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    We All Are Persons: Why Gender Discrimination?
    We All Are Persons: Why Gender Discrimination?
    We All Are Persons: Why Gender Discrimination?
    Ebook222 pages2 hours

    We All Are Persons: Why Gender Discrimination?

    By Fabrizio Frosini and Poets Unite Worldwide

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    About this ebook

    One thing that makes 'gender discrimination' such an important issue is that it is a worldwide problem – there's no discrimination on how women are treated as 'second class citizens' in almost all cultures. Every day you would come across stories about atrocities committed against women. Some of such injustices are very overt, like physical and sexual abuse; while others are more 'subtle', like telling women that they are ' goddesses' and ' princesses', and thus, they must not pursue careers in, say armed forces. Misogyny comes in many “flavors”, each of them unacceptable.
    However, as a society, we tend to have a very thick skin when it comes to noticing the injustices women suffer. Unless and until it is some really horrible crime like rape and/or murder, we tend to ignore the plight of women. Thus, there is almost no outrage about “small” acts of misogyny – someone is cat calling a woman on the streets? “Honey, take it as a compliment”. Women being forced to wear (or not to wear) certain types of clothes? “My dear, that’s just a part of a culture”. Unfortunately, this attitude, which we often describe as “normal”, later on takes the shape of victim blaming, and a general form of incredulity towards the claims of women about injustices – “Well, she must have provoked him: good girls don’t get raped”.
    But, I ask you, do you ever hear someone blaming the victim for other crimes? Do you ever hear a pedestrian getting blamed for being hit by a car? I mean, after all, they were walking on the streets, sort of ‘asking’ to be hit by a car (?!). Nope, it’s only with women that the victims are blamed for the crime.
    At the root of this prejudice is a culture that essentially belittles and subjugate women through various "norms" that are born out of obsolete ideals, moralities, and at times even the “Law of the land”. A woman's "femininity" is determined by a patriarchal society, that bullies, torments, at times "destroy" women who do not fall into the "normal" criterion of femininity defined by them. You can look at how women who are not straight are treated in almost all cultures, as such women no longer remain a 'commodity' to be owned by men, but independent identities, with their own "desire".
    Any discussion on gender discrimination is incomplete without having a few words on how religions across the globe generally are misogynistic. A point previously made in this ‘note’ about victim blaming has a lot to do with religions and religious morality. The idea that injustices against women happen only when they ‘transgress’ certain ‘boundaries’ set for them, comes heavily from religious scriptures. Even today, in the 21st century, we can easily find a consensus on the religious fundamentalists that women should be blamed and punished for crimes committed against them.
    Finally, the representation of women, in media and popular culture too, is at best “problematic”. Rampant sexual objectification, and representation of the “ideal” female body (slim, perfect, flawless) have been argued to have been behind from anorexia to psychological disorders in women.
    This gripping compilation of poems by 90 poets from 45 countries, worldwide, is a praiseworthy "collective tale" on gender discrimination. While many readers may well be aware of these issues, for those who might not, I hope this collection will be a starting point, from where they will educate themselves further and contribute to eradicate these injustices. Women are said to be "half of the sky", but it is high time for them to properly own their part. (Souren Mondal, India)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFabrizio Frosini
    Release dateJun 1, 2017
    ISBN9781311896551
    We All Are Persons: Why Gender Discrimination?
    Author

    Fabrizio Frosini

    Author and Publisher — Born in Tuscany, Italy, and currently living close to Florence and Vinci, Leonardo's hometown. Doctor in Medicine, specialized in Neurosurgery, with an ancient passion for Poetry, he is the Author of over 2,000 poems published in 20 personal books. Frosini writes in Italian, his native language, and English. He is the founder of the International Association "Poets Unite Worldwide," with which he has published over 50 Anthologies. Among his own books: «The Chinese Gardens - English Poems», «Prelude to the Night», «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls - Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» (Bilingual Ed.) [for the others, see below].~*~Books published as sole Author:(*BE*: Bilingual Editions, English–Italian ; All books have PAPERBACK and EBOOK Editions)– «The Chinese Gardens – English Poems» – English Ed. – (published also in Italian Ed.:– «I Giardini Cinesi» – Edizione Italiana);– «KARUMI – Haiku & Tanka» – Italian Ed.;– «Allo Specchio di Me Stesso» ('In the Mirror of Myself') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Vento e il Fiume» ('The Wind and the River') – Italian Ed.;– «A Chisciotte» ('To Quixote') – Italian Ed.;– «Il Puro, l'Impuro – Kosher/Treyf» ('The pure, the Impure – Kosher / Treyf') – Italian Ed.;– «Frammenti di Memoria – Carmina et Fragmenta» ('Fragments of Memories') – Italian Ed.;– «La Città dei Vivi e dei Morti» ('The City of the Living and the Dead') – Italian Ed.;– «Nella luce confusa del crepuscolo» ('In the fuzzy light of the Twilight') – Italian Ed.;– «Limes —O La Chiave Dei Sogni» ('The Key to Dreams') – Italian Ed.;– «Echi e Rompicapi» ('Puzzles & Echoes') – Italian Ed.;– «Ballate e Altre Cadenze» ('Ballads and Other Cadences') – Italian Ed.;– «Selected Poems – Επιλεγμένα Ποιήματα – Poesie Scelte» – Greek–English–Italian (Αγγλικά, Ελληνικά, Ιταλικά – Greek translation by Dimitrios Galanis);– «Prelude to the Night – English Poems» – English Ed. (published also in Italian Ed.:– «Preludio alla Notte» – Edizione Italiana);– «A Season for Everyone – Tanka Poetry» – English Ed.;– «Evanescence of the Floating World – Haiku» – English Ed.;– «From the Book of Limbo – Dal Libro del Limbo» – *BE*;– «Anita Quiclotzl & Her Souls – Anita Quiclotzl e le Sue Anime» – *BE*.~*~Forthcoming publications:– «Mirror Games — A Tale» – English Edition (also in Italian Ed.:– «Giochi di Specchi — Un Racconto»);– «Il Sentiero della Luna» ('The Moon's Path') – Italian Edition.~*~Anthologies published by Fabrizio Frosini with "Poets Unite Worldwide"(*BE*: Bilingual Editions, English-Italian ; All books both in PAPERBACK and EBOOK)1. Poetry Collections:– 'At The Crossing Of Seven Winds' – English Ed.;– 'Nine Tales Of Creation' – English Ed.;– 'Scattering Dreams & Tales' – English Ed.;– 'We Are The Words – Siamo Parole' – *BE*;– 'Whispers to the World – Sussurri al Mondo" – *BE*;– 'How to write Poetry, A Handbook – Come scrivere Poesie, Manuale'– *BE*;– 'Poetry Against Terror'– English Ed.;– 'Poets Against Inequality'– English Ed.;– 'By Land & By Seas – Poetry for the Refugees' – English Ed.;– 'Voices without veils' – English Ed.;– 'Singing Together – Poems for Christmas' – English Ed.;– 'We All Are Persons – Why Gender Discrimination?' – English Ed.;– 'A Note, a Word, a Brush – Ode to the Arts' – English Ed.;– 'Seasons of the Fleeting World – Writing Haiku' – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part One] – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part Two] – English Ed.;– 'Our Chains, Our Dreams' [Part Three] – English Ed.;– 'Our Only World – Poetry for Planet Earth' – English Ed.;– 'Time to show up – Poetry for Democracy' – English Ed.;– 'Let's Laugh Together – Poems for Children' – English Ed.;– 'Moments of Lightness – Haiku & Tanka' – English Ed.;– 'United We Stand – Poets Against Terror' – English Ed.;– 'When Love is Bitter' – English Ed.;– 'From an Old Path – Contemporary European Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Tunes from the Indian Subcontinent – Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Whispering to the Heart – Contemporary African Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Hues of the World – Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'The Sounds of America – Contemporary American Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Fifty-six Female Voices of Contemporary Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Homo Homini Lupus: Why To kill a Mockingbird?' – English Ed.;– 'Through Time, Through Space' – English Ed.;– 'Spring Songs' – English Ed.;– 'Summer Arias' – English Ed.;– 'Autumn Lullabies' – English Ed.;– 'Winter Melodies' – English Ed.;– 'The Four Seasons Poetry Concerto' – English Ed.;– 'The Feminine Heart of Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Geography & Music of Poetry' – English Ed.;– 'Space of the Mind' – English Ed.;– 'From the Past to the Future' – English Ed.;– 'Abstract Life, Abstract Love' – English Ed.;– 'Born on a Full Moon — Senryū' – English Ed.;– 'About Abel & Cain —or The Best & Worst of Human Society' – English Ed.;– 'Poems from a Land of Wonders' – English Ed.;– 'One Step At A Time' – English Ed.;– 'About Love' – English Ed.;– 'The Moon & The Humans' – English Ed.;– 'Glimmers of Light–Guizzi di Luce' – T. Billsborough & F. Frosini – *BE*;– 'The Soprano of Sunlight–Luce di Soprano' – Billsborough, Frosini – *BE*;– 'The Double Door' by Daniel J. Brick & Fabrizio Frosini – English Ed.;2. Other Books (Ebook & Paperback Editions):– 'Essays on the World of Humans' – D.J. Brick & F. Frosini – English Edition.~*~Forthcoming publications:– 'Planet Earth in Danger — Poems' – English Edition;– 'Poetic Fantasies' – English Edition;– 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? — The wave of global protest' – English Edition;– 'Short Tales Extravaganza' – English Edition.~*~Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/poetsuniteworldwide/Website address:https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/Blog:https://poetsuniteworldwide.wordpress.com/Twitter username:@fabriziofrosini

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      Book preview

      We All Are Persons - Fabrizio Frosini

      by

      Fabrizio Frosini

      The poems of the present compilation belong in the genre Poetry of Witness, and they explore specifically the 'Gender Discrimination' issue, in its many aspects. I've chosen this topic because it is a very important issue for everybody who advocate a true gender equality.

      Just look around, we can easily find examples of 'Gender Discrimination': inside families, in our societies (think about jobs: not always, but usually women earn less than men, for the same job, and they often experience some form of psychological or sexual harassment –or even violence– at workplace), also in the way women are represented by media,..; and there are "worlds, within our common world, where females are traditionally" seen as 'b'-members, compared to alpha-members —the males.

      Indeed, gender discrimination affects girls and women everywhere, even in the most advanced societies. Violence against women is widespread, often inside the family, and women and girls are usually the ones that suffer the most poverty. In many countries, women are not entitled to a proper education, their political rights are restricted, and they are not entitled even to own property or inherit land. Social exclusion or restriction keep them in a state of submission to the head of family (father / husband / brother). Early marriages, (so called) 'honor killings', female genital mutilations, sexual exploitation & trafficking, domestic violence and abuse, turn the lives of hundreds of millions of girls and women into a daily nightmare.

      According to a report released by 'Save the Children' in October 2016, ahead of 'International Day of the Girl' (Oct. 11th), one girl under the age of 15 is married every 7 seconds.

      The report says girls as young as 10 are forced to marry much older men in a number of countries, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia,... Conflict, poverty and humanitarian crises are seen as major factors that leave girls exposed to child marriage. When a war ravages a country, the number of child brides grows, since many refugee families marry off their daughters as a way to protect them against poverty or sexual exploitation. According to UN Children's Agency (Unicef) estimates, the number of women married in childhood will grow from 700 million today to around 950 million by 2030.

      As 'Save the Children' points out, early marriage can trigger a cycle of disadvantage across every part of a girl's life, a cycle "that denies girls the most basic rights to learn, develop and be children, –said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International – [they] often can't attend school, and are more likely to face domestic violence, abuse and rape."

      Therefore, giving girls, through education, the knowledge, skills and resources they need, is not only good for them, but would help economic growth and reduce poverty.

      My own poem in this compilation, 'Velvet words', is on 'femicide', a term introduced to describe the murder of women/girls that are gender related, as the extreme manifestation of violence against women. But reading the poems, you’ll find many situations described:

      Social exclusion/restriction,

      No (or limited) access to a proper education,

      Early marriages,

      Honor killings,

      Female genital mutilations,

      Sexual exploitation & trafficking,

      Violence, abuse, psychological or sexual harassment, …

      Some readers might think that Poetry should be the triumph of "grace and lightness", and that violence should be left to prose.. But Poetry is a manifestation of Life, as well as any other human expression. Indeed, we need such kind of 'Poetry of Witness' because all women, and particularly the 1.1 billion girls in the world, deserve our attention. We have the moral obligation, as poets, to show them not only a mere solidarity, but an active action towards equality. As human beings, especially if males (husbands/ fathers/ siblings/ sons/ friends), we have to do that daily, through our deeds.

      As poets, we can do that also through our poetry.

      (Fabrizio Frosini, Firenze, 2016)

      Link to: Save the Children; Unicef:

      ~*~

      Acknowledgement

      90 Authors from 46 countries (*), belonging in the free Association 'Poets Unite Worldwide', have taken part in this book, and I wish to thank all of them: they answered my call with enthusiasm, sending beautiful and poignant poems —all of them are worthy of mention, but just to name a few:

      Kemurl Fofanah’s 'Every Girl Deserves A Diamond'; Sarah Ali’s 'A Voice for Girls'; Manu Mangattu’s 'Monalisa'; Tia Attwood’s 'Women's Celestial Freedom Caged'; Dismas Okombo’s 'Next time in your prayers'; Sarah Louise Persson’s 'The tenderest of souls'; Alexandro Acevedo Johns’ 'Women on Earth'; ...

      And a special thank goes to my closer collaborators for the present edition: Pamela Sinicrope, Kelly Kurt and Lawrence Beck, my co-editors; Galina Italyanskaya, who has created the beautiful cover, from an artwork by Marianne Larsen Reninger; and Souren Mondal, who has written the passionate presentation.

      Ad maiora!

      (Fabrizio Frosini)

      (*) Countries of adoption are also considered:

      Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroun , Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Ethiopia, France , Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Kenya, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone , South Africa , Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, UK, USA, Zimbabwe..

      ~*~

      « Tree you are,

      Moss you are,

      You are violets with wind above them.

      A child – so high – you are,

      And all this is folly to the world. »

      (Ezra Pound, 'A Girl')

      The Poems

      Poems: 1–25

      Pranam Abbi, Breaking the denial

      Sayeed Abubakar, When She Was Born

      Alexandro Acevedo Johns, Women on Earth

      Yewande Adedokun, My Woman Mirror

      Ellias Aghili Dehnavi, Abandoned Angels

      Kareem Akadri, Are We Not Human as You?

      Sarah Ali, A voice for girls

      Williams Amao, A Loud Cry For Freedom

      Naima Ansari, Woman–A Caged Nightingale

      Tia Attwood, Women’s celestial freedom caged

      Joy Austin, Awakened Wolves

      Anna Banasiak, Tattoos

      Lawrence Beck, The Mayor's Wife

      Abhilasha Bhatt, A Woman

      Noreen Carden, Girl

      Rahul Kumar Choudhary, This world was never mine

      Charles B. Cross, Galatea, the World Is Sorry

      Réne Curtis, Child Bride

      Neelam Dadhwal, The Least, the Last

      Jaya Das, The Call Of A Girl

      Sheryl Deane, Breast Milk

      Asavri Dhillon, Three Letters to 'He'

      Unnikrishnan Edathoot, And Silence Is What I Choose

      Karen Edwards, She Weeps

      M.A. Kemurl Fofanah, Every Girl Deserves A Diamond

      Poems: 26–50

      Fabrizio Frosini, Velvet words

      Alem Hailu G/Kristos, Breaking the double yoke

      Negar Gorji, Wish

      François Guimatsia, The Female Wing

      Dilantha Gunawardana, Malini

      Simone Inez Harriman, The Significance of Wings

      Nosheen Irfan, Proud to be a Woman

      Afrooz Jafarinoor, Not truly at ease

      Farzad Jahanbani, Poem Seller Angel

      Sparsh Jain, Tonight she'd come in

      Vincent Chizoba John, Dots of light before my thought

      Vinaya Joseph, She

      Hilal Karahan, Little, black, sheared hands..

      Srijana KC Rayamajhi, Fallen wombs

      Phumla Xuza Khanyile, Raped

      Lal Rin Kim aka Seiji Lushai, Pin Pricked

      Sofia Kioroglou, State secularism a notion of yore

      Joji Varghese Kuncheria, Violence against Women

      Kelly Kurt, Equal

      Agatha Eliza Laposi, The Dream Weavers (Letter to those before us)

      Natchai Leenders, The Young Princess Bride

      Tapera Makadho, A Woman's Plea

      Manu Mangattu, Monalisa

      Kenneth Maswabi, She is the Chibok girl

      Mikhail Mavrotheris, An old story goes

      Poems: 51–75

      Alix Maya, Innocent

      Mallika Menon, A soul with agonies

      Leloudia Migdali, The woman in black

      Sarah Mkhonza, The Night is Asleep and Violence is Awake Outside

      Istvan Dan Molnar Uriel, Tomorrow Never Knows

      Souren Mondal, Red Pearls

      Anitah Muwanguzi, The Gost

      Bharati Nayak, Revati

      Madhumita Bhattacharjee Nayyar, The Veil

      Asim Nehal, Woman, Why thou at mercy in men's society?

      Fatima Nuzhat, Being Woman

      Dismas Okombo, Next Time In Your Prayers

      Rekha Padinjattakathu, I am

      Pragyan Pallabi, The wilted Jasmine

      Anil Kumar Panda, Molested

      Marcondes Pereira da Silva de Mesquita, Status quo and metaphor of a Lily

      Sarah Louise Persson, The Tenderest Of Souls

      Dominic Prempeh, A Voice For Feminism

      Marianne Larsen Reninger, Tethers

      Jan Ross, Written in my body

      Mary-Lisa Russo, In My Society

      Lendsy Salcedo, Death's Hour

      Kirti Sharma, Not my mistake

      Anzelyne Shideshe, Relevance of Femininity

      Pamela Sinicrope, Stars and Stilettos

      Poems: 76–89

      Kim Alan Solem, If God Were a Woman

      Mubeen Sadhika Syed, Mannequins without Identity

      Udaya R. Tennakoon, Inside itself and outside itself

      Marie-Chantale Tremblay, Fortunate Ones (Stand Up and Fight)

      Savita Tyagi, Savitri

      Favour Ugwumba, Because I'am a Girl

      Hans Van Rostenberghe, A tear and a crack

      Abrar Ajaz Wani, Rope your dreams

      Niken Kusuma Wardani, Because I am a woman

      Domes Wau, Girls like useless gold

      Mithilesh Kumar Yadav, Son’s Mother

      Monika Yadav, In the world so dreary

      Asma Zenjali, Loving Women

      Markus Zielinski, What about

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