Tag Archives: women

[LINC] Spirituality Workshop 19th May

Posted on by corkfeminista

SPIRITUALITY:

A PERSONAL SEARCH AND AN EVERYDAY CHALLENGE

LINC

Is hosting a full day exploration of your personal development from the perspective of spirituality.

We are pleased to have the expertise of Anne Kelliher who has offered to facilitate this very special day here in LINC.

Places will be on a first come first serve basis and will be limited.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

No Cost

Date Saturday 19th May from 10 until 4pm

For more details contact Tina or Emma at 021 4808600 or info@linc.ie or Anne at 086 8094448

As If I Am Not There Film Screening 15th May

Posted on by corkfeminista

Cork Feminista in association with Hanna’s House Peace Project and UCC Women’s Studies are proud to show ‘As If I Am Not There’ on Tuesday 15th May at 6pm (film to start at 6.30pm) in Room G06 of Brookfield Health Sciences Building, UCC.

The screening will be followed by a Q & A Session with Oscar-nominated director Juanita Wilson & Shirley Graham, Co-ordinator with the Hanna’s House Peace Project.

All are welcome, please join us!

Film Summary: 
Directed by Juanita Wilson, As If I Am Not There is a story of a young woman from Sarajevo whose life is shattered the day a young soldier walks into her apartment and tells her to pack her things. Rounded up with the other women from the village and imprisoned in a warehouse in a remote region of Bosnia, she quickly learns the rules of camp life. The day she is picked out to ‘entertain’ the soldiers, the real nightmare begins. Stripped of everything she ever had and facing the constant threat of death, she struggles against all the hatred she sees around her. In a final act of courage or madness, she decides to make one last stand: to dare to be herself. And this simple act saves her life. It’s when she realises that surviving means more than staying alive that she has to make a decision that will change her life forever. As If I Am Not There is a modern war story that explores love, identity and the connections between us.  TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE.

 

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#Fornicationtax #Taketwo

Posted on by corkfeminista

So later on yesterday, having gone from an initial WTF to reading Mulherins speech and thinking ok – it’s not so bad, I then listened to her interview on Matt Cooper yesterday.

Click on the link to listen – it’s part 1 http://media.todayfm.com/listenback/98/thursday/1/popup.

“WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE HAVING UNSAFE SEX? WHO ARE THEY?” And they would welcome pregnancy over aids? At the core of these upsetting sentiments is the idea that women are promiscious and should be punished for engaging in such acts like sex and that pregnancy is a suitable punishment for them. The idea that any woman, no matter how she got pregnant, should be made carry a baby she doesn’t want as some of sort of lesson not to have unprotected sex is abhorrent to me.

As for this idea that all crisis pregnancies are as a a result of fornicating people who are silly enough to have unsafe sex – the idea would be laughable if it weren’t so present in the dialogue of the day. Women in committed relationships having safe sex become pregnant – condoms break, pills get vomited up during illness. Women who are single having safe sex get pregnant for the same reason. Women in relationships having unsafe sex get pregnant, women who are single and having unsafe sex get pregnant.  While yes everyone should ideally be having safe sex, the fact that they don’t and become pregnant as a result should be not be an excuse to deny them access to health services they need.

PS Deputy Mulherin – if you really really want people to be having safe sex, why not drop the tax on condoms and make it easier for women to access contraception (ie not a 50 quids doctors visit and 20 for a months supply of the pill)??

[IFN] Feminist Activism in Ireland: Past, Present and Future

Posted on by corkfeminista

Dear supporter,

The IFN invites you to an all-day event on the theme ‘Feminist Activism in Ireland: Past, Present and Future’ to be held on Saturday, May 19th, in the Sean O’Casey Community Centre, Dublin 3.

Join us for discussions on successive feminist ‘waves’ in Ireland, and what they contributed and continue to contribute to gender equality in this country. We will hear from prominent feminist activists and scholars, such as Dr. Mary McAuliffe from the Women’s History Association of Ireland, and Dr. Margaret Ward, expert on the Irish suffrage movement.

The conference aims to create a dialogue between the different generations of feminists, and will place current campaigns in the context of the movement as a whole. While showcasing new, recently established feminist organisations, such as Cork Feminista, the conference will also assess the continuity of feminist activism over the decades. We hope that such a holistic reading of feminist activism in Ireland will prove fruitful for the future progression of the movement.

Further details on our website:

We hope to see you there!
The Co-ordinators, Irish Feminist Network

Second Annual Countess Markievicz School

Posted on by corkfeminista
‘By her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved’
(Article 41.2 Bunreacht na hÉireann)
The second annual Countess Markievicz School takes place in the Teachers’ Club, Parnell Square, Dublin on Saturday May 12th 2012. It will explore the status of women in Ireland relating to the 1937 Constitution and its legacy. Alongside this year’s Markievicz lecture on First Wave Feminism, the topics for discussion include:
Women & the Constitution
Women & Care
Women’s Voices in the Community
Speakers include: Catherine McGuinness, former Supreme Court Judge, Prof. Kathleen Lynch, Equality Studies, UCD & Senator Katherine Zappone
Booking is now open but places are limited so early booking is highly recommended
For a full list of speakers & booking details please visit our site countessmarkievicz.wordpress.com
Kind regards,
Niamh
Committee PRO
Follow us on Twitter @CountessMarkiev
The Countess Markievicz School was established in 2011 as a forum on Women in Ireland by graduates of Equality Studies in the School of Social Justice, UCD

[Longford Women's Link] Women Succeeding in Local Government: Turning Inspiration into Action

Posted on by corkfeminista

Longford Women’s Link

 

invites you to

Women Succeeding in Local Government: Turning Inspiration into Action

Date : Monday, April 30th 2012
Time : 9:45 am to 3:45 pm, registration from 9:00am
Venue : Longford Women’s Link, Willow House, Ardnacassa Avenue, Longford
Lunch will be provided on the day

Conference note
The aim of this event is simple, to use the experience, information and resources we have to inspire women to act.

The morning session focuses on INSPIRING attendees through our two ‘inspiration’ panels of invited speakers. The first panel consists of women who are successfully working within local government, reflecting on their experiences as women who have successfully established a career in this area. A second panel consisting of organisations and agencies, which exist to support women into political life at a local level, will discuss what they do to help women move into this space. The afternoon session encourages ACTION and examines ways in which we can act to encourage and support more women in local political life.

The opening address will be provided by Marian Harkin, MEP Ireland North and West.

The organisations featured at this event include the Women’s Manifesto Project, Women for Election, 50:50 Group and Labour Women.

Who should attend?
Individuals and organisations who are interested in women’s representation and women’s role in local government; those who are already working within local political party structures, members of political parties or elected representatives; women who may be interested in running for local office, journalists (freelance or working for local media) with an interest in the area and/or academics who are carrying out research on this issue.

RSVP 
To: manifesto@longfordwomenslink.org
By: 5pm on Wednesday, April 18th 2012
Please note attendance at this event will be limited in order to allow attendees ample opportunity to address panel members, ask questions and to network. Please register early to avoid disappointment.

What makes you not a Feminist?

Posted on by corkfeminista

What makes you not a Feminist? Is a four part series starting on the 22nd of March and is broadcast every Thursday @ 1:30 (just after The Priest’s Housekeeper).
The series highlights some of the reasons why so many women and men support women’s equality, but are unwilling to call themselves feminists. It explores the current debates on women’s equality through interviews with academics, activists, and women and men from different generations.
The series traces the history of Irish women’s resistance, and asks, has true gender equality been achieved in Irish society? Importantly, it introduce male voices to the debate, and examine the relevance of feminism to Irish men’s lives.
This series is presented by Nilmini fernando and produced by Kieran Hurley for UCC98.3FM.

Thursday 22 – 12 April 1:30

UCC 98.3FM
Áras na Mac Léinn
Student Centre
UCC
Cork
P. 021-4902170

UCCSU – Perpetuating Sexism?

Posted on by corkfeminista

Having spent many a year in the world of student politics, I can happily put my hand on my heart and say that it is a world where sexism is plenty and female officers are few.

Which is why I’m so disappointed to see my alma mater and a union I care deeply about, be incredibly sexist in a year when there is a record number of female candidates for full time positions.

In a video to advertise upcoming candidate debates, they feature only two women – Keira Knightley and Sarah Palin. Knightley shows up after the phrase ‘queue token female candidates’ and Palin when they are making fun of the candidates.

Yeah I was peeved by the token female comment, when the participation of women in the union should be anything but token but I was well pissed after the closing scene of the video where the current president alludes – not so subtly – to the infamous Bill Clinton ‘sexual relations’ comment while pretending to be getting head.

You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vAYbdU4snSY

Seriously like – C’mon on! There are better ways to be funny than this. And if anyone can come up with a defence of the video that doesn’t rest on ‘It’s funny/you just don’t have a sense of humour/take a chill pill’ I’d be interested to hear it.

This video is unacceptable. Pure and simple. As a union meant to represent close to 20,000 students – over half of which are female, they need to seriously revisit how they promote events. Sexism should not be a form of advertising. ANd leaders of a union should know better.

Here’s hoping next years crowd do a better job.

Voting take places on the 5th & 6th March! You can find all candidates manifestos on collegeroad.ie. We’d encourage everyone to vote for the female candidates. While that may not sit comfortably with you, just remember that there will plenty of people who won’t vote for them for the same reason.

Is this ok?

Posted on by corkfeminista

I love PostSecret. Have been a fan for a while and try to remember once a week to log on and check out what people have sent in. They raise lots of money and awareness about mental health issues and all round give people a space to just be themselves. Which is why I was really taken aback to see the above on the site this week. (Picture is a screen grab).

I’m not talking about the secret – that of itself is no different to many other that have been on the blog. It’s the message they posted under it from another person, who like me, reads Postsecret avidly.

And all I can think is – what if the woman who wrote the secret logs on and reads that message. As if she’s not in a difficult enough position, she now has some woman begging her keep going with the pregnancy so she can adopt the child.

The writer of this secret made a choice. And that choice is valid. Postsecret, I think, have gone completely against their own ethos by posting a message which aims to invalidate that persons choice – indeed questions that persons secret.

And I feel really uncomfortable about it. But then again I’m not immune to my own biases. I’m adopted and pro choice and generally feel very uncomfortable when people equate adoption and abortion as exclusive choices – as if women who choose abortion could just have easily chosen adoption but were ‘too selfish’ (is usually the undertone) to do so. We need to respect that women who choose to have an abortion do so because they do not want to parent and they do not want to  go through the adoption process. The idea that someone is be convinced otherwise is just deepingly demeaning and patronising.

This is where I’m going to stop because I feel like I can’t really articulate what it is I’m trying to say – but I do know this – Posting that woman’s message underneath this secret – is not ok with me.