Saturday, February 25, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Feminist zinesters gather for first festival in New York

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 09:55 AM PST

Jackie Gregory
WVoN co-editor

Feminist artists, writers and illustrators are gathering in New York tomorrow (Saturday) to show, sell and swap their self-published work.

They are all part of a zine network – people who create their own printed magazines by hand and who reflect their politics in their work.

Kate Angell and Elvis Bakaitis are the organisers behind the first ever NYC Feminist Zinefest and say it is a response, in part, to sexual violence across the city.

Angell says: "Following a year marked by brutal sexual assaults by NYC police officers and foreign dignitaries alike, the idea of a feminist zinefest resonates strongly for us in 2012."

Among those who are showing their zines – by each renting a table at the event – are cartoonist Kate Omberg with her Gay Kid zine; Elizabeth with Ours To Tell, a zine to give women a chance to tell their abortion stories, and Cristy Road who has produced her punk/rock Greenzine for ten years.

Zines became popular as an underground movement in the 60s, flourished during the DIY Punk era and enjoyed a resurgence in the 90s with the riot grrrrl movement in the States.

Now with more than 20,000 being produced in the US alone, and a growing network in Britain, zines are not so much underground as part of the cultural landscape.

It is the print and the ink, the drawings and writings, the staples and stitching and home-made ethos which separates them from professional  publications.

Meredith Melnick in her Time article Anatomy of a Zine: When Magazines Go Indie, succinctly expressed the difference between zines and their commercial cousins.

"The editor of a traditional magazine or journal says, ‘It’s time to publish, so what are we going to say?’ The editor of a zine says, ‘I have something to say, so it’s time to publish’.”

And Angell explains that the internet has not diminished the interest: "In this digital age, we think zines are holding up just great.

"These expressive little publications have a special place in our hearts: there's just something about the immediacy and expressiveness of a printed booklet, smudged with printer's ink or photocopy errors.

"It's like a small, pocket-sized emissary of ideas, one who will eagerly come with you on a long train or bus ride, and share its hidden tales."

She herself frequently blogs about free research resources for activists/feminists at Somebody's Autobiography.

Elizabeth of Ours To Tell explains on her tumblr page why she set up the zine for women to talk about their abortions:

“The pro-choice debate has reached a household level, but we still hear remarkably few stories from the individuals who actually elect to have them.

“There is still a stigma against women who have exercised their right to choose and have come down on the side of abortion. I want to change this perception.”

Also giving a reading at the zinefest are Kelly Wooten, Jenna Freedman, Emily Drabinski, and Lyz Bly who will be reading extracts from the forthcoming Library Juice Press book Sometimes You Have to Make Your Own History: Documenting Feminist and Queer Activism in the 21st Century.

Organiser Elvis Bakaitis hopes that the event will be a broad church of feminists and feminist conversations bringing together the zinesters and readers.

As she told Brooklyn Based: "To me if it relates to female-bodied people or women, it's feminist. We wanted different perspectives on gender or feminist issues."

In each edition of her own zine, Homos in Herstory, Bakaitis illustrates one decade in 20th century gay history.

Another zinester attending on Saturday is Sarah Rose of Once Upon A Distro, who tells Brooklyn Based that she has been writing her Tazewell's Favorite Eccentric since she was 14.

"I wrote a lot about women I had crushes on," she said. "It was a lot of angsty love letters to straight women. It's mortifying to read back now."

A distro is an independent distribution method for writing music and crafts, and through it Sarah Rose has helped publicise niche zines like Fat-Tastic, about loving your body, and Femme a Barbe, focusing on body hair.

"There's nothing more personal than zines,"  says Sarah Rose. "Anybody can bring what they have to say to the table and have it read."

Details of zinesters taking part and where the NYC Feminist Zinesfest is taking place can be found here.

Underage models spark debate

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST

Rachel Ogbu
WVoN co-editor 

Designer Marc Jacobs has sparked an ethical debate after allegedly using two  models aged 14 in his autumn/winter 2012 catwalk show.

The move goes against health guidelines by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) which say girls under 16 should not be used for runway shows.

The guidelines also include recommendations to supply healthy food backstage and educate the industry about the early signs of eating disorder.

Jacobs’ action immediately sparked outrage from fashion stakeholders who condemned the famous designer over the issue.

As Felicity Hannah said on Yahoo Lifestyle: "for every child you see on the catwalk, there are thousands battling feelings of failure and rejection. That's why I'd like to see them banned from runway shows."

Underage models are banned from catwalks at the UK's London Fashion Week.

The British Fashion Council makes designers sign a contract that prohibits them from using models under 16, due to concerns that young teens were more at risk of developing eating disorders.

However, other fashion hubs have been less willing to restrict their designers in this way, so young teenage girls continue to strut down catwalks, pouting provocatively for the cameras.

Marc Jacobs hired the two models, Thairine Garcia and Ondria Hardin, from the Ford Models Agency.

The agency said that while they agree with much of the CFDA health initiative, the company had not actually signed up to the specific proposal restricting the age of models in runway shows.

However  Ford was one of around a dozen agencies listed in an earlier press release from the CFDA as having "pledged that they will not send out models under the age of 16 for shows."

Marc Jacobs defended his use of the models, telling Vogue:

“I do the show the way I think it should be and not the way somebody tells me it should be. If their parents are willing to let them do a show, I don’t see any reason that it should be me who tells them that they can’t.

“There are children actors and children models for catalogues and stuff, so I guess if a parent thinks it’s ok and a kid wants to do it, it’s fine,” he told the New York Times.

Also lending her voice to the debate is young model, Coco Rocha. Of her own experience in the industry, which she talked about with Anderson Cooper recently, she said:

"I was scouted at 14 and I started at 15, and I know for a fact that I wish I was a little older, wiser. And who's to say that 16 is wiser? But it's sure better than 14."

Speaking to fashionista, Rocha says a lot of girls are told to lie about their age: "It's sad, because why must you? If you were under the age of 16, why not just grow into being a model? You don't have to do it.

“The CFDA isn't hurting or hindering the idea of models, they're just trying to improve models and give them a little more confidence, to be a little more savvy in this industry."

The CFDA initiative is only guidelines, and not in any way mandatory – although a good number of fashion stakeholders hope designers will follow them.

The real cost of human trafficking

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 06:30 AM PST

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Human trafficking and the buying and selling of human beings has been happening since the earliest of times.

But it seems that trafficking is not just the most horrific human rights abuse of modern times, it's also big bucks for those who deal in the exploitation and misery of others.

According to a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the industry generates huge sums of money – profits have been estimated by the International Labour Organisation at between $12 billion and $17 billion per year.

The report also reveals that, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, it is now the fastest growing form of international organised crime.

The latest excruciating tale comes from Malaysia where hundreds of Ugandan women are reportedly being trafficked every month.

The story is all too familiar. Ugandan women are being promised jobs in domestic service and in the hospitality industry only to be forced into prostitution when they arrive in Malaysia.

Posters advertising positions in Malaysia for young women are being put up in shopping malls in Kampala, Uganda's capital city.   Promises of a free ticket and a good salary are used as enticements.  However, the reality on arrival in Malaysia is one of degradation, fear and enslavement.

The Ugandan Government is now facing criticism for not taking action to prevent the sexual exploitation of women and young girls or addressing the activities of what are essentially highly organised criminal gangs.

Voice of America reported that Hajah Noraihan, the Uganda's honorary consul in Kuala Lumpur, has voiced her concern.

"It is very serious. I am told every day ten girls are brought into Malaysia by unscrupulous pimps."

She also said that she had heard evidence of pimps trafficking children to Malaysia, and that at least three Ugandan women had been killed in the last two years.

A report released last week said that more than 600 Ugandan women are currently trapped in sex rings in Malaysia.

The fact that 57 of those are either in detention or jail highlights a further problem common with trafficking.

Often women who are discovered to be working in the sex industry are treated as criminals, rather than the victims of crime they actually are.

Another common factor that has emerged from these reports is how victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation are controlled through intimidation and threats of repercussions for themselves or their families.  Many believe that they will be killed if they try to escape.

Asan Kasingye, chief of Interpol in Uganda was quoted as saying “Some of the girls, when they reach here, we ask them to tell us what happened. And she says, ‘I can’t tell you; I will die.’ They will never talk.”

Apparently, traffickers are taking advantage of relaxed immigration laws, where Ugandans no longer need a tourist visa to enter Malaysia.

There has also been criticism over the lack of enforcement of trafficking laws which were passed in Malaysia in 2009.

In the same year, Uganda was placed on the US list of countries with the worst human trafficking record for a third time.

According to Canadian website Castanet, the US Department of State said in its 2011 report that Uganda “does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.”

A Ugandan parliamentary committee is due to travel to Malaysia to try and ascertain how the traffickers work and how Ugandan women end up being sexually exploited and forced into degradation and sexual slavery.   They will also look at how labour agencies are being monitored.

It's unimaginable to think that the trade in human beings is a billion dollar industry.  But the real cost is far more compelling and horrifying – that of human lives.

Protesting the pageant

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 04:30 AM PST

Aisling Marks
WVoN co-editor 

On Tuesday a large group of students from the Birmingham area organised a demonstration to disrupt the final round of the Miss Undergraduate beauty contest (see previous WVoN story).

Congregating outside the Chameleon Bar in Birmingham city centre, activists from the university women's associations aimed to frustrate the running of an event that promotes one of the western world's most damaging problems: female body image.

Glamorously clothed women and men moved uneasily through the club's doors amid chants such as “F*** your fascist beauty standards” and “Being a woman is not a competition.”

Throughout the night, the activists linked arms to barricade the entrance of the club, causing a real commotion and stirring interest among passing members of the public and event attendees alike.

These tactics also provoked security to respond with unreasonable force, at one point putting a male activist in a headlock.

The activists sought to challenge public opinion on the nature of beauty pageants.

Kelly Rogers, women's officer at the University of Birmingham, said: “We're trying to disincentivize companies across the city from participating in sexual objectification, which is inherently harmful to women and to the idea of social justice.”

Unsurprisingly, event attendees did not agree. Activists were met with comments such as: "it's only a competition – I don't understand how this objectifies women."

Exactly. They don't understand.

These are the pitfalls of post-feminism, extending to accommodate the idea of "commodity-feminism" – the post-feminist irony that sexism can be playful and fun – hey, even sexy.

Products pushed into the capitalist market such as the "wonderbra" seek to perpetuate the message that feminism is outdated and has no place in modernised society. Women should be empowered by their sexuality, it says.

So how is a beauty pageant any different?

Well, it's not.

Estelle Hart, the National Union of Students (NUS) women's officer travelled up from London especially to show her support to the Birmingham activists.

“I think it's really important that women make a stand and say we don't think this sort of thing is acceptable,” she said.

“Having a Miss Undergraduate pageant is just massively offensive.

“The very idea that you can tell any woman, let alone women studying at university, a privilege that women did not get 100 years ago, that the way they're going to be valued and feel a sense of empowerment is by being judged by a narrow, capitalist, heteronormative view of sexuality, is an insult to the fights women have made.”

The event went ahead as planned, but the passion and energy exhibited by the protesters is a testament to grassroots activism, standing up and challenging abuses to their human rights.

“We're all trying to get the message across that feminism is still relevant,” Rogers commented.

“No company, no business, is going to make a profit from sexual objectification without a hell of a fuss being made by students, by the local community and by women coming together and saying this is wrong.”

Why Rick Santorum is turning off American women

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 02:31 AM PST

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

The American state of Arizona witnessed more than a little blood on the sand yesterday (Thursday), as Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney crossed swords in a fierce Republican candidate debate in their bid to lead the party in this year's Presidential race.

Santorum has seen a recent surge in popularity among the more conservative Republicans, or the 'Grand Old Party' (GOP), as well as among the public in general.

And despite claims by Romney that his candidacy is ‘inevitable’, Santorum is now ahead in the polls and continues to gain national momentum.

There is, however, a fly in the ointment for Michigan born Santorum, which reaches beyond his well known proclivity for simply putting his foot in it (this list from The Daily Beast is far from exhaustive).

Specifically, it has been his policies and ideologies around women's issues that have seen the female of the American species turn away in anger.  To paraphrase one American news commentator, he appears to be waging a war on women's health.

Among his more controversial opinions are those surrounding pregnancy, abortion and contraception.

Not surprisingly, Santorum is anti-abortion. Well, he is a Republican.

The debate around abortion in America is ongoing and passionate, but it is inevitable that many women staunchly believe that abortion is something that is between a woman and her doctor, and is not the concern of a government or party – especially one dominated by conservative men.

Perhaps Santorum's most extreme postulation on abortion came in January with his ‘make lemonade‘ comments, calling for women who are impregnated as a result of rape to “make the best of a bad situation.”

Santorum also opposes the use of contraception, and while he does not suggest that he would ban it, he does believe that individual states should have that right.

It's remarkable for a man to hold such strenuous views on birth control, given that the majority of American women have at some point used contraception or are still doing so.

For millions, it is not just about their health, but their freedom and their dignity.

One of Santorum's aides, Foster Freiss, came under fire last week for 'joking' about the use of contraception, saying “back in my days, they used Bayer Asprin for contraception.  The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.”

Andrea Mitchell, who was interviewing Freiss for MSNBC, looked visibly taken aback before saying, “Excuse me, I’m just trying to catch my breath from that.”

Although he distanced himself from the faux pas, Santorum himself has said: “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the whole sexual libertine idea.

“Many of the Christian faith have said well, that's OK, contraception is OK.  It's not OK because it’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” (cue his opinions on same sex marriage……)

Perhaps someone should point out to Santorum and his republican (male) cohorts that the best way to reduce abortion is to reduce unwanted pregnancies.  And the best way to do that is education and proactivity around contraception.

He also attacks amniocentesis, saying that too many prenatal tests lead to abortions.

His attack on pre-screenings for birth defects, which he says will lead to a 'cull of the ranks of the disabled in our society', was countered by an Obama spokeswoman, who pointed out that the tests are actually for the health of mothers and babies.

These are all issues that specifically affect women. Perhaps Santorum should consider his electorate more carefully before espousing such gender specific beliefs, and bear in mind that the support of women voters cannot be underestimated.

In 2008, John McCain faced a similar lack of popularity among female voters, gaining only 43 per cent of the female ballot.

In isolation, this figure does not necessarily signal defeat.   However, when you consider that in 2008 women actually cast the majority of the American vote, with nearly eight million more women voting than men, the significance becomes clear.

Without the support of this female electorate, McCain's campaign fell somewhat short.

So perhaps it should be ringing alarm bells for Santorum that, in the most recent poll, a gender gap has indeed surfaced, with women in Arizona supporting Romney over him by nearly two to one.

But it's not just issues around pregnancy and birth control that have the women of America scratching their heads in wonder.

He also has rather particular ideas about education.  In the past, he has referred to public schools as 'factories' and strenuously believes that children who attend these 'government run schools' (that would be around 90 per cent of American children) should actually be schooled at home – as his seven children are.

But who would the responsibility of home schooling generally fall to?  That would be the mothers.

Not to worry, though – given that Santorum disapproves of women working outside the home when their children are young, what better use should they make of their time while waiting for their children to reach a suitable age for them to rejoin the workforce?

He also believes that the recent decision by the Pentagon to expand the range of combat roles which women can fill, is a mistake, as there will inevitably be 'increased emotions' that could jeopardise military missions.

Although many of these issues are not currently under scrutiny for change in current legislation, it's understandable that women might be nervous should Santorum take the Republican candidacy.  Or indeed the Presidency.

If Santorum holds fast with his conservative Republican views as they stand, it's not inconceivable that the gender gap will continue to grow and he may effectively be handing victory squarely to his opponent, be that Romney or ultimately Barack Obama.

A young woman, heard in deep discussion recently with a family planning group outside a New York subway, perhaps best summed up the feelings of women in America, saying …..

“It's 2012, and men are still telling us what to do with our bodies?”

Story links, February 24, 2012

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:59 AM PST

Every day we'll post up a number of story links that we think are interesting.

They won't necessarily be from that day, but usually will not be more than a few days old.

The following are the ones we’ve found today.

Story links:

Ksenia Sobchak Strikes Again, Radio Free Europe, February 24, 2012

Arroyo pleads not guilty to poll fraud, Al-Jazeera, February 23, 2012

Coronation Street boss ‘stands by’ rape plotline, BBC News, February 24, 2012

For Marie Colvin, the victims were the story, not the reporter, The Guardian, February 23, 2012

In the land of machismo, a woman aims for the Presidency, CNN, February 23, 2012

20 year old Syrian female activist beaten in Egypt, Scoop, February 24, 2012

Senegal: two women among 14 candidates for president, IPS news, February 23, 2012

Medical breakthrough brings hope to infertile women in Tunisia, Tunisia Alive, February 23, 2012

Half a million Afghans displaced, say Amnesty, Daily Times, February 24, 2012

Guardian puts Facebook’s ‘no nipples’ rule to the test

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:23 AM PST

Alexandra Szydlowska
WVoN co-editor

The Guardian is putting Facebook’s ‘no nipples’ censure to the test by posting photos of breastfeeding women on its Comment is Free Facebook page.

According to the Guardian’s contributor Rowan Davies, who announced the action yesterday:

“Facebook is one of the most influential cultural mediators in the world. In reflecting and promoting the belief that milky nipples are injurious to public morality, it gives succour to every shopping centre security guard who’s ever told a nursing mother to put it away or leave the premises.

“A mother who is told by Facebook that her breastfeeding photos have been removed because her nipples were showing is quite likely to be humiliated, upset and one step closer to giving up on breastfeeding.”

The move has attracted a mixed reaction among the newspaper’s readers, some of whom have decried the Guardian’s actions as “immature” and “low-quality journalism”.

Others, however, have supported the move as a protest against Facebook’s ever tightening censure of what can and cannot be published online.

Facebook has a history of categorising breastfeeding pictures as “obscene content”, in many cases taking down groups for “violating Facebook’s terms of service.”

Such actions have incensed users and sparked protests, to the extent that in the past the social networking site has been made to eat its words.

Earlier this year, Facebook apologised for deleting photos of young girls pretending to breastfeed after citing the images posted by Express Yourself Mums, an NHS-backed breastfeeding website, as a ‘policy violation’.

After finding the group removed, a campaign was sparked to put Express Yourself Mums back into action. The images and the group were reinstated but the argument against Facebook’s censure rage on.

Facebook has previously said that photos where a nipple or an areola can be seen are against its policy. It has since said that it usually removes breastfeeding photos only when complaints by other users are brought to its attention.

However, Facebook’s standard response against incensed users seems to be that the photos were taken down “in error”.

So where exactly does Facebook draw the line? In the latest (leaked) version of its content guidelines, Facebook has stated that “bodily fluids (except semen) are ok to show unless a human being is captured in the process.”

This seems to me like uncharacteristic leniency on Facebook’s part towards acts that (unlike breastfeeding) need not be publicised in support of a cause.

Unless there’s a Facebook group in support of urination that I have not come across yet.

Rules are there for a reason. However, there’s no ignoring the indignation a mother may feel on receiving a notification that their photograph has been deemed a violation of pornographic content rules.

Perhaps what is most needed is clarity. However, until Facebook decides to publish its content guidelines online for all to see, it’s anyone’s guess what will offend them next.