fight guns with girls

Here is another opinions piece from the New York Times about the treatment of Afghan women, written by a member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Read it.

Afghan women march, America turns away

I'm not usually one to groan about how the American media overlooks international crises in lieu of covering a YouTube "sensation" or a study that shows thinner people contribute less to global warming. But sometimes I just get to a point when the 24-hour news cycle could be used for so much more significant news. In years past, we could argue that newspapers had a limited amount of print space, and therefore had to focus on local issues in order to sell their product. Fine with me. But in a time of endless opportunities, when a story can run 18 pages and not cost any more than one of two sentences, why not spend the money to get to deeper and more substantial stories? Yes, the recent news of Taliban action against women has been covered, in some fashion, by FOX (at least they picked up the AP story, if that's "covering" something), The NYT, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, CNN, and others.

But, as the Times' column notes, "First, with the economic crisis and other domestic priorities, there is a sense in Washington that helping Afghanistan democratize is either a luxury American taxpayers cannot afford or a charitable cause they can delay."

This is terribly frustrating for me, especially because I have read several studies that show the education and advancement of women in a restrictive society, such as the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, is an extremely effective way to fight terrorism. This was the attitude of Greg Mortenson, the subject of the runaway bestseller "Three Cups of Tea." He saw the education of women as fundamental to a stable and progressive society, and since has built over 78 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls, according to the book's website.

As we face more than a trillion dollar defecit, a worldwide economic recession, and still fight a war on (at least) two fronts in the middle east, I would be much more supportive of a "war on terror" if it meant fighting the root causes of terrorism and hate, rather than just blowing them up.

(In other feminist rant news, check out this story from CNN about a case that reached the Supreme Court about a 13-year-old girl who was stripped searched at her school.)

I wasn't the only one who noticed

Women in Afghanistan took to the streets Wednesday to protest the new Taliban-like restrictions on Afghani women, specifically in relation to marital sex and and sexual rights of women. I would have been honored to walk the three miles with them through mobs of of men calling them whores and attacking their vehicles. Check out this video of the march from the New York Times (sorry for the weird sizing):

we take what we get

I haven't gone on a serious feminist crusade in at least 5 posts, so it's high time to be outraged at something once again. Well it's actually not too terribly infuriating, just an interesting observation.

In a recent online Q&A from New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal, a reader asked this question: "I find it a bit peculiar that the two women columnists, Maureen Dowd and Gail Collins, are satirical and humorous. I adore their writing, and generally think they are spot on, but it is almost like you cannot get a "serious" woman columnist. Do you agree?"

Rosenthal responded by essentially saying he would be the "last person alive" to say either woman wasn't a serious columnist. GOOD FOR YOU. Though I admit I'm not as familiar with Collins' work, Maureen Dowd is usually my first stop if I'm perusing the NYT's editorial pages. (It used to be Nicholas Kristof, but for a while they were charging for his stuff online, so I got out of the habit cause I'm cheap.) So anyway, I just wanted to say I appreciate Rosenthal standing up for his staff, and would hope that in future queries, readers take a minute and think about the fact they would never criticize a paper for only having satirical male columnists.

In other woman rage, the NYT staff editorial today, titled "Women, extremism, and two key states," deals with the recent activity worldwide that shows us once again the high cost some of our world pays for being born with a vagina. In Afghanistan, marital rape is now essentially legally sanctioned. In Pakistan, a woman was publicly flogged for denying a marriage proposal. In Saudi Arabia, a judge refused to nullify the marriage of an 8-year-old girl to a man of 58.

Even though some steps are being taken globally in the right direction (example: 10 villages in Niger have officially denounced female circumcision, and the Pakistani chief justice rebuked the attorney general for allowing the flogging), we still aren't there. It's one thing to see the videos of starving children and say "oh, that's sad." But for most of those children, they aren't hungry because their country's religion or cultural heritage forbids them food.

Even in the states, the leading cause of death for most pregnant women is homicide, usually by a close intimate partner.

So stand up for the vaginas around the world. Religious, cultural, or otherwise, we all deserve to live a life of safety, especially from the government or power-holding group of any given society. Maybe Maureen Dowd can write a sarcastic column about it, since apparently that's the only style some readers feel is used by women. Oh wait, she already has:

Should Michelle cover up?
Sweet on Caroline
Boxers, briefs, or silks?
A Makeover with an ugly gloss

UPDATED: You can't get AIDS from sex ed class

In response to the announcement of the HIV/AIDS rate, city officials have announced a new awareness campaign. Check out the story here.

In recent days, there has been somewhat of a rumble about HIV/AIDS rates rising, specifically in the Washington D.C. area. The Washington Post reported yesterday that the metro area has the highest infection rate in the nation, with 3 percent of the city's population carrying the disease.

I know Alyssa will back me up when I say that AIDS is not something we should consider a "foreign" issue, in the sense that it's only a problem in sub-Saharan Africa, or underdeveloped nation. According to the article, the D.C. rate is higher than parts of West Africa, and is "on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

It's stories like these that make me terrified for abstinence-based sex education. A reactionary blog post (also from The Washington Post, what can I say it's my favorite news site) used the article as motivation to "re-educate" readers about how to prevent the spread of AIDS. Yes, abstinence was included on the list. However, I believe that a choice for abstinence should be motivated by positive attributes, rather than fear of consequences (pregnancy, disease, religious stigma, etc).

And AIDS education is something women need to take a stronger role in. I hope that most of my generation is beyond the myth of HIV/AIDS being a "gay" disease. According to the CDC, AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death in African-American females ages 25-34, and in 2005, Women accounted for 26% of the estimated 37,163 diagnoses of the disease for adults and adolescents. Also interesting is the site's study was that women were slightly less likely than men to receive prescriptions for the most effective treatments for HIV infection. There's even a separate AIDS awareness day for women and girls (March 10, as opposed to the international awareness day on December 1).

These numbers are too high. I'm saddened at the idea that in a country with every educational opportunity at our fingertips, we would allow our friends, colleagues, family, or even strangers to walk around in ignorance. Educate yourself, and those around you, so that this preventable disease can be eradicated.

Here are some resources for more information:

AIDS.gov: the government website on the disease
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: statistics on the disease in the United States, as well as materials on education and prevention
Face AIDS: a student organization that works to fight AIDS in Africa (shout out to the Seattle U. chapter)
United Nations: a special General Assembly session on HIV/AIDS