THIS MAGAZINE: BECAUSE EVERTHING IS POLITICAL

Search for:

• FEATURES
• THIS & THAT
• ARTS & IDEAS
• FICTION & POETRY
• LETTERS
• BLOG THIS
•  
• SUBSCRIBE
• BACK ISSUES
• SUPPORT THIS
•  
• ABOUT THIS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• CONTACT THIS
• ADVERTISE
• SITE MAP

Home » Blog This

March 06, 2009

International Women's Day 2009

Posted by Anna Bowen at 02:52 PM ET | Comments (0)

This Sunday, March the 8th is International Women's Day. Communities worldwide will be marking the day with demonstrations, festivals, and advocacy events. Info on Toronto's rally and fair (Saturday, March 7) can be found here. For events across Canada, including film festivals, marches, conferences, readings, music, and more check out this site.
PICTURE FROM IWD 07 TORONTO, COURTESY OF WWW.IWDTORONTO.COM

More entries on: Feminism

November 07, 2008

The new face of feminism?

Posted by Melissa Wilson at 11:18 AM ET | Comments (4)

With minimum wage raising at a snail's pace as compared to tuition fees (not to mention rent and groceries) and student loan agencies notoriously random with handouts, student across the country submit to myriad wacky plans to keep their cupboards stocked with tomato soup and ramen noodles. I, myself, have been known to dole out balloons and extra ice cream scoops at the pizza joint that I waitress at in hopes that the kids' parents will leave me a hefty tip.

It seems 22-year-old Natalie Dylan (not her real name) of Sacramento, California, is one step ahead of me in that she's auctioning off her virginity in order to pay for grad school.

Already saddled with a degree in Women's Studies (seriously), Dylan is hoping to grab a cool million for her cherry, to be offered up at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada.

Are tuition fees really that high in the U.S.? Where's President-elect Obama on this one?

Dylan is quoted as saying, "We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?"

Of all the comments and criticisms that have been hurled at Dylan, my favourite was someone who referred to the plan as "the ultimate act of feminism." Oddly enough, I heard a friend of mine say something similar in regards to her plans to graduate university, get married, have babies and stay at home and raise them.

Never one to qualify myself a feminist in any way, with This Mag's current cover story, 'The New Face of Porn,' the comment got me thinking: has all the bra-burning and business-suiting of the 1960s been watered down to a laissez-faire feminist culture (Sarah Palin definitely knocked us women down a few pegs) or is the simple act of choice what the first-wavers were lobbying for all along?

Is choosing to auction off one's virtue the epitome of feminism, or the antithesis of it?

A video of Natalie Dylan on CNN, after the jump.

More entries on: Feminism

March 10, 2008

International Women's Day: Afghanistan

Posted by derek at 03:51 PM ET | Comments (3)

I am caged in this corner
full of melancholy and sorrow ...
my wings are closed and I cannot fly ...
I am an Afghan woman and so must wail.
- Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005.

One hundred and sixty-five. That's how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in 2007. It's a desperate act that reflects the desperate lives of women in Afghanistan, whose plight is getting worse.

The outrages make for a long list: Child-selling for marriages is rampant, and many of the new brides haven't even reached their 10th birthday. In prisons and "shelters" women are raped by guards and government officials. Afghan women suffer from one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates: 1 in 9 women die during childbirth. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where the suicide rate is higher for women than for men...and on and on.

Those who speak out, or even raise questions, face harsh punishment. Sayad Kambaksh, 23-year-old journalism student, was recently sentenced to death after a trial that lasted just four minutes. His crime? Downloading an article about women's rights that was deemed blasphemous to Islam by the judges.

All of this is upheld by a government that is defended, funded, and propped up by NATO countries, Canada included.

More entries on: Feminism | From the intern desk | Global politics | Religion

July 02, 2007

Vote on Canada's most underrated rebellion

Posted by mason at 03:15 PM ET | Comments (1)

As Canadians, most of us have learned about such nation-defining events as the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada or the Red River Rebellion, but in the next issue of This, we chronicle four under-appreciated rebellions that explode the myth of Canada as a place with a peaceful (and boring) history.

The July/August issue of the magazine is set to hit stores soon, but right now you can read up on the chosen rebellions and vote for the one you think has had the most lasting impact on Canadian life.

More entries on: Aboriginal rights | Feminism | Labour days | THIS matters | War and peace

June 17, 2007

Fatspiration!

Posted by Ariel Troster at 05:01 PM ET | Comments (6)

Whenever I hear media commentators bemoaning the scourge of childhood obesity, I always wince a little bit. Even though I understand how important it is for kids to get active (and for parents to help them eat nutritious, unprocessed food), the reality is that there are many factors that affect a person's weight and girth. In many cases, poverty and food insecurity are an issue. In other cases, it's a simple matter of genes. There are many of us who work hard to stay fit and healthy, but will never ever fit into a size 8 -- which is the biggest size in Kate Moss' new clothing line for Top Shop in the UK.

Still, I am so happy to see so many foxy and fierce women bucking the body-hating trend. Beth Ditto, the uber-cool lead singer of the indie band The Gossip recently posed in all her naked, curvy glory for NME Magazine. Feminist icon Germaine Greer praised Ditto for her courage, saying, "Her intention is to force acceptance of her body type, 5ft tall and 15 stone, and by this strategy to challenge the conventional imagery of women."

Lilly Allen, the British pop star who achieved fame after posting her songs and writing on MySpace, has spoken out repeatedly about her desire to maintain her sanity in the face of celebrity body-obsession. She sings, "I want to eat spaghetti bolognese and not worry about it for days and days."

But like many of us, Lilly had a "bad body day" a few weeks ago, and posted an entry on her MySpace page claiming that industry pressure had led her to emotional collapse, and that she'd spent a day researching gastric bypass surgery. Her fans responded in droves with words of encouragement.

When I'm having a "fat day," I take my inspiration from the amazing Leslie Hall, fearless gold pants-wearing hip hop artist and keeper of the biggest Gem Sweater collection ever.

Or I watch this:

-- Cross posted to Dykes Against Harper

More entries on: Feminism

June 07, 2007

Inside Toronto's social housing action

Posted by mason at 10:30 AM ET | Comments (4)

On Sunday, This Magazine writer Jennifer O’Connor participated in a march for social housing leading up to the takeover of an abandoned house in Toronto. Here is her account of the action.

(PHOTO: KRISZTINA KUN)

"How would you like to live with roaches, no heat, no water and no money to cover basic necessities?" asked one of the signs clothespinned to a fence in Toronto's Cawthra Park.

Hundreds of people came here on Sunday for a rally before marching through downtown Toronto and arriving at an abandoned house on Howard Street (near Bloor and Sherbourne streets) that had been taken over by the Women Against Poverty Collective.

The collective, a group of women and trans people, organized the takeover to provide "safe and affordable community spaces where women can live." A tent city was also set up in the park across the street from the house. WAPC's eight demands include federal right-to-housing legislation, universal childcare and a 40 per cent increase to social assistance rates. (The complete list of demands is available here.)

The facts connecting violence and women's poverty are shameful. According to the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, one in seven women in this country is living in poverty. Plus, recent research from Statistics Canada states that women report just over one-third of physical assaults to police. The CRIAW has also found that the early death rate for homeless women is 10 times that of women with housing. "Any plan to reduce or eliminate violence against women," reads one of the institute's fact sheets, "must deal with the issue of creating safe, affordable, accessible housing."

At the housing takeover, I joined in the chants: "Housing by women, for women, now!"; "Our housing, our right, we want a place to sleep tonight!"; "Poor women under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!" I grooved along when "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" was played. I tried to figure out the answers to the speculative questions: Did the police just take the horses in the trailer up the street or come back down? The police had blocked the house as soon as we'd arrived, and I waited to see what was going to happen.

Just after 7 p.m., in the middle of a rainstorm, the police began moving those of us in front of the house back onto the sidewalk across the street and the horses were brought in. "Many, many of the women that were there yesterday were injured," WAPC member Anna Willats said on Monday. We shouted and cheered for the four women who were arrested when they came out. (Another woman was arrested outside of the house; they were all released.)

Those of us in tent city were going to move out of the park, as we'd been invited to another location, but I found myself scrambling to get my tent and my belongings out of the way of the horses as we were chased through the park and out to Sherbourne Street while most of the demonstrators were being forced straight down Howard to Sherbourne. We walked back to Cawthra Park, with the police following us on bicycles, before disbanding.

On Monday, the WAPC held a lunch/press conference at the 519 Church Street Community Centre. The idea was to keep the focus on the demands, and the collective has promised to "demonstrate for change until it happens."

More entries on: Feminism | Human rights | Poverty

May 11, 2007

Girl, you're gonna want in on this...

Posted by john_d at 10:33 AM ET | Comments (1)

Just a quick follow up to Shawn's posting below.

I'm not sure anymore which wave of feminism we're in, and this, um, intriguing Locher's clothing line is not helping clear up my confusion.

Do I give the "Will f*** for shoes" shirt with irony, or sincerity? Someone help me out here.

(image courtesy lochers.com)

Thanks to Boing Boing for the tip.

More entries on: Feminism

March 08, 2007

International Women's Day Special Report: Women's Health in Haiti

Posted by shawnsyms at 04:09 PM ET | Comments (0)

The poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, Haiti has suffered as a result of international intervention for over five hundred years. The damage continues to this day, in the form of desperate poverty and extreme brutality. Some of those at greatest risk are women.

Last year, the medical journal The Lancet estimated that in the year following 2004's armed insurrection against the Haitian government, 8,000 murders and 35,000 acts of sexual assault occurred in the area surrounding the capital Port au Prince alone. More recently, the BBC reported that some UN troops deployed in the distraught nation have been accused of sexual violence against children.

And with Haiti's for-profit healthcare model, the most vulnerable suffer. In the dozens of slums surrounding Port au Prince, women were forced to give birth at home in unsanitary conditions, without the benefit of electricity, latrines or even running water. Until Médecins sans Frontières got involved, that is. MSF opened Jude Anne Hospital one year ago, strategically locating it so the poorest women in the capital city could easily travel there. The hospital offers emergency obstetric care to poor pregnant women, for free. It also offers support for those who have been sexually assaulted, and provides anti-retroviral treatment to deter mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

The hospital has just over 50 beds—but hundreds of women seek help there every day. So a fast turnaround is essential. About 4 hours can be devoted per standard birth; women who undergo Caesarean sections can recuperate there for two days. Still, the efforts of the hospital staff greatly increase the odds for women and children in a country where, the MSF points out, there are 523 maternal deaths for every 100,000 childbirths (compared with 20 deaths on average in Western nations).

Jude Anne Hospital saves lives. Many of its patients experience high-risk medical complications where an attempt at home birth would likely kill the mother, or child, or both. Still, even managing to get to the hospital can be a fateful risk. In the slums of Port au Prince, random violence such as shootings and kidnapping are daily occurrences. A lot of the births take place in the hallways or even in the parking lot. As Sarah Senbeto, one midwife working at Jude Anne, told MSF: "Sadly enough, we can only help a small portion of the women in Port au Prince. We can only save those who make it this far."

MSF is on a mission to let the world know the struggles facing the poor women of Haiti. Find out more here.

More entries on: Feminism | Healthcare | Poverty | Sexual Health

March 07, 2007

Vaginas unite!

Posted by Ariel Troster at 01:11 PM ET | Comments (2)

In honour of International Women's Day tomorrow, I would like to designate today as "The Day in Honour of Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson." These gutsy gals have just been suspended from a Cross, River, N.Y. high school for defying their principal's orders, and reading out the following passage (in unison!) during a performance of the Vagina Monologues:

My short skirt is a liberation flag in the women's army. I declare these streets, any streets, my vagina's country.

Apparently, the school deemed the word vagina to be inappropriate for children to hear. You can read the full story here.

Can you imagine if other body parts were deemed arbitrarily inappropriate for young audiences? Like "elbow." I think elbows are kinda lewd.

Anyway, this isn't the only place where the proper name for pussy was deemed too racy. A Florida theatre tried to re-name Eve Ensler's famous play "The Hoo-Ha Monologues" last month, but Ensler told them she'd pull the plug on the production, unless they dropped the moniker and used the play's real name.

Still, there are hip feminists out there that take issue with the Vagina Monologues' use of the wrong v-word. According to this writer, we should be teaching girls about both the vagina and the vulva, saying,

The widespread denial of female external genitalia (and thus of female sexuality, if not female reality) is a subject worthy of serious discourse. It is true that Americans do not excise the clitoris and ablate the labia, as is practiced in other cultures on countless girls and women. Instead, we do the job linguistically-- psychic genital mutilation, if you will. Language can be as powerful and swift as the surgeon's knife. What is not named does not exist.

Here's to girls who get it! Your smarts and your bravery are the real liberation flags in the women's army.

More entries on: Feminism

---

 Subscribe to the feed

---

Blog This Must-Reads

---

---

---

Blog This Archives

March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
March 2000

---