A different sort of female genital mutilation

I've a new post on GlobalComment


About thirty years ago, there was an informal secret society in the city of Cork. Perhaps a loose net of those with a shared interest might be more accurate. This group passed the names of certain professionals around – who could be trusted, previous experiences, and religious beliefs. The information was gathered from many sources. It was shared among women of childbearing age because none wanted a fervently Catholic gynecologist.

A fervently Catholic gynecologist might put his beliefs into practice on the delivery table. He might choose to save the life of the child over the mother, or regardless of consequences make sure the woman would conceive again, or choose to mutilate a woman’s body rather than allow the idea that the woman might choose contraception in the future.

In the grand tradition of submission to the catholic church, Irish doctors used the surgical technique of symphysiotomy, long after the rest of the developed world had discredited its practice. Symphysiotomy was developed in 1597 and was routinely used to widen the pelvis during childbirth. By dividing the cartilage of the symphysis pubis, the pelvis can be widened by up to two centimetres.

Known complications include haemorrhage, injury to the urethra or bladder, vesicovaginal or urethrovaginal fistula, stress incontinence, sepsis, and pelvic osteoarthropathy. In some cases women experienced difficulty in walking and an unstable pelvis.

The technique was largely abandoned in the late nineteenth century after improvements in the hygiene and clinical practice of Caesarean section. It is still practiced in developing countries when Caesarean section is too risky and it can save the life of the mother and/or that of the child.


However, in Ireland, women were subjected to symphysiotomy without consent for religious reasons, even though Caesarean sections were relatively safe. It was thought that women subjected to repeated Caesareans might be tempted to use contraception and that could not be allowed to happen.

[Dr] Alex Spain was the champion of symphysiotomy at the National Maternity Hospital. In 1944, he revived the technique because Caesarean sections might lead to “contraception, the mutilating operation of sterilisation, and marital difficulty.” At that time Caesarean sections were perfectly safe and symphysiotomy had fallen into disrepute. Spain admitted his decision went against the weight of the entire English-speaking obstetrical world’.

From 1944 to 1983, 1,500 women underwent this unnecessary and traumatic surgical procedure leaving many in pain for the rest of their lives because of the religious beliefs of a few men. Many survivors have spoken of feeling the saw cut through the public bone and seeing horrific injuries on their newborns. These are just two stories:

“I’ve been in pain ever since. I’ve still attending hospitals with back pain and kidney problems. I’d go to bed one night and would be ok but the next day I would not be able to get out of the bed, I wouldn’t be able to put my feet to the ground, all because of the operation, and I didn’t know at the time. I had x-rays taken of my legs to see what was wrong but they couldn’t find anything wrong.”

and

“They gave me hardly any information, whatsoever, until I got to the theatre. The only thing I remember is the nurses saying I had lovely red hair. They showed me the saw. It was an ordinary hand saw, they showed me where they were going to open the pelvic bone. They didn’t explain — they said: “You are going to have your baby now.” It was such agony, a terrible severe pain.”

Women were subject to this outdated practice because Catholic doctors believed that women would not choose to undergo multiple Caesarean sections. Such women might turn to contraception, the idea of which was unacceptable to those doctors at the time. These doctors saw themselves as upholding the laws of the Catholic church and those who are still alive show no remorse. They deny the damage they inflicted.

Continue reading here

Who selected these people?

From RTE.

The greatest Irish person ever? There are 40 nominees, three of whom are women. Three? The three included are Mary Robinson, Sonia O Sullivan and Adi Roche. The list does not include:

Constance Markievicz
Grace O Malley
Fionnula Flanagan
Lady Augusta Gregory
Edna O Brien
Dame Alice Kyteler
Sinead O Connor
Enya
Dervla Murphy
Catherine Tynan
Deirdre O Kane
Kathleen Clarke
Pauline McLynn
Nano Nagle
Nuala Fennell
Mary McAleese
Brigid of Kildare
Catherine Hayes
Samantha Mumba
Dervla Kirwan
Fiona O'Shaughnessy
Queen Meadb of Connaught
Nuala O'Faolain
Cecelia Ahern
Eva Gore-Booth
Maria Edgeworth
Veronica Guerin
Geraldine Kennedy
Olivia O'Leary
Mary Raftery
Aine Lawlor
Andrea Corr
Niamh Kavanagh
Mary Balfour Herbert
Katherine Plunket
Dr. Margaret MacCurtain

Presumably because it was easier to pick whatever pop star was the MOST FAMOUS EVER than think about the terms of the contribution to Irish society.

In the eternal words of Paul Gogerty, FUCK YOU RTE, FUCK YOU.

Ladies, stay young regardless of the recession

And it helps to be thin, able-bodied, mentally healthy, white and rich enough to afford all the youth-making treatments recommended by Orna Mulcahy in today's Irish Times. Here are a few snippets:

If the budget doesn’t stretch to that may I recommend an old remedy: a body brush ... will remove dead cells from the skin in a jiffy, while a whipped-up egg white, if allowed to set on the face for 15 minutes, will produce a surprisingly taut result,

That terrible photograph of Carla Bruni ... she looks all pale and weirdly frozen... she looks less like Carla, the free spirit, and more like the free spirit’s witchy mother.

But one thing that an older woman cannot do is look like a far younger woman, and that is her tragedy, particularly if her man likes far younger women.

The ideal woman for any man is half his age, plus seven years... Explain it to a man and you watch his face puzzle for a moment and then clear before giving in with a graceful smile... Your 40-year-old man realises that indeed it might be nicer to be with a 27-year-old rather than with someone his own age, who might be losing definition in all kinds of places.

[Sam Mendes]’s trading Kate [Winslet] in for a younger model, to be perfectly blunt and horrible about it.

Scientists have established that men seek out women with clear skin and shiny hair, two attributes of a healthy body, ie one that can still bear a child.

Ok, Ok I quoted more than snippets. But I almost got a bingo on the evo psych card by Aerik.

I will resist the temptation to fisk the entire article. And just say that women are people. You cannot reduce a person to a shell. Staying young is impossible. Grasping at straws and using 'miracle' treatments to stave off age ultimately ends in failure. Women are always judged by their looks: whether fat or thin, tall or short, TAB or disabled, conventionally attractive, with or without body hair, piercing, tattoos etc.

I think that Mulcahy's article was meant to be tongue in cheek or "all us girls together" but fails. Being a humourless feminist I wouldn't laugh anyway, on principle! Women are not a monolith. Amazingly, some women are attracted to other women; some women are not attracted to anyone; some women are attracted to younger men; some women opt out of participating in the patriarchal Olympics etc

Anyway, you can diet, botox, wax etc., but it is never enough. Is your vagina tight enough? Is your mons sparkly enough? Vajazzling takes care of the latter but the former requires surgery. Are your breasts big enough, small enough, perky enough...? Do you earn enough but not too much? Are you a free-spirit but not too opinionated? Do you wear revealing clothing but not look like a slut? It is never enough. It is never enough. The patriarchy will judge you and still find you wanting. Just look at the judgment leveled against Carla Bruni, considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world.

"Mothers are selfish bitches" according to Jane Kirby of the Sindo

Isn't it amazing in this modern 21st century world that mothers still bear total responsibility for raising children. Those working hussies should feel guilty for abandoning their children, according to Irish Independent reporter Jane Kirby:

Mothers who work raise unhealthier children than those who stay at home, researchers said yesterday

Mothers not parents. What about the other parent? Fathers caring for children is not taken into account. Despite the increasing number of fathers who take the primary caregiving role, and the equal caregiving by both parents, the Sindo decides to take a blast from the past and attempt to shame working mothers. It is an old tactic but pulls nicely on the Catholic guilt that most schools succeed in infusing in their charges.

Do men have no influence or responsibility for their offspring? How about children of a gay couple or a poly couple or any other non traditional family unit? Should single mothers give up work, draw social welfare, require social housing and basically become the stimatised straw dole-queen that middle class conservatives have railed against for decades?

Won't somebody please think of the children?



And the British Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health considers this a mother's responsibility, not a parent's responsibility. As usual, total heteronormative bullshit.

Mothers who worked full-time had the unhealthiest children, followed by those who worked part-time. They typically worked 21 hours per week (with a range of 16 to 30 hours) and for 45 months (with a range of 25 to 55 months). Overall, many children had habits that could lead to them becoming overweight. For example, 37pc of children mostly ate crisps or sweets between meals and 41pc mostly drank sweetened drinks.A total of 61pc watched television or used the computer for at least two hours a day.

Ah everything becomes clearer, some children have habits that could led to the dreaded obesity. Apart from the conditionals, the invocation of the sin of fat, and the lack of any sort of empirical research, correlation is not causation.

I have a couple of questions for the Sindo, as they dive into the goldmine that is the "obesity crisis". It sure does sell papers but is devoid of fact.

• Do you know that children need fat and sugar to grow?
• Do you know that the person who invented BMI (standard medical measurement) totally rejected its use to determine health of adults and never for children?
• Do you know that medical insurance companies arbitrarily changed BMI in the 80s and millions became overweight overnight?
• Do you know that BMI has been proved to be bullshit?
  
• Do you know what "overweight" looks like?
• Do you know that being "overweight" makes you more likely to survive a heart attack?
  

You cannot tell the health of a person by looking at them or what they eat. The current obsession with fat as unhealthy is dangerous.

Children know when they are being discussed and the shame gets a hold. I am fat now but I wasn't when I was a kid. Adults told me I was fat and I saw my body as hideous. That is a learned behaviour. I grew up to be fat and healthy. The emotional damage took a lot longer. I visited anorexia and bulimia until I accepted myself as I am through plenty of fat acceptance reading. Publicly worrying about children's weight is dangerous. I was not the only child that was deeply affected by adults' comments to me or about me.

In the second last paragraph of this sexist, heteronormative, homophobic piece of tripe, there is the standard classism. The Sindo says:

But when the researchers took away factors that might influence the results, such as socio-economic background, they found a definite link between a mother working and the child's health.

Yes, those mothers are so selfish as to work when we live in the Irish socialist paradise. Mothers who are the sole earners who consider the "health" of their children and give up their aul jobs.

Forget about the mortgage or rent, food on the table and luxuries like school uniforms or heat. Forget the notion of an equal partnership. Forget about equal responsibility. Forget that the definition of what constitutes a family has changed. Forget the undervaluation of mothers' work. Forget all the progress that women have made to achieve equal rights.

Because the article basically boils down to nuclear two hetero parents, in which Daddy earns and Mummy gets belittled for doing likewise. Stupid bitch, get back in the kitchen and think of the children because you cannot have a life or work outside the home without being accused of selfishness and neglect. It's all your fault for not slaving over a hot stove and feeding your children three home-cooked meals a day.

Jane Kirby is sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, heteronormative, conservative and has written a piece full of hyperbolic sensationalist lies. It's hard to believe that this piece was cleared by three Sindo editors. But then again, what can be expected from a paper that pays and gives an platform to a racist, misogynistic asshole.

Batt O'Keeffe proves his cruelty

You know if Batt O'Keeffe, Minister for Education, thinks that hard manual labour without pay or chance to leave is employment, I suggest he be encouraged to consider his position. From the Irish Times

He referred to the women as “former employees of the Magdalen laundries”.

Just when I think that this government cannot fall any lower, the Minister comes out and trivialises the suffering and exclusion of women in the Magdalen laundries. The Minister has no compassion or understanding of the responsibility of the government.

Minister O'Keeffe adds

the Magdalen laundries were privately-owned and operated establishments which did not come within the responsibility of the State. The State did not refer individuals to the Magdalen laundries nor was it complicit in referring individuals to them.

Right, so if a child was kidnapped, the gardaí won't attempt to rescue that child because ze is held in a private building. That makes sense.

Does not the State have a responsibility to protect the freedom of its citizens?
Does not the State have a responsibility to treat its citizens equally?
Does not the State have a responsibility to the women and girls, who had committed no crime, who were illegally imprisoned for years?
Does not the State have a responsibility to assure that pay and working conditions are equitable?

The State failed in its duty. An acknowledgment of this failure might have begun to heal wounds but instead they issue denials and disavow any responsibility. This is exactly what happened to the children in the industrial schools when they tried to bring their abuse and torture to government notice.

The Minister should consider his position.

Make noise for choice

From Thinking Girl

First, let’s get some terms straight. “Pro-choice” does not mean “pro-abortion”; it means supporting women’s rights to self-determination over their bodies. “Fetuses” are not “babies”; fetuses exist in the womb, babies exist outside of the womb. “Human” does not equal “person”; human is the biological name of our species, personhood involves moral agency.

I agree with her definitions completely. I'm pro choice. It's my body and my health. But pro choice is so much more than just pro abortion. Where is the sex education? When I was in fifth year in 1996, we were subjected to a brief talk by a supposed expert who told us that no man would have us if we didn't stay virginal. The advice came a little late for most of the class. I hope there is comprehensive sex education in schools now but somehow I doubt it. Where is the funding for the sex education programmes?

What about the cost of condoms? They are prohibitively expensive for teenagers and young adults. Even adults might have difficulty paying these prices. According to condoms.ie, a package of 12 durex varies from €10.49 to €16.45. €16.45 is a ridiculous price to pay for 12 pieces of latex. The equivalent in France is €6.80 but condoms are distributed in schools free of charge on AIDS awareness day.

I suppose the pro lifers would take a similar attitude to the sex ed I received. But it pays to be pragmatic. Teens are going to have sex with or without protection which may result in pregnancy or STDs. Education is key but hey let's bury our heads in the sand and pretend we live in 1950s Ireland where that sort of stuff didn't happen.

Ireland claims to be pro-life and always there is the "won't somebody think of the children" non-argument. But Ireland isn't pro life. Ireland is caught in a Catholic ethos despite the revelations of those pulpit preachers. It's the old story of keeping up appearances. Isn't that why so many girls and women ended up in Magdalene laundries where they worked without pay until they died. No boys or men were similarly imprisoned for the crime of having sex or getting raped or being considered too pretty.

Ireland doesn't care about children. That much is clear from the Ryan report. Hundreds of children were buried in unmarked graves after being beaten to death. Where is the outcry? Hundreds of thousands of children were sent to hell in the industrial schools. People knew and did nothing. Doctors, nurses, gardaí and families knew what happened and did nothing. Everyone is shocked now that denial is no longer an option. But the state continues to negotiate with the 18 orders. They negotiate with child abusers and rapists. Few criminal charges have been brought.

And people might argue that that's in the past but it isn't. Children are placed in adult psychiatric wards, children's allowance is being cut, children's hospitals are being shut and you still hear the scornful diatribes against single mothers.

No more hiding behind the "murdering babies" straw-argument. If you gave a shit, you'd campaign for the children that are alive rather than a bunch of cells that merely has the potential.

In Ireland we have no legal access to abortion, inflated condom prices and no comprehensive sex education. That is an abysmal state of affairs.

I know a woman who managed to get pregnant by her lover. She's in her 40s and herself and the husband don't have sex any more. She consulted the old fashioned methods of abortion - herbs - and managed to get rid of the fetus. However, these methods are dodgy and dangerous. Millions of women die from illegal abortions all over the world.

I've been raped twice. If I had fallen pregnant you can be damned sure that I would have made sure that I had the choice whether to continue the pregnancy. If I would have to, I would beg, borrow or steal the money to travel to France to get an abortion. Get the fuck out of my decisions.

One in every four children will experience sexual abuse. One in every three women under the age of 40 will be raped. To force these women and children to continue a pregnancy through rape is to retraumatise her and re-enforces the commonly held view that women and girl's lives are of lesser importance than a fetus. Forced pregnancy is a human rights violation.

Listening to the Last Word today disgusted me when the pro-lifer used the words "women deserve better" and it reminded me of this poem by the awesome Sonia Renee. It is very powerful. Listen to it.

What We Deserve


Now sign the petition, campaign for comprehensive sex education, free condoms and make noise for choice.

Silence is the enemy

To speak is to reveal. It is scary and almost overwhelming but silence is the enemy.

Silence allows people to pontificate on the rarity of rape.

Silence says that one in three is a lie.

Silence allows rapists to get away with it.

Silence permits the proliferation of rape jokes and triggering language.

No more. No more shame. No more self-blame. No more being regarded as a victim with no agency.

My first experience with rape was when I pulled a boy off my friend. We were 14. She was screaming no, and he was ignoring her.

My first rape was in 2000 when a man named Mohamed from Syria raped me in his apartment in Lavitt's Quay in Cork City. A friend, Carla, had introduced us. Carla subsequently doubted my story. I told him to stop, he didn't. I told him he was hurting me and he just kept on going. I tried to struggle but I was pinned down. Afterward he told me he was HIV+.

My second rape was in a back alley in Florence. My drink was spiked and I was unconscious. When I came to, in pain, a stranger's penis was in my anus. When he had finished, he left me bleeding on the ground behind a dumpster.

Silence Is The Enemy was started in June 2009 to draw more attention to the sexually abused around the globe and to encourage everyone to talk about it and act.

We have power and influence in our words, and we're able to speak for those who can not. We’re asking all of you—bloggers, writers, teachers and concerned citizens—to use whatever platform you have to call for an end to the rape and abuse of women and girls in Liberia and around the world. [source]

I've been raped by two men but I will no longer be silent. I will talk, accuse and shout.

I have written more on rape and sexual exploitation on my Cambodia blog.

Child sex abuser gets reduced prison sentence

Gender crimes at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

The virginity trade in Cambodia

Assault is not a compliment

V Day

Hump Day Humour

Well it's late because I was gardening and stuff but here have a laff.



Oh purple sponge!



Ode to douchebaggery

Target Women

Sarah Haskins for the win again



I LOLed!

Language matters

Ireland has gone down the tubes economically and the latest bludget is the topic du jour. Earlier today, I was avidly reading opinion pieces, blog posts and RSS feeds until I came across this piece

Our economy has been raped by a relatively small number of speculators. Sixty, seventy, perhaps a hundred greedy individuals have brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy, abetted by the craven, corrupt and unprincipled political party that now leads our government.

Now I agree with Bock on the greed and hypocrisy of the government but I was shocked out of my reading by his use of the word "raped". I was triggered. I am a two time rape survivor with PTSD. I used the usual methods to try and ride out the worst of it and then I got really fucking angry because what is happening to the Irish economy cannot be compared to rape. It is the misappropriation of my experience and the experience of other survivors.

I am living in Ireland with our shitty government. I have survived rape twice. They are not the same thing. Comparing playing politics with rape is abhorrent but it is possible that Bock did not know how offensive rape in this context is. When I'd calmed down I commented fairly politely I think.

Whatever about the banks, it’s horrible to use “rape” as a verb,

Our economy has been raped by a relatively small number of speculators. Sixty, seventy, perhaps a hundred greedy individuals have brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy, abetted by the craven, corrupt and unprincipled political party that now leads our government.

considering that one in four children and one in three women are raped in this country. Rape is not a word that should be used to describe a failing economy.

Then the author replied thusly.

It’s not being used to describe a failing economy. It’s being used to describe a conscious and brutal violation.

I tried to explain - less politely I admit.

That’s not the same as rape. You do not compare like with like. You take from what you imagine other people’s trauma and experiences to be and apply that to political decisions.

You may know that many rape survivors have PTSD and can be triggered by rape in this context. I can’t speak for every survivor of course but I did not expect to be triggered in a post about the economy and the banks.

Mostly I enjoy your blog but I can’t risk the post traumatic stress fallout that I experience because of that language.

I’m sure others will be kind enough to follow up with tasteful comments about PC police and over-sensitivity.

The reply was a classic non apology apology of the "I'm sorry if you were offended" genre.

I’m sorry if you find my choice of language painful but that’s how I choose to describe what has been done to us by these criminals. Nobody has ownership of a word in the language.

Bock is asserting his choice to use the word rape in this context and that nobody can claim ownership of a word. Well of course nobody can claim ownership of a word but words have meaning. He can choose to use the word but it is inaccurate and demonstrates a certain "don't give a fuck" attitude considering that a significant minority of his readers are probably rape survivors, at least statistically speaking.

Wikipedia says

Rape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent.

And Websters says

An unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent

There are of course older definitions but in modern language rape is as defined above.

I am not trying to take ownership of the word rape but using it in such a context trivialises the crime and the impact on survivors. Since one in four children and one in three women is raped in Ireland, I find the response very insensitive especially since Bock wrote some great posts on child sexual abuse of the Catholic church and is therefore at least partially informed on the subject.

SarahMC on Shakesville's arguments on the subject which express my discomfort with such contextual use.

Why do people use the word "rape" to describe annoyances or hardships that don't come close to being like rape? I bet much of the appeal, for such people, is the shock value of using a word for sexual assault to describe something that has nothing to do with sexual assault.

Implying that failing a test or getting killed in a video game is as traumatizing and horrible as rape trivializes rape. I have never been raped, but I have a strong reaction to the misuse of the word (usually by men). Maybe it's because rape is a crime committed primarily against women. "Killed" and "murdered" don't rub me the wrong way; I think it's because both men and women are killed on a regular basis, by people of both sexes. Our culture does not apologize for murder, deny that it occurs, and immediately blame the victims for what happened to them. And murder goes unpunished far less often than rape.

Maybe it's because of the unapologetic, brash tone people tend to take when they misuse it. When people throw the word around casually, I feel as though they are dismissing rape and failing to put themselves in others' shoes. As the comic illustrates, people who'd use the word "rape" in that context have a massive blind spot when it comes to a threat women live with their whole lives.

People can be so clueless; but they also show a real disregard for others' feelings and comfort (that, or they delight in it). Does anyone have good strategies for confronting people who use triggering or otherwise offensive language in their presence?

And in the comments Melissa nails it

When an acquaintance (associate, coworker, friend-of-a-friend, etc.) casually uses rape in my presence, to mean something Totally Not Like Rape, I usually say, "It seems to me you don't really know what rape is like. I've been raped. Would you like me to explain to you the difference between being raped and ____________?"

So yeah language matters. Meaning matters. Consideration of others matters too.

As for the non apology apology, it's more insulting to faux apologise than to tell a person to just fuck off because you just don't care.

"Provoked beyond reason"

David Bourke stabbed his wife to death in front of their children. The Irish Times covers it here.

A MAN who stabbed his wife to death in front of their three children has been given a life sentence for murder.

David Bourke (49) admitted stabbing Jean Gilbert (45) to death in front of their three children at the family home in Laverna Dale, Castleknock, Co Dublin, on August 28th, 2007, but denied murdering her.

He claimed to have been provoked beyond reason by his wife’s affair with English-born musician Robert Campion who had re-entered his wife’s life four months previously.

She had told Bourke that she was going to leave him.

The “last straw” had been the meal that Ms Gilbert had with Mr Campion at the family home two days before she died.

"Provoked beyond reason"? There is nothing provocative about a marriage ending. In Europe, one in every two couples divorces on average. Leaving a partner is a mundane and common, if sad, occurrence. He was not "provoked beyond reason". He chose to murder her. He chose to stab her in front of their children. This is gender based violence. Bourke stabbed his wife because he was angry. He murdered her for leaving him. He murdered her because he could.

Being born a woman is the single biggest risk of violence. Trigger warning on vids.





And for all those who would deny it, yes it happens in Ireland too.

Ireland - In Making the Links (1995), the first ever national research into the prevalence of domestic violence in Ireland, 18% of Irish Women reported they had been abused in relationships with male partners.

Ireland- Since the beginning of 1996, 134 women have been murdered in Ireland. Of those 84 were killed in their own homes. Of the cases which have been resolved, in just under half (49% of the cases, the murder was committed by a partner or ex-partner.

Ireland- In 1999, two out of three women who sought refuge accommodation were refused (1104 women were refused refuge accommodation in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area and 609 women were accommodated - Kelleher 2001)

Ireland- In 2006, 3,132 barring orders were applied for and 1,357 were granted. In the same year 1,221 Safety Orders were granted, 99 were refused and 1,726 struck out/withdrawn. 2,845 protection orders were granted whilst 99 were refused and 193 struck out/withdrawn. (The Courts Services Annual Report, 2006)

Ireland- 4 out of 10 women who had been involved in a sexual relationship with a man experienced violence (Reported frequency of domestic violence; cross sectional survey of women attending general practice, February 20002)

Ireland - Safety and Sanctions, research conducted by Women's Aid into domestic violence and the enforcement of law in Ireland in 1999, showed that children were present in the house or witnessed the violence in a significant amount of cases.

Ireland - A study conducted by the Rotunda Maternity Hospital found that in a sample of 400 pregnant women, 12.5% had experienced abuse while they were pregnant

I'm not denying the existence of violence against men by women but studies have shown that women are seven times more likely to need medical care afterward. Gilbert did not survive the domestic violence Bourke subjected her to.

Bourke was found guilty of murder. It was not a crime of passion. There was no provocation. It was premeditated.

In her closing statement, prosecuting counsel Isobel Kennedy argued that in order for a defense of provocation, there had to be a total loss of self-control. Mr Bourke had known for 10 weeks before Ms Gilbert's death that his wife was going to leave him, she said. He had told gardai that he had wanted to hurt her as she had hurt him, and had sent a text to a colleague on the night before her death saying that he hated her and would have killed her had he not left the house.

It is disgusting that this defense was even considered. It's classic blame-the-victim. Bourke's defense boils down to "she made me do it" and "she was asking for it". Gilbert did not make Bourke stab her four times in front of their children. Gilbert did not ask to be murdered. Gilbert did not ask for her children to be traumatised.

Bourke tried to cowardly free himself from the responsibility of his actions. But the jury has spoken. I'm sure Gilbert didn't ask for Bourke to spend his life in prison either. He has committed murder. It's his responsibility. Gilbert is the victim. Bourke was not "provoked beyond reason".

It's not funny

Newton Emerson is a heteronormative, sexist, homophobic, condescending asshole, disguised as an unfunny and embarrassing "humourist". Of all the material available to riff on about the recession, Emerson chooses to show the world his emotional maturity. Epic Fail.

The article is aimed at the straightest, married couple ever. It places the white male as the default and women as the other. It assumes that all men are hetero. It plays into a backwards notion of patriarchy and control.

Satirising gender roles is hilarious when well done but all Emerson does is play tired stereotypes and lurid prose. I'm surprised the Irish Times published this shite.

Does the woman in your life really need a job?

Emerson seriously WTF? An article devoted straight partnered men who retain the 1950s attitude towards coupling? Yeah like we don't have enough of them.

Admittedly, this is not a fashionable question. From Iceland to Australia, men are blamed for causing the credit crunch, while a more feminine approach to finance is proposed as the solution.

What the fuck is a feminine approach to finance? Does he mean a female approach or a gender based approach? I think he's just pissed off at all those uppity women who dare to leave the house - shades of a former Flynn perhaps... In all his dick swaggering he fails to realise that he is outing himself as a whiny little boy who has yet to realise that having a penis does not make you a super special snowflake, entitled to be comforted over every little booboo.

Then there is the patronising:

Of course there will always be a place in the world of business for exceptional women. Women also have an important role to play in jobs that are too demeaning for men, like teaching.

Since when is teaching demeaning for men? I think the thousands of male teachers in Ireland didn't get that memo.

But the general employment of women is another matter. Indeed, working women almost certainly caused the credit crunch by bringing a second income into the average household, pushing property prices up to unsustainable levels.

Nope. Wrong again. The property developers and speculators pushed the property price up. The people that were putting Evian in their car radiators pushed the prices up. The greed in the banking, building and industrial sectors drove the prices up. Why think logically when you can blame half the population based on whether they possess a penis or a vagina?

Whether working women actually caused the credit crunch is now a moot point. The point is that removing women from the workforce would mitigate its effects.

Too much competition for you Emerson? Are You Robbed Of Your God-Given Right To Be A Dick?

Consider the issue of unemployment. There were 221,301 men on the live register last month and just under one million women in work.

What about the menz? Does gender equality hurt you poor baby?

Surely at least half these women have a partner who is earning? Surely at least half would be happier at home? One half of one half is a quarter and one quarter of a million is roughly 221,301. I think we can all see where this argument is going.

Yeah in the toilet. Your argument is a thinly disguised rant against those mean bitches who insist on being equal. Also your logic is not our earth logic. Assuming that all women are partnered and straight makes you an ignorant jackass as well.

...In short, women were the driving force behind the greed, consumerism and materialism of the Celtic Tiger years and it was female employment that funded their oestrogen-crazed acquisitiveness.

Just when I near the end of this piece of "journalism" Emerson decides to blame the recession on oestrogen. It's the MRA special. Blame the scary female hormones.

It's incredibly offensive, not to mention ignorant, to have our behaviour attributed to hormones. I am not blaming your testosterone for you being a sexist, homophobic jackass. That's just you.

The time has come to build a more sustainable, equitable and progressive society. Why not make a start by telling your other half to quit her job? She can ask you for the housekeeping on Friday.

Oooh! Did it take you long to come up with that zinger? You forgot to mention chaining her to the kitchen sink, barefoot and pregnant.

Satire is supposed to be funny and supposed to make a person think. Emerson, this falls flat.

You sir, are no Dermot Morgan.

Rape is cheaper than bullets

The words sound like an advert, promoting rape. The article in the Guardian makes the argument that

if it's offensive then that is nothing compared to what hundreds of thousands of women and girls are suffering in conflict zones around the world.

But what good is throwing a third of women who see that poster under the bus to raise awareness? What is the good in advertising rape? It doesn't help the girls and women suffering in conflict zones. Presumably this is a donate campaign. But the willingness of Amnesty to trample of the feelings of the 1 in 3 women who have been raped, makes me less inclined to donate.

As for the poster itself it is offensive yes but not offensive in a manner that would change attitudes. If I thought that the poster could do something, anything to relieve the suffering of women and girls in the conflict zone I would shout it from the rooftops. I'm all about ending violence towards women. I am all for ending rape (been raped twice myself) but this campaign looks like it is offering a viable alternative to purchasing bullets. Not many people read the fine print.

Amnesty is willing to trigger a third of the female population to advertise what appears to be monetary saving for arms dealers. Doesn't sound like much of a human rights organisation to me.

I was a communications professional before depression and I worked in a developing world country in Asia with high incidence of rape and domestic abuse. This campaign would have contributed less than nothing to those women and girls. I'm all for raising awareness and pouring money into campaigns but this is irresponsible and offensive.

h/t Cara

The worth of girlhood

A disgraceful, gender-stifling story from the Irish Times because it's not like we don't put people under enough pressure in their Leaving Cert year /sarcasm

A LEAVING Certificate student suspended from school for three months for having long hair and told he had a “girl’s hair style” has been awarded €3,500 by the Equality Tribunal for gender discrimination and victimisation.

David Knott, who was a Leaving Cert student at Dunmore Community School, Galway, in 2004/2005, missed his “mock” Leaving Cert exams and had to move to another school to sit the State exam.

The tribunal found he suffered discrimination in that male and female students at the school were not treated equally. It also found he had been victimised when the school hired a barber to inspect the length of his hair.

The complaint, brought to the tribunal by the boy’s mother Mary Knott, states that when term began on September 1st, 2004, he was told by the deputy principal Ms O’Brien that he was to cut his hair. When he did not comply he was called to Ms O’Brien’s office and she referred to his “girl’s hair style”, said he was “nothing but a trend-setter” and asked him if he “wanted to be a girl?”

Every time I discuss gender discrimination in real life, people tell me I'm overreacting and sure that sort of thing doesn't happen here any more! Firstly there is nothing inherently girly about having long hair.








It is true that many Irish schools are repressive towards students showing any sort of personality

He was then referred to the principal Mr Gilmore, who told him to cut his hair by the end of the week or go to another school. At that point he told his mother what had happened and she wrote to Mr Gilmore asking that nothing further be said to David as he was in his exam year, that she had given him permission to grow his hair and asking that he deal directly with her from then on.

Kicking a kid out of school during an exam year - that's heartless. Somebody should resign

Mr Gilmore responded by letter to Mrs Knott, saying he was concerned about the tone and content of her letter and he was referring the matter to the board of management.

Ah the old reliable "tone" excuse. It's just an attempt to sidetrack Mrs Knott's argument. Did she hurt your poor delicate feefees Mr Gilmore?

Later in September David was asked by his music teacher to play in the school band, but was told by Mr Gilmore he couldn’t unless he cut his hair. In October Mr Gilmore wrote to Mrs Knott to say that David would be suspended if he failed to cut his hair.

A board of management appeal hearing on November 16th unanimously found in favour of Mr Gilmore, who then wrote to Mrs Knott advising her that suspension would take effect from December 8th.

I wonder is hair length discussed in the school charter. It cannot be legally prescribed - that would be discrimination.

Mrs Knott appealed to the Department of Education, which ruled in her favour and said David should be readmitted if his hair was “groomed to collar length”. She took her son to a barber to cut his hair in accordance with this ruling.

Dept of Ed = FAIL

However, when David returned to school on February 23rd, 2005, a barber hired by the board of management was waiting to inspect his hair. The barber said David would need another inch off his hair. Mrs Knott said they would not comply and David enrolled in another school.

The tribunal found David had been caused “serious upset, disruption and inconvenience” during his Leaving Cert year.

So to recap because the fail is complete. A Leaving Cert student was threatened with suspension, physically inspected after a Department of Education prescribed alternation of his appearance and he had to switch schools. That is unbelievable even in today's fucked up Ireland.

During Leaving Cert, the pressure is coming from everywhere, parents, extended family, radio, tv and newspapers. All tell you the same thing - if you fuck this up you'll never amount to anything.

This school chose to call the student a girl presumably to shame him into compliance. In this culture, to be called a girl is to be weak, effeminate and possibly gay. What a wonderful and valued thing girlhood is.

The school used a gender term as a slur, as a mark of shame, as a means of humiliation. That makes me so angry. I am a girl. That school used my gender to shame, humiliate and silence a student.

I, for one, call for resignations of the school board.

h/t Bock

I wrote to the Minister for Justice

Today is International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation. Let's celebrate this day by writing to Irish Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and requesting that he not deport Naomi and Jemima. Give them asylum and let them stay.

Dermot Ahern TD
Dáil Éireann
Leinster House
Kildare Street
Dublin 2

or

Minister's Office and Secretary General's Office
94 St. Stephen's Green
Dublin 2

Email

dermot@dermotahern.ie
info@justice.ie

Phone

+353 1 618 3000
+353 42 9329023

Other posts on this subject.

ETA

I know about some white feminists spewing their mouths off who have no idea of the issues and end up being neocolonist and I hate that shit. African women do not need the white feminists swooping in to the rescue. There are a ton of women's organisations and feminists in Africa.

I support the "day" itself because it was initiated by UNICEF and UNFPA and that implies a consultation process. I actually just found out that it is today when I was researching my post for today.

As an Irish woman, I'm appalled by the questions being asked about her motives and people wondering whether it's a scam. Ireland has become really racist over the past 10 years but when the government cannot do the moral and decent thing to protect two young girls from genital cutting, we must speak out.

Happy Gilmore

The government's economic plan consists of bailing out the rich and screwing the middle class. After weeks of indecision Brian Cowen announced his shortsighted half arsed plan of taxing public sector pensions. The opposition shot him down. From Eamon Gilmore's response to Brian Cowen on 3 February

If those reports are correct then let me try to translate what all of that means for a public servant such as a garda, a nurse or a teacher on an income of €45,000 per year. They are already paying approximately €5,000 of that income, between PRSI, pension contributions, health levies and income levies. What that proposal will mean - not that the Taoiseach has given us the figures, but if the figures that are reported in the media are correct - is that such a person will pay an additional €3,375. That is approximately €8,500 from the pay of a person in the workforce for approximately ten years before she pays tax, child care or her mortgage.

What she wants to know, and what the Taoiseach has not provided an answer for, is for what is she paying that. She did not create the problem. She did not borrow money from a bank to buy shares in the same bank. She is not somebody who drinks champagne in the hospitality suites of racecourses. She is just somebody who has gone out to work every morning, worked hard, tried to make a living, rear a family and provide for herself. All she wants is a modest standard of living. She understands that the country has economic problems at the moment and that there is a need for everybody to put their shoulder to the wheel. She is prepared to do that as well but she wants her Government to level with her and the Taoiseach has not done that today.

I am happy at Gilmore and Enda Kenny' argument but I am thrilled at Gilmore's words. He used the female pronoun in his example of a public servant. I don't remember that happening ever before. Way to mix it up Gilmore. That gave me a smile in spite of recession woes.

Ireland's shame

Ireland is planning to deport a mother and her two daughters. Nothing unusual about that. Ireland does it every day. What is different about this case is that the two girls will be tortured if returned to their country of origin. Ireland is still set on deportation.

Pamela Izevbekhai has already lost a daughter to Female Genital Mutilation. FGM is considered torture by Manfred Nowak UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

To those ascribe to the notion that Ireland has no business getting involved, watch Razor's Edge if you can bear to. It contains violent and disturbing images. Otherwise listen to Pamela's story in her own words.



The Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, former Minister for Foreign Affairs will not intervene.

From Amnesty

International refugee law demands that any appeal process in a refugee case should include an examination of the merits of the individual case and all relevant facts including new and newly available information.

“If returned these children may be forcibly subjected to the human rights atrocity that is female genital mutilation. The State of Nigeria by its own admission simply cannot protect them, nor guarantee their safety through relocating them elsewhere,” continued Mr O’Gorman.

Nigeria’s own report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2006 admitted that enforcement of laws prohibiting FGM was ‘negligible’. It also acknowledged that almost one in three Nigerian girls are subject to female genital mutilation.

“The focus now shifts to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern,” said Mr O’Gorman. “It is still within his power to grant the family leave to remain.

“We call on him to do so as a matter of absolute urgency.”

Two young girls are going to be tortured if they are deported and Ireland is planning to deport them. I hope the European Court of Human Rights can overturn this shameful decision.

More information here

Single life

Totally awesome.