Connexions articles from June 1994

Connexions archives from June 1994

Back to the roots. (Japan)(Adapted from Japan-Asia Quarterly Review, 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Japan In one scene of the American movie Dances with Wolves, the "Indians" have coffee for the first time. The hero of the story, Lieutenant Danver, tries to entertain them by grinding coffee beans with all his might, boiling water, and...

Tortuous developments: a literary odyssey. (China)(Adapted from Depthnews Women's Feature, August 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... China Author Shi Nan never had any formal schooling, but she caught the attention of millions of Chinese with her first writing effort, a biography of the celebrated woman artist Zhang Yuliang. The book was published in 1983 and soon became...

Safety in numbers. (hostel for working women in Pakistan)(Adapted from Depthnews Women's Feature, February 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Pakistan "For some it is a permanent home, for others it is a temporary shelter. For still others, it is a rehabilitation centre preparing them mentally for the journey ahead, often after some domestic trauma," says Shaheen Atio-ur-Rehman,...

A rich harvest of forbidden fruit. (Philippine feminist writings)(Adapted from Depthnews, Dec. 1992) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... The Philippines On its cover is a ripe papaya fruit sliced open, black seeds spilling from their bed of orange flesh. Turn the pages and Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotica pursues its promise of sweetness and succulence--in 34 poems...

Anjaree - toward lesbian visibility. (Thailand's lesbian activist group) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Thailand "Dear Sisters, May I tell you something about myself? My name is Kaew (a pseudonym). I have long hair and don't look like a tomboy at all, but I do feel like a man. I love girls! I feel ashamed to let my parents, my brothers and...

The flesh trade's empty promises. (Vietnam)(Adapted from Depthnews, March 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Vietnam A familiar sight in Viet Nam's major cities like this one is the frantic daytime traffic, with bicycles and scooters scrambling for every inch of road space. But at night a different kind of traffic cruises the street and alleyways....

Resilient resistance. (Bhutanese refugee)(Adapted from Voice Against Organised Violence, December 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Bhutan Nepal A Bhutanese refugee from Thimai camp--44 year old "A" has come full circle! Born into a Newar family in Biratnagar in East Nepal, she was married at the tender age of 12 and moved to Kathmandu. Her alcoholic husband beat her...

International networking: good for all activists. (AIDS activists) (Asia: Women Arise) (Interview)
June 22, 1994... Taiwan (An interview with Ni Chia-Chen of the Awakening Foundation by Connexions, August 1994.) Ni Chia-Chen is an AIDS activist working with the Awakening Foundation, a Taiwan feminist non-governmental foundation. Chia-Chen has been...

A government of the women .... (India)(Adapted from Depthnews Women's Feature, February 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... India The village of Bramanghar in Maharashtra State's Pune district is a groundbreaker of sorts. Its seven-member panchayat (council) is all-woman. The women were a unanimous choice. Village elders drew up the list of nominees and the...

Population politics. (Tibet)(Adapted from Frauensolidaritat, 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Tibet With Beijing being the location of the 1995 world conference on women, the situation of women in Tibet is being brought more and more into the limelight of the feminist opposition. Exiled Tibetan women fear exclusion from the conference...

Moving up the power ladder. (Adapted from Depthnews Women's Feature, July 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... More than any other human activity, politics has continued to sport a distinctly masculine face. Women--notwithstanding the few who have risen to leadership or key posts in governments-remain largely invisible in the political sphere, it was...

Lesbian organizing: culture, sexuality, politics. (Taiwan) (Asia: Women Arise) (Interview)
June 22, 1994... Taiwan Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, various social movements have changed the face of Taiwanese political culture and everyday life. In addition to a workers' and a student movement, feminist organizing and lesbian activism have...

Female closeness and lesbian identity. (Indonesia)(Adapted from Frauensolidaritat, 1993) (Asia: Women Arise) (Interview)
June 22, 1994... Indonesia Within the cultural context of Indonesia, there exists either male or female sexuality. In addition, a third category is found that neither counts as female nor as male. For example, in South Sulawesi live the Kawe-Kawe men, who wear...

Equality starts with the family. (Hong Kong feminist issues)(Adapted from Women's News Digest, July 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Hong Kong Dr. Ellen Li is known to feminist groups as the revered pioneer in the women's liberation movement in Hong Kong. Not only because she initiated many organisations which strive for women's welfare and rights; she also took the lead in...

Between reality and hope. (feminist issues in Hong Kong and Indonesia)(Adapted from Asian Women Worker's Newsletter, July 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Hong Kong/Indonesia Capital transfer from NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries) to countries with lower wages has an adverse impact on workers in both kinds of countries. Tong Lai Chi worked for 20 years in a Hong Kong garment factory. She...

The cycle of literacy. (India)(Adapted form Depthnews Women's Feature, July 1993) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... India "Where there is a wheel, there is a way." This is the slogan coined by the women of Pudukkotai, one of the poorest districts of Tamil Nadu state. In the past 15 months or so, more than 100,000 women have taken to bicycling as a symbol...

Reconstructing the fabric of women's lives. (Cambodia) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Combodia Khemara was Cambodia's first local non-governmental organization (NGO) and works for the advancement of women. It, along with the blossoming local NGO movement, is very much working towards Beijing and using it as an opportunity for...

Enthusiasm for a feminist theology. (China)(Adapted from Decade Link, 1994)_ (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... China Paper delivered at the Friends of the Church in China Conference, July 1993, High Leigh, England. Rev. Gao Ying is an ordained pastor at Cheung Wen Men Church in Beijing. When I consider women in the Chinese church, as a female pastor,...

Forward-looking strategies re-examined. (feminist issues)(Adapted from Women Envision, June 1994) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... The Jakarta Declaration for the Advancement of Women in Asia and the Pacific was put forth at the recently concluded Second Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The document contained a Plan of Action aimed at...

We don't have to behave as expected. (Japanese feminist issues) (Asia: Women Arise)
June 22, 1994... Japan Women's empowerment has been taking place in various arenas of society and at various levels in Japan. Increasing demand for improving women's status in the workplace is one such area. The workplace has been male-dominated. Women have...

I call myself a feminist activist. (Sri Lankan human rights activist Sunila Abeyesekera) (Asia: Women Arise) (Interview)
June 22, 1994... Sri Lanka In recent decades, the political situation in Sri Lanka has been characterized by the conflict between the dominant Sinhalese government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels [a militant Tamil group fighting...