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Deborah Siegel, PhD is a writer and consultant specializing in women's issues. She is a Fellow at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership and co-editor of the anthology Only Child. She has written about women, sex, families and popular culture and has been featured in Psychology Today, USA Today, The New York Times, Time Out New York and Ms.
Deborah took time out from her participation in the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) Conference, June 28-July 1 in St. Charles, Illinois to email the answers to my questions on her new book, Sisterhood Interrupted, From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild.
Yesterday, Egypt announced they are banning all forms of female circumcision just days after a 12-year old girl died from the procedure.
It was actually officially banned in 1997, but doctors were allowed to do the procedure for "exceptional cases." Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali has now announced that every doctor or medical professional is banned from carrying out any form of circumcision, and if the act is committed, it "will be viewed as a violation of the law and all contraventions will be punished."
But despite the "exceptional cases" rule from 1997, a 2000 study showed that the procedure was still carried out on 97% of the country's women. So how much will actually change now?
Does anyone know more about the history of FGM in Egypt?
I'll be honest, I really am hungover today, so this is going to be quick. And trust me, you do not want to look at me on video today. The Supreme Court session has ended until the fall. Let's take a moment to enjoy some of the lowlights from the last few months of decisions that we've covered here at Feministing. Feel free to add others in comments.
April 18th - Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood
The Supreme Court decides that outlawing abortion methods is fine, even if a woman's health is at risk.
Respondents have not demonstrated that the Act […] imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion based on its overbreadth or lack of a health exception.
Congrats, ladies. Your health is irrelevant.
May 29th - Ledbetter v. Goodyear
The Supreme Court decides that you can't file a pay discrimination complaint more than 180 days “after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred.”
Ann breaks it down, " 180 days isn't much time to figure out a pay disparity exists. How many people -- especially, for example, women in nontraditional professions -- talk openly with their coworkers about how much they're earning?"
June 28th - Parents Involved v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education
The Supreme Court strikes down, K-12 voluntary integration programs in public schools. The consideration of race for admissions was determined to be constitutional in colleges a few years ago. I guess they figure kids can wait.
Chief Justice Roberts said, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
Pissed off me says the way to make schools more racially diverse is to fucking make schools more racially diverse.
The policy, cultural mindset and economic racism has been in place for a long time, but today the Supreme Court made the few slightly effective attempts at desegregation, that much less possible.
Ever been to the school district where Brown v Board of Ed was decided?
I have. About 12 years ago I traveled to Topeka, Kansas with my debate team (yes I was on the debate team, c'mon now). I was a teenager from upstate NY and had experienced racism in schools already. I was really curious about this high school that was used as the symbol for one of the greatest victories for people of color and their rightful access to a fair and equitable education. The high school was empty when we were there, but for some reason, we sensed the tension that was clearly still plaguing the school. Posters demanding that one support diversity and multiculturalism were everywhere.
It was not until I was a MA student in Equity and Social Justice in Education that I read that 50 years later, things hadn't really changed much at the Topeka School District. That state by state, throughout the country in "high risk" places, it was almost impossible to counter segregation policy that disguised itself with benign terminology and strategically (busing, shutting down schools) created policy used to keep certain children out and away from their constitutional right to a fair education.
A few years later, I became a school teacher and worked for a public school district for 5 years in predominantly black and Latino schools. The conditions were atrocious, the curriculum was demeaning, the wages deplorable and there was not a white child in sight (unless they were mentally or physically disabled or very very poor). In the land where every child is left behind, schools are segregated right now whether the Supreme Court says so or not. Whether they take another tool in placing some of these kids out of these schools or not. This country survives on the miseducation of brown and poor boys and girls, essentially to have a labor force that will not become doctors, engineers, scientists, lawyers, and business folk. Their failure is built into the system.
The policy, cultural mindset and economic racism has been in place for a long time, but today the Supreme Court made the few slightly effective attempts at desegregation, that much less possible. Despite any small scale recognition of the *positive* influence of diversity, the main staples of good old fashioned racism shine through. Helping a school out of the warped and fucked up history of injustice against black and brown people by modest proposals of "maybe we can help you out because you are brown, but ONLY if you are as qualified" crap is a drop in the bucket, when you are talking about a system that survives on the suppression of your voice.
Roberts weakly argues, that integration initiatives are somehow racist towards white children. I am so profoundly struck by the racism implicit in this statement and all I can ask is, when was the last time you stepped foot inside a school?
I did it, I taught in the trenches, I saw how bad it was, how bad it still is. Nobody listens to these teachers, to these communities, to these students, when their toilettes are overflowing and they are using history text books that still say "USSR." Nobody gives a fuck about this nations children that go to school everyday and are afraid to walk down the street, afraid on the school yards and afraid of going home.
What these kids and communities do know is that no one wants them. No one wants to go to school with them, no one wants them in their schools and no one wants them in their communities.
So thank you, newly appointed SCOTUS, for doing so much worse than we thought you could. And for forgetting those of us in the schools and in the communities working so hard against years of racist and classist policy that has pushed us to the farthest points of our national imagination and rendered us invisible. Thank you for letting us know, we don't need your help anymore. Because, quite frankly, we never noticed we were getting your help in the first place.
The first Senate candidate for a political group targeting women's issues says the time is right for such a party. The What Women Want Australia party was launched in Brisbane today along with the Senate candidacy of party member, Anne Bousfield.
Ms Bousfield says the major parties have done a poor job of tackling issues that impact families.
"As most mothers know, there's issues with paid maternity leave," she said. "Then there's issues with finding affordable, quality child care.
"Then there's issues about educating their children, then after that, there's issues about training them in the tertiary sector and the environment that they'll grow up in."
Do we really need a women-only political party to get voters to care about women?
Yes, yes--I know that a lot of Feministing readers don't expect much from women's magazines. But I'm an optimist. And lately it seems as if magazines like ELLE, Glamour and Marie Claire have stepped it up; they're covering hard news issues, talking about feminism, and supporting great women's organizations.
So I was more than a little disappointed when I looked at this month's Marie Claire only to find a bevy of squirm-inducing stories. Check them out after the jump.
Oh, Louisiana. The state legislature approved a late-term abortion ban this week with no exception for women's health. Louisiana is the first state to do as much since the Supreme Court upheld the federal abortion ban.
The procedure would be a crime in all other cases [other than to save the woman's life], including situations where the pregnancy is expected to cause health problems for the mother.
The measure goes to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who describes herself as anti-abortion but has not indicated whether she plans to sign the bill.
Farida Nekzad began receiving menacing calls on her cell phone a half hour after arriving at the funeral of a fellow female journalist assassinated by gunmen.
"'Daughter of America! We will kill you, just like we killed her,'" she quoted the man on the phone as saying as she stood near the maimed body of Zakia Zaki, the owner of a radio station north of Kabul.
I won't go as far as the article to say that women's lives have "vastly" improved since the fall of the Taliban. The condition and lives of women in Afghanistan are deplorable, but it seems to be a new trend that journalists and other media related women that are in highly visible spaces are being targeted with violence and murder.
"They want to make news, and targeting the journalists is a way to make news," Naderi said. "They're showing the world, 'We're here and we're still in charge of this country.'"
Women have played a large role in the country's media advances the past six years, and several women work on TV news programs as reporters and newscasters. They are typically modestly dressed, with their hair and necklines carefully hidden under scarves.
Still, some Afghans think it is inappropriate for women to appear before the public.
Hey folks, just a reminder that today is National HIV Testing Day, an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US) to encourage people to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing.
Broadsheet has the unfortunate news that an amendment may be tacked on to the immigration bill that would make women's immigration status known to federal authorities if they report domestic violence to local police.
Currently the Violence Against Women Act protects women by preventing local law enforcement from disclosing immigration status to the feds. But this amendment would essentially junk that portion of VAWA in the name of facilitating "information sharing between federal and local law enforcement officials related to an individual's immigration status," as the amendment's authors, Republican Senators Norm Coleman and Pete Domenici, put it. Broadsheet reports,
"This is an extraordinary attempt to punish the undocumented immigrants in our country," said Olga Vives, NOW's executive vice president, in a phone call with Broadsheet just now. "Their lives are at stake here, in particular those women who are dependent on the immigration status of their partners. For victims of domestic abuse, this is a double whammy."
Immigrant women are more likely to face additional language and cultural barrier
