i've also been busy in the last couple of weeks trying to support a couple of organisations to present at the diversity forum happening here in august. one project i'm particularly excited about will deal with the intersection of poverty with race & ethnicity. if it goes to plan, it should be an interesting interactive session that provides various mediums for people to contribute or just quietly attend.
i'm also organising a workshop for muslim women on 25 june, which will help them to deal with harassment and bullying when they're out in public. any time i've raised this issue, muslim women all have stories to tell of unpleasant experiences. i think it's important they have the tools to deal with this kind of thing, so a person from the police and another person from the human rights commission will be there to share information. it will also be an opportunity for them to share their own experiences.
in mid-july, i'll be going on a ski camp for muslim girls, and i'm really excited about that. i have to say i'm hopeless at skiing, as i am with most sporting endeavours. i've actually had one lesson, but it didn't go too well. i spent most of the time on my bum with my legs at odd angles. but i'm ready to have another go. it does look like a fun activity when you know how to do it.
speaking of sports, i'm pretty annoyed at the barriers for muslim women to participate competitively in sport. if you don't want to bare all, many of them don't want you to participate. for example, there's this case of the muslim weightlifter in georgia (USA) who is being prevented from competing because she wants to wear hijab.
then there is FIFA, banning the iranian women's football team from a qualifying match because they want to cover their hair & necks. it's sickening that some sports are allowed to force women to bare as much as possible (women's beach volleyball, anyone) while others will deny women the chance to play if they want to cover up. all ensuring that women continue to be the sex class, rather top performers in sport. and just to show you what we're talking about, here are the uniforms that FIFA has banned:
5 comments:
Some interesting discussion on Feministing of the FIFA ban:
http://feministing.com/2011/06/07/iranian-women’s-soccer-team-banned-from-2012-games/
It's worth noting that these women were caught between two competing laws - FIFA's law saying head coverings aren't allowed, and Iran's law saying that women must wear the hijab in public.
Seems FIFA bans neck coverings for safety reasons and an Iranian youth team played with their necks uncovered but a headpiece with no objections.
and is there any proof that the new headcoverings are unsafe? or is this just FIFA getting caught up in the general islamophobia that is rising across europe?
Apparently it's the covering of the neck, not the head, that's unsafe.
My brother, who is a sports physiotherapist, tells me that neck coverings are considered unsafe for most team sports when played at a high level (not just soccer but also rugby and Ozzie rules) because there is a risk they may get caught on something and choke the player. He was taught this at Otago Uni. He couldn't remember when the study was done though.
yes, but i wonder if any research has actually been done on this type of covering. there's no lose material there, and i can't see how damage would be done.
Well it must be slightly loose - if there's any gap between the neck and the fabric something could get caught in there. Not that likely I know but on the field unexpected things can happen and FIFA is liable for any injuries that occur during its games.
I'll try to get my bro to comment but he is pretty busy.
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