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the courage of the vigilante feminists is contagious
The Courage of the Vigilante Feminists is Contagious
In Ireland and Egypt – and beyond – women are coming together to combat sexual violence
by Laurie Penny
'I'm sick of being ashamed." Three days ago, an anti-harassment activist said those words to me in a flat above Cairo's Tahrir square, as she pulled on her makeshift uniform ready to protect women on the protest lines from being raped in the street. Only days before, I'd heard exactly the same words from pro-choice organisers in Dublin, where I travelled to report on the feminist fight to legalise abortion in Ireland. I had thought that I was covering two separate stories – so why were two women from different countries and backgrounds repeating the same mantra against fear, and against shame?Protesters hold up knives in a show of defiance during a protest in Cairo against rape and sexual harrassment on 6 February 2013. (Photograph: AFP/Getty)
From India to Ireland to Egypt, women are on the streets, on the airwaves, on the internet, getting organised and getting angry. They're co-ordinating in their communities to combat sexual violence and taking a stand against archaic sexist legislation; they're challenging harassment and rape culture. Across the world, women who are sick and tired of shame and fear are fighting back in unprecedented ways.
This is not 2011. The mood of hope that so recently swept Europe, America, the Middle East and cyberspace is collapsing into confusion and social tension, and social tension is being channelled, in part, into suspicion of minorities, immigrants, people of colour, and women and girls. Sexism often functions as a pressure-release valve in times of social unrest – and when it does, it takes different forms, depending on local values. Right now, in Egypt, it's groping, heckling and mob attacks; in Ireland, it's rape apologism and a backlash against abortion and sexual equality; on the internet, it's vicious slut-shaming and "revenge porn". But this time, women are refusing to take it any more.
Like the Arab spring and Occupy in 2011, local movements with no apparent connection to one another are exchanging information and taking courage from one another's struggles. The fight against misogyny is spreading online and via networks of solidarity and trust that develop rapidly, outside the traditional channels. I met Swedish and Iranian feminist activists in Dublin, and British feminist activists in Cairo, and have seen live information about the women's marches in Egypt spread quickly through chains of activists from South Africa to the American Deep South. Men and boys, too, are involved as allies – not in large numbers, but in numbers large enough to make their presence impossible to overlook.
. . . .
It's too early to say whether the mood of mutiny will last. When people fight misogyny, they aren't just fighting governments and police forces, religious organisations and strangers in the streets – they also have to deal with intolerance from their loved ones, from their colleagues, from friends and family members who can't or won't understand. Over the last few weeks I have been humbled by the bravery of the activists I've met, particularly the women. It takes a special sort of courage to cast off shame, to risk not just violence but also intimate rejection for the sake of a better future. And the thing about courage is that it's contagious.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/13-0
39 replies
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To post pictures. I took a bunch of our Occupy effort, that have never seen the outside of my phone. 
There are many functions on this magic phone I have no clue how to work. 
to help make this go viral across the globe. You have given courage to so many women, and have encouraged and challenged so many men to join in. It is the unsung heroes like you that will make this world a better place for everyone. The fact that you've done so much of this living in a sea of red voters, well, it just takes my breath away.
It's way past time that this world comes back into balance for the male & female energies.
For your tireless effort to bring us info
rmation.
Just sayin'....
K&R
...now I like the sound of that. Author Laurie Penny is giving world voice to the struggle against the abuse of women. I can't tell you how inspired I am that the women in Cairo are protesting with knives lifted over their heads. What a visual! I pity the fools who think they can attack any woman in their group when they hit the streets. I hope they have numbers. Nothing more wicked than a group of at least 100 or more women protesting with knives. Wouldn't be smart to go out in small groups, as they could be overcome too easy. Thanks, niyad, for posting this article from CommonDreams.org/The Guardian!
...now I like the sound of that.
Author Laurie Penny is giving world voice to the struggle against the abuse of women. I can't tell you how inspired I am that the women in Cairo are protesting with knives lifted over their heads. What a visual! I pity the fools who think they can attack any woman in their group when they hit the streets. I hope they have numbers. Nothing more wicked than a group of at least 100 or more women protesting with knives. Wouldn't be smart to go out in small groups, as they could be overcome too easy. Thanks, niyad, for posting this article from CommonDreams.org/The Guardian! 
Great post! Very inspiring!
