In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Month: November 2007

What Did I JUST Say?

Ugh. Double Ugh. More depressing news on media censorship and such. (I never knew I had such a knack for finding stories on this)

(sidenote: Do we consider Pakistan as part of the Middle East…or Asia? I mean, I’m part Pakistini, I should probably know this. Plus I studied the Middle East…but I never considered it part of the Middle East.  I considered it part of Asia…am I wrong?)

Veiled and Pissed Off

Mona Eltahawy isn’t the only amazing feminist to come out of her family. I work (and am friends with 🙂 ) Nora Eltahawy, her sister. I wanted to write about Nora for a second, because, when I moved to Cairo I found a feminist kindred spirit in her and it reminded me (because i am ignorant or forgetful or naive, or something) that there are tons of great feminists in the Middle East, and in Egypt specifically.

When I first met Nora it was hard not to notice her veil. But what surprised me was that she is veiled and her sister, Mona, is not. Mona, though, was veiled for nine years. Nora lived, for 17 years, in Saudi Arabia, and I know (from her) that it turned her into a staunch, proud feminist (irony?). She recently wrote a post on Facebook (I know, I know, the world is slowly being taken over by Mark Zuckerberg and his cronies) about the veil, and I feel like I have to post it. Because it’s great. And, for all the talk of “behind the veil,” “approaching the veil,” etc. etc, it’s refreshing to hear Nora talk about her own veiling.

Her note, titled “Veiled and Pissed Off” prompted a flood of comments, most in strong support of her thoughts and feelings, but there was one special Facebooker whose comments I’ll paraphrase with later:

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Women Who Rock (the Egyptian Blogosphere)

I just returned from an evening of campus conversation at the American University. The title of the event: Her Space, Our Space: Girls and Women Pushing the Boundaries of Cyberspace.

Uh. I thought it was most appropriate for me to write about. The panel of speakers included a one fabulous Ms. Mona Eltahawy, three Egyptian female bloggers, and two girls representing Bussy, a great club on campus.

Mona Eltahawy, to begin, is the beautiful and talented journalist-sister of my co-worker Nora. She is Egyptian, has lived in England, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and is currently based out of New York. She writes for Arabic media as well as Reuters and other English media sources. In short, she is a really astounding, well-spoken Egyptian feminist. I basically have a huge girl crush on her and wish I could be her. Or maybe just around her. Yeah. Just follow her around and listen to her talk…that might be bordering on weird, I don’t know. You tell me.

The two Egyptian female bloggers on the panel are already out of university and are working in Cairo. Reihab, writes fiction (in Arabic) for her blog, and Shahinaz writes political commentary and protest on her blog. As soon as I get links to their blogs I’ll try to post them.

Bussy (literally meaning “to look,” in Arabic) is a great club on campus that provides a forum for women (and men) to tell their stories of struggle or censorship or, well, really anything. Bussy fields emails of stories (most of them anonymous) about street harassment or molestation or rape amongst other issues women face in Egypt. From these emails they put together plays (a la The Vagina Monologues) in order to raise awareness about women’s issues on campus and in Egypt in general.

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Can I get a task force on this?

The governor of Missouri has organized a task force to examine “how abortions affect women” — and unsurprisingly, he’s stacked it full of anti-choice activists. There’s not a single pro-choice person on the team.

While Gov. Blunt’s team is looking at abortion, perhaps they should examine pregnancy, too and report on how that impacts women. I mean, should we really be encouraging this?:

Our typical patient becomes aware that he has contracted the disease when he experiences extreme fatigue, accompanied by nausea and vomiting. These symptoms diminish after a few months, as his abdomen begins to distend. Pressure on his bladder requires that he urinate frequently. He feels hot and sweaty, and has headaches and dizziness. As his digestive tract slows, he becomes constipated and suffers heartburn and hemorrhoidal symptoms. His weight increases by twenty per cent, with most of the gain centered in his abdomen, altering his balance and causing strain and discomfort in his lower back. His breasts, ankles, and feet swell, and his legs cramp. His mobility, his sleep, and even his breathing are impaired as his abdomen expands to twice its normal circumference. Stretch marks appear on his thighs, chest and abdomen. The ligaments in his hips and pelvis soften, and he develops sciatica, causing tingling and numbness.

After nine months, he feels the onset of intense, intermittent pain, accompanied by diarrhea and nausea. His pain increases and accelerates over approximately 15 hours as his genital opening, usually the size of a pencil lead, is stretched to a diameter of 10 centimeters. Surgical incisions are used to facilitate the opening of his genitals. His pain may require general anesthesia, but usually can be managed through other methods, such as injections in the fluid surrounding his spinal cord. He is encouraged to reject pain medication entirely so he can remain alert to assist in the treatment of his disease. The incisions and tears in his genitalia are closed with internal and external sutures. His breasts continue to swell, and his nipples become sore. Healing of his genitals takes about six weeks, during which time his pain may be relieved by sitz baths, heat lamps, ice packs, and anesthetic sprays. Finally, he has a heavy bloody discharge from his genitals, lasting several weeks.

Results may vary. Our typical patient is fortunate that he does not develop diabetes (a risk of about 3 per cent); dangerously high blood pressure (a risk of about 7%); clinical depression (a risk of about 15%); or require open abdominal surgery (a risk of about 25%). Even with abdominal surgery, he runs only a minor risk of death (.02%).

The “should we be encouraging this” question is sarcastic, obviously. The point isn’t that pregnancy is terrible and we should all avoid it; rather, it’s to illustrate that reproductive choices are not all walks in the park, and pregnancy in particular is painful, physically trying, and potentially health-threatening. Pregnancy can be great, but it should be entered into voluntarily. And all the hand-wringing over the effects of abortion is a smokescreen for wanting to control women’s bodies and force them to give birth against their will. If we actually want to take a look at how reproductive choices effect women, I’m all for it — but let’s not pretend that abortion is the end-all be-all of reproductive choice, and that pregnancy is a simple, easy process that is always less physically and emotionally scarring than termination.

As Jill Morrison, senior council for the National Women’s Law Center writes:

Although the “findings” of the abortion task force are preordained (abortion=bad), wouldn’t it be more accurate and honest to give the women of Missouri a full picture of the relative risks and benefits of abortion and its alternative? If the task force isn’t willing to do this, claiming that its goal is the betterment of women’s health just doesn’t pass the laugh test.

Don’t Mess With Texas

Texas has long been a haven of GOP-backed abstinence-only sex education, which tells young people to “just say no” until they’re married. It also teaches* them that condoms don’t work, birth control is virtually useless, men prefer helpless women, only sluts have sex, abortion will kill you, and you can get AIDS from tears. In other words, it tries to scare you dry (or limp).

The result? Texas not only has the highest teen birth rate in the country, but the highest repeat teen birth rate.

Abstinence-only sex ed obviously has a substantial impact on increasing the unwanted pregnancy rate, but that’s not the whole story. Texas is also one of the most anti-choice states in the country. It’s much more difficult to get birth control as a teenager in rural Texas than as a teen in, say, Seattle. It’s also bigger than just sex ed and health care — teenagers are more likely to wait to have children if you give them a reason to wait. For girls who have fewer educational and employment opportunities, who see first-hand how hard it is to get ahead or become upwardly mobile, who can only get health care when they’re pregnant, who get positive feedback for pregnancy and child-rearing in a way that they don’t for any other achievements, and who haven’t been given other options to aspire for, having a child (or children) can look pretty good. It’s a rational choice.

This illustrates why we need to advocate for reproductive justice, not just reproductive rights. Rights are important. But unless we have a comprehensive and holistic way of addressing the various factors and imbalances in women’s lives, rights won’t be particularly meaningful. Imagine what this could do for Texas:

The Reproductive Justice Framework envisions the complete physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of women and girls. It stipulates that reproductive justice will be achieved when women and girls have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality, and reproduction for ourselves, our families, and our communities in all areas of our lives.

Comprehensive sex ed in Texas would be a good start in combating unwanted teen pregnancies. But it can’t be the whole story, and pro-choice advocates can’t loose sight of the big picture.

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*I use this term loosely.

Unpresidential

This seems unnecessary.

Kate Michelman is a fabulous woman. She did a great job as president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and she’s an impressive feminist activist. I’m a huge fan of hers. But her attack on Clinton follows the established media pattern of creating a scandal where there was none:

But now that we have the first viable female candidate for president of the United States, things will get better for women, right? Her candidacy will positively affect public perception regarding women in politics and business – and that change will benefit all women – even the women struggling in dead end jobs, scrapping by on minimum wage, raising their families on their own?

Not so fast.

As women take a second look at the candidates, now that attention is focusing more on the issues and how each of the candidates would lead, how they would make decisions; now that making a choice is becoming real, less about celebrity, more about being president, legitimate questions are being raised about Senator Clinton.

And we’re all learning something.

When unchallenged, in a comfortable, controlled situation, Senator Clinton embraces her political elevation into the “boys club.” She is quick to assure listeners she is plenty tough enough, that she’s battled tested, ready to play be the same rules as the boys.

But when she’s challenged, when legitimate questions are asked, questions she should be prepared to answer and discuss, she is just as quick to raise the white flag and look for a change in the rules. She then calls questioning, ‘attacking;’ she calls debate among her peers, ‘piling on.’

It’s a political strategy, no doubt focus grouped and poll tested: make it look unseemly that this group of men would question her and hold her accountable for her record.

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I Leave New York and They Will Come

I’m shamelessly publicizing a really cool film festival that I cannot attend (tears…everywhere…literally) because…I live in Cairo now. But if I were in New York (man, oh man, if were in New York), and if you’re reading this and YOU are in New York you should go check out the Other Israel Film Festival playing from November 8-15.

The festival celebrates Arab-Israelis and their life in Israel.

Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Arab. Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Bedouin, from different ethnic, religious, cultural and social backgrounds are defined collectively as Arab Citizens of Israel.

Through a week-long festival of award winning films, guest filmmakers, panel discussions, special gala event & receptions, photography exhibits, musical performances and much more, Other Israel will illuminate the lives of the Arab Citizens of Israel who are rarely seen outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I’ve seen quite a few of the films they are playing, but the ones I haven’t seen look rad. What is profoundly moving about this is the fact that Israeli and Palestinian and Arab film makers and companies have come together to fund and support this event. Another little ray of hope, I think. And another note on the importance of media (I promise I’ll try to write about something else…)

And while I’m at it, I might as well promote a really cool event. I actually am a little misty eyed because I’ll be missing out on this:

Jackie Saloum graduated from NYU a few years ago and has since been working on a really, really badass documentary on the Arab resistance-hip-hop scene in Gaza and the West Bank (among other places). Here is the trailer, for your viewing pleasure. Also, DAM (Da Arab MCs) is finally able to come to New York and they are playing in Brooklyn on November 13. If you’re in New York and interested in going, let me know. I’ve got details and I hope other people flock to this, as I, unfortunately, cannot flock. Depressing, I know.

War: Bringing Us Together Since…

From every newspaper and newscast I read/watch these days, it seems like Iranians, as, an entire nation of people, are cast as anti-Semitic bigots. And while I am almost positive there are Iranian people who fit this bill, I cannot imagine that all Iranians believe what our favorite Ahmadinejad touts as the Iranian ethos: hate Jews, homosexuals, the West, etc. etc.

So, to read this article in the WSJ is not only promising and exciting, but also enlightening. A new TV show called “Zero Degree Turn” is apparently a huge hit with Iranians all over the country. (I’m trying to post a clip of an episode from YouTube above, but until I technology and I stop having a marital spat, you can check out full length episodes at YouTube)

The hour-long drama, “Zero Degree Turn,” centers on a love story between an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man and a French Jewish woman. Over the course of the 22 episodes, the hero saves his love from Nazi detention camps, and Iranian diplomats in France forge passports for the woman and her family to sneak on to airplanes carrying Iranian Jews to their homeland.

Now, I think this is pretty grand. The story casts an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man and a French Jewish woman. That’s pretty ballsy of the director if Iran really is as anti-Semitic as I think we’re all led to believe.

The really surprising part, I think, is the fact that the show is state-funded. State-funded? Wow.

…the government’s spending on the show underscores the subtle and often sophisticated way in which the Iranian state uses its TV empire to send out political messages. The aim of the show, according to many inside and outside the country, is to draw a clear distinction between the government’s views about Judaism — which is accepted across Iranian society — and its stance on Israel — which the leadership denounces every chance it gets.

As someone who has spent a majority of her high school and college career reading, learning, and arguing about Israel and Palestine and trying to formulate my own thoughts on the entire situation, I found the above quote especially interesting. I know a lot of people, friends of mine, who would believe that being anti-Israel automatically means anti-Semitic. I wholeheartedly believe that it does not. But I suppose I understand many Jews who would believe that. I think it’s possible to oppose the fundamentals of a state or its policies without having to oppose the people of that state. It’s kind of like…oh, the way I oppose most, if not all, the ridiculousness that Dubya likes to write home about, but um…I don’t hate Americans. And opposing US policy on anything does not should not imply that I’m anti-American.

Iran is home to some 25,000 Jews, the largest population in the Middle East outside of Israel. Iran’s Jews — along with Christians and Zorastrians — are guaranteed equal rights in the country’s constitution. Iran’s Jews are guaranteed one member of parliament and are free to study Hebrew in school, pray in synagogues and shop at kosher supermarkets. Despite Mr. Ahmadinejad’s statements, it isn’t government policy to question the Holocaust, and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hasn’t endorsed those views…
He [Hassan Fatthi, the show’s writer and director] says he came up with the idea for “Zero Degree Turn” four years ago as he was reading books about World War II and stumbled across literature about charge d’affaires at the Iranian embassy in Paris. Abdol Hussein Sardari saved over a thousand European Jews by forging Iranian passports and claiming they belonged to an Iranian tribe.

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Blogging from Cairo

A couple of weeks ago Jill asked me to guest blog for a bit. I’m guessing she was tired of me forwarding news articles that infuriated me to her and asking her to blog about them. So, here I am, blogging, live from Cairo, Egypt. A little background about me before I start my [hopefully] logical ramblings and rants: I’ve never blogged before, so my first time blogging on a fabulous feminist website is, oh, I don’t know, slightly intimidating. Bear with me as I get comfortable.

I’m, well, a confused feminist, but a feminist. Most of my “feminist education” comes from recreational reading (I just finished the bell hooks trilogy on love) and feminist blogs like this one. I’m still trying to work out the kinks of my own contradiction of a life, but I guess we’re all trying to do that at some level, no?

I just graduated from NYU in May, with a double major in Politics and Middle Eastern & Islamic studies. After a serious inner struggle with whether or not I wanted to commit to *dum, dum dum* law school, I decided a year off to figure myself was the best remedy. I’ve since decided that a Master’s [in Public Policy or International Affairs] is probably the best path for me, although I’m always, always in need of advice. I’m currently working in Cairo, at the American University in their Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement. The idea of the Center is basically to promote Arab philanthropy that is based on strategic efforts toward social change. Without pouring out my fabulous feelings about this job, I’ll tell you all this much: I absolutely adore it. I’m lucky enough to be doing some pretty interesting and fulfilling work helping to construct a welfare program (based on the idea of conditional cash transfers), working on a developing a larger literacy program for greater Cairo, working with Egyptian NGOs, and helping to engage Egyptian college students in learning about civic engagement and social responsibility. In short, I’m lucky enough to be working and living in Cairo after having just graduated from college. And, I’m pretty damn lucky that my job is sending me to Dubai in January to attend a conference on Middle East philanthropy. I just found that out, and all I can say is…rad. Feel free to check out photos of my life in Cairo and my former life in New York here.

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