Gender Across Borders

Back in August 2009, two trans men in Western Australia had requested to change the their birth certificates to show they are men without having hysterectomies (the surgical removal of the uterus) and won. But as UPI reported yesterday, the case was recently appealed where the Western Australian court ruled that transgender men are not men because they lacked “genital and reproductive physical characteristics.”

The Western Australian court needs a Gender 101 lesson. Let’s go over a simple fact: gender does not equal sex. Sex (such as male & female) is determined physical anatomy and biological description. Gender (for example: man & woman) is determined by social and cultural affiliations and is a learned behavior. Remember that back in 2008, for example, a trans man in the U.S. had a baby naturally–does that not make him a man?

If you’re reading this blog–most likely you are already know the difference between sex and gender. But I think it’s important to point out that determining gender via genital and reproductive characteristics is not only an ancient idea, but also has profound effects on those who live outside of gender norms. Read the rest of this entry →

Women in Papau New Guinea

Earlier this week, Papau New Guinea apologized before CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) for its inaction against the torture and murder of women suspected of witchcraft. Government officials did not deny that those alleged to practice witchcraft have been tortured and killed. According to the Center for Independent Studies, more than 500 women have been attacked. In 2009, there were more than 50 murders of those accused of practicing black magic, including one woman who was burned alive. Why are the people of this South Pacific island nation accusing women, and some men, of practicing black magic? They are blamed for the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, which is devastating the country’s population. Read the rest of this entry →

A few weeks ago I posted about abortion access in Brazil, and  since then I have read several pieces about abortion access in other countries. Last week the New York Times published an article about abortion providers in the United States. (Lest anyone feels inclined to step up on an America-is-better pedestal, 87% of counties in the US have no abortion providers.) Women then shared more personal experiences of abortion access on AKIMBO.

On Friday, Jessica posted about six women jailed for homicide in Mexico for miscarrying or terminating pregnancies. In Spain, a new law recently went into effect allowing unrestricted abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The law could technically still be suspended or challenged by the Constitutional Court, but this is not expected to happen. In New Zealand, MP Steve Chadwick has proposed a law to allow legal abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. The anti-choice opposition cry of “no abortions” has shifted to one of just “less abortions”, strongly weakening the sanctity of life argument. Meanwhile a new poll in Australia has shown that many Australians support late-term abortions in certain circumstances. Currently, abortion laws vary by jurisdiction, and a woman in Queensland is facing up to 7 years in jail if convicted of procuring an abortion.

Has anyone else read any relevant stories on abortion access in other countries?

Julia Gillard / Daily Mail

“Julia Gillard is not just a woman, she’s an unmarried, childless, proudly undomesticated feminist agnostic –who also happens to be shacked up with a hairdresser.” This is how one writer for the Daily Mail describes Australia’s first female prime minister, who assumed office last week after ousting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Gillard had served as Deputy PM under Rudd, and challenged him when he began losing the support of their Labor party. A leadership election for the Labor party was called in parliament to choose between Rudd and Gillard, and Rudd resigned at the last minute when it was clear he wouldn’t get enough votes to win.

Reading up on this historic occasion has been like taking a crash course in Australian politics with a hefty dose of all-too-familiar history of sexist treatment of women in politics. Gillard’s many personal choices that deviate from the traditional idea of womanhood have been targeted by her political opponents and the public throughout her career. Gillard’s decision not to have children was lambasted a few years back by a fellow MP who called Gillard “deliberately barren” and said her lack of children made her unfit to govern, according to the Guardian. Gillard’s unmarried relationship with longtime partner Tim Mathieson and her empty kitchen have also come under fire. Read the rest of this entry →

Last August I blogged about Norway’s controversial move to promote women in the boardroom. More recently, Australia’s Federal Sport Minister, Kate Ellis, vowed to name and shame the boards of sporting organizations that do not improve their female representation. According to Ellis:

In a nation that celebrates our great love of sport, and where sport is a central thread of our community, the numbers of women in leadership positions in sport are clearly absolutely ludicrous. The culture of sport here is long overdue for a significant shake-up.

Ellis will encourage sports boards to improve their female representation by publishing their gender make-up, “so that annually these organizations can be judged on their progress.” She will also establish a register of women with appropriate skills and interest, which she hopes will help match potential candidates with gender-biased boards.

There is no question that appointing female board members will help Australian sport engage women and girls, make sport attractive to them, and encourage them to get involved. After all, what message does it send when women aren’t visibly involved at the highest levels? While encouragement hasn’t produced much progress in the corporate world, Ellis is taking steps in the right direction. At the very least, she’s laying the groundwork for more aggressive action, such as linking federal funding of sports organizations to improving their female board representation. Read the rest of this entry →

(UPDATE: GAB reader janiek alerted us to a new development in Norrie’s situation. On Tuesday, New South Wales’ Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages  deemed Norrie’s certificate invalid. Please take a moment to learn more and sign the petition to let Norrie keep hir certificate.)

Norrie May-Welby (who primarily goes only by Norrie) has just become the first person in New South Wales to be legally recognized as sexless.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

This Mardi Gras, Norrie received a gift that no other androgynous person in NSW has had before.

The night before the parade, the postman brought a certificate from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages that contained neither the dreaded ”M” nor its equally despised cousin, ”F”.

Instead, it said ”sex not specified”, making the 48-year-old Sydneysider, who identifies as neuter and uses only a first name, the first in the state to be neither man nor woman in the eyes of the NSW government.

Read the rest of this entry →

If women are responsible for preventing rape…

then why is the advice given to us always to lock ourselves in our homes after dark unless escorted or to let people we trust guard our drinks and monitor whether we are too intoxicated to protect ourselves?

Why are we not, rather, told to keep company with other women: to watch them, their drinks, their bodies? Why are we told to depend on others instead of to look out for each other? If women are responsible for preventing rape…

then why is the emphasis so often on being wary of strangers and not of those men with whom we are most intimate? For women who do not live in war zones or other places where the social order has shattered, stranger rape is much less likely than rape by someone known and trusted.

Why are we not told to stop trusting men? If women are responsible for ending rape… Read the rest of this entry →

Global Feminism in the News is a monthly column discussing recurring themes in international news stories concerning women. This month we will focus on women’s health.

For those of you non-Americans, you may not realize quite the fervor of the health care debate in the US Congress right now. As it has dominated headlines, I wanted to write this month’s article on Women and Health. It was a month of confusing health care advice, progress in the fight against gender based violence, and some unexpected news about Vitamin A.

In the US, two controversial and confusing health suggestions for women were published. The Preventive Services Task Force of the Department of Health and Human Services revised previous guidelines for breast cancer screening; they no longer believe women under 50 need regular screenings, and women 50- 74 only need them every other year- half as often as previously recommended. This news angered many who feared that insurance would soon decline to cover the yearly screenings that many health care professionals and cancer survivors count as crucial tools to detect and survive cancer. Many women, suspicious of the change, plan to continue with their yearly screenings (with the blessing of doctors and the Obama administration).

Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome back from Thanksgiving to all you American readers! If you’re feeling as groggy and full of turkey as I am, a little sex drive talk is just what you need to wake up this Monday morning. The US Food & Drug Administration is considering a female version of Viagra called Flibanserin to treat women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or a severe lack of a sex drive. (You may be surprised to learn that Viagra generated sales of $1.8 billion in the US alone last year). Created at the Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany, the drug has already done well in clinical trials in North America and Europe.

As with any new medicine, major concerns persist about side and long-term effects. In 2004 the FDA did not approve a testosterone patch for women, Intrinsa, due to safety concerns. Researchers in the UK and Australia reported in the October edition of the Journal of Sexual Medicine that dissatisfaction in bed can spread to other aspect’s of a woman’s life, so some women may take the risk in search of the ultimate satisfaction. (Was this really unknown before this article was published?) Read about the drug and its history here.

Interestingly, the New York Times published an article in the magazine yesterday about hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Very little is known about this disorder (which some don’t even consider a disorder), so it makes for an interesting read. Are you awake yet? Have a good Monday!

In a stunning example of what happens when you mix science with unquestioned social constructions, an Australian anthropologist has put together a book called Manthropology: The Science of the Inadequate Modern Male. John Mehaffey, who wrote the Reuters article about it, calls the subtitle “provocative”. I call it ridiculous and almost as cringe-inducing as the neologism of the title proper. You see, according the book’s author, Peter McAllister, what makes modern man inadequate is that he lacks the abilities his ancestors (even his female ancestors) had in fields such as jumping, running, and arm wrestling.

The better man? Only by Peter McAllister's standards...

Read the rest of this entry →