Ya Basta!

I've been buried in links and readings about the women of the EZLN for a presentation for school for the last few days. Happily I think last week was my last of work, so I will have a bit more free time. But then of course I joined the Feminism In Action group at my University so perhaps not. :P One can hope though! I have been doing some reading though, and as always linking to my feed widget, and now want to link more directly to the stuff I want to call special attention to. A post upcoming with what I decide to address re: Zapatista women is a likely possibility.

Tanglad asks, Capitalism is "Best for Whom?"

It’s certainly not the best system for the workers at the Phils Jeon Garment factory at the Cavite Export Processing Zone in the Philippines. For demanding living wages,

the women strikers were hog-tied, blindfolded, and loaded into a waiting truck. The men dismantled their makeshift tents and loaded them into the truck along with the strikers’ other belongings. The workers were dropped outside the gate of the Cavite EPZ.

They were arrested because the strike was holding up production, and subcontractors needed to meet pricepoints and delivery deadlines.

The workers arrested because in a globalized capitalist economic system, making pesky demands for safe working conditions and a living wage raised the threat that subcontractors could move on to Vietnam, China, or a host of other countries with export processing zones.

And these workers were actually lucky that the armed strikebreakers stopped at intimidation. Many others were simply disappeared.

From Latoya at Feministe

These kinds of relationships with women and nonwhite public figures will be complicated. You can hate someone’s policies and still defend them from ad hominem arguments. I hate when people say that Condoleezza Rice is a sellout and that she isn’t black. That’s a ridiculous assertion to make. However, that does not make Condoleezza Rice a civil rights leader just because she is black and in a position of power.

I hate when people say Sarah Palin is not a woman, or she is a tool of the patriarchy, or any of the other non policy related attacks I’ve seen leveled at her from all kinds of places. But that doesn’t mean you need to start sipping the “this is a victory for women” kool aid. It isn’t. Sarah Palin does not magically become a champion for all women, everywhere, just because she happens to be a woman in a position of power.

Gauge asks Can we stop using the term Ally?

So, if you're acknowledging your privilege, seeing how you systematically benefit from it, and centering the concerns of those who do not share said privilege, you're trying to be a decent human being. Congratulations. Have a cookie. And if you're actively engaging in anti-oppression work in areas in which you're not oppressed, you're doing solidarity work. Just say you're working in solidarity with members of the oppressed class. This centers the work being done, and the members of the oppressed class, and not you. Because when you're a member of the oppressor class in dealing with a particular oppression, It. Is. Not. About. You.

From woc phd: The State Can Violate Women’s Bodies if They Want To

The federal government is considering making Gardasil vaccination, made by Merk pharmaceuticals, mandatory for female immigrants applying for citizenship. These shots, which vaccinate against certain types of HPV related to potential development of cervical cancer, are not mandatory for U.S. citizens. So why are they mandatory for immigrants? The two most obvious reasons are:

1. profit - women would have to pay out of pocket for these shots making a sizable profit for Merk (even if they subsidize the shots, the government/tax payers will be paying $360 or more per applicable immigrant to Merk)
2. human subjects testing without IRB - altho Gardasil has already been approved by the FDA recent complications in patients using the drug, 3500 major complaints in a single year and 8000 since the approval, as well as multiple deaths, could indicate that more testing is needed. Why pull the drug off the market when you can study the results through a mandated population?

Nezua reminds us that The Front Line is Everywhere

The GOP actually needs an army now, to make itself evident and dare celebrate anything in public. They have lied, killed, they laugh while we suffer with health problems or bemoan the loss of life and humanity. They bring their army to protect them from the voice of the People they supposedly serve.

Jill calls attention to a group I find horrifying and whom I was not familiar:

The Goretti Group looks like your standard abstinence-only educational team — they certainly rely on the same themes and messages. The “Purity at all Cost” tagline struck me as a little strange, to say the least — at all cost, really? — until I googled their namesake, Maria Goretti.

Maria Goretti is a Catholic martyr, who was killed by her would-be rapist. She’s a saint because, apparently, it’s better to die than to be unchaste.

Her murderer and attempted rapist was forgiven and attended Mass with Maria’s mother, where he took communion (something not offered to many pro-choice politicians). He claimed to pray to Maria and referred to her as “my little saint.”

When Maria was canonized, here’s what Pope Pius XII told the crowd:

“We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and We introduce her into the Canon of Saints.” Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the World. Pope Pius XII asked them:

“Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of grace of God?”

A resounding “yes” was the answer.

That’s right, ladies: Better dead than not a virgin. Better to die than to survive rape.

Note that it was never attempting to fight off her rapist that made Maria great; it was her supposedly choosing death over sexual “impurity” — because apparently, being raped means that you’re impure. Did I mention she was 12?