Herizons v27n2 Fall 13 (d2)

Transcription

SLaying
The Perfect
Mother Myth
Temporary Workers
Permanent
Problems
Women
Rise Up
In Turkey
Fall 2013, Vol. 27 No. 2
Model
Behaviour
Why Mannequins
MUST reflect us
Preventing Violence
Against Women
China’s Emerging
Women’s Movement
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866
$6.75 Canada/U.S.
CAW
Fall 2013 / Volume 27 No.2
news
Women targets of Afghanistan attack . . . . . . . 6
Wives of Disappeared Ostracized in Nepal . . . . 7
Women at Forefront of Turkish Uprising . . . . . 8
by Caroline Muscat
Preventing Violence Against Women
good economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
by Kate McInturff
Rape Legacy Sees Shift in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
We Are Family—Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
by Renée Bondy
8
features
China’s emerging Women’s Movement. . . . . . . 16
Slowly, a political women’s movement is emerging
in China. The brave women, who are often reluctant
activists, are making headway on issues like violence
against women and cultural expectations of women to
dress in certain ways.
by Joanna Chiu
The Blame Game
Time to Slay the Perfect-Mother Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
16
A persistent anti-feminist attack is chipping away at
mothers’ self-esteem, and a bevy of new Canadian
books on the topic of perfect-mommyism is fighting
back. Find out what women are doing to end the hypermonitoring of motherhood.
by Jeanie Keogh
Model Behaviour
Why Mannequins Should Reflect Us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Research shows that women are more apt to shop when
the mannequins displaying the clothes look like they do.
Yet the fashion industry still displays clothing on waiflike plastic dummies whose proportions are impossible to
achieve. It’s time women demand some fashion justice.
by Sharon Haywood
Temporary Workers, Permanent Problems
Canada Shortchanges Foreign Workers. . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The number of migrant workers is rising as tens of
thousands of “temporary workers” take on permanent
jobs in a bid to protect corporate profits. Find out
why women are especially vulnerable to unscrupulous
employers and middlemen.
by Sandhya Singh
herizons Fall 2013 1
Volume 27 No. 2
arts & ideas
Magazine Ink
Music Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Managing Editor: Penni Mitchell
Queer Across Canada by Kate Reid; Everything is Moving by
Laura Smith; Espeso by Eliana Cuevas
Reviews by Cindy Filipenko
Fulfillment and Office Manager: Phil Koch
Fall Reading Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré by Sarah Kathryn York;
The Selector of Souls by Irene D’Souza; Shadow Girl by Patricia
Morrison; Valery the Great by Elaine McCluskey; Night Street by
Kristel Thornell; The Only Man in the World by Faith Johnston;
Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée; New Zapata by Teri Hall;
Priya’s World by Tara Nanayakkara; Basements and Attics, Closets
and Cyberspace: Explorations in Canadian Women’s Archives edited
by Linda M. Morra and Jessica Schagerl; Cruel but Not Unusual:
Violence in Canadian Families Edited by Ramona Alaggia and
Cathy Vine; In the Black: New African Canadian Literature edited
by Althea Prince; The Complete Journals of L.J. Montgomery:
The P.E.I. Years edited by Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth
Hillman Waterston; Talking Derby by Kate Hargreaves; Finding
a Way to the Heart: Feminist Writings on Aboriginal and Women’s
History in Canada edited by Robin Jarvis Brownlie and
Valerie J. Korinek; Trobairitz by Catherine Owen.
Tina Renton’s Path Toward Healing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Tina Renton’s memoir, You Can’t Hide: How I Brought my Rapist
Stepfather to Justice, describes the author’s sexual abuse at the
hands of her stepfather and how she was able to release herself
from the need for her mother’s approval.
Interview by Val. B. Russell
Poetry Snapshot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
When This World Comes to an End by Kate Cayley; Undark by
Sandy Pool; Hello, the Roses by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge
Reviews by Mariianne Mays Wiebe
Film Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Life and Crimes of Doris Payne and Anita
Reviews by Maureen Medved
columns
PENNI MITCHELL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Quebec Charter No Help to Women
Accountant: Sharon Pchajek
Board of Directors: Ghislaine Alleyne, Phil Koch,
Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhard, Valerie Regehr
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The Splendour of Gender
EVELYN C. WHITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Rediscovering Canadian Masterpieces
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To Boycott or Not To Boycott
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First Word
by penni mitchell
Quebec Charter Plan Targets Women
The Parti Québécois government’s proposed charter of values
would not boost human rights protections for Quebec’s minorities
or women, and it wouldn’t improve religious freedoms, either.
What the PQ’s proposed charter aspires to do is to take
everyone’s religious expression away equally. It’s a new spin on
equality—one that aims to prohibit all public-sector employees
from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols while on the job.
Since there hasn’t been a public outcry over teachers or hospital
workers wearing of crucifixes or yarmulkes, but there has been
opposition to women wearing the headscarf or hijab, the move to
ban such religious symbols would effectively ban many Muslim
women from public-service employment. It could easily be used to
systematize discrimination, in other words, rather than to achieve
the religious neutrality its supporters claim it would achieve.
A charter that safeguards religious freedom would do so by
extending liberties, however, not by limiting them. It would
state that one religion should not to be treated differently than
another. Yet Quebec’s proposed charter of values would actually
exempt some of the largest public symbols of Christianity
from being banned—notably, the large crucifix hanging in the
national assembly (erected by the fervently Catholic premier
Maurice Duplessis in 1936) and the 30-metre-tall crucifix on
Mount Royal, probably the most notable landmark in Montreal.
Apparently, the crucifix, a wooden cross to which criminals were
once nailed and left to die, and which later became a symbol
of devotion to the Roman Catholic faith, is not a conspicuous
religious symbol, but something else. The fine print of the
proposed charter states that public crucifixes would be exempt
if they are “emblematic of Quebec’s cultural heritage.”
I am not making this up.
Nor am I making up the fact that Montreal’s first public administrators actually wore head-to-floor religious garb.
Orders of nuns from France, after all, operated New France’s
first schools, hospitals and orphanages—no irony there.
It was also the Catholic Church’s influence in Quebec public
affairs that helped keep women from voting provincially until
1940. Quebec bishops and politicians once told women that
it was their civic duty to bear more children than the national
average—until the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s separated
church and state in Quebec.
Quebec’s proposed charter should not be mistaken as a human
rights document. In fact, the PQ aims to reign in its human
rights statute and limit the right to stake a claim for religious
accommodation. This makes for a pretty conspicuous red flag,
since human rights law should protect minorities from religious
persecution, not limit their claims. Human rights statutes signal
to majorities that they are neither naturally superior, nor entitled
to special treatment. Yet Quebec’s proposed values charter
would actually exempt the highest public officials—namely
members of the Quebec national assembly—from having to
abide by the regulations.
Furthermore, the chauvinistic values charter would effectively
harm women. It is women, after all, not men, who wear the hijab,
while conspicuous beards—a symbol of faith for many men of
Jewish and Muslim backgrounds—are not touched by the proposal.
Apparently, no one bothered to ask minority women whether
the proposed charter could impinge on their freedoms. Yet
consider the swift backlash against Bloc Québécois MP Maria
Mourani, who spoke out against the proposed charter. A sovereigntist who was the federal party’s only MP of colour, Mourani
was abruptly turfed from the BQ caucus for joining a group to
denounce the charter proposal on the grounds that it stigmatizes
minority communities and women. So much for freedom of
speech and the right to political dissent. Mourani, a Christian
of Lebanese dissent, sits as an independent MP and quit the BQ.
“Firing women from daycare centres because they’re wearing a
cross or a scarf … I can’t adhere to such a policy,” she told a news
conference where she announced her resignation from the party.
Quebec’s proposed charter is a solution looking for a problem,
according to Nathalie Des Rosiers, dean of common law at the
University of Ottawa. “No one can demonstrate that Quebec
citizens receive bad, unfair or discriminatory government
services because some civil servants may be wearing religious
symbols,” she wrote in the Globe and Mail.
Claims that the proposed charter would expand Quebecers’
freedoms appear disingenuous then, since the fight over “Quebec
values” has already seen one minority woman in the public service
shunned. In response to the PQ’s squelching of dissent over its
proposal, Françoise David, a member of the National assembly
and one of Quebec’s leading feminists, accused the party of using
“the Harper method.” In France, where legislation banned hijabs
while claiming it was in women’s interests to do so, 90 percent of
reports of violence against Muslims are now directed at women
and Muslim girls are kept out of school.
Rather than mimicking France’s reaction, Quebec should
learn from its mistakes. 
nelliegrams
Women’s Inheritance
Rights Won
In a landmark ruling, a court upheld
the right of four sisters to inherit their
father’s property in the Ngwaketse
district of Botswana in September.
The unanimous judgment went
against customary Ngwaketse law
that stipulated that only male relatives were entitled to inherit from
deceased family members. The
women’s nephew had been vying for
the property, despite never having
lived there. Edith Mmusi, 80, and her
three elderly sisters have renovated
the family home, where they live.
Justice Letedi, who wrote the
court’s decision, cited the country’s
previous discriminatory laws as outdated. Citing “constitutional values
of equality before the law” the court
determined that there “is no rational
and justifiable basis for sticking to
the narrow norms of days gone by.”
“The judgment today made it clear
that women are not second-class
citizens,” said Priti Patel, deputy director of the Southern Africa Litigation
Centre, which supported the case.
“It is a hugely important decision
not only for Botswana, but for women
across southern Africa,” added Patel.
—The Maravi Post
First Woman
to Chair
Big Bank
The Royal Bank
of Canada has
appointed its first
female chairperson. Kathleen Taylor, a company
director since 2001, will become the
first woman to lead the board of one
of Canada’s top six banks when she
assumes her position in 2014.
Women serve as chairperson at
3.5 percent of the 226 publicly traded
Canadian companies that have a
market value of $1 billion or more. In
the U.S., the comparable figure is 1.7
percent, according to Bloomberg.com.
At Canada’s six big banks, women
make up 65 percent of the workforce
and hold only 33 percent of senior
management roles, according to the
Canadian Bankers Association.
“Our numbers are slightly better
than the U.S., but let’s not set the
bar too low,” remarked Jennifer
6 Fall 2013 herizons
Women Targets of
attack in Afghanistan
Dr. Sima Samar is head of Afghanistan’s Independent
Human Rights Commission, to which a former Taliban
leader was recently appointed.
Several prominent women in Afghanistan
have been targeted and killed in recent
months by the Taliban and drug traders in
the country.
Afghanistan’s most senior female police
officer, Lieutenant Negar was shot and
killed on September 16 by an unidentified gunman outside her home in the
province of Helmand. Negar, who, like
many Afghans, was known by only one
name, became the third top policewoman
to be murdered in recent months. In July,
Negar’s predecessor, Islam Bibi, was killed
by gunmen.
“They have given us warning that one of us
will be killed every three months and we will
be killed one by one,” Afghan policewoman
Malala told the Associated Press.
Women make up fewer than one percent
of Afghanistan’s police force, with about
1,600 females serving and about 200 more in
training.
Earlier in September, a female parliamentarian in Afghanistan was freed, after being
held captive for four weeks by the Taliban, in
exchange for detained militants, according
to The Associated Press. In August, a female
Afghan senator was seriously wounded and
her eight-year-old daughter and a bodyguard were both killed when insurgents
ambushed her convoy.
“Recent cases of targeted killings point
to the urgent need to guarantee women’s
and girls’ rights as the government of
Afghanistan prepares for a full takeover from
international forces and moves towards
provincial and parliamentary elections,” said
U.N. Women executive director Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai came under fire recently from
women’s rights watchers for his appointment of Mullah Abdul Rahman Hotak, a
former Taliban leader opposed to women’s
rights, to the Afghanistan Independent
Human Rights Commission.
The UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay expressed concern over
the June appointment and suggested that
Karzai may be sacrificing women’s rights in
a bid to win votes for his party.
“I urge an extra effort by the president and
his government to ensure that the human
rights gains of the past 12 years are not sacrificed to political expediency during the last
few months before the election,” said Pillay
in Kabul. “The rights of women in particular
must not be sacrificed, they must be particularly protected.”
Women’s rights advocates in Afghanistan
have been pleading with the international
community for months not to turn their backs
on women after years of incremental, but
substantial progress electorally, economically and throughout society.
With diplomatic support waning, help
is coming from organizations like the Asia
Foundation, which has partnered with the
Afghan Independent Election Commission
on a new project to support female elected
officials and candidates running for office in
the April 2014 elections.
The Asia Foundation announced that the
project will “provide capacity-building assistance to female members of parliament, female
provincial councillors and potential female
candidates to run in 2014-2015 elections”
and “support women candidates to deliver
campaign messages, facilitate networking
and mentoring events with public figures and
civil society organizations.” In announcing the
program, U.K. Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Danny Alexander said, “Women are key to
building a democratic and safe country. They
are the future of Afghanistan.”
The Afghan Independent Election
Commission has been working to advance
Afghan women’s participation in the
electoral process through its gender unit
since 2009. Its efforts have included public
education directed at women voters, the use
of female polling staff and observers and the
creation of appropriate security measures.
Challenges to female candidacy and voter
turnout remain, including the inaccessibility
of polling booths for women in remote areas
as well as concerns for the safety of female
candidates and voters.
Over four million Afghan citizens voted in
the 2010 parliamentary election and about
39 percent of them were women. Currently,
women hold 28 percent of seats in the
Afghanistan National Parliament. 
—Penni Mitchell
Nepali Women Seek End
to Discrimination
The wife of a victim from the indigenous Tharu community
in Nepal, where many of the victims of disappearance of the
conflict live, holds a sign that reads: “Where are our loved
ones?” (Photo: Santosh Sigdel/ICTJ)
For the wives of the estimated 1,000 men
who disappeared during Nepal’s 10-year
armed conflict, which ended in 2006, discrimination and poverty have followed.
A new report by the International Center
for Transitional Justice has documented
the experience of the wives of the disappeared in Nepal. It calls for measures
to address the poverty, social stigma, and
legal limbo they continue to face in their
day-to-day lives. “Beyond Relief: Addressing the Rights
and Needs of Nepal’s Wives of the
Disappeared” is based on interviews
with over 450 wives of the disappeared
across Nepal. It highlights the precarious
economic situation that often results from
the loss of a husband, who is most often a
family’s sole breadwinner.
According to Lucia Withers, head of
ICTJ’s Nepal office, “Enforced disappearances have an immeasurable impact on the
wives of victims. It places them in situations
of extreme vulnerability, even as they live
with the uncertainty and unresolved pain of
losing their husband.”
For the majority of the women, their financial hardship is compounded by Nepali laws
that do not recognize the disappeared as a
legal category, despite a decade of violence
that saw over a thousand people go missing. Without declaring a husband dead, and
without the co-operation of in-laws, a surviving wife cannot inherit land or other property.
And without land, it is impossible to secure
loans or mortgages or to otherwise achieve
some level of economic independence.
In many cases, living with the disappearance of their husbands has made women
vulnerable to additional abuses. Because
the wives of the disappeared are considered
neither wives nor widows, they lack a recognizable social status in Nepali society.
Some report discrimination and harassment
by neighbours, public officials and the wider
community. Others have been rejected by
their husbands’ families and even blamed for
their husbands’ disappearances. A government-run relief program provides support to some victims of the conflict,
including families of the disappeared. But
its short-term, mainly financial benefits do
not begin to address the complex and often
long-term harm to wives of the disappeared.
The ICTJ paper calls on the government to
provide stronger inter-ministerial coordination to improve responsiveness to victims and
to establish a full reparation program that
addresses the rights and needs of the wives
of disappeared husbands and other victims. 
—Penni Mitchell
nelliegrams
Reynolds, head of Toronto-based
Women in Capital Markets, a notfor-profit organization that promotes
women in business.
Sheelagh Whittaker, an RBC director, said of Taylor’s appointment:
“Each upward step we take that
makes egalitarian gender choices
more normative is a step toward a
better and fairer society.”
Several women are in the upper
echelons at Canada’s largest lenders,
including Janice Fukakusa, Royal
Bank’s chief financial officer; Colleen
Johnston, CFO at Toronto-Dominion
Bank; and Laura Dottori-Attanasio,
chief risk officer at the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The Laurentian Bank of Canada
in Montreal was Canada’s first
lender to elect a female chairperson
when Jeannine Guillevin Wood
was appointed in 1997. Gail CookBennett retired in May 2013 from
her role as chairwoman of Manulife
Financial Corp.
Taylor has a master’s degree in
business administration from the
Schulich School of Business and a
law degree from Osgoode Hall Law
School at York University in Toronto.
—Bloomberg.com
Palestinian Women Gain
Divorce Ground
The Supreme Religious Court in
the Gaza Strip is considering legal
amendments that would give women
the right to divorce their husbands.
The proposed amendment is likely
to face opposition from hard-line lawmakers from Hamas, the Islamic body
that runs the Palestinian enclave
that is separate from the West Bank.
The West Bank is ruled by President
Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah
party. In the West Bank, divorce is
easier for women to obtain.
Hassan Al-Jojo, head of the religious court in Gaza, said the divorce
proposal will require approval from the
Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza.
Zihab Ghuneme, who heads the
Center for Women’s Legal Research
and Consulting in Gaza, estimates the
divorce rate to be 17 percent,
which includes couples who were
“engaged” and had obtained a marriage certificate but were not yet
living together, as well as those
Women at Forefront
of Turkey Uprising
By Caroline Muscat
The Lady in Red became a symbol of defiance against
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Every protest movement has its icon. When
civil unrest was sparked in Turkey last May,
the early iconic image that emerged was the
“Lady in Red.” It was no coincidence that
Turkey’s symbol of resistance is a woman, as
it illustrates the significant role women have
played in the demonstrations.
Academic Ceyda Sungur was in Istanbul’s
Gezi Park in the heart of Taksim Square to
support a sit-in protest against government
plans to replace a public park in Istanbul
with a mall and a residential complex.
Sungur, in her red cotton dress, was
captured on film as she stood unarmed and
defiant while a masked police officer doused
her with pepper spray.
The image spread like wildfire across social
media. It stood out among the thousands of
images emerging of excessive police violence
against a few hundred protestors camping in
the park to stop the project.
On May 31, in a pre-dawn raid, riot
police moved in. They soaked protesters
with pepper spray, dispersed them with
water cannons and set fire to their tents.
As word and visuals travelled, thousands
of outraged citizens filled Taksim Square.
After fierce clashes with police that
lasted for almost two days, the protesters
occupied the square, one of the city’s main
thoroughfares. For more than a week, the
Our Times
area was turned into a commune. There was
no law enforcement; people lived by their
own rules. Yet, it was peaceful. It became
an all-inclusive space free of violence,
discrimination and harassment.
People from all walks of life, from different
social and political groups, sang and
danced together. They shared their food and
debated issues. Rival soccer fans united and
merged their club logos into one as a sign of
solidarity with protesters.
At dusk, the bolder men and women
among the protesters moved towards the
barricades set up on the major streets
leading to Taksim Square. Those were the
front lines where clashes with police were
expected to be rough.
It was the scenes from the Gezi Park
protests that inspired a movement across the
country, spreading to more than 67 of Turkey’s
81 provinces. What had started out as a
simple environmental protest turned into a
nationwide stand against the government led
by the Justice and Development (AK) party, a
right-wing party with Islamic roots that has
been in power since 2002.
About half of the protestors were women.
Anthropologist and expert on gender issues
Ayse Gül Altinay said one of the most
striking aspects of the protests was the
large number of women involved at every
level of the resistance.
“From building barricades, to resisting
under heavy tear gas, to setting up tents
in the park, women made their mark every
step of the way. Women organized around
feminist groups were particularly effective
in challenging and proposing alternatives
to the patriarchal, homophobic, transphobic
language of resistance,” Gül Altinay said.
Soon after the occupation of Taksim Square,
feminists organized an action to clean the
surrounding streets of slogans of sexism and
homophobia. They crossed out the offending
slogans and replaced them with their own,
such as “küfürle deǧil inatla diren” (resist with
persistence not curses), a slogan that was
quickly adopted by the broader movement.
After almost three weeks of antigovernment protests, Istanbul Governor
Hüseyin Avni Mutlu advised mothers to
call their children home and said that their
safety could not be guaranteed. In response,
mothers descended on Taksim Square
and, rather than taking their children home,
formed a human chain around the protesters
to protect them while chanting “anneler
burada” (mothers are here).
Protesters across the country reflected
a feeling common among Turkish women
that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
government is disrespectful of individual
rights. Erdogan, who once called women
activists “marginal,” said in 2010 that “men
and women cannot be equal.”
Women’s grievances include Erdogan’s
repeated call for them to have at least
three children and his attempts to restrict
abortions. Violence against women has
skyrocketed under his administration,
according to Gül Altinay.
The opening of a sports complex in
Mersin, during the peak of Gezi Park
protests, Erdogan told the crowd that, prior
to his election, Muslim women wearing
head scarves could not enter universities.
He then said that protestors—referring to
his secularist opponents—had not done
anything for the freedom of Muslim women.
Journalist Işın Eliçin says the comments
were untrue. “The AK Party government
helped head-scarved women join the public
arena much more confidently, but they fell
short of creating legal, administrative and
social policies to ensure their equality,” she
said. “The head scarf issue should be dealt
with as part of the problem of individual
choice and freedom.”
Eliçin, a journalist working for
international media agencies, had her
column in the newspaper Yeni Safak
cancelled after she wrote a piece defending
dissidents during the Gezi Park protests.
Press restrictions are common in Turkey, a
country with more journalists in jail than Iran
or China.
Dicle Tuba Kılıç, who joined the Gezi
Park protests in Istanbul and protests in the
country’s capital, Ankara, said, “The protests
were the sum of citizens’ frustration with
government’s anti-democratic decisions.” As
an environmentalist leading a campaign to
stop a massive dam project that would sink
a potential World Heritage site, Kılıç was
confronting the government long before the
recent civil unrest started. But she has noticed
a fundamental change in Turkish society.
“People have lost their fear,” she said.
This in itself is a game-changer. Millions
of people have shed the labels and dogmas
that divided them. A new movement has
been born that is based on the values
of respect, equality and justice for all—
a movement that embraces the values
of feminism. 
Anthropologist Ayse Gül: high number of women.
Turkish journalist IIşın Eliçin’s column was cancelled.
nelliegrams
living together with a marriage certificate. The current divorce practice
can only be initiated by a husband.
“By asking the man for divorce
permission, the woman is no longer
free,” Ghuneme told Al-Monitor.
“This is what we want to fight.”
“It seems to me,” Justice Key
Dingake of the High Court stated,
“that the time has now arisen for the
justices of this court to assume the
role of the judicial midwife and assist
in the birth of a new world struggling
to be born. Discrimination against
gender has no place in our modernday society.”
—Al-Monitor
Vatican
Blinders
Lifting
The Vatican
appears ready
to open a discussion about
whether priests should be required
to remain celibate.
Vatican Secretary of State
Archbishop Pietro Parolin said in a
recent interview that “celibacy is
not an institution” but, rather, has
been an established tradition in the
Catholic Church.
For centuries, Roman Catholic
priests have faced a requirement
to be celibate—a policy that has
been blamed for the decline in the
number of young men entering the
priesthood, for perpetuating the idea
that women are lesser than men, and
even for fostering a climate in which
sexual abuse by clergy persisted.
Parolin, who is the top aide to
Pope Francis, made the comments
following the Pope’s statement in
the summer that gays should not be
marginalized or judged.
“If a person is gay and seeks God
and has good will, who am I to judge
him?” Pope Francis said in a summer
discussion with reporters.
Then, in an interview published in
La Civilta Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit
magazine in September, Francis said,
“The church’s pastoral ministry cannot
be obsessed with the transmission of
a disjointed multitude of doctrines to
be imposed insistently.” Commenting
on the Vatican’s strict rules on abortion, gays and priestly celibacy, the
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October 29, 2013 9:00AM – 5:00PM
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MP, CHURCHILL
(613) 992.3018 // [email protected]
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analysis
Preventing Violence
a good investment
By Kate McInturff
Violence against women is not only a crime conducted a direct, detailed survey of these
forms of violence. The General Social Survey
that affects one in four Canadian women
and girls, it is also a leading source of police on Violent Victimization, which is conducted
every five years, asks only a few questions
and court costs, a drain on the economy
about sexual and spousal violence, and it does
and a costly component of Canada’s health
not ask those questions of a sufficient number
care system.
of people to provide information about differStudies show that, in Canada, intimate
ences at the provincial and territorial level
partner violence, for example, accounts
(outside of the most populous provinces). Every
for an estimated 25 percent of all policeprovince and territory has a different approach
reported violent crime in Canada. This rate
has remained virtually unchanged for the past to addressing violence against women.
The only annual reports on these forms of
decade. Justice Canada calculates the total
violence currently come from the police and
cost of intimate partner violence in Canada is
$7.4 billion a year. Additionally, the cost of sex- both sexual assault and intimate partner vioual assault is an estimated $1.9 billion annually. lence are highly under-reported crimes. Only
an estimated one in 10 incidents of sexual
These calculations are based on estimates
assault are reported to the police, and fewer
of the direct costs in medical and social serthan one in 100 of such incidents results in a
vices, court costs, and lost income, as well as
estimates of the indirect costs of pain and suf- criminal conviction. Meanwhile, approximately
fering. At $334 per person in Canada, the cost one in five cases of intimate partner violence
is reported to the police, and the victims, on
of these forms of violence is comparable to
that of the use of illegal drugs—an estimated average, report having suffered as many as 10
previous assaults before calling the police.
$262 per person—or to the costs of smoking,
That’s what we do know. What we don’t
which is an estimated $541 per person.
know is equally important. The problem is
The same cost-effectiveness arguments
that Canada’s haphazard reporting makes it
that have led to more effective public
difficult
to determine which efforts are most
policies to reduce smoking rates should
effective at addressing violence against
therefore be applied to violence against
women. We simply don’t know the extent of
women. The question then should change
their success or failure, or why some work
from how much do we need to spend to
and
others don’t. Unless this data gap is filled,
address these forms of violence when they
efforts to close the gender gap in Canada
occur, to how much we can save if we precaused by violence against women will
vent them in the first place?
remain inexcusably impeded.
Currently, the federal government spends
Armed with more information about the
approximately $80 million a year on programs
policies that have succeeded or failed,
and services related to intimate partner
Canada could launch an effective nationwide
violence and sexual assault. This works
strategy to end violence against Canadian
out to $2.77 per person. Provincial levels
women. More than a dozen countries around
of spending are even higher. Ontario, for
the world have developed such national
example, spent approximately $188 million
on programs and services related to intimate action plans, including Australia which has a
partner violence and sexual assault in the fis- federal system similar to Canada’s.
A national strategy to address violence
cal year 2011 to 2012. This amount represents
against
women would, like strategies in
$16.87 per person in the province.
Although we have calculations on what gov- other countries, be built on the three pillars
of prevention, protection and remedy.
ernments spend addressing violence against
Prevention focuses on the factors that conwomen and girls, we do not have consistent
tribute
to perpetration and recidivism. Public
detailed data on the levels of sexual and spousal violence because Canada doesn’t routinely education is important, but up to this point the
gather this information. Unfortunately, it has
(Continued on page 12)
been 20 years since the federal government
nelliegrams
Pope added, “We have to find a new
balance; otherwise even the moral
edifice of the church is likely to fall like
a house of cards, losing the freshness
and fragrance of the Gospel.”
Francis, the first Jesuit to become
pope, said women must play a key
role in church decisions, but said
the door to women’s ordination as
priests would remain closed.
Home Care Workers
Covered
In September, the U.S. federal
department of labor announced
that it will extend minimum wage
and overtime protections to home
care workers, the majority of whom
are women and people of colour.
Almost two million home care workers, including home health aides,
personal care aides and nursing
assistants, will now be covered
under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
U.S. home-related care has grown
dramatically over the last several
decades as more Americans choose
to receive long-term care at home
instead of in nursing homes or other
facilities, according to the department of labor. Despite this growth,
U.S. home care workers are still the
lowest paid in the service sector.
Only 15 states provide both minimum
wage and overtime protections.
Only home care workers
employed by home care agencies
and other third parties will be covered; those employed directly by the
person receiving services, or by that
person’s family, will still be exempt
from protections.
Malala Yousafzai
Wins Honours
Malala Yousafzai, the education activist who survived an assassination
attempt by the Taliban in her home
country of Pakistan last winter, has
been given the International Children’s
Peace Prize for 2013. In accepting the
award this summer in The Hague, she
nelliegrams
vowed to intensify her struggle for
promoting the education of all children,
and particularly girls. She said the
assassination attempt has made her
more determined than ever to continue her campaign for girls’ education.
Yousafzai received her prize from
another female activist, 2011 Nobel
Peace laureate Tawakkol Karman.
Yousafzai’s courage and determination
have made her a leading contender for
this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
In July, Yousafzai addressed the
United Nations urging the world to
provide free, compulsory education
for every child. It was her first major
address since her assassination
attempt. The U.N. responded by
declaring “Malala Day” to promote
awareness of the importance of
education.
Invoking the names of Martin
Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi,
Yousafzai said she forgives her
attackers, but she has vowed to continue her international campaign.
The teenager was shot point-blank
in the head last October, along with
two friends.
France
Seeks to
Ban Beauty
Contests
France is considering a move to
ban beauty pageants for girls under
16 as a way to fight the hyper-sexualization of children. The French upper
house of Parliament has adopted
a proposal that calls for the ban of
beauty pageants for girls under 16.
Under the proposal, organizers
of beauty pageants aimed at young
children, as well as parents or others
who enter young girls in such competitions, could face up to two years
in prison and fines of $40,000 Cdn.
The measure is part of a wider
law on gender equality and was
approved by the French Senate after
garnering 197 votes in favour of the
ban, while 146 voted against it. The
measure returns to the lower house
for another vote before it is passed.
“Let’s not let our daughters think from
such a young age that they will be
judged according to their appearance,”
said senator Chantal Jouanna, who
proposed the amendment. 
violence against them. Victims are forced to
assume more than 70 percent of the total $9
main emphasis has been on teaching women
billion in annual economic impacts of sexual
and girls about the risks of victimization—an
and spousal violence. A recent survey conapproach not taken for any other publicducted by the Canadian Women’s Foundation
safety issue. Our response to drunk driving,
found that 19 percent of Canadians still put the
for example, is not to teach people how to
blame for sexual assaults on the victims, rather
avoid being struck by an intoxicated driver
than the perpetrators. Yet, when public policy
but rather to develop ways to stop intoxicated shifts to the behaviour of perpetrators, rates of
people from driving. Changing this would be a violence go down. Vancouver police credit the
significant shift away from a system in which “Don’t Be That Guy” campaign (a public educapotential victims are held responsible for the
tion effort aimed at changing the conduct of
crimes that may be committed against them.
potential perpetrators) with a steep decline in
To be effective in preventing violence and
rates of sexual assault in that city in the year
protecting women from becoming its victims, since the campaign was launched.
Canadian policy must address the specific
The appalling rate of violence against
needs and vulnerabilities of different comwomen in Canada affects too many women
munities. Domestic and international human
and girls and comes with too great a personal
rights organizations have repeatedly stressed and public cost to be allowed to continue.
the urgent need to curb the disproportionate
Without a substantially larger investment
levels of violence experienced by Aboriginal
of political, financial and human resources,
women. There is also a growing realization
however, levels of violence against women
that women with disabilities experience viowill remain at the current shameful level and
lence at much higher rates. Girls and young
may even get worse.
women are far more likely to be victims of
Canada can and must do better. The wellsexual assault. Rural and urban communities
being of millions of Canadians is at stake,
face different problems with their respective
and so are billions of dollars in government
levels of policing and services.
treasuries. 
The criminal justice system is necessarily
Kate
McInturff, a Canadian Centre for Policy
part of the protection and remedy aspects of
addressing violence, but it should not be our Alternatives (CCPA) research associate, leads
main focus. Solutions that meet the needs of a new CCPA initiative called Making Women
Count. This article has been adapted from her
the survivors of violence must help victims
longer paper, “The Gap in the Gender Gap:
where they live—through the provision of
Violence Against Women in Canada.” Find out
services at the community level.
more about Making Women Count and read
Finally, remedies must ensure that victims
the longer paper at policyalternatives.ca.
don’t have to bear the blame or the cost of the
(Continued from page 11)
Rape Legacy Sees
attitude Shift in India
Following the death of a physiotherapy student after a
brutal rape, protests erupted to demand stronger enforcement of rape laws in India.
A legal advocate at India’s Supreme Court
says the brutal rape and death of a 23-yearold physiotherapy student in New Delhi last
December has resulted in a shift in attitudes
in her country.
In September, four men were sentenced
to death in India for their part in the rape on
a private bus and in the woman’s subsequent
death. Another assailant, who was a juvenile
at the time of the attack, was sentenced to
three years in a reform facility. The driver of
the bus reportedly hung himself in prison.
The woman’s attack and her death led
to huge protests across India about the
country’s tolerance of sexual violence. The
protests resulted in the quick introduction of
new laws to punish sexual offences.
Women’s groups charged that the government didn’t go far enough because
the reforms did not outlaw marital rape or
remove the legal impunity (regarding rape)
of members of the country’s armed forces.
Still, the measures imposed much stricter
penalties for a range of sex-related crimes
and aimed to protect Indian women.
Karuna Nundy, an attorney and advocate for
the country’s Supreme Court, said, “I think the
legacy of the case, the most positive aspect, is
the change in the law. There has been something of a change in the way violence against
women is perceived. There is a shift from
victim-blaming to a sense of women’s bodily
integrity and dignity. It’s a beginning.”
The victim and a friend were trying to
get a taxi when the men lured them onto
a private bus. They were beaten, and the
woman was raped for an hour while the bus
was driven around the city. She suffered
life-threatening internal injuries as a result
of being assaulted with a metal instrument.
Afterward, the pair was thrown, naked, onto
the road; the woman died two weeks later of
severe internal injuries. 
feminism & etymology
We Are Family—Again
By Renée Bondy
Last summer, the American rock band
Train’s hit song “Hey, Soul Sister” blared
from car radios and shopping mall sound
systems. This ear worm of a song wriggled its way into my brain, and I’d often
find myself humming it, in spite of myself.
As irritated as I was by the insipid pop
tune, I have to admit that it made me stop
and think about the use of the word sister,
and how the word has changed over time.
Siblings aside, the word sister has
surfaced in numerous social contexts
throughout history where bonds among
women are valued and promoted, such as
religious communities, trade unions, and
Second-wave feminists adopted “sister” as a rallying
sororities. In these organizations, sister
cry. Sister Sledge amplified the sentiment with its hit
has often served women well, but at other single “We Are Family.”
times the word has limited their progress.
For example, in women’s religious com- the nascent political movement. Examples
munities, nuns have used the title “sister” abound of the use of sister in secondwave writing, perhaps the most famous
as a sign of unity and belonging for thouof which is the 1970 anthology Sisterhood
sands of years. In centuries past, when
is Powerful, edited by Robin Morgan, one
young Catholic women renounced their
of the first attempts to amass a comprebiological families to live in cloistered
convents, bonds with one’s chosen sisters hensive collection of writings from the
were essential to individual and collective women’s lib movement. (The success of
Sisterhood is Global in 1984 and Sisterhood
well-being. Paradoxically, the title sister
is Forever in 2000 is testament to the duralso set nuns apart from rank-and-file
ability of Morgan’s Sisterhood series.)
believers, elevating them above the laity
Second-wave activists adopted sister
and holding them to a higher standard of
as a rallying cry. In 1973, the New York
holiness. While the privileges attached to
Radical Feminists Cabaret performed
religious sisterhood could sometimes be
“Dear Sisters,” an ode to women in hisused to their advantage, the word sister
tory that concludes with a feminist call
could also thwart the work of nuns by
to action: “Oh Sisters Dear/ Dear Sisters
creating distance between them and the
Dear./ I implore you not to doubt, or wait, or
populations they sought to serve.
fear./ Be united in our fight./ Sally forth for
When North American women came
all our Rights./ Feminism is the Truth./ Oh
together under the banner of women’s
Sisters Dear.”
liberation in the 1960s and ’70s, many
employed the word sister as a way to
Today, such language seems outdated.
identify other like-minded feminists,
Its use in the ’60s and ’70s suggested that
establish common ground, and institute
sister is a word that might bring all women
a language of unity and commitment for
together, regardless of difference. This
seems artificial, at best. Decades later,
many younger feminists view the idealized
sisterhood of the second-wave as antiquated. My Gen X contemporaries, as well
as subsequent Gen Ys and millennials, tend
to distance ourselves from language so
forced in its inclusivity.
bell hooks addresses this shift in language and practice. In Feminism is For
Everybody, she recalls that “when the contemporary feminist movement first began,
we had a vision of sisterhood with no
concrete understanding of the actual work
we would need to do to make political solidarity a reality.” As a woman who actively
participated in second-wave women’s
politics and an astute feminist theorist,
hooks offers the explanation that, “as long
as women are using class or race power to
dominate other women, feminist sisterhood
cannot be fully realized.”
This recognition that sisterhood
required women to check their privilege,
required a radical rethinking of secondwave politics. As the feminist movement
became more stratified, hooks argued,
many women “simply abandoned the
notion of sisterhood.”
But that’s not the end of the story. hooks
and other feminist scholars and activists,
feel that solidarity among women, a coming together not predicated on the erasure
of difference, must go hand in hand with
sisterhood. Heightened awareness of this
distinction is a game-changer, and perhaps
this is why the word sister is experiencing
a resurgence.
Sisters in Spirit is a prime example. A
movement dedicated to honouring and
advocating on behalf of the hundreds of
missing and murdered Aboriginal women
in Canada, Sisters in Spirit employs sister
in a way that both personalizes victims
and unifies supporters. One needs only
to attend a Sisters in Spirit vigil, such as
those held across the country on October 4,
to understand the power of the word sister
to unite women in the 21st century. 
Unmistakably
Tel: 1.204.943.0468
www.josefryan.com
Cole’s Notes
by Susan G. COlE
The Splendour of Gender
Does gender matter in politics?
It’s hard being a smart, forward-thinking woman in
politics these days. You’d think it would be otherwise now
that Canada boasts—count ’em—six female premiers. But
the narrative that has unfolded since out lesbian Kathleen
Wynne gained the Ontario Liberal leadership—and the
premiership in the process—suggests that there are specific pressures on progressive-minded female politicians.
The expectation is that women in leadership positions
will be more collegial, treat woman in opposing camps
more kindly and generally play well with other women.
We have so much in common, after all.
Certainly, all the data coming out of the business
community suggests that women in the boardroom do
behave differently than their male counterparts. A recent
study released by the International Journal of Business
Governance and Ethics reports that women tend more
often to take multiple stakeholders into consideration,
take into account the interests of other stakeholders
and are inclined to consider more than one solution to
a problem.
And women in the boardroom get results. A 2007
report discovered that boards with high female representation experience a 53 percent higher return on equity,
a 66 percent higher return on invested capital and a 42
percent higher return on sales. (The fact that this hasn’t
moved corporations to flood their boards with female
members is a topic for another time.)
But what’s a partisan politician to do? After Wynne’s
victory at the leadership convention, the first words
out of Ontario New Democratic Party Leader Andrea
Horwath’s mouth were not, “You go, girl,” but, rather,
a variation on, “First order of business for the Liberals
should be to call an inquiry into the gas plant scandals.”
She was referring to former premier Dalton McGuinty’s
government’s decision during the last general election
campaign to cancel the establishment of gas plants in
two ridings. It was a blatantly cynical ploy that cost
taxpayers half a billion dollars but gained the Liberals
two seats—not enough to gain the majority the Grits
so desperately sought.
Horwath was pilloried by all kinds of commentators,
especially women, for not being warm and toasty to
Wynne and for choosing to be politically partisan instead
of offering the proper congratulations to the first female
premier of Ontario. Be nice to a sister, was the message.
This strikes me as a knee-jerk response, similar to voting for a candidate because she’s female—warning: you
could get a Margaret Thatcher or Sarah Palin type—and
for Wynne because she’s a lesbian.
What makes Horwath a better role model—making
nice with a political opponent, or sticking to her principles and making Wynne accountable for her part in
McGuinty’s government?
Before you answer that question, consider what happened next. Last summer, the Liberal government called
by-elections in five ridings held by the Grits.
The NDP took two of the five seats, the Tories one
and the Liberals only two. A major outcome from
those byelections has been a debate over whether Tom
Hudak should continue as leaders of the Progressive
Conservatives, given that his party bombed during
these votes.
But even that conflict was eclipsed by Horwath’s success
in gaining another two seats for the NDP, thus doubling
the party’s seat count since she gained the leadership.
And what was the main talking point during the campaign in those ridings that eventually went NDP? Those
cancelled gas plants that Horwath insisted stay on the
agenda ever since Wynne won the leadership.
It’s true that Horwath worked with the Liberals to
pass the budget, making gains for the NDP, especially
regarding reduced insurance rates, so Horwath actually
knows how to work co-operatively.
But it seems to me that Horwath succeeds even
more as a role model for showing skilled leadership of
her party—and distinguishing herself clearly from her
sister opponent. 
Women’s
Movement
in
China
the
by Joanna Chiu
I
n the stifling heat of Shanghai in the summertime,
Xiaoyan walks through a subway passage wearing a
black cotton sheath that covers her from head to toe
with only her eyes showing. Her friend wears a black face
mask along with a homemade metal bra over a red T-shirt
and miniskirt.
They are responding to a comment from a Shanghai
metro operator who posted a photo of a woman in a seethrough dress on his blog and wrote, “It’s no wonder that
some people get harassed if they dress like this.”
Instead of carrying placards, the women display a simple
message on their iPads to passersby—“I can dress provocatively,
but you cannot harass me”—echoing similar calls around the
world against the victim-blaming of sexual assault survivors.
“We couldn’t march on the streets like the SlutWalk
protests that have happened in other cities,” says Xiaoyan,
33, one year later, during lunch at her favourite restaurant
in the city’s former French Concession.
“So we did our own small action, then posted photos online
and asked others to help promote our message. It led to a lot
of debate and media attention.”
China is home to one in five of the world’s women. It is
also a place where women’s rights seem to be sliding backwards and women are being denied equal access to education
and employment. Reports of domestic violence are on
the rise. Lacking the right to organize large-scale protests,
women like Xiaoyan are striking back in creative ways.
On Valentine’s Day last year, three women in wedding
dresses splattered with fake blood boldly demonstrated on
a Beijing street behind Tiananmen Square, hoisting signs
with slogans such as “Love is Not an Excuse for Violence.”
In August, four female students in the city of Guangzhou
shaved their heads to protest unfair double standards for
female students seeking university admission, inspiring
at least 20 other women to follow suit across the country.
And in December, a dozen “microbloggers” posted nude
photographs of themselves on social media to support a
petition for domestic violence legislation. These small acts
of defiance have caught the attention of foreign media, and
even local media have sometimes covered these actions.
Before Xiaoyan became one of a handful of outspoken
women’s rights advocates in the country, she was a sociology student interested in contemporary women’s issues.
She said her first exposure to feminist activism happened
when she helped put on her university’s yearly production
of the Vagina Monologues, which was adapted for a Shanghai
audience from Eve Ensler’s play.
It was at a Vagina Monologues performance in 2006 that
Xiaoyan met her current partner, Xiangqi. At the time, Xiaoyan
was still coming to terms with her sexuality, while Xiangqi
was already a prominent leader in the lesbian community.
In 2001, Xiangqi started a website to help lesbians in
Shanghai meet. The online forum led to real-life social
events and evolved into the city’s only lesbian rights group,
Shanghai Nvai (a play on the Chinese words nu ai, meaning
love between women). Xiaoyan and Xiangqi now co-lead
the organization and hold events and workshops in their
living room.
“I never thought I would become a lesbian community
organizer,” says Xiangqi, who is 36. “After I started the
website, the members wanted to meet up in person, but I
wasn’t sure it was worth it until I met lesbian activists in
Xiaoyan and another Chinese protester appeared at a subway passage last year after a Shanghai metro operator said that women invite sexual harassment by dressing
provocatively. Their signs read: “I can dress provocatively but you can not harass me.”
Taiwan and Hong Kong at a conference and learned from
their experiences.”
During my recent travels in Shanghai, Beijing and cities
in the southern province of Guangdong, the women I met
often told me that they had become activists by accident.
Those who have the basic Internet skills to organize online
often become reluctant leaders.
But, while they are brave, they still need to be careful.
“If you do a lot of political lobbying, you run into safety issues,
and if your group is shut down, then you can’t do anything,”
says Xiangqi. “So we focus on giving workshops in schools
and other venues to try to gradually change cultural attitudes.”
More often than not, the most outspoken women’s rights
advocates also happen to be lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
While a grassroots women’s movement in China has barely
just begun, the LGBT rights movement started gaining
momentum in the early 2000s after online communities
spun off into a variety of advocacy organizations. The groups,
catered to self-identified women, tend to be interested in
women’s issues in general.
This trend is especially apparent in Beijing, a political and
cultural hub where many non-governmental organizations
have their offices. I visited a high-rise building at the edge
of the city centre where I asked women’s groups about the
risks involved in their work.
Xiong Jing, an officer at the group Media Monitor for
Women’s Network, says that as well as having the potential
of upsetting government authorities, Chinese feminists also
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risk being ostracized from society. While many aren’t open
about their sexual orientation, she estimates that as many
as 90 percent of women’s rights activists, including NGO
staff and individual volunteers, are queer women.
“It’s because we have less to lose,” she says. “We can’t get
married. Straight women need to find husbands and be a
part of mainstream society. Gay women can step up and
speak out without worrying as much.”
When the Chinese Communist Party assumed control
of China in 1949, women were deemed equal with men,
having already played some key roles in the early development of the party. The new government initially promoted
androgynous dress, encouraged late marriages and attacked
traditional social beliefs. But, as the party’s rule became more
established, government bodies began to actively endorse
traditional gender roles and considered the nuclear family
to be the bedrock of a stable, harmonious society.
Since 2007, for example, according to research from
Tsinghua University, the state-sponsored All-China Women’s Federation
has been campaigning for women to
get married earlier and be less ambitious in their careers. Yet women
social activists claim the emphasis on
marriage and traditional gender roles
has only increased the pervasiveness
of domestic violence.
The Media Monitor for Women’s
Network is one of the non-governmental organizations that formed after United Nations’
Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing in
1995. The network supports small actions that raise public
awareness of women’s rights issues, holds community workshops and activities and publishes Feminist Voice, a weekly
online journal. The network helped spread the news about
the action against domestic violence last Valentine’s Day, in
which women in blood-splattered wedding dresses protested
near Tiananmen Square, the site of the 1989 government
massacre of student demonstrators.
The women marched for half an hour before police told
them to stop.
“We couldn’t make an announcement asking people to
come, because we’re organizing a protest. It’s unsafe and
illegal,” explains Xiong Jing. “But at the action we took
pictures and then reported the activity online and contacted
reporters to cover the event.”
Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging
website, has been especially important in creating unprecedented public space for the discussion of social and
political issues. Posts about women’s rights issues are not
usually “sensitive” enough to be removed by government
censors. Weibo has helped facilitate fruitful interactions
between activists in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
communities overseas.
Social media are especially important for small women’s
groups with limited resources who want their messages
to reach large audiences. “I spend half my time on social
media,” said Xiong Jing, who manages a Weibo account
with over 15,000 followers.
Women’s groups also agree that, in a country where one
out of every four women will experience abuse from a spouse,
domestic violence is one of their top priorities. In 2011, the
National Women’s Federation and the National Bureau of
Statistics conducted a national survey of women, finding
that 24.7 percent of women had suffered insults, beatings,
restriction of personal freedom, economic control, forced
sex or other forms of spousal violence.
In a high-profile case that recently helped raise awareness
about domestic violence in China, the eccentric founder
of Crazy English, a wildly popular
English teaching program, was found
guilty of assaulting his American wife
and ordered to pay $8,000 in compensation as well as assets of almost
$2 million.
In an interview with the newspaper
China Daily, Li Yang said, “I hit her
sometimes but I never thought she
would make it public, since it’s not
Chinese tradition to expose family
conflicts to outsiders.”
His comments reveal an attitude common in China,
according to Bi Wenjuan, a program officer at the Beijingbased Anti-Domestic Violence Network/Beijing Fanbao.
“Gender-based violence is seen as normal,” she says. “Lots
of people don’t think it is wrong. Many women are afraid
to speak out about it because it would make their families
lose face.”
The Anti-Domestic Violence Network, along with related
organizations, has been lobbying for strong legislation to
combat domestic violence. It and holds regular activities
to educate the public, police, judiciary and government officials, including workshops, conferences and community
advocacy events.
Xiaoyan and Xiangqi agree that it is smart for women’s
organizations to focus on promoting cultural change and to
work with the government to help improve laws and policies.
“Family pressure to conform is very serious,” according to
Xiaoyan, whose parents do not know she is a lesbian or that
she participates in feminist demonstrations. At the same
time, she says, “It’s time for all of us to have an intimate
discourse and challenge social norms.” 
Many women are
afraid to speak out
about violence because
it would make their
families lose face.”
—R. Wen Juan
It’s Time to Shatter the Perfect-Mother Myth
by Jeanie Keogh
Willow Yamauchi, author of Bad Mommy, says the
myths surrounding motherhood silence women and are
largely “bullshit.”
A
Gina Wong edited Moms Gone Mad, a collection of stories about madness, oppression and resistance as they
relate to motherhood.
generation ago, middle-class women grew up with
the understanding that it was possible to have it all:
healthy, well-adjusted children, successful careers
and fulfilling personal relationships. Indeed, many women
manage this superhuman multi-tasking balancing act with a
surprising level of sanity.
However, a persistent anti-feminist attack is chipping away
at mothers’ self-esteem. The culprit is the perfect-mother
myth. It keeps women isolated from each other and competing with one another. The perfect-mother myth not only
sabotages their careers, it sees mothers blame themselves for
failing to be perfect.
Three Canadian feminist mothers have taken a fresh
look at the perfect-mother myth with a view to unseating
Karen Bridson says that instead of benefiting from the
women’s movement, mothers are more exhausted,
angry, and resentful than ever.
these unrealistic expectations of motherhood and encourage mothers to fight the unjust conditions in which most
women mother. Their books include Bad Mommy, by Willow
Yamauchi (Insomniac Press), Stunned: The New Generation of
Women Having Babies, Getting Angry and Creating a Women’s
Movement, by Karen Bridson (Health Communications),
and Moms Gone Mad: Motherhood and Madness, Oppression
and Resistance (Demeter Press), an anthology edited by
Gina Wong.
Each author talks about the loss of power, status and personal autonomy they experienced when they became mothers.
These losses varied, depending on the extent to which each
mother was culturally evaluated by, and criticized for, the way
she mothered. The mothers report not only that their choices
were frequently undermined but that their ability to take care
of their children was, at times, called into question. It was a
far cry from the glory they expected as mothers, and an eyeopening discovery.
“There is a lot of cognitive dissonance in parenting,” according to Willow Yamauchi, a writer, artist and the mother
of two teenagers. “Women are brought up to think mothering
is beautiful and wonderful, and it’s going to be so satisfying,
and it’s what you’re meant to be, and it’s going to make you
a complete woman. Then when you do it, you realize that so
much of it is bullshit.”
Karen Bridson, a digital media producer at TVO and the
mother of a young son, has written an analysis about how
women are transformed when they become mothers. “Living
the carefree lives of men for so long, many of us feel shock when
the reality of a mother’s life rains down upon us,” she writes.
“We quickly realize the lack of support and limited value our
society places on motherhood. Ultimately, we recognize the
true inequality that motherhood brings.”
At the same time, mothers are still held to impossible standards that only guarantee they will feel like failures.
“When a mother doesn’t appear to live up to these new,
high standards of über-mothering or tending to her home,
she may fall victim to something sociologists call mother
judgment,” Bridson explains. “This occurs when women
seemingly police each other.” She also notes that one of
the reasons women judge other women is their own fears
of inadequacy.
“The terror of caring for this tiny, fragile being can make people
look for just the right way to do things, and to justify to themselves that they are, in fact, doing things that way,” Bridson said.
Wong describes this hyper-regulation of mothers as “the
ubiquitous observational gaze ... the imprisonment that keeps
mothers under malevolent, omnipresent surveillance. There’s
self-surveillance, other surveillance, and we’re not even quite
sure who is watching us anymore.”
It’s as if women, when they become mothers, become public
property in a sense.
“We all have a voice in the discourse of motherhood, it’s a
public discourse. People feel that it’s a public thing they can
comment on,” says Wong who is a psychologist, a maternal
scholar and an Athabasca University professor.
Certainly, ideas about child-rearing are worthy of public
discussion. However, in most of these public discussions, fathers don’t face the same scrutiny and aren’t held responsible
in the same way.
“Men won’t be ostracized for the quality of their kids’ birthday
parties. And they won’t be judged by the health benefits of
their child’s snack,” observes Bridson.
Mother blame and the perfect-mother myth come from the
idea that mothers are principally responsible for their children’s
Karen Bridson’s book Stunned, and Gin Wong’s Moms Gone Mad examine unrealistic
expectations of mothers.
development. When a problem arises, the mother is assigned
culpability. The father’s role and the child’s personality are
factors that are either downplayed or ignored.
“While it is certainly true that mothers are important to the
development of their children, so are fathers, siblings, grandparents,
teachers and the vast and complex social milieu surrounding them,”
explains Regina M. Edmonds, in her chapter, “The Persistence
and Destructiveness of Mother-Blame,” in Moms Gone Mad.
Mother blame can affect a woman’s psychological health
if she suffers from post-partum depression and post-partum
psychosis, Wong adds. Furthermore, mothers are often labelled
as “unsafe” and “unfit” when health care practitioners don’t
consider the factors contributing to their breakdown, including
an uncooperative, absent or abusive spouse or a lack of familial
or community support.
“Women’s so-called madness is often an understandable response to wider social conditions,” explains Wong, who believes
in moving from shaming the individual to considering the whole.
In this way, she says, practitioners would shift from “‘What is
wrong with this woman?’ to ‘What happened to this woman?’”
The perfect-mother myth is long-standing, and signs are
that it is getting worse.
“Unrealistic expectations [of ] modern mothers have increased
over time and in fact set mothers further back, and to an extent
not seen since the 1950s,” according to Wong.
Adds Bridson, “As mothers, our roles [bear] more resemblance
to the 1950s than to the 21st-century myth of post-feminist
total equality we’ve been fed.”
Mothering manuals of more than a century ago encouraged mothers to govern their emotions so as not to damage
the development of the child. Such supposed harm included
anger causing miscarriages, birth defects and poisoning the
mother’s milk. A mother’s negative moods were believed to
permanently affect a child’s temperament.
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Yamauchi humorously debunks these myths, which she says are
“So many of us are convinced this will never happen to us,
still prevalent today. She steers mothers away from the perfectyet the reality is divorce will happen to more than half of us,”
mother myth and encourages mothers to be confident in the
says Bridson. “Women are four times more likely than men
knowledge that loving mothers don’t scar their children for life.
to live in poverty after divorce in Canada.”
“Where can you mess up? The answer is, at every single step.
Perhaps because motherhood is such an elusive, romantiNo matter what you’re going to do, someone is going to say
cized ideal, it is an area where we have been much slower to
you’re doing it wrong,” concludes Yamauchi.
incorporate feminist ideals than, say, the fight for better jobs
Examples of decisions for which mothers are routinely
and equal pay—definable issues where women share clear,
judged include circumcision, vaccination, public breastcommon interests. But even where better pay and workforce
feeding, co-sleeping, home-schooling and working versus
equality is concerned, working mothers are suffering. Those
staying at home.
who do return to jobs they previously loved often experience a
“The cruel truth is, being a good mommy is pretty much
loss in status and have difficulty gaining an equal footing with
impossible. This creature exists only as a figment of our collecmen or women colleagues without children.
tive hope that we can actually be everything that our families
“You will quickly be demoted to the status of someone’s mommy
need us to be,” Yamauchi says.
first, big shot career woman, not so much,” according to Bridson.
The fear of admitting that mothers are not only not perfect
She believes many women accept that not getting probut are not coping well is the dirty little secret
motions is a trade-off for having children.
in the private lives of mothers.
Conversely, when motherhood takes a back
“You’re constantly failing, so you lie to yourseat to women’s own lives or jobs, they ofself and to others,” writes Yamauchi.
ten become either secretly tormented or
But while lying to hide imperfection isn’t
outwardly chastised for being bad mothers.
new, what is new is the bombardment of new
And so the perfect-mother myth uses guilt
must-have gadgets and the messages teaching
to nudge intelligent, highly skilled women
women more ways to be perfect.
out of positions they might otherwise desire
“Instead of hiding mommy guilt and shame
if society supported working mothers more.
with brave smiles, matching mother-daughter
“The right for women to do and be everyoutfits and three o’clock martinis, in Bad
thing that men [can] be involves the need
Mommy we celebrate our neuroses, shortfor society and families to support women in
comings and nasty little habits,” Yamauchi
such a way as to make it possible for them to
explains in the introduction to her book.
do and be whatever it is they want to do and
Women would be better off if they were
be,” Bridson offers.
Bad Mommy celebrates neuroses.
truthful about how messy the process of
Until we adopt a more evolved, less judgmothering actually is. “It’s okay to not love
mental model of modern motherhood, many
mothering. It’s okay to not like it. It’s okay to share that and
mothers will continue to accept their lot and will refuse to
talk to other people about that,” she says.
fight for better treatment and opportunities because they are
Bridson agrees that it’s time to end the self-censorship.
too distracted by the immediate needs of their family and too
“While women judge and compete with each other, they rarely
racked with guilt to see the big picture.
discuss these issues,” she says. “We need to name the tensions
In order to change, motherhood will have to reach a cultural
and hash them out. We need to stop the disservice we do to
tipping point. Once a critical mass of mothers brings down
ourselves as women by denying our connection and shared
the perfect-mother myth, women will be able to successfully
experience at one end of the spectrum, and judging and turntackle the many pressing issues that hold mothers back:
ing our backs on each other at the other.”
family-unfriendly workplaces, the lack of affordable, quality
Her book gives mothers a reason not just to open up but to
daycare, discrimination against mothers and mothers-to-be,
be downright angry on the professional front. Women with
and a lack of better public policies to support motherhood.
children are 44 per cent less likely to be hired than women
In the meantime, the declining rate at which Canadian
without children. In Canada, full-time working women with
women are having children—the average stood at 1.61 chilchildren earn an average of 12 per cent less than women
dren in 2011—suggests that there is already a silent, private
without children. If that’s not bad enough, Canadian men
boycott taking place against the state of motherhood. Perhaps
with children are paid between 10 and 12 per cent more than
women are already silently waiting for the terms of mothermen without kids.
hood to become more favourable before they begin to have
Then comes the divorce rate.
more children. 
Model
Behaviour
Why Mannequins must reflect us
At Toronto’s Fashion Crimes, mannequins modelling the stores’ goods reflect a racial diversity that’s appreciated by customers.
by Sharon
Haywood
T
riggering women’s insecurity by selling them unattainable
beauty has been the golden rule for the fashion industry,
but common sense begs the question: Wouldn’t sales
naturally increase if consumers actually had models—both reallife models and mannequins—that looked like their own bodies?
After all, meta-analyses of existing studies, such as a 2008
review by professors Shelly Grabe, L. Monique Ward and Janet
Shibley Hyde, have established that repeated exposure to the
thin ideal negatively impacts body image in girls and women and
is a significant factor in low self-esteem and disordered eating.
It’s no wonder, considering that only five percent of women
actually fit this narrow ideal, as social anthropologist Kate Fox
confirmed in her 1997 summary of body-image research.
Ben Barry, CEO of Ben Barry Models, presents another
convincing argument for normal model sizes. Barry conducted
a study involving more than 2,500 Canadian and American
women of varying ethnicities, ages and sizes. He illustrated
that female consumers’ purchasing intentions skyrocketed
when women saw clothing featured on models that looked like
them in relation to race, age and size. Further, he found that
women’s intentions to purchase actually decreased when they
couldn’t identify with the model. Out of the three variables,
size generated the most extreme results. When models were
the same size as the consumer, their intention to purchase rose
over 200 percent; for women greater than a size 6, that number
shot up to 300 percent. On the flip side, purchase intentions
dropped 60 percent and 76 percent, respectively, when the
model did not reflect the consumer’s size.
These results run completely contrary to the insecurity-inducing business model to which the beauty and fashion industries
almost religiously adhere. As Barry wrote for Elle magazine
in 2012, “While some women in my study felt insecure when
they saw idealized models, their insecurity didn’t translate to
purchase intentions as the industry hopes; it actually turned
them off the product.” As one of the participants summarized,
“Ads like this want us to be part of their world, but they have
the opposite effect for me. I feel excluded”.
If making women feel lousy about their bodies doesn’t boost
sales, why do it? Until the late 1950s, the size of mannequins
was much more realistic than the models currently featured
in store windows. In 1992, a study by two researchers, Minna
Rintala and Pertti Mustajoki, compared Italian, Japanese and
Malaysian mannequins from the 1920s to the 1960s. They
found that “arm, hip, and thigh circumferences of modern
display figures were two to three cm, eight cm, and four to five
cm less, respectively, compared to those of figures from before
the Second World War.”
Furthermore, upon examining calculated amounts of fat,
the researchers determined that mannequins used prior to the
1950s reflected a percentage typical of a young, healthy woman.
After the 1950s, mannequins grew progressively slimmer and
possessed proportions not present in real female bodies. Their
waist circumferences also notably decreased during the 1950s,
further accentuated by larger, lifted breasts and wider hips. This
voluptuous female figure took on a silhouette close to that of
a Barbie doll, which was first created in 1959.
It was well before this, at the end of the 19th century in
Europe, that mannequins transitioned from headless, shaped
torsos into wax figures that assumed human characteristics—
from the neck up. Details such as real eyelashes, human hair
and, sometimes teeth were used in an attempt to make them
more lifelike. By the 1920s, the drive for more true-to-life
depictions produced more convincing female faces that were
widely used in Europe and the United States. Full-body female
mannequins also entered the market and tended to reflect the
popular boyish figure glamorized by the period’s famous flappers,
as described by Marianne Thesander in her 1997 book, The
Feminine Ideal. By the 1930s, U.S. manufacturers emerged and
began producing mannequins with faces with which American
women could identify—the famous and the wealthy.
Author Jon Stratton outlined in a 1996 issue of the
Australian Humanities Review that Cora Scovil, the first
designer to make the shift from wax to plaster, modelled
her mannequins after well-known film stars such as Greta
Garbo and Joan Crawford. Another pioneer in American
mannequin design, Lester Gaba, took his inspiration from a
different sector of elite society: young New York socialites. He
produced the popular Gaba Girls and the Cynthia mannequin,
which even got her own photo spread in a 1937 issue of Life
magazine. (Until that time, Life online says, “upper-class
women preferred to see how their clothes looked by having
them modelled on young, human women.”)
During the Great Depression, it was also common to see
heavier-set mannequins. In a 1991 issue of Smithsonian magazine, writers Per Ola and Emily d’Aulaire make reference to the
size 18 Bertille, created by Dutch artist Pierre Imans. Although
Bertille and 1930s mannequins of her size seem to be somewhat
of an anomaly in mannequin history, they too projected an
elusive body ideal for their era—one that reflected affluence.
Clearly, mannequins don’t just sell clothes. As beauty ideals
and fashion trends have morphed over the years, mannequins
have served as three-dimensional mirrors of such shifts, but they
have also acted as instruments within mass media that set beauty
standards, enforce stereotypes and shape perceptions of perfection.
In 2009, Old Navy started using mannequins that depict various racial backgrounds.
(Photo: Sharon Haywood)
Mannequins have evolved in their inclusivity—but only to
a point. As it stands today, mannequins of various ethnicities
and ages are represented in mainstream markets, but the same
cannot be said with regard to size—a gap whose closure could
cause mannequins to be harnessed as potent tools of change. As
“dummies” are clearly not real, it could be argued that inanimate
objects cannot be held to the same standards as models. As
leading mannequin designer Pucci has noted, the perfect mannequin stands about six feet tall, and, in inches would measure
32-22-32. According to Barry, though, “A customer is better
able to see how clothing compliments their body when the
mannequin has similar proportions.”
In the 1960s, the quest for above-the-neck realism prevailed,
but mannequin designers did not reflect the true diversity of
bodies; dummies continued to reinforce societal stereotypes
and each era’s version of beauty. In 1966, London-based South
African designer Adel Rootstein created the famous Twiggy
mannequin, fashioned after the internationally popular 17-yearold size 6 model. This drastic shift away from the big-busted,
small-waisted, cartoon-like mannequins of the ’50s fell right in
line with the extreme social changes and upsurge of rebellion
that defined the decade.
In the midst of the civil rights movement, Rootstein broke new
ground again by creating Luna, a Black mannequin in the likeness
of Donyale Luna, a world-renowned Paris runway model and
the first African-American featured on the cover of Vogue. Even
though Luna broke barriers in the fashion world, her likeness
was consistently positioned in feline-like poses that reaffirmed
the animalistic and overly sexualized stereotype for women of
colour. As author Sara K. Schneider wrote in the journal Design
Issues in 1997, “Most of Luna’s poses showed the mannequin,
weight forward, as if preparing to pounce or landing after a
long backward jump. All of Luna’s poses came with exceedingly
articulated almost claw-like fingers.” Sometimes, manufacturers
simply darkened the skin colour of white mannequins to whatever
they felt appropriately reflected a desired ethnicity.
Mannequin variety continued to expand after the 1970s.
There was an increase in authentic facial features from various
ethnicities, as well as the introduction of petite mannequins.
On the surface, the inclusion of petite figures could be seen
as progress on the size-inclusive front. However, as journalist
Helen Burggraf noted in Crain’s New York Business, petite mannequins are “universally several inches taller than the women
for whom they were designed… because ‘clothes simply look
better on taller figures.’”
Coinciding with the aging and well-off baby boomer
generation, the first line of older mannequins appeared in
1988 with Robert Filoso’s “Classic Drama,” representing
women between the ages of 42 and 48. Then, in 1989, Filoso
created “Gloria,” the first in another line of older mannequins, modelled after a 58-year-old woman of the same
name. He took great care to include details such as laugh
lines and facial asymmetry. In 1989, UPI journalist Valerie
Kuklenski reported Filoso as saying, “Nobody’s face is the
same on both sides…. If mannequins are supposed to reflect
live people, they should look alive.” Despite the fixation on
creating eerily human-like faces and an increased attention
to race, height and age, the mannequin industry continued
its quest for realism while essentially ignoring the size and
shape of its consumers.
The plus-size market began to use more realistic mannequins during the 1990s. As plus-sized fashions by retailers
such as Lane Bryant gained in popularity, so did the demand
for larger-sized mannequins. Interestingly, even plus-sized
mannequins haven’t accurately represented plus-sized bodies.
Bust magazine reported in 2013 that, historically, “most mannequins for larger clothes were made by just magnifying the
general proportions of smaller mannequins.” This past May,
however, two Cornell University fashion design students created the first size 24 mannequin using authentic measurements.
Nevertheless, the norm remains that plus-sized mannequins are
generally only featured in plus-sizes shops. Rarely do we see
size diversity in window displays, even though non-specialty
retailers cater to a wide range of sizes. One exception is the
U.K. department store Debenhams. In 2010, the Mail online
noted that the store became the first to use plus-sized mannequins, motivated by the fact that 42 percent of its profits
came from size 16 to size 18 garments.
Perhaps the tide is finally changing. In 2007, Spain’s health
ministry mandated that healthier-looking mannequins, estimated
to be a European size 38 (a British 10 or North American 8)
replace the über-slender display models. In 2010, BEAT, a U.K.
charity aimed at preventing eating disorders, spoke out against
a line of ultra-thin male mannequins called the “Young and the
Restless” (yet another Rootstein creation), affirming that such
thin figures can have a negative effect on men’s body images, just
as they can for women. In 2012, Change.org hosted a petition
created by Dr. Dae Sheridan, a U.S. psychotherapist, that targeted
department store JC Penny for its use of super-skinny mannequins.
At the time of writing, signees numbered beyond 7,300.
According to Statistics Canada, 44 percent of Canadian
women are considered overweight. The U.S. Center for Disease
Control and Prevention and England’s National Health Service
report 63.9 percent of American women and 58.4 percent of
British women fall into the same category. Simply put, the
majority of women in the global North are not thin. Compare
that to today’s size 2 mannequin: A woman of the same proportions would be too thin to menstruate.
While the size and proportions of mannequins continue to
remain more or less static outside the plus-sizes market, race,
age and, to a certain extent, disability are much more visible in
store windows. In Toronto, the independent retailer Fashion
Crimes has been drawing women into its trendy Queen Street
West location since the 1980s with racially diverse mannequins
designed by none other than the famous Rootstein.
Owner Pam Chorley has always chosen to feature her made-tomeasure designs on what she calls “realistic, stunning mannequins.
They all have a personality that brings the clothes to life.” Since
2009, Old Navy’s “SuperModelquins,” mannequins of various
races and ages, have been displayed at stores across North
America. In 2010, Debenhams incorporated mannequins using
wheelchairs into their high street displays. Barry cites Canadian
designer Izzy Camilleri as “one of the best examples” of accurate
mannequin use. Camilleri’s window displays in her Toronto shop,
IZ Adaptive Clothing, feature mannequins in the seated position
so her clients—people who use wheelchairs—can clearly picture
how garments would fall on their own bodies.
According to Barry, “size is still one of the most stigmatized
characteristics in fashion. Fashion marketers and retailers have
a false fear that consumers are turned off by size diversity …
that consumers do not see curves as aspirational.” Plus-sized mannequins can expand retailers’ markets and improve women’s body
image. (Photo: Sharon Haywood)
As such, the fashion industry has yet to tap into the selling
potential mannequins possess. However, many people are
beginning to realize the power mannequins wield as vehicles
of change. Earlier this year, a photo of a mannequin from the
Swedish department store Åhléns went viral, attracting international attention. Little did the rest of the world know that
this plus-sized mannequin is one of many various-sized figures
the retailer has been using in its window displays for more
than 10 years in order to cater to its different-sized clientele.
Increasing size diversity across the board in the fashion
world carries tremendous potential for improving consumers’ self-image while also maximizing the industry’s
bottom line. Applying such logic to mannequins makes sense,
considering that their primary function is to act as welcoming
ambassadors meant to entice passersby. Rather than capitalizing on and creating insecurities, a shift to a sustainable
body-loving business model is what will create loyal shoppers
and greater profits—a win-win for consumers and for the
fashion industry. 
Temporary Workers
Permanent
Problems
How Canada shortchanges foreign workers
By Sandhya Singh
L
aura came to Canada from Mexico to work as a seasonal
apple picker under the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program. She fell on the job, and her legs were crushed
by a tractor. While she was in the hospital, a Mexican official
tried to coerce her to sign documents to give up her right to
treatment and benefits in Canada and return home. The goal
was to save her employer from increased workers’ compensation premiums.
Labour unions and workers’ advocacy groups have documented hundreds of cases of abuse and exploitation of migrant
workers in Canada. Stories like Laura’s are representative of
migrants’ experiences when they come to work in Canada.
“The exploitation is not isolated and anecdotal. It is endemic. It is systemic,” concluded a September 2012 report,
“Made in Canada: How the Law Constructs Migrant Workers’
Insecurity,” by labour and human rights lawyer Fay Faraday.
“It is no accident that these conditions exist,” she notes, in
reference to the changes made to the Temporary Foreign
Worker Program in the last 10 years. “[They] are profoundly
oppressive and are entirely predictable outcomes given the
system we have created.”
Although some parts of the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program are more than 45 years old, a number of changes
have been made in the last decade. The program allows foreign workers to be hired in Canada on a temporary basis and
includes a number of streams, four of which allow entry to
low-skill workers. The oldest and perhaps most widely known
streams are the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, which
started in 1966, and the Live-in Caregiver Program which has
its roots in a program begun in 1981.
However, in 2002, the Pilot Project for Occupations
Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training was introduced,
and it’s taken off like wildfire. No longer a pilot program, it has
since been named the Stream for Lower-Skilled Occupations.
Unlike the two previous sector-specific programs, this program
is open to more than 30,000 job titles covering over 500 job
categories listed in the National Occupational Classification
developed by Human Resources and Skills Development
Canada. Organizations critical of the new program include
the Canadian Labour Congress, which claims that any job
in the Canadian labour force is open to temporary workers.
Indeed, migrant workers are now pumping gas, serving food
at Tim Hortons, Denny’s, McDonald’s and Dairy Queen,
cleaning hotels, packing fruit, growing flowers and killing
hogs. From greenhouses in Ontario, Quebec and B.C. to
slaughterhouses in Alberta and Manitoba, migrant workers
are now a vital part of the workforce across the country. And
they number more than 300,000.
Migrants under the Stream for Lower-Skilled Occupations
are given two-year visas, which are renewable for an additional
two years. They have almost no pathway to permanent residency
in Canada, however. And, while the program was designed to
respond to short-term labour shortages, employers can hire
new migrant workers to replace ones whose terms have expired.
“Clearly, it is only the workers that are temporary,” says
Faraday, “not the jobs.”
In 2006, for the first time, the number of migrant workers
entering the country exceeded the number of immigrants
granted permanent resident status. So, while Canada maintains
a strict quota on the number of new immigrants allowed entry,
there is no quota on the number of migrants that can be hired
annually. As a result, the number of migrant workers has more
than tripled in the last 10 years. There were 89,746 migrants
working in Canada in 2000; in 2011 there were 300,111.
According to University of Guelph associate professor of
sociology Kerry Preibisch, the percentage of women involved
during the pilot project phase increased from 33 percent in
2002 to 40.5 percent in 2007.
In their 2012 film documentary The End of Immigration?,
producers Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy highlight the fact that
immigrants who entered Canada in the 1940s and ’50s on the
basis of their ability to perform the same types of jobs now being done by migrant workers would no longer even qualify for
permanent resident status. This change represents a major shift
in Canadian immigration policy. Now, only migrant workers
who come to Canada as managers, professionals and skilled
workers can apply to immigrate. There are few options for
those who enter under the new stream, as only some provinces
admit lower-skilled workers in specific occupations under their
provincial nominee programs.
Another shift is the huge increase in the number of countries
sending workers to Canada. According to Preibisch’s analysis
of 2009 Citizenship and Immigration Canada data, in the first
year of the pilot, migrants from 52 different countries took up
jobs in agriculture and food processing. By 2007, that number
had grown to 75.
While the number of migrants and the range of occupations they perform may be surprising to many Canadians, it
is the working and living conditions that are most alarming to
workers’ rights advocates. Gina Bahiwal and Kyla Bahingawan
are migrants from the Philippines who work at a greenhouse
packing fruits and vegetables in Leamington, Ontario. Featured
in The End of Immigration?, they describe their experiences in
Canada as “difficult and terrible.” They received little information about the program before coming. Each paid between
$4,000 and $5,000 to a recruiting agency in the Philippines to
get the opportunity to work in Canada, even though Canadian
regulations strictly prohibit this. “Before we came, they told us,
never tell anyone that you paid something in the Philippines
or else you will be deported,” Bahingawan said.
Another change is that, while the seasonal workers program
was regulated by agreements between the sending countries
and Canada, the new Stream for Lower-Skilled Occupations is
largely managed by employers and recruiters. As a result, there
is no systemic government follow-up and no appeal process
for workers who are dismissed.
It would be an understatement to say that this makes workers vulnerable. Their contracts bind them to a single employer
and to living in employer-provided housing—often at great
profit to the employer. Like Bahiwal and Bahingawan, many
temporary foreign workers arrive unaware of their rights, and
government regulations designed to protect workers and ensure
Immigration lawyer Evelyn Encalada (second from right) appears with migrant workers on the set of an upcoming documentary called Migrant Dreams.
fair treatment are not enforced. Understandably, temporary
foreign workers are afraid to complain because they fear losing their jobs. They therefore tolerate violations of their rights
rather than speaking up.
Bahiwal and Bahingawan were approached a second time
by their recruiter, who claimed they had to pay $1,500 more,
this time to get a document called a labour market opinion so
that their contracts could be renewed. The women refused to
pay, since they were aware that getting the documents is an
employer’s responsibility, not the workers’.
Eventually, Bahingawan lost her job and, with few options
left, she applied to the Live-in Caregiver Program. In order
to qualify, she needed to take a course that cost her $8,000.
Because of the vulnerabilities inherent in the temporary worker
program, the Live-in Caregiver Program, which has long been
criticized for the potential and actual exploitation of its workforce, is now seen by many as a less bad option.
A long list of migrant workers’ complaints has been documented by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, the
Alberta Federation of Labour, the Canadian Labour Congress
and Justicia for Migrants. The list includes unpaid overtime; being
paid lower wages than promised in their contracts; being made
to work longer hours than allowed in employment-standards
legislation; and being made to work in hazardous working
environments, sometimes without proper safety equipment.
Further exploitation occurs when workers are forced to live in
substandard, overcrowded or overpriced rental facilities owned by
their employers. There are many documented cases of employers
renting the same rooms out to both day shift and night shift workers, resulting in severely overcrowded facilities. In one case, there
were 18 adults sharing a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house.
Workers have limited access to social services, as local community
organizations are not mandated or resourced to provide them
with adequate services. Many work in small towns, where social
isolation is an issue. As workers of colour, they also face racism
and xenophobia.
It is not only unions that have criticized the program.
Fundamental problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program were highlighted by Canada’s auditor general in 2009.
“Little is being done to catch the abuse occurring on all
sides of this program,” Sheila Fraser concluded. “Workers are
particularly vulnerable, given they often don’t speak English
and owe their status in Canada to their employer.”
She also criticized the federal government for not following
up to ensure that employers were meeting the conditions of
employment outlined in the workers’ contracts.
The program has also come under increasing fire from the
public after media reports exposed employers’ apparent misuse
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of the program, in particular by HD Mining and RBC. These
alternative care for their children. Even though they strive to
examples fuelled arguments by unions and other workers’
provide for their families, women are often accused of being
rights advocates, who said employers are using the program to
“bad mothers” for leaving their children.
bring down wages and reduce workers’ rights, rather than to
In Canada, they are aware that biases in the selection of workrespond to genuine labour-market shortages. Recently, Ottawa
ers favour men, and this fear is often exploited by employers,
responded to public criticism by eliminating regulations that had
who sometimes threaten to replace them with male workers.
allowed employers to pay skilled migrants 15 percent less than
As a result, Encalada observes, they overwork themselves trying
the prevailing wage and pay unskilled migrants five percent less.
to outperform male workers. The report concludes that it is
In her report, Fay Faraday concludes, “There is a deepening
women who are most often subjected to exploitative working
concern that Canada’s temporary labour migration programs
conditions. Encalada reports that women migrants also experiare entrenching and normalizing a low-wage, low-rights
ence sexual harassment that goes unreported. Their mobility is
‘guest’ workforce on terms that are incompatible with Canada’s
more restricted than the men’s, and they are subject to stricter
fundamental charter rights and freedoms, human rights
curfews, too. Justicia for Migrants has documented cases in
and labour rights.” Naveen
which an employer has checked
Mehta, UFCW general counsel
women workers’ rooms at night
or has installed cameras in their
and human rights director, deprivate quarters.
scribes the Temporary Foreign
Worker Program as “indentured
Seeking medical services also
labour at best; modern-day slavposes potential threats to employery at worst.”
ment. “When we need to take
When Laura, the apple picker,
women for medical care, particureturned to her home in Mexico,
larly for sexual reproductive care,
she was told that because she
it’s like organizing a heist,” says
sought help in support for her
Encalada. The women are carecase, she was barred from the
ful to hide any evidence of sexual
program. “When workers assert
activity, she explains, including
their rights they do not get called
possible pregnancies. Justicia for
back,” says Evelyn Encalada, coMigrants has documented cases of
founder of Justicia for Migrants, a
women being deported when their
grassroots advocacy organization
pregnancies were discovered by
for migrant workers.
their employers. “The result is that
Employers select by gender as
women take their health care into
well as by country, and women
their own hands,” Encalada states.
in the agricultural sector are
Encalada, Mehta and Faraday
Top: Gina Bahiwal addresses a rally in support of migrant workers’ rights
chosen to work in greenhouses
all agree that the transnational
in Leamington, Ontario, in 2010. (Photo: courtesy Marie Boti, co-director of
The End of Immigration?)
sorting tender fruit. As a result,
context is important in unBottom: Migrant workers, including Gina Bahiwal and Kyla Bahingawan at a
says Faraday, “the program reinderstanding the experience of
rally. (Photo: Courtesy Marie Boti)
forces racialized and gendered
migrant workers. Encalada
stereotypes about who can do
contends that Canada has been
what work.” The UFCW has noted that there is further segcomplicit in creating the global economic conditions that force
regation within workplaces, where employers select, for example,
migrants to export their labour. Mehta wants Canada to develop
Jamaican men as pickers and Mexican women as sorters and
a more robust immigration program, one that would provide
packers to reduce socialization among workers.
workers with greater opportunities to invest in the Canadian
Evelyn Encalada’s 2011 report, “Vulnerabilities of Female
economy and to participate in nation building.
Migrant Farm Workers from Latin America and the Caribbean
Faraday contends that the problems with the Temporary
in Canada,” illustrates the additional challenges faced by feForeign Worker Program are not inevitable. Rather, she says,
male migrants. Many women who perform farm work come
they are made in Canada and are the results of choices defrom rural communities where there are few income-earning
liberately made by governments in developing its labour and
opportunities. In many cases, they are the primary providers
immigration policies. The new program has been in place for
for their families. Labour migration provides necessary income
10 years now, and we have seen the results, she says.
opportunities but creates emotional stress, as women must find
“It’s time to choose again.” 
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Body Politic
by Joanna Chiu
To Boycott or Not to Boycott
The world seemed to pay scant attention to human rights in
Russia before the country passed a law prohibiting “homosexual
propaganda.” Like many people, I was only vaguely aware that
the Russian government was intolerant towards its LGBT
citizens, until the photos and videos of brutal attacks on gay
activists emerged this summer.
Russia won the bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi seven years ago. Since then, human rights organizations
have struggled to raise attention about the many problems
that make Russia an unfit host. When Human Rights Watch
released a report in 2009 exposing the exploitation of migrant
construction workers on Olympics sites, in Sochi’s Black Sea
coast and in the nearby Caucasus Mountains, the accounts
of trafficking, unpaid wages and unsafe working conditions
it barely made an impression on the international community.
Meanwhile, American diplomacy with Russia had become
soft on human rights. As well, there was a rash of killings of
human rights activists in the troubled North Caucasus region
and the Russian government pursued criminal charges against
journalists who investigated the Sochi Olympics preparations.
Russian authorities have reportedly evicted homeowners to
make room for Olympic venues, forcing them to accept low
compensation or forgo compensation.
In March, Russia threatened to derail a United Nations declaration urging an end to violence against women and girls—a
galling move from the government of a country in which one in
four women have experienced violence in intimate relationships.
Last year, the imprisonment of members of feminist punk
rock group Pussy Riot for staging a protest against Russian
President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church elicited global
outrage from human rights supporters and musicians. Two band
members remain in prison. American conservative pundit Pat
Buchanan managed to defend Putin’s efforts to “re-establish
the Orthodox Church as the moral compass of the nation” and
mocked Pussy Riot members for their “half-naked obscene acts
on the high altar of Moscow’s most sacred cathedral.”
But even the most outspoken supporters of Pussy Riot did
not call for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics, and few politicians outside of Russia spoke out to pressure Russia to improve
the country’s regressive treatment of women and minorities
ahead of the Olympics.
Now this all has the potential of changing. In June, Putin
signed into law a ban on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual
relations to minors,” a deliberately vaguely worded draconian
measure that applies to foreign nationals, tourists and Russian
citizens. Police officers could arrest anyone suspected of being
“pro-gay” and detain them for up to 14 days. The law was part of
a slew of anti-gay government measures that added fuel to the
epidemic of violence and intimidation against gays and lesbians.
Gruesome footage of bloody attacks finally made more people
around the world question Russia’s right to host the Olympic
Games. Vats of Russian vodka have been poured down gutters
in protest, and calls for a boycott of the games are growing by
the hour. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson slammed the
anti-gay law and said he “join[s] the millions worldwide who
are calling upon Russia to end its violent crackdown on the
human rights and free expression of the LGBTQ community
ahead of hosting the world in Sochi.”
I don’t support an athelete boycott of the Sochi Olympics,
since the spotlight should not be diverted away from Russia as
outrage mounts worldwide. But the criticism has the potential
to make Russia address complaints about its human rights
abuses from the international community.
A new International Olympic Committee (IOC) president
was elected in September, and this raises another opportunity.
Germany’s Thomas Bach, who will lead the IOC for eight years,
will be pressured to prevent similar abuses by future Olympic
Games host cities by making respect for equal rights a criterion
for hosting the Games, and lifting the IOC’s repressive ban
on “political expression” at the Games.
These opportunities would be squandered if critics focused
only on denouncing Russia’s treatment of LGBTQ citizens,
as harrowing as it is, and ignored the bigger picture. Putin’s
anti-gay laws enshrine non-heterosexual people as secondclass citizens. It is unlikely that he will stop there. If the goal,
as analysts say, is to wage war against “liberal Western ideals,”
everyone, including women and minorities, is vulnerable to
legislated bigotry. 
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Melanie Sicotte
Sylvia Sigurdson
Joan Simeon
Ruth Simkin
Andrea Simpson
Chris Sinding
Ann Sitch
Tara Sketchley
Cathy Soubliere
Penelope Squires
Antoinette Spoor
Sylvia Spring
Barbro StalbeckerPountney
Mary Beth Stacey
Marie Sternberg
Ursula Stetter
Margaret Stephens
Mary C. Stewart
Randa Stewart
Virginia Stikeman
Sharon-dale Stone
Stop Polygamy in
Canada Society
Claire Sylvan
Beverly Suek
Lynne Supeene
Bethany Sutton
Nancy Taber
Caroline Taylor
Katherine Tate
Pamela Terry
Iris Tetford
Mary Thomas
Glanda Todd
Terry Toews
Mary Trafford
Linda Tupin
Verna Turner
Cheryl van Daalen-Smith
leneke VanHouten
Gail Vanstone
Aniko Varpalotai
Maureen Vescio
Evelyn Violini
Vicki Vopni
Jennifer Waelti-Walters
Lori Wanamaker
Betty Watts
Susan Wendell
R. van Weringh
Susan White
Barb Whyte
Shelley Wickabrod
Harolyn Wilson
Rita Wong
Elaine Wright
Susan Wurtele
Miriam Wyman
Deborah Yaffe
Gail Youngberg
Carol Zavitz
Lisa Zigler / Tree Walsh
Carly Ziniuk
Kathryn Zwick
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arts
MUSiC
laura smith
eVerythiNg iS MoViNg
Borealis
culture
kate reid
qUeer ACroSS CANAdA
Independent
reVieW By CiNdy FiliPeNKo
laura Smith had a burgeoning career in the
Kate reid’s fourth album, Queer Across
arts that saw her win a gemini and pick up
Canada, has all the hallmarks of a Kate reid
a couple of east Coast Music Awards. this
album: witty lyrics, sweet guitar playing and
amazing folk/roots performer was derailed
interesting harmonies. this time out, the
by a prescription-drug addiction that came
Vancouver player, who has built her reputaon the heels of a series of debilitating action on penning illuminating and amusing
cidents. having overcome her dependency
songs about contemporary lesbian life, has
in 2010—a recovery story told on the CBC
created an album about children living in
radio documentary program The Current—
queer families.
Smith decided it was time to make music
Queer Across Canada is a great album. All
again. the result is the touching Everything
of its 17 songs, including a nicely updated
is Moving—a collection of songs built
version of the Sister Slegde classic “We Are
around the theme of survival.
Family,” are interesting and well-produced.
Smith’s voice is at once fragile and inBut will kids relate to songs like “Straight
credibly strong, bursting with emotion that
As An Arrow,” a reverse coming-out tale of
serves the folk and blues songs that are her
sorts, or “My Wife is a lesbian and She’s an
trademark. it is her own compositions, the
Unfit Mother?”
ones that are Celtic in nature, that are the
Writing for kids is tough and one queer
most moving. Both “horse and Ploughs,” a
performer who managed to do it well was
ballad about the rigours of a farmer’s life and
heather Bishop. her classic children’s al“Magdalen Mcgillivray,” a folk song about a
bum, Belly Button, was particularly effective
woman leaving her husband in Canada for
because it used great rhymes, silly scenarthe shores of home, have all the hallmarks of
ios and easy rhythms.
traditional folk: easy melodies and lyrics that
reid’s songs are all about the realities of
are darker than the music suggests.
living in queer families and parents will be
other songs on Everything is Moving are
one audience that will appreciate them most
extremely complex in structure, featuring
of all. Butch moms, femme dads, donors and
compelling flugelhorn solos and masterful
“tummy mummies” all get their due in Queer
jazz-infused bass guitar lines. this is not to
Across Canada.
say these are rockers; they’re more like jighowever Queer Across Canada is not
gers—perfect tunes to get your toes tapping, just an album geared to easy family listenlike “John Keane’s Boys.”
ing. instead, reid developed it to be used
With a sincerity reminiscent of rita
as a classroom tool to combat homophobia.
McNeil, Smith’s voice illuminates the lyrics
She’s developed an educational kit for
of her songs, making the characters and
classrooms that celebrates diverse families
situations at once both familiar and fascinat- and that’s meant to be used alongside Queer
ing. An excellent album, from a mature artist, Across Canada (www.katereid.net/shop).
for fans of the Celtic sound.
Family life class may never be the same.
36 Fall 2013 herizoNS
eliana Cuevas
eSPeSo
Independent
For a non-Spanish-speaking reviewer, reviewing a latin album is a little tricky. it’s
difficult to dissect the lyrics or parse an
overall theme for the work. instead, a reviewer has to rely on the feeling the album
generates. Espeso, eliana Cuevas’ new
album, evokes feelings of warmth and sensuality, joy and love.
With the support of almost 20 of
toronto’s finest musicians, Cuevas weaves
a rich tapestry of familiar latin sounds
and contemporary smooth jazz. the effect is not unlike that of fellow South
American eliane elias. like the esteemed
elias, Cuevas has a flexibility of style that
will come as a surprise to those who
equate latin music with the hip-shakers
of Shakira and ricky Martin. For example, there’s “lamento” (no translation
required), a beautiful blues number dedicated to the singer’s father, who died when
she was 11.
“Neva Vida,” an homage to the birth of
her daughter in 2009, infuses salsa into jazz,
creating a richly satisfying composition that
pulsates with joy. the other songs dedicated
to her daughter, “estrellita” (little Star)
and “Antito,” are similarly heartfelt, despite
their divergent styles—the first being an
energetic danceable number and the latter,
a lullaby.
on Espeso, Cuevas’ voice is spectacular, and the arrangements are lush and
full. Produced by the renowned Jeremy
ledbetter, the album handily demonstrates
why toronto’s Now magazine predicted that
she could be the next Norah Jones.
recommended. 
arts
culture
FAll reAdiNg
the anatomy oF
edouard BeauprÉ
SArAh KAthryN yorK
Coteau Books
reVieW By deANNA rAdFord
“But memory is a story the heart tells,” writes
Sarah Kathryn york, in the voice of protagonist edouard Beaupré’s mother, Florestine.
this is an apropos sentiment with which to
sum up the spirit of this novel, a fictionalized
recreation of the life of a young Métis man
who was born in Saskatchewan near the
end of the 19th century.
in life, Beaupré was known as a “giant”
who grew to be over eight feet tall. he
worked as performer and strongman in
the circus circuit across North America.
Beaupré died at a young age of tuberculosis,
and his family did not have the funds to
transport his remains home. in death,
Beaupré’s embalmed body was circulated
on display for roughly the first half of the
20th century in service to enterprises that
included the circus, a museum and the
Université de Montréal. this was unknown
to his family members for many years.
our point of entry to the story begins there,
with a touch of the flesh in a clinical setting.
A scientific researcher from Montreal, living well after Beaupré’s death, is obsessed
with his case. With Beaupré’s remains, the
researcher discovers the biological conditions leading to his anomalous height and
proportions.
the novel depicts the lonely and antagonistic life Beaupré lived. When someone
asks, “Were you born a giant?” his interior
response is: “i was made one.” the story
imparts the burden of the body. it depicts the
unspoken physical and slavish toll the circus
business took on Beaupré’s well-being, in
spite of his desire to be needed and loved.
the story illuminates a fascinating period of
Canadian history as well as the difficult social relationship with difference that persists
to this day.
york has written a well-researched, sensitive story that pays meaningful tribute to
the life and death of the person who was
edouard Beaupré.
the seleCtor oF souls
ShAUNA SiNgh BAldWiN
Knopf Canada
reVieW By ireNe d’SoUzA
if one reads Shauna Singh Baldwin’s
sprawling opus as a cry for social justice
for indian women, it is a compelling read.
While the novel encompasses political,
religious, caste and class conflicts, it’s
shadoW girl
mainly an examination of the perils of
PAtriCiA MorriSoN
Tundra Books
being born female in a fundamentalist patriarchal society.
reVieW By ClAire roBSoN
Baldwin tackles the practice of sex seeleven-year-old Jules is a motherless child
lection and her honesty in dealing with the
struggling to make sense of her life with
subject is the initial draw. in the novel, a
an alcoholic father. Shadow Girl tells her
well-educated, rich mogul and an uneducat- story—a feat rife with danger for any writer.
ed bullock cart owner are equally obsessed
it would have been easy for first-time author
with sons. indians’ fascination with siring
Patricia Morrison to founder on the rocks
males is linked to deeply entrenched miof sentimentality, but somehow she’s sailed
sogynistic attitudes that are sanctioned at all right by them to produce a highly readable
levels of society.
account of what is, unfortunately, a true
damini and Anu, the female protagonists,
story for many young people.
are socialized to believe they are mistakes,
though Shadow Girl tells a sad story, it’s
freaks of nature, while males are a gift from
never depressing. From an early and terrifythe gods. the first thought at a daughter’s
ing encounter with Jules’ drunken, angry
birth is the cost of her wedding.
father, through total abandonment and on
Baldwin explores the challenges of
into foster care, the book steps us through
the selection of souls at both the micro
the dehumanizing experiences of abuse and
and macro levels. how women cope
neglect.
with the fact that life’s resources are reit is also an easy and interesting read,
served for males is captured in stark and
written for young adults and older readers.
poignant detail.
i read it in one sitting, partly because it’s a
in the first chapter, damini, a servant, has page-turner in terms of plot—one is never
no choice but to kill her week-old grandsure how things will turn out. it’s also exdaughter, whose father refuses to name her
tremely well-written. the dialogue is strong,
and mother declines to feed her. in delhi, a
all scenes are sharply depicted and the
beautiful, fair socialite sends her daughter to characters are well-rounded. Jules’ father
Canada. Although the two women’s lives are is not exactly likeable, but he’s human and
galaxies apart, Baldwin’s unsettling conclucredible in his frailty.
sion is that they share an unnervingly close
though Shadow Girl is not a first-person
bond as women.
narrative, it’s infused with voice and the prothe most wrenching aspect of the story
tagonist is funny, tough and likeable. though
is how Baldwin exposes girls’ lives, which
she’s not perfect, neither is Jules a passive
are so often deemed expendable. She
victim, and part of the book’s considerable
has succeeded in advancing girls’ plight.
charm is its depiction of her creative stratehowever it remains in the hands of indian
gies for survival.
society to take up the mantra, “i am woman
All too often, young adult fiction is
hear me roar,” in order to assert that girls’
preachy and predictable. Shadow Girl bucks
souls have equal value and that they must
that trend in its complex and honest account
be respected. Baldwin is to be commended of an old, old story that has rarely been told
for her efforts.
from such an intimate perspective. readers
herizoNS Fall 2013 37
arts
FAll reAdiNg
culture
her era and her particular circumstances. in
doing so, she has created word-canvases
that depict the dark and the light of Clarice’s
life. the novel is rich with patterns of light
and shade, which was thornell’s intention
as she imagined Clarice Beckett looking at
a landscape, “squinting to soften edges and
reach beyond detail.”
Clarice found joy beyond all the restrictions in Melbourne, “her city of shifting
presences.” thornell expresses that passion
brilliantly when she writes: “Clarice and
Melbourne were joined; the paintings of her
city were love poems, a consummation.”
thornell has most clearly given the artist a
voice in the letters Clarice writes. And she’s
given Clarice Beckett an artist’s life, full of
paintings. While doing so, thornell has found
her own voice and passion.
both young and old will find humour, inspira- throughout the book, but my favourite is:
tion, understanding and compassion. Buy it “After Miguel and Jonah, i entered a series of
for your kids, your kids’ teachers, your docbrief relationships, the kind you stumble into
to erase traces of the last. obliterators.”
tor, your book club and your friends.
the only man in the World
though McCluskey’s characters are on
the losing team in the game of life, her skill is FAith JohNStoN
valery the great
By elAiNe MCClUSKey
such that they still elicit if not sympathy, then Turnstone Press
Anvil Press
reVieW By CoNNie JeSKe CrANe
at least understanding. Valery the Great is
With this string of stories, in form at least,
entertaining, unusual and McCluskey’s secreVieW By SylViA SANtiAgo
ond collection of short fiction. i’m already
Faith Johnston’s work is reminiscent of
the characters who inhabit the short stolooking forward to her next.
Canadian writers like Carol Shields and Alice
ries in Valery the Great are oddballs and
Munro. Johnston’s heroine is stunningly unoutsiders, and author elaine McCluskey
night street
spectacular: a wearer of sensible shoes, the
deftly portrays the motley crew with reKriStel thorNell
kind of person who always buys travel insurmarkable ease.
Goose Lane Editions
ance. While there aren’t dramatic character
the collection opens with the story “the
twists here, Johnston’s heather Kirk is nonereVieW By MAry ANN Moore
Favourite Nephew.” Floyd Barkhouse’s
theless highly—even painfully—relatable.
Kristel thornell grew up in Sydney and
work with the Wahoo Volunteer Search and
this is life as compromise: struggling for
was inspired by Australian artist Clarice
rescue team is his raison d’être, so much so
satisfaction through work, marriage, childBeckett (1887 to 1935), “whose art and life
that “every night when Floyd went to bed, he
rearing, but ending end up with divorce, new
drew me into this dream.” Night Street won
prayed that someone would get lost in the
starts, mixed results and inevitable grievwoods. Confused, disoriented, dehydrated, or several awards when it was first published
ing. While the revealing is oh-so-gradual,
in Australia and the first-time novelist has
near hypothermic—the details didn’t matter,
Johnston’s work is resoundingly feminist.
created a haunting narrative about another
as long as they were lost.” When more than
We meet heather first as an awkward
time and place.
a month passes with no emergencies, Floyd
teenager with pale circumscribed advenClarice’s friendships “had to be very spagoes to extreme measures to ensure that his
tures. She explains her non-rebellion: “the
cious,” thornell writes about the artist as
search and rescue team sees some action.
line was drawn so clearly then between
she imagined her. Clarice also turned down
dark humour underlies the stories,
bad girls and good girls. everyone knew
several proposals of marriage in order to
many of which end in surprising ways.
that once you crossed over you could never
dedicate herself to painting.
in “Wishing Well,” a would-be curler’s
come back.”
She became lovers with a fellow artist
ambition is thwarted by his bad balance;
We also see heather as an ottawa
and later went on to have another married
in “Maury,” a lonely 15-year-old girl’s sole
teacher showing kindness to her uniformlover she called the doctor. in a scene that
source of comfort is Maury Povich’s dayclad students, making child-related
is highly sensuous due to its tantalizing
time television show. “the teddy Bears’
arrangements with her ex, all the while still
restraint, Clarice visits the doctor as a new
Picnic,” one of the more unsettling stories
chasing the holy grail of romantic love. later,
patient using a pseudonym.
of the lot, features the ironically named
heather juggles rewarding work, travels to
While this imagined Clarice Beckett lived
Normal, a school bus driver and sometimes
see her launched kids and weighs career
an unconventional life, she still had her agpopcorn salesman who hides his rage befulfillment against a marriage proposal and a
ing parents to look after. her father insisted
hind an affable exterior.
cross-country move.
that she be home after dark; not that she
McCluskey’s observations can be as
there is, you slowly realize, a subversive
followed that rule. Clarice found her passion
delightful as they are disturbing. one charelement here. Unlike what the title suggests,
in the near-darkness of dawn and dusk.
acter “looked like something the dog had
there has been no “only man in the world”
thornell has crafted a world in which a
choked up, a masticated ball of gristle and
for heather at all. throughout her life, she’s
fat.” there are dozens of clever examples
woman artist negotiates the constraints of
arts
engaged a series of men, each relationship
carrying bits of disappointment and compromise, as well as reward.
But, aside from such unsexy real-life conclusions, Johnston sneaks in a few beautiful
revelations. From her young mournfulness,
we see heather progress to firmly take the
reins of her life. Whether it’s a brief affair
or a whole new life and marriage, heather
grows in her ability to accept consequences
and stand on her own two feet. She also
comes to see “herself from a new angle”
that involves, to her own surprise, a rejoicing in simply being alive, regardless of her
relationship status.
When she must grieve love again,
Johnston allows us to glimpse heather’s
small but stunning conclusion: “Whenever
anyone asked how she was doing, she
always answered, ‘Better than i expected,’
and it was true….”
susCeptiBle
geNeViÈVe CAStreé
Drawn & Quarterly
reVieW By KriS rothSteiN
Susceptible is a graphic novel about goglu, a
girl growing up with a single mom in quebec.
the story is set at a time of shifting, unsettled social circumstances for young, single
parents and when many kids were experiencing different kinds of childhoods due to
changing societal norms and the growth of
the counterculture.
While goglu’s grandmother is an oldfashioned traditional wife and mother of 16
children, her mother, Amère, has embraced
new ideas about personal freedom. She
does whatever she likes—not that it seems
to make her happy. goglu navigates the
weird situations brought on by her mother’s
drinking, an emotionally abusive stepfather
and being freaked out by the lack of stability in her life. She is a bright, lonely kid who
later becomes an awkward teen who gets
into some trouble involving sex and drugs.
this hardcover book is an appealing
object, and the drawings are rendered beautifully. geneviève Castreé’s artistic style is
visually appealing, with slight elements of
chaos and ugliness that never overwhelm or
overshadow the story. My only complaint is
that the handwritten text is printed so small
that it is extremely hard to read.
Susceptible is a political story—exploring the sexual revolution, gender roles and
ideas about liberty—but it is told as a very
personal and engaging narrative. it reads
much more like a memoir than a novel.
culture
FAll reAdiNg
embedded in the tale is the scary lack of
as “a regular person” who set aside other
road maps for a generation of “liberated
writing priorities to focus on New Zapata after
women” who are raising kids alone. it is
she “just got mad—it was the final straw for
also a terribly sad story about a girl who is
me,” she says—watching tV and finding out
unable to be a child because her mother is
that U.S. legislators were working to reduce
self-centred, co-dependent and refuses to
access to birth control, abortion and Planned
be the adult in their relationship. it is a pow- Parenthood services.
erful story that also has many moments of
“the only chance any of us have is to resist
sweetness, including the time during which
injustice and to fight for the good, to think,”
goglu gets to know her father. Ultimately, the says hall. And think her character rebecca
story shows how a girl can survive a difficult does: it is a precious and rare copy of Gray’s
Anatomy —a long-since banned book in New
youth and still emerge whole and liberated.
zapata—that gives her new knowledge of her
own body and empowers her.
neW zapata
teri hAll
this book, described by hall as “The
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Handmaid’s Tale for a new generation,” is
a compelling read that drives home just
reVieW By AMANdA le roUgetel
where today’s regressive anti-choice
if you like your fiction to reflect the political
policies could take us all if we don’t pay
issues of the day, teri hall’s dystopian novel
attention and take action.
New Zapata is for you.
it’s 2052, and the state of texas has sepriya’s World
ceded from the Union to become its own
tArA NANAyAKKArA
republic. it’s a place where people are
god-fearing, divorce is illegal and the state
monitors women’s menstrual cycles. No
choice for women in the republic of texas:
Men rule, women reproduce.
in the small border town of New zapata,
rebecca is facing the life-threatening reality of just what this means. She is pregnant
again and because she almost died giving
birth the first time she fears that her second
pregnancy could end in her death. She has
no options. At least, she doesn’t think she
has. her Aunt Cathy, however, remembers a
time when things were different and calls together her women friends to find a solution.
hall, author of two young adult novels, was
drawn to write this dystopian “but frighteningly close to possible” story in response to
some of the rhetoric of the 2012 presidential
race in the United States—“‘legitimate’ rape,
for example,” she says. She describes herself
Inanna Publications
reVieW By CoNNie JeSKe CrANe
in Canada there are a disturbing number of
girls and women who have eating disorders.
Against this troubling backdrop comes tara
Nanayakkara’s tale of Priya de Souza. A
25-year-old kindergarten teacher working in
ontario, Priya develops an eating disorder in
the wake of her parents’ sudden death in a
plane crash.
despite the sobering content, Priya’s story
is deceptively lulling at first. Priya speaks
in the prim tones of a good girl and even
acquires a chaperone. offering her dour
surveillance is Priya’s Aunt renita, who
comes to live with her niece in the wake of
the family tragedy. this world, Priya’s world,
is a blandly conventional one. think cookiecutter Mississauga townhouses and visits to
Wal-Mart. even when Priya collapses due to
arts
FAll reAdiNg
culture
her habit of restricting her food intake, she does it with a Mcdonald’s
coffee-and-muffin combo in front
of her.
Similar conventions are in place
for the plot, as Nanayakkara plies a
well-worn literary device. how will
Priya choose between two male
suitors? We see Priya preparing
for a date with polite young music
teacher trent Perelli, teasing her
hair into “fluffy curls.” And we’re
asked to wonder, will a mysterious
dark stranger from her mother’s
past steal Priya’s heart?
it is almost a relief, then, when
Nanayakkara intercuts this faux harlequin
narrative with starker glimpses into Priya’s
fractured inner life. From seeing her share
cake with the eligible trent, we shift to a tiny
bathroom stall. here Priya hides, nauseated,
telling herself that as long as she doesn’t
purge, she doesn’t have a problem. later, we
find Priya on a cold, hard bathroom floor, manically scrubbing grout stains with a toothbrush.
Shocking tragedy. the strict expectations
of her Sri lankan relatives. Family secrets.
Somehow, Nanayakkara manages to help
us understand Priya’s restlessness and selfloathing and why she might seek to regain
control through an unsuitable romance, obsession, food restriction and purging.
A Sri lankan-born immigrant who divides
her time between St. John’s and toronto,
Nanayakkara blends insights from her own
background. this makes her novel a deft
exploration of a modern epidemic, but also
one that is uniquely Canadian.
Basements and attiCs,
Closets and CyBerspaCe
Explorations in Canadian
Women’s Archives
edited By liNdA M. MorrA ANd
JeSSiCA SChAgerl
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
reVieW By BArBArA M. FreeMAN
taking as its basic premise that “no archive
is neutral,” this collection of very diverse
essays considers the theories and methods,
as well as the processes, ethical issues
and restrictions, inherent in depositing into
and exploring traditional and unconventional repositories regarding Canadian women.
the anthology features three interconnected sections: reorientations, restrictions
and responsibilities.
“reorientations” explores the challenges
and rewards of searching different kinds
motivations of women in Canada’s
intellectual, political and cultural life.
Cruel But not unusual
Violence in Canadian Families
edited By rAMoNA AlAggiA
ANd CAthy ViNe
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
of “archives.” these are explored through
evidence of the “indian Maiden” as an enduring, material history commodity on e-bay;
the feminist politics of poet Sina queyras’
blog; the conflicted oral history of feminist/
queer cabaret; fictionalized archives in the
writings of Marian engel and Alice Munro;
and Nelofer Pazira’s self-reflexive films
about Afghanistan’s women.
“restrictions” considers privacy versus access—that is, cases in which donors, literary
executors, archivists and institutions have
intervened in the acquisition, interpretation
or restriction of research material, challenging researchers to look to other sources.
Missing is an up-to-date critique of library
and Archives Canada’s current policies and
their impact on women’s history, although
Karina Vernon’s essay examines why racialized communities have (perhaps presciently)
avoided depositing their records there.
“responsibilities” shifts the focus to how researchers should ethically decipher historical
records related to prominent and little-known
women. the cases in point discuss readers’
letters about suffrage to women’s page editor
Francis Marion Beynon; l.M. Montgomery’s
purported suicide note; the use of anecdotes
regarding artist emily Carr; Sheila Watson’s
intellectual legacy in her journal and her
letters to Marshall Mcluhan; the memories
of a mother with Alzheimer’s disease; and a
holocaust survivor’s letters. daphne Marlatt,
Penn Kemp, Susan McMaster and Sally Clark
punctuate the collection with insights into the
pros and cons of archiving their own records.
this anthology, with its strong editors’ introduction and Janice Fiamengo’s illustrative
afterword, is a welcome addition to the archival researcher’s bookshelf. taken together,
its insightful essays amply demonstrate the
various complexities involved in responsibly interpreting the lives, experiences and
reVieW By liSA treMBlAy
Feminist researchers, practitioners
and activists have spent decades
trying to better understand men’s
violence against women and children in families and to advocate for
effective public policies and services to respond to it.
Cruel But Not Unusual explores the dynamics and scope of violence in families
and its long-term impact on the women and
children who experience it, as well as our
societal response to it. Written for students,
academics and professionals in the field, the
book offers new insights, critiques and ideas
to inspire and enhance our understanding
and practice.
editors ramona Alaggia and Cathy Vine
describe male violence in families as a
practice that is perpetuated by patriarchal
structures of inequality. they and many of
the chapter authors acknowledge the intersection of gender oppression with other
forms of oppression, and the need to apply
this knowledge in the development of public
policies and services in the field.
one contributor traces the backlash against
feminist analysis of men’s violence and challenges the gender-neutral language that hides
and perpetuates the problem. others examine
the historical roots of violence against women
and children and their impact in our lives and
on our bodies and brains.
in a section on marginalized communities, contributors describe the links
between violence in Aboriginal families and
communities and residential schools and
the vulnerability of people with disabilities
who are institutionalized. others address
the structural inequities that increase the
risk of violence for immigrants and refugees and lgBtq communities.
Cruel But Not Unusual explores the range
of violence experienced by children, women
and seniors and it challenges current policy
responses. Citing research on children
exposed to violence, for instance, one contributor criticizes child welfare for removing
children from the care of mothers who are
being abused by their partners. Another
examines family law approaches that ignore
arts
culture
FAll reAdiNg
the safety needs of children during custody
disputes, leaving them at risk of violence.
Vine and Alaggia explain how the effects
of violence perpetuated within families are
holding us back as a country. this book is a
valuable resource for moving us forward.
in the BlaCk
New African Canadian Literature
edited By AltheA PriNCe
Insomniac Press
reVieW By eVelyN C. White
A diverse group of African-Canadian writers
probe love, loss, liberation and longing in
In the Black, a new collection compiled by
ryerson University professor Althea Prince.
excitement about her book notwithin “A good Woman,” gayle gonsalves of- in a large container/ to sit in the great … refrigerator outdoors/ … Pray it won’t freeze.” standing, the author is soon beset by a
fers a beguiling story with biblical Cain and
through its chorus of voices, In The Black melancholia that she’ll battle for the rest of
Abel undertones. Set in Antigua, the saga
her life. on october 23, 1908, she revealed:
deepens our understanding of Africanchronicles the fraught relationship between
“i’ve been feeling … depressed, tired, brotwo brothers and a woman who is central in Canadian culture and community.
ken.… i ought to have medical advice; but
both of their lives. Skilfully paced, the story
i cannot consult any doctor here, for that
the Complete Journals oF
resonates long after its haunting final senwould mean running the gauntlet of gossip
tence: “there is no loud thump as she closes l.m. montgomery
and surmise.”
The PEI Years, 1901–1911
the door.”
About her marriage, at age 37,
edited By MAry heNley rUBio ANd
hip hop performer Motion explores a
Montgomery lamented: “if i could have torn
elizABeth hillMAN WAterStoN
romance restricted by the barriers of prison
the wedding ring from my finger and so
in her stirring series of vignettes, “locks and Oxford University Press
freed
myself i would have done it.… i sat at
love.” the first-person narrative reveals the reVieW By eVelyN C. White
the
gay
bridal feast, beside the man i had
impact of rising incarceration rates, espeAdmirers of famed Anne of Green Gables
married—and i was as unhappy as i had
cially among marginalized groups.
author lucy Maud Montgomery will rejoice
ever been.”
Mansa trotman delivers a counter to
in these journals that chronicle her formaFilled with passion and pathos, The
Canada’s much-touted multicultural imtive years in her native Prince edward
Complete
Journals of L.M. Montgomery
age in the poem “listen.” She writes: “i’m
island. Compiled by Mary henley rubio
deepens our understanding of a complex
flying/ over lumps and clumps of your clas(author of the superb biography Lucy
literary icon.
sifications/ look closely and you’ll find that/
Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings) and
they’re people/ real people/ … can’t classify elizabeth hillman Waterston (Magic Island:
talking derBy
them into oblivion.”
The Fictions of L.M. Montgomery), this secKAte hArgreAVeS
the book also includes work from male
ond volume of the series includes photos
Black
Moss Press
authors such as dwayne Morgan, who
and other memorabilia that Montgomery
decries societal expectations for boys and
showcased in her journals. As such, the col- reVieW By liSA ShAW
men in his impassioned poem “Man Up.” he lection presents an intriguing portrait of the
While growing up in the ’70s, i was captinotes, “look at the world men have built/
vated by gwen “Skinny Minny” Miller from
author’s psyche.
We’ve got to become more female/ if we
on August 16, 1907, Montgomery recount- old-school roller derby, when it was a co-ed
ever hope to truly be human.”
event with staged fights and theatrics. Forty
ed the evolution of her legendary novel: “i
readers accompany a youngster through
years later, derby has grown up with a big
have always kept a notebook in which i
a Caribbean village as he collects recyclables jotted down … ideas for plots, incidents,
shift to athleticism, skill and strategy. Now
to earn money for school fees in “Bottles’
characters and descriptions. … in the spring this women-only sport is even more hardhustle,” a story by another male contributor,
hitting and entertaining, and it’s vying to
of 1905 … i found a faded entry, written ten
Jelani Nias. “My mostly empty bag … swung
years before: ‘elderly couple apply to orphan become an olympic sport in 2020.
with each step,” Nias writes in the delightful
Talking Derby by Kate hargreaves is
asylum for a boy. By mistake a girl is sent
piece. “the multi-layered smacking sounds
her gushing love letter to derby, as she
them.’ … the result of this was ‘Anne of
fell—in more ways than one—for this sport.
helping to keep my spirits high as they clinked green gables.’”
growing up in england, hargreaves did not
(three dollars) and clanked (fifty cents).”
Writing on June 20, 1908, Montgomery
in “Christmas eve,” playwright djanet
exclaimed: “My book came today, fresh from have the “great Canadian tim horton’s commercial—backyard ice rink on a wobbly pair
Sears pays tribute to a Canadian yuletide
the publishers. … Not a great book at all—
of hockey skates.” hargreaves chronicles
season infused with West indian folkways.
but mine, mine, mine—something to which
her excitement, fear and derby journey in a
“Jerk the chicken/ fry the fish/ season the
I had given birth—something which, but for
series of humorous vignettes. She captures
curry goat,” she writes. “i place the turkey
me, would never have existed.”
arts
FAll reAdiNg
culture
what it was like to learn the jargon
of jammer, goat and cougaring.
the reader rolls along with her,
as she trains mentally and physically and experiences the zany
antics of her new derby family.
you can almost feel the burn in
her quads, the blisters on her feet
and her need to gulp water after
completing her first 25 in 5 drill (25
laps in five minutes). hargreaves
describes the explosive hit that
“opened her up like baked beans
over a fire pit,” her first “velcro
kiss”—a.k.a. black eye—and how
she wound up with a bloody split
lip in practice.
hargreaves the writer transforms into
Pain eyre. Nicknames are standard in derby,
but Pain also hoped somebody paid attention to english literature. her number, 1847,
was the year of the publication for Jane
Eyre. Witty or maybe not, she unfortunately
didn’t factor in her bicep circumference,
as her teammate chirped, “you need a
shorter number or bigger arms.” More ritual
includes choosing a derby wife who promises to share Band-Aids, bruises and bar
stories as your partner in grime.
derby is authentic, complicated and
tough—just like the women who lace up
their wheels, put on their knee pads and
strap on their helmets. hargreaves captures
all the sounds, smells and spirit of derby.
this book is a hit and a rocking read.
Finding a Way to the heart
Feminist Writings on Aboriginal and
Women’s History in Canada
edited By roBiN JArViS BroWNlie ANd
VAlerie J. KoriNeK
University of Manitoba Press
reVieW By JoyCe greeN
Composed in the manner of a festschrift for
noted historian Sylvia Van Kirk, this collection
features a range of feminist scholars who,
like Van Kirk, are interested in Aboriginal and
other women who have mostly been invisible
in Canada’s historical record.
the first three chapters introduce
Van Kirk as a research scholar and
as a colleague, professor and mentor.
Subsequently, contributors riff off of Van
Kirk’s contributions to present their own
work, which acknowledges Van Kirk’s foundational contributions but is not identical
to it, nor always uncritical of it. in that richness and diversity, the book is thoroughly
satisfying. Most contributors have gone
technical range, but all are worth
a read, and most are thoroughly
accessible to non-specialists. this
book is a most welcome addition
to the important contemporary
work on Canadian-indigenoussettler issues.
troBairitz
CAtheriNe oWeN
Anvil Press
far beyond the sometimes critiqued liberal
feminist impulses of especially Van Kirk’s
earlier work to deploy critical race and
post-colonial theories to examine colonialism, racism, scholarship, and raced and
gendered power relations.
Several authors take up the imperial
and racist presumptions embedded in the
university canon and scholarship to good
effect: too little attention is generally paid
by denizens of the ivory towers to their
active complicity in colonialism in their
contributions to history, political science,
anthropology and so on.
Certain chapters take up racism, which
is deployed through public policy but also
through narratives that have become deeply embedded assumptions in the dominant
Canadian cultural and political framework
about indigenous inferiority and Canadian
exceptionalism. the national myth of
white settlement is challenged, as is the
myth of the innocence of white women
settlers. this is a service to the projects
of indigenous justice in the Canadian context and, importantly and relatedly, to the
necessity of the dominant populations confronting our shared (though very differently
perceived and experienced) history, as
well as the phenomenon of white privilege,
which is sustained on the foundation of the
official historical past and its legal and political consequences.
three authors challenge popular and
official representations of indian, Métis,
and Aboriginal categories, showing us
the fluidity and diversity of historical and
contemporary communities, as well as the
insidious racialization of these communities.
the perspectives are feminist, either explicitly and implicitly.
Not all authors sing from the same
theoretical songbook or with the same
reVieW By tArA-MiChelle ziNiUK
Catherine owen knows her subject
matter. For her latest poetry book,
Trobairitz, she researched the
trobairitz—essentially a female
version of the troubadour, a 12th-century
performance poet who worked around
themes of courtly love. owen also writes
with first-hand experience: She is someone who has played in numerous metal
bands since the late 1990s and she has
written about the metal scene and about
her experience of being in it—socially, politically and emotionally.
given her own experience touring her
music and poetry, owen could be viewed
as something of a trobairitz. She employs
formal poetic forms and her work is quite
finely crafted. Trobairitz is, as a result of all
of these elements, an engaging read.
owen doesn’t shy away from the feminist
label and isn’t afraid of shifting gender
perspectives from their intended directions.
Poems are sometimes given literal titles
to frame their content, such as “Why the
trobairitz Picks Up Men at a Metal Festival.”
At other times, the rawness is second to
the language and feel of a poem, such
as when owen writes a canso (a form of
poem intended as a love lyric) for the only
trobairitz known to have written a canso for
another woman.
As with metal itself, Trobairitz is at
times so overwrought with dark-curtained
dramatics that it’s difficult to tell what is
tongue-in-cheek and what is meant in earnest. these poems from the heart and gut
are precise and unpredictable, written with
equal parts skill, substance and care.
Scholars call the sort of love sound found
in medieval poetic texts “fin amor,” which
is claimed to be a fine love from a man to a
woman who represents his feminine ideal
in both body and mind. owens’ Trobairitz
shakes up all of this—including questions
of what is pure in love and what is ideal in
women—and tosses it all back out into a
mosh pit of poetry and politics. 
arts
culture
FAll reAdiNg
poetrysnapshot
When this World
Comes to an end
KAte CAyley
Brick Books
undark
SANdy Pool
Nightwood Editions
hello, the roses
Mei-Mei BerSSeNBrUgge
New Directions Books
By MAriiANNe MAyS
Kate Cayley’s luminous first book of
poetry, When This World Comes to an
End, begins with an astonishing poem in
the voice of leonardo da Vinci’s appren- Undark (her second publication) and Hello,
tice. “At night, my master dreams time
the Roses by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, an
and heaven./ i, his apprentice, dream
established American poet whose work
nothing.// i am the mirror that gives him
often engages with visual art and visual
back, the sigh/ breathed into his mouth
art processes.
at night, youth/ that saves him from his
Undark is an “oratorio” complete with
age./ i am salvation. the angel beating/
dramatis personae and a dramatic arc
copper wings.// … i leaped, i flew,”
of sorts, from “undark” to “half-light.”
she writes.
Characters from diverse eras tell the story
it’s an unusual book. Framed by a
of the “thousands of women … [who] were
narrative conceit (kind of like a concept
employed painting glow-in-the-dark watch
album)—that is, the end of time—it also
dials” in early 20th-century North America.
includes conceits within it: a litany of
the paint they used, called “Undark,” conhistorical characters in the section “Book tained the radioactive element radium; it
of days”; a “curio” of turn-of-the-century
was later found to have seriously adverse
found photographs; a mélange of fairyhealth effects for the factory workers, who
tale-like settings in “Signs and Wonders.” launched several largely unsuccessful
this kind of structure is difficult to pull off, court cases.
and the material occasionally suffers from
the collection’s strongest pieces are
its overreliance on scaffolding. Cayley’s
from the perspective of the scientist
gift for narrative is brilliant at its best, the
who invented Undark. having removed
kind of writing that delivers dazzling won- his own necrotic thumb, the inventor is
der and piercing knowledge at once, like
haunted by the women who repeatedly
an annunciation.
“pointed” their paintbrushes with their
And when the poet attends to the
lips, amplifying their radium exposure.
quiet around objects, to resonances
“[M]y mouth bleeds/ an illicit alphabet,
of specific words—what poetry does
sounded// on terrible ancient teeth./ i’m
best—we get delicious, distilled images sorry, i have nothing,” he sings in one
and Cayley’s musical ear for language,
piece. “you// women are waiting to beher striking, often searing, insights. then come what you already/ are, what you
the work soars, from the “reverse birth// already have been.// there is an archive
as the lake closed over them” of the
of this/ emptiness. you meet it again//
white, diving show horses that appear in and again, meet it in the loneliness of/
sick beds, in the lengthening// light. you
two poems to the deft, discreetly shatmeet it with snarls of blood/ leaking from
tering poem “Walking,” which follows
your mouths.”
a Nagasaki survivor carrying his dead
the poems (perhaps better referred
wife’s ashes.
two more new books to employ a con- to as arias, recitatives or choruses) are
ceit, to varying degrees, are Sandy Pool’s themselves haunting, for their circling
of the core story and because they lend
gradual illumination to the inexorable
properties of time, the continual unfolding
of histories, however toxic. Both time and
light take on eerie meaning. Knowledge is
lurid, monstrous.
Hello, the Roses contends with knowledge from a radical perspective as
well, extending William Carlos Williams’
proposition, “no ideas but in things.” in
her five-part poem “Animal Voices,”
Berssenbrugge writes, “there’s a sense
of pervasiveness; particles go back and
forth in me.// i write down today’s encounters, including the mosquito, as a
dream to interpret.// Certainly, one’s tie to
an insect is imaginative truth.// Not that
my horse represents the union of intuition
and imagining, she is that.// … ‘is that
like saying a pond is my brain?’ i ask and
frogs answer, ‘More like the shape of
holding our thoughts!’// A horse doesn’t
change frequency to change form.//
Form is part of my thinking this, like a
willow seed’s intent, intrinsic focus on
willow trees.”
Berssenbrugge is gripped by the task
of exploring perception itself. one doesn’t
so much read these poems as fall into
them, somersaulting between the poet’s
phenomenological impressions and her
philosophical labour with questions of
representation, illusion, form, energy,
communication, transformation, time and
being. it’s light lifting, though—the work is
profoundly pleasurable: intuitive, playful,
unpretentious, witty, wry and sumptuous,
like a really great painting that also makes
you think and feel. 
arts
Film
culture
Reviews by Maureen Medved
Life And Crimes of Doris Payne
Directed by Kirk Marcolina and Matthew Pond
As a tiny girl born into poverty, Doris Payne
aspired to be a ballerina, but such a dream
was improbable in the segregated pre-1950s
U.S. After being told there were no Black
ballerinas, Payne decided to challenge
her detractors and became a jewel thief.
She had a career spanning countries and
decades and became one of the most notorious jewel thieves in American history.
Still, Payne has largely remained unknown—probably to her professional
benefit—until the recent documentary Life
And Crimes of Doris Payne. Filmmakers
Kirk Marcolina and Matthew Pond reveal
a character formed by intense economic
and social pressure. Payne shares the
secrets of her trade, revealing how she
transformed herself into someone who
could glide under the radar of high-end
salespeople during a particularly acrimonious time in American history.
The documentary is a fun ride and even
contains a real-crime genre subplot: Payne
was on trial during the film’s production. The
strongest moments are when the filmmakers drop the usual documentary tropes and
just allow Payne to tell her own story. She
revels in her achievements and reveals, with
a wide warm smile, her elaborate lies and
deceptions, which were as hard and glittery
and multitudinous as the diamonds that symbolized the prestige of the world to which
she both aspired and needed in order to
survive. A feature film about Payne starring
Halle Berry is currently underway.
Life And Crimes of Doris Payne reveals how the jewel thief eluded authorities for years.
Anita Hill comes across as someone with iron-clad integrity in the documentary film Anita.
a Black conservative from sitting on the
Supreme Court. The all-white, all-male
Senate judicial committee, including a
sheepish Ted Kennedy, confirmed Thomas to
the Supreme Court.
In Anita, Thomas comes across as an
opportunistic coward, while Hill is seen as
a martyr with iron-clad integrity. However,
Anita
even today, both sides continue to have their
Directed by Frieda Mock
believers. As the documentary suggests, the
Hill-Thomas conflict has become symbolic
For all her vast achievements, attorney and
of many contentious issues between the
university professor Anita Hill’s legacy remains the infamous 1992 U.S. Senate judicial U.S. political right and the political left. The
inquiry, during which Hill accused then nom- historical context of Thomas’s nomination
by Republicans, going back even before
inee for the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence
President George Bush’s appointment to
Thomas, Hill’s former employer at the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), President Ronald Reagan’s early positioning
of Thomas in the EEOC, adds some subof sexual harassment.
stance to the story.
Anita, Frieda Mock’s new film, is a hisStill, every great protagonist deserves
torical document that exploits the irony
an equally powerful antagonist. On the left,
of hindsight. The turning point of this event
many were deeply troubled by Thomas’s
came when Thomas, looking defeated by
conservatism. His predecessor on the
Hill’s testimony, referred to the trial as a
court, Thurgood Marshall, had been a
“high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks” by
civil rights icon. According to a 2007
liberals who wanted to use a Black man’s
alleged sexual transgressions to prevent
New York Times article about Thomas’s
autobiography, Thomas believed liberals
used the scandal against him because they
feared he’d use his role on the Supreme
Court to vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Thomas took his seat on the court, where
he still sits.
One year after the hearings, public opinion weighed in Hill’s favour and led to a
dramatic climb in harassment complaints
within the EEOC and greater awareness of
sexual harassment.
Anita presents Hill as a woman with
integrity who, through her courage, triumphed and became a living symbol for
women’s rights and issues of workplace
sexual harassment. Still, Mock’s film could
have been even stronger had she mined
the conflicts of the controversy more
deeply by examining its intricacies from
the political right and left. The controversy
reveals much about the continuing conflicts between contemporary American
political agendas. 
These films were screened at Best of
Hot Docs: The Vancouver International
Film Festival.
Soundings
By Evelyn C. White
Canadian Masterpieces
I’m grateful to have viewed, in person, celebrated artworks
such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in Paris, Guernica
by Pablo Picasso at the Sofia Reina Museum in Madrid
and Michelangelo’s magnificent statue of David in Florence.
But today I find myself meditating on two works in
Ottawa that, for me, rank with masterpieces that have
wowed art aficionados around the world. I’m talking about
the official portrait of former governor general Michaëlle
Jean that now hangs in Rideau Hall and the statue of jazz
pianist Oscar Peterson (1925–2007) installed on Elgin
Street, in front of the National Arts Centre.
To be sure, I was eager to see both pieces during my
recent first-ever trip to the nation’s capital. But I was
unprepared for the emotional impact the artworks had
on me, a Black woman born in Chicago who has lived in
Canada for more than a decade.
Remarkably, news stories I’ve read about the unveiling
of Jean’s portrait last fall failed to mention an important
fact: Unlike images of previous governors-general dating
back to 1867, hers is the first to depict Canada’s titular
head of state in community.
That is to say that the vibrant painting by artist Karen
Bailey features Jean, as well as her daughter and husband,
in the midst of a diverse array of people including a First
Nations drummer, uniformed soldiers, an elderly couple
and energetic youths. During a chat about the portrait
with a staffer at Rideau Hall, I learned that a well-known
homeless man (bald and with a long, white beard) is also
represented in the piece.
In her artist statement, Bailey praised Jean for her input
on the design of a painting that is rendered in warm and
welcoming hues. “Ultimately, mine is a portrait of a woman
at work,” Bailey noted. “Madame Jean was not alone as
governor general—she reflected and encouraged the efforts,
ideas and strengths of all citizens.”
Across town, the life-sized bronze statue of Oscar Peterson
showcases the musician smiling and seated on a piano bench
that is angled next to his signature Bosendorfer piano. Sculptor
Ruth Abernethy said she purposefully left room on the bench
to entice passersby to “take a moment” with the man, whom
Duke Ellington hailed as “the maharajah of the keyboard.”
Drawn by the accessibility of the piece, I immediately sat
on the bench—a move that triggered a delightful recording of Peterson tinkling the ivories. As the music wafted
through the air, I recalled the elegance, peace and (to my
ears) poignant patriotism of Peterson’s famed composition,
“Hymn to Freedom” (found on his 1997 release, Night Train).
Although the Montreal-born pianist suffered prejudice
in his homeland (detailed in the riveting 1992 documentary In The Key of Oscar), Peterson never appeared to let
injustice get under his skin or sour his views of humanity.
Instead, he quietly dismissed “stupid racism” and went on
to bedazzle the world with his virtuosity.
A New York Times obituary for Peterson made special
note of the delicate tone and deft touch that characterized his life and art: “He used his gifts in the service of
moderation and reliability.… Even at his peak there was
very little tension in his playing.”
As one who was marked by the “burn baby burn” mayhem
of the U.S. civil rights movement, I’ve been moved by what
I’ve come to call the gracious grit of African-Canadians
such as Michaëlle Jean and Oscar Peterson. Criticized
for eating a raw seal heart during a community feast in
Nunavut, the former governor general countered with a
cool “take from that what you will” riposte that struck me
as both deliciously pointed and diplomatic.
In her satirical 2012 novel Sussex Drive, Linda Svendsen
features Lise Lavoie, a Black female governor general who
finds herself at odds with the prime minister. Might the
characters have been inspired by the strained (at best) relationship that existed between Michaëlle Jean and Stephen
Harper? Just asking.
In her current positions as chancellor of the University of
Ottawa and special envoy to her native Haiti for the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Jean continues the community activism highlighted in her portrait at Rideau Hall.
Rumour has it that Jean plans to write a book about
her sojourn as governor general. Mindful of the Montreal
gospel choir that performed at her 2005 investiture ceremony, I conjure Oscar Peterson at his piano and sing:
“Hallelujah.” 
arts
culture
Tina Renton’s
Path Towards Healing
by Val B. Russell
Tina Renton wrote about her experience
in the hope of helping other victims.
Tina Renton’s memoir, You Can’t Hide: How I Brought my Rapist Stepfather
to Justice (Simon & Schuster) chronicles the author’s response to sexual
abuse she experienced. For Renton, earning a law degree 17 years after
the abuse ended, helped give her the knowledge and the confidence
she needed to confront her abuser and to stop seeking her mother’s
approval. Ultimately, Renton’s stepfather was convicted of rape in 2011
by a British court. You Can’t Hide recounts not only Renton’s legal battle,
but also describes her healing, parenthood and activism. Today Renton
works in television production.
Herizons: Do you think your mother was consciously aware
that her actions made you vulnerable, setting the stage for
David Moore to exploit your need for parental love?
while yours wasn’t. Have you been able to heal the wounds
with both brothers, or is the damage to the relationship
beyond repair?
TINA RENTON: I think men like David Moore look
for families that have something lacking. In my case,
it was a mother who, by her own admission, shouldn’t
have had children. I would say that when David met
my mother, she was missing the one thing she needed:
a man. The boundaries in my home were not fixed but
shifted to reflect her mood. Maybe when she introduced
my brother and me to David he saw the problems in
the home, and that’s why he stayed. It’s hard to know
what was going on for them; for all I know they do love
each other and he didn’t stay just to get to me.
TINA RENTON: My feelings about each brother differ.
Blake lied in court, denying the violence between David
and himself. I feel sorry for Jonathan. I don’t think he
lied in court. In fact, some things he said helped expose
my mother’s and David’s lies. David is his father, and no
one would like to think of their father doing what he did.
Either way, there is no relationship to repair. I was
outcast from the family, a black sheep. Jealousy, pain,
suffering and all emotions that go along with the
breakup of families due to sexual crimes are so overwhelming to overcome. As a survivor, self-preservation
is important. If I decide to reject them, it is easier for
me to mentally cope.
As is often the case in families where children are abused,
there was a divide-and-conquer dynamic at play. From
the outset, you and your brother Blake had an adversarial
relationship, putting you both at an emotional distance.
When your stepfather entered the picture, the physical
abuse to which Blake was subjected was witnessed openly,
There are actually three stories being told in your memoir:
your journey through and survival of sexual abuse; your
struggle to grow as a woman and mother; and ultimately
your release from the need for your mother’s love and approval.
arts
Do you feel that removing your mother from your life was
instrumental in your decision to pursue justice?
TINA RENTON: I tried for a number of years to
please my mother. I wanted her to be proud of me as her
daughter and the woman that I had grown to become,
regardless of the struggles and what they had both done.
In reality, that was never going to happen. For a long
time, I’d wanted to cut her out of my life, but I was too
afraid, and my children losing their grandmother was
also a consideration. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly.
After spending 32 years of my life trying to be loved,
I knew the time had come to love myself first. There
was also no way I could have gone to the police while
she was still in my life.
You are the mother of two sons, and
it was your love for them that was
a stepping stone on the path to your
admission to law school and finding
your voice. Beyond the obvious pride
they must feel for you, are they showing
any interest in becoming involved in
justice issues or activism?
TINA RENTON: My eldest son is
not meant to be an academic. Like
me, he has serious dyslexia. Therefore
he is training for a career in a trade
and doing very well. Like me, he does
stand up for what he believes and
can be very stubborn when he knows
what he wants! Daniel is going to
study for a law degree in addition to joining the army.
When you made the decision to work with writer Ruth
Kelly, the retelling of your story must have been a catharsis.
Was the prospect of opening up daunting, or was going
public an obvious gateway to helping others who have
experienced abuse?
TINA RENTON: The healing process is ongoing. One
could argue that I will never heal, but it doesn’t stop me
trying. When I agreed to write the book, it was for one
reason: to help other people. How I would feel didn’t really
come into it at the time. The week [prior to the book’s
release] I was very upset and terrified of people knowing
me. Even my best friends didn’t know a lot of the content
culture
in the book. At no point would I have considered stopping the book’s release, but I was totally terrified. Even
after all this time, I felt shame. I shouldn’t, but I still do
at times. I receive many emails from other survivors, so I
know the book has helped and will continue to. If I can
help just one person then my job is done.
You are currently working with Child Victims of Crime in
England. As an advocate for children, is there improvement in
terms of support for child victims of crime and the protection
of the rights of children? What still needs to be done to create
awareness of what is an epidemic worldwide?
TINA RENTON: This is a tough question. Things
are getting better because there is
now public awareness that our legal
systems are not protecting children.
This is actually the result of many
victims speaking out after so long.
More people coming forward translates into increased awareness, but
there is still far to go.
Sadly, this revolves around money
and a lack of resources. Most available aid [in the U.K.] is charity-based,
such as Action for Children. But all
governments should be spending
more money on this problem, as
both physical and sexual abuse can
and does include neglect, leading to
lifelong problems. I know that my
own mother’s neglect of my needs
will last forever. The government must update laws in
keeping with current societal needs. With regard to
more awareness, there can never be enough.
If you had one message to send to both children and adults
who carry the scars of abuse, what would it be?
TINA RENTON: Understand that the scars will never
go away and don’t try to avoid the feelings connected
to the scars. Speak to someone, a friend or therapist,
but don’t be alone because isolation is the hardest part.
Remember also that just because you have been a victim once does not mean you have to be forever. For all
survivors, it is critical to know that, ultimately, abuse
is never their fault. 
On the Edge
by lyn cockburn
Political Differences
A recent University of London study conducted in 10
countries (Australia, Canada, Colombia, Greece, Italy,
Japan, South Korea, Norway, the U.K. and the U.S) has
been taken by some as proof that women know less about
politics than men. This assumption is little different than
the one so popular in Canada—that women know less
about hockey than men.
Both assumptions are misleading. They’re largely based
on the fact that many female fans, no matter how enthusiastic, of either or both of politics and hockey, tend
to leave the room for a coffee, a beer or a pee every time
the boys start fighting. In hockey, the boys trash-talk each
other, then often resort to inane fisticuffs. In politics, the
boys shout at, interrupt and belittle each other, with occasional threats of bare-knuckle attacks that come to naught,
perhaps because there is no penalty box. These time-honoured antics occasion a lot of female disengagement from
the male sports of hockey and politics.
The study is authored by professor James Curran and
co-authored by professor Kaori Hayashi, who, being a
female, is rarely mentioned, and, in one publication, is
referred to as “he.” They offered 12 multiple-choice questions—eight universal and four relevant to each individual
country. The universal questions included ones about the
president of France, the Taliban and Tiger Woods.
Media outlets worldwide leaped upon the results of
this pub-style quiz with headlines similar to the National
Post’s “Women, especially in Canada, are more ignorant of
politics and current affairs than men.”
In Canada, women answered around 33 percent of the
questions correctly, and men were just short of 50 percent.
However, Canadian women did better than American
men. British men answered 25 percent of the questions
correctly, British women 16 percent. The highest score
went to Norwegian men, at 75 percent. In nine out of 10
of the countries surveyed, there was a distinct gender imbalance, with Colombia the exception—perhaps because
both men and women performed abysmally.
Curran, while noting that “overall, older men did best
on the quiz,” expressed shock and surprise at the results,
especially since many of the countries taking part, such
as Norway, Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., have visibly
progressed in the area of gender equality.
He offered some possible reasons for this disparity. The
first was that it was a “patriarchal hangover” from the days
when men ruled public affairs and women stayed home
to look after hearth and children. Next was the fact that
women are often still held responsible for the majority of
housework and child care, even if they work full-time, a
phenomenon that obviously allows them less leisure time.
Fortunately, this was a two-part study, and it is that
second half that is of greater importance because it looked
at the way news is presented in broadcast, in print and on
the web.
It found that in 70 to 80 percent of cases, with newspapers being the worst, the experts interviewed or cited
for news reports are male. That means women get 30 percent of the media pie—often, says Curran, in reference to
soft news or social issues, not hard news.
“It’s enormously off-putting for women to always be
looking at the news as always being about men,” said
Curran, obviously shocked by such results. Many women,
if they raised an eyebrow at all, were but mildly surprised
that so little has changed in the media in the last 20 years.
“What is clear is that TV news is dominated by men in
terms of the sources of stories across the world,” Curran
said, inadvertently explaining why Lisa LaFlamme’s ascension to anchor on CTV’s evening news does not the
problem solve.
Not long ago, I watched (should have gone for a pee)
as a well-known TV broadcaster introduced a panel discussion on abortion. There were representatives of the
country’s three major parties—all men. For the next few
minutes, I subjected myself to commentary on abortion
conducted by four men. Outraged, I fired off an email to
the host, who politely emailed me back with that elderly
excuse of We Tried To Get Women But There Were None
Available. The answer to which is a question: Would you
assemble a panel made up solely of women to discuss vasectomies? Premature ejaculation? Perhaps impotence?
“Politics is projected as a man’s world, and that encourages a sense of discrimination,” said Curran.
Perhaps the good prof is happily unaware that seven
out of the eight “universal questions” on his quiz referred
to men. Only one was about a woman—Angela Merkel,
chancellor of Germany. 
Bitch
!
e
n
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o
s
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c
r
o
f
g
n
i
n
i
jo
blog
We’re excited to be able to keep readers
abreast of the latest feminist news and
commentary in between quarterly issues
of the magazine.
The Ms. Blog showcases the sharp writing and
informed opinions of a community of feminist
bloggers from around the nation
and the globe.
So please become part of this exciting new
community—a place where feminism takes
center stage.
www.msmagazine.com/blog

Herizons v27n2 Fall 13 (d2)

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