Fabulous Women

It's really late, and it's been another great day in Detroit. I have long had an interest in women in media, so the morning plenary session was particularly fun. It was a discussion of women in the media featuring Chenese Lewis, Sherry Stringfield, Jill Soloway and Dr. E. Faye Williams.

Chenese Lewis is a gorgeous model and actor in Los Angeles where she advocates positive portrayals of plus size women in the media. She is the spokesperson for the Love Your Body Project, and is also a writer and serves as Empowerment Editor for PLUS Model Magazine.

Sherry Stringfield is not a doctor, but she certainly knows how to play one on TV. For more than a decade Stringfield played Dr. Susan Lewis on NBC's prime time hit ER. An ardent feminist, she spoke of the need for positive roles for women in television and film, and provided suggestions on how feminists could help influence media. A lifetime member of NOW, Stringfield recently purchased lifetime memberships for her two children saying: "My son is two years old, and he is sooooo going to owe me when he's older and can tell his girlfriend 'yeah, I've been a NOW member for 15 years!'"

Jill Soloway is a talented writer and producer who is determined to change the culture for women in media. For four seasons she was a writer and eventually co-executive producer of HBO's hit series Six Feet Under. She is currently directing her first feature film, Tricycle, and has just finished writing the screenplay for Pledged, a comedy about sorority life. She recently signed on as a writer for ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

Soloway, and the group OBJECT she helped form, recently took on Lionsgate and AfterDark Films for their billboards promoting the film “Captivity” that presented graphic depictions of violence against women. Soloway said the action wasn't about taking away First Amendment free speech rights or censorship, but about public space -- asking "why should I have to see this" as she would drive around Los Angeles with her young son.

Soloway went on to say that all men have to do everyday is simply get up and write, whereas women have children to raise, households to manage, and husbands or partners to care for. She encouraged the potential writers in the room to not be afraid to tell their stories. And to not be afraid of their sexuality.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, the National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, closed out the session with yet another inspirational message challenging NOW activists to support these women in their work and to "never go back." She sited comments made about the Rutgers women as an example of men trying to marginalize the gains women have made over the past few decades. Dr. Williams pledged to continue to challenge the likes of 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg.