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Table of Contents

Herland Voice April 2013

April House Concert & Cookout!

On Saturday, April 27th, make plans to be at Herland (2312 NW 39th Street) at 6 p.m. We’ll be cooking burgers & dogs, shamburgers & not dogs, and all the fixings. Feel free to bring a side dish if you’d like. If it’s nice outside, we’ll be in the backyard, so bring a blanket or chair.

Best of all . . . Kaylee Losawyer will be performing! If you’ve never seen or heard Kaylee perform, you are in for a Real Treat! Kaylee is a 17–year–old singer/songwriter who plays a wide variety of originals and covers, spanning decades. She has played in just about every coffeehouse/bookstore there is around here, and now Herland has the opportunity to support her! I think Kaylee is absolutely amazing and bet you will too!?

As usual, your registration includes lodging for both nights, a weenie roast when you arrive Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday scrumptious breakfasts, and our famous potluck Saturday evening, the Saturday Night Dance, campfires, and all workshops and activities planned throughout the weekend!

We have some really great activities planned for the weekend, including Introduction Games on Friday night, a Super Fun Dance Saturday night, where we’ll be dancing the night away, to music from all the eras that Herland spans! On Saturday, our full day includes Cindy teaching us the fine art of Belly Dancing, Rachel will lead a workshop entitled Goddess Love, Laura will facilitate a craft workshop where we’ll make our very own Strong Women Collages, Jean will be taking a group out Fishing, Ginger will lead us in an Introductory Course to the Basic Yoga Poses, and there is a strong possibility that Elizabeth will be helping us make Tie Dye items! Be sure to bring a 100% cotton garment from home if you’d like to tie dye something!

So – get plenty of rest before this weekend, remember to bring your dancing shoes, a 100% cotton item to tie dye, something to share for the Potluck Supper, and expect to have an unforgettable weekend! If you have any questions, please call (405) 550–2312.

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Herland Spring Retreat

Roman Nose State Park, Watonga, OK
May 3 – 5, 2013

Have you been diagnosed with a case of SPRING FEVER? Neighbor… How long has it been since you spent an entire weekend RELAXING and HAVING FUN with FRIENDS? Are you ready to do some Taking Care of YOU? Well, we have just the event for you!

The Herland Spring Retreat will be at Roman Nose State Park (near Watonga), Friday, May 3 until Sunday, May 5! Check–in begins at 4:00 p.m.

For those of you who have never been to a Herland retreat, or those who can’t remember the last retreat they attended… come on and have some fun! Whether you come solo or with a group of friends, the weekend is a perfect, affordable opportunity to meet new friends, catch up with old friends, explore nature, learn something new at a workshop, or simply take it easy in an incredibly supportive, women–only environment.

The Herland Retreat is whatever we make it. Let’s make it great!

The deadline for pre–registration (which really helps us to know how much food to buy and how many awesome women to expect) is Saturday, April 27th. In addition, you can now pay for the retreat, via PayPal. Just go to www.HerlandSisters.org and sign up! Do yourself a favor, and register now while you’re thinking about it! Even if you don’t pre–register, we hope you’ll still come and join in the fun! If you decide to come at the last minute, you’re welcome to call 550–2312 to register, and you can pay at the door.?

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WE WANT YOU

To Help Us Spiff Up The Joint!

On Saturday, April 20th, starting at 11 a.m., we’ll be putting in some sweat equity to improve Herland, and in the process, our Neighborhood, and even Ourselves! We’ll be working in the yard and flowerbeds, so please bring gloves, rakes, and yard tools you may specialize with. We’ll also be tidying up inside in anticipation of our Cookout/Concert on April 27th, as well as our Annual Pride Picnic. And if the weather is really nice, we’ll be painting the trim outside. So you see? There is SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE! We hope you will join us, even if just for a little while. Your help is much needed and VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!?

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Help Us Go Green!

Herland wants to save paper and postage, and you can help us. If you are willing to receive The Voice in electronic form only, please drop us a line at herland@herlandsisters.org and tell us you want to receive the electronic version of The Voice. Please remember to let us know your street address, so we can remove it from our hardcopy mailing list.?

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40th Anniversary Title IX celebrated in 2012

Let’s call the 2012 Olympics the “US Women’s Games.” For the first time, more women competed for the United States than men. And overall, women made up 45 percent of the Olympians in London in July–August of 2012. This was the first Olympics where every country had at least one woman compete.

In 1972, when Title IX was passed in the US, only 15 percent of all Olympians were female. In the 40 years since Title IX was enacted, women’s participation in sports has gone from 32,000 to 200,000 at the college level and from 295,000 to more than 3 million in high schools nationwide.

As Mariel Zagunis–who in 2004 became the first American fencer in 100 years to win a gold medal–said, ”I was born in the right generation. You still have to fight to be the best. But you don’t have to fight for the opportunity to compete. It’s come so far. leaps and bounds.”

And while sports may be the most visible benefactor of Title IX, the effect of the law has been broad. Herland joined with other organizations last year to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Title IX. Watch for other Title IX history news in upcoming newsletters.?

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PFLAG Regional Conference

Saturday, June 29, 2013, PFLAG in Norman and the OU School of Social Work are partnering to present the Southern Regional PFLAG conference. Watch for our website, PFLAG website, Facebook, or Twitter for details.

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National AAUW Convention 2013

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Our nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 150,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and 700 college and university partners. Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day – educational, social, economic, and political.

Have general questions about the American Association of University Women (AAUW)? Please contact connect@aauw.org or call 800/326–2289 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET M–F. The 47th AAUW National Convention will be in New Orleans, LA, during June 9–12, 2013! To see the latest in Oklahoma AAUW: http://www.aauwoklahoma.org/leaderdec2012.pdf?

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EARTH DAY–now, Every Day!

The name and concept of Earth Day was pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. He proposed March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a Proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach–in first held on April 22, 1970.?

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SUPPER CLUB dates . . .

April 13–Supper Club at The Big Easy in Yukon @ 5:30 p.m.

May 18–Herland’s Traditional Pride Picnic & Entertainment @ 6:00 p.m.

June 8–Supper Club at Irma’s on NW 63rd @ 5:30 p.m.

July 13–Supper Club at El Chico on N May & Britton Rd. @ 5:30 p.m.

August 10–Supper Club at Dot Wo Garden

If you have a restaurant to suggest for a future Herland Supper Club, please e–mail us at herland@herlandsisters.org. We welcome your ideas.

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EVENTS AT A GLANCE

April

National Poetry Month
Friday/Saturday, 5th–6th Earth’s Body . . . Conf.
Saturday, 13th Supper Club at The Big Easy
Saturday, 29th HSR Work Day (yard/bldg.)
Sunday, 21st HSR Bd Mtg @ 4:00 p.m.
Monday, 22nd EARTH Day
Saturday, 27th Coffeehouse with Kaylee

May

Friday–Sunday, 3rd–5th HSR Spring Retreat
Tuesday–Sunday, 14–19th Midwest Wimmin’s Festival @ Lake of Ozarks St Pk, MO
Saturday, 18th Supper Club Annual Pride Picnic
Saturday/Sunday, 18th–19th “The New Normal” Pride Fest & Parade
Sunday, 19th HSR Bd Mtg @ 4:00 p.m.

June

Saturday, 8th Supper Club at Irma’s
Sunday, 16th HSR Bd Mtg @ 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, 29th Sthrn Reg PFLAG Conference

July

Saturday, 13th Supper Club at El Chico
Sunday, 21st HSR Bd Mtg @ 4:00 p.m.

Upcoming Events:

AAUW Nat’l Convention–June 9–11, New Orleans, LA
Michigan Women’s Music Festival–Aug 6–11
Fall Retreat–Nov 1–3 at Eufaula State Park

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April poetry month

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets throughout the United States band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.?

OPAL
by Shayla Dodge

Snow is not falling
yet the days are short and weak
like fragile smoke coloured glass.

I am loosely wrapped
in the maroon blanket you gave me
but I am not pleased by its warmth.

Days creep passively by, time dallying
and I’ve so much to ponder,
tears held within my open lids.

You were not up at your regular hour.
It destroyed me to think
you’d be tired of my fretting,
decided to be done.

I am forgetting how I felt when you
gently rocked on my lap.
I do not remember your scent
only the perfume you gave me.

I don’t want you to be some abstract thought,
a photograph, a blink of insight.
I want to push you away when you radiate heat,
I want that privilege of an overabundance of you.

The time in this place seems indefinite
long, and cold, and painful.
Yet if we can endure this state
I will surely return to you.?

Pile of Shit
by Pam Schonauer

A pile of shit…
 Clouded with a miasma of confusion
 Reeking with the stench of depression
 Oozing with the gore of incest
 Coating everything with its horror
 Maggots of self–doubt burrowing
 Through my confidence
 That was me…
 Then…
 Watered by the tears of my sorrow,
 From this mound of muck
 A seedling appeared!
 Chartreuse with veins of color,
 A rainbow of color
 Hesitant, hopeful, healthy
 Basking in the richness of the fertile ground
 From which it sprang
 The chartreuse wonder stretching upwards
 Toward the sky becoming stronger
 Using the coating of incest as an armor
 Against further abuse
 The maggots of self–doubt take wing
 And fly away
I need this shit!
 It makes me strong makes me grow
 Chartreuse leaves unfurl revealing gems of color
Shimmering in the light
 Of love and compassion
 My stalk grows strong
 As I discover my God Self
The center of my being
 Tendrils stretching out
 Timid at first–then stronger
 I need this shit,
 It makes me grow
 The once tiny tendrils grow into branches
 Sturdy branches the armor turning into bark
 And from these branches of experience
 Appear beautiful blossoms of love
 From the blossoms emerge fruits of compassion
 And after the fruits bide their time
 They drop the seeds of my legacy
 I need this shit…
 It makes me stronger
 And Keeps me growing.?

Motions
by Scarlet M

Tropical shades of heat building,
relentlessly building.
My mind searching.
Hunting inwards.
Again, towards rocky refuge,
Oh, Goddess,
Yet again...?

RIGHT TO CHOOSE
by Marie Kizzia (March 2011)

How do I explain – that I have mixed feelings about killing an embryo, zygote, or fetus.
No matter how young or how little developed; the size of a pea, acorn, pit or baseball.
Scientist can now describe in great detail when each physical or mental function develops.
Is that how we measure reality?

Everyone has a choice and should make their own decision despite what I think or what I feel.
I will deal with my feelings in my own way but I WILL feel.

My heart breaks when someone who desperately wants a baby has a miscarriage – they affix a name, have a burial and mourn.
Once that woman knows she is pregnant, she will never ignore the fact that something is growing within her because she is CHANGED.
Very early a woman’s body adjusts for the sake of the new life.
It doesn’t wait until the new life is a certain age or size to set into motion the necessary life support system.
It is something that all beings on this planet automatically instinctually do.
Reproduction is a survival mechanism built into the DNA of all things.

Everyone has a CHOICE and the right to make their own decision despite what Ithink or feel.
I will deal with my feelings in my own way but I will FEEL.

My heart breaks when a woman doesn’t have the knowledge or maturity to prevent a pregnancy that she clearly does not want.
I wish those women felt hopeful enough to be able to bring the baby into this world for those who long, perhaps forever, for a child.
I wish all people cherished each new life so that there would be no need for orphanages or unwanted children.
I know this is not the world we live in and my idealism is just that; a dream of a better world that will never arrive.

Everyone has a choice and the RIGHT to make their own decision despite what I think or feel.
I will deal with my feelings in my own way but I WILL feel.

My heart break sometimes spreads through out my body and I find it difficult to go on – but it isn’t my CHOICE or RIGHT to end my life.
I am told that this is a crime; that I will be put in a hospital and labeled mentally ill.
I will be put on medication that perhaps will mask MY heart break and allow me to continue to be a silent witness for those who are only very briefly in this world.
Everyone has a choice and the RIGHT to make their own decision despite what I think or feel.
I will deal with my feelings in my own way but I WILL feel.?

Maternal Separation
by Paula Sophia Schonauer

They took away all the mothers
Children sleeping on streets
Cuddled close to concrete curbs
Freezing under wet blankets
Drenched by the torrents of a crying sky
It makes me think of the monkey mother
Terrycloth wrapped around a frame of wire
Baby clings to cloth, milking it for warmth
But when you’re saturated with tough love
A dropout from the school of hard knocks
You get nothing but a deluge of hate and ridicule
Wrapped in cold
Children cling to gaping grates
Falling between the gaps
Flushed down the sewer
Someday the father will come
Judge the children
Put everything in its place
Heaven or Hell
To bask in the light of God or
Bake in the lake of eternal fire
The destination doesn’t matter
It all looks warm from here.?

If Barbie Went to War
by Joanna Schonauer (Wendy Clear)

Been in every profession from accountant to whore
So why not a hero who fought in a war?
Army Barbie
Complete with accessories like
Bomber disarmament training, AK–47’s
And courage galore
The kind of Barbie girls should be proud to have and hold
But Army Barbie won’t be the same when she gets home
Simple stove fires turning into body burning massacres
One loud pop and she’s ducking under tables
She puts up a wall of stone
Allowing herself to become completely alone
Divorce rings as Ken can’t take it anymore
Losing the kids
Due to lack of money and scattered thoughts
This High School graduate
Was signed in before college
And changed before a full life
Outside of hatred and blood
All at the age of eighteen
Army Barbie is now in stores
Though her classic smile has been replaced with a serious grimace
And a Battle Rattled head for heart.?

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