International Women's Day

This year is the hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day. I didn’t realise that until I listened to the podcast of ABC Radio National's Late Night Live 25 March 2010 program. Three very different feminists were in conversation with Philip Adams for just under an hour. The women were Anne Summers, an older generation Australian feminist and author of the influential Damned Whores and God’s Police; Ariel Levy, a younger generation New Yorker and writer about “raunch culture”, a phrase she coined; and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali woman born Moslem, who now lives in the Netherlands where she was a member of the Dutch parliament, and now writes and makes films about the experiences of minority women. I highly recommend you check it out for a delightful, thought-provoking and constantly interesting discussion. It was polite, respectful, but that isn’t to say they all agreed with everything each other were saying. Their different experiences were marked, but I thought their similarities more remarkable.

What most interested me most was when the conversation turned to religion, particularly Islam and Christianity. It was more about Islam, in one sense inevitably. Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s point was about how women in the Islamic world (whether they are Moslem or not) are discovering the outside world and want freedom. When discussing the veil, Ayaan Hirsi Ali pointed out that women know that men can control themselves so why should they cover themselves? It’s not a question of banning the veil and its variations, but it is a question of education. I was reminded of my own thoughts about women who come to live in countries like Britain and see the variety of dress that other Moslems wear, or don’t wear. When I lived in Birmingham I knew devout Moslem women who wore no head covering whatsoever, some who chose to wear a Malaysian-style veil, and often saw almost every other variety including the completely covering burqa. Perhaps it’s just the way I think about things because of my own post-enlightenment upbringing and education, but surely they would be thinking about their own habits and wondering why others demonstrate their faith differently?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali spoke about how women she knows want to know about what worked, and what didn’t work, in western feminism. They don’t want to be told what to do, but are seeking guidance. But, above all, she was wanting to know what the fuck we (western women) are doing about women who are still trapped in ancient, oppressive traditions who have physically made it to the liberated western world? She was angry about women who excused this sexism on the grounds of it being a different culture: Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s point was that these women are also human beings, and no human being should be subjected to the sorts of abuses these women are subjected to in the name of tradition.

I was also fascinated, but on a whole other level, about Ariel Levy’s discussion on “raunch culture”. That’s the weird thing of girls pretending to be sex workers who are pretending sexual satisfaction (usually) to get money from men.

One of the kick off points of the discussions was the Economist’s 6 March 2010 Leader and International feature on “gendercide”, which was sobering reading indeed.

100 million girls have disappeared.

That number is an approximation based on the observed normal female to male birth ratio (it’s slightly higher males to females) and how both infanticide and abortion have affected that ratio to far fewer females to males. China, Armenia and Azerbaijan are the top three countries where the statistics show the starkest changes.

The less reputable media like these stories for so-called human interest tales of men unable to find brides. (The estimations are the entire young male population of the USA is what China has in excess of females.) More serious writers point out the rise in “bride trafficking”; the Economist also pointed out historical surfeits of young unattached males means an increase in violence and crime.

I’m fascinated by the lack of consideration of same-sex relationships in all this discussion, too, but stunned by that figure of missing girls.

There’s a lot to think about in this year of the hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day.

By the way, International Women's Day is celebrated on 8 March each year, so, yes, this is a little late.