Celebrate Women's History Month
YWCA has a storied legacy of advancing equity and justice for all women. From voting rights to reproductive rights, housing survivors of domestic violence and more, we have long advocated on behalf of women — all women — and we continue to carry out that critical work to this day, working to get out the vote among women in communities across the nation; advocating for reproductive freedom; advocating for incarcerated women and their families; providing social justice trainings to the community to continue to eliminate racism; and more. Throughout Women’s History Month, we are proud to showcase our history of advocating for women as we continue to carry out the work of justice to further our mission to eliminate racism and empower women.Over the last 122 years, YWCA of Greater Portland continues to evolve to meet the moment, building upon our rich history of advocating on behalf of all women. The YWCA family is a lineage of powerful leaders, changemakers, and sheroes dedicated to eliminating racism and empowering women, and we are proud to carry forth our legacy of justice to build a world of true equity for those we serve.
Joy Hashimoto
Born in California to Dr. George Y. and Mary Takeyama, she and her younger brother George had happy childhoods in Los Angeles, and spent summers at her grandparents’ farm. During World War II, her entire family was sent to the Amache Japanese-American Internment Camp in Colorado.At the internment camp, her father served as the camp physician and her mother not only taught school, but after being contacted by YWCA national staff, helped establish YWCAs in different internment camps. Joy’s mom served as the director of these YWCA Japanese American Girl Reserve groups, which had programming for young women’s empowerment, such as providing resources and helping to prepare girls for college, and for health and wellness, such as competitive sporting games in the relocation camps. Joy’s parents were dedicated, giving people, and their compassion and work helping others clearly influenced her – as she herself has explained, “My parents taught me how to work for change.”Her commitment to YWCA lasted throughout her life, and she served in leadership positions with her local YWCA, the national YWCA and World Service Council, traveling to different parts of the world as part of YWCA’s global relations efforts.
Deanna Espina
This Women's History Month, we are celebrating the leadership of Deanna Espina. One of the first Native American women elected to the National Board of YWCA USA, she was inaugurated in 1993 and represented YWCA as a member of the Yakama Nation. With a passion for social change, she made important lasting impacts on YWCA.She was born in San Francisco during the government's American Indian Urban Relocation Program in the 1930's. Along with her incredible contributions to YWCA, she also managed the Native American Museum for three decades where more than 35,000 students attended Deanna's presentations.Other important honors and achievements of Deanna's are; she was a founding member of the Bay Area Indian Education Council; was recognized as Administrator of the Year by the National Indian Education Association; received Distinguished Educator of the Year for Indian Education from the State of California; received Indian Education Showcase Award from the U.S. Department of Education for one of the best Indian Education Programs in the country; and received the Honored Elder Award from the California Indian Education Conference.
Culture of Gender Violence
Tuesday, March 7th, 2023, 5pm-7pm PST
Online via ZoomCourse Description: Culture of Gender Violence exhibits itself through the presence of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking which exist within our culture. The term “gender violence” reflects the idea that violence often serves to maintain structural gender inequalities, and includes all types of violence against men, women, children, adolescents, gay, transgender people and gender non-conforming folks. We will explore the 3 main components that contribute to the existence of gender violence: sexism, sexual objectification and victim blaming. Looking through the lens of history and our current culture, we will reveal the pervasive myths and norms that justify sexual violence and that keeps the focus on blaming and silencing survivors. We will explore how gender violence highlights a toxic masculinity-patterned violence: a prevalent violence committed most often but not always by men, often motivated by aggression, revenge, competition, and entitlement used to help to maintain patriarchy, dominance and oppressive stereotypes.
Register at the link below!
Understanding Gender
Thursday, March 9th, 2023, 10am -12pm PST
Online via ZoomCourse Description: You have probably been taught that gender is determined by ones sex. However, this is not the case, and I am here to explain why! As more and more nonbinary, transgender and gender-nonconforming people starting to feel safer to live in their truths, it is important that others have a base level of understanding the difference between gender and sexuality. Join me as we dismantle the binary and learn about the beautiful mosaic of gender identities. In this interactive workshop, we will break down terms, participate in activities and engage in interactive learning focusing on gender and sexuality.
Register at the link below!
Hollywood Theater's: Feminist March - film series
Feminist March shines a light on the contributions that women have made, and continue to make, to the film industry.
This year, 12 of the 14 films are directed by women, including multiple films by Black, Indigenous, and queer directors. The festival features a wide survey of genres including action, drama, romantic comedy, documentary, Indigenous horror, and even a musical slasher film.
March 2nd-March 31stCheck movies and showtimes here.
SoFarSounds
Celebrating the voices of women-identifying artists across our community both online and in-person.
Wednesday, March 8th at 7:30pmLocation revealed 36 hours beforePurchase tickets here!
The Catalyst Quartet: UNCOVERED - Remarkable Women Composers
The Grammy Award-winning classical music ensemble Catalyst Quartet will celebrate the works of overlooked female composers. Performing selections from their acclaimed multi-album anthology, UNCOVERED, the quartet aims to highlight masterworks by classical composers previously disregarded due to their race or gender.Sunday, April 16th from 4:30pm-6:30pmThe Old Church Downtown Portland Purchase tickets here.