Postgraduate Course in Dubrovnik: Feminist Critical Analysis: Race, Discourse, Biopolitics

Postgraduate Course in Dubrovnik
Feminist Critical Analysis: Race, Discourse, Biopolitics

INTER-UNIVERSITY CENTER
DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

May , 21st – 25th 2007

Call for Proposals

Rutgers (State University of New Jersey) Women’s and Gender Studies
Department and Belgrade Women’s Studies and Gender Research Center,
Belgrade University are pleased to announce the 8th annual postgraduate course in Feminist Critical Analysis: Race, Discourse, Biopolitics. The course will be held at the Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik (http://www.hr/iuc/) on May 21st – 25th, 2007. The course will be co-directed by Dasa Duhacek of the Belgrade Women´s Studies, Belgrade Universirty and Ethel Brooks of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Rutgers University.

Continue reading

Noul “Spintecator”: violenta (impotriva femeilor) ca divertisment

Cand e vorba de crime impotriva femeilor, se pare ca desi suntem in 2006 nu s-au schimbat prea multe de acum 30 (sau 100) de ani. Politia, presa, si majoritatea publicului nu gasesc nimic ciudat in a dezumaniza victimele si a trata violenta ca divertisment, iar crimele nu sunt adresate si rezolvate mai eficient. Se stie ca primul mars “Reclaim the Night” din Anglia s-a organizat in 1977 ca protest fata de o serie de omoruri cunoscute ca “Yorshire Ripper Murders”, si in special fata de faptul ca politia nu facea destul pentru siguranta femeilor si tinea sa deosebeasca “prostituatele” de “victime inocente”. Acum ca a aparut o situatie similara si 5 femei au fost deja omorate in Ipswich, Suffolk, MB, femeile sunt din nou indemnate sa nu iasa seara pe strazi. Este singura “solutie” si masura preventiva oferita de politie pe moment. In acelasi timp, felul in care se vorbeste despre victime (in principal ca “fete” si “prostituate”), sau detalii despre cat de “dezbracate” erau cand au fost gasite si atentia cu tente pozitive care i se da criminalului nu face decat sa dezumanizeze victimele si sa glorifice violenta.

Citand-o pe Twisty de la I Blame the Patriarchy:

“Ipswich spree killer: obviously dominated by women”

Ipswich’s murdering psycho has been so obligingly villainous, the media have promoted him, in quaint British tradition, to ‘Ripper’ status. Men murder women all the time (about 11 times a day in the US alone), but ‘Ripper’ is the pet name reserved for a special class of male murderer who, in the popular imagination, is particularly evil, brilliant, fascinating, ruthless, predatory, depraved, cop-taunting, and of course, hooker-hating. He also has a grippingly seedy life history (”a loner who never fit in”), one that tabloid pop psychologists can modify into a reassuring, explanatory ‘motive’, or, even better, into a pyschokiller narrative revealing to a prurient public explicit, lingerie-ripping details of woman-hating violence.*

In a departure from Rippers past, the Ipswich killer doesn’t mutilate. He wins the exalted ‘Ripper’ crown in part because of the stunning dispatch with which he ‘works’ — he is, it is noted unfailingly, and with a sangfroidesque blend of awe and admiration, the fastest serial killer in British history — but mostly because all his victims appear to have been female sex workers, an important prerequisite for Ripperdom.

The Ipswich killer’s upgrade from random violent schlub to a mythic personage capable of waging “a campaign” means a concomitant downgrade for his victims. These people are demoted instantly from human women to ‘prostitutes,’ from ‘prostitutes’ ** to ‘vice girls’. From there it’s just a short hop to ‘heroin addicts’ and finally, to the lowest form of life imaginable, ’single mothers.’ Their first names are always used as if they were children. Tabloids, as Guardian columnist Joan Smith notes with dismay [in her article “Prostitutes deserve as much sympathy as any murder victim”], even allude to their hair color (“blonde Gemma”). It’s as though they were hotties in Hustler rather than murdered women; no report omits to describe the women’s corpses as ‘naked’ or ‘having been stripped.’

Why celebrate the murderer and dehumanize the victims as fetish objects? Because the public is enamored of the delusion that only nutcase criminal masterminds hate women enough to murder them, and that prostitutes more or less have it coming to them.

* The Sun’s ‘top criminal psychologist’ speculates that “the maniac [has a] history of being dominated by women.” Funny how every single woman on the planet has a history of being dominated by men, yet the world remains puzzlingly bereft of crazed chicks rampaging around on tabloid-quality murder sprees.

Dar de ce ne-ar surprinde ca acestui criminal i se gasesc deja “circumstante atenuante”? Jack the Ripper este considerat un subiect fascinant, despre felul in care a mutilat si omorat femei se vorbeste cu mult interes si un minim de compasiune – mai ales ca si atunci victimele erau prostituate! “The Yorkshire Ripper”, care a omorat cel putin 13 femei, a fost lasat de curand sa viziteze locul unde se afla cenusa tatalui sau.

Iar in presa romaneasca stirea despre omorurile recente poate fi gasita prezentata de parca ar fi vorba de o noua ecranizare a istoriei lui Jack the Ripper: “Jack Spintecatorul s-a intors: Dupa 118 ani, prostituatele britanice sunt in pericol din nou” (Ziua, 12 decembrie 2006) – un articol pe care InfoPortal.ro (“Indexul stirilor din Romania”) il indexeaza la sectiunea de “Divertisment”!

—-

Zilele acestea se incearca pregatirea unui Reclaim the Night ca raspuns la situatia din Ipswich.

call for submissions

call for submissions

——————————————————————————–

past forward

Exhibition and meetings: March 9 to March 31, 2007
Opening: March 8, 2007, International Women’s Day

past forward, cyber fems virtual real:
Exhibition of virtual works: Paper hangings and presentation of online
works as room installation projections.

past forward, cyber fems real saturday meetings:
Real appearance, presentations, panels, discussions, performances,
concerts, happenings, djane actings …

——————————————————————————–

Dear Artists!

We would like to invite women artists working in the fields of
cyberfeminism and new media to an open exhibition starting on March 8,
2007, the International Women’s Day, in the rooms of the Austrian
Association of Women Artists, Vienna. The founding of this first artists
association in Austria in 1910 was a reaction to the general exclusion
of women artists from the artworld and resulted from the first women’s
movements and its international networking. We see feminisms today for
the most part as being depoliticized. Therefore, past forward focuses on
the question: how are depoliticizing aspects emerging today in light of
global politics?

Continue reading

Inegalitatea dintre sexe agraveaza saracia

11 Decembrie, 2006 (BBC Romania)

Organizatia ONU pentru copii, UNICEF, publica luni raportul anual privind situatia copiilor in lume.

Dar, spre deosebire de anii precedenti, raportul se concentreaza nu pe aspecte anume ale vietii copiilor si pe vietile femeilor.

UNICEF cere guvernelor sa faca mai multe eforturi pentru a impune egalitatea intre sexe care, subliniaza organizatia, va insemna nu doar vieti mai bune pentru femei ci si pentru copii lor.

Potrivit UNICEF, capacitatea femeilor de a decide asupra propriilor vieti este indeaproape legata de sanatatea si bunastarea copiilor.

intregul articol [mai putin decat profesionale si necesare, comentariile editoriale despre faptul ca “raportul nu va fi o lectura placuta pentru barbati” si UNICEF-ul nu cere “instaurarea matriarhatului”!]

pentru detalii:
Comunicatul UNICEF privind raportul

… The report argues that recent progress in women’s status has not come far enough. Millions of girls and women continue to live in poverty, disempowered and discriminated against. They are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, less likely to attend school and often subject to physical and sexual violence. In most places, men continue to earn more pay than women for the same jobs.

Women need a voice
… Empowering women, explains the report, saves children’s lives – and the impact is too important to ignore. … Moreover, the report finds, in families where women are the main decision-makers, a far greater proportion of household resources is devoted to child health, nutrition and education than in families where women do not have a voice.

Seven key interventions
The report suggests seven key interventions for gender equality:

* Abolish school fees and invest in girls’ education
* Invest government funding in gender equality
* Enact legislation to create a level playing field for women, and to prevent and respond to domestic violence as well as gender-based violence in conflict
* Ensure women’s participation in politics
* Involve women’s grassroots organizations early on in policy development
* Engage men and boys so the importance of gender equality can be understood by all
* Improve research and data on gender issues, which are critical if progress is to be made

Promoting gender equality is the focus of Millennium Development Goal 3. If this goal is achieved, UNICEF believes its benefits will be felt not just among women and children but in many other spheres—from poverty and hunger reduction to global health and environmental sustainability.

The State of the World’s Children 2007 shows that in the long run, empowering women will enhance efforts to reach all of the other Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

———————————–

Stire UNICEF din 18 Octombrie 2006:
Unul din patru copii traieste in saracie

Un raport al Agentiei Natiunilor Unite pentru copii, UNICEF, arata ca in Europa de est, Asia Centrala si Rusia unul din patru copii traieste in saracie, in ciuda cresterii economice din aceste regiuni.

“Ura virtuala e reala. Da DELETE la ura!”

– COMUNICAT DE PRESA –

In seria de activitati anti-discriminare si combaterea prejudecatilor fata de grupurile vulnerabile, Agentia de Monitorizare a Presei deruleaza un program cu scopul de a monitoriza si combate propagarea xenofobiei, intolerantei, discriminarii si rasismului in spatiul virtual.

In acest context, vom organiza un eveniment ce are ca scop constientizarea publicului asupra faptului ca ”Ura virtuala e reala” si ii vom invita pe cei prezenti sa ”Dea DELETE la ura!”. Evenimentul marcheaza Ziua Internationala a Drepturilor Omului si se va desfasura duminica, 10 decembrie, incepand cu orele 18.00, la Casa de Cultura a Studentilor, Calea Plevnei nr. 61, sector 1, Bucuresti.
Astfel, sub sloganul ”Ura virtuala e reala. Da DELETE la ura”, se va lansa campania de constientizare a publicului larg, dar mai ales a tinerilor si a altor utilizatori de servicii Internet, cu privire la riscurile rasismului si discriminarii in mediul virtual.

Evenimentul va fi deschis cu vizionarea a trei filme:
· Dureri ascunse, regia Michelle Kelso & Alexandru Alexe
· Gay pride, produs de You and Me cu sprijinul MMA
· Vopseste romaneste, produs de D MEDIA

La orele 20.00 vor urca pe scena artisti din mai multe zone culturale, printre care formatiile Altar, Kadja Clouds Society (MC Cogeamite Galigan, DJ Flore &DJ Rusu, Implant pentru Refuz si Electric Brother.

Evenimentul va fi precedat de o conferinta de presa in care vor fi prezentate obiectivele majore ale proiectului nostru: problema cyber-hate-ului in spatiul virtual romanesc si campania de constientizare. Conferinta va avea loc incepand cu orele 16.30, la sediul Agentiei de Monitorizare a Presei, Calea Plevnei nr 98, Bl. 10C, sector 1, Bucuresti.

La conferinta vor participa reprezentanti ai AMP si ai celor care vor purta mesajul anti-discriminare in cadrul concertului.

keep on living

le tigre, “keep on livin'”

(video creat in colaborare cu paper tiger television)

You hide inside, so not okay
(keep on, keep on livin’)
What if you remember more today?
(keep on, keep on livin’)
The phone rings but there’s too much to say
(keep on, keep on livin’)
You tell them to go when you wish they would stay
(keep on, keep on livin’)

You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)

Disprportionate reactions just won’t fade
(keep on, keep on livin’)
Every dude you see puts you in a rage
(keep on, keep on livin’)
Or stupid shit keeps making you cry
(keep on, keep on livin’)
Your friends are worried you won’t tell them why
(keep on, keep on livin’)

You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on (keep on livin!)

Look up to the sky sky sky
Take back your own tonight
You’ll find more than you see
It’s time now now get ready
So you can taste that sweet sweet cake and
Feel the warm water in a lake (y’know)
What about the nice cool breeze and
Hear the buzzing of the bumble bees
Live past those neighborhood lives and
Go past that yard outside and
Push thru their greatest fears and
live past your memories tears cuz
You don’t need to scratch inside just please
Hold onto your pride
So don’t let them bring you down and
Don’t let them fuck you around cuz
Those are your arms that is your heart and
No no they can’t tear you apart cuz

This is your time this is your life and
This is your time this is your life and
This is your time this is your life and
This is your time this is your life and….

You gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
Gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
Gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
Gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
You gotta keep on(keep on livin!)
Gotta keep on(keep on livin!)