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Women's
Writes Newsletter News | Events | Groups & Workshops | Featured Article | Archives News VAGINA COLORING CONTEST WINNERS! The Women's Resources and Research Center has
chosen winners for the Vagina Coloring Contest held during February.
We thank everyone who submitted an entry. The creativity and beauty
shown through the contest really adds to the ambiance and energy of
our Righteous Babes Lounge. We have chosen three
favorite vaginas and invite the winners to come by the Women's Center
to pick up their prize.
BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! FAIR May 5-8; 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., North Hall Porch Stop by and browse through a wide collection of
used fiction and nonfiction books! Donations raised through the book
fair will be used to purchase new library books. For more information,
contact Joy Erickson, WRRC Librarian at 752-3372 or jrerickson@ucdavis.edu.
ARE YOU A FEMINIST? Deadline: May 8 CALL OUT for individuals who identify as feminists! "This is What
a Feminist Looks Like" is a photo project in the spirit of Ms.
Magazine, of individuals on campus who identify themselves as feminists.
The exhibit will show different interpretations of the term "feminism"
drawn from participants’ answers to a questionnaire. You will
also be asked to take a picture for the exhibit, to be shown at the
Women's Center. To be a part of this exhibit, please contact Sing Wang,
WRRC Resource Intern at siwang@ucdavis.edu. Sponsored by WRRC.
BORDER AS MIRROR: NEGOTIATING THE VIEW FROM HERE Deadline to Register: Friday, May 15 Since the first Institute held at UC Davis in 1985, this event is a
yearly reunion of Chicanas/Latinas and Native American women from all
across the country. The 2009 MALCS Summer Institute will be hosted by
NMSU on its Las Cruces campus from July 22 through 25. With lectures,
workshops, seminars, and various social activities, the Institute is
designed to challenge the intellectual by sharing work and ideas; it
creates an informal space for socializing and networking, and offers
a safe space to present early work for discussion and development. For
more information, go to: http://malcs.net/summer.htm.
MIGRANT CENTER DONATIONS Donate by: Saturday, May 16  Migrant Center is collecting donations! Every year during spring quarter,
Mujeres Ayuando la Raza works with a migrant center in assisting their
needs and interacting with the families. Please help by donating clothing,
toys/games, non-perishable food items, blankets, monetary gifts or anything
else that you can contribute. For more information, e-mail: migrantcenterMAR@gmail.comEAST QUAD FARMER’S MARKET Wednesdays, April 1-June 3; 10:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., East Quad Come support local farmers and get fresh produce, nuts, flowers and
more! While you pick-up some great produce, stop by the WRRC Library
that is conveniently located across the street to eat your lunch while
reading a book. For more information and to join the EQFM list serve
visit http://healthcenter.ucdavis.edu/hep/eqfm.html.
TWENTY-FIVE STORIES FROM THE CENTRAL VALLEY EXHIBIT April 23 – August 23; Nelson Gallery, Buehler Alumni Center “25 Stories from the Central Valley” is a master's student
thesis come to life with 25 stories of personal change and civic engagement.
This campus-community project uses photos, theater, stories and sound
to paint a vivid picture of the environmental problems faced by Central
Valley communities as told by women leading the movement struggling
to solve them. Their stories are by turns shocking, sad, and inspiring.
Above all, they broaden people's understanding of the Central Valley,
community change and the necessity for civic engagement. For more information
or to pre-register, go to: http://twentyfive.ucdavis.edu/.
OUTREACH OFFICE HOURS @ THE WOMEN’S CENTER  With Molly Sundstrom, Student Assistant to the ChancellorTuesdays 12:00-1:30 p.m.; WRRC Library
Come drop the WRRC to visit with Molly about your student feedback and
concerns on-campus at UC Davis.
Events TAKE BACK THE NIGHT Monday, May 4; 6:10 p.m., East Quad Join in protesting violence at the 28th annual
UC Davis Take Back the Night. This event includes musical performances,
a march through the streets of Davis, survivor speak out, free food
and poetry. For more information, contact Shauna Stratton sstratton@ucdavis.edu
or (530) 754-6389.
MIXED HERITAGE WEEK
Looking for friendship, leadership experience, and a way to give back
to your community? Join Prytanean Women's Honor Society and achieve
all of this and more. Prytanean invites all high achieving women going
abroad in Fall 2009 to apply now! For more information, please contact
Jessica Cvetko at prytmembership@gmail.com or apply on-line at: www.davisprytanean.org.
ELLEN HANSEN MEMORIAL PRIZE EXHIBIT & AWARDS RECEPTION Exhibit: May 7-21; Pence Gallery, 212 D Street, Davis, Free Awards: Friday, May 15; 5:00-6:30 p.m., Pence Gallery
A mixed-media exhibit of photography, performance art, painting, sculpture,
poetry, fiction, comics, and film produced by UCD women students. The
Ellen Hansen Memorial Prize is awarded annually to a UCD woman student
whose original creative project best demonstrates the bravery and independence
of women. Join us at the reception where the memorial $1,000 prize will
be awarded, and refreshments will be served.
This $1,000 prize is named for the student who was killed in 1981 while hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains. Ellen Hansen's courageous resistance allowed her hiking companion to escape and survive the attack. Her attacker was later identified as the "Trailside Killer." Ellen's father, Robert J. Hansen, a UC Davis professor of Veterinary Medicine, established the annual award in 1986 as a tribute to his daughter, and to encourage the creative pursuits of other women students. Ellen was a UCD student and a talented artist, musician and poet. For more information, got to: http://www.pencegallery.org. Sponsored by WRRC. ANNUAL CROSS-CULTURAL WOMEN’S AND GENDER HISTORY SEMINAR Friday, May 8; 3:00-4:30 p.m., Andrews Room (2203 Social Sciences), Free
Claire Robertson, Professor of Women's Studies and History at Ohio State
University will give a lecture entitled "From Ghana and Kenya to
St. Lucia: The Foundational Role of Women's Economic Rights and a Research
Journey.” She is the author of many books, including Trouble Showed
the Way: Women, Men, and Trade in the Nairobi Area, 1890-1990 and We
Only Come Here to Struggle: Stories from Beridaís Life. Her talk
is the Cross-Cultural Women’s and Gender History Annual Seminar
sponsored by the WRRC, Cross-Cultural Women’s and Gender History
Program, the History Department, the Cross Cultural Center, the Center
for History, Society and Culture, Cultural Studies Graduate Group, and
the Consortium for Women and Research.
CONSORTIUM FOR WOMEN AND RESEARCH PRESENTS: SUSAN F. WOOD Wednesday, May 13; 4:10. – 5:30 p.m., University Club, Clubroom Women’s Health Policy, From Emergency Contraception to Health Care Reform
It's an exciting time in the US when it comes to women's health and
health-care reform. This presentation reviews the past efforts of the
FDA to secure approval for over-the-counter emergency contraception,
including recent action taken by federal courts over-ruling some of
the FDA's decisions. It emphasizes the need for a strong science base
at the FDA and a comprehensive public-health approach to women's health
coverage. There will be a reception following.
CAMPUS NOW MOVIE NIGHT Iron Jawed Angels Wednesday, May 13; 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Room TBA
Join us for a film about Women's suffrage and a discussion to follow
the screening. Contact Nicole at nksardella@ucdavis.edu for more information.
MALCS PLATICA WITH PROFESSOR LORENA OROPEZA Friday, May 15; 12:00 – 2:00 p.m., HIA Conference Room, 5214 SS&H
UC Davis Chapter of MALCS (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social/
Women Active in Letters and Social Change) presents Professor Lorena
Oropeza, Professor of History at UC Davis History Deptartment talk to
all Chicana, Latina, and Indigenous identified women students, staff,
and faculty to participate in our platica. Professor Oropeza will speak
about her experience in academia and as a historian. Refreshments will
be provided.
Join the Women’s Center in our alternative fashion show! Former
male Model Ron Saxen will talk about his experiences in the high fashion
world, as well as his battle with binge eating disorder and his views
on body image. Ron will be selling copies of his book "The Good
Eater" for half price with proceeds going to ABIDE. For the second
half of the hour there will be an alternative fashion show with a diverse
range of campus women showing off their real bodies in clothes that
make them feel good! Sponsored by WRRC & ABIDE.
CHELSEA GILMORE EXHIBIT AT THE WOMYN'S GALLERY Exhibit: May–July Reception: Wednesday, May 20; 6:00-7:00 p.m., WRRC Resource Room
The WRRC has turned its' lobby walls into The Womyn's Gallery, currently
hosting recent graduate Chelsea Gilmore's artwork. Stop in and check
out Gilmore's abstract works. There will be a reception to celebrate
this exhibit with refreshments provided. Come by for a chance to talk
to the artist and mingle with other art enthusiasts!
NIGHT WITH THE SEX THERAPIST Thursday, May 21; 8:10- 9:30 p.m.
Ever wondered what sex therapy is like as a potential career or what
it offers to your relationship? Come join us for a wild night you'll
be sure to remember. Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Commission.
MISSING: YOUTH, CITIZENSHIP AND EMPIRE AFTER 9/11 Thursday, May 28; 12:00 – 1:30 p.m., MU Art Lounge
Join Sunaina Marr Maira, to talk about her new book Missing, as she
explores how young South Asian Muslim immigrants living in the United
States experienced and understood national belonging (or exclusion)
at a particular moment in the history of U.S. imperialism in the years
immediately following September 11, 2001. For more information, please
contact Sunaina Maira at smaira@ucdavis.edu.
QUEER STUDIES GRADUATE SYMPOSIUM “Queer Mobility, Queer Citizenship” Thursday, May 28-Friday, May 29
Grace's talk will look at the U.S. secret, illegal scheme of collecting
Japanese Peruvian hostages to exchange for U.S. prisoners held by the
Axis nations during World War II; as well as, the women of the redress
movement and women's testimonies of surviving internees. Sponsored by
the Department of Asian American Studies, Hemispheric on the Americas,
History Department, and WRRC.
Groups & Workshops PREGNANT GRADUATE STUDENTS SUPPORT GROUP The WRRC has formed an informal pregnancy support group that will continue
meeting Spring Quarter. This group is a place where pregnant graduate
students can share thoughts, feelings, emotions and ideas, as well as,
information about the physical and emotional experiences of pregnancy,
and exchange resources. If you are interested, please contact the WRRC
Graduate Intern for the meeting location, 530-752-3372 or wrrcgrad@ucdavis.edu. WOMEN'S WRITING WORKSHOP Tuesdays; 5:00 -6:00 p.m. , WRRC Library, North Hall 113  The WRRC provides a safe space for women to share their writing with
other aspiring writers. Bring a page of your writing to read and workshop.
Snacks will be provided. Questions? Contact the WRRC Librarian Joy Erickson
at jrerickson@ucdavis.eduMATH CAFÉ Tuesdays 5:00-7:00 p.m., WRRC Library, North Hall  Math Café provides a fun and friendly environment for studying
and discussing mathematics. Tutoring is free and snacks are provided!
Sponsored by the WRRC. http://wrrc.ucdavis.edu/mathcafe/. For more info
contact Rammy at (530) 752-3372 or rksidhu@ucdavis.eduNOW! CAMPUS CHAPTER MEETING Mondays; 5:00. – 6:00 p.m., North Hall 114 The campus chapter of the National Organization for Women needs enthusiastic
activists who want to learn to advocate on behalf of UCD women. Contact
Nicole Sardella at nksardella@ucdavis.edu for more information or stop in to hear what happening! GENDER AND SEXUALITY COMMISSION MEETINGS Tuesdays, 8:00pm in the ASUCD Angelina Malfitano Conference Room (3rd floor of the MU) Meetings are open to the public, please feel free to join us.
COMMUNITY BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP Every 3rd Wednesday; 6:00-7:30 p.m., Faith Fellowship Community Church For more information contact co-facilitators Rose Marie Colber and Rev.
Gloria Williams at 916-339-9156blackOUT
Our campus had NO LGBT support group for the African/African-American community until now! "blackOUT" will be a closed space where African/African-American students on campus who identify as LGBT or just curious, can come together, hang out and find others like them in a safe place on campus. For more information, contact Domico Adams, A.C.E. Gender & Sexuality Intern at deadams@ucdavis.edu. Meetings will be confidential - what happens there, stays there. WOMEN’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS OPPORTUNTIES Wednesdays, May 6-June 3; 5:00-6:00 p.m., ARC Meeting Rooms, Free Wellness Wednesday workshops are free mind-body health promotion and
stress
management workshops designed to enhance general well-being. Facilitated by CAPS and Campus Recreation. For more information or to sign-up, contact the Fitness & Wellness Center at 754-2179. CAPS SPRING SUPPORT GROUPS
Features Article Marilyn and Jen Ayres, twin sisters and co-owners of Thunderhorse Vintage, are two people that more feminists should know about. Along with their ethics, their critical approach to fashion and consumerism shows that “feminism is being interpreted, practiced, and produced in 2009.” Thunderhorse is small shop packed with vintage clothing and accessories located in midtown, Sacramento, that opened in January. Spring 2008 UC Davis Women and Gender Studies graduates, Jen and Mar grew up in Cameron Park, which they described as “a little Mormon suburb up Highway 50.” After living a sheltered rural life, they moved to Davis halfway through high school and have been living in Sacramento for a few years now. Both attended Sacramento City College and transferred to UC Davis as design majors. Mar and Jen soon realized that the Design Department wasn’t what they thought it would be, however,. They sat down with me to talk more about their experiences at UC Davis, their shop, consumerism in America, fashion, and their futures.  Kohgadai:
What were your majors and minors?Jen: We transferred as design majors, before we really knew that we were feminists or into critical cultural studies, and attempted to take design classes and it was a shock. There was complete aesthetics divorced from theory, from accountability, any kind of critical analysis. That’s when we got out the registrar of classes and decided to do Women/Feminist Cultural studies 103, not realizing that at UC Davis you really have to take Women’s Studies 50 before getting into 103. So, it was very challenging. It was very challenging, very stressful but very mentally stimulating. It was this crazy, rigorous world that we hadn’t been exposed to. Kohgadai: How has your experience with your education influenced your shop and what you stand for? Mar: The disconnection between ideology and the production of images of art and design were completely antithetical to what we were about. So we went completely a different route. We decided to make ethical decisions, to know where things come from, and understand the meaning and, importantly: acknowledge where things came from — something so basic and simple. Being disingenuous, appropriating, and making a buck off of other people’s artwork, that’s what we didn’t want to do. That’s just the easy way out, that’s not critical thinking, that’s not special. Jen: The Women and Gender Studies Program really helped us become who we are, and helped us open and run the shop because it has those ties to intersectional feminist ethical principles that let us remain true to who we are and do business— without compromising, without exploiting. And it’s crazy because shopping today is all about what maquilladora your handbag came from in accordance with what’s in fashion at this very instant. And I think what we’re doing is complete in the opposite direction of that. Kohgadai: I noticed someone brought over clothes, do you do trade-ins? Jen: We emphasize to our friends: Please, we really want to circulate goods, to trade and swap things between us. If you want something that’s in here, please bring us some of your cute clothes because we like seeing goods go, and go to our friends. The thing about a good transaction is that it’s fair on both sides. Mar: Because there’s a lot of places you could go, and you won’t be paid a fair amount. Kohgadai: How did you first get interested in vintage clothing? Mar: We just love thrift shopping. When we were little, the first thing we would do when our parents would take us to a new town, was look up the thrift stores and just go there. We love seeing unique art, unique design from previous periods of time. Cultural oddities that were no longer valued because they were no longer “in vogue,” or whatever. Having the discarded stuff, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Suspenders, the stuff that no body else thought was awesome, and kind of reclaiming that. Now, its just coincidence that vintage is very much at the height of being in fashionable. Kohgadai: Did you always want to become clothing shop owners? Jen: To us this wasn’t a business decision. Getting to share our clothes with people that we love and cherish and having them wear it is the most enjoyable art. Mar: The whole idea of idea of collecting and accumulating crap, this whole American notion of getting as much material goods and just hoarding it, what happens with that is it just sits there unappreciated and unloved. It’s just something you go to once a couple months when you go through your attic. Jen: We want to have amazing stuff that the right person will come in and pick up. We want to be accessible. We don’t want a museum that you can’t touch, and engage with and love. (Like high priced vintage stores). We want to be able to display it, and have that right person come in and have something click for them. To us, clothing is a huge part of how you express your personality and its kind of an unrecognized art form. Kohgadai: Where did you two accumulate your clothing? Mer: We’ve been collecting since we were 14 (laugh). Jen was always very good at getting things from thrift stores, but what did she do with them? There wasn’t anything you could with it. Jen: It started out as a tie to my friends. I’m like “Oh, so and so will love it, and I’ll just hold on to it for her. Because I know she won’t be here at this thrift store, on this day to pick it up. And it’d be perfect for her.” I’m a giver. That’s how I express my love, I burden people with lots of crap (laugh). That’s how it started out. Having an eye with other people in mind. Kohgadai: Do you two share a wardrobe? Jen: NO. We’re identical twins so we have insane identity issues. For the longest time we had big hurdles to overcome about clothing because the way we perform our identity is through clothing. The way we perform a lot of things is through clothing: Gender, identity, sexuality, class, all these things. For our personal identity, when we are already genetic clones of each other, hell no we’re not going to be okay with sharing, because those are our individual signifiers. Then people might confuse one of us for the other, which would be crazy because we are *SO different (*sarcasm). I have been the one most afflicted with these insecurities, however. Mar has always been confident in her identity-in-relation-to-me. Kohgadai: Did you always want to be clothing shop owners? Mar: It sounds cliché to say we were inspired by Buffalo Exchange, but, we were really inspired by Buffalo Exchange on Height Street. When we went there as teenagers, it was like this crazy, eccentric collection of one-of-a-kind stuff. Vintage stuff, new stuff, but it was all crazy and unique. There was weird old stuff old punk and metal shirts from the 80’s and it was all very affordable. And we thought this is exactly what we want to do: to have a shop of weird stuff you can’t get anywhere else. Jen: And it’s like the model of working with your community. When you buy and trade with your community, and that it’s a lot more equitable of an exchange than “give me your money, and you take something.” We always wanted to just dig for treasures. Kohagdai: What is important to you when purchasing clothing? Jen: It first and foremost has to align with our aesthetics. Things will sell that are ugly. There is the unethical line where the most garbage fashions are in vogue right now, and it’s the death of design and the silhouette that we love. We don’t put it in the shop if we feel too big of an ethical pull. If I don’t want to look at it in a month, I won’t pick it up. We have to love some part of it to put it in the shop. We really value our store and the contents in it, and don’t ever want people to be assaulted by filler— just junk you can find in a thrift store. We want the stuff you can’t find at a thrift store. We just want relics of the past that still have great construction, great fabric, and stand alone. We don’t want basics. Kohgadai: Is it important to carry clothing for women of all body sizes? Jen: YES. We do measurements of all the vintage dresses. We like to carry all sorts of sizes. We love it for vintage, so why would we be exclusive to a particular group? What’s problematic is trying to find vintage dresses from the 40’s, 50’s 60’s, that are extra-large, today’s extra large, is nearly impossible. And so we try really hard to have large garments, and large foot sizes. We always do the bust and waist measures, because people just know they are a “large” at the Gap. We’re like “you’re not a large, you have curves, and the Gap doesn’t have clothes that fit those curves nicely.” Kohgadai: What advice would you have for other young entrepreneurs? Jen: I think our advice would be to go with what you do passionately. There are so few people in the world that are passionate about anything, its so easy to get lost in daily life of consuming and watching TV and not knowing what you’re interested in. We just advise people who have a passionate vision to share that with the world. Mar: And work with other people to make something, because that’s what small towns in America are losing: community. And the vision of people working together in small towns to give that small town its own sense of itself. Kohgadai: Describe some of the difficulties of starting your own business? Mar: Money, definitely. We borrowed money from our parents, and all of our resources came from our family and friends. And if you don’t have that, there’s almost nothing you can do. If you want to work counter-culture its hard to get a bank loan. There’s just so many obstacles that it’d be nearly impossible to do it by yourself. But we’ve also been working for a while to set something like this up. We’ve been preparing for years, and a lot of people get stuck in their grind and loose inspiration. Kohgadai: Where do you see yourself in five years? Mar: Doing what we love, hopefully. Jen is going to Cornell in August. Jen: I’m going to go to the Textiles department and TA. I’m going to maybe publish as my Masters work an ethnography on a thrift store. Haha, not that different than what we’re doing now, but on the theory side rather than the actual store side. I’m going to try to get Mar to go. Mar: Yeah, she’s going to try to pull some strings for me or something. Jen: You know there’s not a lot of people who think critically about the movement of goods. And if you do something unique and interesting in some sort of subversive or minority, some sort of field of work where you’re not supposed to have a set job after you graduate, the grad schools want you (laugh). Mar: “We sense you’re going to be a permanent student” hahhaha. Kohgadai: Is there anything else you want the readers to know? Mar & Jen: We’ve learned so much from the Women’s Studies at UC Davis. Greatly indebted to the amazing Women’s Resources and Research Center, the Women’s center library, and lounge, and awesome lgbt center. And the Women’s Studies department, Kimberly Nettles, Anna Kuhn, Luz Mena, Susan Kaiser’s masculinities graduate group, and Shaunna Ludwig, and Patty, and Carole Markese... all really inspiring. -Sara Kohgadai Thunderhorse Vintage is located at 2522 Jst in Midtown, Sacramento. They are open 11am-7pm Mon-sat and 12pm-6pm Sunday and can be reached at (916) 444-7723 or on the web at myspace.com/thunderhorse_vintage Return to the top. Return to our most recent newsletter. Women's Writes Archives May 2009 October 2009 |
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