Archive for July 2010
Women need not apply
Posted on July 29, 2010
Women need not apply By Madeline Hawke
While the Catholic Church could never be described as a symbol of gender equality, the recent Vatican document, Normae de Gravioribus Delictis is one of the most disparaging of women yet. In this document the Church, whether intentionally or otherwise, aligns the ordination of women as of equal concern to sexual abuse of children by priests. The most shocking element is the penalty imposed for each action. While the toughest penalty for sexual abuse of children is dismissal from the priesthood, for those involved in the ordination of women the penalty is automatic excommunication from the Church.
'Feminism is not finished'
Posted on July 24, 2010
After years of derision, feminism is finding its voice again, from grassroots protests to a flurry of books, websites and even a summer school. But will it lead to real change?
Kira Cochrane, The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010
Supporters of the Million Women Rise march and rally opposing violence against women make their way along Oxford Street, London, in May. If you want to gauge the energy in the current British feminist movement, you have to speak to the young campaigners. Alex Corwin has defined herself as a feminist since she started reading avidly about women's issues a few years ago, aged 19. It made her "SO ANGRY", she had to become an activist. Corwin joined a local grassroots group - Sheffield Fems- and since then she has taken part in campaigns that run the gamut: local, international, political, cultural. She could recently be found in a high-street newsagent, armed with Post-it notes to stick on the half-clad women in men's magazines, inscribed with the words "What if she was your daughter?" Once a month she and the group set up a stall in their local shopping centre, campaigning on issues including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, and how climate change affects women worldwide. Last year the group helped organise a well-attended conference; in 2008, they ran a campaign to stop a branch of US restaurant chain Hooters (where lightly clothed women serve up the burgers) opening in Sheffield. They're also working on a Feminist Survival Guide, to answer questions including "Do you burn your bra?" and "What can I do about lads' mags?" If she could achieve one lasting change, what would it be? "A total overhaul of the way society sees women," she says.