Tag Archives: sexism

Pregnant Farzana Parveen Stoned To Death By Own Family In Pakistan

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A pregnant woman, Farzana Parveen, has been stoned to death by more than 20 members of her own family in front of the high court of Lahore. She was only 25 and three-months pregnant.

The group included her father and brothers. They attacked her and her husband with batons and bricks. The attack happened in broad daylight.

Hundreds of women are killed every year in honor killings but public stoning is rare.

Police investigator Rana Mujahid said the woman’s father has been arrested for murder and that police were working to apprehend all those who participated in the “heinous crime.”

Another police officer, Naseem Butt, said she was killed because she married Mohammad Iqbal against her family’s wishes.

Her father, Mohammad Azeem, had filed an abduction case against Iqbal.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private organisation, said in a report last month that some 869 women were murdered in honour killings in 2013.

Zia Awan, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist, said: “I have not heard of any such case in which a woman was stoned to death, and the most shameful and worrying thing is that this woman was killed in front of a court.”

He said Pakistanis who commit violence against women are often acquitted or handed light sentences because of poor police work and faulty prosecutions.

“Either the family does not pursue such cases or police don’t properly investigate. As a result, the courts either award light sentences to the attackers, or they are acquitted,”

Her husband survived the attack. Iqbal, 45, said he started seeing Parveen after the death of his first wife, with whom he had five children.

“We were in love,” he told The Associated Press. He alleged that the woman’s family wanted to fleece money from him before marrying her off. “I simply took her to court and registered a marriage,”

Parveen’s father called the murder an “honor killing” and surrendered after.

“I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it,” Mujahid, the police investigator, quoted the father as saying.

Vogue Says Women Are Allowed To Have Breasts This Season

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Women of the world rejoice! Vogue says we are allowed to have breasts! Yes, you got it, breasts are in this season. What we are supposed to do next season is anyones guess but lets not be ungrateful. A man can have a penis all year but breasts are, y’know, inconvenient. Just ask Fashion Designer Marios Schwab who told Tatler “I’m not a big fan of breasts. They’re a challenging constructional point.” Well, Mario, how about not designing for women then, because you know who don’t have breasts? Men.

Catherine Balavage

Vogue says in this article titled Return of The Bosom: “So if boobs are not yet an out-and-out fashion trend, they are becoming a frequent exception to the rule.” Should someone make fashion know that women’s breasts aren’t detachable? Maybe a post-it note or something? This piece clearly shows that Kate Upton is a feminist icon. Yes, you can model and be a female role model. She was deemed “too obvious” for fashion. Now some fashionistas grind their teeth every time she is featured on the cover of Vogue, as she is this month.

Vogue goes on to say: ‘Men love boobs – that’s a well-documented story we needn’t explore here. But for women, as is true for fashion, the relationship is more complicated. In short, breasts are difficult to dress. During couture week, Jourdan Dunn exclaimed on Twitter, “Ahahahahahahha I just got cancelled from Dior because of my boobs!” But, she reasoned, “I’m normally told I’m cancelled because I’m ‘coloured’ so being cancelled because of my boobs is a minor : )”‘

 

Wow. Breasts may be difficult to dress, but only because designers are so bad at accommodating them. I mean, what’s next? Hips, arms, thighs? If you can’t make women’s clothes with breasts in mind, you are clearly an untalented idiot. Something Sarah Millican wrote an amazing essay on after being trolled after the BAFTA awards.

 

In my other life as an actor, my breasts have lead to the most amusing moments in my career. I didn’t develop breasts until I was in my twenties but when they came they didn’t hold back:  my size now is 32DD. Which makes costume designers hate you. When I was a UK size 4/6 (I am now a size 8), wardrobe loved me, but when I developed breasts I would stand in the middle of the room while various costume people asked each other, ‘What are we supposed to do with those?’ The answer was usually gaffa tape them down. I am so thankful I am a strong person and that was done to me rather than someone else. I can look at it with amusement, other, emotionally fragile or vulnerable, women could possibly have developed an eating disorder. I have spent a lot of time being dressed up like a boy for parts. I have no idea why. Just hire a fricking boy if that’s what you want.

 

In fact I am rather sick of fashion expecting women to make their bodies fit the dress, rather than the other way around. Even the thinnest woman has curves, only boys are drawn in a truly straight line. We are not ornaments or hangers. In what other aspect of our lives do we pay money for something that isn’t made to suit us and our lifestyles? Instead we are expected to diet our entire lives just for the joy of wearing clothes designed by people who obviously hate the female form, and don’t even lie about it. Yet, still we punish ourselves.

 

Of course not all designers are like this. Valentino clearly loves women. As does Roberto Cavalli. Dolce & Gabbana say in the same Vogue article: “We always try to create clothes that enhance a woman’s curves. We like to think that a Dolce & Gabbana girl wants to be very feminine, sensual, strong and fierce of her body.” So let’s take a stance in the only way that really gets things done: with our money. Any designer who hates women’s bodies should not have a penny of a women’s money.

Whilst researching this piece I came across this article Hadley Freeman wrote on this subject. Check it out here and this website, a body gallery of how women really look, was interesting too.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Sarah Millican Responds To Criticism About Her Appearance On The Red Carpet

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The red carpet can be a brutal place for women: their talent is put to one side and they are based entirely on the sum of their parts and ability to dress. This is what happened to Sarah Millican at last year’s BAFTA Awards.

“I’m sorry. I thought I had been invited to such an illustrious event because I am good at my job. Putting clothes on is such a small part of my day. They may as well have been criticising me for brushing my teeth differently to them” She wrote in her Radio Times Essay.

 

Sarah millican responds to trolls BAFTA Awards

Trolls on the internet attacked her red carpet look, calling it “disastrous” and “nana”-like. She was hurt but choose to respond and point out the sexism of a woman being judged on her appearance rather than celebrated for her achievements.

“I’m not a model (I’m a comedian), have never learnt how to pose on a red carpet (I’m a comedian) and I have pretty low self-esteem.”

She also had this to say about her John Lewis dress:

“Fancy expensive designer shops are out for me as I’m a size 18, sometimes 20, and I therefore do not count as a woman to them.”

“It was like a pin to my excitable red balloon. Literally thousands of messages from people criticising my appearance. I was fat and ugly as per usual. … I cried. I cried in the car.”

Then she got angry….

“Why does it matter so much what I was wearing? … I felt wonderful in that dress. And surely that’s all that counts.”

 

Cate Blanchett also got sick of the sexist double standards after the cameras kept scanning her up and down at this year’s SAG Awards. She asked, “Do you do that to the guys?”

Funnily, Millican, points out the sexism of the situation: “My husband wasn’t asked who he was wearing, which disappointed him. Mainly because he was dying to tell ANYONE he was wearing an Asda tux.”

Even better, Millican had this to say about the dress she wore:

“I made a decision the following day that should I ever be invited to attend the Baftas again, I will wear the same dress. To make the point that it doesn’t matter what I wear; that’s not what I’m being judged on.”

 

 

Campaign Launched For Mothers To Be Included On Marriage Certificates

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Wedding bride and groomI recently went to my local council with my fiancé to give notice to marry and was both shocked and appalled to learn that mothers are not included on marriage certificates in England. In Scotland and Northern Ireland mothers are included, but not in England. This essentially whitewashes women out of the history of their own children. Mothers carry their children for nine months and then go through the pain of labour and risk their lives to give birth to them, apparently this isn’t enough to be included on their marriage certificate.

It was upon reading this excellent guest post on Mumsnet by Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler that I decided that enough is enough. So I have signed her campaign and you should to. After all, without women the world would cease to exist. Yet the children that we have get a man’s surname slapped on them and then we are not even important enough to be included on their marriage certificate. As Alisa says in her blog post: “Did you know that marriage certificates in England and Wales include a section for the names and occupations of the fathers of the bride and groom, but the names and occupations of their mothers are not allowed to be recorded?

In Scotland and Northern Ireland information about mothers is included. Civil Partnerships also recognise mothers, unlike same sex marriages, which mirror their heterosexual counterparts.

‘So what?’ I hear some corners of the internet cry – ‘haven’t we got bigger fish to fry?’ But imagine you’ve brought up your child on your own – when the most important day of their life comes along you won’t be legally acknowledged, and the absent father will be. And if you’ve raised a child together, imagine that only he is considered important enough to give his blessing to the union. And it’s about more than a hurtful snub – it’s about the erasing of women from the civil and legal system of which marriage is a central part. We’re writing women out of history, and it seems indicative of a society where decisions are made by men to suit men. ”

Enough is enough: please also sign the petition so we can end the sexism. 33,000 people have so far. Thank you.

Catherine

Follow Alisa here: Twitter: @nameequality

 

Ricky Gervais: Women Are Treated Like Props In Film & TV

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RickyGervaisinterview

 

Ricky Gervais has hit out at the way women are treated in the entertainment industry in an interview with the Radio Times.

He said that he loves to write complex female characters “because usually they’re props, particularly in comedy”.

“Even in Hollywood, they’re usually air heads or if they’re ambitious they’re straight away cold and need to be taught a lesson, They need to show that getting a man is more important than getting a career. Or they’re just props for men to do funny things.”

Gervais then talked about his childhood,

“People think that men rule the world but they don’t, really, That was never my experience growing up and certainly not at Broad Hill (the elderly care home in Derek). Men, when they’re together, revert to the playground.”

Derek returns for a second series on Channel 4 later this month.

Gemma Chan Calls For The End Of Page 3

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Actress Gemma Chan labels Page 3 ‘a disgrace’ and throws her weight behind the No More Page 3 campaign.

 

Gemma Chan is currently starring in the film Jack Reacher: Shadow Recruit,  later this year she stars in London Fields with Johnny Depp and new BBC TV show, The Game, with Brian Cox. She is the partner of comedian Jack Whitehall and has appeared in TV shows including Fresh Meat, Dr Who, Sherlock and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

 

Gemma Chan

In a front page interview with The London Magazine, March issue, out now. Gemma said

 

“A picture of a naked woman isn’t in itself a sexist thing, but it’s the context of having those pictures in the most ubiquitous newspaper and the culture that creates. This campaign is saying that it is sexist and it’s not harmless: it influences boys and girls growing up as to how they view a woman’s place in society. You have a newspaper where all the men are decision makers, the managers, the sports people etc, and as a woman there is page 3 telling you that the most important thing is that you’re viewed as sexually desirable, and in quite a limited way.” The campaigners also point out that page 3 is usually the largest image of a woman in any newspaper on any given day, “which is a disgrace,” says Chan.“Imagine if it was a picture of a teenage guy with his balls out every day; the arguments against it would seem completely self-evident.” 

 

 

The No More Page 3 campaign was started by Lucy Holmes when she bought a copy of the Sun during the 2012 Olympics and found that she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the largest female image was the Page 3 image even though Jessica Ennis had just gold. Lucy said

 

‘We are thrilled to have Gemma on board. She’s a really energetic supporter who often tweets us and wears her No More Page 3 T-shirt! The pressure really is building now on David Dinsmore, editor of The Sun, he can’t choose to stay stuck in the sexist 1970s for much longer!’

 

No More Page 3 is supported by

  • Girlguiding UK (over 500,000 young members)
  • Mumsnet (Mumsnet is the UK’s largest website for parents, with 4.3 million monthly unique visitors)
  • The British Youth Council (over 220 youth organisations)
  • UK Youth (working with approx. 1 million young people, and 11,000 youth clubs)
  • Members of the Girls’ Brigade England and Wales (just under 20,000 members)
  • The NUT, ATL, NAHT and NASUWT (combining over 780,000 teachers, lecturers and Head Teachers)
  • Unison (our largest union, 1.3 million members)
  • The National Assembly of Wales
  • The Scottish Parliament
  • The Royal College of Midwives
  • The Royal College of Nursing
  • 28 universites and 6 Oxford University Colleges have voted to stop selling The Sun until it drops the page 3 topless images
  • Rape Crisis
  • Woman’s Aid
  • End Violence Against Women’s Coalition

Kristin Scott Thomas Retires From Film

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Kristin_Scott_ThomasAfter 20 years and nearly 80 credits Kristin Scott Thomas has announced she is done with making films and has decided to quit.

“I just suddenly thought, I cannot cope with another film, I realised I’ve done the things I know how to do so many times in different languages, and I just suddenly thought, I can’t do it any more. I’m bored by it. So I’m stopping.” She told The Guardian.

Scott Thomas has said it is partly due to be treated like an “aging actress.” She is sick of playing the “sad middle-aged woman”.

“[I’m] asked to do the same things over and over, because people know you can do that, so they want you to do that. But I just don’t want to pretend to be unhappy anymore — and it is mostly unhappy.”

“I’m often asked to do something because I’m going to be a sort of weight to their otherwise flimsy production. They need me for production purposes, basically. So they give me a little role in something where they know I’m going to be able to turn up, know what to do, cry in the right place. I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds, but I keep doing these things for other people, and last year I just decided life’s too short. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

There might be a small surfeit of roles for elderly actresses like Maggie Smith and Judi Dench (who never seem to stop working, thank goodness), but the film industry has little need for women in their fifties, except to play moms. I’m sort of, as the French would say, ‘stuck between two chairs’, because I’m no longer 40 and sort of a seductress, and I’m not yet a granny.”

On studio films she says; “I can’t bear all the kind of rubbish that goes on on those big films. I just can’t stand sitting around for hours in a great big luxury trailer, waiting, bored out of my head. I used to do a lot of tapestry. Yes, I had a lot of cushions around.” On Confessions of a Shopaholic, she says, “I thought it would be quite good fun. But I spent my entire time waiting. I hated it, hated it, hated it, and I said that I wouldn’t do another one.”

She won’t be doing TV either; “I can’t do miniseries. Once you’ve got the characters, once you know who they are, they’re going to repeat themselves, aren’t they, for the next five years? It just goes on and on and on. I get terribly bored. Series bore me.”

However, you can still find her on stage; “When you are acting in a film, you’re giving the director the raw material to make the film,” she says. “But when you’re acting on stage, that’s it. And that’s when you discover that you can really do it. It’s this word ‘trust’ that keeps coming to me. It’s not a question of whether one person is conning you into thinking you can do it, saying, ‘Oh, it was beautiful.’ On stage, if it works, it works.”

 

Lily Allen Makes A Comeback And We Love It

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While Lily Allen’s new music video Hard Out Here has drawn some criticism I love it. It is cheeky and it has drawn debate. It starts of with Lily having liposuction while her manager and the surgeons wonder how ‘anyone can let themselves get like these’. ‘I’ve had two babies’, she responds.
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Lily had to deny claims the video was racist and said she just hired the best dancers.

She said the video, “has nothing to do with race, at all, is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture … The message is clear.”

She also said said she didn’t request “specific ethnicities” for her dancers; simply hiring the “the best dancers” from the auditions. “I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of, or compromised in any way,” Allen’s “insecurities” stopped her twerking alongside them in her underwear “I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably,” she said. “if I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see.”

All of Allen’s dancers – Seliza Sebastian, Melissa Freire, Shala EuroAsia, Monique Lawrence, and Temple – stood by Lily and the video, posting links to it and retweeting Allen’s remarks. “Critics will be critics,” Men have been exploiting women in the stereotype Lily sends up in her video for decades. Is she not aloud to point it out because she is of another race?

She also send up Robin Thicke and his rapey ‘Blurred Lines’ video by replacing the ‘Robin Thicke has a big d**k” (more like is) scene with “Lily Allen Has a Baggy Pussy”. It’s rude but amusing.

Lily Allen has gotten a lot of stick, and numerous people are pointing out that her comeback after four years away from music coincides with her vintage store she had with her sister, Lucy in Disguise, going broke, but we need more Lily Allen’s. Not because she is perfect- she sings about women being objectified but has posed topless for GQ– but because she has an opinion, isn’t afraid to share it and proudly calls herself a feminist- something that not all celebrities are brave enough to do. She may not be everyone’s idea of a role model but it is sexist that every women in the public eye has her every move questioned, and is always supposed to be a role model. Men are never held up to the same lofty heights. We need more of her because Lily Allen is a happily married mother-of-two. She works hard and goes for what she wants. Some people call her mouthy but that is only because she is a women, if she was a man she would just have an opinion. Go Lily, we love you.

What do you think?