American actress and #MeToo activist Alyssa Milano struck a chord on social media after she called on women to stop having sex with men until the US state of Georgia rescinds a strict new abortion law.
"Our reproductive rights are being erased," Milano wrote on Twitter on Friday. "Join me by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back." Nearly 40,000 people have liked the post since its publication.
A group of film stars led by Milano, including Alec Baldwin, Don Cheadle, Ben Stiller, Mia Farrow and Amy Schumer, had threatened in late March to refuse to work in Georgia if it adopted the new abortion restrictions.
The new law bans abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which generally occurs in the sixth week of pregnancy. The state's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, signed the bill into law on Tuesday.
"We need to understand how dire the situation is across the country," Milano told the Associated Press on Saturday. "It's reminding people that we have control over our own bodies and how we use them."
She noted that women withholding sex to protest or advocate for political reform was not a new phenomenon.
She cited how Iroquois women refused to have sex in the 1600s in order to stop unregulated warfare. Most recently, she said, Liberian women used a sex strike in 2003 to demand an end to a long-running civil war.
Read more: How people are saying #MeToo around the world
Film and TV companies boycott Georgia
Since the bill was passed, several independent film and television production companies have pledged to boycott the state unless the legislation is rescinded.
"I can't ask any female member of any film production with which I am involved to so marginalize themselves or compromise their inalienable authority over their own bodies," said David Simon, the creator of several successful TV series, including HBO's "The Wire."
"Killer Films will no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location until this ridiculous law is overturned," the company's CEO, Christine Vachon, wrote on Twitter.
Actor-producer Mark Duplass also supported the boycott. "Don't give your business to Georgia," he tweeted.
Milano, who starred in "Charmed" and "Who's the Boss?," told Buzzfeed News that she was contractually required to complete another month of filming in Georgia for her series "Insatiable" on Netflix, but said she would leave the show if production was not shifted elsewhere for subsequent seasons.
"I will fight tooth and nail to move 'Insatiable' to a state that will protect our rights," Milano said. "I will do everything in my power to get as many productions as possible, including 'Insatiable,' to move out of this state."
Chris Ortman, a spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents some of Hollywood's biggest film studios, including Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney, Warner Bros. and Netflix, said the group would continue to "monitor developments."
"It is important to remember that similar legislation has been attempted in other states, and has either been enjoined by the courts or is currently being challenged," Ortman said.
Read more: What do Europeans consider sexual harassment?
Cheap LA alternative
Georgia is an attractive choice for filmmakers and production companies, and offers a number of incentives: a cheaper cost of living than in Los Angeles, a variety of landscapes and, since 2008, tax credits of up to 30%.
Blockbuster films such as Marvel's "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War" were filmed in the state, and television series including "Stranger Things," "Ozark" and "The Walking Dead" have also been shot there.
Last year, more than 450 productions were based in Georgia, with production companies spending $2.7 billion (€2.4 billion).
The Writers Guild of America, which represents screenwriters, said the law would make Georgia "an inhospitable place for people who work in the film and television industry."
law/amp (AFP, AP)
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
'Songbird of the German women's movement'
Author Louise Otto-Peters (1819-1895) is a pioneer of Germany's women's movement. At the age of 24, she called for more female participation in decision-making and co-founded with other suffragists the General German Women's Association (Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein) in 1865. The activist also wrote poetry and novels, earning her the "songbird" nickname.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Helene Lange fought for equal opportunities
Girls didn't have easy access to education in Germany at the end of the 19th century. The women's movement of the late 1890s aimed to emancipate girls and women through schooling. Teacher and feminist Helene Lange (1948-1930) was a leading figure in this movement; she also founded different women's suffrage groups.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Mother of the 'proletarian' women's movement
Activist Clara Zetkin (1857-1933) fought for stronger representation of women in trade unions, women's suffrage and abortion rights — already aiming to abolish the controversial Paragraph 218 of German criminal law, which remained an activists' issue well into the 1970s. She also contributed to establishing International Women's Day.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Anita Augspurg and her women's group
Anita Augspurg (1857-1943) and her associates didn't care much about social conventions. Augspurg lived together with her girlfriend, and they both wore men's clothes and short hair. As a lawyer, she fought for women's suffrage — granted in Germany in 1918 — and the rights of prostitutes. Augspurg's association participated in forming international women's networks.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Backlash during the Nazi era
The Nazis rejected emancipatory movements. Women were expected to stick to their traditional roles as wives and mothers. The Nazi party promoted an image of women that had previously been dispelled by activists. In the eyes of the Nazis, women's rights groups had been created by Jews or Communists and needed to be suppressed.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
'German woman! Help too'
For several years under Hitler, German women's fundamental role was to bear as many children as possible and raise them with Nazi values, in order to help maintain the "Aryan race." Women who were particularly successful in this regard were honored with the Cross of Honor of the German Mother ("Mutterkreuz"). However, this changed once the war started, as women were needed in the workforce.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Post-war reconstruction
With the end of World War II in 1945, German women came to play an important role in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. They not only helped remove debris, but also made their voices heard in politics. New women's associations picked up the work that had been stalled in 1933, aiming to achieve equal rights for women.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
The pill: A new form of freedom
In 1961, birth control pills became available in Germany. At first, they were only prescribed to married women — officially against menstruation pains. But the pill quickly became widespread, and strongly contributed to the sexual emancipation of women in the late 1960s.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Feminists from the student movement
The 1968 West German student movement fought not only to reform universities, but also against authoritarian structures and for sexual emancipation. However, the leadership of the movement was male-dominated; feminist activists went their own way. The banner on the right reads "Emancipation = Class conflict" — the influence of Marxist theory nevertheless remained strong for them too.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
1971: 'We've had abortions!'
In Germany, abortion was a criminal offence until the 1970s. Following the sexual revolution of the late 60s, activists demanded the abolition of Paragraph 218 that outlaws abortion. In 1971, the magazine Stern published the names of 374 women admitting they had an abortion. The ban was lifted in 1975, and the law has been ammended several times since, legalizing abortions under certain terms.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
An eloquent fighter: Alice Schwarzer
A pioneer of Germany's feminist movement, Alice Schwarzer founded the country's first feminist magazine, EMMA, in 1977 that avoided all glamour and tackled political issues. Schwarzer remains a controversial figure in the country, but she has also driven important debates that have led to necessary changes for women.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Freedom in purple overalls
In the mid 1970s, the West German women's movement also took on a new symbol — purple overalls, usually worn by workmen. Today, it is hard to believe how many restrictions were still imposed on women at the time, especially married women. It was only in 1977 that wives in West Germany were entitled to be gainfully employed without their husbands' authorization.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
Indescribably feminine!
When "The Godmother of German Punk" — Nina Hagen — released her debut album in 1978, she attracted both criticism and enthusiasm. A woman fronting a punk rock band? Socially critical texts using plain vulgar language? A woman masturbating in front of a camera during a TV show? No other woman came to symbolize female freedom and liberty to that extent. Nina Hagen became a cult figure.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
A new awareness
"If men could become pregnant, abortion would be a fundamental right," says this banner from a 1993 protest. Women's voices grew stronger through associations for lesbians, women lawyers and peace activists. With the Green Party, feminism made it into Germany's parliament. Even the Christian Democrats followed suit, appointing a woman as a minister. But it took until 1997 to outlaw marital rape.
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Women's movements in Germany — a long history
No end in sight
Although women's movements have achieved some of their goals, a lot still remains to be done. Men still dominate Germany's parliament and big companies. Men still earn more money for doing the same job as women. And they still misuse their positions of power by sexually harassing or abusing women. Chances are that the #metoo movement founded in October 2017 will remain busy for some time to come.
Author: Silke Wünsch
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