Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 |
| Library celebrating women’s history month By LINDSAY BIANCHI “You’ve come a long way, baby, to get where you’ve got to today.” That was the catchy jingle Virginia Slims cigarettes used in their ads way back in the 70s. Times change along with attitudes and sometimes, we look back in dismay at who we were. March is Women’s History Month and the Fayette County Public Library is having an afternoon tea and discussion Mar. 27 from 2-4 p.m. to celebrate women’s experiences and accomplishments. Women’s lib was a new term mostly being introduced to Americans through the mouth of Archie Bunker, but the struggle for equality in a patriarchal society had one of its most significant triumphs on March 8, 1917 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Now celebrated as International Women’s Day, March 8 commemorates the strike “for bread and peace” led by German socialist Klara Zetkin and Russian revolutionary and feminist Aleksandra Kollontai. Their original International Women’s Day was in 1911 on March 19 when strikes and marches were held in Germany, Austria, Denmark and other European countries. Zetkin and Kollontai took their inspiration from American working women who now sit at the heads of companies and corporations. It really is a long way from housework and child rearing. It is still celebrated in Russia today as an official holiday like our Mother’s Day with flowers and breakfast in bed. The holiday was revived in the U.S. during the women’s movement in the 60s without the socialist overtones and in 1975, the U.N. began sponsoring International Women’s Day. A worldwide concern these days, women’s rights are still being won in places like India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Mexico, Haiti, Columbia and Yugoslavia. Bride burnings and honor killings are still a reality in parts of the globe. Standing up for themselves is something women have had to fight for. That hard-won battle is ever ongoing. Members of the Red Hat Society will also attend the gathering at the library and women are asked to wear hats of any color to the event. Local artist Patricia Miles and photographers Rick and Dede Gauthier along with other area talents will be displaying their work. Miles is a self-taught artist who describes herself as a “compulsive doodler.” “I do my best work on envelopes.” Miles said. The imagery she creates in both black and white and color drawings show her love of visual expression. Dede Gauthier, along with her husband, Rick have had an ongoing love affair with photography for years. Students of standard methods as well as digital enthusiasts combine in making works that rest somewhere between reality and dreams. Rick’s use of infrared is particularly striking and the imaginative arrangement of Dede’s photographs are visually engaging. The Gauthiers are members of the League of Fine Arts South and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Their website www.gandgvisions.com has many examples of their artistic output. Dr. Walter Smith, author of “The Get Thin Program” will also be on hand to sign and discuss his book. The event is being sponsored in part by the Friends of the Fayette County Public Library. Library Director Chris Snell hopes women will come to “share their life joys and the accomplishments of women in general and our community.”
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