FIFA to keep condoms out of World Cup games in South Africa

Soccer is the only sport that I watch with any regularity, so I am very excited about the FIFA World Cup games that will be taking place in South Africa from June 11 - July 11 2010.

However, I was disappointed when I heard about groups expressing concern about not being able to distribute condoms during the upcoming games.

South Africa has the world's largest number of HIV carriers, with an estimated 5.7 million people infected – about one in every five adults. There are around 1,400 new HIV infections every day and nearly 1,000 AIDS deaths.

FIFA has strict regulations that only allow official sponsors into venues, which means that fans will not be able to gain access to condoms or health information that non-sponsors are looking to provide. This is a huge problem, because the World Cup is a huge opportunity to distribute important information and condoms to a large audience in a country with such a high number of people impacted by HIV and AIDS.

If you want to voice your opinion about this situation, contact FIFA.

h/t to CaitieCat at Shakesville.

Female Maazun in Egypt

The first female maazun , Amal Soliman, has been appointed in Egypt. A maazun is the public notary who performs wedding ceremonies and authorizes marriage and divorce certificates. Her appointment has been the cause of much controversy in the Islamic country, due to laws banning women from mosques when they have their period. However, Soliman said she will make house calls, if necessary, during the times she cannot legally enter a mosque.

Still, her acceptance has been met with resistance among the young, traditional Muslims. "She can't do the job. I mean, there are so many reasons that she can't, but when it comes down to it, women are not made to be in positions of power," Heba Mahmoud, a female student at Cairo University said. Her belief is being echoed throughout the country.

Soliman, however, is excited to begin and believes her gender as female will aid her in one aspect of her job, making sure young brides are not being coerced into the marriage. 1 in 3 brides under the age of 18 in Egypt are forced into marriage.

As happy as I was to hear this news, Soliman said something that bothered me. "I don't want people, especially the West, to take me as a victory for women in Egypt and the Middle East. I am Egyptian and a Muslim so what I am doing is for here and not for the West."

How are Western feminists perceived in countries in the Arab world. Does Soliman truly believe that Western feminists would claim her victory as our own? We stand in solidarity with her and women all around the world, and we are excited women's successes everywhere, but we don't claim them as our own successes.

Thoughts?

The "Right to Be Beautiful"

A different kind of beauty pageant is emerging in Angola, featuring women who have lost limbs in landmines.

This pageant will crown two, "Miss Landmines," one by a panel of judges and one chosen by online voting. The pageant's winners will receive a new prosthetic limb, and all contestants will be rewarded for participation with government aid to go back to school or start a small business.

The pageant's goal is to raise awareness of the landmine problem and its immeasurable devastation in the African nation and to empower women and people with disabilities; however, with its motto, "Everyone has a right to be beautiful," the message may be getting lost.

The women are all beautiful and comfortable with their bodies, which even as a non-disabled person I can recognize the difficulty of, but should empowerment really come from realization of beauty? Is this true empowerment, swimsuit competition and all?

I am having such difficulty with the idea of this pageant. I want to embrace it because it IS causing conversations about landmines, disabilities, and women (such as right here), but I almost feel that these women's bodies are being used by the movement, similar, though not as graphically, as the way PETA uses women's bodies to promote a good cause.

Thoughts?