Women's Views on News |
| Having a different sort of brain Posted: 23 Jun 2015 04:04 AM PDT
Rich Mix is hosting an exhibition of recent works by the artist Sanchita Islam – also known as the writer Q S Lam. She has shown at the Whitechapel, ICA and Hayward Gallery and completed over 90 group/solo shows and screenings of her films – including the show Schizophrenia Part 1 where she showed as four artists at the Truman Brewery in 2007 – and has been artist in resident at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and artist in resident at Artscape and Shoreditch House. The three week exhibition at Rich Mix, which opened on 4 June 2015, includes work exploring issues of postpartum psychosis, a scroll addressing psychological and actual warfare, created with mental health patients in Brussels, along with portraits of patients by Belgian photographer Lieven van Meulder and Sanchita Islam in collaboration with Brussels based arts organisation vzw KAOS and the Psycho-Social Centre St-Alexius in Brussels. The scrolls, meticulously hand painted postcards, intimate drawings of mother and child, and photographic portraits will intrigue; they raise questions about maternal mental illness and preconceptions of the mentally ill. Illustrating the evolution of the mother/child relationship Sanchita Islam's three latest three scrolls are distinct in mood and tone and were made with her infant son to cement their bond. The fourth scroll addresses internal psychological warfare made with patients suffering from mental illness. The theme of madness ties the scrolls together. The sketchbook images and postcards were made during the postpartum psychosis. Sanchita's son makes squiggles on the postcards, which she then transforms into ethereal, imaginative landscapes. On the opening night all 4 original scrolls were exhibited. The project tackles the subject of mental illness through an exhibition, a debate and theatre performance, dispelling erroneous stereotypes and the stigma attached to any admission of mental fragility. Artist, writer and filmmaker Sanchita Islam has worked extensively in the Tower Hamlets region since 1999 and has participated widely in exhibitions and screenings, working closely with organisations such as the Arts Council, British Council and Commonwealth Institute. She has been running Pigment Explosion, an organisation specialising in international art projects, since 2009. Pigment Explosion initially set up to perform live art events in the Brick Lane area, has since 1999 branched out into projects that spill into film, painting, drawing, writing and photography. It creates projects that engage people through painting/drawing, film, books and photography and aims to reach out to sectors of the public who would not ordinarily have access to the arts. To date Pigment Explosion has worked with old people, women suffering from domestic violence, kids living in the slums of Bangladesh, street kids in Jakarta, kids living on the estates of east London and Kuala Lumpur and most recently patients with mental health problems in Brussels. An article by Mary O’Hara in the Guardian recently says how Islam, 42, a mother of two toddlers, said that if one of the numerous mental health professionals she had seen prior to her first pregnancy had accurately informed her about the risks to maternal mental health for someone like her – she had her first experience of psychosis aged 36 – she would have been able to prepare herself. "I would be like: OK, I get it. This is some kind of mental, hormonal aberration. It will pass. "The mental health services are not working with people like me, patients who are going through it." A major report published at the end of last year by the Centre for Mental Health and the London School of Economics concluded that mental health services across the UK for perinatal women were not only "patchy" but that detection of mental health problems before and after birth fell far below what was acceptable. Only around 40 per cent of mothers were diagnosed, with just 3 per cent of women expected to make a full recovery. The fact that some women may experience suicidal ideation, and even visions of killing their infants, makes it vital that the lack of adequate support is talked about openly and frankly, Islam says in her book. "Mothers who have psychotic visions are often vilified or judged. Many suffer in silence and deal with their condition in isolation, despite the fact that the cause of their visions is often related to sleep deprivation, chemical and/or hormonal changes, and not a reflection of dubious maternal skills," she writes. "I, too, have struggled to find the right support during both my pregnancies and in the postpartum period." The book, written in hospital, is part memoir with, O’Hara says, a hint of manifesto. It is comprised of a series of essays that touch on explicit details of Islam's life with mental health problems even before she had her first serious bout of depression in her late teens following a sexual assault. And as the publisher’s outline says, the author uses her experiences to dissect and demystify psychosis and addresses important questions about the role of psychiatrists and hospitals and the extent to which they help or impede recovery. Weaving together prose, artwork and poetry she explores how art and other integrative strategies can be used to avert repeat psychotic episodes and to consolidate that crucial, nascent maternal bond with her children. She examines with unflinching honesty, topics related to psychosis, postpartum psychosis, and the impact of psychosis on motherhood. This book – Schizophrenics Can be Good Mothers Too – aims to provide invaluable insights into difficult and often misunderstood subjects appealing to fellow mothers, the general public, and mental health care practitioners. The exhibition at Rich Mix – also called Schizophrenics Can be Good Mothers Too – runs until 4 July.  |
| ‘They are sexist and they know it’ report out Posted: 23 Jun 2015 01:09 AM PDT
The Sun has ended 'page 3' but there is still chronic misrepresentation of women and girls in the print media, and the 'page 3' tabloids continue to normalise and mainstream the sex and porn industries. A new report, written and researched by media sexism campaign OBJECT, assesses whether there has been any improvement in the way the 'page 3' redtops represent women since the Leveson Inquiry and the formation of the new press regulator, IPSO. The report, 'They are Sexist and They Know It', focuses on the Sun, the Daily Sport and the Daily Star. And it highlights how their sexual objectification of women goes beyond the topless 'Page 3' of the Sun's print edition, and finds extreme examples sexual objectification. For example: A case of two women, from Nigeria, being trafficked into the UK and forced into prostitution was covered by 'The Sport', but the focus, as the headline shows was on rituals and black magic the women allegedly practiced, "VOODOO Sex Ring made me eat COCK" (The Sport, October 8, 2014). The article was also juxtaposed next to porn ads such as an image of a naked woman bound and gagged; The Sport covered a report on Jimmy Savile's abuse of young women and girls next to upskirt pictures and porn ads. The porn ads featured were entitled "Tight teens"; In 'The Daily Star', a story about Gary Glitter's historical abuses of girls was placed next to a story of Prince Harry's girlfriend's sex life "romps"; The Sun covered the story of Lee Travis being charged with sexually assaulting a woman by groping her with the headline "Hairy Cornflake Faces Porridge". OBJECT’s report also highlights that: Women are not only reduced to their body parts but often violence against women is trivialised or glamorised to the extent that stories of sexual violence are juxtaposed with topless images and/or porn and escort ads and crimes committed against women are reported in a titillating manner. Use of derogatory and hateful language about women is widespread and women's lack of consent is often presented as entertainment rather than as sexual harassment or worse. Sexualisation of children is common, as well as racist, ageist representations of women. The report finds that women's sexuality, including lesbian sexuality, is often reduced to just a performance for men. Finally, the report finds that actual news about women is absent; women's contribution to society is often not recognised. Speaking on the report’s publication Beti Baraki, Object's campaigns officer, said: "The ending of the Sun's Page 3, in the printed edition, was a great victory after years of campaigning and helps draw attention to the broader issue of media sexism on our press. "However, the ritual and persistent sexual objectification of women in the press is a serious problem and a common theme. "In fact we see that apart from reduction of women to the sum of their body parts, the presence of adverts for porn and the sex industries with hateful and derogatory language for women is widespread. "This often particularly extreme in the racist portrayal of black and minority ethnic women. "Crimes committed against women such as trafficking, rape and murder are trivialised or eroticised and actual news of women is largely absent in these tabloids. "Reducing women to sex objects or body parts rather than whole person normalises the treatment of women as objects, and underpins discrimination and violence against women and girls. "Women have had enough of limiting stereotypes, which harm us all, constantly peddled by national newspapers. "The press," she continued, "has a responsibility to be a non-discriminatory and ethical- the press should be governed by some basic ethical standards and practicing a fair representation of women and girls in the media is one standard that needs to be met- yet it seems that the press are failing half the population at every turn. "This is a form of gross discrimination and runs contrary to the public interest. "There needs to be a national enquiry to address the chronic misrepresentation of women in our print media," she said. "OBJECT supports a free press," she added, "which is why we are advocating for a common-sense and consistent approach to bring regulation of print based media in line with other forms of media regulation that balances equality legislation with free speech principles." To read the report, click here.  |
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