Home > Web Explorations Index > Fall 2008
Fall, 2008 by Letha Dawson Scanzoni
Welcome to the October–December, 2008 edition of Web Explorations for Christian Feminists. Here you’ll find links to websites that I’ve enjoyed visiting and would like to share with you. They are sites that I think we, as Christian feminists, along with our sisters and brothers of other faiths, will find of interest. Besides increasing our knowledge, the information they provide may stir us to prayer, move us to take loving and compassionate action, and inspire us to increase our efforts for justice and equity. Please remember that the links in Web Explorations take you to sites outside eewc.com, and thus EEWC can’t be responsible for any content they may display. Nor does the inclusion of a link mean that a particular website or article necessarily represents the views of EEWC. The links simply take you to some sites I’ve discovered and think you’ll find worth visiting. No doubt you’ll find some of them to be of greater personal interest than others, but take a little time to scroll through the list, and then click on those that interest you most. I hope you’ll return to visit some of the others later.
Magazine Featuring Female Pastors Pulled from Shelves of SBC Bookstores
Usually, when we hear about books or magazines kept from public display and sold from behind the counter, we can assume they must be considered pornographic. But a Christian magazine? Yet, that is what happened when copies of the September-October issue of Gospel Today arrived at Lifeway bookstores, a chain of more than 100 Christian bookstores operated by the Southern Baptist Convention. The reason for the pull from the shelves? The magazine featured women pastors on the cover and described their ministries in some of the pages inside. To read more about this form of censorship, see this article from a Christianity Today blog. On still another website, Wade Burleson, a Southern Baptist minister, took issue with the SBC Lifeway leaders who pulled the magazine, calling their actions similar to those of a cult. He provided three reasons for his strong accusation.
“Despite Setbacks, Study Says Baptist Women Making Gains in Ministry”
Bob Allen, managing editor of EthicsDaily.com provides signs of encouragement for Baptists who do not follow the Southern Baptist prohibition on women pastors. He points out that the numbers of ordained Baptist women have been growing rapidly.
Report on Gains Made by United Methodist Clergywomen
This United Methodist News Service report presents statistics and personal stories showing the new ground Methodist clergywomen are making, with increasing numbers serving as lead pastors in large churches.
“Why Gender Equity Trumps Religious Rights”
Noting the religious diversity in Canada, Janet Keeping, writing for The Calgary Herald, points out that religious teachings sometimes clash with women’s rights. “Freedom of religion is an important principle in a free society,” she writes, “but it should not override the rights of women.”
Divorce by Text Message
In Malaysia, under Islamic Sharia law, a man was permitted to divorce his wife by simply notifying her in a text message. As reported by BBC News, “Although such a notification of divorce may seem astonishingly brief to some, under Islamic law men are allowed to divorce their wives simply be saying the word ‘talaq’ — I divorce you — three times.”
Extreme Measures in Clamping Down on Women in Jerusalem
“The Haredi sect [an ultra-orthadox Jewish group in Jerusalem] has launched an aggressive campaign against the secular lifestyles of women in Jerusalem,” reports the Guardian. Rigid interpretations of the law also affect the lives of men and children living in the most religiously strict areas of Jerusalem, such as the requirement that even cell phones be kosher.
Iranian Women’s Rights Activists Imprisoned
Four women were the latest of activists arrested for their efforts in working for the equitable treatment of women in Iran. They were convicted of “spreading propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system.” According to this report by Robert Tait for the Guardian, “Activists say women are relegated to second-class citizen status by laws which, for example, give men the custody of children in divorce cases, restrict females to half the inheritance rights due to males and require a wife to seek her husband’s permission to travel abroad.”
Travel Companies that Don’t Realize Women Can Be Doctors
Some women doctors in the U.K. have found that if they choose to use their gender neutral title, “Dr.,” instead of “Ms.” Or “Mrs.,” they can expect to be listed as male passengers. Travel companies say it’s the way their computer systems are programmed.
Sexual Harassment and lollipops
A possibly fake advertisement, circulated via the Web anonymously, showed an unwrapped lollipop covered with flies in contrast to a wrapped one that flies didn’t bother. Its text, in Arabic, said, “You can’t stop them, but you can protect yourself.” It has especially caused controversy in Egypt because of recent sexual harassment incidents in the news there, and its message was thought to be directing Egyptian women to cover up in religious dress if they wanted to avoid sexual harassment. Award-winning journalist, Faisal al Yafai, says such blame-the-victim teachings are dangerous. His thoughtful commentary emphasizes that “In the Middle East, as elsewhere, it’s not the clothes women wear that makes them liable to harassment – it’s men’s attitudes.”
Bringing Dads Back Home with Non-transferable Paternity Leave
This commentary shows that programs such as Norway’s non-transferable paternity leave can be beneficial to fathers, mothers, children, and society as a whole for at least four reasons. See also the material from the European Fatherhood website (which Kimberly George and I recently discussed in EEWC’s 72-27 weblog, especially the posts for Sept. 19 and Sept. 24, 2008).
What Makes Men Cry?
Because male socialization has made it hard for men to talk about why they choke up in public, this article, written semi-humorously for the online magazine of BBC News, provides 10 observed reasons. Be sure to read the comments from readers who provide their own reasons.
Job Loss Equality by Ellen Goodman
“We are getting a fuller picture of the real troubles women and families face these days in what we aren’t supposed to call a recession, “ writes syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman. “When men are downsized, outsourced and discouraged, we say they’re unemployed. But when women get pushed out of the economy, we like to say they “opted out.”
Do women have an inner glass ceiling?
“That’s the reason circulating in the media for why more women aren’t in politics. That conclusion is convenient — and flawed.” A thought-provoking article by J. Goodrich, from Alternet., worth pondering in view of recent political discussions.
“Don’t Poison the Well of Public Discourse.”
Dwight Moody calls for civility in speech and warns that a sense of community is damaged when the language of war and otherness is used in political discussions.
Views of God and the Culture Wars
In this opinion piece, Rabbi Rami Shapiro discusses a Baylor University study that indicates that people tend to hold one of four different ideas about God, and which view they hold influences how they view the world — including politics.
New “Political Gospel” Departs from Christian Faith.
Richard Pierard warns of the dangers of embracing a “political gospel” that violates the true spirit of the gospel message.
Four Essays on Grief:
On October 12, 2008, I was very moved as I listened to NPR’s series, This I Believe, and heard “The Give and Take of Grief,” an essay written and read by Michael Newland about the death of his baby son. The next day, I read and watched a BBC feature by parents who had lost their teenage son to sudden death. It occurred to me that readers of Web Explorations might also find courage and wisdom through reading their stories, along with essays from two others who have lost loved ones at different ages and in different relationships.
“The Give and Take of Grief”
Grieving the death of a premature infant (Read or listen.)“The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do”
Grieving the death of a fiancé (Read or listen.)“A Way to Honor Life”
Grieving the death of a parent (Read or listen.)“Life without My Noisy Boy”
Grieving the death of a teenager (Read, watch, and listen.)
“Faith Matters” (Online Audio)
News and other features about religion that you might have missed on NPR.
U.N. Report on Women’s Equality, 2008-2009 (A three-minute online video)
Congo Rape Victims Speak Out
Long shamed into silence, victims of Congo’s rape epidemic are now courageously telling their stories. Read the New York Times report and watch the brief online video.
Turkey’s Headscarf Debate
These stories from three women show their different views about head coverings and the meanings each attaches to the practice (Short online video)
Barefoot College (Online video)
This feature from Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, broadcast on PBS in September 2008, tells a remarkable story about the empowerment of women. The women come from impoverished rural areas of India and learn a remarkable engineering skill that benefits not only them and their families but entire communities as well. The founder of Barefoot College, Bunker Roy, inspired by the compassionate spirit and work of Gandhi, says, “Our job is to show how it is possible to take an illiterate woman and make her into an engineer in six months and show that she can solar-electrify a village.” (You can read the transcript if you don’t wish to view the video – though I especially recommend watching the video to see and hear these women in action.)
“Is My Lunch Causing Global Warming?” (Interactive feature)
Check out the Low Carbon Diet Calculator to determine your food-related carbon footprint.
How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist (brief online video)
In a fast-paced hip-hop style of speaking, Jay Smooth, tells us that to succeed in a serious discussion about race, we need to focus on a person’s words or behavior, rather than attaching a label to the person. See also Connie Schultz’s October 5, 2008 column for background on this video and its author.
Some DVDs worth exploring
Those of you who have been reading this Web Explorations column regularly, know that I enjoy viewing worthwhile, meaningful movies whether in a theater or on DVD — especially independently produced films, documentaries, films from other countries, and in general, films that are often lesser known and may be overlooked). Here are some that I’ve found well worth viewing over the past year (though many were produced much earlier than when I discovered them). All are now available on DVD.
“It Was a Wonderful Life”
Narrated by Jodie Foster, this is an eye-opening documentary tracing the everyday lives of six homeless women in California who do not fit the stereotype most people associate with homelessness. The women in this film somehow manage to survive by living in cars, motel rooms, even a U-Haul trailer, while keeping up appearances as tastefully dressed working women and finding employment or other sources of income (such as collecting aluminum cans) whenever and wherever possible. The film awakens viewers to the realization that circumstances such as desertion, divorce, medical bills, loss of jobs, unfortunate investment decisions, or natural disasters, can put anyone — even middle-class women such as these — out on the streets, the last place they ever expected to be. I was not able to find an online trailer for this film, but I did find this more detailed review. (I was able to rent the film from Netflix.)
The Business of Being Born
An informative and controversial look at maternity care and childbirth in the United States. Watch the trailer, read the reviews, and consider renting the movie and pondering the points it is making.
Beyond Belief
An inspiring documentary about two women who met and became friends after their husbands were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. They decided to turn their tragedy into an effort to help widows in Afghanistan, including grass-roots fundraising and creating awareness of their plight and traveling to Afghanistan to meet them
Salt of the Earth
This film is a classic, filmed in the 1950s. But I rented it only recently after it was recommended in the film club I attend. Many of those who created the film or acted in it were blacklisted during the McCarthy era that ruined so many Hollywood careers. Therefore, when it was first released and long afterward, theaters refused to show it. It’s the story of a strike at a New Mexico zinc mine and the reversal in gender roles that occurred when, because of certain legal restrictions that were enforced as the strike went on, the men were no longer permitted to picket. The women came up with a creative idea and saw a possible loophole in the wording of the legal restriction that was forcing the men to end their picket line. The women argued that the only way the picket line could be continued would be if the women took it over (since they weren’t considered mine workers), and the men stayed home with the children. Thus, in addition to the film’s social justice message about demanding right treatment for those who worked the mines, the feminist message of the film is powerful! You see ordinary, traditionally-minded women courageously standing up to the bullying of greedy mine owners and managers and finding themselves transformed in the process. And as the men who had worked the mines find out firsthand what “women’s work” really entails, they become aware that “women’s concerns” (such as the need for running water and sanitation) are valid social justice issues that the mine management will need to be confronted with. Read more about it here to understand why this movie is considered a classic and shown in university film courses.
XXY
Tastefully and sensitively done, this award-winning film from Argentina (in Spanish with English subtitles) is a haunting portrayal of the confusion and anguish experienced by an intersex child upon reaching puberty. (In this case, the child has been raised as a girl and treated with hormones, although her physical make-up includes both male and female characteristics.) The movie is also about parent-child interaction and communication (or the lack thereof) in two families confronted with similar but different issues involving the developing self-identity of their teenagers. The conversations in this film are spare, and the plot unfolds very gradually – almost too gradually; so it’s a good idea to know something about the film before watching it so that you’ll be neither puzzled nor shocked by some of the language or behavior as the young people try to understand who they are. But it’s a movie that you’re likely to think about long afterward and to develop a new understanding and empathy for persons who have been born with an intersexual genetic makeup. In addition to the excellent review by Roger Ebert in the link that I included with the movie title above, you may also want to read the New York Times review.
Young@Heart
If you haven’t yet seen this film, be sure to rent this DVD. You’ll be energized by both the music and the warm friendships produced by this amazing group of older people. Their upbeat attitude toward aging and sheer joy in living will have your own heart singing. Here is the original preview of the film before it was first shown in theaters. In addition, on the Young@Heart website (the link in the heading at the top of this paragraph), you’ll also see a list of other performances by the Young@Heart chorus that you can sample online through YouTube.
The Visitor
This is a wonderful film. It covers so many themes – growing older, loneliness, demoralization in work, unexpected life-changing friendships that can surprise one at any stage of life, the sense of community found in drumming, the plight of undocumented immigrants, and so much more. It will touch both your mind and your heart.
Mothers and Daughters
This DVD consists of two short simple but powerful dramas concerning mother-daughter relationships, “Summer’s End” and “A Rainy Day,” both by Beth Brickell.
I’ve already discussed my fondness for these award-winning dramas (especially “Summer’s End”) on my “72-27 weblog” post for October 11, “When Gender Roles Become Straitjackets,” so I won’t say more here. I think you’ll find that the film trailer for this DVD speaks for itself, so be sure to watch it. And then think about your own childhood and the messages you received about gender roles.
That’s all for this time. I hope you enjoyed reading about this quarter’s topics and checking out the various links. Web Explorations may even be beneficial to your health! According to a new study from UCLA, surfing the Web is good for the brain, boosting its power and slowing down age-related physiological changes.
Joyfully surfing,
Your Web Explorations Guide,
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
© 2008 Evangelical & Ecumenical Women’s Caucus