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By Weasel, February 25, 2010 10:15 am

Saving Sword Dance UK

Those of you in the UK are probably aware of the ban on the sale or importing of certain types of sword that was passed by the british government in 2008. After a lot of backwards and forwards arguing and some ridiculous handwaving from those in power, exemptions were eventually written into the bill for martial artists, SCA type re-enactors, etc.

But not for dancers.

The use of curved blades in bellydance, particularly Turkish and Tribal and in many forms of folk dance is well established, yet was entirely ignored by government when writing the heritage and sporting activities exemption to this bill. All attempts to raise this so far have been met with the same canned responses and no real result.

A UK BellyDancer named Melany is taking her case to a customs tribunal at the end of April, arguing for the right to import a sword for dance purposes. The tribunal do have the power to change the law, but she cannot afford any legal help. to counterbalance this, she is looking for testimonies from dancers, current and past about how their lives have been positively influenced by dance to help strengthen the case for a new exemption.

She has posted details of how to contact her and submit testimonies / get involved on a publicly viewable facebook group here (you do not need to be logged in or even to have a facebook account). If you're a dancer currently involved in some form of sword dance, or a Bellydancer or folk dancer who would one day like to be, please head over and give this some of your time.

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By Weasel, December 6, 2009 10:46 am

Just a quickie here:

FWD/Forward posted an interesting piece on the intersections (or otherwise) between aging and disability, and how the two are often wrongly assumed to be inseperably linked here.

Daisy Deadhead then posted a damn nice commentary/response from a class perspective here that reminded me, yet again, why she'll be a permanent resident of my blogroll.

Still messing with tumblr and recovering from the computer crash, will talk more soon .

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By Weasel, November 25, 2009 10:41 pm

I have absolutely unconditionally fallen in love with Wallis Bird's new album this week. I like a nice bit of happy and bittersweet Girl with Guitar stuff and this one is just the mood I needed this week. She's got a ridiculously happy new single out called To My Bones which is perfect for those times you've just got to shout 'Let's Get Happy".

Especially when shit like this comes to your attention. Got some posts here for you by a friend of mine at DirtySilverRings and Bint Ashamsa at My Private Casbah on the incredibly shitty treatment that Feminist Fightback got at this year's Reclaim the Night march in London. Calling the Police in to deal with a sex workers rights collective peacefully attending a womans rights march has so many things wrong with it I just don't even know where to fucking begin.

I am becoming increasingly sympathetic towards friends of mine like Lamasu who are up for fighting the kyriachy but don't want anything to do with feminism at all because this kind of shit just never seems to stop and I can't be doing with it.

Still, as someone who is (from their perspective) on entirely the wrong side with this one, I doubt they want anything to do with me too so maybe that's a win/win.

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By Weasel, October 12, 2009 4:19 pm

I'm reposting this piece by AuntySarah to spread the word into wider circles. If you get your queer on, either in an activist way or you just damn are, give this one a read.

We are a group of trans activists who wish to make known our concerns about a demo, claiming to support the depathologisation of trans people, in London on 17th of October. The facebook group for the demo can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147494409183

The description of the event reads:

"Being transgendered is not a mental illness. We are simply part of the diversity of humanity. Gender Identity Disorder is therefore not a valid diagnosis. Homosexuality we removed as a mental health diagnosis diagnosis in 1987. For us to achieve true liberation and recognition we need to throw off this unjust stigma. We are not ill, just different"

A large number of people were invited by the demo organiser, a non-trans man by the name of Dennis Hambridge, and some of us were initially concerned by the rationale for the demo. In particular, we were worried that campaigning for the removal of Gender Identity Disorder as a medical diagnosis without proposing an alternative mechanism by which transsexual people would be able to access medical transition resources was premature and dangerous, especially in a climate where NHS primary care trusts need only a minimal excuse to deny funding for our hormonal and surgical procedures. We do not support the labelling of our gender identities as disordered, and realise that our relationship with the medical community is far from ideal, but do not wish to support a movement which may give the impression that we seek complete divorce from the medical community.

These concerns were put to the Facebook group by a number of trans activists. Rather than address them, Mr Hambridge entrenched his position, making claims that gender dysphoria was an artefact of society and the medical community, and that removal of any form of classification of gender dysphoria by the WHO was "non-negotiable".

In moves more reminiscent of the actions of transphobic radical feminists than supposed allies of trans people, Mr Hambridge started deleting some of the comments from those trans people who were concerned about our future access to hormones and surgery. Subsequently he banned a number of those trans people from the group, silencing them in that space.

To reiterate - Mr Hambridge, who is organising a demo which is allegedly supporting the rights of transsexual people is using his position as a group organiser to silence and shut out the voices of the very people he claims to support.

In light of Mr Hambridge's intransigence and refusal to listen to the voices of actual transsexual people, we are calling on all activists who support the concept of transsexual people having a say in our own medical care to boycott this demo. We further call on Mr Hambridge, who is not trans himself, to stop claiming to speak on our behalf when he is ignoring our protestations and silencing our voices, and to call off his demo.

Please spread this open letter widely.

Edit

This has now been cancelled ... clearly the community noise has done it's work in this case. I'm not sure I trust this movement in the slightest, it feels like quietly assimilationist rubbish designed to strip what official recognition there is of gender variant people and quietly slide everyone who doesn't fit out of the mainstream and the movement. Depathologisation is potentially useful and powerful ... but also potentially more than a little damaging to many, many people.

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By Weasel, September 19, 2009 11:14 pm

For those who have been following the campaign to ensure Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance are preserved and not rolled into the local social care system by the current government, Peter Harding of Mencap has submitted a Petition to the Number 10 petitions website which you can sign Here. While the petitions raised through that site are often given rather cursory responses, it is yet another way to make your feelings and support known, and will only take a few moments of your time so please go for it.

Those of you who aren't aware of this situation might like to check out my earlier post on the subject, the campaign page at Benefits and Work and the CarerWatch campaign pages for more information.

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By Weasel, August 10, 2009 10:09 pm

A comment from Rosemary on my last post mentioned a group called Carerwatch. A Campaign group run by independant, unpaid carers for carers, they're working to provide a nonpartisan political platform to educate politicians and the media about Carers and the Care system.

And more importantly, to change things.

They've got Campaigns on the go at the moment to fight the disproportionate impact on people with mental health issues from the welfare reform bill, the current Threats to the DLA and AA and the frequently shitty financial situation of many carers faced with inadequate support from a disinterested administration.

They're good people, go take a look at what they're up to and get involved.

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By Weasel, August 9, 2009 1:28 pm

I want to take a minute to talk about Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance. These are non-means-tested benefits which help the elderly and disabled to pay the extra costs involved in simply living their lives in the way able bodied people do. They allow people to pay a little extra for informal help and care, help meet extra transport costs (taxis, bus fares, etc), pay for massage therapy and other medical treatments not nessc. covered by the health service and for families like ours, help meet the bills that didn't shrink when our income did, and help keep a few doors open that would otherwise have closed.

these benefits can be awkward to get. Contrary to popular belief, they do require regular medical assessment, sign-off by doctors and an awful lot of paperwork/admin to get hold of. But once you do get them, they're handled on a consistant, national basis with transparent and legally enforceable criteria. There are even official appeals processes in place if you feel you've been unjustly denied. All in all, they could be a lot worse.

And if a recent government green paper, currently in its consultation phase, makes it's way to policy, they may well become so. This document proposes doing away with the Attendance allowance, Care elements of the Disability Living allowance and potentially the whole of the DLA and handing these over to local authorities to administer as part of the social care system. Leaving aside the fact that in my experience, most local authorities couldn't find their own arses with both hands and a roadmap, this removes almost all the transparency and protection from the system. It also puts us in a situation where Disabled People go from managing their own budget acquired via DLA and AA to one where the money is spent on their behalf by social workers as part of the individual care allowance which is, in my opinion, a serious step backward.

(I strongly suspect the admin side of the Social Care system will be completely unable to cope as well. They currently manage social care allowances for around 1.26 million people. 3.82 million recieve DLA and AA currently, so either we're going to see most of the transferred budget soaked up paying for admin costs as the social care system expands to three times its current size, or a lot of people are going to be left sitting by the wayside in poverty).

I am not the most coherent or experienced writer on issues like this, so I encourage you to go and read up about this at the following links:

Adult Green Paper could be catastrophe for diasbility allowance reciipents by Neil Bateman.

DLA and AA Threat at Benefits and Work

DLA and AA under threat by Mary at Batsgirl.blogspot.com

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By Weasel, June 4, 2009 7:24 am

Yep, you heard me, it's polling day. We've got some interesting folk standing for the EU parliment this time around (though the switch from Single Transferrable Vote to a Closed List system still bugs me, it may be easier to understand but it's also less transparent and I prefer to vote people rather than parties where possible), so if you want to have some influence in Europe, see if anyone local to you is saying things that make sense and throw them a vote.

Alternatively, if you're stuck in an area where there's nobody of any damn use or interest standing at all, go out and spoil a ballot in an obvious and deliberate fashion to show them you're willing ... but they're not giving you anyone worth your vote. (Or if you're so inclined, figure out who the best strategic anti-BNP vote would be for in your area and throw them a vote to keep Griffith's little bastards out of power).

In other news, Ezekiel has been doing delicious things to my hair over the last couple of nights (she's made me look like a pixie or something, 'tis marvellous) and while doing so, has found my first grey hair. I am super-delighted by this fact and have named it George in celebration.

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By Weasel, May 27, 2009 6:22 pm

Sometime during the last year or so, Ezekiel linked me to a website called But you Don't Look Sick, written by and for the disabled and people suffering from 'invisible' illnesses like lupus, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia and similar conditions that have a dramatic impact on the lives of sufferers that isn't always visible to a casual observer. One of the more interesting articles on the site was about something they called the spoon theory.

You can read about The Spoon Theory here, it's a very good way indeed of getting across the idea of what living with an invisible illness like lupus, fibro, chronic pain, ME et al is like to people who've never experienced anything similar and have trouble understanding. If you've not read it before, follow the link and have a look now.

Spoon theory works well. It's a novel, fairly unique way of getting across the real impact of something people live with every day to those who have never experienced it. It makes it apparent that this isn't just had-a-hard-day tiredness, aches and pains or an unwillingness to get on, it is something concrete, permanent and debilitating that impacts on every aspect of peoples lives.

But as Rosemary recently pointed out in this livejournal post, the problem with an attractive metaphor with this kind of power is that people pick it up and use it outside its original scope. When it is used by people who aren't sick, it gradually becomes diluted and loses its impact, eventually becoming as easy to ignore as everything that went before it.

The key test here is this ... am I using spoons to describe living with chronic physical or mental illness, or am I using it to describe the everyday balancing acts we all perform to manage our resources. If the answer is the former, then go for it. If the latter, take a moment and think of a different way to say what you're saying.

Like all language appropriation issues, this one requires a little thought to navigate around it ... so think. I know I will be.

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By Weasel, May 6, 2009 11:38 pm

So finding this glorious little video linked on Shakesville really tickled me. It's set to 'Fuck You' by Lilly Allen and is gloriously non-worksafe and queer. It's really given a lift to my day.

Which was improved upon even further when a phone conversation between Ezekiel and Captain Horatio revealed that we'd all been big fans of Gauntlet back in the day, so after a wee bit of a nostalgic gigglefest, I dug up this rather nice remake and gave it a whirl ... every time I heard 'you have shot the food' I felt like I was seven and sitting in my friend's conservatory playing Nintendo again. If you were a child of the Gauntlet era as well, go check it out. It's passed the virus and malware checker gauntlet and is exceedingly good fun.

Next up, Ezekiel has introduced me to Sarah Haskins and her info-mania spot, Target Woman, where she gives a very amusing and more than a little satirical commentary on a Gillette advert that we'd been discussing that made me look at it a little differently. If you like what she has to say, the link I've given you there turns into a happy little rss feed when plugged into google reader - you know it makes sense.

After all that levity, a quick finish on something serious. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, or DSM, currently in it's 4th edition (or is it 4.5? it's all a bit dungeons and dragons) is currently under review by the great and good so they can figure out which of us they intend to pathologise and why this time. A rather controversial figure named Ray Blanchard (famed for a lot of appallingly shitty and phobic writing about queers of various stripes) is taking a key role in revising the section on Paraphilias, and seems to be trying to brand everything other than PIV/PIA sex between able bodied, cisgendered adults as being a great big filthy peversion. I never liked the man before, and have even less reason to now.

Read more at Why feminists should be concerned with the impending revision of the DSM by Julia Serano on femilisting.