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Feminism

Act Out! Anti-War, Pro-Woman, Dirty Words & Dirty Wars

April 9, 2015 Occupy, www.occupy.com ,
In this week’s episode of Act Out! Eleanor leads you through dirty words and dirty wars, starting with an uncomfortable discussion of lady parts and culminating in a group mantra. Next up, she talks feminism: the misconstrued plus the good and funny truths about this movement, showcasing musical satirist Katie Goodman and her latest viral song, “Sorry Babe, You’re a Feminist.” Dirty Wars digs into the depths of America's global crusade and shows us the power of film and books, particularly when they’re life size. Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, joins the show to talk Iran, anti-war activism and the future of diplomacy in the military industrial complex. Finally, Eleanor gets philosophical on extremism before giving you an anti-war digital toolkit.

Is Barcelona On The Verge Of A Feminist Revolution?

April 9, 2015 Kate Shea Baird, www.roarmag.org , , ,
Something special is happening in Barcelona. At the local elections in May, the citizen platform Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona in Common) could snatch control of the city council. If it succeeds, the consequences for the women of Barcelona and, perhaps, cities all over the world, could be radical. A victory for Barcelona en Comú would catapult anti-eviction activist Ada Colauinto the mayoralty. The election of the city’s first female mayor would be a landmark event in itself, but in the case of Colau it would have special significance. After her rapid rise to national prominence in 2013, Colau turned down offers from traditional parties to stand on their tickets.

Feminist Heroes To Teach Kids Their ABCs In New Picturebook

March 28, 2015 Laura Feinstein, www.magazine.good.is ,
Why just learn your ABCs when you can be empowered by them? A new illustrated children’s book from iconic City Lights press, Rad American Women A-Z, offers kids the chance to educate themselves on women’s history and the alphabet at the same time. Written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl, the book was inspired by Schatz’s two-year-old daughter. As the writer told Mic, the book was created to fill the “feminist-shaped hole in children's literature,” and goes from A (for Angela Davis) to Z (Zora Neale Hurston). Rad American Women A-Z strays from both traditional children’s and history books in more ways than one, featuring an equal proportion of women of color, as well as several members of the LGBT community.

Recommit To Women’s Liberation

March 10, 2015 Lindsey German and Nina Power, www.theguardian.com , , ,
Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of International Women's Day. First agreed at a socialist women's conference in Copenhagen in 1910, its aim was to campaign for the rights of working women. Today, the lives of women have changed beyond recognition compared with those of their grandmothers and great grandmothers. But the changes in work and personal life have been distorted by the needs of the market and have fallen far short of women's liberation. The experience of work has been challenging and invigorating for a few, but for most women in the shops, offices, call centres and factories of 21st-century Britain it has been more likely to represent long hours, constant pressure, and growing attempts to squeeze more productivity and profit out of them.

At Four Sisters Co-Op, An Affordable Housing Dream Realized

March 2, 2015 David P. Ball, www.thetyee.ca , ,
At one point, Ken Lyotier was literally sleeping on the streets. It was the eighties, and Lyotier was living in the Downtown Eastside -- Skid Row it was called then -- and struggling with alcohol. His makeshift tent of tarp and pallet barely kept out the winter rains under the dead-end that was the north end of Main Street. At other times he "bounced around" between the single-resident occupancy (SRO) hotels that dot the neighbourhood. "The conditions in the hotels were just appalling -- they still are," he says, sitting on a stool in his home of nearly three decades in the Four Sisters Co-op on Powell Street. "There was no heat, no light, no running water in the wintertime, broken windows, people dying in bathtubs." Lyotier's life had once been better. He'd worked assessing real estate for the Land Titles Office, and later worked for a realtor.

On this World Day Of Social Justice, Call For ‘No More Silence’

February 21, 2015 Audrey Huntley, www.rabble.ca , , ,
Today is the World Day of Social Justice. You likely didn't know that. For me, every day is this one. Every day I invite Canadians to look at the settler colonial project, alive and well today, to understand its impact on Indigenous peoples, particularly women in this country and worldwide. No More Silence, a grassroots network of Indigenous women and allies, was founded about 10 years ago in Toronto to call attention to the impunity surrounding the ongoing disappearances of Indigenous women in Canada. We have worked hard to break the silence and today "the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women is a part of mainstream media and public consciousness." Unfortunately, this has not led to a decrease in the violence or to concrete measures on the part of the government.

Drone-Strike Feminism

November 8, 2014 Rania Khalek, www.truth-out.org , , ,
Of all the justifications the Obama administration has employed to sanctify yet another war on Iraq, none have been more disingenuous than the portrayal of the latest US bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, aka ISIL) as a feminist rescue mission. Rather than challenge the obvious hypocrisy of this narrative, US corporate media outlets have acted as cheerleaders and stenographers, allowing the US government to hijack the deterioration of women’s rights as a selling point for perpetual war. Media have even published complaints that ISIS’s campaign of sexual violence is being ignored by the West. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, complained in the Wall Street Journal (9/2/14) that ISIS’s brutality towards women is receiving “scant attention.” A similar article appeared in Foreign Policy (9/16/14) lamenting Washington’s supposed failure to even “talk about” sexual crimes committed by ISIS.

Endurance Performance Art To Protest Rape: Carry That Weight

September 11, 2014 Casandra Guerrier www.creativeresistance.org , ,
No one should ever have to be afraid of speaking up. “There’s a reason survivors choose not to go to the police, and that’s because they’re treated as the criminals … The rapists are innocent until proven guilty but survivors are guilty until proven innocent, at least in the eyes of the police.” — Emma Sulkowicz In a day and age where respect for women is still lacking, hearing about the shaming and silencing of Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz is enraging. It says a lot about our society that with every step forward we take in the fight for gender equality and the right to be heard, we immediately take 15 steps back. Sulkowicz’s interview with the Columbia Spectator on the lack of action taken by the University — especially in having the plain decency of making her feel safe at her own school by not allowing her alleged rapist to basically roam the halls free — shines a spotlight on why blurred lines do not exist. As she carries around a mattress with her everywhere she goes until her attacker is expelled for an art project called “Carry That Weight”, she’s giving a voice to all of the women who’ve been wronged. We shine our own spotlight on the five reasons why Emma Sulkowicz is our hero. 1. She is so brave. By deciding to file a complaint against Nungesser, who was also accused of rape by two other students, she is not only taking a stand for herself but for all of the other brave women who have ever been brutally assaulted and felt too afraid to speak up about it.

Reclaiming the Morality of Abortion

May 22, 2014 Dennis Trainor Jr, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
For decades, a movement which calls itself “pro-life” has unleashed violence against abortion providers, shamed and humiliated women, and relentlessly restricted access to abortion, especially for poor women. Over 80% of abortion clinics have experienced violence, threats, or harassment; eight doctors and staff have been murdered. Today, 97% of rural counties have no abortion provider. One in four poor women who seeks an abortion cannot afford it and is forced to have a child she does not want. Five states have only one abortion clinic left.” Two women who came out of the “Abortion closet” – Katie Klabusich and Kelly Carlin, join host Dennis Trainor, Jr. to discuss what the world would look like if women were not forced to apologize for abortions.

Reclaiming Women’s History Month

March 23, 2014 Nadine Bloch www.wagingnonviolence.org ,
Just in case the message wasn’t clear, Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of Code Pink, was not only jailed overnight, but her shoulder was dislocated and her arm broken before being deported to Turkey without medical care. Medea managed to keep the world aware of her mistreatment through Twitter, which did allow Code Pink’s international support network to swing into action. Even though they were badgered relentlessly, U.S. embassy officials in Cairo did not find time to check in on her. The inability of the delegation to reach the women who requested their support highlights the isolation and extreme hardships that the women and families in Gaza are facing. International Women’s Day may have been celebrated for more than 100 years, but the world has a long way to go to provide women political, economic and social equality. Kudos to all the women and girls and their supporters who, by participating in theradical spirit of the original intention of International Women’s Day, are working towards a healthier future for all.

Judge Overturns Arkansas Unconstitutional Abortion Ban

March 18, 2014 Maya Dusenbury feministing.com
Arkansas’s bill inspired North Dakota to pass a similar one that would put the cut-off even earlier at six weeks–before most people even know they’re pregnant. That law was also quicklyblocked by the courts. But while Arkansas and North Dakota are unique in using the fetal heartbeat to justify their bans, the many other states that have prohibited pre-viability abortions at 20-weeks on the basis of “fetal pain” are no less unconstitutional. As the judge explained in her ruling, ”The Supreme Court has … stressed that it is not the proper function of the legislature or the courts to place viability at a specific point in the gestation period.”

Arizona Student Fights Oppressive Anti Sex-Work Law

March 14, 2014 Mike Ludwig, www.truth-out.org , ,
Monica Jones, an activist and student of social work at Arizona State University (ASU) in Phoenix, will be on trial April 11 for "manifesting prostitution." It’s a charge made under a vague local statute that allows cops to arrest suspected sex workers for doing as little as repeatedly waving at cars, even if no money is exchanged for sex. Jones and other advocates say the law allows the police to profile and discriminately target poor people, queer people and people of color. Although she is risking missing her classes if she is found guilty and given jail time, Jones is determined to beat the charges in court.

Comic Bumped From Bill Because There Were ‘Too Many Women’

March 10, 2014 , ,
A female comedian named Jenny Collier has revealed she was recently dropped from a stand-up bill at a club in Haslemere, Surrey, U.K. because there were already “too many women” on the bill. Aaaaaaand happyInternational Women’s Day, everyone. Yesterday evening, Collier tweeted a screenshot of the e-mail she received from the venue’s proprietors booting her from the May 15 event. Since yesterday morning, Collier’s tweet has been retweeted more than 4,000 times by women all over the world, yet the identity of the anonymous stand-up club proprietor remains a mystery. U.K. blogger Red Mister did a littlesleuthing, however, and determined that the only Haslemere club hosting an event on May 15 is Hemingways of Haslemere. Hemingways is owned by the comedy chain Mirth Control, which books more than 100 venues in Britain and Europe.

Women Unite To Fight Climate Change

February 17, 2014 Katie Rucke www.mintpressnews.com ,
Given that women in North America make 80 percent of all consumer purchases, Lake believes women can impact what’s being done to lessen the effects of climate change on multiple levels. “[I]magine how that market power could be mobilized to significantly reduce carbon emissions through purchasing choices, including demanding an end to fossil fuels and a radical increase in renewable energy,” she said. Nathalie Issacs, co-founder of 1 Million Women, an organization that focuses on sustainability and climate awareness, agrees women have real economic power when it comes to influencing climate change. Issacs said that the power comes from our everyday choices, including how we live, what we buy, don’t buy, how much we save, how much we spend, where we invest, how much we donate, where we work, and who we do business with. “By mobilizing this economic power of women, built on the individual choices we make with our money, the objective of 1 Million Women is to change to a fossil free economy,” she said.

The Struggle To Protect JeJu Island, Korea

August 28, 2013 K. J. Noh, www.hollywoodprogressive.com , , ,
94% of the villagers are adamantly opposed to the construction. 140 National organizations, and 110 international organizations have called for its cessation. The Korean Parliament has demanded an investigation. The leaders of all the major religions in Korea have called for dialogue. The 5 opposition parties have challenged the legality of the construction. Yet construction has gone ahead, violating, subverting or ignoring every democratic process, every local, regional, national, international statute, charter and law. And so for 7 years, every single day, in one of the most disciplined non-violent struggles ever seen in the country, the villagers have been protesting the construction of this base with marches, prayers, petitions, art, masses, non-violent resistance.
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