Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Playing fields have long been segregated on the basis of sex. But what happens those whose physiology doesn't match their gender identity? Against whom do they compete? What obstacles do they face? And how are they being treated?
Former lap dancer speaks out against the industry she left. "Lap dancing is just an effect of a society that does not truly value women and, as hard as it may be to accept, a society in which women do not value themselves"
Further comment on Eltahawy's angry and provocative broadside against Arab men. Her reasonable outrage was a good start, but any further treatment should pay more attention to the nuance and complexity the subject deserves
Comment on Mona Eltahawy's polemic (linked to below) on the treatment of women in the Arab world. Yes, the problems are real but they need putting in a wider context where wholesale reform is needed. It's not just about gender
A call to arms. "Arab societies hate women. Name me an Arab country, and I'll recite a litany of abuses fueled by a toxic mix of culture and religion that few seem willing or able to disentangle lest they blaspheme or offend"
"As women continue to gain power and influence, they will be tested as heroes, and many, no doubt, will fail and turn to corruption, just as their male predecessors have done. But for now, the female superhero may be our last hope"
5,000 women murdered since 2000. Only 2% of cases get to court. Abuse of women probably worst in Central America, which is saying something. A 36-year civil war ended in 1996, culture of violence still part of everyday life.
Rich argues that Rick Santorum speaks more boldly than many, but is not an outlier in the Republican party. "This rush of anti-woman activity on the right isn’t coming exclusively from the Santorum crowd. It extends across the GOP"
"Discomfort around women and sex permeates our culture, and the act itself has become a darkly comic battleground." Reflecting on Limbaugh's attack on Sandra Fluke prompts wider discussion of society's attitude to female sexuality
Stories of the women who helped overthrow Gaddafi, and the challenges they face in a free Libya. “I was really thinking it was the end. I had given away so much information to the fighters I thought that they would rape and kill me"
It was not until 2007 that owning another person became a criminal offence in Mauritania. Even now an estimated 20% of the population are in "real slavery". Here is an astonishing, at times upsetting, report from the African state
Invented in 1990s by political strategists to refer to middle class, suburban swing voters. Demeans women. And "from a soccer perspective, there’s not much that sums up the sport’s image problem better than the phrase 'soccer mom'"
AP
"Give us a world where half our institutions are run by women"
