BU Fem Reading Eng 288 Sp23

 Kathrine Switzer: "Yep, I'm a Girl!" The First Woman to Officially Run the Boston Marathon "You would have to prove it to me" Kathrine Switzer was a college student when she ran her first marathon. While this is certainly not an unusual statement today, it was unheard off in 1966. Women weren't permitted to enter marathons as it was thought that the lengthy race was far too demanding on women's fragile bodies. Enter Kathrine Switzer, a 19-year-old journalism student at Syracuse University who was an avid runner training unofficially with the men's cross country team since there was no women's team. After a tiff with her coach, Arnie Briggs, a highly experienced runner with 15 Boston marathons under his belt, he told Kathrine that they'd enter the race if she could prove she could run the distance in practice first. So, three weeks before the Boston marathon, Kathrine and her coach did a trial run. Not only did Kathrine finish the 26 miles wi...

 A Woman Warrior: Sayaka Osakabe  (5)          Sayaka Osakabe is a prominent Japanese women's rights activist. Over the years Syaka has fought for women's equality in the workplace. Her main focus on women's rights issues was maternity and harassment in the workplace after childbirth. Sayaka's battle for women's rights started in 2013-2014. Working as a contracted magazine editor, Osakbe faced serious backlash from her boss when she fell pregnant. This workplace harassment was the first of other scenarios where her boss faulted her for being a mother. The harassment then spurred Osakbe on to fight for more maternity rights on a governmental level. (1)  (7) Her Fight         Osakabe's fight first started when she returned to her workplace after her first miscarriage. When Osakabe asked her boss for a lighter workload, to which her boss responded by asking her to put off, "babymaking" for two to three years. Similar instances ha...

Asieh Amini: Journalist, Activist, Poet Asieh Amini Note: sensitive topics within. Asieh Amini  is an Iranian journalist, activist and poet. As a six-year-old girl, she witnessed the Iranian revolution in 1979 and resented having to wear the newly-mandatory black hijab, to the point that it made her cry (Anderson 232). She began attending college in 1993 for journalism and wrote for Kayhan (the daily paper) (Anderson 232). She advanced to writing for a larger newspaper, Iran, and then became its' cultural editor very quickly, according to Anderson. This promotion did not come without some complaints from the male staff, who resented her place of authority (Anderson 232).  For a while, Amini worked for a women's issues paper, and then did freelance journalism (Anderson 232). After hearing about the execution of a 16-year-old girl in 2006, Amini was horrified (Anderson 232).  Atefeh Sahaaleh  had been repeatedly assaulted and bribed to keep quiet (cosmolearning.or...

Margaret Higgins Sanger (1879-1966) During the early 20th century, women in families were not given the proper information regarding healthcare or what to do in situations regarding their own bodies. Margaret Higgins Sanger became one of the first activists to spread awareness of birth control and contraception (1). She believed it was necessary to liberate women from unplanned pregnancies to transform cultural and social development. Sanger dedicated her life to advocating for women's reproductive rights, which led to the founding of the first American Birth Control League in 1921--which later turned into Planned Parenthood (1).  Portrait of Young Margaret Higgins Sanger (1) Margaret Higgins Sanger was born on September 14, 1879, in Corning, New York. Sanger was born into a big, Catholic family of eleven brothers and sisters. Sanger's mother passed away from what she believed to be the reason for having the number of children that she conceived (1). Sanger was nineteen years o...

María Jesús Alvarado Rivera María Jesús Alvarado Rivera        Born in 1878 in Chincha, Peru, María Jesús Alvarado Rivera and her family were forced to move to Lima as a consequence of the Saltpeter war. In Lima she was able to finish elementary school but as per the norm of that time period, she wasn't expected to further her education. She was only accepted into a private school due to her advanced reading and writing skills. This private school, run by Elvira García y García, kick-started her fight for women's civil, political, and social rights (1). Elvira García y García was a leader of Peru's feminist movement to further women's education, therefore Alvarado Rivera was taught how important education is for everyone among other feminist teachings (1).       After finishing high school Alvarado Rivera became a teacher where she observed the outdated education system and its inequalities. In order to begin her lifetime journey of combating th...

Li Maizi: Feminism in China Li Maizi is a Chinese activist for gender equality, sexual harassment, and sexuality. Maizi has participated in many demonstrations in China, which puts her at risk of obtaining any public image. It is essential to understand that under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, people are not allowed to discuss what they please, let alone protest openly. Li Maizi and many other Chinese feminists are literally risking their lives by going up against their government. Li Maizi (1) Li Tingting was born in Hongtongying, Beijing, China, in 1989. Li grew up with an overbearing father and a mother who was never around to do having to provide for the family. Li's mother had to move away to be closer to her job, which left Li to grow up with no Maternal figure. Li attended Chang'an University, where she was introduced to and became involved with activism. While there, Li founded a gender equality network that gained over 200 volunteers in 2013. To attempt to h...