MAI promite legalizarea prostitutiei?

n-am cuvinte pt. cit de aiurea e pusa problema in stirea asta, de la felul in care e abordat subiectul de catre oficialitati (cum s-ar putea exploata mai tare prostituatele), la felul in care e discutat atit de ei, cit si in presa si in general: “vesti bune pentru romanii burlaci”! nu c-ar fi o noutate – a se vedea de ex. protestul din 2005 privind abordarea la nivel guvernamental a problemei prostitutiei.

parlamentarilor, lui v. blaga (care, vai, nici nu poate intelege cum de nu se trece mai repede la legalizare), ca si majoritatii populatiei, sigur li se pare chiar nastrusnica ideea ca prostituatele sint oameni si ar putea avea mai multe drepturi, sau ca daca prostituatele sint criminale si “burlacii” care cumpara servicii sint tot criminali… si sa poarte discutiile la acest nivel.

nu mai discutam poza, iresponsabilitatea presei cind e vorba de orice care perpetueaza exploatarea sexista in general.

– inca o analiza: “Fiinţele umane au preţ: 1% din PIB”

– pe site-ul lf, despre prostitutie: I si II

International Women’s Day 2007

DON’T FORGET to: Blog Against Sexism Day (sign up here)

“8 martie – ziua femeilor militante” (2006) [ro]
“march 8th – day of women’s activism” (2006) [en]

Global Women’s Strike 2007
Celebrating International Women’s Day around the world

INVEST IN CARING NOT KILLING! Women & girls do 2/3 of the world’s work, most of it unwaged. $1 trillion/year is spent on the military worldwide, more than half by the US. 10% of this would provide the essentials of life for all: water, sanitation, basic health, nutrition, literacy, and a minimum income.
The Global Women’s Strike network, with national co-ordinations in 11 countries and participating organisations in over 60 countries, is demanding the return of military budgets to the community, beginning with women the main carers of people and the planet. Women, and men who support our goals, take action together on 8 March, International Women’s Day, and throughout the year. In this way each grassroots struggle is backed by our collective power. …

“Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”
Is the theme for International Women’s Day 2007

Learn more about how United Nations celebrate IWD

In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women’s Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. For the United Nations, International Women’s Day has been observed on 8 March since 1975. The Day is traditionally marked with a message from the Secretary-General.

Why dedicate a day exclusively to the celebration of the world’s women?

In adopting its resolution on the observance of Women’s Day, the General Assembly cited two reasons: to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security. For the women of the world, the Day’s symbolism has a wider meaning: It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.

Read more about the International Women’s Day:
* History of International Women’s Day
* “Engendering the Global Agenda: The Story of Women and the United Nations”, a book by Hilkka Pietilä
* UN Cyberschool Bus page about International Women’s Day

Previous years and themes:
2006: Women in decision-making
2005: Gender Equality Beyond
2005: Building a More Secure Future
2004: Women and HIV/AIDS
2003: Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
2002: Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities
2001: Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts
2000: Women Uniting for Peace
1999: World Free of Violence Against Women
1998: Women and Human Rights
1997: Women at the Peace Table
1996: Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future

The Iroquois model for gender equity

“The Untold Story of The Iroquois Influence On Early Feminists”
by Sally Roesch Wagner

I had been haunted by a question to the past, a mystery of feminist history: How did the radical suffragists come to their vision, a vision not of Band-Aid reform but of a reconstituted world completely transformed?

For 20 years I had immersed myself in the writings of early United States women’s rights activists — Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) — yet I could not fathom how they dared to dream their revolutionary dream. Living under the ideological hegemony of nineteenth-century United States, they had no say in government, religion, economics, or social life (“the four-fold oppression” of their lives, Gage and Stanton called it.) Whatever made them think that human harmony — based on the perfect equality of all people, with women absolute sovereigns of their lives — was an achievable goal?

Surely these white women, living under conditions of virtual slavery, did not get their vision in a vacuum. Somehow they were able to see from point A, where they stood — corseted, ornamental, legally nonpersons — to point C, the “regenerated” world Gage predicted, in which all repressive institutions would be destroyed. What was point B in their lives, the earthly alternative that drove their feminist spirit — not a utopian pipe dream but a sensible, do-able paradigm?

Then I realized I had been skimming over the source of their inspiration without noticing it. My own unconscious white supremacy had kept me from recognizing what these prototypical feminists kept insisting in their writings: They caught a glimpse of the possibility of freedom because they knew women who lived liberated lives, women who had always possessed rights beyond their wildest imagination — Iroquois women.

The more evidence I uncovered of this indelible Native American influence on the vision of early United States feminists, the more certain I became that this story must be told.

A Vision of Everyday Decency [more]

About the Iroquois Confederacy/Six Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora Nations)

Matilda Joslyn Gage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott

Elias Johnson, Legends, traditions and laws, of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and history of the Tuscarora Indians

Paula Gunn Allen

Audrey Shenandoah activism

f-word mixtape no. 1

din zina The F-Word, spring 2006:

“don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation” mix tape playlist —
1. joan jett & the blackhearts“bad reputation”
bad reputation (1981)
2. eve’s plum“lipstuck”
cherry alive (1995)
3. kendall payne“supermodels”
jordan’s sister (1999)
4. dixie chicks“goodbye earl”
fly (1999)
5. patty griffin“sweet lorraine”
living with ghosts (1996)
6. the nields“this town is wrong”
if you lived here you’d be home now (2000)
7. anne heaton“black notebook”
black notebook (2003)
8. tori amos“silent all these years”
little earthquakes (1992)
9. rasputina“girls’ school”
frustration plantation (2004)
10. cree summer“curious white boy”
street faerie (1999)
11. le tigre“fake french”
feminist sweepstakes (2001)
12. x-ray spex“oh bondage, up yours!”
germ free adolescents (1978)
13. the distillers“seneca falls”
sing sing death house (2002)
14. bikini kill“rebel girl”
the cd version of the first two records (1992)
15. ani difranco“not a pretty girl”
not a pretty girl (1995)

necesar, dar nerecomandat

mi-am amintit de niste rinduri scrise de mircea cartarescu la un moment dat:

Exista multe standarde pentru aprecierea gradului de civilizatie al unei societati. S-a vorbit despre cantitatea de sapun folosita anual, despre libertatile cetatenesti, despre calitatea invatamantului. … Dar eu cred ca unul dintre criteriile cele mai sensibile, care practic nu da gres niciodata, este felul in care, intr-o societate, femeia este privita si se priveste pe sine. Din acest punct de vedere, mai mult decat din toate celelalte, lumea romaneasca e una primitiva cu asupra de masura. Poate ca economia noastra o sa se acomodeze, cat de cat, in timp, cu cea europeana. Poate-o sa invatam mai multe limbi straine si-o sa renuntam la proverbiala noastra smecherie. Dar atata vreme cat nu respectam femeia de langa noi ca pe noi insine n-am facut nimic si nici n-o sa facem.

E inutil sa vin cu exemple din viata de zi cu zi, oricat ar fi de “picante“ sau de revoltatoare. Cu cat cobori mai mult in Romania profunda (care-ncepe dincolo de limitele unei mici lumi manierate si nu exclude nici universitari, nici ministri, nici alti oameni cu scoala si pretentii), cu atat sarcasmul impotriva femeii este mai mare. Vorbim azi cu oroare despre antisemiti si despre cei care mananca unguri pe paine, dar acestia sunt in Romania o (periculoasa) minoritate. Pe cand cei ce dispretuiesc femeia, care ii neaga tinuta morala sau intelectuala, care-o exclud sistematic din spatiul public sunt larga majoritate a romanilor de amandoua sexele. Nu rasismul sau sovinismul national sunt azi cea mai raspandita forma de discriminare, ci brutala sau discreta, instinctiva sau argumentata “stiintific“ discriminare a femeii. Pentru omul de rand (intrati in vorba cu taximetristii, de exemplu), “femeia nu e om“, “toate sunt curve cu exceptia mamei si surorii tale“, femeia la volan e o calamitate etc. Pentru autoritati, de asemenea, femeile sunt cetateni de rangul al doilea: codul lor numeric personal incepe (ce simbol mai bun sa gasim?) cu cifra 2… — “Nu avem primarite. Pacat!”, Jurnalul National, 29.6.04

chiar nu stiu ce i-a venit lui cartarescu, insa citind analiza asta in 2004 eu am fost in acelasi timp surprinsa de cit de bine si lucid puncta problema (ok, in afara de faptul ca rasistii nu sint chiar deloc o minoritate in romania – dar macar i-a numit “periculosi”), si complet ne-surprinsa ca articolul continua cu aceasta marturisire:

Ca orice ideologie, feminismul mi-e strain, desi ii recunosc necesitatea.

urmata de inca o declaratie din partea lui cartarescu, ca nu cumva sa mai ramina vreun dubiu (desi nu-l interogase nimeni):

In varianta lui radicala, [feminismul devine] la fel de odios ca orice alt sovinism. Nu observ toate cele de mai sus dintr-un punct de vedere feminist, ci pur si simplu din perspectiva bunului-simt.

da, sigur! eu n-am inteles niciodata: daca vezi ca ceva e necesar, de ce te-ai dezice de acel lucru (si oamenii fac asta foarte des)?! totusi, in cazul asta inteleg total, pentru ca din pacate problema e “built in”: a sustine feminismul ca ideologie si/sau ca practica inseamna ori sa n-ai acces ori sa intorci constient spatele la niste privilegii, prejudecati sau concesii care-ti fac viata mai usoara, indiferent daca realizezi ca sint nedrepte si daca ti se par impotriva firii si firii tale – inseamna, deci, a-ti asuma un risc, a nu disimula si a avea curaj. in fond recurgerea la sexism, in aceeasi masura cu inscrierea totala in rolurile de gen, este ceva ce garanteaza fiecarui om (femeie sau barbat) alinierea la mainstream si la valorile patriarhale pretuite dpdv social si cultural. in timp ce feminismul, anti-sexismul sint echivalente cu a merge impotriva curentului si traditiilor. adica lucrul cel mai greu.

cartarescu putea sa aleaga greul, pare sa inteleaga asta foarte bine, dar pina la urma alege clar cel-mai-usorul. mda. numai ca el se justifica spunind ca asta e de fapt o alegere “echilibrata” (ceea ce e ca si cum ai spune, de exemplu, ca ai vrea sa nu mai fie torturati oamenii dar tu nu vei merge atit de departe incit sa condamni tortura, deoarece nu vrei sa fii luat drept “extremist” – nu de alta, dar ai auzit pe undeva ca printre cei care se impotrivesc torturii sint tare multi ciudati si radicali).

newsflash to cartarescu: punctul respectiv de vedere este feminist. asa ca felicitari (imi pare rau). iar feminismul este bun-simt; daca ti s-a spus la televizor ca feminismul e doar de-un fel si este “sovinism”, mai inchide televizorul, nu te mai lasa spalat pe creier, informeaza-te, gindeste critic si fa ceva util – si eventual anti-sexist – cu timpul tau si talentele tale.

ce-i amuzant e ca, folosind “bun-simtul”, cartarescu descopera de unul singur definitia cea mai simpla a feminismului, adica: “notiunea radicala ca femeile sint oameni”. mai putin amuzanta: inconsecventa de care da dovada.

sa vedem, pe linga cartarescu insusi (in ipostaza explicit non-feminista), ce alte “exemple” care arata necesitatea feminismului ar mai fi?


si daca astea sint citeva din nenumaratele exemple, ce e “sovin” si ce e “de bun simt” dintre a imbratisa feminismul si a te dezice de el? (raspunsul intr-un numar viitor.)

Planting the future

“Wangari Maathai’s environmental activism in Kenya has earned her a Nobel peace prize – and a number of powerful enemies.” – article about Wangari Maathai, an amazing feminist environmentalist from Kenya!

Some other ecofeminists/feminist environmental activists:

  • Vandana Shiva
  • Arundhati Roy, Narmada Bachao Andolan
  • Marie Haisova, Agentura GAIA
  • Carol Adams
  • Winona LaDuke
  • Judi Bari, Earth First!
  • Dawn Moncrief, Farm Animal Reform Movement
  • Roger S. Gottlieb
  • Alice Walker
  • Campaign for Abolition of all Misogynic Gender Based legislation in Iran

    [See also: a feminist protest in Tehran violently repressed, June 2006]
    ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________

    8 March Women Organization (Iranian-Afghanistan), International Association of Advanced Women, Women’s Committee of the Iranian Association in London
    www.karzar-zanan.com, zan_dem_iran@hotmail.com

    To all women who suffer from inequality

    To all activists and organisations of the Iranian women’s Movement

    In the last 26 years, Islamic legislation has deprived Iranian women of the most basic human rights. Forced veiling has reduced women to second class citizens. Honour killing is legal and women are condemned to hanging and death by stoning for “unchaste behaviour”.

    Let us join forces and create a powerful united campaign to eradicate these unequal laws and Islamic punishments against women as soon as possible. Let us make our voice in opposition to these laws heard throughout the world. Let us create such a storm that no one would ever dare impose such retrograde laws on us.

    If you are against death by stoning!

    If you are against forced veiling!

    If you are against prosecution and imprisonment of women!

    If you are against lashing a woman’s body!

    If you are against any form of patriarchy!

    If you are against all the medieval laws of Iran’s Islamic Republic imposing inequality against women!
    ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________

    Press release: Women against unjust laws organise march on International women’s day
    Continue reading

    Portugal Abortion Referendum Fails, Government Moves to Legalize

    See also: pre-referendum, an open letter regarding the issue (Romanian)

    February 12, 2007: After a referendum on Portugal’s strict abortion laws failed due to low voter turn-out, the country’s Socialist government has announced that it will work to legalize abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Portuguese voters yesterday decisively voted to liberalize Portugal’s extremely strict abortion law, but the results were considered invalid because only 44 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot; for a referendum to be considered binding, at least half of the country’s eligible population must vote. Currently, Portuguese legislation allows for abortion only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if a woman’s health or life is at risk. Women pregnant because of rape may be considered for an abortion until the 16th week.

    Luis Marques Mendes, who heads the Social Democratic Party, remarked, “The will of the Portuguese must be respected,” the BBC reports, suggesting that opposition parties will not attempt to veto new legislation that would liberalize the country’s laws. Supporters of lifting the abortion ban cited over 23,000 illegal abortions performed yearly. Currently Portugal’s abortion practices are some of most restrictive in the European Union. … more

    — from the Global Feminist Daily Newswire

    and you’ll find yr place in the world, girl

    the gossip, another best band ever:

    standing in the way of control, 2005

    • “fire with fire”
      listen
      it ain’t the end of the world girl,
      you’ll find yr place in the world girl,
      all you gotta do is stand up,
      and fight fire with fire.
      big or small,
      it makes no difference,
      what part of town,
      or what shape yr in,
      all you gotta do is stand up,
      and fight fire with fire.

      oh oh oh,
      you gotta run run,
      we’re gonna find you,
      oh oh oh,
      you turn around,
      we’re right behind you,
      hey hey hey,
      then they’ll see,
      that the bigger we are,
      the harder they fall.

      no it ain’t the end of the world girl,
      you’ll find yr place in the world girl,
      all you gotta do is stand up,
      and fight fire with fire,
      in the end no one is innocent,
      big or small it makes no difference,
      get up, stand out and hold yr head up higher.

    movement, 2003

    • “don’t (make waves)” (lyrics)

    home alive compilation ii: flying sidekick, 2001

    • “i want it now”

    fete tipice

    apropos de mini-documentarul despre femei in punk numit “typical girls” [partea 1, partea 2, partea 3], doua piese clasice – si versurile:

    • the slits: “typical girls” (cut, 1979)

      Don’t create
      Don’t rebel
      Have intuition
      Can’t decide

      Typical girls get upset too quickly
      Typical girls can’t control themselves
      Typical girls are so confusing
      Typical girls – you can always tell
      Typical girls don’t think too clearly
      Typical girls are unpredictable
      Predictable

      Typical girls try to be
      Typical girls very well

      Typical girls are looking for something
      Typical girls fall under spells
      Typical girls buy magazines
      Typical girls feel like hell
      Typical girls worry about spots, fat, and natural smells
      Stinky fake smells

      Typical girls try to be
      Typical girls very well

      Don’t create
      Don’t rebel
      Have intution
      Don’t drive well

      Typical girls try to be
      Typical girls very well

      Can’t decide what clothes to wear
      Typical girls are sensitive
      Typical girls are emotional
      Typical girls are cruel and bewitching
      She’s a femme fatale
      Typical girls stand by their men
      Typical girls are really swell
      Typical girls learn how to act shocked
      Typical girls don’t rebel

      Who invented the typical girl?
      Who’s bringing out the new improved model?
      And there’s another marketing ploy
      Typical girl gets the typical boy

      The typical boy gets the typical girl
      The typical girl gets the typical boy

    • x-ray spex: “oh bondage (up yours)” (germ-free adolescents, 1978)

      Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard
      But i think
      Oh Bondage Up Yours!

      Bind me tie me
      Chain me to the wall I wanna be a slave
      To you all

      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more
      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more

      Chain-store chain-smoke
      I consume you all
      Chain-gang chain-mail
      I don’t think at all

      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more
      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more

      Thrash me crash me
      Beat me till I fall
      I wanna be a victim
      For you all

      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more
      Oh bondage up yours
      Oh bondage no more

    [exista si typicalgirls, “an e-mail based music dialogue and discussion group for the discovery of (and appreciation for) the unknown legends in women’s punk/post-punk/underground music history. TG ideally focuses on pre-riot grrrl female innovators in music circa 1975-80s. Discussion includes, but is not limited to:
    the Slits, the Raincoats, Y Pants, Ut, ESG, X-Ray Spex (Poly Styrene), Essential Logic (Lora Logic), Young Marble Giants (Alison Statton), Gudrun Gut, Ikue Mori (DNA), X (Exene Cervenka), Delta 5, Alice Bag, Girls at Our Best! (Judy Evans), Patti Smith, Lene Lovich, Laurie Anderson, The Adverts, Jane Aire and the Belvederes, Lydia Lunch, Siouxsie and the Banshees (Siouxsie Sioux), LiliPUT/Kleenex, Rezillos/Revillos (Faye Fife), Shop Assistants, Penetration (Pauline Murray), Diamanda Galas, Yoko Ono, The Runaways, Lemon Kittens (Danielle Dax), Mo-dettes, Bush Tetras, The Avengers (Penelope Houston), Passions (Barbara Gogan), Helen Wheels, Moe Tucker, Wendy O. Williams (Plasmatics), Talking Heads (Tina Weymouth), Pretenders, Fastbacks, Martha and the Muffins, Dolly Mixture, Pearl Harbour, Phranc, Thalia Zedek (Come, Dangerous Birds, Uzi, Live Skull), Marine Girls, Palmolive, Catholic Girls, Toyah, Altered Images (Clare Grogan), Holly and the Italians, Rachel Sweet, Belle Stars, Snatch, Kirsty MacColl, The Motels, Romeo Void, Nina Hagen, the Au Pairs, Hazel O’Connor, Pauline Black (Selector), Marianne Faithfull, Girlschool, Debbie Harry, Poison Girls, Joolz, Vice Squad (Becki Bondage), Niagara Falls (Destroy All Monsters), Prag Vec,
    and many, many other innovative female musicians“]