Young Women Speaking the Economy: Dialogue in Denmark

[Editor's Note: IMOW's newest online exhibition Young Women Speaking the Economy brings 44 young women from four countries together to discuss their thoughts and ideas about entering the workforce at a time of economic uncertainty.

As part of the exhibition, four events were held in each of the participating countries--the U.S., Denmark, Sudan and the Philippines--with some of the exhibition creators traveling all over the world to meet and discuss their ideas in person. For the next few months, we'll be publishing some of the reflections from student participants who traveled to foreign countries as part of this project. This post was written by Jessica Glennon-Zukoff, a student at Mills College in Oakland, California, who traveled to Aarhus, Denmark for the exhibition. Check out Jessica's project here, and explore the entire Young Women Speaking the Economy exhibition.]

The Young Women Speaking the Economy participants in Denmark

After a ten-hour flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam in which I watched two ill-advised (American-made) movies and three episodes of 30 Rock, consumed absolutely everything the flight attendants offered, journaled sporadically, and slept not at all, I boarded on a flight from Amsterdam to Billund, seriously lagging but so excited by the simple fact of being in a European nation.

Nina Koefoed (professor of History at Aarhus University and advisor to the Danish chapter of the Young Women Speaking the Economy project), Bayan El-Bashier (the traveling student representative from the Sudanese chapter of YWSE), Leonora Lottrup (a student participant from Aarhus University and host to Bayan), and my host for the week, Anne-Mette Bak (a student participant from Aarhus University and best friends with Leonora, incidentally), met me at the Billund airport. Nina drove us two hours northeast to the city of Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark. (Chantal Claravall from the Philippines arrived the next day.) The five of us talked college, politics, and the politics of college before host-visitor sets were dropped off at apartments when we reached the city.

The Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women

[Editor's Note: The following post was written by Ashraf Zahedi, co-editor of Land of the Unconquerable: The Contemporary Lives of Afghan Women. Zahedi, along with contributor Amina Kator and moderator Kavita Ramdas, former CEO of the Global Fund for Women, will appear in conversation for an IMOW event next week, July 27. More information about the event can be found here.]

Photo by Sheryl Shapiro from Land of the Unconquerable: The Contemporary Lives of Afghan Women

The news from Afghanistan is not always promising. Yet despite hardships and horrors, life in Afghanistan continues. How are women faring against the odds? Sadly, gradually, it seems that many people in the West, so enthusiastic about liberating (and unveiling) Afghan women, have lost interest. The vast numbers of NGOs, so ubiquitous in the beginning, have decreased rapidly, especially in the neediest rural areas, which have become more and more dangerous for foreign aid workers. The Afghan government has little or no power outside the capital city. The Western media has reduced its presence and unless the news is sensational, reports of reconstruction and of how Afghans are coping are progressively more sporadic.

What explains this shift in the West’s socio-political and economic commitments? The short answer lies in limited understanding of Afghanistan and its complexity. Outsiders’ slanted and ahistorical views of Afghanistan and their dichotomous constructs of Afghan men as oppressors and Afghan women as oppressed have portrayed an unrealistic view of Afghan society and its gender relations. In many ways the hyped political promises and idealistic social policies have not served Afghan women well.

In Land of the Unconquerable: The Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women, Jennifer Heath and Ashraf Zahedi examine the reality of life for women today in Afghanistan. They explore what has been done for Afghan women through the efforts of governmental and non-governmental organization, and, most importantly, they consider how Afghan women themselves are rising to the immense challenges, how they envision and plan to meet the future.

Heath and Zahedi examine the complexities of Afghan women’s lives and approach the situation holistically, understanding that Afghanistan is made up of women and men whose suffering and triumphs are interwoven. Land of the Unconquerable draws on the diverse expertise of accomplished scholars, as well as humanitarian workers. These writers contextualize the structural and cultural impediments to Afghan women’s advancement -- as determined by Afghan women themselves. The book offers a large and full picture: historical background leading to insights, observations, and narratives of women’s lives in the present, and comprehensive solutions and social policy recommendations in chapters about the constitution, law, leadership and gender policy, mental and physical health, education, economics, family life and more. These writers propose potential short- and long-term solutions, requiring national and international commitments and resource allocation.

What needs to be done after ten years of engagement with Afghanistan is not withdrawal of support but its further expansion. But this time the aim should be to improve Afghan people’s lives through social measures that are driven by the Afghans themselves and not by the national or international donors. Long-term solutions should take precedence over short-term measures with no lasting impact. Today, more than ever before, Afghan women need non-Afghan support to secure their gains over the past decade and further build on them.

Why Mac McClelland's Piece About PTSD, Violent Sex, and Haiti Shouldn't Offend You

[Editor's Note: This post was written by Cindy Kok, IMOW's summer programs and exhibitions volunteer.]

Last week, reporter Mac McClelland wrote a piece for GOOD magazine about how violent sex helped her recover from post-traumatic stress disorder. McClelland describes how seeing the panic of a recovering rape victim in Haiti, compounded with years of witnessing other people’s trauma, triggered her own mental breakdown (after she found her usual coping methods unhelpful). When she returned to San Francisco, she was diagnosed with PTSD and recounts spending months “sobbing and heaving” at the slightest provocation.

Mac McClelland via Good Magazine

While still in Haiti, McClelland remembers constantly having “rape nightmares” and “daymares” and, when she returned to the states, “wincing when [she] thought about sex.” McClelland says that violent sex “wasn't a matter of recreation” for her but rather a way to recover and deal with “violence [she] controlled [rather] than the abominable nonconsensual things” she witnessed. With her “counterphobic approach,” as her therapist calls it, she eventually did begin to get well.

McClelland’s article has elicited a gamut of reactions from encouragement to empathy to revulsion. However, some took issue not with her self-prescribed method of recovery but rather with her portrayal of Haiti. In particular, a group of female journalists wrote an open letter on Jezebel condemning McClelland’s “sensationalist and irresponsible” use of Haiti as a backdrop. They accuse her of contributing to the “continual marginalization” of women in Haiti, where the threat of rape for them is “tragically high.”

Given the highly personal nature of McClelland’s story, it hardly seems fair for the letter writers to pit their own experiences of a safe and peaceful Haiti to the “ugly chaos” she experienced. As writer Roxane Gay, whose family is from Haiti, confirms with her mother, the guns and the disorder McClelland writes about are accurate. McClelland’s story may be accused of being one-sided, but as an example of a personal piece and not objective reporting, showing only one side—her side—is entirely reasonable.

McClelland breaks from the unspoken norm of silence for female journalists. Her unapologetic piece highlights the complexity of issues in Haiti and of sexuality in general. The reactions to her writing, however, may just encourage reporters, and all women, to maintain their silence on personal experiences of sexual violence.


I’m Gonna Need You to Fight Me on This: How Violent Sex Helped Ease My PTSD: Good Magazine
Female Journalists and Researchers Respond to Haiti PTSD Article: Jezebel
On Journalistic Malpractice, Mac McClelland and Haiti: Ansel Herz
Still With the Scarlet Letters: Roxane Gay

SlutWalks: Harming the Cause or Providing an Outlet?

[Editor's Note: This post was written by Cindy Kok, IMOW's summer programs and exhibitions volunteer.]

SlutWalk Chicago, June 4, 2011 from Wikimedia

“I'm not supposed to say this,” Michael Sanguinetti said to a group of students at an Osgoode Hall Law School safety forum on January 24, 2011. “[But] women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” Little did the Toronto police constable know, his misguided rape-prevention advice would incite a furious backlash that took form in international SlutWalks, still being organized almost half a year after his offhanded comment.

The first SlutWalk Toronto—founded by activist Heather Jarvis and York University alumna Sonya Barnett—marched on April 3. While the organizers were expecting perhaps 300 people to participate, more than 3,000 supporters showed up, dressed both provocatively and in “normal” daywear, carrying signs that read There is no such thing as an invitation for rape and Slut Pride. Although Sanguinetti had issued a written apology, the issue had outgrown the outrage that stemmed from a policeman’s careless words, and morphed into to a worldwide movement to end the practice of placing responsibility for sexual assault on the victim, as well as to reclaim the word “slut.”

So is it possible that this provocatively-monikered movement will shock new life into the cause well-respected groups like Take Back the Night are already fighting for? While most people can agree that a culture that blames victims (and their way of dressing) for rape is one that needs reform, SlutWalk’s second goal seems to have sparked even more debate and controversy than Sanguinetti’s original statement. As satellite SlutWalks mobilized, first in North America then spreading to other continents, so did commentators, offering everything from enthusiastic support to outright condemnation of the so-called “SlutWalkers.”

Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea

[Editor's Note: The following is a guest post from photographer Brenda Paik Sunoo. IMOW is hosting an event featuring Brenda to celebrate the publication of her book Moon Tides: Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 29. You can find more information about the event here.]

From Brenda Paik Sunoo's "Moon Tides: Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea"

I’m newly arrived to the shores of aging. And yes, a bit fearful of the unknown. After all, the eldest of 75 million American baby boomers began turning 60 in 2004. In some ways, aging is like free diving. In the sea, one’s mental and physical endurance is tested with a single breath. On land, one’s endurance is tested within a single lifetime. Quite simply, there’s no guaranteed safety net for either phenomenon. Aging and free diving both invite risks into mysterious and magical realms.

I was born on February 13, 1948. During my last few physical exams, I have repeatedly been warned to watch my cholesterol, supplement my diet with Vitamin D, monitor uterine fibroids, irrigate my sinuses, and practice Pilates due to a herniated disc. It’s no wonder that I’ve never dreamt of diving into the sea. That is, until I encountered the sea women of Jeju Island, Korea—known as haenyeo.

For centuries, these divers have faced the tempestuous tides of history and struggle for survival. Their intimate relationship to the land and sea, their shaman beliefs, and communal village life have protected them throughout their entire lives. In return, many have sustained a continuous life of purpose and resiliency well into their 90s.

Three years ago, I turned sixty. I began searching for inspiring role models---aging women who remained active until they died. Not women who died because they had regrettably aged. To a graying baby boomer like myself, these haenyeo stories became gleaming beaconsilluminating a wise, practical and fearless course.

Moon Tides is my homage to these women divers. I have organized the book according to seven aspects of their multi-dimensional lives. Each one reveals how the haenyeo have been “lifted by the wind and tides” of: Shamanism, Family, Survival, Suffering, Aging, Compassion and the Future. Through photos and translated interviews, my intention has been to represent the women (ages 39 – 93) in their own voices and work/life environments--not only in their rubber suits. They are, after all, grannies, wives, mothers, sisters, community volunteers, patriots, and social activists. To each other, lifelong friends.

Through their examples, I believe that one’s life purpose can be as continuous and infinite as the sea. For centuries, these Jeju divers have kept their lives afloat--in spite of risks and danger. As one granny told me, “If we didn’t, we couldn’t survive.”

Having been blessed to drift among them for for 7 months over the course of three years, I feel more comfortable with aging. Thankfully, one is never too old to be inspired by others. I have even begun to imagine my life as a septuagenarian and octogenarian. Granted, I will never become a working woman of the sea like the haenyeo. But if I do live well into my 90s, I hope to lead a continuous life of purpose as they have. Gray-haired, wrinkled and polyp-free.

Young Women Speaking the Economy: Economic Realities Abroad

[Editor's Note: IMOW's newest online exhibition Young Women Speaking the Economy brings 44 young women from four countries together to discuss their thoughts and ideas about entering the workforce at a time of economic uncertainty.

As part of the exhibition, four events were held in each of the participating countries--the U.S., Denmark, Sudan and the Philippines--with some of the exhibition creators traveling all over the world to meet and discuss their ideas in person. For the next few months, we'll be publishing some of the reflections from student participants who traveled to foreign countries as part of this project. This post was written by Kirby Kimber, a student at Mills College in Oakland, California, who traveled to the Philippines for the exhibition. Check out Kirby's project here, and explore the entire Young Women Speaking the Economy exhibition.]

A few of the project participants and advisors in the Philippines

I have heard that the United States is a wealthy country, but the significance of that statement was not real for me until my visit to the Philippines last May as a participant in Young Women Speaking the Economy through the International Museum of Women. Despite communicating with the other participants (from Denmark, Sudan, the Philippines, and the U.S.) online through Facebook since November, I don’t feel like the real work of the project was complete until I met face-to-face with some of the amazing women of Young Women Speaking the Economy. Facebook just can’t replace the depth of understanding and conversational spontaneity that is possible in person, or the feeling of working together and showing the world what you made through a concrete event like the Young Women Speaking the Economy Philippines debut at the Ayala Museum.

Through making our projects for Young Women Speaking the Economy I had learned some of the economic realities of the Philippines before I arrived in the country, but some projects, such as Valeene Salanga’s on the rampant unemployment experienced by recent graduates, have a much more contextualized meaning now.

Photo by Kirby Kimber

The extremes as we know them in the United States pale in comparison to the normalized economic extremes that I observed in the Philippines. Without even leaving the highway I could see huge houses (what would be called McMansions in the US) a block away from shanty towns.

Roman Catholicism is observably prevalent in the country. It was not uncommon to see large St. Francis crosses, and huge pro-life and Knights of Columbus billboards. Our hosts at Miriam College were very friendly and patient with me, explaining all of the history and background for the things I was seeing and hearing.

Economic extremes and a strong Catholic culture are resulting in a national debate over the passage of the RH bill that would nullify the ban on contraceptives in the Philippines. The population of the country is overwhelmingly young (annual population growth is around 2.3% versus around 0.98% in the US) and this has led to a shortage of jobs. I had to fight the urge to clean off the table at a fast food restaurant or assume I would make my own cup of coffee. With so few jobs available there is an employee hired for everything.

Catholicism is deeply rooted as a part of Filipino culture, and Filipinos are aware of the problems within the country. Reconciling the RH bill with this aspect of their heritage was a serious ongoing endeavor in the country during my visit, and Filipinos seem to be walking the same tight rope as the United States for some middle ground between national identity, belief, and the pressures of reality.

In many ways the problems of the United States and those of the Philippines can sound very much like the same laundry list: poverty, unemployment, over-population, and overall economic decline. But the words stretch into the reality of our different circumstances. Poverty in the US can mean being on the Medicaid rolls. In the Philippines it is four million people (in Metro-Manila alone) living in sprawling slums built on top of garbage heaps.

We got to enjoy some of the sights and history of Manila during the trip, but there are still slums in the background of our privileged tourist pictures.

[Previously: "From Aarhus to Oakland" by Kristina Moeller Andersen]

Young Women Speaking the Economy: From Aarhus to Oakland

[Editor's Note: Our newest project, Young Women Speaking the Economy, brings 44 young women from four countries together to discuss their thoughts and ideas about entering the workforce at a time of economic uncertainty.

As part of the exhibition, four events are being held in each of the participating countries--the U.S., Denmark, Sudan and the Philippines, with the exhibition creators traveling all over the world to meet and discuss their ideas in person at these events. For the next few months, we'll be publishing some of the reflections from student participants who traveled to foreign countries as part of this project. This post, written by Kristina Moeller Andersen, who traveled from Aarhus, Denmark to the Bay Area, San Francisco, is the first in the series. Check out Kristina's project here, and explore the whole Young Women Speaking the Economy exhibition.]

Kristina in San Francisco

I had the opportunity to travel to the United States as the student representative of my home country, Denmark. It was my first trip west of the Atlantic, but my expectations made up just a very light part of my luggage. I was looking forward to traveling to the epicenter of the Young Women Speaking the Economy project, and I was grateful to be selected to go, but the distance and my uncertainty about the week’s program definitely kept my expectations in check.

It only took me a short time to get use to the waves and rhythm of Bay Area life, and I felt comfortable in all ways during my short stay. I believe it was due to the generosity and interest in why I’d traveled, which I met from every angle. It doesn’t take Americans a long time to start a conversation with a stranger!

One morning when we had brunch with some other exhibition participants and students at Mills College, I chatted with a girl from the Bay Area. I asked her, “What does an American look like?" and she replied after some consideration, “Everybody can be an American,” implying that nationality doesn’t presuppose a specific ethnic origin. I felt that one reason for the warm and welcoming attitude I met was due to the diverse and multicultural composition of the American society. Xenophobia seemed unacceptable in California, compared to the attitude towards foreigners in my own country, Denmark.

Participants in Young Women Speaking the
Economy meet at Mills College

During the last six months 44 young women from around the globe discussed subjects ranging from stereotypes to generational differences to gender issues, using online platforms such as Facebook and Flickr to communicate. The final Young Women Speaking the Economy exhibition reflected the sum of many months of these conversations.

Shortly after I arrived in the Bay Area and met the other participants, we celebrated the opening of the exhibition. Although the day it launched online was the first time it was available to the public, in a sense it felt like the end of a long process that myself and the other participants had participated in.

Meeting the other students was essential in my assessment of the importance of participating in Young Women Speaking the Economy, and it has extended my connection to IMOW and my interest in women’s affairs in general.

A few of the Young Women Speaking
the Economy participants

During my trip to the United States, I met women of my own age but with very diverse backgrounds, and what struck me the most was the similarity of our hopes for the future. It seemed to me, that the dreams of young women around the world in my generation are universal: studying something we are passionate about, using our educations to get a job, and on another, personal, to eventually start a family. In that way, borderlines and cultural differences were not revealed.

Another essential feature of my meeting with other Young Women Speaking the Economy participants was how commitment and enthusiasm are contagious! I met women who were so deeply attached to this project and women's issues broadly. Through conversations, laughter and art, these women inspired me to deepen my own engagement in spreading the voices of women worldwide.

Where I find myself now seems very far away from where I was when I began this project. Last autumn I rarely and only reluctantly entered into discussions about gender, since I believed that instead of highlighting the differences, you can gain much more by focusing on what men and women have in common. I applied to participate in Young Women Speaking the Economy because I was interested in global issues and cross-cultural dialogue--not because I was particularly interested in gender issues. But during the last six months I have realized that it’s still of great importance to address gender issues and to make sure that the voices of women around the world are heard.

-Kristina Moeller Andersen
Young Women Speaking the Economy

1000 WORDS: Rebuilding

When most of the men in the village of San Miguel Amatitlan in Mexico left to find jobs in other cities or countries, the women in the village took on new roles and new challenges. From Marcela Taboada's work in Focusing on Latin America, "Women of Clay."

1000 WORDS: New Beginnings

From Mark Tuschman's submission to Picturing Power & Potential, "Capitol of Hope"

Wishing you a safe and Happy New Year in 2011! Thank you for your support of IMOW, and for reading Her Blueprint. We can't wait for what the new year has in store!

MAKE CHANGE: Promote Peace

via Flickr / J.L. McVay

Though they aren't always at the front lines of battle, violence against women is too often used as a tool of war in conflict countries. In 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women and peace and security. But since then, little progress has been made.

Our partner organization The Global Fund for Women is spearheading a petition to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking her to take the lead in implementing Resolution 1325.

The petition reads, in part:

"We know women and children bear the greatest brunt of war as violence against women is used to break and humiliate women, men and communities. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the global women’s movement asks that the United States takes the lead in ensuring, to the largest extent possible, that peace processes around the world have the full participation of women at all stages."

Take a moment to add your name to this important movement! Sign the petition today>>

1000 WORDS: Sing Her Praises

A singer in Sao Paolo, Brazil, warms up. From Isabela Senatore's series in Picturing Power and Potential, "Women in Music."

1000 WORDS: Mosuo Woman

From Lili Almog's series in Economica, "The Other Half of the Sky," which features working women in rural China. View the whole series >>

BIG IDEAS: Economic Jargon

You're probably familiar with the metaphor of the economy as a machine--phrases like "jump-starting the economy" or "economic engine," or the idea that the economy is something that is currently broken and in need of repair. Feminist economist Nancy Folbre says that the words we use to describe the economy are more important than we might realize, and in this podcast on Economica, she suggests an alternative metaphor:

"The [new terminology] that I’ve suggested ... is the economy as a beating heart. There are mechanical replacements for hearts, so it’s not that they don’t have certain processes which can be a little bit reminiscent of the machine metaphor. But the heart is also much more organic. And key to the idea of a heart metaphor is circulation. That is you have to keep the resources moving around to keep the economy healthy. So you bring in ideas of health. You bring in ideas of circulating and keeping things moving ... the heart is also the location of care and responsibility, so you bring in that aspect as well. ...We need to look at the fact that what we want from an economy includes a lot of things that aren’t measured in GDP. We want an economy that also allows us to spend time with our children. And for children to have interaction with care and caregivers."

What do you think? What kind of metaphor would you suggest for the way the economy works, or should work?


Economic Jargon, Nancy Folbre [Economica: Women and the Global Economy]

1000 WORDS: Blue

A seaweed farmer in Zanzibar, from Joanna Lipper's series for Picturing Power & Potential,
"Growth vs. Stagnation."

MAKE CHANGE: Sign Off on Fair Pay

In the U.S., women continue to make only $0.78 to every man's dollar for a day's work. Last year's passing of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Obama's first piece of legislation in office) was a step in the right direction, but the companion legislation, the Paycheck Fairness Act, stalled in the Senate and has yet to be passed.

Now, a year later, Obama has once again thrown his support behind fair pay legislation by encouraging the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this term, saying, "This is not just a question of fairness for hard-working women. Paycheck discrimination hurts families who lose out on badly needed income. And with so many families depending on women's wages, it hurts the American economy as a whole."

Make Change by telling your representatives that you agree: the National Organization of Women (NOW) has made it incredibly easy for you to send a message to your representative asking them to ratify the Paycheck Fairness Act! Because not only could we all use that extra $.022 an hour, but we sure as hell deserve it. Send a message to your Senators today>>


For Women, What a Difference a Year Almost Made [Huffington Post]
Obama Endorses Paycheck Fairness Act [USA Today]
Facts About Equal Pay [National Organization of Women]

1000 WORDS: Requiem for Freedom

Masud Alam Liton shows images exploring the lives of sex workers in Bangladesh--the limitations, and freedoms, that their work has given them--in his story for Economica, "Requiem for Freedom."

1000 WORDS: Basic Rights

A little girl waits in line with her mother for government-subsidized bread in Egypt, from Economica's Bread multimedia slide-show in our Basic Rights section.(Photo credit: Holly Pickett)

Welcome!

Welcome to Her Blueprint, the newly re-launched blog from the International Museum of Women! Her Blueprint will be a space where members of the IMOW team and community can explore ideas, share stories, and voice opinions about art, culture, news, and issues that are on our minds now. We hope it can be a space where a broad range of perspectives can be shared and discussed—from our resident historian and academic, Karen Offen, sharing her perspectives on women’s history, to our executive director, Clare Winterton, talking about pop culture issues that have made her think twice. (Check out our Contributors page to learn more about the women who are currently sharing ideas on Her Blueprint.)

Her Blueprint will also take you behind the scenes of what’s happening at the Museum, feature artists from our community, and more. And of course, we want to hear from you! Leave a comment on stories you like (or disagree with!), send us an email at team@imow.org, and be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up to date with all the posts from Her Blueprint.

Thank you for your support! Go get ‘em, girls!

WOMEN OF THE WORLD: Anki King

Announcing a new, recurring Her Blueprint feature: Women of the World, where we'll introduce readers to I.M.O.W. community members from around the globe! For our inaugural Women of the World column, we asked Anki King, an artist and illustrator from Norway (whose work has been featured in I.M.O.W.'s "Imagining Ourselves" and "Exhibiting You" exhibition) five questions about being an artist, a woman, and a part of I.M.O.W. Here's what she had to say:

You're a pretty prolific artist. What's been inspiring you lately?
I primarily work from images that appear in my inner mind. Like dreams, they are results of what I see around me, memories, feelings, emotions and thoughts. So I guess everything is part of what inspires me! I also do some space specific work as I often get inspired by a place or a room. When that happens I just see the work right there in the space and then try to find ways of creating it.

1000 Words: The Business of Women

Photo Credit: Hazel Thompson

A young Arab woman in Qatar goes shopping in a modern mall while wearing a traditional hijab, from the Economica slideshow The Business of Women, in the Business Leadership section.