carte si articole interesante: “tovarase de drum”

@ Observator Cultural:
O carte in dezbatere: Tovarase de drum. Experienta feminina in comunism.

Despre „epoca de aur“ au apărut, mai ales în ultimul deceniu, mai multe cărţi – fie documente istorice, fie istorii personale, subiective, care reconstituie, retrospectiv, viaţa cotidiană într-o lume din care intimitatea, individualitatea şi, nu în ultimul rînd, feminitatea fuseseră extirpate sistematic. Volumul coordonat de Radu Pavel Gheo şi Dan Lungu aduce în prim-plan o serie de istorii „despre lucrurile aparent fără însemnătate care trec, în timp, printr-o viaţă de om“ (apud Adriana Babeţi). Relatate de scriitoare din generaţii şi medii sociale diferite, istorioarele din Tovarăşe de drum sînt mărturii despre efectele nocive pe care regimul comunist le-a avut asupra destinelor individuale, dar şi radiografii tulburătoare ale procesului de naţionalizare a corpurilor femeilor, iniţiat de partidul unic. (C.M.)

Detalii si discutii in jurul cartii:
“Cum a pornit proiectul, ce spun coordonatorii volumului?”
“Cît de relevantă e diferenţa?” de Bianca Burta-Cernat
“Rîsul şi (r)Estul” de Theodora-Eliza Vacarescu
“Femeia din spatele Cortinei de Fier” de Şerban Axinte
“Ce mişto ar fi fost să fim femei!” de Ovidiu Şimonica
“Radu Pavel Gheo: „Am avut senzaţia că textele erau gata scrise şi abia aşteptau să iasă la iveală“”
“Dan Lungu: „O lumină nouă asupra totalitarismului, dintr-un unghi prea puţin explorat“”
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Info de la editura polirom:

“Lucrurile stau in felul urmator: se da o tara plina de betoane, fonta si salopete, se adauga magazine doldora de conserve de peste si cozi la orice, un sef timpit, plus doua-trei culori, destul de terne. Nu, nici vorba de pantofiori pastelati, ciorapi fini, tocuri sofisticate, sampoane si rujuri de firma sau, ma scuzati, sanitary pads. Nu, nici urma de mall-uri. Aaa, neaparat trebuie adaugate croitoresele de cartier, mici vrajitoare intr-ale modei, tragind cu ochiul in revista Burda. Ei bine, in aceasta tara se da drumul unor sufletele sensibile si li se spune: Fiti femei!. Va intrebati cum se descurca? Hmmm, greu de povestit, trebuie citita cartea.” (Dan Lungu)

Volumul cuprinde texte semnate de
: Adriana Babeti – Sarsanela; Anamaria Beligan – Halatul Veronicai; Carmen Bendovski – Lungul drum al comunismului catre sfirsit; Rodica Binder – Chiar asa?; Adriana Bittel – Servus, Reghina; Mariana Codrut – “Atunci am invatat sa renunt”; Sanda Cordos – Din umbra viitorului luminos; Nora Iuga – Scrisoare catre un prieten; Cerasela Nistor – Cerul negru-rozaliu; Ioana Ocneanu-Thierry – Eu, una, n-am suferit!; Simona Popescu – HoRor! Cool!; Iulia Popovici – X si Y; Alina Radu – O zi din viata Alinei Viktorovna; Doina Rusti – Ginecologii mei; Simona Sora – Bibliotecile spitalelor mele; Mihaela Ursa – O poveste de fata; Otilia Vieru-Baraboi – Aha.

ps: eu n-am citit cartea inca si nu stiu cum e, ma ingrijoreaza putin treaba cu “feminitatea” si “sufletele sensibile” (sper sa fie ironie), dar abia astept sa vad. [momentan recomand calduros textul de sus al theodorei vacarescu.] ceva ce scriam in 2004:

“Ne amintim, cantarim si analizam prea putin din ce a insemnat viata noastra inainte de ’89… Dar acea istorie ne influenteaza pe toti la nivel individual si la nivel societal — este o greseala sa continuam sa nu vorbim de experientele noastre, ce au insemnat si cum ne leaga de lumea (lumile) in care traim astazi. Nu pot sa nu vad o paralela intre aceasta tacere si tacerea — pe care ca problema la scara globala am ajuns totusi s-o constientizam si s-o analizam — creata istoric (deci impusa) si in acelasi timp “aleasa” de femei drept modus operandi in cadrul sistemului patriarhal. Cand e vorba de vietile femeilor in societatea romaneasca din perioada comunista, atunci, nevoia de a rupe aceasta tacere are o dubla importanta. …”

culture, gender and math (and reading)

about recent research:

in The Economist
“Vital statistics: Girls are becoming as good as boys at mathematics, and are still better at reading” [h/t /etc list]

ABC News story
“Study: Girls in Sexist Societies Worse at Math – Countries with Higher Gender Equality Produce Girls Who Are Better at Math”

the original study in Science Magazine: “Diversity: Culture, Gender, and Math” [restricted access] & Supporting Online Material

“The existence (1), degree (2), and origin (3, 4) of a gender gap (difference between girls’ and boys’ scores) in mathematics are highly debated. Biologically based explanations for the gap rely on evidence that men perform better in spatial tests, whereas women do better in verbal recall ones (1, 5, 6). However, the performance differences are small, and their link with math test performance is tenuous (7). By contrast, social conditioning and gender-biased environments can have very large effects on test performance (8).

To assess the relative importance of biological and cultural explanations, we studied gender differences in test performance across countries (9). Cultural inequalities range widely across countries (10), whereas results from cognitive tests do not (6). We used data from the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that reports on 276,165 15-year-old students from 40 countries who took identical tests in mathematics and reading (11, 12). The tests were designed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be free of cultural biases. They are sufficiently challenging that only 0.6% of the U.S. students tested perform at the 99th percentile of the world distribution.”

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Science 30 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5880, pp. 1164 – 1165
DOI: 10.1126/science.1154094

below the fold, some commentary in romanian (english quotes)
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penalizari criminale pentru avort respinse in toata lumea

“Criminal Penalties for Abortion Rejected Across the Globe” (Alternet)wpo_abortion_jun08_graph1.jpg

Cand traiesti intr-o tara in care dreptul la avort ramine o problema dezbatuta la fiecare alegere si activistii contra dreptului-de-a-alege se simt destul de incurajati incat sa demonstreze impotriva pastilei contraceptive, avem multe motive sa fim pesimisti in privinta viitorului libertatii reproductive. Dar la nivel international, sunt si cateva stiri bune: peste tot in lume, cetatenii sustin personal dreptul la avort, chiar atunci cand propriile lor guverne criminalizeaza avortul.

Programul privind Atitudini asupra Politicilor Internationale (The Program on International Policy Attitudes) a efectuat un sondaj cu barbati si femei in 18 tari care impreuna alcatuiesc 59% din populatia planetei. In 17 din aceste 18 tari, majoritatea participantilor la sondaj au raspuns ca resping penalizarile criminale pentru avort. In 9 din 18 tari, majoritatea a raspuns ca avortul este o decizie individuala in care guvernul nu ar trebui sa intervina. Din cele 9 tari unde se crede ca guvernul ar trebui sa aiba un cuvant de spus despre dreptul la avort, numai intr-una – Indonesia – majoritatea sustine sanctiuni criminale pentru femei care intrerup o sarcina.

Sunt valorile “pro-choice” imbratisate peste tot? Nu. Dar e greu sa negi efectele politicilor “anti-choice” asupra sanatatii publice si vietii de familie peste tot in lume. Mai este clar ca statutul legal al avortului nu este corelat cu rata avorturilor in nici o tara anume – mai exact, interzicerea avortului nu inseamna ca avortul se practica mai putin. De fapt, unele din tarile cu cele mai ridicate rate de avort din lume sunt locuri in care procedura este cu desavarsire interzisa prin lege. Pe de alta parte, tarile cu cea mai scazuta rata de avort au cateva lucruri in comun: Avortul si metodele contraceptive sigure, legale si accesibile (si deseori gratuite, acoperite de un sistem national de ingrijire medicala), plus educatie sexuala comprehensiva si un mediu socio-cultural in care sexul este vazut ca o placere si o responsabilitate, nu un act rusinos. Alte lucruri care sunt corelate: Faptul ca lipsa de acces la contraceptie creste rata de avort si faptul ca avortul ilegal inseamna de cele mai multe ori avorturi nesigure, ceea ce duce la cresterea semnificativa a ratelor de boli si morti materne.
de la feministe

(linkuri in engleza)

on feminism, violence, patriarchal culture, religion (& more)

REFLECTIONS ON ‘ARTEMIS’ – A ROMANIAN FEMINIST PROJECT (PDF)
by Maria Diaconescu

… Even so, with these East-West differences, violence and sexual abuse against children and women is a reality in Eastern European countries, as it is in the Western countries. The East and the West share the same patriarchal ground that makes possible the cultural and structural violence that we live in. Violence of any kind means taking advantage of the power difference. The societal/ cultural or structural violence refers to all actions, attitudes and values of a society which block or delay the development of the other who has no “voice” in society, or who is not heard (children, women, people from a different ethnic or religious background, etc.). This kind of values and attitudes are responsible for inequalities of chances, and violence against women, children, Roma people, etc.

What do I want to highlight in this paper? There is a high support of patriarchal culture via the educational environment, the political environment, and the church. In the name of the so-called national and traditional values, strongly supported by the church, there is a high support of patriarchal culture. In my opinion, patriarchal values have to do a lot with the skin of religion – the temporal and social norms, known in Romania as “the national and traditional Christian values.” The patriarchal values have nothing to do with the core of spiritual and religious meanings. The spiritual, transcendent, essential part of any religion of the world has to do with the essence of the human being which transcends any skin: gender, culture and religion differences; this is the core part of any religion. According to Peseschkian, the religious externals that are influenced by time, the rituals and dogmas – the skin – are put in the foreground, while the actual religious contents – the core – are put aside. This produces a shift in form and content, misunderstanding and confusion because of the lack of differentiation between faith – religion – church.

My hypothesis is that the religious skin ideology – put in the foreground – patterns in a paradoxical way any other subsequent ideology/ politics or philosophy of life, even if (and especially when) people reject or ignore the core religion. This is what happens after any revolution. Subsequently, the revolution patterns the relationships in the same way: another form of patriarchal, changed roles. …

Reimaginarea justitiei sociale de jos in sus: Includerea femeilor rome

O traducere integrala a lucrarii “Re-envisioning Social Justice from the Ground Up: Including the Experiences of Romani Women” de Alexandra Oprea (link la fisier PDF) – cu multumiri Crinei pentru editari

Lucrarea de fata se concentreaza pe excluderea femeilor rome din discursurile feministe si anti-rasiste dominante (in mainstream) in Europa. Aceasta excludere este atribuita intersectionalitatii si politicilor de identitate problematice. Lucrarea discuta invizibilitatea femeilor rome perpetuata de programe si rapoarte ale organizatiilor ne-guvernamentale (ONG-uri) si explica absenta femeilor rome din discursuri rome si feministe, privirea ne-critica asupra culturii rome si vulnerabilitatea femeilor rome din Romania la violenta domestica. Textul pune accentul pe faptul ca analiza problemelor sociale trebuie facuta de jos in sus, luand in considerare experientele celor care intampina greutati multiple, cum ar fi femeile rome sarace. In concluzie, lucrarea discuta importanta recunoasterii privilegiilor ca fundatie a unor discursuri si a unei cercetari atotcuprinzatoare.

International Roma Day

8 aprilie a fost adoptata ca Zi Internationala a Romilor in 1971, in cadrul Primului Congres international al romilor de pretutindeni, care a avut loc la Londra. Tot atunci s-au stabilit imnul (Gelem, Gelem, compus de Jarko Jovanovic) si steagul international al romilor. Romii din tarile blocului comunist nu au celebrat aceasta zi, pana spre finele anilor 90’. In ultimii ani, semnificatia zilei de 8 aprilie a inceput sa fie recunoscuta la nivel mondial. Pe 28 martie 2006, Plenul Camerei Deputatilor a adoptat, cu majoritate de voturi, proiectul de lege privind declararea zilei de 8 aprilie drept “Sarbatoarea etniei romilor din Romania”. (info de la Romani Criss)

Vienna, 7 April 2008

“European Union needs common action to make equality a reality for the Roma”

Statement by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on the occasion of International Roma Day
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from worldwatch on global population

The average woman worldwide is giving birth to fewer children than ever. Nonetheless, an estimated 136 million babies were born in 2007, bringing the global population to about 6.7 billion. Governments must improve access to good health care and family planning to see further declines in childbearing and increases in life expectancy…

More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want

For the Worldwatch Institute, human population has always been a sustainability issue. Our earliest writings confirmed a stable balance between population and the environment as an essential ingredient of the equitable and enduring society our mission advances. And over the years we have highlighted the polices needed in all nations to encourage this balance through healthy reproduction, voluntary family planning, gender equality, and the free decisions of women and couples about childbearing.

Since our founding, however, the issues surrounding population have become ever more sensitive and delicate, discouraging many environmentalists and policymakers from taking on the topic. Now, Worldwatch Vice President for Programs Robert Engelman, a 16-year veteran of the population and reproductive health field, has broken new ground in his own fresh take on this perennially difficult issue. In More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want, Engelman leads readers on a journey from humanity’s first steps on two feet to the 21st century and beyond to explore whether women want more children or more for their children, and how their childbearing intentions have fared in a male-dominated world. The answers he finds not only surprise but offer new hope for real and lasting global sustainability.

Rich in historical detail, contemporary stories, and provocative ideas, More is the keystone of a new initiative at the Worldwatch Institute to return population and women’s reproductive decision-making to their critical role in the environment, the economy, and human rights.

Vital Signs Update: Fertility Falls, Population Rises, Future Uncertain.

pre-8.3.2008

Un studiu realizat cu putin inainte de Ziua Internationala a Femeii, moment de bilant pentru miscarile feministe europene, arata ca inegalitatea dintre sexe ramane o problema.

“Profesional, femeile nu castiga teren in fata barbatilor” (Curentul, 26.2.2008)

alte studii/campanii/pozitii institutionale (en):

EFF June conference in Poland cancelled

The European Feminist Forum, which was planned for 13-15 June 2008 in Warsaw, will not take place.

The European networks that have been cooperating since 2006 on the platform for debate and sharing entitled European Feminist Forum have decided, due to financial reasons, that the culmination of the process with the conference will not take place. This is the face-to-face meeting of European feminists, which we had scheduled to take place from 13-15 June 2008. Instead, the process will be concluded with a comprehensive publication.

The other parts of the European Feminist Forum process have taken place and we are very proud of the achievements. The process has set up a vivid field of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, movement building and agenda setting in Europe. 21 Affinity Groups have debated urgent issues, and shared their information and knowledge through the European Feminist Forum website. Our process of visioning a feminist Europe was driven by many feminist-inspired voices, from young, migrant, male, minority and marginalized voices. The European Feminist Forum was constructed and has been an inclusive and joint platform of all of these groups from the start. For a preliminary overview of results so far, follow this link.
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Latest WorldWatch: sustainable economies

Seven Principles for a Sustainable Global Economy

Ideas about how the world works that don’t accord with reality can be unhelpful … That’s especially true about mainstream economics. But in recent decades, economists and researchers have suggested a variety of reforms that would make economics truer, greener, and more sustainable. … seven of these from Chapter 1 of the Worldwatch Institute’s latest report, State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy:
1) Scale.
2) Stress development over growth.
3) Make prices tell the ecological truth.
4) Account for nature’s services.
5) The precautionary principle.
6) Commons management.
7) Value women.

Read: “Green Economics”: Turning Mainstream Thinking on Its Head

Maintaining Climate, Maintaining Peace

Climate stability, reduced poverty, and less inequality should be key goals of a far-sighted security policy … Even though peacekeeping budgets have been on a welcome incline in recent years, a comparison with world military spending indicates where most governments are really prepared to put their money.

Read: Peacekeeping, a Study in Contradictions.
Vital Signs Update: Peacekeeping Budgets and Personnel Soar to New Heights.

Living Sustainably

“More is better”—the modern economic mantra—is under attack as the environmental, economic, and personal downsides of consumerism become evident. Harried, overworked, and indebted consumers are increasingly open to a focus on quality of life rather than more stuff …

Read: State of the World 2008, Chapter 4: The Challenge of Sustainable Lifestyles (pdf).
Vote: What would you ask your community leaders to do to encourage sustainable lifestyles?