Print Media
AFRICA
Women
Magazine published by Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women Studies, P.O.Box 167 Omdurman, Sudan
The magazine's second issue, published in December 1986 included an Arabic section, a report on the BBSAWS participation in the UN Forum on the Decade of Women in Nairobi in 1985, and articles on university women as extension agents, a marketing cooperative for rural women carried out by the BBSAWS in the Sinkat area of the Red Sea Province, an overview of women's roles and status in the west and a look at women in public administration and management in four regions in Sudan.
My Spirit Is Not Banned
By Frances Baird as told to Barbie
Schreiner. Zimbabwe Publishing House, PO Box BW-350, Harare, Zimbabwe
Frances Baird's story spans 80 years and her struggles in South Africa on three different but complementary fronts: the trade unions, the African National Congress and the Federation of South African women. My Spirit is an account of her personal experience in these struggles, based on hours of interviews and discussions with Barbie Schreiner, who lets Frances tell the story in her own words. It is the personal view and story of a woman deeply and sincerely involved in the daily events of a nation's struggle for freedom and democracy.
Maru
By Bessi Head, Zimbabwe Publishing House, P.O. Box BW-350, Harare Zimbabwe
Second novel by this South African writer who now lives in exile in Botswana. It looks at the relationship between four characters and reveals the emptiness of inherited tribal prejudices. Central character Maru takes a step that challenges the traditional way in which an heir to the Dilepe chieftainship should behave.
Oil Debts and Democracy: Nigeria
ROAPE 37, December 1986. Published by the Review of African Political Economy, Regency House, 75-77 St. Mary's Road, Sheffield S2 4AN, UK
This special issue on Nigeria focuses on the particular problems of the country's political economy caused by the collapse of the OPEC oil pricing structure and the huge increase in the country's debts. Includes an article on Women In Nigeria (WIN) - a group founded in 1982. The article considers WIN's militant approach to the mobilization of women and its contribution to the political debate. This scholarly journal is published every four months.
Workers and Seekers: Creative Writing by Black Women in Britain
Edited by Rhonda Cobham and Merle Collins. The Women's Press Ltd., 34 Great Sutton St., London EC IV ODX, UK
A collection of poetry and prose which offers profound insights into the experience of women in Britain. Some of the work is by African and Caribbean women, some by Asians. It tells what it is like to be a minority and to be conscious of injustice and oppression.
The writing draws on the rhythms of black music and traditions of writing from the Caribbean and Asia. It includes several short stories, an autobiographical essay and some line drawings. The main themes are survival, political and social injustice and the universal problems of women's lives.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
On the Women's Movement by Way of an Introduction
By Rajni Bakshi. Special issue of Lokayan Bulletin 4/6. Available from ISAlipurRd., New Delhi 110054, India
This issue looks at traditional social and cultural organization in India, the effects of modern feminist thought and the results of activism in the subcontinent. It comes up with a comprehensive review of the women's movement here.
Health For The Millions
The Voluntary Health Association of India, June 1986, Volume XIINo 3. Available from the VHAI, 40 Institutional Area (near Qutub Hotel) South of IIT, New Delhi 110016, India
This bi-monthly tackles the difficult task of improving health care in rural and urban India. This particular issue focuses on the ABC of child-survival, giving clear and well-illustrated information on pregnancy, delivery and baby-care. Drawing on both modern and traditional wisdoms, the publication offers useful hints for health-workers, parents and the community at large.also provides information based on new research into possibly dangerous drugs and practices used in handling pregnancy and childcare.
Science and Technology for Women
Compiled by the Centre for Science for Villages, Magan Sangrahalaya, Maganwadi, Wardha 442 001, India
A compendium of processes which have been developed in different parts of (particularly rural) India. They are described in a clear, systematic fashion. Step-by-step illustrations help to make the technologies extremely accessible to readers.
The compendium is divided into five sections:
- Employment Generating Technologies
- Drudgery Reducing Technologies
- Drinking Water and Sanitary Technologies
- Nutrition and Health Improvement Technologies
- Hazards and Accident Protection Technologies
Many of the methods described can improve the lot of deprived and dispossessed women. They provide simple tools and devices which have been developed from both traditional practice and modern science.
Demystification of Law For Women
By Nandita Haskar and Anju Singh. Lancer Press, PO Box 3802, New Delhi 110049, India
A clear, systematic primer on Indian law which uses excellent cartoons and well-thought-out explanations to show how women are subjugated by male law and tradition.
Quoting original legal sources and scriptural texts as well as statistics and actual cases, this book provides a highly readable and convincing argument for the struggle against the established legal system in India.
Through flashbacks to historical and cultural beginnings, it patiently illustrates how the constitutional rights of women are nullified by the insistence on adherence to the tenet of freedom of religion and maintains that religion and the family are both based on the oppression and suppression of women.
The delightful cartoons ably illustrate the text. Indian physical and personality types jump out of the page with remarkable familiarity and traditional authority figures are engagingly deflated. The book is most illuminating and also great fun to read.
Taking Sides: The Choices Before the Health Worker
By Dr. C. Sathyamala, Nirmala Sundaram, Nalini Bhanot. Published by the Asian Network For Innovative Training Trust, Madras
Can it be that the problems faced by rural health workers are due to the inherent limitations of modern medicine? Is modern medicine the result of an impartial enquiry into the problems of ill-health?
These are only some of the issues tackled in this far- reaching study of health care which has emerged from the experiences of several health workers in India. It demonstrates how powerful interest groups have helped to shape the development of modern medicine in a way that has created a limited view of health, disease and the process of healing.
It analyzes how health programs are designed to deal with immediate health problems but do not deal with the various interrelated factors that produce health problems in the first place.
The final chapter gives practical suggestions on how to deal with the complex problems of ill-health, exploring various possibilities open to the health worker.
Aimed at nurses, health professionals, social workers and development activists, the text is well-illustrated and simply written.
Ofis Blong Oi Meri
Published by the YWCA of Austraha Pacific Area Office, Box 3940, Samambula, Suva, Fiji
A newsletter dealing with issues of particular interest to Pacific women. It aims to appear four times a year and provides information on meetings, workshops and other women's projects. It also gives material on resources available to women's groups.
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Companera - Voz de la Mujer en la Construccion del Reino
Available from Apartado 1025, Barquisimato - Lara, Venezuela
Newsletter of the Kaleb Christian Movement in Venezuela. Issue no. 18 (Nov/Dec 1986) coincides with the 4th anniversary of the newsletter and is concerned with Latin American children. It includes articles on breastfeeding and paternal responsibility in child rearing.
Mejor Sola Que Mai Acompanada: For The Latina in an Abusive Relationship
By Myrna M. Zambrano. Published by The Seal Press, 312 S. Washington, Seattle. WA 98104, USA
A bi-lingual English/Spanish book for Latina women in the USA who are involved in physically or emotionally abusive relationships. It offers support, understanding and practical information on many issues and questions including:
- what abuse is
- family and cultural expectations
- getting police, medical and legal assistance
- where to go
- what the church may say
- protecting your children
- dealing with discrimination
It also discusses the special problems of women with few resources, and women who speaks little English.
El Sexo Oculto Del Dinero: Formas de la Dependencia Femenina (The Hidden Sex of Money: Forms of Female Dependency)
By Clara Coria. Published by Grupo Editor Latino Americano Emece Editores, Alsina 2062, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Analysis of the problematic relationships between men and women in our society within the context of a patriarchal culture which imposes a marked discrimination between men and women with respect to the acquisition, administration and production of money. The themes analyzed are absolutely essential to understand these delicate relationships which profoundly affect both sexes. The difficulties in recovering professional fees, the experience of blame in money practices together with the over- riding necessity to be altruistic in the case of women and the cultural
trap which imposes on men the need to make money to prove virility, etc. The book is aimed at professionals in various disciplines of human sciences and at men and women who are interested in the subject. At the same time, the author points out the difficulty of finding a model of major parity between the sexes. Testimonies from women are included.
An initial text for those who want to approach the subject for the first time, but also valuable for those who have already gone through some of these problems. Dedicated to all women who have suffered and are suffering dependency and those who are struggling for autonomy, and the men who tolerate the changes. The author recognizes that economic independence does not guarantee autonomy, especially for women.
NORTH AMERICA AND CANADA
Women Skills Brochure and Quarterly Newsletter "Tools for Change"
Available from Womenskills, 4340 Carson Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5J 2X9 Canada
Womenskills focuses on women's work, education and economic survival. This brochure outlines the organization's project for developing educational materials from the life experiences and everyday knowledge of women who work and live in communities in British Columbia. It's microtechnology project has been designed because many women work in jobs which are rapidly being changed or eliminated by microtechnology. Research has been planned to describe and analyze the current economic crisis in B.C. to look at job losses and areas of new growth as a result of computerization, barriers to women's participation and alternative applications of technology.
Media and Values (An Interfaith Media Magazine)
Available from 1962 S.Shenandoah, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USA
Quarterly magazine designed as a resource for social analysis of contemporary media issues. Published by the Media Action Research Center, Inc. an educational non-profit organization formed to research the impact of television on viewers and create resources about media's influence on society.
Women and Environments
Available from Center for Urban and Community Studies Room 426, 455 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2G8 Canada
Quarterly magazine published by the Center for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto and the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University. Vol. 9, no.l 1987 examines several different attempts to change the nature of the relationship between the planner and the planned and women's bid to gain access to the planning process. In the Netherlands, women's planning interests have been incorporated formally into governmental structures. In Toronto, a consultative and coalition building process is using a variety of techniques to promote women's concerns.
Information Summary
Published by and available from International Clearinghouse on Adolescent Fertility, Center for Population Options, 1012 14th Street NWSuite 1200, Washington DC 20005, USA
After a two year break, the quarterly newsletter of the International Clearinghouse on Adolescent Fertility resumes publication. Published in English, French and Spanish, it is available to youth workers, family planning providers and others concerned about too-early childbearing. It deals with programs and issues related to adolescent fertility.
No Safe Place - Violence Against Women and Children
Edited by Connie Guberman and Margie Wolfe. Published by The Women's Press, 229 College St., 204 Toronto, Ontario M5TIR4, Canada
Women and children live in the shadow of violence all the time. Rape, child abuse and sexual assault, pornography, wife battering and sexual harassment are facts of everyday life in our society. In no safe place, all of these issues are explored for the first time in a single resource. Original articles present recent data together with incisive analyses and discussion of possible solutions. Women writers expose a frightening picture of violence against women and children, forcing questions about values and attitudes that form the foundation of society.
Union Sisters - Women In The Labour Movement
Edited by Linda Briskin and Lynda Yanz Published by The Women's Educational Press, 16 Baldwin St.,Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Details the experiences, issues and role of women in organized labour today. It is a first attempt to record and analyse the experiences of women in unions in Canada. Women's activism in unions has since increased dramatically in the last decade, and the book is an attempt to document the struggles and victories of the movement of union women as well as provide some direction to them as they fight to defend the interests of working people. More than 900,000 women in Canada belong to unions and in the last ten years the number of women in the union movement has almost doubled. The book is divided into six sections: Background Union Issues, The Challenge of the Unorganized, Inside Unions, The Power of Alliances and Resources.
The Female World From A Global Perspective
By Jessie Bernard, Indiana University Press, Tenth and Morton Streets, Bioomington, Indiana 47405 USA
By tracing the varied networks and dreams of women, Jessie Bernard provides an alternative look at the problems of women around the world. The author states that the female world is only now being discovered. It has been invisible even to female scholars, who inherited a male-created and male-oriented body of knowledge.
Giving equal consideration to non Western women, Bernard suggests that sociocultural factors determine separate and unequal female and male worlds. She then examines the factors which contribute to this separation. She rejects both capitalism and marxism in favor of a world emerging feminism and a feminist enlightenment.
INTERNATIONAL
Through the Break - Women in Personal Struggle
Edited by Pearlie McNeill, Marie McShea and Praibha Parmar. Published by Shaba Feminist Publishers, lOA Bradbury Street, London N16 8JN, UK
A pioneering collection of writings in which 23 women from a variety of backgrounds speak with honesty and emotion about their experiences of nervous breakdown, alcohohsm, serious illness, disability, domestic violence and rape. They reveal the draining and chronic effects of "everyday depression" and physical exhaustion in their lives. Each describes how she found the strength and will to survive the deeply harrowing experience of her particular crisis. The book includes a resource list and will provide personal and practical help to many women.
Common Fate, Common Bond Women in the Global Economy
By Swasti Mitter. Published by Pluto Press, The Works, 105a Torriano Avenue, London NWS 2RX, UK
Women's employment is expanding worldwide. Women are the key workers in the new sweatshops of the Third World and - increasingly - of the industrialized west. Swasti Mitter shows how new technology has allowed the large corporations to reorganize production globally. A new international division of labor is emerging; its key characteristic is the division between core male workers and peripheral women workers. It is increasingly black women in the sweatshop economy of the west who provide the most disposable labor of all. Drawing extensively on grassroots research by feminist organizatons in many countries, Swasti Mitter documents the astonishing strength and determination that women are bringing to this struggle.
Migrant Women - A Selection of Documents for Study and Action
Published by and available from Migration Secretariat, World Council of Churches, 150 Route de Ferney, 1211 Geneve 20, Switzerland
Since World War II, large scale migrations across seas, great land expanses and linguistic and cultural boundaries have become the norm rather than the exceptions they were in earlier periods of history. The problem reached such proportions that the UN General Assembly in 1980 recognized that its various effects could be addressed only by an international agreement which went beyond the ILO mandate. A working group was established to draft an International Convention to protect the rights of migrant workers and their families.
Over the past two decades, international economic conditions have conspired to make women primary actors in the migration process. These documents look at how migrant women are struggling for their rights in different parts of the world, and the strategies they use. They provide an analysis of the root causes of discrimination and oppression. Available in English, French and Spanish.
Works of Tatyana Mamanova, USSR
Tatyana Mamanova was forced to leave the Soviet Union in 1980 for publishing an underground women's journal. She is calling for a psychological revolution to transform Soviet patriarchy. She sees feminism as a crucial international force of humanism in the age of thermo-nuclear weapons. She has traveled and lectured throughout the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe and now teaches a course on Women in Russia and the Soviet Union in the US. Copies of her articles on pornography in the Soviet Union and other related issues can be obtained by contacting her at:
Women's Research Institute
Hartford College for Women
50 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06105
USA
Audiovisual Resources
Let's Learn to Draw Diagrams
Slideshow, in Spanish. Set of 24 slides, a cassette and guide to projection, with text and sketches. Time 24 minutes. Cost: US$60.
Demonstrates the principles of diagram drawing, teaching the graphic elements which the diagram drawer uses, as well as the steps and techniques to achieve a harmonious method which is easy to understand.
Let's Learn Silk Screen Printing
Slideshow. Set of 159 slides, a cassette and illustrated guide to projection. Time 29 minutes. Cost US$80.
Teaches how to construct a simple workshop and demonstrates the technique of silk screen printing, so a domestic press can be obtained which print on cards, posters, wood, cloth etc. An indispensable resource for popular communication.
Both available from:
TIAC - Chasquihuasi
Centro de Documentacion
Juan Enrique Concha 302
Santiago, Chile tel. 41564
La Verguenza de la Senora Ana (The Shame of Senora Ana) and Hector, un guerrero del Paseo Ahumada (Hector, Soldier of Smoky Avenue)
Radioplays on tape. Both 90 minutes long. Cost US$20 each.
Useful for group discussion, these radio plays are an excellent means of analyzing problems. The first is based on a woman's feelings when she is confronted with hunger and has to resort to taking food from the community. From shame and rage she discovers other values: the consciousness of her capacity and her rights as a woman.
The second tells the story of Hector, a street vendor. In Latin America, thousands of men and women who are out of work are searching for any kind of activity by which they can survive. Hector's story illustrates the problems of the underemployed and helps to promote debate and the consequent search for solutions.
Both available from:
TIAC - Chasquihuasi
Centro de Documentacion
Juan Enrique Concha 302
Santiago Chile
tel. 41564
Cinema - Cuba
Mujer Ante el Espejo (Woman Before The Mirror)
Directed by Marisol Trujillo Color: 35 mm, B&W: 16mm. Length: 17 min. Made in 1983.
Documentary which shows, through the experiences of a dancer, the problems of maternity and the complications of daily life from the birth of the first child.
Retrato de Teresa (Portrait of Teresa)
Directed by Pastor Vega Color: 35 mm, B&W 16mm. Length: 103 minutes. Made in 1979
The central argument of the film is the crisis of a couple and the changes in the Cuban family.
Patakin
Directed by Manuel Octavia Gomez Color: 35 mm. Length: 108 minutes. Made in 1982.
Shango Valdes, "the young man of the film " brags about his easy triumphs, of his machismo and his style of life, at the expense of his wife, Candelaria.
Lucia
Directed by Humberto Solas B&W: 16 mm. Length: 160 minutes. Made in 1968.
Through the story of three women, three key periods in the development of Cuban nationality and its struggles for liberation, are described.
All available from:
Zafra AC Cirie Difusion
Leonardo da Vinci 82
Mixcoac 03910
Mexico D.F., Mexico
Other Films From Latin America
Comenzada a Ser Mujer (Beginning To Be A Woman)
Directed by Miriam Ernst and Elizabeth Peredo Video, color, length 15 minutes. In Spanish. Bolivia 1985. Available from Coordinadora de la Mujer, Maria Elena Querejazu, Casilla 3961, La Paz, Bolivia.
One of a series of three whose object is to provide basic information on sexuality. A group of Aymaras women discuss the subject and recount their experiences of practical learning. The other two videos, both of the same length are : "I'm No longer an Adolescent Now I'm a Woman" by Carmen Beatriz Ruiz and "A New Life" by Elizabeth Peredo.
"Warmikuna Rimanchis"
Produced by the Centra Amauta de Estudios y Promocion de la Mujer (Center for Study and Promotion of Women). Available from Centra Amauta de Estudio y Promocion de la Mujer, Apartado 982, Nueva Baja 576. Cusco, Peru
Radio program for poor women in the shanty-town suburbs of Cusco Peru, dealing with everyday social problems. Amauta supports the organization of the Cusco women by setting up workshops in different areas: on sexuality, nutrition/health, legal advice, etc.
To Die a Little
Produced by Circulo de Estudios Feministas CEF (Feminist Study Group)
This is a soap opera with a difference. It deals with the problems of sexual violence. Told in an easy and didactic way, it shows the situation of a young girl and her family confronted by this reality. To Die A Little is a new example in the series The Neighbour.
Available from:
Circulo de Estudios Feministas - CEF
Apartado Postal 2793
Santo Domingo
Republica Dominicana