Attack of the 5-foot woman

Five feminist resolutions

1- Don’t get mad, get active.

It can be a frustrating world for a feminist. To give all that righteous indignation a healthy outlet I’d like to do at least one thing every month that helps the cause. In the hope of becoming a more action-oriented feminist, all my other resolutions basically spring from this.

2 - Spend some time with a young girl.

I’m thinking I should bond with someone in that confusing pre-teen and teenage stage, when being able to attract a boy seems like the most important thing on the planet. I think we all need some help getting through those trenches and it would be nice to support someone else through it.     

3 - Spend more time with my grandmother and other women her age.   

It’s time to properly thank the women-who-came-before-to-whom-we-owe-so-much. These women have seen, and even brought forward, a lot of change in their lives. I want to record my Grandmother’s World War II stories and maybe help out with a seniors group.

4 - Support a feminist publication.

A lot of good publications have had a very difficult couple of years. Bitch turned to readers for donations to keep the print-packed issues of feminist response to pop culture on the stands. I’m having trouble deciding between Bitch, Bust, Ms. and the Canadian Herizons, Shameless and Room... so I might have to subscribe to more than one.

5 - Blog more.

I’m busy at work, but in 2010 I really want to make more time to post to my blog. I love having a chance to get my opinions off my chest and I want to do it more often. Even if it means shorter posts more frequently.  

Happy New Year’s Eve.

Wishing for a feminist holiday miracle

It’s that special time of year, when people are spending all their free time in stores, loading up on gifts for their loved ones.

So since you’ve got your wallet out anyway, how about helping create a little holiday miracle?

The Toronto Women’s Bookstore is in crisis and could have to close it’s doors after 36 years. TWB is one of the only non-profit feminist bookstores left in North America,

For the past few years sales have not been enough to support the bookstore, and the events, courses, workshops and community resources they offer.   

In a last ditch effort to keep their doors open the TWB is asking for donations from the community to help cover the bookstore’s costs.    

You can make donations in person (73 Harbord Street, Toronto) over the phone (1-800-861-8233), or via a Paypal link on the website (www.womensbookstore.com).    

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of too many other non-profit bookstores dedicated to promoting anti-oppression politics and feminist politics - I’d sure hate to lose this one.

Remembering to fight violence against women

This past Sunday was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.

A day when Canadians mourn the 14 female victims of the Montreal Massacre. It’s been 20 years since misogynist Marc Lepine walked into École Polytechnique and began firing on the women who were studying engineering there.

It’s heartening to see people still remember those who lost their lives to gender-based hatred in 1989.

It’s also incredibly disheartening to know that around the world, it’s estimated as many as one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused.

Sadly, a day to raise awareness and encourage people to fight against violence against women is still badly needed.

Just two weeks ago a Toronto-area man was found guilty of murdering his ex-wife and the wife of her new boyfriend.

Christopher Little’s ex-wife, Julie Crocker’s body was in the master bedroom with her throat slit. She had been having an affair with Toronto sportscaster Rick Ralph. Mr. Ralph’s wife, Paula Menendez, was strangled with a yellow rope and found in the garage.

These murders, in a way, have something in common with the Montreal Massacre - both are in a sense “honour killings”, whether that “honour” is felt to be tarnished by women taking up space in what once men’s domain, or by a ex-wife’s new sex life.     

When a man kidnaps and kills the wife of his ex’s new boyfriend, it’s about ownership. It’s looking at your partner as a possession, and the new boyfriend as having stolen something that belonged to you. So you kill his wife to take something that belonged to him.

I’m deeply uncomfortable with the term “honour killings”, mostly because of the racist way the term is used only when recent immigrants kill their wives or daughters.

But I’ve started to realize it’s actually a useful term - if we broaden who it’s applied to. A lot of violence against women can be understood as punishment for insults to their man’s “honour”.

As if raising a hand to someone could ever restore honour.