Reality or Illusion?

A four-day Women's History Week celebration begins Monday with speakers, feminists and films on the theme "Different Spheres: Reality or Illusion."

The theme was chosen by Co-Chairs Eileen Oliver and Robert Gomez.

This is the 20th year the college will celebrate Women's History Week, and 30th nationally.

The theme questions whether the boundaries between genders are natural or constructed, according to www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303.women.htm.

State Sen. Letitia Van de Putte will deliver the first presentation on "Women in Leadership" at 10 a.m.–10:50 a.m. Monday in the craft room in Loftin.

At 9:25 a.m. Tuesday in Room 120 of the visual arts center, Elizabeth de la Portilla presents "Night to His Day: the Construction of the Feminine in the Work of 20th Century Feminists."

The Women Make Movies Web site at www.wmm.com describes the film as "a powerful and inspirational videotape showing how survivors of domestic violence are working to change the way the system treats battered women in search of justice and safety."

At 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, the film "In My Father's Home" will be shown. Filmmaker Fatima Jebli Ouazzani investigates Islamic marriage customs and the constraints her culture and society place on women.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center, Dr. Robert McElvaine will present the keynote, "The Distance Origins of (Mis)Understanding of the Sexes."

McElvaine, Elizabeth Chisholm Millsaps College professor of arts and letters, is the author of "Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History."

His topic is "Different Spheres: Reality or Illusion?"

Historic female characters in cinema will be honored at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the theater in McCreless Hall.

Richard Reed, associate professor of anthropology at Trinity University, will be presenting "From Alpha Male to Nurturing Father: How Childbirth Affects Dads."

Reed said, "Many characteristics of the contemporary dad conflict with our stereotypes of American masculinity."

Directly after this lecture, there will be another film, "Visitors of the Night," about the Mosou tribe in southwest China.

Female tribe members are polyandrous, meaning they take multiple husbands.

On Thursday, the celebration concludes with an awards ceremony, two lectures and a film.

Women of Vision Awards ceremony will be at 9:25 a.m. in Room 120 of the visual arts center.

Two faculty or staff members will be honored for encouraging and promoting sensitivity and awareness of the issues that relate to women.

A presentation, "On Whose Shoulders We Stand: Women's Vision, Power and Action in San Antonio" with Dr. Antonia Castaneda will close the ceremony.

At 10:50 a.m. Thursday, Gayl Newton, a life and professional coach and editor of ignite-She, a local women's GLBT magazine, will present "Recovering the Stories of Female Pioneers: How Their Lives Can Inspire Us Today."

For more information about the activities, call Oliver at 486-0577.

Women's History schedule