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PROGESTERONE SHARLENE AZAM SHARON JONES AND ON YOUR HEALTH THE NEW SEXUAL AND THE WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW EXPLOITATION DAP-KINGS

WOMEN’S NEWS & FEMINIST VIEWS Fall 2010 Vol. 24 No. 2 Made in Canada

NATIVE BLOOD FILMMAKER TRACEY DEER DELVES INTO IDENTITY ISSUES WOMEN’S STUDIES TIME TO CHANGE COURSE? $6.75 Canada/US Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866; PAP Registration No. 07944 Return Undeliverable Addresses to: LIVING DOWNSTREAM PO Box 128, Winnipeg, MB R3C 2G1 Canada FILM EXPLORES CAUSES OF CANCER Display until December 15, 2010 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:20 PM Page C2 Let’s expand the Canada Pension Plan *SVHIGEHIWSYVKSZIVRQIRXERHFYWMRIWWPIEHIVWLEZIXSPH'EREHMERWXS JIRHJSVXLIQWIPZIWMRVIXMVIQIRX[MXL6674W 8LI]LEZIGSRZMRGIHYWXS “RRSPs have TYXSYVVIXMVIQIRXWEZMRKWEXKVIEXVMWOF]MRZIWXMRKTVMZEXIP]MRXLIWXSGO been a colossal QEVOIX[LMGLF]MXWZIV]REXYVIMWTVSRIXSWTIGYPEXMZIFYFFPIW°JSPPS[IH failure.” F]GVEWLIW-RWXIEHSJTVSZMHMRKMRGSQIWIGYVMX] 6674WGSRXMRYIXS Don Drummond, TD Chief Economist GSQTPIXIP]JEMPPS[ERHQMHHPIMRGSQI'EREHMERW October 2, 2009, Toronto Speech 8LIVIMWERSXLIVQSVIWIGYVISTXMSRSYV'EREHE4IRWMSR4PER 5YIFIG4IRWMSR4PER “. . . the CPP will 8LI'%;WYTTSVXWXLIGEQTEMKRXSHSYFPI'44FIRIJMXWSZIVXLI remain viable RI\XWIZIR]IEVW for the next 75 years . . .” 4PIEWIXIPP]SYV1IQFIVSJ4EVPMEQIRXXSHE] Jean-Claude Menard, Chief Actuary, CPP July 15, 2009, News Release ±)\TERHERHWXVIRKXLIRXLI'EREHE4IRWMSR4PER °JSVXLIWIGYVMX]SJ EPP'EREHMERW²

Every generation is counting on it. For more information visit: www.caw.ca

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FALL 2010 / VOLUME 24 NO. 2 news WOMEN REACH OUT TO DEVADASIS 6 by Debbie Meroff DOMESTIC WORKERS GET A BREAK 6: Devadasis aided by programs in India. 8 by Katie Palmer 10 WOMEN’S ALLIANCE LAUNCHED IN MONTREAL 11 CAMPAIGN UPDATES features WOMEN’S STUDIES: TIME TO CHANGE COURSE? 16 The first women’s studies course was offered in Canada in 1971. Herizons looks at the state of women’s studies includ- ing the current debate over the name women’s studies. by Renée Bondy 33: Dr. Jerrilynn Prior. FIGHTING THE CURRENT 20 Sandra Steingraber, best known for her provocative book, Living Downstream, talks about the newly produced film Living Downstream, which weaves together the politics of cancer with Steingraber’s personal experience. by Amanda LeRougetel NATIVE BLOOD: 24 TRACEY DEER DELVES INTO IDENTITY Filmmaker Tracey Deer received a Genie for Club Native, a film that examines the difficulties faced by four women who confront notions about native identity. by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk

THE NEW SEXUAL EXPLOITATION 29 Sharlene Azam’s book, Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss looks at the phenomenon of teenaged girls selling sex in a highly sexualized consumer culture. by Lisa Karen

RAGE OVER HORMONES 33 Endocrinologist Dr. Jerilynn Prior debunks the myth of estrogen deficiency and lauds the positive role proges- terone plays in promoting health. by Maya Khankhoje

ACTIVIST PROFILE: MEET JESSICA YEE 36 Jessica Yee founded the Native Youth Sexual Health Net- work, a youth-run organization that promotes healthy sexuality and reproductive rights in Canada and the U.S. 29: Sharlene Azam on the new sexual exploitation. by Joanna Chui HERIZONS FALL 2010 1 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 6:46 PM Page 2

VOLUME 24 NO. 2

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MANAGING EDITOR: Penni Mitchell FULFILLMENT AND OFFICE MANAGER: Phil Koch ACCOUNTANT: Sharon Pchajek BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Phil Koch, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhard, Valerie Regehr EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Gio Guzzi, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhard ADVERTISING SALES: Penni Mitchell (204) 774-6225 DESIGN: inkubator.ca RETAIL INQUIRIES: Disticor (905) 619-6565 PROOFREADER: Phil Koch 46: Filming Under Fire COVER PHOTO: Liam Maloney courtesy of the National Film Board arts & ideas HERIZONS is published four times per year by HERIZONS Inc. in MUSIC TO GET YOU MOVING Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. One-year subscription price: $26.19 38 Are You My Mother? by Kathryn Calder; Love is a plus $1.31 GST = $27.50 in Canada. Subscriptions to U.S. add $8.00. Hunter by Rae Spoon; I Learned the Hard Way by International subscriptions add $9.00. Cheques or money orders Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings; Memphis Blues are payable to: HERIZONS, PO Box 128, Winnipeg, Manitoba, by Cyndi Lauper; Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris CANADA R3C 2G1. Ph (204) 774-6225. by Martha Wainwright. SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: [email protected] EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: [email protected] RADICAL READING ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: [email protected] 41 Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt; WEBSITE: www.herizons.ca Arrival of the Snake Woman by Olive Senior; The HERIZONS is indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index and heard Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (trans- on Voiceprint. lation by Alision Anderson); Best Lesbian Erotica GST #R131089187. ISSN 0711-7485. 2010 by Kathleen Warnock; Click: Young Women on The purpose of HERIZONS is to empower women; to inspire hope the Moments They Knew They Were Feminist edited and foster a state of wellness that enriches women’s lives; to build by Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan; awareness of issues as they affect women; to promote the This Vanishing Land by Diane Whelan; Diary of an strength, wisdom and creativity of women; to broaden the bound- Exercise Addict by Peach Friedman. aries of feminism to include building coalitions and support among other marginalized people; to foster peace and ecological aware- FILMING UNDER FIRE: ness; and to expand the influence of feminist principles in the 45 THE INSPIRATION OF SHERYLE CARLSON world. HERIZONS aims to reflect a feminist philosophy that is by Erika Thorkelson diverse, understandable and relevant to women’s daily lives. 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.

HERIZONS acknowledges the financial support of the columns Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund toward our mailing and editorial costs. PENNI MITCHELL 5 Time to Listen to Women HERIZONS gratefully acknowledges the support of the Manitoba Arts Council. SUSAN G. COLE Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866, Return Undeliverable 15 Hung Out to Try Addresses to: PO Box 128, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3C 2G1, Email: [email protected] LYN COCKBURN Herizons is proudly printed on Forest Stewardship 48 Harried Politics Council-certified paper. Please recyle.

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letters

WARY OF BURKA BAN weave into cloth that they fashion into veils that they embroi- Susan Cole in her column (Herizons, Summer 2010) couldn’t der lovingly to remove them … if and when they are ready. have better articulated my feelings since the Quebec govern- MAYA KHANKHOJE ment restricted the wearing of the niqab. Montreal, QC Beware, Quebeckers and Canadians, fascism begins with baby steps. I was brought up in India where the niqab, hijab, SWIFT STORY chador and burka happily coexist with bare-breasted, head- I want to say bravo to Ember Swift for her piece, “The Corri- shaven high-caste widows, sexy sari-exposed midriffs, topless dors of Queer” in the Summer 2010 issue of Herizons. I loved it! tribal women, naked holy men and pacifist Jain women who Ember Swift has articulated so elegantly all the things I have cover their faces so as not to inadvertently kill an insect by thought and felt for many years but could never find the words. swallowing it. I was also given a sound education by women I’ve passed this article on to my close friends and my family who wore their own version of the hijab and were not allowed to and interestingly, they all had the same response: The article wear lipstick, jewellery or bright colours, except that they were gave them insight into my life and made them realize they’d not of the Muslim faith, but devout Roman Catholic Irish nuns! underestimated the challenges of not being just straight or les- While extreme cosmetic surgery in the West does harm and bian. The article has given me the words to tell my own story. sometimes kills women, a veil, in and of itself, does no harm— RACHELA BIRCH-SAMIOS to the wearer or the onlooker. A caveat, however: In my days, Victoria, Australia burka clad women had a higher incidence of tuberculosis due to lack of exposure to fresh air and sunlight, which might WRITE US A LETTER! translate into a higher rate of osteoporosis in our sun-starved We’ll give you a free subscription! Send your comments, country. It is up to the women who spin the thread that they observations, kudos or criticisms to [email protected]. contributors

RENÉE BONDY TARA-MICHELLE ZINIUK Renée Bondy’s love of women’s history, her Tara-Michelle Ziniuk is a Montreal-Toronto- commitment to feminist praxis, and her pas- Guelph poet, activist and media-maker. She sion for teaching come together in her work is most recently author of Somewhere To as a historian, writer and educator. Renée’s Run From (Tightrope Books) and is expecting

Photo: C. Nash writing on contemporary feminist themes her first child any day. has appeared in Herizons and Bitch. She teaches in the women’s studies program at the University of Windsor. JOANNA CHIU Joanna Chiu’s first Herizons contribution ALICE LAWLOR appears in this issue, a profile of Jessica Toronto-based Alice Lawlor is a travel editor Yee. Joanna volunteers with the feminist by day, freelance writer by night. A regular sex workers advocates group, FIRST contributor to Xtra, InToronto and Herizons, and writes a column about sex work Alice hails from the U.K., where she was the on SexLifeCanada.ca. Currently, Joanna is an intern at

Photo: Gabor Jurina editor of a feminist newsletter for three years. The Nation.

HERIZONS Environmental Statement Herizons is printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper. The certification means that raw materials originate in forests run according to principles that respect the environment, at all stages of production. By printing on a paper that contains 25 percent post-consumer fibre, Herizons is saving 10 trees, or two-and-a-half tonnes of wood, four tonnes of water and 1,678 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year. This paper is also elemental chlorine-free and acid-free. Sure, it costs more, but we think the planet is worth it. And we know you agree.

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University of Ottawa

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Herizons is a great educational tool and women’s studies HERE’S WHAT PROFESSORS ARE resource for your classroom. SAYING ABOUT HERIZONS: Bulk Herizons Subscriptions for women’s studies students are “I love having copies of Herizons to hand available for $6 each—or 75% off the regular price. out to my intro women’s studies students!” Ann Braithwaite, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies, University of Prince Edward Island, Here’s How It Works: Charlottetown, P.E.I.,Canada “Herizons always makes my work for You place an order for 40 or more Women’s Studies women exciting and worthwhile.” 1. Subscriptions at $6 each (minium order $240). Cheryl Gosselin, Women’s Studies Coordinator, Bishop’s University, We will ship them directly to your office immediately upon Lennoxville, QC, Canada 2. publication during the academic year. You distribute them in class—there are no names to keep track of. Just email [email protected] to order—let us know how 3. many Women’s Studies Subscriptions you want. We’ll send the next issue when it’s published.

Women’s studies professors tell us that Herizons is an invaluable source of feminist news and analysis, covering topical issues, public policy debates. Herizons research is useful in the classroom and students attest to its value as well. Herizons, a great teaching tool for women’s studies professors.

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first word BY PENNI MITCHELL

TIME TO LISTEN TO WOMEN

On a recent cover of Time magazine, an 18-year-old Afghani away. It was Aisha’s father, who gave her away in marriage woman appears beside these six words: What Happens if We when she was 12. Leave Afghanistan. Curiously, there is no question mark; the Interestingly, none of the women Time interviewed called words appears as a statement of fact. for an extended foreign operation to protect them from the Aisha, the young woman in the photo, had her nose and Taliban. They are more preoccupied with what will happen if ears cut off as a punishment for fleeing the abusive home of Karzai sells them out; a Taliban resurgence would roll back her husband, a Taliban fighter. Time says it didn’t take the the progress women have made. Their greatest worry isn’t decision whether to use the photo lightly. The magazine’s that foreign troops are leaving; it is that their constitutional editor, Richard Stengel, told the magazine’s readers he protection and their emerging presence in parliament could “would rather confront readers with the Taliban’s treatment be bargained away. of women than ignore it.” Parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi risks her life every day to par- The appearance of the photo isn’t nearly as disturbing as ticipate in public life and she is not alone in her belief that Time’s cover caption. Here sits a determined- bullets do not build a civil society. Koofi told looking woman; the fact that her nose is Time: “It is possible to make things better if the absent from her face is strikingly evident. international community supports good gover- And yet Time decided to present Aisha, not nance.” But all she hears is talk of pulling out as a survivor of the gendered crimes inflicted troops, period. upon young women in Afghanistan during It’s time to listen to women. And what the the watch of the NATO-led operation, but as women of Afghanistan want is the support of a symbol of what will happen in the future the international community in their bid to when they leave. become full and equal citizens after foreign This notion that foreign troops were troops leave. What they want is a well-devel- somehow sent to protect women in oped social infrastructure, a well-funded Afghanistan becomes even more spurious education system, the right to participate in with Time’s statement. And it’s a claim that government and a woman-friendly justice even makes some military analysts uncom- system. These are the weapons that will ulti- fortable. John Pike, the director of GlobalSecurity.org, said mately bring about the downfall of patriarchal rule in the Time story “raises a question which would be very diffi- Afghanistan one day. These are, after all, the same weapons cult to answer … whether the military involvement is meant that have helped women in many countries, including to improve the status of women.” Canada, achieve greater rights as citizens over the last 150 The foreign troops are in Afghanistan not to help women, years. Hopefully, for the sake of Afghani women, sustained but to back Afghani President Hamid Karzai’s fractious gov- international support will reduce their wait time. ernment. And while Karzai has been favoured by progressives In the meantime, I’ll put my faith in women like Aisha, over warlords and the Taliban, Afghani women are worried who, facing an almost certain death, argued with her perse- what will happen if Karzai negotiates with the Taliban. cutors that her abuse was unjust. (By the way, Aisha plans to They are now between a rock and a hard place. And have reconstructive surgery in the U.S., paid for by a human- although women in Afghanistan are oppressed under the itarian organization.) These women deserve our support, not influence of mullahs, warlords and the Taliban, they also our pity or misplaced protection, as they continue to fight for face violence and the suppression of their human rights by a society that will allow them their rightful place as equals. others. Locked in her room when her husband was away, Afghani women deserve to be front and centre setting the Aisha’s captors were not an organized battalion of the Tal- agenda for their government, not cowering from the sidelines iban. They were her in-laws—the same people who helped in their homes or their communities. her husband disfigure her. And it wasn’t the Taliban who And as Koofi says, “Women’s rights must not be the sacri- returned Aisha to them after she was jailed for running fice by which peace is achieved.” 

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nelliegrams WOMEN REACH OUT BREAST IS BEST Women who breast- TO DEVADASIS feed for at least one month are less likely BY DEBBIE MEROFF to develop type 2 diabetes later in life compared to those who do not. A study in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine confirmed similar findings by other researchers. Lead author Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz of the University of Pittsburgh said that “On the basis of this study, we know that a mother’s first month as a new mom really matters.” The study looked at 2,200 women between the ages of 40 and 78. Of those, 56 percent had breastfed. Researchers found that women who breastfed for at least one month developed diabetes at about the same rate as women who had never given birth. However, mothers who

had never breastfed were almost twice Photo: Rachel Marie Robichaux as likely to develop diabetes. Women’s groups in India are providing aid to girls and women sold into sexual service as devadasis.

COURTS APPOINT WOMEN Lakshmi was 10 when her parents left her devadasis and to others who have Malaysia’s Islamic sharia courts have at the Hindu temple. They explained that acquired HIV or AIDS. The agency’s drop- appointed their first female judges, The she was being married to the gods, and in counselling centre and HIV-testing Associated Press reports. Suraya Ramli that she would sing and dance and clinic employ former devadasis to and Rafidah Abdul Razak were named perform religious rituals. But she soon counsel others. sharia court judges for Kuala Lumpur and learned that as a devadasi (Sanskrit for Eradicating practices that are economic, the administrative capital of Putrajaya in female servant of god), she was expected religious and social in origin is not easy. May by Prime Minister Najib Razak. to provide sexual services to men, some of Centuries ago, Hindu temple dancers and The appointments were made to whom were older than her grandfather. other fine arts performers came from improve justice in cases involving families Later, Lakshmi was sent to Delhi, where India’s high-caste families. The women and women’s rights reported One India in hundreds of girls lived crowded together often achieved independence through the July. The appointments were praised by in tenements and were beaten if they acquisition of money and land. Gradually, women’s rights activists as an improve- didn’t earn their quota each night. After a however, they came to be almost ment for a judicial system frequently few years, Lakshmi became very sick after exclusively from low-caste or dalit accused of favouring men. Female judges becoming infected with HIV/AIDS. There (outcaste) backgrounds and temple priests are common in Malaysia’s secular courts, was nowhere to turn. began hiring them out as concubines. As a though most top posts are held by men. In 1982, the Devadasi Act was passed in Marathi saying puts it, they were “servants —Women’s e-News India. It stipulates that those who sell girls of god, but wives of the whole town.” as temple prostitutes face fines and five Today, girls and women are trafficked to TRACKING GENDER years of imprisonment. Few punishments, brothels in India’s biggest cities. South African track star however, have been meted out. While the Part of the problem stems from the fact Caster Semenya is finally practice has been eliminated in some that daughters are often considered a free to compete after Indian states, it continues in others, with liability, especially among destitute being sidelined for 11 “weddings” taking place in secret. It is families expected to provide marriage months because of a debate over her gen- estimated that a quarter of a million Indian dowries. Traditional beliefs are another der. The New York Daily News reported in girls function as devadasis. factor. In Andhra Pradesh it was believed July that the 19-year-old’s deep voice and Today, several organizations are that the ill fortune of a family or village dramatic improvement in speed and mus- assisting women including Lakshmi. The could be lifted by dedicating a girl in the cle strength sparked the speculation about Working Women’s Forum of India has family as a devadasi. Girls are “married” her gender. She has not run competitively established advocacy and health centres to the god Potharaju when they are since she won the 800-metre race in the to help former devadasis. The forum between five and nine years old. Upon August 2009 world championships. makes small loans available to women so reaching puberty, devadasis become the The International Association of Ath- they can establish alternative livelihoods. property of upper-class villagers. letics Federations, after hearing from a World Vision supports projects in In some villages, girls are kept as panel of medical experts, cleared Maharashtra and Karnataka states that concubines by men who buy them when reach out to more than 1,000 former they reach puberty. The money they earn

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as religiously sanctioned sex workers northern Karnataka provides not only often makes these girls their families’ community-based health care but also nelliegrams main providers. In other places, they are spiritual support to devadasis. The considered publicly owned and are used organization runs a mobile clinic as well Semenya late this summer to resume by men free of charge. The necklaces they as satellite medical camps and provides competition as a woman. It added that wear identify their status, while girls who nutritional supplements. Organizers plan medical details of her case will be kept rebel are often disowned by their families to supplement these steps with a micro- confidential and the sports organization and communities. loan program. will not comment further. To support these women, another Supporting agencies agree that tackling project to reduce the incidence of HIV and extreme poverty among India’s low-caste BRITISH WOMEN PAY other sexually transmitted diseases was and outcast population is an essential first HIGHER PRICE initiated this year by OM India’s Good step towards eradicating the exploitation According to a report in the Washington Shepherd Healthcare program. A team in of children.  Post, British women could bear 72 percent of the burden of the new British govern- ment’s spending cuts. The government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron is making a round of cuts that will roll back stimulus incentives and hit at the country’s social safety net. Another major DOMESTIC WORKERS target is the public sector, where as many as 600,000 government jobs could be cut; GET A BREAK 65 percent of public servants are women. The move is being challenged in court BY KATIE PALMER by the Fawcett Society, a women’s group hoping to raise the issue of fairness with regards to deficit-cutting decisions. (TORONTO) Hundreds of Filipina domestic without violating the terms of their con- workers in Toronto are getting a break tracts. Under co-renting arrangements, from the stringent requirements of their a group of five to eight women share the ICE QUEEN WEDS Iceland’s Prime Minister Johanna Sigur- employment contracts. On their time off, rent for a one- or two-bedroom apart- dardotti married her partner Jonina they are enjoying themselves in apart- ment, costing each tenant between $75 Leosdottir on June 27, making her the ments they co-rent with other domestic and $150 monthly. first known head of government to marry workers. LCP migrant Marjorie notes, “After six a same-sex partner. Ms. magazine According to Reubon Saraumugam, p.m., when you are live-in, you will stay reported that the couple married the day project coordinator at the Magkaisa Cen- only in your room, talking to the four cor- a new law legalizing same-sex marriage tre, the live-out situation has been a ners of your room—stay there, and do in Iceland came into effect. The law was growing trend since the program started nothing. And when you are live-out [on passed without a dissenting vote in Ice- in 1992. weekends], after work you can go out, you land’s parliament on June 11. In addition Joy Reena, chair of the Philippine can talk to anyone, you are relaxed, you to Canada, same-sex marriage is legal in Women Centre of Ontario, says that “A big have peace of mind.” Iceland and six other European countries majority of live-in caregivers, especially Another domestic worker, Pamela, adds, —Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Nor- those without any relatives in Canada, “Here [at the weekender apartment] you way, Sweden and Portugal. share apartments on their days off.” can leave your bedroom and do whatever According to Citizenship and Immigra- you want in the apartment. No one will MONEY TO BURN tion Canada, in 2009, over six thousand bother you—you share jokes, memories A Swedish feminist party women entered Canada under the Live-In and laugh. You are not censored in the burned 100,000 Swedish Caregiver Program (LCP) to work as nan- apartment. You have free will. It is a kronor ($13,000 Cdn) in a nies, maids and domestic servants. democracy here.” protest against unequal Immigration law requires the women to By living away from their workplaces pay. The Feminist Initiative party claimed live in their employers’ houses for a mini- on their days off, these women are getting the sum was the equivalent of what Swe- mum of 24 months within a 36-month a break from the archaic live-in require- den’s women miss out on every minute ment of the LCP. Most domestic workers period. Upon completion of their LCP con- they are not paid equally to men. The in Canada are driven to work abroad for tracts, they can apply for permanent money was donated by an advertising economic reasons, supporting not only resident status. agency. The Feminist Initiative party themselves but their families in their “Because they only have temporary sta- hopes to win its first seat in parliament in home countries. tus, they cannot access affordable, elections on September 19. Advocates for domestic workers’ organ- subsidized housing in Canada,” Reena —Women’s e-News explains. “They end up renting rooms with izations like the Philippine Women Centre other Filipina women.” of Ontario say more needs to be done to GAY MARRIAGE BAN LIFTED improve the working conditions of domes- Often, women with landed immigrant The California ban on same-sex mar- tic workers. Ideally, they would like the status take in LCP migrants on weekends riage was ruled unconstitutional in program replaced with a policy that would in exchange for a monthly stipend. This August by a U.S. federal judge. Follow- allow the women to come to Canada as way, live-in caregivers can legally spend ing a 13-day hearing, District Court time away from their employers’ houses landed immigrants. 

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nelliegrams

Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ordered that the ban, known as Proposition 8, should be lifted, allowing same-sex WOMEN’S ALLIANCE marriages. The case is expected to go the Court of Appeal and possibly to the LAUNCHED IN MONTREAL U.S. Supreme Court.

GAYS WED IN ARGENTINA Argentina became the first Latin Ameri- can country to legalize gay marriage. President Cristina Fernandez signed the law into effect in July after it passed both houses of Congress, despite fierce oppo- sition from the Catholic Church. Jose Luis Navarro, 54, and Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, became the first gay couple to wed under the new law.

HEALER AWARDED CAW PRIZE Congolese social worker Esther Munyerenkana received the Canadian Auto Workers pres- tigious Nelson Mandela Award in recognition of her work helping rape vic- tims in her country. Munyerenkana works at the Panzi Hospital providing counselling to women who have survived brutal sexual assaults and rape. Each year, more than 3,500 sur- vivors of rape are treated at the Panzi Hospital, located in Bukavu, capital city of the South Kivu province. According to Vagina Monologues cre- Delegates to an international women’s conference in Montreal called on Canada to treat the 490 Tamils who docked in Vancouver as refugees. ator Eve Ensler, who nominated Munyerenkana (along with UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen (MONTREAL) A two-day international regional and international campaigns, Lewis),”Esther is the heart and core of women’s conference that drew 350 dele- share resistance strategies and mobilize Panzi Hospital. She supports the gates in Montreal in August ended with women against imperialism, violence and women, inspires them, heals them, sings the founding of a new global organization, capitalist globalization. and dances and lifts their spirits, which the International Women’s Alliance (IWA). Participants advanced resolutions high- have often been shattered. She is an The Montreal International Women’s lighting the struggles faced by women in extraordinary leader.” Conference drew women from 32 coun- Palestine and in support of the role of The Democratic Republic of the Congo tries, including Pakistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, women as defenders of Pachamama is believed to have the highest incidence the Philippines, Mali, the Czech Republic, (Mother Earth). A constitution and basis of of rape in the world. Rape is a commonly Germany, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mex- unity is expected to be adopted at the used weapon of war in the decades-long ico and Canada. alliance’s first annual assembly sometime conflict that which has ravaged the region. From August 13 to 15, delegates dis- within the next year. The award is given out every three cussed topics relating to indigenous The initiative for the new organization years by the union to an individual or struggles, developmental aggression, arose from a 2008 resolution of the organization for exceptional achievement violence against women, racism and geno- women’s commission of the International in the promotion of human rights. cide, as well as resistance to war and League of People’s Struggle, a social liber- imperialist aggression. ation organization whose purpose, AFGHANI WOMEN UNDETERRED Delegates unanimously endorsed a dec- according to its website, is to support A record number of women are running in laration in support of the 490 Tamils from “anti-imperialist democratic struggles of Afghanistan’s September parliamentary Sri Lanka who arrived in Vancouver that the people of the world, including the elections, despite receivingdeath threats month and they called upon the Canadian workers, peasants, women, youth, profes- on a regular basis. There were 328 female government to accept them as refugees. sionals and other sectors of society.” candidates in 2005, but there are 406 in The purposes of the self-described “mil- More can be found on the conference 2010—a 24 percent increase. itant” alliance is to coordinate local, blog at http://miwc2010.wordpress.com. 

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discrimination, and a minimum of three days nelliegrams of paid leave per year. CAMPAIGN The new law will also give domestic Kabul is more liberal-minded than most workers legal recourse when they face other parts of Afghanistan, and the capi- UPDATES abuse or discrimination. It calls for a study tal has attracted many female candidates into the feasibility of achieving benefits who feel unable to stand for election on through collective bargaining. their home ground. Advocates see this bill as a beginning, Still, nine in ten death threats reported with core benefits like paid vacation, have been made against female candi- access to health care, notice of termination dates. One candidate, Najila Angira, said a and severance pay as the next steps. Taliban commander threatened to kill her. Domestic workers, who are predomi- Another candidate, Angira, is a 30-year- nantly women of colour, work long hours for old businesswoman who runs a successful low wages and are uniquely vulnerable to logistics firm out of her family flat in Kabul. abuse and exploitation. “The Taliban time is finished,” she Annette Bernhardt of the National declared in a Guardian interview. “We Employment Law Project says, “This is a are making the new Afghanistan and they sector that is structurally wired for abuse, will never come back.” which means that strong legal protections Meanwhile, five male volunteers work- are absolutely essential.” ing on the election campaign of Fauzia Next year, the California Domestic Work- Gilani, characterized as a low-level MP in ers Bill of Rights, a measure modelled after the government, were killed in Herat the New York bill, will be introduced. province in August. U.S. AND AUSTRALIA FROWN SPANISH ON FRIENDLY RULE ABORTION Ms. magazine reported in July that half of LAW EASES contested custody cases in the U.S. each Spanish women year see custody awarded to fathers, in spite of the fact that in a third of these Spanish Equality Min- gained more liberal ister Bibiana Aido access to abortion in cases the fathers have been alleged to (left) and Health Min- have abused either the children or their July. A new law New York domestic workers celebrate a new bill of ister Trinidad Jimenez backed by the ruling rights in August. mother. Dianne Bartlow, the article’s author socialist government allows for abortion and a professor of women’s studies at Cali- until 14 weeks gestation and permits 16- N.Y. DOMESTIC BILL fornia State University, writes that women and 17-year olds to obtain abortions with- (NEW YORK) Members of Domestic Work- are actually more likely to win custody if out parental consent. ers United, an organization of nannies, they do not report abuse. The country’s largest conservative housekeepers, and elder caregivers cele- The reason is the so-called “friendly par- party, the Popular Party has filed a con- brated as New York Governor David ent” rule that has been added to the criteria stitutional claim in response to the law. Paterson signed the first domestic work- used by judges in family courts. Statutes in Spain’s high-profile female ministers ers’ bill of rights in U.S history. The law 32 U.S. states mandate that courts consider include Equality Minister Bibiana Aido means that domestic workers are now how willing parents are to facilitate a close and Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez. covered by the basic legal protections and continuing relationship with the other Women make up 27 percent of the coun- enjoyed by the vast majority of other parent in determining custody. They state try’s parliamentarians. American workers. that this is a factor in deciding “the best Barbara Young, a nanny in Manhattan, interests of the child.” WOMEN PROTEST POPE said, “Those of us who do this work Father’s rights groups have long held Posters calling for the ordination of deserve dignity and respect.” that the vast majority of abuse claims are female priests appeared on London The bill establishes basic labour stan- “false” and that therefore women making buses in September during Pope Bene- dards, including paid days off and protection such charges are exposing their children dict XVI’s visit to Britain. from discrimination, for over 200,000 domes- to harm. “I think the church has got to change tic workers in New York state. The American Bar Association says that or it will not survive,” Pat Brown, spokes- “I am proud to sign into law a bill that will abuse must be given greater consideration woman for Catholic Women’s Ordination, correct an historic injustice by treating in determining custody than obscure told Reuters. those who care for the elderly, raise our notions like whether a parent is deemed The ads read: “Pope Benedict - children and clean our homes to the same friendly towards an ex-spouse who may Ordain Women Now!” and will be on 15 essential rights to which all workers should have been abusive. Bartlow states that 75 double-decker buses running in Lon- be entitled,” Paterson said. children in the U.S. were murdered in the don’s tourist areas. When the bill takes effect at the end of June 2009 to April 2010 time period by Pope John Paul II declared in 1994 that November, it will guarantee domestic work- fathers who had won custody battles. the church has no authority to ordain ers basic workplace protections like Meanwhile, in Australia, academics women, a position confirmed a year later overtime pay, a minimum of one day of rest report that children are sent to live with by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope per week, protection from harassment and abusive parents because lawyers and

10 FALL 2010 HERIZONS her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 6:48 PM Page 11

judges are too focussed on the concept ters of the girls still said that fashion is of “shared parenting” to listen to reports “really important” to them. nelliegrams of abuse. “The fashion industry remains a powerful They report that professionals in the fam- influence on girls and the way they view Benedict XVI), who was head of the Con- ily law system are reluctant to believe themselves and their bodies,” explains Kim- gregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at allegations of domestic abuse and often berlee Salmond, senior researcher at the the time. It was the first state visit to the believe that the accusing parent sounds Girl Scout Research Institute. “Teenage U.K. by a pope, according to CNN. vindictive. And yet, after the separation of girls take cues about how they should look their parents, four in 10 children say they from models they see in fashion magazines IRAN LIFTS STONING SENTENCE are scared to spend time alone with their and on TV and it is something that they An Iranian official confirmed on Septem- fathers; just one in ten say they are scared struggle to reconcile with when they look at ber 9 that the government of Iran halted to spend time with their mother. University themselves in the mirror.” the sentence of death by stoning of of South Australia professor Dale Bagshaw The health implications of the preoccupa- Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Ashtiani’s co-led a team of academics that released tion with unrealistic images are serious. sentence for adultery provoked an inter- its findings in August. Nearly one in three girls say they have national outcry and intensified criticism The academics recommended an over- starved themselves or refused to eat in an of Iran’s human rights record. Ramin haul of divorce law to make child safety the effort to lose weight. In addition, more than Mehmanparast, a spokesperson for Iran’s highest priority. a third (37 percent) say they know someone Foreign Ministry, reiterated that she is their age who has been diagnosed with an still facing accusations of murder. SCOUTS HONOUR GIRLS eating disorder. Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in Girl Scouts U.S.A has sponsored a set of Girl Scouts and the Dove Self-Esteem Fund 2006. Murder charges emerged weeks videos exploring self-esteem and personal have partnered to offer self-esteem program- ago, as Iranian officials responding to empowerment from the perspectives of ming for U.S. girls and will be focusing their criticism from human rights groups and plus-size models Lizzie Miller, Anansa Sims, core leadership program to address the foreign leaders sought to tilt focus away Leona Palmer and Julie Henderson. The issues of body image in the media in relation from the adultery charges. Changing Face of Fashion, directed and shot to self-esteem. by photographer Cathrine Westergaard, is Girl Scouts also supported the introduc- ‘DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL’ part of a new initiative by girl scouts to tion of The Healthy Media for Youth Act to UNCONSTITUTIONAL address the image of girls in the media. Congress, a bill sponsored by congress- The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the According to a U.S. survey which women, Tammy Baldwin (D) and Shelley U.S. military, which bans openly gay and included more than 1,000 girls ages 13 to Moore Capito (R). The bill is intended to pro- bisexual people from serving in the U.S. 17, the vast majority of girls consider the mote healthy images of women in the media military has been ruled unconstitutional body image sold by the fashion industry through a grant program that will support by Judge Virginia A. Phillips of the Fed- unrealistic, creating an unattainable model youth empowerment groups, media literacy eral District Court in California. The judge of beauty. Nearly 90 percent of those programs, and further research into the ruled that even though the rights of those polled in the Beauty Redefined: Girls and effects of the media on women and girls. in the military are diminished, the policy Body Image Survey said the fashion indus- For more information on The Changing fails the constitutional test of being a try and/or the media place a lot of pressure Face of Fashion, view: “reasonably necessary” limit to protect on them to be thin. However, three quar- www.girlscouts.org/itsyourstory.  “a substantial government interest,” according to the New York Times. U.S. President Barack Obama favours a repeal of the policy. A bill that would overturn the measure after a Pentagon review is completed in December is cur- rently before the U.S. Congress.

BUSH AID COMES OUT Ken Mehlman, a one-time campaign manager for former U.S. president George W. Bush and the former chairman of the U.S. Republican National Commit- tee, publicly came out as gay in August. He is the highest profile Republican to do so, reports the Washington Post. “It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” Mehlman said. During his time as chair, from 2005 to 2007, the Bush administration strength- ened its anti-gay initiatives. Mehlman said he felt helpless to go against the (TORONTO) An ad hoc group of feminist activists took to the streets in June during the G-8 Summit to demonstrate for gender justice. They enlisted unsuspecting statues in their cause, using them to make statements in support of a party consensus but has come out now wider range of global maternal health measures than those endorsed by summit host Prime Minister Stephen Harper. because he is ready to be a voice within To see more, check out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpCx3f4bDYY the party for same-sex marriage. 

HERIZONS FALL 2010 11 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:21 PM Page 12

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cole’s notes BY SUSAN G. COLE

HUNG OUT TO DRY

Put your political leanings aside for a few seconds and you’d candidate on the 1984 slate with presidential nominee Wal- be forced to say that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has ter Mondale, almost single-handedly did in the ticket. In treated Helena Guergis, the MP for Simcoe-Grey, poorly. fact, no campaign issue got more ink, and Ferraro herself Though I’d be the first to say that screaming at staff at the despaired that the matter turned into the single genderless Charlottetown Airport is not appropriate behaviour for a issue the Republicans could use against the Democrats. Member of Parliament, and that allowing your husband to And what do just about all male politicians have in com- use your office on Parliament Hill for his own business mon? It’s unlikely they’d face the same pressures, because purposes is a bad idea, Guergis nonetheless deserves an their spouses don’t do the kind of business that would merit explanation as to why she’s been kicked out of the the scrutiny given to Jaffer’s financial dealings. Conservative Party caucus. You could argue that Guergis’s Charlottetown meltdown Like Guergis herself, I’m still not sure why Harper won’t had as much to do with Harper booting her out of caucus even give her 15 minutes for a meeting. When she was first as did the activities of her former MP husband inside shown the door, Harper explained her office. But I don’t buy it. Other- that he could say nothing as long as wise, Lisa Raitt, MP for Halton, the RCMP were investigating … I don’t think Guergis whose outrageous comments were something. But then, when the caught on tape—you remember, RCMP concluded that whatever would have been given something about cancer being Rahim Jaffer was doing in his wife’s the same treatment “sexy”—would have led her being office didn’t constitute criminal given the boot, too. Instead, she’s behaviour, Harper still wouldn’t if she were a man. now minister of labour. explain his actions, either to the elec- Regarding Geurgis, I’m concerned torate or to Guergis. about how her experience will influence other potential Why am I bothering to use the pages of Canada’s premier female candidates for office. As it is, it can be extremely dif- feminist magazine to ask this question? Because I don’t think ficult to get women to run. They are still expected to be home Guergis would have been given the same treatment if she with the kids, the constant travel is disruptive, and they often were a man. She might never have had her problem in the don’t have spouses who are supportive of them the way aspir- first place. ing male politicians so often do—although this is changing. Consider this question: What do Guergis, Benazir Bhutto As for Guergis, at this writing she has every intention of and Geraldine Ferraro have in common? They were all polit- running as an independent candidate in her riding of Sim- ically damaged by the way their spouses did business. Bhutto, coe-Grey in the next federal election. It looks as if her as prime minister of Pakistan, sloughed off the corruption constituents have no intention of rejecting her the way the allegations, arguing that her husband was just doing business prime minister has. the way any smart businessman would. But she was forever It would be interesting indeed if Guergis ran and won her dogged by the perception that she was making money off her seat as an independent in the next election. position as head of state. The real estate dealings of Ferraro’s And wouldn’t it be fitting if the Tories missed out on a hubby, when Ferraro was the Democratic vice-presidential majority by one seat? 

HERIZONS FALL 2010 13 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:21 PM Page 14

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Ursula Kernig Mary McKim Pat Rasmussen Chris Sinding Mary Beth Stacey Cheryl van Daalen-Smith Diane Kewley Nancy McKinnell Carol Reader Ann Sitch Marie Sternberg leneke VanHouten Kathleen Kilburn Robin McNabb Nalini Reddy Tara Sketchley Ursula Stetter Gail Vanstone Sally Kimpson Marilou McPhedran Sharon Redmond Lynn Sloane Margaret Stephens Aniko Varpalotai Alyson King Sue Melville Val Regehr Angela Smith Anne Stewart Maureen Vescio Bonnie Klein Heather Menzies Katherine Reed Muriel Smith Mary C. Stewart Vicki Vopni Marieke Klop Neire Mercer Sharon Reiner Thorin Smith Randa Stewart Jennifer Waelti-Walters Terry Knight Joan Merrifield Kim Renders Marilyn Snelling Virginia Stikeman Lori Wanamaker Tamara Knox Doreen Meyer Eva Reti Sandra Snooks Sharon-dale Stone Jennifer Watt Esther Korchynski Lina Medaglia Miller Laurie Reynolds Penelope Squires Claire Sylvan Betty Watts Ellen Kristjanson Christina Mills Beverly Suek Susan Wendell Ellen Kruger Jai Mills Lynne Supeene Susan White Herizons Anita Lahey Mary Milne “ challenges us to evolve our Bethany Sutton Shelley Wickabrod Marie Laing Dawn Mitchell feminist values and put them into Caroline Taylor Harolyn Wilson action. The magazine tracks, with Roselyne Lambert Penni Mitchell Katherine Tate Elaine Wright seismographic sensitivity, our joy over Ronald Lancaster Mary Moreland Pamela Terry Susan Wurtele progress and our outrage over backsliding.” Ann Landrey Emily Morino —Wendy Robbins, recipient of the Iris Tetford Miriam Wyman Dianne Landry Gail Mountain Governor General Persons Award Mary Thomas Deborah Yaffe Michele Landsberg Gail Mounteer Glanda Todd Gail Youngberg Patricia Lane Judy Moynihan Terry Toews Carol Zavitz Lisa Lasagna Leslie Muir Vicki Rhodes Antoinette Spoor Mary Trafford Lisa Zigler / Martha Laurence Audrey Myers Jillian Ridington Sylvia Spring Linda Tupin Tree Walsh Janine Laurencin Kemlin Nembhard Janet Riehm Barbro Stalbecker- Verna Turner Carly Ziniuk L. A. Lavoie Elizabeth Neve Bev Ritza Pountney Rian van Bruggen Kathryn Zwick Karen LeBlanc Evie Newton Sandy Roberts Shirley LeBrasseur Linda Nichols Joan Robillard Bev LeFrancois Betty Nickerson Wendy Robbins Maryse Lepage Karen Nielsen Krista Robson Linda J. Lee A-Lynne Nilsson Margerit Roger Judy Lightwater Valerie Hoshizaki Nordin Laurel Rolland Ruth Lillington Kathleen Norman Susan Romaniuk Fiona Lindsay Dianne Oberg Blanche Roy Yes! Sign Me Up As a Herizons Ursula Litzcke Francine Odette Anna Rushforth Vanita Lokanathan Margaret Oldfield Karmen Rusnak Sustaining Subscriber. Bev Lowsley/ Jan Padgett Tziporah Russell I authorize Herizons to withdraw: Linda Cunningham Arlean Pare/C Flora Russell $5 $8 $10 $15 Other each month. E. Jane Luce hris Fox Joan Ryan Lesley MacDonald Heather Parrott-Howdle Patricia Sadowy I enclose a cheque marked “VOID;” or Pamela MacDonald Denise Pauls Cy-Thea Sand Credit Card Contribution as follows: Sandra MacDonald Sharon Pchajek Britt Santowski Lori MacIntyre Joyce Peachey Elizabeth Sarin No. ______Exp. ______Shauna MacKinnon Deirdre Pearson Sandra St. Germain Name: ______Josha MacNab Patricia Pedersen Marnie Schaetti Susan MacPhail Holly Penner/ Cat Schick Address: ______Elise Maltin Diane Silverthorne Joan Scott Heather Maroney Tracey Peter Agatha Schwartz City / Town: ______Sara Mayo Beverly Peters Joan Schwartzenberger Suzette Mayr Patricia Petruga Charlene Senn Province: ______Postal Code: ______Susan Mayrand/ Paula Philp Sandra Setter Phone:______Mary McCosham Janyt Piercy Donna Sharkey Heather McAfee Nirmala Pitt Donna Sharon Email: ______Mary Ann McCarthy Sylvia Pivko Barb Shaw Sandra McCauley Joanna Plater Lisa Shaw I understand that my subscription will not expire as long as Audrey McClellan Marg Powell JoAnne Sherin I am a Sustaining Subscriber and that I may cancel this Gail McColl Jacqueline Preyde Margaret Shkimba agreement at any time. Heather McDonald J.C. Prior Harold Shuster Ashley McGhee Erminia Profiri Muriel Sibley Send your authorization, (‘VOID’ cheque) to: Selma McGorman Kathleen Quinn Melanie Sicotte Herizons Sustaining Subscribers Susan McGrath Samantha-Lee Quinn Sylvia Sigurdson PO Box 128, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3C 2G1 Debra McIntyre Helen Ramirez Joan Simeon Check if applicable: Do not publish my name on this page. Melanie McIntyre Jean Rands Ruth Simkin her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:21 PM Page 16

The University of Guelph closed its women’s studies program as a cost-cutting measure in 2009. The university senate’s decision prompted protests by students. Women’s Studies BY IS IT TIME TO CHANGE COURSE? RENEE BONDY

t’s been four decades since the first women’s studies And so it has. Its feminist roots have enabled women’s courses were offered in Canada, and the discipline studies to engage with critical theory in ways that illumi- I seems to be hitting its stride. The first credit course in nate the complexity of gendered lives. Sure, the discipline women’s studies was offered at the University of Toronto in still studies women, but it has pushed the boundaries of its 1970, and the first degree-granting program was at the Uni- original conception. Combining studies of women’s history, versity of British Columbia in 1971, a year after San Diego literature, philosophy, sociology, psychology and science University established the first women’s studies program in with cutting-edge postmodern theory, today’s women’s North America. studies yields vibrant and wide-ranging feminist critiques In its youth, women’s studies was largely concerned with of gender. including women in the university by telling their often- Still, the field is sometimes viewed as suspect for being a rel- overlooked stories and by engaging in research that would ative newcomer to the academy (when compared to contribute to women’s rights projects. But like any academic centuries-old disciplines like mathematics, history and litera- program worthy of inclusion in university, women’s studies ture). But it’s in good company.The past few decades have seen not only had to stake out its place, it also needed to build a the rise of many interdisciplinary fields, such as black studies,

foundation upon which to sustain itself in the long term. sexuality studies, social justice studies and diaspora studies. Photo: Brianna Greaves

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Recent attacks on women’s studies in right-wing segments of the Canadian press have left supporters of the discipline dismayed at the anti-feminist sentiment of an uninformed few. Most notably, National Post columnist Barbara Kay has been vociferous in her tirades against what she sees as a male- bashing forum for feminist recruitment. (See Susan G. Cole’s column, “Women’s Studies Under Attack, in Herizons’ Spring 2010 issue.) But feminists have long dealt with such criticisms, and despite the recent spate of negativity about and toward women’s studies the discipline itself is thriving in many respects. Christine Simmons, a University of Windsor history and women’s studies Today, most universities in Canada offer women’s and/or professor (left) and University of Prince Edward Island women’s studies professor Ann Braithwaite (right). gender studies undergraduate programs, and enrolments in M.A. and Ph.D. programs are on the rise. Numerous academic journals, feminist presses and student and professional associa- them embedded in the structures of their academic pro- tions support women’s studies, and it is among the hottest and grams. At the University of Victoria, for example, students most dynamic programs on many campuses. The success of any can earn credit through work placements at women-centred scholarly discipline is contingent on academic rigour and an organizations. active research agenda, and women’s studies professors have a Christine St. Peter is a professor of women’s studies at the long-standing passion for both.The research interests of today’s University of Victoria. She notes that her students have many hot scholars are diverse, mapping new territory in studies of opportunities to make connections between rigorous class- sexuality, gender, race, transnationalism and religion. room learning and the world beyond academia, including Take this year’s Canadian Women’s Studies Association co-op programs, practica and volunteering. St. Peter speaks Book Prize winner, Liz Millward, for example. Her book highly of the level of student engagement at the University of Women in British Imperial Air Space, 1922-1937 (McGill- Victoria: “Our students do a lot of community work, a lot of Queen’s University Press) examines a unique and seldom activist work, and that’s one thing we’ve promoted. researched area of women’s history. Another up-and-coming “They work in sexual health agencies, in AIDS support researcher, Bobby Noble, associate professor of English and groups, they’re in queer community groups, in environmen- sexuality studies at the school of women’s studies at York Uni- tal agencies, in homeless youth volunteer work, in versity, enters into critical engagement with feminist anti-violence groups, they’re running newspapers, they’re on pornography cultures. His work has led to the establishment of the student government—and in proportion to their num- the Feminist Porn Archive, a key site for future research in gen- bers in the university, they stand out.” der and sexuality. Evidence of women’s studies’ success beyond the university Diverse interests among women’s studies faculty play out is the recent triumph of the Miss G Project. After years of in classrooms and lecture halls across the country. The range lobbying, the Miss G Project, a young grassroots feminist of courses available today is indicative of both a rich feminist organization, persuaded the Ontario ministry of education to history and a third-wave sensibility that pushes the bound- adopt a gender studies course for high schools starting this aries of critical thinking. In many programs, conventional year. As women’s studies celebrates 40 years in post-second- course titles like Introduction to Women and Gender, Fem- ary education, it has extended its reach beyond the university inist Theory and Canadian Women’s History are offered and reaches a new, younger demographic. alongside courses like Indigenous Cinema: De-Colonizing Yet, despite its gains over the past decades, there are some the Screen (University of Victoria), Debates on Feminism real challenges facing today’s women’s studies programs. and Islam (Queen’s University), Bad Girls and Transgressive Underfunded and understaffed, a few women’s studies under- Women (University of Prince Edward Island) and Nags, graduate programs have found themselves shortlisted for Housewives and Sluts: Language and Women’s Place (Uni- closure, regardless of the seeming vitality of faculty and course versity of Windsor). offerings. A more endemic concern, however, is the discipline’s I’m lucky enough to teach a large first-year class called Gal image. It’s a complex issue to address. Many programs that Pals: Women and Friendship, and each semester I marvel at were once called women’s studies now go by gender/sexuality the lively conversations and depth of analysis that emerge as /equality/social justice (or some combination thereof ) stud- we probe the colourful history and diverse literary and pop- ies—and it’s hard to know if this rebranding is part of the cultural representations of women’s friendships, from Sappho solution or possibly part of a problem. As women’s studies to Sex and the City. turns 40, we are poised to ask: What does the future hold for Merging scholarship and activism, today’s women’s studies the discipline and, by extension, for the ongoing presence of students find many ways to walk the feminist talk, some of feminist teaching and research within the university?

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Unfortunately, the women’s studies program at the Univer- sity of Guelph is no longer debating these important questions. In April 2009, the university’s senate voted to elim- inate the program, despite protests by faculty and students, as well as national and international women’s studies organiza- tions. Guelph students held a funeral at which mourners INSTITUTION eulogized the program. Headstones inscribed “RIP Femi-

PROGRAM(S)/INSTITUTES CERTIFICATE UNDERGRADUATE MASTER’S P.H.D. nism: Apparently We Don’t Need You” called attention to the ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAMS students’ indignation at the elimination of feminist curricula. Athabasca University (online) Given the recent economic downturn and subsequent Women’s Studies • • budgetary constraints, small interdisciplinary programs find Thorneloe University (at Laurentian University) themselves in precarious positions. Programs that teach hun- Women’s Studies • • dreds of students in elective courses, but have relatively few ALBERTA majors, are especially vulnerable. The elimination of women’s University of Calgary studies at the University of Guelph seemed like a prime Women’s Studies example of the sacrifice of a program in the name of fiscal Institute for Gender Research • University of Alberta belt-tightening. But in reality, it saved only 0.17 percent of Women’s Studies • the university’s budget shortfall. University of Lethbridge Helen Hoy, a professor in English and theatre studies and Women’s Studies Multidisciplinary Graduate Program • • former coordinator of the women’s studies program at the Uni- BRITISH COLUMBIA versity of Guelph observes that, “Having tried to use money as University of British Columbia the reason, and finding it was quite a limp explanation [the (Vancouver Campus) ••• administration] moved to arguments about it being outdated Women’s and Gender Studies and at an impasse.” Prior to the elimination of the program, the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies University of British Columbia Okanagan • administration had, in fact, made overtures regarding the cre- Simon Fraser University ation of a sex, sexuality and gender studies program. There was Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies • • • a feeling that a name other than women’s studies “would sound University of Northern British Columbia Women’s Studies less parochial or restrictive, or [less] unpalatable for those who Gender Studies • • aren’t prepared to initially consider themselves feminist, ” says University of Victoria Hoy. But a process of consultation to move in this direction was Women’s Studies • not pursued beyond preliminary discussions and women’s stud- MANITOBA ies was laid to rest. Brandon University Is the demise of women’s studies at the University of Guelph Gender and Women’s Studies • University of Manitoba a one-off incident or an example of carefully concealed misog- Women’s and Gender Studies • yny under the guise of belt-tightening? Many women’s studies University of Winnipeg professors say that the position of women’s studies within the Women’s and Gender Studies • university is a key factor in the sustainability of the discipline. NEW BRUNSWICK At some institutions, including the University of Guelph, University of New Brunswick Women’s Studies • women’s studies is structured as an academic program; at oth- St. Thomas University ers, it is structured as an interdisciplinary department. From the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies • outside, the designations may seem trivial. But at most univer- NEWFOUNDLAND sities departmental status puts interdisciplinary fields like Memorial University women’s studies on equal footing with other disciplines, like Women’s Studies • • history, English or physics, affording them higher standing and NOVA SCOTIA greater bargaining power within the institution. Acadia University While some programs have departmental designation, Women’s and Gender Studies • Dalhousie University others remain in the precarious position of being a mere pro- Gender and Women’s Studies • gram. This can affect budgetary considerations, including the Mount Saint Vincent University number of full-time faculty. As a result, some programs rely Women’s Studies Women and Gender Studies • • • heavily on instructors hired on part-time contracts, which St. Francis Xavier University affects their stability and growth. Women’s Studies • Another issue affecting women’s studies arises from recent St. Mary’s University Women and Gender Studies • • efforts to rebrand the discipline. Some universities have made the strategic decision to change the names of their

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women’s studies programs and departments, adopting more modern and inclusive monikers. Some, like Queen’s Univer- sity, host gender studies programs, while others have adopted hybridized names, like Simon Fraser University’s gender, INSTITUTION sexuality and women’s studies and Nipissing University’s PROGRAM(S)/INSTITUTES CERTIFICATE UNDERGRADUATE MASTER’S P.H.D. gender equality and social justice department. Others, ONTARIO including Memorial University, Laurentian University and Brock University the University of Victoria, have chosen to stay with their Women’s Studies • • original name, women’s studies, at least for the time being. Carleton University Associate professor Ann Braithwaite coordinates the Women’s and Gender Studies • • Lakehead University women’s studies program at the University of Prince Edward Women’s Studies Island and is a past-president of the Canadian Women’s Stud- Collaborative Master’s Program • • ies Association. She understands both sides of the debate and Laurentian University Women’s Studies • • says that in one way “we don’t worry all that much about the McMaster University question: What happens to the ‘women’ in women’s studies?” Women’s Studies For many insiders to women’s studies, there is no internal Gender Studies and Feminist Research •* • • Nipissing University identity crisis. On the other hand, in the 21st century, Gender Equality and Social Justice • women’s studies teaches not only about women, but also Queen’s University about men and multiple other ideas, like race, ethnicity, sex- Gender Studies • • • Trent University uality and ability. As Briathwaite points out, there is a strong Women’s Studies • argument to be had that “a name which is identity-based University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa runs the risk of being tied to that identity.” Women’s Studies • • • University of Toronto What there may be in the name change, however, is an Women and Gender Studies; • • • opportunity to market women’s studies to a broader audi- Centre for Women’s Studies ence, with the end result of bringing more researchers and in Education at OISE • • (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) students into the field. Associate professor Sal Renshaw, who University of Toronto Scarborough chairs the gender equality and social justice department at Women’s Studies • • Nipissing, believes their name has responded to and enables University of Toronto Mississauga • Women and Gender Studies • • them to “keep up with shifts, like the emergence of sexuality University of Waterloo studies, gay and lesbian studies and critical race studies.” It Women’s Studies • • may also be credited with drawing increasing numbers of University of Western Ontario Women’s Studies and Feminist Research • • • young men to the field, she says. University of Windsor Still, the historian in me is troubled by the easy dismissal of Women’s Studies • • the “women” in women’s studies, a discipline founded by Wilfrid Laurier University Women and Gender Studies • women, and primarily for women. Although it has benefited York University from opening its doors to men and to studies of sexuality and Women’s Studies • • • • gender, women’s studies still utilizes a feminist analysis that is PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND historically rooted in women’s scholarship and experience. And, University of Prince Edward Island surely, women’s studies programs hold an important social pur- Women’s Studies • pose for women in education. Will a name change, particularly QUEBEC if it is entered into as a marketing ploy, change any of this? Bishop’s University Women’s Studies • • Christina Simmons, a professor of history and women’s Concordia University studies at the University of Windsor, acknowledges the Women’s Studies • • ongoing need for a program name that ensures feminist McGill University Women’s Studies spaces. Asked about the name change debate, Simmons says Gender and Women’s Studies • • • that “telling women they are important and at the centre is Université du Québec à Montréal why women’s studies still seems best to me.” Études feministes • Clearly, women’s studies programs continue to face inter- SASKATCHEWAN University of Regina nal struggles and debates, and even the largest and most Women’s and Gender Studies • • successful programs cannot presume long-term security University of Saskatchewan within the university system. As we celebrate its achieve- Women’s and Gender Studies • • ments, however, women’s studies must be vigilant not only to * undergraduate program closing 2010; WS available only as a minor, ensure its own survival, but to continue to challenge and in combination with a degree-granting program. change the very institution it calls home. 

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FIGHTING the

urrentSANDRA STEINGRABER SHIFTS CANCER FOCUS FROM TREATMENT TO CAUSES BY AMANDA LE ROUGETEL

don’t run. Not for fitness. Not for the bus. And not for the cure. I Yes, I know that cancer is all around us, and that money is needed to fight the disease and provide support to those who have it, but I am less convinced than ever that we Ccan put an end to cancer by hitting up our friends for pledges and going running. It will take something more radical—like changing how we live in this world. And that will begin less with pink ribbons and 10k runs, and more with some serious political action. From the ground up. Anyone who doubts that political will is the best antidote to cancer should get acquainted with Dr. Sandra Steingraber and the beautiful and thought-provoking new film Living Downstream. Based on the first edition of Steingraber’s book of the same name, the film weaves together the politics of cancer with Steingraber’s personal experience of the disease. She calls the film her best case “to make the link between our environment and causes of cancer.” And an eloquent and compelling case it is. Steingraber, who lives in New York State, was diagnosed with bladder cancer three days after she turned 20 (she is Sandra Steingraber’s classic book on the politics of cancer, Living Downstream, is now an inspiring film. now 50). Cancer runs in her family: Her mother has survived metastatic breast cancer (making her a statistical anomaly); her uncles have colon cancer, prostate cancer and stromal cancer; and her aunt died of bladder cancer. The punch line to this story, as Steingraber tells it in the film, is that she was adopted. Whatever connection there may be between Stein- graber, her family and cancer, it is not genetic. She grew up in a German-American family in Pekin, Illi- nois, a town that produces “massive amounts of chemicals,” as Steingraber describes it. When she was 16, she began to

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occasionally pass some blood in her urine, and she presumed it was menstrual rather than unusual. It wasn’t until she was 20 that she understood the symptoms for what they were— serious. “One day I just peed blood,” she explained in an interview. “That got me to the hospital.” And it resulted in her diagnosis of stage II transitional cell carcinoma—blad- der cancer, a “quintessential environmental cancer,” she said. Up until that point, Steingraber had been planning to enter medical school, but her diag- nosis turned a career in medicine from attractive to repellent. Instead, she chose to pursue fieldwork in environmental biology, earning a Ph.D. in 1989. In the early ’90s, she worked as a biology professor. It was the era when the breast cancer movement was becoming radicalized and attention was being turned to environmental causes of women’s cancers. When Steingraber contributed an essay to one of the first anthologies to explore this perspective, it opened her eyes to how broad an audience her writing could reach. It was “more than the five people who read my Ph.D. thesis,” she says, chuckling. She was captured by the potential of science writing that could translate complex concepts and data into accessible language. So Stein- graber quit her teaching job and enjoyed “a good transitional year” on a fellowship at Har- vard’s Bunting Institute, during which time she began her research on what has become a contemporary classic, Living Downstream. A gifted writer (she has a mas- ter’s degree in creative writing), Steingraber invites readers into the world of science, data and analysis with language and imagery that is not only accessible to the non-scientist but engaging, even inspiring in its lyricism. The film ver- sion is no less engaging. Chanda Chevannes of The People’s Picture Com- pany in Toronto is the film’s producer and director. She first learned of Steingraber’s work in high school through an article on the higher incidence of cancers among people in the Great Lakes region. When she subsequently read Living Downstream, Chevannes says she was “swept up in Sandra’s writing and personal story,” which she saw as ideal for translation onto film. But by 2006 no film version had been made, and so Chevannes bought the rights and found the funding to bring Steingraber’s work to the screen.

The result is an 85-minute film that had its Canadian Sandra Steingraber, a scientist and environmentalist delves into premiere at the 800-seat Bloor Street Cinema in Toronto the politics of cancer and its causes in Living Downstream. her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:22 PM Page 22

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in April. There was a “humungous” crowd, according to end, Steingraber and Chevannes have collaborated on an Chevannes and the audience gave the film two standing ova- outreach campaign they call Walking Upstream, which tions. “It was brilliant,” says Steingraber. “The audience was includes an educational DVD due for release this fall (see: very enthusiastic. I’m thrilled about the film.” livingdownstream.com). One version is designed for educa- As Steingraber collaborated with Chevannes, she prepared a tors, another for community activists and advocates. Both second edition of the book, updating the science (for example, include bonus features of mini docs (for example, showing referencing the new field of epigenetics) while maintaining the how a cancerous tumour grows in the body), commentary original story of her own experience with cancer. tracks and discussion guides. Environmental causes of cancer are the issue of our time, Steingraber holds two honorary degrees and was named says Steingraber. “Despair is not a luxury we can afford. Woman of the Year by Ms. Magazine in 1997. She does run, Solutions exist, but we must insist on them becoming main- and you see her doing it in the film. She runs, she says, as a stream,” she says. way of connecting with the many places she travels on speak- “There’s a role for every person to play,” she offers. “You ing tours. just need to find a meaningful place to begin. Today, I’m It’s a fitting metaphor for her central message: We need to working with young girls to get toxics already banned in be conscious of the environment in which we are living and Europe out of nail polish [formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl the impact of our living on that environment. It is the only phthalate] and with chefs to help promote organic foods.” way to make the connection between what’s happening out- Chevannes, a self-described social-issues filmmaker with a side of us and what’s going on in our bodies. track record of focusing on women’s issues, agrees. “We want So, by all means, run. For fitness. For the bus. Even for the to show people the links between cancer and synthetic cure. But how about also taking some time to walk upstream chemicals, and we want to inspire action,” she said. To that for the cause? 

rain and find their way into water systems far away from the origi- Living Downstream: The Movie nal site of application. In the film, Steingraber’s cousin describes his BY AMANDA LE ROUGETEL use of atrazine on his cornfields in Illinois. “There was once a village overlooking a river. The people who lived An accomplished public speaker, Steingraber views cancer as a there were very kind. These residents, according to parable, began human rights issue. “The situation is truly dire,” she says. But when noticing increasing numbers of drowning people caught in the river’s she speaks to audiences large and small around the world, she swift current. And so they went to work devising ever more elaborate draws such compelling comparisons with other human rights issues technologies to resuscitate them. So preoccupied were these heroic that have been successfully tackled by individuals throughout his- villagers with rescue and treatment that they never thought to look tory that she offers a sense of hope and possibility. upstream to see who was pushing the victims in. This film is a walk “We each have a chance to play a heroic role in the historic up that river. The river of human cancer. issue of our time,” she says, just as individuals played heroic roles So begins Living Downstream. The film presents a skillful blend of in the abolition of slavery, the defeat of fascism in World War II Ger- the political and the personal as they relate to the environmental many and in the gaining of suffrage for women. causes of cancer. Sandra Steingraber and film director Chanda Steingraber, who has been called the Rachel Carson of her genera- Chevannes have created a gripping film that educates as it inspires. tion, says most cancers are not hereditary. If they were, it “would be a In that way, it is classic feminist work: Through the story and per- cause for gloom, because we cannot change our ancestors,” she spective of one woman, our own perspective is refined and we see explains. “But we can change our use of chemicals. Our genes are more clearly the role we have to play within the larger social context. less the command-and-control masters of our cells and more like the “We need to divorce our economy from carcinogens,” says Ste- keys of a piano, with the environment as the hands of the pianist.” ingraber. But the work of proving connections between chemicals, To watch Living Downstream is to be inspired to take action. drinking water systems and cancer rates grinds slowly. In North You’re taken into science labs from California, where you meet Dar- America, laws are crafted by comparing and judging the health nell, the genetically male frog who, due to exposure to atrazine, has risks of doing or not doing something against the economic costs of become a functional female able to reproduce; to Quebec, where the same action, she says. And health risks tend to take a back you witness the autopsy of a beluga whale with a tumour on its seat. How can one compare the cost to manufacturers to upgrade adrenal gland; and to aluminum smelter plants operate along the St. their equipment or find non-toxic ingredients with the cost to chil- Lawrence River, the whale’s habitat. You see Steingraber speaking dren of dying of brain tumours? What evidence do we demand for eloquently and evocatively to big city audiences and farm commu- each accounting? An inkling of harm? Absolute proof? Or some- nity gatherings. And you accompany her on her annual cystoscope thing in the middle? And who decides? appointment and agonize with her when abnormal cells are found. “This is the question of our age,” says Steingraber, who Watch the film or read the book on which it is based. Either describes the European Union as “enlightened” on this matter. The way, Living Downstream is a window through which to learn EU passed a law in 2006 that requires action if a substance is about the politics of cancer prevention from a compelling scien- known to be inherently toxic. For example, the EU has banned tist and activist. atrazine, an agricultural weed killer profiled in Living Downstream, * Rachel Carson, the author of the 1962 book Silent Spring, is con- because it is inherently unmanageable. The chemicals dissolve in sidered the founder of the modern environmental movement.

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TRACEYTRACEY

Tracey Deer received a Gemini Award and other accolades for honest portrayal of native identity issues. her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:22 PM Page 25

DEERDEERFILMMAKER EXPLORES IDENTITY CROSSROADS

BY TARA-MICHELLE ZINIUK

iffany Deer is giggling uncontrollably. Her and communities and about who decides that, who has sister, filmmaker Tracey Deer, is holding the the right to say who is a native person in Canada.” T camera and laughing along. The laughter is The controversial practice of assigning identities has contagious, the intimacy compelling. This is the open- been going on for over 150 years, beginning with the ing sequence from Club Native, which, during its 1876 Indian Act. As Deer’s film shows, it is a practice 78-minute running time, entertains viewers even as it that continues to divides communities. “Our community educates and often challenges them. is being torn apart by it,” says Deer, who studied film at Born and raised on the Kahnawake Mohawk Terri- Dartmouth College and currently lives in Montreal. tory on south shore of the St. Lawrence River, Tracey Club Native is a follow-up to Deer’s 2005 release Deer is a prolific documentary filmmaker. Club Native, Mohawk Girls, a film about native identity that focuses her most recent full-length solo effort, was released in on young women coming of age in Kahnawake. 2008 to film festival and television audiences. For Club Mohawk Girls packed houses and created a buzz upon Native, Deer won a Gemini Award, becoming the first its release, and it became a segue for parents and teens Mohawk filmmaker to do so. The film is what Deer to engage their children in conversations about identity. calls “an exploration of modern native identity and Club Native explores native identity from a different belonging.” This belonging, she explains, is multi- angle—the intersecting of native and non-native peo-

Photo: Jag Gundi Photography/Courtesy of ACCT dimensional and is about “belonging to [our] families ples and cultures. It follows two women in

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Rachelle White Wind (left) plays Vicky in Mohawk Girls, Tracey Deer’s examination of a group of young women straddling two cultures. The pilot to the series airs this fall on The Aboriginal People’s Television Network.

relationships with non-native men and offers a candid ing, while the fourth, Sandra, was in her 40s. Each look at the pain and frustration suffered by many First woman’s story is told through narrative, anecdote Nations people as they struggle for the right to belong. and interview, and each tale is deeply personal. It also includes the stories of two women who have “I felt like a mom for a good portion of it,” Deer non-native fathers and are attempting to attain band explains. “[I was] worried that they were getting into membership. Club Native received the award for Best something they didn’t understand the full scope of, and Documentary at the Dreamspeakers Festival in that they were getting into it because they trusted me. Edmonton and the award for Best Canadian Film at Eventually, I broke down in front of all of them and the First Peoples’ Festival. they said to get back to work, that they knew what they Deer paired her subjects according to their experi- were doing and that I would make a damn good film.” ences in the hope they would support each other According to Deer, the native community’s response through the filming process. The closeness Deer to Club Native has so far been more subdued than the shares with each of them is evident—a life-long response to Mohawk Girls. “I understand it’s a lot to friend is among her subjects, as is Deer’s bubbly and take in, but no one is talking,” she explains. adventurous sister. Former Olympic water polo Festival screenings for Club Native have been well- player Waneek Horn-Miller is another participant. attended and audiences have been responsive. With Another subject, Lauren, was 20 at the time of film- the documentary now screened on television and avail-

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“Eventually, I broke down in front of all of them and they said to get back to work, that they knew what they were doing and that I would make a damn good film.”—Tracey Deer

able on DVD, her hope is that if people have the erational trauma that has occurred and the healing that is opportunity to take the matter in from their own still needed. She’s also working on a project tentatively homes, it will feel safe and they’ll feel less pressure to called Tribal Quest, which she describes as “throwing 15 form an opinion right away. Blackfoot into the past and having them live like their Instead of telling people what to think, 33-year-old ancestors did without modern conveniences.” Deer wants people be their own experts and tell their Her commitment to discussing issues close to her own stories. home and heart is clear. “When I come home, I always “I grew up feeling invisible, feeling like I didn’t have wonder, what is my place here, and what is my role and a voice and feeling like I had absolutely no purpose,” responsibility as a Mohawk person? I think it’s really she recalls. “Growing up as an Aboriginal person in important that we all contribute to the betterment of our Canada, you just feel like you don’t matter.” communities, and filmmaking is what I know how to do. Deer is confident in her role as a documentarian, not- “I try to raise questions with my films about things I ing that she makes films to create change. “I wanted think we should be thinking very actively about. I make films since I was a child, though I wanted to blow think people get so caught up in just living the day-to- things up—make Indiana Jones 5. Once I grew up, I day—work, bills, dinner—that we’re not spending started to see the power filmmaking could have. It gave enough time thinking about these bigger issues and me a voice all of a sudden and I no longer felt powerless.” how to solve them together as a community. I hope Deer’s upcoming projects include a documentary on that my films zero in on some things and get people the residential school system’s effects today, the intergen- feeling and thinking.” 

Tracey Deer wanted to make films since she was a child. Club Native is a candid look at the pain and frustration suffered by many First Nations people as they struggle for the right to belong, while Mohawk Girls focuses on four women coming of age.

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Not to be missed A global convergence to advance women’s equality through research, exchange, leadership, and action

Inclusions, Exclusions, Seclusions:Living in a globalized world 3–73–7 JJulyuly 22011.011. wwomensworlds.comensworlds.clds.ca

Expected to draw some 2000 participants from around the world, WW 2011 will enhance women’s leadership skills and organizational capacity, support the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and foster research and action networks on women’s issues.

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SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY LISA TREMBLAY

xchanging oral sex for goods and money is a grow- ing problem, according to the author of a new book E examining the phenomenon. In Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss, Sharlene Azam recalls a story about some of the girls in an Edmonton pros- titution ring who insisted to police that they were not being harmed. She went on to interview one of their pimps, a 35- year-old man who was surprised when he was charged and then convicted for having sex with minors. He had arranged for teenagers to fellate his married friends for money. He described the arrangement as “a win-win situation for every- one involved…. All the [girls] needed was money and all we needed was sex, so it was really simple.” In Azam’s book, 12- to 17-year-old girls tell stories of sex- ual exploitation on school buses, in malls and through Internet chat rooms. Middle-class girls for the most part, they describe how older boys, men and, in some cases, other girls recruit them to provide sexual services to males for goods or money. The girls get paid to masturbate on webcams, trans- mit nude photos of themselves via cellphones, strip at parties and perform fellatio. For many of those involved, if the activ- ity doesn’t include intercourse, it’s not sex, which makes it easier for them to claim that there’s no harm. Azam blames several influences: a highly sexualized popu- lar culture that commodifies girls’ sexuality, companies that make and advertise products that sexualize girls, and the mainstreaming of pornography. Azam argues that in this hypersexualized youth culture, “Boys are being trained to view themselves as pimps or players who are entitled to sex when- Sharlene Azam’s book looks at the mainstreaming of pornography and prostitution. ever and however they want it, and girls are sent the message that they should be available for sex and skilled at it.” Leigha received clothing for bringing other girls to her According to the teenagers interviewed, the rewards for pimp. Over 50 teenagers in the Edmonton teen prostitution providing sexual services to boys and men are plenty. Four- ring made hundreds of dollars a night for performing fella- teen-year-old Caitlyn received drugs and clothes in tio. They hooked up with a group of men who gave them exchange for fellating guys at parties. Seventeen-year-old $60 for each blow job.

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Author Sharlene Azam , author of Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss, says that many teenage girls who trade sex for goods don’t think they are engaged in prostitution.

According to research for a 2001 report on the commercial grosses her out, while another told her she feels disgusted sexual exploitation of children in the U.S., Canada and Mex- with herself. ico, 22 percent of sexually exploited youth were trying to earn money—not for survival, but for luxury items. HERIZONS: Your book is based on news stories about boys or It was often extravagant new clothes or electronics that men facing charges of sexually exploiting girls and stories of rain- prompted their mothers to start asking questions. Azam bow parties, preteen strippers and “prostitots.” You describe it as a interviewed several mothers who fought for years to get their growing phenomenon. Is there any research being done in Canada daughters away from pimps and back on track. to document the extent of it? But it can be a hard transition for girls to make once they’ve SHARLENE AZAM: Middle-class kids who are trading had access to easy money. As 15-year-old Lauren put it, “It sex for goods is a very hidden problem. took 15 minutes and I would have 500 bucks. I worked at These arrangements are made online or through friends. KFC and it was two weeks to make 200 bucks.” Some of the They’re not on the street. They’re home by 10:00. It’s hard to girls also find they “can’t shake the slut label.” As Lauren’s know how many kids are getting involved. It’s a new trend. It’s mother explained it: “When you are treated like a sex object, a hard subject to track. Not many girls would want to come for- and called names, you believe that that is all you are worth.” ward to say that they’re trading sex for anything. Communities often blame girls rather than treating them as victims, even though, as Azam points out, most of them You point out that early teens and pre-teens were playing spin the are minors and the men or boys who are exploiting them are bottle 30 years ago, while today boys are getting girls to give them older by five or more years. blow jobs behind schools for money. What happened? How did we Some of the teenagers Azam interviewed do believe they get here? were hurt by the experience. One says she hates older men. SHARLENE AZAM: It’s important to talk about pornog- Another said that when she thinks about what happened, it raphy and how much more access there is. That is a huge

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part. Now you can look at sex 24-7 and be influenced by the kid, and it takes a tremendous amount of vigilance and kind of sex that is all about power. involvement. You can’t leave them to their own devices for 10 Probably about 50 percent of the sixth graders that I meet hours a day and expect that everything is going to be fine. don’t participate in after-school programs [sports, music]. They’re teenagers and need boundaries. They’re so desperate They have no goals of their own and nothing that they’re for any attention. excellent at. And those are the girls that are really easily drawn into all kinds of risky behaviour. They need to belong. Has the culture itself become a pimp, grooming girls to sell them- It used to be that our communities, our churches and our selves to boys and men? families would regulate what was acceptable sexual behav- SHARLENE AZAM: If you look at the roles that girls are iour and standards, but now it’s just the Internet. It doesn’t being groomed for, we really do send girls the message that matter what your community says or what your parents say. all of their self-worth is bound up in the way they look and It’s whatever’s happening online that matters. bound up in their body. Go be a Hooters girl, go on a diet and try pole dancing. Slowly, it wears them down, and then In the case of the prostitution ring in Edmonton that you describe everything seems so normal. in your book, five men between 34 and 50 were charged for hav- ing sex with minors and, there were over 50 teenagers between You wrap up the book with advice for parents of girls—on how to the ages of 12 and 16 involved. You report that one of the detec- prevent them from being sexually exploited and how to recognize tives in the case described them as the warning signs if they are. What “promiscuous entrepreneurs.” Can you advice do you have for parents of boys comment on that description of the “You can’t have a boy on how to prevent them from becoming girls by the police? who treats girls like exploiters? SHARLENE AZAM: When you SHARLENE AZAM: Parents of go and talk to these young women, they’re disposable and boys still have this boys will be depending on where they are in their then suddenly they turn boys mentality. They are not moni- lives, they are not apologetic. They toring their boys. You can’t have a were pretty upset that [police] got into a loving husband.” boy who treats girls like they’re dis- involved and ruined a good thing for posable and then suddenly they them. Of course they’re too young to turn into a loving husband. see that they’re not in control, and there’s very much an older Boys are also suffering. I’ve met boys who are depressed boyfriend or pimp who’s controlling what they’re doing. Even because of their early sexual encounters and drug use. It’s the girls who were making not much money felt powerful taking a toll on boys, but we just have this attitude that of because they could buy whatever they wanted and they weren’t course boys can have meaningless sex—that’s what being a dependent on their parents and their meagre allowance or boy is. I think that parents don’t really know what it means working at a low-paid job. for their sons to be respectful to girls. They’re not teaching You vacillate between the language of prostitution and exploita- them that. tion when describing these young women. You report that they are Parents have to step up and educate their kids about sex. uncomfortable when you refer to them as prostitutes. Are they There are lots of teachable moments where they can raise prostitutes or are they sexually exploited youths? their level of consciousness. [As adults] we can look at [pornographic] images and be critical. [Kids] are looking at SHARLENE AZAM: I didn’t find that any of the girls these images and they’re affected by them. This is a forma- wanted to be labelled as prostitutes, even when there was tive time for them. that exchange of cash. Part of that is denial. Part of that is It is hard to talk to kids about sex. But if you think your that they’re too young to really think about what they’re doing. I think all of these girls are being exploited. Some kid is not engaged in some kind of sexual activity, then you’re girls [said] “I’m not having sex for free anymore.” They see living under a rock. This is a critical time where kids are sex as a currency, and it was something they had of value. experimenting. The Internet is educating your kids about sex  Parents play a big part. I mean, how can you not say some- if you’re not. thing about the tremendous amount of stuff that’s coming into For more information or to buy Azam’s self-published book your house that you’re not paying for? It was baffling to me. (which comes with a DVD), visit Azam’s website at www.the- I’m getting a sense of what it takes to raise a healthy, happy newgoodnightkiss.com.

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The Motherhood Initiative for Research and Commu- nity Involvement (MIRCI)(previously the Association for Research on Mothering), founded in 1998, is the first scholarly and activist organization devoted specifically to the topic of mothering-motherhood. Our mandate is to provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination of research on motherhood and to establish a community of individuals and institutions working and researching in the area of mothering and motherhood. MIRCI has more then 600 members—-scholars, community agen- cies, students, mothers, community practioneers—from The mandate of the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for two dozen countries worlwide. MIRCI houses the Journal Research and Community Invovlvement of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community (JMI)—the first and still only Involvement, journal on motherhood—is to provide a forum for the discussion a biannual publication, and Demeter Press, and dissemination of feminist, academic, and community the first feminist press devoted to motherhood. grassroots research, theory, and praxis on mothering-motherhood. MIRCI hosts two to three conferences per year. Past and forthcoming journal topics include young mothers, Upcoming conferences include: mothering and spirituality, mothering and poverty, mothering Mothers and the Economy: and violence, mothering and bereavement, and mothering and The Economics of Mothering the environment. October 21-23, 2010—Toronto, Canada Mothering and Motherhood in the 21st Century: Research and Activism February 17-19, 2011—Lisbon, Portugal Sixth Australian International Conference on Motherhood: Mothers at the Margins April 27-30, 2011—Brisbane, Australia

Young Mothers and Empowerment May 11-12, 2011—Toronto Motherhood Activism, Advocacy and Agency May 13-15, 2011—Toronto

For more information on MIRCI and its many initiatives, please contact: [email protected] Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement 140 Holland St. West, First Feminist Press on Motherhood PO 13022 Bradford ON L3Z 2Y5 http://www.motherhoodinitiative.org WWW.DEMETERPRESS.ORG

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Rage Over HORMONES HOW PROGESTERONE AFFECTS YOUR HEALTH

BY MAYA KHANKHOJE

ntrenched medical and cultural beliefs that promote the use of estrogen have E been shown to contradict clinical evi- dence, endanger women’s health and obstruct the use of more effective, safer treatments, according to the authors of The Estrogen Errors: Why Prog- esterone is Better for Women’s Health. Until recently, estrogen was prescribed to alle- viate symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause such as night sweats, hot flashes and insomnia. It was also claimed by hormone manu- facturers that taking estrogen would ward off heart disease and dementia. Medical writer Susan Baxter and endocrinolo- gist Dr. Jerilynn Prior, authors of The Estrogen Errors, not only debunk such ideas, they inform readers about the positive role progesterone plays in preventing heart disease and promoting breast and bone health. Baxter’s breadth of knowledge sets the stage for understanding why women have been short- changed in medical practice, while Prior’s depth

Dr. Jerilynn Prior, an endocrinologist with a specialty in women’s hor- mone health, has just co-authored the book The Estrogen Errors: Why Progesterone is Better for Women’s Health.

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“Women who ran were being blamed for causing their periods to go away (amenorrhea). That felt like prejudice to me.”—Dr. Jerilynn Prior

of knowledge provides solid data to debunk the form studies to discover information to chal- estrogen myths. The book also contains valuable lenge, and hopefully change, prejudicial information about menstrual cycles as well paradigms about women’s reproduction. Let me as about the misunderstood changes of give an example. I was a keen, although not very perimenopause. It includes a section on the false good, runner in the 1970s when women who ran construct of menopause as an “estrogen defi- were being blamed for causing their periods to ciency,” when it is, in fact, a normal life phase. go away (amenorrhea). That felt like prejudice The book also contains a glossary of medical to me. terms, appendices, notes and chapter references I asked myself, what do we know about the that will enlighten the general reader, inform the variability over time of the normal menstrual independent woman and satisfy the scientific cycle? More importantly, what evidence do we curiosity of the medically savvy. have about how ovulation and progesterone pro- duction change over time in healthy women? I HERIZONS: In The Estrogen Errors you repeat- found no data. edly refer to the errors that have been committed and So I designed a one-year study observing myths that are perpetrated. What do myths have to do healthy women who had proven normal cycles with estrogen and women’s health? and ovulation. One third of the participants JERILYNN PRIOR: Myths are compelling sto- trained for and ran a marathon and one third ries that perpetuate and reinforce ideas and were normally active; I was in the other third of power. It is mythology to focus solely on estro- recreational, non-training runners. In that study gen, while ignoring the incontrovertible evidence we learned that although cycle length changes that estrogen and progesterone are partner hor- very little, ovulation changes a lot. However, ovu- mones working together in every cell and tissue lation doesn’t change more with marathon in our bodies. training than with normal activity (when every- As a word picture, I’d say that our culture/med- one starts out healthy and with normal cycles and icine are in the impossible struggle to fly the ovulation). I had proven that “athletic amenor- “airplane of women’s health” on a single wing— rhea” is a myth. estrogen. It takes both progesterone and estrogen In that same study, I learned that women to achieve women’s health. with regular cycles and normal estrogen lose You say science is influenced by prevailing social bone density if they don’t make enough proges- beliefs, distorted by past scientific errors and cor- terone. That was a heretical idea in 1990. I was rupted by vested interests. Is it also gendered? able to persist through many rejections over JERILYNN PRIOR: Of course, science, like three years and eventually got it published in everything else human, is gendered. the New England Journal of Medicine. I continue to believe and do research to show that Has being a woman affected your research? although estrogen is powerful in stopping JERILYNN PRIOR: Absolutely and totally. I bone loss, progesterone is important for build- do research as women’s health activism. I per- ing new bone.

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“I’ve learned that whenever I hit resistance, the idea I’ve discovered is important!”—Dr. Jerilynn Prior

What made you focus on progesterone, the forgotten You bemoan the fact that the medical industry prefers to hormone? deal with disease entities rather than with people. How JERILYNN PRIOR: I’ve learned that whenever does this affect your relationship with your profession? I hit resistance, the idea I’ve discovered is impor- JERILYNN PRIOR: Some clinicians see dis- tant! That study I just described taught me that eases rather than persons, too. I have had to prove progesterone was important for new bone. Still, myself as a clinician as well as a scientist, and, like in 2010, textbooks don’t even mention that prog- most women, to do that again and again. How- esterone acts in bone to increases formation, ever, most of my current clinical colleagues despite my subsequent randomized, controlled appreciate my approach, and many share it. trial proving that medroxyprogesterone (a syn- Tell us more about the Women’s Health Initiative. thetic form of progesterone) therapy caused an JERILYNN PRIOR: These two studies, abbrevi- increase in bone density. ated WHI, are the first major and large Back in the 1980s, a senior gynecologist scolded randomized controlled trials to test whether me in front of the medical audience to whom I’d menopause means estrogen deficiency. The WHI just presented the ovulation changes from that hypothesized that hormone therapy (estrogen or one-year study—he asserted that regular men- estrogen/low dose progestin) prevents heart dis- strual cycles were always normally ovulatory. He ease and osteoporosis and doesn’t increase breast denied that cycles could lack ovulation (anovula- cancer. The WHI proved what I had asserted ear- tion) or that the luteal phase length (time from lier, that hormone treatment for disease ovulation until flow) could be too short. Another prevention causes harm. denial—progesterone must be important. I really knew progesterone was important when How did you manage to achieve such a seamless sin- I learned that any stresses, even minor emotional gle voice with your co-author Susan Baxter? ones, were associated with decreased proges- JERILYNN PRIOR: Susan, as well as being a terone production. I believe that our bodies are an social scientist, makes her living by writing. intricate system that can tune down reproduction Therefore, she became the primary writer. if our total health is threatened—progesterone is As a grandmother, do you buy the sociobiologists’ the- at the heart of this important integration. ory that human females, unlike those of other species, In your afterword, I sense a feeling of betrayal by the lose their reproductive capacity way before their nat- academic and medical establishment. ural death so they can look after the grandchildren? JERILYNN PRIOR: The afterword was my JERILYNN PRIOR: I think that women are, chance to speak truth to power, as Quakers strive and always have been, more than our reproduc- to do. I thought it important to document the tive selves. I do think, however, that Granny J hazing I experienced as I struggled to learn and adds something to my just-past-two grand- share accurate information about women’s repro- daughter’s life.  duction. My personal story might help younger For more information on Dr. Jerilynn Prior’s work, women trailblazers. visit CEMCOR at www.cemcor.ubc.ca.

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activist profile

MeetBY JOANNA CHIU Jessica Yee

amed by the Toronto Star as one of 2010’s People to Watch, Jessica Yee is a 25-year-old activist who first raised con- troversy at her Catholic elementary school and has since been a fearless force for the promotion of reproductive N rights and youth empowerment. At age 11, Yee took her first volunteer job at a women’s shelter. At age 20, she founded the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, a youth-run organization that promotes healthy sexuality and reproductive rights in Canada and the U.S. As the organization’s executive director, Yee spends most of the year travelling back and forth between Canada and the U.S. Yee also serves on the board of Maggie’s: Sex Workers Organizing in Toronto and has recently been appointed North Ameri- can representative on the board of Women on Waves/Women on the Web, an organization that works to prevent unsafe abortion. Yee is a contributor to BITCH magazine and is the author of Sex Ed and Youth: Colonization, Communities of Colour and Sex- uality, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This winter, the organization will publish a second book by Yee, Deconstructing the Academic Complex of Feminism-Feminist Education Now: Youth, Activism and Intersectionality.

HERIZONS: You have been involved in feminist, sexual health ceptions about activism. When the media profiles me, it and Aboriginal activism since you were eleven. Why was this seems like I participate in rallies every day. I actually have work important to you? a pretty boring job in terms of administrative work, but I JESSICA YEE: I have been calling myself a feminist since have a very exciting job in terms of community-based I was six, and my activism started when I was around 11 work. We currently have eight projects in Canada, five in over my concerns about reproductive health and rights over the United States and 13 collaborative projects with part- body and space. At an early age, I saw very young women ner organizations in both countries. In our regular getting pregnant. programming, we do workshops, conferences and training. My mom has also influenced my life and my work so We are governed by this amazing board of young Aborig- much. She was a sex worker by choice and she also had an inal people between the ages of 14 to 24 from all across abortion. When I applied to volunteer at a women’s shelter, Canada and the United States. the staff there initially didn’t allow me to volunteer because I In your work with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, was too young, but they ended up letting me volunteer what are the major issues? because my mom volunteered with me. I remember coming home from Catholic school one day JESSICA YEE: Every community is different, but what I when I had seen a horrific anti-choice presentation with pic- think is similar or shared between us is the history of colo- tures that I now know were of miscarriages and not abortions. nialism and oppression. No matter what health issues you are I told my mom that I was terrified of abortions and thought looking at, [Aboriginal people] suffer the most. Whether it that they were wrong. My mom told me that she had had two is suicide, poverty, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, sexually abortions and asked me if it meant that she should go to hell. transmitted infections or breast cancer, there are reasons why That really helped to change my perspective. we are the most vulnerable. There are a lot of young people who go to places like What is your day-to-day work like as executive director of the Africa to try to help, but they should be aware of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network? poverty right in their neighbourhoods. Similarly, a lot of JESSICA YEE: Sometimes, people have funny miscon- Aboriginal youth in North America are accustomed to see-

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ing white people come into their communities with resources and then leave with those resources. The Native Youth Sexual Health Network works to actualize sustain- able peer education models, and we are the only indigenous sexual health organization in North America by and for native youth.

You have been critical of some feminist groups regarding their atti- tudes toward race. How did your frustrations with some feminist groups begin, and what changes would you like to see in feminism? JESSICA YEE: My Aboriginal activism didn’t start until I was 18, after I visited British Columbia. That was where I became proud of my heritage because [my hometown] Toronto is not like Vancouver, where Aboriginal culture is more visible. However, when I went back to Toronto and wanted to talk about intersections between race and femi-

nism, the mainstream feminist groups that I was involved in Jessica Yee speaks at a recent Toronto workshop called Taking Action: Art and Abo- didn’t want to hear it. That was when I detached myself riginal Youth Leadership for HIV Prevention. (Photo: DJ Danforth) from more mainstream feminist circles, because I didn’t feel like they wanted to accept me. I don’t have the right to tell anybody what their feminism What is next for you? should look like, but I would suggest that feminists should JESSICA YEE: I want to expand the Native Youth Sexual ask the uncomfortable questions, be very self-critical and be Health Network and take on a new youth-in-midwifery proj- very careful about becoming insular. ect. After I turn 30, I would like to become a midwife. Traditionally, midwives didn’t just deliver babies; they per- Do you think organizations treat you differently? formed abortions, they did pregnancy prevention and they JESSICA YEE: Despite better intentions, some feminist provided women’s counselling—midwives were the backbone groups still treat me differently because of my race. It upsets of support for the women in their community. Some people me sometimes, but it is not the responsibility of people who think that midwifery is just about catching babies, versus the are oppressed to educate their oppressors. They’re not try- huge spectrum of knowledge that midwives have had in ing to be racist, but they will say, “Oh look, we’re profiling native communities. Life-giving comes in so many forms. a native woman.” I don’t think it’s good practice. I don’t What has been done so far to re-establish midwifery practices, and want to be included. I should already be there. That’s why I how do you plan to promote midwifery in North America? recently wrote an article about how intersectional feminism is not necessarily anti-racist. JESSICA YEE: [Midwife and educator] Katsi Cook is a great leader in the movement to re-establish traditional mid- Do you think feminists can work together to impact provincial wifery. She is such a huge mentor for me. There are and federal legislation? midwifery centres now across North America in places such JESSICA YEE: I don’t think all feminists can work together. as Wisconsin, Six Nations, New Mexico and Toronto. We can try, sure, but it is okay to disagree, and it is okay for My dream is to open traditional midwifery centres where different people to work on different things. We should be women can get the full host of sexual and reproductive health critical of the Western discourse that says it is impolite to services—including abortion, birthing, prevention and coun- disagree. I think we can definitely support each other, selling for domestic violence and education about sexual though. There are many ways that we can collaborate, but it’s pleasure.  dangerous to be unilateral on everything—except for funda- For more information about Jessica Yee and her work, see mental human rights issues such as abortion rights. www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com.

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MARTHA WAINWRIGHT be drawn back to this album over and over while Lauper may be a 50-something SANS FUSILS, NI SOULIERS, À PARIS: again, it will probably make you seek out woman singing the blues, she’s still having MARTHA WAINWRIGHT’S PIAF RECORD some classic Piaf. Hopefully, it will also lead fun. This is evident in the sense of joy that V2 Records you to an appreciation of the powerful, infuses her version of “Early in the REVIEW BY ANNA LAZOWSKI memorable work Martha Wainwright has Mornin’,” with accompaniment from Allen Tribute albums seem to run in the Wain- created in her own right. Toussaint and B.B. King, and her duet with wright family. Martha’s brother Rufus has Charlie Musselwhite’s harmonica on “Just sung from Judy Garland’s catalogue, and CYNDI LAUPER Your Fool.” Lauper’s voice gives these clas- after staging three concerts in New York MEMPHIS BLUES sics new life with great twists on phrasing. that featured the music of Edith Piaf, Mercer Street Records By ripping familiar pages from this under- Martha followed up with this recording. REVIEW BY CINDY FILIPENKO appreciated chapter of the American Wainwright has spoken about the influ- In her late-20s, pop-rocker Cyndi Lauper songbook and enlisting some of its best ence of Piaf’s music, a presence on her shot to fame by sharing the secret that girls interpreters, including former guitar prodigy record player since she was a child— just wanted to have fun. In the ’80s, having Jonny Lang, Lauper has created a great thanks to her big brother. As you listen fun meant matching crinolines with a pair environment for her mature voice. Purists through the 15 tracks on the album, a defi- of Chucks and committing hair crimes might want more pain pouring out of these nite passion for the music comes through. before hitting the town and belting out witty tracks, but Memphis Blues is accessible, This passion is made much clearer if you ditties about masturbation (“She Bop”) or entertaining and, most importantly, fun. watch the DVD that comes along as part of the real costs of success (“Money Changes the CD package. Seeing Wainwright per- Everything”). SHARON JONES AND form songs like “La Foule” in front of her More than 25 years after her initial THE DAP-KINGS backing band, and close-ups of her face as recognition, Lauper concludes a decade of I LEARNED THE HARD WAY she belts out the lyrics is a more magical creative detours with Memphis Blues, an Daptone Records experience compared to listening to the album of Delta standards. This shouldn’t be REVIEW BY ANNA LAZOWSKI audio alone. surprising considering that in 2003 she went If you happened to see last season’s Satur- Wainwright’s late mother, Kate McGar- uptown lounge with At Last, then released day Night Live episode where Michael rigle, is featured as a backing vocalist on an unplugged version of greatest hits in Bublé was the musical guest, you also saw the disc and in the DVD, though it is unfor- 2005 (worth it for “She Bop”) before fronting Sharon Jones. She was the woman who tunate that only four of those songs appear the gay rights-themed True Colors tour. joined Bublé for his second song and, in the filmed sequence. While you might not Memphis Blues clearly illustrates that essentially, completely outsung him.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings

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Jones was born in Georgia and spent like Immaculate Machine and she per- with an interesting story have a better time working as a corrections officer at Rik- formed alongside Neko Case and A.C. chance of getting media attention. But ers Island before making a mid-life career Newman in the New Pornographers. She when the story is about something as per- jump into music at the age of 40. Now in her also recently found time to put out her first sonal as your gender, you probably wish mid-50s, Jones is known for bringing solo album. In addition to striking out on her people would stop mucking around in your tremendous levels of strength and poise to own, there’s another reason why Calder’s business. her vocals, but on I Learned the Hard Way latest work sounds so intimately personal. Yet the fact that he is transitioning from she has been smoothed down, showing a She recorded it while taking care of her female to male does add an intriguing ele- bit more restraint than on previous albums. mother during her terminal illness, laying ment to Spoon’s music, like the Jones and The Dap-Kings bring elements down the tracks in her mother’s living room. juxtaposition between his softly masculine of the classic Stax sound to their work. In the liner notes on Are You My Mother? appearance and a voice that can be quite Check out the title track to hear a mix of she dedicates the record to the memory of delicate and intimate. It’s that combination horns, high-energy backing vocals, strings her mother and says she was motivated to that adds an extra element of intrigue to and piano that walks a tricky line between get the record done in time for her mom to songs like “Death by Elektro” and “Love is retro and modern. The songs on this album hear it. a Hunter.” continue to explore the well-worn paths of Calder plays most of the instruments on Another interesting pairing that comes up heartbreak and love gone wrong, like on the album, but she did enlist friends to drop in Spoon’s music happens when he draws “Better Things,” where she sings, “I’ve got in for guest spots, including vocals by Neko on influences from both alt-country and better things to do than remember you.” Case. Given the circumstances under which electronica. It’s an unusual combination Jones also blasts out a high-energy number Calder made this record, it carves out a that sometimes sounds a little confused, but called “Money” that would make a great nice balance in mood and avoids descend- also offers some interesting results. Songs recession-era anthem: “We scrimp, we ing into despair. Instead, it moves back and like “We Can’t Be Lovers With Guns on save, try to keep you around/ when you’re forth, from lively, harmony-filled tunes like Each Other,” “You Like All the Parties” and needed, you’re nowhere to be found.” “If You Only Knew” and “Follow Me Into the “Joan” illustrate what a great songwriter The album’s final track, “Mama Don’t Like Hills,” to mellower tunes like “So Easily” Spoon really is. My Man,” showcases Jones’ vocals in a and the utterly arresting “Slip Away.” With Spoon’s next challenge will be to fuse stripped-down manner that illustrates the shades of Veda Hille drifting in the back- the sometimes disparate sounds a bit kind of vocal talent that is very rare in our ground of some of these songs, and the more evenly. One stylistic choice I’m not current musical landscape. If they ever nuances of production that turn up on her keen on is the strange vibration effect make another James Bond movie, they first album, it’ll be interesting to see where that comes and goes on this record, espe- should call Sharon Jones and the Dap- she takes the next one. cially when used prominently on tracks Kings for a theme song. like “Dangerdangerdanger.” if you’re RAE SPOON intrigued and want to get to know Rae KATHRYN CALDER LOVE IS A HUNTER Spoon a bit better, I’d definitely recom- ARE YOU MY MOTHER? Saved By Radio mend checking out his cover of “If I Were File Under: Music REVIEW BY ANNA LAZOWSKI a Boy” by Beyoncé. Maybe he posted the REVIEW BY ANNA LAZOWSKI It must be hard for Rae Spoon to read video online so we’d all stop asking per- Kathryn Calder has spent time with bands reviews of his work. On one hand, artists sonal questions. 

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DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL MARY SHARRATT Houghton Mifflin Harcourt REVIEW BY ALICE LAWLOR Daughters of the Witching Hill is an epic tale of cunning women and the society that persecuted them. Inspired by real documents from the 1612 witch trials in Lancashire, England, the story spans three generations of a single family. The first is Bess Southerns, a poverty-stricken widow who has a knack for telling the future and healing the sick. Her charms become a means of survival, and the com- munity trusts in her particular brand of good magic. scholars of Afro-Caribbean literature and bled family relations and the solace that Those powers are inherited by both general readers alike. An exquisitely crafted can be found amidst sand and seashells. her daughter, Liza, and granddaughter, collection of stories by Jamaica-born In an insightful afterword, Senior notes: Alizon—an unwilling recipient who craves Toronto author Olive Senior, the volume “I grew up in two worlds. It’s true that I a normal life. But the power they wield has shimmers with rhythm, colour and a deep received a classical colonial education, but a dark side. Unmastered, Alizon’s gift intelligence that opens a window into the I had another life; there was another comes to threaten both her own family complex world of people colonized by domi- Jamaica out there that I was part of.” Let a and the community that has sheltered nant white culture. cavalcade of Caribbean steel drums wel- them for so long. Two novella-length works, the title story come Senior’s salute to heritage, heart and Daughters of the Witching Hill is an and “Lily-Lily,” bracket the collection. Nar- liberating truths. expertly woven tale that rings with rated by a young boy, the former details the Evelyn C. White is the author of Alice historical accuracy. From dialogue to impact of an Indian woman in a tight-knit Walker: A Life and Every Goodbye Ain’t description, every detail feels and Jamaican village, itself under the religious Gone: A Photo Narrative of Black Heritage sounds real. Witchcraft isn’t painted as a sway of white missionaries. on Salt Spring Island with photographs by fantastical invention; it’s just a part of the As the story unfolds, Senior offers an art- Joanne Bealy. characters’ everyday lives. And what’s ful meditation on desire, difference, identity most refreshing about this period piece is and power: “I was frightened by what Par- THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG that women are front and centre. Men dis- son would say when they brought her into MURIEL BARBERY appear, die or prove unfaithful, while the the district wearing … gold bangles all the TRANSLATION BY ALISON ANDERSON most powerful bonds that endure—for bet- way up her arms and ankles … and—a Europa Editions ter or worse—are female ones. Bess’s sure sign of heathenness—a gold ring in REVIEW BY SOOK C. KONG most significant misstep is caused by blind her nose.” One gets the sensation that Muriel Barbery loyalty—not to a man, but to her best “Lily-Lily” turns on the themes of skin had lots of fun writing her Parisian epic that friend and kindred spirit, Chattox. colour, caste and status, issues that con- pokes at and explodes the facades of con- Together, they “had to do things [their] tinue to resonate throughout the African temporary existence. It is about time own way, no matter what folk said.” Diaspora. “For the first time in her life [Lily] someone, a woman in particular, is having Author Mary Sharratt draws on the poli- realized that there were other, superior, vats of pleasure pounding out her creativity. tics of the day to create a vivid backdrop for attributes which resided in white skin, Satire is a (semi-)wild beast, not easy to her characters. This cultural milieu—in straight hair,” Senior writes. “In belonging, write. The wrong tone, and one sounds which religion is unstable and no one can not to a poverty-stricken colony, but to mean. Another wrong feather-move, and the be trusted—provides a fitting context for Mother England.” knowledgeable reader is not impressed. A the shocking events that unfold. After all, In “The Tenantry of Birds,” an emotion- writer who has Barbery’s skills knows the Sharratt seems to be saying, the witch trials ally abused woman rebels against the skid of the banana peel. didn’t happen in a historical vacuum. cage of a loveless marriage. “The View Barbery is a fine satirist. She has the from the Terrace” chronicles the life of a insights of an astute insider as well as the ARRIVAL OF THE SNAKE-WOMAN civil servant whose “success” has nar- acute observations of a detached onlooker. OLIVE SENIOR rowed his humanity. “He felt smug now Homing in on the owners and inhabitants TSAR Publications when he thought of his own large, roomy of eight luxury apartments, Barbery lands REVIEW BY EVELYN C. WHITE shipshape dwelling and the foolish, witty arrows at a number of related topics First published more than 20 years ago in crazily built shack on the hillside,” the such as giving trivial orders to the under- England, Arrival of the Snake-Woman’s author writes. lings when you are cranky; paying more Canadian release marks a major moment for Other stories probe lonely children, trou- attention to your shrink than to your chil-

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dren; communing more with the newspa- AN ANGLE OF VISION: WOMEN Salyer McElmurray details her academic per than with your kin; learning to mimic WRITERS ON THEIR POOR AND achievements and the resulting ambiva- others quickly to gain what you hoped WORKING-CLASS ROOTS lence she experienced. From a family of would be an easy passage through what EDITED BY LORRAINE M. LÓPEZ forsaken dreams, she had learned better passes for life, as well as re-circulating University of Michigan Press than to think of herself as better than any- piffle that passes for learning. REVIEW BY BRITTANY SHOOT one else. Barbery creates two figures with An Angle of Vision is a compendium of The stories also centre on work—the intense inner lives who act as the launch- remarkable storytelling that offers a kinds of work many women are forced to ers of the lit arrows. These are the reprieve from mainstream classist rhetoric. take just to make ends meet. From Maureen concierge of the expensive building, who In the book’s introduction, editor Lorraine Gibbon’s descriptions of “stink jobs” that lives in dark and small quarters, and a 12- M. López describes how the book’s con- often involved food production, to Judy year-old girl who combines the sensibility tributors revolutionized her own Owens’ time as a work-study student, we of Beckett, Sartre, Camus and Virginia understanding of herself as a writer. Pow- see how these talented writers overcame Woolf at the height of their powers. The erful writers like Joy Harijo and Dorothy more than just financial odds; they perse- concierge is a widow who, in a world of Allison “provided the road map to author- vered in the face of disheartening, surfaces, is considered to be ugly, old and ity,” López explains. demeaning underemployment. stumpy. However, like Cinderella, she Their stories feature women like her who Several writers contribute stories about transforms, with the help of the public were able to move beyond a place of their mothers’ shame about their home library, her best friend, and the new buyer poverty and powerlessness into roles as lives, the impoverished existence that they of one of the apartments. The concierge protagonists in their own lives—something desperately tried to mask in public. Many also saves the too-lucid preteen from that’s difficult for many of us, even under also depict how poor women suffer in ways committing suicide on her 13th birthday. the best circumstances. less familiar to poor men, such as support- Thus, Barbery deals with one of the Mary Childers, for example, writes about ing the demands of unpaid household work largest questions: Is there meaning to life? the difficulty of moving between varied and assuming caretaker roles. In each Sook C. Kong was awakened to the possi- socio-economic spaces, maintaining a dual- story, the intersections of race and religion bilities of literary satire when she first read class citizenship. With similar themes of are also intertwined, constructing a portrait Jonathan Swift in the 1970s. complicated feelings about success, Karen of how social stigma determines so much

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about women’s abilities to be seen as they truly are. The collection is reminiscent of Michelle Tea’s Without a Net, which also antholo- gized the writings of women living in poverty. As someone who grew up in a low- income and single-parent family, I say without hesitation that I hope this is one of many more books by women whose pasts resemble mine in this critical but often ignored way.

BEST LESBIAN EROTICA 2010 EDITED BY KATHLEEN WARNOCK Cleis Press REVIEW BY MEGAN BUTCHER If you like dyke porn, you probably already If you think you might like dyke porn but ation of feminists is clicked into action. As know everything you need to know about aren’t sure, reading this book will be a darn one contributor explains, “I’ve come to this collection. Best Lesbian Erotica 2010 is good way to find out. realize that the job of each generation is a good selection of solid erotic writing with to make sense of its own era—to under- enough meat on the characters to make the CLICK: YOUNG WOMEN ON THE stand what is needed now, when some stories engaging, enough plot to be inter- MOMENTS THEY KNEW THEY past issues of oppression are not so in- esting and enough sex to be hot. WERE FEMINIST your-face.” This edition features writers both new EDITED BY COURTNEY E. MARTIN AND J. Colleen Lutz Clemens has her first femi- and well-seasoned. They hail mainly from COURTNEY SULLIVAN nist moment on the marching band field; the U.S., but there is a smattering of inter- Seal Press Elisa Albert while playing Vashti, the cast- national authors, too: a story set in Italy REVIEW BY CAROLINA PINEDA off wife of King Ahasuerus in a school from a Swedish writer features some butch- The collection of essays in Click: Young musical. Learning to hunt does it for Eliza- on-butch carnality behind a church; a noted Women on the Moments They Knew They beth Chiles Shelburne and for Deborah French erotica writer brings a mysterious Were Feminist reads like a Chicken Soup for Siegel it was Anita Hill. However reshaped American to a Parisian domme. the Soul kind of book, only cooler and more and redefined, the 29 contributors to this This erotica series has been around political. Editors Courtney E. Martin and J. collection remind us that feminist thought since 1995 and is well known for its excel- Courtney Sullivan provide a platform where and action is still relevant, even necessary. lent sex writing. Tristan Taormino has a diverse group of authors is able to reflect If you need some convincing, then read this moved on as series editor, leaving Kathleen on the personal experiences that brought book. It may inspire—as it did for me—your Warnock in charge. In turn, Warnock them to identity as feminist. Described as very own click moment. handed the job of story selection over to the “click” moments, these experiences are as three members of Betty musicians, best unique as the contributors, leaving readers OFF THE HIGHWAY: known for working on The L-Word. It with an honest sense of the many paths to GROWING UP IN NORTH DELTA seemed like a strange move at first, but feminism today. METTE BACH Warnock’s reasoning was perfect: “Song- Personal stories are rich with references New Star Books writers have the task of telling a life or a to a historical movement that most associ- REVIEW BY SOOK C. KONG moment in a couple dozen lines. It’s a form ate with their parents and the trailblazing Isn’t it amazing when you find a missing that requires ... style, craft, tempo, rhythm thinkers they learn about in women’s stud- piece? That magical touch appeared when I and talent to pull off successfully.” ies courses. The result is a work that packs read a well-paced memoir about growing They’ve managed that well, for sure. in both extensive knowledge of women’s up in North Delta, B.C. It isn’t Alice Munro’s Many of the stories are very well structured struggles since the second wave of femi- Muskoka, but it is Mette Bach’s corner. (for example, the smooth flow and wicked nism in the U.S. and a mile-long reading list Reflecting on growing up can be done in plot twist in “Jubilee”), or take interesting for further enlightenment. many creative ways. I hear Canadian risks (the one-sided text conversation in What makes Click special is its ability to friends who mention growing up in quiet- “Sexting”). Some are stories with raucous, make this past relevant to a contemporary town Ontario by the lake. I also hear irreverent energy, such as “Uppercasing.” readership bent on intersectional analysis another friend recalling growing up in Win- The drawn-out anticipation of “In the and fishnet stockings, transnational femi- nipeg stacking bowling pins for pin money. Sauna” was by far my favourite of the col- nist theory and Sleater-Kinney. “Feminism And I hear many friends joking about their lection. Though, if role play is what gets is still thriving” assert the editors, though high school years—if only to come to terms you, someone gets a good lesson in “Teach- in a decidedly new form. With new con- with some of the pain. ing Amy,” while “Pin-up” features some hot texts come new challenges, and it is in Bach writes feelingly about youth’s alien- librarian lovin’. confrontation with these that a new gener- ation. What I most enjoyed was her voice,

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which rises from the same bricks and mor- tar of language that everyone has. It is creative, and it is an achievement, to mani- fest a distinctive voice. She writes clear, nuanced prose, asking where do those who don’t fit in go? Fortunately, Bach has a strong sense of place and placelessness. The latter refers to the fact that strip malls and the burbs don’t do it for every child. Some need more complexity to thrive. Bach’s story is also a narrative of reloca- tion. She was five when her family moved from Denmark to B.C. In her adult years, she has visited her country of origin. While she likes Copenhagen, she sees that she was spared the homogenized existence of a small suburb in Denmark. pulling a sled (called a Komatik) loaded about eating disorders, but this story of In B.C., what made her adolescent days with 907 kilograms of gear isn’t everyone’s descent into exercise bulimia and the long, less abysmal were her great friendships idea of adventure. After three wipeouts, slow road to recovery is fresh and full of with fellow existential exiles—Lynde, Whelan learned that sudden stops turn the insights about health, beauty, family and whose mother hailed from Texas, Elaine, Komatik into a missile that can maim or kill. growing up. whose parents are from Macau and Peru; There were plenty of mishaps as the patrol Friedman is also a poet, and she brings and Thomas, who spoke Danish like a navigated ice, gorges, canyons, rocks, ice something special to this book—not native, but was Korean by birth. Another chunks, sharp ice pinnacles, snowdrifts through her use of language, which is lifesaver was being able to take the bus out and hurricane-force winds. I sat, white- of Delta to get to Vancouver. clear but not lyrical, but in the thoughtful knuckled, reading how members of the way she tells her story. There is something The late iconoclast Jacques Derrida often expedition camped on the edge of the asked, “Who is my friend?” Bach knows. about Friedman’s introspection that is liter- Ayles Ice Shelf—or what used to be the ary, not self-indulgent, and her narrative is Sook C. Kong grew up near a fishing pond. shelf. After the 62-kilometre ice shelf broke always charming and never whiny. Her She knows that sometimes friends have two clear of Ellsemere in 2005, it formed Ayles insight into her own illness is exception- legs and sometimes they don’t, and that Ice Island. ally convincing and it is believable that these are called places. Wearing a 36-kilogram parka, imagine she could recognize, understand and ana- calmly setting up a tent and sleeping with a lyze her own symptoms and behaviour THIS VANISHING LAND gun at the top of your head in case of polar while still being completely unable to con- CAITLIN PRESS bear attacks. The only good news in the trol them. Diane Whelan Arctic is that there is not enough time or It is disturbing that Friedman is applauded REVIEW BY LISA SHAW fuel to melt water to wash dishes. for her rapid weight gain as she begins to As a sled-head, I was in awe and jealous. During her travels, Whelan earned a few recover, since her behaviour remains far Diane Whelan, a professional photographer, nicknames. “Poopy Pants” (I’ll spare the from healthy. She binges and continues her wrangled her way onto a 2,000-kilometre details) was one; then it was “Smokey” obsessive exercise regime, highlighting one Arctic patrol along with seven members of when her sled caught fire after she forgot to of the many complex aspects of eating disor- the Canadian Forces and the Inuit Rangers release the emergency break. ders—namely, that families and health in 2007. The patrol travelled from Resolute So curl up with a warm blanket professionals are often pleased to have the to Alert, Nunavut, to plant a Canadian flag and enjoy this epic journey. This was on Ward Hunt Island, near the North Pole. Whelan’s first snowmobile ride and it may patient look and act normal (eating and Loaded with stunning pictures, Whelan’s be her last. maintaining a normal weight) even if they are book intertwines two stories, one about still harming themself. sovereignty and the other about adventure. DIARY OF AN EXERCISE ADDICT Even Friedman herself cannot explain all Only 150 years ago, the Arctic, which PEACH FRIEDMAN the causes of her exercise bulimia. But she occupies 40 percent of Canada, was a for- GPP Life suspects it may be difficult for smart, artis- gotten chunk of ice. Next, it was the frozen REVIEW BY KRIS ROTHSTEIN tic, middle-class girls to grow up when they front line of the Cold War. Now, it is a Peach Friedman was a middle-class Ameri- are so sheltered and cared for, and also barometer for global warming, and soon can college student when a series of events that she was susceptible to this disease the Arctic may be open to commercial took an emotional toll on her. She found because of her own privilege. Diary of an shipping lanes and vast resources and oil herself living back at home, massively Exercise Addict is one of the few eating dis- may be up for grabs. restricting her diet and obsessively working order memoirs that consider questions of Seventeen days riding a snowmobile off calories at the gym. It is difficult to find class as well as gender, and this makes it hard in minus-70-degree weather while new territory within the genre of memoirs an intelligent and profound book. 

HERIZONS FALL 2010 45 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:23 PM Page 46

arts culture FILM Filming Under Fire BY ERIKA THORKELSON

Sparks ricochet across the camera’s view, landing in low brush and starting little fires. The lens captures a few advancing sol- diers and jerks as its holder runs from a fresh volley of bullets. Ragged breaths are audible. The camerawoman is Edmonton- ian Sheryle Carlson. The olive field is in Ni’lin, Palestine, far from the snowy streets of her hometown. “I couldn’t distinguish—even growing up on a farm, knowing what gunshots sounded like—the sound of a bullet, or tear gas being shot,” Carlson recalls. That day, to break up a scheduled protest march, Israeli soldiers started with tear gas, then switched to bullets. In the same film, one of 20 Carlson made during her time abroad, snipers shoot a young man in the leg as he runs from the scene. “I didn’t know I was filming that,” she says. “I knew that live bullets were flying because I was told.” Carlson speaks with prairie frankness and passion, useful qualities in a traveller and activist. The 32-year-old could be the perfect hippie tourist, lounging on some tropical beach. So why does she travel the world, only to watch people suffer and be shot at herself? “Maybe it’s my political science back- ground,” Carlson offers. “Maybe it’s that I always root for the underdog.” In 2007, after years working with Edmon- ton’s Global Visions Film Festival, Carlson travelled to Nicaragua to document the conflict over water privatization. In 2009, she went to Sierra Leone, where she and Larissa Stendie filmed Life After Diamonds in cooperation with the Environmental Foun- dation for Africa, chronicling a project to reclaim land used for diamond mining. Carlson recalls that she once tried to take a vacation in Egypt, but found herself unable to relax. “I’m horrible at vacationing. Photo: Aysegul Boydas

46 FALL 2010 HERIZONS her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 12:23 PM Page 47

arts culture FILM

I’ve got to do something. I feel like I need purpose,” she says. After a brief stop in Israel, Carlson trav- elled to the occupied territories and ended up in the city of Nablus, a stronghold of Palestinian resistance. Certain that she’d found her purpose, she booked her plane ticket home for seven months later and started working for the Alternative Informa- tion Centre in Bethlehem. There she ran workshops and shot footage for the organi- zation’s news centre. Carlson plied friends for tips that took her filming all over the region: a protest featuring a mock wedding in Al-Masara; a night march in Bilin; the empty, fortified streets of Hebron. Locals were sometimes wary of her. “I heard Palestinians complaining about Sheryle Carson says of her experience filmaking in the occupied territories: “I’m biased.” activists that would come there to put another notch in their belt, especially during When visiting Israel, Carlson asked being brought before a judge in shackles. the intifadas,” she says. “I’m not a complete Israeli youth about their views on Palestini- “Having heard the horror stories from egoist, but I’m not so altruistic, either. I ans. She was appalled by what she heard. Palestinians and other internationals about went there to help, but also to explore a “I met these kids … who would say that torture, I was a little bit worried,” she place that I wanted to see.” People became Palestinians were not human beings, and recalls with characteristic understatement. helpful and willing to tell their stories when yet [they would] go and volunteer in Latin The judge quickly dropped the charges, they learned she was neither an extreme America for some cause.” but the damage was done—having the tourist nor on a cloistered bus tour of the The status of women was also always on arrest on her record made it impossible to Holy Land like many who visit the area. her mind, aware that violence against renew her visa. In South Hebron, Carlson tagged along women has increased since the occupation. That compulsion to push back bleeds into with a group of Israeli and Palestinian She recounts a conversation with a woman her unabashedly dogmatic films. “Filmmak- activists on a convoy into the desert to who fought in the first intifada. “She didn’t ing is a selfish expression,” she says. deliver water. The military dogged their wear the hijab then,” she says. “When I “That’s where artistry comes in. I’m making every step. Carlson found herself in the mid- asked her, ‘What are your hopes for this for me; this is how I feel.” dle of an altercation between the elderly Taking a stance puts Carlson outside Israeli convoy leader and a soldier. women’s rights here?’ she said that there mainstream media, making her work diffi- “We’re out in the middle of the desert won’t be any until the occupation is over. and he’s waving a military order and saying, That’s so sad—that’s someone who should cult to sell. “I’m biased,” she says. “A ‘No, this is a military zone now,’” she know that her own struggle for rights is part journalist is biased too, but they get to lie recalls. She wondered if she should inter- of everything else.” about it. My work doesn’t reach as many vene or step back and document it on Eventually, Carlson’s zeal landed her on people, unfortunately, because I don’t lie. camera. “A filmmaker or journalist would the wrong side of the law. As she and a The trade-off is that I’m limited in my scope, have chosen to step back and film that, but friend were passing through a military bar- in my audience, but I remain the person I my instant reaction was to try to do both.” rier in Bethlehem late one night, she feel I need to be.” The soldier grabbed the man by the arm. noticed a Palestinian man behind her being Despite everything she’s seen, Carlson Carlson snatched his other arm in protest, blocked entry. She was unable to contain has no regrets and hopes to return to the her camera flying wildly. It was so sudden her anger, repeatedly asking the soldier, region. “I’m still willing to risk my status, my that she forgot about it. Afterward, she “Why can I go in and he cannot?” passport, maybe my life,” she marvels. “I found several minutes of useless footage “My first response was to resist,” she don’t fear death—am I crazy?” that she couldn’t account for until a recalls thinking when she was appre- Many of Sheryle Carlson’s videos, includ- stranger sent her a YouTube video of the hended. “Once I was in the truck, I got the ing Life After Diamonds and Occupation of event. “It was weird,” she says. “I’m not old punch in the face, elbow to the throat.” Ni’lin, Palestine are available at used to seeing myself onscreen.” She was held for eight hours before http://www.vimeo.com/intlfunk. 

HERIZONS FALL 2010 47 her-051 Fall 2010 v24n2.qxp 9/20/10 6:50 PM Page 48

on the edge BY LYN COCKBURN

HARRIED POLITICS

I have a fuck-them haircut. It’s really short and I’m not too human rights activists, there are 12 more women in Iran fac- fond of it, but I can’t make myself complain to my hairdresser. ing similar sentences. Nor am I going to go elsewhere in a huff, a car or a bus. And then my hairdresser and I have a long conversation My hairdresser and I have been getting to know each other that does not involve any more cutting of hair, but does little by little. She’s got a quaint little shop around the corner encompass such things as old men who see religion and from my apartment, and after eyeing her $16.99 sign for sev- power as synonymous. eral weeks, I gave in to my Scottish ancestry. She gives me the Muslim greeting and says: “Those old So I’ve been going there for months now. About a week men, they talk like that about Allah, but all they want is to ago, it was time for another cut, and after exchanging pleas- tell everybody what to do.” antries—“It’s sure hot today but I like it,” and “how’s Not wishing to give the impression that I think that all is business?” and stuff like that—we get down to it. perfect in the Western world of religion, I offer: “Well, we’ve She puts a CD of Iranian music in the player because got some of those powerful old guys, too, who insist on being that’s what she is—Iranian. She snips, I listen and all is well. right all the time.” Then I ask her a bit more about Iran because, each visit, I ask She evidently knows little about Protestantism, but she’s up one or two questions, feeling she’ll talk more as she gets to on her Crusades, and gives me something of a history lesson know me. on how all those religious soldiers stomped through Persia. “Do you go back for visits very often?” I start. I listen with one eye on the scissors, because I do not want She tells me she went to visit her family two years ago. I my hair to get any shorter. should have left it there, but the journalist in me makes me “The Bible, the Qur’an, they’re both good books” she says, ask: “Would you like to go back there to live?” obviously willing to be ecumenical about the whole thing. She pauses and then begins to snip a little quicker—is it “But those people like the mullahs, they ruin those books.” maybe too quick? “No,” she says emphatically. “Not until the She puts the scissors down, so I feel a bit better about the government changes.” I can tell she’s getting a little worked up. conversation. And then she continues to give me a perceptive “They are…. They are.… Those mullahs are….” She can’t lesson in comparative religion. Her view is not the one I have find the right word. grown up with; it is an Eastern view that comes out of a cul- “Fuck them!” she says loudly, and that’s when everything ture thousands of years old. goes awry. She finishes it off by saying: “Jesus in the Bible is a good I laugh and it’s too late. She has cut my bangs far too short man.” and I notice the nice little wisps in front of my ears have Not quite through, she adds: “I really like the Dalai Lama.” departed to some follicle heaven. She has suspended her scis- “There!” she exclaims, holding a mirror so I can see the sors over my head, so for the moment I don’t have to tell her to back of my head, where my hair is really, really short, “Please God, Allah or Whomever, don’t snip any more off.” “How’s that?” “They don’t like women!” she adds. “Very cute,” I say, avoiding the momentary impulse to say: This is a statement which may get her first prize in the “There’s not a damn thing you can do about it anyway, it’s so Understatement of 2010 Contest. Especially as Sakineh damn short!” Mohammadi Ashtiani sits in a Tehran prison convicted of I’ll go back in a few weeks. And while she is brandishing adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Ashtiani’s sen- scissors, I’ll take care not to ask her any questions that might tence has been temporarily lifted because of international make her think of the mullahs.  outrage, but she may be hanged momentarily. According to You can check out Lyn Cockburn’s blog at lyncockburn.blogspot.com.

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