Pam’s Comments (group member since Dec 29, 2016)

Pam’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Day 28: Women's History month

Dolly Nicholas Trinidad & Tabago Chemist

With eight patents to her name and others pending, chemist Dolly Nicholas epitiomises the pioneering spirit that is at the heart of all innovation and scientific discovery.

As Dolly Nicholas herself admits, any young girl considering a career in chemistry might be tempted to see it as a man’s area of expertise, but she’s the living proof that nothing could be further from the truth – at least not in the 21st century.

A chemist of international standing, Dolly remains the first and only woman to be given a national Trinidad and Tobago award for scientific invention. She has received the Chaconia Silver medal for her inventions and also a public service medal of merit. A winner in the process category of the Prime Minister’s awards for innovation and invention in 2000, under the same awards’ programme, Dolly received a special award of merit in the field of chemistry, in 2002. With a number of patents to her name and a few more pending, it’s fair to say that when it comes to innovation and invention, Dolly shows no sign of resting on her considerable laurels.

While it’s hard not to be impressed by her list of awards, what’s more impressive in a way, is the amount of hard work, dedication, and dedication Dolly had to show to forge such an illustrious professional career. Born in Gasparillo, Trinidad in 1952, she was one of nine siblings. From an early age, their parents instilled in all nine children the importance of acquiring a good education and, despite the lack of money, all nine of them managed to get funding to go to university.

Dolly Mungalsingh attended the Gasparillo Government School and Naparima Girls’ High School in Trinidad. She then enrolled at Lakehead University in Canada, where she awarded a BSc in environmental polymer chemistry and a MSc in analytical chemistry from Queen’s University, also in Canada.
Dolly has a number of patents to her name, including one for emulsion and effluent treatment processes; a process to treat and break down emulsions; a process to treat waste fluids from petroleum and petrochemical industries, and others. One of her more recent patents involves a process whereby soft drink ‘plastic’ bottles can be converted into usable products such as epoxy coatings.

Passionate about encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, she works as a facilitator in various programmes involving students. Away from the lab and research, Dolly enjoys reading, meeting up with friends, and doing voluntary work.

http://icons.niherst.gov.tt/icon/doll...
https://kreolmagazine.com/living/soci...

Day 27: Women's History Month

Antonia "Tony" Gutiérrez American Airlines Mexico CEO

Antonia Gutiérrez made history when she was named the first female CEO of American Airlines México after having worked with the company for more than 40 years. Her story is truly inspiring and shows where hard work can get you, as she started off working as a secretary before climbing the ladder to budgeting and finance, and continuing upwards to her current position as CEO. Since beginning as CEO, three new routes have been opened between Mexico and Dallas amongst other things.

Antonia Gutiérrez is the first Mexican executive to hold the position of American Airlines in Mexico.

Originally from Mexico City, ‘Tony’ studied Psychology and then specialized in Marketing by ITAM. She joined the company in 1975 as secretary of the reservations area.

Her determination and professionalism led her to occupy various positions in areas such as tickets, reservations, sales, and finances until in 1995 she was appointed Commercial Director, position in which she managed to duplicate the operation of the airline in Mexico.

Her eyes have supervised the operation of more than 600 weekly flights between Mexico and the United States from the 21 national destinations where the airline currently operates.

Together with her team, Gutiérrez has contributed significantly to the constant growth of American Airlines during the last years and under her function, the airline managed to double its operation in Mexico.

"Under Tony's leadership our presence in Mexico has grown exponentially, with three new destinations in the country, almost double the number of flights to more than 600 weekly and more than 200 new employees, forming a team of more than 1,000 people in the country, "said Juan Carlos Liscano, managing director of American's operations in Latin America

Tony retired in 2017.

https://www.altonivel.com.mx/lideres/...
http://canaero.org.mx/tony-gutierrez-...
https://www.amazonswatchmagazine.com/...

Day 26: Women's History Month

Lucy Tejada Colombian contemporary painter

he attended Javeriana University in Bogota, where she discovered the work of Columbian artist Alejandro Obregón Rosės, which had a profound impact on her life. “I started going to the teacher's exhibitions all the time,” she recalled in an interview, “until one day he came out and asked me: ‘Why do you come so much?’” The elder artist encouraged her to enroll in the School of Fine arts, and she continued her artistic education at the School of Graphic Arts of Madrid, achieving her first solo exhibition in 1947.

During the 1950s Tejada traveled through Europe, immersing herself in great collections like the Madrid’s Prado Museum and the Louvre in Paris. She exhibited her work in the Venice Biennial as well as in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, emerging as an important figure in South American contemporary art.

Her characters, imaginary beings of black and deep eyes live in her paintings, that resemble his world; a beautiful ideal world, inhabited only by women and boys. The artistic legacy is a trip by a world knitted of dreams, evocations and original proposals. She was also a cartoonist, muralist, engraver and researcher of various artistic techniques.

Alejandro Obregón Rosės described her as “painter of the tenderness.”

From the decade of the 1950s, her work had big international presence, when she participated of biennial in Venecia, São Paulo, Mexico, Córdoba-Argentina, Medellín, San Juan-Puerto Rico and The Habana-Cuba.

In 2007, Colombia’s Culture Ministry awarded her the Medal of Cultural Merit in recognition of her 50 year career. Her legacy lives on with the Lucy Tejada Cultural Center, which opened this year in Pereira. In accordance with the artist’s wishes, Tejada’s family donated a collection of 163 pieces of her work to be exhibited in the city as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Te...
https://www.google.com/doodles/lucy-t...
https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/10/09...

Day 25: Women's History Month

Marielle Franco Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist.

A year after her execution-style killing, the call for justice for Ms. Franco — a black, gay, feminist Rio de Janeiro city councilmember who was raised poor — has morphed into a rallying cry in a deeply-polarized nation for those who felt represented by her.

Her name and image have become an antithesis to the dominant political forces in Brazil as the right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, settles into office.

Franco was raised in Maré, a slum in northern Rio de Janeiro, where she also resided for most of her life, and started to work to contribute to the household income in 1990 when she was 11 years old. Marielle gave birth to her first and only child when she was 19 years old (in 1998). Franco raised her daughter without the father's help and worked as a pre-school teacher making minimum wage

In 2002, she entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro on a scholarship and continued working and raising her daughter as she earned a degree in social sciences. Ms. Franco became a critic of police brutality and government neglect of poor areas of her city as she pursued a master’s degree in public policy from the Fluminense Federal University.

In 2016, Franco ran for a seat on the Rio de Janeiro city council in the municipal elections. Being black, maintaining strong ties to the favela where she was raised and being open about being in a same-sex relationship made Ms. Franco unique in Brazilian politics — and a role model for people who do not see themselves represented in a system dominated by white men. Franco positioned herself as a representative and defender of poor black women and people from the favelas. With over 46,500 votes, Franco was one of 51 people elected, receiving the fifth highest vote total out of more than 1,500 candidates.

“She was an inspiration,” said Dani Monteiro, another black state lawmaker elected after Ms. Franco’s death. “Suddenly you’re no longer invisible in a space where we had always been invisible.”

As a city council member, Franco fought against gender violence, for reproductive rights, and for the rights of favela residents.She chaired the Women's Defense Commission and formed part of a four-person committee that monitored the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro. Working with the Rio de Janeiro Lesbian Front, Franco presented a bill to create a day of lesbian visibility in Rio de Janeiro in August 2017, but the bill was defeated by a vote of 19-17.

On 13 March 2018, Franco spoke out on Twitter against the police violence in Rio de Janeiro: “Another homicide of a young man that could be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed. How many others will have to die for this war to end?

The next day, Franco attended a round-table discussion titled "Young Black Women Moving [Power] Structures" (Portuguese: Jovens Negras Movendo Estruturas).Less than two hours after leaving the round-table, she and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were fatally shot by two men who were driving another car. The men fired nine shots at them, four of which struck Franco – three in the head and one in the neck.

Thousands took to the streets in coordinated protests across Brazil, and both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned her killing. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, whose husband David Miranda was a fellow City Council member and close personal friend of Franco's, regarding Franco's assassination stating: "Her relentless and brave activism against the most lawless police battalions, her opposition to military intervention, and, most threateningly of all, her growing power as a black, gay woman from the favela seeking not to join Brazil’s power structure, but to subvert it"

Ms. Benício, Franco’s surviving partner said. “The execution of Marielle, and the election of the current president, revealed to the world that we are racist, that we are sexist, misogynist, LGBT-phobic.”

“We need to start dealing with that,” she said. “We need to start deconstructing a political system that has always been dominated by white men.”

And they have. Since the assassination, three black women were elected to the State Assembly. The black women who ran for office in Rio de Janeiro after her killing were mindful of the risks they were taking, said Mônica Francisco, another of the black women elected as state representative. But it would have been more dangerous to retreat, she said.

“Marielle understood that in order to remain alive, it is necessary to occupy spheres of power,” she said. “It’s ironic, but true.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/wo...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/wo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariell...
https://justiceformarielle.com/

Thank you for sharing Tara. I'm glad Thom's work spoke to you and gave you words to describe your feelings.

Hugs

"We sit together and wait. For the time to pass. For the memories to fade. For the waiting to be over."

There is such grief here. Not only for what is to come, but what has happened. And Thom isn't greedy in her pain. She recognizes everyone's in that community; the ones that are in the doctor's office faced with these decisions, but also the ones from every other who have passed through this reptilian's door.

TRIGGER WARNING: Self harm

Vern wrote: "I felt like the bees and her silver knife always made me think of self-harm and how she deliberately hurts herself. But the knife also comes into play when she needs to protect herself. So it both hurts and helps her. ..."

Isn't that the way of self harm?

As in, people do not complete acts of self harm against themselves unless they feel they need it.

In Hunger I though Gay did a beautiful job of describing eating as her own two sided knife. It helped make her feel good (the endorphins released) and it also made her insides match her outside. Made her feel safe in a way that being skinny never could ever feel safe again. The hard part about this sort of crutch is knowing that it is actually harming you in the long run.

Cutting with a knife is the same. you finally have physical scars that match the mental ones no one could see. People respond when you bleed. But you can't get the same endorphin rush with the same old cuts. And people start paying too much attention about the wrong items. They worry about the cutting; and not the reason behind it.

Day 24: Women's History Month

Paulina Luisi Uruguayan feminist, doctor

Luisi was the first female physician and surgeon that graduated from the School of Medicine of the University of Uruguay.

Luisi recognized herself as a socialist and her attention was mainly focused on getting people to practice moral unity. By this she meant that all people should be aware of their responsibilities in a society. In her case, the main purpose of moral unity was:
- to restrain the practice of prostitution
- to check the spread of venereal disease
- to protect the future of the human race
- to elevate motherhood from the realm of lust to that of progenitor and guardian of the species.

She founded the Uruguayan branch of the National Women's Council in 1916 and represented Uruguay at the International Congresses of Women in Geneva and Cristiana, Norway, in 1920 and Rome in 1925.

She was the first woman in the Western Hemisphere to represent her government as an officially appointed delegate to an intergovernmental conference. Luisi also served as head of the Uruguayan delegation to the League of Nations.

She worked as a teacher at the Teacher's Training College for Women and as an advocate reaching out for social hygiene related to the teaching profession. Her lectures and arguments were specifically designed to introduce prophylaxis as a subject within the teachers' training syllabus. A controversial aspect of Luisi’s moral reform platform was obligatory sex-health education programs in the public school system.[10] She suggested having these programs first introduced in the primary schools and then continuing on to the secondary level. She defined sex education as the pedagogic tool to teach the individual to subject sexual drives to the will of an instructed, conscientious, and responsible intellect

She would be labeled as a radical feminist today: "Woman is the only one who can protect [humanity] in these tragic times from madness that from time to time overtake men’s minds and plunge millions into barbarous wars of aggression, pillage and conquest. Woman remains the only bastion for the defense of . . . humanity, life itself, lashed with crazed fury by men blinded with hatred.” (radio address, 1936,)

"We women are familiar with the ulcers of our societies, because it is almost always our hands which apply the balm. Social assistance and beneficence are our patrimony, and this work, like nothing else, has opened our eyes to the horrors that entrap our current civilization... And we female physicians have seen even more."

https://www.womeninpeace.org/l-names/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulina...

Day 23: Women's History Month

Chiquinha Gonzaga Brazillian composer

Chiquinha Gonzago established a career for herself as a professional musician in nineteenth century Brazil at a time when it was widely considered scandalous to do so. Gonzaga became Brazil's first professional female conductor and composed over 2,000 pieces, including 77 operettas. Her best-known work and compositional debut, "Atraente" (Attractive) was published in 1881. "Atraente" changed the musical landscape of Brazil by introducing a style of music that combined different musical elements like polka, waltz, ragtime and Afro-Brazilian rhythms. This style eventually became known as "choro."

Chiquina Gonzaga grew up in a strict military home and had a broad education. She began playing the piano at 11 years old. Gonzaga continued to play music even after entering into an arranged marriage when she was 16 years old. The union was short-lived after her husband, Jacinto Ribeiro do Amaral attempted to make her choose between him and music. Although they had three children together, Gonzaga was only allowed to take their oldest son, Joao Gualberto with her. The separation from her husband resulted in a nasty divorce suit that dragged on for many years. In 19th century patriarchal Brazil, it was unacceptable for women to leave their husbands. Gonzaga was then disowned by her family and shunned by her community.

Despite the prejudice she experienced, Gonzaga was determined to pursue a career in music. After the success of "Atraente," Gonzaga began making a name for herself by teaching privately and writing scores for musical theatre. She even became active in the abolitionist movement, using the revenue from selling her scores so that she could fund the Liberating Confederation. She even paid for the emancipation of an enslaved musician, Jose Flauta. Gonzaga also penned the first carnival march in 1899, "O abre alas!" (Open Wings).

Because her music had become so popular, other musicians began sampling her music without her permission. When Gonzaga discovered that her work was being abused. she helped to found the first society to protect and copyright artistic works in Brazil in 1917, the Brazilian Society of Theatre Authors (SBAT). Chiquinha Gonzaga pushed through the societal barriers of her time to carve out a life lived on her own terms. Her career in music paved the way to define the progression of Brazilian music. Her life opened doors for female empowerment and the professionalization of women in music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiquin...
https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/20...

Day 22: Women's History Month

Azucena Villaflor y las Madres del Plaza de Mayo Argentinian Peace Activists

During the “Dirty War” in Argentina, waged from 1976 to 1983, the military government abducted, tortured, and killed left-wing militants, and anyone they claimed were “subversives,” including all political opponents of the regime. Many of the dissenters were young people, students and other youth trying to express their dissatisfactions with the regime. The kidnapped people became referred to as the “disappeared.” The government obliterated any records that would help the families find the bodies or reclaim their grandchildren.

The military government’s censorship prevented any discussion of the matter. Within a terrorist state, those who spoke out put their own lives in danger. Yet, in the face of the disappearance of their children, in 1977 a group of mothers co-funded by Villaflor began to meet each Thursday in the large Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, the site of Argentina’s government. There they walked in non-violent demonstrations.

As they walked they chanted: “We want our children; we want them to tell us where they are.” The madres said, “No matter what our children think they should not be tortured. They should have charges brought before them. We should be able to see them, visit them.” In their weekly demonstrations some carried pictures of the missing children. They chose a white cloth nappy (diaper) to wear on their heads, but this soon developed into the proper headscarf, often with the name of their child embroidered on it.

“Becoming aware of all the terrible things the young people were enduring made us see the ferociousness of the enemy clearly. The ferocity of the enemy gives us the strength to face him. I mean, how are you going to allow him to go on? “ Hebe Mascia, one of the mothers.

As the number of disappeared grew, the movement grew, and the Mothers gained international attention during the years of the Dirty War. They began to try and build pressure by outside governments against the Argentine dictatorship by sharing the many stories of the "disappeared".

On 10 December 1977, International Human Rights Day, the Mothers published a newspaper advertisement with the names of their missing children. That same night, Azucena Villaflor was kidnapped from her home in Avellaneda by a group of armed men. She is reported to have been taken to the infamous ESMA torture centre, and from there on a "death flights" to the ocean off the coast. During these flights, the abducted were drugged, stripped, and flung into the sea. In 1978, when Argentina's hosted the World Cup, the Mothers' demonstrations at the Plaza were covered by the international press in town for the sporting event.

As mothers, they presented a powerful moral symbol which, over time, transformed them from women seeking to protect their children to women wishing to transform the state so that it reflected maternal values.

The military has admitted that over 9,000 of those abducted are still unaccounted for, but the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo say that the number of missing is closer to 30,000. Most are presumed dead. An estimated 500 of the missing are the children who were born in concentration camps or prison to pregnant 'disappeared' women; many of these babies were given in illegal adoptions to military families and others associated with the regime. Their mothers were generally believed to have been killed.

In 2005, forensic anthropologists dug up some remains of bodies that had been buried in an unmarked grave after washing ashore in late December 1977 near the beach resort of Santa Teresita, south of Buenos Aires. DNA testing identified among them Azucena Villaflor, Esther Careaga and María Eugenia Bianco, three pioneer Mothers of the Plaza who had been "disappeared".

In December 2005, Azucena Villaflor's ashes were buried in the Plaza de Mayo. Her surviving children chose the place; her daughter Cecilia said it was because "Here [at the Plaza] is where my mother was born to public life and here she must stay forever. She must stay for everyone".

These days, the mothers are hailed as human rights champions around the world and feted by the likes of Pope Francis and the former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. The mothers’ white headscarves became a symbol of courage and the relentless battle for justice – and they have largely succeeded in their original aims: as of 2016, more than 1,000 of the dictatorship’s torturers and killers had been tried and 700 sentenced.


http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/co...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azucena...

Reading about these women's determination and defiance, about their loss and then their own diasaparence made me so angry. We should not forget what they did, non-violently, to bring attention to the slaughter of thousands.

Day 21: Women's History Month:

Aasta Hansteen Norwegian Artist, and early feminist

Aasta Hansteen was born in Christiania, modern day Oslo, the daughter of Christopher Hansteen, a noted professor of astronomy, geophysics and applied mathematics at the University of Oslo. She started her art education in Copenhagen (1840 - 1841) where she learned to draw. She continued her training for three years at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where she studied fine brush alignment. She is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. She exhibited her work at the 1855 World's Fair in Paris.

She returned to Norway and settled in Christiania where she, for several years, was in demand as the city's only portrait artist. Her most famous painting is possibly the portrait of her father, which is on permanent exhibit at the National Gallery of Norway.[4]

Overwhelmed by the interest in her portraits, she resigned from her craft for several years and moved to Telemark, where she developed an interest in Norwegian dialects. When she moved back to Christiania, she studied with the linguist Ivar Aasen. In 1862 she published anonymously a small book written in Nynorsk and had the distinction of being the first woman to publish in this language.

Aasta Hansteen met or observed such leading reformers on the time as Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Mary Livermore, and Wendell Phillips. Her initial income came from writing for the Christiania-based newspaper Verdens Gang, which she supplemented by painting portraits on commission. Among others, Norwegian reformer and editor Marcus Thrane sat for his portrait. In 1889, she returned to Norway with a renewed interest in the women's movement. She joined the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (Norsk Kvinnesaksforening) and became an active contributor in the press on women's rights. She also was a vocal critic of the Judeo-Christian and Pauline perception of women, which she felt was denigrating of women's spiritual worth.

And then Norway named a gas field after her... "The field has been named after pioneer feminist, social commentator, painter and author Aasta Hansteen."

https://www.equinor.com/en/magazine/a...

(And because it's funny: For two months, the platform hull crossed several oceans on its journey to Norway. From South Korea, the voyage went south to India, and continued south around the Cape of Africa. The trip was 14,500 nautical miles, equivalent to nearly 26,900 km, or more than 640 marathons—a distance that amounts to more than half of the Earth’s circumference.) I'm curious is this makes Hansteen one of the more well traveled feminists...

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Aasta-Ha...

Day 20: Women's History Month

Marga Faulstich German scientist, chemist

Faulstich's work in the field of glass chemistry led to dozens of patents that are still used in the manufacture of lightweight anti-reflective glasses.

In 1935, soon after completing her graduation from high school, Faulstich began her training as the graduate assistant at Schott AG. The company was one of the biggest manufacturing company of optical and technical speciality glasses in Europe. She worked on the development of thin films during her early years in the company.

While making progress in her career, Faulstich soon became a technician, then scientific assistant and then finally became a scientist. She could not finish her studies because the situation changed after the Second World War. Jena belonged to the Soviet occupation zone; however, the most advanced glassmaking facility in the world was located in Jena and the Western Allies wanted to obtain and use this know-how. Therefore, 41 specialists and managers of Schott AG were brought to the western sector. After her fiancee died in the second world war, she started focusing only on her career.

In 1939, while working at the Schott AG company with Dr. Walter Geffcken, Faulstich developed a way to coat smaller glass objects by depositing hard vacuum vapor—changing gas directly to a solid without going through a liquid state. Her breakthrough made it possible for glass with anti-reflective coating that shields X-rays and UV light, among other applications. Her particular area focused on lenses for microscopes and binoculars. In addition to her research, Faulstich managed a crucible melt.

She was recognized in 1972 for her role in creating the SF 64 lens (known in North America as HIGH-LITE®), thinner, lighter weight corrective lenses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marga_F...

https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/arti...

https://www.researchgate.net/scientif...

How does a cover impact your book choice?
3+ years ago I would have been very wary of pink books. Especially those with lipstick and heels. But after reading some amazing books that are pink as well as on OSS that help me accept all aspects of femininity and "femaleness"; that I'm beginning to not censor myself against a color.

I'm also seeing a lot more organizations and ideas being coded as pink. Ranging from breast cancer awareness to planned parenthood. It's no longer a panty only color.

- How does a cover influence the expectations you have for a book before you start to read?
Again, the over-feminization of items; sex kitten heels or lipstick or long nails has never been my symbols for my femininity. I have no qualms if they were others; but I also knew that we probably didn't have the same appreciation for the time involved nor the work that makes those symbols feel empowering.

Soooo I was a bit worried about jumping into this one as much as I was wary of the Vagina Monologues. There are just some words or symbols for sexual pleasure that I do not feel comfortable flashing out in public; be they on me or a book.

- How does the cover of Fierce Femmes impact your reading experience?

The first thing beside the pink cover that I noticed were the dissociated hands. Blue with long red nails. It reminded me a lot of Rocky Horror with the giant painted mouth. And also about the objectification of women i.e. we are not one whole complete person, but we are one part. And this part tends to be idolized as something more than the purpose it was intended. Lips are not the vehicle to use to talk and communicate, they become sexualized.

But looking at it further, it's not one part. It really is a collection of parts that add up into being who she is. So I was able to relax a bit.

- Or in what ways does it reflect the content?
I really enjoyed how the bits of the cover where used as chapter markers. One it helped with continunity. So I began to anticipate which one was next.

And two, it reminded me a lot of the heroes journey. Part of Campbell's ideas is that it's all laid out exactly the same. No matter the hero, the path is the same: the denial, the wise leader, etc. 1) it was really fun to see these symbols as part of that path as if they were sign markers on this well trod road. and 2) I have not read of many female led hero quests. This isn't to say there aren't many female heroes. But not any that follow the typical male hero path so nicely. So move over Frodo and Luke Skywalker!

- What are some of your favorite book covers and why?


An Iconic image of the girl with the strange do. But this time with a pencil as a nod to the diarist part. It so completely captures Fisher's point and the irony and pain of it all as you do not get to see the full face. You only see a piece of her; and then, only the piece that you think is more important (the hair; not the eyes or the soul behind them. Add to that the font of how the words are hard to read and it's spellbinding


The cover once again in a limited fashion tells you everything you need to know. Technology, man's creation, creating chaos in a weird, old school sci-fi way.


Again, just another beautiful tie in where the title is almost secondary. Absence, fragility, want, darkness. It's visual poetry.

Day 19: Women's History Month

Ana-Brnabic First Female Serbian PM, first LGBTI PM.

Brnabic is the first female and first openly gay Prime Minister of traditionally conservative Serbia. In her first speech as Prime Minister, Brnabic called on lawmakers to revamp the sluggish economy by supporting young entrepreneurs. As a former minister for public administration, Brnabic pushed to modernize the country by introducing e-governance systems and mandatory IT classes for students.

Critics have spoken out against Ms Brnabic, arguing that she has not done enough to bolster LGBT rights. Brnabic has tried to downplay the significance of her appointment since she was appointed telling the Associated Press:

"I would prefer to get it out in the open right now and get it over with, so that afterward I can focus on my work. Hopefully this will blow over in three or four days, and then I won’t be known as the gay minister, I’ll be known as the minister of public administration and local government."

Serbia’s gay community has faced violence from far-right activists. The Serbian Orthodox Church, for its part, has called homosexuality an illness and criticized gay-pride events. Activists see her appointment as a sign the country is becoming more welcoming.

What is she doing instead? Brnabic is expected to improve Serbia’s ties with Kosovo and to reform the judiciary, secure rights of minorities, including the LBGT population, all preconditions for the country to enter the EU in 2025. She recently held talks with Kosovo president Hashim Thaci in ongoing efforts to reach a peace settlement.

She will also have to maintain Serbia’s delicate balancing act between its old allies Russia and China and the West, including NATO and the EU, which is the main trade partner. Serbia’s economy is expected to grow around 3 percent in 2017.

Oh, and she became a mother last month. Her partner, Milica Djurdjic, and baby, reportedly a boy named Igor, were "doing fine". Even if she is not here to be known as the first gay PM, she is still making a name for herself. "Ana Brnabic is one of the first prime ministers whose partner has given birth while in office... and the first in the world in a same-sex couple," the AFP agency quoted her office as saying.

We have many threads on OSS regarding what kind of feminist are you with members pushing to see how we can be better; louder, or more passionate about the cause. Brbabic's strategy instead seems to downplay the extremists and haters by showing, resolutely, just how sane, healthy, and normal it is to be a professional who happens to love other women. She has nothing to add that her actions do not already proclaim.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/ana-br...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-se...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe...
https://www.theatlantic.com/news/arch...

Part of what makes Thom a fascinating author is that she straight up admits that she is a liar. And the liars I know tend to put an ounce of truth in their lies to give them power. But they conflate it so you really don't ever know which part is true, which part is fantasy, and which part is the poor person trying to bare their soul to you anonymously- without judgement or worry.

So to me (view spoiler)[ I think something happened when she was young. One of her first stories is how the bees came into her, and it doesn't read like a simple coming of age / dawn of puberty moment. I think she writes it like it was an attack. (hide spoiler)]

Aww! Great! Glad you are enjoying these and getting something from them.

Day 18 Women's History Month 2019

Elisa Leoida Zamfirescu Romanian Engineer, one of the first female accredited engineers.

Zamfirescu, born on 10 November, 1887, made history as one of the world's first female engineers.

In her 86 years of life, Zamfirescu carved herself a spot in a male-dominated field, led geology labs, and studied Romanian mineral resources.

Zamfirescu, who grew up with 10 siblings, wanted to study at the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest after graduating high school but was rejected due to her gender. Instead, she went to the Royal Technical University of Charlottenburg, now known as the Technical University of Berlin, where she studied mechanical engineering.

Zamfirescu enrolled in 1909 and graduated in 1912, becoming one of the first female engineers to do so in Europe (The Irish Alice Perry claims the first spot). Following her graduation, Zamfirescu went to work at Bucharest's Geological Institute, where she was the head of her laboratory.

During World War I, she worked for the Red Cross as a hospital manager around the small town of Mărășești, which was the site of the final major battle between Romania and Germany on the Romanian front in 1917.

As part of her work as the head of her lab, Zamfirescu brought in new methods and new analysis techniques to study minerals and substances such as water, coal, and oil, according to Assistant Lecturer PhDc. Eng Iulia-Victoria Neagoe.

She is remembered as a dedicated engineer who worked long hours from morning to evening.

Zamfirescu kept working past retirement age and didn't fully retire until the age of 75 years old after a four-decade career. In addition to her work as a chemical engineer, Zamfirescu took a stance in favor of disarmament during her retirement years. She filed a complaint with the disarmament committee at London's Lancaster House, with a focus on nuclear threat.

https://www.romania-insider.com/women...

*Snort. * Get over yourself Charles.

Day 17 Women's History Month

Hynd Bouhia Economist. CEO Global Nexus

Hynd Bouhia is the CEO of Global Nexus, a Management company investing in green finance, clean energy infrastructure, and innovation. Global Nexus launched the GreeN Innov Invest (GNII) Fund for startups in green tech innovation in Morocco, and is currently structuring an Africa dedicated fund.

Global Nexus has also a strategic advisory arm on subjects related to the Nexus of Water, Energy and Food, and sustainable development. Prior, Bouhia was in charge of investment and development for Morocco’s Public Pension Fund. A position she took in 2010, after being the Director General of the Casablanca Stock Exchange. Dr. Bouhia spent the first eight years of her career at the World Bank in Washington, on lending projects and on World Bank issuance's in emerging market currencies; before joining the Prime Minister of Morocco in 2004, as an adviser in charge of investments and sectorial strategies.

After the Ecole Centrale Paris engineering diploma, Bouhia received her Ph.D. in Environment Engineering from Harvard (1998), and a M.A. in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (2000). She was ranked 29th of the 100 more powerful women of the world by Forbes Magazine in 2008. Then, in 2012, she was selected among the 100 most powerful Arab women by Business Finance, and in 2015. Finally, Bouhia received the Oxford Said Business School certificate as a 2013 Archbishop Tutu Africa Leadership Fellow; and was elected into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, in 2016.

Hynd Bouhia was born in Casablanca and enjoys athletic and fitness activities. She is a member of the Washington Conservatory of Music where she performs classical Piano.

https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/11/...

Day 16:

Women's History Month

Deddeh Howard Nigerian model, medical student

Deddeh is model, but she's found that being a model of color means facing major discrimination.

"Agencies would often tell me, "We like your look but there's a black girl already.' It shouldn't be limited to just one black girl; there can be more than one! It's as if [agencies] are ashamed to represent diversity," she told BuzzFeed news. "There are many beautiful black models and they are not represented the way they should be."

In fact, one day at the grocery store, she bought a stack of different fashion magazines just to see how well women of color were represented. The results were disappointing.

"I brought all of the magazines home and turned the pages and said to my boyfriend, 'Have you seen this? There's not a black girl!" she told Cosmopolitan.

That's when she got the idea for Black Mirror, a photo series in which her boyfriend (photographer Raffael Dickreuter) helped her recreate famous fashion ads featuring white models.

t took Howard and Dickreuter around three months to shoot the photos, BuzzFeed reports— it was tough to find just the right clothes, accessories, and props to replicate each shot down to the last detail. The photos aren't meant to disparage the women who appeared in the original ads. It's simply meant to illustrate the fact that models of color are just as beautiful — and just as capable — as models who are white.

"It's not going against [the models]," Howard told Cosmopolitan. "I'm not saying I'm more beautiful than them. I'm just saying if they can do it, I can do it."

The response to Black Mirror has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, Howard has been contacted by lots of other women of color who told her they've faced similar discrimination.

"I'll be honest, I've just broken down crying since yesterday. It's been so unbelievable," she told Cosmopolitan. "Girls are sending me emails about them being rejected by agencies. Asian girls, black girls, Hispanic girls. It's unbelievable that people have felt the exact same way [...] I'm so grateful for everybody."

The good news: Howard told Cosmopolitan that she's already been approached by some fashion brands asking her to participate in photo shoots. The better news: Some have even asked for advice on how to better promote diversity.

Once again, diversity matters to the millions of young girls who see these images and believe that only certain women with certain looks are beautiful.

Check out her Black Mirror photo shoot below

https://www.thisisinsider.com/model-d...
https://secretofdd.com/

Day 15: Women's History Month

Ameyo Stella Adadevoh Nigerian doctor

In July 2014 a Liberian-American attorney arrived in Lagos on a flight from Monrovia heading to a conference on economic development and collapsed in the airport. The patient was taken to First Consultant Medical Center, where one of Dr. Adadevoh’s colleagues first diagnosed him as suffering from malaria. Although no Nigerian doctor had seen a case of Ebola before, Dr. Adadevoh with her 21 years as the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, suspected the patient might have been exposed to the highly contagious virus and subsequently ordered blood tests to confirm while also alerting Nigerian health officials.

While awaiting test results, Dr. Adadevoh was pressured by Liberian government officials to let the patient go so he could attend the conference as planned. Despite threats of lawsuits, Dr. Adadevoh stood firm, stating that she would not release the patient “for the greater public good.”

The test results came back positive for the Ebola virus and while the patient could not be treated in time, Dr. Adadevoh’s medical insight and the courage of her convictions ensured that other exposed patients could be treated rapidly and that the outbreak was contained. Unfortunately, in treating the initial patients, Dr. Adedevoh contracted the virus and passed away, along with three of her colleagues at the medical center.

Her legacy lives on through DRASA (DR. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh) Health Trust, a nonprofit organization devoted to public health that works with communities and health workers to improve hygiene and sanitation, reduce the spread of infectious diseases, and strengthen Nigeria's preparedness for future outbreaks.

Just breaks my heart knowing that she gave her all to save her people.
https://connectnigeria.com/articles/2...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa...