i carried a watermelon

No posts of late as I have been super busy getting organised for our planned Reclaim the Night meeting, we have a provisional date (11th October), a myspace account and a blog which is here:
www.reclaimthenightedinburgh.wordpress.com

so any thoughts, disucssion, articles etc are very much welcome, and I myself will be there rather than over here- yay!!

Is all very exciting and we have a really strong group after weeks of to-ing and fro-ing over the "man issue" and the whole group changed, but we are now getting going so if anyone wants to give any advise or find out more, go to the above blog at wordpress

The Verdict Starts on sunday... For those not near a TV this is a celebrity rape trial. A fictionalised rape case will be put towards 12 celebrities. One of whom is Stan Collymore, hardly renowned for his actions towards women...
We will wait and see..

Here is a story about the rise of domestic violence in Iraq. There have also been many reports about the rise in prostitution and sex trafficking during the invasion. It may seem pretty obvious, but why isn't the link between the military and gender violence explored more? Why is the formation of hegemonic masculinity within the military so important?

Perhaps the pantomine masculinity created within the armed forces is the only way to turn (mostly) young men into trained killers. Women are the traditional nuturers and carers and men the protectors, so when attempting to normalise what is essentially murder it is neccessary to create a hyper-masculinity that creates soldiers. But how does it spread to the domestic population? and why is it not addressed in military training?

If you are a) a prostitute or b) a woman, do not go out alone, do not wear revealing clothes, do not drink, do not talk back and do not have sexual relationships.

This is apparently the only way for women to protect themselves from rape, murder or domestic violence. There's a great piece in the guardian today about curfew's placed on women during gender based violence sprees. The language of curfews places the blame on the women's shoulders, it is her fault she was murdered, it was her fault she was raped. How about-for once-the advice was- "Men, don't go out".

It is not our fault we may be attacked, it is not our fault we may be raped and beaten in our own homes, it is the perpetrators choice and therefore always their fault. For people who say that there is no need for feminism, ask yourself-why then, are men's lives and behaviours not restricted? For as much as all women should fear attack, all men should fear doing it.

16 days starts now...
The 16 days of activism is a UN led campaign to raise awareness of violence against women across the globe.

WHITE RIBBON CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND

The White Ribbon Campaign, an international initiative to involve men in taking more responsibility for reducing the level of violence against women, has been launched in Scotland by Amnesty International and the Men's Health Forum Scotland .

Wearing a white ribbon signifies a commitment to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women. Their new website can be seen at www.whiteribbonscotland.org.uk.

Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm said earlier this month: “Wearing a white ribbon is a symbol of men's opposition to men's violence against women. It signifies a commitment never to commit, condone or remain silent about such violence. I for one will be proud to wear one during the 16 days.”

As part of the 16 Days of Action to eliminate violence against women, White Ribbon activists at Caledonian University in Glasgow are holding a stall in the Saltire Centre (library and social space at the heart of the campus) at GCU on Friday 24th November, the day before the 16 days of action officially starts. The stall will remain in place until Thursday 30th November.

If you would like more information about this event, or the White Ribbon Campaign, please email iainjwallace@hotmail.com or ltenne10@caledonian.ac.uk.

This campaign highlights how important it is for men to be involved with this. Women have been campaigning for 30 years and now it's mens turn. Join the white ribbon campaign and stand up for a world free of gender violence!

just written my little subtext update below and noticed that my ads by google at the top of the page were- Lap dancing in Birmingham and pole dancing in Bristol... and society isn't pornified at all then. grr..

kick arse feminist mag issue two out now. yay!!
check out the article by yours truly....

NUS attacks lads mags.

However, at my university, the football team is now being sponsored by a lap dancing club. One step forward and all...
In regards to the lap dancing issue- my opposition to this sponsorship is based on two arguments:
1)As a union I think this goes completely against what unionism is about-university societies should be financed by the university and private partnerships shouldn't really come into it. Having local businesses (however ethically contentious) sponsor suppossed public bodies just doesn't seem to fit with what unions are about
2) football + lap dancing= where are the women? Is the football team neccessarily male? Are all these men heterosexual? Do they all support sex work? Again, it's the old masculine mores that are defining and trapping many many men and exploiting and exluding many more women. Union societies are suppossed to fulfill the Equal Opportunities Act- ie no women only societies- but apparently the exploitation of women is ok within this charter.

I'm totally in favour of lads mags on the top shelf and whilst the Leicester University Editor says

Having to buy them from behind the counter is a bit dirty old man-ish."

I say-good!! We need to have a full debate about the influence of these pornofied mags and the pro-anorexia celeb rags and not turn it into a debate about freedom and choice. Yes, it may be your choice to read Nuts (where real women are ignored but fantasy women are stripped and contorted) but it is not mine, nor many others. And yes, I can turn away or go to a different shop but I cannot un-porn culture. I cannot stop having conversations about g-strings, bikini waxes, plastic surgery, pole dancing for children, strip bars sponsoring football clubs, hearing that women can't be involved in football and most importantly, hearing that if I got raped in a skirt and with a drink it would be my fault anyway.
The NUS, I salute you!

Many football clubs are now working to become champions of gay players in a move to distance English football from the homophobic, racist, misogynist culture it is associated with. Yet one has to go and spoil it all by proudly announcing that

"It is bad enough with the incapable referees and linesmen we have, but if you start bringing in women, you have big problems.

"This is Championship football. This is not park football, so what are women doing here? It is tokenism, for the politically-correct idiots."

Full story here
Lovely.. Much has been said about sports culture but mainly in America.With jocks and college football huge over the pond there has been much feminist analysis of how sports masculinity is formed. The recent "alleged" rape of a black stripper in a fraternity house certainly exposed the very much pervasive exploitation of women, colour and class within frat and sports houses. However, there is little studied knowledge of hegemonic masculine behaviour in sports in the UK. Sports, especially football, do seem to foster an exclusive culture that is not only heterosexual but also white and male. Tenous link perhaps-but isn't it interesting that women are "free" to be pole-dancers and strip for nuts but when they enter the very male domain of English football it becomes all apparent as to who is actually "allowing" who to behave.

So many women seem to think there should be an equivalent term for the male 'stud' to describe the same actions of females. Yes, women are villified for sexually promiscuous behaviour. But to be honest I dont think the male 'stud' is an applauded and prevalent stereotype anymore. I genuinely think there has been a more towards equality when it comes to sexual politics. People are more health conscious for a start. Equality for me doesnt mean becoming more like men. I dont want a label that describes female sexual promiscuity in an open-minded way without judgement. I want men and women to have more respect for themselves!