Women's Views on News |
- White men with yellow fever
- Breastfeeding and baby-led weaning
- Events: 5 August – 11 August 2013
- Sports round-up: July 29 – August 4
- Twitter threats continue
| Posted: 05 Aug 2013 09:09 AM PDT
Guest post by Joy Goh-Mah "I love Asian women!" "Asian women are so hot." "Japan, Korea, China?" "Asian women know how to treat a man!" Do any of these phrases sound familiar to you? If they do, congratulations, you've come across (or you are) a man — probably white — with so-called "Yellow Fever". As an Asian woman living in a country full of white men, I meet these guys a lot. You know, the ones who blurt out all of the above, who try to guess what 'type' of Asian I am, whose favourite actresses are Gong Li, Lucy Liu and Zhang Ziyi, who insist on discussing Korean/Japanese/Chinese dramas with me despite me not having seen the series in question, who tell me about all the other Asian women they've dated, who complain about how ugly white women are and why Asian women are so much better, and who try to get me to tell them that white men are so much better than Asian men. Of course, such exotifiying sentiments are meant to be complimentary. After all, the patriarchy asserts, what could be higher praise for a woman than the approval of a white man? Only…it isn't praise. It is patronising and dehumanising, and inextricably bound up with the social power of race and gender. To them, 'Asian' is our defining characteristic, in a way that 'white' would never be used to define themselves. When the "Yellow Fever'ed men speak to me, they aren't speaking to me, they're speaking to their idea of an Asian woman, their fantasy made flesh. They're speaking to every Asian woman they've ever seen in the media, every Asian porn actress they've ever leered at on their computer screens. My personality is rendered invisible, obscured by the lenses of racial stereotype. And what a horrifically misogynistic stereotype it is too. Have a wander round any online dating site or Internet forum discussing Asian women, and you'll notice that one of the most attractive things about Asian women, according to white men, is our apparent ability to "treat our man right". But what does "right" entail? Well, to put it simply, "treating a man right" is to treat him as superior. Time and time again, Asian women are lauded for our supposedly meek and gentle natures, for our submissive attitudes, for our rejection of feminist values. (Hah!) Through their fetishisation and racist assumptions about Asian women, they reveal their attitudes towards relations with women in general: one should be quiet and meek, contented with a subordinate status, and eager to serve. How, you may ask, do these men reconcile their ideas of Asian women with the existence of Asian feminists? Easy; they decide that she has been "brainwashed" by Western feminist values, has been contaminated, and has neglected her cultural roots. The fact that they assume submissiveness to be so inherent in Asian women that any feminist ideas must be mere parroting of the ideas of white women, is insulting in the extreme. Nor do I appreciate their assumption that Asian culture is static. I would love for them to cast their eye over their own cultural history, going back hundreds of years, and then tell me — what is "Caucasian culture"? And by rejecting the values their ancestors espoused, have they betrayed their cultural roots? So please, men with 'Yellow Fever', stop objectifying, fetishising and exotifiying us. Instead, try seeing us as individual human beings with individual, unique personalities. Cool idea, no? And next time you have the urge to tell me about all the Asian women you've dated and how much you loved Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Memoirs of a Geisha — don't. This article is from on Media Diversity UK, a site set up to tackle the lack of diversity in UK media and the ubiquity of whiteness.  |
| Breastfeeding and baby-led weaning Posted: 05 Aug 2013 06:15 AM PDT
Science, health and fitness are subjects of interest to me, and I marvel at the engineering and care, management and repair facilities of the human body, so making the decision to breastfeed my baby was easy for me. What was more difficult was dealing with the "interest" external parties had in my decision. I strongly believe that women have the right to manage their own bodies, but, unfortunately, breastfeeding seems to fall into the same category as abortion. What should be a personal decision has become a political and social battleground, with a woman's right to autonomy falling by the wayside. Yes, I believe in breastfeeding, but I also believe in a woman's right to choose what is best for her and her baby. So if formula is the best option for a mother, there should not be any shaming of a woman for her choice. Even before I had my baby, I was caught by surprise as a friend and her partner made continuous disparaging remarks about breastfeeding, including claiming that it was absolutely no better than formula, especially in terms of quantity and quality of nutrients. Their campaign was so sustained that I began to feel uncomfortable and as if I should justify my decision, when what was probably going on was a search for reinforcement of their own choice – to formula feed. And prior to getting pregnant, I thought breastfeeding a child who could walk was pretty weird and something that I was fairly certain I would not do. Even during my pregnancy, having decided to follow the recommendations, including those of the World Health Organisation (WHO), for six months of exclusive breastfeeding, I thought that sounded like a lengthy period of time. Six months flew by, and suddenly society was exerting additional unexpected pressure on me – via my husband. As a new dad out and about with a cute baby, he discovered a whole new level of public interaction, and breastfeeding was an oft-mentioned topic. The closer we got to our son's first birthday, the more my husband said “No one else is doing it this long”. It seemed that many, if not most, of the people he spoke to seemed to have either stopped breastfeeding between six and eight months or never started. I would have preferred to wait longer than we did to introduce solid foods to our son, but I was adamant that our son and I would stop breastfeeding when it was the ‘right time’. This created conflict in my relationship because I could not specify a month or day as the ‘right time.’ I didn't have the heart to force our son to stop breastfeeding, I felt that such a decision if made by me was subjective and wilfully ignoring what he indicated he needed. Then, before our son was one year old, Time magazine published its controversial cover story about women who breastfeed into toddlerhood. The story was much discussed – with (it seemed) most people taking offence or expressing shock. After my son turned one, many people revealed their assumption that breastfeeding was over, both because of his age and because he was mobile. Suddenly, despite my earlier intentions, almost without realising it was happening, I was breastfeeding a child who could walk. And as he grew, and his needs changed, and my personal and professional obligations increased, we worked together to accommodate breastfeeding in our schedules. We eventually reached an arrangement where we were both happy and breastfeeding could continue to wind down as he matured. At some point in this process I came across literature about baby-led weaning and went on to read Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett's book, ‘Baby-led Weaning: Helping your baby to love good food’. I couldn't believe that in all my previous reading I hadn't come across it before. It was exactly what my son and I were doing, and I was surprised that the theory wasn't more widely communicated, especially with on-going public debate over breastfeeding. Baby-led weaning is simple. It starts when a baby is physically developed enough to pick things up and get them in their mouth and when they indicate interest in the food that the family is eating. It is about teaching your child how to feed themselves, when they’re hungry, rather than eating specific amounts on a prescribed schedule. It also includes the child in mealtimes. Much of the pressure was removed over what to feed him and when, and I stopped worrying about pureeing and freezing food for him and instead focused on feeding myself healthily to inspire him to eat well with me. Unsurprisingly, his milk requirement declined as his solid food consumption grew. Proponents of this style of weaning believe that by learning to feed themselves at a young age, which includes learning to listen to their bodies to know when they are full, babies are being set on a more healthy path, and one that is less likely to lead to obesity in the future. For me, baby-led weaning was an all-around simple and enjoyable process in which the decision of when to stop breastfeeding, just like the one to start, was left to me and my baby, rather than being imposed on us by societal norms and peer pressure.  |
| Events: 5 August – 11 August 2013 Posted: 05 Aug 2013 04:05 AM PDT
Art: Until 8 September: Keep Your Timber Limber (Works on Paper) at Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), The Mall, London, SW1Y ‘Keep Your Timber Limber (Works on Paper)’ explores how artists from the 1940s to the present day have used drawing to address ideas critical and current to their time, ranging from the politics of gender and sexuality to feminist issues, war and censorship. The exhibition brings together the work of eight artists: Judith Bernstein, Tom of Finland, George Grosz, Margaret Harrison, Mike Kuchar, Cary Kwok, Antonio Lopez, and Marlene McCarty. Exhibitions: Until 3 November: Women in the Workhouse at The Workhouse, Upton Road, Southwell, Nottinghamshire Drawing on oral history archives, the exhibition focuses on the involvement of women in workhouses in a range of areas, through testimonies including those of a former Matron, nurse, seamstress, hairdresser, cook and inmate, all of which help to provide an insight into the changing nature of workhouse life. Artefacts, correspondence and photographs provide further insight into the often harsh reality of women’s lives during a period of great social change. Women also played an important role in bringing about change within the workhouse system through their involvement as social reformers and Guardians. The exhibition is brought up to date with current staff reflecting on their roles on what The Workhouse means to them. See website for admission prices. Film: ‘Wadjda’: This landmark film was written and directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour. It was shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and is the first feature-length movie made by a female Saudi director. The plot revolves a young girl’s resolute determination to become the owner of a beautiful green bicycle – an item which society, and her own mother, perceives as dangerous to her virtue. Screenings around the country, including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Brentford, Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield, York In the summer heat we are experiencing, FemFilm club has decided to show a lighthearted film this month. “But I’m a Cheerleader” is a satirical comedy about teenagers who are suspected of being lesbians and gays and are sent to a rehabilitation camp by their concerned parents. Come and chill out in the little cinema at 1331 and stay on for discussion to share your impressions from the film. Fundraisers: 9 August: Festival Open Mic Fundraiser for EWRASAC at The Ale House, ,18-22 Clerk Street, Edinburgh Save Edinburgh Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (EWRASAC) are holding an open mic night to raise money for the charity. There will be a fantastic group of performers who will be singing and playing music to raise money for this great cause. 10 August: A walking tour of The Dissenters of Newington Green at The Dissenting Academy, Mildmay Road, London, N16 In the 17th and 18th century Newington Green became a home for dissenters and radical thinkers keen to escape the religious persecution they found in London. This 90-minute walk looks at the dissenters and explores how some of the ideas that are current today were being discussed in this part of Islington in the 18th century. Some of the people that will be discussed are poet and anti-slavery campaigner Anna Barbauld, prison reformer John Howard, anti-war campaigner Vicesimus Knox and feminist philosopher and women’s rights reformer Mary Wollstonecraft. There is a £10 charge per walker, with money going to Amnesty International. Literary: 10 August: Carol Ann Duffy: An hour with the Poet Laureate at Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, Canon Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh from 4.30pm-5.30pm Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The Bees, Carol Ann Duffy’s first collection of poetry since she became poet laureate, continues to resonate – especially those which recall her beloved mother. Alongside these stingingly moving moments, Duffy’s poetry offers a playful commentary on life in Britain today – in the session she will read some of her favourites, with the help of musician John Smapson. 10 August: Stevie Davies and Jess Richards: Female Protagonists in Fiction at Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre, Canon Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh from 7pm-8pm Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Set in 1860, two sisters struggle to find themselves in a world on the brink of scientific revolution after the publication of Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ in Stevie Davies’ ‘Awakening’. Jess Richards’ dark fairytale, ‘Cooking with Bones’, follows two girls as they escape their restricted lives. Science spiritualism and magic challenge the traditional values of the young women at the heart of these two compelling stories. Music: 7 August: LaDIYfest Sheffield Presents: Trash Kit, Shopping, Aggi Doom, Amorous Dialogues at Redhouse Sheffield, 168 Solly Street, Sheffield from 8pm It’s been a while since they’ve put on a gig, but they’re back with a brilliant line-up. Suggested donations on the door £4, vegan snacks on sale. 7 – 14 August: Women in Tune Music Festival near Lampeter, SA48 8ND This is your opportunity to socialise and do your own thing, whether it is music making, craft making, sharing your skills, walking, communing with nature, relaxing, exploring the area – doing all the things you never get time to do. Even though this year’s festival is described as an Idle WIT, because organisation and other work are being kept to a bare minimum – there will be no crew or performers. Women are encouraged to share skills and entertainment and other fun. There will, however, be the usual Sunday morning market and a ‘Giveaway Corner’, which provides the opportunity to declutter and pass on your unwanted stuff! Tickets for the festival are £35; for the low/unwaged and £50 full price. Theatre: Until 11 August: Ban This Filth! at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh from 9pm Part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Andrea Dworkin: radical feminist. Alan Bissett: man. One microphone. Bissett plays himself, and one of the most original, most reviled women in history, telling stories from his own life and from Dworkin’s. Expect an unflinching examination of porn culture, laughter and Led Zeppelin. Until 13 August: Vinegar Tom at C venues – C nova, India Buildings, Victoria Street, Edinburgh from 7.10pm Part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ‘I’m not a witch. But I wish I was’. In 17th-century England, the signs of witchcraft blight the land. Cattle are dying, butter won’t churn and the infidelities of men cause their privates to wither. Who’s to blame? The women of course – the young unmarried mother, the beggar woman, the wise crone, the women that no man loves nor wants. Expect black comedy and Brecht set to a soundtrack of funk and punk as Warwick University Drama Society revives Caryl Churchill’s classic feminist play for the new millennium. Until 25 August: Crying Out Loud presents La Poème at 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh from 7.45pm Part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Joyously strange, with great femininity and bestiality. An intense play where Jeanne Mordoj a ventriloquist, juggler and contortionist, delves deeper into her reflections on femininity. Exploring both the infinitely gracious and the monstrous, each potentially present within the other. Jeanne Mordoj is a stubborn feminist. Not a fury in battle, but mischievous and unshakable.  |
| Sports round-up: July 29 – August 4 Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:00 AM PDT
Judo: A year to the day since she won bronze at London 2012, Britain’s most decorated international judoka Karina Bryant has announced her retirement from professional judo. The 34 year-old won four European titles and five World Championship silver medals during her career, but has struggled with injury for the last few years. “After having surgery twice post London, I tried to get back into training, but aggravated an old injury,” she said. “I feel my body is telling me this is the right time to retire.” Swimming: Francesca Halsall won bronze in the 50m freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona on August 4, claiming Britain’s only medal at the meet. The 24 year-old came in behind Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands and Australia's Cate Campbell. Halsall did not win a medal at London 2012, and came in fourth in the 50m butterfly on August 3, so she was pleased to finish on the podium. "A medal is nice but I wanted gold so it's bitter-sweet really," she said. "I've had a lot this year to contend with… so I'm really proud of myself and that I've been able to step back up." Athletics: Following weeks of speculation, Jess Ennis-Hill has announced that she will not compete at the World Championships in Moscow, which start next week. Ennis-Hill has struggled with an Achilles injury for several months, pulling out of five competitions in the build up to the biggest event of this year’s athletics calendar. She has not competed in a full heptathlon since winning Olympic gold a year ago, and while she did take part in the javelin and 100m hurdles in last weekend’s Anniversary Games, she was well below her best. According to her coach, Tony Minichiello, she will be out of action for up to 15 weeks, “if we’re lucky”. Cycling: Double Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott marked the one year anniversary of her team pursuit Olympic gold with a victory at the first RideLondon Women’s Grand Prix on August 3. Trott was led out by her Wiggle Honda and GB teammate Dani King to win a dramatic sprint finish on the Mall, beating her rival Hannah Barnes by one bike length. But the race brought a blow for Joanna Rowsell, the third member of Team GB’s victorious pursuit team. The 24 year-old broke her collarbone in a crash during the last circuit of the 15-lap criterium. British cycling great Emma Pooley, one of the originators of the petition calling for a women's edition of the Tour de France, told the Guardian this week that she was pleased with the attention it has received. “I am surprised it took off so well. The media interest has surprised me but we launched it at the right moment, during the Tour.” However, she was less optimistic about the candidates for the looming election of the International Cycling Union (UCI ) president, which will take place in September. Unpopular incumbent Pat McQuaid is standing against British Cycling chief Brian Cookson. Both have spoken of the need to improve the women’s side of the sport. Cookson promised this week to press for the return of the women’s Tour de France, and has announced that the Tour of Britain is to have a five day women’s race from next year. However, Pooley remains sceptical, pointing out that both Cookson and McQuaid have for years been in the position to influence UCI policy on women’s cycling, but have so far failed to make any changes. “They are doing it to save face because they don’t want to be seen as old-fashioned bigots,” she told the Guardian. “What they are saying sounds great but it’s all talk. I haven’t heard a specific suggestion from either of them.” Tennis: Britain’s top two tennis players both seem to be struggling to find the form that took them both to the top 40 earlier this season. After reaching all time high ranking of number 39 in February, British number two Heather Watson dropped to number 76 after an acute bout of glandular fever kept her out of action for two months. She has yet to make any progress back up the rankings since her return to the tour, and last week suffered two losses in just three days. She made it to the second round of the Citi Open in Washington before losing 6-4, 6-4 to Alize Cornet on August 1. However, the Frenchwoman was seeded fourth, and Watson was never really expected to beat her. But just two days later, Watson was knocked out of the first round of qualifying for Rogers Cup, losing in straight sets to Ukrainian Olga Savchuk, a player ranked more than a hundred places below her. Watson has recently split with her coach of two years, Colombian Mauricio Hadad. She is currently working with Jeremy Bates, and has acknowledged the need to develop a more attacking style. British number one Laura Robson is also struggling to find the form which took her to fourth round of Wimbledon earlier this summer. Robson also won her first match in Washington, but lost in the second round to third seed Petra Kvitova, 6-1, 6-2. Meanwhile, former British number one Anne Keothavong has announced her retirement from tennis. The 29 year-old reached number 48 in the world in 2009, the first British woman in 16 years to break into the top 50. In 2008, she reached the third round of the US Open, the furthest she ever advanced at a grand slam tournament. “I have given my decision a lot of thought and I believe this is the right time to move on to the next stage of my career,” she said. “I have had some magical moments along the way. “I think I am leaving tennis in excellent shape with both Laura Robson and Heather Watson leading the way for Britain in the women’s game.”  |
| Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:05 AM PDT
The classicist and TV presenter professor Mary Beard has been sent a bomb threat on Twitter hours after Twitter's UK boss apologised to women who have received abusive Tweets. And Beard, who has been sent vile remarks on Twitter on previous occasions, said she reported the bomb threat to “make sure” another case was logged by police. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live she said: “I think it is scary and it has got to stop. “To be honest I didn’t actually intellectually feel I was in danger but I thought I was being harassed and I thought I was being harassed in a particularly unpleasant way.” On 2 August the Metropolitan Police said its central e-crime unit was investigating allegations by eight people of “harassment, malicious communication or bomb threats” suffered on Twitter. Twitter UK boss Tony Wang said the threats were “simply not acceptable” and pledged to do more to tackle abusive behaviour. Wang said he had personally apologised to the women who had experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through. The apology came as Twitter updated its rules and confirmed it would introduce an in-tweet “report abuse” button on all platforms, including desktops. The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman, the Independent’s Grace Dent and Time magazine’s Catherine Mayer all said they had received identical bomb threats on Wednesday. Mayer, Europe editor of Time magazine, said she had yet to receive a personal apology from Twitter, despite contacting the website on Wednesday evening. She added: “We’re not being targeted because we’re activists, we’re being targeted because we’re female.” Campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, who received threats at the end of July after a campaign to have Jane Austen on the new £10 note, welcomed Twitter’s response but said the process for reporting abuse should be further simplified to take the onus off the victim. She said: “Twitter’s ‘report abuse’ button on the iPhone application goes through to the old reporting form. What we’re looking for is an overhaul of the system which sits behind the button. “Right now, all the emphasis is on the victim, often under intense pressure, to report rather than for Twitter to track down the perpetrator and stop them.” A petition calling for Twitter to add a “report abuse” button to tweets has so far attracted more than 125,000 signatures. To add yours, click here.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |