|
lundi 1er janvier 2007 What is liberation ? Feminism past, present and future
|
DANS LA MEME RUBRIQUE Burkini Is a Feminist Issue Too The notion that it’s ok for disabled men to pay for sex is rooted in misogyny and ableism Egyptian doctor living in Zurich produces educational videos about health and sexuality for the Arab world Amnesty International and Prostitution : Not in Our Name ! Open letter to rabble.ca - Support Meghan Murphy suffered a misogynist campaign by the sex industry lobby "Insectual - The Secret of the Black Butterfly", by Barbara Sala Canada’s New Sex Trade Law Sharia Law, Apostasy and Secularism “Harm reduction” is not enough to appropriately analyze prostitution True Progressives Encourage Women’s Equality, Not Their Prostitution Sexual mutilations outside Africa : new report and new denial except the Iraqi case FGM slowing down ? The UN asserts it, the Indonesian case contradicts it Prostitution, STRASS and the senator - When opacity becomes relevant Is equating prostitution and rape ‘intolerable violence’ ? Really ? Obama, Madonna and us After Ontario Courts rule on Bedford : a rant Comparing Sex Buyers and Non-Sex Buyers July 2011 (Boston) Sex resistance in heterosexual arrangements Abolitionists of the prostitution system : who we are, what we want ! Women Living Under Muslim Laws Statement on Libya Prostitution is a Threat to Humanity Prostitution - Call for Australia’s prostitution laws to be tightened Violence - An Open Letter from Black Women to SlutWalk Organizers Nothing that is sexual can be considered criminal : hidden sexual violence in the DSK case The Truth about Global Sex Slavery – A Book by Lydia Cacho Why reproductive rights and prostitution are not the same thing : A response to one decriminalization argument Prostitution - The abolitionist project within the conference Women’s Worlds 2011 Montreal - The Turcotte jury got it wrong Reasons I Will Not Go On the Slutwalk International Sex Industries and their Accomplices Hamper the Autonomy of All Women Ten Critical Reasons for getting rid of Harper’s Conservatives Real solidarity with prostituted women is in the fight for abolition of prostitution Decriminalize prostituted persons and criminalize those who exploit them (‘johns’ and pimps) Polygamy in Canada Should Remain Illegal My fears of the push for indoors prostitution We cannot be satisfied with the simple harm-reduction model The Native Women’s Association of Canada is Worried About Himel’s Judgement on Prostitution Ontario Court Decision Abandons Aboriginal Women and Women of Colour to Pimps Response to the VPD review in the cases of the Pickton Murders Speech - The effects of globalization of political Islam on Women’s Rights, the question with polygamy, the Niqab and Honour Killing Quebec Forges Enlightened Trail on Burkas Breast Cancer a Disease, No a Marketing Opportunity The International Campaign To Closedown Iranian Embassies Violation of rights in Iran, a window from my experience to a broader picture "Sex worker" ? Never met one ! The Prostitutors The One Million Signatures Campaign has been awarded the prestigious Global Women’s Rights Award from the Feminist Majority Foundation Prostitution - Feminist Perspectives, a book Prostitution : Violating the Human Rights of Poor Women More than 1 000 american historians call for equity in the stimulus package in open letter to Obama Order of Canada Awarded to Dr. Morgentaler - Acts of intimidation should not rule Canada Femaid report on Afghanistan, May 2008 Time for Quebecers to be more open : Bouchard-Taylor report Canadian Bar Association supports strengthening equality in the Quebec Charter Zero Tolerance for Johns : How the Government of Sweden Would Respond to Spitzer Politicians are responsible for toxic, misogynist environment facing girls Spitzer - The Myth of the Victimless Crime Goodbye To All That (#2) The freedom to never prostitute oneself NO legalized brothels for the Olympics 2010 - Aboriginal women’s Action Network statement on prostitution CLES says NO to the violence of prostitution Does Porn Make the Man ? A Trip Into the Absurd Mothers File International Complaint Against United States Prostitutes are victims, not criminals Anthology of Québec Women’s Plays in English Translation, Volume I (1966-1986) The Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) intervene during the upcoming provincial election Prostitution - Three Women and a Debate Men Favour the Apolitical Discourse on Prostitution The Whole Truth Must be Told : Sylviane’s testimony on her experience of prostitution Democracy and Religious Obligations : an Impasse ? Books by Andrea Dworkin Globalization, Militarism and Sex Trafficking Muslim Groups Denounce the Cultural Relativism of a Certain Left Canadian Muslim leader alleges her veil views sparked vandalism Prostitution : CATW’S Post-World Cup Statement NOW to denounce so-called parental alienation Prostitution : for an Abolitionist Bill The dimensions of trafficking for purposes of prostitution "Charm is a Guise ; Batterers Belong in Jail, Expert Says" Interview with Catherine MacKinnon : Are Women Human ? Danish cartoons - Doing away with the Enlightenment ? It’s happening next door : from incestuous girls to alienating mothers Green Light for Pimps and Johns Buying Sex is not a Sport Prostitution is Violence Against Women The Ideal Site for the Crime Tell me, what does "gender" really mean ? Gunilla Ekberg : « The best thing we can do for our sisters is to support them to get out of prostitution » Interview with Catharine A. MacKinnon : « They haven’t crushed me yet. » Decriminalizing prostitution, a magnet for pimps and johns Lovesick Declaration on Religious Arbitration in Family Law Prostitution : Towards a Canadian policy of abolition Prostitution inseparable of violence against women The need for a public debate on prostitution and its social consequences Prostitution of First Nations Women in Canada 270 000 $ granted to Stella for a four days event on sex work IN MEMORIAM : Andrea Dworkin or The passion for justice Decriminalizing prostitution will not improve the security of prostituted women Dworkin - Taking Back the Night Backlash and Whiplash : A Critique of Statistics Canada’s 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization Helping the prostituted women or promoting prostitution ? The Need for a Public Debate on Prostitution and its Social Consequences The legalization of prostitution and its impact on trafficking in women and children Prostitution Links, Women’s Justice Center "If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits" Sweden Treating Prostitution as Violence Against Women Forced marriage as crime Why Women Must Get out of Men’s Laps International Campaing Against Shari’a Court in Canada Decriminalize prostituted women, not prostitution Canada Contributes to the Sexual Trafficking of Women for Purposes of Prostitution Fathers’ Rights Groups in Australia and their Engagement with Issues in Family Law Women Rage Against ’Rape’ in Northeast India Sexual domination in uniform : an american value Tribunals Will Marginalize Canadian Muslin Women and Increase Privatization of Family Law The sexual sadism of our culture, in peace and in war Queer theory and violence against women The Legalisation of Prostitution : A failed social experiment Globalization and the Sex Trade : Trafficking and the Commodification of Women and Children Will Paternal Paranoia Triumph ? Ode to Survivors Court confirms any woman’s human right to organize with peers Program produces motherless kids Legitimating Prostitution as Sex Work : UN Labour Organization (ILO) Calls for Recognition of the Sex Industry (Part One) Legitimating Prostitution as Sex Work : UN International Labour Organization Calls for Recognition of the Sex Industry (Part Two) Elisabeth Badinter distorts feminism the better to fight it Prostitution : Rights of Women or Right to Women ? The "Stolen Feminism" Hoax : Anti-Feminist Attack Based on Error-Filled Anecdotes Hormone Replacement Therapy, the "Magic Bullet" Ricochets For the sake of the children : the law, domestic violence and children contact in England Friendships between women good for health Children of divorce need our protection Divorce Bill’s flaws inadvertently aid abusers Problem isn’t little boys, it’s little minds A report from Status of Women Canada about the discursive denial of gender inequalities Ten Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution Poem for Peace Peace Rally Speech of a 12 year old American Girl Good clone, bad clone ? Canadian Women’s Health Network So hard to say goodbye |
Important conversations are currently taking place about a confusing phenomenon regarding a specific group of contemporary women. These conversations relate to some young women today who embrace pornography, prostitution and the sexual objectification of women. Rejecting the feminist struggles of an earlier generation, these young women seek to advance this so called ’post feminist’ agenda. This paper seeks to enter the conversation in an effort to understand and respond to this supposed manifestation of a new kind of women’s liberation. We begin by addressing the question of whether we are actually in a post feminist age. How Far Have We Come ? Throughout the 1960s and early 70s, many important events occurred On June 25, 2006, a coalition of women’s and human rights organizations This failure ranges from the criminal justice system, immigration laws, Moreover, men’s violence against women remains a very pervasive social The objectification of women remains a fact of life, growing ever more Raunch Culture Against this current and troubling background, we have the perplexing In her book, Female Chauvinist Pigs : Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy (Free Press, NY 2005) explores this phenomenon. She writes suddenly we were getting implants and wearing the bunny logo as supposed symbols of our liberation. How had the culture shifted so drastically in such a short period of time ? Levy interviews men and women involved with the media’s representations of this cultural shift. She interviews strippers, porn stars, porn star wannabees, the crew from Girls Gone Wild, Olympic female athletes who pose nude for Playboy, the female producer of G-string Divas and many others. This new raunch culture didn’t mark the death of feminism, they told me : In her conversations with female viewers and readers, Levy attempts to So What Are We Looking At ? In a country where nearly 25% of American women report being raped and/or physically assaulted, what is the nature of the power that some are Certainly some women express a sense of liberation when making newfound A Psychological Perspective In psychological terms, however, this post feminist tendency to objectify I submit that the actual struggle that remains before us is still the The Masters Tools Audre Lorde said : The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Masters This is also a society in which the laws are still made by white males and Choices Women who are choosing Raunch Culture are making a limited set of choices in a limited arena. And of course it always feels good and empowering to have any kind of choice. But some choices are heavily circumscribed by a situation’s limitations. Women who choose to become part of the Raunch Culture seem to be clear that our culture is defined by male lust which degrades women and treats them with contempt. This cultural conditioning supports men treating women as objects, part objects, receptacles and fetishist vehicles of pleasure. The choice then is to oppose this male conditioning and its results, or to join with men by identifying with The Problem of Privilege Nonetheless, as previously observed, some young women today report that But it is very important to observe that the opportunity to freely choose Betraying oppressed women Perhaps though, the most disturbing thing about the raunch culture is that The furthering of raunch culture by a small few is done on the backs of The Remaining Feminist Struggle We can respect the rights of our sisters who choose to enter the sexual That is the final frontier. We need to maintain the struggle to come onto a truly level playing field, * Millions of women around the world are victimized by traffickers, pimps, Gail Golden, August 2006 Many thanks to Phyllis B. Frank, Sheila Hamanaka and Lynn Sheinkin for the valuable input and feedback they provided while I was writing this paper. On Sisyphe, January 8th, 2007. |