um, wow.
this is why i'm a feminist.
8.26.2009
still waiting...
today is women's equality day!!!
on august 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, took effect. and in 1923, alice paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment, which has still not been ratified today.
tell me again why can't we agree that discrimination, PERIOD, should be unconstitutional???!!!
also- look at this revolutionary photo from Glamour magazine! great analysis from ms. snarker in that post, btw.
and finally- more details about chris brown's abuse come out after sentencing. i know that there's probably something to be said against making such a big deal out of this case- all the sympathy rihanna has gotten just because she's a celebrity is sort of a slap in the face to all the women who are abused daily and get ZERO attention or help. but it's also a useful example of just how bad it is for women, and the national fixation is at least bringing some of these skeletons out of america's closet.
on august 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, took effect. and in 1923, alice paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment, which has still not been ratified today.
"sex discrimination should be just as unconstitutional as discrimination on account of race, religion or national origin."- Laura Callow.
tell me again why can't we agree that discrimination, PERIOD, should be unconstitutional???!!!
also- look at this revolutionary photo from Glamour magazine! great analysis from ms. snarker in that post, btw.
"The beauty industry isn’t about making women feel beautiful. It’s about making us feel so horrible about ourselves for not being beautiful that we buy whatever they are selling. Making us hate who we are is a billion-dollar industry."
AND"Right now, think of three things you don’t like about your body and then three things you love about your body. Those first three came easier, didn’t they? Now f*ck those first three things. Because only those last three things matter. We are as beautiful as we feel. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise."
and finally- more details about chris brown's abuse come out after sentencing. i know that there's probably something to be said against making such a big deal out of this case- all the sympathy rihanna has gotten just because she's a celebrity is sort of a slap in the face to all the women who are abused daily and get ZERO attention or help. but it's also a useful example of just how bad it is for women, and the national fixation is at least bringing some of these skeletons out of america's closet.
"Brown punched Rihanna... numerous times and put her in a head lock, restricting her breathing and causing her to start to lose consciousness. He threatened to beat her and kill her, according to the statement, and he bit her ear and her fingers."
clearly, women are not treated equally in the u.s., or around the world. so today,
say something about equality.
do something about equality.
support equality.
tell your state congresspeople to ratify the ERA!!!
check out http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ and http://www.eracampaign.net/ for more info. The states that have NOT ratified the Amendment are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.
8.25.2009
recession-proof
guess which area of our society isn't feeling the pinch due to the recession? in fact, it's flourishing!
domestic abuse.
shelters are seeing increased demand for their services, and the national DV hotline has seen over a 20% jump in calls.
BUT the good news for all you abusers out there is: if you DO get caught, and somehow miraculously ARE convicted...don't worry. you'll just have to spend the equivalent of 2 months picking up some garbage while on parole.
domestic abuse.
shelters are seeing increased demand for their services, and the national DV hotline has seen over a 20% jump in calls.
BUT the good news for all you abusers out there is: if you DO get caught, and somehow miraculously ARE convicted...don't worry. you'll just have to spend the equivalent of 2 months picking up some garbage while on parole.
8.21.2009
CNN= completely negative news (for women)
cnn headlines today:
california man murders his ex-wife, "removes" her teeth and fingers, and stuffs her body in a suitcase. (motive? none.)
florida man bludgeons wife in the head with a hammer while she's sleeping, next door to where their 6 month old son is sleeping, with man's parents downstairs. (motive? none.)
and then there's the afghan vote yesterday. in which many women didn't even know they had the right to participate. and those who did feared for their lives.
not a great week to be a woman, no matter where you live. (but sure, we've come a long way baby. *gag*)
california man murders his ex-wife, "removes" her teeth and fingers, and stuffs her body in a suitcase. (motive? none.)
florida man bludgeons wife in the head with a hammer while she's sleeping, next door to where their 6 month old son is sleeping, with man's parents downstairs. (motive? none.)
and then there's the afghan vote yesterday. in which many women didn't even know they had the right to participate. and those who did feared for their lives.
not a great week to be a woman, no matter where you live. (but sure, we've come a long way baby. *gag*)
8.20.2009
are you kidding me.
well this isn't sexist (or irrelevant) at all.
Yes She Can! 59% Of HuffPost Readers Say Michelle Obama "Absolutely" Has The Right To Wear Shorts (PHOTOS)
give.me.a.break.
Yes She Can! 59% Of HuffPost Readers Say Michelle Obama "Absolutely" Has The Right To Wear Shorts (PHOTOS)
give.me.a.break.
8.18.2009
speaking of child brides
70% of girls in bangladesh are forced into marriage while still in their teens.
every.corner.of.the.globe.
"The young brides, lacking education, become the malnourished mothers of undernourished children and little else."
every.corner.of.the.globe.
"The young brides, lacking education, become the malnourished mothers of undernourished children and little else."
i'll give ya two dollars and a sheep.
well, last week there was that great piece about child brides...here's more from the guardian re: "the bride price"
in uganda, and across africa, "The practice of bride gifts has been relabelled "bride price", demanded by families and fiercely negotiated. It has reduced young women to commodities and has made families see their daughters as a source of income. Today bride price isn't a bag of potatoes, it's a list of demands for money, animals or clothing made by fathers and older brothers, who might want to throw in requests for new shoes or school fees. The mother gets nothing because she was more or less purchased herself, and the sisters are ignored too as they are all set to be exchanged for commodities when they reach 12 or 13."
the 'commodification of young women'...so much of what we face as women comes back to this basic concept. rape? (women are objects only for the rapist's use) abuse? (women must be controlled, punished, 'shown who's boss') sexism in education/the workplace/society (women aren't as smart/as capable/as valuable/as human as men)...and on and on and on.
in every single corner of the globe, women are treated as less than. so laws are passed (but not enforced) explicitly stating indeed women DO deserve equal treatment. what a cage rattling thought.
how messed up is our world if we have to LEGISLATE equality? from the sufferagists to the civil rights activists to the anti-prop 8 folks- and people in every country following those same paths- people fight valiantly for legal recognition of equal rights. but if legislation is our only avenue, we'll never acheive equality.
i feel like our nation, our globe, needs a new declaration of independence, a new magna carta, (go phillipines!) AFFIRMING the humanity of every living person (female, male, able, disabled, young, old, of every race and ethnicity), and CONDEMNING those who would deny humanity to their fellow people. individual governments can only do so much, and while symbolic gestures certainly carry meaning, they do not change beliefs, or even behaviors. the culture of acceptance of the commodification of women must end. we must protect women, punish abusers, and refuse to accept inequity.
in uganda, and across africa, "The practice of bride gifts has been relabelled "bride price", demanded by families and fiercely negotiated. It has reduced young women to commodities and has made families see their daughters as a source of income. Today bride price isn't a bag of potatoes, it's a list of demands for money, animals or clothing made by fathers and older brothers, who might want to throw in requests for new shoes or school fees. The mother gets nothing because she was more or less purchased herself, and the sisters are ignored too as they are all set to be exchanged for commodities when they reach 12 or 13."
the 'commodification of young women'...so much of what we face as women comes back to this basic concept. rape? (women are objects only for the rapist's use) abuse? (women must be controlled, punished, 'shown who's boss') sexism in education/the workplace/society (women aren't as smart/as capable/as valuable/as human as men)...and on and on and on.
in every single corner of the globe, women are treated as less than. so laws are passed (but not enforced) explicitly stating indeed women DO deserve equal treatment. what a cage rattling thought.
how messed up is our world if we have to LEGISLATE equality? from the sufferagists to the civil rights activists to the anti-prop 8 folks- and people in every country following those same paths- people fight valiantly for legal recognition of equal rights. but if legislation is our only avenue, we'll never acheive equality.
i feel like our nation, our globe, needs a new declaration of independence, a new magna carta, (go phillipines!) AFFIRMING the humanity of every living person (female, male, able, disabled, young, old, of every race and ethnicity), and CONDEMNING those who would deny humanity to their fellow people. individual governments can only do so much, and while symbolic gestures certainly carry meaning, they do not change beliefs, or even behaviors. the culture of acceptance of the commodification of women must end. we must protect women, punish abusers, and refuse to accept inequity.
8.14.2009
friday screams
LOTS to scream about this week.
-----
forced child marraige (aka rape)
Highlights:
"World-wide 82 million girls are child brides."
"To be sure, childhood marriage is not an easy problem to address. Some of the causes are poverty, parental desire to prevent sexual relations outside of marriage, fear of rape--which would shame the family and either ostracize or lead to the murder of the victim--lack of educational opportunities for girls, and traditional notions of the primary role of women and girls as wives and mothers. It's perpetuated by religions that aim to keep women subordinate and deeply-rooted cultural norms in which men are encouraged to dominate women--If a wife is a child you can guarantee male control."
*please note- there seem to be a variety of causes listed in the paragraph above...but it's really all just different ways to say the same thing...that's self-evident, i hope.*
"Children like Kidan deserve to have a childhood."
*and, i would add, children like Kidan also deserve a FUTURE THEY CHOOSE FOR THEMSELVES.*
-----
ending the CULTURE of violence against women
Great article. Highlights:
"The last meaningful federal survey took place in 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration. A Department of Justice survey on the "Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence" found that nearly 25% of surveyed women said they had been raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, partner, or date. That equates to roughly 4.8 million violent attacks against women annually in this country. And many women were the victim of repeat attacks (an average of 6.9 assaults by the same partner).
The study also found that "approximately one-fifth of all rapes, one-quarter of all physical assaults, and one-half of all stalkings" experienced by women will not be reported to the police."
*Key paragraph:
"It's curious how blind we become to our own culture. We can criticize tribal Muslim societies for their abuse of women, yet fail to see how ours sometimes does the same thing. What can we do? We can support organizations like DASH, which provides alternate housing for victims of domestic violence. We can press for public policies that address domestic violence. We can speak out against the culture of violence -- a culture that's strengthened every time a women is treated like an object. "
-----
End the world's two deadliest wars (and save women and girls in the process)
Highlights:
"Together, Sudan and Congo represent two of Africa's largest countries, two of Africa's richest natural resource bases, two of Africa's longest wars, two of the world's deadliest conflicts in the past half century, two of the continent's most predatory governments, and two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl. "
"Rape is employed by these conflicting groups as a tool of war and social control,..."
*who bears the brunt of the conflict, in real life, on the ground, every day? women and girls.*
-----
domestic violence in japan
Highlights:
"The latest data from Japan's national police find a 20 percent jump in the number of women reporting domestic violence. But advocates say there is a long way to go in a country that only criminalized family violence in 2001."
but " Forty percent of people over age 20 don't know there is a domestic violence prevention law and only 14 percent of people over 40 are familiar with it, according to the Gender Agency Bureau, based in Tokyo."
and "A Cabinet Office survey, which was conducted in October-November of last year, found that 33.2 percent of married women have experienced physical and mental abuse from their husbands"
*so, ONE THIRD of women report abuse when surveyed, but a large majority of women, especially over 40, don't even know yet that there is anything they can do to escape their abusers.*
-----
and finally, just a short snippet, a blurb, if you will, to top off alllllll the screaming today:
rape victim blamed for being raped at gunpoint in front of her children.
*Please people, don't ever stay at this mariott again.*
EPIC humanity FAIL.
-----
forced child marraige (aka rape)
Highlights:
"World-wide 82 million girls are child brides."
"To be sure, childhood marriage is not an easy problem to address. Some of the causes are poverty, parental desire to prevent sexual relations outside of marriage, fear of rape--which would shame the family and either ostracize or lead to the murder of the victim--lack of educational opportunities for girls, and traditional notions of the primary role of women and girls as wives and mothers. It's perpetuated by religions that aim to keep women subordinate and deeply-rooted cultural norms in which men are encouraged to dominate women--If a wife is a child you can guarantee male control."
*please note- there seem to be a variety of causes listed in the paragraph above...but it's really all just different ways to say the same thing...that's self-evident, i hope.*
"Children like Kidan deserve to have a childhood."
*and, i would add, children like Kidan also deserve a FUTURE THEY CHOOSE FOR THEMSELVES.*
-----
ending the CULTURE of violence against women
Great article. Highlights:
"The last meaningful federal survey took place in 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration. A Department of Justice survey on the "Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence" found that nearly 25% of surveyed women said they had been raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, partner, or date. That equates to roughly 4.8 million violent attacks against women annually in this country. And many women were the victim of repeat attacks (an average of 6.9 assaults by the same partner).
The study also found that "approximately one-fifth of all rapes, one-quarter of all physical assaults, and one-half of all stalkings" experienced by women will not be reported to the police."
*Key paragraph:
"It's curious how blind we become to our own culture. We can criticize tribal Muslim societies for their abuse of women, yet fail to see how ours sometimes does the same thing. What can we do? We can support organizations like DASH, which provides alternate housing for victims of domestic violence. We can press for public policies that address domestic violence. We can speak out against the culture of violence -- a culture that's strengthened every time a women is treated like an object. "
-----
End the world's two deadliest wars (and save women and girls in the process)
Highlights:
"Together, Sudan and Congo represent two of Africa's largest countries, two of Africa's richest natural resource bases, two of Africa's longest wars, two of the world's deadliest conflicts in the past half century, two of the continent's most predatory governments, and two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl. "
"Rape is employed by these conflicting groups as a tool of war and social control,..."
*who bears the brunt of the conflict, in real life, on the ground, every day? women and girls.*
-----
domestic violence in japan
Highlights:
"The latest data from Japan's national police find a 20 percent jump in the number of women reporting domestic violence. But advocates say there is a long way to go in a country that only criminalized family violence in 2001."
but " Forty percent of people over age 20 don't know there is a domestic violence prevention law and only 14 percent of people over 40 are familiar with it, according to the Gender Agency Bureau, based in Tokyo."
and "A Cabinet Office survey, which was conducted in October-November of last year, found that 33.2 percent of married women have experienced physical and mental abuse from their husbands"
*so, ONE THIRD of women report abuse when surveyed, but a large majority of women, especially over 40, don't even know yet that there is anything they can do to escape their abusers.*
-----
and finally, just a short snippet, a blurb, if you will, to top off alllllll the screaming today:
rape victim blamed for being raped at gunpoint in front of her children.
*Please people, don't ever stay at this mariott again.*
EPIC humanity FAIL.
8.11.2009
i'm back, and still pissed.
after 2 weeks having my brain expanded (grad school was both HARD and TOTALLY INSPIRING), and then a week of serious relaxation and re-charging in my favorite womyn-only environment....i'm back. but not much has changed while i've been gone, unfortch.
BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Fifty million women in Asia are at risk of being infected with HIV because of the risky sexual behavior of their husbands or boyfriends, leading health experts said in a report on Tuesday.
no surprise. this is already the reason for the AIDS epidemic in africa- looks like asia isn't far behind.
rape, risky sexual behavior by male partners, and sexual oppression (i.e. no choice to refuse) lead to a lifetime of consequences. the number of women contracting HIV/AIDS is rising quickly, and they are powerless to prevent their own infection.
BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Fifty million women in Asia are at risk of being infected with HIV because of the risky sexual behavior of their husbands or boyfriends, leading health experts said in a report on Tuesday.
no surprise. this is already the reason for the AIDS epidemic in africa- looks like asia isn't far behind.
rape, risky sexual behavior by male partners, and sexual oppression (i.e. no choice to refuse) lead to a lifetime of consequences. the number of women contracting HIV/AIDS is rising quickly, and they are powerless to prevent their own infection.
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