Women's Views on News |
- The power in softness – a book by Charly Flower
- Aung San Suu Kyi takes oath of office
- Guest blog – IWD 2013 starts here and now
- Schools hold the key to closing gender gap in physical exercise
- Sexist Samsung ad alienates female buyers
- First “Mother-and-Baby Friendly” hospital in Pacific announced
| The power in softness – a book by Charly Flower Posted: 02 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT
"Softness" has been getting a very bad press for a very long time – we are talking at least a few thousand years. I should know: I spent eight years working as a female bouncer in some of London’s roughest nightclubs. More often than not, I was the only female on a team of door supervisors, and almost all of the problems that erupted could so often be dealt with much more effectively, and quickly, using a gentler approach to door supervision. The worst word you can level at most men, however, is the word "soft". Even those men who are not fighting out in Afghanistan, or playing at soldiers as bouncers on the doors of Britain’s clubs, are deeply insulted to be called anything resembling "soft" or "gentle". The definition of masculinity is everything that a woman is not – to most men. All this is unhealthy enough, but that so many women are now following suit is dangerous to the human body, and soul. Women, as a group, hold the antidote to healing the world’s problems. They are, for starters, the balancers of the planet: a few exceptions aside, most women create life and are therefore far more reluctant to destroy it. The "killing industry" that mankind has created is now "a horse that has bolted without a rider". There needs to be some force other than men that can jump back in the saddle and steer the horse back to a steady state – to equilibrium. Womankind is the force that the planet most needs to do this. It is the feminine quality of softness that can restore sanity. Softness is a power, not a weakness. It can move us to stop, for a moment, to obtain clarity. More than anything, it gives us three hundred and sixty degree vision so that we can accurately assess the consequences of any actions taken. The power in softness is, at root, a practical blueprint to use for life. Many women, it seems, are taking on masculine values. It’s hard not to – I did. Like many women, I decided that if I couldn’t beat them, I’d join them. While this serves as a coping mechanism, it is not really helping in the long term: when you trade in your femininity for the prevailing masculine way of things, you temporarily kill off a power that is greater than anything already here. So, when women harden themselves in order to "make it" in the office or the corporate world, and when they become aggressive and stern in their relationships with others - as well as with each other - they cut themselves off from their power base. The Power in Softness – A Guide to Personal Protection and Empowerment for Women represents my journey from hardness to softness. Through many true life stories of my time spent working as a female bouncer, I offer the reader insights into the virtues, and necessities, of softness. I show that the power in softness can heal, protect, and open you to a higher force. The book is a call to women to recognize the most powerful force on the planet: them. With more and more women aligning to a masculine value system, we are in danger of losing the feminine entirely. If we do, an entire dimension of human experience will be lost. As Eckhart Tolle writes in A New Earth, “We now have a situation in which the suppression of the feminine has become internalized, even in most women”.  |
| Aung San Suu Kyi takes oath of office Posted: 02 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT
The struggle of well-known Burmese pro-democracy champion, Aung San Suu Kyi, took an historic turn today when she and other opposition members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) took their oath of office in a special ceremony. The ceremony had been delayed following the success of the opposition in parliamentary elections on April 1, because it wanted to change the wording of the oath they had to swear before taking their seats. The oath states that elected members will “safeguard” the constitution upholding military rule, something that the NLD has pledged to resist. However, on Monday Suu Kyi said she would take the oath “for the country and for the people” so that they could get on with the business of politics. The strategy of taking seats in a government that is still dominated by the military is seen by some observers as a risky one, but Suu Kyi insists that”only time will tell“.  |
| Guest blog – IWD 2013 starts here and now Posted: 02 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT
It's now two months since we all marched, gathered, sang, organised or performed in events to mark the 101st International Women's Day (IWD) on 8 March. I've been organising Women for Women's “Join me on the Bridge“ campaign for the past three years, and this year I found that I had more people spontaneously coming up to me either wishing me a happy IWD, or commenting on the fact that it is IWD and they'd actually heard about it this year. For me, that was bit of a breakthrough. I think IWD is about all of us coming together, being energised and inspired by each other, and connecting with other women all over the world as we grow ever stronger and closer to our goal of women's equality. Personally, I've been inspired to get active not only by our suffragette forbearers, but also more recently by a book and now a movement entitled Half the Sky, led by husband and wife team, Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – who explain why women's equality is the moral issue of our day and how grassroots women all over the world are making a difference. And by the women of Liberia who came together to end the civil war and bring peace to Liberia – the story is brilliantly told in the must-see film “Pray the devil back to hell”. They show us all that we can do it! So, whilst we all hopefully heard a lot more about women's rights and equality on IWD, I think we can safely say that we still have a long way to go. But what do we have to do so that we don't have to go another 100 years before we can properly celebrate women's equality? It's not an issue that is just about women living in poverty. Whilst women in countries like Afghanistan and Congo suffer some of the worst that humanity can possibly throw at anyone, it is also about me here living in London where women still do not have equality, whether in the boardroom or the bedroom, let alone in Parliament or government. Violence against women is shocking and it happens on our doorsteps. It's just as shameful for a woman in Birmingham to report that she's a victim of abuse and to take action as it is for a woman in Congo or Afghanistan. It's the women who are stigmatised and victimised. But it's also the women who hold the keys to be able to rebuild our communities, and often our nations. At Women for Women we have a saying that Stronger Women build Stronger Nations. And that's why IWD is important. It's important that we all come together and unite so that we can do something real about changing our world. I've been evaluating the impact that we made with our Join me on the Bridge campaign, and also with the Equals coalition that we helped to found with British singer Annie Lennox to bring together different organisations working on women's rights. I've also been chatting with other people who put so much energy into organising IWD events – the Southbank team who organised the incredible Women of the World festival, Funny Women who organised a comedy awards fundraising night, and with organisers of campaigns in countries as diverse as Canada, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and India. We are all agreed that we could all do better next year. And that's by us all doing one simple thing – starting our planning earlier. If we reach out to more supporters earlier with ways to get involved, and build up towards IWD then we will make a huge impact next year. So, I'll officially announce that IWD 2013 starts now. I would love to hear from anyone who's looking for ways to get involved in building the women's movement. There is no right or wrong way of doing it, but if we're coordinated and united we can all achieve so much more. I'd love to hear from anyone who has an idea, some time, some energy so that we can make this our moment, and build on the momentum that is gathering fresh pace around IWD and the global women's movement. You can get in touch on twitter @katenustedt or email me at knustedt@womenforwomen.org – change can only happen if we're all making it.  |
| Schools hold the key to closing gender gap in physical exercise Posted: 02 May 2012 05:53 AM PDT
A new report by the English Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) has found that girls in the UK are not getting enough exercise – and that schools hold the key to encouraging them to get active. The report, based on research carried out by the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University, showed that half of all girls (51%) are put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and physical exercise (PE). Official figures show that just 12% of 14 year old girls are reaching the recommended levels of physical activity – half the number of boys at the same age. This is despite three quarters (74%) of girls saying they would like to be more active. It also highlights the gender gap that emerges between girls and boys as they grow up. In Year Four of primary school, girls and boys are doing similar levels of physical activity. However, by Year Six girls are doing considerably less exercise than boys – a gap that widens as girls reach Year Nine of secondary school. As part of the research, a survey asked 1,500 school children about their attitudes to fitness and sport. It found that:
Sue Tibballs, chief executive of WSFF, said: "It is well-known that school children are less active than they should be. This problem is particularly severe for girls. Our research shows that PE and school sport is actually putting the majority of girls off being active, even though three quarters of girls are keen to do more exercise. "We need schools and the Government to urgently address this issue, and create policies that will keep our children fit and healthy. The priority needs to be getting all children active not just focusing on the sporty ones. "With sport front of mind in 2012, now is the ideal time to do it."  |
| Sexist Samsung ad alienates female buyers Posted: 02 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT
As I was catching up on Twitter this morning, I came across this post by BitchMedia. It refers to a Samsung camera being too smart for British reality television personality Amy Childs. Sigh. In a recent WVoN post I wrote about how advertisers are out of touch with their audiences, and this ad is living proof that Samsung have completely disregarded potential female purchasers. As Debbie DeGabrielle, CMO, Visible Technologies commented:
Given that it is not possible for Samsung (and all the other guilty parties – they know who they are) not to be aware of this, then I can only believe that it is trolling. In other words Samsung and others are throwing this kind of crap out there in order to get attention. So if we (and by we I mean women) object, they get publicity, if we don't the sexism stays there. Oh what to do? Well, NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCTS. Let's do that. This morning I tweeted this:
At the last count it had been retweeted to over 10,000 people – THAT IS RIGHT SAMSUNG 10,000 PEOPLE – have seen the ad. And, when this is published, it will be tweeted to a further 10,000 people and be available to our 40,000 monthly visitors. All well and good Samsung might think – free advertising. BUT my networks are predominately female and the retweets will be going to a predominately female audience, an audience which advertisers (overwhelmingly managed by men) are ignoring at their peril. But just to be clear Samsung – that is possibly 60,000 women who will not now buy your products or at least think twice before they do. I know I will. Well done boys.  |
| First “Mother-and-Baby Friendly” hospital in Pacific announced Posted: 02 May 2012 02:38 AM PDT
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has announced the accreditation of the first “Mother-and-Baby Friendly” hospital in the Pacific. Along with UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services said that they had recognised the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands, for its policies and practices encouraging maternal and child health. The most important was protecting breastfeeding as the only source of food and fluid for the baby within the first six months of life. "This is a big score for Solomon Islands. The National Referral Hospital supervises the delivery of up to 5,000 babies every year. We must ensure that every child is given the best start in life. “There is no better way than for a baby to experience the immediate bonding with the mother and to be provided with all the nutrients necessary to ensure a proper foundation in life", said UNICEF Pacific Representative, Dr Isiye Ndombi. "The economic savings of breastfeeding are critical not only for governments, but also for poor families who spend large parts of their incomes on infant formula," Dr Ndombi added. Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Dr Cedric Alependava, said that if proper breastfeeding is practiced and the mother-and-baby friendly steps are sustained and expanded, child mortality in Solomon Islands would come down.  |
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