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.

“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.

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.

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.

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!

- 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) 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).

Josie will talk about the disproportionate effect of cuts on women’s lives and women’s involvement in trade unions and politics.

All self identified women welcome.

Quaker Meeting House, 7.15pm to 9.00pm.

The meeting is open to all self-identified women.

Thordis Sveinsdottir is an SFN member and Associate Lecturer in Sociology and Media Studies at Sheffield Hallam University and has recently carried out research, along with Helga Bjornsdottir at the University of Iceland, into how feminism in Icelandic politics is presented and discussed in the Icelandic media. The research consisted of analysis of discussion threads and blogs on Iceland’s most popular media websites.

Media representations in the UK media of gender equality in Iceland have been very positive with recent headlines such as ‘Iceland ‘best country for gender equality” and ‘Iceland: the world’s most feminist country’. These stories have followed on from specific milestones, such as the passing of laws that ban lap dancing clubs in Iceland, and criminalize the purchase of sex. In addition the publication of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2010 places Iceland as the world’s leading country when it comes to closing the gap between men and women with respect to economic and political competitiveness.

Despite this, Thordis’ research reveals a deep seated ambivalence, and at times, severe hostility towards feminism as a political ideology and specific women who identify or are identified as feminists. The focus of the talk will be to explore this contradiction and give insight into the reality of contemporary Icelandic feminism.