• • Anti-violence
  • Rape Culture

  On Calling Things By Name: Rape, Exploitation and Victim-Blaming Aren’t Bullying

  April 11, 2013 • Beth Lyons

  Trigger warning for discussion of sexual violence.

  —

  Another young Canadian woman is dead as a result of sexual abuse, exploitation, and subsequent victim-blaming, and, yet again, public discussion and media coverage is reducing this story from one of gender-based violence and oppression to one of bullying.

  Rehtaeh Parsons, 17, died in Nova Scotia on Sunday night after having hanged herself 3 days priors. Her family is attributing her actions to the fact that in November 2011, when she was 15, she was allegedly* raped by 4 of teenage boys at a house party. A photo was taken of the alleged attack and distributed it amongst her schoolmates. Parsons’ family says that the police investigation was slow-going and made strategic errors, like failing to separate the boys for interviews. Police and crown prosecutors declined to lay charges due to a lack of evidence and Parsons’ family says that they were told that the photo was a community, not criminal, issue.

  The media is reporting this as another tragic example of bullying.(more inside…)

• • Anti-violence
  • In My Opinion...

  On White Ribbon’s Be-a-Man.ca Launch

  December 11, 2012 • Beth Lyons

  Put her in her place
  Tears are weak
  Feelings are for chicks
  Stop acting gay
  Grow some balls
  Say it with fists

  Toward the end of November, a series of posters featuring these statements went up in Toronto. The posters also had be-a-man.ca printed along the bottom. The be-a-man.ca site featured video of people walking past the posters, followed by text asking if the posters reflected what it means to be a man, then answering “we don’t think so” and announcing that on Dec. 3rd a new code of manhood would be written. It wrapped up with a revamped White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) logo and a countdown to Dec. 3rd.

  Even before visiting the site, I had assumed the posters were for an anti-violence campaign that would ultimately deconstruct the offensive statements. Still, the posting of statements like that in public spaces without any accompanying unpacking or context made me uncomfortable, and the site’s video didn’t entirely reassure me. I dig WRC, though, and wanted to see what we were counting down to.

  When Dec. 3rd hit, the big reveal was a redesigned WRC site, which included their New Code of Manhood initiative. The New Code discusses creating a code of masculinity “as complex and diverse as men” and asks visitors to “share a #manhug” (hug a man, take a picture, post it to social media with the hashtag) in support. I remain ill at ease, and am very lucky that Shameless affords me a space and community to explore why. (more inside…)

• • Body Politics
  • In My Opinion...

  On Julyna (or: How I’d Like to be Cancer AND Patriarchy Free)

  July 11, 2011 • Beth Lyons

  July is apparently now “Julyna.” I found this out a week ago, when the word popped up on my Twitter feed. Initially, I ignored it (I ignore a lot of stuff on Twitter). Then it kept appearing. When I finally muttered “What the fuck is Julyna?” out loud, I realized the word rhymed with vagina and figured I was going to have to read up on it.

  And read up I did! Julyna actually owes its inception to Movember, an event in which (typically) male-identified people grow moustaches throughout the month of November—hence the charming portmanteau “Movember”—to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues such as prostate cancer and depression. Movember has proven to be very popular, especially with we young folks who are into ironic fashion. Anyway! Last Movember, a group of women were discussing how cool it be would be to start a similar charity to raise money for cervical cancer. Enthusiasm and word play ensued; months later, Julyna was born!

  But what is exactly is Julyna and how does it work? It’s basically a campaign in which women raise money throughout the month of July and donate the proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society in order to combat cervical cancer. What exactly must fundraisers do throughout the month to raise said money? Well, since the campaign cannot copy Movember’s commitment to facial hair (ladies aren’t supposed to have any of that!), Julyna’s cheeky solution is to have women groom their pubic hair (or, as the site says, the hair “down there”).

  (more inside…)

• • Activist Report
  • News Flash

  On the Abolition of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women: Government Spin

  April 20, 2011 • Beth Lyons

  As promised, I’m going to discuss how the NB government is spinning its decision to abolish the N.B. Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Warning: The content of this post may make you want to pull your hair out.

  Dizzying Spin #1: We’re not abolishing the Advisory Council!

  From the start, the government has said many times that it isn’t abolishing the Advisory Council, just defunding it. The government is actually actively taking issue with people referring to the closure of the Council as abolition and stated that the Council may carry on via fundraising. When it was pointed out that defunding the Council is rather serious, as the Council and its funding are written into legislation, the government acknowledged that the defunding does fact conflict with the law and they intend to change the law when they have a minute.

  The Council has been stripped of its funding without notice, had its office closed down, had its staff let go/offered new positions in a different department, and will see the legislation that mandates its existence amended. If that isn’t abolition, I don’t know what is.

  (more inside…)

• • Activist Report
  • News Flash

  Abolition of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women: More Information on the Council and its Work

  April 7, 2011 • Beth Lyons

  Now that you, dear readers, have been given a quick overview of the situation in New Brunswick regarding the abolition of our provincial Advisory Council of the Status of Women, I am going to take a deep breath, slow down and share some more in-depth information about what the Council is and what it does.

  So, as I said in my inaugural post, the Council came to be after the release of the 1970 Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. This Commission was formed in 1967 to examine the status of women in Canada and how to “ensure for women equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society.” The Commission’s Report provided 167 recommendations, including a recommendation that the federal government create of an independent body that would be charged with providing consultation and research, and would act as a watchdog in regards to women’s issues. The suggested role was quite broad, as the Commission suggested that this body “would not confine itself solely to research but would be concerned with action. It would carry out a publications programme relating to specific studies, in addition to its annual report to Parliament. It would continually assess changing attitudes toward the status of women and would be concerned with identifying new needs and formulating new proposals. It would be empowered to set up pilot projects. It would maintain a permanent liaison with the numerous voluntary organizations concerned with the status of women.” The commission also urged the individual provinces and territories to create similar agencies in their own jurisdictions.

  As a result of the Commission’s Report, the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women was formed in 1973. In 1975, the government of New Brunswick introduced legislation to create a provincial Council and appointed the Council’s first members and gave the agency a budget in 1977. By the end of the decade, most other provinces and territories had Councils as well.

  (more inside…)

• • Activist Report
  • News Flash

  Abolition of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women: A Quick and Dirty Rundown of the Situation

  April 5, 2011 • Beth Lyons

  Hi there!

  As a new blogger for Shameless, I should take the time to introduce myself. However, I’ve got a seriously time-sensitive issue to discuss, so I’m going to skip the formalities and only tell you as much as you need to know about me for the moment. [Ed. note: check out Beth’s profile for more!]

  For the past two years, I’ve had a bit of a dream job working with the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women as a researcher and event coordinator. There are 7 other provinces/territories that have these Councils and there used to be a National Advisory Council as well. These councils exist as public agencies that are arms-length from the government; basically, they’re government-funded, but have an independent voice. These Councils came about in the 1970’s, after the release of the 1970 Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. This report asserted “continuing effort to attain and secure equal opportunity for women requires a distinct and specific agency devoted to that purpose.” Advisory Councils were born and have been advocating for women ever since!

  To be perfectly honest, it’s been kickass to work with one of these Councils. I’ve basically been a professional feminist, earning a living by reading and learning voraciously, by being passionate and vocal about the things worked up about anyway. Of course, there was a lot of research and phone calls coordinating events and trying to hone my political acuity—but, ultimately, it was pretty dreamy.

  And then, the Tuesday before last, the Government of New Brunswick announced a complete de-funding of the Council in its 2011-2012 budget. The ostensible reason for the decision was the province’s financial woes; the government is tightening its belt and cutting costs and the Advisory Council with its oh-so-staggering budget of $418 000 had to go.

  (more inside…)

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