Truism 1: The most important thing about a woman doing anything, including sports, is her clothes.My parents left no stone unturned in trying to get me to exercise, much to my displeasure. We were members of this swimming club which basically consisted of a pond with uneven mud flooring and water exposed to the elements. Once when I was training for a district camp, our trainer called my father — not my mother — to have a word. In my adolescent enthusiasm, I thought the trainer would discuss my stupendous swimming skills (which I no longer have any illusions about; thank god). However, the subject of the discussion was the plunging back of my one-piece swimming costume. According to the trainer, who was a middle-aged man, my swimming costume was not letting the boys in the pool master that elusive butterfly. My father emerged from the conversation, stomping his feet, angry at the trainer for being sexist. My mother too couldn’t believe the trainer’s stupidity and audacity, sometimes you can’t tell the difference. And I couldn’t believe my swimming costume was causing so much ripple on the surface of that opaque moss-green water. I did not go to the club the next day. But then we saw reason: it’s the only club around, we said. So, there I was again, this time armed — more like, covered — with a random white cloth sewn to the back of my costume.
Category Archives: Feminism
Leslie Jones faces constant abuse – because that’s how racism works | Rebecca Carroll | Opinion | The Guardian
Ostensibly, the initial attacks were the apex of ongoing negative reaction to Jones starring in the all-female remake of Ghostbusters. Trolls went after her looks, her skin, her body – everything that makes her who she is, and makes her black. She was called an ape. The attacks were unequivocally racist. Twitter issued a bland, cookie-cutter response.But this all didn’t happen just because she did a movie. It was because she is a statuesque dark-skinned black woman, sister in spirit and posture to Nina Simone; elegant in her vocal command, towering with a feverish, ebullient talent that cannot be contained. It’s asinine to say that the racists who are targeting Leslie Jones are Ghostbuster purists, and that’s really what this is all about.And while the New York Times reported that Jones “and her white cast mates have endured months of criticism since the announcement of a reboot of the blockbuster franchise,” those same white cast mates were not called a “big lipped coon”. What stopped one or all of these actors from saying during one of the myriad talk shows they appeared on: “You know what’s not cool? Racism. You know why? Because it targets and maims people we love and respect and live on the planet with.”The film’s director, Paul Feig, did come to her defense, tweeting: “Leslie Jones is one of the greatest people I know. Any personal attacks against her are attacks against us all.” But again, if it really were an attack against us all – assuming he means himself and the rest of the mostly white cast – and it actually felt like an attack in the same way these feel like attacks to Leslie Jones, you can be sure he’d be doing more than tweeting about it. You’ll note he didn’t mention the R-word.Here’s the thing: those who limit their allyship to tweeting their support when we’ve been targets of online racism have absolutely no idea how far removed they are, and yet how intricately tied they are to this thing that is killing us. Racism’s unceasing power lies in the way in which it can weaponise words: now, in 140 characters.By all means up the Twitter support, which is all well and good, but then go deeper. Particularly those in positions of power or who have public platforms – call your friends, call your state representatives, send group emails and reply all to everyone; be vigorous in your accountability and encourage the same in those around you, call into radio shows, launch Kickstarter campaigns, think about ways you can help dismantle racism all the time. Because it is happening all the time.
In Arts and Culture, a ‘New’ Mexico Embraces Its Roots – The New York Times – Her music is wonderful
When the pop singer Natalia Lafourcade stepped onto the stage of National Auditorium here last fall, it was a high point of a career that began more than 10 years ago, when she performed in grunge-inspired attire.But for this concert, Ms. Lafourcade eschewed the ripped jeans. Instead, she wore pants from a Mexican designer and a crown of red roses, paying homage to the artist Frida Kahlo. Halfway through the show, she was joined by a band playing jarocho, a style of folk music from Veracruz.“It was time to connect back with my origins,” said Ms. Lafourcade, 32. “I wanted to infuse my music with Mexican character.”In a country that is struggling with pressing social, economic and political challenges yet possesses a rich cultural heritage, many emerging artists and trendsetters no longer feel compelled to look abroad for inspiration.
Source: In Arts and Culture, a ‘New’ Mexico Embraces Its Roots – The New York Times
Raising Money for Clinton, Cher Sounds Off (and Not Just About Trump) – The New York Times
She compared him to Hitler, likened his campaign to a “racist” version of “Fun with Dick and Jane” and even said he evoked the murderous child star in “The Bad Seed.”“I just think he’s” an idiot, Cher said of Donald J. Trump, adding a decidedly unprintable modifier.The crowd in Provincetown, Mass., one of the country’s gay capitals, roared its approval at Cher’s succinct and salty assessment. But the famed singer and actress was not just riffing between songs at a concert: She was introducing Hillary Clinton at a fund-raiser for her presidential campaign.Cher did more than just blister Mr. Trump. She also offered a blunt appraisal of Mrs. Clinton’s strengths and weaknesses. “This chick is just tougher than Chinese algebra,” Cher said of the Democratic nominee.Prompting a mix of nervous laughter and applause, she added: “She is shy, and she’s not the greatest speaker in the world.”
Source: Raising Money for Clinton, Cher Sounds Off (and Not Just About Trump) – The New York Times
Woman fined for wearing headscarf on Cannes beach – The Local – French racism rules over idea that French are cosmopolitan and freedom loving.
A journalist for France 4, Mathilde Cusin, watched the incident unfold. “I felt like I was watching a pack of hounds attack a woman who was sitting down, in tears, with her young daughter,” she said.”Racist terms were used freely,” said Siam. “I was stunned. I heard things which no one had ever said to me, like ‘Go home!’ and ‘we’re Catholics here!'”While some people defended the 34-year-old, Siam says around three quarters of beachgoers took the side of the police and demanded that she remove the veil or leave the beach. In the end, she paid the €11 fine, and has since contacted the Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie, a French organization which protects Muslims’ rights.Siam said the incident left her feeling “humiliated” and that she felt she was fined simply for being a Muslim.The mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, has supported the police officers, arguing that they were within their rights to fine anyone considered to be wearing an “ostentatious” symbol of faith, and that he had “no reason to doubt their judgment,”, according to La Depeche newspaper.
Source: Woman fined for wearing headscarf on Cannes beach – The Local
sinnerman nina simone – YouTube
Dani Garavelli: Show mercy for suffering of Ebola nurse – The Scotsman
Dani Garavelli: Show mercy for suffering of Ebola nurseCafferkey in January 2015 just before her release from the Royal Free Hospital, where the virus nearly killed her. Photograph: Lisa FergusonDANI GARAVELLI23:22Saturday 20 August 20160HAVE YOUR SAYI remember when I first heard the name, Pauline Cafferkey. It wasn’t when she became the first Scottish aid worker to contract Ebola. It was a week earlier – a few days after Christmas 2014 – when Scotland on Sunday published a diary of the vital work she was doing caring for the victims of the virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone.At the time, West Africa was in the grip of the epidemic. Every night, our TV screens were dominated by images of doctors dressed head-to-toe in contamination suits as reporters rattled off terrifying statistics about the spread of the disease.There were few images of those who had contracted Ebola; they were all in isolation. But the tales – of fever, vomiting and internal bleeding – were like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. “What kind of person would have the courage to go out and help in these circumstances?” we asked ourselves from the comfort of our living rooms.The answer, of course, was someone like Cafferkey: an ordinary woman from South Lanarkshire who was inspired to go into nursing by images of the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s and who – having acquired the requisite skills – was willing to jeopardise her own health to put them to good use.In her diary, she acknowledged the risks she faced. But she focused more on the plight of the victims; her sadness for entire families wiped out by the virus and the air of celebration that greeted each fresh discharge.Since that diary appeared, many terrible things have happened. First, Cafferkey contracted Ebola, hovering for weeks between life and death. Then, 10 months after her supposed recovery, she fell ill with meningitis as a result of the virus persisting in her brain. Four months after that, she was hospitalised again after suffering a second relapse.In interviews, she has talked about some of her long-term symptoms: thyroid problems, joint pains, her hair falling out. And she may never be able to go running again.Alongside her medical problems, however, she has been forced to endure another trauma – one that has been drawn out for far longer than seems fair or necessary: the threat of disciplinary action as the result of complaints passed from Public Health England (PHE) to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).Last week, 20 months since she first became ill, the NMC finally outlined the case against her. It claims Cafferkey deliberately tried to conceal a temperature higher than 38 degrees during a screening in Heathrow Airport. She is also accused of failing to inform medical staff that she had taken paracetamol, which lowers temperatures.If the hearing, to be held in Edinburgh next month, finds against her, she could be struck off. In the meantime, she is being abused on social media by trolls who have accused her of “turbo virtue-signalling” and of exposing other people on the connecting flight she boarded from Heathrow to Glasgow to unnecessary risk.Of course, I have not seen the evidence that will be put in front of the hearing. But you do have to wonder at the wisdom of pursuing a woman who has already suffered so much for what was – even if true (and the allegations may well be false) – a misjudgment made in extremis.I imagine months of dealing with death in the African heat plays havoc with both body and mind (in her diary Cafferkey talks about the way the oral hydration salts made her vomit). And I imagine aid workers – exposed every day to Ebola – frequently overreacted to minor symptoms; that they fretted every time they coughed or sneezed, and were consumed by the possibility the virus was already working its way through their bodies.How easy would it be to convince yourself that a slightly inflated temperature was another over-reaction – a projection of your worst fears, especially when you were so close to home?Admittedly, Cafferkey’s flight from London to Glasgow could have been catastrophic (although Ebola is spread by bodily fluids and there is no suggestion she was vomiting). Those on board had to be contacted and checked, a process which must have been inconvenient and scary for all. But no-one did contract the virus during that flight.Surely there ought to be a balance between the need to enforce the rules and an acknowledgment of the nurse’s contribution to society. After all, not only did Cafferkey save lives, she provided scientists with vital information about the way the disease behaved; by studying her medical history, they learned more about the recurrence of the disease in survivors and how to treat it.At the very least, any investigation that had to be held should have been swiftly resolved not dragged out over a year and a half. She has already spoken of the additional stress the protracted inquiry has caused her. And – let’s be blunt – t
Source: Dani Garavelli: Show mercy for suffering of Ebola nurse – The Scotsman
U.S. Women Go From Gaffe to Gold in 4×100 Relay – The New York Times
Allyson Felix and Tori Bowie powered the defending champions past the Jamaicans, who won silver.
Source: U.S. Women Go From Gaffe to Gold in 4×100 Relay – The New York Times
France’s Burkini Bigotry – The New York Times
After bans on full-face veils, head scarves in schools and rules about students’ skirt lengths, France’s perennial problem with Muslim women’s attire has taken its most farcical turn yet with a new controversy over the “burkini,” body-covering swimwear whose name is an amalgam of burqa and bikini. As of Thursday, five French mayors had banned the burkini, calling it, variously, a threat to public order, hygiene, water safety and morality, tantamount to a new weapon of war against the French republic. Thierry Migoule, an official with the city of Cannes, the first to ban the burkini, declared the swimwear “clothing that conveys an allegiance to the terrorist movements that are waging war against us.”This hysteria threatens to further stigmatize and marginalize France’s Muslims at a time when the country is listing to the Islamophobic right in the wake of a series of horrific terrorist attacks. And with presidential elections scheduled for next spring and the right-wing National Front’s popularity on the rise, French officials and politicians have leapt to support the mayors.
Burkini ban: The garment’s Australian designer says the French are ‘digging a hole’ for themselves – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Ms Zanetti said that was out-dated thinking, because women were the ones making the decision to buy the swimwear.”I think he is digging a hole for himself where women will be purchasing the garment no matter what,” she said.”If they are banning them in their beaches, [women] should be holidaying in Australia.”The Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) last week filed a complaint against the bans.The group’s spokesman Marwan Muhammad said they restricted fundamental liberties and discriminated against Muslim women. “This summer we are witnessing a hysterical political Islamophobia that pits citizens against one another,” he said.














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