…this week concerns femicide; the femicide of five (so far) women in Ipswich, Suffolk.
While the male dominated media are having a field day of misogynistic entitlement and titillation as they explore this ’story’, the posts and comments on some of the blogs I read are demonstrating much broader analytical skills, better writing and much, much more humanity and respect than any of the media.
I’ll just list them - in no particular order - and thanks to everyone who’s written about this.
And with news of global vigils to be held on Sunday 17th December to mark the annual Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - Being Amber Rhea
8 responses so far ↓
simplywondered // December 14, 2006 at 12:05 am
actually on the news tonight i was amazed that these murdered women were being treated as …human beings! as mothers, daughters - as just fucking human for a change. i’m not saying the media aren’t biased - we’ve all seen too much coverage of this and other issues to be fooled into that, but for once they reported what families and those who loved them were saying about them as mothers as people who had fun whatever - not just victims of drugs of a man or men, not just bits of meat left in a ditch.
for once I was unable to rant at my TV…
still pretty fucking depressing though.
Amber // December 14, 2006 at 12:08 am
Thanks for the link Witchy.
The Ipswich killings are just unconscionable. I don’t often use the word “evil” but… I am feeling it here.
sarmorrow // December 14, 2006 at 12:50 am
Possibility that there’s at least 4 more, dating back to 1992.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6172499.stm
witchywoo // December 15, 2006 at 2:57 am
SW - amazing it is…to hear of a prostitute being regarded as a human person - albeit in relation to others in their lives; as a ‘mother’, a ‘daughter’, etc.
I gripe. It is an advancement. Of sorts. At least it points out that prostitutes are people too. Women. Human women; and not ‘bits of meat’.
I had a big “yahooooo!” the other morning when breakfast telly described them as “women working as prostitutes” instead of ‘just’ “prostitutes”.
I’m having thoughts about how women generally are defined and constrained by their sexual relationship to men and (yes, I realise this is something many of you are far more aware of than I am, but…
I may well post about that soon.
simply wondered // December 15, 2006 at 11:52 pm
i was a bit imprecise (NO! it cannot be etc); as well as being defined as mothers/daughters, the women were being described as ‘teenagers’ (ie what they were like when they were…
and friends - one as ‘a beautiful person inside and out’ so they weren’t simply being defined in relation to men/other people. there seemed to be a conscious effort not to think about anything other than the personal aspect,which was why i was so cruelly deprived of my nightly rant.
and when men die/are killed, they are invariably defined as husbands fathers sons - i don’t think (maybe Privileged Male Viewpint at work here, i admit) this one is down to sexism so much as our tendency (wish?) to see dead people as a network of grievers with a hole in the middle - a kind of very sad polo i suppose.
Jess // December 17, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Thanks for this. I’m currently at my parents’ house in Ipswich and it’s been a pretty horrible couple of weeks. I was really wound up by the press coverage and the police attitude, and although I’ve calmed down enough to write about it myself, it’s good to see that there ARE other people out there talking far more sense than the media!
Amber // December 18, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Update… Dacia has a good post about the NYC event, w/ photos. Thought you might be interested.
witchywoo // December 18, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Thanks for that Amber
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