Assignment 10: NGO

The Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma is primarily concerned with helping women in Oklahoma to become economically self-sufficient and providing a brighter future for young Oklahoman girls. They emphasize “reducing teen pregnancy rates, increasing the number of women and girls who complete their education, supporting positive early job experiences and strengthening sustainable economic self-sufficiency” among their goals. In 2005 they provided a grant to Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc., to fund a project concerned with Oklahoman girls and women involved with the civil and/or criminal justice system, and more recently they helped fund SMART (Single Mothers Academic Resource Team). Their website provides a number of statistics that make this seem like a worth-while cause, and clearly a gender issue. For instance:

• Women in Oklahoma earn only 75 cents for every dollar men earn.
• Oklahoma has the 8th highest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation.
• Single women head nearly half (45.3%) of all poor families in Oklahoma.

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Readings

The Eternal Feminine was both humorous and disturbing. I learned a lot about the options available to Mexican women (or at least Mexican women in the 1970’s), and also about a lot of fascinating historical figures. Likewise, I enjoyed Manifesta for its insights into the history of feminism, and how this history influences the way we define feminism today.