Feminist Truths

Misogynism at the Cannes Film Festival

2009-05-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

ENTERTAINMENT - Want to see a movie that is rather... misogynistic?

The "Antichrist" is a horror film starring William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg and is rather graphic... featuring a scene in which she lops off her clitoris with a pair of rusty scissors.

I shit you not. Thats pretty graphic.

The film was recently shown at the Cannes Film Fest... and festival chief Thierry Frémaux remarked that the Cannes jury made "a ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship" when the primarily Christian jury gave the film the "anti-prize" for being "the most misogynistic movie" at the fest.

Now evidently people are going to get upset about this film. The name "Antichrist" alone is sure to offend some religious folks and create confusion about what the film is about.

The film wasn't the only film at Cannes that was anti-woman. Its actually a theme this year. "Kinatay" features the kidnapping, rape, torture, murder and dismemberment of a prostitute.

"Enter the Void" is about a Tokyo stripper named Linda who is haunted by the spirit of her recently murdered brother, and the end of the film features a rape scene viewed from inside the vagina.

"The White Ribbon" is set in a remote German village just before World War I, where the village elders variously commit incest with their daughters, physically and emotionally abuse their spouses and lovers and treat women like slaves.

Then there's the opening scene in "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo" about a female fish cutter who moonlights as a hit-woman. In the scene a group of Japanese businessmen sitting around eating sushi off the torsos of naked women who lie before them, all the while making sexist and racist remarks.

So what is the point of these films? Well, you might say they are to provoke the audience in the hope that people realize times are changing, but in some cases they really haven't changed that much. Women are still seen as sexual playthings by many men.

Thus these films are just a wake up call to women. I am not saying we should start burning bras again (thats just silly in my opinion), but it is certainly past time that many women start taking a more active role in promoting equality.

The Truth about Satellite Babies

2009-05-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

CANADA/FEMINISM - No, we're not launching babies into outer space. If you're confused about the name satellite babies, we should best start you off on the right foot so you know what it is we are talking about.

Satellite Babies is the unusual but growing practice of immigrant women (often single mothers) sending their babies to live with their grandparents or aunts/uncles overseas so they can focus on school or career here in North America.

Its a tough decision to make. It can be very difficult to raise a child all by yourself, even if you do live in a wealthy nation like Canada or the United States. Sending your baby overseas to China, India or wherever to be raised by the relatives isn't really a right or wrong decision. Its a very gray area and its up to the individual to decide what is best for their baby and for themselves.

During a recession or during times of financial peril it does make a lot of sense.

According to a Canadian study published in the Infant Mental Health Journal, an increasing number of immigrants to Canada and the U.S. are shipping infants to their home country to be raised by extended families. In Greater Toronto alone an estimated 2,000 Canadian-born kids of Chinese parents are sent back to mainland China each year, then returned to Canada when they reach school age.

"These parents are completely torn by the decision, but they believe in this collectivist value that their own pain of separating from their child will be a greater good for the family (later on)," says researcher Professor Yvonne Bohr. "The family system is the building block of a community. When it is changed, compressed and stressed, it could create problems in relationships."

"Serial family separations are common in countries that welcome immigrants, and could be but one of many repercussions of globalization for parents and their children," says the 22-page article. There's even support groups in Toronto that help guide parents through the pros and cons of sending their children home.

"I've built this bonding with my baby boy, seeing him grow every day. It is hard to be separated from him," says one mother with two kids. "But to keep him here, I can't go to English classes or get a job. I really don't know what to do."

"It's too expensive to put two kids in daycare. I don't have any support," she says.

All of the families interviewed for the study cited the necessity to retrain or to develop their careers and the high cost of child care as reasons that would make it impossible to keep their baby in Canada. Some said they tried to bring the grandparents to help babysit in Canada, but were caught up in government bureaucracy.

More than half said their own grandparents had taken care of them, so having their children raised by their own parents feels very traditional. Returning the child to the old culture seemed to be an acceptable solution, the report found.

The parents are also really torn by their decision. Its a decision of necessity because there isn't a lot of support for immigrant mothers. The parents also expressed "sorrow, hardship and guilt" for the "abdication of responsibility and of letting the baby down."

Professor Bohr says parents also raise concerns over the returning school-age kids' adjustment to a new place, as well as depression at being separated from their grandparents.

Some people will no doubt say that these women are bad mothers, but such naysayers have never been in such a position of poverty and doubt about their future, or the future of their children.

Technically the practice of sending children to live with their grandparents does happen frequently in North America, its just that we're not used to sending them overseas.

We Boobed, admits Marks & Spencer

2009-05-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

FASHION - Marks & Spencer (M&S) has admitted it was wrong to charge a £2 ($3) surcharge on larger bra sizes, after months of campaigning on Facebook and Twitter by large-breasted activists who felt they were being discriminated against. M&S is Britain's largest retailer of bras and lingerie.

Marks & Spencer has placed full-page ads in newspapers today stating "We boobed". The ad reads: "It’s true our fantastic quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged. Well, we were wrong, so as of Saturday 9 May, the storm in a D cup is over!"

M&S said it will reduce the price of its bras over a size DD by up to £2 and for two weeks from Saturday (today), it will also reduce all prices for bras (regardless of size) by 25 per cent. The retailer said: "Every woman can now experience the difference a well-made quality bra will make."

M&S came under fire from The Busts 4 Justice campaign group for applying the £2 surcharge. One campaigner bought one share in the company so she could confront boss Sir Stuart Rose at the company’s Annual General Meeting.

M&S had said that bigger bras needed more work to develop a greater level of support and therefore the cost was justified, but ignored the fact that under that logic smaller bras are more profitable because they take less material/work, and therefore it all evens out in the end.

Busts 4 Justice has more than 8,000 members and the group's co-founder, Beckie Williams – a 34E – argues that just as fat or tall people don't have to spend extra on larger clothes, so women with bigger breasts should not have to pay more for larger bras.

"We've won, and we never thought it would happen so quickly," said Becky Mount, also a co-founder. "They didn't want a lot of big-breasted women storming their meeting."

British celebrity Ulrika Jonsson has been scathing of the £2 surcharge. She said: "This is nothing short of a tax on bigger breasts." Ulrika Jonsson had breast reduction surgery when after 4 kids her breasts ballooned to size 34I. The surgery decreased her breast size to 34C.

Having naturally large breasts is more of a curse for many women. They're uncomfortable, they become deformed and lumpy (and unsexy) and they make it difficult to purchase clothing that fits properly. There's also numerous health hazards, the least of which is chronic back pain.

Some women may revel in having large breasts, but its a double-edged sword.

"It's really awful, actually. I get terrible back pain," says one woman. "And I can never find a bra that fits, or doesn't look like a piece of building equipment or surgical dressing. Also, people just stare at them all the time. It's as if I'm not a person – I'm just a giant pair of boobs."

"People may joke about it, but bras are a sensitive subject," says Williams. "It just shows how much of an emotional issue having big boobs is for a lot of women."

See Also:
The History of the Bra
The History of the Corset & Brassiere
Open-Cup Bras
Sports Bras

The Truth about Teenagers and Oral Sex

2009-05-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

FEMINISM/SEX - There is a new book out called "Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss", by documentary filmmaker Sharlene Azam. She also made a documentary with the same title, in which she interviews teenage girls in Canada and the United States about oral sex.

While there is nothing wrong with sex itself (its certainly not a sin), the disturbing trend is that these teenage girls are incredibly young. Some of them aren't even teenagers yet, which is even more disturbing.

And then there's also a growing trend of middle-class girls who are giving oral sex after school so that they have money to go shopping or buy drugs. Its essentially prostitution, but the girls often see it as nothing more than easy money.

Worlds away from the poverty, neglect and desperation that are the hallmarks of prostitution, these teenagers may appear bright and well-adjusted but the interviews in the book and in the film show that for teenage girls, oral sex is now quite socially accepted, hence the title "Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss", which implies a new way to say good-bye to their boyfriend every night.

Azam also interviewed their parents of the girls involved in the survey who had been discovered by school officials to be involved in sexual activity with groups of boys, as well as girls charged by police for prostitution. Several of them were from a teenage prostitution ring at an Edmonton high school.

The parents admit they were not paying close enough attention to their daughters and had just assumed they were completely innocent.

Azam met several of the girls while researching sexual attitudes and was asked to talk to the students in the Flex Program. "The Flex kids have been out of school for various problems. In that class, I met a lovely blond girl with perfect makeup and a Louis Vuitton bag who seemed completely out of place. I asked the teacher about her and was told that she had been recruited by a girl at school and trafficked to a small town where she was kept in a motel. That was the beginning of my research into teenage recruiters and the middle-class girls they target. This was a new kind of predator," says Azam.

"Getting the releases was not difficult because the parents wanted to talk about this. There is no forum for them. There is no counseling. There is no social group for a mother whose teenage daughter is having sex with five men a night. The difficulty ... is for the mothers to finally take responsibility for what has happened to their daughters."

"The girls were okay talking about giving oral sex to a number of boys – they didn't stumble with the words or appear shy or ashamed. The reason they speak about it unflinchingly is because it has become as benign and as acceptable as kissing. This is what our culture has become. Think back to the '80s when girls would blush when talking about their first kiss. We are way past that point with blowjobs. The real question is, 'What's next?'" explains Azam

"I began to associate my own personal power with giving a man pleasure. I liked hearing them make noises because it made me feel powerful to be able to affect someone in that way. I didn't know I had so much power." - Heather, Age 16.

"We have let Girls Gone Wild and the media culture define them," says Azam. "It is important to remember that the responsibility lies with parents, teachers and adults.... Boys are downloading pornography on their cellphones. This is how they are learning how they are supposed to treat girls."

Azam also goes on to say that young girls need a public voice speaking up for them and their rights, instead of being force-fed what the media wants them to act like.

HOWEVER, and I want to stress this, these days girls are at risk to a lot worse than mere oral sex. With pregnancy, AIDS, a variety of other STDs out there, date rape drugs, and the internet giving them the power to meet all sorts of men... that is a lot for young girls to handle.

See Also:
Teen Sex Obsession and Sex Education
The Lolita Complex: Sex in Hollywood
Your Kids Vs Pornography
Sixteen and ready for sex?

The Truth about Sex and Advertising

2009-05-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

SEX - I was visiting my local Toronto bicycle mechanic when he showed me the video below (he knew I'd like it and want to talk about it):

You see when I first saw the video... my first words was "What is this advertising?" I had immediately jumped to that conclusion, and then taken the next step, if its not advertising, it would certainly make good advertising online. It is apparently a clip from a German film, but I immediately thought of the advertising potential of a clip like this. Not for TV obviously (because then children would see it), but as internet advertising.

And I realized, and admonished myself for doing so, that I had immediately jumped to the conclusion that this would make good advertising because as we all know sex sells. Ergo... I thought sexually charged advertising = good advertising.

And in this era of internet advertising (and the increasing obsoleteness of television) this just made sense.

However... its not like we don't already have sexually charged advertising on TV. Check out this Marca Bavaria beer ad from 2003:

Or this ad from Nintendo Wii:

And we're more or less used to seeing such things on TV or the internet these days (although online you can get a lot more raunchy because there is no one looking over the advertiser's shoulder to see if they follow any ethical standards or show nudity).

The trick I think I should point out is that these ads aren't just sexually charged... they're smart and witty. Like this one for Diet Coca-Cola:

Advertisers seem to have mastered the ability of balancing sexuality and wittiness in their ads... Why? Because they know we'd get offended if the ad was blatantly offensive and had no wit involved.

We all know sexually charged advertising is here to stay, but what we have to watch out for is the ones that present an offensive stereotype. The trick after that is to let the company know we will be boycotting their product until after the ads are pulled (hopefully without letting the media know, because mass media attention is probably what they are looking for anyway).

I also want to take this moment to say kudos to the good people at South Park for making their new episode "The Ring", which depicts how the Walt Disney Corporation uses sex to sell their movies, music and products to little girls. I strongly recommend people watch the episode.

See Also
Advertising Sexploitation

Orgasm Inc and Women's Viagra

2009-04-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

HEALTH/SEX - Elizabeth Canner's sexy, feature-length documentary about Big Pharma is premiering this weekend at Toronto's Hot Docs Festival... its name? Orgasm Inc.

The film is sure to have you laughing, but it may make you pretty upset too about the leaps and bounds (and sexual double standards) that the pharmaceutical industry in their quest for women's viagra... and a greater understanding of the female orgasm.

As a bio-chemist I barely understand it myself... and female scientists, from a variety of different fields barely understand the how's and why's of the female orgasm either... and the male scientists don't stand a chance of ever understanding it beyond a vague idea at best.

Much of the film deals with "female sexual dysfunction", a fancy term for "not tonight dear, I have a headache"... or otherwise known as "I just don't feel like it."

Its also caused by being tired at the end of the day, recent arguments, feeling fat and undesirable and husbands cruising Internet porn. When you think about it... is that really a physiological ailment that can be treated by a pill? I think not, its much more a problem for a psychologist.

Director Elizabeth Canner says "I find it very curious that they're working on a desire drug. Would anybody be working on a desire drug for men?"

So... is not being horny all the time (aka a nympho) really a medical condition? No. Its the opposite. Being horny all the time indicates there's something wrong with you... and possibly indicative that you might be more likely to cheat (although I found no statistics to support that idea). Assuming being horny more often increased your chances of cheating, would husbands really want their wives popping horny pills all the time?

Probably not. And while we're at it, why would a woman want to take such a pill unless she was already in the mood for some action? If so, it seems more like a placebo than an actual reaction to the chemicals inside the pill.

Maybe that is why they're having so much trouble trying to create a women's Viagra pill... its all in our heads, not in the chemicals we put into it.

If a guy take a gal out for dinner, treat her nice, is devilishly handsome and charming and she likes him (for whatever reasons), chances are likely that after 2 or 3 dates she's likely to get into the mood. Depending on the girl, she might be in the mood on the first date or the fifth date, or never at all.

We could assume, for experimentation purposes, that most women don't sleep with the man on the first date, but really judge their potential sex partner based on feelings of intimacy, likability, overall-handsomeness, humour, etc. and when that quote is filled, she feels comfortable having sex with him.

So if you're already in a relationship, possibly married, why should she feel like bouncing up and down on the proverbial bed every night or every morning? Maybe the husband hasn't shaved recently. Maybe he's gotten fat, has bad breath or is otherwise unattractive? Maybe she just doesn't feel well? There is many physical, social and psychological reasons for why a woman (or a man) may decide they don't feel like sex.

Also, it doesn't make evolutionary sense for women to be in a constant state of desire. How healthy would it be to be getting constantly pregnant? And why did Mother Nature construct the female anatomy such that orgasm is not essential to creating a baby?

"Want better orgasms? Skip the drugs, buy a vibrator."

"There are theories that the clitoris is placed where it is because it allows women to choose a good mate," Canner explains. "He would be a man interested in her pleasure, he would be caring and loving, and, if he wants to give her an orgasm, then he is probably somebody she wants to be with... If he ignores her side of the whole thing, well, then maybe he's not the right mate."

As a film, Orgasm Inc., took nine years to make, covers how the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry have attempted to understand and control the female orgasm, including the Victorian era's notion of "female hysteria" which was 'cured' by regular genital massage at the doctor's office.

"Then, when electricity was invented, the vibrator was one of the earliest electrified appliances because doctors' hands were becoming very tired," jokes Canner. "I don't know how common they were, but they certainly were used by some doctors to give women orgasms. And, in some cases, these were weekly treatments."

Makes you wonder how many children out there have a doctor daddy or grand-daddy, doesn't it? Did these women really need treatment or were they seeing the doc regularly just to get their jollies?

"The idea that there's a sexual dysfunction (for women) implies that there's a norm," says Canner. "But there is nothing that says what functional is. There is no norm, no medical study that says that woman should be having five orgasms a month or 10 sexual encounters. So this idea that you can be dysfunctional is problematic."

"If you create something that appears that there is a function that women should be living up to, it's quite dangerous and inaccurate."

Thanks to the modern porn industry, the female orgasm is increasingly a big thing... women are expected to have them. If they don't, well apparently there's something wrong with us... we're frigid. Or maybe the man just isn't doing a very good job.

For example, I know quite a few women who only have orgasms during oral sex. The penis doesn't seem to do dick all for them.

"Orgasms are all in your head. The penis doesn't do dick all."

And it's just one more way women are made to feel inadequate by media and medical types who seized upon a 1994 sociological study to spread the false information that 43 per cent of women suffer from FSD. Even Oprah Winfrey called it an "epidemic" in the nation's bedrooms... more misinformation saying there's something wrong with us.

Its bad enough we're being told to get bigger breasts, slimmer waists, tighter/rounder asses... now we're being told we're just not doing it right.

Canner calls this "disease-mongering," a way of creating a perception there is a need for a cure when there is no problem to begin with. Hardly the first time they've done this either. There a plenty of products out there on the market now, from anti-itch creams we don't need to, to miracle hair growth formulas and even anti-fat creams that claim they can melt away the fat. Just watch for the TV commercials that are advertising the latest snake oil for $19.99 and you will see what I mean.

According to the pharmaceutical industry 70% of women aren't horny enough to meet the sexual demands of men. What does this tell us? It means women just naturally aren't that horny... and that men... well, they're just plain horny (which explains the porn industry's popularity).

According to a Men's Health survey, two-thirds of women report they have faked it at least once. Hmm... probably because he just wasn't doing it right.

I swear (and many other women will attest to this), there's a lot of men out there who don't have the foggiest clue of how to pleasure a woman. What they really need is some romance and kama sutra lessons. I am hardly alone in this idea.

"Based on my research, we don't have comprehensive sex education in the U.S., and very rarely is the clitoris even taught in general anatomy in sex education," says Canner. "There is a real lack of knowledge."

But we're forgetting this is America. Americans don't exercise and become fit and healthy. They eat themselves silly and get liposuction after they have a heart attack. Americans crave instant gratification without all the work.

Americans, who make up 5% of the world's population, account for 42% of the spending on prescription drugs... and most of these drugs aren't even necessary, they're just there to make Americans feel happier.

"There is a lot more money to be made in lifestyle drugs than in a cure for malaria," Canner concludes. "We are putting a tremendous amount of resources into drugs for the healthy and wealthy."

In Toronto, Orgasm Inc. screens at 1 p.m. this Saturday at the Bloor Cinema and at 1:30 on Tuesday at the Isabel Bader Theatre. The film will also be touring the rest of Canada and the United States.

Prostitution: Criminalizing the Men

2009-04-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

FEMINISM/SEX - What is the point in arresting prostitutes? We charge them, fine them and release them back on to the street within 48 hours.

But the Johns and pimps on the other hand... to say nothing of sex traffickers who smuggle children into sex-slavery. Those are the people we should be worried about.

"89% of prostitutes desperately want out"

In the world of international exploitation and sex trafficking, it's men, the customers and the people pushing the women into into sex, who should be charged and tossed in prison.

Some women choose to work as prostitutes, but many admits its "the ultimate act of humiliation and desperation". They do it to survive and put food on the table. Studies show that 89% of prostitutes desperately want out. They're hungry, need to feed children or give health care to aging parents, and the only alternative is to take their clothes off and service a line-up of willing men.

In some countries there's really no other kind of work for young women to do, especially in countries with struggling economies. Its not like the United States or Canada or other western countries where prostitution is largely a choice. In many countries they don't have other options available.

And even here in Canada there is surprising results for the makeup of prostitutes. Many of them are immigrants with poor English, struggling in this new place. In Vancouver many of them are Native Canadians who were raised on reserves and are now being controlled by pimps who pay them with drugs.

The drugs keeps them controlled and coming back for more.

The pimps are the root of the problem and the Johns seeking a "moment of bliss" are the demand. So how do we cut off that demand?

"These men never ask how she is, how did she get here, is she being forced. They don't look into her eyes beyond the veneer of gaudy makeup, stiletto heels and cheap clothes. They just want to get their rocks off. When money changes hands, it's the ultimate conscience pacifier. They don't have to deal with guilt," says investigative reporter Victor Malarek, author of "The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men who Buy It".

"They delude themselves into believing that every moan and groan is because of their magnetic masculinity. They want to believe it, and the women are trained to do this," says Malarek.

And the type of men who use women in this way, they're not exactly pro-women, just pro-sex. "When anyone on the... sex sites raises the question about conscience, they are immediately asked, "Are you a feminist, a fem-Nazi, a fundamentalist? Who are you?" They don't want anyone to raise the question," says Malarek.

Then there's the STDs, the beatings, the men who pay extra for strange services (including having sex without a condom)... and even murders. Legalized prostitution comes with all the same risks as illegal prostitution, the problem is its giving men a green light to do whatever they want, without fear of police looking over their shoulders.

Even in drug-and-sex-crazed Amsterdam, the mayor is saying, "What a big fricking mistake." Women there are still controlled by pimps, beaten, trafficked, forced and controlled with drugs. There is almost no measures to protect women and organized crime is rampant. The government there has essentially becomes pimps and pushers.

Prostitutes in Sweden have been reduced by half.

So what would happen if we started having sting operations and charging Johns?

Well, theoretically we could get that 89% of women out of the business and doing something else. Give them job training so they can find jobs and create careers with a future.

In Sweden the government decriminalized the women and criminalized the men. Since then the number of prostituted women has been reduced by half. Norway just introduced identical legislation in January 2009.

So would it work in Canada and the United States?

"I believe it would. We have a mishmash of laws that don't seem to make sense. Sweden is concerned with equality of women ... and an option for women to be retrained, to seek psychological help, all the safety valves. Here, there is certainly no protection for women," says Victor Malarek.

Laziness seems to be the key for some of these men. They say they don't want the drama, they don't want to invest in relationships, because it takes too much time, effort and emotional strain.

But if it was illegal for men, if the police did a lot more sting operations to catch Johns, it would cause men to be more worried about getting caught with their pants down and their balls on the chopping block.

If its proven to work in Sweden and Norway, why can't we do it here?

Feminist killed in Afghanistan

2009-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

POLITICS - Sitara Achakzai, a female provincial official known for fighting for women's rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Sitara Achakzai as she was getting out of her car, just outside her home in Kandahar city and then rode off.

Sitara Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country to fight for women's rights, says Shahida Bibi, who worked with Achakzai as a member of the Kandahar women's association.

A member of Kandahar's provincial council, Achakzai was vocal in encouraging women to take jobs and encouraging them to fight for equal rights. According to relatives she also has a 99-year-old mother and sister living in Markham Canada.

Canada's First Female Warship Commander

2009-04-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

CANADA - Commander Josee Kurtz of the HMCS Halifax is taking on a historic role for the Canadian navy. She's the first female commander of a warship.

The veteran navigator became the first woman to command one of Canada's legendary warships, a development she said highlights the progress females have made since they won the right to serve on naval vessels 20 years ago.

"Twenty years ago, having a woman commanding officer was not on the radar screen of any leadership," says Commander Kurtz as her sailors readied the ship for a brief run through Halifax harbour to mark the change of command. "I think it's a tremendous achievement that here we are, 20 years later, and somebody has been able to demonstrate that a woman can do the job equally as well as her male counterparts."

Kurtz downplayed the significance of her gender to the 225 crew on board the navy frigate, who she claimed cared little about whether their commander was a man or woman. She did however acknowledged that her appointment as commander of the HMCS Halifax might inspire the two dozen female crew members and others who may be new to the Canadian Forces.

Women in the Canadian navy were traditional given communications and nursing roles, fulfilling stereotypes that women should be given roles assisting the men.

"I see myself as no different," she said. "I do realize, however, that because of who I am and because of my place in time, my position is significant to many women... They look up to what I have done," says Commander Kurtz.

Six years ago Lt.-Cmdr. Marta Mulkins became the first commanding officer of a Canadian naval ship, aboard the HMCS Kingston, a much smaller vessel (55 meters) with less armaments (1x Bofors 40 mm 60 MK 5C cannon and 2x M2 Machine Guns) assigned to the Canadian Coast Guard.

Kurtz signed up when the navy was just opening its doors to women on a trial basis after a discrimination complaint led the Human Rights Commission to order the Forces to integrate females in all occupations.

Kurtz admits that she's had to prove herself over and over again as she's moved up through the chain of command, from a weapons officer and then combat officer to the executive officer on HMCS Ville de Quebec. "You are tested and you are scrutinized," Kurtz says. "There was some reluctance when we first joined . . . but when they realize you can do the job just as well, that scrutiny goes away."

Kurtz served on the Ville de Quebec when it was deployed to Somalia last year to participate in anti-piracy and escort duties through the United Nations World Food Programme.

After signing up in 1989 in her hometown of Joliette in Quebec, Kurtz knew then that she was entering a profession dominated by men, but insists the navy has evolved into an organization that accommodates anyone regardless of race or gender.

Kurtz's husband was in the navy for 20 years but is now home taking care of their seven-year-old daughter.

So will there be more female commanders? Canada's navy has 33 warships and submarines. When will we see the first female submarine commander? Or the first battleship?

On May 17th 2006, Captain Nichola Goddard, (Canadian Forces Land Force Command), became the first Canadian woman to be killed in action since World War II, and the first Canadian female combat soldier to be killed on the front lines.

Who says women aren't ready to fight and die for their countries?

ABOUT THE HMCS HALIFAX:

The 4,770-tonne, 134-metre vessel is the lead ship in her class, can clock over 30 knots/hour and is equipped with 1x Sea King helicopter, 24x Honeywell MK 46 Torpedos, 16x Sea Sparrow Surface to Air Missiles, 8x Harpoon Surface-to-Surface Missiles, 1x 57 mm Bofors Gun, 1x 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx Close in Weapons System (CIWS) and 6x .50 Calibre Machine Guns. The ship's most recent combat mission was patrolling the Persian Gulf off the coasts of Iraq and Iran after September 11th, from 2001 to 2004. It returned to Canada for a major weapons refit in 2004.

The HMCS Halifax will spend roughly two years undergoing a modernization and technical program to get the new crew combat ready.

Boxing and Breast Implants

2009-03-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

FEMINISM - Female boxers are a rarity. Female athletes in general seems to be a rarity.

So when I heard a female boxer has been banned from fighting - because of her breast implants - I thought, well, what should we make of that?

Sarah Blewden, 25, has been told that repeated blows to her false breasts could knock them out of shape and damage her breast tissue. She was stunned when she was told she wasn’t allowed to fight under Queensbury rules due to her implants.

A medical expert from the association said Sarah’s chest was at risk of ‘capsular contracture’ or distortion if they were repeatedly hit. Blood cells in the breast tissue pushed forward by the implants could also be harmed, the medical expert ruled. Sarah said: ‘I think it is just ridiculous. My surgeon said they make me no more vulnerable than any other woman. They are not enormous ones - they are in proportion.'

These are not 'huge' breast implants as you can see from the photos. She got them because her breasts looked deformed and she wanted a more natural look (that's right, breast implants that look normal).

Technically speaking breast implants are very difficult to break or get dislodged, and as it stands many female boxers wear protective gear over their breasts to prevent regular injury.

INTERESTING POINT: There are a lot of male boxers with pec implants to make them look more buff, but none of them have been banned for the same reason that Sarah Blewden is being banned for.

So is this really a worry about injury? Sarah Blewden evidently is confident enough that her breasts won't be injured and is willing to take that risk that she's wrong. And even they did somehow get damaged, she could easily have surgery to fix the problem.

Male boxers with pec implants are also confident their implants won't be damaged either.

So why the double standard?

Its because women are supposed to be beautiful, and female athletes are often discriminated against in sports because they're worried about the marring of female beauty.

The sentiment is nice, but its not necessary. We girls can take care of ourselves.

Sarah Blewden still hopes to box in the 2012 Olympics in London.

See Also:
Sport in a Masculinist World
Gender Biases in School Sports
Weightlifting for Women
The Often Misunderstood She-Hulk
You throw like a girl!
Women's Fitness

Ursula Andress on Osteoporosis

2009-03-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

ENTERTAINMENT/HEALTH - Ursula Andress is the original James Bond girl, but she is hardly the stereotypical image of the osteoporosis sufferer. Andress is the iconic Bond Girl, emerging from the Jamaican waters like mythical Venus in the 1962 film 'Dr. No', complete with a knife tucked into her hip-belt.

Andress, 73-years-old, still looks to be around 60-something and unmistakable with her sharp cheekbones.

She is currently the spokesperson for 'Timeless Women: The Campaign for Stronger Bones', a program aiming to raise awareness of osteoporosis. It is a disease that weakens bones, making them more susceptible to breaks or fractures, usually in the hip, spine and wrist. It also reduces the body's ability to grow new bone tissue and repair micro-damage.

One in four women over the age 50 have osteoporosis. And it is surprisingly deadly, one out of five Canadians who fracture a hip will die in less than a year.

People as young as 25 can be affected by osteoporosis, as can men. One in six men over the age of 50 has osteoporosis.

"I have to accept the truth," says Andress. "Why would I want to hide it? If I can help other women I am happy to do it.

"It is important to reach the public. It is very important to create awareness and get a checkup (a bone-density test). I never took osteoporosis seriously: `Oh, it's an old-bone disease and can be cured with calcium.' It's a sickness and I was diagnosed at 60. I did the mammogram, blood-pressure test and they asked if I'd had a bone-density test. When they did it, they said, `On your left hip, we don't like that. Take this medication.'"

Staving off osteoporosis is best using a combination of exercise (especially weightlifting) and a high calcium diet. Sometimes that is not enough however.

"I was snow shovelling and I fell down. They told me then that I had osteoporosis. I had been taking extra calcium, and that wasn't enough."

For her condition, Andress intravenously takes an $800, annual dose of Aclasta, a medication that inhibits the release of calcium from bone. Before her fall, Andress thought she was warding off osteoporosis with calcium, but her lack of exercise had resulted in her body not absorbing all of the calcium she was eating.

Now Andress is on a huge exercise kick. "I don't do crazy things but I do certain exercises. I never go to the gym – I have a huge property and I work in the garden. I swim a lot; I have a pool. I walk so fast nobody can follow me. I don't lift weights except for 150 flower pots. And I do the lifting wrong. You are supposed to crouch down." Andress admits she should be doing more weightlifting but says "I am active and my freedom is so important. I will give up anything but my freedom. I need it to exist. I don't do anything more carefully. I hope not to fall but you never know: You go skiing, you fall."

Thankfully she doesn't ski any more.

"Dr. No was my first movie and they asked me what kind of gymnastics I do," she recalls. "I have never worked out in my life. I was born with an athletic body. As a child, I biked miles and miles to school and I did competitive swimming. I walk briskly but I do nothing with fanaticism."

Andress also appeared in over 30 films including Fun in Acapulco, What's New Pussycat?, The 10th Victim and Casino Royale (1967).

Andress was married to John Derek from 1957 to 1965, when he divorced her for younger actress Linda Evans.

Andress's advice for women getting older? Lots of milk and an active lifestyle.

QUESTION: Is Osteoporosis a feminist issue?

Yes, because its an issue of exercise and education. Women need to ignore the stereotypes about female athletes and go out there and exercise more.

Going Topless for Money

2009-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

FEMINISM/SEX - More women are going topless in an effort to make a living and find job security.

Pole dancing lessons are up dramatically, especially since the sex industry has started promoting it as an exercise regimen, but its not just people looking to get great abs, its women who are thinking twice about the best way they can support themselves financially in a job market where few companies are hiring.

At Chicago's Pink Monkey gentleman's club topless dancers make a couple thousand dollars a night, thus confirming a stereotype that the sex industry might be the only industry where women are paid more than men...

The tough job market and the American recession has a lot of women thinking twice about sex industry. Strip clubs, adult movies, posing for nude magazines, dominatrices, prostitution... they're always looking for new people.

Employers across the adult entertainment industry say they're seeing an influx of applications from women who are attracted by the promise of flexible schedules and fast cash. Many have college degrees and held white-collar jobs until the economy soured.

"You're seeing a lot more beautiful women who are eligible to do so many other things," says Gus Poulos, general manager of New York City's Sin City gentleman's club. He said he got 85 responses in just one day to a recent job posting.

Its not an easy industry to learn either. Learning to dance in five-inch heels and dealing with the jeers of some customers can be tricky. Some performers said they were initially so nervous that only alcohol could calm their nerves.

"It is like giving a speech, but instead of imagining everyone naked, you're the one who's naked," says one stripper.

Eva Stone, a 25-year-old dancer at the Pink Monkey, said dealing with occasional verbal abuse from patrons requires "a thick skin."

Stone, who has a bachelor's degree in graphic design, took up dancing four years ago to help pay her student loans. She plans to go to graduate school this year to pursue a master's degree in education.

Makers of adult films cautioned that women shouldn't rush into the decision to make adult movies without considering the effect on their lives. The stigma lasts forever.

"Once you decide to be an adult actress, it impacts your relationship with everyone," says Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of adult film giant Vivid Entertainment Group. "Once you make an adult film, it never goes away."

The women at the Pink Monkey say dancing at a strip club might not have been their first career choice, but they entered the business with their eyes wide open. The job gives them more control and flexibility than sitting in a cubicle, and "it's easy, it's fun and all of us girls ... look out for each other," says one stripper.

"Desperate measures are becoming far more acceptable," said Jonathan Alpert, a New York City-based psychotherapist who's has clients who work in adult entertainment.

For some, dancing is temporary, a way to pay for college loans or other bills. Others say they've found their niche and become professionals.

Dancers at the upscale Rick's Caberet clubs in New York City and Miami can make $100,000 to $300,000 a year – in cash – even with the economic downturn, says club spokesman Allan Priaulx. Right now 20 to 30 women a week are applying for jobs at the New York club, double the number of a year ago.

The industry isn't immune to the economic recession however. Business is down an estimated 30% across the board, including adult films, gentleman's clubs, magazines and novelty shops, according to Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, an adult entertainment company.

"In the past, people have said this industry is recession-proof," says Eric Wold, director of research for financial services firm Merriman Curhan Ford. "I definitely don't see that; maybe recession-resistant."

Strip club dancers and managers said they're drawing in the same number of customers, but fewer high rollers.

"They're not getting the big spenders," said Angelina Spencer, executive director of the Association of Club Executives, a trade group for adult nightclubs. "They're not getting the guys who come in and drop $3,000 to $4,000 a night anymore." Still that doesn't stop them, as low operating costs mean large profit margins.

It's almost impossible to estimate the size and strength of the adult entertainment industry because so few companies are publicly traded.

Rick's Caberet for example had $60 million in revenue in its 2008 fiscal year, up from $32 million the year before.

Larry Flynt, whose half-billion dollar Hustler empire publishes magazines, produces and distributes films and operates a casino, said he's continued to do well. But he doesn't expect those who are solely in the film business to survive.

Adult magazines also are struggling along with the larger publishing industry, and have to cut pages like everyone else as advertising revenues drop.

But still the women come looking for work.

Vivid Entertainment says the number of women in the business have doubled in the last couple years, with now roughly 800 women working as adult actresses.

BUT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WOMEN?

Well, the good thing is that these women stick together and watch out for one another. The last thing they need is an abusive pimp who tries to trick them into quitting the pole dancing and becoming a prostitute instead.

The other thing is the rate of drug abuse amongst strippers is significantly lower, compared to prostitutes. Part of this might be to other strippers keeping a close eye on their co-workers (and club owners looking to avoid legal problems).

The topless dancing industry is perhaps the least problematic of the different fields within the adult entertainment industry.

But what about the fact that women are being ogled and objectified?

Yes, that is true, and its certainly not the cup of tea for many women, including myself. In the reverse women do objectify men too, and even go to male strip clubs like Chippendales/etc.

And as it stands there are many places men go to ogle women... the internet, the beach, public pools, bars, clubs, art galleries... and we women are just as guilty at checking out the opposite sex.

As the economy improves we should see a decrease in the number of women looking for work in the adult entertainment industry.

See Also:
Globalization, Sex & Profits
Feminism and Pornography - Sex and Censors
Tough Titties - Book Review
Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets
Thai Families Selling their Children to the Sex Trade
Sex Trafficking in Burma and Thailand
Prostitution in Thailand and Southeast Asia
Trophy Boy Toys

German gunman kills 11 women, 4 men

2009-03-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

The German highschool student who killed 15 people yesterday was deliberately targeting women.

Tim Kretschmer's motives are still unknown, but his victims were primarily female: eight of nine students killed were teenage girls, and all three teachers were women. Three men were killed later as the suspect fled and had a shoot out with police.

A 17-year-old schoolmate said he had been studying this year with Tim Kretschmer at a private business school, and described him as quiet and reserved.

The two played poker together, both in person and online, as well as a multiplayer video game called "Counter-Strike" that involves killing people to complete missions. Tim was quite good at the game apparently.

Based on Tim Kretschmer's choice of targets one would think he just hated women, like the École Polytechnique Massacre in which a gunman in Montreal killed 14 women and injured 10 other women and 4 men.

In that massacre, Marc Lépine deliberately separated the men from the women in the room and started executing the women. Lépine claimed he was "fighting feminism", while he shot all nine women in the room, killing six of them. Lépine then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot.

In Lépine's suicide note he included a list of nineteen women whom he considered to be feminists and wished to kill.

See Also:
Dealing with Anti-Feminism
Feminism vs. the Evil Lessers
NRA Subverting Feminism for Guns
Femicide in Guatemala & Canada
Gender Violence in Mexico

The Truth about Women in Conservative Islam

2009-03-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

FEMINISM/RELIGION - Check out the video titled "The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam", produced by the 'David Horowitz Freedom Center' (an Israeli group that is promoting war against Islamic countries).

WARNING! THIS VIDEO IS EXTREMELY VIOLENT AND NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN!

The video depicts the much-publicized horrors of repressive conservative Islam and tribal ways in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan...

But does this justify invasions and war for oil, territory and other material gain on the broken backs of women who are stoned, whipped, beheaded, mutilated and murdered "for honour"?

Talk about usurping feminism.

Yes, the truth is women are treated horribly in conservative Islam. (Please note the differences between conservative, moderate and liberal Islam.)

But how will war fix that problem? The answer is it won't. In fact it only makes the problem worse because it polarizes/jades Islamic societies and they become MORE conservative.

The politicians in Washington, London and the Hague don't give a damn about women's rights in the Middle East. George W. Bush's so-called "war on terror" has paid only lip service to women's rights.

Female journalist Sally Armstrong from Canada and filmmaker Shelley Saywell have been spreading the truth about women's rights in Islam, but is there anybody doing anything about it?

Yes, there's a few education programs out there, training Muslim women to join the work force, become doctors/etc, but in a world where women are denounced and killed for being liberal and courageous, its very difficult and the programs are few and far in between.

In Iran, eight women currently face death by stoning, a torturous form of execution that can last half an hour or more.

In Saudi Arabia this week, a 75-year-old Syrian woman has been sentenced to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation for unlawful "contact" with two young men reportedly delivering bread to her. A woman can't even shake hands with a man without the risk of being denounced and executed.

Women in such countries are legally "chattel", like furniture and livestock, and may not mingle with unrelated men without the presence of a male family member. They're basically slaves.

Why aren't moderate Muslims denouncing these crimes? Because they're afraid of being executed too.

War is not the answer to these problems. Activism, training and jobs for women is the answer.

But before you get pissed off, remember that according to UNICEF: Every year, 500,000 Christian young women die in childbirth, mostly because they have no choice, no contraception, no access to reproductive medicine, and were far too young to be having children.

That is thanks to the dictates of the Vatican. Catholic women have one of the highest death rates for childbirth.

In Brazil last week, the doctors who performed an abortion on a 9-year-old girl who was pregnant with twins after years of "alleged" sexual abuse by her stepfather, were, along with the child's mother, excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

The child rapist however remains a good Catholic, according to the Vatican. Mind-boggling isn't it?

Never mind that the life of a child, whose body would not bear one fetus, let alone two, was at stake. Never mind the emotional and physical trauma the 9-year-old girl has already endured. Never mind that she had been sexually abused by her step-father since the age of 6, along with her disabled sister.

We have our share of religiously-supported violence against women in North and South America.

Why aren't moderate Roman Catholics denouncing these crimes? Because they're afraid of being excommunicated by the Vatican too.

Evidently its not just patriarchy that feminism should be worried about. Its FEAR.

See Also:
Religion and the Rape of Children
Pakistani Teen murdered and her baby tossed into canal
Domestic Abuse in the USA
Virginity, Chastity and Muslim Beauty Queens
Taliban kill top Afghan policewoman
Killing Female Babies in India
The Truth about Rape Victims in Saudi Arabia

International Women's Day

2009-03-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM - Sunday March 8th is International Women's Day (in Canada and several other countries IWD is celebrated on March 7th). Around the world women will be gathering together to promote equality, better pay and an end to discrimination against women.

International Women's Day did not come about by chance but evolved under pressure. This pressure was brought to bear as women reacted to hardship experienced by female needle trade workers in New York City in 1908. Due to poor working conditions, several female workers in that trade perished in a fire. The tragic event led women in the needle trade to demand better working conditions, the right to be unionized and the right to vote. Their ideas gained momentum with wide acceptance of IWD on a global scale, in both developed and developing countries, since 1910.

WORLD WIDE PROBLEMS

Female Genital Mutilation

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), between 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of female genital mutilation. In Africa, about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone the procedure - the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, the partial or complete closure of the vaginal opening, or other injury to the female genital organs as part of cultural, religious and social reasons. The procedures are mostly carried out on young girls, sometime between infancy and age 15.

Violence against Women & Femicide

The WHO reports that about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honour each year worldwide. See The Ten Worst Countries for Women.

Also, in a 10-country study on women's health and domestic violence conducted by WHO, between 15 per cent and 71 per cent of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner. See Femicide in Guatemala & Canada or Gender Violence in Mexico.

Stonings of Women

In countries like Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia the stoning of women is still highly practised. In one case in Nigeria, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu, a 30-year-old woman was ordered stoned to death for having sex outside marriage after asking a court to force a man that she alleged had raped her, to pay for her newborn daughter's naming ceremony.

IWD LOCAL EVENTS

If you live in a major city, check out the local events that feminists are doing tomorrow in your local city newspaper.

In Toronto Canada, Feminists are having a three part event on March 7th:

11 AM - Rally at OISE auditorium.

1 PM - March down Bloor Street and Yonge Street. See map.

1:30 PM onwards - Fair at Ryerson University, 55 Gould St.

The Truth about Affirmative Action

2009-03-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM/POLITICS - Is affirmative action a good thing?

But first, lets stop and ask what is affirmative action?

Affirmative action is about taking sex, race and ethnicity into account when giving people jobs. So for women in politics, affirmative action is hiring/electing more women for high and low ranking positions, so that the sex distribution is eventually roughly 50/50.

The point of affirmative action is to address social disadvantages so that equality is endorsed in the hopes that eventually people hire equal or proportional numbers of staff from different backgrounds.

But is affirmative action a good thing?

Lets say for example I have a job available for an assistant manager. I want someone with experience and don't want to promote someone within the company because none of them have the relevant skills/experience.

I narrow down the resumes to 4 candidates, one Caucasian female, one Caucasian male, one ethnic minority female and one ethnic minority male. They're all roughly the same so I have decide whom to hire which one is best suited for the company. Depending on the current ethnic/sex makeup of the company I could pick any which one of them. In theory if we have a shortage of white males (fat chance that will ever happen) I should hire him. Depending on the company however it is possible.

Typically the ethnic minority female should be the one hired, but if the company already has plenty of ethnic minority females maybe the Caucasian female or the ethnic minority male would be a better choice. Its all about balance and can sometimes be a difficult challenge.

If all else fails, stick their names in a hat and pick one randomly.

So affirmative action is usually good for women and minorities.

But what about the company? Does the company somehow benefit?

According to a new report from the Fawcett Society in the UK, yes they do.

Companies who hire equal numbers of women develop higher productivity, more profits and are more resistant to corruption and bankruptcy during times of recession. The report also discusses how women in the UK are currently dealing with the American recession and gives several possible solutions for addressing the inequality of women's pay and the lack of affirmative action in the UK.

One of the ideas is to fill government imposed quotas, similar to what Norway has done and has achieved remarkable success with.

In Norway, women's representation in boardrooms has soared from 6% to 44% since they first introduced quotas. The rule in Norway states that either gender may not exceed 60% of the workforce in public owned companies (ie. government buildings, utilities, etc). By enforcing this in public companies women get more experience, better resumes and this follows over into privately owned companies as those women take new positions later in life.

As a result of the changes Norway has seen a blossoming of its productivity in the workforce, with men and women realizing that if they want that promotion they're not just competing with the other men or the other women, but all the people... so if they really want that promotion they need to work harder.

The report's five point plan includes:

1. Promote women’s rights and stamp out discrimination.
2. Deliver a bold package to end pay discrimination.
3. Promote flexible working as a solution to the recession.
4. Fast-track women into decision making positions using quotas.
5. Ensure women’s skills are harnessed through education.

The real trick, for most industries, is that affirmative action is largely optional. Some industries just plain have a shortage of women who have studied that particular field (ie. engineering or physics).

But that could be addressed through university quotas, allowing in more female applicants wanting to study physics, engineering, etc.

OR, depending on the field of study, it could be addressed by getting rid of class size caps, allowing more of both women and men into the program.

The point I am making is that affirmative action can be used smartly, and actually benefits companies in terms of productivity/profits.

See Also:
Women during Recessions
Jobs for Girls and Women
The Truth about Women's Work
Are High Heels a Detriment or a Benefit?
Male Hysteria at Work

Canadian Conservatives Eroding Women's Rights

2009-02-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM - Women's rights are falling to the side and being ignored in Canada, and its largely due to the Conservative Party of Canada which has been deliberately unraveling the rights of women.

For example, lets take the Conservatives' new "Equitable Compensation Act".

It has NOTHING to do with equal pay.

In fact, it's the opposite. It removes any chance women in the federal civil service have of fighting for pay equity by denying them the right to complain to the Human Rights Commission, or to go to court, when they believe there is discrimination. Instead, pay equity issues are to be solved as part of the regular bargaining process but - get this! - if anyone (including unions) agitates on the basis of pay equity, they face a $50,000 fine.

Ergo the Conservative Party is forbidding a woman from fighting for herself and, simultaneously, penalizing her union $50,000 from fighting for her.

Once this proposed legislation is passed, a woman working in the federal public service will have fewer rights than women working elsewhere in Canada.

This is nothing new either. Prime Minister Stephen Harper began attacking pay equity for women years ago when he was director of the right-wing National Citizens Coalition. He has been dead opposed to women receiving equal pay for equal work for as long as he's been in politics.

And what is even sadder is that the Liberals and NDP are quite powerless to stop this new Act because it was part of the recent February 3rd budget, which has already been passed and is now being tweaked, which the Liberal Party supported so that Canada didn't go to a new election. There has been a tiny bit of fuss about the new "Equitable Compensation Act"... but otherwise it has been largely ignored.

WAKE UP WOMEN OF CANADA! YOUR RIGHTS ARE BEING TAKEN AWAY!

Messy divorces costly, bankrupting couples

2009-01-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM - Watching a messy divorce can be pretty sad sometimes. Especially when you learn of the results:

Wayne Tippett of Canada has nothing left but a 10-year-old car and a granite tombstone.

Tippett, 51, is bankrupt and living with his parents after a messy divorce settlement left him $75,000 in debt and racking up $1,000 more each month.

He also cannot afford to pay his ex-wife (the couple had no children) $3,300 a month in spousal support, $16,000 in retroactive alimony and $42,000 of her court costs.

His ex-wife, who has no income of her own, took everything in the complicated and messy divorce.

Wayne Tippett makes a good poster child for no-contest divorces (also known as no-fault divorce). Lawyers, typically, badmouth the idea of a no-contest divorce but the idea is gaining popularity. The end result is that ex-couples keep more money for themselves and split things evenly rather than having most of it go towards their greedy lawyers.

Divorces are often messy, but they don't have to be. Sometimes people can part amiably and without the financial heartbreak.

Divorce, Custody Battles and Brainwashing the Kids

2009-01-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM/DIVORCE - A mother in Toronto has lost her custody battle for her three kids today.

Why?

Because she was brainwashing them to hate their father.

I'm totally serious and I agree with the judge's decision.

The Toronto judge stripped the mother of custody after the woman spent more than a decade trying to alienate them from their father. The mother's "consistent and overwhelming" campaign to brainwash the children into thinking their father was a bad person was nothing short of emotional abuse, wrote Justice Faye McWatt of the Superior Court of Justice in her decision.

The judge said awarding the father sole custody was the children's only hope for having a relationship with their father, given their mother's long-running transgressions.

The three girls, ages 9 to 14, were turned over to their father, a vascular surgeon and a self described "devoted father".

The judge also stipulated the mother can't have access to the children except in conjunction with counseling, including a special intensive therapy program for children affected by "parental alienation syndrome." Furthermore the mother must bear the costs.

AND the mother must now pay child and spousal support.

This is a wakeup call to divorced men and women across North America: You can't badmouth your ex just because you hate them and want custody.

The mother also ignored court orders, slammed the door in father's face when he came to collect the children and refusing to answer the phone when he called to say goodnight to his children. (He was earlier granted telephone access to say good night on Monday, Wednesday and Friday). She also prank-called police so they would show up when her daughters had overnight visits with their father and eventually cut off all contact with the father.

The judge also said the mother was given several chances to change her behaviour and squandered them.

Nicholas Bala, a Queen's University law professor who specializes in family law, said "badmouthing" or negative attitudes by one parent toward another is quite common among separated couples. But in recent years, the justice system has begun to understand the harmful effects of the worst form of this behaviour. In most cases, the problem is resolved through counseling, where parents are encouraged to accept they'll both always be in their children's lives, said Bala.

Judge McWatt also heard testimony from Barbara Fidler, a Toronto mediator and clinical psychologist who predicted eight years ago the three girls were at risk of becoming alienated from their father. Fidler said research points to long-term damage in people alienated from a parent in childhood. If what one parent is saying about the other doesn't accord with their own perceptions, they can become confused, she explained.

PERSONAL NOTE: Regardless of whether its the mother or the father brainwashing the kids during a custody battle is inexcusable.

Obama ends abortion-linked ban

2009-01-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM/POLITICS - President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information – an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.

Obama's executive order, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious policies of the previous president was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.

The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since Republican President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.

"For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us," Obama said in a statement released from the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."

He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.

"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," said President Obama.

Obama signed the executive order, without coverage by the media, late on Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's Wednesday announcement on ethics rules and Thursday signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects

His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion.

The Bush Administration had banned money from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion as a family planning method.

Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world's poor by denying U.S. aid to groups that may be involved in abortion but also work on other aspects of reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS, leading to the closure of free and low-cost rural clinics.

Supporters of the ban say that the United States still provides millions of dollars in family planning assistance around the world. The ban has been known as the "Mexico City policy" for the city a U.S. delegation first announced it at a UN International Conference on Population.

Organizations and legislators that had pressed Obama to rescind the Mexico City policy were jubilant. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the move "will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future."

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign. Clinton visited the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier Friday but made no mention of the step, which had not yet been announced.

Anti-abortionists condemned Obama's decision.

See Also:
International Women's Day
Criminalizing Women

Sleeping in Sports Bras

2009-01-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

FASHION/HEALTH - Myself and a friend have both been experiencing muscle-related chest pains as we get older, especially while we sleep, and we think its caused by a lack of support while we sleep.

We were both told by our mothers (and everyone else with an opinion) that we're not supposed to sleep with a bra and told it would either make our breasts smaller, cause deformities, that its bad for circulation, constricts your breathing and that its unhealthy for a variety of reasons.

Well, recently my friend has started wearing a sports bra to bed. Not a really tight one, just something comfortable that provides support and she claims her chest pains have gone away. It could be a placebo effect, but she's certain its the sports bra.

Now before I jump on the bandwagon and try the same thing I thought I'd consult the internet and see what other people have been saying about sleeping in sports bras... and what I found was a lot of people with an opinion, but most of it just seems to be hearsay. Some people even mention so-called studies that prove sleeping in a bra (regardless of type) is bad for your health. Well, I've been searching around for these studies and I can't find any of the research results. I have pretty much concluded this "don't sleep in a bra" thing is just an urban myth forced on women (by ourselves it would appear).

I'd love to see a formal or informal study of 10 women with muscle-related chest pains who all decide to wear sports bras for 2 weeks and see if it helps. Maybe then we could disprove this myth once and for all.

According to rumour (not sure if this is true or not) Marilyn Monroe always slept with a bra so she would never lose that gravity-defying look. So evidently I am not the only one who thinks this "don't sleep in a bra" thing is a myth.

See Also:
History of the Bra
Bras, Spas and Anorexic Celebrities
Sports, Corsetry and the Empowerful Woman

Religion and the Rape of Children

2009-01-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

RELIGION - Ten-year-old girls are ready for marriage, according to Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, the country's grand mufti, told Al Hayat newspaper that those saying ten or 12-year-old girls are too young to marry are being 'unfair' to them.

Al Sheikh's comments come at a time when Saudi human rights groups have been pushing the government to put an end to marriages involving the very young and to define a minimum age for marriage.

Though the mufti's pronouncements are respected and provide guidance, the government is not legally bound by them.

On Sunday, the government-run Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia condemned marriages of minor girls, saying such marriages are an 'inhumane violation' and rob children of their rights.

The commission's statement followed a ruling by a court in Oneiza in central Saudi Arabia last month that dismissed a divorce petition by the mother of an eight-year-old girl whose father married her off to a man in his 50s.

Newspaper reports said the court argued that the mother did not have the right to file such a case on behalf of her daughter and said that the petition should be filed by the girl when she reaches puberty.

Responding to a question about parents who force their underage daughters to marry, the mufti said: 'We hear a lot about the marriage of underage girls in the media, and we should know that Islamic law has not brought injustice to women.'

The mufti said a good upbringing will make a girl capable of carrying out her duties as a wife and that those who say women should not marry before the age of 25 are following a 'bad path'.

Women during Recessions

2009-01-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM/POLITICS - A survey released by the Boston Consulting Group this month showed that during the current American recession:

1) 65 per cent of American women plan to cut spending, compared to 58 per cent of men.

2) 41 per cent of American women feel they are in too much debt, compared to 27 per cent of men.

3) 30 per cent of American women are insecure about their finances, compared to 19 per cent of men.

4) 14 per cent of American women are worried about losing their job, compared to 10 per cent of men.

Arguably the reason why women are more frugal with money is because we, generally speaking, have less money. Women are also more likely to be the ones who manage the bill payments for households (while their husbands conveniently find time to wash the car or clean the garage).

So the above statistics comes as no surprise that women are more concerned and more frugal about their spending habits.

Women and children first!

2009-01-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM - Is that manly valour or sexism? Should a strong and able woman without a child get first dibs on the lifeboats? Are men's lives less valuable than women's?

Marine life wasn't always so chivalrous.

The tradition was launched in 1852 with the tragic sinking of the HMS Birkenhead off the coast of South Africa. Some 600 troops plus 20 women and children were also aboard. Although the ship's captain was of the "every man for himself'' mindset, the soldiers' commanding officer prevailed. He ordered his men to stand fast and allow the women and children into the few boats first.

The women and children survived while more than 400 gallant men died, either by drowning or by shark.

Understand that airlines don't, as a rule, have a policy of evacuating women and children first. It makes far more sense to go with passengers nearest the exits as this makes for a more orderly flow. See 150 Survive Jet Crash.

So its a nice idea, very chivalrous of the men, but in this day and age its by-and-by unnecessary because we all just want to get off in an orderly fashion.

Tiger Tanaka: Rule number one: never do anything yourself when someone else can do it for you.

James Bond: And rule number two?

Tiger Tanaka: Rule number two: in Japan, men come first, women come second.

James Bond: I just might retire to here.

Evidently there are times however when men have yet to learn that men and women both should take turns or go in the order that is most convenient.

Jobs for Girls and Women

2009-01-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights
Open Letter on the Budget

Office of the Prime Minister

Dear Mr. Stephen Harper,

In anticipation of the upcoming budget, the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights would like to call your attention to budgetary measures that would strengthen our economy by strengthening the equality of women in Canada.

Women across the country are extremely concerned about Mr. Flaherty's proposal in the November economic statement to make pay equity a bargaining chip between employers and unions. To date, the government has not yet rescinded this proposal.

The Ad Hoc Coalition urges you to oppose any such proposal in the upcoming budget. In the 21st century, women's equality is not, and should never be, a bargaining chip. It is irresponsible to continue to impose discriminatory wages upon half the population by ignoring the remedy, particularly in a time of economic crisis. Equal pay for work of equal value is one of the "fundamentals" of a healthy economy. This can be attained by implementing a pro-active pay equity law, as the 2004 federal Task Force recommends.

Canadian parents need a national child care program that meets the "QUAD" principles (Quality, Universal, Accessible, and Developmental). A faltering economy can only benefit from improving people's access to the labour market, which would be greatly facilitated by having dependable child care services. Currently, soaring child care costs and lack of spaces keep many women who choose to work unemployed or underemployed.

A monthly handout cannot substitute for a child care program that allows real choice. We can and should do better for our families. The Ad Hoc Coalition urges you to consider the long-term stability of the economy in supporting a quality child care and early childhood education program that meets our children's developmental needs.

Women are particularly vulnerable in the current economic crisis as we do not have adequate access to Employment Insurance and what access there is cannot sustain us through a period of unemployment. Although women pay into EI, most women don't qualify for benefits. 70% of part-time workers are women and almost two thirds of minimum wage earners in Canada are women. With wages far below the poverty line already, many women can't live on 55% of their salary, even for a short period of time. To stimulate the economy and prevent poverty, improve access to EI and increase the level of benefits for part-time, contract and self-employed workers in the upcoming budget.

Finally, the Ad Hoc Coalition strongly encourages you to ensure that the stimulus package includes investment in social infrastructure. Social infrastructure investments stimulate the real economy, not the speculative economy, by creating jobs, not giving CEOs bonuses or across-the-board tax cuts. Social infrastructure can provide affordable housing and anti-poverty programs, support green technologies and environmental incentives, and improve conditions for First Nations in their territories and Aboriginal people across the country, in particular Aboriginal women, who disproportionately suffer from poverty and violence. Any stimulus package that does not take social infrastructure into account is short-sighted and short-changes Canadian taxpayers. Social infrastructure creates jobs and strengthens economies, not only during this period of financial crisis, but for the future.

On behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights, thank you for your consideration,

Sincerely,

Aalya Ahmad
Coordinator of the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights

CC :
Michael Ignatieff
Jack Layton
Gilles Duceppe
Elizabeth May
Helena Guergis
Maria Minna
Nicole Demers
Irene Mathyssen