Allyson Kapin2013-05-22T13:12:49-04:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=allyson-kapinCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Allyson KapinGood old fashioned elbow grease.In the War on Women, Democrats Are Part of the Problem Tootag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.20705952012-11-05T14:59:09-05:002013-01-05T05:12:01-05:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/allyson-kapin/new poll indicating that independents and others were as concerned about the War on Women as liberals, Huffington Post readers asked why I was attributing the assault on women's rights to "Washington," not just the Republican Party.
While it is true that bills seeking to curb women's rights to contraception, abortion, and equal pay for equal work are originating with Republicans, let's be honest: Women's rights are not at the top of the Democratic agenda in Congress.
Sure, there has been no lack of Democratic candidates in this election campaign trying to rally support from women voters (who will be casting 10 million more votes than men this year). But most Democrats in elected office are not doing nearly enough to stand up for women's rights.
There are several reasons for this. One, laziness. Yes, you read that right, laziness. Democrats in the House stood idly by while the Republicans wasted 52 days and $249 million in the last session on bills attacking women's rights. No doubt they calculated that these bills didn't have a shot of getting through the Senate. But they also had a golden opportunity to generate national outrage against the Republican agenda and unmask the sort of extremism that has now come out on the campaign trail. Why didn't they do it? In short, because they couldn't be bothered.
Some Democrats, especially those with a rocky road to re-election, worry that speaking out on divisive hot-button issues like abortion could hurt their popularity in their districts. But others do not speak out because they sympathize with the Republican position. Blue Dogs and others may not be as extreme in their views, for instance on abortion in the cases of rape or incest, but they are unmistakably part of the problem, not part of the solution.
At least 25 Blue Dog Democrats do not support abortion rights for women. That directly contradicts the 2012 Democratic National Platform, which states:
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.
The Blue Dogs pay no political price for their position. On the contrary, they continue to receive DSCC and DCCC funding for their campaigns. That may be expedient for a party anxious to wrest every congressional seat it can out of the hands of its opponents. But a profile in courage it is not.
Yes, it is true that the War on Women is being led by Republicans, but they are counting, in part, on the acquiescence or cowardice of the party on the other side of the aisle to achieve their goals. Democrats need to do a better job of standing up and fighting for women's rights -- not just on the campaign trail, but where it counts, on the floor of the House and Senate.]]>New Poll Reveals Independent Women Voters Are Concerned About Washington's War on Womentag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.20613172012-11-02T08:32:33-04:002013-01-02T05:12:01-05:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/allyson-kapin/Modern War on Women infographic, show that these issues are a concern for a broad range of voters, including Independent women, black men and Hispanic women.
According to the poll responses, these groups agree that a group of lawmakers in Washington have been working to curb women's rights to contraception, abortion and equal pay for equal work. The results underscore voters' anxiety about Washington's legislative hostility toward women, at a level of intensity unseen in 40 years since Roe v. Wade passed.
The poll of 1000 likely voters asked respondents if they agree or disagree with the following statement:
Lawmakers in Washington have been engaging in a War on Women, by taking away women's rights to contraception, denying equal pay for equal work, and curbing a woman's right to choose.
Among the results:
54 percent of Independent women voters polled agree that there is a War on Women.
Democratic women (63 percent) and Democratic men (61 percent) agree that there's a War on Women.
The race and gender demographic who agrees the most that there's a War on Women are black men at 67 percent, followed by 63 percent of Hispanic women.
Though the majority of liberal people agree that there's a War on Women, surprisingly more liberal men (71 percent) agree than liberal women (68 percent).
63 percent of those satisfied with the direction of the U.S. agree that there is a War on Women.
Younger women, under 45, are the most likely to feel that they are under attack at 55%. Women feel less under attack as they get older.
The war on women being waged by lawmakers in Congress and state capitols across the country is not only an attack on women and girls in the U.S., but its reach circles the globe. Dangerous restrictions on abortion access and cuts in family planning budgets here at home turn deadly when translated into U.S. policies globally in the form of draconian cuts and restrictions on international family planning programs. The result: every 90 seconds of every day a woman or girl dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth and unsafe abortions. Almost all of these deaths are preventable. The death toll mounts while mostly male politicians debate their next battle in the war on women.
And according to Emily's List, the House of Representatives spent at least 52 days this past session discussing laws that threatened to take away women's rights, such as the Personhood Amendment, which would define a fertilized human egg as a legal person, criminalize abortion with no exceptions, and would ban common forms of birth control, stem cell research, and in-vitro fertilization.
In addition to the poll data, the infographic briefly takes you through recent history, exploring laws that have been introduced, and passed. Some of the legislation explored by the infographic has benefited women, while others like the Violence Against Women Act, which would provide tough provisions to hold offenders accountable, and provide programs for survivors has not been re-authorized. And other legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act has not been passed.
Just days before the election, many voters are expressing their concerns over the attacks on women's basic rights. Will enough people use their civic duty to stand up for women's rights and elect leaders on Tuesday who will stand up with them? #HopeSo
*Note this poll was commissioned by my firm Rad Campaign and conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies. The infographic was designed by Rad Campaign.]]>Health Insurance Companies Tell Women: You're a Pre-Existing Conditiontag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.3206972009-10-15T19:00:30-04:002011-05-25T14:20:22-04:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/allyson-kapin/
According to an investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, in the past five years, health insurance companies like WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled 20,000 people's health insurance. As a result these insurers avoided paying more than $300 million in medical claims. This practice is known as a "recission" policy where health insurance companies cancel policies of Americans who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, lymphona, and over 1000 conditions like acne and pregnancy.
Now that my husband and I are thinking about planning a family, I have been looking more closely at our own health insurance policy and our maternity benefits. As I was researching, I was shocked to learn as a fertile woman, I'm basically considered a pre-existing condition. Check it out.
• According to the Family Kaiser Foundation, only 14 states require individual market plans to include comprehensive maternity coverage. 36 states don't have to cover maternity benefits and can end up costing women $7500+ for a normal pregnancy and delivery all the way up to $100K+ for high risk, complex pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care depending on where you live. The result of just this one loophole? 79 percent of women with individual market policies do not have any maternity coverage.
• Defending the practice of not covering maternity care, one insurance official called pregnancy a "matter of choice."
• Many insurance companies consider C-Sections a "pre-existing condition." In Colorado, a subsidiary of United Health, one of the biggest insurance companies in the nation, "simply rejects" women who have had C-Sections. Note: Approximately 30% of births are via C-Sections.
And the list goes on. Health Insurance companies also charge women 48% more than men for the same individual (not group) coverage and can deny women coverage if they have been a victim of domestic violence.
• In 2008, 14.5 million American women purchased individual health insurance. These women pay up to 48% more in premiums than men, said Speaker Pelosi in a recent report. This discrepancy is due to an insurance industry practice known as "gender rating," which permits insurance companies in most states to charge men and women different premiums for the same coverage.
• In all but 12 states, insurance companies are completely free to continue the "gender rating" practice.
• In eight states and the District of Columbia, it's perfectly legal for insurance companies to deny coverage to victims of domestic violence.
I get that health insurance companies are in the business of making money, but considering women a pre-existing condition is despicable. "It is shocking to think, that [unless we are proactive] over half of the population of this country could be discriminated against in one of their most basic life's needs, said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). "We must reform our broken system ... end disparities [based on] race and gender and make quality health care affordable for every single American." Amen!
Resources for taking action on women's health care reform
Disclosure: NWLC and SEIU have or have been clients of my firm Rad Campaign. The work performed was not related to women's health care reform.
]]>Giving Tech a Bad Nametag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.1994202009-05-08T12:08:51-04:002011-05-25T13:20:20-04:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/allyson-kapin/Matt Aimonetti's idiotic presentation at the Golden Gate Ruby Conference and the heated panel debate on "Balancing the Tech Culture" at the Geek' n Rolla conference in the UK; where women were ridiculed with stupid and inaccurate comments like "We shouldn't be apologizing for having fewer women in a sector in which men naturally perform better," said the Daily Telegraph blogger Milo Yiannopoulos.
On one hand it's men like Milo and Matt and conferences like the Golden Gate Ruby Conference that give men in tech a bad rap. On the other hand, these men had the audacity to bash women publicly and tell the world how they really perceive women, thus proving that women in tech still face an uphill battle in fighting sexism. Flagrant, public sexism is a sign that we have a long way to go, and it just gives the tech sector a bad name. Just because sex sells doesn't mean you can sell sexism to us.
It's already disheartening that women still make up only 28% of those graduating with a B.S. in Computer Science. And the average age of owning their first computer is 19 for females, as opposed to 15 for males. This needs to change ASAP!
What can we do to break through the digital ceiling once and for all? A lot, as I discussed in depth in another article on Fast Company. Women make up approximately 20% of panelists (and sometimes less) at major tech conferences, and are rarely quoted or sought out as opinion leaders as much as their male colleagues. There are, however, plenty of highly qualified women in the industry who would make fantastic panelists and can provide expert commentary to the media. We women in tech should be promoting ourselves as experts by blogging and posting articles in our areas of expertise, showcasing our successes, submitting panel ideas to conferences, and ramping up our networking with "influentials".
While we women in tech can do our part to promote ourselves, the tech industry needs to transform or, do I dare say, revolutionize its old school way of thinking.
2. Reporters and bloggers that cover technology and social media need to seek out women experts and look beyond their personal networks, often comprised of men in tech and social media.
3. Include more women in those top 10 lists. By not recognizing women in top 10 lists, you send the wrong message that women are not valued as leaders in tech, when in reality there are several women innovators in tech and social media.
Here are just a few women who are helping to transform technology and social media, many of which will be talking about these issues at the Women Who Tech TeleSummit next week.
Jill Foster: Cofounder of DC Media Makers and Women Grow Business. Jill is considered one of the top 100 tech titans by Washingtonian Magazine.
Heather Holdridge: Former Partner of CTSG, one of the first constituent relationship management systems created for the nonprofit sector, Heather moved on to Care2 to reorganize their ten million member social networking platform to a series of integrated progressive advocacy channels.
Beth Kanter: The social media expert and analyst who really knows just about everything there is to know about social media and how to truly engage online communities.
Ellen Miller: Executive Director of the Sunlight Foundation. Her never-ending commitment to government transparency and use of open-source-technology has earned her the "go to" expert on government transparency.
Amy Muller: Cofounder of the innovative consumer site Get Satisfaction.
Shireen Mitchell: Founder of Digital Sisters/Sistas, Chair of the media and technology task force of the National Council of Women's Organizations and Founder of Social Media Women of Color (Geekette '84). Shireen was also named one of the top 100 tech titans by Washingtonian Magazine.
Michelle Murrain: Partner at OpenIssue and one of the most established technology strategists in the nonprofit sector.
Corvida Raven: Founder and Editor of SheGeeks.net. At only 21-years-old, Corvida has captured the tech worlds attention with her spot on reviews of tech, gadgets, and social media. She is a former writer for The Industry Standard and ReadWriteWeb.
Holly Ross: Executive Director of NTEN. As one of the biggest champions of technology, Holly helps nonprofit organizations skillfully and confidently use technology to fulfill their missions. She is also one of the leading researchers on nonprofit technology and benchmarks. Her book (which also contains chapters written by other members of the nonprofit community) "Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders" will be published in the fall of 2009.
Amanda Steinberg: Founder of Soapbxx, an open source firm that builds great Joomla websites.
Deanna Zandt: As a programmer and media technologist, Deanna combines her background in programming, advertising and linguistics to help media organizations like Alternet. She is also in the process of writing a book on social media for social justice.
While women are coming together to overcome barriers, we also need the support of those already in tech professions, including men. We need to crack the digital ceiling and we definitely need men to immediately stop using juvenile antics in their presentations. Ending sexism takes all of us.]]>Cracking the Boys Club: 10 Pioneers in Tech and Web 2.0tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2008:/theblog//3.1438262008-11-14T13:06:32-05:002011-07-06T18:46:59-04:00Allyson Kapinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/allyson-kapin/
More and more women are starting their own companies (including tech and web 2.0 ventures). Women make up at least 50% of the Web 2.0 market from a user and consumer perspective. According to TechCrunch, 60% of US Facebook users are women. And 61% of Open Social users are women according to Rapleaf. In major cities like DC and Philadelphia women account for approximately 30% of the IT workforce, cites the US Census Bureau.
Just last week Tech Evangelist Robert Scoble wrote a column about his favorite tech experts on Friend Feed. He featured everyone from Michael Arrington founder of TechCrunch to Steve Rubel, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital. Great choices, but sadly not a single woman made Scoble's list.
While there are plenty of successful women who have cracked the tech boys club, here is my list of Top 10 Pioneers in Tech and Web 2.0 that should make experts' future lists.
1. Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder of Ning:
Bianchini started Ning, one of the leading online social networking platforms with a very simple premise: what if everyone had the opportunity to create their own social experiences online? "This simple mission has been incredibly motivating, especially watching how people have created over 585,000 social networks on Ning in less than 20 months across an incredibly diverse array of topics, interests, locations and languages," says Bianchini. Currently she is working on expanding the number of features for Ning's Network Creators and providing members of networks more ways to discover and manage their networks.
2. Mary Hodder, Founder of Dabble.com and VP of Product Development, Apisphere:
Hodder is one of the leading innovators behind online video sharing and started Dabble.com, a social search site organizing video metadata from across the web to help people discover and playlist media they like. Dabble partnered with 1200 sites to indexed 50 million web videos, created a preference engine and prototyped unique advertising matching softwares. Hodder is now the VP of Product Development at Apisphere, which delivers location-specific mobile content, to virtually any mobile handset. Hodder also continues to work with companies in media, MMG gaming, open source, photo sharing and blog aggregation.
3. Tara Hunt, Co-Founder Citizen Agency and Citizen Space:
Hunt is "the" expert on Social Capital. In April 2009 Random House will be publishing her book The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business which discusses the culmination of reputation, influence, bridging and bonding capital, saved up favors, accomplishments and the Whuffie of those you have relationships with. Aside from running her own agency, writing, and speaking all over the country, Hunt runs a variety of BarCamp style of events ranging from HeroCamp to TransitCamp.
4. Sandy Jen, Co-Founder of Meebo:
Jen helped changed the world of IM (Instant Messaging) through her software Meebo, which lets users log into their IM networks such as Yahoo! Messanger, AIM and Google Talk from any computer with an Internet connection with no firewall issues to deal with. In July of 2007, Nielsen/NetRatings named Meebo the fastest-growing IM destination in the US - ahead of Google Talk and Skype Messenger. Just last week Meebo launched Community IM. Jen says, "The technical challenges involved in scaling out a distributed system of IM networks for a lot of social communities have been pretty hairy at times, but also a lot of fun. Meebo's always trying to push the envelope and Community IM is just another step we're taking."
Johnson is one of the most in-demand speakers in the Web 2.0 and technology conference circuit and presents to packed rooms of people at SXSW Interactive, Personal Democracy Forum, and BlogHer Business. In December Johnson will be teaching a class along with Craig Newmark, founder of Craig's List and others on "The Customer is the Company: How Social Media is Changing Business."
6. Beth Kanter: Blogger:
As the "go to" guru on everything Web 2.0 in non-profit sector, Beth Kanter hosts workshops all over the world and blogs about how to integrate social media and harness its power to impact social change. Beth was also one of a handful of renowned women in social media to speak at the Graphing Social Patterns conference. Currently Beth is curating the NTEN WeAreMedia project, a community-driven curriculum development for workshops for nonprofits on how to integrate social media into the communications mix. In 2009 she will be the scholar in residence at the Packard Foundation on social media and nonprofits.
7. Charlene Li, Consultant and Blogger:
Li is one of the most sought after experts on emerging technologies, with a specific focus on social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. She is the co-author of the business bestseller, Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies, published in 2008. Prior to going out on her own, Li was a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. These days Li is busy delivering speeches and discussing social media at major conferences. During the Defrag conference in early November she discussed how the open social web is developing. "It started with the Facebook Platform launching in May 2007, an expanded OpenSocial in October 2007, and has blossomed into an "open stack" of technology platforms and standards that make it easier (not necessary easy) for sites and companies to share social data with each other," says Li.
8. Susan Mernit, Co-Founder, People's Software:
Mernit is a tech leader known for getting things done. She has started her own companies, headed up Yahoo Personals, and served as a VP for AOL and Netscape. Mernit's latest venture is People's Software, a Web 2.0 social media startup devoted to making it easier for people to plan and schedule on the go. It's currently in beta on Facebook.
Currently Mernit and her business partner Lisa Williams are also working on a cool tech product focused on women. But she's not giving away the juicy details just yet. Mernit also advises the Knight Foundation on the Knight News Challenge, an annual program that gives away $5MM per year for innovative, open source online news and digital media projects. Outside of People's Software and consulting, Mernit is a frequent speaker at conferences discussing topics ranging from social media to entrepreneurship.
9. Rebecca Moore, Director of Outreach, Google Earth:
Google Maps is one of the most innovative and powerful web tools thanks to Moore's vision who conceived and now manages the Google Earth Outreach program, which supports nonprofits, communities and indigenous peoples around the world in applying Google's mapping tools to the world's pressing problems in areas such as environmental conservation, human rights, cultural preservation and creating a sustainable society. Her personal work using Google Earth was recently instrumental in stopping a plan to log more than a thousand acres of redwoods in her Santa Cruz Mountain community.
Moore is currently working with a number of Amazon Indian tribes who want to use Google Earth and Maps to protect their rain forest land from illegal logging and mining, and create a "cultural map" of their important sites, such as where they hunt and fish, where they gather medicinal plants, and sites of historical battles. She's also working with organizations using Google Earth/Maps to illustrate Climate Change impacts, and solutions. "It's very cool that these tools can show not only problems and issues, but also to map alternative future scenarios, showing concrete, achievable plans to address these issues."
10. Rashmi Sinha, Co-Founder SlideShare
Sinha is the CEO for SlideShare, the world's largest community for sharing presentations and allows users to comment, rate, and download them. SlideShare is growing rapidly at more than 9 million monthly unique monthly visits letting everyone from teachers to marketers to conference speakers share presentations and connect with others. When Sinha is not working on enhancing SlideShare she discusses social software and running startups at conferences such as Webvisions and the Future of Web Apps.