Susan notes: my favourite Queen: I love everything about her, but in particular I strongly support her initiatives with respect to the education of girls.



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Wedad Lootah has received death threats and plaudits for her book on sex and Islam. Proud of her work, she says kicking down barriers and breaking taboos is important for her society. Is she right?

It's not easy to read the expression of one who wears a full-length black niqab. The eyes are the only obvious window, but Wedad Lootah's give little away as she declines to shake my extended hand. It is an awkward moment, but then perhaps I should have known better.

A graduate in Islamic studies from the UAE's Islamic College, Lootah is the bestselling author of one of the most controversial books ever to have been published in the UAE. Top Secret: Principles and Etiquette of an Intimate Marital Relationship, is a remarkably frank examination of sexual relations between men and women, and their place in Islam.

The book deals with very sensitive sexual topics and solutions to sexual problems. It explores the "ignorance" of women and men over what is forbidden and allowed under Islam and even features a chapter subtitled ‘Sex-boosting Foods and Beverages'.

An Emirati national, Lootah is also the only female counselor at the Family Court of Dubai. She was appointed personally by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2001, and has channeled her experiences over the intervening nine years into Top Secret - the Arabic edition of which has, to date, sold close to 20,000 copies.

"At first I was only studying the subject, which developed into research," she recalls as we settle down at a wide meeting room table. "After developing it as research I found it was a very serious problem, so why not publish a book on the subject?"

Susan notes: an excerpt from an interesting New York Times article to mark International Women's Day 2010...

International Women’s Day seems like an appropriate occasion to ask which countries do best by women — and why.

Obviously, the answer depends on how you define “best” — in absolute terms, relative to men, or some combination of the two?

You can choose from at least four different published rankings that consider some aspect of gender inequality that include the United States. None of them places us among the top 10.

I wish I could say which ranking I consider best, but they all have serious limitations. One consistent finding, however, is that public policies have a significant impact on gender equality, regardless of the level of overall economic development.

In 1995, the United Nations Human Development report introduced two measures designed to facilitate cross-country comparisons of the status of women. One, the Gender-Related Development Index (G.D.I.) takes as its starting point a Human Development Index based on life expectancy at birth, enrollment in schools, adult literacy and per capita gross domestic product.

The G.D.I. takes both absolute and relative levels of these factors into account, penalizing countries with a high disparity between men’s and women’s achievements. In 2007, the latest year for which data are currently available, the United States ranked 13th on the Human Development Index and 19th on the Gender-Related Development Index. Norway took first place on the H.D.I., but only second on the G.D.I. (Australia took the gold in G.D.I. rankings.)

A second United Nations measure, the Gender Empowerment Measure (G.E.M.), focuses more narrowly on relative levels of political participation and decision-making power, economic participation and earnings. The economic component, however, is influenced by absolute levels of income. As a result, low-income countries rank low. Sweden took top prize in 2007, with the United States in 18th place.

The organization Social Watch publishes a Gender Equity Index (G.E.I.) that combines elements similar to both the G.D.I. and the G.E.M., but relies entirely on relative measures, using a score of 100 to indicate perfect equality. This measure puts some less-developed countries (such as Rwanda) in the top category along with Scandinavian countries, with a score over 80; the United States has a score below 65.

The World Economic Forum published a Gender Gap Index (G.G.I.) in 2007 that combines quantitative measures with some qualitative measures based on a survey of 9,000 business leaders in 104 countries. They put the United States in 31^st place.

Click here for the full story:
By Nancy Folbre For The New York Times
Photo Credit:
Angelo Juan Ramos

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Susan notes: personally, I don't see why #brainquake and #boobquake need to be mutually exclusive - I believe in the value of both.

I believe intelligence is sexy; I'm proud of my 54-year-old body, and my 32A cup size. I don't think women have to be either intelligent or sexual, they can be, and they should be, both.

However, if I was forced to make a choice between boobs and brains, I'd choose the latter any day...

A new campaign, titled "Brainquake," has been launched on Facebook, calling on women to show off their résumés, CVs, honors, prizes, and accomplishments.

The goal is to get conservative Iranian leaders quaking with fear at "women's abilities to push for change and to thrive despite gender apartheid."

The campaign is a reaction to "Boobquake," an initiative by a U.S. student, Jen McCreight, calling on women to test the claim by Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi that women who dress immodestly promote adultery and thus increase the risk of earthquakes.

The creators of "Brainquake" say on their Facebook page that they're saddened that the creator of "Boobquake" and thousands of other women have responded to Sedighi's claim by resolving to show some cleavage on April 26.

Here's part of their argument:

Everyday women and young girls are forced to 'show off cleavage' and more in order simply to be heard, to be seen, or to advance professionally. The web is already filled with images of naked women; the porn industry thrives online and many young girls are already vulnerable to predatory abuse.

Violence against women and girls has a direct correlation to the sexualisation of women and girls.

The extent of their sexualisation is evident in the hundreds of replies that pour into the 'Boobquake' Facebook page where women write, apologetically: 'I don’t have boobs, not fair' or 'Hey, I only have a C cup...' and 'What about those of us who no longer have cleavage? They sag too low.'"

Brainquake's" creators say Sedighi's comment was no news to Iranian women, nor was it funny. They note that for the past 30 years, the Islamic Republic has violated women's rights with what they describe as repressive policies.


Click here for the full story:
By Golnaz Esfandiari For rferl.org
Photo Credit: AFP

Related links:
I Feel The Earth Move
More About Iran On AWR

Susan notes April 27: over 210,000 people around the world "attended" #boobquake yesterday. As I write this, it's still ongoing in some places, and no doubt will cause tremors worldwide for some time to come.

AWR thanks all #boobquakers for making the event such a huge global success (:P), and equally celebrates #brainquake, which makes even more sense.

Sexy, intelligent women everywhere shake the world!

Susan notes April 26: Jen McCreight's response to the article below was to organise "Boobquake" to see if dressing immodestly would cause the earth to shake.

Some have taken offence to the bawdy nature of the protest, but this feminist says lighten up and have some fun with it!  Breasts are beautiful and I've got no problem showing a bit of cleavage for a good cause:) And, oh yeah, small is beautiful :P


Susan notes: this great Carole King tune and live performance are dedicated to the looney toons cleric in Iran who says immodest female behaviour causes earthquakes.

Read the unbelievable story from The Guardian below.... if it wasn't so tragic, it would be funny.... However, I think it should be said, in all fairness, that this is likely NOT a view shared by the vaste majority of Iranian clerics..

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

From the Guardian article: