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The Study and Action Manual Feminist Majority Foundation Presents The Study and Action Manual A Campus Campaign of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances Contributing Authors Eleanor Smeal, President CHOICES CAMPAIGN T EAM 2002-2003 Katherine Minarik, Director Anjali Bhasin, Campus Organizer Aimee Boone, Campus Organizer Debbie Castro, Outreach Director Heather Holliger, Deputy Director Serene Khader, Campus Organizer Alicia O’Connell, Campus Organizer Elisa Ortiz, Campus Organizer Jessica Roberts, Campus Organizer Briseyda Romero, Campus Organizer Michelle Wood, West Coast Director FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION SAM TEAM Katherine Spillar, Executive Vice President Jennifer Jackman, Ph.D., Director of Policy and Research Alice Cohan, Director of National Programs Sharyn Tejani, Legal Director OTHER ORIGINAL EDITION CONTRIBUTORS Mike Allan, Suzanne Baumwell, Heather Brown, Emily Coward, Janaha Crawford, Jacy Edelman, Olivia Given, Aliya Haider, Courtney Harding, Amy Harrington, Negar Katirai, Sarah Martin, Jean Poe, Devon Powers, Cathy Rion, Rocel Ryan, Sharon Terman, Jessica Van Tuyl, Carolyn Wu, Devon Ysaguirre Acknowledgments The Feminist Majority Foundation expresses our appreciation to the following for their support of the Choices Campaign: Albert A. List Foundation ■ The David and Lucile Packard Foundation ■ The Educa- tional Foundation of America ■ The Ford Foundation ■ The John Merck Fund ■ The Open Society Institute ■ The Wallace Global Fund Production Cutting Edge Graphics, Design and Layout Beacon Printing, Printing Free Hand Press, Typesetting © 2003 Feminist Majority Foundation All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Printed on recycled paper with Earth Pride ink. Unit 1 ■ 1 Table of Contents Unit 1 1 Leadership Choice Unit 2 2 Reproductive Choices: The Struggle for Change Unit 3 3 Saving Choices: Counter the Violence Unit 4 4 Saving Choices: Know the Opposition Unit 5 5 Reproductive Choices: Mobilize the Pro-Choice Majority Unit 6 6 Reproductive Choices: Make the Global Connection Unit 7 7 Leadership Choices: Mentor for the Future Unit 8 8 Leadership Choices: Win a Seat at the Table Unit 9 9 Career Choices: Empower Women in the Workplace Unit 10 10 Career Choices: Find a Feminist Career Unit 1 ■ 3 Unit 1 ■ PB Welcome Welcome Envisioning Choices elcome to the Study and Action Manual (SAM) of the Choices campaign! The innovative SAM provides materials for Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance meetings as well as event and action suggestions that will enable your Leadership Alliance to proceed with an optimum level of activity and accomplish-ment. The two components – study and action – grow Wout of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s philosophy that effective action is anchored in ongoing research and learning. The following pages provide information on how to use the material and implement the strategies included in the SAM. Before reviewing this process, however, we would like to share with you information about our organization and the vision behind the Choices campaign. The Feminist Majority Foundation nomic, and social equality for women.” A feminist is any person – woman or man, THAT NAME: THE FEMINIST MAJORITY girl or boy – who advocates feminism; but, The Feminist Majority Foundation, a our work and the principles of the Femi- research and educational organization, nist Majority Foundation are even broader and our sister organization, the Feminist than this definition. We view the feminist Majority, an advocacy group, were both movement as a movement that includes founded in 1987 by Dr. Eleanor Smeal, women and men who believe in equality President, and Peg Yorkin, Chair of the between the sexes and seek to eliminate Board. Our name, “Feminist Majority,” a discrimination of all kinds – sex, race, consciousness-raiser, comes from a 1986 sexual orientation, age, religion, national Newsweek Gallup public opinion poll that origin, disability, socioeconomic and showed a majority of women (56%) in the marital status. Moreover, feminists since United States self-identified as feminists. the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Most polls since then, including our when usage of the term began, have Women’s Equality Poll of 1995 (which was advocated nonviolence and worked to conducted by Peter Harris Associates and eliminate social and economic injustices. analyzed by Louis Harris, the dean of Most importantly, the feminist move- American pollsters), reveal that this major- ment is global. Everywhere, women are ity has only become larger, with over two- struggling to eliminate centuries of dis- thirds of young women (ages 18-24) self- crimination. We, in the Feminist Majority identifying as feminists. Also encouraging, Foundation, see ourselves allied with most men, especially young men, view women and men worldwide seeking to themselves as supporters of the women’s eliminate sexism, racism, and horrendous rights movement. poverty. For example, one component of Our definition of the “F” word, “femi- our global program seeks to eliminate nism,” is simple yet broad: “the policy, sweatshops in Southeast Asia as well as in practice or advocacy of political, eco- Los Angeles and other U.S. cities. Welcome ■ Envisioning Choices MAJOR PROGRAMS socioeconomic status, religion, The Feminist Majority Foundation ethnicity, age, marital status, national operates several research and advocacy origin, or disability. projects. The following are a few of our ■ Nonviolence and the elimination of major programs: violence against women. ■ National Clinic Access Project ■ Programs directed at the preservation ■ National Center for Women and Policing of the environment, clean air and water, the elimination of smog, toxic and ■ Feminist Majority Foundation On-Line hazardous waste, chemical and nuclear – Women’s Worldwide Web weaponry. ■ Campaign for Women’s Health and Mifepristone THE FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION ON CAMPUS ■ Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls The Foundation of the Campus Program ■ Global Empowering Women’s Program From our inception, the Feminist Majority Foundation has invested in pro- ■ Choices Campus Leadership Program grams for young people. For example, our efforts have resulted in The Princeton PRINCIPLES Review ranking our internship program in The FMF is a non-profit organization the Top 100 nationally every year since 1994. and the Feminist Majority Leadership However, our internship program, Alliance is a division of the FMF. Although based in the greater D.C. metropolitan the Leadership Alliance has its own consti- area and Los Angeles, is just one part of tution for campus use, it shares the prin- our many campus activities. We successfully ciples of the FMF. The FMF and the Lead- mobilized on college campuses in Oregon ership Alliances are committed to: in 1990 to defeat two anti-abortion initia- tives on the state ballot, including a puni- ■ Equality between women and men and tive parental notification initiative. The boys and girls, and support of constitu- Feminist Majority Foundation again tional and statutory measures to gain expanded its college campus program in equality locally, statewide, nationally, 1992. This time, in Iowa, our efforts mobi- and globally. lized hundreds of students to work at the ■ Safe, legal, and accessible abortion, polls on Election Day for passage of a state contraception, and family planning, Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and including Medicaid funding and access helped spur the largest turnout of young for minors. voters in Iowa’s history. Although the state ERA was narrowly defeated, huge majori- ■ Achieving civil rights for all people, ties of young people, especially young including affirmative action programs women, voted overwhelmingly in support for women and people of color. of the Iowa State ERA in 1992. ■ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender In 1994, we decided to double the rights. number of our internships by developing a field program for interns to participate in ■ Non-discrimination on the basis of sex, our National Clinic Access Program. gender, race, sexual orientation, Interns were stationed in field offices in Welcome ■ ii A Campus Campaign of the Feminist Majority Foundation Welcome ■ Envisioning Choices seven states. They served in the field as California’s November ’96 ballot. These organizers who trained local volunteers student interns worked on almost all and as key members of the local clinic California campuses, including community defense teams who worked along-side the colleges, to register students to vote and to Feminist Majority Clinic Access Staff. The recruit campaign workers. In total, thou- field program was so successful that in sands of students, with some 750 volunteer- 1995, at the request of interns, we ex- ing significant blocks of time, worked in panded again and established Feminist the campaign through the Feminist Major- Majority units on l0 campuses. ity Foundation program. Meanwhile in 1995, we launched our Finally, the Feminist Majority has award-winning Internet website aimed spread a pro-choice message to students especially at reaching students on campuses through our Rock-for-Choice project. nationwide. Today our website receives more Featuring concerts and compact discs with than 8 million hits per month, approxi- young popular musical artists – including mately 80% of which are from campuses and the Indigo Girls, Nirvana, and L7, who students 18-24 years of age. Because of the speak out in support of abortion rights, the high usage by students, the Internet is a Rock-for-Choice project has reached tens major mode of
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