Stories about Women & Gender from October, 2007
Egypt: Free Women
Egypt Guy from Egypt posts this video by Egyptian Ahmed Sharif which calls for the freedom of women from religious associations.
Algeria: There's Water Everywhere
Read Algerian blogger Nouri‘s post to learn why his father's friend told him: “There's water everywhere, but not a drop to drink!”
Russia: Miss Russia 2007
The Turkish Invasion blogs about Miss Russia 2007 contest.
Armenia: Homophobic Advert
Blogian posts a photograph of an advertisement for a rap party in Yerevan named after a historical Armenian site in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan. Hrag Vartanian says that the advert depicting an American girl in a Stars & Stripes bikini with the words “Homosexuals and Animals Not Welcome” would...
Armenia: Gender Politics
With several examples in mind elsewhere around the world, Unzipped: Gay Armenia wonders if Armenia shouldn't have a woman president. Despite the patriarchal nature of Armenia and the Caucasus itself, the blog says that a female head of state might succeed in easing “tensions in our society and act as...
Turkey: An Armenian in Istanbul
Despite warnings from fellow Armenians, Lara Aha at Life in Armenia visited Istanbul in Turkey last week to attend a seminar on women in conflict zones. The Diasporan blogger now resident in Armenia says not only did she feel more at home in Istanbul than Yerevan, but that she also...
Brazil: Reforming Abortion Laws
Cecilia Sardenberg, in “The right to abortion: briefing from Brazil” at OpenDemocracy.net, tells about the heated debate over reforms to Brazil's outdated abortion laws that has intensified across the country in 2007.
Korea: Can a Law Change Society and People's Perspectives?
Korean bloggers discuss a new bill that would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in Korea. There are many opposing views, but some netizens welcome this new law and ask for a more understanding attitude toward homosexuals.
Jordan: Media and Elections Snippets
Jordanian Lina Ejeilat shares with us snippets of news about media and the upcoming Jordanian parliamentary elections in this post. Among the snippets is an article about 46 women from Erbid running in the elections.
South Korea: Crime Against Women
Robert Koehler shows how gender, race and crime are mingled together in journalistic report.
Egypt: Iraqi Prostitutes in Syria
Egyptian blogger Hatshepsut links to an article which discusses the plight of Iraqi refugee women in Syria, who have turned to prostitution to support their families and children.
Syria: On Female Circumcision
Syrian blogger Wassim talks about female circumcision, Hejab (headscarf) and rebels without a clue in this post.
Bangladesh: Bloggers mobilise against domestic violence
(Logo credit: Amnesty International) October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in the USA, devoted to connecting battered women’s advocates across the nation to work together to end violence against women and children. The issue, however, is not country specific. Domestic violence is a menace that is found all over the...
Lebanon: On how to become a political leader
Cold Desert dissects some political prototypes. In this post, he explains how to become a political leader: “there is a single prerequisite; you need to be the son of a political leader. This political leader should have a very strong public base who would follow him blindly.”
Pakistan: Women and Harassment
All Things Pakistan on the harassment and bullying women face at the workplace or in school.
India: Heroines and Cinema
Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa has a hilarious but telling post on the various stereotypes that heroines in films are slotted into.
Russia: Beautiful Women
Natalia Antonova writes: “One of the most popular posts in the Russian blogosphere […] as of late was a simple “post pictures of women you consider beautiful” on some dude’s LiveJournal. The author later revealed that he was betting on a bottle of Hennessy – in order to determine whether...
Iran:Iranian lovers in trouble in 8 photos
Husband shows in 8 photos how two Iranian lovers were controled by a security agent and got into trouble.The agent checked their identity cards and found out they are not in the same family!
Iran:Medical Student Commits Suicide after being Arrested
Kamangir reports that Zahra Bani Amer ,a twenty-seven-year-old medical student, committed suicide in a prison in Hamedan Province, after she was arrested by the Sharia Police.Zahra was arrested two days before because of “questions about marital status”. At the time she was accompanied by a boy.
Morocco: Seven Women Ministers
“Morocco got a new government on Monday after nearly a month of tough negotiations, with seven women among the 34 ministers – and none from the Islamic party that placed second in parliamentary elections last month,” announced Moroccan blog The View From Fez.
India: Women and Spirituality
The Mountaintop on spiritual literature and the indifference or denial of women's sexuality.