the interconnectedness of oppression...

i'm reading a book titled "eternal treblinka" by charles patterson at the moment - it "examines the origins of human supremacy and describes the emergence of industrialized slaughter of both animals and people in modern times"...  it is a powerful exposé of the human capacity for horror that's way beyond anything i thought could exist in the human psyche, let alone reality - it is not an easy read, i shed tears every time i turn a page, yet it is something i am drawn to, repulsed and repelled by, but need to read to its final sentence...

the title is taken from a short story, 'the letter writer' by isaac bashevis singer, polish-born jewish-american author and nobel laureate, in which he states "in relation to them (animals), all people are nazis; for the animals it is an eternal treblinka"... the book is actually dedicated to him...

according to lucy rosen kaplan, former attorney for peta and daughter of holocaust survivors, "in eternal treblinka we are presented for the first time with extensive evidence of the profoundly troubling connections between animal exploitation in the united states and hitler's final solution"...

jane goodall says "charles patterson's book will go a long way towards righting the terrible wrongs that human beings, throughout history, have perpetrated on nonhuman animals."

i'm still reading it, so not yet ready to write about it, but i felt it was time for a new post, however i am so totally pissed off with the human species and their treatment of our nonhuman kin, and so very ashamed to be part of a species that is capable of such horror that i am unable to write a post without rage and hatred, so instead i have opted to share three videos by three womyn i find inspiring and who passionately believe in feminism and nonhuman animal rights... here they 'join the dots' between the oppression of womyn and the oppression of nonhumans...

ruby hamad... "feminism, veganism and patriarchy"...

ashley maier... "violence against women and animal rights"...

both make reference to the wonderful carol j adams... "politics and the absent referent in 2014"...

i hope you find them inspiring... i hope. i implore, you make the connection... it really is time to change the world... 'animal rights' is, without doubt, a fundamental feminist issue... womyn's liberation and 'animal' liberation go hand in hand...

from 'animal rights is a feminist issue'

Did you know.....

it's the Centenary of Women's Suffrage here in Victoria this year???

It was a long time in coming and it was a hard-fought battle, but finally in November 1908 the Victorian Legislative Council passed the "Adult Suffrage Bill". This bill granted female suffrage (aka "right to vote") to women in Victoria for the first time.

According to the Victorian Women's Trust "Victoria was the last Australian state to grant women the vote, after an incredibly lengthy struggle. Despite being granted the vote federally in 1902, it would be another six years before women were able to vote in their own state. Extensive lobbying and activism took place, including:

• The “Monster Petition” of 1891, which collected an amazing 30,000 signatures, the largest ever presented to the Victorian State Parliament.

• Eighteen women’s suffrage bills, which were rejected by the Victorian Parliament over a period of almost two decades before the Adult Suffrage Act was finally passed in 1908.
  

The "Trust" initiated "DANGEROUS AND PERSUASIVE WOMEN: CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE IN VICTORIA" - a series of three public forums.

The first event, held in March - Forum One: Rediscovering Women’s Political History commemorated one hundred years of women's activism in Victoria and coincided with International Women's Day celebrations. Historians Professor Patricia Grimshaw, Professor Marilyn Lake and literary historian Jennifer Strauss provided the keynote addresses and you can find their speeches here if you're interested.

The second forum, held in June, provided a unique oral and visual presentation - a journey across the century detailing how Australian women have done politics not only differently, but also very successfully.

But the third forum - Dangerous and Persuasive Women - is still to happen!!!! So if you're interested in the struggle that women had and would like to know more, why not contact the Victorian Women’s Trust on (03) 9642 0422 or email women@vwt.org.au and book yourself in for this event - it's on November 29th at the BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square and it's free!!! (Maybe I'll see you there!!!)

And just to add a bit more herstory, did you know:

"The Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society, the first women’s suffrage society in Australia, was founded in 1884 largely due to the efforts of

Henrietta Dugdale & Annie Lowe

Dugdale, very much a ‘freethinker’, claimed to have been Victoria’s first activist for women’s suffrage—having publicly advocated women’s suffrage since 1868, along with married women’s property rights and the admission of women to the universities. In 1883 she published a utopian novel, A Few Hours in a Far Off Age, which she used as a vehicle for her then radical ideas about education, marriage, Christianity and rational dress for women. The Society’s platform was ‘To obtain the same political privileges for women as now possessed by male voters’. It had both male and female members."

You also might like to keep an eye out for the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) "funded through the Department of Planning and Community Development Centenary of Women's Suffrage Grants, to recognise and celebrate this historic milestone with the Taking Up The Challenge in 2008 events program which will recognise the value of women's contribution to civic and political roles in Victoria."

If you get a chance, you may like to sign the Victorian Women Vote 1908-2008 calico banner. The banners will be distributed throughout Victoria during the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Women's right to vote - one of these banners will be at the St. Kilda Library around the 22nd July so keep an eye on the Port Phillip Library website for the actual time and date - and at the end of the year, banners will be sewn together and displayed at the finale of the celebrations at the Parliament House Open Day on the 16th November.

Will you be there????