2013 Hunger and Homelessness Charity Auction

by Alpha Phi Omega

Children under 18 years old make up 25% of homeless individuals in the US. Join Alpha Phi Omega, Stanford’s co-ed community service fraternity as we host the 2013 Hunger and Homelessness Charity Auction. Enjoy a catered evening of Talisman performances and auctioning with our co-sponsors Cardinal Nights, Challah for Hunger, Night Outreach, and Students Taking On Poverty.  With nearly 100 items (including a lunch with Nobel Laureate Dr. Brian Kobilka, SF Giants tickets, and a private Swing Dance lesson) there is sure to be something just for you. All proceeds will be donated to the Palo Alto Opportunity Center to help them serve the needs of the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless in the Mid-peninsula area.  

Why Culture Shows Make Me Cry

by Sammie Wills, ’16

There are few things I find more beautiful than the ability to resist oppression through happiness. There is a certain strength and grace in creating joy despite aggressors’ attempts to diminish hope.  This joy can be embodied through the dance and song and art of a culture, passed down to remember and celebrate the resistance engendered by a people.

This very mode of resistance demonstrates why I love culture shows.

First, I must be careful to note that there are indeed multiple problematic aspects of culture shows. The culture show itself is, and will always be, a highly-romanticized, typically-westernized performance of native cultures and traditions.

Is Marriage Equality Constitutional?

by David Kay, ’16

When I realized I was gay just a few years after Proposition 8 passed in my state, I knew that marriage equality had to happen. Yes, it’s about the benefits — 1,138 on the federal level and more depending on the state — but more than that it’s about starting to amend the feelings of ostracization and rejection that mainstream society has always shown the LGBT community.  Denying us marriage is just another way of making us different.  Unfortunately, it is not a subject that receives many intelligent discussions; the only argument we usually hear from figures of authority on the subject is “I believe marriage is [insert view here]” (or Rick Santorum’s “a napkin is not a car” speech — don’t worry Rick, I could never forget you).

Facing the Shadows: Mental Health and the API Community

by Sunli Kim, ’15

During May, API (Asian Pacific Islander) Heritage Month, the Stanford Asian American Activism Committee (SAAAC) will be hosting a month-long issues series on mental health in the API community context, titled Facing the Shadows: Mental Health and the API Community. The workshops are open to all interested students, regardless of ethnic background. Not only will we be covering specific issues within the realm of mental health, but also we hope to raise overall campus awareness of Stanford’s available resources and evaluate the effectiveness of those resources to accommodate minorities’ narratives and cultural differences.

Mental health has been and continues to be an understated, unaddressed issue. We seek not only to raise awareness and critically analyze the root causes of mental health issues, but also to encourage our communities to directly confront these issues by exploring how an individual’s cultural context and larger institutional systems, such as education and law, influence mental health and promote a culture of stigma and silence.

Sexual Politics of Meat: Race, Gender and Food

by Rohisha Adke, ’15 

How does what we eat relate to gender issues that persist today? 

What does it mean for women to be turned into “meat,” as in the Carl’s Jr. advertisement?

How do both women and animals become “meat”?

How does this relate to racism and violence against women?

Why would someone write a book called Fifty Shades of Chicken?

 

Answer these questions and more this Thursday with Carol J. Adams at “Sexual Politics of Meat: Race, Gender and Food” in Toyon Lounge. Dinner and dessert will be served. Click here to RSVP. 

 

Carol J. Adams has written around twenty books on the links between the oppression of women and that of animals, domestic violence, sexual assault, and the ethics of diets.

Welcome to Transgender Awareness Week

by Elizabeth S. Q. Goodman, PhD student

Many student groups have pitched in with Stanford Students for Queer Liberation to bring the events of Transgender Awareness Week to campus.  This is the third year doing it, and every year is different.  Last year’s week was discussed here and here.

The week begins with a “trans* 101” panel, designed to introduce everyone and anyone to the experiences of the panelists, to give space for questions, and to give cis students (those who are not trans*) tools to use in supporting trans* folks.  We call that “being a trans ally”, but as many people will tell you, ally is not a thing you can be, it’s a thing you can strive to do.  The tools of allyship are a theme throughout the week and this post.

However, we believe that to focus only on the oppression that transgender people face will firstly not serve transgender students who want to attend without getting depressed or triggered, and secondly not point in the direction of the kind of respect that transgender people deserve.  

On Global Womanhood

by Lan Anh Le, ’15

In Afghanistan, a new Internet café for women will have its opening in honor of International Women’s Day. Young Women for Change, the NGO that is hosting the event, aims to make the café a space that will help Afghan women communicate and connect. In Sierra Leone and Uganda, female soccer players gather to celebrate of this year’s International Women’s Day, at two events that aim to raise awareness of issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in sports. In Ireland, a public reading of short stories featuring women from James Joyce’s Dubliners, sponsored by UN Women, is held in celebration of International Women’s Day.

All around the world on March 8, International Women’s Day is being celebrated in various different forms, from large festivals with booming music and colorful flowers, to marches that involve big banners and megaphones, to dance performances, to public events and conferences.

Marxism, Feminism and Women’s Liberation: A Discussion with Deepa Kumar

by Emma Wilde Botta, ’14

Stanford has a lot of events about women. Conferences on women’s empowerment, discrimination in the workplace, women in research, increasing women’s participation in politics, the list goes on. All these events address ways in which women are marginalized in society.

However, missing from these discussions is a careful examination of the root cause of women’s oppression today.

Are men just naturally superior to women? Will equality before the law guarantee the liberation of all women within society? Will more women in leadership lead to women’s liberation?

Before we answer these questions, we must first identity the root cause of women’s oppression and then turn to strategies for women’s liberation.

Continue Engaging: Reflections from Listen to the Silence 2013

by Van Anh Tran, ‘13 + Healy Ko, ‘13

On February 2, 2013,  Stanford’s Asian American Students’ Association (AASA) held its 17th annual Listen to the Silence (LTS) conference, an Asian American issues conference that aims to empower students and community members to take action towards achieving social change. This year’s theme, “Click, Connect, Engage: From Social Media to Social Justice,” focused on the rise of social media as a force for achieving change within our communities.

This year’s conference was the largest Listen to the Silence in Stanford history with over 600 registrants, 22 workshops, 2 keynote speakers, and a high-profile Asian American artist. Through the workshops, LTS provided a space for students to learn about important issues affecting their community — from Asian American feminism to ethnic biases in public radio.

Fossil Fuel Divestment Dinner

by Sophie Harrison, ’16 + Graham Provost, ’13

As Stanford students, we are surrounded by research that brings into stark relief the profound implications of climate change. With ever-increasing clarity we recognize the disastrous impact it will have on the natural world, on humanity, and particularly on vulnerable communities in the developing world. Climate change poses a threat to future quality of life worldwide, and as our society continues to head down a calamitous emissions trajectory, we cannot postpone action any longer.

Amidst this gloom there is a ray of hope: a growing movement. Last weekend, 50,000 people gathered in front of the White House, and thousands more assembled in solidarity across the country. We called on President Obama to move forward on climate and reject the disastrous Keystone XL pipeline. And, in the past few months, a movement has spread to more than 250 colleges. Students across the country are calling on our schools to divest from the fossil fuel industry.