the place for women to be

i-Now Newsletter

Read Anna's Summer 2005 newsletter below and send i-Woman your comments on the following topics so that we can publish your thoughts on i-Woman

To automatically receive a free copy of the regular i-Woman newsletter please  subscribe here

To see the archive of previous i-Woman newsletters click here

 Live8 – Linking the World Through Music
The success of Live8 cannot be questioned – Here the team at i-woman congratulate Sir Bob Geldof and his amazing supporters on staging a truly global event. But now what matters is the real impact and change for Africa and how a few short hours entertainment in our lives can bring solutions to so much suffering. We thought we’d ask you to tell our network what this actually means to you and your friends and families – please send us your responses: 

• How did Live 8 make you feel – wherever you are living across our planet ?
• Do you believe we collectively can make Poverty History ?
• What would make a difference to people in your country ?

Send your views on Live8 now to i-Woman at
i-Say@i-Woman.com

 Find Out What Made Jane Fonda Wake Up ?
We all know Jane Fonda ….. well unless you’ve never watched a movie or perhaps heard of aerobic exercise ! I was lucky enough to have lunch recently with Jane – in fact it was me and two hundred other women at a literary lunch somewhere in the Welsh countryside.  Ms Fonda was on her action packed promotional tour for her new book “My Life So Far” and I wasn’t sure what I would be hearing from her. In fact I was bowled over by her – she is a very real person who I think struggles to believe in herself……how many of us cope with this feeling on a daily basis ? This book is a useful, constructive thought provoking account of just one woman (albeit an internationally acclaimed actress and political activist) who thinks she has finally mastered the secret …..of just being herself and allowing herself the luxury of making choices for herself. i-Woman salutes this book …… read it and cheer ….. and tell us what you think.  

Some reviewer’s notes just to tempt you :

"Reading 'My Life So Far' I was haunted by a dotty internal refrain: Jane Fonda undersells herself. A crazy thought, given that her exercise video sold more than any video ever, and then there are the films, and this book…" Professor Juliet Mitchell reviews Jane Fonda's autobiography.

"Most reviewers of Jane Fonda's autobiography My Life So Far have mentioned a telling anecdote. When the iconic American actress asked her daughter, Vanessa Vadim, if she would make a documentary film for her mother's 60th birthday, Vanessa replied: just let a chameleon walk across the screen.

The comment hurts, but Fonda accepts it is justified. Reflecting on her political activities she writes:

"Was there a big picture - a unifying narrative - that I could embrace as a woman? Not knowing the answer, I took shelter in Tom's narrative, which was compelling and enlightening. It would take me thirty years and then some to discover my own, gender-grounded narrative."

(The Tom in question is her second husband, the radical American politician Tom Hayden). In this script, Jane the chameleon always takes on the colour of the men in her life. A woman's fate, yes, but also the necessary condition of the actress.

Several years ago I invited Jane Fonda to participate in an unofficial programme of gender studies , under the auspices of Cambridge University and the local arts cinema, that showed and discussed changing images of femininity and gender from the 1960s to today. What more perfect place to start than Barbarella ?

She said yes - though by the time she had finished My Life So Far , the importance of her autobiography had made both of us nearly forget the original film project . And it is striking that the book makes little of the films. Jane Fonda doesn't seem to register how important and interesting an actress and how serious a filmmaker she is, and that is at least as much an aspect of the feminine predicament as taking on the colours of men. But it is a more distinctive one: not everyone is as charismatic, superbly talented, thoughtful, decent and dedicated-to-life-and-people."

Send your views on Jane Fonda now to i-Woman at
i-Say@i-Woman.com

 Summer Sun – The Real Benefits
As it is the season to be outdoors i-woman thought we’d promote the real mind body and soul benefits of that big orange ball in the sky – Facts for You ……..

• Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is our main source of vitamin D, important for your bones, muscles and immune system
• Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland in the brain. This produces certain chemicals called 'tryptamines' which improve our mood
• Vitamin D may also have the ability to combat the development and spread of cancerous tumours

Share your summer time emotions ….. health and happiness stories to help us all. 

Enjoy Your Summer wherever you are from all at i-Woman

Send your views on Summer Sun now to i-Woman at
i-Say@i-Woman.com