When Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi made his stupid comment that immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes, he of course joined fellow fundamentalist religious preachers such as Pat Robertson who have made similar claims about marginalized groups, women, the poor, third world nations, etc being responsible for natural disasters. In the case of Pat Robertson he went so far as accusing Haitians of having made a “pact with the Devil.”
The Sedighi comment was no news to Iranian women, nor was it a funny joke. For over 3 decades the Islamic Republic has used and abused women's bodies and women's socio-economic and political rights in shaping and defining its repressive policies. Iranian women have fought back in various ways, one of which has been to dress “subvervily” but as it is evident in the Green Movement (the name the Iranian opposition is known by) , it is not their “beauty” or bodies that they have utilized in fighting against a brutal theocracy but their brains, their creativity, art, writings etc.
Golbarg Bashi and I are saddened that Jen McCreight (a blogger at Blag Hag), and the so-called feminist response has been “showing off some cleavage for ‘Boobquake’ this Monday”. This campaign has aroused the evidently insatiable enthusiasm of the web community, male supporters in particular who can’t wait to see “regular” girls and women, many their direct friends to “showing off their tits”.
Her own words suggest a lighthearted mockery, a statement on women's rights and a desire to scientifically test Sadeqi's claims.
Everyday women and young girls are forced to “show off cleavage” and more in order simply to be heard, to be seen, or to advance professionally. The web is already filled with images of naked women; the porn industry thrives online and many young girls are already vulnerable to predatory abuse. Violence against women and girls has consequences for the sexualisation of women and girls. The extent of their sexualization is evident in the hundereds of replies that pour into the “Boobquake” Facebook page where women write, apologetically: "I don’t have boobs, not fair" or "Hey, I only have a C cup… ” and “what about those of us who no longer have a cleavage? they sag too low.”
World-wide, the sexualisation of women and younger girls, as young as pre-schoolers is a genuine problem and as mothers, feminists, and young women ourselves we believe that it is time to move away from this “bare it all” mentality.
Let’s create a “Brainquake” and show off our resumes, CVs, honors, prizes, accomplishments (photo evidence), because the Hojatoleslam and the Islamic Republic of Iran are afraid of women’s abilities to push for change, to thrive despite gender apartheid (Did you know that over 64% of students studying at universities in Iran are women?) Let’s honor their accomplishments by showing off our abilities, our creativity, our ingenuity, and our smarts on our blogs, on Wikipedia, on Twitter, on Youtube, on Flickr and all over Facebook. And remember to use hashtag #brainquake on Twitter.
Join the Brainquake Facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100832899962032
Here's some inspiration:
Why I won't be joining the "Boobquake"
UPDATE: So here's the first Youtube video for #Boobquake. I guess we could say this is the first response to #boobquake & #brainquake's call to action in one swell package, well kinda?!? Rock the ayatollah!
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I agree with the desire to show off accomplishments, but I also understand the idea to tweak with a rigid cleric and mock his absurd statement. The woman who started this (accidentally) seems very sincere and a feminist to be sure with substantial "brainquake" credentials of her own.
ReplyDeleteBottom line - I think there is reason to do both!
Quoted from post, "Violence against women and girls has a direct correlation to the sexualisation of women and girls." > Wrong.
ReplyDeleteFrom a recent study (http://bit.ly/bQclR1); "No correlation has been found between exposure to porn and negative attitudes towards women."
Apart from erroneous claims, and while I agree with your point about women being proud of their brains, I think that your criticism is coming from the wrong direction. This is not about the image of women portrayed in your culture, it's about the disgusting suppression that women under Islamic law have to endure. Therefore, criticizing a woman for her message of liberalism is, frankly, ridiculous.
I don't think McCreight demonstrates much in the way of brainquake credentials. She talks as though this is a serious experiment, even claiming that she will run statistics.
ReplyDeleteThis shows a complete lack of understanding of ontology and epistemology.
I am agnostic, but I imagine if there were a God, it would not necessary respond immediately nor predictably. Most scientists and theorists would agree than an argument for or against God cannot be made at the level of the empirical.
Anyway, thanks for this blog entry. Imagine taking time to educate people a little bit on the conditions in Iran! I remember reading an interesting book chapter on the cooperation of secular and Islamic feminists in Iran.
This whole thing smacks of racism, ignorance and arrogance.
So one study at one university says there's no correlation between porn and violence towards women? Wrong. Google it. There's a metric ton of evidence to exactly the contrary. Men who view pornography have been proven to be more aggressive towards women.
ReplyDeleteBut #Boobquake is not about a particular feminist position - it's about testing a claim! A ridiculous, unscientific conjecture needs to be strongly renounced in as public forum as possible - and putting this claim to the test, is a great way to bring attention to the topic.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that sex is popular, is very separate from the primary underlying Skeptical position which created this event. That is that bearing body parts doesn't cause geological phenomenon, via an all powerful, yet vengeful, creator. Your solution doesn't directly address this particular claim.
There's a metric ton of evidence to exactly the contrary. Men who view pornography have been proven to be more aggressive towards women.
ReplyDeleteWho's the control group? At least one recent study trying to compare young men who have consumed porn with young men who haven't has been unable to find anyone for the second group. Another study shows a correlation between increased Internet consumption and decreased incidences of rape, with a compelling argument to think that porn is the reason.
That's two experiments and a meta-analysis contradicting the "porn causes violence" hypothesis, which is three studies more than your "Google it!" offered. If there's a metric ton, than surely you could link to some of it, right?
Or perhaps you'll just stick to the "there's lots of evidence to prove me right if you'd just look for it" method. After all, it works for religionists, antivaccinationists, alternative medicine proponents, UFOlogists, and similar groups.
Negar, it seems like you've really missed the point of Jen's idea. A key phrase: "Everyday women and young girls are forced to 'show off cleavage' and more." Very true, and every day women and young girls are also forced to not show off cleavage and more, in order to be not stoned to death. The important word in all that is forced. There is a pretty significant difference between women being forced to dress a specific way and women choosing to dress a specific way. Jen's not forcing anyone to do anything, and is advocating that women choose to violate one set of misogynistic rules about how women should dress and behave. It was homophobic and bigoted and terrible for the Nazis to force homosexuals to wear pink triangles on their clothes as identification. It's none of those things when the homosexual community adopts the symbol for themselves.
Finally, Polly, for someone who talks about ignorance and arrogance, you're sure demonstrating it, since it's clear that you haven't actually read any of Jen's posts on the subject. A cleric made an empirically testable claim, Jen has proposed a test of that claim. This isn't about your agnostic conception of how god would behave, but about the cleric's specific claim that immodest dressing causes earthquakes. Which is a major part of why the "Brainquake" idea, while admirable, falls wide of the actual point of Boobquake.
Thanks for all your comments. I'm in close touch with Jen McCreight on Twitter and clear that her intention was to test superstitious claims with science. This effort , hers I mean, is in fact a #brainquake What has ensued in the aftermath of her posts is a bit iffy. Brainquake is a celebration of the talents, the ingenuity and the accomplishments of women. That's all. Let's celebrate these accomplishments: artistic, scientific, literary, reproductive, theological, and political! May the earth quake on Monday because women are awesome!
ReplyDeleteAnd again, thanks for all your comments and your genuine efforts on all fronts.
Brainquake will interfere with the Boobquake experiment as both hypothesize a quake. Perhaps Brainquake should be rescheduled for Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteHi Gene, Very funny! The earth quakes all the time! But if the quake experiment is about indecency by women, then believe me, Sedeghi would more than likely call Brainquake an act of indecency. We'll go for a double quake, how's that!
ReplyDeleteYou're at Persian wiki now:
ReplyDeletehttp://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%A9%D9%85%D9%BE%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B2%D9%87
"But I want you to remember, I intend this breast satirically. --Susan on 'Coupling'
ReplyDeleteIf feminisim is about choice for women, why can't women choose to show off boobs, brains, both, something else or nothing at all?
I can entirely understand people going, "B-quake isn't my thing; I'll take a pass." I've never understood the arguments made by women to other women that choosing one path invalidates another.