Saturday, April 21, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Burma’s leading lady to travel abroad

Posted: 20 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Aisling Marks
WVoN co-editor

Burmese pro-democracy activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, will leave Burma to travel abroad in June for the first time in 24 years, according to reports.

A spokesperson for the party said she intended to include the UK in her trip, according to the BBC.

Suu Kyi met David Cameron in Rangoon on 13 April, when the British Prime Minister extended an invitation to visit the UK.

The newly elected MP for the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Nobel laureate also has plans to visit Norway.

Nyan Win, the Chief Minister of Bago Region, told The Guardian, 'This is the first time the NLD has had this opportunity,’ he said. ‘We are more free now.’

Although born in Burma, Suu Kyi left the country with her mother in the 1960s. After years of living and studying abroad, she returned in 1988 at first to look after her ageing mother, but later to lead the pro-democracy movement in the country.

She subsequently spent almost 15 years under house arrest and was only released in November 2010.

Her journey abroad marks a huge step forward for Burmese international relations, which is likely to result in the lifting of sanctions.

These have isolated Burma from the rest of the world for years and are likely to be prioritised by the European Union in a meeting on 23 April.

The country is even fast becoming a hot-spot tourist destination, according to Wanderlust.

Portsmouth activists campaign for cap on lap-dancing clubs

Posted: 20 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Sarah Cheverton
WVoN co-editor
Portsmouth White Ribbon Group member

A coalition of women's rights activists, residents, politicians and organisations have combined forces to campaign for a nil cap on the number of Sex Entertainment Venues (SEVs) in Portsmouth, England.

The city already has three lap-dancing clubs in operation and another has permission to open in the city centre (where two are already located).

One of the clubs, Wiggle, was refused planning permission to open last year and is currently going through an appeals process to overturn the decision, but is open for business in the meantime.

Solent Feminist Network launched its campaign in response to a public consultation on Portsmouth's City Council's new draft policy on Sex Establishment Licences for SEVs in the city, which recommends adopting a nil cap.

This would make it impossible for any other SEVs to open anywhere in the city and would also allow councillors to refuse to renew the licences of existing clubs.

Charlie Dacke of the Solent Feminist Network said, “What happens inside the four walls of a lap dancing club would be considered sexual harassment and sex discrimination in any other workplace – so while it continues to take place on our high streets with licences supplied by our local authorities, how can we address the deeply ingrained inequalities that still exist in society? All women have the right to feel safe and participate in the City’s nightlife without fear.”

The campaign has been supported by many residents, as well as the Portsmouth White Ribbon Group, local feminist organization Aurora New Dawn and national campaign group, Object.

Shonagh Dillon, Chief Executive of Aurora New Dawn, which works with victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, said:

"We support the campaign for the nil cap because there is a direct link between making women a commodity – that is, making women's bodies something to be bought and sold – and violence against women."

National organisation Object – whose campaign 'Stripping the Illusion' directly led to the changes in the law on licensing SEVs – submitted their own response to Portsmouth City Council's consultation.

In it they highlighted the local authority's duties under international law, stating:

"The links between objectification, discrimination and violence against women are recognised at the international level by the legally binding United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which has repeatedly called on states – including the British Government – to take action against the objectification of women."

An opposing campaign and petition has been launched by the clubs themselves, under the banner Save our Strip Clubs, including a poster campaign and social media presence. It focuses on the potential loss of jobs as a result of the nil cap, and has accused its opponents of attempting to 'control' women's lives.

The Save Portsmouth's Strip Clubs Facebook group (only visible to readers if you are logged in to Facebook) refers to feminist campaigners as 'Feminazis' and states:

"It is extremely hypocritical of this feminist group to claim they are for women’s’ rights whilst at the same time removing the most fundamental and important right of all from these other women [i.e. dancers], their right to choose."

The campaign has led to heated debates on the local paper's website following any article on the topic, such as here, here and here.

Local councillors in the city are also divided on the issue.

Cllr Lee Mason complained to Portsmouth's local paper, The News, saying that: "The whole thing is totally unfair. It is people forcing their Victorian morality on others and trying to create a new kind of puritan society."

However, other councillors in support of the nil cap echo the sentiments of national advocates such as Object in highlighting the links between the objectification of women and violence against women.

Cllr Terry Hall told The News:

"These clubs give a bad message to the young people of this city about how women can be treated. They send the wrong message to visitors about our city. I'm very concerned that these clubs, probably not deliberately, appear to foster a mindset that leads to domestic violence."

The consultation has now closed, having received over 3000 responses. As a result of the overwhelming response, the local authority estimates that no further action will be taken towards a final decision on the nil cap until at least June.

Asma al-Assad, the ambassadors’ wives and the “first lady” media sideshow

Posted: 20 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Julie Tomlin
WVoN co-editor

Has the video message imploring Asma al-Assad to use her influence over her husband the President of Syria to stop the bloodshed in her country showed us the limits of internet campaigning or just the limits of the media?

The four-minute clip, which has already been watched by more than 200,000 people, alternates pictures of the 36-year-old with gruesome images of children killed or tortured since the civil uprising began in March 2011.

In it, the wives of British and German ambassadors to the United Nations, saying they represent women from all over the world, urge British-born Asma to "stop being a bystander" and persuade her husband Bashar and his supporters to put an end to the violence that the UN estimates has left 9,000 dead.

The message from Sheila Lyall Grant and Huberta von Voss-Wittig, which was posted on Youtube, addresses her by her first name throughout, and appeals to her as a mother:

“Asma, when you kiss your own children goodnight, another mother will find the place next to her empty. These children could all be your children. They are your children.”

Perhaps there is merit in the argument that those close to him could persuade Bashar al-Assad to halt the violence.

After more than a year of bloodshed, Asma may well see the protection of her children and the future of her family as being dependent on her husband's success against his opponents.

“What happened to you, Asma?”, the speaker continues. "No one cares about your image. We care about your action” it continues, as images of a very stylish Asma, wearing sunglasses, appear on screen.

But the western media did care a great deal about the image of British-born and educated Asma in recent years – including American Vogue which published a gushing article about the "rose in the desert" before the violence erupted in 2011.

It's easy to understand that the ambassadors' wives' thought a personal appeal could be effective – although reaction to the video on social media has been mixed, with many arguing that trying to appeal to the "good side" of a dictator's wife was unrealistic.

Commentator Joan Smith wrote that the campaign is “”wrong-headed on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to begin”.  That’s perhaps no more true than when it comes to trying to unpick the balance of power between leaders and their wives – Asma herself claimed that she was the “real dictator” in the family.

The involvement of the ambassadors’ wives was certainly an extra hook for the western press, which has long been preoccupied with the US “First Lady”.

Fuelled by the appeal of Michelle Obama, it reached new heights in Britain during the 2010 election when the media became fixated with the outfits of the leaders’ wives as their husbands got on with the business of politics.

We don't know much about Asma al-Assad, her politics nor how she negotiates a role in a family that has a history of massacring its people.

All we have is her public relations-managed image, which the media was happy to tout and more recently the details of her online shopping habits as revealed by leaked emails published by The Guardian.

But is this really the time to get into a discussion about the role of first wives, ambassadors' wives and whether they should be getting involved in the business of politics?

On Radio 4's Today programme this morning, the video, Asma and the ambassadors' wives prompted a discussion about whether  wives of dictators in the Middle East have the clout to influence their decisions.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore warned that it was wrong to expect “beautiful people to be good people” and went on to say Asma was much more  Carmela Soprano, the wife of Mafia boss Tony in the TV drama than Empress Theodora.

Perhaps in time there will be leaked emails that show how Asma responded to the video and if the online petition to "Stop the violence" moved her at all.

But can internet campaigns like this really hit the mark?  As with the Kony 2012 campaign, it raises questions about how the response of people to viral video campaigns and online petitions impacts decision making on the world stage.

By playing into the the leaders' wives sideshow has the campaign simply shown us once more how far off the mark the media's preoccupations are when it comes to holding the powerful to account?

New law in Mississippi targets the state’s only abortion clinic

Posted: 20 Apr 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Naomi Wilcox
WVoN co-editor

Last Monday, the governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, signed into law a new bill which could effectively end abortion in the state.

It requires physicians performing abortions to be certified obstetrician-gynaecologists and, crucially, to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

At Mississippi's sole abortion clinic, the Jackson Women's Health Organisation, only one of the three practicing doctors has admitting privileges at the area hospital.

Needless to say, they are not easy to obtain, particularly in the 'Bible Belt' state where many hospitals have religious affiliations.

Governor Bryant has made no secret of his desire to make Mississippi the first 'abortion free' state. In a statement released on Monday he said:

"I believe that all human life is precious, and as governor, I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and the unborn are protected in Mississippi."

Some pro-choice groups have already claimed that the law is unconstitutional and could be challenged.

In 1973 the US Supreme Court made it the constitutional right of every woman to be allowed equal access to abortion in the landmark Roe v. Wade case.

Whilst this law still stands, states such as Mississippi have employed various legal tactics to effectively limit access to abortion.

These  include requiring parental consent for minors, compulsory state-sponsored counselling for women seeking an abortion, (which includes information designed to discourage women from having a termination), and an enforced 24 hour waiting period.

Public funding for abortions is  only available in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest or fetal abnormality.

Coupled with the fact that there is only one operating abortion clinic for the whole state the result is that Mississippi has significantly lower abortion rates than the US as a whole.

The US rate for abortions is 19.6 per 1000 women of reproductive age, in Mississippi it’s 4.9 per 1000.

Last year the state attempted to introduce additional legislation in a bill known as the 'Personhood Amendment' which would have defined life as beginning at the moment of fertilization. This was defeated in November with 58% of the public voting against the bill.

Felicia Brown-Williams of Planned Parenthood has described the new law as a "backdoor ban on abortion". Owner of the Jackson Women's clinic, Diane Derzis, has stated that they will do all they can to comply with the new law, but insisted that "if we can't comply, we’re going to sue".

If the clinic closes, women in the state seeking an abortion would have few options remaining.

It is possible that they could seek a private abortion from their own doctor; current laws state that doctors performing fewer than 10 abortions per month, or fewer than 100 per year are not required to have their offices registered and monitored as abortion facilities.

The only other choice left open to women would be to travel out of state, but many are simply not in a financial position to do this.

As with any law which restricts women's access to abortion the greatest risk is that where no safe access is allowed the probability of women seeking 'backstreet abortions' increases, and inevitably puts women's lives at risk.

The hunt for equality goes viral – 10 favourite feminist videos

Posted: 20 Apr 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Sarah Cheverton
WVoN co-editor

I’ve been hugely inspired of late by the fantastic work of Anita Sarkeesian, founder of the fantastic Feminist Frequency site.

A feminist media critic, Sarkeesian has single-handedly broadened my knowledge of representations of women in pop culture.

After losing many, many hours to the site, I began to get really interested in the use of film in the women’s rights movement and, being a person who just loves to share, this post is the result.

Here at WVoN, it’s our mission to showcase the best and worst of media representations of and about women, and you’ll be hearing more from us on this in the weeks to come. This post concentrates on the best feminist virals – which are few and far between.

Viral videos are perhaps most familiar to us now as a form of advertising but, not being known for my love of capitalism and advertising, I’ve become more interested in how they’ve been used to bring about social change.

In the gender justice and women’s rights movement, viral videos have been used in a variety of ways, including as campaign tools, as pieces of art to provoke a response, to raise awareness and even to educate.

Personally, I think the small selection here achieve some if not all of these aims, but don’t take my word for it, share your thoughts in the comments box – that’s what it’s for, folks.

First up, who better to kick off our list than Sarkeesian herself, with her viral on the Bechdel test. She explains how low this test sets the bar and highlights the many films that fail it.

If you love this, then you have to, Have To, HAVE TO check out Feminist Frequency’s Tropes vs Women series of six videos, which starts here

Next up is a fresh take on Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance – both the video and the song – rewritten to educate viewers about women’s fight for the vote in the United States.

The quality of this video is fantastic and I seriously hope this gets used in classes in the USA – if anyone has an equivalent for the UK, let me know.

Femigeeks amongst you, Well Done, Sister Suffragette from Mary Poppins is not the same though remains a firm favourite of mine.

This fantastic viral video from Engender, Scotland brings us a Superhero for women (that you’ve probably never heard of). Not only does this viral video appeal to my superhero, graphic novel-loving bad self, but also provides yet another reason for me to wish I was Scottish.

I’m a huge fan of the No Women, No Peace campaign from the GAPS network, which I think has taken great strides, if not flying leaps, to helping women in the West develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing women across the world who are living with conflict.

For these women, being heard is a huge hurdle in their fight for freedom and justice and this viral captures that perfectly.

I had never heard of the Girl Effect campaign – organised by a diverse coalition of organisations and projects from the Nike Foundation to the UN – until I saw this video and clicked through.

This viral highlights the importance of equal rights for women and the impact that our failing to achieve this has upon not only women, but the whole world. And any campaign site that opens with ‘The world could use a kick in the pants’ is a winner with me.

I haven’t been able to track down much information on this viral mashup by Erin Richardson, but one of the many things I love is its focus on the impact of the media in creating a dangerous body image for boys and girl, men and women.

This viral does what viral videos often do best – subvert existing material, in this case the original video ‘Shit Girls Say’, which IMHO is nowhere near as funny or relevant as this one. This is just one example of the fantastic work of Chesca Leigh and if you haven’t already, you should definitely check out more of her work.

Unlike Shakespeare, I can’t possibly count the many ways in which I LOVE this viral video for Stop the Traffik.

Simply put, it took my breath away and I’m betting the shooting of this one had a pretty powerful effect on the many passers by in Amsterdam’s red light district that night.

I wouldn’t have believed that a viral video could have a club hooting with laughter in one moment and stunned to absolute silence the next.

That is, until this video from the End Violence Against Women campaign We are Man was played at last year’s White Ribbon Comedy Night in Portsmouth, and I saw it to do exactly that. Aimed at drawing attention to the so-called ‘banter’ of lad culture, this one’s a stunner.

This last viral is one of my favourites. Not only was I not this cool at 13 years, I’m still not this cool now. “How awesome would it be to change the actions of just one person?

Simple actions can have the biggest impact” says Sarah in her viral video, which not only neatly sums up her video but the benefits of viral videos more broadly.

So, what’s your favourite video, and more importantly, have I missed any out?

Answers in the comments box please…

Writer’s note: More than a passing nod goes to the journal Transformative Works and Cultures online article on the history of video mashups, which came to my attention thanks to Feminist Frequency’s Facebook page.