Resource Center Honors Women’s Week

02 Mar Resource Center Honors Women’s Week

The San Miguel Resource Center’s Phenomenal Women’s Week in Telluride, this year, March 2 – March 8, coincides with Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. The celebration is dedicated toward promoting gender equality globally by acting locally.

Image, a spoof of artist Roy Lichtenstein, is courtesy of indiewire.

“Through education, activism and empowerment the Resource Center is working with our extended community to create a safer and healthier world where there is no gender violence, women are paid equally for equal work, we become better connected to global issues involving gender inequality and  we celebrate the accomplishments of those great women who came before us,” said Resource Center co-director Melanie Montoya.

Until August 26, 1920, when the 19th amendment  to the Constitution – “No American citizen could be denied the right to vote based on their sex” – passed by a slim margin, women in America did not have the right to vote. President Woodrow Wilson finally gave in, but only after feminist Carie Chapman Carr warned that failing to do so would mean a loss of face among America’s allies.

Twenty-seven years earlier, the struggle for women’s right to vote in Colorado played somewhat differently though no less dramatically.

 “Let the women vote! They can’t do any worse than the men have!”

That was the powerful battle cry chanted by legions of men –  yes, men –  across the great state of Colorado, many unemployed and fed up with the dire economic situation. Those voices, coordinated with the grassroots efforts of women’s groups, churches, political parties, farmers, and other unions, secured Colorado’s unique place in suffrage history.

The suffragettes. Their names come back to us in waves, like a way distant echoes. Even the name Betty Friedan, the woman who presided over the birth of modern feminism, resonates like some fire-breathing dragon of yore, which she was, in a way. Friedan’s compatriots and love children, Gremaine Greer, Gloria Steinem,Wendy Shalit, Katie Roiphe, Naomi Wolf, and Susan Faludi all paved the way, but still, women continue to struggle to find the idea mix between feminism and femininity.

Except perhaps in a Shangri-La like Telluride, where no one has a problem with women having it both ways. In Telluride, we paint our nails and break them too.

The following is a list of activities to celebrate Phenomenal Women’s Week in Telluride.

“The Piano”:

Monday, March 3rd, 6pm @ Wilkinson Public Library

Cinematheque is a collaboration  between the library and the  Telluride Film Fest and, this month only, the Resource Center, that brings Festival-quality films to Telluride year-round. The current series, entitled They Came to Telluride: Women Behind the Lens, explores influential women filmmakers from an international stage, all of whom have attended the Telluride Film Festival with their works. “The Piano” is a winner of three Oscars including Best actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay.

For a preview, watch this video:

Birth & Postpartum Healing Workshop, with Lara Catone:

Monday, March 3, 5-6:30 @ Hotel Madeline in Mountain Village

$20 or $15 in advance at www.laracatone.com

Lara Catone

Join Lara Catone for a candid discussion of the physical, emotional, and hormonal changes of new motherhood and the effects on your body, your intimate life and your relationship.

Lara Catone in action

Lara  is an emerging leader in the field of sexual wellness. As a yoga teacher and somatic sexologist with a specialty in women’s health, her mission is to empower radiant health and pleasure. Lara has dedicated the past 10 years to studies in the healing arts, including certifications as sexological bodyworker, birth doula, and AcroYoga teacher. She is also the creator of the web series Sexual Wellness TV and author of the e-book, “31 Ways to Keep It Hot.”

Lara has taught a diverse group of students throughout the United States and Europe, including at home base, Venice, CA. She has recently begun expanding her global community through the launch of an online studio with live webcam classes.

Lara Catone is also in town to appear in ‘The Vagina Monologues” and she returns in July to teach at the Telluride Yoga Festival.

Aikido Workshop:

Tuesday, March 4, 10a-m – 12pm and Wednesday, March 5, @ WPL Program Room. $10

Join second degree black belt and Cortez local Kathy Park Woolbert for a workshop in the Japanese martial art of peaceful reconciliation. No prior experience necessary. Open to men, women, and children.

“The Vagina Monologues”:

Tuesday, March 4 & Wednesday, March 5, 7:30 pm @ Fly Me to the Moon Saloon

$10 tickets at door (proceeds benefit the Resource Center and One Billion Rising, the Spotlight campaign to end violence on a global level).

A V-Day event performed world-wide each year. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. It is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. Performances of Eve Ensler’s play, “The Vagina Monologues,” are hailed by The New York Times as “funny” and “poignant.” The monologues are about the female experience while creating awareness about gender violence.

Equal Pay Bake Sale”

Friday, March 7, 11am-2pm @ Community Table on Colorado Ave

Come enjoy homemade baked goods, sold at prices that represent the current wage gap in America and learn about equal pay for equal work.

For further information, call 970-728-5660 or email advocates@sanmiguelresourcecenter.org