Yes, it is Bread we fight for, but we fight for Roses, too
In honour of V-Day, some brave & beautiful women I've heard about on the radio lately, and a song.
*Despite Odds, Women's Movement Persists In Iran: You can read the text version at the site, but I encourage you to listen to the audio version (~14 minutes) for the full effect.
One of the most remarkable and under-reported stories in Iran is the strength and character of its women's movement. Through politics, literature, religion and poetry, women's voices have at times been like roars, and at others, like whispers of dissent.
*Women and Men on the bus - Driving through Tehran: An interview with a woman bus driver in Tehran, following her around for a day (~9 minutes).
A female bus driver is something out of the ordinary in the Iranian capital Tehran. But people get used to it. Even if her son wants her to stay at home she is willing to do all sorts of jobs to let him fulfill his dream of becoming a judge.
*Sexual Harassment On Rise In Egypt: Audio story (~5 minutes) in which one woman refuses to "suffer in silence" and instead "flagged down another car, chased the offender down, and, ignoring the offers of bystanders to beat the man up, dragged him off to a police station."
Home to 18 million people, Cairo has long been considered one of the safer mega-cities in the world, with one troubling exception: the sexual harassment of women.
*Egypt's sexual harassment 'cancer': Related to the above story, including the details of a study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights.
Western women who took part in the study demonstrated a strong belief in their entitlement to personal safety and freedom of movement, she says, but this was totally absent among Egyptian respondents. No-one spoke about freedom of choice, freedom of movement or the right to legal protection. No-one showed any awareness that the harasser was a criminal, regardless of what clothes the victim was wearing.
*Google Ocean Dives Into Ocean Depths: One of the guests is Sylvia Earle: author, oceanographer, and explorer. Seriously, she's so excited about exploring our oceans, since that's our last undiscovered territory (and, you know, that's about 70% of our planet, since the majority of oceans are still unmapped). It's so cool to hear someone so excited about exploration!
*Song: "Bread & Roses" ~ My favourite women-power song. We sang it at step sings at Bryn Mawr, so it'll always be a very Bryn Mawr song to me, but it's also beautiful and applicable in its own right. You can read the original poem and a bit of its history in the labor movement [ here ] And for your listening pleasure, the Judy Collins version [ @ mediafire ].
As we come marching, marching, we bring the Greater Days -
The rising of the women means the rising of the race -
No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil where one reposes -
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.
*Despite Odds, Women's Movement Persists In Iran: You can read the text version at the site, but I encourage you to listen to the audio version (~14 minutes) for the full effect.
One of the most remarkable and under-reported stories in Iran is the strength and character of its women's movement. Through politics, literature, religion and poetry, women's voices have at times been like roars, and at others, like whispers of dissent.
*Women and Men on the bus - Driving through Tehran: An interview with a woman bus driver in Tehran, following her around for a day (~9 minutes).
A female bus driver is something out of the ordinary in the Iranian capital Tehran. But people get used to it. Even if her son wants her to stay at home she is willing to do all sorts of jobs to let him fulfill his dream of becoming a judge.
*Sexual Harassment On Rise In Egypt: Audio story (~5 minutes) in which one woman refuses to "suffer in silence" and instead "flagged down another car, chased the offender down, and, ignoring the offers of bystanders to beat the man up, dragged him off to a police station."
Home to 18 million people, Cairo has long been considered one of the safer mega-cities in the world, with one troubling exception: the sexual harassment of women.
*Egypt's sexual harassment 'cancer': Related to the above story, including the details of a study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights.
Western women who took part in the study demonstrated a strong belief in their entitlement to personal safety and freedom of movement, she says, but this was totally absent among Egyptian respondents. No-one spoke about freedom of choice, freedom of movement or the right to legal protection. No-one showed any awareness that the harasser was a criminal, regardless of what clothes the victim was wearing.
*Google Ocean Dives Into Ocean Depths: One of the guests is Sylvia Earle: author, oceanographer, and explorer. Seriously, she's so excited about exploring our oceans, since that's our last undiscovered territory (and, you know, that's about 70% of our planet, since the majority of oceans are still unmapped). It's so cool to hear someone so excited about exploration!
*Song: "Bread & Roses" ~ My favourite women-power song. We sang it at step sings at Bryn Mawr, so it'll always be a very Bryn Mawr song to me, but it's also beautiful and applicable in its own right. You can read the original poem and a bit of its history in the labor movement [ here ] And for your listening pleasure, the Judy Collins version [ @ mediafire ].
As we come marching, marching, we bring the Greater Days -
The rising of the women means the rising of the race -
No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil where one reposes -
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.