I'm listening to the very awesome band Pollyana Frank and I decided I'd share my three fave songs with y'all.
These songs were written and first sung in the mid-nineties.
It's amazing that nothing has really changed since.
I suggest you download said songs.
They're really good.

Two of the songs are in Hebrew, so the origional lyrics are here, with my own translations.
Enjoy the ( songs )

What an interesting story.

On the gut level I thought; fuck that's a brave thing to do.
On the more cognitive level I thought; damn that's clever.
On the student-who-analyzes-everything-she-reads level I thought; well, that's one of the most rebellious, subjective things she could do in that situation.
On the absurd/political level I thought; those men harass her to the extent to which she must bare all, literally and she's reprimanded!?

Just goes to show that sexual harassment is the most normalized crime, there really is nothing wrong with wolf-whistling to a total stranger in the street.
She retaliates to a perceived threat and gets the punishment.

A few prize quotes from the article, just to show a little bit more of the absurd/political side of this:

"She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. She's not an unattractive-looking lady," [Sgt. Peter Masters] said."

Police treated the incident as a one-off.

"She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was
inappropriate (behavior) in New Zealand," [Sgt. Peter Masters] added."

And since this is Ha'aretz, the woman in question is an Israeli tourist.
Take from that what you will.

( Feeling linkphobic? Just Follow the cut )

I'm tired.
I'm never taking a course that requires me to wake up at six AM.
Or alternately I could start going to sleep at reasonable hours...
But fuck that right?

But the fact that I'm tired won't stop me from reporting this shit, that went down in the beginning of last weekend and which may or may not be resolved.
It pissed me off royally.
Beyond the tragic and cruel nature of these invalidated conversions, it spotlights a grave and important matter about the relationship of religion and state in Israel.
That it is rotten.

I got into an argument about what is acceptable involvement of religious establishment in the state.
Personally, I think they can fuck off, since these establishments are chauvinistic, sexist and racist.

There is no civil marriage in Israel, the closest we have is common-law unions which were established so that "un-marriageable" couples could have legal standing.
Who are the "un-marriageable" you ask - they are members of the population that cannot get married through the Rabbanut. The system was initially built for couples who according to Halakha couldn't marry each other: Cohens and divorces mainly. But this also includes Mamzerim (bastards) who cannot marry through the Rabbanut, Jews cannot marry Muslims or Christians, nor can Muslims and Christians marry each other, there is no same-sex marriage either.
This, is of course easily solved by marrying elsewhere; Cyprus, Canada, the USA, Anywhere that allows foreign nationals to marry.

And after marriage (which brings great civil benefits) comes divorce (more and more these days and don't let anyone tell you otherwise).
It's a great invention, Jews are practical that way.
Of course it is the Husband that must grant the Wife the Get (divorce), she can "choose" whether to accept it or not. Not that the man would give a shit, all he needs in order to have a Halachikly legal family (while not divorced to his first wife) is something like a 100 signatures from 100 Rabbis and he can marry and have (halachicly)legal children - bigamy and polygamy are illegal in Israel - so he can ignore with impunity the pleas his Wife makes so that they can be rid of each other. There are sanctions, monetary usually, but go beg a Yeshivah Bochur to pay alimony when he can't sustain himself without a wife, or just a run of the mill asshole who doesn't want to pay alimony and that putting him in jail only postpones the writ of execution of whatever he owes his wife, his lawer and his children should he have any. The wife, due to all this, is now an Aguna - another side effect of the Rabbis revocation of the conversions - there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Agunot women in Israel.

My side of the argument was that we either take the anti-patriarchy hammer and bash the Rabbanut until nothing is left of that racist, sexist establishment, or have the state acknowledge the fact that there is more to Judaism than Orthodoxy so that that the pluralism we pretend to have in Israel have some basis in reality.

A mixture of reform and revolution - I'm more keen on rebuilding from the grassroots, but others kind of like the way things are... or at the very least don't mind the way things are; seeing as the privilege of being born Jewish has the added bonus that no one will be nosing around our private life and checking to see if we're actually being Jewish.

It makes me sick.

I've heard people say it takes time for these things to change, after all blacks in the USA only got civil rights in the 60's of the 20th century and the women only got the vote less than a hundred years ago.
Change is slow but it happens.

Yes, change is slow... when those in power have no incentive to change, when the atrocities that these establishments perpetrate don't touch their lives, then change can be slow.
When the status quo is just fine and dandy to The Man, then change can be slow.

Classical liberal* bullshit.

*No offense to any liberals who may be reading this.

"The head of the criminal affairs bureau in Lower Austria, Franz Polzer, said Mr Fritzl had admitted sexually abusing his daughter repeatedly during the time he imprisoned her".

May I please ask; why is no one calling what this disgusting excuse for a human being did, rape?
Why is it sexual abuse, when it happens between family members?
Why are "incest" and "molestation" used instead of calling it what it is?
Is there any doubt that this so-called father forced his daughter into becoming a sex-slave and having seven children of his children?

That... man... should be castrated, thrown into a jail cell (solitary confinement at that) for the rest his natural life and never see the light of day again.
Of course, that kind of justice isn't what's given out to sex offenders these days.

If I weren't so angered by this, my mind would be boggled.

It's been a while since I wrote a real fangrrl commentary on something fannish. Real life has somewhat taken over, though I'm sure I haven't lost my touch.
I'm sure some of you are aware of this poster going around the Internet, not to mention New York Comic Con:


From left to right Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Barbara gordon (Oracle), Zatanna Zatara (Zatanna), Dinah Lance (Black Canary), Karen Starr (Power Girl), Diana (Wonder Woman), Kara Zor-El (Supergirl), Kate Kane (Batwoman), Mari Jiwe McCabe (Vixen), Pamela Isely (Poison Ivy) and Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn).

So what is it that we have here, other than a bunch of attractive women in formal wear?

Personally, there were a few there I couldn't tell the difference between until I really looked for the fine differential details between them all, like the two blonds; one standing next to Wonder Woman and the other standing next to Power Girl.
I mean, from the stance I recognized who Supergirl and who Black Canary were, that and Supergirl is wearing a mini-dress which I suppose alludes to her itty-bitty-titti costume, but I digress.
What is Black Canary's trademark look?

Someone? Anyone?

Friends, where are Ms. Lance's fishnets?
Zatanna, for example, has the hat and gloves, Posion Ivy has, well, ivy in her hair and on her dress and Harley has a Harlequin masque and small pom-poms on the edges of her dress (plus the gigantic smile, which appears diminished in the poster).
So the difference between two of the blonds who aren't really wearing formal wear which either alludes or is recognizable as their suits (mini skirt notwithstanding) is that the other woman in the poster are recognizable with one other exception which I will get to, not to worry.

I like that fact that the villainous/morally ambiguous women were put on the margins, also they are turned away from the other, it's as though Selina is saying "you don't think I'm a superhero, do you?" and she's in black, as though she'd be caught dead in white. Poison Ivy and Harley seem to be reminiscing the old days when they had their own little worrisome two-some that gave Batman a pain in the neck.

Diana is exactly where she should be, dead center looking straight ahead and looking like the goddess she is (while off duty and having cocktails at some UN event being all ambassadory). Diana looks how I would imagine her on Themyscera if she ever got the crown, contemporary and and Grecian style.
Who could mistake Power Girl for anyone else, the in/famous Boob Window... adds character it does.

Oddly, Vixen seems incongruous with the rest of the characters there, there's nothing distinct about her (like Supergirl and Black Canary, but they're standing next to two leading ladies), except her colour, which is an important distinction to make seeing as not too long ago there was a mighty big faux pas with her colour (certain artists made her look Caucasian... yeah), but surely there should be something more. Is that her talisman around her neck? Why not make it bigger an obvious (like the boob window, or the ivy, or the masque, etc.)
What? Did Adam Hughes not want to make Vixen look "Ethnic"? She's from an African Nation, her power is based on the power that a local god bequeathed, why is she so... not there in the poster?
I'm not looking to start a huge brouhaha, but women of colour, marginalised, I don't think I need to say more.

Now, I'm no artist, but I understand composition, when you have a character sitting, it's no good for them to be the only one sitting, especially when they are on the side and not in the middle. Barbara, being who she is, is sitting, in a mighty fine dress I might add, and though she looks like she's about to leap out, it's just a pose. The other elegant lady sitting is Kate Kane, Gotham Socialite, Batwoman and, c'mon you know it, that's right, Lesbian.
No, never would have guessed; the pant suit, the spread legs, it just screams Lezzie.
*sigh*
Pity that in canon she's in the closet (last I checked) and wears dresses to formal affairs.
Give the pant suit to Babs, it's so much more her style.
But then, then people would think she's a Lesbian!

There are two kinds of people who would buy this poster; those who know everything I've mentioned and those who don't care and just like pretty women.

Good poster, some things missing and a few aggravating details that should be fixed, but all in all, a very aesthetically pleasing poster of DC's most powerful women, I wouldn't mind seeing that hanging on my wall.
*HINT-HINT*

Queen Rania of Jordan opened a YouTube Channel in which she wishes to open a dialouge about the stereotypes of the Arab and Muslim world.
She's a great speaker and as Queen she's a natural representative.
I recommend keeping track of this project.

When they've been forced into marriage.

Sometimes I fail to understand the logic of the world that I live in.

You know, the kind of bravery it takes for a little girl to run away from a house where she has was forced to "consummate the marriage" by her twenty-something "husband" is extraordinary.
The girl is eight.
EIGHT!
The whole idea of child brides, never mind teen brides, but Child Brides is beyond me. Isn't that institutionalized pedophilia?

The good news is the marriage was annulled, and the girl has gone to live with her family and will be returning to primary school.

Child brides make as much sense to me as "honour killings" - it's a "cultural thing" so it's okay. That's the way "they" treat women and children.
Who are we in the "West" to judge?

But see it's not the way "they" treat women and children. Women and children, in every culture, whether it's in this monolith we call the West or in "Ethnic" (I hate this word) cultures, will suffer for being women and children - especially female children.
I'll tell you how I feel the West has changed, instead of "honour killings" we have women and girls who are raped and murdered by their boyfriends, husbands or colleagues.
The majority of women who have been murdered, were murdered by their exes.
Instead of child brides we have child prostitutes.
The trafficking of women and children into sexual slavery is a pan-global phenomena.

So in the "West" there women can work, own property, choose to not marry, choose not to have children, wear pants and sneakers, not wear make-up etc.
In the "West" women can love who they want, speak out against gender based crimes, they can be doctors, lawyers, engineers, factory workers, writers, editors, actors, performers, leaders... they can go into any profession if they so choose.
I get to have more choices.
Which is a great consolation prize no doubt - this is said seriously.

My point is Relativism, as my Ethics professor said in the first lecture is "Moral Bankruptcy". If you're (editorial you) going to say "well, it's their culture, who are we to judge" - please make sure you understand the what makes a "culture", a culture and how it relates to the culture you're living in.

Here is the text to the article about the amazing little girl who got me ranting about the stupidness of moral and cultural Relativism: ( Under the Cut )

The Israeli government has given a temporary residency permit for a gay Palestinian man to live with his Israeli lover in Tel-Aviv. Due to threats on his life regarding his sexuality (and, no doubt, relationship with an Israeli).

The article mentions that according to Aswat director Rouda Morcos (a very charismatic speaker and clear voice in minority discourse), there have not been many reports of physical violence in the past few years which were motivated by homophobia and that often the Shabak threaten to out homosexual Palestinians if they don't collaborate.
The article.

I have no doubt that this Palestinian man gave information to the Shabak in exchange for a permit to enter Israel and I have no doubt that he was also threatened with his life because of his sexual orientation.
There are a lot (comparatively, obviously) of gay and lesbian Palestinians living within Israel. The only LGBT group, mentioned above, is based within Israel, in Haifa, which has a large Arab population in any event.

The various (and there is more than one) Arab cultures in Israel and Palestine have been oppressed and suppressed for so long, is it any wonder that queer Palestinians do what they can to leave those areas in which their sexual identity within that national identity are considered taboo?

I mean, women who desecrate the family honour for walking around in jeans or without a hijab or for being raped. The Army doesn't deal with this phenomenon within the West Bank, as far as I'm aware and the Israeli police at times there isn't much they can do for the girl who is threatened with murder, because there isn't any proof that there is a plan to kill her and more often than night the other women within the family participate in the ritualized killing.

This of course doesn't happen in a vacuum.
These are oppressed people within an oppressed segregated society. That doesn't mean that what goes on to those people is acceptable or even legitimate. It does, however, mean that no change in the promotion of women's rights or LGBT rights within Arab, Druze, Bedouin, Palestinian society can be made before any decent progress is made in the treatment they get from Israel as a legal and political body that defines their identity.

Israel, when it comes to LGBT rights isn't very backwards; openly gay men and women serve in the IDF with laws that protect them against homophobia, same-sex couples can register for common-law marriage (a system that allows legal rights for coupes that can't marry because of stupid rabbinical control over marriage laws, which include couples of different religions), they can adopt each other's biological child and very recently a law has passed that includes adoption of non-biological children.

The quality of life in Israel is better is many ways for Arabs who live within the Green Line - as citizens the right to education, the freedom of movement, free speech and everything is far greater than within Palestine. That isn't to say that the their lives are that much better, racism and White (Israeli style) supremacy are so culturally embedded it's disgusting, but there is equality under the law.

Excuse me this entry has gotten jumbled up and away from the point I was trying to make, which is this:
The Occupation oppresses a people, which in turn oppress minorities within that people, those twice or third-over oppressed people do what they can in order to leave the territories under Occupation in order to live more freely in the sovereign state which occupies the people with whose nationality they identify.
In short - it is Effed Up.

That's all.

Part the first and not to forget that these are the answers to the Meme.

The car I drive

We have one car and it's a Renault Kangoo. It's a gear engine, meaning that during rush hour it is a pain to drive and in my itsy-bitsy country every hour is rush hour.
I enjoy driving alone, but because of my slight paranoia I drive much more carefully when I'm in company than alone and I hate driving while my parents are passengers, it's uncomfortable any way you look at it.

Women, Men and In between
( Cut for sex talk and a bit of TMI )
Activism - where I fit in and my thoughts in general

I only began to be really active in the past two years so I'm really trying to find where I feel most comfortable in the huge array of Leftist social activism in Israel, which is as diverse as can be due to the turbulent nature of our little stretch of land.
At this point I consider myself affiliated with feminism, queer pride, anti-oppression, anti-war and anti-occupation, I don't know at this point how to incorporate all of them into action even though my own ideas, ideals and principles include all those things.
So I'm registered to a bunch of email lists that let me know of activities, I'm friends with people who do more than me or are actually members of groups and organizations and they let me know when stuff is happening.

I don't do nearly enough, but I know I do more than a lot of people, so I'm trying to juggle the whole Uni thing as well, which is a bit overwhelming. Not to mention that being active, puts yourself a whole lot more out there and exposed, which this little sheltered child was never exposed to as a child - I mean I knew it happened to other people and I knew that my parents were active in South Africa, but by the time I came along those times were long past (goodbye 70's, hello 80's).

Activism in Israel (like anywhere when you think about it) especially Left activism can, at times, be very divisive; what issue is more important? The Occupation? Women's Rights? Israeli Palestinians Rights? Queer Right? Privatization of public offices and issues?
All these things are a part of the same symptom, which gives the whole "One Struggle" theme a great deal of validity, but on the other hand it ignores the inherent differences and history of each issue and aspect - like at times anti-Occupation actions ignore the fact that when you're affirming one national identity (Palestine) you're calling the cancellation of another (Israel), it just doesn't work that way.
Or the way Queer activism calls for equal rights in marriage when there isn't even civil marriage in Israel... let's get rid of the Rabbanut before we start with specific demands to certain communities.
And all that.

So that's what I think.
Yeah.

Is technically tomorrow on the 8th, but that's my Nephew Shvo's birthday and I don't want anything to overshadow that.

There was a panel at the Uni yesterday about "Body and Politics", which I couldn't attend in its entirety due to the fact that I actually, ya know, had courses to attend, well next year.
And my fave Women's Studies Prof smiled and waved at me *squee*

I have a cruch on my teacher, I never had those in high school and such... but blah, she's married with children, which doesn't make her any less cool.

Here's a pic of the day for you all:

Or not.
Depending if you find my little hell-hole interesting.

Racism you say? No, no! Can't be. A (Jewish) Member of Knesset threatening other (Arab) Members of Knesset with ethnic cleansing.
I'm shocked.
No, no I'm not
Though to be purely candid, this is part of Effie Eitam's regular rhetoric. And he is pretty upset about the fact that Palestinians with Israeli Citizenship (colloquially known as Israeli Arabs) are protesting the IDF's operations in Gaza - calling it War Time Treason.
*sigh* Because protesting military action is treason, but threatening with ethnic cleansing is just dandy.

Something slightly different: "Honour" Killings are more common than people would like to admit. Well, one of the more famous cases in Israel, involving the Abu-Ghanem family of Ramla (a Jewish-Arab mixed town in the Israeli Centre) have shown some progress: Today the murderer (who killed his sister for being "immodest") was sentenced for 16 years in prison.

Like the article says the major problem of this phenomena (in Israel, I wouldn't presume to know about other countries in which "honour" killings are prevalent) is that the Police don't take the problem seriously enough and show a whole lot of lenience towards the families in which this happens because it is considered an internal Hamula issue, that means it all stays in the Clan, in the family; more often than not, a girl who runs away to the police for protection because is sent back because, as I've said, the authorities send her back... let the Sheiks deal with her.

What makes the Abu-Ghanem case a special, and relatively famous, is the fact that the Mother (of the girl and her murderer, seeing as they were siblings) came forward last year.
I can only imagine the kind of will power it took to go to Israeli authorities and talk about the tragedy of nine dead woman, all killed by family members.
You gotta admire them for that and for trying to stop the cycle of women being disposed of like garbage.

And the Peace Talks will continue between Israel and the Palestinians, despite some shiftiness - sans Hamas of course who resumed their rocket firing (or at least didn't stop other groups from firing), no doubt Hamas will resume their own Qassam brigades in no time - their sense of self preservation leaves something to be desired... *sigh*.

Things are tense as you can probably imagine.
I'm not really good at putting my point across when it comes to things I'm passionate about, there are often times where my chronic foot-in-mouth disease becomes acute.

I always end up sounding so emotional and irrational and blubbery, as though those are bad things and make my arguments thinner. It's bloody irritating that the only times my views are even listened to is when I speak "logically", "unbiased" and "rational".
As though there's anything logical, unbiased and rational in the situation we're living in.

Yep rockets, sieges and disharmony... the balanced way of life. *sigh*

I think I give the impression, or I actually may be, a whole lot more moderate than other activists I'm in touch with.
I'm as anti-Occupation and pro-Human Rights as they come... but I can't deal with hypocrisy.
The hypocrisy of "Anarchists" who fight for the right of National Determination while saying that another kind Nationalism is wrong - "we only fight against the Occupation!" - yes, well that's all very nice isn't it, if your point of view is so narrow you can't see the wide spectrum of where you're standing.
Like I previously mentioned, I believe that since Jews have a homeland, Palestinians deserve the same thing.
Often when I mention this to the more anti-Zionist people I know (my kind of post-Zionism is too moderate for most of them, as I've said) and I ask them what will you do if there is no longer an Israel? Where will you go?
What does that matter? They reply.
A great deal - citizens of the world we all want to be, but to be rootless and disconnected from where we come, to be doomed to become "Wandering Jews" again... that kind of Cosmopolitanism kind of ended in disaster... more than once.

Maybe it's the memory of persecution, maybe it's just a sense of unfairness, but I was born here and this is the only home I know and I want it to be a better place for my Nephews, Niece and my next potential Nephews and Nieces and maybe even potential children.
To just give up and go? To abandon what's been built here, what's been accomplished and what can still be built and accomplished?
That seems like anathema to me.
I won't give up on being Israeli, because I want to have allies and friends (in Palestine and beyond) and not wander loosely in the world with only a memory.

And in a less wolly manner: my brother, that clever guy, if only he wrote his ideas (hint-hemlock_sholes-hint).
He has great suggestions for non-violent direct action which would really be constructive if people were made aware of how powerful they could be.
I'll definitely pass those ideas along to people who might actually be able to do something.

---

I wish I had time to write feminist comic book and sci-fi criticisms like I used to, but all I do now is read my articles for Uni and my News feeds and blogs.
Doesn't let my brain veg in a constructive manner.

High Court upholds Katsav sex crimes plea bargain

( Body of the Text for the Linkphobic )

I really have no idea what to say about it.
I'm so angry I don't know what to do with myself other than to say that this is so wrong, unjust and so full of shit the brown is oozing out of this whole situation.

I'm loathe to use this word for fear that it will insult other men, but this man got away with it. Really he did.
He's not going to jail, he didn't "commit" rape, the major "alleged" sexual assault crimes were dropped and all he's left with is a sexual harassment charge and a "non-violent" assault.

Did I mention that there is no fucking justice in this world?

I heard, at the time when this was all over the News, that he was being slandered and he even accused the media of persecuting him and mentioned the word "Lynch".

I think of "A" who had her identity revealed at some point (which goes against the victim anonymity law) and how she was called a whore and a prostitute and how she brought it on herself and all the regular victim-blaming spiel and thought "is no one going to say anything about abuse of power and position".
Because this is exactly what it is - say, he really didn't (though I sincerely doubt it) rape those women - someone came forward and accused this man of forcing himself on her, with the expectation of compliance.
Yes, in the eyes and minds of these men in high position it is expected of women to comply to their whims and wishes, after all, almost all the women they are surrounded with around the office are there to serve them.

How dare those women not be available sexually, that unthinkable that they not want to submit to my power and dominance. How dare those women complain, they should be greatful I find them attractive and want to sleep with them.
This is, quite obviously, said with great scorn, sarcasm and anger.

If you're interested, here are the related articles which can be found at the bottom of the page linked above:
Katsav plea bargain signed: President to admit to indecent assault, resign today.
Tens of thousands protest in Tel Aviv over Katsav plea bargain.
Shendar: Public misled on Katsav plea bargain.
Source: High Court shouldn't cancel Katsav plea bargain.

For a non-Israeli view on this check out the BBC article and related stories linked on that page: Israel upholds Katsav plea deal.

XKCD # 322:



Via my most excellent brother Robbie aka hemlock_sholes. Who should make use of such an awesome username and update his LJ from time to time... just sayin'.

It's true you know.
I mean, there should be a "duh" factor here, but it's not a really a fact that one can take for granted.

I remember not too long ago (May 2007) the whole world was outraged at the murder of Dua Khalil, which I also wrote about at the time.
Yes, it was disgusting.
What's more disgusting is that since then very little has been done to stop these murders, which are more common than not.

In Israel it too happens much more often than people suspect, or more to the point, care.

What frustrates me more than anything; more than the lackadaisical police work in matters of this kind; more than the attitude of appeasement certain factions of the liberal/radical left have towards extremists, simply because they aren't Western, is that this attitude is nothing more than well concealed racism and sexism.

Yeah, I hears the gasp. How, do I hear you ask?

It is racism because this kind of "custom" would never be tolerated in "civilized" society. It is racism because if a white woman or girl were to be murdered in the name of "honour" the authorities would call it a heinous crime.
It is sexism because it ignores the fact that women are not merchandise to be procured and then discarded and thrown away if she doesn't work the way she "should". It is sexism because women are people.
It is inhuman.
Period.

To say that this sort of treatment towards women is a "cultural" thing is pretty insulting to the people of that culture don't you think? What, only Western women have the right, excuse me, the privilege to stand up and leave and create a different, new life for herself.
Even if it is a "custom" this "honour before life" crap, the woman, girl, who has brought shame onto the family has the right to live her own life! For fuck's sake, most of the girls and women murdered in the name of honour are virgins (as though that makes a difference), those who aren't were most likely raped and those that weren't raped and chose to sleep with someone are allowed that choice as human beings.
Because women are people, no more and no less than any other man.

The whole world said "this is wrong" when Dua Khalil died, because like in the old days it was made public, so public the entire world tuned in to see a young 17 year old be murdered for being seen with a man not her kin and religion.
The whole world said "this is wrong" when the Qatif Girl was sentenced to 200 lashes for being found in the company of a man not her kin after she and her boyfriend had been raped.

If we're already on the subject of people speaking their minds: I hear people criticize Ayaan Hirsi-Ali, Nonie Darwish, Wafa Sultan and other Muslims (or former Muslims) whom immigrated from Arab and Muslim nations, for selling themselves to a right wing agenda, or for being overly critical of the countries from where they came and I'm angered by that.
While I have issues with the political views of some of the people I mention above, I wouldn't ignore what they have to say about extremist Islamistic regimes, they know where they come from.

No, seriously, WTF?.

This is, surprise-surprise, Saudi Arabia showing just how much their laws encourage the disposal of women.
Witchcraft.
That's right, this woman has been accused of witchcraft; one of her accusers is a man who claims she bewitched him into impotence... Impotence!

According to Human Rights Watch she is illiterate and during her arrest was coerced into giving her fingerprints and wasn't even read the charges against her.

Yep, the Saudis at it again. Not that this should be any surprise seeing as when it comes to the treatment of other human beings Saudi Arabia is notoriously lax in their laws as to what defines a human being.

Ah, Uni.
I love Uni.

My fave course is probably, and funnily enough, the Feminism and Law course.
The lecturer is political and angry.
I love that.
She gave us a quick overview of the different kinds of feminism we'll be using in order to interpret a law and the feminist issues surrounding certain laws in Israel and what its societal affect is.
So cool!
One of the articles I'm reading at the moment, and taking a break from, is about "Honour" Killings in the Arab/Palestinian sector is Israel.
Can I just say the injustice if fucking infuriating!
Another article is about the clashes of different kinds of feminism in Israel - like the The Israel Womens Network and the anti-militarism organisations, like New Profile.
Fascinating I tell you.

The Lit. classes are getting a more interesting and they're still intros and I think they will only get interesting next year when I'm done learning what the tools are and actually use them in a way I find interesting.
So, less fascinating so far, but we'll be talking about Marxism and social atmosphere as a way to interpret a text in front of us, and not just look at the way it looks or structured "physically" - like in Formalism (bleh).
Okay, so it is a little fascinating.

Did I mention I love Uni?!

Having new friends in Uni is quite an expirience, these are new people, they've known me for only a few months with very little interaction, meeting perhaps once or twice a week, where we'd mainly continue our discussion concerning the classes we were having together.

Today was the first time they witnessed by geekness(1), because we had been discussing philosophy and pop-culture (fun!) and I mentioned the Wonder Woman Brouhaha, and to my surprise I was asked, seriously, how I, as a feminist can enjoy that kind of literature.

The whole discussion deteriorated quickly because when it comes down to it the same people who control the comic book industry are the same people who control the sex industry.
Men who want to make money, preferably money paid by young hormonally charged adolescent boys.

But that isn't the case anymore, really, there are far more of us fangrrls out there than people think (I don't know how many identify as feminist) and the majority of comic book readers I know and interact with are over 18 (though that could merely be a demographic issue concerning the swamp like nature of the overlapping sci-fi/fantasy community in Israel), so there is a far more critical aspect in my reading of comics, as well as in my discussions of comic books with the fellow fans.

To read Superman as purely the philosophically and cultural ideal man is a disservice to the character and to his creators, just as reading Wonder Woman as a pure male fantasy, catered to feed male fantasy is a disservice to her character and creator. And in any event, if that was all the "demographic" readers and buyers were looking for, there's a huge amount of free wank material available on the internet, why even bother with developing characters and intricate plot lines when you can find free porn in the style of comic books if that's your thing.

Yes, there is cheesecakery, I don't think it's the main thing in the literature, it's a style that is prevalent, but it is certainly not the whole deal. Comic books, in a twisted dramatic way, like almost every other medium, reflect reality.
To criticize comic books and merely see them as another tool of the "Patriarchal Agenda" and the objectification of women is to lose the message of what superheros represent - which is idealism.

As for the subject line - I view myself as a Radical Feminist, I don't know how much I actually live it, but my belief is that equality, of every kind, can come from the bottom, form the roots and that the system itself is flawed and must change.
I get angry when fan-people tell me that if I want "feminist comics" I should go write some myself. Or read the fringe comics that don't promote the "Patriarchial Agenda". It is especially annoying when other feminists tell me the same thing.
But why should I?
Why should I reject something in order to promote a radical agenda, when the characters I admire in this medium are in that flawed system?
Why should I remove myself this community?

Batman is cool, Catwoman is cool.
Why should I only read Fritz the Cat?

Notes:
(1) Seven books of pop-culture criticism about Buffy the Vampire Slyer, right here!

Hey, remember the Mary-Jane Fiasco?

Well, it started a few days ago here (contains images which are NSFW) at Pink Raygun.

I've since read many, many commentaries on this thanks to fangirls_attack and I really didn't know what to add myself.
As often happens when living in a time-zone far away from the hub, I kinda missed the initial brouhaha of the Wonder Woman Body Paint Job.

Let me first state that I don't think porn is inherently bad, just like I don't think the sex industry is inherently bad.
Let me tell you what I do think is bad:
Exploitation and Objectification.
Yes, friends it's same old, same old once again and still, still it won't get into people thick heads that Women, especially Super Heroine Women are not sexual objects.
They can and usually are sexy, but they are not sexual.

Why do feminist and in this case the feminist fangrrls have to re-iterate this point time and time again!
Is it really a novelty?
Is it really so difficult to understand that women's bodies are not fucking separate from their brains and personality!.

Oh and yes, I take offense to the fact that Wonder Woman, the female Super Heroine, one of the Big DC Three, has been reduced, by Playboy, into a body paint.
It in fact, infuriates me!

Bush is leaving and his visit passed without any major disasters. Protests and Demos from both sides of the spectrum, for completely different reasons, but once again we see the two sides of the fence united in their dislike towards The Prez.

Soon he'll be gone, he's already somewhat of a lame duck, but soon (and hopefully) some sanity will return to the White House.

Speaking of which, the brouhaha on the net concerning Gloria Steinem's NY Times Op-Ed about Hillary Clinton (and BTW am I the only one annoyed that in the media she is called "Hillary" while everyone else is referred to by their surname?!).
Gender is still divisive, no doubt. It is probably the most divisive tool humanity has invented and we still have a long way to go which seems to be something Ms. Steinem doesn't want to see, at least that was the impression I got from the op-ed.
The whole "Weeping Woman" thing with Clinton in New-Hampshire was, in my mind, blown out of proportion by the media.

At this point in our collective history true equality does not exist. Mainly because the game played is the same, only with a little more diversity when it comes to gender and race. Women if they are to be successful (i.e. make money) have to work as men have worked. This isn't so different from before Suffrage in the late 19th century to early 20th century and the Civil Rights Movement era, during which many, many groups demanded recognition and self-determination, the Women's movement was big then. But the revolution is over and all men and women, of every race and ethnicity are equal. Right?

Eh, not so much.

The world in which we live in demands that women do exactly the same as men in the name of equality, to be "as good as the next guy".
A great aspiration indeed.
Though not the entire or even the goal at all.
Ms. Steinem is being a little unfair, because change and the relations between the genders are different from the time she stood on the podium and demanded to be recognized.
We have progressed, but to where?
That's the question.

There is a difference between Reformism and Radicalism. At the moment there is reform going on, changes made in the System to accommodate the change going on (much too slowly).

But doesn't anyone think that perhaps the System (society, culture etc.) is flawed and that we should aspire to change that, a few grassroots at a time.

Reform is good for now, the immediate, because we have yet to reach a critical mass where the overhaul of a the machine in which we live is viable, at least in my opinion.
That doesn't mean we mustn't cease to move towards a more radical solution in order to end these oppressions, which while are not protected by law any more, are still entrenched and instilled into us from babyhood.