This week, as has been the case every year for more than two decades, the U will devote five days to mothers, wives, sisters and friends, and the issues that affect them.
Women’s Week 2005 centers on the theme, “Will Work for Change-Being Nickeled and Dimed in America,” and will examine issues such as policy decisions, minimum wage, earning a living wage, access to education and what might help women in obtaining financial security.
This Women’s Week includes a keynote address by Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Ehrenreich’s book archives her experiences as a minimum-wage worker and brings to light the working conditions and the lifestyles of low-income workers.
“The theme, ‘Will Work for Change’ has a double meaning,” said Karen Dace, associate vice president for diversity. “It has the obvious meaning of people working for minimum wage, but also that we are working for change.”
Even though the events throughout the week are centered on women, men can also participate.
The play titled, “Nickel and Dimed” will be performed at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 1 as a benefit performance, and again on March 2 and March 3 as free performances.
“The play depicts both men and women working for minimum wage,” Dace said.
Along with the keynote address and theater performance, Women’s Week 2005 will feature “My Women of Color Friends,” an art exhibit showcasing new paintings by featured artist V. Kim Martinez. The art will be exhibited at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center from March 1 through March 3, after which time it will move to the U Women’s Resource Center in the Union.
A campus panel will take place on Thursday, March 3 in the Marriott Library’s Gould Auditorium and will feature panelists who will discuss work and wage issues as well as offer advice on how women can achieve greater financial stability.