Jezebel: international affairs

Report: Scottish Men Buy Larger Rubbers

Dodai — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EDT

"Supermarket giant Tesco reported that more of its extra-large condoms had been bought in Glasgow than anywhere else in the UK." A stab at tomorrow's headline: "Scotland Flooded With Ladies Interested In Foreign Exchange!" [Daily Express]

Oscar-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo (Hotel...

Dodai — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Oscar-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, Secret Life Of Bees) will narrate a "hard-hitting" documentary for the UK's Channel 4, from the people who brought us China's Stolen Children. This time, the subject is children in Nigeria who are tortured for being witches. Expect to hear shocking stories: a 13-year-old was tied up with chicken wire and starved and beaten for two weeks; another 14-year-old girl was burned with acid before her mother attempted to bury her alive. This happens when preachers in poor areas brand children witches or wizards and charge their parents to "exorcise" the spirits. [Guardian]

Sometimes we see a story and we don't know...

Dodai — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Sometimes we see a story and we don't know what to think. Today's Telegraph reports that teen girls in the Zulu tribe have been ordered to cover up during traditional dances because European tourists keep taking pictures of their bare bottoms. According to the report, the girls — all virgins — dance to pay homage to the King, who chooses his wives from among the dancers. The dancers don't wear underwear because they're proud to display their innocence. Although photography at the dance is regulated, "The girls are said to be angry at being told to cover up because they are losing the chance to show off their virginity in the customary way." [Telegraph]

It's One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Women In Afghanistan

Dodai — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EDT

In Bamian, a "peaceful corner" of Afghanistan, women are driving cars, working in public offices and police stations. There is even a female governor, the first and only one in Afghanistan. But according to the New York Times, this province is unique. Even though the Taliban fell more than six years ago, women in Afghanistan have huge hurdles: More than 80% are illiterate, and the life expectancy for women is only 45 years — lower than for men — due to high rates of death during pregnancy. Still, the women of Bamian are making strides. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to work or leave the home unaccompanied by a male relative. Nahida Rezai, 25, is the first woman to join the police force. "I came right into the police station," she says, adding that when she first started, "I received some threats by telephone."

Rezai continues: "But now I am working as a police officer, I think nothing can deter me." Zeinab Husseini, 19, is Rezai's kindred spirit. She was the first woman in Bamian to drive. Her father has seven daughters and no sons and needed a second driver to help at home. Plus, Husseini says: "I like driving." (In the video which accompanies this article, she can be seem beaming behind the wheel of a van.)

While the news is good for women in Bamian, farther away in Kabul, it's grim: The Independent reports that three years ago, Kim Sengupta interviewed five women who wanted to build a new Afghanistan. Today, three are dead and a fourth has fled. Writes Sengupta: "Religious fundamentalists are waging a ruthless campaign to eliminate women who have taken up high-profile jobs. Parliamentarians, schoolteachers, civil servants, security officials and women journalists have been selected for attacks by the jihadists." Malalai Kakar, the most prominent policewoman in Afghanistan — who specialized in domestic abuse cases — was killed last weekend, gunned down as her 15-year-old son prepared to driver her to work. Shaima Rezayee, a "bubbly" TV host who had a popular music show called Hop, was also shot at her home.

But even in Kabul, there are women with hope. Says police Captain Jamilla Mujahid Barzai: "It is most important that now women try to get to positions of power to stop things like that happening again. It is dangerous. But we cannot go back to [Taliban rule] again."

In Poverty and Strife, Women Test Limits
Empowering Women in Afghanistan (video) [NY Times]
Women Who Took On The Taliban – And Lost [Independent]

Two Gypsy girls drowned at the beach of...

Dodai — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Two Gypsy girls drowned at the beach of Torregaveta in southern Italy Saturday. Their bodies were placed under towels to await the arrival of authorities. Photos from the scene show sunbathers going about their day as the corpses lie nearby. "While the lifeless bodies of the girls were still on the sand, there were those who carried on sunbathing or having lunch just a few meters away," La Repubblica reported. Pair this with the fact Italians are openly hostile to Gypsies, or Roma, as they are called. (A recent survey found that 68% of people want Italy's Gypsies expelled, whether or not they hold Italian passports.) A civil liberties group, EveryOne, cast doubt on the reported version of events, suggesting that it was unusual for the Roma girls to wade into the sea — Gypsies are extremely modest and the girls could not swim. [CNN, Guardian, Guardian]

Crisis In Italy: Men Left To Fend For Themselves

dodai — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:20:00 EST

People! Let us be the first to inform you that dudes in Italy have serious problems. According to the Times of London, a customer in a barber shop in Rome put it thusly: "Our women have become independent-minded, they all go out to work, they don't cook so much any more, we have to look after ourselves. We are second-class citizens." Tragic! Anecdotally, Italian men are often known as mama's boys who live at home until well into their 40s. Fabio Capello, a former player and now the manager of the England football squad, has been married for four decades, likes jazz, reads philosophy, goes to Mass, etc. When he got his new job, his mother told reporters she was "worried about my boy." He is 61; she is 85. So what has become of the O.L. — original lothario — the tall, dark and handsome Latin lover? Might he be a myth?

Possibly! A survey says that 6 out of 10 Italian women claim to be "sexually dissatisfied." Sounds like the men aren't the only ones taking care of themselves.

Mamma's Boys [Times]
Earlier: Sympathy For The Modern Man? Uh, No.

Image from La Dolce Vita