News for March 9

Celebrating Women … All the Time

March is National Women’s History Month, and March 8 was International Women’s Day. Several women bloggers highlighted the day Sunday by writing about International Womens’s Day, the struggles that women around the globe are facing and what issues regarding women that they want the world to take note of. Links include:

Racialicious |  “I look forward to it every year, and like any loyal family member, try to make it out to as many events as possible with something in hand to contribute. I walk away in an attempt to not indulge too much, and deal with the never-ending frustrations of the many differing perspectives on how this day should be celebrated. So as the good ole tune goes, in my original remix, all I want for International Women’s Day is… ”

Queers United |  “Make a difference by celebrating, honoring and acting for full liberation for women. Annually, March 8th is International Women’s Day. In particular queer women have been ignored by not only the broader global women’s movement, but also within the LGBT movement. It is unacceptable that the Intl Women’s Day website fails to acknowledge or mention lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans women. All women regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression deserve full recognition, respect and equality.”

Global Comment |  “International Women’s Day has its roots in socialism, but where I come from – it has degenerated mostly into Valentine’s Day, minus fat-bottomed cupids. I appreciate indulgences as much as the next person, and (sincere) male courtesy besides, but it grates on even my flower-loving, frivolous soul that a day that originally centered female workers and female solidarity has degenerated into a ceremonial throwing-of-a-bone.”

Ann Wright @The Huffington Post |  “”Would women in Gaza really celebrate International Women’s Day?” was the question members of our 58 person delegation from United States, Canada, Pakistan, France, Australia, Egypt, Dubai and Turkey asked as we travelled from Cairo to the Gaza border. … Our delegation on March 8, International Women’s Day, while visiting with over 1000 women in 13 different community development centers throughout Gaza, found that women of Gaza do celebrate. The women of Gaza celebrate – their determination to survive.

Maria Eitel @The Huffington Post |  “As we honor women this Sunday, I hope you’ll think about those who will become women. I hope you will consider the girl effect – the ripple effect that occurs on a family, community and country when girls have an opportunity to participate. Investments in girls can change the world.”

The World Can’t Get Enough American Debt  |  Matthew Yglesias @Think Progress

How are we going to finance all this debt? Aren’t we risking a dollar crisis? A huge run-up in interest rates? These are all reasonable questions, but as Peter Goodman writes in The New York Times, the answer is no and the world can’t get enough of our Treasury bonds. Instead, the debt crisis is hitting elsewhere, especially Eastern Europe: “as Americans eschew foreign deals and keep their dollars at home, and as foreign central banks — especially China — buy Treasury bills, the United States is absorbing money that used to be scattered around the globe. And that is making money tighter elsewhere in the world.”

• Related link: Western Economic Crisis to Hit Developing Nations Hardest  |  Alas, a Blog
• Related link: Global Crisis Worse for Asian Women Workers  |  New American Media

Breaking the Banks: The Struggle to Feed America’s Nouveau Needy  |  Truthout

Families who just months ago didn’t even know what a food bank was and would never have considered visiting a food pantry now have far more intimate knowledge of both. Embarrassed to approach institutions that they previously identified with the poor and indigent, many, say food bank officials, are also waiting far too long to seek aid. Other formerly middle class Americans who have never dealt with, or even thought about, food insecurity before simply don’t know whom to call or where to turn.

Beyond the ‘Social Network’  |  The American Scene

At this point I should clarify that the term “social-networking site” is misleading, because it assumes that the site’s purpose is to establish connections between users. Logically, though, this is actually step 2. Step 1 is the necessary prerequisite: creating a user profile. Connections aren’t established between people; they’re between virtual representations, created — performed, even — by users themselves. This sounds a lot more complex than it is. Anyone in the generation that uses social-networking sites most heavily (in which I include both myself and Conor) has been bombarded for years by PSAs about identity theft and cyber-molestation, not to mention Gawker-ready anecdotes of the “incriminating Facebook photo sinks would-be banker’s job application” variety. Is it any surprise that we’ve become compulsive about the face we present to the world?

So Sorry  |  RNS Blog

Bishop Kenneth Carder, professor of the practice of Christian ministry at United Methodist-related Duke Divinity School, says: “apologies have become techniques for diminishing the consequences of behaviors that are destructive and damaging.”
The church is partly to blame for that, says Carder, because prayers of confession have been removed from many worship services. “When we, as a church, no longer practice confession, forgiveness and accountability, we should not be surprised if the broader culture substitutes for genuine confession a political spin or superficial healing of wounds.”

Photo: Women march on International Women’s Day in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo from International Women’s Day Web site.