Stories about Women & Gender from July, 2007
Nigeria: True Love magazine features Nigerian female bloggers
Several Nigerian female bloggers are featured on the West Africa's True Love magazine:”Bella is still very much incognito…but has a very sweet interview along with the bloggers who inspired her to start, Adaure and Taureanminx. As well as Bimbo Lads, and Mona!!”
Alain Mabanckou on Prostitution in Brazzaville
Alain Mabanckou posts “Night scenes in Brazzaville” (Fr), a sketch on young prostitutes and their European customers. “The atmosphere of the country surely helps. Would they find such an opportunity in their own country? …Money excuses everything…”
Czech Rebublic: Surgical Castration
NvB: Bored in Brno? writes on surgical castration used to treat sex offenders – something that looks like “population engineering and thinly veiled eugenics” – and on the attitudes toward sex in the Czech Republic in general.
Jordan: Challenging Women
Wael Attili from Jordan posts a challenging question to women here.
South Africa: nothing fancy about Ubuntu
Amanda Atwood sees nothing fancy about Ubuntu: “I was speaking with a friend the other day who was saying that she didn’t want her sexuality to be tolerated, she wants it to be embraced. Me? As much as the colour of my hair or the size of my shoe is...
Sri Lanka: Arranged Marriages
London, Lanka and Drums on arranged marriages, the author's changing views over the years.
Iran: Man is stoned after 11 years in prison
Jafar Kiani was stoned to death in Takestan in the province of Qazvin on 5 July, after serving an 11-year prison term. His crime was adultery. His partner, Mokarameh Ebrahimi, has also been jailed for 11 years along with her two small children, and may be next on the list....
Touring Libyan blogs: women at the realm, promoting blogging, missed calls and other annoyances
Libyan women are a cut above, with the top 43 graduates from high school being girls. However, some bloggers argue that their place is still in the home. In other developments, blogging is making its way to students, mobile phones are a must have, and Libyans have got the hang of making missed calls, for others with credits on their phones to call them back.
Arabeyes: Saudi Women Fight for Men's Rights
Saudi women are grabbing the headlines once again - this time with a protest to demand the freedom of their husbands and kin arrested under 'terrorism' charges, in the conservative kingdom where women are not even allowed to drive. While newspapers are shying from covering the demonstration, bloggers are coming up with creative methods to spread their demands and concerns.
Jamaica: The Large Black Woman
“How is the large black woman represented in both literary and popular venues? How is she perceived? How do her race, size and gender intersect in her representation?” Geoffrey Philp features Jamaican author Andrea Elizabeth Shaw in her own words.
Guyana: Modern-Day Fairytale?
“Once upon a now time, it got a gyal who believe in love and romance…” Guyana-Gyal is torn between her “well-beloved myths” and reality.
South Africa: two lesbian activists tortured, murdered
Black Looks writes about the brutal murder of two South African lesbian activists: “Last Sunday two more South African lesbians were brutally raped and murdered in Medowlands, Soweto. Sizakele Sigasa, lesbian activist and outreach worker with the Positive Women’s Network (PWN), and her friend, Salome Masooa, were first tortured and...
Sudan: Movie Reviews, Being Single, Sudanese Rape Laws & Life Saving Stoves for Darfur
There is quite a lot to cover in this week’s round up of the Sudanese blogosphere: movie reviews, government reshuffle in South Sudan, Darfur Stoves Project, etc. We’ll first start with some Sudanese bloggers’ thoughts on recently released movies.
Nepal: Abortions and Maternal Mortality
RH Reality Check on how Nepal has reduced maternal mortality by improving access to abortions.
Egypt: Sex Ads on the Increase
Egyptian Zeinobia expresses her annoyance with sex pests and advertisements here.
Egypt: Violence Against Women
Egyptian Ha Ana Za writes about the status of women in Egypt.
Lebanon: Sobheiya in the Desert
Serene from Lebanon brings us the story of Sobheiya, who lives in the Sinai desert.
Hindi Blogosphere: A brouhaha, customer service and blogger meets!
So it's after about one and a half month that we are looking at what has been going on in Hindi blogosphere. The dust had barely settled down when it rose again, this time on the issue of expulsion of a blog from the leading Hindi blog aggregator, Narad. For...
Africa: women's rights in Africa
Black Looks explores the old and new state of women's rights in Africa: “In Kenya the abortion debate went public when a mock tribunal was supposed to be held with 4 women telling their personal stories. Although anti-abortion activists managed to stop the debate the Vice President has come out...
Cuba: Gay Rights
“Following Fidel Castro’s…Cuban revolution, LGBT people were persecuted and imprisoned. Now the Communist Party is set to bring forward a law which would legalise same-sex unions, grant adoption rights to same-sex couples and give lesbians access to reproduction services.” Gay Blog Ruffian reports on the rights of gays in Cuba.
Jordan: Honour Crimes Book
Jordanian Natasha Tynes stumbles on news about a new book on honour killings, being written by a former colleague.