Saturday, June 16, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

First Lady Michelle Obama aims campaign directly at women voters

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Kathy Audin
WVoN co-editor

First Lady Michelle Obama has sent out a campaigning e-mail touting for the votes of women whose numbers could decide the next US president.

In a fundraising message that pledges the Democratic Party's commitment to women's issues, the First Lady is hoping to rock the female vote.

Her appeal focuses on the challenges of student loans, equal pay, and middle class tax cuts that the president  "has been fighting for every single day as president, every single day."

She may have been put to work due to her husband’s diminishing lead among women voters. In the most recent USA Today/Gallup Poll, Obama led by three percentage points – 49 to 46 per cent over Mitt Romney.  In May he led by 12 points, 18 in April.

In 2008 women voted in favour of Obama by 56 per cent compared to 43 per cent for the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.

In her e-mail, Mrs Obama praises the president as a women's rights crusader from his personal experiences as a "son of a single mother, who struggled to put herself through school and pay the bills”.

She even raises the spectre of his grandmother who “hit that glass ceiling” while men “…were promoted up the ladder ahead of her.”

Women have demonstrated political influence against the Republican's campaign against women on issues of abortion, equal pay, access to healthcare, and domestic violence.

In just 24 hours after the Susan G. Komen Foundation announced funding cuts for breast exams, Planned Parenthood  donations were boosted to $400,000. One year after John Boehner took over as Speaker of House, membership has doubled from 400,000 to 1.5 million at Emily’s List,  an organisation that supports pro abortion female candidates.

The power of the female vote will once again determine the next President. Long term, the impact of the female vote will hopefully address issues of abortion, equal pay, access to loans, and domestic protection.

Only woman to receive Nobel Prize in economics dies aged 78

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT

Jale Arif
WVoN co-editor 

Elinor Ostrom, the first and only woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics, has died of pancreatic cancer, aged 78.

Ostrom received the award in 2009 for her research analysis on how people can co-operatively manage common resources such as fish stocks, water and forests as well as or better than the government or private owners.

Remarkably, she wasn’t even an economist but a political scientist.

She has also featured in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Born in Los Angeles and educated at the University of California, she graduated in Political Science, and gained a PhD in the husbandry of Los Angeles groundwater resources.

When she graduated in 1965, it was at a time when very few women held advanced degrees let alone "tenured positions", in the social sciences.

In 1963, she married one of her professors, political theorist Vincent Ostrom and together they taught at the Indiana University for nearly five decades, where she became Professor of Political Science in its College of Arts and Sciences and also professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Ostrom’s most important work took place in the 1960s and 1970s when she challenged the "Tragedy of the Commons" a concept in social science coined by  ecologist Garrett Hardin, which describes a situation in which individuals, acting rationally in their own self-interest, deplete a shared limited resource.

Her view was that: “What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people versus just having somebody in Washington … make a rule.”

She argued that individuals and groups could manage their own resources, without the involvement of the government and private owners, the concept of "polycentrism."

Ostrom wrote many books and articles, including "Governing the Commons" (1990) which was termed “the intellectual field guide” for conservationists involved with small communities.

Her legacy also includes a research centre, the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University that she co- founded with her husband in 1973.

Together, she and her husband donated millions of dollars to Indiana University, including the funds from her Nobel prize.

Ostrom was diagnosed with cancer in October 2011 and died on Tuesday, June 12. She is survived by her husband.

Women football fans face Iran ban

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Euro 2012 fever has been gripping/boring (delete as appropriate) the continent for nigh on a week now, with daily matches taking place in Poland and the Ukraine.

And despite the title of the competition, you don't actually have to be European to enjoy it.  In Iran however, it would seem you do have to be a man.

Until this week, showing football in movie theatres was common practice in Iran, with crowds (of men and women) gathering to indulge their love for the beautiful game on the big screen.

This practice came about largely due to a long-standing ban that prevents women attending stadiums for live football matches because the games are played by men wearing shorts.

Women have not been allowed to attend men's football matches since 1996.

The large screen broadcasts were seen to be a relaxing of this rule as whole families gathered to watch the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.

But gender bias has again reinstated itself in a nation already controversial for its treatment of women – a nation where, ironically, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said women are highly respected.

The women of Iran have now been banned from public cinema screenings of Euro 2012 football games because, says Bahman Kargar, Iran’s deputy police commander in charge of social affairs, an 'inappropriate' environment could cause men to become rowdy, and behave in a manner which was inappropriate for women to witness.

He said 'It is an inappropriate situation when men and women watch football in (movie) theatres together.

'Men, while watching football, get excited and sometimes utter vulgar curses or tell dirty jokes. It is not within the dignity of women to watch football with men. Women should thank the police [for the ban]‘.

A multi-screen cinema in the capital city of Tehran was sealed off earlier this week after rumours spread that the theatre had defied the ban and was selling tickets to Euro 2012 screenings to women.

Segregation of the sexes is favoured by Iran’s hardline Islamic forces, who say that the social integration of unrelated men and women is corrupting.

Iranian society is rife with these rules – in the Islamic republic, women have to use single sex swimming pools, beaches and parks.  In conditions reminiscent of racial segregation in 40s and 50s America, women can only travel in the back of public buses, and have to use women-only taxis or tube carriages.

Education is also subject to segregation, with schools being totally sex-separate, with some universities following suit.

It's a particular blow for those women who were hoping that the AFC under 16s international championship in Tehran in October this year would signal a return to the terraces.

Tthe AFC has said that as far as it is concerned, ‘there should be no sex discrimination regarding the presence of men and women at stadiums.'

Head of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), Ali Kafshian, has said they will respect the regulations.

But the conservative Islamists are sharply against this.

Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani said 'Women looking at a man’s body, even if not for the sake of gratification, is inappropriate. Furthermore, Islam insists that men and women should not mix.'.

So it remains to be seen whether women will be allowed on to the terraces in October.

Meanwhile, Euro 2012 continues apace.  The fact that it is unwatched by Iranian women may mean little to the players and organisers, but it's another sad erosion of the rights of women in a country that seems to have forgotten that they hold a seat on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Move to improve women’s access to abortion in US military

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Naomi Wilcox
WVoN co-editor

An amendment to a bill before the US Senate aims to improve  access to abortion for women serving in the US military.

Under current Department of Defense insurance, women soldiers can only get an abortion in a military health centre if their life is deemed to be at risk.

This is considerably more restricted than the 1976 Hyde Amendment  which states that federal funds cannot be used to provide abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or where the mother’s life is endangered.

Little wonder that only about 13.5 percent of all rapes and sexual assaults (about 19,000) in the military are actually reported.

The extent of rape in the military has been highlighted recently by a number of  campaigns and the imminent release of a feature length documentary, ‘The Invisible War’.

Currently a servicewoman is left with few choices if she becomes pregnant after being raped. Basically, if she wants to have an abortion, she has to pay for it herself.

In some cases this may be provided at a military hospital – but only if she can prove that the pregnancy was the result of  rape. Her other choice is to seek an abortion elsewhere.

For women serving abroad in countries such as Iraq or Afghanistan, finding an abortion off base is a near impossibility, meaning that they have to return to the US. Even if they do, many entry-level service women cannot afford the cost of an abortion.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen has added an amendment to the 2013 National Defence Authorisation Act that would remove these limitations and allow serving women greater access to abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the organisation Stand With Servicewomen have created a series of ads in support.

One features three women who have recently returned from active service in Afghanistan and Iraq in which they say:

"As a soldier in Iraq, I put my life on the line to protect and defend my country. I fought for the freedom and justice our country stands for. Yet, I'm denied proper reproductive health care benefits; denied abortion care even if I'm the victim of rape.

“I expected the horror of war in Iraq – but I expected better from my own government."

Although the bill passed the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, it is not likely to be approved, as House Republicans oppose it.

A GOP staff member told the Army Times that the amendment was unlikely to survive the next stage of the process,

"Historically, social provisions that are not reflected in both bills heading into conference don't survive," he said. "Amendments like this have come up several times."

Americans who want to show their support can sign a petition and help spread the word.

Girls (not) on film

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Earlier this week 'Women in Film' presented their annual Crystal + Lucy Awards at a star studded ceremony in Los Angeles.

Female figures from across the industry gathered to pay tribute to this year’s outstanding women achievers. That is, if you can find them.

According to figures recently published by the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, women held just 18 percent of key jobs on the top 250 money spinning movies of 2011.

The study, 'Celluloid Ceiling' looked at the (paltry) number of women working in the areas of directors, producers, executive producers, writers, editors and cinematographers.

The breakdown makes for depressing reading…

In 2011, only five percent of directors involved with the top 250 movies were women.  That's pretty bad.  Worse still, it was actually a decrease of two percent from the previous year.

Also in 2011, women accounted for a tiny 14 percent of writers and a practically microscopic four percent of cinematographers.

Translated into more general terms, a woman is 15 percent more likely to serve as a member of the clergy or hold a seat on a Fortune 500 company board, and 10 percent more likely to work as an aerospace engineer than she is to direct a Hollywood movie.

And as far as Oscars go….. Kathryn Bigelow remains the only woman to have taken the coveted title of Best Director for her film about Iraq, 'The Hurt Locker'.  And that was a mere two years ago.

It's a grey and disheartening celluloid landscape.

So let's click our heels and return to the far more colourful Women in Film Awards. There was glamour, there was laughter, there were tears…….

And there was Meryl Streep.

Although her role for the evening was predominantly to present actress Viola Davis with the Excellence in Film award, Ms Streep also had more than a few choice words to say about the movie industry's celluloid ceiling:

‘In this room, we are very familiar with these dreadful statistics that detail the shocking under-representation of women in our business,' she said.

'Seven to ten percent of directors, producers, writers, and cinematographers [are women] in any given year. This in spite of the fact that in the last five years, five little movies aimed at women have earned over $1.6 billion: The Help, The Iron Lady believe it or not, Bridesmaids, Mamma Mia!, and The Devil Wears Prada.

'As you can see, their problems were significant because they cost a fraction of what the big tent-pole failures cost. . . . Let's talk about The Iron Lady. It cost $14 million to make it and brought in $114 million. Pure profit! So why? Why? Don't they want the money?'

Quoting poet and Pulitzer Prize novelist Alice Walker, who said 'the most common way people give up their power is by thinking that they don't have any’, she added: ‘That's like [hearing] that women don't get raises because they don't ask for them. It's incredible.'

It's not just the scarcity of intelligent roles that are written for women (predominantly by men) or how much women get paid (which is less than men) that are causes for concern.

It's also the fact that it is generally men who decide what movies get made in the first place, so women are often coming late to the table.  And they're getting younger and younger.

Davis raised the issue of ageism in the industry: 'People always say, whatever happened to so-and-so, and the next response is always, oh, she’s over 40′, that’s what happened to her.

'At the age of 46, I’m very proud to be Viola Davis. The higher purpose in my life is not just to do the song and dance, but it’s also to rise up and to pull up (others), and to leave the world and the industry a little bit better.'

The last word has to go to 15-year-old Chloë Grace Moretz, who was presented with the 2012 Face of the Future Award.

'I love how Women in Films' mission is mentoring young women. One generation helping another, joining forces to build a better future. . . .

‘I'm finishing up ninth grade, and in high school we have a name for the group that has assembled here. In high school, we call you all the 'smart girls.' And I want to be a smart girl.'

Methinks she already is.

India voted as worst place to be a woman

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Rachel Ogbu
WVoN co-editor

Child marriage and slavery are two of the factors that make India the worst place to be a woman among the world's biggest economies.

The survey of 370 gender specialists found Canada to be the best place to be a woman amongst G20 nations, excluding the European Union economic grouping.

Saudi Arabia was the second worst, after India.

The poll, released ahead of a summit of G20 heads of state to be held in Mexico next week, showed the reality for many women remains grim despite the introduction of laws and treaties on women’s rights, the experts said.

Gulshun Rehman, health programme development adviser at Save the Children UK, who was one of those polled said women and girls in India continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labour.

"It's a miracle a woman survives in India. As a child, she faces abuse, rape and early marriage and even when she marries, she is killed for dowry.

“If she survives all of this, as a widow she is discriminated against and given no rights over inheritance or property," said Shemeer Padinzjharedil, who runs Maps4aid.com, a website which maps and documents crimes against women.

Many of the crimes against women are in India's heavily populated northern plains, where, in parts, there is a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to being homemakers and child bearers.

In addition, age-old customs such as payment of hefty dowries at the time of marriage and beliefs linking women’s sexual behaviour to family honour have added to the perception that women are second class citizens.

Saudi Arabia – where women are well educated but are banned from driving and only won the right to vote in 2011 – polled second-worst after India, followed by Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico.

The poll asked aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, journalists and development specialists with expertise in gender issues to rank the 19 countries of the G20 in terms of the overall best and worst to be a woman.

“Having an understanding of Canadian culture and tracking the work they’re doing around violence against women and gender equality, I believe that Canada really has been emerging as a model for what most countries should aspire to for a long time,” said Jimmie Briggs, journalist, author and founder of the Man Up Campaign that works to engage youth to stop violence against women and girls.

The same poll concluded that Germany, Britain, Australia and France rounded out the top five countries out of the group of 20.

The United States came in sixth but polarised opinion due to concerns about reproductive rights and affordable healthcare.

Respondents were from 63 countries on five continents and included experts from UN Women, the International Rescue Committee, Plan International, Amnesty USA and Oxfam International, as well as prominent academic institutions and campaigning organisations. Representatives of faith-based organisations were also surveyed.

How they ranked:

1 Canada; 2 Germany; 3 Britain; 4 Australia; 5 France; 6 United States; 7 Japan; 8 Italy; 9 Argentina; 10 South Korea; 11 Brazil; 12 Turkey; 13 Russia; 14 China; 15 Mexico; 16 South Africa; 17 Indonesia; 18 Saudi Arabia; 19 India.

First ever female GB Olympic boxing squad announced

Posted: 15 Jun 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Naomi Wilcox
WVoN co-editor

Three British women made history this week as they became the first ever female boxing squad to enter the Olympics.

Nicola Adams, Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall will compete in the Olympic tournament during the London 2012 games this summer, having performed outstandingly at this year’s World Championships in China.

The three women had their places confirmed when the team was announced in Sheffield on Monday. There were similar celebrations around the world as female competitors for the sport were announced.

London will be the first Olympic Games to include women’s boxing. Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said:

"Boxing was the only Olympic discipline in which women could not participate and London 2012 is set to provide a real legacy for this sport.

“The growth of women boxers has increased quite drastically in recent years and the impressive performances from our athletes is very encouraging ahead of this summer.”

Apart from Russia, Britain is the only country to have all three women qualify and they are expected to collect more medals at this summer’s games.

Marshall,who was crowned Britain's first ever women's world boxing champion on her 21st birthday and who won three silver medals at the World Championships said:

"I haven't really thought about making history at the Olympics, I just take each day as it comes. Obviously we're making history, but I haven't really stopped to think about it because I want to be Olympic champion, so I've got other things to think about.”

Hunt commented on the impact these changes will have on encouraging younger girls to stay involved with sports:

“I think these Games are going to be a lot about incredible achievements from Team GB’s female athletes.

“For me it will be a really great legacy because we have a real issue in this country with girls dropping out of sports early. These Games will produce a whole new bunch of female role models to get girls participating in sports.

“There are people I know who have taken up boxing only recently because of the success of these athletes.”

The three women take the total number of boxers of team GB to ten. And how many medals do they hope to walk away with? “10″ was the confident answer.