Herizons articles from June 2010

Herizons archives from June 2010

Shameful error.(letters)(Correction notice)
June 22, 2010... In the Spring 2010 issue of Herizons, writer Hilary Barlow was incorrectly identified as Hilary Brown in the book review of the book She's Shameless that appeared on page 43. We'd like to apologize to Hilary Barlow for this error.

Mommies yes, women no.(first word)(the need for the G8 Summit to address women's health issues)
June 22, 2010... If women would just shut the fuck up, things would be so much easier. Prime Minister Stephen Harper could be seen as a saviour of dark-skinned mothers and their babies in faraway countries, and perhaps boost his support from female voters at...

Fashion victims.(nelliegrams)(National Eating Disorder Information Centre's campaign against the fashion industry and eating disorders)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The National Eating Disorder Information Centre challenged the fashion industry in the spring to chub up its models (a.k.a. role models) in an effort to stem eating disorders among girls and women. The Toronto...

Stopping traffic.(nelliegrams)(South Africa's human trafficking law)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... South Africa has proposed a human trafficking law that would make any trafficking offence punishable by life in prison. The law would also include provisions to punish those liable for "providing premises for traffickers, transporting victims...

Mothers' treatment ranked.(nelliegrams)(Save the Children's annual ranking of the best countries for mothers and babies to live in)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In Save the Children's annual ranking of the health and well-being of mothers and babies worldwide, Norway, Australia and Sweden have been ranked the world's best countries to live. In compiling its 11th Mothers'...

Sharon McIvor's fight for equality.(analysis)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (OTTAWA) Its intent may be to promote gender equity in Indian registration, but Bill C-3 does not ensure that women and their descendants will be treated the same as men and their descendants for the purposes of...

Irish eyes smiling.(nelliegrams)(Women's Fund for Ireland)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new fund dedicated to mm improving the lives of women was launched in Dublin by Irish President Mary McAlees. The Women's Fund for Ireland will tackle problems including poverty, violence and improving access to...

Climb to the top.(nelliegrams)(South Korean Oh Eun-sun's mountain climbing achievements)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In April, Oh Eun-sun of South Korea became the first woman to climb the world's 14 highest mountains. South Koreans have named her a national hero, reports The New York Times.

Horray for bossy women.(nelliegrams)(increase in number of public service female executives in Canada)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... The percentage of female executives in Canada's public service is approaching the 50 percent mark, according to the government's latest demographic snapshot. Today, 43 percent of federal public service executives are women. In Ottawa, 12 of...

Filmmaker seeks asylum.(nelliegrams)(lesbian Iranian movie director Kiana Firouz)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An international petition has been launched to support lesbian Iranian filmmaker Kiana Firouz, who has been refused asylum in the U.K. and fears she could face the death penalty if she's sent back to her homeland. ...

Navy charts new water.(nelliegrams)(lifting of the ban on women serving on submarines)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... The U.S. military's ban on women serving on submarines was finally lifted in April. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates notified lawmakers in mid-February that the Navy would be lifting the ban, unless Congress took some action against it....

Are women unfair targets?(hiv disclosure)(HIV criminalization)
June 22, 2010... When should someone be charged with spreading HIV? According to Angel Parks, an HIV-positive woman who works at the AIDS Committee of Toronto, the answer is only in "extreme cases." Yet the number of HIV-positive people going to jail on...

Solidarity leader remembered.(nelliegrams)(Anna Walentynowicz)(In memoriam)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Polish solidarity leader Anna Walentynowicz, died in an April 10 plane crash that also killed Poland's president and many of the country's political leaders. Walentynowicz, 80, became an important figure in the...

Discrimination doesn't pay.(nelliegrams)(sex discrimination case of women workers in England)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... Female employees at Birmingham City Council in England won a sex discrimination case that is expected to pay out 600 million British pounds, or more than $900 million Cdn. Women in several types of positions, including care workers, cleaners and...

Doulas attend abortions.(nelliegrams)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... Volunteer doulas in New York City have begun a project that sees them accompany women for abortions performed at a public hospital. The doulas provide relaxation assistance during the procedure and other forms of support, as well as advocacy. ...

Viola desmond pardoned.(nelliegrams)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nine years before Rosa Parks refused to take her place in the back of a bus. Nova Scotia beautician Viola Parks was hauled out of a movie theatre for refusing to move out of the white section of a New Glasgow, N.S....

Film examines male rule.(Gretchen Kelbaugh's documentary "Menocracy")(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new documentary explores Canada's record of electing women to national politics and casts a wider view of the issue internationally. Gretchen Kelbaugh's Menocracy looks at the ramifications of the under-representation...

Mothering group spawns new org.(Association for Research in Mothering and Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... (TORONTO) Following the closure of the Association for Research in Mothering (ARM) this spring, ARM founder Andrea O'Reilly announced the founding of a new organization, the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI)....

Lilith is back!(2010 Lilith Fair Tour)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After an 11-year hiatus, Lilith Tour 2010 kicks off on June 27 in Calgary and will host Canadian concerts in Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Lilith will wrap up on August 16 in Dallas, Texas. From 1997...

Shortchanged women.(nelliegrams)(class action suit by women Wal-Mart employees)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... A U.S. federal court ruled in April that a class action suit of female Wal-Mart employees can proceed. The employees charge that they were paid less than men and given fewer promotions. The Washington Post reported that the 6-to-5 decision by...

Canadian released from Saudi Arabia.(nelliegrams)(a woman named Nazia Quazi was held against her will by her father)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nazia Quazi, a 24-year-old former Ottawa resident, was released in May after being held against her will for almost three years in Saudi Arabia. Quazi's father seized her travel documents while she was visiting him...

Cover up.(cole's notes)(law on Muslim women wearing the niqab)
June 22, 2010... Are you creeped out by the niqab worn by some Muslim women? You're not alone, let me assure you, but you might want to check your assumptions--and your feminist principles Some clarification and background first. The niqab refers to the veil...

Why organic farming will save the world.(Vandana Shiva's views on farming and feminism)(Interview)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Vandana Shiva's philosophies on food sovereignty, consumption, community development and economics have transformed progressive politics around the world. She has also inspired efforts to protect the environment and...

The corridors of queer.(gays in straight relationships)(Essay)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We all know the story. A woman, married for 20 years, goes to a party. There, she locks eyes with a woman with a confident stance and comfortable shoes, and tingles in a way she's never felt before. They talk all...

Digging into the deep: singer-songwriter Sara Quin discusses her musical and political influences, and muses about what the future might hold for Tegan and Sara.(Interview)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While working on their latest album, Sainthood, Tegan and Sara spent a month at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, where Tom Petty, Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac and Nirvana have recorded. One day, Sara Quin found...

Women's Worlds 2011: Connect. Converse. Inclusions, exclusions, seclusions: living in a globalized world 3-7 July 2011. womensworlds.ca.(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From 3-7 July next year, feminists and their allies from across the planet will converge in OttawaGatineau for Women's Worlds 2011. This will be the largest gathering of women from around the world in Canadian...

Justice for all.(former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell's proposal to have gender parity in politics)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The woman who made history as Canada's first female prime minister is alive and well and living in Paris. Kim Campbell says that while some countries have made laudable gains towards gender equity in their parliaments,...

Irish women hope for luck European court could force Ireland to liberalize law.(abortion law)
June 22, 2010... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There were 5,585 women in 2005 who travelled from the Republic of Ireland to England for abortions. Three of them, identified as A., B. and C., are at the centre of an international legal case that aims to force the...

Joni Mitchell: portrait of the artist as a black man.(Essay)
June 22, 2010... As a black woman raised against the backdrop of the U.S. civil rights movement, the songs of Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and James Brown, were and remain, central to my identity. But I was also wowed by flower power hits such as "Our House" and...

Soldier of Love.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... SOLDIER OF LOVE SADE Sony Music [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Remember making out to the jazzy strains of "Smooth Operator"? Then you'll love the new Sade album, Soldier of Love. Just as you have likely traded in the Ikea futon couch for a...

Good Stitch Gone.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... GOOD STITCH GONE YAEL WAND Independent [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Yael Wand's third album Good Stitch Gone highlights a singer-songwriter of uncommon restraint. She never uses two words when one will do and her melodies have a...

Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... HEART SHAPED COOKIE CUTTER L. POUSHINSKY Independent [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There's nothing cookie-cutter about L. Poushinky's debut album Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter. Using traditional cabaret musical structures and borrowing heavily...

The Promise.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... THE PROMISE CORINNE WEST Make Records [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Corinne West is one of those unusual American artists whose loudest accolades come from across the Atlantic. West, who has just released The Promise, her third album, has...

Black Flowers Volume 1-2.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
June 22, 2010... BLACK FLOWERS VOLUME 1-2 LYNN MILES True North [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Black Flowers Volume 1-2 is one of the best Canadian albums I've heard in the last year. Lynn Miles has been creating and teaching music for more than 20 years....

Claudia.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... CLAUDIA BRITT HOLMSTROM Coteau Books [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Claudia, an expansive novel by Saskatchewan's Britt Holmstrom, spans generations and continents. With the lightest of literary hands, Holmstrom manages to explore the...

Oonagh.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... OONAGH MARY TILBERG Cormorant Books [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Set in the 1800s, Oonagh tells the story of one girl's journey from poverty-stricken Ireland to prosperous Upper Canada. The eponymous Oonagh Corcoran is just 18 when she's...

Back and Forth.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... BACK AND FORTH MARTA CHUDOLINSKA Porcupines Quill [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It is exciting to be able to add Back and Forthto the catalogue of contemporary women's stories being told through pictures. Marta Chudolinska takes her place...

The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... THE SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF SEETHA ANDREA GUNRAJ Alfred A. Knopf Canada [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Caribbean town of Marasaw is home to young Navi and Neela, whose mother must leave to find employment in the West as a child...

Animal.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... ANIMAL ALEXANDRA LEGGAT Anvil Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] My favourite Alexandra Leggat story doesn't appear in this collection, though it, too, is about an animal of sorts. In "Impala," from her second collection Meet Me in the...

The Love Children.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... THE LOVE CHILDREN MARILYN FRENCH The Feminist Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Love Children is the story of children born to a generation that defied its government, fought against the Vietnam War, struggled for women's rights,...

Truth and Other Fictions.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... TRUTH AND OTHER FICTIONS EVA TIHANYI Inanna Publications [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In her first collection of short stories, Truth and Other Fictions, Eva Tihanyi employs the powerful word choice of a poet, the careful attention to...

The Last River Child.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... THE LAST RIVER CHILD LORI ANN BLOOMFIELD Second Story Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From time to time, we've all felt a bit like Peg Staynor, an outcast who can never fit in (no fault of her own, of course). The target of whispers...

Poverty: Rights, Social Citizenship and Legal Activism.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... POVERTY: RIGHTS, SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP AND LEGAL ACTIVISM EDITED BY MARGOT YOUNG, SUSAN B. BOYD, GWEN BRODSKY AND SHELAGH DAY UBC Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now is the time to read this book! Although it was published...

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... CHANGING MY MIND: OCCASIONAL ESSAYS ZADIE SMITH Hamish Hamilton Canada [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I had a magnetized New Year's walk with Zadie Smith through her book of essays, Changing My Mind. She had me lured when she made the...

Laid: Young People's Experiences with Sex in an Easy-Access Culture.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... LAID: YOUNG PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCES WITH SEX IN AN EASY-ACCESS CULTURE EDITED BY SHANNON T. BOODRAM Seal Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite the sexiness of the title, Laid: Young People's Experiences with Sex in an Easy-Access...

Captive Bodies: American Women Writers Redefine Pregnancy and Childbirth.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... CAPTIVE BODIES: AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS REDEFINE PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH MARY RUTH MAROTTE Demeter Press FEMINIST MOTHERING EDITED BY ANDREA O'REILLY State University of New York Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Misogyny and the Emcee: Sex, Race and Hip Hop.(Book review)
June 22, 2010... MISOGYNY AND THE EMCEE: SEX, RACE AND HIP HOP EWUARE X. OSAYANDE Machete Media [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Writing before hip-hop rising star Chris Brown plead guilty to assaulting his songstress girlfriend Rihanna earlier this year,...

Choice words for feminists.(on the edge)(controversy over Canadian Senator Nancy Ruth's remarks to women's groups)
June 22, 2010... So Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth dropped the F-bomb. Who cares? Not anyone who understands the issues involved in the incident. Not anyone who thinks it's just fine that women, even senators, on occasion talk dirty in public. Not anyone who...