Irshad Manji August 26, 2008

I can’t remember now how I came across this, but I’ve been meaning to suggest that you check out the blog of Irshad Manji, a Muslim feminist author and documentary maker.
She’s got fascinating discussions of, for example, misplaced reliance on ‘experts’ about Islam in deciding what books to publish or what’s OK put in a documentary, based in part on ‘expert’ reactions to her own documentary, Faith Without Fear (contrasted with the reactions the film actually received). Really good stuff to read if you’re interested in epistemology, multicuturalism, freedom of expression, etc etc… So if you’re wanting a break from the US Democratic convention, head on over and read Manji!

What a terrible loss July 11, 2008

to the Church of England. It seems some of the most sexist are considering leaving. But hey, C of E’s loss may be the Catholics’ gain. (Thanks, Jender-Parents!)

Female terrorists June 25, 2008

Time magazine reports, here, on the deployment of women suicide bombers. In sending us the link (thanks!), Time described the article as ’shed[ing] some light on the cycle of hopelessness some Iraqi women find themselves in, and wonders what their motives are, if not political or religious.’

Brief overview: the piece focuses on one woman, Hasna (not her real name) who undertook a suicide bombing mission, after her brother died in a failed attempt. It is suggested that her motivations were not primarily religious or political, but that rather her state of grief and hopelessness was what made her vulnerable to undertaking terrorism.

First off, it is of course very difficult to imagine what kind of social context and mind set would make suicide bombing seem like a good option. And the article does indeed show that situations of desperation and distress can contribute to the willingness of individuals to put themselves forward for such a role. It’s hard to see a choice stricken by such emotions as unproblematically free. And a context in which such a role is a preferred option in itself casts doubt on the choice; the other options must indeed seem pretty hopeless.

But in reading the piece, I was reminded of some work by Marilyn Friedman on the way that female suicide bombers are regarded by their extremist peers, and how they are portrayed in the media. One of her claims is that, amongst the extremists,there is often a discrepancy between the regard for male and for female suicide bombers; the women are not esteemed as martyrs in the way that the men are. The last line of the Time article suggests as much: “God is great!” says the cameraman. “The stupid woman did it.”

Friedman also claims that from the outsider perspective and in the media, it is frequently the case that the women are regarded as coerced and mere puppets. And whilst it seems pretty clear that, in this case, Hasna’s grief played a key role in motivating her, it is also pretty clear that she wasn’t simply swooped upon by extremists in her state of vulnerability: she was previously helping her brother to prepare for his mission; and it seems she had to persuade the extremists with whom she was to work: ‘The group was initially skeptical — they had never worked with a woman, and felt certain she would lose her nerve at the last moment’.

To see her as entirely coerced, then, seems to make invisible the quite significant agency that she must have exercised to undertake a terror bombing attack. Perhaps it’s simply easier not to acknowledge that women might strongly hold extremist beliefs, and be willing to engage in terrorist action… Hmmm. Many complicated issues. What do readers think?

Final gender-equality related note: part of the problem with detecting female suicide bombers, it seems, is that policemen cannot search women. Yet it is difficult (’frowned upon’) for women to join the security forces…

Mentoring and Diversity June 9, 2008

Sophia Wong has posted a short essay on “how to mentor someone who doesn’t look like you”, but as she notes the issues are much broader than those related to appearance– how, for example do you mentor a student with kids if you don’t have kids?  Or a trans person if you’re not trans?  A disabled person if you’re not disabled?  Since under-represented groups *are* under-represented, people from the better represented groups need to do some thinking about how to be good mentors to those unlike them.  And Wong lists some simple, useful tips.  Go check it out!

Silencing and Forced Marriage March 28, 2008

A deeply depressing story.  12 year old Ruksana complained to UK police when her parents said they were going to force her into an unwanted marriage. They came to her house to discuss it with the whole family, and told her not to worry– thus alerting her parents that she had talked to the police, whereupon they moved her elsewhere. She complained again, with a similar response, and eventually was forced into a marriage, forced out of education, and raped. As she says:

“White kids can call Childline and they get listened to - but for Asian children it’s thought of as wrong to complain.” 

Ruksana is, however, hopeful (let’s hope she’s right):

Because of the publicity about forced marriages I think they would take you a bit more seriously now. 

For the nerds among you, there’s arguably both locutionary and perlocutionary silencing going on indicated in Ruksana’s first quote. Asians don’t think they should complain (locutionary), and they aren’t taken seriously when they do (perlocutionary). Depending your views on felicity conditions for complaining, there may also be illocutionary silencing going on. For a quick intro to these silencing issues, see here. (Thanks, Jender-Parents!)

Fact for the day: Beguinages March 8, 2008

File this under “stuff I didn’t know”. A fascinating bit of women’s history (from CNN’s travel section, amazingly enough):

centuries ago, this hamlet in Leuven — a university town, 20 miles east of Brussels — was a beguinage, a sort of commune for unmarried, religiously-inclined women known as beguines (pronounced Bay-Gueens). Beguines — most likely derived from the Flemish word beghen, which means to pray — were women in the Low Countries who, beginning in the 12th century, chose to live neither under the care of a man nor the vows of the church. Theirs was, in essence, a feminist movement and its remarkable architectural legacy is still evident in cities across the Netherlands and Belgium….Beguinages were home to generations of religious women who sought to live a more independent life than that of women who married against their will. They made their homes, catered to the sick and poor, and sought to serve God without separating from the rest of the world. As Catholic women devoted to prayer and good work, beguines lived simply, wore loose robes and headwear similar to nuns’ habits. But nuns they were definitely not. Beguines took no religious vows. They could leave and marry, if they chose. They could own property and took no alms. Women of all classes were welcomed. They carried on professions, often in the textile industry. They elected women to be leaders — Grand Dames — and each Grand Dame was often assisted by an elected council. Each beguine was expected to support herself and make a tangible contribution to the beguinage, either through labor or rent income.

Thanks, Jender-Parents!

Sharia Law in the UK February 10, 2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury gave a speech which has been interpreted as supporting the idea of allowing and recognising Sharia law in some legal areas in the UK. He has no power to make this happen, and all the major political parties are strongly opposed. But it’s sparking a debate, to put it mildly. Unfortunately, the Archbishop’s comments are pretty vague, so it’s unclear what he wants. It is clear that he doesn’t support things like stoning adulterers (hurrah!).  Speculation about what he does want has focused on family law, which is worrying given the male bias of much of this law, at least as it is often interpreted.  The Archbishop now says his remarks were misinterpreted, but unfortunately his clarification isn’t really much help. I find myself thinking that discussing this would be a great way to get students interested in issues of law and justice in multicultural societies, but also getting discouraged by the very unsatisfying degree of clarity in the discussions I’m finding.

Look at the freedom we’ve brought! January 31, 2008

An Afghan journalism student has been sentenced to death for downloading a report on women’s rights. What a fabulous democracy we’ve brought the Afghan people.

The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.

Mr Kambaksh, 23, distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of provoking a debate on the matter. But a complaint was made against him and he was arrested, tried by religious judges without – say his friends and family – being allowed legal representation and sentenced to death.

The Independent has a petition you can sign here. It’s a petition to the UK foreign office, but anyone can sign it, and non-UK pressure can make a difference.

Gender neutral pronouns January 10, 2008

The lack of an obvious third-person singular, gender-neutral pronoun in English is a familiar feminist topic. So it’s fascinating to read that a new one may be evolving. Apparently, some younger speakers are using the word ‘yo’ in this way, as in “Yo looks like a freak” (via The F-Word). But there’s also a very old alternative, singular ‘they’, of which I’m a great fan. This one goes way back, as this web page documents (and as Anne Bodine documented in a nice paper from the 1970s). It continues to thrive in spoken, and even written English despite all the best efforts of prescriptive grammarians. Now I’ve learned (thanks, Sally!) that this may be due to divine sanction. And a lovely mug commemorating his fact has been proposed (though, as you can see, ruled out at the same time).

If someone were to manufacture this mug, their efforts would not go unappreciated. Though I’d be grateful if yo could insert some quotation marks.

Religion, Politics, Culture Shock December 23, 2007

As a transplanted American in the UK, it’s very clear to me how different these supposedly similar cultures are.  And nowhere is this more obvious than with issues of religion and politics.  I thought I’d share a bit of that with you (especially perhaps the Americans).  Back in the US, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been declaring, in a widely praised speech, that “freedom requires religion”.  Over here, in the country that actually does have an official state religion:

Tony Blair has reported that he never felt he could discuss his religious beliefs because he’d sound like a “nutter”.

The new leader of the 3rd party, the Liberal Democrats* has mentioned publicly that he’s an atheist.  On the BBC radio report I listened to, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Michael Portillo were interviewed. The Archbishop of Canterbury says he doesn’t think anyone should care about this.  Michael Portillo, a former Conservative Cabinet member, now sort of an elder statesman, says he thinks the only people one should worry about are the ones with really strong religious convictions. (He does worry about atheists who are intolerant of believers, but makes it clear he doesn’t take Clegg to be such.)***

 

*Yes, they’re called the “LIBERAL DEMOCRATS”! And that’s not the reason they don’t win the big elections– a key reason for that is that they’re seen as too middle class. **

**Yes, TOO MIDDLE CLASS, an inconceivability in US politics.

***Not enough culture shock yet?  How about the fact that Portillo has admitted to having had gay sex, and NOBODY REALLY CARED.

Enjoy the culture-shock!  And, just to add yet another twist, in the UK everyone seems to say “Happy Christmas” to everyone else, without any thought that it’s odd e.g. for one Jew to say this to another.  At first I thought this must mean a real assumption that everyone’s Christian.  Now it seems much more like it doesn’t occur to people that there could be such a presupposition involved in the greeting.  (Maybe kind of like atheists saying “bless you” when someone sneezes.)  So, hey, Happy Christmas!  (Nope, still doesn’t feel right to me.)

 

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.)

The apriori? December 3, 2007

Well, not really apriori.  What it is really is blatantly obvious common sense. 

Guess what?  Abstinence-only sex education programs don’t work.  Well, duh! 

And they actually cause social problems.  Increase in pregnancies, diseases spread.  Again, duh! 

These completely obvious facts are actually supported by research.  But, even though President Bush has vetoed Congress’s main social spending bill, he wants millions  more for his abstinence-only sex education program.  And the Democrat Senate leader,Pelosi,  may support Bush’s increase.  (See today’s NY Times  editorial.) 

In the meantime, perhaps some of us on the ’other’ side of the pond should think of applying to NIH to set up an apriori review of politically inspired ideas. 

A Jihad For Love November 10, 2007

This wonderful documentary profiles gay and lesbian Muslims in twelve countries.  It tells an incredibly complex story (really, many stories) that I couldn’t hope to do justice to here.  I think perhaps what struck me most was this: the people in the film are being persecuted in the name of Islam, yet it is also clear that what sustains them through this persecution is precisely their deep faith in Islam.  The stories are complex, the people are complex, the interplays between culture, religion, and politics are complex– and they all (people, cultures, religious intepretations, laws) differ tremendously from one another.  I won’t try to say much more, except to note that there is a vast amount of rich material here for those interested in sexuality, gender, self-understanding, religion, culture, textual interpretation, human rights, silencing, and on and on and on.  See it as soon as you can, and tell others about it! the director has a blog here.  And here’s an interview with the director to whet your appetite.  

Gay and Trans People in Iran (and the US) October 8, 2007

Last week, President Ahmadinejad declared that there is no homosexuality in Iran.  In reality, of course, it is a crime punishable by death, and there have been such executions very recently. However, there may well be fewer homosexuals in Iran than elsewhere, and not just because they’ve been killed.  There’s also the interesting fact that transsexuality is considered a treatable disease rather than a crime.  Many of those who find themselves attracted to the “wrong” sex in Iran wind up undergoing sex change surgery, which allows them to live on the right side of the law. Of course, this means many face a choice between being the sex/gender they want to be/are and loving the sex/gender they want to love. Scary. But also interesting to see that transsexuality is more accepted in Iran than homosexuality, when the reverse seems to be true in the West, as we can see from debates over the inclusion of transsexuals in ENDA in the US.

It’s interesting, also, as a way of calling attention to the way these issues are related.  If ENDA passes without protection for transsexuals (likely) and doesn’t get vetoed (unlikely), it will be illegal to discriminate against gay people but legal to discriminate against transsexuals.  (It will of course be vetoed, but set that aside– we’re philosophers, and we can imagine a possible world with a sane president.  Ahhhhh.) Now consider consider an American trans-woman, who is attracted to men.  This person, in our sane-president-world,  would fare best (so far as anti-discrimination law goes) if she concealed her womanhood and instead presented herself as a gay man.  In Iran, a man who identifies himself as a man but is also attracted to men would be better off having a sex change operation and presenting himself as a straight woman. (Well, except that he’d then have to live under the laws that apply to women!)  

By the way, the issue of whether or not one should support a non-trans-inclusive ENDA is immensely complicated.  To read more about this issue from both sides, I recommend John Aravosis’s article at Salon, and the comments discussing it there; and this excellent article from Susan Stryker suggested by reader Kathy. (Updated to include Stryker reference.)

Not so silent September 26, 2007

From Asharq Alawsat:

Saudi Religious Police Attacked by Girls

24/09/2007
By Sultan al-Kholaif

Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat- Members of Khobar’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were the victims of an attack by two Saudi females, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal.
According to the head of the commission in Khobar, two girls pepper sprayed members of the commission after they had tried to offer them advice.

Head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the Eastern province Dr. Mohamed bin Marshood al-Marshood, told Asharq Al Awsat that two of the Commission’s employees were verbally insulted and attacked by two inappropriately-dressed females, in the old market in Prince Bandar street, an area usually crowded with shoppers during the month of Ramadan.

According to Dr. Al-Marshood, the two commission members approached the girls in order to “politely” advise and guide them regarding their inappropriate clothing.

Consequently, the two girls started verbally abusing the commission members, which then lead to one of the girls pepper-spraying them in the face as the other girl filmed the incident on her mobile phone, while continuing to hurl insults at them.

The Eastern Province’s head of the commission also revealed that with the help of the police his two employees were able to control the situation.

The two females were then escorted to the police station where they apologized for the attack, were cautioned and then released.

Great to see women fighting back this way, even in extremely repressive circumstances. And also good, if true, that they were only cautioned and released. But I must admit that surprises me. Anyone out there who knows more than I do? Is it likely to be true that they were just cautioned and released? If so, does this mean some new leniency? Or is it old leniency that I was just unaware of?

Thanks, Mr Jender, for this one.