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Dear colleagues,<BR>
<BR>
How many times have we heard our students describe gender as 'not really<BR>
an issue', feminism as an utterly outdated concept, gender equality as<BR>
something now achieved?<BR>
<BR>
How many times have we seen gender being the focus in the media for one<BR>
day (Women's Day), only to become something that is relevant to women<BR>
(hence the Women's page) thereafter?<BR>
<BR>
Let me take the opportunity of International Women's Day celebrations<BR>
last week, to say this: while there is nothing wrong with having a day<BR>
to reflect on what's happening to women around the world, and while<BR>
there has been undeniable progress in many areas that affect women's<BR>
lives, patriarchy (and feel free to replace this word with another, if<BR>
you see it as too strong or old-fashioned) is alive and well. This will<BR>
be obvious for many of us in this forum, but we often struggle to make<BR>
the case to those outside (and often within) academia that there are far<BR>
too many horrifying inequalities out there; inequalities that a Women's<BR>
Day cannot begin to address. And further, even hard-won rights for women<BR>
are now being reversed in some cases (as seen, for example, in the<BR>
abortion-banning bill last week in South Dakota; in attempts to reimpose<BR>
the veil on women in Iraq and elsewhere; and in the freezing of all US<BR>
aid to fund sexual and reproductive health programmes in the developing<BR>
world, where women and children are now dying needlessly as a direct<BR>
result).<BR>
<BR>
I say this because I repeatedly come across a pervasive 'post-feminist'<BR>
discourse, that tells us about gender equality as something that has<BR>
been achieved, about women as independent and free to pursue their goals<BR>
(which seem to include the 'right' to various kinds of 'sexual<BR>
freedom'), and about feminism as old-fashioned, ridiculous, and<BR>
redundant.<BR>
So, I try to encourage this kind of discussion with my students, by<BR>
asking them to simply consider the following:<BR>
<BR>
~ 70% of people living in poverty are women and children<BR>
~ 67% of all illiterate adults are women<BR>
~ 85 million girls worldwide are unable to attend school (compared with<BR>
45m boys)<BR>
~ 700.000.000 women are without adequate food, water, sanitation, health<BR>
care or education (compared with 4000.000.000 men) <BR>
~ 1.440 women die each day during childbirth (a rate of one death every<BR>
minute)<BR>
~ 12 world leaders are women (out of 191 members of the UN)<BR>
<BR>
and...<BR>
<BR>
~ 1% of the titled land in the world is owned by women<BR>
<BR>
[You will perhaps agree that I do not need to mention, in addition, the<BR>
shocking statistics about women who become victims of rape and domestic<BR>
violence around the world]<BR>
<BR>
But what of those of us who live much more privileged lives, compared to<BR>
the women described above? In the UK:<BR>
<BR>
~ The pay gap between men and women in similar full-time jobs is 17%. <BR>
~ In part-time jobs, the gap is 42% . <BR>
~ Women earn 38% less than men without qualifications.<BR>
~ 10% of company directors are women , 20% of MPs, and 16% of local<BR>
authority council leaders.<BR>
~ Each year 30.000 women lose their jobs for being pregnant.<BR>
~ Violence against women (when reported) accounts for 16% of all violent<BR>
crime, and is on the increase.<BR>
<BR>
And there is more.<BR>
[You will easily find more in newspapers and the Internet, especially on<BR>
Women's Day!]<BR>
<BR>
I tell students this: Next time someone tells you that gender equality<BR>
is complete or unnecessary or the product of political correctness gone<BR>
mad, please take a minute to ask them to look at the whole picture. And<BR>
also: Let us become active in any way we can, and more critical in the<BR>
ways we talk about gender, rather than pay lip service to progress for women once a year.<BR>
<BR>
I know that our focus in this list is on gender and language in<BR>
particular, and apologies if this message is a bit long, but I hope<BR>
you'll agree that we must not be complacent about any of these issues.<BR>
<BR>
With best wishes,<BR>
<BR>
Lia Litosseliti<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Dr Lia Litosseliti<BR>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>
Lecturer in Linguistics<BR>
Department of Language and Communication Science<BR>
City University<BR>
Northampton Square<BR>
London EC1V 0HB<BR>
UK<BR>
<BR>
l.litosseliti@city.ac.uk<BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.city.ac.uk/lcs/biographys/llitosseliti.html">http://www.city.ac.uk/lcs/biographys/llitosseliti.html</A><BR>
<BR>
<BR>
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