Feminism & Women's Liberation

[oldradical]

Yeah, I know, this thread was started by a guy--but heck, maybe it could still be worth something.

Here's the article I saw that prompted me to initiate this thread:

RIGHTS:
For Too Many Women, Silence Equals Death
Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 (IPS) - Despite improved laws and international treaties signed by various governments in the past few years, millions of women continue to suffer from violence at the hands of men.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31191

I also was prompted by the exchange a few of us had at the end of the Einstein thread in the Vegan Heros section. While we were getting off topic, it seemed to be it was an important conversation that wasn't happening...so, now there's an on-topic area for it.

[schmeel]

I've started doing some counter-recruitment (going into highschools and giving students information about military recruiters and other options for them to get money for school), and the statistics about women in the military are the scariest: 90% of women in the military report sexual harrasment and half of those file charges of rape against fellow servicemen. That's REPORTED! I don't want to imagine the real numbers.

Just for the record, I've always assumed oldradical was a woman.

[dann]

I'd love to see the information you are giving to these students...!!!

Perhaps I'll help you.

[oldradical]

Originally Posted by schmeel Just for the record, I've always assumed oldradical was a woman.

Thanks for the compliment.

Also, a big "thank you" for the voluntary work you are doing. Carry it on!

[quagga]

I just received following notice that might be of interest. I've taken out the writer's full name and email, but I contacted the writer to get permission to re-post this request on VRF. If you are interested, please PM me and I will send you the name and email.

For those of you who are interested in becoming writers/editors/copy editors, this is a perfect opportunity to volunteer your efforts. Go for it, y'all!

I am a staff writer for In Defense of Animals and I have recently been offered the opportunity through my job to write for an online feminist magazine (www.womensradio.com) about animal rights issues. I am looking for input, ideas and collaboration from feminist animal advocates to write articles (about 1,500 words each) tailored for feminist readers. I am open to everything from ideas for articles, to brainstorming, to co-writing articles with others and sharing the by-line,and any other kind of collaboration in between. The format is fairly open, and could incorporate elements of theory, philosophy, social analysis, politics, personal reflections, etc.I already have a number of ideas, but I would really need help in writing them and coming up with more. If you are interested in working with me on articles for this e-magazine, please contact me. I am a strong pro-feminist with a desire to accurately represent women's perspectives on animal liberation. I look forward to hearing from interested collaborators.

[oldradical]

This could have gone in the Pakistan thread, but "honor killings" are not limited to that wretched country. Read on...

Women lead the fight-back against 'honour killings'
In the final part of our series, Paul Vallely reports on the work of campaigners for women's rights
Published: 06 January 2006

These are some of the things that can get a woman killed: wearing make-up; going to the cinema; chewing gum; drinking water in the street; chatting to a male neighbour; talking on the phone; talking to someone of a different race; having a man request a song for you on the radio; publishing love poetry; rejecting an arranged marriage; demanding a divorce; being raped; having an unsuitable boy-friend, or getting pregnant.

Every year, a total of 5,000 women across the world are killed - by their relatives - in so-called "honour killings", because they were said to have brought shame on their families. That is the official United Nations figure.

Most campaigners believe that to be a vast under-estimate. There were 4,383 documented cases in Pakistan over the past four years. It is on the rise amid the anarchy of contemporary Iraq. In the UK there have been 12 cases catalogued, the House of Lords was told last month. And the Metropolitan Police are re-examining 117 other suspicious deaths.

The highlighting of all this is an extraordinary success for the International Campaign Against Honour Killings, created in the past two years by women refugees and asylum-seekers. It was founded as the result of a human rights course run for refugees by Education Action International, one of the three charities being supported by The Independent's Christmas Appeal this year.

Before the group formed, police tended to take at face value reports of young girls killed by strangers or intruders, especially since the stories were vouched for by all the members of the dead woman's family.

The campaign's director Diana Nammi, 39, an Iranian Kurd, says: "Police were not aware in the early cases how families persistently lie to protect the killer and mislead the police. If the woman had gone to a police station and said, 'My father is going to kill me' no one would have believed her. We told police to look inside the family."

Honour killings "are planned and deliberate", says another campaigner, Houzan Mahmoud, 30, a refugee from Iraq. "And the killer will have the support of the rest of the family and community."

That support is often more than just tacit. "When a woman brings shame to her family they all meet in a family court and together decide that she must die and who will do it," says Ms Nammi. "They often choose the youngest brother because they think he'll get the lightest sentence."

Sometimes they hire hitmen. At times, even the women of the family help. In Derby, a mother sat on the legs of her pregnant daughter, Rukhsana Naz, while the girl's brother strangled her with flex.

Attempts are made to divert suspicion. Deaths by burning - "accidents" in the kitchen - are another method, a government minister told the Lords. Others are made to look like suicides (which may explain why the suicide rate is double among Asian women in the UK).

Some girls have been taken out of the country to be murdered. "It's a worldwide problem," says Ms Mahmoud. "That is why it needs an international campaign." The campaign is trying to change attitudes in several areas. Police now show greater understanding. So do judges.

Just two years ago, a judge reduced a man's sentence for killing his daughter from 20 to 14 years, citing "irreconcilable cultural differences between traditional Kurdish values and values of Western society".

Ms Nammi and Ms Mahmoud campaigned against that. "Culture is about language, music, food, dance, not killing," says Ms Nammi angrily. "Everyone must be treated equally. My life is more important than my culture." That is an attitude reflected in both more recent comments from judges and from politicians in the House of Lords debate.

There have been wider changes. In Turkey, the law traditionally gave lighter sentences for "honour killings". But after British politicians made it clear that was unacceptable in a future EU member, the law was altered. The skills the campaigners have developed were nurtured in one of 10 courses run by Education Action. Richard Germond of the charity's Refugee Advocacy Project, says: "We set them up because we found that refugees were not just concerned about issues they faced in the UK: discrimination, lack of access to health care and housing, hostile interpretations of the law. They were also deeply worried about what was going on in the society they had fled."

After the course - which teaches campaigning and advocacy techniques, with assistance from human rights groups such as Amnesty, trade unions, faith groups and MPs - about half of the 141 graduates have concerned themselves with issues affecting refugees in the UK, and the others are focused on abuses back home. They include disappearances in Eritrea, torture in Sudan, press freedom in Ivory Coast, health rights in Zimbabwe and the detention of human rights activists in western Sahara.

Not everyone approves. Ms Mahmoud, who has had threatening phone calls in the middle of the night, says: "Some men within our community have tried to stop us campaigning on honour killings, saying that we are bringing shame on the community and creating a racist backlash."

She is undeterred. As is Ms Nammi. "It is murder that brings shame on our community," she says. "Not us protesting about murder."

www.stophonourkillings.com

These are some of the things that can get a woman killed: wearing make-up; going to the cinema; chewing gum; drinking water in the street; chatting to a male neighbour; talking on the phone; talking to someone of a different race; having a man request a song for you on the radio; publishing love poetry; rejecting an arranged marriage; demanding a divorce; being raped; having an unsuitable boy-friend, or getting pregnant.


http://news.independent.co.uk/appeal...icle336755.ece

[oldradical]

Ten million girls aborted as Indians seek male heirs
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Published: 09 January 2006

At least 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India over the past two decades by middle-class families determined to ensure they have male heirs.

The figure is revealed by a survey of more than a million homes published today which found that sex determination in pregnancy and selective abortion accounted for 500,000 missing girls each year.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...icle337386.ece

[oldradical]

Greetings to all women on this day.

I demand that you not be enslaved and sold to pimps around the world.

I reverence you, sacred embodiment of passion, power, and freedom.

You are not to have acid thrown in your face because you go to school.

You are not to be raped or killed for "honor" or a feud--nor for any reason ever!

You are not a machine, nor can you bear the burdens of cattle.

You are not on this earth to be used, abused, disregarded, and discarded.

You are to be cherished, adored, appreciated, and celebrated.

Defend women! Stand up against injustice! Make yourself heard!

[Katelin]

Originally Posted by oldradical You are to be cherished, adored, appreciated, and celebrated.

{{{{oldradical}}}}
...just returning the warm vibes you just sent ME!

[oldradical]

There are many places where this could be posted. I can recall many times, during the 60s and 70s, seeing various reports of civil-rights efforts and antiwar actions that mentioned the names of Anne and Carl Braden. I did not know much about them, beyond their association with progressive politics. On this, International Women's Day, it seems as fitting a place as any to offer the progressive obituary for Anne Braden. Thank you, sister, for your life. Hasta la victoria siempre!
--------------------------------
We shall not see the likes of Anne Braden again. Hers was a life forged by front-line engagement in bitter struggles for human justice and equality. We salute her memory and her courage, and on her passing we should recall the many lives she touched and changed for the better.

http://direland.typepad.com/direland...raden_192.html

[chikara_no_tori]

oldradical, i love you, man....back at you... all good men should be cherished as well

[zatoichi]

for the record, i think worshipping women is sort of patronizing and anti-feminist.

and for the record, i know nobody cares what i think.

[herbi]

heh-- "for the record", I also think the comment about all GOOD men is funny, in response to a statement about ALL women (not just the "good" ones).

[FarmerStephen]

For the record, I think "Feminism" is as lame as "Masculism" -

[herbi]

Originally Posted by FarmerStephen For the record, I think "Feminism" is as lame as "Masculism" -

The fact that there is a need for such an idea as "feminism" is lame indeed, but I think the struggle for gender equality is no more "lame" (and no less badly needed!!!) than that for racial/sexual/class equality. When women around the world are routinely sold into slavery, raped, stoned to death, etc, and women in the US, supposedly a "free" nation where "women's liberation" has long ago been acheived, are STILL making something like 75 cents to the dollar made by a man for doing the exact same work with the exact same qualifications, I think it's justifiable (and important!) to continue to actively promote the idea that women should be recognized as equally intelligent, valuable, competent, etc. YOU may "get it" (and I believe that you do! ), but the message isn't for you, any more than "Why Vegan" booklets are directed your way.

OK, just had to say that. I agree that it's not the most poetic and agreeable sounding WORD, if that's what you were calling lame. (And I do think it's kind of funny in a twisted way that it's "OK" to talk about "good men" but would probably be seen as sketchy to imply that only the "good women" deserve praises. Actual individual examples of women and men are all subject to serious consideration about whether they merit my adoration or not, but I think there's plenty to "worship" in the Idealized Concept of both Males and Females. (I know... Friggin' pagan..... ))