tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72582730618944676022024-03-16T17:26:40.019-07:00Gender Pluralism CenterMike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-66804467439286796142019-03-02T20:36:00.001-08:002019-03-02T20:36:14.490-08:00Your Vagina Is Terrific <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am blessed to feel, act, think and believe in equality. The following sentence caught my attention, "</span>Women deferring to men about most things is infuriating enough, but about their most intimate body parts?" Dr. Gunter's article is classic to understand Gender Equality or Gender Pluralism. <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><br />Courtesy </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/style/jen-gunter-says-your-vagina-is-terrific.html?mc=aud_dev&ad-keywords=auddevgate&subid1=TAFI&ad_name=1BEHA_20_XXXX_XXX_1P_CD_XX_XX_SITEVISITXREM_X_XXXX_COUSA_P_X_X_EN_FBIG_OA_XXXX_00_EN_JP_NFLINKS&adset_name=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F12%2F21%2Fstyle%2Fjen-gunter-says-your-vagina-is-terrific.html&campaign_id=23843395555460358&fbclid=IwAR15kRzlg1H_POAbcmSGVo2DQDYx4uUQckhsJjKY_Mgdp1N98vOxxBVqng8" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">New York Times </a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CreditCreditIllustration by Claire Milbrath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By Jen Gunter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dec. 21, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Illustration by Claire Milbrath</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I was in my 20s and already a doctor, I still let my sexual partners believe they were the experts in female anatomy, despite the fact that I was studying to be an OB/GYN. These men would tell me things that were untrue and I would count ceiling tiles while they fumbled around in the wrong ZIP code, if you know what I mean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Instead of correcting them, I just nodded and faked my share of orgasms because I prioritized men feeling comfortable over my own sexual pleasure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s enraging that faking orgasms to satisfy a man’s sexual script has not been confined to the trash heap of bad history. Studies tell us that up to 67 percent of women who have experienced penile-vaginal intercourse have faked orgasms. All for reasons painfully familiar to me: not wanting to hurt my male partner’s feelings, knowing I won’t be listened to, feeding his ego or simply wanting the sex to end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rarely talk openly about what’s required for a woman to have a good sexual experience, and so many heterosexual women learn the mechanics of sex and female orgasms from movies (most of which are written, directed and produced by ... men). What I like to call the three-strokes-of-penetration-bite-your-lip-arch-the-back-and-moan routine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As if.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other place women learn the mechanics of heterosexual sex? From the least educated person — a male partner who, statistically speaking, likely induced many fake orgasms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Read Dr. Gunter’s first column</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My Vagina Is Terrific. Your Opinion About It Is Not.Nov. 16, 2017</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More than once I’ve had a male partner ask to have his female partner’s clitoris pointed out during a gynecological exam. While it’s great that he’s interested, I also think, “Come on, dude, you’ve been together for 10 years and you’re asking me?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I smile, give him an anatomy lesson and point out that he was with the local expert all along. It’s no wonder that the joke about men being unable to ask for directions never gets old for women.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women deferring to men about most things is infuriating enough, but about their most intimate body parts?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We need the patriarchy out of the bedroom as much as we need it out of the boardroom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many years ago I decided to take back my body and claim my confidence. This was about both owning my years of education and accepting only a worthy male partner. A man truly interested in learning what I like.</span><br />
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-47198590400539859432019-02-02T19:56:00.002-08:002019-02-02T20:03:30.840-08:00Gender Pluralism and Misogyny<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">At the Center for Pluralism, we will explore if misogyny is
religiously sanctioned or men took it upon themselves to make things to work
for them. The unintended consequence of such acts was making a villain out of
God and religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few Men tend to be insecure about their own worth compared
to women and devise ways to feel secure by causing women to be vulnerable. I am
not talking about the Taliban in a distant land, but our own Taliban mindset
here in America who deny women the right to choose what she does with her body,
rejecting her equal pay, and expect her to defer her to her husband. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"A woman should behave like a woman" "Her
place is home" echo the insecure religious men from Christian, Jewish,
Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and other traditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Women have put up with this crap from men far too long, and
it's time we feel, act, talk and behave like equals. The silence of the right
people is considered an endorsement to the right-wing views on women. The
majority needs to speak up continuously.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An excellent functional society strives to be just to every
citizen when justness becomes a norm in every aspect of life - be it between
spouses, family members, members of the community, town, state, and the nation,
then people trust each other and mind their own business and let others be free
from tensions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don't look to any one group to blame, look at yourselves
first. A sentence that I have been repeating lately is "for every Muslim
ass; there is a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh or other ass" add hole if
you want to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eventually, we need to realize that individuals must be held
accountable for their wrongdoing, and not their religion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe everything on the earth is created to seek its
balance, whether it is matter or individual, family or a nation. Everyone
struggles to have that elusive equilibrium which goes off balance as regularly
as it is desired to be in balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For years, Islam has been at the forefront of receiving the
accusations, but when I study Islam, it is not the religion, it is the men. The
Christians find it convenient to blame the Old Testament, instead of doing the
research and seeing what God meant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prophet Muhammad had time and again said,
"Justice:" among people, within the family, among nations and tribe
is the key to building a prosperous, cohesive society where no one has to live
in fear of the other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The other word for Islam would be Justice that is not what
you see in the world today. Neither do you see Jesus's teachings practiced by
Christians or Jews follow Torah or Bhagavad Gita by Hindus?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To me all religions are equally beautiful and divine; no
religion is superior or inferior to any. If any on claims superiority, he or
she does not understand the nature of his or her faith. Religion is not about
arrogance which kills relationships and balance in the society, but it is about
humility, that which builds bridges between people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dr. Mike
Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic
solutions on issues of the day. His new book, the “American Muslim Agenda” is
about everything you wanted to know about Muslims. The book is available at
Xlibris and Amazon. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding
officiant, and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in
Washington, DC. More about him at </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/" style="outline: none;"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none; color: #00bcd5; padding: 0in;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-42768503456001873772018-01-31T10:03:00.001-08:002018-01-31T10:03:35.075-08:00Padmavat - a film is Reduced to a Vagina<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b0c3e;">The following article in the letter format boldly takes on misogyny expressed in the film Padmavat. It is a good article questioning the misogyny, but the writer is not clear about the atrocities committed during the partition (of India and Pakistan), she sets out writing about Gender Pluralism, but left blanks and biases without clarifying the occurrences and reinforces prejudice against the people of other religion. If you see differently, please share your comment.<br /><br />Mike Ghouse</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2b0c3e;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b0c3e;">Courtesy: </span><a href="https://thewire.in/218456/end-magnum-opus-i-felt-reduced-vagina/" style="background-color: white; color: #0c1f3e; text-decoration-line: none;">The Wire, India </a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2b0c3e;" /><span style="font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #2b0c3e;" /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">‘At The End of Your Magnum Opus… I Felt Reduced to a Vagina – Only’</span></h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6El9VTTA3uwsGDKlyGJJuunjGbktZ7NSQbhl6YuKMhSXrjbguGAf5f0rny1IkkM5JVCT37iURO1GB_oYaux8HY4uIIJLdyKNhHVHcXtP8RG1EkcpYsb1dI6tuhdpjvrj1QaFKMjHbHo/s1600/Deepika-Padmavati-66.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c1f3e; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1160" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6El9VTTA3uwsGDKlyGJJuunjGbktZ7NSQbhl6YuKMhSXrjbguGAf5f0rny1IkkM5JVCT37iURO1GB_oYaux8HY4uIIJLdyKNhHVHcXtP8RG1EkcpYsb1dI6tuhdpjvrj1QaFKMjHbHo/s400/Deepika-Padmavati-66.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear Mr. Bhansali,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the outset Sir, congratulations on finally being able to release your magnum opus ‘Padmaavat’ – minus the ‘i’, minus the gorgeous Deepika Padukone’s uncovered slender waist, minus 70 shots you apparently had to cut out.. but heyyyy! You managed to have it released with everyone’s heads still on their shoulders and noses still intact. And in this ‘tolerant’ India of today, where people are being murdered over meat, and school children are targets for avenging some archaic notion of male pride, that your film even managed a release – that is I guess commendable, and so again, congratulations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Congratulations also on the stunning performances all around by your entire cast — primary and supporting. And, of course, the film was a stunning visual treat. But then all of this is to be expected from a brilliant auteur like yourself, a man who leaves his stamp on everything he touches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By the way Sir, we know each other, after a fashion. I don’t know if you remember, but I played a tiny role in your film <em>Guzaarish. </em>A two-scene -long role, to be precise. I remember having a brief chat with you about my lines, and you asking me what I thought about the lines. I remember feeling proud for a whole month that <em>Sanjay Leela Bhansali</em> had asked me my opinion. I watched you agitatedly explaining to junior artists in one scene, and to the jimmy jib operator in the second scene; some minutiae of the particular shot you were taking. And I remember thinking to myself, “Wow! This man really cares about every little detail in his film.” I was impressed with you Sir.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An avid watcher of your films, I marveled at how you pushed boundaries with every film you made and how stars turned into fierce and deep performers under your able direction. You moulded my idea of what epic love must be like and I fantasised about the day I will be directed by you in a protagonist part. I was and remain a fan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And I want you to know, I really fought for your film when it was still called <em>Padmavati</em>. I grant you, I fought on Twitter timelines –not on the battlefield, and I sparred with trolls not raving manic Muslims; but still I fought for you. I said to TV cameras the things I thought you were not being able to say because your Rs 185 crore were on the line.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here’s proof:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And I genuinely believed what I said. I genuinely believed and still believe that you and every other person in this country has the right to say the story they want to say, the way they want to say it, showing how much ever stomach of the protagonist they want to show; without having their sets burnt, their selves assaulted, their limbs severed or their lives lost.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, in general, people should be able to make and release films and children should be able to get to school safely. And I want you to know that I really wished that your film turn out to be a stupendous success, a blockbuster breaking box office records, whose collections itself would be a slap in the faces of the <em>Karni Sena</em> terrorists and their ilk. And so it was with great excitement and the zeal of a believer that I booked first day, first show tickets for <em>Padmaavat,</em> and took my whole family and our cook to watch the film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps it is because of this attachment and concern that I had for the film that I am SO stunned having watched it. And perhaps that is why I take the liberty and have the temerity to write to you. I will try and be concise and direct though there is much to say.</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5rem;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women have the right to live, despite being raped sir.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women have the right to live, despite the death of their husbands, male ‘protectors’, ‘owners’, ‘controllers of their sexuality’.. whatever you understand the men to be.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women have the right to live — independent of whether men are living or not.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women have the right to live. Period.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s actually pretty basic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some more basic points:</span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women are not only walking talking vaginas.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, women have vaginas, but they have more to them as well. So their whole life need not be focused on the vagina, and controlling it, protecting it, maintaining it’s purity. (Maybe in the 13th century that was the case, but in the 21st century we do not need to subscribe to these limiting ideas. We certainly do not need to glorify them. )</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It would be nice if the vaginas are respected; but in the unfortunate case that they are not, a woman can continue to live. She need not be punished with death, because another person disrespected her vagina without her consent.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is life outside the vagina, and so there can be life after rape. (I know I repeat, but this point can never be stressed enough.)</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In general there is more to life than the vagina.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You may be wondering why the hell I am going on and on thus about vaginas. Because Sir, that’s what I felt like at the end of your magnum opus. I felt like a vagina. I felt reduced to a vagina–only. I felt like all the ‘minor’ achievements that women and women’s movements have made over the years– like the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to education, equal pay for equal work, maternity leave, the Vishakha judgement, the right to adopt children…… all of it was pointless; because we were back to basics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We were back to the basic question — of right to life. Your film, it felt, had brought us back to that question from the Dark Ages – do women – widowed, raped, young, old, pregnant, pre-pubescent… do they have the right to live?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I understand that <em>Jauhar</em> and <em>Sati </em>are a part of our social history. These happened. I understand that they are sensational, shocking dramatic occurrences that lend themselves to splendid, stark and stunning visual representation; especially in the hands of a consummate maker like yourself — but then so were the lynchings of blacks by murderous white mobs in the 19th century in the US – sensational, shocking dramatic social occurrences. Does that mean one should make a film about it with no perspective on racism? Or, without a comment on racial hatred? Worse, should one make a film glorifying lynchings as a sign of some warped notion of hot-bloodedness, purity, bravery – I don’t know, I have no idea how possibly one could glorify such a heinous hate crime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Surely Sir, you agree that <em>Sati</em>, and <em>Jauhar</em> are not practices to be glorified. Surely, you agree that notwithstanding whatever archaic idea of honour, sacrifice, purity propels women and men to participate in and condone such practices; that basically <em>Sati </em>and <em>Jauhar,</em> like the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Honour Killings, are steeped in deeply patriarchal, misogynist and problematic ideas. A mentality that believes that the worth of women lies in their vaginas, that female lives are worthless if the women are no longer controlled by male owners or if their bodies have been ‘desecrated’ by the touch of ; or even the gaze of a male who doesn’t by social sanction ‘own’ or ‘control’ the female.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Practices <em>like Sati, Jauhar, </em>FGM, Honour Killings should not be glorified because they don’t merely deny women equality, they deny women personhood. They deny women humanity. They deny women the right to life. And that is wrong. One would have assumed that in 2018, this is not a point that even needs to be made; but apparently, it does. Surely, you wouldn’t consider making a film glorifying FGM or Honour Killings!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sir, you will say to me that I am over-reacting and that I must see the film in its context. That it’s a story about people in the 13<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> Century. And in the 13<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> century that’s what life was– polygamy was accepted, Muslims were beasts who devoured meat and women alike, and honourable Hindu women happily jumped into their husbands funeral pyre, and if they couldn’t make it to the funeral, they built a pyre and rushed into it — in fact, they liked the idea of collective suicide so much that they gleefully discussed it over their daily beautification rituals. “Verisimilitude” you will say to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No Sir; Rajasthan in the 13th century with its cruel practices is merely the <em>historical setting</em> of the ballad you have <em>adapted</em> into the film <em>Padmaavat. </em>The <em>context </em>of your film is India in the 21st century; where five years ago, a girl was gang-raped brutally in the country’s capital inside a moving bus. She didn’t commit suicide because her honour had been desecrated, Sir. She fought her six rapists. She fought them so hard that one of those monsters shoved an iron rod up her vagina. She was found on the road with her intestines spilling out. Apologies for the graphic details, Sir, but this is the real ‘context’ of your film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A week before your film released, a 15-year-old Dalit girl was brutally gang-raped in Jind in Haryana; a crime bearing sinister similarities to the rape of Nirbhaya.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You do know that acts like <em>Sati</em> and raping women are two sides of the same mindset. A rapist attempts to violate and attack a woman in her genital area, penetrate it forcibly, mutilate it in an effort to control the woman, dominate her or annihilate her. A <em>Sati- Jauhar</em> apologist or supporter attempts to annihilate the woman altogether if the genitals have been violated or if her genitals are no longer in the control of a ‘rightful’ male owner. In both cases the attempt and idea is to reduce women to a sum total of their genitals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The context of art, any art is the time and place when it was created and consumed. And that’s why this gang-rape infested India, this rape condoning mindset, this victim blaming society is the actual context of your film, Sir. Surely in this context, you could have offered some sort of a critique of <em>Sati </em>and<em> Jauhar</em> in your film?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You will say that you put out a disclaimer at the beginning of the film claiming that the film did not support <em>Sati </em>or<em>Jauhar</em>. Sure Sir, but you followed that up with a two-hour-45-minute-long paean on Rajput honour, and the bravery of honourable Rajput women who chose happily to sacrifice their lives in raging flames, than to be touched by enemy men who were not their husbands but were incidentally Muslim.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Swara Bhasker. Courtesy: Swara Bhasker" class="wp-image-218469" data-attachment-id="218469" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="<p>Swara Bhasker. Courtesy: Swara Bhasker</p>
" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"9","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369376685","copyright":"","focal_length":"200","iso":"1000","shutter_speed":"0.003125","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Swara-Bhasker" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/cdn.thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/27191824/Swara-Bhasker.jpg?fit=672%2C1024&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/cdn.thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/27191824/Swara-Bhasker.jpg?fit=197%2C300&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/cdn.thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/27191824/Swara-Bhasker.jpg?fit=2689%2C4096&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2689,4096" data-permalink="https://thewire.in/218456/end-magnum-opus-i-felt-reduced-vagina/swara-bhasker/" height="542" src="https://i0.wp.com/cdn.thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/27191824/Swara-Bhasker.jpg?resize=356%2C542&ssl=1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; float: none; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="356" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: grey; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Swara Bhasker. Courtesy: Swara Bhasker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There were more than three instances of the ‘good’ characters of your story speaking of <em>Sati/Jauhar</em> as the honourable choice, your female protagonist – epitome of both beauty, brains and virtue sought permission from her husband to commit <em>Jauhar</em>, because she could not even die without his permission; soon after she delivered a long speech about the war between <em>Satya </em>and<em> Asatya, Dharm </em>and <em>Adharm</em> and presented collective <em>Sati</em> to be the path of Truth and <em>Dharm.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em> </em>Then in the climax, breathtakingly shot of course – hundreds of women bedecked in red like Goddess Durga as bride rushed into the <em>Jauhar </em>fire while a raving Muslim psychopathic villain loomed over them and a pulsating musical track – that had the power of an anthem; seduced the audience into being awestruck and admiring of this act. Sir, if this is not glorification and support of <em>Sati </em>and<em>Jauhar</em>, I really do not know what is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I felt very uncomfortable watching your climax, watching that pregnant woman and little girl walk into the fire. I felt my existence was illegitimate because God forbid anything untoward happened to me, I would do everything in my power to sneak out of that fiery pit– even if that meant being enslaved to a monster like Khilji forever. I felt in that moment that it was wrong of me to choose life over death. It was wrong to have the desire to live. This Sir, is the power of cinema.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your cinema particularly is inspiring, evocative and powerful. It can move audiences to emotional highs and lows. It can influence thinking and that, Sir, is why you must be responsible as to what it is you are doing and saying in your film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was with great difficulty that a group of reform-minded Indians, and the provincial British Colonial governments and Princely States in India abolished and criminalised <em>Sati </em>in a series of judgments between 1829 and 1861. In independent India, <em>The Indian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(Prevention)_Act,_1987" style="color: #c0392b; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;" target="_blank" title="Sati Prevention Act">Sati Prevention Act</a> </em>(1988) further criminalised any type of aiding, abetting, and glorifying of <em>Sati</em>. Your act of thoughtlessly glorifying this misogynistic criminal practice is something you ought to answer for, Sir. As your ticket- buying audience, I have the right to ask you how and why you did this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You must be aware that modern Indian history has recorded some more recent <em>Jauhar</em>– like acts. During India and Pakistan’s bloody Partition some 75,000 women were raped, kidnapped, abducted, forcibly impregnated by men of the ‘other’ religion. There were numerous instances of voluntary and assisted suicides by women, in some cases husbands and fathers themselves beheaded their wives and daughters before men of the ‘other’ religion could touch them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bir Bahadur Singh, survivor of the riots in Thoa Khalsa in Punjab, described a scene of women jumping into the village well to commit suicide. In about half an hour, he recalled, the well was full. The women on top survived. His mother was a survivor. Singh, recalls author Urvashi Butalia in her 1998 book <em>The Other Side Of Silence, </em>was ashamed of his mother for living for the remainder of her life. This is among the darkest periods of Indian history and ought to be remembered with shame, horror, sadness, reflection, empathy, nuance; not with thoughtless sensational glorification. These sad tales of the Partition, too, are a less obvious context of your film <em>Padmaavat.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mr. Bhansali, I will end in peace; wishing that you make many more films the way you want to, and are allowed to shoot and release them in peace; that you, your actors, your producers, your studio and your audiences remain safe from threats and vandalism. I promise to fight trolls and television commentators for your freedom to express; but I also promise to ask you questions about the art you make for public consumption. Meanwhile, let’s hope that no zealot member of any <em>Karni Sena </em>or some<em> Marni Sena</em> gets the idea to demand decriminalisation of the practice of Sati!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Swara Bhasker<br />Desirous of Life</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em>Swara Bhasker is an award winning actress in the Hindi film industry whose filmography includes the critically acclaimed </em>Anaarkali Of Aarah<em> (2017), the critical-commercial success </em>Nil Battey Sannata<em> (2016); superhit blockbuster films </em>Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo<em> (2015), </em>Tanu Weds Manu Returns<em> (2015), </em>Raanjhanaa<em> (2013) and </em>Tanu Weds Manu<em> (2011).</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><em>She is also an occasional writer and columnist and her short stories and articles have appeared in </em>The Little Magazine, Seminar, The Himal Southasian, The Hindu<em> and the </em>Indian Express<em>.</em></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-64942107859393554102018-01-18T19:04:00.004-08:002018-01-18T19:04:48.040-08:00Sexual harassment in the Jewish community and Solutions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sexual harassment is rampant in every group of people with no exception. The uncivil men among men feel entitled to women, every woman that they see. The #Metoo movement is a good beginning to end such harassment and treat every man and woman as equal and respecting the sanctity of each individual. This news is the same for Muslims, just have to switch the names - Mosque instead of Synagogue, Muslim in place of Jews.<br /><br />A few Muslims are arrogant that Islam protects women, yes it does, but Muslims are men. One of the sentences in the following article is a perfect descriptor, "</span><span style="background-color: white;">Despite our moral code, however, sexual misconduct in the Jewish community too often goes unaddressed." Replace Jewish with Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or the other. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br />Mike Ghouse</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;">Courtesy: <a href="https://www.jta.org/2018/01/16/news-opinion/opinion/6-ways-to-address-sexual-harassment-in-the-jewish-community" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">JTA.org, January 16, 2018</a><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">6 ways to address sexual harassment in the Jewish community</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(<a href="http://jta.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JTA</a>) — #MeToo. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/groups/1503695826381063/?ref%3Dbr_rs&source=gmail&ust=1516204971291000&usg=AFQjCNGfCQz_KSHG9GF1CIrQ_sJuVwDjIA" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1503695826381063/?ref=br_rs" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">#GamAni</a>. The stories are numerous and painful. They span decades and reach every corner of the Jewish community. Enough is enough. The time is now for us to finally and fully address sexual harassment in Jewish institutional life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When it comes to sexual harassment, Jewish teachings are unequivocal: We are obligated to put an end to the behavior for the sake of the victim, the perpetrator and the community as a whole. Despite our moral code, however, sexual misconduct in the Jewish community too often goes unaddressed. As Hollywood, media and government offices grapple with their ethical challenges, it is clear we need a reckoning of our own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Good</span> <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">People</span> <span class="il" style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fund</span> surveyed Jewish professionals in 2017, it found that sexual harassment is perceived by respondents to be tolerated in Jewish organizations. Female CEOs, fundraisers and rabbis frequently report problems in their interactions with donors and lay leaders. Female employees report feeling some level of harassment is inevitable, and most believe — and some have left the field as a result — that their organizations are ineffective at preventing or addressing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, the recent <a href="http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/new-leading-edge-report-details-results-of-2nd-annual-employee-engagement-survey/?utm_source=Nov.+22%2C+2017&utm_campaign=Wed+Nov+22&utm_medium=email" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leading Edge study</a> found that only two-thirds of employees of Jewish organizations report that they are aware of their organization’s sexual harassment policies, and only about one-third know what to do or where to go if they experience harassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The time is now to end this reality. The time is now to move from talk to action. The time is now for us to commit to acting individually and collectively to build safer, more respectful and equitable places to work. We must come together across political, denominational and gender lines to address the power dynamics and structural inequalities that allow harassment and abuse to take root. We must raise the bar of fairness and equality in our workplaces, institutions and the spaces in between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To succeed, we need to advance cultural and practical change. We at the Schusterman Foundation are joining with other foundations and organizations to explore how we can help create systemic change in Jewish communal life on both fronts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are five crucial areas in which we can and must act:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ensure accountability</strong><br />To eliminate harassment in our community, all of us — funders, nonprofit professionals and lay leaders — must hold ourselves and our organizations accountable. I envision a pledge, akin to the Child Safety Pledge, committing us to uphold safety and respect in and around the Jewish workplace as an important step forward. A common pledge — backed by tangible resources and collective action — could ensure that organizations walk their talk and actively pursue today’s best practices for preventing and responding to sexual harassment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exhibit leadership</strong><br />Committed, engaged organizational and philanthropic leaders are critical to changing the status quo. Thanks to the outstanding work of Commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic, who led the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, <a href="https://www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/publications/promising-practices.cfm?renderforprint=1" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">we know that</a> “the cornerstone of a successful harassment prevention strategy is the consistent and demonstrated commitment of senior leaders to create and maintain a culture in which harassment is not tolerated.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those in leadership positions must start by refraining from and putting an end to adverse behavior. Jewish leaders need to show they will not stand for or accept sexual harassment and take proactive steps to promote a safe, respectful Jewish organizational culture. Funders, too, must commit to this work — not just for the organizations we support, but also to help equalize the relationship between donors and Jewish professionals, and to strengthen our own internal cultures.</span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Refresh policies and procedures</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the wake of #MeToo, every Jewish organization must have in place the modern infrastructure of a safe workplace, including transparent policies, consistent training and protected reporting methods. The EEOC recommendations are clear on this front as well. Healthy work environments need “strong and comprehensive harassment policies; trusted and accessible complaint procedures; and regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.”</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to updating our own policies and procedures, those who serve as funders can request anti-harassment and discrimination policies in our grant applications, share sample templates and best practices with grantees, and refer them to expert resources.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Train staff and boards</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Annual, ideally in-person training of staff and boards are vital and can be customized to the fields and organizations they serve. They can transcend the harasser-victim dichotomy and focus on more effective methods, such as empowering bystanders and helping employees understand how they can advocate for one another. For models, we can look to the Respect in the Workplace training currently offered by the <a href="http://www.jwfny.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York</a> or to those <a href="https://www.keshetonline.org/work/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keshet</a> provides on tolerance and inclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Facilitate reporting</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b>Every employee in the Jewish sector should know and trust their organization’s reporting structure. One of the most common refrains is that employees do not know who to turn to if they experience or witness harassment. This is equally true at foundations and all other kinds of nonprofits.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is incumbent upon us as Jews that our reporting structures allow for fair consideration and due process for both the accuser and the accused. To that end, it is worth considering external reporting structures like those suggested by Yehuda Kurtzer and Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, who have called for the creation of a neutral platform for those seeking redress without fear of retribution. We may also consider the use of ombudsmen or new tools like <a href="https://allvoices.co/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AllVoices</a>, an app-based reporting service under development.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Equal opportunity</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b>Beyond these five areas, the most important way to create sustainable change in our community is to ensure that women are treated equitably and have opportunities to advance to top leadership roles.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Starting today, we must help elevate women’s voices in Jewish life. We must advocate for pay equity for comparable roles. We must include more women on CEO search committees and candidate interview lists. We must mentor and sponsor women in advancing in their careers. We must, as <a href="http://advancingwomen.org/" style="border: 0px none; color: #0000cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Advancing Women Professionals</a>has taught us, make the choice not to serve on or support panels, committees and initiatives where women are not represented. When we raise up women, we raise up everyone — especially those of diverse, underrepresented backgrounds.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, we can make an inclusive, safe and respectful environment a key element of great Jewish workplaces. In doing so, we will create spaces free from harassment, gender disparagement and bias; make our offices models of what a modern workplace should be; and usher in a new era of leadership that better reflects and supports the people and communities we serve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s make 2018 the year we live up to the steadfast ethics of our people and put an end to sexual harassment in the Jewish community once and for all. Let’s join together to create a culture in which nobody ever again has to say #MeToo or #GamAni.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="border: 0px none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Lisa Eisen is the vice president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, a global organization committed to igniting the passion and unleashing the power in young people to create positive change; www.schusterman.org.)</span></em></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-70932765198123692162014-04-21T19:32:00.002-07:002014-04-21T19:32:41.910-07:00Gender Pluralism:: Ending the gender binary<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span>GENDER PLURALISM - ENDING THE GENDER BINARY</span></span>URL - <br /><br />As a humanitarian and a social
scientist, I welcome this decision by the supreme court of India to
include Transgender in "all men are created equal". We have ways to go,
but this is a moment of celebration, celebrating the right to be who you
are. <br /><br />Mike Ghouse<br />www.FoundationforPluralism.com <br /># # #</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gender Pluralism:: Ending the gender binary<br />Courtesy of <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/ending-the-gender-binary/article5934384.ece?homepage=true">THE HINDU</a> newspaper. </span></span></span></span><span class="author"><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chapal Mehra</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img alt="BROAD DEFINITION: With the Supreme Court's verdict, gender has come to mean individual choice and experience rather than what is socially acceptable." class="main-image" height="262" src="http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01855/22TH_TRANSGENDERS_1855470f.jpg" title="BROAD DEFINITION: With the Supreme Court's verdict, gender has come to mean individual choice and experience rather than what is socially acceptable." width="400" /></span></span></span> </div>
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BROAD DEFINITION: With the Supreme Court's verdict, gender has come to
mean individual choice and experience rather than what is socially
acceptable. </span></span></span></div>
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<span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Challenging the dominant view<br /><br />With
this judgment, the Court has challenged the dominant view of gender
identity. In a society that has focused on a binary, this is
revolutionary. In this judgment, the court recognises that “individual
experience” of gender is one of the most fundamental aspects of
“self-determination, dignity and freedom.” Further the judgment relates
the right to freedom of expression to one’s right to express one’s
self-identified gender. Thus, the idea of gender is transformed from
social acceptability to individual choice and experience.<br /><br />The
judgment is significant in many other ways as well. By ending the gender
binary, the Court has opened the discussion on the rights of marriage,
adoption and inheritance for the transgender community. The judgment
also recognises the community’s position as a socially and economically
backward category, and directs the state for appropriate affirmative
action. More specifically, it directs the state to provide the community
access to health services and even separate toilets.<br /><br />For India’s
transgender community, it is their first encounter with equality in a
democratic framework. At the same time, this thoughtful, inclusive
judgment is significant for all Indians, especially minorities. It comes
at a time when India’s political parties are engaged in a vitriolic
confrontation over minorities and their rights. The Court’s
interpretation — of justice, equality, freedom and dignity and the role
of the state — should remind our political class that the rights of
Indian citizens, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation, are
safeguarded by the Constitution. The judges quote Aristotle, Kant, Rawls
and Amartya Sen to create a broader narrative on justice — something
extremely relevant to this election.<br /><br />Despite the euphoria, the
judgement is not without problems. A broad sweep of identities neglects
many identities. Also, the procedures for implementation lie with the
States and the Centre. Interestingly, it also evades extensive comment
on Section 377 which criminalises sex between homosexuals, which the
judges term as a “colonial legacy.” It remains to be seen how this
judgment will interact with the petition on Section 377, to be
considered soon. Rationally, it will be difficult to give citizens the
right to choose their gender but not the right to choose who they love.
The Court’s decision on Section 377 will tell us whether the highest
court in the land can live with deeply contradictory ideas of justice,
freedom, and equality.<br /><br />Yet, the process of change will now be
irreversible. Just as law can manufacture intolerance, it can also
create gradual social acceptance. Social attitudes may not transform
overnight but Indian society only needs to look at its own history of
inclusiveness. The transgender community was, until the advent of
colonialism, a respected section of society. The Hindu Right should note
that transgenders are mentioned in the Ramayana, and that it is Ram who
gives them the power to bless important occasions such as childbirth
and marriage. Also, Shiva’s Ardhanarishwar form is well-known and widely
worshipped.<br /><br />The role of the British<br /><br />The tradition is not
limited to Hinduism alone. Islamic, Jain and other cultures have also
included the transgender community and other sexual minorities. The
famous Sufi saint, Bulle Shah, dressed as a woman to please his master
and often danced with eunuchs. Yet all this changed when India was
colonised. The Indian Penal Code enacted by the British recognised only
two genders, creating a binary that never existed.<br /><br />Over time,
these constructs were absorbed in Indian society. The community has
since faced extreme forms of violence for not conforming to socially
dictated gender identities. This violence often happens within families
and communities, where transgenders face abuse, discrimination,
disinheritance and abandonment. This judgment will hopefully begin to
alter this in some measure.<br /><br />Despite its many flaws and the
incremental nature of this change, this is a moment of celebration not
just for India’s transgender community or its sexual minorities but for
all minorities. In a deeply fractured democracy, the Court has
safeguarded the right to individual choice and freedom. It is reassuring
for every Indian that despite our debasing politics, justice, equality
and individual liberty — ideas that define India — will be safeguarded,
and the right to choose our identity will go beyond the binary.<br /><br />(Chapal Mehra in an independent New Delhi-based writer.) </span></span></span></span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-90777108045550474352013-12-11T06:18:00.000-08:002013-12-11T06:18:47.309-08:00Gender apartheid is real in UK universities. So why aren't more people fighting it?<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Its just not UK, this is all over the world. The Jewish women are fighting for this in Israel for a long time, its happening elsewhere. I have noted in my comments earlier in a similar posting , that separation is not much of a problem in societies with similar culture like India, Pakistan, Arab Nations and elsewhere, where Hindus, Muslim, Christians, Sikhs follow the separation in places of worship and schools, and it is a norm. The problem occurs when it become a legal separation in mixed cultures and one is forced to sit separately - not a cultural norm of the society in UK, US or other western nations. It should be a choice, wherever the girls want to sit. <br />Mike Ghouse</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As 8,000 people sign a petition against gender segregation in British
universities, a rally last night attracted only 100 protesters. Who is
fighting the good fight, asks Emma Pearce
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="caption">Campaigners protest against gender segregation in British universities</span> </span></span></div>
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By <span rel="author">Emma Pearce</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10:13AM GMT 11 Dec 2013</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img alt="Comments" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share/comments.gif" /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10510284/Gender-apartheid-segregation-is-real-in-UK-universities.-So-why-arent-more-people-fighting-it.html#disqus_thread">36 Comments</a></span></span>
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<br />University degrees were first offered to women in the UK in 1878, but last
night, stood in front of the London headquarters of Universities UK, which
claims to be ‘the voice for UK universities’, it appeared that the fight for
equality is far from over.
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Standing in Tavistock Square on a freezing December night, over 100
campaigners and students gathered to protest against the "shame of
gender apartheid" at universities.
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Last month,<strong> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10469532/Allowing-university-speakers-to-segregate-genders-is-outrageous.html">new
guidelines</a> </strong>from Universities UK suggested institutions could allow
gender segregation during lectures given by external speakers, based on the
teachings of their religion, as <strong>"<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10468115/Universities-can-segregate-men-and-women-for-debates.html">there
does not appear to be any discrimination</a></strong> on gender grounds merely by
imposing segregated seating".
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<br /><br />The rally last night was purposefully held on International Human Rights Day
and on the <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10509772/Nelson-Mandela-memorial-Barack-Obama-wins-loudest-roar-of-approval-from-restless-crowd.html">day
of Nelson Mandela's memorial,</a> </strong>to expose the fact that gender
segregation is widespread.
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The protest came after some 8,000 people signed a<strong> <a href="http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Universities_UK_Rescind_endorsement_of_sex_segregation_at_UK_Universities/">petition</a>
</strong>to rescind endorsement of sex segregation at UK Universities.
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The rally against gender segregation</sup></span></span>
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<br />Maryam Namazie, a researcher at the University of London and one of the organisers of the event, said that she has noticed a rise of Islamism across UK Universities that is not truly representing the views of most Muslims. She said: “In the UUK’s efforts to be inclusive they are encouraging sexism and endorsing discrimination.<br /><br />“It's about free speech and its about Islamists imposing their rules and projecting women as symbols of chaos in society."<br /><br />A whole host of speakers were at the protest that climaxed in the chanting of ‘shame on UUK’ directed at the organisation’s headquarters.<br /><br />A report in the spring revealed gender segregation, at events run solely by student Islamic<br /><br />societies or in the interests of Muslims, is widespread.<br /><br />Student Rights, which carried out the research, found that radical preachers spoke at 180 events at universities including Cardiff and University College London (UCL) between March 2012 and March 2013. Segregated seating for men and women was promoted or implied at more than a quarter of the events, at 21 separate institutions.<br /><br /><br />“Words cannot fully describe what I feel today,” said Pragna Patel, director of Southall Black Sisters, a feminist group. “Rage, indignation and sorrow are just some that spring to mind.” And she went on to say “that the assertion of religious political power obliterates the very ideas of liberty and equality that so many people lived for and died for”.<br /><br />‘Separate but equal’ is not equal at all was the message being spread by protesters. And of course it isn’t. By pursuing the appeasement of these religious fundamentalists anyone is right to question where this might end?<br /><br />You would also be right to question why splitting people on race or sexuality would cause public outrage but splitting people on gender has received relatively little attention?<br /><br /><br />Last night's protest echoed much of what Nelson Mandela fought for. Ms Patel likened the two examples by saying that UUK’s justification for its actions was that it was “trying to uphold equalities law [but] this was the same defence they used for racial apartheid in South Africa”.<br /><br />The protesters seemed very inspired by the legacy of Mandela and felt that much that he supported could be used in their fight for co-education.<br /><br /><br />Most of us might think that we have come a huge way in equality in education but what the report of the UUK has exposed is that we still have a long way to go.<br />Does the UK have a problem with co-education between men and women?<br /><br />Helen Palmer, chair of the Secular Europe Campaign, said last night that Cambridge University offered its first degree to women in 1948 and Oxford is celebrating its 40th anniversary of co-education this year. But she said that St Bennets, a boys only college at Oxford, is only now, in 2013, considering allowing female students.<br /><br />Two young women at the rally, from Oxbridge, were concerned about the progress of girls in higher education. <br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup><img align="middle" height="287" name="XU4423312@wa_protest03" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02762/XU4423312_wa_prote_2762065c.jpg" width="460" /> </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><sup> Geetanjali Normande, 20, and Radha Bhatt, 19, at the protest </sup></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Radha Bhatt, 19, a student at Cambridge University, said: "I am absolutely shocked and concerned that this segregation is still going on … the idea that Muslim leaders are uncomfortable with men and women sitting together and that UUK is appeasing them shows that they have a problem with co-education.”<br /><br />Geetanjali Normande, 20, from Oxford University, said: "It scares me that institutions like UUK which exist to represent universities and the student body find that it is acceptable to condone this. It sounds like they are so far removed from what it is to be a student and to be told that you can’t sit where you want to in your lecture.<br /><br />“I grew up in a very religious background but my family are extremely supportive of me getting an education.”<br /><br />So it begs the question do we still need to be fighting for co-education? Should we be encouraging people to move away from gender-apartheid and see people instead as individuals who must be treated equally? The protesters clearly think there is a long way to go and a big battle still to fight.<br /><br /><br />UUK last night defended its</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong> <a href="http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Pages/Externalspeakersinhighereducationinstitutions.aspx#.Uqgxihagf8s">report.</a></strong>
A statement said: “The guidance does not promote gender segregation. It
includes a hypothetical case study involving an external speaker talking
about his orthodox religious faith who had requested segregated seating
areas for men and women.
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"The case study considered the facts, the relevant law and the questions
that the university should ask, and concluded that if neither women nor men
were disadvantaged.”
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meanwhile, a spokesman for the National Union of Students, which represents students, said it support the rights of groups to self organise how they wish but it would be "concerned about enforced segregation and certainly does not endorse it."<br /><br />An NUS statement said: "We believe the Universities UK guidance is saying that the university needs to take law into account when making decisions about what can and can’t happen on a campus.<br /><br />“A university has a legal duty to protect freedom of speech, but also whilst protecting student safety and balancing a competing range of conflicting duties, such as equality, or the right to protest."<br /><br />Emma Pearce is a second year politics student at the University of Nottingham. Follow her on Twitter @EmmaPearcee </span></span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-50596102849864866532013-12-05T21:45:00.000-08:002013-12-05T21:45:04.968-08:00Jimmy Carter: How religion subjugates women<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have always been a great admirer of President Jimmy Carter, a great humanist. This is a good article to read and reflect. Mike Ghouse<br /><br />The former president speaks out against doctrine used to promote misogyny and abuse. Are you listening, Obama?<br /><br />Courtesy: <a href="http://www.salon.com/2009/07/16/jimmy_carter/">Salon </a><br /><br />Topics: Religion, Broadsheet, Life News<br /><br />“The Words of God Do Not Justify Cruelty to Women“: That’s the title of an Op-Ed that ran in the U.K. Observer earlier this week. It wasn’t written by a feminist theologian like Karen Armstrong or one of the women on President Obama’s faith-based council — but by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.<br /><br />In the article, Carter explains his painful decision to split with the Southern Baptist Church “when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be ‘subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.” <br /><br />Carter left the Souther Baptists in 2000, when he was 76. He was writing this Op-Ed as one of a dozen world leaders organized two years ago by Nelson Mandela. The Elders, as they call themselves are, well, older and out of public office. They bring their stature and wisdom to the intractable, often unpopular political issues of our time and seek not to solve them but to make them more visible. They are the people many of us have come to love — Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Kofi Annan, men with sweet demeanors and nice smiles and real records of changing the world. Some of the world’s strongest and most accomplished women are part of the group, too: Gro Brundtland, Mary Robinson, Aung San Suu Kyi, Graca Machel and Ela Bhatt, who has organized self-employed women workers in India into a powerful force for change.<br /><br />Now they are taking on religious and traditional practices that harm women. And they chose Jimmy Carter to issue the opening salvo. Carter, it has been said, is a better man than he was president, and he has been proving it since he left office. He’s gotten better with the passage of time. Carter once fired Bella Abzug, whom he had appointed to head his National Advisory Committee on Women. And as a Southern Baptist and Sunday school teacher, he never seemed much interested in women. But 10 years ago, when the Southern Baptist Convention definitively ruled out equality for women and blamed us for original sin, he up and quit the church.<br />Carter pulls no punches in his Op-Ed. Religious discrimination against women has, he says, “provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.” He continues: ”The truth is that male religious leaders have had — and still have — an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.”<br /><br />Carter and the Elders are equal-opportunity critics. No country or religion, no practices go uncriticized. Discriminatory religious beliefs are described as “repugnant.” They are used to excuse “slavery, forced prostitution, genital mutilation.” They cost women and girls “control over their own bodies and lives.”<br /><br />Carter touches on some of the most important aspects of discrimination that have an impact on development and poverty, noting that many women “face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.” The fact that over a half a million women die each year from preventable conditions during pregnancy and childbirth is one of the continuing tragedies of poor international leadership.<br /><br />Islam does not escape criticism as Carter notes that “In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.”<br /><br />The U.S. is not let off the hook, either. Carter links the flawed conservative interpretation of scripture to the kind of “discriminatory thinking … behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in Britain and the United States.”<br /><br />The big question is whether Carter’s message will get much play at the White House. Past efforts by the former president have not had much traction. For Obama, who has indicated a commitment to women’s rights worldwide but who has approached religion with great deference, there is much to ponder in Carter’s message.<br /><br />Women’s equality cannot be achieved without stepping on the toes of traditional interpretations of women’s lack of rights that permeate the world’s — and Christianity’s — texts. Carter gets it: “I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge.”<br /><br />His Op-Ed closes with the following words: “We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share. “<br /><br />Let’s hope our Obama and his faith-based council are listening.<br /><br />Frances Kissling is a visiting scholar at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the former president of Catholics for a Free Choice. More Frances Kissling.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE3bdEiVdkqVPXJSeuILC2MOsS7P94kEtyja4qvoAF7yjYUmhyWkeuOWiP49iRklaW-6j0UQfQ9vU1At6WDd0oV0CCTXXLP-po0KyghpG__Ma1GaD8oKx6fp3-xUepj6Ia4bMPngWZnrv/s1600/JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE3bdEiVdkqVPXJSeuILC2MOsS7P94kEtyja4qvoAF7yjYUmhyWkeuOWiP49iRklaW-6j0UQfQ9vU1At6WDd0oV0CCTXXLP-po0KyghpG__Ma1GaD8oKx6fp3-xUepj6Ia4bMPngWZnrv/s1600/JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg" /></a></span></span>Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-62890268940023104962013-12-04T05:16:00.001-08:002013-12-04T06:13:21.170-08:00First woman to lead Friday prayers in UK <div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5g8p6].[1][3][1]{comment10152001040392107_30090227}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5g8p6].[1][3][1]{comment10152001040392107_30090227}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5g8p6].[1][3][1]{comment10152001040392107_30090227}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[1]">UK has its first (born) Muslim woman lead prayers<br />URL - <a href="http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/first-woman-to-lead-friday-prayers-in-uk.html">http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/first-woman-to-lead-friday-prayers-in-uk.html</a><br /><br />The story is same with Muslims as it is with Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others. A woman cannot lead the respective prayers. At the Parliament of world's religions in Melbourne in 2009, we pushed the panel of some 12 men representing each faith as to why? The best honest answer came from the Catholic Bishop, "this is what we are told to do". Indeed, the change has to ease into the new norms, it just cannot happen because some one wants it. As we go forward, we will present the stories of all faiths with similar stories. <br /><br />However, the reformed movements in all the faiths have opened it up. Just this week in the UK, a Synagogue was severely criticized for letting women touch the Torah Scrolls and carry it to read in the Temple. <br /><br /> Muslims have raised hell and have gotten ugly when the first Muslim woman led prayers were held in New York by Dr. Amina Wadud in 2003 or 2004. They held disgusting placards outside the place of worship, it was embarrassing the way a few Muslims reacted to it. <br /><br />There
is nothing wrong in a woman leading the prayer. Islam is not a negative
religion, it's positive. No where in Quran or Hadith it's banned women from leading the prayers. Just because it was not done before, it does not mean you cannot do it now. Prophet would
have driven a car if there was one, that does not mean we have to ride camels.
Men should feel secure, they are not losing their
jobs. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Blaming the west is not true and it is a conspiracy spun by a
few. I have been a supporter of this movement since 2003, when Dr. Amina Wadud
led the first Juma prayers - she was on my Radio show. A lot has been debated
since, it will take another generation to accept this, but it will be over a
period of time. It will take another three generations to get this change to
become a norm in Asia and perhaps a century in Arab lands. The Christians, Jews and Hindus need to gloat, on one can have the last laugh. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Islam is
not a negative and restrictive religion... it started with a command to recite,
learn, read.... and we must. <span lang="0" style="color: black;"><br /><br />Mike Ghouse is a <a href="http://mikeghouse.net/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.asp">Muslim speaker,</a>
thinker and a <a href="http://theghousediary.com/">writer</a> on <a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/">pluralism</a></span><span lang="0" style="color: #003366;">, <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/">Islam</a>, <a href="http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/">interfaith</a> and other topics. He
is committed to nurturing pluralistic values embedded in Islam and
building cohesive Socieities and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the
day, all his writings are at <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/">www.TheGhouseDiary.com</a> </span><span lang="0" style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">First woman to lead Friday prayers in UK<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-woman-to-lead-friday-prayers-in-uk-1996228.html</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZb-5jW3HJacrOO5GzUp608s2UObwK-ZArb3gxwDNUTt-N5EvRAa6wFB_J6StduH5AoPgAGbsa6RIP7rPSNrWpC5J4WaEQYSsJ8hWLD1Eb43lhCCYX3NZAnR1cDndPc7qVlS_wSK2isS2/s1600/Women+led+prayers+in+UK.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZb-5jW3HJacrOO5GzUp608s2UObwK-ZArb3gxwDNUTt-N5EvRAa6wFB_J6StduH5AoPgAGbsa6RIP7rPSNrWpC5J4WaEQYSsJ8hWLD1Eb43lhCCYX3NZAnR1cDndPc7qVlS_wSK2isS2/s1600/Women+led+prayers+in+UK.gif" /></a></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A Canadian author will become the first Muslim-born woman to lead a
mixed-gender British congregation through Friday prayers tomorrow in a highly
controversial move that will attempt to spark a debate about the role of female
leadership within Islam.<br />Ads by Google<br /><br />Raheel Raza, a rights activist
and Toronto-based author, has been asked to lead prayers and deliver the khutbah
at a small prayer session in Oxford.<br /><br />She has been invited by Dr Taj
Hargey, a self-described imam who preaches an ultra-liberal interpretation of
Islam which includes, among other things, that men and women should be allowed
to pray together and that female imams should lead mixed congregations in
prayer.<br /><br />Three of the four mainstream schools of Sunni Islam allow women
to lead exclusively female congregations for prayer, but the overwhelming
majority of Muslim jurists are opposed to the notion of their presiding over
mixed congregations outside the home.<br /><br />Raza, 60, is part of a small but
growing group of Muslim feminists who have tried to challenge the mindset that
has traditionally excluded women from leadership roles within the mosque. They
argue that nowhere in the Koran are female imams expressly forbidden. Instead
scholars rely on the hadiths (the words and sayings of the Prophet Mohamed) to
exclude women - although Muslim feminists and some progressive scholars argue
that even these are not clear enough to say with confidence that women are
altogether banned.<br /><br />Ms Raza received death threats after leading a
mixed-gender prayer congregation in Toronto five years ago.<br /><br />"It was a
very profound experience," Ms Raza said yesterday in a telephone conversation
from her home in Toronto. "It's not about taking the job of an imam. It's about
reminding the Muslim community that 50 per cent of its adherents are women who
are equal to men. Women are equally observant, practising Muslims who deserve to
be heard."<br /><br />Ms Raza's appearance in Oxford is a repeat of a similar
prayer session in 2008 which was led by Amina Wadud, an American-born convert
and Muslim feminist. But this is the first time a Muslim-born woman will lead a
mixed prayer service in Britain.<br /><br />Ms Wadud's prayers were attended by a
small congregation of less than 40 who were heckled on their way in to prayers
by protesters, largely by fully veiled Muslim women. Once inside the prayer
hall, meanwhile, they were comprehensively outnumbered by
journalists.<br /><br />But Dr Hargey, a divisive figure within British Islam who
runs the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, said his congregation had since
grown and attracted new followers.<br /><br />"For Friday prayers we now receive
about 100 people, twice that for Eid prayers and important occasions," he said.
"I am expecting about 200 people to attend this Friday's prayers."<br /><br />In
recent years there has been a growing demand from Muslim women to be included
and represented at their mosques. Earlier this week Faith Matters, a conflict
resolution think-tank funded by the Government and private benefactors, released
a list of 100 women-friendly mosques. The number of female Muslim scholars,
meanwhile, often referred to as imamahs, are also on the rise.<br /><br />Ms Raza,
who is due to fly into Britain this morning, said she was aware that she would
be preaching to the converted tomorrow. "But it's about opening one heart, one
mind at a time," she added.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />=================================<br /><br />Faisal Hameed on facebook shares this:<br /><br /><br />Umme Waraqa, may Allah be pleased with her, was a woman from Ansar of Madinah who embraced Islam in its early phase. She is one among the holy companions of the Prophet as she is reported to have offered her services for the Battle of Badr to the Prophet and requested him to take her along as she wanted to fight the enemy.<br /><br />But there is a much more surprising aspect that she was appointed imam of a mosque in her locality in Madinah and that men prayed behind her. The muezzin was a man. It is therefore obvious that he too prayed behind the female imam. This account occurs in the Sunan of Abu Dawood and Masnad of Ahmad bin Hanbal. She was appointed the imam around the time of Battle of Badr and she was alive till the last years of the caliphate of Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. This means that she led the prayer for nearly 17 years.<br /><br />This has been quoted by Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah, the noted Islamic scholar and author hailing from Hyderabad, who located himself in Paris after the fall of Hyderabad. (Ref: Muhammad Hamidullah, The Emergence of Islam : Bahawalpur Lecture on the Development of Islamic Worldview, Intellectual Tradition and Polity, Adam Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi). There are also references to Nafisah Bint al-Hasan Ibn Zayd Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ali leading Imam Shafii’s funeral prayers. Ahmed E. Souaiaia’s book Contesting Justice: Women, Islam Law and Society (Published by State University of New York Press, 2008) while quoting this says in bibliographical note that “the practice of women leading the prayers was common in early Islam”. (He refers to Ahmad Ibn Ali al-Maqrizi’s book al-Khutat al-maqriziyyah published by Dar Sadir, Beirut).<br /><br />About Umme Waraqa the website http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org has the following to say:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Umm Waraqa bint Abdallah, or Umm Waraqa, was the Prophet Muhammad’s companion. She was well versed in the Quran and the Prophet trained her and allowed her to lead mixed-gender prayers. Whether the hadith refers to leading prayers in a residence or a community is open to interpretation. Even so, she was the imam of her clan, which was significant and large enough to have its own muezzin.<br /><br />Umm Waraqa wished to be known as a martyr, so she asked Prophet Muhammad to allow her to participate in the Battle of Badr (624 A.D./ 2 A.H.) so that she could take care of the wounded; from that time on, Prophet Muhammad referred to her as “the female martyr.”<br /><br />There is no question that the vast majority of jurists excluded women from ever leading men in prayer. Many jurists, however, permitted women to lead women in prayer, if no male is available to lead the prayer. Some jurists said women may lead women even if a male is available to lead as long as women lead only women. Up to the fourth Islamic century, there were at least two schools of thought that allowed women to lead men in prayer, if the woman in question was the most learned. Since the fourth century all schools of thought did not allow women to lead men in prayer.<br /><br />The powerful clique that has arrogated for itself the right to interpretation of Islam today has inherited the bias against women handed down from centuries. It is more focused on narrowing freedoms and constricting liberties that were enjoyed by Muslims in general and women in particular, in the earliest period of Islam and allowed by the holy Prophet. The current clergy, which has no religious legitimacy in Islam, has worked overtime to usurp all rights of interpretation for itself. First it excluded women. So half the Muslims were barred from exercising the religious authority and putting to use their knowledge and rationale. Then it marginalized a vast body of Muslims who did not know Arabic. And finally it began to question the right of interpretation of those who were not educated and trained in madrassas. Today, the entire community is compelled to follow diktats of a few who have no knowledge of social, economic and political issues. Their patriarchal interpretation dominates the discourse delivering a daily diet of embarrassment to the enlightened Muslims. It is for people like you to counter such tendencies.<br /><br />The above information is not verified<br /></span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-85228519010765731752013-12-03T15:41:00.000-08:002013-12-03T15:44:06.221-08:00 The Judeo-Christian Plan for Women<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The Judeo-Christian Plan for Women<br /> Rev. Marylou Ghyst, June 7, 2010<br /><br />URL - http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-judeo-christian-plan-for-women.html<br /><br />Divine order is first law of the universe. When both male and female follow God's plan for their lives, there is Divine Order. Ideally, our mission in life should not be left to chance or control by others - God knows what will satisfy us and where we can excel and thereby help others. This Plan is revealed to all who ask - see the prayer for God's Plan at the end of this presentation.<br /><br />Differences. There are no intellectual or spiritual differences between male and female unless artificially created by men controlling women and refusing to educate them. The term “Weaker Sex” refers to physical strength. It has nothing to do with moral character, intellectual ability, or spirituality.<br /><br /><br />The Ideal Woman is described in the Bible as one who operates her own business, oversees employees, buys property, is productive in society, gives to the needy, educates, creates, raises a family, and does many things that indicate freedom and responsibility. A woman clothes herself with strength and dignity and teaches wisdom. Her children call her blessed and her husband praises her. A woman who reveres the Lord is to be praised; give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her, Proverbs 31:10-31. This scripture was written over 2500 years ago. <br /><br />Female Leaders: We find successful women throughout the Bible including very early history. Moses' sister, Miriam was a prophetess. Deborah was an appointed leader of her people; it was also her responsibility to lead military battles in which she was successful. Barak, a male acquaintance, refused to go into battle without her, Judges 4:5-9. We have Esther who saved her people from annihilation, Esther 8 & 9. Jesus never discriminated against educating women, Lu. 10:38-42. We have women including Mary Magdalene, who remained with Jesus as he died while the male disciples fled in terror (Mark 15:40-41). And the 3 women who were there when Jesus rose from the dead (Mark 16:1-8). As the teachings of Jesus spread, Lydia, a Gentile self-employed shopkeeper, offered her home as the first indoor church for Christians, even though it was a dangerous thing to do as Christians refused emperor imposed sacrifices, Acts 16. <br /><br />Jesus in India: Some believe Jesus traveled to India. In Jesus in India by Nicholas Notovitch published in 1854, the author recounts Jesus' teachings while in India: It is not good for a son to push away his mother that he may occupy the place that belongs to her. Whoso doth not respect his mother-the most sacred being after his God-is unworthy of the name of son. Hearken to what I say to you: Respect woman; for in her we see the mother of the universe, and all the truth of divine creation is to come through her. She is the fount of everything good and beautiful, as she is also the germ of life and death… Be submissive to your wife; her love ennobles man, softens his hardened heart, tames the wild beast in him and changes it to a lamb. Wife and mother are the priceless treasures that God has given to you. They are the most beautiful ornaments of the universe, and from them will be born all who will inhabit the world. Even as the Lord of Hosts separated the light from darkness, and the dry land from the waters, so does woman possess the divine gift of calling forth out of man's evil nature all the good that is in him. Therefore I say unto you, after God, to woman must belong your best thoughts; for she is the divine temple where you will most easily obtain perfect happiness.<br /><br />Successful Women: Recommended reading - Some Are Born Great, by Adela Rogers St. Johns, a history of successful 19th & 20th century women who have made profound contributions to society including Mary Baker Eddy who is described as “the greatest American woman of all time.” After she healed herself through faith, she organized and founded a major religion (Christian Science) from which the New Thought Christian movement sprang, including Unity, Religious Science, Divine Science, Science of Mind, etc. A few years later, Unity came into existence through the faith healing of Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder, based on Mary Baker Eddy's teachings. This took place in the middle and late 1800's. We can see God's Plan for women in ministry emerging - ordination of women began in the late 1800's - females comprise half the New Thought Christian ministers then and now.<br /><br />Parenthood & Outside Work: Charles & Myrtle Fillmore, co-founders of my sect, Unity, were parents of three boys. Charles' mother gladly moved in with them to take care of their boys and domestic chores while both parents, Charles & Myrtle, devoted themselves to running Unity School. When we are living God's Plan, a way is always provided for both outside work and domestic work. And -- God's Plan does not always include parenthood. <br /><br />Time Frames: Many become aware of God's plan for their life before age 12. They have a goal or passion for something they want to pursue. Parents would do well to nurture these goals even though the Divine Plan may not come into full blossom until mid-life. This blossoming of God's Plan is symbolized in the Bible by the number 40 which is a metaphor for “a time frame.” There are generally 3 time frames in our life, the 3rd of which is the full blossoming of God's Plan that often begins in midlife.<br /><br />God's Plan for our Life -- short version prayer: God has a plan for my life. It is hidden within me, just as a beautiful rose is hidden within a bud. As I ask for guidance, the Plan is revealed, and my mind and heart are filled with deep inner joy. God's Plan is part of a larger Plan, designed for the good of all, and not for me alone. <br /><br />I do not look with sadness or envy at what others are receiving, nor do I compare myself with them. As my Divine Plan is gradually revealed, I grow in Spiritual consciousness and joy. This inner knowing frees me from fear, jealousy, and resentment, and gives me the courage and faith to do those things that are mine to do. If any door should close, it is because another door, which will bring greater joy, is being opened.<br /><br />I praise God's Plan that brings joy to me and others. I give thanks that childhood dreams, as yet unrealized, will materialize in ways that will satisfy me and also satisfy others, for He has promised to open His hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing, Ps. 145:16. Amen. <span lang="0" style="color: black;"> ~~~~~~~ </span></span></span>Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-48531167525642315702013-12-03T07:33:00.002-08:002013-12-03T07:34:25.975-08:00The Archdiocese of Granada, Spain, publishes a book that teaches women to be “obedient and submissive”.<span style="font-size: small;">Even though the Archdiocese' authority is embossed on this book, I would not take it as Christian theology. For millions of Christians, his word is the final word, and I do hope that Pope Francis will speak up, not to negate the Archdiocese, but to acknowledge that it is a cultural thing for the family members to trust each other and obey each other for harmony, as long as it is common good of the family without undue sacrifice from any one. However, I believe, that he will clarify that it is not the teachings of Catholicism. Mike Ghouse</span><br />
<h2 class="post-title">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Archdiocese of Granada, Spain, publishes a book that teaches women to be “obedient and submissive”.</span></h2>
<div class="entry">
<span style="font-size: small;">The editorial “Nuevo Inicio” (New Beginning), presided over by the archdiocese of Granada, Spain, headed by the Archbishop Javier Martínez, has just published, in Spanish, the book titled <i>“Cásate y Sé Sumisa”</i> (Marry and be Obedient). <a href="http://www.nuevoinicio.es/libros/casate-y-se-sumisa/">http://www.nuevoinicio.es/libros/casate-y-se-sumisa/</a> (In Spanish)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://religionhurtshumanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Archbishop-Javier-Martinez.jpg"><img alt="Archbishop Javier Martinez" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-179" height="198" src="http://religionhurtshumanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Archbishop-Javier-Martinez-300x198.jpg" width="300" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Archbishop Javier Martinez, <i>above.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The book, <i>“Cásate y Sé Sumisa”, </i>by the Italian author, Constanza Miriano, has already sold 70,000 copies in Italy. As of yet, it is too early to know how many books have been sold in Spain. Miriano writes in her blog (in Italian, constanzamiriano.com) that “woman must get away from the logic of emancipation and embrace, with joy, the role of hospitality and service”. She also states that a relationship between two people should be based on power on one side and submission on the other.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Here again is a classic example of how the Catholic church does its best to keep women and humanity, by extension, in the dark ages. It uses all means available to try and keep roughly one half of its followers (women) subservient and enslaved to the whims and wishes of the other half (men). The message here to Catholic men is: “We will allow you to subjugate your wives and will give you our blessing to do so. This is the will of the Church and of God”. Whenever an organization or a person empowers its followers to carry out their wishes, fanatics are created, augmenting the sense of grandeur that one is doing the right thing for the glory of God. The flock that blindly goes where the shepherd wishes and does his bidding without question will: foment chauvinism, discriminate against women, take their rights away and if women don’t humbly accept this, then they will be subjected to some manner of violence, be it physical or psychological by making them feel guilty for not doing God’s will. And what’s so dangerous about all of this? There are actually women who will go along wholeheartedly with this neanderthal way of thinking and raise their children to believe that this is the way. This sounds like a mysogynist’s dream come true.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I think it’s ironically sad that a publishing house named “Nuevo Inicio” (New Beginning) actually edits this kind of rhetoric. New Beginning? I guess so ladies, read this book and you will be introduced to a really new beginning, one without rights or respect and, what can be expected from the head of the publishing house, the archbishop Javier Martinez, when he comes out with statements like “only through faith in God can unemployment be solved in Spain”. (Note: Spain is suffering from 20%-25% unemployment). It’s the same old story, God sent a hurricane because there’s gay marriage, God sent a crazy person to kill kids in a school because religion was removed from the classrooms…so, God has caused unemployment because faith in God has declined (radically I’m happy to say) in Spain.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To top this off, this sado/masochistic manual is authored by a woman. She is intent on having women lose their rights. Rights that they have won with blood, sweat and tears, rights that have taken decades to get, rights that so many have died for. Where is equality and respect that is the basis of any relationship? What morality is this coming from the institution that professes to be the most moral of all? The church and its narrow minded leaders remind me of the great dictators of the world, the Hitlers, Stalins, Maos, etc…who were so successful in causing their countries and societies to regress decades if not centuries, but at least the world knew that these men were evil and what their intentions were. What we have here is a classic case of a wolf in sheep’s skin willing and wanting to tear down from the inside any advancement that humanity has made, while on the outside appearing to be the saviors and holders of the truth.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Source: http://religionhurtshumanity.com/2013/11/the-archdiocese-of-granada-spain-publishes-a-book-that-teaches-women-to-be-obedient-and-submissive/</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-69191669689604400062013-12-03T07:21:00.000-08:002013-12-03T07:21:23.242-08:00Phony Muslimness among Muslim boys in Schools and Colleges in UK - World Muslim Congress.com<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I
am concerned about the segregated seating arrangements in colleges and
Universities for seminars and other educational activities organized by
Muslim Students Associations in the United Kingdom.<br /><br />Unlike the
Students Association in the United States, where both men and women
manage and participate, the MSA's in UK seem to be run over by the boys.
These boys become </span></span><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">instantaneously</span></span>
Sanctimonious Muslims when they have a responsibility to manage a
Muslim loaded event. The more they "control" women to go sit elsewhere,
the greater the Muslim they become! What a phony Muslimness!</span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqikUP7yRwy_-RijFz5guLxIX1fRXwnqfF3KHs0OFuzmtc_lcWr6jqW-zvjUoAgi1Q9e2G7PoSVwmMvbJflJPmlcw5rBJ1NfAHzOs0VhxFAr5aFBRxYDCIV4DXOfXDksbPzN6-GDmSIK6F/s1600/Young-Muslim-delegates-segregated-seating-college.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqikUP7yRwy_-RijFz5guLxIX1fRXwnqfF3KHs0OFuzmtc_lcWr6jqW-zvjUoAgi1Q9e2G7PoSVwmMvbJflJPmlcw5rBJ1NfAHzOs0VhxFAr5aFBRxYDCIV4DXOfXDksbPzN6-GDmSIK6F/s400/Young-Muslim-delegates-segregated-seating-college.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />It's
not only the boys, some of the Imams who come around to give Sermons at
special events, invariably make a comment to women sitting somewhere in
the darkness in the back to quit gossiping! Darn it, when your lecture
is so idiotic, men do the same, either gossip or go to their i-phones
and Samsungs. I am glad I don't go to these events, but when I do, I
will tear them apart for such an abusive and disrespectful comment
towards women. Remember, our silence gives them permission to continue
doing the wrong. Speak up; the other goats will jump in later.<br /><br />Steering
women and men to different sitting areas in the name of Islam needs to
go. A man or a woman should have the freedom to choose, where he or she
is comfortable to sit, nothing should be forced on. There should be no
compulsion.<br /><br />Do they teach that Islam is about regulating your own
behavior to be a kind, gentle, truthful, trustworthy and caring and
just individual, the Amin, as the Prophet was called. Indeed, that
should be the first foundational Sunnah for Muslims to follow. </span></span><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Islam is not about controlling others personal behavior. </span></span>Islam
is about freedom - you are individually rewarded or deprived with the
grace of God for your acts, neither the Muslim Students Association nor
the Mufti of your town is even remotely accountable for your acts. Even
Prophet Muhammad, let alone your parents, spouse, siblings, or your
Imam will not come to your rescue in your reflective solitude or the Day
of Judgment. Prophet Muhammad did not assign the responsibility to
teach Quran to anyone either.<br /><br />The Hijab or segregation is a
cultural product of predominantly Muslim nations, there is no sanction
for it in Islam. The very first and foremost place of worship does not
have segregation, even to this day. Men and women perform Hajj
together, God wants all of us together without distinction.<br /><br />Muslims
living in UK, US, France, Canada or elsewhere have their own culture,
or modified culture without any reluctance. Unlike Saudi Arabia, where
women are taken care of, the women living in other nations have to learn
to live on their own, earn their own and support their kids if they
have to, and their culture should be based on their needs and not the
needs of Saudi Arabia. <br /><br />Shame on those parents who make their
daughters dependent on men, and when that man dies, or runs off - it
puts the woman in a difficult situation. Is that how the parents care
for their daughters? She should be free and able to handle her own
affairs. The prophet had said to Fatima, you will not get a free ticket
to paradise just because you are my daughter; you have to earn it like
everyone else.<br /><br />If a woman is trained to live in segregation how
would she handle in situations when her father, brother, husband or son
is not around. Love is not making a dependent out of the loved ones. If
we love, yes, if we love our loved ones, we make them independent, free
and able to stand on their own in contingencies with the least
suffering. <br /><br />By the way the stories are similar with Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, Christians and others from Asia. <br /><br /><span lang="0" style="color: black;">...............................................................................................................................
<br /><span>Mike Ghouse is a <a href="http://www.professionalspeakermikeghouse.com/">speaker</a>, thinker and a
<a href="http://theghousediary.com/">writer</a> on <a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/">pluralism</a></span></span><span lang="0" style="color: #003366;"><span>,<a href="http://republicanmoderates.blogspot.com/"> politics</a>, peace, <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/">Islam</a>, <a href="http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/">Israel</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/">India</a>, <a href="http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/">interfaith</a>, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a <a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/">Cohesive America</a> and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/">www.TheGhousediary.com</a>. He believes in
<a href="http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/">Standing up for others</a>
and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on <a href="http://www.hannity.com/guest/ghouse-mike/10804">Sean Hannity show</a> on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at <a href="http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/">Dallas
Morning News</a>; fortnightly at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse">Huffington post;</a> and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/">www.MikeGhouse.net</a> indexes all his work
through many links.</span> <br /><br /><span style="color: black;"><b>How do universities deal with gender segregation?</b><br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/may/27/gender-segregation-university-voluntary-equality<br /><br />University chiefs are struggling to decide whether they should try to stop events where women can't sit with men<br /><br />Some
wish to sit only with their own sex while others regard this as 'gender
apartheid'. How can universities win? Photograph: Jeremy
Pardoe/newsteam.co.uk</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />"The
day before the event, we got an email to say it was segregated and we
were very shocked," says Razana Abdul, a Muslim student, who is at
university in London. She's speaking about an event at University
College London in March, run by an organisation called the Islamic
Education and Research Academy (IERA)."I wanted to sit with my
boyfriend. And there was a man ushering men to the men's side and a
woman ushering women to the women's side." She was upset by the
experience. "It was gender apartheid," she says.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Universities
are struggling with the ethical dilemma of how far they can or should
intervene to prevent distress caused by such situations. How can a
university's equality and diversity policy be enforced at events where
some audience members want to sit only with their own gender and others
wish to exercise their right to sit wherever they want?<br /><br /><br />Reports of a
gender-segregated event run by Leicester University's student Islamic
society, together with media coverage of the UCL event, prompted
monitoring group Student Rights, which works to counter university
extremism and is funded by private donations, to re-analyse the 180
campus-based events it had logged between March 2012 and March 2013 as
"of concern" because of the nature of the speaker.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Its
report states that 46 out of the 180 events at 21 separate university
campuses "were found to have either explicitly promoted segregation by
gender, or implied that this would be the case, with six of these
cancelled before taking place".</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />All
the events were either organised by student Islamic societies or were
focused on issues of interest to Muslims. There is now considerable
concern - including from the report's author, full-time Student Rights
researcher Rupert Sutton - that subsequent media reporting of these
findings made out that gender segregation was itself evidence of
radicalism. "It's important that this issue isn't conflated with
extremism itself," says Sutton. "We as an organisation are not
conflating gender segregation with extremism."</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />"It's
not right to say that any kind of gender segregation is necessarily
wrong," says Jo Attwooll, policy adviser at the vice-chancellors' group
Universities UK, which has just launched the Safe Campus Communities
website, offering higher education institutions advice on how to
exercise their legal responsibilities on safeguarding for students and
staff.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />A
good indication of the sensitivity around gender segregation is that
universities are not keen to discuss it openly. Of the seven
universities named in the report that were contacted by Education
Guardian - Aston, Queen Mary, London South Bank, Portsmouth, Kingston,
Leicester and UCL - only UCL was willing to put forward a senior member
of staff to answer questions. The others issued statements.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />There
is clear tension between the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 -
which says universities must help to eliminate unlawful discrimination
and harassment, advance equality of opportunity and foster good
relations between different groups - and their duties under the
Education Act 1986, which says university premises must not be barred to
anyone on the grounds of their beliefs or views. This was brought in
partly to stop Labour-controlled student unions denying a platform to
Conservative student associations and the speakers they wanted to bring
in. But campaigners now argue that universities hide behind the 1986 act
to avoid antagonising faith groups, or opening themselves to possible
litigation by giving equality legislation higher priority - in the case
of gender segregation, this would mean saying plainly that this must not
happen on university premises.<br /><br /><br />The phrase institutions are now
hanging on to for dear life is "voluntary segregation", meaning that
separating the sexes is permitted, even if some of those attending wish
to sit with the opposite sex.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Leicester
University says in its statement: "Where there is a public event and
individuals attending wish, by their own free choice, to sit separately
in the same hall, then that is a matter for them." Aston, LSBU,
Portsmouth and Kingston follow the same line.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Following
the March event that upset some students at UCL, the university banned
the IERA from campus. The vice-provost, Rex Knight, points to the form
of words agreed by UCL that is now sent to anyone wishing to book rooms
on campus. While enforced segregation will not be permitted, UCL states
that "it is acceptable for individuals attending events to choose to sit
with members of their own gender. If individuals attending an event
wish to segregate themselves on a voluntary basis, it is not acceptable
for other members of the audience to compel them to mix, and to do so
may constitute harassment."</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />This
might sound like a reasonable compromise, but Abdul points out that
voluntary self-segregation has serious limitations, most importantly for
Muslim women like herself who may feel it is impossible to go against
the flow. "If you don't want to be segregated, there's social pressure. I
do actually regret not standing up and going and sitting in the men's
section as a form of protest." For mixed groups [at the UCL event] there
were just two rows in a huge auditorium made available for "couples".
Abdul says anyone choosing to sit there would have been very obviously
rejecting the "norm" being imposed. "We'd look like the evil ones,
choosing to sit there in the middle," she explains.</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Universities,
she says, are anxious not to "discriminate against Muslim people's
practices, but this is a minority of Muslims. I'm a Muslim, an Asian
woman, and I felt intimidated."</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />It's
a good point, agrees Knight, but it is a view that university senior
management has to hold in balance with others. "I was contacted by other
female Muslim students who said they'd felt very upset that some male
students had tried to sit with them," he says. "One would hope that
common sense and good behaviour would prevail. We are making our view
clear to organisers that no pressure should be made to 'voluntarily'
segregate."<br />PhD student Michael Jathe, who also attended the UCL
event, says universities must define very clearly what they mean by
"voluntary" so that heavy-handed "encouragement" to segregate does not
creep in. "I believe some religious groups are trying to carve out areas
of public space where they can set the rules. This is why universities
have equality and diversity policies."</span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="0"><br />Attwooll
says the approach many universities now take as part of their
room-booking process is to ensure their policy on equality and diversity
is sent out and that organisations say they are willing to abide by its
conditions. Bradford is one institution that goes further - it
explicitly requires that "the advice of the Equality Unit must be sought
before planning a segregated or single-sex event or part-event."</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="0" style="font-family: Arial;"><span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Universities
need to arm themselves with facts about events taking place, says
Attwooll. "As part of a booking process for external speakers, UUK would
say that there should be an examination of how that event is to be
run," she says. "Groups that may have a desire for there to be some sort
of segregation, whether enforced or voluntary, should be entirely
transparent about that, and allow the university to make a judgment."<br /><br /><br />If
gender segregation becomes more prevalent at university events, with
some students wanting it and others deeply opposed, vice-chancellors may
struggle to find a solution that keeps everyone happy - and themselves
within the law.<br />Some names have been changed</span></span></span></span>Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-41573769239562618832013-12-01T20:32:00.000-08:002013-12-01T21:29:08.436-08:00Hinduism and status of Women<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hinduism and Status of Women</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">URL - http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/hinduism-and-status-of-women.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vijay Khurana</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every day morning when I read the newspaper I feel confused whether to say I’m Proud to be an Indian or I’m Ashamed to be an Indian. Are we actually moving forward to becoming a developed and responsible nation and society Or Are we moving backwards? Infact moving backward would have been more pleasant considering the glorious past of our nation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Participation of women in London Olympics is the highest ever almost equal to men. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A young girl gang raped and killed in a moving bus on the busiest streets of Delhi. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saina Nehwal, Sunita Williams, Sania Mirza, Mary Kom shinning in their respective fieldssetting examples of extraordinary strength of women.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alarming statistics of female foeticide in India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reading such news everyday one is forced to think about the status of women, Are women really equal to men? Do they actually deserve equal status? If they do then what is wrong with our society? Our governments and society have been laying different rules and practices to enable women to get equal status. But seeing the current situation in India it is very clear that they have not been successful or a very minimal improvement has happened. Is their approach wrong or there is something more to it which they are not addressing to? What is the responsibility of the society in general and families in particular? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Religion is a very important deciding factor in every walk of life of an Indian. For Indians religion Is a way of life. It guides day to day thinking and working. Let’s see what Hinduism, which is the largest followed religion in India, says about the status of women. Hinduism is a religion where God has himself, in many forms and at different times, lived on the earth among common people preaching them how to handle each and every life situation by bearing it on themselves, by setting themselves as examples, by enacting stories giving long lasting lessons. Hinduism has recorded millions of deities who have visited earth in different life forms to give guidelines to the society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If on one hand we have examples of male Gods showing valour and aggression like Lord Shiva, Rama and Krishna, same way we hear stories of Goddess Durga and Chandi showing similar courage and fierceness of a warrior. If we consider Lord Kuber as God managing wealth, we pray Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity. During Diwali, the most important festival among Hindus, the main worship is offered to Goddess Lakshmi. Goddess Saraswati is a symbol of intellect and wisdom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all the stories of hinduism history women had been given equal respect and status as was being given to men. They were never referred to as fairer or weaker beings. Women were a part of all the rituals and without their participation prayers and hawans were not considered complete. The famous Hindu prayer commencing with the words “tvameva mata cha pita tvameva” is recited by all the Hindus atleast once in their lifetime. The prayer refers same God as being our mother and father, hence showing gender equality and giving equal importance to both. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As per Rigveda if a man is married, he cannot perform Vedic ceremonies without his wife. A wife is called “Ardhangini” meaning equal half of one’s self. A hindu wedding ceremony requires the bride and the groom going around sacred fire altar seven times. Four of these steps are lead by the bride and three by the groom, another example of equal status. In every aspect of life women were considered important and powerful. Even in as old epics as Ramayana there are examples of women being warriors and their have been ample examples of women handling swords in the later tales. Queen Kaikayi and King Dashratha fought a war together in which Queen Kaikayi saved his life due to which Dashratha vowed to follow whatever she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Lord Rama had to separate from Goddess Sita due to the comments of a common man, he did not consider Sita to be a weak person. With due confidence he sent her alone to live in jungles. He had no doubts that she will not be able to manage alone otherwise he would not have taken such a harsh decision. Goddess Durga’s incarnation Maa Vaishno Devi all alone was able to kill a giant and powerful demon Bhairav Nath. She must have been physically very powerful and having warrior capabilities to be able to kill him. This job could have been done by some other male god also if they considered women to be weak.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are examples of rituals in Hinduism being performed to pray for the birth of a girl child, today we kill girls in the wombs itself. In the past society had given rights to women to choose their own marriage partners, Swayamvars are a proof of it. Today in same India mostly girls have no or very minimal say and have to marry unknown partners whosoever their families select for them. We pray to Goddess Saraswati for intellectual powers and deny education to our own girl children. We pray to Goddess Durga but deny equal opportunities to our daughters to develop physical strength. We buy toy guns for our sons and dolls for daughters. I should confess here that even I do the same because even my daughter has been unintentionally trained by family and society around to like only so called girlish toys. Now we are trying hard to develop her interest in active sports and fighting skills.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gods and Goddesses who created Hinduism and whose teachings we are supposed to follow, never differentiated on gender basis. There were no separate rules for men and women. If Lord Rama took birth in a family where his father had three wives, Lord Krishna supported Pandavas where one wife had five husbands thereby endorsing equal rights for men and women in this aspect also and acceptable by society during those times. Their are no examples of male gods referring to female gods as being weak or not equal to men in any aspect. Something went wrong in the recent history of hindu culture that women started to be treated and considered as weaker beings. They were considered as fit for the job of home makers only. They were no more trusted with business and jobs requiring physical strength. Women were expected and trained to be delicate creatures. This could have happened because of the interactions with other cultures where women were not considered equal OR there is every possibility that Hindu men got greedy or scared because of the capabilities of women and tried to overpower them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The status of women was misinterpreted and revised code of conduct was created by the so called higher class to gain control over women and society in general. This is exactly the same situation like the caste system which was created to reap the benefits of specialization over generations but was later misinterpreted in the name of religion and karma by the educated and warrior classes to overpower other sections of society and declared themselves as supreme and better than others. Same people jeopardized the equal status of women.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Women were started to be considered and treated as physically and intellectually weak. They were not trusted with business and war activities. They were made financially and physically dependent on men and required to just follow instructions like slaves. After generations of such treatment and oppression today women have actually genetically become physically weaker than men. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My eldest sister got married when I was 10 years old. She moved to her new house which was 80 kms from us. She was not allowed to travel alone and most of the times I had to escort her as a bodyguard even though their were other sisters available who were older than me. But just because of being a male I, a 12 years old was considered more strong and supposed to protect a 22 years old woman. My father, a businessman was considered modern in those days as he provided good education to all his daughters but even he did not provide business training to any of them. My elder brother and myself were introduced to business starting at the age of 14 years. I do not blame my father or any other family because then the culture and condition of the society was such that it was quite normal and wise for them not to have taken the risk of sending their daughters to face the male dominated ruthless world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A very important point to consider here is that God has given different body structures to men and women. Men are supposed to have more physical strength. But I believe in the beginning this should not have been the situation as it is now. Women in older times must be very strong physically also. God has given the responsibility of giving birth to life to women only. To bear that pain itself requires a lot of strength which I believe most of the men would not be able to manage. Being able to bear pain is one of the important requirements of becoming a good fighter. All the women have that prerequisite and they just need to cover the remaining half by developing the strength to hit back. This is not very difficult and women have done it time and again. Very few male warriors had the courage to match the capabilities of Rani Laxmi bai. How many men would be able to bear the punches of Mary Kom? Sania Mirza can easily compete and win against most of the male tennis players in the country. P.T.Usha can run faster than most of the men in the country. It is just a matter of training and the way generation after generation women have becoming genetically weak same way they can become equally strong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the west(Europe and North America) women have been able to achieve respectable status. But still it is not to an extent that it can be treated as equal to men. Even there women are treated as physically weak. Today women are being used as a bait to lure men. Women clothing is one very good example. Any designer or brand designs revealing clothes for women but full body covering clothes for men for the same occasion. I got several opportunities to visit Europe and North America. It is very ironical to notice that on a very cold evening for a party most of the women arriving shivering in very thin and differently cut party dresses but most of the men in 3 piece suits leaving only their hands and face open to bitter cold. Dressing is a very personal choice but the point I want to raise here is that due to male domination even fashion designers may have started designing such clothes to make women look more attractive to men. The same concept is still going on for ages may be unintentionally now. Even in the west people would call it unfashionable and may laugh if a woman arrives at an evening party in a 3 piece suit with a tie but the same is accepted normal for men. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today women are struggling to regain their lost status and a lot of them have become good examples by reaching top positions in different professions and by developing physical strength to the extent of commanding respect. But still the effect of these examples has not percolated to the masses. The numbers are far from changing the mentality of the society overall. A very recent example, a squad of women commandos especially trained to protect VIP’s was left unemployed as no VIP wanted to take risk of their life. Women really need to come forward in large numbers and set everyday examples of especially physical strength and intelligence to be able to change the thinking process of the society. Parents of girls have to take this responsibility to promote their daughters right from childhood. They should give equal responsibilities and facilities to their both male and female children. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The concept of reservation and special facilities for women should be written off immediately. It has done more harm than any good as it keeps reminding the society that women are weak and without reservation cannot equally compete with men. Reserved seats for women in buses and trains, separate queue for women, extra income tax benefits, reservation in jobs and now in parliamentary elections also. An old man 60 years age standing in a bus to give seat to a 25 years old woman is a common sight in India and it gives clear message to all the onlookers that women are physically weak. To get equal status they should compete equally. Maybe one or two generations have to suffer but this will eventually change the mindset of the society in general. It is the duty of the governments to provide sufficient and efficient facitlities to train the women better. Law should punish harshly the perpetrators for crimes against women.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However the real change will happen only when women themselves have the courage and strength to fight back. A girl herself slapping an eve teaser and having strength to fight one to one will only ensure that this menace becomes history. Every woman should become financially independent. I hope very soon we see the day when we have one common national cricket team. The day when we see both men and women soldiers patrolling our countrie’s borders marching together shoulder to shoulder. The day when women also take pride in showing their swollen biceps and 6 pack abs. When the word “Dowry” is studied in history books only. And finally on a lighter note the day when we have as many complaints of adam teasing as we get for eve teasing. That will be the day when we can actually say Women have achieved equal status in every aspect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally I would like to say that atleast in Hindu society we should follow what our Gods wanted us to do. We should respect and treat women as equals. If we do not do so that means we consider our epics as just stories for entertainment not real happenings or lessons from our Gods.</span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-40677886397650894102013-11-30T13:07:00.000-08:002013-12-03T07:41:50.541-08:00UK Orthodox shul condemned for letting women hold Torah<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A few men continue to see the religious scriptures in the tightest possible understanding, because a few men by nature have not grown up, they are insecure and earn their false security by keeping women insecure. Its in every society with no exceptions. All we have to learn is not to slap the behavior of the individuals onto the entire population, as the majority does not practice misogyny, its anathema to them to treat mother, sister, daughter and a spouse less than themselves. Mike Ghouse</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">UK Orthodox shul condemned for letting women hold Torah</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations slams practice as a ‘Reform-influenced breach’<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />http://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-orthodox-shul-condemned-for-letting-women-hold-torah/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=57906700ca-2013_11_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-57906700ca-54484009</span></span></h2>
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<a href="http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2013/04/F130312MA06.jpg" rel="lightbox"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Illustrative photo: Members of Women of the Wall wear prayer shawls as they read from the Torah and pray at Robinson's Arch, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem March 12 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)" class="attachment-large wp-post-image" height="224" src="http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2013/04/F130312MA06-635x357.jpg" title="Illustrative photo: Members of Women of the Wall wear prayer shawls as they read from the Torah and pray at Robinson's Arch, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem March 12 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)" width="400" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Illustrative photo: Members of Women of the Wall wear prayer shawls as they read from the Torah and pray at Robinson's Arch, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem March 12 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90</span></div>
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<li><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/british-jews/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">British Jews</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/torah/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Torah</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/womens-rights/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">women's rights</span></a></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Britain’s umbrella body of Orthodox communities is condemning a London Orthodox synagogue that allows women to hold Torah scrolls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Earlier this year, Golders Green United Synagogue began giving women an opportunity to handle the Torah scroll on Shabbat mornings and festivals, and the change has been well received by members of the community, according to the shul’s chairman, Benny Chain. The Torah is taken out of the ark by a man and handed to a woman, who takes it around the women’s section before returning it to the men. <!-- dfp adslot --> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, head of the rabbinate of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, issued a statement condemning the practice as “Reform-influenced,” the Jewish Chronicle of London reported. Padwa said “breaches of this nature” came “from the influence of the Reform.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The practice is uncommon but not unheard-of at Orthodox synagogues, and a growing number of American Orthodox shuls allow women to hold and dance with the Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“People have said what an emotional experience it is and that they feel much more involved in the service,” Chain said of his shul’s change.</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7258273061894467602.post-80366582321479190282013-11-30T09:47:00.000-08:002013-12-02T22:01:02.644-08:00Misogyny and Gender Pluralism<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">URL-<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/11/misogyny-and-gender-pluralism.html">http://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/11/misogyny-and-gender-pluralism.html</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At the Gender Pluralism Center, we
will explore if misogyny is religiously sanctioned or men took it upon
themselves to make things work for them, and in the process, the
un-intended consequence was making a villain out of God and religion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
A few Men tend to be insecure about their own worth compared to women, and
devise ways to feel secure by causing women to be insecure. I am not talking
about the Taliban in a far off land, but our own Taliban mind set right here in
America denying women the right to choose what she does with her body,
rejecting her equal pay or expect her to the husband. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
“A woman should behave like a woman” “Her place is home” echo the conservative religious men from Christian,
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and other traditions.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Women have put up with this crap
from men far too long, it’s time we feel, act and talk like equals. The silence
of the good people is considered an endorsement to the right wing views on
women. Do the good men give permission to the right? If not, we need to speak
up. We need to be good for some good values and not good for nothing people. <br />
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A good functional society strives to be just to every citizen, when justness
becomes a norm in every aspect of life – be it between spouses, family members,
members of the community, town, state and the nation, then people trust each
other and mind their own business. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Don’t look to anyone group to blame,
look at yourselves first. A sentence that I have been repeating lately is
"for every Muslim ass, there is a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh or other
ass" add hole if you need to. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
This blog will make an effort to find the other bad guys for every one
projected and blamed in the society. Eventually we need to realize that
individuals must be held accountable for their wrong doing, and not their
religion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
I believe everything on the earth is created to seek its own balance, whether
it is matter or individual, family or a nation. Every one struggles to have
that elusive equilibrium which goes off balance as regularly as it is desired
to be in balance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For years,
Islam has been in the forefront of receiving the accusations, but when I study
Islam, it is not the religion, it is the men. The Christians find it
convenient to blame the Old Testament, instead of doing the research and
finding what God meant.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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Prophet Muhammad had time and again said, "Justice:" among people,
within family, among nations and tribe is the key to building a successful
cohesive society where no one has to live in fear of the other. The other word
for Islam would be Justice - obviously that is not what you see in the world
today. Neither do you see Jesus's teachings practiced by Christians or Jews
follow Torah or Bhagvad Gita by Hindus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
To me all religions are equally beautiful and divine; no religion is superior
or inferior to any. If any on claims superiority, he or she does not understand
the nature of his or her religion. Religion is not about arrogance which kills
relationships and balance in the society, but it is about humility, that which
builds bridges between people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Mike
Ghouse is a <a href="http://www.professionalspeakermikeghouse.com/">speaker</a>,
thinker and a <a href="http://theghousediary.com/">writer</a> on <a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/">pluralism</a><span style="color: #003366;">,</span> <a href="http://republicanmoderates.blogspot.com/">politics</a>, peace, <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/">Islam</a>,<a href="http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/">Israel</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/">India</a>, <a href="http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/">interfaith</a>, and cohesion at
work place. He is committed to building a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/">Cohesive America</a> and
offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at<a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/">www.TheGhousediary.com</a>. He believes
in <a href="http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/">Standing up for
others</a> and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has
a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent
guest on <a href="http://www.hannity.com/guest/ghouse-mike/10804">Sean
Hannity show</a> on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks,
he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at <a href="http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/">Dallas Morning News</a>; fortnightly
at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse">Huffington post;</a> and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/">www.MikeGhouse.net</a> indexes his
work through many links. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0