| Author | Message | ||
     Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
I'm always mindful of the fact that in many coutries the situation is pretty dire. 'From Mozambique to Chad, South Africa and Liberia, Sierra Leone to Burkina Faso, feminism is the buzzword for a generation of women determined to change the course of the future for themselves and their families. At female gatherings all over sub-Saharan Africa you'll find enthusiasm and eager signatories to the cause.' http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/06/feminism-global-challenge-one-voic e | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
Sorry ...countries. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
What we really need to see is a feminist movement, free of fear, in the Arab world. It is the brutal treatment of their women that I find most unacceptable in that entire culture. Whether it be Libya, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia we need to see an end to the culture of debasement that holds sway in the male Arab psyche. When they start treating their women as equals I may start to believe that there is hope for a conciliation between East & West. In that way it may be the most pressing issue in world affairs today. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
That would be a wonderful thing, Steve...to see women not having to hide in dark cellars struggling to get an education, and their teachers not arrested for teaching them etc... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Yeah, and not have to go about disguised as tents in public, and get stoned to death for committing adultery while their menfolk are out shagging all round them! To think about it makes my blood boil...  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
Sex slavery is an issue that I write and talk about when I can. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/19/women-slavery-half-the-sky | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
I'm not sure about the Daniel Craig video though, which attempts to bring attention to the problems. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/celebrity-news-video/8366190/Daniel-Cr aig-drags-up-in-James-Bond-charity-video.html | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
When I think about what goes on in the darker corners of the world, in the name of sex, it makes me feel ashamed to be a man... One of the most haunting and distressing scenes in Graham Greene's 'The Heart Of The Matter' is when one of the central characters finally gives in to temptation and visits a local brothel in Sierra Leone (then a British colony) only to be presented with a drink plied young negro girl lying open legged on a packing case. He turns to leave in disgust but as he has already paid his exit is blocked and he is forced back to perform "jig-a-jig" with this young girl - the brothel keepers knowing they have him, soul and all, and have no intention of letting him go. I was in bits reading it and can feel shivers running up and down my spine now just thinking about it. Sex slavery, whether it be of women or children, shows us the face of mankind at its ugliest and weakest...  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
I really don't know how change can happen but it has to. We know that. Yes. That scene would probably reduce me to tears. Real horror is around us all the time. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
I've watched that Daniel Craig video three times now. The first time I looked and listened. The second time I really listened and the third time it got my vote. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
Terrible. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/09/egypt-revolution-women | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.183.117 |
That event is horrible, but look at the protestors - this really feels like the beginning of something good. No -- something Great. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
Agreed, Proto. Some of the men helped by joining hands around them. I really hope it gets better. It is a start. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
My point exactly... women in the Arab world need the equivalent of our suffragette movement of 100 years ago to drag their men, and their culture, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century! That will mean violent reprisals against those women brave enough to stand up, and the inevitable creation of martyrs, but sadly that's the only way we'll see real change... it's gonna be a long grim bloody fight I fear. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
'women in the Arab world need the equivalent of our suffragette movement of 100 years ago...' Yes! The price paid will be high though. Some won't think twice about slaughtering the women. Will anyone step in and stop it? |