gender

Tue
26
May
2015
New translation available
Submitted by hannah

By Paul Adhoch - Trace Kenya and Dola Nicholas Oluoch – Chemchemi Ya Ukweli - written for http://antimili-youth.net/...

Fri
31
Oct

Women in Black vigil on youth militarisation

As part of the International Week of Action for Military-Free Education and Research, London's Women in Black group held a vigil on the theme of youth militirisation in Britain. Over 200 leaflets were handed out, with many positive responses, and a lot of people remarking that they had not known before that the British army had any presence in schools.

Download the leaflet they distributed here.

Tue
14
Oct

Making Militarism Visible: slideshow

This powerpoint presentation is a version of an exhibition, built by New Profile, which highlights the everyday militarism of Israeli society. The exhibition is also available in Arabic and French. You can download the powerpoint here.

Mon
15
Sep

Selling Israeli Militarism Like Toothpaste

From children's shows to national war drills, a discussion on militarism in Israeli society and gender equality in the army.
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On Wednesday, June 22nd, Israel held the largest war exercise in its history. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky interviewed Rela Mazali, the founder of New Profile, an organization working to demilitarize Israeli society, and Alex Cohn, a war resister who served five months for objecting to serve in the army. Cohn analyses a children's show that portrays a typical interaction between soldiers and Israeli children as part

Selling Israeli Militarism Like Toothpaste
Tue
26
Aug

Militarized Parenthood in Israel

Image: In this ad, LG is announcing a special promotion wherein soldiers are invited to a shopping mall where LG representatives will do their laundry for them, so as to, quote "Take the load off of mom".This ad is invoking the role of mothers as supporters in order to align their product with the war effort.

Ad by Yarkoni, 2010

Recently I received a petition, created by a group of 40 mothers, stating very clearly, “We do not wish to hand our boys to the IOF” (Israeli Occupation Forces), and calling for social responsibility and the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. This document is uplifting1.

Tue
12
Aug

Militarisation of youth in Bolivarian Venezuela

Rafael Uzcátegui

In 1998 lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez won the presidency of Venezuela, after staging a coup d’etat in 1992. For the first time in Venezuela’s democratic period (which began in 1958), a member of the Armed Forces was elected head of state. One of the consequences was that a new phase of progressive militarisation had begun in the country, initiated with a constitutional reform in 1999, which granted members of the Armed Forces the right to vote, in addition to other political rights, such as the right to be elected to public office in a public vote. Today, soldiers occupy different offices, such as ministers, governors, and mayors. Although there is a coalition of political parties that supports president Chávez, the Gran Polo Patriótico, there is a lot of evidence that shows that, in fact, the Armed Forces are Hugo Chávez's political organisation of trust to exercise political power.

Tue
12
Aug

Militarization and masculinities: Refusing militarism is not possible without refusing hegemonic masculinity

It’s one thing to call a ceasefire, another to decommission militarized masculinity

Andreas Speck

“Questioning the militarist value system and its practices which are identified with military service, one is also obliged to question the hegemonic understanding of masculinity. In Turkey, military service is a laboratory in which masculinity is reproduced. The patriarchal system is solidified through military service. I objected to military service, because I am also against this laboratory manufactured masculinity. The struggle against militarism defined in heterosexist terms through sexist structures finds its fundamental expression in anti-militarism. This refers to freedom of sexual orientation, gender equality and total and unrestricted freedom”.1

Mon
02
Jun

Webinar: Militarisation of youth and child soldiers

Dereje Wordofa presents the trend of "militarisation of youth and child soldiers" in Africa, despite the international instruments for human rights.

Dereje Wordofa is Regional Director for Africa at the American Friends Service Committee. He is committed to lasting peace, sustainable development and social justice.

Webinar: Militarisation of youth and child soldiers
Tue
18
Mar

Israel Bans Activists From High School Civil Rights Debates

Young Israeli women who refused to serve in the IDF

New Profile -

New Profile, the feminist movement to civil-ize Israeli society, wrote Minister of Education, Gideon Saar, this morning, strongly condemning his recent instructions to prohibit its members' participation in high school debates convened by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on questions of human rights and freedom of expression.

New Profile wrote the minister that his act had exposed the government's true stand on civil rights and freedom of expression, also belying the Education Ministry's professed respect for tolerance.

“The minister's step was taken in tandem with the decision he took to send yet more military personnel into schools—a move designed to increase enthusiasm for fighting,” New Profile advised in its letter.

Fri
07
Mar

Quotes from WRI's Countering the Militarisation of Youth conference: Gender and sexuality

The image of masculinity...the model men that go to war, that compete. - Jorge Veléz, Colombia

The Ministry of Women, for example, was created in 2006 and since then one of the main goals that the Minister for Women has proposed is to provide two million female members to the militia. She has already set in motion a first stage where she promised 150,000... - Rafael Uzcategui, Venezuela

We do also have women in the military, but comparatively the ratio is low. – Samuel Koduh, Ghana

Fri
07
Mar

Survey findings: Gender and sexuality

Of the thirty-two countries surveyed, there is only an active attempt to recruit LGBT people in four. Eight countries don’t allow LGBT people to enlist at all, although of those, Kenya is the only one where homosexuality is actually illegal. In Turkey men can be exempted from military service if they can 'prove' (including by providing photos or video footage of them having sex with men) that they are homosexual. But in the majority of countries, sexuality is simply not a recruitment criterion.

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