Her-040 Winter 2007 V21n3.Qxp
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE DIRT ON MUD HOUSES | STATUS OF WOMEN OR STATUS QUO? | MUSIC MUST-HAVES: HAYLEY SALES, CARA LUFT WOMEN’S NEWS & FEMINIST VIEWS Winter 2008 Vol. 21 No. 3 Made in Canada NAOMINAOMI KLEINKLEIN THETHE SHOCKINGSHOCKING DOCTRINEDOCTRINE OFOF DISASTERDISASTER GREEDGREED LOOKLOOK BOTHBOTH WAYSWAYS JENNIFER BAUMGARDNER ON BISEXUAL POLITICS $6.95 Canada/US Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866; PAP Registration No. 07944 Return Undeliverable Addresses to: PO Box 128, THETHE BABYBABY BUSINESSBUSINESS Winnipeg, MB R3C 2G1 Canada HAS IT FAILED TO DELIVER? Display until March 8, 2008 the Gift THAT KEEPS GIVING ALL YEAR LONG Buy 2 Gift Subscriptions at $27.50 each (use the 1enclosed envelope to order) and receive a third gift subscriptionGive absolutely FREE! Keep your friends informed about the ground- 2breaking changes women are making in Canada and around the world. Whether it’s improving women’s health, demanding action to improve women’s equality status, confronting racism or promoting sustainable development, women are at the forefront of change. They’ll read Herizons’ insightful columnists as they share their insights about life immersed in social and political change. Herizons subscribers now qualify for a 10 percent 3discount on books from the Toronto Women’s Bookstore. Applies to in-store and on-line purchases (www.womensbookstore.com).* Subscribers receive their copy of Herizons before 4 anyone else. Starting January 1st, subscribers will have free access 5 to electronic copies of Herizons back issues online! Best of all, your subscription to Herizons, Canada’s most widely-read feminist magazine, is a positive way to demonstrate your support for unapologetic feminist analysis and reporting. * Toronto Women’s Bookstore, 173 Harbord St. 416-922-8744. To activate Herizons’ subscriber discount for in-store book orders, present one I.D. with current address. For on-line book orders, (www.womensbookstore.com) call Herizons for instructions at 1-888-408-0028 before placing your order. BUY 2 GIFTS GET ONE FREE Send payment for just $55.00 (GST included) for 3 gift subscriptions in the handy reply form in the envelope enclosed to: Herizons P.O Box 128, Winnipeg, MB CANADA R3C 2G1. table of contents WINTER 2008 News THE DIRT ON MUD HOUSES 6 by Janet Nicol STATUS OF WOMEN BECOMES STATUS QUO 7 by Melinda Robinson 8 CAMPAIGN UPDATES ARAB HOUSEMAID FACES DEATH 12 by Lasanda Kurukulasuriya THINK INSIDE THE BOX 13: Think Inside the Box 13 by Krista Scott-Dixon MORE MOMMY TIME 14 by Melinda Robinson Features DO NO HARM 16 What would you do if a doctor groped you after you had gone for a consultation about tonsillitis? Sixteen years after Ontario’s groundbreaking task force on patient abuse, Herizons takes a pulse on the issue. by Zoe Cormier SHOCK DOC 20 Naomi Klein’s No Logo helped spawn the anti-globalization movement. Klein’s latest target is those who use “shock doctrine” to pillage public services and spawn private 24: The Colour of Loss profiteering. by Susan G. Cole The Colour of Loss New reproductive technologies and fertility treatments 24 promised to expand reproductive choice, providing more women with the means to have children. As one lesbian couple discovered, however, the baby business has made choice more complex than ever. by Elizabeth Ruth LOOK BOTH WAYS 33 Jennifer Baumgardner discusses bisexuality and feminism in her book Look Both Ways. by Jennifer O’Connor 38: Tracy Myers HERIZONS WINTER 2008 1 table of contents WINTER 2008 / VOLUME 21 NO. 3 For kick-ass women in a world that needs its ass kicked MANAGING EDITOR: Penni Mitchell FULFILLMENT AND OFFICE MANAGER: Phil Koch ACCOUNTANT: Sharon Pchajek BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Ghislaine Alleyne, Phil Koch, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhard, Valerie Regehr Arts & Ideas EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Ghislaine Alleyne, Gio Guzzi, Penni Mitchell, Kemlin Nembhand ART PROFILE ADVERTISING SALES: Penni Mitchell (204) 774-6225 Tracy Meyers 38 DESIGN: inkubator.ca by Sheila Nopper WEB MISTRESS: Rachel Thompson/BlueMuse MUSIC MUST-HAVES RETAIL INQUIRIES: Disticor (905) 619-6565 40 Cara Luft, Feist, Carolyn Mark, Hayley Sales, PROOFREADER: Phil Koch KT Tunstall, Emily Hayes and The Soft COVER PHOTO: Debra Friedman Skeleton HERIZONS is published four times per year by HERIZONS Inc. in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. One-year subscription price: $27.50 WINTER READING (includes GST) in Canada. Two-year subscription is $43.92 in 43 The Breakdown So Far by M.A.C. Farrant, Tell Canada. Subscriptions to U.S.: add $6.00. International Me Another Morning by Zdena Berger, The Skin subscriptions: add $9.00. Cheques or money orders are payable to: Beneath by Nairne Holtz, The Book of Emma by HERIZONS, PO Box 128, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA R3C 2G1. Marie-Célie Agnant, The First Man in My Life Ph (204) 774-6225. edited by Sandra Martin, My Wedding Dress SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: [email protected] edited by S. Whelehan and A.L. Carter, EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: [email protected] Enough Bloodshed: 101 Solutions to Violence, ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: [email protected] Terror and War by Mary-Wynne Ashford, WEBSITE: www.herizons.ca Worldchanging: A User’s Guide edited by Alex HERIZONS is indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. Steffen, Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat, GST #R131089187. ISSN 0711-7485. 13 Women: Parables from Prison edited by The purpose of HERIZONS is to empower women; to inspire hope Karlene Faith, The Colour of Stone: Sculpting the and foster a state of wellness that enriches women’s lives; to build Black Female Subject by Charmaine A. Nelson, awareness of issues as they affect women; to promote the Everything Conceivable by Liza Mundy. strength, wisdom and creativity of women; to broaden the boundaries of feminism to include building coalitions and support FILM among other marginalized people; to foster peace and ecological 54 Room awareness; and to expand the influence of feminist principles in Review by Maureen Medved the world. HERIZONS aims to reflect a feminist philosophy that is 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 Columns does not accept poetry or fiction submissions. PENNI MITCHELL HERIZONS is a member of the Manitoba Magazine 5 Sober Second Thought Publishers Association. HERIZONS acknowledges the financial support of the LISA RUNDLE Government of Canada through the Publication 15 Teaed Off Assistance Program (PAP) and the Canada Magazine Fund our toward mailing and editorial costs. MARIKO TAMAKI HERIZONS gratefully acknowledges the support 37 The Goodbye Girl of the Manitoba Arts Council. SUSAN G. COLE Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866, PAP Registration No. 07944. Return Undeliverable Addresses to: PO Box 128, Winnipeg, Jabs and Spears 55 MB, Canada R3C 2G1, Email: [email protected] LYN COCKBURN Herizons is proudly printed on Forest Stewardship Council- The Skinny on Skinny certified paper that is 50% recycled, including 25% post- 56 consumer, acid-free and chlorine-free. 2 WINTER 2008 HERIZONS letters WANTED: MORE COVERAGE OF OLDER WOMEN stages identified in the grief literature, and that when we go through When I was younger and healthy, I didn’t realize how important good denial, bargaining, anger, depression and reach acceptance, we can health is in older age, and did not pay much attention to what I could surrender the things of youth and “allow the good times to return, no be doing to stay healthy. I wish I had. Ill health not only costs time and longer caring what others think of us,” and enjoy one’s niche in the energy, it costs money because most provincial and private health and world, given, I would add, the financial security to be able to do so. dental plans diminish drastically after retirement. Key to older women’s ANN ELIZABETH CARSON wellbeing, therefore, is that health care remain public, and that feminist Author and sculptor, Toronto, ON frameworks are used to make policy decisions in areas of particular importance to older women, such as pension reform, poverty, housing, WRIGHTING THE transportation and mobility. RECORD I am writing to ask that Herizons give more prominence to issues as I have been familiar they affect older women. For example, at the Older Women’s Network with your magazine in Toronto, they are urging young and mid-life women to look seriously over the years and have at long-term financial planning. An economic plan defines the kinds of always been impressed decisions you will be able to make now about jobs and benefits, and with your strong will determine your future lifestyle. One in seven women in Canada live approach to feminism, in poverty and few younger women realize that many of these women queer issues and the are living alone, isolated, lonely and often sick. And could very soon be quality of your them, since 40 to 50 percent of women have no access to a meaningful published works. Therefore, I was excited to have my name published in employment pension plan, i.e., above the poverty line. Herizons (Fall 2007) in your article about the recent success of The Cliks. There is a prevailing attitude that it’s all been done, which is When I first saw the article, I could not wait to read the review of especially discouraging for those older women who have worked hard Snakehouse, an album I wrote the bass lines for and played on. But, on for women’s equality and now find themselves in powerless positions further reading, I realized I had been misrepresented in this article. personally and politically. This compounds the difficulties of accepting I left the band for private matters which were between Lucas the fact of aging and old age.