Women's Views on News |
- Sexism an ‘everyday’ reality for many girls
- Exhibtion: Ana Mendieta
- Petition parliament to debate hunger
| Sexism an ‘everyday’ reality for many girls Posted: 05 Dec 2013 08:09 AM PST
Sexism is affecting the everyday lives of 75 per cent of Britain’s young women and girls, according to new research released by Girlguiding. The report, ‘Girls' Attitudes Survey 2013′, is the fifth study carried out by Girlguiding, and this year focussed on equality-themed topics. The study of 1,288 girls and young women, both members and non-members of Girlguiding, paints a worrying picture of the ingrained attitudes towards women and which are impacting on the lives of children as young as seven. According to the findings, the majority of girls feel that sexual harassment is commonplace, that society values women more for their appearance than their ability, and that double standards are applied when it comes to the sexual behaviour of men and women. The report also revealed that 75 per cent of girls aged 11-21 feel sexism is so widespread in UK society that it affects most areas of their lives, including their education. School was reported as often the first place girls experience sexual harassment – 60 per cent of female pupils said they had been on the receiving end of sexist remarks about their appearance in the classroom or school yard. Seven out of ten girls over 13 also experienced further harassment at school or college based on their gender, including sexual taunts, being shown pornographic images and experiencing unwanted sexual attention and touching. In short, girls and young women aged between 11 and 21 are just as likely to be harassed at school as on the street. Many girls feel their schools have failed them in providing adequate sex education; 64 per cent of 16-21s said not enough focus is given to relationships in the classroom. Providing school-age children with better sex education would be a good way to start addressing harassment, and one Change.org petition signed by more than 50,000 people is calling for just that. The petition points out that “current sex and relationship education guidelines, which teachers use to plan lessons, were last updated in 2000 – some 13 years ago – and contain no reference to the internet; mobile technology or online bullying." We all know that harassment and bullying follow young women online, and we are hearing increasing reports of vicious trolling, which is often sexually threatening, and online bullying with sometimes tragic consequences. More than half of 11-21 year-olds have had a negative experience online, with a quarter of 16-21 year-olds being subjected to sexist comments and the same proportion being threatened in the ‘virtual’ world – making it no less scary or intimidating than reality. Much of this abuse – online and offline – is based on the way girls look or act, and the survey suggests that these days girls are facing unprecedented levels of personal and public scrutiny over the way they look and behave. Eight out of ten of the 11-21 year-olds questioned believe there is too much media focus on women's weight and three quarters think that boys expect girls to look like the images they see in the media. These pressures are having an impact on girls even before they reach puberty; one in five primary school aged girls admitted to having been on a diet. At age 11 this proportion shoots up, with more than 70 per cent of girls and young women aged between 11 and 21 saying they would like to loose weight. Three quarters of 11-21 year-olds are also well aware of the double standards that remain ever-present in society, and that girls are judged harshly for sexual behaviour seen as acceptable in boys. And a culture of victim-blaming means more than half of 16-21 year-olds think too much responsibility is placed on girls for their sexual safety. As far as employment went, although citing an absence of female role models in leadership positions, more than half of those surveyed said they would like to be a leader in their chosen job, and just under half said that the lack of women in leadership roles made them more determined to succeed. Almost half of girls aged 11-21 worry that having children will negatively affect their career, but 70 per cent want to combine having children with having a career, and 88 per cent said both parents should be able to share time off after their baby is born. The good news is that having a good job or career comes top of the list for girls, and young women want to do well and be happy in the future, and that two thirds of young women aged 16 to 21 agree that ambition is important. Remarking on these results, Girlguiding’s chief executive Julie Bentley said, “[Sexism] cannot simply be dismissed as something that girls and young women just have to 'deal with' as they grow up – these results should be a wake-up call for decision-makers across the board. “This is an ambitious, resilient and hopeful generation of girls who are capable of achieving so much – we must not let inequality get in their way.” Lucy Lawrenson, of Girlguiding, said: “The fifth Girls' Attitudes Survey shows why it is so important that young women have a chance to speak out about what it feels like to be a girl growing up in the UK. “I am depressed by the findings – issues that should only be read about in our history books are still common. I know because they happen to me, and this can't continue. Something has to change.”  |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2013 06:27 AM PST
The Hayward Gallery’s current exhibition ‘Ana Mendieta: Traces’ is the UK's first retrospective of one of the most significant yet under-acknowledged artists of the late 20th century. It also shows the full breadth of her both provocative and radically inventive body of work. In addition to films, sculptures, photographs, drawings, personal writings and notebooks, an extensive research room with hundreds of photographic slides provides unique access to works Ana Mendieta never showed during her lifetime. Cuban-born American artist Ana Mendieta was sent to an orphanage in Iowa at the age of 12 and dedicated her entire life to the search for her origins and identity. Her short career – born in 1948, she died in 1985 – was prolific, beginning with an accomplished and influential body of work created as a graduate student at the University of Iowa. As a student Mendieta became interested in the interaction between performative rituals and sculpture, and important motifs for her life-long practice emerged during these years, including the use of blood, feathers, fire, earth, and the body. She also began to draw upon and recreate rituals particularly resonant with Afro-Cuban and Catholic traditions, and goddess archetypes. Mendieta was part of a generation of innovative artists whose work did not fit the conventions of exhibition making and art collecting. This exhibition positions Mendieta as an influential figure from art history, reveals the creative mind of the artist, and conveys the legacy of her work as well as its relevance for artists today. One of the focal points of the exhibition is the re-construction of solo exhibitions from the artist's lifetime, which includes her main body of works, ‘Siluetas’. The extensive and fascinating archive material sheds new light on the way the artist worked and documented her own artistic practice. Featuring super-8 films, photographs, slides, drawings, prints, objects and sculptures, Ana Mendieta: Traces not only follow a chronology, but it also looks at the artist's entire oeuvre through the lens of her own time, bringing it afresh to the beginning of the 21st century. The exhibition focuses both on the incredible power of her imagery as well as her critical potential and importance for feminism and land art. This exhibition runs until 15 December at the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank. For further information, click here.  |
| Petition parliament to debate hunger Posted: 05 Dec 2013 01:09 AM PST
Increasing public outrage about food poverty has been made clear as in just 24 hours over 70,000 people signed a petition calling for a parliamentary debate on UK hunger and food bank use. In a sign of the mounting pressure on Chancellor George Osborne, ahead of this week's economic statement, doctors have disclosed a disturbing rise in the number of malnutrition cases diagnosed at English hospitals, which are up from 3,161 in 2008/09 to 5,499 in 2012/13. And Unite, the UK's biggest trade union, has accused the government of staying 'silent while its policies fill hospital beds and swell food bank demand'. The union is calling on Chancellor George Osborne to outline in the autumn statement emergency measures that to tackle food poverty, including increasing the minimum wage by £1.50 and halting the callous cuts to the country's social security system. The huge success of the petition highlights growing public outrage at food poverty, which is set to worsen, as 60 per cent of social security cuts – hitting those in and out of work – are yet to be implemented. The petition was proposed by Jack Monroe, writer and former food bank user, and has been supported by Unite, The Mirror and The Trussell Trust food bank network. She wants to know how it can be that in 2013, 20,000 children face Christmas with empty food cupboards and no presents, and why that figure is three times the number that faced a hungry Christmas last year. This is not acceptable in the seventh richest country in the world – and she, like so many of us, would really like to know the reasons why it is happening, so we can stop it. And she is backing the Daily Mirror and Unite the Union's 'Give Our Kids A Christmas' Appeal for the Trussell Trust to raise money for food banks. This appeal won’t provide a lavish Christmas – lots of us are cutting back this year – but it will bring ordinary people together to try and ensure no child has to go without a decent meal at Christmas. The appeal is asking people to donate cash which will help ensure food banks are able to provide meals for the record numbers of people needing their help. And the organisers are also hoping to distribute toys to children who otherwise would have nothing on Christmas Day. Giving has been made as easy as possible. You can give securely on this dedicated web page, or text FBOX99 and the amount you want to donate (either £3, £5 or £10) to 70070; or you can give over the phone by calling: 01722 580 208 – lines are open 09:30 to 17:00; or you can send a cheque payable to 'The Trussell Trust' to: Unite Christmas Appeal, The Trussell Trust, Unit 9 Ashfield Trading Estate, Ashfield Road, Salisbury SP2 7HL. But we want to do more than just raise money to help – we also want get to the root of UK hunger. Things are so bad that 1-in-5 UK mums regularly skip meals to feed their kids, due to a lack of money. And this Christmas, as Jack points out, 60,000 people – including 20,000 children – will not have food on the table. But worse than that, it's not just the festive season: 350,000 people received three days worth of emergency food from food banks between April and September this year. Please join her and sign this petition calling for a Parliamentary Debate on hunger in the UK. Make politicians confront what is happening. We need to stop turning a blind eye.  |
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