I'm picking up the baton . . .

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/maternity-leave-and-human-rights/

Today I'm raising awareness that not providing paid maternity and paternity leave is a violation of human rights as it discriminates against parents in the workforce. Check out the link above.

Once a week, I also plan on dedicating a post to an amazing person who has fought for human rights. Today I'm focusing on Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

"Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the current First Lady of San Francisco, actress, filmmaker, spokesperson, and mother.


Her latest endeavor is writing, directing, and producing the documentary, Miss Representation, which explores how mainstream media directly contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence by cultivating and promoting limiting and often disparaging portrayals of women. Accompanied by a social outreach campaign, Jennifer hopes to celebrate women’s progress throughout American history and motivate calls to action towards achieving greater equality.
In May 2010, Jennifer partnered with the Professional BusinessWomen of California to create The First Lady’s Young Women’s Summit to help empower high school girls in the Bay Area. The Young Women’s Summit is a daylong program designed to educate young women about media literacy, introduce them to successful women mentors, and instill confidence in them to pursue their true passions. Many of the activities underscore the themes found in Jennifer’s documentary, Miss Representation."

We need more people like her who are willing to combat the damaging ways that women are portrayed in the media. All of society is damaged in turn when any one group is disparaged in any way.

I commend any and all who appreciate and support women for their abilities and accomplishments as opposed to their appearance and who promote an equal representation of men and women in positions of power. We need to do more, though, as we are clearly not doing a good enough job . . .