Blog posts from June 2008
Turkey’s first women’s shelter
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 15:28
Muslimah Media Watch points us to a really interesting feature on Turkish Daily News, about the first women’s shelter in Turkey. When was it established? The late 17th century. The exact location of the world’s first women’s shelter is unknown,…
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More on medical rape
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 14:07
Debi formerly of The Burning Times has set up a project to collect women’s stories of medical and obstetric rape. MORAG: When most women go into hospital to give birth to their babies, or to attend for a gynaecological appointment,…
Stephanie Toumi - an indictment of our immigration system
By Jess McCabe | 30 June 2008, 10:24
26-year-old Stephanie Toumi was on the first leg of a forced journey back to Cameroon. Her asylum claim had been rejected, and she’d already passed through the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre. Whether or not she ‘deserved’ to stay in…
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Tennis star’s disgustingly sexist attack on Anna Kournikova.
By Laura Woodhouse | 29 June 2008, 17:04
The Times reports that former mixed doubles Grand Slam title winner Justin Gimelstob verbally laid into Anna Kournikova and made sexist comments about other female tennis players during a US sports radio show, resulting in a one match suspension without…
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Round up
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 23:40
It looks like Warner Bros has effectively ditched The Women, a comedy with an all-female star-studded cast, Nikki Finke says. It’s not my kind of film, and may well be terrible, but as Finke points out, it seems to be…
Race, gender identity, the justice system and the beating of Duanna Johnson
By Helen G | 27 June 2008, 22:38
The slowness of Black civil rights organisations to denounce the police brutality towards Duanna Johnson in a Memphis Criminal Justice Center (link to my earlier post) has been given a thorough analysis by Monica Roberts, founder of the African-American trans*…
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Chavez enters EU immigration debate
By Sokari Ekine | 27 June 2008, 17:51
In a fightback from the post colonial commons, Hugo Chavez of Venezula is threatening to withhold oil and prevent EU investments in Venezula should the EU go ahead with the new immigration law - the “Returns Directive”. In a televised…
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Ryanair calls business class service “beds and blow jobs”
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 17:50
Ryanair is courting publicity again, after announcing at a German press conference that the name for its business class service will be “beds and blow jobs” and the blow jobs will be “free”. According to the London Paper: Michael O’Leary,…
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‘Mainstream’ lefty blogs and feminism
By Jess McCabe | 27 June 2008, 15:19
Earlier this week, me, zohra and Holly trundled down to the Guardian for Blog Nation, arranged by Sunny from Liberal Conspiracy. You can see Sunny’s photos here. The second panel focused on women and feminist bloggers, and our interconnections to…
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Sexual Violence in the news
By Louise Livesey | 27 June 2008, 12:02
First off, Jill Saward, campaigner for victims rights and against sexual violence (also the woman who was raped in the Ealing Vicarage rape case but that’s not her sole identity, dammit!) is standing against David Davis in his egotistical by-election….
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May’s comments up now
By Jess McCabe | 26 June 2008, 23:27
Comments on features and reviews for May are up. This time round, there was plenty of discussion about Kit’s piece on abortion, Jennifer’s piece on vulnerability and Anji’s report on the launch of the ‘stripping the illusion’ campaign, among other…
Ask a feminist
By Abby O'Reilly | 26 June 2008, 18:57
Here’s the latest in our ‘Ask a feminist’ series. If you would like to submit a question for us to get our teeth in to please don’t hesitate to do so here. The responses are made at the personal discretion…
Oh noes! The poor white mens!
By Laura Woodhouse | 26 June 2008, 18:23
The Daily Express’ take on Harriet Harman’s announcement: I can’t believe they actually used the word “ethnics”… Hat tip to the ever lovely Alex C….
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Abortion, HFE Bill, Nadine Dorries amendment alert
By zohra moosa | 26 June 2008, 16:04
A colleague has just informed me that Nadine Dorries MP has again used the HFE Bill to table another amendment to the Abortion Act to restrict access by lowering the time limit to twenty weeks from twenty-four. The Bill has…
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In Albania…
By Jess McCabe | 26 June 2008, 12:48
Freya alerts us to this story about the dying tradition in Albania of women taking an oath of chastity, then living as men. For centuries, in the closed-off society of rural northern Albania, swapping genders was considered a practical solution…
Equalities Bill announced
By Helen G | 26 June 2008, 11:40
The Government’s Equality Minister, Harriet Harman, has said she wants to tackle entrenched pay discrimination against women and to create a workforce more representative of society. Ms Harman defended plans to make it legal for firms to discriminate in favour…
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Take Care of my Cat - quick hit review
By Jess McCabe | 25 June 2008, 13:12
Last night I saw an excellent film, Take Care of My Cat, the first feature-length production by Korean director Jae-eun Jeong. It’s a coming-of-age movie set in Inchon, Korea, following the lives of five women who were a closely-knit group…
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Retrosexism - Goodyear Tires
By Jess McCabe | 25 June 2008, 12:52
Via The Bilerico Project, this ad for Goodyear Tires from 1970 (according to YouTube) is actually kind of hilarious in how clearly it spells out the impression that women are in a constant state of panic on getting behind the…
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Carnival of Feminists No 59
By Helen G | 25 June 2008, 08:19
The Carnival of Feminists No 59 is up at Philobiblon. And as Natalie says, there’s "a veritable cornucopia of feminists posts". And she’s used an interesting way of organising the links: they’re in the order in which the nominations arrived….
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Ask a feminist - the blog edition!
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 23:05
Our ‘Ask a Feminist’ feature has become so popular that the volume of questions is getting a bit out of hand, I think it needs to move over to the blog, where it can be updated more frequently. You can…
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Noisy heels + bright lipstick = “rape me”
By Laura Woodhouse | 24 June 2008, 21:48
Yup, once again the onus is being placed on women to prevent rape, with men entirely absent from the equation, this time in the Malaysian city of Kota Bharu: Authorities in Kota Bharu have distributed pamphlets recommending that Muslim women…
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What’s up at The Skinny?
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 16:02
Scotland’s freesheet The Skinny has dropped its LGBT section, and replaced it with a much-smaller, less gay section named “Deviance” - which has been put down to an editorial push to make the listings-based mag more mainstream. As the editor,…
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Sending asylum seekers home with instructions to “be discreet”
By Sokari Ekine | 24 June 2008, 14:46
In an outrageous statement against LGBTs and asylum seekers, UK’s Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith claims gay and lesbian asylum seekers can be deported to Iran (and other countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Cameroon) safely as long as they are “discreet”.
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Heinz ad withdrawn showing two men kissing
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 14:44
Edit - Oops! It turns out the Heinz withdrew the ad, not leaving the ASA time to ban it. A Heinz ad showing two men kissing has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, we learn from Milly of Lesbilicious,…
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BBC after young feminists for documentary
By Jess McCabe | 24 June 2008, 13:53
With the usual note of caution about what you’re letting yourself in for if you go on TV: BBC documentary series ‘WOMEN’ looking for young feminists ‘WOMEN’ is a three-part documentary series for BBC4 about feminism and its impact on…
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Michelle doesn’t need a makeover
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 14:56
Gina McCauley of the fabulous blog What About Our Daughters, has a great post on Comment is Free about the way the US media has leapt on Michelle Obama demanding a makeover. Gina puts it really well: Michelle Obama doesn’t…
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Women trafficked to Afghanistan to meet ‘demand’ from Westerners
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 14:39
According to AP (via Womensphere), Chinese women are being trafficked into Kabul to meet demand for prostitutes from European and US men working on ‘reconstruction’ and ‘security’ in the city: Paradise is a brothel in an unmarked residential compound in…
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Gender studies in Israeli high schools…
By Jess McCabe | 23 June 2008, 10:19
This is an interesting one - there’s a feature up on Haaretz.com profiling a high school in Israel which has introduced gender studies classes. Girls and boys at Mevo’ot Eron High School are taught seperately in “feminist-oriented” gender studies…
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Stop smoking or the IVF treatment gets it
By Helen G | 22 June 2008, 17:09
The Observer newspaper today reports that childless women, and in some cases their partners, too, are being asked to stop smoking before they can be considered for fertility treatment. A Department of Health survey released to Labour MP Sally Keeble…
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Daily Mail tells women to ‘step back and shut up’
By Anne Onne | 21 June 2008, 22:07
It seems that whenever men or boys fall behind women or girls in any way, the default answer must be that it’s women’s fault. The Daily Mail is normally misogyny dressed up as a newspaper, so one can argue that…
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Cervical cancer in Ghana
By Jess McCabe | 21 June 2008, 19:30
I don’t really have anything to say about this description of both treatment and lack of detection and treatment of cervical and breast cancer in Ghana. But it has to be read: This hospital is one of just two with…
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Do you love a bad boy?
By Abby O'Reilly | 20 June 2008, 19:06
All you heterosexual ladies out there, what do you think about this? You’re in a pub. Two men are sat at the bar. One is reading a newspaper, smiles gratefully (without making eye contact) at the barmaid who passes him…
Photoshopping women to show how they’d look ‘better’ with plastic surgery is creepy
By Jess McCabe | 20 June 2008, 17:40
Dollymix points out a horrible post on the celebrity blog Perez Hilton, which features a photoshopped image of an actor called Rumer Willis, ‘correcting’ her face. Check out the photo on Dollymix. The story just gets worse and worse as…
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Friday Flickr
By Jess McCabe | 20 June 2008, 15:32
It’s Friday afternoon. There’s plenty of horrible things going on as usual. But, well, enough is enough some times. So here’s some inspiring photos from Flickr, all shared under Creative Commons licenses. Mural of Rigoberta Menchú Tum in San Francisco…
UN labels rape as a ‘tactic of war’
By Helen G | 20 June 2008, 13:47
The UN Security Council has approved a resolution that demands warring governments and factions act to halt violence against women, calling rape a war crime and a component of genocide. Sexual violence in war is nothing new. Accounts of women…
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Transphobic violence: the video
By Helen G | 20 June 2008, 08:23
It is something of a truism that women are second class citizens - and transsexual women merely second class women. This has been graphically demonstrated this week with the (belated) news (via Pam’s House Blend and others) of the beating…
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Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 19 June 2008, 23:42
Are feminists “fine with being bigots if it’s just ableism”? Tekanji over at the Official Shrub.com Blog urges feminists particularly to confront the use of discriminatory language, such as “crazy”, “lame”, “lunacy”, etc. Muslimah Media Watch considers the way this…
Activism in Action!
By Louise Livesey | 19 June 2008, 16:56
Great news from the division lobbies of Westminster where the Ten Minute Rule Bill on the re-categorisation of Lap Dancing clubs to Sex Encounter Establishments was completely un-opposed today. So there is now a mandate to relicense them as Sex…
Making noise works
By zohra moosa | 19 June 2008, 13:32
It’s National Electronics Week! You know you’re excited. How could you not be? According to this press release, it’s ‘the UK’s premier electronics industry exhibition’:National Electronics Week (NEW) was conceived to provide an event that showcases every aspect of today’s…
Abortions in the news again
By Louise Livesey | 19 June 2008, 11:19
No this time because of legislation but because the Department of Health has published it’s annual statistical report on abortions. So here are the key headline facts: The total number of abortions performed on UK resident women in 2007 was…
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Assessment is not the answer.
By Laura Woodhouse | 18 June 2008, 21:04
Anyone who’s been through or worked in the state education system over the last decade and a half or so will be familiar with New Labour’s testing obsession, and with its outcomes: stressed children and pressurised teachers, the suppression of…
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Bat phone alert
By zohra moosa | 18 June 2008, 17:39
This one’s a reader’s request: Jessica Valenti of feministing has been interviewed on the news and politics show MobLogic and the comments on the video have become predictably sexist.The comment list is already very long, but there seems to be…
Another round-up
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 23:52
The founder of La Leche League has died at 93, we learn from Our Bodies Our Blog. The group, which has not been uncontroversial, promotes breastfeeding. Target Women is brilliant. Via Punk Planning, The Girl Effect: Trevor Hoppe considers the…
Eileen Atkins to Star in Play Inspired by Greer
By Holly Combe | 17 June 2008, 23:25
Next month, Dame Eileen Atkins will be starring in a comedy said to be inspired by Germaine Greer being held hostage in her home by a student in 2000. The Female of the Species will preview at the Vaudeville Theatre…
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Rise festival not anti-racist anymore - thanks Boris
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 17:46
The Rise festival in London will no longer be advertised as specifically anti-racist, thanks to a diktat from the Mayor’s office, Dave Hill says over at the Guardian today. From its inception in the mid 90s - when it was…
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Get back in the kitchen - Wired commenters to science writer
By Jess McCabe | 17 June 2008, 14:52
[Update - Extra reading assignment] Only a week after me and zohra spoke at the Guardian panel on online misogyny, before we’ve even had time to digest, a friend sent me a link to this post by Anna Kushnir, a…
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Some early morning responses
By Louise Livesey | 17 June 2008, 08:27
Dear Radio 4, Firstly Owen and Amy Philcox didn’t become “victims to their parent’s acrimonious divorce” they became victims of their father who killed them. Lets stop writing out men’s responsibility for their actions shall we? Especially as this was…
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The Care Bears are next
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 23:01
News that a character called Strawberry Shortcake has been given a makeover has been all over the US feminist blogosphere. It’s been picked up by AfterEllen, ThinkGirl.net, Feministing, Broadsheet… But I just kind of ignored it. I don’t really know…
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Refugee Week starts today
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 15:22
Refugee Week began today, and there is a full programme of events going on up and down the country. Also see this piece in the Guardian, in which Mark Haddon visits the Migrant Resources Centre in London. There’s a sharp…
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A few morsels from the world….
By Louise Livesey | 16 June 2008, 11:48
Sorry for the rather fragmentary nature of this entry but just wanted to highlight a few things before going back to being deeply immersed in work again…. Firstly Things to Make your blood boil include this piece on Wii Fit…
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Latest carnival of radical feminists up now…
By Jess McCabe | 16 June 2008, 11:00
The 15th Carnival of Radical Feminists is up at Rage Against the Man-chine. Loads of interesting stuff in this edition, including Editorializing the Editors on how holding a grudge can be a feminist act, Womanist Musing on wanting/needing a man,…
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Child-only salon booming, but what’s the real cost?
By Abby O'Reilly | 15 June 2008, 19:05
When I was a little girl I used to sit at the table staring eyes-wide at my mother carefully apply lipstick, eye shadow and blusher. I loved to watch the mixing of the colours, the anticipation of a hand-slip as…
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New review: Fragments from the Dark
By Jess McCabe | 15 June 2008, 19:01
Debi Withers reviews a book of writing by and interviews with female refugees and asylum seekers in Wales Fragments from the Dark is an important book for our times. Published by Hafan Books, a refugee charity based Swansea, Wales, Fragments…
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Stop shopping, you airhead! What will “the men” say?
By Abby O'Reilly | 15 June 2008, 14:04
Sorry, stop right there. Oi! I said STOP! Do you like shopping? Do you ever think about something you’ve seen, liked and want to buy? Do you ever, even if occasionally, look at clothes online, or browse catalogues even though…
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New feature: Why are women so critical of each other?
By Jess McCabe | 15 June 2008, 11:06
All to often, the feminist promise of sisters supporting each other does not reflect reality. Rosjke Hasseldine considers what is holding women back from leaving the war of attrition behind in favour of solidarity Germaine Greer said at the Fem…
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Genome sweet genome
By Helen G | 15 June 2008, 08:20
According to AFP, researchers at Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands have mapped the full genetic sequence of a woman for the first time. A statement issued by LUMC said, "[She]’s the first woman in the world and…
Ageing not allowed, says Heat
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 June 2008, 23:34
Heat magazine can be downright irritating, but for some reason I still read it (if only to grissle about it afterwards). I do, of course, take the majority of the articles with a pinch of proverbial salt, otherwise I’d be…
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Reality more terrifying than fiction
By Abby O'Reilly | 14 June 2008, 23:16
A 47-year-old woman was last night rescued by police from the tiny dungeon that has been her home for the last 18 years. Police raided a family home at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, a small town just outside of Naples…
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Glasgow community rallies around failed asylum seekers
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 18:02
This report by the Guardian shows a Glasgow community coming together to block attempts to forcibly remove and deport asylum seekers who have become friends and neighbours. It’s frankly a relief; it’s a welcome break from endless anti-immigrant reporting in…
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‘Genderblind’ doesn’t cut it - the climate change edition
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 14:22
One of the challenges faced by feminists is getting across the fact that gender affects more than just issues like violence against women, pay equity, media representations. Indeed, feminists are often hard pressed to get people to recognise that even…
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New feature: Men! Feminism needs you! (Not your privilege…)
By Jess McCabe | 14 June 2008, 14:15
Anne Onne dispenses some advice for men commenting on feminist websites and blogs Entering a feminist space - whether that be commenting on a blog or attending a meeting - can pose some unique problems for men. This isn’t about…
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The notorious comment is free (part 3)
By zohra moosa | 14 June 2008, 01:12
As Jess posted on Wednesday, I joined a conversation with her, Jessica of feministing, Kira of the Guardian Women’s Pages and Jemima of the techy space at the Guardian this week about ‘women on the net’. Caitlin Fitzsimmons’ write-up…
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The notorious comment is free (part 2)
By zohra moosa | 14 June 2008, 01:10
As Jess posted on Wednesday, I joined a conversation with her, Jessica of feministing, Kira of the Guardian Women’s Pages and Jemima of the techy space at the Guardian this week about ‘women on the net’. Caitlin Fitzsimmons’ write-up…
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The notorious comment is free (part 1)
By zohra moosa | 14 June 2008, 01:05
As Jess posted on Wednesday, I joined a conversation with her, Jessica of feministing, Kira of the Guardian Women’s Pages and Jemima of the techy space at the Guardian this week about ‘women on the net’. Caitlin Fitzsimmons’ write-up…
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YouTube footage of tonight’s vigil
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 22:17
Susannaaaa wrote in to tell us about this footage of the vigil in Glasgow this evening: From the Glasgow Feminist Network: Eleni Pachou. Moira Jones. Michelle Reid. Jeannette Cooper. These are the names of four women killed in Glasgow so…
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New feature: Mama’s mop and Bachelor’s soup
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 16:47
Although women shoulder most of the housework burden, men also vacuum, wash up and do the laundry. Kristine Bergström wonders why TV advertising persists in pretending otherwise? In an article relating to the controversial events surrounding the presidential election in…
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New feature: Cartoon special…
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 16:44
In a break from our usual text-based programming, a selection of cartoons on the theme of men and women, by Yvonne Howard Glass half full? Click here to read on and comment…
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Teacher asks student to write report about being raped
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 15:33
A 16-year-old girl in Utah was told to write about her own rape as a homework assignment, by a teacher, we learn from abyss2hope. As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune: A state commission is sending a letter of warning…
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Man sentenced to eight years for second wife stabbing
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 15:26
An Ohio man has been sentenced to eight years for attempted murder, after stabbing his wife, we learn through The Curvature and abysstohope. That sounds like a low sentence, does it not? Well, consider this. Joseph Groth had already served…
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Crosstown traffic
By Helen G | 13 June 2008, 13:47
The US Department of State has published its 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report, which reviews the efforts of the governments of 170 countries to combat people trafficking. (The full report is available for download from the US Department of State’s…
Site launched to monitor media portrayals of Michelle Obama
By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2008, 11:44
What About Our Daughters has set up a non-partisan site specifically to monitor how the media is portraying Michelle Obama. Check out Michelle Obama Watch here. Recent posts? Fox apologising for labelling Michelle as Barack’s “baby mama” in a broadcast….
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“Shoot lezitabane” Drag Queen, Daisy Dube
By Sokari Ekine | 12 June 2008, 15:47
It seems it is so easy to move from name calling to drawing a gun and shooting someone simply because they are different, different sexualities, different nationalities, different races. The murder of Daisy Dube is under investigation but like so many previous murders, rapes and acts of violence, the perpetrators remain free sometimes even to taunt their victims on the street, in the corner shop, in the HIV clinics.
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Brown sold out Northern Irish women to win 42 day vote
By Jess McCabe | 12 June 2008, 11:10
Gordon Brown won the vote, clearing the path for police to detain terror suspects for 42 days without charge. But it would never have happened without support from the DUP - according to the Telegraph, he secured this support by…
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42 days: ‘just in case’ rhetoric echoes anti-abortion tactics
By zohra moosa | 11 June 2008, 15:13
e-politix has a good (short) summation of today’s media coverage of tonight’s vote on whether to extend the pre-charge detention period from 28 (already the longest in Europe, see Liberty’s campaign) to 42 days. In reading the review, I was…
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Women in the future of journalism…
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 15:11
Me and zohra took part in a panel last night at the Guardian, looking at the hostile environment for women online. Check out Caitlin Fitzsimmons’ write up at the Guardian’s pda blog. Jessica Valenti of Feministing was also on the…
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The women who ran for US president
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 14:32
WOC PhD has a great post up, which includes a long list of the women who ran for president pre-Clinton. Hillary is the first woman to garner slightly less than 18 million votes but she is not the first woman…
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Glasgow vigil on Friday
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 13:00
The Glasgow Feminist Network is holding a vigil this Friday, at 6pm in George Square: The women of Glasgow - the women of the world - should not have to live in fear of men’s violence. We will be…
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Focusing schmocusing
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 12:01
The Washington Post ran a really infuriating article by Linda Hirshman, arguing against intersectionality. In fact, Hirshman argues, a focus on how sexism intersects with other oppressions, such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, class, poverty, and so on, weakens feminism and…
Addicted to Race is back!
By Jess McCabe | 11 June 2008, 00:46
Just a quick post to note that the brilliant Addicted to Race podcast is back, after a long hiatus. Since the relaunch, the podcast has already dealt with issues of particular relevance to feminists, including race and gender in the…
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Reform lapdance club licensing
By Laura Woodhouse | 10 June 2008, 10:31
Object and the Fawcett Society are asking supporters to write to their MPs before 18th June to ask them to support an early day motion calling for the relicensing of lapdance clubs: Lapdance clubs are licensed like any ordinary pub…
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Pregnant 17 year-old dies picking grapes in California
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 17:59
[Edit: See also Brownfemipower’s post] Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was 17 years old and pregnant when she died, having collapsed from the heat while picking grapes on a farm in California, reports KansasCity.com. San Joaquin County authorities are considering whether…
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High heels for babies
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 16:58
“Extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high heel crib shoes for babies 0-6 months,” is how Heelarious describes its products. Is it a joke? I can only hope so. They seem to be selling these little monstrosities for $35 a…
Too fat to work
By Abby O'Reilly | 9 June 2008, 14:32
Fat is synonymous with lazy. While we all want to live in an egalitarian world where body shape, size and appearance does not matter, unfortunately if you’re considered nothing more than a pie-face who’s been beaten by the ugly stick…
More pink toolkits
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 14:01
If you’re going to have pink tool kits, this one at least doesn’t actually state that it’s being marketed at women. Of course, it relies on the pink=women encoding we’re all too familiar with, but at least the website doesn’t…
Kanako Otsuji
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 12:39
Sayoni Speak has a great interview up with Kanako Otsuji, Japan’s first openly lesbian politician. According to Wikipedia, she is one of seven women in the Osaka Assembly, which has 110 members overall. A small excerpt: As I struggled to…
Yikes
By Jess McCabe | 9 June 2008, 12:22
PhotoshopDisasters has turned up a really extreme example, this time by Maxim Mexico. Check out the anatomically impossible waistline: Via Jezebel…
Easy activism, and dickhead of the day.
By Laura Woodhouse | 7 June 2008, 21:29
Reaching for the as ever non-existent toilet roll in a club last night, I noticed a sticker on the dispenser which simply read “Sheffield Rape Crisis” followed by the helpline number. Someone had written “Thanks, this really helped me” on…
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Who should fund MPs’ nannies? And more
By Jess McCabe | 7 June 2008, 20:08
Over at Penny Red, Laurie alerts us to a story about the Tory party apologising for one of their MPs, who paid for a nanny out of her parliamentary allowance. Was the nanny found delinquently dancing on rooftops with rogue…
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Furry bits
By Abby O'Reilly | 7 June 2008, 20:06
Why does hair growth continue to be integral to body image and self-perfection? This is a recurring theme in feminist circles, and is an issue I began thinking about again this week when the Daily Mail published close-ups of Geri…
Livin’ it up at the Hotel California
By Helen G | 7 June 2008, 19:26
For me, one of the worst terms of abuse is to be called ‘it’ - usually it’s just another piece of street harassment that goes with the territory of being a trans woman who doesn’t ‘pass’ very well. But, so…
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Loose Women, lost perspective…
By Abby O'Reilly | 7 June 2008, 13:17
ITV’s daytime crap-cake of a talk-show, Loose Women, was yesterday subject to the acerbic criticism of Bridget Orr over at the Guardian. Dawn Kofie, F Word contributor, wrote an excellent analysis here of the show last year, and so with…
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Sisters - or mothers and daughters?
By Guest Blogger | 7 June 2008, 12:13
Why does the ‘mother-daughter’ theme of generational conflict continue to plague feminism, asks Polly Cassidy, in this guest post I went to a talk at Housman’s bookshop in London last Friday, given by contributors to the anthology ‘68-‘78-‘88: From Women’s…
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Another dig at single women
By Abby O'Reilly | 6 June 2008, 17:01
The single woman is still a source of confusion for many people who have to try and dissect the life choices that would encourage one to actively remain without a partner. If you’re a single woman, no doubt you will…
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New review: Sex and the City the movie - Having your (wedding) cake and eating it
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 21:35
The Sex and the City movie makes for a disappointing postscript to the more subversive TV series, argues Catherine Redfern This review contains spoilers after the first section. Read at your own risk. While obviously not perfect (frankly, what TV…
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Another pint, please! Err…maybe not?
By Abby O'Reilly | 5 June 2008, 20:30
Before reading this you may want to look at the excellent post by Helen here. Now and again I like to unwind with a good drink. If I’m feeling sophisticated I’ll opt for a white wine, and if I’m feeling…
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How old is too old?
By Abby O'Reilly | 5 June 2008, 19:34
When a woman announces she’s pregnant she instantly becomes public property. Soon as the sperm touches down, cracks open the egg and starts doing something about which I can offer little technical language, then a woman is expected to don…
Another Thursday round up
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 16:15
Hoyden brings us the first ever ‘Down Under Feminists Carnival’ - it looks brilliant. The Guardian has been hosting a bit of back-and-forth about the role recently-passed fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent played in the emancipation of women’s wardrobes. Linda…
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A new paradigm for thinking about prostitution
By Louise Livesey | 5 June 2008, 12:43
Over at Genderberg is this piece on a new paradigm for thinking about prostitution. And it’s fabulous! To cut to the core, it argues new moves in Sweden and Scotland are part of a move from a Build-A-Better-Whore paradigm to…
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Jack the Ripper, the exhibition…
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 12:12
Over at the End Violence Against Women blog, Finn Mackay has a review up of the new ‘Jack the Ripper’ exhibition at the Museum in Docklands. Anyway, I’ve been hearing a lot about this exhibition - both complaints about the…
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New review: Rape - an unfinished revolution
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 10:28
Joanna Bourke’s history of rape turns a steady and necessary gaze on an unsettling subject, concludes Louise Livesey Although at times distinctly uncomfortable reading and definitely one of those books for which the word “great” or “fabulous” is both apposite…
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New review: Haunted?
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 10:19
El Orfanato is a rare example of the ‘horror’ genre with a strong female lead. Or is it? Lindsey M Sheehan has more This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk El Orfanato - or ‘The Orphange’ - gained…
Petition: 250 million women in the EU. Not a single one good enough?
By Jess McCabe | 5 June 2008, 09:15
We’ve just been observing Hilary Clinton make a play to become president of the US, and get further than any other woman has before. Setting aside whether she was the right candidate or not, the promise and possibility was dangled…
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Who are the Harajuku Girls?
By Holly Combe | 4 June 2008, 23:10
NB: I changed one of the words in the final paragraph of this article. The details can be found in the comments. Harajuku is an area in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The term Harajuku Girls is commonly…
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New feature: Ask a feminist
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 23:07
In the third ‘Ask a Feminist’, our contributors answer questions from a woman who is seven months pregnant and needs help explaining why she wants to keep her name to her partner - and why their child won’t necessarily take…
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Where’s the feminist theatre?
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 21:34
Where’s all the feminist theatre? asks Guardian theatre and performing arts blogger Andy Field, today. Lucinda Coxon’s Happy Now? was widely touted as a play written by a young woman, directed by one of the most exciting young directors in…
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I’d Do Anything - but I won’t do that…
By Louise Livesey | 4 June 2008, 16:59
So Jodie Prenger has been named the new Nancy for the christmas opening version of Oliver! Congratulations! But I was disquieted somewhat by the ways in which the women were encouraged to talk about the role. I’m thinking about such…
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Autism - not just for the boys…
By Louise Livesey | 4 June 2008, 16:43
The Guardian has a really interesting article on women with autism. It flags up that the major symptoms of autism tend to be behaviours assumed as masculine taken to pathological extremes (for example social awkwardness or obsession about a topic)….
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Quick announcements - comments on features and reviews
By Jess McCabe | 4 June 2008, 15:55
You might notice that I’ve turned comments off in my last post, announcing a new feature in the main part of the website. When we decided to give live commenting a go, back in February, we were really clear that…
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No blood on the sheets? No marriage.
By Laura Woodhouse | 3 June 2008, 17:18
French front pages have been plastered with the story of the annulment of the marriage of a Muslim couple after the husband discovered his wife had lied about being a virgin: The wedding night party was still under way at…
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Carnivals, and a question for the sex positives.
By Laura Woodhouse | 3 June 2008, 10:06
The Sixth Carnival Against Pornography and Prostitution is here, while the Fourth Feminist Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy is here. Both offer plenty to get your teeth into, whatever your perspective! While I’m here, can I ask: why are…
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The male default, and why this excludes women
By Anne Onne | 2 June 2008, 18:58
It’s a shame that many people just can’t see why assuming men are the default excludes women, so I thought a short post on language would be a good reminder. Whether it’s the plurals always taking the male form, or…
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UN radio may scrap ‘Women’ programme
By Jess McCabe | 2 June 2008, 17:12
The United Nations’ radio service may axe its ‘Women’ programme, we learn from WIMN’s Voices. Yeah, I had no idea the UN had a radio service either, but they do, and a cursory glance shows they cover some key ground…
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Whose business is it anyway?
By Abby O'Reilly | 2 June 2008, 16:08
Poor Fern Britton! Today, sat at home undergoing the laborious process of applying for job after job in the hope that someone may see fit to employ me, I had to witness Fern Britton opening the This Morning programme with…
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Feminism and food
By Guest Blogger | 1 June 2008, 21:59
Earlier this week, Samara posted about how some women feel the need to apologise before eating “bad” food, such as cake. Philomela wrote the response you are about to read, which I think articulates a perspective that needs to be…
Crazy love
By Helen G | 1 June 2008, 20:28
Further to my recent blog posts Mad as hell (cross-posted here at The F Word) and Still mad: more on DSM-V/Zucker/Blanchard, I see that Mercedes Allen has published on her blog the contents of an Open Letter to the American…
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