#speak up for afghan women

[feministfang]

Fuck all the islamic activists like Khalid Beydoun and Fatima Bhutto constantly posting about muslim m@les dying in west or p@lestine but staying silent on the oppression women are facing in islamic countries. Taliban just passed a new law banning Afghan women from speaking outside of their homes or even speaking to non-muslim women. But no word from these "peaceful religion" protesters! The entire world should follow the instructions of these fucktards, boycott whoever they want, unfollow the celebrities they hate otherwise we are labelled as islamophobes. But they can choose to zip their mouths and mock women suffering at the hands of islamic terrorists. Well, i am not boycotting or unfollowing anybody these muslims want me to as long as they don’t protest for the afghan women with the same energy and rage. You either accept that your religion is the most misogynistic one and harming women and speak up on it, or you keep getting silent treatment that you deserve . Call me an islamophobe i am not even denying that i am one!

[queer-scots-geordie-dyke]

There really is no better example of the racism of low expectations when certain far leftists criticise condemnation of the fucking Taliban as “peak white liberal feminism.” Women and girls in Afghanistan are being systematically removed from public life, denied the right to education, freedom of movement, of dress, even the right to speak in public or to each other. Animals have more rights than women under the Taliban.

And then you have these arseholes saying it’s imposing Western cultural mores on non Western societies to care about the welfare of these women, as if Afghan men couldn’t possibly be expected to know how to treat women like fucking human beings and they have the audacity to hold themselves up as “anti racist.” You’ve clearly shown what an incredibly low opinion you actually have of non white and non Western cultures if you think the situation in Afghanistan is remotely normal or indicative.

It’s absolutely putrid.

[stillsoblue]

my heart bleeds everyday for the afghan girls and women. they are housebound and have to cover themselves up from top to bottom because they have to "avoid temptation or seduction". they are not allowed to speak in public or appear in public because it is deemed "too intimate." the women can’t look at men. suicide rates have skyrocketed because women and girls would rather be dead than to be a women in afghanistan. it’s not a sin to be a women.

women and girls are denied access to healthcare because they cannot be treated by male doctors, yet they are also barred from education and, therefore, cannot become doctors themselves. shops in afghanistan are even forced to cover up female mannequins. little girls live in fear of becoming child brides, but they dream of being poets, they would kill to get education.

a woman was disqualified from the olympics because she spread the message "free afghan women" at her breakdance performance. there must always be a relative male by their side like women were dogs being treated by their owner, except dogs have more rights than the women suffering.

we must raise awareness, do not look away. these women deserve the opportunities and the human rights that EVERY person does. they are talented, creative and intelligent but men are so scared. scared of women. the taliban tries to erase women. i’m sick. the radical government that feels threatened by women. do not look away.

[coochiequeens]

Ladies, please speak up about this. And how Begum TV is still around to offer programs for women

Taliban Suspend Women's Radio Station In Afghanistan

The Taliban information ministry said the station had been suspended for "multiple violations", in the latest search by the government of local media outlets in Afghanistan.

Agence France-Presse

World News

Feb 05, 2025 07:08 am IST

Published OnFeb 05, 2025 07:08 am IST

Many radio stations in Afghanistan have ceased broadcasting women's voices.

Kabul:

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities raided well-known women's radio station Radio Begum on Tuesday, arresting two employees, the broadcaster said, calling for the speedy release of its staff.

The Taliban information ministry said the station had been suspended for "multiple violations", in the latest search by the government of local media outlets in Afghanistan.

"Officers from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) assisted by representatives of the Ministry of Information and Culture raided today Begum's compound in Kabul," a statement from the radio station said.

The broadcaster said Taliban authorities searched the office, seizing computers, hard drives and phones, and detaining two male employees "who do not hold any senior management position".

It said it would not provide further comment, fearing for the security of the detained employees, and asked that the authorities "take care of our colleagues and release them as soon as possible".

The Taliban information ministry said the station had been suspended, in a statement on social media site X.

"Besides multiple violations, it was providing materials and programmes to a TV station based abroad," it said.

"Due to the violation of the broadcasting policy and improper use of the license (from the ministry), the radio station was suspended today so that the related documents can be carefully evaluated and the final decision can be taken," it added.

Radio Begum said it has never been involved in any political activity and was "committed to serving the Afghan people and more specifically the Afghan women".

- Media shuttered -

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), posting on X, demanded "the ban be lifted immediately".

The freedom of information watchdog says the Taliban authorities closed at least 12 media outlets in 2024.

Radio Begum was founded on March 8, International Women's Day, 2021, five months before the Taliban swept to power, ousting the US-backed government and implementing a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The Taliban authorities have imposed broad restrictions on women, squeezing them out of public life with rules the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid".

Women have been barred from secondary school and university as well as squeezed from certain types of work.

The few women who still appear on TV channels are covered except for their eyes and hands. Many radio stations have ceased broadcasting women's voices.

Radio Begum station staff have broadcast programming for women, by women, including educational shows, book readings and call-in counselling.

In 2024, Radio Begum's Swiss-Afghan founder Hamida Aman also launched a satellite television station, Begum TV, broadcasting educational programmes from Paris to help Afghan girls and women continue their education.

Thousands of videos covering the Afghan national curriculum have also been uploaded on a sister website, available for free.

The suspension of Radio Begum is the latest such action against local media in Afghanistan.

In December last year, Taliban authorities shut down Afghan station Arezo TV and detained seven employees.

The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) accused the channel of betraying Islamic values and being supported by media based outside the country, which have been heavily restricted and criticised by the Taliban authorities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

[mariacallous]

In its latest assault on basic freedoms, Afghanistan has banned women and girls from speaking in public. It marks a new low in the Taliban-led government’s enforced gender apartheid.

Promises that girls and women would be allowed to study and work were broken shortly after the Taliban returned to power. The group banned girls from going to school beyond sixth grade and outlawed them from pursuing higher education at university. It even prohibited them from taking a stroll in the park or going to the gym, and from nearly all professions that could earn them a living and a semblance of independence and dignity.

And yet even as Afghan women are kept prisoner in their homes and denied basic rights, neither the Islamic nations in the region nor the United States have taken an active interest in compelling the group to reverse its misogynistic policies.

The new rules were announced in the middle of the presidential campaign in the United States, but both candidates kept mum on the issue of women’s rights, even though each of their respective governments knowingly left Afghan women to a fate that was hardly unexpected.

When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in a debate last week, Afghanistan was raised only in the context of the domestic ramifications of American withdrawal. No mention was made of what happened to Afghans left behind. Neither candidate said a word about how the U.S. exited without securing any guarantees from the Taliban on the future of women and their rights.

The Taliban, firmly in control, brushed off all of its atrocities on Afghan women and violation of their very basic rights as “Afghan values’’ in a conversation with Foreign Policy. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the group was open for engagement with the West, but on economic issues only.

“They can invest in minerals,’’ he told FP. “China, Russia, all have business ties with us, the West can also do that. It is good for them and good for us.’’

“Women’s rights and those things are up to us, and we will determine them according to Afghan values and traditions,’’ he added, as if speaking and reading were matters of Afghan sovereignty and not basic human rights.

Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women’s rights activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year, blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the circumstances the Afghan girls and women find themselves in.

“When they were discussing the agreement in Doha, we were not even given the visa to come to Qatar because we would have asked questions, we would have confronted the Taliban, but that could have scuttled the deal and the Trump administration didn’t want that,’’ she told FP over the phone.

“Biden may not have had enough room to change the deal, but that was not the reason he stuck with it,’’ she said. The Biden administration “wanted to get out.’’

The key tenet of the U.S. policy on Afghanistan has been security and containing the threat that terrorist groups based there can pose to Western countries. The Doha agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban, which led to the U.S. exit, called on the Taliban “to prevent the use of Afghan soil by any international terrorist groups or individuals against the security of the United States and its allies.’’

But even the word “women’’ is missing from it. A post-withdrawal concern has been that a deteriorating humanitarian situation could exacerbate the refugee crisis, particularly in Europe.

In order to address these concerns, and heed calls by humanitarian actors, the U.S. agreed to ease some sanctions and infuse Afghanistan with billions in cash. That helped Afghans, but it also kept the Taliban afloat and emboldened it to carry on as it pleased.

“Since August 2021, the U.N. has purchased, transported, and transferred at least $2.9 billion to Afghanistan using international donor contributions,’’ according to a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in January. It added that the U.S. is the largest donor, with $2.6 billion of that sum contributed by the American taxpayer.

While throwing money at the problem has somewhat mitigated a humanitarian crisis, it has also kept the Taliban in power and allowed it to maintain a support base. The report said that the Taliban has accumulated, “a large supply of U.S. dollars, through the conversion process of dollars for afghanis.’’

Some Afghan analysts argued that stopping the cash flow will weaken the Taliban, reduce its acceptability, and ideally encourage an anti-Taliban uprising. Or, at the very least, force them to make some concessions.

22-year-old Miryam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, pleaded that the West, and especially the U.S., “should stop sending money to the Taliban.’’ Her education was cut short when the Taliban took over in 2021, she can’t wear what she wants, or do anything professionally, or step out of the house.

“Don’t recognize the Taliban,’’ she said from Kabul in her message to the international community, “put pressure on them to at least give women the right to work and study.’’

Davood Moradian, founder and the director-general of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) now based in London, argued in favor of slashing the aid. “America is the main source of Afghan currency,’’ he told FP. “The moment the U.S. stopped funding, the Taliban will face a serious challenge,’’ to its rule, he added.

Others said if the Taliban didn’t break under 20 years of American presence, they wouldn’t abandon their hardcore ideology now, due to a cash crunch. Seraj, the women’s rights activist, advocated a diametrically different approach and said that the West should instead open the floodgates of developmental aid in a way that upward mobility emboldens the Afghan people to rebel against Taliban’s excesses and fight for women’s rights.

“You can’t even use the word women with them,’’ she said. “You have to come up with things like more investments and business deals and let that create the right conditions.’’

Thus far, the U.S. has threatened the Taliban with a global boycott if it doesn’t grant women their rights. But efforts ostracize the group from the international community are a farce since China, Russia, Pakistan, Qatar and several others continue to engage the group for economic and security reasons.

The truth is there hasn’t been an active U.S. policy to try and bring about a change or help the women of Afghanistan since the U.S. retreated. The policy has been outsourced to the U.N., which is engaging the group, often on the terms set by the Taliban. For instance, in July the U.N. organized Doha III, a dialogue platform to engage the Taliban and various stakeholders on the future of Afghanistan. But to appease the Taliban and make sure they attended, not a single women’s rights activist was invited.

One idea, way short of full recognition, could be to bring together a coalition of Islamic nations to challenge the Taliban’s understanding of Shariah and compel the group to let women and girls study and work, just as they can in other Islamic countries.

In April, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the Taliban’s deputy chief minister Abdul Kabir to end the ban on education and employment for women and girls. Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that preventing education for girls is “inhumane and un-Islamic.” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a prominent political advisor in the United Arab Emirates, told FP that an Emirati delegation visited Kabul to discuss women’s rights. “There are so many trends in Islam, some more moderate, others more extreme. The Taliban, they are following a very backward ideology,” he said.

But Afghan women’s rights activists say that the condemnations from fellow Islamic countries appear to be more perfunctory and unserious. It could carry weight if it was a cohesive regional policy pushed by the U.S. as one of the pillars of its Afghanistan strategy. The Taliban, after all, is carrying out its oppression in the name of Islam.

Shaheen, the Taliban spokesperson, seemed to make some room for concessions when he told FP that the decision on education and employment for girls and women was pending, and subject to a report by an Afghan “committee.”

As for the next American president, ignoring Afghanistan would be at their own peril. Caging women in their homes and denying them basic rights represents a pattern of the Taliban reneging on promises—and it’s easy to imagine that extending to foreign policy.

“They are all there, all there,’’ Seraj, the activist, said. “ISIS-KP, Al Qaeda, other terrorist groups, they are all there. They are all getting training. Don’t think nothing is happening. The American intelligence knows what’s going on.”

[princess-of-thebes-bc]

The Prince of my Dreams.

33 Year old Single! Ronaldo x Younger! Female Reader.

Your parents came from Afghanistan.

Enjoy.

That anime you watched in Eight grade became more understandable as you age. Death Note. A mundane and rotten world.

Existing was expensive. Living is impossible for the likes of you despite living in the greatest country in the world. The rulers and corrupted politicians would use tax money to fund useless wars and not to help the poor. Such as yourself. A fresh out of highschool young lady looking for any job. You were desperate. You don't want to see yourself.

But, a minimum wage job would help. Sadly, the standards went high. You had no job experience and no degree. Even community college is pricey. You were stuck in life. Were it not for your religion. You would have ended your life. Miserable and pathetic were two perfect examples to describe your way of being.

You gave up on Job hunting. Maybe you should prepare yourself to go to a women shelter in the future and know your days are out numbered once your father dies.

You don't trust your brother.

Your dysfunctional family gave you allowance and free housing in exchange for slavery. Cleaning, cooking, driving your nephews and nieces around school, clubs, parties etc, errands and grocery shopping.

Life was not worth living but livable.

It was not enough.

You didn't want to drink or do drugs so. Your escape was fantasy. Fictional romance books and movies. Especially cheesy Bollywood and Disney movies were your favorite.

You hated reality and couldn't handle it.

It was Sunday morning and you told your father you would take a small break. So, you would go to this small yet successful halal restaurant. It sold the best sandwiches in town and smoothies. Mango and Guava lassies.

You were about to step inside when you heard a deep and accented masculine voice.

"Look out!"

You halted in your heels and noticed a soccer ball in front of your path.

"Sorry. Are you okay?" A man with a mustache and beard along with sun glasses jogged up to you along with a white dog.

You gave him a small nervous smile. This man was six foot tall at least and you could notice he was muscled behind his sweatshirt.

He could easily hurt you.

But, his smile was genuine. You knew it somehow. You don't know why. And noticed he had the straightest and whitest teeth ever. As if it was fake.

"Aren't you a cutie?" He slightly pulled down his sunglasses to scrutinize you.

You furrowed your brows in offense. What a creep.

"Aren't you inappropriate?" You snapped back sarcastically.

All men are evil.

The man seemed confused and held his arms up on defense. He claimed to be joking.

Your face reddened. You sighed in exhaustion and pressed your fingers against your aching forehead to calm yourself.

"I am sorry. I am not good at socializing. I can be awkward."

The man was quiet for a moment. He nodded. "I understand." He whispered huskily. It sent a delicious shiver down your spine.

Gulping you smiled a little bigger than the first. "I am about to eat. Would you like to join me?"

You saw his thick yet plucked brows raise up. "Sure."

He held the door open and the two of you walked in.

"This is the best halal restaurant in town." You led the man to your usual table. He sat on the opposite side and took off his glasses. His almond shaped eyes and chocolate eye color made you feel hungry for sweets.

He bit his lips. "Not to be rude. What are you?"

You tilted your head.

He chuckled nervously. "Your look like a foreigner. Yet you speak English perfectly."

You explained how you were born and raised in America. But your parents immigrated from Afghanistan thanks to the Soviet Invasion.

That caught his attention. "Afghanistan." He repeated. He claimed you were the first he met.

You shrugged and explained how the terrorist attack.caused Afghans problems in getting a Visa here.

The man was about to say more but the waiter came.

"Hi, Name." Idrees smiled took out his pad. "What do you want for today?"

You ordered the most expensive dish for the man and a Mango Lassi. As for yourself. A vegetarian sub sandwich with berry energy drink.

Idrees nodded then left. While you were ordering the food, the man was staring at your lovely face.

"A lovely name that suits your face." He grinned.

You thanked him and bit your lips in nervousness then looked around to avoid his eyes.

Amused the man leaned in. "Aren't you going to ask for my name?"

You shook your head quickly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want. I am sorry for being rude earlier. I don't really talk to men unless I have to."

"I see. Afghanistan is tough on women. I am sorry."

You shrugged and said nothing.

After two minutes being awkward and silent, the food came.

The man looked at the plate you ordered him. And you took out your debit card to give to Idrees.

Your friend seemed to have about to object.

"Please don't resist. I invited you. Not the other way." You gave your debit card to the waiter. "Besides, I don't think I have spoken to anyone but my family in perhaps five months or so."

"Wow. " The man whispered. "Five months?"

You explained how you were usually working for your family and your friends that had real jobs or school hardly had time for you. And you would text or call them. Hardly hang out. It was nice being away from your dysfunctional family.

Always yelling or criticising you.

You two began to eat. The man moaned when he took a bite out of his lamb kabob with tahini sauce. He asked what was he eating. You explained the grape leaves rolled. And the falafel balls.

Then before you were to stand up. The man stood to his full height and it made you sit down.

He asked for your number.

"Sorry. I cant text you."

"oh, right. I am sorry." The man explained how he thought you were cool and a good genuine person that radiated a good soul.

An odd compliment. "Oh?" you thanked him. "I had fun eating with you."

He nodded and stared.

"Please. I want to be your friend."

Wow. You blinked. He was so forward. Maybe he was not a creep and you stereotyped him unjustly and ignorantly.

He sat down.

"okay. There is an anime movie in theaters. Want to watch it tonight? I think I can make it."

You can lie to your dad and say you were hanging with a girlfriend.

"Anime?"

Before you could explain. The man asked for your cellphone once more

And you gave it.

What could go wrong?

[trumpsfinalcountdown]

There Are 1,447 Days Left Of The Trump Regime

Friend!!!

You did it!!!

You've now tackled TWO WHOLE WEEKS OF THIS MESS.

I'm so so happy you stayed!! Look at you go!

Have you eaten yet? Go grab something nutritious! You've earned it! You're body has earned a reward of hydration and vitamins for getting you here to today!!

While you're up, go tell yourself this:

My imperfections are what make me unique and beautiful.

Because you are!

So incredibly unique and absolutely stunning might I say.

I really am so happy that you're here.

Sending you the biggest virtual hug.

I love you.

Here are your info nuggets for the day!

YOUR DAILY RESOURCE: The Immigrant Legal Resource Center has printable cards that you can use to know your rights when ICE tries to approach you or your home. You can find them at the bottom of the page in a multitude of languages.

YOUR DAILY QUOTE: "Mainstream feminism had been insisting that some women had to wait longer for equality. That once one group, usually white women, achieves equality, then that opens the way for all other women. But when it comes right down to it, mainstream white feminism often fails to show up for women of color. While white feminism can lean in, can prioritize the CEO level at work it fails to show up when black women are not being hired because of their names, or fired for hairstyles. It's silent when schools discriminate against girls of color." - Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

DELAWARE UPCOMING ELECTION:

Delaware State District 1 has an upcoming election on February 15th. Sarah McBride resigned to go to the House of Representatives, leaving her seat vacant. Your Candidates are Dan Cruce (Democrat) Steve Washington (Republican) and Riley Figliola (Nonpartisan).

Delaware State District 5 has an upcoming election on February 15th. The seat is vacant due to Kyle Evans Gay resigning to become Lieutenant Governor of Delaware. Your candidates are Raymond Seigfried (Democrat) or Brent Burdge (Republican)

I tried to figure out what specific counties but the county system there is confusing to me, so anyone that has further input is welcome to explain!

S.344 - A bill to require the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to identify and conduct recurrent vetting of evacuees from Afghanistan found not to be properly vetted before entering the United States.

Senate Bill 344, was introduced on January 30, 2025, by Senators Rick Scott (R) and Joni Ernst (R), aims to enhance the security screening of Afghan evacuees who entered the United States without thorough vetting.

The bill mandates that the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) identify all Afghan evacuees who were paroled into the U.S. without proper vetting. Once identified, these individuals would undergo recurrent vetting to ensure they do not pose a threat to national security or public safety.

This legislation responds to concerns that some Afghan evacuees were admitted into the U.S. without complete background checks during the evacuation process. By implementing ongoing vetting procedures, the bill seeks to address potential security risks associated with these individuals.

This bill concerns me due to the current way the administration is handling deportations and screenings regarding immigrants. While this bill only speaks on Afgan evacuees, and only targets those evacuated, I cannot help but be skeptical of the way this will be implemented, as well as the precedent that it sets.

The other concern for me stems directly from the fact that Rick Scott was Elon's pick for majority leader. A bill coming from him concerns me as he is loyal to Donald Trump's agenda.

That said, I do not feel comfortable enough on this bill to ask you to contact your senators in favor or against this bill. I believe this is entirely a judgement call for your own to make.

If you would like a script please let me know and I will supply one in agreement and calling for support, as well as in opposition.

Song of the Day:

[feministfang]

Pro-p@lestine cry babies stop commenting "bOycOtt" under every post and use all that energy to speak up for Afghan women instead challenge: Failed Miserably!

[ran-orimoto]

[ Look, you have to thank @ teclajellymon if today I have remembered to post this here, because, like always, I forgot to do it yesterday at the same Ao3 publishing time and I would have probably forgotten about it forever.

Ehm, *cough*. Today I’m offering you another future Junzumi headcanon of mine in the shape of a very stupid, silly story. The essence of the matter is that I have given them a saluki hound, ok, or better, I have given Izumi a saluki hound who will eventually becomes Junpei’s as well, to his utter joy, I guess ahahah.

Why a saluki hound? Simply because they look like Izumi, I wanted an active, sportive dog for her and, most of all, they are called the singing hounds of the wind. Honestly, my first choice had been an afghan, because her appearance would have clashed even more with Junpei’s and they are the most stylish dogs I have ever seen, no lie about this ahahha. I’ve eventually found a good compromise, though, indeed, the perfect Junzumi dog because of that definition of theirs 🤣💕.

Context: We can place this story after the seamstress one, in spring. Izumi has moved in, has started her life in Venice along with Junpei, but she left a little… Furry problem behind in Japan. ]

• Liù •

People rarely claimed a man and their beloved partner were supposed to look similar, if not identical, -hell, it would have been such a scary world, if that had been true-, whereas when it came to men and their dogs, well, it was just a different story. He had heard and, recently, he had also started seeing all sorts of things, everywhere, and they wouldn’t disappear like mirages in the mist after obstinate rubs given to the lens of his sunglasses.

Therefore, he had started doing the opposite, embracing that irreparably odd reality with open arms and…And quickly regretting his choice.

Staring for too long, with too much intensity, too much curiosity . It wasn’t that ideal when it came to middle-aged women minding passers by’s business, drawn by the beauty of their dog, which, though, -better to highlight it not twice but three times!-, would never be as charming as their own.

That was objectively a bit of a stretch , in his opinion, because that Swiffer broom obediently sitting by her side wasn’t minimally comparable to his principessa . His …No, she was Izumi’s, what was he saying? It had just been a present from him and he hadn’t even been that fully convinced about her peculiar pick back then.

Whatever, in Piazza San Marco the reciprocal introduction of two furry friends, the proud echoes of refined names soon got replaced by very sharp noises. He should have glued his orbs onto the regal four-legged figure next to him, instead of focusing on the stranger’s long silhouette, on how it extraordinarily matched her pet’s.

The pigeons peacefully pecking at crumbs of bread thrown by some tourist immediately took flight at the sound of wood colliding with resistant coconut husk. He couldn’t really blame her, but he wished she hadn’t decided to use the handle of her umbrella to punish his naive irreverence. And then , icing on the cake, a chorus of annoying yapping and more powerful, -modestly speaking-, barks predictably joined the commotion, offering a musical base to a vivacious and incomprehensible ritual of curses.

This is so lovely, He had shaken his head in pain, This is so, so, so, lovely, And it really was, taken in account he hadn’t told Izumi about what he had been up to during that week off yet.

He was aware she had been too busy with her new restaurant adventure to be interested in discovering about that, about his new favourite game in which he was no one but a gentleman strolling through the streets of Venice, along with his elegant dog he didn’t share any resemblance with.

Now that he thought about it, though, every respectable detective owned a loyal companion scampering after them. Perhaps, she would look like him if he made her wear a baggy yellow raincoat.

__________________________________________

“I swear, you should have seen her. She had this enormous bob hardly covering her ears and it was so bloated, like a cloud. I don’t know why, but I think she might be a high school professor, even if she was speaking in a heavy dialect. I mean, a high school professor wouldn’t speak dialect like that. Especially in that way. But ok, this isn’t the point. She-“

He unwillingly arrested that blabbing of his only when Izumi placed a hand on his forehead.

“This is where it hurts?” She asked with a worried frown, her green eyes squeezed as the tips of her fingers touched the reddened spot.

“Yeah. And it hurts so much I could pass out, eh eh,” He had never been that skilled at hiding the pleasant and soothing effect any physical contact with her would provoke in every fiber of his being. Thus, his impetuous voice calmed down completely, the waves of chocolate in his eyes turned into a quiet swinging tide, his entire body abandoned itself to the miracle of her beauty…Until the gentle, impalpable wind started throwing sharp knives against him.

“Ouch!” He whined, taking some steps backwards and opening his mouth at that sudden change of mood. It had been so unpredictable and now seemed to be mirroring the shifting sky darkening outside. Her nails were so long and neatly-trimmed, so sleek, utterly perfect from the perspective of a lucky man who could hold those soft hands and observe them in bliss. However, they could also transform into the claws of an angry feline, a feral lynx and hurt without needing her to put that much effort. “What was that for?”

“ Ma io dico,” She hissed at him, her index and its minuscule weapon still raised in the air, near to the scratch they had just teased. They both were there, resting on the thumb that had helped them gain momentum. “What were you thinking…?! I have left you alone for a week, just a single week…!”

His lips protruded in a startled perplexity, he blinked twice before her scolding expression, not sure if he would find a point in coming up with a lie. Actually, there would never be one in her presence. Any attempt to hide something from her through the art of deception would get a vain result, would be an occasion to turn into a clown. It was fine to him, though, because he didn’t like the idea of telling her a fib.

“I was looking at her dachsund,” He explained with a pure externalization of sincerity and now her turn to goggle like he had before, but with even more confusion, arrived.

“At her…Dachsund?”

“Yes, her fur was all black just like her hair and she also had a very long mouth like her face. So, I was actually looking at both the dog and the woman, but I lingered on the latter for too long because, oh boy, I couldn’t believe it,” The more he talked the more it sounded like he was chatting with himself in a comical monologue, occasionally gluing his pupils to the wall of the kitchen or, -more fitting for the core of his spirit-, to a dish full of biscuits awaiting him on a drawer. He was so certain they were doing so, at least.

“Oh,” Izumi would have liked to fade at the sight of him approaching the furniture.

“And I’m still holding onto my theory it is nothing else but some weird urban legend that got way too much attention through centuries,” Only the contours of those patient delicacies finally took him to Earth and reminded him of his interlocutor. Still, Izumi understood she would be the one having to push him even more downwards, to the firm ground.

“It’s not still clear what we are exactly talking about, but what I am sure about is that I would rather have a boyfriend singing,” She managed to pull the dish away from his reach in time. “Than one barking,” And then she put it on the floor, to his puzzlement, bewilderment, utter bafflement.

“I have risked eating dog biscuits…” The realization hit home in a jiffy like a boulder fallen on him. His gaze got lost in a world where the kitchen had melted in a general nothingness. “Izumi, I have risked eating dog biscuits!” After an instant of shock, he brought himself to repeat that by adding his usual bizarre emphasis.

“Yes, you have,” She bursted in a breeze of giggles washing over his concerned expression but surpassing it, ignored. Their gusts failed at stealing his voice and chuckles through that powerful tenor register of his. “You wouldn’t have died, don’t worry. I’ve cooked them.”

“Eh…?” Joining her on the floor, he allowed his exaggerated worry to get replaced by a mixture of skepticism and soft surprise. “You can cook dog food too? You’re-“

“Don’t say that, please!” She promptly raised a palm in front of his nose, haughtily averting her gaze on purpose to make him roast on the grill. When she was sure her steak was ready, she winked at his slightly disappointed grimace. “Or better, don’t say it yet . This is my first attempt and I don’t know if she will like it. I’ve added some slices of strawberries here and there in the mixture because she adores them. Hm…” He instantly shrieked when Izumi reached out to put one of those biscuits in her mouth. Got so close to passing out when she picked another one and offered it to him, seriously proposing him to jump into her absurd sommelier experience. “Here. Taste it and tell me what you think. Is it wet or dry, in your opinion?”

“I-Izumi…! Don’t eat that stuff, c’mon,” He slipped on his backside far from her, near to biting his nails. If he had been a cat, his fur would have been rippled from his head to the tip of his tail. Observing that scene through a more entertained filter, he had to admit their interactions were really reminding him of the ones of a cat and a dog: weirdly, he was being the most reluctant, if not the most repulsed between them, whereas Izumi was the joyful dog…Doing certain kind of stuff without a care in the world.

“Aren’t you the one always telling people, My girlfriend is the most brilliant cook in the world. I would eat anything prepared by her: even, - guess,what-, dog food ?”

“I-I,” He didn’t know if he was stuttering because of her impeccable imitation of his gestures and tone or because it wasn’t her spinning fantasy that was speaking. Yes, he had, he seriously had: naively believing they would never turn up against him, he had pronounced those exact words in his confessions of endless love for her cooking. He had so many times, thousand and more. “Okay…I guess you won. There’s nothing I can do,” He sighed in defeat and extended his arm to her complacent smirk and the snack she was swinging back and forth. Next time he would have to be more careful about his hyperbolic compliments in her regards, -hyperbolic ones to the rest of the world but absolutely realistic to him-. “And after this”, He gave an uncertain glance at her before grabbing it. “Can I be the one calling her after this?”

“Hm, why not ? You two need to bond and I need to bond more with her too, after having…Abandoned her at Mamma’s and Papà’s for months…”

He knew she was still coping with persuading herself that had been the best choice she could ever do for her sake. He had tried reassuring her Liù would have suffered from a more drastic detachment from her usual life, if she had moved in at the same time Izumi had. She would have had lot of trouble adjusting without them around, spending her days alone in an unknown apartment while Izumi was too absorbed in finding her own place in the world of Venice, and he was drowning in rehearsals. It would have been kinda egoistical from their part, so Izumi’s parents had convinced her to leave Liù with them for a while, until they were ready to give her the house and family she really deserved. Now Izumi might be busy with the first weeks of her newborn restaurant, but she wasn’t fretting and rushing any more and could count on Junpei’s support, on the fact he was just at the beginning of another of his adventures at la Fenice theatre.

“Hey,” He chirped a bit too abruptly but with the sweetest intention to cheer her mood up, unnoticed. “Can I do it, now? Like, now, now, now?”

“What are you talking about?” She giggled as he got so close she risked to fall backwards.

“Can I call her now?”

“Oh, that ,” Her precarious pose propped up on an elbow, she pretended to be wanting to slither away from his grip. “Okay, but you need to follow my instructions,” She sneezed at some locks falling on her forehead as he brought her closer with an effortless pulling of his biceps.

“I don’t need those, Izumi. I have got my own method,” Once ensured she was safely sitting upright, he grinned at her sending a shivering hunch down her spine. “Look. No, listen, listen.”

“Junpei, I’m not…” She petrified with her hand opening and closing in the tense silence he created. She was blatantly aware about what was about to happen, but she found herself stuck before the view of a familiar routine of actions, with the exception of that scary ending phase in which he sent his hands next to the corners of his mouth, well splayed.

Oh no…

“Jun-!”

“Liù? Liù?” Junpei improvised a silly melody she thanked Heavens it wasn’t being chanted in his usual rumbling projection.

“Junpei…!”

“Liù, don’t you want your pappa? Liù ? Where is the bimba? The sweetest bimba ? Liù-Chan?”

His grin didn’t vanish under the might of her irritation. He only hopped on the spot, all of a sudden, having got startled by the glasses of the window being shaken by the howling mistral. To think it was almost spring!

“Liù hates noises and, most of all, hates noisy people,” Not stunned due to his loud song in the slightest, he could easily tell she wanted to slap him. Yet, some unknown force he thanked from the depths of his heart kept her from doing that. “She’s a lady and she needs to be treated as such. Are you listening to me? This is a serious matter.”

“I know it is, but I don’t think she hates noisy people that much,” He dared to shrug and the naughty shimmer challenging her anger gradually tiptoed to his right, accelerating when it felt it was being chased by her glare.

Izumi emitted a gasp, “But…Liù…!”

Silently, on her slender legs, Liù had stepped into the kitchen and closer to the dish. Scompering in that skinny body of hers, structured like a sleek curve culminating in the slope of a luscious tail, she had approached them ,unnoticed, and had sat down in front of the two humans like a well-mannered medieval damsel. Now she was obediently staring at them from her statuesque pose, blatantly trying holding her excitement in her bony bosom but being betrayed by her dashing heartbeat, which was making her ribs expand and contract; by her blonde ears; by her humid nose unstoppably sniffing in the relatively new environment.

In Junpei’s opinion, Liù was the most perfect specimen of female saluki existing in the world, -and also the first one he had ever seen-.

“Maybe she hates people not singing well, I guess?” He sniggered with too much confidence and Izumi gave him a harsh nudge right under his sternum.

“Have you already done this in the past?”

“Of course, I have,” He took a while to recover from the pain she had provoked him, but managed to reply her sooner than both had expected. “I know you had said I needed to learn one thing or two before starting feeding her. And I also remember you had told me she has got her own schedule, but, I mean, Izumi, I was sitting at the table, eating my pasta ai piselli and she was there, looking at me with those deer eyes… What kind of cold-hearted man would do something similar?”

“You fed her with pasta ai piselli ?! “His pupils almost got out of his orbits, noticing the futher point her more vicious elbow was going to take off from.

“No, of course, I haven’t! I searched for her food bags and I poured some food in her bowl. My pasta ai piselli was so full of water, my peas were soaking in a puddle. How could I give her that without making a mess?”

“Do you realize you are implying you would have given my dog pasta ai piselli if you had been a decent cook? !”

He would have started fiddling with his thumbs like a scolded kid, if Liù hadn’t tried catching their attention with a bark, as timid as a polite woman forcing a cough to make someone turn to her.

“You’re right, bimba,” He cracked a large smile at her. Then, he unfolded his stiff legs and clumsily crouched up to talk to the animal at her same height level. “You can eat. Buon appetito .”

“No, she can’t eat yet!” She gave a slap on his broad shoulder, but she eventually gave one onto her forehead as well, a bit disconsolate. At his jovial command, the saluki had gladly plunged her muzzle in her biscuits and she hadn’t been able to do anything about it. “She was supposed to stay. That is useful to teach her how to control impulses.”

“If you ask me, it’s so cruel,” He put his tongue on display, standing up to let the dog have her own meal in peace. She got back on her feet too after having thrown the snack she had been holding into the dish. “Wouldn’t you feel tortured if I told you to sit still in front of a dish of spaghetti alla San Giovanna ? My poor bimba !”

“I-“ What kind of conversation was even that?

“Imagine,” He insisted, dropping a whole jar of theatricality on his tongue, each finger of his flying up and down in an undulating choreography. “The smell of olives and tomato sauce spreading in your nostrils…”

“Oh, let me imagine…” She closed her orbs, mocking his silly game by making him believe she was actually thinking over it. By the time she opened them, he had already disappeared behind her, fumbling with her skein of spikes. “That’s what I already do as a cook. I can’t eat what I prepare. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do…” He mumbled, pensive, caressing her strands in awe, as if he was contemplating some prestigious manufacture sewn by a God. “You know, I think I will get used to this dog owner life, after all. Maybe a maltese dog would have been boring.”

“Oh please…” Her eyelid twitched at the mere memory from the year before, from back when he had announced he wanted to give her a candid ball of fur as birthday gift. She had acted promptly, had taken the reins of the situation by herself by dragging him into an adventure on her motorbike, without revealing him where they were going. From Naples to Pisa, Junpei had let her take him to that mysterious destination up through the peninsula, though he had just come from an exhausting train journey. “Don’t remind me of that ,” She playfully begged and pinched his puffy cheeks peeping out from her golden curtain.

“I know, I know. Besides, a maltese wouldn’t have looked like me, either. So it would have been the same thing. At least, though, when I take Liù out for a stroll,” He gently let some precious threads slip on the back of hs hand and pushed them forward, at the sides of her smooth neck, down her shoulders. “It’s a bit like if I’m going out with another beautiful blonde lady,” At the beginning, he had just intended to play with her, tenderly highlight about how keeping her hair like that, like a frame of gilded waves, would really make her look like a long-eared dog. Afterwards, however, after some seconds spent holding that silky fabric, he had fallen in love with its enchantment and , now hypnotized, he couldn’t just help indulging in his joke. He kept on going on and on, even in a more affectionate way when a cloud passed by her relaxed contentment. She should have been smiling , in his opinion: Liù had greatly appreciated her hand-made biscuits, hadn’t showed any sign of resentment towards her once more. What was she still tormenting herself over? It seemed like if she was fighting against so many forces coming to attack her in unison and he felt the urge to shine over her again.

“Hey, Izumi, do you want to hear a funny thing?”

“It’s not an offence, but you always say funny things. Otherwise you wouldn’t be Junpei, wouldn’t you?”

“But this is truly funny. Funnier than usual, if you prefer putting it like that!”

He tossed her tresses off his head and marched back to Liù, his lumbering steps sounding lighter despite the clumsy landing of his hops.

The dog had just finished eating her breakfast and was calmly cleaning her coat with her tongue. She didn’t seem bothered by the two humans barging into her quiet morning for a second time. Indeed, judging by the shy hints of a swishing tail, she was actually happy to see them again on a full belly.

“Liù, Liù, Liù, la bambina mia che sei tu ,” Junpei’s unique call made her stand on alert with excitement. Rhythmic claps and tappings against the tiles of the floor contributed to elicit even more trepidation in her active muscles. She didn’t take too long before beginning doing the same with her paws, the butterfly-shaped metallic medal of her collar dangling and jingling in the flow of her dance.

Once the right mood had been set, once he was certain Liù would follow him wherever he would go, he beckoned to the saluki to head for the living room. In the contagious heat of the fragment, he bumped into an agape Izumi who was witnessing the exchange between the man and the dog with incredulity.

“No, don’t tell me it is what I think it is,” Stuck in a frozen loop at the door of the kitchen, Junpei took advantage of that absent state of hers to involve her in a fleeting, improvised dance, her limp arms obeying to his eccentric desire, her hands falling in his without resistance and her hips spinning along with his like if they were a couple pirouetting in a carillon.

“No, like I said, it’s much, much better than whatever you think it might be.”

“I don’t think so. At all,” She told him straight into his sunny eyes in a firm whisper. “Your neighbors know well who she belongs to. They won’t come yelling at you if they hear her doing that .”

“Oh, so you know she can do that,” He wasn’t surprised in the least, but it was nice to make her blush in embarrassment once in a while, turn the tables for the life-span of an afternoon nap. “All those stories about her being a proper lady…About her not liking loud people!”

“H-Hey,” She wiggled, oscillated, opened and closed her legs, raised her fists: whatever it took to escape from his tickling trap. “ Being a lady and loving singing are two interconnected qualities. They are not enemies. As far as concerns about those loud people, instead…”

“Instead…?” He prompted, his fingers flitting around her, ready for another round.

“Your opera singing is loud, but it’s a nice loud. I’ll give you that, ok ? And a dog named after the main character of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly can’t be immune to it, I guess,” He saw her nervously cracking a grin at Liù who had hopped on the sofa and was resting on a pillow. Waiting .

“Hey!” Without prior warning, he let her go to her displeasure, no matter if his tickling was more than unbearable. That would be, -to use his own words-, much better than whatever he wanted to do, sitting at his piano and lifting the fallboard with a thud. “You don’t really want to play piano right now, at eight in the morning?!”

“Of course, I want to. I’m not supposed to make a proper lady wait, am I not?” Liù had apparently got used to that term, to the many occasions she had acknowledged humans would look at her while pronouncing it. Therefore, feeling like Junpei had just called her into question, she abandoned the comforts of her pillow and reached him. She licked his hand and gladly accepted the caresses coming in response. Then, on her haunches, she put her paws on black wood and stared at him in fibrillating expectation. “Eh eh, may I introduce you to my new soprano partner? She’s also the Great Detective Shibayama’s assistant, though, mind you! Let’s say this is just the lamest side of our life as ordinary citizens.”

”Ah…Don’t use my instructions howsoever you please, Junpei Shibayama. Honestly…” At the first row of notes propagating in the hall, she sat on the sofa and aimed the bud of a glad smile at the window.

In her soul, she was just so happy he had come to quickly find out it had never been a matter of superficial likeness.

__________________________________________

Italian notes:

Principessa: princess

Ma io dico: literally, it means “But I say…”. Still it is just some form of interaction to express disbelief (in a negative way).

Pappa: It’s a terms we use while speaking to babies and animals. It means food, technically.

Bimba and bambina: synonym for “little girl” but we use them in affectionate contexts as well. It’s a bit like “baby” I guess. I became affectionate to bimba thanks to italian dub of Lady and the Tramp. It did stick with me in the sweetest way as possible.

Pasta ai piselli: It’s pasta and peas ahaha

Spaghetti alla San Giovanna: In my family it has always been spaghetti, tomato sauce and olives. Such has to remain to them, please.

Liù, Liù, la bambina mia che sei tu: Liù, Liù, the baby you are to me. Our structures are really not that easy to translate in english sometimes? We can be free in the order of our words, in our dispositio verborum, so we it’s not always easy to translate everything. Yet, it’s just supposed to be one of those silly tunes you sing to your dog.

[mithliya]

Imma be honest with you, I consider myself a radfem, have been raised in a muslim family, my father is Lebanese (pro hezbollah type), I'm a febfem and have been repeatedly outcast for my gender non conformity (I'm highly masc) and my sexuality by my Arabic family. So we are somewhat similar.

I dont post anything about palestine on tumblr. I post on Instagram, Facebook (lost many Jewish friends doing that btw) but on tumblr because it's terribly limited for things that are not informative. I guess I'm sending this message to tell you you're not alone, there are radfems that are not pro genocide, there are women that care. Don't lose hope ❤️

thank u for the msg kind anon ❤️ i’ve been following more women who are speaking on the issue and unfollowing the ones that have only talked about israel while ignoring what is going on to palestinians. i had had enough of it. i even saw a mutual talking about how criticising jkr for only speaking on israel means ur antisemitic and support terrorism.. i’m tired of it and i just need to curate this space to fit what i prefer to see. ultimately the way i’ve seen western white women treat this issue has made me question why i should waste my time advocating for their issues when they will never spend any time doing the same for MENA women. they didn’t do it with iranian women, or afghan women, or anything else. their solidarity for us seems only to extend as far as calling muslim men horrible animals and muslim women brainwashed class traitors. my posts criticising islam get lots of notes, yet i’m an islam shill bc i draw the line at discriminatory and racist rhetoric from them. my posts about what MENA women face that reject the notion that our issues were invented (rather than reinforced) by religion are often overlooked or lead me to face harassment, my posts about racism woc face from white women gets me harassment and ppl falsely claiming i would support white women getting raped, etc like. why should i waste my time with posts about how karen is misogynistic or how the hate of pumpkin spice products is misogynistic or whatever else that is specifically used to mock white women, when more serious issues woc face are overlooked by white women? they can go focus on being called karens like it’s the most pressing problem in the world and ignore our plights and actively even be racist against us, they’re hopeless, i’ll focus on our issues the way they focus on their own. that’s been what i’ve been telling myself to cope at least lol

sorry i ended up rambling!! it’s a bad habit of mine. but point is, thank u i appreciate it

[beardedmrbean]

None of the 40 men housed in a Luxembourg shelter for soon-to-be-deported immigrants are from Afghanistan, nor has the Grand Duchy forcibly returned anybody there since the country’s unrecognised Taliban leadership regained power three years ago, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

The shelter, or Maison de Retour, in Kirchberg, has space for as many as 180 people and opened at the start of September for dozens of men. Women and children are scheduled to join them from the start of October.  

The stated purpose of the shelter is to provide support to people whose applications for asylum in Luxembourg have been rejected and for whom deportation is the only remaining legal option. They are housed there while travel is arranged to their home countries or the first EU state they entered. 

Also read:

Luxembourg sets up shelter to send back failed asylum seekers

Luxembourg has not forced anybody to return to Afghanistan since the Taliban took control, but neighbouring Germany recently sent a plane of 28 failed asylum seekers back to the central Asian country. 

The deportation involved only men who had been in prison convicted of criminal offences in Germany. The arrangement took several months to make and did not involve direct talks between the German and Taliban authorities, as they have no formal diplomatic relations. Like Luxembourg, Germany has not deported any non-criminals to Afghanistan. 

“Applications of Afghan women and children for international protection, as all applications for international protection, are examined on a case-by-case basis,” Luxembourg’s Ministry of Home Affairs told the Luxembourg Times in an email this week.

Those who meet the requirements of the Geneva Convention and Luxembourg’s law on international protection from 2015 are granted protection, the ministry said. Under the Geneva Convention, an asylum seeker must have a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” The convention does not define persecution. 

Most Afghan women and children arriving in Luxembourg receive a green light to stay.

“However, in exceptional cases, mainly when the general credibility, identity, or nationality is being questioned, or if excludable acts have been committed, the applications for international protection introduced by Afghans might be rejected,” the ministry said. 

At least two Afghan women and several dependent children have been refused international protection, but not deported. The ministry did not respond to questions about the current status of the women and their children denied protection, nor what will happen to Afghan women and children not accepted for international protection in Luxembourg in the future.

Under Luxembourgish law, people granted international protection as refugees are given residence permits for five years at a time. Afghan nationals who have been refused have the option to apply for a residence permit, the ministry said. Those permits are granted for between one and five years. Both statuses include the right to work and to receive public services, but refugee status allows for family reunification and for travel outside of Luxembourg. 

Taliban oppression of women in Afghanistan has been increasing since the militant Islamist organisation wrested back control of the country in August 2021, with over 100 new laws targeting women’s freedom. Since August, women have been banned not only from showing their faces outside their own homes, but also from speaking when out. 

Luxembourg does not automatically reassess failed applications based on changing circumstances in the applicants’ home countries, the ministry said.

“But rejected asylum seekers have the possibility to file a subsequent application for international protection at any moment if they estimate that new elements or findings have arisen which relate to the examination of whether they qualify as a beneficiary of international protection,” the ministry said. 

The question of what to do with people whose applications can be rejected but cannot be returned to their home country is one Luxembourg hopes to answer in cooperation with its Schengen-area partners, Home Affairs Minister Léon Gloden has said previously.  

[tayloralison]

kam's post had a broken link in it, i imagine that's why it was taken down. but of course people would rather come up with conspiracies, lol.

face it: taylor doesn't care about palestine. she doesn't care enough about it positively to speak up even in the wishiest washiest doctors without borders aid donation way without even condemning the idf/israel's government, BUT she also doesn't care enough about it negatively to force her dancers/staff to delete their support for a ceasefire.

there is really no need for all this discourse. people just can't accept that their fave celeb doesn't share their priorities or morality or whatever. no one is forcing anyone to give this woman money/time/support! if her ignorance re: palestine is a deal breaker then you can just not be a stan any more. i've unstanned plenty of celebs for similar reasons, it's not difficult to just be normal instead of having a meltdown about a complete stranger not being the person you want them to be.

i think a lot of people need to ask themselves why her silence on this issue in particular is causing them so much mental anguish and not her silence on all the other genocides and human rights issues going on around the world. taylor has never be political. she has never done anything to help uyghurs or congolese people or iranian women or yemenese kids or even afghan women after the taliban ceased control. this is who she is, this is who she has always been. it is nothing new. every single person who stans her has known that all along. and if that is for some reason the deal breaker, then so be it, unstan, it's fine. but don't pretend you all went into swiftiehood thinking she would speak up. you all went in knowing full well she was apolitical and wouldn't say a word about anything outside america. you've changed, she hasn't.

you can still adore Taylor, want to support her, and still want her to be more vocal when that is something she herself has said she wants to do (miss americana and that one interview where she said she loves coming on tumblr because people talk about what they think is unjust).

she said she was in a terrible place in 2016 and didn't speak up about the election that year. she also said that she didn't know about the "aryan goddess" allegations until after, because she was so disconnected from the internet. so now, in 2023/2024, when she's the most successful woman in the industry, and touring the world, reach the billionaire status, what's stopping her now?

[coochiequeens]

How dare women who want to raise awareness for the plight of Afghan and Iranian women ……. not think about men in dresses.

A symposium in Nantes intended to raise awareness of the plight of Afghan and Iranian women has been postponed after trans activists threatened to violently ambush the event because of the presence of a gender critical speaker.

The Comité Laïcité République (CLR – Republic Secularism Committee), an organization dedicated to promoting secularism “as a force for reflection, dialogue, with a balanced tone,” issued a statement on April 5announcing that their symposium – entitled “Women, Life, Freedom” after the mantra of the Iranian women’s protest movement – would be postponed to a later and as yet unspecified date. The event had previously been planned for April 15 at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes.

The activists were enraged over the planned presence of Marguerite Stern, a French women’s rights campaigner known for having critical stances on gender ideology and the sex trade.

“Numerous threats inciting violence were made on social media, including the distribution of our poster announcing the event crossed out with a knife, with calls for counter-demonstrations due to the presence of Ms. Stern, an activist feminist, critic of transgender ideology,” read the CLR’s statement.

“This led the organizers to postpone this event for the sake of preserving the safety of the speakers, of all the participants, and to prevent the Château from suffering any damage. The Comité Laïcité République lodged a complaint and informed the Prefect of these threats.”

The CLR added that as a “staunch defender of freedom of expression since its creation,” the group would not participate in the censorship of Stern, and especially not “under the threat of violent groups who excel in insults, and do not ever argue.”

Speaking with Le Figaro regarding the threats of violence from trans activists, Stern compared the accusation of “transphobia” to the label of “Islamophobia”, saying that both terms are used to silence critics. She noted that, according to her detractors, “recalling biological facts and wanting to protect women and children is considered the worst affront.”

Stern is set to speak at the event regarding the state of feminism following the Me Too era. The description of her presentation also mentions that Stern was ousted from her own movement in direct response to her concerns about transgender ideology. Les Collages Contre les Féminicides, a direct action campaign she launched in 2019, involved the creation of murals calling attention to male violence against women and girls.

By January 2020, just under a year after she founded the collective, Stern’s project had been “hijacked” by gender ideology, a situation that she described in a series of posts on Twitter.

“Debates on trans activism are taking up more and more space in feminism, and even garnering all the attention. I interpret this as a new male attempt to prevent women from expressing themselves,” she wrote. “At all times, men have tried to silence women by silencing their revolts. Today they are doing it from within by infiltrating our struggles and taking center stage.”

“I am in favor of deconstructing gender stereotypes, and I believe that trans activism only reinforces them. I observe that men who want to be women suddenly start wearing makeup, to wear dresses and heels. And I consider it an insult to women to consider that it is the tools invented by the patriarchy that make us women. We are women because we have vulvas. It is a biological fact,” Stern elaborated.

She revealed that as the collective made the decision to expel her, they posted a photo to the group’s Instagram account of some of the members next to a mural which read, “Des sisters, pas des cisterfs“, or, “Sisters, not cisterfs,” a portmanteau of the term “cisgender” and “TERF,” a slur frequently used to call for violence against women who reject the belief that men can become women.

Over the past three years, Stern has become a lightening rod for trans activist aggression, enduring harassment both online and in public. After being ostracized by her own collective, Stern continued to campaign for women’s rights and in 2020 she created L’Amazone, which expands upon her previous street artwork but also organizes demonstrations against the prostitution and pornography industries.

Trans activists have targeted L’Amazone‘s street murals, and last summer went so far as to destroy a memorial to the infant victims of shaken baby syndrome.

The mural was paper-based art plastered near a sidewalk creating a collage with the names and ages of 14 babies who had died as a result of the injury. Most of the infants were aged 1 to 13 months.

On International Women’s Day 2021, Stern was pelted with eggs by trans activists in a coordinated and premeditated assault. She, along with members of L’Amazone and the Collective for the Abolition of Pornography and Prostitution (CAPP) had gathered to hold a demonstration at the Place de la République in Paris. The women soon found themselves swarmed and outnumbered by trans activists who called them “SWERFs”, for Sex Worker Exclusionary Radical Feminist, and shouted, “No feminism without whores.”

Many of the women protesting against the sex industry were themselves survivors of prostitution, but this didn’t deter the trans activists. A menacing threat was spray painted on a statue where the women were gathered which read, “Save a trans person, kill a TERF.”

Last October, women of L’Amazone were physically assaulted by trans activists who tore up their signs and hurled slurs at them while they marched in Paris. Surrounding the women, trans activists screamed “men can have abortions” in apparent retort to the participants’ opposition to gender ideology. They also yelled “TERFs get out,” and “stop transphobia!” During the attack, one women’s rights advocate sustained a broken finger as she was grabbed and shoved.

“I got used to the idea that my life, on a personal and professional scale, will never be the same again. When we start to speak publicly about transgenderism, there is a before and an after,” Stern told Le Figaro. “Only one thing terrifies me more than the threats I receive: the idea of ​​stopping talking.”

A venue has offered to host a talk by Stern in May in support of her campaigning. Café Laïque Bruxelles shared news of the speech by praising “her courageous fight” and promising prospective attendants that “this conference will not be cancelled.” Just three months prior, the cafe was targeted by trans activists who stormed inside and hurled feces in protest over speakers critical of childhood medical transitioning.

Most recently, Stern has partnered with female sexuality influencer Dora Moutot on a project they call Femelliste, which “fights to maintain the sex-based rights of women.” 

“Being a woman is not a feeling or a sentiment or a fantasy or a taste in clothes but a biological and sexual reality,” the Femelliste manifesto reads. “Gender is a set of social constructions that lock women and men into stereotyped shackles from which feminists have always tried to free themselves.”

For discussing female anatomy and sexuality, co-founder Moutot was similarly targeted by trans activists for abuse, and is currently facing a criminal complaint, the first of its kind in the nation, over accusations of “misgendering” two transgender public figures.

By Genevieve Gluck

Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.

[mightyflamethrower]

Not a word from America's Feminists

Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue spokesman Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif explained on Thursday that his extremist regime forces women to cover their faces because the “value” of a woman “decreases” when men look at her.

“It is very bad to see women in some areas, and our scholars also agree that women’s faces should be hidden,” Akif told the Associated Press. By “see women in some areas,” he meant seeing women walking around without mandatory face coverings in crowded cities.

“It’s not that her face will be harmed or damaged. A woman has her own value and that value decreases by men looking at her. Allah gives respect to females in hijab and there is value in this,” he said.

Akif claimed Afghans are delighted to have the Taliban’s severe interpretation of Islamic law imposed on them again. Women, in particular, are supposedly happy that the Taliban is forcing them to cover up so men will not leer at them. He then admitted his regime maintains an extensive network of secret police and informants to ensure everyone is experiencing the full measure of mandatory happiness with Taliban rule.

Members of Afghanistan’s Powerful Women Movement, take part in a protest in Kabul on May 10, 2022. About a dozen women chanting “burqa is not my hijab” protested in the Afghan capital on May 10 against the Taliban’s order for women to cover fully in public, including their faces. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

“Our ombudsmen walk in markets, public places, universities, schools, madrasas and mosques. They visit all these places and watch people. They also speak with them and educate them. We monitor them and people also cooperate with and inform us,” he said.

Asked to justify the Taliban’s cruel ban on women going to public parks and gymnasiums, Akif clarified that women are only forbidden to enter parks if men happen to be there.

“You can go to the park, but only if there are no men there. If there are men, then sharia does not allow it. We don’t say that a woman can’t do sports, she can’t go to the park or she can’t run. She can do all these things, but not in the same way as some women want, to be semi-naked and among men,” he said.

Critics of the Taliban are unlikely to be satisfied with this apologia for brutish misogyny. On Wednesday, U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown proposed prosecuting Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Brown forwarded a legal opinion to the ICC arguing that the Taliban’s ban on women receiving an education should be prosecuted as institutionalized “gender discrimination.” He also suggested convincing Muslim countries to send a delegation of Islamic scholars to convince the Taliban that banning women from education and employment has “no basis in the Quran or Islamic religion.”

Brown thought there was a “split within the regime” between Taliban ministers in Kabul who might be willing to restore women’s education and fire-breathing “clerics in Kandahar” who demanded the ban. This optimistic analysis would seem to be contradicted by the Taliban minister explaining on Thursday that keeping women wrapped in cloth preserves their value.

Afghan girls read the Quran in the Noor Mosque outside the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid immediately dismissed Brown’s concerns as “political propaganda” and insisted the ban on women in schools will remain in effect, although he conceded “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not deny there are issues in terms of rights which need reform.”

The Taliban consolidated its grip on power on Wednesday by banning all other political parties from Afghanistan, ruling that they, too, are violations of Islamic law.

“There is no Sharia basis for political parties to operate in the country. They do not serve the national interest, nor does the nation appreciate them,” said Taliban justice minister Abdul Hakim Sharaee.

Afghanistan had about 70 political parties before President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal swept the Taliban into power two years ago. Much of the leadership of those parties fled the country after the fall of Kabul in August 2021.

“The political party ban is expected to complicate reconciliation efforts among Afghans seeking to initiate a dialogue between various political factions. The international community has supported such a dialogue with the aim of eventually forming a broad-based government in the war-torn nation,” Radio Free Europe (RFE) said on Thursday.

RFE inadvertently touched on one of the major reasons why the Taliban imposed the ban: The last thing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants is an internationally-supported dialogue between various political factions that might result in a national reconciliation that displaces absolute Taliban rule in favor of a broad-based government.

RFE implicitly accused the Taliban of hypocrisy for banning political parties because the Taliban itself is essentially an offshoot of an Islamist party in Pakistan, which then flourished as an insurgent student movement in Afghanistan in the 1990s. “Hypocrisy” might not be the best term for the Taliban deciding to eliminate political parties so no fresh insurgent movement might grow to someday challenge authoritarian Taliban rule.

[mariacallous]

As Iranians head to a run-off presidential election this week to replace the late leader Ebrahim Raisi, one key—and unusual—electoral issue continues to grip the country.

While previous elections focused largely on the issues of civil liberties, women’s rights, and fraught relations with the West, immigration has also featured prominently in this year’s debate. Almost every candidate in the tightly controlled showdown touched upon the influx of asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and the socioeconomic ripple effect that it has created in Iran.

Discrimination and racial prejudice against Afghans have recently been on the rise in Iran, especially as economic hardships take a toll on citizens squeezed by corruption and poor governance at home and the burden of international sanctions from abroad.

According to the country’s latest census in 2016, more than 1.58 million Afghan nationals lived in Iran—making up roughly 90 percent of the country’s migrant population. Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the latest United Nations figures now put the number of Afghan refugees living in Iran at 3.7 million.

In its 2023 country report on Iran, Amnesty International cited “barriers to education, housing, employment, health care, banking services and freedom of movement” as the major cases of discrimination against Afghans. Roughly half of the country’s 31 provinces are regions that Afghan nationals aren’t allowed in by executive mandate. These include either the more economically advantaged provinces or those at the heart of acute ethnic fault lines in Iran.

Afghanistan is one of the only three Persian-speaking countries, meaning that there is no major language barrier between Afghans and Iranians. In religious terms, Islamic practices have tied the two nations for centuries. Culturally, commonalities are manifold and the two peoples’ admiration for such relics of a shared past as the Nowruz festival or the poetry of Rumi and Ferdowsi remains ironclad.

Against this backdrop, it’s shocking that the public discourse among Iranians about Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s tyranny has become so toxic. In preserving its imagined sociopolitical boundaries, Iran’s clerical establishment has reproduced negative clichés about a vulnerable community, making it more convenient for disgruntled masses to blame them for their country’s mishaps.

A succession of hate crimes and violent acts targeting Afghan migrants, often provoked by the irresponsible rhetoric of politicians and state media, testifies to an overtly unwelcoming and intimidating environment for the desperate asylum-seekers. Security forces mistreating Afghan nationals at ports of entry and public venues through physical abuse, verbal aggression and other forms of humiliating behavior has become routine.

In the absence of accountability for the state, ordinary Iranians have also become complicit in a pattern of villainizing and mistreating Afghans. Last April, an upscale shopping center in Tehran banned Afghans from entering the mall for four days. In October, a video circulated online showing a group of men in the city of Sanandaj beating a young Afghan refugee. And last December, following the killing of a 17-year-old Iranian from the city of Meybod, an angry mob attacked a housing estate hosting Afghan refugees, setting several apartments on fire.

The teenager was reportedly killed in a street fight that implicated an Afghan migrant, and his death reignited anti-Afghan sentiments that erupt in Iran from time to time. The second-largest city of the province of Yazd, Meybod hosts nearly 12,000 Afghans; after the incident, local authorities said that they would enforce restrictions on the living conditions of the “alien residents,” including walling their housing complexes off from the rest of the city.

Iranians are economically frustrated, seeing the government as unable to address their basic needs. In a petroleum-rich and relatively wealthy country, the World Bank has reported that 28 percent of the population is living under the poverty threshold and a further 40 percent is on the verge of falling into poverty. The youth unemployment rate stands above 22 percent, and the inflation rate is over 37 percent—higher than that of war-torn Yemen, for example.

The proliferation of anti-Afghan sentiment in the public domain was reinforced by the hostile rhetoric of the Raisi administration, which weaponized a mix of nationalism and religious zeal to rally a base of conservative loyalists around an anti-immigration platform. A hashtag in Persian that reads “expulsion of Afghans is a national demand,” now trending nationally, has been promoted by hardline sympathizers of the government, who have spoken ill of Afghan migrants as manipulating Iran’s demographic makeup and usurping job opportunities.

“I think Iranians have a long history of Persian chauvinism toward Afghans, Arabs, and other regional neighbors,” said Sahar Razavi, director of the Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center at California State University in Sacramento. “The chauvinism obscures, for so many Iranians, those shared cultural, linguistic, and historical aspects between Afghan and Iranian societies.”

While mirroring the predispositions of far-right European parties and the U.S. Republican Party in their aversion to so-called out-groups, Iran’s hard-liners have not been shy about their denigration of Afghans as an inferior racial identity.

In last week’s presidential debate, former U.S. President Donald Trump made the demonization of migrants to the United States his key talking point. A similar dynamic can be seen playing out in Iran.

On Persian-language social media, stereotyping of Afghans as drug addicts, smugglers, violent criminals, and sexual predators is prevalent. In September 2021, when Iran’s state television aired a series called The Neighbor, the show’s producers received criticism for detailing the plight of Afghan migrants and humanizing their stories.

Spurred by lingering economic woes, the Islamic Republic insists it doesn’t have the resources to host more Afghans. According to a report published by the Danish Refugee Council, Iranian authorities have deported more than 1 million Afghan refugees since 2022. Some deportees have complained about facing maltreatment at the hands of law enforcement officers. Newer Afghan arrivals are likely to face an uphill battle as well.

“Despite their claims of liberal-mindedness and cosmopolitanism, many Iranians exhibit popular prejudice and condescending attitudes not only toward immigrants but also minority ethnic groups such as Kurds, Arabs, and Azeris,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iran expert and Dean of College of Arts, Sciences, and Education at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Still, Boroujerdi says there are other factors that fuel anti-Afghan hostility, such as a perception that the Iranian government recruits impoverished Afghans into militia groups in exchange for economic and social rights for them when they settle.

As in other host societies receiving large numbers of asylum-seekers, the fear of vanishing jobs or declining social mobility because of new border arrivals continues to animate anti-immigrant stereotypes. What is idiosyncratic is that in a homogenous country reeling from chronic isolation, and where the plurality of the citizens may spend their lives interacting only with other Iranians, accommodating Afghans as the only external presence has become such a daunting task.

In the absence of prudent leaders to bring reason to the debate, the Iranian public—often self-assured about its progressivism—is negating its self-styled image of hospitality and displaying the unseen contours of its racial tolerance.

[marmorada]

It's probably because the Taliban is stopping women from going to school because they hate women, while Hamas started the current war by going on an antisemitic rape, mutilation, and murder rampage knowing it would start this war, having built and quartered their military in and under schools on purpose. And are now as we speak continuing to enslave and rape female hostages, and every single time a ceasefire comes up they refuse to release those hostages. Israeli education is also being constantly disrupted by Hamas' and Hezbollah's constant bombings, of course the difference being that Israel bothers to allow them access to shelters because lives are more important than propaganda & they don't teach 6 year old girls that committing suicide bombings is their greatest aspiration.

I guess Israeli girls and women (which very much does include muslims and Druze which are also among the dead, hostaged, and displaced) do not matter to the above posters either which makes one wonder why they feel themselves superior.

You are not drumming up support for Gaza, you are dumping on Afghan girls by demanding support for them be contingent on a separate cause you KNOW is widely controversial.

We don’t talk about this Starbucks feminism enough.