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With International Women’s Day being celebrated around the world tomorrow, The Conversation Canada has three incredible stories for you today tied to the annual event.
The first is from Concordia professor Homa Hoodfar, who was detained in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison for 112 days in 2016. Prof. Hoodfar was accused of “dabbling in feminism,” and her powerful piece pays tribute to the thousands of brave Iranian women who are shedding their hijabs to demand equal rights. “The struggle is not about a piece of cloth on a woman’s head,” she writes. “It is about the gender politics that cloth symbolizes, and its use to silently and broadly communicate a rejection of state control over women’s bodies.”
Another Concordia professor, Ann-Louise Davidson, joins forces with renowned Chinese "maker" Naomi Wu to delve into the real reasons why women don’t go into the STEM fields. It’s not due to work-life balance or the demands of family, the two tech insiders write – it’s because women are still victims of outdated stereotypes and abuse in the field.
And finally, Yue Qian of the University of British Columbia rounds out our three IWD stories with a fascinating piece about China’s two-child policy and its impact on women’s equality. What happens when Chinese women don’t want a second child?
Regards,
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Thousands of Iranian women took to the streets to protest against the hijab law in Tehran in the spring of 1979. A women’s movement has recently taken hold in Iran.
Hengameh Golestan
Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University
Iran's young "daughters of the revolution" are protesting hijab laws and demanding equal rights. They're the ultimate symbol of female resistance on this International Women's Day.
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Students attend the Girls Learning Code computer workshop in Toronto in 2014. Women continue to be woefully under-represented in STEM, and abuse and harassment in the male-dominated field play a major role.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Ann-Louise Davidson, Concordia University
So-called experts say there are several practical reasons why so few women are in STEM. Any insider will tell you that the real issue is that women are still victims of outdated stereotypes and abuse.
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Chinese women carry a disproportionate share of family responsibilities. Having more children and greater family demands could increase women’s work-family conflicts and jeopardize women’s careers. With the two-child policy, conflicts between work and family responsibilities are likely to worsen.
Shutterstock
Yue Qian, University of British Columbia
How does the two-child policy in China impact women's equality? Do women have the ability to stop when they no longer want more children?
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Politics
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Bruno Pellegrino, University of California, Los Angeles
Italy has stagnated for more than two decades, yet its politicians seem hardly aware of the source of the problem, let alone how to fix it.
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Environment + Energy
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Christian Reynolds, University of Sheffield
Burgers have a surprising environmental impact – but it can be reduced.
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Health + Medicine
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Sze-Yen Tan, Deakin University
Next time you're baking a cake or putting a spoonful of something sweet in your coffee, here's which sugar you should choose and why.
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