Honor killings

Rana Husseini is tall, unusually tall for a Jordanian. Several years ago I met her when she was collecting signatures on a petition to do away with honor killing in Jordan. “If you are Jordanian, please sign the petition”, she asked the mixed Arab and western crowd. I got the point. I am a westerner and will never be able to understand this culture completely. Anything said by a westerner would be interpreted as unwelcome foreign meddling and would hinder the cause.

Rana Husseini covered crime stories for the Jordan times. Every time I was in the capital I picked up a copy of the paper and looked for her byline. Over and over again she wrote the stories of women killed by their families. A thirteen year old boy saw his sister talking on the telephone, thought she was talking to a man, and strangled her with the phone cord. Another woman confessed to her brother that she was pregnant by an Egyptian who had left the country. The brother promised to get her an abortion and an operation to restore her virginity, then returned with a gun and shot her. Sometimes Husseini would go to a village and no one would talk to her about the killing. Other times she received death threats herself.

During the time I lived there about 30 women were killed by their families every year. The upper house of Jordan’s parliament, appointed by the King, had passed a bill against honor killings, but the bill could not pass the lower house, whose members are elected, largely through tribal politics. Since I left the law has changed. Honor killing is now illegal in Jordan.

Is honor killing Islamic? In an article for PBS, Husseini says no:

I want to emphasize two things. One is that all women are not threatened in this way in my country. Any woman who speaks to any man will not be killed. These crimes are isolated and limited, although they do cross class and education boundaries. The other thing is a lot of people assume incorrectly that these crimes are mandated by Islam, but they are not. Islam is very strict about killing, and in the rare instances where killing is counseled, it is when adultery is committed within a married couple. In these cases, there must be four eyewitnesses and the punishment must be carried out by the community, not by the family members involved.

Honor killings are part of a culture, not a religion, and occur in Arab communities in the United States and many countries. One-third of the reported homicides in Jordan are honor killings. The killers are treated with leniency, and families assign the task of honor killing to a minor, because under Jordanian juvenile law, minors who commit crimes are sentenced to a juvenile center where they can learn a profession and continue their education, and then, at eighteen, be released without a criminal record. The average term served for an honor killing is only seven and a half months.

Rana Husseini has written a book on the subject, Murder in the Name of Honor. When it is released, it should be well worth reading.

Cross-posted at Chilling Out.

Bedouins and goats

Here is a Jordanian goat.

The goat belongs to Fatma. Fatima is the one on the left. Yes, they have tatoos on their faces. I found out later that Jordanian women don’t usually allow themselves to be photographed.  I hope I don’t get into trouble with the Bene Sakr for this one.

Fatima is stirring up the goats with a stick to try to get them to be more photogenic for the picture.

Then Fatma took a picture of me with the goat. I don’t know if she ever used a camera before.

[photo edited]

I know a Jordanian guy who put a photo of his wife on the internet–she had a proper scarf on, hair completely covered  and everything.  He had to take it down after some guys at work started making nasty comments about her. There were pictures of his kids too, but that wasn’t a problem.  I wanted to take a picture of her–I had stayed with the family a few times–but by then she didn’t want anyone taking her picture because of the bad experience.

It’s too bad when women’s photos have to be removed–in any culture. You don’t see that happening with men.

Women’s History Month: Mariachis

Yes, there is a whole history of women mariachis.  For a synopsis of mariachi women from the 30’s on up and some interesting photos–and the women’s mariachi costumes too!–check out The History of Women in Mariachi Music by Leonor Xochitl Perez and Laura Sobrino.

Two famous mariachi women are Juanita Ulloa who has a classically trained voice but also does mariachi music, and the amazing but tragic Lucha Reyes (1906-1944), who started out as a more classical singer.

Juanita Ulloa

Listen to Juanita Ulloa here. According to her website :

JUANITA is one of the USA’s rising star singer/songwriters in music from Spain and Latin America, especially Mexico. Ms. Ulloa specializes in the performance, promotion and study of both Classical and folkloric Hispanic vocal styles from Spain, Latin America and Mexico, and she began the unique “Operachi” style of singing, which combines Opera with Mariachi in a unique way, taking the role of women in mariachi to a new level of singing.

Ms. Ulloa is a Yale University graduate with eight prize winning CDs and three songbooks in libraries worldwide, with the world’s first ever Mariachi for Kids & Families CD slated for 2009. She has served as a musical ambassador for Peru and Mexico, entertaining dignitaries and ambassadors in Spain, Peru, Mexico and major cities in the USA, plus the LA Olympics. Ms. Ulloa teaches Hispanic voice and music as “Profe Juanita” at Texas State University, Northwest Vista College and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Lucha Reyes

Lucha sings “Ay Jalisco no te rajes”:

Lucha Reyes, also known as  María de la Luz Flores Aceves (her maddeningly incomplete wiki, and her Spanish wiki) was a native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, the home town of the mariachis.  She  started singing in the circus at the age of thirteen and became a popular Mexican radio singer. In the 20’s  she went on tour of Los Angeles and Europe as a soprano singer. After an illness, her voice changed and she began singing in the “ranchera-mariachi” style.  Between 1937 and her death in 1943 at the age of 38, she was in six movies.

Some images of women mariachis (and a few with folklórico costumes).  Can you spot Ronald Reagan?

Digging Out Women’s History

March is here already. What to do for women’s history month. First of all, the president has not yet made the declaration, but when he does, it will be posted here:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/PresidentialActions/.

My students this semester are pretty much at a very basic level of English–I just read them Dr. Seuss’s Foot Book (“Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, feet.”), so anything I use will either have to be very basic or in their own language. And how many of my students have finished the sixth grade in their own countries?  Some, but others are on a fourth grade level in their own language, so they might not do well with that either.  So what they need is either something very simple or with a Hispanic focus, preferably both.  And for me, something more challenging.

The Library of Congress does have some pages devoted to Women’s History Month, including historical photographs, but if you want to use them you’re stuck trying to puzzle out the copyright explanation page which says you have to research each photograph.

And what if you want to link to LOC?

If you wish to link to our site, you may do so even without permission as long as your link makes it clear that there is a transition to another site, and that you do not present the link in a way that implies that the Library of Congress or the National Digital Library Program is endorsing a particular product, service, or organization. However, the Library of Congress does like to hear how its site is being used, so please send an email message to the National Digital Library Program mailbox as a courtesy.

Forget that. If anyone really, really wants to see it they can google “women’s history month” and www.loc.gov/topics/womenshistory will come up on the first page.

The National Women’s History Project has an interesting “test your knowledge of women’s history” quiz with the answers at the bottom.  We once had a similar quiz at work during African American History Month with prizes given to those who could guess the most historical people.

You might also check your local public library, your local city or municipality (nothing publicized yet  in Chicago), or your local universities (hmm, some of these look interesting), especially those with women’s studies programs.  Chicago Public Schools has an excellent page with book recommendations for children by grade level and a list of external websites for Women’s History Month. You could also check out some blogs about women’s history like this one in Australia (with an extensive blogroll). Or this intriguing Chicago history site written by a woman–check the sidebar for women social reformers like Florence Kelley and Jane Addams.

And what do real people recommend reading?

►check out books by Carmen Lomas Garza. “En Mi Familia” is one but there’s another one too… (from LJSNAustin)

►If you want strong women in old children’s books at a read yourself level, maybe 4th grade, there’s a rare one, THE WICKED ENCHANTMENT by iirc Margot Benary-Isbert about a good witch in Germany in mid-century, totally delightful! (from TDO)

►Strega Nona but she’s Italian. http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USUS299US303&aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Strega+Nona (from TDO)

►Ooh, here’s a great female heroine for children around 10 though some mid-century sophistacation required. Now what was her name? A British mouse … sort of like Hillary … ah, Margery Sharp’s “Miss Bianca”. Sort of like Miss Manners. (fromTDO)

►Victor Villasenor has written several AMAZING books – The best is called Rain of Gold (it’s big) but many of the ‘tales’ from the larger book can be found in “Walking Stars” as well .  He tells the story of his families roots from deep in the mountains of Mexico and the personalities, strength and character of the women (his great grandmothers) and their unbelievable struggles and triumphs has made Rain of Gold one of my all time FAVORITE books .

I will warn you , though , he does not sugar coat the experiences of these women during Pancho Villa’s revolution . He IS , however a master Storyteller, and I would recommend ANY of his books .

I am reading “Burro Genius” with a co-worker (young latina mother ) while we are working on her GED . (from Texas Tigress)

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Guardians poster above by Ann Altman, Poem by Diane Ackerman.“…I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred, but offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature, as a healer of misery, as a messenger of wonder, as an architect of peace….”

Book list for women’s rights

On a late night thread, the discussion turned to books about women’s rights and politics. Here are my recommendations.  I am also emailing this list to the person who wants to stock their bookshelf.   A lot of the books are from the 60’s.

For books, I remember two classics from the 60’s: Sisterhood is Powerful, an anthology, and Century of Struggle about winning the vote (you can’t even say “suffrage” any more because they don’t know what that means) and there’s a lot in there about women in trade unions too.

Here is the Amazon review for Sisterhood is Powerful, ed. Robin Morgan with the red fist on the cover. Out of print and there are several more modern ones by Morgan, but I don’t know anything about them to recommend or not.

http://www.amazon.com/Sisterhood-Powerful-Anthology-Writings-Liberation/dp/0394705394/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226986503&sr=8-3

This was the eye-opening book, the manifesto, the “click” that happened when you suddenly saw your situation from the outside and realized the deck was stacked. It was divided into sections by topic, politics, psychology, sexuality, lesbians…so you could start with something you were interested in and work into the other stuff that was more difficult or controversial later.  This is probably really dated, birth control was new at the time, but it was a classic.

I don’t know that I’m recommending (since it’s out of print) so much as putting it out there for discussion since it was so influential.

Here is Century of Struggle, the history of the battle for the vote by Eleanor Flexner. The version I read was much older with a different cover. For me this is required reading and I see someone else reviewed it by saying “required reading” too. I would worry that it isn’t dumbed down enough for today’s crowd though. At least this one has stayed in print. Nice index too.

http://www.amazon.com/Century-Struggle-Womans-Movement-Enlarged/dp/0674106539/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226987106&sr=8-1

I am reminded of what the African Americans I used to work with used to say, “No one gives you your rights voluntarily–you have to take them.”

Of course you want The Feminist Papers, ed. Alice Rossi. Not exactly readable but has all the documents from Abagail Adams to Mary Wollstonecraft to British feminists and a description of Seneca Falls Convention.  If you need to quote something historical, this is the reference to have:

http://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Papers-Adams-Beauvoir/dp/1555530281/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226991016&sr=8-1

I don’t know if anyone is looking for religion/goddess type historical stuff but I love Barbara G. Walker’s The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets.  At first glance this one looks like it’s way out there, and you say to yourself, “Oh I have that reference and what she’s saying just isn’t in there”, then you pull your copy off the shelf to make sure and it’s in there all right–down in a foot note–you just never connected the dots.
http://www.amazon.com/Womans-Encyclopedia-Myths-Secrets/dp/006250925X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1226991657&sr=8-1

In a similar vein but not as comprehensive, is Merlin Stone’s When God was a Woman with some archaeological conjecture—lots of biblical references to ancient goddesses too. Still, I enjoyed reading it– since you won’t hear that sort of evidence from male archaeologists.
http://www.amazon.com/When-God-Woman-Merlin-Stone/dp/015696158X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226992022&sr=8-1

Also, textbooks on Public Administration and maybe Personnel often have sections on women, especially in light of legal changes for those who have to follow the law in hiring practices (hostile workplace environment, anyone?) without necessarily having a law background.  Sometimes there’s a rather interesting philosophical/theoretical discussion that goes with it.

Have fun.

Troubled about the status of women in America? Sign the petition.

Women Count is a non-profit political group committed to giving women a voice in the political process. They have a petition for you to sign. They are calling for the new president to create, within the first 100 days, a presidential commission on women similar to the one President Kennedy commissioned in 1961.

SOMETIMES THERE IS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN HISTORY WHEN IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THINGS MUST CHANGE AND LEADERS MUST ACT. THAT MOMENT IS NOW FOR THE WOMEN OF THIS COUNTRY.

THE LESSONS OF THIS CAMPAIGN WERE ABUNDANT:

• As the economy became the single most critical issue in the election, the role that women play in our economic structure has never been clearer. Women are the backbone of the nation’s workforce and control 70 percent of its buying power.

• The candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, while inspiring women and girls around the country to imagine what can be, exposed extreme gender bias in the media and throughout our culture.

• Women, who make up 56 percent of the voting population, were targeted as never before as the critical bloc that would determine the outcome of the election.

In 1961, as the nation grappled with the issue of women in the workplace, President John Kennedy convened the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. Kennedy recognized the moment was right.

That was 47 years ago, and it’s time to do it again. As in 1961, women are at the forefront of our political discourse – and we are committed to keeping them there.

A record number of women are seeking ways to participate more fully in all aspects of American life, politics and policymaking. A Presidential Commission on Women is the right vehicle to initiate a national conversation on the future of women. If Not Now, When?

Status of American women falls short–very short

So the United States must be number one in the world for just about everything, right?   Not when it comes to the status of women.

The 2008 Women’s Index Rank is a composite score based on educational, economic, poitical, and health status factors like maternal mortality and life expectancy.  According to the index, the United States ranks number 22 out of the 43 more developed countries (right behind Sweden, New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Greece, Slovania, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia).

The U.S. also has the dubious distinction of paying women 63 cents for every dollar a man makes. Compare this to 81% for Sweden or 67% for Croatia. And in the United States only 17% of seats in national government are held by women. Compare this with Portugal (28%), Iceland (33%), the Netherlands (39%), and Sweden (47%).

If we can’t hold our own against Europe, then maybe at least American women are better off than Arab women? Maybe a little. The ratio of estimated female to male earned income is Bahrain 34%, Egypt 23%, Iran 39%,  Jordan 31%, and Kuwait 35%. When it comes to participation of women in national government, it’s Bahrain 3%, Egypt 2%, Iran 4%, Iraq 26%, Jordan 6%, and Kuwait 2%.

Hey wait a minute. In Iraq 26% of the legislators are female? And here in the U.S. only 17%?

Maybe we ought to find out how those Iraqis are running their government and have them come over here and help us.

Will the “historical” candidate have a “historical” cabinet?

Last night I turned on the television long enough to hear McCain’s concession speech and Obama’s victory speech.  And of course between speeches the pundits had a little time to fill.  “A historic candidate”, they said about Obama.  Changing channels, “…historic…”  Changing channels again, “..historic…”.  Well, at least they all agree.

Today the pundits are asking who will be on the staff of the executive branch. Good question. Currently the the United States ranks 69^th in the world with regard to women in government.

Surely the new president who says he wants to unite people will have an inclusive staff? Doesn’t look like it. Obama’s people say there “aren’t enough qualified women” and call the idea “stupid”.

After the last Democratic Primary was over and it was clear Senator Clinton was not going to get the Democratic nomination, myself, and a small group of Clinton supporters met with Senator McCain.I personally explained to Senator McCain that women comprise well over half of the population, yet you will not see a single picture of a woman on paper currency. Women are underrepresented in every branch of government and there has never been a female president or vice president. I personally asked Senator McCain to choose a woman for the Vice Presidential slot and to increase the number of women in the cabinet and on the Supreme Court. Senator McCain listened respectfully to my request. Little did I know then that he heard me and the millions of women of this country who have gone unrepresented in the Executive branch of government for far too long.

When I made similar requests of the Obama campaign, I was laughed at by the canvassers outside my home, told there weren’t enough qualified women by a member of his Finance Committee, and asked by a member of a policy committee why I was making such a stupid request.

But that’s just the finance and policy staff, right? Obama himself really stands for fairness, doesn’t he?  Maybe not.

Obama’s female staffers, on average, make just 83 cents to the dollar his male staffers make.

Ooops.  And it looks like Vice President Elect Biden’s pay practices are even worse. Despite the fact that Biden employs 27 women and only 14 men, very few of the women and men share common titles.  The one job where there is overlap is staff assistants.  These are traditionally entry level low-wage jobs in congressional offices.

So how do Biden’s salaries stack up?

The average male staff assistant in Biden’s office (based on the most recent salary figures) made $39,162 in the time period.

The average woman in that position made $21,323.

McCain’s promise:

By the end of my first term, I promise you will see a dramatic increase in the presence of women in every part of the government. You have my word on it.

For those of us who don’t have a trust fund, this could be a looooong four years.
(Thanks to Madamab at The Confluence)

Political witch hunters and taking back the witch brand

It seems like every time someone anonymous wants to discredit a female politician, instead of talking about policy and credentials, they pull out the old witch meme.

Like the anonymous blogger (of course they never sign their real names) who says  “pray that the witch known as Sarah Palin flies away on her broom.”  And no, I’m not going to give a link.

A google search for “witch Hillary” turns up 2,470,000 hits.

But “Nancy Pelosi witch” only gets 159,000 hits.

Forget that.  Today I’m going to have a little fun.  I’ve unearthed my Halloween witch hat and dusted it off–yesterday I wore it to class. I totally forgot I was wearing it until people started smiling and waving to me on the street.  So instead of putting the hat discreetly away, today I will wear it again everywhere I can think of–with a big smile on my face.

People like witches.

Saturday is No Spend Day–and a time to reevaluate relationships

Two things are supposed to happen this Saturday.  The first is No Spend Day.  (Via 18 million voices) This is supposed to be a day of no spending and no commercial media in support of women’s issues.

On Saturday August 16th, 2008, observe a day of NO SPENDING to evidence that we are serious in our demand of fair practices for women.

Don’t spend a DIME for 24 hours. NO SPENDING (cash or credit) on: internet purchases, gas for the car, cups of coffee, TV shopping, movies, dining, grocery or clothes.
NO SPENDING ON ANYTHING.

Instead, plan a day of R&R, read a book or clean your closet BUT hold onto your money AND turn off all commercial TV and Radio in response to all forms of bais against women in the media.

A day of no spending will demonstrate that women, and those who support women’s issues, can impact the economy as well as the election.

I think it’s a good idea.   It doesn’t seem to have been very widely publicized, but never mind.  Just as fasting during Ramadan makes you more aware of what you eat, smoke, and drink, planning ahead for how not to shop or use commercial media on a particular day is a good exercise in becoming more aware of how we use our money and time.  For starters I will probably listen to public radio, go for a long walk, and if I do a blog post, I will either write it ahead of time or date it ahead so as to not have it appear on Saturday. (Although WordPress blogs are free, they do sometimes put ads on our blogs to generate income.) I’m still thinking about this one, since the blog serves my purposes as well.

The other thing that’s supposed to happen on Saturday is an eclipse of the moon.  Astrologers will tell you a lunar eclipse during a full moon, as this one is, is particularly significant and the effects can last as long as six months.

The “crisis” that these eclipses tend to elicit is a crisis of lack–a time when we suddenly realize a great need or want. The impact of the crisis can act to sever a relationship–it’s possible. But it can also bring two people together with a sudden awareness of a great need for each other. Although Lunar eclipses are more relationship-oriented than Solar eclipses, they are not always about relationships between two people. They can trigger awareness of need in other areas of our lives, such as our relationship to work, to our health and bodies, and so forth. This is a time when matters come to light–things that have been brewing under the surface…

Lunar Eclipses are about relationships and polarities. With the Leo-Aquarius axis involved, this Lunar Eclipse presses us to look more closely at our needs, lacks, and wants in our lives. The Leo-Aquarius polarity deals with the balance between all that is personal (Leo) and all that is impersonal (Aquarius). The energy of Leo is creative self-expression and the boost to the individual ego that we receive through pleasure and romance, while Aquarius rules the group, more impersonal friendships, and objectivity. This Full Moon urges us to strike a balance between romance and friendship, and between expressing ourselves in personal and impersonal ways. The Leo Sun is proud and intensely individual—not content with simply being just one of the team. The Aquarius Moon, while individualistic as well, values independence and the “team”. The Full Moon illuminates this conflict. Some sort of crisis (which can be a crisis of consciousness) or sudden awareness of a lack in our lives provides us with a golden opportunity to explore our emotional needs within the context of the house polarity where the eclipse occurs in our natal charts. Relationships may be challenged, broken, or strengthened dramatically at this time. Our discovery is emotionally charged and dramatic. Epiphanies are likely at this time as we become acutely aware of our lack. This understanding can propel us into positive action.

I like horoscopes, not because I’m convinced that they are true  (or untrue) or even that they convey unique information about one person at one moment in time, but because they provide an interesting framework for organizing the way we do long term planning and analysis of our personal lives.

Maybe Saturday is also a good day to contemplate our relationships with money, media, and politics, and to take whatever revelations and outpourings the full moon inspires and start turning them into rational processes.