Blog posts by Louise Livesey: 2007
Anti-Rape Campaigns
By Louise Livesey | 31 December 2007, 13:27
Today has been the day of visual anti-rape campaign posters for some reason. We don’t tend to do this much in the UK which is a shame. Lets start here with a poster from Germany. The tag-line reads “More than…
Tad Safran does it again…..
By Louise Livesey | 18 December 2007, 11:26
Further to his article on British Women being ugly and smelly (see here for the F Word’s take on it) Tad Safran has written a defence of his position. It goes along the lines of “I’m a man, I have…
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Wanna make feminism No1 in the Charts?
By Louise Livesey | 17 December 2007, 13:07
The organisation Tender has come up with a novel new way of making domestic violence a national issue. They are releasing a single in January and aim to top the charts with it. The single, “Let It Be Mine”, by…
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Belle du Jour? Here's the real story
By Louise Livesey | 11 December 2007, 13:43
Belle du Jour has been commissioned for a second series. But this isn’t a review of it. This is about the reality of prostitution in the UK. The Guardian has a piece on the realities of prostition for the (now…
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Warning - this is strong stuff
By Louise Livesey | 10 December 2007, 14:58
Video from the Helen Bamber Foundation on the impacts of trafficking - Trafficking is Torture…
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Is Feminism Dead? Can't we put this one to bed too?
By Louise Livesey | 10 December 2007, 14:35
There is yet another defence of feminisms continuing existence in the New Statesman. Written by Courtney Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normality of Hating Your Body. The most exciting thing about feminism, is that it…
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Rape sentencing - a global issue
By Louise Livesey | 10 December 2007, 14:02
It’s not just the UK which suffers embarrassing judicial responses to rape trials. Now Australia has also had the same problem as a judge failed to imprison a group of men who gangraped a ten year old claiming the girl…
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And talking of new media and sexual assault…..
By Louise Livesey | 5 November 2007, 10:52
Viewers of Big Brother in Africa have been complaining about what appeared to be a rape shown live on the show. After a protracted drinking session Nigerian medical assistant Ofunneka Molokwu appeared to pass out at which point Richard Benzuidenhout…
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Internet Reduces Rape?
By Louise Livesey | 5 November 2007, 09:10
Over at ifeminists.com is this short news item: Commentary and Opinion: Porn a catalyst of sexual violence? No No one would say the current level of violence against women is acceptable. But the enormous progress in recent years is one…
Female Artists - blog post of interest
By Louise Livesey | 5 November 2007, 09:08
Over at The Daily (Maybe) there is a post about the perceived absence of female artists and why that might be….
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Moaning Lisa - or how computer programmers conceive of female sexuality….
By Louise Livesey | 24 October 2007, 11:42
She looked at me with her motion detectors as I rubbed the piezoelectric sensor between her thighs. Then I spun the potentiometers that jutted out from her chest like nipples. But it wasn’t until I stroked the piezosensor on the…
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UN says "Please stop raping women"
By Louise Livesey | 24 October 2007, 08:57
Now don’t get me wrong, the UN does amazing and important work. But I am not sure the way to prevent women’s and girl’s bodies being used as tools of war through rape and sexual assault is to ask nicely….
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Continuing the Abortion Thread
By Louise Livesey | 17 October 2007, 09:06
A survey released by Marie Stopes has revealed that just over half (52%) of G.P.s believe women should be able to access abortion with the agreement of one doctor (rather than the current two) until 14 weeks of pregnancy. Whilst…
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Sometimes the logic escapes me…
By Louise Livesey | 15 October 2007, 08:54
Apparently feminism is responsible for the deaths of 90 patients in NHS hospitals in Kent. Well according to Melanie Phillips anyway. Now just be prepared for this because you have to use some creativity to get there…. Apparently feminism was…
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Adding insult to, well, insult….
By Louise Livesey | 13 October 2007, 20:57
The High Court, after urging from the Attorney General, have increased the sentences of two men who (separately) raped young girls. Yes, a victory you think, except that they sentences were doubled from 2 to 4 years. One of the…
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And apparently the Fourth Wave is….
By Louise Livesey | 13 October 2007, 20:12
A return to the pre-feminist ideas of modesty and feminine charms. According to writer Wendy Shalit in her new book Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It’s Not Bad to Be Good she argues that the sexual…
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Playboy's insidious creep….
By Louise Livesey | 13 October 2007, 20:03
Cath Elliot has written a Comment is Free piece for the Guardian on Playboy’s intent to sexualise children. And they aren’t alone - Cardiff Council is providing pole dancing classes for children 11 years and upwards (willfully ignoring, one has…
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Meet Joe Francis….
By Louise Livesey | 5 October 2007, 09:44
Although I guess most of us would rather not. Joe Francis is the man who runs Girls Gone Wild. He’s been hit with a lawsuit by two young women who took part in sexual activity on camera for unlawful…
Congrats to the F Word!
By Louise Livesey | 2 October 2007, 10:30
Two congrat mentions to us! (Self congratulatory mode in full swing). Firstly, the new Carnival of Sexual Violence is up here Abyss2Hope and The F Word gets a special mention for Samara’s article I didn’t ask for it. And Jess…
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Feminism caused by enviromental factors?
By Louise Livesey | 1 October 2007, 09:42
OK, I apologise, it’s such an easy target, but bloggers elsewhere have been arguing that feminism may be caused by plastic production globally! Mrs Elliott seems to truly believe that “hormones from the pill and hormones from our insatiable appetite…
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Cartoon on Internet Women
By Louise Livesey | 28 September 2007, 10:02
As a little light-hearted, Friday-frivolity go to the xkcd.com comic for today - and then wish it were true…….
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Trafalger Square Installation on Trafficking
By Louise Livesey | 27 September 2007, 09:31
From 22nd to 30th September Trafalger Square is home to a photographic installation about the realities of trafficking. For those who can’t make it the website has preview materials….
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Discussion of men as feminists
By Louise Livesey | 27 September 2007, 09:19
Apparently this old chestnut is raging around the blog-o-sphere so I thought I’d refer to this article which has a pretty good inventory of the recent posts and debates. Especially as the conclusion is a very reasonable: To that end,…
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Apparently wanting justice for rape victims is a failing of feminism…
By Louise Livesey | 27 September 2007, 08:27
Hot on the heels of the government dropping plans to allow expert witnesses to appear in rape trials to discuss the aftermath of attacks on women (and y’know why women might appear unaffected, why they might not tell people, why…
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Men Taking Responsibility for Men's Violence Against Women
By Louise Livesey | 25 September 2007, 09:47
Sometimes you read something which makes the vision of the future of the species just a little less pessimistic. Today that was the work by Ben Atherton-Zeman in his one-man show Voice of Men. The show, which is a pastiche…
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New Book on Porn Culture
By Louise Livesey | 25 September 2007, 09:05
Robert Jensen has written a new book called “Getting Off” critiquing the porn culture and in particular “gonzo” porn and new forms of extreme porn which are becoming mainstreamed. There is a very cogent article on it here….
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Women Doctors Face Glass Ceiling - News Flash
By Louise Livesey | 25 September 2007, 08:51
The Scotsman reports today on research published in the Journal of Medical Education which shows that women doctors seeking the top of their profession (academic research) are still facing workforce practices detrimental to their careers. Despite women now being the…
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Tory MP arrested for assault on wife, Party refuses to comment
By Louise Livesey | 20 September 2007, 15:53
Conservative MP for Croydon Central, Andrew Pelling (48), was arrested on Tuesday during an investigation into an assault on his wife, Lucy (26). That the House of Commons would shelter domestically violent people isn’t really a surprise. . Mr…
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Women blamed for being ambitious
By Louise Livesey | 19 September 2007, 12:48
Today’s Daily Telegraph carries the headline that Childless women ‘hostile to working mums’. Based on a survey of 1,500 mothers childless women are being described as “unsympathetic” to those who have children. But, as with all our research expose’s -…
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Want Power and Respect - forget it….
By Louise Livesey | 19 September 2007, 10:13
There has been a sad spate of misogyny over the last week. In particular a spate of forgetting that women’s career achievements should be remembered above their marital status. Let’s start with this morning’s Radio 4 shall we. Where Chief…
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Government May Move to Criminalise the Purchase of Sex
By Louise Livesey | 10 September 2007, 09:38
According to the Guardian, the government are considering criminalising the buying of sex following concern about the international trafficking in women. Currently it is not a crime to sell or buy sex but is a crime to solicit for custom….
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Women like gadgets, dislike electronics shops.
By Louise Livesey | 10 September 2007, 09:08
Amazing new findings from Saatchi and Saatchi are that women do like electronic and gadgets but dislike the rampant laddism and butch heterosexuality of electronics shops. It’s apparently news that women don’t spend money in shops where they are treated…
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Is this real?
By Louise Livesey | 10 September 2007, 08:34
OK so it may be a wind-up, but if so someone took a lot of time over this… Imagine a website where parents can “list” their teenager daughters for marriage based on the biblical notions of “bride-price” and arranged marriages….
Carnivals Up
By Louise Livesey | 7 September 2007, 08:25
There are new Carnival’s up at these pages: Carnival of Radical Feminism Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up here. With special mention to the two F Word blog posts that get a mention which are this one on sexual violence…
Amnesty reports on Hungary
By Louise Livesey | 30 August 2007, 09:23
I think the problem with sexual violence in Hungary can be summed up by this quote from the report: “At least 85% of them are whores: but they do not manage to come to an agreement. They are prostitutes: overtly…
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Feminism declared dead, again
By Louise Livesey | 29 August 2007, 09:20
Feminism has more lives than an average herd of very lucky cats, it’s seems. It’s been declared dead again by Magnus Linklater (see picture to right which I’ve captioned “Would you take feminist history 101 from this man?”) in…
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Cosmo renames rape - as not rape
By Louise Livesey | 29 August 2007, 08:50
If anyone needed further proof that women’s glossy magazines are part of the problem see Cosmo’s renaming of “date rape” (a problematic enough term because people presume meanings not meant by the term) to “grey rape”. Yes that’s right, get…
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More on "Girl Power"
By Louise Livesey | 27 August 2007, 10:25
Following on from this discussion of the Spice Girls, the Halifax News (in Canada, not UK) has an interesting article on the “Perversion of Girl Power”. Including this: “The Spice Girls and that whole era of MTV feminism … really…
Women are apparently not allowed to have women's bodies
By Louise Livesey | 25 August 2007, 10:22
After the coverage of Jacqui Smith’s cleavage and Hilary Clinton’s cleavage we now have the case of Emily Maitlis’s legs. Newsreader extraordinaire has been criticised for wearing a skirt which was so unedifyingly short (i.e. knee length) it might…
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Sexual Violence in Congo at epidemic propotions
By Louise Livesey | 25 August 2007, 09:33
Sexual violence against women in the southern province of South-Kivu (number 7 on the map) has reached epidemic proportions according to reports by the local commission on sexual violence. Between January and June 2007 some 5,470 cases of sexual…
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More improbably research "results"
By Louise Livesey | 25 August 2007, 09:09
According to the Telegraph and a research team from University of California, Santa Barbara and Yale University, women have a “homing” instinct for food. “Today, a scientific study says that over many thousands of years evolution has designed women to…
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"Girl Power" - yay or nay?
By Louise Livesey | 23 August 2007, 11:06
It’s ten years since the Spice Girls stormed the charts and stole the phrase “Girl Power” from the band Shampoo. And some people are fating this as a cultural landslide… Sex expert Tracey Cox says: ‘Girl Power didn’t just leave…
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African-American Lesbians in NYC…
By Louise Livesey | 23 August 2007, 08:42
West Village has always been thought of as synonymous with LGBT freedom. Not anymore. On August 18th 2006 a group of seven young African-American lesbian-identified women travelled to West Village from Newark for a night out. Outside an independent cinema,…
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In answer to the question…..
By Louise Livesey | 22 August 2007, 09:03
Are there any women music bloggers out there…? Blogher.org has prepared this response confirming the existence of this apparently rare breed….
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Evidence from Darfur confirms widespread use of sexual violence against women
By Louise Livesey | 22 August 2007, 08:58
The UN has released detailed reports of new crimes against Darfur women by soldiers and the government sponsored Janjaweed militia. The report also accuses the Sudanese government of failing to investigate these crimes and protect it’s population. “The abuses may…
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Sexual Assault is second most common injury for Jamaican Women
By Louise Livesey | 21 August 2007, 10:08
And 70% of rape victims in Jamaica are under the age of consent. Amnesty International has published a new report on sexual violence against women and children in Jamaica. “Just a Little Sex” is the result of research concluded in…
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Women prefer pink - it's apparently genetic…. (Additional)
By Louise Livesey | 21 August 2007, 09:27
As flagged in a previous post theres much nonsense being spread about “genetic” liking of different colours by men and woman. On the basis of showing 208 participants 1,000 coloured squares either on a computer screen or flashcards (Reuters and…
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BA(Hons) Homemaking - teaching women's inferiority since 1910
By Louise Livesey | 20 August 2007, 15:18
Before I start, yes it’s at a private university in the US. However, as the radical and/or religious right get more air-time over here, then let’s see what’s on offer. Southwestern Bapist Theological Seminary in Texas (not to be…
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Flagging up….
By Louise Livesey | 20 August 2007, 15:16
this excellent article on Women’s Health News on how anti-abortion groups “spin” research findings….
Racism against indigenous peoples - alive and well
By Louise Livesey | 17 August 2007, 09:26
We all know that to be a woman is hard, to be a woman on minority ethnic descent harder. Spare a thought for Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize winner, UNESCO ambassador, Guatamalan Presidential Candidate, women’s and indigenous people’s rights…
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Stop giving them the oxygen of publicity!
By Louise Livesey | 18 July 2007, 08:33
At the height of the IRA troubles you weren’t allowed to interview a suspected IRA member - they had to use actors reading transcripts. It was known as refusing to give them the “oxygen of publicity”. Can’t we now advocate…
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Are Lad Mag's Porn?
By Louise Livesey | 17 July 2007, 16:05
Subvertising reaches new heights with the adaptation of lads mags cover reversing the gender roles. So are they porn? More here…
Interview with Michele Roberts
By Louise Livesey | 14 July 2007, 09:47
The Guardian has interviewed feminist writer Michele Roberts here….
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Two bits of UK news
By Louise Livesey | 11 July 2007, 12:26
Under 16s are to be banned from modelling during London Fashion Week and Baroness Kingsmill, who is heading up the enquiry into practices in the modelling world has admitted that “There was strongly expressed concern that it is profoundly inappropriate…
Report on Prison and Women - Mixed Feelings
By Louise Livesey | 11 July 2007, 11:58
Loraine Gelsthorpe, Gilly Sharpe and Jenny Roberts have published a report saying that community sentences for women should be tailor-made to keep them out of jail. Writing the report on behalf of the Fawcett Society it is argued that:…
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Jane Magazine Closes
By Louise Livesey | 11 July 2007, 11:56
Sad news, the US feminist publication Jane has ceased printing. More on this here….
African Leaders Call for Safe Abortion
By Louise Livesey | 11 July 2007, 11:46
Representatives of the governments of ten african nations have called for legalisation of safe abortion in their countries and across Africa. They are, of course, partially hand-tied by the President Bush’s withholding of any funding to charities which promote or…
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New anti-pornography blog
By Louise Livesey | 11 July 2007, 11:38
Anti-Pornography Activists (or those wanting to do sometime on this) should check out this new blog - 101 Things to Do to Combat Pornography. A random selection of suggestions include: 23. Write your government representatives and elected officials, (mayor, members…
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Sex Discrimination is alive and kicking….
By Louise Livesey | 9 July 2007, 11:53
You know how we got the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay at Work Act and now the Gender Equality Duty? Well apparently it doesn’t mean much because (and this is a word of warning to the wise) it’s…
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Deborah Siegel Podcast
By Louise Livesey | 8 July 2007, 16:32
MojoMom has interviewed Deborah Siegel, author of Sisterhood Interrupted: From Radical Women to Girls Gone Wild for her podcast series - listen here….
Young Women and Pay Discrimination
By Louise Livesey | 8 July 2007, 16:26
It was often argued, after the Equal Pay Act, that as women entered the workforce in larger numbers pay discrimination would decline. It wasn’t true which is why Yvonne Roberts’ response to Zoe Williams’ article on collective action is a…
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Left-Wingers Dislike Thatcher Shock!
By Louise Livesey | 4 July 2007, 09:39
Sarah Sands has written an impassioned defence of Margaret Thatcher as a woman and a feminist. Definately of interest although her “comparisons” with Harman owe more to ideology than sincere debate….
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Australia launches Women-Only Political Party
By Louise Livesey | 28 June 2007, 09:27
Yesterday Brisbane saw the launch of the What Women Want Australia party which is an all-women political party. Spokeswoman and founder, Justine Caines said women needed better representation and were sick of being paid lip service on key issues (From…
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And whilst I'm spitting feathers….
By Louise Livesey | 26 June 2007, 11:43
Thanks to our eagle-eyed spotter of this new advertising campaign by Nila, catering industry company. Apparently other slogans include “corn star” (pun on “porn star”) and “just laid”. Any blog readers seeing similar adverts (for Nila or otherwise) can always…
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Not sure how much I can say on this without spitting feathers….
By Louise Livesey | 26 June 2007, 10:39
Commentator Debbie Schlussel has interpreted the results of this study as follows: The conclusion they want you to get from this is that pro-life Congressmen are insensitive to women and don’t have contact with any.But I’d draw a different conclusion:…
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Two good bits of news (because we can't say that often enough!)
By Louise Livesey | 26 June 2007, 10:30
From Thailand is the new that the government has now criminalized marital rape. The new crime carries a fine of 40,000 baht, or approx £625 and up to 20 years in jail. The new law also expands the definition of…
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Women in Computing - the debate continues
By Louise Livesey | 22 June 2007, 11:18
Prompted by this blog post by Tim Bray, Jeni Tennison has some interesting ideas about how we should encourage women into computer related industries. It’s worth quoting at length… First, we can shift the perception of the proportion of…
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News From Africa
By Louise Livesey | 22 June 2007, 10:53
Two interestingly different perspectives on women in Africa today. First up, women in Uganda are suffering health impacts after sexual violence above normal levels because of additional issues of poverty and bureaucracy. When Maggie Samula [not real names] of…
Israel uses women's bodies for public image boost
By Louise Livesey | 21 June 2007, 10:10
Welcome to Israel’s new PR campaign… In an attempt to boost their PR profile the Israeli government approached Maxim magazine to run a feature on the “hot” Israeli national conscripts shown here (actually four were included of which we show…
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Vilma Espin, Cuba's First Lady, Dies
By Louise Livesey | 20 June 2007, 11:30
Vilma Espin, wife of acting president Raul Castro, has died aged 77 after a long illness. Espin was considered Cuba’s unofficial first lady and was a key figure in advancing women’s equality in Cuba. Espin was part of the armed…
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Video Games Controversy
By Louise Livesey | 20 June 2007, 10:32
Three video games have come under fire recently, Manhunt II (by the makers of Grand Theft Auto, Rock Star Games), Law and Order: Double or Nothing (Global Software) and Resistance: Fall of Man. The first has been banned for “sustained…
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Gatwick Flightpath Advertising causes controversy
By Louise Livesey | 15 June 2007, 11:57
This is the face of the man who sees nothing wrong in this advert visible only from a plane landing or taking off from Gatwick airport. Flightpath Media, the company who actually created the advert, are so proud of…
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American Judge Rules phrases like "rape" and "sexual assault" are prejudicial to defendants
By Louise Livesey | 15 June 2007, 10:16
In a stunning piece of legalistic (un)reasoning, Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront ruled that the victim of a first degree sexual assault crime could not use the words “victim,” “assailant,” “attack,” “sexual assault kit” and “rape” when giving evidence…
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Vatican calls for Catholics to Stop Supporting Amnesty International
By Louise Livesey | 15 June 2007, 09:57
News that the Catholic Church would rather condone (by ignoring) human rights abuses rather than support an organisation that supports women’s rights isn’t really news I guess, in the sense that the Catholic Church has a history of ignoring (or…
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Private Members Clubs Beware
By Louise Livesey | 12 June 2007, 08:55
Whilst the news coverage has been focussing on golf clubs, the review of Equality legislation has much wider implications. It will mean that mixed membership clubs cannot treat their male and female members differently. It doesn’t, sadly, force “male only”…
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Unmarried Partners to Gain "Divorce" rights
By Louise Livesey | 11 June 2007, 13:05
There are plans afoot to give cohabiting partners similar rights on relationship breakdown to married couples. The Law Commission is due to publish their recommendations soon which will include (if the rumours are true)… the ability to make claims for…
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Fawcett launches new campaign
By Louise Livesey | 11 June 2007, 10:59
It’s twenty years since Diane Abbott was elected as the first black female MP. And twenty years on there are still only two - Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler. Fawcett are working on a campaign to gain support for…
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Police using Cautions rather than charging sex offenders
By Louise Livesey | 11 June 2007, 10:42
“It is a slap in the face when the man is let off with merely a caution, a huge setback when you are trying to rebuild your life. Getting justice is essential to recovery after rape - cautions confirm that…
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Trafficking within countries - a hidden problem
By Louise Livesey | 7 June 2007, 08:50
Whilst most international attention focusses on women trafficked across borders there is a hidden epidemic in countries like India and Thailand of women trafficked within countries. Much of the attention on human trafficking focuses on the estimated 600,000 to 800,000…
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Sexual Violence - resistance and reality
By Louise Livesey | 31 May 2007, 10:29
In 2000 the UN released it’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and promised to achieve them by 2015. Now almost half way through that time there is some reviewing of the movement going on. “None of the Millennium Development Goals will…
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Michelle Obama - damned if she does and damned if she doesn't
By Louise Livesey | 31 May 2007, 10:24
Michelle Obama, wife of presidential candidate Barrack Obama, is under scrutiny (as all potential presidential wives are) as the US works it’s way towards the next election. Here is a great analysis of why she isn’t going to have an…
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Big Brother is Now "Big Sister"
By Louise Livesey | 31 May 2007, 10:18
And we should apparently all rejoice at this. According to The Times: Big Brother returned in the form of a giant hen party last night when producers unveiled an all-female cast in an attempt to revive the tarnished brand. The…
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Livejournal Targets Sexual Violence
By Louise Livesey | 31 May 2007, 09:14
The freedom online to portray and promote illegal sexual activity has long been a contentious issue as has where we draw the line between promoting the illegal and allowing space for fantasy. Now internet blog site Livejournal has been drawn…
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Conference in Canada concludes Feminism isn't dead
By Louise Livesey | 29 May 2007, 12:25
Well I guess that’s a relief. More Here….
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Amnesty Internation reports sexual violence is everyday…
By Louise Livesey | 25 May 2007, 08:40
Amnesty’s recently published report on human rights worldwide has highlighted that sexual violence is common and everyday. Africa In Africa conflicts in central and east Africa (including Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia,…
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New Blog
By Louise Livesey | 24 May 2007, 19:26
Feminist Philosphers blog - not as daunting as it first sounds, promise….
Immigration Services does it again…
By Louise Livesey | 24 May 2007, 19:11
Last year the parts of the Immigration Service which run immigrant detention centres were told to stop separating breast-feeding mothers from their babies. The previous cases were said to: “fly in the face of a number of UN resolutions and…
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EU calls for action on gender and disability
By Louise Livesey | 24 May 2007, 10:11
Full text of the new resolution is here….
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Anonymity in Rape Case Early Day Motion
By Louise Livesey | 22 May 2007, 10:53
MP Harry Cohen has introduced an Early Day Motion (1082) pressing the government to protect anonymity in rape cases. So far there are only 16 signatures from other MPs (see list below). You can use this site to lobby your…
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Fashion Industry Told to Grow Up
By Louise Livesey | 22 May 2007, 10:11
The Model Health Inquiry has told the fashion industry that it needs to: just grow up and accept that it is a real industry and to look after the health and safety of the people who work within it From…
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A strange combination - Joss Whedon on Dua Khalil
By Louise Livesey | 22 May 2007, 08:54
It’s a strange thing to write about a comic-book writer turned TV phenomenon writing about women’s rights. Particularly when that writer is as controversial as Joss Whedon, feted by some for portrayals of strong women characters and critiqued by others…
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Invisible Women
By Louise Livesey | 21 May 2007, 08:55
Despite the many gains in recent years in the film industry - women directors are still absent at the Cannes Film Festival. So much so that Jane Campion this year brought an allegorical film about how the film industry treats…
Hotel opens women only floor
By Louise Livesey | 19 May 2007, 13:01
The Marriott chain are testing the idea of a women only floor in their Michigan hotel. The segregated space has improved security (yah-hay), fresh flowers (erm OK) and upgraded toiletries (yeah because that’s important), softer blankets, safes for jewelry (or…
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A few wider news stories
By Louise Livesey | 19 May 2007, 11:50
Whilst not entirely gender focussed there are a couple of headlines of note: The Prime Minister has refused to rewrite the guidance on blood donations to stop discrimination against gay and bisexual men. Because a third to half of the…
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Rape Victim should have been "grateful for the attention"
By Louise Livesey | 19 May 2007, 11:32
A defence barrister is today under pressure after comments made in court. Shellagh Davies said of the 16 year old gang rape victim (where the rape was videoed on the 13 year old attackers mobile phones) that because she was…
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You Tube Round Up
By Louise Livesey | 17 May 2007, 12:19
Some Feminism related clips from You Tube Which continues into this one And this one: Another Def Poetry entry here: And one on asian identity and take over (I have to admit finding this one absolutely brilliant!) Yeah OK so…
It rather speaks for itself but…
By Louise Livesey | 17 May 2007, 12:13
I felt this was worth reproducing over here, if only for the chuckles. With thanks to this site…
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Women on the web, but absent from computing industry
By Louise Livesey | 17 May 2007, 10:54
Just to complete a hat-trick of geeky entries, the BBC are reporting that women outnumber men in internet use. Apparently young women (18-34 years) are now the most populous British users of the web, accounting for 18% of all…
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And as if Marvel hadn't been offensive enough…
By Louise Livesey | 16 May 2007, 21:15
Meet Marvel’s new villain, Lady Ultron. Apparently she’s a robot. And she doesn’t feel the need for clothing (or at least the artist doesn’t - perhaps he missed that lesson at art school?) OK so, she’s naked and it’s not…
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Comic Fans, Spiderman 3 and feminist ire
By Louise Livesey | 15 May 2007, 23:41
To celebrate the launch of Spiderman 3 Marvel released a series of statuettes for collectors. Including this one of Mary Jane (Peter Parker’s wife for the uninitiated). Here’s a piccie (the one on the left): From BoingBoing Needless to say…
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Female Genital Mutilation
By Louise Livesey | 15 May 2007, 11:50
Here is a video by the UN about Female Genital Mutilation. In parts it is disturbing watching but it is very, very interesting watching. Spot lights on Sierra Leone and Ethiopia….
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The Best Way to Beat Objectification - do it yourself…
By Louise Livesey | 15 May 2007, 10:25
In the rush to convince us that we are in a post-feminist era, clothing designers have decided to get in on the act. And why not - us “post-feminist” (/end irony/) women have more disposable income now because of all…
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Doll Face
By Louise Livesey | 12 May 2007, 12:42
YouTube provides interesting fodder sometimes (for anyone who hasn’t already seen it the “Fat Rant” is another example). Today’s offering was Doll Face. An interesting view on the unattainability of beauty in a media age and much kudos to the…
Rights for the most marginal?
By Louise Livesey | 9 May 2007, 20:17
Two stories about the right to control women’s bodies make for interesting reading today. In the US the hysterectomy and continuing hormone treatment of a disabled girl has been deemed illegal and in Ireland a teenage girl in care has…
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Patrick Moore should stick to the stars
By Louise Livesey | 9 May 2007, 20:00
Why, oh why, is an 84 year old astromer reported as having any notion of contemporary cultural mores? Can anyone tell me? This week it is reported Moore has been caught blaming women for falling standards in British TV. His…
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Even when the man does something wrong, it's the woman who ends up paying.
By Louise Livesey | 9 May 2007, 19:25
Verizon Wireless has just pulled a sponsorship deal for Gwen Stefani’s new tour rumoured to be worth $3million. The reason? Her supporting act, Akon, was caught on film “dry humping” a 14 year old in dubious circumstances in a club…
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Gay Power - but only if you're male
By Louise Livesey | 8 May 2007, 17:54
The Independent on Sunday published it’s Pink Power list at the weekend. Of the 101 nominated people for being successes “key to British life” only 16 are women (and the highest placed is at number 18) and only one of…
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Multiculturalism and Women
By Louise Livesey | 6 May 2007, 17:02
The Independent on Colcatta raises this debate again, but with new cases. The article relates the problem of when multiculturalism is seen as an excuse for gendered racism. For example take the case of Nishal, a 26 year old Moroccan…
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Rape Sentencing Guideline
By Louise Livesey | 3 May 2007, 09:38
The definitive version of the Sentencing Guideline Council’s work on the 2003 Sexual Offences Act is now available and, as expected, is self-contradictory. The document acknowledges that sexual crimes against children are to be seen as automatically more serious 2.8…
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Birds Eye View Films seeks Volunteers
By Louise Livesey | 2 May 2007, 11:37
BIRDS EYE VIEW FILM FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU! We’re over our post fest burn out and we’re in need of a fresh injection of energy here at BEV HQ. We’re after administrators to keep the office in order, programmers to bring…
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US discovers pay-gap….
By Louise Livesey | 24 April 2007, 11:57
The US is having to face up to continuing pay differentials between men and women. A new survey shows that women working full-time earn dramatically less than men within a year of graduating. The gap is around 20% but greater…
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Iranian Women Imprisoned for asking for end to discrimination
By Louise Livesey | 24 April 2007, 10:56
Human Rights activists are experiencing a new crackdown on their activities, despite Iran’s laws protecting Freedom of Assembly. When arrested protesters can spend almost the entire period in solitary confinement. Recent arrests include Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh and Nahid Keshavarz areested for…
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Iranian Police begin crackdown on women's dress
By Louise Livesey | 23 April 2007, 10:33
In preparation for the summer Iranian Police have so far stopped 1,300 women and warned them about breaching the Sharia imposed dress code with 59 being referred to Court. Under Iran’s Islamic Sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women…
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Finland leads the way….
By Louise Livesey | 22 April 2007, 10:21
It was the first country to extend the franchise to women with complete parity with men (some states in America had extended then rescinded the franchise and Tasmania (1903) and South Australia (1902) extended suffrage with exceptions such as aboriginal…
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Something bad happened? Find a woman to blame… Virginia Tech and media coverage
By Louise Livesey | 19 April 2007, 11:19
I am sure I wasn’t the only feminist to have a shiver of fear on hearing the news from Virginia Tech and wonder whether it was another Ecole Polytechnique misogynistic massacre. However, even though it doesn’t seem to be gender…
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Schools told to close gender gap
By Louise Livesey | 19 April 2007, 10:51
We haven’t said much to date on the blog about the gender equality duty (or GED as it’s become known). Public institutions must have written, by the end of the month, their Gender Equality Statement laying out how they intend…
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Study into Late Term Abortions
By Louise Livesey | 19 April 2007, 10:43
Continuing the sudden revival of interest in abortion politics, news has been released of a study into why women have late term (i.e. second trimester) abortions. It’s worth noting at this point that only 10.7% of abortions caried out are…
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World News….
By Louise Livesey | 17 April 2007, 14:06
Following on from yesterday’s news of a defeat (if only just) to Polish moves to enshrine a ban on abortion in their Constitution today there is news that Portugal has legalised abortion up until the 10th week. The legislation was…
Abortion Ban Prevented in Poland, But UK may soon suffer shortage of doctors….
By Louise Livesey | 16 April 2007, 09:46
For everyone who has been watching the abortion legislation furore in Poland, good news! Or at least in part. A Press Release today from the Federation for Women and Family Planning, Poland has announced a defeat to the possible Constitutional…
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Feminism Makes You Sick…
By Louise Livesey | 26 March 2007, 10:56
Research from Sweden has shown that egalitarian societies also suffer from greater rates of poor health than non-egalitarian societies. The study, published in Social Science and Medicine, compared data from all of Sweden’s 290 municipalities. They used nine indicators of…
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Def Poetry Reminder for Men
By Louise Livesey | 16 March 2007, 11:02
It’s not often we get to include performance art on the blog but here is a Def Poetry (a bit like Slam Poetry) reminder to men about what being a man means…….
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Sisterhood is brutal - new form of empowerment?
By Louise Livesey | 13 March 2007, 11:59
Catfight is a new form of entertainment - skimpily dressed women, who in their publicity shots pose in quasi-pornographic stances, and box for the audience wearing tight white bra tops and short shorts. Just to reinforce this is women the…
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More on the Newham Record gangrape comments
By Louise Livesey | 8 March 2007, 10:56
Tom Duncan, the reporter who likened watching a football team lose to watching someone you like get gangraped, has written a follow-up comment to the story available here. In it he says It would be indeed be outrageous and absurd…
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Loosing at football = watching gang rape
By Louise Livesey | 4 March 2007, 10:19
According to reporter, Tom Duncan, from the Newham Recorder anyway. To indulge in a little deconstruction here I can only imagine he means that if watching someone be gang-raped he’d pay £50, sit alongside thousands of other gang-rape fans…
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Japan denies "comfort women" were forced
By Louise Livesey | 4 March 2007, 10:04
Despite testimony from former soldiers, the Japanese government is continuing to allege that girls and women forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese army in World War II were professional prostitutes rather than victims of violence. Former soldier Yasuji Kaneko…
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Women, Games and the Internet
By Louise Livesey | 23 February 2007, 09:54
Women have always been a hidden presence on the internet but this e-article shows misogyny and heterosexism aren’t dead on the internet. World of Warcraft is a fantasy war-gaming platform and Whitney Butts is one player amongst millions. However Butts…
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Last Reminder - Save the Feminist Library!
By Louise Livesey | 22 February 2007, 10:58
Quick reminder that the emergency meeting to save the Feminist Library happens on Saturday at 11am at the Feminist Library, 5 Westminster Bridge Road. The Library needs new volunteers of all kinds and anyone is welcome to come along and…
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Hallmark release greeting cards for eating disorders, miscarriage and post-partum depression
By Louise Livesey | 20 February 2007, 12:53
Hallmark, makers of kitsch and cute-sy greetings cards, are now promoting their new line for traumatic life events. Friend had a miscarriage? Send them a Hallmark card! Eating Disorder threatening a friends health? Post-partum depression? Friend leaving an abusive relationship?…
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Too fat to be beautiful, too old to be beautiful now too maternal to be beautiful
By Louise Livesey | 20 February 2007, 12:40
A Spanish Beauty Pageant winner has been de-frocked(? decrowned?) because it was “discovered” she had a three year old child. The competition rules disallowed any competitors who were pregnant or mothers although the reciprocal male competition doesn’t disallow fathers from…
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Robert Kilroy-Silk demands women are admitted to mosques
By Louise Livesey | 13 February 2007, 10:29
Never one to avoid controversy, Robert Kilroy-Silk (MEP) has written to Meg Munn (MP) to demand she takes action on women’s exclusion from some mosques. On Radio 4’s today programme this morning he blasted Islam as “tribal and backward” (see…
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More on The Verdict
By Louise Livesey | 13 February 2007, 09:48
Protests did take place on Sunday and are planned again for tonight against the BBC2 programme The Verdict. Indymedia has coverage and a rather lovely photograph . In the meantime Woman’s Hour has a podcast on it where Stephen Lambert,…
Routine Sexism on BBC Radio 4
By Louise Livesey | 12 February 2007, 10:07
Last week was a prize week for routine sexism on Radio 4 which, I think, serves well as an exemplar of just how widespread sexism still is and still is accepted in this country. First off was a statement by…
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BBC 2'S The Verdict
By Louise Livesey | 12 February 2007, 09:56
Controversy reigns over the new BBC 2 programme which claims to be ground-breaking (despite the Channel 4 similar version a few weeks ago) and to explore the role of jurists. Unfortunately a few things that might give pause for thought:…
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