Simple Women in Extraordinary Times

Last weekend I went to Caixa's Cultural Centre and saw a great exhibition called Simple Women in Extraordinary Times. The idea was to give women from Brazil, Cuba, Israel and Palestine a camera to shoot what they loved and what the hated. The result was followed by an interview and is kindly (and sometimes strongly) touching.

E.g.: Abiail, from Brasília, talking about she loved, said:
"To get married to the partner I choose. To see my children well, and with a conscient and independent sense of freedom. To travel heaps. To live in a better country, where citizenship, conscience, solidarity and cooperation thrive. I want to be kissed when I'm 80."

In the International Women's Day, I'd like to thank all the determined, loving and inspirational women for their example and wish every single woman strength to keep fighting for their rights and the respect they deserve, so we can build our own destiny our way.

Another way of looking at the world

Through a reference in Brett's blog, I found World Mapper, an amazing website that visually disturbs us about the world's current state.

Wealth Distribution

Living over US$ 200 per day

Living up to US$ 10 per day

War Deaths

Mortality 1-4 Years Old

Environment

Biocapacity

Forest Loss

Species Extinct

Gender issues

Female Managers

Girls not at primary school

Celebrating Women's Work for Peace and Justice

Last night, I went to a fantastic panel called "Peace Messengers - A celebration of women's work for Peace Justice", part of a Nobel Prize Exhibition called Beautiful Minds, in UTS.

A little bit about the Nobel Prize:
Established by the inventor of the dynamite Albert Nobel (Sweden 1833-1896), it uses the interests of his fortune to award the year's most outstanding contributors in the world in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economics and Peace. What a vision!

Reflections from the women's dialogue:
One of the women participating on the panel was a Masters Law student from Afghanistan, who said a couple of things that stayed in my mind.

First, when she talked to her family about studying abroad (after having her studies interrupted many times), her mother said she'll find her wherever she was and cut her head off. Coming from another woman, that's harsh.

Secondly, talking about the future, she said she wanted to come back to be a teacher, judge or politician. But that would totally depend on the current government, whether they will allow women to study, work and even leave their houses or not. I can understand that people who never had something (freedom, for instance) find it difficult to fight for it. But in the Afghan case, women pass from times when they have rights to times when they don't, depending on the government rules. I sincerely cannot understand how power orientation can vary dramatically and still be unquestionably obeyed. I've been thinking about this social dynamic since then, as it's the very opposite of how I believe(d) social forces worked.

Poems & quotes #5: Another world in her way

Arundhati Roy - Indian novels writer and activist - once said:

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. And on a quiet day, if you really listen, you can hear her breathing."

Let's be part of the change, then!

Happy International Women's Day!

Sorry for the non Brazilians, but this post comes in portuguese. It was sent by Flavia Moraes, the CSR Director for Philips in Latin America and one of the fantastic women I had the opportunity to meet.

If you are one of them, congratulations for your day!

"Quisera eu nunca precisar parabenizar as mulheres por este dia, pois é uma data que simboliza o desequilíbrio entre as relações sociais dos últimos oito mil anos.

Ou seja, representa por um lado, o cerceamento dos direitos e da liberdade das mulheres e, por outro, a ousadia delas na busca destes direitos.

Estamos refletindo no 8 de março, a necessidade da Eqüidade, não um novo desequilíbrio, agora do feminino.

Só acabaremos com a violência cometida no espaço privado, a violência doméstica, sofrida predominantemente pelas mulheres e crianças, se acabarmos com todas as outras formas de violência. Um mundo onde o mais forte domina o mais fraco, em qualquer situação, é um mundo sem a participação do feminino.

Respeito às diferenças, à soberania dos povos e ao planeta passa necessariamente pela inclusão do feminino em todas as relações. Muitas mulheres, com coragem, leveza e determinação, estão tirando da inviabilidade o feminino, estão imprimindo um novo rumo na história.

Você certamente está entre elas. Parabéns!"

Maria Helena Guarezi - Coordenadora do programa de gênero da Itaipu Binacional

PAI - a woman!

The AIESEC International President was elected. And for the 4th time since 1948, it's a woman! Her name is Gabriela (this name rocks ;o)), she is Romanian and is certainly receiving the best wishes from all of us.

Congratulations, Gabiza!

Australian Personality # 3 - Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard is currently the deputy leader of the Australian Labour Party. She held various positions in government and is seen as the voters’ preferred labour leader, according Ipsos Mackay’s poll.

She is strongly supporting Kevin Rudd, the Labour Party Prime Minister candidate, who is challenging the liberal policies of Howard, the Prime Minister in the last 10 years. If Rudd wins and she is still the Deputy Leader, she will be the Deputy Prime Minister, which means she will act as Prime Minister when he is overseas or otherwise unavailable, a position never before held by a woman in Australia.

Julia is single, has no children, migrated to Australia when she was 5 and appears as one of the female leaders in the country.