Rebel Women Cafe » Sexism

News – “RapeLay” a Video Game where the AIM is to Rape and Assault Women!!!

Emma-Louise — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:48:41 +0000

So, I know I know, I’m supposed to be recuperating from surgery. And I am – honest! BUT I spotted this news article online – and I was so STUNNED that I needed to share my horror with you guys. So, please let me know what you think by commenting beneath this posting!

It reminds me how lucky we are and how much women’s rights still need to be fought for…

ARTICLE EXTRACT: “With the click of your mouse, you can grope her and lift her skirt. Then you can follow her aboard the train, assaulting her sister and her mother. As you continue to play, “friends” join in and in a series of graphic, interactive scenes, you can corner the women, rape them again and again.”

This is a videogame created in Japan – but because of the internet the game became available globally before being withdrawn. Sadly it is still available from underground sources. See the CNN news article here.

I keep picturing a teenage boy playing this game, then going to the subway – perhaps with his friends – and assaulting a girl for real… Remember that the brain can’t tell the difference between something real and something vividly imagined – think how you feel after waking from some dreams!

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Female Parking Spaces in China?

Emma-Louise — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:58:24 +0000

Wow - I was a little stunned by this article – bigger parking spaces for women drivers in China – with pink/purple paint to appeal to women’s sense of colour… http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8432887.stm

What do you think?

Trailblazers 01 – The Famous Five

Emma-Louise — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:50:31 +0000

The Famous Five (Canada)

Is a woman a ‘person’? Apparently not before these five TRAILBLAZING women from Alberta, Canada banded together.

Emily Murphy - the first female judge in the British Empire
Irene Marryat Parlby – a farm women’s leader, activist and first female Cabinet minister in Alberta, Canada
Nellie Mooney McClung – a famous suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature
Louise Crummy McKinney – the first woman elected to any legislature in Canada or the British Empire (the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada)
Henrietta Muir Edwards – a working women’s advocate and a founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses

It seems outrageous now – but it’s thanks to these five women that women can now hold public office in Canada. In 1927 they came together to ask if the “word ‘Persons’ in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, included female persons?”

Why? They wanted to know if a women was a ‘person’ and could therefore hold public office.

And so it was in 1928 Canada’s Supreme Court ruled in the negative! In a UNANIMOUS decision the final line of the judgement read “Understood to mean ‘Are women eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada,’ the question is answered in the negative.”

These five women then championed what became known as “The Persons Case”. And thankfully this judgement was later overturned by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council – which was a HUGE leap forward for women’s rights.

Interestingly this case also had a lasting impact on Canada’s constitution, leading to something called “The Living Tree Doctrine” which in essence says that a constitution is organic – and must adapt to the changing times. So, the Constitution now has to be read within the context of current society to ensure that it adapts and reflects changes.

The power of FRIENDSHIP: These five women were known both as The Famous Five and The Valiant Five. I wonder if alone, they would have succeeded? What we do know is that together they proved an unstoppable force and it’s thanks to them that we have women in public office and a constitution that will also reflect society – as we change and grow!

ACTION: And if you’re in Canada, next time you see the latest $50 bank note, check out the reverse and you’ll see the Famous Five commemorated along with Therese Casgrain another women’s right’s champion!

Thanks to Shelley Watson for the suggestion of these women as our inaugural “Trailblazing Women” feature!