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PRAVAH|N||
WERC. NeWS )
From the Editor........
Perpetuating gendered roles,
Despite the strength of the voices which oppose it, patriarchy still stalks the universe. Thereality is that despite society's willingness to give egalitarian positions to women it is unable to, because it is still caught in the grips of patriarchy. The whole society operates on patriarchal norms which consider Women as more suitable for the domestic sphere, with the roles of motherhood, childbearing and household tasks as their primary concern. This denies her the chance of operating in society the way she wants to and limits her activity in areas other than her household. Such thinking has seeped into all institutions of society and remains the base for the functions and thinking of these institutions.
Thus contrary to the voices that oppose the secondary status af. forded to women are forces which reinforce these positions. These forces existin society in the form of ideologicalpractices. Different people understandideology in different ways. Ideology has been described as "systems ofthoughts" and "sets of ideas". Althusser in his marxist readings has sought to understand ideologyas something thatis connected to people's material conditions ofexistence. Thompson defines ideology as essentially linked to the process of sustaining asymmetrical
MARC
relations of power. tices theTefore Col.
linked to power
These ideological sustain power are usthrough generat to question thema downto usas"na The idea of the women from the d originated from e was considered tha women was the las thought was conce that women had b. of childbearing and ology that womer suited to househol their reproductive signed tasks andr do not let her fun
WaltStO),
Religion, th and literature are:S which help reinfor sition of woman women in glorif homemaker, foi bearer of childre which shows th kitchen, serving : washing perpetua minds Tole mode internalized.Youn these models and marily connected World.
Other soci as the giving ofd
 
 
 

Letter
Ideological pracld be summed as and domination, practices which handed down to ions and we cease is they are handed turaland normal.” inextricability of 3Inestic sphere has arly days when it at "family piety for w of nature." This lived from the fact een giventhetask lactation. Theide1 are frail and best d tasks because of functions has asoles for her which ction the way she
le state, the media some of the factors cethe unequalpo| . These portray ied terms as the od pгерагег апd n. A comercial |e woman in the drink or with the ates in the viewers ls which become g mindsinternalize see women as prii to the domestic
ital practices, such
owry at a marriage
는
is an ideological practice. Practices such as these too portray the woman as secondary to man.
The image of the woman as home-maker, housewife, childbearer and housekeeper works against her in the world of work too. On the argument that she is not the primary earner (often this is not so) it makes it easy to enlist and dispense with the services of the woman in the workplace. Promotions do not come her way easily and this in turn consolidates the woman's confinement to the home. One could sayitis a counter-effect for she is placed second in the labour market because of her role as housewife and mother and this in turn establishes her in the home, confined to her household tasks.
One way to address this inequality in society is to cultivatein the minds of theyounger generation the urge to start relooking at traditional practices and thinking which perpetuate gendered roles.
2 = -

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SEMINA RS, WORKSHOPS, .
1. On August 17th 1994 Kamalini Kathirawelayuthapillai and Mr.Jayapalan who are researching on upcountry women's articulation of a national identity arranged a work shop based on their field research. As Kamalini could not be present Ms. Thiruchandran took the session based on the paper she sent her. Discussions followed both presentations and everybody participated enthusiastically.
2. A two day Workshop on Gender Sensitization was held at H/ Don Federick Maha Vidyalaya in Horana on 14th & 15th September 1996, on a request made by Attorney-at-Law Mr. K.D.P. Gunetilaka. This was held exclusively for some teachers in Horana Education Region. The Regional Director of Education presided over this workshop. Kumari Wickremesinghe and Vinodini de Silva of WERC were the resource persons during the sessions held on the 1st day of this workshop. Theyintroduced the concepts of Gender and Sex and gave anindepth analysis on gender constructions. The sessions on the Second day were taken by Dulcy de Silva and Rocky Ariyaratne. Misrepresentation of women in the text books and how far they perpetrate genderinequality in society was the theme oftheir discussions.
ORGANIZE
3. A one day egies for Organisi Force' was orga to felicitatethevet social reformer/w Vivienne Goonew birthday, on 18th
Dr. Ms. Kumari J sided over this Se held in the WE Ramani Muttettuv
at La Kathiravelayuthap Silva, Kumari Wic Mala de Silva pre “Women in the F. Women in the
Women in the Tr: ment and Migran tively. This was f presented by N Subasinghe, the
scriptwriter, film (
critic.
4. A workshop erment of Single W violence was held
ditorium from 19 ber. Twenty six par group 18-25
Akkaraipattu and conducted in Tam the workshop incl discussions onger impact of religi women, basic acc as well as critical
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. V • o o o o 0 0 o o o 0 0 o o o o 0 0 0 o o 0 o o o 0 0 0 0 o li
ܓܝܪ`

VVZ4RENESS PROGRAMMES
D BY WERC
eminar on Strat
ng Female Labour nized by WERC, ran politician cum orker, the late Ms. rdene, on her 80th September 1996. ayawardene preminar which was RC auditorium. vegama AttorneyXV Kamalini illai, Mangalikade kremesinghe and sented papers on ree Trade Zone”, Tea Plantation, ade Union MovetWomen respecollowed by a skit Ms. Somalatha popular actress, lirectress and film
entitled Empowlomen affected by at the WERC Au
th to 26th Octoicipants of the age arrived from he workshop was l. The sessions at
uded lectures and der sensitization, us teaching on punts, marketing film viewing. A
memorable feature of this programme was the way in which the participants interacted and organised dramas, dances and group activities. An evaluation session was held on the final day at which they expressed their satisfaction at gaining new insights into their situation.
5. A Gender awareness programme for the WERC staff was conducted at the WERC auditorium on - August 21st. The director,
Ms. Selvy Thiruchandran presided.
Having given an introductory talk, she distributed gender related topics written on slips of paper. Each staffmember then spoke on the topic he/she had picked out. Each member's experience, opinion, attitude and knowledge regarding the topic were expressed before the group. Lively discussions ensued which all found very useful and interesting. All agreed that similar discussions would be useful.
7. ༄༽
The book Thesawalama
- the customary laws of Jaffna Tamils from a feminist perspective by | Dr, H.W. Thambaiah ia being published by WERC at the request of the
الدس
author.
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2
awaii Vol. 5 No.
0 0 0 8 8 O O 8 O o O O o O O 0 6 o O o O 6 O 8 o O O O 8 O O O

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What drew you to the women's m
At the International Members Meetingofthe Women's Glob which was held in Amsterdam 5-7 October 96. The ab
Here are answers.
"Why did I become a feminist? Because there were m
"From my earliest recollection, I was an angry egalit
"From the time I was very young. I could not accept
"When I was a young girl I entered a raffle - the first doll. I wanted the bicycle but I got the doll. I've been
"We were working for workers and peasants until we from a socialist.
"I was not drawn to feminism. I was driven to it."
"The struggle for women's rights got lost in the larger reclaim it."
"After watching and participating in gynaecological
"I've ahways been told that socialist women are mot happy to be here in both my identities."
"I'm celebrating 10 years of being a feminist."
Women
Women politicians and NGO representatives f
discuss ways to increase the number of women in public Thiruchandran.
That womenare grossly under represented ir 11.3% of women in national legislative bodies. The pla women held in Beijing last September realises the need f economic, social and cultural life as the national, regional Fiji formulated and adopted strategies for the political { racy demanded that women be equally involved in decisi
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Ovement?
alNetworkfor ReproductiveRights (WGNRR) ve Question was asked -
in around."
trian and the anger has stayed."
that men own women."
prize was a bicycle, the second prize was a a feminist ever since."
decided to fight for ourselves."
political struggle for independence. I had to
elf-help exams, there was no turning back."
feminists; feminists are not socialists. I am
POMver
rom over 20Asia-Pacific countries met in Fiji recentlyto office. Sri Lanka was represented by Dr. Selvy
political leadership is reflected in the global average of form for Action passed at the 4th World Conference on or "full and equal participation of women in political and and international levels. "The women and men who met in impowerment of women. Good governance and democon making, they said.
3.
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Nine Statements
From New Freedoms, New Dependencies: New reproductive technologies, women's health and autonomy by Jyotsna Agnihotri Gupta (PhD dissertation)
1. If women do not want men to decide the future for them, as they have decided and interpreted the past, women must bring feminist concerns to serious futuristic thought.
2. Feminist academics and activists could strengthen each other's work by getting over their distrust of each other and working together.
3. Population concerns at the international and national (macro) levelare often different at the household (micro) level; even interests within the household/family differ.
4. It is women who are faced with the effects of heterosexual intercourse, in whose bodies pregnancies take place, who, therefore, have a personal interest in safe and effective means and methods for control over their reproduction. In the case of abortion, as Janet Gallagher (1985) putsit, "given the geography of the situation, the decision-maker must be the pregnant woman."
Janet Gallagher, Fetal Personhood and Women's Policy, in Saprio ed., (1985) Women, Biology and Public Policy. Sage Publications, Londom.
5. Access to contraception and abortion have liberated women from frequent child-bearing and unwanted pregnancy but they have not changed unequal gender relations.
6. In the slogan a woman's right to choose' there is a lurking danger that individual freedom may become synonymous with individual consumerism.
()

7. Just because women have successfully proved that they can do everythinga man cando does not mean they have to do everything both women and men can do.
8. In developed countries parents work to support their children and give them a good life, in developing countries generally children work to support their families to survive.
9. "All that has been written about women by men should be suspect, for the men are at once judge
and party to the lawsuit."
(Poulain dela Barre, seventeenth century feminist)
TRAINING PROGRAMME ON WOMEN, GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT - AT THE R() YA IL TROPICAL INSTITUTE , AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
I was nominated by the Women's Education and Research Centreto attend the Training on Women, Gender and Development organized by the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam in November 1996.
The Training Programme of two anda halfweeks was thoughtfully organized to disseminateknowledge ove a wide area on Gender Studies. As a first module. Gender as a Social Relation was introduced. The objective of this session was to identify from personal experience the process of gendering, to share this in a group and .
7حششششش تحت ح distil the core issues.
Participants formed into small groups to work on contextualizing gender as a social relation.
Cont. Pg. 05
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On the following days there were reading assignments fro also introduction and clarifications on the various approa was introduced as a development issue and it was followe violence against women, linking it to gender, culture and d
Every evening time was allocated for exchange of exper works. The resource person would point out the issues an presentations.
There were many aspects of gender discussed: Gender Health and Reproductive Rights, Gender and Education, G resource persons guided a plenary brainstorming and elab
One of the most memorable events was visiting the Red I women sat inside the show cases scantily dressed. Prostit
There was also a visit to the Institute of Social Studies in
On the last day there were presentations of the participan from the panellists, plenary review and discussions.
Certificates were handed over to the participants by the D
Human Rights Award - 1996
Dr.RADHIKA COOMARASWAMY, legal expert currently working as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, has been awarded the Human Rights Award for 996 by the Washington-based International Human Rights Law Group.
This prestigious award is made annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of human rights internationally."
Previous recipients of the Award have included Nobel Laureates Wole Soyinka and Aung San Suu Kyi, President Patricio Aylwin of Chile, President Alexander Dubecek of Czechoslovakia, President Raul Alfonsin of Argentina, and Sadako Ogata, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
O o O O O o O O O O,O o O O o O o O O O 8 o O O o O o O o O o o
Pravahini Wo.s No. O o O O 8 o O O o O p O o O o O to o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
 

m the Reader on the Concepts of Development. There was ches to Gender and Development. Violence against women d by an exercise in small groups on values and attitudes to evelopment.
iences. We were introduced to basic concepts and framed limitations of each framework, based on the group work
and Macro Economics, Gender and Livelihoods, Gender, ender and the Media, Gender, Rights and Citizenship. The orating the critique of the frameworks discussed.
ight Area, the area of Prostitutes where a large number of ution is legalized in Amsterdam -
Hague, that teaches Women and Gender Issues.
ts' projects before the panellists. There was also feedback
W al ܪ r
irector, Royal Tropical Institute and a farewell followed.
Rocky Arivaratne,
Human Rights
All human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Their full and equal enjoyment by women and girls is a priority for Governments and the United Nations and is essential for the advancement ofwomen.
Governments must not only refrain from violating the human rights of all women but work actively to promote and protect these rights.
Recognition of the importance of women's human rights is reflected in the fact that three quarters of the UNMember States have become partiesto the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, the gap between the existence ofrights and their effective enjoyment derives from a lack of commitment by Governments in promoting and protecting those rights and the failure of Governments to inform women and men alike about them.
Courtesy AWID
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'Heroic W.
S.Vivienne Goonewardena, the veteran wom tated by the Women's Education and Resear
The felicitation took the form of a workshop on
Ms. Vivienne Goonewardena though not in the bes her from a very representative gathering of women : Ms. Bernadeen de Silva, Ms. Anberiya Hanifa, Dr.Radhik. Jayawardena presided and in her welcome speech bri activities as an indomitable fighter for the rights of the
Ms. Goonewardena speaking still vehemently but anecdotes of her years of pioneering efforts as a champi
The programme continued with the presentation Ramani Muttettuwegama, Womenin the Tea Plantation Union Movement' by Mangalika de Silva and Migrant
A very interesting and topical skit by Somalatha Subasir
It is with deep regret that we record in this same 1 October 1996. Thus ends her long, colourful and disting and the Nationalist Socialist Movement and above alla:
Women's organisations including WERC have al mentary film on the late Ms. Vivienne Goonewardene. F movement and her figure as a champion of women's righ women when her life story is actually seen and heard. sponsor.
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) manhood"
in leader who was celebratingher 80thbirthday was felici ch Centre on September 18th 1996.
Women in the Labour Force', a subject dear to her heart.
tofhealth graced the occasion. A warm welcome awaited und men among whom were Dr. Kumari Jayawardena, Coomaraswamy and Dr.Selvy Thiruchandran. Dr. Kumari 'fly traced the history of Ms. Vivienne Goonewardena's oppressed with no distinction of race, caste or creed.
in a subdued voice interspersed her talk with interesting on of women's rights.
of papers as follows - Women in the FreeTrade Zone' by s' by Kamalini Kadiravelayuthapillai, Women in the Trade
Women' by Kumari Wickramasinghe and Mala de Silva.
ghe brought the day's programme to a close.
eport the demise of Ms. Vivienne Goonewardena on 3rd uished career as a pioneer of the human rights movement a woman dedicated to the cause of justice for Women.
ready made preliminary preparations to produce a docuHer outstanding career in the human rights and nationalist its would be a stimulating vision for future generations of We are happy to be associated with this project as its main
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BOOK SHELF
New arrivals.....................
* Women violence and non-violent change edited by Aruna Gnanadason, Musimbi Kanyoro and Lucia Ann Mc Spadden., Geneva, WCC pub.,
1996.
Little attention has yet been given to the specific contributions of women to "Conflict resolution". This books helps to fill that gap. After three analytical essays, women from thirteen countries around the world present case studies of how women's groups are confronting violence in their context.
* Media Studies: A Reader edited by Paul Marris and Sue Thornham, Edinburgh University Press pub., 1996.
This reader introduces the range of theoretical perspectives on the mass media over the past 30 years. The 54 readings are divided into two main parts as studying the media and case studies.
* Nationalisms. The Nation state and nationalism in the Twentieth Century by Montserrat Guiberniau UK, Polity Press 1996
The book is marked by very thorough, perceptive and relevant discussion of the previous treatment in social theory, or the failures to treat it adequately. It will be of particular interest to undergraduates and others vorking in the areas of sociology, international relations and political science.
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Women and the state. International perspectives edited by Shirin M Rai and Geraldine Lievesly Taylon and Francis, 1996.
This book explores the historical and structural boundaries within which women act, relate to each other and deal with the state in the third world, through the presentation of a vide - ranging selection of case studies, describing and evaluating women's political, social and economic involvement.
Paul Ricoeur: Hermeneutics and the human sci
ences: Essays on language, action and interpretation, edited, translated and introduced. by John B. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
This is a collection of translations of recent essays by Paul Ricoeur which presents a comprehensive view of his philosophical hermeneutics, its relation to the vievs of his predecessors in the tradition and its consequences for the social sciences.
Qs Call for P.рғR5
兴 We invite readers to submit papers for publication in the English/6 inhala/Tamil Nivedini (WERC) journal6 which are published biannually, (June and December)
Manuscripts on feminist issues could be submitted for publishing to the publications committee, Fublication costs will be borne by Women's Education and Keearch Centre (WERC)
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