Life Resources

I realize this is long overdue, but I figured later was better than never.

In regards to some of the websites/blogs I will consult after graduation, here is what I've come up with:

• Feminist Majority Foundation (feminist.org) - Feminist Majority Foundation is a huge online database of the different happenings that are the current "hot issues" in the feminist world today. Best part about this website? They have a "jobs/internships" tab that will direct you to all the current feminist related jobs and internships available nationwide.
• National Organization for Women (NOW.org) - NOW is a grassroots organization dedicated to inclusivity and connecting women all over the world. Although, the site is somewhat outdated and a bit of an eyesore, the information is credible and appropriate.
• St. Cloud State University Women's Center (Facebook page) - stay current with what's happening at the Women's Center.
• Bitch! Media (blog) - a great blog that is a tool in critiquing and analyzing pop culture with a feminist spin. 
• Ms. Magazine (blog) - this blog is a product of the magazine publication that has been in print since the 1970s. Favorite part about this blog is its "Ms. in the Classroom," which makes the Ms. Magazine publication available in classrooms and "provides students with cutting-edge analysis of contemporary issues and events using gender, race, and class lens."

Final WS 445 blog entry

The end of the semester has come and with that brings summer and so much free time (thank goodness).

This course, Women and Computers, and brought to my attention many different strategies for effectively navigating the web. Because of this class, I made this blog. I had, eventually, intended on creating a blog where I would write about feminist politics and such, but if it wasn't for this class, I don't think I would've discovered the passion of blogging. I might have, but I don't think it would've given me as many opportunities - opportunities to grow and find my niche here on the internet.

This class brought me closer to the young women I enrolled with - they are absolutely wonderful and I will miss seeing them every week!

This semester has just been a huge learning experience, not only in this class, but in all of my other classes. I've learned so many things in regards to feminism and really started to create a community of friends that really make me feel confident and loved. This will be a very memorable semester, and I cannot look back on these past few months without thinking of this class.

This class gave me many tools to aid in the growth of myself on the web. Thank you.

International Feminism

Being a feminist means being open-minded, or relatively so. For a class assignment, we were to look at different feminist websites from different parts of the world.

The two websites I chose to look into were The F Word: Contemporary UK Feminism and Ultra Violet: Young Feminists on Life in Contemporary India. Now, I had never before heard of or visited these websites - but I wish I had.

The F Word website was really eye-catching and flashy. The first thing I saw when I entered the website was the F-Word blog, which I was excited to read. I loved it. The posts were relevant to most women and I read a really good find titled, "1 in 6 women would rather be blind than fat - so?"

Aside from their blog, their website offered many different outlets and resources for women (and men) interested in feminism. The website also had an "events" tab, which had the listing of the major feminist events going on in the surrounding areas in the UK. Too bad I live all the way over here, because most of them seemed like a great deal of fun!

The shop on the website had many different reading materials (all of which I'm totally interested in) that one could purchase just at the click of a button. The shop also sells DVDs, music, and poetry (among many others) that is inclusive to all feminists.

The other site, Ultra Violet: Indian Feminists Unplugged, wasn't necessarily as established as the previous website, but I was greeted with a "Coming of Age" story right as I stumbled onto the website. Very heartfelt and interesting story of a young woman's account with gender based inequality.

This website reminded me a lot of Feministing - a more blog-based website, and I didn't mind. The website/blog offered different subject topics, such as, Self, Art & Culture, Govt & Politics, Law & Institutions, Work & Economy, Relationships & Marriage, Media, Society, and Our Bodies. The website also offered different news stories, related to feminist politics, that gave a lot of insight into the kinds of issues and topics the feminists in India work with on a daily basis.

Overall, I believe that my favorite (being between these two sites) would be The F-Word, only because they offered more on their website than did the Indian based webpage. I believe that the internet is an important feature to feminism now and with these sites, both from different parts of the world, establishing and creating movement on the internet is the beginning to awareness of gender bias and gender discrimination.

Women's Contributions to the Web

For my Women and Computer's class, one of our assingments was to research and create a "digital story" about a woman who has made a well-known contribution to the world wide web. The woman I chose to research was Emily Boyd, co-founder of the "Remember the Milk" application. If you haven't ever checked out the app before, please do so, as you can:

• Manage tasks from anywhere
• Get email, SMS, or IM reminders
• Share your tasks
• Access from your phone
• Manage tasks offline
• Use with Google Calendar
• Add tasks from iGoogle

I'm always one for more organization, and when it comes to an application like this, it just makes everything a little bit more easy.

The more I thought about women's contributions to the internet and such, I got to thinking that the internet is a place where women can be heard - where women can make great strides in the gender gap - possibly even start to breach the digital divide. The internet offers so many different mediums where one could blog, video blog, communicate, and create programs that are used by thousands, if not millions, of people.

I love the idea of more women on the internet working together and creating great resources that I know I will use. Keep up the great work, women!