Monday, March 8th, 2010
Happy International Women’s Day! I am launching a series of essays and poems women have sent to me to protest how menstruation is used against women.
It was inspired by a young Egyptian woman called Eman Hashim who wrote to tell me via Twitter that at a demonstration she attended in support of women judges in Egypt, a man who opposed the appointments of women to the State Council, an influential court which governs matters of administrative law in Egypt, yelled at the women “a woman menstruates so she shouldn’t be a judge”. A male lawyer yelled “Go home and cook for your husbands.”
A young man called “Mohamed TravellerWithin” told me on Facebook: “In the Liberian elections a few years back, football superstar George Weah was running against Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Before the second round, Weah’s supporter’s demonstrated carrying white cloth on a stick with a red stain in the middle, and banners saying “is that what you want your president to be like- for a week a month? The result? Huge mobilization from Liberia’s women movements, bringing Johnson-Sirleaf to power, to become Africa’s first female head of state.”
So I sent out a call via Facebook and Twitter for essays and poems on periods. Some of the women are anyonmous (I’ve verified their identity) while others were ok with using their own name. I’m publishing them here on my Blog and linking on Facebook too. And I will publish them as long as they keep coming.
Thank you to all theh wonderful women who answered my call.
Comments (1)
Zab said:
This story didn’t happen to me, it is second hand. Don’t know if you still want it.
A former coworker of mine who is a Palestinian Christian told me she was flying from the U.S. to Israel on El Al to visit family. Because she “looked Arab” and had an “Arab name” (or so she surmised) she was taken out of line for more extensive security clearance. She was brought to a set of changing rooms with curtains on rods, and told to strip naked and put all her clothing on a cart for them to examine. When the guard returned she was standing in the curtained enclosure wearing only her panties. The guard said, “The panties too.” She said, “but I’ve got my period and I’m using a pad.” The guard said “we’ll get you a new pad,” and walked away. The guard came back after my colleague had been standing there naked for a while, with blood running down the inside of her leg. Only after examining each item of her clothing was she allowed to dress again and clean up.
As a Jewish American woman, I was terribly embarrassed that she received such humiliating treatment by the staff of the Israeli airline. My colleague was very sweet about it, telling me about a Jewish colleague of her father’s who had sheltered and protected her family during the 67 war.
February 3rd, 2011, 2:50 am
Post a comment