Feminist Mafia and Indymedia Present: ON THE EDGE (An Auckland Film Screening)

this troll is a dork

It's actually an acronym for Militant Anarcha-Feminists In Auckland, it's a joke and it's suppose to be ironic, don't take the name so seriously. It's not about condoning what the mafia do, it's just an acronym that fits well with the name. If you have further issues and would like to discuss it with us, email feministmafia@gmail.com rather than make anonymous comments on indymedia.

We're organising this film screening to raise issues about sexual abuse, sexism and femicide that is inter-related to patriarchy, the state and capitalism and raising awareness about the shit that went on in Mexico. And hoping to get some discussion around sexual violence in aotearoa and how like the femicide in Mexico, the persecutors get away with it and do it with impunity. But most importantly, talking about ways of challenging that culture of rape and violence here and giving some sense of solidarity to the womyn affected by the femicide in Juarez and supporting their movement for justice.

We could interpret MAF(I)A as an ironic reappropriation of the word. Rather than it having to be a symbol of patriarchal institutions and abuse maybe these womyn are appropriating the mafia characteristics of organisation, community and family to represent their struggle to create a trusted space within the family of women which will enable 'crimes' of activism against patriarchy.

I applaud you for holding a film screening to raise awareness about the women of Ciudad Juárez. It is an extremely important issue that has not received as much attention as it deserves around the World.

Although In regards to the use of the word mafia it continues to amaze me how some anarchists seem to delight in choosing language that confuses and alienates people. Anarchism and feminism already are dirty words for many people so why add a word that is even more loaded with negative connotations?

You could make it clearer it was meant to be a joke by having your name in full and then in brackets write 'MAFIA'.

Or better still, how about we learn from those in the PR industry and actually use inviting, warm sounding language to call our groups and describe our ideas. To paraphrase Malcolm X oppression must be fought 'by any means necessary'. If that means using well thought out inviting language to describe our ideas then lets do it.

Great (but very sad) music video from the band 'At the Drive In' about the mass murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CwzcjQq1llw

This kind of attitude keeps you on the fringe. But perhaps that's where you want to be? This is where activist elitism comes in. This is why change is so slow in coming. The Mafia is a fucked up organization that is based on the principles of patriarchy in its most aggressive and brutal form. Its not a joke.

"why would we want to use warm inviting language, if our ideas arent warm and inviting to most people? people who choose to stay ignorant of the real meanings of anarchy, feminism etc, or ppl who know wot these words stand for and see them as negative aren't who we will fight with- but against."

I find that this is a lot of the reason we are getting nowhere! A lot of people don't "c hoose to stay ignorant" they just unfortunately have followed the mainstream view of what "anarchy" is.
If we want to achieve real social change these are the kinds of people we need to educate and include.

It seems to me that people these days are deluded with ideas of some kind of revolution by a militant minority, well news flash, that won't work! In order to achieve any kind of social change we are going to need to educate the masses about the real meaning of anarchy!

We aren't going to do this by staying in our little cliques, rejecting one and all that don't understand anarchy or what ever other ideal you wish to push.

This can only be achieved by living with anarchism in your life and spreading it by not only acting anarchicly but by spreading the ideology itself through film, text, what ever.

"why would we want to use warm inviting language, if our ideas arent warm and inviting to most people? people who choose to stay ignorant of the real meanings of anarchy, feminism etc, or ppl who know wot these words stand for and see them as negative aren't who we will fight with- but against..."

Don't think people choose to remain ignorant - they are just ignorant o their ignorance. There's a lot I thought I knew until somebody explained to me otherwise...

I'm not sure whether the writer is of the 'anarchism is nice, but impossible, so we just need to resist and make the best of things forever' school, in which case these comments would make sense, and I'd just disagree with their basic worldview.

Alternatively, the writer might fit into the 'vanguardist anarchist' stream which seems to take the 'your either with us or against us' view that people who aren't with us are stupid or evil and can be disregarded. George Bush took the same attitude to his opponents, though he was working from a position of massive power, so expressing vanguardism made a degree of sense (from a purely Machiavellian perspective).

Of course, if we can't convince 'most people' that anarchism is a good idea, by definition it can't happen. Nor is it going to happen if we don't even try.

Cheers and good luck with the anarch-fem group.

Sam Buchanan

Sam you've hit the head on the nail.

There are a lot of anarchists who have not faith in the masses. They also seem to be the same ones who get high and mighty and are out of touch with where the majority of people are - the workers - who happen to be the only ones capable of smashing the system.

- Auckland Autonomist.

Hi everyone

I am a Womyn from the collective and I'm italian and personally i think

this discussion has gone a bit to far...

first of all i would like people who use indymedia to think 10 times before posting a comment...it is easy to criticize behind the mask of "Anonymous author".

For everyons information. For all of you who love big words and complicated frases. To everyone who has spent time in studying the linguistics of our

name i would like to say this: the first time in history the the word Mafia was ever used was when in Palermo in 1658 Caterina la Licatisa, nicked named "ancor Maffia", was arrested for being a witch. she was tortured and burnt in the pubblic square. After thet the word Mafia was used commonly to indicate the a woman who was a witch, bold and promiscuos.

After that it officially enters the Italian dictionary in 1868 meaning Poverty.

In 1863, with the dramatical Novel of Giuseppe Rizzotto "I mafiusi de la Vicaria", the language evolves in to the concept of mafia known to us nowadays.

Language is forever evolving!

The historical roots of the mafia, as an organization, was through an untold Italian Civil war of the South of Italy against the colonization from the North. It was a peoples rebellion which was strongly repressed by the new born Italian Manarchy.

The Mafia, as criminal organization does not call it self that: each organization has their own name like: Camorra, Sacra Corona Unita, Cosa Nostra and Andrancheta.

coming from the country where this criminal organization was born i obviuosly do not support it in anyway. And our name does not!

I do recalim the origins of the word because the history of witch hunt is an unrecognized genocide of women!

The history of "mankind" is of men. in every era there is a parralel untold history, the one of the oppressed.

It is arrogance to presume that a political group has not thought about their name, and if there is a wish of clarification the comments on indymedia is not the "political" space to do that. A direct email to the group would be a lot better.

I also think that the activist community Aoteroa is very small and maybe it could do with more solidarity and less comments!

I'm starting a Feminist group called 'NO FUN BRIGADE' want to join, didn't think so..