blog 9

NOW

"The purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men."

NOW, the National Organization for Women s the largest American feminist organization. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Colombia. NOW's priority issues concern U.S. domestic policy. These include advancing reproductive freedoms, promoting racial and ethnic diversity and ending racism, stopping rape and domestic violence, ensuring economic justice winning lesbian rights, and achieving constitutional equality.

NOW has had criticism from anti-abortion activists and pro-life groups. It appears to be a gender issue considering women are only affiliated with this organization and it particularly deals with solely women's rights. People should donate to NOW to further women's rights through education and litigation.

The readings focused on globalization and how the US is so dependent on other countries for clothes, oil, food, etc. Enloe perceived globalization in a negative light, blaming the government for globalization and how it takes away so many jobs for Americans. The sad thing is, America is a capitalistic country thriving from low-waged workers doing back-breaking work for 50 cents an hour in countries on the other side of the world. Just getting a latte from Starbucks can make you realize the effects of globalization. Yes, that $4.00 latte is delicious (and ridiculously expensive) but the coffee farmer who harvested the beans to make that coffee, probably made the equivalent of how much that cup of joe cost...$4 or $5 in just one DAY. Globalization is a blessing and a curse at the same time, considering we (Americans) are taking advantage of cheap labor.