Stories about Women & Gender from April, 2007
Bangladesh: Remembering Madhabi
Morris the pen revisits Madhabi. “Remember Madhabi Majhi? She was the girl who was allegedly thrown from a balcony in Dhanmondi last year and narrowly escaped with her life. Her story was charted here in the magazine, and the last we saw of her, she was safe at the BNWLA...
Barbados: Domestic Violence
“The ‘couple’ who everyone knows were at it again a few nights ago. Screaming, yelling, throwing. Kids crying, doors slamming.” Barbados Free Press wonders if anything can really be done about the issue of domestic violence.
Oman: Gay Marriages a Rumour
Omani blogger Nabhan Abdullatif gets the shock of his life when he hears a fellow student announce in class at his Jordan university that gay marriages are allowed in his country. “He basically went on and on about how gay couples from Kuwait or Saudi Arabia come to Oman to...
Egypt: Trick Question
Egyptian blogger Freesoul poses a tricky situation here. See if you can rescue the damsel in distress.
Trinidad & Tobago: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Trinidadian blogger Elspeth at Now is Wow responds to a comment on a post she had written about American rapper Akon's appalling behaviour on stage with a female fan, in the context of Elton John's upcoming performance at the Tobago Jazz Festival: “Yes, women should respect themselves and not cheaply...
Ethiopia: March to protest violence against women.
A march was organized on April, 14th at Merkel square, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This march wanted to show that women were still at risk of random acts of violence and that more needed to be done from a legal point of view to protect their well-being. The march was organized...
Japan: Adult Woman
It is funny that the beauty of adult woman has to be reminded in a society: With nine-year old girls in thong bikinis currently leading the march of eroticism in Japan (or at least grabbing the most real estate in der Zeitgeist), refined culture magazine for urban professionals Brutus has...
Aruba, Puerto Rico: Recognizing Gay Marriage
Aruba is the first Caribbean territory to officially acknowledge gay marriage, reports gay news blog. The move follows a three-year legal battle with Dutch authorities that began when a lesbian couple tried to register their marriage on the island. And Vivir Latino says that Puerto Rico may be considering the...
Syrian Blogsphere on Pelosi, Liz Cheyney, Parliamentary Elections, and Nargileh
In the last couple of weeks very important developments have taken place on the Syrian political arena. One was the controversial visit of the US speaker of parliament Nancy Pelosi to Damascus. The visit had sparked hundreds of articles in the world's media, pro and against. And the Syrian blogsphere...
Introducing the Qatari Blogosphere
“A little country with big heart” is how camper described the tiny (but rich) State of Qatar on its last independence day. While that's a nice quaint description, many in the region tend to think of Qatar as “the small country with the big mouth” because it funds and hosts...
Iran:Women of Tehran's pre-revolution brothel district
Here are several photos of women of Tehran's pre-revolution brothel district.Photos were taken in the Citadel of the New City — “Shahreno” — was Tehran's brothel district before the 1979 Revolution.
Iran:Two women activists are out of jail
According to Varsh[Fa],two women activists, Nahid Keshvarz and Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, are out of jail.They were arrested about two weeks ago when explaining people One Million Signatures Campaign.This campaign wants to put an end to discriminatory laws against women.
Yemen: New Role for Women
Blogger Jane Novak links to a news article which says that the Executive Office of Islah Party in Aden affirmed its intent to grant women wide chances of assuming posts in the party. “Good. Yemeni women are very talented, intelligent and have a lot to contribute politically,” she notes.
India: Grand-Aunt and Feminism
Blogpourri responds to a tag on feminism by remembering her grand-aunt. “She was married at seven to a 42 year-old man. Following the marriage he disappeared, never to be heard from again. A few years later, he was legally presumed dead and my grand-aunt had her whole life ahead of...
Saudi: Killer Pardoned
A woman who has murdered her ex-lover has been pardoned by his family and may soon be set free, writes Saudi-based blogger Nzingha.
Iran:Veil and punishment
Bar Sahleh Salmat[Fa] says she is shameful that Iranian police announced that women who do not respect veil properly, will be punished.She says she carries chador but it is a personal choice.The blogger writes it is just like all country's problems get solved and only women's hair can make trouble.
India: Your Menstrual Cycle
In what comes across as a PR disaster, the government in India appears to be asking women in the civil services about their menstrual cycle and pap smears in their appraisal forms. (News reports suggest that the government has dropped the idea today.) Gilli.in collates some links discussing the issue.
Sudan: Khartoum Explosion, Death By Stoning, Tortured Journalist & Chinese “Musical” Diplomacy
Sudan has been witnessing interesting developments in the past few weeks. The most recent one is the Khartoum ammo truck explosion, which Mimz blogged about: A little over 24 hours ago a series of extremely boisterous explosions took place in one of the military sites availed for storing ammo, in...
Saudi Arabia: Meet the Abazons
We all know who the Amazons are – but to learn more about the Abazons – Saudi Stepford Wife‘s latest post is a must read. “Abazon- An abaya-clad Amazon who, as their literary counterparts in the past, threaten the masculinity of most Saudi men. As such, the typical goal of...
Arabeyes: Esra'a Al Shafei – Your One-Stop-Cyber-Activist
At the age of 20, Bahraini university student Esra'a Al Shafei sure has a lot of chores to juggle. And it isn't classwork that is taking her time and sapping her energy. As a cyber-activist, Al Shafei's interests range from campaigning to free jailed bloggers to highlighting atrocities being committed...
India: Why work?
Indian Mommies links to mommy bloggers from India or of Indian origin. Some fabulous stuff. “I would like to be a working mom, yes! But I have never heard a more ridiculous reason to be one. “Oh What if my husband dies at 47? What will I do?” Please, give...
