I heard the news today... oh boy.
Mar. 3rd, 2007 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sechan19Lots of frustrating news in recent days. Let's jump right in...
An article in this morning's news roundup details how members of the Cherokee Nation are getting set to vote on a referendum that would expel from their ranks any member who happens to have a black slave ancestor. This is upsetting to me in a lot of ways. Partially because I didn't realize that Indian tribes kept black slaves at all - I guess there was more cultural integration going on than is generally recorded in the history books - but most especially because this is exactly the kind of example of pointless and detrimental in-fighting between minorities that truly saddens me. As members of oppressed societies, these men and women should be natural allies and friends - working together to ensure their equal promotion in a homeland that has been largely discriminatory and will no doubt continue to be so for some time to come. While minority groups whittle away their time fighting amongst themselves, the majority is still rattling its saber - is still able to rattle its saber without much resistance.
I don't like it.
Cherokee Nation to Vote on Expelling Slaves' Descendants (Washington Post)
From yesterday's pile there were a couple of articles on sex discrimination in Japan.
The first concerns pressure from the right-wing nationalist party of Japan to rescind Japan's apology for its participating in forcing women to work at "comfort stations" during the Second World War. The prime minister has so far refused to do so; although with his approval ratings dropping he may decide to cater to the base, especially since it's only women who were harmed by the policy.
The second deals with a lawsuit that's been filed, overturned, and reinstated in the past few years. It is a sex discrimination suit against a major Japanese corporation where women doing the same jobs as men often make only 45% or so of their male counterparts' salaries. There's some disgustingly misogynistic quotes in this one, so feminist discretion is advised. This kind of thing makes me more and more eager to focus my research on gender roles in Japan, specifically using supernatural texts and images as a means of interpreting societal roles and regrets.
WWII Sex Slavery Issue Sparks New Debate in Japan (LA Times)
Japanese Working Women Still Serve the Tea (Washington Post)
An article in this morning's news roundup details how members of the Cherokee Nation are getting set to vote on a referendum that would expel from their ranks any member who happens to have a black slave ancestor. This is upsetting to me in a lot of ways. Partially because I didn't realize that Indian tribes kept black slaves at all - I guess there was more cultural integration going on than is generally recorded in the history books - but most especially because this is exactly the kind of example of pointless and detrimental in-fighting between minorities that truly saddens me. As members of oppressed societies, these men and women should be natural allies and friends - working together to ensure their equal promotion in a homeland that has been largely discriminatory and will no doubt continue to be so for some time to come. While minority groups whittle away their time fighting amongst themselves, the majority is still rattling its saber - is still able to rattle its saber without much resistance.
I don't like it.
Cherokee Nation to Vote on Expelling Slaves' Descendants (Washington Post)
From yesterday's pile there were a couple of articles on sex discrimination in Japan.
The first concerns pressure from the right-wing nationalist party of Japan to rescind Japan's apology for its participating in forcing women to work at "comfort stations" during the Second World War. The prime minister has so far refused to do so; although with his approval ratings dropping he may decide to cater to the base, especially since it's only women who were harmed by the policy.
The second deals with a lawsuit that's been filed, overturned, and reinstated in the past few years. It is a sex discrimination suit against a major Japanese corporation where women doing the same jobs as men often make only 45% or so of their male counterparts' salaries. There's some disgustingly misogynistic quotes in this one, so feminist discretion is advised. This kind of thing makes me more and more eager to focus my research on gender roles in Japan, specifically using supernatural texts and images as a means of interpreting societal roles and regrets.
WWII Sex Slavery Issue Sparks New Debate in Japan (LA Times)
Japanese Working Women Still Serve the Tea (Washington Post)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-03-04 08:53 pm (UTC)