Moncton is home to a truly noteworthy annual literary “happening”: the Frye Festival. The Festival is unique and amazing because it’s devoted to the general public, to everyday people who love to read. It’s not focused on academics (it brings in real live authors rather than the critics of dead authors), it holds events at local schools/libraries/pubs, it’s bilingual, and involves lots of participatory activities (workshops! dialogues! book signings!). This event is so fabulous, in fact, that when one of the Festival’s organizers ran into Margaret Atwood in an airport last year and asked the authoress to attend the Festival, she immediately said yes. Read more...
In 1987, Degrassi Junior High aired an episode about the school’s student government elections that largely focused on the campaigning tactics of Stephanie Kaye. Some background on Ms. Kaye: when the school year started, she decided that as a senior it was time she “mature.” And by “mature,” she meant arrive at school in her modest, parent-approved outfit only to change into some scandalous, skin tight, fluorescent, midriff-baring, 80’s sartorial nightmare. Every. Single. Day. She did this because she understood that sex = “power.” Read more...
So things have been a little hectic lately because of all my involvement with the protesting of the closure of the N.B. Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Last week, I was having one of those days in which all the frantic activity was getting to me: I’d gotten up too early after going to bed too late, while parking I pulled my car too close to a curb and smacked it into concrete, I suspected (but wasn’t 100% sure) that I’d forgotten to put on antiperspirant, etc. Basically, the kind of day when you really need a break but so many minor, utterly inconsequential things go wrong that you feel the universe is actively conspiring against you. Read more...
Just wanted to give everyone a head’s up that I’ve been very kindly invited to blog at Shameless Magazine (eeeeeeeee!) about the abolition of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women. My first post is up now and there will be more to come. Hopefully this will help get this issue some national attention. Just a reminder that if you want to read up on the issue or take action, visit the Save Our Council blog.
Hello, dear readers! As some of you may know, last week the NB Government announced the end of the government agency I work for. There’s been incredible grassroots resistance to this decision and some impressive mobilization occurring (you can check it all out here). I was invited to guest blog for The F Word (a rad Vancouver-based feminist media collective) about it all. Below is what I pulled together for them, you can check out the original posting on The F Word Feminist Media Collective’s blog.
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This year’s International Women’s Week (IWW) was heart-rocking for me. You see, I work at a youth centre/indoor skatepark that is very much dominated by guys; two thirds of the regular staff are male and 99% of the young patrons are dudes. I don’t drop my feminist approach while at work, I just get a little more explanatory with it; I re-direct sexist/heterosexists/homophobic language, I talk about lady-issues, and I bring inclusivity and respect into pretty much every discussion I can. I think it’s important to talk about these things with young men, especially in the spaces that they dominate. Basically, it’s essential that these young men don’t learn that being in an all-male environment = misogyny-time. Read more...
In Defense of My Snark
So I’ve covered why we need Status of Women etc. and don’t need Status of Men etc. Now, as to why I am so snarky when people ask why there is no Status of Men:
To begin with, “Where’s the Status of Men?” is rarely an actual question. I hear it a lot as an attempted joke, a lighthearted rhetorical question. More often, “Where’s the Status of Men?” is thrown into conversation not to make me laugh, but to bait me, to elicit an irritated reaction so everyone else can have a chuckle. Finally, there are those who aren’t really asking “Where’s the Status of Men?” as a question because they’re really angry about “reverse sexism” and worry that their privilege has become a disadvantage (?!?!). These guys throw out “Where’s the Status of Men? THERE’S NO STATUS OF MEN! THAT’S SEXIST AGAINTS MEN!” as epic, devastating proof of misandry. Read more...
(Preamble and Part 1: Why We Have Lady-Departments and Don’t Have Dude-Departments)
I have heard, more times than I can count “Why isn’t there a Status of Men?” I almost always reply, “It’s every department other than Status of Women.” I have also been asked, again more times than I can count, “International Women’s Day? When’s International Men’s Day?” I almost always reply with “It’s every other day of the year.”
Occasionally, someone will call out the fact that these responses are glib and dismissive, that they are condescending and shut down conversation. Read more...
Friday, February 25, 2011
So:
In late January a Toronto police officer went to a campus safety forum at Osgoode Law Hall and gave tips on how the ladies could avoid sexual assault. And one of those tips was ‘don’t dress like sluts.’ For serious. According to one attendee, the officer said, “You know, I think we’re beating around the bush here. I’ve been told I’m not supposed to say this, however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” Read more...
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
So, when I was growing up my family didn’t really do vacations or adventures or road trips (thank goodness). We did, however, do driving to Fredericton a couple times a year in order to see my paternal grandparents. And on these drives we listened to Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road and Dire Strait’s Brothers in Arms. Yes, those were the days. Read more...
I’ve been thinking about compromises a lot lately. I understand that a number of people in my life believe me to be uncompromising—which is lovely and I am awed that people think that of me. But a) I’m a human being and b) I’m a practicing feminist, so I actually compromise like woah. However, for a long time I didn’t use the word compromise; I thought of my concessions as failure on my part—being too vain, too indulgent, only committed when convenient, and so on. Read more...
