#womynhood

[absentzindagi]

" The Rise Of Our Women Is The Rise Of Our Nation."

[cliulessinchina-blog]

Highlights of Chinese Feminist Activities from 2013-2015

女权五姐妹 

万人签敦促反家暴立法裸照行动 

Nude photos for 10,000 signatures to End Domestic Violence 

2012年11月－12月，十余名女男志愿者在网上发布裸照，支持万人签名敦促反家暴立法联署活动。参与者表示，身体敦是战场，希望以裸照宣告身体目主权，反对暴力。 

 In Nov. to Dec. 2012, more than 10 volunteers posted nude photos online in support of "10,000 signatures to End Domestic". This petition is to propel the legislation of anti-domestic law in China. Participants noted that their bodies are battlegrounds to garner bodily agency and fight against violence.

声接曹菊 Support Ju Cao 2013.12.18 就业性别歧视第一案在北京市 The first employment sexual discrimination case succeeded to come to trial. Three volunteer feminists came to the court dressing up in bachelor gowns in support of the litigant Ju Cao. The company charged apologized on court, and promised to financially support women's equal employment rights.

[andwhoamitoday]

Exploring the prevalence of #feminine and #masculine life phases with my sister post a powerful gathering at our home today | a family celebration honoring the nurturer within / these statues depicting the maiden, the #mother and the crone | chapters of wisdom and #womynhood, brilliantly valid and felt, though seemingly centered predominately around child birth and rearing / the preparation, the experience, the knowing | The idea of nature vs. nurture, the ancient and infinite role of the woman on this planet, whether this role is open to evolutionary shift, the organic processes and chapters found inherently in the feminine life exhibited through menstrual cycles and naturally occurring patterning, the transformation of the political climate regarding womyn's access to choice and the recognition of reproductive / body rights that allow for empowered space and thought and the possible decision to decline children / I am ever in awe of all that Is presently and that which seems it may be predestined especially because I believe we hold fate in our hands and create our experiences solely from within regardless of outside forces or previously established flight paths | I am additionally fascinated by the questions surrounding why the human race seems to flow down the same river it always has and for what higher purpose / we experience our lives on unique and personal levels and the thought of purpose and cosmic duty comes forth when looking at the elements above | is our main goal for being present as men and womyn on this planet to procreate? To love? To learn? To be? #Mother's Day can be difficult for many | and I send deep frequencies of love to those who have mothers who weren't capable of loving, or weren't ready to give and never seemed to get there | who disappeared, or passed away too soon or took new form or came back home having not changed a bit, or desired forgiveness and asked for new chances, who couldn't let go, who lived vicariously, who projected fear | and I send love to such Mothers and their triumphs and struggles / there are many ways in which we are and each of these stand to be acknowledged with heart / #InfiniteSidesToEveryStory (at San Luis Obispo, California)

[cliulessinchina-blog]

Mind Your Own Business:别管闲事

It is 4AM and I am restless, I believe partially due to the 4x concentrated cup of cold brew I made at a friend’s coffee shop (I’m taking credit for bringing cold brew to Hangzhou, China) but I think more so due to an incident that I witnessed and became semi-involved in earlier this evening.

I was standing at a bus stop next to Overalls Girl when suddenly a Boy on Moped pulls up next to us, jumps off his scooter, and grabs Overalls Girl’s arm, pulling her off the curb onto the bike lane in what I could only describe as a slow yank. Overalls Girl is clearly not having it, trying to twist herself out of Boy on Moped’s arm. I watch for the next few minutes as they argue in dialect, Boy on Moped still clutching Overalls Girl’s arm while Overalls Girl is, the whole time, squirming to get out of his grip. He’s laughing throughout this all as she’s clearly in distress. At this point, I can’t bystand any longer, and decide to intervene. I pull out some English “Are you bothering her?” (Unfortunately from past experience, I know that in China, fluent English often commands immediate respect) along with a few more phrases. I switch to Chinese after they look at me puzzled, but at this point Overalls Girl had wormed out of Moped Boy’s grasp and returned to standing at the bus stop, back facing him. 

“This is none of your business, this matter is only between us. She’s my girlfriend” Moped Boy says at me. 

This statement needs a bit of context. China recently (March 2016) passed a, relative to the US, more progressive domestic violence law that covers not only married hetero couples but also hetero co-habitating couples and extends even to psychological damage. In China, about 1 in 4 women have suffered abuse from their husband. Going along with the passage of this much needed law, there’s been a recent surge in the media publishing articles about women who have died at their hands of their abusive husbands, a number far too high if it’s nonzero. Reading through these articles, I’ve noticed that grieving friends, family members, and parents of these victims often times know that abuse is going on. Police are called, community centers alerted, but these women are routinely ignored and are told to go home and “deal with the problem”, “work it out”, or that it’s a “private matter”. Even the family members of the victims turn their daughters away with the same message - this is your burden to carry.

This national indifference towards domestic violence in China can be highlighted from this recent case: a woman in a Beijing hotel being assaulted by a male stranger and being repeatedly ignored by passers-by, including a hotel staff members that told them to quiet down, believing them to be a couple (which if true, is still the INCORRECT response).

Anyways, at this point I’m livid and just start cursing in English at him, the Chinese words escaping me, but I managed a “you need to ask for her consent” in there. Overalls Girl looks at me and says “Thank You” but has nothing else to say to me or her terrible boyfriend. The three of us stand in awkward silence for a few minutes, and I run onto my bus as soon as it appears. I immediately regret not staying and talking to Overalls Girl directly first as I see the two of them drive by me on Moped Boy’s moped. 

Reflecting a bit on the situation, I am perturbed as to how long it took me to say something: would I have intervened sooner if I was in America? If Moped Boy had been smaller? Would I have said anything if the situation didn’t involve such physical actions? I realized that my hesitation to say something mainly stemmed from my own prejudice about Chinese girls: I had spent the whole observation period thinking “Oh she might just be pretending, I shouldn’t get involved, she’s probably just going to yell at me”- how could I have wasted so much time questioning her intentions? Her “Thank You” was a clear indication that despite the outcome, at that very moment, she needed an ally. It was also with that “Thank You” that I felt shame for ignoring or being a bystander for all the more subtle instances of abuse that also had occurred in front of my face.

I will never know what happened after they rode off together, I can only hope that I didn’t make things worse for Overalls Girl. Hopefully there won’t be a next time, but if there is, future Christine better see something, say something. 

[andwhoamitoday]

Exploring the prevalence of #feminine and #masculine life phases with my sister post a powerful gathering at our home today | a family celebration honoring the nurturer within / these statues depicting the maiden, the #mother and the crone | chapters of wisdom and #womynhood, brilliantly valid and felt, though seemingly centered predominately around child birth and rearing / the preparation, the experience, the knowing | The idea of nature vs. nurture, the ancient and infinite role of the woman on this planet, whether this role is open to evolutionary shift, the organic processes and chapters found inherently in the feminine life exhibited through menstrual cycles and naturally occurring patterning, the transformation of the political climate regarding womyn's access to choice and the recognition of reproductive / body rights that allow for empowered space and thought and the possible decision to decline children / I am ever in awe of all that Is presently and that which seems it may be predestined especially because I believe we hold fate in our hands and create our experiences solely from within regardless of outside forces or previously established flight paths | I am additionally fascinated by the questions surrounding why the human race seems to flow down the same river it always has and for what higher purpose / we experience our lives on unique and personal levels and the thought of purpose and cosmic duty comes forth when looking at the elements above | is our main goal for being present as men and womyn on this planet to procreate? To love? To learn? To be? #Mother's Day can be difficult for many | and I send deep frequencies of love to those who have mothers who weren't capable of loving, or weren't ready to give and never seemed to get there | who disappeared, or passed away too soon or took new form or came back home having not changed a bit, or desired forgiveness and asked for new chances, who couldn't let go, who lived vicariously, who projected fear | and I send love to such Mothers and their triumphs and struggles / there are many ways in which we are and each of these stand to be acknowledged with heart / #InfiniteSidesToEveryStory (at San Luis Obispo, California)

[seewhymedia]

Wounded Womb

To heal the wounded womb of womyn and to make visible the invisibility of herstory means to reclaim our sense of being in relationship to the world. By honouring the beautiful interdependence of our feminismS movement, this is the element that gives womyn strength. It is the solidarity of our diverse voices that will dissolve patriarchy. We must heal the relationship within ourselves. And as we heal the relationship with ourselves, we must also begin to mutually heal the damaged relationship with men to end the longest war. Recognizing that ingrained in our individual psyches are constructed narratives of patriarchy, in which both partners bring to the heterosexual relationship, how can we keep the power dynamics within the relationship balanced + equal? Considering womyn’s history with men, and my own personal experiences with cisgender men, how can I trust being in a heterosexual relationship with a new partner when my past experiences have be harmful. How can I trust and feel safe around men?  How can we redefine the heterosexual relationship without patriarchal narratives of domination, and gendered roles. What is the narrative of a feminimS relationship?

[seewhymedia]

Wounded Wombs

Do not call out illogical fallacies. Stay silent.  Do not speak your truth. Stay silent. Do not explore the pleasure of your body. Stay hidden. Reject + fear your power always. Stay hidden. A history of mothers wounded wombs.  The Longest War. 

[wisdomloverevolution]

Wombynhood

I have calloused hands. Rough hands. The hands that have worked in fields. The hands that have fought— Fought men, Fought for independence, Fought to live. Hands that were never covered in the white gloves of femininity. Hands that have sown, reaped, and healed, To then be slapped away when begging for respect. I have inherited these hands— from my mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother’s, mother— These hands have been holding up the world.

-Fatima Nasiyr