Matrocracy

And check out the Women, Power and Politics global...

2008-03-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

And check out the Women, Power and Politics global online exhibition on the International Museum of Women's website www.imow.org, it just launched yesterday. Spread the word about the new the online community there; join the discussion about women and power around the world though the end of 2008.

I think there's an interesting face vs eyes issue....

2007-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

I think there's an interesting face vs eyes issue. I don't like seeing the burqa just as I don't like seeing people in ski masks or motorcycle helmets: the face is an expression of our human frailty and vulnerability in addition to being an identifier, and it's the one that we present to strangers to show that we count as human. When I see a woman in a burqa from a distance, or for that matter a person in full motorcycle gear, I have to make a couple of mental steps to acknowledge that this is a human being. The face gives me the same assurance prelinguistically.

Yet I also acknowledge that much of what I need in the stranger's face is the eyes. When I see someone in mirror sunglasses, I can tell that they're human, because I see human skin, but they still seem anonymous and distant, as though denying their own frailty.

The burqa reveals just what the mirror sunglasses hide. When I see a woman in a burqa close up, so that I can see the eyes, I find it easy to acknowledge her as human. But from more than a few feet away, I see her as I see the figure in motorcycle gear: an abstract symbol of a type -- Muslim women, motorcyclists, with no particularity. And this is ultimately bad for the woman, no?

Of course, Faust cannot acknowledge structural dif...

2007-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

Of course, Faust cannot acknowledge structural differences between the genders, since her job opportunity only came open because Lawrence Summers said exactly that. I'm sure Faust's gender gives her better teflon, but you can't blame her for avoiding the topic like the plague.

Peace, Jarrett

---This is in response to the article “Exodus is l...

2007-03-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

---This is in response to the article “Exodus is largest since the creation of Israel” in the London ‘Telegraph’ on February 3, 2007, where they discussed Iraqi refugees.---

Arab refugees have been streaming out of Iraq over the last few years. This is a sad realization on how the war has effected the population. While the story of the Muslim refugees of Iraq is certainly compelling, the plight of the Jews of Iraq who were made refugees is also compelling and must also be acknowledged.

Prior to 1948, Iraqi society was one with a business community that was made up in large part by Jews—Jews that had lived in Iraq for over 2,600 years. However, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, Zionism became a capital crime and attacks and hatred toward the Jews mounted. Jewish property was expropriated; Jewish bank accounts were frozen; Jews were dismissed from public posts; businesses were shut; pensions were confiscated; trading permits were cancelled.

Jewish life and society in Mosul, Iraq of 1940, was not unlike the Jewish life and society of New York City of the same era. These were not poor people, these were Jews that owned business, buildings, commercial warehouses filled with merchandise, hospitals, synagogues, cars and homes. Over 100,000 Jews were displaced between 1949-1951, taking nothing with them. Jews wanting to leave could do so after having their citizenship
revoked. Another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran. Iraq’s government issued multiple discriminatory decrees and perpetrated violations of human rights against the Jews through a series of laws that expanded on the confiscation of assets and property of Jews. Because of repressive measures against them, and fearing for their lives, Jews fled Iraq as refugees taking nothing with them.

On two separate occasions the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ruled that Jews fleeing from Arab countries were ‘bona fide’ refugees who “fall within the mandate of (the UNHCR) office”. Yet, there was virtually no international response to the plight of close to 900,000 Jews who, since 1948, have been displaced from Arab countries such as Iraq.

Little has been heard about these Jewish refugees that resettled around the world, and there was never any compensation provided by the Arab governments that confiscated their possessions. We must remember, that as a matter of law and equity, no just, comprehensive Middle East peace can be reached without recognition of, and redress for, the uprooting, under Islamic regimes, of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Shelomo Alfassa
Director, US Campaign
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
www.justiceforjews.com

I am interested in the motivation of your book. I...

2007-01-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

I am interested in the motivation of your book.
I agree with you that the single most important change that needs to occur, not only in America, but the world, is the achievement of gender equality. As a very active women's right advocate though, I see the biggest hurdle--besides the fact that those in power never willingly concede power--is the lack of solidarity of women. Our power is simply potential power because is it uncollected.
The Boxer-Rice exchange is just another example of how women are controlled. The escalation of Boxer's remarks to the "cat fight" status is common. The male controlled media (across the spectrum) enjoy projecting women as adversaries. When women are fighting amongst themselves, men feel safer and it's easier for them to dismiss women as hysterical creatures.
I'm adding you blog to my favorites list and will check back to see how your book progresses.

Thank you for offering one small way to counter th...

2007-01-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

Thank you for offering one small way to counter the devastating human effects of the war being waged in our names. It's easy to feel generous when your share is only 17 cents -- and just because I gave more than ten times that doesn't mean nine of you are off the hook. The UN Refugee Agency, to which this post links, lets you choose Iraq from a list of countries as the target of your donation.

If the Democrats can resist the urge to act like t...

2007-01-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

If the Democrats can resist the urge to act like the Republicans and the women can manage not to act like men -- we should be ship-shape in no time.