Women's Views on News |
- Thunderclap for #EndFGM campaign
- Events 3 – 9 February
- Celebrity abusers, rape culture and Jim Davidson
| Thunderclap for #EndFGM campaign Posted: 03 Feb 2014 07:16 AM PST
The social campaigning tool Thunderclap is being used to help spread the word on the EU-wide #EndFGM campaign. Organised by the Department for International Development (DFID), this Thunderclap aims to flood social media channels with messages supporting the #EndFGM campaign at a designated time – 11.30am on 6 February. Supporters can sign up in advance – please do – and the tool will automatically post a tweet or Facebook status update at the allocated time. The aim is to reach thousands of social media users at once with the same message: calling for an end to female genital mutilation. Thunderclap first hit the headlines in the UK late last year, when the Labour Party used it to call on David Cameron to freeze gas and electricity bills, a message which supposedly reached 4.5 million social media users. Using International Day for Zero Tolerance towards Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) on 6 February as the hook, the DFID aims to ‘break the silence around FGM/C and make a statement that can't be ignored’ via social media. More than 24,000 girls are thought to be at risk of FGM in the UK today. Worldwide, more than 125 million women and girls have undergone the barbaric procedure, which involves the removal of external female genitalia for non-medical purposes. As WVoN reported earlier this year, 2013 was the year that the subject, often ignored because of its ‘cultural sensitivity’, was brought into the media spotlight. An enquiry has been launched by the UK's Home Affairs Select Committee into FGM in the UK and an e-petition started by Daughters of Eve and Equality Now, calling on the government to stop FGM in the UK. It recently hit the 100,000 signatures needed for the subject to be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee in Parliament. You can still sign it though! Like the DIY petition sites Change.org and 38Degrees, Thunderclap is another online tool which can be used to raise awareness of issues that affect women and girls in the UK today. Social campaigning has been referred to as ‘armchair activism’ or ‘slacktivism’ by critics, who claim that participants are passive masses, happy to click on a cause but not necessarily committed to it; it is easier to sign an online petition or tweet your disapproval than actually get out there and do something about it. But there are already countless examples of successful campaigns that have garnered support through social media channels; the campaign by Caroline Criado-Perez to keep a woman on a British bank note, the campaign by EveryDayVictimBlaming calling for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take action over a case that described a 13 year-old abuse victim as ‘predatory’, and the ongoing support for the No More Page 3 campaign. These results would have been much harder to achieve if we didn’t have these social media tools at our fingertips. I for one have already signed up to the #EndFGM Thunderclap. By adding our voices to the cause, we may not end the practice tomorrow, but we can help raise awareness of it, so it doesn’t remain a devastating secret veiled by culture and tradition. As well as the Thunderclap to #EndFGM, you can sign up to support One Billion Rising’s call to end violence against women and girls on 14 February. In the West at least, the digital age has made it easier for more people to get involved in the fight against inequality. Elsewhere in the world, government internet controls and restrictions on freedom of speech mean not everyone has the same opportunity.  |
| Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:10 AM PST
Bury St Edmunds: 5 February: "How can we increase the representation of women in politics and public life?" A debate at County Upper School, Bury St Edmunds, from 7.30pm. Bury St Edmunds Fawcett Society warmly invite you to this debate. In the UK today, women are dramatically under-represented in positions of power and influence – be it in politics, business, media or other walks of life. Men outnumber women 4 to 1 in Parliament and just 4 out of 22 Cabinet Ministers are women. The business world also remains largely run by men, with only 17 per cent of FTSE 100 directorships held by women. When we turn to the media world, only a dismal 5 per cent of all editors are women and within the legal system, just 13.6 per cent of senior judges are women. The Fawcett Society is the UK's leading campaigning organisation for women's equality and rights. Ensuring that women have equal access to power and are equally represented in our democracy is a matter of both social justice and democratic legitimacy. So how can we achieve this? Join us to hear a panel of influential and inspiring women from our local area discuss this important issue: Anne Gower, Suffolk County Council and St Edmundsbury BC; Jane Basham, Parliamentary Candidate for South Suffolk; Franstine Jones, President of National Black Police Association; Sarah Stamp, Suffolk County Council and St Edmundsbury BC and Julia Wakelam, St Edmundsbury BC Questions to the panel can be submitted at the start of the evening or before, by email, to Eleanor Rehann. For more information contact Eleanor Rehahn on 01284 767413/ 0785 4214326 or email. Ipswich: 7 and 8 February: After Tiller at Ipswich Film Theatre, Basement of the Corn Exchange, Kings Street, Ipswich. ‘After Tiller’ is a sobering and sombre account of the few doctors in the US who, after the murder of Dr George Tiller in 2009, continue to provide late term abortions. Death threats, fire-bombings and personal abuse are common, debate all but impossible. Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, ‘After Tiller’ shines a light on a topic that polarises America more than any other. Kerry Abel from Abortion Rights said: "I think we should thank Lana Wilson and Martha Shane for making a sensitive and extremely moving documentary, is a story of people who risk their lives every day for their work, many of whom were close colleagues of Dr. Tiller and now battle to maintain this service in the face of increasing provocation and harassment from the pro-life movement. “It shines a light on the real situations faced by real people. “This is something we at Abortion Rights have to highlight constantly, that whatever the situation or whatever our own views, we should trust women to make their own decisions about their own bodies and their own circumstances. "I read that the directors wanted to make this documentary to take heat out of the debate but shine more of a light on the real situations and that the people shown in the film agreed to take part because 'it would be easier to go through the experience with [people who were helping them understand the process they were going through]'. I think we need more of that." London: 3 February – 27 February: UCL Equalities, various locations around UCL campus, London. Throughout February, an exciting programme of events has been organised by UCL Equalities to celebrate diversity and examine the ongoing and evolving challenges some groups face in education, work and the wider society. This year's theme is time, history and generation. The events will look at the historical context of equalities and diversity and the way different experiences of diversity are found within and between generations. Events going on this week, include: Making yourself Heard: A public speaking workshop for women. A space for self-identified women students to come and learn and/or develop their skills in public speaking. Feel free to bring you lunch and prepare the actively participate. Opening Doors and UCL LGBT+ Women's Only Film Night screening of Cloudburst "When I grow up I want to be…": A speaker event hosted by the UCLU Women's Network as part of their Women in Leadership Week, talking about generational differences in work and life as women. A full programme, which includes events that do not require registration, can be found here. 4 February: I carried a watermelon, she had a back street abortion: How Dirty Dancing broke new ground on the big screen. At Whirled Cinema, 259-260 Hardess Street, London SE24, from 7pm. Join Abortion Rights for a screening of Dirty Dancing; more than just a chick flick, there will be a panel discussion on the representation of abortion in the media. For more information please email this address. Tickets £10/ £6 8 February: Great London Thinkers: Mary Wollstonecraft. At the Bishopsgate Institute, London, from 2.30pm. Join Anja Steinbauer at this open discussion and explore the life and work of Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 –1797) was undeniably one of the most outstanding figures of her time. Claiming that "the being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason", she embodies in many ways the ideals of the Enlightenment. Courageous, fiercely intelligent and articulate, she effectively challenged the ideas of many of the famous minds around her, including Edmund Burke. Defender of the French Revolution, pioneer for the rights of women and mother to Mary Shelly, her influence on our culture can hardly be overestimated. Anja Steinbauer is the president of Philosophy for All, co-editor of ‘Philosophy Now‘ and co-founder of the London School of Philosophy. She also teaches Philosophy at Bishopsgate Institute. Free admission. No advance booking required; but please note places are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Until 22 February: Blurred Lines by Nick Payne and Carrie Cracknell at The Shed, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1. Blurred Lines is a blistering journey through contemporary gender politics. An all-female cast dissect what it means to be a woman today: in the workplace, in cyberspace, on screen, on stage and in relationships. This new piece explores the reality of equality in Britain today, where feminism is a dirty word and pornography is inescapable. Blurred Lines is a fast-paced, razor sharp glimpse of a culture which promised liberation and delivered Robin Thicke. Nick Payne’s plays include Constellations, Wanderlust (Royal Court) and The Same Deep Water As Me (Donmar Warehouse). Carrie Cracknell is Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatre. She was previously Artistic Director of the Gate. Recent work includes A Doll’s House (Young Vic and West End) and Wozzeck (ENO). Suitable for 15 years and above. Please note: the production contains references to sexual assault. Until 22 March: The Mistress Contract by Abi Morgan at Jerwood Theatre downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1W. She and He are the pseudonyms of a real-life couple who live in separate houses in the same city on the west coast of America. She is 88. He is 93. For 30 years he has provided her with a home and an income, while she provides 'mistress services' – 'All sexual acts as requested, with suspension of historical, emotional, psychological disclaimers.' They first met at university and then lost touch. When they met again twenty years later, they began an affair when She – a highly educated, intelligent woman with a history of involvement in the feminist movement – asked her wealthy lover to sign the remarkable document that outlines their unconventional lifestyle: The Mistress Contract. Was her suggestion a betrayal of all that she and the women of her generation had fought for? Or was it brave, honest, and radical? Then — on a small recorder that fit in her purse — this extraordinary couple began to tape their conversations about their relationship, conversations that took place while travelling, over dinner at home and in restaurants, on the phone, even in bed. Based on reams of tape recordings made over their 30 year relationship, ‘The Mistress Contract’ is a remarkable document of this unconventional couple, and the contract that kept them bound together to this day. The Mistress Contract is Abi Morgan's Royal Court Theatre debut. Her theatre credits include most recently 27 for National Theatre of Scotland and Frantic Assembly's ‘Lovesong’. A BAFTA award-winning writer; on film, she wrote the screenplay for ‘The Iron Lady’ starring Meryl Streep and ’Shame’, directed by Steve McQueen, and on television, her credits include The Hour; Birdsong, starring Eddie Redmayne, and White Girl and Sex Traffic. Tickets £32, £22, £16, £12. Until 23 March: Hannah Höch exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1. Hannah Höch was an artistic and cultural pioneer, a member of Berlin's Dada movement in the 1920s, and a driving force in the development of 20th century collage. Splicing together images taken from fashion magazines and illustrated journals, she created a humorous and moving commentary on society during a time of tremendous social change. Höch was admired by contemporaries yet was often overlooked by traditional art history. As the first major exhibition of her work in Britain, the show puts this inspiring figure in the spotlight. A determined believer in artistic freedom, Höch questioned conventional concepts of relationships, beauty and the making of art. Höch's collages explore the concept of the 'New Woman' in Germany following World War I and capture the style of the 1920s avant-garde theatre. The important series 'From an Ethnographic Museum' combines images of female bodies with traditional masks and objects, questioning traditional gender and racial stereotypes. Astute and funny, this exhibition reveals how Höch established collage as a key medium for satire whilst being a master of its poetic beauty. Tickets £9.95/ £7.95. Nottingham: 8 February: MILLIONWOMENRISE Get Up! Fundraiser at the Polish Centre, Clumber Avenue, Nottingham, from 8pm. Featuring live music from The Very Good Country and Western Band, Mama Tokus, Shaz Freida Mai, plus DJs from Juice, and compered by Pam Burrows. Tickets £10, £7, £3 on the door. All women welcome. Oxford: 8 February: Quiltbag Cabaret February at East Oxford Community Centre, 44b Princes Street, Oxford, from 7.45pm. Quiltbag Cabaret is a regular arts and performance event in Oxford aiming to be an inclusive and accessible space for the queer and feminist communities and our allies to socialise and create art together. In February, the headline act will be the fabulous Lashings of Ginger Beer Time! We’ll also have performances from cabaret artist Ann Domoney and poet Patti Dale. In the arts room, the newly-named Quiltbook will be available for you to decorate in any way you choose – whether with words, pictures, patterns or something else entirely. And of course we will have our usual stitching circle, where you can contribute a square to the Quiltbag Cabaret quilt. In honour of LGBT History month, our guest art activity is making peg dolls and puppets to represent our favourite queer icons. We’ll be holding a raffle to raise money for PACE, a charity which promotes the mental health and emotional well-being of the LGBT community. Tickets £7/ £5.  |
| Celebrity abusers, rape culture and Jim Davidson Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:09 AM PST
Jim Davidson has won Celebrity Big Brother. Jim Davidson, a man who has an alleged history of intimate partner violence, and whose racist, sexist and homophobic "comedy" led to him being chucked off Celebrity Hell's Kitchen in 2007. Jim Davidson's third wife alleged that within the first three months of their marriage he had blackened her eyes, damaged her ribs using training weights and kicked her down the stairs. But this abuse is given a free pass. The harm he has caused is ignored. His career continues, the money pours in, and those who dare to mention his history are told to let it go, it's in the past. On Saturday, the Guardian wrote a long and loving article about Mike Tyson. His conviction and imprisonment for raping a woman was brushed off as 'distressing problems with women'. Since his release from prison, Tyson has become a cult figure, starring in TV shows and movies, going on a book tour and all the while ensuring that his rape conviction is not spoken out loud. Those of us who say this is at very best 'problematic' are shouted down, are told he served his time. We're told we should just let it go. On Sunday morning I woke up to find an abusive tweet in my @ mentions because I had in the past called Ched Evans a rapist. For the record, the courts found Ched Evans guilty of rape and sentenced him to jail. He is a rapist. But the fact that he raped a young woman doesn't prevent his legions of fans from trying to intimidate and silence anyone who points this out. These are just three examples of violent, abusive men being lauded, celebrated and defended in one week. Throughout the year you will see many others, while the women they abused are silenced and ignored. These men will receive their awards, will win their popularity contests, and will take home large cheques. All that time their violence will be ignored and brushed aside. Those of us who talk about it will be accused of being ranty feminists who need to let it go. When feminists talk about rape culture, this is (in part) what we're talking about. We're talking about a culture that excuses, forgives, minimises and ignores men who commit violence against women and girls, and – in these cases – celebrates them as cultural icons. Rape culture works like this. No one is going to say rape and violence against women are good things. Look under an article about violence against women on CIF or the Mail Online, and everyone will say 'of course, rape is an abhorrent act'. And then comes the inevitable 'but'. Because when faced with a man who is popular, a fun guy who everyone likes or even loves to hate, and who is then revealed to be an abuser of women, people become confused. They have to find a way to bring together their obvious abhorrence of violence against women, and their fondness of this abusive man. So instead, they find ways to minimise the violence. They say that Polanski didn't commit 'rape rape'. They say that the woman Ched Evans raped was drunk. They say that Tyson served his time. They say that Jim Davidson's marriage broke down a long time ago. By doing this, they can maintain that balance of still knowing that 'violence against women is bad' while defending the man they admire. Meanwhile, as they make these mental gymnastics to absolve male violence, the victims and survivors are silenced and forgotten about. Their experience and the impact of the violence inflicted upon them is dismissed as insignificant. Some go so far in their defence of male abusers as to say that it is in fact worse to be the accused than the victim or survivor. The Grammy awards even counted themselves as the true victims when Chris Brown beat up Rihanna, as his crime meant they couldn't invite him to perform for at least two years. This is rape culture in action. And the impact goes further. By ignoring or absolving or excusing the actions of violent men in the public eye, we send the message that if you beat, rape or abuse a woman it doesn't matter. You can still be a cult hero. You can still win Oscars. You can still have fans willing to abuse other women on your behalf. We send the message to violent men who aren't famous that their behaviour isn't so bad. That they can probably get away with it too. Which of course, with a conviction rate of 6.5 per cent and around 90,000 rapes a year, most violent men will. When popular men, famous men, love-to-hate men, talented men in the public eye abuse women, our culture closes ranks. We move in to protect them from the feminists who dare to point out their violence, their abuse. Articles are written where the rape is never mentioned. Popularity contests are won because the abuse no longer matters. A man who allegedly beat his partner so viciously that she requested a restraining order against him is described as someone who 'genuinely likes women'. Our culture protects them, as we develop a conspiracy of silence that hides the truth of their abuse. This is what rape culture looks like. Jim Davidson winning Big Brother is what we mean, when as feminists we say that our culture doesn't care about violence against women. Rape culture is when abusive men's behaviour gets a free pass, and the women they abuse are silenced, mocked, belittled or become victims of further violence themselves. A version of this post was originally published on the Feminist and Women’s Studies Association (FWSA) blog.  |
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