20 years ago women in Canada won the historic right to abortion on demand. While the vast majority of Canadians support this right, it is still a choice that often stigmatizes women. These simple portraits show women who have made the choice to have an abortion for what they are: sisters, mothers, neighbours, lovers, friends. These portraits and stories give women voice in a society that so often keeps them silent.

Portraits by Kathryn Palmateer
Opening: May 15th, 7-10pm
Tinto Coffee House
89 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto

Dance performance by Elizabeth Dawn Snell
Musical Performance by Laura Repo
MC: Jessica Yee

The show in Toronto runs from May 11th - June 1st.

Kathryn will be travelling across Canada after the Toronto show and is still looking for participants, so if you or someone you know is interested in being part of this important project, check out the newly launched website or e-mail arts4choice@gmail.com

This interesting article from the Courier Mail in Australia was sent to me recently.

Here’s a nice little snippet:

PRESCHOOL girls are being targeted with sexed-up dolls, which could create a generation of teenagers who hate themselves, experts say.

Queensland child protection group Bravehearts told the Senate inquiry into “the Sexualisation of Children in the Contemporary Media Environment” that sexualised dolls were being marketed to girls at a younger age than ever before.

“Barbie dolls, originally marketed at six to 10-year olds, are now appealing to three to six-year olds and highly sexualised dolls such as Bratz and MyScene dolls are at the forefront of a trend that promotes stereotyped and sexualised images,” the submission’s author, Hetty Johnston, said.

She said the dolls’ “fishnet stockings, tight-fitting clothes, high heels and heavily made-up faces and large pouty lips” exposed little girls to dangerous stereotypes.

Now I’ve always been of the mindset that we cannot leave it up to the media and pop culture to be the sole forms of education for our children, however I have been noticing the shift in the appearance of toys like Bratz dolls.

I would also hope that the ability to teach self and social confidence would trump materialistic followings like toys, or even better make people empowered in their own sexuality while wearing things like “fishnet stockings, tight-fighting clothes, etc”.

I could never find a Barbie that looked like me anyway.

What say you? Can we really blame toys for the oversexualization that has occurred in mainstream society?

I love using free weights — so I completely enjoyed seeing Sitara Hewitt on CBC’s Steven and Chris (I’ll blow right past the overall quality or not of this show) talking about weightlifting. As well as displaying some refreshingly healthy attitudes to food and exercise.

Check it out here.

Yesterday marked the end of the first National Reproductive Justice Week in the United States.

Reproductive justice is not a term we use too often here in Canada, but on my travels to the U.S. I have learned about it and am trying to bring that school of thought over here since I truly believe it speaks more to what’s realistically going on in the actual world of reproductive rights. It will enhance the pro-choice movement, and not only leave it for the select few who feel like they can join or has anything to do with them.

The pro-choice, like many “feminist” movements in the Western world, has had its fair share of white, colonial influence and over-representation. It’s more than time to addres, include, and advocate for our bodily rights and the way we understand them across diverse social, economic, racial, and sexual backgrounds.

So what is reproductive justice you say? Take a look at the video here:

What does reproductive justice mean to you?

Now I know many of you have heard of the fantabulous Miss_G Project for Equity in Education and I was fortunate enough to take part in The Voices Behind the Stats: Students Talk About Safety and Equity in Education last Friday at the always cool and supportive YWCA in Toronto.

It was a forum welcoming the participation of students in Ontario to talk to the Minister of Education, the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, about their perspectives on safety and equity in education and share their ideas for improvement.

Students came together from all across the Greater Toronto Area, London, Ingersoll, and many places in between with one message:
STOP DISCRIMINATION NOW!

They WOW’d everyone with their boundless energy, incredible strength, and sheer determination to end all forms of oppression. They all spoke with such passion and eloquence to the Minister with their many, many solutions to advance young women’s rights for the betterment of society!

I am completely inspired and was moved to tears by these amazing young women. THESE are the experts we need to be listening to for positive change to be effected in schools across the country.

And how awesome is it that the Miss_G Project exists in the first place to make stuff like this happen?!!

The Ministry of Education had better watch out for these powerful young feminists who are ready to take on whatever injustice comes their way and will not take NO for an answer.

You GO GIRLS!!!

(oh and if you are a FACEBOOK user, show them some love on their space!)

The whole feminist crew on Friday!

Poking around Feministe’s shameless self promotion open thread yesterday, I found this interesting discussion on things that girls need to know about sex. Here are the first few:

1. There are reliable ways, besides abstinence, to prevent pregnancy.

2. There are reliable ways, besides abstinence, to prevent STIs.

3. Abortion is safe (safer than carrying a pregnancy to term, in fact) and there’s a wide range of legitimate opinion as to when and whether it is appropriate.

There’s a lot more in the original post – you should click over and read it. As I’ve written elsewhere, quality sex ed is in short supply, especially in the States, and a lot of non-professionals are pitching in on the internet with material like this list. This movement has its ups and downs – without doctors vetting curriculum, some misinformation and strange emphasis can slip in – but it’s certainly better than abstinence-only education, which just doesn’t work.

Things might be about to change for our American friends – brooklynite has collected some quotes from presidential nominees which suggest that they might be on board with sex ed in a way that previous generations of American political leaders have not been.

So, what do you think every girl should learn about sex?

I really wanted to spread the word about this project. From Jezebel.com:

Prominent third-wave feminist activist and writer Jennifer Baumgardner made a splash three years ago when she distributed a controversial t-shirt that had, writ large on the front: “I Had An Abortion,…” Baumgardner is making headlines again today with a new tee, one that says “raped” on it. The letters are smaller this time — it’s a pale pink shirt with an illustration of a safe, and inside the safe is a note emblazoned with the words “I was raped” — but the spirit of provocation remains the same.

As is to be expected the reaction to this T is mixed. Some see it as an empowering way to raise awareness around how common sexual assault is. Other people don’t.(more inside…)

I just walked by a pro-choice demonstration at the University of Toronto and they provided some important facts I wanted to remind you of:

1. Only 15.9% of all general hospitals in Canada offer accessible abortion services.

2. Angus McLaren and Arlene Tigar McLaren estimate that between 4000 and 6000 Canadian women died from illegal abortions from 1926 to 1947 (McLaren 1986) and different sources have estimated that prior to 1969 there had been at least 120,000 illegal abortions performed every year (Childbirth by Choice Trust, 1998).

3. In Canadian medical schools, more class time is dedicated to the study of Viagra than to abortion procedures, pregnancy options counselling, and abortion law and policy combined.

4. Less than 2% of women choose adoption when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

5. Every year, over 80,000 women die from complications during or after unsafe abortions. (The highest fatality rates are in Africa and Asia.)

6. In the US, death rates due to abortion fell by 85% in the five years following legalization. (Tietze, 1981)

These stats come from Canadians for Choice, Prochoice, and a CBC News backgrounder.

A screen capture from www.louloumagazine.com

Some days I like to point out when mainstream women’s magazines suck (which is often). Other days I like to be an optimist and point out when mainstream women’s magazines are doing positive things.

Today it appears to be a positive. Canadian “shopping magazine” LouLou (put out by the mega corporate Rogers Publishing) is partnering with Addition Elle to introduce a clothing line for plus-sized women that is branded with the LOULOU name:

“Collaborating with Addition Elle feels like the perfect fit,” says Marie-José Desmarais,Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of LOULOU. “Our fashion-forward plus-sized readers are always asking us for tips and shopping advice, and we feel that this collection meets their needs. LOULOU is a style-savvy shopping inspiration for women - no matter what their dress size. So at last: a fabulous, trendsetting collection designed especially for plus-sized women.”

The LouLou Limited Edition collection is “designed and developed by Addition Elle, using the fashion expertise of LouLou editors.” Also of note, LouLou has a section of their website called “14+”:

Tips and trends for the LOULOU girl who knows that sexy doesn’t stop at size 8.

So what do we think? A step in the right direction? Or just another marketing ploy?

Of course, check out our latest issue for more on size activism.

Via Canadian Magazines