Monday 9 January: Women and Ageing

On Monday 9 January, SFN’s women’s group will be joined by Naomi Richards, who will be discussing her project on representations of women and ageing:

Naomi joined the University of Sheffield in October 2009 to work on the Look at Me! Images of Women and Ageing project. The Look at Me! project, which ended in October 2011, aimed to work with women in Sheffield to explore representations of women and ageing in the media and to produce new images to challenge existing stereotypes. A series of creative workshops were held using techniques such as art therapy, photo-therapy, photography, and film to enable women to express how they feel about getting older. The images produced in these workshops were then exhibited at various venues – from art galleries to shopping centres – around Sheffield.

The project aimed to enhance recognition, by policy makers and the wider public, of the authority, wisdom and productivity of older women. In this talk, Naomi will be showing images from the project and talking about some of the ways older women are typically represented through visual imagery.

Quaker Meeting House, 7.15 – 9.00pm, all self-defining women welcome. The QMH has a level entrance with automatic doors and a lift to all floors, all of which have wheelchair accessible toilets. We have a 15 minute break at 8pm.

 

Monday 7 November: Women and Reproductive Rights

On Monday 7 November, SFN Women’s Group will be joined by Kate Smurthwaite, Vice Chair of Abortion Rights (and feminist comedienne extraordinaire!).

“The right to control over our own bodies is fundamental to any hope we, as women, might ever have of controlling our lives and the world around us. Despite this, for many women around the world and right here in the UK these basic rights are a distant dream”.

Kate will discuss the latest developments and explain why the battle for our bodies is the battle for the whole planet. The revolution just got personal!

There will then be time to plan actions/activism around reproductive rights.

Quaker Meeting House, 7.15pm – 9pm (15 minute break at 8pm). All self-identified women welcome.

SFN at Off The Shelf, Thursday 13 October

We are delighted to be hosting a book reading by Rebecca Asher as part of the Off The Shelf literary festival. Rebecca will be reading from Shattered: Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality.

Ranging from antenatal care and maternity leave, to work practices, relationship dynamics and beyond, ‘Shattered’ exposes the inequalities perpetuated by the state, employers and the parenting industry and sets out a manifesto for a new model of family life, with the possibility of achieving  better balanced and fulfilling lives. Engaging and provocative, ‘Shattered’ is a call to arms for a revolution in parenting.

Quaker Meeting House, 7.15pm.

Tickets are £5 (£3 concessions). Please book in advance from Jude on 0114 2660434, as last year’s event sold out in advance.

Monday 5 September: Women’s Meeting and Planning Meeting

SFN organising group meeting, 6.15pm
What would you like Sheffield Feminist Network to be? Do you have ideas for future meetings, events or activism? Could you help organise meetings and events? This is an opportunity to help shape SFN and set our our programme for the next year. Coming along to the meeting doesn’t commit you to anything, and if you have any suggestions or would like to help run SFN we’d very much appreciate your input! If you can’t make the meeting, please contact us with any ideas/suggestions you may have.

Women’s meeting, with Sheffield Working Women’s Opportunities Project, 7.15pm
SWWOP will tell us about their work with women involved in street prostitution in Sheffield. Please see their website for more details of the project.

Both meetings are being held at the Quaker Meeting House, as usual.

Monday 8 August: Gender Equality Action: A Local Perspective

The next SFN women’s meeting will take place on Monday 8 August, and will be held in Houlden Hall, rather than the Quaker’s Meeting House. Houlden Hall is still right in Sheffield city centre, on Norfolk Row, just above Saks hairdresser. Access is by stairs or lift.

We will be joined by Del Robinson, who is head of the new(ish) Social Inclusion team at Sheffield City Council and has been tasked with setting up a women’s network. This is a great opportunity to find out what’s happening locally in terms of equalities and women’s rights, and see how we can get involved.

7-9pm, all self-identifying women welcome. Hope to see you there!

Monday 6 June: Women as carers

The next SFN women’s meeting will take place on Monday 6 June at the Quaker Meeting House, 7.15-9pm as usual. We will be joined by Gill Greenwood, who amongst other things is the former manager of Sheffield Carers Centre. She will be leading a discussion on women as carers, which is likely to cover some or all of:

- Statistics about carers
- Impact of caring (poverty, exclusion, multiple loss, ill-health)
- Impact on women (pay, coalition budget cuts, multiple/sandwich caring)
- What carers ask for/what can make a difference.

All self identified women welcome.

Sheffield Sisters Against Female Exploitation (SAFE) protests

(Posted on behalf of SAFE – views expressed are the opinions of SAFE, and do not necessarily reflect the views of all SFN members.)

Sheffield Sisters Against Female Exploitation (SAFE) is a group of women who are angry about the sexual exploitation of women in lap dancing clubs and the idea that women’s bodies are a commodity that can be bought and sold. This treats us as though we are no more than mere objects. It is very harmful to the women involved in what is a multi-million pound industry and ultimately to all women, as it helps create a dehumanised view of women and gives the message that women’s bodies are for male consumption. This is in the context of a society in which there is widespread violence against women.

We can’t help but notice that lap dancing clubs are being allowed into the mainstream in Sheffield with the appearance first of Spearmint Rhino in the so-called ‘cultural quarter’ of the city centre a few years ago and more recently by Scores Striptease Club near John Lewis. You may have noticed the semi-naked women painted on the front of Scores as you’ve walked or driven past.

Now that Sheffield Council has recently opted to adopt a licensing policy that addresses the regulation of strip clubs as Sexual Entertainment Venues it has the the legal right to decide how many such venues should be allowed in any given area.

We are calling on Sheffield to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards lap dancing clubs. Join us in protesting against the objectification and sexual exploitation of women.

We will be demonstrating outside Scores ( 2-4 Charter Square, opposite Debenham’s) at 7.30pm on Friday 13th May, and moving on to Spearmint Rhino (60 Brown Street, opposite Sheffield Hallam University Student Union).