232 10 13081 https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2828/1993_Vol_14_No_4.pdf 2843571ed8cc284740afa2419c8295e5 PDF Text Text 04 $2.00 0 0 2006 111 1 4003 4 Nor-i-hern Woman 37ournat MARCH 1993 VOLUME 14 NO 4 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �EDITORIAL The only positive thing we can say about the federal Conservatives is that they do continually give us fodder for our editorials. Again, we must decry the latest attack on women, as evidenced by Finance Minister Mazenkowski's recent economic statement. Who are most hurt by the changes to UIC? WOMEN. Who are most hurt by the freeze on civil service wages? WOMEN. Who are most hurt by the cuts to community groups? WOMEN. This is not coincidental. It is simply the federal government's latest move to ensure the continued economic inequality of women. ********* ********** It is interesting to note the attention given by It the media and opposition politicians to the issue of sexual harassment in the context of the UIC cuts. Thank you, Anita Hill. Five NAC's credibility is solidly estab Thanks, Judy Rebick. is also interesting to note the att given to NAC by media and polit years ago this issue would not just have been dismissed, it would have been ignored. The assertion by the Conservatives and malestream newspaper editorials that sexual harassment is "just cause" for leaving a job is sicken ing. It demonstrates either a total lack of understanding, or, more likely, a We know, of course, that the cuts in announced in the "economic stateme targeted against NAC (and Decadc NWORDCC, and aboriginal we organizations, etc.). But we also knc in spite of the Conservatives best WOMEN WILL NOT BE SILENCED. calculated disregard for the insidiousness of sexual harassment in the workplace. But the issue is on the table, and women will make even greater efforts to ensure sexual harassment is dealt with seriously. Dear NWJ: The office of the Status of Women at Concordia University would like to introduce you to a unique educational tool aimed at sensitizing and enhancing the knowledge of professors and adult educators to the subtler forms of differential treatment that women students face in the university classroom "INEQUITY IN THE setting. CLASSROOM/EN TOUTE EGALITE" is a video and training manual that explores issues such as sexual racial and discrimination from the perspective of both This the student and the professor. educational tool has been developed primarily for professors at the university level and in adult education, and offers some practical steps to creating an equitable Hell-o dear women, learning environment for all students. It's me, your long-lost northern sister, writing to you from the midst of big-city life in sou (r)thern ontario... I am wondering if you folks know that DepProvera, the very controversial (to put it politely) drug used in the 70's as a countries contraceptive in third-world (because it was banned for use in the US and canada...) is being considered for legal use in Canada again? piece for NORTHERN WOMAN, when I lived in thunder bay, early 80's, which was published by the NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL. I researched and wrote a Anyway, since then, the drug has been found in use in Canada on developmentally delayed women in various institutions (according to newspaper clippings I noticed sometime in the late 80's). It was a brief public controversy, and then the subject disappeared again, until, I saw a clipping in the TORONTO STAR (December 1992) about hearings that would justify its use again here, in canada, as some sort of cancer treatment drug. INEQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM is a multimedia package containing a 28-minute video and manual, which provides answers to questions such as: What is inequity in the classroom? How does it manifest itself? What effect does it have on students? How can an inclusive learning environment be created in the classroom? In the video student testimonials and dramatized learning situations are put into perspective, analyzed and commented upon by experts. The manual provides: a training guide for a one-day workshop; fact sheets on different aspects of inequality in the classroom; an annotated bibliography. For further information contact Michelle Seguin, Assistant to the Advisor on the Status of Women, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, H3G 1M8, telephone 514-848-4841. And I wonder if this is something that would concern NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL enough to publish something about, again. And, are there women there who would want to research the subject, and write it out...? In the meantime, lots of hugs to you... Arja Lane PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �WOMEN'S SAFETY SAFETY AUDIT The Metro (Toronto) Action Committee on The threat of sexual assault underlies all of women's concerns about their public safety. At some time during her life, one in four women will be the victim of a sexual assault. Thirty to fifty percent of sexual assaults occur in public or semi-public spaces, that is, anywhere outside of a woman's actual place of residence. Public violence against women is not limited to sexual assault, it also refers to behaviours which negatively affect women's perceived sense of safety or comfort in a given situation; these acts include sexual and racial harassment. This continuum of violence and threatening behaviour are to a great extent supported by the physical structure of public spaces. There is a significant relationship between both built and open space design and the tacit support given to those male individuals seeking a victim to harass, to assault or to Public Violence Against Women and Children, known as METRAC, has, since its inception in 1984, worked with governments, N'T? r with the opportunity to hone their skills of -4-- observing and evaluating their surroundings. Safety audits are intended to improve the safety of the physical environment by THE SAFETY AUDIT CHECKLIST reducing PARKS FOR WOMEN the authors present this situation most eloquently: "Women's experience with sexual violence or living under the threat of it means they can make an important contribution to the debate on what makes public spaces feel unsafe and what can be done to improve them... We move closer to the goal of creating a city which is safe for all residents when women's concerns about public spaces are addressed." opportunities for sexual By accomplishing this, safety audits result in the creation of settings that are more comfortable and hence more accessible to Discouraging sexual assault through 1. General Impressions: all. 2. Lighting: maintenance and design also minimizes opportunities for other public violence and for property crimes. The safety audit process is a practical exercise that requires participants to answer these questions: 5. Isolation -- Eye Distance: 6. Isolation -- Ear Distance (including alarms, voice intercoms, telephones): "Why don't I like this place?" 7. Escape Routes: "When and why do 8. Nearby Land Uses: I feel uncomfortable here?" 9. Movement Predictors: "What changes would make me feel safer?" 10. Signs: management of public and semi--11015W4611111"1"111111611. Overall Design: spaces. In GREEN SPACES / SAFER PLACES: A FORUM FOR PLANNING SAFER the harassment and for sexual assault. Precise Location, Date and Time, Who Participated, Why Audit This Place: 4. Possible Assault Sites: they are first, acknowledged and second, factored in to the planning and design as well as the ongoing maintenance and action and a tool for education that incorporates the participants' subjective and objective observations about the safety of a given setting while it provides the participant = The continual, underlying threat to personal comfort and safety has assumed the These concerns for sa;ety, however, can be used both proactively and remedially when The safety audit is both a framework for - 3. Sightlines: concerns for personal security felt especially by women, but also by children, older adults and some men, are for the most part met by increased policing, security patrols and other reactive responses. assess the physical environment for safety. nature of violence and our responses to the survivors of violence. kill. position of status quo in our society. The METRAC has developed a Safety Audit Kit which can be used in any public or semipublic space, both built or open, to closely planners, educators, police, the legal and medical professions, survivors of violence and a variety of community groups. Its goals include the reduction of violence by improving both our understanding of the 11...110111111111M11.11ft. 12. Factors Affecting the Humanness of the Place: In the words of the authors of the METRAC WOMEN'S CAMPUS SAFETY AUDIT GUIDE "Living as a woman... has given each of us : a lifetime of experience and knowledge about what works and doesn't work - about where we feel comfortable and where we 13. Problems With Maintenance: 14. Employee Policies and Practices: don't." 15. Improvements You'd Like to For a complete Safety Audit Kit contact METRAC at 158 Spadina Rd. Toronto, See: AND Any stories or memories about the place: Ontario, M5R 2T8 416-392-3135. Kits cost $5.00 each or pay what you can. METRAC May 1989 ete If we don't talk about the problem well never start to solve r& PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Wornan Page.3 �CANADA'S FIRST WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - OCTOBER 1992 "People must know the past to understand the future." These words were spoken in 1935 by Nellie McClung, a Canadian journalist and strong advocate of women's rights. Today, they effectively capture the concept of Women's History Month. October was selected as Women's History Month to coincide with the annual commemoration of the "Person's Case. This lengthy political and legal battle resulted in the extension of the status of "persons" to women in October 1929, which enabled them to be considered for appointment to the Senate. November 17, 1916 An article appearing in the Nutcracker, an Alberta paper, reads: The past is the story of where we have been. But until recently, that story, when told, has often been incomplete. While few individuals The Housekeepers' Union is the first sign in Canada of a or families ignore women when they think revolt of domestic workers. It is a revolt against unspeakable indignities imposed upon maids by unthinking matrons who about their own history, much "official" history, whether written by professional historians or journalists, has left out one half Traditional history of the population. regard their servants as chattels. From Herstory, A Canadian Women's Calendar focused on political, military and economic leaders and events, passing over the lives and the accomplishments of women. A key issue in Quebec was the lack of leg All too often, history has been presented as the story of privileged people and distant events. But women's history tells the story of both the famous and the not so famous, of the ordinary women of all origins who made this country what it is today. It tells the story of everyday life, as well as of heroic acts. And in so doing, it empowers all of us. Whether young or old, the knowledge we gain of the strong and purposeful women in our lives, and of the richness and diversity of their experiences, expands our horizons and enriches our vision of life's possibilities. An awareness of the obstacles that women have overcome in the past inspires us to future action. Most women's lives were physically very demanding in the second half of the last century. Women worked in the house, in the garden and in the field. They cared for children, the sick and the elderly. Women often worked long hours for small wages as domestic servants, seamstresses, or as factory workers. Others joined religious orders, or found paid employment as teachers. There was the constant threat of of accident, of agonizing and sometimes dangerous childbirth, and of the heartbreak of infant mortality. Life itself was precarious. Women were deprived of many fundamental political rights, such as being able to vote in provincial and federal elections. Access to higher education was disease, still to be won. And married women were not considered full entities in the eyes of the law. But things began to change. For example, the gradual introduction of universal free education in some places of Canada made basic education possible for girls. Women began to break down the barriers to postsecondary education and the professions. trained in the United States. In 1867 she returned to Toronto to become Canada's first practising female medical doctor although she was not officially recognized as a member of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons for another 13 An early suffragist, Emily Stowe years! founded the Toronto Women's Literary Club, known after 1889 as the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association. Grace Anne Lockhart was the first woman to earn a university degree in the British Empire. She graduated from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick in 1875. By 1892, Canadian women were permitted to study law, and five years later, Clara Brett Martin, after intense opposition, became the first woman barrister in the Commonwealth. It took until 1904 for the first Chinese Canadian woman, Ah Mei Wong, born in 1868, to be admitted to university, in rights for married women. One of tl women who worked for many years change the situation was legal expert Mar Lacoste-Gerin-Lajoie. The author of series of articles and a book on the rights married women under the Quebec Ci. Code, in 1907 she co-founded if Federation nationale Saint-Jean Baptiste, tf first French Catholic feminist organization Quebec. She was also among a group prominent French Canadian women Quebec responsible for the establishment I'Hopital Sainte-Justine de Montreal f This effort m children in 1907. spearheaded byJustine Lacoste-Beaubie who was concerned about the high infa mortality rate and the lack of bed space f children under five in Montreal's hospital Even after the hospital opened its doo however, the organizers continued to hampered by their status - as women, the could not legally be responsible for the da After operations of the hospital! Toronto. important and well-publicized legal battl these women finally won the legal right Another woman who faced opposition in her desire to pursue non-traditional roles was a run their charity themselves. native woman, Charlotte Flett King, born around 1860. Interested in zoology, she sent collections of animal skins to American naturalists and museums, including the Smithsonian. The wife of a Hudson's Bay The issue of women's suffrage - the right vote - was also a focus of attention women. Among the most active suffragi; were Emily Murphy in Alberta, and Nel Company trader, her interests apparently did not endear her to the Company. According to one account, Mr. King's "usefulness to the Company" was "hindered by being married to a Native of interfering manners". McClung in Manitoba. Faced with this type of reaction to their the first woman magistrate in the Briti efforts to participate more fully in society, women formed a number of organizations in the latter part of the century to fight for improvements to women's rights. 1 Born in 1868, Emily Murphy was accomplished author, writing under t name of "Janey Canuck". In 1916, she w appointed police magistrate for Edmonto Empire. Her friend, Nellie McClung, a wri and journalist, was instrumental in obtaini Canada's first provincial vote for women Manitoba in 1916. Nellie McClung later ; as a member of the Alberta Legislat Assembly, and then, in collaboration w Emily Murphy and a group of Alberta worn One of the first to do so was a Quaker women, Dr. Emily Howard Stowe. Denied known as the "Famous Five", advanc women's rights through the Persons Ca admission to medical school in Canada, she PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 4 �Even though women did not have the vote at the time of Confederation, they were politically active in other ways. Mary Ann Shadd Cary was a free black woman who came to Canada from the United States in 1850. She was prominent in several antislavery societies, and was the founder and co-publisher of the Provincial Freeman, a weekly anti-slavery newspaper. She is Rose Fortune, Pauline Johnson, Francis Hopkins these are just some of the fascinating stories of women who lived during the Confederation period -women whose stories have survived to be retold today. These are tales of "firsts" and "breakthroughs". But the stories of the lives of countless other women - our foremothers - remain to be told. Stories of immigrant considered to have been the first black women and homesteaders who built new female journalist in North America. lives Another important women's organization prospectors and nurses, nuns and labour organizers - all tales of courage, faith and established during this period was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1875 by Letitia Creighton Youmanns to campaign for the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. She was concerned about the plight of women and children in abusive households. By 1886, the WCTU had branches across the country. erfr Childhood Sexual Abuse for First Nations New fr xdr47A;\A Booklet Adult Survivors Women's Se in a strange land. Stories Other n Childh - A Bookl - A Booklet of For information contact: 306 - 620 View Stre Tel: (604)383-5370 Fax: (604) determination. stories do not have to remain anonymous. The faces and voices of these women can emerge from the shadows of the past. Their stories can be traced in family These papers and photographs held in libraries, museums, archives and private homes of our communities. The rhythms of their lives Adelaide Hood less, founder of the Women's Institutes in Canada in 1887, also figures importantly in Canadian women's After her infant son died from history. drinking impure milk, Adelaide Hood less dedicated herself to the domestic science movement to prepare women for motherhood and household management. The Women's Institutes quickly spread across the country and around the world. Working with another leading women's organization, Lady Aberdeen, who was the wife of Lord Aberdeen, Canada's Governor General from 1893 to 1898, Adelaide Hood less helped to found the Victorian Order of Nurses and the national YWCA. Another spirited woman was Rose Fortune, a black woman who lived in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Dressed in a white cap, a man's coat, and boots, she worked as a - baggage - handler on the wharves of Annapolis Royal in the middle of the last One of Canada's first female century. entrepreneurs, she is also said to have been North America's first policewoman. Even in the arts, women had obstacles to Although "ladies" of the time were expected to be accomplished in the "homely arts". the public sphere was overcome. considered closed to them, and many women authors continued to write under pseudonyms. One who revelled in her true identity was Emily Pauline Johnson. The daughter of a Mohawk Chief and an Englishwoman, she was born in 1891 on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Best known for her poetry celebrating her native heritage, in particular for "The Song My Paddle Sings"' Johnson crisscrossed Canada during the 1890s, giving poetry readings in remote communities, as well as in the United States and England. Writer Kit Coleman travelled even farther afield, as the first accredited female war correspondent in North America. A popular journalist with the Toronto Mail, she covered the Spanish-American war in 1898. One of the first female painters to gain can be found in old family diaries, bibles, J. song and recipe books that have been handed down from woman to woman and are tucked away in dresser drawers and kitchen cupboards across the country. And their voices can still be heard in the recollections of many of the women alive and active today. We can reach back to the past and celebrate our history. Talk to your mother, to your aunt or your grandmother about their lives and memories. Ask them for recollections about lives of their mothers and of their grandmothers. Their stories form a part of Canadian history that for the most part has never been told. Write their experiences down, tape them or make a CONCERT REVIEW video - before they are lost forever. In doing so, you will be helping to construct women's history, which continues_ to be made every day in the lives of women across Canada. Every day, women are September 24, 1992 saw --- expanding their horizons, entering new fields of endeavour, claiming their right to full and equal participation in all aspects of Canadian society. Its an opportunity to make the story of Canada balanced and complete. As Nellie McClung said, we can look to the past to understand the present and build a brighter future. A PART OF NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO WOMEN'S HERSTORY Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1972-73. Local women band together to establish their first women's centre, a sexual assault centre, and a feminist journal. ################################ ################################ ######## Thunder Bay's already scene. MELISSA ETHERI audience at the Communit solid 2 1/2 hours followin set by the rising new talen Where to begin, one may p one little article scribbler adrenaline-rushed experie bounds of such a short blu Melissa was welcomed by Canadian spirit, to which sh a very playful and highly e audience was wrapped up as Ms. Etheridge stood i centre of the stage and "Occasionaly" on her guita are too numerous to out certain group percussion/ kept spirits high, as well jam session which Meliss spontaneously rolled into on the front of the stage. T on their feet as a collect "Bring Me Some Water" s and didn't sit back dow encore was begun. Pic disappears, a baby gran stage with a rustic-lookin above to act as a spot-lig Melissa Etheridge to wrap time Incredible! last in her rasp husband and the Governor of the Hudson's Thanks Melissa, and goo We anxiously await your n summer of 1993. Bay Company during the 1860s and 70s, making innumerable sketches of Canadian Jen Metcalfe recognition in Canada was Francis Hopkins. An Englishwoman, she travelled with her scenery, capturing the last days of the great fur trading era. P Poi Northern PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �International Women's Day On August 26, 1910 at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Denmark, Clara Zetkin, the German socialist champion of the rights of women, On investigating the fire, authorities claimed that this building was no worse than most others, indeed, far superior to some of the 1,463 such sweatshops in existence in the city. proposed that a day be set aside each year as International Women's Day. One hundred women from 17 countries voted to support her resolution. But New York's Fire Commissioner, who testified The women said that having an International Women's Day drew attention to the social, economic, and political injustices to which they were subjected and that it was just the most recent step in their fight against the double exploitation they suffered as women and factory workers. fire escapes in buildings today are The Beginning of the Struggle Women's efforts to draw attention to workplace issues date back to the 1800s. In 1857, women working irithe New York garment industry staged a massive demonstration against 12-hour working days, lack of benefits, sexual harassment, sexual assault on the job, and unfair wages. The women walked off their jobs again in 1908 repeating their demands. This time, they also called for laws against child labour and they wanted the vote. Their demands went largely ignored. Then on March 25, 1911, the Asch Building, which housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, on the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street in New York City, burst into flames killing 145 women. The mostly immigrant women who died in the fire worked in abominable conditions. The floors were littered with flammable materials. There were no sprinkler systems. The few fire escapes that existed were unsafe. The doors opened the wrong way and led to narrow dark stairwells. Many were locked to ensure that none of the women would be able to slip out, even for a moment's break, without their employer knowing. before the State Factory Investigating Commission said: "I think that a great many of the only put up to be called 'a fire escape.' They are absolutely inadequate and absolutely useless." Eighty thousand workers marched through a drenching rain to attend the mass funeral for the women who perished in the fire, while an estimated quarter of a million people watched silently. And still nothing changed. Again, on January 11, 1912, textile workers numbering 14,000 went out on strike for better wages and working conditions. With the cry of, "Better to starve fighting than starve working," the women stayed out fOrneartirthree months. Their courage inspired the song that has since become the anthem of the women's movement "Bread and Roses." "Bread" symbolizes economic security; "roses" stand for a better life. The Canadian Experience Similar issues existed in Canada. Speaking about wages and women's suffrage in 1893, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture at the time, John Dryden, expressed the prevailing sentiments of the day when he said, "...this same lady tells us that women do not receive equal pay with men for equally good work. How can the ballot correct this? Can you compel by law the payment of a higher scale of wages? So long as women are willing and anxious to work for a lesser wage than men, so long will they be paid less." There were 1,078 unions in Canada as early as 1902. However, women remained, for the most part, unorganized and March 8th unprotected. The fact that women had to work was considered a "social crisis." People felt a woman belonged in the home and that a man should provide for her. Women's work was largely unskilled and so, entirely dispensable. Unskilled women workers had little leverage or protection against employers. They could be, and were, replaced by other unskilled labour at the whim of their employers at very little cost. Between 1901 and 1921 there were 287 strikes for better working conditions and a living wage in Montreal alone. In 115 of these strikes, the workers' demands were entirely rejected and often, the strikers were fired and scab labour hired to replace them. Employers were particularly hostile to women trying to organize. They saw a unionized workforce of women as an end to a ready supply of cheap labour. Established unions offered little mippon-to_women. Despite worker solidarity and policies supporting equal pay, unions often bargained lower increases for poorly paid women workers. And yet today, women still have a long way to go before they achieve equality in the workplace: In 1990, 60% of all (both fulltime and part-time) working women in Ontario earned less than $20,000. Average 1991 earnings of women working full-time, fullyear, amounted to 70% of men's earnings. Women remain clustered in low-paying jobs, often offering little, or no, opportunity for advancement. One out of every five women working in Ontario in 1986 worked in a clerical, sales, or service job. Women in Ontario made up only 18% of upper-level management in 1986. Although union membership can help women secure higher wages, more benefits and increased job protection, only 22% of the female labour force was unionized in 1987. Progress Was Slow It would take many more years for North American women to achieve some of their demands. Here are some significant landmarks in their struggle for workplace equity: Between 1913 and 1929 Canada enacted various pieces of legislation prohibiting child labour. Canadian women were given the suffrage to vote in national elections in 1918. By the mid-1940s, the average working day had dropped to eight hours. Women in Ontario were given equal pay for equal work in 1951. Maternity leave was legislated in Canada in 1970. The Ontario Human Rights Code was amended to prohibit sexual harassment in 1982. Equal pay for work of equal value was legislated in Ontario in 1988. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 6 �WHERE ARE THE WOMEN IN HISTORY? Jocelyn Paquette On March 9, 1992, Mary Collins, the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, declared October to be Women's History Month in Canada. This date was selected to coincide with the annual commemoration of the "Persons Case" of 1929, a lengthy legal and political battle waged by five Canadian women who insisted that women be considered as persons under the British North America Act and therefore eligible for a Senate JP NM seat. Now it is mid-November and I have a question: "Did you see any programming, special events or even talking heads dealing with women's history? " It seems that the method that was chosen to counteract the exclusion of women from history was one that excluded women from history. It is time to develop a retelling of past events that is inclusive; one that is based on contributions and accomplishments and not on gender. In a personal effort to address the questions raised by two events; the constitutional referendum and the need for a womens' history month, I developed a storytelling session where I asked Nellie McClung what she thought about the situation. History was originally the telling of stories; the sharing of experiences, impressions and ideas. The professionalization of this process led to the masculinization of the process and the exclusion of women was institutionalized further. One of the ways we can develop an inclusive account of socio-political events is to return to the oral tradition and to tell our stories and listen to other women tell their own. Women's history encompasses the stories of all women through all time. One month is not enough time to tell the stories or to write the texts. We need to talk together; to share together daily. Storytelling is much more than an entertainment- it is a primal force that can inform our behaviour. Now I will tell you a story. NELLIE, WHERE ARE YOU? JP Nellie, I looked you up in the 1988 Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, Canadian Edition and you weren't there. Nellie McClung, where are you? NM The sharing of history is the sharing of authority, the sharing of power. Women in the post christian period have not been present, have not been consulted, did not participate in the decision making process due to pressures by the male dominated patriarchal approach to society. But Nellie where are the women? childbirth and stillborn are told and retold in a way that defies reason and challenges the paradigm. So close to the process and yet women's history is difficult to identify in the mainstream written sources. The oral tradition has remained the domain of women. Our foremothers reached deep into their past to retain the essence of self. The being, our being and how we fit into the scheme of things were but some of the questions women talked about between themselves, their daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers and crones. Women's history includes the famous, the infamous, the courageous, the eccentric, the vamp, the mysterious, the brave but it also reflects the women who live, die, love and hate. Women who continue to make sense of that which is not sensible. When we hear a woman's story we feel a part of ourselves identifying with her, with her plight, with her success. As women we should celebrate our very natures. Since the post-christian period women have occupied a space that is not only negligent but malicious towards them. But still we tell our stories. This is an exchange between myself and who and what a grandmother is. Having never met my grandmothers I was propelled to study the grandmothers of others at Memorial University of Newfoundland. My courses in Folklore detailed at great length the importance of the oral tradition and how it never belonged to men. How do women communicate their presence to each Through these stories that tie us to each other, women have built an invisible rail that jumps over valleys, moves on over mountains and joins in the end to us, all of us. Sharing ones experience is the power that has been denied us. The telling of the stories is the source of strength that has been hidden from us. Ours is a history that tells of the being, the humanness of other? Stories women tell explain the situation, the setting, even, at times the purpose of holding onto tradition. Stories told by women will vary in context, intent and content. But these stories share one truth, the perspective that makes it their own. A story told can take on many shapes and contours but when told by women they relate to a particular experience, that of a woman's. This slant on the theme emulates the myriad of experience. A notion of privacy is felt when heard but when shared the feeling of joy, sorrow, tragedy and drama takes on special meaning. self. Ours is a history that jomotes conflict resolution and the recognition that we are of a whole. together strong. separate weakened. Tell your stories, ask to hear the stories. Record these and fill the gap that exists between our history and the history that fills the textbooks that we are asked to learn from. Teach the children the truth. It is this special meaning that I wish to discuss. The telling of our stories has been one constant in women's history. Even the name history appears to imply men's stories and looks exclusive. This appearance is important and now may be the time to change the term or perhaps revert back to its original meaning. This non/recording of the direct impact women have had on events and the way in which they unfolded has left women feeling invisible. Stories contain both memory and identity. Ask a friend to describe her family. The past and present meld and join in a way that stretches and reshapes the bonds of time and space. Women define their vision of family in a way that connects the spirit. Struggle plays a role. Women's lives have been linked with birth and death. The two could happen at the same time and often did. Stories of FREEDOM TO READ FREED( ),\\ TH READ WEEK MARCH 1-8,199Rol. Pco,,d1( 3? and Si,adma Roadal Count d roloolo /Matto NISR 2Y) 111., I PO O7-Oloo I.\ X ( I I()1 q7c IS39 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor NorthernVoman Page :7 �NEW GOVERNMENT TRAINING BOARDS: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN? Valerie Lellava government has been working on a major overhaul of its training system for Canadian Marcy Cohen, a Vancouver feminist and activist with two decades of experience in women's employment and training issues, workers. Sweeping economic changes have was selected as the women's representative necessitated an active focus on improved labour force development for the benefit of both Canada's economy and its competitiveness in a global market, and on the CLFDB by 22 national women's organizations during consultations workers who need to develop the skills in January of 1991. Lilly Stonehouse was The chosen as Cohen's alternate. significance of the new training board is, in Cohen's words, that.. .."government won't be For the last few years, the Canadian required by a rapidly changing job market. To guide the growth of a skilled workforce which will be able to meet these challenges, (" formally recognized in a variety of worl settings or jurisdictions"). The board wi also encourage a cooperative approacl between management and employees ii determining training needs. conducted by the Canadian Congress for OTAB will be responsible for provincia Learning Opportunities for Women ( CCLOW) programs which "support that apprenticeshir system". OTAB will concentrate or changing the apprenticeship system in the the government has adopted a vision of Four major labour "shared leadership". able to make policy behind closed doors following ways: "Increase the number o apprentices and expand apprenticeshir programs into new workplaces anc without hearing about the reality of women's occupations; dramatically improve availabilit! market "partners" namely, business, labour, educators/trainers and "social action" lives." Also evolving out of the CCLOW of apprenticeships for women and othe under-represented groups, includinc consultations was Cohen's support group- the "reference group", a collective of women groups (women, immigrants and visible from across the country who represent minorities, aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities) at the national, provincial and local levels have been invited to work with various cultural and work orientations. aboriginal peoples and people witt disabilities; expand apprenticeships into the school-to-work transition programs fo youth". the government in achieving its mission. What this means for women, as members of social action and other groups at each level At the provincial level, the Ontario Training and Adjustment Board (OTAB) has been developed to address Ontario's specific labour force development needs. Ontario's of the new training boards, is that they will have formally recognized input into the development of labour market and job training policy. Although this presents an training and adjustment and access programs run by 10 different ministries. The unprecedented opportunity for women to shape their worklives in a manner which deliverers of these programs vary as well, and might better serve their needs and desires, they do have specific questions and concerns regarding the developing training boards. A description of the workings of the boards at all three levels of government is include public servants, colleges, community agencies, municipalities and The confusing state of this uncoordinated attempt at training has been summarized as follows: "Trying to get at government training programs is sometimes like trying to shop at a supermarket whose unions. essential before a women's "agenda for training" may be understood in context. location is undisclosed and whose prices are kept secret" (People and Skills in The In January of 1991, a new national training board--the Canadian Labour Force Development Board (CLFDB) was created. considered an "arms-length", independent organization. The board has 22 members: 8 representing business, 8 CLFDB is representing 2 labour, representing trainers/educators and 4 representing social action groups. The CLFDB's mandate is "to identify labour market needs and design programs to train to fit those needs". Implementing Phase One Task Report Canadians mandate. (NOTE: Before the CLFDB was formed, consultations in two phases were conducted by the Canadian Labour Market Productivity Centre, and independent organization run by both business and labour, as part of Employment and Immigration's Labour Force Development Strategy. In Phase One, seven task forces, comprised of representatives from business, labour and community groups - only 9 out of - studied programs related to various groups, including social assistance recipients and apprenticeship trainees. The recommendations made concerning these groups are of special concern to women.) The CLFDB's rationale is "to ensure that the private sector plays and active role decisions about skills training" in Canada. Global Economy, The Premier's Council on Technology, 1990). Ontario's training system has demonstrated the need for a more effective approach to labour force development. OTAB's mandate will be to..."provide leadership and direction to achieve a coordinated, responsive and effective labour force development system, manage Ontario's publicly funded training and labour force development programs, ensure that training programs meet the needs of employers, and current and potential recommendations is also part of the board's 64 task force members were women New in workers, achieve increased private sector investment in training and improve access In the area of labour force adjustment, the training board will encourage the development of a "skills-based" adjustmen policy with an active, predictive approach retraining and "redeployment" strategies wil be used. OTAB's initiatives in labour forc( adjustment acknowledge the reality o turbulent times, ..."people must be prepare( to change jobs, if not employers, man\ times in their working career's, and therefor( will need continuous skills upgrading". Finally, OTAB's program responsibilities it the area of labour force entry and re -entry will focus on "pre-employment training" fo the following groups: youths, people wits disabilities, immigrants, social assistancr recipients and women re-entering the Iabou force. Programs which provide basic skill! upgrading for adults (e.g. literacy anc numeracy skills) are characteristic of pre employment training. OTAB's priorities wi be: "ensuring that entry/re-entry program! provide sound foundation skills which ari attractive to employers and, for the individual, lead towards further acquisition c skills; improving links between training adjustment, education and social service [so that "complete packages of services" ar accessible to individuals], [and] creative! exploring boundaries between "educatior and "training", leading to a less rigil approach to learning and life-long skill attainment". and equity in training". OTAB's programs fall into four critical areas of labour force development: workplace and sectoral training, apprenticeship programs, labour force adjustment ("programs and services for workers displaced through employer's reduced level of operations, voluntary/involuntary closure, or affected by significant change in the workplace" (e.g. locational or technological)), and labour force entry/re-entry programs. In workplace and sectoral training, OTAB will emphasize the development of skills that are portable (applicable to different yet related work environments), generic (basic skills essential to all workers), and certifiable PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 8 �OTAB's major challenge in entry/re-entry development of local labour market information systems and databases to ensure that there is appropriate information to facilitate local strategic planning; programming will be to deal with this area's history of marginalization: discrimination based on age, income, race, social status, and gender has hindered the full participation of individuals in the workforce and in training programs. It is crucial that labour and business work cooperatively with educators/trainers and social action groups on the board to provide "equitable employment opportunities". identification of the needs of employers, workers, and those seeking to enter the workforce; strategic planning for labour force development programs at the local level to meet identified needs; monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of local training and adjustment programs; coordination and harmonization of federal and provincial labour force development programs; advocacy of human resource development and promotion of a training culture consistent with local economic development; increased access to training for equity OTAB will "develop a base of provincial and local labour market information; provide policy advice on labour force development issues; develop and promote new labour force development issues; develop and promote new labour force development practices through a "Learning Network"; Representation [and] provide guidance, technical expertise will..."bring together highly skilled and creative individuals to be constructive agitators for inventiveness on training design and delivery". This Learning Network would governing body, although the Entry/Re-entry and Labour Adjustment Councils have increased social and education/trainer representation, due to these councils' priorities. The government will appoint members nominated from four labour market groups to sit on the governing board and its councils. Again, these nominated. individuals should reflect government requirements for social action group participation. work to create "strategic partnerships with labour, industry, communities, academics, training experts, governments, CLFDB and other organizations lo develop and initiate projects or ventures in these and other The creation of local training boards may be seen as a response to the need for a more coordinated approach to meeting local labour market needs. Improvements at the areas". local level are required in the following The new board will consist of a governing body and four permanent councils. The governing body will consist of areas: "effective mechanisms for local level participation in provincial and national labour market policy development; comprehensive labour market information and assessment of skills training and community adjustment needs; access to information on and referral and resources to support local boards". OTAB's goal is to improve the process which determines high priority skills and In order to offer more learning jobs. opportunities to Ontario workers, OTAB is developing a "Learning Network", which representatives from each of the four labour on each council is comparable to the composition of the market groups: 8 each from business and labour, 1 from each of the four social action groups, and 2 from education/training. One to services for individuals and firms; and strategic planning and the coordination of ex-officio programs and services to meet community provincial and one federal government representative will also sit on the board. It is important to note that the Ontario government expects that "fully half of the respective nominees of labour and business be women, and that both partners' respective nominees suitably reflect Ontario's racial diversity, and effective representation of francophones". OTAB'S four councils will deal with the particular training and adjustment needs of individuals and employers within the four major program areas. Although each of the four interactive councils has a different focus, the common goals of the councils are to : "Recommend program design developed by OTAB's staff, for approval of the governing body; develop guidelines and criteria for funding decisions to be made by the agency's management under the direction of the governing body; ensure that the agency's programs and services are responsive to the needs of different localities, communities, sectors and clients across the province; provide expertise and priorities". Local boards will be set up by local market partners in conjunction with municipal In consultation with the governments. federal and provincial governments, the boards will be "jointly designated" through OTAB and the CLFDB. All four areas of labour force development (workplace, apprenticeship, adjustment, entry/re-entry) will be the focus of local The broad mandate of these boards. boards will be: "identifying local needs and priorities; developing strategic and operational plans based on labour market information, economic activities, needs assessments, priorities, and existing resources; determining the "mix" of funding, programs and delivery mechanisms required to address local needs and priorities; promoting a life-long learning and training culture that includes employers, current The workers, and potential workers". consultation of the CLFDB and OTAB with recommendations to the governing body during the development and negotiation of governments and local labour market partners will be required regarding the the agency's multi-year corporate plans; fulfil management and partnership responsibilities development of planning, operational and accountability frameworks for local training boards. unique to their particular functional areas, such as reviewing apprenticeship regulations or development of sectoral or inter-employer training agreements and consultations." groups.. and francophones; and improved access to training resources for individuals, firms and other employers through the coordination of information, counselling, referral and programs". Local labour force development plans, which will guide local boards' training activities, will deal with the following issues: "local labour market needs, projections, services, priorities; decisions on program/service activities; program reform, design and evaluation; program access strategies ("Local boards will need to pay particular attention to access barriers facing equity groups"); [and] coordination and rationalization of services". The composition of local boards will be similar to that of OTAB and the CLFDB: labour, business, social action groups and educators/trainers will work together as labour market partners. There will also be ex-officio representation of federal, provincial and municipal governments. Although geographic, economic and social factors will determine exact numbers of board representatives, given the locale, one thing certain: is business and labour representatives (the "key" players) will..."cochair local boards, be equal in numbers, and together comprise more that half of each board". It is the responsibility of labour market partners to nominate individuals to local boards. Partners must, however, be requirement that..."a mindful of the substantial number of the representatives of business and labour should be women, and the representatives of all groups should reflect each local area's cultural and racial diversity, including the francophone community". Twenty-two local boards will be formed in Ontario; Thunder Bay is part the North Superior development board. of labour force With the formation of these new training boards, women will now have the opportunity to shape their worklives. But along with this opportunity come questions, concerns, ideas and priorities concerning the boards and the training programs they will offer. The bottom line, according to Marcy Cohen and her reference group, is that the reality of women's lives be understood and taken into account as training policy is formed. In Marcy's words,..."work and learning do not happen Local boards will guide the operation of isolation from the rest of our lives". Family relationships, access to affordable labour force development programs at the local level. The general responsibilities of local boards will be as follows: "steering the have a profound impact on the ability of in housing, child care, financial support, literacy, employment equity and violence all PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISIONNorthern PDFCompressor Woman Page 9 �development of local labour market information systems and databases to ensure that there is appropriate information to facilitate local strategic planning; OTAB's major challenge in entry/re-entry programming will be to deal with this area's history of marginalization: discrimination based on age, income, race, social status, and gender has hindered the full participation of individuals in the workforce and in training programs. It is crucial that labour and business work cooperatively with educators/trainers and social action groups on the board to provide "equitable employment opportunities". identification of the needs of employers, workers, and those seeking to enter the workforce; strategic planning for labour force development programs at the local level to meet identified needs; monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of local training and adjustment programs; coordination and harmonization of federal and provincial labour force development programs; advocacy of human resource development and promotion of a training culture OTAB will "develop a base of provincial and local labour market information; provide policy advice on labour force development issues; develop and promote new labour force development issues; develop and promote new labour force development practices through a "Learning Network"; [and] provide guidance, technical expertise and resources to support local boards". OTAB's goal is to improve the process which determines high priority skills and In order to offer more learning jobs. opportunities to Ontario workers, OTAB is developing a "Learning Network", which consistent with local economic development; increased access to training for equity groups.. and francophones; and improved access to training Representation on each council is resources for individuals, firms and other comparable to the composition of the employers through the coordination of information, counselling, governing body, although the Entry/Re-entry referral and programs". and Labour Adjustment Councils have increased social and education/trainer force development plans, which representation, due to Local these labour councils' will guide local boards' training activities, will priorities. The government will appoint deal four with the following issues: "local labour members nominated from labour market needs, market groups to sit on the governing board projections, services, priorities; decisions on program/service and its councils. Again, these nominated will..."bring together highly skilled and should reflect government be constructive creative individuals to individuals requirements for social action group agitators for inventiveness on training design participation. and delivery". This Learning Network would work to create "strategic partnerships with The creation of local training boards may be labour, industry, communities, academics, seen as a response to the need for a more training experts, governments, CLFDB and coordinated approach to meeting local other organizations to develop and initiate labour and market needs. Improvements at the other projects or ventures in these local level are required in the following areas". areas: "effective mechanisms for local level participation in provincial and national labour consist of a governing The new board policy The development; comprehensive body and four permanentmarket councils. labour market information and assessment of consist will body governing training and community adjustment representatives from each of of skills the four labour needs; accessand to information on and referral market groups: 8 each from business to services for individuals and firms; and labour, 1 from each of the four social action strategic planning groups, and 2 from education/training. One and the coordination of programs and services to meet community ex-officio provincial and one federal priorities". government representative will also sit on the board. It is important to note that the Ontario government expects that "fully half Local will be set up by local market of the respective nominees of boards labour and conjunction with municipal in partners business be women, and that both partners' suitably reflectIn consultation with the respective nominees governments. federal provincial governments, the and and effective Ontario's racial diversity, boards will be "jointly designated" through representation of francophones". OTAB and the CLFDB. OTAB'S four councils will deal with the All four areas particular training and adjustment needsofoflabour force development apprenticeship, adjustment, (workplace, individuals and employers within the four will be the focus of local entry/re-entry) major program areas. Although each of the The broad mandate of these boards. four interactive councils has a different "identifying local needs and boards will be:are focus, the common goals of the councils priorities; developing strategic and to : operational plans "Recommend program design developed by based on labour market activities, needs economic information, OTAB's staff, for approval of the governing and existing priorities, body; develop guidelinesassessments, and criteria for resources; determining the "mix" of funding, made by the funding decisions to be programs and delivery mechanisms required agency's management under the direction of needs and priorities; local address to the governing body; ensure that the promoting a life-long learning and training agency's programs and services are includes employers, current culture of that different responsive to the needs The workers, localities, communities, sectors and and clientspotential workers". consultation of the CLFDB and OTAB with across the province; provide expertise and and local labour market recommendations to the governments governing body will be partners during the development and negotiaticn of required regarding the development of planning, operational and the agency's multi-year corporate plans; fulfil accountability frameworks for local training management and partnership responsibilities boards. areas, unique to their particular functional such as reviewing apprenticeship regulations boards will guide the operation of or development of sectoral Local or inter-employer labour force development programs at the training agreements and consultations." local level. The general responsibilities of local boards will be as follows: "steering the activities; program reform, design and evaluation; program access strategies ("Local boards will need to pay particular attention to access barriers facing equity groups"); [and] coordination and rationalization of services". The composition of local boards will be similar to that of OTAB and the CLFDB: labour, business, social action groups and educators/trainers will work together as labour market partners. There will also be ex-officio representation of federal, provincial and municipal governments. Although geographic, economic and social factors will determine exact numbers of board representatives, given the locale, one thing is certain: business and labour representatives (the "key" players) will..."cochair local boards, be equal in numbers, and together comprise more that half of each board". It is the responsibility of labour market partners to nominate individuals to local boards. Partners must, however, be requirement that..."a mindful of the substantial number of the representatives of business and labour should be women, and the representatives of all groups should reflect each local area's cultural and racial including the francophone diversity, community". Twenty-two local boards will be formed in Ontario; Thunder Bay is part the North Superior development board. of labour force With the formation of these new training boards, women will now have the opportunity to shape their worklives. But along with this opportunity come questions, concerns, ideas and priorities concerning the boards and the training programs they will offer. The bottom line, according to Marcy Cohen and her reference group, is that the reality of women's lives be understood and taken into account as training policy is formed. In Marcy's words,..."work and learning do not happen in isolation from the rest of our lives". Family relationships, access to affordable housing, child care, financial support, literacy, employment equity and violence all have a profound impact on the ability of PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluationNorthern copy ofWoman CVISION Page 9PDFCompressor �women to function effectively in learning and work situations. It is fact in the lives of The principles which, according to the women that fewer and fewer of them are group, must guide the development and getting the training they need to obtain delivery of training for women, are as follows. Equitable access to training must decent jobs. Relatively recent figures have shown that women were underrepresented in 3 out of 4 Canadian Job Strategy programs (for example, in the Skills Shortages Program, training designed to Women's Representative and the reference exist for all groups, including those who are historically under-served (people with disabilities, immigrant and visible minority people, aboriginal people and women) and monitoring, and the examination of the connection between in evaluation and training and obtaining employment. Joan Baril outlined the recommendations of northern women in a brief presented to the consultation panel Locally, prepare individuals for jobs which are highly skilled and in demand, only 7.8% of participants were women). The numbers of women enroled in technical college programs is also diminishing. Recent those who are hindered by geographical which visited Thunder Bay on April 30, 1992. barriers. Resources must be applied to the training of the unemployed, underemployed and social assistance recipients in addition Training Coalition (North Superior), an affiliate of the Northwestern Ontario statistics reveal that only 4% of Canadian apprentices are women; of the percentage, 65% are bakers or hairdressers. Barriers to women's participation in training boil down making with respect to training, equity must apply so that those who have been traditionally excluded from this process are fairly represented. Within the programs themselves,..."systemic barriers bust be removed, equity targets established, and a mechanism for monitoring" established. The to systemic discrimination, prejudicial attitudes and behaviour which are deeply embedded in policy and program structure. In consideration of the issues in women's lives, the development and delivery of women's training programs should, according to Marcy Cohen and the reference group, be based upon a number of principles. Before these are outlined, it is important to note that the reference group believes that the training boards and labour force development will be successful provided that an "enabling policy framework" and "supporting regulations" which uphold the following principles are established: representation at all levels, to the employed. In terms of decision- right to basic education must become a reality, with resources being applied to general education and skill training which trades and technologies must be priorities". The system must be such that skills which are developed and accreditation which is achieved are..."portable and transferrable one location to another". "client-centred" In terms of communication, [and] enabling structures must also reflect..."the varying needs and interests of allowing for systematic, frequentand efficient consultation" -between board levels. It is particularly important that guidelines which people who are at different stages in their lives". Evaluation is a critical principal in the development and delivery of women's govern local boards ensure accountability and the elimination of systemic training programs. Evaluation should involve the following: the accountability of boards regarding their activities, client involvement discrimination. weeks as we hear of federal women's and far between at the best of times. It was with dismay that we learned that the quality, programs must be "reality-based" effective federal Women's Reference Group). On an introductory note, Ms. Baril noted the discrepancy between the substance of panel discussions regarding training and the situation as it has been unfolding: "For us, these panel discussions have taken on an unreal and fantasy air during the past three academic upgrading for people with less than high school completion and bridging programs for women in all areas including allocated which are adequate to allow for and the Ontario Women's Action on Training Coalition (the provincial counterpart to the training programs across the province being accreditation possible. More specifically,..."literacy, language training for people -lacking facility in English or French, from one level and type of learning and from representation Women's Decade Council and a branch of make "equity in resources informed Baril spoke on behalf of the Women's and and either axed or gutted out. In the North, training programs to help women are few excellent program, Women in Trades and A Technology...has been cancelled". number of the provincial training programs which do exist have limited enrolment to those receiving unemployment insurance, thus slamming the door on immigrants, refugees, farm women, women at home raising children, disabled women, women receiving social assistance, etc. Rosecoloured governmental glasses must be removed if reality regarding programs is to be dealt with. Baril presented two training sets of recommendations: recommendations concerning the organization and mandate of local and provincial boards and The theme for the first International Women's Day in 1911 was "International Female Suffrage." Over the years, the themes have evolved to reflect the diversity of the women's community, women's changing roles and continuing struggle. This year, the theme is "No time to stop...Our struggle must continue." In 1975, the United Nations formally proclaimed March 8th International Women's Day PDF Northern compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Woman. Page- -I o - �recommendations regarding the northern situation and northern Baril comments that the evaluation of women. The recommendations specific to women in the north include the following. Training programs must be made available to northern women, so that they may have the training, particularly complicated eligibility opportunity to equitable access them. The the sparsely populated north where establishment of concrete goals and timetables concerning the equitable participation of the four equity groups, including women, in training programs is essential. Baril notes that, in the Spring of 1992, Confederation College had 1271 trainees in Thunder Bay and region: the percentage of which were women, aboriginal people or persons with disabilities was "guess"-timated to be less than 10%. Baril remarks that this figure has remained almost static for the past 15 years. The professional training of trainers should be incorporated into training plans; workshops on educational equity as well as on problems which all equity groups, including women, face in training and the workplace (e.g. prejudice, racism, systemic discrimination, assault) are critical. On a similar note, the North Superior Women's Training Coalition advocates a strategy to deal with sexual harassment in all training This would involve both the education of trainers and trainees and a programs. sexual harassment policy. Baril's remark regarding the need for this strategy rings true to experience: "Sexual harassment as a tactic to maintain male privilege is one of the major excluding factors that women face in training and the labour market". Safety for women on the job and in training should be evaluated by using a standardized measure of safety. According to the Coalition, there is a dire need for the proper evaluation and follow-up of training programs so that the effectiveness of training may be objectively Are trainees getting jobs determined. relevant to the skills they have acquires? programs..."is one way barriers to women's employment can be pinpointed". Barriers to qualifications, need to be identified and eliminated. This really matters to women in it is difficult enough, without having the additional eliminating factor of qualifications, to round up the numbers required for a program. Eligibility clauses also hinder the advertisement of training programs and, in prevent information about these programs from reaching those who need it. The Coalition thus recommends that money for marketing be an integral part of training programs to encourage equitable effect, participation for women and members of their equity groups. Empowering women with disabilities and those receiving social assistance should be an important goal of agencies involved in the training of these women. In stating the need for training programs that..."provide qualifications and certificates which are recognized and portable", Baril notes that this occurs in the majority of 'male' programs, which are trades-oriented, while..."'female' programs (for example, bank clerk) have no such portability or recognition". establishment of childcare Finally, the in all training programs so that women will be able to pursue training needs is recommended. In terms of the organization and mandate of local and provincial boards, the Coalition recommends the following:..."that all training come under the wing of the local boards" [This includes language training, which the government does not recognize as being directly related to 'employment:I; that..."representatives from social organizations...be chosen by a coalition of grass roots organizations and have a direct link to their sliMPr"'%Igiii"W*0-'141'4.47 constituency and be accountable -'AN.f.,0040400i.Wo'441tk,,.4"4414 BABIES: There are countless everyday situations in which a woman will be reminded of her gender: sexual harassment, walking down a dark street, "feminine hygiene" product advertising. But nothing can think of is more gender specific-izing than pregnancy and childbirth. INCLUSIVE LANGU I That language is power can hardly be denied. That so many people dismiss the I began reading about babies a year ago, when I first discovered I was pregnant. importance of inclusivity is bewildering. Alma Graham wrote in 1974; "If you have a was disheartened by book after book's group half of whose members are A's and half of whose members are B's and if you call the group C, then A's and B's may be group half of whose members are A's and half of whose members are B's and if you call the group C, then A's and B's may be equal members of group C. But if you call the group A, there is no way the B's can be equal to A's within it. The A's will always be I references to "your baby he", as in, "Don't start him on solid food until.." Many of these guides went so far as to call the baby's father "your partner", an apparent acknowledgement that not every pregnant woman is married. They also referred to the doctor as "he or she", perhaps because women doctors have objected to being excluded. the rule and the B's will always be the A few of the books contained disclaimers the outsiders." about "he" referring to both sexes, as if that would mitigate the archaic (and lazy) editing. One cannot make the work "he" mean "he or she" any more than one can arbitrarily call one thing something else and expect to be understood. realize that being inclusive is I more work--it takes more typing, for one thing--but having everyday language acknowledge us as clearly and directly as it does men is the very least all girls and women deserve. exception--the subgroup, the subspecies, Because I have been struggling with these issues for so long, I am easily discouraged. My sense that "progress" for women has been glacial is more daunting now that have a child. have heard many horror I I stories about children's perceptions of gender roles. My nephew once informed his mother that women can't be doctors. My sister pointed out that his own doctor is a woman. "She's not a real doctor," he said. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �e TRY there are better ways to live this life than the ways the systems say its right, and if you suggest change you're looked at as if you're strange and told to go away in some cruel way... I swear and in the end systems only look at profit or loss systems forget to let people say what's needed systems boss greedy ways into being until people are agreeing until people believe it's the only way and drugs and booze and medications whatever you choose relieve the stress and pain of a day done the system's way it's your loss as you continue to lose your mind or some other kind of health, as they send you away for 'treatment' by some other part of the system that tells you how to maintain your health in order to maintain their wealth I swear there are better ways... by Arja Lane HER HUGS her arms beckon me to a safe haven such as I have never experienced before. those heartwarming all encompassing hugs I share with her are such that few have the pleasure of ever attaining. solidly we stand on the same small piece of ground our hearts beating gently in tandem. sharing an emotion that knows its limits, it boundaries, yet has no conditions attached. taking in all fifes experiences no matter how sordid, or delightful they might be. the pleasure and the pain is shared equally and the things left unsaid are unconditionally accepted until they can be said those wondrous hugs build on a strength she saw in me long before I even understood I had that strength. Each time we hug her hug fills the hollow of my heart, and now I understand one day it will soon be filled Caroline McPhail THE CONVERSATION They sat together but apart. one in the rocker, and one on the couch. One needing to speak the other willing her to do so. The one needing to speak having difficulty finding the words she so desperately needed to share. The other searching for ways to aid her in her quest. The other offered unconditional support for she told the one "I will believe you, I will still care" (and probably more so because of this) "I will give you HOMETOWN Ghosts seen through apricot lace curtains Secrets encrusted on pink granite tombstones whispered romances illicit births do not malign the dead ancient errors projected on innocent screens by trapped women who schemed to conceal the truth to hide the shame Margo Button all you want and need, only if you will let me in." With great gulps and pauses to keep her feelings suppressed the one attempted to tell her story, and the other with her heart held open listened and accepted all that she heard. It was not easy for the one telling her tales, and it could not have been easy for the other trying to hear all the things that were left unsaid The other questioned and encouraged the one to tell all but when she got too close the one forced those feelings back with her iron fist for that is the way she knows best to deal with the things she still has problems understanding and accepting. The tales came forth as slowly and surely they must, but only the words for the feelings are still too much for her to imagine. The one felt safe and secure with the other. But is the other strong enough to withstand the avalanche of feelings that are nearly ready to come crashing down? Caroline McPhail PDF compression, OCR, Northern Woman Page 12 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �ON BEING ME the silence grew louder with each passing second and you let it be. I was so afraidyou wouldn't want to hear what I would have to say. I was so afraidyou wouldn't believe. I was so afraidyou would be disgusted I was so afraidyou would turn me out. I was so afraidyou would hurt me too. I was so afraidyou wouldn't like the "me" I was then, and the "me" I am today. I was so afraidto let you in. You coaxed me - with your silence your compassion your understanding your patience your touch and your loving gentle embraces. I had no need to fear for you did want to hear, and you listened with your heart held open. you did believe, and you didn't deny. You weren't disgusted with me, only with them that would do those horrendous things. You didn't turn me out. you kept me safe and secure. You didn't hurt me, you tried to keep me from continuing to hurt myself You did like "me", it isn't that i don't care... its more that i don't share the same outlook about what you think important the main way doesn't say much to me except don't dare to be different, never mind what you're aware of just do as your told; will this go on 'till I'm old? because if so, I'd rather not be part of something so heartless and cold; for i now know i'll be sold down someone else's river of gold, all the while being told to hold my tongue and mind in a polite kind of way as if to say its all okay when i know it isn't so Broken in an empty corridor where the resolution of life channels the sounds into an eternal by Arja Lane 1992 spiral of knowingness Mending the seams of desire with cloud like the "me" I was then, and the "me" I am now. I did let you in because you helped me find the way. satin Closing the rain soaked With these words, I hope You can begin to understand how much you did for me and how very much it meant to me Thank-you Vivian for being there. Cleansing petals to absorb cayenne in a moment of perfect Caroline McPhail creation. Linda Ewashina PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 13 �WHAT'S NEW BOOKSTORE IN sit women's bookstores sug THE 43°.... TtifitilK TOa for your continued support of C WOMEWS BOOKSTORES FACES OF FEMINISM The wonderful, wonderful collection of portraits of Canadian women. Photographs by Pamela Harris, with text by the women portrayed, adds new understanding to the herstory of feminism in is o excellent TAKING CARE: A O AE Women's Place, Calgary Old Wives' Tales, San Toronto Women's 051. 5°°(v.tifit.... Frmcisco Abaton, Colorado Springs Handbook about Women's Health: A Bookstore, ')OL)P-?V'\ 1 YJA1 Toronto Gkovi --- Book(Asti Garden, Denver Alaskarevised Bloodroot, Bridgeport Canadian Guide, has recently been SIOC1'. Lza ANA Women's Reader's Feast, Hartford tila Bookstore, Golden Thread, and updated. This comprehensive, large-Aradia, O Anchorage /Ai", New itl-laBvoconk: Flagstaff Lodestar, Birmingham Books, print, easy to understand, book an`Wild Iris, Antigone, is Tucson St. Ktersbu rg Claremont A Different Drummer, New Words, important resource for women's groups, Laguna Beach Pearls, Long 00 Cambridge Beach Sisterhood, Los Ange les Back Door, Two Sisters, Menlo Park West Palm libraries, and individualI women. by MARGARET PHILLIPS very i,...1...? a 1.4l.n..k .1., ...? Canada. This is a book to treasure. VI Mama Bear's, Oakland Page One, Pasadena Lioness Books, '6 t,._____,--- Sacramento Paradigm, San 411° Diego Charis, Atlanta Beach Book Woman, Austin Jane Addams, Champaign and Children First, Chi. o Dreams and Swords, Indianapolis O Women Everything you Baltimore ever wanted to know about 31st St. Bookstore, Lanunas, Washington, DC Rubyfruit, I Tallahassee Radzukina's, Haverhill, MA Crone's Harvest, Jamaica Plain, MA ...% Lun aria, Northampton Language,find Ann Arbor of Our menopause you Common can now inRoom one ofOwn, the Hasten. MI Pandora Books for Open Mind, Kalamazoo A Woman's O Prerogative, Ferndale, MIthis Amazon, Minneapolis Rising Moon, Charlotte many books on subject. The most Book Peddlers, Englewood, NJ Full Circle, Albuquerque Smedley s, O Pandora Judith's Room, New York City Womankind, Sta., hrf recent are THE CHANGE byHuntington Germaine Xi Ithaca Silkwood Books, Rochester Wild Seeds. Rochester My Sister's Words, Syracuse Crazy Ladies, Cincinnati Gifts of Athena, Cleveland Heights Fan Greer, PASSAGE Gail Sheehy, VI the SILENT Flames, Columbus Mother Kali's, Eugeneby Dwelling Place, Lewisburg, I've just finished reading A WOMAN'S PLACE by Audrey McLaughlin, which enjoyed very much. It is a fastpaced, easy-to-read account of McLaughlin's life and political career, and the influence of feminism on her leadership style as well as her aspirations for fundamental social change. A WOMAN'S PLACE is a good book. I PA Giovanni's Room, Philadelphia Bluestocking Books, Columbia, SC and WISE WOMAN: a natural Mer Memphis Ink ling.s. Houston Elhe's Crarden, Lubbock Imprints, C THE Tacoma Different World, Beloit, WI A Room of One's Own, Madison CO approach to The theFeminist menopause, by Judy Hall Bookstore Network with Dr. Robert Jacobs. MENOPAUSE: A Complete list 51, P.O. Box 882554, San Francisco 94188 Well Woman Book, by the Montreal Health ;Joddns uatnonn poddns Press is recommended by many readers. What was once known as The Feminist New NORTHERN violence WOMAN'S issue titles include: BOOKSTORE MOTHERS OF INCEST SURVIVORS; Another Side of the Story,1992 by Janis Tyler BEST SELLERS Johnson. CAN'T GET OVER IT: A Handbook for Trauma Survivors, by Non-Fiction Dictionary has been re-issued and re-named - AMAZONS, BLUESTOCKINGS & CRONES. Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler have done the feminist movement a tremendous service with this dictionary "of our own". I Aphrodite Matsakis (author of When the Mary Daly enthusiasts will devour her latest book OUTERCOURSE: The Be-dazzling Voyage: Containing Reflections from My Logbook of a Radical Feminist Philosopher (Being an Account of my Time/Space Travels and Ideas - Then, Again. Now and How) !! Several books that will be of interest to readers wishing to expand their awareness of the women's movement internationally: EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES OF WOMEN'S HISTORY: Essays on Women in the Third World, edited by Cheryl Johnson- Odim and Margaret Strobel, examines the situation of women in Africa, Asia. Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. Bough Breaks). The Courage to Heal TRIUMPH: A Journey of Healing form Incest, The Courage to Heal Workbook by You TrishCanAshby-Rolls. ORDINARY Be Free WONDERS: Living Recovery from Sexual Allies in Healing Abuse, by Lilian Green. Changing Patterns: Women BEYOND SURVIVAL: A Writing Journey for Healing in Canada Childhood by Maureen WhenSexual I'm an Abuse, Old Woman I Shall Brady (authorWear of DAYBREAK). Purple Ending the Violence On toMeditations Fiction now.for Women Who Do Too Much local author RUBY to Without Congratulations Learning to Live SLIPPERJACK, Violence on the publication of her As SILENT WORDS. Life'snovel Companion second HONOUR GettingTHE FreeSUN (Slipperjack's first WORDS is set in SILENT & Self-Esteem novel)Women Ontario The Beauty Myth and captures the Northwestern Halfbreed flavour of northern Native life. SILENT ShaktiisWoman WORDS the story of Danny and his THIRD WORLD WOMEN AND THE POLITICS OF FEMINISM, edited by Chandra journey of self-discovery. This book will be of interest to young adults as well as older Talpade Mohanty, Ann Russo and Lourdes Fiction readers. Torres, presents "provocative analyses of the simultaneous oppressions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, as well as the role that imperialism plays in the productions of knowledge and of persons - a power collection" (Gloria Anzaldua). Diverse strategies used by women to change power relationships in their various societies are outlined in a collection of essays WOMEN TRANSFORMING POLITICS: Wide Strategies for edited by Jill M. World Empowerment Bystydzienski. GENDER AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS edited by Rebecca Grant and Kathleen Newland focuses on the gender issues in international relations theory and the gender dimensions of development, diplomacy and political change in Eastern Europe. AnneThe Cameron keeps getting better and Ediblejust Woman .. be sure to read her latest A WHOLE betterAmazon BRASS BAND. Cat's Eye Fried Green Tomatoes at Paule DAUGHTERS by Stop the Whistle Cafe Marshall is a stunning book. Marshall an extraordinarily People You'd Trust isYour DAUGHTERS made me talented writer. Life To want the book to laughAand Chillcry... Rain in didn't January end. A Whole Brass Band Women, Kids & Huckleberry wasWine also most impressed with Louise Erdrich andBones Michael Dorsey's THE CROWN Good OF COLUMBUS which is really a brilliant Jane Eyre book.Child of Her People I I Fever highly recommend SUNDOGS, Lee Obasan Maracle's first novel. Maracle's is a very Wilderness Tips voice and deserves a strong and important In Search of April wide readership. Her other publications includeRaintree BOBBI LEE: INDIAN REBEL, I AM I WOMAN, and SOJOURNER'S TRUTH. Before ending this piece I must say that, in my opinion, the most important book of the year is Marilyn French's THE WAR AGAINST WOMEN. While it hasn't got the malestream press that BACKLASH (Susan Faludi) and THE BEAUTY MYTH (Naomi Wolf).. both of which are important books and deserve attention, THE WAR AGAINST WOMEN provides the most concise and readable analysis, and does a good job of integrating violence in the analyses. If you only read one book this year it should be THE WAR Womansline Books AGAINST WOMEN. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �!BEAD AID ISOM Words: James Oppenheim Music: Caroline Kohsiat F Bb C7 F we come march-ing, march- ing in of the the beau-ty day, Bb C7 F Bb F 'AMMIIIMMIIIMIIMINIMICNIIIIII11111111111111=11111111111M1=11111111111.1111.M. I7.. mill- ion dar-kened A D7 touch 'd with all the Bb Gang Publishers is calling for unpublished writing and artwork for a Canadian/New Zealand anthology of postcolonial lesbian writing to be edited by Beth Brant and Cathie Dunsford. Short stories, biographical writing, B&W artwork and other are sought. particularly Send SASE with your submission to Press Gang Publishers, 603 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., V&A 1H2. Deadline: March 31, 1993. Do not send original artwork. Call or write for more info: (604) 253-2537. + + + + + + + + +4.4 + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ Canadian Women's Movement Archives/Archives canadiennes du The mouvement des femmes (CWMA/ACMF) is pleased to announce the publications of The Canadian Women's Movement, 1960- 1990: A Guide to Archival Resources. This bilingual guide, made possible by a grant from the Canadian Studies Research Tools program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, captures the range of documentation created in what historians refer to as the second wave of the women's movement, which emerged after 1960 in the context of widespread social and political change in Canada. The Guide documents a wealth of material and is an invaluable reference tool for researchers, archivists, librarians, journalists, and activists interested in the Canadian women's theoretical, political, movement as a and historical phenomenon. women's groups formed or functioning after 1960 that are held in a variety of Canadian archives or by the groups themselves. This guide challenges perceptions of what is by thous-and mill lofts gray, D7 Gm ra- diance that a sud-den sun dis- F ass, For the peo- pie hear us C7 sing-ing. 'Bread and ros- es, Bread and C es _rots + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ The West Coast Women and Words Society be holding its 9th annual summer school/writing retreat for women. WEST will WORD IX will be held August 8-22, 1993 at the Canadian International College, North Vancouver, British Columbia. The school is a two-week, live-in program that offers women from diverse backgrounds a safe, encouraging environment to develop their voices. Any woman interested in participating in this exciting and intensive group experience is welcome to apply. writing genres are offered, respected and gifted instructors: Creative Documentary - Susan Crean Fiction - Lee Maracle Poetry - Suniti Namjoshi Three with For a descriptive brochure/application, please write: WEST COAST WOMEN AND WORDS #210 - 640 W. BROADWAY VANCOUVER, B.C. V5Z 1G4 APPLICATION DEADLINE: MAY 10, 1993 "This is an important decis because it makes the law fri to survivors of childhood se making claims for damage Orton, Litigation Director o Legal Education and Action F The Court ruled in this ca abuse of a child by a paren assault but is a breach of the trust that a parent owes a c known in law. the parent's Ms. Orton said "This is development in law becaus the tremendous abuse of au in incest and offers the pote recognition of the harm caus LEAF intervened in the cas limitations law must res dynamics and complex inju childhood sexual assault w ability of survivors to brin against abusers. LEAF said need many years to recog been abused and emotionally and psychologic legal action. have The Supreme Court ruled tha Included in the Guide are the records of archival chens, a Gm As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days The rising of the women means the rising of the race. No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil where one repo But a sharing of life's glories; Bread and roses! Bread and lesbian experiences of colonialism -including colonization of indigenous cultures -- kit- As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dea Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread. Smart art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew, Yes, it is bread we fight for - but we fight for roses too! creative submissions depicting aspects of Women of colour are encouraged to submit work. 1611ML. MINIMIleB/~ .11111/1141111M111114111 P"IM ANINRINNT M1.4INE11111111111117Mr As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men, For they are women's children, and we mother them again. Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us Press and of women's bodies INIMI11111111110111111111 AMU" MIK focusing on contemporary + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ period should not begin to plaintiff has a substantial aw SUPREME COURT RULING In a very important decision the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a woman has the right to sue her abuser in the case harm suffered and its con sexual abuse. The Court r critical to this awareness is that it is the perpetrato responsible for the abuse. T movement records, which may help to stimulate research on the contemporary of childhood sexual assault. Canadian women's movement and encourage more widespread collection of these records by archival repositories. that this will usually only ha survivor receives some type At issue in the case was the nature of the legal wrong in cases of childhood sexual assistance. It is also hoped that the Guide's user-friendly approach to archival description will reach audience unfamiliar with traditional archives and raise awareness among women's groups and activists of the archival value of their records. an The Guide, which is edited by Margaret Fulford, and published by ECW (Note: assault and what time limitations will apply to bar civil actions for damages. The Ontario Limitations Act requires that claims be filed within four years in the case of assault. If the plaintiff is a minor at the time, the time period begins to run when she reaches 18. "The Court's decision is a tre forward in recognizing th childhood sexual abuse and barriers to civil action," said "Availability of civil action for have value as a deterren sexual abuse" From LEAF news release. Press, may be ordered through the Northern Woman's Bookstore.) Northern PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Ontario Women's Directorate ONTARIO ADVISORY COUNCIL ON WOMEN'S ISSUES Direction generale de Ia condition feminine de l'Ontario Northern Office 107C Johnson Ave. Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 2V9 (807) 345-6084 Bureau du nord 107C, avenue Johnson Thunder Bay (Ontario) P7B 2V9 (807) 345-6084 ONGOING REPORTING AND TAX FILING REQUIREMENTS FOR ONTARIO NON- TAXATION PROFIT CORPORATIONS All women's groups that are non-p Boyd, Marion Minister Women's Issues, has announced the new appointments to the Ontario Advisory Council on Women's Issues. The new Council is the first to have been sought through nominations by the public. Fifteen women represent the interests of the diversity of women in this province. Jacqueline Pelletier, Ottawa, is President Anne Balding, Bancroft; Rosalind Caincross, Toronto; Kathryn Dominey, Kingston; Veronica Dryden, London; Jane Field, Toronto; Greta Hofman-Nemiroff, Ottawa; Pam Jackson, Grafton; and Jo-Anne Johnson, Windsor are appointed for terms of varying for a three year term. lengths. Six northern women appointed are Sarah Melvin, Sioux corporations must file an income tax re Responsible for Lookout; Lise No let, Kapuskasing; Rosanne Perron, Thunder Bay; Toulou Rouhani, North Bay; Eva Shields, Atikokan; and Pat Tobin, North Bay. The new Council members will be holding community-based meetings to gather the views of all women in their regions. *************************************** if they have more than $500 in inco CORPORATE FILINGS Most women's groups are non-profit organizations that are incorporated through the provincial rules, and must follow the filing rules that are discussed here. Women's groups spend a great deal of time and effort to incorporate their organizations. Yet after incorporation is completed, not all of them are as careful about keeping their corporate status as they were about getting it. This is a reminder of the annual filings that are required for non-profit and non-profitcharitable corporations that have been All non-profit incorporated in Ontario. corporations, whether or not they are also charitable, must report annually to the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations by filing a notice of change which sets out every change in the board of directors. Notice should also be filed when there is a change in the officers or in the corporation's mailing address. The forms are available from: Ministry Words That Count Women Out In A guide to eliminating gender bias in writing and speech. An excellent resource to help you incorporate inclusive language in your communications and open the doors to equality. Produced by Ontario Women's Directorate. Inequity In The Classroon by Deborah d'Entremont. This 26 minute video, with a manual, examines the often subtle and inadvertent sexual and racial biases that women students frequently encounter in colleges, universities and adult education settings. En toute egalite par Deborah d'Entremont. Ce video de 26 minutes et manuel se penche sur les prejuges sexistes et racistes qui sont generalement vehicules de fawn subtile et inconsciente et auxquels se confrontent les femmes etudiant dans les colleges, les universites et les divers lieux de reducation des adultes. Prevention de la violence faite aux femmes, repertoire des ressources par le Centre Ontarien d'information en prevention. Ce repertoire aidera les intervenantes et les organismes a se familiariser avec les ressources existantes, a identifier les lacunes pour combler les besoins de leur communaute, a sensibiliser celle-ci la problematique de la violence faite aux femmes, et en dernier lieu, a encourager l'echange de ressources entre intervenantes et organismes. available from the local Taxation CentrE May Street. Non-profit-charitable Corporations Non-profitable-charitable corporat registered under the Income Tax Act n file a RCFR (Form T3010) within six mor of their fiscal year end. Revenue Can does not send any notice of this! A us brochure is available entitled Guide Charitable Information Returns, availably any Taxation Office. If this return is not filed, Revenue Can will revoke the charity's registration. W this happens, the charity loses the righ issue official tax credit receipts to donor INCORPORATOR'S HANDBOOK of Consumer and Commercial Relations Companies Branch 393 University Avenue. 2nd Floor Toronto, Ontario, M7A 2H6 1-416-596-3757 RESOURCE CENTRE They do not need to pay taxes if they non-profit, however the form must be with Revenue Canada. The T3 forms There is no fee for filing these notices, and blank notice forms can be obtained from the Companies Branch. handbook for those wishing incorporate, wanting to know the rules ab A filings, changing the number of directc dissolving and reviving corporations, etc available from the Ontario Governor Bookstore in Toronto. To obtain a cop) the NOT-FOR-PROFIT INCORPORATO1 HANDBOOK, send a cheque for $5. made payable to the Treasurer of Ontario Publications Ontario 50 Grosvenor St. Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1N8 1-800-668-9938 If these forms are not filed, the Ministry can dissolve the corporation. They will normally send out a notice, however, if the address on file is not correct, the corporation may You may also order a copy by telepho with your credit card number. never receive the notice. Non-profit-charitable Corporations For non-profit corporations which are also charitable, there are additional annual filing requirements. Within three months after each financial year end, a financial statement must be sent to: Public Trustee Charities Division 145 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N8 1-416-314-2792 If the financial statement is audited, only two Directors need to sign statement is it. If the financial not audited, then all the Directors must sign it and attach a letter explaining why the books were not audited. The corporation also needs to send an upto-date list of the full names and addresses Since it takes a lot of work to ob1 charitable registrations, women's grog should ensure that they are filing 11 returns regularly in order to maintain 11 status. So add another New YE resolution to your list and get caught up your filings! CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL of its Board of Directors and Officers with each financial statement. WOMEN'S DAY This page is sponsored by the Ontario Women's Directorate. The material contained on it may be photocopied and distributed without permission, but with credit to the original source of the Ontario Women's Directorate. Cette page est marrainee par Ia direction de la condition feminine en Ontario. Les materiaux ci-inclu peuvent-etre MARCH 8, 1993 copier et distribuer sans permission, mais avec accreditation envers Ia source original, Ia direction de la condition feminine de l'Ontario. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Snead Class 14e1 Ilegistratisa He. Seri MAIL TO: RETURN TO: THE NORTHERN WUHAN JOURNAL P.O. BOX 144 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO P7C 4V5 Return Postage Guaranteed IS THERE AN ASTERISK ON YOUR LABEL?? PLEASE RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Don't forget to renew your SUBSCRIPTION NAME. ADDRESS POST AL CODE Individual $8.00 procbm'ed institutional $16.00 JANz. NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL PO Box 144 Thunder Be y Ontario P7C 4Y5 0, *0 14\-1-'. 144'ft cmo pOstk SAND `#ERS .100451014 strioes1 040S ***************************************************************** vt.l.cic\t)1' VigkGARST N9RTHERAI MAN 7-9URMAL PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 14 No 4 Description An account of the resource Vol. 14, No. 4 (March 1993) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Women and the economy Inequity in classrooms Women’s safety Sexual assault Women’s History Month Concert review International Women’s Day Women in history Government jobs for women Inclusive language Gender pronouns Poetry Northern Women’s Bookstore Candian Women’s Movement Archives Resources for northern women Authors/contributors: Jen Metcalfe Valerie Lellava Arja Lane Margo Button Caroline McPhail Margaret Phillips Ontario Women’s Directorate Rae Ann Honey Michele Proulx Margaret Johnston Jane Saunders Chris Snyder Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2829/crew_nwj_tiny.png 1caafa91b3798d602ba1181b67456ab2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Description An account of the resource Members of the Northern Woman Journal Collective, meeting together at the Northern Woman's Bookstore. https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2830/1979_Vol_5_No_5_OCR.pdf d007bc1f902ac96db666e3eb174f27b6 PDF Text Text OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1979 VOL. 5., No. 5. 75t vm an ourna sfr.. • * «-V*, . v?"*: v- •* ... . IS THE JOURNAL DEAD ? ....or only sleeping ./ �WANTED* A FUTURE! To date there has been no response, other than the follow­ ing letter, to our empassioned plea for some suggestions or assistance in the continuing battle to continue publishing the NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL. In some ways, this is quite understandable. It is, afterall. DEAR EDITORS: Enclosed are my thoughts on the future of the Journal—I guess it's a letter to the editor. The basic idea that I put forward is that the Journal should be more rooted and consequently more responsive to small communities that make up N.W. Ontario. I suggest that a sys­ tem of community contact persons be set up to work for the Journal. August 25 I was fortunate to be involved with a meeting of women from several communities who were discussing the findings of the Dec­ ade Council sponsored "Women In North Western Ontario Communities" study done by the women of the com­ munity. I discussed with them my suggestion for the Journal, outlined here, and found their reaction to be favourable. Since only two communties were represented, Souix Lookout and Camp Robinson there is no wider response to the idea that I can give you. Nevertheless, I present it for your consideration: The August/September Journal has thrown a substantial challenge into the arms of its unsuspecting readers. Whether we catch or botch it dep­ ends, as Gert quite rightly pinpoints, on our imaginations. Readers have been invited to respond to the pos­ sible termination of the Journal— the following comments are directed to this issue. The first, most important point to note—the Northern Woman Journal must continue publication in order to provide women in Northwestern Ont­ ario with their own platform. The Journal has the potential of prov­ iding the communication network that women in small communities need. Therefoee the question is not should the Journal continue but will it continue? The leaning of the Journal is to hand over the responsibility of publication to any group or person committed to the feminist principles Indicated in the last issue. This will enable the women who have worked on it to date, to step aside, allow­ ing them to replenish their energies. It seems Gert’s leaning is to get women involved who are "perhaps plugged into to creativity rather than a heavy message," and in this way move from feminist theoretical thinking to more human issues and concerns. 1 whole heartedly agree that it's time to write about how feminist politics are filtering through to the day to day level. I also agree that the Journal should support women who express themselves in the wider range of the arts. However, I feel that the Journal must diversify as much as possible with respect to different women and their ideas that Northern Noman Journal, page 2 rather unorthodox to turn to paying subscribers to help produce the paper. That certainly wasn't in the fine print of the subscription order form. However, because we have rather few alternatives, we may be forced to negotiate a deal, i.e. that the NORTHERN WOMAN are encouraged to participate. I understand that this is not a new idea, i.e. the Journal has always welcomed contributions from women in the smaller communities. But, (and I hope this is not an unfair thing to say), the Journal has been relatively unsuccessful in this ob­ jective-through no fault of a small overworked staff. I feel that this time of transition could provide the op portunity to re-focus energy on making the Journal a truly regional publication. In order to accomplish the goal of decentralization, I would suggest that a co-ordinator or contast person in each community be established (possible women could be gleaned from the mailing list). It would be up to this woman to solicit contributions from her community on issues of local concern. Naturally the contact person would want/need the advice or instruct­ ion offered (as outlined in the new blood bill) to volunteers residing in Thunder Bay. The system of com­ munity contact person would require a co-ordinator in Thunder Bay att least till the time some groups feel they could or would like totake over the publication completely. MAKING A HERSTORY Dear Sisters: I am writing in hope that you'll be able to help a group of us who are working on a history of Ontario women 1880-1930. We want to do a photo/social history similar to A HARVEST YET TO REAP which was put out by Prairie women. We're looking for photos, especial­ ly private photos in personal albums, diaries, journals and information in local papers and church and school records of the period—in fact any source about women's life in Ontario at that time. We're interested in women as artists professionals, volunteers workers. We want information about immigrant women, working women, Franco-Ontarian women, anything that we can find that relates to 1880-1930. What we would like to get from you is some idea of sources in your .area including, (very important) women who lived at the time and would be willing to be interviewed. Could you put an notice to this effect in the Northern Woman Journal/ Best to all of you, ALMA NORMAN 3-309 Stweart, Ottawa, Ont. KIN 6K5 JOURNAL fold and that the subscribers whose subscriptions are still current, be sent a copy of another Canadian Feminist news newspaper via our office. In the meantime, we are still awaiting a possible resurrection, and offer the following suggestion, which we received in response to our plea. Continuing on the subject of con­ tent, I find nothing wrong in lift­ ing articles from other sources for the Journal. But I do think a greater effort should be made to find articles particularly relevant to northern women, for example, the effect of shift work on women (The Miner's Voice—August *79), or the involvement of women in strikes in local newspapers or the union's stand on discriminatory hiring prac­ tises in the mines. There is no lack of issues that is for sure. In order to reach many women brought up in a society which nutures a deep seated insecurity about themselves, there must be that personal contact before they will come forward. It's not enough to in­ vite women to write—we all must feel that we have a personal stake in the success or failure of the Journal. I feel that this opportunity is now being provided and hope that women in all the communcities of northwestern Ontario accept the challenge. Count me as one willing to work in the Red Lake district for the Northern Woman (Regional) Journal. AUDREY ANDERSON Red Lake, THUNDERCLAP To the five women of the 'Women Sharing' project — Elaine Lynch, Monica McNabb, Anne Donaldson, In­ grid Peterson and Chris Torrie — who have staffed the Women's Centre, the Journal, the Resource Library, the Northwestern Ontario Decade Council and the Women's Credit Un­ ion for the past year. Their time, energy, creativity and dedication on behalf of the women of North­ western Ontario has been invaluable. THUNDERBOLT To the Lakehead District Catholic School Board, whose Philosophy of Education denies the existence of its female students. Equal opportunity education? "The purpose of the Catholic School is to provide the Catholic student with the best educational program possible within a Christian atmos­ phere, that he might achieve a fuller life by learning the pur­ pose and the means of building a better world for his fellow man and himself here on this earth and thus pursue his ultimate end which is union with God, his fath-* er, in eternity." �The battle against sex-roles must continue DANCING FOR THE PUPPETMASTER Over-all then, the girls were more likely to show a decline in achievement, the boys an improvement. The majority of the students stud­ BECAUSE IT IS BACK TO SCHOOL TIME AGAIN, IT SEEMS TIMELY TO RUN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE, REPRINTED FROM THE JULY 1979 EDITION OF PERCEPTION MAGAZINE: ied were from the middle class. There was, however, a small proportion from working class backgrounds, and their experiences offered an important insight into the social meaning of achievement in school. There was an obvious similarity between the declining achievement of SCHOOL KIDS: DOES SEX DETERMINE 'THEIR FUTURE ROLE IN SOCIETY????? "When I was in Grade 9 and 10 I thought I had to get good marks. I guess I just don't value school as much as I used to." So spoke a 16 year old girl when asked why her grades had been declining. Another girls from both class backgrounds and explained that "as the school years boys of the working class. For example, go on you slow down. I'm tired of one working class boy when asked how school." his grades had been over the years, Rather sad news from intelligent, answered: "Actually, everything has been articulate teenagers. been good till this year. I've found About a third of the Grade 12 girls a great deal of difficulty motivating in an Ottawa High School studied in myself this year." His average had plum­ 1977 showed signs -of declining achieve­ meted to 65 from 80 percent. When ment over the years. A random sample of 25 girls were interviewed on this asked why he had difficulty "mot­ and other topics related to sex role ivating himself", he answered, "I don't socialization. know. I'm just tired of it." Losing interest was the reason When the occupational aspiration they most often gave for declining of girls are considered, it becomes achievement. Others said that there very clear why several of them was less pressure on them to do well than when they were younger. "I saw show patterns of declining achieve­ that I could get away with more things ment at school. and my grades slipped," said one student . All but five girls interviewed could be divided into two occupat­ Another clearly outlined the pattern ional groups. exhibited by all these girls whose One group had decided at the achievement declined: age of 12 or 13 (interestingly, the "In Grade 9 I had a pretty good av­ age of puberty) to enter the trad­ erage. It went down a little in grade itional "women's" occupations. 10 and got worse in Grade 11. I was When questioned, several of those skipping seven or eight periods a day... who had chosen stereotyped There are no rules around here." "women's work" said that they had Why do such a high proportion considered other occupations when of girls lose interest in school pre­ they were young before becoming cisely when achievement and grades realistic become important for future education These earlier choices were dif­ and work? Why are some so dependent ferent in important ways from the on external pressure to do well at ones they ultimately made. Some school? And if they are right and if were in areas not traditionally there is less pressure on them to do "female" and all were, relative well as they get older, why? to their final choices, more demand­ ing in years of training or education required. Girls decline Although only a small percentage of girls exhibited a trend for im­ provement of grades, this pattern was much more conmon for boys. A third of the boys interviewed indicated that their grades had improved. The reason given was that they found the work more interesting and they were working harder. For example, two achieving young women, initially chose physician as a desired future occupation, but changed to hospital lab technician. They changed choices despite the fact that they wondered, even then, if the latter would be a demanding enough occupation. Another substit­ uted library assistant for teacher because despite good grades, she she was sure she would not be able to do university work. One student who had briefly flirted with Che idea of becoming an auto mechanic, turned to secretarial work; others, who had considered the careers of lawyer and parole officer, decided to go into health care occupations instead. This decline in occupational aspirations of girls parallels the decline in achievement. Girls in the other group we’re at the opposite pole to their "real­ istic" sisters. They were still fantasizing about their futures. Some presented totally unrel­ ated possibilities when asked about their occupational interests. These possibilties included occupations in philosophy, biology, sociology, fashion design, and brain surgery. The underlying motif was "some­ thing to do with my mind." One student noted three pos­ sibilities: agriculture, linguistics and hotel management. Although she preferred the first, she did not think she would do that because she would get too "muscley". Several girls were interested in art, and envisaged using their tal­ ents In personal, individual creat* ivity. This was very much a middleclass preference and suggests a part time interest easily compatible with the role of housewife. The choice ____________________________________ These two very different patterns of choice exhited by the girls have similar social results. As adults, these young women will either con­ sciously enter "women's" occupations and fit them around a family, or they will almost by default acquire no training and become housewives. If they need to work, they will naturally fall into the unskilled reserve labor force. Working-class boys fit into the "early choice" pattern, selecting low-skill, working-class occupations. They responded to a limited set of choices which are conspicuously open. In contrast, middle-class boys did not make choices at an age when it was too early to know what options are available. Nor did they down- continued <Sme rROFBSSOW. HAB GG9QN ALTHOUGH WE'RE \ NEW BUSINESS, SHERYL, AND MYSELF, MARLENE, HAVE DEVOTED 28 YEARS TO OUR PROFESSION IN THUNDER BAY. WE SPECIALIZE IN: • BODY WAVES * CURLY PERMS . WASH & WEAR PERMS •AND GOOD HAIRCUTS Northern Woman Journal, page 3 v �grade their earlier aspirations.. They chose an area of interest, had some notions about the future education they needed, and were waiting to see what occupational choices were open to them when they got into the field. These findings help explain the perpetuation of sex stereotyped roles and institutions within society. The above patterns are largely invis­ ible in the high school because they ,are so compatible with expectationsi for girls and boys. When a girl says that she has "lost interest" in school, or has decided to be come a lab technician' rather than a doctor because she couldn'i "stand the strain" these are taken to be completely acceptable explan­ ations, not to be questioned. The possibility that.they may be rational­ izations to avoid challenging stereo­ typed female roles is not considered. Far from questioning motivations, teachers encourage such adjustments to traditional roles. Through observation in the Grade 12 classroom, for example, it was learned that teachers single out boys more often than girls to par­ ticipate. Teachers prefer to encourage boys ________________________ Clearly, there is a definite andi in most cases probably unconscious teacher preference for encouraging boy students to contribute in the class room. Also, boys are more like­ ly than girls to volunteer answers and ask questions. One can only speculate why boys participate more on their own three to one. This is not surprising because English is considered a "female" field, while math is stereotypically male. This suggests that the teachers in part, teach stereotypes to their stud­ ents. In this case, girls are taught when it is and is not considered appropriate to participate. Without doubt, the girl’s loss of interest, their declining achieve­ ment and their "dead end" patterns of occupational choices are related to each other. These choices also relate to thier more peripheral in­ volvement in the classroom. Another way schools teach girls to adjust to sterotyped sex roles is through the guidance program. Four of the five guidance counsellors in the the school studied indicated that girls should only consider occupational initiative. It may well be that after years of special attention they are more choices which are compatible with being a wife and mother. at ease participating in the class­ According to one counsellor, a room. They feel assured that teachers "fairly intelligent" female student are interested in what they have to " ... might look for a career that she say, and that they expect and value can leave for a few years and go their contributions, It may also be back to...like working as a counsellor, that the girls have incorporated the as a social worker, as a teacher, as a stereotypes of the quiet, passive a saleswomen, possibly secretarial feminine personality; they are there­ work, office work..." All the stereo­ fore more shy and retiring in class. typed "women's" occupations. The passivity of girls in the Another counsellor said that "a classroom is more pronounced in woman who tries to have a family and' mathematics class, where the ratio of participation between boys and girls a career can do neither properly." Thus, girls are explicitly taught reaches an average of four to one, to think that their futures are limited than in English Literature classes, by their biological role of child where the ratio id between two and Women’s Brochures Place Booklets Printing Pamphlets Newsletters LETTERHEAD BULLETINS REASONABLE r No oAcfeA too 6ma.ll'. Phone 31*5-7802 Northern Woman Journal, page 4 V r For the most part, they assist students to adjust to the exisitng sex structure and class structure of society. By fulfilling their man­ date in this limited way, the schools serve as conservative institutions, ensuring the perpetuation of stereo­ typed roles. As a result, young women, narrow their horizons as they mature and aim for what is conspicuously open to them as women. In the short run they are rewarded-for doing this. They receive the satisfaction of knowing that they are fulfilling the societal stereo­ types of femininity. In the long run, they may come to regret this lack of preparation for roles other than the traditional ones. And no matter what they as individuals feel, a direct result; is the continuation of stereotyped sex roles and social patterns of male dominance. Dear Sisters, I am sure that you will be inter­ ested in learning this, if you don't already know about it. To catch up with the delightful Brutality Chic wave, LOIS JEANS AND JACKETS have put out a lovely poster where we can admire this True Male brutalizing a Fox-so-sexy-the-poor-guy-can'thelp-it! It has been out for a very long time now and I haven't seen or heard of any feamle protest!! Do I need to mention the word boycott. I am a woman I am made as Hell I am not going to take it anymore. RATES 316 BAY ST. bearer. Apparently, having children makes no such demands on fathers! The adjustment girls make during high school to traditional sex roles is antithetical to the prescribed and avowed goals of the educational system. Schools are ideally supposed to open new doors to students and make them more aware of their own interests, abilities and potentials. They do this successfully only for well-motivated middle class boys and a few particularly ambitious girls and working-class boys. �Speak-out On Child Abuse sense of discovery. And yet, for Louise, the bed room and told to lie down there is no real relief: on the floor. "That," says Sara, " It doesn’t go away. Jt recedes. You was my introduction to sex right KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT: A SPEAK-OUT ON there." don't have to like it. You just have INCEST by Louise Armstrong, Hawthorn to live with it. Like a small nasty In later years, the father wants Books Inc., New York, $9.95. pet you've had for years. the children to experience inter­ Part of Armstrong's motivation course. David is commanded to per­ KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT, as the subtitle in undertaking DADDY is an attempt to form with a foster sister close to promises, is a speak-out. Sixteen break through the tradition of silence his age; Sara is commanded to per­ women, a young man and the author which protects the repeated abuse of form with daddy. When Sara resists herself share their troubling childhood children and also perpetuates the David defends her and the father remembrances. Armstrong composes an shame in the objects of abuse. takes out his hostility in various ad: "Rape can allow for a straight for ways. I am a woman doing a first person * d reaction but the seduction of Sara and David survived with documentary book on incest. I am looking a child by a needed and trusted parent emotional scars and, in Sara's case for others who have had an actual or is far more complex." physical ones as well. Sara has * near-actual incest experience to par­ All the same, some straightforward self-inflicted cuts up and down her ticipate in my 'forum'. reactions are to be found: arms, and she has attempted suicide, The ads placed, Armstrong then feared If something like that happened to the only one in the book, I believe that she might be the only one in my children, I think I'd kill him... to have done so. Of Incest, David the world to whom this happened. your father's supposed to love and says: "this" refers to incest—broadly protect you, and if he does something Kids aren't ready. It pushes them., defined as the sexual abuse of a child like that, it's the biggest betrayal at that age you want to feel safe by a needed and trusted parent." there is. What you really need from and in control and intact. Her fear proved unfounded. Armstrong a father is just love. Sara says: received 183 repsponses and selected Jill fantasized about killing her Emotions are so hard, so funny to those that she felt had the "ring of » father with an ice pick. deal with. You can have one strong the common" and were within the scope KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT, without emotion one way and just keep it of this book. that way—like hate. And then sometbinpheing a cold statistical survey, In previous books, Louise Armstrong raises the issue that far more women stirs other memories. And he could be wrote stories for children. DADDY is were abused as children than legal so good. And then so awful. He was a book about the lives of children— just one mass of contradictions. files , Social Service Records or mostly girl children—one of whom Contradictions thread their way case histories reveal. remembers cunnilingus being performed through KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT. June As with wife-beating and rape, one on her in infancy and another who loc­ who experienced cunnilingus as an longs not to look. One wants the ated hospital records indicating that infant, sums it up best: issue to go away. But it will not. she had had gonorrhea at the age of ' "I just wish I'd been able to I feel that this man's actions three. contributed to me not having a mind cope with less human wreckage along This book's structure is sometimes of my own and not being able to say the way," says Maggie who was mol­ tricky to follow; imagined conversa­ no to men. I feel I owe him because ested by her father from age four to tions distract from the actual. he raised me like a daughter (he sixteen, "how can someone do that Yet it is Armstrong's choice of was her stepfather) but I hate him to another human being?" structure which allows the women to for subjecting me to his adult will For your information, Louise Arm­ speak and lends DADDY its gruelling at such an early age that I can't strong, you can count me in on tone of authenticity, weaving her own think for myself. I want to destroy your list of women who formally personal story in and out of the every female child's vagina so it admit to having had an incestuous painful intimacies confided to her can t be used in an adult way. father. Although he has been dead for by the 16 interviewees, Armstrong For the women in the book, pene­ ten years now, I still spend a dis­ melds narrative with theory. With tration occurred at different ages— proportionate time brooding over my both fine and broad strokes she some before menstruation, some past with him and like Maggie, "wish touches upon every aspect of incest. after. "Kiss your cherry goodbye." I had been able to cope with less By choice, the overriding perspective Wendy's dad warned her as she ap­ human wreckage along the way." is the first person and not that of proached mentruation. the detached clinician. By Mary Lous Shields, New Women's KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT is a hard book If DADDY is exhausting to read, it Times Feminist Review, March 15, 1979 to take—repulsive in places. Sandy. is because separate accounts blend trying to imagine what it is like into a collective litany of shocking hearing stories like this says: abuse. Sexual violation came to the KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT: A SPEAKI can get grossed out because it's "speakers" whin they were young, un­ OUT ON INCEST IS available in repulsive. Really sickening. Not just informed and had no resources other a grown man molesting a child, but his the Women' s Centre Resource Libthan mommy and daddy. In order to rary. daughter yet. empathize with the experience being Louise Armstrong asks, "Why is it recounted, a reader is requi red to necessary for men to eroticize all relive her own feeling of helplessness positive affectionate, even sensual and dependency. So reader beware— responses? And why are men such victims this book arouses strong emotion. of their own sexuality?" The skeptics among us who might doubt such testimonies should note As one listens to June, Sara and that one of the most unnerving stories Sandy, one gets the sense that they is also the only one substantiated by have spent hundreds of hours brood­ both a sister and brother, Sara and ing over each hour of abuse. It David. When their mother goes back to overshadows their lives. school and a nursing career, Sara Louise Armstrong's father made his and David are left alone a lot with first sexual advances toward her their father, "a pillar of the com­ when they were away on a trip. At munity ." the time, Louise was eleven. The In the mother's absence, the writing of DADDY feels very much like father begins "training" Sara and a part of her own therapy for the David and two foster children in trauma. As recently as when she got various sexual techniques. He the contract to do this book, she instructs them in "blow-jobs" for him had not told her mother about her and then puts them into position father's sexual abuse. When she finally with each other. Always, the father did, she learned more about her own does the orchestration. past and the reader shares in Louise's Four-year old Sara is called to Reprinted from KINESIS, July 1979 , MORE Northern Woman Journal, page 5 v �PUSHING INCEST OT 1 in 4 female children are victims. by Gay la Reid erosexual. Gere'8 some horrendous arithmetic The suspicion that the child for you: molester is homosexual is a sensation­ Take a grade 12 class of 16 women. al media myth—witness their avid One in four will have experienced attention to the unusual Toronto some type of sexual assault. Of murder of shoeshine boy Emmanual the four, one will have been involved, Jaques. or is involved, in an incestuous More than 50 percent of the time, relationship. Experts assert: sexual abuse takes place within the Ninety five percent of the victims regular family unit. Attacks by psychotic child abusers account for of incest are female. Ninety five percent of the offenders only five percent of sexual abuse. Typically, the' attacker is the liveare male. And we can't start dealing with in father figure. He could be the father, the step-father, mother's incest until it is defined as a prob­ live-in lover, or a brother or uncle. lem. Social taboos demand that sexual The abuse ranges rrom fondling of abuse be seen not to exist. Like breasts to touching genitals, masturwife battering, like rape, sexual hation and Intercourse. abuse of children is an issue that Physical violence is rarely invol­ the women's movement is fighting to. ved. Because the child does not have bring to public awareness. bruises visible on her body, the Sexual abuse is any physical con­ abuse can go undetected for years. tact from one person to another per­ Coercian is present, but subtle. Daddy'8 taking care of me, daddy's son who is not a willing partner. paying me special attention, daddy Diana Ladell, of Nanaimo Rape Rel­ loves me—these are the seductive ief has been researching the issue and images that can be presented to the studying the incidence of sexual abuse in the Nanaimo area over the past victim. Abuse typically starts when the nine months. child is between eight and ten or When Ladell learned of the statis­ tic on sexual abuse, her first reaction twelve or thirteen. In one study, the victim was twelve years of age was one of disbelief. They're way too or younger in 81 percent of the cases. high, she thought, they must'be ex­ aggerated. Nine months later she feels the figure of one in four is indeed accurate. What kind of man would sexually abuse children? What happens to the victims of abuse,? What kind of abuse situation does child abuse take place? When confronted,the response of the sexual abuser varies: She is just waking it up because I And it goes on and on—lasting wouldn't give her an allownace. anywhere from six months to fourteen years. In one case a 16 year old said She was wearing that flimsy little that her father had been playing with night gown so what do you expect2 her for a number of years. She was reluctant to leave home because her X got drunk and passed out. When I younger sister was 13 and "if I leave, came to, my daughter was sitting on she's next." top of me trying to get my penis What about the mother? " Jt is inside her. often the woman who gets blamed," says Ladell, "the wife, the man’s I wanted her first sexual experience own mother, the daughter...women to be a good one. and kids are in a really bad position in this society/ Economically and My God, I'm glad it's out in the to some extent emotionally, the mother open. is dependant on the husband. What The men who sexually abuse children is she to do? If she reports the case range from chronic offenders to those if the man ends up in jail, she ends UP who feel extremely guilty and ashamed. up on welfare. There goes her bread­ winner . The mother may deny that the sexual abuse has in fact taken place Or she may clue into other disturb­ The chronic offender is one who ing tensions that have been happening has consistently avoided adult rel­ within the family: the grim pieces ationships and is sexually attracted fall into place. to young girls. He tends to feel no remorse. "Whatever course is taken," says Then there's the sexual abuser Ladell, "sexual abuse puts the whole who has found adult relationships family into crisis." stressful and disappointing. He's Keeping the family together, which depressed, he feels as if his manhood is the resolute answer of many agencies has been threatened. It's a new act­ can In some cases be detrimental. ivity for him, begun when his selfimage is at its low point. More often VSometimes that policy can protect the child, but sometimes it is best to than not, this man is a married het- “IF I LEAVE, SHE'S NEXT” Nortjiern Woman Journal, page 6 V get the child out of the situation," says Ladell. What works? Ladell outlined for readers one approach that seems to be successful. That is a therapeutic family treat­ ment program in Santa Clara, Californ­ ia. All the family dynamics are treated: mother and father have mar­ ital counselling', mother and daughter have therapy, victims and offenders have special groups. People are still trying to cope frith the fact that sexual abuse happens, let alone get organized around it. I've just come back from a national conference of rape crisis centres and I can tell you that as yet we have no adequate treatment programs operating in the country. We're still at the stage of making the public acknowledge sexual abuse as a large problem. If we're going to make any positive steps towards confronting the reality of sexual abuse, Ladell stresses, "it's important that the people who work with children be approachable." ...The present move within the schools back-to-the three R's...is seen as not being helpful at all. It means students have less space to talk about their problems. Without that time, the problem doesn't surface until a point of crisis. The crisis could emerge when the girl runs away from home, becomes un­ controllable or pregnant at age 13. With cruel irony, the victim becomes the social problem. Removing her from the home can feel punitive: she's the one who must have done something wrong because she is the one who is taken away. Keeping her in the home and re­ moving the father can equally be a problem. She can feel responsible for the economic consequences..."They'll send your father to jail and we'll end up on welfare. Ia that what you want to do to us?" The trauma of being used and be­ trayed by her father can often mean that the vicitm loses- her sense of self worth. This in turn leads to fur­ ther abuse. Studies reveal a high co­ relation between delinquent acts in adolescence, pregnancy, venereal dis­ ease, psychiatric illness and sexuall abuse Many adult women report adult sexual problems as a result of early sex­ ual abuse. And 90 percent of the mothers seeking help in a California refuge for people who physically abuse their children said that they had been sexually assaulted as a child. "Talk with any group of adult womeu," says Ladell, "You'll find almost everyone has a story." In the course of her studies she talked with groups of Brownies, with junior high and senior high school students. She heard girls speak of sexual abuse making it public; for the first time. She was approached on her Own, after discussions, by students who wanted to tell someone privately �r OF THE CLOSET Sexual abuse, the most concealed form form of child abuse, 16 just now being brought out into the open. Learning about it feels a bit like seeing pictures of Dachau for the first time. The sooner we can generate a less defensive acceptance of sexual abuse as a common fact of family life, the better it will be for the women involved. cases of incest or sexual abuse of children over the past two years, One of the calls came from the Children’s Aid Society, which as far as outsiders can tell has developed no strategy to deal with the problem * of incest or sexual abuse of children. The cases that have been brought to to the attention of the Rape Crisis Centre here, have been treated like any rape case as far as the proceedure for dealing with them goes. Someone is sent out to talk to the family, tn all cases it has Thunder Bay's Rape and Sexual Assault Centre has had four reported been the family of the victim who have sought advice. Usually they want to know whether the case merits court proceeding and how they can approach the child about the matter without alarming the child unnecessarily. "The problem is the same every­ where," says Doreen Boucher of the Centre, "We don't have the inform­ ation because the problem is not yet out in the open." While the Rape Crisis Centre is open to the calls, they admit that most of their workers who answer calls play It by ear. Because we have all had mothers, the Institution affects all women, and— though differently—ail men. Patri­ archal violence and callousness are often visited through women upon.child­ taken from OF WOMAN BORN by Adrienne in links of love and guilt; the absence ren—not only the "battered1 child but Rich, Bantam Books, 1976. of social benefits for mothers; the the children desperately pushed, cajoled, inadequacy of child-care facilities in manipulated, the children dependent on The institution of motherhood cannot most parts of the world; the unequal be touched or seen:- in art perhaps one uncertain, weary woman for their pay women receive as wage-earners, for­ day-in, day-out care and emotional sus­ only Kathe Kollwitz has come close to evoking It. It must go on being evoked, cing them often into dependence on a tenance, the male children who grow up man; the solitary confinement of "full­ believing that a woman is nothing so so that women never again forget that time motherhood‘; the token nature of our many fragments of lived experience much as an emotional climate made to fatherhood, which gives a man rights belong to a whole which is not of our soothe and reassure, or an emotional creation. Rape and its aftermath; mar­ and privileges over children toward whirlwind bent on their destruction. whom he assumes minimal responsibility; riage as economic dependence, as the the psychoanalytic castigation of the guarantee to a man of "his" children; I come back, as we must, to Joanne mother; the pediatric assumption that the theft of childbirth from women; •Mlchulski. Desperation surely grew the mother is inadequate and ignorant; upon her, little by little. She loved, the concept of the ''illegitimacy" of a the burden of emotional work borne by child born out of wedlock; the laws she tried to love, she screamed and was women in the family—all these are con­ not heard, because there was nothing regulating contraception and abortion; necting fibers of this invisible insti­ and no one in her surroundings who saw the cavalier marketing of dangerous tution, and they determine our relation­ her plight as unnatural, as anything birth control devices; the denial that ship to our children whether we like work done by women at home is a part to think so or not. of "production!*1; the chaining of women motherhood confd next mse What do you mean LIBERATED? The 19th century term emancipation Implied freedom from legal constraints. The 20th centucy term liberation is subtler. It means freedom from psycholog­ ical as well as from legal or political constraints; freedom from the unspoken pressures that as insistently as the formal, verbal ones, force certain life patterns on us. At the day-to-day level, some of the concrete issues involved in achieving liberation deal with such commonplace issues as birth control, child care, and paid employment. But the specific bread and butter Issues are far from being the overridin-g ones. THE CRITICAL FORM OF LIBERATION IS ON A DIFFERENT PLANE . LIBERATION IS A WIDENING OF CHOICES. Liberation is facing the difficult and serious human Liberation Is a searching choice of establishing an for self-identity and selfidentity and a purpose in fulfilment to the utmost of life. To achieve liberation the person's ability. it each person must discover means release from the herself as an individual with restrictions Imposed by significance In her own right. stereotyped roles. IDENTITY COMES ONLY THROUGH LIBERATION MEANS AUTONOMY, MAKING CHOICES, AND LIBERATION BELIEF IN ONE'S SELF, SELF IS THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING CONFIDENCE, INDEPENDENCE OF EVER-WIDER CHOICES FOR PEOPLE. RATHER THAN SUBSERVIENCE TO STANDARDS DETERMINED BY OTHERS, LIBERATION FROM THE MYTHS THAT HAVE ENSLAVED AND CONFINED US IN OUR OWN MINDS AS WELL AS IN THE MINDS OF OTHERS. Liberation Is the fundamen­ tal reorientation of the relationship between the sexes. The experience of liberation, like that of religious conversion, is the - sometimes sudden - restructuring of wellknown facts. (Thoroughly adapted from Jessie Bernard, "The Future of Marriage") from A Woman 1s Place. January 79 GAY WOMEN'S EROTICA: I would like to assemble and publish a collection and/or women identi­ fied erotica. Both written and graphic material would be included. I encourage all women to consider those things which enhance their sexual feelings and express it as a contribution to this book. This book will provde an opportunity to espress themselves and will also be very interesting and great fun to read. Send your contributions to: PAMIR PRODUCTIONS PO BOX 40218 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94140 Anonymity is guarateed unless other­ wise stated. Northern Woman Journal, page 7 v �CHIMPANZEE LITERARY i like it when i slip into bed & you're asleep and you slip your arm around me in a primordial instinct I am reminded of a chimpanzee at the Woodland Park Zoo peeling a banana in his slender fingers or clinging with a graceful but hairy arm to the branch of a tree & I'm glad when you have your ancestral arm around me that my body is warm, that I am an animal WRITER'S CRAMP my poems are progeny: little bastards bom opt of imagination from times we have lain together on a bed of Thesaurus & Oxford. Each word's a ritual: comma period caress My poems are a long arduous word-play resulting in Fallopian disaster: seeds shot into brain cells, a dumb sperm hitting the lost egg somewhere in the Subconscious LORRAINE VERNON thene Is a woman who lives in my husband's house hen hobbles one collecting dust balls and taking baths 1 wish someone would take hen away she's dnlvlng me cnazy Uumled young you took my hand, put a /Ung on my iingen, nepeated the. vans and Struted. t took youn hand, gave my sting to you, neveA consciously lied, the "1 do’s" wene too easily ago.teable, the game too easily uion, not realizing the consequences, once the cenemony utas done. new yeans laten, you say I’ve changed, I'm not the glut you mannled, you neven neatly knew the soul Inside on the woman bunted beneath the shell, bunnlng In hell, finally escaping to the suniace. and new what do you do with hen, she's not neatly what you wanted, let It nlde ion awhile, see what (>ate has stunted. Viola Qsdenne ARTHRITIC PAIW SLUES I sometimes yeann to gathen up these bunnlng bones oi mine step neatly inom this lined ilesh to stand within a pant oi eveny day. silent with the cool netlei anyohene thene is to be beyond thewhys and whynots nemerbenlng with joy, that othen me. Violet Wineganden Mickey Pedensen LORRAINE VERNON Woman's Pole Poll oven go to sleep, I don't want to! Yes you will, yes you can, you know you will, I'm youn man. ho way!, I've no excuse to give you, expect I don't want to. You know my dean 1 tike being pant o i the iun, I don't want to, that's all thene Is to It. It doesn't mean you'ne not deslned, it's been hell, I'm just lined. You tell me when youn day has been nough, and youn answen dean, is Tm too lined, go to sleep. Then my dean man you can cook and you can clean, see how you like just being a housewife and baby machine, thene is no change oi dull old housewonk, It’s a boning noutlne. I must stay home, not go out atone, ion me thene's no such thing as a male intend . . . people would spnead the wond and doubt you as my man, my Hie, my loven and soul supponten. I musn't dness cool on supen shanp as It's been said, nape it does Invite. I must stay home and lock my doons, ion I am just a woman! Youn pnopenty and as ion nights, I haven't many. You'ne asking ion tnouble woman, when one knows youn scene, youn own noutlne as we all know thene's always a gossip to spoil youn dneam. So as a woman you don't i-ight back, why you'ne bonn with a mind, use it. You have the stnength, woman stand up let younseli be heand, woman it's tune you came out oi the closet. Northern Woman Journal, page 8 V upon coming back Dried horse turds In molded yellow straw Whop through the air From the toe of my bootBroken wine bottles Wink through matted grass. Shambled buildings, Half covered with nettles, Memories, dry as horse turds. Lay everywhere. ALEATA E. BLYTHE Linda Richand motherhood but the "homemaker's" usual service to the home. She became the scapegoat, the one around whom the darkness of maternity is allowed to swirl — the in­ visible violence of the institution of motherhood, the guilt, the powerless responsibility for human lives, the judgments and condemnations, the fear of her own power, the guilt, the guilt, the guilt. So much of this heart of darkness is an undramatic, undramatlzed suffering: the woman who serves her SPECIMEN we live together but not as a commune. I'm the mother: figure fixed on a pin All around me people use dishes, clothes squeeze oranges toothpaste tubes. Tell mewhat would happen if I wiggled off like a butterfly, that is already dead LORRANE VERNON family their food but cannot sit down with them, the woman who cannot get out of bed in the morning, the woman polish' ing the same place on the table over and over, reading labels in the super­ market as if they were in a foreign language, looking in a drawer where there is a butcher knife. The scape­ goat is also an escape-valve: through her the passions and the blind raging waters of a suppressed knowledge are permitted to churn their way so that they need not emerge in less extreme situations as lucid rebellion. Reading of the "bad1 mother's desperate response to an invisible assault on her being, "good1 mothers resolve to become better, more patient and long-suffering, to cling more tightly to what passes for sanity. The scapegoat is different from the martyr; she cannot teach res­ istance or revolt. She represents a terrible temptation: to suffer uni­ quely, to assume that I, the individual woman, am the "problenf. �MIGRATION By Elizabeth Robertson Borland THE WEB by Elizabeth Robertson Borland The sun is glinting Off the silver birches. Silver trees sheltering Secrets in their silent shade. The wind is frolicking. Chasing and teasing the clouds, As they draw themselves away, Struggling to retain dignity. The lake shimmers In the golden sunlight; A flutter of waves dancing Across the surface, laugh. Smiling at me. Out of the quietness A loon flaps across the lake. Calling, calling, calling. And my heart responds. I long to stay forever Caught up in the sunlight Like a bee encased in amber From eternity long ago. The Moon is caught in a web, A net of bare tree branches. Tossed by the Wind; The wild, wild wind. Who loves her pale beauty. Glowing coolly. Stay and be my love! He cries. But as the wild geese Must fly South before Winter, To warmer, softer climes. So must I fly South To the richer climates <, f Of the Mind. Did you hear the geese Also crying. As they went Southward? THE WOMAN IN ME by VIOLA GODERRE I am reaching slowly inward, touching softly heart and mind, realizing my own feelings, accepting now my place in time. I am reversing my self-image, revealing the original soul with no reflections in a mirror, no illusions, no sief-control. standing naked in the sunshine uncaring now whose eyes will see the being here, though very humble, embraces warmly, the woman in me. BRIEF POEM Why did Neruda write for the people? Not for the politicians? (although he was an ambassador) CATFIGHT We live in a land, social net from which we draw The cat that fights The cat that skulks And the cat removed of claw Joyce Michalchuk We could be equal. Sir if that were all. In purse and opportunity the fence could fall. We could be equal, but I want mush more than what I plainly see you settled for. And if by chance or some divine design our lots were equal and the choice was mine I wouldn't hold you to a role that broke your spirit and your soul, we could be equal, friend and still be lost, unless we meet on higher ground above the frost. GERT BEADLE The dark coild of the mesh Close tightly around her. Holding her fast. The clouds of her hair Blow in the wind. Drifting lossely. I must go, I cannot stay!. She cries. She does not fight the trap, Afraid of it rending her. Tearing delicate tissues. Anguished are her eyes. As the down curve of her cheek Drops a tear. I cannot give my love Captive. The Wind throws off the snare, Freeing his dream Of happiness in love. She looks upward towards the sky. Hearing the stars singing, Smiling sweetly. Go! Cries the Wind, Broken-hearted. The Wind moans through the forest. Tormented by his lost dream. Bewailing his lost love. Dawn, my sister beackons me With rosy fingers, says the Moon, Leaving slowly. I will love you in freedom. When I return. unfeelinq feelinqs by VIOLA GODERRE broken glass ground beneath a heartless heel, shattered to dust, caught by the wind to disappear. feelings unfeeling trying to reach the stars, a kite of emotion cut loose and abandoned to struggle in the clouds. theKe iin't much to iay theKe iin't much to do when alt that t& known ■it abiolutdy tnjue theKe iin't much to Living that dying can enaie iooneii ok lateh we atl come face to face He wrote for the peasants because he loved them & he dreamed that one day after they had eaten, they would learn to read. LORRAINE VERNON my fauthea wai a man ai wai my unde my b/iothehi and huiband ahe men now and my ion ii a boy yei i am a woman and i can enduhe no mohe pain fah i love my daughteK my motheh, my aunt and my iiitem too Mickey Pedemen Mickey Pedeuen Northern Woman Journal, page 9 v �Canada not without blemish MacDonald states at the UN UNITED NATIONS (CP) Canada is not without blemish when it comes to human rights problems. External Affairs Minister Flora Mac­ Donald said Tuesday. In fact, she said at a news con­ ference, if the UN heeds her call to appoint a deputy undersecretary for human rights, Canada might in­ deed be the subject of an investi­ gation. Miss MacDonald made the call for an undersecretary for rights in her first address to the General Assembly. In the past, similiar proposals for a high commissioner for human rights have gone un­ heeded at the UN because many coun­ tries might be embarrassed if hauled on the carpet for their treatment of their citizens. "I don't mean, in putting this forward, to preach at other coun­ tries in the world," Miss MacDonald told reporters. "If one were to look at Canada, and its record of human rights, we have some very real problems with regard to the problems of Indian women. "It may be that one of the first issues that an undersecretary for human rights might want to look in­ to is the situation with regard to Indian women in Canada." MIGHT BE EMBARRASSING She conceded that might be em­ barrassing to the government, un­ less legislation is changed, but said that should not hinder sup— port for the proposal. Under Canada's Indian Act, an Indian Act, an Indian woman who marries a non-Indian loses her status as an Indian. Miss MacDonald said the UN is already looking at the situation because a New Brunswick woman, Sandra Lovelace, complained about it to the world body's human rights commission. opportunity knocks WELLNESS fox WOMEN IN THE HOME RESOURCE LIBRARY by Monika McNabb Last year the Northern Woman'sCentre obtained a grant from a local foundation. This has enabled us to purchase a desk, room dividers, essential office materials, library shelves, and a filing cabinet to expand our vertical lending files. Also, a wide range of books were bought from the Co-op Bookshop: novels by Engel, Feminism : the essential historical writings, Guide for Working Mothers, Judy Chicago's struggles as a woman artist, a Lamaze book. Make it Happy : What Sex is all About (for teenagers), Woman and Labour, and others. The book collection now stands at 360 and there Is sure to be something here for you. Newspaper and magazine clippings are an essential part of a vertical file and since the library no longer has a paid staff, vo1unteers to help clip and paste to keep the files up-to-date would be appreciated. If you can spare a few hours a week, this is a good chance to become familiar with the vast amount of Information and resources available for women. Donald B. Ardell, author and lecturer wl 11 conduct a one-day workshop dealing with the five elements of wellness - fitness, nutritional awareness, self­ responsibility, stress manage­ ment and environmental concern. Saturday, October 20 9 a.m. - A p.m. Lakehead University Faculty Lounge $15 registration fee includes lunch and a 1 week pass to Vic Tanny's. To register, send your cheque, made payable to the Community Fitness Campaign, to: Nora Fulcher, 130 Pinegrove PI., Thunder Bay, Ont., P7B 5X7 "Dhat'i neatly fan i& to nun my wedding mouteA backoakdi and dee my&eJLh walking out 0(( the chuAch a face woman." From New Woman October 1979 Limited registration on a first come, first serve basis. SALT AND YEAST - available soon I want to go for broke I want to risk it all, feel the day I’m in, hear tomorrow call... Northern Woman Journal, page 10 v Salt and Yeast, a book of sel­ ected poems by Gert Beadle, with illustrations by Sirpa Bishop, is now in its second printing. Two hundred copies of the collection will be available at the end of October. To order call 345-7802 or write 316 Bay Street, Thunder Bay, P7B 1S1. Cost is $5.00 per copy. �TV ONTARIO 'Footsteps Northern Writers Conference October 12, 13, 1979 Confederation College ' TV Ontario has produced FOOTSTEPS, a television series for the parents of young children, as its contribution to the Year of the Child. Beginning Sep­ tember 19th, the 20 30 minute programs will be aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm. Footsteps deals with the problems, challenges and opportunities of parent­ hood. It is of particular interest not only to parents, but to anyone who has a responsibility for young children or and interest in them. Each program is introduced by a wellThis series may be purchased on known television personality and spouse videotape by non-profit organiza­ chatting about their own children, and tions. For further information con­ describing the the theme for the program. tact: A dramatization follows that presents a realistic situation. Documentary Mary Fisher footage rounds off the program. Utilization Services The themes are as varied as the needs, The Ontario Educational interests, and problems of young child­ Communications Authority ren. Some examples are: children's fears • P.O. Box 200, Station Q nutrition, death, social relationships, Toronto, Ontario M4T 2T1 discipline, and creativity. Ph. (416) 484-2665 *************************** "The time will come, we hope, when women will be economically free and mentally and spiritual­ ly independent enough to refuse to have their food paid for by men, when women will receive equal pay for equal work and have all avenues of activity open to them and will be free to choose their own mates, without shame or indelicacy; when men will not be afraid of marriage because of the financial burden, but free men and women will marry for love and together work for the sustenance of their fami­ lies. It is coming and the new movement among women who are crying out for a larger humani­ ty, is going to bring it about." The Northern Writers Committee, the Ontario Arts Council and Con­ federation College are pleased to announce that a gathering of north­ ern writers and poets will take place at the college. The theme of the conference is "The Writer's Craft". Friday, October 12th, an evening of readings of prose and poetry will be open to the public, free of charge. Attending are Canadian authors and poets Gertrude Beadle, feminist author of 'Salt and Yeast', Patricia Barclay, Arthur Black, Fred Bodsworth, Sheila Burnford, Marjorie W. Campbell, Leon­ ard Dick, Joan Finnigan, George Kenny, Elizabeth Kouhi, Claude Liman, Doc Skinner, James Stevens, and Wilfred Pelletier. On Saturday, a registration fee of $25 will be charged for a series of workshops. Topics are 'Writing and the Ecology', 'Screenplay Writing', 'Historical Writing and Research', 'Poetry', and 'How to Prepare a Manu­ script'. Enrolment is limited. Con­ tact Carol Rusak of Continuing Edu­ cation at Con College for further information and registration. HALLOWEEN BOOGIE October 26, 1979 Moose Hall 434 Fort William Rd. NORTHERN WOMEN'S CENTRE FUND RAISING’EVENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP! In Times lake These Nellie HcClung Nellie McClung was one of the women on the 'Persons Committee. Dress-up is optional Facilities Available CELEBRATIONS MEETINGS SELF-HELP GROUPS Evenings are available at "MeLL tt’6 about time, you ienved. that chicken." Women's Place, 316 Bay Street. Large, comfortable, atmosphere. living-room Reasonable Rates. Phone 345-7802 from the Houseworker's Handbook : — Northern Woman Journal, page 11 V �Join the persons case' CELEBRATION - October 18th! Believe it or not, only 50 years The celebration will wind tq? with ago wcmen had no legal status as a coffee and anniversary cake being "persons" in Canada. Today it is diij- served at which time those in attend­ ficult to recall that up to 1929, ance will be presented with scrolls five successive Canadian governments that copy the original declaration. and the Supreme Court of Canada had "The Persons Case" celebration insisted that Canadian women were is being sponsored by the Northwes­ not "persons" because of the way tern Ontario International Women's that word was defined in the context Decade Co-Ordinating Council. Also of the British North America Act. present will be a good representation On October 18th, beginning at of the Thunder Bay women's service 7 p.m., at Confederation College, and social clubs who have planned the public is invited to core out displays highlighting their various and celebrate the victory of five Alberta women in their battle with the Supreme Cdurt of Canada. It was October 18, 1929 that the Privy Council of Canada handed down a dec­ ision declaring that Canadian women were indeed persons under the law and therefore eligible for appoint­ ment to the Canadian Senate. The celebration will feature a media display which will colour fully outline the history of the Persons Case that will be set up in the College Concourse for public viewing. At 7 p.m. in the Staff Lounge there will be a wine and cheese party, followed by skits and plays related to the occasion to be per­ formed by Kam Theatre Lab & friends in the College Theatre auditorium objectives and functions. The Thun­ der Bay Sweet Adelaides will give a choral presentation as part of the evening's entertainment. The general prublic is encouraged to attend the cotmanarative evening and find out more about the history of Canadian people. For further information call Leona tang at 344-9373. Portuguese women show greatest need says Counselling agency Few native Canadians can imagine what it is like to come to Canada, unable to speak the language, and unfamiliar with the customs of the new country. For immigrant women, says Mary Kozyrs, a counsellor at Immigrant Women Couselling Services located in Cornwall School, the problem is compounded. Unlike their husbands the women do not always go out to •work. Isolated in their homes, often kept secluded by a jealous husband, many women live in Canada for years without learning to speak or under­ stand English. Established in May of this year by the Women's Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, Immigrant Women Counselling Service (IWCS) has had several tasks to carry out. By canvassing the .Bay-Secord area, which is densely inhabited by immigrant families, IWCS has prepared a profile of the area. Because the immigrant women are primarily Portuguese, they have been the IWCS’s main focus. But getting to talk to the women personally to establish what their needs are,is not always easy. Mary relates how the Portuguese men can V be most possessive of their wives. Because she was accompanied by a male translator on several occasions, she was refused entry into the homes. The husbands did not trust the translator's presence in the home while he was away at work. "It creates impossible hardship for the women. They can't go to the supermarket or get to know the area. Often they live in poverty—with none of the household conveniences to assist them in their work. They are usually quite young and have quite a few children, who are not much past the infant stage," says Mary. Of course, the women are aware by observing their new surroundings they have not got the same freedom or mobility. This usually results in overwhelming feelings of isolation. The Counselling service is designed to get immigrant women in touch with government services and agencies suited to their needs and problems. The service informs women of their employment rights, education available, pensions, etc. It also provides a translator when neccesaary. For immigrant women who have found employment there is always the danger of exploitation. There are several employers in Thunder Bay currently facing charges of violating the Em­ ployment Standards Act. Mostly the charges are related to failing to pay minimum wage, or being unfair with overtime pay and holidays. There are very few jobs that ac­ comodate a person who does not speak Enlgish fluently. If they find work, the women usually do menial things like work in factories, as kitche^i help or as chambermaids. The project is merely getting off the ground at this point, as it is a slow process working into an immigrant community. Barb Orzech, recent immigrant from Pol­ and is currently preparing to take Mary's position . The fall program will feature an evening women's craft group. Mary and Barb feel that this is a good basis for getting together a group of women who can practise conversational English and even­ tually come forward to establish the areas in which they need assistance. For further information on the Immigrant Women Couselling Service all 345-0551. �I+S..B J Buk Ennombr* 3Sm sst* f 220 \ INSIDE: Stereotyping in the Schools . . . pg 3 RETURN TO; THE NORTHERN WOMAN 316 BAY ST. THUNDER BAY P, ONT. Return Postage Guaranteed Speak-out on Child Abuse . . . . pg 5 Pushing Incest Out of the Closet On the Institution of Motherhood ...... pg 6 . . . . pg 7 YOUR SUBSCRIPTION IS DUE HAVE YOU MOVED??? PLEASE LET US KNOW BY CALLING (807) 345-5841. We must pay return postage to keep up our mailing list. Subscribe: � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 5 No 5 Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 5 No 5 October-November 1979 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2831/1993_Vol_15_No_1.pdf cf925bf1163012c1c27365d21386b4f5 PDF Text Text $2.00 N9RTHERa MAN June 1993 Volume 15, No. 1 01 co O O 7-9URIVAL 7120011113 4 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �by MARGARET PHILLIPS You know the trouble is we take you for granted" my friend Emily remarked, as I was musing about whether the Northern Woman So fund-raise we must. With her wo PLEASE READ energy Jane is leading the fund-raisinl SUPI by organizing the first WOMEN'S COFFEEHOUSE to Journal is important to anyone beyond the small group of us who plod along publishing the NWJ year after year. "We've just come to expect you'll always be there" Emily your subscriptions? After all we do continue continued. to send you the Journal for months and months after your subscription expires. One Perhaps, I thought. But still I pondered - is the NWJ relevant, or is it an exercise in selfindulgence? For despite the woes and irritations of writing copy; endless hours on the computer; finding graphics; pasting straight columns; writing labels - as they * beside your name means sub is due or was due last issue; ** means you are three or four issues behind; *** means you are up to two years out of date. At the two year point we probably will cut your subscription off... then invariably we're asked by the never come off the computer the way we want them; then the constant hassle with Canada Post - who keeps changing the affected person if the Journal has stopped rules but never letting us know .... despite all this .... we love the NWJ and treasure the friendship and nurturance the collective provides. Yes, the Journal is important to us... but does anyone else care? The Then a visitor, a woman from a small eastern Ontario town, came into the Bookstore and immediately picked up a Journal. She told me how much the Journal meant to her... how, as a young woman entering university a dozen years ago, the Journal was the first (of many) women's publications she avidly sought out from the University Women's Centre. The Journal, publishing! question of whether the NWJ's continuance is important, and whether we can increase our subscription revenue is, at this point in time, fundamental. The Journal faces its most serious financial crisis in years. To put this issue of the Journal in your hands, we have to borrow money to pay the publisher. The cost of producing the Journal has risen substantially... for example postage costs have quadrupled support the Coffee Houses, and hop regional women can occassionally vis enjoy them too. There are several ways to support the Journal. While v most reluctant to solicit donations. reality is they would be appreciated. V most grateful for the regular donatioi receive from Journal crones. (Get believe, is psychic... a cheque from seems to always arrive just when we need it.) For an extra return for your dollar wt' advertise - your organization, your bust your project, your conference, etc. Journal. Recognizing that our financial dilemma was serious and would be an on-going problem, financial stability of the Journal is to inc As well, financial restraint measures have caused us the loss of our major advertising the NWJ collective recently set aside an evening to discuss our future. I approached the meeting with a heavy heart, fully Thus I came back to Emily's conclusion. Is it because you take the NWJ "for granted" that so many of you are lax about paying our way. Still the most effective way to ensue our subscription base. Please cor giving NWJ subs as presents to your fr and relatives. Encourage your colleagt. subscribe. Most importantly, please r your subscription today, and help kee Northern Woman Journal a vit alternative voice as we enter our 21st y( continuous publishing. STRIVING 8t ThitiviNg '93 A CONFERENCE ON EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING By NORTIoJESTERN ONTARIO WOMEN IN TRAdES & TEchNology PRESENTEd ANd EQuAy-Wuk WOMEN'S GROUP, SIOUX LOOkOUT SEpTEMbER 10Th, 11 Ttir ANd 12Th, 1993 EAGLE LAKE LODGE, EAGLE LAKE, ONTARIO FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO piAcE TOUR NAME ON OUR MAIEINq LIST; pLEASE cALIW 468.3698 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 2 i We will be happy to neg revenue. since the Conservative government reduced postal subsidies to Canadian publications. expecting our decision would be to cease publication. Not for a moment was such a thought contemplated. We love the NWJ too much to let a little thing like debt get in I We hope our Thunder Bay reader special advertising rates for multiple ads, and for non-profit fern organizations. The Journal coil doesn't have the resources to pl comprehensive advertising and funds strategy, but we'd welcome volunteers would take on this task. she told me, related to her and to her budding feminism. I was reminded of how many times over the years, when the NWJ hit a low point, we've received a note from a regional woman thanking the NWJ for the hope-,- the sustenance it gave. So again, yes, believe the Journal is important. bE Saturday, July 24th at the Unitarian ( (see full ad in this Journal). This is ni a fundraiser; it hopes to be an imr addition to the Thunder Bay we community. �999 9 999*personal views from the hill 9999999 MAY 15TH - OTTAWA Jocelyn J. Paquette Northern Ontario Rep., N.A.C. Diane Mills Global Awareness Project oblivious to the physical state of the COALITION BUILDING WAS THE THEME. ORGANIZATIONS CAME FROM used to think that NAFTA was one of those things that had nothing to do with me. I have enough stuff to deal with just I ALL WALKS OF LIFE ORGANIZED BY ACTION who slept in beds and ate breakfast were CANADA NETWORK, trying to find NATIONAL ACTION COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN, CANADIAN a job, generate local awareness about environmental issues and locate natural fibres with which to LABOUR CONGRESS. knit. participants. They reported that demonstrators were more interested in a picnic, than the pending protest. We were hungry and tired after 20 sleepless hours on the road. Some semblance of food and a brief rest before the uphill walk were foremost on our minds, believe you me it was no picnic. We came to have our voices heard, our objections read and our concerns adhered to. Government, absent from all the proceedings, showed their inability to face the issues and deal with people face to face. Instead we had six uniformed R.C.M.P. watching along the sidelines. As a person born and raised in Ottawa this was unusual, uniforms were seldom seen Well I was wrong, NAFTA will effect me: We were an eclectic crowd gathered in The job search situation will only look more grim, the environment will be left clusters around a variety of banners open to degradation and growing cotton in Canadian soil will be disallowed. To be honest, I didn't even know there was Canadian cotton. I knew that I should do something but I really wasn't sure what. Signing a petition seemed too little, 20 hours one way on a bus seemed a lot. opted for the 'lot' because I saw myself as part of a living, breathing, walking petition of faces that would surely have and impact and besides, I had the time. I " A PICNIC ATMOSPHERE." That was the depth of the reporting from the Canadian Press. Funny how this did not reflect any of what I saw. There was not one wicker basket, no red and white checkered table cloth to be seen. The R.C.V.P. stated where were 60.000 people on the hill. People had come to stand UP for their had never bee- involve,-4 involving so many people and so much organization. I was one of 33 people on I rights in what IS STILL A DEMOCRACY! a bus. Our bus was one of over 800 OR ? others. Upon arrival in the parking lot we were greeted, given instructions, a large card with our assigned bus number and Tony Clarke, of the Action Canada Network emphasized the need for coalition building between and amongst organizations in this country. Issues of social justice range from full employment to day care and everything in between. Our groups, beginning with ourselves, must make the effort to reach those who have traditionally been silenced because of the barriers: whether economic, racial, physical or cultural. Together we can create, define and orient a community towards whole and productive pursuits. Judy Rebick's talk remains for me N.A.C.'s president's final swan song. Forceful and clear, expressive and humorous Judy gave a warming and stirring speech engaging the audience and making the issues of equality and equity front and centre. Women's issues are justice issues. When women are hurt a sticker for each passenger with the corresponding number. There were buses packed into the parking lot like sardines and people everywhere. Our group agreed on the time to meet back at the bus and the last words before we departed where "Hey everybody, safety first" and I thought that was cool. stating our affiliations. We waited patiently in a winding line of tired faces, supported by our placards, for the signal to start walking. We were entertained by roving political impersonators. A pseudo Kim Campbell turned and smiled as she walked by. Seeing our NAC banner she emphatically declared "I'm a feminist too!" which caused a wave of laughter to echo through our group. The horn sounded and the march began. We marched in silence through the vehtle-'ess st-ects. Spectators stared in amazement at vi141111Mililballikibaliai and endless stream of people. concerned people. As we neared the hill I could see the gigantic Caravan- delivered banner containing the names and thoughts of everyone who had taken the time and interest to write on it. It's material was secured to the fence all around the saw the section parliament grounds. I marked Thunder Bay and the design and words I had written. Even if I hadn't been there, my words would have been, and it brought a speck of familiarity to an otherwise unfamiliar place. entertainment Upon arrival to the hill we sat and listened to the speakers as their words echoed off the stately, historic buildings. intermittently belting out renditions of "Solidarity Forever" among other tunes. Inspired yet tired our spirits were lifted by a few a cappella songs by the politically We all gathered in an open field for what seemed an eternity in the sun. There was garbled-sounding There were at least 8 Chip Wagons lined up along one side of the field and 15 to 20 people lined up at each in a steady stream. I was very glad to queue up and chatted with line mates over stomach grumblings. The media correspondents in-tune band, Moxy Fruvous. When all was said and sung we made our way back to our bus and headed home leaving only a slightly trampled hill. I was very thankful that the phenomenon of the ride home always seeming shorter held true. by U.I. cuts and low employment men and children suffer from the limited access to programs and services related to child care and training. 100,00 people came together to have their voices heard. The media minimized the impact and diminished the importance. Government ignored the event and provided no response and opened no new lines of communication. We must not allow ourselves to be silenced by apathy or government. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 3 �FREE TRADE By LENI UNTINEN Decade council research prior to the Free Trade Agreement introduced us to many words that were foreign at the time, but have become commonplace. We also discovered the following predictions about Free Trade: The Canadian Union of Public Employees pointed out that "If following Free Trade, taxes remained higher in Canada, business corporations would simply transfer production to the United States". But Mr. Mulroney stated "Free Trade would bring jobs, jobs, jobs". By 1991, 226,000 jobs had been lost to free trade by company transfers, concentration and consolidation in U.S. plants and closure of plants established to serve the Canadian Market. By 1992, we saw 627,000 full-time job losses along with the accompanying -91 TOLD YOU SO provided by for-profit operators whose primary clientele generally are people with the ability to pay. becoming more and more frequent. - Local and regional Via Rail service is noN, just a memory. At the time of the Free Trade Agreement, the The government said the agreement was boon to Canadian consumers. notion of non-profit services we took for granted becoming for-profit seemed hard to imagine. But a few years later, we see commercialized for-profit education and nursing services; commercial clinic referrals instead of in-clinic or in-hospital treatment and more and more user fees attached to medical and other services. At the time of the Free Trade Agreement we heard that Ontario child care services were under severe threat due to Free Trade. If for-profit centres were seen as being unfairly treated re government subsidies, such firms could place demands on government for But, Mr. Mulroney equal subsidization. promised a national daycare program. family break-downs; destroyed communities; Instead, piece meal attempts to placate broken dreams; poverty; loss of personal working families have been made. Tories and Liberals are pledging to support forprofit child care and now there are cuts to subsidized daycare spaces and child care programs attached to training programs. stress-related dignity; violence and death. disease; family JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN What about Mr. Mulroney's JOBS, JOBS, JOBS an& promises of more opportunities for women in the workforce - there is some truth to that statement. As traditional male occupations decline, more women enter the workforte and become the primary income earner. Unfortunately, in industry in 1988 stated that deregulation in the United following: States had resulted in the saving on your purchases, your groceries your hydro bill? Have you seen the lowe prices promised once the hidder manufacturers tax was replaced? The Canadian Government said "of cours( we could compete". They said that thos( who opposed Free Trade were fear monger: and wimps. What do they have to say now to the 1/2 million discouraged workers no millior counted in the U.I. statistics, the 1 children living in poverty and the socia assistance administrators who cannot fulfi their welfare commitments. They say therE was a recession, but it is now over. The include volunteers working in services, where once there was paid staff; food banks To the 11 0/c and soup kitchens. proud they can help pay off Canada's debi by taking lower U.I. benefits". risks In 1988, we thought we had the language in We learned and thought we hand. understood: - privatization - deregulation right of establishment/right of equal treatment - taxation and policy harmonization - level playing field Increased safety A loss of jobs TRUCKING Loss of services Loss of jobs RAILWAYS Loss of services Loss of jobs - Thunder Bay to Toronto full air fare has the material just reviewed, there was another word. A word that was neither The word is capitalized or explained. risen from $452.80 to $644.14. restructuring - the word that would prove the Since the 1989 Free Trade Agreement PRIVATIZATION across the country. - Massive layoffs at Air Canada, Canadian and smaller airlines continue. homes, home support services, day care centres and group homes for children are spending all you are socking away o that extra money you arc An increase in fares A loss of service to Northeastern Ontario and regional flights. more pronounced than in any other Hospitals, prisons, nursing jurisdiction. if unemployed, they say, "they should bE AIRLINES Four years later, we no longer have family allowances; our unemployment insurance coverage has been sharply reduced to 57% and Ottawa has stopped funding it. Old age security payments are being "clawed back". In the United States, commercialization is ask you promised the best adjustment programs it the world. Those programs have come tc pressure to undermine Canada's social said Mr. Mulroney "They're a sacred trust". I A paper put out by the transportation The Council of Canadians observed: The and U.S. multi- nationals in Canada who were leading advocates of bilateral Free Trade who would pressure the Federal government to reduce social spending". "Our social programs are not threatened" improve prices for consumers. DEREGULATION less than $20,000 a year. programs would not come from the U.S. It would be the same Canadian conglomerates GST to increase trade and it would also say it will take a little while for those affectec The Canadian Governmen . to recover. Northwestern Ontario, more than 56% of women are having to contribute to family support on The Free Trade Agreement necessitated the - There are steadily decreasing services - Close to home, we had the Dryden air crash and other crashes and near misses - Almost monthly, the trucking industry announces downsizing and layoffs; the latest, the closure of 3 regional terminals. Accidents involving large trucks are - In most to be the most devastating of all. What has restructuring come to mean to you? A job that isn't there for you and your children; bankruptcy; social assistance; a reduction in life styles? I ask you to listen carefully to the words of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Advocates of NAFTA speak the words that will continue to reshape our lives. Speak back. Speak out. Speak LOUDLY. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor klArtkehre'l. Warman Ran& 4 �WOMEN AND NAFTA as $1.00 per hour. Workers must three countries, a pact that rather than accelerate the deterioration of living conditions would promote continental development, including trade. The National Action Committee on the provide their own equipment, pay hydro and operating costs. Out of 36,000 workers in the garment industry in Quebec, 26,000 are estimated by the industry to be workers. In Toronto, "underground" Status of Women in its 21st year has grown estimates vary between 2,000 to 4,000 to represent over 550 women's groups homeworkers, only seventy-five of which are currently registered by employers. Jocelyn J. Paquette Northern Ontario Rep National Action Committee on the Status of Women advocating on behalf of women's equality. little Experiencing the deteriorating working conditions and wages NAC is aware of the increasing vulnerability of women. The discussion is not new. NAC first responded to the Macdonald Commission's report It's SOCIAL PROGRAMS have been called our Implication for Women in 1985. The predictions of opening job possibilities reflected a different reality. A reality that has been actualized. compounded the situation by increased In 1987, Marjorie Griffin Cohen, NAC's vicepresident at the time published Free Trade and the Future of Women's Work, Manufacturing and Service Industries. It predicted that free trade was more likely to increase unemployment among women. We have now experienced four years of the FTA. This impact has affected the lives of families, communities, and the work place of millions of Canadian women and men. What was detrimental to women in the FTA will be entrenched worsening the situation with NAFTA. when times are hard. Now is not the time to cut these programs short. Government has unemployment and declining working conditions. The threat to social programs like family allowance, unemployment insurance and medicare will only hurt those already at the edge. The move to privatization of social services and health is being accelerated. This move is well represented by BILL C-91. Extending patent protection from 4 years to 20 years on prescription drugs will mean an added 500 million dollars a year in prescription drug costs to Canadians who are already feeling high costs of medication. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives states that by 1998, several provinces will no longer be receiving federal funds for health care, depriving Ottawa of its only means of enforcing the Canada Health Act. THE ISSUES: UNEMPLOYMENT is currently the third highest among the 24 industrialized countries; Canada's recession is the worst. Aspects include: We have relied on these programs to assist in making ends meet "safety net". the loss of jobs With the erosion of Canada's health care tent comes povER-ry,.. on women who will take the brunt of care for sick family members and the care of children and seniors within the family. in manufacturing; the implications for data entry jobs, related to information processing. PART-TIME employment is growing. Women are increasingly being pushed out of sectors where we once held secure jobs and into more "precarious" employment. This is what the Economic Council refers to as "bad jobs" in the 90's. In November 1992, 26.9 % of all women employed in the formal work force held part-time jobs, as compared to 9.6 % of men. Women are currently more than 70 % of the part-time workforce, HOMEWORK continues to be of concern. No contracts, no benefits, no supervision of working conditions, no enforcement of Toronto, some In minimum wage. homeworkers were found to be earning as A trade and development agreement would assert a social agenda that is not included in the current agreement. This agenda would include measures to ensure employment and the increase of salaries to levels that guarantee a decent quality of life throughout Labour rights violations the continent. should be considered as unfair trade practices subject to trade sanctions. Workers and other affected citizens should have full access and satisfactory participation in trade conflict resolution mechanisms. A trade and development agreement must be passed on the principles of sustainable development, resource conservation, and the protection of the environment. people have a right to full The access, information and participation in all procedures related to the resolution of environmental problems. It is necessary to include mechanisms and sufficient financing environmental dense and the transference of environmental technology. to improve institutions, laws, A trade and development agreement should include compensatory funds to improve infrastructure, harmonize standards of living viate the to so designed to ensure community control over funds and to reenforce local efforts to improve environment and labour standards. Such funds could be financed in several WE BELIEVE THIS GOVERNMENT HAS NO MANDATE TO IMPLEMENT THE NAFTA. ways, including taxes on foreign investment and debt relief. As with the Referendum NAC has offered Working in conjunction A trade and development agreement should ALTERNATIVES. with women from the U.S., Mexico and Canada women are showing the way. In 1991 women met in Valle de Bravo, Mexico to discuss the impact. Shared results were job losses, decline in living and labour standards, cuts in social programs and increasing unemployment and poverty. The alternatives were derived from the work done in January of this year. NAC participated in a tri-national non-governmental meeting in Mexico to analyze the NAFTA and to develop alternatives. include a commitment to the principles of democracy and full respect for integral human rights. Violations of such rights must be prohibited and linked to market success. The future is our own. Only be demanding the abrogation of the Free Trade Agreement and standing united against the NAFTA can we begin to repair the damage done by the CORPORATE AGENDA. We have a voice. Let's hear it. The final declaration once again puts forward the need for a different kind of agreement between our PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page -5 �BEING FEMALE IS and bad feelings for women in health by Sandy Wilson care, gender bias is reflected in medical language and communication as well. Women often feel uncomfortable in their doctor's office. They may feel they won't be believed or heard. Perhaps they just plain can't understand medical jargon. In 1971, Ruth Cooperstock, a sociologist in Canada, interviewed doctors and had them explain the 'typical, complaining patient.' Of these physicians, 72% referred to the female patient. A more in depth analysis of this data revealed These feelings are not part of your imagination. Medical language, therapy and communication may be gender gender problems with communication. Men, it was found, tend to describe their symptoms, which women describe their symptoms, and "explain how they make her feel." This fact reflects subjective interpretation of the word 'complaining.' biased. This bias is covert and insidious. It may result in consequences not fully understood by the female patient. For example, a female patient may feel depressed after the birth of her child. It is condition but so does the fact that, perhaps, her husband is working longer hours at the office and she misses the companionship of her colleagues at her old job. She may be diagnosed with 'post partum depression.' Socioeconomic details in her life are not really a part of this diagnosis. Perhaps labelling her with more is 'husband goes vacant' descriptive as a label. regardless, she is labelled as pathological. This problem Perhaps she is now placed medication. Now that this 'problematic' and dismiss the complex problem of women's Medication is expressive. inequality. Dulling one's abilities to learn and to use coping strategies effectively keeps this woman from being assertive, angry and heard in a patriarchal world. Better that women complain of feeling drowsy, dopey or depressed as history has described us than to make demands for unconscious rocess fo h si i. Fo , pa rcu ar y w men in, amp e, wo or leaving, abusive relationships, will not the paternalism helpful developmental task these women are trying to achieve is a "reclaiming of find equal child rearing practices. It is not just suggest a cooperative relationship between physician and patient. Words like "it will be okay, dear", or "I'll make your decisions" do not satisfy the developmental needs of these women. diagnoses that contribute to poor help In fact the physician who is controlling Depo-Provera... legalized drug pushers unite in 1993, by Arja Lane Depo-provera is rearing its controversial head in Canada again, and you'd think that after twenty years of saying NO to its use here we would be taken seriously. But no... now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approved the use of depo-provera as a contraceptive for domestic use in 1991, it is being promoted and distributed to Canadian women as a contraceptive, despite the fact that this drug has not received government approval here. This injectable contraceptive is attractive at first glance because it fits into the fast autonomy." Feminists It's easy, for everybody, except maybe the body that absorbs the shock of the process which the injection begins as it stops you from ovulating. Even though none of the side effects documented over the last twenty years have disappeared (headaches, nausea, weight gain, severe depression, and loss of sexual drive); and even though the drug's links to various sorts of cancers (mainly breast and cervical) is presently its major risk factor to women using it... the Upjohn Company of Canada has injection and you won't get pregnant for anywhere from three to six months. There is nothing to remember, there is nothing to fuss with during sex. women in Canada, alongside the 90 or so other countries whose women shoot depo - provera to prevent pregnancy. life. Women, themselves that "down there" is giving words to nam experience. A girl wi clitoris can only relat body through mystery she will disassociate at all. A young girl wh pharmacy company "cure" her of menstru feel badly about h advance of Aids, s than ever oun t I escribe accurately. They nee the imbalances betwe S when they negotiate important, like contra Words express, cre women. For exam believe the uterus is their psychological an feel less pai' at birth believe the uterus muscle. DEPO-PROVER You get one pace of today's The me father and female f medicine. phrase "on the menstruation. A mo gender bias infiltrations in medicine, I suggest that women may be subjected to "paternalism" in the office visit. Medical paternalism may be an #.** These examples ref concerns. The point is if doctors think men are 'describing' when they are in Besides on out there in the rest than promote a woma Perhaps a feminist conclude that men fact suicidal and that women are 'complaining' when they are just describing, incorrect treatment will follow. Gender bias is diagnoses, language and communication make being female hazardous to your health. now adds to her previous problems. fear and helplessness Physician victims. welfare", "sexually wearing no make-up" practices reflect sex They reinforce patriar guilty as the social co of using language tha health self-concept reading would withdraw while women open up when discussing health true that hormones play a part in this will signify the wome this is or is not realis Canada's Health Protection Branc depo-provera bein according to its Fe on the status of th basically that the benefits, so NO it or sold here by th notice of non-com Upjohn Compan December 1992, Upjohn can't sell it a contraceptive in found a way to distribute depo-provera to PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern-VVoman- Page 6 �DANGEROUS TO Alcoholics Anonymous has known the value of words. Alcoholic Anonymous clients begin their meetings stating "I am an alcoholic". The rhetoric transforms take up this say, "because them. ONE'S HEALTH I I present space with these words, I claim what I am, I end the denial of the past. I commit to something new." The implications of this article are too immense for this paper. Women must believe themselves. If words and labels do not match their experience, in a health care setting, they must be retracted, resisted and reformed by herself. Take back those things, words and labels that do belong. The best indication of your health is you, not the x-ray machine, the doctor or the lab test. A frustrated sixteen year old post-anorexic explains her past complains of male therapists. was, Relly, dying for existence ....every time I met a male therapist he began treatment by Pretend all your life you have had no voice...pretend that you realized long ago that if you were nice to people they would like you and they would need you and then, even though you don't have a usual voice, at least you exist...but then pretend how it feels to have no voice and to have all these people needing you to the point that you feel awful so you run, run, run into the arms of someone else who needs but you still don't have a voice...and then one day he hurts you...badly... so you run, run, run to your physician but your physician needs you too...he needs you to tell him you're okay and to ingratiate him and give approval and you still don't have a voice and he tells you to do something...but you know you don't want to or don't need to but you do it...to please him but it doesn't seem to help yet he wants you to pretend it does so you run, run, run... and you meet a feminist doctor and she says nothing...and you sit there, stunned at first, at all this waste of time, and vastness and space but you say...I've been hurt...and she still says nothing...but she smiles gently...so you say I've been hurt many times...and more words keep coming...but she still says nothing...and there is quiet and peace and she smiles and says "tell me how I can help". And you've never heard anyone ask you this before...and suddenly you have a story, and suddenly it's complete, and suddenly you sense what you need and you say it...and suddenly it's like you are in the driver's seat and in control but not alone...and suddenly you want to talk and talk and talk and write essays about the subject and show videos and suddenly you start to feel joy, and space, and happiness...and you know she's always there and she demands nothing from you...and suddenly you find yourself being completely honest with this woman...and you wonder why...and you realize that she gave you all this vastness, and space and respect ewe and she trusts you and this makes ou want to be ve ve honest and nev -6 raii y how you should always feel...and it gets easier and easier to get to this safe place...and she shows you tricks on how to get there when you need to...and you meet other women just like you and you start to help them speak and you realize that women seldom lie, they can be trusted and should be trusted...and now you speak to family members and laugh at their responses...and friends and men and doctors... and it gets easier and easier...and now you're working with some passion...speaking through art or writing or making love and then...imagine what it feels to ever be silenced again. saying.... "who is your boyfriend?" DEPO But, this doesn't mean that depo-provera cannot be distributed in Canada to women. For one thing, depo-provera has been available for use as a treatment for endometriosis, a type of cancerous growth that accumulates around the uterus, since the early 1960s. (Ironical, since it is also linked to causing other types of cancers.) And, apparently the Health Protection Branch's lack of approval for marketing depo-provera doesn't stop doctors from prescribing it to women because the Health Protection Branch's ruling don't rule how doctors execute the practice of medicine. For example, twenty years ago, some doctors prescribed women in Ontario depo-provera to facilities for the mentally retarded, and some doctors thought it was okay to use on teenage girls in group homes in Winnipeg. An inquiry into its use on the mentally retarded, in 1980, revealed higher than normal levels of breast tumours in the women taking depo-provera. Regardless, during the fall of 1985, the manufacturer, Upjohn Company of Canada lobbied the Canadian government officials to approve depoprovera for use here as a contraceptive. The NDP's Cyril Keeper asked the then Minister of Health and Welfare, Jake Epp, for public hearings about controversial contraceptive women can have their say." "so the that PROVERA Public interest groups like the Ottawa Coalition of Depo-provera were still, in 1985, saying that "Its safety hasn't been well enough proven." Canadian Health officials didn't approve it for public use as a contraceptive then, and they haven't since then. Yet, because of a legal loophole, depoprovera can be obtained from any doctor who believes the benefit to a patient providing, of outweighs the risk . . course, the 'consumer' has consented. At quick glance this seems like the consumer is exercising choice, but in reality this scenario doesn't necessarily lead to informed decision-making. continued pg 10 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page T �INTRODUCTION In September 1990, Ontario voters elected their first NDP government. Feminist reaction to the NDP's surprising victory ranged from ecstatic to guardedly Certainly our hopes were optimistic. REPORT A further example comes from the raised, as the NDP was known to be supportive of feminist issues, and had developed policies that addressed, at least some, of our concerns. We were government's planning process regarding strategies to ending male violence, where the serious concerns identified by heartened as well, by the record number batterers programs were ignored. of women appointed to Cabinet. women's groups/survivors to the Pay Equity Commission so the it may properly enforce the legislatior about While our data is limited we do know c one NDP employee group that have bee We were pleased that some of these women came with a background of grass roots activism which would introduce a feminist analysis into Cabinet discussions. That the Ontario government ensur that sufficient resources are availabl There appears to be an expectation that women's groups (with our inadequate resources) will "jump hoop" and participate in every consultation - often waiting for more than one year to hav their pay equity approval endorsed. Thi suggests that there are insufficier resources to enforce the legislation. with little notice. We do extend ourselves Now, two years later, we believe it is time to undertake an evaluation of just how our government has performed respect to women's issues. present this "report card". in Thus, we We take as a basis for our evaluation the analysis and recommendations of the Northwestern Ontario Women's Issues report presented to the government by Decade Council immediately after the to participate, and when our input ignored the government growing cynicism. risks is our C EMPLOYMENT EQUITY That the Ontario government legislate full employment equity. TRAINING That the Ontario government suppoi skill training for women, which woul expand their job opportunities in nor traditional, high skilled occupations. That the Ontario Government adopt strategy for Northwestern Ontario t assist women's access to training an jobs in resource based employment. election. A broad-based consultation process has occurred regarding employment, and the WOMEN AND DECISION MAKING concerns of social development and That the,Ontario government actively human rights advocates appear to have We been given fair consideration. equity that employment anticipate That the Ontario government suppoi a designated number of positions fc women in all publicly funded trainin legislation will be enacted in the near occupations (includin encourage policy to ensure gender parity on all appointed boards/commissions. future. programs towards achieving this recommendation. Steps have been taken to promote equity for all under-represented groups on government boards/commissions. That the Ontario government take steps to promote women's participation and perspective in all public consultations. Indeed, the government has enthusiastically embraced the concept of public consultation. In fact, some of us are close to consultation burn-out. On the surface it appears that the government should get top marks for their consultative initiatives. But while participation is encouraged, there is no assurance that the government will act on women's recommendations. Listening doesn't necessarily translate into action. For example, consultations around Provincial Municipal Social Services Review (PMSSR) elicited serious criticism from women (and many Northern groups) and we believed that PMSSR was shelved. However, we find many of the concerns we had about re-emerging in the now "Disentanglement" process that involves PMSSR only the provincial government and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). Community interests, including women, are excluded from the Disentanglement discussions. non-traditions and ^'{ We believe the government is moving for on-the-jo n9).._ That the Ontario government amend pay equity legislation to include establishments of less than 10 employees and female dominated The Canadian Job Strategies Progran has established a partnership coverinc the federal, provincial and local levelE All training programs will be addressee workplaces. through the Canadian Labour Fora Pay equity has long been a priority with the NDP and during the first year of their mandate progress was made to address inadequacies in pay equity legislation, thus establishing a firmer base on which a truly progressive pay equity program could proceed. Consequently, we are recent by the severely shocked government announcement that pay equity amendments will be delayed by one year. While we sympathize with the government's financial woes, we find it unacceptable that women are disproportionately penalized. The delay in pay equity also raises the question of the government succumbing to pressure by the business lobby, thus risking creating cynicism of communities that traditionally support NDP policies. As the business lobby is predictably opposed to employment equity, we will carefully analyse employment equity legislation and its implementation. Development Board (FLFDB), the Ontari( Training Adjustment Board (OTAB), an1 Local Labour Force Development Board (LLFDB). Women's representation a these boards, while inadequate, ha One of the majc been assured. the strategy is th problems with targeting for training individuals who ar eligible for Unemployment Insuranc This criteria will severely limit access ti programs by northern women includin, the following groups: women re- entering the workforce, single parent mother collecting local assistance rather the U immigrant women, virtually any woma not collecting UI. A training strateg which presents barriers for larg numbers of women is contrary t recommendations to the Ontari government from Northwestern Ontari women. That the Ontario government procee with consultations with the Ontari Coalition for Better Child Care an other specific geographical group such as the Northwestern Ontari Regional Day Care Committee t develop a system of accessiblE affordable, quality child care fc children who require these services. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �The Ontario Government has maintained the issue of violence against women as a priority. They have attempted to work in concert with community women to CARD ensure support programs are in place, realizing many shared achievements. To achieve an accessible, affordable, high-quality child care system, the provincial government must undertake a fundamental restructuring of child care funding and management. The most significant step the government has taken occurred in November, 1991, with the decision to support future expansion of child care in the non-profit sector only. This decision establishes a firm base for the development of a quality system, and is applauded by child care The decision has been vociferously opposed by the for-profit advocates. child care operators, their business lobby allies, and the opposition parties (despite PROVINCIAL MUNICIPAL SERVICE REVIEW SOCIAL Concerns remain where the government's accountability to women is tempered with their desire to please all That the Ontario Government ensure that servicees for women and children are not further penalized by implementation of recommendations of the Report of the Provincial Municipal Social Service Review, in respect to community based support services and programs. segment's of society. Initiatives responding to men's rights groups (the focus on batterers programs), professionals (the focus on mediation), the federal government (restricting training opportunities), and municipalities (PMSSR/ Disentanglement) continue to leave women and women's services at risk. That the Ontario Government ensure that Northern Ontario communities do not suffer further regional disparity in social services due to the burden of additional costs being assessed to TRANSITION FAYE PETERSON HOUSE the fact that this policy was part of the Liberals 1987 New Directions for Child Northern Ontario municipalities. Marion Boyd, Minister of Community and Social Services, deserves praise for her unwavering commitment to this important policy direction. With the election of the Ontario NDP government,we hoped that the 1990 That the Ontario Government ensure PMSSR report was a "dead document". Northwestern Ontario who are unable During 1992 the government consulted broadly throughout the province concerning "child care reform". We looked forward to implementation of significant reforms in early 1993. We reference tool to that process. PMSSR Care). understand that the target date for reform implementation has been set back to We January 1994. frightened by this delay. In Northwestern are Ontario At present, the Ontario government is negotiating a "disentanglement process" with municipalities. PMSSR remains a recommends greater financial contribution to and greater discretionary powers over community support services. There is a need for vigilance as the government continues through the disentanglement process. seriously we witnessing a rapid escalation of the day care crisis that has been with us for more than a decade. Centres have closed; VIOLENCE municipal government support is eroding; and more and more families are forced to withdraw from licensed child care as fee increases make the cost of care exorbitant. If reform doesn't happen That the Ontario Government provide adequate, secure funding for quality services for battered women and their children and sexual assault survivors. reform. The NDP's long established child care policies are supported by child care advocates. The government's good intentions about child care must be translated into action. C women from to be served by other shelters, have access to safety and shelter through the provision of capital and operation funds to provide an adequate facility for the operation of Faye Peterson Transition House and support services. January 1992 saw the opening of the facility for the o eration of Fa e e newPeterson Transition House. government came through on its promise of an adequate facility for regional battered women. Accolades to the Hon. Shelley Wark-Martyn and the Hon. are soon, there may be no child care left to battered that Shelley Martel (responsible for the capital dollars) and the Hon. Marion Boyd (operational dollars) for translating their commitment to battered women into political will and action. That the Ontario Government effect an in-depth consultation process between SEXUAL ASSUALT government and community based That the Ontario government ensure the stability of funding for community- women's organizations advocating on behalf of victims of violence to ensure that local concerns and priorities are reflected in future policies, programs and legislation. based, grass roots sexual assault services and in particular, services in northern and isolated communities. There has been some stabilization of That the Ontario Government address the long-term needs of battered women and their children, including additional long-term affordable housing and training and employment programs. That the Ontario Government ensure that family dispute resolution legislation and programs not place battered women and their children at risk. That the Ontario Government become active partners with community based women's organizations working to eliminate violence against women in Ontario. rape crisis centres although there are still too many hoops and hurdles to manoeuvre through in accessing funds from different sources. There is concern that the merger of the wife assault and the sexual assault initiatives will affect centres funding. Mainstream groups, many of whom were the strongest opponents of groups doing anti-violence work and who suddenly have a burning desire to do this work, need to have the support of commuitybased, grass roots groups, and a gender analysis of violence in order to access funds. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 9 �That the Ontario government, through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, implement spqcific Two areas not covered in Decade's "Issues" paper but that deserve our CONCLUSION comment are: training programs for professionals interfacing with victims/ survivors of sexual assault and childhood sexual Our evaluation of the NDP record at this half-way point in its first mandate is ABORTION mixed. While the NDP are given top abuse; The particular, the health, education and legal systems. in While funding has been provided for research, public education, and safety audits, we are not aware of any action to implement the necessary curriculum changes. Ontario government has been consistent in its support for women's reproductive freedom. issue of sexual assault for existing health and legal personnel including Ontario government was the first in to fully fund free-standing abortion clinics, is indicating increased support for free-standing clinics, and is undertaking measures to counteract judges, nurses. police, lawyers, doctors, harassment of clinics, their staff, and patients. As well the Northern Health Travel Grants Program has expanded to help women in been remote areas cover abortion-related cos s. LABOUR REFORM This long-awaited reform of the Ontario Labour Relations Act, while providing some amendments that will be beneficial WOMEN'S CENTRES to women, was severely modified (to That the Ontario Government recognize the valuable work of Women's centres in women's advancement to equality, by providing appease the business lobby) and falls far short of what is needed. The amendments provide a bit more security for part-time workers, mall retail workers, workers for cleaning services, some food core funding to Ontario VVoip Centres. After many months of speculative waiting, Ontario's Women's Centres were rewarded in May, 1993 by the government announcement of $50,000 per year core funding Tor two years to twenty centres. While applauding this government move a sceptic might question the timing- with government service workers, and for workers of might mean we asked "Is there hope for women in an NDP Ontario?" We are still asking that question. We can only restate what we said then: "What the election of the NDP means for feminists is that we have to work harder than we've ever worked before. We must keep the feminist agenda visible and vocal ... every hour of every day. Our advocacy must brilliant, be creative, practical and empowering. And it must be relentless." Since first preparing this article we are faced with the recent Ontario budget and the government's proposed "social contract", which at this writing appears to be rejected by most unions and many groups. We make no attempt to analyze the social contract per se. We respect the government's need for financial control, but are not persuaded that an increased deficit would create the serious crisis that is portrayed. We support moves for greater government efficiency. Judgments or complaints about unfair labour practices would be speeded up. However, there is no protection for the saving domestic worker or baby-sitter that is the sole employee. Strike-breaking laws are insufficient, and unionized workers under federal jurisdiction will not be protected if transferred to provincial jurisdiction. (See full article NWJ Vol. 14 #3.) progress on issues of justice and equality must not be delayed. We suggest that if cutbacks to internal services and transfer agencies: will Women's Centres be expected to pick up the pieces? t been cracked. In a NWJ article (Dec. 1990) analyzing what the NDP victory AFTERWORD While funding has been made available to groups willing to undertake training, implementation of mandatory training has not been forthcoming. necessary progress has failed to occur. The barriers to women's equality have not come tumbling down- have not even Strong representation was made by Hon. Anne Swarbeck and Hon. Evelyn Gigantes in opposition to the federal government's attempt to re-criminalize abortion. The Canada That the Ontario government implement mandatory training on the marks for certain positions and initiatives, there are too many areas where must not impact front-line workers, nor restrict necessary government services. And we insist that the government stopped dragging their feet and just got on with programs and policies on justice and equality issues (e.g. child care, employment equity) that the support of community activists would be renewed and the criticism of the social contract thus mitigated. The failure to move on substantive social issues will only cause a further erosion of support. (3 HaleaMITIMENNOUTIM2121 Magi 4171111122EZZELI III laH.Liprni Ip JI the Upjohn Company of Canada has put together a product Meanwhile, DEPO-PROVERA monogram of Depo-Provera 150. This product monogram, or promotional infokit, is available at the Resource Centre of the Bay Street Birth Control Clinic in Imagine a newcomer to Canada who Toronto, and the drug itself is presently doesn't speak english going to a doctor who doesn't speak anything but english, being distributed through the same clinic. who then tries to explain to her, in english, the side effects of depo-provera. Even if she brings a translator with her, there will be some things lost in the Who has really created the need for this injectable contraceptive in Canada? Has the need for depo-provera been created by the women in Canada, or are we another market-target for Upjohn to manipulate into profits? translating process. How can we then pretend that women will be making informed decisions about the drug when this is a reality? PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Nbrtbern.Woman Page �BOOK REVIEW REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN by Alice Sabourin In my early years as a young woman, I unknowingly invested and over a ten year period lost incredible amounts of personal, mental and emotional energy and unmarked hours guessing at what the correct and desirable way to act, think and respond to life situations as they presented themselves. The underlying premise was to try and make my existence legitimate given the political, social and cultural terms with. I was faced With the passing of time and coming into my own, I am less inclined to try and outguess the other person and the feminist perspective and how it compares and contrasts to Native philosophy and principles of living. The next several months will be spent stealing a few moments here and there to do this, as I am certain the author is worthy or observation and study. Gloria Steinem provides a complimenting array of references from previous studies, academic as well as humanitarian commentary on various elements of her involvement with the feminist movement from the very beginning in the early 1950's to the present. Having read truthfully decide on what is right for me in that situation without fear of consequence or loss. This has caused others frustration, grief and surprise because as time passed, seemingly out of no where came a forceful energy implies, Steinem's hold's no bars in sharing her own experiences and life learning. In doing so answered some which has been at times chaotic, and questions I had not yet put words to. Revolution from Within, made some wonderful discoveries and as the cover I Introducing the . SUPERIOR WOMEN'S misdirected. To visualize this transition one could imagine a pool game where the pool player is determined to pocket the ball in one corner but instead, it develops a spin of its very own and ends up off the side into the opposite pocket! Changes within myself although internal have not always been planned nor have followed an agenda. Rather an emulation of' a winter snow fall, indirect free flowing and followed by a time of calm and solitude. As the snow falls from the sky and covers the earth, changes within myself have involved and effected in some way or another every other single human and non human in my universe. This circular momentum has been referred to in the social science What I enjoyed about this book was the back and forth movement across the centuries, continents and cultures. Perspectives and insights by both men, women, young and old some serious, some sad, and others would want to I read again and again to understand. Saturday, July 24, 1993 Unitarian House 129 S. Algoma 8:00 p.m. Steinem doesn't talk outside of herself but rather delves into the seasons °- er life and the significant connections to people, places and circumstances. Acceptance is heard throughout the narrative giving understanding and compassion to various times where her humanity in its fullness. This allowed for both mistakes, successes, vision and field as cybernetics, a futuristic concept as old as time itself. blindness, connection and openness amongst peers. I have left reading this book understanding the universality of life The interest to read Gloria Steinem's and the common search for love and Revolution from Within was timely having recognized that I am at a different place in my life than I was ten years ago and that I am also embarking on a new era of acceptance, for friendship and ultimately to be at one with self. Steinem moved from my head to my heart in that she is no longer a "leader of the feminist movement" but rather a "fellow traveller" on this great journey of life. my future. Doing this review would provide an opportunity to think about her COFFEEHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT and REFRESHMENTS (non-alcoholic) $2.00 at the door (or more if you can) "CELEBRATING THUNDER BAY WOMEN" life then and now, and to gain some insight to Steinem's shift in perspective at this time of her life. Secondly, I was interested in considering Alice Sabourin is an Ojiwe woman from Heron Bay; she is currently working on a Master's degree on Native Women's Healing at Lakehead University. WANAWAWAVANAWAtvieAWARAWAV The Person's Case signalled a huge victory for the women of Canada. Those who wanted to enter politics could now be appointed to the Senate. But that didn't mean women would have an easy time finding their way into Parliament's Upper Chamber. For while laws had changed, attitudes hadn't. 1929 Women make up 52% of the population - yet they continue to be underrepresented in Canada's decisionmaking institutions. 1992 * Women hold 15 out of a total of 95 seats in the Canadian Senate. * Women hold 40 seats out of a total of 200 in the House of Commons. * Women hold two seats out of a total of nine on the Supreme Court of Canada. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 11 �BOOK REVIEW A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War "The hard surface of stone is impervious to nothing in the end. The heat of the sun leaves evidence of daylight. Each drop of rain changes the form; even the were part of the process. wind and the shut, they could see the bones in their hands." Their horror and their ongoing attempts to seek acknowledgement of air itself, invisible to our eyes, etches its presence." describing early nuclear weapons testing, Griffin presents the reminiscence of soldiers deployed in trenches around the test sites: "Though their eyelids were In The Private Life of War, author Susan Griffin explores the collectively denied interconnections between our private lives and public events with emphasis on both the causes and the effects of war. Within this grand theme of the personal as political, Griffin shares through exposure to radiation, have to date proven to be without reward. While describing the absence of thorough training for the operators of nuclear power plants, Griffin states: "Yet perhaps it is the very extremity of the danger, bordering as it does on the continuity of life itself, the people of the late nineteenth and the desire for safety as an ultimate state that seals away all fear as if into a foreign country, the wish for section of the book is comprised by Griffin's own diary entries dated from the periods preceding and encompassing the 1991 war in Iraq, and her reflections upon the lives of a painter and of a writer; Charlotte Solomon and Ernest Hemingway. The two artists are connected by intergenerational suicides whereby Charlotte "... created this work to save her life", in order to escape the cycle of destruction - a chain of suicides that included aunts, uncles, cousins, a grandmother and mother; and whereby Hemingway, like his father, mysterious effort, or even through theoretical understanding, electroshock therapy for depression. Griffin calls this final section 'Notes towards a sketch for a work in progress'. As she examines all of the stories in this work she concludes: despite every indication of trouble, hence vanquishing not only this danger but all catastrophe and every mortal mistake by a sheer act of will, a terrible fear of "At the end of this long book about many kinds of denial, I want to write about bearing witness to events in such a way that they become lucid, their inner life revealed. When light is shed in this way, can it not danger that causes this denial of danger." Griffin examines the formative influences on men, and some women, who exerted influence on the course of history both for good and for bad: Heinrich Himmler bureaucrat behind the Final Solution), Enrico Fermi (the first scientist to produce a nuclear fission chain reaction), Sir Hugh Trenchard (the (the father of both the RAF and the practice of strategic bombing of civilians), Ghandi change the course of events? I find Charlotte's story especially pertinent now because she addresses the question of self-destruction. I have come to believe that our shared movement toward nuclear war is a movement toward mass suicide." and Walt Whitman (who were both our own history and the history of the world embedded in us, we hold a Hayworth, cannot weep until history is sung." final Ernest military nurses), Franz Kafka, Ernest Hemingway, Ernest Rutherford, Sigmund sorrow deep within and The succumbed to suicide after receiving keep on in one direction I am beginning to believe that we know everything, grandfather, or an uncle, or a secret about the battle of Dresden in 1945, our lives are made suddenly clearer to us, as the unnatural heaviness of unspoken truth is dispersed. For perhaps we are like stones; miraculous, but by the determination to I when we hear any secret revealed, a secret about a a security won not so much by practical "...Somehow I have always known this story, its essence, without ever having' been told. For, on hearing it, feel like the penitent must-have felt after rendering a confession. Suddenly the light itself by which I see was purified. A nameless grief now named hence lifted. part of us, such that the our homes. Everyone became less visible, less." twentieth centuries. This work invites the reader to participate in the processes of reflection and connection as the author explores the themes of denial and secrets, contradiction and connection. is stunning then their exposure to the family's stories as well as the stories of many well-known and not so well-known the history of each family, That terrible violence and nuclear explosions, as well as compensation for damages suffered her own that all history, including Second World War and the Cold war that followed. silencing pall which proceeded from it did not stop at the doorsteps of the effects of In the long awaited A Chorus of Stones: suicides of omission practised by my father are part of the history of the Freud and Daniel Paul Schreiber, Rita Ernest Hemingway, and CHO Charlotte Solomon, to name a few. that This book is presented in six overlapping sections, and Griffin uses several interweaving streams of writing to explore her themes. She narrates the development of projectile weaponry, strategic bombing, rocketry and nuclear weapons. She describes cellular and molecular biology and atomic structure. She explores the personal stories of people who were instrumental in the development and the deployment of our modern weapons as well as the stories of people who as workers and soldiers In exploring the link between denial and destruction, Griffin examines her own her mother and past, father, grandparents and their family secrets. She places them in connected context and recognizes the influences of world events on the dynamic of her family: "How is it that in the past I did not put together the two histories which lived through to make one history? Now can see I I 1111111111111=11=1111111111 clearly that my mother's alcoholism and the small PDF Northern compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Woman pa �Book Review continued Susan Griffin's book is haunting and dream disturbing, by its nature it invites the reader to participate and to reflect. affirming of own's own connections/links made between seemingly disparate events. As well, it is Thus it is a work that encourages the reader to consider both the need and the responsibility to speak up, to speak out, to tell one's story and to listen to the stories of others'. For as Griffin states: "...all the lives that surround us are in us... it is all one story..." During the time that I was musing over this book, read an article in the most I recent issue of MS. entitled "Paternal Legacy: How 'Normalized' Terror At Home Creates The Soldier". The article is written by a former U.S. Special Forces soldier who reflects on the origins of SLOW DANCE WITH WOMEN those men who revel in the military: "A lot of us who excel as soldiers were kicked Dance with me. It isn't done, you say, Women dancing together? But I assure you it is, And when it is done well Without fear Or guilt Or morbid self-searching (That is - naturally) It can change the shape of the world. There is nothing like The twofold softness Of women together To dull the cutting edges Of myriad oppressions And to soften The hard corners of life. around as kids and are mad as hell at the world..." and in a larger context: "If you don't believe you're immortal, mistreat a child. Your demons will live on..." , Click. Michele Proulx We will lead each other 9 -°-4/.1l111011\t.11100 Widows We will dance Swaying in the jaws of the lion We will dance In the eye of the hurricane We will dance War into peace Hatred into love Death into life We will dance In the glare Of patriarchy's searchlight And shatter it Into a million stars And even if I've discovered that widows are respectable, unlike deserted wives. Widows make people feel uncomfortable only until the formalities of sympathy are done. So lonely again, at least this time I am respectable, Even respectable, 'Though not, of course, socially a plus as a widower would be. They Stop the music Our dance will go on. Gerry Clarke 4/4/93 Never mind, I have my special friends and my children. They care. They comfort. It's me who hangs back Dreading to become a weight on their minds. Anyway, it's Cory's birthday soon, Complete with party. A day to be anticipated with pure pleasure; A bright spot on a rather blank horizon. Gerry Black PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor NoiitietriWOman Page 13 �BOOKS FOR SUMMER READING By Margaret Phillips It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I prepared last year's summer reading list. just out in cloth, thus is expensive - $26.95. The Bookstore has a reading copy that may be borrowed - call to get on the list (which is quite long). MYSTERIES For those of you who insist on escape reading for your summer pleasure we'll move to the mystery section and I'll tell you Hopefully this year we will get a nice enough summer that we can lie on the Fans of Rita Mae Brown will welcome her about a number of interesting Canadian beach with a pile of novels. newest novel, VENUS ENVY, where "Frazier" mystery writers. I want to begin this column by extending our who thinks she's dying tells all. But it is a mistake - she is very much alive and must deal with the consequences of her truth congratulations to Elizabeth Kouhi on the publication of her latest book, ESCAPE TO telling. "...(Frazier) is determined to make a WHITE OTTER CASTLE. new new beginning - as a brash, brazen, and children's novel is a delightful story, set in the 1920's of 12 year old Harry and 9 year totally irresistable woman who will raise the This old Lucy and their adventures as they travel (escape) from Ignace to White Otter Castle. As always, Kouhi weaves and exciting tale and evokes wonderful northern images that will give pleasure to adult readers as well as a younger audience. ESCAPE TO WHITE OTTER CASTLE is a truly Northwestern Ontario endeavour. As well as its setting and historical value - the author, the illustrator, Marion Storm, and the publisher, Elinor Barr's Singing Shield Productions are all Thunder Bay women. We're also pleased to note that Elizabeth Kouhi's SARAH JANE OF SILVER ISLET is back in print. KATHERINf AND THE GARBAGE DUMP is another recent children's book from a Northwestern Ontario author, Martha Morris of Atikokan. Young readers will enjoy Katherine's determination as she solves her "garbage problem". Other children's books to note include: DISCOVER THE WORLD: Empowering Children to Value Themselves, Others and the Earth, edited by Susan Hopkins and Jeffrey Winters MADDIE IN GOAL by Louise LeBlanc THE MOONLIGHT HIDE & SEEK CLUB IN THE POLLUTION SOLUTION by Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse act of coming out of the closet into a new art form." VENUS ENVY is toasted as Brown's best novel since Rubyfruit Jungle. The abundance of wonderful Canadian women writers continues to be impressive. Recent releases include: Sandra Birdsell's THE CHROME SUITE; A WHOLE BRASS BAND by Anne Cameron; PAPER, SCISSORS, ROCK by Ann Decter; Leona Gom's THE Y CHROMOSOME; THE LAST MAGICIAN by Janet Turner Hospital; FRIENDS I NEVER KNEW by Tanya Lester; and Sarah Murphy's THE DECONSTRUCTION OF WESLEY SMITHSON. Also - several short fiction collections: IMPERFECT MOMENTS: Stories by Candis Graham; LOVELY IN THE BONES by J. Jill Robinson; and Sharon Drache's first collection, GOLDEN GHETTO. Newly out in paperback are Joy Kowaga's ITSUKA; and THE REPUBLIC OF LOVE by Carol Shields. I particularly want to recommend new fiction by Lee Maracle, whose non-fiction (I AM WOMAN, BOBBILEE: INDIAN REBEL) many of you will be familiar with. Maracle, one of the strongest voices in Canadian literature, has two novels this year. SUNDOGS is a contemporary novel (influenced by the events of Kahnewache and Meech Lake) that traces Marianne's hopes and anxieties NAME CALLING by Rah Sadv as she learns to deal with her own life within the larger external conflict. The more recent novel RAVENSONG just arrived in the Bookstore this week, and I'm looking forward to reading it. It is described..."Set PEOPLE OF THE BUFFALO: How the along the Pacific Northwest Coast of the early 1950's, RAVENSONG unfolds in an ALISON GORDON whoa before turning to mystery writing, was a journalist and broadcaster, and covered the Toronto Blue Jays for the Toronto Star, was the first woman on the American League beat. In the KATE HENRY MYSTERY SERIES, Kate is a baseball reporter for the Toronto Planet, who keeps finding herself involved in murder investigations - three of them so far: THE DEAD PULL HITTER, SAFE AT HOME, and just out in paperback, NIGHT GAME. MEDORA SALE's series, also based in Toronto, features Detective Inspector John Sanders and photographer Harriet Jeffries. Fast-paced, well-plotted novels, the series includes: MURDER IN FOCUS, MURDER ON THE RUN, and MURDER IN A GOOD CAUSE. One of my favourite mystery writers is L.R. WRIGHT. The setting is B.C.'s Sunshine Coast and RCMP Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg is called upon to solve the varying murders in FALL FROM GRACE, A CHILL RAIN IN JANUARY, SLEEP WHILE I SING, and THE librarian Cassandra Mitchell has a dominant role, and it is nice to see the portrayal of a strong middle-aged woman. Wright was recipient of SUSPECT. the Eiger Award for THE ELLEN GODFREY is also a British Columbia writer; she founded Press Porcepic and computer software company. Computer business, technology and intrigue are found in several of her Jane The most recent, Tregar Mysteries. currently, owns a GEORGIA DISAPPEARED would have Plains Indians Lived by Maria Campbell urban Native community devastated by a flu epidemic. Stacey, seventeen and at the benefited from tighter editing, but I enjoyed MURDER BEHIND LOCKED DOORS. haven't read her earlier books THE CASE OF THE COLD MURDERER and MURDER AMONG THE WELL-TO-DO. A WALK IN THE RAINFOREST by Kristin brink of adulthood, balances her family's traditional ways against white society's Still Joy Prait intrusive new values, knowing her future lies in both worlds... In this passionate novel about a young woman's search for answers to difficult questions, Lee Maracle speaks unflinchingly of the gulf between two cultures - a gulf that Raven knows must be bridged. inspirational and By turns damning, prophetic, RAVENSONG is a moving drama that sparkles with humour in the midst of FICTION tragedy." I from the West Coast we have ELIZABETH BOWERS. Her only novel that I'm aware of is LADIES NIGHT featuring private investigator Meg Lacey. I read this a long time ago so I'm hazy about it, but the Toronto Star called it s "superb first novel". MARIAN FOSTER gives us strong lesbian mysteries featuring Toronto lawyer Harriet Fordhaur Croft. LEGAL TENDER, published in 1992 is Foster's second novel - preceded by THE MONARCHS ARE FLYING. Now on to adult fiction. GAIL BOWEN is the Saskatchewan author of the Joanne Kilbourn Mystery series which begins with DEADLY APPEARANCES. MURDER AT THE MENDEL (the second in the series) is being adapted as a made for TV film. Personally, I found this novel too filled with ugly characters for my liking - but The top of the list is, of course, THE FIFTH SACRED THING, Starhawk's first published fiction. Every "burnt-out" activist must read this magnificent novel. This book has given me more hope than anything I've read in years. Marion Zimmer Bradley declares THE FIFTH SACRED THING is "slated to be one of the great visionary Utopian novels of the century" - high praise indeed. The book is Womansline Books other mystery fans thought it was wonderful. Haven't yet read THE WANDERING SOUL MURDERS which is still in hard cover. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman. Page. 14 �SWANN: A literary mystery by CAROL SHIELDS is a superb story and my favourite. Shields. a Winnipeg-based novelist is one of Canada's most highly acclaimed fiction writers. NON-FICTION BIOGRAPHIES There is much high praise for Blanche Cook's biography ELANOR 1884-1993 ROOSEVELT Volume 1 Wiesser High on the non-fiction list are new books by respected writers. THE CREATION OF FEMINIST CONSCIOUSNESS: From The Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy is Gerda Lerner's (Volume 2 is to follow). Cook's biography is considered to be a more human and accurate portrayal of the life of this interesting brave woman. second volume in the Women & History Series (following THE CREATION OF "Everyone who thinks PATRIARCHY). about women's thinking should read this book, discover our heritage, and WEDDED TO THE CAUSE: Ukranian- contemplate its interruptions." Canadian Women and Ethnic Identity 18911991 is a new book by Frances Swyripa that analyses the images and myths that have grown up around Ukranian-Canadian women, why they arose and how they were used. For all our francophone readers I want to tell you about a biography by a friend of mine, Lucie Brunet. "Cette biographie brosse non seulement le portrait d'une FrancoOntarienne de stature nationale ALMANDA WALKER-MARCHAND a fonde la Federation des femmes canadiennesfrancaises et en a ete la presidente de 1914 a 1946 - elle a aussi le merite de dresser un parallele entre les visions feministes d'hier et aujourd'hui, grace a une trame fictive qui entre coupe le recit histoique et qui l'enrichit sur le plan ideologique. On y decouvre une femme soucieuse de corriger les inegalities THE WORD OF A WOMAN: resource to survivors and to everyone working with violence issues. Lots of praise is forthcoming for Aphrodite Matsakis' handbook for trauma survivors, I CAN'T GET OVER IT. Perhaps the most important violence issue book to come out of this year is FEMICIDE: The Politics of Woman Killing edited by Jill Radford and Diana E.H. Russell. Feminist Dispatches 1968-1992 is Robin Morgan's most recent collection. "Whether you are a Other new non-fiction titles include: twenty-five year veteran of this current wave of feminism or a newcomer, this global journey of a courageous feminist at the The Women's CHALLENGING TIMES: Movement in Canada and the United States edited by Constance Backhouse and David cutting edge of the women's movement will H. Flaherty inspire, provoke, anger and educate you. This book is destined to be a feminist WOMEN IN MOVEMENT: Feminism and classic from which we can all learn." Social Action by Sheila Rowbotham One of the NWB's best-selling books year after year is Harriet Goldhor Lerner's THE DANCE OF ANGER. Now Lerner gives us THE DANCE OF DECEPTION: Pretending and Truth-Telling in Women's Lives, which GODDESS IN THE OFFICE: A personal energy guide for the spiritual warrior at work by Z. Budapest THE POLITICS OF ABORTION by Janine Brodie, Shelley A.M. Gavigan and Jane explores how and why women "hide the real" and the challenge for women to "live Jenson her own truth. to cease living a life dictated and defined by others." THE GAY AND LESBIAN LIBERATION sociales de son epoque et determinee a MOVEMENT by Margatet Cruikshank conditions de vie de ses UNCOILING THE SNAKE is described as "a compatriots, meme si cela exigeparfois d'etre politiquement en avance sur son brilliant multicultural collection of essays, stories, pictures and poems that illuminate temps." JIN GUO: Voices of Chinese Canadian and celebrate women's power to heal." This collection is edited by Vicki Noble, author of MOTHERPEACE and SHAKTI WOMEN. is "a moving and profoundly educational exercise in women recovering our history. The rich contribution of women of Chinese origin to the history of Canada's Every person who works in an academic institution (or any patriarchal institution for that matter) must read Paula J. Caplan's ameliorer les TO HEAL, this easy-to-read, easy-to-carry book takes you through key stages of the healing process and will be an invaluable WILLFUL VIRGIN, Essays in Feminism by Marilyn Frye IN FULL FLOWER: Aging Women, Power and Sexuality by Lois W. Banner Women peoples comes alive in the voices of the LIFTING A TON OF FEATHERS: women themsevles. JIN GUO is a model of feminist herstory." (Judy Rebick, NAC) Woman's Guide Academic World. Please note that GERTRUDE AND ALICE Diana Souhami is now out in paperback... And then there is - k.d. lang: Carrying the Torch by William Robertson. tremendous service with BEGINNING TO HEAL: A First Book for Survivors of Child by to Surviving in RECONSTRUCTING BABYLON: Essays on Women and Technology edited by H. Patricia Hynes A the En-GENDERing JUSTICE, Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social RACE-ing POWER: Ellen Bass and Laura Davis have done us a Sexual Abuse. Based on THE COURAGE Reality edited by Toni Morrison CALL ME LESBIAN: Lesbian Lives, Lesbian Theory by Julia Penelope Northern Woman Journal Fundraiser YARD SALE Northern Woman's Bookstore parking lot Saturday, August 28, 1993 Bring donations to the store August 27th 10 am to 2 pm PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 15 �1973 Northern Women's Conference was the catalyst for the two decades of feminist action that The followed throughout Northwestern Ontario. In the Fall '93 issue of the Northern Woman Journal, we plan to celebrate these twenty years of activism. We are asking you - NWJ readers - to share with us your memories of the highlights (a particular conference, the development of a service, a demonstration, a conference, etc.) and the women (those presently active as well as those involved twenty years ago). We particularly want memories of the outrageous, the risk-taking, the fun - the events and the people that empowered us (yes, we'll tell the Sudbury Conference story). We're not asking you to write the copy (although articles, poems and testimonies will be most welcome). We're asking for ideas. Please write us at NWJ, Box 144, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7C 4V5 with your memories and your suggestions for the content of this special Journal celebration. We'd like to have your ideas by midJuly - target date for copy is August 20th. Thanks for your help. NORTHERN WOMAN'S BOOKSTORE SUMMER SALE 20% OFF ALL FICTION 30 - 80% OFF SELECTED ITEMS STOCK UP ON YOUR SUMMER READING 65 South Court Street Tues. to Sat. 1 lam to 6 pm PDF compression, OCR, Northern Woman Page 16 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Semi Close MIN Beg Means. Nu. 51017 MAIL TO: RETURN TO: THE NORTHERN women JOURNAL P.O. BOX 144 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO P7C 4V5 Return Postage Guaranteed IS THERE AN ASTERISK ON YOUR LABEL?? PLEASE RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Don't forkot to roam your SUBSCRIPTION NAME. ADDRESS JANE POST AL CODE $8.00 Institutional $16.00 Individual NRS Wetle NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL -11(INDERS \* 1.4146Cid JOG° Pry pos. \e ,10`.4 C r ferry e 3000014 VOCIACkEI atos strioeck PO Box 144 Thunder Bay Ontario P7C 4Y5 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 15 No 1 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15, No. 1 (June 1993) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Subscription fees for the Journal Employment and training conference National Action Committee Free trade and women Women and NAFTA Sexism in healthcare Depo-provera Alcoholics Anonymous Poetry Women and political decision making Employment equity Access to social services in the north Violence against women Faye Peterson Transition House Sexual assault Women’s centres Abortion access Labour reform Feminist book review Feminist book list 1973 Northern Women’s Conference Authors/contributors: Margaret Phillips Diane Mills Jocelyn J. Paquette Leni Untinen Sandy Wilson Arja Lane Alice Sabourin Michele Proulx Gerry Clarke Gerry Black Jane Saunders Rae Ann Honey Chris Snyder Margaret Johnston Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2832/1994_Vol_15_No_2-3_Special_Issue.pdf f6424db9997d5eb52f6c5cdbe99d629a PDF Text Text t INOrthern Woman Volume 15 Numbers 2 and 3 Special Issue Thunder Bay, Ontario Sexual Assault Centres Cf) Economic Development Women's Centres g Violence Issues Information Centres ca.) Pensions Transition Houses c Health Support Groups C.) March 1994 $4.00 CELEBRATING .A WOMEN'S ACTIVISM .4)*- 1973 - 1993 Demonstrations Northern Woman Journal Position Papers Conferences 14003 Bookstore Organizing Lobbying Theatre 14 U OO O W Music 1111. O INJ Art PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �EDITORIAL This is not an editorial but rather some Many months have elapsed reflections. since our last Journal issue but we have been busy fund-raising. To compensate for this delay we are providing you with this Special Double issue which includes a retrospective of NWO women's activism over the past twenty years. Much has happened since the last NWJ. Canada's first female Prime Minister has come and gone, and how quickly the "old boys" of the media and the P.C. Party dumped the blame for nine years of Mulroney disaster on Campbell's shoulders. We can bet it will be a long time before the Tories select another female leader. The media power mongers also tried to lay responsibility for the NDP's dismal showing on Audrey McLaughlin, never acknowledging how the media dismissed and marginalized her from the day she was elected. The NDP's problems are complex and multifaceted, but few should be assigned to McLaughlin. Nonetheless, we can anticipate that the feminist process McLaughlin tried so valiantly to implement will quickly be abandoned by the next NDP leader. So now we have a massive Liberal majority, an to the official opposition dedicated separation of Quebec, and a substantive Reform opposition, whose misogynist, racist and classist underpinnings make the old Tories look like shining stars. What does this mean for feminists and other activists? Ironically, it seems the social justice agenda will depend on the separatist Bloc (and the few determined NDP members). What can we expect from the Liberals? EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS A number of new Child Care Centres in the Kenora/Rainy River Districts require staff to provide quality care and early childhood experiences to young children. A wide variety of program positions in both first Nation and Municipal programs are available and will appeal to energetic applicants who are interested in enriching their own life experience while contributing to the provision of child care services that are responsive to the unique needs of the community. Supervisors Assistant Supervisors Resource Teachers Infant Teachers Toddler Teachers Preschool Teachers Positions Available: Initially, many feminists expressed cautious optimism, citing the presence of strong women in the Liberal caucus, and a modestly progressive "red book" social agenda. Such optimism will prove to be is instructive to note that Sheila Finestone (one of the strongest short-lived. It Liberal women) was denied a full Cabinet post, presumably because she was too "passionate" about her causes - women, culture and multiculturalism. The promises the Liberals have kept to date (eg Pearson, helicopters) can be viewed as gender neutral. Not so, the broken promise re NAFTA (see NWJ Vol.15#1 for women and NAFTA discussion). *Contingent upon location, other employment opportunities may be available to spouses/partners Qualifications: -Early Childhood Education Diploma or equivalent -Well developed communication and organizational skills -Good understanding of the Ojibway and/or Oji-Cree language and culture a definite asset for some positions -Adaptable to the northern climate and lifestyles What lies ahead is very scary. A UIC "overhaul" - a "restructuring" of the welfare system - catch words masking the destruction of our Canadian social programs (which now are frequently inadequate). Who will be most negatively affected by social program "reform" -- women, of course. A very disturbing trend in welfare reform discussion is the implicit assumption that caring for children is work of no value. (Listen carefully to Premier McKenna's words as he extols New Brunswick's welfare Location: Variety of locations throughout the Kenora/Rainy River Districts in Northwestern Ontario including remote fly-in communities reform program). How many elder women without independent income will be sacrificed by old age security 'reform," just Salary: Negotiable depending upon position and previous experience as non-labour force mothers were sacrificed Some locations offer accommodation, relocation and travel allowances Submit Resume To: District Child Care Selection Committee c/o Child Care Projects Support Worker 20 Main Street South Kenora, Ontario P9N 1S7 Fac # (807)468-2449 when the family allowance program was abandoned. We find from a study of those elected in 1993 many anti-choice Liberal MPs. Don't be surprised (but be prepared) when an anti- choice private members bill is introduced. No question, the goals we though we'd achieved in the 70s and 80s All! nave to be vigorously defended. the sa-e trne we must find energy to such For Further Information Contact: Leanne Mineault Child Care Projects Support Worker 1-800-268-2970 or (807)468-2400 THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESUMES IS THURSDAY MARCH 31, 1994 as the irto Canada of NORPLANT, a long -terrn contraceptive whose safety has not been proven. (NORPLANT has been 'dumped' on developing countries for a number of years, resulting in very serious health problems for many women.) continued pg 16 Northern Woman Page 2 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �From Gender Gap to Gender Trap In preparation for the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, international women's health activists met recently in Bangladesh to prepare their strategy. The following is one of the documents prepared in advance of this meeting. has been constructed as the desire of Women have always been the target of The United Nations Fund for women. Population Activities (UNFPA) has made an estimate of how the desire could be translated into real population control. "If all population control programmes. Therefore, women who said they wanted no more children were able to stop childbearing, the number of births would be reduced by 27 percent in Africa, 33 percent in Asia, and 35 percent in Latin America" (Safeguarding the Future, by Dr. Nafis Sadik) it is nothing new that these population control programmes are trying to "involve" women as a means to achieve the goals of What is new is the fertility reduction. rhetoric, such as "raising the status of women", which is only a curtain to veil the original intention. These words are more acceptable to women instead of talking only about contraceptive prevalence and depopulation. Women's womb is presently the most Why the women do not want any more children is not analyzed. In the case of Bangladesh, we have seen about the number of children is omitted and needs and desires of women are The reason is decontextualized. For example, a poor and understandable. that during the early sixties, the research by the population agencies on how to mobilize people to accept contraceptives showed that women must be involved and be given other economic benefits as well. They must be was identified as the producer of something black Brazilian woman may not want to helped to come out of their houses. "undesirable" for the earth ruled by white and rich people. Women, the owner of womb, has become the centre of attention for population control programmes bring her child into a desperate economic situation and a political environment where the child may be killed in the street by the woman should earn some cash income so that her status within the family is raised to a level to make her accept a contraceptive vigilantes. If the situation were different, she method without the "permission" of her husband. Once she starts bringing in cash income to the family the husband will not Activities to raise the status of resist. Every strategic object in this world. international agency is now talking about it in many different ways but most commonly as a concern about "women". The womb is part of the woman's body. Women never received so much attention until the womb The social and political context in which women decide Particular discourses are deployed in order to make the direct link between the number of "undesirable" population and the women's "responsibility" to stop bringing those people may love to have children. The question whether she wants children or not is contentless if abstracted out of the real situation, but for the population controllers the decontextualisation is all they need. So these women must be helped in a way that some terms are settled they do not have to bear the "unwanted" worldwide. into the world. securely by now in the common mainstream discussions to legitimize the acts of population control. These° are "unwanted" pregnancy and "unmet need" or "latent demand", etc. These words are used by mainstream population agencies, such as UNFPA, World Bank, IPPF, Population Council, Rockefeller Foundation, etc. Foundation, Ford Some studies are conducted to prove that women do not want children. For example, the World Fertility Survey shows that women in Asia, Africa, and Latin America do not want any more children. Once this "fact" is established it has become a very crucial and effective tool of the population control agencies. They can now say it is the women who do not want any more children. The purpose of the depopulating strategy children. A women help the population control agencies and the contraceptive distributors make direct relationships with the users of contraceptives and they therefore are able to circumvent the social, cultural or family norms associated with the child bearing There are also clearcut commercial interests linked to evolving depopulating discourses. The women's desire regarding the number of children, as well as the spacing of births, is crucial for the expansion of the commerce of contraceptive commodities. There is an "unmet need" for contraceptives, it is argued, therefore the need should be met. The "unmet demand" or "unmet need" is a way to identify new markets. The marketing interests of the pharmaceutical companies coincide with and complement the urge of population controllers to reduce the number of children women produce. Now the two decisions of the family. The precise objective is to cut individual women from their social and familial ties so that population controllers can make inroads to them directly. In the process, the women's bodies are displaced from the existing social nexus to be at the disposal of the population controllers, multinational companies, medical establishments, and other related The womb lies in the woman's body, so as long as she is in the hands of interests. the population control agencies, the chances of success for depopulation are much higher. It is indeed a war on the interests have merged into one and the same statistics are turned into tools to woman's body. realise their respective interests. In the beginning of the population control programmes, the issue was more directly related to practical problems of having Who are these women whose desire of having "no more" children has drawn so much interest among the international They are, of course, the community? women from black, poor, and various ethnic and cultural groups living in the developing countries. (In fact, the desire of elite and white women to have less or no children has become a problem for the ruling class in Europe and North America.) Generally the to reduce the number of the undesirable population are termed "population control programmes) or "family planning programmes". These programmes obvious intentions to exterminate a section of the world's population have been criticized by many. Therefore the language has been changed to incorporate discourses efforts arising from women's demands. Some of the new terms are "reproductive right", "women's right to choose" and "raising the status of women". It is proposed that woman herself now should " decide" and "act" to reduce the number of her children women as contraceptive users. Efforts were made to recruit women for specific contraceptive targets. But though millions of contraceptives were sold and some level of fertility decline has been observed, the long experience of over 30 years is not yet "satisfactory" in the relation to the decline in The developed countries fertility rate. providing aid for population control programmes are not happy with the results. So, women continue to remain the object of interest as they are still seen as the best means to achieve the goal of population control. Meanwhile, women have been very critical of population control policies and they are demanding access to safe means But those genuine contraception. of demands of women have been distorted towards the interest of population control agencies. continued pg 4 which are "unwanted" not only to her but to the world. The decision now is claimed to be not an imposition, but a free "choice" of women. Northern Woman Page 3 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �continued from pg 3 The type of industries which are relocated in Initially the stated goal of population control programmes was to achieve decline in the average number of children per family. But this decline in fertility rates in the developing countries is not yet "satisfactory" in the eyes of the population control establishments. Some countries have shown enormous decline, such as Brazil and Thailand. In Thailand the average number of children per woman during 1965-70 was 6.14, by 1987 the number had declined to 2.2 Other countries have also shown significant levels of decline in fertility, yet taken together the total number of people in the developing countries have not reduced enough to satisfy the depopulation strategists. It is important in this context to look into the world scenario which focuses increasing These are the attention on women. situations generated by rapid changes in the world economic order, environmental degradation, and the geographic distribution of people in the developed and developing countries. i. World economic restructuring needs women as a source of cheap labour. The world economic order changing rapidly. The profit oriented market economy is rapidly emerging in societies that is previously used to produce mainly for the satisfaction of their own needs, rather than for the global market. Keeping women away from child bearing is a consequence of the logic of profit' and export oriented production. The world economic system now requires women in the developing countries to be involved in the industries as cheap labour:` In order to become a full-time worker, including working overtime and on holidays, they must be free from responsibilities such as marriage, child bearing, etc. The women engaged in jobs may not necessarily have to get married at an early age. "Women's access to labour market brings multiple benefits. It works to lower fertility by delaying the age of marriage. After marriage it provides women with an independent income which will improve their power and status in the family" (State of World Population, UNFPA, 1992). the developing countries for cheap labour do not recruit married women and do not provide maternity leave. Given the deunionization policy implemented in the package of structural adjustment programmes of multilateral agencies, women are losing ground to fight against the processes that are denuding them of their fundamental rights as workers. Under this situation, women are needed only for their capacity for production; their role in reproduction must be terminated as dictated by the logic of the system. The UNFPA consumed mostly in the developing countries, population growth allegedly accounted for both 69% of the increase in livestock numbers in developing countries and 68% of the increase in sub-Saharan Africa's carbon dioxide output between 1980 and 1988. No mention of the contribution of the developed countries in this respect. United States alone emits 22% of all carbon dioxide produced in the world. Uneven population growth in the developed and the developing countries. iii. document is very clear on this: "It is also The growing fear of the western developed clearly recognized that more attention must be given to women's productive rather than countries about the unequal number of reproductive role so that they may have being expressed very openly status apart from motherhood" (Population internal government documents. 'N ;r Issues Briefing Kit, UNFPA, 1992) percent of world population is occur- -g in the developed countries, which or ii. The world environment is degrading: Population is to be blamed! environment degradation has generated worldwide concern. Something must be done to mend it and a culprit must be found to be blamed. It is agreed by all that the "consumption patterns of industrialized countries such as the United States must be dramatically altered if environmental sustainability is to be achieved" (Why Population Matters, UNFPA, 1991). This report continues: "Americans need also to recognize the role industrialised countries play in global environmental problems. For example, Americans make Global up only 5% of the world's population but consume 33% of the world's resources and produce 33% of the world's pollution." In other words, only 5% of the world's population cause one-third of the pollution. people of other colour, race, or ethnicity is various in average is increasing at 2.1% per year. 42 least developed countries are growirig a: 2.8%. In contrast, the growth rate of developed regions, (essentially Europe, North America, Japan and Oceana) has dropped to 0.5% and may fall further. The same stark contrast is naturally to be seen in fertility rates: these average 3.8 in developing countries with the least developed among them at more than 6.0; but fertility is now only 1.9, i.e. below replacement level, in developed countries. Racism is more obvious in all the discussions of "overpopulation." In the cover page of The Economist (May 30thJune 5th, 1992), a picture of black African children was prominently presented to terrify the readers about "overpopulation." In UNFPA documents, whenever population is discussed the projected faces are of people of colour. On top of this, national But the western industrialised and developed countries are not prepared to change their consumption habits. On the contrary, they continue to blame the developing countries for their large populations as a major cause of environmental degradation. For many instances, population growth has been held responsible for deforestation, carbon dioxide output, methane gas emissions and loss of biodiversity. For example, since methane gas is produced by rice paddies and livestock and rice is produced and 65 S. COURT ST EQUINOX issues and the question of strict immigration laws are now on the priority agenda of the population discussion in the European and North American countries. Farida Abider is Executive Director of UBINIG, a Bangladesh research organization. She participated in the Women Working for Change project and visited Thunder Bay in 1989. PHONE: 346-4600 COMPUTER SERVICES Mailing Lists Resumes & Covering Letters Term Papers, Theses, Reports Newsletter & Pamphlet Layout Personal & Business Correspondence Business Forms Design Individual Lessons Consultation at your site or ours Troubleshooting, Maintenance & Repai r Equipment selection & Setup Call Maryann for a free consultation SPECIALIZING IN COMPUTER LITERACY TRAINING FOR WOMEN Northern Woman Page 4 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �"You fricking cow, Josie" I sobbed to myself, "you fricking, fricking cow." Patsy Cline I fall To Pieces I got home still sobbing at the thought of the suitcases, I cried for about ten minutes and Josie Wallenius were listening to Patsy Cline told Flo the fall to pieces." holiday was like a big wave, the kind that begins its swell miles out, and the holiday was the swell, not the crash on the beach, Flo and singing The last evening I was at my sister-in-law's house. The last party of the swell. At last I I "I then it stopped. That was 2 hours and 50 I was telling the kind story about my first husband for Matthew's sake, but it turned out it was for my stepson's sake, who had not understood something else, and there because that would come later, water draining moving pebbles that had needed to be re-arranged. was a pause as people looked into the swell, and I thought if this is story time I will tell another. I was at the stove, and Matthew appeared by my side. I told Brian, who is my other stepson's son, that as an anarchist he was a chip off the minutes less sobbing than I had done when they had bombed Iraq. And I thought of the suitcases again. Clothes, and 60 tiny bits of amethyst and 60 tiny Canadian flag badges, the ones you get from the M.P.'s office. 30 bits of amethyst for Daniel's class and 30 bits of amethyst for Alex's class. Badges ditto. So the kids could show where they had "You're privileged Mum". old been. I sank, Not you too Brutus. she wasn't escaping blows from her first I had not told my son, but I feel that I must when I write next, that I had been given little Canadian badges to take to Palestine from block, as his grandmother, my husband's first wife, had been a leftist when husband, He meant the journeying. Russia, Libya, Nicaragua, Palestine. lived I anything besides, privileged about failure, and know a hundred people who could go where I- went if they made that I choice, but they didn't make it, so shut up." I flung in an extra barb for good. measure. told them that his over the road from me in said, "What is the Bay of Pigs"? PRIVILEGE? And I said to the people who were listening to this story that I had never forgotten to this day the look of contempt that Nan had flung at me for asking such a question. I said that I had never understood what the contempt was for, that I had said to my first husband that it was strange that Nan never spoke to me any more even though she lived over the road, and it had taken me over 20 years to want to understand that knowing what the But he still thinks I am privileged. "They can't even turn their T.V. off and read." Bay of Pigs meant was important for all human beings to know, but the funny thing "Shit." I was speechless. The nights I was working full time and reading till 3 in the was that Joan, Brian's grandmother had never shown me contempt although she morning, sogging the pillow with tears. knew more about the Bay of Pigs than Nan, so that showed you what a wonderful "SHIT" I SAID. person Joan was, not to show contempt to people who did not know about the Bay of He walked away. Pigs. "Frick" I thought. I wanted to tell him about his blood father. I lay on a couch, the young women were talking. I lay talking with the old man in bed. I asked him who had heard the story about Nan's contempt because I wanted it to be my daughter-in-law, but he said it was my stepson's wife, so you never can tell, can you? My sister-in-law who is Canadian was asking my daughter-in-law what it was like living in London with all those IRA bombs going off. The silence was quite rapt. Rapt. I stirred. My daughter-in-law said Londoners could take it. The London blitz myths live on as though Dresden never happened. My mouth opened in the swell My intestines knotted. like a gasping fish. "Well, at least the IRA warn people, not like the bloody allies when they carpet bombed Iraq." It was as though I had thrown a gear shift MOMENTARILY into neutral ... somebody geared it back again, neatly. I had been giving my daughter driving lessons, but it wasn't her, she gets things, I have blessings to count. our M.P.s office, and had left them behind in a bin in a hotel room in the East Jerusalem hotel because I hadn't known what else to do with them. mentioned the Bay of Pigs to me and I had world, it's propaganda. That why I went. And I tried to bring a message back, and I failed and if you think this is privilege, Frick You, because it has been my experience I I Saskatchewan, and one day Nan had "Look son, you know what's killing this that nobody gives a mucking frick about anything outside their own lives which don't see am a failure and means and grandmother had a friend called Nan who used to visit England to see my family I used to travel from my daughter's When I place in Barnet to my son's place near Kings Cross station. I used to go by the underground train. The conspiracy theorists say all the big cities in the West have undergrounds so they can be blown up when the time comes. My son uses the train to go to work and my daughter-in-law uses the train to visit her mother. I remember in Palestine the people said the world is like a train. The people in the West are inside the train and the people not in the West are outside it banging on the windows and doors for attention. But everybody inside the train is hanging on tight, because things are getting uncomfortable inside the train too. Well, just after the time of Iraq, I was in England, on the underground going to see my son, and the train was packed, and opposite to me was an Arab man reading an Arabic newspaper, and sitting next to him Anyhow, the day they left went to the was a middle aged woman, neatly dressed, airport to see them off, then I went home. I walked into the house and into the silence. grey haired, carrying a bunch of seringa I The swell was over and now the pebbles would move. I felt great. I went to work that night and unwound, then I did six loads of washing in the laundrymat before I came blossoms. The train was rocking along and I remember think that the woman looked as though she had picked the blossoms for a friend because she had such a kind face. home. I was driving home, feeling O.K. and Suddenly the woman turned to the Arab suddenly, pebbles moved, and I saw them at the airport again, I saw them again as I was seeing them off. man who newspaper, My son was taking their two shiny new suitcases from the trunk of the car, and putting them on the airport cart, and was reading the Arabic "It's so dreadful what is going on, such a pity our troops did not finish it off and kill Sadam Hussein." I suddenly collapsed into sobbing. It was the suitcases. New, new for their trip to Canada to see Nan. A couple of working class kids with two new suitcases, their holiday dream. And I had dented it. The man smiled politely at her, he carried on reading. The woman sank back on her seat, her kind face smiling. The train rocked on. People were reading newspaper. They were going to work. My mouth opens. It is not me, it is never me. "For Christ's sake," shouts this voice, "It's all lies, don't you understand, it's all lies. continued pg 6 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 5 �Patsy Cline I fall To Pieces continued from pg 5 Book Review went to the door waiting for the train to stop. I stepped off and ran up the platform, and got on the escalator, had no idea what I station I was at, I just had to get off the train. I was still trembling. I felt a hand on my arm and turned around. It was the woman. Her face was flushed. She was out of breath. She had been running to catch up with me. "What do you mean?" she said. It's all lies, that's all I mean. Everything. It's all lies and propaganda. We got separated in the crowd. We had both left the train. It had nothing to do with privilege. Chapter 2. I had been waiting for an answer from my son. My old man had said, don't write in anger, but I had, plop, into the letter box, it was done. I was afraid, till he answered, I got the letter this morning. Sometimes things are too personal to share, but he said, together in a conflict that challenges DECLARATION OF THE FOUR SACRED THINGS A few faces turned, I was trembling, and as the rock samples. Both their classes, (my grandchildren's) were able to take a piece home, with around 30 pieces left which the school asked if they could keep to be used for study. I remember theln toiling up Silver Mountain, air thick with mosquitos, to get bits of amethyst for their little friends. Baraka Bashad, my son, which is Arabic for "Blessed be." The earth is a living, conscious being. In company with cultures of many different times and places, we name these things as sacred: air, fire, water, and earth. Whether we see them as the breath, energy, blood, and body of the Mother, or as the blessed gifts of a Creator, or as symbols of the interconnected systems that sustain fife, we know that nothing can live without them. WOMEN'S Saturday, March 19, 1994 Unitarian House 129 S. Algoma 7:45 p.m. ENTERTAINMENT and REFRESHMENTS (non-alcoholic) $3.50 at the door (or more if you can) CELEBRATING THUNDER BAY WOMEN year old crone-witch who visits with her departed lovers, reminisces and ruminates over her life's adventures, worries for both her grandchild and her lovers' grandchild and takes her fate and the fate of her city in hand when the need arises. It is at the Time of Reaper that Maya recounts the story of the Uprising: No one has the right to appropriate Today is the twentieth anniversary of the the Uprising. I've been asked to tell you the story of Las Cuatro Viejas, the Four Old Women who sparked the rebellion in '28 when the Stewards cancelled the elections and declared martial law. them or profit from them at expense of others. Any government that fails to protect them forfeits its legitimacy. part of earth life, and so are sacred. No one of us stands higher or lower than any other. Only justice can assure balance: only ecological balance can sustain freedom. Only in freedom can that fifth sacred thing we call spirit flourish in its full diversity. To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat, knowledge, freedom, "We have had two blessed decades to remake our corner of the world, to live by what we believe. "...While the Stewards' troops were massing down on the peninsula, commandeering all stockpiles of food, and the rest of us were debating what to do and trying to work up courage to do it, Maria gathered with her neighbours, Alice Black, Lily Fong, and Greta Jeanne Morgolis, Four old women with nothing to lose. On the morning of the first of August, they marched out in and beauty can thrive. To honor the the dawn with pickaxes over their sacred is to make love possible. To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences, and of Army Street, and all the traffic stopped, such cars as a few people shoulders, straight out into the middle could still afford to drive. "Some of them were honking lives. The Fifth Sacred Thinq is Starhawk's first novel. Some readers may be already familiar with Starhawk's philosophy and world view as presented COFFEEHOUSE In the character of Maya, it seems that Starhawk may be envisioning herself several decades hence, a ninety-eight To call these things sacred is to say that they have a value beyond their usefulness for human ends, that they themselves become the standards by which our acts, our economics, our laws, and our purposes must be judged. our voices. To this we dedicate our SUPERIOR communities' very basis of existence: "There is still a place at our table, brother, if you will choose to join us." both All people, all living things, are "The badges went down well, but not as well Michele Proulx in her works The Spiral their horns, some were shouting threats, but when Maria raised the pickaxe above her head, there came a silence like a great, shared, indrawn breath. Then she let it fall, with a thud that shuddered through the streets, and Dance, Dreaming the Dark, and Truth or Dare. In The Fifth Sacred Thinq, Starhawk has taken another tack. She has written a story that is woven with her wit, her wisdom and her magic: a story that can only be categorized as Speculative Fiction. In the vein of the four old women began to dig. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's rushed from our - Tale, we are presented with visions of potential futures based upon the extension of present day circumstances and trends. In The Fifth Sacred Thing, Starhawk offers the reader a choice of alternatives. The hoped-for and hopeful option is a community based upon the above Declaration of the Four Sacred Things, where people live and work together to try to re-establish the balanced dance of the earth and her creatures. The other alternative is "They tore up the pavement, blow by blow, and filled the holes with compost from a sack Greta carried, and planted them with seeds. By ten a crowd had gathered, the worc r. .s carried through the streets, aDC eager :c many _ s _ s es to our ba 7 -e,.. -2, _ v. with fear, -.:ea-s s:rear7-,ng water the seacs. But Alice raised her hand, and she called out in a loud voice. 'Don't you cry,' she told us. 'This is not a time to cry. This is a time to rejoice and praise the earth, because today we have planted our freedom!" presented in what remains of the City of Angels where capitalistic avarice and consumption beyond replenishment have created a world where most suffer and a few live in splendid excess. Starhawk brings these-opposing visions PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 6 �Panel On Violence: A Response Jocelyn J. Paquette REPRESENTATION ON PANEL Northern Ontario Representative National Action Committee on the Status of Women Who and how were consulted in this process? This question rang loudly when the National Action Committee on the Status of Women asked the PANEL to describe the selection process. NAC and other national women's groups negotiated with the PANEL to initiate change in their structure and process. We as women felt it had to be more inclusive and accountable. (letter from Judy Rebick) The National Organization of Immigrant and Vis no accountability to groups, of those groups that took part in ible ROLE OF PANEL to engage Canadians in a dialogue on violence against women in an interactive, responsive grass roots manner, with the aim of producing solid recommendations for preventive action, immediate intervention and long term implementation. (PANEL P.3) statement - is from the Executive Summary of the National Action Plan of the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. This It leaves me looking for the direction and vision required by our governments at all three level (provincial, municipal & federal) to affect positive change. These changes were to include legislative changes that would give $ access and equal treatment in our society. What we see in the final report is something very different. I wish to present three issues of how the PANEL failed to provide the VISION hoped to have at the end of this process. Using the Summary and comments from NAC we will look at; consultation process $ representation on the panel $ final recommendations CONSULTATION PROCESS Who were the women consulted throughout the country? They were women working in violence, front line workers dedicated to the elimination of violence against women in all its forms. Women attended the consultation only to have their stories told and re-told. In Thunder Bay for example there were 5 french language translators and not one professional to support the women when they disclosed. This lack of awareness to the pain and vulnerability felt by women over their experiences being voiced was evidence of the lack of accountability to women in this process. Ten million dollars to say women were at risk of violence in Canada! Services for victims of violence and frontline workers could have produced all the necessary documentation. Nothing new was discovered for most women in Canada. Minority Women (NOIVM), the Congress of Black Women and DAWN Can ada in June 1992 met spoke with Pat Marshall (Advisory Committee of the PANEL). The original proposal asked that three minority women have full participation in the PANE L discussions. What was agreed upon was two minority women and one woman with di sabilities. When the PANEL was written up the picture was very different. The women would now be "special advisors" and it was clear that their role would be limited. the consultation no commitment was made to ensure that even "some" of these recommendations are adhered to in the foreseeable future. The issue of hope for change was by this point squashed since no directive was in place to enforce or at least begin the process to put some of these recommendations in place. The aboriginal women's circle established wi thin the PANEL was the "model of operation that should have been adopted for the panel as a whole." (Sunera Thobani, NAC Preside nt) Women at the grass roots level working against violence, racial minority women and women with disabilities felt excluded from this process. NAC and other women's how can we take seriously the over 497 RECOM- MENDATIONS that lack any support or structure to carry out the work that is needed. ZERO boundaries, TOLERANCE = NO ACCOUNTABILITY. Empty phrases. Women today deserve better. organizations pulled their support from the PANEL due to failure to respond to the concerns identified by women across Canada. what $ level of government would be responsible for the implementation of the recommendations. [The FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS report] for calls making women's safety a priority at the municipal level but does In the final analysis myself and many women I work with in Northern Ontario see the not made by the PANEL in the following way; commit the federal government to adopting the same priority. (Press Release, July 29th, 1993 from NAC) there is no timeline, in other words of the RESULTS to consultation on violence against women we are offered no timeframe in which some these recommendations are to be carried. No promise of legislative changes that could in fact bring about real change to lessen the violence of even In the final analysis the process of the PANEL not only excluded women and demeaned their experiences but it allowed little hope for the future. While women are experiencing meet the violence and deal the negative impacts of the with it through the courts. dismantling of social programs and funding cuts to shelters, transition houses and frontline workers, this report remains silent on these key issues which increases women's vulnerability to violence. (Sunera Thobani, NAC president) CONCLUSION Where do we gc from here? Look at our options. The impact had on the Constitutional Accord must not be forgotten. We must secure access for ourselves. Though the Court Challenges Program was reinstated the Women's Program continues to be at risk. Cuts to the program due to reductions of transfer payments to the provinces furthers the aggressive assault against women in this country. continued pg 15 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 7 �Do you know the difference between Nobel prize-winning literature and pornography? You're one up on Canada Customs and the federal government if you The Customs Game do. Since the Supreme Court of Canada Whether to be nice, non-offensive and Wonder bread like in order to gain the Mickey Koivisto acceptance of heterosexual society. I am not When I was a baby dyke of 5 or 6, my friend Audrey and found a stash of her father's Playboy magazines. We were I intensely curious about the female body and innocently inspected the various body parts of the women at our leisure. A short while later Audrey's big sister hauled us out by our ankles from under their parent's bed. By the end of Big Sister's hissy fit we felt ashamed. Big Sister told us we were "bad girls" and those pictures "were dirty". We believed her. Audrey still does. I remember the incident vividly because it was the first time I was told that the female form was "dirty" and that was bad for I wanting to look. The shame stayed with me for years to come. The actions of Audrey's big sister made me feel that not only my body, but all women's bodies were dirty and lesbianism was a dark and sordid act that could not even be named. Many years later, kissed a woman for the first time, a twinkling of the feel ing I'd experienced so long ago came back to make my belly do wonderful and exhilarating flips. as I Unfortunately so did the shame I'd been told should feel. It would be another several years before I could make love to a woman and several more years before dared to make love to her in the light of day. Occasionally my bdhaviour is still I I affected by the-shame that was instilled in me. I have to be ever vigilant against it - and this is after 10 years of fighting homophobia in myself and the world at large. I've asked for On Our Backs, books by Califia or Bad Attitude at women's gone. More often bookstores wherever Pat I than not I've been informed that such pornography isn't appropriate for sale in a feminist bookstore. This is usually accompanied by a look of judgement one that says "you bad girl." I can't help but feel that Big Sister is once again trying to define my sexuality. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I honestly can't see the difference. want access to sexual imagery produced by lesbians for me. That makes me a consumer of pornography. It does not make me evil. It does not make me want to I go out and do everything I see or read about. Does this mean I objectify women? Why yes I sometimes guess I do. with my lover, Sometimes, when I'm in her body, she is many intensely lost things to me, including a sex object. She is also a Goddess in the flesh. When I look at On Our Backs, and see two women entangled in each other's arms, sweating and laughing or doing whatever the fuck I they want to, they are objects. They objectify my sexuality. The dictionary defines an object as anything that is visible or tangible and in this society my sexuality is not visible. I'm not positively represented as a lesbian woman. Although I want acknowledgement for my contributions I want to be recognized as a multidimensional human who happens to be a lesbian, I also refuse to buy into the homogenous rhetoric that says my sexuality has nothing to do with who I am. Recently, the lesbian and gay community has become polarized over the issue of whether to kick out the drag queens and stone butches. of that ilk. The stone butches and drag queens got us through Stonewall and farther than we'd ever been. believe we owe the success of the lesbian, gay, et al. struggle to I them and I'll be damned if I'll be a nice white girl for my movement. My sexuality is not all of who I am, but it is a part of me. I believe that access to sex positive delineative portraits of other lesbians allows that part of me a certain amount of validity. In a society where my community and I are handed down the Butler decision in February of 1992, no prominent difference can be seen in the availability of heterosexual pornography. However, Canada Customs has targeted feminist, lesbian and gay bookstores, making it difficult for them made it difficult for them to import not only erotica, but work by authors such as Toni Morrison, Anne Cameron and Jane Rule. In 1993, over 5,000 books and periodicals were detained by Canada funeral homes, magazines like On Our Backs might not be necessary. However, lesbians have a hell of a time talking about Customs. Many of them were available in mainstream bookstores. Some were required reading in Canadian universities. The common thread in their binding was destination or distribution. The materials were either destined for lesbian, feminist or gay bookstores or were shipped by Inland Books, a major supplier of lesbian and gay what goes on in our bedrooms. We have no material. on billboards and pandied to by every industry from diaper manufacturers to role models, we have no sex education courses in high school. Most of us can hardly tell even our lovers what we want from them. Someday this will change. Seeing ourselves having sex between any covers - including those of a magazine produced by lesbians will help get us there. Right now, lesbians need every piece of material we can get that says "YES, not only is it o.k. to have sex with other women, it's o.k. to have sex however you like and here's a few ideas ya'll might like to try". My family, my government and my contemporaries are doing their very best to ensure my day of equality never arrives. I want to be a big sister who says - "look, look everywhere you need to and remember that each woman including you is strong and unique and that's part of what makes her beautiful." IN THE BEGINNING, PRE-BUTLER Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium was the first store to challenge Canada Customs on its discriminatory practices. In 1986, the Vancouver lesbian and gay bookstore had its first shipment of books and magazines detained. Amongst the considerable amount of material ruled obscene under Canada's Custom Tariff Code and prohibited entry was The Advocate, a well known magazine. On behalf of Little Sisters, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association began to appeal the ruling. The BCCLA and Little Sisters launched a Federal Court challenge, but after waiting two and a half years to litigate the government conceded their mistake, two weeks before the trial. Hoping to raise the issue of discrimination, they sued for losses incurred. Again,the government conceded. A suit was filed with the B.C. Supreme Court in 1990. The Court decided not to hear the case before R. v Butler was heard. A new date was set for September, 1992, and was again postponed until October 1993, when the Crown unsuccessfully brought forward a motion to dismiss. In October, the Crown delayed for the third time, stating that they were inadequately prepared for a case which had been in their hands for more than three years. The also argued that twenty days would not be long enough to hear from all of the expert witnesses, they had demanded be there in person. Ten weeks have been assigned to hear the case, beginning on October 11, 1994. While the government succeeds in obfuscating and obstructing the justice sought by Little Sisters, the by now impecunious bookstore and BCCLA have maintained sole responsibility for raising the challenge. In money to continue the addition to the $80,000 and incalculable work hours spent, Little Sisters will be trying to raise an additional $200,000 before this October. THEY SAID BUTLER WAS A GOOD THIN:: Aside from the Little Sisters challer- Canada Customs has been coming fire from several of Canada's organizations. The Book & - :s - Council, PEN International, The Union and the International Federation began to pay atte -:: = E:i Customs' targeting of gay. SE= E..feminist bookstores was c-a a: -: ---a agenda at PEN Ind.'s Spain. They called on the c - - PDFNorthern compression, Woman Page OCR, 8 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �"immediately halt all seizures...". Also during International Booksellers The 1993, Federation, met in Belgium. They too called Customs attempted to apologize to L.D.M. for the Canadian government to "join the other major democratic countries of the world in confirming and guaranteeing the principle of freedom of expression..." The that seizures of books going to non-gay Book & Periodical Council, representing over 6,000 individuals and 5,500 firms and institutions began addressing letters to the Minister of Revenue, Importations Unit in Ottawa,and the Prime Minister. The attention from these organizations came following a seizure of unprecidented scope. Between April 16 and May 4, 1993, Canada Customs detained over a thousand books, destined for 46 Canadian bookstores and libraries. They were from Inland Books, a large U.S. supplier to feminist, queer and alternative bookstores. Customs placated the media, literary, lesbian and gay communities, by saying that there was a distinction between gay and non-gay bookstores and bookstores were a "mistake." The Sexual Politics of Meat was destroyed on its way to Wonder Words in Toronto. Book People, the distributor of the book was told "That they faced heavy fines" if they tried to resubmit the book of feminist analysis into Canada. While a summary of Canada Customs' actions reads like an Orwellian Keystone Cops script They say they're just doing their job "intercepting obscene material." Their decisions are arbitrary, subjective and biased. While most of us expressed joy over the Butler decision there is little to cheer EXAMINING BUTLER The Butler decision evolved from a 1987 incident involving Donald Butler, a Winnipeg video outlet owner who sold "hardcore" pornography. He was charged with 250 counts of violating the Criminal Code's obscenity provision. Butler's case was the perfect test for Canada's new obscenity law because of the numerous charges brought Criminal Code prohibition on obscenity did not violate his freedom of expression. If the Court had ruled in favour of The Charter of counts. The Crown appealed the acquittals. Butler appealed the convictions. In a nine to zero decision, the Supreme Court convicted Books. After six months and numerous calls Rights and Freedoms, the criminal code from the store to Customs the notification needed to begin appeals had still not been provision against obscenity would have been received. Customs later said that the comic was banned because it sexually degraded men. Eventually, the comic was allowed into the country. From Womensline Books the police seized Weenie-Toons! Women Artists Mock Cocks. This material was banned for debates began again in fervour. The decision came after many of Mulroney's bills Andrea Dworkin's books; Pornography: Men Possessing Women and Woman Hating prohibited from entry after publishing transcripts of a telephone conversation which the government wanted banned. Due to their journalistic clientele the seizure made the pages of the Montreal Gazette. Little Sisters in a in the States there are a lot more people realizing that we're talking about are... Canada Customs seized a lesbian comic; Hothead Paisan and returned it to Inland window display, began to have materials seized. Le Dernier Mot, a left-of-centre bookstore which caters to journalists, had of knowledgable about what the actual issues Butler of all charges. They ruled that the materials reads like a who's who of lesbian and gay publishing, mainstream bookstores remain relatively unscathed. Three notable exceptions are Pages and Le Dernier Mot. Pages, after mounting an anti-censorship Manager because this court case was delayed so many times. It's created more and more interest around it. People have become Books, While the file of seizures involving gay In a recent conversation with Janine Fuller, community, but that's changed a lot. Partly RFR detained (its first in an 18 year herstory). copies of Hothead Paisan seized. They too, had never faced inspection by Customs. The Customs' raids of Toronto Women's Bookstore material started after they began selling Bad Attitude, a sexually explicit magazine published by lesbians. real not necessarily an issue specific to against him. He was convicted on eight "its degradation of the male penis." The Toronto Women's Bookstore also had exception but the norm. The pornographers have been left alone. them, and in Canada it's just a bookstore - Toronto Women's Bookstore, Everywoman's Books, of Victoria and Womensline Books in London began to have material inspected. Everywoman's had a shipment of books Everywomans where homophobic behaviour is not the was a Canadian issue that didn't involve expeditously." The "expeditous" service offered by Customs must have left notifying bodies could be trusted, the Butler decision might have a chance of fulfilling its intent. However this has not happened in a society JANINE: ...for a long time I think it was an isolated thing. In the States they thought it that "The examinations were conducted Without legally supply lesbian imagery to a male heterosexual market. If Canada's policing MICKEY: How far reaching has the support been from the lesbian and gay community? council received a letter from then Minister of Revenue, Otto Jelinek reassuring them Customs war on lesbians and gays. The Attitude, a magazine produced by lesbians, for a lesbian market. Ironically, the X-rated bookstores peppered throughout the area, ongoing harassment of Canada Customs. four months later, the Book & Periodical and preposterous. BookstoreS which had never before been harassed became the targets of Canada Glad Day are no longer able to sell Bad What went wrong? the ones going to feminist or gay bookstores. The government had no response to the letters of outrage. Although Customs became even more homophobic standard for judging lesbian and gay porn. Their petition was denied and the owners of about in its application. released all the books on May 11. Except interest in covering the fight for queer sexual identity, those following the ordeal became dismayed as the actions of Canada argued that there should be a different Vancouver, we talked about the Butler decision, pending court case and the saying it was routine. As promised they bookstore owners wondering, just which country's Customs agency the Minister of Revenue was referring to. Although the Canadian media seemed to have little distributing obscenity. In court, lawyers American authors being banned in Canada. That sort of contextualizes it for them. MICKEY: It seems like The Globe & Mail has done some fair coverage of it, but don't think that Canadians in general understand the significance of the case or what Canada Customs is doing... I think the problem is Americans are born believing in the First Amendment, it's something they espouse on an almost daily basis, where as our Charter of Rights JANINE: I continued pg 10 invalidated. The pornography/censorship were defeated and many anti-pornography supporters had virtually given up hope on changes from the government. Now Canada was the first country to define pornography as hate literature. The Court had looked to its own verdict in R. v. Keegstra. Where the distribution of the material in that trial was 111111111 deemed harmful -to Jews, so to was pornography, said the Court, harmful to women. Anti-porn feminists cheered for the long awaited link between pornography and violence against women. Anti-censorship advocates called the decision, "A misconceived piece of legislation" and feared that bigotry now had license to run rampant. Although most of the material in the Butler case had been heterosexual, a small amount was gay male oriented. In a brief prepared by the Women's seized Legal Education Action Fund (LEAF), the judges were shown depictions of gay male sex so that they would better understand the degradation caused by pornography and empathize with women. This brought lesbian and gay erotica into the sphere of the new obscenity precedent and it was the first to be hit by the Butler decision. Glad Day bookstore of Toronto was charged with Northern Woman Page 9 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �continued from pg 9 want to be detaining this material, but I don't has only just come into being in the last 15 But at the same time years... think Canadians are getting pretty outraged by it, I by the number of calls I get - from the straight media, the gay and lesbian media, there are a lot of people who realize this is a part of the big picture. It's not about one thing. It's about a whole history of harassment, not just for gay and lesbian bookstores, but for all book sellers. For 10 years this has been ongoing in gay and lesbian book selling communities in Canada, it's just been this feeling that it's o.k. to sit back and watch and think you're not going to be involved in this but eventually the feminist bookstores will start to experience the same kind of regulation - over the last year that's happened. Naiad Press, who have never really had any difficulty with their material are starting to have things like Claire of The Moon being stopped, I Left My Heart In San Fransisco - authors that you would not necessarily think would have their material stopped... When our court case was due to come up last October we had 39 affidavits - from book sellers and individuals across Canada, who were attesting to their experiences with Canada Customs. That was just a small medley. There's a lot of others... MICKEY: It seems like Inland Books has been unfairly targeted and because they've consolidated shipments, mainstream bookstores are now being effected... JANINE: Right. Where as it might have just been our shipment being stopped, because Inland consglidated their shipments the United Bookstore experienced a seizure, Cole's Bookstore has experienced a seizure. Marguerite Duras had one of her books going to Trent University for a course, and that book was stopped and banned in Canada. There's no doubt that Inland has been centered out and targeted. But the way Canada Customs operates is; once that once they catch one piece of material that they consider to be obscene you are an importer of 'obscene' material. When they're asked to explain why they've made these detentions they will say, 'Little Sisters has been targeted because they have a history of importing obscene materials.' That history has been made by Canada Customs. It creates itself through their actions. MICKEY: They say that they're 'just doing their job' intercepting obscene material. JANINE: To try to be fair to them - what they have to work with - in a determination of a detention, it is very limited. I've had Customs agents phone me and say; 'Look, I don't have a choice, because this is my job and there are 8 categories that I have to tick off when I review material and my supervisors are watching me review your material.' MICKEY: Tell me about the 8 categories. JANINE: They are 'sex with violence', 'child sex', 'incest', 'bestiality', 'necrophilia', 'hate propaganda' and 'other.' Certainly you can imagine 'anal penetration' is a category we often find our selves falling under and 'other' as well. 'Other' doesn't explain itself - it gives no explanation. MICKEY: Bad Attitude for instance could fall under that category. JANINE: 'Other' - Often we'll get 'other' bondage. Most of our seizures are 'anal', 'other' or 'sex with violence' because there's so much conjecture around what is violence and sex and consentuality. With Canada Customs they have a one day training course that puts them into a position to decide the morality of any one community or any one individual. MICKEY: That seems to be one of the biggest problems. Aside from the Butler decision itself - the way Canada's policing bodies are administering it. JANINE: Yes, it's the inconsistencies... Pat Califia's Macho Sluts has been seized on four separate occasions to this bookstore alone. Now each time it's been seized it's gone through the bureaucratic maze to find its approval status. Why should it be seized over and over again and not just be on a list that identifies it (as o.k.)... MICKEY: I spoke to a bookstore which dealt with their seizure problems by having the distributor send the unlabelled boxes. material in small, JANINE: ...unfortunately, that doesn't solve the problem. We just can't be silent about this anymore. We have to be very vigilant in our efforts to make sure that these laws are changed and the way that Canada Customs essentially does discriminate against Inland our bookstores. I understand this bookstore considering those options and often we've had people suggest it to us, but I guess we feel so strongly - we've spent all this time and money and energy working towards getting this issue before the courts where people can see the reality of it. MICKEY: I can see how booksellers might consider these options - to go back into the closet, to look for subversive ways to get material into Canada or to start censoring themselves when they order... JANINE: Yeah, don't think there's many book sellers who go through the excruciating process of thinking about I what's going to be stopped and what isn't and 'how much can I afford to risk?' I don't want to prejudge what Customs is going to have such a long history of knowing what they're going to do. So it do, but I certainly does affect what you order and how you order it. There's a trickle down effect with publishers... This happened with Gay Ideas, a book by Richard Moore. It's a very scholarly work around a lot of issues such as outing, gay history and that kind of thing. Oxford Canada - which had the rights to the book - said, 'Unless you omit these pictures, we're not interested in publishing it and we're withdrawing our proposal to bring it into Canada.' Beacon Press picked it up and published it, but again, if you're a small publisher you can't possibly fulfil the needs of all the people who are being censored. MICKEY: It almost seems like Customs' mandate is to force lesbian and gay sexuality back into the closet. JANINE: Well, when 'anal penetration' is a reason to be stopping it and the form is produced by our government - let's not loose sight of who's continue... allowed this to MICKEY: Of course, there's the Community Standards of Tolerance Test... JANINE: Yeah MICKEY: But which community? Right. Who's making choices? I've never been asked. those JANINE: MICKEY: How has this whole process changed your opinion of censorship or the Canadian government? JANINE: It's certainly opened my eyes. I think everyone has a sense of belief that the justice system is going to be somewhat swift and your voice will be heard, but after four and a half years (and really since 1986)... we've never gone to court, we've never had our voice heard. We've never had the chance to put this out to the Canadian public. It's discouraging. MICKEY: How far do you think the freedom of speech should be taken? Do you think there should be limits on what is allowed into Canada? JANINE: I think obviously as a society, we have a great deal of difficulty finding out what those limits are and how to set them. So I think it's a really difficult issue that needs a lot of discussion before it's implemented into any kind of law. think I with hate propaganda there should be certain provisions ... but they don't necessarily have to fall under the same Acts that we have. guess the belief is that Canada Customs shouldn't be regulating I these things. They should be done through Canadian law and not through Customs' officials who really don't know. continued pg 11 PDF compression, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman PageOCR, 10 , �continued from pg 10 JANINE: No They will not do that. MICKEY: That's what I thought when I first took a look at this whole thing; it's common agree with you. There are laws against harming women and child pornosense. I graphy. I don't think these issues have to be regulated by Customs. JANINE: Yeah, and you have to believe they're protecting women and children. Part of the Butler decision was heralded as this great victory for Canadian women - that it would be protecting women and children. Well, it hasn't... The way it's been applied has been against the gay and lesbian book selling community. MICKEY: Right, it certainly doesn't seem like there's been a shortage heterosexual pornography in Canada. JANINE: Not at all. It's been co-opted by the don't think personally. They fought long and hard for Butler. They made certain choices that weren't necessarily the best choices in their lobbying of the government. But Butler exists and it's not going to change as far as Canadian law goes. We're stuck with it, so we need to find some ways to understand Butler and make it work for us. I MICKEY: You're challenging Canada Customs prior restraint powers and hoping to prove that Canada Customs acted in a discriminatory manner against lesbians and gays. Is it possible to win half of the battle? How optimistic are you and your counsel? JANINE: ... there's so many variables that are going to bring a ruling in our favour or not or halfway... I think you get ever growing in you optimism when you have domestic mail being stopped (1)... right wing to achieve an agenda of their own. JANINE: I think that's really a touchstone for MICKEY: Is there dialogue in the feminist and lesbian communities? We're not litigating one book. We're litigating a I I I that that's what the 90S is about - polarizing the feminist and lesbian community around a lot of issues not just censorship... It's this desire to get acceptance within mainstream culture. I heard Naomi Wolf speak the other day in an interview, here in Vancouver. She was apologizing for lesbians being involved in feminist politics and trying to make it o.k. I thought that, was a really dangerous thing to be doing. You don't apologize for one group to get mainstream acceptance. be homogeneous - 'Gee, look at how nice and clean cut we all are.' JANINE: Yeah, like, 'Let's get control of what our images are.'... 'We don't want any more pictures of drag queens and ... leather dykes JANINE: Yes. But we can't forget this is our community, and that community is one which fought so long and is part of our history. MICKEY: That's who was at Stonewall 25 seems like Canada Customs is trying to It force us back into the closet. It's just another piece of evidence that's just glaring... I think a lot of the reasons about why we're doing this is - let's put all of our eggs in one basket... We're not litigating one book. We're litigating a history. When we're talking Sisters' case we're talking about everyone - Everywoman's Toronto Women's Bookstore...the Red Herring Bookstore, in Halifax. MICKEY: Anne Cameron was really vocal in her support of anti- pornography legislation, but her material was amongst the first to be perspective on what censorship means, And think there's definitely a feeling that Canada Customs is not meeting the needs of the feminists or the lesbians... I MICKEY: Has the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund come out and said; 'Gee, maybe, Butler wasn't such a good thing after all.'? If you are interested in making a donation to Little Sisters and the British Columbia Civil make cheques Liberties Association, payable to: Little Sisters Defence Fund c/o B.C. Civil Liberties Assoc. 518 - 119 W. Pender Street MICKEY: I know you have the support of many Canadian writers - even Pierre Burton... MICKEY: The Crown wants everyone there in person. They are not satisfied with I ****************************** She had Man Hating stopped. I think there's this feeling,`that at no matter what cost you protect the women and the children'... MICKEY: Vancouver has some of the most sex positive dykes in the world I think. It also buy Afterglow by Karen Barber and tell them that it's a banned book in Canada - it gives them a completely different Ontario and contained sci-fi books. Customs and Canada Post apologized, explaining that the package had jumped a conveyor belt.) By Mickey Koivisto authors. JANINE: ...I think a lot of feminist dykes in (1. Little Sisters had domestic mail seized and opened by Customs. It was sent from JANINE: The same with Andrea Dworkin. JANINE: Yeah. Vancouver have - well, when they come in to and I wish I could have given that money to eighty-million different organizations. But that's just water through our hands. seized... JANINE: Yeah, Jane Rule, Carol Vance, Nino Ricci, all pretty well known Canadian supporters - the Women's Fire Brigade, for instance. What's happening in Vancouver? every time.' We've spent $80,000 to date Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1S5 years ago. has some pretty militant pro- censorship 'I really can't believe this case has taken four times and these people keep having to pay Books...The MICKEY: You're right. I was at the March on Washington and it seemed like an attempt to what's set people off. They're saying, and a half years...It's been delayed three history. JANINE: Well think there's had to be. think that it's polarized the lesbian and feminist community. In many ways, see MICKEY: MICKEY: It's a really scary time for any small interest or individual who wants to challenge the government. affidavits? JANINE: That's certainly been a tactic they've used. Now originally when we set out with these affidavits it was believed in good faith that the Crown would be willing to let them into testimony... but, as a motive for having the case delayed, threw this thing at the last minute saying, 'Well, you've got all ... if you're going to bring them to Court we want the right to these affidavits and interview each and everyone of them. The Crown has an inexhaustible supply of money to be trying this case. We, on the other hand have to pay for every single one of those witnesses. We're in desperate need of people making donations so this case can be heard. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northein �m PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �boyfriend, and who accepts this abuse as one of the "things a girl has to put up with." The kind who doesn't get her period, PMS, or pregnant. The kind who possesses the Dil's sexual potency, on the other hand, is toned down through feminization/ emasculation. Time and again, these are the kinds of images of Black men found to Remember that before God finalized his body of a slim, athletic boy with perfect covenant with the Hebrews, Abraham had to prosthetic breasts attached. be most acceptable to predominantly white audiences. Marjorie Garber points out a familiar example in the comedian Flip Wilson and his character Geraldine Jones. Prior to the invention of the outrageous Geraldine, Black comics even such as Bill Cosby had great difficulty breaking into television, and the subjects they could deal with in front of The Crossing Game be willing to kill his only son; at the last minute, God sent an angel to stop Abraham's hand. At the moment that Fergus is about to carry out the execution of Jody, the prisoner makes a break for freedom, and runs straight into the path of a British army truck. This effectively keeps Fergus' hands clean through the intervention of "fate." In "Lolita," Humbert Humbert's original intention When Fergus/James is finally admitted to the place of mystery, Dil's apartment, he finds a shrine to the memory of Jody. But Jody does not live in memory alone. "He looks after me," says Dil, and Fergus experiences visions of Jody wearing his white cricket uniform. Jody is immortal. as an obsessive child molester is to get At last comes the moment of truth; Dil was not only able to break through race close to the intended victim by marrying her mother. He develops a plot to kill the mother and become Lolita's legal guardian so that he will have unsupervised access to her for purposes of seduction. Lolita's mother, unlike Dil's lover, is not presented We are as a sympathetic character. supposed to like Jody, and he is extremely likable if you ignore his misogyny (much like disrobes, revealing her/his penis. Fergus reacts by throwing up. This may be simply the film makers' method of re-assuring the audience that Fergus is heterosexual and that his "caretaking" of Dil from this point barriers to appear on television in millions of white peoples' homes, he was also permitted to make jokes about sex while in the guise of Geraldine. Never underestimate the political power of a cross dresser. forward will be motivated by strictly disinterested altruism. On another level, As useful as the image of Dil is for the Jesus), but we are not supposed to like Lolita's mother. And the mother, of course, has absolutely no intention of handing the daughter over to the step-father for "careAt the moment that Humbert taking'. Humbert is about to carry out the murder of his wife, she too makes a break for freedom, makes a mad run based on the sudden knowledge of her husband's intentions, and is killed by an oncoming car. This effectively keeps Humbert's hands clean, and with the mother out of the way, seduction of the however, we know that the Irish saint is deeply committed to the separation of male and female, and here he is faced with Dil, in whom all things come together so beautifully. Dil is a person who confounds white audiences were limited. With the anxiety about Wilson's Blackness redirected toward the gender ambiguity, this comedian Instruction of women in how to be girls, his characterization as a gay man reiterates familiar stereotypes: political naivete rather than political activism, low self esteem and notions of polar opposites, binaries, neediness rather than pride and self-reliance, physical weakness and sickliness rather than dualisms, and whose physical appearance is a blend of genders and races.4 strength and health, and so on. We saw all The characters of Jody and Dil seem to exemplify ways that film and other cultural expressions geared toward a presumed white audience, attempt to deal with the daughter begins. anxieties they expect their audiences to have In "The Crying Game," this intervention of screen. First the characters are stereotyped something similar in "Kiss of the Spiderwoman," which was also supposed to offer a positive, three-dimensional image of a gay man, and which also dealt with male bonding between heterosexual and homosexual against a back drop of political intrigue. about the presence of Black men on the fate in the form of a British Army truck seems to erase', in audiences' minds, the _ original intent of Fergus, the IRA man. The irony of the British soldier killed (accidentally) by his own army after surviving the ordeal of being held hostage, and at the point of being killed (intentionally) by his Irish captors, seems to allow a reading of "Whew! Fergus didn't have to kill Jody after all. We can still like him." And "None of this would have happened in the first place if the British weren't there." Well, not really. The cult of the warrior in Ireland, initiation into as primarily sexual beings, and as being more sexually active/potent than white men. This racist construction of sexual potency is supposed to be too scary for white audiences to handle, and so a character like Jody (the legendary hyper-sexual hypermasculine Black Male) must .'e neutralized by restricting his freedom -- he is bound and/or hooded throughout most of his appearance on the screen. And Dil's comment, "Dil knows how to tie a body" suggests that physical restraints have always been a big part of Jody's sex life. Jude crosses the water from girlhood to womanhood, bringing with her a power wardrobe and a big gun. She holds Fergus accountable for his abandonment of the IRA group and demands his involvement in an assassination. We know that Fergus, as a convert to the religion of Jody, must reject any loyalty to his old relationships and cleave to the new faith. We also know that it is against his religion to take orders from a woman. Jude refers to Dil as "the wee Black girl" re-minding us of Dil's apparent smallness and powerlessness in the situation. which depended on the willingness of a man to kill another man, existed well before the 16th century English invasions and also before the Anglo-Norman invasions of the Jude herself appears tough and in control, but her swagger doesn't quite conceal the nervous terror and rage just below the surface. With her "tougher look," tailored 12th century. suit, and demanding ways, we can compare Fergus goes across the water, escaping the fiery retribution of the British Army. We find him working construction (or is it de- construction?) in view of a cricket field, ever reminded of the covenant with Jody. He constructs a new identity, signified by a new name and a haircut provided by Dil. At the Metro bar, Dil cannot speak to Fergus/James or acknowledge him directly without being formally introduced. The bartender serves as her chaperone for this purpose. We see an old- fashioned courting ritual take place in an unlikely setting, but as a woman I also see the beginning of my instruction in how to be the kind of girl men are pining for in these days of pay equity, date rape persecutions and "no means no" legislation. the kind who speaks when spoken to, and who can be counted on to stay within socially acceptable boundaries of behaviour, reinforcing the notion that she is ultimately responsible for men's reactions to her. The kind who is loving and loyal as a dog, and stands by her man. The kind who waits to be rescued from her abusive her menacing presence on the screen to that of other liberated single career women of film, such as Alex in "Fatal Attraction." That 80s backlash film was used to market the return of the good woman/bad woman split, "good" meaning centred on husband, child, family values, "bad" meaning single, childless, career-oriented and sexually aggressive. It also inaugurated the now familiar device of "good" woman cast in the post-feminist role of killer of the "bad" woman, or the part of herself that offends, that does not serve men's interests. The image of a woman with a gun began to create too much anxiety for film producers and their presumed male audience, however, when it was realized that if she could turn the on her own other half, she may also turn it on her "better" half, especially if she is able to make all the connections and figure out the extent of the betrayal. continued pg 14 Northern PDFCompressor Womar,t Page 13 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION �continued from pg 13 Witness the tremendous resistance to Woman With Gun in "Thelma and Louise. It's that it was actually Fergus and his mates who used Jude's tits and ass to get Jody. not just the practical concern that the woman might take aim at the actual The Woman is punished by death for being oppressor rather than an aspect of herself that causes such great anxiety; the gun also operates as phallic indicator, an extension of the phallus beyond the man and out into the world. I don't mean the penis, which is only a "piece of wang" after all, but the phallus, which is religion and culture and government and power. A woman is not supposed to be carrying one of those things around. With Jude in town, Dil is in danger, so s/he goes into hiding disguised as a man. In other films that relay heavily on crossdressing as a plot element, the male actors often dress up as women in order to finds employment, or to escape from danger. a woman; the feminine as constructed by men is rewarded with the privileges of staying alive, and being a vehicle for God's vengeance on that trouble-making woman. We last see Fergus and Dil together yet look. and Power in Celtic Ireland" for a more detailed analysis of separated from physical contact with their 4. visiting wives and girlfriends. As an IRA man in an English prison, it is a fairly safe bet that human rights violations are taking place, and that Fergus may not come out alive. Perhaps this explains his beatific expression: he is achieving the martyrdom that all good saints pray for. As he begins preaching the then it takes a devil to disobey Orders by occupying several different levels of the he sees before him a vision of heaven - that place where there is neither male or female, slave nor free, where all things are as one. It's sitting right across from him, in the person of Dil. continues to look like a girl dressed as a boy - a kind of Audrey Hepburn gamine Religion developments in Irish-Catholic theology and politics. changes gender indicators of hair and clothes to look more like a boy. When Fergus gives the reciprocal haircut, he However, even in Jody's cricket uniform, Dil See "The Serpent and the Goddess: separated by the restrictions of a prison visit. The scene takes place in a room full of tables, where men are safely and peacefully gospel of Jody from his monastic cell, the strains of "Stand By Your Man" attest to his reflecting back on Fergus' crossing story and the requirements of becoming a man. 3. Women, "Some Like It Hot" combines both of these motivations, with an emphasis on the need to survive by avoiding recognition. In "The Crying Game," Dil, who is a biological male, comments, "I want to make you into a man," perhaps an acknowledgement of the constructedness of gender, but also 2. It is interesting, in the context of the film as a whole, that both "Jude" and "Jody" are ungendered names, yet their characters are meant to exemplify what is "masculine by nature" and what is "feminine by nature". unshakeable faith, and he knows that he can look forward to his next crossing because The name "Dil" sounds a lot like "Devil" and perhaps this is why. If God and his saints set up a Natural Order in which Man is above Woman and White is above Black, hierarchy at the same tome. See "Vested Interests: Cross Dressing and Cultural Activity." It contains a chapter 5. offering in-depth analysis of the cultural image of the Black Transvestite. As well, Garber gives long-overdue consideration to female-to-male cross dressing phenomenon unto itself. as a Notes 1. Reference to a traditional English folk ballad explaining the difference between male and female genitals. Apparently, God made a mistake in cutting the cloth that would be worn as Adam and Eve as skin. Adam's skin was cut too long and Eve's too Fergus is protected (by Dirs tying him) from the free choice of whether or not to participate in the assassination. Dil kills Jude, placing the blame for Jody's death firmly on Jude's body: "She used her tits and ass to get him." Fortunately for Fergus, Dil is incapable of making all the connections and coming to the conclusion short, so that Adam had an unattractive extra flap, and Eve had an annoying gap. They brought themselves back for alterations, but God was too busy and dismissed them with the comment, "She can fight it out with Adam for that little piece of wang." Gilbert is active with the Northern Women's Centre and Definitely Superior Art Gallery. Lori NORTHERN WOMAN'S BOOKSTORE BEST SELLERS 1993 Non-Fiction Beginning to Heal Ellen Bass & Laura Davis You Can Be Free Ginny Ni Carthy Woman's Comfort Book Jennifer Loudon Women & Self-Esteem L. Sanford & M. Donovan Courage to Heal Workbook Laura Davis Women Who Run with the Wolves Courage to Heal Ellen Bass & Laura Davis Taking Care: A Handbook About Women's Health Mary J. Breen The Spirit Weeps Martens, Daily & Hodgson Changing Patterns: Women in Canada Sandra Burt, Lorraine Code, Lindsay Dorney Let the Healing Begin Maureen McEvoy Clarissa Estes On the Path Nancy W. I Can't Get Over ft Aphrodite Matsakin The Myth of Women's Masochism Paula Caplan Limited Edition: Voices of Women, Voices of Feminism ed. Geraldine Finn The Emotionally Abused Woman Beverly Engel Northern Woman Page OCR, 14 PDF compression, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Panel On Violence Book Review continued from pg 7 Ten million dollars (the amount spent by the PANEL ON VIOLENCE) represents the amount allocated to date to the WOMEN's PROGRAM per year. Now positioned and In the characters of Madrone and Bird, Starhawk presents young adults who have been nurtured within this community since their early childhoods; where education is holistic and includes the spiritual and the mystic. Madrone, who is a healer, ventures south to the City of Angels to teach those resisting delivered through the new supra ministry of Human Resources and Labour the Women's Program, cut by 10% in 1992, sees the move as threatening. This move has resulted in separating the four advocacy groups of Aboriginal Programs, Official Languages, Disabled Persons' Program and Women's Program. The future of these programs is now in question and groups seeking equity and equality for all are further marginalized. the thrall of the Stewards and the Millennialists. Bird returns to the City of San Francisco after ten years in a Take action. Contact women's organizations, whether provincial, national or local, and ask what you can do to keep our promise to one another. Millennialist prison, escaping only because he has withdrawn completely with-in sanity long enough to be overlooked by his captors. ZERO VIOLENCE NOT ZERO TOLERANCE Madrone's adventures in water starved N.B. Los Angeles are woven out of the courage and the strength of a person who recognizes her privilege and ability and though daunted by the scope of the challenge, is committed to living the vision of teaching and healing. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CALL C.E.C. FOR FAX NUMBERS TO THEIR OFFICES. I BELIEVE THEY WOULD BE BEST TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT. In Madrone's absence the Stewards SEE YOU SOON, THE NEWSLETTER IS COMING invade San Francisco and forewarned by Bird, the community decides to Northern Woman's Bookstore's 10TH ANNIVERSARY! A week full of fun and entertainment! Anniversary Party on Tuesday March 15 10am - 10pm Pot Luck Supper at the Bookstore a novel that inspires speculation and hope. Even if you do not find her other works suited to your literary palate, The Fifth Sacred Thing is a work that few readers would not enjoy for its story and even fewer readers would not learn from. Daily Prizes, Surprises and Games! on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Lets celebrate the growth of feminist literature! on Saturday, March 19 5:30pm - 7:00pm then go to Superior Woman's Coffeehouse(at Unitarian Centre) Stewards as they attempt to conquer not only the city but the hearts and the minds of its people. Starhawk has written Good Books, Good Conversation, Good Food, Games and Prizes. Bring your favourite cassettes and your musical instruments and let's party! resist without compromising their Bird values of pacific resistance. the of tool primary becomes the 10% off all books all week THE FIFTH SACRED THING by Starhawk, Bantam Books New York, June 1993 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS We are putting together a collection of fiction, reflections poetry and art work about women's personal experiences with menstruation (first time, memorable We are moments, general thoughts). seeking submissions for all age and ethnic groups. This anthology is not restricted to artists or academics; we encourage first time writers to send us their tales. Submissions may be eight pages or less. Send submissions to: Paula Wansbrough and Kathy O'Grady, Department of Religion and Culture, Wilfred Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5. Deadline: April 30, 1994. Northern Woman Page 15 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �$NWJ$ We must also examine the newest form of woman-bashing taking place in both public and private institutions, variously called "restructuring" or "downsizing," where a disproportionate number of women-held jobs are disappearing. A sure way to avoid employment equity... if you don't have any female employees you won't have to promote any. If you can't fire all the women maybe you can refuse to provide them with pay equity, which, it appears, at least one NWO municipality is trying to do. These are scary times. But, as our 20 year retrospective In the last issue we talked about the serious financial situation the NWJ was then experiencing. We are pleased to report that with the printing of this hefty special issue we will be back in debt. We urge you to thanks to fund-raising efforts and to your subscriptions sales with your friends and colleagues. Let's make the NORTHERN donations we have been able to clear all our debts, pay the printer for the last issue, and keep up with our rent. To raise $ we turned to yard sales, which were successful, but are only viable in the summer. We thank all of you who helped with the sales. demonstrates, women are amazingly resourceful in overcoming what seems to be insurmountable barriers. Northern women will continue to keep the feminist agenda visible and vibrant. Let's just follow Nellie McClung's lead.."Never retract, never explain, never apologize. Just get the job done and let 'em howl." Then there is the wonderful, wonderful Superior Women's Coffee House. Sincere appreciation goes to Jane and Margaret J. for the extensive time and energy they give to organizing these. While the Coffee House achieves only modest returns as a fundraiser, your sub today, and promote JOURNAL's 21st year healthiest ever. Thanks for your help. WOMAN the Please note: a * appears on your address label If it means your sub is due this issue. If a ** appears your subscription is past due. A *** means you're about to be cut off! Please be advised: Effective next issue the NWJ subscription rate will be raised to $10 for individuals, $20 for institutions. they add immeasurably to our cultural/social life, and hopefully, will become a permanent feature of the women's community. Footnote will be Many of you have made generous personal retiring from the NWJ collective. For these many years the Journal has been my writing motivation, my analytical prod, my spiritual home. But after 12 (14?) years it is time to will be forever grateful to the move on. Journal women for their friendship, nurturing and support. Over the years the NWJ has donations to the NWJ, and we sincerely appreciate your support. However, this With the publication of this issue I I experienced highs and lows, but, in my view, has developed a life of its own; and (in the same sense that Jill Vickers attributes to NAC) has become an "enduring feminist institution" which will continue to be of great importance to NWO women. firfirele&NNV.730:214tIV1/47.247ANN) The Winnipeg Women's Health Clinic eases the Journal's financial problems only for the short-term. To ensure our longer term financial health we must increase our subscription base, thus we, again, ask your Would each of you please recruit If we tripled our subscription base we could avoid future financial problems, and thus be able to focus our energies on producing a better and more regular NWJ. The reality is that help. three new subscribers? D. The experience in other countries has NNTZeig.eiNXII7115111°A.N.N7.0"AfAro serious implications for their health and wellbeing. With cutbacks in health care programs in all provinces, how will such HEALTH ALERT is seriously concerned about the approval by the Health Protection Branch of NORPLANT as a contraceptive agent for use by Canadian women. services be assured? As a long acting contraceptive, NORPLANT has often been viewed by health care providers as an easy "technological fix" where it has been approved, including the U.S., suggests some very serious problems which are likely to occur in Canada. Approval in Canada of NORPLANT is premature until a system to address these problems is in place. As a community health centre for women and as consumers, the Women's Health Clinic requests information on how these problems will now be addressed in Canada. Summary of Concerns NORPLANT is a new reproductive technology. Its use is entirely dependent on the insertion and removal by trained health practitioners. Informed consent is crucial to ensure that women understand the In other implications of this method. countries where NORPLANT is being used A. or where trials have been carried out, the lack of adequate counselling and informed consent has been well documented. recent report by the Royal on New Reproductive Technologies documents, Canadian women do not receive detailed and sensitive counselling pertaining to other new the Commission technologies, such as generic tests, with been that many women are lost to follow-up after the five year period. This raises the concern of women becoming pregnant while the implant is still secreting decreasing amounts of the hormone and hence foetal exposure, with concomitant risks. What process is in place to ensure that women will be followed up and the implants removed? B. for complicated social problems such as The experience with NORPLANT in countries As renew poverty or teen pregnancy. Young women, poor women, women from cultural groups where English is not a first language, women with disabilities, are more vulnerable to pressure and coercion. In the United States, courts have ordered the use of NORPLANT as a condition of probation and women on been offered financial welfare have incentives to use NORPLANT. What policies are in place to ensure this doesn't happen here? NORPLANT is associated with a wide range of significant side effects. As reported by the Population Council approximately half the vv omen using NORPLANT discontinue use by three years. C. As the removal of NORPLANT requires a minor surgical procedure, women do not have direct control over discontinuing its use. There is considerable documentation (e.g. Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya, and the United States), that many women encounter resistance from practitioners in having it removed before the five year What role can the federal period. government play in ensuring ethical use of the drug particularly among vulnerable populations of women? E. Since NORPLANT insertion and removal require special training of health practitioners, how will this be handled across Canada and how will consumers be assured of the expertise of their care provider in this area? F. Long term risks of the drug must still be assessed through ongoing research. What are the mechanisms to ensure research appropriate to the epidemiological profile of Canadian women occurs and that there is scrupulous post-marketing surveillance? NORPLANT does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases nor against HIV infection. As a method that may be promoted and appeal to younger women, G. this is a major concern in Canada. Research show that as teenagers change to birth control with theoretically higher effectiveness rates, their chances of getting a STD increases (i.e. when teens change their contraceptive method to birth control pills they stop using condoms.) One can assume NORPLANT would have the same effect. It is disappointing that yet again women have been excluded from the drug approval process in Canada. The federal government must create a forum for women's concerns and recommendations to be addressed. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 16 �Celebrating Northern Woman Journal Volume 15 Numbers 2 and 3 Northwestern Ontario Special Issue Women The chronology and the historical portions of this retrospective were completed by Margaret Phillips. The following resources were invaluable in tracing our collective herstory: * Northwestern Ontario's Status of Women's Initiatives 1973-1993, Fiona Karlstedt 1987 * The History of the Battered Women's Movement in Northwestern Ontario, Fiona Karlstedt and Leni Untinen, 1989 * Transition House Services in Northwestern Ontario, Margaret Phillips, 1984 * Northern Woman Journal * N.W.O. Women's Decade Council Annual Report 1986-1993 * 'Story Telling' session with Lisa Bengtsson and Leni Untinen Celebrating 20 years of women's activism in Northwestern Ontario is the theme for this Special Issue of the NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL. Yes, it is 20 years since the first Northern Women's Conference, which is seen as a benchmark in the evolution of Northwestern Ontario's feminist movement. Not that these Conference women were the first to concern themselves with women's status. The L.U. Women's Liberation Group and the Birth Control centre organizers are recognized as the motivators of the "second wave" of feminism in our region. Strong women's groups preceded even this activity - the work of the many Women's Institutes throughout N.W.O., the local Women Teachers Federation, and the Business and Professional Women's Clubs, come to mind. Further back are First Nations women and pioneer women, whose "herstories" of strength and courage and resourcefulness and innovation we are only beginning to discover. But the 20 years just past are years of new activism as enduring feminist organizations have developed to provide services and resources to address women's needs, and to articulate an analysis and a Northwestern Ontario perspective that women's experience matters. This retrospective celebrates N.W.O. women's activism through the provision of services; the development of networks; the success of political action/advocacy; as well as the stories of a few (of the many) N.W.O. women who "make a difference". In developing the chronology we were amazed to realize all that has happened in 20 years (and we suspect that there are other achievements that have been lost to the record). We recognize that there have been failures along the way. Some because of systemic barriers as yet beyond our ability to dismantle; other failures for which we must assume responsibilty, and which require our analysis if we hope to achieve our collective feminist goals. But we leave such analysis for another day... as this NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL is a Celebration of the very significant achievement of the N.W.O. feminist movement. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 1 �Women and Northwestern Ontario We were meant to strive and struggle Meant to risk and meant to dare We are the lifeblood of the planet And our place is everywhere That our activism be regionally based has always been a given, and herein, perhaps, lies our strength. From the first Women's Conference in 1973, through International Women's Year Coordinating Committee, Decade, W.H.I.N., N.W.O.R.D.C.C. - the need for regional activism brought women Gert together for collective action. Local organizations develop to meet local needs, and take strength from the regional group, Celebrating N.W.O. women. Northwestern Ontario. What is our reality? We live in a and in turn strengthen and motivate other communities and the regional body. vast area of trees, rocks and water; a region of small towns, unorganized territories, widely separated from each other, centred only by one mid-sized city three hundred miles from the region's outer border. Our winters can be bitter, and seemingly neverending. (On October 1st, this year, snow Still, to many of us, Northwestern Ontario is storms prevented Kenora women from attending a workshop in Dryden.) Winter driving can be hazardous. Air fares are astronomical. A Mulroney government legacy to N.W.O. is that we no longer have choose our train. Lack of affordable transportation is a N.W.O. reality. The economy of our region (controlled in centres a thousand miles away), exacerbates patriarchal structures. The colonization and exploitation of our region affects everyone, but it is women who suffer most acutely. The poignant B.C. film "No Life For a Woman" could as easily have been made in Northwestern Ontailo. "I have no power over anything in my environment" (Project Mayday) "I a very special place. to Some of us even here when remain economic/family considerations don't dictate that we must. We believe, we feel, that left a good job, my independence, my Gert Northwestern Ontario is different, is special. There is no easy, rational explanation to our sense of differentness, specialness. It is pure emotion. Some years ago I was studying creative writing in the United States and having much difficulty with that foreign environment. I found that my writing was chock full of Northern images - frozen lakes, jagged rocks; stories of storms, of forest fires. I kept trying to explain my "geography" to my writing group but only Nancy (who was from West Virginia) related at all. In a letter from home received a wonderful newspaper I own cheque, my good feelings about myself when I moved here. It's been good for my husband... but I feel like I'm losing myself here" (Project Mayday) Here we're committed to struggle with fate, an inch at a time, if we must. This is the place where we bury the myths and write our own name in their dust. article about my friend Millie, who, at that time, was taking the Royal Commission on the Northern Environment to task. When Nancy read the article she questioned why Northwestern Ontario was spelled with a capital N, while southern Ontario with an uncapitalized s. replied that the article NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO WOMEN'S DECADE COUNCIL I As women came together and shared their stories, the commonality of their experience became known. In a series of participatory workshops, organized by Decade's Economic Development Committee in the 1970s, women talked about isolation; the power and control of the "company"; the single-industry towns; the invisibility of women's needs to community planning. hierarchy of What I wouldn't give for a sidewalk." (Project Mayday) "Sidewalks. "When my husband works long hours, everything is dumped on my shoulders and there is no one to take the pressure off." (Project Mayday) "How can (a battered woman) get out of town if you have (Project Mayday) no money or car...?" A decade later when Women's Health Information Network (W.H.I.N.) held workshops across the region identical concerns were again expressed, as they were in the 1985 Project Mayday study of women's lives in North Shore communities. Northwestern Ontario experience a "chilly climate". Indeed, women must have been written by a Northern journalist .... that Northerners always capitalize North. "Ah", said Nancy "now I understand...." Not easy to explain, but indeed special. And Northwestern Ontario is enriched by very special women who have developed organizations that are tremendously effective empowering women, individually and collectively. Grounded by the assumption that "Northern women are the experts on their own lives", the Northwestern Ontario Women's Decade Council (Decade) is a in regional political action organization committed to ensuring Northern women's perspectives are heard, and that policies must be changed to improve the status of Northern women. Decade Council is unique in Ontario, if not all of Canada; and is recognized as a model for feminist activism. We sometimes ponder why "Decade" councils have not evolved in other regions of the province. In a similar vein the N.W.O. Regional Day Care Committee was the first regional child care advocacy group to organize in Ontario, again providing a consistent and strong voice in demanding Northern perspectives be heard. The goal of the Northwestern Ontario Women's Decade Council is to improve the status of women in Northwestern Ontario through the elimination of barriers to the full participation of women in all spheres - economic, social and political. The Northwestern Ontario Women's Decade Council promotes non-partisan interest in and action on status of women's issues. Decade Council: supports individual women and organizations as they work together for the equality of women in education, employment, the home and the community; facilitates information exchange among women's groups in the region; develops a body of knowledge and resources that incorporates Northwestern Ontario women's perspectives; provides resources and skill development on status of women issues in response to needs of area women; mobilizes and co-ordinates action on specific issues identified by area status women's groups and services; advocates on those issues at the local, provincial and national level; works within a feminist framework and organizational structi..'e the foundation being the Statement of Unity. Decade Council meets bi-monthly with representation from ira-, regional communities. Our activities and priorities are designed reflect the issues presented by Northwestern Ontario Women Present areas of work include, Women and Economic Develone-i and Women Against Violence. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Northwestern Ontario Women's Decade Council R.R. #16, Mitchell Road Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6B3 (807) 683-5662 Fax (807) 683-8504 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 2 �Networking "The survey was brought to the communities in the early spring of 1983 along with a workshop entitled "Cabin Fever", a topic that coordinators were sure many women could relate to after a long winter. This workshop set the tone for the others, heavily emphasizing group participation and sharing of information. The aim was to have the In 1983, as a result of sustained lobbying by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses and regional and local groups, the Ontario government provided "bail out" funds to Transition Houses that were experiencing a deficit. A stop-gap women identify what they needed to talk about, their problems and, in the process, measure of course, but a great boon to groups that were struggling to maintain their services to battered women. But there was one major problem. They left Atikokan out. Why exclude Atikokan from the "bail out" Because the Atikokan Crisis provision? Centre operated with volunteers (had operated with volunteers for seven years) and consequently their "deficit" was not as severe as those transition houses that had been operating with paid staff. validate their personal experience. "Cabin Fever" was well received and a number of women's groups formed as a result .... How often do you hear of a struggling, group turning down an unconditional grant? Never, you might think. But it has happened, not once, but twice in Northwestern Ontario. And not just underfunded one group, but seven groups - saying "we The herstory of the Atikokan Crisis Centre is yet another example of women's determination to make life better for women. It began in 1976 when two women who had experienced the problem of having no where to go and no one to turn to in a crisis situation began to study the need for formed a committee to implement this program. In emergency housing, and refuse to take this grant...give it to the organization that needs it most." The grants in question came from a special "anti-violence grants pot" of a particular Ministry. Because of the NETWORK, anti- violence groups knew that, in the first instance, Kenora, then several years later Year Two of the project brought home to the coordinators the problems inherent in the task. The sheer magnitude of the geographic expanse between workshops, the dangerous road conditions (which broke one car axle and forced another car into an encounter with a guardrail) and the difficulties of air travel, which brought a new meaning to the phrase "fear of flying", made us wonder if the workshop format was the best approach. But the 53 women who came out to the Women and Stress workshop in the isolated community of Manitouwadge, and the 56 December 1977 they approached the Township Council for financial support.. but Red Lake, had been unsuccessfully seeking who packed a room intended for 30 in funding for specific purposes. By directing The Crisis Centre were turned down. committee, with other supportive women, respective organizations could achieve a substantial goal, whereas dividing the grant eight ways would not significantly help any of them. Kenora to attend Exploring Life Changes: A Workshop on Menopause and Aging, reaffirmed our belief in the women's need for information and an opportunity to talk with one another. A frequent comment... was " learned that I am not alone". The Ministry officials went into shock,almost .... sheltered women in crisis in private homes, or rented a room in a local hotel; often paying the abused woman's expenses from their own pockets. The cornmitteaundertook a public education campaign and sponsored community workshops on violence issues. In 1979 they developed an agreement with the Township to use two rooms in the nurses residence. The Crisis Centre's expenses were covered by teas, bake sales, flea markets and all N.W.O. grants to one group, these pleading with the groups (one by one) to remained accept the grant. The Interestingly, the major grants steadfast. denied Kenora, then Red Lake, miraculously became available from other sources, and the individual shelters also got their piece of the pie. Feminist solidarity over political opportunism!!! I Women identified isolation - from one another, from extended family and friends left behind in another community, from husbands who often work out of town at the job site for days at a time - as a major stress in their lives. Community spirit was often identified as a problem... lack of organized play groups, child care, or interesting The demand for services grew, and by 1981 activities for women that might easily be organized were sometimes not dealt with because the women lacked a feeling of the top floor of the nurses residence was ownership in the community or were isolated donations. Services utilized as the Crisis Centre. continued to expand and by 1983 the centre was desperate for secure funding. But, because they had managed for seven years with volunteers they didn't qualify for "bail out" funds. Northwestern Ontario women thought this was unfair. The NETWORK went into action. Within hours the Minister responsible was bombarded with telegrams from women's groups across NWO. Atikokan received "bail out" funds. It was the ability to act quickly that made this lobby successful. The Decade Council Network was in place and was activated immediately. from one another because of frequent moves. The ability to mobilize political action is only one aspect of Networking. Networks are vitally important for individual women to find like-minded women to share experiences, share information and alleviate the isolation of living in the north. The workshop on menopause and aging had the best overall attendance. This indicated again how much the women ... want to come together and discuss something that so profoundly affects their lives. The Women's Health Information Network (W.H.I.N.) is a good example of a NWO organization that evolved to meet this need. W.H.I.N. stemmed from the NWO Women's Health Education Project - a three year project, initiated in 1982, to survey health needs of women in 14 NWO resource-based communities and design workshops on The need for a feminist network was first recognized by the Canadian Women's topics identified by the women. Centres Conference, held in Thunder Bay in In reviewing W.H.E.P. and W.H.I.N's reports several themes emerge: * isolation 1975. NETWORK NELLIE formed to "facilitate information sharing on issues requiring immediate collective action'. Northern Women's Centre was the NWO link in (Ottawa-based) NETWORK NELLIE and * women's sense of a lack of control over their environment began to develop communication links to * the need to validate their experience by s aring with other women women's groups throughout the region. Unfortunately, NETWORK NELLIE faded away after several years, but its concept article 'Breaking the Isolation' by Elaine stimulated the development of manageable) regional networks. Lynch in The weatthsharing Resources for C.2 a.- a: a- Nomen.) (more (The following excerpts are taken from an Book, Northern Woman Page 3 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Networking Chronology April 1973 .... 1 600 gather for Northern Women's conference 1973-present Northern Woman Journal 1973-present Northern Women's Centre 1973-1976 many "consciousness raising" groups meet 1 "allowed us to get to know ourselves again as people other than mothers and homemakers. By getting in touch with our ... interests, and our special abilities, it built on 1 1 1973 First women's studies course "Today's Women: A New Awareness" facilitated by Estella Howard 1973 Women's Program, Secretary of State appoints program officer for NWO 1974-1984 Women's Programs, Confederation College 1 1 1 1 1974 Pro-choice activists meet. Form C.A.R.A.L. branch 1982. 1974 Rape Crisis Centre opens - closes in 1976 - present reactivated 1976. Now operating as T.B. Physical & Sexual Assault Centre 1 1 1 1975 Thunder Bay hosts National Women's Centres Conference with reps of 85 Cdn Women's Centres participating. Poet Gert Beadle discovered. 1 1 1975 1975 1975 1975 1975 1975 1975 Nipigop-Red Rock Action Group hosts seminar "Inside-Outside" with 123 area women attending 1 1 1 First public Thunder Bay celebration of IWD. Thunder Woman Theatre performs Need for housing for women and children in crisis documented. Crisis Homes Inc. established. City opens Community Residences. 1 1 it The Information Caravan travels to 14 NWO communities with info on family law, day care, human rights, rape, health care, sex-role stereotyping, etc. 1975-1976 The Clinic Strike, though unsuccessful, demonstrates the plight of unorganized women workers & the need for legislative change 1976- present The Northwestern Ontario International Women's Decade Coordinating Council (Decade Council) forms to carry on the work begun during IWY 1976-present Rainy River District Decade Council Women's Place Kenora begins with volunteer crisis line - Crisis Centre opens 1978 but we are confident that the value of a regional network will reemerge (perhaps in a different form) and build on the experiences and solid achievements of W.H.I.N.'s There are a lot of women really excited about the regions' newest network - Northwestern Ontario Women in Trades, Technology & Operations (NW WITT). NW WITT in partnership with Equay-Wuk Native Women's Group has sponsored two successful regional conferences for aboriginal and non-aboriginal women employed or interested in trades, technology, operations and blue-collar work. decade of activity. The conferences have explored appropriate training models and supportive services for women. Support to local women is one of the network's main goals and conference participants have volunteered to act as NW These reps WITT community reps. 1 constitute the NW WITT steering committee and meet quarterly to plan and oversee NW 1 WITT's activities. 1 This network has also identified the need for a NW WITT voice at national and provincial 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1976-1980 The Networking encouraged by W.H.I.N., while not always visible, has provided links between women in their communities and across the region that empowers women in their daily lives. Since late 1992, W.H.I.N., as an organization, has been taking a rest, 1 1 Committee forms in Atikokan to document need for crisis housing towards adolescents on the subject of eating disorders) 1 1 1976 * developed resource kit "What Can I Do? Making Changes in Health Care" * sponsored the Body Image Play (directed 1 1 1975 * facilitation of scores of health related 1 NWO Women's Art Festival brings together over 1000 art works... the largest women's cultural event ever held in the district. First Regional Child Care conference attracts 140 day care parents, workers & advocates activities which included: * regional and local workshops 1 Women & Politics conference, sponsored by Women Teacher's Federation attracts 200. 350 T.B. full-time homemakers with children under 14 participate in Women & Stress study. The transition from W.H.E.P. to W.H.I.N. came in 1985. In the next seven years W.H.I.N. undertook an extensive array of Give Birth" Planning Seminar & formation of NWO International Women's Year Coordinating Comm. Kenora Women's Conference attempt something similar for other women" said a woman from Fort Frances." Guide to Travelling Away From Home to 1 1975 our self-esteem and made us ready to workshops in many NWO communities * published Health Network News * produced "Long Distance Delivery: A 1975 1974 (In the third year) a series of training sessions for community women centred on the use of the W.H.E.P. workshop kits. ... The women were delighted to discover the common issues they faced and the similarities of their concerns. The weekend 1 Sometimes Networking evolves as an offshoot of an organization's other objectives. A case in point is the Northwestern Ontario Networking springs from the opportunity to get to know one another that NWORDCC has provided through annual Forums. Because of these contacts day care workers from small regional communities now know their colleagues - and know where to seek advice on program expansion, resources, training, etc. Similarly, parents active with non-profit Day Care Boards discover (for example) that Atikokan faced that situation last year, or that Marathon was able to resolve this problem; and thus, a voice of experience is only a phone call away. Inconsistency of direction/advice from 1 funding sources often plagues NWO day 1 Ontario perspective is considered in official planning. Regional Day Care Committee (NWORDCC) whose prime function is advocacy. 1 1 policy levels, to ensure the Northwestern care, and the NETWORK has proven valuable in crisis management in some situations. Knowing there is a network to call on makes the very difficult job of providing day care in NWO a little easier.. less lonely. Northern Woman Page 4 9 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor PDF compression, OCR, �Chronology Not Another Conference Sometime in the late 1970s a group of feminists were in discussion (I forget the precise reason for the gathering). Most of the group were from southern Ontario, a couple of us from the North. At some point I mentioned that we were planning a Conference (Working Women? Pensions? Women and the Economy?.. I forget which) but my announcement was met with a mix "A condescension. of surprise and conference" they remarked "why would you hold a conference? They are a waste of We stopped holding conferences time. years ago." The Northerners quietly smiled at each other, acknowledging yet another instance of the south's total lack of appreciation of the reality, the uniqueness, of the north. For indeed, Conferences have played a vital role in the women's movement of Northwestern Ontario; have created the climate to build the networks that give us have been a lifeline for individual women to break the isolation our strength; we've experienced. all began with a Conference.. the 1973 Northern Women's Conference, and for It many of us there will never be anything that can match that experience. A group of us had been planning the Conference for months, hoping against hope that we could persuade 100 women to attend. It was a touch overwhelming when 600 women showed up ... and talked and talked (and laughed and cried) and celebrated our budding, feminism. The joy in finding like ' the the joy in breaking the isolation. It is from this first Conference that so much else has stemmed - the NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL; Women's Centres; action on violence issues; health; family law; child care; pro-choice activism... the list is Since 1973 there have been innumerable Conferences; some on specific issues; pensions, health, the economy, violence, bringing together, usually in Thunder Bay, women from across the region to acquire information, share insights, develop strategies. Other Conferences have been organized locally - Dryden, 1977-1983 Northern Women's Credit Union 1977 Decade's Equal Pay Committee (angered by Clinic Strike issue) organizes Working Women's Conference providing a forum for 235 NWO working women 1977-present Au Feminin Pluri-Elles 1977 May Sutton, supported by Decade Council, initiates action on pension reform resulting in survivor benefit legislation in 1979 1978 Ontario Native Women's Association (O.N.W.A.) establishes head office in Thunder Bay 1978 'Women in Transition" study reveals 1100 reported or suspected cases of wife battering in Thunder Bay; produces a multi-lingual self-help handbook "One Day at a Time" 1978 Major study "Women's Work: the Northwestern Ontario Case" provides data base for advocacy on employment related problems of NWO women. 1978 Dryden Women's Conference 1978 VOICES: Thunder Bay's first feminist theatre 1978-1980 Dryden Women's Decade Council 1978 "Life Begins at Forty" conference 1978 Beendigan Native Women's Crisis Home opens in Thunder Bay 1 1 1 Geraldton, Kenora, (although always including other regional women) with a wider agenda involving many issues and reaching out to 1 involve new women. 1 Some conferences are primarily information giving/skill building; others are specifically action oriented. Some conferences bring in nationally renowned guest resource leaders; others recruit all the resource people from N.W.O. or the local community. 1 1 The issue, the style, the agenda of the Conference is not the key. What matters is that women have the opportunity to get together. The motivational speakers, the dynamic workshops, are not the key. It is the breaks/informal time where friendships develop, networks evolve, and support and nurturing abound that give lasting importance. Of necessity, the largest single budget item of any conference, of any regional organization, is travel. Conferences also have been the mechanism that allows the creation of networks that are vital to women working with women's I lt networking later). Meeting colleagues at conferences has provided day care workers, endless. experiences. What was it that was so important about that Conference. Sure we were delighted and inspired by the wonderful feminist speakers. Yes, we were enthusiastic about the interesting and meaningful workshops. But what really was important was that we found Over the past decade the Northern Woman's Bookstore has been invited to be a resource at many conferences throughout the region, and consequently I have had the pleasure of Thunder Bay elects first feminist mayor Dusty Miller 1979 Atikokan Crisis Centre opens 1979 "Fifty Years a Person" celebration 1979-1983 Ignace Women's Education/ Information Group 1979 Women Against Violence Conference 1980- 1987 Red Lake Women's Information Group 1980 Research project issues report "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: An Occupational Health Hazard" 1980 Women in Single Industry Towns workshops held in Thunder Bay, Fort Frances and Ignace 1980 Voices: For Lesbian Survival begins publishing 1980-1983 Mainstay House, Fort Frances 1981- present Northern office of Ontario Women's Bureau opens in Thunder Bay (now known as Ont. Women's Directorate 1981 NWO Women's Health Conference 1981-1985 Atikokan Women's Resource Centre 1981-1982 Women's Production of Thunder Bay 1981-1982 Women and Addictions Project 1982 Women and Stress Conference, Kenora 1982 - 1988 Project May Day 1982 "A Day for Us" Conference 1982 Pension reform activism through meetings in district communities & regional Conf. 1982 Faye Peterson Transition House opens 1982-1992 NWO Women' Health Project 1 services or on specific issues (more on transition house workers, tradeswomen, Board members of women's services, the opportunity to meet colleagues and share 1978 1 1 1 other women who thought as we did, we discovered we weren't crazy, we learned that wo were not alone. witnessing the empowerment that conferences bring to N.W.O. women. 1 1 1 1 1991 the Women Uniting for Change Conference brought together close to 400 In 1 women in the largest regional conference to be held since 1973. For many it was their first feminist conference and their excitement and joy was contagious. 1 1 1 1 It happens every Conference. Because every gathering - large or small - local or regional - involves new women attending for their first feminist gathering and gaining strength from the energy of women committed to making change. 1 1 1 1 Northwestern Ontario has an impressive record of successful collective action much of which has been motivated or enhanced by the opportunities provided at conference gatherings. We expect Conferences will continue to play an important role in feminist activism in our region. 1 1 Northern Woman Pape 5 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Political Action Chronology 1983 Women in Crisis, Sioux-Hudson North organizes Transition House opens 1985 1983 -1985 Childbirth Education & support group 1983- present Northern Woman's Bookstore 1983 Women and the Economy conference As feminists gathered, exploring our shared experiences, our analysis deepened, and the systemic barriers to women's equality became exposed. The need for legislative 1983 Feminist Reunion Dinner equality for women became 1984 Dryden BiCentennial Conference Political action is necessary and N.W.O. 1984 Forum on Women and the North communicates NWO perspectives and concerns to Ontario Status of Women Council (now Ontario Advisory Committee on Women's Issues) 1985 "Contingency Day campaign to raise awareness re retirement and pension needs of women 1985 North Shore Women's Conference 1985 "Run to Win" guidebook produced 1985 Hoshazaki House, Dryden opens 1985 "A Day in the Life" workshop, Fort Frances 1985 Women and Decision Making project 1985/89/92 Women and Disabilities conferences 1985-present Northwestern Ontario Regional Day Care Committee 1985-present New Starts for Women, Red Lake 1985 Thunder Bay Advocates for Quality Child Care form. In 1986 successfully lobby City Council to maintain quality child care. 1985 -1987 Committee to re-instate birthing services (Nipigon) 1986 Young Women's Conference 1986 Feminist counselling workshops held in Dryden, Thunder Bay and Terrace Bay 1986 Geraldton Women's Conference 1986 Women & Mental Health Workshop, Atikokan 1986 "We Have a Lot to Share" workshops held in Dryden, Thunder Bay & Terrace Bay 1986 1986 1986 Marjorie House opens in Marathon serving women and children in North Shore communities NWO women participate in pay equity consultation "Women in Northwestern Ontario" presentation made to Task Force on Single Industry Towns and policy change to provide justice and apparent. feminists have been in the forefront of demands for policy and legislative reform that takes into account women's experience. Supporting, or leading, political action federally and provincially, we have also continuously articulated a N.W.O. perspective, as while some issues are common nationally (even globally) there are other issues that are specific to N.W.O. Frequently overlooked by southern-based policy developers, it is important that our Northern voice be heard. Over the years regional groups such as Decade Council and the Northwestern Ontario Regional Day Care Committee have become skillful in presenting the N.W.O. perspective. Absolutely vital for Quality child care. women to have the opportunity for During these 20 years we've learned that effecting political change is indeed hard economic equality. With much persistent effort community groups in many N.W.O. communities throughout the 1970s identified the need for a day care centre, and convinced their municipal council to accept responsibility for the centre's operation. With a change in government funding policy slogging. The solutions seemed so obvious in to us, and our assumption was that when subsidy") the economic viability of many of these centres was jeopardized. The threat of closure of these day care centres was a N.W.O. crisis. In response to the crisis, the Northwestern Ontario Regional Day Care Committee was formed and one of the most extensive grassroots lobbies the North has initiated. Parents, children, ever day care workers and community activists made politicians abundantly aware that the policy decision (made in Toronto and pointed out the injustices (with government/ research) substantiated institutional action would be quickly forthcoming. Our initial optimism is long gone but our determination remains. While we've lost our naivety, we've refused to lose our hope. we In 1977, a Thunder Bay woman, May Sutton, soon was suddenly widowed and experienced a drastic reduction of her income as after her husband's death May's pension (under the Spouses Allowance Program) was cut off. Then in her early 60s, in less than robust health, May's prospects of finding paid employment were nonexistent. Recognizing that her plight was shared by many women, May set out to do something about this deplorable situation. Two years later, legislation was enacted providing survivors benefits to widowed persons between the ages of 60 - 64 years. In the intervening two years May, with the assistance of Decade Council, mobilized senior citizens and women's groups to take political action on this issue. Utilizing every possible forum including the Working 1986 Heather Bishop and Tracy Riley help us celebrate "end of the decade" 1986 Sioux Lookout & Marathon videos produced for input into federal Child Care Comm. hearings Women's Conference, Dryden Women's Conference, Senior Citizens Alliance, Life Begins at Forty Conference, May made N.W.O. aware of this problem. She then 1986/87 Massive NWO lobby re "indirect subsidy" day care issue. 300 Geraldton parents send letters to Minister of Community & Social Services. Day care children send Minister pictorial "Save Our Day Care Centre" messages went national, with articles in Homemakers magazine, the NAC newsletter, and a CBCToronto television interview; as well as participating in Ontario Senior Citizens workshops. She achieved results. Viewing this particular legislative victory as just one 1987 "Team Building" NWO Transition House Conference small step, May stayed involved with the Women And Pensions Committee, which 1987 Forum on Women and the Economy 1987 Safe Access Project focussed on broader issues of pensions and women's poverty. One small step perhaps, 1987 'Ask Your Candidate" voter's guide distributed 1987 Kenora Women's Place purchases home 1986 (the elimination of the "indirect Ottawa) did not take into account the reality of day care in the North. N.W.O. was mobilized, and the Minister of Community and Social Services was inundated with letters, videos, petitions, telephone calls, and children's "Save Our Centres" dramatic pictorial contributions. Over several weeks children's art work arrived daily on the Minister's desk.... and he got the message. Agreeing to meet in Thunder Bay, the Minister listened carefully to our representations, and put into effect a policy that, at least temporarily, eased the crisis for the municipal centres. The longer term goal of comprehensive child care reform remains elusive, consequently the N.W.O. day care community must constantly renew its advocacy efforts, but because of that 1986 political action, day care centres in our small regional communities continue to exist. but a great example that one woman's determination can "make a difference". Woman Page 6 PDFNorthern compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Political Action Chronology 1 1 1 1987 Rural Women's Network Conference, Fort Frances 1987 Workshop & presentation by Lillian Men 1987 Women's Health Conferences held in Nipigon & Sioux Lookout 1987 "Twelve Angry Crinolines" street performance brings attention to the marginalization of women artists 1987 W.H.I.N. conducts PMS, menopause, patient rights, nutrition, birthing, conferences throughout the region 1987 Joyce Weiland gives workshop-critique with women artists 1987 Workshop kits on Free Trade and Privatization produced 1988 Video tapes produced on history of battered women's movement in NWO 1988 Women and Transition project, Kenora 1988 Maya Bannerman performs 1988 Project on Out of Town Birth 1988 "Healthy Horizons: the Impact of Technology on Women's Health" Conference 1988 Banakonda Kennedy-I0sh paintings and drawings about the birthing experience, and a workshop called "A Walk In The Medicine Wheel" 1988 Broad/Cast - exhibition examining media images of women in NWO 1988 Incest Committee sponsors workshop with Elly Danica, author of DON'T: a Woman's Word 1989 "Freedom from Fear" brochures produced 1989 "What Can I Do? Making Changes in Health Care" resource kit 1989 NWO activists participate in "Child Care Bake Off" 1989 Conference on violence issues brings together educators and shelter workers 1989 Training kits produced for Boards of Directors of shelters 1989 Cross-Cultural community forum on incest and child sexual abuse, Kenora 1989 Violence Against Women Who Communicate poster competition and exhibition, in conjunction with photography exhibition 1989 "Women Working for Change" brings together NWO women and women from Bangladesh, Zambia and the Philippines to share experiences and strategies 1989-present Lakehead University Women's Studies Program 1989 Sylvia Wagner - "Mrs. M and the Alter of Life* solo exhibition installation pieces examining the figure of the Housewife as she is portrayed in television commercials 1989/90/92 Women Healing gatherings 1989 "Celebrating Women" conference, Kenora 1989 Thunder Bay feminists trashed and harassed for "women-only" vigil in memory of 14 women murdered in Montreal 1 1 1 With the solidarity provided by existing N.W.O. shelters other Decade members, these groups were able to stand firm. Because of the Decade action, and changes to the operations policy were achieved. Continuing critique and action led, in the longer term, to the stabilization of all transition house funding. One of the most engaging portraits The issue of violence against women has been a focal point for N.W.O. organizing. Women's shelters have developed in many communities and Decade Council has been persistent in analyzing policy development re battered women. There are a score of examples of political action on this issue. We will briefly relate just two of these actions. The 1983 provincial government Family Resource Centre initiative was developed without consultation with the battered women's movement, or with the affected municipalities/First Nations communities. It contained many elements that were completely unacceptable. It appeared that the F.R.C. proposal was designed to ensure that the philosophy and operation of battered women's services would be removed from women's groups/local communities and controlled by politicians/ bureaucrats. - The eligibility criteria were unworkable; the budget totally inadequate; training for staff and volunteers totally lacking and expectation of service providers unrealistic. It is instructive to note that the F.R.C. announcement came shortly after the 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 of determination and political courage is the image of Freda Hoshazaki locking the door, closing down the black-ribboned Hoshazaki House (the Dryden Transition House) moments after it was officially opened. That didn't actually happen but Freda was prepared to do it. Six years of planning by a community group finally, in 1985, led to the opening of the Transition House. The Dryden group experienced all the barriers common to transition house development, including municipal resistance; and they were temporarily side-lined by the F.R.C. initiative, but they perservered. The final roadblock was that the promised Ministry of Community and Social Services operational funds failed to materialize. Repeated communication with the Ministry lead to more promises but no cheque. Drastic action was called for, thus the committee was prepared to simulateously open and close the doors. An enterprising journalist heard rumours... and telephoned the Ministry. The cheque arrived within 24 hours. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Oh, these gutsy Northern women! 1 1 1 1 Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses annual meeting, when that organization was gearing down for a Summer of not, the summer recess. 1 1 1 1 potential ill effects of this new program on Northwestern Ontario prompted Decade to develop a comprehensive critique (which O.A.I.T.H. supported). At the time transition 1 1 1 1 houses were in the planning stages in a number of N.W.O. communities, and the F.R.C. initiative threatened their viability. 1 1 1 NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO REGIONAL DAY CARE COMMITTEE Post Office Box 144 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7C 4V5 Comprehensive, high quality, publicly funded, non-profit child care as the right of every child PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 7 �Chronology When I came back to Thunder Bay, I went Women's Voices into practice with the woman I'd worked with before. 1 1990 A Room for Honouring Women - artists examine male violence against women in response to the Montreal massacre MP 1 Michele Proulx interviews Lucie Nichols 1 1 1990 Women Living Independently with Disabilities (WILD.) forms in Thunder Bay 1990 Anne Cameron reads in Thunder Bay and as a midwife for many years. She has recently completed the 1 1 1 1990 1990 1990 Women & Work in Northwestern Ontario - Socio-Economic Research Report Women & Family Law - Equal Justice? report, Kenora Naming the Violence - solo exhibition by Jennifer Garrett started working as a midwife it was still very much an out-on-the-fringe kind of field. It was not a medically accepted thing, although it was never illegal. Midwifery just had no legal status in Canada. 1 It is just now becoming possible, in this province, for a woman and her baby to enjoy the excellent care that midwives provide in the birth setting 1 1 1 of the woman's choice and with 1 OHIP coverage. Lucy and I spoke in 1 1990-1993 I process for certification as a midwife in Ontario. 1 Yes, certainly in the beginning, when LN Lucy Nichols has worked as a nurse 1 Did you find, that over time, you developed a clientele by word of mouth? October about her involvement in "Take Back the Night" marches, Kenora these exciting changes. 1 1991 1991 Kenora Sexual Assault Centre initiates network of self-help groups across district 1 1 1 Lucie Blue Tremblay helps us celebrate 1 IWD 1 1991 "Women Uniting for Change" conference 1991 WEAVING MAT(t)ERS - exhibition by Sasha McInnes New Starts for Women shelter opens, Red Lake 1 "Fighting Days" performs in Kenora 1991 "On Shifting Ground" - examination of, and critique of, the image of women as nature, fertility, earth symbol 1 1 1992 1 1 1 1 Ontario Cabinet Forum on Women's 1 Issues 1 1992 NWO groups lobby for inclusion of women in constitution talks 1 1 1992 1992 Women & Addictions conference, Kenora 1 1 1 Body Image play tours region 1 1992 Artists Against Violence 1992/1993 "Striving and Thriving" conferences, Eagle Lake NW WITT network forms 1 1 1992 1 1 1 Company of Sirens perform in Thunder 1 Bay 1992 1 1 Provincial Child Care Reform consultation 1 1 1992 1993 1993 Judy Rebick speaks on women and the constitution 1 1 1 Superior Women's Coffee Houses "More Than Dollars" Community Economic Development workshops in Dryden and Nipigon completely fascinated with it and wanted to be involved with somehow; certainly I adored working with the babies and 1993 Cross-cultural training sessions for shelter workers held across region Young Women's Committee forms enjoyed working with the mothers after the birth. knew that there was a profession called midwifery but I also knew that it did not exist in Canada. knew that it was something really wanted to do, but because I live in Canada, there was no way of doing it, the idea just went in the back of my brain and stayed there for a long time. It became more of a possibility for me when I moved to Thunder Bay and I met a woman here who was a midwife. She had trained as a midwife in Germany and she was working I I I at that time, which was 1980, in a very underground sort of way, attending home births. When we met, I immediately expressed to her my long hidden desire to be a midwife, and she said "Apprentice with me and I'll teach you to be a midwife." started attending births with her and just went on from there. I worked with her for I two years and in that two years we, I think, that it was going to be a long time before I could gain enough experience to call myself a midwife at that rate. So that's when I made 1 arrangements to go and obtain training in 1 Scotland. 1 MP What did that training consist of? 1 LN It was an eighteen month program at 1 a maternity hospital in Scotland. Midwifery 1 has been an organized profession forever in 1 1 4 thildtm". Woodcui, $6.1k. 04.t.,4 MP What about home births? LN No it was never illegal. It was "a- legal" - not legally recognized. When we first started practicing, we would attend a birth at home and the couple would then go to register the birth, to get the baby's birth certificate. We would always instruct them to say that the father had delivered the baby because we couldn't really afford to have our names out there too much. But then, gradually, we just stopped doing that and we became more public and more open about what we were doing and we found some supportive doctors. We actually did some work within the hospitals here, to build some good relationships with the staff in the hospitals. We were probably, in some ways, a lot further ahead than some of the midwives in Southern Ontario, because we ended up having pretty good relationships with the two hospitals here and having a Not number of supportive physicians. supportive in the sense that they thought home birth was a good idea, but supportive in the sense that they were there to back us up if we needed help, to transport a woman to hospital. When we did go to the hospital we were always welcomed by the staff, we were never treated badly, we never felt that the staff were going to treat our women badly because they were women who had come in from a home birth. Generally speaking, the medical community became pretty accepting. 1 babies in hospitals. So the midwifery training 1 was very hospital oriented - there wasn't and who will never accept the concept of home birth as a safe option for women. Family Law Forum, Kenora 1 1993 "Moving On: A Woman Guide through the Separation and Divorce Process", produced by Women's Place, Kenora l 1 Self-Empowerment Workshop, Kenora M;/.rfe osit;e1, MP 1993 1993 UP most of Europe and Britain. It was a good training in some ways but not so great in other ways. There used to be a pretty common tradition of home birth in Britain, but in the last fifteen to twenty years they've really got away from home births and have been pushing women pretty hard to have Women and the Economy Committee sponsors 3 workshops 1 1993 I I 1 1993 d ldh time in maternity - my feelings were really torn because part of me was completely appalled at the way birth happened in the attended five births. The demand for midwifery at that time was pretty slow; I felt Hope Thompson "Mandate" - gender and power in corporate landscape 1 1992 th P4a-Nankili1B1(qiikt706,0/1;2: I hospital. But the other part of me was 1 1 1991 LN It was something that I wanted for a long time. first did my nursing training twenty years ago; I remember when I did my 1 1991 What drew you to midwifery? MP 1 1 1 1993 Sexual Harassment Workshop, Kenora 1 1993 "From Fear to Freedom" booklet 1 fortunate to have a couple of teachers who produced by WILD. 1 were midwives with experience 1 World much to say about home birth. I was in Third were really comfortable with the idea of delivering babies in all kinds of circumstances. I would pick their brains about what you would do in home situation - I learned a lot from them. countries, so they So in a sense you were being active for the cause of midwifery and home birth through your example. LN Well, I think so. There are certainly members of the medical community who will never accept midwifery as a valid profession And I don't think that there is very much that anybody can do to change that. But, yes we tried really hard to show that we were safe, competent practitioners and that we gave safe care to women. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 8 �MP What is it, that makes a midwife a has the responsibility for accepting or not accepting any care that is offered. However, most of the time patients don't really midwife? I could quote from the international definition of midwifery which explains that a midwife is a primary caregiver to women understand that and are not given the during the childbearing cycle. MP LN That is, caregiver, in situations where they're healthy and they're having a normal pregnancy and anticipating a normal birth. Physicians, particularly obstetricians, are trained Obspecialists in complicated cases. stetricians are trained to deal with the more high risk women, women who have L' There are two different things. First, there are the practising midwives in Ontario, most of whom belong to a professional organization known as the Association of complications in their pregnancy, who, for one reason or another are anticipating a complicated birth. That's one really basic difference between what a physician does and what a midwife does. MP The term "Midwife" itself LN Yes - with woman. It's from the Old don't know what language it is - what its origin is but I know it means "with woman." I English. And that also illustrates the difference between the way midwives function and the way most doctors function - midwives are really with the woman. We don't see our role as being the decision maker, the one who directs the course of what happens, My role is to work with a woman, to inform her, to give her all the best information that can about what's happening and to support her decisions. I I see the woman and her partner in the birth - even though, they are together making decisions - it is the woman who is the primary decision maker. am there to support her decisions and to care for her throughout the process. Nurses are very different from midwives. First of all, the nurses' role is not as a primary caregiver. Even though occasionally they will catch I babies at hospital, that's not the intention of their role. Their role is to care for the woman in labour and to inform the primary caregiver, who is generally a physician, of what is happening and to have the primary caregiver be responsible for making decisions. the intermediary between the woman and the doctor? The nurse is Well yes, at least theoretically, an LN important part of the role of the nurse is to act as an advocate for the patient. Unfortunately, I think, very often nurses do not live up to that role and they end up being more the spokesperson for the doctor. So the communication goes the other way. Instead of from the patient through the nurse to the doctor, it goes from the doctor through the nurse to the patient. MP an independent profession. What is the connection between practising midwifery and advocating for the legalization of midwifery - not just local leading by example, but your connection to the provincial level of activity? MP about what midwives do; we are support to act.... during the pregnancy, the labour, the birth and the post partum period. Midwives are specialists in normal birth. My role as a midwife is to care for women as a primary - will be set up to govern midwifery practice in Ontario. Doctors will have nothing to say It's a power structure that seems to in general medical Ontario Midwives. The AOM has been very actively involved for over ten years, trying to opt midwifery recognized. Then there is the resumer side of it, the Midwifery Task force of Ontario. The Midwifery Task Force is a consumer lobby group which has also been very active for over ten years to get midwifery legalized. The two groups have been working on parallel courses. For the government, one of the major kicks in the butt was a very unfortunate occurrence, a home birth where a baby died. When that happened, because it was a death that occurred in a home birth situation, there was a coroner's inquest into the death. From that coroner's inquest came the vehicle for examining the whole of what's been happening in Ontario with midwifery practise. The inquest became a very lengthy, and a very involved process with expert witnesses from marry countries around the world, and from the provinces and from different professions - nursing, midwifery, medicine - you name it. The outcome of that inquest was first of all, that there was no blame attached to the midwives who attended the birth, and secondly, a very MP Will midwives operate out hospitals or out of private practice? of This is incredibly exciting and unique in the world - the way that we've managed. LN We've worked very, very hard in this province to make midwifery happen in the way we think is the best way for it to happen. Most doctors are really pissed off that midwifery is going to be funded by the Ministry of Health and that we will be paid salaries, not on a fee for service basis. As far as I'm concerned, the fee for service system is completely incompatible with giving good care. It encourages churning people through as quickly as possible, to make enough money to pay the overhead etc., to buy that sailboat, whatever. Midwives will be paid on a salary basis - that salary strong recommendation that midwifery should be legalized and that the government will be based on an estimation of the move on that as quickly as possible. That required to attend a certain number of births per year averaged over a certain number of was the impetus for the government to establish a task force on midwifery with a series of hearings throughout the province and a very thick report. From that came the legislation which has been passed, How will midwives fit into the existing health care structure? MP number of full time practices; you'll be years, so its not as though you can collect a full time salary and attend three births a year. You will have to maintain a certain level of practice in order to qualify for full time salary. If you want to do half time practice, you can but then you only get half time salary. So that's one aspect that is LN For now, midwifery is an independant Midwives will self-regulated profession. quite unique. Mostly what is really unique about how we are going to be practicing in this province is that it will be a requirement have their own college, the College of of a midwife's practice that she provide Midwives which will be the regulatory body Midwifery will be for the profession. governed by the Midwifery Act which is part of an umbrella piece of legislation called the continuity of care - in other words, we care for women through out the entire pregnancy, Regulated Health Professions Act of Ontario. This act covers all of.the health professions: aspect of what we do. Another critical aspect nurses, doctors, chiro-practors, massage therapists; each has its own section. The Midwifery Act is a section of that umbrella act and it covers all aspects of legislation choice of birth place. So its not that you can be a midwife and only deal with babies ifery - everything that we The College of Midieives you are required to attend births in all settings according to the wishes of the pertaining to can and cannot , labour, birth and post partum. This continuity of care is a extremely important is that we will follow the woman to her in a birthing centre or only work in a hospital or only do home births. If you are a midwife women. be well established practice. MP So the status of home birth in Ontario has changed from "a-legal" to legal? It's a bit of a misleading power structure, because if you really examine it, it LN is always the patient who is in charge, the patient who is ultimately responsible for the decisions that are made. Unless it's a dire emergency and the patient is unconscious and unable to make decisions. The patient is the employer of the physician, the nurse, the hospital. It is the patient who ultimately Definitely, because its a requirement of our medical practice of midwifery that we attend home births. LN ff you would like more information about midwifery or the midwifery program to be offered at L.U., call Lucie Nichols at 343 4774. Northern Woman Page PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �My memories of feminism in Thunder Bay form a collage of images ... women's faces and the places where we met to create and plan. Underscoring the images is a remembrance of feeling pressured for time...too much to do, too little time! We all had day timers (printed especially for busy women) with every day filled to overflowing. I remember my new-found pride in womanhood and all things created and achieved by women...all the films, books and even the day timers. heard the The "first conference". Until Friday night speaker I would have bet that wasn't disadvantaged by being a woman. wept to hear her story which was my own and my failure to see anything wrong with it. I I I french fries, so we could set up a big table for the Journal where we would cut and paste in fun and frenzy. I remember the issues we tackled...rape and sexual assault, battered wives, and financing loans for women who had only their husbands' credit ratings...and the things we built - Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, the Faye Peterson Transition House and the Northern Women's Credit Union. I remember taking the time to enjoy life with women I enjoyed. Typing and printing Salt and Yeast was a labour of love which showed me that we need poetry in our lives too. Even our meetings could be made into pot lucks and parties with the line between work and pleasure lost entirely. Leni Unitnen ... I was two paragraphs into writing this speech when my son came by to take me to lunch and asked him, 'So what do you think women brought to the North?" I I remember Women's Centre on the second floor of the YMCA and the door Damon Dowbak painted in the children's room. I remember setting up a crib for my son, then less than one year old, in the children's room so I could work on a day care project. I remember using a gestetner to run copies look at the old pictures which show us when we were young... pictures taken 20 years ago! Pictures which show us singly and in groups at our meeting places. And I wonder how did we do all the wonderful things we did. But then remember the passion and the devotion we shared and I I Jokingly, he said, "The women brought Tupperware" and thought about it for a I moment and decided, "No, the women are Tupperware": I know the answer. They are flexible. They protect and preserve. They are marvellous caretakers of the of the NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL which was put together at "the Y". How Lynne Thornburg professional we felt when we changed to our newsprint format! I remember the move to Bay Street and working to clean up the old leftovers. If they are the real thing, they wear the good housekeeping seal of approval. If they don't have the seal of approval, they lack credibility. They never break when you drop them. Memories kitchen, stripping away grease of a million And they are never at the table on really important occasions. But with all that where would we be without tupperware and where would the North be without women. Women have brought to the North all of the stereotyped feminine Memories Lots of nostalgia. The wonderful, wonderful New Year's Day parties, especially when Women's Centre was on Amelia St. Midnight swims at the Y. The visit to Thunder Bay of the Abortion Caravan. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the Northern Woman Journal, I was asked if I could write a short piece that spoke in some way to the unique character and sense of humour of women in the movement. Two particular occasions came almost immediately to mind. Capturing their essence on paper though is another matter, so please bear with me. One indelible memory I have is that of Gert Beadle reciting her poetry at a function in Dryden during the 1980's. In attendance that night were various government and municipal dignitaries. Taking centre stage in her fuzzy, flapping, pink slippers, Gert looked every The intensity of discussion and analysis, combined with nurturing support of early Women Centre collectives and the 1982-85 Journal collective. The production of the "Prisons" issue of the Journal. Fiona presenting roses to lona Campanello, thus totally defusing an anti-choice demonstration. The empowering of NWO child care workers as they joined 500 others in storming P.M. Mulroney's office when he refused to appear (or send Cabinet representation) to a National Child Care Conference. And a memory that will remain forever with every present: Kim Erickson singing Bread and Roses at the Ontario Cabinet Forum on Women's Issues. the kindly grandmother. Her unsuspecting audience had no idea of what they were in for as she began her program with a poem about the husband who, in an attempt to crush his wife's spirit, tried to kill inch her houseplants by urinating on them. Forced to sit and listen politely to a composition about some guy pissing in his wife's pots left them squirming. It was one of those rare moments in time... characteristics ... warmth, tradition, caring, sharing and a strength and staying power fed by love and preservation. Industry's role in the North has been to take. Minerals from the earth, wood from the land. Women's role has been to plant roots, to add substance, to build a place to live, to stay in Northwestern Ontario. ... Women attempted to play the perfect role: the perfect mother, perfect company wife, perfect soul mate. They lived in exact-model company houses or sometimes substandard housing and made them into warm homes where they prepared the meals, washed the socks, relieved the stress, and sent their men back each day to the company. To keep everyone happy, women geared their own interests and recreation to their partners, trekking the ski-doo trails, sitting in the boat or the bar, longing to take a course that wasn't available or to see a play that would never come to town. The second occasion that comes to mind happened several years ago during a Decade Council retreat at Quetico Centre when a group of us were sitting around one evening talking about some of the incredible characters we knew; in this case, two longtime friends, Hilda and Mary. Leni's telling of the story of Mary's deep regret at having ignored Hilda's advice to invest in Cabbage Patch Doll stock left us howling with laughter and blinded by tears. That night was a celebration of who we are. We need to celebrate on another with the same affection every day - it does the heart and soul good. Margaret Fiona Karlstedt PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Pane in �kg/bet Women's roles have traditionally isolated them from other women. Family structures and needs allowed little time for women to get together in a structured way. It was not until the '70s that things began to change...when women started meeting to share ideas and concerns. Groups were established dealing with what some men and women alike construed as totally selfish subjects, like women and violence, or women and economics. A large conference Memories was held in 1973. What women found out was that their concerns, needs and interests were shared by other women living in much the same circumstances. Conferences became our lifelines. We used them to tie into each other and to women living in other parts of the province and country. We listened to women when they raised a My fondest memory is when my daughter, then in Grade 7 or 8, joined with her two concern. We talked about it, printed it, and studied it. And more women added their voice to the concern. William). There are a million memories of the Thunder Bay sisterhood and the education they gave a willing rebel. That I was a little long in the tooth when the reality of what I had missed in my life occurred to me problably explains One of those "exotic dance" places we why even today I can't believe the nerve I had. I used to think, Gert, if you ever lose your nerve you will fold like a pricked balloon or a wet paper sack. As fast as women came together, they were labelled...homewreckers, women` libber's... and women were forced to defend a stereotyped image. The media had a field day in their interpretation of the women's movement. What that did unfortunately was successfully isolate women who didn't want to be portrayed as a man-hating reactionary in bush boots and braids. But women are used to dealing with isolating tactics. We learned to push ahead. We took the issue of violence and forced it close girl friends in our second Reclaim the Night March (through the streets of Fort She remembers being hoarse in the morning from chanting "Women Unite, Take Back the Night." marched passed was Uncle Sam's Tavern, which has since been demolished to build a community health centre. How's that for neighbourhood improvement and "personal is political". Donna Phoenix onto the front importantly supporting together. we learned each other the value of and standing When I had the mastectomy in 1976 and There was and still is a resistance to women was just a short time in bed after the wanting change. Change costs money. It isn't going to cost us any because women never had it in the first place. And so men, surgery...still very groggy...I heard a voice industry and government have a vested interest in resisting the issues raised by influences for the most of my life was suddenly unfettered and ready for action as long as it was in protest against patriarchial regimentation. have not known a more profound sense of belonging anywhere than in the circle we called consciousness raising, there is no more tangible evidence of what women could and should feel in a time when they are together pursuing an ideal. I Memories pages and into government. We learned to write briefs and we learned to lobby. More History will record I never lost my nerve, my spirit which had been under negative (nurse) say "No, you can't come in, only family is allowed". Then heard Estelle Howard say "I'm her sister". barely I I remember seeing Estelle, my eyes wouldn't Feminism is many things to many people but to me it was an idea whose time had come, an ideal. It still is. The dogma of liberation the political correctness went over my head, I was in love with my own free spirit. The publishing of Salt and Yeast changed my life, I guess the party at the centre on that occassion might be a high point, perhaps the party on my 65th birthday women. But the movement moves on.... stay open, but she gave me a drink and We will no longer accept that some of us are held my hand. Right from my first days with feminists I felt "Sisterhood" and a new and tremendous pride in being a woman, but the visit from Estelle was certainly a highlight of perhaps the feminist play, perhaps working on the Journal, perhaps taking the Common Woman players to Sudbury. Certainly doing the sharing and caring women did for and my poetry as outrageous as it could get with each other. gave me a sense of liberation and great joy. The many funny things we did in our various Women's Centres are memorable, especially the skit one Christmas. Maureen did a flash, Laurie was a robot, Monika was the emcee (Monika Meatloaf) and I was Noreen Nitpick (did I name myself?) Doreen was Gay De flowered.... did a skit about Women's Place The sisterhood at Thunder Bay gave me back my creative spirit and the strength to receiving funding for a project "On Our copy of the script somewhere.. must find it. attend the Women's Centre board meetings by special invitation but I am truly a liberated woman: for that I thank that great collective that has my undying love and gratitude. Noreen Dunbar Gert beaten in our own homes and there is no help available. We will no longer accept that we work at jobs equal to men's and are paid less. We will no longer accept that we aren't at the table on important occasions.. the Board table, the Council table, the political table. We will no longer accept that after we have dedicated our lives to raising children and homemaking we run the risk of being left impoverished because of inadequate pensions. We want affordable day care. We want training and employment and equal access to good paying jobs. We want economic equality. We want our contributions recognized. So, let them label us and let them howl, we still ain't satisfied. Backs". I don't think it would be politically correct to do that now do you? have a I when they presented me with a vibrator, preserve it, I have in turn given that spirit to countless women. The Courier calls me Kelowna's Pagan Crone but they do it with affection and they print my scurrilous attacks on religious intolerance and misogyny. I PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 11 �The following is from "Letters to My Sisters" which was performed by the Common Woman Players, a group of Northwestern Ontario women, at the 1979 Sudbury Women's Conference. Dear Sisters Atikokan has been a one industry town since its beginning. First a CN Railway divisional point, and later the home of Steep Rock Iron Mines. They overlapped for about five years. Between 1901 and 1954 all travel to and from Atikokan was done by train or canoe. In '46 when I arrived on the scene, only a few of the women - mostly wives of the management and executives - were from large centres. Wives of the hourly men and railway personnel were usually from rural Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario, and wouldn't be devastated by the lack of the "finer things in life," not that they wouldn't appreciate theatre, ballet, art They were galleries and libraries. considered frills and would come later. Eighty-five percent of them were young with small children. The winters were bitter cold, long, no transportation except one taxi that ran if the weather was conducive. There wasn't any place to shop anyway. The Manitoba, Hudson Bay Post was out at the mine site and the hospital was a box car on the railroad siding. When a baby was due, first the doctor had to be found and sobered up, then came the fun of just getting to the hospital. If it was in the winter, it was hardly worth the effort. The mother lay in state in one of the two beds with diapers hung to dry from rope strung back and forth across the room, and she was kdpt busy with a towel wiping the-condensation off the walls to keep her bed reasonably dry. Besides starting a new mine, other new records were set: the highest birth rate in Canada, highest incidence of insanity and suicide. More beer and booze was sold in Atikokan than in Toronto. This was my life - trying to get the most out of a one industry town in Northern Ontario. We didn't give up, we howled, rebelled, cried, beat our heads, then stuck our tongues out at the devil and got on with the job of making a home and town worth fighting for. And now the mines have closed down!!! For the first while I thought I'd lose my mind. Being told that it was going to happen didn't really sink in until that day when I had no job to go to. After 14 years of going to work five days a week, solving work problems, knowing the security of that pay cheque, gaining confidence from doing a job well, and having the dignity of working with people who respect you, doesn't do much to prepare you for the degradation of having to register for Unemployment Insurance. Why should I, who have always made my own way, now have to accept this dole? Why aren't there jobs for us here in this town? Why should I have to put up with the indignity of having to go down to the UIC building at all? Why should I be made to feel like a pauper asking for a hand-out, to have to answer questions that I had no answer for? I slunk out of there like an old dog with distemper, hoping no one saw me. Then I met more people who had been through the same ordeal and who were as angry as I was, and who asked the question - "why aren't some of the available jobs here in Atikokan?" I wasn't the only one that went Atikokan Crisis Centre Roads and shopping improved somewhat, but women had to look after their own "food for the soul." They started women's groups, church groups, agitated for a new hospital and churches, taught classes in art, crafts, their neighbours and accepted help when it was needed. Northern Woman Page 12 new $5,000,000 sewer system uses their own men and equipment. When asked about the percentage of local employees it came out 13 of 30. The road construction company that is doing the highway outside time and energy invested in this town to give it up now, just because our government bodies have boobed. Now that Council has decided that dumping nuclear waste into this tears, isolation, boarders in their homes, lost friends and homesickness. Swing-shift was brought in at the mine. This innovation of Children's Aid, service organizations: hospital work, teaching, church work, helped that will hire local people, not like Hydro who bring in all but 20% of their labour force. The construction company that is putting in the leaving. I'm not going to!! I've too much figure skating. Women coped with pay cut backs, mud, cold, frozen fuel lines, booze, the mines, in tourist camps and at the mines. They did their jobs, raised their families, kept up with the work of their been brought in, but not until six months before the pit closed down, why wasn't it done ten years ago? We want something one of the stipulations of the contract? Many of the miners are pulling up their roots and wouldn't freeze to death playing hockey and find, catering, working in the new stores and restaurants, taking in boarders and/or roomers from the construction crews and True, an Industrial Development Official had these companies. What is the matter with Council that hiring local labour cannot be had a regulation size rink built so the kids jobs. They worked at anything they could Management, Council, Government and workers all knew that the closure of the mines was imminent and yet nothing had been done to entice a new industry big enough to take up the slack, into the area. town clerk who is also the secretary of Council, didn't know the hiring policy of necessary, so women raised the money and When hours at the mine were cut from 56 72 per week to 32, many women had to find without it. To hell with them and their bloody money." their own equipment. When questioned, the singing group which just disbanded this year, and a Little Theatre Group. Council didn't think an indoor skating rink was friendships. Just something more for people to put up with. out of that office with "Stick it lady, I'll do of town and the streets of the town use people brought in from other Unions and sewing and cooking, started the Norternaires the devil is the ultimate in breaking up Women's Voices area would be a good thing for all of us, Our vision is... "To live in a peaceful society without fear of violence, to have freedom of choices, where people are equally valued. WE BEGIN BY VALUING OURSELVES" I think there is a reason for me to stay. We've been betrayed, and the only thing to do is to get onto our horse again and get something done about it. Thanks for listening, UIC number 16975 Ruby Chumway Atikokan Crisis Line: 597-6908 Toll Free Crisis Line 1-800-465-3348 Ruby Chumway continues to work to make her community a better place for women. (area code access: 807-705-204) PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Memorial Award Honours Millie In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the people of Northwestern Ontario, the Millie Barrett Memorial Award has been established. lifetime. True to her nature, a serious health problem did not deter Millie's commitment to the value of community development, which she personified. Many of us, unaware of her personal situation, continued to call upon A mentor to many of us, Millie's commitment to economic, political and social justice inspired us all. Millie's deep respect for people made her a superb grass-roots organizer. Her skills and her wisdom were generously given to women's groups, Native organizations, environmentalists; to all who shared her love of Northwestern Ontario. Her friendship enriched our lives. Actively involved and influential in every community in which she lived and worked, it was the small communities that Millie loved best, where people "spoke her language." Whenever a difficult task needed doing we called on Millie. From chairing tumultuous meetings, to facilitating a "counter" conference, to negotiating with decisionmakers, to setting the record straight with southern officials, Millie met the challenge with determination, poise and good humour. Millie's passionate voice spoke our hopes and our vision. An enthusiastic participant in the 1973 Northern Women's Conference, Millie's involvement with NM:), women predated that her, and as always received her assistance and support. Just a few months before her death, Millie was actively involved with the Women Uniting for Change Conference, where she facilitated a workshop on Older Women and Housing issues, and chaired the resolutions session. Millie's passing is a great loss, personally and politically, to the people of Northwestern Ontario. Her words and her works are her legacy to the region. Our task is to continue to develop her ideals. The Millie Barrett Memorial Award will be administered through Lakehead University, and will support mature students pursuing studies or research in the political, historical, or social policy fields; and, who have demonstrated commitment to Northern concerns that reflect Millie's spirit and ideals. Contributions may be made to the Millie Barrett Memorial Fund, in care of the Director of Development, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1. conference, and extended throughout her ift. 4.10 410 gol die 4111%. 41114. Ad AM 4/1110 AA. 010 Ole AO OW A. 4111 41 4,1 4011 ONO 4110 goer web dn 411110 "The people who belong here, whether they are born here or are here by choice, will tell you that it isn't so much that they chose this land The but that the land chose them. land, the bush, is the arbiter of everything here. The bush imposes a certain respect, a certain humility a certain healthy tempering of human a And it promotes arrogance. certain competence, an ability to deal with the essentials, to cope with harsh realities among those who belong here." MILDRED E. BARRETT 4% ONO ONO 4110 4110 ONO 4 40140 A* AO "0 ONO AO 41110 AM Ar "st 1924 - 1992 41% 4a ow ow AM ow, eminist Literature alwiroominwift*-- or feminists over 50 one of the most citing aspects of the women's movement Three months later the Northern Woman's Bookstore opened. as the discovery of feminist literature. nally, our voices were being heard, our henever we met, someone would bring th a book she had discovered that had hanged her life", and would loan this asure for others of us to eagerly devour. Dryden, Eagle Lake, Sioux Narrows, Terrace Bay, Geraldton, Hearst, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, resourcing Women's conferences; Women Healing gatherings; NW WITT conferences; violence, health, MPD, and urs would be spent discussing, digesting, 1.1701111K ITE MAMA% minist books trickled in to Thunder Bay-- Opening in the store-front cubby-hole of Women's Space on Bay St., then to N. okstore stocked a feminist section, and Court St., then Camelot St, the Bookstore now has a permanent home, sharing space with Equinox Enterprises at 65 S. Court St. wanted. Then we learned about the ronto Women's Bookstore, so whenever got to Toronto a day was spent there, sorbing this wonderful array of women's rds. Spending all our hard-earned vings we'd come home with a suitcase full books - again to be shared, digested and cussed. ny, many times over the years we talked out how we'd love to have a women's okstore in Thunder Bay, but all we did s yearn. Then one night in the fall of 83 the discussion reemerged at a Journal eting. We need a Bookstore! Let's do it! w can we start a Bookstore when we can rely get the Journal out? We can do it! impossible! Round and round the circle hours. At the end of the evening a cision was made, the Journal would not dertake a bookstore, but Anna McColl d Margaret Phillips, in partnership would. addiction workshops. A LITEAME owe Alki AI AVMs CA DIA LIMIS u couldn't find them at the library or ainstream bookstores, only the Co-op re helpful in ordering when we knew what women across Northwestern Ontario, providing a mail order service (anywhere in Canada) and taking (or sending) books to conferences and workshops throughout the region. The Bookstore has been to Kenora, periences analyzed, our history recovered. vouring our new insights and emotions. te Millet, Robin Morgan, Vivian Gornick, ulamith Firestone impacted on our lives d motivated us to feminist action. The Bookstore serves as a resource to Margaret, Mary Ann Kleynendorst and Rose Piths, purchased this home, in partnership, in 1992, and separately operate their respective services. Anna retired from active Bookstore partnership in 1988, but remains closely involved. As with all feminist bookstores, the Northern Woman's Bookstore is more than a "store", it is an information centre, a gathering place, sometimes a quite place to browse, sometimes an active place for feminist dialogue. On March 15th the Bookstore will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its official opening. A great anniversary party is planned and events and sales will continue all week. Come down and join in the fun. Starting with a mere 300 books, today the Northern Woman's Bookstore stocks over 2000 titles covering a broad spectrum of women's interests: feminist theory, violence issues, health, women's spirituality, lesbian, biography, women's history, self-help, recovery, psychology, education, work, older women, children, literary criticism, women's studies, Third World, environment, humour, poetry and fiction. Women's music, feminist periodicals, and greeting cards compliment the books. Rose has recently provided a new source of joy - a wonderful selection of women's jewellery. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Page 13 �Services The early years of feminist ferment quickly faced a contradiction: analysis/political action or service? (The interweaving of analysis, action and service remain a challenge.) From the moment there was a telephone number and an identifiable woman's space, individual women in crisis appeared. So many times the discussion group/action meeting got put on hold while a safe home for a battered woman was located; vehicles found to transport a woman's belongings in the dark of the night; a sympathetic lawyer contacted to provide advice; money raised to provide transportation out of town, or simply to buy food. The support individual women sought Throughout Northwestern Ontario the first issue that women organized around was battering. "It is a story of struggle, achievement, tears and celebration. Each women's simplistic BATTERING. in group had a dream, its approach. STOP PROTECT WOMEN. As women in each town addressed the tip of the problem, the iceberg rose from the water. The numbers and problems of battered women overwhelmed the vision in reality. As each organization toyed with the idea of opening a transition house, their covered the gamut of issues: legal, financial, health, violence, employment, education.... It quickly became apparent that there was a great need for services for women, provided by women, grounded in women's experience. battered sisters demonstrated there was no turning back. Women were in this issue for the long haul." Through the 1970s we find women bonding together to provide the service, the nurturing, the needed support. Creating women's centres, information and support groups, specific services and individual because of the unequal power relations support, women reached out to meet the needs of women in crisis. The development of these vital womencentred services progressed despite formidable barriers encountered along the way. Because of hundreds of thousands of volunteer 'woman-hours, services have been achieved. The energy, the personal and monetary sacrifices, and the considerable emotional stress required, demonstrates the depth of women's commitment to their sisters. It is not surprising that woman-battering issues have been a priority in Northwestern Ontario. Violence against women persists between men and women in our society. A patriarchal society that economically, socially, politically subscribes a second class status to women condones violence against women. Given the economic status of NWO women; the "male culture" of resource industries; the lack of child care; the scarcity of adequatelypaid jobs for women; the lack of recognition of the value of women's traditional work; NWO women are indeed vulnerable. While the root cause of battering - the power and privilege held by men - is still not seriously addressed in our society, NWO women have established services for battered women and have raised community consciousness about violence issues. structures often leave us bruised. But, women continue to strive for new modes of operating, new ways to empower women to create opportunities, make decisions, best suited to their needs. "respect for the right of individuals to choose the kind of maternity care that meets their needs, and the right to information which will enable them to make informed and responsible choices regarding childbirth options." As well as providing peer support, the CESG had some success in pressing the medical system to be more responsive to birthing mothers needs. The work of the Women's Health Information (see Networking) lead to the development of other community-based groups that addressed women's health and adequate funding brought into play a equality, the intransigence of patriarchal had a special interest in the physical and emotional health care provided to birthing mothers and couples. The group held a Network As services matured, the need for paid staff new dimension... feminists engaging with the state. The lessons learned have often been painful. The extent of hostility to women's The Childbirth Education and Support Group Twenty years ago there were no services. Today shelter services for battered women are provided in Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Atikokan, Thunder Bay, needs in a number of NWO communities. Geraldton and the North Shore communities. Information and support groups have been an important service enriching the lives of Rape crisis centres developed in Thunder Bay and Kenora in the mid-70s and have continued to expand their services, with an ever-increasing demand for support for incest survivors. Over the years a number of groups have addressed the issue of pornography. Most recently attention is many NWO women. Reviewing the history of the Red Lake Women's Information Group (1980-87) we find an impressive story of educational being given to the insidious problem of activities and political action. Workshops and information sessions included: women sexual harassment. The work goes on. and addictions; financial management; violence issues; women and health; women through film; body images; women and Although often the first problem addressed, violence was by no means the only issue that brought women together. Women's health issues - physical, mental, emotional were high on the agenda. The Thunder Bay Post-Partum Counselling Services, a self- help and support group, formed in 1980. "The groups offered one-to-one support and weekly group meetings. When a depressed mother contacted the group she was given the phone number of a volunteer who was willing to listen, share similar experiences and offer reassurance. In a caring and sharing atmosphere, women discovered that they were not alone, that they were not "crazy", that they did have the power to regain control of their lives." decision making; economic development; pensions; stress; PMS; DES; breast selfexamination; assertiveness training; manmade language; child and family legislation; pornography (leading to a Pornography Working Group to plan ongoing public Action was taken around education). violence issues and child care. In 1985 the group produced and distributed an information pamphlet on day care, housing, affirmative action, and services for women in crisis - thus raising the visibility of these issues in the lead-up to the municipal election. These achievements are all the more noteworthy when we consider the transient nature of the town and the reality that the groups had to be regularly replenished as active members moved from the community. PDFNorthern compression, OCR, Woman Page 14 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Services The Ignace Women's Education/Information Group (1979-83) was a "bunch of women who wanted to make the most out of living". The group met regularly to discuss common concerns, promote workshops and training/education programs, and establish Women's Place Kenora Accepting the inevitability of the FRC, WPK submitted a proposal to operate the facility. Their proposal was rejected in favour of a One of the most amazing stories of feminist service is demonstrated by the herstory of Women's Place - Kenora (WPK). It is a chronicle of courage, determination, commitment and vision. group that had no experience in working access to resources (books, films, etc) of It began with a Women's Conference in interest to women. 1975 where the need for a women's centre and for rape crisis services were identified. A group of women "committed to the quality In of life for women" formed the Atikokan inadequate Women's Resource Centre (1981-85). The Centre was "a place where women with diverse interests could meet and share ideas, discuss concerns and take action. A resource library was set up to afford women greater access to information on status of women issues and other topics of interest. Guest speakers were featured at monthly meetings..assertiveness training offered. Volunteers were active in coordinating such activities as clothing, toy, coupon and skill exchanges, a food coop, and assisting Atikokan Crisis Centre in developing services for women in crisis. To keep area women informed a weekly column was published in the local paper." the AWARE, Bay Terrace with battered women. Ironically, WPK was asked to train the FRC crisis line workers. 1976, one woman, distressed by the service she had received, organized a group of volunteers to operate a rape crisis line. From the calls received it quickly became apparent that support for women experiencing all forms of abuse, not only rape, was needed. Thus a community organization - the Kenora Women's Crisis Intervention Project - formed with the goal of establishing a crisis centre, and the "grants" game began. For the next number of years the group survived from one short-term grant to another short-term grant with never sufficient funding to adequately meet needs. committed activist and founding mother of Kenora's Women's Place, Charlotte Holm In 1980 a suitable location was found to house the Crisis Centre but the municipality refused to approve the premises for sheltering, or to provide per diem funding. Women's Concurrent to all this political work, WPK reestablished a downtown Crisis Centre. (In a 10 day period in Nov. 1984 the Centre dealt Resource Group "developed a number of strategies to promote understanding of and action on women's issues in the with 24 women and children in need of community... space was acquired for a drop- assistance policies; they surveyed the availability and quality of services for battered and assaulted women; encouraged shelter.) in centre where women could meet other women and form mutual support networks. Information evenings and workshops were conducted communications, trained to lead workshops on women and addictions; a single parents groups was formed; and a committee formed to investigate the extent of wife battering in North Shore communities." Disappointed, but undaunted, the Centre (which incorporated as Women's Place Kenora in 1981) then undertook public education programs to sensitize the community to the issue of violence against women, and embarked on a capital fundraising campaign with the objective of WPK establishing a Transition House. broadened their horizons and organized a safe, legal abortion is a key example of such planned support. In the 1970s & 80s many NWO women were denied abortions in their home communities (even those communities where hospitals provided abortions). While wide range of activities including workshops on alternative health care, group dynamics, women and addictions, pensions and pornography. The Centre was also utilized for support groups such as MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and the Newcomers Club, as well as recreation and cultural activities. The Centre temporarily had to close when the lease expired in December 1982. However, service continued as the crisis line was moved to a member's home (files were stored to await new space and new funding). the situation has eased somewhat since the 1988 Supreme Court decision striking down Having raised some capital towards a down payment for a Transition House WPK Throughout history individual women have always provided support to other women in crisis. With the development of a feminist analysis the need to plan for situations of The needed support became clear. assistance provided to women seeking a the federal abortion law, there are still communities in our region without abortion services. Since the early 1970s a core group of Thunder Bay women have volunteered their time supporting and counselling women coming to Thunder Bay for their abortion, and accompanying (and fundraising for) women who have found it necessary to travel to Minneapolis, and later Duluth, to obtain their abortions. The work of this group of women has been largely unrecognized (except for the gratitude of the women supported) but has been (is) a vital service to women. in getting "Images of Women" .... which "clarified the connections between violence against sexism, family law, women and violence, The and women in single industry towns impact of these activities can be assessed in part by what came after. Volunteers were succeeded health and justice agencies to develop protocols; and conducted six workshops on women and addictions, assertiveness, ..?vtraining, They improvements to the Town's emergency applied to Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (which had a program to build shelters). While CMHC was receptive, the mortgage was dependent on the commitment of the municipalities to provide per diem funding... which was again denied. women in the home, at work, and on the streets. In 1986 a workshop "Equality Under Law" was co-sponsored with the community Legal Clinic; and many years of analysis and focus on the justice system's response to women victims of violence was rewarded when the province selected Kenora for a Victim/Witness Advocacy Program. (The province, of course, did not recognize WPK as contributing to this decision, and they rejected WPK's offer to consult in the development and implementation of the program.) the "By keeping the issues visible and holding agencies accountable WPK was able, albeit slowly, to create a climate for change within the community." Supported by other community agencies, WPK pressed the Ontario Housing Corporation to increase the availability of subsidized housing for abused women and single-parent, female-headed families, and in 1987 forty housing units were approved. The rape crisis centre continued to operate with volunteers... and the occasional shortterm grant. WPK's goal to provide a Transition House was further frustrated when, in 1983, the province intervened and offered municipalities 100% capital funding for WPK Family Resource Centres (FRC). presented a critique of the FRC project to the municipality and the province, however 8 0 the Town accepted the Ministry's offer. Northern Woman Page 15 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �A most positive development came in 1987 when WPK received a major capital grant to purchase a house. WPK gives much credit to the other women's groups of Decade Council who supported their quest for this funding. The new home providing office, library and meeting space (a large meeting room was later added) quickly became a "well-utilized centre for community women". ms y WPK activities have also flourished (and in 1993 staff support secured when the province began funding women's centres). Open meetings are held monthly with timely and provocative speakers, films and discussions. WPK sponsored the 1992 Woman Healing Gathering, organized a Women and Addictions conference, and co- sponsored workshops Self- on Empowerment, and on "Sexual Harassment: A Workplace Hazard". Take Back the Night marches and December 6th memorials are held annually. Lobbying and letter writing continues. The whole area of family law, separation and divorce, and support and custody issues A have been extensively worked on. Women and Family Law Forum was held and a booklet "Moving On: A Woman's Guide through the Separation and Divorce Process" produced. The meeting room provides a wonderful safe and comfortable space for many community groups (Nursing Moms; Women for Sobriety; self -help groups, etc.) to hold regular gatherings, as well as groups/agencies holding one-time events/training sessions. Indeed it is a 'well-used community woman's space', and the ever expanding library -tiOt936\ is a valuable resource to the community. participated in the provincial campaign to increase awareness of rape and sexual assault by producing a fact card that was mailed to 6000 households,- and sponsored a week long radio campaign and circulated additional cards to local social service agencies. Much energy also went to letter writing campaigns re violence issues, free trade and privatization. In 1990 the Ontario government made funds available to Rape Crisis Centres, and finally Kenora was able to hire full-time staff and "actually engage in planning our program and activities, rather than just responding on a crisis basis". With crisis services secured Survivor WPK could expand activities. groups were facilitated, group facilitators roses too", WPK also plans fun events bringing in feminist theatre and musicians to help Kenora women celebrate. perseverance, the commitment of the women of WPK is a The stellar energy, experience. The NWJ salutes Women's Place Kenora and the many hundreds of women in communities across Northwestern Ontario working to ensure their communities courses held, and a Cross Cultural Forum safer place Incest organized. for women. and Child Sexual Abuse service for women, by women, grounded in women's are on the example of feminist trained, a resource guide for abused women "Out of the Shadows" produced, WEN-DO ...is superior entertainment for local women. Thanks to our already loyal fans (women who have attended the Coffeehouse more than once) and their friends, the Superior Women's Coffeehouse has enjoyed tremendous success. Since last July, Coffeehouse audiences have been entertained by many local women, including: Believing that women must have "bread but Anti-violence work continued. In 1988 WPK SUPERIOR WOMEN'S COFFEEHOUSE Nancy St. Jarre and Sue Paskoski, Josie Joyce Michalchuk, Glenna McLeod, Nancy MacGibbon, Val Saunders and Ellafern Poindexter. The highlight of the Wallenius, season was a performance by Heather Bishop on January 22nd. Coffeehouse performers are now booked into the summer. In addition to musical performances, our audiences enjoy poetry reading and storytelling, art exhibits, craft displays and, of course, coffee and treats at each event. The Superior Women's Coffeehouse takes place at the Unitarian House on S. Algoma on the third Saturday of every second month. Translation - the next Coffeehouse will happen on Saturday March 19th at 8:00 All women and their friends pm. are welcome. Admission is really cheap and it is the place to be in Thunder Bay...If you (or someone you know) is interested in performing at the Coffeehouse, contact Jane through the Northern Women's Bookstore. a better and Thank you to all who have supported us so To ensure a clear distinction far assault services and activities the Kenora Sexual Assault Centre incorporated as a separate entity in 1991. Let's audience, performers and workers. keep the Superior Women's Coffeehouse open for a good long time. between women's centre - See you on March 19th. Since permanent funding was secure the KSAC has been able to reach out to district women through the group support program providing group facilitation training and selfhelp training. Local community work has included developing a protocol with the hospital and police services to respond to victims of sexual assault; public education sessions including the "Break the Cycle" 22/ WOMEN'S campaign; development of a manual for self- help survivor groups; work with local high school students by sponsoring a date rape poster contest; co-sponsorship of a sexual harassment workshop; and establishing a district wide 24-hour toll free crisis line Marion MacAdam Project Co-ordinator APRENrICESHIP Ommeowg otaw-wo%mi RtOJECT Royal Canadian Legion Building 300 McClellan Avenue Kenora, Ontario P9N 1A8 TEL: (807) 468-3698 FAX: (807) 468-3051 (1-800-565-6161). individual counselling, facilitation of survivor groups and training of crisis-line workers continues. Northern Woman Page 16 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �FROM THE JOURNAL FILES itorial Survivors! Determined, persevering, resilient Survivors. As the NORTHERN WOMAN enters our twelfth year of publication we conclude that we - that Northwestern Ontario women - that all women - are survivors. Preparing this Anniversary issue and consequently reviewing all our past issues, has prompted our mixed emotions! A joyful nostalgia for the excitement, the optimism, the birth of awareness that the early Journals evoked. A sense of pride for the creativity, the courage, the excellence of Northwestern Ontario women writers. A disheartening recognition of how little change has occurred in the institutions/attitudes/actions that oppress women. Be it 1973 or 1984 the issues remain - violence, reproductive rights, economic equality, health care, day care - and on Legally, equality under the constitution is essentially a'paper tiger. Provinces play the major role in enSocially, forcement of human rights. women are losing their traditional power Sources, but are NOT GAINING IN TRADITIONAL MALE POWER STRUCTURES. These economic hard times are making the feminist take a back seat. Welfare mothers are being forced to find work in jobless economic markets with no availability of child care. Men as a class are coming down hard on women as a class--especially poor women--because we still are basically powerless. and on. OH BROTHER Thus as we observe our anniversary we do celebrate the courage, the strength, the survival of women; yet we understand the need for unrelenting analysis and constant vigilance. Dear Viola: In response to your request for written support regarding a name change for the Lakehead University's "Man In Society" course please allow me to explain that the-term "man in VOLUME the 'phrase "Man and Society" 'is in this instance, the generic, term mean- ing "all people". Similarily, the pronoun "his" can also be used generically as in the common phrase "Man and His World". We must never forget that the word "man", when used generically, includes, the female. I have not seen the course outline for "Man and Society" but I imagine it covers all the aspects of a man's life. No doubt it deals with basic anatbmy. For example, under the heading "Man's Body" (which of course refers to male and female -) one could Study man and his heart, man and his ovaries, man and his fallopian tubes, the breasts of man. The life stages of man would be included. Topics would be: man at puberty, man's menstruation, man as father, man as mother, man as husband, man as wife, the end of the-childbearing years-the menopause of man. As one man to another, Viola, I am interested in all education which promotes the brotherhood of man. I have discussed this with other men of good will including my sister. I.ama man of two, minds about this question but I am also a daughter. I will abide by my mother's opinion for I believe that, when tinkering with the language, all generations should be consulted. Besides, isn't it true that we are not the men our mothers were? If I could consult ber man to: man, I know that she would firmly state that the use of the word generically to mean all people somehow--illogically perhaps--leaves out half of alf mankind. Yours sincerely, Joan Baril March 1982 Editoriai: Our Heritage ISSU True to her Taurian nature, the paper has stubbornly persisted, bouncing back into publication from innumerable bouts of self-criticism, colic, fractures, diversity diarrhea, hnd funding influenza. Her health 3 i -as stabilized for the time being and the bright-eyed collective, hone f-om past experience, .2.o have learned t-e proper perscription to ensure , --be4_ng c,f 1-.1.3 Northern Woman. EDITORIAL For most of us involved in the Feminist Movement, - instant recognition of our oppression was very unlikely. It is more probable to assume.that although we were exposed to inequalities and sexism very early in our girlhood, this recognition of our oppression did not occur, or was not acknowledged as being a problem of being born a female. However, if it was recognized at all, it was likely to be viewed as a personal .Not a universal oppression. The growing 'stages of our awareness (raising of our consciousness) can be compared to the rungs of a ladder. We all began on the bottom rung. ConsciOusness-raising is the first step up from the bottom rung. Our educational system and ourday-to-day living does not usually provide us with the perceptions and knowledge that allow us to effectively discern areas of discontent and oppression. External influences such as women's conferences, women's centres, feminist literature, rap sessions with our friends, women's studies, films, conscious ness-raising (CR) groups, do contribute to internal recognition of our oppression. Click, click. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Page`17 Northeiil Womari �FROM THE JOURNAL FILES 1988 Volume 11 No. Pro oChoice And then there was the Abortion Caravan's journey through Thunder Bay. Beginning on the west coast the Abortion Caravan travelled across the cour*try gathering support and momentum for their Ottawa protest of the abortion law (1970). Meetings were organized along the way and Caravan members and local women gave personal testimony to the need to repeal the law. Apparently the Caravan's western stops had been supportive but uneventful... the gatherings mostly committed pro-choicers. Then they reached Thunder Bay. The Women's Liberation Group in their enthusiasm and idealism had widely promoted a public meeting... and the crowds came ... the small basement church hall was overflowing ... irimarily with pro-choice supporters. but including a small, vocal group ot anti-choice women and their "brothers" who persistently disrupted the meeting's agenda. Apparently frustrated by the pro-choice speakers calmness and logic, the anti-abortionists broke up the meeting with a vitriolic display of verbal abuse... which spilled out into the streets where deflammatory accusations of a personal nature nearly caused a riot. Totally stunned by this amazing experience, the Abortion Caravan-continued on to Ottawa apparently blanking out this experience as the Thunder Bay stop is omitted from all of the Caravan's historical accounts. Women's Liberation meanwhile matured their political sophistication. Editorial Many months ago, as the Northern Woman Journal collective was meeting to plan future issues of The Northern Wbman, we suddenly found ourselves engrossed in a discussion of our (i.e. omen's) situation. Many hours later Donna (who always discusses with pen and paper in hand) brought to our attention key words she had heard us say. Restricting. Inhibiting. Tied up. Locked. Cramped. Confined. Limit. Cage. Stopped. Caught. Duty. Subordinate. Trapped. Silence. Inferior. Blocked. Excluded. And so, this "Prisonssissue was born. Prisons is not a cheerful topic. Yet, an understanding that the factors that imprison women are systemic is crucial. The "prisons" imposed by rape, battering, pornography, sexual harassment, denial of reproductive rights will only be counteracted when we fully understand them as issues of male power and control. The dilemmas women face regarding double work days, inadequate day care, isolation, and 'super-woman' exhaustion will be rationalized only when we understand the tyranny of the "institutions" of marriage and motherhood, and can separate the "institution" from our very normal desire for warm, caring relationships. Wye will only regain control of our own well-fare when we ad knowledge the misogyny of many "experts" (medical practioners, counsellors, etc.) who have usurped women's traditional healing roles. And it is important to recognize and analyze the renewed economic oppressions women are experiencing - blanketed by that over-used term recession. Let's fade it, the governments' (6&5 and 9&5) restraint programs are a direct attack on wormn.-It is not accidental that in Canada poverty is largely a female phenomena. Urging an examination of the prisons that restrict us is meant not to depress us, but to empower us. It is only when we understand and acknowledge the roots ot the oppression of women, that we will develop the strength, the courage and the creativity to demolish the 1prisons EQUINOX ENTERPRISES Call Maryann at 346-4600 or 577-6090 Jane -of -All- Trades General Maintenance and Home Repair Drywalling, Painting and Wallpapering Furniture Refinishing Shelving & Custom Wood Furniture Decks and Sheds Reasonable rates! Willing to tackle any job you need doing Northern Woman PageOCR, 18 V web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor PDF compression, �Book Review The "bridging of generations" is an important NAC theme in Canadian feminism. benefited from the experience of other Politics as if Women Mattered: A Political The premise of this book is that given the national women's organizations - particularly Analysis of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, by Jill Vickers, Pauline Rankin, Christine Appelle; University of Toronto Press, 1993 failure of male-stream politics to incorporate the concerns that women have advanced for this past 100 years, "women's movements can and must develop enduring institutions the National Council of Women (which celebrates its 100th year in 1993). As well, working in coalitions has always been important. through which their efforts to gain equality Reviewed by Margaret Phillips If you have ever engaged in feminist discussions about reform/revolution; action/ service; process/task; professionalism/grass roots; to take/not take government funding, you will find this book interesting, instructive, thought-provoking and satisfying. can be organized over the course of several generations." One such coalition the Committee for the Only within women's movements - that women control - will a political analysis, derived from women's experience and perspective, develop. As a 'parliament of women," operating parallel to the political system Canadian women's movements develop a political analysis " as if women Women) was established to lobby for the creation of the Royal Commission on the Equality of Women (later restructured as the National Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of mattered." In fact, Politics As If Women Mattered: A wave" feminists (of whichever ideological distinction) as its analysis will inform our understanding of the Canadian women's movement, and help clarify our analysis of the successes and failures of the feminist of the royal commission, and they thereby came to represent an radical and leftist grass roots grafted on to NAC's founding course of several generations. coalition. organizations in which we are (were) involved. The book will also be important Politics As if Women Mattered is not, the authors make clear, a history of NAC, but is a political analysis based on the study of available NAC documentation. The period under study is 1972-1988. On first glance it seems unfortunate that the study ended in 1988, given the significant and remarkable challenges and changes NAC has experienced in the past five years. But with the evolution of NAC and the now-proven enduring nature of the organization it is appropriate that the present stage and continuing development of NAC as a vital Canadian political Institution" be recorded in a future document. A A Initially an organization of convenience, NAC became the arena in which such conflicting understandings of the condition of women could be debated and explored. As a result, it came to take on a unique role as a "parliament of women." Organized in 1972, from the Strategies for Change Conference, NAC originated with the limited mandate of lobbying to ensure the recommendations of the Royal Commission of the Status of Women were The ideological diversity of NAC's membership was However, NAC quickly advanced to an organization remarkable, which NAC's credibility consistently has been based on its claim of representing women better than did any other existing political It structures. The authors conclude that "NAC made good on this claim. In particular, the ideological diversity of its membership was bridge between generations of feminists". INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY FAIR Tuesday, March 8, INFORMATION 1994 7:00 p.m. Scandia Room, Valhalla Inn Guest Speaker: DR. SHIRIN KUDCHEDKER SNDT Women's University Bombay, India was between generations feminists. polity. remarkable, as was its ability to act as a as its ability to act as a bridge developed feminist approaches to public <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< A A A lobbying were the initial majority of NAC representatives of the new, radical "grass Conference also participated from the "In time, these new groups beginning. developed an analysis of the oppression of women that was distinctly different from that Women's movements can and must develop enduring institutions through which their efforts to gain equality can be organized over the Christine Appelle, is an important book for all "second and organization of the movement. While traditional feminists with experience in voices heard at the Strategy for Change Committee on the Status of Women, by Jill for young women and for newly-involved women as a herstory of the English Canadian women's movement and the evolution of NAC" as the prime national became the founding mothers of NAC. roots" feminist groups who had made their Political Analysis of the National Action Vickers, Pine Rankin Status of Women; and many of its members of is this ability of women from different generations and diverse ideological persuasions to work together under one A V A V A V A V A V A V V A A V V TOPIC: Violence Against Women: A Comparison of Canadian and Indian Experiences A A V V A A BROUGHT TO YOU BY: V A V The Public Service Alliance of Canada/Thunder Bay Regional Women's Committee V A A V Thunder Bay Immigrant & Visible Minority Women's Organization V A A V V A The Women's Committee of the Thunder Bay & District Labour Council A V V A A V V A A V V A A V V A A V V A A V A V A umbrella organization that significantly differentiates the Canadian Women's Movement from the United States movement. Canadian women's willingness to engage with the state and to accept government funding also differs from American feminism which (at least in the Republican era) as been strongly antistatism. The authors discuss the influence on feminism of the political environment of the liberal era which they Canadian term 'radical liberalism', which "embodied a commitment to the ordinary political process, a belief in the welfare state, a belief in the efficacy of state action in general to remedy injustices, a belief that change is possible, a belief that dialogue is useful and may help promote change, and a belief that service or helping others is a valid contribution to the process of change." Northern Woman Page 19 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Book Review Groups such as the Voice of Women and the Committee for Equality coalition became feminist in purpose while remaining "traditional in their views of politics and organization and adhered to a reformist, rather than radical, analysis of women's situation". The new grass roots groups embodied 'radical feminism' with the focus on gender as the source of oppression. Despite these conflicting perspectives there was a willingness by both groups to work together resulting in "the Canadian tradition of integrative feminism." The now grass roots groups embodied 'radical feminism' with the focus on gender as the source of oppression. One result of the years of internal turmoil was that "some members of the executive were beginning to care far more about the integrity of NAC and its political processes than about the factions represented on the issues in dispute. This commitment would status in their quest for changes to the be the basis on which the institutionalization of NAC could begin... It also reflected the emergence of integrative feminism as the pursue a more militant, collective-rights intellectual basis for parliament of women! individual rights and its failure to defend NAC's role as a Indian Act. But this was an "individual rights issue...and status women, more intent on collective rights were never significantly involved with Throughout NAC. the 1980s...many aboriginal women came to approach, which rejected white feminism for a number of reasons, including its stand on aboriginal collective rights Charter negotiations." during the The final era discussed, 1982-1988, is titled Institutionalizing NAC. The authors "use the term institution in reference to an instrument of social organization that exercises collective power over a number of generations." Recognition is given to the discomfort many feminists feel about "institutions," but it is considered that feminists now have the experience of a woman-centred perspective to the Free Trade debate and Meech Lake (and more recently the Referendum) moved NAG into "a full-fledged feminist politics." This entry It is within the third era that NAC developed "feminist approaches to conventional political issues that transcend the more limited status-of-women approach." Bringing 'male' under study 1972-1988 is considered to have these distinct stages. creating our own institutions and that new into women see our institution as "natural." The founding era 1972-78 had the dominant objective of lobbying for Royal Commission politicians but resonates well with many women who can link the analysis to their This third period studied saw NAC gradually resolve the conflicts that had so stressed it; develop internal structures more acceptable particular experiences. to the membership; and develop a high policy seriously represented one of the most important advances NAC had ever made as an institution of an enduring women's movement." The period implementation, yet the 'radical' feminists advanced alternatives, particularly, the issue of violence/sexual assault (absent from the R.C. report) required NAC to develop policy positions. During this period two government departments - Women's Programs of the Secretary of State, and Status of Women Canada were established, and the quasigovernmental Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women appointed these three state structures also "shaped NAC's political environment:4' NAC assumed that government funding should be sought (without considering how this would affect NAC's options). By the end of the era the new generation of feminists held the majority on NAC executive, and the move from Royal Commission preoccupation and to a new role for NAC began. The founding era "equipped NAC for the changes ahead, in that the political experience of the older generation of feminists had been transmitted to the younger generation." The Transitional Era, 1979-1982 was a period of conflict for NAC with energy consumed by the issues of internal structure; government funding; membership accountability; executive accountability; voluntarism vs paid staff; as well as basic purpose (i.e. lobbying or being the focal point of a transformative movement). Why such conflict? The experiences of the founding members and the new generation concerning political process was significantly different, as were their views on what "feminist politics" should be. Nonetheless ... "The realities of politics, economics, and geography in Canada had forced women from all factions to come together to conduct politics with a shared structure and consequently, to deal with, rather than avoid, the conflict..." and that "the resolution of that conflict bore practical fruit." public profile. In this era NAC dramatically increased its membership becoming more inclusive (lesbians, women with disabilities, immigrant women, visible-minority women, prostitutes), as well as more broadly based in terms of issues of concern to member groups (violence; sexual harassment; pornography). NAC also became the focal target of the anti-feminist movement - and became strengthened by the solidarity of traditional and radical feminists in the wake of the Right's attack. The authors suggest that "..it is because of umbrella structures such as NAC that efforts to drive wedges among different elements of the women's movement have been less effective in Canada than in other countries." While becoming more inclusive in the past decade, NAC has not been successful in achieving significant involvement of Quebec francophone women or First Nation's women. The relationship of Quebec francophone women to NAC is discussed throughout the analysis. The FFQ (Federation des femmes du Quebec) joined, left, re-joined, left again during the study period. The FFQ, a 'liberal- feminist' organization was viewed (by government and others) as the critical Quebec women's organization, however, it is noted that "francophone feminism in Quebec developed institutionally separate wings, with revolutionary left and radical feminists resisting organizational involvement with liberal-feminist groups such as the FFQ....Moreover the development of a territory is threatening to "The development within NAC of a public-policy debate that took women seriously and that took public Bringing a woman-centred perspective to the Free Trade debate and Meech Lake moved NAC into a fullfledged feminist politics. In a concluding chapter the authors ask 'Can NAC survive'? and conclude that NAC will become increasingly important. "Ironically, the very fact that most women know that changes needed to eliminate the poverty, violence, and degradation that often marks their lives will not come quickly makes it likely that NAC, like its model, the National Council of Women of Canada, will survive for many more decades." The only NAC conference I have attended was the founding conference in 1972. While not active, I have always supported NAC, and have observed its evolution with keen interest. In discussions critical of NAC (including threats to withdraw membership) my reaction has always been - NAC is all we have, and we need it. From a vantage point of 20 years involvement in Northwestern Ontario feminism it is clear that the power structures of our society will not advance the equality of women. In fact the anti-woman agenda grows stronger. Feminists have to admit that our progress has been minuscule; and agree that it will take several progressive form of nationalism in Quebec shifted the focus of many younger francophone feminists to collective rather generations to begin to accomplish the than individual rights claims...these collective claims set feminism in francophone quebec us well and we can only hope it will grow and strengthen and ensure a Canadian on a trajectory that anglophone feminists political culture "as if women mattered.' goals that in the 1970s we naively believed would be quickly achieved. NAC has served within NAC would take some time to understand." (Because NAC was wreaked with internal conflicts they could not give leadership on the issue of the Canadian Constitution. It was a quickly mobilized coalition of women the AD HOC COMMITTEE - that dealt with the constitution crisis and won for Canadian Women equality guarantees. The networks NAC had developed were, however, very The concept of individual rights rather than collective rights is also a major factor in NAC's inability to include many First Nation's women's organizations. NAC was a leading supporter of Mary Two Axe Early and other Native women who had lost their important to the AD HOC Committee.) PDF compression, OCR, Northern Woman Page 2 0 web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �sassed ties. Mel INIOltransa $s. SOU L TO: rA01AriP)^ RETURN TO: f_)00 giCk tin Kamm WWI P.O. DOI 144 THUNDER RAT, ONTARIO ;Na -r.CANik-11'(\ tri--E, JOURNAL P7C 4V RI Patera Postage Guaranteed IS TEM AN ASTERISK ON TOUR LABEL ?? .EASE RENEW TOUR SUBSCRIPTION Don't for_got to wow your SUBSCRIPTION NAME ADDRESS POSTAL CODE individual prodticed $8.00 inditutionel $16.00 NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL Consetweil WO* Margaret Phillips viele\e PO Box 144 Thunder Bay Ontario CHRIS SEDER 034EsNus°E'Is P7C 4115 RAE ANNE limey ERN 9RT IN MARGARET JOH sToN Celebrating Northwestern 9MAN 7URAIAL Ontario Women PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 15 No 2-3 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15, No 2 & 3 (March 1994) Title: Northern Woman Journal: Celebrating Northern Women’s Activism Topics include: Sexual assault centres Women’s centres Transition houses Support groups Economic development Violence against women Pensions Health Early childhood educators Population control discourse Feminist book review Panel on violence Pornography Trans identities in film Feminist book review Winnipeg Women’s Health Clinic Women in Northwestern Ontario Networking for women in Northwestern Ontario Women’s conferences Feminists and political action/activism Midwifery Home birth Atikokan Crisis Centre Feminist literature Services for northern women Women’s Place Kenora History of the journal Pro-choice Feminist book review Authors/Contributors: Josie Wallenius Michele Proulx Jocelyn J. Paquette Mickey Koivisto Lori Gilbert Michele Proulx Lynne Thornburg Leni Untinen Fiona Karlstedt Noreen Dunbar Gert Beadle Ruby Chumway Rae Anne Honey Margaret Phillips Margaret Johnston Jane Saunders Chris Snyder Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2833/1994_Vol_15_No_4.pdf d600de177c316ab0357c44e10fbeb278 PDF Text Text $2.00 04 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO co 7 September 1994 7200 14003 Volume 15 Number 4 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �As the NWJ goes to press, representatives of governments throughout the world are meeting in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). What is critical for women worldwide is whether the recommendations and action stemming from this Conference will provide for "development" that will accommodate women's social, health and economic needs; or will it again focus on "population" and population control policies that are inherently abusive to women. Will women's voices be heard in Cairo? Will an alternative to population control be advanced? Will governments recognize that the women whose lives are most directly affected must be allowed to determine their own needs and solutions in relation to fertility control, health and development within their own contexts? "Women need access to safe and effective methods of birth control and abortion. But population programs that merely involve the distribution of contraceptives in the absence of education, improved health care, credit and productive resources, jobs, economic security and legal protection from exploitation and violence is of limited value and can sometimes do great harm" states Karen Seabrooke of Inter Pares. The population control lobby (which includes multi-national pharmaceutical companies) is powerful. Unfortunately, many mainstream media pundits have become mired in the population control camp. It is urgent that feminists analyze the "population issue" and put forward the alternative vision. fact, women have been working internationally in this regard for years (e.g. Comilla Declaration, Bangladesh 1989, N60 In Treaty on Population, Environment and Women, Rio, 1992). Those familiar with population control programs in developing countries know that these programs are coercive, exploitative and harmful to women. We also know that poor women, women of colour, and disabled women are targeted for fertility reduction. Forced sterilization of Aboriginal and Inuit women, black women and disabled Canada. women has occurred in Canada is involved in population control through domestic and foreign policies. Canadian women must understand the issue in both a national and international context. The Canadian Women's Committee on Reproduction, Population and Development came together because of a felt need to present a Canadian feminist perspective on population issues. Their recently produced report is essential reading for everyone concerned with women's well-being. by MARGARET PHILLIPS PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �TRADITIONAL TO NON- TRADITIONAL Teresa Legowski interviewed Mary Feawasige at her home in Ear Falls. Teresa: started? How did your profession get Mary: I was very young when I got married (17) and then I started having children, one after the other. By the time I was 25 I had five girls; the The police said just to throw him out. Right! I was only 120 pounds then and he was 210 Teresa: How old were the girls at this time? - how am I to throw him out? So he got a job here too and moved into the house. What could I do? I was stuck again. He Mary: My oldest daughter was 13 when my husband and I split up, so the twins were in daycare after school until I would get home, or one of the older girls would go pick them up and bring them home. If it was afternoon shift I'd have sitters come in or sometimes the neighbours would come in. But I'll tell you, the girls really helped out an awful lot. stayed around here for a year and things got really, really drastic. Things really came to last two were twins. My marriage was not going good. This went on for 12 years and then I finally got a job for a a head. construction company for the summer. got a gun after him and told him, that's it, have no protection. I told him if you come through that door you're going to get shot just don't come because I'd taken enough abuse and wasn't taking it anymore. So that's what happened and somebody I When it was over I was on unemployment in 1975 which was the year they were really pushing people to take courses. job What was your construction company? Teresa: in He ended up leaving forcibly because I kind of flipped out, I guess, and the phoned the police and they came down and, of course, if had the gun that was a different story - they were going to take it away from me but an hour before he'd had a knife to me and the children had phoned the police. never did give the gun up. took the bullets out and laid it on the table. I Mary: I was just a flag person on the road. (I don't say flag man, I say flag person.) So, they were pushing to take these courses and the only thing I could see was I'd been with my husband for fourteen years, I was I kind of used to the bush. I'd go out and help cut firewood and use the powersaw. They had a cutter and skidder course. So I thought, well, I know the money in the bush is good. I've got no education, no way to support these girls. There was no way in the world I was going on welfare. So I took I the one-person slasher again for 12-13 years until last spring when I went on a delimber. It's been 17 years that I've been working in the bush. At the beginning when first anywhere near Ear Falls at all. He has come the odd time in the last few years. He stopped in to see one of my daughters. don't have a problem with him anymore, it's finally over. I I in the bush. So I went to Manpower and told them of all the discrimination and I got a phone call the next day...Do you want a job? YES! You have to move to Ear Falls. Where's Ear Falls? So, he explained it all to me and at that point in time I didn't trust him too much so I made him give me a letter in writing that within thirty days of moving to Ear Falls that I would be working and if wasn't, they had to pay my wages. So this was how it happened. He gave me the I Mary: No. We saw each other quite often. J.S. and usually always worked the same I shift so we were always together. We ran started with the powersaw felling trees. never did like a powersaw very well. I saw they finally did put in were so bad that they my ex-husband cut from his toes to his head with powersaw cuts and I was really always powersaw looks like and you're putting them So did you see each other or did you work on separate crews? Teresa: I I I I came here there were three other women bunchers at night usually just the two of us. Sometimes one would break down and one would stay out by herself. In those days we Then I started working here in the bush. said, OK, that's fine. That's all wanted to know because know you've been hiring 17 yr old boys off the street and you're not supposed to hire anybody in the bush unless they're 18. I've had my name in here for a year - I'm qualified, I've taken courses; these kids don't even know what a I In the meantime I was still working; I believe I was on that buncher for three years. Then I went on to a one-person slasher for a year and then to a three-person slasher. I was on that for two years and then I went back to even ride the bus if you're on it to go to work. and that was it, the discussions went on. There was no subject that was ever taboo. It was, if it bothers you, let's hear it. If somebody did something to you, let's hear about it. Everything always came out in the open so it was actually pretty good. and the Reeve here in Ear Falls and the doctor's wife. I had everybody going and then in one day things finally got done. had a bond put against my husband and he couldn't come within a hundred mile radius of me. !f he did he would get chargett wttr I attempted murder and he would definitely go Thank goodness - I've had no to jail. problems since. He couldn't come women too. I was told that he had talked to the guys and they absolutely said they won't that was family night. The dishes were done Then finally a judge got involved and lawyers I the course, did excellent, finished, put my name in at that time. It took me awhile - I kept going in reapplying and phoning bugging them. Finally a year later they told me: We're not going to hire you because of the fact you're a woman. I said that wasn't a very smart thing to say really. That was the year there was kind of a push for the We had a very close family - we always talked one night a week (Thursday night), didn't have two-way radios and the ones wouldn't go further than 12 miles - all crackling and wouldn't work right. So a lot of times you were out there by yourself. very afraid of that saw because they can kick back so fast. I wasn't afraid of being maimed, you know, or scarred, I just didn't want to lose an arm. Then, they needed a had a few episodes which weren't too much fun. Now I can laugh about them. skidder operator so I got on that and was on Teresa: Can you describe one of them? I that for a few months and then I went on a feller buncher. It was a little easier, but then it was shiftwork. That's when the problems started a little bit more at home with the kids. I was working on the buncher and J.S.'s buncher had broken down. She had more seniority and to her if you had more seniority, you had the right to go home and I had to stay there and work. On this day Mary: one winter I started felling - I had a truck and drove it to the landing, then I started cutting wood and in came a snow storm. It was a letter. doozer and the wind picked up and was So, I came out here and started working and blowing and I was thinking that the little road I came in on was plowed very narrow and I in the meantime husband where I had split-up with my been living in Wabigoon. When I moved here to Ear Falls, I had he followed and I couldn't get rid of him. I called the police and told them we were going into our separation and that this was my house, I paid the rent, it's in my name. knew that it would be drifted right full. I 9:00 and thought I'm not worked until staying out here any longer, so I brought the machine to the landing and got on the truck. I made it through the first 2 snow drifts and the third one just pulled me right in and I was stuck. The camp was 2 miles away or better so I walked to camp, got a skidder Northern Woman Journal Page 3 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �job. So, you have to do it. It's gotta be ten and brought it back and hooked it on to the truck, but with nobody steering it I was just pulling it from one bank into the other one. So finally I took my boot lace off and tied years since there have been no other women working out in the bush except myself - there's no other woman working in the bush for C.P. but myself. D.C. went on staff and she was scaling for a while and then quit - she didn't want to do it anymore. J.S. decided to go to Edmonton and the steering wheel to the side window (straight so it couldn't turn). I finally got the truck out and by the time I got home it was 2:30 in the morning and I started at 9:00 to get out of there. Calgary. Teresa: That's what they say - necessity is the mother of invention. It's always the female who thinks of these things! So there are no younger women coming up in the ranks at all? Teresa: Mary: One other night I was broken down on the buncher way back in the bush and I had a long way to walk out. Of course, my Mary: No. There are no other women in there except myself. They haven't hired anybody since 1986 (no men or women). flashlight was dead - what else is new? This is They won't be hiring either because now we have a contract (letter of understanding) that we are on a protected list - we have our jobs in January - cold again - it's always in winter they freeze. It was a bright night but really cold - it must have been thirtysome below but I had a parka on and was warm and started walking out. It was real quiet could hear this "crunch, and thought crunch." until the day we die or retire, whichever There won't be any new comes first. people. It's a shame because then women won't get a chance to get into it. I I I stopped and listened and it would stop. Then I'd walk again and hear it again. You don't realize being a female that you have so many body hairs that can all stand up at the same time! I almost felt like my parka was expanding - it was the most eerie feeling because you know there's something there but you can"t see it. Something was following me - knew it I wasn't a person. I kept going and saying, couldn't run don't panic, don't run. anyway with the big boots had on and there were stumps and trees all over; would have fallen flat on my face. All of a sudden I tA, the outline of the truck and I made a wild dash for it. The next day the I I I foreman checked - there were three wolves stalking me. Just in the bushline they were walking all the way beside me. That's a weird feeling. They say wolves won't attack but they like to stalk and they're very curious. It's a weird feeling to be out there all by yourself and you have nothing - no weapon, no flashlight and you know your vehicle is a long way away. Teresa: She met a guy there and got married and didn't come back. I'm the only one left out there. When you first started, this man said to you that the guys wouldn't even want you on the bus with them, in terms of their attitude towards women out there. How did you find it when you started to work? Teresa: working You said that when you started shift work that's when mentioned some of the ways you tried to overcome that. What exactly was starting to happen? Mary: The girls were getting older and into their teens and they were starting to think about boys and that kind of stuff and I used to tell them to invite one or two friends over and stay there and watch tv or play games. My house was always full of kids but at least knew where my girls were. The guys would drop me off in the bus in front of my place and there were kids around the front door, around the back door and they'd say said, know how can you stand that? I I I where my kids are, do you know where yours are? - fishing, building a big deck in the back (myself and the girls built it all by ourselves). I had a camper and we'd go swimming, fishing and We always spent our water skiing. weekends together. I had the odd boyfriend but I didn't want to put the girls in that position, and myself too; I didn't trust men anymore for awhile. I just kind of stayed away from them. I was Mary: It wasn't so bad here because there were other women already ahead of me who brought up in the city - when I was married, we used to live in two - three room shacks had been working in the bush and the with no water, no electricity and wash majority of them had proved that they were clothes on a scrub board. That's what was moved to Ear Falls 17 happening until very good workers. You take a lot of ribbing; you take a lot of kidding. You get a lot of dirty jobs that nobody else will do. But if you problem. do your job, there isn't any Teresa: So it's a matter of proving yourself? Mary: That's right. A lot of women say that we should have the right to have the high paying jobs too. I say they should have a right too, if they can do the job. If they are not capable of doing the job, the same as a man does, then they shouldn't. Then you I years ago. Mary: I met my husband in a tourist camp in Pearl Falls. I went to work there in the summer and he was guiding there. And you were a city girl up until Mary: Yes - from Winnipeg. My aunt had a tourist camp in Pearl Falls. left the camp I have to take the bad with the good. You can't holler at someone else to come and do this because you're going to get your and my aunt. found me another job at a hands dirty - you just do it. I come home all covered in grease a lot of times - really dirty alright looking back on it now. and grubby-looking, but that's part of the yourself? Mary: That a woman can do anything she anything! I've puts her mind to doing always taught my girls that where there's a . . . will, there's a way. Teresa: Is that what got you through most of the stuff? Mary: Yes, that and my girls. I do everything for my girls. (I really don't know why I'm crying.) Now I guess maybe I'm going to get transferred to Dryden. I'm Putting a posting in is what I'm doing though to get transferred to Dryden. Now that my family's all gone (I've still got three girls here in Ear Falls but they don't live here anymore), I'm going to spread my wings now. I'm going to go to Dryden and maybe find a guy I like. I'm going to start looking. I always say that here Ear in Falls there are no eligible bachelors, just everybody's leftovers that nobody else wants anyway, so why would I want them? The girls and I fixed up this old house, we built the deck, we landscaped ourselves, and we all shared everything. The girls didn't like the yard work and I love it. They did the housework. There was always a big chore list of the fridge. It always all got done. The neighbour's kids worked here too if they were around. If my kids got grounded and the neighbour's kids were here too, they got grounded too. All kids get into trouble. No children are angels no matter whose they are. Teresa: How did you meet your husband? Teresa: then? through what do you think is the most important thing you've found out about all the problems started happening at home. You We did things on weekends Teresa: Of all the things that you've gone Lodge. I started working there and met my husband. I was young but it turned out Teresa: In terms of you being able to raise five kids as a single parent, I think a lot of it had to do with the wages you were earning. Mary: Yes. When my husband and first split up, the first three years were pretty had to pay all of his debts off rough. I I because he quit working when we split up. He had borrowed money from finance companies and all kinds of loans and I got my wages garnisheed. The only job I had held before was as a part-time construction worker. I had never co-signed any of his loans but I was made responsible for all his debts. I had to pay them off plus support five children because he never contributed PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Journal Page 4 �one red penny to them. I went to court a number of times trying to get some money from him - I finally got them to drop the garnishment but I still had to pay half of his debts off - making payments. In 1984 I got a bill from taxation saying that I owed them all these thousands of dollars from all this child support I'd been receiving in 1982. never received any child support, but in the meantime until they looked into it further, I I still had to pay thousands of dollars, whether it was right or not. So I started sending Mary: The first few years I names. I'd put a stamp on the envelope and let them mail it. We did the same for Father's Day and Christmas. After a while the cards would be on the table and nobody signed them so I quit buying them. The two youngest girls - the twins - they never remembered most of the bad married life - whatever I could afford. I guess I misplaced a couple of money orders and I lost track of some of it and it took them a year and a half had a very hard time not saying snide Teresa: And in the meantime, how long did it take you to get your divorce from him? Mary: I had it in three years. When I went through the divorce at that time he owed me $17,000 according to the court and when I asked the court who was going to collect it, they said you have to do that. How am I going to do that? This was the seventh time I had taken a day off and gone to court and not once was her made to go to court to own up to his responsibility. I said why don't you just write down that he, owes me nothing - you might as well because that's exactly what I'm gbing to get. They said they couldn't do that - it wouldn't be legal. He was supposed to be paying $250/month for the children - $250/month for five kids and I never got a penny. Teresa: What do you think of the new ruling that the Quebec woman got that she does not have to pay taxes on her child support payments? Teresa: What is your role as an area rep? Mary: talk to groups of women and tell I them about my experiences - good and bad - and what they can expect if they get a job in a man's world. I try to encourage women asked if he could stop by for coffee. She said sure; he came over and she said she more and there are a few women around remarks. The girls have made efforts to go and see him. I've seen him a few times; I'll stop and talk to him. town that I've been keeping close touch with trying to get them into jobs. I go around to the seminars and meet new women that are in different trades. You also mentioned to me that you've talked to groups of women in the There are a lot of things in the women's Teresa: Mary: It took me five years. gorgeous and, of course, it's exactly the way she wanted it. Her friends are hiring her to build decks, do renovations. It is starting to work. the older three girls remembered. Last summer my oldest daughter who lives in Winnipeg was contacted by her Dad and he Teresa: When did you finally end up paying off all of your husband's debts? getting jobs even with these trades. One carpenter built her own home and it's just birthday cards and ask the girls to sign their them money - $100 here and $50 there, to straighten it all out. When they sent me back my money, there was some missing and they never did send back all I had sent to them. We lived from payday to payday. But the women have a very hard time used to buy Women in Trades Technology and movement. How did you get involved with Is it them? What is their official title? Northwest Women in Trades and Technology? Mary: Yes it is. How did I get involved with think them? I am an area rep for them. somebody called me and asked if I would I like to go to a meeting and went to a met everybody meeting in Dryden and I I Then they had a seminar in Eagle River. Usually in the fall of every year in a tourist camp, they rent all the cabins and sometimes have over 100 women come in. They are more on the basis of giving selfesteem to women - don't give up, keep there. going, keep trying to get trades. There were welders there and a carpenter with papers. movement that really don't believe in. always believed if you're capable of doing something then you should be able to do it. I I you're not capable you shouldn't But if expect someone else to do things for you and you take the credit for it. I think too if you go into a man's tradition there are things that you have to put up with. On Thursday morning I got on the bus and first one guy started teasing me and another guy started and pretty soon everybody was picking on me. One guy said "You know, Mary, you could have just about any job you wanted out here in the bush - all you'd have to do is charge us all with sexual harassment." He said "I bet you could charge everyone of us with sexual harassment" and I said I probably could, but these are things you have to take in stride. Men are different than women.-iikiokama31,._ to fit in with them, you have to fit in. They all call me one of the guys but I'm not one of the guys anymore - I found myself a pink hardhat - I'm the only one with a pink hardhat. I'm also in the union. There was a rally on Parliament Hill last May and I was in on that - I was marching. All of a sudden in this march I would see this "pink" bobbing I always requested a pink cap with a red pompom - I never even got a safety hat after Mary: I think that's right - it should be that way. I know if I had received any money for child support that money would have gone directly for the children. I had to say sorry I can't buy you a parka this year but maybe if I had child support you could have a parka this year. You'll have to wear that old one that you've had the last three years. I really don't think they should have to pay taxes on that. There just never seems to be enough money to go around. My girls all learned early - they started babysitting and helping pay for their own things. If they wanted a new bike, I'd give them half the money they wanted and they would put in the other half. I'd take the car and we'd go collecting bottles along the highway on weekends and go pick pine cones and all kinds of things to earn extra money. Teresa: How did you see yourself as a role model for your kids? Now I see myself as a good role model for my children. Mary: that. I saw a pink hat and I told the guy beside me to hold my sign, I was going after that hat. I finally caught the guy and he was a telephone man and they had 10 - 12 hardhats made up especially for this march. He did not want to give up his pink hardhat. I traded my white union cap and he gave me the pink hardhat. I got back to Dryden on the plane that day and got a ride with a fellow from Ear Falls. He said we should stop for some chicken on the way home - took the hardhat off and went into the restaurant and when I came out my hardhat was gone. Somebody had followed us that had been on the plane. never did find out who took it but three months later I went to a union meeting in Dryden and in the middle of the table was I my pink hardhat - I got it back. I've always told the guys I may have to work with all of you, I may have to do the same job as you guys, but I'm not one of you guys - now I've got something to prove I am different. Teresa: Did they ever see their father while you were here? Did he ever come around to say hello? Northern Woman Journal Page 5 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �TAKING BACK WHAT IS MINE We were trapped, no telephone in our tiny by Charlene Dodge no weapons with which to prison cell, oppressing, stifling, overwhelming, invades the most precious sense of security that I am entitled to have - my thoughts. The sound of a muffled footstep, the monotonous tones of heavy breathing, the flickering of a barely present shadow, send Fear, me into a screeching spiral of frightening reality. Struggling for emotional control, cling to the realization that I am probably I safe, merely overreacting to past events that are too incomprehensible to have ever really happened. In the privacy of my own home, possibly fall prey to an how could unspeakable act of violence and terror? I protect ourselves. How does one describe the feeling, relive the fear and certainty of impending death? How does one maintain complete control in such a terrible ordeal? could Was he still inside of the house? I hear nothing but the ragged breathing of our terror, and the wind and rain howling outside. Would anybody hear our muffled screams if he returned? Our only hope, our only prayer, was the was too frightened to crawl window. I outside and run for help, so I merely flung it open and screamed until I was hoarse. He could be out there waiting for his golden Yet, nobody is infallible, a lesson dearly learned at the cost of nearly paying the opportunity, watching in fevered anticipation. He must have been gleeful over my feeble to see the best in everybody, overlooking cries, must have laughed over the sheer terror and pain he had inflicted upon his hapless victims. Begging to the world to save us, I was certain I had never been so the fact that certain people fester to the desolate, so reliant on a faceless stranger to ominous point of overload, striking out at the show us mercy. Finally, a shadow raced across my line of vision, and I jumped away from the window. It could be one of two ultimate price - that of my life. Young and naive, a firm believer that society consisted of fair players, I was too confident, too eager innocent to destroy nearly everything in retaliation. A harmless dream, I thought as I heard the sound of running footsteps and harsh screaming. It was late at night, far too dark to deal with the unwanted complications of meaningless interruptions. As if in a haze, my roommate came bounding through the persons - a rescuer, or the attacker. Terrible, unenviable odds, as we waited for our fate in the stifling, one room hell. registered her words - "I've been attacked by silently a man with a hammer." No, I silently prayed, begged for God to show us pity, and heard a familiar voice of a coworker. Hugging my shocked companion closely, I whispered that we were safe as I finally gave into the overwhelming hysteria and cried, huge racking sobs that shook my body. Dismantling our formidable fortress of furniture, we raced into the welcome midst of our rescuers, thankful to be alive. screamed in denial, that simply could not be! We were in our own home, two female teachers, prepared and ready to develop Although this happened almost four years ago, will always remember the aftermath inky hell of. night, to land squarely in the centre of my bed. Her eyes were wide with terror, and her voice was barely a whisper. I bolted upright as my disbelieving mind I young minds in a few scant hours. She was terrified, almost incoherent, but her message that he was still in our home rang through my muddled mind in tones that were sickeningly clear. How could this be, in I I with startling clarity. The praises of everybody commending us on our bravery and adept handling of the situation did little to alleviate the sense of outrage that I had felt at the time. How dare this nameless intruder steal our security, our faith in the human race, and cast it aside like a used tissue? How would we ever feel secure again? Indeed, how could we ever feel secure again? People commented on how fortunate we were to have been unscathed, basically unharmed by the entire ordeal. Such inaccurate conclusions were based on the assumption that no physical marks meant no harm done. How wrong they all were, since we were both emotionally battered beyond all imaginable repair. The stranger had tainted our perception of the human race, making us speculate about the probability of living among monsters. It made us verify our vulnerability at the hands of our male counterparts, taking away our sense of equality and oneness that we had worked so hard to achieve. Sadly, this incident paled in comparison to the horrific occurrences in today's media. Women, being slaughtered by the hundreds by vindictive, hateful people they had tried to befriend. Being struck down in the prime of their lives by strangers who were too sick to recognize the potential and the promise lying within the gentle souls. What will it take to get the message across to those who could make a difference in this war of the sexes designed for female defeat? Will it take a total holocaust of innocent victims who in no way deserved the bitter fate that was delivered to them? I had always considered myself to be a strong and confident woman until the night that a stranger took all of that away. Now, every newspaper article, every blatant headline convinces me that I am fragile and easily broken, fitting into a mould that society has constructed for our sex. Nothing could ever totally erase the feelings of anger, betrayal and bitterness that I have harboured towards the perpetrators of such unconscionable acts. What could possibly such a tiny, close community? How could it happen when I had carefully locked all of the doors before I had retired for the night? of self-preservation clung tenaciously to the cloying air about me. if there was even the slightest chance that this maniac was still in our home, we had to be rational, we had to be strong. Springing out of bed, instructed my hysterical friend to A sense I help me barricade the bedroom door with the furniture that littered the room. The lock would never withstand the murderous frenzy of a twisted mind if the intruder were to Join us for a WOMEN'S DANCE on Saturday, October 22nd return. He could never get past the heavy furniture, since the door swung inward. Was he listening to our pathetic struggle for survival? Did he smile in the darkness as he heard us scuttle about the room, clinging to the fragile hope that we would indeed prevail? from 9:00pm to 1:00am at the Multicultural Centre 17 N. Court St $5.00 at the door (All proceeds to the Northern Woman Journal) Northern Woman Journal 6 PDF compression, OCR, webPage optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �be going through the male mind to allow this to occur, to terrorize the beauty of a free spirit, inflict being? pain to the essence of our oppression to rise above the stifling chains places upon us by stereotypes of weakness and inequality. It seems to be a grave injustice that we cannot escape the shackles of violence directed to destroy us - that there I wonder sometimes if it will ever be possible for women to regain what is rightfully theirs a place as an equal citizen in every respect of the word, from security in the workplace, can still exist the primitive minds that blame and hold us responsible for some minute detail that did not go in their favour. to peace of mind in everyday life. It is not Fourteen of us were massacred in Montreal morally right that we should be compelled to at the hands of a man who believed that glance over our shoulders when we hear somebody walking behind us, it is not fair that we should hesitate to answer the door of our own home because we are female and alone at the time. women were the epitome of failure in his life. Countless numbers of us are victimized in daily life at the hands of men we trust as husbands, our family, or the fathers of our children. No, it is not just, and it is not fair. We as women have overcome adversity and We unite in common bonds throughout the countries of the world to voice our outrage, and mourn for the death of our fellow mentors. The futility of what we say is difficult to ignore when the evening news screams another bulletin about another female victim. What will it take to stop the pain, to move a progressive step forward, instead of a vindictive bound backward? As both a woman and a victim, implore society to listen to our voices, to give back I what is rightfully ours. Let us, as women, be essential elements in a functioning society by allowing us to cultivate security in our homes, our workplace, and above all else, in a world that should emphasize the importance of personal freedom and safety for every living person, be they male or female. 11147BISMIBRISMISSISAMPOSNATINISIMIONIONW17. LYNX IMAGEScap 174 SPADINA AVE. SUITE 606 TORONTO ONT. CANADA MST 2C2 TEL: (416) 777-9333 FAX: (416) 777-1407 PRESS RELEASE THE REVENGE OF THE INVISIBLE WOMAN A documentary film about women and aging Filmmakers Andrea Gutsche and Barbara Chisholm are making a documentary film to counter the fear women have of aging. "Many women feel "invisible" once they reach their middle years - as if there is no longer a place for them in a society obsessed with the cult of youth. Roles constructed over a lifetime lose their stage, and for many, it feels like a time of decline," says Gutsche. "In the film, we want to portray the difficulties and regrets that women experience, but we also want to highlight women for whom this period has been a time to explore and flourish, and has surpassed any other time in their lives," Chisholm adds. The Revenge of the Invisible Woman will be funny, uplifting, insightful, and inspirational it will renew the spirit of any woman who has suffered in invisibility. We're On The Lookout... The filmmakers are looking for women from across the continent, and from a variety of cultural, economic, and religious backgrounds who have interesting stories to tell, and who are willing to share their experiences on film. We want to hear about menopause, love and sex, and new goals. We want to hear from women who have found individual ways to respond to what society has deemed this "unnatural" process of aging; woman for whom this period has given them new strength; and women who have taken their lives in new and unexpected directions. We want the film to be powerful, to reflect what is in women's hearts... and we want it to be humorous - to say in the open things that many women feel in private, so that we can laugh and know that we are not alone. What I want is to draw middle-aged women out of their purdah, make them really joyous. Menopause is the invisible experience. People don't want to hear about it. But this is the time when everything comes good for you - your humour, your style - your bad temper. Germaine Greer Women of the 14th Moon The film is scheduled for shooting early this autumn. For more information, please contact Andrea Gutsche or Barbara Chisholm at the above address. Northern Woman Journal Page 7 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �OUR LONG PAINFUL JOURNEY: A CHRONICLE OF DEPRESSION by Gwenith Margaret Whitford Melancholia was once the diagnosis for the unrelenting sadness and despair which afflicted certain people for no apparent reason. This malady is now commonly described as depression. As a mood disorder, it is recognized as an emotional illness. Its debilitating effects can be extreme. Scientific studies have found its origins are traced to a disruption of normal brain grip, feelings of hopelessness and despondency seem to go on and on. This is defined as clinical chemistry. Once in its depression. It is much more than a case of the 'blues.' Everyone endures an occasional 'down' period during the stressful times in one's life. This is called a reactive depression. When the crisis is resolved, one's spirits tend to lift. However, the intensity and duration of a clinical depression is much more prolonged and painful_ It is often accompanied by excessive anxiety. Some people may experience it during the short days of winter. Others have bouts -that linger for months, and if untreated, possibly for years. For too many, the only escape from this torment is to commit suicide. Research has determined that depression can be an inherited tendency. Stress may also play a role in its onset. Current After having spent several long moments reflecting on a very bad time in her life, Felicity emphatically stated that she could not believe that it was possible to ever feel so bad. She shuddered when she declared to me that she could never survive another episode like that again. The emotional pain was so intense and all encompassing. When she was about fourteen, Felicity first realized that she didn't always feel quite right. She was subject to very bad moods. She and her family reluctantly accepted it as a rocky phase of adolescence. In her last year of high school, she studied excessively and experienced tremendous anxiety. Despite her straight "A" average, she had managed to convince herself that she wasn't very smart. Something really snapped during her first week at university. Felicity described the unfamiliar sensations like this: "It felt as if acid had been poured into my veins. I was wired all the time." Her unrelenting anxiety and constant agitation rendered her unable to even talk to her friends. Increasingly frustrated, she turned inward and became an unwilling insomniac. There was never a moment when she could feel relaxed about anything. Due to a combination of the above factors, Upwards of ten percent of the population of Canada may have either knowingly or unknowingly succumbed to this severe affliction. As an emotional disorder, it is the most common mental illness in North America. And it could happen to anyone. This is the story of a survivor - a woman who endured a depression for over a her body, tearing away at the very core of her soul. There seemed to be no end in sight and nowhere to turn for help. Frightened and alone, her life was hurtling towards an all time low. Thinking that a change of scenery would relieve some of the agony, she quit university one credit short of her degree. Not wanting to be idle, she joined a Dr. Felicity Graves (a pseudonym) is a Ph.D. graduate who works as a scientific researcher at a Canadian university. Although she is now happily married, successful and well-ensconced in her career, volunteer youth program called 'Katimavik'. This federally sponsored work experience young adult life battling severe depression. interference forced her to once again tl seek professional treatment But the tal help. given counsellor/psychologist by a was campu completel useless. Her need for survival was great. She reall did not want to take her own life. He addiction to running great distances of 10 tl 12 miles per day helped to ease the pain. soothed her into a trance-like state, at leas for a few hours after every work out. Her optimum physical health was marred 17 an increasing obsession with her weight Although extremely thin, she viewed herse as being disgustingly fat. One way o another, a tragic and senseless end to thi anguish was becoming a frightenim possibility. unending one of situation became desperation. Panic attacks ripped through decade and lived to talk about it. she spent approximately 12 years of her Incessant suicidal thoughts taunted an tormented her. it became almost impossibly to study for exams. This daunting that these strange feelings would only be temporary. In the meantime, Felicity was Three agonizing years dragged by before her simmering anxiety exploded into a full blown derepression. Engulfed in feeling of hopelessness and despair, Felicity's the numbers of persons who have been afflicted with this emotional illness have increased significantly since the 1940s. accepted at another university which offerec a science program that was of great interes to her. But it was no respite. In fact, thing got even worse. university student, the physician assured her yet undetermined environmental factor. Hormonal systems, as well as genetics, play a significant role in this particular chemical imbalance in the brain. one credit she needed for her Bachelor o Arts degree. She applied to and wa: These increasingly frightening sensations prompted Felicity to seek advice from her family doctor. Because she was a new told to seek a diversion, such as a hobby or other interest outside of school. Although she complied with the prescription by pursuing long distance running, the remedy never did take effect. investigations have also suggested that there may be some interaction with an as That summer she managed to complete th( took her to different locations across the country with a group of young people who worked on community-oriented projects. Two-thirds of the way through this program, the intensifying anxiety continued to throttle and choke her. She felt trapped, as if there were no escape. Keeping to herself, she told no one of her situation. Worst of all, she felt hopelessly alone. Thinking that the pressure of this experience was too great for her, her only viable option was, once again, to quit. Just when there seemed to be no escap serendipity intervened in a most fortuitot way. Felicity happened upon a book call( Holiday of Darkness by Toroni psychologist Dr. Norman Endler. To h amazement, the description of this man illness was refreshingly familiar. She no knew what had been tormenting her for those years. And it was indeed call( depression. After she insisted that her parents read th book ( and they complied), they recogniz( the seriousness of her problem. With th( assistance in demanding immediate medic attention, Felicity was able to obtain ti services of a psychiatrist without dela Seven years after the initial onset of h illness, she began corrective drug ar psychotherapy. Northern Woman 8 PDF compression, OCR,Journal web Page optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �However, it was not the quick fix that she had so desperately hoped for. Inappropriate and inadequate treatment left her with a host of annoying side effects such as increased heart rate, hand tremors, constipation, dry Her mouth and excessive sweating. psychiatrist chose to ignore her requests for medication with fewer side effects. To make matters even worse, her recurrent anxiety attacks were not being controlled at all. That beloved running was now out of the question because of a rapidly beating heart. In addition, the slightest movements left her She recalled a drenched in sweat. particularly embarrassing incident when she was waiting in line at a bank on a cool autumn day. After a few minutes, her clothes were dripping wet. She was so selfconscious about it that she left the bank line and headed for home. As she walked down the street, she imagined the disgusted stares from everyone who passed her by. She really believed she was a freak. Three years after discovering the nature of her illness, Felicity discontinued both her drug and talk therapy. There didn't seem to be anything else that the doctor could do for period of time, Felicity's disillusionment with psychiatrists and psychologists was absolute. her. For a She then tried to take different approaches to healing herself. She attempted an anxiety and public speaking course, sought aptitude testing and then pursued transcendental meditation, But these repeated efforts to Coincidentally, her physical and emotional healing began when she returned to the family doctor who had initially dismissed her complaints so many years ago. But this time things were different. This physician had recently suffered through His ability to a life-threatening illness. empathize and to have compassion for those with other afflictions had greatly intensified. With his attentive guidance, Felicity is now fully recovered from her chronic depression, and continues a maintenance dose of antidepressants that works well for her. When Felicity back looks over those harrowing times in her life, she can clearly see that it was a matter of getting through one day at a time without really knowing what was wrong or what she should do to correct things. In hindsight, she realizes that you can go from one thing to another, but a serious problem will always follow you. For me, it was one long painful journey." week, for no apparent, to seek immediate medical attention. These are: prolonged and overwhelming feelings of sadness, hopelessness, extreme anxiety, loss of energy and interest, withdrawn, irritable, inability to concentrate, suicidal thoughts or feelings of guilt, excessive sleep or difficulty in sleeping. During something else to fill her life, and was accepted into a graduate school science Felicity suggests that a family member or friend intervene on the patient's behalf, if necessary. Go to another doctor if the first all this time, she managed to complete her science degree with first class honours. She searched around for program. Unfortunately, the first two years in the one is not providing appropriate care, or has misdiagnosed the problem. Masters program were a complete waste of time. Felicity felt completely misguided and The was much too insecure and frightened to ask her supervisor for direction. She just managed to stumble along. The ultimate humiliation came when she realized that she was too terrified to instruct undergraduate students in laboratory experiments. Although the co-ordinator was exceptionally understanding, Felicity experienced tremendous shame in having to reveal this "weakness". Anxiety fulminated into endless hours of gripping terror. There were no hours of the day or night from which she could escape it. Eventually, she became very run down. Felicity a very lively 1988 and being so recalled attending Christmas party in exhausted that she was close to fainting. Although there were people there that she hadn't seen for a while, her weakened state left her unable to converse with them. Shortly thereafter, a severe bout of mononucleosis rendered her physically, as well as emotionally drained for months. Recurrent painful abscesses appeared all over her body. Frequent co,urses of antibiotics wreaked havoc with her already stressed out immune system. Is Superior Felicity urges that if one experiences any of the following symptoms for more that a She insists that the person with depression be persistent with her doctor about appropriate and adequate medical treatment. This is often a very difficult task for a person in the throes of depression, so help herself were in vain. Coffeehouse family doctor should be able to determine if a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist is needed. Felicity believes that it is important to initiate corrective drug therapy, which can only be administered by a medical doctor, before embarking on talk therapy. When the person is beginning to Superior Women's Coffeehouse celebrated its first birthday this past July among friends at the Unitarian Hall. In our second season, we hope to bring more women musicians, poets, storytellers, artists and entertainers to our loyal and enthusiastic audiences. Coffeehouses are open to all women and their friends, and are held (usually) on the third Saturday of every second month at the Unitarian Hall on S. Algoma St. Our next gathering is Saturday, September 24th at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $3.00 at the door (see ad this Journal issue). Join us for a lovely evening of music and what else coffee! In addition to the Coffeehouse, we are holding our inaugural WOMEN'S SOCIAL at the Multicultural Centre on N. Court St. (see ad this Journal issue). This special event will run from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and will be a fun evening of dancing, socializing and maybe a glass of wine! Tickets will be available for $5 at the September Coffeehouse or from our friendly Journal Collective members. feel better, then suitable psycotherapy may be appropriate. Her firm conviction is to seek treatment as soon as possible; the longer one puts off getting medical attention, then the longer it will probably take to recover. Do not delay. Unfortunately, a stigma continues to attach itself to emotional and mental illnesses. People seem to be afraid of what they don't understand. If you are ridiculed by others for their own ignorance, try to disregard them. Felicity stresses that depression is a real illness, not a character flaw, and it can be successfully treated in most cases. Society must realize that the mind can suffer an illness in the same manner as the body. And it could happen to anyone at any time. It knows no barriers. educating the masses about this common affliction, Felicity believes that there will be no more need to suffer and no more need for shame. By PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Northern Woman Journal Page 9 �Northern Woman's Bookstore 65 South Court Street Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 2X2 (807) 344-7979 WHAT'S NEW IN THE BOOKSTORE by Margaret Phillips Fall is always a book reader's dream. Despite urging from booksellers to stagger the publication of major new titles throughout the year, publishers insist on bringing out all new works in the fall. This year is no exception: there are choices galore. In Canadian fiction there is a new Alice Munro collection, OPEN SECRETS; ACROSS THE BRIDGE by Mavis Gallant; SKY Lee's second novel BELLYDANCER; a new lesbian mystery GHOST MOTEL by Jackie Manthorne; and the amazing Anne Cameron's latest novel DEEJAY AND BETTY. New American fiction includes a wonderful amazon her-story novel AMAZON STORY BONES by Ellen Frye; I AM BECOMING THE WOMAN I'VE WANTED, edited by Sandra Haldeman Martz (of 'When I'm an Old Woman' fame); Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown have another mystery MURDER AT MONTICELLO. And both Starhawk's THE BIOGRAPHIES/MEMOIRS NON-FICTION looking forward to Kay really McPherson's autobiography which is very appropriately titled WHEN IN DOUBT DO BOTH. With unflagging energy McPherson How to choose which non-fiction titles to write about? It's a difficult choice. I'll begin I'm has been one of my generation's most courageous activists (even once denied entry to the U.S. because she was "subversive"). Active in the VOICE OF WOMEN, NAC and the peace movement, and after 30 years still writing, organizing and demonstrating, McPherson is a true FIRING THE HEATHER: The Life and Times Briskin and Patricia Mc Dermott; and in of Nellie McClung by Mary E. Hallett and SISTERS IN SOLIDARITY by Julie White. "Everything you need to know about how to Marilyn I. Davies is an important book which provides a vivid portrait of the many-faceted McClung - suffragist, politician, author - and also gives a picture of the times in which she lived, the barriers facing women, and the determination of the feminist activists of that era. Other recent fiction titles include: ANGEL OF SOLITUDE by Marie-Claire Blais THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT by Eve Zaremba CHORUS OF MUSHROOMS by Hiromi Goto DEAD AND LIVING by Jane Bow THE INFINITE PLAN by Isabel Allende straight" (which she is sure her unauthorized biographers will not do), UNDER MY SKIN is Undertaken by Lessing "to set the record certainly a different style of biography, and very fascinating reading. While often irritated by Lessing's elitism, I am awestruck by her superb writing, and look forward to Volume MEDUSA AND HER SISTERS by Clare WEDDING CAKES, RATS AND RODEO QUEENS by Anne Cameron Criticism, edited by Jeannette Armstrong is the first compilation in Canada of literary critique essays on "Native Literature" by First Nations People. Literary movement, and it is nice that her memoirs are available to us during her lifetime. No doubt THE autobiography of the year will be Doris Lessing's UNDER MY SKIN, which covers the first thirty years of her life. Women, edited by Asha Kanwar LOOKING AT THE WORDS OF OUR PEOPLE: An Anthology of First Nation Women's relationship in the Canadian Labour movement is explored in WOMEN Feminism, UNIONS: CHALLENGING Democracy and Militancy, edited by Linda "role model" for the Canadian women's FIFTH SACRED THING, and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE by Laura Esquirel are out in paperback. Braux ONLYVILLE by Cynthia Holz OUT ON MAIN STREET by Shani Mootoo SAINTS AND RUNNERS by Libby Scheier THE U N FORGETTI NG HEART: An Anthology of Short Stories by African American with some of the Canadian titles. form or build a union" is found in ORGANIZING UNIONS by Mary Cornish and Lynn Spink. J. Caplan (Myth of Women's Masochism, Don't Blame Mother) has a new book titled: YOU'RE SMARTER THAN THEY MAKE YOU FEEL: How the Experts Intimidate Us and What We Can Do About It. Paula PATIENT NO MORE: The Politics of Breast Cancer, by Sharon Batt, is "both a personal document of one woman's journey from anger to action, and an unparalleled exposé of the politics of breast cancer. WE'RE ROOTED HERE AND THEY CAN'T PULL US UP: Essays in African Canadian Other biographies/memoirs include: Women's History, Peggy Bristow, editor, Dionne Brand, Linda Carty, Afva Cooper, Sylvia Hamilton, Adrienne Shadd. These DOWN UNDER ALL OVER: A Love Affair essays "explore 300 years of Black women this long overdue history . in Canada . with Australia by Barbara Marie Brewster GRACE: The Life of Grace Maclnnes by S.P. . . . . Lewis in . provides a much-needed text . history, women's history and Canadian I AM ROE: My Life Roe v Wade and women's studies." Freedom of Choice by Norma McCorvey k.d. lang: All You Get is Me by Victoria Starr THE ME IN THE MIRROR by Connie Panzarino PERFECTION OF THE MORNING: An Apprenticeship in Nature by Sharon Butala TOUCH THE DRAGON by Karen Connelly . PICASSO'S WOMA\ A Breast Cancer Story WHERE ONCE OUR MOTHERS STOOD WE STAND: Women in Newfoundland by Margot I. Duley WILDERNESS MOTHER: The Chronicle of a Modern Pioneer by Deanna Kawatski WHEN WOMEN PLAYED BASEBALL by Susan E. Johnson Rosalind MacPhee Nortyern.WimanOCR, Journal:web Pageoptimization 10 PDF compression, using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �NEW TITLES ON VIOLENCE ISSUES LESBIAN NON-FICTION In RESIST!: Essays Against a Homophobic Culture, edited by Mona Oikawa, Dionne Falconer and Ann Decter, lesbians and bisexual women examine and challenge the ways in which homophobia, Iesbophobia and heterosexism function - individually, socially and politically." AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY: The Evidence of Harm by Diane E.H. Russell CAN'T GET OVER IT: Handbook for I Trauma Survivors by Aphrodite Matsakis IMPROPER ADVANCES: Rape and Heterosexual Conflict in Ontario 1880-1929 by Karen Dubinsky CARRY: A Memoir of THE MOTHER Healing from Emotional Abuse by Louise M. Wisechild NEXT TIME SHE'LL BE DEAD by Ann Jones TRANSFORMING A RAPE CULTURE by Buchwald et al UNCHAINED MEMORIES: True Stories of Traumatic Memories by Lenore Terr YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE IT: Women's BLOODLINES Odyssey of a Native Dasaillatc v. I OUT RAGE: Dykes and Bis Resist Homophobia, edited by Mona Oikawa, Dionne Falcone, Rosamund Elwin and Ann Decter, "is a chorus of lesbian voices working class and middle class, Black Asian, First Nation, Jewish and white - raised in anger and celebration." MY AMERICAN HISTORY: Lesbian and Gay During the Reagan/Bush Years, by Life Sarah Schulman, is a collection of essays that includes Handbook. the Lesbian Avengers About Sex, Class and Literature, by Dorothy Allison: "I wear my skin only as thin as I have to, armour myself only as much as seems absolutely necessary. try to live naked in the world, unashamed even under attack, unafraid even though I know how much there is to SKIN: Talking THE LESBIAN HERESY by Sheila Jeffreys AUTHOR Of TF42 /AILING OF CECILIA CA3T1Jkl Guide to Confronting Emotional Abuse at Work by Ginny Ni Carthy, Naomi Gottlieb, 11. Sandra Coffman THE COURAGE TO HEAL (updated and expanded) by E. Bass and I. Davis BACK IN STOCK: INCEST AND SEXUALITY by Wendy Malts and Beverly Holman SEXUALLY VICTIMIZED CHILDREN by David Finklehorn THINKING FEMINIST by Diane Richardson and Victoria Robinson A WHISTLING WOMAN IS UP TO NO GOOD by Laurel King WITCHCRAZE by Anne L. Barstow WOMAN CHANGING WOMAN by Virginia Butler MORE NON-FICTION TITLES I fear." JANET CAMPBELL HALE AND STILL WE RISE, ed Linda Carty GAZA AND GOD by Rosemary Ruether BLOOD, BREAD AND ROSES: How "challenges thee male supremacist and racist assumptions of the sex industry. THE LESBIAN HERESY advocates the continued creation of a separate lesbian culture, community, friendship and ethics based on principles of equality and resistance." Finally, I would like to introduce two talented young NWO women. JESSICA BLACK has written and published a young-adult book called TRAM'S DIARY. TRAM was sent from Menstruation Created the World by Judy the planet Quilop as a "world watcher to Grahn DECOLONIZING FEMINISM by Laura Donaldson THE FEMINIST CLASSROOM by Frances A. protect humans from extinction," and observes a number of problems with suggestions of how young people can deal with them. AMY BRUNN has recorded her Maher and Mary Kay Tetreault HOMEWORKERS WORLDWIDE by Sheila Rowbotham first cassette SAVANNAH, and demonstrates great musical talent. Congratulations to both Jessica and Amy. LETTERS FROM THE WAR ZONE by Andrea Dworkin MEETING THE MADWOMAN by Linda Leonard MISCEGENATION BLUES ed. Carol Camper MOVING BEYOND WORDS by Gloria Steinem PILLAR OF ISIS by Vivian O'Regan VVC..)IVIENS. !VI EDICINE WAYS SANDINO'S DAUGHTERS REVISITED by Margaret Randall ,,un, wave )00e344 mean 5211911 larh. 02920 anako. 161140 2.1,LSE111,110 nslae n000 03 318" esm f Aos" vv00,14.3 nage cormary.en AENEWErI3330"Herr3110 453003.0438400 2044 20320 3 328040 02' 3223307 f 3134402 vnaurrrn, 3edd48111 crmov taia-Amn e893 v34101 10010 413.14 bvicra. 14558 .4800 NANA 65 S. COURT ST EQUINOX 811325 kb 12'4 501.3100211 PHONE: 346-4600 COMPUTER SERVICES Mailing Lists Resumes & Covering Letters Term Papers, Theses, Reports Newsletter & Pamphlet Layout Personal & Business Correspondence Business Forms Design Individual Lessons Consultation at your site or ours Troubleshooting, Maintenance & Repair Equipment selection & Setup Call Maryann for a free consultation SPECIALIZING IN COMPUTER LITERACY TRAINING FOR WOMEN Journal Page Il PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy ofNotthern.Woinan CVISION PDFCompressor �Recommendation # 1: Policies must be put in place that support all women (independent of their race or class background, age and abilities) to obtain reproductive,freedom, including access to appropriate primary health care services, food, housing, information, education, universal child care, as well as access to policy and decision-making channels. Recommendation # 2: Canada must immediately address the development and use of "new" reproductive technologies in light of the outstanding questions about the impact of these technologies on the health of women and their children and on society as a whole. Recommendation #3:, Immigration and refugee policies must be adopted that do not discriminate against people of the Third World. Migration and displacement of Third World people must not be used as a rationale for funding population control programs. Recommendation #4: Rather than investing millions of dollars in the development and use of sophisticated fertility and fetal monitoring technology, Canada should balance its use of technologies and financial resources to accomodate persons with disabilities and, in conjunction with disability rights organizations, to: 1) address the socio-economic and environmental causes of infertility and disability (ie. causes related to poverty, war, toxic environments and unsafe workplaces); 2) protect both disability equality rights and sex equality rights guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; 3) educate all professions and the Canadian public in order to replace the eugenic philosophy of "detection for the purpose of elimination" with a philosophy which is respectful of the equality rights of persons with disabilities and all women's reproductive autonomy. Recommendation #5: The Canadian government must adopt policies to end the use of Depo Provera as a contraceptive in Canada as well as in the Third World and to stop the unethical use of other long-acting provider-controlled contraceptives. The Canadian government must restrict the use of Norplant to recognized health centres where providers have been thoroughly trained in insertion and removal. The government must establish a registry to monitor women who have used Depo Provera or Norplant. The government must also fund ongoing research into the long-term health risks of these drugs on women and their children. Recommendation #6: Canada must take a leadership role in ensuring that the distribution of hormonal contraceptives takes place within an ethical framework, as part of integrated health services and with women's full and informed consent. For this to happen, full information about the potential risks of these agents must be gathered and made accessible to all current and potential users. Recommendation #7: Appropriate government and health bodies, in consultation with women's organizations, must evaluate the safety, and use of hormonal contraceptives in Canada and in those Third World countries where CIDA provides development assistance. Recommendation #8: Canada and federally-funded institutions such as the International Development Research Centre, must put resources toward the development of safe and appropriate contraceptives that women control and that meet women's needs, and negotiate with women about the process for doing this. Canada should take a lead role in supporting the improvement of existing, and development of new, barrier methods as well as in developing, educating, and promoting appropriate contraceptive use by men. Recommendation #9: Policies and measures must be put in place to ensure funds from the Canadian International Development Agency go to basic human development and integrated health services including reproductive health information and services, rather than to population control programs. Recommendation #10: Canada should be a leading voice within the international community (United Nations, World Bank, ea.) in promoting sustainable development as a priority rather than prioritizing a reduction of the population growth rate. Recommendation #11: Canada should stop supporting structural adjustment programs, forgive Third World debt and work towards equitable trade relations major steps towards removing barriers to sustainable development and women's rights worldwide. NORTHERN VOMAN J)URNAL Northern Woman Journal Page 12 NORTHERN VOMAN 3)URNAL 111411.44, OCR, 44 PDF compression, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Everywomen Going North for Easter For six months of the year I am Intellectual Woman Reading/writing/thinking/creating my work. Winter Cycle Almost monochrome this grey Easter day but for the yellow line bisecting the highway to the vanishing point. For another half the year I am Earth Mother Baking cookies, visiting parks, devoting all my time to my Family. Summer Solstice In winter away from In summer away from White birches in clear outline against evergreens so dark they're almost black. I resent every moment . my work. I celebrate every moment my work. The skyline lacy with the skeletal hands of leafless trees. Driving along this eternal northern road I worry about this scenery so imprinted on my mind that my dying images may well be of jutting rocks and jagged trees In winter I am inspired at odd moments in the bath, in my bed. In summer I am required at all moments from the bath, from the gibed. Divided between the women I am or hope to become., What do my daughters make of_this matriarchal metamorphosis? This strange shifting back and forth. They no longer ask me if my work is done but wait, suspended stillborn, expecting the birth of a whole mother. Renee Norman but closer up, the conifers are deep, warm green and lift their arms in frilly, undulating boughs and the hills far away are almost blue. Ruth Latta rf,--V.s7-1-,...*...._ -.V.ir - ,I itil ft- -1 ,mor -... .,. .---;. - 45`4' 44.:, I....C.rz..- WAVES used to be a cold narrow brook, running in the forest, mountains, and valleys. I know that standinci waters die from within. I knew that joining the waves of the seas brings new life to the little brooks. Neither the long way, nor the dark craters, not the temptation to stop running ore vented me from moving on Now I have joined the endless waves. I exist in struggle, and my rest is my death. by Marzieh Ahmadi Oskooi Harzieh Ahmadi Oskooi was a woman revolutionary guerrilla, and a member of the Organization of Irani an People's Fedavee Guerrilla, She has written many poems and short stories about the suffering of Iranian people, resistance, and struggle. She was martyred in an armed confrontation with the Shah's (Iran) police in 1974. Northern Woman Journal Page 13 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �KNOW by Brenda Small Outside the house where I grew up there was a willow tree that hid the bones of various animals that my father harvested to feed our family. Underneath the lush green leaves of summer, the various token pieces of bone that hung by pieces of string represented our thanks and offering to the spirit world. SOME had heard stories of families that had starved in the bush and was taught As a child, I that these bones my father hung from the tree was our recognition of that possibility. I learned from. an early age that we had to be thankful for everything we were able to harvest from the land. The ritual of hanging up the bones showed that we were grateful and that we acknowledged' our continuing obligation to respect the earth. I suspect that when others looked at our cultivated yard and simple woodframe house they thought that we had long ago given up our harvesting rituals. The truth of the matter was that there was more to the way that we lived than there appeared. Amidst the forget-me-nots and marigolds that my mother had planted along the white picket fence I knew that those bones were there even if the rest of the world did not. In more recent years, I realize that there are numerous ways in which this childhood experience serves as a metaphor about my own adult life. As a Cree woman, living in modern times, I am often viewed as one of those who gave up traditional Cree pursuits for an urban, decidedly non-Aboriginal way of life. Not true, say. Just like that willow tree that stood on the manicured lawn of my parents home there is more here than meets the eye. I In spite of the urban environment there are many ways in which I have tried to observe the traditions of my people. I have tried to remain true to my early childhood lessons and to remember the things that my parents taught me. But I realize that I am required to find a way for these principles to apply in the face of enormous social and political TRIBAL WOMEN found myself face to face with Aboriginal people who bore no resemblance to the people I grew up with. Although these urban sophisticates were felt that a legal definition was hardly conclusive in determining the real citizenship responsibilities associated with being a always related to someone from a reserve or realizing the extent of my own internalized colonialism, I realized that I had saw these to change the way that Several years ago I village community they themselves had never lived in the way that many Aboriginal people have. They certainly did not grow up in the conditions or environment to which I was accustomed. The distance between my life experience and theirs was great and often equivalent to that of a white middle class Canadian, who in all liklihood had little or no knowledge of life in remote northern Ontario. I recall that my first response was not unlike that of many Aboriginal people in that questioned the place of these individuals member of an Aboriginal community. After I newcomers who had come into our circle. wanted to see these decided that I I individuals in another way. I wanted to see them through the eyes of a Cree or Eeou woman. I wanted to greet them in the tradition of my people. I wanted to try and greet them in the way that a balanced and healthy Cree community would have welcomed them. I within our community. In all honesty, my first response was one of exclusion: Who are these people who "say" that they're Indian? Along with this recognition, I had to begin to look for the qualities that reminded me of the traditional teachings of my family. started to look for kindness and generosity I of spirit. Ironically, I did not question their legal status as "Indians" but I shared the same ethnochauvinistic and learned defensive position that although they could be considered "Indians" under Canadian law that did not really mean anything in Aboriginal terms. I I wanted to see these individuals in terms other than the legal and the political. To my mind, the only way I would truly "see" them would be by finding the tribal identity that lived within myself and in them. I began to wonder would our hearts beat the same? change. This means, in part, that I subscribe to the notion that culture is an evolving thing and that it becomes many things through time. believe that the It also means that traditional values of my people are timeless I and that their relevance is not lost by the very nature of change. Northern Woman Journal Page 14 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �I wanted to see the Aboriginal roots of these people reflected in their behaviour. I wanted to feel a kinship that would transcend our individual lives which were largely made up of differences in physical characteristics, imposed euro-centric legal definitions, acquired classism and internalized racism. By transcending these boundaries and divisive behaviours knew that we would begin to recognize one another in a much SUPERIOR WOMEN'S I more spiritual way. COFFEEHOUSE I began to imagine us seeing one another in With the recognition of tribal ways. ourselves as ancient tribal peoples I thought to myself, we would learn to meet one another in a context. natural, less constrained Saturday, September 24, 1994 8:00p.m. The equation then had to be extended to "other" people. Others who made up the dominant culture and the profoundly unfamiliar. Would I be able-to see others in a tribal way? at the Unitarian House 129 S. Algoma I have been told that it is not our way to be exclusionary. There are many stories about $3.00 at the door (or more if you can) things being part of an integrated whole. Now, struck by the beautiful blue eyes of my Mohawk friend who is the third generation of her people to be raised away from the village of her people I am sure that she is tribal. When I see the perseverance of my Cree FEATURING RECORDING ARTIST friend from Saskatchewan, I am humbled and grateful to see the courage of her mother in her walk. I celebrate that I don't need to see their status cards or question their place in the amended legislation anymore. Amy Brunn Their kindness and generosity of spirit is reflected in how they make time for others. They are polite and respectful. Their quiet participation in moments of meditation and prayer signifies their coming home. When I see them in the circle I am proud. When I am told of how they lobby on behalf of Aboriginal women and students in the corridors of privilege in Toronto, touched by their determination. I am I know these tribal women, my grandmother and my mother introduced them to me long ago. P. Northern Woman Journal Page 15 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �SUPERIOR WOMEN'S COFFEEHOUSE presents singer, songwriter, entertainer, recording artist Kim Erickson Saturday, November 12, 1994 8:00p.m. at the Unitarian House 129 S. Algoma Tickets $5.00 in advance ($6.00 at the door) Available at Northern Woman's Book Store 65 S. Court St. .6.4111, Breast Cancer in Ontario died from breast cancer. jacqueline Pelletier has been appointed as the provincial spokesperson for the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP). The OBSP was set up by the Ministry of Health in 1990 to provide a province-wide, comprehensive breast cancer screening program. It is estimated that in 1993, 2,100 women Screening at an OBSP centre includes an examination of the breasts by a nurse-examiner, twoview mammography and instruction on breast self-examination. To be eligible for screening, a woman must be an Ontario resident aged 50 or older with no previous history of breast cancer, no surgical enlargement of her breasts and no mammogram within the last year. There is no charge for the service. A woman can make her own appointment or be referred by her physician. Screening results are provided in writing to each woman and her physician within two weeks of her screening visit. Centres are located in Hamilton, Kingston, London, Ottawa, Sudbury, Toronto and Windsor. A mobile screening van serves Northwestern Ontario from its base in Thunder Bay. For information about a centre in your region, call: In Northwestern Ontario, the Breast Screening program goes on the road. From March through November, the van travels from Marathon/Manitouwadge to the Manitoba border. For information or the date that the van will be in your area, call 1- iii 800- 461 -7031. 1-800-668-9304. Northern Woman Journalweb Pageoptimization 16 PDF compression, OCR, using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �Soaped Class Mall Nee Istratlea No. 5697 MAIL TO: 4,0 RETURN TO: YV`-e-- THE NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL P.O. BOX 144 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO P7C 4V5 Th Return Postage Guaranteed ;2IS THERE AN ASTERISK ON YOUR,LABEL?? PLEASE RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Don't forget to renew your SUBSCRIPTION NAME ADDRESS POSTAL CODE proible'd Hri517)1\wr Stab() Individual Institutional $20.00 NORTHERN WOMAN JOURNAL PO Box 144 Thunder Bay Ontario fkQ,C\- ri\F dfm /4, P7C4Y5 %1Atie SA 1..14 S siypee odS01° PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 15 No 4 Description An account of the resource Vol. 15, No. 4 (Sept 1994) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Canadian Women’s Committee on Reproduction, Population and Development Population control Women in non-traditional work roles Depression and women Northern Women’s Bookstore Reproductive rights Poetry Colonialism Breast cancer Authors/Contributors: Margaret Phillips Teresa Legoswki Charlene Dodge Gwenith Margaret Whitford Renee Norman Ruth Latta Marzieh Ahmadi Oskool Brenda Small Margaret Johnston Chris Snyder Jane Saunders Sandy Smith Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2834/1994_Vol_16_No_1.pdf 2317fc052c983c57452313ad5041b505 PDF Text Text PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 16 No 1 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16, No. 1 (December 1994) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Population, resources, and equity Women portrayal in the media Poetry Tribal identity and feminism Aboriginal women identity Midwifery education programme Access to social programmes Authors/contributors: Karen Seabrooke Debb Hurlock Michelle Collins R.V. Skene Liliane Welch Joyce Michalchuk Margaret Brenda Small Margaret Jonhston Chris Snyder Sandey Smith Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2835/1995_Vol_16_No_2.pdf 2dbfb0aa3a441e5321a32b748601a79d PDF Text Text PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 16 No 2 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16, No. 2 (April 1995) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Native people and Canadian law Law reforms from a Native perspective Superior Women’s Coffeehouse Feminist film review Female genital mutilation Amnesty International human rights abuses against women Value of drama Native women in the arts Poetry Lesbianism Authors/contributors: Debb Hurlock Barbara Mitchell Pollock Jill Battson Tina Renee Norman Brenda Daugherty Brenda Small Margaret Johnston Chris Snyder Jane Saunders Sandey Smith Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2836/1995_Vol_16_No_3.pdf b0b4a67556498c6739e0f3e7e3aa4358 PDF Text Text PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 16 No 3 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16, No. 3 (November 1995) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Evolution of the Northern Woman Journal Editorial policy Provincial Conservative government policies Violence against women Child care Income security & housing Health & community services Employment challenges Recession & employment Poetry Ontario Legal Aid plan defunding Cutbacks to social programs Women & the economy Quilting Literacy & women Milk & bovine growth hormone Feminist book review Hope & healing child sexual abuse Feminist Press Authors/contributors: Rosalind Lockyer Rebecca A. Banks Renee Norman Sandey Smith Joyce Michalchuk Laurel Benson Debb Hurlock Jane Saunders Margaret Johnston Chris Snyder Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/16/2837/1995_Vol_16_No_4_Final_issue.pdf ebdfcd977f872fc53ff2c2b561a4fe66 PDF Text Text PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor �PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal Description An account of the resource Northern Woman Journal Published in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Northern Woman Journal (originally called Northern Woman) started in 1973 following the first annual Northern Women’s Conference in order to keep the conference attendees connected. Initially serving as a newsletter of events, local issues, and women’s resources, the Northern Woman Journal quickly became a diverse publication reaching national and international readers. Not only did it serve as a newsletter to keep local women up to date on feminist issues in Northwestern Ontario, but also as a safe space to discuss women’s resources, law, politics, economics, health, racism, sexism, homophobia, feminist organizing and activism, transnational feminist issues, poetry, feminist reading, feminist art, and women’s diverse lived experiences.One of the longest-running feminist perodicals in North America, the Northern Woman Journal reached its end in 1995. Throughout its 22 years, the Northern Woman Journal was produced by its many collective members, with membership evolving year to year. For many years, the journal worked closely alongside and shared space with the Northern Women’s Centre and the Northern Women’s Bookstore. With the exception of a year-long government grant in the 1970s, the journal relied entirely on subscription fees and donations in order to maintain publishing, which presented challenges throughout its entire existence. As stated in an early version of the editorial policy, “only by a free and open exchange of views and opinions will we develop a basis for unity which can be used as a basis for action.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Woman Journal, Vol 16 No 4 Description An account of the resource Vol. 16, No. 4 (1995) Title: Northern Woman Journal Topics include: Child support defaulters Northern Women's Bookstore Women & labour Northwestern Ontario Women’s Decade Council Celebration of Dr. Leni Untinen Divorce Farm life for women Rural/northern isolation & loneliness Unemployment insurance Canada Pension Plan Unemployment insurance Tribute to Kathryn Brule Poetry Disbandment of Advisory Council on Women’s Issues Authors/contributors: Debb Hurlock Dianna Leeder Maureen Ford Lynne Thunderstorm Leni Untinen Margaret Phillips Lini Richards Grol Anne Le Dressay Ruth Latta Margaret Jonhston Chris Snyder Sandey Smith Jane Saunders Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Northern Woman Journal Collective Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Published on this site with permission. Language A language of the resource English