Women's Views on News |
- Kicking 40 Days out!
- Events: 23 – 29 September
- Sports round-up: 16 – 22 September
- Welcome back, Wonder Woman!
| Posted: 23 Sep 2013 07:53 AM PDT
On 25 September the ‘pro-life’ campaign 40 Days for Life will begin "prayer vigils" outside reproductive health clinics around the UK in an attempt to block women's freedom to choose a termination. The ’40-day’ campaign, which started in Texas in 2004, strives to draw attention to the "evil of abortion" by conducting what their website describes as "peaceful activism", which manifests itself as little more than harassment and emotional scaremongering. "Prayer warriors", as they are described on the website, camp outside clinics in "a focused, 40-day, non-stop, round-the-clock prayer vigil", armed with props like plastic foetuses, placards showing graphic images of late stage terminations, and powder pink and baby blue rosaries to give to those attending appointments. All this for women who are already dealing with the turmoil of an unplanned pregnancy and an imminent, potentially invasive, medical procedure – it's nothing short of unacceptable. While 24-hour "vigils" in the US are common, their UK director Robert Colquhoun told the Guardian during the last campaign, "Twelve hours is as long as we can do now practically, but we did one 24-hour vigil this year which went well." He continued: "Between 2011 and 2013, we've seen numbers increase exponentially – 2013 has been our most successful year." "Success" for 40 Days for Life is measured by the number of reproductive health clinics it has forced to close and the 'lives saved' by convincing vulnerable women not to have abortions. "Success" indeed. In the UK "vigils" are planned at the Marie Stopes and BPAS clinics in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leamington Spa, Leeds, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Twickenham. A Marie Stopes spokesperson said of the last campaign that their main concern was the "misleading information…given to [women] by protestors." The pseudo-medical anti-choice propaganda distributed by 40 Days campaigners has not just been found to falsely list breast cancer and infertility as "possible physical complications of abortion", but also directs women to a 'crisis pregnancy centre' run by an anti-abortion organisation, the disingenuously titled ‘Good Counsel Network’. It is these kinds of scare tactics that have led to some re-labeling the campaign: 40 Days of Lies. Counter-vigils were made in Oxford and Brighton last year, and since the 40 Days campaign does not include these locations on this autumn's schedule, the feminist networks behind these counter-vigils can surely count 'Kicking 40 Days out' among their "successes". Bloomsbury Pro-Choice Alliance has organised a protest against the 40 Days for Life opening event on 24 September from 6.45-7.30pm outside the St Francis church in Stratford. "We're calling pro-choice campaigners to come out and show them that they are not welcome in Stratford or anywhere else in London and that we will not accept their harassment of women seeking health services."  |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:06 AM PDT
Across the UK – and worldwide: 28 September: Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion The Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) is calling on members and allies from all over the world to end the stigma against abortion and demand the right for women to control their own bodies without putting their lives, health and freedom at risk. Along with global and regional partners, WGNRR is calling for a unified effort to demand of our governments Access to Safe and Legal Abortion as a Human Right by observing September 28 as a Global Day of Action. Spread the word. Speak loudly on abortion. Use the hashtag #Sept28 or blog about your experiences or thoughts that would support decriminalisation of abortion. Send your solidarity messages. Share the 28 September video and Manifesto on Safe and Legal Abortion. Belfast: 26 September: Volunteering and Women: part of the Volunteering and Ireland Lecture Series at the Public Records Office Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, from 6.30pm This lecture, entitled Volunteering and Women, is part of a series of lectures delivered by Dr Timothy Bowman that examine the various volunteer organisations which emerged in Ireland during the years before the First World War. Dr Bowman is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Kent and the author of books on the Ulster Volunteer Force and the British Army 1902-1914. The event is free of charge, but places are limited. Email to secure your place. Brighton: 24 September: A discussion on The Politics of Motherhood: Are Labour doing enough to support women’s choices? at the Gresham Suite, The Old Ship Hotel, Kings Road, Brighton, from 12.45pm This fringe event from BPAS at the Labour Party Conference will look at the politics of motherhood. Women’s decisions about when they should have children, how they should have them and what they should do when they do have them seem increasingly subject to public scrutiny. What role can policymakers play in supporting women’s choices and how far can they go? The panel will include Kate Green MP, Clare Murphy, Emma Burnell, Glosswitch, and Scarlet Harris. All are welcome and you do not need a conference pass to attend. 29 September: Francesca Martinez's "What The **** Is Normal?!" at Komedia, 44-47 Gardner Street, Brighton, from 8pm Fresh from winning a Fringe Media Network Award at the Edinburgh Festival, 'wobbly' comedian, Francesca Martinez, brings her hit show to Brighton. What happens when you're branded 'abnormal', in a world obsessed with normality? This show is Francesca's defiant, insightful and fascinating answer… Whatever body you are born into, it seems that most people share the universal desire to be 'normal'. This show is for anyone who has ever struggled to fit in, felt 'different' or wondered what the **** normal means… apart from a cycle on a washing machine, of course. Advance tickets: £12.50 Dublin: 29 September: March for Choice Ireland meeting at The Spire, O'Connell Street, Dublin, from 2pm March for the International Day of Action for access to safe and legal abortion. Gather at The Spire and march to Merrion Square. This is a celebration of being pro-choice. A day of being pro-choice and proud, speaking up and speaking out, making our voices heard. Edinburgh: 26 September: Save EWRASAC Get-together at 1 Leopold Place, Edinburgh, from 5pm-6.30pm Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre is opening its doors to discuss future fundraising events and meet supporters. With a slice of cake and a cup of tea to help. The event is open to the public. Glasgow: 25 September: Banned Books Week: Let Women Speak at Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow, from 2pm-3.30pm Part of the library's Banned Books Week (22-28 September). Jean Rafferty and A.C. Clarke from Scottish PEN will be reading some works by banned or persecuted women writers from across the world. While you are in the library, why not check out a classic banned book, find out more about a banned author or review a banned book for the library's website. The event is free of charge. To book your free place click here. Every Thursday until 17 October: Read, Relax, Recharge at Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow from 12noon-2pm Are you a book lover? Or maybe you want to get back into reading again after a long break and don't know where to start? This friendly read-aloud group, led by Magi Gibson and Librarian Wendy Kirk, offers the perfect chance to relax and recharge for a couple of hours. Bring along your lunch and explore stories and poems by a range of amazing women writers from around the world, all washed down with lots of tea and friendly chat. A small donation of £2 (or whatever you can afford) is requested, to cover the costs of running the group, but free places are also available. Click here to register your interest or contact the library for more information. Horsham: 29 September: Stoolball: The England Ladies team will take on a President's XI for a friendly match of 20 overs at Horsham Cricket Club; starting at 11am. Free. London: 24 September: 40 Days Go Away Protest outside the Church Hall, St Francis of Assisi Church, Grove Crescent, Stratford, London, E15 from 7pm 40 Days For Life, an anti-choice group who set up camp outside abortion clinics for 40 days twice a year to try to “save” women from making their own choices about their own bodies, will be back outside London clinics from 25 September. On 24 September they will hold an opening event to launch their campaign in a local church in Stratford. Bloomsbury Pro-Choice Alliance are calling on pro-choice campaigners to come out and show them that they are not welcome in Stratford or anywhere else in London and that we will not accept their harassment of women seeking health services. 27 September: Bridging the Gap: The Gender Impact of the Rule of Law and Its Application at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1 Exchange Square, London, EC2A This joint conference, organised by Women for Women International and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, brings together leading financial institutions, NGOs and researchers to explore the impact of written law and its application on the economic opportunities and empowerment of women. To reserve your place please email Elizabeth Sarney. 28 September: 10 Thousand Cuts and Counting at Parliament Square, London SW1P, from 12 noon 10 Thousand Cuts and Counting is a ceremony of remembrance and solidarity for those who have had their lives devastated by the government’s austerity programme, including more than 10,000 people who died shortly after undergoing the Atos Work Capability Assessment, the degrading test used by the government to assess the needs of people receiving benefits related to disability and ill health. With all welcome to attend, the event will include Atos testimonies, prayers, silence and meditations, a carpet of white flowers on Parliament Square, and poetry, choral music and scenes acted by disabled artists depicting experiences of Atos. A delegation will present to the Prime Minister The Downing Street Demand, in support of the demands set out in the WOW petition, which has been signed by 52,000 people. 28 September: Feminist Graphic Arts at the Feminist Library, 5 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 from 2pm-9pm This is a new twice yearly event will provide an opportunity for feminist-identified artists to share skills or develop new ones, through workshops and talks. The event includes an exhibition, 'I call myself a feminist because…', a talk on Jewish women's comics, as well as workshops on graffiti and activism, badge making and designing your own comic strip. Entry by donation, pay what you can. 28 September: Girls and Boys: Gender and Identity at Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M, from 2.30pm This talk opens the Bishopsgate Institute’s series of walks, talks, and discussions for the Girls and Boys season, “knocking down perceptions, pushing boundaries, exploring gender roles and redefining the rule”. Anja Steinbauer will discuss how gender roles find expression in various aspects of our lives, including work, fashion, art and child play. She will explore the part these roles play in defining who we are, and how free we are to choose our identities in the light of these cultural norms. Admission is free and there is no advance booking required, although places are limited. Until 28 September: Collagism FREE PUSSY RIOT! at The Vestibule, 81 Redchurch Street, London, E2 Collagism and friends present an exhibition of collaged screen prints in support of Freedom for Pussy Riot. It's a year since the shockingly unjust trial and imprisonment of Russian Feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot. A series of works have been created for exhibition in protest of this atrocity and support for the group. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to the band in aid of their continued appeal for justice. The campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the freedom of speech, equality for women and basic human rights for all. Until 11 October: Blue Stockings, by Jessica Swale at Shakespeare's Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, London, SE1 from 2pm and 7.30pm It is 1896 at Girton College, Cambridge, and Elizabeth Welsh is preparing for battle. Girton is the first college in Britain to admit women. The girls risk their reputations for their education. They study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the girls leave empty handed, with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' – and unnatural, educated woman – to their names. They are unqualified and unmarriageable. Principal Elizabeth Welsh is determined to win the girls the right to graduate, whatever the cost Can they persuade the University? Not if the average fellow or undergraduate can prevent it. Meanwhile, Cambridge offers far more than merely educational opportunities to the Girton Girls. The battle for the vote, it seems, is the least of Elizabeth's worries. Blue Stockings follows Welsh and the Girton Girls over this tumultuous year in their fight to change the history of education. Poole: 27 September: Dorset Rape Crisis Charity Psychic and Pamper Evening at Thistle Hotel, Poole Quay, Poole, from 6pm-10.30pm Dorset Rape Crisis Support Centre supports hundreds of victims of abuse and sexual violence every year. This event is being held to raise money for the charity. The night will include a seated demonstration of clairvoyance and mediumship with local psychics, and the main room will offer tarot readings, reflexology, manicures/pedicures, head massages, body wraps and scrubs, foot massages, palm readings, as well as arts, crafts, jewellery – and much more. Tickets available at hotel reception.  |
| Sports round-up: 16 – 22 September Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:01 AM PDT
Netball: England fought hard to win the opening game of a three-match series against South Africa on 22 September. With a score of 48-39, England remain unbeaten in 2013. England started slowly, and South Africa took advantage to lead 17-13. However, a few substitutions in the second quarter gave England the boost they needed to edge ahead, and they continued to stretch their lead after half-time. The series continues at Wembley on 25 September, and at Worcester Arena on 27 September. Football: England opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a convincing win over Belarus in Bournemouth. Karen Carney opened the scoring, before Ellen White put away a second goal to give England a comfortable lead. Carney scored another two, completing her hat-trick before the half-time whistle. Goals from Nathasha Dowie and Eni Aluko gave the home side a 6-0 win. The match was England's first following a disappointing exit from the Euros, and the sacking of former head coach Hope Powell. Interim coach Brent Hills said he would not get carried away with the win. "One swallow does not make a summer," he told the BBC. Scotland were equally impressive in their first qualifier, against the Faroe Islands on 22 September. The Scots won comfortably, with two goals from Leanne Ross contributing to a 7-2 scoreline at the final whistle. Tennis: This time last year, Laura Robson became the first British woman in 24 years to reach a WTA singles final at China's Guangzhou Open, but this year she was not able to emulate her past success. The British number one beat Jovana Jaksic and Zheng Saisai to reach the quarterfinals, where she fell to home favourite Zheng Jie in the quarterfinals September 19. Robson played a strong first set, but lost the second in a tie-break. Zheng then raced through the final set for a 1-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory. British number three Johanna Konta also lost to a Chinese player in the quarterfinals, falling to Shuai Peng, 7-5, 6-3. Meanwhile, Heather Watson lost in the first round of the Korea Open to Kimiko Date-Krumm, the oldest player in the world’s top 100. Stoolball: England Ladies played the President’s XI at Under-21 and Over-50 levels for the first time ever on 22 September. Both matches, which took place at Horsham Cricket Club, were 20 overs-a-side and both were won by the England teams. England's Under-21s won their first ever match, scoring 150 and dismissing the President’s XI for 81, while England Over-50s scored an impressive 209 for 3. Gill Hemsley made 80.  |
| Posted: 23 Sep 2013 01:09 AM PDT
Internationally renowned comic book writer Grant Morrison has started work on a new Wonder Woman story. Despite being one of only three DC Comics characters that are continually in print, Wonder Woman has lost her lustre since her initial publication in 1941. Living on the women-only Paradise Island, Wonder Woman is an Amazon warrior princess whose real name is Princess Diana. Often said to be stronger than Hercules and more beautiful than Aphrodite, her skills, strength and weapons were gifts from the Olympian gods. She has the requisite superhero strength and speed, plus a boomerang tiara, indestructible bracelets and a Golden Lasso of Truth, as well as the occasional use of an invisible plane. At the peak of her popularity, Wonder Woman appeared on the first cover of Ms. Magazine in 1972 and was the subject of a US television series that ran from 1975 to 1979. Since then, her story has languished as male superheroes began powering their way across the big screen. Fans of Wonder Woman hope that her life of obscurity may be about to change, thanks to Morrison. He is considered by many fans to be one of the world's best comic writers, and in 2012 he was awarded an MBE for services to art and literature. His inspiration for the work-in-progress, titled Wonder Woman: The Trial of Diana Prince, came from the constant questioning of Wonder Woman's value – from not selling enough copies to not being representative enough of various groups. 'Beyond that,' said Morrison, 'women are always on trial. 'I’m really focusing a lot more on the mother and daughter story in it between [Queen] Hippolyta and Diana. I want it to be that kind of book, a story about women.' He says that his version of Wonder Woman contains 'lots of different female relationships to show that there's not just one type of woman and she's not representative of all women. 'I wanted to get in as many relationships between women as possible.' Which includes inspiration from singer-songwriter Beth Ditto. Wonder Woman's original friend Etta Candy has been renamed Beth Candy, and Morrison says ' She's major and she's Wonder Woman's pal.' Artist Yanick Paquette is doing the artwork for the story, and at the time of writing, Morrison said that approximately 20 pages of the 120 page graphic novel were complete. So far, no release date has been set for the story Morrison says explores 'the differences between what a trial convened by a society of enlightened utopian women would be – as opposed to what we think of as a trial.'  |
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