Mind the Gap

I’m liking Maia’s post It’s not anti-feminist to go on a diet; it is anti-feminist to write a diet book.

Zoe Williams article is called You’re Vain and Stupid and the first sentance says: “Women who fixate on their weight should relinquish their right to be taken seriously.” I don’t even know where to start with this - when did women even win the right to be taken seriously? But the real reason Zoe Williams argument is not feminist is because it asks the question ‘why do women fixate about their weight’ and answers it ‘because they’re stupid’. Feminism’s most basic tenet is women’s problems are structural and political, not individual. “Because women are stupid” is rarely a feminist answer to any question.

Embedded link Maia’s.

Choices for middle-class student women.

Hmmm ….

Vanity Poledance or Feminist group?

Vanity Poledance or Feminist group?

Both?

Thank you for the picture R.

No punishment feels like enough for this.

Via the FWord. If you’re in London …

Quick reminder that the emergency meeting to save the Feminist Library happens on Saturday at 11am at the Feminist Library, 5 Westminster Bridge Road. The Library needs new volunteers of all kinds and anyone is welcome to come along and help. It’s an amazing resource which could be easily lost. The collection is different to the Women’s Library as it is one of the few places you can read authors across genres. The Feminist Library also houses the Women’s Health collection which was saved in 2006 from being skipped. Please come along and find out/work out how we can save this amazing collection.

Received from our Bristol operative:

please do come… bristol circomedia 24 and 25th feb and bristol folk house on 2nd march. all proceeds go to women’s aid and to kinergy - a local womens support service campagning for a rape crisis centre. kinergy have just lost £30k so every penney really counts. tickets from bristolticketshop.co.uk (or google bristol ticket shop if doesnt work).

PLEASE COME!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! Viva La Vagina
sal xxxxx

This is a proper amateur production not the shiny one with people from tv.

It has come to our attention that some, no doubt “well meaning,” organisation is running a sticker campaign admonishing women locally with the wisdom …

“Be Drink Aware. Don’t be a Rape Victim.”

Anyone got any ideas for an alternative sticker?

Film Night Tomorrow.

We will be watching The Company of Wolves, Neil’s Jorden’s 1984 horror film based on Angela Carter’s short stories, and enjoying the company of some hairy scary feminists. But if that’s not enough to tempt you, there will also be cake.

Red capes and wicker baskets are optional.

If you get bitten by a feminist do you become one?

I’m getting pretty sick of British media hand wringing about body image. Almost every week there seems to be another article on the BBC website saying something along the lines of “Gosh, people are really quite fucked up about their bodies and appearance aren’t they? How did that happen?”

This week Radio 1’s Newsbeat asked 25,000 people, mostly aged 17 to 34, how they felt about their bodies and found, guess what:

Some 51% of young women would have surgery to improve their looks and a third of those who are a size 12 think they are overweight … Almost half the women surveyed said they had skipped a meal to lose weight, while 8% had made themselves sick.

Stating the bleeding obvious: Eating disorder experts said it was “sad but not surprising” that young people felt and acted in such ways.

Well no, it’s not very surprising is it? Since we live in a capitalist society in which numerous companies have been trying to convince everyone for a very long time that their sense of self-worth and esteem should be heavily tied up in their appearance and weight, and that the road to happiness lies in conforming to impossible ideals and losing weight, I would say the surprising news here is that only 51% of the women said they would have surgery.

Can we please stop pretending that this information constitutes “news” and accept that, under current conditions, a lot of people will be fucked up about their bodies because so many forces are hard at work on the job of freaking us out so we’ll spend lots of money on beauty and diet products and plastic surgery. I say “people” because although this issue disproportionately effects women at the moment, men are increasingly being targeted.

Since this is not news, can we instead start a serious discussion about what we’re going to do about it?

In more hand wringing “news,” some American research has found that sexualization harms young girls.

Sexualisation was defined as occurring when a person’s value comes only from her or his sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is portrayed purely as a sex object.

That harms girls? Really? Thank goodness you did a big research project to find that out for us.

Via Stroppyblog, information about a conference on women’s rights in Iraq.

100th Anniversary International Women’s Day

A conference organised by:
Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq
Act Together: Women’s Action for Iraq
Iraqi Women’s League
Middle East Centre for Women’s Rights
Marem Reshakh: Assyrian Women’s Human Rights
Iraqi Community Association: Women’s Section

We - a network of Iraqi women’s rights organisations based in Iraq and the UK- want to draw attention to the plight of Iraqi women under the occupation and ongoing terror and violence.

Friday 9th March 2007
6-9pm

Venue:
Khalili Lecture Theatre
School of Oriental &
African Studies (SOAS),
Thornhaugh Street
(nearest tube: Russell Square),
London WC1H 0XG

Your support and donations are welcome to sponsor upcoming visit by Iraqi women activist.

For further information please contact:
iraq_8march07(AT)yahoo(DOT)co(DOT)uk

Our new poster is finished.