Today’s Jesus and Mo deals with the fracas about Universities UK and their endorsement of gender-segregated seating, a story that I haven’t covered since everybody else has. But the Jesus and Mo artist gives two links below the cartoon that will tell you the whole sordid story.
The story, and the commentary.
You can (and should) sign Maryam Namazie’s petition against this ridiculous decision to allow sex-segregated seating in the UK. It’s another cowardly capitulation to Muslim religious practice. There are as of now 5250 signers, and they want 7500. I’m sure that if everyone reading this signs, we’ll go over the top. Please sign. If you’re in favor of such segregation, you shouldn’t be reading this site.
sub
The last time an authority touted the phrase “separate but equal” it was the apartheid government in South Africa. It was a lie then and it’s a lie now. There is no such thing as equality under these regimes, only oppression and trampling of basic human rights.
Nothing to add but Thank you!
Signed.
And, to all those for which the following may be applicable, best wishes for a wonderful day tomorrow hanging out with family and friends, and feasting on great food. (And don’t forget the libations!) And to everyone else, hope you have a great day tomorrow as well. (heck, everyday even.)
So, all that racists have to do now is declare that racial mixing offends their religious sensibilities and they can send black people to the back of the bus again?
Incredible.
My faith won’t permit me to breathe from the same air mass as Muslims. They must stand outside during the talk.
If I read Namazie’s article correctly, sending black people to the back would be discrimination. However, it would be acceptable if blacks were on one side of the bus and whites on the other. This is a fine point that should be clarified by someone better versed in higher theology than me.
Yep.
Replace “women” with “black people” and Universities UK would be screaming about it.
Hypocrites.
signed, gobble gobble
Signed and shared with a great number of friends.
It makes me furious that this is even being discussed.
Signed.
I know. Atheists can be such a pain sometimes.
(I kid… Signed.)
😀
Exactly! What’s wrong with a little relgious biogtry?
I was struck by the statement that there is no clear right and wrong in regards segregation. Not much in the way of critical thinking here!
“What emerged from our work on this particular issue is that there is no clearly defined right or wrong here as to whether to allow or outlaw segregation. It is going to very much depend on the facts of the case.”
I signed the petition and will write a letter as well.
The author of the UUK “guidance” on this has a blog article, link below. There are already a lot of hostile comments on there, but feel free to add to them.
http://blog.universitiesuk.ac.uk/2013/11/25/external-speakers-guidance-segregation/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/26/british-universities-gender-segregation-secular
Simply have to show the speakers that this will not be tolerated in a civilised society.
Signed.
Maryam Namazie’s comparison to racial apartheid, and how to act against it by strict refusal to participate, seems apt.
Signed. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Signed.
Signed, and with great thanks, JAC, for get this out. It’s far more important than the university acknowledges. Talk about slippery slope!
Signed.
Signed and posted on G+
Love this Jesus ‘n’ Moe. I signed a while back because this is something that I have found personally repugnant even as a teen. As a woman, to have someone look at you with hate and disgust is really an interesting experience.
I refuse to go anywhere where there is segregation and this includes holy places so if people get married in such locales, I won’t enter.
Signed.
Interestingly, most people don’t object to “separate but equal” public toilets. Why not? They are not uncommon in Scandinavia, even in an academic context (at Nordita, for example). On the other hand, public saunas in Scandinavia are usually segregated (unless, unusually, nudity is not allowed), whereas in German- and Dutch-speaking countries, the reverse is true, with almost all public saunas being mixed (with nudity required) and most public toilets segregated.
(Most defenses of segregated public toilets implicitly assume an exclusively heterosexual population.)
Is one man’s prejudice another man’s custom?
It may be the case that debating unisex toilets is a worthwhile endeavor, but bringing the topic up in a post about gender segregation at University lectures is a thread derail, and not an especially helpful one.
Why? The idea is to get people to think and, perhaps, think about their own prejudices.
We’re talking orders of magnitude.
There is a world of difference between segregating sexes at University lectures, and segregating sexes in public toilets.
An argument about why or if Muslims may be humored by wanting to segregate their lectures is one that’s going to be aimed at issues having to do with ideology, speech, and any number of issues pertaining to the arenas of religion or intellectual content.
An argument about why or if public toilets ought to be segregated is going to be aimed at issues concerning, at the least, expectations of privacy and at worst, fear of sexual violence.
As I said, it isn’t that arguments about desegregating public toilets aren’t a worthwhile endeavor. It’s that they aren’t especially on topic when you’re debating segregation at Universities at public lectures.
+1
Also +1
Reblogged this on The Road.
Just signed.
Signed and shared on Facebook
First reaction is to agree, but then, under the same logic, segregated toilets and showers are also discriminating.
Disagree. Using a toilet is a private matter, attending a public lecture is not. While it may be a worthwhile discussion not at this time with this topic.
Galand,
This argument has already been dealt with at post #19. This entire comment thread is short enough to read in a few minutes, so the apparent fact that you did not bother to do so makes you either very lazy, or a jerk.
Thanks Jerry for posting the link. Also those posting other links. I read the UUK document with dismay. Have signed the petition.
For those in the UK, there will be a demo outside UUK offices on Dec.10.
Signed, twice. Obligatory for a Chicagoan.
ALL ( the World’s “great” ) religions’ woo .IS. androcentric and patriarchal.
ALL of them: islam, christianity, judaism, hinduism, buddhism, etc, etc.
“When man made himself god, he made woman less than human.” — Rosalind Miles, isbn 0609806955
‘The body of a woman is filthy, and not a vessel for the law.’ — Buddha.
‘Three things are insatiable –– the desert, the grave and a woman’s cunt.’ — Arab Proverb.
‘A woman is never truly her own master,’ argued Luther. ‘God formed her body to belong to a man, to have and to rear children.’
In the grand design of the monotheistic male, woman was no more than a machine to make babies for him, with neither the need nor the right to be anything else: ‘Let them bear children till … … THEY DIE OF IT.’ Luther advised. ‘That is what they are for.’ ”
— Dr. Rosalind Miles in Chapter Five entitled “The Sins of the Mothers,” of her “scripture,” The Women’s History of the World, page 102.
Happy to sign.
And Happy Thanksgiving to all with a special thanks to Jerry for hosting this wonderful community. We don’t need no cathedral! 🙂
Signed. And annoyed that I should have to for a modern secular democracy like the UK.
Signed! Can’t believed they were fooled by the religious gobbledegook.
May be just as well to let them go ahead with this – see how many show up under those conditions.
But as to one side/the other being OK vs. front/back, have they factored in which side the fire exit is on?
That this is happening in the UK makes me ashamed to be British. Multiculturalism has a lot to answer for.
I have signed. Thanks for raising the issue.
Signed. Thanks for pointing me there.
Here is the piece I wrote about this issue:
http://soundmadness.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/gender-segregation-is-wrong/