Morning Headlines

-> abc.net (Australia): Parties 'not taking domestic violence seriously'

-> poughkeepsiejournal.com: Domestic-violence bills met varied fate with (New York) governor's pen.

-> nj.com: Verizon offering $150K to help domestic violence victims.

-> kidk.com: Specialized courts help to decrease violence.

Have you checked out WRC UK's blog recently? You should. They've posted some great items recently.

Morning Headlines

-> change.org: Global Fund for Women Grants $1.89 Million for Gender Justice.

-> poughkeepsiejournal.com: Change needed in domestic violence laws (editorial).

-> newsblaze.com: Does Eminem's New Video Promote Or Glamorize Domestic Violence? (For another look read the post from broadsheet).

-> whas11.com: Programs that help Ky. domestic violence victims receives federal funding.

-> martlet.ca:Big media continues to deny difference (of women in the public discourse).

-> vancouverite.com: Canadian Imams issue Fatwa against violence, seek gender equality

"Infanticide is the ultimate forfeiture of our humanity,"

Michael Rowe posted an amazing article in the Huffington Post, sparked by the tragic story of Roy Jones. But Rowe doesn't stop at merely pointing out one extremely sad detail about the case, that the 17-month-old child was beaten to death for being too feminine.

He goes on to explore several examples of "society's discomfort with gender variance" from music videos, advertising, questionnaires amongst some other far more troubling examples.

The article is well worth the read for anyone who thinks gender stereotypes either don't exist, aren't important enough to regard critically or are simply the way things should be.

I would like to add the recent "shocker" from US Magazine regarding Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's "boy shorts." The fact that a girl wearing swim trunks is not only newsworthy, but that it is newsworthy because she is a girl acting like a boy, and nothing being said about the crassness and pseudo-legal posting of a picture of a topless 4-year old girl.
 

Based on the comments section (which are incredibly hard to read... what is up with that font??) gender stereotypes continue to be heralded as "the way people are supposed to behave."

That is far more shocking than any pair of "boy shorts."

Study: Men who batter think other guys do, too

If you ever needed more proof that organizations like White Ribbon Campaign and MenEngage are still relevant in the "post-feminist" world, a recent article from Futurity.org details a study by committee of professors from various universities which found that perceived socials norms results in higher rates of domestic violence.

The study, headed by Clayton Neighbours of the University of Houston, Texas found that men "overestimated by two to three times the actual rates of seven behaviors ranging from throwing something at a partner to rape" and that this belief led those men to justify "in their mind(s) by thinking it is more common and saying, ‘Most guys slap their women around so it is okay to engage in it.’ Or it could be that misperceptions about violence cause the behavior.”

This study speaks to the heart of what White Ribbon Campaign is trying to accomplish by reaching out to men and boys to discuss gender equality, violence and healthy relationships in an attempt at transformative change in social norms. Social norms are a major factor influencing people's actions and beliefs in their daily lives. If we can facilitate open discussions with men and boys, the vast majority of whom we know are not violent towards women and believe in gender equity, then hopefully these ideals will reach those men that do engage in violent behaviour.

Gender Equity Index 2009

Social Watch released their 2009 Gender Equity Index yesterday.

The Gender Equity Index 2009 computed by Social Watch shows that the gender gap is not narrowing in most countries and a majority of the countries that show progress are those that were already comparatively better. The distance between the countries and regions in the better and worse relative situations has widened in the last years. In education and economic activity the situation of women has globally improved, but when it comes to empowerment some 15% of countries have regressed over the past year, and this has been so severe that the average global value of this indicator fell from 35% in 2008 to 34.5% in 2009.

According to this infographic, Canada and the US have shown a slight regression in gender equity since 2004.

That is very disheartening.

Barbados: National Gender Policy To Be Developed

While Canada slips in the world-wide rankings of gender-equity, the Bureau of Gender Affairs is working on a national gender policy.

Explaining that gender mainstreaming sought to integrate its perspective into all policies, programmes and activities, Dr. Byer Suckoo (Minister of Youth, Family and Sports) said the strategy had many successes. She highlighted the work of the National HIV/AIDS Commission in this regard, when it moved HIV/AIDS out of the single sector of health, and developed a multi-sectoral response that heightened awareness of the disease in the planning and programmes of all ministries and sectors.

She lamented that some people, even at the policy-making level in this country, were not aware of gender equity and its significance. "Some will argue about the relevance of the gender agenda in a 21st century in Barbados, when compared with some African, Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries, where women's rights are not as advanced.

Maybe we should be looking to the Caribbean for our gender equity strategies?

November 25th, 2009

It is that time of year again when the world focuses on the global problem of violence against women and gender inequality.

This year, the 10th anniversary of UN Resolution 54/134 and the 20th Anniversary of the December 6th Montreal Massacre, it is more important than ever to take a stand against violence against women.

Take the pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

Where a white ribbon. Educate yourself and your community.

Not On Gender Equality In New Citizenship Guide

The new Discover Canada: The Rights And Responsibilities of Citizenship Study Guide includes a brief paragraph on Canada's belief in gender equality:

The Equality of Women and Men

In Canada, men and women are equal under the law. Canada's openness and generousity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, "honour killings," female genital mutilation or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada's criminal laws.

Which is more than the old version ever had to say on the topic.

Now if only they could include equal pay (among a plethora of other gender inequalities that need addressing in this country) to that list.

MenSpeakUp.org

Many MenSpeakUp from MenSpeakUp on Vimeo.

An excellent campaign out of Harvard. More videos here and their website is here.

IANSA Review of the Global Symposium in Rio

International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)has a lengthy review of the Global Symposium Engaging Men & Boys For Gender Equity.

They raised so excellent points about the resulting Rio Call to Action and shared some amazing insights on the conference.

It's a fairly dense post but well worth the read.

As is the call to action. If you have already, please do so and share any comments or concerns in the comments section, or be emailing menengage@menengage.org.br

Via Peace Women / WILPF

Reminder: JWIC Presents Jackson Katz in Toronto

Click on image to enlarge.

Women 2000 and Beyond: The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality

A new publication from the UN Division for the Advancement of Women follows up on the UN Commission on the Status of Women’s 2004 thematic focus on boys and men and gender equality.

At 52 pages it may be a bit daunting for those just getting involved in issues of gender equity and gender-based violence and the importance of men participating in positive change.

I haven't read the full report yet as it seems to have stalled mid-download. Hopefully I can post some thoughts shortly.

You can download the PDF version here (takes a while!)

Have We Come A Long Way Or Have A Long Way To Go?

Boys Are Heroes, Girls Are Heroines

An amazing series of scanned pages from an old children's book "I'm Glad I'm A Boy / I'm Glad I'm A Girl" are posted on the blog My Blahg.

Very interesting example of how rigidly defined gender roles used to be.

Of course boys and girls, men and women can be everything depicted in these pages, but the lines are forever, thankfully, blurred between who can do what.

I'm a boy and I can cook.

Judging by comments following the post which are almost as entertaining/disheartening, we have a long way to go.

War on women

This week's NOW Toronto includes and article with an eye catching headline "War on women" which lead me to believe that it was about the recently passed law in Afghanistan that forbids women from refusing to have sex with their husbands (which I blogged about here, from a story by the CBC).

But unless I was day dreaming while reading the bulk of it (which this late in the afternoon, even after a coffee infusion, is quite possible) it only touched on the issue briefly; in the opening paragraphs and in this one quote from Steven Staples of the Rideau Institute:

Anybody who thinks that by pouring in more troops we can defend these women against Neanderthals is not to be taken seriously.

Which is an excellent point and needs expanding on. Which unfortunately the article doesn't do. What actions can we take to defend these women then?

The bulk of the article seems to be focused on what the Americans are up to and how the Canadian government doesn't want to talk about al Qaeda. And NATO is weak. And we should probably just pull our troops out.

How does any of this address the War on Women?

The Grammys

I spent 3 and a half hours watching the Grammys last night and aside from the mind blowing drum major-backed Radiohead it seemed to be a night to celebrate old men from the 60s, 70s and 80s which I didn't find overly inspiring. Don't get me wrong, there is, obviously, amazing music from those eras, but Neil Diamond isn't it. That's just my opinion.

But I digress.

What really struck me was what followed the the Grammys' memorial tribute. The last person mentioned was Bo Diddley, a rock icon famous for his cigar box guitar and "Bo Diddley Beat." He is also famous for including women in his band, not only as back up singers, but also as guitar players, playing up front alongside him. It is believed that he is one of the first in rock 'n roll to do this, first with Peggy Jones (Lady Bo) and then most famously, Norma-Jean Wofford (The Dutchess).

You'd think that the Grammys would have then found at least one woman to join the men (BB King, Keith Urban, Buddy Guy, John Mayer - all amazing musicians in their own right) who followed the memorial with a tribute song. There were certainly more than enough women there.



Not to mention that the Grammys got off to a bad start with the news that Rihanna missed the Grammys due to an alleged assault.