{"@context":{"@language":"en","AIPUUID":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP","AggregatedSourceRepository":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","CatalogueRecord":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","Collection":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","DateAvailable":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","DateIssued":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","FileFormat":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","FullText":"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note","Genre":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/hasType","Identifier":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/identifier","IsShownAt":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/isShownAt","Language":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/language","Notes":"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note","Provider":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/provider","Publisher":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/publisher","Rights":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights","SortDate":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/date","Source":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","Subject":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","Title":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/title","Type":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/type","Translation":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description"},"AIPUUID":[{"@value":"dcba470b-bf9f-4dd0-b1ee-c96d4904a40b","@language":"en"}],"AggregatedSourceRepository":[{"@value":"CONTENTdm","@language":"en"}],"CatalogueRecord":[{"@value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=1213576","@language":"en"}],"Collection":[{"@value":"Kinesis","@language":"en"}],"DateAvailable":[{"@value":"2013-08-15","@language":"en"}],"DateIssued":[{"@value":"1982-11-01","@language":"en"}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"@value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/kinesis\/items\/1.0045597\/source.json","@language":"en"}],"FileFormat":[{"@value":"application\/pdf","@language":"en"}],"FullText":[{"@value":" VMJIDM Special Collections Serial j 3 It's election time in Vancouver. Kinesis looks at what City Hall has done for women in the past year and who's fighting it out for the school board. 7 Are volunteers cheating the unemployed? Brig Anderson analyzes the history of women and volunteerism in North America. 8 The struggle in Ireland continues as women from both the North and South attempt to forge a strong feminist movement. 10 What is the relationship between pelvic infection and the IUD? Maureen Moore provides up to date research on the dangers of the IUD and PID symptoms. COVER: Photo by Tana Hoban\/design by Ava Weiss; taken from Deborah Hautzig's novel for young girls Hey Dollface. Hautizig was twenty-one when she published her first novel about two young women's journey into adulthood. 14 Jeny Evans talks about her experiences in high school and the need for young feminists to combat sexism in the classroom, the family and personal relationships. 19 Anne Rayvels interviewed prisoner rights activist Claire Culhane about the position of young women in Canadian jails. 20 Alice Munro's latest book just hit the shelves. Cy-Thea Sand reviews this collection of short stories. 25 When Rachel Rocco went to the Westcoast Women's Music Festival she expected to find a political gathering of women. It didn't happen. SUBSCRIBE TO KMEJIJ Published 10 times a year by Vancouver Status of Women 400A West 5th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J8 \u25a1 VSW membership - includes Kinesis subscription - $20 (or what you can afford) \u25a1 Kinesis subscription only - $13 \u25a1 Institutions - $40 \u25a1 Sustainers - $75 Name Address_ Phone .Amount Enclosed_ Please remember that VSW operates on inadequate funding \u2014 we need member support! \/tmesis Although it has been argued that disarmament is a federal issue, not a municipal one, approximately 60 Canadian cities have agreed to conduct referendums on the issue. Supporters of a municipal ballot argue that the gruesome reality of a nuclear war would be met by the cities, many of which would be targets and all of which Women step up anti-porn action harbour the vast concentration of the country's population. 'Alien Vancouver voters go to the polls on November 20. they will have the opportunity to say no to nuclear build-up. Given the overwhelming support for anti-nuclear protest seen In this city during the past summer we can expect Vancouver voters will take advantage of the referendum. This issue, Kinesis looks at City Hall's performance over the past year and the contest shaping up in the school board elections. See pages 3 and 4. Younger sister, Older sister What are the problems confronting young women in high school these days? Does the Women's Movement make room for the voice and visions of younger feminists? Against the much reported anti-feminist back lash in the schools, written up by the commercial media, several young women speak out about their own oppression and isolation in a world that still does not tolerate deviance in behaviour, fashion or cultural expression. Younger Sister, Older Sister is a special supplement in this month's issue of Kinesis where young women in Vancouver tell part of their story. Are we listening? p. 13 by Pat Fiendel For several months now women's groups in B.C. have been demanding local Crown Counsels and Attorney-General Allan Williams take legal action against Red Hot Video and its. imitators. The company has opened 12 outlets in the Lower Mainland., and another in Victoria, all of which distribute pornographic videotapes. Women are protesting the blatant violence directed toward women in Red Hot Video's materials, many of which include beatings (women tied up or hung upside down, beaten and sexually abused), rapes, gang rapes, and coercive sex with juveniles. These materials are defined by feminist protesters as 'hate propaganda' directed exclusively at one group \u2014 women. There is no doubt, the Concerned Citizens of the North Shore say, that the content of several of the tapes currently available from Red Hot Video violate both the Criminal Code of Canada (see October's Kinesis, p. 18) and the B.C. Guidelines on pornography . Both the North Shore Women's Centre and Port Coquitlam Women's Centre have brought specific tapes to the attention of Crown Counsel in their regions. So far, no charges have been laid, although Crown Counsels say at least some of the tapes are clearly violating obscenity laws. Red Hot Video has been politely asked to remove the offending tapes from its shelves, or tapes targetted by women's groups have mysteriously disappeared from shelves just as their content is made public. {Red Hot Video's lawyer, Mark Dwor, admits that between 25 and 30 tapes have been taken from the shelves.) However, when one tape ordered off the shelves {Never a Tender Moment), was found to be available several weeks later, Vancouver Regional Crown Counsel Sean Madigan's response was \"they might have forgotten to remove it\" (at best, a questionable legal defense). Women are not satisfied with. . quietly removing tapes, one by one, from the shelves. North Shore women insist on a prosecution by the Crown to prevent the proliferation of outlets like Red Hot Video. After months of writing letters and telegrams to Allan Williams, Crown Counsels, mayors, Customs officials, MLA's, MP's and government representatives of the Status of Women, they have refused to give up. Recent pro tests target the Red Hot Video \"Special Handbook\", a glossy colour illustrated pamphlet which lists tapes by subject category, including \"rape and gangbang\", \"incest\", \"young girls\", and \"first sex experience\". There are no titles, just film numbers and general descriptive comments about each category. A separate cross-reference catalogue lists numbers with their titles. The Handbook also includes colour photographs, among them a full-page \"glossy\" showing a woman lying on a mattress in a shed, being held down by one man while another rapes her and a third watches with a beer bottle in his hand. The woman is displaying obvious pain and unwillingness. The caption reads \"Kelly Nichols gets gangbanged in 'Roommates'\". Vancouver Crown Counsel Sean Madigan calls the catalogue a \"sort of Playboy thing\" and is not \"overly alarmed\" by it. His reasons for refusing to prosecute have included such legally weighty arguments as: the courts are too busy, prosecution does not \"solve\" the pornography \"business\", and it is just too difficult to get a conviction. After viewing five tapes, North Vancouver Crown Counsel's office admitted two tapes clearly violated B.C. Guidelines, but dismissed the others. One was dismissed for \"poor quality\" acting, another because of a \"not particularly believable\" story. Both tapes included rape scenes. In a letter dated September 13, 1982, to a North Shore resident, Allan Williams said, \"Material depicting explicit sex with violence, including the beating and rape of women, in my view does contravene community standards, and therefore the Guidelines, and may be the subject of prosecution.\" As far back as June 22\/82, Williams stated in the Legislature that he saw no reason why prosecution would not be possible, and on October 5, he publicly stated that obscenity laws would be upheld in B.C. After the Handbook was brought to his attention recently, he said the criminal justice division \"is examining this entire area and is considering what action may be taken\". To date, no charge has been laid against Red Hot Video for any tape on its shelves or for the Handbook catalogue. continued on p. 2 Kinesis November 82 MOVEMENT MATTERS Single moms growing strong by Anne Rayvels Rosemary Brown, NDP Human Resources Critic opened the Fourth Annual Single Mothers Symposium saying that women coming together, working together and sharing together is a wonderful beginning. The YWCA sponsored event was held October 22-24 in Vancouver. Brown said that women have alwyas been blamed for marriage breakups and that for years \"we have accepted the blame. If we were beaten, or if we got old, it was our fault,\" said Brown, adding that in the 20th century there-has been a change. \"We can take care of ourselves,\" said Brown. \"We have always taken care of ourselves \u2014 and everybody else. We really can survive and this coming together is a good sign that we are.\" Two lawyers, Gayle Raphanel and Joanne Rahson gave the keynote address at the * symposium \u2014 Surviving the Reality. Legal aid cutbacks, said Raphanel, mean family law is no longer covered unless it is an urgent matter, such as the protection of children. Basically no one is entitled now to legal assistance in court unless they can pay for it. She compared the present situation to a storm at sea where the cry of \"Man the lifeboats \u2014 women and chil- ren first I\" rings out. The women and chil dren first.'\" rings out. The women and children are put into a small life boat KMEJiJ KINESIS is published ten times a year by Vancouver Status of Women. Its objectives are to enhance understanding about the changing position of women in society and work actively towards achieving social change. VIEWS EXPRESSED IN KINESIS are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect VSW policy. All unsigned material is the responsibility of the Kinesis editorial group. CORRESPONDENCE: Kinesis, Vancouver Status of Women, 400A West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J8. MEMBERSHIP in Vancouver Status of Women is $20\/year (or what you can afford). This includes a subscription to Kinesis. Individual subscriptions to Kinesis are $13\/year. SUBMISSIONS are welcome. We reserve the right to edit, and submission does not guarantee publication. WORKERS THIS ISSUE: Janet Berry, Jan DeGrass, Cole Dudley, Pat Fiendel, Patty Gibson, Melissa Jacques, Debra Lewis, Hilarie Mackie, Louise Miller, Janet Morgan, Dianne Morrison, Elizabeth Shackleford, Anne Rayvels, Rachel Rocco, Rosemarie Rupps, Deb Wilson, Michele Wollstonecroft, Joan Woodward. Esther Shannon and Casey Crawford. Thanks to Dorothy and Robin at Makara. DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: November 15 for December 1 publication. All copy must be double-spaced, typewritten. Late copy will be printed as space permits. with one paddle and thrust out to sea. Raphenal continued the analogy saying that during a storm, you have to get rid of the deadwood, and women and children are now considered part of the deadwood. Now that women must go through the courts completely unaided, Raphenal said, we must band together and make our voices heard. She said we can write letters to the Attorney General, and organize around these cutbacks because \"this treatment is unacceptable and inhumane\". Joanne Ranson urged women to find out about their rights. She said information can be obtained from the YWCA, the Vancouver People's Law School, women's groups and she encouraged women to go to the courts just to watch and listen. Charges dismissed against Body Politic The injustice of harassing The Body Politic on charges of obscenity at a time when the Attorney-General has turned a blind eye to much more explicit and violent pornographic material only exposes the legalized harassment of gays and demonstrates that censorship of the press is possible. The content of the original article and of its 1982 successor \"Lust with a very Proper Stranger\" (also charged as obscene) have become almost incidental to the proceedings. On November 1 a new trial opened, but charges were dismissed after the defence argued that the paper was protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So far, The Body Politic has spent over $80,000 in legal fees and expects to land in debt this year. Donations can be sent to: TBP Free the Press Fund, c\/o Box 7289, Stn. A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1X9. Payable to Lynn King in Trust for TBP. Since the appearance of a now infamous article, \"Men ioving Boys Loving Men\", in 1977, The Body Politic, a Toronto magazine for gays, has been subjected to police search and seizures, trial and harassment. All nine members of the collective have been charged with \"publishing obscene written matter\", some of them more than once. They have been tried, acquitted, subjected to re-trial and acquitted once more. On July 13th of this year the Crown served notice that it had appealed the second acquittal, causing even the conservative Globe and Mail to editoralize that the Attorney-General's office must have a \"prosecution complex\". Family court procedures are long and involved, but if women know what these proceedings are, they would be in a better position to understand what is happening in their own case. One source of help is the Lawyers' Referral Service which charges $10 for half an hour's information. Ranson said some laywers give one initial free consultation and the family courts will help make out necessary documents. She said information can also be received from the Supreme Court registry and student legal advice programs. Jean Swanson, NDP candidate for Little Mountain, facilitated a workshop on employment. She summed up the discussion by saying that when the economy is bad, women, racial minorities and handicapped are the hardest hit. Women have alwyas been victims of wage discrimination and \"even employed women are poor\". She said it is profitable for governments to discriminate against women. In 1978 in Ontario, it was estimated that if women had received equal pay, government profits would have been $7 billion less. The childcare workshop recommended that an information centre about daycares in the city be set up which could also coordinate information between daycare centres. They also recommended pooling information to set up baby-sitting cooperatives in the community. They believe there Is a need for extended daycare for people on shift work and said that presently there is no arrangement for children who are sick. Currently, Granny Y's offers emergency daycare for children from three months to five years, and the B.C. Daycare Coalition meets at Langara the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Other workshops included housing, assertiveness, creative employment, creative play for moms and kids, legal problems and sexuality. The theme \"Single Moms are Growing Strong\" was very clear in both the workshops and in private discussions where women demonstrated their interest and eagerness to take greater control of their situations. Morgentaler plan watched Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry said he will watch Henry Morgentaler's plans to set up an abortion clinic in-Toronto, and if the doctor breaks the law he will be prosecuted. McMurtry said he has not heard from Morgentaler but a number of people have told him of the doctor's intention to set up a Toronto clinic within the next few weeks. Morgentaler, who has been tried and acquitted three times for performing illegal abortions in Quebec, is planning to set up clinics in Winnipeg and Toronto within the next few weeks. (Globe and Mail) Federal soliciting law unlikely The House of Commons justice committe, currently examining the issue of street soliciting by prostitutes, is unlikely to recommend action to Parliment for at least another year - if ever. Besides waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Court on the challenge to Calgary's anti-soliciting by-law by prostitute Lenore Westendorp, the committee is badly split on the the issue. Some MPs are calling for a tougher Criminal Code, while others favor \"desexualizing\" the Code to allow prostitutes to work in peace. November 82 Kinesis 3 CITY ELECTIONS So what's City Hall done for women? As the civic elections approach in Vancouver, it seems like a good time to take stock of Vancouver Status of Women's involvement in civic issues, and to briefly examine what this City Council has done for the women of Vancouver. You will probably remember that in January 1981, members of the Vancouver Municipal Regional Employees Union\u2014the staff at City Hall\u2014went out on strike in an attempt to gain equalization of base pay rates, a first tactical step towards equal pay for work of equal value. Out of a Council that has supposedly committed itself to an affirmative action program for women and minorities, a grand total of three aldermen respected the union's picket line. These were Rankin, Erikson and York, all from the COPE slate. In February, 1982, Vancouver Status of Women presented a brief to Council supporting a Ward System for the City of Vancouver. VSW has been presenting briefs on this issue since 1976, on the grounds that to effect participation for all women in civic politics, community accessibility and accountability are imperative. Vancouver is one of the few large cities in Canada where there are still no wards. NPA aldermen still oppose wards, even though a plebiscite held a few years ago showed a majority of Vancouver voters support them. In March of this year, women were outraged by a report in the Ubyssey of a speech made by city councilor Nathan Divinsky. In reference to single mothers who keep their children, he was reported to have said that \"no one ever asked her to uncross her legs\". VSW sent a letter to Council, demanding a public apology from Mr. Divinsky. The alderman subsequently apologized, \"regretting any statements... causing your organization any discomfort\". On the brighter side, Council voted in the same month to fund VSW its one salary for yet another year. Alderman George Puil (NPA) made his usual comment about not supporting the status of women until there is a \"status of men\". His strong \"no\" vote was echoed by Alderman Warnett Kennedy (NPA), showing us again that we still have a long way to go. . Reva Dexter was hired on a ten-month contract as the Equal Employment Opportunities officer to reactivate the affirmative action program at City Hall. (Remember Shelagh Day?) Dexter was given a fairly restrictive mandate by Council\u2014for instance, the Fire Department was off limits. Council also struck an Affirmative Action Review Committee which included the unions at City Hall, the Human Rights Branch, and VSW representing women. This committee was an advisory body only, therefore VSW's participation was often a disappointing experience. On a positive note, however, VSW provided feminist input to the revision of the City's job application form. VSW is waiting to see if the program will be continued with a stronger mandate from Council. RALUf VANCOUVER CITY HALL .gquALPAV, (VAKOUVEfc f\u00a3r\u00bb 1 |MISEU\u00bbS TUESDAY MARCH 31 V.S.W. surveys civic candidates Early in October VSW sent questionnaires to Mayoral and Aldermanic candidates running in the November 20 civic election. All candidates for mayor, the NPA and COPE slates, and aldermanic ineumbants seeking re-election were contacted. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach independent aldermanic candidates. The overall return rate was shockingly low: two of the four mayoral candidates, and only six aldermanic candidates submitted completed questionnaires. MAYOR Neither Jonathan Baker (NPA) nor David Ingram, a tax consultatnt running as an independent, responded to the questionnaire, which leads us to question how responsive either of these two candidates would be to women and their organizations if elected. Incumbent Michael Harcourt and Independent Ned Dmytryshyn (supported by the Revolutionary Workers League) both supported municipal funding for VSW and community Continued on p. 4 continued from p. 1 Copies of the catalogue purchased recently, however, have been noticeably altered with a black felt pen: under the subject category \"anal sex, bondage and discipline\", the subcategory \"sadism and masochism\" has been crossed out; under \"first sex experience\" the comment \"includes both willing and unwilling virgins\" has been crossed out; under \"young girls\" the comment \"most films try to have youthful looking girls. These are thematic films about pubescent females\" has been crossed out; and the entire category \"rape and gangbangs\" with the comment \"rape and gangbangs are pretty much standard fare in bondage films\" have been crossed out. This is not to say that any of the films under each category (the numbers are still readable), have been withdrawn from circulation. During the last week of October, Rape Relief lodged a complaint against the Red Hot Video catalogue with their local police department. (Groups and individuals are encouraged to do the same.) Port Coquitlam women have picketted Red Hot Video and written letters, pushing for prosecution in their region. A Victoria Anti-Pornography Action Group staged an event where they destroyed copies of the film, Snuff, in front of television cameras. North Shore Concerned Citizens continue to vocalize their concerns to Allan Williams and the press. During a recent showing of Pretty Baby at the Vancouver East Cinema, a group of women picketted and gave out information leaflets criticizing the film for its sexual exploitation of a 12-year-old girl and its implicit support of child sexual abuse. Meanwhile, new anti-pornography groups are emerging: People Against Pornography is circulating a petition in Vancouver; an Anti-Pornography Action Group has started up in the Little Mountain neighbourhood; and Media Watch, from the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, is holding a meeting in November to discuss possible action. (For more information on these groups call Vancouver Status of Women.) Kinesis readers who want to see an end to the distribution of hate propaganda against women should write to Allan Williams in Victoria, your MLA and MP, the daily papers, and, if possible, start an action group in your own area. The more voices that speak out, the sooner the situation will change. For further information: Take Back the Night - Women on Pornogrphy, ed. Laura Lederer. Two paperback editions available: Bantam ($4.50) and Morrow Quill Paperbacks ($11.25), 1980. An excellent anthology including feminist analysis, research and action strate- Kinesis November 82 CITY ELECTIONS School board slates polarized on education crisis by Louise Miller The public education system is in a crisis. Vancouver's 50,000 students are threatened with losing the quality of education that has developed in our schools over decades. The 1982 civic election will influence how this situation will be addressed. Increasingly, children in general, and those with special needs have been served by progressive school board policies. However, in the spring of 1982, the Social Credit government began to seriously constrict education funding. Its \"Public Restraint Program\" dictated ceilings on public spending, and School Boards were told to revise their budgets. Services such as busing in rural areas, school building maintenance programs, and the hiring of school counsellors and librarians were redefined as \"extras\". The provincial government also implemented a new financial formula for education that reduces the tax base for school boards. The new formula allows the Minister of Education more control over education and limits the financial powers of the local school districts. The provincial government now collects commercial and industrial property taxes, and school districts are limited to collecting residential property taxes. Local control over education resources is further restricted by the Ministry's new authority to limit operating budgets. The Vancouver School Board (VSB) was forced to reduce its 1982 budget by $6 million which affected school maintenance, children's school supplies, teacher aids and custodial staff. The Board expects $15 million will be withdrawn from the budget in 1983. In the meantime, projects such as B.C. Place continue to deplete public funds, while education has become a lower priority for the Social Credit government. The Vancouver School Board elections are dominated by two polarized civie organizations: the Civic Non-Partisan Association (NPA) and the Committee of Progressive Electors (COPE). Each \"party\" has nominated nine candidates for the nine-member board, while three other candidates are running as independents. The NPA is presenting voters with a skeletal statement which belies the \"non-partisan\" declaration. NPA's seven-point statement on education complements Social Credit education policies. It emphasizes \"traditional elements of curriculum; regaining fiscal control; effective utilization of School Board personnel; that \"maintenance of high standards of achievement can be assisted through .testing and examinations\"; evaluation of teachers' skills so as to pro- Continued from p. 1 women's centres, the ward system, greater control of demolition of housing stock, crisis facilities for women, immediate improvement in the lighting of streets and bus stops, promotion of after-hour childcare facilities, the Equal Opportunities Program and rent controls. ALDERPERSON Responding candidates included Helen Boyce (Independent), May Brown (TEAM), Bruce Erikson (COPE), Marguerite Ford (TEAM), Harry Rankin (COPE), and Dominic Watson (NPA). For the most part, they support all of the above issues with the following exceptions: Boyce opposes a ward system for Vancouver, and in principle funding for community women's centres. Brown says controlling demolition of existing housing stock will not solve the housing crisis. Ford opposes funding for community women's centres and supports a limited form of rent controls. Watson opposes municipal funding for VSW and community women's centres, and does not take a position on the ward system. He opposes controlling demolition of existing housing stock suitable for families, the Equal Opportunities Program and rent controls. ON PORNOGRAPHY May Brown took the strongest position on pornography, saying it must be stopped and all legal routes accessible to City Hall must be searched. She favoured raising the license fee to curb businesses selling pornography. Ford believes prosecution for obscenity is the only way for the City to deal with the sale of pornography, and Boyce promises to continue to lobby senior governments to tighten laws as well as phase out the licensing of porn outlets. Erikson simply says the City has no jurisdiction in the area and Watson says he is prepared to study and evaluate the extent of the problem, but freedom of information and expression are important issues. \"'Degradation'\", says Watson, \"is a complex word.\" Rankin was not specific, but indicated he is opposed to the sale of violent pornography. ON SOLICITING All responding candidates appear to support the \"street activity by-law\" passed by Council in April. The stated purpose of the controversial by-law is to\"prohibit the sale and purchase of sexual services\" in public places. When candidates were asked if they would consider alternatives that would, for example, control instances of public sexual harassment, important differences emerged between the responses. Boyce is willing to consider alternatives but did not proved any details. Brown believes public sexual harassment is often more subtle than soliciting and cannot be curbed by the current by-law. She would support other measures. Ford says public sexual harassment is more of a menace than prostitution and would support measures to control the problem. By comparison the responses from male ald- ermantic candidates indicate they do not appreciate the seriousness of public public harassment for women. Erikson says the current by-law controls public sexual har- rassment as it stands. Watson dwelled on male prostitution. Rankin stated \"I look to a society that does not have prostitution. Not little mickey mouse changes.\" mote accountability; and finally, the need for a commission \"to provide parents, teachers and taxpayers with a full understanding of province-wdie educational aims and responsible costs\". NPA's brief proclamation suggests a spectre of \"the three R's\". There is no evidence in the NPA leaflet that a school board under its control would challenge the decreases in resources available for education. (In 1979, while the VSB was dominated by seven members of the NPA, the operating budget was reduced by $2.2 million.) COPE held a majority on the VSB during 1981 and 1982. During that time, the VSB recognized special needs of handicapped, native and immigrant children as well as potential school drop-outs. It has also addressed issues such as racism, nutrition, drinking and driving, women's issues, labour studies and the peace movement. The VSB is also fighting against the Social Credit \"Restraint Program\", and COPE promises to continue those efforts if re-elected. COPE's relatively comprehensive education platform and policy includes policy statements regarding a visible and active role for school trustees; a broader school curriculum; services to immigrant and ethnic communities; children with disabilities; improvements to relations between trustees, teachers, students and the public; health and nutrition; testing as a small part of student evaluation; and efforts to eliminate sexism. According to campaign promises, COPE trustees will ensure that all programs in Vancouver schools are open to children of both sexes. They also emphasize that physical activity programs should include mass participation and teach lifetime physical fitness skills. Further, COPE would like to survey all schools regarding progress in reducing sexism. COPE would also like to appoint more women to \"positions of special responsibility\" in schools. At the time of publication, the policies of the three independent candidates were not accessible. However, if you care about our public school system, this election is crucial. Investigate the positions of all candidates, and do VOTE! November 82 Kinesis RAPE LEGISLATION Past sexual history The Victim on Trial by Joanne Ranson (This is the second in a series of articles examining existing rape laws and the pending rape legislation \u2014 Bill C-127. ) Sexual offences are the only criminal offences where the victim's past sexual behavior is consistently used to assist the accused in escaping responsibility for his criminal actions. No one would even consider asking the victim of a robbery, whether he had on previous occasions given his money away. And, indeed, if he had, no one would consider such evidence could be used to prove that he in fact probably gave his money to the accused and, therefore had not been robbed. Nor would anyone suggest to the victim of a kidnapping that because he previously had willingly gone on a secluded holiday with someone, he probably consented to go with his kidnapper on the occasion in question. These examples seem ridiculous\u2014 and they are. The reason is that society, particularly the courts, assume robbery and kidnapping are primarily acts of violence and force carried out against the integrity of the person. On the other hand, society and, again, particularly the courts, assume sexual offences result primarily from sex. Historically rape has been seen in this way: a man who has been seeking a sexual encounter with a woman forces her to submit to his overwhelming sexual desires. When she refuses it is because of this focus on sex rather than violence, that society has brought its moral attitudes regarding women's sexuality to bear on cases of rape and have thus considered the past sexual history of the victim \u2014 with both the accused and with other men \u2014 to be important evidence. Under existing rape laws a victim may be questioned regarding her past sexual behavior. If the questions relate to sexual relations with the accused person, the law provides absolutely no restrictions. Some restrictions are provided if the questioning concerns the victim's sexual relations with other men. First, the accused must give reasonable notice in writing to the prosecutor of his intention to ask such questions and must indicate what evidence he expects to get from these questions. The judge will then allow the questions to be asked in the absence of the jury (a private hearing) to decide whether the evidence relates to an 'issue of fact' (usually the issue of consent) or to the credibility of the victim. If the judge decides the evidence is relevant then it may be used during the trial in the presence of the jury. At present if the victim is asked such questions, she must answer. If the accused doesn't like her answers, he may bring his own witnesses to try and prove something different (i.e. he 'adduces' evidence). How does the court use evidence of the victim's past sexual history to assist the accused? It has been used most frequently, in two ways. The first is to attack the credibility of the victim. The historical reasoning has been that if a woman had a history of sexual encounters she was then considered to be immoral; and, a jury was entitled to believe that an immoral woman would not give truthful ^evidence. The second way this evidence has been used is to try to prove that the victim really consented to intercourse with the accused and was not forced. The centuries-old reasoning for this has been that if a woman consented to intercourse with other men in the past, and her behavior concerning those sexual encounters, where she consented, is shown to be very similar to the circumstances in the present situation. It may then be evidence that she really consented this time. Let's look at a possible example of this: The victim has stated that she attended a local night club where the accused approached her and after some time, conversation and a couple of drinks, he offered to drive her home. She accepted. He walked her to the door of her home, embraced her and suggested he come in. She declined, he became violent, forced his way in and raped her. The accused, however, at trial brings evidence (by questioning the victim and bringing his own witnesses) that on two earlier occasions in the past year the victim attended the same night club, and on each occasion went home with a man, invited him into her home and consented to intercourse with him. The accused would same as the earlier ones, she consented then and she consented with him. And, we might expect, in these circumstances, unless this victim could show she was severely beaten or threatened with a weapon, that the accused's argument would be accepted and he would escape conviction. We, as women, are quite aware that sexual offences do not derive primarily from men's uncontrollable sexual desires. Rather, they result from men's desire to dominate (and their belief in their dominance) which leads to violence carried out by sexually assaulting and degrading women. In the course and history of developing the pending legislation (Bill C-127) we were told it was the intention of the government to have society and the courts both recognize and emphasize the primarily violent nature of sexual offences. Some women's groups who did make representations to the government indicated that the laws would have to be changed in at least two ways to achieve this recognition and reemphasis that was promised. First, the existing offences would have to be removed from the Criminal Code section dealing with morality and placed in the section dealing with assault and offences against the person. Second, the law would no longer be able to use the past sexual history of the victim as evidence. The government indeed followed the first suggestion, hoping to convince women that they had truly dealt with our concerns. However, they did not follow the second suggestion, but only added some restrictions on the use of past sexual history evidence. It should be noted that the government made no restrictions regarding past sexual relations between the accused and the victim and so questioning in this regard is still unlimited. The legislation, however, does provide some restrictions regarding her past sexual history with other men. It states that the accused may not \"adduce evidence\" (that is bring forward evidence himself) about this unless: a) it is used to rebut any evidence of the victim that she did or did not engage in other sexual encounters in the past; b) it is evidence relating to proving the identity of the man who committed the offence; or c) it is evidence of sexual behavior with other( s) which occurred at the same time that the accused 'allegedly' assaulted her and can therefore indicate that she consented to the actions of the accused. But even though the accused is restricted in regard to evidence he brings himself it appears he may still question the victim about her past sexual history in the same way he could before. While the legislation also says that if questioned the victim can no longer be compelled to answer, she may find herself in a catch- 22 situation. If she answers, her evidence may be used against her. If she doesn't answer, will the court assume she is hiding some dreadful secret? One further, and long overdue, restriction in the legislation is that the accused may not use evidence of the victim's past sexual history to attack her credibility. At last a woman's sexual experiences do not define her as immoral or a liar. What will be effect of retaining the use of evidence of past sexual history of the victim? First, along with the use of the defence of honest belief in consent (explored in the last issue of Kinesis) it will assist in preventing a man from being convicted of sexually assaulting his wife, because he may always bring evidence of Women are quite aware that sexual offences do not derive from man's uncontrollable sexual drive. They result from a desire to dominate. the sexual history between himself and his victim and apply that evidence to prove her consent. Eurther, it will continue to permit the courts to concentrate on the morality and sex aspects of the offences thereby allowing their attitudes regarding women's sexuality to affect the outcome of a trial. As long as society and the courts are permitted to hold on to the belief that sexual assaults are primarily the result of a man's desire to have a sexual encounter, and as long as they refuse to fully acknowledge that sexual assaults are violent acts resulting from a man's desire to dominate and from his disregard for the integrity of women, the courts will be able to put the victim of sexual assaults on trial, and be able to carry out a degrading 'second rape' by challenging and scrutinizing the most intimate aspects of her life \u2014 all in the name of justice. November 82 $iLM\u00abJ?}\u00a3rt& Distacom workers win settlement SORWUC, Local 1 won $2500 for 18 Distacom workers in a settlement negotiated out of a technological change arbitration. Distacom is a paging service in downtown Vancouver. The operators at the Dispatch Centre were certified with Local 1 in May of 1980. The organizers fought management's union busting tactics (suspensions, intimidation, offers of promotion) through almost 18 months of difficult negotiations to sign a solid first contract. Two months after the contract was ratified, management announced lay-offs and disruptive changes in scheduling. Since the lay-offs came on the heels of the installation of a new paging beeper system that bypassed operators, the union grieved that the lay-offs were due to tech change. The settlement upheld an important precedent that all employees bumped by lay-offs, including casual on call, are entitled to compensation; and was a victory for part-time workers who are so often used as a pool of available labour. Hospital union gets maternity leave Vancouver. Employees at Crofton Manor, represented by the Hospital Employees Union (HEU), have won important advances in maternity leave in their third contract . The paid maternity leave is 18 weeks long and employees receive the difference between their Unemployment Insurance benefits and 93$ of their normal weekly earnings. The current practise under other HEU contracts is for employees to receive 18 weeks maternity leave at 66 2\/3$ of their current salary. The new clause at Crofton Manor amounts to an additional 40 days paid leave over the previous contract. In addition, HEU negotiated extended leaves of absence of six months to be taken by either parent after the paid' maternity leave runs out. This clause represents a major breakthrough in being the first to provide for either parent to stay home to care for the child. The Hospital Guardian Health workers strike against Reagan Philadelphia, Pa. Workers in 13 Philadelphia hospitals, represented by the National Union of Hospital and Health Care workers, came up with a novel and effective way of fighting government health care cutbacks. The workers, mostly women, saw their jobs as nurse's aides, housekeepers, and laundry workers threatened by Ronald Reagan's excalating social service cutbacks. They voted to strike, not against their employers \u2014 the hospitals, but against the federal government. Coming predominantly from the bottom of the economic ladder, the women were concerned not only with job losses but also with how the cutbacks were eroding health care for Philadelphia's poor. Months of talks with government officials accomplished nothing. The plans for strike action resulted in government funds being funneled to the three area hospitals slated for closure, and put a stop to a serious loss of health care facilities. Off Our Backs Equal Pay Kit now available EPIC, the Equal Pay Information Committee, an ad hoc group of trade unionists studying the issue of equal pay, has produced an Equal Pay Kit entitled Of Epic Proportions - Achieving Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value. This Kit contains some 200 pages of information, brought together from many sources, on the equal pay issue. It is especially relevant at this time when underpaid workers, both women and men, are struggling to prevent the lowering of their living standards and working to correct wage inequities and injustices. The cost: $12.50 single copy, $10.00 per copy for 10 copies or more, $15.00 each mailed copy. Please make cheques or money orders payable to EPIC, and mail to EPIC, Box 4237, Vancouver, B.C. WORKING WOMEN VSW demands protection for growing part-time workforce Part-time work is here to stay and according to all projections it will be a type of work that will steadily rise in the future. Employers will continue to need part-time workers In peak periods, and workers will continue to find themselves in life situations where part-time work is both desirable and necessary. At this time, seventy per cent of part-time workers are women. On October 5, 1982, the Vancouver Status of Women presented its position on women and part-time work to the Commission of Inquiry into Part-time Work, a federal investigative body currently holding public hearings on the subject throughout the country. The VSW submission called upon government, employers, and unions to recognize part-time work as legitimate work, recommending that salaries paid to part-time workers be proportional to those of full- time workers; all benefits made available to full-time workers be made available on a pro-rated basis to part-time workers; opportunities for advancement and retraining be made available to the part-time workforce; and that all levels of government as employers make a commitment to end discrimination against part-time workers. VSW also recommended that all part-time workers be permitted to be a part of the same collective bargaining unit as full- time employees who do the same work and that all levels of government substantially increase their budget commitment to daycare. It is well understood today that women are still considered a reserve army of workers, to be brought into production when they are needed, and to be forced out of the workforce when the economy no longer requires their labour. Women who work part-time, said VSW, are the worst victims of this theory and for this reason action must be taken to entrench them more thoroughly into the workforce. Women need to be in a position in the workplace where they receive the benefits available to other workers, as well as the recognition of their varied work experience, access to promotion ladders and basic job security. Many of the myths applied to women who work in general, such as \"women only work for pin money\", or \"women's work is not real work\", are particularly applied to part-time workers. The lack of community support systems, such as daycare, are also problematic for all women workers at some point in their lives. A commitment should be made, said VSW, not to separate part-time workers from the rest of the workforce, but rather to look at ways these workers can be better integrated Into the workforce as a whole. The fact that responsibility for domestic labour and the nurturing of children still lies primarily with women, necessitates a double work day for those women who work outside the home. Variations in benefits, such as parental leave, personal leave, and pension plans, tend to punish many women who wish to remain in the workforce during the years they are raising children. Lack of available, quality childcare is still an enormous problem in B.C., said VSW, pointing to the fact that there is only space for one in every 28 children requiring care, and many existing spaces lack quality control. Although studies have provided valuable insights into part- time work\/ VSW said the organization has not been able to discover what percentage of part-time workers are voluntary and what percentage would work full-time if given the opportunity. \"We strongly believe that people should have real choices with regards to work, and do not support any programs which attempt to coerce workers into shorter schedules for lesser pay- cheques.\" It is important to understand that part-time workers are needed, and it is not necessary to divide them from those who work full-time, said VSW, adding that it is crucial that part-time workers be recognized by unions as full members of the union. \"This means that they should be considered in contract clauses and at the negotiating table, even if that necessitates new and different ways of thinking about work.\" In the past, trade unions have tended to consider part-time work as a method for eroding full-time employment. This perspective, as evidenced by recent union calls for protection of part-time workers, has shifted. With the labour movement's support of part- time work growing, we may see more concrete protection for part-time workers in the future. November 82 Kinesis 7 WORKING WOMEN Are volunteers cheating the unemployed? by Brig Anderson Over 400 charitable organizations are listed in the Vancouver Directory of Volunteers. At an October volunteer fair held at UBC, students were asked to choose jobs from health, recreation, cultural and handicapped groups requiring unpaid labour to function properly. \"It's a good way to get yourself a job,\" one of the organizers told me. \"I got mine this way.\" But in times of economic depression, being a volunteer in the hope of eventual employment is not only an illusion, but actually harms the unemployed and underemployed. Real problems demand real solutions. What is needed is activism not altruism, social change and not more reformist groups, no matter how well-meaning. We should not agree to turn people into clients in need of some service, but make them actively want to change their lives by political means. Americans and Canadians have a long history of volunteerism. \"Organizing for others\" has its origin in the benefactress tradition of nineteenth century philanthropy. It was fashionable for rich ladies to visit the poor in slum districts, when, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, England created a host of beggars in towns who belonged to the deserving poor. Voluntary female associations in America organized to help poor women, prostitutes, widows, the aged and infirm. In order to escape the isolation and boredom of pioneer life, women performed basic community functions and at the same time escaped from their domestic duties. Volunteer organizations gave families status and recognition, and women learned organizational skills and financial management. Female solidarity and profeminist communities also extended to ethnic groups who helped second generation immigrants acquire self-assurance and leadership skills. The concept of American individualism among women was encouraged in the creation of a variety of Church, ethnic, educational and cultural organizations. The idea of helping people help themselves was the first goal of early volunteers; the secondary gain was to 'do good', broaden interests, and acquire skills by working with women in groups. Social workers emerged as a profession and were exclusively female until the great depression of the 1930's when working class women began to understand how upper and middle class women further oppressed them with thfiir charities. This argument was taken up more fully by the radical feminists of the seventies. The myth of the classless society' was exploded. White, middle and upper class women had to recognize how they had oppress- Survival manual demystifies technocracy Help is at hand for all who have given up hope of understanding what the advancing technological revolution holds in store. A new book with a snappy title, The Techno\/ Peasant 's Survival Manual, by the Print Project, promises to demystify for the \"technopeasant\" the technology of the 80's. Published with you and me in mind, the book defines \"technopeasant\" as \"anyone who is technologically illiterate; a person whose future is in the hands of the technocrats\". The book's central theme is \"if we want technology to liberate rather than destroy us, then we - the technopeasants - have to assume some responsibility for it.\" Leaving aside whether or not you think we ever could have control over our budding technofuture, this book gives the reader a solide grasp of the development of computers, the world (literally) of the microchip, fibre optics, lasers, genetic engineering and all the technogoodies in store for us. The authors came to the project with the intention of producing a book that would not only be readily understood by people with no background on these intimidating subjects, but would also make acquiring the information fun and interesting. This book is now available in paperback in Vancouver bookstores for approximately $10. Ask ycur public library to order it for you. Union produces guide to microchip A new resource guide for use in developing strategies to address the impact of micro- technology in the workplace has been published by the National Union of Provincial Government Employees (NUPGE). Microtechnology is a 54-page booklet that looks at what stage we are at in the technological age and discusses technological change in terms of job security, job satisfaction, health and safety. The booklet is of particular interest to union members. It includes the text of 43 existing contract clauses on issues ranging from retraining to the right of pregnant women to refuse to work on VDT's. Copies are available from NUPGE, 204-2841 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, K1V 8N4 ed or colluded in oppressing their sisters because they had not taken action to eliminate class power and privilege. Some feminists had indeed rejected their class privileges and boasted about downward mobility. This infuriated poor women who correctly perceived that poverty made fashionable still left them without decent housing, good food and clothing. Today, poverty has again exposed the fault- Klines of class, ethnic origins, and race. With increasing unemployment women are once again being forced back into stereotyped roles of unpaid housewives and mothers, as well as rich and poor, black and white. Self-interest female organizations continue to flourish, of course, but I suggest that trade union, educational, and cultural support networks have replaced in prestige and power the previous charitable ones . without mitigating or even addressing the problems of poor women. Older women (40 and over) are now segregated into the \"nouveau poor\", the new poor. By now I hope I have cast doubt both on women's organizations themselves and volunteerism in general, as well as on the recipients or clients of volunteerism. We cannot hope to cure the ills of society by .using unpaid voluntary and usually female labour. Volunteers may feel fulfilled but they are still economically exploited by developing services and communities that should be supported by federal, provincial and municipal funding. A more creative use of volunteers is urgently needed if we are not to continue to neutralize women's dissent into innocuous tasks, keep the male power system intact, and continue the myth of helping which encourages paternalism, racism, and classism toward the old, the porr, ethnic minorities, and the under or unemployed. A changed consciousness is necessary, as is a new awareness of work and leisure activities. Politicized attitudes on behalf of the helper and helped must be developed in these darker times. I hope my comments will help open the debate. References for further reading: Bernard, Jessie. The Female World, The Free Press, 1981. Gold, Doris B. Opposition to Volunteerism, CPL, June, 1979. November 82 Anti-imperialism and the Irish feminist movement by Marion Malcolmson and Maeve Moran Between 1970-1979, some one million bullets were fired in the six counties of Northern Ireland. 1425 civilians, most of them Catholic, were killed (many more if the most recent hunger strike and its aftermath is taken into account). 542 police and army personnel were also counted among the dead. Some 20,000 more soldiers, police and civilians were wounded and there were 6560 bombings. In Belfast alone, the greatest civilian migration in western Europe since World War I has taken place. More than 60,000 people have been relocated to what are called \"safer ghettos\", and another 77,000, or 19$ of the entire population of Belfast, have left altogether. The 'nationalist (Catholic) population of Belfast has not forgotten the British raids into its ghettoes on August 9, 1971. During that single raid 342 men were arrested and held without charges. The British called it \"internment\", but to the nationalist community it was an open declaration of war. The civil rights movement of the 1960's, with its campaign for concessions and an end to discrimination against the nationalist minority, was abandoned. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was born to protect the ghettoes and to remove British troops from Irish soil. The British army, meanwhile, began its active campaign against what it calls \"IRA terrorists\". This British'\"counter insurgency campaign\" involves arrests without warrants. The \"Special Powers Act\", first introduced in 1922 after the British partitioned the country into North and South, has been followed by a series of other acts within the last decade, all equally designed to suspend the civil rights of the nationalist population. Women, too, are subject to arrests, humiliating body searches, interrogation under torture as well as imprisonment. Sentences are being meted out in the notorious \"no- jury Diplock courts\". Increasingly the ranks of female political prisoners are being swelled in the jails. The shocking treatment of female political prisoners recently came to light during the campaign for political status at Armagh. Images of British civility were shattered amidst evidence of rape, beatings and other forms of mental and physical cruelty. Recent reports by Amnesty International reveal how children are being used as bargaining tools during interrogation. Women are threatened with never seeing their children again or with having them taken away by the welfare authorities. Many women reported being arrested with their children. Sexual abuse of children has been threatened while women are held. Others told of being snatched out of their homes or off the streets without first being allowed to ensure the safety of their infant's . Increasingly children as young as ten years old are being arrested and interrogated. For the nationalist youth of the North politicization begins early in life. Facing a future of poverty and unemployment, and witnessing daily the discrimination and atrocities perpetrated by the British occupation forces, children are fighting back with rocks and petrol bombs while the army responds with deadly pias- tick bullets. Devastated by the effects of renewed urban warfare since the early 1970's, many nationalist areas have become depopulated of male adults. Large numbers have been killed and a larger number interned.Many are on the run. Many others have emigrated in search of employment. Of those left behind, too many are inflicting their own frustrations onto women and children. It has only been in recent years that the first refuges for battered women were organized in the North, and these are.indicative of a growing problem. Women in both the north and south are continuing the tradition of resistance upheld by their sisters throughout the history of the Irish struggle. Other support systems, such as state funded childcare centres, are conspicuous by their absence. Many mothers, forced in to the job market to feed their families, leave small children behind with arrangements as tenuous as a neighbour \"keeping an eye out\". Little children are left to their own resources while they play on some of the most dangerous streets in the world. The fact that the nationalist communities continue to survive is attributable in large measure to the determination of its women. It is women who are banding together to fight evictions; who are protesting against rising food prices; who are organizing massive rent and rates strikes to protest discriminatory housing practices, and who are the emotional pillars amidst the horrors of war. Much of the strength of the resistance movement against British imperialism stems from women as well. Both in the North and the South they are continuing the tradition of resistance upheld by their sisters throughout the history of the Irish struggle. The first main involvement of Irish women began with the revolution of 1916 when many of them fought in the Citizen Army. For several years prior to the 1916 Rising, Irish women had been involved in the suffragette movement and in attempts to unionize women workers. As national fervor again called for an uprising against the British imperialist presence, women extended their struggle to include the national struggle. Unfortunately most of then), because of sexism, were relegated to the areas of nursing and food preparation and their part in the Rising has never been fully appreciated by Irish historians. After the 1922 Partition Treaty and the 26 County Constitution of 1937, which banished women back into their homes, that great spirit seen for a few short years was forced into seclusion. In the words of the Irish Constitution, \"By her life within the home, woman gives to the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved...The state shall endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour oo the neglect of their duties in the 'home\". Only within recent years has the marriage bar, prohibiting women in the South from working in white collar jobs, been lifted. Still, out of economic necessity, women make up 21% of the paid workforce but only 14$ of married women are employed as compared to 50% in the North. Since the renewal of the armed struggle in northern Ireland, women in the six counties as well as women from the 26 counties of the South have become members of Provisional Sinn Fein, the dominant republican party. However, it is only recently that any serious dialogue between nationalist and feminist women has taken place. Because of increasing support from feminists for the anti-imperialist struggle and a clearer understanding by nationalist women of the need to include sexual equality in their vision of \"the New Ireland\", women within Sinn Fein produced a \"Women's Document\" in 1980. The document supports many struggles including: co-education; the fight against sexism in the media and schools; equal pay; pension and social security benefits; safe and available contraception; drastic amendment of the marriage laws; the right to divorce and the provision of childcare. The Sinn Fein document must be seen against a background of extreme conservatism in a country that continues to blend Church and State. Its failure to support abortion is alienating to feminists. It also fails to comment on homosexuality and lesbianism, which are illegal in both parts of Ireland. Nevertheless, it does represent a major achievement for feminism and must be seen as an important first step. Similarly, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, although smaller in numbers, is involved in the feminist struggle. Its platform includes unequivocal support for a woman's right to choose and the Party is currently engaged in active support in the \"anti-amendment campaign\" of the South. Passage of the proposed amendment would enshrine \"the rights of the fetus\" within the Irish Constitution, this despite the fact that the law already states the illegality of abortion in all cases except for those involving uterine cancer. Historically, the current women's movement in the South began in the 1970's. Women flocked to the new movement with its demands for equal pay, equality before the law, justice for deserted wives, unmarried mothers and widows, and for \"one family, one house\". Despite theoret- November 82 Kinesis 9 Since the start of the 'troubles', sectarian threats and violence, or fear of them, bricked up and decaying. Photo: David Manse!!. ical differences between socialist women and other feminists, 300 women marched behind the \"Irish Women's Liberation Banner\" in May Day parades. Suddenly these women were challenging every traditional Irish institution. However, because differences between socialists and feminists, particularly around the \"national question\" were not resolved, this first movement and several of its successors disintegrated. Finally in 1979, another group calling itself \"the 32 County Federation of Women\" attempted the task of organizing a broad- based women's movement. Aware of previous failures, the group stated explicitly that one of its chief aims was to come to terms with \"the national question\" and to unite women in the 6 counties of the North with those in the 26 counties of the South. However, due to the enormity of the task, this Federation folded after only one year. Today, this critical problem still has not been resolved. At the same time, women's liberation in the South is experiencing a revitalization through its efforts regarding the \"anti-amendment cam paign\", and it is being supported by progressive forces both North and South \u2014 sections of the anti-imperialist movement, the trade unions and a number of socialist parties. It wasn't until February of 1980 that the first \"Woman's Right to Choose\" group was launched in Dublin. Four months later, the British-based \"Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child\" sent two speakers to Dublin and the Irish SPUC was formed. The current campaign to include a \"right to life clause\" within the Constitution is being spearheaded by this organization with the support of the Catholic church. For the first time in the history of Irish women's liberation is the issue of abortion being widely debated. At issue is not only the essential \"right to choose\", but also the fight for the secularization of Irish society. This could well be the most important struggle of 1982. As for ths six counties of the North, it is largely premature to speak of an actual women's movement. There are in existence, instead, a sprinkling of feminist groups, many of them service-oriented, which could potentially provide the \u2022 nucleus for such a movement. The problem for women's liberation in Northern Ireland must be understood in relation to the presence of British imperialism. British imperialist penetration have caused over 60,000 mainly working class people in Ireland has succeeded in inhibiting the formation of a significant middle class amongst the nationalist population. The women's movement,-which historically tends to be initiated and led by middle class women, has therefore not found a class basis in the North. Nationalist women, when confronted with the daily realities of'British occupation, have largely fought within the anti-imperialist movement without formulating an understanding or a strategy related to their specific oppression as women. As for the handful of feminist groups In the North, theirs is a constant battle to come to terms with the inter-relation of the feminist and anti-imperialist struggles. It is difficult for women to have a common language when the laws governing their bodies and their lives are different in the two parts of Ireland. Born in 1977, the \"Belfast Women's Collective\" held to the position that while the anti-imperialist struggle should be supported, it should not be a major focus for feminist agitation. For women, the way forward was to organize specifically around feminist concerns so as to build a broad base that could reach out to un- politicized women. \"Women Against Imperialism\" broke away from the BWC a year later over this issue. WAI asserted that the anti-imperialist struggle and the feminist struggle are absolutely linked. It was WAI who worked with nationalist women in the network of \"Relatives Action Committees\" set up to support Irish political prisoners, both male and female. The group made international headlines in 1979 during its picket outside Armagh jail on International Women's Day when 11 of its members were arrested. The \"Belfast Women's Collective\" on the other hand was unable to weather its aloofness from the anti-imperialist struggle and as a result, it dissolved in May of 1980. Very slowly, groups of feminist women in the North are beginning to join with nat- ;, leaving thousands of hi ionalist women on a variety of single issues. The support accorded the women in Armagh jail is a case in point. Such united action in the future could help advance the birth of a women's movement in the North. It is difficult for women to have a common language when the laws governing their bodies and their lives are different in the two parts of Ireland..Such is the reality of \"Partition\". Women in the North are in a marginally better position than their southern sisters with regard to some legal rights and social services. They have a more comprehensive healthcare system and more liberal laws regarding divorce and contraception. At the same time, northern women are living in a State with wide-ranging police powers, something that women in the South do not have to face. This has made it difficult for women in the South to understand the problems of overt imperialist repression which confront their northern sisters daily. Another source of division is the problem of loyalism. Loyalists (Protestants) tend to receive the jobs and the better housing when these are available. They have also joined the ranks of the brutal police force and are increasing their victimization of the nationalist community through membership in para-military organizations armed by the British government. Given this situation, it is impossible to forge links within a united women's movement between loyalist and nationalist women. Such links await the successful resolution of the anti-imperialist struggle. A further difficulty is related to the need of integrating the feminist and anti- imperialist struggles. Feminists are understandably wary of any attempt to submerge their struggle against sexist oppression within any other struggle. History is filled with examples of how women have been sold out within progressive movements, movements which have characteristically been \"sex blind\". At the same time, feminism has frequently tended to operate in a fashion that is oblivious to class differences. The greatest hope for women in all of Ireland lies in the solidarity of feminism and anti-imperialism and the realization of both groups that each component is vital in order to bring about a truly united women's movement. 10 Kinesis November 82 HEALTH by Maureen Leyland-Moore In 1973, a young Vancouver woman decided she and her husband would postpone having children until some vague future date. When she went to her doctor to be fitted for a diaphragm he asked, \"Do you travel in a horse and buggy, too?\" and told her that the IUD was better than the \"old- fashioned\" diaphragm. He inserted a SAF-T-Coil into her uterus. For a year she had no trouble. Then in 1974 she was hospitalized due to excruciating abdominal pain. She remembers screaming for doctors to get the IUD out but was told there was too much infection in her pelvis to allow removal of the device. She was terrifed she was going to die. Doctors were unsure about what was wrong ' with her: a tubal pregnancy? A kidney problem? After five days they told her she had pelvic inflammatory disease and treated her with antibiotics. The infection subsided, the IUD was removed, and she was sent home with instructions to \"take it easy\". Relieved that her ordeal was over, she looked forward to recovery. Unfortunately the infection had not been wiped out and her continuing pain caused her to return to the hospital's emergency department. There she was advised that her problems were not-physical and was told to see a psychiatrist about the pain. Desperate, she sought help from a private gynecologist who put her on antibiotics for a year during which time blood tests indicated her body's fight against infection. With each period she hemorrhaged. Finally, after a year of fear and pain, she decided to stop fighting to save- her fertility. She wanted, at least, to be well again and to be able to live a normal life. In discussion with her gynecologist she decided to have a hysterectomy. In 1975 her doctor performed a vaginal hysterectomy and she went home from hospital to recover. As the pain from the surgery lessened, however, it became increasingly clear that she was to be left with a significant level of pain. Today she lives with daily pain and fatigue. She had to give up the career that was so important to her and for which she trained for years; it demanded physical strength and stamina that she no longer has. She was a ballerina. Now she is unable to work at all. She had no idea that she was using birth control that could cause infection which might lead to sterility, chronic illness and, in some cases, death. No one really knows how many women develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) from the IUD. Studies report an increased risk of 3-9$ (Ory, 1978:200) among IUD users and many doctors think that PID rates are increasing. Hundreds of thousands: of women have suffered from PID due to IUD use and, as an article in a 1978 issue of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine points out, the relationship between IUD use and the subsequent development of PID is \"one of cau e and effect\" (Ory:200). What is PID? It's an infection caused by bacteria which travels up from the vagina through the cervix into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. These infected fallopian tubes can become hugely swollen with pus and during the acute stage of the disease there is danger that this pus will spill into the pelvic cavity and cause life-threatening peritonitis. Most deaths from PID are from tubo-ovarian abscesses which rupture. The ovaries, too, are often involved in the infectious process. The IUD and Pelvic Infection When the pelvic organs are inflamed the body tries to protect itself by producing fibrous scar tissue called 'adhesions' \u2014 a process which results in sterility and chronic pain for many women. The tubes, distorted by scar tissue, may become twisted, clubbed at the ends, or bound down; unable to receive eggs. The cilia that move the egg through the fallopian tubes to the uterus may be destroyed so that conception, while still possible, results in a tubal pregnancy. This scarring that can bind tubes and ovaries together in a mass of fibrous tissue can also connect the reproductive organs to other organs, usually the bowel. These adhesions, along with the distortion of the pelvic architecture, can cause incapacitating pain. Even women without symptoms can have problems. \"Silent\" infection affects unknown numbers of women who only discover later, when they try unsuccessfully to conceive, that PID-caused scarring has sealed off their fallopian tubes. Women whose pelvic organs have been damaged by one bout of PID are at great risk of having recurrent episodes, each one causing further damage which weakens the body's defence system so that a cycle of recurrence continues. Why do IUD users get PID? Doctors and researchers think it's because the tail of the IUD acts as a wick, allowing bacteria to move up into the uterus. The Dalkon Shield caused more PID than other IUD's. (The Dalkon Shield was especially implicated as the cause of septic abortions and tubo-ovarian abscesses-Hager, 1977). Once in a uterus already irritated from an IUD, bacteria colonize the IUD itself, multiply, and spread to the fallopian tubes which may, in fact, already be inflamed (one disturbing 1976 report indicates that almost half of all women using IUD's have what is known as \"chronic sterile inflammation\" in their fallopian tubes (Ory, 1978: 203). It has been known for years that IUD users have chronic sterile inflammation of the uterus. Not surprisingly, inflammation in the uterus and tubes lowers their ability to fight off the infection. The tail of the IUD is not the only contributing factor; the presence of a foreign body in the uterus is itself sufficient to cause PID. Doctors have seen pelvic infections caused even by devices without tails. Despite this, many doctors are unwilling to admit that the IUD causes pelvic inflammatory disease. One Vancouver general practitioner told me with a shrug of dismissal, that women don't really get PID from the IUD \u2014 they get it, he said, from organisms. This puts the blam right back on women and takes it away from doctors and drug companies. It suggests that women who get PID have nastier inhabitants in their vaginas than other women (and therefore deserve to get PID?) However, the bacteria implicated in IUD- related PID are usually those that occur normally in the vaginas of healthy women. The vagina is a complex microbial ecosystem and vaginal and cervical flora are always present. This is one of the reasons for the fact that, ironically, before IUD's became popular doctors thought it was dangerous to use any device that would connect the vagina with the normally sterile uterus. Although the IUD had been around since the 1920's, it was not until the early 1960's that the medical community began to change its mind about the danger of infection, influenced by the need for population control, and reasoning that the new, inert plastics used in the devices would reduce chances of developing PID. The new antibiotics, they thought, would clear up any infections that did occur. Twenty years of IUD use has shown that doctors' earlier reservations were justified. There are now two generations of PID victims. Yianna, a Vancouver woman now in her 30's, got an IUD in 1966, a month after her marriage. The pain was so severe that she had it removed the same day it was inserted. She was not told to watch for signs of infection, so when she began to experience abdominal pain, weakness and fatigue, she did not link these symptoms to her brief use of the IUD. She consulted two different GPs about her symptoms. Both shook their heads and said they couldn't find anything wrong with, her. \u2022 Finally, she was hospitalized and a D&C November 82 Kin HEALTH Sometimes she is awakened by a 'ripping, tearing pain' in her abdomen. was performed by a genecologist who reported that he couldn't find anything wrong with her either. The nurses in the hospital chided her about her worries. \"There can't be anything wrong with you with those rosy cheeks,\" they said. Despite her illness, she went back to her library job but the pain and fatigue increased. She had no energy. She was unable to lift books. She switched to a third GP who referred her to yet another gynecologist. \"You have an infection the size of a grapefruit in your right fallopian tube,\" he told her. \"It's very serious.\" The antibiotics he gave her did not reduce her infection. Five days after getting the diagnosis of PID, Yianna underwent major surgery during which doctors made an incision from her pubic hairline to her navel, cleaned out the infection in her fallopian tube, and removed her appendix. The gynecologist told her that the infection had spread beyond the tubes and left her with the impression that she was lucky to be alive. Since the surgery, Yianna has had a couple of bouts of PID that had to be treated with antibiotics and she is sometimes awakened in the night \"by ripping, tearing pain\" in her abdomen. When the significance of her illness hit her, she remembers, she felt extremely depressed to realize that she could never again count on being well. Dr. David Eschenbach, a doctor at the medical school in Seattle, who has been doing research on PID for years, agrees that PID is often diagnosed as phsycho- genic. He attributes this to \"a lack of uniformity in its clinical features\" (1976:147). While it is true that many of the signs of PID are often absent when a woman does in fact have the disease, all the PID victims I talked to had severe lower abdominal pain which had been diagnosed as \"psychological\" by a doctor at least once. Since it is crucial to get immediate treatment for PID this particular mis-diagnosis is extremely dangerous. Doctors and other health care workers often associate PID with \"promiscuity\". Before the IUD became popular, most women who got pelvic inflammatory disease got it from gonorrhea and the stigma associated with this sexually-transmitted disease causes some doctors to make judgments that influence both diagnosis and treatment. Many women who have had IUD-related PID have had the experience of having repeated tests for gonorrhea which turn out negative. Their doctors have not been willing to believe their own tests. Yet the fact is that studies show that IUD-users have a lower rate of gonorrhea than non-users. The high rate of PID in IUD users is clearly not related to gonorrhea. (By the way, the copper, IUDs once thought to protect against gonorrhea have now been shown to be useless for that purpose (Ory, 1978:202). In countries where IUD use has become widespread (such as Sweden, the U.S. and Canada) the IUD is considered to be a leading cause of pelvic inflammatory disease. In this sense it can be said that much PID is what Ivan Illich calls iatrogenic, or doctor-caused disease. \"When I tell people that I had PID they act as if I'm really disgusting,\" says Anne, a therapist now doing visualization, a form of healing meditation, with PID victims. Another woman with PID described her disease to a male friend who exclaimed, PID Symptoms - lower abdominal pain. This may be intermittent or constant. It may occur during intercourse, during menstruation, or with ovulation. It is usually present during a bimanual (done with two hands) pelvic examination. Often the pain occurs only on one side of the abdomen. - lower back pain - 'nausea and dizziness - fatigue - fever. If present, it is low. - bleeding. Increased menstrual flow or bleeding between periods. - general feeling of illness - vaginal discharge It is crucial to get diagnosis and treatment immediately before the infection spreads. The doctor consulted should do a gentle bimanual pelvic exaritination. He or she should also do a blood test to check the level of white blood cells and the sedimentation rate (indicators of infection). Even if these levels are normal it is possible to have PID. If PID is diagnosed, material from the cervix should be cultured since there is a chance that the particular microbe (s) involved could be identified this way. \"My God, it sounds just like the medieval view of women \u2014 pleasant-looking but filled with all kinds of noxious evils.\" Doctors are just beginning to realize that IUD-related PID can occur months and even years after insertion. It used to be thought that uterine contamination cleared up two days after the IUD was inserted; this belief was based on a 1969 study by Mishell and Moyer in which researchers found more bacterial contamination in women who had IUDs in place for less than two days than in women who had IUDs in place for more than that length of time. This study has since been discredited. Doctors ignored an earlier, 1968 study.by Wright and Laemmle which showed a high rate of PID in IUD users compared to women using birth control pills and even women using no contraception. They ignored a later, 1970 study by Ishihama and other researchers which showed a constant rate of bacterial contamination existing up to five years after IUD insertion. Recent studies have indicated that it is more usual to have acute PID develop months after IUD use has begun rather than just after insertion and one study indicates that the increased risk of PID exists \"for as long as the IUD is in place\". Despite all the evidence, there is a persistent medical myth that IUD use is relatively safe for some women. Women who have had children and who have only one sex partner are considered \"low-risk\". This view is contradicted, however, by a recent study of 690 women hospitalized with PID in Sweden which found no difference in the rate of IUD-related PID in women who had never been pregnant and those who had. Other studies show no difference in the PID rates in married and unmarried women or in women with multiple (male) sex partners and women with one (male) sex partner. Ironically, the IUD is not even particularly effective birth control. Out of every 100 women who use it for one year 1 to 6 will become pregnant. This means that it is less effective than the diaphragm and less effective than condoms and foam used together, both methods of birth control that are considered safe. Ory, Howard W., M.D., M.Sc. \"A Review of the Association Between Intrauterine Devices and Acute Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.\" The Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Volume 20, Number 4, April 1978. pp. 200-204. 12 Kinesis November 82 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Women in Science by Marianne Van Loon The scientist walks into the room, notes under one arm, and sits informally at the front of the classroom, carefully adjusting and arranging papers for a special lecture at Simon Fraser University. A member of the audience rises to introduce Dr. Lowe of Boston University. Dr. Lowe smiles and begins her lecture. Did this fool you? Were you expecting the scientist to be a man? This is precisely the topic Dr. Marion Lowe, Professor of Chemistry and Women's Studies, chose to address \u2014 the issue of women and science. Lowe believes the two paramount issues concerning women and science are women who are actually doing scientific work, and what science is saying about women in general. Since the rise of industrial capitalism and the parallel dominance of scientific rationalist philosophy in the western world, science has been thought to require a particular type of person; one who is able to stand back from nature, be objective and seek to control it. Because of fact selection, however, there is no such thing as pure objectivity. The way in which one chooses to look at the world is determined by the cultural framework in which one thinks. People have a social point of view, said Lowe, and different cultures will ask very different kinds of questions. The questions our culture asks through science are primarily connected with controlling the physical world. As a result, science is considered intrinsically male, and to the extent other activities are seen as having a scientific component, they also are considered intrinsically male activities. Historically, she said, any work involving a significant degree of power is considered a masculine activity, whether it be . the military, politics, business or science. In general, these areas are thought to require 'masculine' attributes and there has been no place for stereotypical- ly 'feminine' characteristics of nurturance, intuition and passivity. This means women are believed, by their very nature, not to be scientifically oriented. \"Science isn't a womanly activity,\" said Lowe. \"All you have to do is look at the stereotype of the woman scientist.\" Even considering a scientific career is difficult for most women, she said, and consequently there is a high degree of women self-selecting themselves out of scientific professions. Those who don't select themselves out will face reduced opportunities as they are less likely to be sponsored (women are assumed to be both less able and less committed than their male counterparts) and they will generally be seen as outsiders in a male field. Women in science are typically excluded from the informal 'old boys' networks' which are a vital source of connections and \u2022 information for people doing scientific work. Many women who train as scientists end up teaching in liberal arts ^schools and community colleges rather than doing scientific work. \"Nobody really knows how to view women scientists,\" said Lowe. \"In fact, academia in general doesn't know ho?\/ to regard women.\" She said women scientists have developed strategies to try and overcome their outsider status, although it isn't easy, and some are able to take advantage of the outsider status since they are more able to free themselves from established ways of thinking and work more creatively. However, it is difficult to get someone to listen to those outside the central network no matter how brilliant their thoughts, said Lowe, citing the case of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who is known as an extremely inventive thinker. As for the commitments of women scientists to their .field, Lowe said she'd met several women \"who were so committeed to science that on summer vacations they went to somebody else's lab to try and do research on a shoestring, and they have produced some incredibly good work given their resources and time.\" The second major aspect of women and science is what science has been saying about women. Lowe is more critical of scientific structures than the individuals working within these structures. \"Some individual scientists may well be sexist, homophobic and awful, but it's not a requirement.\" Rather, she points to the scientific structures that determine the significance or importance of certain ideas, and the goals which people working in the field will have. Currently, scientific theories about women are prevalent. This is not surprising since science is being called upon to answer social questions regarding the role of women. Intense questioning on the position of women has occurred at two periods in western capitalism \u2014 during the first women's movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and in the' second wave women's movement since the late 1960's. In the period between these two organized movements, science has shown very little interest in women's position. Using a wide and wild variety of theories, science has insisted that sex roles are biologically determined. Science makes a critical assumption that sex differences in certain physical abilities cause social differences and subsequent inequalities. But is this assumption correct? Social factors are extremely important to social mobility. \"The theories,\" said Lowe, \"have the potential of self-fulfilling prophecies.\" All the nineteenth and twentieth century theories turn out to be unscientific, fact-free speculation, and politically loaded. \"We could just dismiss them on those grounds alone,\" said Lowe. There are a number of critiques demonstrating the flaws in scientific theorizing. A very interesting question which has been largely ignored is, why do scientists keep coming up with biological theories to explain the differences in men's and women's roles? The answers lie in who is doing science and the fact that science Is not really objective. The theories are actually reflections of the social biases of the people doing the work. Science is masculine, and scientists are privileged in our society, said Lowe. \"In general, they believe in the social order they live in. They are not revolutionaries.\" All their theories really do is reinforce masculine and feminine stereotypes, and further legitimate them as natural law. The 19th century scientists believed society was based on natural biological law. The nineteenth century scientists believed society was based on natural biological law. When the first women's movement developed, science attempted to answer the questions it raised and their answers took two major routes. Evolutionary theories said that women's nervous system was evolu- tionarily less complete, meaning she had a smaller mental capacity and therefore inferior status. Behavioural and physical theories included one linking brain size to sex role differences. This particular theory was abandoned after scientists were unable to support the theories by proving women had proportionately smaller brains than men. \"It was dropped not because it was bad science, but because it didn't work,\" said Lowe. Today's theories parallel old theories. Brain size is replaced by brain lateralization and math genes research. Scientists looking at social behaviours make biological and evolutionary conclusions that are exactly parallel with earlier theories. All of these presume biology determines behaviour. \"We could start looking at how biology is in turn affected by culture,\" suggested Lowe, saying that behaviour cannot be proven to emante from biology. Biol ogy and environmental determinants of behaviour cannot be separated. Biology itself can be affected by culture. Recent studies'suggest that sex differences in strength, height and hormones can all be affected by the different environments in which men and women live and work in our culture. November 82 Kinesis 13 Kinesis November82 7 by Jeny Evans Being a young feminist is like realising you're in jail and want out. Y.ou begin plans for your escape at any cost. You're constantly struggling with the choice between being what they want you to be or being what you want to be. You could be that passive, fragile piece of property you are pressured to be (and that is sometimes very comfortable) or you could be strong, exposing sexism whenever It may arise (which is not so comfortable). The second choice threatens some people, especially boys, creating angry responses - and leaving us hurt and alone. We have so much pressure on us by the behaviour of boys and the teachings of our schools to be passive, polite and silent. Upon realizing this pressure, I became angry. It's hard to be silent when you're angry. \"With this, I became more aware day to day about the need to fight back loud and clear. I began to realize^the oppression of the jail and the need for me to fight for freedom. The education system is one part of the jail that women must confront because it is here that the attitudes and behaviour are ground into our heads. It starts in grade school where we are taught to be \"feminine\" whereas boys are taught that they are capable and strong. We are taught that our opinion is not valid, and that it is a man's world where women have only a secondary role. Sex education is limited within schools (if there is any at all). What is taught is very basic and mostly taught only to women. This entrenches the idea that we alone are responsible for issues around sexuality. Boys learn that they don't have to deal with it and so they can put pressure on us without considering the consequences. A lot of what is offered to us avoids many of the really important issues. Porn- orgaphy isn't discussed. Neither are the attitudes causing rape (except that we shouldn't hitchhike or walk down a dark street alone). Personal experiences need to be discussed. We need to talk about harassment, and being able to say no. Most important, we need to understand that these are real issues in our lives. Furthermore, we need to know that the ways in which our sexuality is exploited are not our fault. In addition, sexuality is only discussed under the assumption that we are all heterosexual. From the point of view of sex education, you'd think that lesbians and gays don't exist. It means that young lesbians in school are pressured to remain invisible. Otherwise, the risk is ridicule and alienation. Another huge problem to speak out against is the sexism of some of the teachers. In Family Studies, a student responded one day to her teacher (who happened to be a woman) on her attitude toward the subject: \"There better be pink and blue chairs in here tomorrow. Then it would be more straightforward instead of subtle.\" In another class of Grade 12 students, a woman was offended by her male teacher. He would crack jokes about how nice it is to have \"sexy girls\" in the class, or ask \"what are you doing tonight?\", referring to women as sex objects. A woman in the same class wore a Stop Sexual Harassment button to school one day and he commented, \"Hey baby, why stop it when we can start it?\" When approached about his sick humour he said he does it harmlessly and he uses it to ease the atmosphere of the class. The jokes aren't funny. They don't ease the atmosphere, they create a worse one. They put us down, degrade us, and make us feel that we are only sex objects for the boys. In one of my classes, another teacher .refers to women as girls. One day he was talking about the ballet and how beautiful it was. He then commented that the girls, on stage were just lovely. Each time he mentions the \"working girl\" I- cringe and look for other reactions by the students in my class. Unfortunately, there are none. The attitudes of teachers in the classroom reinforce the belief that women are only sexual beings. The other day at school I heard a joke that I didn't find funny: \"Why do women like Ms. PacMan? Because for a quarter you can get eaten three times.\" We are taught to laugh at jokes like this. If we don't, we are ridiculed or called \"up tight\". But the jokes hurt. They must be reacted to and stopped. There are other incidents in school that makes being a feminist difficult. The hardest thing is to watch other women being mistreated in their relationships. Often we don't feel special without a boyfriend. We put ourselves on starvation diets to lose weight or to look better for boys and fit the fashions. Mostly the pain comes from personally being abused in my own relationships which stirs a strong empathy in me towards other women who are being hurt and harassed by boys. A really common situation is one where a boy wants to have sex and the woman does not. He'll continue to pressure her and refuses to recognize her feelings or choices. If a woman isn't very strong, the boy just gets away with abusing her, disregarding her feelings, and, in essence, raping her (having sex with her against her will). She may give in, possibly feeling it is her duty or that he won't love her if she doesn't. A hard thing to look at is whether love can be based on that kind of disregard for a woman's choice. In the long run, however, saying no and refusing to be stomped on will put you in a better postion to stand up for yourself and demand respect. Until I began saying no and expressing how I felt at certain moments, I was constantly being misused by the fallacy that women are playmates for boys and don't need to be respected. We do deserve to be heard and should fight until we are. This isn't easy. It can result In more pain. This Is when we need to turn to the women around us. We are all feeling some pain from the oppression of not being listened to or taken seriously when we have something to say. To be heard we have to react, get emotional, which can turn into screaming and crying if we continue not to be heard. When we do ask loudly, we're called neurotic or told we shouldn't be \"so emotional\". Boys can be calm and unemotional because they are heard and listened to. This gives them the choice to back out of emotional issues. It's all part of male dominance\u2014taking charge, keeping cool. What isn't recognized is that emotional issues are hard work. We are expected to deal with them for boys in relationships and in the family. I've found this the hardest thing to deal with. I want to be heard and respected. I find if we're having trouble being heard, screaming sometimes helps. But we also have to learn to point out to the person not listening that we are not being taken seriously and that we demand to be. It can't hurt our position but it could help the other person realize why there is a need for shouting. It won't always work, but we need to be persistent. It's hard work to deal with it but it hurts more silently within-ourselves if we don't release it. As more women take the risk of demanding to be heard, more boys will be forced to listen. continued on p. 18 7 Eventually, after avid reading and consideration of what I had read about feminism, I decided to become active. While handbooks such as Our Bodies, Ourselves served as identification and motivation to become involved, without knowing any of the \"right\" people I encountered little encouragement. My conceptions of the women's community and power of sisterhood were horribly shattered. Not only was I faced with the various divisions within the movement in general, I confronted a true lack of communication with the more active feminists of long standing. It is often the case than among older feminists, where certain norms, attitudes and ideas are so firmly entrenched, there isn't room for a younger woman to be allowed to express herself. Through offering criticisms which come from our own time, our own experience, we are often rejected. It seems obvious that while the previous influence of the movement will have a direct effect, culturally we are more influenced by what is happening now. Although our \"fashions\" are often considered severe and\/or male-identified (a strange term to be used within a movement of personal freedom and equality, with by Melissa Jacques \"Freedom is taken, not given.\" When recently asked to discuss the accessibility of the Women's Movement to younger women this piece of graffiti became a most vivid and undeniable message. More accurately applied the message becomes: accessibility within the movement is painstakingly forged, not graciously extended. Theoretically the women's movement is one of active liberation, yet many younger women become discouraged from any political involvement. Even more choose to dismiss feminism completely. Although some of this alienation may have occurred as a result of the distorted media coverage the movement has received, definite and inherent differences exist within the women's community itself. Having just experienced the oppressive atmosphere of our modern high school system, the need for feminist-oriented influence became most obvious. Indoctrination as education and the peer pressure to remain thankfully anonymous are overwhelming, resulting in frustration that is often left unidentified. -This repression, accompanied by a newly awakened sexuality and consciousness of self, creates a situation of vulnerability, confusion and guilt. While these schools often offer an initial introduction to feminism through women's studies courses and\/or \"liberal\" teachers, familiarity with the literature, history and theories of the movement does not suffice. This introduction may offer an alternative avenue of approach, but must be backed up through application to the reality of day to day living. It is here that I found the women's community most necessary and unfortunately ineffective. androgyny frequently held as an ideal) they are an emotional and intellectual expression of how we react to reality. And while the aggressive electric sound of certain rock and\/or punk oriented bands may be considered offensive, they capture the urgency and relevancy most appropriate to these times. If one is able to get past (if need be) the sound and invest some curiosity in the energy, lyrics and subsequent messages, perhaps our tastes would become less alienating. Considering the many women creating within this medium it should be acknowledged as a valid and often political form of expression. Mixed bands such as The Gang of Four, Roma Void, The Pretenders, The poison Girls, Talking Heads and X, present strong lyrics often invoking imagery of a necessary liberation from, while expressing obvious faults of, this western patriarchy. Artists such as Patti Smith, debora iyall, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, Viv Albertine, Marianne Faithful and Vi Subversa, emerge with the revolutionary strength of individual voice, literally and musically. The most popular line written by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, \"They're trapped in a world that they never made, but not me baby, I'm too prceious. Fuck off!\" reveals the power one gains with a voice intended to be heard. In Vancouver, a band of Moral Lepers described in the local Behavior Bulletin as \"Five radical feminists...the most intense band of hard-rocking professionals we've had the luck to call our own \u2014 period,\" have made an impression upon its audience that is impossible to dismiss. Another all-women band, The Persisters, still offers us that strong feminist voice within a usually male-dominated realm. In fact, they offered the major feminist influence within the recent Festival '82's apolitical presentation of women in the arts. A frequent criticism I share with other women, is the patronizing manner with which our comments and actions are greeted. While lip service is commonly paid us, we are left unconsidered in important situations. While our \"youthful enthusiasm\" is admired, little interest is paid to what we are actually saying. One example, is the struggle an unusually active friend experienced while attempting to implement a workshop for younger lesbians within the lesbian conference earlier this year. She was finally successful through much persistence, though thoroughly upset by the lack of attention paid a most immediate concern. As younger women, we must be encouraged and allowed to explore our sexuality without the vicious constraints of socially or politically \"incorrect\" preferences. To have chosen feminism as both political and personal, is an integral step towards demanding and retaining control over one's life. A true exploration of one's sexuall is an important aspect in the discovery and personal control of that self. We should not be made to feel self-conscious within the movement, about our exploration' Neither should our vulnerability be exploited from within, as it so often is, from outside. Differences and similarities should be acknowledged, rather than described with destructive cliches like baby- dyke, closet-case, breeder, homophobiac, etc. While physical love between women is a natural and integral part of many relationships, there is such pressure to ultimately define oneself as lesbian, heterosexual, or bisexual (although I was told that this particular brand of person did not really exist, but was evidence of some identity screw-up, a closet-case not recognizing herself); it becomes another instance of being forced to conform. This demand for immediate identification can be a frighten- November82 Kinesis 15 ing confrontation and definitely averts those women who feel any uncertainty, or _who are exploring their sexuality. With our vision as children of the sixties and seventies, we can offer new insight. There has recently been some recognition of younger women. Spare Rib, a magazine from the UK, includes a section entitled \"Girls are Powerful\". Ms. from the U.S., while offering a very middle-class view of women, also offers us \"Stories for Free Children\". Up to now, there is still very little said from our own mouths. We must make ourselves heard with a voice true to our own experience, rather than a mere adaptation of outdated rhetoric. I Our voices may effect change. Change is growth, but if it is to occur freedom must originate from within. In view of the present state of the world, the implementation of that freedom may come to mean survival. 16 Kinesis November8; Poem to an older woman II have lost I my Crowning Glory I And cut away 1 this shroud I this mask I this veil of perfection |this cloak of protection I this guise of deception I For I am .. jno Rapunzel I no Gwenivere I no Lady Godiva I no fair maiden I with I petty coats I and I flowing locks I For locks they truly I And in my seeing J I have cut them off I and I Down to size I No veil I crowds I my vision I it is unobscured I Nothing to hide \u25a0 no need \u25a0no desire II stand here I here I naked All can see me and I can see all No sideways glances neath kiss curls No passing chances exchanged through free flowing [roaming golden over strands breasts Strands that past waist scintillate and poving stimulate ever po seduce pteadily and ptelthily succumb strike out \u2022 and strangle No heavy head of weighted oppression hanging L down town down down down down past below vagina casting shadows to Yes, I indeed I do OBJECT I've cut off my i longer A little woman A lovely woman A lovely young thing Pretty as a picture Blondes have more fun Oh, her Crowning Glory Pretty lady Pretty baby Chick Cunt Object Object Object November 82 Kines They said I lost my beauty But I know I've only lost my duty to do as is expected and be a woman on their terms alone and lost my Crowning GlorI \"clicking, the in oss her jeweled hand her eyes, dazed, her falling mouth before mine, a witness to accusation and shame I've been blacking out a lot lately. I guess it's from drinking. So Well I woke up to the three of them three of them. Your father sat there smiling smiling with his arm around Her while they told me told me that Neil had fucked me right there in front of the both of them. I wouldn't believe he could just sit there and smile while I got fucked. His own wife.' So then he made some joke like they'd finally got their way a swap like,they'd always wanted. I lost my voice I couldn't even cry... wanting not to look, my heart racing, sickens, pounding out anger, a fist against bars, hatred instilled spills to no where They could by lying but I was too fucking drunk to know. This you see this now? I don't even feel this I don't even feel. I'm numb there is nothing I can do do you hear me? Nothing. Can you understand can you? after placing the iron back into its proper position she bends over the board, hunching, she collapses like an abandoned marionette upon the handwaxed title, above her a twisted smile views the result of his careless torture, His Wife: this charred, once human offering. Melissa Jacques High school women's studies thrives in Burnaby by Jan De Grass In the midst of a storm of outrage directed by B.C.'s teachers toward a thick- skinned Bill Vanderzalm, it is refreshing to find one small corner of Burnaby where the whirlwind has not yet hit. There is a special course that has not been cut back and a teacher, overworked, yet still enthusiastic about her course material. Jane Turner teaches women's studies to a class of Grade eleven and twelve students at Burnaby North Senior Secondary school. This year she has her largest enrolment ever \u2014 28 students, including three boys, all between the ages of 16 and 18. Some of her students have told her it is one of the most valuable courses they have ever taken. Turner admits, however that she begins each year with participants whose consciousness of the subject has already been aroused. \"There's already a pre-selection process in that some of the course's former students like to talk up the class and the new students'arrive knowing something of what to expect. Nonetheless, their attitude undergoes a change in the ten months of class; they move from interested to really enthusiastic,\" she said. The curriculum is similar to adult women's studies classes. She uses the tested techniques of consciousness-raising and assertiveness-training. The course provides a grounding in women's history; segments on women and the law, which include discussions of sexual assault and pornography; and a section on the economics of women's lives: why women are underpaid and how money is made by exploiting women. Assertiveness training gives younger women a chance to stand up for themselves, to learn their rights and develop a sense of dignity. Turner encourages the women in her classes to learn Wen-Do and has called on resource people from the community to talk about verbal and physical self- defence . What kind of issues do younger women want to hear about today? Are their problems different from those we faced when we grew up? \"Not really,\" thinks Jane. \"It's okay now for a girl to say that she wants to be a plumber or a lawyer, although she might still get laughed at, but under the surface it's still not okay. They face the same pressures we faced: whether or not we're attractive and popular, what our friends think of us, what to do about boys...\" Younger women's conscious may be more heightened than ours was, says Jane, because they are growing up at a time when issues like sexism and pornography are more public. But there are still problems. \"You. can be aware of being sexually exploited, for example, but still not know how to deal with it,\" she says. It appears that awareness is more public, but solutions are still not forthcoming. The concept of women's studies in high school was first drafted more than eight years ago. Some of its original material was published in the B.C. Teachers Federation Status of Women program guide. When the provincial government changed hands in 1975 educators feared that the program would be- dropped, but instead it resurfaced as a \"locally-developed\" course, a course undertaken by the individual school. Jane had been teaching for two years when she applied to teach this course. It was not new to her. Turner's former history professor at UBC, Jane Gaskell, provided the impetus for the women's history segment of the curriculum. It took some lobbying on Jane's part to have the course accepted at her school. \"I had to present a detailed course outline,\" she recalls, \"far in excess of the usual procedure for having a course accepted.\" She also recalls the frequency with which superintendents just happened to be in the neighbourhood during the early years and would ask to sit in on her class. \"They were unsure,\" she said. \"The superintendent would phone and actually ask questions like, 'Would I be teaching man- hating? '. They always seemed to drop by just at class time. Of course, this was the first high school women's studies course in the province.\" Six years later the visits have stopped. During the recent budget cutbacks there was no mention of dropping this course, probably in part due to the particular enthusiasm of its students. \"Some of my students have given workshops to my (BCTF) local about this class and another student was on CBC giving it a very good review. She was very articulate,\" said Jane. If someone tried to set up a similar course today at another school, they probably would have some difficulties, she thinks. These days everything is considered a frill, except for the basics\u2014reading, writing and arithmetic. - \"We're losing teachers\u20141000 this year\u2014 so naturally we're losing the option to develop different courses,\" she said. \"If anyone tried to cut this course now I tell you I would fight for it.\" continued from p. 14 For me being a feminist at this point in time is very painful. Sometimes I get scared and tired which makes me pull back, letting things just happen around me without speaking out. It's hard when I have to deal with being aware at school, and with responding to sexism in our textbooks, with our teachers, and with friends. Then I come home to my family where my father plays the controlling figure (being the \"provider\"). At the same time, I see my mother being the person that keeps things together by working hard to stay in tune with everyone's emotions and sacrificing her own. I can't come home after a hectic day to a house of other feminists, or roommates that are supportive and understanding. I come home to fight the battle just a little bit more before I return to school the next day. Being a young woman is double bind. Not only am I seen as less credible because I am a woman, but also because I am young. That makes the choice to fight on feminist issues even more difficult. There are days when I just can't deal with it so I choose to be numb. But every other day, my eyes are open, I am angry and frustrated. Sometimes I lash out, wanting everyone around me to understand. However, unless people see the need for change themselves, it's very difficult to make them recognize my need to fight for it. Seeing all this causes real problems in my interaction with the boys I do care about. I hate the ways in which we are oppressed, how boys treat us sexually and in relationships; how they are encouraged to feel superior; how we are expected to be thin, beautiful and pleasing to be loved. On the other hand, I can't relate to my father or my brother as examples of the enemy. However, getting close to any boy is a frightening experience. The anger keeps me apart. But I don't feel that it's a bad thing. The anger is real. I have one assurance in my life and that is the women around me. We have to reach out to each other. Standing together is strength and can ease the pain. Who is there when you're depressed? Who is there when the world around you crumbles? More than likely it is your women friends. Being a feminist is challenging as well as rewarding. I have gained incredible strength from standing up to sexist remarks and fighting against pornography. I am learning who I am as a woman and why we are forced to wear masks and be in submissive positions. I can see that true love between people must be based on the agreement to fight the stereotyping together. I can hold my head up (or at least most of the time) even if I'm in a group of people that feel what I have to say is nonsense. You have to weigh the risks to decide which risks you're willing to take. Choosing to be a feminist is choosing to fight for all women to be respected and heard in our society. I can never be at ease or stop speaking out until all women begin speaking out firmly about this oppression. While taking care of ourselves, we have to force boys to look at their behaviour. We must stand together to one day eliminate pornography, degradation, lies and abuse of women. By speaking out what you believe and not holding it inside, you can open it up to other people so they can learn and gain strength from you. When pornography no longer exists; when women are no longer oppressed; then,and only then,will I stop the fight. Postscript: You've probably noticed how strange it sounds in this article when :i refer to all females as women and all males as boys. It was deliberate! It shows how absurd it is to use the word girls instead of women. It also demonstrates how referring to adults by words that are defined as children is one way of making them seem less important. We are not less important I November 82 7 The throwaway kids Young women in prisons by Anne Rayvels Dulhane believes we cannot appreciate the situation whereby a young girl is picked up and put into prison without understanding why the institution exists. By the same token, she says it is difficult to separate young women from others in prison, and impossible to discuss women in prison without relating the issue to the society in which we live. Culhane said that the stated purpose of our prisons (to protect society, deter people and rehabilitate) obviously doesn't work. \"If we understand that,\" says Culhane, \"then we will understand why it is a dead loss to put young women in prison and wonder why they come out worse rather than better.\" Young women in prisons learn hairdressing or dressmaking. They clean and work in the kitchen. But most end up without an opportunity to live normal lives. Before women are old enough to go to prison, they are placed in reformatories (equivalent institutions, according to Culhane). However disquieting, she says it is not uncommon to see a young woman, cynical and hardened by the age of 14- or 15, who is already a criminal. This criminal record could begin as early as the age of ten, she said, because once a child is a runaway, she is considered to be a criminal. Culhajie said these children are called \"throwaway kids\", and feels strongly that they are a reflection of our . society. Culhane referred to a TV program with Jack Webster, filmed at Willingdon, in which a 1^-year-old girl told him she just wanted to go to school. Webster asked her about her parents and she told him she had been in 43 foster homes. \"What kind of society are we living in that would allow a young girl to have lived in A3 foster homes?\" exclaimed Culhane, adding that we must look at the family and the community for possible cures. 'Culhane said that although the rate of violent crimes for women is almost negligible, she recently met a woman in her thirties who told her a story of violence occurring after abuse. When this woman was ten, she began running away from home. She had no father and a mother who worked and drank a lot at night. Her brother and mentally-defective step-brother continually attempted to rape her. At 14, after leaving home many times, she began to sleep with a knife under her pillow. She finally had occasion to use it. This 14- year-old girl was apprehended, arrested for attempted murder and sentenced to 18 months in a women's prison in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. \"You can imagine the kind of person she had to develop into. In prison, she fought to defend herself \u2014 against other women,\" said Culhane. In 1975, when Culhane taught a Women's Studies course at Oakhalla, her class included a 17-year-old new admission. The girl never left her side and when the class was over, she was literally hanging on to her. When Culhane asked her what was wrong, she said, \"They are coming at me with penknives.\" Twin Maples in Haney, B.C. is a unique prison in Canada, said Culhane, because young women who are pregnant or have children under two can keep the child with them. But she said we must consider what will happen when the child reaches two, if the mother Is still serving time. She questions the kind of judge who creates this irreparable kind of family problem for a nonviolent crime. The child may be farmed out, and it may be difficult, if not impossible, for the mother to find her child when she gets out. Many other young women with small children lose them when they go to prison because their husbands go to court for custody. The incarcerated woman can do little unless she is wealthy and can afford a good lawyer. There are alternative programs to incarceration, said Culhane, and she spoke highly of the one at Cedar Cottage in Vancouver. She told of one 17-year-old woman who had been caught shoplifting and was referred to the community program at Cedar Cottage, thereby bypassing the courts. An arrangement was made between the store-owner and the girl to pay for the stolen item, and progress reports were requested by the Committee at Cedar Cottage while the girl worked as a counsellor at summer camp. Culhane said this viable alternative to incarceration is in trouble because public funding for the project has been cut, and it is now dependent'only on private funding. \"We even practise apartheid in our prisons in the prairie provinces,\" said Culhane, referring to the fact that '90% of all women prisoners in these provinces are native women. Vancouver has a particular problem in this regard. \"Our peace officers are nowhere to be seen during the day when native women are in need of help, but at night on Hastings Street between Carrall and Main, they are out in force scooping them in.\" The rate of recidivism is 80% for all ex- convicts. Culhane said the reason for this is that there is no one to help when they get out. She said many people who are involved get caught up in bureaucracy or are on a power trip, and many look the other way. The options for young women leaving prison are few. Culhane recalled a young woman she met at Oakhalla who had been in prison for seven years. When she was released, she went to a halfway house. In the morning she was told to get up, dress and have breakfast before going to look for work. The girl got up, dressed and sat there. She didn't know she could open her door. She hadn't opened a door in years. Once, when this young woman was on the street, a constable driving by addressed her by name. The woman (from Toronto) was astonished. She didn't know that all police are given the names of people released from prison and are told to keep an eye on them. Culhane said this often results in undue harassment. Continued on p. 20 Claire Culhane, 64, is an author and prisoners ' rights activist. Born in Montreal of Russian Jewish immigrant parents, her political activism began in 1937 when she became involved protesting the Spanish Civil War. In 1967, Culhane administered a Canadian government-sponsored hospital in South Vietnam, which gave rise to her first book Why is Canada in Vietnam? (NC Press, 1972). She became a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee at the B. C. Penitentiary in 1967, and her work with the Prisoners ' Rights Group since that time has involved her in prisoners' activities throughout Canada and the U.S. Her second book, Barred From Prison (Pulp Press, 1979), was written after she was told she could no longer enter Oakhalla. The prison ruling was made, Culhane said, \"in the best terests of the institution\". November 82 Kinesis 7 iAts&n***^ Nancy Drew and beyond by Janie Newton-Moss \"I'm just happy that everything turned out alright\" Ned grinned. \"If I were to give Nancy the reward she'd like best, I'd hand her another mystery to solve. \" But it was not Ned who would bring \"The Clue of the Broken Locket\" to Nancy though he was to play a part in the strange case. \"I'll find you a mystery by tomorrow morning\", he promised jokingly. \"And I'll be ready for it\", Nancy said with a twinkle in her eyes. \"But make it very, very complicated and orginal. \" Caroline Keene's heroine Nancy Drew who has been enthralling young girls since the 1950s was my introduction to the detective novel. I think my obsession to finish one book.and get on to the next came less from a desire to absorb details of crimes than to experience the world through Nancy's eyes. Here was a girl albeit unlike anyone I was ever likely to meet who was not only permitted, but positively encouraged to pursue her adventurous instinct and propensity to stick her nose into any : u.3- picious kind of business. Re-reading some of my favourite Nancy Drew mysteries recently, I was disappointed to find that they were, on the whole, badly written and contained forgettable plots. However, I still felt a loyalty to Nancy herself, who made it seem possible to participate in a dangerous other world with courage, dignity and a sense of, humour. Like many of her older sisters in the detective novel, Nancy is able to pursue her passion without the every day distractions that occupy most of our lives. She lives at home with her father, a distinguished criminal lawyer with whom she is able to discuss her cases over leisurely meals provided by an adoring housekeeper who asks nothing more than the occasional peck on the cheek and the promise that Nancy will do nothing foolhardy. She is accompanied in her adventures by two friends who seem content to bathe in Nancy's reflected glory although: From their years of friendship with the young detective, Beth and George had learned to let Nancy act as spokesman. She seemed to know just how ' much to reveal whereas they were afraid they might give information that Nancy would prefer to be kept secret for the time being. She has an understanding boyfriend, Ned, who turns up occasionally but never interferes. Although we are told in every book that she is \"a titian-haired, slender attractive girl of 18\" she is without sexuality. With the odd exception most detective heroines are portrayed as \"spinsters\" who are either too old to.be interested in sex, young enough that they may still discover it, or emotionally deformed so that their work compensates for their lack of ability to be \"a complete woman\". It is, however, the odd exceptions that prove to be the most rounded and believable characterisations. Lesser writers than Dorothy L. Sayers, the creator of two of fiction's most fascinating detectives: Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, have noted the difficulty of combining the two great passions of crime detection and sexual love. P.D.James in a recent interview on the CBC said she was not interested in a mystery novel unless it contained passion. She quoted-Sayers as saying that \"Love should be kept out of the classic detective novel\" and yet even Sayers succumbs in Gaudy Night by having Wimsey and Vane marry. This is no formula boy meets girl novel. It is the culmination of a long relationship based on mutual respect and a shared obsession with detective work. Although earlier Wimsey has rescued Vane from a criminal court, by the time of their marriage she is an established crime writer and amateur detective. When Sayers wrote this she was indeed going against the grain of respectable society who would have preferred Wimsey to have taken a more conventional bride. P.D. James' heroine Cordelia Grey finds the same prejudices in the 70's faced by Harriet Vane a few decades previous. She is introduced in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman as the younger partner in a detective agency. Although her name is printed clearly on the door the police when called in to investigate the death of her male partner, assume she is his secretary and that she will make them tea while they go about their business. Her main concern about having chosen to pursue an unconventional career is not how to combine it with a private life, but rather how her role affects other people. Unlike the con- Continued from p. 19 There are many problems involved in finding work if you are an ex-con. If you are on probation, your probation officer can check at your job, creating embarrassment and problems. Perhaps one of the most shocking stories Culhane had to tell involved a young woman released on probation (although two years of her sentence was still unserved). She received permission from her probation officer in Vancouver to go to a job she was offered in northern B.C. (in a hamburger stand). She worked hard and was offered a better job in another northern town. After receiving permission from the probation officers in the town she was leaving and the one where she was going, she attempted to reach her Vancouver probation officer and was unable to do so because it was the weekend. She assumed one of the other officers would do it for her. She moved and began work but in one week was apprehended and return ed to prison to serve another two years \u2014 for violation of parole. If the public is concerned about young women in prisons, says Culhane, we should work to make prison and remand centre builders accountable to the public. She quoted Isobel McNeil, Warden of the maximum security Prison for Women in.Kingston, who more than two years ago called for the Prison to be shut down \u2014 because it is a crime to keep women in a place of that kind. Prisons are almost impossible to penetrate, said Culhane. They are a closed society and are not places where parents, relatives or concerned citizens can go and say \"What's going on here? This is my daughter. This is my tax money.\" Culhane insists that no one should believe a single word she says or writes. She says we must go and look for ourselves. But, she adds, \"The first thing you will find out is that you can't find out.\" \"Nancy! Watch out!\" Bess screamed ventional male detective she does not feel herself to be either an objective observer >or a passive seeker of justice. A newcomer to this particular genre is Helen Keremos, the hard-bitten, cool, karate-chopping heroine of A Reason To Kill. I mention her as she is one of the few Canadian woman detectives and her creator Eve Zaremba has contributed to the ever expanding field of women's literature by portraying her as a lesbian. Mary Lamont, the governess turned amateur detective in A Coffin'for Pandora by Gwendoline Butler, shares Cordelia Grey's anguish about the responsibility of judging other people's criminal actions. When ^er young pupil becomes the focus of a kidnaping plot and subsequent series of murders she finds herself alternately drawn in and fighting back to keep within lawful limitations. Finally in the best tradition of women detectives she not only finds herself able to restore order where there has been chaos but also that she has learned far more about herself than her ability to piece clues together. \"At first when it was all newly over and I had survived, I felt like the victim of some natural disaster, an earthquake say, or a shipwreck and that it had all happened by chance, the fall of the coin on the table. It is only now, looking back that I see. how much I, Mary Lamont, contributed and that the climax sprang as much out of my own chracter as anything else. There was my spirit of pride and my impatience together with a quick curiosity which made me always eager to know what was written on the next page. The gods keep a special fate for people like me. In short I helped bring it on.\" It is no accident that Gwendoline Butler chooses a late Victorian Oxford University setting as the background for a mystery which involves ,the murders of several young women. Oxford resisted the efforts of early feminists who fought to have women accepted as undergraduates. These women characters are all faced with choosing between the local brothel or the sweatshop conditions^of a milliner's workshop. In the 1980's we are still trying to combatl the contradictions embodied in Victorian morality. The unitiated who have yet to discover the seamier side of our civilised world have a whole new body of literature to discover. The prejudiced, the literary snobs and those who equate women's fiction with pulp writing ignore it at their own peril. November 82 REVIEWS Munro's latest preoccupied with romantic love by Cy-Thea Sand The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro. Toronto: MacMillan of Canada, 1982. 233 pp. $17.95 (cloth). Ambition was what they were alarmed by, for to be ambitious was to court failure and to risk making a fool of oneself. The worst thing, I gathered, the worst thing that could happen in this life was to have people laughing at you. Lives of Girls and Women (1971) Poverty was not just wretchedness...it was not just deprivation. It meant having those ugly tube lights and being proud of them. It meant continual talk of money and malicious talk about new things people had bought and whether they were paid for. It meant pride and jealousy flaring over something like the new pair of plastic curtains, imitating lace...That as well as hanging your clothes on nails behind the door and being able to hear every sound from the bathroom. Who Do You Think You Are (1978) With these words, Alice Munro underlined her sensitivity to small town poor and working class people and to the lives of women in a culture both classist and sexist. In her latest work, a collection of stories entitled The Moons of Jupiter, Munro is much less focused on the economic determinants of her characters' development. She seems more interested in the middle-aged woman's search for love. If I sound disappointed it is because I was hoping that Alice Munro would further explore the mother\/daughter knot (another of her major themes) and'the effects of poverty on her characters' perceptions. I agree with the Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o when he says that literature should be primarily concerned with what any political and economic arrangement does to the spirit and values governing human relationships. I am also interested in female characters who move outside of the romantic realm and I confess a boredom with the sameness of heterosexual mating rituals in literature. As a feminist and optimist I am concerned with the fact that Munro's women seldom win. In Dulse, one of the most powerful stories in the collection, Lydia is on holiday to recuperate from a failed relationship. In Chaddeleys and Flemings: 1. Connection, the protagonist is married to an insensitive, rude snob. Frances' marriage in Accident is motivated by the death of a child; in later life Frances contemplates the twist of fate that offered her a marriage rather than spinsterhood: What difference, thinks Frances. She doesn't know where that thought comes from or what it means, for of course there is a difference, anybody can see that, a life's difference. She's had her love, her scandal, her man, her children. But inside she's ticking away, all by herself, the same Frances who was there before any of it. Not altogether the same, surely. The same. In Bardon Bus the image of a solitary woman is used as a backdrop against the protagonist's tale of unsuccessful romance. In this story, women's manipulation by life's \"cruel sexual bargain\" \u2014 to use Elizabeth Smart's phrase \u2014 is dramatized by the main character's tormented thoughts: The images, the language, of pornography and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair. That was what my mind dealt in: that is what it still can deal in. I have tried vigilance and reading serious books but I can still slide deep into some scene before I know where I am. A male character in this story had earlier stated, ironically, that women, like the terra-cotta soldiers he had seen in China are very seldom found as whole figures... Their legs and torsos and heads have to be matched up, usually. They have to be put together and stood on their feet. ALICE MUNRO The Moons of Jupiter Munro's women are emotionally fragile and dependent \u2014 often \"sliding deep\" into a role of powerlessness vis a vis their lovers or husbands. One character is a- shamed of her poor background; humiliated by her husband's contempt. Another steals from her lover's house; her booty a sad revenge against being usurped by a younger women. Husbands and lovers hurt and insult women by scorning their aging bodies \u2014 the women cower in self-hate, their buried rage becomes depression. Women worry about pleasing men; they fret about assuaging men's impatience and disdain. There is a disquieting inward search for blame in these stories; the societally constructed horror in male-female relations is absolved of guilt. One female character, in analyzing her deep unhappiness, reflects a misguided tendency to individualize a cultural malady: She made him a present of such power, then complained relentlessly to herself and finally to him, that he had got it. She was out to defeat him. Alice Munro's mastery of the short story is evident in The Moons of Jupiter. Two or three stories are much longer than any she has done before. Two or three stories she has done before. Labor Day Dinner and Chaddeleys and Flemings are two examples of long stories beautifully realized. The shortness of Prue is an interesting exercise in contrast. On first reading I found it too abrupt but on closer examination it is a well-wrought, succinct tale of despair. There are a variety of themes in this work. Female bonding, friendship and aging are explored in Mrs. Cross and Mrs. Kidd. The two women have been friends for eighty years and find themselves together in Hilltop Home making new friends, facing illness and death. Visitors examines the loneliness in the relationship between two elderly brothers. There is a hint of mother\/daughter conflict in the title story, which also deals with sickness and death. In The Turkey Season, Alice Munro's ability to create hard working small town characters is celebrated. It is difficult to forget women like Marjorie and Lily, who are two middle-aged sisters, who were very fast and thorough and competitive gutters... and who sang at their work and talked abusively and intimately to the turkey carcasses. Alice Munro loves to write about unmarried women \u2014 old maids in patriarchal vernacular \u2014 and she does it well. In Part One of the first story, Chaddeleys and Flemings: 1. Connection 2. The Stone in the Field, the maiden aunts from one side of a family are lovingly drawn. They are contrasted with the six sisters in Part Two, who live a puritanical life of hard work and seclusion in the backwoods of Ontario. My favourite story is Dulse, the second tale in this finely crafted collection. It is set on an island off the South Coast of New Brunswick. The characters, who are residing in a local resort, are richly and brilliantly realized. Lydia, on vacation from her editing job in Toronto, learns from another guest that the American novelist Willa Cather and her lover Edith Lewis used to spend their summers there. The guest, a retired newspaperman, is intrigued by Willa Cather and speaks often of her to Lydia. The image of Willa and Edith together threads this short story with a glimpse of women living together unencumbered by men. As this story unfolds Lydia ponders her relationship with Duncan, her ex-lover, and wonders how and why she gave such power to him: She believed that Duncan's love - love for Alice Munro her - was somewhere inside him^ and that by gigantic efforts to please, or fits of distress which obliterated all those efforts, or tricks of indifference, she could claw or lure it out. Annoyed with her own emotional turmoil and with Mr. Stanley's adoration of Willa Cather, Lydia becomes harsh and rude. He has just told her that Willa Cather once spoke to a local woman about the latter's confusion as to whether or not to marry: What would she know about it, anyway? Lydia said. Mr. Stanley lifted his eyes from his plate and looked at her in grieved amazement. Willa Cather lived with a woman, Lydia said. When Mr. Stanley answered he sounded flustered, and mildly upbraiding. They were devoted, he said. She never lived with a man. She knew things as an artist knows them. Not necessarily by experience. continued on p. 29 22 November8: CULTURE Impressions of Fay Weldon by Angela Page Who is Fay Weldon, and why was she in Vancouver recently? She is a comfortable, middle-aged Englishwoman who came here for the final performances of her successful play, Love Among the Women (reviewed in Kinesis, September, 1982). The play was ' unique in reflecting our own lives accurately onstage, making us laugh and wince in recognition. However, Weldon is more than a perceptive playwright, she is an extremely versatile writer. She is the author of nine novels, several short stories, innumerable plays and scripts for British TV and radio, including the award-winning Polaris, writer of five early episodes of Upstairs Downstairs, contributor to Crossroads (a successful British soap opera),adaptor of Pride and Prejudice (recently on PBS), etc. etc. Her latest novel, The President's Child, has just been published in Britain and will appear soon in North America. Another is newly completed. For all that productivity, she presents a calm, mellow exterior, smiling gently at the world and answering even the most inane questions (mainly from male interviewers) with wit and intelligence. While in Vancouver, she gave talks at SFU and UBC, a writers' workshop and a reading at City Stage, plus interviews with CBC, The Vancouver Sun, Kinesis and The Radical Reviewer. She appears to enjoy the role of feminist novelist and playwright; she is briskly uncompromising with male reviewers who complain about her unfairness to men. After all, she says, women have been unfairly described by men for centuries. Now it is our turn. She herself spent her early childhood in New Zealand (\"a completely different country\" ) and then moved to England with her divorced mother \u2014 a period of \"hardship and deprivation\". It is noticeable that nearly all the women in her novels are brought up by women alone; husbands and fathers are absent. She won a scholarship to university in Scotland and, oddly, studied economics while failing English exams. Her degree eventually led to a copy- writing job in an advertising agency where she coined the immortal and successful slogan, \"Go to work on an egg\". Commissions from the BBC followed, and then her first novel. Weldon describes herself as married \"on and off\" to an antique dealer; they maintain establishments in London and in the country. She feels a sense of place is important. The earlier novels were written in London, while two of the most successful, Praxis and Puffball, were written while she was coming to terms with life in the country and the impact of long-established country folk on newly-arrived city dwellers. \"I can invent women with no trouble; I have to describe men,\" she says. She has frequently been taxed by male reviewers for her unfairness to her male characters. They are indeed universally awful \u2014 oblivious of their effect upon their wives, insensitive while claiming sensitivity, ever-willing to trade them in for younger prettier women \u2014 or men. She sees this as only just, and cites the long list of women described by men in their fiction, beginning with Anna Karenina (\"a vulgar book\") and Madame Bovary, both examples of faithless women who are held up before us and punished for their sins. \"They are male fantasies,\" she says firmly, \"this is how men would like it to be.\" She feels it is high time the balance was redressed, and emphasizes that most of the best novelists in England now are women, not men, because they are in touch with what is really happening. She thinks there is a new school of English women's fiction, concerned with the reality of the world and painfully aware the possibility of its coming to an end in nuclear holocaust. \"When they blow it up, I just hope they miss,\" she says. While English women writers have a sense of solidarity, \"We're all unhappy with Doris Lessing now that she's going round telling us we've all got to build our own nuclear fallout shelters.\" When speaking at SFU, Weldon defined herself as wife and mother of four sons before discussing her writing. Asked about this, she said it would be useful if men, too, were defined in this way as a matter of course. She sees pregnancy and childbirth as only a part of women's lives: \"The mistake is to think It is all one can do\". Weldon suggest, only half-jokingly, that babies should be handed over to their fathers at six weeks. Fathers are just as responsible as mothers when they are in sole charge, and it would keep them from blowing up the world. She would like to see the next generation of women less fully committed to childrearing and feels the childbearing role, although defined as female, is in essence a series of emotions which men are quite capable of having as well. On the other hand, Weldon sees role reversal often as a mere exchange of lines \u2014 her husband now complains about her untidiness just as she used to about his. She is sure the domestic role is inherently oppressed, no matter who plays it. She suspects that working wives of men at home now bully them, but hopes that \"perhaps having been oppressed they may not be such oppressors!\" Certainly, it is obvious from her fiction that she does not see women as we would like to see ourselves \u2014 strong, supportive, kind \u2014 but more as a mixture of good and bad, manipulation, jealousy, dishonesty. There is malice and anger in her writing, often directed by women at women. For instance Puffball is mainly about a pregnancy, the biological imperative, but it is also about malevolence, jealousy, the urge to hurt other people. The forces of evil may be bungling and incompetent, but they exist and are not exclusive to either sex. The supernatural is a frequent element in Weldon's fiction. Praxis Duveen, heroine of Praxis, communes with the star Betel- geuse, and the dead Madeline in Remember Me makes her presence eerily felt for several days after her death. In Puffball there are emanations from Glastonbury Tor. The Glastonbury Thorn, said to have grown from wood of the True Cross, brought by Joseph of Aramithea from Palestine, flowers every year on Christmas Day. (Fay Weldon herself lives at times in that part of the world.) There are ghosts, too, in several of the short stories in Watching Me, Watching You. Fay Weldon says briskly that she has a friend who edits a ghost story anthology who commissioned several of these ( \"Can you write a ghost story by Tuesday?\"), but that she does feel that women are in touch with realities we do not understand, relating back to witchcraft and the moon and ancient mysteries. There is something of the white witch about her, I think \u2014 the easy warmth and friendliness, yet evil is there in some of her fiction. She says she is sometimes asked to read Tarot cards at horseshows, sitting in a little tent on a Saturday afternoon, but she always takes out the bad cards before she starts so that she cannot foretell death or disaster. Perhaps this helps to define Fay Weldon, the person \u2014 an essentially nice woman, easy to talk to, co-operative, polite, remembering to ask about one's sick child from the day before, coping with hostile male interviewers who have not bothered to read her work, at the same time aware of the pain and evil in the world, not all caused by men but a part of us all. She says she has moved from the indignation she felt in her thirties to a calmer acceptance. Certainly she is cautiously optimistic about the future. Although she is a feminist, she does not call herself a feminist writer. She refuses to distort her own vision of the universe for the sake of a party line (if there is one). Despite her prodigious output, she says she is not superwoman \u2014 one cannot be a good mother, wife and writer. She is concerned about being away for her youngest son's birthday, although she knows fathers have been doing it for years (and that her son is young enough to be misled about the date anyway). Yet even if \"you are a good wife and mother, children leave you and so do husbands,\" and certainly she has yet to portray a happy, good wife and mother. For me, meeting Fay Weldon was, if not an inspiration, certainly a tremendous encouragement. Here is a woman my own age, superbly competent and skilful in her writing; in her prime, at the top of her form. Like me, like all of us, she juggles her commitments to work, to family, to friends. Like me, she is afraid of dropping one of the balls. She has a strong maternal streak \u2014 she positively melted at the sight of an old photograph of herself with her then year-old son, and she suffers from the universal guilt of mothers. But she can turn on her writing like a tap (sometimes it shows), despite the constant interruptions of home and family, and still do a more than creditable job. She herself says that, of course, something has to go, and in her case it is the domestic scene; but she, more than most \u25a0female jugglers, can interpret our condition to us. Fay Weldon is not very well known here, and she deserves a wider audience, especially among feminists. She is published in Britain, Denmark, America and Australia. November 82 Kinesis REVIEWS The Blatant Image Speaking a woman's visual language by Michelle Wollstonecroft The Women's Movement, as a social revolution must take place on many levels. As a visual image maker I see the need to create new forms of expression that give recognition to our lives and experiences. We need new symbols to win, reproduce and maintain a place for our culture in the world. The Blatant Image A Magazine of Feminist Photography The Blatant Image, 2000 King Mt. Trail, Sunny Valley, Oregon. U.S.A. 97497 The Blatant Image, a magazine of feminist photography, is 97 pages of woman- identified images. It combines the ideas that we share as women with the ethnic, class, sexual and physical diversities within the women's movement. The photographs document aspects of women's lives that have previously been made invisible by the dominant male culture. The Blatant Image is produced annually. The first edition was produced in 1981 at Rootworks, in the hills of Southern Oregon, by Ruth Mountaingrove, Jan Phillips, Caroline Overman, Tee Corrine and Jean Mountaingrove. The Blatant Image sets out to \"...be a consciousness-raising space for who we are. In our photographs we can tell each other who we are. In our photographs we can tell each other how it really is..We will take photography in a life moving direction when we image our own lives, when we publish images that are ours. Seeing ourselves doing things we never imagined possible, we will begin to do them.\" (Ruth Mountaingrove) Although this magazine is written for feminist photographers, by feminist photographers, I feel that the information and articles would appeal to women who are snapshot makers as well as women who just want to look at the pictures. I enjoyed The Blatant Image #1 for the feminist analysis of photographs and photographic processes. Foremost I was impressed by the photographs, which images speak a woman's visual language. The photographs vary from women doing traditional women's work, such as laundry and mothering, to non-traditional work such as logcutting and climbing telephone poles. There are photographs of women photographers, self-portraits, photographs of women in protests, of women showing affection and love for other women, of mothers and daughters, and of women giving each other political support. The photographs represent the diverse subcultures of feminist women including: women who are physically disabled, third world, white, lesbian and heterosexual, middle class and working class women. The photographs also represent many different styles of working with photographic images. For example, Stephanie from Yellow Springs, Ohio does not take photographs herself, but works exclusively in the darkroom. Using \"found\".old glass negatives, she layers them with materials such as lace and buttons to make her prints. Another photographer, Mary Beth Edelson has contributed an article and photographs on \"Documenting Rituals: What a Modern Day Problem!\" Her photographs play with exposure times, moving images and the contrast of night with torch light. Figures of women and womenspirits are apparent in the photographs, but quite abstract. The collective power of these images, is that same power that created and sustains Fairies fight mangy macho mefirsts by Cole Dudley As the holiday season nears, the sales hype for children's gifts increases. What, oh what, do we buy our children for Christmas\/Solstice presents? Hopefully, we'll find gifts acceptable to us as well as able to catch the interest of our children. Along comes Press Gang, just in time. They have recently published a children's story called The Day the Fairies Went on Strike, written by Linda Briskin and Maureen Fitzgerald with illustrations by Barbara Eidlitz. The Day the Fairies Went on Strike is a wonderful story about the worker fairies and the \"Mefirsts\" who order them around and waste their precious wish-granting time. Consequently, the fairies have become so bogged down with wishes that they cannot fill Hester's wish for 42 years! Hester is a little girl who is troubled by bullies and decides to ask the fairies to grant her a wish that will do away with her problem. After talking to the fairies, Hester learns about the terrible conditions in which they work, and suggests they call a meeting to bring about some changes. Hester relates her mother's success in organizing to fight back against the bosses in her office, and the fairies decide to do the same. In the end, the Mefirsts learn a valuable lesson and equality reigns in the workplace. Hester also decides to stand up to her own bullies. The DAY The FAIRIES WENT ON STRIKE! k PRKSS GANG PUBLISHERS The Day the Fairies Went on Strike provides children with the basic information for understanding a strike action. With more and more parents striking for their rights and the media distorting the facts, a book like this is invaluable to our children. Although the book is mainly a small child's story, it can be read and enjoyed by older children as well. (This 32-year-old enjoyed it!) The book costs $4-95 and is available from Ariel Books, the Women's Bookstore, Octopus East, Octopus West and Press Gang. mJk fl the women's movement. It is the explicit subjectivity of the work, that in examining women's own lives is revealed even in those articles which discuss the technical aspects of photography. This subjectivity challenges the traditional and mystifying \"technique first\" premise of photography. At the same time it gives emphasis to the authenticity of women's creative expression as something quite apart from the dominant male esthetic. For example, in \"Being Sensitive to Light\" Karen Gottstein demystifies photographic jargon by relating methods of exposure to the ways we see each other and the world around us under the different daily atmospheric conditions. Likewise, Betty Fairbanks draws a relationship between the inherent qualities of film and the colours of nature, weather and natural light. The herstorical articles gave me a sense of my place in the evolution of women in photography. As a Canadian I was delighted to read in Laura Jones' article that In 1890 there were 135 professional women photographers working in Canada. I also enjoyed Frances Rooney's article about Edith Wharton's turn-of-the-century photographs documenting rural Canadians and am looking forward to reading more about this woman. The inherent message of The Blatant Image was the importance of women making visual images. \"...That visual statement when it connects to another's (sometimes latent) understanding and sensibility is my contribution to the development of a culture and community that is self-defined. That culture is considerably different from the one we are bombarded with daily...\" (Shell Glick, Blatant Image,p.6.) Not only does The Blatant Image encourage women to make images but includes suggestions of places women can publish their photographs, as well as organizations that women photographers can join. It also includes information about workshops, archives, collectives, exhibits and festivals in the U.S. and Canada. The only criticism I have.of The Blatant Image is the cost - $10. in the U.S. and $12 in Canada, which is a little steep for many would-be purchasers. However, the black-and-white reproductions are well printed and this undoubtedly accounts for the price. The women at Rootworks began production on The Blatant Image #2 in September. We can look forward to more images that document our culture as we wind our way out of the patriarchy. 24 Kinesis November 82 CULTURE When Alix Dob kin played and sang at the Koerner Auditorium on October 3rd, there were many women in the audience who gratefully soaked up every last repetition of the words 'woman' and 'lesbian'. Myself, I was bored. It was hard to be having that kind of re- . sponse, because I really wanted to enjoy it, to enter into the space experienced by (seemingly) the majority of the crowd, to bask in the feeling of being validated as a lesbian, that Alix provides. None of the other well-known lesbian musicians puts that message across so openly and clearly as Alix Dobkin. For that I give her credit, and I wish others would be as honest about being lesbians. But that honesty and validation are not enough in themselves. I still found Alix's performance basically uninspiring. Her lyrics are prosaic and repetitious, written in a conversational or polemic style, with very few really poetic lines. There isn't enough of the creative imagery that can make me want to sing a song forever and appreciate new levels every time. The words go in one ear and out the When she asked us if we could yell and we were right there ready to hoot and holler, she picked it up and dropped it, going right back into the same stuff. Her guitar accompaniment was fine for what she was doing\u2014supporting and not obscuring what is obviously the more important aspect of her work, the words. If the words had been worth all that attention I would not fault so heavily her lack of musical interest. The other performer on stage was Cheryl Wharton, interpreting Alix's words into sign language. Though there didn't seem to be any hearing-impaired women in the audience, it was educational and beautiful for all of us to watch the visual presentation of Alix's words. I also appreciated the time and effort Alix made to teach us all the signs for one of her songs \"If It wasn't for the Woman\". I agree with her that it is important to make our events accessible to differently abled women. Then they really have a choice to attend or not. , The theatre itself was quite lovely, the stage set-up beautiful and the acoustics excellent. Apart from the fact that the poster didn't state that boys were not welcome, the concert was well-organized and technically well-produced. As the majority of the audience seemed to enjoy the show, I can honestly say that overall, the event was a success. Although I have my criticisms of Alix's work, I am happy that she is out there making more and more women aware of lesbian lifestyles. other. An example of a typical chorus shows the lack of substance: There 's something about a lesbian She can send me, she can send me! She's a Lesbian. She's a woman's woman through and through her and Someday, maybe I'll woo her. yea! Weeeeee yea, yea! Weeeeee yea, yea! There 's something about her. Alix Dobkin c 1980 Although it's not apparent on the written page, the most interesting part of this song is the \"weeeee yea, yea!\". This line is sung in a style adapted from the yells which come from the Balkan folk tradition. For those of you who are familiar with Alix's music, you'll remember these yells which she uses now and then. They are truly wonderful sounds, as exciting to do as to hear. If I hadn't heard Alix do those wide- ranging howls, I would think that she can only sing within.one octave, as her songs are very limited in range and variety of musical form using 4\/4 time, predictable chord progressions, major keys, with no instrumental solos or vocal variations to lighten the monotony. It's particularly frustrating because I know she has the voice to do more. In early September I agreed to interview Alix Dobkin for KINESIS while she was in town. Unfortunately, circumstances and the chaos of my life prevented us from getting together. Instead, I edited for print an interview taped for THE LESBIAN SHOW. Many thanks to the collective for making the tape available to me. You can listen to other important interviews, news and music on THE LESBIAN SHOW, every Thursday at 7:30 pm, CFRO (Co-op) Radio, 102.7 FM. ON SEPARATISM: My separatism comes from my feelings, not from an intellectual decision. It's a feeling of comfort and the kind of atmosphere that's created when women are alone together. It doesn't mean to me that I can't ever talk to a man, or even be fond of a man. I love my father, I like my brother a lot, and I do spend time with them.. A lot of women think that lesbian separatism means that you're not allowed to have anything to do with men, or with women who have anything to do with men, and I've never subscribed to that. I'll participate in a program (a rally or benefit) with a mixed audience, but I won't do a whole concert for an audience unless it's only female. ON MALE CHILDREN IN THE AUDIENCE: Women only is not boys. If a child is old enough to sit and enjoy a performance then there's no point in having a boy in that audience, because the material that I do is not particularly supportive of boys. To me it is not doing the boys any favours to let them be in that atmosphere and it exposes them to the hostility of many women who don't like to have boys around. It's not fair to anyone. And it's important for boys to learn respect for women's privacy at an early age, to learn that there are places where they don't have to be. ON HETEROSEXUAL WOMEN IN THE AUDIENCE: Oh, I'm all for it. Nothing pleases me more than to have a woman tell me, \"I came out right after your concert.\" I'm real happy to have all kinds of women at my concerts. ON LESBIANISM AS A POLITICAL ISSUE: It provides the basis for me, for getting through anything. For making bonds with all kinds of women\u2014there are all kinds of lesbians. If we can manage to achieve coalition politics among lesbians, I think we are really doing something. Being lesbians gives us the basis to communicate with the kind of people that we would never communicate with before. It brings issues into our lives like racism, anti-semitism, disability. These kinds of issues become very personal and very important to lesbians when we're lesbian- identified, because there are lesbians we need to connect with who are not like us. A good example of this is when I went to Germany and spoke about being Jewish in my concerts. I made connections with German lesbians who understood what had happened during the '40's, who were conscious of the holocaust and Nazism, which is not an easy thing to be conscious of in Germany these days. We were able to make these connections because we are lesbians, and have the kinds of bonds that are so supportive and wonderful. And I couldn't connect with other German women like that unless they were lesbians. I think it's a big mistake and very self-destructive to be conscious of being a lesbian as a limitation. This is not a limitation. It broadens our perspective. November 82 Kinesis CULTURE Alive and doing well by Diane Morrison and Janet Morgan Alive: five women musicians uncompromisingly trying through their music, their work and their lives, to be who they are. \"Then,\" as pianist Janet Small says, \"finding the people who are interested in that, making them know about us.\" Alive played at the Landmark Jazzbar late in September. After the first all-stops- out number a friend said, \"When they start out the show like that, where do they go next?\" But go they do; jamming, jiving, jazzing, and really outdoing themselves with each number. They give so much to each other on stage. It's like a shout of \"Go for it! and their firm embrace takes you along. Rhiannon, Susanne Vencenza and Carolyn Brandy met six years ago at a workshop for women musicians. Originally, they got together to play music, not to form a group. But something clicked; people liked what they heard and asked for more. Barbara Borden and Janet Small liked what they heard and became part of it almost four years ago. \"We're women. We're musicians. I can't separate those two. Music is what keeps us together,\" said Carolyn. \"It wouldn't be enough that we were just women. As musicians we share the same standards and goals.\" But the group, in their music and their personality, says a lot about the things women are after In their lives. \"We were real fortunate to have the space and the opportunities and the support of the women's community. Women were so responsive. They connected to the spirit of the group. There was a desire to see women playing. They liked the risks we were taking, liked what we were writing about. And we felt we could try out a lot of things and really improve as musicians because of that support. There were some Janet Small, Barbara Borden, Rhiannon, Susanne Vencenza, and Carolyn Brandy magical moments in those women-only spaces. But we want to do it all, to play to all kinds of audiences. We're trying to reclaim our own space.\" One of the group's foundation concepts is that everyone is a soloist. \"When we make up the set, we work so that each person feels they're being represented as an individual.\" And when you see them perform you know you're seeing five of the best jazz musicians around. Composing is a big priority for all the members of Alive, as well as performing original material. They don't put their sets together by relying on old standards. They are in the contemporary world and their jazz reflects that. No matter who writes the music, they choose it because it says what they want to say. \"We don't sing lyrics that are contrary to our beliefs.\" Alive sees big changes in the music business. They believe the growing number of women, as groups, leaders and soloists, have had an impact on women's attitudes changing toward themselves. \"People's attitudes are changing in general. I'm really proud that we're part of that. And feminism has been instrumental in helping women confront and overcome some of the barriers,\" Carolyn said. \"I was so impassioned about playing drums,\" she added. \"I played for about three years before I realized that the guys were really up-tight about it. By the time I.started realizing the taboos, it was too late. It didn't stop me. \" Future plans for the group include a third album, possible tours in Europe and Brazil, more writing, more gigs, financial stability as musicians and continued opportunities to grow, as musicians, as teachers and as people. We hope that Alive will have a long and prosperous association with Vancouver audiences. Alive's records are available from Redwood Records, 419 East Elk Avenue, rear, Glendale, California, U.S.A. 91205. Westcoast Women's Festival falls short on politics by Rachel Rocco Sure, I was pretty excited about attending the Third Annual West Coast Women's Music Festival, held in late September. Most of all I was looking forward to being part of a self-sufficient, self-contained, community composed entirely of women. To me, this was the perfect opportunity for an interesting and educational Information exchange between women. Before even arriving at the festival site, however, it was clear the organizers were not creating an environment condusive to any sort of political education. One major women's bookstore in San Francisco chose not to participate in the festival claiming it was not open to community input and the sliding scale ticket prices were totally inadequate and discriminated against poorer women. Ticket prices were set at $80 for the four days and everyone who paid this fee was expected to do at least one workshift necessary for the smooth running of the festival. Women who could afford to pay $20 more were exempt from working completely while those who could not afford the $80 could try for one of the limited number of spaces that allowed a person free entrance if they worked the festival. Considering this \"city of women\" required meals, 24-hour daycare, security, medical care, site maintainance and so on, these women would end up working for most of the festival. On the surface the festival attempts to create an accessible atmosphere. Certain areas were set aside for women with supposedly similar experiences. There was a women only area, an area for women with children and their friends, an area for disabled women and their friends, an area for women of colour and their friends, an area for older women and their friends, a clean and sober area where women could be free of alcohol and drugs, a chemical-free area where women could be free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco, and a general camping area. While there were reasons for some of these divisions, most seemed questionable and arbitrary since many were based on the traditional ways women are separated from each other. An event meant to bring women together began by separating them. As for the program book, it provided no information about the various performers; where they were from or what they played. There was no elaboration on the workshops or who was conducting them. Ill-equipped to make any informed choices about what to attend I tried the 'Female Sexuality' workshop which looked promising. About 40 women showed up but as it turned out, the workshop leader was a representative from a women's sex toys company.She spent most of the workshop telling us that we could liven up our relationships with vibrators, lotions that smelled good,tasted good and got hot when you rubbed it. Needless to say, many people left. The \"Organizing Around Nuclear Power\" workshop was attended by only five women and many of the morning workshops didn't even happen. The Festival definitly places a priority on women's music, however. It successfully presented an amazing array of fine performers. The opening show on Thursday night was slightly confused after the elaborate light tower was blown down by a gust of wind during a sound check for the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic Orchestra, but the rest of concerts all proceeded without incident. Margie Adams and her expressive piano was one of my favorites. Two stringbands, the Harp Band from New York and Rosie's Bar & Grill from midwestern U.S. were both well- received. The two most memorable acts were the Orchestra Sabrocita, a Latin influenced band from the Bay Area who had the entire crowd on their feet dancing, and the highly energetic Edwina Lee Tyler and A Piece of the World, another New York band whose hypnotic, jazzy, African rhythms were incredible. But without a doubt the most inspiring performance was given by The Mothertongue Readers Theatre whose readings from scripts of women's writings and conversations shattered the sexual labels women use to define themselves and dramatized incest, battering, sexuality, and the common realities faced by all women in the world. Despite the evening concerts and extensive craft market, the lack of serious and well-programmed workshops convinced me I would not travel to the Fourth Annual festival if it takes place next year. November 82 Opinion A successful worker's co-op: at what cost? by Sarah Shamai and Nina Rabionvitch This article examines the apparent discrepancies between the stated philosophy of a workers' co-op and the working reality. We are two former members of Co-operative Resource Services (CRS) Workers' Co-op, who were part of the collective at Uprising Breads Bakery for a year and a half. We both left the Co-op in the spring of '82 without'knowing if an article of this type would be productive. Consequently, we did nothing. The recent firings at Uprising Breads Bakery have erased our doubt. We hope tdv explain to readers the major contradictions and weaknesses that we see in the co-op alternative from our experience at CRS, and how these weaknesses significantly stray from a common conception of workers' co-ops. A common assumption about a workers' co-op is that it recognizes the importance of the struggle of working class people. One goal of CRS states they \"encourage the replacement of capitalism and private enterprise with collective ownership and control1'. However, there is really nothing innate about co-ops that makes them supportive of working class people. In fact, our experience has shown us that any identity with and desire to align with working class struggles becomes more and more compromised in a workers' co-op. It becomes easy to lose the identification you had as a worker and take on the primary orientation of owners and managers. How does this happen? The co-op structure is such that each worker has equal say in decision making, equal voting power and equal share in the management of the co-op and collectives. There are no bosses to speak of and no huge bureaucracy to crawl through. We all received equal pay (there is a dependant supplement for workers with children), we all worked a thirty-five hour week, and there were numerous benefits: medical, dental, use of the truck, free day-old baked goods, a lunch fund and nice people to work with, to name a few. The bakery is a pleasant place to work. However, in the process of striving to improve our working conditions for ourselves we easily become insulated from the concerns of people who have to deal with their bosses and have little flexibility for their personal needs. Unless you consciously make connections We expected more from the coop and were disappointed. . . our divergent views were not welcome. with other working class organizations (the mainstream of workers), you become more and more pulled away from the problems most people experience in their working life. CRS did have meetings with other co-ops but their contact with workplaces in the mainstream was limited. Detachment set in. Another problem is the Co-op's philosophy that the best way to politically educate people about the merits of co-ops is to show the public that CRS can be a financial success and a sound business. In fact, in the past few years, the CRS salaries have increased dramatically and they are definitely making headway in terms of financial stability and growth. We see nothing wrong with this until we examine the compromises made along the way. One good illustration of this lean towards management for economic stability can be seen in the \"Naam issue\". This was a 'hot' issues at the Co-op and its results instructive. At the time, part of the stated goals for the year was to support trade unions. When the Canadian Farmworkers Union went out on strike and picketed the Naam restaurant last year, CRS did stop selling to the Naam while the pickets were up. However, when the restaurant was sold, the farmworkers sent a letter to CRS explaining the sale of the restaurant. The owner of the Naam had two choices: to recognize and negotiate with the union, or to sell the restaurant in order to get rid of the pickets. He chose to sell, rejecting the demands and needs of the workers. This was seen as strike breaking tactics on the part of the Naam. Despite the union's explanation that its demands had not been met and strike breaking tactics the Co-op, there were ten people working full time in the Bakery. A ten-member collective could keep the Bakery in operation and there were fragmented work shifts left unfilled. Most of the time, there were three people, working between 15 and 35 hours, who filled these shifts. These people were part-time workers and were not members of the Co-op. Therefore, they were excluded from meetings, did not receive medical and dental benefits (but did receive a slightly higher wage instead). They had no formal input into the decision making process of the Co-op. They were working for ten bosses. There was an obvious gap between member and non-member workers. Working at the Bakery involves shift work: weekends, mornings and evenings. One of the policies formulated was that there would be shift differentials for people on undesirable shifts (evenings and weekends). These people would work slightly less hours than others. This differential was not extended to part-time non-member work- There is a certain mystique about setting up alternative organizations. People believe they will help to change the system. Instead they set up a comfortable community for the people who work in them. had been used, CRS chose to resume selling to the Naam because the strike was legally over and they were not prepared to lose the business. Most members did not see that by selling to the Naam they were in fact denying the farmworkers' struggle. It should be noted that CRS, when asked, has given financial contributions to labour unions. But this example illustrates that the support stops there. There is a certain mystique about setting up alternative organizations whether they be schools, financial institutions, retail food outlets or bakeries. People believe these kinds of alternatives are helping to change the system. These kinds of alternatives attract people who wish to integrate their politics with their wqrking lives. At CRS our experience involved confronting contradiction after contradiction. It became clear to us that a co-op is not necessarily a vehicle for integrating politics and work experience. In fact, we feel that co-ops don't change the system, they don't even confront the system. Instead, they only set up a comfortable community for the people who work in them and contribute to groups radically confronting the system. But they do not take that work on themselves. We expected more from the Co-op and were disappointed. When we tried to express that disappointment we received no active support; our divergent views were not welcome. In our view, the Co-op was losing sight of many of its political objectives. Most members of the Bakery collective agreed that there was a conflict between the goals and objectives of the Co-op and its actual practise. A process was begun which focused on bringing the goals and objectives in line> with the established working reality of the Co-op. In effect, this meant a business orientation taking priority over the less profitable aspects of support for social change. Another major issue which demonstrates contradictions within CRS is membership. Policy states that members must work at least 25 hours a week. At the time we worked at ers who did work evenings and weekends. The Co-op has generous policies allowing members to take courses such as typing, democratic management, vocational training, etc. These are paid for in time and dol- .lars partially by CRS. This benefit was also not extended to part-time workers. About one and a half years ago we began the lengthy process of re-evaluating membership policy in an attempt to reconcile the differences between full and part-time workers. The result was the Co-op approved a policy that members could work part-time. There were a number of criteria for this, but the present part-time workers were assured their situation would be considered unique and dealt with separately. One of the three part-time workers left the Co-op, while the other two applied for membership. In the end, they were informed that, although they were good workers, with an \"exemplary work record\" as one member said, the hiring committee felt they would not make good managers, and on this basis they were terminated with two | weeks notice. This action \u2014 in fact, the whole process \u2014 is a contradiction to anything that even resembles an organization that is worker-oriented. We find it inexcusable. It is in opposition to the general purpose of promoting co-operation and equality in the workplace. Job security is a fundamental right of.workers. It also illustrates to us that the present membership of the Co-op is unwilling to allow for or deal with political diversity that may deter from the harmonious operation of the business. These workers were told they had a negative attitude. How could striving for equality in a \"workers' co-op\" be considered negative? The Co-op's actions support our view that, though workers' co-ops create an alternative working environment, they do not alter, confront or attempt to change the structure of society at large. Given the fact that they are inflicting such blatant injustices on workers, we question how the name \"A Workers' Co-op\" can be used. November 82 Kinesis Opinion CRS part-time workers lose their jobs by Wendy Solloway and Susan Mullen On September 5, two part-time employees of CRS Workers Co-op were terminated instead of being accepted into the collective. This was the culmination of a one and one- half year process in which part-time non- member workers tried to gain equality in the Co-op. This brings the number of women who have left the Co-op in the last five months to five. Here is an analysis of the situation by the two women terminated. Our connection with CRS has been that of hired part-time employees (non-member workers ). One of us has worked for two and a half years, the other for eleven months. During this time we have worked anywhere from eleven to forty hours a week each. We have enjoyed working with most of the members of CRS and have generally found the working atmosphere at the Co-op to be friendly. However, there were undercurrents to this atmosphere, as we discovered when we tried to become members of the Co-op. We ran into steady opposition. Many members had negative feelings about part-time workers, that they had less commitment, that their contribution was not as great, that it was work for \"pin money\". Few members realized that the level of commitment was tied in to membership and the type of involvement membership allowed\/disallowed. Women have encountered this all too often regarding part-time work. As non-members, we were not involved in the decision-making process, we did not go to meetings, and did not vote, even when issues affected us directly. There was a hierarchy and we were definitely at the bottom. The communication link between the members and us was very informal and unstructured. We often found that we were not informed of decisions after they were made and certainly there was no encouragement to take part in discussions beforehand. This left us in isolation, and outside of participation in the Co-op. About a year and a half ago, discussion about part-time worker\/members began. From that time on, lack of communication became more evident. We knew whatever decision was made would affect our jobs. Most of the information we received was from the minutes of the Co-op meetings, which were not very detailed, and from the few members who actively supported us on this issue. We were assured that our jobs were safe, and though we doubted the truth of that statement, we continued to hope. In late spring we were asked to meet with the Co-op hiring committee. We were told that the use of part-time non-member workers had gone beyond what was originally intended. The original intent, we were told, was to provide \"pin money\" for members' families. They recognized however, that they must now deal with a situation very different from that intent, arid assured us that we need not worry about the security of our jobs. Despite these assurances, we were worried. In actual fact, we had no job security. We presented our position in an open letter to the Co-op. We said two classes of workers existed in the Co-op: those with decision-making powers and those without. paid as for full-time (we were not re- ceiving any at this time). The policy was accepted by the Co-op with some changes. We were informed that we could apply for part-time worker membership and that we would be considered under the \"exceptional case\" category. Two of us applied; interviews were set for September. Finally that day arrived. Because we were applying for membership, there were no restrictions on the types of 1 questions which could be asked. In a co-op We believed our position was no different than workers in any capitalist enterprise. There was no official response to our position, and it was not discussed at their meeting as we had requested. The extent of the feedback consisted of a member angrily confronting one of us at work. By early summer, a proposal was circulated among the members (we received a copy) about a suggested change in Co-op policy concerning part-time worker membership. There were interesting qualifications: - only two part-time workers per collective. (At this time there were three part-time workers at the Bakery, and with one member wanting to work part- time, this meant eliminating two of our jobs. ) - one must have been a -member full-time for at least two years (none of us had been members) - exceptional cases would be given consideration. - all benefits (medical, dental) would be Meet Jane Rule 1 pm Peregrine Books 2950 W. 4th Ave. 738-6523 Jane will be autographing \"Contract With the World\" (just out in paperback) and other titles. Saturday Dec. 4 the hiring policy is not governed by the Labour Standards Act. We were asked our political affiliations\/activities, union involvements, attitudes towards management But most surprisingly of all, we were confronted with angry reactions to the letter we had written four months previously. None of these members had ever talked with us about their criticisms. Also, we were informed that some members had expressed negative opinions about us. This was surprising because no criticisms had ever been made of our work to us directly. We asked to see these comments and were told they were confidential. In this workers' co-op, we had less rights than workers in many union shops. A unionized worker has the right, in the company of their shop steward, to hear any substantiated grievances made against them. We asked that members bring these criticisms to us in person; the response has been minimal. Later that day, we were informed that our applications had been refused. They said we were good workers but would not make good managers. At a meeting with other co-ops, it was said that we were terminated because of our negative attitude towards the Collective. Both of these explanations are problematic. Our negative attitude was, in fact, a positive attitude about our rights as employees. We never had a chance to prove ourselves as managers; we were found wanting without evidence. It is probably truer to say that political differences were the reasons for our termination. We were too strongly identified with the workers movement and not enough with the management. In management's typical solution to workers' militancy, we were fired, in spite of efforts made by a few members on our behalf. This leaves us with the question, to quote from a recently produced CRS pamphlet, \"What is a workers' Co-op anyway?\" 28 Kinesis November 82 LETTERS Pollack applauded on festival review Kinesis: I would like to make some comments in response to Jeanni Kamins' response to Jill Pollack's review of Festival '82. I do not wish to deal with the tone of the letter, nor with Kamins' defence, both of which are basically irrelevant, (i.e. \"..Doris Shadbolt's...credibility in the art world is incontestable.\" This statement is highly debateable at best, as any visitor to the Vancouver Art Gallery during Shadbolt's tenancy can attest.) Instead I would like to comment on some of the ideas Kamins presents. \"We wanted to do a show...of what women in B.C. were doing. If (they) were doing hearts and flowers, then hearts and flowers it would be.\" Firstly the argument is tautological: we were doing a show on women artists in B.C.; therefore what we selected showed what women artists in B.C. are doing. The fact is that some 200 women submitted some 20&~ oxides and 119 pieces of work done by 65 artists were selected. Surely this indicates an elimination process of some type beyond the basic \"female, resident of B.C., work completed within the last two years\" criteria stated in Kamins' letter.- If the women artists in B.C. were all painting kittens, sunsets, (insert your favourite cliched image here) on black velvet, is that what would have filled Eaton's windows and the Robson Media Centre? \"From the inside out...\". No one has cast aspersions on the energy, conviction and dedication that helped to put together Festival '82. What has been called into question are the final results. Any artist knows that the viewer does not and will never perceive the exact content, intent and form that the artist does. (This has become particularily true with much more contemporary work due to its highly personal, or abstract or conceptual, etc., nature, as well as the generally poor quality of cultural education.) Beyond the basic separation between and artist, each viewer also brings her\/his own educational, political, cultural bias to the piece of work. What Kamins seems to be complaining about is one viewer's assessment of the larger work. (An exhibition being a collection of work which also comprises a larger \"piece\".) The piece didn't do what she, as one of the creators, wanted it to do for that viewer. As an aside, it is interesting to note that Kamins did not thank, nor otherwise give support to Kinesis and her writers. who compiled several pages of very uncritical reportage of Festival '82. If Pollack were to live up to Kamins' contentions of promoting \"in-fighting\", not to mention that totally awesome epithet of \"non-supportive\", (the contemporary equivalent of assigning the Scarlet Letter), Pollack could have mentioned: - quotes from the insulting and patronizing rejection letters sent by the Visual Arts Committee, - the dominant place that members of the Visual Arts Committee (and friends) held in the show itself, - a woman who was offered work at one rate of pay and the man who was offered the same job at a higher pay scale. Six years ago I participated in an ad hoc IWD meeting. The criticisms my group offered were given the same short shrift Kamins gives Pollack: you weren't there; our decisions were optimum in that situation; you don't understand; your critique is useless. Translated into an artistic milieu this approach becomes extremely elitist. It seems to mean that only the artist and\/or others directly involved in the creation of a work can truly appreciate that work. And further, that any criticism indicates a certain vindictive and\/or philistine attitude on the part of the viewer. Surely our movement...as artists and as women...is stronger than that. A little judicious pruning will rarely endanger a tree. And finally, Jill Pollack is to be congratulated for taking on such a delicate task. No one wanted.to fail. However, there are certain difficulties inherent in a project the size and scope of Festival '82. Pollack had the courage to say concisely and publicly what I have heard everyone saying privately (40-50 women, some involved in the show): the space was poorly utilised, the fhow uneven, conservative and generally timid at best. To perceive and state this is neither \"a lack of respect for (one's) sisters\",\"in- group bickering\", nor \"an unconscionable lack of support for the hard work..\". However, to accept a show uncritically is all of the above. Kamins' claim that Festival '82 was about B.C.'s \"state of the arts\" among women artists was belied by the show itself. Pollack saw this and wrote about it. Nothing more, nothing less. Renata Rato Socialist-Feminists to host conference Dear Sisters, We are a group of Vancouver women meeting to discuss a proposal for a national socialist feminist conference. We want to invite you to participate. This idea is being discussed by women all across English Canada and Quebec. A letter from the Toronto committee and a draft call explaining the objectives of the conference are now being circulated among many interested groups in B.C. We hope to print them in an extensive article about the conference in the next issue of Kinesis. Meanwhile, we want as many women as possible to express their opinions and get involved in talk and planning. It is important to stress that a decision to go ahead with a conference opens the discussion on agenda, topics, ways of organizing the conference, future work, etc. We.hope you will speak up. Since it will take at least a year to plan, we need to hear from you soon. We urge you to write us, call us, or if possible, attend a meeting at Britannia Community Centre on Monday, November 8 at 7:30 P.M. to share your ideas. Please write to us at: Socialist Feminist Conference #6 - 1686 Charles St. Vancouver, B.C. or phone: Jackie 253-5068 or Nancy 224-4182 In sisterhood, The Ad Hoc Committee in Vancouver Accept the chip, it's here to stay Kinesis: I was disappointed to read yet another reactionary article on computer technology in your last issue: Decoding the Microchip, Oct.82. Before you move in horror to the next letter, let me say that the article raised three very important points. 1. Yes, microchips are produced under conditions which exploit Third World women. 2. Yes, the spread of computer technology threatens the jobs of thousands of workers, particularly women. 3. Yes, constant exposure to VDT's (Video Display Terminals) poses health risks which have not been adequately researched. However, one further point needs to be clarified. Computer technology itself does not threaten us. It is a tool (and a very powerful one at that) which is currently being used to perpetuate many of the inequalities of our society. By burying our heads in the sand and rejecting this tool outright though, we have less, not more - control over how it affects our lives. We must take an active stance and harness this valuable resource for our own purposes. Now I am not trying to say that South-East Asian women have much chance of changing the values of their multi-national employers, or that tellers can easily reverse the trend of automation in banking. On the other hand, grass-roots women's organizations could benefit enormously by a responsible use of the new technology. Ms. McHugh herself mentioned that one of the three objectives of the Women and the Impact of Microtechnology Conference was \"to develop individual and group strategies for using technology to women's advantages'.' Unfortunately she did not report on any discussions on this topic, and so I would like to make a few suggestions. The microcomputer is taking the business world by storm because, in contrast to the mainframe computers of the 1960's, it is cheap and easy to use. If implemented by a grass-roots organization, these two factors can also mean that it is operator- owned and controlled, and therefore decentralized and democratic. A computer\/ word processor could be used for mailing lists, lobbying, more effective direct- mail fund-raising, and bookkeeping. This would relieve the volunteer worker of much of the repetitive work of typing, filing and bookkeeping, and free her time and energy for more creative discussions, meetings, writing, reading and organizing. The group would maintain complete control over working conditions and length of exposure to VDT's. Several women's groups have already taken the initiative in this direction. These include the National Women's Mailing List, the Women and Technology project in Montana, the Pittsburg Feminist Network, and the Women's Resources\/ Computers in Philadelphia. Another very interesting organization which is developing the use of computers for social change is New Era Technology, in Oregon. November 82 Kinesis 29 LETTERS Whatever your personal opinions on computers, one final point deserves your consideration. Please think twice before you pass on to your children (especially to your daughters) a totally negative attitude towards this new technology. Every day, as I pass a local computer store, I see several school children busy playing with, exploring and learning about computers. Unfortunately, all these children happen to be boys. They are probably the computer scientists, engineers, programmers and technicians of the future. Whether you like it or not, computers are here to stay. We desperately need more socially responsible people in these fields so that computers will be used to their full potential in promoting our needs, interests and welfare. Helen Salter Kinesis: Anti-semitic Kinesis: The women signing this letter are protesting the anti-semitism expressed by writers in several articles and letters published recently in Kinesis. The problem of anti- semitism in the women's movement has been addressed by several feminist publications in the last year but not by Kinesis. Femi-. nists in Vancouver have said that anti- semitism is not an issue and that Jews are over-reacting. Anti-Zionists usually claim they are not anti-semitic. But most Jews and people familiar with Jewish history can identify clear links between anti-zionism and anti- semitism. Anti-semitism like sexism and racism, is a prejudice based on ignorance and hatred. Anti-semitism is racism against Jews. It states that Jews are dangerous and should be controlled. It holds that Jews are not entitled to their homeland\u2014 Israel^-and that Israel is a dangerous imperialistic state that should be eliminated. It also assumes that Palestinians do have a right to the state of Palestine which will be founded on the destruction of the state of Israel. Vancouver anti-zionists also argue that Israel is aggressively imperialistic and should be eliminated for this reason. They would probably not use a similar argument against other imperialistic countries such as the UK, the USSR or the USA. When the United States invaded Vietnam, there was world outrage against US imperialism and genocide but no one suggested that the elimination of the USA would be a viable solution for this problem. This is a double standard. For those of you unfamiliar with the Israel-Palestine-Zionism issue, being a Zionist does not mean opposing the concept of a Palestinian homeland, nor does it mean supporting Menachem Begin's aggressive expansionist policies. In ana outside Israel, a high percentage of Zionists oppose Begin and support the demand for a homeland for the Palestinians. However, all Zionists insist that the Jews have the same right to their homeland, Israel. Throughout Jewish history a minority of Jews have identified with their oppressors to the extent of becoming anti-semitic and anti-zionist themselves. For example, in the 70's there was a leader of the Klu Klux Klan who committed suicide when he was exposed as a Jew. In pre-Nazi Europe there was a Jewish communist leader, Rosa Luxembourg, who refused to consider the Jewish issue even as the Nazis planned the extermination of European Jews including the total Jewish population of her home town. Here in Vancouver at this time we have \"Jews against Zionism\", a group more anti-zionist than the PLO. The term for this phenomenon is \"Jewish self-hate\". We hope Kinesis will print feminist views of these issues in the women's movement. Anti-semitism is a serious problem and we think it should be taken seriously. Jane Wintemute Helga Jacobson Rachel Weiss Mary Adlersberg Sally Thome Lorie Ross Jan St. Amand Karen Lewis Jan Radford Reproductive rights group needs your help Sisters: It has been several months now since the pro-choice march and rally of May 8, 1982, which was co-sponsored by the Coalition for Choice on Abortion and CCCA. One of the less publicized but hopeful outcomes of this event was the support of the members of the Coalition for a continued effort to work in the area of reproductive rights as a broader issue. It was through preparing for the march and rally, and the many discussions and the research undertaken by the Coalition, that it became apparent that much more work needs to be done around reproductive rights as a more general issue. For example, while there is some information about forced sterilization occurring in the U.S., there is very little known about to what extent this kind of thing is taking place in Canada. Another area of concern is the export to third world countries of dangerous methods of birth control by multinational drug companies. The women who took part in the evaluative discussions after the march and rally supported the idea of a reproductive rights group to undertake such work as research, education and political organizing. We recognized, however, that while there is much work to do, there are still too few of us to accomplish all of it. The continuation of a reproductive rights group depends on how much interest and commitment we can get from women in the Lower Mainland. We would like to hear from women about what kinds of issues they want to examine and in what ways we should work in the community to educate the public about what we learn. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING IN THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS GROUP, PLEASE COME TO A PUBLIC MEETING, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1982 AT BRITANNIA CENTRE (ROOM TO BE ANNOUNCED ) AT 7:30 P.M. Helen Glavina for The Reproductive Rights Group More news please Kinesis: In the October issue of Kinesis you ran an item on page 2 with the title People 's Republic of China visits VSW. It looked interesting so I started to read it. It was four paragraphs long. Three of those were taken up with giving the names and describing the titles of the six women who visited from the All China Women's Federation of the People's Republic of China. The date they were at VSW was given, too. The last paragraph was two sentences long, and gave some very general information about how women's groups are organized in China. What I want to know is, what did the women from the Chinese delegation and the women from VSW talk about? Surely the women from China didn't just introduce themselves, get a quick tour of the office and leave. The reason I'm annoyed that nothing more was printed in Kinesis about this visit is that it's so hard to get any real news or information from the mainstream media about anything going on outside this little corner of the world, particularly anything to do with women. Many of us would be interested to know what is happening with women outside of western countries right now; what their lives are like, their accomplishments and what they are trying to achieve. Once in a blue moon we'll get that in the Vancouver Sun. -Kinesis promises us on its cover \"news about women that's not in the dailies\". So please give it to us; we want to hear it. In sisterhood, Daphne Morrison continued from p.21 But what if they don 't know them? Lydia protested. What if they don't? Lydia's desperation with heterosexual relationships motivates her to demand whether or not lesbians have a secret to happiness: But was she lucky or not, and was it all right with that woman? How did she live? Lydia also asks the question because the silence about the lives of lesbians is so well-maintained in our society. Munro chooses not to use the word in this story, and infers that Lydia would have been indelicate had she uttered it to the eighty- one year old Mr. Stanley. (There are a couple of gay male characters in The Moons of Jupiter. ) The controlling myth in the story is Willa Cather creating her novels from within a woman to woman relationship. It is an image of a relationship working for women rather than contributing to their lack of self worth and emotional disintegration. Alice Munro is at her best when she creates dialogue, investing characters with warmth and humour, and when she exposes the fragility of human relations. The talent of her earlier work is evident in The Moons of Jupiter but I was disappointed in the collection as a whole. There is a thinness here \u2014 too little innovative material stretched too far. There is a tone of emotional fatigue in many of the stories. These flaws reflect an excessive concern with romantic love, a concern which does not re-vision human sexual interactions, but simply retreads the old roles, the old patterns. Willa Cather once wrote that there are only a few human stories and they keep repeating themselves as if they were new. Perhaps it is time to change the stories. To ensure a radical future the human imagination must be empowered with the unthinkable: we just have to keep up with its potential in our politics and our literature. November 82 Kinesis BULLETIN BOARD ON THE AIR WOMANVISION ON CO-OP RADIO, 102.7 FM. Listen on Mondays, 7-8 pm. News, views, music on Womanvision, the program that focuses on women. RUBYMUSIC ON CO-OP RADIO, 102.7 FM. Join host Connie Smith from 7-7:30 pm every Friday for half an hour of the finest in women's music: pop, gospel, folk, feminist and new wave. THE LESBIAN SHOW ON CO-OP RADIO, 102.7 FM, each Thursday from 7:30-8:30. November 4 - Shy Lesbians November 11 - Jewish Lesbians Part I November 18 - Jewish Lesbians Part II November 25 - Humour Show MEMBERSHIP IN CO-OP RADIO is open to any community member, 16 years or older, and to incorporated groups and certified unions. Lifetime share is $2; annual membership assessment fees are $18 for individuals and $50 for groups. CLASSIFIED LAND FOR SALE TO LESBIANS: 1\/4 share of 21 acres on Mayne Island. For details write to: Mayneland, c\/o 4123 Main St. #1, Vancouver. East End Food Co-op makes you \u2022 The co-op is a neighbourhood food store, owned and controlled by the people who use it. \u2022 We carry a full line of groceries, bulk natural foods, dairy products, regular and organic produce. \u2022 We offer in-store specials this month as well as our regular low prices. Former member? Come back and shop again. We need you. Our work requirement is now optional. Never heard of us? Stop by and use guest shopping privileges before becoming a member. We're open every day except Mondays. Tuesday-Friday 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday & Sunday 10:30 to 4:30 p.m. 1806 Victoria Drive (Victoria & 2nd Ave.) Phone: 254-5044 CANVASSERS NEEDED ON MONDAY, NOV. 15th, 6-9 pm for door to door canvas to raise money for Medical Aid to El Salvador. Requires only one short training session and an evening of your time. No experience necessary. Training sessions are Wed. Nov. 10th 4-5:30 or Sat. Nov. 13, 11 am-12:30 pm. For further info, call Paullette at 255-0523 or Jane at 253-3350. RESEARCH IN PROGRESS: For extended research on downward displacement of immigrant women, I need case studies. If you have come to Canada in the past twenty or thirty years, and would like to tell' your story, please contact Brig at 255-0051. I AM A SINGLE MOTHER who is interested in working full-time in a non-traditional trade. I desperately need to talk to some other women who are in the same position to find out how they are doing it...sitters, etc. Please call Robin at 588-9047. ROOM AVAILABLE IN CO-OP HOUSE. Kits area. Housing is large, light, quiet, has large back yard with garden. Room is medium-sized and sunny. Here now are 2 women, one man and one child. $150. plus utilities. Non-smoking. 731-8790. FOR RENT: PERSON WANTED for large mixed co-op house. We are 3 women, 1 man and 2 cats. We are politically concerned, anti-sexist, and friendly, looking for same. $180. month, share-utilities. Available immediately. Phone-876-5609. MUSICIANS: Vancouver Composer and recording artist Marcia Meyer requires experienced woman bassist (electric, double- bass or cello OK) for performing and recording. Call: 986-2826. BOOK-KEEPING SERVICES to trial balance. Carolyn Schettler, 879-2601. TWO WOMEN LOOKING FOR A THIRD to share sunny, 4-bedroom house close to East 1st and Commercial. 1 cat and 1 young dog, large backyard.. $170\/mo. plus shared utilities, gas, heat. Call-255-5587 between 4 and 8. WANTED: ROOM IN non-smoking co-op house for feminist who can pay total of $240. a month. Call Hilary: 689-1632. GROUPS GOT A HEALTH PROBLEM THAT'S BUGGING YOU? The Vancouver Women's Health Collective provides an informal setting for women to discuss any health issue that's on our minds, every Thursday afternoon at 2:30 till 4. 1501 West Broadway. The Vancouver Women's Health Collective offers a skill sharing session one Saturday each month. Learn breast and cervical self-exam, and learn how pap smears and vaginal cultures are done. This is an opportunity to learn how to understand the results of pap smears. Next skill-sharing day: 1-4 pm, Nov.20. No appointment necessary. Reproductive Rights Group. Next meeting Wed. Nov. 17 at Brit. Com.Centre L5 beside the library at 7:30 pm. LESBIAN DROP-IN meets every Wednesday evening 7:30-10:00 at the Women's Bookstore, 322 w. Hastings St. V.S.W. launches Fund-raising These are tough times for women. More and more women are poorer and poorer. Calls to V.S.W. reflect this reality \u2014 women face unemployment, welfare harassment, legal problems and violence against themselves and their children. It is more important than ever that feminist support and services continue to be available for all women. Current government funding does not meet our expenses. We are now in a deficit situation due to rising costs such as rent, postage, printing and resource materials. Those of us still able to contribute toward keeping V.S.W. alive can participate in our fundraising efforts by: \u2022joining V.S.W. (form on back cover) \u2022sending a donation if you are already a member \u2022signing up your friends. There are monthly and grand prizes for the person who sells the most memberships and who collects the most money before March 31, 1983. (minimum of 30 memberships or $1,000 for the grand prize) GRAND PRIZE A free trip to the Michigan Women's Music Festival drive November 82 31 BULLETIN BOARD EVENTS MARGO ADAIR WORKSHOPS. Three workshops with Margo Adair. Beginners Applied Meditation - covering basic visualization techniques. Friday, November 5th, all day Sat. & Sun. Nov. 6 and 7th. For women and men. Childcare provided. Call 253-2077 or 738-7127. Theta Training - For those with some experience with visualization. Tuesday and Wednesday evening Nov. 9th and 10th. For women only. Collection for childcare expenses. Call 253-2077. Tools for Political Thinking - To develop tools for working together politically, while taking into account our divergence, discussion format. Some visualization techniques may be used. Sat. and Sun. Nov. 13 & 14th. For women only. Childcare provided. Call 731-8790. Fees for all workshops will be worked out on a sliding scale for unemployed and employed. Pre-registration and deposit required. .. \u25a0\u25a0\/.. ' \u25a0;\u25a0 - WOMEN AND SPORT PUBLIC SEMINAR. Workshops include girls; adult women; women, sports and the media; university and college competition and recreation and career opportunities. November 14, 1982. 1-5 pm Robson Square Media Centre, $2. Sponsored by The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport. For further information call Marion Lay 687-3333. RAPE AWARENESS: A free program for the public on Tuesday,November 9, 1982. At 7:00 pm at Justice Institute of B.C., Blake Hall, 4180 West 4 Ave. Guest speaker: Frances Wasserlein. For more information or to pre-register, contact: Community Programs, Justice Institute at 228-9771, local 279. WOMEN IN FOCUS presents November 10 - P.melia Video Night: new productions. 7:30 p.m. $2 donation. November 11 & 12 - The Sparkling Fruits. November 20 - Dance\/concert with The Persisters. 9 p.m. Admission charge. November 28 - Film night. Donna. 7:30 p.m. While the film was in production a right wing group destroyed the women's radio station in Rome and shot five women. Their account of the attack and its relationship to their work became the starting point of the film. Donna speaks of the relationship between politics and women's lives in Italy. THE SPARKLING FRUITS: Diane Levings, Lorna Boschman, and Wanda Jane perform in a lively show of music, comedy, and films at Women in Focus. Three shows: November 12-9 p.m. ($5) Mixed. November 13 - 2 p.m. matinee. ($3) Free Childcare. Mixed. - 9 p.m. ($5) Women only. International lesbian cuisine served nightly. Tickets available at Ariel, Women's Bookstore, Octopus East and West. , AND j(WiLUN(r A To GIVE It ALL DP WEN-DO Women's Self Defense. Six-week basic class at Western Front, 303 East 8th Ave. Starting Nov. 16 3-5 p.m. $30 (negotiable). Call 876-6390 to register. AND IF YOU'RE IN SEATTLE an exhibition of women's art is happening. IN OUR OWN IMAGE is at 913 E. Pine (Odd Fellows Hall) from Nov. 6-27. WOMEN AND WORDS: Women and Words\/Les femmes et les mots is a country-wide conference to be held in Vancouver, July 1983. It will be a meeting of women working with the written word in both traditional and alternative frameworks. If you are interested in putting your creativity and ideas to work, join us for our general meetings held the last Wednesday of every month at the Canadian Book Information Centre, 1622 West 7th Ave. There is*pleh\"ty of room on several on-going organizing committees for energetic women. For further information call the office: 684-2454. WOMEN'S EYE VIEW on The Knowledge Network. Fridays-12:30 pm or Sundays-7 pm. November 5 & 7: Post Partum Depression This film profiles two women with postpartum depression, and explores its profound effects on their relationships with their husbands, their children and themselves. November 12 & 14: Loved, Honoured and Bruised. This powerful film shows the difficulties battered wives experience. November 19 & 21: This Film is About Rape. This is an analysis of rape, intended to reach people on an emotional level in order to explore some of the myths associated with this crime. November 26 & 28: Killing Us Softly: The Image of Women in Advertising. A unique analysis of one of the most powerful forces in our society. WRITERS' WORKSHOP: The Radical Reviewer, a Vancouver-based feminist journal of critieal and creative work is sponsoring a workshop for women writers of poetry and fiction. The workshop will be an opportunity to explore your writing with other women, as well as being a forum in which to meet other writers. Betsy Warland, poet and cultural organizer, will facilitate. The workshop will be held Saturday, November 27 from noon to 4 pm. at Women in Focus, #204-456 W. Broadway. Cost is $3.50 to cover rental space. All women welcome. For pre-registration, please call: 684-2454 or 684-2455. NEXT IWD organizing meeting at Britannia Community Centre on Nov. 16 at 7:30 pm. WORK TO WRITE poetry series presents a poetry reading by Bronwen Wallace, feminist poet and filmmaker from Kingston, Ontario. Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 at Mt. Pleasant Library (Kingsgate Mall) A vital and powerful writer. Free admission. Sponsored by Vancouver Industrial Writers' Union. Kirsten Emmott will open the reading with a brief presentation. Other readings in the series: January 20 - Gwen Hauser RACISM: TWO EVENINGS OF FILM and discussions to be held at the Carnegie Centre. November 21 \u2014 Blacks Britannia, Emigrante December 5 \u2014 Program to be announced. Admission: $2.50. Presented by Women Against Imperialism. Cinema Canada Canada's film magazine P.O. Box 398 Outremont Station, Montreal, Que. POETRY READINGS sponsored by Women and Words at Women in Focus on Nov. 25 at 8:00 pm. SORWUC COFFEEHOUSE at the Odd Fellows Hall (Gravely and Commercial) on Nov. 26. For more information contact SORWUC at 684-2834. LESBIAN INFORMATION LINE BRUNCH on Sat., November 27 at 11:30 am. Call LIL for more information\u2014Thurs\/Sun 7-10 pm. at 734-1016. ALL DAY CUSTODY WORKSHOP on November 28th With Ruth Busch and Joanne Ranson will be sponsored by Lesbian Mothers Defence Fund. Location: TBA. More information on the Lesbian Show on Co-op Radio or 255-6910. Ask for Frenchie. UP AND COMING THIRD ANNUAL MATRONIZE SHOW & FAIR, at Women in Focus, December 4-24, 1982. DANCE, GOSSIP, MEET GOOD FRIENDS AT VSW'S December Party at the Odd Fellows Hall at Gravely and Commercial on Dec. 10. f\\r\\ fttter no-lfi ve f o\/- \\A\/oV\u00aben \u2022 to look cfc ou-rsclve^ \u2022 to look, at o\\>r reLaVto\/vsWip^ \u2022 to iKore oi4.\u00ab~ oV\u00bbservo.V'iorvs\/ ho|3\u00a3*7 cartel Qe.ar-5, \\s\\ ex. iitpporVtv*. aVrrios-pKe*-*. SiKwxle^i OO a. H cu-re. uJ\u00a9oeUcl lot, p*\"\u00abocd<- VietAt-W, s^>&t~VcL<-vj-Wr- V\/iCaO of OC\u00a3\u00a3\u00bbrv **rv*\\ rv\\o\u00bbjnrvVcM.r\u00bbt>. rv mc<>crvaVions\u00bb We.*\u00bbrlo V\/o\u00ab|To","@language":"en"}],"Genre":[{"@value":"Periodicals","@language":"en"},{"@value":"Newspapers","@language":"en"}],"Identifier":[{"@value":"HQ1101.V24 N49","@language":"en"},{"@value":"HQ1101_V24_N49_1982_11","@language":"en"}],"IsShownAt":[{"@value":"10.14288\/1.0045597","@language":"en"}],"Language":[{"@value":"English","@language":"en"}],"Notes":[{"@value":"Preceding title: Vancouver Status of Women. Newsletter.
Date of publication: 1974-2001.
Frequency: Monthly.","@language":"en"}],"Provider":[{"@value":"Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library","@language":"en"}],"Publisher":[{"@value":"Vancouver : Vancouver Status of Women","@language":"en"}],"Rights":[{"@value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the Digitization Centre: digitization.centre@ubc.ca","@language":"en"}],"SortDate":[{"@value":"1982-11-01 AD","@language":"en"},{"@value":"1982-11-01 AD","@language":"en"}],"Source":[{"@value":"Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. HQ1101.V24 N49","@language":"en"}],"Subject":[{"@value":"Women--Social and moral questions","@language":"en"},{"@value":"Feminism--Periodicals","@language":"en"}],"Title":[{"@value":"Kinesis","@language":"en"}],"Type":[{"@value":"Text","@language":"en"}],"Translation":[{"@value":"","@language":"en"}],"@id":"doi:10.14288\/1.0045597"}