· June, 2009

Stories about Women & Gender from June, 2009

Algeria: On France's burqa ban

Algerian-American blogger The Moor Next Door remarks upon France's intended burqa ban, saying, “The trouble the French may want to worry about is not the burqa as it is worn in France today, but that such a ban, as the headscarf ban has done, will make the garment a greater...

Kenya: The politics of Mass Male Circumcision

  27 June 2009

HIV Kenya discusses the politics of “Mass Male Circumcision“: It seems like a short time since the issue of mass male circumcision (MMC) became a political football and it is not even the latest issue to have that status any more. But articles about it still appear every now and...

Singapore: Infamous Burger King ad

  26 June 2009

Burger King has a new sandwich offering in Singapore called the “Super Seven Incher.” To promote the new product, a local ad agency produced an outdoor ad which is now getting a lot of attention and criticism around the world.

Ukraine: “Lady Ethnographer”

Maria Sonevytsky of My Simferopol Home writes on being a “lady ethnographer” in Ukraine and on xenophobia in Crimea: “Ukraine today is caught between two warring accounts of history, as it is caught between two different attitudes towards otherness, be it gendered, ethnic or raced otherness.”

Azerbaijan: Interview with Nigar Fatali

The OL! Youth Movement blog [AZ] interviews Azeri blogger Nigar Fatali. The blogger at Don Quixote [AZ/RU] and Fighting windmills? Take a pill [EN] comments on matters as diverse as gender, education, conflict resolution, youth and culture.

Iran: Neda becomes a symbol for the protesters

Neda was an Iranian woman who was shot dead by Basij militia on Saturday during a protest of thousands against the Iranian presidential election results that declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president. Her death was captured on video by bystanders and uploaded to the internet. She died with her eyes wide open, and her last moments reached millions of people.

Greece: Bloggers interview Iranian protesters

With the clampdown on journalism and communications in Iran, most Greek mainstream media have resorted to conveying reports from social media, second or third-hand, through western news organizations. Some Greek bloggers have helped bridge gaps in reporting by interviewing Iranian protesters contacted on Twitter themselves, or by posting news from acquaintances in Iran and abroad.

Azerbaijan: All hail Iranian women

Following a post from Armenian blogger Ianyan in praise of women in Iran comes a similar response from Azerbaijan, another country that borders the Islamic republic. Re-posting an earlier video interview on the changing role of women in Iran, Baku-based Global Voices Online author Ali S. Novruzov also pays homage.

China: Interviewing Deng Yujiao

  18 June 2009

ESWN translated Southern Metropolis Daily's interview with Deng Yujiao, the nail beautician who was set free by China court for killing a local government official when defending herself against sexual assault.

Azerbaijan: Persepolis

Global Voices Online author Ali S. Novruzov is interviewed by the OL! Azerbaijani youth movement on the movie Persepolis and comments on the role of women in post-revolution Iranian society.

USA, Singapore: On Buying Brides with Credit Cards

  15 June 2009

The Human Trafficking blog by Amanda Kloer at Change.org in the United States declared victory on Friday in their campaign to get the credit card company Diners Club International to stop doing business with a company in Singapore that sells Vietnamese mail order brides. More than 800 people signed a petition to get Diners Club to stop making it easier to purchase women for marriage.