Category Archives: Feminism

Military Concedes Election to Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar – The New York Times

By Wednesday evening, the commission had announced official results for 298 of the 491 seats contested in Sunday’s election. Of those, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won 256 and the ruling party won 21.There are 664 seats in the two houses of Parliament; the military appoints 166 of them.The commission also announced that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi had been re-elected to her seat, which was expected given the almost divine reverence that she commands across the country.

Source: Military Concedes Election to Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar – The New York Times

(5/6) “We’d been at the shelter for just a few days when he…

(5/6) “We’d been at the shelter for just a few days when he showed up. He tracked me using the GPS on my phone. The shelter has two sets of sliding doors for security. You walk through the first door, it closes behind you, and the second door opens. He jumped inside just as the first door was closing. The kids started screaming. He pushed me to the ground. While the security was dragging him away, he was screaming that I’d stolen his children. And that everything was my fault. And it made me feel guilty. He always knew how to make me feel guilty.”

Source: (5/6) “We’d been at the shelter for just a few days when he…

Humans of New York

“One day the counselor at my daughter’s elementary school called me. She said that my daughter had spoken up in class about the abuse. She asked me to come in for a meeting. I downplayed it because I was scared. I told her: ‘Thanks for your concern. But it was nothing, really. And it’s already stopped.’ The counselor gave me a pamphlet for a place called HeartShare. HeartShare was just two blocks from my house, so I stopped in one day. I told the counselor what was happening. She discussed the option of domestic violence shelters. But I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to break up my family. Then one day he beat me so badly in the stairwell. He punched me so hard that he got blood on my children. I told the counselor what happened and she said to gather all my papers. She told me she’d be in a black car on the corner. I told my husband I was going to the grocery store. I was so nervous because he timed me every time I left the house. I still had to pick up the kids from school. And if I was gone for more than a few minutes, he’d come looking for me.”

Source: Humans of New York

Afghan Mullah Leading Stoning Inquiry Condones Practice – The New York Times – FAIL! 

One of the leaders of that presidential delegation, however, is a prominent, pro-government mullah who believes the stoning and flogging of adulterers is perfectly justified — as he made clear both in a sermon on the Ghor killing at Friday Prayer and in a subsequent interview on Friday.“If you’re married and you commit adultery, you have to be stoned,” said the mullah, Maulavi Inayatullah Baleegh, during his sermon at Pul-e Khishti mosque, Kabul’s biggest, on Friday. “The only question was whether this was done according to Shariah law, with witnesses or confessions as required,” he said. “It is necessary to protect and safeguard the honor of women in society, as it was done in the past during the time of the prophet.”

Source: Afghan Mullah Leading Stoning Inquiry Condones Practice – The New York Times

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Stoning Rukhshana

What is justice?

Why is a 19-year-old girl stoned to death?

Why do police take no action?

Rukhshana is gone and our

Hearts cry for her

Rukhshana, I hope one day women

Change this country

Government is absent when it comes to women

Advocacy does not change it

Protesting does not end it

It happens over and over

It is time now to protect women from wrong traditions

Rukhshana was stoned because a

Girl in Afghanistan does not have a

Right to love, does not have the

Right to choose her life partner

Shall I write more?

Who will read and who will listen?

I am tired.

On Facebook I see only bad news about women in Afghanistan but

Good news about women from Afghanistan in other countries

We are the victims living here.

By Seeta

Source: Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Stoning Rukhshana

Aung San Suu Kyi – A conqueror of hearts | Asia | DW.COM | 06.11.2015

Tens of thousands flock to see her. For weeks Aung San Suu Kyi has been traveling across Myanmar to rally her supporters ahead of a landmark election on November 8. She is also seeking to win new voters for her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), by assuring them that she will run the country after the poll, despite the fact that a clause in the country’s army-scripted constitution bars her from the presidency.During a recent press conference, the NLD leader reiterated her leadership claim: “If we win, and the NLD forms a government, I will be above the president. It’s a very simple message.” When asked if this arrangement violated the constitution, Suu Kyi replied: “No. The constitution says nothing about somebody being above the president.”

Source: Aung San Suu Kyi – A conqueror of hearts | Asia | DW.COM | 06.11.2015

Aung San Suu Kyi Seems to Have Myanmar’s Countryside in Her Corner – The New York Times

In an impoverished country without a tradition of opinion polls, there is no way to reliably predict the outcome of Sunday’s election. Five years after the end of the brutal military dictatorship here, the military remains powerful, not only controlling the current government but also retaining the power to appoint a quarter of the seats in Parliament and the heads of several key ministries.But if this village is any guide, the country’s heart remains with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose rallies across Myanmar have been drawing frenzied crowds. Such outpourings suggest that her backing goes well beyond the Internet-connected city dwellers who have plastered their support for her on their Facebook pages and the celebrities who have very publicly broadcast their affection.

Source: Aung San Suu Kyi Seems to Have Myanmar’s Countryside in Her Corner – The New York Times

Shaved and savage: has comedian Margaret Cho finally gone too far? | Stage | The Guardian

These days, much of her criticism is directed at Republican presidential candidates. Cho recently made headlines for lambasting Saturday Night Live’s decision to have Donald Trump host the comedy show’s next outing on 7 November. In its 41-year history, she pointed out, SNL has never had an Asian American as guest host, which made Trump’s invitation a slap in the face. “He’s so racist,” she says. “He’s so sexist. He says he wants to date his daughter. It’s so gross. Who does he think he is – Woody Allen?”

Source: Shaved and savage: has comedian Margaret Cho finally gone too far? | Stage | The Guardian

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | I Want to Breathe

I want to be myself with my own body,

my own soul,

my own name,

with my own opinion,

an independent Afghan Muslim girl,

without others’ propaganda and lust.

I want to become one with the river

and sing the travel songs

to go where women are not second class,

where women can move ahead.

I want to really know the meadows  and give tulips to all women of my generation

because we all know how much

we have sacrificed.

Because of our bad customs

we sacrifice so much for crimes we do not commit.

We are punished.

We cannot even wear light colors.

We just wear black.

We hide ourselves from the derogatory looks of the profligate.

We had to leave our laughter with the past generations.

Laughter is a crime.

We have no peace even in our own homes.

We grieve for our lost happiness.

With all of these sacrifices, what more do you want from us?

We wanted to be with our own feelings and thoughts.

Participate in our community activities.

This is our legal right and

the right that Allah has given to us.

Our skirts are clean.

We are innocent of these community accusations.

Our hearts are so clear you can see our wishes and dreams.

What is our crime?

That we raised our voices?

They have accused us.

We are not guilty.

We are shamed and abused

because we stood our ground.

They injured our souls and feelings.

We just stood silent and crying.

We let our happiness go and we can no longer see it.

May the next generation of girls be independent.

May they be able to live their lives with feelings and ideas.

May they be able to live colorful lives with their own souls,

and may they tell the stories of our generation,

the story of the brave women of Afghanistan.

The story of our bravery.

The story of our sacrifice and honesty.

And may we be remembered.

By Friba

Source: Afghan Women’s Writing Project | I Want to Breathe