August 30, 2010 (Women's Equality Day): Cynthia Enloe: Women Must Defeat the Militarizers

Why and how is the Defense Department targeting mothers? How are women drafted as champions of military solutions to social problems? Audio 24:59

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Cynthia Enloe, author of thirteen books including Nimmo's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War, speaks with Christine Ahn of the Global Fund for Women. They discuss how militarism is promoted through the creation of values and beliefs, and how women in particular are the targets of messaging crafted by the militarizers.

August 23rd: Women's Magazine examines Islam and women in Iran, families and homophobia as a pathology and a tribute to Abbey Lincoln

Minoo Moallem, professor of Women's and Gender Studies at U.C. Berkeley, challenges the mainstream stereotypical representation of Islam and Muslims as backward, fanatical, and premodern by showing how Islamic nationalism and fundamentalism are by-products of modernity. Using magazines, novels, and films, she offers a feminist transnational analysis of contemporary Iranian culture that questions dominant binaries of modern and traditional, West and East, secular and religious, and civilized and barbaric.

In this interview with Iranian American Simin Yahaghi, Moallem explains that veiling, like other signifiers of national and cultural identities, needs to be understood in the context of both Iran's own nation-building traditions and Orientalism and colonial attitudes toward Islam and feminism. She discusses how the Iranian women's movement has navigated complex identities, and calls on us to challenge both religious and secular forms of absolutism
Simin Yahaghi talks with Minoo Moallem, author of the book Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister: The Politics of Patriarchy in Iran. Audio, 22:39
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Well-known lesbian author and activist Sarah Schulman speaks with Lisa Dettmer about the possibility of recognizing homophobia in families as a pathology, rather than pathologizing gay people. They also discuss the relationship between familial homophobia and the demand for same-sex marriage.


Interview with Sarah Schulman, author of Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences. Audio: 16:16



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Singer, songwriter, actress and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln died last week at the age of 80. She was best known for her collaboration with Max Roach on the Freedom Now Suites in 1960, but she also wrote the song "Caged Bird" which inspired the title of Maya Angelou's . This piece includes short selections of Lincoln's powerful music and an interview with KPFA's Gabrielle Wilson.



A tribute to jazz songstress Abbey Lincoln, with interview by Gabrielle Wilson. Audio: 11:43



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August 9th: Women's Magazine remembers Marilyn Buck. Also on today's show: Women and Social Security, Gay marriage and women in sports.

Soffiya Elijah, Marilyn Buck, and Alejandro Molina

Tribute to Political Prisoner, Activist and Writer Marilyn Buck. Kate Raphael of Women's Magazine remembers her friend Marilyn Buck, a political prisoner for over 25 years, who died on August 3, shortly after her release (see obituary). This brief tribute presents an overview of Marilyn's life and work, with a special emphasis on her commitment to feminism. Includes the voices of Marilyn Buck, Gemma Mirkinson, Walter Turner, and poet Sonia Sanchez. 10:25

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Women Must Save Social Security


Kathie Piccagli of the Older Women's League talks with Women's Magazine's Kate Raphael. 16:17

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Why is Social Security under attack? What is the truth about who pays for it and who gets it, and how can we make sure it will be there for us when we need it? Kathie Piccagli of the Older Women's League answers these questions and more, as we approach the 75th birthday of this popular program.

For more information about saving social security and the 75th birthday party on Saturday, August 14th, call 415-215-7575 or visit Older Women's League.





Last week, for the first time in U.S. History, a federal judge struck down a ban on same-sex marriage. To hear comedian Wanda Sykes hilarious commentary on the subject go to "listen to the entire show" link below. Also included is a piece that we broadcast for the first time a year ago on gender roles in sports. It's from a speech by Dave Zirin at last year's Socialism Conference in San Francisco. Leading the segment is a song by singer/songwriter Meg Christian, Ode to a Gym Teacher (1974).

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