African women have traditionally used their bodies as a form of protest for generations. Many have used the threat or actual act of nakedness/undress as a form of effective political protest for centuries. In Nigeria for instance, most believe that their mother’s bodies are to be revered. As such, it is taboo for a woman, and particularly a married or older woman, to choose to disrobe in reaction to a social/political situation. In the 1930s, members and supporters of the Abeokuta Women’s Union walked naked in protest of the Alake of Abeokuta’s political actions and forced him into exile. In 2001, a team of scientists abandoned their research after naked Kenyan women descended on their facility. Similarly, in 2006, female South African prisoners staged a setshwetla - naked protest - to prevent their relocation to another prison facility.
(via cultureofresistance)
Women's oppression is not natural or age-old
Women’s oppression is the most deeply entrenched oppression. It is seen as biological, psychological, universal and age-old.
This view impacts on how we understand and challenge oppression.
Marxists approach this subject from a materialist perspective. Frederick Engels explained, “According to the materialist conception, the determining factor in history is the production and reproduction of immediate life…
“On the one side, the production of the means of existence, of food, clothing and shelter and the tools necessary for that production. On the other side, the production of human beings themselves, the propagation of the species.”
Human beings interact with their environment, changing the world around them and in the process changing themselves.
The things that make us different from other animals is our ability to adapt to all parts of the globe, and the ways in which we work socially to meet our needs.
(via cultureofresistance)
@OpPinkPower You’ll find this interesting #OccupyPinkPower :) #Anonymiss
The several hundred vigilante women of India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state’s Banda area proudly call themselves the “gulabi gang” (pink gang), striking fear in the hearts of wrongdoers and earning the grudging respect of officials.
The pink women of Banda shun political parties and NGOs because, in the words of their feisty leader, Sampat Pal Devi, “they are always looking for kickbacks when they offer to fund us”.
Two years after they gave themselves a name and an attire, the women in pink have thrashed men who have abandoned or beaten their wives and unearthed corruption in the distribution of grain to the poor.
(via interstellarhighway)
A protester holds a sign during a rally coinciding with the 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in Manila, Philippines. The protesters were rallying against the bank’s alleged role in the privatization of energy and water sectors and in pushing coal and other dirty technologies in Asia and the Pacific. (Pat Roque)
30 more pictures on cryptome.org: Women Protest Worldwide Mayday 2012
Thank you John
#openough RT @CaptRaffelson: #Italy the cases of #femicide now 55. Isn’t it #Enough!? #snoq #femminicidio
