Saturday, September 1, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

American women don’t want Romney-Ryan “up in their business”

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 09:45 AM PDT

Faye Mooney
WVoN co-editor

In light of the on-going Republican National Convention, Democratic Party leaders and political commentators are emphasising to voters the huge damage a Romney-Ryan presidency could do to women in the USA.

Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, said in Milwaukee on Wednesday that Romney and Ryan want to shrink government, “unless of course you’re a woman. And then government should be up in your business.

“We don’t want a president who is going to be up in our business.”

WVoN has previously reported on the well-documented and rather horrifying record on women's rights of the Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, and his running-mate Paul Ryan.

Since then, the Center for American Progress Action Fund has produced an excellent, detailed and coherent factsheet on exactly what Americans might be able to expect should the two men find themselves in power next year (a document which I strongly recommend reading).

According to the author Jessica Arons, Director of the Women's Health and Rights Program at the Center for American Progress, the four main points to note are that Romney –Ryan would:

· Threaten women's jobs and economic security

· Raise taxes on working women and severely cut essential safety net programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy

· End Obamacare and its many benefits for women

· Take away a woman's right to make decisions about whether and when to have children

(Ms Arons has also produced another excellent, longer article for CAPAF detailing the particular ways in which Mitt Romney alone would be bad for women, which can be found here)

Romney does have one secret weapon, and that’s his wife, Ann Romney, whose speech stole the show at the opening of the Replican party conference.

She used the opportunity to make a rather good go of forging a connection between her Presidential-candidate husband and the key swing female voters.

However, current polls show that Romney is losing the battle for the female vote.

But, thankfully, Republican Senator Michele Bachmann clarifies the figures for us, pointing out  that “You’ve gotta aggregate the data, because if you look at it, married women tend to support Mitt Romney more, single women tend to support Barack Obama more.

“Mitt Romney’s going to make life a lot more affordable. He’s gonna bring prices down and that’s really good for women because women do a lot of the shopping in families.” Ah, yes, great point, Michele…

Under the current British government, we have seen how scarily easy it is for a set of carefully manipulated policies to dismantle women's services and reverse progress on women's rights. Unlike in the US however, this outcome was not really visible in the manifesto (but, hey, what was?) and the actual impact will still leave women with a great deal more basic rights than our American counterparts could end up with.

The question now is whether the American electorate will be sufficiently scared of the potential onslaught against women to vote against this toxic pairing.

Women at the Paralympics – facts, figures and names to watch out for

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 08:41 AM PDT

Penny Hopkins
WVoN Paralympics Editor

Here we go again! With the applause still ringing in our ears from the London 2012 Olympics, we're all back to be stirred once again by exceptional athletic feats, this time by the Paralympians, over the next nine days.

The facts and figures pertaining to female competitors make interesting, and encouraging, reading.

More women than ever before will be competing at these games.

1,513 women will be competing in 18 different sports. Only 5-a-side and 7-a-side football are solely male events.

The total number of competitors is rising all the time with numbers having doubled since the 1992 games in Barcelona.

Of the teams with over 50 members, Mexico has the biggest percentage of women with 55.56%. Iran has the least, with males making up 92.41% of the team.

Countries are not subject to the same rules on equality as the Olympic Games, although the participation of women is a hot topic. There are a number of teams with only one competitor. Of these, 40 have a lone male competitor while only 5 have a lone female.

The development of women's Paralympic sport can be largely put down to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Women in Sport Committee.

It was formed 10 years ago to address the issue of gender equity within the Paralympic Movement. It aims to "advocate and advise on the strategies and policies to obtain the full inclusion of women and girls at all levels of Paralympic sport and the Paralympic Movement and identify barriers that restrict participation, recommend policies and initiatives to increase participation."

Tine Teilman, Chair of the IPC Women in Sport Committee, commented:

"I am sure we will see many sportswomen through inspiring and exciting performances become strong role models for others. The growing number of female participants is also essential to secure equal sporting opportunities at the Games."

Stars new and old will shine at these Games.

In the swimming, watch out for Jessica Long (USA) who won six medals at Beijing including four golds, Natalie Du Toit (South Africa), already with 10 Paralympic golds to her name and Ellie Simmonds (GB) who came away from Beijing with two golds and is favourite for more. In wheelchair tennis, Esther Vergeer (Netherlands) will be a strong contender in both singles and doubles. In the team events keep an eye on the three Chinese table tennis teams and the American goalball team.

I could name so many more, but whatever you watch, you won't fail to be inspired.

Australian PM attends Pacific Island Leaders’ Forum meeting

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 06:30 AM PDT

Helen Thompson
WVoN co-editor

Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is attending the meeting of Pacific Island Forum leaders in the Cook Islands this week.

She is one of three high-profile female leaders, including UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to arrive in Rarotanga for discussions based around the theme, “Large Ocean Island States – The Pacific Challenge”.

The status of women in the Pacific will be one of the main issues Gillard discusses with Pacific island leaders.

She will announce that AusAID will be providing funding for a new 10-year programme aimed at improving the lives of women in the region.

When compared with the status of women around the world, Pacific island Women suffer some of the lowest rates of employment outside the home and the highest rates of domestic violence.

They are also less likely to be voted into government as is evident in the fact that out of sixteen political leaders present at the forum, only two are women.

The AusAID programme will focus on empowering women in these three crucial areas in order to provide more economic opportunities, eliminate violence against women and preparing women for leadership roles.

Pacific Island Forum Secretary-General Tuiloma Neroni Slade, has argued that gender equality should be at the centre of  national and regional outcomes.

However, as Peter Baxter, the director-general of AusAID, points out, “we’re not going to see an improvement in women’s rights in the region unless they are being championed by men.”

As well as focusing on gender, Gillard will also discuss seasonal labour migration from the Pacific to Australia, and sustainable development of the fisheries industry, energy and tourism.

UK Feminista’s feminist lobby of parliament

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:30 AM PDT

Holly Peacock
WVoN co-editor

Feminist activist organisation, UK Feminsta, has invited all supporters of women’s rights to a lobby of parliament on October 24.

UK Feminsta has joined forces with a number of supporting organisations, such as women’s charity Eaves, to create the event which brings the public face to face with their local MP’s to discuss how politics can rectify issues affecting women.

Some of the topics of discussion include combating violence against women and girls, inequality in the economy and the workplace, strengthening democracy and women’s rights.

To join in on the day the organisation asks members of the public to register their attendance via the UK Feminista website. By registering with your address, an email will be sent on your behalf to your local MP inviting them to attend the feminist lobby.

On the day there will be a pre-lobby event from 14:00-16:00 at the Abbey Centre which will include training, talks and stalls to prepare and unite campaigners.

Dr Helen Pankhurst, great granddaughter of Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, will be joining the lobby and reuniting with the Olympic Suffragettes to “lobby for an end to the backsliding on women’s rights.”

Speaking to UK Feminista, Pankhurst declared:

"Lobbying parliament today is as urgent and vital as it has ever been. Politicians and other leaders can and must do more to tackle the serious injustices against women that persist – and the human rights violations that they contribute to – and that continue to thwart our potential as a society.

“Women and men coming together on one day in a mass lobby of parliament is a perfect way to remind our leaders that we expect more from them – they can and must do more!"

Disabled people slam ‘hypocrisy’ of Paralympics sponsor

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 03:40 AM PDT

Rachel Salmon
WVoN co-editor

This week disabled people have been protesting against ATOS, one of the Paralymics’ main sponsors.

WVoN spoke to Ellen Clifford from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) to find out why.

ATOS, a giant IT company, which holds £3bn worth of contracts with the UK Government, has been carrying out assessments on disabled people who claim Incapacity Benefit.

DPAC say ATOS have wrongly assessed up to 100,000 people as 'fit for work'. Those wrongly assessed have subsequently been put under pressure to work when they can't.

This week DPAC has been hosting the ATOS Games, to expose what they see as the hypocrisy of its sponsorship of the Paralympics and to challenge public perception of disabled people as benefit scroungers.

"Focus groups show the public believe benefit fraud amongst disabled people to be 70 per cent, when in reality it is 0.5 per cent.

"The Government is taking benefits away from genuinely disabled people.  It is taking the means of survival from disabled people.

"That's why numbers of disabled people have taken their own lives in desperation," said Clifford.

On Wednesday DPAC held a vigil for the dead.

A coffin, filled with over 100 messages from both disabled people who have had work capability assessments and found them traumatic, and families and loved ones of disabled people who have died after being declared 'fit for work', was delivered to ATOS' London offices.

On Monday, DPAC hosted a 'medal ceremony' outside London's City Hall.  Former paralympian Tara Flood had her medals and car keys taken from her and declared no longer disabled by 'assessors'.

The campaigners are concerned that ATOS has been given a further £400m contract to assess claimants of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), a benefit paid to help disabled people in the UK meet additional living costs.

"The Government wants to reduce the number of DLA claimants by 20 per cent.

"It is arguing that this is about austerity, but there is an economic case for independence," said Clifford.

Clifford points to a review by the Office of Disability issues, which found that if independent, disabled people could contribute to the economy, pay taxes and employ personal assistants.

"This is an attack on the welfare state and anyone who requires state intervention," says Clifford.

Clifford is unsure whether the Paralympics will help people understand the daily struggles faced by disabled people.

"It's always helpful for the movement to have representatives who can break the glass ceiling, showing what people can do physically.

"But it might worsen attitudes towards disabled people who can't do that, as there is not an understanding of the barriers (the athletes) faced to get there.

"There's this rhetoric of disabled people as scroungers, and there's a danger the public won't connect the two.

"They won't understand we are actually talking about the same group of people," she said.

And DPAC is not interested in working in isolation.  On Friday, they will join forces with UK Uncut for an ATOS Closing Ceremony.

"We are linking with other campaigns, unions and the left, which is something we have not done before," said Clifford.

After the Games, DPAC' will host a Pauper’s Picnic and a lobby of Parliament on September 13, in defence of the Independent Living Fund (ILF), which the Government is proposing to close.

The ILF helps 16,000 disabled people meet the costs of personal assistants so they can stay in their own homes and out of residential care.

Another concern for DPAC is education. Clifford believes the Government green paper on Special Educational Needs will increase segregation.

"The emphasis on academies is detrimental to disabled people.  They are notorious for discriminating against disabled people.

"Special schools mean non-disabled people grow up without being around disabled people," she said.

“Bic for Her” pens re-write story of gendered marketing

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 02:26 AM PDT

Faye Mooney
WVoN co-editor

Many WVoN readers will be well aware that the internet can be a very frustrating place for women.

Stories we covered in just the past few days, for example, have included trolling and pornographic facebook pages.

However, this week I came across something a little more heartening, for once.

The launch of a new range of women's pens by Bic has sparked an outpouring of hilariously disparaging responses and reviews on the Amazon website.

The page has gone viral, with websites and newspapers picking up on the sarcastically expressed outrage surrounding the product.

To clarify: "Bic for Her" pens come in purple or pink hues (you know, those lovely colours that all women just simply adore), and are designed especially for the oh-so-different delicate shape of the female hand.

At the time of writing, 355 people had shared their views on the pens on the Amazon website, each one seemingly as baffled by their ridiculousness as the next:

“A treatise on the suitability of the pink pen: Pray, what is a ‘pen’? I do like it so, because it is so pink, but I remain ignorant as to its practical use… I can only assume that because it is pink, it is intended for a woman’s useage. I am a woman, therefore perhaps I should have this pink so-called pen?”

“Revolutionary article – must buy!: This pen is great. I bought it for all my female friends and relatives. It enabled them, finally, to write things (although they may not yet know to do so on paper; but you can only expect so much, really). I thought they were just a bit slow.”

 ”Terrible: This is the most uncomfortable tampon I have ever used. Honestly, I don’t know what Bic was thinking. Don’t recommend.”

So, apart from a laugh, what can we take away from this internet reaction?

Perhaps, just maybe, that absurd gender-based stereotypes which assume all women love pink, fluffy love hearts and kittens and so on, are actually becoming laughable and redundant; that both men and women are starting to refuse to accept the gender constructs fed to us for so long by the world of advertising.

As reported in the National Post, Ken Wong, a marketing professor at Queen's School of Business, has said "The real lesson I think for Bic is if you're going to make a distinction between gender, it better be scientifically based.

"If it's tied to something that seems whimsical, I think you're going to find yourself in a big whack of trouble."

Either way, let's hope Bic's marketing department, and indeed marketing departments all over the world, are sitting up and taking note: patronising gender-based products are outdated and unwanted. To remain relevant and current, companies must keep pace with notions of equality that much of the world now employs. We are far away from the days of "Mad Men" advertising .

Who knows, perhaps in 10 years time little girls might be laughing at the idea of having to wear pink and boys could be clamouring to play with "My Little Ponies".

(Note: There is a project underway in London at the moment called Breakthrough Stereotypes which is trying to push forward this very process!)