Belittling Belinda Gardasil
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OVERTIME HELD UP AT BANK | MOMMY WARS | THE STORY OF ABEER WOMEN’S NEWS & FEMINIST VIEWS Fall 2007 Vol. 21 No. 2 Made in Canada WHEN IT CLIKS ANDROGYNY ROCK STEPS ON STAGE BELITTLING Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866; PAP Registration No. 07944 Return Undeliverable Addresses to: PO Box 128, BELINDA Winnipeg, MB R3C 2G1 Canada POLITICAL TURF WAR Display until December 1, 2007 GARDASIL TELL SOMEONE $6.95 Canada/US Subscribe to Herizons THESE FIVE FABULOUS BENEFITS WILL BE YOURS When you become a subscriber to Herizons, you’ll 1 be rewarded. You’ll stay informed about the changes women are making in Canada and around the world. Whether it’s improving women’s health, demanding action to improve women’s equality status, confronting racism or promoting sustainable development, women are at the forefront of change. You’ll read Herizons’ insightful and often hilarious columnists as they share their insights about life immersed in social and political change. You’ll be inspired by Herizons’ Nelliegrams that chart women’s progress. And we’ll recommend books and music to soothe and reinvigorate your soul. Herizons subscribers now qualify for a 10 percent 2 discount on books from the Toronto Women’s Bookstore. Applies to in-store and on-line purchases (www.womensbookstore.com).* As a subscriber, you’ll receive your copy of 3 Herizons in the mail before anyone else. When you subscribe to Herizons, you save up to 30 4 percent off the newsstand cost. Subscribers will have free access to all of Herizons 5electronic back issues. Coming online soon! Best of all, your subscription to Herizons, Canada’s most widely-read feminist magazine, is a positive way to demonstrate your support for unapologetic feminist analysis and reporting. It is your support that keeps the feminist ink flowing. All this for the price of a large pizza. * Toronto Women’s Bookstore, 173 Harbord St. 416-922-8744. To activate Herizons’ subscriber discount for in-store book orders, present one I.D. with current address. For on-line book orders, (www.womensbookstore.com) call Herizons for instructions at 1-888-408-0028 before placing your order. SAVE UP TO 30% OFF THE NEWSTAND PRICE Log on to www.herizons.ca to subscribe or fill in the handy reply form in the envelope enclosed. table of contents FALL 2007 News E. FRY CASE IMPROVES CONDITIONS FOR WOMEN 6 by Noreen Shanahan A PERFECT FIT FOR WOMEN 7 by Susana Molinolo OVERTIME PAY HELD UP, TELLERS CHARGE 9 by Janet Nicol ELECTORAL REFORM ABUZZ IN ONTARIO 12 by Melinda Selmys 13: Missing Women A ROOMFUL OF MISSING WOMEN 13 by Jane Shulman Features TURF WARS 16 After enduring repeated personal attacks, MP Belinda Stronach hasn’t shied away from talking about the impact of those remarks upon women contemplating political life. by Ashifa Kassam ON GUARD 16: Belinda Stronach 20 It sounds too good to be true: a vaccine for cervical cancer. So why do health experts say Ottawa’s decision to spend $300 million on Gardasil might be sending the wrong message? by Dawn Rae Downton WHEN IT CLIKS 24 Toronto’s hottest androgynous rock band talks to Herizons. by Cindy Filipenko THE STORY OF ABEER 28 Filmmakers take on violation of girls’ human rights. by Daya Lye IN FOCUS 34 Nova Scotia’s first African Canadian female lieutenant governor has a 30-year history of championing human rights. by Wendy Robbins 28: Abeer Filmmakers ONCE UPON A TIME 37 Deb Ellis writes children’s stories about the Taliban, AIDS and living in poverty. by Janet Nicol HERIZONS FALL 2007 1 table of contents FALL 2007 / VOLUME 21 NO. 2 For kick-ass women in a world that needs its ass kicked MANAGING EDITOR: Penni Mitchell FULFILLMENT AND OFFICE MANAGER: Phil Koch ACCOUNTANT: Sharon Pchajek BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Ghislaine Alleyne, Phil Koch, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhard, Valerie Regehr EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Ghislaine Alleyne, Gio Guzzi, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhand 54: Somersault ADVERTISING SALES: Penni Mitchell (204) 774-6225 DESIGN: inkubator.ca WEB MISTRESS: Rachel Thompson/BlueMuse Arts & Ideas RETAIL INQUIRIES: Disticor (905) 619-6565 PROOFREADER: Phil Koch MUSIC MUST-HAVES COVER PHOTO: Clint McLean 40 Joss Stone, Danielle French, Cori Brewster, HERIZONS is published four times per year by HERIZONS Inc. in Evalyn Parry, Ruthie Foster, Amy Milan, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. One-year subscription price: $27.50 Serena Ryder (includes GST) in Canada. Two-year subscription is $43.92 in Canada. Subscriptions to US: add $6.00. International FALL READING subscriptions: add $8.00. Cheques or money orders are payable to: 43 In the Name of Friendship by Marilyn French, HERIZONS, PO Box 128, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA R3C 2G1. Ph (204) 774-6225. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Comfort Food for Breakups by Marusya SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: [email protected] EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: [email protected] Bociurkiw, Lullabies for Little Criminals by ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: [email protected] Heather O’Neill, Mommy Wars edited by WEBSITE: www.herizons.ca Leslie Morgan Steiner, Rage + Resistance: A HERIZONS is indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. Theological Reflection on the Montreal Massacre GST #R131089187. ISSN 0711-7485. by Theresa O’Donovan, Remembering Women The purpose of HERIZONS is to empower women; to inspire hope Murdered by Men by the Cultural Memory and foster a state of wellness that enriches women’s lives; to build Group, Women Writing Africa, West Africa awareness of issues as they affect women; to promote the and the Sahel by E. Sutherland-Addy and A. strength, wisdom and creativity of women; to broaden the Diaw. boundaries of feminism to include building coalitions and support among other marginalized people; to foster peace and ecological awareness; and to expand the influence of feminist principles in FILM the world. HERIZONS aims to reflect a feminist philosophy that is 54 Somersault diverse, understandable and relevant to women’s daily lives. Review by Maureen Medved Views expressed in HERIZONS are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect HERIZONS’ editorial policy. No material may be reprinted without permission. Due to limited resources, HERIZONS does not accept poetry or fiction submissions. Columns HERIZONS is a member of the Manitoba Magazine PENNI MITCHELL Publishers Association. 5 Violating Mother Nature HERIZONS acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publication MARIKO TAMAKI Assistance Program (PAP) and the Canada Magazine Fund our toward mailing and editorial costs. 33 The Education of Miss Mariko HERIZONS gratefully acknowledges the support SUSAN G. COLE of the Manitoba Arts Council. 55 What Makes a Feminist? Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866, PAP Registration No. 07944. Return Undeliverable Addresses to: PO Box 128, Winnipeg, LYN COCKBURN MB, Canada R3C 2G1, Email: [email protected] 56 Sexism in Full Swing Herizons is proudly printed on Forest Stewardship Council- certified paper that is 50% recycled, including 25% post- consumer, acid-free and chlorine-free. 2 FALL 2007 HERIZONS letters We’re in the army now Toxins disrupt the body’s systems. Illustration: Tamara Rae Biebrich and Mike Carroll Natural alternatives to chemicals PERSONAL CARE the sixth is managing an unexplained feeling This is a justice issue. Should we be paying ARTICLE A BEAUTY of rage. The seventh and eighth aren’t people to make us sick and then paying them bothered this time, but will react to the next again to make us better? Would that money The article on the beauty industry was very chemical that comes along. much welcomed in my house. Congratulations better be spent on food, education, real health on such a well-researched, in-depth and The toxins can immediately disrupt any of care, supporting social service agencies or totally readable report. the body’s systems. The symptoms can be so donating to Herizons? There were two angles to this issue that mild as to be barely noticeable, or they can My recommendation would be to weren’t included that I think are just as flatten someone for three days. It was only investigate what is available from your local important. The first is that the toxins in through a concerted education effort in the health food store or environmental store. You personal care products aren’t just damaging in choir that several of the eight realized that can find a full range of personal care and the long term. There are immediate effects in a their occasional feelings of unwellness were home care products that won’t make you sick. surprisingly high percentage of the population. directly related to personal care product My family made the switch several years As an example, in my 24-member choir, there exposure and that by limiting their exposure ago, and I can guarantee that we are cleaner are eight people who suffer immediate they had greater well-being in their lives. than those who use the chemically based sickness when they are exposed to the toxins The second angle to consider is that none products. Think about it: is applying toxins to in personal care products (and cleaning of this is necessary. People were clean and your skin a clean practice? products, but that’s another issue). Reactions beautiful before the chemical industries PAT BONELL are many and varied, and because you can’t discovered that they could make huge profits Ottawa, ON say definitively that this ingredient causes that by brainwashing the masses into thinking that reaction, it is hard to nail down. When they won’t be accepted if they don’t smell a COLONEL FIRES BACK encountering the miasma caused by a certain way or look a certain way (that will of In her column “We’re in the Army Now” personal care product, one person will have course change with the next season, (Summer 2007, Vol 21, No.