Briarpatch articles from March 2003

Briarpatch archives from March 2003

Openers.
March 1, 2003... Thank You Edith! Briarpatch readers may have noticed a new name under the Administrator heading on the inside cover, beginning with our February issue. Our long-time friend and superb Administrator Edith Mountjoy has decided to move on....

Women's sexuality.
March 1, 2003... Canadian women have made extraordinary strides in the last century in the struggle for equality, especially since the breakthrough legal decision that women are "persons." (Some women were recognized as persons in 1929, the date was much more...

Sometimes, it's hard to be a woman.
March 1, 2003... Female is fabulous! We live longer and I think that we have more strength, determination, grit and moxie. When a compromised baby is born, many medical personnel offer a prayer of thanks if the baby is a girl as girls seem to survive better and...

Getting paid for it: A single mom explains how a lack of support can push women into the decision to rent out their bodies.
March 1, 2003... "Executive Escorts Wanted." The ad in the classified section of the Regina Leader-Post was vague and euphemistic. The word "executive" didn't fool me into believing that sex work was glamorous, or that it would lead to a high-status career--on...

The Vagina Monologues.
March 1, 2003... Kate Bissell knows orgasms all too well. From moaning elegantly to letting out an intense multifaceted climactic noise, Bissell can fake all the sounds of an orgasm. She can pant like a dog, yodel from a mountaintop or make a deep-in-the-throat...

Hate rape: A look at the many ways that civilian women become targets during a war.
March 1, 2003... WAR The focus of war is usually for control of resources, power and money. It is in the context of global capitalism, profit seeking, weakening states, poverty, and a growing culture of violence that unprecedented militarization has...

African women against mutilation: they are getting it outlawed, now they need help for an education campaign to make it a reality.
March 1, 2003... Our ongoing campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) exists within the context of years of work and struggle by women's movements and organizations in various countries across the African continent. The practice calls for a young girl's...

Sexuality: during the childbearing year.
March 1, 2003... Many pregnant women feel proud, lush and fertile. They become the Earth Mother, doing what their bodies are beautifully designed to do. They appreciate their expanding belly, take awe in the movements within, and accept the fluid retention or...

When Love Hurts.(abusive dating relationships)
March 1, 2003... HOPE After you once raised your voice to me Then your hand Then your fist I lost respect for you for myself for us -- what we once were And never will be again I live in hope that you will change that I won't...

Engendering dichotomies: our fixation with labeling people and forcing them into tightly defined categories is contrary to our struggle for equality for all.
March 1, 2003... In most legal and official documents we complete in our culture, it is mandatory to identify our sex. Why is it imperative that we disclose our sex to apply for a bank loan, department store reward card or university enrollment? Our culture...

Save sex or safe sex?
March 1, 2003... I am sitting on the bus, going to school, looking at another advertisement for chastity. The "save sex" campaign. I am trying to figure out what this particular message is trying to portray. I ask the guy next to me. He explains that what they...

Beware Young Girls.(Poem)
March 1, 2003... Beware Young Girls. Lee Middleton She sits and tries to talk, and smiles the while, but he, gives no response, she's fifteen (tops) and rocks his child in a carriage, in a coffee shop; ...

Ribbons of Hope: The journey of healing for women living with AIDS, or al high risk, is made easier by a path to this program.
March 1, 2003... As AIDS service organizations continue to be a necessity in our society, we need to look at the bigger picture. In the early years of the AIDS crisis, the numbers of those infected did not include women as a group at risk. Now as we look at the...

So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter.(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2003... Ani Difranco Righteous Babe Records, 2002 www.righteousbabe.com I've just received this live recording and I can't stop playing it. I don't know if it is from hearing old material done in a new way, the 6 piece band that...

Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Laura Robinson HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Toronto, 2002 I've been told on several occasions that children learn life lessons from sports, and I agree. Through athletics, children learn to share and co-operate. They learn about success...

The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt Greenery Press, San Francisco, 1997 Although a few years old already, this possibly mistitled book is a good read for anyone interested in relationships. The title seems to be more of an attention...

Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years, 1960-1975.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz City Lights Books, San Francisco, 2001. As resistance movements against global capitalism and American domination continue to grow, the need for multigenerational dialogue about lessons learned and experiences from...

Message in the music. (Artist's Voices).(Ember Swift)
March 1, 2003... "If I didn't combine music and activism, I wouldn't be myself." For Ember Swift, using music as a tool for inspiring and evoking change just makes sense. The passionate independent artist from Toronto grew up with strong opinions....

Are you a feminist? (My Opinion).
March 1, 2003... Just for the record, I don't hate men. I'm not angry (although I have every right to be). And yes, I do shave my armpits. I guess this must mean I'm not a feminist because, after all, every feminist is out to destroy men. Oh, and they're all...