Olympic contender? Make sure your lipstick’s straight. August 14, 2008

The Olympics are well underway. How refreshing, Kira Cochrane writes here, to see women being celebrated for their hard won acheivements - their strength and grit and skill - rather than just being evaluated on the basis of their appearance.

She writes: ”we have become used to seeing that strange category - celebrity women - pictured constantly, relentlessly, their image before us for no other reason than that they happen to have headed out for a pint of milk with their makeup on skew-whiff. At Beijing we have seen the antithesis of that - we have been treated to the sight of ordinary women reaching extraordinary heights. … They aren’t on screen because they have starved themselves to a size zero - instead, their bodies are a celebration of strength.”

Indeed, she cites statistics showing just how infrequently (in the UK) images of sportswomen otherwise appear in the media:
“just 2% of articles and 1% of images in the sports pages of national newspapers are devoted to female athletes and women’s sports … Just 1.4% of sports photography featured women; and despite the fact our research only looked at the sports’ pages, there were more images of models, footballers’ girlfriends, the French president’s wife and a nun than of sportswomen.”
(these stats from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation. See also the Women’s Sports Foundation, Both of these organisations campaign to make sport more accessible to girls and women).

Might this Olympic coverage help to change the way women are represented in the media, she asks? We can hope.
Articles like ‘World-class pin ups: olympic contenders for the gold medal in glamour‘, from the Independent’s supplement (shame!) won’t help.
And even Olympians, it seems, can’t avoid the horrible ‘circle of shame’-type treatment - see here (thanks reader Roberta).

You’re competing at the Olympics and your sports gear slips? Honestly, who cares.

Ummm…. May 13, 2008

Thanks (?) Mr Jender, for passing this one on.
Text from this 1970 ad:

Though she was a tiger lady, our hero didn’t have to fire a shot to floor her. After one look at his Mr. Leggs slacks, she was ready to have him walk all over her. That noble styling sure soothes the savage heart! If you’d like your own doll-to-doll carpeting, hunt up a pair of these he-man Mr. Leggs slacks.

From Make The Logo Bigger.

FEM 08, III: Objectification May 4, 2008

In the afternoon we had a panel session with a representive from Object, and a young woman, Lucy Brown, speaking about her experience of working in a lapdance club. I was surprised to learn that the club she worked in (and apparently many others) works on a ‘pay back’ basis - whereby you start out having to purchase a dress, and pay to perform - so for a while, you’re working to pay back your employres for these per-requisites. Lucy also noted that the ‘no contact’ with customer rule that the clubs operate is frequently violated simply because the competition amongst the strippers (they need the money to pay back for the table and the dress, remember) is so high that they’ll go that bit further to make sure they get the work.

There is a lot that is deeply troubling about all this, and Lucy made a powerful case for concern. The representative from Object then told us about their campaign to get lap-dancing clubs licensed as sex establishments rather than on the same sort of license as coffee shops. (It is clearly absurd to categorise them in with coffee shops!) The ultimate goal of this is to make it easier for citizens to object to lap-dancing clubs in their cities.

However (and again, I feel bad for being critical about what was in general a really really good day!) a couple of points of concern:

i. There was the presumption (not just in this session, but throughout the day) that *all* feminists are against objectification (and likewise with pornography and prostitution). Whilst many feminists *do* object to the coercive and abusive settings in which stripping, prostitution, and porn-making generally occur, some feminists nonetheless maintain that there is nothing intrinsically problematic with these practices. For example, Martha Nussbaum, in her paper ‘objectification’ (from her book Sex and Social Justice) explores the possibility that objectification - being treated as a sex object, a mere body - when chosen, and in certain contexts, can be quite benign and even welcome. And indeed, there are many pro-pornography feminists out there (see the recent post on the feminist porn awards). Also, there was only one brief dismissive comment made about sex worker unionisation efforts. (Roughly: unions protect you against harassment, but these women’s job IS harassment so there’s no point. A claim rather undermined by the observation that the regulations under which these clubs are supposed to operate– which would e.g. disallow contact– are not being enforced. Enforcing regulations is just the sort of thing unions can do.) There’s been a lot of serious work done by sex worker activists, who strongly disagree with the strategies being pursued by organisations like Object, and it would have been good to hear from them.

ii. I’ve already suggested that insufficient attention was at times paid to fundamental problems of women’s economic vulnerability. Again, this session continued without addressing the wider context in which lapdancing seems like a viable option to many women (I don’t know, but i’m supposing its better paid than cleaning). (An aside: I gather that the session on prostitution did look in more detail at the connection between women’s poverty and options, and the context in which women choose (sometimes ‘choose’) prostitution).

iii. I was also concerned that the focus on objectification and pornography at the plenary sessions, rather than education and economic vulnerability, has somewhat exclusionary tendencies. The conference attendees were a fairly homogenous bunch (white females, many students), and I wondered whether a particular perspective was dictating the agenda. Of course, I’m not suggesting that, if objectification is a problem for women, then it is not a problem for all women. Rather I’m (tentatively) suggesting that:

a) How objectification is experienced as a problem won’t be the same for all women

b) For some women, objectification may not be their top priority priority concern - rather financial survival, access to education, avoidance of violence (and not just sexual violence) dictate the agenda. (There was, of course, an excellent panel on rape conviction rates, but much of the discussion there was also about objectification.)

Of course, objectification is an important issue. But it would have been good to see a schedule that reflected some of the other fundamental issues that set the agenda for many women. Being in the plenary session is an indication of importance, and the timetable carried the very clear implication that objectification should be our primary concern.

Feminist Pornography April 15, 2008

There’s a fascinating article out on Alternet, about the efforts of feminist pornographers. (I know that some use definitions of ‘feminist’ and ‘pornography’ that make this term necessarily empty. If you’re such a person, substitute ‘feminist makers of sexually explicit films’, and read on– you may or may not grant that any of these people have managed it, but it’s worth thinking about what it would take to get there, and these people are doing interesting work.) It includes discussion of the Feminist Porn Awards (interestingly, these were initiated as a response to racism in pornography).  Also discussion of the many different ways that various directors understand what it is to make feminist pornography.  Audacia Ray focuses on working conditions.

According to Audacia Ray, director of the The Bi Apple as well as a sex educator and sex workers-rights activist, “Feminist porn is, for me, much more about the production end of things than it is about what is actually onscreen. It’s about the ability of the people performing the porn to negotiate what they’re doing.” For Ray, producing feminist porn involves paying performers above the industry standard, using condoms and covering the costs of HIV testing (neither of which are industry standards), getting input from her cast about what they want to do before they arrive on set, and avoiding surprising actors with last-minute requests.

Venus Hottentot discusses content:

“For me what makes it feminist is the story,” explains Hottentot. “[With Afrodite Superstar,] I wanted to create something about sexuality and self-esteem, and for me those were my first objectives in making this film. When I looked at what is going on with HIV/AIDS in the African-American and Latin communities, I felt like there needed to be a sexual conversation.” And it’s in that context that Hottentot tells the story of a young woman of color struggling to discover an authentic identity and sexuality in the mainstream hip hop industry.

Tristan Taormino combines both by allowing performers to decide the content:

Tristan Taormino places her cast of professional adult performers in charge of how, when, why, with whom, and how often they have sex, and then interviews them about everything from the racism in porn to what they like to perform. For Taormino, the collaborative aspect is a crucial part of what makes her work feminist. “I want viewers to get to know the performers and get a more three-dimensional character, as opposed to [a] one-dimensional sex robot.” Creating context is also how Taormino responds to the dominant imagery in mainstream porn. “When something comes up that could possibly reinforce a dominant image — like, for example, in Chemistry 3 there was a bunch of rough sex — [it's] really important to, in my interviews with people, have them specifically talk about why they like rough sex, how they obtain consent, what their boundaries are, and how it relates to their sexual expression.

One particularly interesting thing that comes out in the article is that– if the article’s right– mainstream pornography is starting to pay a bit of attention to feminist pornography. One of the winners of the Feminist Porn Awards also won a mainstream award for Best Gonzo Release– particularly significant because this is a genre which has traditionally been amongst the most misogynistic. I really do urge you to read the article of you’re interested in feminism and pornography, whatever your views are. There’s a lot of complexity in the article. (The article is exclusively about feminist pornographers, so it’s not the place to go for a discussion of feminist opposition to pornography– but it doesn’t try to do that.)

I could weep, literally April 7, 2008

We’ve commented a number of times about the mysogynistic treatment Hillary Clinton has gotten by so many in the media.  We all know what has been going on, but it still comes as a very unpleasant shock to see these TV spots put together. 

If you can stand to get through the hate-filled speech, you will get some great pictures of HRC. 

 

Is female wrestling worse than stripping? February 27, 2008

Florida, and Miami especially, has some of the laxest legislation regarding strip clubs in the States. Here, you’re allowed to touch the dancers, they can touch you, the venues can sell whatever booze as they want, and they can do so till 5 or 6am. There’s not many rules about advertising either, and one quickly becomes inured to flicking past the pages promoting establishments that offer ‘full liquor, full nudity, full friction’ in the local free sheets and listings magazines. Occasionally, though, there’s something egregious enough to startle still. This was the Miami New Times’ recommendation for how to spend Monday evening this week:

Witness the glorious return of female wrestling.

Sick of spilling cheese at the strip club? We have something better for you. Allow us to paint you a visual picture of the sights, sounds, and smells you are certain to behold when Nastie’s Female Wrestling returns tonight to Studio A. Scantily clad women will be rolling around in baby oil, pulling each other’s hair, and eventually ripping off each other’s bikinis. The oil will glisten off of their smooth skin, as testosterone-fueled onlookers chant things like “Fuck her up!” Good stuff.

The two contestants will be naked and kicking as the drooling crowd moves closer to the custom-designed wrestling ring. How do the brawls usually end during Nastie’s events? Video footage from a previous match featured a brunette putting a blonde in a head lock. Then the blonde broke free, rolled over, and sat bare-bottomed on top of her opponent. She fondled her pierced nipples as the referee counted to three. All of this awaits you.

I was first flabbergasted, then disgusted, then curious at my own reactions. Why is this enough to shake me whilst I’m complacent about the strip clubs?  (Studio A isn’t a strip club, it’s a mid-size nightclub that more normally puts on bands and DJs).  Is it just the article - the violent overtones, the horrible pack-animal imagery (drooling, chanting), the fact that a respected publication is helping to promote it? Or is there a significant ethical difference between this kind of thing and strip clubs? I’m no ethicist; my intuition is that yes, there is a difference, this stuff is worse. But I’m finding it hard to articulate why, beyond the fact that this adds stupid violence to stupid objectification. Help, anyone?

Mao offered US 10 Million Women February 16, 2008

Apparently, during a trade negotiation in 1973, Mao offered the US 10 million women.

“You know, China is a very poor country,” Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department’s historian office.”We don’t have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands.” A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. “Do you want our Chinese women?” he asked. “We can give you 10 million.”

Kissinger, characteristically, gave a clear rejection of the appalling offer:

“It is such a novel proposition,” Kissinger replied in his discussion with Mao in Beijing. “We will have to study it.”

Now, it’s not like Mao treated Chinese men well either, but this is a particularly stark example of the commodification of women. (Thanks, Jender-parents!)

 

Steak and a blow job? No thanks. February 13, 2008

In my few months as an ex-pat in America, I’ve been introduced to several new festivals and holidays. My girlfriend brought another to my attention recently, and couldn’t understand why my reaction fell somewhere between unease and dismay. What problem could I possibly have with ‘Steak and a Blow Job Day’?

Well, let’s start with the name, and the implication that the tastes of men can be summarised so. The corollary, as the website makes clear, is the idea that women’s interests can be equally easily rounded up; ‘gifts, flowers… baubles’. Of course, it’s just a name, not an order for how the day’s got to be marked, but names are important.

Now, on the day’s point. It was conceived – and presented to me – as a reciprocal measure for all the expense and attention that should be lavished on one’s dearest on Valentine’s Day. Wonderful. It’s still possible, perhaps, to celebrate Valentine’s Day without endorsing the idea that the festival, and by extension your relationship, is about commercial exchange, in which a man seduces a woman with wealth, and she, the junior partner, yields with sex and food. But that possibility is nullified if you create and celebrate a corresponding festival that formalises the exchange of commodities and reifies the idea of such exchange as the basis of heterosexual ‘partnership’.

Finally, about the people endorsing this day. I could just about laugh it off if they were mostly men, mostly reactionary, mostly middle-aged, mostly rather sad. But instead, my girlfriend proudly described it as an ‘underground’ holiday of which she and her (girl) friends were enthusiastic advocates. ‘Underground’, I suppose, connotes young, hip, liberal, free-thinking. If this is indicative of how (American) women who would describe themselves as such think about their relationships, we return to a depressingly pervasive thought; feminism still has a long way to go.

Advance Australia Fair January 9, 2008

One of our blog readers in Australia, Roz, drew our attention to this and this. At the recent Summernats car festival in Canberra, a drunken mob of between 100 and 200 men roamed around yelling “rubber or tits” and generally harrassing women to show their breasts. (There’s a picture link on the second web-page where you can see pictures, including a young guy and his frightened girlfriend surrounded by men heckling him when he tried to defend her).This whole thing is, I think, obviously pretty distasteful - a family event with pre-printed “get your tits out” banners. But in some ways, the stunted neanderthal sexuality that surrounds this kind of car rally, with its accompanying machismo and its love of large breasted “spokesmodels” is, sadly, mundane. Worrying, however is the fact that the mob harrasment of women - whether they tried to laugh it off or not - drew no response from the police. Absolutley zip. The ACT Police Minister, Simon Corbell, suggested that organisers declined police help. Nonetheless, police were on hand to issue 500 or so traffic tickets. This must have been a daunting and even terrifying experience, and the lack of police response is pretty poor. The organisers, of course, saw no real issue describing the mob as “a happy crowd” and seemed content that no police action was required since there had been “no official reports of damage” (clearly missing what seems to be the main worry - the harrassment and abuse). More worrying from my point of view though is that the Police Minister seems impervious to the thought that the police should have done anything, or could do anything in the future - from his point of view, the sexual harrasment simply “highlights the need for Summernats organisers to continue to improve the environment at Summernats so it is a tolerant and respectful environment.” That’s right, its down to the organisers.So why do I think the police should have done something to protect women from this? Well, Australia certainly has an image as a “macho society”, and some statistics bear out the thought that being a women there is not an altogther easy experience. For instance, a recent study at Griffiths University suggests that as many as 45% of women between the ages of 18 and 41 were the victims of child sex abuse (see here for a news report). Of course, child sex abuse isn’t precisely the same as abuse of women, but as the authors of the report point out, the trauma follows these children into woman-hood and victims suffer divorce and domestic abuse at twice the rate of the general population.Similarly, according to a 2002 International Violence Against Women Study, 1 in 3 Australian women have been subjected to sexual or physical violence from a partner, and 1 in 5 have experienced some form of sexual violence. A 2003 study from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commision found that 28% of women had been sexually harrassed in the work place. And speaking of the work place, women in full time employment earn 16% less than male counterparts, and in part time work, 34% less. There is no legislated paid maternity leave system, and only a third of pregnant women manage to take some form of paid maternity leave. I could go on, but you see the point.This alone makes the police inaction at the Summernats rally all the more pressing. However, what’s worse is that the Australian police and legal system have recently come in for some criticism at their often baffling attitude to abuse against women, and if anything, they ought be trying to counteract that. For example, recently, between eight and twelve youths sexually assaulted, taunted, and abused an autistic girl, raping her, spitting and urinating on her and setting light to her hair whilst recording it for a DVD which they later sold around their schools in Melbourne for $5 a pop. Eight were tried, seven were convicted, non were given custodial sentences. It was generally felt that this might have been light and more than a little dismissive of the victim’s experiences. (see here). Similarly, (and as reported on this blog) a judge in Northern Queensland described the gang rape of a nine year old as “naughty” and suggested the girl may well have consented (see here ). Again, I could go on. The point is merely that the law seems to be failing to protect women and girls.Don’t get me wrong, sexism, abuse, and legal systems which are indifferent to victimised women are not peculiarly Australian. Neither is the kind of thing experienced at Summernats, but, given some context, maybe it seems obvious that police action was all the more pressing, and simply shrugging shoulders at “high spirited” bawdy rev-heads is the kind of thing which, perhaps unwittingly, sanctions a lot of sexism.

Outsourcing Pregnancies to India January 4, 2008

You know, this one just renders me speechless. And yet I feel somehow I should have expected it.

Anand, India– Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills. A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world. The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for the women during pregnancy and delivery, and counsels them afterward. Anand’s surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies….Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002, as it is in many other countries, including the United States. But India is the leader in making it a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment. Experts say it could take off for the same reasons outsourcing in other industries has been successful: a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates.  Critics say the couples are exploiting poor women in India — a country with an alarmingly high maternal death rate — by hiring them at a cut-rate cost to undergo the hardship, pain and risks of labor.  ”It raises the factor of baby farms in developing countries,” said Dr. John Lantos of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Mo. “It comes down to questions of voluntariness and risk.”  

(Thanks, Jender-Parents, for the link.)

“Cool last minute gifts?” December 18, 2007

Filed under:  I don’t think so.

Mmmwah. Outrageous Warhol lips make the party circuit. Fun melamine appe-teasers offer a taste of 15 minutes of fame. Embossed artist’s signature on the back. Images courtesy of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
• Pop art “Lips” by Andy Warhol serve appetizers with style
• Great for parties
• Heat-resistant
• Top-rack dishwasher-safe

I.e., these are small plates.

This product comes from cb2, which it considered a “really cool store”, my young New York friends say, though just about everything said like that is ironic.  Fortunately.

Updates December 18, 2007

1.  On punishing the victim:  Saudi King Abdullah has pardoned the woman who was gang raped 14 times, in a Wonderland case where it is one crime for a woman to be alone with a male non-family member and another one to protest a harsh sentencing.

2.  On consent of ten year old to sex with nine: Nine young men who confessed to having sex with a ten years old were allowed to walk free since the prosecutor decided that it was probably consensual.  That prosecutor has now been suspended.

More on both stories at Ms’s Feminist Daily Wire.

I bet you have seen this, December 12, 2007

but if you haven’t, do enjoy.  Not exactly feminist, but definitely about philosophy.

(And thanks to my colleague who passed it on.)

What Every Baby Needs: Disembodied Hands December 11, 2007

Aside from the OH MY GOD IT’S SO CREEPY factor (not to be underestimated), and my view that we all need a laugh at this point in the semester, this is actually relevant to our blog. Because those are apparently the MOTHER’S hands being simulated (who else’s could do the job?) And yes, Mom does seem required to be beige.  But I’ve just got to leave you with the tagline: “It’s like leaving a part of you with the baby.” Really. That is actually the tagline. (Thanks, Mr Jender!)

16 Days November 25, 2007

Today, 25 November, is the first day of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. 

The International Red Cross is one of many groups to be a part of this campaign. One of their initiatives is to give a voice to women who are suffering from violence.

The IRC is in war zones around the world, helping many thousandsof women and girls every day. We know they have much to say andwe know how easily their voices are lost, so we’re working withwriter, photographer and long-time women’s advocate Ann Jones togive them an opportunity to speak, loudly and clearly.With digital cameras, women who have survived conflict,displacement, discrimination, sexual and domestic violencevividly document their own lives. Through these personalphotographs, stirring portraits are revealed and women cometogether to tell stories of strength, reclaim their rights andmake their voices heard.Be a part of this powerful exchange, which begins tomorrow,November 25th to kick off “16 Days of Action against GenderViolence.” Over the course of the 16 Days, you’ll be inspired bythe extraordinary changes these brave women make with the boldclicks of their cameras.Just sign up for our 16 Days e-mail list, and on each of thosedays you’ll get a special e-mail with one woman’s photo, anamazing story and a chance to add your own voice. Afterward,you’ll get occasional updates from Ann and the IRC about newstories, IRC programs empowering women, and the many ways YOUcan help.

To sign up for the IRC 16 Days list go here.   Thanks, Jender-Parents!

Beth Ditto’s Advice November 23, 2007

For all who woke up on this day after Thanksgiving with actual or incipient self-loathing for the number of calories consumed yesterday:

If I ever [were granted] three wishes, this would be one for sure. I would wish that all the people who are dissatisfied with their bodies be granted immunity from all the bad feelings.
…
We are the guinea pigs force-fed ads that tell us how pathetic we are: that we will never be loved, happy or valuable unless we have the body, the face, the hair, even the personality that will apparently be ours, if only we buy their products.
…
The first step to letting go of the hatred is to stop blaming yourself for your body. Step two is accepting that not everyone will agree with you. You will have to defend yourself regularly.
…
I can’t stress enough that it is hard work, so don’t expect to wake up tomorrow feeling like a new woman. Instead, pat yourself on the back for your daily progress.

From her column today.

Bingo! The evolutionary psychology version October 26, 2007

Many thanks for Pandagon’s link to Punkassblog

The Bingo card is larger and clearer on the linked site, but see below for what I could get onto the page here.

Document the Silence: 31 October October 26, 2007

The Document the Silence Project aims to end the lack of attention to crimes of violence against women of color in the US. They have an important event coming up on October 31, and I’d urge you to participate:

Recent events in the United States have moved us to action. Violence against women is sadly, not a new phenomenon in our country or in the world, however, in the last year women of color have experienced brutal forms of violence, torture, rape and injustice which have gone unnoticed, received little to no media coverage, or a limited community response. We are responding to:

The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan, West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.

Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.

A 13 year old native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling “white power” outside of her home

Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were latter charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences

In a Litany of Survival, Audre Lorde writes, “When we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive.” These words shape our collective organizing to break the silence surrounding women of color’s stories of violence. We are asking for community groups, grass-root organizations, college campus students and groups, communities of faith, online communities, and individuals to join us in speaking out against violence against women of color. If we speak, we cannot be invisible.

Join us and stand up to violence against women!

Be bold, be brave, be red. Wear red on October 31, 2007. Take a picture or video of yourself and friends wearing red. Send it to: beboldbered@gmail.com. We’ll post it!

Take Your Red to the Streets! Know of a location where violence occurred against a woman of color? Have a public location where you feel women of color are often ignored? Make violence against women of color visible by decorating the space in red. Be sure to send us pictures and or video of your display!

Rally! Gather your friends, family, and community to rally. Check out the Document the Silence website for the litany we’re asking participants to read together on October 31st. Be sure to send us pictures and/or video of the event! You could even gather where you created a display!

For more Information on how to Host a RED Rally, please click on the page “How to Host a Red Rally.”

Share your story of silence. Share your own story of silence by uploading it to the Document the Silence website (http://documentthesilence.wordpress.com/). You can send a story in any form you’d like – as a written statement, video clip, movie, documentary, or visual art.

For more information, go here.

Beauty and the ‘burqua’ October 11, 2007

Reuters here reports on a version of ‘America’ s next Top Model’ from Afghanistan.

It struck me as an issue full of ambivalence for feminists; on the one hand, there’s the recently reported on problem of the ‘whitewash’ of the fashion world (see here). Given this, the promotion of different ideals of beauty seems to be a good thing.

But on the other hand, the body image emphasis of these programs is something that, for the most, I find myself uncomfortable with.

To illustrate my ill-ease, consider this quotation, from one of the models on the show, Timour:

 ’”I have seen outside Afghanistan they have a different kind of idea about women in Afghanistan — they think they are always wearing the burqa and sitting at home but it is not like that,” she said.’

Sounds good! I thought… but then she qualifies, with 

“Girls in Afghanistan are beautiful.”

which isn’t false, but I wish she’d said more! About not just misconceptions about the appearance, but the misconceptions about all Afghan women living as shut away, oppressed, victims (though, fair enough, she was talking about the fashion program, so not really fair to criticise her for not going beyong appearance issues…)

On which note, such misconceptions are, as Racialicious points out here, only perpetuated by the Reuters write up. There, Fatemah Fakhraie writes:

• ‘Reuters eroticizes Afghan women, making it seem like just going out to get the day’s groceries is an act full of sensuality! Apparently, in Afghanistan, there’s always somebody cute in the grocery store.
• But don’t forget! Reuter’s use of the phrase “behind the bars of its [the burqa’s] grille” reminds us that these poor, sexy women are unfortunate prisoners of their brutal man-folk or their terribly oppressive religion! These women can’t possibly be making the choice to wear a burqa (or, as it’s really known in Afghanistan, the chaadari—again, good job, Reuters).’

Whilst Reuters does report on a fair spread of opinion about the show, Fakhraie also criticises the way that the reported claims from a Muslic cleric that the women’s participation is against Sharia law, and so should be punished, are inadequately scrutinised or explained; whilst on the other hand, nor is the reported view from Afghan businessman that “It also complies with Afghan culture, so it’s fine.”

Indeed, the article seems at a number of points (though not wholeheartedly) to be guilty of cultural essentialism - seeing the culture as a homogeneous whole, in which individuals are mysterious ‘others’, who are subsumed by ‘the culture’ - in the way that Uma Narayan (1997) has highlighted and shown to be deeply problematic.

Democracy Now report on rapes in the Congo October 8, 2007

Amy Goodman’s important program, Democracy Now, has a segment on the story Jender wrote about on Sunday. You can listen to the program or watch it on the website, or read the rushed transcript.

Goodman interviews Christine Schuler Deschryver, who is a Congolese human rights activist. She lives in the area of the Congo where the worst violence against women is occurring. Among her comments:

But there’s another form of very violent war with sexual terrorism going on in Congo. We are talking about more than — in all eastern part of Congo, more than 200,000 women, children and babies being raped every day, and now, right now, I am talking to you, thousands of women are taken and children into forests as slave sex (sic).

Her life is constantly under threat, but she remarks that she could not go away and not try to stop it.