| Looking back on last week the theme was obvious: womanhood. Here are the events:
Girltalk with Jenn. Details private!!
Sharing about my experiences as a young Filipino woman in Canada to help out a fellow young Filipino woman in Canada to do a presentation about the experiences of this demographic.
Battle of the Sexes event for Clay. Speaking of which...instead of small groups, I think we should have a series of brother and sister appreciations. Good game, good game.
Getting asked to be part of the play Nanay: a testimonial play being under the PuSh Festival next month. That was also on Wednesday. "Nanay" is the Filipino word for "mother" and this play is about domestic workers', majority of which are women and many being mothers, common experiences in Canada. Went to the rehearsal on Friday. (By the way, please come and watch it. Apparently it's sold out but you can try to buy tickets online! Get educated! The script is based on interviews collected by my professor in Geography, some of which I conducted as having been her RA.)
Watched a documentary called The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. Wednesday. I learned about how rape is widespread in this war-torn country/region with militia men, police and even UN peacekeepers commonly committing the acts of sexual violence as a way of everyday life (e.g. barters/exchanges). It's especially practiced by soldiers as a complement to a magic potion that supposedly gives good luck for the ensuing battle. Rapists who were interviewed in the documentary claim to have raped 2 to 18 to "too many [women] to keep track of," and children as young as 2 are not the exception. They not only rape but mutilate genitalia, kill family members and even chop dead corpses. When some of them ask why they do it, one said it was because being at war keeps them away from their normal lives which includes partnership. They spend a long time in the jungle so when they see a woman passing by (probably there gathering food) she will be raped by them. THEM. Not just one put all of the gang. *Sigh* Anyway, the documentary visits the multiple shelters, centres, hospitals, churches that house victims--women, and their children who were born from the rape or not. And there were many. Rooms overcrowded with them. Children orphaned (abandoned) will grow up to the same fate--girls will likely be raped if they haven't already been, boys will grow up rapists. Too sad. What is to become of this country? What is the future of these people?
But what I really wondered about was just how did this despicable culture (not individual psychology) of machisimo and male chauvinism begin? How could these men come to think it's alright to rape women, and multiple women at that? What gives power to one sex over the other? What does it take to change?
I started to think about critical feminist theories. Well, I've been wondering about them for a while now. I'm a fan of critical theory when it comes to the sociology of development, being from the Philippines and all. But I've never really paid attention to feminist ones before, thinking that it does not apply to me and does not appeal to me. After seeing this documentary I can very much agree with it because the play of power is so obvious in this scenario. And also I started to have a profound appreciation for men who feel for the struggles of woman.
Okay I am not going to become a feminazi. It doesn't fit my personality anyway. I'm not much of an extremists, and if I am I'd be on the short, soft-to-underspoken side. But I am starting to be conscious of signs of sexism. Like for example I think I'm actually starting to really dislike the usage of genetalia to describe personal abilities/personalities, i.e. "pussy" as weakness and having "balls" as strength. Hmm I wonder if I will ever enjoy some rap lyrics again... Well, if anything, these musings about womanhood is getting me to explore a more feminine, gown-up side of me. Aoohh!
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| Can I stay?
*edit*
I'm coming back Dec. 3.
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| "when i grow up i wanna be a refugee"
refugees--fleeing from violence initiated by those in the upper tiers of society and early history in the domestic homeland.
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| if i really can't find a job, i think i'll go teach english abroad~
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| it's not what you teach children, but what you learn from them, through them, with them.
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