DRC awareness raising

On meeting Eve Ensler in September 2008 and hearing her first hand accounts of the atrocities being commited in the DRC, I pledged my dedication to helping and supporting the women of the DRC in any way that I can. I was recently involved in a production of the Vagina Monologues, which raised money to help the VDay campaign: Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power to the Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The next step will be putting on a teach-in screening of the V Day film about Congo, hopefully with a Congolese woman speaker here in London.
Yesterday I attended the Million Women Rise march in London, which included an incredible speaker from Congo- Kongosi Onia Mussanzi, from the Centre for the Resolution of Conflicts.
I am hearing more and more about what's happening in Congo in London: things are moving in the right direction in terms of awareness raising.
Women in the DRC, we are thinking of you in London and we support you.

Marriage, feminism... and the boy in the middle of it all...

So finally my boy Gary earned the rightful title of Freelance Journalist with THIS article for Guardian Comment is Free. With over a hundred comments, he did a good job at causing a stir!

This was my comment, please read Gary's article first and leave feed back if you like:

Your impetus in writing this seems to me come from a deep sensitivity to, and respect for, equal human rights. For this, I applaud and thank you.
The reservations I have with a position such as yours Mr Nunn is that, as others have noted, sometimes the tone of the article moves from satrical and insightful to dogmatic (eg the 'feminist club' statement). However, as Valerie Solanas said, 'sometimes you have to scream to be heard.' You raised your articulate and throughful voice in order to stir debate and shack people out of collective, orthodox consciousness. That is no mean feat.
I think I've waited my whole life to hear a man say:'Men too – like myself – should be feminists. It's equally important we reject all conventions that degrade our future wives.'
Whatever feminism is, was or will be the central concern is to promote mutual respect between people. Opening yourself up to the other's position ( whether the issue is race/gender/sexuality/whatever), forcing your feet into someone else proverbial shoes and asking 'are they being treated fairly?' is surely what good debate and cif is all about.
It seems to me, though, that it is all too easy to place blame and critise people like Colleen/enter- celeb- name- here. To blame her for perpetuating patriarchal oppression is valid to a certain extent. But being inside an ideology is like drink driving: you wouldn't do it if you weren't drunk. That's not to say that things can't change. But pointing the finger leads to alienation.
Yes,let's make the personal political, yes, let's make considered and progressive choices. But let's not indict those who don't have the education or freedom or even the will to live, and love, outside of convention. How you feel, how you treat others and what you do day-to-day will always count for more than whether or not you veiled your face on that over-hyped one day of your life.


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Check out the F Word's response to Gary's article, 'Apparently Men Know Better...'

This is all particularly interesting for me in relation to VDay (see link on right). Eve Ensler created Girlie Men for male feminists to have a part in the work of VDay. I am involved in VDay London 2009 and we hope to involve men as much as possible, so this debate is all a good way to begin the hype!

Homosexuality in the Wizarding World

J K Rowling:
"In the wizarding world...I think you could be gay, pureblood, and totally without any kind of criticism from the Lucius Malfoys of the world. I don't think that's something that would interest him at all. But I can't speak for all witches and wizards," she said. "To me it was only relevant in as much as Dumbledore, who was a great defender of love and who sincerely believed that love was the greatest, most powerful force in the universe, was himself made a fool of by love."

Recognition of homosexuality in non-muggles is, I think, useful as it opens up and interesting space for discussion about where we stand in our own society, about the state of sexual equality.
I feel gratified to finally hear waht Rowling thinks on the topic of homosexuality for wizards. As a big Potter fan, my only major gripe with Harry's world was the totaly heteronomativity of it. The characters conform to patriarchal orthodox expectations, shown particulary in the last book's Epilogue, when practically everyone gets married. However, it struck me on reading Deathly Hallows that Dumbledore must be gay - his 'passionate friendship' with another wizard when he was young is rather suggestive. The fact that it is never explicit, though, means that the wizards' world (as is evident in the generic male term for it) is as patriarchal, if not more than, our own world.
Rowling implies in the above quote that Death Eaters are tolerant of homosexuality, which seems highly unlikely. The Nazi 'pureblood' doctrine of the Harry's enemies would not be conducive to allowing homosexuality; their aim is a new race under Voldermort, to which heterosexality is paramount.

More to come...

Germaine Greer: Well done, Beth Ditto. Now let it all hang out | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

Here's the Greer article.



Germaine Greer: Well done, Beth Ditto. Now let it all hang out | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

Feminist icon praises NME's Beth Ditto cover

Feminist icon praises NME's Beth Ditto cover | News | NME.COM

Check out our old pal Germaine's response to Beth, she loves her too!

This is me at the Horse Ear mountains in Korea last year, I was on a fantastic Chinese New Year trip with some trully inspiring people and we founded What'sThis? Productions!