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.