Stories about Women & Gender from April, 2006
Iran: Virginity Matters!
IranJensy (Persian) says virginity of a girl is so important in Iranian society. Blogger asks how men, who have had sex with many women can expect the girls have no sex before getting married?
Pulse of the Saudi Blogosphere
Football and ice hockey, hijab and fatwas, bloggers meetups, and much much more from the Saudi blogosphere this week. Let's go… Starting with Swalfy, who did not seem so surprised that Riyadh Gitex, which supposed to be the biggest IT exhibition in Saudi Arabia does not has a website. He...
China: Porn's subversive forms
Remember Guangzhou sex blogger Mu Zimei who got shut down and fired in late 2003 after the world took notice? She's in Beijing now, and Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei has just ‘wrapped’ an exclusive with her: “She is not writing online any more, but is producing a series of her...
India: Violence against women
Megha writes on violence against women and lists out signs to watch for. (Trigger: Violence)
India: The Young Working Woman
The dilemmas of being a young working woman in India Iat genderbenders.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Violence against women
Abeni cites some alarming rape statistics from St. Vincent, and stumbles upon a web site organised by a group of men seeking to “raise their own and the community's consciousness about men's violence against women.” She asks for comments.
DRC: convictions for rape
Adventures of an Armchair Traveller reports on the conviction of “seven former Mouvement Pour la liberation du Congo (MLC) (or Armed Forces of the DR Congo (FARDC)) soldiers of the rape of 119 women and girls and other crimes against humanity”
African women this week.
Congratulations to Kenyan women bloggers who have won Kenya Unlimited Kaybee awards 2006. Mshairi for best poetry blog; Gussaurus for best new blog and most interactive blog; Mama's Junkyard for best design; Au Lait for blogger one would most like to meet; and Kenyan Pundit for best political blog. Nigerian...
DRC: sexual violence
Congo Watch has a report on the ongoing sexual violence in the DRC – some horrific stories.
Sri Lanka: Gay Pride in Colombo
Colombo gets an opportunity to be proud. Portrait on the Gay Pride in the city – “Colombo pride is going to happen over a week beginning on the 21st of may, and the activities are going to include a film marathon, a kite festival and of course, the essence of...
Moldova: High School Physics Class
Peter Myers of Adventures in Moldova writes about his experience of visiting an “under-attended” high school physics class in Moldova: “Grigore Fyodorovici lamented to me after school about the fact that no boys came, because ‘they're the ones who really need physics.’ Girls don't need physics, he reasoned, because most...
Slovenia: Sex Tourists Disappointed
Michael of The Glory of Carniola compiles quotes about Slovenia from disappointed sex tourists: to them, the country is too quiet and expensive, too well-integrated into the EU.
Kenya: Sexual Offences Act
Feminist African Sister is outraged that activists are having to lobby some Kenyan parliamentarians on the passing of the Sexual Offences Act. “Because, in my book the only reason one would think that a life sentence for raping a baby is too harsh and not worth supporting is, because in...
Voices of African women – this week
Fleur writes about the harrowing case of 7 soldiers sentenced to life for rape and crime against humanity for the rape of 119 underage girls in Congo. The government of Congo has also admitted partial responsibility and financially compensated the family of the victims. Fleur says ….it sends an important...
Russia: Sexist Beer Ad and Subway Laws
Megan Case takes a picture of a sexist beer ad in a St. Petersburg subway train – and gets fined for doing it. Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog comments on this ad.
India: Disability and Abortion
Inkspill poses a tough question and an interesting discussion follows in the comments space – “does aborting a disabled foetus mean you are not sympathetic to the disabled and you do not admire their positive attitude to life?”
Iraq: Miss Iraq Resign
What is the second hardest to find in Iraq after the “prime minister”? It is a “Beauty Queen,” Sabbah said. On April 9, Tamar Goregian, a Christian woman, made history as the first Armenian Iraqi to be crowned Miss Iraq. Few days later, Miss Iraq announced her resignation after receiving...
Pulse of the Saudi Blogosphere
It had been a relatively quiet week in the Saudi blogosphere this week. However, several good posts can be found by bloggers from inside the country, and also by those who live abroad. So, let's get it started… A new community website for Saudi bloggers has been causing much controversy,...
Imagining Ourselves
Kenyan Pundit writes on a project called “Imagining Ourselves” which is “a platform for young women to create positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world.”
Kenya: Yet another rape poem
Gukira has an excellent commentary on violence against women and rape in particular. He asks why there are so many rape poems written…”.For these rape poems, whatever their formal merits, suggest how women understand their structural position within gendered norms. The rape poem captures the experience of space and time,...
Sri Lanka: Abortion
A very short post on abortion at Moju provokes an interesting conversations in the comments space.
