Mothers Unite To Break Down Barriers

By Joy Rose and Mamapalooza

Reprinted from First Wives World (See My Blog Here)

Last Saturday in Toronto, the Motherhood Movement was officially launched. Camera in hand, juggling cables and questions, I shot 30 hours of video, from the hip, as I tried to get answers from some of the world’s foremost feminists. The subjects included mothering, violence, militarism, war, and social justice; mothers for equal rights; virtual mothering; feminists for a gift economy; maternal depression, and queer parenting.

“Wow,” you say? Or, maybe “Why”?

Perhaps I’m trying to sort through my own confusion and ambivalence about terms like “feminist mother,”  “single mother,” and “girlfriend,” and to capture this unique moment in Herstory.

After three days at the conference, sponsored by the Association for Research on Mothering at York University in Toronto, I was inspired and exhausted.

Let me say, I was the only one there with pink hair.

Some 300 women met in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, to initiate the suffragist movement and win the right for women to vote, a right that did not come to be until 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment. This gathering was much larger, the first International Motherhood Movement meeting. Here were women who cared passionately about their roles as workers, wives, and mothers. What’s amazing is that the subject of partnering was just as hot as the subject of parenting.

There wasn’t one attendee who spoke of wanting to erase the entire male population. Generally speaking, participants had a warm spot for the opposite sex.

With 20 organizations and hundreds of individuals presenting papers, studies and speeches, there were, of course, bound to be differences.

But primarily attendees were looking for commonalities. We were passionately looking for ways to make the world a better place. For a glimpse of some of the participants, taek a look at this short video I shot.

Among the groups participating were Momsrising.org, LiteraryMama.com, Mamapalooza.com, MuseumOfMotherhood.org, MamaZine.com, MothersCenters.org, MothersandMore.org, and MothersActingUp.org.

We listened and learned. Sometimes we merely tried to listen. Amy Richards, author of Opting In: Having a Child Without Losing Yourself, talked so fast I could barely keep up.

I will be working to edit the 30 hours of video I shot to show those who weren’t there highlights of what she said, and outline some of the defining academic ideas today on motherhood. I’m back at my desk simply marveling that I have a business card of a feminist ambassador from Uganda.

I’m so glad I went, and I’m also glad I’m back home with the kids. The children were pestering me for dinner while the new boyfriend was chatting with me on the phone. It was back to the multitasking of working, mothering and partnering.

May is Mother’s Month*Celebrate with MAMAPALOOZA!

Letter from the President

Every year I feel like saying, this has been the best year ever! Well it has.

With the successful registration of the Motherhood Foundation and Mamapalooza Festival Stages solidifying their place in local communities, partnerships and alliances with other Mom-minded organizations are on the rise.

Last year and this year sees us partnering with great feminist organizations like Women’s Media Center, ARM ~ Association for Research on Mothering and government organizations like Office For Women, Westchester, New York and Camden Parks, Educational Institutions like the campus of Irvine and Mom businesses like our community partnership at Hot Moms Club. Wow, that is beautiful work.

We are poised to face our next big challenge head on.

When we started putting a name and face on performance by women who were mothers six years ago, we invented a genre. The next challenge we face has to do with translating our numbers into a formula big business can recognize. We are many and we are mighty. Our mission must continue to empower women not only through performance, but through financial stability.

This does not mean compromising our creativity or our values, but it does mean taking stock and collectively counting our numbers, because the numbers do not lie.

Over 35 Print, Media and Radio Partners
Over 20 Partners in University, Parks Depts, Hospital and Women’s Organizations
Over 20 Festival Sponsors including the US Postal Service, Avon, Coppertone and Sam Ash Music
Over 50 Onsite Vendors & Craftswomen
Over 77 Other associations including The United Way, Tupperware, Office of Hispanic Affairs
Over 400 Artists, Musicians & Educators on….
Over 40 Stages, Theaters, Parks and Clubs throughout the month of May 2008

Moms Rock and so do YOU!
Thank you for helping to change the world one song, shout, yelp and hiccup at a time.
Remember, even when we’re overwhelmed, underpaid and completely unsure how to move forward, we HAVE CREATED SOMETHING GREAT, MEANINGFUL and CELEBRATORY TOGETHER.

All My Congratulations to All The Mamapalooza Mamas and our Friends, Fans and Family!
Good luck with all your shows and remember to love each other.
Joy Rose
www.mamapalooza.com

Don’t Let the Internet Take Away Intimacy Out of Your Life

Don’t Let the Internet Take Away Intimacy Out of Your Life
by Julie Brosterman, CEO & Founder, Women & Wine www.womenwine.com

It wasn’t so long that I delighted in the internet. When friends that I hadn’t seen in years saw me on the cover of USA Today or in Time Magazine, they’d shoot me an email to say “you go girl” with a short update of their latest happenings or a picture or two.

I used to say “the internet is so great - email is like getting a letter everyday”.  But I’m rethinking how I feel about communicating via email.

My messages are getting shorter. My texting briefer. And I can’t remember the last time I hand wrote a thank you note. I finally realized what’s wrong.

I miss the sound of the human voice. I miss the person at the other end of the line laughing at my bad jokes. I miss laughing at my own bad jokes…
I miss the hug. The touch. The grasp of their hand.

And I’ve talked to several people I know about this. And have read up on it too. And there seems to be this consensus that while the internet helps us make some incredible connections to people who are across the world or right next door it’s also reducing the number of hugs we get on a daily basis. The smiles we see. The bread we break.

That’s why I love what I do. I connect people over a glass of wine. A story. A meal. A trip – or bringing that experience into your own home. Because at the end of the day – literally – we need to slow down just a bit and take some time with friends and family to take this all in.

And as women – and mothers – we can change the dynamics of how we all communicate with one another by bringing wine into our homes. By taking the time over a meal to sit – and talk – and share – and relish memories and make new ones. Women set the tone for the socialization of what goes on in the home. We “set the mood” for whether meals will be eaten with the T.V. on or whether we will linger at the table until everyone has shared their day.

We are responsible creating nurturing souls – who will grow to care about  you and me and the planet we live on.

So the next time you’re about to email a friend to wish them Happy Birthday – or congratulations – or aa word or two of consolation – pick up the phone instead, invite them to meet you and share a glass of wine and a bit of time instead.

www.mamapalooza.com

Authentic

You can’t make this stuff up and I am so grateful to hear from women all over the world who are learning to LIVE & GROW into their authentic selves.  Thank you for writing….

_____________________________

Hi Joy,
I just read your article and saw your picture, in L.A.Parent Magazine. It was an amazing sign to me.

I just wanted to let you know that reading your story, seeing your picture and age, was as effective, powerful and life changing to me, as if I  had heard  it on Oprah!!!!

I’ve been in the Music and TV business for over a decade.
After 13 years of marriage, a daughter and twins, I’ve found myself in the middle of divorce and dealing with aging parents.

Anyway, I was in the mindset of relentlessly pursuing a 9-5 type job instead of continuing with my music/entertainment gigs…but after seeing YOU, I suddenly realized that if I’m going to rise out of the black hole I’ve been in, then besides being the best mom I can be, I need to concentrate on the career that I love!

I look forward to knowing more about MAMAPALOOZA & Getting involved! Thank YOU.