Women's Studies Resource Centre

COMMUNITY EVENT- 1ST & 2ND SEPTEMBER

wsrc — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:26:14 +0000

Two upcoming events where Suraya Pakzad, founder of Voice of Women Organization, talks about her work for women and girls in Afghanistan are listed below:

Wednesday 1 September 2010, 6.30pm for a 6.45pm start

Allan Scott Auditorium, UniSA City West campus, Hawke Building, 50-55 North Terrace, Adelaide

2nd September 10am – 12noon at the Australian Education Union premises 163 Greenhill Rd Parkside (Gold coin donation)

WSRC Needs Your Help!

wsrc — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:04:39 +0000

The Facts

The Women’s Studies Resource Centre (WSRC) is the first & largest women’s library in the southern hemisphere, comprising a diverse & comprehensive range of more than 20,000 non-fiction and fiction resources by women and/or about women & relating to gender issues.
The WSRC is a not-for-profit organisation that has contributed to the practical promotion of gender equity and the improvement in the status of women in Australian for 35 years.
The collection is used by DECS, TAFE, ACE and university staff and students, both locally and nationally, by private schools and colleges, registered training providers, researchers and community borrowers.
For the past 35 years, DECS and more recently, DFEEST, have funded this successful and invaluable organisation’s operations.
As of July 1^st 2010 DFEEST has withdrawn its funding. Unless further funding is received,

THE WSRC FACES IMMINENT CLOSURE!

How our supporters can help

Please write/email to our Premier, Minister for Education (DECS) and Minister for Further Education (DFEEST) to implore them to prevent our closure by providing the WSRC with the funding we need to stay open. These are their contact details

The Hon. Jay Weatherill, Minister for Education & Children’s Services (DECS)

31 Flinders Street, Adelaide, SA 5000

Email – decsminedcs@sa.gov.au

The Hon. Jack Snelling, Minister for Employment Training and Further Education (DFEEST)

G.P.O. Box 1838, Adelaide, SA 5001

Email – minetfe@saugov.sa.gov.au

The Hon. Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia

G.P.O. Box 2343, Adelaide, SA 5001

Email – premier@sa.gov.au

Thank you for your help.

64 Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide, 5006

(08) 8267 3633 www.wsrc.org.au

THE FEMALE EUNUCH 40 YEARS ON

wsrc — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:57:42 +0000

Monica Dux, co-author of ‘The Great Feminist Denial’ has written an essay about Germaine Greer‘s ‘The Female Eunuch’ in a new journal entitled ‘Kill Your Darlings’. In the essay, she describes the impact on women of ‘The Female Eunuch’ at the time of publishing (1970) and now. An interview on Tuesday 27th July on Radio National’s ‘Life Matters’ program in which Monica Dux talks about her essay can be heard by streaming or be downloaded.The impact on women of ’The Female Eunuch’ is also written about by Germaine Greer herself in an article in the Age’s National Times on March 8th (International Women’s Day) this year.

Our library holds copies of ‘The Female Eunuch’ as well as most of her other books as listed below:

The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and their work (1979)

Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984)

The Madwoman’s Underclothes: Essays and Occasional Writings 1968-1985 (1987)

Daddy We hardly Knew you (1989)

The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause (1991)

The Whole Woman (1999)

AYAAN HIRSI ALI

wsrc — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:51:22 +0000

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author and outspoken critic of fundamentalist Islam, particularly in regard to women, is in Australia this week. Interviewed (downloadable or listenable) on ABC Radio National’s ‘Life Matters’, she talks briefly about her life and relationship with family members, as well as how she arrived at her current atheism and opposition to radical Islam.

Living in the United States, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the founder of the AHA Foundation, a charitable organisation that helps protect and defend the rights of women in the west against militant Islam. She is also the author of autobiography and biography, ‘Infidel’; ‘The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam; and currently, ‘Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilisations’

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

wsrc — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:36:08 +0000

Interesting (downloadable) discussion on Radio National’s ‘Life Matters’ program this morning (2-7-10) about sexual harassment in the workplace which, in Australia, is apparently experienced by 22% of women and 5% men. Contributing to the discussion were the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick; Juliet Bourke; Moira Rayner; James Thomson, editor of Smartcompany, as well as stories and opinions from members of the public.

FIRST WOMAN PM

wsrc — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:41:04 +0000

As of yesterday 24-6-10, Australia has its first woman prime minister. Born in Wales and growing up in Adelaide from the age of four, Julia Gillard was sworn in ysterday after succeeding Kevin Rudd.

MUSLIM FEMINISTS

wsrc — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:19:46 +0000

On three occasions this year, Radio National’s program on religion - “The Spirit of things” has been about issues of women in Islam. Five prominent Muslim women feminists and authors have been interviewed and all of their interviews can be downloaded or transcripts read by clicking on the links below. The programs and women interviewed are as follows:

14-2-2010 iMuslim: Mona Eltahawy

An Egyptian-born Muslim journalist living in New York is one of the new wave of iMuslims who are using the internet to push reform in Islam. Like the “Men in Headscarves” campaign by Iranian men who’ve posted pictures of themselves on the internet, Mona protests the covering of women as a human rights issue. She was recently awarded the Anvil of Freedom Award from the University of Denver for outstanding contributions to the field of journalism.

28-3-2010 Muslim Women Reformers

A book by Sydney-based Dr. Ida Lichter, (no website) Muslim Women Reformers brings to light the many Muslim women around the world who are risking their lives to bring changes to the way Islam is interpreted and imposed especially on women and children. As well, we hear from the African-American Islamic scholar, Amina Wadud, who made headlines when she led Friday prayers of men and women in New York City. But her major work is through Qur’anic studies that are intended to liberate the text from a male-centred view.

23-5-2010 Veil of Tears

Senator Cory Bernardi’s call to follow Belgium and ban the Burqa in Australia has set off a firestorm of commentary where confusion and contradiction reign. Is it a feminist issue, a freedom of religion issue, or a political issue? For Professor of Sociology, Marnia Lazreg (no website) author of Questioning the Veil, the Burqa is the tip of an iceberg of gender issues, which she first violently experienced growing up in Algeria. For Dr. Shakira Hussein of the University of Melbourne, it’s imperative to stand up for choosing the Burqa even if she doesn’t agree with it.

-Jo

“Why Feminism Matters”

wsrc — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:20:28 +0000

On 9th April 2010 Radio National’s “Life Matters” program aired highlights of a forum called “Why Feminism Matters”. Hosted by Lisa Forrest and discussing issues of the day in Australia, Great Britain and the United States, the speakers included:

Fiona Mackay
Director of the Graduate School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Karen Beckwith
Flora Stone Mather Professor, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Sue Goodwin
Senior lecturer in policy studies, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney

Rebecca Huntley
Social researcher and director, Ipsos Mackay Report

These highlights can be heard or downloaded by going to Radio national’s website at abc.net.au/rn/lifematters under past programs or by clicking on the link above. The whole forum which was shown on ABC1 ”Big Ideas” on April 19th can also be heard or downloaded at abc.net.au/tv/fora in the Culture and Society section or by clicking on the link immediately above.

New Book by Natasha Walter

wsrc — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:53:27 +0000

In March this year, British author and feminist Natasha Walter has published a new book entitled Living Dolls: the Return of Sexism. In it she describes Britain’s culture at present as ’hypersexual’ and asserts that while women today have more opportunities than did previous generations, they are stymied by a culture that idealises an exaggerated femininity among young girls, and a porn-star style sexuality coupled with punishingly narrow physical ideals among teenagers and young women. Rosemary Neill in her article in the Review section of the Week-end Australian March 13-14 says that Natasha Walter found no shortage of evidence to support her thesis that the values of the sex industry and mainstream sex culture are merging and falsely being sold to young women as a form of empowerment. She also suggests that ’Living Dolls’ builds on other feminist critiques of popular culture’s distortions of female sexuality such as Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy and Australian Emily Maguire’s ‘Princesses and Porn-stars.

A podcastable interview with Natasha Walter about this issue and her new book can be found at the Life Matters program 24th March of Radio National’s website.

Our library holds:

The New Feminism by Natasha Walter 1998

On the Move: Feminism and the New Generation edited by Natasha Walter 1999

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy 2005

-Jo

LUNCH ON WORLD AIDS DAY 27-11-09

wsrc — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:42:22 +0000

The HIV Women’s Project at Women’s Health Statewide, CYWHS, and PEACE (Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis service at Relationships Australia) will co-host a lunch to ‘Celebrate and Honour Women’ on World AIDS Day 2009.

Each year on World AIDS day (http://www.acsa.org.au/aaw.html), the HIV Women’s Project hold an event that highlights the issues for women who live with HIV.

This year’s event is an opportunity for women from diverse cultures to open up conversations between communities.

The lunch will be held 12.30 – 2.30pm, Tuesday 1 December 2009 at Relationships Australia (SA), 49a Orsmond Street, Hindmarsh. Please RSVP for catering purposes, to the HIV Women’s Project on 8239 9600.

Look out for the red ribbons which will be sold throughout Adelaide on Friday 27 November, to support South Australian’s living with HIV.