Ana’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2016)

Ana’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Besides, we should remember that for quite a lot of people, initiatives such as this one, or the (often insufficiently delivered) news on feminist celebs and so on are most likely the only way they will come in touch with feminism, gender equality, etc. Not all people have, nor can afford to acquire, an academic background. Even if they do, their fields of study are overwhelmingly far from gender studies. I for one know that in the last months it's been a real learning curve in order to truly understand Feminism 101 (still very much there!)...and I'm privileged enough to have enjoyed access to higher, multilingual education. So really, not saying that any of us here behaved in such a way, but generally speaking, dismissing people's way of introduction to this, uhhh, 'knowledge', could even come across as smug and hindering our cause. :)

Brexit happened based on a whole different set of circumstances. It is strongly linked to a country's current situation, as much in and of itself as within an economic union. I do not believe it has any major link to feminism, although its consequences probably will have some.

Also, I think that constantly asking ourselves just how much of HeForShe, OSS or whatever thing Emma Watson does is welcomed because of its value or because of Watson's celebrity status is...self-harming, I don't know, self-deprecating for us, and coming from the outside, rather ill-intentioned. It's as if we were constantly questioning these initiatives in order to ultimately deny them. Besides, who cares if it's because of her. People are still trying to actually think about women's rights and gender equality. Good for us all.

Hello Adam,

Actually, there is already an existing thread on depression and mental health issues where many of our members have shared their experiences and sought comfort. We are happy to have such a thoughtful community! Please check it out here.
I am surprised that you mention Brexit in your post, as its thread is very much alive and kicking. Again, our members are showing their class and maturity there as well. Please rejoin the conversation here, if you'd wish.
With regard to your dissatisfaction concerning OSS and other forums, I speak on behalf of the Admin team when I say that no one banned you here. In fact, people wondered about your sudden absence, and they did so politely.
All in all, I hope that you understand the reason why I'm locking and archiving this thread. Before doing so, however, I must advise you to turn the anger dial down in your future posts here. As I stated above, no one has banned you from OSS, but gratuitous rudeness, attacks against any of our members (Emma Watson just being one of them, without any special celeb status), as well as pointless attention-seeking, will easily become grounds for banning. While I am sorry that you are battling against depression and/or any other health issues, we cannot tolerate this kind of behaviour at OSS.

Locked and archived

Not South African, but still grateful you opened this thread, Jaclyn! I think there are so many aspects in South Africa that guarantee a most interesting conversation. I've always been sort of interested in this region so I will make sure to check often for some new insight. :)

Ohhh, I've seen those today on a friend's feed. Revolting. Just revolting. The triumph of populism, xenophobia and racism. Those uneducated, hateful mobs now believe themselves entitled to spit their hatred in public instead of being rightfully shamed and dealt with. To be honest, that's my main beef with the leave camp. I am sure not all of them are scum, nowhere close to, In fact! However...oh, gosh, how can decent people stomach being thrown in the same bag with those kinds? There, together with that dangerous, dangerous Farage person, together with the murderer of one of their own MEPs, being praised by the likes of Trump, Le Pen et al. I know, some will say they were keeping Britain's best interests at heart and so, even if it was challenging they had to cast their vote, but I don't know, garnering such kind of support would have me so ashamed. :(

The question is, should a second round be allowed?

It's...it's a tricky question to answer. I, as an individual, would be happy to see it happen I think. I would be happy to see a way for the UK to stay. However I do understand the voices that would question such a decision. This is democracy...even when it looks like a terribly wrong decision was made. Also, I do understand that the European Union wants to be stern and set an example from the UK case. We really cannot afford to let similar movements arise in France, the Netherlands and so on.

Ahhh. I've just been so shocked since yesterday.

Perhaps that was our mistake? I said 'our' because while I am deeply worried and saddened about the leave vote, I am more than willing to admit the EU's own fault in...hell, not only Brexit, in this whole terrible crisis. Perhaps that was our fault, not paying enough attention, thinking this was a tantrum from the bad guys, etc.

I have seen that there is a petition going on trying to get the Parliament to do an encore because the margin was so narrow. But then I dared to comment on a local newspaper article on Facebook and I was told this 'blah...the Muslims and immigrants, blah', oh and also that the UKIP was not against all immigrants, and that I had been badly misled by someone bearing ill intentions at heart. Suuuuure.

But I apologise if we should indeed, as I defended myself in the beginning, limit to the potential feminist slant of Brexit. Today is hard to stay silent, but I would hate to make our British members (and mods!!) feel uneasy or uncomfortable with this thread. I know many are mourning this decision and as for those who aren't, well, there's something true - there was a referendum and the people spoke. So perhaps we should leave it cool for now.

Whoa. Did someone really think the leave camp would win? I for one did not. What a sad, confusing day.

What I don't understand is that a friend of mine said that he was still sceptical that Great Britain would in fact leave the EU, even after the victory of Brexit. Is...is that even possible? He seemed really convinced but all of the news I've read today most definitely suggest otherwise. I would be so, so glad if there was a way to turn this nonsense down, but I can't see how.

Hey, Francine! It's always difficult to choose a book that can meet everyone's expectations re: translation! Hopefully your choice this month will meet yours! :)

*for. I swear this tablet is crazy.

Ehhhh, I fail to understand why people disagreeing with you on the relevance of a certain topic would be grounds from withdrawing from a group altogether. A bit over the board, but oh well, everyone's free to do as they please.

Hi, Cem! I do get the general meaning of what you're saying, at least as much as Google Translate will let me! However, I've been trying to find out info about the novels you've been mentioned and there isn't much, but anyway they don't seem to be related to feminism and/or women or gender issues. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but otherwise we have to keep this list focused on the theme of this book club. :)

Unsure whether this belongs here in OSS - after all, if we were to comment all world events and news, the amount of new threads would be overwhelming. Fellow mods, opinions? Not that I deny the paramount importance of Brexit to both Great Britain and the rest of the European Union. :)

Hi, Maria! Hopefully you are using your laptop or desk computer because tablets are a royal pain in the ass, hahaha. OK, let's see, upper right-hand corner of the screen, you should be able to see different words linking to our sections, such as Homepage, Photos, etc. Polls should be included there. Hope it helps! :)

*leads us to internalise...tablets! Great but a major pain in the ass when you wanna edit your typos, haha.

Awareness, curiosity and braveness, I believe, are the names of the game here. Both to possess them and to instil (one l? Two? Ouch!) them in others. Most of us can only act within a seemingly small circle and that lead us to internalise the feeling that there isn't anything we can really to change things, but that is wrong. Changes may be forcedly small but still meaningful - to our community, to our children, friends, partners and relatives, to make a small difference in views that may be held not because they really believe in them, but because they've never actually given much critical thought to them. If we, who still come with a sad legacy in terms of male supremacy, have been able to slowly get rid of some of our deeply ingrained prejudice and harmful myths, can you imagine how free a child born to / raised to a feminist-friendly household can get to be?
Awareness - to start from the HeforShe initiative and then slowly, gradually, with no rush but also without return, move on to discover other women and gender related issues, so that we can, at best, understand, and at the very least accept and respect others' voices and stories.
Curiosity - to think critically, to not be afraid of finding out more. Go read that article on women's talks on sexuality within Native tribes in Latin America, even though it sounds foreign to you and you actually didn't even know that such tribe existed. Please do find out more about why hair styling, care and maintenance is such a huge issue for WOC. Who would have thought that sex workers had a voice, and a strong one for that matter? Go out of your way to listen to them. All those are things that I've made in the last year or so. At the beginning I thought, wow what is all this stuff, why do people make an issue out of everything, was that not obvious? Then, I evolved to, oh God so this is out there and I had no idea, also will I be able to keep up with all this thought process? I'm still sort of there, but at least now I am curious about it. That's a start. :)
Braveness - Not as in, OMG be-kind-be-brave with a darn mug, a throw pillow or a tee. Be brave as in, go out there and say out loud that you are a feminist. It's not that we need to go around shoving feminism down people's throats, but don't keep it in the, um, closet. When you get the typical joke, don't just laugh it off. Talk about it, at least as long as they'll agree to pay you a little attention.

I think those are the very basics, maybe still not affordable for all of us but indeed for many. From there on, you can choose to be even more actively involved, perhaps to change the target of your charity, if you're into those. Possibilities are endless! :) But I think we can all be activists in our small circle, even if we're of the invisible, humble variety. ;)

Do people out there really refuse to read books written by women even when there are not 'feminine' in the least? (Notice my use of quotes to fully separate myself from the nonsense!) I could sort of understand, sorrrrt of, with chick-lit (which I mostly refuse to read myself because it's sheer crap 99% of the times), but other than that, wow, people really are close-minded.

As for JK Rowling, I confess I had only ever heard slightly of the male nom-de-plume (?) but there are plenty of examples in the history of literature. Cue the Brönte sisters. Also, and on the opposite end of the stick, I've heard famous Italian author Elena Ferrante was said to be a man, among other hypotheses for her mysterious identity. Now I think she denied this while still keeping her privacy, but had it been real, I wonder what could have been the motivation behind such a move.

*cultivated, haha. My sausage fingers mistyped the word and I'm on my iPad haha.

Hey, Mahima! Hopefully this will still be helpful. It's not like I've delivered a great deal of speeches, let alone now that I'm out of uni. However, I did interpret them (hope I will again!), and this is what I found worked best for me. Admittedly I am an exhibitionist, haha, but I did get nervous to and the feeling of responsibility was also very present.

1) To a certain extent and as long as you keep it controlled, anxiety is actually your ally. As in, it makes you stay alert and engaged.
2) Be yourself. Delivering your speech word by word is not only very difficult, but will also probably end up in you sounding like a record. I'm not saying you suddenly go all casual, but it's also no biggie if you forget A or B. Turn to your experiences as a student. Rely on previous speeches. Engage with your audience, whenever possible, just by being Mahima. :)
3) Maybe practise at home! Or, if it's possible at all, in the speech venue.
4) Do keep some small notes with you. That will come in handy. :) You might want to use drawings that can actually convey ideas to you, so that you don't have to read a whole sentence there but rather a mix of written word and symbols that will immediately turn into whatever you desired to say. For example, in interpreting we use a sitting dummy for 'casualties', a laying down dummy for 'dead', a line above a word to convey the idea of 'many' and a U upside down for the idea of 'summit', and many more symbols that actually vary from one interpreter to another.

Best of luck! Oh, and a question, out of curiosity. Are you perhaps Indian? Your name sounds a bit Indian to me, and I ask you because I would like to know whether speech as an exercise and cultivates genre among students is also popular in India. I have the impression it is, because your asking for help reminds me of a book I read where the Indian main female character was like a class leader or something and she delivered a daily morning speech to her fellow students, as well as guiding visitors through the school. We do not have such a tradition in the Spanish system and so I feel curious. I've seen Ashwin is here too, and I know a good explanation is coming from him as well, if he happens to check back and read this. :)

Hey, SaMan! That's why we'll still offer additional reading suggestions for you all 'keen beans' (yup, copied that from Emma, no regrets!) We understand it can be somewhat underwhelming for those of you who don't have any time/budget/location constraints, however our experience during these months has proven that many others were struggling a bit because of many different reasons. I know I have myself - busy life, kinda short of money and such. :) Not to mention the location issue, particularly for those members out of the Western world!
We gave it much thought before actually introducing this measure, and we hope to accomodate all of us better this way. :)