LADYFEST returns to Dublin after 9 years with a bang!! Bringing you the best Dublin's music scene has to offer in female focused acts, LADYFEST kicks off at 7:30 in Sweeneys on Dame Street!
Tickets: €7.00 waged, €5 unwaged - available on the door.

Featuring:

Bitch Falcon

Fauve Chapman

Elaine Mai

Marita Connolly 

Temper-Mental MissElayneous

Big Girls Big Band

Toy Soldier

+ more to be announced

Press Release & Podcast: Group of organisations to raise common points and reservations regarding Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill

Following the Oireachtas hearings with medical and legal experts on the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill, a group of 11 organisations not represented at the hearings come together today at a press conference to demand a range of changes to the proposed legislation. Representatives of the organisations collectively called for the following amendments to the Bill:

1.      Offence

Criminalisation: the proposed legislation replaces the Offences against the Person Act 1861 rather than repealing it.  The government must repeal the relevant sections of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and decriminalise abortion.  Criminalisation does not work; it causes pain and suffering to women, is incompatible with international human rights norms and according to the ECHR has a chilling effect on women and doctors

2.      Risk of loss of life from self-destruction

There is no medical or clinical justification for the requirement that a panel of doctors authorise an abortion on grounds of risk to life arising from risk of suicide due to an unwanted pregnancy. The requirement of a second psychiatrist does not apply when a pregnancy is not involved. The Mental Health Act 2001 requires only two medical practitioners to authorise the involuntary detention of an individual on mental health grounds, including risk to life by suicide. The proposed legislation requires up to seven practitioners to assess risk to life by suicide due to an unwanted pregnancy and authorise a termination on grounds of such a risk to life.

An arbitrary distinction is being drawn between physical risk to life and risk to life arising from risk of suicide due to an unwanted pregnancy. The current proposal requires unanimity between an obstetrician and two psychiatrists for the approval of abortion, giving the obstetrician – with no competence in suicide assessment power of veto over two consenting psychiatrists.  Consultation with the woman’s GP should only take place with her prior consent.

3.      Conscientious objection

There should be an explicit duty to treat in a medical emergency regardless of any conscientious objection.  Legislative provision must be made to ensure that medical professionals are required to declare anti-choice views, and that they have a duty to absent themself from any panel deciding on abortion.  Any panel should only consist of non-conscientious objectors.  It must be ensured that non-objecting providers are accessible and available throughout the country.

4.      Formal medical review procedures

A two-week review period is unrealistic and could result in serious and potentially fatal repercussions. Best international practice is that a decision is made within 3 days.  Realistic timeframes must be included in the new legislation.

5.       Broaden the scope of the legislation to include fatal foetal abnormalities and pregnancies resulting from rape and incest.

Organisations supporting these changes include:

National Women’s Council of Ireland, Action on X, Abortion Rights Campaign, Doctors for Choice, ICTU Women’s Committee, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Irish Family Planning Association, Irish Feminist Network, Termination for Medical Reasons Group, Cork Women’s Right to Choose Group and Galway Pro Choice Group


What: Press Conference – Common points and reservations on Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill

When: Wednesday, 22nd May, 10:30 am

Where: Buswells Hotel, Molesworth Street, Dublin



Listen to a podcast of the press conference here:

Hi everyone,

From the last discussion, people decided to chat about the idea of female masculinity; gender beyond sex, beyond binary, pleasure beyond principles and what have you.

* Feminine/masculine – why can’t I be both?

* Constructing masculinities in communities and within the individual: .

Some suggestions to chat about: tdrag kings, butch/femme dynamics in relationships, genderqueers, queers, tomboys etc.


Bewleys wasn't as quiet so we're meeting up in Seomra Sproai on the evening14th May from 7pm in the social sinema room (the first room on the ground floor- there'll be donation-based food and treats too :) )

looking forward to seeing a lot of you soon! x

When: Thursday, 4th of April, 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: Bewleys Cafe on Grafton Street
The Book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Facebook Event: IFN April Book Club
How to find us: We'll be downstairs in the restaurant section. Our reservation will be under Irish Feminist Network. We'll have the book displayed upright on the table.


About:

**Trigger warning: This book deals with mental illness and suicide**

Recently, Faber have released a 50th anniversary edition of the book and there's been some controversy about the cover: Guardian article on Bell Jar Cove

And here's some more info:

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational--as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic. Goodreads Review

Book reviews:

Independent Newspaper Bell Jar Review

This one has major spoilers: Classic Lit Bell Jar Review

There's also a movie from 1979: IMBD Bell Jar Film Page

To facilitate discussion, we'll have these ground rules:

-Everyone has the right to contribute to the discussion
-Refrain from personal attacks, criticise the idea and not the person
-Everyone is welcome to attend regardless of age, gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious belief, disability, membership of the travelling community, marital status or family status.

Happy reading & hope to see you next month!

Press Release 
 
Saturday, September 29th 2012

 For immediate use


 



“Political will, not public opinion, is  preventing action on abortion”

 The Irish Feminist Network  will today (Saturday, September 29th) participate along with thousands of others in a March for Choice to mark the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion and celebrate their support for a woman’s right to choose. 

IFN co-ordinator Alison Spillane said, “Today is a historic day – not only are we marking the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion but we are also reminding the government that this issue is not going away. The most recent opinion poll (Sunday Times, September 16th 2012) shows that 80% of the electorate support access to abortion when a woman’s life is at risk, as per the X case judgment. It is clear that political will, not public opinion, is holding this issue back.”

“The government’s expert group was initially due to report in July of this year before the deadline was extended to September – we are now at the end of the month and no report has been published. The government must immediately make public the findings of the expert group and legislate for X”, she said. 

“Today we march in solidarity with over 150,000 women who, since 1980, have been forced out of this country to access abortion services abroad and together we demand change to Ireland’s archaic and barbaric abortion laws”.

 ENDS

Notes to the editor: 
         
The Irish Feminist Network is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting gender equality in Ireland. With over 3,000 online supporters, it is the fastest growing feminist organisation in the country.

 The March for Choice will start at the Spire on O’Connell Street at 2pm before proceeding to Merrion Square. Speakers include Clare Daly TD, Senator Ivana Bacik and journalist Colette Browne.

When: Tuesday, 2nd of October, 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: Bewleys Cafe on Grafton Street
How to find us: We'll have the book displayed upright on the table.
The Book: Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy
Facebook Event: RSVP http://www.facebook.com/events/152011694938590/

About: It's fiction month, and we thought it would be good to read something by Maeve Binchy, who sadly passed away at the end of July. She was one of Ireland's most successful female writers. You can read more about her here: http://www.thejournal.ie/beloved-irish-writer-maeve-binchy-has-died-aged-72-538914-Jul2012/

"It began with Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, growing up, inseparable, in the village of Knockglen. Benny--the only child, yearning to break free from her adoring parents...Eve--the orphaned offspring of a convent handyman and a rebellious blueblood, abandoned by her mother's wealthy family to be raised by nuns. Eve and Benny--they knew the sins and secrets behind every villager's lace curtains...except their own.

It widened at Dublin, at the university where Benny and Eve met beautiful Nan Mahlon and Jack Foley, a doctor's handsome son. But heartbreak and betrayal would bring the worlds of Knockglen and Dublin into explosive collision. Long-hidden lies would emerge to test the meaning of love and the strength of ties held within the fragile gold bands of a... Circle Of Friends."

There are a range of reviews of Circle of Friends here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41977.Circle_of_Friends

There's also a movie from 1995. Here's the trailer: 

When: Wednesday, 4th July at 7.00pm
Where: The Sugar Club, map here
The Film: An Encounter with Simone Weil
Facebook Event: here

The Irish Feminist Network invites you to the Irish premiere of the award winning film 'An Encounter with Simone Weil'. 

The film tells the story of French philosopher, activist, and mystic, Simone Weil (1909-1943) - a woman Albert Camus described as 'the only great spirit of our time.' On her quest to understand Simone Weil, filmmaker Julia Haslett confronts profound questions of moral responsibility both within her own family and the larger world. From the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War to anti-war protests in Washington DC, from intimate exchanges between the filmmaker and her older brother who struggles with depression to captivating interviews with people who knew Simone Weil, the film takes us on an unforgettable journey into the heart of what it means to be a compassionate human being.

Weil asked us this question: How do we respond to human suffering? The filmmaker, in turn, wants to know: How do we remain engaged without ultimately destroying ourselves as Weil did when she died from self-starvation at age 34?

Drawing on current news and observational footage, Haslett's narration draws provocative comparisons between Weil’s insight and the world today. The result is a deeply moving film that not only challenges us to think and to feel, but encourages us to initiate important political, psychological, and interfaith dialogue.

The screening will be followed by a live Skype Q and A session with the filmmaker, Julia Haslett.
Further details and trailer are available from here:
http://www.linestreet.net/

Tickets costing 7 Euro and 4 Euro for students/unwaged, are available from here:
http://entertainment.ticketsolve.com/shows/873482545/events


Any questions? Email us at irishfeministnetwork@gmail.com

When: Wednesday, 6th June at 7.30pm
Where: The Sugar Club, map here
The Film: The Price of Sex
Facebook Event: here

The Irish Feminist Network and the Immigrant Council of Ireland invite you to the Irish premiere of the award-winning movie 'The Price of Sex', to be followed by a post-screening panel discussion on sex trafficking. 

'The Price of Sex' is a feature-length documentary about young Eastern European women who've been drawn into a netherworld of sex trafficking and abuse. Intimate, harrowing and revealing, it is a story told by the young women who were supposed to be silenced by shame, fear and violence. Photojournalist Mimi Chakarova, who grew up in Bulgaria, takes us on a personal investigative journey, exposing the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Western Europe. Filming undercover and gaining extraordinary access, Chakarova illuminates how even though some women escape to tell their stories, sex trafficking thrives.

Film screening will be followed by a discussion with the following panelists:

Paul Maguire, reporter of the recent Prime Time programme 'Profiting from Prostitution'
Linda Latham, Co-ordinator of the Women's Health Project, HSE
Denise Charlton, CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland
Una Mullaly, journalist and broadcaster
Chair: Keelin Shanley, reporter/presenter with Prime Time and the Consumer Show

Trailer and further details available from here: http://priceofsex.org/


Tickets available from here: http://entertainment.ticketsolve.com/shows/873481653/events

We look forward to seeing you there!

Any questions? Email us at: irishfeministnetwork@gmail.com