Feminist Eco Village "Herland"

IHBG has been introduced to a Feminist Ecovillage project called Herland. The idea is based on the novel by the Charlotte Perkins Gilman who was not only an author but also an anthropologist and sociologist. One of the project members have agreed to tell us what Herland is all about!

The Herland Intentional Community is an organization to design, create and build a new way of life in the form of an intentional community of the ecovillage form. With the express intention of being sustainable both ecologically and socially for the foreseeable future. You may be wondering what an intentional community is let alone an ecovillage. The intentional community movement is about creating a village or town with a purpose. Each community has certain ideals but most center on creating something more community oriented than the current system offers, hence the name. An ecovillage is a community which is designed with sustainability in mind so that humanity can continue into the future working with the environment as a system rather than attempting to conquer it.

Ecovillages are designed to be positive spaces both for the members and the planet in general. They acknowledge that mainstream society does not work for the needs of everyone and should not be the solution to protecting the environment. Typically in ecovillages you will see that houses are built using simple techniques and from local materials so that the craft of house building can be passed down easily from generation to generation ensuring that important skills that support nature are not lost. In contrast Intentional communities that are not ecovillages often use existing buildings often modernizing them by adding solar panels and water collection units, this does have it's advantages as reform means that members don't need to build from scratch however there are obvious disadvantages.

More and more as time goes on the current civilization is changing, inequality increases and this problem is only going to get worse as pointed out by historian Sir Glubb. This results in humanity working longer and longer hours only to be paid less and less, causing a never ending decline in living standards. (Not that the conservative alternative is any better, as it asks women to enslave them selves as both domestic servants and sex slaves aka housewife's). The situation has gotten so bad in fact that people today work longer hours then at any other point in human history, thus in terms of enslavement it can be legitimately be argued that the current system is the worst in history. Not only is this unsustainable from a sociological perspective but also from an environmental one as the current society destroys the planet which it needs to sustain itself, even NASA has been forced to point out that civilization will end relatively soon in catastrophic manner. It is out of these political conditions that ecovillages are born, the desire to protect the environment while also finding more long term safety and security, so that members can live happy and secure lives. As a result Ecovillages tend to be very positive and safe spaces which are ideal for creative and intellectual development as basic needs are dealt with, without the need to slave away in the daily grind known as work.

So what makes the Herland ecovillage unique compared to other ecovillages and intentional communities? Well, the Herland ecovillage is based on the values demonstrated in the novel Herland by Feminist and Sociologist Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915). In the story she outlines a society based in a combination of cooperation and meritocracy, where the long term benefit is always seen as favorable rather than merely short term gain. Other factors that make this community so unique is not just the fact that it is a secular organization with anthropology and intersectional feminism at its core. But also the fact that it is a community for people in the LGBT community (including the T), serving as a much needed refuge, as 40% of homeless youth are LGBT. By including a wide range of people including LGBT people of color, those who are autistic, some who suffer from PTSD, all of whom are particularly vulnerable, the outreach of the Herland community is particularly impressive.

Herland is an independent housing village, each member having their private home available to them. While at the same time there is a community center so members can eat and play together to build on the community spirit. This design maximizes the ability to cooperate and accomplish things together while also providing for everyone's need for space and privacy. While the community encourages interpersonal relationships it does not require the members to be in any kind of relationship and so even those who are asexual will not feel any pressure to be in a sexual relationship if they don't want to. Basic housing is provided by the community however members are both allowed to and encouraged to experiment with different forms of architecture, from tree houses to earthships and every thing in between.

Herland is using permaculture to build a food forest for the members rather than using modern monoculture agricultural methods. This will help it blend into and heal the environment rather than mining the soil and causing harm as is currently done by mainstream society. This is diametrically opposed to modern methods which mine the soil and lead to desertification. It is also another example of looking towards the long term, as over a life time food produced from permaculture requires very low amounts of labor to maintain without pesticides, all while producing more food on less land and minimizing the negative impact on the environment. Even though the term permaculture was coined after the writing of Herland the agriculture seen in the novel closely resembles permaculture, as both have the same core values of protecting the earth and providing good lives for the people not just today but also moving forward for the foreseeable future and beyond.

The location of Herland is also currently unoccupied and so no indigenous people will be harmed and the area will be preserved for posterity. In fact it is the indigenous people who chose the location of herland specifically because they value the project. The location will be in the rainforests of south america in an english speaking location, high above sea level in the mountains. The area is rocky and the soils are poor. Locals are keen to see if permaculture can prove to be a productive system for what considered to be land that is too rugged and poor for most human activity.

While the Herland community is designed to be ecologically friendly and sustainable it is not about primitivism (it is not about returning to the stone age or stifling advancement at all). Members of the Herland community are well networked in the open source world (both software and hardware), working to create the worlds first feminist crypto currency and developing software that will help spread internet access to the poorest people so that more people will have the opportunity to learn from and contribute to the giant library known as the internet. All of this means that Herland is not just a community that offers a refuge for a few but also offers an example to show that women can work together in a practical way to build a better life that is in tune with nature, while also helping to improve the world for the 99%.

As a result of all of this I am sure we can all agree that whether we want to join the Herland Ecovillage or not it is a project of which we can all benefit from in some way shape or form. And as you can imagine there have been a number of people who have tried to stop the Herland Ecovillage and prevent it from forming. MRA's have tried trolling them and conservative Christians have tried demonising them. But the ones who have done the most to try and harm them have been Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists who are both envious of the project but also hate it as it supports Trans women, as a result Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists have tried bullying the trans members taking some transwomen near the brink of suicide. So supporting the Herland ecovillage is not just about supporting humanity, it is also about supporting trans rights.

If you would like to support Herland, the best thing you can do is visit their website www.jungle2jungle.org and follow them on their various social networks. However if you would like to join them then the best way is to join their facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/herlandcommune/ attribution: Shania Foley

Sunday is for Horizons: Barbie alternatives FTW!

The world might be becoming a better place as I've seen alternatives for barbies (or fashion-dolls as they are called not to offend Mattel) coming up in news and posts. Here you have 3 different approaches each dealing with one of the problematic aspects of fashion dolls:  

1) The oversexualized and over-adult looks of the typical fashion doll leads us to taking the make-up off the Bratz dolls. The results are adorable. More here.

2) The unrealistic body proportions of the fashion dolls gets us to the Lammily, the doll that looks like an average teenager. 

  

3) The ubiquity of whiteness among fashion dolls is such that the fact that in Nigeria the local barbie alternative - Queens of Africa - outsell the pink-obsessed blonde.

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: The Little Mermaid (1989)

#inspirationalmovies

It has been some time since we claimed that a classical piece (almost) nobody viewed as feminist masterpiece.... actually was one! (Remember the explosion in both your and our brain caused by the idea that Dirty Dancing (1987) was a feminist gem?)

So here comes another one in the you-would-have-never-called-it-feminist-until-now series*. The Little Mermaid (1989). Yes, the Disney sea-princess garbage where a young girl gives up her family, friends and talents in order to pursue a man she has seen once. Meh... or at least we thought so.

Well, read this paper written by Stephanie Stott, a student in Kim Magowan’s gothic lit class at Mills College called  The Little Mermaid: Our Favorite Gothic Villain and you just might want to give Ariel another try. Or at least know how to reframe the story in order to minimize the damage if young girls around you suddenly want to emulate the little mermaid.

* That's of course not actually true as somebody has analyzed these movies as such and hence we are reporting. But the great majority...

India's Daughter

The most discussed documentary of the year "India's Daughter" is out now. The story is based on Delhi's brutal gang-rape victim Jyoti Singh, her attackers, their families as well as the court and Indian culture. Ironic is that currently this documentary is available in most of the countries while it is banned in India.

Jyoti Singh was a medical student who was coming from a low income family. Although traditionally raised, she and her parents were modern thinking, While other family members were criticizing Jyoti's parents for celebrating her birth in a way a boy should be celebrated and selling their properties for a girls education, they did not stop and eventually raised a person who believed who believed in herself. Jyoti's dream was to build medical facility in her village and to be a doctor. Even though she was not able to reach her goal, her tragic death created wave of actions: protests, movements and debates in government.

Still, there are many people for who it's hard to accept the fact that this world needs a change and the fall of patriarchy. That's why still many people blame Jyoti for her death by stating that she was not supposed to be outside when it's dark, that she was not supposed to fight back if she wanted to stay alive, that it was her punishment for not being a decent girl. Others say that now it's going to be even worse, so far girls were raped and let go because they wouldn't dare to say anything. "Now they will raped and killed", says assaulter.

Murderer defending lawyer ML Sharma stated that "our culture is the best culture and there is no place for a women." while his colleague AP Singh in front of national television said that "If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight." 

To get to know more about the story from different point of views, IHBG team highly recommends to watch the full documentary

Sunday is for Horizons: Walt Disney's The Story Of Menstruation (or how not to do sexuality education)

Ever wondered how some educators managed to talk about puberty without talking about sexuality? Weird, right? Here you have an old Walt Disney gem somewhat explaining menstruation without ever talking about the intercourse and women as sexual beings...

To heal from that horror, here, have some more recent Swedish stuff, hihihi.

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Doubt (2008)

#inspirationalmovies

To close the little conversation on catholicism and women we've been having, here's a look from the other side. Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008) is a forceful piece on the soft power of women in patriarchal structures and of the power of a personality, of someone convinced that she knows the truth and has to do anything possible to right the wrongdoing.

It is not a coincidence that Meryl Streep is in the center of this movie, offering a story of a school principal trying to make sure that her institution is living according to highest morals. The extraordinary force of the film comes exactly from the clash between her convictions of what's right and wrong and her willingness to ruthlessly purge the ranks of her organization (the catholic church) in case of doubt about someone's adequacy to form part of it.

It's beautifully filmed, Meryl is sublime, and her torment (not for nothing the movie is named Doubt) offers a tale familiar for most doing any activism: you have to deal with unclarity,  doubt, tensions between separating your own bias from the bigger picture.

Sunday is for Horizons: body-fashion changes, but all bodies = good bodies

Just a reminder of how changing the fashion in women's bodies (!) has been so far. Like with the trends in clothing and pretty much everything else, the bodies that are now in were so out some time ago and vice versa.

So the only alternative to stay sane is to spit on trends from the third floor and go do your business!

See larger here

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Philomena (2013)

#inspirationalmovies

Continuing with my special mini-cycle dedicated to Catholicism and women, today's movie is basically a (polished up) sequel of The Magdalene Sisters. 

Philomena (2013, Stephen Frears) is based on a true story that nevertheless feels somewhat unbelievable. Well, there's reality for you. If after The Magdalene Sisters you asked yourself about the possible futures of the girls who got away from the religious institutions controlling them, here you have the story of Philomena Lee.

There's difference and nuance, though. In the eyes of the religious establishment Philomena had comitted a sin. She had sex before marriage (oh!) with someone she (apparently) barely knew (gasp!) and she liked it! Mind you, this is a very important difference between the discourse that The Magdelene Sisters present and Philomena's story. As Rose in last week's movie (in contrast of other women in that film), Philomena did actually transgress the social norms and was very unlucky to become pregnant as a consequence. And her child was taken away from her.

This is the double sword of the story. On one hand, there's actual pleasure involved. She enjoyed being with that boy. On the other hand, this very fact makes her even more vulnerable to all the injustice done to her afterwards. If your religion (and people in position to punish you) maintain that you have to repent and suffer for your sins, and you know very well that you have transgressed, the likelihood of rebellion seems to be lower.

Yet this is only a part of the story. The second drama revels when Philomena - already older and after a marriage and other children - gets help of a journalist in trying to find her son. Apart from a pretty unbelievable turn of events... Ah, go, see it! ... you get the amazing dame Judi Dench playing someone torn apart by her trauma of loss of a child and faith that's represented by the same people who treated her so badly.

An additional feature that makes the movie a treat is the clash of worlds that her interactions with the world class journalist embarked upon a human interest story lead to. These ar class difference and not gender driven, and challenge the airbrushed image of drama-worthy and interesting people. Good for you, Philomena!

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: The Magdalene Sisters (2002)

#inspirationalmovies

There is no particular reason why I'm offering a mini-cycle on women and catholicism. That's how they've constellated in my to-publish list. No excuses.

The Magdalene Sisters (2002, Peter Mullan) unearths the horrifying tale of Irish Magdalene laundries well into XX century. This is one of those religion-tries-to-deal-with-human-sexuality tales that makes your hair stand up.

Want a recipe for complete disaster of human wellbeing? Organize a society where a group devoted to the belief that human sexuality is impure and sinful (and legitimized only by procreation inside the wedlock) has a lot of power. Then - making a reference to an old book of tribal myths from 2000 years ago - decide that only one half of each heterosexual couple is to bear the burden of stigma attached to "improper" sexual behaviour: the woman. Sum to that a parallel belief that sins can be paid of by hard work and being miserable. And then a sinister idea that there actually might be a profit to be made of the hard work of the sinners confined to closed spaces and completely controlled by (people pretending to be) religious fanatics.

That's the ugly story of the Magdalene laundries in a nutshell: "fallen" women disowned by their families and exploited by catholic orders... Watch the movie, do an advanced google search, read some books and/or articles on this very disgraceful page of catholic church! At least you'll know the dark side of the all-the-charity-work-the-religion-has-been-doing-for-women discourse.

The impact that the trauma had on the lives of those that managed to survive that living hell? I'll tell you next week which movie to watch for that bit of information... But you can start by reading this.

Freedom at Midnight, an Indian Yearning

The peaceful, silent street on a day that I took a walk alone late at night in Indiranagar, Bangalore.

“Girls are supposed to be seen, not heard” – I grew up listening my matron in the liberal boarding school I attended repeat this old adage over and over again back in 1994. Girls, she believed, were always to be seriously disciplined, discouraged from speaking up and punished often if they asked questions. One of the many rules the school enforced, I remember, was that we weren’t supposed to roam around campus at night on our own. Anywhere girl students went, an escort — either a staff member or a house warden — would be beside them so that they didn’t “misbehave”.

For several years, throughout high school and university, I found that this strange rule was observed in almost every private hostel for girls or young women. Our college hostel warden urged us to return to the premises by 6 pm. If we returned any later, we would have to pay a fine. At home, my parents would ask us to call if we were going out with friends in the evening. The night, as so many of us knew it, was out of reach. It was a time of day that was a mystery, filled with questions. Every now and then we would hear a story about women who had chains snatched, or were groped or molested on the road. Yet, to many of us, the night held promise of solitude, romance, parties, and long hours spent in reckless abandon.

To me, the darkness evokes mixed emotions. It brings back memories of the night of my first kiss with my childhood sweetheart, when we stood under the lamppost clinging on to each other, our hearts beating wildly against our chests. But it also brings back the intense fear I felt when I was first attacked on my way home in the evening; flashes of light as I was being dragged along the corners of the road by thieves on a motorcycle, thrown in front of a car while they wrenched my belongings away from me. I came home that night, my head bleeding, bruised all over my body. The policeman asked me two days later when I went to complain – “What were you doing out at night alone? Girls shouldn’t be walking alone at night.”

On December 2012, when a young physiotherapy student was brutally gang-raped on a moving bus, there were several voices in the Indian public arena openly asking whether she invited the assault by breaking the rule. Why did she step out at night?  Dr Asha Mirge, a member of the Maharashtra Women’s Commission, asked more than a year after the incident. Mirge famously commented on the Delhi gang rape and the Shakti Mills gang rapes, asking, “Why Nirbhaya, the victim in the infamous Delhi gang rape case in December 2012 should go to movie for a late night show (11 PM), and similarly the photo-journalist in Mumbai go to an isolated place of Shakti Mills at 6 PM?"

Now, after so many years, this sparked a revolution on the ground. It was a silent revolution, not one that was violent and filled with rage. Instead, women across the city were coming together to claim all of the day. They were stepping out to parks, going on picnics, enjoying exploring the city and travelling alone at night. Even better, they were challenging their own stereotypes about men and darkness. The campaign which gently ushered them to do this was called #WhyLoiter, a simple movement started by two young men asking women across India to post a photo of themselves loitering the streets, venturing out any time of the day and enjoying their public spaces. In just a few weeks, nearly two million women responded with photos of them taking on their freedoms; exploring dark alleyways, sleeping in the parks, eating chaat in the streets and climbing mountaintops. A rule had silently been broken.

Walking out alone at night in Bangalore

That night, I stepped out and decided I’d go for a walk alone. It was 11.45 pm and the streets were empty. Even the main road, which was usually lined with groups of twenty-somethings smoking or enjoying a laugh outside a pub, was quiet and dark. At first, I was cautious, ensuring that I stayed on the side of the street lamp all the time. Then, I didn’t care. It took me some time to breathe easy but I did it. It’s a feeling I cannot explain; that sense of lightness I felt when I didn’t turn around every second to look out for strangers, or speeding motorcyclists, or sounds. I just walked, strolling along at the usual pace that helped me relax. Fear, I realized, is often such a heavy and comforting feeling that it wraps women in a tight embrace they cannot break free from. Fear is comforting because it makes you take fewer chances; it feeds on your insecurities to keep you on the straight and narrow road. But freedom is silent, waiting for you to step outside the shadows of doubt.

#© Meera Vijayann