Despite Sarah Palin and New Mexico’s dueling female gubernatorial candidates, not that many women run for office, according to Jennifer Lawless. Why the heck not? Lawless, a professor of government at the American University, argues in her book It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office that there are many reasons, including that women don’t feel as qualified as men—even the ones who are at the height of their professions. She also believes women are less likely than men to be encouraged to run in the first place. For example, in Congress, the House has 357 men and only 78 women, while the Senate has 82 men and 18 women. That’s a huge difference. Find out why and what can be done to even the numbers out a bit when Lawless speaks at Bookworks (4022 Rio Grande NW) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26. bkwrks.com/event/lawless has more info on the event.
Culture Shock: Baby Animals!!! Baby Animals!!!
If there is anything in the whole world cuter or more whimsical than baby animals, I urge you to keep it far away from me, lest I squeal so hard I burst. For real. That’s exactly what I did, on the Rail Runner no less, when I found out about the birthday party for Daizy, the 1-year-old Asian elephant at the Rio Grande Zoo. Now, I know you’re thinking, What does this have to do with art? Absolutely nothing. It’s about joy, happiness and things you don’t see every day. Or, if that’s not sufficient, how about this: Life itself is art. Happy? Good. Go to the Rio Grande Zoo (903 10 th Street SW) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28, and party. There will be pounds of birthday cake (made of yummy hay for Daizy and delicious sugar for people) and adorableness galore. Zoo admission is $3 for kids and seniors, $7 for adults. Info and tickets can be found at cabq.gov/biopark/zoo.
Culture Shock: Artistic Civil Liberties Artistic Civil Liberties
Every one of us has gotten angry when someone’s said something we just don’t agree with. It can be infuriating, but it’s pretty great that we have the right to say things that not everyone thinks are true. That freedom extends to art. Think about what the world would look like if only art that everyone thought was cool was out there. Boring! The New Mexico chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union hosts an evening of expression to remind us all how much artistic freedom rules. The poetry slam master Hakim Bellamy—he’s got two national championship titles to his name—headlines and hosts Art for Your Rights at the El Rey Theater (620 Central SW) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28. The evening features bands (Native Roots, Zoology and others), a silent auction with some great art from folks such as J. Lynn Johnson, Joe Forrest Sackett and, from Working Classroom, Tonya Chavez. Tickets cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Hit up aclu-nm.org for tickets (or to donate a piece of art).
