WMC Women Under Siege
10 wars to watch (and that the media ignore)
Bloodshed, famine, rape, internal displacement. There are truly few things as awful as the reality of living through modern warfare. The horror, suffering, and pain caused by war are acutely felt on an individual level. Often though, that pain is endured quietly, out of view, while the media focuses on bombs falling and guns firing.
WMC Women Under Siege
November 08, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC FBomb
A Feminist Wave of Fury
I'm not walking 'before' Anybody.
I'm not here to parade my body,
Or prance and flit about.
Cause under all the prettiness,
There beats an Amazon heart.
To wear what We want.
To do what We dream.
To...
WMC FBomb
Jessica Valenti On What It Will Take To Make A Woman President
Jessica Valenti, called one of the Top 100 Inspiring Women in the world by The Guardian, is the author of four books on feminism, politics, and culture. Valenti founded Feministing.com, which Columbia...
WMC News & Features
November 06, 2013 | Mary Ann Swissler |
Violence against women
Using Student-Made Films to Confront Campus Sexual Assault
Student filmmakers and their professors at five far-flung colleges have united to create a diverse collection of short films to promote campus sexual assault awareness and prevention. So far, the films have reached 400 additional schools, and counting.
WMC Women Under Siege
U.S. steps up protection of women in war
One of the first things that happens when war breaks out is that the rule of law crumbles. Women become targets of violence—whether through rape or sexual exploitation as food and other resources quickly become scarce. This can have critical consequences not only for the women themselves, but for the escalation of the war.
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Where Are the White Women? A Response to Halloween, Blackface, and Missed Opportunities
It is always important to make sure that white folks are not taking up space in a racial justice movement whose very problem is derived from our privilege and racism: it is important to stand in solid...
WMC Women Under Siege
November 01, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC FBomb
October 30, 2013 | Natalia R. |
Body image and body standards,
Feminism
Young, Feminist and Hungry: An Insider's Perspective On Body Image
As a teenage girl, I'm constantly haunted by social and cultural standards that dictate harmful and confusing messages, like that a low weight is correlated with beauty, that you need to be thin to be...
WMC News & Features
October 30, 2013 | Soraya Chemaly |
International
Do We Really Want to Talk About Mass Surveillance?
As U.S. activists protest against NSA rights violations, we should bear in mind that Saudi women are all too familiar with the surveillance state.
WMC Women Under Siege
Women in South Africa are living in a war zone
This year has been especially horrific for the women of South Africa. On October 15, two little girls, aged 2 and 3, were found in a public toilet in Diepsloot, a settlement in the north of Johannesburg, according to news reports. The girls, both cousins, who had been abducted in broad daylight, had been raped and strangled.
WMC FBomb
October 27, 2013 | Sam H |
Body image and body standards,
Feminism,
Media,
Misogyny,
Politics,
Race/Ethnicity
The Black Girl Conundrum
I will never forget the noise that my mother made when she first saw it. We were navigating the streets of New York on a busy Saturday in 2011, running late for a hair appointment. She was walking so ...
WMC Women Under Siege
What's going on in Syria is about a lot more than chemical weapons
We're off talk of "intervention" in Syria, and on to trying to get everyone to the negotiating table. It's not going very well.
WMC Women Under Siege
October 25, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC Women Under Siege
Shutting us down: How online misogyny prevents women from fully participating in democracy
There are two major barriers to women’s full participation in the democratic process in the UK at the moment—the first relates to their taking part in the vital and shaping process of grassroots activism, and the second to their participation in more traditional political careers.
WMC News & Features
October 23, 2013 | Marianne Schnall |
Media
Honoring Game Changers at the Women's Media Awards
More than 400 people gathered in New York to honor and celebrate women who are making themselves and other women visible and powerful in media.
WMC Women Under Siege
The Index: Rape in War
Number of countries that signed the UK and UN’s Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict: 128. Countries that refused to sign the declaration at the UNGA on September 24: 80...
WMC Women Under Siege
'Their untold stories eat away at them': Rape and the women of Mali
In late September, a Malian woman told UN workers that she had been raped, and identified four Chadian soldiers—UN peacekeepers—as her rapists, according to a BBC report. A UN spokesman issued a statement a few days later, reaffirming the organization’s zero commitment policy against sexual abuse and calling on the Chadian government to fully investigate the matter.
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What My Mom Doesn't Get About Being Transgender
Some time ago my mum and I had an argument. It all started when I was wasting time on Facebook, checking my cousin's profile. My cousin is a few years older than me and is someone I've always admired...
WMC News & Features
A Unique Film From Saudi Arabia
Haifaa Al-Mansour reflects on her new feature film, Wadjda; the unusual challenges involved in making it; and the impact of telling a story from the perspective of a ten-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia.
WMC FBomb
Why Gender-Specific Toys Are Harming Girls
The majority of the Toys R Us Lego Isle is a very familiar shade of blue, copyrighted and trademarked, and gleaming under the florescent lights. In one brightly lit section, however, pink reigns supre...
WMC Women Under Siege
October 11, 2013 | Fariba Nawa |
International
Afghanistan’s widows of the disappeared
Sabah Mohammed sat at the dining table where she worked in Fremont, Calif., her gaze distant and lost. She wondered if her husband was out there somewhere with another wife and family. Or maybe he was dead. Or maybe he was in a prison camp in Siberia.
WMC News & Features
October 09, 2013 | Amy Richards |
MAKERS Asks (and Answers): Where Are the Women?
Eight months after its premiere, "MAKERS: Women Who Make America" continues its dramatic growth as a multimedia project chronicling the modern U.S. women’s movement. It received the Multi-Media Award for Ground-Breaking Contribution to Women, History, and America at the Women’s Media Center Awards Gala in New York this week. Amy Richards—who is writing a book about MAKERS—will appear as a guest on “Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan” on October 10.
WMC FBomb
October 08, 2013 | Trip E |
Education,
Feminism,
Girls,
Misogyny,
Race/Ethnicity,
Violence against women
When the Controversial Decision to Only Cast Women Of Color Makes Sense
Last week, Barnard College/Columbia University’s V-Day organization announced that this year's production of Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues will feature a cast entirely composed of self-iden...
WMC Women Under Siege
10 must-read books on sexualized violence in war
Our mission here at WMC’s Women Under Siege is to add to the public record on sexualized violence in conflict. But if you’re just setting out to learn more about a topic as complicated as this, figuring out where to begin might seem a bit daunting.