The current political climate proves the need for a state-wide presence and encourage members to become active in their community. Indiana NOW is in the process of choosing Regional Coordinators in the state. Our active membership is located mainly in Indianapolis, and NOW wants to increase membership participation in other parts of the state. Current interest is in the central and southern area. NOW is actively recruiting a coordinator in the northern part of the state. Are you interested? For more information contact indiana.now.chapter@gmail.com.

Robin Olds
Co-President
Indiana NOW

October, 2010

In an effort to "modernize" Indiana NOW to better fit today's lives, we will begin a 2 year trial with a new statewide structure, as voted at our annual conference in September.

Our goal is to create more ways members can participate in our organization, as well as increase activism across our state.

Spearheaded by Mary-Elise Haug, this experiment in feminism will remain somewhat fluid as we determine those things that work and don't work for us.

To begin, I will serve as co-president with Robin Olds.

My duties are more National, acting as contact to our NOW offices in Washington.

Robin's duties will involve coordinating our state efforts including chair of the state council.

Also new to our state are "Regional Coordinators". These positions will be responsible for speaking on behalf of Indiana NOW and coordinating membership actions/activities around the state. We are currently considering the regions to be North, Central, and South.

In order to encourage activism across the state, a funding council (our state council) will be accepting applications from individuals who would like to organize a feminist NOW event or action in the state and need assistance with the costs. We hope this will be a great way to get activists involved without necessarily needing to work within the "chapter" structure.

Although these are just a few of the high points, let me know if you have an interest in becoming more personally involved with Indiana NOW, and if you have any questions or suggestions.



Melissa Fadeley

Co-President

Indiana NOW

From Exiting Indiana NOW President, Marion Wagner
September 1, 2010

As I prepare to step aside as Indiana NOW‘s President on September 25, I have been thinking about the ever changing, yet seemingly everlasting feminist agenda. We feminists have made many positive changes in American society, laws, and processes since the inception of the National Organization for Women in 1966. Every time I attend an Indiana Fever game and watch those strong, young women playing basketball, I am reminded of my own basketball “career” in high school when girls did not have an opportunity to play except within their own school and even then we were limited to two dribbles before we had to shoot or pass. Women now attend college on basketball scholarships and play professional ball around the world. This is one of the many changes the women’s movement has produced.

Feminists of my generation have generally been successful in sending forward a political feminist agenda to those who are in the leadership. However, I am less sure if we have worked to pass on a cultural feminist agenda. What do I mean by this? The political agenda encompasses the legislative and societal agendas that work to bring women to equal rights and status throughout our society as well as throughout societies world-wide. We know we have accomplished much and that we have so much more to do.

What I think of as the “cultural” feminist agenda is less about goals and more about process. Those of you who have been active in Indiana NOW through the years know that we continually work on our processes. The “worker theory” – those who do the work make the decisions – has been part of our processes since the ERA campaign, starting in 1975. At that time, many of us consciously talked about feminist process, focusing on consensus, non-hierarchical decision making, equal status regardless of position, and basic respect for each other. I think we did not work to pass these messages on. The outcome means that as women break barriers into various segments of society they often do not bring feminist ways of functioning along with them. The hierarchy remains the same.

I hope as we continue to work to change the laws and enhance our rights in American society we also work to change our processes to make them more culturally feminist. This would mean much less focus on hierarchy and much more on process and ability. I know, I know, it is hard to function in a feminist manner within a hierarchical structure. I worked in such structures throughout my career. Although it may be impossible to function with total consensus in such structures, we can work to make decisions as inclusive and consensus-focused as possible. We certainly can work to change the status differences within organizations. Front line clerical staff members are as essential to the effective operation of organizations as are top level executives, maybe even more. Why should we tolerate major differential treatment such as benefit structures? Breaking the glass ceiling is easiest from above.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve Indiana NOW as president these last two years.

Marion Wagner

April 20, 2010

News Release

Indianapolis - Members of Indiana’s division of the National Organization for Women (NOW) announced two scholarships available in Fall 2010 for $500 each. The Joan Poindexter Scholarships will be awarded by August 13, 2010, but the deadline for applicants is June 28. To be eligible, you must be involved in feminist activities, a returning female student age 23 or older and a resident of Indiana. To apply email the following information to Indiana_now@yahoo.com: name, mailing address, e-mail address, phone number with area code, date of birth, college or university where you are enrolled, and in what ways you participate in feminist activities. Applicants must also respond to the following question in approximately 500 words: what does being a feminist mean to you?

The Scholarship is named for Joan Poindexter, a NOW member since the 1970s, Poindexter held several offices with Indiana NOW including president and treasurer. She was also active in Indianapolis NOW and treasurer of the Indiana NOW (political action committee (PAC).In her honor, Poindexter’s family established the fund, an ongoing endowment providing scholarships for women returning to school later in life. Awarded annually, the scholarships are an tribute to Joan’s life.

The national organization for women is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. Since its founding in 1966, NOW’s goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights of all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia, and promote equality and justice in our society.