Assisted Reproduction Conference
On Friday, April 10th, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the panels at the 2009 Symposium of Contested Contours in Assisted Reproduction
On Friday, April 10th, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the panels at the 2009 Symposium of Contested Contours in Assisted Reproduction
I'm sure that many of you have heard/read about Madonna's efforts to adopt a second child from Malawi.
This NYT columnist succinctly addresses some of the reasons that her adoption(s) engender such controversy. I wonder what you all think about the writer's perspective: can we call this column a feminist perspective on adoption? Or is it something else?
Events on Thursday and Friday:
Women in Islam
Shariah (Islamic Law)
Poetry Night
Come with questions, to meet people and FREE FOOD of course!
S Bear Bergman began his speech by admitting he was nervous. He felt that the speech he was about to present might upset people with opposing views. Despite this conscious nervousness, Bergman persevered and delivered a speech that celebrated transsexual people and the pride they should take in their differences. He emphasized the unnecessary existence of the term “just like you” because there is no need for one to adapt in order to feel the acceptance they deserve. He stressed reveling in one’s unique qualities and focus on the pride for queer and trans people.
I definitely think that Bear’s speech correlates with our readings on family values. One of the main family values for a feminist is the lack of gender roles. A woman should not be restricted to a sole maternal role in a household, nor should a man be limited to a paternal role. Along these same lines, our society’s sons and daughters opportunities should not be regulated either. Bear made it clear that if this were in fact the way our society operated (with the absence of gender roles) trans people would experience a wider degree of acceptance. Males would not be associated with certain roles and neither would females. This is the society that feminists have been fighting for, and Bear pointed out that this is a change our society needs.
I found this event and thought it might be of interest to some...
I figured I would post this in case anyone was interested in the actual Minnesota laws concerning maternity leave:
181.941 PARENTING LEAVE.
Subdivision 1.Six-week leave; birth or adoption.
An employer must grant an unpaid leave of absence to an employee who is a natural or adoptive parent in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child. The length of the leave shall be determined by the employee, but may not exceed six weeks, unless agreed to by the employer.
Subd. 2.Start of leave.
The leave shall begin at a time requested by the employee. The employer may adopt reasonable policies governing the timing of requests for unpaid leave. The leave may begin not more than six weeks after the birth or adoption; except that, in the case where the child must remain in the hospital longer than the mother, the leave may not begin more than six weeks after the child leaves the hospital.
Subd. 3.No employer retribution.
An employer shall not retaliate against an employee for requesting or obtaining a leave of absence as provided by this section.
Subd. 4.Continued insurance.
The employer must continue to make coverage available to the employee while on leave of absence under any group insurance policy, group subscriber contract, or health care plan for the employee and any dependents. Nothing in this section requires the employer to pay the costs of the insurance or health care while the employee is on leave of absence.
We are pleased to invite you to attend Contested Contours in Assisted Reproduction: Interrogating Law, Race, Class & Sex, on Friday, April 10, 2009 at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Check out our website for more information and to register. The event is free, lunch will be provided.
http://www.law.umn.edu/lawineq/symposium09.html
Just wanted to remind everyone that March 8th is WOMEN'S DAY!
So apparently the octuplet mom Nadya Suleman was offered a million dollars if she would do an adult film, and with all the conversation in class about her situation I figured some people might be interested in this new development in her story.
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/126726/is_breeding_a_sin/?page=1
This was a pretty good article comparing Angelina Jolie and Nadya Suleman. I thought the most interesting part was when the author pointed out that the Suleman family is going to be a lot less taxing on the environment than the Jolie family, who will no doubt use an enormous amount of resources in their very privileged lives.
Although it is too late to attend, I thought this was an interesting site. There is a link for updated articles but it wouldn't load when I tried it. Hopefully it works for you guys!
Read more about the Fair Pay Act.