I just watched a great piece on CBC’s The National about the HPV vaccinations that will be offered to girls in Grade 8 across Canada in the coming weeks.  You can watch it online here.

In the spirit of (my girlfriend) Kelly Clarkson:

“… I just find it a bit upsetting and kind of insulting that I can’t have any ideas on my own because I’m a female or that people from undeveloped countries can’t have ideas of their own unless it’s backed up by someone who’s blond-haired and blue-eyed. ”

-M.I.A on the way that she is portrayed in the US media, via Pitchfork

The Miss G__ Project for Equity in Education, a grassroots, young feminist organization working to combat oppression in and through education, is looking for summer interns. Here’s what they need:

We are looking for one or two smart, strong, sassy high school students for a six-week, part-time volunteer internship at our Toronto office this summer.

In becoming part of the G__ unit for the summer, you will be doing high school outreach programming for the Miss G__ Project, which will include things like:
- research and workshop development
- event planning and networking
- media and material development

And the best part is:
- you will have a budget to work with
- you will have super fabulous mentors to support you
- you will get to work in an awesome office in downtown Toronto
(more inside…)

Not to turn this blog into my personal diary or anything, but I just have to say I’m really excited about how nicely my Sontag is growing in. If you haven’t the slightest of what I’m talking about, The Sontag (a.k.a. Shooting Star) is the streak of grey hair starting at the temple that many women develop, named for writer, critic and feminist Susan Sontag. I started getting grey hair when I was seventeen, and after an initial panic attack and a lot of tacky jokes about walkers and orthopoedic shoes, I am now stoked to be counted among the “prematurely” silver.

For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be sprouting salt-n-pepa yet, curb your jealousy - Toronto artist Paige Gratland can supply you with your very own Sontag, as part of her “Feminist Hair Wear” project.

So in an effort to increase tourism to one of China’s less well-known districts, local officials have announced that in “two years, a ‘female-dominated town’ will be built up here to promote ‘feminine culture.’”

What sort of “feminine culture” will the town be promoting, you ask?

“Love whip” will be a feature of the scenic spot according to the program. In this area, a “Female Court” composed of “judges” and “captains” will be set up. Male tourists visiting here will be “whipped” by female tourists if, for example, they can’t remember their sweethearts’ eating habits quickly or the brand of her cosmetics.

The “Female Court” will sentence the man to suffer from the “whip.” The female tourist will then discipline the man with a specially made long whip. The theory is that man can only feel soft power through this kind of tender punishment.

According to the program, cautions like “Women are never wrong, men must not refuse women’s requests” will be clearly written on the door lintel of the “female-dominated town.” If male tourists break the rules, the “bailiff” will read them out loud and make them kneel on washing boards or wash dishes for the restaurants in the form of playing games.

Tong Jiuying, Party branch secretary of Xinmin Village, is also the future bailiff. “We just want tourists to enjoy this ‘feminism game’ after visiting Dazu Rock Carvings which is on the world heritage list,” she said on April 3.

Being whipped for not remembering what kind of make-up your girlfriend wears, or being forced to wash dishes (how emasculating!), are “feminism games?” My word. I think, however, that the use of the word “feminism” in this case was just a matter of poor translation, because earlier in the press release you find this statement:

“The essence of the ‘female-dominated town’ is entertainment showing ‘feminine culture,’ and it has no relationship with the feminism in real life.”

No kidding, this has nothing to do with “feminism in real life.” Feminism is about one thing: equality. Let’s just hope naive tourists don’t walk away thinking otherwise - although, let’s face it: some will.

So the US might be slowly eroding the reproductive rights of women, but across the fence, Mexico City lawmakers have legalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

No doubt the story won’t end here - I’m sure the city’s abortion clinics will find themselves besieged by irate protesters, and no doubt the law will be challenged in court.

But it’s a start, and an important one. Now women will have access to safe and legal treatment, no questions asked, with none of that “only in cases of rape or where the life of the mother is threatened” ballyhoo.

Our Spring 2007 issue, which will be out in a couple of weeks, features a fantastic story by Liz Springate on the power storytelling holds to resist violence against women.

Without giving too much away, the piece tells inspiring tales of small acts women can do to contribute to a culture of resisting violence, the most important of which is sharing stories. I watched one of these moments last night on the news, and was reminded of how insightful Liz’s story is: if you look for it, resistance is everywhere, and recognizing these moments can make us stronger.

The CBC showed an interview with Gurjeet Kaur Ghuman, who was shot by her husband twice, in the head, and lived to talk about it (she is now blind). She spoke passionately about the problem of domestic violence in the Indo-Canadian community in B.C. that has seen several women killed by estranged husbands recently. The community has held town hall meetings to try address the problem, at which women stood up in front of their families and friends and explicitly talked about the violence they experienced. I am sure it was not easy for women to do but, like Liz, I think the more stories we hear, the more empowered we can become to resist a culture of violence.

Look out for Lizs story in our new issue.

If I could tag this entry “random rant”, I’d do it. So let’s pretend that’s what I did. This here is a small rant. About the following:

When was the last time you saw an on-screen conflict between a man and a woman which didn’t result in a passionate kiss, or at minimum where it wasn’t implied that the anger was just a thin layer over something more… carnal.

Because I haven’t seen that happen in for-ever.

(more inside…)

The Guardian reviews Lynne Segal’s memoir. It’s an interesting read on its own, especially if you’re interested in the history of feminism.