de-ale romanticizarii si exotizarii prea des intilnite

“Ce misto e viata de tigan” la un beso

[…] Si ma tot gandesc, ca intr-o tara in care “Inima de tigan” bate toate ratingurile, “tiganca imputita” e atat de acceptat….

Si ca tot scriam aici de minoritati, un articol interesant pe tema romi si vizunea romantic-idioata asupra lor (si nu numai) de g.m.tamas.

referinte recomandate de asemenea:

“Sexy-minoritati” @ un beso

“Hei, ţigane!” de G.M. Tamás in Observator Cultural

[…] Cînd cei care se află sus le recunosc celor de jos meritele care n-au de-a face cu Raţiunea, atunci este vorba întotdeauna de subjugare.

Nu a fost oare lăudată timp de milenii frumuseţea femeilor, disponibilitatea lor amoroasă, cuvioşia, smerenia lor, dragostea de mamă, în timp ce li se negau capacităţile raţionale şi chiar sufletul uman? Oare nu e ilustrată şi astăzi, în revistele onorabile, orice temă despre femei cu imagini seminude ale unor fete frumoase? Oare nu apreciază orice idiot homofob meritele designerilor de interior, ale creatorilor de modă, coaforilor sau cîntăreţilor de operă homosexuali? (Care sînt conotaţiile? Senzual, alunecos, frivol, fapt divers, secundar.)

Nu sînt oare emoţionaţi adepţii romantici şi conservatori ai ierarhiei şi ai sistemului de caste de truda agricultorului, care lucrează din zori pînă la apus? Ei sînt de fapt emoţionaţi de hărnicia lor simplă, de „frăţia cu natura“, de umilinţa lor superstiţioasă şi de supunerea faţă de preoţi şi stăpîni. Oare nu se înduioşează şi jurnalismul burghez de disciplina şi rezistenţa celui ce lucrează din greu?

Poporul este, precum ştim, o adunătură de fraieri de bună credinţă, atîta timp cît agitatori nemiloşi, pe ungureşte lelketlen izgatók („subversivi fără suflet“ – expresie minunată de pe vremea monarhiei cezaro-crăieşti), nu îi îndeamnă la grevă.

De minte, raţiune şi de aripile imaginaţiei conceptuale cei asupriţi şi prigoniţi nu au parte. (Critica intimă nazistă a „hiper-raţionalităţii“ evreilor nu este nici ea altceva decît mirarea că cei condamnaţi îşi permit să gîndescă – chiar mai mult, îşi permit să gîndească conceptual.)

Susţinătorii romilor văd foarte des în aceştia (la fel ca în indienii americani sau în eschimoşi) o enclavă premodernă, precapitalistă, şi astfel găsesc în ei pretextul pentru exprimarea antimodernismului şi a anticapitalismul lor romantic. Evident, după părerea lor, acest lucru nu e valabil în privinţa noastră, a albilor. Albii sînt, desigur, moderni şi raţionali. Ce putem asculta la întruniri antirasiste? Muzică ţigănească, folclor. Ce iubesc la romi cei care pretind că îi iubesc? Obiceiurile poetice, credinţa, legendele, melodiile, muzicalitatea religioasă. Inima, nu mintea. Romul (precum şi femeia, indigenul sau cel cu pielea colorată) este ori infantil, ori de o „sălbăticie nobilă“. Este nestricat, nereglementat, spontan, needucat, instinctiv. Într-un cuvînt, iraţional.

Convieţuirea cu romii (a se înţelege: siguranţa albilor alături de romi) trebuie să fie un compromis între indivizii raţionali (cei care respectă regulile juridice şi sociale) şi protejaţii lor iraţionali şi infantili. Evident, conform „elitei“ albe. Conflictul milenar dintre sedentari şi nomazi colorează acest lucru. Limba străină, predominarea oralităţii, portul tradiţional, călăritul – lucruri cunoscute din mitul nobilului beduin şi din povestea despre ultimul mohican, precum şi din dulcea şi nostalgica complezenţă a westernului în privinţa genocidului. […]

o resursa: Dosta! / Is this a stereotype?, Stereotye n° 10: Women

fw: Roma women urge European governments to respect their human rights

(2nd International meeting of Roma women)

Athens, 12.01.2010 – The increased and alarming human rights violations against Romani women and ways of ensuring full enjoyment of their rights topped the agenda of a two-day conference of Roma women, which ended today in Athens.

In a final declaration of the conference, the participants unanimously called on European governments to uphold their obligations and ensure that Romani women enjoy their fundamental rights, to put an end to a climate of impunity around atrocious abuses of their rights, to take unequivocal measures to punish perpetrators and compensate Romani women victims.

Romani women also urged the governments of European countries, where forced sterilisation is an ongoing practice, to take active measures to compensate the victims, sanction perpetrators and initiate state medical reform in the area of patients’ rights.

The conference’s conclusions stressed the need to prevent de facto segregation in housing and education, while promoting the principles of equality and integration.

Participants also encouraged Roma activists and human rights communities to actively engage with Roma communities to raise awareness on their human rights and facilitate access to public services and law enforcement mechanisms.
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“Is human life less precious than this belief?! … doesn’t need a complicated answer.”

“Reclaiming the lucidity of our hearts” by Sass Rogando Sasot

[…] The root of our oppression is the belief that there is only one and only one way to be male or female. And this starts from our birth. Upon a quick look on our genitals, we are assigned into either male or female. This declaration is more than just a statement of what’s between our legs. It is a prescription of how we should and must live our lives. It is a dictation of what we should think about ourselves, the roles we should play, the clothes we should wear, the way we should move, and the people with whom we should have romantic or erotic relationships. But the existence of people whose identities, bodies, and experiences do not conform to gender norms is a proof that this belief is wrong.

Nonetheless, even though the truth of human diversity is so evident and clear to us, we choose to hang on to our current beliefs about gender, a belief that rejects reality and forces people to live a lie. This is the belief that leads to attacks on our physical and mental integrity, to different forms of discrimination against us, and to our social marginalization. This is the belief that led to Joan of Arc to be burned at stake because she was cross-dressing. This is the belief that motivated the rape and murder of Brandon Teena on December 31, 1993. This is the belief that led to the stabbing to death of Ebru Soykan, a prominent transgender human rights activist in Turkey, on March 10, 2009. This is the belief that led to the arrest of 67 Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia for cross-dressing in June this year. This is the belief that keeps the list of transgender people being harassed, killed, and violated growing year after year. And it is very unfortunate that our legal systems, religions, and cultures are being used to justify, glorify, and sanctify the violent expressions of this belief.

So we question: Is human life less precious than this belief? Is our right to life, to dignified existence, to liberty, and pursuit of happiness subservient to gender norms? This doesn’t need a complicated answer. You want to be born, to live, and die with dignity – so do we! You want the freedom to express the uniqueness of the life force within you – so do we! You want to live with authenticity – so do we!

Now is the time that we realize that diversity does not diminish our humanity; that respecting diversity does not make us less human; that understanding and accepting our differences do not make us cruel. And in fact, history has shown us that denying and rejecting human variability is the one that has lead us to inflict indignity upon indignity towards each other. […]

One amazing speech, and one amazing woman!

excellent interview: judith halberstam

JH: I think it is queer theory and feminist theory that is needed. It is very hard to get these perspectives into public discourse. That is the problem. So you have this guy going around shooting people feeling ignored or that something was denied him, and it is hard to insert a political discourse that is not just like “this was just a one crazy dude who went off”, but getting a more considered analysis of why male rage takes this form. That is a feminist question. Why is it a feminist question? Because no other political subject probably would ask that question in that form: Why does male rage take this form? Female rage takes a form of maybe child abuse, sometimes, maybe self-mutilation, maybe anorexia, maybe schizophrenia. It does not take the form of a woman picking up a machine gun and blowing people away. It really does not. We are hard pressed to think of such an event anywhere. So it seems like one of the distinguished features of the ones performing these acts of mass slaughter is maleness. And there I would say a feminist analysis is necessary, and almost impossible to get in the public sphere, because feminism is an afterthought, or considered to be a historical artifact at this point.

read the whole thing: Trikster: “The eccentric archive: An interview with Judith Halberstam” (via)

–> Judith Halberstam

Petitie

“LUARE DE POZIȚIE cu privire la evenimentele anti-rome din județul Harghita/ ÁLLÁSFOGLALÁS. A Hargita megyei roma-ellenes események kapcsán”

19/07/2009
destinatar: Prefectura și primării ale județului Harghita, UDMR și alte partide politice, Guvernul României

Fiind martorii evenimentelor anti-rome din județul Harghita din ultimele luni, indiferent de apartenența noastră etnică, luăm atitudine împotriva violenței hrănite din incitarea la ura etnică, precum și împotriva transformării problemelor economice în tensiuni interetnice.
Ne exprimăm dezacordul față de practica care îi pedepsește pe semenii noștri (dorind să-i alunge din sate și orașe) din cauză că ei nu sunt în stare să schimbe condiția lor materială. Și față de etichetarea negativă a identității lor etnice pe această bază. Precum și față de starea în care indivizi și colectivități percepuți prin identitatea lor etnică devin nu doar victime ale oprimării economice, umilirii culturale și manipulării politice, ci și ale violenței fizice.
[…]

Vezi/Semneaza Petitia

women in tech: RailsConf 09 panel

RailsConf 09: “Women in Rails”
Desi McAdam (Hashrocket, Inc. and DevChix, Inc.) Sarah Mei (LookSmart) Lori Olson (Dragon Sharp Consulting)

A general question like “How do we get more women into technology?” isn’t actually useful for our community. Discussion usually devolves into nature vs. nurture, then affirmative action, and it all goes south from there. So in this session we get down to brass tacks: How specifically can we bring more female programmers into the Rails community? How can we get them to come to RailsConf? Why aren’t they here already? You’ll hear from the folks whose voices are often not heard when this question is asked: the women themselves who are already here.

via anna, imc-women list

[about Ruby on Rails]

[DevChix]

A Pink Room of One’s Own_ un proiect de Nita Mocanu_

Feminisme
istorii, spatii libere, democratie participativa, justitie economica

___________________________________________________________
A Pink Room of One’s Own
un proiect de Nita Mocanu
27.03 – 05.04.2009
Deschiderea expozitiei: vineri, 27.03, orele 18:00
Spatiul h.arta – Str. Zugrav Nedelcu nr. 11, Timişoara (intrarea din Splaiul Tudor Vladimirescu)

In 1929, Virginia Woolf publica „A Room of One’s Own”, un eseu prin care sugera ca o femeie cu aceleasi talente ca si Shakespeare – sora lui Shakespeare – nu are aceleasi sanse pentru a se realiza ca scriitoare. Concluzia ei era ca, pentru a reusi sa scrie fictiune sau pentru a fi creativa in general, o femeie trebuie sa aiba bani si o camera proprie. In spatele unei usi incuiate femeile ar putea avea libertatea de a medita si a de a gandi de unele singure, ar avea curajul de a scrie exact ceea ce gandesc. In perioada in care Woolf scria acest text, marea majoritate a femeilor erau total legate de treburile gospodaresti, erau mame cu foarte multi copii si nu aveau o ocupatie care sa le aduca un venit al lor personal. Perspectiva de educatie si independenta a unei fete era minima, fetele se casatoreau timpuriu, nu aveau drepturi legale, nu detineau proprietati…
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I’m a Roma Woman, I’m a European Woman, I’m a Woman

via carmen

Budapest, 6 March 2009

TheRomediaFoundation, a Budapest-based civil organization (www.mundiromani.com), and Amnesty International (www.amnesty.hu) initiated a video campaign on Roma women with the support of Duna Television (www.dunatv.hu) and the Decade of Roma Inclusion (www.romadecade.org).

The 4-minute spot, produced for International Women’s Day 2009, features flashes of the personal history of five Roma human rights activists from all over Europe along with footage from Roma settlements across the continent. In these times of crisis, as social cohesion is greatly endangered by the multiplication of acts of extreme violence against Roma in Hungary and elsewhere, the campaign exhorts the public to respect Roma in all their complexity.


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