Before I hit “delete all spam messages now”, I usually quickly scan the folder for any real emails.

Today I noticed something. When did sex spam become so much more… egalitarian?

A sample of actual subject lines:
* “Give your lady the very best”
* “Give her the best loving every night”
* “Your lady deserves only the best”
* “Only for your lover”
* “Making her come”
* “How to take time for relationships”

Sort of warms your heart doesn’t it?

Happy Friday!

For some, “freedom of speech” includes the right to get in the faces, literally, of those you disagree with and prevent them from engaging in legal, celebrated, and sometimes publicly funded health services.

But today, the BC Court of Appeal did not hold up that definition, instead it dismissed the claims that the “bubble zone” around BC’s abortion clinics is an infringement on “freedom of speech”.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday said that while the right to oppose abortion is constitutionally protected, the purpose of the provincial law to protect vulnerable women and those who provide for their care justified limiting protesters’ rights.

“The purpose or objective of the [Access to Abortion Services] Act is sufficiently important to justify a limitation on the way in which freedom of expression is exercised in an area adjacent to the facilities providing abortion services,” it said.

More details here.

Shameless is very proud to co-sponsor Global Choice? Abortion, Access, and Reproductive Rights, a series of films and a panel discussion on pro-choice media, including both our fantastic editor, Megan Griffith-Greene, and fabulous blogger Jessica Yee. We hope to see you there for this very important event!

Canadians for Choice in partnership with RABBLE.ca and Shameless Magazine: For Girls Who Get It! presents:

Global Choice? Abortion, Access, and Reproductive Rights

Join us for film screenings of the Abortion Democracy and the Coat Hanger Project followed by a panel discussion with the film directors and featured speakers on the importance of pro-choice media.

Speakers include Sarah Diehl (director of Abortion Democracy), Angie Young (director of the Coat Hanger Project), Jessica Yee (Canadians for Choice and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network), Megan Griffith-Greene (Shameless Magazine), Michelle Langlois (RABBLE.ca)

Films begin at 6:30pm, discussion to follow. Admission is pay-what-you-can. Venue is wheelchair accessible.

Choice listserves are abuzz with the news that Stephen Harper and company recently decided to drop the notoriously anti-choice Bill C484 - also known as the “Unborn Victims of Crime” act, which threatened to give fetuses personhood status, as a backdoor way towards repealing abortion rights.

Instead they will draft a new bill that they say focuses more on punishing the person actually committing the crime against a pregnant woman (whoa so wait, did they just admit Mr. Epp tried to punish women more with his bogus bill? Nah, I’m too hopeful.)

It’s only too obvious that this is conveniently coming at a time when an election is looming this Fall, and we know only too well that the Conservative government can’t hide from its long anti-choice roots. They still won’t say anything about their support for abortion rights or do much anything to protect them.

I have to say that it was quite a good reminder this year that we all need to pay more attention to the scary anti-choicers out there and the sneaky ways they try to take away choice for what’s best for our own bodies, but we musn’t rest for too long.

There are a multitude of attempts going on every day that threaten us.

Last Saturday night was the soaringly splendid anniversary splash of the Toronto Women’s Bookstore which is celebrating its 35th year.

A cornerstone in many feminists’ literary ventures, TWB has broken many barriers and set an international example of what being an inclusive feminist is all about (and it doesn’t only have to do with gender y’all).

A fantastic night was had by all with praise and hope for another 35 years of this necessary store remaining open.

Do you have any memories of TWB you’d like to share?

My sister Jennifer and I with the super-incredible Sto:lo/Métis writer Lee Maracle who was on hand to perform her magical works. She was a huge influence on me to identify as an Indigenous feminist.

According to the CBC, Stats Can is reporting a drop in the number of teens who say they’ve had sexual intercourse at least once.

The decline occurred due to young women. For them, the proportion who reported having had intercourse decreased from 51 per cent in 1996 to 43 per cent in 2005. Among young men, the proportion stayed unchanged at 43 per cent.

There’s also some information in the report about increased condom use.

Sex education seems to be paying off among younger teens in terms of greater condom use, said Alex McKay of the Sex Information and Education Council in Toronto.

The report is based on interviews with about 4,500 teens in 1996, and about 10,000 teenagers for 2003 and 2005. Read more here.

Several friends and colleagues of mine took part in this inspiring and necessary conference in Saskatchewan whose title “Missing Women: Decolonization, Third Wave Feminism and Indigenous People of Canada and Mexico” says it all.

Travel and work conflicts prevented me from being there physically, but I can tell you that I’m emotionally shaken and stirred by the good work that has come out of it, which you can read about here.

I’ve always personally tried to make it a priority to highlight the strong matriarchy that exists in so many of our Indigenous nations. We were the FIRST feminists which is often forgotten in a lot of mainstream feminist dialogue, and it’s a shame especially when you consider what’s happened to many of the women in our communities today.

More than 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered over the past 15 years and we have the highest rates of sexual assault and domestic violence against our women than any other race. However what we need to be focussing on now is the things that are happening to prevent these statistics and what we are doing in our communities ourselves to effect positive change.

Where we’ve come from is this strong, ancestral lineage of woman-power culture. Sadly we’ve now arrived at is this consistently prejudicial place where many of us wonder whether, if any of these victims were White, would people care more or do more to seek justice?

A youth patch for the quilt of hope by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition

Reading about the latest anti-choice militancy to end abortion in Canada sure does make me wonder why we in the pro-choice community are not organizing more.

On September 23rd, the always-contradictory titled “40 Days For Life” campaign (as if beliveing in choice does not equate wanting the best life possible for you and your offspring?) starts in Ottawa, where anti-choicers will be protesting across abortion clinics and generally making a scene with their condemning antagonistic message.

These religiously-based gatherings garner hundreds to thousands of participants in support; the “March for Life” alone had over 10 000 attendees this past May.

Does the number of people who show up make what they are doing right? Absolutely not, there are several historical attrocities around the world that have occured which prove that the masses following one state of mind can be quite dangerous, however there is definitely some apathy around defending choice in Canada that it would be nice to do something about. Especially as the younger generation whose ovaries and vaginas are the ones people are attempting to make decisions over for us.

We’ve got a lot to pay attention to in regards to restricting reproductive freedom in this great country of ours. While we might be the only Western nation with unrestricted access to abortion, a closer look at what’s happened in the past six months might make you gather some friends together and stand up for the right to choose.

It’s just too bad that it so often takes the threat of losing something to act on keeping it. But several actions and events are planned for the next year so stay tuned, we need you!

This ad from 1934 (see here for full size, and also this ad from the 60’s) is a reminder of how long the media has been in the business of convincing women to change their bodies.

It’s also a reminder that we can couch defenses of the current fat-hating trend in society in health terms all we want, but when it comes down to it - it’s about fashion. Curves are out, thin is in.