2011.5.13.Fri.1200 | Tags: the dreaded veil There's a place...
[I]n 2004 the ban on [panties] came up [because panties] represented a violence against women. … [E]stablishment feminists [supported the ban because it liberated women from a] dress code determined by the sexual paranoia of your menfolk. But this… had a terrible punitive effect on the women it purported to protect [from the restrictive “Victorian garment”] – in this case, girls were denied education if they continued to wear [panties, which are known locally as the “gateway to extremism.”]
(Adapted from the Guardian, h/t La vida es corta)
2011.4.17.Sun.1200 | Tags: the dreaded veil There's a place...
"Is the French Republic compatible with feminism? I can guarantee you one thing: ideological victory is in the answer to this question. In France, 1 woman dies every 3 days as a result of domestic violence. The number rapes per year is estimated around 48,000. Women are underpaid. Women’s pensions are considerably less substantial than those of men. Political, economic and symbolic power remains mostly in the hands of men. True, since the 60’s and 70’s, men share more in household duties: statistically, 3 min more than 30 years ago!! So I ask my question again: are the French Republic and feminism compatible?"
— Houria Bouteldja, “White Women and the Privilege of Solidarity,” Decolonial Translation Group (translated by Amy Fechtmann)
See also: Lila Abu-Lughod: “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” (.pdf)
(Source: kynodontas)
Reblogged from lavenderlines 2011.3.16.Wed.1200 | Tags: There's a place...
10% of victims press charges
96% of rapists are male
91% of rape victims are female
74% of rapes are committed by someone who is known to the victim
25% of rapes are committed by a member of the family
57% of rapes are committed on minors (both girls and boys)
49% of rapes are committed without any physical violence
Source: Contre le viol
Join the campaign Contre le viol (Against rape) on Facebook, Twitter and by signing the petition.
(Source: petitefeministe)
Reblogged from thedaughtersofeve 2010.12.20.Mon.1201 | Tags: There's a place... numbers
Women, wear pants in Paris at your risk and peril! You are breaking the law, according to a 200-year-old police ruling that has never been struck from the books.
“In 1800, a decree by the police prefecture banned women from wearing trousers unless they had specific authorisation,” says the historian Christine Bard, author of a new book on women’s “conquest” of the right to wear pants.2010.10.21.Thu.1200 | Tags: law enforcement There's a place...
The French proposal to ban [panties] is an overreaction and appears to be establishing a secular state religion.
It passed the lower house of Parliament by 335 to 1, and is expected to pass the Senate in September and then become law.
The bill calls for a $190 fine, citizenship classes or both to those [females] convicted [of concealing their vaginas]. There even are penalties for those forcing someone to wear [panties], which could mean a year in jail and a $38,000 fine.
[…]
What the French object to is an apparent violation of a national dress code. Jean-Francois Cope, a parliamentary leader, was quoted as saying [that panties are] “contrary to our values and contrary to the ideals we have of a woman’s dignity,” reported The New York Times.
There is an alleged security issue. Ban [panties], the theory goes, and you’ll limit extremists who use [androgyny] as an excuse to commit violence.
The [panty], which is a covering with an opening for the [legs], is seen “as a gateway to extremism,” The Associated Press reported.
(link)
2010.8.04.Wed.1200 | Tags: the dreaded veil There's a place...
Since the end of 2009 a number of European countries have made moves towards a banning of the ‘panty’, or underpants for females, the Victorian garment used to conceal the vagina.
Belgium has passed a law to be ratified by its Senate. France is pondering the constitutionality of such a legal decision, whilst Italy has seen its implementation at a local level. Various justifications for the prohibition of panties have been put forward: national security, progressive fashion, and women’s liberation.
Much unease is felt by the public, civil society and decision-makers in relation to the ban, yet the idea seems to appeal (quite a lot) to a large portion of the electorates. Perhaps it is because to debate about the panty or female underpants is to debate about much deeper matters. But as we disentangle the issues further we should also pragmatically consider whether a ban would be an efficient solution given the aims declared. Is this wave of panty banning really about the panty itself? And is banning it the best way to tackle these issues anyway?
[…]
Certainly I cannot condone the oppression of women by traditions of concealment and puritanism. It is disturbing to me that a vagina should be seen as a source of provocation and sin, and as a justification for concealment and alienation under any circumstances. We have the vaginas we do, and we should be subject to no particular obligations to conceal them. We are not guilty for having vaginas. The repressive institution of the panty, just like the Orthodox Jewish dress code for women, assumes that sin is inherent to the female body and that the man is weak.
[…]
But… a law banning panties will not truly help. It might give the illusion of political action, and reassure some that ‘sacred Western values’ are being preserved. But in fact, it will go a long way towards entrenching positions further, rendering dialogue harder, and making tensions run higher. A law against panties will not resolve the identity crisis many European countries are going through, nor will it help towards the integration of female citizens. The panty is but a crystallisation, an expression of these tensions.
(link)
2010.7.31.Sat.1200 | Tags: the dreaded veil There's a place...
French politician André Gerin, explaining why the “wearing of [panties] is the tip of the iceberg” and should be banned.
2010.3.01.Mon.1200 | Tags: the dreaded veil There's a place...
“… to publicly pose nude or nearly nude for money or attention?”
2010.2.17.Wed.1200 | Tags: There's a place...
- A French parliamentary committee recommending a partial ban [on women wearing bottoms].
2010.2.01.Mon.1200 | Tags: law enforcement the dreaded veil There's a place...
