Egypt, Cotton, and Slavery and the Weaving of Women's Oppression all Tied In

Not sure about the title...but, it's a start...to where this discussion will be going [see post below]. Again, many may ask, what in the world are issues about oppression of women, chauvinism, sex slavery, trafficking-slavery which is what it is, doing on a Website about Sewing and Needle Work?

Because with Textiles, comes the history of slavery and current slavery, the exploitation of women' s labor, the Feminization of based and rooted on the exploitation of women's labor AND the 'religious and cultural' influences of the 'superior male' to the 'inferior female', a.k.a. Misogyny, Racism and Hierarchies, the Misogyny of 'beauty standards for male desires' marketed to women that is often tied into Porn culture in what we know as the Fashion Industry---where it is Women who consume, at the same time those 'externals' exploit women and children [often in same countries that exploit for cotton, food goods, minerals] in the sex slavery industrial complex and today that industry is not only global it is huge....

its all tied into SLAVERY. In one form or another, it all Feeds into Slavery, and we Women, are influenced and/or effected by it, in ways we may not be conscious of, but we are, in our intimate lives, in our consumption AND in how society-culture relates to us, as Human beings,

or as

Objects.

The thing is, we cannot 'separate' art from oppression, particularly in Textiles because it is in Textiles, one of the top global industries where the oppression of women AND slavery still continues to thrive AND where the wide gap between privilege and 'oppressed' is blatantly glaring. I wrote on this just recently--see map, a typical 'visitor's site map on the majority of art-textile blogs'



That map alone---speaks Volumes, about the wide disparity of freedom to create, for women especially, what Privilege is. On the 'blue' dots there is mass freedom and room of her own, to create, to live, to thrive, to flourish...as well as purchasing goods that assist in business, in textiles,

from those very Blank areas where the majority of women and children work in sweatshops, are trafficked [in domestic slavery, sweatshop slavery and esp in Textiles, in cotton slavery, in food crop slavery, in sex slavery--trafficking] and where women are paid the lowest, oppressed both by religion, men AND political systems and where they have no Room of her own, to create or do much else, they don't even have the room to Think free or even to Voice their rage--not without extreme penalty, from rape to torture to death, in slow horrible ways. And what is tragic is that it's Their oppression...

that we, benefit from, in one way or another.

The Ugly Side of Textiles, and one that can not just be swept under the rug OR masked over or ignored, because that gap,

is beginning to close.

With the introduction of the CPSIA law, we saw that---how large corporate supported 'laws' [ironically under the guise of consumer protection and ethics--of course throwing women off the bus literally and assisting those very corporations, in China, for example, that Thrive on trafficked slavery, from North Korean women working in sweatshops to Chinese women to children...that they have found Chained, literally to sewing machines--all for those tee shirt and cheap goods quotas]. And lead poisoning---won't even go there, it would take a Book--to expose the misogynist Hypocrisy and Class hypocrisy on that one---cutting the throats of women in cottage industries while its batteries, electronics/tech and Arms manufacturing that produce the largest percentage of Lead poisoning in Thailand and other nations, of course, can't touch those, Especially military arms, why, what would boys do without the Killing Toys? [sorry, I do get a bit venting here on these issues]

My point is, Women, is that whether women realize the full impact or not, WE do effect one another GLOBALLY, in so much that we do that may seem innocent enough, from buying that dress or fabric, that material dyed with harmful chemical toxins BANNED in the West by children in North Africa to buying 'cotton' farmed by CHILD SLAVES,

while we are free to create---millions of women still live in the Dark Ages, under laws that we couldn't even BEGIN to comprehend just how Totalitarian and Misogynist they are.

And it IS all connected, from the macro to the micro levels...sure, we can reconstruct and do our little part,

but IS it enough?

Maybe the question is, Do we have a responsibility to our neighbor and if so, then Who is our neighbor?

Jesus gave a good example of 'what it means to love thy neighbor' with the story of the Good Samaritan,

notice it wasn't the 'man robbed and beaten' that walked over to the people passing by and asking for help, no,

it was the people passing by, several who just saw and ignored...and then one, who Went over, took the man, bound up his wounds, dressed him, fed him, and then found him shelter.

The Good Samaritan WENT to the man, to help...

today, we have many women and children in our world, who are that beaten one pillaged by men, robbed, souls destroyed, exploited,

do we just pass by,

or do we stop, and Do something?

And worse, do we just 'hide' and pretend not to see? In our worlds of beauty?

And worlds, I might add, that are connected and are tied into Their oppression.

That, that is the question...what do WE do?

Jane

p.s. On another note, sad news, Mary Daly passed away, a brilliant feminist scholar who did so much to empower women and to challenge patriarchy. While I didn't concur with her on all points, she was and still is a huge influence in my life---my work, her and Andrea Dworkin...women whom I believe God used to empower me and to inspire me--to give me strength. You see it was Daly's works that helped me when I was in the 'far left' and confronting them on Their betrayals [and may I say, the liberal left as well] to women--it was her works that helped me to understand the 'painted bird', the token Patriarchal woman--and the far left has their patriarchal women Just as much as the 'misogynist fundie Christian lot' has theirs and Islam has theirs and so forth....women who are Parrots--for men who hate women. Women I might add, are not just 'ignorantly' patriarchal [where I don't concur with Daly or many rad fems] but women who Willingly oppress other women for Their advantage...they Do exist,

just as much as there are men who are NOT misogynist do exist. Where I do still concur with the Marxist feminist...but Daly's analysis on so many things rang true for me, and still do. She will be missed,

and she, along with so many other women whom I admire and who have inspired me, to think, to question, from Marxist Modotti to Kahlo to Dworkin to Daly to so many others, who Dared to challenge the status quo, who DARED to walk contrary to patriarchy and male supremacy in all its forms...

they have helped make me the person I am today...not only that, they've helped me, to see God in a totally different way--in that I questioned, and kept questioning, and it was that questioning my 'faith' that lead me to a deeper relationship with Jesus, dumping the Religion and the doctrines of MEN. [and religion]

It is the weaving of all of them, that has given me the strength to continue in advocacy on behalf of women...even in the face of hatred, often standing alone [or so it seems]. If not for these women,

I don't know if I would be as conscious as I am today or if I would have been able to go on, and not give up in the fight for women's freedom from abuses and abusive systems. I thank God, for courageous people, who put the welfare of others, above their own. To me, that really is, what Love is,

may I learn, to really Walk in that Love.

Jane

note: Remember I told you I don't fit into any 'box', I'm a 'leftist'Independent-I do concur with the Right on some things] more like it, Christian--an odd one at that if one wants to call it that and a feminist, not that this matters but I havve found that due to 'think boxes' people tend to think with prejudice,meaning, for example, if I confront the misogyny and tyranny of Islam immediately people think, oh, she's a neo-conservative, because those are the demonized labels cleverly used to box people in and to silence dissent. Same goes for Christians who deem in their prejudice any one who leans to the left or feminism in any issue that they are either New Age, anti-God or Liberal morally, etc., another means of demonizing and silencing dissent. For years I have felt compelled to 'explain' myself so to fight these labels, to get the message through, it's only been recently that I understand how dogma, that totalitarianism, works through demonizing the opposing view, to silence dissent--it can be right wing or left wing or even liberal/centralist.

It is very difficult in this embrace dogma day and age to be an 'issues' oriented rather than a 'philosophy' oriented, even more so if one's faith is at the core--just not the stereotypical definition of 'faith' as its often been portrayed, maybe I should clarify that more. My knowledge of this fact comes from years of having been intimate with both extremes and group think--dogma, to me its all dogma, a lot of it, simply 'dung' -- maybe where the more knowledge 'humans' spew the more 'dumb' [dumb as in Vanity] they become-- the evidence of this fact is that with all the technical advancements we as humanity devolve, rather than evolve--the genocides and Gendercides, is proof of this-- God was right, we are not 'gods' and we are failing in our experiment to 'be gods'....eh, just thought I'd throw that one out there]...