Carolyn Cook leads the social justice enterprise United4Equality, LLC, dedicated to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) by 2015, and in support of other social justice issues for women.
Carolyn Cook has invested three years pro-bono on a new strategy for E.R.A. She lobbied Congress and secured a House sponsor to introduce a proposed bill for the E.R.A.
Carolyn works with Maureen Gehrig in support of the United4Equality social justice enterprise, and has been an activist in many public events including Women’s Equality Day, International Women’s Day, and in support of human rights groups challenging the barbaric practice of stoning against women.
United4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Maureen Gehrig (Left) and Carolyn Cook (Right)United4Equality's Carolyn Cook and Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg (Photo: Facebook)United4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Carolyn CookUnited4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Carolyn Cook and Maureen Gehrig (Left) and Other SupportersUnited4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Carolyn CookUnited4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Maureen GehrigUnited4Equality on Women's Equality Day 2009 - Maureen Gehrig (Left) and Carolyn Cook (Right)United4Equality at Public Awareness Event in Washington DC's Georgetown for International Women's Day 2010 (Carolyn Cook - Right)United4Equality at Public Awareness Event in Washington DC's Georgetown for International Women's Day 2010 (Carolyn Cook - Right)United4Equality at Lincoln Memorial on July 11, 2010 - Standing with Human Rights Activists Defying Stoning (Carolyn Cook - far left, and Maureen Gehrig - left) United4Equality at Lincoln Memorial Defying Stoning of Women (Carolyn Cook - Left, and Maureen Gehrig - Right) United4Equality at Lincoln Memorial Speaking Out for Women's Right: Maureen Gehrig
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Media Council has decided that the new movie “Sex and the City 2” will be banned from being shown in UAE cinemas. The movie is scheduled to be released on May 27, 2010.
A senior spokesman for the UAE National Media Council told Time Out Dubai that: “Sex and the City 2 will be banned from being shown in cinemas across the UAE when it is released for various reasons. Among them are that the film’s website stated that filming was done in Abu Dhabi even though they were denied permission to do so and that they continue to attribute the locations shot in Morocco as being in Abu Dhabi, which is false, as the theme of the film does not fit with our cultural values. Also, they persisted in using Abu Dhabi’s name in the movie despite the fact that no official permission was given to them to do so.”
Promotional Still for "Sex and the City 2" (Photo: Warner Bros)
The UAE National Media Council is responsible for judging movies to be shown in the UAE, as well as censoring films. The UAE National Media Council censorship board has approved showing of films such as “The Da Vinci Code,” however.
The writer and director of the movie, Michael Patrick King, told Collider.com that the reason for choosing UAE and its city Abu Dhabi for the movie setting was because “it’s the new Middle East and the future… I think there’s a very big story in the Middle East and it also is a very advanced, glamorous capital.”
While the movie was being banned in its “setting,” the UAE — in Hollywood, it was being described as an “anti-Muslim” movie, by the Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter’s review of the movie stated that “[Carrie] and her friends run up against the puritanical and misogynistic culture of the Middle East… The rather scathing portrayal of Muslim society no doubt will stir controversy, especially in a frothy summer entertainment, but there’s something bracing about the film’s saucy political incorrectness. Or is it politically correct? SATC 2 is at once proudly feminist and blatantly anti-Muslim, which means that it might confound liberal viewers.”
Others reviewers have also been critical of the movie regarding women and Islam. USA Today’s Claudia Ping states that “director Michael Patrick King is out of his league attempting to comment on the inequitable treatment of Muslim women,” Roger Ebert criticizes the movie for being “oblivious to Arab ideas about women’s modesty,” and another reviewer states that “‘Sex and the Ctiy 2’ script insults Muslim culture.”
The movie is being released as yet another high-profile UAE prosecution of a woman for alleged sexual “crimes” is in the news. The latest in a long series of UAE oppressive criminal prosecutions is the arrest of an 18 year old girl, who stated that she was a gang rape victim. The Muslim girl “LH” was then charged with the crime of “consensual sex,” which carries a sentence of lashes and up to life imprisonment for a Muslim girl. “LH” has since retracted her rape charges and the UAE government prosecution is considering whether to continue to prosecute her for the crime of “consensual sex,” or reduce the criminal charge to “deception” which carries a prison sentence of 6 months to two years.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands for women’s rights without borders, and in unequivocal support of women’s universal human rights and dignity. We challenge those who would oppress and attack women to realize that when half of the world is denied basic human rights, such an outrage is an attack on human rights for all people everywhere.
We urge all people to be responsible for equality and liberty.
