This isn’t motivated by anything in the news, anything in the world of ideas, or anything that has happened to me. This is just something that has been kicking around my head for a while, that I just feel the need to say.

We talk a lot on this blog about what is lacking in our lives, and in the lives of women all over the world: equal pay, reproductive choice, justice and support for victims of sexual assault – this list is long, depressing, and infinitely worthy of our attention.

But as many barriers as we still face, I don’t want any of us to forget just how incredibly lucky we are.

We are – arguably – part of the first generation of women (if not the very first) to know freedom like this. It is unprecedented. For all of human history, stretching back tens of thousands of years, has any group of women had so many choices open to them? And, for that matter, do most women on this planet today share this luxury?

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Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the first annual Canadian F-word Awards! The Shameless Blog took home both awards (Best Entertainment Blog and Best Canadian Feminist Blog) we were nominated for!

Way better than the Oscars.

Tuval wisely made us aware of Bill C-484 about a week back, a bill that uses “the high profile murder of several pregnant Canadian women last year to bolster the anti-choice movement.” I wanted to repost some of the information that Tuval provided, to spread awareness as we approach the day the bill is projected to be debated.

Again, here’s the information:

“A private member’s bill called The “Unborn Victims of Crime Act” (C-484) has been introduced by Conservative MP Ken Epp (Edmonton Sherwood Park). It had its first hour of debate in Parliament on December 13, and is projected to come up for its second hour of debate on February 29, with a vote on March 5 (second reading).

The bill would amend the Criminal Code to allow separate homicide charges to be laid in the death of a fetus when a pregnant woman is attacked.

If passed, this bill would be an unconstitutional infringement on women’s rights, and would likely result in harms against pregnant women. It is a key step towards re-criminalizing abortion, but it could also criminalize pregnant women for behaviours perceived to harm their fetuses.”

You can read the text of the bill here. This link includes great talking points against the bill.

And of course, sign the petition. Again, thanks to Tuval for bringing this to our attention.

Go check out the Kickaction Blogging Carnival that’s happening over at kickaction.ca, “an online community space for girls and young women who think for themselves, take a stand and act creatively to bring positive change to their communities and across the globe.”

Our very own Thea Lim recently posted a version of her piece on Asqa Parvez. I’ll also be posting this Friday about sexual education, and the week following Anna Leventhal guest blogs on self-esteem.

Awesome.

I swear this is a real book. Excuse me, I have to go glue my knees together…

Via Quillblog

Don’t forget to vote for Shameless Magazine today!

Click here for to vote for Best Canadian Feminist Blog.

Click here to vote for Best Entertainment Blog.

Click here for all the categories.

Over the past few days I’ve started writing a few different posts for today’s Film Friday feature. One was about up and coming Oscar nominee Ellen Page, who I love. Then, in response to Megan’s blog piece about the lack of women directors, I started a little data compendium of the Oscar nominees broken down according to gender, Guerilla Grrrls style. Then I found someone had already done that here. So check it out.

However, I’m not really a big movie person. I don’t watch or care about the Oscars. I am much more interested in smaller documentaries, indie films, and my local community. And one pathway to those cherished things is now no longer: Suspect Video.

Goodbye, Suspect Video. You can my regular parking spot right outside. For my bicycle, that is. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wyliepoon/)

Many of you have seen the nation-wide coverage of a six-alarm fire at the corner of Queen and Bathurst. About 10 different stores were totally burned out and many people living in the apartments above were lucky to escape alive.

It was only two short blocks from my home. Yesterday I finally got a chance to walk through my neighborhood and finally got a look at the smoking wreckage. I was surprised by the intensity of my reaction seeing such devastation. I was holding back tears.

I watched coverage on the teevee news on Tuesday night and it focused on Duke’s, a bicycle shop that I also frequent, which had been a family business in that exact location for 80+ years. While I do mourn the loss of the bike shop (I just bought a new Ulock there last week), what I’m really going to miss is Suspect Video.

Now I don’t suppose that a national teevee news show could talk about what kind of stuff Suspect Video did for this community of freaks, geeks and punks and queers. Suspect Video probably couldn’t be described as an upstanding community member. Their windows were always full of garish and freaky figurines with cobwebs hanging all around, both real and fake for effect. When you went in the store, no salesperson greeted you. Instead the guy or girl munched on their pizza and watched some cheesy zombie flick on the screens above the merchandise turned at ultra high volume, shrieks and moans galore. I admit that many times I went into Suspect to just be treated with disdain and humanness. No perky falsity around getting my dollars here.
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Great news! The Shameless Magazine Blog has been nominated for “Best Canadian Feminist Blog” and “Best Feminist Entertainment Blog” in the first ever Canadian F-word Blog Awards! Please take a moment out of your day to vote for us!

Voting happens today and tomorrow only! Vote now!

Click here for to vote for Best Canadian Feminist Blog.

Click here to vote for Best Entertainment Blog.

Click here for all the categories.

Soon. Very, very soon.

Now would be a very good time to subscribe.