Naomi Klein on Lies, Damned Lies and George W. Bush Judy Rebick on Sheila Copps and WOMEN’S NEWS & FEMINIST VIEWS • Spring 2004 • Vol. 17 No.4 • Canada $5.95/US $5.95 Belinda Stronach

MARGARETMARGARET ATWOODATWOOD IS THIS THE PATH WE WANT TO BE ON? FEMINISTFEMINIST INKINK POLITICS AND PUBLISHING IN A BIG BOX WORLD BELLYBELLY DANCINGDANCING A NEW BODY POLITIC KEEPINGKEEPING THETHE FAITHFAITH FEMALE CLERGY Made in Canada Publications Mail Agreement #40008866 table of contents SPRING 2004 / VOLUME 17 NO. 4

BELLY 24 WISDOM Belly dancing is believed to have been created by women in India and the Middle East to ease the pain and facilitate the process of giving birth. Today, most women learning the dance in North America are of European descent. Will its history and culture be safely preserved? by Sheila Nopper KEEPING 28 THE FAITH Female clergy are questioning the veracity of scrip- Blacklisted by Neko Case. See page 30. tures and interpreting them in a modern, more WOMEN’S NEWS feminist way. by Danielle Harder Court Favours Rape Relief by Robin ARTS & LIT 6-13 Perelle; Reform Rabbi Challenges Orthodoxy by Anat Cohen; Tune in for Broader MASSIVE QUANTITIES Democracy by Penney Kome; Revving up the 32 OF GOOD VIBES… Revolution by Sarah Lukaweski; No Green Light for Music reviewer Anna Lazowski writes, “The liner notes Red Light District by Michelle French penned by this Montreal resident contain a mini man- ifesto on the importance of water, signed off with a wish for “massive quantities of good vibes”—the name FEMINIST VIEWS of her record label.” If you haven’t heard Annabelle Chvostek, dip in to this review. Plus the awesome Neko MARGARET Case (Blacklisted) and O Susanna’s self-titled album 16 ATWOOD In Oryx and Crake, Margaret …GOOD Atwood pictures a future 33 SCRIBES, TOO where the current quest to control nature is taken up a The Chelsea Whistle by Michelle Tea (Review by T.L. few notches. In her novels she asks the big questions. Cowan); Desirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee But what does the author of the early feminist classic (Review by Irene D’Souza); American Woman by Susan Edible Woman think of reality TV? by Irene D’Souza Choi (Review by Ann Hansen); Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens (Review by Maria Stanborough) FEMINIST INK: PUBLISHING AND 21POLITICS IN A BIG BOX WORLD FEMINIST The last decade has seen monumental changes in 43 CLASSICS the Canadian publishing world. How have feminist A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary publishers adapted? by Leigh Felesky Wollstonecraft (Review by Stacey Kauder) 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 NON-FICTION TITLES Editorial Committee: Ghislaine Alleyne, Gio Guzzi, Penni Mitchell 37 Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield (review by Advertising Sales: Penni Mitchell (204) 774-6225 Jennifer O’Connor); Quixotic Erotic by Tamai Kobayashi Design: inkubator.ca (Review by Joy Parks); The Muslim Veil in North America Web Mistress: edited by Sajida Sultana Alvi, Homa Hodfar and Sheila Rachel Thompson/BlueMuse Retail Inquiries: 905) 619-6565 McDonough (Review by Laila Malik) Disticor ( Proofreading: Gerri Thorsteinson, Kelli Wagner, Phil Koch Cover Photo: COLUMNS Aaron Harris HERIZONS is published four times per year by HERIZONS FIRST WORD Inc. in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. One-year subscription price: $24.26+$1.70 GST ($25.96) in Canada. Two-year 3 BY PENNI MITCHELL subscriptions are $39.16+$2.76 GST ($41.92) in Canada. Are We Equal Yet? Subscriptions to US addresses are $29.99 Canadian funds or $25.96 in US funds. International subscriptions are BODY POLITIC $32.99. Cheques or money orders are payable to: HERIZONS, PO Box 128, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA 5 BY JUDY REBICK R3C 2G1. Ph (204) 774-6225; Fax (204) 786-8038. Power Games. “I say all power to Sheila Copps and I Subscription-related inquiries: [email protected] hope she gets the nomination in her riding. Just stay Editorial-related inquiries: [email protected] away from the NDP.” http://www.herizons.ca HERIZONS is indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. COLE’S NOTES HERIZONS is available on CD-ROM through Micromedia Ltd., 20 Victoria St. Toronto, ON M5C 2N8. GST 15 BY SUSAN G. COLE #R131089187. ISSN 0711-7485. Spring Fever. “My daughter has a boyfriend.” The purpose of HERIZONS is to empower women; to inspire hope and foster a state of wellness that enriches women’s OUT OF BOUNDS lives; to build awareness of issues as they affect women; to BY LISA RUNDLE promote the strength, wisdom and creativity of women; to 31 broaden the boundaries of feminism to include building Must Intervene. TV “And then Tara’s blood sprayed all coalitions and support among other marginalized people; to over Willow, and it was over–Tara the victim of a foster peace and ecological awareness; and to expand the fatal stray bullet. Oh ya.” influence of feminist principles in the world. HERIZONS aims to reflect a feminist philosophy that is diverse, understandable and relevant to women’s daily lives. ON THE EDGE Views expressed in HERIZONS are those of the writers and 47 BY LYN COCKBURN do not necessarily reflect HERIZONS’ editorial policy. No Bend It Like a Lady. “You can only give the finger to a material may be reprinted without permission. Submissions limited number in the male establishment before you and queries will be returned if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Due to limited resources, find yourself without a job, a house … or your cher- HERIZONS does not accept poetry or fiction submissions. ished pictures of a semi-nude Antonio Banderas.” We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publication Assistance Program GLOBAL WARNING (PAP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage toward our 48 BY NAOMI KLEIN mailing costs. Lies, Damned Lies and George Bush. “2003 was a year Publications Mail Agreement No. 40008866, PAP Registration No. 07944. Return Undeliverable Addresses to: PO Box 128, Winnipeg, when fakeness ruled: fake rationales for war, a fake MB, Canada R3C 2G1, Email: [email protected] president dressed as a fake soldier declaring a fake end to combat and then holding up a fake turkey.” HERIZONS SPRING 2004 1 ON THE HORIZON FROM TURNSTONE PRESS Loving Gertrude Stein Core Samples poetry by Deborah Schnitzer Short Fiction by Patti Grayson Here, Stein’s life becomes intertwined with that of Schnitzer’s narrator, and the This debut collection takes as its result is an examination of subject matter those moments in our identity—the identity of the narrator and lives when everything suddenly feels the identity of Stein—and of the foreign, when a turn of heart takes us influence and importance that Stein’s in the bllink of an eye to a new place work has taken on not only for the that looks familiar, and is anything but. narrator, but for women in general.

Both those who have an interest in or Grayson’s stories are subtle and familiarity with Stein, and those who understated, hilarious and come to know her through this book will heartbreaking. Her characters are be rewarded on many levels, not the least of which being forced to face the absurdity of love, the devastation of infidelity, Schnitzer’s rich use, and mapping of, the language that she and the imprisonment of self-doubt. They travel the highway employs to explore this venerable icon of women’s literature. between hearts and minds that at times seems startlingly short and at others impossibly long. And they feel the road with every inch of their being, some potholes eliciting laughter, and some pain, but every one shaking them to the core. Poetry • April 2004 • ISBN 0-88801-297-7 Short fiction • May 2004 • ISBN 0-88801-294-2 $12.95 CDN./$9.95 U.S. $16.95 CDN./$12.95 U.S. Quality paperback • 5.5” x 8.5” • 56 pages Quality paperback • 5.5” x 8.5” • 256 pages

Stone Boat The Burden of Snow Poetry by Kristen Wittman Poetry by Heather MacLeod

Kristen Wittman’s debut poetry What makes us who we are? Is it collection takes the form of a prairie genealogy, geography, experience, or autobiography, painting a vivid portrait something else all together? In this of Franklin—a boy who becomes a collection, Heather MacLeod maps out farmer, and then an old man forced to the intertwining threads of one woman’s watch helplessly as all around him falls history, following bloodlines, trap lines to ruin. and ancestral migrations from Ireland, Scotland, and Russia to the British Following Franklin from his early years Columbia interior and back again. full of wonder, and living on a sea of land, through an adolescence full of Like the snow that permeates her family responsibility but plagued by history, her thoughts, and her poetry, death, drought and betrayal, to his twilight as a man who has lost MacLeod reveals that life and love at first appear weightless, and all to the modern world, Wittman’s stark verse is often lyrical, and then collect on our limbs and bear down; challenging us to stand just as often brutal, but always intensely evocative of the way of life up straight, to absorb the weight of our past, accept our present, that Western Canada was built on—one that is absent of modern look towards the future, and carry on. comforts and convenience and filled with hardship.

Poetry • April 2004 • ISBN 0-88801-296-9 Poetry • April 2004 • ISBN 0-88801-295-0 $12.95 CDN./$9.95 U.S. $15.95 CDN. Quality paperback • 5.5” x 8.5” • 56 pages Quality paperback • 5.5” x 8.5” • 136 pages Turnstone Press represented by the Literary Press Group distributed by Lit DistCo for more great books visit www.TurnstonePress.com first word BY PENNI MITCHELL

ARE WE EQUAL YET? Prime Minister Paul Martin’s appointment of women coed toilets. Ally McBeal, eat your heart out.) to 11 out of the 39 cabinet posts in December had all the Legal rights continue to be a substantive measure of makings of a feminist chinook. In choosing women to equality. Nonetheless, there are few symbols of equali- fill 28 percent of the federal posts, Martin appointed a ty that garner as much mainstream respect as female record number of women to his first ever cabinet. business and political leaders. Belinda Stronach, as By January, however, the climate had changed. CEO of Magna International, became a symbol of Martin’s campaign of cruel and unusual punishment women’s equality when she was ranked number two in towards former leadership rival Sheila Copps was Fortune magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful more in keeping with the winter climate (harsh, women in business. Magna is a powerful company. Two relentless) than with a warming of gender relations years ago, Magna acquired a majority interest in Steyr- on the Hill. Daimler-Puch Fahrzeugtechnik AG (now called Magna Maybe I’m being too sensitive. But equality is a Steyr), an Austrian-based company that builds—among sensitive matter, a numbers game. Feminists watch other products—military vehicles. for trends. We compare. Too often, we gauge our Stronach resigned as head of Magna to set her sights equality according to how bad things are in the U.S.. on political power, and in doing so has confounded For example, Canada ranks 34th in the world in stereotypes of conservatives and of women. As a con- terms of women in its federal Parliament, while the servative, her support for increased military spend- U.S. stands 60th. So we think, “Hey. Not bad.” ing is not surprising. However, Stronach deserves Rather than following a relative or competitive feminist brownie points for being pro-choice and a approach to equality, however, feminists from both backer of gay marriage. A champion of tax cuts, countries could heed Doris Anderson’s advice (see Stronach (or whoever heads the Conservative Party) the article on Fair Vote in the news section) and adopt will have a hard time competing with Paul Martin, a more equality-minded electoral system. who, as Liberal finance minister, ushered in huge Washington Post columnist Ellen Goodman was tax cuts for the rich and balanced federal budgets on ruminating on the relative nature of equality recent- the backs of the poor using the Employment ly, too. Marking the 21st anniversary of the death of Insurance ‘surplus.’ the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), she recalled the To help navigate the shifting political terrain, glob- chilly climate unleashed in the U.S. by the religious alization guru Naomi Klein’s keen observations on right a generation ago. “The opponents had listed global politics will now appear in Herizons via her three horrible fates that would follow if we added syndicated column. And Judy Rebick returns, argu- women’s equality to the Constitution,” she recalled. ing that Sheila Copps should steer clear of the NDP. “If there were an ERA, we would have (1) unisex toi- We also welcome Stacey Kauder, who will look at clas- lets, (2) women in combat and (3) gay marriage.” sic feminist literature—starting with A Vindication of In Canada feminists fought for and won their own the Rights of Woman—to give us a measure of how far version of the ERA 21 years ago. Sections 28 and 15 we’ve come. Margaret Atwood has some sage advice: of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms now form part she urges us to keep a watchful eye on the future. of the Canadian Constitution. And, just as the sooth- Finally, I want to wish all the best to two previous sayers predicted, equality rights did pave the way for Herizons contributors, Laila Malik and Rachel Zolf, training women for combat roles and, last year, for who are moving on to new projects. gay marriage. (Apparently, Quebec has always had Happy International Women’s Day.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 3 the letters

RED OVER BLUE that compound the existence of depression Rabbit” all over: “One pill makes you smaller, Are antidepressants over-prescribed by in women’s lives.” Unfortunately, this is and one pill makes you tall, and the ones that doctors? No question! hard to do when I’m spending a significant mother gives you don’t do anything at all.” At the same time, the public perception amount of my time and energy howling, Congratulations, Dr. Stoppard, on your of depression is one that all too often pre- hyperventilating and banging my head on newest book, and keep up the good work! vents genuine sufferers from seeking treat- the floor because being alive has become Christine Peets Napanee, ON ment, considering medication as a too painful to bear. treatment option, or sticking with the med- In my case and in many other cases, ication long enough to give it a chance to medication may give a person back the PAGE TURNERS! work. Well-intentioned family and friends capacity to experience happiness, and Thanks for the inspiring Winter 2004 issue are quick to provide advice: “You don’t need therefore the motivation to work on chang- of Herizons. those pills. You just need to cheer up!” “Get ing her life (and perhaps working with oth- Two books featured in that issue arrived out more often!” “Learn to relax and have ers to change many lives) so that there are at my kitchen table in December. fun!” “Be less selfish and think of others more happy moments to experience. Womankind by Donna Nebenzahl and Nance who have it worse than you do!” It can be quite liberating to be told: “You Ackerman (Raincoast Books, 2003) nour- I cringe a bit every time I read articles such have a disease. It might be genetic; it’s cer- ished my activist spirit as I poured over the as “Feeling Blue?” (Herizons, Winter 2004). tainly not your fault. There are a variety of photos of women I’ve admired over the My experience is that the longer one lives effective treatment options.” decades—women I’ve considered peers, and actively suffering from depression, the more Women need objective information on all others I have yet to meet. deeply one’s interactions with the world treatment options, including medication, in The Way the Crow Flies kept me in my bed become conditioned to follow patterns order to speak with their doctors and make with the lights on from one morning to the shaped by depression. Even after the depres- their own choices. next. Ann-Marie MacDonald is a genius! sion is lifted, by whatever means, the patterns SarahRose Werner Thanks again Herizons, and thanks to Saint John, N.B. remain and take considerable time and effort Margaret at the Northern Women’s to eradicate. (I’m still working on mine.) Bookstore for keeping on keeping on. According to your article, “various bio- BOOKS DRAW JOY Renee Sagebear Albrecht Hamilton, ON chemical theories have been put forward to The winner in Herizons’ 2003 Fundraising explain depression, but none of these theo- Library Draw writes: ries has received consistent support.” The The Herizons Feminist Library was deliv- PADDING ON pain and consequences of trying to live with ered to my door this morning. What a COMPLIMENTS untreated depression are such that, in my delight to sift through it and find that I had Thank you so much for your coverage of “Go opinion, it’s worth trying out treatments not read one single book in the box! This is With the Flow: Which Alternative Menstrual based on hypotheses. truly a gift that will go on giving! Products are Best?” in the Winter 2004 In my own case, there’s evidence of Marie Evans Bouclin issue. I loved the writing style, chart and Sudbury, ON depression running through three genera- images—it made very engaging fun and was tions on both sides of my family, affecting educational. I have to confess that I opened both women and men. Genetic transmis- GO ASK ALICE it with trepidation, as we were approached sion of a biochemical imbalance may not be I have just read Dr. Janet Stoppard’s article by [a certain large circulation, mainstream proven, but neither is any other theory that “Feeling Blue” in the Winter 2004 issue of women’s magazine] about a year ago for an might explain these facts. Someday, one or Herizons. Congratulations on articulating article, got really excited about it, and ended all of these theories may be definitely this complex situation so well. up with a bunch of misinformation next to proven or disproved, but in the meantime I I am currently researching the medicaliza- an article about how to skip your periods need to be able to get on with my life. tion of women, where women are offered altogether using birth control pills (eek!)—it Unfortunately, this is hard to do when medication for everything from PMS to irrita- really put us off the media for a while. depression has deprived me of the ability to ble bowel, and of course, depression. This is Thanks again for everything, feel any emotion except despair. I, too, part of updating my book, With Humour and Madeline Shaw, Lunapads International would like to join with others in working “to Hope: Learning from Our Mothers’ Depression Products improve the fundamental social conditions and Alcoholism (Trafford, 2001). It’s “White Vancouver, BC

4 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS body politic BY JUDY REBICK

POWER GAMES It has been a dismal decade for women in politics. designation of ‘left’ to Copps. When I worked as a Locked at a pathetic 20 percent at the federal level, feminist advocate for NAC and for the Ontario the proportion of women has declined in provincial Coalition for Abortion Clinics in the 80s and 90s, legislatures where right-wing governments have Copps was no feminist ally—either as an Ontario been elected. MPP or as an MP. The first indication I saw of her Now, Belinda Stronach has emerged as a serious support for women’s issues other than daycare was challenger to the so-new-it’s-old Conservative in her recent Liberal leadership platform. Party, and Don’t-call-me-baby Sheila Copps has Regardless, Martin’s right-wing leadership leaves come out fighting her latest patriarchal persecutor, little room for genuinely left Liberals, some of whom Paul Martin. might find a home in the NDP. But not Copps. While Stronach’s politics are not entirely clear, but given others like Lloyd Axworthy and Wayne Easter have at that she was an early supporter of the Reform Party, it’s least a history of supporting the left on certain a pretty safe bet she’s no Gloria Steinem. And despite issues, Copps does not. her props as a street fighter, Copps has not been much It is a sign of the times that Copps is a standard- of a fighter for feminist issues in her party. bearer both for feminism and for centre-left resist- I think it’s beyond irony that the powers that be in ance to Martin. Fighting against all odds is a great the old Tory party turned to a young woman to rescue quality in a woman, but it does not automatically a them from the clutches of the bible belters who still feminist make. Her response to then-fisheries control the old Alliance. When she entered the lead- minister John Crosbie’s come-ons a decade ago— ership race, Stronach seemed to have little more “I’m nobody’s baby”—deserved the support of every than a presentable appearance—and daddy’s money woman in the country. It did my heart good to see and influence. (Of course, U.S. President George her bring her baby into her House of Commons Bush has similar qualities, but no one talks about office. She stood up to the numerous sexist attacks. what a “dish” he is.) But Copps is no standard-bearer for social justice. Throwing oneself into the maelstrom of media For those reasons, I say all power to Sheila Copps, mania is no easy task, and Stronach held her ground. and I hope she gets the nomination in her riding. That is no small accomplishment. Oddly, I even Just stay away from the NDP. found myself sympathizing with Stronach, until I I hope that Belinda Stronach, as she goes through reminded myself that I’m not that kind of feminist. the inevitable love/hate relationship with the media Sheila Copps is far from my favourite politician, most women experience, will be enough of a femi- either. I admire her moxy, but it seems to come nist to counter some of the media’s sexist harping. more from ego than from principle or passion. Still, Let’s hope she’s not over-handled to the point that I feel no ambiguity in supporting her battle against we never know who she really is. Martin’s disgraceful attempt to shut her out of her In my view, the most interesting political leader- riding. There is no doubt in my mind that he would ship is coming from Jack Layton, a pro-feminist never do that to a male politician. The fact that she man who truly respects women and has been an ally won’t let him get away with it may be Copps’ most in many feminist battles for almost 30 years. I’d appealing quality. rather see a strong, left-wing feminist woman in Her flirtation with the NDP is quite another story. leadership; but better a left-wing feminist man than With the exception of her support for Canadian cul- a woman with rotten politics and a questionable his- ture against U.S. imperialism, I am perplexed by the tory on women’s issues.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 5 nelliegrams news

YOUNG MAG KNOWS NO SHAME A new magazine for young women is Reform Rabbi set to hit the newsstands in May. Shameless, says co-publisher and Challenges Orthodoxy managing editor Nicole Cohen, is “a by Anat Cohen progressive magazine for teenage girls who are drastically under-rep- (JERUSALEM) The ordainment of Maya egy. Leibovich created a dialogue with Mayor resented in the mainstream media.” Leibovich as rabbi of Mevasseret Zion, a town Eli Ammuyal, and, after long months of delay, Who? “Freethinkers, queer youth, outside Jerusalem, created a stir in 1993. land for the new synagogue was allocated. young women of colour, punk rock- Leibovich, the first Israeli-born female “In just struggles like this, wisdom is ers, feminists, intellectuals, artists rabbi, received threatening letters, and always your best strategy,” she explains. In and activists.” some Orthodox male rabbis organized a the last 10 years, Leibovich’s congregation In other words, young women demonstration that called for her expulsion. has grown from six to 180 families who interested in more than the hair and When she asked the municipal council for a come each Saturday to hear her enthusiastic lot to build a new synagogue, her opponents sermons and learn Torah. makeup tips shoveled out by typical lobbied the municipality to refuse the request. “Unlike many male rabbis, I don’t see teen mags. If Shameless were a After some buildings were burned down, the myself as a mediator between my community woman, Cohen says, she’d be community was forced to members and God,” she “smart, funny, feminist and inci- hire security guards. says. “Having more sive—love politics and pop culture.” The opposition did knowledge in the Jewish In addition to topics like girls and not weaken her spirit. books doesn’t entitle sport, Shameless will have a big “The stiff laws of tra- any rabbi to more focus on girls in independent music. dition, which exclude rights. On the con- A teen advisory board will ensure women from religious trary,” says Leibovich, the magazine is relevant and inter- service, are distorted,” “Rabbis should feel that Leibovich argues. “Men they have more duties esting to young readers. Shameless do not have a monopoly on their shoulders, will be published quarterly and, at on the holy books. The because the ultimate least initially, will focus mainly on Bible belongs to women education is always distribution in the Toronto region. as well, and they are through demonstration entitled to study, inter- Rabbi Maya Leibovich and personal example.” secured land for a new syna- pret and teach its con- gogue in Mevasseret Zion and One of her goals is to tents. Evidently, the won over opponents. Photo: remove from the Bible was edited by Kehilat Mevasseret Zion Orthodox establish- men, and therefore the ment its “perennial biblical women charac- monopoly to define ters played a secondary role only.” what is meant by being Jewish.” A member of Leibovich’s opponents referred to the Women of Reform Judaism, Leibovich main- Talmud, a compilation of religious teach- tains that change has to take place in educa- Melinda Mattos (executive editor and co- ings and commentary transmitted orally, to tional institutions—through public publisher); Jason Paré (art director); Nicole justify their opposition. institutions and through Reform institutions. Cohen (managing editor and co-publisher) Colleen Langford (ad sales and marketing Her response was blunt: ‘The primitive Israel’s five other female rabbis are U.S.- manager) Photo: Aaron Booth rules of old times were reflected in the hos- born. Only two Israeli institutions—Hebrew In September, Shameless hosted tility of my opponents. Those male rabbis Union College and the Schechter Institute a dance party that featured who rejected my presence were intimidated of Jewish Studies—accept women in their Toronto’s The Sick Lipstick, The by the possibility of a woman stealing their rabbinic studies programs. Creeping Nobodies and The honour and undermining their status.” Anat Cohen lives in Jerusalem and is a contrib- A slow approach proved to be the best strat- utor to womennet news service.

6 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS Tune In for Broader Democracy nelliegrams by Penney Kome

(TORONTO) As she finished writing her Pomegranate Squad. book, The Unfinished Revolution, feminist Shameless’s kicker says it all: activist Doris Anderson recalled, “The one “For Girls Who Get It.” thing that stood out clearly then was that with For a preview, log on to any form of proportional representation it www.shamelessmag.com was going to be much easier to increase the number of women in Parliament.” That was 1990. It was another 10 years HEALTHY WOMAN DIES before she brought together a group of like- Rogers Publishing’s Healthy Woman is thinking individuals and founded Fair Vote The Single Non-Transferable Orchestra performs at Canada. Anderson’s dream for electoral reform a summer Fair Vote Canada fundraiser. no more. Sent free has been gathering momentum ever since. of charge to 50,000 Today, 21 percent of federal legislators in floor at union conferences. A Labour for Fair doctors’ waiting Canada are women. By contrast, most Voting group has been organized by the rooms for the last European countries have anywhere from one- Canadian Labour Congress. four years, Healthy Woman’s ad rev- third to half their houses made up by women. In 2002-2003, the federal Law Reform enue fell 30 percent, cutting off its Under our present first-past-the-post Commission held a national conference and lifeline. system, the candidate who wins a majority public hearings on electoral reform. It pub- The magazine, endorsed by the of votes in a riding wins the seat. lished a report confirming that proportional “If you don’t live in a riding where your can- representation is characterized by a higher Society of Obstetricians and didate wins, your vote is wasted,” Anderson proportion of women and minority mem- Gynecologists, published articles says. Under the basic proportional representa- bers being elected. The lists encourage par- such as “Why I’m Staying on HRT.” tion system, people vote for a party rather than ties to present a broad and diversified slate After the landmark Women’s a candidate, and the proportion of votes a party to the electorate. They also allow smaller Health Initiative in the U.S. in July receives determines its proportion of seats. parties to be represented in parliament. 2002 revealed the dangers of long- “With proportional representation, every “The best-kept secret in the country,” says term use of HRT, revenue dropped. vote counts,” Anderson says. “The only Anderson, “is that five provinces are seriously In a news item in Masthead, the major industrial countries that don’t have considering changing over to proportional trade magazine for Canadian maga- proportional representation are the U.S. representation. B.C. is setting up a plan for zines, Rogers Senior Vice-President and Canada.” 2005. All three parties in the last Quebec elec- New Zealand, Scotland and Wales have tion came out in favour of some form of pro- Marc Thibodeau said, “A large por- recently switched from first-past-the-post portional representation. In Prince Edward tion of our revenues were attributed to proportional representation. “And in Island, a commission has been touring the to the menopause advertising rev- each case they nearly doubled the number of island. Both Ontario and New Brunswick had enues, or hormone replacement women in parliament,” reports Anderson. elections this fall, and both governments therapy.” Thanks in large part to Fair Vote Canada, a pledged to bring in some electoral reform, multi-partisan campaign with chapters across including electoral representation.” RECORD NUMBER the country, proportional representation has Without electoral reform, Anderson and GET POSTS received growing support in the last four the Law Commission both warn, fewer and When he increased the number of years. Organizers hold fundraising events, fewer people will bother to vote. women in the federal cabinet by one and the organization’s national advisory com- “In the last B.C. election,” recounts mittee boasts notables June Callwood, Judy Anderson, “the Greens got one out of every in December, Prime Minister Paul Rebick, Maude Barlow, Senator Lois Wilson seven votes, but they didn’t get a single seat. Martin appointed a record number and Karen Kain (not to mention David That’s why less than 25 percent of young peo- of women to cabinet posts. Women Suzuki, Ed Broadbent and Pierre Burton). ple vote. The general population is becoming now hold 11 out of 39 federal cabinet Equal Voice, a group dedicated to increas- more and more cynical about the process. In posts—or 28 percent. ing the number of women in public office, the last federal election, only 61 percent voted. Critics were quick to point out supports proportional representation as one We’re almost as bad as the Americans.” that most of the appointments are way to meet its objective. Proportional rep- To register your vote for proportional representa- junior portfolios. resentation is also being discussed on the tion, log on to www.fairvotecanada.org.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 7 nelliegrams sites we like by Rachel Thompson

And we noticed (didn’t everyone?) that the most powerful women in the previous cabinet (save Anne FAFIA www.fafia-afai.org McLellan) are gone, including Sheila Copps from Heritage, Elinor Caplan Watch out world. The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action’s site gives a great overview of Canada’s international obligations to equality rights. This from Revenue and Jane Stewart alliance publishes research and calls to action, while working to further gender from Human Resources. equality in Canada. In case you’re wondering, 20.6 per- “Hold our governments accountable to the international commitments and obli- cent of all members of parliament are gations signed by Canada” women, ranking Canada number 34 in SCARLETEEN the world. (It could be worse; the U.S., www.scarleteen.com with a mere 14 percent, is at number Sex Education for the real world. Taking the stance that furnishing teens with the 60.) Rwanda’s new government and facts about sex and sexuality allows them to learn to make their own choices, the site Sweden take the top spots at 48 and goes on to do just that. Headings like Gaydar, the Infection Section and Dude? Where’s 47 percent, respectively. My Period? take you to articles, advice and chat forums. Under Pink Slip you’ll find Log on to way more stats at: http:// “Seven Ways to Love Your Body” and everything you need to know about your fertili- ty cycles and menstruation ... period. www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm “Helping support reliable, accurate sex ed for thousands of young adults in need Female cabinet every day.” ministers appoint- ed in December, 2003 include Anne PLANNED PARENTHOOD McLellan, deputy www.ppfc.ca prime minister, And while we’re talking about sexual health info…. The Planned Parenthood public safety and emergency pre- Federation of Canada has a site full of resources and links, FAQs on reproductive paredness; health, hot issues and publication lists. The organization is working towards a time Lucienne when Canada has a national policy on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Robillard, industry, economic development; “Provid[ing] an unbiased, women-centred, teenager friendly space for people to Claudette Bradshaw, labour, homelessness; access information and services related to reproductive and sexual health.” Judy Sgro, citizenship and immigration; Helene Chalifour Scherrer, Canadian heritage; Liza Frulla, social development; Ethel Blondin- Andrew, minister of state (children and youth); Jean Augustine, minister of state (multicultural- ism and status of women); Albina Guarnieri, associate minister of national defence and min- ister of state (civil preparedness); Carolyn Bennett, minister of state (public health); and Aileen Carroll, international co-operation. ABUSE MUST BE BARRED A new Canadian Human Rights Commission report on female pris- oners recommends sweeping changes to Canada’s prison system to improve its treatment of federal- ly sentenced women. Aboriginal women and women with mental disabilities are singled out as receiving poor treatment. According to the report, these

8 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS nelliegrams

Court Favours Rape Relief women are often kept in segregat- ed, isolated living conditions. in Latest Legal Ruling Systemic human rights abuse must by Robin Perelle, XTRA! West end, the report says. “Fewer women (VANCOUVER) The B.C. Supreme Court to prove she was discriminated against. ruling in Vancouver Rape Relief vs Kimberly According to findlay, putting the onus on classified as maxi- Nixon is not only “transphobic,” according complainants is an enormous setback for mum security pris- to Nixon’s lawyer, barbara findlay, it’s a set- human rights. oners will mean back for everyone seeking protection from What this case comes down to, she more women can be discrimination in B.C.. believes, is who gets to decide who counts as reintegrated into In December 2003, the court overturned a woman. Should it be Rape Relief, the the community in a an earlier B.C. Human Rights Tribunal deci- state, or an individual? much shorter time,” according to sion that granted Nixon the province’s high- “The question of who is a woman can Kim Pate, executive director of the est ever award for discrimination damages. only be answered by the individuals them- Canadian Association of Elizabeth Nixon, a post-operative male-to-female selves,” findlay maintains. Nixon identifies transsexual, filed a human rights com- as a woman, and the B.C. government Fry Societies. plaint against Rape Relief in 1995, saying issued her a new, female birth certificate. CAEFS was also pleased that the the rape counselling centre kicked her out While the judge clearly recognized that commission called for independent of its training program because she is “Ms Nixon is not a man,” he nevertheless monitoring and greater accounta- transsexual. backed Rape Relief’s position that Nixon is bility. The call for judicial oversight The centre did not dispute the allega- not a woman, either. repeats the recommendations of tions; in fact, it admitted that Nixon was Rape Relief’s “exclusion of male-to- Justice Louise Arbour in 1996. asked to leave because she is transsexual female transsexuals can be no more dis- It’s now up to Public Safety and doesn’t meet the organization’s defini- criminatory than [its] exclusion of males, Minister Anne McLellan to imple- tion of a woman. Women are people who since both males and male-to-female have been born female and experienced transsexuals represent points on the con- ment the recommendations. their whole lives as female, Rape Relief tinuum [of sex] distinct from persons who maintains. That’s not discrimination, the have experienced their whole lives as KEEP ABREAST organization argue—women’s groups have a female,” the judge ruled, paraphrasing Rape OF ILL EFFECTS right to organize and set their own mem- Relief’s position. Women’s health experts are bership criteria. The ruling comes as a big relief to demanding that the Canadian gov- A January 2003 Human Rights Tribunal Suzanne Jay, spokesperson for the rape ernment set up a breast implant found it “self-evident” that Rape Relief’s counselling centre. “We’re very happy. This registry to monitor the ill effects of rejection of Nixon was discriminatory and has been a pretty big weight hanging over the devices on women’s health. ordered the centre to pay her $7,500 in our heads since 1995,” she says. damages. This decision confirms that women have An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Rape Relief appealed, asking the B.C. a right to organize with their peers, Jay con- Canadian women have breast Supreme Court for a judicial review of the tinues. It’s good to hear “that we didn’t dis- implants. Of these, an estimated 80 decision. This time the court sided with criminate.” percent were implanted for augmen- Rape Relief. Justice E. Robert Edwards The case is now being appealed by Nixon tation purposes, while 20 percent of ruled that the tribunal was wrong to call this to the Supreme Court of Canada. surgeries followed mastectomies. a case of discrimination for two reasons. A longer version of this article first appeared in Most implants in Canadian women First, he ruled, Vancouver Rape Relief, an XTRA! West. http://www.xtra.ca/site/toron- are saline (silicone implants were organization designed to promote the inter- to2/archvx/body391.shtm effectively banned in 1992). The prod- ests of women, has every right to say who For in-depth info on Rape Relief’s position: counts as a woman for the purposes of join- www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca ucts frequently rupture, causing ing its group. Second, he said the tribunal Transgender guidelines for service providers can health problems and a drain on the should have applied a more stringent test— be found at: www.transgender.org/transcend/ health system. A U.S. study found that one that puts the onus on the complainant guide/sec3.htm one quarter of implants are defective

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 9

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within five years of implantation and Revving Up require more surgery or withdrawal. A new Canadian report by the B.C. the Revolution Women’s Centre of Health by Sara Ludahowski Excellence found that 51 percent of women in a health survey reported (TORONTO) As a 26-year-old woman at least one additional breast standing five feet, three inches and weigh- implant-related surgery. Of these, ing 115 pounds, there’s something enticing one third had three or more addi- about taking charge of a metal beast almost tional surgeries. Forty percent of eight times my weight. There’s also the the subsequent surgery group even- appeal of a raw connection with Mother tually had their implants removed. Nature that isn’t possible boxed in a car. On Overall, women with breast implants a motorcycle, I’m purposefully avoiding the are more likely to be hospitalized feeling of being trapped by a stereotype. However, when I tell people my desire to and have more doctor visits com- get on a motorcycle, one infuriating remark pared to women who do not have repeatedly comes up: “Oh, your boyfriend implants. must have a bike.” Drives me mad. There is no automatic monitoring It’s a stereotype that’s rapidly shifting of the devices or outcomes of gears. Since 1974, over 325,000 Canadians patients in Canada because most have learned to ride through the Canadian cosmetic surgery is done through Safety Council’s Gearing Up training pro- private practice. Many countries, gram. According to Sasha Soloviov, a That raw connection with Mother Nature just isn’t including the U.K., U.S. and motorcycle instructor at Humber College in possible boxed in a car, says Sara Ludahowski. Toronto, women made up about seven per- Denmark, have established reg- cent of all motorcyclists in 1991. Today, they women-only course. “Women, in general, istries. make up nearly 20 percent, and of new rid- are still raised to be quiet and unobtrusive— ers women make up about 25 to 30 percent. and riding a motorcycle necessitates the PETITIONING With over 100 training centres throughout ability to be loud and assertive.” FOR YOUTH VOTES Canada, from Victoria to Newfoundland, the Men and women tend to approach train- A group of current and former House Council will train 22,000 new motorcycle ing differently. “As women, we learn risk- of Commons interns has organized riders this year—5,000 of them women. taking doesn’t pay, so we don’t move on an on-line petition designed to Female riders have changed the industry. until we’ve perfected. That interference increase youth voter turnout in the Many shops are more accessible and more with confidence makes accelerated learning next federal election. The emphasis brightly lit, and there is more likely to be at more difficult,” she adds. least one woman working the floor. Manu- Female camaraderie helps. Sharron St. is on mobilizing young women. facturers are adjusting their bikes, too. For Croix, president of the Rider’s Training Their efforts include the distribu- example, a woman’s centre of gravity is Institute in Ontario, says it’s part of the tion of fact sheets. In the 2000 fed- higher than a man’s. There are also gender reason why 30 percent of the institute’s 50 eral election, turnout for voters differences in weight distribution, seat instructors are female. “We have plenty of under 25 was 25 percent, compared width, steering head angle and reach to the female instructors to teach our women-only to 64 percent over all. handlebars. Kits are available that adjust a courses,” she says. “In 2002, we offered one “At this point, we’re working on bike to the size of the rider. Size is no longer all-women course; in 2003 we held one in developing the materials, mostly by an issue. June and one in August, and both were very email, as we have zero moolah,” said It all comes down to skill and confidence. successful.” For many, confidence is achieved in women- The company has established a presence spokeswoman Donna Mandeville. only safety courses. “This male intimidation in Toronto, Timmins and Kapuskasing, with The campain asks young women factor is very real,” says Britt Santowski, plans to expand into Kingston and Ottawa voters under 30 to commit to voting chief instructor at Vancouver Island’s this year. in the next election.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 11 nelliegrams

The goal is to get 20,000 voters signed up. www.petitiononline.com/ywv2004/ petition.html.

JUDGING WOMEN A woman on welfare cannot have a man live with her with- out being penalized by Ontario welfare. The B.C. government reneged on the early childhood education of autistic children. Newfoundland female health workers won a pay equity rul- MP Libby Davies successfully introduced a bill that recommends the Standing Committee on Justice ing, only to see the province change re-examine solicitation laws. the law to avoid paying them. Should married and common law partners have equal survivor benefits? LEAF plans to intervene in all of No Green Light for these cases at the Supreme Court later in March. And all of this takes money. Red Light District Each case has to do with women’s by Michelle French livelihood and with governments’ (VANCOUVER) Politicians and some femi- indoors and in a setting that would provide power to limit services and programs. nist groups remain at odds over Vancouver a greater level of safety,” says Pacey. Says LEAF fundraiser Nancy Ruth, city council’s failed attempt to liberalize Meanwhile, Suzanne Jay of Vancouver “Twenty years of equality theory and home-based escort services in the down- Rape Relief condemned the bylaw as sanc- the protection of section 15 of the town core. tioning red light districts in the city. Charter are up for grabs. The court is Last September, the city repealed a bylaw “We’re talking about buying and selling becoming more conservative, and that would have allowed prostitutes in desig- human beings and pretending that it’s a LEAF wants to stop the pendulum.” nated areas to arrange dates from their homes service,” she says. as part of a ‘work/live’ rezoning initiative. More than 60 prostitutes have disap- Send your cheque to LEAF, 2 Some sex trade workers’ organizations peared from the city’s Downtown Eastside Carlton Street, Suite 1307, Toronto, favoured the rezoning. According to Katrina in recent years. Fifteen have been linked to ON M5B 1J3. Pacey of Pivot, a non-profit legal society that Robert Pickton, on trial for their murders. works with sex trade workers, “if women Alarmed by these developments, Libby GOOD SPORTS! choose to engage in sex work, they should be Davies, MP for Vancouver East, introduced a Hockey player allowed to do so in the safest possible way.” private member’s bill last year to study Hayley Pacey says the zoning reclassification Canada’s solicitation laws for the first time Wickenheiser, four- would have provided a legal space for in almost 20 years. That bill, which passed, time Olympian women to communicate for the purposes of recommends that the House of Commons Silken Laumann prostitution. Under the Criminal Code, it is Standing Committee on Justice establish a illegal to solicit sex for money in a public subcommittee to “review the laws in order and the Canadian National Women’s place, and this forces many prostitutes to to improve the safety of sex-trade workers Soccer Team were among 20 Women work in unsafe places like back alleys. … and recommend changes that will reduce of Influence named by the Canadian “There would have been one more the exploitation of and violence against sex Association for the Advancement of opportunity for a category of women to work trade workers.”

12 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS Davies, a member of the Justice Committee, lence and arrest among women who engage nelliegrams wants to see hearings across the country to in “survival sex.” gather public input on current laws and on the Jay disagrees with the first point. feasibility of harm reduction through decrim- “Decriminalization is essentially legaliz- inalization. “The status quo is a complete fail- ing it, and that delivers women into the ure. It’s not protecting women on the streets, hands of the men who control the prostitu- Women in Sport. or the communities,” Davies says. tion industry,” Jay maintains. The Women of Influence List is While Davies believes Vancouver’s rezon- However, she does agree that improved compiled by the CAAWS to recognize ing attempt could have improved the health social services would help women leave the women who have made a significant and safety of street prostitutes, she sees that trade. Jay adds that there are more women impact as athletes, volunteers, ultimately, changes to the Criminal Code engaging in prostitution out of necessity since and a reinvestment in social services like welfare cutbacks in B.C. eliminated 80,000 officials, coaches, advocates, jour- welfare are needed to reduce the risk of vio- people from the social security net. nalists or community leaders. Phyllis Berck, CAAWS chair, says “the Women’s National Soccer Team inspired us with their athletic accomplishment. Many of the Ladies in Wading women contributed their expertise by Kate Heartfield to bidding for the 2010 Olympics and Paralympic Games.” (OTTAWA) When Rachael Crowder took up fly guides, called The Treatyse of Fysshynge fishing, she knew it was an unusual sport for a wyth an Angle, was written in the Fifteenth More women and sport news is woman. What she didn’t know is that break- Century by Dame Juliana Berners, a nun in on-line at www.caaws.ca. ing into fly fishing would change her life. England. “It was very interesting going to a male- “Fly fishing has been around a long time STAMP OUT VIOLENCE dominated sports show with my male part- and women have always done it. It’s just The U.S. Postal Ser- ner,” recalls Crowder. “Every time I asked a that now we have the time, the money and vice issued a special question, the guy would the leisure,” Crowder says. stamp to help raise answer my partner.” Women fly fishers have money to stop wife So Crowder, then 46, and formed clubs all over the abuse last fall during fellow fisher and feminist world. Reel Women of Domestic Violence Brenda Sharpe, then 39, Ontario, based in the formed the Ottawa Women Hamilton-Toronto area, has Awareness Month. Fly Fishers (OWFF). been around for five years. The Stop Family Violence stamp Four years later, the club Japanese women fly fishers was supported by women’s anti-vio- has 17 members. Sometimes call themselves “flappers.” lence organizations. Family Violence male partners and friends are (For a list of clubs, some with Prevention Fund president Esta Soler invited to OWFF events–what imaginative names such as said, “the stamps will help bring this Crowder calls the club’s Damselfly or Ladies of the issue into the open, encourage dis- “Laddies’ Auxiliary.” In addi- Long Rod, see www.wom- Rachael Crowder, fishing in cussions about abuse and let victims tion to regular meetings to tie ensflyfishing.net/clubs.htm.) Callahan Creek, B.C.: “There’s no know that they are not alone.” flies, members of the OWFF better way to end a day than to “I love to see the change go on fishing trips. stand in the water and watch in women as they learn the Funds raised from the sale of the the sun go down.” Photo: 45-cent stamps are being trans- With a laugh, Crowder Herbert Crowder sport,” Crowder says. “We recalls a recent trip in which meet women who say they ferred to department of health and a boatload of passing men, who knew little really don’t want to touch the fish. They get human services to assist domestic in her estimation, attempted to give faulty all squeamish about it. But then there’s a violence programs. advice on technique to the fishing women. whole demystification process that’s fun to The Stop Family Violence stamp is “There are a few old curmudgeons who watch.” the third U.S. stamp to have its net really don’t think women should be doing Crowder, who works at a rape crisis cen- proceeds earmarked for a specified this,” agrees Sharpe. tre, finds that the contemplative side of cause. The first–the Breast Cancer While women are estimated to make up fishing helps her cope with stress. “There’s fewer than five percent of fly fishers in no better way to end a day than to stand in Research stamp–was issued in 1998. Canada, there is a long history of women the water and watch the sun go down. It The stamps will be sold in the U.S. in the sport. One of the first fly fishing doesn’t get any better than that.” until December 31, 2006.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 13 March 8 Women against Privatization and every day

Canadian Union of Public Employees • www.cupe.ca cole’s notes BY SUSAN G. COLE

SPRING FEVER My daughter has a boyfriend. didn’t get confirmation until a few days after her I found out the hard way—by coming home with my downtown appointment. We kept hearing a beeping partner early after work. We called out and heard sound. Was it the smoke detectors? A phone mes- nothing, and then came upon one pair of shoes that sage? A text message reminder. looked familiar and another honking big pair of The beeping happened every few hours. Finally we running shoes that definitely did not belong to our uncovered the source—a birth control pill reminder. daughter, or to any 15-year-old girl. Does every kid just leave her pills lying around, or is Stupid us. We just proceeded to call out louder, there something about our house that makes that whereupon a faint and sheepish “Hi” came out from possible? in the basement. ”Come on up and see us,” we said. Inevitably, we were forced to face the issue of Yeah right. And up she came, after much rustling where the young couple would be practicing whatev- of whatever, with a guy looking like he’s straight out er it is they do that warrants the contraception. of The Blair Witch Project—completely terrified. Sleepovers. Should we or shouldn’t we? We introduced ourselves, and after much shifting ”Well, why not here?” said my partner. “Better of weight, my partner said kindly, “It’s okay. You here than in some cramped car somewhere or in don’t have to hang around us. Go on back down.” some park.” And they ran. ”What do you mean?” I asked, outraged. “That’s ”What are we supposed to do now?” asked my own what being a teenager’s for! Fumbling around and soulmate. being worried about getting caught and everything. ”Don’t ask me. You’re the one who had boyfriends You can’t just hand things to them on a platter.” when you were 12.” I realized that I sounded ridiculous. My mind went back to that moment when our ”Well, at least he isn’t some 20-year-old guy who daughter asked what that little bead was inside the wants to drag her away from us,” she countered. folds between her legs. She was eight. “He’s perfectly happy to be here.” ”It’s your clitoris,” was the answer. He is. In fact, he practically moves in on weekends. ”What’s it for?” she asked But we don’t allow them to stay together all night. There was a pause. We’ve managed to hammer out an agreement—they ”Uh, I don’t know.” can hang out together until 3:00 a.m., and then they We eventually recovered, but I’ll be honest—we have to part—one sleeping upstairs in the bedroom and weren’t ready for the discussion then, either. Is any one sleeping downstairs in the basement. parent ever ready? I know, you’re wondering where the logic is in A few minutes after the new guy left, we sat with that? I mean, why set that arbitrary limit? our daughter for a few surreal minutes before din- Her other mother and I eventually settled on, ner. She was in a beautiful state of speechlessness, “Because somebody’s got to draw a line somewhere.” and we were struck with the realization—she really Interestingly, our daughter has never questioned feels something. the hypocrisy behind this particular parental A few weeks later, we asked the newly smitten demand. Perhaps she also thinks somebody should young girl if she wanted her own doctor. She said no, be setting limits. as if she didn’t know what we’re talking about. Two That’s a relief—sort of. weeks later, she changed her mind. Susan G. Cole used to be sexually liberated until she We assumed we all understood each other, but we became the parent of a 15-year-old daughter.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 15 Her oeuvre includes early Canadian feminist literature, poignant love Margaret stories, a gothic novel and science fiction. She is an alchemist whose novels help pinpoint where we are and where humanity is headed. Margaret Atwood has won every major writing award, including the Atwood Booker Prize. While her recent bestseller, Oryx and Crake, could be compared to a journey through Dante’s Inferno, Atwood maintains that IS THIS THE PATH human beings are fundamentally a helpful species. WE WANT TO BE ON? Herizons contributor Irene D’Souza spoke to Atwood recently about her childhood, her prescient gifts and her research into the trajectory that by Irene D’Souza marks women’s path towards equality. Irene D’Souza: What arouses your interest in reading? far too good to be in novels. Margaret Atwood: I am interested in laws as they I did use my grandmother’s World War I knitting pertain to women, and in tracing the advent of laws group. If you were really bad, you knitted wash- that disenfranchised women and took away the things cloths, and then you could knit your way up to they already had. The trajectory goes gradually up. scarves and socks. My grandmother was actually It is essential background to reading, to put things really bad—she never graduated from knitting wash- in perspective. And some of it is things you have cloths. The women in the book are better knitters. never heard of before. Who were the storytellers in your family? Is it always a learning experience? Margaret Atwood: My mother told stories about her Margaret Atwood: Yes—what women are entitled to family. My father told stories about the adventures throughout the years in different societies, ancient he had. He was a great woodsman—a forest entomol- China and Russia, for instance. The ogist. His adventures involved get- Russian Revolution was nice for ting encircled by forest fires. men but it was really bad for “WE GOT TAKEN women. All unmarried women had TO SEE HENRY V What about storybooks? to be registered on a sex registry, DURING THE Margaret Atwood: I was not con- and any man who wanted could have WAR BECAUSE fined to storybooks. I could read sex with them. Sexuality was con- MY PARENTS anything. No one ever told me not sidered the property of the state. COULDN’T FIND to read. We didn’t have television; A BABYSITTER. in fact, nobody had television then. In The Blind Assassin, Iris and Laura I REMEMBER We weren’t in range of a movie the- were sold to the highest bidder. Is this THE ARROW atre or live theatre. We could some- based on fact? SCENE.” times get the radio, but unclearly. Margaret Atwood: It is completely So it was books. historical. It was what the crown In the winters, we were in the city. heads of Europe did with their children. They I do remember being traumatized by Snow White at formed political alliances. The further up the social an early age. We got taken to see Henry V during the scale, the more creative the deal-making. war because my parents couldn’t find a babysitter. I Nowadays, women with high status have less free- remember the arrow scene. dom. Women have more freedom when there is no exchange of property—who is going to bother? If Are you born a reader? there is property to exchange, you have to lock them Margaret Atwood: To make a child a reader is to read up and make sure they get traded in an alliance you to them when they are small. It provides a nice space want to make. and a relationship with the parent. Even if the story is very scary, you can handle it because you are protect- What attracted you to the sibling relationship in The ed. My mother was such a great reader that when we Blind Assassin? moved to Sault Ste. Marie the neighbourhood chil- Margaret Atwood: I had never written about sisters. dren came to our house to listen to her read. I started out wanting to write about my mother’s and grandmother’s generations, the two world wars and Wonderful memories! the Depression—it was the period that interested Margaret Atwood: Yes, it was very good for her to me. I couldn’t really use their lives because they are do that.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 17 Speaking of your mother, in an NFB documentary I saw, was 16). There was no feminist movement in sight. It I was taken by your mother’s sensitivity to your pie- was below the point of any such thing, so much so making endeavours. that I just looked at a Maclean’s magazine for 1955. It Margaret Atwood: I wasn’t micromanaged. Her idea is very interesting to go back and look at old maga- was to let the children—as long as it wasn’t danger- zine ads and stories. ous—experiment and make their mistakes. I do There is a story by June Callwood about a female shot remember the cake into which I failed to put the putter—tall, blonde, good-looking, hefty—training for baking powder;—it was very flat. We ate some of it the Olympics in a park at night so nobody would see anyway. Nor did she criticize the horrible yellow her, because they would think she was weird. She real- short coat I sewed when I was in grade nine. She had ly wanted boys to open the car door for her, even to bite her tongue quite hard. though she was quite capable of doing it herself. Her idea, even when we were quite small, was to That was how you were supposed to be in that era. To give us the crayons and the paper and then leave us be a female shot putter was a complete violation—to be alone. She was quite smart in that she was also truth- that strong and female. So the whole story was ful. She said, “I can’t draw. You framed as, “Yes, she is very strong, have to draw those pictures she can tear your head off. But she because I can’t do it.” is really dainty and feminine, too. She is the girl who wants to put the Do you pay homage to your mother in meatloaf in the oven, just for you.” your work? I would like to horrify your Margaret Atwood: My own mother readers by saying that when I was would not make a very good fiction- in Harvard graduate school we did al character unless she died young. a two-hour seminar: at the one- She does get into my fiction in hour mark, the girls would make some ways—she is some way in Cat’s tea and cookies and serve them to Eye. But everybody’s strengths are the boys. also their weaknesses. She was a very non-interfering mother who Did you do it? did not interfere in the bad unhappy parts of my life Margaret Atwood: Of course. any more than she interfered in the joyous creation of my horrible dramas. She thought that children Did you ever think not to? should develop on their own. Margaret Atwood: Didn’t even think not to do it—it was just what was done. That’s what you did. And And your own daughter? usually, within any period of time, there are things Margaret Atwood: My daughter is a dragon (in the people take for granted. You do not think about them Chinese horoscope). She had a sign on her door that because that’s how it is. It is only on the cusp of said, “Keep out—that means you.” (Peals of laughter) change that you think, “Why are we doing this?” I never went in there. My mother also did not mess That was 1962. The women’s movement did not with my stuff, even though I usually had my room happen until 1968 or ‘69. I wrote The Edible Woman just lined with projects I was doing—paintings and in 1964. The publisher misplaced it and then pub- so on. She never cleaned it up. That’s very good for a lished it in 1969. mother. I think micromanaging children’s rooms I can remember that the first inklings of the feminist discourages their creativity. movement were Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. The Feminine When did you start writing? Mystique was really about the generation before mine, Margaret Atwood: I first started writing in 1956 (I and de Beauvoir’s a couple of generations before that,

18 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS in France. All of the things that were happening to interesting, it was not formative at a deep level. I little French girls did not happen to me. I was not think role models and my family were formative. forced into the wearing of frilly dresses. I was It was typical of Canada at that time, partly because deprived of frilly dresses (laughter)—I would have we were poorer. Women were expected to be indus- liked to have had some, but my mother was a tomboy trious. The idea of lying around in a frilly negligee and did not go for them. and eating chocolates was not part of the culture. It I had a North American northern upbringing in was also influenced by the two wars. Canada was which being a girl was not an excuse. Then, when the much more involved in both wars and sent a lot of women’s movement came around, I got a letter from wealth to Britain. So the recovery from the war was a friend of mine who was living in New York, enclos- slower in Canada—rationing was longer. The feeling ing that article “House Work is Work.” I was in of austerity and not having things persisted. There Edmonton, where there was no women’s movement, was not the idea in the family that women were and there was not to be one for years. either stupid or weak.

And why do you think that is? Do you cringe at the portrayal of women in reality television? Margaret Atwood: Things ripple outwards; things Margaret Atwood: There are always all levels of never start simultaneously all over the place. Some those kinds of things. People who watch those shows event becomes a symbol and it triggers. But often it are perfectly aware they are shows. They know it is a is a very long ripple effect. I can remember being in pageant and a game. It is interesting, the way all England in the early 70s. It was not there then. It bizarre things are interesting. took a while to get there, but it split into class forms. In the States, it often divided along race, as well as Your portrayal of women in The Handmaid’s Tale was class lines. It was a very tumultuous period, but I had futuristic, but it eerily echoed the Afghanistan’s experi- started writing long before it. So although it was ence. Could you comment on this phenomenon?

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HERIZONS SPRING 2004 19 Margaret Atwood: People don’t usually pay attention and More’s Utopia. My books often have a political to things unless they are affecting them directly. I set element, in that they are concerned with the forms The Handmaid’s Tale in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of society and the nature of human beings. home of Harvard University, a place where such things are unlikely to happen. And When you were writing Oryx and what is the message? Anything can Crake, 9-11 occurred. Did you happen anywhere, given the cir- switch tracks? cumstances. Nobody is exempt or Margaret Atwood: I did not immune. There is no rule that says change tracks, but I changed a it won’t happen to you. couple of the video games. I stopped for about three weeks. Did you like the film version of The Like everybody else, I wanted to Handmaid’s Tale? see what was going to happen Margaret Atwood: The end was next. But I did not change the weird. I think the acting was good. I book, because what had happened wouldn’t have had her in a red trail- did not have any direct bearing on er on top of a hill hiding out from what I was writing. people in helicopters. But Oryx and Crake is so realistic— the experience of a Do you consider Oryx and Crake a socio-political book? mad scientist whose experiments have gone awry. Do Margaret Atwood: I consider the book in the tradi- you think this could ever happen? tion of 1984 and A Brave New World. Those books have a long line of descent going back to Gulliver’s Travels continued on page 45

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20 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS Feminist Ink: Politics and Publishing in a Big Box World

by Leigh Felesky

decade ago, the publishing landscape included feminist and lesbian publishers A such as Press Gang in Vancouver, Women’s Press in Toronto and Gynergy Press in Prince Edward Island. These feminist enclaves and others— the women of colour press, Sister Vision, Second Story Feminist Press, and later, McGilligan Books— all helped to ensure that diverse voices reached Canadian bookstore shelves. It was a time when many bookstores were still characterized by creaks in the hardwood floors, a selection of dusty books, still air and neighbouring coffee shops that hummed with the latest literary gossip. Today, more people look for books along mani- cured Chapters and Indigo shelves lined with liter- ary best-sellers. While small bookstores still dot the country, big box shopping has had an unmistakable effect on publishing and on book buying. “Book publishing in Canada is always an edgy busi- ness,” explains Michelle Benjamin, associate pub- lisher at Raincoast Books in Vancouver. “The margins Michelle Benjamin, associate publisher at Raincoast Books in Vancouver. are low, the profits are low, the risks are high.” Photo: Diane Felske Small bookstores, including women’s bookstores, used to buy and sell a handful of copies from pub- Raincoast. In Toronto, Canadian Scholars’ Press lishers and only return a few. But many of these sell- Inc. (CSPI) bought Women’s Press in July 2000 and ers have been taken over by heavyweights that have continues to release an impressive array of feminist been known to buy a truckload of books to line their texts. Gynergy in PEI also folded in 2000. CSPI shelves, and then return many of them, unsold. The bought and has managed the Gynergy books backlist publisher is left with books that aren’t sellable and since May 2001. often has to pay the distributor for the returns. Meanwhile, Press Gang, credited with launching Although some small publishers have managed to the careers of Ann Cameron, Larissa Lai, Shani work within this environment, many haven’t sur- Mooto and Ivan Coyote, declared bankruptcy in 2000 vived. Benjamin used to work at Polestar Press, a after several difficult years. Sister Vision is reported- small West Coast press that was eventually bought by ly down to publishing only one or two books a year.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 21 “IF YOU GO INTO ANY MAINSTREAM BOOKSTORE, YOU WON’T OFTEN FIND LESBIAN BOOKS ON THE FICTION SHELF, OR ON THE HOT BOOKS SHELF, OR ON THE BEST-SELLER SHELF,” ACCORDING TO KAREN X. TULCHINSKY, “IF YOU’RE LUCKY, YOU’LL FIND THESE BOOKS ON THE GENDER STUDIES SHELF.”

During the last decade, the fem- which most authors need. But it meant that the femi- inist landscape has also shifted. nist publishers lost some of their most viable market.” “Clearly, the ‘F’ word is not In Warland’s view, another reason some smaller such a bad word as it was when presses didn’t survive was a change in attitudes feminist presses opened their toward volunteer work. “There was a period of at doors 30 years ago, ” says Renee least two decades of feminists who weren’t willing to Knapp, academic marketing man- do the volunteer hours at all, and it’s starting to re-

Althea Prince and ager at Women’s Press/CSPI. The surface now because we lost so much. I think there’s managing editor Renee establishment of feminist-relat- a new awareness saying, ‘If we’re going to create Knapp, promotions, Women’s Press. ed courses in the academic mar- more opportunities for ourselves we have to do the ket has meant a demand for work. It’s not going to happen any other way.’” more feminist texts and literature. Women’s Press— Warland is now a member of the Milieu collective, as part of Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., which is a new feminist press in Vancouver that is expecting already involved in academic book publishing—has to rely on a large number of volunteer hours. captured some of this market. Anne Decter, a full-time employee of the Mainstream presses are publishing more femi- Women’s Press in the late 80s and early 90s, now nist titles, too. operates McGilligan Books, a small publishing “Women’s stuff used to be considered so alterna- house in Toronto. As a feminist publisher who has tive, and no one really expected feminist publishers to donated years of volunteer work, she can attest that last that long,” says Margie Wolfe, owner of Second volunteer hours form the backbone of many femi- Story Feminist Press. “Only women’s presses were nist presses. “It’s a labour of love,” she says. doing books with feminist perspectives and chil- However, volunteer labour doesn’t have to be a dren’s books that were conscious of gender and race.” given. “I think there is a real difference between Today’s mainstream publishing world backs the being a group of women who publish books and decidedly feminist voices of Dionne Brand, Madeka being a women’s book publisher,” says Margie Silvera and Ann-Marie MacDonald. Margaret Wolfe. She started her career in the 70s as a Atwood wrote The Edible Woman 40 years ago and Women’s Press volunteer, became a full-time remains, to this day, Canada’s hottest literary com- employee, and is now the president and publisher of modity. However, industry observers say that main- Second Story. “It’s very difficult to do if you’re doing stream publishers don’t necessarily market new something else full-time all day,” she says. “While feminist authors. According to poet Rita Wong, you can create wonderful books, I always worry about whose Monkey Puzzle was published by Press Gang, how well they get out there. It’s not just creating the feminist publishers tend to take larger risks. books, but it’s getting them to readers as well. If you Poet Betsy Warland has watched English Canadian don’t figure out how to do it, then what’s the point? feminist presses lose some of their most natural and You’re publishing for whom? That’s not a problem of viable market. “Over the past couple of decades certain women’s publishers, but all publishers.” feminist writing has been mainstreamed as it has been Wolfe is thrilled that one of Second Story’s recent picked up by other presses,” says Warland. “These Holocaust Remembrance Books, Hana’s Suitcase, presses offered the bigger print runs and promotion spent 19 months on the children’s best-seller list in

22 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS “WOMEN’S STUFF USED TO BE CONSIDERED SO ALTERNATIVE, AND NO ONE REALLY EXPECTED FEMINIST PUBLISHERS TO LAST THAT LONG.” —MARGIE WOLFE, OWNER OF SECOND STORY FEMINIST PRESS

Canada. The CBC has also done a documentary based Arsenal Pulp Press just on the book. As a feminist publisher, Wolf says hav- released volume four of the ing successful books like Hana’s Suitcase on her title popular Hot and Bothered list allows her to take a chance on other books that lesbian erotica series edited may sell only 500 copies. by Karen X. Tulchinsky.

“In order to pay for a book with a smaller market, Liz Martin (left) & Lois Pike According to Liz Martin I’ll do another book that I know will have a bigger (right), Sumach Press. and Lois Pike, owners of market,” she explains. Sumach Press in Toronto, Insomniac, another small press based in Toronto, marketing is a big factor with niche titles. “It is diffi- has found success using a similar model. The press cult to penetrate the mainstream reviewing system,” publishes black studies and gay and lesbian books, explains Pike. “Without continuing and conscious but also publishes celebrity writer-as-musician support from feminist media in Canada and a strong books (including titles by Jann Arden and Terri feminist readership, presses like ours and the issues Clark) with a larger market. they raise will continue to be marginalized.” Notably, it’s not only niche women’s presses that Last May at a Press Gang authors’ benefit in are publishing feminist ideas. Between the Lines Vancouver, readers gathered to pay tribute to some publishes international feminist author Vandana of the best known feminist writers in the country, Shiva (Water Wars), anti-racist theorist Sherene including Rita Wong, Sheila Baxter, Ivan Coyote, Razak (Looking White People in the Eye) and books on Betsy Warland and Karen X. Tulchinsky. The benefit hot topics like female delinquency (Girl Trouble, marked the closing of Press Gang, and the money 2002). New Society Books on Gabriola Island pub- raised that evening went to authors who had not lishes feminist visionary Starhawk’s books for sale been paid royalties for the previous three years. in Canada. Fernwood Books in Halifax puts out top- ical books on women in conflict with the law, while continued on page 45

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 23 Belly Wisdom A NEW BODY POLITIC

by Sheila Nopper

—take a belly dancing class? It wasn’t an easy decision. I struggled to rec- Meoncile my reluctance to participate in something I often dismissed because of its associa- tion with cultural appropriation, with my desire to learn more about belly dancing’s ancient lineage in female culture. It was dancer, teacher and choreographer Bronwyn Simons who introduced belly dancing to Denman Island, British Columbia when she moved there in 1996. I moved to Denman Island in 2002 and I was naturally curious about her perceptions of belly dancing’s beginnings on the island. “People say, ‘Look at what you started in this com- munity,’” Simons recounts. “But I feel more like I was the fuse or the match. Women here were simply ready for what I had to offer.” The spark she ignited caught on like wildfire. Throughout the late 90s, she was teaching 14 classes

“Sensuality and sexuality is something that can feed and inform the way you feel in your body, the way you express yourself creatively, and the way you experience life.”—Bronwyn Simons. Photo: Paul Bailey

24 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS a week between Denman Island and neighbouring Hornby Island. Though the dancing flames have subsided somewhat, today belly dance classes con- tinue to be taught here periodically by Simons as well as by some of her former students. Even I have now taken a few belly dance classes. And I am not alone, as an increasing number of North American women find themselves attracted to a dance associated with the culture of their Arab sisters. Belly dancing, as it is generically called in North America, has its roots in one of the oldest dance forms in the world. It is widely believed to have been conceived by women in India and the Middle East as a collaborative ritual to help ease the pain and facil- itate the process of giving birth. However, because it is also sensuous, it has often been portrayed by nightclub performers, Hollywood and the advertis- ing industry in a context of orientalized exoticism. In her 1994 performance piece, “The Politics of Belly Dancing,” Arab Australian writer Paula Abood Belly dancer and teacher Roula Said: “Dancing pregnant was the highlight offered a critique of such representational stereo- of my experience as a belly dancer.” Photo: Sophie Giraud types as being related to cultural appropriation because ethnic difference is being “commodified nant was the highlight of my experience as a belly for a largely white consumerist constituency.” dancer,” she explains. “It just felt so right, and so Most recently, in that regard, belly dancing has nourishing. I felt that I was interacting with my belly been incorporated into the music videos of pop in a totally different way. Movements I’d done a zil- superstars like Britney Spears. Often, as a result of lion times had a different kind of life to them.” With such sensational exposure to the dance form, belly her seven-month-old baby cooing at her breast, she dancing is mistakenly viewed as merely a seductive recalls with delight, “it was really amazing to roll kind of semi-striptease act. around and give my baby a ride—and whatever other According to Roula Said, who has taught the art experiences I can only imagine she had in there.” form for 13 years and co-founded the Toronto Simons, who is of European descent, agrees that Bellydance Collective, “the dance can be portrayed— the empowerment of women is part of belly danc- or misportrayed—that way, but it’s so far from what ing’s appeal. we’re doing.” Said, who was born in Kuwait of “Women don’t have many opportunities to experi- Palestinian ancestry, further explains that “belly- ence collective creation of ritual where you don’t dancing is so obviously serving another function have to be of a particular and elite body type, or age, that is empowering for women, which is about con- or talent.” Unlike the mainstream culture of glam- fidence and a sense of being all right in the world.” our and entertainment that women often feel dis- Like Indian yoga before it, this form of movement is tanced from, Simons explains, “belly dancing is now gaining more mainstream acceptance. “Belly something we can own ourselves.” dancing is working with that kind of kundalini energy Said reflects on her own path to becoming a belly at the base of the spine. It’s a ‘love yoga,’” Said elabo- dancer—and eventually a vocalist and musician with rates. While men can also belly dance, it is deeply Doula, a traditional Middle Eastern band she co- interwoven within the fabric of women’s culture. founded. “After immigrating to Canada as a some- During her recent pregnancy, Said facilitated what older kid, I did the typical immigrant thing of ‘Baby in My Belly’ dance workshops. “Dancing preg- being embarrassed by my cultural heritage. I didn’t

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 25 like Arabic music and was completely embarrassed visceral level and experienced the sanctity of my body by the belly dancer who performed at family events and the way sexuality ties into that.” and weddings. But somewhere in my late teens, I She pauses and then continues: “Sensuality and started to fall in love with the music, and because I sexuality is something that can feed and inform the liked dancing, I wanted to move to it.” way you feel in your body, the way you express your- For the uninitiated, belly dancing involves isolat- self creatively and the way you experience life. If you ing and polyrhythmically moving various parts of the repress it into some separate, private compart- body. According to author Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi in ment,” she contends, “you’re denying yourself this Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing whole mode of contact with the world that has to do Power of Belly Dancing, the dance stirs up “the with all your senses, not just your sexuality.” strongest energy that can be formed in the body. It Simons knows that not all women approach the strengthens and vitalizes a woman’s sexual force.” dance form with this analysis. Nonetheless, she Al-Rawi explains that unlike most Western dances, observes that what is shared by participants is that belly dancing “is a dance form in which femininity they see “an emancipated sensuality in women who and spirituality become one.” are belly dancing—they see a woman who is in pos- While definitions of femininity vary from culture to session of her own sensual expression.” culture, belly dancing breaks a particularly Western Toronto-based film, video and installation artist taboo that is in part a product of the biblical concept of b.h. Yael went to Israel to research her mother’s original sin. “There’s an underlying belief in our cul- Iraqi Jewish culture for her 1996 video, Fresh Blood: ture that spirit and flesh are two different things,” A Consideration of Belonging. She recalls that she was says Simons. Yet, her own experience with belly danc- “surprised at all the very different contexts where ing contradicted that assumption. “Philosophically, I belly dancing kept arising.” Yael, an associate pro- understood the idea that physical expression is fessor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, was sacred. But with belly dancing, I actually felt it on a astonished when she first learned that belly dancing

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26 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS originated in women’s childbirth practice. “It was totally revolutionary for me!” Though not a belly dancer herself, Yael says that the experience “expanded the way I saw belly danc- ing, and I began to recognize it as a significant cul- tural force that hadn’t been examined.” In Fresh Blood, Yael documents her attendance at one of the first feminist conferences that was dealing with cultural differences among Jewish, Christian and Muslim women in Israel. One illuminating incident, she recalls, involved all the women at the conference enjoying the belly dancing entertainers one evening. “Feminists could examine it,” Yael suggests, because “belly dancing allows women to enjoy feeling their bodies, and to enjoy looking at other women’s bod- Participants at a weekend belly dancing retreat on Denman Island strike a ies—whether they’re straight or gay or whatever.” She playful pose with co-facilitators Bronwyn Simons, (front row, centre in red concludes, “Feminism isn’t worth anything if it takes skirt) and Lynette Harper (front row, purple skirt). Photo: Bruce Finlayson you away from enjoying your body.” And yet it is also disconcerting that in Canada it is pri- We both acknowledge the impossibility of trying to marily, though not exclusively, women of European answer such questions. “Even I feel weird sometimes descent who have been drawn to learning and re-inter- putting on some kind of folky outfit like I’m some lit- preting, teaching and performing belly dancing. More tle maiden from the Nile—and I’m not!” explains problematic is that many of these women, in effect, have Said. “I’m Middle Eastern, but I’m a Western Arab become recognized, however reluctantly, as representa- woman who lives in a city in the year 2004!” tives of Middle Eastern culture through their role as For women of European heritage, it may be a dance instructors and in costumed performance. dance from an ethnic culture that is not their own. What impact, I wondered, does this have on Said, Nonetheless, belly dancing strikes a resonant chord an Arab woman? with so many because it is linked to the cultural cre- “It’s true,” says Said. “If I were to go to a cultural ativity of women. event—even an Arab heritage day here in Toronto— “Before I had the benefit of learning the history of it’s entirely possible that the dancers brought to the dance,” Simons recalls, “my intuitive, gut-level perform will be white women.” response was that this dance form belonged to Yet, she is quick to add, “I’m not just an Arab woman, women’s culture.” Yet she also stresses the importance I’m also a dancer. And so I know the kind of work that of being respectful, “especially in the current climate goes into learning the dance.” From Said’s perspective, where Arab culture has been so demonized by our cul- “if Arab women aren’t putting in those kinds of hours, ture. I think that if we are going to carry on this dance and aren’t feeling that kind of devotion, then they can’t form, we have a responsibility to be educated about it.” represent the dance well.” She notes that “the most One of Simons’ teachers, Sese Geddes, taught her to wonderful combination is when you have someone be grateful for “the fact that we can dance—and to dance who’s got the love there and who has also done a certain for all the women who, for whatever reason, can’t, or amount of research.” haven’t been able to—and that it’s a privilege and a Perhaps the essentialist search for an ethnic puri- responsibility to share our dance with other women.” ty is what needs to be questioned. Said elaborates: “I In turn, she incorporates rituals of appreciation at the think all traditions interact, evolve and expand. end of her classes to evoke within herself and her stu- Though belly dancing obviously has cultural roots, dents that “feeling of gratitude for our bodies, for our they’re really hard to totally pin down—did it start in Egypt, or in Turkey? Who did the first hip circle?” continued on page 46

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 27 Rabbi Elyse Golstein: “For me, feminism had the hugest impact on religion of any social movement ever, and we’re still feeling those impacts.” Photo: Andrej Kopac

Keeping the Faith by Danielle Harder

My conversation with Rabbi Elyse Goldstein is off to “Part of the sexism of our society—which is perva- a rough start. I ask her about the “seminal moment” sive—is that we continue to make a big deal that when she decided to become a rabbi. Poor choice of there’s a woman bus driver and a woman mechanic words, I admit. “Seminal” is indeed a patriarchal and a woman pilot.” word, as she points out. I quickly move along to I see. People do make a big deal out of women in the another subject, the difficulties that arose from her clergy. Here I am doing just that by writing this arti- ordination in 1983, when she became the second cle. Although half, or more, of all students now study- female rabbi in Canada. ing in religious seminaries and rabbinical schools are I can feel the tension rising again. “I’ve been in female, people are still surprised to see a woman lead- the rabbinate for 20 years,” she explains, “and for 20 ing a religious service. Despite the progress that’s years, all people want to talk about is how hard it was. been made in the secular world, sexism is alive and Like—don’t you want to hear about how good it is?” well in most organized religions throughout the Well, yes. world. The women I interviewed report being called

28 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS “cute little rabbis,” or were told “the men now have time of ‘You changed my life with that meeting’ or ‘You something to look at on Sundays.” brought me such comfort with that funeral,’ and in the Reverend Elaine Bidgood ministers to three end, I think—at least in my life—they will balance out.” churches in southeastern Saskatchewan and North Goldstein believes that the ability to compart- Dakota. She is a young-looking 28-year-old with an mentalize negative experiences comes with experi- effervescent personality. She grew up leading youth ence. It’s a view shared by Reverend Paula Hamilton, groups and teaching Sunday school, and was born of who shares preaching duties with her husband Tom a generation in which there are few gender labels Hamilton at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in attached to jobs. But she noticed a difference the Charlottetown. She recalls that it was once suggested minute she took her place behind the pulpit. she also serve as the church receptionist. When she “I’ve had people leave while I was preaching. asked if her husband would be asked to do the same People stay right up to the sermon and then leave,” job, she was met with silence. she says. “I remember preaching Hamilton says she no longer once and having a man in his late 30s “IT’S INTELLECTUAL. sees such incidents as personal come up to me to say that I proved to IT’S NURTURING. criticisms. She recalls how “Tom him women could preach. That had IT’S ABOUT had a man come up to him once at never even crossed my mind.” RELATIONSHIPS. SO a reception—we were both wearing But now it’s never far away. At the YOU REALLY GET TO our clergy shirts—and the man first funeral she conducted alone, USE EVERY FACET said, ‘So, is your wife some sort of the organist was clearly shocked to OF YOUR BEING. minister too?’ If anything, he gets see the minister was a woman—and a IT’S SPIRITUAL, BUT more upset now when I’m slighted young one at that. His first comment IT’S ALSO because it frustrates him that peo- was, “Well now, aren’t you the pretti- POLITICAL.” ple limit me by gender.” est little minister I ever did see?” Hamilton almost never made it Fast-forward one year to the same funeral home into the ministry. She first felt the call to ministry at and the same organist. “This time he noticed I was- 18, but was discouraged by others. It took her until n’t wearing a wedding ring and asked why ‘a pretty she was 33 to go back to school. little thing like me’ wasn’t married. I said there was “Now I’m at an age where if people have a problem plenty of time and he said, ‘That’s what the old lady with me because I’m female, then that’s their prob- thought, and now she’s dead!’” lem. I know within my heart that God called me to In fact, a year before she was ordained, Bidgood the ministry, and if they can’t hear God’s word and her husband separated. “He was very supportive, through me just because I’m a woman, then there’s initially,” she says. “But week after week of sitting in not a lot I can do about that.” the pew listening to me was too much for him. He The presence of women—welcome or not—is slowly hadn’t realized that what I do would have people changing the institutions of organized religion. There’s looking at him and having expectations.” another voice questioning the veracity of scriptures and As Goldstein explains, gender is still the overarch- interpreting them in a modern, more feminist way. ing category in our society. We’re defined by our sex There’s a sense of power and enlightenment for and that’s the lens we’re viewed through. Add to that women—both in the clergy and the congregation. And the fact that organized religion has been entrenched women’s issues are now being openly discussed. in patriarchy for thousands of years, and some people Of course, Orthodox Judaism, Catholicism and some are going to flinch when they see a woman. of the more conservative faiths still refuse to ordain “I don’t want to invalidate in any way any of the neg- women. But Goldstein says there’s reason to hope. ative experiences that women have, and it is true that “Whether we’re fighting it or embracing it, we’re they do get patronized and ‘cutesified’ and stroked and still relating to it in one way or another,” she says. inappropriately hassled,” she says. “It’s all true. But “For me, feminism had the hugest impact on reli- you rack up a lifetime of those comments against a life- gion of any social movement ever, and we’re still

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 29 feeling those impacts. gogue and family. She had her first child last year, “The very fact that you now have Catholics who say and while her congregation was thrilled for Polansky ‘We don’t take the party line about women,’ and you and her husband, they were apprehensive that she have Orthodox feminist conferences with thousands would be leaving them for a few months. of women every year in New York, and you have Polansky knows that the struggle she faces is women rabbis and presidents of congregations who nothing like those faced by Goldstein and others 20 are women, is proof of how far we’ve come in the 20 or 30 years ago. She’s grateful they paved the way so years that I’ve been doing this.” that–despite the occasional derogatory comment— But simply changing the gender of the person behind she’s able to contribute to her faith. the pulpit is not enough. The institutions themselves “It’s becoming an attractive field for women are patriarchal and, often times, inflexible. Even that’s because you really get to use every aspect of yourself. beginning to change. Rabbi Erin Polanksy of Temple It’s intellectual. It’s nurturing. It’s about relation- Sinai in Toronto says her colleagues agree women are ships. So you really get to use every facet of your changing Reform Judaism for the better. Right now, being. It’s spiritual, but it’s also political. It’s a won- there are fewer women in the role of senior rabbi of derful field for a woman—or a man.” large congregations. In part it’s because many women And ultimately, I think this is what Elyse Goldstein want more time with their families. But Polansky pre- is getting at. Women are choosing to enter this field dicts that eventually rabbis—female and male—will because they’re simply good at what they do. share the role. Not only would that bring a diversity of “Where we have to go in religion is that we have to views and promote a more democratic faith, it would disavow the sort of misogyny that permeates our also remove some of the barriers facing young people. very beings,” she says. “You can’t change one thing “It’s not only a women’s issue,” Polansky says. “Men without changing the whole society. It’s going to take in the rabbinate are doing wonders for the cause. We’re us many more years to stop pointing out how exotic starting to talk about paternity leave and priorities.” it is for a woman to be doing something a man has Already, Polansky has felt the push-pull of syna- traditionally done. But it will happen.”

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30 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS out of bounds BY LISA B. RUNDLE

MUST-INTERVENE TV Willow and Tara were taking a break after marathon engagement. getting-it-on. It was 2002, and the first time in their Reality TV (which gives average people access to two-and-a-half year relationship that the women the spotlight), super-specialized channels and, had been shown in bed together. Buffy the Vampire most powerfully, the Internet, are creating and Slayer fans, especially those devoted to the couple, responding to a new, downright participatory rela- were thrilled. Personally, I found Tara to be on the tionship viewers have with “our programs,” as my simpering side and I said so. “She’s gonna turn out Nana would have said. That wasn’t conceivable a bad—I’m telling you!” decade ago. While my Nana was addicted to her Politically, I was as caught up in the romance of afternoon soaps more than I have been to any show seeing a sensitively rendered same-sex relationship (her commitment measured in years, not seasons), as anyone. It was their first time. It was on prime she would never have thought to communicate her time. It meant a lot. biting judgments to the Y&R writing team, or share And then Tara’s blood sprayed all over Willow, and them with millions of other fans in a chat room. it was over–Tara the victim of a fatal stray bullet. Oh TV producers may always have gauged what would sell ya. I wasn’t the only one dismayed by her post-coital soap, but never like they can in the age of the Internet. demise. Despite being happy to see that weak smile And fans have never tried en masse—or felt downright wiped off her cherubic face, I felt stunned. How entitled—to intervene like they do now with regularity. could Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, woo us so This is particularly true for shows, like Buffy, that sweetly, only to stab us through our taken hearts? dealt with certain issues in progressive ways. Buffy’s It was Victorian in its retributive cruelty. And we lily-white universe also inspired fans to note the were going to do something about it. Not just me, strikingly high death rate for black characters and the alone in front of my TV, or a million viewers alone in strikingly low number of significant roles created for front of their TVs, but a million viewers with the them. In its final season, the show responded with a possibility of being connected to each other through well-developed, recurring character who is black. fan-run websites and listservs. As I write, it’s the anticipated series finale of Sex Tara’s death caused a full-on, critically analytical, and the City that has fans in an uproar. The show’s commentator-documented outcry, and the most core questions–Can a single (straight) woman be amazing thing happened–the show’s creators lis- happy without a man? Are female friendships tened. While they couldn’t bring Tara back (thank- enough?—may seem to be answered by whether the fully!), the witchy Willow found lesbian love again, central character, Carrie, ties the knot or not. For after some pretty impressive grieving. single fans in particular, who’ve seen their struggles TV used to be the ultimate passivity inducer. We wor- validated by the show, the outcome matters. ried about television-addicted children falling into While some may be skeptical about all this focus on drooling stupors, wasting our lives as inert viewers, television, you can’t deny TV’s power, or its politics. and subliminal messages. We called it a ‘boob tube.’ The messages it gives are received by millions. And All this may still be true, but there’s been a seismic the new pressure fans can exert could have a signifi- change in the dynamic between the viewer and the cant impact, putting third-wave feminists’ (much- viewed. It hit me over the head last September when derided) focus on pop culture in a new light. In terms voter turnout records were broken by the more than of societal influence, it will be no small feminist three million viewers who cast their ballots to achievement if Carrie doesn’t marry Mr. Big. choose the first Canadian Idol. Now that’s civic Stay tuned.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 31 arts culture MUSIC

Standout tracks like “Deep Red Bells,” “Pretty Girls” and “Look For Me (I’ll Be Around)” would fit nicely into any David Lynch flick. Overall, the darker edge to this record makes it perfect for hitting the open road after sunset. ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK Water Massive Quantities of Good Vibes, 2003 Review by Deanna Radford What stands out on Water is the clarity of Chvostek’s presenta- tion. The liner notes penned by this Montreal resident contain a mini-manifesto on the impor- tance of water, signed off with a wish for “massive quantities of good vibes”—the name of her record label. Chovstek’s mini-essay delves into environmentalism, feminism and spiri- tuality—themes covered throughout Water. Case’s passion for classic country and western drew a few comparisons to Alberta’s k.d. lang. And Chvostek makes it look pretty effort- less, both lyrically and musically—a sure sign of a talented artist. Carolyn Mark as half of the Corn Sisters NEKO CASE Chvostek, a childhood student of the and fronted Neko Case and her Blacklisted Canadian Opera Company, is joined by Mint Records, 2002 Boyfriends. But after releasing 2002’s Montreal artists Adrian Vedady (double Review by Anna Lazowski Blacklisted, music critics took special bass), Tony Spina (drums), Andrew Well known for her notice of her solo talents. Schinasi (sax and vocals), indie maven stint with Vancouver’s Case’s passion for classic country and Jordi Rosen (vocals and accordion), Rick New Pornographers, western drew a few comparisons to Rigby (harmonica and vocals) and Becky Neko Case has been Alberta’s k.d. lang, but the two have very Foon (cello). Chvostek’s delivery com- embraced by different approaches to the music. Like bines well with these musicians. Her Canadian musicians lang, Case has a huge, luxurious voice that voice is a unique blend of weathered and music fans. Born in Virginia, Case’s soars through her love of the genre, but character and lilting ebb and flow. family relocated to Washington before she she infuses it with elements of jazz, blues This album could be thought of as a headed off to Vancouver for art school. and pop. Her refreshing take has branded palate flavoured with a fine Montreal While in B.C., her appetite for varied her an alt-country darling and opened cabaret sound, garnished in Québécois je musical experiences led her through stylish country up to young, indie music ne sais quois and jazz-inflected, folk- stretches with punk, roots and alternative fans. edged pop. country groups. Case’s vocals alone make this record As a lyricist, Chvostek subtly pays hom- During the course of her career, Case worth picking up. In fact, her skills at age to the women murdered in the has played with Maow, partnered with evoking emotion with her voice would Montreal Massacre of December 6, 1989. find a happy home scoring movies. She also examines body image, eating dis-

32 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS orders, environmental activism and love. unsigned artist in Canada, and by touring the life of an eight-year-old girl on the son- Chvostek’s overall musical arrangement is as part of Lilith Fair. ically stripped-down “Zoe.” thoughtful. The pinnacle example of this— Born in the U.S. but raised in Vancouver, Ungerleider has also incorporated with true feminist style and edge—is the Ungerleider went on to sign with Nettwerk more from her band, which is made up of track “129.” for her second, self-titled album. Oh Colin Cripps, Bazil Donovan, Luke Susanna provides a greater balance of Doucet, Joel Anderson, Travis Good and OH SUSANNA Ungerleider’s folk and country roots, Bob Packwood. Alongside guest vocals by Oh Susanna including a healthy dose of Nashville. She Kathleen Edwards, Ungerleider tosses in Nettwerk, 2003 tackles the subject of reconciliation on horns and strings to fill out her sound. “Mama,” loss of a loved one to drugs on Those additions lend the finished product Review by Anna Lazowski “Billy,” and includes a cover of Bob Dylan’s a polished sound. Oh Susanna, aka Suzie “I’ll Keep It With Mine.” “Cain is Rising” Oh Susanna finds Ungerleider striving Ungerleider, became addresses attitudes post-September 11, but for balance across the board, from her a darling of the folk the album is most successful when influences to her instrumentation and circuit following the Ungerleider digs into human relationships choice of subject matter. Fans of well- release of her 2001 on tracks like “The Fall” and the breathtak- written songs who are searching for a lit- full-length, Sleepy ingly beautiful “The One.” Ungerleider is tle rock in their country will not be Little Sailor. The album’s quiet melancholy skilled at writing from the perspective of a disappointed. made her a perfect fit for festivals and character. She neatly bookends the album Anna Lazowski is associate producer/music coffee houses. Before that, she’d attracted with a look at an aging woman in the up- programmer at CBC’s Definitely Not the attention by winning a contest as the best tempo “Carrie Lee” and a turning point in Opera. arts lit SPRING READING

THE CHELSEA WHISTLE stage, she is raw and raunchy—it’s kind of ries range from those of family violence, by Michelle Tea like she is performing with a couple of her to questionable sexual encounters, to vig- Seal Press, 2002 internal organs sticking out of her gut. ilante feminism, to heartbreaking love Review by T.L. Cowan The Chelsea Whistle does the same thing. and loyalty, to betrayal, estrangement and “A girl could go crazy It makes you feel as if you are looking at grief. And the best thing about it is that just trying to stick to the inside, at something that maybe isn’t while I am of Tea’s generation, the book normally exposed. The Chelsea Whistle is a her own story when was first given to me by a friend who is a kind of prequel to Tea’s earlier Valencia everything around her decade older and who read it in her femi- (Seal Press, 2000). It is a story about her conspired to knock nist book club. Another woman from the childhood (Valencia is a story of 20- the past away.” same book club told me, “Usually I don’t —Michelle Tea, The something Tea), told with the same atten- read writers younger than 40 because they Chelsea Whistle tion to the little details of working class haven’t acquired enough wisdom and they I first encountered Michelle Tea when life, the same humour that will make you she performed in Vancouver in 1998 (or both cringe and guffaw with recognition at think they have. Michelle Tea is not like was it 1999?) with the all-girl spoken- the same time. that—she is young and wise.” word circus, Sister Spit. I was blown away The Chelsea Whistle is about being Goth, Enough said. by all of the performances that night, but stoned, queer, feminist, scared, bold, T.L. Cowan is a Ph.D. student and writer liv- Tea’s in particular stuck with me. On pissed-off and very, very smart. The sto- ing in Edmonton.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 33 DESIRABLE Even in our tell-all society, where the DAUGHTERS spilling of guts is commonplace, we really Out ‘n About Travel Inc. by Bharati Mukherjee never know the entire truth. Truth, like DOES NOT2XW¶Q$ERXW7UDYHO,QF CHARGE SERVICE FEES Harper Collins Canada, 2002 everything else, has nuances and layers, '2(6127&+$5*(6(59,&()((6 on Westjet, Jetsgo, Tango, Zip, Canjet and is inevitably cliché-ridden. RQ:HVWMHW-HWVJR7DQJR=LS&DQMHW Review by Irene D’Souza andDQG6N\VHUYLFH Skyservice. Tara’s poignant journey of discovery is Bharati Mukherjee, a beautifully charted. Mukherjee quotes a professor of English Sanskrit verse at the beginning: “No one at the University of behind, no one ahead … I am alone and Berkeley, is the find my way.” Thus she is able to connect author of seven books all the dots. of fiction, including $PHPEHURIWKH,QWHUQDWLRQDO Irene D’Souza is a Winnipeg writer and a *D\DQG/HVELDQ7UDYHO$VVRFLDWLRQ the award-winning regular contributor to Herizons. The Middleman and Other Stories. Mukherjee has established her niche in fiction, writing eloquently of AMERICAN WOMAN the self-inflicted Indian Diaspora. by Susan Choi Harper Collins, 2003 In Desirable Daughters, three Lear-like sisters born into a wealthy Calcutta family Review by Ann Hansen are faced with the realities of living in American Woman is  ²  2VERUQH 6W 6 0F.LP &RXUW\DUG modern day Indian and American soci- the thinly disguised :LQQLSHJ 0DQLWRED ‡ 5/ < SK  ‡ WROO IUHH  eties. Although Padma, Parvati and Tara story of the ID[  ‡ HPDLO RDW#PWVQHW have obeyed their ancestral teachings and kidnapping of Patty adhered to the laws of arranged mar- Hearst by an riages, their everyday rebellions are ten- American urban derly charted. The grand themes of guerrilla group, the secrets and lies in families are explored Symbionese with subtlety and humour. Mukherjee Liberation Army, in 1974— the heyday of does not shy from portraying her charac- the Vietnam War protests. Thinly ters as three-dimensional human beings, disguised, because the author, Susan with frailties, needs and desires. Choi, uses these historical events as a Tara, the youngest and the rebel of the backdrop to the development of the family, is divorced and living common- emotions and political motivations that law in San Francisco. Here, a mysterious drive her fictional characters, rather than stranger enters her life, claiming to be keeping her storyline true to the genre of the son of her older sister, Padma. Tara, historical fiction. the sophisticated valley denizen, is sud- The strength of this story lies in read- denly caught in a mysterious web of ing about familiar politically charged deceit—she is faced with the fact that she events that mirror events of today, such as really does not know her sisters. Could the protests against the war in Iraq, and her sister have had a child out of wed- the bombings and kidnappings in the lock? Were her parents instrumental in Middle East. Consequently, the main keeping the entire affair secret? Is she characters—Jenny, a fugitive from a polit- the only one who does not know? ical bombing gone awry, Pauline, the rich At this point, Mukherjee changes kidnapped heiress, and Juan and Yvonne, gears. Obsessed with finding the truth, the urban guerrilla cell—are archetypal. Tara relies on memory to piece together As such, they could be juxtaposed into the past. Suddenly, innocent events take today’s world, making their thoughts and on mysterious hues. The thoroughly actions as relevant as they would have modern Tara explores the nature of been 30 years ago. familial relationships and learns that, Unfortunately, the relevance of the even in the closest of relationships, characters’ thoughts and actions, and humans are often true only to themselves. therefore the book’s credibility, are

34 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS diminished by the absence of a well-devel- RUSH HOME ROAD is meant to be Addy’s daytime compan- oped political context, and by the portrayal by Lori Lansens ion. However, Addy becomes Sharla’s pri- of Juan and Yvonne, the urban guerrilla Vintage Canada, 2003 mary caregiver when Sharla’s mother cell, as stereotypical terrorists. Unlike the Review by Maria Stanborough abandons the trailer park and her daugh- other characters, they are demonized, a ter without a trace. In her first novel, reflection of the mass hysteria of our mod- Lansen draws Adelaide’s character Rush Home Road, Lori ern culture. This would not be such a prob- beautifully—a naive protagonist who leads Lansens manages to lem if the main characters were not us through a difficult life with honesty compress the absorbed in the ethical and emotional and confusion. The fact that Adelaide sur- dilemmas inherent in armed struggle. magnitude of an epic vives makes her remarkable; the fact that A novel is a story by an author, about an into one woman’s life. she survives with the ability to love Sharla author. It reflects an author’s strengths In doing so, she unconditionally makes her a woman with and weaknesses. The character Jenny, reveals the possibility great depth. who shares the same Japanese-American for epic in all our lives. Adelaide’s story begins when she is ethnicity as the author, has the greatest Lansens’ protagonist, Adelaide (Addy) ostracized from her hometown, depth. It is to Choi’s credit that the reader Shadd, is an unremarkable woman living Rusholme, a black enclave that was once can identify with both the good and bad in in times no more remarkable than now. the final stop in the underground railway. Jenny, who is a fugitive and harbours the Adelaide’s story overflows with poignancy Adelaide muses on how, as a young girl, urban guerrillas. and beauty, however, as Lansen chroni- she thought her life would be like her Choi’s weakness is that she would cles the often overlooked history of slav- mother’s: living in a small home with a rather explore her characters’ thoughts ery and salvation in Southwestern husband and two children. As she and emotions than the political forces Ontario. reflects, she realizes that her life had that shape their lives. Addy Shadd is an old woman living become like her mother’s life—not the Ann Hansen is the author of Direct Action: alone in a trailer park when she is given a storybook life of domestic security, but a Memoirs of an Urban Guerrilla (Between late-in-life motherhood. Sharla, the life the vicissitudes of time and conflict the Lines 2003). daughter of her irresponsible neighbour, created. This recognition—when Adelaide

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HERIZONS SPRING 2004 35 realizes that, despite our attempts to cre- efforts after inventiveness. Some are exacerbated by triangulations and jeal- ate a safe place in the world, nothing is more successful than others as short sto- ousies—both warranted and unwarranted. guaranteed—is one of the most profound ries. Two outstanding stories and writers Vividly, Waters shows how human insecuri- moments in the novel. The greatest secu- are Monica Ali with “Dinner with Dr. ty can hopelessly spiral into that implacable rity is in moving through life with the Azad” and Sarah Waters (Tipping the zone—relationship destructiveness. When ability to love and to care. Velvet) with “Helen and Julia.” all defenses are up and everything from the Maria Stanborough is a writer and lighting If “Dinner with Dr. Azad” is represen- other is misread, the heart shreds. The technician living in Vancouver. tative of Ali’s writing, she is indeed an emotional cuts conjured by Waters are as excellent writer—relaxed and subtle, visceral as the slicings on the skin that one never faltering in showing her reader how of the characters troublingly uses as a GRANTA 81: BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH the well-intentioned does not get to its means of articulation. destination. The basic plot is about how Sook C. Kong’s stories and poems have been NOVELISTS 2003 the wife character, younger than her hus- published in Canada and the U.S., and she is Ed. Ian Jack band and much less languaged in English, the recipient of the International Society of Granta, 2003 is hemmed in by two male figures—a sort Poets 2003 Outstanding Achievement in Review by Sook C. Kong of good-intentioned, immigrant hus- Poetry Award. The British magazine band-type beaten down by crushed hopes Granta, which pub- of career redemption, and their older BOUDICA: DREAMING lishes contemporary doctor friend who has long ago decided THE EAGLE realist fiction, pub- not to get involved in other people’s lives, by Manda Scott lishes a short story even as he does his social rounds. Ali Random House, 2003 collection called “Best shows us there are many important things Review by Chris Lowther of Young British that a physician cannot medicate or cure, It’s about time Novelists” every 10 but a woman will nonetheless have to take someone wrote a years. Several of the 20 stories in the care of for herself. novel about the newest Granta anthology are satisfying Sarah Waters is no less excellent with her legendary Celtic reads. The themes are as varied as the 20 story, “Helen and Julia,” about two women warrior queen, writers featured, and range from the life partners. Within the limitations of a Bodiccea, or Boudica, topography of aging on the white cliffs of short story, Waters invokes, and invokes the last tribal Brit to Dover to how a young homemaker-mother very credibly, the key elements of marital lead a rebellion copes with the quiet tatters of a marriage troubles: the latent problems of two differ- against the Roman invasion. Manda Scott going nowhere. Each story has its own ent pasts, two different temperaments, writes as if she were there—from CE 32 to 43—with tireless detail. Inspire someone today.... Life is mucky and cramped, but filled with signs from the gods. Grandmothers are revered. Boudica’s childhood name is INSPIRING Breaca, and she kills her first warrior as an adolescent when she witnesses the WOMEN murder of her pregnant mother, the A Celebration of Herstory leader of the Eceni people. Breaca learns to make weapons in her father’s forge, but foreword by margaret atwood wants to be a dreamer—a kind of psychic, and the noblest calling of her people (fol- A beautiful coffee-table lowed closely by singers and storytellers). book with 319 stories She would then accompany her best and over 350 photos. friend and sometimes lover, Airmid, to the Isle of Mona and the council of 1-55050-204-2 $29.95 dreamers. But Breaca’s younger brother, Ban, becomes the dreamer, and Breaca an unwilling yet skilled and gifted warrior. Available at fine booksellers everywhere. COTEAU BOOKS The novel follows them both as they grow, WWW.COTEAUBOOKS.COM endure intense rituals and suffer tragedy.

36 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS This is no Mists of Avalon, but gritty and that both heterogeneity and resistance violent. Breaca’s family and tribe are torn construct the identities of African- apart; brother and sister each thinks the Canadian women and their feminist other dead. Ban becomes a slave in Rome, experiences. The voices behind Back to noticed by the emperor Caligula. Upon the Drawing Board originate from various his escape, he joins the Roman legions as cultural locations, including the West a soldier to avenge his family’s slaughter, Indies and Eastern Europe. committed by a Brit from a neighbouring Despite the diversity in the text, it is tribe to the Eceni. Ban’s lover is a Roman, uncertain whether it is possible to use too—a soldier the Eceni had helped when ‘African-Canadian feminism’ as a general a shipwreck landed him on their shore. term while simultaneously encompassing O UT OF THE I VORY T OWER Breaca travels to Mona and attends the such a range of stories from a Canadian warriors’ school. Ultimately, she wins and African-Canadian standpoint. In FEMINIST RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL CHANGE leadership in a test of attacks and other words, is it possible to capture all of Edited by Andrea Martinez & Meryn Stuart enchantments, becoming Boudica: the possible experiences of African- Out of the Ivory Tower reminds us Bringer of Victory. Believing her brother Canadian feminists under one umbrella? of the interconnections between long dead, she does not know he is part of Back to the Drawing Board moves theory, women’s lives and political the invading force. Ban is shocked on the through many discussions of this ques- activism in the broader feminist community. — DR. LORI CHAMBERS battlefield when he sees the unmistakable tion, including those relating to socially- red flag of his sister’s hair. constructed images of black women in the $26.95 312 pgs ISBN 1-894549-24-4 This novel is absorbing, perplexing, dis- media, African-Canadian feminist theo- SUMACH PRESS appointing ... and leaves the reader impa- ries within the confines of the academy, [email protected] tient for the second book in this trilogy. and the need for African and Aboriginal www.sumachpress.com women to reclaim indigenous ways of 416-531-6250 BACK TO THE DRAWING knowing and teaching. BOARD: AFRICAN- This broad overview opens up a crucial CANADIAN FEMINISMS space that African-Canadian feminists can use to put themselves back into the Eds., Njoki Nathani Wane, picture after many years of omission and Katerina Deliovsky and Erica forced silence. Lawson Sumach Press, 2002 This critical dialogue has achieved its purpose and will be a springboard for Review by Roxane Tracey further discussion and debate about the Back to the Drawing past, present and future of Canadian fem- Board: African- inist scholarship. Canadian Feminisms Roxane Tracy is a Toronto writer. succeeds in provoking dialogue by creating the kind of healthy GIRL CULTURE tensions women need by Lauren Greenfield Chronicle Books, 2002 in order to gain a better understanding of their position in Review by Jennifer O’Connor the world. Lauren Greenfield’s This collection examines the historical Girl Culture is a and cultural realities that influence collection of African-Canadian feminist theory, while photographs that it attempts to carve out an intellectual show the lives of feminist space that is uniquely Canadian. girls—their strengths, Attempts to define what is uniquely their aspirations and ‘Canadian’ are always contentious their sadness. Specifically, it examines because Canadian identity is so often the relationships girls have with their eclipsed and Americanized. However, bodies. Greenfield presents an array of Back to the Drawing Board makes the point images: a four-year-old plays dress-up in

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 37 gold heels; a 24-year-old examines her when the desire for it goes too far. filmmakers fled to Hollywood from New still-bandaged breasts post- Feminist artist Judy Chicago once York, partly to escape having their augmentation; an 11-year-old poses at a wrote: “The continued erasure of equipment smashed by thugs hired by weight-loss camp; a bikini-clad woman women’s art—through neglect, misunder- Thomas Edison, who held the patent on flexes her arms at the Fitness America standing and the absence of a context in the movie camera, and partly in search of competition. Greenfield has which it can be fully understood, as well year-round sunshine. In early photographed for Harper’s Bazaar, the New as outright discrimination—still confines filmmaking days, the cameras and film York Times Magazine and National too much of women’s art to the margins stock required large amounts of light to Geographic, among others. Her blatant rather than the museums of the world.” expose the film, and light bulbs were not images of everyday lives are similar to For anyone who wants to understand the yet powerful enough for indoor shooting. Nan Goldin’s. lives of girls, this collection belongs in Most filmmaking was done on New York However, it is not only the content but your home. rooftops to catch as much natural light as also the form that makes this book so jar- possible. But New York’s cold winter ring. An image of a sullen 18-year-old at HOLLYWOOD UTOPIA climate was not nearly as attractive to an eating-disorder clinic is on the same by Justine Brown outdoor filmmaking as sunny California. spread as a showgirl modelling on an air- New Star Books, 2003 One by one, the early pioneers of film plane. In one, the subject stands with her Review by Karen X. Tulchinsky migrated west. arms behind her head, staring at the cam- During Hollywood’s Hollywood Utopia links many directors’ era. Her long brown hair is parted in the Golden Age of the idealism to the Utopian movement which middle and she’s dressed in a simple silent movie, had established itself in California long striped T-shirt. She’s surrounded by filmmakers such as before Lillian Gish and Douglas Fairbanks manicured lawn and an evergreen tree. In D.W. Griffith (The arrived to become America’s sweethearts. the other photograph, we don’t see the Birth of a Nation) Unknown to many, the modern New Age woman’s face, but only the faces of those believed that film, movement began in California in 1875 looking at her. She’s strolling down the with its universal (rather than 1975) with the Universal cabin aisle, a fan of red feathers shooting language of mime, had the potential to Brotherhood and Theosophical Society. up from her shoulders like a peacock tail. bring peace into a world that was reeling That idealism came crashing down with Red satin gloves cover her arms, and a red from the War To End All Wars. Back then, the advent of ‘talkies,’ which took away sequined G-string runs between her buns Hollywood was not the glamorous, the universal language of silent films. Stars such as Gish, whose talent did not of steel. Alone, each image is striking; exclusive, magical place it is now. It had translate to talking pictures, faded into together, they encapsulate the ideal we’re humbler roots as a farming town. In the the background, like Nora Desmond in supposed to strive for, and what happens early part of the twentieth century, Sunset Boulevard. Hollywood Utopia sometimes bogs down when Brown’s prose takes on a dry, aca- MOVING? demic style. The most fun parts of the Don’t miss an issue. book are when she describes the lives of Phone: 1-888-408-0028 the old stars. The section on newspaper Fax: (204) 786-8038 magnate William Randolf Hearst (upon Email: [email protected] whose life Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane is based) is as fun to read as a good Mail: PO Box 128 issue of People. Winnipeg, MB For movie buffs, filmmakers, philoso- Canada R3C 2G1 phers, or anyone intrigued by that magical place in sunny California, Hollywood Utopia is an intricately researched and Name: compelling read. New address: Karen X. Tulchinsky is a screenwriter and editor, and the author of Love Ruins City/Town: Everything, Love and Other Ruins and Province: Postal Code: most recently, The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky (Raincoast, 2003).

38 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS THE MUSLIM VEIL IN as a monolithic and ahistorical practice in feminism, with the exception of Reem NORTH AMERICA Canada. Meshal’s interesting, if cursory, contri- Edited by Sajida Sultana Alvi, The Muslim Veil in North America gives bution. She looks at how Muslim women readers an array of solid resources with across the veil spectrum tacitly or explic- Homa Hodfar and Sheila which to more fully grasp the complex itly assert feminist perspectives that res- McDonough Women’s Press, 2003 theoretical and material backdrops onate with their experiences of against which Muslim women here are patriarchal sexualization and political, Review by Laila Malik asserting their agency. The book is divid- social and economic exclusion in Canada. The resurgence of the ed into a section of sociological studies on This omission is curious, given the ubiquity mainstream everyday veiling practices in Canada, and of spurious as well as serious feminist cri- obsession with the re-examines the practice by women. tiques of the veil, and the reactions of veil following the first Of particular note is Islamic studies many of the respondents to such attacks. Gulf War has marked scholar Soraya Hajjaji-Jarrah’s explo- In my opinion, the book lacks an ana- both a diversion from ration of the origins and consolidation of lytical framework that would take a closer more fundamental dominant Islamic perspectives on veiling. look at patterns between the findings of systems of oppression Hajjaji-Jarrah illuminates the broad and the various essays and would suggest and a conservative retrenchment within mostly non-gendered Qur’anic uses of the directions for further investigation. This Muslim communities. For some veiled Arabic word hijab, and traces the social may have been a deliberate attempt by the women, it has meant physical attacks in conditions that led to its mainstream editors to skirt controversy. It is, public spaces and expulsion from school contemporary interpretation as “the near nonetheless, the next step in a long over- and work. total concealment of a Muslim woman’s due process. Yet despite the chronic debate and the physical features.” Laila Malik is a Research Assistant at the plethora of experts, no volume had Overall, The Muslim Veil in North McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on attempted to explode the myth of veiling America is circumspect with respect to Women. Ani DiFranco - Educated Guess TheThe Wailin’Wailin’ JennysJennys On Educated Guess,, 4040 DaysDays not only does Ani play all the instruments and provide all the vocals on her first solo recording inin moremore thanthan aa decade;decade; she also single-handedly recorded and mixed the album herself. The package includes a 40-page booklet with original artwork by Ani and three poems not found From the forceful acoustic on the CD. pulse of Carla Luft’s songs to the ambient, atmospheric vibe of Nicky Mehta’s offerings and the sweet, down-home feel of Ruth Moody’s music, 40 Days pays homage to the raw acoustic sound that has made the Wailin’ Jennys such a dynamic live act. It's all tied together by the Jennys’ trademark spine-tingling harmonies! InIn storesstores now!now! in stores now!

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 39 QUIXOTIC EROTIC single-author collection. accompanied by a new essay for each. All by Tamai Kobayashi Tamai Kobayashi’s plots are unexpected of Califia’s writing is personal: he never Arsenal Pulp Press, 2003 and her prose is flawless, silky smooth shies away from the first person or from Review by Joy Parks and poetic. Her ability to create multi- calling it like he sees it. The first essay is a dimensional, credibly motivated charac- wrenching tour through his gender dis- In a recent interview, ters with a few brief strokes heightens the comfort as a woman, his decision to Leslea Newman, intimacy in her stories. This not simply become a transman, his partnership and editor of several writing about sexual acts; this is literature parenting with his partner and the dam- erotica collections, infused with sexuality. age done as the relationship was falling suggested that erotic Quixotic Erotic is a wonderful voyage apart. A gripping tale on its own, it also short stories are into an enigmatic world of erotic possi- serves to put the rest of the essays into popular because they bilities. perspective. The first section deals with are the ultimate fast form of safe sex in a Joy Parks is an Ottawa writer who dabbles in family (including a timely essay on gay busy, dangerous world. For whatever erotica. You can check out her work in Hot & marriage), the second with the “interplay reason, GLBT publishers continue to roll Bothered 4 (Arsenal Press, 2003). between the body, identity and communi- out collections of lesbian erotica in every ty.” The third section deals mainly with imaginable flavour. American policy and law, although there Canada’s main contribution to this SPEAKING SEX TO are a few coruscating remarks thrown in publishing phenomenon has been POWER: THE POLITICS towards Canada Customs. The last section Arsenal Pulp Press’s Hot & Bothered I, 2 OF PLEASURE AND gives a good bird’s eye view into the and 3, all edited by Karen X. Tulchinsky American political landscape. and all healthy best-sellers in a crowded PERVERSITY The afterword continues the story of lesbian erotica market. by Patrick Califia Cleis Press, 2002 Califia’s current life. It’s a satisfying and fit- Arsenal’s latest offering, Quixotic Erotic, ting ending to a book of essays that manages is a brave choice. Single-author collec- Review by Meagan Butcher to be both extremely personal and politically tions risk sameness, and they present the Those who have illuminating at the same time. possibility of leaving out a particular admired and been Meagan Butcher is a writer and works in a predilection. But this book raises impor- inspired by Patrick sex toy store. tant questions regarding the nature of Califia’s work during erotic writings: Do readers seek out sexual the past decade, but plots that are most realistic and comfort- have found it difficult FEAR OF FOOD: able, those acts that are most relevant to to keep up with his A DIARY OF MOTHERING their own experience? Or is one drawn to numerous publishing by Carole Bacchi erotica for a chance to brush up against credits, will be thrilled with this book. Spinifex (Australia), 2003 the lusts that live in our most private fan- People who have never heard of Patrick Review by Susan Prentice tasies, to seek out stories that deal with Califia, but are fascinated by the vagaries of What would you do if sexual acts that intrigue us intellectually, gender and the roles that sex plays in our your newborn refused but which we would never have the culture, will likewise be thrilled. They may to eat, was wracked courage, the inhibition, nor even the also get the breathtaking feeling that comes with painful colic, and desire to experience in person? when you meet a new kindred spirit. For never slept more than Quixotic Erotic proves that both kinds of no matter what he writes about, from two hours at a stretch? writing can live happily between the same American politics, to gender transition, to This was the reality covers. The book is divided into two sec- changing diapers, Califia always manages Carol Bacchi tions: Erotic, which contains more realis- to sound like a friend. A somewhat confronted throughout her son’s first tic scenes, and Quixotic, which uses argumentative and curmudgeonly friend at year. Fear of Food is a memoir of a period mythic tales and ancient rituals as a times, but someone you always greet with she calls “the closest to hell that I’ve ever framework in which to explore the outer open arms, because you know the come.” boundaries of sexual fantasy. conversation will be thought-provoking, Her son’s feeding issues began with Ranging from tender and sultry to interesting, smart and funny. unsuccessful breastfeeding and were coolly surreal, Quixotic Erotic offers read- Most of the essays in this collection compounded by a nasty throat infection ers a phenomenal range of erotic adven- have previously been published, but here and subsequent post-traumatic food tures—an admirable achievement for any they are organized into four sections, refusals. Throughout the year, Bacchi

40 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS desperately struggled to find (or impose) WATER WARS: a pattern to his chaotic eating and failure PRIVATIZATION, to thrive. Repeatedly, the medical system POLLUTION AND PROFIT identified her as the cause of Stephen’s by Vandana Shiva problems, diagnosing her as suffering Between the Lines Press, 2002 from “tense mother syndrome.” Review by Carly Stasko Bacchi does seem to have been a tense mother—though what sentient woman Vandana Shiva is a with a hungry and unsettled child isn’t? world-renowned She measures and weighs each gram of environmental food ingested and each cubic centimetre thinker and activist. A leader in the of solid and liquid expelled, itemizing International Forum them in up to six or more entries daily. on Globalization, and It’s hard not to call this preoccupation winner of the compulsive. Bacchi offers herself unvar- Alternative Nobel Peace Prize, Shiva is nished: she is admittedly unprepared for also a gifted writer. new mothering, had a child because of “a After beginning her professional life as certain emptiness in her life,” and is a physicist, her focus shifted to environ- frankly depressed (though whether that mental issues as she watched the disap- was cause or consequence remains irre- pearance of vital rivers and streams in solvable). The diary is a long rumination India. While her motivation was spurred on how to understand why her son was locally, her analysis is global. She propos- averse to feeding, and how and where to es that ‘water wars’ take their form in tra- apportion responsibility—though not, she ditional wars, as well as in ‘paradigm stresses, blame. wars’ in which there is a conflict over how By the time her son is one, the feeding we perceive and experience water. She issues resolve. But they occurred during a argues that “water wars are global wars, year that witnessed severe sleep depriva- with diverse cultures and ecosystems, wild women tion, harsh and judgmental health care sharing the universal ethic of water as an expeditions providers, and systemic social isolation ecological necessity, pitted against a cor- Canada's Outdoor Adventure and privatization. Bacchi is a feminist porate culture of privatization, greed and Company for Women academic, and she sketches these struc- enclosures of the water common.” tural conditions with crystal clarity. She Shiva also points out that many politi- also itemizes her own involvement, cal conflicts over resources are hidden acknowledging her control issues, a family because “those who control power prefer history of food conflicts, and her need for to mask water wars as ethnic and religious professional help. conflicts.” This book inspires the reader I was glued to her diary. I applaud her to re-envision the role of water in the courage in naming the underside of real- global political scene. The reader learns life mothering; yet I wince at much of how about the history of water management Bacchi mothered. It is tough for women, (both decentralized and centralized), the especially feminists, to admit to maternal economic influences and impacts of glob- ambivalence, let alone questionable com- al corporations and banks, and the cul- petence. Fear of Food is a gritty look at tural and spiritual implications of water. early child care and will force readers to It reminds us that “water is the matrix of confront their deepest assumptions about culture, [and] the basis of life,” and not a 2004 online now! ‘good’ mothers. It is, therefore, a must- commodity to be sold to the highest bid- canoe trips • cycling tours • sea-kayaking • flyfishing • boxing • photography • herbal retreats • yoga • read book. der. Water Wars is an eye-opener about a painting • skiing • dog sledding and more!

Susan Prentice is a mother and an assistant subject of ever-increasing importance. I www.wildwomenexp.com professor of sociology at the University of highly recommend it. [email protected] 1-888-WWE-1222 Manitoba. Carly Stasko is a Toronto writer and activist.

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 41 GENETIC POLITICS: In 11 well-written, clearly argued chap- determined by what technologies can do FROM EUGENICS TO ters, Kerr and Shakespeare summarize the as by a public discussion of what we mean rise of eugenic sciences (mostly in the by, and will support in, an inclusive soci- GENOME United Kingdom and the United States) ety. They challenge the reader to consider by Anne Kerr and Tom and link these political movements and why genetic screening is seen as a “solu- Shakespeare New Clarion Press, 2002 ways of thinking to the ‘softer’ eugenics of tion to the problem of disability.” today, especially as it is expressed in Already we are bombarded by direct- Review by Abby Lippman genetic screening and diagnostic prac- to-consumer advertising for genetic tests. Disclosure: The authors tices. Their perspective draws from femi- Some of these are alleged to determine are both friends of nist and disability critiques of the new our susceptibility to various diseases of mine, though we have genetics, and underlines how the notions adult onset (for example, breast cancer), not worked on a project of choice and autonomy are easily co- others to assess our DNA profiles so some together. As well, I am opted by those pushing for genetic testing. commercial group can advise us what diet among those These territories have been explored by to follow, or what particular cosmetics we acknowledged at the other critics, but Kerr and Shakespeare go should use. start of the book. beyond these earlier works. They clarify There is a trend in which marketing is This book is essential reading for anyone that today eugenics is not only coming in disguised as science, and genetics as who (still) thinks that genetics is only via the back door, but is a privatized activ- choice. We must remember that traits about science and that discussions about it ity embedded in genetic practice. They come attached to people. The fearsome are only for “scientists.” It is also impor- help us understand why ‘family comple- spectrum of eugenic possibilities associ- tant reading for those who think genetics is tion’ is no less problematic than plain ated with ‘better than well’ businesses (mostly) about keeping us healthy through old-fashioned ‘sex selection,’ albeit an suggests why we urgently need full public ever-lengthening lives, and that eugenics easier sell. They also make clear that what debate about genetic and reproductive disappeared with the defeat of Hitler. we call ‘healthy’ and ‘normal’ is as much technologies. REALITY CHECK

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42 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS by Stacey Kauder

VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN by Mary Wollstonecraft Penguin Books Review by Stacy Kauder If you want to catch up on your classic feminist literature, a good place to start is Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Mary Wollstonecraft penned the book in 1792 in response to the conventional and oppressive standards in law and custom towards women—standards upheld by male authors like Milton, Rousseau and Pope. Wollstonecraft analyzes the contradictions within these standards with succinct logic, repeatedly question- ing the absurdity of depriving women of essential human rights. She poses questions with a condescending wit that sears. Vindication concludes in capital letters, “it is time to effect a REVOLUTION in female manners.” Wollstonecraft envisioned a new woman who is encouraged to exercise her mind and pursue knowledge. In an era when the education of young girls was regarded as frivolous, or even dangerous, Wollstonecraft’s ideas were radical indeed. She argued that women should study medicine, human anatomy, politics, history, business and fine arts. This would enable women to live independ- ent of men, and free women from relying on marriage as a primary source of their livelihood. Wollstonecraft predicted that “the emancipation of woman will evolve when women are allowed to earn sus- lars per year. However, in 2002 there were also 820,700 tenance, thus attaining power and control over them- self-employed women in Canada, more than 374,000 selves.” female teachers and professors and 107,290 female pro- Two hundred years later, women do “earn suste- fessionals in art and culture. nance.” Women are allowed access into male-dominated Nothing was beneath this excellent writer’s observa- worlds, yet they are still expected to conform to modern tions, and her tongue didn’t hesitate to lash out, as she versions of the same feminine standards deplored by poignantly asked, “Why should I conceal my senti- Wollstonecraft. ments?” At the time Vindication was published, Wollstonecraft Wollstonecraft’s sentiments are still well worth uncon- noted that the result of women being excessively focussed cealing today. on their sensibilities and charms was that women were Stacy Kauder is Herizons’ valued for “false notions of female excellence.” newest regular contributor. Today, women’s “contagious fondness for fashion,” as Watch for ongoing Wollstonecraft called it, is reflected in the fragrance and installments of Feminist cosmetics industry, which grosses over one billion dol- Classics.

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44 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS ready with solar-powered batteries. … continued from page 20 (Atwood) Margaret Atwood: The reason the person in my Were you prepared? book does it is not, in his mind, evil. His motivations Margaret Atwood: I was up north, where there is no are the best—an improvement on society—but he electricity, anyway. I am used to living without. We have knows that improvement will not survive unless he a wind-up radio and flashlight; we can no longer depend gets rid of the bad ‘us.’ And the problem is, we are on just turning on the light. And we have a hybrid car. very close to being able to do that. In Oryx and Crake, the rebellion is thwarted. Are we too So Oryx and Crake could be conceived as art imitating life? complacent? Where are we going? Margaret Atwood: To a certain extent a book like this Margaret Atwood: We cannot predict the future is like Jonathan Swift’s book, which is an invention—it because there are too many variables. I have a cer- is fiction. You cannot predict the future, but you say tain amount of faith in people, in their ability to something like this: “Here’s the path. Do we want to go eventually figure out that things are not beneficial. along that path? Is that the path we want to be on?” For instance, right after 9-11, all those (anti-terror- ist) laws got going, but now there’s quite a move- In Oryx and Crake, society is divided into those who ment against them. People have woken up and have it all and those who do not. You really build the realized that it is not going to make them immortal, case for a bleak and uninhabitable world. or keep them safe forever. On the other hand, it may Margaret Atwood: Things can go awry very fast. We remove many democratic liberties that they have are going to have 10 billion people in the world by taken for granted. There is a lot of opposition, and the year 2050, and we are using up natural resources you have to always be on the watch. What’s being at a galloping clip. Sooner or later, there is going to handed to you in a box? What is inside the box? Who be a crunch. There already is a crunch in poorer is being targeted? What is the hidden agenda? countries—big starvation, big drought and big epi- demics. We watch it on TV, but how are we going to In Oryx and Crake, we empathize with Snowman’s reluc- respond to all of this? tance to believe in human goodness. Does goodness exist? At this point it is anybody’s guess. There are Margaret Atwood: We are a social species. Part of moments in history when all of the pieces are sudden- our survival and success has come from the fact that ly in play. This is one of those moments. Now is the we do help. Every culture has the idea that you have time to turn to alternate energies—we better do it fast. to help, so much so that strangers will leap into the river to help another human being. People are making an effort. A Day Without Cars…. Margaret Atwood: We had a week without electrici- Thank you very much. ty in Ontario. I think a lot of people are going to be Margaret Atwood: And thank you very much.

volunteered or worked as staff at Press Gang … continued from page 23 (Feminist Ink) Publishers or Press Gang Printers. It was one of the “We had several dozen people outside on the side- most happening nostalgic events I’ve ever been to.” walk, so the authors who weren’t reading inside went The authors who read that night were given their outside and read to the crowd on the street,” Warland start with Press Gang—a testament to the press’s ded- recalls. Tulchinsky adds, “It was amazing to have so ication to lesbian and feminist writers. Traditionally, many talented and devoted authors on one program first-time authors are the cornerstones of small at the same time. There were so many women who presses, so there is a risk that fewer small presses will

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 45 mean less access for Canadian voices. Many Sumach titles are written by first-time authors. “If you go into any mainstream bookstore, you Equally important is the subject matter of non-fiction won’t often find lesbian books on the fiction shelf, books. For example, Sumach’s photo/essay book, My or on the hot books shelf, or on the best-seller Breasts, My Choice, which traverses the difficult issue of shelf,” says Tulchinsky. “If you’re lucky, you’ll find breast augmentation, reduction and trans-sexual sur- these books on the gender studies shelf.” gery would simply not have been published anywhere While no one disputes the role of small niche pub- but by a dedicated feminist press. lishers, the way forward isn’t simply going back to Women’s Press is also dedicated to publishing the old days. “More people need to buy books!” says books on timely feminist issues, such as The Muslim Tulchinsky. “If we all buy books, the publishers will Veil in North America. Where else would a book called stay in business, lesbian writers will eke out a living, Cashing in on Pay Equity see the light of day but under feminist and gay/lesbian bookstores will continue to Wolfe’s watchful eye? Raincoast Books, best known as survive. It never ceases to amaze me how devalued the Canadian publisher of Harry Potter books (printed books have become in this high-tech media world. in Canada on ancient rainforest-friendly paper), now People hesitate to spend 20 bucks on a book, which puts out cutting-edge feminist tomes such as After you can keep forever, and read over and over, yet Shock, Global Feminist Persepctives on September 11, 2001 don’t hesitate to spend the same 20 bucks on a cou- (edited by Susan Hawthorne and Bronwyn Winter) ple of beers, or a movie, or parking for the night.” and Womankind: Faces of Changes Around the World The structure of book-selling also prevents new (Denna Nebenzahl and Nance Ackerman). voices from reaching the market. “Before, if you had In the ever-changing publishing industry and a new Canadian writer, an independent bookstore feminist landscape, there will never be a final chap- would keep one or two copies of it for a very long ter. Whether it’s through volunteer hours, buying time,” explains Wolfe. “Now, sometimes those books, or writing, supporting feminist publishing is books come back in six months or three months. So one of the most important ways to expand the influ- it’s very difficult for someone to discover an author, ence of feminism in the world. The recurring theme, because the book is in and out the door and has a which all readers know, is that whether we find them limited amount of time to find a readership.” in small-bookstore paradise or on the big-box Fortunately, the remaining small presses are com- stores’ shelves, books represent an intimate under- mitted to working with first-time authors. Milieu standing of that which is not ourselves. asked authors across the country to nominate first- “That’s what I like about publishing,” explains time poets, and the result will be a collection of emerg- Decter. “Books change the course of people’s ing women’s poetry, slated for publication this fall. lives.”

good for you and it’s good for other people. That’s … continued from page 27 (Belly Wisdom) ultimately what makes it so magical, and so hypnot- beautiful feminine history, for the freedom we have ic, and so addictive if you try it. I think that secretly, taken to express ourselves in this way and for the priv- every woman, to some degree, would love to at least ilege of bringing that to other women.” try belly dance—how could you not?” Said adds joy to the equation. “Belly dancing is just Sheila Nopper’s last Herizons article, an interview so yummy in your body. It’s so fun, and so full of with Afua Cooper entitled “Dearth of a Nation: How humour and wit and intelligence. And for me,” she Racism Railroads Culture,” was published in the says, “it’s got such a wink behind it! It’s so necessary Summer 2003 issue. for us to be playful with our sexuality and our feel- b.h. Yael’s video, Fresh Blood: A Consideration of ings of being fat or whatever, to jiggle it around. It’s Belonging, is available through www.vtape.org.

46 SPRING 2004 HERIZONS global warning BY NAOMI KLEIN

LIES, DAMNED LIES AND GEORGE BUSH Don’t think and drive. That was the message sent out But 2003 was about more than embracing fakery by the FBI to roughly 18,000 law enforcement agen- and forgery—it was also about punishing truth- cies a few months back. The alert urged police pulling telling. The highest price was paid by David Kelly, over drivers for traffic violations and conducting the British government weapons expert who killed other routine investigations to keep their eyes open himself after he was outed as the source of a BBC for people carrying almanacs. Why almanacs? story on “sexed up” security documents. Katharine Because they are filled with facts—population figures, Gun, a British intelligence employee, faces up to two weather predictions, diagrams of buildings and land- years in prison for revealing U.S. plans to spy on UN marks. And, according to the FBI Intelligence Bulletin, diplomats in order to influence the Security Council facts are dangerous weapons in the hands of terror- vote on Iraq. And in the United States, Joseph ists, who can use them to “to assist with target selec- Wilson, who told the truth about finding no evidence tion and pre-operational planning.” of Saddam’s alleged uranium shopping trip in But in a world filled with potentially lethal facts Africa, was punished by proxy: His wife, Valerie and figures, it seems unfair to single out almanac- Plame, was illegally outed as a CIA operative. readers for police harassment. As the editor of The While truth did not pay in 2003, lying certainly World Almanac and Book of Facts rightly points out, did. When Bush came to office, many believed his “The government is our biggest single supplier of ignorance would be his downfall. Now we tell our- information.” Not to mention the local library: A selves that if only Americans knew they were being cache of potentially dangerous information weapon- lied to, they would surely revolt. But, with the great- ry is housed at the centre of almost every American est of respect for the liar books (Lies and the Lying town. The FBI, of course, is all over the library Liars Who Tell Them, Big Lies, The Lies of George W. threat, seizing library records at will under the Bush, The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq et Patriot Act. al.), I’m no longer convinced that America can be set The blacklisting of the almanac was a fitting end free by the truth alone. for 2003, a year that waged open war on truth and In many cases, fake versions of events have prevailed, facts while it celebrated fakes and forgeries of all even when the truth is readily available. The real Jessica kinds. This was the year when fakeness ruled: fake Lynch—who told Diane Sawyer that “no one beat me, no rationales for war, a fake President dressed as a fake one slapped me, no one, nothing”—has proven no soldier declaring a fake end to combat and then match for her media-military created doppelganger, holding up a fake turkey. The U.S. government start- whisch was shown being slapped around by her cruel ed making its own action movies, casting real sol- captors in NBC’s movie, Saving Jessica Lynch. diers like Jessica Lynch as fake combat heroes and Rather than being toppled for his adversarial rela- dressing up embedded journalists as fake soldiers. tionship to the most important truths and the most Saddam Hussein even got a part in the big show: basic facts, Bush is actively remaking America in the He played himself being captured by American image of his own ignorance and duplicity. Not only is troops. This is the fake of the year, if you believe the it okay to be misinformed, but as the almanac warning Sunday Herald in Scotland, as well as several other shows, knowing stuff is fast becoming a crime. news agencies which reported that he was actually This article first appeared in The Nation. (www.then- captured by a Kurdish special forces unit. ation.com).

HERIZONS SPRING 2004 47 on the edge BY LYN COCKBURN

BEND IT LIKE A LADY In my last column, I espoused the virtues of being a “Ladylike fashions are in,” said one headline, BITCH and that persona was most enjoyable for a motivating me to poke my head out of my car to see while. But now that I’m living in my car, I’m not if anyone nearby was wearing white gloves. totally sure it’s the way to go. Unfortunately, it was - 39 C in Winnipeg at the time, It seems you can only give the finger (metaphori- and my glasses immediately fogged up. cally speaking, of course) to a limited number in the “Elegant gloves, pretty dresses, demure hairdos,” male establishment before you find yourself without cooed one magazine, showing a picture of happy a job, a house, dignity, food, sanity, sustenance, women posing in something called “princess line” money, new clothes, shoes, sushi, chocolate, or your dresses. They were wearing white gloves right up to cherished pictures of a semi-nude Antonio their elbows. Banderas. (I have a very small car.) On the next page was a picture of Britney Spears Anyway, I’ve changed my mind. wearing mostly her elbows. No gloves. An oversight, I want to be a lady now. I’m sure. I’ve never wanted to be one before, because every So I’m thinking that a nice little frock with dainty time I took steps in that direction, somebody shoes, and just a touch of pale pink lipstick, will get laughed. The truth is, a lot of people laughed. me some job interviews at big companies where I Take, for example, my high school graduation. My can bring coffee and tea to the big guys—and after dress was beautiful and the heels on my shoes won- that, maybe I can get my apartment back. derfully stiletto—I loved them even when I fell off I’m not sure which @##@$%$$ ripped off my pic- them and a whole bunch of people guffawed. Add tures of Antonio, but I @#$%^ want them back. that to the fact that I wasn’t supposed to go to the Please. If you don’t mind. grad dance because I belonged to a stupid funda- Lest you think this whole ladylike thing but a flash mentalist religious group which was sure dancing in the pan thought up by some bored fashionistas, I would lead to debauchery, and you get some idea of hasten to point out an article in the National Post in why grad night wasn’t the most fun ever. which Sepp Blatter, the Swiss president of FIFA, the Some eight months later, I was pregnant and still international soccer association, urged women soc- hadn’t done any dancing—but that’s another story. cer players to wear tighter shorts. Anyway, being a lady got itself a bad name—it Commenting on the need for women’s soccer harkened back to a time when ladies wore little teams to attract more corporate sponsorships, white gloves, icky hats and said “yes, dear” and “yes, Blatter went on to explain that “pretty women are sir” a lot, when they never played hockey (well okay, playing football today.” they did—but it was on grass, not ice), tried not to get Blatter, who has obviously learned a great deal better marks than the guys, and certainly did not from his seven viewings of Bend it Like Beckham, is consider somebody like 14-year-old golfer Michelle bang on. Wie (who missed the PGA cut-off by two strokes, I What could be more ladylike than tight shorts? believe, and pissed off a whole ton of guys) a hero. Now I’m off to buy some charming shoes with my She is. last 35 dollars. Anyway, you get the picture—that was being a lady. I think this ladylike thing is going to be @#$%@# However, I’m happy to tell you a new era has dawned. easy. According to numerous fashion writers, it is now Lyn Cockburn is Entertainment Editor at The Winnipeg okay to be a lady. Sun.

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