IWD : Women's Strike Day! Show your support

[Mystica]

Today is International Woman's Day

 

and all over the work women are called to participate in the Women's Strike.

But, if you are unable to do so there are a number of things you can do to show your support:

 

check them out there: http://www.upworthy.com/21-ways-to-participate-in-womens-strike-even-if-you-cant-take-off-work?c=ufb1

 

 

I especially love (in a completely objective manner) number 2 on the list.....

[Guest]

I am very surprised to hear how many people wished me a happy day today before starting to talk about women's rights ! wow !

[Elgee]

I don't know why, but in South Africa we celebrate Women's Day on the 9th of August. I suppose I shouldn't complain - it means it happens at least twice a year :)

[Tyzack]

Company had donations for rosie's place - a shelter for battered women, so i went shopping during lunch and donated an "emergency overnight bag"  (towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, tooth brush, tooth paste, deoderant, etc).

 

I don't have any work appropriate red clothes...

[blank]

I am very surprised to hear how many people wished me a happy day today before starting to talk about women's rights ! wow !

What a positive experience!

 

 

 

check them out there: http://www.upworthy.com/21-ways-to-participate-in-womens-strike-even-if-you-cant-take-off-work?c=ufb1

 

 

I especially love (in a completely objective manner) number 2 on the list.....

This is was such a good link - I've bookmarked it as there are a lot of links within the article I want to read, thanks!

[Daruya]

I think it would have made a much more favorable impression if all the women who skipped work today had instead worked and donated the day's wages to a women's charity - for example, one that works to end human trafficking, women's shelters, scholarships, etc.  That would show much more of an economic impact, IMO, than missing work.  But that's just my opinion.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

What makes you think they didn't? I worked today because I had to. I have been donating to several causes that are in desperate need because of the current climate of institutionalized misogyny and other evils this year, in addition to the causes I've always supported. I think many of us have and will continue to.

[Mystica]

donating is an admorable thing to do and I've been doing that for 20 years now. However, it is also a non-visible thing and the non-visibility serves in large part to perpetuate the illusion that nothing is wrong, that women are 'only' a side-effect of society, that they don't contribute significantly to society, that what they do is insubstantial and not even close to being as important and crucial as what men do.

 

This strike was not because of the 'not work' element. It was about showing (making it visible) what women DO. To make it tangible when they stop doing what they do on a daily basis.

 

Donations can't substitute for it or things would have improved decades ago already.

[Daruya]

I disagree that it is non-visible, or if it is non-visible it doesn't need to be. If the charities publicize the effect that this one day has on the donations they receive on that one day, it could have a profound impact.

 

I chose to work yesterday. I support the warfighter, both male and female, and I take that responsibility seriously.

 

I chose to spend money yesterday. I actually spent a LOT of money because I had the A/C in my car repaired. Last summer was brutal without A/C. That repair meant that the male mechanics got paid yesterday and the female general manager did as well.

 

Perhaps I live in a fantasy land. I work in what is probably still a male dominated field but do not experience less pay for the same work. I do not see that women are oppressed or disadvantaged in my area and I certainly don't see myself in that light.  Are women oppressed and disadvantaged? Heck, yes, in some areas of the world and it angers me.

 

Perhaps I'll write more later; I have to dial in to a teleconference in about 4 minutes and need to get my stuff together.

[Elgee]

There was a SLUT walk at my Alma Mater, the University of Stellenbosch, yesterday (read about it here: - sorry - link broken)

 

I went back to my old residence last year, and I was absolutely horrified that they now have alarmed gate access and burglar bars all over the place! Things have actually gotten WORSE in the past 20 years, not better! What the hell are women teaching their sons?? It is universally acknowledged that women are the main child rearers, and that they have the most influence in how their children turn out. The fact that rape culture has GROWN, not reduced, is therefore largely the fault of mothers! My mind boggles.

[Guest]

The link doesn't work :(

 

Other surprise, with one day of delay, the boss collected all the articles he found in the newspaper about the women's right that where published today and send it to the team.

 

One of the things I did was the #16 :

"Inspire the next generation of brave women with picture books"

There are a lot of beautiful / fantastic tales with male heroes... but there are also masterworks with girls/women as main character that need to be shared.

[WildTaltos]

There was a SLUT walk at my Alma Mater, the University of Stellenbosch, yesterday (read about it here: - sorry - link broken)

 

I went back to my old residence last year, and I was absolutely horrified that they now have alarmed gate access and burglar bars all over the place! Things have actually gotten WORSE in the past 20 years, not better! What the hell are women teaching their sons?? It is universally acknowledged that women are the main child rearers, and that they have the most influence in how their children turn out. The fact that rape culture has GROWN, not reduced, is therefore largely the fault of mothers! My mind boggles.

 

They are the main, but in modern societies, usually only for the first few years of a child's life before foisting them into school programs, where they can be influenced by teachers, male or female, but, especially with age specific attitudes or morals, mainly by their peers. The excerpt below was written in regards to enculturation processes seen among hunter-gatherers, but it has interesting implications to modern societies, especially in regards to the peer enculturation going on at schools:

 

"Adolescent boys' peer groups groups are often of greater importance in sedentary than in mobile societies, in which initiations are more violent and where punishment is also more likely to be harsh (Schlegel and Barry, 1991; see Knauft 1991). These competitive groups define a boy's success in life more than in mobile societies where, presumably, fathers are more often present. Peggy Sanday (1981:60-64, 67, 90) also found in a cross-cultural survey (not limited to foragers) that when men spend a lot of time with their offspring and cooperate in childrearing, there is less cultural emphasis on competition. In societies in which men spend time away from children, there is a general physical separation of male and female tasks, and competition among men is encouraged. Partially as a response to male behavior, peer-reared girls show expression of sexual interest and assumption of sexual activity early in life, while also showing negative attitudes toward males and a poor ability to establish long-term relationships with one male (Draper and Harpending 1982, 1987). There are obviously many other factors involved in determining modal personality, but it is clear that changes in adult labor patterns between a nomadic and a sedentary existence are expected to have dramatic effects on enculturation and hence on cultural change."

 

The decision to raise children in peer groups may be related to the activities of parents. If these activities change as hunter-gatherers become more sedentary, then childrearing may also be altered, and this could be responsible for some of the ensuing cultural change. The longer a camp is occupied, the greater the distance foragers must go to procure resources. And, the longer a camp is occupied, the greater the depletion of high-ranked foods and, consequently, the more time must be devoted to the harvesting and processing of lower ranked foods. Assuming that men hunt and that women gather lower return rate resources, sedentism means that men will generally spend more time away from children and that women will invest more time in resource acquisition and processing. This describes what has happened for some Bushmen groups as they have become sedentary (e.g., Hitchcock 1982, 1987b; Draper and Cashdan 1988). When parents, especially young mothers, devote much time to foraging and resource processing, or when fathers are away on long foraging trips, even six-month-old children may be passed to an older sibling for care, setting up peer-rearing. This change in the mode of cultural transmission may account for why sociocultural change seems to occur so quickly once hunter-gatherers become sedentary (see Chapter 9). 

 

Parental versus peer-rearing has different effects on girls and boys (Draper 1985). In societies in which children are peer-reared, girls are more frequently assigned caretakers of younger children, and this contributes to girls having attitudes favouring nurturance and prosocial behaviors moreso than do boys, as well as more restricted spatial ranges (see Draper and Harpending 1982; Draper and Cashdan 1988: 340). In such societies, fathers may be away for extended periods of time, and this is associated with boys who have poor attitudes towards females, who are aggressive and competitive toward other males, and who, when grown, give little attention to their offspring, ensuring a continuation of peer-rearing (Draper and Harpending 1982)."

 

If we take some of that as applicable to the case of modern society, the typical school is far more responsible than whatever efforts the mother is making (by creating what amounts to Lord of the Flies), and the absence of fathers  from much of the socialisation process is also critical, due to them traditionally and still largely today being the ones who have to work.

[Ryrin]

What the hell are women teaching their sons??

 

My sons have been brought up correctly, believe me. 

 

 

Meanwhile, in Canada:

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/10/519613162/canadian-judge-resigns-after-furor-over-knees-together-remarks-in-rape-case

 

His questioning of a woman in a sexual assault case — asking her, "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" — sparked outrage. Now Canadian Federal Court Justice Robin Camp has resigned, after a judicial review board said he should be removed.

 

During the trial, Camp sometimes referred to the woman as "the accused," and he said he didn't see any signs of an attack, suggesting several times that she could have physically avoided sexual contact — saying, for instance, "if she [the complainant] skews her pelvis slightly she can avoid him."

 

At another point, he told the young woman that "sex and pain sometimes go together ... that's not necessarily a bad thing." 

 

Camp also said, "Young wom[e]n want to have sex, particularly if they're drunk," according to the transcript provided by the judicial council.

 

 

Of note, Elgee, is that he is originally from South Africa.  

 

Camp was born and grew up in South Africa. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce in 1973, and a bachelor of laws in 1975, from Stellenbosch University.

 

"Shortly after Camp's resignation letter was filed Thursday, Canada's Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said, "From my perspective as minister, and the perspective of our government, sexual assault and gender-based violence is in no form acceptable. And we will continue to stand up for victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence and accord them the necessary respect and dignity that they deserve." In the misconduct inquiry, the judge defended himself by saying his misconduct stemmed from either an unconscious bias or ignorance. He said his apologies and attempts to educate himself were enough to warrant staying on the bench."

[Guest]

I read about that trial... I am still speechless...

[blank]

That's disgusting! It's horrible to think how high he rose in the judical system before this all came to light - how many of his judgements have been tainted with misogyny? 

[Elgee]

We need more women like you, Ry. And more sons like yours.

 

I'm not surprised that that judge is from South Africa. This is what the majority of South African men (of all races) are like.