Once a Woman Has Her Genitals Cut Off by Islamists... she cannot be called an "Islamophobe."

The Left's "Feminists" lose all credibility with me, when they say...
"How dare this woman tell the truth about her experience."

It is over Ayann Hirsi Ali that I  have lost respect for the Left's so called "Feminists" and "tolerance."

Because no woman should ever be told to sit down and shut up, after she is brutally mutilated, sold into marriage against her will, and had her life threatened.

Ms. Hirsi Ali is NOT an "islamophobe." "Phobia" is, by definition... an unreasonable and unfounded fear.

Once a woman has her genitals cut off... she has ample reason to be afraid.

On The Serious Implications of a Dying Secularism in Europe (and the U.S.)

Via Maryam Namazie.

There are many ways to approach the question of fundamentalist religion in the modern world. But none quite so clear as Maryam's.

I Dare You To Look At This Girl... And Absorb These Statistics

Gloria Allred Has Lost Her Feminist Cred, In An Attempt To Smear Meg Whitman

In the run up to the California Governor's election, Ms. Allred does harm to TWO women and their families, at the apparent behest of her "Liberal" party Masters.

For shame, Gloria! These are not the actions of a Feminist!

How Feminism Is Censured, and Censored By the Western Media (as a follow up to my earlier statements about Chesler and Hirsi-Ali.)

Phyllis Chesler, whose Feminist bona fides cannot be questioned IMO, here laments how she has been relegated to the ranks of the ignorant by the New York Times (wherein she used to publish.)

As I asked a few days ago... isn't anyone interested in truth any more? Must Feminists play this game? Must we all be 100% "Liberal" on every count, in order to be considered Feminists at all? To be heard??

WHO IS MAKING UP THESE RULES FOR US???

Since when do we give (mostly male) editorial boards more power than we give the soldiers in our own ranks?

Please note that I am not taking sides in the Israel/ Palestine conflict. I am merely pointing out that a Feminist ought to be able to call it as she sees it. And not be censured by western media sources. Indeed, this tendency of our *supposedly* Feminist intelligensia, to disqualify dissenters has ... in many ways ... led to an untimely "Death of Feminism."

Oh, the lies we tell our daughters (and sons.) For shame!

Smart Ass "Librul" Tweeter Boys On the Attack, Against Another Outspoken Woman

This time they think it is funny to infer that Meghan McCain is "fat."

I am tellin' ya. Being a Liberal gets more embarrassing with each passing hour.

Who the fu** raised these punks? And why are they so hateful?

Isabel Allende on the 51% Solution: So Powerful!

Need a job? Want to Hang Out With a Bunch of Barely Pubescent (acting) Boy Punks?

Politic USA is recruiting.

If you are really a smartass, you might even be invited to join the mostly white and predominantly male Journ-0-lists.

And.... if you really pander, Obama's advisors may reward you with an invite to the White House.

Though many PUMAs knew what was happening as early as the Democratic Caucus in Iowa ... and many Palin supporters got a clue after John McCain announced Sarah, in Ohio.... the whole truth about the smear campaign against two competent and intelligent women candidates for the White House is yet to be told.

REAL Feminists are all ears!

Here, Here, Post-Partisan Examiner!

Mr. Jamaal speaks for me.

That is all.

Carry on.

SYD

I Grow Tired of Both Rightie and Leftie "Feminists" Putting Words Into Susan B.'s Mouth

Ms. Anthony deserves more respect than that.

Once again, Anna Belle reads my mind. Thanks, Lady! If it wasn't for "Peacocks and Lilies", just think, I'd have to blog this stuff myself. LOL.

SYD

With Any Luck At All, The Fourth Wave Will be of the Anthonian/ Stantonian Variety

I was musing about Behar and Barr, dissing Sarah Palin with their anti-women, cough, "Feminist" nonsense, as reported at Bloghopenchangery this morning.

Then thinking about the good sense being promulgated at Legal Insurrection, I had this revelation.... and posted it in response to the latter:

Sarah is well on her way. She is appealing to a younger generation of conservatives. And particularly young conservative women.

That can't be a bad thing for Conservatives as a whole. Can it?

I am gonna go one step farther and say that the GOP should be bowing at the altar of John McCain for lifting Sarah from obscurity to be the new face of Conservatism. There is so much genius in that ... I can't really cover it all here. Except to say ...

Liberals have lost their way where feminism is concerned. Sarah has arrived on the scene at a time when she is sorely needed for the next generation of young women. Just as the Third Wave of Feminism has crashed upon the shore with an epic FAIL, by trying to embrace too much "diversity" and "cultural relativism."

The Third Wave's embrace of all things Islam is the harbinger of it's relativistic demise. (And I'll add that it's desire to make a pro-abortion stance it's central tenet ain't helping either.)

Sarah represents the return of a Susan B. Anthony/ Elizabeth Cady-Stanton style of Feminism. Call it the fourth wave if you want. But... I like to think of it as a return to the first wave.

Millions of Girls Are "Disappeared" and Trafficked Into Brothels Each Year. Who Knew the U.S. Has A Government Program That Would Bring Them Here??

Thanks to No Quarter for keeping me up to the minute on the ACORN funds available for prostitution rings and brothels: HERE and HERE.

Am I losing my mind? There is actually a taxpayer financed, government program in the USA that would help someone traffic in 13 year old girls from El Salvador?

At the time that the stories above were breaking... I was sitting in a bookstore reading Half The Sky. After listening to this interview with the authors, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Their book is about the abysmal treatment of women, worldwide. Including the millions of girls that are trafficked into brothels every year.

I guess I was naive enough to believe that none of those girls could possibly be coming to the U.S.??

Shows what I know....

Hey Naomi, There is Only One Responsible Feminist Argument *for* The Burqa

And I heard it from THIS American Belly Dancer:



"Without the veil, she would be imprisoned in her home."


Thank you Jenn, for enlightening me with that statement.

And, for interpreting the experience so beautifully in your dance!

I hope Naomi Wolf watches. And gets a frikkin clue.

SYD

Naomi Wolf Would Like an Apology from Phyllis Chesler, Chesler Would Like Wolf to Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Wow. Just wow! Things are really heating up over at Dr. Chesler's blog. If you are a Feminist and you'd like to observe one of the bigger hurdles facing the Fourth Wave ... you really MUST come over and read. Not only today's response to Naomi. But also Phyllis' piece that started the whole brew-ha-ha. And Naomi's piece before that.

It's really high time, in my opinion, that the Second and Third Waves of American Feminism faced off in the boxing (uh, er debate) ring. Doncha think?

For research and accuracy, I'll put my money on Phyllis.

Can't rule Naomi out though... cuz she has the high falutin' connections.

SYD

So The Leftie Rags Are Our Friends Again? (Conservative "Feminist Hawks" Gaining Momentum!)

I find it quite odd how much attention Feminism is being paid in the Leftie Rags all of a sudden. Don't you? I mean, publications that were rife with overt and unapologetic sexism during the 2008 elections are suddenly our friends again. Strange.

WAPO, as I posted a few days ago. And also NYT.

What gives, I wonder?

A little trip over to The Chesler Chronicles may shed some light. Read her essay titled "Feminist Hawks Unite" for a list of clues. Quoting Phyllis now:

>"Among writers concerned with women’s rights are: Frontpage editor Jamie Glazov; Anat Berko; Tammy Bruce (who was once the President of Los Angeles NOW); Nonie Darwish; Brigitte Gabriel; Professor Donna Hughes; Nancy L. Kobrin; Robert Spencer, Wafa Sultan; and countless others. I will be adding more names to this list.

I know, I know: Many of the above writers are conservatives, not liberals. Some are new-comers, others not. But they are all, myself included, “hawkish” on the subject of the war against women and a) will not engage in cultural relativism to avoid being called “racists” or “Islamophobes;” b) will not be held hostage to one of two political parties; c) will not sacrifice Israel, America, the West, Muslim democrats/dissidents–or the truth–in order to remain politically correct and aligned to social, political, and funding networks.

I think Dr. Chesler has hit on something. The Left is awakening from it's Obama kool-ade stupor, and finding a groundswell of "Conservative" Feminism. They realize they've somehow missed the boat... and they are paddling hard to catch up. The Left's cultural relativist ideology is locking horns with pure Feminist Hawk-ology. This is not what the "Third Wave" expected to encounter in the wake of it's great SuperFemiMan "victory."

Not at all.

SYD

At Least She Has The Courage to Quit: Go Get 'Em Sarah!

I have just returned from four and a half days on the road, studying the history of America's First Wave Feminism, in Seneca Falls and Rochester. Believe me, I am in no mood to put up with any lies about another qualified woman's political motives or intentions. (H/T to Cynthia Yockey for that link.)

UNLIKE SOME POLS WE KNOW, Sarah Palin has far too much integrity to play hooky for the next 18 months. Nor will she allow the State of Alaska to pay for a never-ending string of legal bills to defend her against frivolous ethics accusations and character assassinations.

Ms. Palin is fully capable of fighting her own battles, thank you.

Sorry about the lack of food for HUNGRY MOONBATS round here. Be forewarned, ya'll. This ain't no Third Wave haven for fawning over half-qualified, socially attractive males. "Liberation" through prostitution is not the way Stray Dawg rolls. Palin bashing is off limits here. (As it would have been in the homes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.)

Oh yeah... and... failure is, indeed, impossible. Go Sarah!

Honorcide of Pakistani Singer, Ayman Udas: Part Five of My Dedication to the Women of Mid-East Music

I love the music of the middle east. The hypnotic drum rhythms. The sultry voices. They bring out the dreamer in me, provide a perfect escape, and allow me to avoid disturbing images and thoughts if things political.

I don't actually belly dance any more. I never did belly dance well. But the music has stayed with me, after my childbearing years are long over, when I learned how to dance for the sake of easier labors.

Middle eastern music ONCE did those things for me: It helped me dream. It made me dance. It eased my transition to motherhood. But, I guess I have to come clean and admit that, loving the music of Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, and Egypt had also lulled me into a kind of complacency.

How can something so beautiful be performed by women who are risking their lives to share it with me? It's incomprehensible. It's reprehensible. It's impossible!!

Isn't it?

When I decided to embark upon my current blogging journey, I simply wanted to escape from politics. I thought that by honoring the women who perform the music I love I could delve more deeply into something I enjoy, escape from all the Obotian illogistics, and maybe educate a few interested souls along the way.

I had no idea. Really. I just did not know. How bad things are.

As I've journeyed more deeply,though, I've been awakened to the reality that there is a reason we don't hear many women's voices celebrating this beautiful art form. That reason is not, as I had previously believed, simple discrimination. It goes beyond the kind of sexism that Meryl Streep complained about. (Not that I am downplaying Meryl's accusations about the nature of sexism in Hollywood.) The fact is, in many Islamic territories, women can be killed for singing. It's that simple. They are forbidden to do it.

Take, for example, Ayman Udas,

"shot dead by her own brothers in the conservative city of Peshawar in Pakistan after she had appeared on television.

The murder of Ayman Udas, who was in her early thirties and newly married, has shocked the city’s artistic community because it symbolises a backlash against women and cultural freedom in an area that is increasingly dominated by Islamic funda-mentalists.

She won considerable acclaim for her songs but had become a musician in the face of bitter opposition from her family, who believed it was sinful for a woman to perform on television.

Ashamed of her growing popularity her two brothers are reported to have entered her flat last week while her husband was out and fired three bullets into her chest. Neither has been caught."

This happened just a couple of months ago. Where was the media coverage? Did many of us even know about her murder? And why not??

"So far (we are told) there has been no outcry by Music Industry moguls, Hollywood Actors, or any other popular Entertainment industry figures in the UK or the United States, over her slaying. Similarly, Free Speech advocates and liberal Human Rights groups in the West have been silent on the murder."

As a feminist, I grow increasingly restless about this kind of casual disregard of a woman's life. And the subsequent cover ups.... that have something to do with our own fear of speaking out. We have been taught that, as good little Third Wavers we must stand up for the rights of all minorities. Including those in which men are allowed, nay encouraged, to murder their wives and sisters in the most brutal of fashions.

If I cannot speak out against this kind of barbarism, that makes me ashamed to be a "Feminist."

In fact, it makes me wonder what the fuck "Feminism" stands for??

SYD

My Dedication to the Women of Middle Eastern Music, Part Two: Raquy of Israel

To say that this young woman has broken barriers in Middle Eastern Music would be gross understatement. Raquy Danziger is a prodigy that has thrilled listeners in the Mid-East, and in the U.S. A professional doumbek player in a world that is, not only male dominated ... but male defined and controlled. In that universe, some women dance. And a few play the tambourine. But, as a rule, women don't drum. Period.

The first time I ever heard of Raquy, someone sent me this youtube of her playing in the Egyptian style ... with Said Al Artist. (Note, the stage is full of his students, all men.)



When I saw Raquy LIVE, her music was somewhat Americanized (thanks to her band called the "Cavemen.") She sounded like this:



And she taught like this:



Over the past couple of years I had lost track of Raquy's studies and exploits... so I did another youtube search and found that she had been studying in Istanbul. Her latest teacher, Binyamin, appears to have been working her to death. She gives him credit in this new video:



One can only imagine what it must take for an Israeli-American women to earn the respect of the men who drum professionally in Egypt and Turkey. Quite frankly, it appears an anomaly that they will even teach her. Knowing that she could well surpass their level of skill must make that doubly daunting. In that sense, Raquy is more than remarkable. She has accomplished a bonafide Feminist feat!

Breaking the glass ceiling of middle eastern music? Ha! This young woman has rocketed through the ceiling and resides on another planet. If you ever get a chance to see her perform, I highly recommend that you do!

SYD

Disclaimer: SYD admits that she knows a thing or two about mid-east drumming. Her DH is a doumbek player with apparent bloodlines from Moroccan influenced France. The opinion that Raquy has accomplished a Feminist feat is based upon SYD's first hand impressions and experiences. It may have no basis in Egyptian or Turkish historical reality. If you are curious, take a look at the drumming coming out of those two countries... and decide for yourself just what a novelty a female, master doumbek player is. (Enjoy the drumming too! It is fantastique!!)

Interesting That They Carry Signs Etched in English

Clearly they think we can help them. (Unless this is a photoshopped image.... and there was no English in the streets of Tehran after all.)

But we can't even make up our minds to help one another.

H/T to Dr. Violet Socks for yet another bang up Feminist blog post! Two days running...

SYD

UPDATE: Apparently Obama is now backing the protesters?? But CBS is suppressing his statement to that effect.HotAir covers it.

Who knows what to believe? (H/T to Anna Belle for the critical analysis.)

The Wave and the Wheel: Can the "Fourth Wave" of Feminism Rise Above the Second and Third?

Please humor me while I quote, once again, Susan B. Anthony:

“I have worked 40 years to make the Women’s Suffrage platform broad enough for Atheists and Agnostics to stand upon, and now if need be I will fight the next 40 to keep it Catholic enough to permit the straightest Orthodox religionist to speak or pray and count her beads upon.”

And then humor yourself with a trip over to Reclusive Leftist. In the comments following this post by Dr. Violet Socks, you can see that a battle is beginning to rage as we attempt to define the "fourth wave" of Feminism.

Really it's not a "new battle." It's the same old same that has divided women since Feminism took root... within the Women's Suffrage movement. Herstory does repeat herself. Doesn't she?

We would do well to take a lesson from Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady-Stanton. We are reliving their trajectory in at least two ways, are we not?

First of all... They also tried to tackle race and gender simultaneously. Race trumped gender then too. (As boys will be boys, and they do not tend to reciprocate the favors we do for them.) The argument for "intersectionality" in the women's movement has proven... for a second time... to be ONE BIG FAIL!

Secondly, Susan B. Anthony was quite clear in her views related to secular and religious women coming together to fight for their own (and each other's) rights. She said so in the quote I posted at the outset of this blog entry. Ms. Anthony saw the folly of the division along lines of faith, and vowed to work against it.

So... now... where does that leave us, as the "fourth wave" begins to crest? Will we rally as one to reject the "intersectionality" arguments that have led us down this path of failure? Will we gather in unity to defend our daughters, despite our differences?

Personally, I would like to see us abandon the "wave" analogy. It isn't serving us well. Why? Because "waves" are intangible. They arise on their own and dissipate just as quickly. A wave can be as strong as a tsunami. Or as sneaky as an undertow. But, like a snowflake, a wave never really repeats itself in just the same way.

In my mind, we are entering the second *cycle.* Our second time around the *WHEEL.* If we do not observe the lessons of the first wheel, well enough to create the second out of COLLECTIVE ACTION, we will each have to trudge up the mountain alone, with only our backpacks full of shoulds and shouldn'ts.

Why would we want to do that?

Failure is, indeed, impossible! But that doesn't mean we can't spend another generation or two thrashing around in the "waves"... hanging on to our man-made life preservers.

It is all remedial at this point. We must go back and study herstory. If we learn our lessons well, two *wheels* can make a bicycle. And then we'll have a chance to go somewhere… fast!