The Snatchel Project - radical knitters for women’s reproductive rights

“Hands off my uterus! Here’s one of your own!”

The Snatchel Project is a clever, crafty protest against American legislators and politica candidates who are attempting to turn back the clock on women’s reproductive rights.

The call to action is, “Let’s make a uterus or VJJ* for each male rep in congress! If they have their own, they can leave ours alone!”
[*"vajayjay", a slang term for vagina or vulva]

And here are the instructions:

1. Knit or crochet a vagina or uterus
2. Print a message to enclose
3. Mail it to your male Senator or Congressional Representative
4. We’re in the process of arranging hand delivery to congressional offices in Washington, until then, go ahead and mail yours in!
5. Record your items in this spreadsheet so we can track which representatives still need to receive a “gift”!
6. Don’t forget to thank your representative if he respects women and supports our rights.

They also have a handy politician locator on the site.

Here is the manifesto:

Who Are We?

Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, female or male, please join us in sending a strong message to our government representatives.

The movement has a page on Facebook and on the Knitting social network, Ravelry, as well as a Flickr of knitted anatomy.

(More after the break.)

Anti-FGM campaign literally objectifies women

"Every day over 6.000 women all over the world are condemned to feel nothing,” states this Spanish campaign for the Kirira Foundation, and it symbolizes the lack of natural sexual response to being nothing more than an inanimate object in the shape of a woman — a staue of ivory (not marble?) or bronze.

As disturbing as this image is, it’s not the attempt to shock that bothers me about these ads. Female Genital Mutilation is a horrific practise that really does seek to rob women of their own sexuality. But in showing the result as a woman who is no longer human, in my opinion, is disrespectful to the victims. They are more than their genitals. They are more than the ability to orgasm. They are thinking, feeling people with a terrible mutilation.

I do understand the symbolism, and perhaps some women who have been victims of FGM even see themselves this way. It may even be a Spanish pun I don’t understand. But I don’t think victims of sexual sadism should be treated this coldly. To paraphrase The Dude, “They treat objects like women.”

At 40, Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill” is still crucial social marketing

Activist and regular Osocio reader Jenn F. reminded me today that 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of one of country music’s great protest songs. It wasn’t about the war that was then raging in Southeast Asia. It wasn’t about the working man’s blues. It was about the single most important medical breakthrough in women’s reproductive choice: the birth control pill.

Recorded in 1972 by Loretta Lynn, by then a mother of six, ”The Pill” was actually written by Lorene Allen, Don McHan, and T. D. Bayless. But like her contemporary Johnny Cash, Ms. Lynn had a way of making other people’s words deeply personal by relating them to her own life.

Her record label, MCA, initially refused to release the song. It didn’t appear on vinyl until 1975, when it was included on the album Back to the Country and promoted as the album’s only single. Many country stations refused to play the song, which prevented it from reaching #1 on the charts, but then as now the PR value of the scandal gave the censorship the opposite of its intended effect. In a 1975 interview with Playgirl magazine, Ms. Lynn said that “medical professionals routinely told her that ‘The Pill’ had done more to promote rural acceptance of birth control than any official medical or social services efforts.”

Unexpectedly, 40 years on, the pill has once again become an issue in American society. Republican Presidential candidates and their supporters are attempting to appeal to the religious right with attacks on accessibility, morality, and even legality of the pill that has done so much for women’s independence from the cycle of unplanned pregnancy.

It’s also a great reminder that country music’s finest moments have come when it has been a medium for rebellion rather than reactionism.

After the break: Loretta Lynn performs “The Pill” in 1995, as a medley with her 1971 lament of serial pregnancy (written by Shel Silverstein) ”One’s on The Way”.

Non-pornstar women deserve better pay, too

This PSA from Belgium’s Equal Pay Day movement is an interesting one. The message, “Porn is about the only way for women to make more than men” highlights the problem of women being valued more for the sexual pleasure they can give to men (either directly or voyeuristically) than for non-sexualized accomplishments.

From the cause site:

On average, women still earn 22% less than men. One of the main reasons this issue still exists is that too often young women make career choices led by general expectations. Equal Pay Day however wants to motivate them to think about these expectations, and not just follow them blindly. Sasha Grey wants to as well, and to help spark the debate, she’s agreed to share the story about her short but demanding career in adult entertainment.

At the same time, Sasha Grey is an unashamed and defiantly un-regretful case study in life after porn. She has managed to cross over, perhaps more than any hard core female “adult” performer before her, even though her reputation occasionally gets in the way of her trying to be an average citizen.

Does her refusal to vilify the industry that is being used as the extreme example of sexist attitudes in the workplace help or hinder the message?

See the full video after the break.

Mapping Violence Against Women In India

According to Maps 4 Aid India is the 4th most dangerous place in the world for women to live in. To visualize this terrible fact they started a Google maps Ushahidi platform based website.
Victims and witness are ask to report any abuse and violence against women.
And the figures are shocking. Even with the fact in mind that only a small group would use this report system.

The reports from today only, March 10:

• Crimes against women on the rise in Mizoram.
• Unable to bear torture over additional dowry, 30 yr old Dhanamma ends life.
• Six persons arrested for killing Shreya Jagdap for Dowry in October 2011.
• Man arrested for hitting pregnant wife in the abdomen demanding for more dowry.
• Husband and in laws harass Kavitha for INR 20 Lakh Dowry. Case filed.
• 6 year old raped and killed in Semgarah village of Uttar Pradesh.
• Villagers threaten to parade gang rape victim naked if she does not leave the village.
• Dowry Harassment: 25 year old Kajal Gajera commits suicide along with her one and half year old daughter.

Since its start in September 2011, more than 1300 reports have been documented, mapped, tracked and shared with the online community through social media and online campaigning. They started maps4aid after reading the TrustLaw Report of last year and was compelled to take some action and they came up with the idea of maps4aid to increase media level awareness of such incidents in the country.

I believe in this kind of new technology. It is easy to use and accessible.
And in time it gives the organization a good dossier to create awareness based on facts.

Find the map here.

Maps 4 Aid on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

TED ‘Ads Worth Spreading’ Winners Announced: Rethink Breast Cancer Takes Social Good Category

TED, the now-legendary group that popularized short-form talks on innovative ideas in Technology, Education, and Design, announced the winners of their annual contest.

Ads Worth Spreading 2011, which opened submissions last fall, recognizes creative work that inspires people to watch, share and learn. This year, judges included industry experts, TED speakers and other adland advocates. They were charged with looking for work that broke the mold of traditional advertising through more involved storytelling, reported Creativity Magazine.

This year’s winner in the Social Good category was the Rethink Breast Cancer campaign (see Osocio coverage ”A new spin on sexualizing breast cancer marketing”).

Why middle-aged men know what’s best for women’s reproductive health

This Funny or Die video is too long, but I can see why. The concentrated comedic potential of getting actors like Nick Offerman, Tim Meadows, Judd Nelson, Kurtwood Smith, Ray Wise, Corey Stoll, and Brian Flaherty in the same room together made the writers, director and editor give us too much of a good thing.

At least it wasn’t another one of those “celebrity talking heads speak out” PSAs. This one is has its moments of genuine hilarity as the men lampoon the Republican-led US House of Representatives, who refused to allow any women on their “expert panel” of religious leaders giving testimony against President Obama’s plan to make birth control coverage mandatory for employer-sponsored health insurance.

These were the men asked to weigh in on women’s reproductive health:

As the punchline from The Simpsons goes: ”That’s the joke.”

Love Isn’t Always What it Seems

Those searching for Valentines Day cards in New Zealand this weekend may have been in for a shock. Placed among the cards were some with a less than idyllic message inside.

The cards, which have a traditional Valentines Day exterior containing a darker message inside, are part of a campaign designed by ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi to remind New Zealanders that for some women, love has a very different outcome.

Beautiful Valentines Day card that only looks like the card that every woman wants to get.

On one of them it is written:
“On this special day I`d just like to say, I want to be by you every night and day.
You can´t keep me away and if you don´t stay, you and kids will pay.”

And this is Valentines Day Radio Ad ... The Voice gives me creeps.

(more after the break)

True Alpha Males in Pink, Swimming Synchronized

This campaign is from last year but I just discovered it. And I love it. It is from the Finnish Pink Ribbon (Roosa Nauha).
They wanted to do more than showing breasts or glamourous events. Their goal was to get man involved in the campaign. And they did it with this very unusual short movie.
To get the attention of both man and woman they had to find something amazing.

Ever saw an all-male synchronized swimming team? In Pink? They did in Finland.
Just making a film isn’t enough for a campaign short film like this. Roosa Nauha found partners to show the film in all kind of public places and on prime time television.

What you need to do is show courage and love, even if it’s pink.

Above the case video from the agency McCann Worldgroup Helsinki.
See the entire short film after the break.

What Breast Cancer is, and is not!

Last weeks I discussed with friends and allies about the cultural and regional differences in communication, and therefore in cause marketing, several times. It is a very interesting subject. Our Campaign of the Year competition shows how big those differences can be.
As a European I know the sentiment about Americans. Mostly ambivalent. But there’s one thing no one can beat them: storytelling. Americans are the best speakers in the world. Fluent, robust and convincing.

That is what I was thinking about seeing this video from Linda. She made a strong statement about the Susan G. Komen Foundation debacle from last week. Linda is a breast cancer victim and a Komen supporter.
The reason for this video is bizarre but it shows the strength of the story. I already got over 200,000 views on YouTube.
One of the biggest challenges for charities and NGOs is how to use storytelling in their communication strategy. Or a more ethical question: should they do? It is a subject we like to discus in various posts this year.

You don’t know what the Komen Foundation debacle is about? Me neither but Tom made it all clear in Pink Stink: Susan G. Komen for the Cure gets political.