feminist blogs

HIV/AIDS is typically thought of as a gay man’s disease, despite the fact that the World Health Organization released statistics in November 2009 that show HIV/AIDS is the #1 killer of women ages 15-44 worldwide. Since March 10th is the National Day of HIV/AIDS Awareness for Women and Girls, I thought that it was important to focus on some of the reasons why women and girls are particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV.

According to a recent article in Poz Magazine:

The particulars of women’s heightened risk include the specifics of female biology; high rates of sexual abuse and gender-based violence; battles for self-esteem and respect; women’s need to be accepted by sexual partners; a chronic lack of resources and income; and homophobia, which can drive lesbians to unsafe and unhealthy practices.

Another part of the challenge is that the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS prevents women from getting tested or seeking support services for themselves. One woman interviewed in another Poz article about HIV and women pointed out that if you have breast cancer or heart disease, there are races and other public events for people to show their support. But with HIV, people would rather look the other way.

Let’s stop looking the other way. If you don’t know your HIV status, you should get tested. There are 1 million people in in American who are HIV+, but 25% of them don’t know their status because they haven’t been tested.

For more info about HIV and women, check out the articles that I mentioned earlier. You can also get the facts from Planned Parenthood.

In response to male-dominated politics throughout the country’s history, India has just approved a bill that would reserve 1/3 of all legislative seats for women candidates. The news comes just in time for International Women’s Day, on March 8th.

The country faces specific problems relating to women that have not been appropriately addressed up to this point. The World Economic Forum has ranked India 114 out of 134 countries based on gender disparities. Female infanticide is responsible for an unequal number of men and women in the country. Proponents of the bill hope that a critical mass of female legislators will solve this problem.

“Issues like female infanticide will no longer be seen as a soft subject but will become the core of the nation’s political agenda,” said Brinda Karat, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), during the debate in the upper house.

Many are very resistant to the idea of a quota, even though it’s been done with success in places like Norway. I am in support of such a measure. It’s not even a 50% quota; it is 33%. I believe this can encourage more women to get involved with politics and feel empowered to put in the time and effort into running for office.

But some of those who opposed the bill claim they didn’t oppose it for sexist reasons. Instead, Laloo Prasad Yadav, leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal party, said that he is against the legislation because it does not contain certain provisions for women of lower castes or religious minorities. Therefore, he claims, the bill won’t do enough to counter inequalities in Indian politics. As he puts it:

“We are being unfairly defamed as anti-women. All we want is that the women from real India, like those toiling in the farms and villages, are brought forward.”

Women currently have about 11% of the seats in Parliament in India. The United States isn’t a huge improvement over this number, where about 17% of Congress is female.

When we think of spies, the image of a man in a black trench coat, or a dashing gentleman in a tuxedo usually comes to mind. Women are not the first thing that comes to mind, and that’s perhaps why they make such excellent spies.

Aline Griffith was born in Peal River, New York in 1923. She was a model before she obtained a job with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was a precursor to the CIA. Griffith had been eager to join the military after the outbreak of World War II, but she was repeatedly rejected because of her age. Her age eventually became an invaluable part of her cover as a spy.

Griffith worked by day in the American code room of Madrid, enciphering messages, carrying out missions, and supervising a group of agents. At night she traveled in Spain’s elite social circles and used her social standing to glean intelligence from Nazi sympathizers. After the war, Griffith remained in Spain, married into the Spanish aristocracy and became the Countess of Romanones.

Griffith wrote three books about her life in espionage: The Spy Wore Red, The Spy Went Dancing, and The Spy Wore Silk.

For More Info:
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Today's Women's History Tidbit:
1911: International Women's Day is first celebrated in Europe. It will receive official UN recognition in 1975.*

This post originally appeared at the AWEARNESS blog.

Happy International Women's Day!

Over the past 18 months I've written for AWEARNESS, I've written a lot women's rights. For International Women's Day Gender Across Borders wants to know what "equal rights for all" means to me.

Equal rights for me means just that, equal rights. As a human being with two X chromosomes I should have the same access to education, jobs and safety as humans with only one X chromosome. That access goes far beyond any city, state or national border too.

My activism is rooted in my early education of human rights though working with Amnesty International. The U.S. Congress could pass every law feminists could think of, every judge could believe women when they ask for protection against violence and the police would enforce everything and I still wouldn't be satisfied.

I would relish that our job was done here in the U.S.A. and it left me with more time to fight for the education of my sisters abroad, for them to be free of forced marriage, for them to be healed from fistula and for their work to be honored around the world.

As long as there is a young girl trafficked, denied her education and forced to bear a child at way too young of an age, I will be there to fight for her. It's not enough for women in one country to enjoy freedom.

If you want to work on international women's issues, any one of these organizations would be happy to have your support:

• CARE
• Fistula Foundation
• Half the Sky Movement
• Heifer International
• MADRE

Have your own favorite? Please share it here!


* Source: 2010 Women Who Dare Engagement Calendar from the Library of Congress

Last year, on International Women's Day, I wrote in support of the work of activists addressing Haiti's high incidence of rape. Today, the survival and well-being of women in Haiti remains high on the agenda of activists in the region and allies all over the world, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake. The women I've spoken to there are more focused than ever on rebuilding their country and their lives, and on continuing to work on securing safe, dignified, productive lives and livelihoods for all people. They inspire me not only to join them where they are, but to intensify my own work in Barbados and the Caribbean.

I see a lot of young women in my neighbourhood, on the streets every day, out and about everywhere, engaged in the business of growing up and figuring life out. And every day I'm reminded of how much there is to navigate, as a girl, and how overwhelming it can become if no one is creating the space needed to get through it all. That involves listening and encouraging their creative efforts and all these great things. But it also involves more tangible support, that has to do with their health care, their sexual and reproductive rights, their education, their safety and economic security. I don't have children. And even though I may at some point, and though I love my friends' children, I need not look that far into the future for my motivation to make things better now. I'm looking all around me, out my window right this minute, at the girls and women who depend on all our support to make their lives better today.

Happy International Women's Day.

When someone calls you out for a privileged comment, it can be hard to realize that you were in the wrong. After all, everyone you know uses that word/you didn’t know it meant that/you didn’t mean it THAT way/you weren’t doing it on purpose/other people are too sensitive, right?

Wrong.

This has come up lately with the word “gypped” in my experience. Gypped is a racist term against Roma. When we use the term, we further the prejudice against the Roma and the stereotype that institutionalized the word and made it part of our vocabulary. So let’s imagine a dialogue right now:

Mary Sue: “That vendor gypped me!”

Becky Jean: “Mary Sue, gypped is sort of a racist term. Do you mean he cheated you?”

Mary Sue: “I’m not a racist! How dare you! Everyone uses that term, it’s not about black people or anything!!! Why are you attacking me, you’re not perfect!!!”

Becky Jean: “I know you don’t consider yourself a racist, but the language you use can betray your actual beliefs, so you need to be careful. I’m not attacking you, I’m informing you so that you can look into the term and eliminate racism from your vocabulary, so your words match up with the lifestyle you want to lead. The term refers to a stereotype of the Roma people, often referred to as Gypsies, and they suffer a lot of discrimination and hate, so we need to not further that with our words.I’m sorry if you felt attacked, that was not my intention.”

Now ideally, this is where Mary Sue calms down a little and says…

“Oh, I’m sorry I got so upset. Racist is such a scary term, and I immediately jump to my own defense. I was scared of my beliefs and words not matching up. Thanks for telling me. I know you don’t mean that I hate others, just that we live in a racist world and need to be conscious of our speech. Are there any other terms like that I should be aware of? We can help educate each other.”

Or…

“It isn’t racist!! I don’t even know any gypsies, and everyone uses the word!! You’re oversensitive, and you can’t save the world!!! I didn’t MEAN it, so it shouldn’t matter!!”

And here is where you want to cry, or start poking them very hard in the eye, right?

Well, violence is never the answer, and though crying might help you feel a bit better, it should probably be saved for when you can hug a puppydog and rant about the injustices of the world to your stuffed animals and significant other.  And since right now, Becky Jean wants to come away from this conversations positively affecting Mary Sue, we’ll skip the crying.

Ganieda, one of our lovely commenters, linked me to this http://community.livejournal.com/fight_derailing/9867.html

It’s an excellent post entitled, “How to Discuss Race and Racism without Being a Jerk.” My favorite part is the part she quoted to me, during yet another of my epic rants about NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO PEOPLE AND GETTING FRUSTRATED

“Intentions aren’t the only thing that matters.

(Last one, and it’s short.) Suppose I step on someone’s foot. They say, “hey, ouch, you stepped on my foot.”

My proper response is, “Gosh, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.” Depending on the situation, I might add something like, “I was looking for my kid’s sneaker that she always kicks off,” or “I’ve got something in my contact,” etc.

My proper response is not, “Well, I didn’t mean to step on your foot, so why are you angry?!” “

This is a great example to point out to Mary Sue. You can explain yourself, you can ask for reassurance that the person calling you out isn’t considering you a Bad Person, but you have to show that you realize that your intention is not the be all and end all of the term and that it has a greater affect than “just being a word.”

Which is why Mary Sue’s explanation of not knowing the term’s severity and feeling attacked is a lot more valid and provides a lot more discussion than “well I didn’t know!!! you’re oversensitive!!!”

Another great example is a few posts earlier, in my Yay Spain! post. A commenter called me out on the image of Spain I’d put out. I apologized, agreed with her that my words did not get across my intentions, and explained what I exactly meant. Voila! Did it feel good being called out? No, I felt bad about unintentionally perpetuating a harmful stereotype by not using my words in a clear manner. But I drank some lemonade, felt sad for a minute, then sucked it up and responded. And I learned from it.

Now, if you’re wondering why I have a very long post on racism, the answer is intersectionality, and because the following tips can be used with sexists as well! Along with ableists and homophobes and sizeists and…..

More about intersectionality this time. Off to eat pizza bagels!

This post is a part of the Blog for International Women’s Day BLOG International Women’s Day is only six days away! What will you be doing to celebrate the progress and opportunity for women worldwide? For starters*, I suggest you check out: Feminist Peace Network’s listings of IWD events. Veronica at Viva La Feminista has a great list of [...]

I’m a little late on this, but…

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.

“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

Thanks, Delegate Bob Marshall (R (big surprise?)) of Virginia.

Let’s count what’s wrong in these statements! This is one of my favorite games. I know of people who played drinking games to George W. Bush’s State of the Union Addresses. Okay, let’s begin:

-Medically, there is no link between abortion and disabilities or infertility in the future.

-The ableism in this statement is disgusting. Assuming every child who is born with any sort of disability is a punishment is just plain wrong! I’m surprised he went that route, honestly, I thought that school of thought became less popular in Republican circles after the Sarah Palin Experience, where she lugged her disabled son Trig around everywhere. Is he suggestion that the Republic Pundit Goddess is experiencing a punishment for something? Oh no he didn’ttt.

-Who the hell is he to be referencing the Old Testament in regards to law making?! Why should a book that YOUR version of a higher power gave to YOUR people decide laws for all the people who don’t believe in that book, or don’t have the same beliefs about the same book?!  Just seriously, this bugs me so much.  How dare he? When you’re an elected official, your people are your first priority. NOT your higher power, or your book, or anything. The people you are representing are the opinions you should represent. If every single person, or even the majority that Bob Marshall represents feels that way, then he can use it to inform his law making.

Educate someone about abortion, legality, and the assholes that manage to squirm into our legislature today, people!

(Maybe I should start making a WTF (location) series. It is my theme lately.)

I really, really want to blog every single day this month!

In honor of March 1, 2010, I will point you to all the Chicago area Women's History Month calendars I can get my grubby hands on. If you know one I missed, just let me know & I'll add it.

• UIC Women's Hertitage Month
• Chicago Public Libraries 
• Oakton Community College 
• Evanston Public Library
• Concordia-Chicago
• Gannon Center for Women and Leadership (Loyola)
• Northern Illinois University
• Women in Journalism: Saturday, March 6, 11:45 am, Elizabeth Brackett, correspondent for Chicago Tonight and PBS NewsHour. Sponsored by North Shore Leagues of Women Voters. The Glen Club, 2901 West Lake Avenue, Glenview. Information: 847-866-7844

To find out more about Women's History Month, head on over to the National Women's History Project. 

Spain loosened their abortions laws considerably earlier this week! Go Spain!!! Women can now abort up to 22 weeks, regardless of the health status of the pregnancy: it doesn’t have to be rape or endangering the woman’s life. Go Spain!!

It’s also really sad that Spain has beaten the US on this, people. Catholic monarchy being more progressive? We’ve got issues here, kids.

http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=12245