Au Revoir, “Mademoiselle” January 27, 2012
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Feminists in the French town of Cesson-Sevigne have abolished the use of the word “Mademoiselle” on official forms. Women will be addressed as Madame from now on, regardless of age or marital status. This is nothing new to American, Canadian and British women, many of whom opt to be called Ms. instead of Miss or Mrs.
The idea is that women do not want to be defined by their marital status, a freedom which men have always enjoyed and sometimes take for granted. While this might seem like a minor change, it is actually an important step toward dismantling institutionalized sexism.
As the Los Angeles Times points out:
Before the French Revolution, the use of “Mademoiselle” had little to do with whether a woman was married; a laywoman or commoner was always called “Mademoiselle” to indicate she was of lowly status. Only women of high birth were addressed as “Madame.” “Damoiseau,” meaning “squire” and serving as the male equivalent of “Mademoiselle,” was dumped in France decades ago.
This speaks volumes to the idea that women are treated as second class citizens. Arbitrary differences such as this, based on nothing but gender, constitute discrimination. Identifying women based on their marital status or age when men are identified by neither is just one piece of the massive gender double standard. (more…)
FFFF: Miranda Hart January 27, 2012
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A couple of clips from Miranda Hart’s BBC series Miranda. In the first one she’s trying to talk to a computerized operator that doesn’t recognize women’s voices.
In the second one she says “poo balls” a lot. And it’s been that kind of week.
-Jarrah
Review: We Shall Remain January 26, 2012
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If you’re looking to fill in some of your high school history curriculum’s blanks and learnabout Native American history, you could do worse than watching We Shall Remain, a 5-part series from PBS’ American Experience.
Though it originally aired in 2009, you can now watch full episodes online or download the episode transcripts on the PBS site, or download the series from iTunes.
Given the lack of accessible documentaries on Indigenous history, We Shall Remain is important. And on many levels it does a good job.
Each episode takes a crucial historical moment, starting with the first post-Mayflower conflict between the settlers and the Wampanoag, going through the struggles of Tecumseh and the Trail of Tears, and ending with the 1970s standoff at Wounded Knee. The history is given through narration (by Benjamin Bratt), reenactments, and interviews with academics specializing in Native American history and linguistics. More impressive were the many interviews with Native Americans themselves sharing oral histories, and in the case of Wounded Knee, first-hand experiences. (more…)
The Skinny on Childhood Obesity January 25, 2012
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One of the young overweight girls featured in an anti- childhood obesity campaign in Georgia was interviewed last week on CBS about her involvement in the project. The project featured five overweight children, each linked to a different way children are affected by being obese. Chloe McSwain, 11 boasted high self-esteem by telling CBS News she thinks she is “very pretty.” McSwain wanted to be involved in the project to “help kids” by raising awareness.
According to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the folks who created this campaign, over one million kids in Georgia are classified as “obese”. The campaign is aimed at parents in an effort to give them a “wake-up call” about childhood obesity because “75 percent of parents of overweight or obese children don’t see the problem.”
Firstly, I think the images of overweight children on billboards and TV ads achieve little else than fat-shaming overweight kids. As someone who was an overweight kid, these ads make me cringe. When you are a fat kid there are a million things a day including mainstream media and images that remind you that you are not the norm. I think it’s great that McSwain has high self-esteem but I do not think this is reflective of overweight children living within the unrealistic body images they are bombarded with today. (more…)
Regulating the Veil in Canada January 25, 2012
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Sarah Jensen resides in Barrie, Ontario. She’s currently studying Sociology and Gender Studies. For many years she thought she’d lost her voice, but she’s starting to realize it was there all along; she’d just forgotten how to use it.
It’s difficult to write about a subject when your own feelings about it are undecided. I chose to write this article so I could figure out how I feel about the niqab. Two weeks later, after countless hours of reading, thinking and discussing, my mind is less made up than when I started.
A (highly scientific) Google search tells me that there are about 300 women in Canada who wear veils, such as the niqab and the burqa, which cover their faces. The Canadian government has begun to dictate when and where these women can be covered. In December, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and announced that from now on veiled women would not be allowed to take the oath of citizenship without showing their faces. He said “it is a cultural tradition which I think reflects a certain view about women that we do not accept in Canada. We want women to be full and equal members of Canadian society and certainly, when they are taking the citizenship oath, that is the right place to start.”
Many people believe that this law may be a first step in the direction of banning all face veils, as both France and Belgium have done. Quebec has already introduced legislation that would bar Muslim women from receiving or delivering public services while wearing a niqab.
While I’m unsure about my own feelings about women who choose to cover their faces, I do believe that they should have that choice. I oppose a ban because government should not be allowed to dictate how women dress. A government forbidding face veils acts with as much intolerance as one that makes women required to wear them. (more…)
