Kickass Women

History is filled with women doing all kinds of kickass stuff.

Smart Girls

Watch these girls... they're going places!

Inspiration

Need a dose of inspiration? Here you go.

SRPS Entertainment

Some of my entertainment recommendations with awesome female characters and stars.

She's Crafty!

Some of the awesome items made by kickass women!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Is archery making a come back?

In the 18th century, archery was one of the few sports open to young English ladies. Archery societies were popular, and many of the young elite women found an outlet for their competitiveness while still appearing feminine and proper.

Winona Ryder as Mae Welland in The Age of Innocence
While many 20th century schools offered archery, its popularity has waned over the years. But with so many really awesome archers in pop culture these days, archery appears to be making a come-back. And many young girls getting involved.
The Hunger Games book trilogy and movie, featuring a futuristic, bow-wielding heroine named Katniss Everdeen, hooked Elizabeth Kinson, 13, on archery. For Mia Smith, 7, it was the archer Merida in the animated movie Brave.
Top: Merida in Brave; Bottom: Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games
Photo source: Fresno Bee
New archery clubs are popping up all over, and established clubs are seeing a dramatic increase in inquiries and new memberships.
Bruce Cull, president of the National Field Archery Assocation, says membership is up about 5% this year, largely driven by younger archers. "Hollywood has had a huge impact on archery," he says. "Young girls see the appeal because they see somebody cool doing it."
And not only are they taking it up as a hobby, but they're competing. Like Christiana-Marie Wilburn, of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Christiana-Marie Wilburn, 17 and fab. Photo source: Las Vegas Sun
Right now Wilburn just hopes to make it to 2012 National Archery in the Schools Program’s Nationals in Louisville, Ky. Though winning the tournament has secured her an invite, she’s actively looking for sponsors since archery is just a club at Las Vegas Academy and not funded like other high school sports around the valley.
Everyone expects this increased interest will only continue to grow during the 2012 Olympics, with the best archers in the world competing in London. The archery competitions began today, with the US women's team already in second place.

Miranda Leek, 19 and awesome. Photo source: USAToday
I don't know about you, but I think it is pretty awesome. Or, as Elizabeth Kinson said, "It's fun, and it makes me feel really powerful."

Olympics Preview

I don't know about you, but the Olympics are a Big Deal™ around my house. I've been looking forward to this year's games for months! Years ago, when I first moved in with my partner, we didn't have cable television. We went a couple of years without it, in fact. But we broke down and got it for the 2004 Olympics. Going to a sports bar for all the events we wanted to watch just wasn't practical. I mean, there's just so many chicken wings one person can eat, right?

This year seems to be the Year of the Women. There are so many great women and girls from around the world showing up to compete in London. I'm going to try to watch as many events as I can, but I have to be a bit pragmatic. Just in case life gets hectic, as it's wont to do, I've made a short list of events that will take priority.

I can't wait to see the women's cycling team. My favorite event is the road race, and I usually check out the mountain bike race, but I'm also excited to see the BMX event. I mean, seriously, what's not to love about women's BMX?!


On the road racing side of cycling, I really hope Kristin Armstrong does well again. She's one of my favorites, and after winning gold in 2008, I think she's done a lot for improving the attention given to women's cycling in the US.


I'll also be watching the women's triathlon (and probably the men's too). Laura Bennett is representing the US, and she's pretty awesome. But I'm intrigued by Sarah Groff's story.


She clinched her spot on the Olympic team back in 2011, while competing in the London ITU World Championship Series, which was run on the same course the Olympics will use. Which means she's had almost an entire year to train for it.
"It's fast, it's furious and it's exciting. Those two hours go by so quickly. You make a small mistake, and it could cost you your entire race."
And, like many people, I'm already watching the women's soccer events, which started earlier this week.


And I'm always amazing at the women weightlifters! I hope by now you've heard of Sarah Robles. But what about Holley Mangold? If her last name sounds familiar, it might be that you know of her brother, Nick Mangold, who plays for the NY Giants.


I'm also very interested in the outcome of the women's boxing events, since this is the first Olympics where there will be women participating. While boxing isn't a sport I usually like to watch, I might have to check it out just to see these women who I've been hearing so much about for the last several months. The US will be represented by Claressa Shields, Marlen Esparza, and Queen Underwood.


I'm sure I'll also be watching swimming, gymnastics, rowing, fencing, and all kinds of other sports I wouldn't normally watch. And don't think I'm only watching the US athletes. There are women coming from nearly every country. I'm especially eager to see the woman from Saudi Arabia and other muslim countries who will be the first women to ever represent their country.

Also, I sincerely hope there's another sighting of these two "olympians."


Who are you most excited to watch? What events capture your fancy?

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Science! Awesome science camp for girls!

There are an increasing number of opportunities for girls interesting in pursuing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) career. Over the last year or so, I have read about dozens of fascinating summer camps, extracurricular programs, weekend schools, and the like. One of the most intriguing has been the Women's Health Science Program.
The Women’s Health Science Program for High School Girls and Beyond (WHSP) was created by the Institute for Women’s Health Research to prepare and empower a diverse population of high school girls to successfully become the next generation of women leaders in science and medicine.
Girls enrolled in the Women's Health Science Program.
Photo source: WHSP Facebook page

Founded in 2006 by Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. and Megan E. Farout, MEd, the Women's Health Science Program is an innovative program which brings together high school and college students interested in the field science and medicine and places them within a community-based program, with the goals of increasing science mentorships and improving advocacy, improving authentic science and health learning opportunities, and exposing promising students to the available academic programs leading to careers in science and medicine. It was designed to introduce college-level instructors, programs and resources to high school students.

Girls practicing on each other. Source: WHSP

Currently the program offers several different academies, ranging from the general study of physical science to the specific study of oncofertility, each of which with an emphasis on women's health concerns to make it relevant to the girls' lives.

In each program, the girls get plenty of laboratory time, learning how to use equipment and procedures, simulating working with samples and performing dissections. They also get plenty of clinical experience, learning how to work with patients, doing research, observing surgeries, and discussing current health issues facing young women.

Girls learning medical science. Source: WHSP
"We think girls need more opportunity to see what the possibility is for them in their lives and sometimes girls think of themselves in other careers, but not as scientists," said Woodruff. "We have them interfacing with scientists, clinicians, nurses, physical assistants and really ask them to involve themselves in the discovery process of science that then translates into human health." (Quote source: ABC12)
The more I read about it the more I'm convinced it really is a remarkable program. I hope if you're in the Chicogo area, you'll check it out.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Happy Birthday Summer Glau

Yeah. She's River Tam.


And she was the love-interest-turned-super-bad-scientist in Dollhouse.


Aside from maybe Buffy, she is the face of kick-ass women in television and movies. Enjoy this clip of her at the end of Serenity.


Happy Birthday Summer!

Happy Birthday Kristin Chenoweth

I'm seriously in love with Kristin Chenoweth. What a performer! I initially fell in love with her in the last season of The West Wing, when she came on to play Annabeth.


She was a perfect fit with the cast I already knew and loved, and she shortly stole the limelight from everyone else! Seriously, she was such a spark!


Then she was Olive in Pushing Daisies. And they let her sing!


What a voice! Her performance on the Oprah finale had me in tears. I'm glad to see she's making her own music now too. She's a great performer. I look forward to finding out what she does next!



Happy Birthday Kristin!

Happy Birthday Lynda Carter

We all know her as Wonder Woman. The television show ran in the late-1970s, and it was one of my favorites! I mean, this woman could kick some serious ass!


Of course, even at that age, I questioned why she had to wear her Amazonian swim suit to catch the baddies. Superman at least got a full-body suit and a cape, in case he got cold, right?


After the show ended, she sorta fell off my radar until I saw her in a television ad for contacts or something. But, as it turns out, she hasn't been sitting at home polishing her tiara (oh, and what a tiara it was!). No, she's been acting in various television and movie roles. And voice acting. Did you know she did some voices for Skyrim? Huh.


But most surprising to me is her singing! I mean, I recall she did some duets with other singers on those celebrity variety shows back in the day, but it just seemed like something everyone did. But she's still performing with her own band!

Happy Birthday Lynda Carter!

Happy Birthday Amelia Earhart

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in the library. While I enjoyed reading all kinds of books, I especially liked reading biographies. And one of my favorite subjects was Amelia Earhart.
...now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done - occasionally what men have not done--thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action. Some such consideration was a contributing reason for my wanting to do what I so much wanted to do.
I was fascinated at her bravery, her determination, her verve. At the time, I didn't like to spend the night away from home, so her ability to fly solo off into the nearly-unknown made me a bit weak in the knees. And the thought of her crashing onto a remote island (or worse, into the ocean), was almost too much for me to bear thinking about.
One of my favorite phobias is that girls, especially those whose tastes aren't routine, often don't get a fair break... It has come down through the generations, an inheritance of age-old customs which produced the corollary that women are bred to timidity.
As I grew older, and learned even more about her life, I was even more impressed. And inspired. She was a true trailblazer. I like to imagine what kind of spirit was required to break so many records and turn social convention on its head like she did, repeatedly. She knew she was making a path for other women to follow in. How did that affect her? She was born before World War I. Before the Wright brothers had completed their first flight. Before women could vote. What an exciting time that must have been!
My ambition is to have this wonderful gift produce practical results for the future of commercial flying and for the women who may want to fly tomorrow's planes. 

I can't help but wonder what would she have gone on to do with her life, had she been successful on her last voyage. Would she have truly retired into private life? Would she have continued to be an advocate for women in flight? Would she have come up with a brilliant new passion to follow?

We'll never know for sure, of course. But it's comforting to me to know that these many years later, she is still an evocative figure.

Happy Birthday Amelia Earhart!

Self-Rescuing Princess of the Week - Brittany Wenger

I know it's only Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure it's safe to call it already! Google has announced the winners of the 2012 Google Science Fair. And, again, the Grand Prize winner is an innovative and enterprising young woman!

Winners of the 2012 Google Science Fair. Photo: Google
Brittany Wenger, from the US, won the prize for the 17-18 age category, as well as the Grand Prize, for her work, "Global Neural Network Cloud Service for Breast Cancer."
Brittany's project harnesses the power of the cloud to help doctors accurately diagnose breast cancer. Brittany built an application that compares individual test results to an extensive dataset stored in the cloud, allowing doctors to assess tumors using a minimally-invasive procedure.
Basically, a doctor enters the information about the mass into the database, and her algorithm can predict whether it is cancer with a 99.1% accuracy, reducing the number of malignant false negatives.

Brittany Wenger at her data input site. Photo: The Out-of-Door Academy
The other winners are quite impressive as well!

Jonah Kohn, also from the US, won the prize for the 13-14 age category for his work, "Good Vibrations: Improving the Music Experience for People with Hearing Loss Using Multi-Frequency Tactile Sound."
By creating a device that converts sound into tactile vibrations, Jonah's project attempts to provide the hearing impaired with an improved experience of music.
And Iván Hervías Rodrígues, Marcos Ochoa, and Sergio Pascual, of Spain, won the 15-16 age category for their work, "La Vida Oculta del Agua (The Secret Life of Water).
Iván, Marcos, and Sergio studied hidden microscopic life in fresh water, documenting the organisms that exist in a drop of water, and how those organisms influence our environment.
Well done, all!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Gamer Girl - Guild Wars 2 Final BWE

Today kicked off the Guild Wars 2 final beta weekend event. Like just about everyone else it seems, I created a Sylvari. The whole concept of a plant that has become sentient and free to move around in the world is intriguing to me, and the story is interesting to act out in the personal quests.


As I did in each of the other beta weekend events, I started a new class as well. For me the purpose of these  events is to check out thedifferent options open to me so I have a better idea of what I'd like to play in release. In the previous events, I'd played a human, Norn, and a Charr, and really enjoyed each of them. Today was Sylvari day, and sometime tomorrow, I'll probably create a Asura.


This character is a Mesmer, which I'm enjoying. She's like a casting tank. She's tough and can take down bigger foes. My other characters were an Engineer, an Elementalist, and a Guardian. I still don't know what I'll play in release. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with the Guardian. But, luckily, I don't have to decide. It's likely I'll have a full set of alts, so I can play them all!


I'm not wild about her outfit, but it's better than a lot of the other outfits in this game. Plus, if I accept the premise that the Sylvari are purposely exaggerating their gender presentation, I can let it go a bit more easily.


They've also added a new set of Vista points, where you can get a soaring view of the immediate area. What a great way to show off the beautiful artwork in the game. Frankly, that is one of my most favorite aspects, aside from the actual gameplay. The world is amazing. As you run along, the landscape emerges so that it almost feels like the flowers are bursting out of the ground around you.


And I just couldn't resist including this shot of my character with a shovel. When I picked it up, my first thought was, My spoon is too big!

I had a blast just running around in the new areas, looking at everything, exploring all the nooks and crannies. But it's late now, and I need to sleep. I'll post more shots and thoughts tomorrow, I promise!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Blog Around

Geek Mom has a post about a great new CD for science geeks: Science Fair.
The songs of Science Fair are all performed by women and girls, including some kids’ music greats like Frances England, Elizabeth Mitchell, Lunch Money, Renee & Jeremy, and Ashley Albert of The Jimmies. The musical styles represented are as diverse as the science topics, from hip hop to rock to folk, phytoplankton to fossils to outer space. The album name drops Feynman, Heisenberg, Einstein, Bohr, Newton, Schrödinger, with a terrific ukelele-filled song dedicated to Marie Curie.


Speaking of women in science, the Elsevier Foundation, The Academy of Sciences for the Developing worls (TWAS) and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) have launched an awards program for women scientists in developing countries.



Valerie Weiss has an excellent post on indiewire.com about the problems of portraying science in the media: Women, Science and Film.
1. Girls are not dumb. They have interests outside of the world of Abercrombie or Forever 21. They are actually just as discerning as you and me and can tell when they’re fed dumbed-down messages.
2. Science can actually be cool. Why else would there be news reports on the search for dark energy and why else would we care about the race to find a cure for cancer? Why else would people actually study it?


In this Word & Film interview, the fabulous Kristen Scott Thomas dishes about being an older woman in Hollywood and why she prefers to make movies in Europe these days.
“The Hollywood film industry nourishes everything else because that’s the mother hand, but it’s true: The movies I’m making in Europe are more exciting to me than the things I’ve been asked to do recently coming out of America. That doesn’t mean to say I don’t want to do them anymore, but when you have even a much smaller part, it’s so exciting. And in Europe, they’re interested in women of my age. I don’t think that here they are.” 

Have you ever thought that computer science should include more dragons and wizards? Well, you're in luck! Computational Fairy Tales is here to save the day!



Did you hear Maureen Corrigan's NPR review of Caitlin Moran's book, How To Be A Woman?
But, more importantly, like Barr used to do, Moran invests her consciousness-raising confessions with an all-too-rare working-class worldview.

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is presenting a five-part piece called Women of Will, created by Tina Packer, which will explore the female roles in Shakespeare's plays.
Packer's theory is that Shakespeare's changing approach to women over the years illustrates his own ever-evolving complexity of thought and understanding. Women in his time, she points out, were necessarily shrewd observers, analysts of the power structure and their own place within it.


The Comic's Journal has a review of a new publication of Flannery O'Connor's lineoleum cut cartoons she made while in high school and college.
I think the significance of O’Connor’s cartoons lies not in their connection to her fiction but the gap between them. That they stand so puny and so far from her writing speaks to the wonder of the creative process. They attest to the mind’s capacity to access and master dangerous and potentially self-devouring material in ways that can not be foreseen, for which logic can construct no model for others to follow. 


I've seen some photos of awesome swag people are bringing home from San Diego Comic-Con, but I'm pretty that Mercedes Becerra has them all beat. She scored a ticket to space!



The SF Gate had a great piece about Dona Bailey, the woman who helped create the iconic arcade game Centipede.
"It was interesting to see how a male society functioned," she says. "It was kind of rough sometimes, too. It was a culture that I don't think they were thinking 'there is one woman, we should modify our behavior for her sake' ... I grew a thicker skin."


Meet Missy Franklin, who will soon become the first US woman to swim in seven events in one Olympic Games. She's definitely someone to watch. According to Teri McKeever, the head coach of the US Olympic women's swimming team.
"Missy is definitely the marquee female athlete on this Olympic team and probably has the highest expectations. Our job as coaches is to help her manoeuvre those and help her stay true to who she is."


Sabera Talukder, 16 years old, invented an inexpensive and portable water purification sysmter for developing countries, and became a finalist in the Google Science Fair.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Seneca Falls

I grew up in a home that placed a high value on knowledge and equality. History, especially the so-called "forgotten" histories, were sought out. As a child, I knew about the founding mothers, and their work for women's rights. In fact, when I was in high school, we visited Seneca Falls on a family trip. I don't recall very much from that trip (not surprising, I have a memory for snapshots and feelings, rather than events), but what I do remember is standing at Elizabeth Cady Stanton's desk, and wondering what it had been like to sit at it and write such important works.


The first Women's Rights Convention in America was held in Seneca Falls, New York, July 19 and 20, 1848. It was here that the attendees, including such notables as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Carrie Catt, and Frederick Douglass, re-wrote the Declaration of Independence, entitled the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.


According to my copy of Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guild to American Women's Landmarks, by Lynn Sherr and Jurate Kazickas:
One the first morning of the convention, a beautiful July 19, some 300 people, including 40 men, from as far away as fifty miles away, came in horse-drawn wagons and by foot to the little chapel for the meeting. On the second day, 100 people signed the combined Declaration of Principles, and by unanimous vote eleven of the twelve resolutions. The twelfth resolution was Elizabeth Cady Stanton's bombshell: "Resolved, that it is the sacred duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise." The first public declaration of women's right to vote barely squeaked by. But the women's movement, a stirring awareness in the minds of many, was alive and growing.
The First Wave, by Lloyd Lillie - statues of women's rights leaders,
at the Women's Rights National Historic Park. Photo: NPS

It never fails to amaze me that these women couldn't vote. They couldn't give speeches without having their morals called into question. They couldn't attend college (remember, this is before Elizabeth Blackwell and Emily Stowe), hold decent-paying jobs, retain their earnings, or own property.

This is so foreign to me. I know it really hasn't been that long ago since a woman couldn't have a credit card in her own name, but not being able to own land? Not being able to keep her pay? Try telling any young woman today she has to turn over her paycheck to her father, her brother, or her husband, and she'll likely laugh in your face. And yet, there are other points in their Declaration that strike me as still needing work.
Resolved, That the same amount of virtue, delicacy, and refinement of behavior that is required of woman in the social state, should also be required of man, and the same transgressions should be visited with equal severity on both man and woman.
We still hold women and men to different standards of behavior. "Boys will be boys" and all that. While it isn't necessarily a great trend, at least in my opinion, the fact that it took until 2011 for there to be a mainstream movie showing women acting in many of the same dude-bro behavior we've see men act in so very many movies makes it clear that there are still different socially acceptable ways for men and women to act.

Resolved, That the objection of indelicacy and impropriety, which is so often brought against woman when she addresses a public audience, comes with a very ill-grace from those who encourage, by their attendance, her appearance on the stage, in the concert, or in feats of the circus.
Women in public life are certainly aware of the difference in treatment they receive as compared to their male counterparts. Inappropriate comments about appearance, body shape, and personality aren't exclusive to women, but they are far more common. And tend to be far more vicious. Just think of the difference in treatment male presidential candidates receive as compared to that given Hillary Clinton. How many comments about her pantsuits and hair cuts and general appearance did we have to endure?

And, conversely, think of women who purposely seek public attention? Why do you think the women on those dreadful realities shows act the way they do? Are they like that in everyday life? I highly doubt it. Instead, I believe they act that way because it sells ads. But look at how we treat women who act this way. Look at how we denigrate the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, and the others. The criticism they receive is far worse than anything they would get if they were male. Culturally, we seem to revel in our hatred of them. Why is that? Is it because we still expect women to act differently?

The fact that there were 40 men attending, and among them Frederick Douglass, is also amazing. This is not to dismiss the contribution men make to overturning patriarchy. I know there are many who are working to end inequality. But it is still striking that 164 years ago, there were so many men who were at least supportive enough to attend these meetings. Although it shouldn't be as surprising, once I think of the number of radicals living in upstate New York at the time -- religious reformers, abolitionists, and teetotalers. Seneca Falls was a stop on the Underground Railroad, a home for Quakers, and social progressives, so it's only natural that the Declaration would focus on social, civil and religious inequalities. They wanted to change the all the forces that worked to keep women dependent on men.

Frankly, I think we owe it to them to continue the work. We have come a long way, baby. But we've got so very much further to go. We need to make sure that there is equality in all aspects of life. Equality across the board.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Happy Birthday Kristen Bell

You know, I have a guilty pleasure of watching Kristen Bell in pretty much anything she she does, no matter how cheese-ball.


She's just so lively and fun. I especially love it when she appears on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.


But, if you haven't seen this video of her on Ellen, you really really should. Just don't eat or drink anything while playing it.


And, just for Kristen, here's a cute little sloth in a birthday hat.


Happy Birthday, Kristen!

SRPS Memorial - Jane Austen

On this day, in 1817, Jane Austen succumbed to the mystery illness that had plagued her for several years. There have been several speculations as to the nature of the illness, with Hodgkin's lymphoma, Addison's disease, and bovine tuberculous all suggested by posthumous analysis of her documented ailments.


It's amazingly wonderful to me that 195 years after her death, we are still reading her works and celebrating her. Aside from movies like Bridget Jones's Diary and Bride & Prejudice, books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Jane Austen Book Club, people (women, mostly) are creating all kinds of things to honor their favorite author.


Like cakes. This beauty was created by SprinkleBakes.


And dolls. Excuse me... figurines. Like this one found on Retronaut.


For something you can carry with you always to remind yourself of Jane, there's Jane Austen jewelry.


I'll be sure to brew up a pot of tea and make a toast to Jane.