http://www.makepovertyhistory.org Bloggreen: Yay for rich white chicks!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Yay for rich white chicks!

So this year is the 30th anniversary of the International Year of the Woman. This time 30 years ago women from all over New Zealand converged on Wellington for the national Women's Convention. So this year another convention is being held to celebrate and evaluate the gains made for women since then and look at what needs women in New Zealand have in a contemporary context and where we need to go from here. Sounds like all good stuff. But. The conference is a pretty elitist affair. For a start the registration fee is $200, sure there is a fund to help low income women attend but what kind of message is this giving to women? I have spoken to a number of feminist activists who can't go because of the money. And these are amazing young hardworking activists. The sorts of women I would expect to see at the front of this conference. Then there's the programme itself. This seems to be a big series of 'big-skirts' telling the conference what the issues are and what they've done to fix them. Don't get me wrong, this is important, but not I believe, what the focus should be. I was really dissapointed to see that there is a young women's caucus, but it clashes with the only other special workshop sessions scheduled for the conference. And those workshops cover the areas where most young women activists I know are actually working ie environmental activism and non-violence/peace activism. *sigh* I'm not going to be in Wellington that weekend, but if I was I think I'd rather be protesting outside.

5 Comments:

At 5/25/2005 06:42:00 PM, Blogger Rich said...

This reminds me of a young woman in England.

What she did was this:
- Her father set up a massive fraud (on the billion dollar scale) involving dodgy computer leases
- He bought, amongst other things, a motor racetrack with the money
- Tragically, he was killed in a plane crash (before the fraud was found out)
- Following his death it all went predictably pear shaped
- By the wonders of limited liability, the daughter wound up owning the racetrack
- She was reasonably succesful at running it (remember - she got given it)
- And was made "Young businesswoman of the year"

 
At 5/26/2005 07:01:00 PM, Blogger Kakariki said...

I'm sorry, the point of that story was?

 
At 5/26/2005 09:42:00 PM, Blogger Rich said...

That there were a bunch more deserving young women to give awards to, I would have thought.

Sounds like the conference is of the same ilk...

 
At 5/26/2005 11:37:00 PM, Blogger Kakariki said...

Aah I see.

 
At 5/27/2005 04:19:00 PM, Blogger Span said...

so she is a success because a) her dad was dodgy and b) he died unexpectedly meaning his heir wasn't liable in the way he would have been.

that's a bit sick really.

i hate how people always think young activists are more interested in talking to other young activists than going to workshops on actual issues. i have lost count of the number of times the youth session at a conference has been put up against similar workshops to the ones you outlined. More young people needed in the planning methinks!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home