Honoring Erica Jong | Real Women's Stories | June 2011

Molly Jong-Fast Says World’s Women Aren’t Oppressed, Feminism Is a Luxury Problem AOC Sexual Politics

EJ: But why is it that feminism is always considered a luxury problem?

MJF: I mean, I think we’ve gotten far enough. We’re not that oppressed.

Trying to channel our anger at Molly Jong-Fast for her comments about feminism in the 21st century, we will now call out individual women’s real stories & statistics as they hit the news wires.

Erica Jong created an international context around her discussion of feminism’s challenges. Molly is answering about the lives of women globally, leaving us speechless over her words.

Deepika Thathaal | Memini

Memini brings dignity to victims of honor-violence Women News Network

Launched in April 2011 a new website called Memini, which means ‘remembrance’ in Latin, gives a digital memorial to the victims of honor crimes worldwide, outlines the lives of women who have been murdered through honour violence.

Created by award-winning Norwegian filmmaker, composer and celebrity pop singer Deepika Thathaal known as Deeyah by her fans, the Memini site brings an unforgettable look at the haunting faces of honor violence. Deeyah was born in Norway of Pakistani and Afghan parents.

A classically trained singer, Deeyah left her burgeoning pop music career because of harassment and disapproval from hardline Islamic groups. She lived in the US and England but the threats against her and her family followed her.  Today Deeyah is associated with Freemuse | The World Forum on Music and Censorship.

In support of Memini, we will call out and honour the women who have lost their lives as victims of murder to restore family prestige and order.

Memini Honour Killing | Noor Faleh Almaleki 20, USA see Memini

Noor and her family had moved from Iraq to the US and settled in suburban Phoenix in 1990’s. When Noor made the decision to live with her boyfriend and his mother, instead of conform to her family’s pressure for arranged marriage, tensions arose between her father Faleh Hassan Almaleki and Noor. On October 20, 2009 in an Arizona parking lot Noor’s father attempted to run over his daughter and the mother of her boyfriend Amal Edan Khalaf, 43, with his 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Noor spent two weeks in coma fighting for her life, but died as a result of the injuries she suffered.

Rumana Manzur

UBC Student Blind After Bangladesh Attack CBC News

Rumana Manzur — who was at University of British Columbia pursuing a master’s degree in political science and is a professor in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital — was allegedly brutalized and blinded by her husband earlier this month.

Manzur returned to Bangladesh to visit her five-year-old daughter and husband. Manzur says her husband ‘pinned her to a bed in a jealous rage, gouged her eyes out with his fingers and bit off part of her nose.’