Category Archives: Feminism

Serena Williams rallies to see off Victoria Azarenka at French Open

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• Williams grinds down Azarenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Books fourth-round match against Sloane Stephens

There were 17 American women in the French Open draw at the start of the week. At the end of play on Monday – if rain does not sluice through the entertainment – there will be one and her name is likely to be Serena Williams, despite trailing by a set and being 3-1 down in the second.

Related: Serena Williams v Victoria Azarenka: French Open 2015 – as it happened | Les Roopanarine

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via Serena Williams rallies to see off Victoria Azarenka at French Open.

Why ex-Communist Manuela Carmena is set to be Madrid’s next mayor

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The retired judge could be about to lead a leftwing coalition into power, with a plan to transform the politics of Spain’s capital

The candidate enters the stadium, fist pumping the air and shaking as many hands possible en route to the podium, as thousands of supporters cheer wildly. For most politicians, scenes like that are an invaluable part of the campaign, a chance to flaunt their supporters in the face of the opposition: but not so for the woman poised to become Madrid’s mayor.

“Rallies are one person going blah, blah, blah and then leaving,” Manuela Carmena tells the Observer. “I refuse to do them.” To her, rallies simply reinforce the chasm between people and their politicians. “We said no to rallies. Instead we held meetings in neighbourhoods and said, ‘We’re your candidates, tell us if what we’re doing is good or bad, ask us questions.’ We gave the word to people – we didn’t want to speak.”

We were unknown candidates, we didn’t have any money for the campaign. I like to say we ran on the currency of hope

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via Why ex-Communist Manuela Carmena is set to be Madrid’s next mayor.

Behind the Niqab: The (Male) Photographer’s Perspective of Life Through the Veil – Part 1 — BagNews

It’s true that in many countries women wear niqabs without threats of legal punishment or death; however, to assert, as does Ammar, that “for most, the niqab is a choice,” glosses over the ways in which women are compelled by religious tradition, family expectation, or societal convention to adopt a religious practice that is so confining and restrictive, it would never have survived as a requisite sign of religious piety had men been required to participate. The Quran instructs both women and men to “lower their gaze and guard their modesty.” If the goal is reducing the likelihood that men will lust after women, doesn’t it make as much sense for them to use a veil to curtail their own gaze as it does to enshroud women in perpetual darkness?

via Behind the Niqab: The (Male) Photographer’s Perspective of Life Through the Veil – Part 1 — BagNews.

I’m tired of hijab. — Firsthand Stories — Medium

Being a hijabi is tough. It really is. There are days I wish for nothing more than to take it off. Days when I just want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. I don’t want to be different.

It’s just covered hair to you. That is all. No more, no less.

The fascination with it is crazy.

Behind the veil.

Beneath the veil.

Unveiling the Muslim woman.

*ooooooooh insert Aladdin music here.*

Let it be. You don’t have to understand why I wear it.

via I’m tired of hijab. — Firsthand Stories — Medium.

Muslim Frenchwomen Struggle With Discrimination as Bans on Veils Expand – NYTimes.com

So far, France has passed two laws, one in 2004 banning veils in public elementary and secondary schools, and another, enacted in 2011, banning full face veils, which are worn by only a tiny portion of the population.

But observant Muslim women in France, whose head coverings can vary from head scarves tied loosely under the chin to tightly fitted caps and wimple-like scarves that hide every strand of hair, say the constant talk of new laws has made them targets of abuse, from being spat at to having their veils pulled or being pushed when they walk on the streets.

In some towns, mothers wearing head scarves have been prevented from picking up their children from school or from chaperoning class outings. One major discount store has been accused of routinely searching veiled customers.

Some women have even been violently attacked. In Toulouse recently, a pregnant mother wearing a head scarf had to be hospitalized after being beaten on the street by a young man who called her a “dirty Muslim.”

Statistics collected by the National Observatory Against Islamophobia, a watchdog group, show that in the last two years 80 percent of the anti-Muslim acts involving violence and assault were directed at women, most of them veiled.

via Muslim Frenchwomen Struggle With Discrimination as Bans on Veils Expand – NYTimes.com.

Australia looks to scrap tampon tax after student protest

The Australian government on Tuesday bowed to pressure and took the first step to end a controversial sales tax on women’s sanitary products, a day after a student carrying a giant tampon confronted the treasurer on television with a petition demanding change.

via Australia looks to scrap tampon tax after student protest.