text:
If I was Prime Minister…
momentous trivialities
Souldeya
grrlscene
Caribbean activism, feminism, creativity and theory
Diary of a mothering worker. October 1, 2019.
Posted by grrlscene under Uncategorized | Tags: Audrey Jeffers, campaigning, decision-making, democracy, gender bias, gender equality, gender equity, gender justice, general elections, inequality, leadership, majoritarian power, male domination, quota systems, school elections, sexism, Suffragettes, systemic change, The Election Rebellion, the old boys network, Trinidad and Tobago, Voice of the Electorate, VOTE Campaign, votes, women's invisibility, women's representation |
Post 344.
Ziya's class recently concluded a class president election. In the run-up, she practiced her speech, highlighting qualities of kindness and loyalty, and roles such listening, helping, resolving conflicts, and encouraging good behaviour.
I was pleased that she felt confident enough to consider being elected and that her teacher had enthused such a sense of possibility among the students. Many children in the class offered themselves as candidates. It seemed like an excellent lesson in democracy.
"The boys only voted for boys," Zi later huffed. Why did this matter? From her description, the girls seem to have mostly voted for each other or for themselves. 'Did a boy give the best speech?' I asked, but she was noncommittal.
Turns out that there are more boys than girls in the class, and the other girls had eventually concluded their speeches didn't matter as the boys were never going to vote for a girl. This meant that the girls would never get to be president, and why run if you can't win?
Why did she think the boys wouldn't vote for girls? "The boys don't think girls exist", she said. As decades of efforts to create gender equality attest, when searching for nominees to appoint to private sector and state boards, an argument is often made that enough qualified women can't be found.
In the early 2000s, when state boards and companies on the stock exchange couldn't find women to nominate, the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women found 200 qualified women. Women's representation went up to 29% that year. The global numbers tell us that girls remain invisible to boys, in both corporate and political leadership, in the adult world today.
Her second explanation was that "the boys only vote for their friends, and all their friends are the other boys". She was describing the budding version of the resilient, powerful and informal influence of an 'old boys' network'.
There's significant data on the mentoring and deal-making that occurs on golf courses, football fields and bars or in lodges, where familiarities and friendships among men develop outside of formal spheres. We may all turn to our networks first, nurturing them with respect and reciprocity as part of strengthening their ties, their reach and our place in them.
When those networks also intersect with power over decision-making, and the lower status and greater invisibility of those outside, they are a formula for exclusion. Those in these networks don't have to be personally bad, and the exclusion doesn't have to be deliberate. Nonetheless, the outcome is no longer innocent.
Zi's third explanation was that "the boys think they are smarter than the girls". Think of how worried society becomes when girls "outperform" boys at SEA, but how the nation celebrates when a boy finally "tops" girls, as if stopping reversal of the natural order from going too far. Think of how women in Obama's administration had to amplify each other for their ideas to even be heard. Imagine, long-held biases about lesser female competency are still clear enough for her to articulate.
Boys' implicit gender bias plus social networks plus majority vote created unequal opportunity. I told Zi to talk to her teacher. She couldn't let an unfair system become entrenched, even if she was afraid of getting in trouble for "complaining". I told her about quota systems, and that for every boy or girl class president, there could be an alternative vice-president, and that there should be alternating class presidents so girls would have an equal chance.
I gave her everything I got, from Audrey Jeffers to the Suffragettes. Eventually, she ran to her room and came back with a poster titled, THE Election REBELLION. Over her title, she wrote, 'Vote = Voice of the Electorate", a reference to nineteen years earlier when Svenn Miki Grant and I handed out a thousand copies of a youth manifesto at a public launch on the promenade. Below she wrote, "the choice is yours to vote for girls". And, in huge and colourful letters, between a heart and a star, was the message: "THE GIRLS WANT VOTES".
Next morning, she took her poster to school and went to rouse her friends. Her teacher held a girls' meeting at lunch and they represented their sense of unfairness. She then met with the whole class so all the children could recognise that being in the voting minority meant it would always be an uphill battle for the girls to secure power through democratic means.
By the end of day, Zi reported the rebellion to be over. Yet, was the electoral system really changed? Zi wasn't sure what new rules they had secured. She hadn't confirmed whether there would now be alternating leadership. Until she's sure and it's enacted, the struggle continues.
What's clear is that the unjust political realities of adult women are already reflected in the eyes of eight year old girls. We have a responsibility to address unfair male domination at all ages, levels of power and processes of decision-making. An election rebellion is long overdue. The girls deserve votes.
Diary of a mothering worker. February 5, 2019.
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker | Tags: #NotTheCost, Fazeer Mohammed, Felicia Holder, Hema Ramkissoon, Michelle Davis, National Democratic Institute, People's Empowerment Party (PEP), Phillip Alexander, PNM, political violence against women, sexism, threats, United National Congress (UNC) |
The Phillip Alexander ruckus this past week has made me descend to calling for what should be already agreed upon. If you missed his critique of Hema Ramkissoon's interview of PEP party members, it included a threat "to drag you to hell and beat you among the flames" because he felt he and the party were attacked. It included bringing up her private life and her past, her appearance, and using words like "stink" and "dutty". It's almost as if ole mas reached the party too early in Carnival season.
The interview wasn't so bad. I've had worse from Fazeer Mohammed, and from radio hosts who thought sexist block talk was professional journalistic engagement.
I thought the women representing the party, Felicia Holder and Michelle Davis, were excellent. I've been on air and annoyed with media hosts for asking what I thought were baseless or biased questions, distracting the public from getting the point, and pressing me to justify my position in ways that I knew others would not have to fight for legitimacy.
Felicia Holder looked visibly annoyed at times, as I have, but also held her own, as one learns to. I liked her pitch and representation of principle, just like I like when citizens – including a younger generation – rise up and organize against those who have ruled far too long and overseen far too much injustice – and here I'm pointing all my fingers at both the PNM and UNC.
Over twenty years of observing elections, I'm not the cynic others have become. While one must always count polling divisions to calculate wins, losses and draws, I'm up for the role that third, fourth, and fifth parties play. They galvanise those who have stopped voting, represent those at the margins, raise outstanding issues, and remind parliamentarians that they do not have a sacrosanct hold on the great house. Such civic engagement makes the strongest form of democracy.
In such a democracy, violence of any kind, including in language, in images distributed, and in physical attacks, undermines broad participation. Across the world, women are notoriously more vulnerable in politics and particularly affected by such violence. They are inappropriately and unnecessarily sexualized. Their personal lives are targeted for public shame. They face sexist and threatening language to a greater extent.
Few women who have entered politics – whether as candidates or as public commentators – are unfamiliar with this, whether it's in images of Marlene Macdonald, supposedly in lingerie, shared around the internet; or in endless totally hypocritical man-talk about Kamla Persad-Bissessar's sex life; or in Keith Rowley's many infamous double entendres – women as golf a course, a woman Prime Minister as a cat; or backlash gossip against women in media who say or write words others think they shouldn't.
The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) writes, "an often neglected form of violence to consider is political violence against women. Whether this is outright violence towards women running campaigns or sexist discourse undermining women's political credibility". Women face "literally twice as much psychological abuse/violence during elections than men", and have "a starkly different experience of the political world".
In a 2016 study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, involving 55 women parliamentarians from 39 countries, the "findings reveal troubling levels of prevalence – particularly for psychological violence, the most widely spread form, affecting 81.8 per cent of the respondents from all countries and regions. Among the kinds of psychological violence, 44.4 per cent of those surveyed said they had received threats of death, rape, beatings or abduction during their parliamentary term".
Further, "65.5 per cent said they had been subjected several times, or often, to humiliating sexist remarks…on social media and, to a lesser extent, by telephone or e-mail, or during political meetings". Their appearance, conjugal status, emotional, sexual and family life were all subjects of regular and widespread comment, attacks and derision.
In 2016, National Democratic Institute launched the #NotTheCost campaign: "a global call to action to raise awareness to stop violence against women in politics. The campaign's title reflects the fact that many women are told that harassment, threats, psychological abuse (in person and online), physical and sexual assault are "the cost of doing politics"". Key is holding perpetrators accountable.
Working in the media doesn't justify women's (or anyone's) risk of violence. Elections don't justify it either. Political non-violence should be a commitment printed in manifestos and promised on platforms. It should be ensured by 'women's arms', 'youth arms', and all men ruling party hierarchies, including the blustering and agitated PEP.
Diary of a mothering worker. August 21, 2018.
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker | Tags: Draupadi, gender and nation, Hindus, Kamla Persad Bissessar, People's National Movement, picong, Prime Minister Keith Rowley, racism, rape culture, sari skit, SDMS, sexism, Stuart Young, Tabaquite, Tunapuna, United National Congress (UNC), violence |
The Prime Minister has finally apologized for the PNM's Family Day debacle. Unfortunately, in this being made a Hindu issue, with apologies to the Hindu community, all and sundry have missed the broader injuries.
Overzealousness from the newly expanded Tabaquite base and collective enjoyment of violent picong by the wider, more established base led to this tangled web.
It's an interesting example of the complexities of traditionally Indian and UNC constituencies changing party loyalty, and reflects deep disregard and disgust for the UNC amongst those willing to turn against the hierarchy that was once their own.
Indeed, the scene was a premier example of pre-election gutter politics, which is why it was received as uproarious bacchanal among the PNM and high-handed terror among the UNC. If Tabaquite has turned against you, do you have any chance of winning Tunapuna?
Both Stuart Young and the PM could have avoided a wrong and strong approach. Meaning, a wrong happened, but shouldn't persist with impunity and both acknowledgement and humility, or recognition and apology, were the right first instincts to have in communication with the nation.
Instead, trivializing the skit, as public statements by Womantra, CAFRA and the Hindu Women's Organisation pointed out, reflected a failure to understand how rape culture, or treating sexual violence as normal fun by women asking for it, continues to powerfully and instinctively work in our society.
This doesn't mean that individual men, such as the PM, are themselves being labeled rapists – which it seems only letter-writer Kevin Baldeosingh and ex-Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran – found it hysterically and stupidly important to say.
Rather, the term rape culture refers to the possibility of a scene where a women's public disrobing can be made into an acceptable show of political power, and many not see how profoundly predatory that is.
This is standard stuff in tribal politics, so well entrenched that we don't think of it explicitly. In inter-ethnic, cross-caste and multi-national conflicts, it's the conquering of 'their' women that are the signs of triumph, for women remain objects of ownership and exchange, and controlling them remains a sign of man power and status.
At the same time, the nation is considered to be feminine, under rightful masculine or at least patriarchal authority, so the wider symbolism was not only of conquering UNC bodies, but also the body of the nation one constituency at a time, rescuing it from potentially becoming too Indian of the wrong kind.
In the discomfort of seeing women's disrobing as political fun, its religious and racial marking was clear, but its not just an Indian or Hindu or UNC insult, and treating it this way divides women along racial, religious and political lines.
These wider implications seem to have missed the PM and the party. There was also the discomfort of seeing party faithful depicted as gorillas, which is unimaginably racist, and shouldn't happen with impunity either, but that injury has disappeared from the narrative entirely and unfortunately, but conveniently.
The UNC and Kamla Persad-Bissessar seized on this issue as an opportunity to rally their base, and were right to do so. The skit was meant to directly symbolize a public dress down of Persad-Bissessar, as the most visible and vilified Indian woman in the nation, and the stripping of other Indian, Hindu and UNC women from these identities in order for them to become truly PNM through replacement of an obsolete yellow sari by the modernity of a red t-shirt.
Underneath it all must also have been a realization that the UNC is imploding or at least bleeding from within, and the protest was necessary to show morally respectable leadership and resilient political power, covering what should be internal party worry, for if ex-UNC Indians will turn against still-UNC Indians so publicly, and if Beetham will rather flood as PNM, despite their own disgust, than go yellow at the ballot-box, where will votes come from in 2020?
So, as the world turns, the PM is yet again denying he is a rapist, while being clueless about rape culture. He's playing the ground war in placating Hindus while the UNC is rallying the Hinduvata and broader race-baited ire for whatever mileage it can offer, especially in the face of the SDMS' grumpy withholding of support.
And, the issues of how women are seen, included and represented in public life, as shaped by the tangled web of sexism, racism and violence, yet again make front page, though nothing in Trinidad and Tobago appears about to change.
Diary of a mothering worker. July 2, 2018.
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker | Tags: 'war on boys', androcentrism, backlash, battle of the sexes, boys education, Caribbbean schooling, emasculation, gender and education, girls education, manhood, Minister of Education Anthony Garcia, myth of male marginalisation, outperforming, patriarchy, SEA examination, Secondary Entrance Assessment Examination, sexism, UWI |
Minister of Education Anthony Garcia needs extra lessons on what not to say about the SEA examination.
Last week, he found it important to note, "The student who placed first in this exam, in other words the student who scored the highest, was a male student…For some time we have been noticing that our girls have been outperforming the boys where first place is concerned…From the fact that a boy was able to top the exam, it seems as though our male students have improved."
These statements reflect appalling and invalid assumptions.
Traditionally, families didn't invest in girls' education because girls were expected to marry, be helpmates and be financially provided for by boys. Boys were expected to have access to better paid employment, be able to invest more in their careers, and to exercise leadership and authority in spheres of work more greatly associated with or dominated by men.
That changed over the last decades. We began to think of girls and boys as human beings with an equal right to educational achievement and economic independence. Reforms also significantly reduced gender stereotyping in school content even if it continued to rule the hidden curriculum of girls' and boys' socialization.
Are boys' struggling against beliefs in their natural role of caring for children and greater economic dependence? What's the basis for emphasizing a boy 'topping' girls in the SEA examination? What historical inequality or entrenched sexist ideals are boys overcoming that we want to highlight?
Shouldn't we also consider the significance of one boy doing better than all the other boys? Does it only matter that he dominated the girls? Why does that matter at all?
Public response to girls doing well in education has been moral panic about emasculation. From girls' success emerged baseless opinion about women teachers' inability to be role models for or competent teachers of boys. This insultingly assumes that women cannot be role models for all human beings, and that there is something wrong with boys seeing such adult humans worthy of emulation.
'Single mothers' were also wrongly blamed. Greater poverty and absence of fatherly sharing of care and costs are factors, but blaming boys' exam ranking on resilient mothers managing many challenges again shortcuts to emasculation as the issue.
Is it that boys must have dominant manhood enforced in order to do well? And, if so, what are the implications for girls, who will grow up in a society where, despite their educational successes, about 35 000 women will experience male partner violence in a twelve-month period. Are we prepared to pit boys and girls against each other whatever the costs?
'The war on boys!' was a backlash slogan which positioned girls' beating books as an attack on masculinity itself. As if boys didn't have a long history of reading, as if school had not always involved hours of sitting still, as if boys and not girls needed more play and active learning, and as if the demands of subordinated styles of teaching were not bad for all children. This view misdiagnoses current schooling as biased toward girls. At the same time, it is unable to explain how boys can still do well.
Panic also extended to blaming girls for doing too well or being too distracting. More than UWI Principal thought it cool to slight thousands of graduating women students by highlighting, not their historical and hard won success, but their apparent 'outperforming' of boys, and the expectation that they take on additional responsibility for helping male peers do well. Our message to girls is that their pursuit of power, capability and achievement should not intimidate boys and men, nor threaten the 'natural' balance of patriarchy.
Boys' educational improvements are necessary, but what do they have to do with girls? Should girls not aim for first place? What, besides a moment of youthful resurgent male domination, is being celebrated here?
When we rate girls' successes in terms of what they mean for boys, we continue to position males as the standard by which females' lives are understood. This is called androcentrism. It refers to thinking that continually centres men and boys, and protection of manhood as obsessive priorities. Boyhood and girlhood are wholly irrelevant to children's achievements unless these ideals in some way hold them back.
Headlines should focus on the urgent national concern of thousands of girls and boys whom schooling fails. For them, violence, mental health, learning challenges, class inequality and gender provide more complex explanation for SEA success and failure.
Diary of a mothering worker. September 8, 2016.
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker | Tags: Audrey Jeffers, Caribbean feminism, Christina Lewis, corruption, Daisy Crick, engendering local government, fearlessness, Gene Miles, Grenada Revolution, Guyana, homophobia, Jamaican PNP Women's Movement, Kamla Persad Bissessar, Linette Vassell, People's National Movement, political elites, sexism, sexual harassment, United National Congress (UNC), whistleblower legislation, women in politics, women's arms, women's auxiliaries, women's movements, working class women's power |
As we approach end-of-year local government elections, and political parties' women's arms are mobilized in campaigns, rallies, and constituency offices, it's a good time for such political bodies to flex some muscle and establish their expectations.
The domestication of political party women's arms, sometimes called auxiliaries or leagues, is well documented across the region. Women's arms are primarily drawn on in the lead-up to elections, then usually side-lined after, rather than being at the decision-making table in terms of appointments to Cabinet, boards and other state posts, and in terms of policy positions to be pursued. They are warm bodies needed on the streets to validate parties' and candidates' moral legitimacy, community relevance, and vote-enticing sensitivities to women.
It's a powerful time, particularly for working class women, who know they are playing a crucial and visible role, and who bring that valuable nexus of cooking, cleaning-up, and campaigning skills and contacts when the battle for votes hits the streets. While usually male financiers stand on the side-lines making and breaking deals, I guarantee that campaign-, rally- or constituency-level momentum is not possible without largely lower and middle-income women's and housewives' labour, for they perform the majority of organizing work behind the scenes.
Such capacity and power shouldn't just amount to 'helpfulness', but instead accrue analytically sound, badass might. Women's arms are expected to stay within the boundaries of acceptable issues and rights for women, avoiding, for example, advocacy regarding the right to love of lesbian young women and the basic decency of safe terminations for others seeking abortions, despite their illegality.
The definition of womanhood they enact is linked to wifehood, motherhood and grand-motherhood, rather than to women as an independent constituency of sexual, economic and political beings, who, by now, should substantively occupy at least half of all political decision-making positions in the country.
They symbolize the moral centers of their party, selflessly concerned about and responsible for maintaining respect for the status quo, social order and public good, even when a gender policy is desperately needed to guide state programmes and spending regardless of whether some religious leaders realise that or not.
Within them, women learn when to stay quiet and when to speak, when to know their place, how to appropriately assert power, and how to not annoy men and elite women in the party with their non-negotiable challenges to class hierarchy, sexism, sexual harassment, homophobia and corruption, both in the party and in the society. While men present the risk of political and sexual indiscipline, the women's arm is steadfast and loyal, like a good wife.
In this context, imagine the almighty commotion in political parties' yard if women's arms were seen as too fearless, too feminist and too fierce in their collective defense of women's interests, rather than doing it nicely, despite women being currently documented as clustered in low-wage and insecure work, facing higher levels of unemployment and earning on average half of men's wages in the economy. All good reasons for righteous rage.
Yet, there is potential for women's arms and the women leaders they bring together to exercise power differently, in ways that are decisively committed to transforming unfair gender relations, not because party elites approve, but because its real women's lives we are representing for here, and we are not giving party structures a choice about whether to respond. We are giving them targets, measurables, deadlines and penalties. Women's arms should be that autonomous, unapologetic force within a political party that calls those with the most power to account for their advancement of gender equality internally, nationally and regionally.
If this occurred, there would be 50% of women amongst senior ranks, not just women clustering at the bottom. Party school would consist of training, mentoring and strategizing on how to empower women to act as transformational leaders and build male allies who defend solidarity rather than supremacy. Especially when we know a major obstacle is fear of men losing control over their women, and generally having less collective power in a society where women gain access to positions and roles which were previously the exclusive domain of men (Vassell 2013).
Given that fear, which adds to a climate where it can be risky to support girls and women instead of elite men, it wouldn't be up to individual women to secure such progress, but up to the commitments embedded in the structures and processes of the party. No one should then resort to the easy explanation that 'women are their own worst enemies'. Rather, the most influential party elites, particularly the men, would be assigned to ensure such progress, and come to account at the next women's arm meeting.
What such a women's arm would be is a strong, women-led, social movement, which successfully holds the state and political-economic elites accountable for our economic conditions, our gendered realities, the failures documented in Auditor-General's reports, and the continued vast, avoidable destruction of our island ecology. For, the role of a women's arm is to represent for women, particularly working class women, understanding their everyday struggles, needs, rights and dreams, using the power of the party. And, that's what they should assess. The extent to which they secure sexual harassment and gender policies, economic and political empowerment, and gender parity within the party and nationally, without fear of that being seen as too radical, or, worse, imposition of a special interest concern.
There is inspiration for such an approach to women's arms from across our region's history. Thus, party school should teach about women in the Haitian, Cuban and Grenadian revolutions, in public resistances to slavery and indentureship, in riots over bread and water, in struggles to change laws regarding marriage, violence and labour, and in challenges to male dominance in organizational leadership.
It would highlight that Afro-Caribbean women have long been mass movement leaders and Indian women were never obedient, quiet and docile, but as far back as indentureship, were individually and collectively seeking economic and sexual autonomy. It would tell you about women such Audrey Jeffers, Daisy Crick and Christina Lewis, even Gene Miles, who blew the whistle on party corruption, reminding us today that we still have no 'whistleblower' legislation.
It should share the strategies women used to make abortion legal in Barbados since 1983 and in Guyana since 1995. It would highlight the story of the Jamaican PNP Women's Movement which, in 1977, evolved from being an 'auxiliary' to the PNP, to an 'independent' grouping within the Party with progressive leadership that addressed a wide range of issues facing women. They recognised "the importance of organising women as an independent lobby or pressure group capable of transforming itself into an agency for fundamental change" (Beverly Manley). It would seek examples from Costa Rica and Panama, where women have pushed their parties to develop, implement and monitor a gender strategy that is integrated into party development frameworks.
Holding the party accountable for achievement of political, economic and sexual equality, equity and empowerment is the rightful agenda of a women's arm. The substance of such an agenda would impress and attract many women voters, strengthening the negotiating power of a women's arm when needed.
Make sure that muscle on the campaign trail results in such power after, with Local Government councilors understanding that they should give back for what they gained. "We do not wish to be regarded as rebellious" said Bahamian Dame Doris Louise Johnson, "but we would point out to you that to cling sullenly or timidly to ancient, outmoded ways of government is not in the best interests of our country".
Diary of a mothering worker. December 15, 2015
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker, Uncategorized | Tags: Aria Lounge, beauty myth, Caribbean feminism, celebrity feminism, gender, homophobia, hyperfemininity, hypersexuality, sexism, Womantra, women's empowerment, women's rights |
Contemporary celebrity-led, liberal feminism mass markets a super-feminine image to young women today. This brand of empowerment-on-stilettos shouts out independent ladies who make their own money and it promotes unapologetic sexiness as ultimate self-expression and woman power.
This ideal didn't come from nowhere. In the last decades, as women began to enter the formal economy in droves, they encountered a backlash telling them they were stepping out of their pre-ordained, natural spaces, jobs and roles, and were acting like men or like they wanted to be men. Imagine the pressure to find ways to not be de-sexed, to not be considered the wrong kind of too-mannish woman, to access the validation of femininity as well as education and the economy. Women were, after all, still being brought up to identify with and desire all three.
They had to be better than boys at school and men at work to get to the top, but they also had to make sure they didn't end up without a man, marriage and children, in case they failed to be 'real' women. In addition to leaving room for men to be men, desirability was the other key balance all women had to negotiate, or be labeled too masculine. Failure to be successful in this way came with myriad costs. The fashion industry stepped in to make sure that brains in no way made beauty obsolete.
This brief history explains how smart, qualified women all over can today be seen in offices in five-inch heels, unheard of thirty years ago. It explains how women came to see shoes and makeup as empowering, and why so much hard-earned money is cycled back into lipstick rather than owning land. Do as well as they could in the job market, women would be left feeling like the carpet if they were also not responsible enough to become 'appropriately' feminine, meaning as they are expected and are told.
Women get endless messages that being sexualized remains important and defines our worth. Scan months of Carnival photos, magazines that stare from racks, billboards and commercials. We produce a brilliant array of women's mas, yet one newspaper's Carnival Wednesday front page was a full-page photo of Amber Rose. You are invisible and undervalued if you are not sexy and beautiful. Even independent ladies hear this loud and clear.
Except Shannon Gomes. She's among young women denied by such packaging. Intending to be beautiful without stilettos. Looking good and being empowered on her own terms, wherever she goes. Wanting to be seen and valued as a woman without Maybelline making her 'you, only better'. What happens to her form of femininity in this terrain of empowered womanhood as stereotypically sexy?
Unsurprisingly, it becomes cast as failure, as disallowed, as inappropriate, as 'man'. And, there are costs for such women. There was a cost for Shannon. Denied her womanhood. Denied her femininity. Denied self-determination regarding her body. Stigmatized for not obeying the fashion fix. Told that this is private property, you have no rights. Made to pay.
Imagine your daughter or sister being told that if she does not make herself desirable on the most patriarchal of terms, then she is not a woman at all. This is how sexism and homophobia police sexuality and gender.
For months I wanted to write this column, highlighting the risks of selling women's empowerment within hyper-femininity, sexiness and beauty. These normalize and glamorize narrowed options for women to challenge power. They create hierarchies between women. Exclusions are borne by those who don't conform. Aria Lounge's petty tyranny isn't just theory.
Young people are protesting there on Friday night, as they should, for sexist discrimination is worth shaming wherever it occurs. Support them with engagement rather than ridicule. Shannon's experience is but another example of negations reproduced in media images, religious messages, workplace expectations and relationship negotiations. This is why feminists challenge the beauty myth, though its glamour appears innocent. This is why schooling and jobs don't mean women are yet free. Women should not be forced to fit stereotypical femininity, and feminist bright lights should also highlight those who don't live by such rules, and who more greatly face a reality of being denied and demeaned. #solidaritywithshannon
Posted by grrlscene under momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker | Tags: 2015 Election, Allies for Justice and Diversity, CAISO, campaigning, citizenship, Colin Robinson, Equal Opporutnity Act, equality, Friends for Life, Gender and politics, Hazel Brown, homophobia, I am 1, Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Jowelle de Souza, Keith Rowley, Khadijah Ameen, LBGTI, Luke Sinnette, marginals, Nafeesa Mohammed, National Gender Policy, Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, People's National Movement, Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh, sexism, Silver Lining Foundation, transgender, Trinidad and Tobago, United National Congress (UNC), Women's Caucus, Women's Manifesto |
Diary of a mothering worker.
At last week Wednesday's forum, 'Reflecting on Gender and Politics in the 2015 Election Campaign', young people filled the room, many of them lesbian and gay, who I hope felt that the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at UWI created a safe space for public deliberation, for once not defined by their marginality.
The event was inspired by 'the marginals' in national talk about the election. How could we instead think about politics beyond polls and 'the numbers', to see multiple kinds of 'margins' in our landscape, especially in the deeply connected experiences of women and the LBGTI community? How could we encourage public reflection that no other site in the country would, precisely because feminist academia is founded on solidarity with these groups' continuing struggles for equal citizenship? How could we build on civil society efforts to bring us together across political party divides?
There was the history of the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women to build on. Twenty years of producing a Women's Manifesto and trying to get campaigning parties to commit to its goals. Twenty years of funding women candidates in the hopes that they would see the women who helped to get them into power as an important constituency. More years of encouraging a women's cross-party caucus, where women politicians could gather as allies, rather than adversaries.
There was also the history of organisations like Caiso, Friends for Life, Women's Caucus, Silver Lining Foundation and I am One to support. More than a decade of advocacy to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2010, Caiso produced a manifesto, '6 in 6', which outlined six policy and leadership steps they hoped that the new government would take in its first half year in office. Five years later, with those all unfulfilled, whether in terms of police treatment of LGBTI crime victims, the creation of safe schools or the community's greater vulnerability to homelessness, they were still challenging their marginality. Now as part of a new network of groups called Allies for Justice and Diversity, a rights-we-deserve-not-what-rights-we-are-allowed manifesto was again created in 2015.
In a country where 'the marginals' decide the victor, it made sense for a post-election forum to bring together marginal groups to document their overlapping analyses and strategies, as they both contested how ideals of masculinity and femininity shape the lived realities of political life. Sexism cannot be ended without also ending homophobia, and advancing emancipation requires us to fearlessly document, understand and defy an unjust status quo. Where else then, would we discuss the homophobic bullying and stereotyping experienced by gay male candidates, from the population, their own political parties, and our headline-hungry media? Where else would we share how campaigning is experienced by women as they negotiate the significance of their family roles, femininity, and sexual respectability for their acceptability as representatives and leaders? Where else would the nation's first transgender electoral candidate affirm her right to all the rights of citizenship, including public office?
As an act of university solidarity, and to strengthen the alliance between women's and LGBTI rights advocates, Nafeesa Mohammed, Khadijah Ameen, Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh, Luke Sinnette, Colin Robinson and Jowelle de Souza were all on one panel. Watching representatives of the PNM and UNC sit with these citizens, knowing their parties had unjustly abandoned them in their National Gender Policy drafts and in the Equal Opportunity Act, I hoped that the young people there could see that legitimacy and space is created incrementally, relentlessly, despite setbacks and disappointments. There was more than fifty years of activist history of holding the baton in that room, from Hazel Brown in her 70s to Afro-Trinidadian, lesbian, working class young women in their 20s. A generation coming after me should know that a path continues to be cut for them to run.
On election night, Dr. Keith Rowley, said that he is the Prime Minister of all of us, and "that we are all in this together". We lead him by our example. Those young people came because they aspire for an equal place. Acknowledgment of that is what 'all in this together' means for politics in our nation.
A Trini woman's blog
Awesome 'Appenings
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Creative Commess
Dancing Ovaries
Guyana Gyal
http://mooretalkja.wordpress.com/
le zoe's musings
mommy on the go!
the goddess room
TillahWillah
Under the Saltire Flag
Diary of a mothering worker. December 1, 2017.
Diary of a mothering worker. March 12, 2018.
Diary of a mothering worker. January 20, 2018.
Grrlscene on Your Screen (3)
I spy (3)
If I was Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago… (6)
Inner Sanctum (10)
momentous trivialities: diary of a mothering worker (393)
Plantation Perspectives (1)
World Hold On! (2)
Your Voice Your Vote Your Veto (2)


Jude has a very different character. It is not the cradle of Christianity, or of the assembly on earth: it is its decay and its death here below. It does not keep its first estate.
It is the desire of our hearts, and as we believe God's will under this dispensation, that all the children of God should be gathered together as such, and, consequently, as not of the world.
The Reformation did not directly touch the question of the true character of God's church.


Networking Now – J-Net Community – Juniper starts a technical blog. Multiple bloggers and multiple posts on the first two days. A good start.
Lightscreen – Home Page – Open Source screenshot utility for Windows. Looks good.


Do you ever feel worlds apart from the latest fashion trends? Well, we're here to bridge that gap with our latest tunic! The striped pattern of this soft top is comfortable and stylish, while the pop of color adds an element of surprise that is sure to capture the eye of any fashion-lover! Pair it with skinnies and boots for your new go-to outfit!


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Posted by Rick Gethin on May 19, 2018 0 Comments
Local Tourists new EP "Adrift"
Dynamo Fuzz Sheds Darkness and Drives Forward
Hall of Fame Cities Shine Radiantly Upon Regas-McDonald
A Tiger Made of Lightning Remind Us to Forgive Ourselves with "It's Chaos, Be Kind"
Ed. – This review was penned by Chase Finley, a new addition to our staff.
Band – Local Tourists
Album / Label – Adrift / Unsigned
Rating – 4.5 / 5
Since 2015, Local Tourists have been making their way throughout the Columbus scene. By playing staple venues such as Big Room Bar, Rumba Café, and Tree Bar, they have established themselves as a local band to keep your eye on.
Combining elements of guitar-driven alternative, indie rock, and a minimal, yet tasteful helping of psychedelic ingredients, Local Tourists' new EP, "Adrift" (released May 18, 2018), takes the listener on a ride through a crispy sounding sonic space; evoking some feelings I can't quite put my finger on, but will attempt to describe as I make my way through the five tracks included on this release.
The first track, Parasitism, opens with a pleasing snare and bass-drum intro, stylishly opening the door for the entire EP. As the guitar chimes in seconds later, the song starts to take form, with the bass joining, and shortly thereafter, vocals. To me, this piece speaks of admiration for someone, and of self-deprecation; these sentiments hit home for me. I felt something. "I'm the disease for which you are the medicine" just about sums it up.
The second track, Tango Loco, opens with guitar, followed by drums, and then bass. As the track gains substance and speed, I notice that the sound of the album feels very pleasing to the ear, especially in the mixing and blending of the guitar and vocal tracks. The whole album seems to run like a well-maintained engine. I use this metaphor because the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals seem to work independently from each other, yet comprise a moving, driving, purring, and roaring entity. The track ends with a fantastic, fuzz-driven, guitar motif; and a contagious melody for the impressionable listener.
Next, Calico, brings us into a melancholy place; not quite sad, maybe just frustrated. Either way, it is relatable. The lead guitar is saturated with overdrive and delay, and the leads and motifs laid over the entire song bring a unique fullness to the entire product. The vocals sound somber, yet powerful. The guitar solo towards the end of the song is tasteful, unique, and purposefully, playfully, simple, in the most positive and admirable way. It fits well, and the vocals come back at the perfect point. "I'm alive, but I'm such a mess" is another unbelievably relatable thought, summed up in very few words lyrically; which is always hard to do.
The fourth track, The Architect starts with another tastefully simple, yet aesthetically pleasing guitar solo. The song sounds to me like a personal narrative, told by someone who constantly feels pressure to change, yet also experiences a sense-of-self which they feel they must maintain. The blend of acoustic rhythm guitar and clean electric leads, combined with a locked-in feel in the bass and drums absolutely packs this song with sound, adding to the album's overall fantastic tonality, one I can only envy as a fellow musician.
The EP finishes with CQD, a track that starts off with a guitar motif, including nice, high bass leads, and some calmly sung lyrics. The song slowly gains more energy as the rhythm changes and becomes more driving. As we reach the climax of the song, the lyrics "What if I said that I could not stay, what if I said that I won't drown with you" are sung, then chanted, and then screamed, with anger, passion, and maybe a bit of fear. Rolls on the toms, guitar leads, and an ascending bassline bring the song and the EP to a close with a very subdued, yet beautiful bang.
It seems to me that a great deal of care has been taken to put these songs in this order. If it was not, it should be regarded as a happy accident, because this EP flows extremely well. The content, order, and overall professional sound are superb on this release, and that is why I give "Adrift" a 4.5/5 rating.
I look forward to hearing this new material played live, and you should too.
Local Tourists – Tango Loco

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A BOWEN treatment consists of gentle, non-invasive moves on the body's connective tissue, muscles, tendons and ligaments. It is not massage, no oils or creams are used and you remain dressed – light, loose clothing recommended.
A doctor may test a knee-jerk reaction with a tap on your knee to have your thigh tense, creating the knee-jerk. However, Bowen provides the OPPOSITE, which allows the body to release, untwist and elongate muscles improving muscle and joint mobility. To allow this release there are waiting and resting periods during the treatment.
A lot of the moves are made over meridian channels and these moves release chemicals and electrical currents from meridian points. This opens up the flow of energy through the channels – it allows hydration, water, blood, lymphatic fluid to flow freely.
From working the meridian points, endorphins are released (those feel-good hormones), which gives a sense of peace, relaxation and wellbeing. These endorphins interconnect with the central nervous system. Many people are in the hyped-up, adrenalin overdrive stress state of fight/flight and Bowen can put them into the rest-and-digest state of being. Optimising gut function, assimilation of nutrients and elimination of toxins.
Three treatments, one week apart are recommended. Some long standing problems may require more treatment sessions to become resolved.
All of these are considered good responses.
Then a tune-up to keep you in alignment every month or so can be highly beneficial. Alternatively, Bowen Therapy can be used as a regular energy boost and 'preventive maintenance' tool if you're already fit and healthy.
Bowen is safe to use on any animal or person, new-born to the elderly, with any condition from sports injuries to chronic or organic complaints.
Appointments with our Natural Therapist, Jo Ross, are available at our Happy Biome Clinic on Tuesdays or be appointment (including after hours). Contact us today to book in!


Abstract: This paper focuses on the incentives political and bureaucratic actors face in the institutional setting of EU technology policy. In examining the implications and assumptions of neoclassical and evolutionary theories of technological change, it tries to answer why some approaches are difficult to translate into policy designs. By focusing on positive policymaking the paper examines why policy learning does not occur in certain institutional settings. A special focus is on the informational constraints that limit policy design. Since evaluation and oversight mechanisms have not been sufficiently developed and accepted within EU settings, there is much room for inefficiency, as a basic agency model with hidden information shows. If political planners have incomplete information about the state of the world, programs cannot be designed efficiently. Hence, a better link between evaluation and program design could reduce inefficiencies. Regarding this point, current discussions in U.S. policymaking seem to focus increasingly on program design effects and policy implementation.
Abstract: The institutionalisation of early retirement has become a universal feature of postwar industrial economies, though there are significant cross-national variations. This paper studies the impact of different types of welfare regimes, production systems and labour relations on early exit from work. After an analysis of the main trends, the paper discusses the costs and benefits of early retirement for the various actors — labour, capital and the state — at different levels. The paper outlines both the "pull" and "push" factors of early exit. It first compares the distinct welfare state regimes and private occupational pensions in their impact on early retirement. Then it looks at the labour-shedding strategies inherent to particular employment regimes, production systems and financial governance structures. Finally, the impact of particular industrial relations systems, and especially the role of unions is discussed. The paper finds intricate "institutional complementarities" between particular welfare states, production regimes and industrial relations systems, and these structure the incentives under which actors make decisions on work and retirement. The paper argues that the "collusion" between capital, labour and the state in pursuing early retirement is not merely following a labour-shedding strategy to ease mass unemployment, but also caused by the need for economic restructuration, the downsizing pressures from financial markets, the maintenance of peaceful labour relations, and the consequences of a seniority employment system.


This weekend the rather wonderful jewellery and homewares designer Anna Alicia, founder of A Alicia, is launching her first book Make it Your Own, and to celebrate we wanted to share some of her work.
Anna Alicia's forte is creating, designing and hand-making quirky, stylish and colourful pieces that beg to be worn. She works with ethically sourced materials which she always approaches with originality - whilst she has a recognisable style, she innovates each season by finding new materials and exploring their qualities to create something fresh.
Whilst Make it Your Own is focused more on homewares than jewellery, it has some fantastic projects with beautiful images and clear step-by-step instructions on how to 'make it your own'. Anna also gives her tips on finding vintage and 'eco–ethical' fabric which I am sure will be of interest to all of you seamsters and seamstresses out there.
It's no surprise these projects are so carefully thought-out and easy to follow – as well as being a designer-maker, Anna also runs workshops teaching folk how to make her gorgeous pieces. This Sunday Anna will be running drop-in 'making' sessions at London's Renegade Craft Fair, where she will officially launch her new book - full event details below. In addition, Anna will be selling her jewellery and homewares which, for those of you not local to London, is also available on her website - her book is available on Amazon.
Which of A Alicia's gorgeous creations would you most like in your home, or in your jewellery box?
If you aren't on Facebook, you can instead leave a comment below this post with your answer to the above question, or email us your answer. Please see Ts&Cs below*.
A Alicia will also be taking part in Bust Craftacular London on Sunday 8th December.
*The competition closes at 12pm on Sunday 1st December 2013 and is open to UK residents only. A winner will be chosen at random the first week in December. The winner will be notified on Facebook or by email (if they enter via this site or by email) and must provide their UK postal address within 4 weeks of being notified of their win.


National Museum of Ireland-Country Life.
As part of the 2016 Decade of Centenaries Public Engagement Programme, novelist, playwright and poet, Dermot Bolger is Writer in Residence at the National Museum of Ireland. The residency is a collaborative project between the National Museum of Ireland and Poetry Ireland. Finding A Voice: Dermot Bolger Writer in Residence aims to engage a wide range of audiences in themes and object histories that form the core of the Museums centenary exhibition 'Proclaiming A Republic: The 1916 Rising'.
Writing the Past: An Afternoon in Conversation with Dermot Bolger & Donal O'Kelly.
Sun 14th Aug. 3.45-4.45pm. Adults.


The traditional wedding cake is typically frosted with white icing, but a new trend is brides are opting to serve naked cakes, a pair down creation that forgoes an outer layer of buttercream so that the texture of the cake on the colors inside are put on show. Chef, founder and owner of Milk Bar, Christina Tosi, is credited with starting the trend.
The paired down four tier dulce de leche cake from Milk Bar is $675. Naked cakes put the focus on the texture of the cake and the colors and the flavors inside the cake. Some of them are created and filled with chocolate ganache and berries. Why not challenge the norm? According to the owner of Milk Bar she asks why am I hiding all of the colorful, textural, exciting parts of being in the kitchen behind decor? Milk Bar has locations in New York and Toronto and the price of a naked wedding cake starts at $400.
Some of the flavors include a mix flavor cake with chocolate malt, pistachio, salted pretzel, strawberry lemon, and a rainbow birthday cake with vanilla frosting inside. To add a bit of intrigue, the cakes are decorated in flowers, fruits, pretzels, cookie crumbs and chocolate chips.
Some of the amazing delectable cakes are a Tuxedo cake made of alternating chocolate and vanilla layers drizzled with house made fleur de sel caramel buttercream. The surprise center is made of pure caramel. Another combination is a rainbow birthday cake crumble, a middle tier made of cheesecake, apple compote, and pie crumbs and a top-tier of salted pretzel cake. Clean lines and powdered fruit add to the aesthetic appeal of a naked lemon cake filled with raspberry purée buttercream.
Seasonal fruit and fresh compote can add a rustic appeal to a naked cake. Some of the natural toppings are fresh fruit and drizzled preserves on the top. One does not always have to put sugar flowers on top of the cake and can let the season influence the flavor.
In preparation, because they are exposed, naked cakes tend to dry out faster than traditional ones, so they should be served no more than 24 hours after being stacked. Pay attention to the colors of the filling and the cake when making a naked cake since they will have to look good together. Naturally colored cakes look the best like vanilla, carrot cake or hummingbird instead of food coloring dyed cakes like red velvet.
Make sure all of your frostings and fillings make sense when eaten as a whole. Assaulted pretzel cake can be filled with ganache and burnt honey frosting.
Since anesthetics are an important part of a naked cake, nothing can be massed with a layer of cream. Every felling should be a sliceable consistency when cold or room temperature. There is no hiding fillings or under set layers with a naked cake.
You might think that naked cakes are less complicated than their frosted counterparts but in fact it's preparation takes quite a bit of skill.


FINRA panel awards damages to broker in promissory note case.
According to reports, a former Morgan Stanley broker was ordered to repay almost $1 million in a promissory note case but managed to prevail on a counterclaim and was awarded $100,000 in damages.
The report indicates that the counterclaim was largely based on allegations that Morgan Stanley promised to keep an office in Sun Valley, Idaho when they recruited the broker to the firm.
The award represents a rare victory for brokers as statistics indicate that financial advisors lose note cases approximately 90% of the time, according to an analysis by Securities Arbitration Commentator Inc., an award research service.
Promissory note cases are a common form of FINRA litigation, arising when a broker leaves a firm before the full amount of a forgivable loan agreement has been forgiven.
The White Law Group routinely represents advisors in promissory note claims involving their former employer, helping these advisors to either negotiate an agreeable settlement or litigate counterclaims based on the brokerage firms failure to deliver on recruiting promises.
For more information on FINRA promissory note claims and The White Law Group's representation of brokers in these cases, visit https://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com/2010/06/23/financial-advisor-promissory-note-litigation-representation/.
The White Law Group is a national securities arbitration law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Vero Beach, Florida. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call the firm's Chicago office at 312/238-9650.
» Blog, Securities Fraud » FINRA panel awards damages to broker in promissory note case.


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Russian aviation agency extends restrictions on flights to some airports until Sept 16
Flights to airports in Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Elista are temporarily restricted
MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) has extended restrictions on flights to 11 airports in the southern and central part of the country until September 16, 2022, the agency's press service said.
"Temporary flight restrictions to 11 airports in southern and central Russia have been extended until September 16," the statement said.
Flights to airports in Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Elista are temporarily restricted.
Russia has closed part of its airspace in the south and central part of the country to civilian aircraft on February 24, 2022, amid the special military operation in Ukraine.
Abramovich not taking part in distribution of Chelsea FC sale funds — press office
"After the club was sold, the money was not transferred to Abramovich's account, and has since remained at the disposal of the British authorities," Russian businessman's press office says


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UnixInfo is a tool designed to give special information about a unix system.

It is intended to help finding malware on linux, by giving the right information about the system.It's comparable to FRST or OTL on Windows systems.

##How to build

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The size of these listings are so large that I am no longer able to add new members!!
Regretably, my editor capabilities have been exceeded, and additions are no longer possible.
Until I determine alternatives, PLEASE sign in using the GUESTBOOK to make your email known!
29th FA Bn, World War II Email Listing !
29th FA Bn, Korean War Era Email Listing !
B Bty (SLT), 29th Artillery Email Listing !
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The 6-29 FA Bn (Vietnam) Email Listing !
The Target Acquisition Units Email Listing !
1st Bn, 29th FA, Fort Carson Email Listing !
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Package of 12 Septum Jewelry Randomly Picked Value package perfect to grow you personal jewelry collection. You will receive a pack of 12 septum jewelry with different designs and materials. We are a U.S. based seller and all of our products are shipped from the United States. You can return any product within 30 days from purchase date. We Care And Will Reply Within 24-48 Hrs!


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Google's reCAPTCHA v3 Promises No Break For Bot Checking
( Original text by Ionut Ilascu )
Google launched the third version of its reCAPTCHA program that sets apart humans and bots when they land on websites, with the promise of eliminating user interaction.
The reCAPTCHA verification program has been causing a lot of discomfort to too many users for far too long. The first version challenged users to type in warped text to prove their human condition.
The second variant was better in that it gave website visitors about a 50% chance to pass with a single click; the opposite situation had them pick images with bicycles, crosswalks, or buses to show they are not bots.
«reCAPTCHA v3 runs adaptive risk analysis in the background to alert you of suspicious traffic while letting your human users enjoy a frictionless experience,» reads Google's announcement.
The secret weapon for appeasing users is a concept called 'Action,' which allows observing the behavior of website visitors and distinguishing automated reactions more accurately.
The recommendation is to enable reCAPTCHA v3 on multiple pages to build a larger pool of patterns that can be correlated to human interaction. Patterns receive scores from 0.1 to 1 to determine how suspicious they are.
Admins can use the scorecards to decide the threshold for letting users through or subjecting them to further checking, like two-factor authentication or phone verification.
The input collected this way can also contribute to training machine learning algorithms fight abusive actions, and it can be combined with other signals admins have available to protect their assets from bots.
Website administrators have had more than a year to test the new service and fine-tune the evaluation criteria for the benefit of the users, and decide how their website should react to bots.
Below there is a short video presentation that explains in simple terms how the reCAPTCHA v3 works. Full documentation about the service is available here.
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