Calgary's Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Women - Feb 14, 2012

The Native Women's Association of Canada has documented over 600 cases of Native women who have disappeared or been murdered over the past 30 years in Canada. Young Indigenous women are 5x more likely than other women of the same age to die as the result of violence.

Every year on Valentine's Day a memorial march is organized to grieve the loss of our sisters and to remember the women who are still missing.

Calgary's 4th Annual Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Women

Date: Tuesday February 14, 2012

Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Location: United Scarboro Church (134 Scarboro Ave SW)
Speakers at 6:30 p.m. with the march beginning at 7 p.m. Light meal to follow. Open mic for families of missing loved ones. Check the Facebook event for more details.

Seriously funny ladies make "Shit Guys Say" videos

By now most people have heard about Shit Girls Say - a couple of dudes who tweet and make videos about about... erm, shit girls say. The videos have gone viral for a reason - they're funny. The creators do a good job of poking fun at women without offending them.

Well, hot on the tails of Shit Girls Say is a whole slew of other Shit People Say videos. I watched a few made by women about the shit guys say, and I laughed my ass off. These ladies are seriously funny - check 'em out.  

Shit Guys Say
Canadian ladies Tori Lord and Chanelle Ramsubick mock dudes pretty accurately in this video. Keep your eyes out for the Edmonton Oilers jersey - a nice little Canadian touch.




Shit Black Guys Say
Comedians Robin Thede and Inda Craig-Galván amused me greatly with their popular sayings of black guys.

Lessons in nudity from the Swedish

I recently had the pleasure of visiting my friend Linn in Sweden. While staying with her we attended a couple of fitness classes at her gym. After my first Yoga class in Swedish, we headed to the locker room to grab our runners and hoodies. When I looked up from tying my shoe lace, I realized I was sitting amongst a sea of naked bottoms. All the ladies had stripped down and stood around chatting in the buff while doing their hair.

Two days later we went to another class, and the same thing happened. After class, there was noticeably more nakedness than in a typical Canadian locker room. Friends disrobed in front of one another, chatted about plans for the weekend and generally carried on as if their most intimate parts weren’t on display. And maybe that’s simply because for the Swedes, and many folks outside of North America, the naked body is no big deal.

As we walked home that night, Linn and I compared “locker room etiquette” in Canada and Sweden. At her high school, everyone hit the showers after gym class. As a result, she’s seen all her peers naked over the course of many years.

My high school gym experience was completely different. We never showered after class – there wasn’t time, it wasn’t encouraged and nobody did it. Sure, there were showers in the locker room, but they were used exclusively by the volleyball and basketball teams. Since I never played on any sports teams, I never showered with my peers. In fact, to this day I have never seen any of my friends in the nude.

In Calgary, nudity in the locker room is pretty mixed. Whether you strut your stuff or hide in a change room typically depends on your age, cultural background, and your level of I-don’t-give-a-shit-ness. Generally though, younger women shy away from all-out nudity and prefer to change in locker rooms or shimmy their knickers on with one hand while holding a towel around them with the other. It seems that the older you get, the less you care, and so with age comes nudity.

I’ve decided that I like the European style of locker room etiquette. I believe that the more naked bodies we see, (and I mean REAL naked bodies, not Photoshop plastic bodies) the more comfortable we become with our own body. We get to see the amazing variety in the human body, and we realize that it’s all normal: scars, hair in weird places, saggy boobs, varicose veins, stretch marks, cellulite-dimpled bottoms, the incredible variety of nipple size and colour, and so much more.

I think it’s important that we see naked bodies of all ages in non-sexual contexts. We’ll have more realistic expectations for our own bodies when we see what other people look like. It’s harder to hate your own body when you see your “flaws” in everyone else too. Hiding our bodies from each other breeds insecurity and feelings of abnormality. I hope us Canadians can eventually move to a more European level of comfort with nudity. It doesn’t have to be sexual… it’s just natural and normal.

Generation F - Reflections on Third Wave Feminism

For a new generation of feminists, the battles are strangely familiar

Coming out as a feminist isn’t easy. The word is loaded with baggage and politics—people often look away nervously when I drop the “F-word.” Feminism is misunderstood and feared, but in spite of that, feminists are not an extinct or even an endangered species. Canada still boasts a strong feminist movement, and it is as relevant and necessary as ever.

Feminists of my generation—or “third wave feminists”—are in their 20’s and 30’s and have grown up in a world where women and men are equal on paper, but not always in practice. The first two waves had clearly defined objectives and goals, but it’s difficult to pinpoint the collective aim of the third wave.

First wave feminists emerged at the turn of the last century. These determined suffragettes fought for women’s right to vote, to run for political office, and to be legally defined as persons.

Second wave feminists of the 1960’s and 70’s battled for reproductive rights and paid maternity leave. They established women’s shelters and reformed laws regarding rape, equal pay and more. Feminists of the second wave accomplished many legal victories, and by the 1980’s, women seemed – in theory - to have it all.

So what causes do third wave feminists espouse? The movement began in the 1990’s and has invited criticism for lacking a common goal, and for being disjointed and disorganized. At the same time, the newest generation of feminists have expended significant efforts defending the rights won by second wave feminists. The battles our mothers fought are not over, and the victories they won are under constant threat. We’ve been so busy trying to keep up with the unfinished business of second wave feminism that we’ve hardly had the chance to set a third wave agenda.

Access to abortion and reproductive health services remain under attack, even though abortion has been legal for 24 years, and enjoys the support of the majority of Canadians. Since the Supreme Court struck down the law banning abortion in 1988, at least 35 pro-life private members’ bills and one government bill have attempted to curb access to the procedure. It can still be difficult and expensive to obtain an abortion, especially for women who don’t live in or near a major urban centre.

Canadian laws requiring equal pay for equal work have existed since the 1950’s, yet in 2011 are still a major preoccupation for feminists. In 2007, Canada became the first modern economy with more women working than men. Women today comprise more than half of our university students. However, studies show that a Canadian woman doing the same job as a man will still earn only 63-83% of his wage.

Second wave feminists lobbied to change laws about rape and were once again successful - on paper. Since 1983, rape victims no longer have to defend their reputations in court: their sexual history or their attire cannot be used against them. Yet in February 2011, a Winnipeg judge let a convicted rapist off with no jail time because the victim was wearing skimpy clothes and “wanted to party.”

It’s discouraging that third wave feminists must still defend rights our mothers thought were settled. Although many of our politics and battles have remained unchanged since the second wave, much has changed about feminists themselves.

Young feminists are less aggressive because we know that despite the remaining inequalities, Canadian women’s situation and status is among the best in the world. We have a better sense of humour about feminism than our mothers did, but we’re completely, sometimes ridiculously, obsessed with political correctness. We’re open-minded about contentious feminist issues of the past like prostitution, pornography and gender queerness. And one of the most significant shifts has been embracing the involvement of men in the movement.

The feminist movement is not in crisis—it is just being pulled in two directions at once. The unresolved issues of the second wave keep drawing the third wave into old battles, while issues such as the career-motherhood balance continue to arise and demand our efforts and attention. As Generation F looks to the future, we still have to keep one eye on the past.

The 2nd Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering – Winnipeg, May 2011

The RebELLEs Movement wants to see YOU at the 2nd Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering! It's being held May 20-23, 2011 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

What is the purpose of the gathering?
If you want to learn about feminism and what it means to other young women, if you are interested in connecting with other active, engaged, community-building young women who are fighting for social justice across the country, if you want to make friends from every province and territory in Canada, if you want to help young women across the country have their voices heard and if you want to join up with an amazing group of like-minded queer-positive, sex-positive, pro-choice women then this is the event for you!

Who can attend the gathering?
The gathering is a women-only space and is open to all persons aged 14 - 35 who currently identify and live as women, and those who were born female who claim no particular gender identification, who identify as two-spirit or gender queer. It is up to each individual to reflect on whether or not they see themselves in this definition.

What will it entail?
At the gathering you will have the opportunity to attend various workshops, small and large group discussions, engage in skill-sharing, creative resistance, as well as a mass action.

How can I get involved?
Join the RebELLEs movement, mobilize women in your community, and head to Winnipeg in 2011 to join up with hundreds of feminist activists from across the country!

Contact rebelles@femrev.org if you want to get involved in organizing, have any questions, or want to learn more about the RebELLEs movement!
Visit RebELLEs.org for more details.

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Alberta women looking to get involved?

Calgary meeting - January 22
The meeting is a consulta for feminist women who are interested in attending or contributing to the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering.

Date: Saturday, January 22, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: The Marquee Room - inside The Uptown Stage & Screen, 612 8 Ave SW Calgary
Contact: rebelles-calgary@hotmail.com


Edmonton meeting - January 17
We are looking to organize a group of Edmonton area feminists to attend the 2nd Pan-Canadian Young Feminists Gathering in Winnipeg May 20-23. We are organizing a consulta for woman and feminists to discuss issues that they would like raised at the conference during lectures and work shops.

Date: Monday January 17, 2011
Time: 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Location: Remedy Cafe, 8631 109 St NW
Contact: edmonton.rebelles@gmail.com
Website: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=172252129478163

Tonight's Show: Canada's Sex-Trade Laws

Last week Justice Susan Himel invalidated parts of Section 212 and 213 of the Criminal Code, which basically means Canadians can’t be charged with keeping a bawdy house, communicating for the purpose of sex and living off the avails of prostitution. This is far from being law, as appeals are promised by both provincial and federal governments. Yet the decision has stirred up massive controversy across the nation and sex-trade workers are hailing the ruling as a victory.

Tonight we chat with special guest, Farrah Alladin, about Canada's sex-trade and what this new ruling may mean for those who make their living in the sex industry.

Tonight's Show: A Feminist Tribute to the 1980's

If you love the 80's, you're gonna love this one. We're doing a feminist tribute to the 80's - we'll discuss events, laws and issues that came into play during the 1980's and have affected Canadian women ever since!

Topics of discussion:

1982 - The Canadian Constitution is established and equality of the sexes included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

1986 - The Federal Government passes the Employment Equity Act.

1986 - The Supreme Court of Canada decides that the non-therapeutic sterilization of mentally deficient adults may not be authorized by the courts.

1987 - Systemic discrimination in the hiring of women is found to be unlawful.

1988 - Abortion laws change making it possible for Canadian women to have abortions without approval from a committee.

1989 - Supreme Court of Canada decides that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.

1989 - Fourteen women are murdered at The École Polytechnique in Montreal by a man who claimed to be fighting feminism.

Women outperform men in school, but still earn less

Canadian women do far better than men when it comes to school, but in the year 2010 we STILL lag way behind men in terms of salary.

Findings from Education Indicators in Canada show that when compared to 30 other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Canadian women make about 63% of the salary of a similarly educated man. That's only up slightly from 61% in 1998.

Women are earning less than men despite that fact that women achieve better academic results than men at all levels. High school girls graduate at a rate of 8% higher than boys. In college that number jumps to 11%. When it comes to university degrees, women graduate at a staggering rate of 18% higher than men.

How come we’re better educated than men and still making way less money? It may be due to a number of reasons:

(a) Canada is actually quite a ‘traditional’ country when it comes to child rearing. Women are still mainly responsible for childcare and place more importance on family than men, causing them to work fewer hours or part-time. Statistics Canada figures from July show that more than twice as many women as men work part-time jobs in Canada.

(b) Women still face biases in the workplace. A study by Catalyst shows that women with MBA’s from top business schools around the world earn an average of $4,500 less as a starting salary than men with the same credentials. Women are also less likely to move into leadership roles than men.

(c) Perhaps companies are willing to pay men more than they are women. Or perhaps women are willing to work for less. I remember reading in Naomi Wolf’s book The Beauty Myth that too many women don’t believe they’re “worth it” and will settle for lower wages. Maybe men are more likely to ask for a raise, or more driven to be financially successful.

None of this really comes as news to me, because studies have continuously shown that women make far less than similarly educated men. But there’s definitely a part of me that thinks, “Really? Come on! It’s 2010 people!” Although I believe that much of this inequality is caused by patriarchal norms that are embedded in society, along with a long-standing belief that men just deserve more, I do think that women themselves need to be more demanding, more confident and more sure of what they're worth.

Source: Women at work: still behind on the bottom line - The Globe & Mail

Tonight: Celebrating Canadian Women and Talking About Vaginas!

Tonight on the show we're discussing two very different topics. First up, a belated Canada-day celebration where we'll focus on a few awesome Canadian women from the past and present.

Later in the show, we get down to business and discuss one of our favourite subjects - VAGINAS! In particular, we'll be discussing alternative names for "vagina" (things like Vajayjay, pussy, etc), and we pose the question: why do we even come up with these silly names in the first place?

Tune in from 8-9 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm. Remember, you can listen online at www.cjsw.com, and you can also subscribe to our podcast.