Unfortunately, due to assignment deadlines, revision
and work I haven’t had a lot of time to assign to the blog this last week.
However, I’m so thankful for all my new followers that I feel the need to post!
So here is a brief round up of what’s been happening outside the UK this last
week and how they’re gendered.
Garissa
Attack
Last Friday militants from the Somalian Islamist
militant group Al-Shabab attacked Garissa University in Kenya. 148 young women
and men were murdered and others held hostage and injured. My frustration with
the media is two fold on this front. Firstly, the death toll has not been
disaggregated by gender and it always should be. Especially given the
likelihood that the attack had something to do with western education,
particularly for girls as well as religious conflict. Secondly, in January
2014, 12 French lives were taken in a similar attack and the international
community exploded. The attack was all over social media with the hashtag
#JeSuisCharlie, there were countless opinion pieces and even an international
leaders summit to mourn the death and make a stand for freedom of speech. Where
is our JeSuisGarissa? Our international mourning for the 148 young people
killed last week? Western lives should not matter more than African lives. This
may not be a gendered analysis but it is important to consider from a
postcolonial feminist perspective. My thoughts are with all the families who
lost lives in the Garissa attack.
Yemen
In Yemen, it is believed that over 100,000 people
have been displaced by the alleged proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Houthi rebels have stormed through the country despite Saudi airstrikes’
attempts to stop them. What hasn’t been detailed by the press in the midst of
the humanitarian crisis is how it affects women and men differently. Houthi
rebels have also put in place a patriarchal system in Yemen and taken away many
women’s rights. Furthermore, displaced families and refugees are absolutely
gendered in that children are automatically the women’s responsibility due to
traditional gender roles. This leaves women with a huge care burden, an extra
mouth to feed and a disproportional burden of the humanitarian crisis. For men,
given the US support for the Saudi strikes they are probably also implementing
the military-aged-male protocol in that when they strike Yemen and kill a man,
whether he is in combat or not, of military age (16-60) it is not considered a
civilian death. This monstrous foreign policy is sexist and another reason for
men to be on board with gender equality.
See More: What a Houthi-Controlled Yemen means for
Women? http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/yemen-women-activists-revolution-houthis-saleh.html#
ISIL’s
insurgency spreads: Yarmouk Refugee Camp
ISIL have marched into Yarmouk refugee camp in the
suburbs of Damascus, an area ignored by the Asad regime. The conditions in the
camp prior to the ISIL occupation were described as abhorrent and inhuman so
not that ISIL are occupying the territory things can only get worse.
Particularly for women. As aforementioned it goes without saying that women
bare the burden in refugee camps and are more likely to be refugees in the
first place. In addition, as discussed before, rape and sexual violence are
tactics often deployed by ISIL to damage families and cause harm and despite no
press reports on this, it seems inevitable that this is happening in Yarmouk.
White
South Carolina Policeman Shoots Unarmed Black Man
A video emerged today depicting a white policeman
shooting an unarmed black man eight times in his back whilst he fleds. The
policeman in question has been sentenced to murder however, this is yet another
statistic in a trend of white policemen shooting black men. Black masculinity
stereotypes absolutely play a role here, despite never being considered an
attributing factor. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter remains significant in
fighting the institutionalised racism in the United States however, an
acknowledgement of how black masculinities are constructed and taught to white
men plays a crucial yet unacknowledged role here.
Malta
Intersexed Babies
In more hopeful yet unappreciated news story this
week told of how Malta has been the first state in the world to make the
‘normalisation’ of intersexed babies illegal. It is proven that in many cases
intersexed babies are ‘made male’ because it is easier to construct a penis
than a vagina or parents may chose male sex because it will benefit their child
more. Therefore it can be an immoral and inherently patriarchal practice. However,
intersexed politics also have a certain amount of irony to them in that it is
often seen abhorrent to attach a babies sex and thus gender to them without
their choice and yet that it what we do every single day to babies born with a
biological ‘sex.’ Nevertheless, Malta’s decision paves the way for intersexed
rights and visibility in the world. After all, around 2% of births are
intersexed and this is not a small majority.
Iran
beyond the Nuclear Deal: sports events and hijabs
Last week following months of negotiations the US, EU
and Iran finally reached an agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Understandably, this hit the headlines as a success for diplomacy and respect
for both sides. I will avoid an angry feminist rant about the patriarchal
nature of nuclear arms and majority-male diplomacy. However, what was less
reported was the feminist progress that has happened in Iran recently. Firstly,
women are now allowed to attend men’s sports events in Iran. Although not the ‘too
masculine’ ones such as wrestling (?!) Secondly, women in Iran have been
liberating themselves by removing their hijabs, filming it and posting it
online. All 3 of these acts demonstrate access to personal freedoms and
technology for women in Iran. This is undoubtedly a feminist campaign for Iran’s
women! Empowering and inspiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbg3oyeV4Is
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