… get used to it.
Have thus far spent this evening in two meetings – one scheduled to start at at 6.30, where I stayed until 7.15. Then jumped on bicycle and belted down Euston Road (which I usually avoid) to the second, arriving just in time to get a useful synopsis of what had been discussed and have a useful chat about other matters.
I suspect with the Green Party involvement multiplying fast, I might have to learn to do this regularly…
She stayed in Afghanistan during the Taliban era, working secretly for girls’ education, she stayed in the dangerous Afghanistan of today, and now she’s dead:
Women’s Affairs director, Safia Ama Jan, was killed on the city outskirts [Kandahar] as she left for work yesterday morning. The assailants shot her four times in the head, through a burka, before fleeing.
Ms Ama Jan, 56, has been an advocate for women’s rights in Kandahar, the former Taliban headquarters, since the fundamentalists were ousted five years ago.
A third conference piece on Comment is Free – about a positive vision of a world in which life has been improved, not cut back, by the slashing of carbon outputs. I am being hammered rather in the comments – I wouldn’t claim it as my finest piece of writing ever, but I don’t think it is as bad as commentators are claiming, but go and see for yourself… and see why lots of bloggers don’t last on CiF!
A very powerful half-hour net video on the history of the fight for legal abortions in America and the disastrous reality today that more and more women are again having to resort to illegal abortions, from illegal practitioners or self-treatment – with predictable results – death and disability (even in one of the case studied with a severely disabled foetus that had no chance of life). Hideous – but an essential reminder of the fact this is something we have to keep fighting for. And on the positive side, some of the archival footage of the women who carried out the fight last time around is inspiring.
I have a pretty fast link these days, but I got the impression it is not particularly bandwidth heavy to play, so why not give it a go?
You won’t get from me a blow-by-blow account of the conference (although I’m hoping another blog piece will get up on the Guardian (if not you’ll read it here) – I had too much else to do, in part for reasons that might be announced here in a couple of weeks. But if you’d like to read a full account, warts-and-all, Jim over on The Daily Maybe (although he’s a day or so behind) is providing just that.
It was great to meet him at the conference (the only other “full-on” blogger I met at the conference, although the new female principal (-al Jim, -al!) speaker, Sian Berry, has been blogging it for the New Statesman and one of the candidates for male principal speaker, Derek Wall, also blogs.
There’s a piece in the Independent sort-of profiling Sian. Pretty much what you expect from the MSM…
Elsewhere, Peter Tatchell explains why he’s a Green and a really quite decent Newsnight debate on What is the point of the Green Party?
Returning after a two-week hiatus – sorry about that: hideous technical problems that are finally, I hope, cross toes, solved. I never wanted to be a techie, but these days it seems almost impossible to avoid.
But to business – ten great posts from ten new (to me) women bloggers. It is here every week: it is going to be really, truly, I promise.
First, a real discovery, and just down the road for me: Stroppyblog. I can’t imagine how I’ve missed (her) sorry – them – for so long. In this post Louisefeminista’s talking about the problems encountered by a lap-dancing club that is solely for women customers.
Staying in the UK, Antiprincess (love the name!) on I Shame the Matriarchy is commenting on recently announced plans to ban violent porn. She says: “I want to say: Hey! British Home Office! Don’t ban me! Don’t erase me! … Don’t make it a crime to look at me!” But it is a much more nuanced post than that sounds – do go to check it out.
Very much on the personal is political side, Pippa on One Salford Feminist reflects on how in 1988 she gave up her name. She says she’s now ready to choose another name, and is looking for suggestions.
Then a little traditional British politics; on thatlittlebluehome, the author reflects as a non-aligned voter what is wrong with the Liberal Democrats. Have a look at the Greens, I say – not just those who stick on a thin green-coloured cloak.
Leaving the relatively civilised shores of Europe – a must-read post on Den of the Biting Beaver. She had a hell of a struggle to get access to emergency contraception, and reflects with compelling honesty and frankness on the experience.
Then into the classroom, where Alternative Solutions Centre, the blog of a deaf-owned and operated psychotherapy and consulting practice, where three women blog, is a post about girls only being allowed to study female scientists. “She is … being told, very subtly, that just being a girl is enough to prevent her from getting something she wants.” (And should you be able to read American Sign Language, there’s a V-log post.)
The Dancing Queen on Wheelchair Dancer is reflecting on the pleasures of a well-designed, well-made building.
On propernoun.net, mindy reviews Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, a French best-seller that has been compared to Catcher in the Rye. Sticking with books, on Meredith Reads YA, a there’s a reflection on Saint Arthur Ransome. And finally, staying literary, Ruth on Blogcritics is fed up with fantasy. She’s looking for more originality in thought and action.
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If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales†in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 650, and counting, women bloggers.)
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Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience†(particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier. Or don’t be shy – nominate yourself! (Thanks to Penny who sent in nominations this week.)
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