BlogHer - Southeast Asia - Comments

A sad story

Kim Pearson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:15:51 -0500

The notion that this young woman somehow got herself pregnant in prison is passing strange. Whatever the facts of the case, it's a horrible story. Her life has barely begun and she seems doomed to waste it behind bars. Let's hope she finds the strength of character to make something good out of this horrendous experience.

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

You're right Jen

lainad — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:11:48 -0500

My bad. Ill go in and edit.......

Contributing Editor - Race, Ethnicity & Culture

Writing is Fighting: www.lainad.typepad.com

Laos or Indonesia?

msjen — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:55:38 -0500

The versions of this story that I have read in British newspapers say that she is being held in Laos, not Indonesia.

Laos is a land-locked communist and buddhist country next to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China. Indonesia is a island nation half way between Southeast Asia and Australia geographically that is predominantly muslim country with very strict drug laws.

Laos has been and is a very very poor country that is a part of some of the biggest poppy producers in the Golden Triangle area. I am not sure what their drug smuggling laws are, but they may or may not be the same as Indonesia and Singapore's drug laws, which are famously strict.

Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen

Yeah, I was on the fence about this, too

lainad — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:31:23 -0500

Regardless of what we personally think about Samantha, we sould be concerned about what legal and health care she is getting in the prision. We should also investigate how she got pregnant - because that all seems really shady.

My first reaction was, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do' in the sense that while I have never been to Indonesia, I did know that those folks do not play around when it comes to drug trafficking cases. I hope that she is given equal treatment ( even though I doubt it) and the healthcare a pregnant woman should get, but on the other hand, if she did the crime (and the courts are fair and just, that is....) she needs to do the time.

On the other hand, yes, I agree that black communities tend to be very judgemental but not only because Samantha is less than perfect - they know very well how the accused is going to be percived by non-blacks. They are readying themselves for some backlash, and yes, that backlash has come. But I also agree that it might also stem from a 'foreigner' perspective, that because this is not happening in North America, it is less relevant. They will not worry as much that their family members or friends might face the same predicament, therefore the concern is not there.

Contributing Editor - Race, Ethnicity & Culture

Writing is Fighting: www.lainad.typepad.com

Many not sympathetic, unfortunately

PPR_Scribe — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:41:05 -0500

I probably should not have been, but I was initially surprised by the lack of sympathy expressed by commenters on several blogs. Even in blog conversations populated by (presumably) a lot of Black women.

Perhaps it is because this woman is not American, and the bloggers/commenters are.

But I think a bigger issue is at play. I think I'm going to name it the Claudette Colvin syndrome, afer the young woman whose bus demonstrated predated Rosa Parks', but who was deemed "inappropriate" by the Black Civil Rights leadership.

Black women in particular must be squeeky clean before mass sympathy is paid to their plight. Young attractive White women (especially if they are middle class) can have a past that includes posing nude or hanging out at bars without their plight as victims being compromised. Black men can have criminal records without their plight--at least if it involves injustice at the hands of police officers or the criminal justice system generally--being compromised.

But this is not the case, by and large, with Black women. And other Black people are some of the worse offenders when it comes to this. "Well...she should have known better than to be carrying drugs in a country like that..." "Well, she should have known better than to let her 3 month old baby come into contact with such a thug..." "Well, she should not have looked at his private text messages..."

And so on. Really, it gets tiring.

This So-Called, Post-Post-Racial Life

http://postpostracial.wordpress.com/

surprised

prayforsun — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:39:00 -0500

was really surprised when I read this. Even though Afghanistan is
not under Taliban control, they are imposing really strict and heinous laws. I
am truly inspired by the Muslim women that marched against the new law. To be
outspoken about the situation while they were being stoned and verbally abused
is absolutely incredible. I do find it somewhat funny that Judaism law is
completely opposite from the Afghan law. I wonder if President Hamid Karzai has
noticed this. I am really angry though that FoxNews did not cover this historic
event. I wish that it would have gotten more coverage because marital rape is
such a problem that people do not even realize that is going on all the time.
Allowing marital rape by a law in a country should have been publicized and
hopefully President Obama will address this issue so we can eventually
implement change.

Oh, the answers...

nelle2nelle — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:38:56 -0500

I've seen on access to sex and sex during, it chased me off the feminist board I now host; this was six years ago, and I left it be for a year and a half, the answers I saw were so bothersome.

In this nation, it still surfaces in outlook, and sometimes even in legal prodeedings. Now I can understand frustration over not having sex and deciding to end a marriage, hell in the last year of my marriage that was me all the way, I could not bring myself to have sex, it tore at my soul. And you can bet my partner was frustrated.

But she also didn't rape me.

In discussions elsewhere, it is mentioned that the Afghani law also has requirements for men, but they are not identical, they are ambiguous, with no on demand requirement. I've argued this point, and yet another persists in saying it is equal. Um, no.

We all have the right to self-determination - or we damn well should. It is folly for anyone to believe someone has unhindered access to our bodies. It is outrageous that any legal entity can support anything other than this as sacrosanct fact.

llhaesa

Thanks for the encouragement!

fionacrosbie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:59:33 -0500

Hello Gena,

You can't imagine how excited I was to find your posting. This is a red letter day for me, the first comment on my first post in my first blog! Thank you for your kind comments and I'm delighted that you liked the website. If you think the 'front end' is cool, you wouldn't believe the teaching area that sits behind it. It's our baby and we're really, really proud of it.

We had some great news today. Our partners, the University of Hertfordshire (just outside London in the UK), who validate our Degree courses, have given us the go ahead to develop the final year of our Design Degrees for online delivery. This means that people can study for a UK Design Degree from anywhere in the world. We've also been approved to develop a Digital Media Degree, which was the subject next on our list. This means a lot of hard work to come, but we're used to that and we are extremely excited about it. Keep checking the website from time to time and you will see what's happening.

PS. Thanks for the tips about bugaboos (that's a new word for me) Also, seeing your lovely picture has encouraged me to upload mine, so fingers crossed, here goes....

More Education In All Forms Please

Gena Haskett — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:38:27 -0500

I think it is great that your company is providing online educational access to creative topics like design. I went to your site and it looks very cool.

Keep posting and be on the look out for the bugaboos. Yank them out when you can before you hit send. I speak from way too much experience.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Blogging and spelling....

fionacrosbie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:45:27 -0500

I've just re-read my posting of late last night and identified a number of spelling errors. Affer instead of after can be put down to a typo, but it's particularly embarrassing that I can't spell embarassing.

Period Pieces

sylinthecity — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:04:07 -0500

There's also Period Pieces, a book for girls that is supposed to help them feel better about the subject. It's a collection of stories and might make a nice present.

http://www.somewherethesunisrising.com

My story

leighlynn77 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:04:56 -0500

Here's my story, although I'm sure it needs major editing. I haven't written a structured paragraph paper in years.

http://familyfrenemies.blogspot.com/

an online celebration

jessica.schafer — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:58:21 -0500

Julie Clawson at onehandclapping organized a syncroblog for her online faith community about biblical women to celebrate International Women's Day. Find the links here.

In Between Words

http://jessicaschafer.wordpress.com

Ok, here's my story

suebob — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:28:45 -0500

I posted over at my blog:

http://redstapler23.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-first-period-story.html

My heart is saying

kazari — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:18:45 -0600

My heart is saying reach out, look beyond, create.

I don't really know how, but after not listening to my heart for months, I need some practice.