COSWL Cause

The "ideal wife" "is happy to see you every time you show up at her door. Your favourite music is already playing, and your favourite drink is on ice. She will never ask you to take out the rubbish."

The men behind Freakonomics offer Prostitution as a career option for women.
Posted by Sady Doyle

The Guardian -
Prostitution for Fun and Profit.
October 22, 2009

Good news, ladies. You, too, can make millions by charging for sex! And you'll just have a slam-bang, gee- golly splendiferous time doing it, too -- at least if you absolutely adore the sort of men who pay for it. Be warned, however: Disliking those men will consign you to the minimum-wage ranks of sex professionals, forever longing for the big bucks you could be earning, had you only an appropriately chipper attitude.

Such is the advice of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner,of Freakonomics fame. They are back with a new book,Superfreakonomics, and recently they unveiled a bit of it in the form of an excerpt about how to succeed as a prostitute.

Subject: Message from the NWHM - H.R. 1700

WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today hailed
committee passage of her bill, H.R. 1700, which establishes a
National Women's History Museum on the Mall in Washington,
DC to honor the role that women have played in American
History. It passed the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure by a voice vote.

"Less than five percent of the 2,400 national historic landmarks
chronicle women's achievement and of the 211 statues here in
the U.S. Capitol, only ten are of female leaders," Rep. Maloney
said. "The museums and memorials in Washington are one
measure of what our society values. We already have museums
for stamps and spies. This bill would provide women, comprising
53% of our population, a long overdue home to honor their many
contributions to building our country."

"From Susan B. Anthony to Oprah Winfrey, from Hattie Caraway--
the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate--to Julie Taymor--the
first woman to win a Tony Award for Directing--the story of what
women have contributed to the American way of life is a story
long overdue for the telling," she continued. "This museum will do
just that, and I'm grateful for the leadership of Chairman Oberstar
and Ranking Member Mica in moving H.R. 1700 through the
Committee, and for the extraordinary support of District
Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton. Now, it's on to the House
floor!"

"Women are indispensable to the functioning of society, but
absent from the Mall and other prominent monument sites in
Washington. We are overdue in giving women their due," Rep.
Norton said. Norton also said she is particularly proud of the
women who have raised funds and have persisted with the effort
to build a museum for women in the nation's capital. Norton has
been a strong proponent of the museum, not only because of its
importance to women, but also because of its significant potential
to bring to D.C., a major tourist town, new visitors and to
encourage others to stay longer.

"Women will finally have a front row seat on the National Mall. We
are very appreciative of Representative Maloney's leadership on
this. She's really been our champion and Chairwoman Norton,
whose efforts moved the bill, has been extremely supportive,"
said Joan Wages, President & CEO of the National Women's
History Museum.

The bill directs the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell
its old Cotton Annex property on the Mall at 12th and
Independence to the museum at fair-market rates. The museum
would be built and maintained with private funds.

Senator Susan Collins (ME) is working on introducing the
companion bill in the Senate.

Dee Garrison
74, Highland Park
Lora Doris “Dee” Garrison, 74, of Highland Park, died Thursday, July 23, 2009 at Sunrise Senior Living in East Brunswick.

Dee was born in Cleburne, Texas, and raised in the Corpus Christi area. As a military wife, she traveled widely with her family before settling in New Jersey 37 years ago. Dee received her Ph. D. from the University of California at Irvine. Hired as a Professor of History at Livingston College, Dee was at Rutgers for 32 years, retiring in 2005. She was a pioneer in women’s studies and an expert on the ‘60s and the peace and labor movements. A co-creator of the women’s studies program at Rutgers, she trained numerous graduate students in women’s history.

Dee received many awards, including a MacArthur Foundation grant. Her books were Apostles of Culture: the Public Librarian and American Society 1876-1920; Rebel Pen: The Writings of Mary Heaton Vorse; Mary Heaton Vorse: the Life of an American Insurgent; and Bracing for Armageddon: Why Civil Defense Never Worked.

A true Texan, Dee championed the rights of the working class, especially working women. She was proud to say that while students loved her, many found her classes very challenging. Dee’s love for her husband, John, was aptly captured in John’s book “The 18 Stages of Love.” A member of the Red Hat Society, she loved a good story, a good book, and a good paper. Dee loved having a dog by her side, especially Lucy Lou. She loved her friends, and the conversations, meals and ideas she shared with us. We shall miss Dee’s humanity, wit, and radiant spirit.

She is survived by her husband, John Leggett, of Highland Park; her sons, Tray Garrison of Riverside, CA and Marty Garrison of Santa Ana, CA; her daughters, Britt Leggett of Edmunds, WA and Shannon Leggett of Prague, Czech Republic; her sister, Jeanne Randall of Fullerton, CA, and her grandchildren, Travis, David, and Troy Garrison and Marie Leggett-Vasilieva.

A memorial service will be held in October.

Donations honoring Dee’s memory may be made to the Rutgers University Foundation, 120 Albany Street, Suite 201, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901 and designated for the Dee Garrison Fund for Rutgers Graduate Students in Women’s History.

It must be said that the enterprise is on a heroic scale, and consistently thought-provoking. "What we are talking about when we talk about 'women's issues' is life itself," she says.

--Hilary Mantel--The War Against Women.

Marilyn French, a writer and feminist activist whose debut novel, The Women’s Room, propelled her into a leading role in the modern feminist movement, died on May 2, 2009.
From Eve To Dawn, A History of Women in the World.

--by Marilyn French, with forewords by Margaret Atwood.
4 volumes, Feminist Press: 352 pp., 477 pp., 385 pp., 608 pp.