Words of Choice: Up the Creativity

The Period: Selling Menstrual Products With Style

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

Behold the menstrual period. If the average woman were paid one dollar for every minute she has her period in her life, she would amass $3,450,000. We're talking about, cumulatively, 2,400 days or 6.5 years if you add up a five-day period from age 12 to 52. And who doesn't have some horror story to tell about it? -- the period that started on the day of the new white pants or the frantic search through multitudes of bags for a single tampon.

[For Words of Choice info: wordsofchoice.org]

Now, The Period Store, an online store and site, has some great products for delivery to your doorstep to address menstrual needs and take away a little of the pain. The Period Store is also popping out some cool blogs along the way. With its motto of A place to embrace womanhood, the site has all manner of menstrual products -- the diva cup, sea sponges, eco pads, reuseable panty liners, hard-to-get foreign products, and standard brand name pads and tampons in every size. There are also herbal treatments, chocolates and art.

Launched in March, The Period Store is having an opening party on June 1 in New York's Soho area.

The Period Store will package up and deliver your chosen combo product timed to your monthly cycle. It's nicely disguised. Each order comes with some tea, a comforting piece of chocolate, a 5x7 art print. Costs are modest -- $15 to $30; no shipping charge. There is even a starter pack for the first encounter-ers.

The leaders of the menstrual gang -- Ashley Seil Smith, Rubi Jones and Nate Smith, according to an article in FastCompany -- have a refreshing sense of humor about the cycle. They sign posts: "Overflowing with love." According to a welcome letter:

Ashley and Rubi dreamed of opening a store all about periods back in 2010, but for the first year we only managed to work on it during our periods. After some hard work, our dreams of puppies delivering sea sponges turned into The Period Store — a place where women can buy their favorite feminine products, discover new ones from around the world, and have an unbiased, honest discussion with other women about being a woman. We want to expose women to the wide variety of products that are available for period management and we want to do it in an intelligent, beautiful and fun way.

Our customers create their own period packs that are then delivered right to their door once a month. We also work personally with artists to bring ladies an original piece of artwork that inspires and celebrates womanhood, along with hand-crafted sweets that we love.

Periods can be lame — we're striving to make them a little more enjoyable.

While it's hard to imagine making periods "enjoyable," the site's blog, The Periodical, does have some laughs, along with lore, celeb menstrual quotes, artist interviews, product features and love-flowing tips. This post talks about Earth Mama Angel Baby Tea. Other posts have explanations about how to use the Luna reuseable pad; a personal favorite, how to remove period stains, and a delightfully humorous clip on fashion tampons from In Living Color. Artist interviews, including one of founder Ashley, begin with "So, how's your period?"

The Period Store has gotten some attention -- by Emily Gray on Huffington Post, a story on bigspaceship.com, and a plug on BigGiggles ("Where has The Period Store been all my life???") But it really deserves more.

The Period's Facebook page is building up comments, like this: "Got my package yesterday and I loveeee the candle."

And the Period team has released its first video promotion, too, a 2.30 clip on Vimeo. Fun does not come to the lips of interviewees, but it is fun to watch -- see below.

And for more info about that time of the month, check out this menstrual fact sheet from womenshealth.gov, and other resources from Our Bodies Ourselves.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: An edited screen shot of The Period Store site, theperiodstore.com.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

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Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Sorry, Antis -- This Stork Delivers a ProChoice Message

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:58:00 +0000

Every year, the anti-abortion mob crowds outside abortion facilites in a harassment scheme known as "40 Days for Life." Sometimes, the sites for their misguided protests aren't even abortion clinics -- like the Family Planning Health Services (FPHS) in Wausau, Wisconsin.

>>>>>>See www.wordsofchoice.org for info about Words of Choice>>>>>

This year, a creative solution: The stork fought back. That is, a Family Planning Health Services board member stepped out to the sidewalk in stork regalia, according to an article by Hunter Stuart in Huffington Post last month. And this stork had a sign, too: "No Surprises."

At FPHS, women from seven Wisconsin counties get contraception, reproductive health services, aid with WIC applications for nutritional assistance for women, infants and children. No abortion.

No matter. The 40 Days for Life gang still likes to show up and harass patients and employees. Why protest this nonabortion facility? The 40 Days gang says it protests because the healthcare center gives out the public addresses of abortion providers! Not kidding. The antis say:"We selected this site (FPHS) because: 1. FPHS provides contact numbers for abortion facilities upon request," according to the 40 Days campaign website. And there's more: FPHS is harassed because it provides contraception to minors -- "with or without parental consent" -- and, the anti-abortion site says, "Several forms of contraception act as abortifacients, which means that pregnancy can occur but the newly conceived life is unable to thrive in the uterus and is aborted." Huh?

Not to be stopped by illogic or nonsense, the antis also argue that, by providing contraception, "FPHS promotes the contraceptive mentality which is a root cause of abortion. No form of contraception is 100% effective, thus women (including minors) can still experience pregnancy and/or contract sexually transmitted diseases." Umm, right, isn't the point to reduce the chance of unintended pregnancy? And, finally, "FPHS advocates for comprehensive sex education in schools, which denies parental authority and encourages minors to engage in criminal behavior (having underage sex)."

You see that anti animus has no bounds. FPHS gets picketed annually by these snow-kickers.

This year, the Stork struck back, emerging to tell the public and passersby a different story -- that pregnancy is best when it's planned and the woman and her partner are prepared. NO SURPRISES! The stork idea made for a "friendly, easy-to-grasp message" for the pro-choice side, Lon Newman, executive director of FPHS, told Huffington Post. And with one cool costume, too.

See the full FPHS photo spread on Facebook.

See other creative prochoice responses to the 40 Days of harassment campaigns (prayer) here, and (art) here,;and to other anti-abortion gangs, (decked out car) here and (sheet danglers) here.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: The Stork pauses to pose with Lon Newman, from Family Planning Health Services Facebook page.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

"Like" us on Facebook here.
Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Promoting Female Condoms:12 Short Films Do It

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:56:00 +0000

PATH asked filmmakers from around the world to create films on the theme "Female Condoms are (fill in blank)" for a contest. And filmmakers did! A dozen of the finalists are now posted on a branded PATH channel on YouTube.

.>>>>>>>for info about words of choice:www.wordsofchoice.org<<<<<<<<

An international nonprofit organization working around the world on transforming global health through innovation, PATH will announce winners at a special event at the Women Deliver 2013 conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 28.2013. The first prizewinner will be awarded $5,000 cash, and two other winners will receive $2,000 and $500.

In announcing the contest, PATH wrote:

Female condoms may be one of the most promising health technologies that people don’t know or hear much about. We’re hoping you will help us change this by bringing your creative energy and fresh ideas to the Female Condoms Are_______ Film Contest.

....We’re looking for creative and compelling short films that make a case for female condoms. In 1:00 to 5:00 minutes, your film should tell a story about how female condoms can enhance your life or the lives of others and be used in a sex- positive manner. We want your film to thematically address at least one of the questions below:
• Why does the world need female condoms? Are male condoms enough or do we need something more?
• What do female condoms mean to you and women and men in your community?
• How would different types of female condoms affect your lives or the lives of men and women globally?
• How are female condoms different, special, or sexy in your experience or the experience of others?

Films from around the world are represented in the dozen finalists.

Female Condoms are … by Nawaa Deane, which uses a sexy musical background to show several women preparing for a date, and ends with lettering on the screen: Loving yourself means using a female condom.

A selection, Female Condoms are Your Reliable Friends, by Ming Yin, which has collected the most views on YouTube with its Woody Allen-style anthromphized sperm that can't get through the condom barrier.

An entry by Lisa Russell, Female Condoms are for Dudes, Too, in which two men discuss international travel and the bliss of the female condom.

A film set in Nigeria by Iyke Erojikwe, Female condoms are peerless, in which a visiting caregiver explains to the mother of seven that she has the right to use a female condom. "It is your life, save it," says a subtitle.

A wordless film, Female Condoms are for Everyone, (screen shot above) by The Women's Collective in which two women mirror each other's actions, putting on makeup, jewelry and dropping a female condom packet in their purses before heading out.

Three jazzy women from a health center in Kenya explain the benefits and demonstrate the use of the female condom, especially for youth, in Female condoms are a woman’s bargaining power by Charlie Bland.

From Pathfinder International and Jaime Jacobsen, a film with credits in Mozambique of women cooking, talking and sharing, in Female condoms are my power, my protection, my pleasure, the second most viewed film.

A bar story of two guys contemplating a female condom and then one, hearing from a women friend that they add sensual sensations, going off to try it with her in Female Condoms Are Sexy by Robin Brooks.

A selection from the Community Human Rights and Advocacy Centre (Chrac) in Cameroon, which one man convinces another that using a female condom is better than fighting over sex with his wife, the mother of ten, in Female Condoms are preferable.

Female condoms are freedom by Denisse Arancibia, made in Bolivia, in which a woman, speaking Spanish, explains her dating philosophy, saying, don't judge me, as she inserts a pre-date female condom.

A slice of life film of a woman searching out an unusual source for the female condom in Female Condoms are a Necessity not a Novelty by Florence Adu, who calls it "Our declaration of independence."

A humorous film of young love and things that make people feel good -- including sex -- in which an Asian duo of "soul mates" explores, sometimes in pantomime, their sexual protection options, in Female condoms are pretty nice by Alan TJ. (Below)

In addition to PATH, the film contest was supported by Universal Access to Female Condoms (UAFC) Joint Programme, the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), and the National Female Condom Coalition (NFCC).

Previously on this blog, we're written about the great popularity of short videos posted on the Internet in "Female Condom Big in YouTube Land." Now, many more!

And don't forget this really cool Afro Jazz video from Cameroon, promoting the female condom.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

Pictured: Screen Shot from Female Condoms Are Sexy by Robin Brooks.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

"Like" us on Facebook here.
Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Poems About Abortion Care for World Poetry Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Just in time for the rather under-recognized World Poetry Day on March 21, the Abortion Care Network announced the winners of its Second Annual Abortion Rights Poetry Contest. And coming on the heels of the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers on March 10, the timing couldn't be better.

>>>For Words of Choice info, see www.wordsofchoice.org<<<

The Abortion Care Network -- or ACN --named four winning poets who were selected with Split This Rock, a national network of socially engaged poets: Rayna Momen (1st), Devreaux Baker (2nd), Lindsay Vaughan (3d, tie) and Maya Pindyck (3d, tie).

"It takes more than abortion clinics to ensure access to reproductive health care. It turns out that poets have a key role to play in protecting women’s choices," writes ACN in a press release.

Kit Bonson, board member of both Split This Rock and ACN, said, “For some women who seek abortion, there is safety, relief, and good medical care. For others, there is doubt, harassment, and stigma.” Fifty submissions spoke to all of these themes, said ACN.

World Poetry Day, established in 1999, is an inspiration of UNESCO. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, writes, "Poetry is one of the purest expressions of linguistic freedom. It is a component of the identity of peoples and it embodies the creative energy of culture, for it can be continuously renewed."

Renewing energy for reproductive freedom, the Abortion Rights Poetry Contest winners find lilting language and images to tell women's stories.

In the opening stanzas of "Temple," Rayna Momen writes:

"Unprotected sex is a woman in America.
Unprotected sex is a woman in the world.

My body is my temple and will always be
it is not some place where you go to pray
it is not your place to decide how and whether
it should be shaped and changed
it is not ‘open for business’
for you to come inside and go as you please
it is not for you to discern
how much protection it deserves
and regardless of how many terms you serve
it will shed and it will bleed
so let it bend, let it breathe, just let it be.

Since my body, my temple
became a piece of legislation
it has protested every attempt to enslave it
and it will stop at nothing to stop the violence
it calls a ceasefire, a plea for peace
it calls for help and for relief, reprieve
it will not be silenced. ..."

Continue reading "Temple" here

An excerpt from My Sister by Devreaux Baker says:

"....Last night my long dead sister came to my table
She said this is what I did
Drove myself to that alley
On the side street of New Castle Bridge
Walked four blocks to the door with the paint
Peeling off its front where the drunk lying in the gutter
Told me to knock three times and this is what I did ...."

Read the full text of My Sister here

Above Average by Lindsay Vaughan begins in this way:

Women who are not ready we have our own ways
we take pills lie in our lovers’ beds

curled like blades of grass we wait for the writhing wind
that aches and rocks our slender bodies they whisper ....

Read the full poem, Above Average, here

Baby of the Month by Maya Pindyck reads like this:

My friend tells me she just saw October Baby,
a movie about a woman who finds out she was
almost aborted—“abortion survivor,” she calls herself.
I ask my friend if she’s seen the newest flick,
November Baby, about a woman who was almost a man
had a neighboring sperm found her mother’s egg first,
or March Baby, the heart-wrenching story of a woman
who wouldn’t even be had her mother not chugged
that third glass of wine & taken the postman between her legs,
or the one about the sorry egg that never split,
long lost twin forever twirling a rosy dream,
or the greatest tale of all, September Baby: known woman
who grew to love her own body without sentiment,
who slept with a quiet stranger, woke up pregnant, said
No, not yet, wore a cotton gown in a clean room
filled with bright women who laughed & wished her well
when the nurse called her name, woman who stayed
awake to feel the pain that comes with any choice,
then came home to a plate of ribs & brownies,
left what if to her readers, left Frost his roads diverged
& joined the impossible goats, snakes, stars & olive trees
in one million unrighteous shimmers.

Also read Baby of the Month, here.

Poetry speaks volumes in its images, insights, choices. As UNESCO writes, "Poetry contributes to creative diversity, by questioning anew our use of words and things, our modes of perception and understanding of the world.... World Poetry Day is an invitation to reflect on the power of language and the full development of each person’s creative abilities."

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: ACN logo from its website

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

"Like" us on Facebook here.
Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Live & Live Streaming: New Platforms for Freedom & Arts

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:20:00 +0000

To kick off Women's History Month in March, Words of Choice participated in the first WiredArtsFest. A cross between an arts festival and an internet event, the Words of Choice cast presented their signature performances live in New York before four cameras and a small audience, and these were simultaneously live streamed to people everywhere with computer access.

>>>>>For more info about Words of Choice, see our website, www.wordsofchoice.org>>>>>>>

Who saw it? We heard from people in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana, New York -- upstate and the city (all parts!). And at several locations in Ireland.

Wrote one viewer in a Facebook message wrote, "It was like you were in my home. Wait, you WERE in my home!" She attached the picture above.

Other comments:

Looked great--very professional!

Wow! ... It was certainly compelling on so many levels. This is such strong material, mesmerizing to watch, and the performance worked well as a live-stream -- didn't seem at all constrained by the medium. And just when the tension in the dialogue was getting almost unbearable, there were laughs! ... And of course, the issue of women's right to choose -- well -- what can I say? This is so important, and the play is a gift to us all.

What an amazing way to amplify what you do and reach places that all too often are overlooked. Many thanks.

Good for you for exposing the truth behind "crisis" pregnancy centers.

I love that part 'there will be clinic today...' a woman reclaiming power ... Awesome.

Looking great.

I just sent a message to local women's rights leaders that we get Words of Choice back to Kansas -- before it's too late.

Thanks for developing and producing this show over years. A real contribution to bring the voices of women and abortion providers into the disucssion.

Congratulations! Terrific!

Just wanted to say well done on the show. The discussion afterwards was really interesting. It was wonderful to connect to a live experience in this way - very, very inspiring. Fantastic camera-work too by the way and strong performances all round. Thanks. (From Ireland)

We got a group together last night to watch the streaming performance and we were all inspired (and entertained) by the piece! We loved how tight, clever, and particularly how inclusive it was. One of our group tweeted in and her comment was read out in the following discussion - it was a frankly fabulous feeling to be a part of an international audience, and we were all grateful for the mentioning of the Irish situation and the days of protests that many of us are involved in. Many thanks and Congratulations! (From Ireland)

It was great! Congrats! oxoxo

The Words of Choice participation was unique on many levels. Viewers also participated in a post-show discussion with leaders in the reproductive justice field following the performance.

Joining us for a discussion on Friday, March 1: Amanda Marcotte, blogger at Pandagon, writer at RHReality Check, author of It's A Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide! and Lori Adelman, a contributing editor at Feministing who works on Every Woman Every Child for the UN Foundation. Joining us for a discussion on Saturday, March 2: Lynn Roberts, founding board member of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and an assistant professor at Hunter College, along with award-winning filmmakers Marion Lipshutz, who made The Education of Shelby Knox and an upcoming film about Native American women.

Viewing parties convened in multiple locations. Local organizations, colleges and groups were invited to coordinate house and dorm viewing parties to activate, motivate and educate on prochoice issues, using a Viewing Party guide and free Original Poster (our website had exceptionally high hits in the days before performances). Also available was a free app.

The performances featured Crista Marie Jackson, Carl H. Jaynes and Claudia Schneider,
under the direction of Francesca Mantani Arkus with stage manager Kelly Vieau and artistic consultant Stacey Linnartz. Five pieces of art by Heather Ault, 4000 Years for Choice were included in the live streaming performance.

Substantial coverage aided Words of Choice in reaching out to activists. Take a peek at some of it on these sites --

The WiredArtsFest was described on ABC here and Wall Street Journal here.

Words of Choice was specially highlighted in several pieces:

Words of Choice, Wired Arts Fest and Women -- Works by Women blog, and a nice crosspost on Anne Hamilton, Dramaturgy.

There is No Such Thing as Traditional Activism by Ashley Paskalis -- fem2pt0 blog

WOMEN ARTS: Join the Words of Choice Live Streaming Events Mar 1 and 2

Cindy Cooper on her Play, “Words of Choice,” Reproductive Justice and Body image in Adios Barbie

Read about Words of Choice in BUST Magazine

Women geeks artists create 1st WiredArtsFest and it supports repro rights! on Feministing.

WebWire: Words of Choice and Wired Arts Fest, Together

Words of Choice: Daily News Listings

In a unique hour-long TWEET CHAT sponsored by fem2pt0, Cindy Cooper of Words of Choice joined with cultural critic and commentator Soraya Chemaly to discuss feminism, the arts and reproductive rights! @fem2pt0 @choicetheater @schemaly #woclive

Soon after the fest, for International Women's History Day, Molly M. Ginty wrote an amazing article about reproductive rights on Women's eNews, including the perspective of Words of Choice, in Activists Connect Choice to Reproductive Justice.

Others on the Words of Choice team included Outreach and Marketing Director, Emma Shakarshy; Marketing and Public Relations Consultant, Ashley Paskalis; Marketing Assistant, Tiffany Colasuonno; design by Alyssa Skiba; credit music by The Hippy Nuts. Cindy Cooper, creator, served as Producer.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: top -- Facebook post; middle -- Amanda Marcotte in a discussion at theater studio with Tweet on screen behind; combo logo designed by Alyssa Skiba.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

"Like" us on Facebook here.
Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Words of Choice & Lots of Women at WiredArtsFest

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 04:38:00 +0000

(First published in Works by Women)

The first-ever WiredArtsFest may be the future of theater — live performance on stage in New York, captured by four film cameras, and simultaneously broadcast over the Internet to people everywhere by live streaming technology.

And if this is the future, it’s finally looking good for women. Thirteen performing companies are participating in the WiredArtsFest, running through March 2, 2013. Of the seven plays, 60 percent of the playwrights and 85 percent of the directors are women. Six of these theater companies have women producers, as does an additional educational youth theater program, and women choreographers lead three of the four participating dance companies. One even uses original music from a woman composer, who also plays viola on stage.

I didn’t know this when I signed up to this experimental forum with Words of Choice, which is a distinctly social-activist theater company and one on reproductive freedom. But I had met the CEO, Kathryn Velvel Jones, at events supporting parity for women in theater, and I had a good feeling. I was intrigued by her concept of opening a vibrant presence for theater via live streaming.

I also knew that, while Words of Choice has traveled to 20 states, costs were mounting. Reaching remote communities where we especially wanted to take positive pro-choice stories became more difficult to reach precisely because they are so isolated -- and the people who live in them are even more isolated, still. Once, in South Dakota, a woman came up to me and said, "Thank you for not forgetting us." Same thing at a college in Kansas, where a young woman organizer sent me a handwritten note:

"Words of Choice was truly a blessing. It motivated me to keep organizing in my community, made me realize that there are people in other parts of the country who haven’t forgotten that there are grassroots organizers in the midwest. The play was inspirational, the actors were phenomenal. It was a night not to be forgotten, and I will never think about reproductive choice in the same way again.

But -- here's the thing: the Internet could go everywhere -- Kansas, South Dakota, Mississippi, even Ireland -- without the hassle of airport security lines, cancelled flights, costs for every bag that every actor needed.

Words of Choice signed up for March 1 at 7 pm and March 2 at 3 pm — an opportunity to kickoff Women’s History Month.

The WiredArtsFest, started by Jones’ start-up company, VirtualArts.tv, offers a new and revolutionary direction for theater, building on our interconnected electronics, but retaining the richness of a collective audience experience. The shows are all performing live before an audience at The New Media Center of The Secret Theatre in Long Island City, Queens. Broadcasting is accomplished via a special linkup to Ustream.tv, a platform like YouTube but for events in real-time.

In this form, live theater reaches out through the computer screen — this is nothing like a talking heads webinar. The camera operators use their own artistry, and the camera director calls shots that are then streamed. During Cheryl King's remarkable live streaming solo performance, "Grapefruit," pithy humor about cancer, the camera would sometimes show her hands in motion, othertimes her face, her body from a side angle or catch her striding across the stage. It was impossible to feel anything static: and that it was live added a level of energy that only real live performance can offer. In another solo play, TITS, Turkish actress Ege Maltepe incorporates video clips of interviews her character, a professor, is said to have conducted. The online viewer moves from stage to clip to stage -- all in a little screen.

During the live streaming, electronically-connected audiences may interact by Twitter, instant messaging, photo sharing, and Facebook posting, creating an ongoing conversation on the side of the “stage” on their device screens. During Lauren Rayner's production of Sartre's "Huis Close" ("No Exit"), the actors performed in French with English subtitles on the screen -- just like the Met Opera without the Met budget!

People who are watching live at The Secret Theatre are also encouraged to use their Smartphones — in fact, the theater programs are contained on a free App from the WiredArtsFest. (Even the App designer is a woman; oh, and so is the brilliant camera director.)

Although Jones, an actor whose day job is in digital media, had previously presented her own work virtually (and she is in and co-produces a piece, Abstract Nude, in the WiredArtsFest), the idea of creating a festival opened the doors to a variety of artists willing to step out of the box. “Think of a fringe festival, but online, where the audience is global, seating is unlimited and viewers can participate in live chat discussions while the performance is happening,” Jones said.

The WiredArtsFest is already getting attention, including an especially interesting exploration in text and video by Joanna Stern on ABC.com, who wrote: “At this festival the creators want you to use your phone during the performances. They want you to tweet, share photos, and use their own app. You also don't have to be in the physical theater to share your impressions of the dance, musical and theater performances …[and] you get more than just the feed from one camera in the back of the theater." Other stories have appeared in BroadwayWorld.com and Playbill.com.

That women are at the forefront of this movement to expand the arts in new directions, and that women are taking the lead in participating, is one of the more hopeful developments in the whole shape of gender parity in the arts.

Join us in New York at the theater, or online at the Wired Arts Fest. More information: Words of Choice or WiredArtsFest.

Parts of this blog were originally published in Works by Women as "Women, Words of Choice and WiredArtsFest."

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screen Shot of Ustream as a Words of Choice banner appears.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

"Like" us on Facebook here.
Subscribe in a reader

Twitter: @ChoiceTheater

Website: www.wordsofchoice.org

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Bringing ProChoice Theater to Your Computer: Live Streaming Arts Festival!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 06:05:00 +0000

Words of Choice opens a national and international conversation on reproductive freedom with the first Live-Streaming Performing Arts Festival.

Words of Choice has joined with VirtualArtsTV in an innovative, interactive, online festival tailored to a 21st Century audience. The WiredArts Fest will allow reproductive justice activists and viewers across the country to watch a LIVE theatrical performance and to connect.

Words of Choice: Roe at 40 will be part of the first WiredArts Fest on Friday, March 1 at 7 pm EST, and Saturday, March 2 at 3 pm EST (program starts at 2 pm EST).

With the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Words of Choice is taking this giant step onto a virtual stage to support prochoice voices in the U.S., Ireland, Latin America and across the globe who are working to assert women’s fundamental human right to make their own reproductive rights decisions. The events move the discussion about abortion, contraception, women’s freedom and experiences to a new level with an interactive, electronic exchange, using the characteristic storytelling of Words of Choice (smart, funny … and endangered)! While broadcast via the Internet, the Words of Choice will perform live in New York before a studio-theater audience.

Words of Choice is part of the WiredArts Fest, a live-streaming arts festival produced by VirtualArtsTV, a new venture in New York with Kathryn Velvel Jones as CEO. “Think of a Fringe Festival, but online, where the audience is global, seating is unlimited and viewers can participate in live chat discussions, interact through Twitter and Facebook, while the performance is happening,” writes VirtualArts TV in a press release. There is even a Free APP.

The Words of Choice ensemble features Crista Marie Jackson, Carl H. Jaynes and Claudia Schneider under the direction of Francesca Mantani Arkus; Kelly Vieau is stage manager; Stacey Linnartz is Artistic Consultant with art by Heather Ault of 4000 Years for Choice. Words of Choice, created by Cindy Cooper, weaves together twelve writings by diverse authors into a single performance.

The 65-minute Live Streaming performance of Words of Choice will be followed by a 20-minute discussion with reproductive justice leaders, and Live Streaming audiences will be able to interact with participants then, as well. On March 1, Amanda Marcotte, book author and blogger at Pandagon and RH Reality Check, participates; on March 2, Lynn Roberts, founding board member of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, will join.

Words of Choice is also helping organizations and colleges to organize house parties to activate, motivate and energize prochoice individuals across the country during the time period in which legislatures are convening and considering restrictive legislation and Obamacare is finally taking shape with contraceptive coverage. Free Viewing Packets are available, as are free posters, designed by Alyssa Skiba. Emma Shakarshy is the Words of Choice Marketing and Outreach Director.

VirtualArtsTV’s previous project garnered over 50,000 unique views from all over the world with viewers twittering, facebooking and chatting virtual standing ovations, according to the festival organizers. One viewer in Massachusetts wrote, “The thrill of live theatre, the feeling of being a part of it and yet I’m miles away…amazing.” Others viewed from international locations.

JOIN US! Click here for more information.

Join Us IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE at
The New Media Center at the Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd Street Long Island City, NY 11101

Join Us OR ONLINE
VirtualArts.tv

WORDS OF CHOICE: TIMES
March 1 at 7 pm, EST
March 2 at 3 pm EST (the entire program [PROG C] starts with another play at 2 pm EST; Words of Choice starts at 3 pm EST)

To Purchase Tickets for Premium Channel Viewing, visit VirtualArts.TV
Buy online tickets here for WORDS OF CHOICE on March 1 at 7 pm (EST) or for March 2 at 3 pm (EST). ~~(Note-on Mar 2, online viewers may also view a different play in the festival at 2 pm for no extra charge.)

You can also buy tickets to participate live and in person at the theater.
In-STUDIO Tickets: $18.00 (New Media Center, Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101)

Buy tickets for WORDS OF CHOICE, In Studio, Friday, March 1 at 7 pm.
Buy tickets for WORDS OF CHOICE, In Studio, Saturday, March 2 at 2 pm (Words of Choice at 3 pm).

ONLINE viewers may access a lower quality stream with commercial interruptions: Free http://www.ustream.tv

Sign up on our FACEBOOK EVENTS PAGE FOR LIVE STREAMING!

And this FACEBOOK PAGE FOR NY-IN-THE-STUDIO participation!

Get a Viewing Packet here.

Get a Free Poster here or here.

Find about about the FREE APPS here.

In addition to Words of Choice, the WiredArts Fest, running will feature another dozen shows over 12 days. Performances include Abstract Nude, written by Gwydion Suilebhan (a digital play experience), Exit 12 (dance based on AD Roman Baca’s service in the Marines), Sartre’s Huis Clos “No Exit”, Les Muses, White With Some Color, Clippings, Alice and Elizabeth’s One Woman Show, Tits, Grapefruit, and more.

Read about the WiredArtsFest in BroadwayWorld and in Playbill.com.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org.

Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and

tax-deductible donations can be made online.

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Daily Beast Interactive Map: A Thing of Wonder

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:30:00 +0000

Allison Yarrow and Michael Keller managed to create an amazing geographic representation of abortion clinics across the country, graphically emphasizing just how far people in some parts of the nation must travel for a piece of basic healthcare -- that is, an abortion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~See wordsofchoice.org for information about Words of Choice and our upcoming activities.~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The interactive map on abortion clinics is a beaut, and represents the best of what electronic journalism can offer.

In the intro, the creators, who list another six contributors and nearly as many sources, identified the remaining 724 clinics in the U.S. , put them on a map, and then calculated just how far a woman has to go to get the services she needs. It some places, it's ridiculous -- hundreds of miles.
They write:

In the four decades since Roe v. Wade, states have enacted hundreds of provisions restricting access to abortion serviceS ... these provisions, such as mandatory wait times, make it more difficult for women seeking abortions, and in other cases have caused clinics to close....

The map below shows the as-the-crow-flies distance to the nearest clinic from every part of the country. Hover over an area with your cursor to see the distance between where you are and the nearest clinic. Click on the “Points of Interest” boxes to read about different areas and see what laws are in effect that regulate abortion. You can also overlay census data showing where the population of women of reproductive age (15–44) live.

The map itself, using the perfect editorial analysis and essential electronic keying, makes the unnecessary burdens placed on women perfectly clear. You'll want to spend time with your cursor exploring around. And hope that the Daily Beast and other sites continue to look creatively and how to share information about the war on women's health and rights.

If you missed the link above, check it out here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/22/interactive-map-america-s-abortion-clinics.html

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Daily Beast Interactive Map

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. We travel to communities to use the power of the arts and creativity to open new conversations about reproductive freedom. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org, including bookings, history, artists, resources and creativity workshops. Words of Choice is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and tax-deductible donations can be made online.

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Happy Decision Day: Commemorating Roe@40

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:54:00 +0000

Forty years ago, United States Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun issued a thoughtful opinion, one that he spent months upon months refining. When released, Roe v. Wade said that states could not make abortion illegal across the board. Six of the nine justices agreed with him; only two dissented.

>>>>>>>>See www.wordsofchoice for more more info about Words of Choice.<<<<<<<<<

Roe became a key building block for women's equality. (For a view of the pre-Internet world, take a peek at Walter Cronkite's announcement on TV.)

The day it was released, January 22, is now a day to mark and celebrate and at Year Forty, Roe events are taking place across the country.

Here is a sampling:

California -- San Diego: On January 24, 6 pm - 9 pm, San Diego NOW and the San Diego Coalition for Reproductive Choice are holding the 40th Anniversary Roe v. Wade Dinner, featuring the history of the prochoice movement in the city. Location: 404 Euclid Avenue San Diego, CA 92114. Details at www.roesandiego.org.

California -- San Francisco: On January 26 from 10 am to 12 pm, BACORR and a large coalition of reproductive rights allies are sponsoring A Celebration of Women, Life & LiBerty: 40 Years of Roe vs. Wade at Justin Herman Plaza, with food, socializing, balloons, speakers, a photoboth and flash mob dancers. Free. Sign up for updates.

Colorado: The Colorado Reproductive Freedom Coalition is holding Roe at 40: Celebrating 40 Years of Reproductive Freedom on January 23 from 5:30-7 at Casselmans Bar, Denver
2620 Walnut St in Denver, as described on Facebook.

Florida: The 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade will be celebrated on Wednesday, January 23, 6:30-8:30 pm, at The Blue Fish, 3551 Saint Johns Ave. in Jacksonville.

Internet: Join the 8th Annual Blog for Choice sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice America on January 22 by registering online, downloading a graphic and tagging your post. "Blog for Choice Day gets more people reading and talking about reproductive rights online on one of the most important days surrounding a woman’s right to choose," writes NARAL. You can also share on Twitter at #Tweet4Choice.

Internet: The Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign will sponsor an online "march" during the week of January 20-28, as it did last year. Working with Move On.org, reproductive justice organizations across the country are collaborating on it. Sign up for information.

Internet: Check out this collection of posters and notices of events pinned by Dallas at "Roe is 40" on Pinterest (screen shot above).

Internet: Words of Choice will present two Live-Streaming interactive theatrical performances on March 1 at 7 pm (EST) and March 2 at 3 pm (EST) through the WiredArtsTV. House and dorm parties are now being organized to share an exciting national and international conversation among prochoice activists. To participate or for more information, contact wordsofchoice@mindspring.com.

Internet/Massachusetts: Boston Students for Sexual and Reproductive Health is celebrating with a blog contest. "Write 250-500 words about what the Roe v. Wade decision means to you," the group proclaims. Drawings, photos, stories, rants, essays ... all welcome, and top contributors can win prizes. Submit by January 22 to bostonreprojustice@gmail.com.

Massachusetts: Fourteen organizations are sponsoring the Roe v. Wade 40th Anniversary Breakfast and Lobby Day on January 14 at the Great Hall at the State House in Boston starting at 10 a.m. The breakfast keynote speaker is Paula Johnson, MD, MPH, Executive Director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology and Chief of the Division of Women's Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; also speaking will be representatives from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Representative Ellen Story, Senator Katherine Clark and Senate President Therese Murray. From 11:30 am to 2 pm, after a brief advocacy training, participants will meet with state reps to lobby for choice issues.

New Hampshire: The Concord Feminist Health Center in Concord, NH (38 South Main Street) the oldest abortion clinic in New Hampshire will be celebrating Roe on Saturday, January 19 from 11-2. They'll be having a celebration in front of the building with signs they've made and with materials from Faith Aloud. They'll have music and food, too. More: info@feministhealth.org; 603-225-2739.

New Mexico: On January 25 at 1:30 pm, Sante Fe NOW is gathering in the Capitol Rotunda on its Roe V. Wade Day (signs not permitted.) Updates and info, here.

New Jersey: The New Jersey Abortion Access Fund is sponsoring a panel on abortion rights and access on Sunday, January 27 at 2-5 pm at Trayes Hall, 100 George St., on the Rutgers University-Douglass Campus. The event, Roe at 40: Looking Forward, will feature a keynote address by Deborah Jacobs, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy, Ms. Foundation for Women, and former Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey, and an award to Ann Baker, activist with the National Center for the Pro-Choice Majority. To RSVP -- info@njaaf.org or eventbrite. $15/$30/$40 tickets.

New York City: Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) is presenting "Abortion Providers in Conversation About Roe v. Wade on Its 40th Anniversary" on Monday, January 14, 6:30-8 pm in midtown Manhattan. Speakers are Dr. Willie Parker, Dr. Linda Prine and a special guest. Tickets are $20 for the panel, and $250-$1,000 to meet them at a reception. For more information please email Roe40@prch.org, call 646-649-9912 or register online.

New York City: On January 14, 2013, from 6:30 pm to 8 pm, the New York City Bar Association Committee on Sex and Law is sponsoring The Fortieth Anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's Landmark Decision, Roe V. Wade. Moderator Priscilla Smith, Senior Fellow at the Information Society Project at the Yale Law School, speakers include: Louise Melling, Director, ACLU Center for Liberty; Ruthann Robson, Professor of Law & University Distinguished Professor, CUNY School of Law; Kathleen Morrell, MD, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health; Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Executive Director, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; Bebe Anderson, Director, U.S. Legal Program, Center for Reproductive Rights. The event is free, but reservations are needed. It is being held at the NY Bar Association, 42 West 44th St.

New York City: On January 15, at 7 pm, Sunsara Taylor will speak at Revolution Books: On the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. . . Abortion: Stigmatized and Endangered. Time for Massive, Uncompromising Struggle. Location: 146 W. 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Ave.)
212-691-3345.

New York City: NYC Radical Women is commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade with a Film Showing and Discussion on January 24 at 7:30 pm at Freedom Hall, 113 W. 128th St., in Harlem, New York City. A showing "From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion," by Dorothy Fadiman will be followed by an open discussion. tickets are $3 donation. At 7 pm, prior to the film, "a hearty supper with vegetarian option" will be served for $10 donation. Childcare provided. Info: 212-222-0633 or nycradicalwomen@nyct.net.

New York City: National Women’s Liberation is commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade with a speakout and street theatre to demand unrestricted access to the Morning-After Pill. Join them on January 22 from 4:30 – 6:30pm in front of the offices of Health and Human Services 26 Federal Plaza, New York City. More information at womensliberation.org.

New York City: On January 24, 7 pm, the New York Abortion Access Fund will hold "Celebrate Access Awards," a program and benefit, on the upper West Side. Honorees are Jasmine Burnett with the NY Coalition for Reproductive Justice, City Council Member Jessica Lappin and journalist Irin Carmon of Salon. Tickets are $100 up.

New York State -- Buffalo: On January 18-20 at 7:30 pm, the Brazen-Faced Varlets theater troupe will present WORDS OF CHOICE 2 -- "this sequel to last year's provocative pro-choice anthem." Directed by Kelly M. Beuth, starring Beuth, Jane Cudmore, Paul McGinnis, Brittany Kucala, Ayondela Noble, Jennifer Arroyo, Jenny Gembka, Theresa DiMuro Wilber, Kerry Alsheimer and Toni Smith-Wilson, The performances will be at Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo NY 14202.

Tennessee: Forty mid-South organizations are sponsoring "Religion, Law, and Reproductive Rights: The 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade," a reception, film screening and panel discussion, on Tuesday, January 22 at the University of Memphis, University Center Theater, beginning at 6 pm. Dorothy Fadiman's film, "From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion,” will be shown at 6:30 pm, following by a discussion with Brian Faughnan, attorney, ACLU Tennessee; Betsy Mandel-Carley, a social worker who participated in hearings in Texas that led to Roe; Dr. Rosalyn R. Nichols, pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church in Memphis; Dr. Owen Phillips, OB/GYN, Associate Dean of Students at UT Medical School; Rep. Karen Camper, Tennessee state representative from Memphis with moderator Mamie Shannon, a public radio host. Free and open to the public; parking available for $5 at the UofM Zach Curlin Garage.

Texas -- Austin: On January 16, 5-8 pm join Cocktails for Reproductive Justice with Lilith Fund at Lustre Pearl in Austin.

Texas -- Houston -- On January 19, 8 pm in Houston, Lilith Fund's Roe anniversary dance party will be at at the East Side Social Center. See Facebook Event.

Texas -- College Station -- On January 21, 8 pm in College Station, find Roe V. Wade 40th Celebration: Cocktails and Karaoke for Choice, Off-Texas A&M Campus hosted by Pro-Choice Aggies.

Texas -- Austin: On January 22, 11:30 am-12:30 pm in Austin join the Rally at the State Capitol.

Texas -- San Antonio: On January 22, 6:00 pm: Roe on the Riverwalk with Lilith Fund.

Texas -- Austin: On January 24, 6-9 pm, in Austin, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas is celebrating the Roe anniversary with an evening of story sharing, food & drink at Roe at 40: A Celebration of Reproductive Rights, Mercury Hall.

Washington DC: The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is holding an Interfaith Service of Blessing & Welcome for Our Friends in Congress, the Returning Administration, and Their Staffs on Sunday, January 20 at 4:00 pm in Washington, DC. The event will celebrate "our s/heroes of the last 40 years" and look to the future of universal justice. Address provided upon registration.

Washington DC: Visual artist Heather Ault of 4000 Years for Choice is organizing the 40th Anniversary Celebration Banners for Roe v Wade in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, on January 22, from Noon-6 pm. Read more and see a picture on indiegogo, where she is raising funds to make it all happen.

Washington State: In Seattle on January 22, 2013, from 7 pm to 8:30 pm, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and partners, including the ACLU of Washington mark the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade with a talk by Sarah Weddington, the Texas lawyer who argued the case. Location: Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Avenue. Free and open to the public, but the registration site indicates that the event is sold out (as of Jan 15).

No doubt that this list is only a sprinkle of the upcoming events.

If you are looking for an event in your location, check with your local or state NOW (listing events in Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin); NARAL; or PLANNED PARENTHOOD organizations.

Finally, on Roe day, don't forget about Doe. Doe v. Bolton, a companion case to Roe from the state of Georgia, said that a woman's health is paramount: Doe deserves to be studied and understood much more than it is!

Do you want to add something to this list? Send an email with location, time, place, event, sponsor and a separate link. Keep the info in text only, that is, no posters or pictures. Info will be added as time allows!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screen shot of Pinterest site of Dallas, January 9, 2013.

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Our Dreams of Safe Abortion Care: Marcy Bloom

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:28:00 +0000

[See the website, www.wordsofchoice.org, for information about Words of Choice.]

Six years ago, Marcy Bloom wrote a beautiful poem -- or call it a spoken word piece, if you like -- which Words of Choice was privileged to include in an excerpted form in New Works on Choice in New York City. We described it in one of our early posts, here, and, indeed, this event spurred the creation of this blog, Up the Creativity, on artistic investigations of reproductive freedom.

Since then, Marcy, an incredible supporter of reproductive freedom, has become a great friend and adviser to Words of Choice. From her home in Seattle, she has contributed or written pieces for this blog -- here and here and here. But we have never included all but a line or two from her poem. ...click for more ...

But now it is ever so appropriate. As the year 2012 rolls into 2013 and the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Marcy's work -- even though it refers to an earlier anniversary -- is more relevant than ever. What we know is that our work isn't done, and that safe abortion care in the U.S. and around the world will need, for another year and for many more years to come, to be cherished and advanced and supported and reinforced and buffered from those who would demean women's rights and encroach on their health and autonomy.

Finally, with Marcy's permission we are posting both the excerpted version and the extended version (which is here) of her powerful piece, Safe Abortion Care is a Blessing and a Miracle (one tip: read it out loud for best effect ...)

Safe Abortion Care is a Blessing and a Miracle by Marcy Bloom (excerpt)

Abortion Pregnancy Worry Test Nausea Vomiting Choice
Decision Reflection Thinking Baby? Clarity
Clinic Procedure Doctor Counselor Pain Cramping Noise Soft Words Crying Crying Comfort Bleeding Rush
Emotions Grief Relief Focused Happy My body is back
Cramping Crying Sighing Calm
Cannula Tube Laminaria Injections Dilators Forceps Suction Done Over
Fear Loss Morality God Religion Grounded Good-bye Hello Acceptance
Joy Worry Womb Me Decision Future Empowerment Support Kindness
Uterus Cervix Body Autonomy Control “My body, my choice”
Conflict Power Politics Laws Regulations Picketers Threats Yelling Intimidation
“You’re killing your baby!” “Murderer, sinner, whore, Jezebel!”
Rights Health Restrictions Resolutions Society Privacy Personal Hate Oppression Denial Fetus Woman Girl Body Pregnancy Reproductive Justice Choice

Women make the choice of abortion every day around the world
46 million every year
Almost half of those are illegal
Where abortion is illegal and stigmatized women die
68,000 women die every year
Every minute around the world, 40 women have unsafe abortions
And one woman dies….
Yes, every minute, every day….

….Why do women choose abortion? We choose it for ourselves
For our families, for our children, for our futures our destinies our survival

I am scared I fear that abortion is more stigmatized and less available than ever

Because it is
Almost 35 years of Roe vs. Wade
BUT 87% of US counties have no abortion care provider
Anti-woman laws close clinics down deny us our right to choose, to provide

Without clinics, without providers, Roe vs. Wade is meaningless
So what will women do?

I fear the knitting needle
I fear the coat hanger lye douches suicides unwanted, unloved children
I fear dead women and girls again
Our humanity, our dreams, our futures ripped away from us
I know we are going back

….I cry for the baby abandoned in a dumpster
What pain, panic, fear, and desperation that woman or girl must have felt
That poor child
That terrified woman

….Abortion helps women and girls become to be better mothers
When they are ready
Only each woman and girl can look within herself
And know the truth and reality of what she must do, of what she needs to do for her power, her life, her future
Her reality
Her conscience, her choices, her faith, and her life will guide her… we can trust this….women and girls know

This is not simple or easy…it is not meant to be
But life is complex….and I have never known any significant life decision to be simple or easy

Have you?

MARCY BLOOM
copyr. 2007

(Read the full version here.)

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Photo from demonstration in NY, 2011.

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Irish Carolers Sing Out for Choice Legislation

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:04:00 +0000

>>>>Find out about Words of Choice bookings and more at www.wordsofchoice.org

'Tis the season! Holiday singers in Ireland -- complete with Santa at their side -- gathered for Christmas carols with new prochoice lyrics. The goal: to spur the Ireland to pass, at alst, legislation that will ease the country's ultra restrictive abortion laws.

"We wish you a Merry Xmas so legislate for the new year," the singers caroled.

The singing, captured and posted in this YouTube video, must have worked: Ireland finally took steps to protect women who lives are endangered by a pregnancy. According to the Daily Telegraph in Britain on December 18, "The Irish government has decided to repeal legislation that makes abortion a criminal act and to introduce regulations setting out when doctors can perform an abortion when a woman’s life is regarded as being at risk, including by suicide." The new legislation comes in the wake of the terrible death in October of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist who died in Ireland during a miscarriage after doctors rejected her repeated requests for an abortion. The carolers called themselves the "C" Choir. The "C" is a reference to the name of another Irish woman ("Ms. C.") who filed a complaint with a European Court of Human Rights after she was denied an abortion. Ms. C., who had cancer, traveled to England for an abortion. Two years ago, the European Court ruled that her human rights had been violated, but Ireland had still not taken the legislative steps to correct the law until the death of Savita. Lawyer Julie F. Kay wrote, "The (Ms. C.) case was considered a major victory for women," but, without legislative action, existed "only on paper." The new Irish legislation is one small step forward for Irish women and, to that, good cheer. Posted by Cindy Cooper Pictured above: YouTube of The C Choir Caroling

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Tee shirts, cards, ladyparts: Choices Galore!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:13:00 +0000

Tee-shirts, a tailored selection of prochoice cards and messages, even a hand embroidered replication of a vagina ... there's plenty to add to a reproductive choice holiday list this year. Here are a few:

In the past year, Heather Ault has been creating a series of cards and posters that express prochoice sentiments. Now, you can buy them at her site, 4,000 Years for Choice.

Ault has ten dozen cards, including the one pictured here. Called "Reproductive Roots Art Cards," the square cards are excellent for giving -- and framing. Cost is $5.00, and a nice little packet of five different choices makes your own tailored message. The cards can also be ordered as posters for $20.00, as can Ault's signature 4000 Years for Choice posters, described here. Use the code HOLIDAY10 for a ten percent discount during the season!

The Abortion Care Network is offering tee-shirts with a superwoman taking flight to stop the war on women. The shirts, also designed by Heather Ault, are in black or red backgrounds and men's or women's cuts. They are specially priced at $20 (normally $25) through the holidays. Purchases support independent clinics.

Finally, you can find the, yes, hand embroidered, original art, bright red, vagina replica on Etsy from Scarlet Tentacle. A placeholder gift card is offered for future delivery for the made-to-order item if your timing means missing the actual date (a two-week window for delivery is suggested). Cost is $95.00.

Make it a choice holiday!

Posted by Cindy Cooper

Pictured above: Reproductive Roots Card #0026 from Heather Ault

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Resources: Get These Books for Yourself & Friends!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 03:35:00 +0000

Three books from the tiny Eberhardt Press in Portland, Oregon, are must-haves for reproductive rights activists. The prices are SO right that you should order them now before they go out of print.

Free to Choose: A Guide to Reproductive Freedom(pictured) is, as the catalog says, "an introduction to the history of underground abortion and a call to learn our history and to take matters in our own hands." This 24 page pamphlet covers a lot of ground -- but the focus is on making sure that women have access to safe abortions under all circumstances. Among its inclusions, a several page how-to of Menstrual Extraction.

The introduction to the book says: It is

"Our intention to better equip ourselves and our comrades with the knowledge and tools for making safe and empowered choices in our bedrooms and in the world we live in." The pamphlet emphasizes "the necessity for access to abortion and not for legality.... It is up to women to make sure we never go back to the bad old days of back alley abortions.... The knowledge exists for women to exercise their reproductive freedoms in safe and empowering ways. The time has come to take it back."

This vital pamphlet can be purchased from Eberhardt Press for $2.00 plus $1.00 shipping. BUT, there is more: it can be downloaded for FREE.

You can also get from Eberhardt "Reclaiming Our Ancient Wisdom: Herbal Abortion Procedure and Practice for Midwives and Herbalists" by Catherine Marie Jeunet, a guide on the safety, risks and considerations of herbal abortifacients. Now in its third limited edition, the pamphlet costs $6.00 plus $1.50 for domestic shipping.

Eberhardt writes of this booklet: "With the right wing launching a wide-ranging assault on women's reproductive freedom, it is imperative that we defend women's rights and preserve knowledge of natural alternatives which have been practiced for millennia." It is, the online catalog explains, "beautifully illustrated with botanical drawings from Gerard's Herbal and other early texts."

The third publication carried by the small Portland outfit is an archival keepsake --
Jane: Documents From Chicago's Clandestine Abortion Service 1968-1973. This 60-page pamphlet documents the work of the women-run abortion service in Chicago that provided safe, humane services to thousands of women before Roe v. Wade in 1973. It is, says the publisher's catalog, "a beautiful example of the battles that can be won without begging, of women taking their lives into their own hands and taking responsibility for their actions." Originally published by Firestarter Press, Eberhardt is carrying it forward by reprints. It costs $3.00, plus $1.00 shipping.

Eberhardt's emergence in 2004 and its taking up these stories is essential in this day and age of shrinking publication opportunities. The press is named for Isabelle Eberhardt, described as "the great anarchist writer and adventurer who was swept away by a flash flood in Algeria at age 27, more than a hundred years ago. But her writings have lived on long after her passing .... Her life and her work are an inspiration for those who desire to embrace the experiences of life to the fullest, and who refuse to be mired in the repressive constraints of conventional society."

Contact Eberhardt Press at 636 SE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97214, or email info@eberhardtpress.org.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Cover of Free to Choose from Eberhardt Press

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Australia's "Dangerous Remedy": Bring This Film to the US

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:37:00 +0000

"Dangerous Remedy" is a movie about an Australian doctor who campaigns mightily for safe, legal abortion after seeing the women bleeding and torn from illegal and unsafe abortions in the 1960s.

Earlier in November, Dangerous Remedy aired on -- yes -- mainstream television in Australia. In fact, on ABC.

The clips can't be viewed in the U.S., but, by all reports, this is one worth importing.

The movie is based on real life abortion campaigner Dr. Bertram Wainer, a Scottish immigrant, and his partner, Jo. Based on a Wainer's 1972 book, It Isn't Nice, the movie shows Wainer fighting corrupt cops, as well as laws that forced women to search out back-alley butchers for abortion services. As described on the website for Dangerous Remedy:

Living and working in Melbourne in the 1960s, Dr Wainer put his life at risk to expose police corruption in an effort to change the law on abortion and put an end to the illegal operations that were killing young women.

It’s a truly inspiring story. Dr Wainer’s determination, even when his own life and that of his family’s was threatened, never faltered. He was living proof that one person can make a difference and change the status quo.

With the support of Dr Wainer’s family, the filmmakers have endeavoured to capture the essence of his struggle to expose police corruption and change the law.

The movie is written by award-winning film and TV writer, Kris Wyld, and her script is directed by film veteran Ken Cameron. The Australian critic Graeme Blundell calls the movie "brilliant;" "a thriller."

It all begins when (Dr. Wainer is) called out to help the daughter of old friends, dying at the hands of ... a chain-smoking, scabrous backyarder with extensive links to the cops, after an abortion performed in terrible conditions. Wainer vows to take a stand, quickly discovering that, where once Melbourne's homicide squad had largely overlooked abortion, by the late 60s they extorted tribute in the same manner as the vice squad did from prostitution and the gaming squad from the city's gambling dens and SP bookies.

He becomes a man with a cause, even jokingly referencing The Untouchables, the TV series that fictionalised Eliot Ness and his prohibition agents fighting organised crime in Chicago in the 1930s.

Blundell writes:

Courageously, (Bert and Jo) somehow shook, rattled and rolled Melbourne society and ultimately transformed it by breaking the illegal abortion racket.

To do it, Jo Wainer wrote later, they "had to wade through the dark morass of backyard police corruption, political and religious intimidation and social ostracism." Frightened women endured backyard abortions without anaesthetic (one of the perpetrators in the film calls it "the scraping business"), where they were humiliated, maimed and sometimes died. A ward of Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital was dedicated to women with sepsis or haemorrhage from illegal abortion; one woman died every week.

Contemporary Australian abortion rights activist, Leslie Cannold, wrote movingly about the film in a blog, Dangerous Remedy & the Heroism of the 1st Abortion Rights Activists. (President of Reproductive Choice Australia, Cannold recently grabbed attention for her TEDtalk on the need to end stigmatization of abortion.)

Of Dangerous Remedy, Cannold writes:

Part Mad-Men, part murder mystery, part historical journey, Dangerous Remedy tells the story of abortion rights campaigners Bert and Jo Wainer. Largely forgotten heroes, Bert and Jo championed the cause of one of the most oppressed, stigmatised and social group of the late 1960s – working-class women who were pregnant when they didn’t want to be.

The black-market abortion trade provided safe medical procedures to those who could afford it, but left those with less funds at the mercy of backyarders. Bert and Jo’s quest to expose the corruption in the Victorian Police Force that surrounded the inevitable flourishing of the black market put their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk.

But despite police threats and violent warnings to back off .... Bert and Jo kept going. They rallied abortion providers to stop paying police bribes, collected evidence of police corruption, and somewhere amidst the chaos got married.... Somewhere in the middle of Dangerous Remedy, my colleague and I turned to each other, aghast and ashamed. Appalled at the callousness, exploitation and literal risk to life and limb faced by women wanting an abortion just 50 years ago, we were also ashamed that we had EVER complained about the difficulty in modern-day Australia of advocating for reproductive rights.

....Dangerous Remedy reminds us that the replacement of stigmatising, uncertain and paternalistic regimes with those that regulate abortion like all other medical procedures remains part of the unfinished business of activists of Bert and Jo’s generation. So too does it force us to remember that we can make a difference if we have the courage to try.

A section of the Dangerous Remedy website shows a timeline of the history of abortion in Australia.

ABC in the U.S.? Are you listening... gather your courage, and show this film here!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above, ABC1 Australia website for Dangerous Remedy

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VOTE: Pilobus Dance Puts Bodies on Line

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Our bodies are on the line in the election, and Pilobus Dance Theatre, in a series of photographs, gives us an elegant reminder of just what is at stake.

Pilobus posed in VOTE photographs by Robert Whitman, their bodies spelling out the word VOTE in a variety of costumes (or lack of them). Joining with Who's on the Ballot, a NY group, these photos are posted online.

See a SLIDESHOW of photos here. And see one without the leotards, here.

The strength of their bodies in motion should remind us all of just what is on the line in this election. If you need any reminder of that, scroll through our site or read these three prior blogs:

Rights at Risk

This is Personal

Motherless from Illegal Abortion

Pilobolus is a Connecticut-based modern performance company...more ... Its website explains that it was founded in 1971 and "to this day wears its revolutionary stripes on its sleeves." Under the guidance of Robby Barnnett and Michael Tracy, artistic directors, and Itmar Kubovy and Lily Binns, executive and co-executive directors, respectively, Pilobolus Dance Theatre works with diverse artists,including the MIT Distributed Robotics Laboratory, Art Spiegelman, OK Go, Radiolab and many others. "Pilobolus makes art to build community. It teaches its group-based creative process to performers and non-dancers alike through popular, unique educational projects and programs."

Listen to their bodies: Go VOTE to protect our body collective and our collective bodies.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above, Pilobus - Who's On The Ballot photo by Robert Whitman

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Motherless from Illegal Abortion: Important Film Relaunch

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 06:26:00 +0000

"Motherless: A Legacy of Loss from Illegal Abortion" is a powerful documentary short about four children who lost their mothers to unsafe and illegal abortion before Roe v. Wade.

Originally released twenty years ago, the film has been relaunched by The Clara Bell Duvall Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, and the stories are as sobering as ever. The film can be viewed on YouTube or on a special Motherless website.

In the film, three women and one man tell their stories of being small children who lost their mothers when they, unable to cope with another pregnancy, sought out an abortion during a time when abortions were illegal. Told from the perspectives of the families who suffered the loss, the film profiles four women who died from illegal or self-induced abortions -- Clara Bell Duvall (d. 1929), Vivian Campbell (d. 1950), Ruth Irene Friedl (d. 1929) and Mary Magee (d. 1960).

Filmmakers Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater, directing and producing with Diane Pontius and editing with Kathleen Soulliere, use interviews, photographs, music, film clips, and visits to family homesteads and graveyards. Doctors from the era and a historian fill in the history and context of abortion, explaining how women in the U.S. regularly lost their lives from unsafe and self-induced abortions.

"Why do we have to go through things? Look what I lost? Look at all of this? It was totally unnecessary," says one of those who lost a mother to an illegal abortion. "If we don’t speak out, the abortion issue is going to go the wrong way," says another. "It just shouldn’t happen to women," says a third.

In a haunting tone, the film ends with a rendition of "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child," sung by Jennifer Heitler-Klevans.

The relaunch has included events, offers of DVDs and suggestions for house parties. The Watch Motherless website has additional resources -- stories of real women collected from the Internet, facts and clips from six films on abortion, discussion questions for viewing parties and links to fact sheets by Law Students for Reproductive Justice.

During the election season, this history-on-film offers an important reminder of what Roe v. Wade accomplished in saving women's lives, as well as the psychological health of their families.

What to Know:
Motherless Website
Motherless Twitter: @watchmotherless

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screenshot from Motherless

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Feminist Art Matters: Social Relevance & Deborah Klezmer

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:11:00 +0000

Deborah Klezmer, a glass artist in New Mexico, turned her lecture- demonstration "Smartypants in a Sexy Shirt; in Defense of Social Relevance in Art" into a finely-crafted YouTube video that shares Klezmer's feminist art and thinking.

Klezmer's "Through the Keyhole" work combines remarkable women from history, glass, iconic imagery for each woman and quotations, embedded into key-shaped metal objects. Each has a particular message for viewers to see through the keyhole of history into women's real lives.

"There's not a lot of work that's dealing with social themes," Klezmer says in the 6.56 minute video... more...

The "smartypants" are the women of history, and not all fall in the expected category, as Klezmer seems to select inspiration from her work as an editor on Women in the World History series and the Dictionary of Women Worldwide.

Among those highlighted in the video are explorer Jeanne Baret; herbalist Lydia Pinkham(above,)who developed potions to treat women's "ailments;" astronaut Sally Ride; anti-lyching crusader Ida B. Wells; anti-McCarthyite politician Senator Margaret Chase Smith; doctor Alice Stewart, who campaigned against the dangers of radiation; and veteran Margarette Cammermeyer, fired from the military for being gay. Klezmer also has a key dedicated to her mother.

The idea behind the art is that "the key to moving forward is remembering what has came before us," says Klezmer on the video

Each key has a quote. From Cammermeyer is one rife with meaning for social activists: "You know the issues that need to be changed, and you must be the catalyst, the change agent."

The short video is enhanced by beautiful music from Sky Redhawk and photos by Cate Goedert. The combined effect gives creative workers the opportunity to reflect on art, the meaning of art and the artistic incorporation of feminist and gay women's perspectives.

Klezmer has her own gallery in New Mexico, Through the Keyhole.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Image of Lydia Pinkham art by Deborah Klezmer from YouTube video.

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"This Is Personal" Goes Witty & Wise: Video

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:29:00 +0000

The National Women's Law Center has launched this stylish -- and witty -- video as part of a new reproductive rights campaign, This Is Personal.

The campaign aims to educate and inform people across the country about the seriousness of the threats to women's reproductive health decisionmaking on abortion, contraception and other issues.

The 1.40-minute Your Boss and Your Birth Control video shows an employer probing a woman employee about whether she is taking birth control at work. Text accompanying it explains:

The only person who should be making decisions about your birth control is you. But some politicians don’t see it that way. In Arizona, they passed a law that makes it easier for your boss to fire you if he or she finds out you take birth control to prevent pregnancy. And in Missouri, the legislature just overrode a veto by the governor of a bill that will allow any employer or insurer in the state to refuse coverage of birth control if they oppose it. It’s a fact – these lawmakers think that your boss, not you, should make highly personal decisions about your birth control. The Arizona bill was signed into law in May.

The video offers a fresh approach, willingly breaking the boundaries of over-sincerity that surround many nonprofit campaigns, while also not falling into silliness.

The campaign director for the video on Thao Nguyen, and the video features comedians Bryan Callen from The Hangover, Nikki Glaser, co-host of the upcoming MTV series The Nikki and Sarah Show, and Judith Greentree of the Onion News Network, according to a press release.

The website for the This Is Personal campaign also offers illustrated and easy-to-digest information about legislative encroachments on reproductive health matters, along with action steps. Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, which launched the campaign with 38 allies, is quoted in a press release, “Decisions about women’s reproductive health are personal. Period. But across the country, many politicians are actively trying to restrict women’s access to everything from birth control to well-woman visits to maternity care, cancer and STI screenings, and abortion .... The personal beliefs of lawmakers should not trump a woman’s ability to take care of her health.”

The campaign promises future videos and already has released What would their mothers think?, 1.09 minutes long, and that shows an anti-woman legislator trying to explain "vagina" restrictions to his less accomodating mother, and Birth control is personal, a 55-second video parodying restrictions on women's birth control while making it available to horses.

Update: The fourth posted video, 1.42 min. in length, Reproductive Health Care Is No Joke, features comedians reading the real (and ridiculous) words of anti-choice politicians.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

Pictured above, This is Personal video

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Rights At Risk! Choice At Risk! Video Toolkit! Free!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:04:00 +0000

Dorothy Fadiman, the leading filmmaker on reproductive rights, has launched an amazing website of video and other resources to support activism on choice.

Called CHOICE AT RISK, Fadiman's Concentric Media opened the online filmcentric campaign as a free resource, along with another parallel site to support voting rights, ELECTIONS AT RISK. Together the sites form a RIGHTS AT RISK campaign begun by Fadiman.

CHOICE AT RISK offers 7 mini-docs, 25 clips and 4 documentary films -- all for free. A mini documentary -- including the embedded, Choice at Risk: From the Back Alleys to the Supreme Court and Beyond -- is 7-9 minutes long.The clips are 1-2 minutes long.

As part of the campaign, Fadiman is also making available her four long-form films on reproductive freedom, described in an earlier post.

The Choice At Risk campaign was opened "in response to escalating restrictions on reproductive rights," says the Choiceatrisk.org website. Fadiman says in a press release

:“As legislation continues to limit women’s options, Choice at Risk offers a wake-up call to people who have no memory of the tragedies of the back alley days. In 1962, when legal abortions weren’t available, I risked my life and found a back alley procedure. I ended up in the emergency room with a temperature of 105, infected and bleeding. I created this campaign because I don’t want another generation of young women to ever have to go through what we went through .... The films also go inside modern-day clinics that have survived multiple arsons; where the staff wear bulletproof vests and face threats to their lives every day. These films serve as a reminder that the threats are not only to the laws protecting women’s rights, but also to the people who provide those services.

Titles in the mini-doc collection are:

Legalizing Abortion and Birth Control;
Abortion Clinics and Providers Targeted;
Latino Perspectives;
Finding Safe Illegal Abortions (Before Roe);
Abortion Caregivers Speak Out;
Before Roe v. Wade: Personal Stories.

The website has resources and an ACTION GUIDE on how to use the films to inspire, educate and move people to action. Fadiman is traveling to several places in person for film screenings. Events are listed on the website, including several in September and October in Pennsylvania.

A similar site on voting rights, Elections at Risk, has 14 short video clips, posters and resources.

What's unites these subjects? In a must-read article in On The Issues Magazine, Tanya Melich describes how the war on women extends from abortion and contraception to suffrage itself.

Follow more about the CHOICE AT RISK campaign on FACEBOOK or on Twitter (hashtag #choiceatrisk). Email for info: info@concentric.org.

Choice At Risk is an incredible resource, not to be missed!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Above, mini documentary Choice at Risk: From the Back Alleys to the Supreme Court and Beyond

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Artists! Show Big Phat (Ph)eminist Work in SF with Femme Cartel

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Femme Cartel, Bay Area visual arts activists, announced a call for Naked Ladies: A Feminist Art Show for a fall group show in Oakland, CA. The curators are seeking: "BIG PHAT PAINTINGS & RISQUE LITTLE PIECES...ABOUT SEX POSITIVITY, RESILIENCE & FEMALE POWER."

"It's about re-claiming the gaze with bold (naked!) representations of women, feminists, femmes, and girly/urban mischief-makers," writes Emily "Femily" Howe, one of the Femme Cartel founders.

The group says that it has a special interest in art that has NOT been seen in the San Francisco-Bay area.

The deadline for submissions is September 2, 2012.

Described by Femme Cartel, the show Naked Ladies

...will take a full frontal look at the ways in which women own (re-claim!)the gaze -- flaunting/showcasing female power as well as sex positivity, resilience, naughtiness, body positivity, and diversity.

For this show, Femme Cartel is seeking cutting edge contemporary art of powerful women---in the buff (or nearly so). Bonus points for work that shows women outside the American mainstream media norms, such as older women, tattoo girls, lady artists, women of all Colors, plus size ladies, queer/trans ladies, single moms, and subculture gals (like rockabilly, butch/femme, hip hop, indie, pin-up, hipster, punk)...

TWO TYPES OF WORK ARE SOUGHT:

1- Large, bold, bright paintings -- 4x4 feet up to 9x9 feet. Will be shown at SomaART bar in Oakland for one month, beginning November 2, 2012.

2- Medium-sized work -- 1x1 foot up to 3x3 feet or so; especially erotic/risque themes (including photography). Will be shown at FeelMore510, a progressive, feminist-owned adult retail space in Oakland for two months, beginning November 2, 2012.

TO SUBMIT:
Four to five works may be submitted. Send the following by email.

INFO FOR SUBMISSION
ARTIST NAME:
PHONE NUMBER:
WEB SITE or FACEBOOK:

ALSO:
For each piece (4-5 can be sent), include an image of the work and this information:
SIZE:
TITLE:
MEDIA:
WHETHER THIS ART HAS BEEN SHOWN IN THE SF BAY AREA. (Art new to area preferred.)

E-mail submissions to femmecartelLOVESyou@gmail.com

Femme Cartel was founded by Emily "Femily" Howe in spring 2011 as an "urban art party" collective with Hil (Jaeger) and the support of Warren & Baca, she writes. On its website, Femme Cartel reports that at first "a crew of fierce, heart-open assistant community organizers hosted 2 shows." Now on its fifth show, the group is "curating" cutting edge, gallery-ready contemporary art shows and planning an "Art Murmur" mini block party.

Femily describes its aesthetic as "urban, feminist, contemporary art ... about (and to a large extent by) ladies who rock their own talent, diversity, smarts, & fierceness…and who produce Bold, Provocative, Raw, Confident, Urgent, and/or Sassy art."

More information:
Femme Cartel on the Web: http://www.emorrow.org/femme-cartel.html
Femme Cartel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FEMMECARTEL

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above, graphic from Femme Cartel Website

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CODEPINK Wants Your Vagina Artwork -- or Bust! And Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 15:03:00 +0000

CODEPINK, the women's peace and activist group, has decided to protest the war on women by letting politicians know that women actually do have vaginas, and they care about their vaginas! The group is doing it the artistic way by asking women across the country to send artistic representations of their vaginas to display -- samples, pictured.

Planning to protest at the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions, CODEPINK has put out a call for artistic renditions of your vagina to form into a quilt. But don't delay... these need to get to CODEPINK right away -- the planned march in Tampa is on August 27 while the Republican convention is in town. (CODEPINK will also be protesting at the Democratic convention, which follows soon after in Charlotte.)

To be part of the vagina quilt: Make vagina artwork on a 8 x 11 inch [standard size letter] fabric or paper. To send an artistic representation of your vagina, draw out a message that the politicians need to see bright and bold, says CODEPINK. "No photography please. Get creative! Your message of opposition to the war on women will be heard."

"We will quilt the art together," says CODEPINK. CODEPINK says that it will deliver the quilt to Republican party headquarters -- but ... I hope they keep it. And display it! Everywhere.

AND, CODEPINK is also calling for vagina costumes that people can wear in a march and on the streets: "Is sewing your passion? Do you love repurposing thrift store finds? We'd love to wear your costume!"

To send your vagina artwork email here: info@codepink.org for specific instructions.

For the Democratic convention, CODEPINK is planning BUST UP Big Banks! Read more here.

Update: See the results here!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Vagina art from CODEPINK.

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This Is An Emergency! Art Prints, Zine

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:24:00 +0000

Just released, "THIS IS AN EMERGENCY" is an inventive project of frameable poster prints by outstanding politically-inclined artists about reproductive freedom and gender justice, along with stories of people engaged in the movement.

The collection of 17 artists and nine interviewees was curated and coordinated by Meredith Stern, a printmaker and ceramic artist in Providence, RI, and a member of the Justseeds Artist Cooperative. In a press release, she said, "Reproductive rights and gender justice are in a state of emergency. This is a collection of responses to this crisis through visual art and interviews." The collection, she said, highlights the visual art and stories of women, queer identified, and transgendered artists and organizers.

Among the artists included in the collection are Favianna Rodriguez, Melanie Cervantes, Mary Tremonte, Meredith Stern, Bec Young, Thea Gahr, Molly Fair, Erin Rosenthal, Ian Cozzens, Delia Kovac, Emmy Bright, Arley Rose Torsone, Kristina Brown, Lois Harada, Katrina Silander Clark, Sam Merritt and Olivia Horvath. The prints -- screenprints and block prints -- are 12" x 18" in size.

The written portion of the project is a hand sewn ‘zine containing interviews of several leaders and activists -- personal stories and life experiences working in political and grassroots movements. Included are: Heather Booth and Judith Arcana of the historic Jane Abortion Collective in Chicago, Peg Johnston of The Abortion Conversation Project, Judy Kashoff, Gina Glantz, composer Ken Rinker, Virginia Reath and Elizabeth Esris. The zine also has a comic by Susan Simensky Bietila.

The entire collection can be viewed online at a Tumblr site.

The intergenerational interviews are also posted. In one, for example, Judith Arcana is interviewed by Sam Merritt, which says, in part:

Given the politics and misery of what I call the horror show of the anti-abortion movement’s success in these times, it’s not possible to deal in past tense, really. When you win one of the battles in a struggle for radical change in society you can be -of course you should be - happy, even jubilant that you’ve been able to prevail to make the forces of good move ahead. However, you can never think it’s over now, and you’ve won.

In addition to the Tumblr, the portfolio can be viewed in person. Currently a gallery exhibition is on display in New York, as part of the SOHO21Gallery in Chelsea show, "Backlash", until August 11(Tu-Sa, 12-6 pm; 547 W. 27th St., Ste. 301). From August 1-27, it can be seen at 186 Carpenter Street Gallery in Providence, RI.

Galleries interested in showing the collection can contact Meredith Stern: merrydef@yahoo.com

The entire collection may be purchased, as well, from Justseeds Cooperative. Included are 18 printed sheets and printed cover, 12" x 18" (screenprints and block prints)plus a 23 page photocopied booklet. Third Termite Press in Pittsburgh printed the colophon and Ladyfingers Letterpress printed the covers. The cost is $200 for an individual; $400 for institutions. Accordiing to Stern, more than a dozen have been donated to organizations working on these issues. They can reproduce the images for use in their campaigns, display them at their events or use them for a fundraiser.

"In response to all the bullying, legislative measures, and the horrifying statements filling the media against women, LGBT, and non-gender conforming folks, I felt we needed a collection of voices responding through visual art and interviews," explained curator Stern.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: A screen shot from the State of Emergency Tumblr.

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New Film: Keep An Eye Out for Fetus Envy!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:50:00 +0000

Updated Sept. 2 -- see link at bottom for new YouTube posting.

Just in time for the political season comes Fetus Envy, a new short film by New York writer and director Melissa Maxwell.

A blurb for the movie says: "The war on women is real — and dangerous. This isn’t about left or right. This is about putting the power of women’s health and reproductive RIGHTS back where it belongs: IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN."

Maxwell said in an email to women in theater:

The film is a response to what I see as a small segment of our community who thrive on using the topic of abortion for their own political gain. There is real fallout and consequence for the average female citizen who is being used as a pawn in their game.

Fetus Envy is described by the director as a political satire that looks at what could happen if women are stripped of their healthcare and reproductive rights.

According to the Fetus Envy website,the short film began nearly ten years ago as a one-act play, produced in 2003 at the New York International Fringe Festival and then in 2007 by Manhattan Theatre Source in its Estrogenius Festival. "Angered by the increasing craziness in the headlines, I decided it was time to revisit the project," writes Maxwell.

Maxwell, also an actor, is the author of two full-length plays: Salt in A Wound, which was a Julie Harris Playwright Competition finalist,received five Black Theater Alliance Award nominations, and Unrequited Love, which won her the New Professional Theatre’s Our Words Award and an Audelco Award nomination. As a director, she has worked at Pearl Theatre Company, Soho Playhouse, Harlem School of the Arts, Stella Adler Studios, NYU, Metropolitan Playhouse, National Black Theatre, Theatre at the Riverside Church and New Perspectives Theatre Company.

The cast includes Jessica Arinella,Jeaneatte Bonner, Larry Floyd, Scott Glascock, Matt Rashid, Jonathan Tindle.

Cast members talked about their passion for the film in an e-newsletter. Bonner commented, "People need to see this film because it's a REAL ISSUE! Not in a sci-fi apocalyptic futuristic world, but now. If women can be charged with murder for doing drugs during pregnancy that ultimately ends in the termination of her fetus, then it's an easy jump to get to the world of 'Fetus Envy.'"

And Tindle, who plays a prosecutor, said, "This is a hugely important topic.... Women's reproductive rights are a Human Rights issue.... (E)very drop of water is important to carving through the mountain. The issue needs to be on the front burner -- especially now in a US Presidential election campaign."

To be notified of the upcoming showings -- scheduled for mid-August in New York -- sign up at the Fetus Envy website or Facebook page.

As the tag line for the film says, It's not just a film; it’s a movement!

September 2, 2012: See full 13-minute film on YouTube HERE.

Posted by Cindy Cooper, founder of Words of Choice. Words of Choice is nonprofit 501c3 organization, dedicated to opening new conversations about reproductive freedom across the country through the use of theater, storytelling, film arts and creativity. Our actors perform our signature work, Words of Choice -- smart, funny, dangerous -- at venues across the country. Find details, read more or donate at wordsofchoice.org.

Pictured above: Poster for "Fetus Envy."

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Art For Women's Rights: NY Gallery Opens BACKLASH July 19

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:47:00 +0000

Words of Choice is pleased to join SOHO20Gallery in Chelsea on Thursday, July 19, 2012 for the opening of a remarkable show, BACKLASH.

The opening will be at the gallery -- which is in Chelsea in NY -- from 6 to 8 pm. The address is 547 West 27th Street, Suite 301, New York NY 10001 (near 11th Ave).
BACKLASH brings together an international exhitibition of more than 150 artists who answered an open call for art responding to the current "backlash on women's basic rights and freedom." In a press release, the gallery said, "In response to the increasing tension against providing women with basic healthcare needs and the ensuing media restorm, which demonizes women, Soho20 Gallery Chelsea is hosting a venue for outrage." The gallery said that it had an "overwhelming" response from women and men artists:

Forty years after the founding of feminist institutions such as Ms. Magazine, Title IX, A.I.R. Gallery, and SOHO20, many of the rights won by the second-wave generation of feminists seem to be slipping away....Feminism is not dead. Women and men in this country and beyond are fighting back, in new, innovative and creative ways. Backlash brings together a group of artists from across the globe who are a part of this fight.... across generations, working in a variety of media to express fear, anger, despair, but also hope, fortitude, and solidarity.

Performing excerpts at the opening from the signature collection of Words of Choice by Cindy Cooper will be actors Carl H. Jaynes, Abigail Ramsay and Claudia Schneider, under the direction of Francesca Mantani Arkus. Others performing at the opening include GO! Push Pops, The Baltimore Experimental Dance Collective and Kay Turner with guitarist extraordinaire Viva DeConcini.

SOHO20 GALLERY was founded in 1973 in New York’s Soho art district as a non-profit, artist-run organization devoted to increasing public awareness of the excellence and diversity of women’s art.

The BACKLASH exhibit continues until August 11, 2102. Regular SOHO20 GALLERY hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 12 noon to 6 pm. Jenn Dierdorf is the Gallery Director. See more at http://soho20gallery.com

EVENT DETAILS
BACKLASH Opening
July 19, 2012, 6 to 8 pm
Soho20 Gallery, 547 West 27th St., Suite 301, NY 10001
Including Excerpts from Words of Choice

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Image from website of SOHO20 Gallery.

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. We travel to communities to use the power of the arts and creativity to open new conversations about reproductive freedom. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org, including bookings, history, artists, resources and creativity workshops. We are a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and your donations keep us alive.

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NOW Activists Spin Out Poems 4 Repro Justice

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:04:00 +0000

So much of our passion and information about reproductive freedom is stored inside ourselves that is ready to blossom into art, poetry, outreach. That's what became clear when activists at the NOW (National Organization for Women) Conference in Baltimore gathered for a workshop on Creativity and Reproductive Rights on June 30.

The workshop was presented by Susan Elizabeth Davis, author of the novel "Love Means Second Chances," and Words of Choice teamed up to share and test creative ideas for generating new activism and enthusiasm for reproductive freedom.

One technique, know as a "Group Poetry Exercise" (see number four on our Words of Choice Activities Guide embedded on this page about 2-3 paragraphs down) proved to be especially rich. In this exercise, we, as workshop leaders, had cut out words from magazines -- all types of words, all types of print. The words were spread out on a table. The participants in the room were randomly divided up into teams of four or five and asked to pick out words, create a joint poem with those words (adding others, if need be), and to perform it.

And did they ever -- and with fire in their words. One is posted above. The common theme: we're not going back; instead we are fighting back!

Here is what they created (with small apologies to participants for anything that is transcribed awkwardly.)

Group One ~ ~

Repeat After Me:
Stop The Right’s War on Women
Taking bigotry away
Overcoming (the) fantasy of women returning
And being barefoot & pregnant.
Free women
Looking to join forces,
Let us present our
Power to
Urgently End
Lost Women’s Power.
NOW.

Group Two ~ ~

Expressing Reproductive Freedom/Justice

Rebelling against the “MAN”
Rebelling against Society
When the culture is too restrictive it is our
Obligation to be rebelling at every turn
Rebelling against the cold machine

Speaking up for your body

Speak out for justice
Speak truth to power
Speak of wombs closed and open at women’s will

Fight against inequality

Let non-violence and love guide our fight
Fight in love for broadening the quality of global health
Ignited by our fight for justice

Praise the women who make this real
Praise our smarts and our souls who choose

Praising God
Loving myself
Love who you are
Let it be done with justice and love.

Group Three ~ ~

Challenge

Break
            Stupid
            Rich
            Catholic
            Prejudice
Personal.
Save my Desiring
            Keeping score
            Alive.
We
            FIGHT
                        FOR GRRLS

Group Four ~ ~

Let’s get real.

Catholic women have abortions.
The U.S. Senate says no more contraception:
No more playing with our health.
Responsibility is exhilarating
Healthy choice is best

Thank goodness

The mother of all says
Enough!

In these times of trouble, more creativity is needed than ever. Read through our blog posts for other ideas, such as here or here or here or here, or check our DVD or, on this page, find an Activities Sheet.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above, Repro Justice Poem from NOW Conference, 2012

This blog is a public service of WORDS OF CHOICE, a dynamic pro-choice theater organization. We travel to communities to use the power of the arts and creativity to open new conversations about reproductive freedom. Find out more about WORDS OF CHOICE on our website, www.wordsofchoice.org, including bookings, history, artists, resources and creativity workshops. We are a nonprofit, 501c3 organization, and your donations keep us alive.

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