Debra

Good for Irene Mathyssen

10/05/2006 by Debra

NDP demands Oda resign as Minister for Status of Women

OTTAWA – Today, NDP Critic for the Status of Women Irene Mathyssen demanded Bev Oda resign as the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. The changes Oda has made to the funding mandate for the department will severely limit the ability of organizations promoting equal rights for women. These restrictions are unacceptable. They prove that Oda is not committed to promoting the interests of Canadian women.

“The Minister refuses to face the fact that women have not yet achieved equality in Canada,” said Mathyssen. “Study after study and report after report have all come to this conclusion, but the Minister refuses to acknowledge the importance of the work that women’s advocacy groups do.

“Instead, she shuts down organizations or cripples them by cutting their funding. She does not represent women in this country. She must step down,” insisted Mathyssen.

Tuesday, Oda released the new federal guidelines for funding to women’s programs. These guidelines will eliminate federal funding for research programs and cut all advocacy and lobbying activities on behalf of women.

“This is an outrage!” said Mathyssen. “These absurdly restrictive guidelines will mean the end of essential research relating to women in Canada. Long-term and national initiatives will no longer be eligible for the crucial funding they rely on.”

The Minister’s dedication to the Status of Women file is shaky at best. The new mandate was released Tuesday; a week after the last mandate expired.

“This is a clear attack on women’s rights in this country. The conservatives are trying to silence Canadian women.” said Mathyssen. “We are moving backwards. Instead of promoting women’s equality in Canada, the Conservative government is abandoning its obligation to 52% of the population.”

“5 things feminism has done for me”

09/27/2006 by Debra

1. I am entitled to express my opinions without having my organs removed

In Victorian times, if a woman’s temperament could not be “controlled” by loosening her corset or being kept in a quiet place with a cold compress applied to the head and neck, it was common for her reproductive organs to be removed.

or being placed in an asylumn or solitary confinement

The idea of the Wondering Womb developed during this time, as madness was associated with menstruation, pregnancy, and the menopause. The womb itself was deemed to wander throughout the body, acting as an enormous sponge which sucked the life-energy or intellect from vulnerable women? (Ussher 74). Thus, women became synonymous with madness, as they were deemed to be emotional and unstable. If a woman of the Victorian era were subject to an outburst (due to discontentment or repression), she would be deemed mad. The word Hysteria became the general term for women with mental illness and cures included bed rest, seclusion, bland food, refrain from mental activities (such as reading), daily massage, and sensory deprivation. Though these treatments do not seem too appalling, they were comparable to solitary confinement and would often drive a woman to further insanity.

Can a Man be a Feminist?

09/26/2006 by Debra

Anti – feminists would like to break feminism down to a hatred of men. How then can a man be a feminist? Perhaps, just perhaps that is not what feminism is about.
I had the good fortune this morning to stumble upon this opinion piece in the Daily Kent Stater, written by Christopher Taylor

I am a male. I am a feminist.
Yes, men can be feminists, too.
I have attempted to ask men of all different types of backgrounds if they were feminists. I received shocked reactions and puzzled looks as if I had asked a final-round Jeopardy question.
The most common theme about feminism in dictionaries describes it as a doctrine or movement to ensure “equal rights.” How is this idea still so foreign to us, and why the hell is it even being debated?

Swept off your street

09/10/2006 by Debra

In Winnipeg there is a program to get people off the streets and into jobs. Sounds laudable until you read what they are actually doing.
Currently the project involves about a half dozen people working for “close to minimum wage” sweeping streets, removing posters and generally gaining no transferable work skills. How wonderful!
No doubt their 20 hours at close to minium wage will go a long way to getting and keeping a roof over their head, food, clothing… Hope they have someone helping them budget that $140 a week. Wouldn’t want them to blow it all in one place.

Might be a good idea for the union to approach these workers and sign them up right away before the city finds more jobs these ~~indentured servants~~ new employees can do at a third of the cost./span>

The Minister of Citizen Control

09/05/2006 by Debra

On Sept 1st the Guardian ran a story about Blair’s plan to insinuate the state into the lives of pregnant youth and women in order to ‘weed out the problem unborn’

Tony Blair has said it is possible to identify problem children who could grow up to be a potential “menace to society” even before they are born.
Setting out plans for state intervention to prevent babies born into high-risk families becoming problem teenagers of the future, the prime minister said teenage mothers could be forced to accept state help before giving birth, as part of a
clampdown on antisocial behaviour.
Mr Blair defended the need for state intervention and said action could even be taken “pre-birth” if necessary as families with drug and alcohol problems were being identified too late.

Blow out the candles on your carrot

09/04/2006 by Debra

So you’ve decided there is an epidemic of childhood obesity, what do you do?
End fast food advertising directed at children? Require more stringent adherence to guidelnes keeping sugars and additives down in breakfast cereals and other foods children eat? Provide healthy foods for school lunch programs? Raise the amount of money provided by food stamps and other food programs? Increase welfare payments? [Read more…] about Blow out the candles on your carrot