We Need Women Behaving Badly

200 Million Living Victims

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 2017 (FGM).

The UNICEF estimates that there are at least 200 million women and girls now living with female genital mutilation.

Although female genital mutilation is carried out in many countries, the report says that more than half of those who have undergone it live in just three countries -- Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia. 

Data shows the highest rates of genital mutilation among women between the ages of 15 to 49 are in Somalia, Guinea, and Djibouti. In most countries, the majority of girls subjected to the practice are younger than 5. About one fourth of all cases worldwide were girls under the age of 14.

UNICEF hopes that with the support of governments, communities and religious leaders, the practice will be widely abandoned by 2030.

Women and Clothing

When will men, politicians and legislators (particularly the French and the Islamophobes) learn that it is a woman's fundamental right to decide over her clothing and over her own body?

If a woman wishes to wear a burkini to the beach, it is her prerogative to do so. Just as much as she has the right to wear a bikini or even to throw away her bikini-top.

These rights do not diminish if she happens to be a Muslim and chooses to cover her body at the beach.

Stay the hell away from woman's clothing and their bodies!

Should the men, legislators and politicians (particularly the French, right-wing, Christian and Islamophobic ones) not be able to contain themselves completely, perhaps they should legislate that Philippe Pradal, le maire de Nice, should be obliged to wear a burkini when he visits a beach. I am certain that he would be much more of an eyesore in regular swimwear.

Pose Fair 2016

Yesterday my lover man and I visited Pose Fair 2016. As always in SecondLife 95% of the products were aimed at the ladies, 3% were unisex and 2% for us men. There were droves of couples poses for straight couples, not many man-man poses and definitely no gay poses.

I tried out a few of the poses and made my Tomais jump on a few too.

Want to take a look for yourself? Here's the teleport tp Pose Fair 2016!

Men Only vs. Women Only

At the moment I am thinking of something there has been some brouhaha around on the SecondLife pages on Facebook, the fact that certain clubs only allow gay men. To me this issue is really not important one way or the other, but I know it is to some of my gay friends. 

The discussion made me think about the many times in first life, and in SecondLife too, where I have been told that this or that place is not open to men this evening - or ever - because there is a lesbian thing going on or it is a lesbian place and no men are ever allowed. 

I have always accepted that and never made a fuss about it or felt denigrated or shunned. 

Why is it that places, clubs, sims, whatever that only allow gay men are seen as doing something terribly wrong, while places, clubs, sims, whatever that only allow lesbians are seen as something completely natural, tolerated and highly acceptable? Sort of, "We must understand that the girls wish to be alone sometimes, otherwise they feel overpowered by all the gay loudmouths!"

I believe we should accept and respect that a specific group, in this case gay men, sometimes wish to be among their own, with no other gender or straight people (allies or not) present. Sometimes most of us don't want to mix, it's that simple.

On other occasions - and that is most of them - we as gay men love to mix with anyone who respects us, lesbians and straight allies (women and men), hell anyone who is not overtly anti-gay .

The Swedish Hijab-Rebellion

A pregnant Muslim woman was recently knocked down on a street in Stockholm and had her headscarf ("hijab") pulled off by the assailant. Following the assault women who wear the veil testified that they are often subjected to name-calling and harassment of the most vile kind, both Islamophobic and misogynistic.

The incident lead to the so called "hijab-rebellion", in which women from all walks of Swedish society, wishing to show solidarity and "normalize" the wearing of hijab, started posting pictures of themselves in veils on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You name it, it was everywhere.

This "rebellion" lead to a counteraction from a combination of strange bedfellows, militant feminists and xenophobic ultranationalists on the far right of the political spectrum. They claim that the hijab is a sign of a patriarchal cultural and religious tradition of male oppression and control of women and is a tool to curtail women's freedom to dress as they chose and to express their sexuality. They also claim that it is counterproductive to integration as it creates barriers against the surrounding majority culture. Some even go so far as to say, that by wearing the veil in a Western culture the women are doing exactly the opposite of what they claim they wish to achieve, i.e not to draw attention to themselves.

Throughout Europe we are also receiving reports that young Muslim women are starting to don the veil for various reasons, some as a political statement or as a protest against the exploitation of female nudity in the Western cultures. There may be even more reasons.

I find myself a bit lost in all the rhetoric. As far as I am concerned the hijab in itself is most definitely a powerful symbol of male oppression and control and of a traditional chastity culture. However, I wouldn't dream of ever trying to regulate what a woman may or may not wear, just as I would not wish to regulate the length of her skirts or infringe on her complete right to her own body and sexuality.

Any woman should be allowed to dress as she chooses, for whatever reason. Just live with it and accept it!

One Billion Rising in SecondLife 2013

I picked up the press release for this important and thrilling event coming up in SecondLife in February via Daniel Voyager´s Blog. Daniel also informs us that there will be a 4 region stage where over 200 avatars will be able to enjoy the live music and interesting art/info exhibits.

Right now, 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. So today I became part of the revolution of women and men who will WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to violence against women and girls on 2.14.13.

ONE BILLION RISING is a global call to women and men across the planet to gather in their communities to dance and demand an end to men´s violence against women and girls.

Will you join me? Sign up here: One Billion Rising

COME AND DANCE: ONE BILLION RISING IN SECOND LIFE 

SECOND LIFE® RESIDENTS JOIN GLOBAL CAMPAIGN “ONE BILLION RISING” TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

February 14, 2013 to be V-Day’s Largest Day of Action Ever

On February 14, 2013, for 24 hours starting at midnight Pacific Standard Time, Second Life residents will join with activists around the world in a spectacular 24-hour dance event for ONE BILLION RISING, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

ONE BILLION RISING began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On February 14, 2013, men and women in Second Life will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and people across the world to Walk, Dance, and Rise as a show of unity, individual strength, and the need for change.

The Second Life event will feature a four-region stage where 200 people can dance together, surrounded by an area of art installations and informational exhibits. A variety of performers will play over the 24-hour period, enabling people all over the world to attend this virtual event no matter their timezone. The regions will have a General maturity rating to allow all residents an opportunity to participate. Pictures are welcome on the event’s Flickr group.

The objective of the event is to raise awareness, not to raise funds; however, information about real-world organisations will be available for those wishing to donate.

One Billion Rising in Second Life is sponsored by: Alchemy Immortalis; Bits and Bobs Animations; Cheeky Pea; The Domineaux Effect; Dutchie; Galland Homes; Garden of Dreams; Gos Boutique; Gwen Carillon Designs/Serenite; Heart Garden Centre; Kaerri; MadPea; Maven Homes; Meshworx; Prime; and Spargel and Shine. In-kind sponsors are: CaLLie CLine; Fruit Islands; Home and Garden Market; KittyCatS!; and Prim Perfect Publications.

For more information:
Our blog: http://onebillionrisingsl.wordpress.com/
Our Webpage at One Billion Rising: http://onebillionrising.org/page/event/detail/startarising/wd8
Our Second Life Group: One Billion Rising
Our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Billion-Rising/493344827375934?ref=hl
Our Twitter Stream: https://twitter.com/OBRinSL
Our Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/2169739@N23/

About One Billion Rising
One in three women on the planet is raped or beaten in her lifetime. That is ONE BILLION WOMEN violated. One billion daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, lovers and friends. On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men to dance across every country.

For more information go to http://www.onebillionrising.org/.

About V-Day
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 14,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community.

For more information go to http://www.vday.org/.

To the Women of the World

The fact that a minority group of less than half of the worlds population is actively and systematically oppressing and depriving the majority group of their full and equal rights is a mass-discrimination that never ceases to amaze me.

The fact also that men get away with this again and again and yet again is totally bewildering to me and so is the fact that this no longer seems to be an issue in society of today or even among many women. After all it is our mothers, daughters and sisters that are being constantly deprived, abused, raped, mutilated, murdered, bought and sold like cattle and systematically underpaid, exploited and humiliated.

We need a change and the change will certainly not come from the men. So women of the World get your act together and unite! Only you can do it and we need you to do it for a better future for all human beings with full and equal rights for all.


Hell yes, you can do it!

Oh yeah and have a Happy International Womens Day...