CONTENTdm
Kinesis
Vol. V, no. 61
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SfCCi.'i C0J.LF.CTW9 KIN€SIS The Feminist News 35c november 76 vol 5 no6l|) Emmeline Pankhurst — Marlene Miller €lection$: feminist issues Life in the Lace Ghetto at VSWf Kinesis means change RAISE THE FEMINIST ISSUES ARE YOUR CANDIDATES SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER ON WOMEN'S ISSUES? OR DON'T THEY KNOW THERE ARE ANY? In preparation for the civic elections which are taking place this month in various parts of the lower mainland, VSW, in cooperation with the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, with Vancouver Rape Relief, with Vancouver Women's Transition House and with the Pooh Corner Daycare Society, have prepared a series of questions concerning women's issues in civic politics. The objective of this questionnaire is to raise consciousness about xromen's issues under municipal government. If you are voting for a particular candidate, or along party lines, we urge you to find out what your candidate's or party's stand is on women's issues. Find out if s/he is committed to feminism. Feminism, as Websters says, is "the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexeso" A person or party committed to feminism cannot, therefore, be working to maintain the ascendancy of a narrow economic elite. Make sure you know where the candidate stands on feminism before giving her or him your mandate. HOUSING Housing is a major area of concern to women in Vancouver. It is a recurrent and serious problem for single-parent women, women earning low wages and women on fixed incomes. Few women can afford to buy or build according to our outmoded cultural ideals. Cooperative housing is one answer to women's housing needs. It is not only economically much more feasible for us, but also offers women a sense of community and self-help usually denied to women in traditional single-detached homes. ASK YOUR CANDIDATE AS A CANDIDATE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO, IF ELECTED, TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE COOPERATIVE HOUSING IN THIS CITY? WOULD YOU ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE THE BUILDING OF CITY-OWNED RESIDENCES FOR ELDER WOMEN, SINGLE WOMEN, THE RECENTLY WIDOWED AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED WOMEN? Many women encounter discrimination in housing even if they can afford adequate accomodation. Less than 1% of Vancouver landlords said they would rent to single-parent women who are 10% of this city's population. Single-parent women are considered irresponsible and their children are deemed undesirable as tenants. Landlords are reluctant to rent to women from minority groups : to immigrant women and to native women. IF ELECTED, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO ENFORCE THE ELIMINATION OF SEX- DISCRIMINATION IN 'RENTAL HOUSING IN THE CITY OF VANCOUVER? Women constitute the majority of residents in public housing which is supposed to meet their needs, yet public development in this city lacks childcare centres, women's job training facilities, and any kind of reactional facilities geared to women. IF ELECTED, HOW WOULD YOU CHANGE PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE WOMEN WHO OCCUPY THEM? In 1975, Vancouver Women's Transition House, which offers temporary crises shelter to women and children, accomodated 753 people. However, in the same period they were forced to turn away 883 desperate women and childen due to lack of space, staff and funding. A large percentage of the people coming to the Transition House have left their homes after physical and emotional abuse from their husbands. With little money and clothing, with no jobs or transportation, they require financial and emotional support, counselling and care for a longer period of time than Transition House can give them. Due to limited facilities, single women must leave VTH after two days. Women with children may stay for no more than 4 weeks. Lack of adequate housing often forces these women back into dangerous situations, while the city owns expropriated houses which have been vacant for years. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU FAVOUR GRANTING FREE SPACE, HEAT AND LIGHT IN PUBLICLY OWNED BUILDINGS FOR THE OPENING OF MORE TRANSITION HOUSES FOR WOMEN? THE RED DOOR About three quarters of the residents of Vancouver Women's Transition House obtain low-rental accomodation through the Red Door Rental Agency, which is operating on a short-term grant from city hall. This grant is due to expire shortly. A majority of the women at VTH are unable to afford the fees of the profit-making rental agencies. About 250 families a year depend on the Red Door. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU VOTE IN SUPPORT OF PERMANENT, REGULAR FUNDING TO THE RED DOOR RENTAL AGENCY? DAYCARE Women form 43% of the B.C. labour force. Over half of these women have small children at home. In many cases, working mothers are the sole support of their families, and in others, they provide the necessary second income which keeps their families above the poverty line. For many whc cannot afford or find daycare, welfare is the alternative to work. If women are to have equal opportunity in the work place, the responsibility for day care must be shared by society. The Canadian Council on Social Development has estimated that 200,000 more daycare centres are needed in Canada. Daycare services are poorest for children under three and for older children who have no supervision after school until supper time. The Vancouver School Board has agreed to make school space available for after school daycare yet they have left the decision up to the principal of the school. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU SUPPORT CITY- FUNDED HOMECARE PROJECTS FOR SICK CHILDREN, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS FOR CHILDCARE CENTRES AND FOOD FACILITIES FOR THEM, TOO? This city has some strange priorities when it comes to providing for the well-being of its citizens. Vancouver by-laws require that developers provide a certain number of parking spaces for cars in their building project. However, space for children and play areas are not required under the law. Which are the more important? Children or cars? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU VOTE IN FAVOUR OF A MUNICIPAL BY-LAW REQUIRING ALL DEVELOPMENT TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE IN-DOOR AND OUT-DOOR PLAYSPACE FOR CHILDREN? Kjnesis ISSN 0317-9095 Volume V, #61 SUBSCRIBE NAME MEMBERSHIP DONATION $ November '76. INSTITUTIONAL SUB: $10 a year RENEWAL MEMBER KINESIS is sent to all members in good standing of the Vancouver Status of Women. Membership fees are by yearly donation. In determining your donation, we ask you to balance your own financial situation with the fact that KINESIS costs approximately $5.00 per person to print and mail. KINESIS costs 35 cents per copy in bookstores. KINESIS is published monthly by the Vancouver Status of Women. Its objective is to promote understanding about the changing position of women in society. Views expressed in Kinesis are those of the writer and unless specifically stated do not reflect the policy of V.S.W. PUBLICATION DATE : The last week of each month. COPY DEADLINE: The first of the previous month (e.g. Nov 1st for the December issue). KINESIS EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION COMMITTEE: Janet Beebe, Linda Hourie, Gayla Reid. SUBMISSIONS: KINESIS welcomes submissions from members of V.S.W. and will certainly consider those from non-members. All submissions, including letters to the editorial committee, must be accompanied by the writer's name and address. Pseudonyms will be used where requested. Where necessary, the editorial committee shall edit for brevity, clarity and taste. CORRESPONDENCE: KINESIS, Vancouver Status of Women, 2029 West 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6J 1N3 CREDITS: Cover, Chomo Uri; p.2, Second Wave; p.4, The Critical List; p.4 photo and Carr comment, The Vancouver Sun; p.6 Issues in Radical Therapy; p.7 Maggie Shore photos; p.11-12 Maggie Shore photo; p.18, Emergency Librarian; p.22 Big Mama Rag. REMEMBER: VSW has orientation meetings on the second and last Thursday of each month, at 8.00. Lesbian drop-in every Wednesday night, at 8.00. Phone 736 3746 for details. IN THE FUTURE: A closer look at Affirmative Action - does it foster the growth of the Corporate Woman? A comparative analysis of provincial party policy on women's issues. A regular film column, women's graffiti. Vancouver electoral politics In researching material at the City Clerk's office at Vancouver City Hall, I gleaned the following information about women in politics in this city. In the last decade, since the rebirth of the women's movement, the number of women running in the Vancouver city elections has increased by 400%! In 1966, there were only 11 women candidates. In 1974, there were 40 women running. However, the number of women elected during the period 1966 to 1974 increased from only 5 to 7, or by 40%. Ten times more women ran for election in Vancouver than were elected. To put it another way, only one woman in ten was elected. There has never been a woman mayor of Vancouver, although female mayors are common in smaller British Columbia towns. Maybe we'll get one this time. Over the last ten years, most women ran for school trustee of alderperson. Parks commissioner was their third choice and mayor last. It seems that only every other election did a woman decide to run for mayor, and only one woman did so each time. In 1966, there were 75% more men than women candidates. In 1974, there were 24% more men running than women. But it seems that the more women run, the more they are elected. More than a few women were housewives at the time they declared their intention to run for the election. Others listed their occupations as: teacher, student, secretary, social worker, doctor, researcher, writer, florist, daycare worker, realtor, nurse, dietitian, consumer advocate, minister, biologist and retired. So if you think you aren't qualified to run in the city elections, THINK TWICE. Municipal elections are a good place for women to start their political careers. (KR) I would like to send a friend a complimentary copy of KINESIS. My name is My friend's name and address: Name The B.C.Teachers' Federation policy states that "elementary and secondary classes shall not be segregated on the basis of sex." In 1975, 41 out of 62 Vancouver elementary school play reas were segregated. In secondary Jschools in Vancouver, physical ed- ■ucation, home economics and industrial jarts, as well as guidance and counselling classes are still sex-segregated, [as well as many teachers' staff rooms. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU FAVOUR STRENGTHENING THE VSB POLICY BY AMENDING IT TO CONFORM TO BCTF POLICY? DO YOU FEEL |THAT VSB POLICY AS IT STANDS PERPETUATES DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION? WHAT ROLE DO YOU SEE FOR EDUCATORS IN REDRESSING CENTURIES OF SEXUAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION? IF ELECTED TO SCHOOL BOARD, WOULD YOU LOBBY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 'NON-SEXIST CAREER COUNSELLING? WHAT ■ALTERNATIVES WOULD YOU FAVOUR TO DEAL [WITH THE PROBLEM? VSB [Vancouver School Board emphasizes the development of self-concept and individual potential to equip students for self-actualizing lives. Yet, with sex-role stereotyping in the education system, it is difficult for young women to become self-actualizing. VSB policy urges educational staff to be sensitive to the Provincial Advisory Committee on Sex Discrimination's guidelines, called "Equal Treatment of the Sexes." HOW AWARE DO YOU THINK MOST EDUCATORS ARE ABOUT SEXISM? WHAT LEADERSHIP ROLE DO YOU THINK VSB HAS IN RAISING THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU ACTIVELY SUPPORT IN-SERVICE WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRAT ORS TO ALERT THEM TO THE SERIOUS DANGERS OF SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPING? ■Vancouver School Board believes that ^"opportunities to hold administrator's positions should be open to men and women equally." Yet of the 112 elementary and secondary schools in the district, there are only 4 women principals and 8 women vice-principals. That is an increase of only 1 woman administrator in the past year. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH VSB POLICY AND PRACTICE IN REGARD TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR FEMALE TEACHERS? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU SUPPORT AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN TO ENFORCE EQUALITY? Recently, the B.C.Department of Education published a Women's Studies Course for grades 11 and 12. It will be locally developed and requires approval from each school board. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU ACTIVELY SUPPORT [THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS COURSE IN ALL VANCOUVER SECONDARY SCHOOLS? WHAT KIND OF DIRECTIVE ON REQUIREMENTS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ACCOMPANY THIS COURSE? Studies have documented that young women have the lowest level of physical fitness in the country. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU SUPPORT INTEGRATED SPORTS ACTIVITIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS? ■Call Nadine for more questions. 736 3746 RAPE Rape is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in Vancouver. Statistics show tht only approximately 10% of all rapes are reported to the police. More rapes are reported to Vancouver Rape Relief. In the last 2 and a half years, the Vancouver Rape Relief has handled well over 400 cases of sexual assault, and dealt with another 50% informational calls. Yet the majority of rapes are never reported, due to the shame and fear that victims suffer. And due to lack of funds and publicity, many women simply do not know that Vancouver Rape Relief exists. Vancouver Rape Relief is experiencing an increased demand for its services, which include emotional, health and para-legal counselling. In addition, public education and prevention programs are being demanded of them by a needy community. The agency averages one speaking engagement request per day. Clearly, the services which this agency provides are vital. But the provincial government has cut back their funds by 55%. Vancouver Rape Relief HAS NEVER RECEIVED ANY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE CITY OF VANCOUVER although it serves a clientele which is mainly resident in Vancouver. The $300 per month office rent is in itself prohibitive to the continuing operations of Rape Relief. At present, only one afternoon in the whole training program is devoted to instructing Vancouver police in how to deal with rape cases. The police manual contains only two paragraphs on the subject. IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU COMMIT YOURSELF TO OFFERING VANCOUVER RAPE RELIEF FREE RENT, HEAT AND LIGHT IN A PUBLIC BUILDING? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PRESSURE THE VANCOUVER CITY POLICE TO HIRE MORE FEMALE POLICE OFFICERS TO DEAL WITH THE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU PROPOSE AN EXTENDED RAPE RELIEF TRAINING PROGRAM FOR ALL POLICE PERSONNEL? AFFIRMATIVE ACTION The majority of working women in Vancouver are under-employed in low-paid, low-status jobs with little chance for advancement. They are clustered at the bottom end of th'Äûe occupation ladder, with little or no job security, bargaining power, or fringe benefits. Yet many women must support themselves and their families on low or fixed incomes. Many supply the necessary second income that keeps their family above the poverty line. Immigrant women workers suffer the most. A number of Canadian cities, among them Toronto, have mayor's task forces on the status of women. In addition, they have equal opportunity offices operating in the city personnel department at city hall. But not Vancouver. We have not yet developed a plan to integrate women and minorities into all fields and levels of municipal employment. In July 1975 Vancouver city council approved a committee to plan and implement an equal opportunity program for women employed by the municipal government. The committee was composed of city council members, representatives of women's and minority groups, as well as members of civic employees' unions. However, city hall did, not provide the committee with paid staff or office expenses with which to do the job. Consequently, the program was doomed to failure. A year later, little has been achieved. The program requires renewed and serious commitment from the new city council. One full-time salaried worker plus office expenses are required for at least one year to design the affirmative action plan for city hall. After that, a deadline for action, a monitoring system and funding for implementation of the program are needed over a several year period to make the plan effective. What is needed is an affirmative action plan. This means the preferential hiring of qualified women into jobs they have traditionally been excluded from by discrimination. It involves training programs to educate women for better positions, non-sexist career counselling, deadlines for achievement of goals for women's employment, monitoring systems to make sure the plan works. Affirmative action is designed to ensure women equal opportunity in all aspects of hiring, promotion and superannuation. WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION? WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE? HOW DOES IT WORK? WHY IS IT NEEDED? IF ELECTED, HOW MUCH TIME, MONEY AND STAFF WOULD YOU ALLOT TO SUCH A PROGRAM? Next month's KINESIS will carry a summary of election promises, so that we will be able to compare them with performance. WOMEN'S CENTRES In recent years, a number of women's centres have been operating in Vancouver with inadequate and infrequent funding from provincial and federal governments. Several of them are now threatened with closure due to funding cutbacks, despite the increasing demand for their services. Women's centres serve a clientele which is based in this city yet they have received little or no funding from city council, although it seems obvious that Vancouver has a responsibility to support community operated women's social services. Many women turn to their local women's centre as their last hope after experiencing discrimination or benign neglect from their employers, landlords, social workers, banks, doctors and lawyers. Even the best intentioned civil servant/ professional is often totally unaware of the specific needs of women and therefore often recommends biased and inadequate solutions. In contrast, women's centres offer their clients a non-sexist, supportive and self-help environment where they learn how to use community resources, and gain an understanding of the bureaucracies affecting them. In addition, women's centres act as advocates, monitoring city agencies to make sure they respond to women. Given the city's limited financial resources for grants to community groups, the city could at least offer women's centres free space, heat and light in publicly owned buildings. This small gesture would go a long way towards improving the status of women in Vancouver. AS A CANDIDATE, WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF A WOMEN'S CENTRE? WHICH WOMEN'S CENTRES IN VANCOUVER AP.E YOU PERSONALLY FAMILIAR WITH? IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU VOTE IN FAVOUR OF COMMITTING FREE SPACE, HEAT AND LIGHT IN PUBLICLY OWNED BUILDINGS FOR WOMEN'S CENTRES IN THIS CITY? Although we have applied these issues to the Vancouver situation, they 'are equally important in all parts of the lower mainland. action On Wednesday, November 10th, at 9.30 in the evening, The Vancouver Status of Women will present a televised all-candidates debate on our Woman Alive Program, on Channel 10. action V.S.W. has prepared an extended version of this questionnaire which includes questions on HEALTH and TRANSIT. You can drop by the office and pick up some copies. Phone the local headquaters of your party or your candidate and find out when the all-candidates meetings are. Take a copy of the questionnaire, or a copy of KINESIS so that you will be able to find out where the candidates stand. Go to meetings held by your party or your candidate and raise the feminist issues. If you don't, nobody else will. THIS TIME, VOTE FOR A PERSON WHO IS COMMITTED TO FEMINIST ISSUES. action If you can't make it to a meeting, PHONE YOUR CANDIDATE'S HEADQUARTERS and ask about her/his stand on these issues. out to fight controls OUT TO FIGHT CONTROLS Women from across Canada were out to fight controls on October 14th. Throughout British Columbia, women from the women's movement joined with women and men from organized labour, with housewives, pensioners, students and the unemployed, with native and gay people, with working people from every sector to protest the Liberal government's repressive AIB legislation. In Vancouver, scene of the. largest protest in the country, it was probably the biggest demonstration of labour which this city has ever seen marching in its streets. Although men were definitely in the majority, and although so far only 22% of the female work force of this country is organized, there were as many women protesting October 14th as there were at the Women Rally for Action Day in Victoria last March. The National Day of Protest was an important one for women, and here's why. THE AIB LOCKS WOMEN INTO LOW-PAY, DEAD-END JOBS While the government advises Canada's low and middle income families to practise restraint, they have permitted Bell Canada, for example, to increase its profits by 30% within the first six months of 1976. While even AIB chairperson Pepin admits that "businesses have too many ways of using the rules to their advantage" the AIB continues to roll back wage increases and to freeze wages at 8% over what they were last year. Women in the workforce earn about half of what men earn. Now, with the wage freeze, we have lost the right to fight for equal pay for equal work. We are locked into our low-paying jobs, with the percentage increase never allowing us to catch up. About 40% of the Canadian labour force is female. This is not to mention (of course) the millions of hours which women spend yearly in domestic labour, which goes unrecognized as work and which is regarded as being irrelevant to this country's economic and political life. 72% of all women are channelled into y\ When government...asks one segment to accept an unequal burden, the only course is dissent on a massive scale. Shirley Carr, CLC Vice-President. V either the retail trades, service or clerical areas. This is where the lowest- paid, the most repetitive and the most menial dead-end jobs are. This is where society makes full use of its sex-trait conditioning of women to demand the greatest degree of meekness, compliance and subordination to management. THE AIB PERPETUATES THE WAGE GAP Each year, the wage gap widens in every job category and the AIB's legislation to compensate for this' is completely useless. Between 1969 and 1972, the wage gap in office occupations, to cite an example, widened by 70%. Even in occupations where women predominate, men earn far more. In fact, working women now earn less, relative to men, than they did in 1939. Sexual discrimination is a handy device for maintaining a cheap labour pool. The AIB freeze makes this discrimination more salient than ever. WOMEN ARE HARD-HIT BY THE AIB'S DEMONSTRATED INABILITY TO CONTROL PRICES That poverty is a women's issue in Canada can never be glossed over by the appointment of a few women to choice professional posts. The female head of family in this country has a 40% chance of living below the poverty line, simply by virtue of her being female. Almost two-thirds of the total low-income unattached individual population is female - predominantly elderly women living alone in the city. More than two- thirds of the women under 25 have incomes of less than $5,000 per annum, whereas less than one third of the men of corresponding age have incomes of less than $5,000. As the cost of living continues to rise, women living in poverty are pushed further below the poverty line. The AIB is a repressive legislation which uses sexism as one of its tools to get working people to bear the brunt of the economic crisis. That's why women were among the one million Canadians protesting October 14th. Gayla Reid October 14th was the National Day of Protest. V.S.W. was there. sorwuc PORT HARDY WOMEN JOIN The Service, Office and Retail Workers of Canada (S.O.R.W.U.C), which is a union formed and controlled by women workers, now has applications before the Canada Labour Relations Board for 11 bank branches in B.C. The latest of these is an application to represent the ten employees of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.in Port Hardy. When the Victory Square Branch of the Imperial Bank of Commerce decided to join SORWUC this summer, it was the first application ever received in the history of that bank. Employees not only from the Bank of Commerce, but also from the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia have decided to join SORWUC. The workers at the Port Hardy branch of the Commerce, in common with bank employees from across the province who are joining SORWUC, feel that bank employees have not been treated fairly in terms of benefits and wages. They are tired not only of low wages and lack of benefits, but also of the lack of respect and recognition for their skills and seniority. They are joining SORWUC because they have decided that bargaining collectively is the only way to improve their condition. With banks using the AIB wage freeze to keep wages at a minimum, the need for the protection of a union contract is now greater than ever. Negotiating with management as a certified bargaining unit is much more likely to produce results than waiting hopefully for management to volunteer better working conditions and pay increases. HOW TO GET STARTED If you think a union in your bank is a good idea, the Bank Employees Organizing Committee of SORWUC has the following suggestions about how to go about it: The first thing to do is to talk to other people in your bank about it. If there are a few of you with the same idea, you can be an informal organizing committee maybe dividing up the job of talking to everyone else. You should only talk to employees about the union, and not to anyone in management. It's a good idea to join the union first, before you talk to too many other people about it, in case there are >AUNlONFOR S ^ WORKING £ any hassles. And you should talk to people at lunch time or after work, as it is an offence under the Labour Code to do this on company time or property. Be discreet - x^hile technically you can't b'e fired for union organizing, management can always find some reason to fire troublemakers ! Each person who joins the union must fill out an application (which you can obtain from SORWUC at #1003- 207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver) and pay $3.00. The person who fills out the receipt for the form must first be authorized by the union to accept memberships. This means that one or two people in your branch should join, and then the national officers of the union can authorize them to sign up everybody else. When you are signing people up as members, make sure the person who is joining pays the $3.00. Don't lend her the money or pay it for her. Make sure that the new member signs the form, and check that the dates on the form are all correct. As soon as you have a majority of the employees signed up (actually it only takes 35%), SORWUC can make an application for certification to the Labour Relations Board. If you want help signing people up, union members from other branches are available to talk to the people in your branch after work or at lunch time. A SORWUC member will also give you detailed information as to how the certification process takes place. Once certified, your contract could include cost-of-living increases, sick children leave, job security, grievance procedures and an end to discrimination by parenthood, sex and age. BANK EMPLOYEES HAVE FORMED THEIR OWN LOCAL With membership growing so quickly the bank employees have formed their own local of SORWUC. On September 26, 197 6, the Bank Employees Organizing Committee was granted their own charter. It was an historic and exciting meeting for all bank employees. As Local 2, the UNITED BANK WORKERS, as they have chosen to call themselves, elected their first Executive and adopted their Local by-lax<rs. All officers are bank employees. IT'S A MYTH THAT BANKS CANT UNIONIZE UNITED BANK WORKERS, Local 2 of SORWUC, is now organising to research their present benefits to compare them with unionized offices. They see this as being a very important task in determining how and what to bargain for when they negotiate their first contract. If you would like to receive more information about forming a union in your bank, fill out this form and send it in to UNITED BANK WORKERS, 1114 - 207 West Hastings, Vancouver 2, B.C. I would like further information about the Bank Employees Organizing Committee. Employed by FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT UNITED BANK WORKERS, Local 2 of SORWUC at 1114 - 207 West Hast- ings, Vancouver 2, B C. Or give SORWUC a ca 11 at 684 2834. (bank and branch) Home phone (All replies in strictest confidence) many groups, one B.C.F.W THE THIRD ANNUNAL CONVENTION OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA FEDERATION OF WOMEN will be held November 5,6,and 7 in Vernon, B.C. This will be a working convention for delegates from the B.C.F.W. member groups. Interested observers are welcome. Any woman who would like to attend the convention as an observer, and whose group has not received information packages could contact the B.C.F.W. Convention Registration at 1061 East 40th Ave, Vancouver, for more information. A registration fee of $4.00 will be charged, delegate or observer. This working convention will hammer out policy in many areas, including: HEALTH; WOMEN IN PRISON; LESBIAN RIGHTS; CHILDCARE; RAPE; LABOUR; EDUCATION; HUMAN RIGHTS; MEDIA; CONCERNS OF NORTHERN WOMEN and GENERAL ACTION. In preparation for the Convention, a parliamentary procedures workshop was held for delegates from the lower mainland area on October 21st. Delegates to Convention are reminded to bring their copy of policy resolutions with them. The following is a brief summary of the major items in the last standing committee report submitted by the outgoing standing committee. Both the educational provisional subcommittee and the communications provisional subcommittees were not active during the summer and early fall, RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN PRISON PROVISIONAL SUBCOMMITTEE was very active this summer and fall. Their main projects were : monitoring the condition of the Doukhobor women at Oakalla who were on hunger strike; setting up programs for women in Oakalla, including one on nutrition; writing policy for the November convention. The subcommittee also participated in the August 10th National Prision Justice Day, held to protest solitary confinement. The subcommittee decided to change their name from Rights of Women in Prision Provisional Subcommittee to Women Prisoners and Prisoners' Family Rights Provisional Subcommittee. According to the B.CF.W. constitution, this name change must take place at Convention. The reasons for the name change are important'ones. First of all, the provisional subcommittee felt that it was necessary to help the wives, mothers, sisters and girlfriends of male prisoners, because these women are also "serving time." Secondly, since a large number of the subcommittee's members were from areas other than the lower mainland, where most of B.C.'s prisons are located, women in outlying areas could become actively involved in working for prisoners' rights if the families of prisoners were to be included within the subcommittee's constituency. Thirdly, there are only about 80 women in prison, compared to 1,000 men. Therefore, it's impossible to change the prison system without touching on the situation of male prisoners. If the subcommittee only works on the situation at the women's unit at Oakalla, they will never be able TO CHANGE THE PRISON SYSTEM WHICH ENSLAVES MEN AND WOMEN BOTH. THE REGIONAL REDISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE has confronted the two basic problems concerning regional representation on the B.C.F.W. The first of these is that more regional representation was needed on the standing committee so that all areas of the province could be equably represented. Therefore, they have divided the province along electoral boundaries into twelve regions, adding only one extra regional representative. The second problem is basically insoluble. This is that women in rural areas must travel long distances to a few women's groups, while women in urban areas must visit many, many women's groups within a short distance. The redistribution committee is looking for feedback upon the new regional representation along electoral boundaries, especially from those women who live in rural areas. THE LESBIAN RIGHTS RATIFIED SUBCOMMITTEE has a particularly active lesbianism/ feminism workshop, which has been giving workshops for women's groups. Response to these workshops has been so good that the subcommittee has been unable to meet the demand, because (of course) they have no money at all. They are encouraging lesbian feminist groups in other areas of B.C. to be responsible for groups wanting workshops in their region. One of the subcommittee's projects this fall is the compilation of their workshop material into a WORKSHOP KIT which will give women's groups the tools to explore the material in the workshop in greater depth. This will be especially valuable in communities which the workshop is unable to reach. VSW can provide more details about the lesbianism/feminism workshops to interested women's groups. Next month's KINESIS will carry a full report on the Convention, including details about the new policy, subcommittees and standing committee, as well as reports on the workshops and general business. third annual convention NOVEMBER 5,607 WOMENS INTERACT CO-OP HERSTORY In the spring of '75, several women artists in the Vancouver area began meeting to discuss the need for a communal studio. Such a studio would provide the community needed for the development of a feminist art consciousness. WANTED: a space where women could share resources, inspiration and information. It was an ambitious and demanding undertaking. What was needed was a large space which could accomodate not only a shared darkroom and kiln and numerous individual studio spaces, but also public performances of dance, poetry and song, skills workshops and critiques. The group began meeting regularly to shuffle the formidable forms which would transform them into a legal co-op, and to develop their common goals. Twelve months and many meetings later, they located a large area under the Avalon Hotel, at 165 East Pender. It was dim and dusty, but it was a home. Co-op members painted the whole space white, and rented out a total of 10 studios at 20 dollars a month each. Gradually, women began to put up walls and shelves and to build desks. The workspaces took shape. DARKROOM Several co-op members built themselves a darkroom, which is now well-equipped with enlarger, trays and so on. At present, it is used by five members who purchase chemicals communally and who share expenses. Darkroom instruction is available and any new member may use the darkroom. If you are interested in becoming a member-user, call Judith Sandiford at 733- 3681 or Maggie Shore at 738-9454. Interests of the co-op members are diverse: painting (oils and acrylics), drawing, ceramics, sculpture, filmmaking, puppetry, photography,fibre art, plastics, graphic and urban design, writing and printmaking. maggie shore and gayla reid THE WOMEN'S INTER ART CO-OP is a feminist studio at 165 West Pender. From October 19 to October 30, Co-op members held their first exhibition at the HELEN PITT GALLERY, which is located just above and adjacent to their basement studio. This successful first exhibition introduced the public not only to the high quality of the art coming out of the co-op, but also to the concept of women working together in a strong, supportive art community. moving through the flower WOMEN'S INTERART COOP **JUDY CHICAGO *** THROUGH THE FLOWER *** JUDY CHICAGO *** THROUGH THE FLOWER By excluding the work of women artists from history, men not only maintain control of women, but also of the world o.. Since men assume that their view of reality is the real one, they measure our perception against theirs and, because they are dominant, validate our point of view .only to the degree that it corresponds to their own. The silence about women in history, about women's accomplishments, and most importantly, about women's point of view as it is expressed in art, is not an accident. Once a woman has challenged the basic values that define her, those that tell her what she is supposed to be as a woman, she will inevitably challenge others as she discovers in her creative journey that most of what she has been taught to believe about herself is inaccurate and distorted. It is with this differing self perception that the woman artist moves into the world and begins to define all aspects of experience through her own modes of perception, which, at their very base, differ from society's. WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, READINGS, CRITIQUES. SEARCH FOR FUNDING As the co-op has grown over this summer and fall, women with information and skills in particular areas have begun to give workshops and to hold seminars. Recently, there have been darkroom workshops on developing and enlarging techniques; lecture-and-slide presentations on Brigit Riley and Barbara Hepworth; seminars and demonstrations on fibre and plastic arts. There have also been a number of poetry and journal readings, and any woman writer is invited to participate. These events will continue to develop over the winter months, and a calendar of co-op events is contained in their monthly newsletter. If you would like to receive a copy of this newsletter, call Maggie at 738-9454. Over the past eighteen months, the Inter Art Co-op has grown into a fully functioning studio where women can explore together what it means to be a woman and an artist in this society. Already, the co-op's skills workshops and educationals have reached out into the community and the co-op women have found that there are many eager to share their facilities and resources. Because the Inter Art Co-op has much to offer the community, we hope that the powers-that-be will provide it with the necessary funding so that it can become an integrated and energetic part of this city's art community. Periodically there are meetings at the studio or in women's homes where co-op members gather with their most recent works for critical discussion and analysis. THE CO-OP WARMLY WELCOMES NEW WOMEN If you are interested in finding out more about the co-op, call Shelley at 683 6296; Ellie at 255 1823 or Maggie at 738 9454. .MOVING "THROUGH THE FLOWER" IS A PROCESS THAT IS AVAILABLE TO ALL OF US, A PROCESS THAT CAN LEAD US TO A PLACE WHERE WE CAN EXPRESS OUR HUMANITY U.S. THAILAND CHILE A California firm which hires mercenaries to fight ir Africa, Asia and South America says that nearly half of its recruit'; are women. The firm, El Tanas vn'cerprises of Anaheim, states that Tcmen are especially goer' work and as pi3 experts. The said, "Uncle S. these skills or many, many yer El Kamas hire^ yearly contrac or more. (TOW\ in intelligence ots or demolition Lrm'a director n has had women with its payroll for 'ñ†ron^.n on weekly and 3 at $350-500 a week IRELAND IRISH WOMEN'S P.ACE. MOVEMENT The last two months have seen a wave of peace marches in Northern Ireland, involving thousands of women, both Catholic and Protestant. The women have joined forces to demand an end to Lhe sectarian violence which plagues everyday life in Northern Ireland. The two women who started the campaign are Betty Williams, 32, a housewife from Belfast, and Mairead Corrigan, a 23 year old secretary. Mairead t Corrigan is the aunt of young children x;ho were crushed to death last August, when they were hit by a car which was being driven by an IRA gunman fleeing from the police. Betty Williams saw the children die. The peace campaign has met with violent opposition from some groups of Roman Catholics,^ who have attacked the women and ' disrupted the marches. An official\ statement issued by the IRA said that the IRA respected the right of women to demonstrate for peace, while asking them not to forget the struggle of the past years, and not to call for peace at any price, which would be to surrender. Opponents of the Irish Women's Peace Movement claim that the women have little analysis of the complexity of the struggle, and that they support the presence of the British security forces in Northern Ireland. YUGOSLAVIA In the Islamic region of Yugoslavia, wives are still sold for an average of $4,000 and are expected to be complete slaves to their husbands. Zihriaja Hussein, the rebel leader of women in the area, is training young women to take as much as they can from their husbands in gifts and bridal fees and then to run away and 'remarket' themselves. "We old-timers were taught to be guerillas in World War II, and can train guerillas again,'.' she said. (BMR) Seventy young Thai xvomen workers were holding and running a blue-jeans factory in Bangkok for over five months earlier this year. The workers locked the factory bosses out after unsuccessful protests over wages and working conditions. They raised wages by 150%, and with the elimination of profits, were selling the jeans for one-third the former price. Many workers were living in the plant to prevent a move by the former owners to take it back. They withstood attacks from hired thugs and police. Before the takeover, starvation wages had forced them to fight each other for piece work materials. The women said they were willing to wage a militant struggle to retain the factory. What the fate of these Thai sisters has been now, after October's military coup in that country, is unknown. (BMR) women round wof] THE COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHILE is a group in Burnaby which organizes monthly letter campaigns for Chilean political prisoners. Here is a list of prisoners on whose behalf the defense committee is writing letters of protest: YVONNE SZASZ PIANTA - lawyer, xrork- ing for ENEMI in La Serena. Arrested on October 30th, 1974 in La Serena. Married, 26 years old, home address: Infante/Rengo, kept at the 'Casa Cor- reccional', being processed through the 'Fiscal Melo' process in the. Second 'Fiscalia Militar'. Her mother, a Swiss Citizen, is being kept hostage in Santiago. REINA WALKIRIA JORQUERA ITURRIETA - social worker. Arrested on January 20, 1975 in Valparaiso. Single, 25 years old. Home address: Avda. Gomez Carreno 4287, Vina Del Mar. She is being kept at the 'Tres Alamos' concentration camp. VALESKA CONTRERAS ALVAREZ - housewife. Arrested on August 13, 1974. Married with three children. She is 59 years old. She was arrested together with her three children and is being kept at 'Tres Alamos' concentration camp. SEND YOUR LETTERS OR CABLES to several or all of the following : Horacio Arce, 56 Sparkes Street, Ste 816, Ottawa. General Augusto Pinochet, Edificio Diego Portales. Santiago de Chile. Ministerio del Interior, General Benavides Edificio Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile. ElMercurio, Compania 1214, Santiago de Chile. Also, please send a copy f of your letter or cable to /the COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE 'OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHILE, ' P.O.BOX 80593. ''Find out more about what you can do for our Chilean sisters by contacting the Committee at the above address. They have a phone number at their downtoxm offices (906 - 207 West Hastings Street) which is 669 - 5545. SWITZERLAND It's a free country, so do as you're told. The federal Swiss government, under pressure to liberalise the current abortion laws, has proposed a referendum on the subject- but suggested that people vote against it. As the laws stands, abortions are permissable only when the woman's health is in danger. According to the Swiss Union for the Decriminalization of Abortion, this situation is leading to an increase in illegal abortion to around 10,000 a year. Safe abortions can be obtained, but at a price beyond the reach of most women. The government's proposals would allow abortion when pregancy resulted from rape, when the foetus was deformed, or when the woman would suffer a health risk or social stress. These proposals were acceptedj with some modification, by the Lower House but were rejected by the more conservative Upper House. (WR) ENGLAND A group called "Free Sanitary Protection" is asking the National Health to provide free sanitary napkins and tampons to women. They group explains that women spend anywhere from $630 to $1,000 in our lives having periods. They are protesting the profits made by Tampax and Southalls, the major producers of sanitary protection. (TOW) By now we should be used to commercial enterprises capitalising on the women's movement while at the same time seeking to destroy it. In Britain, they are filming a super-budget remake of King Kong which exploits the women's movement. The new beast is to be Queen Kong, the first liberated lady gorilla, 64 feet tall and accompanied by forty exotic jungle 'girls' all bent on reducing London to rubble. (WR) Sisterhood mokgs the newS MURDOCH MURDOCH GETS 1/4 RANCH The Supreme Court of Alberta awarded Irene Murdoch one-quarter of her husband's property in the amount of $65,000 despite her lawyer's request the estate be divided in half. Ms. Murdoch's fight for an equal share in the marital property on separation from her husband.in 1968 gained her nationwide publicity and support of the women's movement. During the past six months, Ms. Murdoch, now 51, has lived with her mother in an $80 per month basement apartment. $200 a month maintenance payments from Mr. Murdoch are supplemented by $51 per month in provincial social assistance. Although Ms. Murdoch maintains she worked as hard as her husband in running the ranch over the past 25 years and contributed financially to the purchase of the ranch, the courts ruled there was no evidence of this. Mr. Murdoch is expected to appeal the judgment against him. Ms. Murdoch's lawyer asked for a lump sum settlement on her behalf of $133,000 while her husband's lawyer argued $15,000 would be appropriate. (K.R.) BANKS It is true that women are under- represented among the economic elite of this country. There are only about five female bank directors in Canada. Both the Royal Bank and the Bank of Nova Scotia say they have been unable to find a woman qualified to sit on their boards, due to financial restrictions in the Bank Act which require a member of the board to own 2,500 shares of bank stock. That's about $100,000 at today's prices. Both banks have been presented with lists of sufficiently wealthy and qualified women. The federal Advisory Council on the Status of Women advises women to withdraw their money from banks xtfhich do not yet have xromen on their boards. Even if women enjoyed a 50% representation on the boards of banks, how much would this accomplish for the majority of women? What difference does it make to the woman who cleans the office if it's a male tycoon or a female one? UIC CODE RULED SEXIST in U.S. Women who must leave their jobs due to marriage, joining their husbands in new localities, or raising children, can no longer be denied UIC since* the Third District Court of Appeals in California ruled that a section of the UIC code there was sexist. Previously, the law distinguished between primary and secondary support earners, the majority of secondary earners being women. (K.R.) SUPPORT LCSBIAN PRIORITICS NATIVC WOMCN The struggles of native women are often overlooked or suppressed by the male establishment media. These women urgently need the support of the women's movement both in Canada and the States. JOANNA LEDEAUX was an organizer and legal worker for the traditional community in Pine Ridge. On September 22, 1975, she was jailed for refusing to testify before a U.S. Grand Jury investigating the deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation. Joanna is pregnant and suffering from malnutrition. Her baby will probably be taken away from her by the Welfare Department. And she has not been charged with any crime. Donations can be sent to the FREE JOANNA COMMITTEE, c/o Gridley Nasser, 101 Main Street, Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105. YVONNE WANROW is a member of the Colville Tribe in eastern Washington. She has been sentenced to 25 years for killing 'Chicken Bill' Wesler. Wesler had raped her babysitter's daughter and attempted to molest her young son. When he barged into her house, Yvonne, in two leg casts and crutches, fired point blank at Wesler and killed him. She immediately called the police. They, in turn, produced a tape of her call in court alleging that her calm tone of voice indicated premeditated murder. She is now out on appeal and in desperate need of support. You can contribute to her defense fund by sending a donation to YVONNE WANROW, CENTRE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, 853 Broadway, New York, N.Y., USA 1003. (IRT) WOMCN WORKCRS Much of the Fourth Annual Gay Conference, which took place in Toronto over the Labour Day weekend, revolved around the question of the organization of lesbians. At a panel discussion during the conference, Gloria Geller, of the Toronto Gay Academic Union, read a short statement from the Rights of Lesbians Subcommittee of the B.C.F.W. The statement said that lesbians must choose between gay liberation and women's liberation and, further, that they must choose the latter. It suggested that lesbians should put off their struggle over their sexual orientation until the fight for women's equality had been xron. Gillian Chase, of The Other Woman, a Toronto feminist newspaper, delivered an eloquent criticism of both the women's movement and the gay movement, warning that both were in danger of being coopted by capitalism and integrated into the market system to peddle liberation as a product. Terry Faubert, of the Toronto Gay Alliance Toward Equality Lesbian Caucus saxtf no contradiction between the women's movement and the gay movement and added that they both serve the interest of lesbians. On the subject of lesbian participation in the gay movement, she advocated the policy of lesbian autonomy which she has been developing among politicized lesbians over the last year. She expressed the hope that the National Lesbian Conference in October would produce some clarification on the question of organizing lesbians around their oppression. Marie Robertson of Lesbians of Ottawa Now saw lesbian autonomy from the gay movement as a healthy development which would simultaneously allow lesbians to take practical steps towards their liberation and broaden the scope of the gay movement. (Body Politic) AMERICAN WOMEN WOMEN'S INCOME GAP In America the income gap between men and women continues to widen. In 1974 women made only 57% of the typical male take-home pay. In 1970, they averaged 59% of the male median income. WORKING WOMEN Single women aren't the largest group of the female labour force. In 1974 in the U.S., married women living with their husbands comprised 60% of all women workers. BREADWINNER MYTH In 1950 in the United States, the traditional family model of husband- provider and wife-homemaker was valid for 56% of families. In 1975, it is true of only 34% of all families. (Monthly Labour Review) LIP Among the LIP grants announced this month was one for the Women's Automotive Resource Centre in Vancouver. The money will allow the centre to employ two workers to give women basic or intensive instruction in automotive mechanics. This group is better known as MOM'S REPAIRS, and they repair and teach at 976 Ringwood St, Vancouver. Phone 876 0635 RAPC ASSISTCR When Joan Elizabeth Vance was appointed as the first national assister to rape crisis centres across Canada, on October 1st., some semantic subtleties were ignored. National rape assister. Rape a-sister. Not funny. Surely they could have looked up a Thesaurus to check out synonyms for assister. It would have been a sisterly thing to do. NORTH€RN NOT€S diana bisscll Dear Sisters, I'm writing this while on the plane to Whitehorse, having just spent the grand total of 3 days at home in Prince George (oh luxuryI) after being on the road in the northwest for 3% weeks. What a time of year to travel - the trees are so beautiful and each day that I had to drive any distance the weather was great - wish you could all share the grandeur of this part of B.C. with me. Flew over to the Queen Charlottes September 17 on a clear day (you could see forever!) and flew back on the 27th (in a 50 mph gale!), and the 10 days there were fascinating. I spent a lot of time with members of the Q.C.I. Society for Continuing Self Development - an all islands women's organization. They have been active for several years and received a small IWY grant from Gene Errington's office last year. The Society has a constitution and an all-islands Board of Directors made up of reps from each "branch" - there's one in Masset, Port Clements and' Queen Charlotte City. Each branch has its own activities and priorities, they each contribute to the newsletter, and all share in the materials and resource people brought in by the Society. Any money that is applied for is done by the Society as a whole - the new Fraser Vally Women's Council uses somewhat the same concept. Anyway, in Charlotte City the group runs a super thrift shop out of an old one-room schoolhouse and they have fixed up a backroom of the shop into a sitting room where they have some sofas, coffee/tea, bulletin board, and lots of resource material. Craft workshops and meetings are held here and if anyone has an old oil stove to give away they'd appreciate hearing about it! In Port Clements, Gail Scholefield has organized a group of women around a series of projects designed to offer them an opportunity to get out of their own homes and to raise money - not for charity but for furthering the activities of the group. These projects have included bazaars, quilting bees and bake sales and have brought in a goodly sum of money to be used for more equipment, supplies and funding for new ideas. The Port Clements Recreation Society has applied for LIP monies and included in the proposal is a space for a "continuing self-development centre" for the group. This is a good example of how to begin organizing to meet the needs of women in a small town - Port Clements is a small logging community with one general store and although the history of the town goes back a long way, the present industry attracts a lot of relatively short-term residents. An immediate need is to socialize - and one works from there. In Masset, Sharon Finkleman organized a meeting at the new Health and Human Resources building and plans were made to get hold of some films (ISIS, where are you?!) for several film nights. Masset is an entirely different town from Port Clements or Queen Charlotte City - mainly because of the Canadian Forces Station located there, complete with row housing, rec centre with a pool, a bowling alley etc. and about 800 personnel including spouses and children. The .base is one of the few in Canada built on an "open" concept - there aren't any barbed wires etc. It is incorporated right into the town and the base recreation facilities are available to everyone for the same fee. This is in direct contrast to Port Clements where there aren't any recreation facilities, and Queen Charlotte City, where the people have voted consistently against incorporating as a village because many of the strong individualists who live there don't want to be told what to do by anyone - be it over garbage dumps, building codes or taxes. I mention all this because it is fascinating to realize what makes different communities tick, because the communities reflect the people living there and because if we are interested in reaching the women who live there it's a good idea to look at the whole community first and ask some questions ...questions like "Who lives here? Why do they live here? Do they want to live here? What kind of facilities are available - medical, educational, social? What is the community's history?" etc. It's interesting to speculate on the urban/non-urban, north/south differences in all organizations, including the women's movement. I suspect that in non-urban areas in all parts of the province the successful groups take a closer look at those questions and the answers before acting. In the larger cities where there are so many more people, one can afford to start a group xvithout asking such specifics (supposedly) but once you get to a small centre, it doesn't work at all. No one will show up at your meeting - it's that simple. For me, recognition of the different needs of the community, and the community of women really helps me to understand the not so mythical "split" between north/south, urban/ non-urban women in the movement. The differences are not so much over the content of movement rhetoric (although some would probably debate that comment vigorously), but rather over it's method of application to the community. I'm hoping that some of the fantastic women's groups that exist up here can get time to write down the "how-who- what" of their organizing skills to share with others and that these groups will use regionally oriented federations like the B.C. Federation of Women to blast forth with their priorities and help to direct the women's movement more effectively. It isn't a matter of "my needs being more important than your needs" - it's a matter of the recognition of the differing needs of women in very diverse areas - understanding that they are tied together with the same knot (call it oppression or whatever) but that there are different ways of untying that knot, and then learning which method is most, effective in what area. Well, the plane is getting ready to land soon (there's snow on the ground up here!) so I'd better start wrapping this up. Just wanted to add that the Prince Rupert Options for Women group has applied for Secretary of State money, Kitimat, Burns Lake and Fraser Lake groups have applied to LIP for women's centres, Hazelton women are meeting regularly, twenty women came to a verbal self-defense gathering in Smithers and a group will be starting there. Terrace Women's Organization is having Eileen Hendry up to do an assertive training workshop and the Northwest College's credit women's studies course is going strong in Kitimat and Prince Rupert. I sat in on the first class in Rupert - about 20 women and 1 man - and it was quite moving to listen to them all speak so- eloquently about why they wanted to take women's studies and to remember how hard the women's groups of the area had xrorked on getting the course - and they had succeeded. Time to run - love to all, Diana P€OPL£'S LAW SMALL CLAIMS COURT This is the first of a series of columns explaining how to use the Small Claims Court. The Small Claims Court is a court in which the layman can sue a person who owes him money or who has caused him some damage. For example, a motorist may have negligently damaged your car where the insurance does not cover all of your expenses. You can sue the driver in Small Claims Court for your losses. The amount you are suing for must be $1,000.00 or less. If you are owed $1,200.00 and do not want to sue in the higher court (which would involve lawyer's fees and higher costs awarded against you if you lose), you can waive the $200.00 and sue in Small Claims Court for $1,000.00 There are various forms and steps required to starting an action (your claim) in Small Claims Court. This and future columns will outline the steps to follow, but for more information and assistance x?ith forms you can seek help from the Clerk of the Court in your area. The court costs total about $26.00. If your action is successful, the Judge may order the other person to pay those costs. The fee to register the summons (the document which starts the action) is $10.00. The summons is served by the Sheriff for a fee of $10.00 plus mileage charges. It will also cost $2.00 to register the judgment you receive. You may have additional expenses in transporting witnesses to the trial. If you win, the other party can be required to pay $6.00 for each witness you bring, including yourself. Future columns will explain how to start your action and how to prepare for trial. For more information, contact the Vancouver People's Law School at 681-7532 and order our booklet on Small Claims Court Procedure, or contact your local Small Claims Court Clerk. UF€INTH€LAC€GH€TTO WOMCN IN TH€ URBAN €NVIRONM€NT a feminist perspective by VIVIANC HOTZ LIFE FOR WOMEN IN BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA'S CITIES - TRICK OR TREAT? It is civic election time, and all over the lower mainland, candidates are full of promises about' what they can do for us in our urban environments. Just what are the issues of white middle-class women in the cities of the lower mainland? Women in Canada are only now beginning to realise how oppressive the middle-class way of life is for women. ♦ Look around you, and what do you see? *Poverty in a city of affluence inequality in a tradition which speaks of equality *Elite policy making in a structure of democratic norms *Isolation in the midst of high density There has been very little interest in Canada or indeed elsewhere in the issues concerning women in the urban environment. These issues were not included in the Canadian Royal Commission on the Status of Women. They have not been included in the demands of various women's groups. There have been particular points raised, such as the need for day care centres, but there has been no overall understanding of the many issues that concern women in the urban setting. We are just now beginning to realize that exploitation of women is reinforced by planning - in the home, at work and at our leisure. The struggle for women's liberation must actively recognize the changed and changing roles of women in regard to the planning of our cities. The growing diversity of women's activities in their private and public lives demands a nex/ diversity in the physical space in which we act out our new roles. The traditional impact of this type of housing is shown clearly by the main bedroom being called the Master Bedroom - and the biggest bed is called the King Size. Single family detached housing is obviously wasteful of space in a crowded world. It is, as well, an inequitable distribution of scarce resources as many cannot afford such houses. The Keep Off the Grass sign on the front lawn should read Keep Off My Status Symbol. There is an interesting dichotomy that is going on between the individual family house and the community. We are constantly searching for the ideal community. We are asking where is the sense of community? And asking where are the community networks and community centres. * POVERTY IN A CITY OF AFFLUENCE INEQUALITY IN A TRADITION WHICH SPEAKS OF EQUALITY ELITE POLICY MAKING IN A STRUCTURE OF DEMOCRATIC NORMS ISOLATION IN THE MIDST OF HIGH DENSITY ' Yet the very house, the single family detached house, reinforces the isolation and lack of concern for the community. The houses stand alone, one by one, along the straight streets of the city. The only centre of the suburbs is the shopping centre - the ultimate of consumerism under one roof. outdated single detached family dwelling The single family detached house in the suburbs is publicized loudly as the ideal living accommodation in Canada. It has the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval and the approval of the government through tax rebates and government funding. Yet when we look closely at the single family dwelling we can ask many questions. HOMES LIKE THIS ONE CARRY A HEAVY BURDEN OF TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN In the context of women and planning it is especially important to understand that the single detached family home carries a heavy burden of traditional attitudes to women. Such housing has a very strong moral image of life pivoting around some supposedly ideal - and self-sufficient - nuclear family consisting of a father and a mother and two children - and two cars and a barbeque pit. Such an emphasis placed on the single family detached house is outdated by the changed outlook of women. There are new and important needs. There are the special needs of sole support single parents, usually women. At least one out of every four young women now preparing themselves mainly for marriage - and a nuclear family - will be forced to support themselves as well as their children in later years. There are the snecial needs of students, of career women, and of elderly women. Sexism and city planning All women suffer the disadvantages of discrimination in our sexist society. We are aware of many of the disadvantages ranging from low wages to lack of educational opportunities. These problems have at least reached our consciousness. Discrimination in planning is so subtle and so insidious that it is only now reaching our awareness. The discrimination in planning is based on the preconceived ideas of the supposed ideal life for a woman - a woman limited to the two roles of wife and mother. This way of thinking finds its way into the legislation and city bylaws that regulate how we are supposed to live - not how , we want to live. We find this outdated thinking expressed in many areas that affect women in the urban environment. Even if a woman wanted to own a house, the regulations of mortgage companies make it hard, if not impossible, to do so. There are very few women in planning and very few women in the decision making processes of planning such as alderpersons, mayors or those in position of power in the government. There are few women interested in the planning of cities. There are many reasons for the lack of interest in women's issues in the urban environment ranging from education to social attitudes which include the problems of gaining confidence to participate in the decision making process. TH€ CXPLOITATION OF WOMCN IS RCINFORCCD BY PLANNING Let us look at education for a minute. There are still hurdles for a woman to overcome in getting an education. Perhaps the greatest hurdle is the early socialization of girls. From birth children are colour-coded. The boys in blankets of blue, a blue that suggests the limitless sky. The girls are in pink, a pink as wobbly as strawberry jello. These colours stay with us. The strong dominant colours of the males, and soft demure and non-descript pastels of the females. Our education expresses these colours. The strong, purposeful courses are for the males and the soft, dithering courses for the females. These attitudes permeate our lives so that we grow up still with the ideas of the strong men and the weak woman. We are conditioned so thoroughly that we think that this is natural. This tragic waste of valuable woman- power must be changed. We need to extend education to our entire lives, through woman's equality in the so called hard sciences of planning and engineering and architecture. We need retraining programs for adult women and a sharing together of lifetime learning. Women through education can not only benefit themselves as they change from dull and frustrated people living on for others - or worse, through others. Truly liberated women can benefit society through their contribution of alert and questioning minds. We need new skills, new approaches and a new confidence so that our aim is not a second car but a second interest; not a second home but a second opportunity. Education is a valuable tool for focussing attention on the needs for social excellence rather than social neglect. decisions are made by economic elites Educational opportunities are lacking as well as other opportunities to grow because of the lack of power xromen have in the decision-making process in our society. Canada is a capitalist society which means that a few people have accumulated capital and a great many have no capital at all. We call those who have accumulated capital, an economic elite. This economic elite are those with top positions in powerfully dominant economic corporations. What happens is that the power of capital concentrated in a few private hands gives awesome power to that elite to make decisions affecting the rest of us. Women are the most unrepresented group in the economic elite in Canada - less than one per cent of the total are women; women hold less than one per cent of the directorships of big companies; and women hold less than one per cent of the executive offices. The reason economic elites in Canada come into the topic of women and planning is that our land is usually privately owned. For most people owning a plot of land is their only investment. By developing the land as they wish they perpetuate the spread of suburbs further and further into arable or undeveloped land. In the hands of a few, however, the economic elite, there is the power to speculate on land and to create blockages in the supply process that lead to expensive housing or to a shortage of housing. What the land is used for - housing or land speculation - is primarily uncontrolled by elected officials. Land should not be a commodity to be bought and sold as it belongs to us all. Yet land is sold to the highest bidder and those who can buy it control land use - and the land market. They - not us - make the decisions as to land use. When white explorers first came to the shores of North America the Indians were amazed that someone would even think of something so perverse as buying land - to buy something that was for the use of all, much as the fresh air and rays of the summer sun. we tmf its MACAUIAYI MAITLAND&CO.LTD HARRIS PLANNING MUST CHANGS Perverse ideas can be changed. The inequalities now present in our society can be eliminated. The first step is public control of the use of land. We can discuss planning in three ways. The first, functional planning, which is a means of organizing our activities. The second is environmental - the conditions under which we act out our lives. The third, symbolic, a visual presentation of ideas current in our society. *m'5&* THE SCENERY IS STUNNING, BUT THE SYSTEM IS SEXIST When we speak of functional planning we are discussing how many of our activities are organized for us. We need private cars because of the urban layout and the lack of public transportation. We lack efficient public transportation as the suburban density is so low that it is not economical. We need a babysitter in every home because of the lack of community facilities; we feel isolated and alone because of the lack of meaningful contact with others; one third of all Canadians are overweight because of the lack of recreational centres; we must work downtown because there are no jobs in the suburbs; the list could go on and on. The point I want to stress is that decisions made by others in regard to planning vitally affect women. For instance, the suburbs are highly specialized catering to those who have enough money to live there. The specialization is depriving to the women who spend most of their lives in the suburbs. The uniformity of street after street of suburbia results in nothing more than living the standards proclaimed on the soap operas of television. There is little room for personal growth. The wondrous diversity of people, choices and activities are just not available in most suburbs. The system of buying and selling lots details what size house can be built and often the design as well. The system of uniform lots is useful for buying and selling in a market economy but it prohibits community development. As well, in the suburbs as elsewhere, there is the persistent idea of single- use zoning instead of the far more stimulating mix of age, class and activities. Our houses and our apartments and our cities and our streets are x<rhere we act out our lives. Our environment has an impact on the way we live our lives. The quality and quantity of our surroundings will either allow for expansion of self or the inhibition of self. Instead of optimum condi tions, our cities are planned as res- trictively as last century's corset, binding our freedom to breathe. There is a new freedom in clothing to express our personalities - let us have planning do the same. Outdated ideas are strangling us. As an example, let us look at the most urbanized - second only to Hong Kong in density in the world - and the most serviced area in Vancouver, the West End. The apartments are built for middle aged middle class couples who have no children, no pets and no stereo. Yet thirty per cent of those living in the same area, the West End, are families with one parent, usually a woman. Many problems arise from the difficulty of raising children alone in an environment not suitable for children. There is no place to play and no place for noisy laughter. To plan for couples only is crippling for others who have to live there. It's like wearing someone else's shoes. This type of planning is alienating as there is no human diversity allowed, no individualism permitted. It is alienating as there is no sense of belonging to or having an effect on those apartments - it is often even prohibited to hang pictures on the walls. Such apartments are alienating as well as there is great difficulty in having contact with the community at large. Symbols present visually ideas in our society. I have mentioned the single detached family home as a symbol of a moral image of life centred around a nuclear family; but there are many symbols other than that in our cities. For instance the symbolic and ceremonial centres of our cities are the business centres. The high office towers in the very centre of our cities announce very clearly who is running our cities. Our cities are straight- edged, shiny, glittering office buildings - a symbol of our material prosperity - not our human prosperity. In contrast, think of the ancient towns in Europe which were once dominated by the steeple of the church and the bright colours of the adjacent market square where goods and information and a sense of community were exchanged. When we look at the city we can see the image of women, the long row of solitary houses - the high apartments reflecting the right-angled grid plan of our streets. The blank windows reflecting isolation and the interior, the maintenance role women play in our society. Our lives are fragmented and the various pieces are only tied together with long bus rides. We need new symbols to speak loudly. Symbols that proudly proclaim that women are recognized as full participants in the urban environment. There is nothing inherently ugly and alienating about cities. Cities reflect - are a mirror image - of our civilization. When we say the city is an unpleasant place we are saying that our civilization is an unpleasant thing. Now we are but a planner's pin on the urban map. But we can change this. It is vital to change cities to reflect a new social order where women are active participants and not bystanders. Mental health and satisfaction with our environment depends on our understanding and actively molding,the social and physical space in which we live. eight people in 2 rooms & vice versa There are many specific problems in our city that have a special importance to women. The age-old problem of poverty hits women hard - particularly in poor housing which is all that is available for those on a low income. In wealthy areas such as British Properties two people live in eight rooms, in the low income areas of the East End, eight people live in two rooms. Where are the equal wages, the opportunities, the fair share for women in the city? Women with sole responsibility for children are often below the poverty line. Female heads of families are almost five times more likely to be living below the poverty line than their male counterparts. The poor lack decent housing and access to social, recreational and resource support centres. Other women, less visible and less vocal, suffer hardship from poverty too: the old age woman pensioner on a fixed income and immigrant women. Many women fear violence in the city. One solution put forward is that the only way to be safe is to keep behind locked doors. That is no solution. We have the right to safety and security on our streets. By staying inside we reinforce the old image as weak and defenseless women. The high statistics of rape and crimes against women must be stopped. Even such elementary beginnings to safety such as lighted bus stops are missing. One problem which is immediately associated with women in the urban environment is the need for day care centres. This is not solely a women's issue as this reinforces the role of the woman as the main guardian of children. Surely children are the dual responsibility of both the father and the mother. Day cares, however, are especially important in cases where the family is headed by a woman. A new look at day cares would suggest that men as x^ell as women could gain from day care centres close to their work. The father now has little contact during the day and with day care centres in work areas there could be a renewed sharing in the upbringing of children. Women with children, single women and the elderly are the chief users of public transportation. The infrequent and often the total lack of transportation creates problems of mobility to work, friends and relatives and access to recreational areas. Women have little or no say in the bus routes which are planned by the city planners who undoubtedly have cars. A new look at public transportation would suggest that it is not mobility that x*e lack as much as access. If the city were rearranged so that recreation, work and home were clustered rather than the present sprawling arrangement there would be little need for gas guzzling cars and buses. More and more women are now working outside the home. In the work place as well as the home there is a feeling of distortion and confusion and often frustration due to the lack of facilities and the lack of understanding of the environment. There are few women unionized and those who are,are often not represented on the union executive. Immigrant women are the most exploited and underpaid, compounded by work conditions which are totally unacceptable. Even those most advantaged women in our society - the young, the pretty and the white woman - the woman who is hired at the show office towers - these are women too who are discriminated against. N€XT TIME YOU GO DOWNTOWN ...look at the work conditions in the new underground shopping mall, Pacific Centre. There are no facilities provided for such a simple activity as eating one's lunch. Not to mention the lack of provision of recreational or educational stimulus during the lunch hour. All one can do is buy a lunch - which women can little afford at their salaries - or go shopping which is always an option in our consumer society. What happens is that if a woman brings her lunch she must sit at her desk, or sit on a stool in the stockroom eating off a cardboard box, or perch on a bench in the busy Mall under the escalators near the fire hydrant. WOMCN'S ISSUCS IN URBAN PLANNING ■ .■.- . from p.13 No provision of lunchroom facilities, surely a basic requirement for the numbers of women who work in the Pacific Centre, reveals the lack of consideration for women. In a subtle way women are put down as being non- important. We don't count, anyway. Often we feel frustrated about having to hide in a corner, passive and mute. There is no provision made for us. We often turn the frustration inward and blame ourselves - rather than rally against the obvious failure of planning the building complex. There are many other specific problems - but one of the greatest is that of housing. Different women must have access to different housing for different needs. The basic need of course, is adequate accommodation. But after adequate housing the psychological and social effects are important. Single women are discriminated against in apartments. They are claimed to be loose and financially unreliable. Older women on fixed incomes are often forced to live in cheap inner core areas which increases their fear of violence. Even the acceptably married woman is closely scrutinized by landlords and asked if she is pregnant as many apartments do not permit children. These urban invasions into a woman's personal life are intolerable. We need innovative housing experiments. We need the opportunity to try new lifestyles. The difficulties of experimenting with co-operative living or communes in the fixed space of traditional housing is evident. New ideas are available such as compact housing but women must actively join together to demand such housing. One point I would like to emphasize is that it is important to remember that all problems in the city must be considered in relation to the larger issues - such as land use patterns and the control of speculation. J hopping We live in a capitalist society - a consumer society. Capitalism by its very nature first underproduces social goods and secondly creates unequal distribution of all goods. Women buy the most goods - goods for private consumption. We buy goods because they are necessary but we also buy goods to define ourselves - such as raspberry smelling shampoo. We are bamboozled by Madison Avenue into the perfect consumer. Even our status in Canadian society is often defined by how much we buy. Shopping for many women is their main activity in the city centre. For necessity, as I said, but also as a substitute for recreation and productive leisure. We use our leisure time to go shopping; even on holidays we - go shopping. One of the reasons is that there is little else we can do downtown except shopping. Where else do we go but downtown shopping when we desperately feel we must get out of the house? Shopping is escapism. There is a feeling of a diversity of goods, movement of people and colour. This is often not so, as in fact there is little diversity in goods and although we see the movement of people and bright colours we have little or no contact with other shoppers. The city as we now know it is beyond the control of women at this time. We are not involved. We participate in our urban centres mainly as consumers. Cathy Cade, Women We have the wrong things on our shopping list. We shop for soap- flakes - Arctic Power - and not for womanpower. Until we put social goods such as safe streets and neighbourhood centres on our list we will continue to not understand or participate in the shaping of our environment. Advertisements bombard us on signs and T.V. We believe the slogans of conspicuous consumption. We believe the image of these one-dimensional women. The price we pay for this image is frighteningly high. Few women attain the goal of this so- called ideal woman and when we cannot we are frustrated. This is a false frustration. It is false as we are trying to reach this image - an image which nas nothing to do with a fulfilled woman but rather is an advertising campaign. Even those of us who see behind the ads are fooled. It is as difficult to avoid advertisements as it is to avoid owning a television set. The very pervasiveness of the advertised image of women prevents any widespread expression of the ideas of women which are, without question, more important. Our consciousness is packaged as neatly as other products. Coca-Cola is not the real thing - self-awareness and self-expression are. We must actively seek to change the structural barriers in our society. The barriers of the proper place for women; the barriers of inertia and the barrier of our attitudes to ourselves and to others. ID€OLOGY Ideology is a compact word which is defined as the term given to any form of that which has been used by those in power to some end. For instance, behind the apparently objective, or even noble attitude, of the government to support financially the single detached family home for all is the idea that this type of nuclear family is the most beneficial to the government. The nuclear family developed in direct response to the demands of industrial production. Industry requires a compact mobile family to move to wherever industry needs a work force. Ideology is when ideas and thoughts ax distorted or directed in a desire to conserve and retain the present social order - to retain the status quo. One of the chief ways to promote the present social order is through the media. It is most significant that those who wield the decision over the use of land, the economic elite, are often the very same elite that owns and controls newspapers, the radio and television. all powerful group the current ideas Planners reflect popular among ion-making power, from those xtfho the control over This means that a si has the say in what are in our society, the ideas currently those with the decis: And these ideas come have the money - and land use. The point I want to make, and this is very important, is that the source of real change in town planning is not within the planning profession itself. THE SOURCE OF REAL CHANGE IS WITHIN THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES OF OUR SOCIETY. SOCIAL CHANGG There are three ways for social change to come about. The first is to work within the system - to reform the greatest injustices while leaving the system intact. The second way is to work outside the system - to drop out, to disassociate. The third way for social change is to fight the system - to force conflict. Reform is a piecemeal effort and a slow process - it is a tinkering with the strictures laid down by others. Many women have dropped out or disassociated themselves from changing the system. They have set up alternatives such as communes or alternate lifestyles. The idea is that when such alternatives are successful, others will turn to them and make the moral and value judgment that it is a good thing. In fact, it is a conceit of their power to subvert the system. I am not questioning here whether the alternatives are right or wrong, but I do question the tactics. Like the hippy movement, it is doomed to failure. The essence of dropping out is an avoidance of conflict. Women are socialized in this in any event. It is polite. There is no trouble to anyone, let alone those in power. It is a belief in liberal enlightenment, that is, a belief that men and women are basically good and thus reason will triumph over all. The problem with this type of thinking is that it is not consistent with historical change. ALL CONCRETE HISTORICAL SOCIAL CHANGE HAS INCLUDED STRUGGLES FOR POWER. We must not avoid conflict. We cannot avoid conflict to attain our goals. We must confront. We must stand up and be counted. Nothing results for good ideas or alternate lifestyles unless we assert ourselves in meaningful conflict. We can work logically and methodically to expose the contradictions. We must challenge. There are many channels even in the parliamentary system that have not been THE SOURCE OF REAL CHANGE IN TOWN PLANNING IS NOT WITHIN THE TOWN PLANNING PROFESSION ITSELF THE SOURCE OF' REAL CHANGE IS WITHIN THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES OF SOCIETY ALL CONCRETE HISTORICAL CHANGE HAS INCLUDED STRUGGLES FOR POWER used. Another tactic would be to learn from advertising. The Greenpeace marketing and media compaign has been most successful. The result is that there is more concern over baby seals than baby girls. We must use any tools available. Social change comes from conflict - not the avoidance of conflict. Today planning is the allocation of scarce resources, a few geegaws of aesthetics and a reinforcement of conservative ideas as to the "proper" place for women. Feminism is the endeavour to obtain political, economic and social rights for women. The sooner women realize x/hat is happening in our cities, the sooner change will be possible. We need participation in the decision of the allocation of the scarce urban resources. This is basic to reaching our goals of feminism. Only xtfhen planning is a visual statement of feminism will we be satisfied. ACCCSS ACTION These matertials are available at the V.S.W. offices. WOMEN'S URBAN ISSUES IN VANCOUVER This is an extremely informative, brief prepared for The Ministry of State for Urban Affairs by the Women's Design Centre in the first half of 1975. It covers the major issues : housing, transportation, daycare, educatior, employment, health, pollution, women and poverty, women and violence, women and decision-making, with an extensive bibliographies for each section. PRIORITIES, May 1976 carries an article by Elizabeth Cull, Nancy Hood and Jill Davidson on Socialism, Feminism and the Urban Environment. BRANCHING OUT, July/August 76 carries an editorial on the role of women in the planning process, as discussed at the Habitat Forum, the U.N. nongovernmental conference held in Vancouver this summer. This article is itself based upon a presentation which Viviane Hotz made at the Habitat Forum. This is civic election time, and the issues raised in this article must be brought forward. Read the first article in this month's Kinesis, "Raise the Feminist Issues" and let your candidate knoxtf that you won't vote for her or him unless s/he indicates some consciousness about women's problems in the civic environment. At election time, pressure your candidate about the way in which women are neglected in the urban planning process. Architecture, urban and social planning must take into account the needs of women in the area of daycare, transportation, employment and housing. One reason for the ignorance about this very important aspect of city planning is that there are very few women working in this area. Ask your candidate : IF ELECTED, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO ENSURE THAT MORE WOMEN ENTER THE PLANNING PROCESS AND THAT WOMEN'S SPECIAL NEEDS ARE INTEGRATED INTO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT? DO YOU FAVOUR HAVING PLANNING BOARDS CONSULT WITH LOCAL WOMEN'S GROUPS IN THE DESIGN PROCESS? Also pressure your candidate about TRANSIT. The majority of those who use the bus system in Vancouver are women, and women are at the bottom end of the pay-scale. Yet B.C. Hydro is planning a bus fare increase, claiming that they are operating at a loss. Why on earth should a public transit system even speak of the need to operate at a profit? Working women have to truck their children back and forth to daycare during rush hour, with no place for strollers or parcels. Why are there no storage racks on the busses in this city? Ask your candidate: IF ELECTED, WOULD YOU OPPOSE ANY PLANNED INCREASE IN THE BUS FARE, GIVEN THAT MANY OF THOSE WHO USE THE TRANSIT SYSTEM ARE THOSE WHO ARE FORCED TO LIVE ON LOW AND FIXED INCOMES? WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO IMPROVE THE TRANSIT SYSTEM SO THAT IT SERVES THE NEEDS OF THE MAJORITY OF ITS PASSENGERS, THE WOMEN OF THIS CITY? FEMINIST RESOURCES The demand for VSW reference library information over the past several months indicates that more than ever, we are seen as an information-clearing house on women's issues in addition to other services we offer. This fall especially, students are returning daily in twos and threes to do research for their xfomen's studies projects for high school, college, and post-graduate study. We are continuing to develop the reference library as much as possible on a very limited budget. Luckily, there are many free and/or inexpensive feminist materials around. In future, we hope to start producing some new VSW publications for sale. Our reference files are jammed with as much as we can possibly get into a large four-drawer filing cabinet and we're waiting for the arrival of another cabinet to take the overflow. A lot of material was floating around the office over the past few years, but was not organized! Do come in to see me any day from 9 am to 5 pm (except Tuesday mornings when we have staff meetings and preferably not late Friday afternoon!). I'll be glad to show you what we have or refer you elsewhere. The following materials are now housed in the VSW reference library, or soon will be. See you soon. - Karen Richardson WOMEN IN PRISON THE WOMAN OFFENDER REPORT: bi-monthly publication on female inmates and changing their status. Free from National Resource Centre on Woman Offenders, American Bar Association, 1705 DeSales Street NW, Washington, D.C, USA 20036. WOMEN IN PRISON: by Katheryn Watter- son Burhkhart, Doubleday and Co., Garden City, N.Y., USA. $10.00. Describes inequitable and antiquated justice system and psychologically debilitating environment for female offenders. THE WOMAN OFFENDER: BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCEBOOK: list of publications, journal articles, books, doctoral dissertations, etc. on female offenders. $1.75 from Laurel Rans, Entropy Limited, 214 S. Craig St., Pittsburg, PA, USA 15213. TIGHTWIRE (Women's Penitentiary at Kingston, Newsletter) Box 515 Kingston, Ontario. Subscriptions are $2.00 a year. SINGING women prisoners' creative writing. From Bernice Lever, 79 Denham Drive, Thornhill, Ontario I4J 1P2. WOMEN IN TRANSITION: fact sheet on female offenders free from California Commission on the Status of Women, 926 J Street, #1011, Sacramento, California, USA 95814. FROM CONVICT TO CITIZEN, PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN OFFENDERS: collection of proposals for initiating and mobilizing support for programs to rehabilitate women offenders, free from District of Columbia, Commission on Status of Women, Rm. 204, 14th and E Street, NW, Washington DC, USA. MINORITY WOMEN PRIORITIES: newsletter on issues facing black, Indian, Asian and Hispanic feminists published by Minority Women and Women's Rights Task Force of the National Organization for Women, donations to Del Dobbins, 5319 Landgrave Lane, Springfield, Virginia, USA 22151. ISKWEW: monthly publication of Saskatchewan Native Women's Movement. $1.50 sub from them at 21- 1850 Broad Street, Regina, Saskatchewan. DIALOGUE WITH IMMIGRANT WOMEN: nine cassette tape panel discussions on Italian, Portuguese, West. Indian, East Indian and Latin American women. At cost from Cross Cultural Communication Centre, 1079 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario. MINORITY WOMEN AND PROFESSIONAL WORK - GETTING AHEAD IF YOU'RE A MINORITY WOMAN: two articles on the problems ethnic and immigrant women face in seeking jobs commensurate with their education. Both free from Minority Women Employment Program, 40 Marietta Street NW, //808, Atlanta, GA, USA 30303. SITUATION OF IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN VICTORIA: 15 page report of study on new Canadian women in the home, labour force and society. Free from SWAG, 32 Paddon Avenue, Victoria, B.C. LIVING IN VICTORIA: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR IMMIGRANT WOMEN: 14 page brief aimed at new Canadian women, information on medical coverage, employment, human rights, learning English, financial assistance, daycare, family allowance, citizenship, legal services, etc. Free from SWAG, 32 Paddon Avenue, Victoria, B.C. WORK AND WOMEN WOMEN AND THE STATUS OF PART-TIME WORK: a review and annotated bibliography, free from Provincial Library Service, 14th Floor, Mowat Block, Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, as printed in Ontario Library Review, 1974. JOBS WITHOUT GENDER: 45 women interviewed on jobs not usually associated with females. Free from Women's Bureau, Department of Labour, Alberta. MOTHERS AT WORK: 16 page booklet examining why mothers work and the special arrangements they must make for childcare with suggestions for housekeeping shortcuts. Free from Department WEN, Health and Welfare Division, Metro Life Insurance Co., 180 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario. UNION WOMEN POSTERS: 6 pictures of union women performing non-traditional jobs. Free from Ontario Federation of Labour, 15 Gervais Drive, #202, Don Mills, Ontario. HANDBOOK ON WOMEN WORKERS: 435 pages containing wealth of info on progress or lack thereof , of women workers in in the USA, relating to economic, civil and political status of women. $4.70 from Women's Bureau, Department of Labour, from Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C, USA 20402. CAREERS FOR A CHANGING WORLD: series on jobs for xromen in health care, arts, transportation, business, hospitality and recreation. Free from Careers, New York Life Insurance Co., Box 51, Madison Square Stn., New York, NY, USA 10010. TRAINING THE WOMAN TO KNOW HER PLACE: booklet on sex discrimination, sex role conditioning and presumed incompatibility of family and career for women. Free from Dept. of Education, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Box 911, Harrisburg, PA, USA 17126. WORKING FOR YOUR LIFE: A Women's Guide to Job Health Hazards: how to combat 'women's jobs' hazards. By Audrea Hricka, $5, from Labour Occupational Health Program, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA, USA 94720. U.S. WORKING WOMEN: A CHARTBOOK: 56 charts describing the role of working women in America over the past 25 years including data on white and minority women, marital and family status, income, education, job tenure, etc. $1.75 from Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D.C. USA 20402. Prepared by Bureau of Labour Statistics for IWY. WOMEN AND HEALTH WOMEN AND ALCOHOL: PROBLEMS AND SERVICES, VANCOUVER: 53-page review of relevant literature on female alcoholism, wives of alcoholic men, prognosis and treatment, services for wives, emotional and crisis agencies, contact with the law, detection, overview, plus bibliography. Free from Water Street Research Group, 205-310 Water Street, Vancouver B.C. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON WOMEN AND DRUG RELATED ISSUES: 50 cents from Stash Library, 118 South Bedford Street, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 53703. STUDY OF CHILDCARE SERVICES AT re NADIAN UNIVERSITIES: gives 5 recommendations to improve childcare on campus. Concludes that .tabic, long-term university- iised childcare is imperative. $2.00 from Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, 131 Slater Street, Ottawa, 0 itario. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FAMILY DAY CARE: background paper, $1.50 from Project Child Care, 185 Bloor Street East, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario. CHOOSING CHILD CARE: guide to help parents select best possible daycare services including discussions and check lists for searching. $3.00 from Parents and Child Care Resources, 1855 Folsom Street, San Francisco, California, USA 94103. EDUCATION FOR WOMEN NON-SEXIST EDUCATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, A Practical Guide: discusses the media's roles in socializing children, chapter on non-sexist materials, toys, photos, puzzles, games, records, dolls, and filmstrips. $3.25 by Barbara Sprung, from Citation Press, 50 West 44 Street, New York, NY, USA 10036. TODAY'S CHANGING ROfeES: APPROACH TO NON-SEXIST TEACHING: curriculum resources for elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools to raise student awareness of sexrole stereotyping. Free from Resource Centre on Sex Roles in Education, National Foundation for Improvement of Education, 918-1156-15 Street NW, Washington DC, USA 20005. IDENTITY FEMALE: a comprehensive, non-sexist multi-media women's studies program for high school and junior colleges, with women's viewpoints on anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, economics, law and politics. $215.00 from Dun-Donnelley Publishing Corp., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., USA 10019. EDUCATION FOR SURVIVAL: analysis of ways classrooms perpetuate sexism in education, resources for change, increasing teacher awareness of stereotyping. Free from National Education Association, Teacher Rights, 1201-16 Street NW, Washington DC, USA 20036. FOCUS ON WOMEN: 37 page pamphlet outlining American federal programs aimed at broadening women's educational opportunity, preparing minority women for pre-professional jobs, projects facilitating entry of domestics into post-secondary education, retaining women in science disciplines. Free from Office of Policy Communication, 3017-400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington DC, USA 20202. POSITION PAPER ON THF ONE-PARENT FAMILY: April 1976 30-page brief suggests basic re-examination of social, economic, taxation and legal policy concerning families headed by women. WOMEN AND THE PERSONAL INCOME TAX SYSTEM: April 1976 47-page study of income taxes on self-supporting single women, married women who work outside the home, women who work with their husbands, housewives, women with children, sole-support mothers, low-income women. NOTES ON SELECTED FEDERAL STATUTES RECOGNIZING COMMON-LAW RELATIONSHIPS: 13 page paper, July 1975. MATERNITY LEAVE AND BENEFITS: 47 page study of federal laws and recent amendments concerning job security for pregnant women and their entitlement to maternity benefits, May 1976. INDIAN WOMEN AND THE INDIAN ACT: April 1976 10-page brief proposing that native women be protected from sex discrimination in new human rights legislation and under the Indian Act. Explains Indian rights, the definition of Indian and covers the Lavell case. DEFINITION OF MEANING OF EQUITY IN MARRIAGE: 3 page brief, May 1976, outlining concept of marriage as economic and social partnership of legal equals, recognition of unpaid work in the home, right of partners to equal share of assets on marriage dissolution. m ib iiHi THE UNFINISHED ASSIGNMENT: EQUAL EDUCATION FOR WOMEN: summary of world-wide trends in schooling of women and implications, $2.00 from WorldWatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC, USA 20036. ELIMINATING SEXISM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: 58-page checklist for monitoring sex discrimination in primary and secondary education. Geared to US. Title IX but of general interest to Canadians. $1.50 from Education Law Centre, 605 Broad Street, #800, Newark, New Jersey, USA 07102. HANDBOOK ON HOW TO END SEXISM IN YOUR SCHOOLS: 46 page paper with strategy for changing education policy on sex discrimination plus two case studies in affirmative action. Free from Leadership Training Institute, 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC, USA 20036. CINDERELLA IS DEAD: Film on sex role stereotyping in public schools. Free from Manitoba Teachers' Society. GUIDELINES FOR WOMEN'S STUDIES GRADES 1 - 12: pamphlet of suggestions on what teachers can do in the classroom to combat sexist attitudes. Free from National Organization of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois, USA 61801. RAPE OF CHILDREN'S MINDS:, report on sexism and racism in Grades 1, 2 and 3 textbooks in Ontario. Free from Board of Education, Borough of North York, 5050 Yonge. Street, Willowdale, Ontario. ASCW MATERIALS The following materials are now available from the Federal Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 63 Sparks St., Box 1541, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario. Are are free, and bilingual. MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY (Towards an Equal Partnership): 15 page booklet explaining marital property, the famous Murdoch divorce case, methods of dividing property in marriage and common-law relationships, the ACSW position on the rights of married women. PARTICIPATION OF HOMEMAKERS IN THE CPP: May 1976, 4^page paper of rec- commendations for changes in the Canada Pension Plan to ensure older women financial security after a lifetime of unpaid work in the home. FRINGE BENEFITS: 16 page booklet on working women, their pensions and fringe benefits, and suggested action to improve financial security for older women. > > STUDY PAPER ON DIVORCE: June 1976, looks at divorce laws prior to 1968, the present law, proposed reforms in other lands, ACSW recommendations for reforms, comparison of divorce rates in earlier times. REGARDING RAPE: 16 page booklet looking at rape law past, present, and future, and proposed changes in the criminal law and the court system, and an overview on rape in marriage. BIRTH PLANNING: 16 page booklet on contraception and the law, birth control for the poor, plus ACSW recommendations for change. HERSTORY OUT FROM THE SHADOWS: historical bibliography of women with listings of pieces written by and about Manitoba women. Free from Human Rights Commission, Info Services, Rm. 229, Legislative Buildings, Winnipeg, Manitoba. WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY: annotated bibliography of materials on historical women from 475 A.D. covering ancient Greece, the Minoans, Rome, etc. $7.00 from Leanna Goodwater, Scarecrow Press, P.O. Box 656, Metuchen, N?J., USA 08840. WILDERNESS WOMEN: biographical essays on nine early Canadian women by Jean Johnston. $4.95 from Peter Martin Associates, 35 Britain Street, Toronto, FEMINIST BOOKS BOOK REVIEWS The following books have now been received from the publishers and are waiting for reviews to be written by our members for publication in Kinesis: Shoulder to Shoulder, A Documentary - by Midge Mackenzie She Named It Canada, Because That's What It Was Called - by the Corrective Collective Birth - by Caterine Milinaire The Mother Knot - by Jane Lazarre The Suffragette View - by Antonia Raeburn Immaculate Deception, a New Look At Childbirth in America - by Suzanne Arms How to Avoid Alimony - by Maurice Franks Generations of Denial: 75 Women in History - by Kathryn Taylor Free Space: Perspective on Small Groups in Women's Liberation - by Pamela Allen Momma: A Start on the Untold Stories - by Alta Marxism and Feminism - by Charnie Guettel The Traffic in Women and Other Essays in Feminism - by Emma Goldman Prepared Childbirth*. Controlled Childbirth*. Rape*, and Menstruation* (all in the Women's Action Alliance Series). If you are interested in reviewing one or more of the above books, please give me a call or drop into the office to pick them up. After a review has been printed in Kinesis, we send two copies off to the publishers who then send us more feminist paperbacks. So you're helping to develop our reference library by doing reviews. Thanks. - Karen Richardson WOMEN TOGETHER: A HISTORY IN DOCUMENTS OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, by Judith Papachristou, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976). "This book," writes Papachristou, "is a re-examination of American history that is going on today." She tells us that the Movement today provokes the same kind of opposition and anger as it did over a century ago and that there is a striking similarity about the goals of the 1970s and those of the 1850s. The first stirrings of the Women's Movement began with Anti-Slavery societies in the United States but did not gain momentum until the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. All these details are known to most of us and the names of the women involved—Mott, Stanton, Anthony, the Grimke sisters—are as familiar to us as the names of our friends. (That they are also, and primarily, the names of the husbands and fathers connected with these women is a problem we haven't solved yet, but that is beside the point.) This is a really stirring book; the remarkable eloquence of these sisters must make us doubly conscious of how much there is still to do. Interspersed with the documents of the Movement are sections of social analysis by Papachristou which helps us to keep our perspective. She has taken the large view and warns that "this most recent phase of the Women's Movement is less than a decade old, and its accomplishments as well as its history await the future." This is a sobering though: but one we would do well to remember. This is an invaluable book for women's centres, libraries, and all of us who are concerned with the historical continuity of our Movement. Jane Evans FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS: RUSSIAN WOMEN IN REVOLUTION, by Cathy Porter (London: Virago, Quartet Books, 1976) Cathy Porter is a graduate of the School of Slavonic Studies in London and her work on the life of Alexandra Kollontai, the only woman in the first Bolshevik government, led to her interest in the prejudices that excluded women from "total participa—- tion in Soviet Society." This is a history of Russian women from early times to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, for which five men and one women, Sofia Perovskaya, were hanged in public. The Russian word for wife, zhena, derives from the Sanskrit dzhan, to bear. From earliest recorded social history, women of the Russian tribes have been subject to rape, abduction, and forced marriage. Many girls were married by thirteen, some even at eight. A man might beat or murder his wife with impunity. Not until the 18th century was any education available even to women of the aristocracy. Catherine the Great was the first ruler to consider that women could be fully integrated members of Russian society. ' By the 1850s, the growing Women's Movement in Europe and America had caught the attention of women in Russia. The bravery of the volunteer nurses in the Crimean war had impressed all who saw them, and intellectuals began to urge changes in women's social roles and the granting of intellectual independence. Great changes now began to take place. The radical thinkers were busying themselves with the "woman's question" and then, as today, the espousal of this serious cause by those in search of a political bandwagon proved to have disastrous results. Women who had chafed under parental or matrimonial tyranny left home and.flocked to the larger cities only to find that the little work available to them was depressing and degrading. Porter writes, "despite reports in the press of large scale unemployment, prostitution, and suicide, girls continued to flock to (the) Promised Land." All this led to the politicization of many women; those who went abroad to study fell under the spell of revolutionary leaders such as Bakunin and eventually returned to Russia to work for a revolution from within. The assassination of the Tsar, however, brought all progress to an end. At the trial of Perovskaya and the others, the Imperial Prosecutor said that "the best proof of the Party's (the People's Will Party) impotence was that such a matter had been entrusted to the feeble hands of a woman." An impressive amount of research has gone into this useful book. The only drawback to this is that the author's apparent determination to include every woman even remotely involved in social change has led to a certain disjointedness and lack of narrative continuity. Still, it's a must for Marxist feminists, Sparta- cists, anyone in fact interested in the beginnings of the Russian social experiment. Jane Evans ARIEL BOOKS GOOD NEWS. Vancouver has a new women's bookstore. ARIEL BOOKS has recently opened at 2766 West 4th Ave, at Fourth and Macdonald. The bookstore carries a large selection of feminist materials, including many small press titles. The store is beautiful, and there are cosy old chairs for quiet reading. Go down to Ariel Books soon and see what's there. You can call the women at the bookstore, Greta and Liz, at 733 3511. FILMS FILMS BY WOMEN The following films by, for and about women are available on a rental basis from Iris Films, Box 26463, Los Angeles, California, USA 90026. HOME MOVIE, color, 16 mm sound, 12 minutes, rental $30.00. An autobiographical film about grox^ing up lesbian and coming out. By Jai. Oxenberg, 1975. I'M NOT ONE OF 'EM, b/w, 16 mm sound, 3 minutes, rental $10.00. A woman spectator at the roller derby talks about her unique experiences with lesbianism, humorous and painful. By Jan Oxenberg, 1975. A COMEDY IN SIX UNNATURAL ACTS, b/w, 16 mm sound, 25 minutes, rental $50, Satire on stereotypes of lesbianism, selected by American Film Institute's International Women's Year film festival. By Jan Oxenberg, 1975. MENSES, color, 16 mm sound, 4 minutes, rental $10.00. Wry comedy about menstruation, taboos, myths, etc. By Barbara Hammer, 1973. WISHFULFILMING, b/w, 16 mm sound, 13 minutes, rental $20.00. About the struggle to work collectively in non-hierarchal women's film group. By Santa Cruz Women's Media Collective, 1973. OUR LITTLE MUNCHKIN HERE, color, 16 mm sound, 12 minutes, rental $25.00. Sex-role stereotyping of adolescent girls. By Lois Tupper, 1975. WE'RE ALIVE, color, and b/w, 16 mm sound, 30 minutes, rental $60.00. A film.about women in prison. By a group of filmmakers from UCLA, 1975. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH is a superficial film, with a disorganised plot involving man-made intrigues, with men competing and building capitalist empires and ripping each other off on a cosmic scale. The visitor from out of space is destroyed by drink, by TV and, of course, by Woman and her sexuality. The few and incidental women in the film are variations of the mother, whore and saint stereotypes. On the one hand there is the madonna/ wife who waits on the planet Anthea for her husband, the man who fell to earth, to return. On the other hand there is the hotel maid whom the man lives with while on earth. She provides him with all the practicalities of life so that he can get on with his grand mission. When she grows old, she becomes neurotic and bitchy. In all, this is a film of sexual stereotypes, and is a statement of a narrow and degrading attitude towards women. (WR) ALBUM ALBUM REVIEW VERA JOHNSON: BALD EAGLE (Boot Records) Reviewed by Connie Smith Vera Johnson is reminiscent of the anti-war era of the late 60s and early 70s. She sings of Canadian causes as in her song "The Word" which she dedicates to the B.C. Department of Education, and in her love song to Pierre Trudeau. I found "jesus was a preacher" too long in coming. The length- of-hair rebellion for most individuals is over; however, I admire her attitude. Unfortunately, we could have used her song five years ago. Ms. Johnson sings of railroad families, distaste for Nixon and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the young boy's unfortunate role in war. The prize on the album is "That Minx from Pinsk", a Russian melody she constructed in 1949'. It's lively, her commentary is naively funny, and at first hearing, I found myself dancing. Her material, unfortunately, is not particularly feminist; but she does not claim to be one. There are, however, subtle realizations in her lyrics that something is amiss, but she fails to unite the personal with the political. 999 WOMEN'S STUDIES The following papers were presented at the fourth B.C. WOMEN'S STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE which was held at Capilano College on the 1st and 2nd of October. They are available from the WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE, 4/45 Kingsway, at 50 cents per copy. WOMEN IN FOCUS also taped the papers and their subsequent discussion and those tapes are also available from WOMEN IN FOCUS at the same address. "Constance Lytton, Suffragette. The validation of a woman's exoerience." - Marion Barling. "The Experience of Being a Women's Studies Student in the Interior" - Kim Lyster. "My Personal Observations on Being a Member of a Women's Studies Class at Cariboo College." - Jeannine Eiccum. "A History of the Simon Fraser University Women's Centre." - Michelle Nickel. "A History of the Salmon Arm Women's Centre." - Pat Maika. "Problems of the Alternatives to the Nuclear Family." - Kate Braid. "Sexism, Schools and Society: A Strategy for Interaction with the Community." - Reva Dexter. "Women in Teaching" - Margot and Meredith Pue. "Sexism in Language and Communication" - Janet Summerton. "Domestic Servants and the Suffragette Movement: Problems of Household Labour." - Margaret Benston. There are also a number of more exclusively academic papers which would be of interest to women's studies students (Mirror Imagery in Margaret Atwood and stuff like that). For details, phone 872-2250 (Women's Research Centre.) ADDRESS: 4/45 Kingsway, Vancouver B.C. ARTICLES ON RAPE RAPE, CLASS AND RACISM (Issues in Radical Therapy, Vol. 4, #1) links the struggle against rape with the struggle against all forms of oppression. As long as anti-rape groups do not work from within a perspective committed to prison reform, but opt for law and order instead, we will never build a united movement and rape will continue to increase. Law and order colludes with anger and violence taken out on other human beings, and further dehumanizes us all. If we continue our power plays both with the system and with those who have used the violence resulting from the system against us (i.e. the rapists), we might as well do nothing and save our energies. Might as well all stay home and watch Police Woman. (VSW has this article on file) October's CHATELAINE carries an article on our 'new' rape laws which are already badly out of date. Changes in legislation (Bill C-71) limit defense counsel's right to cross-examine a woman about past experiences and give judges power to insist that a woman's identity be kept secret. These changes are, as the Advisory Council on the Status of Women puts it, "very minor". The code should spell out circumstances in which a xroman may be questioned about her past sexual conduct, rather than leaving it to the discretion of the judge. Furthermore, the idea of closed rape trials perpetuate the attitude that rape is an 'embarrassing and shameful crime for the victim." Now that Parliament is back in session, write to Justice Minister Basford (Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, no stamp) urging him to speed up the revision of the Criminal Code as it relates to rape and other sexual offenses. (This article is on file at VSW.) L£TT€R LOBBY [eizem HUMAN RIGHTS: HOW ABOUT SOM€? WHEN IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS? The federal government continues to delay passage of human rights legislation which it has been promising since 1973. Every province in Canada now has a human rights commission, but the federal government, although it did produce a human rights act in 1975, never passed it. Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sexual and marital status is still legal for organizations under federal jurisdiction, such as banks, insurance companies and airlines. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF A MINORITY GROUP, this means that services and accommodation can be denied to you because of your race and colour. IF YOU ARE AN OLDER WORKER, it means that employers under federal jurisdiction - such as banks, insurance companies, airlines and telephone companies - can legally refuse to hire you because of your age. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF A RELIGIOUS GROUP, it means that services and accommodation can legally be denied to you because of your religion. IF YOU ARE A WOMAN, it means that you can be denied accommodation, services, employment or equal opportunity for advancement. It also means that your employer can legally provide smaller pension and insurance benefits for you than for male employees. Previously proposed amendments to the Canada Labour Code which would have offered protection for women against discrimination in the workplace were dropped by the federal government in 1973 on the grounds that such protection would be included in the proposed human rights legislation. That was three years ago. On October 25th, a national letter- writing campaign criticizing the federal government for its inaction on human rights legislation was launched by the federal Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Letters went out to more than 2,000 organizations across Canada, to minority groups, women's organiza- LET'S MAKE SURE HE ACTUALLY DOES IT. ...the Government will introduce a Human Rights Bill. The major effect of the Bill will be to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, marital status or physical handicap. In particular, the Bill will establish the principle of equal compensation for work of equal value performed by persons of either sex. Trudeau, in his speech to the throne, October 12th, 1976. tions, religious and civil rights associations, unions and professional associations. ACSW chairperson Yvette Rousseau said, "We have been trying for over three years to persuade the federal government to pass human rights legislation, but they have not given it priority." HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. Apply pressure. Remember what Agnes MacPhail said : "The way to get things out of a government is to back them to the wall, put your hands to their throat, and you will get all they have." Write today to Justice Minister Ron Basford, House of Commons, Ottawa, K1A 0A6, with a copy for your own M.P. No stamps necessary. SAMPLE LETTER. I strongly urge quick action by the government to pass the federal human rights act. I am a member of the Vancouver Status of Women, and I object to the fact that discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, age, sex and marital status is still legal in this country under federal law. Yours sincerely, Member, Vancouver Status of Women. BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS It is the Letter Lobby Committee's policy to give credit when it is deserved, so we would like to say that the Committee is pleased with the appointment of Iona Campagnola and Monique Begin to the newly shuffled federal cabinet. We are sure that they will make an outstanding contribution to cabinet deliberations and to their own portfolios. But we should not forget that there is still an appalling lack of women on federal boards, commissions and councils. Of particular concern to us right now is the new tripartite body that will no doubt be set up to replace the former Canada Labour Relations Council (all male), now that the day of protest is over. We must urge the government to include the names of some qualified women in its directives to Management and Labour. The government itself could set a good example by appointing one of the many qualified women with the Department of Labour. Write to Prime Minister Trudeau with copies to Labour Minister John Munro and the Hon. Marc Lalonde. The Letter Lobby Committee supports the establishment of a branch office of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women on the west coast. It is time for the establishment of a regional office of the Advisory Council for the Status of Women in British Columbia. Western women feel isolated, especially now that the former English Vice-Chairperson, June Menzies, has been appointed to the AIB. June Menzies maintained an office in Winnipeg which disseminated information on the various women's groups, and she also travelled extensively in the west on speaking engagements. The Head Office of the A.C.S.W. has been very helpful and encouraging - but correspondence takes time. Some- .times we need information and answers quickly, and a regional office could supply these. British Columbia has perhaps the most active women's groups in Canada, and this alone should justify the establishment of an office here. In addition, the entire executive of the A.C.S.W has gone on record as being .fully in support of this move. Write to the Hon.Marc Lalonde, the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and lend him know that we want an office in B.C. Send copies to the Justice Minister, Ron Basford, and Senator Ray Perrault, the senior cabinet ministers in B.C., and also to the new ministers, the Hon. Len Marchand and the Hon. Iona Campagnola. Iona Campagnola has been particularly supportive of the representations that northern B.C. women's groups have made to Ottawa. And since the Prime Minister is no doubt concerned about the reasons for 'western alienation' right now, send him a copy to. The address: House of Commons, Ottawa, K1A 0K9. The next meeting of the Letter Lobby Committee will be held on Tuesday, November 9, at 7.30 pm. Dorothy Holme, V.S.W.Executive Member. Yes, it does matter. Do send us a copy of your letter, so that we can have a record of ft in our files. It is helpful to us when we are lobbying to be able to cite the response of VSW membership. We don't mind grungy carbons. M'Ç ̈DIA ACTION First, it was the record cover and billboard ad for the new Stones' album, Black and Blue. The ad. people at Atlantic, a division of Warner Bros. Communication, Inc., had this bright idea.Advertise the album by depicting a woman with bruise marks on her body, bound by ropes in such a way that her hands were lifted over her head and her legs spread below. She is saying, "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones and I love it!" Women Against Violence Against Women, a national network of women's groups and individuals in the U.S., prepared a demonstration for June 26, 1976, to protest the Los Angeles billboard which was a huge depiction of the 'black and blue' woman. In anticipation of the protesters' arrival, local personnel from Atlantic arrived beforehand and whited-out the billboard. They refused, however, to withdraw the ad. from magazines such as Rolling Stone and High Times. However, after a massive S phone calling, letter-and-cable writing petition and general educational campaign along with a feminist call for a national boycott of the new Stones' record, Atlantic did withdraw their ad. The campaign was coordinated by the Houston Organization Against Sexism in the Media, in cooperation with Women Against Violence Against Women. The Houston group writes: "the ad. for the Rolling Stones album was a blatantly sexist, violent and degrading depiction of women and implied that women like to be mutilated." The group adds: "we are committed to economically undermining each individual or organization which in any way attempts to depict women in a degrading manner." A BRUTALISED WOMAN AS A TECHNIQUE TO SELL A PRODUCT - THE IMAGE AND THE MESSAGE ARE ABHORRENT. Now Warner Bros, has done it again. The Montrose record, Jump on It depicts an ambiguous portion of the female anatomy with the sexually violent invitation to "Jump on It." This ad. is a form of soft core pornography. It perpetuates the rapist mentality. Brutality against women is an unacceptable sales gimmick. The tongue-in-cheek tone of this picture trivialises the serious issue of battered women and women as victims. Attention must be paid to the effect of this depiction of violence against women. Battered women and women who are sexually assaulted are taunted by attitudes such as, 'no woman can be raped against her will', and, 'women invite assault.' The perpetuation of the myth that women like to be brutalised is dangerous. It is imperative that the recording industry join with others in taking a stand against violence in all media. The irresponsibility of advertisers cannot be ignored. It is important that women write, wire or phone STANLEY GORTIKOV, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, 10022, phone 212 688 3778. Ask him to bring pressure to bear on the recording industry as a whole to take responsibility for and to revise their policies concerning the use of violence in their sales .promotion. The Houston women report that Gortikov is becoming a bit more responsive as feminist pressure mounts. warner bros does it again love among the napKjns P? HARLEQUIN ROMANCES, the firm which sold over 72 million romantic fiction titles last year, has come up with a new scheme to promote sales. A new novel, by one of their best selling authors, is being offered as a premium packed in a selected large put-up of Kotex feminine napkins. A member of Kimberly Clark enthused: "Already the Harlequin premium has generated a keen interest in the trade...the Harlequin reader profile closely parallels that of our brand and we anticipate a highly positive reaction from our consumers." Harlequin marketing director Dave Sanderson, with a perfectly straight face, added : "We are very excited xjith this project" and the extensive reach available via Kotex products.'' A series of similar promotions is planned. Envisioning possible permutations could provide hours of enjoyment. (Quill and Quire, 9/76) ISHTAR 5'sters SOME CHANGES AT THE ISHTAR WOMEN'S COLLECTIVE ISHTAR WOMEN'S COLLECTIVE is ver- happy to announce that the TRANSITION HOUSE has been re-opened. It is now located in LANGLEY, with a 10-bed capacity. The Transition House offers temporary accommodation and support to women and their children in times of life crises. Also available are referral information, assistance in relocating in the community and advocacy in the areas of family court, police and social assistance. If you need our services or just want to chat, give us a call and drop by for a visit. * * * ISHTAR WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE no longer operates out of the MSA Community Services Building in Abbotsford. Due to staff shortage, we have had to close the Centre. As a Collective, we will work politically within the Women's Movement and contribute to community programs for women by continuing our work with the Fraser Valley's Women's Coalition and the B.C. Federation of Women. Unfortunately, the Ishtar Newsletter has had to be temporarily stopped. We acknowledge and appreciate those of you who have a current subscription ' with us. Possibly a coopeative newsletter will start up among those Women's Centres in the Fraser Valley Women's Coalition and this would be the newsletter sent to you in the future. The newsletter is very important because it is often the only contact we have with a lot of people.! We hope you will bear with us in this time of Change. Until a Resource Centre office is reestablished, inquiries previously directed to the Resource Centre may now be made to the Ishtar Transition House staff and they will put you in touch with Resource Centre volunteers. ISHTAR TRANSITION HOUSE: Box 613, Aldergrove, B.C. (530-9442) BURNABY THE BURNABY WOMEN'S CENTRE has been in existence since February 1976. The first impetus for the organization of the centre came from the March Women Rally For Action. Ever since, they have been holding regular meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Now that the centre has been formed, we're looking for more women members, and for new ideas to help us grow. If you live in the Burnaby area, give the BURNABY WOMEN'S CENTRE a call. The address is 3755 Warren Street, and here are some phone numbers: 437-9847 (Noreen Garrity); 298-1835 or 684-6737 afternoons only (Ada Ho). VSW, IDCRA FILMS Carol Kliger Wednesday, November 10th - 8 Or 9 In The Morning. This film covers the reorganization of the Chinese educational system since the cultural revolution. Resource person: Betty-Ann Buss, part of a group touring China in July 1976. Wednesday, November 24th - Buenos Dias Campaneras. This film, made by a team of Canadian women, takes an intimate look at the lives of four Cuban women: a contruction forewoman, a housewife, a farm worker, and a singer. Resource person: Marguerite Reed, who has visited Cuba twice. She will also speak on the family code in Cuba. Throughout the film shines the undeniable spirit of the women of Cuba. VERNON LAW FOR THE LAYPERSON: Vernon Women's Centre will be holding a series of discussions during November concerning "Law for the Layperson". The place is Seaton School, Room 36. Time 7:30 p.m. November 1st and 2nd: Land Transactions. November 15th and 16th: Landlord and Tenant. November 29th and 30th: Family Court. These sessions are free. The Centre is also interested in collecting a list of people interested in daycare exchange. Give them a call at 545-6552. Films are shown at IDERA, 2524 Cypress Street, Vancouver. Information, phone Betty-Ann Buss: 732 1496 or Nadine Allen,VSW: 736 3746. TIMES ARE 8 - 10pm. Sisters RICHMOND RICHMOND WOMEN 'S RESOURCE CENTRE This is an extremely active new group. Throughout November, they are holding afternoon and evening drop-ins at the South Arm United Church, on the #3 Road at the Steveston Hwy. Evening sessions this month are as follows: November 3 - The Law and You; November 17 - Personal growth through journal writing; November 24 - Opportunities for Women. In addition to these Wednesday night programs, there are drop-ins and discussions on Tuesday afternoons from 1 to 3. The schedule for these meetings this month is: November 9 - Filling Emotional Needs; November 23 - Separated Women. Babysitting is provided. For more information about the resource centre, call Naomi Lis: 271 9851 or Brenda Greenberg: 271 1767. POCO Port Coquitlam Area Women's Centre, P.O. Box 243, Port Coquitlam, B.C. 941-6311. CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING GROUP If you would like to join a CR Group being co-ordinated in September contact the Centre. WOMAN TODAY This course, programmed by the Poco Women's Centre, has proved very popular in the past. Sign up! Woman Today is designed to examine, the changing roles of women today and to provide an opportunity for questions, discussion and information on how the changes affect you as an individual or society at large. The programs for November are: November 4 — Human Rights — Shelagh Day, Human Rights Commission. November 18 — Why Physical Self- Defense for Women? November 25 — Mature Students. The programs for December are: December 2 — Women's Sexuality. " December 9 — How Women Played Their Part. NORTH SHORE Rosemary Brown, MLA, will talk to the North Shore Women's Centre at their Pub Night, Tuesday, November 2. The meeting will be held at the North Shore Neighborhood House, 225 East 2nd, North Vancouver. Also on November 2nd, the NSWC, in cooperation with the North Van Teachers' Assoc, is showing two films at the Queen Mary School : "What Will I Be?" and "Fashion as Social Control". Both films deal with sexism in schools. For more information about either of these events, or about the regular drop-in Pub Night every Tuesday night, call the Centre at 987 4822. people's law The Vancouver People's Law School is offering a FREE course on LIBEL AND SLANDER on November 1, 2, and 3 to be held from 7.30 to 9.30 pm, each evening at King George Secondary School, 1755 Barclay Street, Room 210 - 211. To pre-register, call 681 7532. On November 8, 9 and 10, same time and place : DEBTOR' S REMEDIES. November 16, 17 and 18, at the B.C.Federation of Labour, 517 East Broadway: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROCEDURES. 7.30 - 9.30. November 22. 23 and 24, at Britannia Community School, 1001 Cotton: LANDLORD AND TENANT. 7.30 - 9.30. November 29, 30 and December 1, at the John Oliver Secondary School: MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE LAW. 7.30 - 9.30. For further information about course content, call the People's Law School at 681-7532. capilano WOMEN, WELFARE AND FAMILY COURT: Capilano College's Women's Resource Centre is now open in the new tower building of the Lynnmour campus. On November 1, 3, 8, 9, 15, and 17, it is sponsoring a series by the Vancouver People's Law School on "Women, Welfare and Family Court". Times are 7-9 p.m., and the place is the Queen Mary Community School. Call 980-5114 to register. THIS SERIES IS FREE. -events schools broadcast LITERARY IMAGES OF WOMEN. Tuesdays, from November 16 until December 14, there will be a five- part series on CBC radio, dealing with the Literary Images of Women. This is a schools' broadcast, organized by the Provincial Educational Media Centre, but it will be of interest to all women. Time is 2.03 to 2.30. In May of next year (on the 19th and the 26th), the Provincial Educational Media Centre will be running a two-part TV program on Women Artists from the Renaissance to the Present, with particular emphasis in the second program oh Canadian women artists. mt. pleasant centre The Mount Pleasant Family Centre, funded by Vancouver Resources Board, is opening on November 8th at 2204 Main Street. This centre is a drop-in designed for women x^ho work in the home full-^ime, taking care of small children. It is a place for you and your children to drop in weekdays for creative supervised play for the kids, x^hile you are relaxing over tea and coffee, meeting your neighbours, giving and receiving helpful information and support, and taking part in programs of interest. For more information, call Margaret at 872-7970 or Gail at 525-3000. Come to the first open house on Monday, November 1st from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. douglas DOUGLAS COLLEGE: A one-day xrorkshoo on ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING FOR WOMEN will be held at the Surrey Campus of Douglas College (9260 - 140th Street) on Saturday, November 20th (9am-4pm). The fee is $12 and the instructor is Margaretha Hoek. For more information, call the Convenor of Women's Studies at Douglas College at 521- 4851. A workshop on workshops for persons wishing to organize Assertiveness Training Workshops for Women is being considered for December 4 and 5, depending on response. Participants should have group experience and leadership training. Call Margaretha Hoek at 733-9980. coffeehouse THE FULL CIRCLE WOMEN'S COFFEEHOUSE COLLECTIVE organizes a women's space in the basement of the New School, 3070 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, every Friday night. They operate on a non-profit basis with volunteer labour and they provide a setting where women artists can perform. If you would like to perform, call Penny (669-3397) or Win (731-4350). religion WOMEN AND RELIGION: Paradise Valley will be the location for a fall retreat called "Woman and Her Faith". The retreat takes place on November 5, 6 and 7. For further information, call Jan Bulman at 682-7556. Jo Lazenby left the staff of VSW at the end of September after two years as editor of KINESIS, and for the first time, the staff is writing a good-bye for the person who always writes them for others. Jo's love of putting out Kinesis has shone through every issue, resulting in a constant stream of appreciative comments from the membership. Only someone who felt Kinesis was "HER BABY" could type out virtually entire issues, using two fingers at 10 words per minute; cut and paste up zillions of little pieces of typed copy for layout; write many articles <¬£ jo doesn't work here anymore... JO'S GONE herself; and unremittingly hound others to get their "promised" articles in on time. The long and late hours needed to produce such a fine paper as Kinesis were always worked with dedication by Jo, with exacto knife in one hand and the ever faithful blue pencil in the other. Delight replaced the weariness of burning the midnight oil to meet the printing deadline when Jo would arrive in the office with all 1300 copies of Kinesis and immediately delve into one to see how it all came out. events As well as being highly valued for her fine work on Kinesis, Jo is also dearly loved in the office for her original quick wit and repartee which have always delighted us all. We will fondly remember those marathon mailing days, one a month, when we all folded, stamped, stapled, and mutilated Kinesis for mailing, and there is Jo, in the middle, surrounded by mailbags, address labels, postage stamps, staplers, ink from wet copies smudging fingers and face, happily consigning "her baby" to the post office for delivery. Love from all of us. This is no ordinary plea. KINESIS if a friend would like ^afreecop^ simply fill out the form ot\p2 now It speaks for itself. (OP *8 <§ ? o3g « 3 to to £• I ftM!)
Preceding title: Vancouver Status of Women. Newsletter. Date of publication: 1974-2001. Frequency: Monthly.
Periodicals
Newspapers
HQ1101.V24 N49
English
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Vancouver : Vancouver Status of Women
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
Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. HQ1101.V24 N49
Women--Social and moral questions
Feminism--Periodicals
Text