The issue of “lack of coverage” is a bit more complex than Mesure frames it, and it should be addressed as such.

Anyone with a recent memory of the war on Afghanistan remembers that many Western feminists either shamefully jumped on the war bandwagon, or were suspiciously silent on the issue of women’s oppression as it was being used as a rationalization tool by the Bush administration. This is not cultural relativism, this is reality.

Again, what Sesure simplistically labels as culturally relativistic, is not that simple. There IS a problem, in my opinion with “western feminists” creating a binary where the more “serious” women’s oppression is always located outside our borders in countries “less developed”, or “more primitive” than our own.

What about the serious issues afflicting women in the “western world”? It’s not between covering white middle class women’s issues vs talking about islamic oppression of women. This makes it seem like western women are too busy dealing with their trivial problems while the seriously oppression of women goes ignored abroad. Why doesn’t Sesure rail against feminists being silent on women of color IN THE U.S./GB dying of treatable illnesses in shameful proportions? Or the danger of women of color being imprisoned in greater numbers than ever before? Where are the british sisters rallying for better wages for the undocumented immigrant women working as their nannies (oh yeah cuz they need to be liberated out of the workforce). Why arent the substandard working conditions in sweatshops in southern california where women toil to eke out meager existence while living in fear of ICE– a cause celebre for feminists??

These issues are routinely ignored by “international” feminists, who are quick to find the most obvious “cause celebre” instances of “womens oppression”, while they often remain blind to the injustices of their black brown and yellow sisters at home.

Furthermore, Sesure should be a little less heavy handed about calling for sanctions against Sudan. Sudan is already being targeted by Washington, obstensibly for its crimes in Darfur–however, its silence on similar crimes occuring in other parts of the region indicates the outcry over Darfur is more politically motivated by a desire to control Sudan’s vast oil resources. How is imposing economic sanctions on an already struggling nation supposed to empower women?

I, too, have been very critical of American women not standing up for Lubna. Overall, we’ve been very quiet, and I document my own arguments in my writing.

Lubna and Amal and 152 have their own channel now:

http://www.anneofcarversville.com/women-of-sudan/

I, too, been frustrated not getting credit for opening my mouth on Lubna, so I understand your frustration. My daily writing was all over Google, which added to the insult.

In the case of WMC, today’s post was the first Google alert that I received from you. I follow them all. And if you’re in Google search, I’ve missed you. Wordpress is known for having great SEO, so I don’t understand why I haven’t seen you until now. Clearly, you’ve been writing about Lubna.

The awesome, inspiring Hussein was prevented from leaving the country last evening, headed for an interview in Beirut.

On my end, I’ve opened an entire channel at Anne of Carversville devoted to Intl Women’s Rights. Posting today about women in the Congo, I am sick to my stomach.

I’ll add you to the links in the Intl Women’s Rights Channel.

Peace, Anne