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Feminist Majority Documents
Feminist Majority Foundation
(FMF) Overview That Name: Feminist Majority
The name Feminist Majority
is a consciousness-raiser, inspired by a Newsweek/Gallup public
opinion poll that showed the majority of women (62%) in the United
States self-identified as feminists. Most polls since then reveal
that this majority continues with over two-thirds of young women
self-identifying as feminists. Most men, especially young men, view
themselves as supporters of the women's rights movement.
What is a Feminist Anyway?
Feminist n. the policy, practice, and advocacy of political,
economic, and social equality for women.
Feminist adj. or n. a person who advocates feminism.
Our definition of feminism is simple yet broad: "the policy,
practice or advocacy of political, economic, and social equality
for women." A feminist is any person -- woman or man, girl
or boy -- who advocates feminism. The Feminist Majority Foundation
views feminism as a global movement dedicated to equality and seeks
to eliminate discrimination of all kinds -- sex, race, sexual orientation,
age, religion, national origin, disability, and marital status.
And, like feminists since the late 19th Century, we advocate non-violence
and work to eliminate social and economic injustice.
History & Background
Headed by national women's rights leader Eleanor Smeal, the Feminist
Majority Foundation is in the forefront of creating innovative
feminist research, education, and training programs for women's
equality and empowerment. The FMF, a 501(c)(3)
tax-deductible organization, is governed by a twelve-member board
of directors and maintains offices in the greater Washington,
D.C. area and in Los Angeles, California.
Innovative Programs
download Innovative Programs>>
Ms. Magazine
On December 31, 2001, the Feminist Majority Foundation assumed
ownership of Ms. magazine. Founded in 1972, Ms. is a national
and international forum for new ideas and issues, investigative
journalism, fiction, the arts, humor, women’s health, and
international women’s news. The magazine provides a unique,
unfiltered voice for the feminist movement. The joining of these
forces will strengthen both Ms. and the Feminist Majority Foundation
while providing a megaphone for all women.
Campaign for Women's Health and Mifepristone
Following a 12-year nationwide public education campaign led by
the Feminist Majority Foundation, in September 2000 the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally approved mifepristone
(formerly known as RU 486) for early abortion. Our Campaign now
works to ensure that anti-abortion forces do not undermine or
reverse FDA approval. Our Campaign also seeks to expand public
awareness of mifepristone’s other potential uses as treatments
for meningiomas, ovarian cancer, fibroid tumors, endometriosis,
and other serious diseases and conditions. Since December 1998,
our campaign has had the sole responsibility of providing mifepristone
for compassionate use. To date, we have provided mifepristone
to 56 patients with serious illnesses whose lives depend on this
medical breakthrough.
Global Feminism
The Feminist Majority Foundation has special consultative status
with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.
Included in ECOSOC are the Commissions on Human Rights, the Status
of Women, and Population and Development. Our global programs
are dedicated to the principle that human rights are women’s
rights, and we have participated in numerous United Nations conferences
and meetings for the empowerment of women and girls.
Women’s Empowerment Worldwide. The Feminist Majority
Foundation supports the International Criminal Court, the
Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW),
and ending trafficking of women and girls.
Campaign
to Help Afghan Women and Girls This trailblazing
public education and grassroots effort has brought the Taliban’s
atrocities against women and girls to national and international
attention. Our campaign brings together over 200 leading human
rights and women's organizations from around the world as well
as over 1,000 community “action teams” to urge the
U.S. to do everything in its power to restore the rights of Afghan
women and girls; to provide sufficient funding for the reconstruction
of Afghanistan, especially for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs;
to expand peacekeeping forces throughout Afghanistan; to ensure
leadership of Afghan women and women’s organizations
in rebuilding Afghanistan; and to provide humanitarian assistance
to Afghan women
and children who are internally displaced or are refugees.
National Clinic Access Project
Our National Clinic Access Project engages in public education,
advocacy work, and grassroots organizing to increase public awareness
of anti-abortion extremist violence. The oldest and largest clinic
defense project in the nation, we provide assistance to some
587 independent or non-affiliated clinics that provide the majority
of abortions in the U.S. Our clinic access program conducts the
most extensive research and monitoring of extremists’ actions
and violence. We publish a monthly Anti-Abortion Violence Watch
bulletin and distribute it to both law enforcement and the media.
Choices Campus Leadership Program
Launched in 1997 to train the next generation of feminist leaders,
our Choices Campus Leadership Campaign has reached hundreds of
college and university campuses nationwide. Our program is built
on a study and action model that defines “choices” in
its broadest sense including reproductive choices; leadership
choices; career choices; and saving choices – fighting
the backlash. While students learn critical skills, they are
encouraged to engage in a wide range of frontline feminist actions.
Our Campaign utilizes an interactive website (www.feministcampus.org)
that enables students, faculty, staff, and community members
to communicate and organize.
National Center
for Women & Policing
Founded in 1995, our National Center for Women & Policing works
to increase the numbers of women at all ranks of law enforcement,
improve police response to domestic violence, and strengthen community
policing. More than 850 of the top women in local, state and federal
police as well as criminal justice agencies from 41 states and
the District of Columbia participate in the National Center’s
Annual Leadership Development Conference and programs.
www.feminist.org & www.feministcampus.org
Our award-winning website features feminist national and global
news and a take-action center that are updated daily. The site
is the single-largest feminist website on the Internet, and serves
as a gateway to women's rights organizations online. Receiving
up to 300,000 hits per day, feminist.org offers a Feminist Career
Center, a Feminist Research Center, a Breast Cancer Center, a
Reproductive Rights Center, a Feminist Arts, Literature, and
Entertainment Center, an activist calendar, a section on Women
and Girls in Sports, 911 for Women, and much more.
Internship in Feminism and Public Policy
The Feminist Majority Foundation internship is listed as one of
the nation's leading internship programs by the Princeton
Review's America's Top 100 Internships. Interns benefit
from a challenging atmosphere and substantive projects, and gain
experience working on the most pressing women's rights
issues of our time.
Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) Mission & Principles
download Mission & Principles >> Mission
The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) was created to develop bold,
new strategies and programs to advance women's equality,
non-violence, economic development, and, most importantly, empowerment
of women and girls in all sectors of society. All programs of
the FMF endeavor to include a global perspective and activities
to promote leadership development, especially among young women.
Along with reproductive rights and access to reproductive technology,
the FMF's programs have focused on the empowerment of women
in law, business, medicine, academia, sports, and the Internet.
Its sister organization, the Feminist Majority (formerly Fund
for the Feminist Majority), has focused on empowering women in
public policy-making as well as gender balance in elective and
appointive offices.
Principles
The principles of the FMF are the following:
- The FMF promotes equality between women and men, girls
and boys and supports constitutional and statutory measures to
gain full
equality locally, statewide, nationally, and globally.
- The FMF
supports safe, legal and accessible abortion, contraception,
and family planning, including Medicaid funding and access
for minors.
- The FMF is dedicated to achieving civil rights for all people,
including affirmative action programs for women and people
of color.
- The FMF supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.
- The
FMF does not permit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender,
race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion,
ethnicity, age, marital status, national origin, size, or disability.
- The FMF
promotes non-violence and works to eliminate violence against
women.
- The FMF encourages programs directed at the preservation
of the environment, clean air and water, the elimination of smog,
toxic and hazardous waste, chemical and nuclear weaponry.
- The FMF supports workers’ collective
bargaining, pay equity, and the end of sweatshops.
Feminist Majority Foundation Non-Violence Code
- We will not engage in any physical or
verbal assault or engage in any conduct, which will escalate
the potential
for violence on site. We will maintain a calm and deliberate
manner at all times.
- We will do whatever we can to defuse a potentially
violent situation, and will request the assistance of other
Leadership
Alliance participants and leadership if we feel it necessary.
- We will carry no
weapons, and we will inform leadership if we see anyone carrying
a weapon.
- We will not bring or use alcohol or drugs other
than for medical purposes during Feminist Majority Leadership
Alliance events, activities, or meetings.
- In a spirit of non-violence toward
our environment, we will leave all meeting places, event sites,
and surrounding
areas clean.
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