· July, 2010

Stories about Women & Gender from July, 2010

Vietnam: Pale skin and beauty

  29 July 2010

Reacting to the uproar in India over a Facebook app which allows users to lighten their skin color, Andy Engelson observes that the idea of equating pale skin with beauty is also strong in Vietnam.

Venezuela: Allies in Technology, Women Who are Not Afraid of Mice

  29 July 2010

Venezuelan NGO Aliadas en Cadena (Allies in Chains) created the group Aliadas en Tecnología (Allies in Technology) to promote the use of technology to empower women affected by poverty. Through classes and workshops, many women who saw computers as strange and intimidating objects now find in them a tool for work, learning and self-fulfillment.

Israel: Rape by Deceit or Racism?

  28 July 2010

The recent conviction of rape by deceit of an Arab posing as a Jew to seduce a Jewish woman to engage in sexual intercourse has sparked conversations across the Hebrew blogosphere about the dire inequality between Jews and Arabs living in Israel. Gilad Lotan translates some of the reactions from Hebrew.

Bhutan: Equality For Women

  26 July 2010

Cho at Writers Association Of Bhutan Blog advocates for equality for women in Bhutanese societies and comments: “sad to say but sexism in Bhutan starts from homes and parents yell at their daughters for not cooking a delicious meal till she finally perfects it.”

Egypt: Niqab ban in France stirs controversy

The lower house of the Spanish Parliament is debating a proposal to prohibit the wearing of body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces in Spain, and the French parliament just approved a ban on niqabs (face veils). Bloggers from across the Middle East react.

India: Fair, Lovely and Facebooked

  23 July 2010

A new Facebook app has been creating some controversy in India. The app lets users lighten the skin colour on their profile pictures. Bloggers discuss the complexity of the issue especially the fact that the app is targeting men instead of women.

Blog Carnival: Colombia, Women and the Web – A Summary

  22 July 2010

There seems to be a concern among Colombian women about defending their rights and about increasing the number of women who can use the Internet and new media to express themselves and take advantage of the benefits this medium offers, like other women do in other countries. This is evident after going over 21 posts submitted for the first carnival of blogs organized by Global Voices in Spanish: Blog Carnival: Colombia, Women on the Web. Take a look at what these bloggers had to say.

Mexico: Women Sent to Jail in Guanajuato for Spontaneous Abortions

  22 July 2010

Ximena Vega reports [es] on the ongoing incarceration of women who go through spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) in Guanajuato; she writes that women who have abortions (spontaneously or otherwise) can get an average of 27 years in jail. This has been going on for years, as an article from Human Rights Watch from 2006...

Israel: Conviction of “rape by deceit”

Sabar Kashur, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, was charged with rape for posing as a Jewish bachelor in order to seduce a woman. He has been convicted to 18 months prison. His conviction has proved controversial with many outraged at the judge's decision; others feel it is the correct application of the law. In this post, Katharine Ganly presents some of these opinions.

Azerbaijan: Caucasus Women

CauCasuSWomaN takes a look at the rights of men and women in Azerbaijan (and the Caucasus) in the context of actual attitudes to gender and says that education is key to changing existing values and perceptions.