women must be the sex workers, if they're the ones who go on strike...
April 30, 2009 9:37 AM   Subscribe

Kenyan women call to mind Greek comedy, though perhaps they have other reasons to take a week off...
posted by mdn (17 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite


 
A call by women activists for a nationwide seven-day sex boycott has drawn sharp reactions, with a men lobby group terming it a violation of men’s fundamental rights.
posted by brain_drain at 9:49 AM on April 30, 2009


The women's action is pretty awesome; I'd like to know if there are other folks who've attempted to use Lysistrata-style protests. But the first article is mind-blowing...it's a guy's fundamental right to get laid? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by graymouser at 10:05 AM on April 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


So doesn't that mean they're just putting a premium on the non-striking women? I always thought Lysistrata was supposed to be a metaphor.
posted by Afroblanco at 10:05 AM on April 30, 2009


Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a weeklong sex strike to try to protest their country's bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.

Because a nation of pissed-off AND sexually frustrated people will be less prone to violence than a nation of pissed-off people.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:07 AM on April 30, 2009


Wow - that first link is indeed .. something else. “Just imagine if it is men who said they are boycotting sex with their partners. Women would be on the streets today (Thursday),” Chairman and Founder of Maendeleo Ya Wanaume Nderitu Njoka told Capital News. You know, because the ladies demand so much of me. Every night. Exactly.

Amongst other questions, who made this graphic? The mix of text, the teacup logo, and what I think is a sky is very strange.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:10 AM on April 30, 2009


Yeah. I can't decide which is worse, saying upfront that you have a right to my sex organs, or just building a lawful society around that premise without saying so. Marital rape was legal in the US until 1979, (thought 30 states still consider it a lesser crime)
posted by fontophilic at 10:12 AM on April 30, 2009


A call by women activists for a nationwide seven-day sex boycott has drawn sharp reactions, with a men lobby group terming it a violation of men’s fundamental rights.

Sounds like Kenya could use some Devo.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:13 AM on April 30, 2009


I wanna know what my wife is protesting.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 10:25 AM on April 30, 2009 [3 favorites]


“They are trying to use sex as a tool to molest men in the society,” he protested.


I don't think this guy quite understands the concept.
posted by barrett caulk at 10:30 AM on April 30, 2009


Columbian women held out for 10 days in 2006.

Also, Aristophanes is my favorite comedy writer of all time.
posted by ailouros08 at 10:55 AM on April 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


I remember one of the most gifted actresses in my high school doing Lysistrata as a Humorous Interp. It was fall-out-of-your-chair funny.

That said, doesn't this only really work if the boycott is a) indefinite and b) specifically directed at those men in positions of power? Otherwise, what's it expected to accomplish?
posted by Navelgazer at 11:00 AM on April 30, 2009


previously
posted by jojo-dancer at 12:21 PM on April 30, 2009


All this fuss about not having sex for seven days?
posted by Houstonian at 1:24 PM on April 30, 2009


"You know, because the ladies demand so much of me. Every night. Exactly."

You're dating the wrong girls, or you're doing it wrong. If I cut my gf off without a doctor's note, I doubt she'd stick around long -- and I wouldn't expect her to.

That said, I expect this boycott to result in large-scale violence against women in Kenya, and the world will shrug and no one will care and it will be business as usual. Let's face it, if we cared we'd do something other than bitch about it on MeFi.
posted by coolguymichael at 5:49 PM on April 30, 2009


If you can't go seven goddamn days without sex, there is something seriously wrong with you.
posted by nightchrome at 10:56 PM on April 30, 2009


The funniest theatrical production I've ever seen was a college production of Lysistrata in the 80's. There were parts where I alternated between laughing hysterically and gasping for breath.

It's not the actual withholding that's effective, it's the idea the debate it generates. Been working for thousands of years.
posted by cptnrandy at 6:14 AM on May 1, 2009


cptnrandy: It's not the actual withholding that's effective, it's the idea the debate it generates.

And in that situation, there's a strong incentive to become a master-debater.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:52 PM on May 2, 2009


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