Blonde , but Paul is a bit more haphazard and unpredictable.  I am more curious about the end. Next up: Bliss  by Katherine Mansfield (Book is a 4th printing from 1961)

  Today's Google Doodle honors the artist's 200th birthday. Born in Bordeaux, France, Rosa started painting at a young age, encouraged by her father, an artist himself.  The family followed a Christian-socialist sect that promoted the education of women alongside men. She became especially interested in painting animals, so her father would bring live animals in for her study.  At one point in her life, she had a lion, a lioness, a stag, a wild sheep, a gazelle, horses, and more. In 1849, the French government commissioned her work, Ploughing in the Nivernais. Her most famous work, The Horse Fair, was completed in 1855. It is 8 feet tall and 16 feet wide. This piece led to international fame and recognition.  She met Queen Victoria in Scotland, where she sketched Highland Shepherd, completed in 1859. Around this time, she bought a home in Fontainebleau named Chateau de By, where she died in 1899.  The home is now a museum. In 1893, she exhibited her work at the ...

  Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow. Today's Google Doodle page informed me that Artificial Intelligence is accelerating the ways gender inequities are tackled across industries.  "From recognizing female leaders lost in historical scientific archives, to improving women patient outcomes, to identifying gender disparities on screen - this is only the beginning." And so, Google Arts & Culture teamed with the Smithsonian Institution to mine its over 170 years old archive to uncover women-led contributions through time. Google Health has partnered with Imperial College London and the UK National Health Service to explore benefits AI can bring to breast screening specialists and patients, reducing the time for diagnosis. "Feminism isn't about making women stronger.  Women are already strong, it's about changing the way the world perceives that strength." - G.D. Anderson Trailblazers Throughout History Google Stories

 I've had this screenshot on my phone for a bit now and we're finally gonna check them out! It was back in May that this young, all-female punk group took the LA Library by storm. They were previously included in the movie, Moxie , after Amy Poehler saw them open for Bikini Kills. They covered Bikini Kills, as well as The Muffs. A song about The Babysitter's Club. This one's about Bela's cat. This is the song that got people's attention, especially since it was during AAPI Heritage Month and the increased discrimination against the Asian American community. To the newest representatives of riot grrrl punk rock! Bandcamp