Poster of the Week

February 14, 2013

Halte aux Violences Domestiques

Geoffroy de Boismenu

Amnesty International

Offset, circa 2007

Paris, France

28696

Translation:

Stop Domestic Violence 

Violence against women is a universal sport. 

Valentine’s Day, February 14, has long been used to evoke expressions of love—while simultaneously stimulating the economy —with the exchange of cards, flowers, candy and candlelit dinners.  But the romantic veneer of the one day a year called Valentine’s Day overlooks the more brutal reality of daily domestic violence.  But violence against women is an international epidemic, and the perpetrators are family, friends and strangers.   

From Valentine’s Day to V-Day

February 14, 2013, is also the 15^th anniversary of V-Day,  a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.  V-Day was founded in 1998 by author, playwright and activist Eve Ensler, whose acclaimed 1996 The Vagina Monologues is credited with inspiring the formation of V-Day. V-Day generates broad attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sex slavery.

V-Day is now celebrated all over the world—in 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. In conjunction with the 15th anniversary, V-Day launched its most ambitious campaign to date—ONE BILLION RISING.

The V-Day website explains the campaign:  “The concept of the campaign is simple. If you take into account the statistic that 1 out of 3 women will experience violence in her lifetime, you are left with the staggering statistic that over 1 billion women on this planet will be impacted by violence. On V-Day's 15th Anniversary, 2.14.13, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.”

Sources:

http://www.vday.org

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/14/one_billion_rising_playwright_eve_ensler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Day_%28movement%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vagina_Monologues

Poster of the Day

Things from the 70s

The Pro-Choice Public Education Project

Offset, circa 1999

Port Chester, New York

11053

Full Poster Text: 

Of All the Things from the 70s to make a comeback, there's one we really hate to see.  Reproductive rights are under attack.  The Pro-Choice Public Education Project.  It's pro-choice or no choice.  1(888)253-CHOICE or www.protectchoice.org

The first three items in the poster:  the Volkswagon “Bug,”  Lava Lamp, and platform shoes, have clearly come back.  But the poster warns against the need to resort to the coat hanger—for too many years the primary symbol of illegal, dangerous, and often, out of desperation, self-induced abortions .  During the decades that abortions were illegal, the coat hanger was one of the most common tools used to cause a miscarriage or abortion, but they often damaged the fetus, perforated the uterus, and led to the sterility or death of the woman.

On January 22, 1974—40 years ago today—the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that abortion was legal in Roe v. Wade.  New data from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll show that seven in 10 Americans believe Roe v. Wade should stand, but the ruling continues to generate rage and action among those who oppose abortion.

Other controversial issues decided by the Court—such as school integration (Brown v Board of  Education, 1953) or invalidating laws prohibiting interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia, 1967), are not only accepted by the vast majority of the country, but many even find it hard to believe that such racist laws ever existed.  The decreasing number of anti-choice extremists have become more desperate but also more strategic.  In the past, abortion providers have been shot, sometimes killed, and abortion clinics bombed or burned.   Rather than trying to overthrow Roe v Wade—their ultimate goal—the anti-abortionists are focusing on making abortion increasingly inaccessible, unavailable and unaffordable, by passing local state laws which do everything from mandating  waiting periods, to requiring that clinics have the same staffing levels or equipment systems as hospitals.  This strategy is clearly expressed by Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion law firm that works with state groups on local legislation:

"I don't need a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe. Clinic regulations do actually challenge Roe."

In 2011, opponents of abortion rights won passage of a record 92 measures restricting the procedure in 24 states, and in 2012, an additional 43 restrictive measures were passed in 19 states.

KEEP ABORTION SAFE, ACCESSIBLE & LEGAL

Sources:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/01/22/it_s_roe_v_wade_s_40th_anniversary_alabama_south_dakota_and_mississippi.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323301104578255831504582200.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-abortion-support-rises-roe-wade-20130122,0,7696463.story

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/01/22/it_s_roe_v_wade_s_40th_anniversary_alabama_south_dakota_and_mississippi.html

Poster of the Week

Pro Choice.  Fight Rape. Fight Racism. 

Medusa

Offset, 1989

United States

3910

Rape is not a sexual act, but an act of violence. Rapes happen every day in every country.  Rape is routinely used as a weapon in war.  In Darfur, Sudan, sexual violence against women from targeted ethnic groups is a tool of genocide. Women in the U.S. military are frequently sexually assaulted by men in the U.S. military–even by their commanding officers and the rape victims then threatened to keep silent. 

The brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in India last month, continues to mobilize and enrage millions throughout the world.  Suddenly rape is in the news.  It’s not that rape is happening more frequently, or more brutally, but recent events have focused the world’s attention on the persistent epidemic of violence against women.

• Washington, D.C. - January 2012  - A report from the Department of Defense released numbers saying that since 2006 there had been a 64% increase in violent sexual assaults in the U.S. military. The U.S .Army report, noted that “rape, sexual assault, and forcible sodomy were the most frequent violent sex crimes committed in 2011.” While women comprise 14 percent of the Army ranks, they account for 95 percent of all sex crime victims. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta emphasized that “we assume this is a very underreported crime,” and that incidents of sexual assault are roughly six times as high as reports of the crime. Last year there were 3,191 reports of sexual assault throughout the U.S. Military, but Panetta said that, realistically, the estimate for assaults “actually is closer to 19,000.” 
• California, January 2013 – a California appeals court unanimously ruled that a man who impersonates someone in order to have sexual intercourse may be guilty of rape only if the victim was married and the man was pretending to be her husband. The ruling overturned the rape conviction of a man who entered a sleeping 18 year old woman's dark bedroom after seeing her boyfriend leave, and began having intercourse with her. The woman screamed and resisted when she awoke and realized it was not her boyfriend.  The court’s decision was based an archaic 1872 law that states that the woman had not been raped because she was unmarried and therefore was not protected from rape by imposters.
• Ohio – In August 2012, a 16 year old girl was raped and urinated on by members of the Steubenville, Ohio football team. The rape only attracted attention after the New York Times published a story in December 2012.  In January 2013, KnightSec, a group affiliated with the internet hacktivist group, Anonymous, published a 12 minute video of the rapists talking about and showing off their victim. 

CSPG’s Poster of the Week states it clearly:  Fight Rape.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/witnesses-testify-teen-rape-case-article-1.1235160#ixzz2HYBIWIJV

Sources:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/22035/steubenville-rape-case-does-america-have-an-unadmitted-rape-culture-problem

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/0119/Pentagon-report-Sexual-assault-in-the-military-up-dramatically

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/7/hacker_group_anonymous_leaks_chilling_video

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/witnesses-testify-teen-rape-case-article-1.1235160

Poster of the Week

Warning: The Catholic Church Is Making Your Healthcare Decisions
Robbie Conal and Deborah Ross
Alan Shaffer: Photography
Anne Kelly: Designed back of poster
Offset, 2002
Los Angeles, California
20469

CSPG’s Poster of the Week was produced ten years ago by the California Women’s Law Center to oppose the dramatic decline in access to reproductive healthcare in California resulting from the take-over of hospitals by Catholic institutions. In the 1990s, hospital mergers increased in California, and many formerly secular hospitals came under the control of Catholic Healthcare West and others health care institutions opposed to a woman’s right to choose. But the poster was never distributed. After 5,000 were printed, the California Women’s Law Center decided not to distribute them as they were concerned about potential backlash. So women in California—and elsewhere—were not only increasingly denied access to reproductive healthcare including contraception and safe abortions, but a poster informing them of their eroding rights and who to contact was censored.

Robbie Conal and Deborah Ross came up with the idea of a woman being crucified, draped over the Caduceus, the ancient and universal symbol of medicine consisting of the winged staff of Mercury and two intertwining serpents. The Caduceus, medical symbol for health care since Ancient Greek times, was used as it partially resembles a cross and it also represents the care that women should receive at Catholic (or any) hospitals.

This ten year old poster could have been made this week in response to the debate around insurance coverage for women’s health. On February 16, 2012, House Republicans convened an all male Congressional panel to justify denying access to birth control coverage. The five men refused to allow even one woman to testify at the House Oversight Committee hearing. This continues the controversy over the Obama administration's proposed compromise to require most employers to fully cover contraception in their workers' health plans.

This debate is, of course, not new. In 2001, President George W. Bush, as one of his first acts in office, prohibited any organization receiving funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from using those or other funds to provide or promote abortion. Abortion could not even be discussed as an option. This global gag rule led to closed clinics, cuts in healthcare staff, dwindling medical supplies, and shortages in contraceptives, leaving women, children and families without access to vital healthcare services. By 2002, the gag rule had cut off shipments of USAID-donated supplies to 16 developing countries, because the only recipients in those countries were members of the International Planned Parenthood Federation which lost $20 million in USAID funds because it refused to comply with the policy.

And this reminds us of the recent controversy when Susan G. Komen for the Cure withdrew support for Planned Parenthood, until public outcry forced Komen to reinstate their funding.

The more things change…
And in this ongoing debate, it is important to remember that abortion has been legal in the U.S. since 1973, but access continues to be eroded.

Here are some petitions to sign to express your concern and outrage about the current Congressional debate that is excluding women:

http://www.dccc.org/pages/wherearethewomen
http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HealthcareExtremism&autologin=true

Sources:
http://www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com/women/
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/17/where_are_the_women_lawmakers_walk
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/2/after_right_wing_campaign_leading_breast

Poster of the Week

Las mujeres de Juárez exigen justicia
The Murdered Women of Juarez Demand Justice
Dunahi Aquino, Paul Alarcon, Lourdes Almeida
2003, Digital Print
Mexico

March 8, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Although it grew out of protests organized by New York garment and textile workers, and has long been celebrated in many countries, International Women’s Day has only been commemorated widely in the United States since 1970 with the development of the Women's Liberation Movement.

As we celebrate our many victories, much more needs to be done. CSPG’s Poster-of-the-Week commemorates International Women’s Day, by honoring Mexican poet and activist Susana Chávez (1974-2011) who was killed in Ciudad Juárez on January 6, 2011. Chávez, who was born and lived most of her life in Cuidud Juárez, was strangled and one hand was cut off. A long-time activist for women’s rights, Chávez, coined the expression Ni Una Más! (Not One More!) about the murdered women of Juárez.

Femicide and Impunity
by Laura Pomerantz

“Our Blood”

by Susana Chávez (1)

(Enrolle abajo para el español)

My blood,

from dawn,

from a split moon,

from the silence,

from dead rock,

from woman in bed

jumping into the void.

Open to insanity.

Clear, defined blood,

fertile and seed.

Incomprehensible blood swirls,

blood liberation of itself,

blood river of my chants,

Sea of my abysses.

Blood instant when I’m born in pain.

Nourished by my final presence.

How can we deal with or even comprehend violence that targets a portion of the population solely because of their gender? Since 1993, hundreds of women from Ciudad Juárez (the state of Chihuahua, Mexico), most between the ages of 13 and 30, have been kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed, cut up into pieces or have just disappeared on their way home. Their route is now called the death path. While the reasons are not known, unidentified men have been committing these atrocities against poor women of their own ethnic group with impunity. This massive and deliberate killing is known by the name femicide o gendercide. (2)

The Poster-of-the-Week is one of 60 large-format images by designers from throughout Mexico. In 2003, the posters were displayed in several subway stations in Mexico City, and the exhibition then traveled throughout the country. The purpose was to make the general population aware of the killings, as well as to pressure the authorities to get involved and demand justice.

We dedicate this poster to Susana Chávez. It features a typical family photo showing the classic three generations. Everyone is looking at the camera except in the spaces where bodies are missing; the empty white spaces stained with red. In the back row are a middle-aged man and woman standing beside a young man. In front of them are nine people: four girls, four female silhouettes and a man. The empty spaces become suggestive and uncomfortable. Not only does it indicate the approximate age of the women who have disappeared but it also reflects their fragility and that of the little ones, the latest ones added onto the list of victims. The emptiness, painted with blood, turns obscene, expressing excessive sexuality; an emptiness absorbed by the bodies of girls who still occupy a space in the family scene.

A verse from a popular children’s game in the Hispanic world, We’ll Play in the Woods, (3) appears on the left (from the spectator’s viewpoint) in yellow and red letters, but some words have been modified: “We’ll play in the desert while the wolves aren’t around, because if they appear, all us girls will be killed.” The transformation from woods to desert is a gruesome twist, underscoring what Susana Chávez eloquently and courageously condemned through her poetry and her activism.

(1) Susana Chávez’s blog, with her biography and her poetry, was http://primeratormenta.blogspot.com. Other written material at http://suchaca.blogspot.com

(2) “The term was first used by Mary Anne Warren in her 1985 book, Gendercide: The Implications of Sex Selection. Warren drew "an analogy between the concept of "genocide" and what she called "gendercide." Citing the Oxford English Dictionary definition of genocide as "the deliberate extermination of a race of people," Warren wrote: By analogy, gendercide would be the deliberate extermination of persons of a particular sex (or gender). Other terms, such as "gynocide" and "femicide," have been used to refer to the wrongful killing of girls and women. But "gendercide" is a sex-neutral term, in that the victims may be either male or female. There is a need for such a sex-neutral term, since sexually discriminatory killing is just as wrong when the victims happen to be male. The term also calls attention to the fact that gender roles have often had lethal consequences, and that these are in important respects analogous to the lethal consequences of racial, religious, and class prejudice.” http://www.gendercide.org/what_is_gendercide.html

(3) In Spanish, the game is called “Jugaremos en el bosque”. The children sing: We’ll play in the woods, while the wolf isn’t around, because if the wolf appears, he’ll eat us all up. Wolf, are you there? The wolf answers, I’m putting on my pants. Let’s play in the woods while the wolf isn’t around, because if the wolf appears, he’ll eat us all up. Wolf, are you there? The wolf answers, I’m putting on my shirt, and so on and so forth. The wolf keeps answering with different garments until he’s all dressed, at which point he answers, Yes, and I’m coming out to eat you up!

Feminicidio e impunidad
By Laura Pomerantz

“Sangre nuestra”

by Susana Chávez (4)

Sangre mía,

de alba,

de luna partida,

del silencio,

de roca muerta,

de mujer en cama

saltando al vacío.

Abierta a la locura.

Sangre clara y definida,

fértil y semilla.

Sangre incomprensible gira,

sangre liberación de sí misma,

sangre río de mis cantos,

Mar de mis abismos.

Sangre instante donde nazco adolorida.

Nutrida de mi última presencia.

¿Cómo abordamos una situación de violencia que se dirige a una porción de la población que por su género se discrimina violando sus derechos? Nos referimos a las muertas de Juárez (Estado de Chihuahua, México): mujeres entre los 13 y 30 años aproximadamente, desparecidas, raptadas, torturadas, violadas y asesinadas hasta ser descuartizadas, en el camino de regreso a sus casas, denominado camino de la muerte. Sin saber a ciencia cierta las razones, desde 1993 los hombres realizan dichas atrocidades con mujeres humildes de su misma etnia. Asesinato masivo y deliberado que se conoce con el nombre de femicide o gendercide. (5)

Susana Chávez (1974-2011) poetiza y activista mexicana, fue asesinada en Ciudad Juárez el 6 de enero del corriente año. Como parte de nuestra postura ideológica en el CSPG, condenamos la violencia y la crueldad, a la vez que le rendimos un homenaje a esta defensora de los derechos de la mujer en el Día Internacional de la Mujer, el 8 de marzo.

En el año 2003 se presentaron posters en diferentes estaciones del metro de la Ciudad de México, mismos que posteriormente viajaron por la República. La finalidad era concientizar a la población sobre los asesinatos así como presionar a las autoridades a que se involucraran e hicieran justicia. He aquí uno de ellos, dedicado a Susana Chávez.

Una aparente típica fotografía familiar presenta las tres generaciones clásicas. Todos miran a la cámara salvo unos contornos corporales vacíos en blanco, manchados de rojo. El registro del fondo describe un hombre y una mujer maduros parados al lado de un joven. El frontal cuenta con nueve personas: cuatro niñas, cuatro siluetas y un hombre. El vacío se torna sugerente e incómodo. No solo indica la edad aproximada de las desaparecidas sino que también señala su fragilidad y la de las pequeñas, últimas que prosiguen en la lista de víctimas. Vacío que deviene obsceno y de una sexualidad excesiva al pintarse de sangre, vacío absorbido por los cuerpos de las menores que aún ocupan un espacio en la escena familiar.

Un verso de un juego de niños popular en el mundo hispano, Jugaremos en el bosque, (6) se lee al costado izquierdo en letras amarillas y rojas (visto desde el espectador), aunque con algunas palabras modificadas: “jugaremos en el desierto mientras los lobos no están, porque si ellos aparecen a todas nos matarán”.

El bosque transformado en desierto se vuelve macabro, acentuando la denuncia que también pretendía hacer Susana Chávez.

(4) Blog de Susana Chávez, con su biografía y su producción poética, http://primeratormenta.blogspot.com. Otros escritos en http://suchaca.blogspot.com

(5) El término fue usado por primera vez por Mary Anne Warren en su libro Gendercide: The Implications of Sex Selection (Generocidio: Las implicaciones de la selección por sexo), de 1985. Warren dibujó "una analogía entre el concepto de genocidio" y lo que ella llamó "generocidio." Citando el Diccionario de la lengua Inglesa de Oxford, la definición de genocidio es "la deliberada exterminación de una raza de personas," Warren escribió: “Por analogía, generocidio puede ser la exterminación deliberada de personas de un sexo (o género) en particular. Otros términos como "ginecidio" y "feminicidio," han sido usados para referirse a los asesinatos injustos de niñas y mujeres. Pero "generocidio" es un término sexual-neutral, en el cual las víctimas pueden ser tanto mujeres como varones. Hay una necesidad de un término sexual-neutral en tanto el asesinato sexualmente discriminatorio está mal como cuando las víctimas son varones. El término también llama la atención por el hecho de que los roles de género frecuentemente han tenido consecuencias letales y que éstas son en importantes respectos análogos a las consecuencias letales de los prejuicios raciales, religiosos y de clase.” http://www.gendercide.org/what_is_gendercide.html

(6) Jugaremos en el bosque, mientras el lobo no está, porque si el lobo aparece a todos nos comerá. ¿Lobo estás ahí? Me estoy poniendo los pantalones. Juguemos en el bosque, mientras el lobo no está, porque si el lobo aparece a todos nos comerá ¿Lobo estás ahí? El lobo sigue respondiendo hasta que luego de haberse vestido, dice: Sí, y salgo para comérmelos!

Poster of the Week

Stop Strip Searches in Armagh

Sinn Fein Women's Department

Offset, circa 1985

Dublin, Ireland

Poster text:

Women constitute half of the world's population, perform nearly two-thirds of its workhours, receive one-tenth of the world's income and own less than one-hundredth of the world's property. History tells us that every oppressed class gained true liberation from its masters by its own efforts. It is necessary that woman learn that lesson, that she realise that her freedom will reach as far as her power to achieve her freedom reaches. Stop Strip Searches in Armagh

Annotation:

Built in 1790, Armagh Jail became a top-security prison for Nationalist women in the 1970s. Strip-Searching was introduced into Armagh Prison in 1982. All women prisoners from the age of 15 years, women menstruating, pregnant women, women returning to prison after hospital visits, and grandmothers were subjected to strip-searching. At first the women refused to comply and were forcibly restrained while their clothing was torn off. The women quickly learned that any resistance meant that they would be forcibly stripped, assaulted, and that they could end up in solitary confinement, losing remission and privileges.

The “Stop the Strip-Searches Campaign” began in June 1984. It called for an end to the strip-searching of women prisoners and condemned strip-searching as a devastating psychological weapon used against women having no security purpose. By 1992, over 4,000 strip-searches had been carried out on women in prisons in Northern Ireland and England and nothing had ever been found to threaten security.

Poster of the Week

International Women's Day
Gail Dolgin
Jane Norling
Photo: Tim Drescher
Offset, 1978
San Francisco, California

On March 8, l857, women from the garment and textile industry in New York demonstrated to protest low wages, the 12 hour workday, and increasing workloads. They asked for improved working conditions and equal pay for all working women. Their march was dispersed by the police. Some of the women were arrested and some were injured. Three years later, in March of 1860, these women formed their own union and again called for these demands to be met.

On March 8, 1908, thousands of women from the needles trade industry demonstrated for the same demands. They also asked for laws against child labor and for the right of women to vote. They declared March 8 to be Women's Day.

In 1910, Clara Zetkin, a German labor leader, proposed that March 8 be proclaimed International Women's Day in memory of those women who had fought for better lives. For almost 100 years, March 8 has been celebrated in many countries, but has only been commemorated widely in the United States since 1970 with the development of the Women's Liberation Movement.

Poster of the Week

If Women Were Paid the Same Wages
by Nancy Hom for the Women’s Economic Agenda Project

I created this piece at Mission Grafica for the Women’s Economic Agenda Project, a group committed to fighting for the basic human rights of all Californians. WEAP focuses on obtaining economic justice for poor women and their families, the hardest hit by wage inequality.

At the time, I was inspired by what it says in the poster: “If women were paid the same wages that men of similar qualifications earn, about half the families now living in poverty in this country would not be poor.” It struck home to me that we could eradicate half the poverty in this country just by paying women their fair earnings.

But the inequality still exists. According to the current WEAP website: 13% of women are in poverty while only 10% of men are. 28% of single female-led households live in poverty, over double the number of male-headed households in poverty.

Artwork © 2010 Nancy Hom.
nancyhom@sbcglobal.net

Poster of the Week

Solidaridad con las Costureras de Guatemala
by Marilyn Anderson

”Free Trade” practices of transferring U.S. clothing production to countries such as Guatemala were already beginning in the 1980s. Women earning low wages were the primary workers in these maquiladoras, but unions in Guatemala had to fight for their right to exist and suffered the murder of many labor leaders.

My years of living in Guatemala and knowledge about the traditional arts there made me understand that the women who worked in the maquiladoras were being deskilled. They had become part of the world-wide drive toward globalization – one result of which meant the destruction of traditional cultures.

Struggles continue today to give workers of all kinds in Guatemala the right to join unions. But the image in my poster has a hopeful message in the quetzal bird hovering over the needle worker and her sewing machine. The national bird of Guatemala signifies freedom – in this instance freedom from oppression and lack of labor rights.

Artwork © 2010 Marilyn Anderson.
www.proartemaya.org

R.I.P. Nancy Spero

Torture in Chile

Nancy Spero

Silkscreen, 1975

New York, NY

"Nancy Spero, Artist of Feminism, Is Dead at 83," New York Times, October 19, 2009

Poster of the Week

Oh, So That Explains the Difference in Our Salaries!

Artist Unknown

Nothing is known about the origins of this anonymously designed image of two toddlers looking into their diapers to discover the differences between them. It has appeared on posters, buttons and coffee mugs since the 1970s and may have been designed much earlier. The longevity of the image can be compared to the Rosie the Riveter poster of the 1940s. Its popularity is due as much to its simplicity and humor as to its continued relevance. The persistence of the problem it depicts – wage inequity based on gender – is on­going. In the 1970s, women earned fifty-nine cents to every dollar earned by men; today they earn seventy-two cents. The version shown here was reproduced in 1988 by Northern Sun Merchandising in Minneapolis.

If you know something about this image, please contact us.