RAWA - The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan

RAWA - The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
"The oldest anti-fundamentalist feminist organisation of oppressed Afghan women"

RAWA is the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women and has campaigned for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in Afghanistan since 1977. RAWA believes that education is crucial in creating empowerment for women and they offer a secular curriculum at their schools teaching humanitarian principles and equality.

They are supported by SAWA-Australia, the Support Association for the Women of Afghanistan a group based in Adelaide, and WILFP, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Sohaila, a member of RAWA will be speaking at the Australian Education Union Hall, 163 Greenhill Road at 6:30 tonight the 8th August, for enquiries phone: 8333 3279.

Philosophy from a female point of view

Listen to ABC Radio National’s podcast:
Philosophy from a female point of view
an edited version of Catriona McKenzie’s lecture:
'History, Embodiment and Ethics: Themes in Australian feminist philosophy'

Associated resources: (available at WSRC)
A Companion to Feminist Philosophy
includes chapters by Virginia Held, Genevieve Lloyd, Moira Gatens and many others
Genevieve Lloyd The Man of Reason: “male” and “female” in Western philosophy
Carole Pateman The sexual contract
Carole Pateman The disorder of women: democracy, feminism and political theory
Carole Pateman and Elizabeth Gross (ed.) Feminist challenges: social and political theory
Carole Pateman and Jacqueline Goodnow (ed.) Women, social science and public policy
Moira Gatens Feminism and philosophy perpectives on difference and equality
Moira Gatens Imaginary bodies : ethics, power and corporeality
Val Plumwood Feminism and the mastery of nature

Thanks to Jessi for providing this link

- Cat and Jo

Feminist Art

WACKsite, is the community driven component enriching viewers’ understanding of
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution
a major show of feminist art created between 1965 and 1980.
Created by MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

“The WACKsite includes 42 Installation views of the exhibition, as well as a series of images from Walks Through the Revolution, a tour of the show held March 4, at which many of the artists spoke. There are also short audio tours, featuring individual artists talking about their work, such as Miriam Schapiro, and downloadable podcasts of longer lectures by Angela Davis, Griselda Pollack, and Linda Nochlin.” - the Scout Report (U. of Wisconsin), 20 July, 2007

Thank you to Susan Brunner for this link,
- Cat

Women vs the Media
The objectification and portrayal of women in the media, advertising, magazines, music videos and television presents a stereotype of women’s roles in society, which reinforces women’s subordinate status.

“Pretend(ing) to offer liberation in the guise of sexual promiscuity” - Catharine Lumby in Australian Feminism: a companion, 1998.

Female Chauvinist pigs : Women and the rise of raunch culture by Ariel Levy also addresses some of these issues.

Our library has both of these books, and more on women and the media.
- Cat

Men's Liberation
After chatting to some of the young men in the Le Fevre Women’s Studies class, I wanted to find some information on men’s liberation and its association with the women’s liberation movement:
Dr Michael Flood, a feminist, looks at promoting gender equality, concentrating on men and masculinity, and heterosexuality.

He started XY a website focused on men, masculinities, and gender politics

Which has a very comprehensive links page on men, sexualities, gender and feminism

- Cat

Visitors - new potential avid feminists

Lately the WSRC has been inundated with Women's Studies student groups, classes from Kildare College and Le Fevre came to visit for an introduction to our library.

A few topics that cropped up in discussion were the new Womens Political Party
(the more well known political women's group is WEL - Women’s Electoral Lobby - an independent women’s lobby group working to protect the rights of Australian women), and a recent post by Buffy/Angel/Firefly creator Joss Whedon on fansite WHEDONesque called "What's wrong with women?".

Meanwhile, in an attempt to attack feminists, the Australian media has been highlighting the Surrendered Wife movement. (More discussion can be found here [the link contains some strong language].)

- Cat & Danielle

"If you're a busy woman like me..."

Larvatus Prodeo has an interesting discussion about the Advertising Standards Bureau and the current Nando's ad (YouTube link):

"[L]ooking carefully through their past rulings I am a bit doubtful about the integrity of the complaints process as the ASB actually runs it. There are two factors which seem to make it difficult for sexuality & gender-related complaints against ads to get through: first, the Bureau concentrate on what is literally said or depicted in ads while most complaints have to do with things that are suggested or implied, for example through double entendres, visual puns and camera angles. Second, the Bureau appears to find mitigation in jokes, humour and what advertisers tend to call ‘lightheartedness’ - tendentious material seems more palatable if it’s clothed in some sort of attempt at humour. Putting these two things together I suspect the Bureau runs by a system which the advertising industry finds it extremely easy to game. And the incentives are high: sex sells."

- Danielle