Category Archives: Feminism

QUICK HIT: MEET MISS JAMAICA, THE FIRST EVER MISS WORLD PAGEANT CONTESTANT WITH LOCS

Black hair politics can get messy. Not even little Black girls are granted immunity from the scrutiny of classist expectations about the way their hair should look. At school our hair can get us in trouble. And as an adult, our hair can get us fired from our jobs. Even the United States army has a say so in which Black styles are appropriate. Within a system that has standardized whiteness by way of devaluing and erasing Black aesthetics, locs (a shortened and less derogatory form of the word ‘dreadlocks’) are on the “no” list of hairstyles, for the army and beyond. Locs are often branded as unprofessional, dirty, criminal, and unattractive, especially for women.The feminine beauty standards that dominate the pageant world also reflect a bias towards whiteness, especially in regards to hair. So it’s a big deal to know that Dr. Sanneta Myrie, Miss Jamaica, is the first ever competitor to don locs for this 64 year old competition. She says “I lock my hair because I identify with it. I am very much rooted in that Afro-centric nature, where we as Jamaicans are rooted. It’s my expression.” Read more about Miss Jamaica World and her platforms below!

Source: QUICK HIT: MEET MISS JAMAICA, THE FIRST EVER MISS WORLD PAGEANT CONTESTANT WITH LOCS

Being an American Has Never Meant Giving Up Who You Are | whitehouse.gov

America is not one creed or color, one dish or accent; it is a collection of people, three hundred million strong, each with their own tales of migration and adaptation. Being an American has never meant giving up who you are to become something else. It means using the sum of your parts to establish communities, build your livelihood, reimagine your identity, and grow your dreams. It means that even though there are imperfections in the immigration experience, they are always eclipsed by the overwhelming sense of possibility that makes our nation great.It also means that an automotive engineer and his wife can proudly pledge their allegiance to this country, and that their daughter, who once looked up at planes in the sky in Karachi, can now look out onto the White House lawn and thank her parents for their pursuit of the American Dream.Asra NajamPresidential Writer

Source: Being an American Has Never Meant Giving Up Who You Are | whitehouse.gov

Documenting Rape in India – The New York Times

In recent years, disturbing and widely publicized accounts of several gang rapes have begun to make the subject of sexual assault somewhat more visible in Indian society. But in her research, Ms. Sharma found that most of her subjects had either been accused of bringing dishonor upon their families or blamed by the police and neighbors for provoking their rapes.“The problem is not how women dress but how women are objectified by a patriarchal and feudalistic mind-set,” she said. “First the father owns them and then a husband owns them. They’re not treated as equals but second-class citizens.”

Source: Documenting Rape in India – The New York Times

For All The Women Who Came Before Me. | Rebelle Society

For the women who came before me, I honor you. Each one of you. Your courage has crept into my bones, and when I feel like I might buckle into surrender, I sense you at my side. Your arms break my fall. Your love is my armor. Your wild fire is my resolve.For the women who will come after me, please respect your history but do not be bound by it. Please take the torch but use it to light your own chosen path. Please give yourself permission to be liberated rather than feel obligated. Please know the beautiful brave hearts that you truly are, and make your mark with fierce femininity and love.

Source: For All The Women Who Came Before Me. | Rebelle Society

People don’t have to like Hillary Clinton to vote for her. Who likes Donald Trump? | Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C Barnett | Opinion | The Guardian

To succeed today in American government or Americans businesses, women have to confront and challenge entrenched stereotypes that can easily derail their best efforts at advancement. It isn’t fair, but it’s necessary because, until the B-word is vanquished, Clinton might be able to put another 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, but still have to convince voters they would want to have a beer with her.

Source: People don’t have to like Hillary Clinton to vote for her. Who likes Donald Trump? | Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C Barnett | Opinion | The Guardian

What’s not to like? I find folks who say she is not likable or friendly are using that as cover for some other attitude that is either based on not really knowing much about her or to hide a bias – just saying.

Edwidge Danticat: Too Many of our People are Living in the Shadows | Repeating Islands

“Immigration reform. Do it.” That’s the simple message for the next president from celebrated novelist and memoirist Edwidge Danticat, who says too many families are being separated and too many people forced into the shadows.

Source: Edwidge Danticat: Too Many of our People are Living in the Shadows | Repeating Islands

Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”

Despite this hostile atmosphere, this courageously 14-year-old girl, took the microphone, to explain what it is like to be a Native student in a school with a racist mascot. She bravely told them about harassment, despite her voice shaking. When speaking about the killing of Native men, women, and children, and the selling of their scalps (known as r*dskins), she became emotional and had to stop for a moment to compose herself. Because of this pause, her time ran out, but she tried to conclude her thought, just as the many of adults who spoke prior to her had.However, adults in the crowd began shouting at her, just as they had us, prior. She courageously told them “I’m almost finished”, to which someone in the crowd shouted “Get off the stage, squ*w!” Understandably upset at being called the worst vulgarity that can be directed towards a Native women, she expressed her disgust at the barbaric behavior and returned to her seat, as the crowd yelled “Go, R*dskins!” at her.So, yes, she did become emotional and stormed off, for which she personally apologized to each board member. However, as a Native women, I think that her response showed a great deal of restraint and grace, considering the verbal assault that she had just been subjected to. That the board would tolerate such verbal violence in their presence, and still characterize keeping the very mascot that embodies and encourages such racism as an “ethical” choice, gives me grave concerns for the safety and welfare of Native children in their district.You see, the emotional pleas from mascot supporters who tearfully said “it’s more than a mascot” are absolutely correct. It is more than a mascot. It is evidence of a much deeper problem that continues to divide our communities, and plague our future generations. When towns like McLoud, and many others, are presented evidence of the harms, yet take the stand that “this is who we are”, embracing the racism and accepting the resulting victimization of members of their community, the impact is not limited to only their closed minded communities. We all have to interact in this world with the generations who are reared in that environment. Racism and division hurt us all.

Source: Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”

Spain arrests man known as ‘The Nurse’ for forced abortions on Colombia rebels | World news | The Guardian

Montealegre said there was evidence that Farc fighters used forced abortions to avoid losing female fighters “as an instrument of war”. In the past the Farc has denied forcing women and girls to undergo abortions and said contraception is provided to female fighters in their ranks.Spanish police said that according to Colombian authorities, victims of “The Nurse” had been raped by Farc fighters and included at least 50 underage girls. Some were forced to abort in the late stages of pregnancy.Most of the abortions were carried out between 1998 and 2000, the police added.

Source: Spain arrests man known as ‘The Nurse’ for forced abortions on Colombia rebels | World news | The Guardian

To folks who finally care about Trump

I think it’s absolutely bomb (unapologetically using my favorite circa 2003 adjective despite being Muslim) that so many feminists I’ve never or rarely seen say something about Islamophobia are now saying something about Islamophobia. I just think it’s also absolutely terrifying that it took Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. for so many people to reach this breaking point. If Trump is what made you realize that “enough is enough,” I say better late than never. I just hope you know that we reached enough long ago. I hope you’ll make sure to point out that what we’ve had enough of can’t just be Trump and his well-supported idea of banning Muslims from the country.It has to include a White House which thinks “Trump should be disqualified,” but said little about mass shootings on Sunday and lots about scary brown terrorism and people (i.e. my relatives who the White House will continue to bomb overseas).It has to include a Dick Cheney who thinks “Trump goes against what we believe in” but that water-boarding and sexual violence as torture, the murder of millions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Gitmo do not.It has to include a J.K Rowling who thinks “Trump is worse than Voldemort” but Israel’s occupation and theft of Palestinian life and land? Less so.It has to include a Hillary Clinton who thinks “Trump is prejudiced and hateful” but the surveillance, detention, and deportation of Muslim Americans after the Patriot Act she still defends is super race-neutral and loving.It has to include a media empire which thinks we shouldn’t be banned from the country per say, we should just be routinely dehumanized and exclusively called terrorist.It has to include the feminists that think Trump’s comments are despicable, but celebrated women being able to enter combat positions last week (to kill Muslims as effectively as men can).If Trump is what made you realize that we’ve crossed a line, I say better late than never. I just hope you know that we crossed that line long ago.

Source: To folks who finally care about Trump

On Artificial Turf Issue, U.S. Women Dig In at Last – The New York Times

“We have become so accustomed to playing on whatever surface is put in front of us,” the team wrote in an open letter posted Monday on The Players’ Tribune. “But we need to realize that our protection — our safety — is priority No. 1.”Good for them. With their stock and their visibility as high as it has ever been, the players realized that there has never been a better time to find their voices.So goalkeeper Hope Solo shared a photo with her one million Twitter followers and forward Alex Morgan, who battled a leg injury for much of the past year, grumbled publicly about the “horrible” conditions. Morgan even told Fox Sports that she now encourages her teammates to speak their minds and ask “whether we should be playing on it if the men wouldn’t be playing on it.”And there’s the rub. The men’s national team does not play on artificial turf. Even when it schedules a game in a stadium that has it, sod is laid down for the game, no matter the cost. The women, however, were to play eight of the 10 games of their current World Cup victory tour on artificial turf.

Source: On Artificial Turf Issue, U.S. Women Dig In at Last – The New York Times