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KIJWMJ news about women that's not in the dailies >t\t *\ \g*v lerZalm won't debate Premier Bill Vander Zalm has refused to participate in a Forum on women's Issues sponsored by a number of groups including: Women's Economic Agenda, First United Church of Canada (BC), Professional Native Women's Association, BC Federation of Labour and the Vancouver Status of Women. The other party leaders Bob Skelly, Art Lee and Jim McNeil have accepted invitations to the Forum tentatively scheduled for October 16 at Vancouver's Robson Square Media Centre. The Forum is an opportunity for women to hear the leaders express their platform on women's issues prior to the vote. A delegation from the Forum Planning Committee met last Friday with Hope Witherspoon, President of BC Social Credit Party, to extend, once again, an invitation to Premier Vander Zalm to attend the Forum. Witherspoon offered this explanation for the Premier's refusal to debate: "When we're the party in power we don't have to get involved in public debates. We are reluctant to participate because it gives the other parties a platform." Dorrie Nagler, spokesperson for the Forum Planning Committee said, "The Socred's are short circuiting the democratic process by putting on a marketing campaign. Women face substantial social and economic disadvantages and need to know what our politicians intend to do about this situation. Women cannot be sure Vander Zalm is concerned about these hardships if he is unwilling to face us publically." During the Forum on women's » issues a representative panel g of women will question the § leaders about their party's = policy on poverty, equal pay < for work of equal value, child- -° care, and violence against J women and children. Since becoming Premier, Vander Zalm committed himself to running an "open and accessible government." However in the electoral campaign he avoids public debate. "This is an unacceptable and inappropriate way of dealing the concerns of over half the voting population," said Nagler. While his aids in Victoria claimed the Premier prefers to meet only with women privately to discuss their issues Vander Zalm has refused a meeting with BC Daycare Action Coalition. In the midst of media's hype about style versus substance in the election campaign, women's issues are not receiving much attention. To date, the New Democratic Party has gone on record with three major pledges which could have a strong impact on women. Elections continued next page This year's Take Back die Night... hundreds of women assert their will t< after sunset. Taking back the night walk in freedom by Marrianne van Loon Accompanied by three hundred women, giant puppets reclaimed the streets of Vancouver for the night of Friday Sept. 19. This celebration and affirmation began at the Art Gallery downtown where women from Vancouver Rape Relief (VRR), who sponsored the event, read telegrams of support from women's groups across the country. Nicole Kennedy of VRR spoke about the importance of fighting back against violence done to women, and refusing to accept this intolerable situation . "Tonight we are gathering once again, to say it must stop. We are taking the freedom to Federal fertility hearings a sham Depo-Provera, a controversial contraceptive drug currently under consideration for approval by the federal Conservatives, has not received the thorough Investigation promised by federal Health Minister Jake Epp last December. According to the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, a founding member of the Canadian Coalition on Depo-Provera, the six invitation-only closed meetings recently held across Canada on fertility control issues did not adequately assess either the general birth control needs of Canadians or the safety of Depo-Provera specifically. "Our fear," said Coalition representative Lorna Zaback, "is that the government has already decided to approve Depo-Provera and that these meetings were a. way of placating opposition to the drug." Depo-Provera is the trade name for the injectable form of medroxpyrogesterone acetate, a synthetic progesterone-like hormone. It prevents both ovulation and menstrual bleeding by disrupting a woman's normal hormone pattern. Depending on the dosage, a single shot will prevent pregnancy for three to eight months. Although it is currently used in over eighty countries and has been given to approximately ten million women for birth control purposes, the drug is the subject of world-wide controversy and is currently under investigation by the World Health Organization. Manufactured by the U.S. based Upjohn Company, approval of the drug for contraceptive purposes in the United States has been turned down three times. Side effects noted by the Coalition include weight loss or gain depression, dizziness, loss of hair, limb pain, abdominal discomfort, vaginal discharge, darkening spots of the facial skin as well as problems which have been linked to long term use including cancer of the uterus, breast cancer, drastically increased incidence of diabetes, severe mental depression and temporary or permanent infertility. Coalition members represented at the Vancouver Fertility Control Meeting included the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, the Vancouver Status of Women, and British Columbians for the Mentally Handicapped, all of whom impressed upon the government appointed panel that Depo-Provera should not be approved for contraceptive use at this time. Approximately twenty-five individuals and organizations attended the invitiation-only meeting September 11, including pharmacists, birth control counsellors, health clinics, endocrinologists (doctors specializing in the gladular/hormonal system) and Coalition representatives. The coalition will continue its efforts to stop Depo-Provera 's approval. Because of its injectible mode of delivery, which requires almost no 'co-operation from the woman using it, the Coalition is concerned women will not be adequately informed about the drug before getting an injection. "We are gravely concerned that Depo-Provera might be approved on the basis of findings at these closed hearings," says the Coalition. "Once Depo is approved, we can expect it to be widely advertised and promoted by the manufacturer." The Coalition points to the difficulty in removing drugs from the market once they have been approved and warns that Canada "does not need another DES, another sequential -oral contraceptive, another Dalkon Shield.". . walk in the street at night without being raped or the fear of rape." This year the march circled the Granville/Davie area of downtown, where many women work in the sex trade. Kennedy emphasized the degree of violence which prostitutes face. "Prostitutes sire raped an average of ten times per year. So far seven women have been murdered this year. Prostitutes are criminalized, marginalized as outlaws and more vulnerable to brutality from the men who buy them and the police as a result.' And, Kennedy also stressed that poor women, lesbians, older women, disabled and young women and women of colour are frequent targets of sexual violence on the street. "All of us are potential rape victims," she said "because of our sex. When we talk about street rape however, there are additional factors which increase our vulnerability: poverty, race, age, physical ability, sexual orientation ." Organizers outlined safety precautions. As in earlier years, the organizers decided not to apply for a permit from city hall, on the grounds that women do not need to ask permission to take our freedom. At this year's march police were notable by their absence; unlike other years there were only a few uniformed men visible. Night continued page 6 October'86 Kinesis -aconr— Across BC s 3 BCGEU Contract 5 Family support program 6 Lesbiari week 7 Abortion 8 Across Canada 9 Labour: Shirley Carr 10 No Name Column 11 International 12 Pornography paper 14 Press Gang 16 Sex Supplement Lesbian lust 18 Disabled women and sex 19 Loving the enemy; women of colour .... 20 Sex radicals 21 Heterosexuality 22 Bisexuality 24 Bibliography 26 True Confessions 27 Arts *._ Vf Fringe Festival 29 Winnie and Nelson Mandela 30 Jamie Sieber/Charlie Murphy . .31 Speculative fiction 32 Letters 33 Bulletin board 34 Kinesis welcomes volunteers to work on all aspects of the paper. Call us at 873-5925. Our next story meetings are Wed., Oct. 8 and Wed. Nov. 5 at 7:30 pm at the VSW offices 400A West 5th Ave. All women welcome, even if you don't PRODUCTION THIS ISSUE: Lisa Hebert, Ann Doyle, Marsha Arbour, Aletta, Noreen Howes, Esther Shannon, Ivy Scott, Sharon Hounsell, Patty Moore, Patty Daughterofgib, Maura volante, Kim Irving, Lynda Blair, Allisa McDonald, Meredith Bolton, Isis, Nancy Pollak, Liz Clark, Jeanette Lush. loleum block print by Nancy Sweedler. OFFICE: Gail Meredith, Cat L'Hirondelle. ADVERTISING: Kim Irving, Vicky Donaldson, Esther Shannon, Isis, Jill Pollack. Kinesis is published ten times a year by the Vancouver Status of Women. Its objectives are to be a non-sectarian feminist voice for women and to work actively for social change, specifically by combatting sexism, racism, homophobia and imperialism. Views expressed in Kinesis are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect VSW policy. All unsigned material is the responsibility of the Kinesis editorial group. CORRESPONDENCE: Kinesis, Vancouver Status of Women, 400 A West 5th Ave., Vancouver, B.G. V5Y 1J8. MEMBERSHIP in Vancouver Status of Women is $25.50/per year (or what you can afford). This includes a subscription to KINESIS. Individual subscriptions to KINESIS are $17.50/peryear. SUBMISSIONS are welcome. We reserve the right to edit, and submission does not guarantee publication. Typesetting and camera work by Elections from page 1 Bob Skelly, the NDP leader, has promised that he will introduce equal pay for work of equal value legislation for both public and private sector workers, if elected. 'While in many business quarters pay equity is seen as a radical demand, other provinces, notably Ontario and Manitoba, are moving quickly to -implement equal pay measures. Skelly has also announced that an NDP government would introduce job security legislation similar to job protection laws in other countries. Such legislation would be beneficial to women workers as they bear the brunt of job losses through technological change, privatization and deregulation. Increases in the minimum wage, another NDP promise, would also be a boon to women who constitute a majority of workers in service industries, the sector of the labour force that' invariably sets wage rates at the minimum wage level. Pledges or promises from the Social Credit Party on issues of concern to women are, ■ to date, non-existant. Instead, in two areas, we are faced with Bill Vander Zalm's threatening speculations. Vander Zalm has promised that he, personally, will review the operations of therapeutic abortion boards in B.C. to insure that they are not being "misused". Given Vander Zalm's Roman Catholic beliefs Kinesis notes ***** This is it, folks. You may want to hold onto this copy of Kinesis, because it's the last of its kind. What?'.?! No, wait a minute, before you panic. We're not going to change our commitment to feminism and women's struggles, thinking, and creativity. But we're going to look real different. You will have noticed some hints of the new Kinesis creeping through in this issue and the last one. Next issue, after months of work by the design committee and the computer committee and the fundraising committee, we'll be laser'printed (feminism goes ■Star Wars) instead of typewritten. This will let us say the same amount in a shorter paper! And it will be more readable, too. With a few more alterations, overall we'll be looking zippier, clearer and thoroughly modern. We want you, our readers and supporters, to inaugurate the new Kinesis with us. First, you're invited to our launching (just like a real magazine, eh?) to help us celebrate. See the back for details. Second (and this is the real fun part) we want new women to get involved now, on the ground floor of this new production process. No experience necessary, and what better way to meet terrific feminists, learn about: newspapers, and be right at the heart of what's happening for women in B.C.? Talk to one of us at the launching, or call the office at 873-5925. Finally, get ready to enjoy, as the magazine we fondly think of as offering the best in feminist journalism gets even better! such a personal review does not bode well for women's access to abortion in this province. Another area for concern is Vander Zalm's much touted review of the minimum wage laws. His suggestion, that such protection may not be necessary and may limit job creation, is direct from B.C.'s Fraser Institute, a right wing think tank responsible for the ideological under-pinnings of the Socred 1983 restraint program. Minimum wage rate legislation is one of the very few protections that unorganized workers, a majority of whom are women, have. Bill Vander Zalm has been silent on what his government will do to improve the status of women in B.C. Given that previous Socred restraint policies are a, if not the, cause for the drop in women's standard of living in B.C. This neglect of women's priorities, while predictable, Is scandalous. Vander Zalm's refusal to participate in a debate on women's issues speaks volumes about his recognition of the importance of women's votes to his campaign. If you require more • information about the Women 's Forum or would like to get involved contact the Women's Economic Agenda, 291-4360. Our apologies Kinesis apologizes to Michelle Valiquette and Cy-Thea Sand whose bylines were inadvertantly left off their September columns. Valiquette is co-author of Periodicals in Review and Sand Authors A Little Night Reading. Apologies are also due to Robin Barnett,• whose photo of Sue Harris, run in September, was not credited. Information for International stories from Guardian, Manushi, Off Our Backs, Outwrite, Worker's World, Spare Rib, Globe and Mail, Sojourner, NAC Action Bulletin Information for Across Canada stories from Body Politic, Socialist Voice, Globe and Mail, Rites, TWU Transmitter. CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING STUDY GROUP A group for women of all ages who want to develop an understanding of feminist issues. Topics to be discussed include: feminist theory, sexuality, assertiveness, racism Evenings: starts Oct 15 for 10 weeks, 7 - 10pm No Charge/Childcare available For more information and to register contact VSW at 873-1427. KINESIS IS AVAILABLE AT: VANCOUVER AND AREA: Agora Food Co-op Ariel Books Beckwomans East End Food Co-op English Bay Books La Quena Coffee House Little Sisters Mall Book Bazaar Manhattan Books McLeods Books North Shore Women's Centre Octopus East and West People's Co-op Books Peregrine Books Press Gang Reach Clinic Kinesis October'86 Simon Fraser Student Society Bookstore Simon Fraser University Bookstore Spartacus Books U.B.C. Bookstore. Vancouver Lesbian Connection Vancouver Women's Bookstore West Coast Books Women's Health Collective IN B.C.: Cody Books, Port Coquitlam Everywoman's Books, Victoria Friendly Bookworm, Oawson Creek Haney Books, Maple Ridge NDP Bookstore, Gibson's Landing The Open Book, Williams Lake Port Coquitlam Women's Centre Quesnel Women's Resource Centre South Surrey/White Rock Terrace Women's Resource Centre Unemployed Action Centre, Halifax A Pair of Trindles Bookshop Atlantic News Red Herring Co-op Books Montreal Androgyny Bookstore Librairie Alternative Winnipeg Dominion News & Gifts Liberation Books Thunder Bay Northern Women's Bookstore Thunder Bay Co-op Books Ottawa Globe Mags and Cigars Mags and Fags Octopus Books Ottawa Women's Bookstore Edmonton Common Woman Books A Woman's Place Bookstore, Duthie Books Ltd Newfoundland Sayer's Books and Co. Toronto A & S Smoke Shop Bob Miller Book Room Book City Book Loft Book World DEC Bookstore Glad Day Books Lichtman's News & Books Longhouse Bookshop Pages Readers Den Inc. SCM Bookroom The Book Cellar Toronto Women's Bookstore World's Biggest Bookstore York University Bookstore IN U.S.A.: Ca. Laughing Horse Books, Portland, Or. It's About Time, Seattle, Wa. Old Wives Tales, San Francisco, Ca. Room of One's Own, Madison, Wl NEW ZEALAND: Broadsheet, Auckland Women's Bookshop, Christchurc /////////////////////////^^^^ ACROSS B.C. Student task force seeks submissions Over the past three years the student assistance program in British Columbia has undergone a number of important changes. In 1984 the provincial government eliminated the grant portion of student assistance and replaced it with a loan. British Columbia remains the only province in Canada without a grant portion of student assistance. Between 1983 and 1986 provincial funding for student aid decreased from $33 million to $12 million. As well, our provincial government has moved in the direction of an achievement-based rather than a needs-based assistance program. These changes have resulted in a vicious circle' for students. Student debt loads have risen dramatically and yet federal and provincial living allowances don't meet students' real costs of living. Unemployment rates for students and youth remain high, therefore students are increasingly hesitant to take on debts that they may not be able to pay back. An inadequate student assistance program means that fewer people have access to post- secondary education. Those most affected are students from rural areas and low-income fam ilies . The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) believes that the situation is critical and is concerned about the lack of action on the part of the provincial government. CFS believes it Is time to evaluate the BC Student Assistance Program, and to this end has organized a forum for discussion and information-gathering. In conjunction with the Defend Education Services Coalition CFS will be holding a series of hearings on, student assistance at college and university campuses around the province. The Task Force is an excellent opportunity to make some constructive changes to our student assistance program and to work with other organizations and people who are concerned about education in BC. . Interested individuals or organizations are invited to make a presentation—oral or written—to the Student Assist ance Task Force at the campus nearest you. The schedule of hearings is as follows: Oct. 6, Selkirk College (Castle- gar); Oct. 9, College of New Caledonia; Oct. 14-, Okanagan College; Oct. 16, Douglas College; Oct. 21, University of Victoria. For more information contact the student societies at the above campuses, or call CFS 877-1839/877-1823, 204A-175 E. Vancouver, V5V 2P8. Women only sauna at Britannia threatened by Linda Field The Britannia Community Centre pool is slated for renovation at an unknown date, sometime within the near future. Vancouver City Council has approved funds for this project. The architect has plans including a childrens' pool, and change rooms for families and the disabled. At issue here for women is the sauna. The renovation plans include removal of the separate sex, women and men only saunas; to be replaced by a co-ed sauna. According to the planners, there is not enough room for every new feature and the retention of the original saunas. Britannia wants to modernizi and upgrade their pool facility. The current saunas' are small and plain. Family change rooms are very popular at the Maple Ridge Community Centre. Britannia planners want Brit to be the first community centre in Vancouver to have this feature. Change rooms for the disabled would be new, although all community centre change rooms are (supposed to be) accessible now. Britannia Centre is the only community centre that has a year-round pool with a woman only sauna. Mount Pleasant has a very small womens' sauna that is intended for use by racket ball players. There is no year-round pool there. People who want a co-ed sauna have many choices, including Templeton Centre which is less than one km. from Britannia. Women who want a woman-only sauna have Brit—until? This plan is still open to change if there is enough community feedback. The pool renovation committee has worked hard on this project, and has asked the community surrounding Britannia to respond. If you want the women's sauna retained, please write soon. Letters will have an effect and are important, especially if many are sent. Write to: Chair of Pool Renovations Committee c/o Britannia Centre, 1661 Napier St. In Memoriam: Heather Campbell by Melanie Conn in collaboration with Patty Moore Heather Campbell died on August 31, 1986 from leukemia, just a few days after her 41st birthday. Last year we had a wonderful birthday celebration with her. She was in remission, and full of energy for Molly, her five year old daughter, and for the life she loved—hiking, swimming, political work, capuccino with friends. . . When I met Heather we were both at the Health Collective. She was marvellous to work with—totally absorbed in what we were doing and fiercely determined to push our practice to the ideals we had set. The Health Collective had taken a few weeks out to examine our goals. Heather was excited that we were re-establishing the political base for our work and had pressed hard for us to do even though it meant suspending service for a time. Heather looked for consensus, but she was not afraid to say what she thought when it was different from the rest of the group. I think of her at all these meetings, intense in her attention to what everyone was saying, making notes in the large black book she always had with her. One task she took on was to research the history of lay health care givers and, ultimately, her report took the form of a dramatic presentation. I remember being moved to tears as she spoke the words of women who had been burned alive for sharing the secrets of birth control with their sisters and daughters. The same commitment to choice and control of our bodies was the basis for Heather in her decision to become a mother and to have control in her birthing process. On the day her waters broke she and Tony, Molly's father, drove five hours over California mountains to get to a birth centre that would support Heather giving birth in the way she wanted. At this point, wonderful Molly became Heather's most important focus and she dropped back from other work for some time. Then video production sparked Heather's interest. She took classes in video and joined with other women to form Speak Out Productions where she became a key force in their first production: Fight Back: Vancouver Transition House. The video has been used widely in organizing toward the survival of Vancouver Transition House and it has also received a Canadian Cable Televison Association Award. At the time of her diagnosis, Heather was in the midst of a second production meant to capture the struggles, passions and joys of motherhood and in this way create a real picture of what being a mother means for women. Working on her own this time, Heather interviewed on Jilm several women including herself on how becoming a mother had changed their lives. When she learned she had leukemia, in its most virulent form, Heather applied the same inspiration and intensity to fight her illness. With the help of a large and willing support group, she organized research into the disease, evaluating conventional medical and alternative treatments. As usual, she demanded the most from herself. Her intention was to defeat the leukemia by taking what she needed from every useful source. There were times when it was very hard for her not to lose herself in the process of treatment, but she always surfaced, and kept talking with us, writing in her black notebook, making plans for the next day, being Heather. This warm and wonderful woman, loved by so many of us, had remarkable strength. She touched us unforgettably. October ^6 Kinesis — _^_ Across B.C. Lesbian Centre celebrates it's first birthday by Cindy Filipenko Which Vancouver Womens' organization managed to organize seven dances, twenty-five coffee houses, two demonstrations and a variety of peer counselling/ support groups; obtain a Federal Job Development grant; maintain interest active membership in the BCFW, the Lesbian Network, the Coalition for the Right to View—and still had the energy to throw a terrific first anniversary party? Answer: The Vancouver Lesbian Connection. Although the Connection itself has been active for a great deal longer, the celebration marked the first year of oper- . ations at the group's home base: The Vancouver Lesbian Centre, 876 Commercial Drive. The space currently offers a lending library, recreational Charter case Equality is not equality, when a court is comparing a thirty seven year old man with the fourteen year old boy he claims agreed to an act of sexual intercourse. This is the ruling of the B.C. Court of Appeal, B.C.'s highest court, when the province appealed the acquittal on sexual assault charges of Victoria school teacher, David Le Gallant. In the original trial Le Gallant's lawyer successfully argued that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms says age discrimination is unacceptable and that Le Gallant should therefore be acquitted. In overturning the acquittal the Court of Appeal found that the Criminal Code provision recognizes consentual sexual activity between adolescents who are close in age is one thing but that the school teacher and the child he raped are not in the same class because it can be assumed that Le Gallant, as an adult, is more experienced. The ruling indicates that the Charter's equality provisions will not have blanket coverage vis a vis age discrimination in B.C.. Age discrimination, under Section 15 of the Charter, will arise only if an unreasonable or unjustifiable distinction is drawn between citizens. The Court said the distinction in consent provisions with regard to sexual assault reflects parliament's intention to distinguish between sexual exploitation by adults of children, and consentual activity between adolescents. As a result of the provinces' successful appeal Le Gallant will have to undergo a new trial. 4 Kinesis October ^6 area—with a pool table, information displays, pamphlets, art exhibits, in addition to the structured peer counselling/ support groups. On Friday, September 5, over 150 women passed through the VLC; a great turn-out for a balmy summer night. Those who joined in the festivities weren't disappointed. After co-ordinator Bet Cecill's opening address, which capsul- ized the Centre's accomplishments, popular folksinger Donna Lee took to the stage for. a short but enthralling set. Acting Up Theatre kept the crowd entertained with two scenes from Pat Smith's posthumously published play The Oldest Living. Set in rural Saskatchewan, the play centres around a lesbian couple who has been living together for over thirty years; a warm and funny play, which we hope to present in its entirety soon. Athough it was a woman-only event, many members of the gay male community were also thanked for the energy they had applied in the past year. The evening brought together a variety of women from all different backgrounds. Perhaps that's the key to the Centre's success—it provides a warm, friendly environment for women to join, in our community. If you would like to get involved in the Vancouver Lesbian Centre or require further information call 254-8458 or drop in at 87.6 Commercial Drive, 11am to 4pm Monday through Friday. Happy first birthday to the Vancouver Lesbian Centre! Trees for Africa program The need for reforestation has become a major issue in British Columbia recently, but, if a program sponsored by the United Nations Association (UNA) is to be successful, the issue will soon take on a whole new sense of urgency. Reforestation is vital in BC, but in vast regions of Africa it is even more important. Prolonged drought and a combination of other factors are causing unprecedented deforestation which in turn results in catastrophic economic and social hardships. The desertification of large areas that were previously forested has contributed to famine, home- lessness and economic collapse in countries affected. From October 16th to 19th, the UNA will be hosting a "Trees for Africa" conference in Vancouver to draw together British Columbians from various Socreds refuse funding for AIDS On the eve of an election campaign the Social Credit government denied AIDS Vancouver the' funding it needs to keep educational and support programs going. "We just cannot believe", said AIDS Vancouver spokesperson, Bob Tivey, "that they cannot find the money." Funding was to be used to pay the salaries of three people who coordinate the AIDS hotline, support groups for victims, families and friends and the volunteer network. AIDS Vancouver, which has never received provincial funding, had requested an $80,000 grant from the provincial ministry of health. Currently the group receives grants from both the federal and municipal governments which total $125,000. "We are in a desperate situation, " said Tivey. "The ministry has 32,000 people on its payroll." "We just can't believe they can't find enough money to support three more...it's outrageous ." Dr. Michael Rekart, the man responsible for the government's AIDS program, said the rejection of the grant is not a sign the government does not support the group. "The ministry recognizes that AIDS Vancouver is doing a . great job and have helped us out a lot," said Rebark. "We just don't have the money right Deaths from AIDS continue to mount in Vancouver. The most recent figures show that there has been 167 AIDS cases in the city; 88 are still alive. According to Rekart, September saw the first sexually contracted AIDS death of a heterosexual woman in BC. The woman acquired the disease from a bisexual man. Although no details about the woman have been released Rekart confirmed that the woman was not a prostitute. Her death, he says, indicates that bisexual men, afraid of getting AIDS from homosexual contact, will gravitate to the 'safe' female population. sectors of the community with the aim of developing an aid program that will tackle the problem of deforestation in the Sahel region of Africa. According to conference organizer Jon Gates, the participation of women in both the conference and the Aid program is crucial. "Women in Africa do between 60 to 80 per cent of all agricultural work, in addition to the time they spend on domestic work. The failure of government and non-government agencies to recognize this fact when planning aid programs has worsened an already difficult problem. Many of the successful village level programs in forestry and agroforestry have been initiated and run by women We hope to increase the success of our program by recognizing from the start, womens' crucial role in development." Rather than continually supplying food aid, the aim of "Trees for Africa", is to work with the people in the Sahel who are already trying to combat the deforestation problem. "What could be more appropriate as a project for British Columbians than one that focuses on reforestation," Gates says. He adds that the situation is far from hopeless and that progress has already been made. "They have been accomplishing miracles already," he says. "It's just that they don't have the resour^ ces to do the job that has to be done." The Sahel, an Arab word meaning 'edge of the desert' is a string of eight countries along the southern fringes of the Sahara desert. It has been in drought for the past fifteen years. In 1983 alone, the desert advanced at least 150 kilometers southwards, causing the loss of 4-12.5 million hectares of crop and range lands. If you are interested in the "Trees for Africa" program, and want more information, please call Karen Jonasson or Jon Gates at the UNA office in Vancouver, 733-3912. ACROSS B.C. //////////////////////A Women left behind by BCGEU settlement by Catherine Sullivan Headlines and television pictures told an unsuspecting public on Wednesday, August 20, that negotiators for the government and the British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU) reached a historic agreement. There was footage of negotiators hugging and 'embracing. As a female government employee and concerned BCGEU member, I was anxious to know the contract details, and was still naively optimistic that we had not been sold out—again. Seeing the details, I experienced profound disbelief and betrayal. BCGEU president John Shields proclaimed a victory of "no concessions", yet I soon discovered that Shields had capitulated on major concessions, and the trumpeted five percent wage increase is not a reality for government workers until November 1987. Also, the union compromised female government workers with an across the board increase which creates real gains only for those workers at the upper end of the pay scale...deja vul The salaries and positions of BC government workers have changed appreciably over the past ten years. In 1976, our civil servants were the highest paid government workers in Canada. Ten years later, they are the-second lowest. Only Newfoundland pays its public employees less, and they are still fighting a bitter confrontation ithat has dragged on for months. Many Newfoundland employees and several union leaders were jailed in the spring, and again last month as they continue to picket in defiance of government and court orders to cease and desist. These same 'heroic' women are now scapegoated and sacrificed, and gain the least in the current agreement. In the past few years, the BC Socreds have done their utmost to reduce union power and break any attempt at an organized labour front. The BC economic recession and the government response in the form of restraint rationalizes and legitimizes the dismantling of the social service system and the call for greater productivity. The government capitalizes on a public image of workers as "people who sit around on her/his ass all day doing nothing" and generated support for their program to put those workers "to work". Aside from those who were directly affected by government service cutbacks, the public remains largely unaware of the true impact of these cuts in human costs. When community and welfare rights groups protested, the Socreds suggested that the protest was actually being waged by lazy public servants and welfare bums who didn't want to work in the first place. By manipulating that negative image of government workers, with media assistance in stories like the 1985 Province headlines detailing the grisly incidences of "bad" social work practi'ce, the public has been distracted from examining the issues and the reality of workers' lives. The BCGEU is comprised of 4-0,000 : Over half that number are women, mainly concentrated in low-paying, clerical jobs. Many are single parent women supporting families on salaries that qualify them for extended welfare benefits (medical, daycare ). In the goverment and union hierarchy, women are noticeably absent from any position of power. The government employee and the union structures are yet another microcosm of women's position in society generally. In the Ministry of Social Services (et al), there are no women beyond the position of 'regional manager', in effect no women deciding actual policy and procedures. It is ironic that the majority on welfare and most front line workers are women, but men make the decisions affecting these women's lives both at home and in the workplace. The BCGEU does not have a better track record in that department. They rarely identify the needs of female members, and in the few instances where they have acknowledged that women have needs quite distinct from men, these issues are conveniently manipulated to serve the union leadership 's interests yet noticeably absent when the opportunity for real change arises, like the last contract. This July, BCGEU workers walked off targeted worksites for the first day of a bona- fide provincial strike. As Shields explained, the union intended to take a creative . approach during negotiations. The picketing workers were mainly clerical staff, almost all women, and are the lowest paid employees in the union. The union intended to pay them seventy percent of their gross income. Shields called them "the heroes" of the * negotiations. Not only were they to be pulled off the job and still get seventy percent of the.pay, but they would also attend union dducation sessions where they would learn about the history of the labour movement and the BCGEU...but nothing happened! Bennett threatened "back to work" legislation when these "heroes" did leave their worksites, and Shields backed down, sending those workers back to their jobs. He then announced that he preferred to wait for a new social credit leader before BCGEU resumed negotiations. I think Shields fears confrontation and radical action. He was afraid that he might have to, stand behind his brave assertions and face" the possibility of going to jail as did the Newfoundland labour leaders. - These same "heroic" women are now scapegoated and sacrificed, and gain the least in the current agreement. In the 1982 negotiations, the union asserted that the impact of increased food, shelter and energy costs hits middle and low income workers the hardest; therefore the union chose to negotiate the major portion of an increase as a dollar amount for every member. They said that "across the board" increases have a differential impact. But, in 1986, Shields negotiates an "across the board" increase, ignoring what the BCGEU touted in 1982. The actual dollar amount that lowest paid workers get will be substan tially less than what the workers at the upper end get. And the five percent increase doesn't take effect until next November when the amount will have been gobbled up by inflation. This deal maintains the present inequities that ghettoize women workers and keeps them doing traditional " work for traditionally lousy wages. In terms of the "no concession" agreement, it was an outrageous surprise to discover that the six days of sick time allowed per year had been tossed into the negotiation pot, and conceded to the other side. The union had not asked its membership to detail which if any benefits were negotiable. Does this mean that the BCGEU agrees with a government that says its workers bleed the system? The contract provides for the establishment of an employees assistance program where BCGEU members receive personal counselling and assistance with burn-out. It is ironic that the negotiators did not appreciate the need for universal sick benefits, but instead provided counselling in alcoholism, drug, and burn-out related stress. The union sacrificed "coverage for all" available through existing sick time benefits, for a program that will benefit only a few. The membership needs both universal coverage and specialized programs. The union also agreed to government demands freezing increments until 1987. Workers entitled to these miniscule merit increases now have to wait for this acknowledgement of their job performance. Another clause allows the- province to buy some supplies from the lowest bidder eveisif that bidder operates a non-union shop: another example of union collusion with government strategy? It is obvious that the settlement was a political football manipulated by both the union and the government. I became confused about the different players, and which- side they were on. I shuddered when I saw John Shields on television denying that the Socreds had strategized to use the BCGEU settlement as a tool to gain election points for the new premier; how did he know? John Shields was quoted in newspapers as crediting Bill Vander Zalm with the creation of a "confrontation-free" environment for negotiations. It seems that Shields is either very naive, unclear about his loyalties, or he knew that the agreement was so lousy, he didn't want to claim credit for it. f||| October TO Kinesis 5 SSSSSmaS^ ACROSS B.C. Provincial program may expand by Alex Maas The Family Support Program, MHR's new maintenance enforcement service, is currently up for review. The service aids single mothers on welfare to obtain and enforce child support payments. It was set up as a two year pilot project, and is jointly administered by the Minister of Social Services and Housing (formerly MHR) and the Attorney-General. MSSH does the intake, assessment and referral work, while the A-G handles the legal aspect by providing lawyers to obtain court orders for the women involved in the program. Payments are made to a central court registry from which they are distributed to the mothers. The court registry monitors for default. If default occurs, automatic enforcement procedures are begun. The program marks a new willingness to concern itself with the problem of fathers who .abandon their responsibility of financial support for their children. The two year project concludes in March at the end of the fiscal year and a recommendation has already been made to the Treasury Board for the continuation and expansion of the project. A decision on this will be made in March pending the results of the current review. Presently this series is only available to welfare recipients, primarily women, in the City of Vancouver. If the pilot is judged a success, the program could become operable throughout the province and be made available to the public at large. Outsidte consultants have been retained to conduct an evaluation which is scheduled for completion at the end of the pilot project. Project administrators involved in the review process were not able to - say if the report would be released to the public, but did acknowledge that a major factor under consideration has been the financial viability of the program. Financial evaluations usually take the form of a cost-benefit analysis. The question here is benefit to whom? Economic viability where this program is concerned is measured in terms of "welfare dollars saved", ie. monies collected through the court registry that exceed the allowable maxiumum of the extra earnings exemption. This exemption limits the amount of income welfare recipients are allowed to keep in addition to their welfare cheque and is presently set at $100. per month. Support monies paid into the court registry on behalf of a single mother which are in excess of the exemption are retained by the state and used to reimburse/reduce the welfare budget. This reimbursement has always been the case, however, with the new central registry system and a state initiated approach to collection, more and larger court orders have resulted in a corresponding increase in "welfare dollars saved". Neither the Ministry of the Attorney- General nor the 'new' Social Services Ministry was prepared to release any figures on monies "saved" versus monies spent on legal and collection costs at this stage in their evaluation. While these figures are not available in British Columbia, the New Democratic government of Manitoba which sponsors a similar program, has estimated that it saved as much as eleven million dollars in 1984. 6 Kinesis October TO south of the'border, in the U.S., almost all states have initiated such programs and here they are proving to be very cost effective. State governments recover about three dollars for every dollar spent on collection. The danger with this kind of cost-benefit analysis for the social services is that it has become a justification for the erosion of the rights of the individual welfare recipient in favour of the "greater" benefit of a smaller social service budget. Specifically, in parts of the United States single mothers applying for welfare must assign their right to receive support payments to the state before they are considered eligible for income assistance. A lawyer is then given the case and, after interviewing the woman, attempts to obtain a court order for support payments. The lawyers working in the program are thought, as a matter of law, to represent the state agency and not the welfare mother or children. If the lawyer is suc- | cessful the payments go directly to the state agency where monies are reallocated by the welfare department to the mother. As is the case here, there are maximum amounts that a mother may receive over the monthly amount of the cheque and where an order is in excess of this amount the balance is simply retained by the welfare department^ The question of who the money really belongs to is clearer in the American case because of the assignment of rights. In B.C. there is no such recipient as yet, nevertheless there have been cases (in Vancouver) of women who were found ineligible for income assistance because they refused to pursue their former spouse for support. Regulation 3(9) of the GAIN Act requires a single mother to make "reasonable efforts" to seek out every source of income available to her. A program intake worker has the responsibility to decide whether a valid reason for refusing to proceed exists. It is not sufficient for a woman to decide against pursuit even if she fears domestic violence unless she can substitute her claims through a third party. Assignment of rights is an integral component of any state-run enforcement program (and as such can not be far behind in B.C.) since without it the legality of retaining any portion of support payments seems tenuous. It is part of the philosophy towards social services which says that welfare programs, unlike defense programs, should pay for themselves or at least not cost the taxpayer unduly. A further result of the American model has been the erosion of a client-solicitor relationship and the bond of confidentiality that relationship implies between the lawyer assigned the case and the mother applying for welfare. In at least one documented case, a woman has implicated herself (by Indicating that she had received overpayments) believing that the information would remain confidential, only to find her lawyer later testifying against her in a case of welfare fraud. If the Vancouver project is judged successful it seems likely that we will see further changes to the program in keeping with a consistent philosophy and a logical progression toward the American model. It will be important to watch closely for the recommendations resulting'from the ministry's internal review, and any conditions attached to the Treasury Board decision. We must resist a further erosion of rights or stricter controls over the lives of single mothers on welfare. Night from page 1 Then, towering above the women, the colourful puppets led off the march to the Granville/Davie downtown area where many women work as hookers and exotic dancers. Traffic was disrupted, but mostly drivers and passers-by were interested and many were openly supportive. One woman peeked through the double doors of a strip joint and smiled at the marchers until women jeering at the explicit signs on the building made her quietly withdraw behind the closed door. The occasional bad tempered, and invariably male driver or pedestrian, was deftly handled by the safety team, and the night was safe. Although one first time marcher expressed disappointment that there weren't more women, she did say "I found it empowering.. While I was marching a woman who had seen us going by joined in. She was really excited that the whole thing was happening." Halfway through the march, in the heart of hooker territory, women stopped while Marie Arrington of Prostitutes and Other Women for Equal Rights (POWER), spoke about the need to make the night safe for all women. "Until prostitutes are given their freedom you're all under the gun," she said. "No woman is safe." All women who break away from the norm are at risk. "You too can be outlawed if you don't behave and be good little girls." 'Ģ "The first violence towards prostitutes is poverty. The next is the men in your life; the tricks who are your fathers, husbands, sons, and all men in society." Arrington also spoke about the violence of the new anti-prostitute legislation, C-49. Donna Kiss was murdered when she was forced by the law to leave her familiar workplace and went to work in Surrey, isolated and unprotected. The law enforcers, the police, are also directly responsible for violence against prostitutes. Arrington described the good face which the police show the media. "But just let any woman speak up," she added. Lesbian organizing in Vancouver In the past year Vancouver has seen an increase in lesbian political organizing, including the opening of the Vancouver Lesbian Centre. In January, the Lesbian Feminist Gang put on a workshop entitled: Lesbian Visibility/Invisibility in the Feminist Movement. Over thirty lesbians participated in this discussion, where the feeling most commonly expressed was that of feeling invisible as a lesbian in mixed (lesbian and heterosexual ) groups. From this meeting came possible strategies to ensure that lesbian politics are heard. One strategy suggested by Dykes for Dyke- dom was to work as lesbians in coalition, with a long term vision of expanding, to network on a national and international level. Dykes for Dykedom sent out letters to local lesbian groups in February. The Vancouver Lesbian Network was formed and began meeting at the Vancouver Lesbian Centre. Representatives from some local lesbian groups, and individuals not associated with . formal groups, attended the initial meetings where topics of discussion ranged from what makes an issue a lesbian issue, to the International Lesbian Conference (March) and International Lesbian Week (October). Towards the end of March two dykes from the Vancouver community attended the eighth International Lesbian Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. There, approximately 400 lesbians gathered to "consolidate that which unites us (resistance to patriarchy) and to discuss that which divides us: racism, classism, ageism, and other discriminatory 'isms'. Information regarding the conference is available in the form of a slide show which is framed in the context of classism and racism. It has been shown at the Vancouver Lesbian Centre and the Simon Fraser University Women's Centre and will be shown again on Tues.. Oct. 7 during International Lesbian Week. For the past two months the focus of the newly formed Lesbian Network has been to organize and co-ordinate International ■Lesbian Week in Vancouver. This international event originated in Europe in 1979 when a group of lesbians broke away from the International Gay Association to form International Lesbian Information Service (ILIS). ILIS, frustrated at the lack of political action (specifically lesbian political action) in the International Gay Association, organized International Lesbian Week as a forum for lesbian action. The lesbian movement in Vancouver is growing. There are twelve groups at present, and we are continuing to work on visibility inside and outside the feminist movement. with Jessi. At the Vancouver Status of Women, 400 W. 5th. Childcare info. 875- 6963. Organized by Lesbian Information Line. For further info, call VLC 254-8458 or LIL 875-6963. Free. Saturday, Oct. 4—Unlearning Racism Workshop. This workshop is for lesbians who wish to start unlearning their racism. It is led by a woman of colour from Seattle. Jenny Yamato has done numerous workshops for women's groups. Pre-registration is necessary so you can read a short article prior to the workshop. 1-4 pm, Vancouver Indian Center, 1607 E. Hastings. For preregistration call: 327-6457 or 872-4251. Childcare info. 327-6457. Facilitated by Jenny Yamato. Organized by Celeste George. Free. Saturday, Oct. 4—Dance at the Lotus. Downstairs: Rockin' Harry and the Hack- jobs; in the pub: Mister Sisters; in-the lounge: Linda Lujan. Lotus Hotel, 455 Abbot Street. Childcare on site: 254-8458. Organized by the Vancouver Lesbian Network. Cost: $2 to $5. Lesbian Week For the first time in Vancouver, lesbians are organizing a series of events to take place during International Lesbian Week. We are linking up with lesbians in Austria, France, Holland, and Quebec, who since 1983 have organized events to celebrate International Lesbian Week during the first week of October. In Canada events are planned for Vancouver and Ottawa. International Lesbian Week has been organized this year by the Lesbian Network. We are individuals and representatives from lesbian groups in Vancouver who have been meeting since February 86 to discuss politics, exchange information, and to plan particular actions. Events Friday, Oct. 3—Teenage Sexuality: Am I A Lesbian? 4 pm: Workshop with Jessi, a youth crisis line counsellor. 5 pm: following the above workshop, is a workshop for the teenage children of lesbian parents, Co-op Radio launches autumn airlift Vancouver Co-op Radio will be launching its 1986 Autumn Airlift membership drive Oct. 17-26. They'll be broadcasting special shows, polishing up regular programming, and asking everyone who's listening to call in and pledge to become a member. The highlight of this year's Airlift will be "Breaking the Sound Barrier," three days of 24 hour special music programming, Oct. 24-26. There'll be a five hour special on music by women, covering jazz, blues, pop, African and Latin American music. There'll be a live appearance by local country singer Terilyn Ryan. And there'll be the music of Motown, the Carri- bean, modern rock and live jazz. From Oct. 17 to noon Oct. 24, you'll hear the best of our regular programming, including Womanvision (Mondays at 7 pm), the Lesbian Show (Thursdays at 8:30 pm), Women of Note (Mondays at 4:00 pm) and Rubymusic (Fridays at 7:30 pm). What makes Co-op Radio different? It's deeper than just what you hear on your radio. The station is a co-operative. It's owned and operated by listeners who have become members. When you join, you have a say in how the station is run, and in what goes over the air. You can even work on a show yourself. Why should you join? Co-op Radio is the only station in Vancouver that's actively anti-sexist and anti-racist, and allows women the space to do programming by and for themselves. If you are a regular listener who isn't yet a member, Co-op Radio hopes you'll call in and pledge to become one during the Airlift. If you aren't yet a regular listener, tune in and check it out. Co-op Radio is broadcast at 102.7 FM, 104-.9 on cable in the Lower Mainland, and other frequencies around the province. For information on regular or Airlift programming, call the station at 684-84-94 and ask to be mailed a complimentary copy of the October issue of Radio Waves, our program guide magazine. Or pick up a copy at your local bookstore, library or community centre. For more information contact Ken Mann at Sunday, October 5—Lesbian only Sunday Swim.- Swimming, sauna, whirlpool. 9:15- 10:15 am. Templeton pool, 700 Templeton Street. Childcare on site so children bring swim suits. More info. 255-0354. Organized by Gina Evankovieh. Donations. Sunday, Oct. 5,—Lesbians and Prosperity. Removing the blocks and attitudes which prevent our creating prosperity for ourselves. 10:30 am. Vancouver Lesbian Centre. Childcare info. 875-6963. Faciliated by Linda Gayle Galloway, Organized by Lesbian Information Line (LIL). Pot Luck Lunch, all sisters welcome to participate and share; to exchange news, views, positions and politics.1-2 pm, childcare info. 875-6963. Organized by Lesbian Information Line (LIL). Donations. Sunday, Oct. 5—Working Together. 2-5 pm. VLC, Childcare: 254-8458, organized by VLC. Donations. Monday, October 6—Caf« LIL. Relaxed environment for meeting and greeting sisters. 7:30 - 10 pm. Vancouver Lesbian Centre, 876 Commercial Drive, childcare info: 875-6963. Organized by Lesbian Information Line. Tuesday, Oct. 7—Dykes Around the World. Slide show and tape on the 8th International Lesbian Conference, by Dykes for Dykedom, 1986. Come and hear the many voices of lesbians in struggle around the world. The slide show emphasizes the issues of racism and classism in the lesbian feminist movement. Discussions to follow. Discussions to follow. 7:30 pm Vancouver Lesbian Centre. Childcare info. 327-6457. Organized by Dykes for Dykedom. $1 - $3. October TO Kinesis ///////////////////////^^^^^ /////////////////////////^^^^^ Across Canada Abortion struggles heat up across Canada by Noreen Howes Abortion has recently been front page news across the country, culminating in the arrest of Dr. Henry Morgentaler and two associates in Toronto late September. Arrested at their homes early in the day, before operations at either the Scott or the Morgentaler Clinic could begin, Morgentaler along with Dr. Robert Scott and Dr. Nikki Colodny were each charged with two counts of conspiracy to procure a miscarriage—the Criminal Code term for abortion. A stay of proceedings on these charges was imposed by Ontario Attorney General Ian Scott almost immediately, and means that the Crown can pursue the charges for up to one year although Scott says no action will be taken before the Supreme Court rules on previous abortion-related charges. This Supreme Court hearing slated for Oct. 8 could rule that abortions in free-standing clinics become legal across Canada and that the Ontario acquittal of Morgentaler, Scott and Smalling be upheld. During the past twelve months several significant developments in the battle for abortion clinics in Toronto have surfaced, some more positive than others. A third doctor, Nikki Colodny, began working with Morgentaler and publicly supported the clinic. Having a woman doctor preforming abortions lent even greater support both to the movement and to the individual women seeking the clinic's services . Colodny began working in January and was arrested only last week. A second Toronto clinic was opened in May by Dr. Robert Scott and remains in operation five days a week. Both the Morgentaler and the Scott clinic remained open during the. Ontario doctors strike and the subsequent dismantling of many hospital's abortion boards. A greater recognition of the need for free-standing abortion clinics grew as a result, and doctors came forward voicing support; some even made clinic appointments for their . patients. S.Wf4i!^ -£*»' Anti-choice-: protestors have dwindled dramatically, allowing women access to the Sco^t clinic without fear of harassment, an$;i>ra.y a small pocket of protestor's re- ;nma4pg«-a& the Morgentaler Clinic. Meanwhile !->si^fij^one coiranurapy and church groupjS£#^ '•'asisvigll-as countless individuals, have pledged support for the clinics. J'^zSt "I can turn to anyone on the street and get help," said Colodny. "When you put your finger to the wind you can feel the gale of support for choice and the Clinic." Less positive developments in the Toronto choice movement during the past year included the on-going investigation of the clients by Attorney General Ian Scott and the police. Since the opening of the second clinic the threat of arrest has loomed 8 Kinesis October TO ominously over both clinics, causing less than ideal working conditions. "It was intimidating to not know when we'd be arrested", said Colodny "and we'd see plainclothes cops following women as they left the clinic, calling them at home... there wasn't only the anti-choice people to contend with but also the morality squad." Developments in Toronto are closely watched throughout Canada, particularly in provinces where a woman's access to abortion is most threatened. Women in British Columbia, for example, are forced to endure insults by Premier Vander Zalm who, entirely oblivious to (or disinterested in) the trauma involved in seeking and having an abortion, publicly stated that women 'use' abortion as birth control and that he intends to personally investigate the so-called misuse of therapeutic abortion boards. Meanwhile, Concerned Citizens for Choice on Abortion (CCCA) have stepped forward and announced plans to open a Vancouver clinic within the next twelve months, in clear defiance of Attorney General Brian Smith who promises he will close it down immediately. "We would advise Mr. Vander Zalm and Mr. Smith to sit back and take some lessons from what's happening in other provinces" said Nora Hutchinson of CCCA, in reference to the success of the Toronto clinics. Hutchinson was quoted here before the doctors' recent arrest. "This action in Ontario can't harass us into silence", she has since added, "We're not going to reconsider opening a clinic in Vancouver." •^In-tither provinces women are being further restricted from access to abortions. • Manitoba: Dr. Morgentaler has been denied a bid for his licence renewal by the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons. No abortions have been preformed at the Winnipeg clinic since the 1983 raid and subsequent closure. • Quebec: The Quebec government has cut the amount -of money it pays doctors performing abortions. Also, due to the social stigma linked to abortion, it is increasingly difficult to attract doctors. Women are now forced to wait three weeks for a preliminary appointment with a social worker whereas it used to be a ten day wait. • Prince Edward Island: Legal abortions are not available because there in no PEI hospital with a therapeutic abortion committee. Efforts to mount a legal case to force the government to act are floundering since women's rights advocates in PEI expect no woman seeking an abortion would be willing to.act as a plaintiff in such a case. Meanwhile women are. forced to travel to Maine or Montreal, the closest places where there are abortion clinics. • Newfoundland: Legal abortions are not available because the only doctor who was willing to perform them is ill. The Toronto arrests as well as the pr^o^lf' developments at the Morgentaler and Scott \ clinics are significant to the country as a whole, particularly in light of clinics and therapeutic abortion boards under attack elsewhere. Questions concerning the arrests come easily to mind but are less easily answered. Who was responsible, Attorney General Ian Scott or the police? Scott claims his wishes were defied and that the police arrested on their own initiative. And yet, the Attorney General's investigation had been per- sistent and ruthless for almost six months, with arrest and clinic closure the anticipated conclusion. "There is no doubt that the decision to charge us was a political decision made at the highest cabinet level", says Nikki Colodny. "There are disclaimers coming from Ian Scott to counter this and yet it entirely contradicts the public statements he's made up to this very day." If it was the police who decided to arrest the doctors, why did they decide this? Why would they arrest without solid Crown support backing them? Finally, are the Ontario police communicating their strategy to police in other provinces, therefore leaving us vulnerable to similar harassment^ Ordering a stay on proceedings, Ian Scott told reporters, was the most difficult decision of his life. Why then did he make it? Nikki Colodny calls the stay a victory precisely because it contradicts Scott's previous plans to make arrests, apply heavy bail conditions and force the clinics to close.. us* She calls the stay a "political].y expedient solution to get the government out of an action that they knew would bring tremendous criticism on them...the public outcry would've been so great that it was a political liability." A major question that remains is why were the arrests made now, when in less than two weeks the Supreme Court hearing will begin? A final and perhaps moat..significant question one must consider concerning the arrests and other abortion-related issues is—to what degree is.the federal government involved? It's clear that abortion is under attack throughout the country so that even legal access is becoming increasingly limited. On top of this is the intention of pro-choice groups.in British Columbiai to open a free-standing abortion clinic in Vancouver. The pressure is mounting; how are the feds responding—and what influences are they having provincially? \ Commenting on the Supreme Court case against Morgentaler, Scott and Smalling, Dr. Nikki Colodny said: "This kind' of political use of the courts to try to appease different factions as they see fit is both cynical and immoral." r^j-SS'fes^ The powerful significance of the upcoming Supreme Court decision must be realized. If the doctors original acquittal is upheld, doctors may be free to open and operate abor tion clinics country-wide. If the acquittal is reversed—what are we to expect from Canada's lawmakers? Will they continue to act without morals or will they move to ensure all Canadian women equality of access to abortion? Across Canada Nova Scotia Gays attacked by Attorney - General by Eunice Brooks Because the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, now some four years old, protects minorities from discrimination, the province of Nova Scotia is threatening to opt out of it. In ■ , the Charter certain fundamental values were removed from the reach and use of legislators, and entrusted to the courts. Minorities are protected from the tyranny of the majority by the courts. One minority in Nova Scotia that has caused much in-fighting is a group of homosexual police officers. Nova Scotia's Attorney-General, Ron Griffin, told a meeting of police chiefs that he disagreed with the federal government 's stand that homosexuals should have full access to the military and police forces. Griffin maintains that if the courts rule in favour of homosexual rights, Nova Scotia would use section 33 to over-ride provision for the Charter, and pass legislation banning homosexuals from municipal police forces. He also said that the courts are going too far in protecting individual rights. Griffin says someone has to speak for the majority, and he will. . He claims to speak for the solid, right-thinking majority whose voices are being drowned out by minorities. He is supported in his views by Nova Scotia's Social Services Minister, Edmund Morris, who has denied welfare benefits to teen-aged mothers, as well as to single fathers. Even Premier John Buchanan has shown hostility to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There has been no affirmative action in the hiring of women, ethnics New porn bill possible The new Justice Minister, Ramon Hnatyshyn, has said that the Conservative anti-pornography legislation will be changed after it is re-introduced when the parliamentarly session begins Oct. 1. The bill's broad definition of pornography caused an uproar after it was introduced last spring by former justice minister John Crosbie. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to define pornography as "any visual material showing vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, ejaculation, sexually violent behavior, beast- iality, incest, necrophilia, masturbation or other sexual activity." Hnatysjyn has said the defini- tion may have to be changed. or disabled people. Legislation protecting the disabled was poor in comparison with what other provinces have put forward. However the Premier's office,"when given an opportunity to comment on the Griffin speech, did not repudiate him, and that seems' as good as backing him to the persons who are shocked by such words from an Attorney- General . Joe Ross, executive director of the Police Association of Nova Scotia said he will fight the Attorney-General's office in court if any officers are fired because they are gay. A member of the Civil Rights Committee of the Gay Alliance in Halifax said Griffin may believe he represents Nova Scotia in his opinions, but he has not consulted with police officers. He-said that Griffin went too far in his speech, but that the man is too stubborn to back down. The ruckus included front-page headlines in the Halifax press which stated: "Griffin must so!" An editorial in the Halifax Daily News called his attack on the Charter hopeless, and said that the federal government would never let Nova Scotia opt out of - anything except his job. MP Howard Crosby (PC-Halifax West) came close to calling for Griffin's resignation, and said that Griffin should resign voluntarily. He said an Attorney-General was meant to uphold rights. But people who speak against Nova Scotia's government have learned it can be costly. Funding was cut to Dalhousie Legal Aid, a poverty law clinic, because it openly disagreed with social policies and advocated law reform. Social Services Minister, Edmund Morris called the group "an NDP training ground," and funding stopped. Wayne MacKay, a professor of constitutional law at Dalhousie University has said: "If the Charter cannot protect the dispossessed and disadvantaged, it is not worthy of our Constitution and we should abandon the illusion that it can promote justice and equality for Nova Scotians." Pratt 3 win settlement People can fight for democrat- -. ic rights and win. A $20,000 out of court settlement in June 1986, for Kay Le Rougetel, Wendy Stevenson, and Suzanne Chabot tells the story for the little people. Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Corporation at Longueuil, Quebec had to pay up. It was a seven year battle. Three women took on the bosses and the RCMP. Guess who won? Back in Novemeber 1979, the three were fired from their jobs at the Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Corporation in Quebec for having joined an organization called the Revolutionary Workers League. Five months Man in the house In a move that could inspire similar changes in other provinces, the Ontario government has agreed to abolish controversial "man in the house" regulations for single mothers who need welfare. Under the changes a single • mother will not be denied welfare if she sleeps with a friend or gets occasional financial help. The main criteria will be whether the two are living as if they were spouses and whether the male actually supports the children in the home or has a legal obligation to support them. later Stevenson and Chabot were again fired from the crown corporation Canadair. On the same day, Le Rougetel was fired from Canadian Marconi, another defense industry plant. The Union of Auto Workers (UAW) submitted grievances at Pratt .and Whitney on behalf of the women. UAW also registered a . -complaint with the Quebec Hu- "man Rights Commission. The Commission found Pratt and Whitney/guilty of discrimination in the firings and determined that the RCMP had interfered by giving the company information on the women. The Commission also determined that Canadair was guilty of discrimination, but did not find Canadian Marconi guilty in the firing of Le Rougetel. The Commission sued Pratt and Whitney on behalf of the three women demanding that they be rehired with financial compensation. Over the last several years the battle raged through the lower courts. The women were aided by the Pratt Three Defense Committee, which united women's and civil liberties groups, unions, and six federal NDP-MPs, including Ed Broadbent. The three did not win back their jobs, but they have caused a good look at Canada's security police and their role in victimizing those who fight for social justice. Charter and native women The National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) will pressure the federal and provincial governments to entrench a sexual equality clause for all aboriginal people that will guarantee sexual equality with respect to "other rights and freedoms" in the Canadian constitution. • NAC's- Committee to Support Native Women pointed out that native women have justifiable ' reason to believe that only equality of existing aboriginal and'treaty rights are protected and there is no constitutional guarantee of sexual equality with respect to other rights and freedoms. Specifically, independent self-government is outside section 35, part II of the constitution and therefore outside the protection of the sexual equality guarantees in that section. Housing remains a problem for native people in general, and reinstated native women specifically. NAC will also pressure the federal government to reinstate all cutbacks in■ federal government funds for housing of native peoples since the September, 1984 federal electi ons. The government should provide- two distinct funds;, with separate accountability proce- dures: one to ensure adequate housing for resident band members and one for adequate housing for reinstated women and their children who wish to return to the reserves. . NAC will also wpr^i|o.th native women's, and other organizations, to obtain umbrella legislation comparable to the U.S. Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Forty to fifty percent of children in care in British Columbia are native children and many are never allowed to return to families. NAC will call for an ombuds- person's office to mediate disputes involving native women who wish to avail themselves of their rights in accordance with the amended Indian Act of 1985. The amendments provided that native yjgmen who lost their Indian Status as a result of marrying white men have regained their status. October TO Kinesis 9 LABOUR Women face complex issues nationally by Marion Pollack For the first time in Canada a major trade union central, the Canadian Labour Congress, has a woman as its president. This marks the first time that a national union central in North'America and Europe has been headed' by a woman. But, the question remains, is the trade union movement open to women's isstfeSjand needs, or is the election of Shirley Carr as CLC president merely symbolic? | The Canadian Labour Congress is the largest trade union central in Canada. Its membership comprises a whole variety of international and national unions, labour councils and Federations of Labour. Unions affiliated to the CLC include the - International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the Canadian Auto- workers Union, the United Steelworkers of America, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the International Woodworkers, of America, and Canadian Union of Postal Workers. At the local level some unions which are affiliated to the CLC make up labour councils.- For example, a number of locals in the Vancouver area are part of the Vancouver and District Labour Council. On a provincial basis, many of these unions belong to the BC Federation of Labour. The CLC holds biannual conventions at which the direction for the labour movement is discussed and debated and where executive officers are elected. The most recent CLC convention took place in May of this year. On paper the CLC seems to be putting forward pro-woman positions. There is an affirmative action component to the elections, which ensures that a specific number of executive positions are reserved for women. The Congress also holds a regular women's conference. It has an active, although appointed, women's committee. Finally, the CLC has taken good positions in favour of choice, equal pay, affirmative action, universal daycare and so on. One problem is that there is not a forum for accountability for these elected women^s Baseline will design your brochure, typeset your newsletter, paste-up your program, reduce or enlarge your illustrations, and halftone screen that photo. At decidedly reasonable rates. let Baseline be your line to printed communication can 683-5038 tions, I vote for women to represent me, but find that there are no channels to have my and other women's concerns addressed. While the CLC has good policies, there has been a constant problem in getting these policies acted upon. One example of this is the fight for the shorter work week. Since at least 1978 there has been policy calling for the CLC to carry out a major campaign in favour of the shorter work week, but this has not materialized. The same goes for resolutions on equal pay for work of equal value. While the CLC policy is good, there still has not been a nationwide campaign. The list is endless. Since the last CLC Convention there has been a noticeable change in its level of activity. Shirley Carr has been very visible in supporting thfv^Gainers strikers in Edmonton. ' She has made very positive and clear statements of support for the striking Newfoundland workers. She has been more accessible to other unions than her predecessor, Dennis McDermott. In the past couple of years, the CLC has participated in the strikes of the bankworkers at the Visa Centre of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and the workers at Eaton's stores. These strikers were mainly women, working in traditional women's jobs. The very fact that the CLC donated money and material support to these strikes is a strong indication of the increasing strength of women in and outside of the trade union movment. However, with its nationwide resources, the CLC certainly could have developed more effective boycott and support actions than it did. The last CLC Convention was another example - of the role of women in the trade union movement. While more women spoke at the mics than ever before, and more 'women spoke on a wider variety of issues,'the noise level in the Convention hall still rose anytime a woman's voice was heard. Women's issues have made some gain in the trade union movement. Almost every Federation of Labour has policies in favour of the right to choose. The Ontario Federation of Labour has played a significant and important role in continuing to defend Dr. Morgentaler. What is needed for the future is to develop more links between women in and outside the union movement. Women workers are being faced with some new issues which have to be addressed from a feminist perspective. These are free trade, privatization, and deregulation. In many ways if these three Conservative government policies get implemented, the gains women have made in the past ten years will be wiped out. Various studies have, shown that if free trade goes through, the clothing, | CLC President Shirley Carr is I* approached by the president of a member union at the conference ■§■ which elected her. textiles, food processing, shoe-making and other light industries will be adversely affected. These are precisely the industries that women are concentrated in. With the advent of free trade, we can expect to see massive job losses for women. Given current trends, it will-not be easy for women to find other full time, decently paid jobs. The latest stastistics are^shQw^-' ing that part time work, at minimum or slightly above minimum wage, is the only "type of employment that is increasing. When there is massive job loss in certain sectors of society it has a so-called multiplier effect. This means that if you layoff factory workers, other categories of workers such as clerical workers, teachers, healthcare workers, salespeople etc. also get laid off. Free trade therefore will result in women in a lot of different jobs becoming unemployed. Unemployment stats also show that women tend to be unemployed for longer periods of time than men. The final insidious aspect of free trade is thatHhe U.S. wants to put social programmes on the bargaining table. Deregulation will also hurt women. Deregulation is the removal of government rules and regulations governing certain specific industries. While on paper it sounds like the removal of red tape, the reality is that deregulation causes lay-offs, hurts small communities, and reduces services. The best example of this is the airline industry in the US. Since the government deregulated there have been literally hundreds and thousands of lay-offs. This has affected stewardesses, reservation agents, and so—mainly women. Airline deregulation has also led to hundreds of small communities having their airline services reduced or eliminated totally. When there are cutbacks in services to small communities, it is women who usually have to pick up the slack. Women in BC have seen the effects of privatization as the selling of services to the lowest bidder. In the summer of 1985 the government "temporarily" closed down Vancouver transition house. This left battered women without any safe government- sponsored refuge in Vancouver. Privatization has also meant that services to women in BC have deteriorated. Privatization has also resulted in lay-offs, and decreased wages for those workers still left. The Canadian Labour Congress has pledged to spearhead a fight against privatization, deregulation, and' free trade'. In Ontario the campaign is beginning with leaflets and demonstrations. It has yet to hit British Columbia. Perhaps, one of the acid tests for the labour movment in the 1980's is how the CLC develops and carries out this campaign. 10 Kinesis October TO SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS/SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS/SSSS/SSSSSSSSSSS/SSSS///S by Nora Randall I recently met a woman who grew up white in South Africa. Now I know that sounds like a strange way to put it, but from her story it seems to be the most accurate. Her family was put in a racial category. Hearing her talk about her childhood experiences, I was struck by how alien a landscape a racist society is to a child. I asked her if she would write about her childhood for this column. She said she was glad for the chance because she 's been trying to get her experiences down on paper. What follows is just a tiny bit of her story. Growing up in South Africa was totally confusing to me. It was through experience that I figured it out. Take my summer holidays for example. On these days, my mother would be up early and by seven o'clock would have done all the cooking and cleaning for the day. My father would have been out in the fields since dawn. By the time he returned for breakfast, the porridge would be ready on the side of the stove and the fire would be out. No fire meant no hot water but that was fine in such heat. Many people in South Africa work these hours, if they can. WOMEN'SPEAK: Gay Allison A Gala Celebration of Canadian Ay anna Black Women Poets/Le gala de la parole Nicole Brossard des femmes canadiennes Louise Cotnoir on the occasion of the launch of Louise Dupre SP/ELLES: Poetry by Canadian Maxine Gadd Women/Poesie de femmes Dorothy Lwesay canadiennes (ed. Judith Daphne Maria* Fitzgerald, Black Moss Press). Lesley McAllister Saturday, November 8,1986 PJCPage ASpace !^S8^iP Lola Lemire Tostevin 183 Bathurst Street at Queen Second Floor, 3&W227 7:00 P.M. fi4e& Vs Betsy Warland Saturna Island Retreat Breezy Bay Bed& iTOfT^^ Breakfast 1 liBpRgBffi^ jfciBft 539-2937 Enjoy the unspoiled quiet island life in a 12 room Historic farmhouse with private beach. 2 km from ferry. $25-45 night. Children under 7 free. My favourite time was spent in the veld and playing near the river. I loved to be out in the sun. This worried my mother and she made clothes to keep the sun off me and admonished me always to wear a hat. When I returned from outside she would say, "Look how dark you are. I've told you to keep out of the sun—they are not going to accept you into the high school." I vaguely knew what this meant; that my skin was too dark and no white person wanted to look too much like them. But I loved the intensity of the sun. Besides, I had thought this through carefully. Sure, my father was dark, but he was in the sun all day. I had never seen his father but he had studied in Europe, so he must have been white. (There . was no evidence of black people receiving higher education around me). I could see all my other grandparents were white. So I felt safe and Ignored my mother's scoldings. I thought of all this many times especially when the kids at school would call me derogatory names for black people. Then I would check with my parents again to see if there was any possibility of my grandparents being black. Their assurance relieved me. Not only because it allowed me to ignore the teasing of the other kids, but because I could see how hard the lives of black people were. We were poor, but at least we were not black. I could see that meant being even poorer and we were poor enough. As I grew older I had a number of experiences that taught me how arbitrary the whole system was. At that time there were separate lines everywhere for black and white. I took to lining up in whichever of the lines was shorter. In the summer I was more likely to be thrown out of the white line, and sent back to the black line.. THE \ftNCOUVER OUTDOOR CLUB FORWOMEN ORGANIZED AND RUN BY WOMEN LEARN NEW SKILLS For more information phone: Deb 255-5288 Linda 876-3506 One day I went to the police station with a brown woman to report a beating. There was no one in either line. We entered what was termed the "non-European" slide. The police officer insisted that I go into the white side. I argued with him that the woman and I were the same colour. He heard that my accent was different and insisted that I go around to the white side and conduct my side of the conversation around the partition. Another time, when I visisted a black friend in a black hospital, I was shouted at by a white nurse who called me a "Totti" (a derogatory term for blacks derived from Hottentot) and told me to leave. As I was doing so I saw a white friend from school and said hello. When the obnoxious nurse saw me talking to my white friend she assumed I was white and came over and apolT ogized and told me I could stay. And so it went. Of course I questioned my parents more closely—where was my father's paternal family from? "Well, North Africa," said my mother, looking away. Then I understood why my mother had tried so hard to keep me out of the sun, and why we were not allowed to play with the Zulu children on the farms—or even learn their language. I felt sad at my mother's pathetic role in trying to protect me so that I would get a better education and maintain the family's societal privileges. And I feel angry now that I perpetuate her role of protector by not signing my name to this column. My family is still in South Africa. Even though! my parents would be allowed to be legally married now (since some "interracial" marriages are now approved), they still live under the threat of having to move to a "black community" should the government discover that they categorized my father "white" instead of "coloured" when they began their arbitrary "colour" classification system. No person would easily choose the daily humiliation the government inflicts on black people in South Africa. Now I -long for the African sun and hope to return some day when my child is old enough It is not difficult for me to be part of the revolution. NEED INFORMATION? WANT TO TALK? (604)875-6963 Weds & Sun. 7-10 p.m. 400A West 5th Ave. Vancouver. B.C. Canada V5Y 1J8 Information Line October "86 Kinesis 11 International India: Reproductive technology resisted by Nancy Pollak Riddle: What carries new life yet may not itself be permitted birth? Answer: Female human beings. This aspect of Indian society was explored at a "Forum Against Sex Determination and Preselection" where Ravindra R.P. presented a paper denoun- sing the non-medical uses of reproductive technology. 'In India today, amniocentesis is used almost exclusively to determine the gender of a foetus, the practical result being the aborting of unwanted females. Amniocentesis was originally developed as a technique for detecting chromosomal abnormalities. Ravindra stated that few people are even aware of its traditional function, so widespread is its use as a sex determinant. Amniocentesis is, however, a less than ideal tool for this purpose. It is performed by inserting a long needle through the woman's abdomen and into the amniotic sac inside her womb. The foetus floats within the sac's fluid and foetal cells will be present in the fluid extracted; the cells are then subjected to a chrom- osonal analysis. The procedure is painful—and hazardous. The needle may puncture and damage the foetus and/or cause spontaneous abortion. Amniocentesis' major flaw as a sex determinant is that it cannot be performed until the end of the fourth month of pregnancy, a risky and difficult time to induce abortion. But other methods of gaining chromosomal—and hence, gender— information about foetuses are being pursued. The Chorionic Villi Biopsy involves entering the cervix and removing cells (villi) from the chorionic region of the uterus, using ultrasound as a guide. A three to five percent chance of bleeding, pain and spontaneous abortion exists. The procedure allows for a first trimester abortion since it may be carried out before the thirteenth week of pregnancy. Other sex determination techniques still in exploratory stages involve studying hormonal levels in a mother's blood or saliva, and extracting foetal cells from the mother's blood. Ravindra noted that, given the relatively non-invasive, risk- free aspects of these future .'methods, concern for foetal and maternal health will no longer be grounds to protest the overall practice: "opposition should now come from a more basic ideological angle." As well it must, in the light of the equally odious phenomen- 12 Kinesis October TO on of gender preselection technology. The Indian marketplace offers numerous products which claim to produce male offspring. "Sex preselection is used exclusively for begetting sons," said Ravindra. In Gujarat, a product called "Select" boasts an eighty to eighty-five percent success rate via oral capsules to the mother in her second month of pregnancy. The government hospital of Poddar Ayurvedic is researching a nasal drop therapy. Other approaches involve altering the environment of the woman's reproductive tract (with douches and diets) in order to render it more hospitable to .sperm bearing the male chromosome. People pay huge sums for these techniques, none of which have any proven reliability. To date, In Vitro Fertilization (test-tube) is the one area where sex preselection has.possibilities. Because of minute differences between the physical properties of the X (female) and Y (male) sperm, they can be separated outJ the Y-rich portion is then used in the IVF process. Complete separation still eludes researchers but it is an area that attracts much interest. Ravindra is uncompromising in her denunciation'of these evils. "Technologies to-improve the quality of life for women are either not explored or, if explored, hardly implemented. Clean water and basic sanitation facilities have not reached most villages. The infant mortality rate, especially for females, is one of the highest in the world. But technology which can be used for anti-woman purposes is readily accepted in all strata of society." But not, as the Forum proves, without resistance. Supreme Court rules against gay rights The seeds of fear, sown by a June 30 Supreme Court decision to uphold the state of Georgia's anti-sodomy laws, are growing in a fertile civil rights field that comprises not just the American gay community, but ■ people from unions, churches, birth control and abortion rights groups. In a 5-4 majority decision, the highest court leaned in favor of policing America's bedrooms. The case of Bowers v. Hardwick stemmed from the 1982 arrest of an Atlanta man who was having oral sex with another, consenting adult, in his .own bedroom. The police entered on request of another house member. Hardwick was charged with breaking Banks accused of extortion Think what would happen to your bank account if the Third World Countries refused to repay loans to industrialized nations. Loans on which the interest rates are rising so fast that many countries have been forced to cut internal .services such as education, agricultural services, immunization and other health care, and food subsidies. Third World countries owe debts with horrific interest rates amounting to, for example, more than $60 billion a year from Latin America. Interest rates are escalating due, . largely, to the US deficit, which in turn is increasing because of Reagan's arms spending policy. In some cases, the interest countries pay on debt is going to the country which is amassing arms to control the whole western hemisphere . In the United Kingdom a movement called War on Want (WOW) has been launched to get the people to talk to bank managers and members of parliament, expressing concern that loans are unbearable for some impoverished countries, such as Ethiopia. WOW is asking people to apply pressure on banks to re-negotiate interest rates and repayment schedules, before the money is gone with no hope of it ever being repaid. Don't use me!" WOW accuses the British banks of extortion. In Third World countries, rising unemployment and a drop in the standard of living are causing vast hardship. Often loans were for arms, not to improve the standard of living. At the end of the Nairobi UN Decade of Women Conference a resolution was passed by Third World women to campaign against the debt crisis. They appealed to western women to join them. African nations have requested $80 billion from-the United Nations to cover debts. Non-payment of loans would ruin western industrialized economies. a Georgia statute which says: (emphasis ours) "Any person commits the offense of sodomy when he performs or submits to any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another..." Georgia is only one of 24 states which have similar anti-sodomy laws. In Georgia conviction brings a penalty of not less than one year or more than twenty. Hardwick challenged the constitutionality of the law in federal Supreme Court and lost. His claim was that the state statute violated his fundamental rights, in that homosexual activities are private and intimate associations beyond the reach of the law. The Supreme Court's decision, written by Justice Byron White, stated that the constitution did not confer a right to adult homosexuals to engage in private consensual sodomy. The court reiterated that sodomy is, in some states, a criminal offense. Chief Justice Warren Burger reviewed the historical proscriptions against sodomy, quoting an 18th century jurist, Sir William Blackstone, who said: "The infamous crime against nature is an offense of deeper malignity than rape, a heinous crime, the very mention of which is a disgrace to human nature and a crime not fit to be named." Burger was one of the majority of five. Also among the majority was Sandra Day O'Connor. The dissenters were Justices Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, Paul Stevens and Thurgood Marshall. Blackmun read his opinion to the press from the bench, an unusual move that underlined his outrage. He argued the case is about "the right to be left alone", Gays continued opposite page International U.S. deports Margaret Randall Margaret Randall, American born socialist and feminist writer and poet, has been ordered deported from the United States by an immigration judge in El Paso, Texas. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Randall's forty books and extensive writings expressed political beliefs that made her excludable from the States under the terms of the McCarren-Walter Act of 1952. The statue allows the U.S. to deny entry to any person who has been associated with communist or anarchist organizations or has espoused *bhose doctrines. Guatemalan women remember atrocities by Eunice Brooks In Guatemala,; j-governmen"fe.rjas^ .Tj. army officials have denounced the Mutual Support Group for the Reappearance Alive of Our Disappeared Loved Ones as a puppet of international agitators. The group was founded in 1984 | by a J"ew women. who met at morgues and government offices searching for missing family members. They provide emotional' support for one another, and act as a lobby group seeking explanations for some 40,000 missing Guatemalans who have disappeared in the past five years. The women are ever targets for harassment. In only two years, two of its leaders have been assassinated. Because of the murders, one thousand women took to the streets, in protest. The group demands the military dictator General Mejia Victores provide information on atrocities that took place during his regime. Now, a new President, Christian Democrat Vinicio Cerezo, has declared an unconditional amnesty for all members of the army, granting them immunity from trials for past crimes. Nineth de Garcia, one of the group's founders says: "Collective amnesia is unconstitutional, and in no way acceptable." The Mutual Support Group will not forget the past. They have submitted 1500 writs of habeas corpus to the country's highest court. The McCarren-Walter Act was a bill passed despite the veto of President Harry Truman during the McCarthy era. From her home in Albuquerque, Randall said she will appeal the ruling. "I am disappointed, of course" Randall said, "but this is just a battle. It's not the war." Currently Randall lives in Albuquerque where she is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of New Mexico. She is married to an American citizen and cares for her aging parents, both of whom are Americans. Margaret Randall Defense Committees were formed throughout the United States and Canada last November when Randall was first threatened with deportation. The Defense committees are still active and accepting- donations to aid in the appeal process. Send donations to The . Margaret Randall Canadian Legal Defense Committee, 2504 York Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6K 1E3. Please make cheques payable to: The Margaret Randall CLDC. Reagan cannot stop affirmative action In a victory for people of colour and women and a rebuff to Reagan administration efforts to take the teeth out of civil rights legislation and roll back affirmative act- ' ion, six members of the U.S.- Supreme Court clearly and Strongly endorsed the use of numerical goals in hiring to remedy past employment discrimination. In rulings on cases involving a New York sheet metal workers local and firefighters in Cleveland, the Court said on July 2 that federal judges may set goals and timetables requiring employers who have discriminated to hire or promote specific numbers of people from oppressed groups. It also gave states and cities broader discretion to agree to similar goals without court orders. The so called "victim specific" interpretation of civil rights law presented by Attorney ' General Edwin Meese and the Justice Department — that legal action can be taken only for the individual victim of discrimination and not for classes of people—was termed misguided by the Court. William Rehnquist, Reagan's recently accepted nominee for Chief Justice of the Court, voted against the majority in both cases, condemning what he called "the evil of court-sanctioned racial quotas." Iowa university won't print lesbian photos by Nancy Pollak Noel Furie is a baker and a photographer. Common Lives/Les- -Mgg^Irives is an American quarterly of writings and graphics by lesbians. Noel is also a dyke, and a series of %er, photos of%g}& lesbian couples **'doing" it" "was "? selected to grace the pages of Issue #20 of Common Lives/Lesbian Lives. The photos might best be described as documentary proof that-young white women sometimes lie on beds together with no clothes on, kissing and hugging and stroking. What these images lack in heat they make up for in tameness. It was probably not this tameness that provoked the printers to refuse to print Issue #20. The University of Iowa Printing Services have produced Common Lives/Lesbian Lives since the folding of the Iowa City Women's Press. Anticipating a problem with Noel's pictures, Common Lives/Lesbian Lives had met with ^_he^»l^B-^i^.tte^.Tprfait. shop-- • >*ft managers and been" assured of usual service. During production, however, a worker objected to the images, .precipitating a meeting of University officials who then informed Common Lives/ Lesbian Lives that the photos would not be printed. Common Lives/Lesbian Lives was incensed, particularly in the light of the University's sponsorship of heterosexual erotic art displays and films. The University has declined to give reasons for its actions, and Common Lives/Lesbian Lives has started legal proceedings against.them. Common Lives/Lesbian Lives is not alone among lesbian publications in having suffered the wrath of homophobic printers. Bad Attitude, a fairly low-key magazine wholly concerned with sex has also been refused service. Common Lives/Lesbian Lives] has sent a letter to its subscribers, describing their difficulties and lamenting the loss of their allies, the Iowa City Women's Press. In the wordsl of your local women's press, "support your local women's press." : ._»* v>- GayS from previous page saying "What the court has refused to recognize is the fundamental interest of all individuals in controlling their intimate associations with others. (They also) fail to see the fact that individuals define themselves in a significant way through their intimate sexual relationships with others. In a nation as diverse as ours, there may be many right ways of conducting those relationships, and that much of the richness of a relationship will come from the freedom of an individual to choose the form and nature of those intensely personal bonds." The Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights has pointed out the sodomy laws apply to any person who performs oral and anal sex. They also say the decision could pave the way for future decisions against abortion, or even birth control, since the court ruled that "homosexual conduct" can be outlawed, because there is no connection between family, marriage, or procreation. The Coalition says that "reactionaries" in the Reagan administration may use this ruling to intimidate and silence the lesbian and gay community, although it appears exactly the opposite has happened. Shoulder to shoulder with lesbian and gay protesters are union members, civil rights groups, and 75 other organizations including the All-People 's Congress, and some church representatives, all actively opposing the ruling. After the June 30 Supreme Court decision against Hardwick there was a chain of protest in places such as New York, where 3000 blocked traffic on Sixth Avenue. In Boston a "kiss-in" was organized by the Gay and Lesbian Defense Committee in front of the State1 House. On July 17, 3000 people demonstrated at a Hilton Hotel, because Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was making; a speech there. Nan Hunter, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that the decision was largely symbolic. She hoped the callousness of the decision would create a backlash that would eventually wipe out the sodomy laws. October TO Kinesis 13 - " PORNOGRAPHY The following is a position paper on pornography authored by the Working Group on Sexual Violence. It is a description of and a contribution to the ongoing feminist debate on pornography. The paper has been endorsed by members of the Ontario based Civil Rights and Remedies Committee (CRRC). The CRRC was formed in 1985. Their goals include education on pornography and the development of a comprehensive scheme for the establishment of civil remedies against pornography. Building on the long history of women organizing to stop the sexual exploitation of women and children, the advent of the 'second wave' of feminism in the late sixties precipitated the recent growth of concern about violence against women. Consciousness-raising groups provided the first safe forums for women to begin to describe the experience'of their lives— and provided an audience of women who were interested enough to'listen. The creation and growth of women's centres, rape crisis centres and transition houses were a direct result of women acting on what they heard. For the last twenty years we feminists have been teaching ourselves to listen more carefully, and to take what women tell us out into the world. Many of us have had to face stories of greater brutality and greater barbarism than we would have thought was possible. Over time, we have peeled back the layers of sexism and silence to discover the many methods of sexual subordination; employment discrimination, sexual harassment, rape, wife-battering, prostitution, incest, child sexual abuse, sexual abuse of older women—and pornography. We came to understand women's oppression as a continuum, encompassing a widely disparate range of issues, related in source, significance and impact. We know it is not possible to eradicate any one form of women's oppression without also responding to all other associated forms of oppression. But our experience has taught us that this at times overwhelming continuum cannot be an excuse for ignoring individual issues. The continuum of women's oppression cannot be broken until we break the silence and address each of those issues which harm us—never for a moment forgetting the links that make the oppression so successful. Having been raised in a 'liberal society', many of us had ignored pornography, assuming it was merely sexually explicit pictures—sex education at best, tasteless at worst. Years later, having spent time with the victims of male violence, we took another look and found the sexually explicit pictures were in fact a distorted glorification of the abuse suffered by women we had talked to. We saw images of women bound, gagged, whipped, raped, infantilized, burned, chained, defecated, urinated and ejaculated upon, images which lauded the hatred of women. Since we'd last looked, pornography had grown more widespread, more malevolent, more acceptable, more profitable, and more overtly violent. We recognized the male voice of the pornographers was much louder than the voice's of the women on the pages of the magazines or on our crisis lines. And we got angry. Those same angry women organized community forums, Take Back the Night marches, and a range of other attacks on the industry. We spoke, wrote, distributed leaflets, spray-painted, picketed and protested. Some women firebombed. Some made films. The film The Pornography Not A Love Story captured some of our analysis and our anger and took it out to a wider audience, broadening the debate. Broadening the debate meant taking it beyond the normal reach of the feminist community. And women, many of whom were not feminists, recognized some of their own experience in those images and in our words. Then what happened These women wanted pornography and pornographers stopped. They wanted the lies stifled. The wanted the abuse in and by those pictures to end. So they took the information and their own understanding about the way the world (and the state) The March 1983 VSW pornography forum at Robson Square attracted 200 people to discuss pornography and strategies to fight it. works and proceeded to try to stop pornography. They called upon the police to prosecute, the consumers to boycott, the censors to censor, and the legislators to legislate. Many didn't want to stick around for hair-splitting discussions on what pornography was—they knew what it was and they wanted it not to be—anymore. As each level of the state insisted they could do nothing, women looked to the next, more powerful level. There was sometimes little recognition that those called upon for assistance were men who themselves learned about women through pornography. So the men in power saw the women who called upon them to silence the pornographers as having more in common with the women in the pictures than with themselves . Faced with deciding "how bad is it" these men could choose between their direct experience of physiological effect (whether it gave them an erection)—or a perception of what their wives and daughters ought not to see. Having ignored the voices of the victims of sexual subordination for so long they would not see the harm, only the offense. Defining the physiological effects as their own private right, and convinced that their wives and daughters would not look—they did nothing. And that made the women more angry, and louder. Then they asked the rhetorical question: what do you women want anyway? The women answered differently. Some called for changes to the criminal code, some for censorship boards, some for regulation, some for human rights codes, some for civil remedies and almost all for education. Many of those of us who spoke about the connection between pornography and violence against women were skeptical about calling upon the patriarchal state to intervene on our behalf. We focussed on education and direct action. But we soon found that a consequence of our work was -that other women took this new understanalng of pornography as harmful and demanded that the state do something about it. The debate moved from the community centres, the feminist press and the streets into the hallways of the legislatures and into the mainstream media. The controversy The voices of women calling for the silencing- of pornographers were soon joined by the voices of men and women for the protection of the family and of the morality of the community. Taking the 'sexual' out of 'sexual subordination', men and women on the right demanded an end to "smut", insisting that non-heterosexual sex be put back in the closet and genitals and extra-marital sex be hidden in brothels, at stag parties, or in magazines under the mattress. v l PEG A scene from Night Without Fear, Laurie Meeker's film about violence against women. Shown is a Red Hot Video outlet, bombed in November 1982. 14 Kinesis October TO Paper Feminists struggled with trying to hold on to the experience of women, trying to define pornography in a way which said what it was and what it did. Some tried to explain pornography as not sex and not about sex but about power. About men defining women's sexuality and about the use of male power against women through sex. The latter argument was unacceptable, rendered inaudible in the hallways of the legislature and in the mainstream media. As feminists who saw pornography as about male power and the sexual subordination of women we looked for a way to remove the power of speech from the pornographers and from the police and to place that power in the hands of the women who experien^ ced harm. We talked about defamation, damages and our human rights. Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin are two American feminists who talked with those who suffered damage and translated what they heard into a civil ordinance. Together they and many other women lobbied intensively for its passage in Minneapolis and in Indianapolis. And what they said and where they said it became news. As patriotic Americans, the left and the liberals attacked it as unconstitutional and them as suppressors of freedom of speech and underminers of civil liberties. Vancouver protest against Canadian Radio Television- Telecommunications Commission decisions which removed restrictions on racism and sexism in programming, February 1984. Freedom of speech and civil liberties are very valuable commodities to those who don't have them. The left and women have a history of being short-changed. There was a very strong reaction against assumed 'allies' apparently giving those rights away; this reaction was particularly strong from those on the left and from those women who have some rights and fear they have something to lose. They called the threat "censorship"—and they called . those who spoke about freedom of speech for all women "pro-censorship". To be anti-censorship is, in effect, to be in favour of freedom of speech for pornographers. Further, it is to define pornography as speech and not practice. But pornography is about denying women speech, about binding women's mouths closed, about putting false words on their lips, about murder and torture and rape and submission and seduction in pictures and in practice, with the pictures. And so being anti-censorship is about valuing the words of those who are anti-censorship over the words of the women who are pictured and practiced on- and in particular over the words of those women who talk about what that means. In early 1983 people picketed various BC Red Hot Video outlets, culminating in a week long! picket in May at the Main Street store in Vancouver. However there are those who attempt to value both equally. Accepting that pornography is sexist and degrading, they argue that it must be counteracted with organizing, education, and the development of a 'feminist erotica'. They argue that the voices of women and left-thinking men will drown out the voices of pornographers and we will all live happily ever after—or if not happily, at least we won't be censored . But what voices you hear depends on where you are. For those women who are raped today, for those women whose men force them to act like the women in the pictures, for those women who are coerced into posing, and for those children who are learning wha^^fex Is and wha^ women ea^M%&$Mi&^i. videos' and magazines-i^^he local■ J||litif|M~ or in their homes, and for those women in our movement who help the'survivors come to terms with those experiences, the voices of the harmed are louder than the voices of those preaching a feminist erotica. t£Wi«e4i&s It is probably safe to say that for most of the population the voices of the pornographers and their customers are more audible, indeed they overpower those who dream out loud of a feminist sexual discourse. We know that freedom of speech belongs to those who own the presses, and among those who own the presses there is a preponder- ence of rich, white men. We also know there is a preponderence of these same rich, white men in the appartus of the state—in the legislatures, in the courts, and practically everywhere decisions are made about our lives. The patriarchal capitalist state continues to profit from and shore up the free-enterprising pornographers while simultaneously promising women protection from harm, from defamation, and from violence—and from infringement of civil liberties. The pornographers claim freedom for themselves while placing women in bondage; the state claims to protect liberties, liberties which are available only to those who.are permitted, and can afford, to exercise them. Being a feminist means putting women first and starting with women's experience. So we must start with the experience- of women j as subordinated, as without liberty. In choosing to address the issue of pornography as one among many facets of women's oppression, we must start with the experience of women as subordinated, deprived of liberty, in, by and with the use of pornography. And we must recognize the silence and the damage of that experience. From the starting point, we have sought to make women's voices audible, in every available forum, in our communities and in the courts. To that end we have argued for and continue to argue for a civil right, the right of women to pursue, into the courts, the men who have damaged them. We have argued against the use of the criminal courts because that would place.the decisions and the speech in the hands of the police, and would define 'society' and not women as harmed. We are working on defining the nature of that civil right, and more specifically . the nature of the harm, a definition based on women's experience—one which would allow some compensation for what has been lost. There is no compensation for silence nor for subordination, but we believe that recognition of that silence and of the harm, publicly and monetarily, is part of breaking the silence and stopping the harm. At the very least it would reduce some of the profits of those who impose silence and do harm. At best it would give the silenced and harmed a forum to speak. The debate about pornography is very much a debate about freedom of speech. However the question is not more or less freedom— but whose freedom. On this question the women's movement divides along predictable lines: the liberals, who seek to enhance the freedom of the police and censor boards (while trying to defend sex education, art and gay rights); the socialists, who oppose the diminution of their own freedom of speech (and of everyone else who already has it); and the radical feminists, who demand that the voices of women—all women—he heard. The Working Group on Sexual Violence is comprised of; Jan Barnsley, Megan Ellis, Debra Lewis and Frances Wasserlein. Members of the Civil Rights and Remedies. Committee who endorse this position papar are: Kate Andrew, Brettel Dawson, Mary Lou Faffel, Kathleen Lahey, Diana Ma jury, Sarah Salter, Jennifer Stephen, Susan Ursel. October TO Kinesis 15 j — ! ■■ ■)■ PRESS GANG When we get mail addressed to Mr. Dorothy Elias—President, you know what we're up against. Now, Mr. Dorothy is a good sport about such things, but let's face it, it -get's a bit tedious. There are no men and no bosses at Vancouver's Press Gang. And you won't find many printshops that stop production for two hours every Tuesday afternoon to meet and discuss everything from the cat's flea problems to the feas- ability of unionizing. But then, Press Gang isn't your ordinary printshop. Looking back, it's clear that it never was. A couple of people with a small press in their basement started to get ideas. A few more people joined in and Press Gang was born. This was about 1972. The vision was to print for the alternative and political community in Vancouver, and to provide a space where people could come, use equipment and work on their printing projects. Quality was not a burning issue back then. Within a short time the collective expanded and Press Gang was ready to move to its first location in a basement on East Hastings Street. People froze their butts in the winter, never saw the sunlight and tolerated a trough of stag* nant basement water that ran around the edge of the room. But it was home. Within a year more women joined the collective until, at one point, there were ' nine members—six of them women. None of the women at that time came to the Press with any knowledge of running a printshop. politics in print It was almost totally on-the-job training, sink or swim. There was a lot of swimming : going on. With $300 in the bank Press Gang was one of the richer groups going. The fact that the rent was being covered and bills taken care of was unique for groups struggling to do important political and community work. But then, no one was being paid either. No* one expected to. It wasn't ever looked at as a way of making a living, and most people had other full- time or part-time paid jobs, or worked at Press Gang as part of other work going on in the community. Sarah Davidson, one of the original Press Gang cronies who worked at the Press until 1980, reminisces easily about her first encounters: "I went down there to pick up some pamphlets for the Women's Centre (which later became the Women's Bookstore) and there was one woman there, trying to fix something on the large press. I offered to help. An hour later, as I was leaving, she asked me if I wanted to join the collective—she wanted more women there. I just smiled in an understanding way and left." Sarah had no idea that she was about to spend the next seven years of her life with ink under her fingernails and a passion for Press Gang in her heart. The size of the collective varied drastically. Comings and goings were sporadic and unpredictable even on a day-to-day level. Often people worked late into the night. Constant mechanical and technical problems sometimes dictated that. In those early years of the mid-seventies Press Gang was sustained, in part, by local job grants. It provided an opportunity to train and work and, quite simply, get printing done. But that funding wasn't to last. And Press Gang was changing. A separation in the collective was emerging. More and more women were becoming discontent with the division of labour. They wanted to I run the larger press and to be involved in finances. Before long a pattern developed where the women were working in the day and the men at night. Finally someone called a meeting to discuss "the problem of the women at the Press". Sarah recalls: "It was really quite bizarre. No one seemed to realize there was anything wrong with the way that was phrased. Everyone was surprised when I pointed it out." After this meeting one of the men suggested the collective split. By that point it apparently made sense for the women to stay and keep most of the equipment, and the men would have "visiting privileges" to use the facilities. And so, around 1974, Press Gang became a women's press. Eventually, the men stopped coming altogether. By 1976-77 talk began of paying everyone. A novel concept to say the least. Before this, people got-paid according to the 'need system'—if you needed the money you would get it (if it was there). If you didn't, well, you simply didn't. It was usual enough back then to be satisfied with the non-monetary rewards of working in a collective, doing important political work, working with women, getting extended holidays and birthday cakes. Someone called a meeting to discuss the 'problem' of women at the Press... it was really quite bizarre. Around this time the publishing aspect of Press Gang took form with the production of its first book: Women Look at Psychiatry. Everyone in the collective was involved in both publishing and printing. Gradually the publishing end of the Press took on a life of its own. It is now a separate collective. There were discussions of better organization, structuring the work day (deliveries were being missed because there wouldn't always be someone there), setting up a bookkeeping system, improving homemade equipment and getting decent training. With all this in the air and heated discussions about money, and publishing work always on the agenda, the collective boat was rocking. By 1978 Press Gang was ready to move to its present location at 603 Powell St. and half of the collective was ready to move on. The move essentially divided the group. In some ways it seemed there was a positive outcome to the break. The remaining collective was more solidified and perhaps more committed to a common goal. The move also brought drastic improvements in physical health—amazing what a little sun and dryness can do. Questions of business, politics, equipment, money and sheer energy were being addressed in much the same way they are today. It is not a well-known fact that, until very recently, Press Gang was the only women's printshop in English Canada. 16 Kinesis October TO While there are women's publishing operations scattered around the country, women's printshops are virtually unheard of. Networking with other women printers in Canada has therefore been limited and so most of the resource-sharing has come from experiences with women's groups and conferences in the United States. It was a high experience for the women at Press Gang to attend the first Northwest Women in Print Conference in Seattle in 1983. We made many personal, political and trade connections. The conferences covered both printing and pub± lishing. By 1985, at the most recent National Conference on Women in Print, held in San Francisco, the printing aspects.of the conferences was being minimized. Marilyn Fuchs was one of the Press's representatives at the conference: "I think there was a definite tension and uncomfortableness around that for printers. We felt a little isolated and apart from the rest of the Conference." But printers consolidated and made connections and the after-hours chats were really worthwile. Still, there was a perceived shift away from the political in publishing as well, and somehow the discussion of the importance of having-women's printshops was missing. Apart from this, the conference was very useful. There were workshops day and night on many aspects of printing and publishing and Press Gang itself gave a workshop on "Printers Staying Solvent" (pun probably intended). The special affinity we feel with the San Francisco Women's Press was reinforced. Their recent move to unionize inspired us to take the issue in hand as well. It feels like there's only a handful of us left. I think we have to be vigilant to protect what we have. With a move away from the political and the difficult reality of staying alive in a competitive business like printing there is naturally a fear for the future of alternative printshops. At the conference in San Francisco a woman representing Workshop Printers in Seattle talked about the group's precarious position. By the summer of the next year, Workshop Printers went under. Several months ago we got word that Iowa City Women's Press had folded. Marilyn explains why this news was so devastating: "Iowa City was such a pillar. The fact that they're gone is very disturbing and very sad. They were also the driving force behind the Women Printers Newsletter, put out by the Alliance of Les^ bian and Feminist Printers. Now that's gone too. It feels like there's only a handful of us left. I think we have to be vigilant to protect what we have. People tend to take us for granted, thinking we have things we don't really have, that we'll somehow survive. There's a feeling that we'll always be here. We might not be." It is partly that reality that keeps Press Gang moving and continuing to integrate the personal and political with the financial. From the wageless days of burning desire, when there was no' question that you'd go into the Press in the middle of the night to print an imperative leaflet, to todays worker-contract, there has been an unquestionable evolution at Press Gang. The worker-contract has been in place for a year now. It is a product of personal and political struggles. We have taken the ideas of those who, years back, first pushed discussions of having better working conditions and wages, often taking great personal risk to do so. We have shaped them into something that recognizes the possibilities of integrating worker politics with those that Press Gang grew from and with. It meant acknowledging that we are both workers and management. It also meant taking ourselves seriously as workers. It may seem obvious, but in the context of Press Gang's history, it was a remarkable and inspiring revelation. Paula Clancy is one of the women at the Press who is in the unique position of working at Press Gang for four years, leaving, and returning a year later. The year away at a non-union, mainstream printshop opened her eyes to the issues of labour politics. She turned back to Press Gang with a firm belief that worker issues could be connected with what we had as a collective: "It was really insightful to see the need to make a decent wage in a larger political context. It's easier and more accurate, I think, to take the issue away from individual needs for money, which leaves you alone, to a political level that provides a group and relationship within which to work." There are many progressive elements, even by labour, standards, to the contract we have made for ourselves, particularly relating to maternity leave, sick leave and holidays. There is a structure in place for continual wage increases. Paula's history with the Press allowed her to see the impact of the contract. "It helped us to see what we had built and claim the value of it. There had been a real effort to improve working conditions, without spending money. That's ridiculous. With the overtime issue, for example, the motivation was a desire to recognize it; the reform was taking it in time-off; the revolution was taking in money." The working out of the contract has not always been easy, but for the most part there's a sense of its importance. Paula adds: "When you think about it, considering that we were women working in non- traditional jobs, with no role models, little experience or training, no money and in a competitive business, the fact that we exist at all is incredible." It meant acknowledging that we are both workers and management. It also meant taking ourselves seriously at, workers. But exist we do and much of the original vision of Press Gang remains with us today. Community connection continues to be an important part of who we are. We set this up in a couple ways. One way is how we deal with customers. There is always information-sharing happening. It is part of our daily work to explain and advise on printing jobs. This idea comes into sharp focus when working with groups or individuals who have a thin budget. Our layout and bindery equipment is available to those looking to save money or wanting a little independence. And we offer donations to groups who otherwise would be unable to get something printed. Another way we connect in the community is through our volunteer program. We believe that it is important for women to have access to the skills and knowledge of the printing trade. Press Gang has printing policies around what we will not print. It is part of our commitment to progressive change and to the political community. Our general policy states that we won't print anything that is racist, sexist or homophobic. We develop other, more specific, policies as issues come up. As workers in the graphic arts industry we are keenly aware of the power of the printed word. We are here to challenge and to create alternatives. And we have a desire as workers to have control over our lives. The noise of the presses is rarely heard late at night anymore, but there is an echo—freedom of the press belongs to those who own the October TO Kinesis 17 Disabled women and sex 4We have successes and failures' The sex supplement I This month Kinesis takes on sex and sexuality. "And it's about time," ! regular readers might add. It's true, this supplement has been a long time p! coming, first announced overa year ago, and postponed at least three times [ i since then. So here it is, finally. Not definitive, complete, or the last word, but a range ! of articles, stories, photos and graphics that we hope will spark debate and i response, at least some of which will make its way back to us. ! Sex is a big topic. The diversity of concerns it raises is enough to make it a difficult subject to cover, even without the attendant fear and personal i judgement. This diversity has meant that we've had to make some rather I painful editorial decisions. Every reader will find something missing. We nope i some, or better yet—lots, of you will fill those gaps in future issues. We have chosen a particular perspective in order in order to make the topic I more manageable—a perspective we have managed to maintain to varying degrees. We have tried as much as possible to focus on sex, rather than the j more nebulous 'lifestyle' issues around it. I This is also no analysis of pornography in this supplement, or of sexual i violence. These are not trivial issues. Nor are they unrelated to sex and : sexuality. However, Kinesis has provided extensive ongoing coverage of pom, | rape, incest and wife battering and their impact on women's lives, sexual and : otherwise. Sex without violence has less frequently been broached. We try to do that here. i Lesbian sado-masochism is not analyzed in this issue either. We encourage discussion on s/m from ail points of view, but are not interested in fuelling an already polarized debate. We believe that s/m has too often been the sole focus of what is really a much broader discussion, instead of presenting i readers with pro and con positions, this suplement includes an overview of the : so-called sex debates, which we hope will provide a context for further ■ articles on s/m and other controversial issues. I Finally, for all you frustrated sexual analysts, commentators, and scribblers, ■ here is a list of some of the things we thought were great article ideas and • simply couldn't pull together. '^J^-' <h • Feminists raising sons: How do you talk about sex? • Interviews with young girls: What do they think about sex? • What are your earliest sexual memories? 1 • How does race and class affect sexuality? • Why do women write erotic fiction? • Romance and sex: What's the link? How does one affect the other? • Pregnant women... pregnancy and sex I • Mothers, just for starts-where do they find the time and energy? J by Susan Martin and the women of DAWN Recognition of sexuality doesn't necessarily imply sex. Sexual acknowledgement is basic to building a relationship. When sexual identity has escaped you the option ! isn't opened. My disability is in proportion to how people see me as asexual. The problems of sexuality for disabled.'women are the same as for able-bodied women, and then some. Those who have mobility problems, movement disorders, blindness, speech difficulties and who often need metal and plastic aids for their bodies inspire fear and discomfort in those who see them. People wonder—"do they do it? Do they want to?" Well they do. There are also those who appear normal but who bring to their beds pain or fatigue. Nerve dysfunction can cause the vagina to not respond fully or to necessitate taping a catheter out of the way. Facing the presumptions of others or the betrayal of your own body brings a profound sense of loss. Not surprisingly the psychological consequences can end up being more destructive to a woman's feelings of sexuality than her disability. Isolation may be the only .thing embracing her as she tries to surmount these difficulties.. Then there are the fundamental problems of access—not just to discos but also restaurants, churches, friends' homes and so on. If you can't get to another person then you can't have a relationship. Able-bodied women are disabled also as far as sexuality goes. We all suffer because of body-beautiful images of women and the imposition of ideas about even what our own feelings and self-image should be. I have multiple sclerosis, which, as a nerve disease creates symptoms (often temporary) that affect my sexuality as well as my ability to walk. I am also a member of DAWN (DisAbled Women's Network of BC) which held its founding conference last March. From the proceedings I will quote statements from those women who participated in a workshop on sexuality which was the largest held during the conference. Lust is a four letter word by Cy-Thea Sand A couple of years ago I ended up in an all night conversation with six other lesbians on a dock facing the Richelieu river Quebec. We were all participants in the Feminist Periodicals Conference and we had gravitated towards each other with the intensity of new lovers. We talked relationships and sex all night and the recurring theme was for better sex and more satisfying relationships. We demystified lust by speaking openly about its role in our lives. We carried the conversation into directions few of us had walked before, but in the end we returned to our individual lives where the most profound questioning begins. How important is lust in my life? How is it connected to or different from creative energy? Do I feel lonely or sexual and what is the difference? Will learning how to cruise successfully really enhance I my self-esteem or is good sex not really I what I need right now; do I control lust? I or does it control me and how do circum- I stances alter my response? What is my I sexual history to date and how do I want I to change or improve it? I When I came out in the early seventies, I groups of women were not speaking about I the nitty-gritty of getting it on. In I political groups we were defining the I oppression of lesbians, struggling to I articulate ourselves in feminist arenas. I Lust, as an integral part of our lives I as lesbians, was seldom if ever on that j historical agenda. 18 Kinesis October TO The recent sex debates have tended to focus on anti and pro pornography positions, vanilla versus s/m sexual techniques and lesbian role playing. My con* cern is that the conversation is ending in prescription. In the seventies, many women felt that the. only way to be a true feminist was to sleep with women. I now sense a pressure for real lesbians to be sexual dynamos, uninhibited amazons forever searching for the ultimate sexual high. While lust as a public subject is extremely important for women—when they are doing the talking, that is—the private, complex, personal nature of the topic may be getting lost. In her article Lust Is A Four Letter Word (Heresies #12), J. Lee Lehman writes that "all the romance in the world cannot hide the fact that good sex is an intense form nication." Audre Lorde's definition of the erotic as "a measure between the beginning of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings" hints at the import of our subject." Some of us lose the feeling and long for its return; other women wish that lust between women would just go away leaving them in peace. Lust can upset us, limit us, make us crazy and angry or limit our autonomy. It can make us powerful or vulnerable, pulsating through our daily lives and dreams like electricity in a conduit. Lust needs to be better understood. Many of us don't understand lust and its power because it has been defined for us. Men lust. Women are taught coy ways of controlling that lust until the circum stances are right—being in love or getting married. Our own.desires must be subverted in this game as well as our access to knowledge about its impulse. Lust is put on hold until we go wild in the marriage bed or lie still until it's all mercifully over, our sensuality corseted and eventually repressed altogether. We have been taught to fear and control the lust of others and in the process we have been denied the profound experience of directing our desire and the sex act itself. Much of what sex radicals are writing about is just this: women demand ing to speak publicly of desire, of organizing the conversation around the managing of the give and take of sexual pleasure. The fact that many of us stutter at the very thought of such deliberateness is reflected in the romantic swoon many women fall into when they feel hot for someone and in the glazed eyes of women who can only flirt when alcohol or drugs are loosening their minds and other parts of their anatomy. A woman recently spoke to me about her reaction when she spots a woman who really .Women shared many details of their personal lives on a woman to woman basis, with non-disabled women participating. "As my disability becomes more visible, I am treated more and more as asexual, and I start treating myself that way. This is a real personal loss." "I have a fear of being seen as grotesque." "These are the images that are reflected onto us. It is not in good taste to have sexual feelings; it is not your place to be seductive, or even project yourself as having a good-time." "Models in a Hollywood catalogue don't look like us." "I am able-bodied and I had an affair with a quad. He wanted to be seen as equal but also wanted me to feel sorry for him." "It is confusing inside. We feel we are just like you but society says no'; there are two sides, they come out at different times." Growing up and learning about sexuality is difficult for any of us. Dealing with being single for a disabled person is even more daunting. For even a 'normal'-appearing person, imagine announcing to a prospective partner that you can't do it quite like everyone else they have met. Imagine as well the difficulties for a disabled lesbian whose sources of shared understanding are even further limited. Marriage doesn't offer uncomplicated solutions. Studies differ as to whether marriages of those with chronic diseases or disabilities suffer divorce more frequently than the general population. A woman, however, is less likely to live with a' supportive man than vice versa and is even more economically vulnerable than most women. There are problems surrounding issues of birth control and child-rearing which are excites her: she freezes, refuses to return the woman's look overcome by the power of her erotic response. She moves as far away as possible from the dynamo and ends up going home alone and frustrated. No wonder many lesbians have drinking problems or are involved with women who do. Alcohol has given us permission to explore dangerous territory, sexual territory, which explodes with passion, confusipn, pain and despair. Suddenly we are actors in our own plays. The script can' be dictated by us but instead we often stumble around hurting others and ourselves in attempts at erotic autonomy. I want to know what lust is. I wasn't allowed to be lustful while I was a kid or an adolescent. As I grew older I learned that there are socially sanctioned ways for women to be sexual adults in the world. We know that these sanctions have nothing to do with women's liberation. Many women spend energy, time and money trying to get in touch with their anger but I have heard of few women in therapy who get in touch with their erotic potential. I have heard of few women in therapy I who want to get in touch with their erotic potential. In it's supression, lust is in many ways akin to women's anger. The angry outbursts of my youth made my parents as uncomfortable as their fears that I was sexually active. There are lady-like ways of being pissed off. I experience both these emotions, lust and anger, as avenues to either being in control of my world or being overwhelmed by it all; overwhelmed and coerced—often by my own inexperience and fears—into silence, resentment and mistakes. Lust may be con- aspects of any woman's sexuality but again are complicated by a physical condition. The supportive partner faces stresses of their own with little outside support and understanding. "Disabled men have problems with sexuality too. Except it is men who traditionally do the approaching, so we have two counts against us, inhibiting our sexuality possibilities. And because of sexual roles we are supposed to be sex objects, alluring." "Wheelchair dancing". "Dancing seductively in a wheelchair? Why not? I had an incredible time at the BC Games dancing. It's hard when you're the only wheelchair person on the floor. But having a good time shows; I started perceiving admiring glances. The energy has to come from within." "The dance issue is very tricky for me. It makes me uncomfortable. I love music but I need quiet. -Dancing is the wrong thing for me. What else is there besides dancing?" "In January I went to a dinner/dance for professional women. I had a good time and was even invited out for dinner the next week, but I didn't dance because for me dancing is very painful. As we were going home my friend said "why bother if you don't dance?" This kind of lack of understanding really hurts. Lack of understanding, or lack of accessibility always brings inequality back into the relationship." "How do you make people reflect on you as a sexual person?" We discussed trianing workshops, confidence and tools for social success. Perhaps a booklet—Sexuality for the Disabled: A How To. Bath, candlelight, wine. Appreciating our bodies for what they really are—learning to love what we have. Appreciating one's own worth. There is a relationship between sexuality and assertiveness . Disabled women and sex continued page 26 nected with anger. Whether it is and how is just one of the many questions that I believe must be considered if we are to take, as Lorde says, "a measure...between our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings." I don't want our questions short-circuited or undermined in a frantic unwise attempt to fill in the silences of decades. The questions we need to ask are as varied and individual as the women who comprise our communities. I don't want our questions short-circuited or undermined in a frantic, unwise attempt to fill in the silences of decades. Lust is being explored publicly and privately in our communities. We need to remember that the bottom line in this "speaking sex" exercise should be women's increased inde-- pendance and sense of worth. To this end we have to take responsibility for the content of our desires and step by self-defined step give them life. In this process there. will be a diversity of sexual language, a diversity which should excite us and also enable us to promote tolerance and respect even as we speak in different languages. Cy-Thea Sand is a guest editor on the Fireweed collective for their upcoming issue on CLASS. She would be interested to hear from anyone who has thought about class issues around sexuality and/or relationships. She knows that there are many lesbians in Vancouver in mixed class relationships and would like articles, fiction or poetry on how different class backgrounds impact on the sexual and domestic aspects of these relationships. Please write to her c/o 417-675 East Fifth, Vancouver, BC VST 4P1 OctoberVS6 Kinesis' 19 SbIp^ The great sex by Emma Kivisild For the past several years sex has been high on the agenda of the women's movement. A series of conferences and controversies, beginning at the start of this decade in the U.S. and meshed, both south of the border and here, with conflict around strategies against pornographic imagery and writing has produced The Great Sex Debate. A debate that still confounds a lot of feminists. ?%ii.';J*j'£- The Heresies Sex issue published in 1981 and Barnard Conference on Sexuality, also in 1981 in New York, marked a major shift, for feminism on this continent, a shift towards a focus on sex itself. Both aired concerns (among them sado/masochism and butch/femme role playing) that had been largely ignored or taboo, at least for political women. These "events" were not, however, the first feminist discussions or writings on sex and sexual practice. Predecessors that leap to mind are Our Bodies Ourselves, Betty Dodson's Liberating Masturbation, Pat Califia's Sapphistry... and the list goes on. What makes today's sex debates different is their theoretical intensity, lust and sex have been catapulted out of the bedrooms and onto the conference platform. This new level of interest began in the early 80's, true enough, but the groundwork was laid Loving your enemy in the 70's, by the movment against violence • against women; by lesbian feminism and gay liberation; by anti-porn activism and the anti-censorship response. When we talk about sex today, we are questioning in a profoundly new way, informed by a hard earned picture of the factors affecting women's lives in North America. The sex debates have forced the fleshing out of political positions that had been living in an uneasy alliance.. The two main, or at least most polarized, elements in the debate have been the sex radicals and the anti-porn feminists. Public conflicts between anti-porn groups and such groups as s/m feminists go back as far as the late Tough choices and hard contradictions by Veneita Porter I spent almost an hour on the phone with Allen tonight talking about all the horrible shit that happens to black folks. Fear not, this wasn't a simple diatribe on living in a fetid white society because the blood be hurtin the blood as well. I felt my consciousness start to submerge when we started talking about the Atlanta child murders. Inside, part of me understands that if I were ever to release my rage at what happens to us, my world as I know it would quite simply be destroyed. In the same stream of thought I fantasize about what I'd like to do with a very hot anglo who comes in to proofread on Thursdays. Part of me wants to hug her tightly, to feel the imprint of her breasts against mine, but some part of me wants all of them to pay... There is always the possibility of slavery. Where is the comfortable place between rage pain and pleasure? Is it tha"E moment right before you scream with release? Is that the place where we have no colour? It has always been difficult to explain, nay, difficult to understand, my black Indian's feelings that tear me apart make me self-destruct on a regular basis. No one has ever showed me how to use this internal fire so that I do not burn myself or others. There is a lot of street stuff that says, "You can never trust a white one. They are soulless." So in spite of the part that loves, there is always a need to test, to push and to see how far the limit of "love" goes. There is a sense of both triumph and embar- assment in being with a white lover. The triumph is about feeling like you came a long distance to get to this place together. All that "two worlds" shit. Part of me knows that raised poor or working class is a common bond that goes deeper than skin. Yet fingers tongues cocks and cunts don't ask for ethnic credentials when they are warm wet and hard...so much for politics. I never fantasize about strangers. It's not safe. There is an element of known quality in my fantasies. The curve of a lip, the hollow of a collarbone, perhaps the memory of a kiss, are all interwoven to create a breathless place in my mind. In this place, anglos are always there to do my my bidding completely and unquestioningly. Their only desire is me! I don't have to think about whether they're comfortable kneeling. In my real world, I'm often the giver, the provider, so willing to guide someone through to a place of passion but with a reluctance to escape with them. To get beyond an adversary relationship one has to fall in love with the enemy. I don't mean story-book material, just every-working- day love. I've got there with friends, but whenever there are periods of mis or non communication, I start to wonder. It's hard not to feel a victim to your colour. Not to wear it like a shield telling all to keep back. But we pay. I pay inside for all that dynamite unfused. I look at flowers growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, bravely showing their colours and sometimes I say to myself, "If they can do it, I sure ain't got nothing to complain about." Living in a city like Boston one has to develop a healthy fear of everyday racism. So much fucking water off my back. Sometimes I just want .to rip them limb fromi limb. It's hard not to carry that kind of garbage into a relationship. A lot of them haven't survived. My pain over those doesn't leave. It's sort of two-steps-forward-one-step- back' process, the black and white thing, you know? I know self-pride is the center where we must begin. No one helps a victim, just chastises. Developing our fantasies to the point of reality is essential for me because the subconscious tells me things I need to listen to. Approaching people is not easy. But what is? Let's be serious. There are people you and I want in our lives. Fall in love with an enemy. There's a possibility of slavery. There's a possibility of freedom. Reprinted from Bad Attitude, Winter 1985. Efforts to contact Bad Attitudes or the author, Veneita Porter, for reprint permission were unsuccessful. 20 Kinesis October H6 debates 70's in San Francisco, when Women Against Violence and Pornographic Media (WAVPM) and the s/m support group, Samois,' first clashed Those clashes were emblematic of conflicts to come. One the one hand, anti-porn activists called some women's sexual practices oppressive and anti-feminist, personalizing the debate to the.point of calling s/m lesbians 'diseased' and excluding specific women from ant'i-porn conferences. On the other hand, s/m lesbians charged the anti- porn movement with being misinformed and ill-prepared, and eventually began to label it regressive, moralistic and anti- Samois' basic position in this debate, that women have a right to do what gives them pleasure, is better slated in more consciously sex radical writing—by such women as Gayle Rubin, Pat Califia, Cindy Patton, Joan Nestle, Sue Golding and Amber Hollibaugh. It is not an argument for s/m per se, but rather an analysis that begins in a very different place from previous feminist analysis. Sexual practise and the repression of alternative sexualities is the issue here. Rubin outlines a sexual hierarchy created by this repression that she believes is, ultimately, detrimental to all of us. White heterosexual males are at the top of this seale, lesbians and gay men are on the low end but at the bottom are 'deviant', 'kinky' lesbians and gays—s/m dykes, butch/femme'couples, transvestites, fetishists—. According to Rubin and others, by stigmatizing certain fringe sexual elements as anti-woman, some feminists are simply buying into the hierarchy, opting for the small amount of power they can have by being slightly higher on the scale. The anti-porn activist's perspective, at least as expressed by Andrea Dworkin and Catherine McKinnon, also puts the repression of sexuality at the centre. But this time it's the subjugation of women's sexuality by various patriarchal means, which has as it's goal the oppression of women. Porn, sexual violence, and such sexually defined roles as wife and prostitute, are " part of this subjugation. ^ Sexual practice is looked at not in terms gj of its deviance from a white heterosexual ■£ male norm but rather is analysed as an I agent of sexist repression. Anti-porn E activists, of course, range from right j= wing women who are concerned about the s- sanctity of the family and deny that women % are oppressed, to feminists who are pro- sex but also pro-legislation. Some women are anti-porn and anti-censorship. In the debate mentioned above, several women were (and are) members of both WAVPM and Samois. Similarly, the women who have been called sex radicals encompass a wide range of political vi'ews. Political perspectives obviously affect where individual women fit in on the sex issue. But it is not inaccurate, to say that that the public debate so far has been primarily between women who feel confident in saying that"some sexual practices, and images of them reinforce oppression and should be organized against, and those who find that confidence simplistic and moralistic. And the controversy has raged: should s/m women be allowed at women's festivals? Should women's bookstores carry the new lesbian sex magazines? Is butch/femme an element of lesbian culture or internalized oppression? Is there such a thing as politically correct sex? Who should be allowed to speak at what conference and so on. As well, over the years this fundamental debate has, of necessity, opened other The debate has been between women who think some sexual practices should be organized against, and those who find thatsimplistic and moralistic. questions and many different groups have been coming up with answers. In Eastern Canada, for instance, workers in the sex industry—porn actresses, prostitutes, strippers—have increasingly begun to contribute to feminist's analysis of their work. Prostitutes are demanding support in organizing for better working conditions, and deny that they can be defined as victims . Sex trade workers involvement in the debate is raising yet new questions on the interaction of economics and sex. If women get control over their working lives will the sex industry cease to be exploitative? Even if the sex industry stops being sexist, doesn't that still make it a capitalist institution? Can sex be commoditized? Obviously sex can be commoditized, it is all the time, increasingly so. What is interesting is that though porn is often seen as commoditization, much, of the discussion on sexual freedom itself ignores the issue of the sheer commoditization of all sex, and whether it is desireable. When the issue of sexual freedom is debated on it's own terms, as the freedom to do what we want, the operative issue is often the accessibility of sexual materials—media, toys, and eventually people. The lesbian sex culture in San Francisco, for example, now has a strong economic base, with lesbian prostitutes, leather shops, sexual counsellors, strip joints, and so on. We may agree that this is alright, that women have a right to be paid for their work. But is it sexual freedom, or just the freedom to buy our kind of sex too? In her talk at the same Heat Is On conference last year, local activist Sara Diamond outlined the range of positions in the sex debate. She paraphrased an analysis that she calls "sex as ideological battleground." Developed by such thinkers as the French philosopher, Michel Foucault, this theory extends the connection between sexual practice and our place in society beyond "porn is the theory, rape is the practice," and says that all sexual practice is socially . determined, by a wide range of factors. For any given person, or practice, a number of these factors may come together. Class, race gender, sexual orientation, the nature of the government in power, each contributes. In looking at sex, we have to unravel the impact of each one in the appropriate context. "There tends to be this idea of sexual liberation that doesn't have meaning," says Pat Feindel, formerly an. anti-porn activist. "If it means you can get sex at any old corner store, it doesn't mean much. Freeing sex up from the whole marketplace, that might mean something. If it's free, it's not sold." With an increasingly strong right-wing drive on the move in Canada, it seems imperative that feminists come to some sort of consensus on the sex issue. A key component of right wing misogeny and homophobia is that it's anti-sex. Certainly anti-sex- without-marriage-or-reproduction. Feminists, with few exceptions, are pro-sex. We all agree that women should not be limited to sexual activity for reproduction only. How can we expand the terrain of common ground? For one thing, we need to work at taking sex out of the judgment and morality laden context it now occupies. We also need to begin to talk about what we like as much as what we don't like. We'll give the last word to Pat Fiendel: "We have to get beyond sexual violence to deal with the right wing approach to sex. Because they are talking about sex, not about how we have been abused. And sex is here to stay. Neither the right wing nor feminists can do anything about that." SEX—N. sex, sexuality, venery ; sexology; gender. sexual power, virility, potency, vigor; puberty, pubescence. sexual desire, passion, libido (psychoanal.), aphrodisiomania, eroticism, erotomania, nymphomania, andromania; satyriasis, priapism. (psychol.), gynecomania. [of animals] heat, oestrus, rut. lust, sensualism, sensuality, animalism, animality, bestiality, carnality, concupiscence, prurience. sexual intercourse, cohabitation, consorting, coition, coitus, congress, conjugation, connection, copulation, carnal knowledge {archaic), sexual relations, sexual union ; defloration ; climax, orgasm. fornication, debauchery, fraternization, intimacy, intrigue, liaison, affair, premarital relations, prostitution, concubinage; assignation, rendezvous; incest, oral copulation, fellatio, cunnilingus. adultery, extramarital relations, infidelity, unfaithfulness; scarlet letter;" cuckoldry, horns. rape, abuse, assault, ravishment, stupration, violation, attack. erotic, sensualist, ram, boar, goat, satyr, satyromaniac, masher (colloq.), nymphomaniac; fellator, cunnilinguist. paramour, lover, gallant, gigolo. mistress, kept woman, fancy woman, hetaera (ancient Greece), concubine, doxy (archaic or dial.), odalisque. [sexually immoral man] lecher, debauchee, Don Juan^ Lothario, Casanova, libertine, profligate, rake, roue, swine, wanton, whore- master. [sexually immoral woman] slut, debauchee, cocotte, courtesan, Cyprian, Delilah, demimondaine, bitch (slang), drab, harlot, jade, Jezebel, libertine, Messalina, profligate, strumpet, tart (slang), trollop, trull, wanton, wench (slang), (slang), (somewhat broad (slang), chippy (slang), virtue, demirep. sexual deviate, sexual pervert, degenerate, erotopath. homosexual, homosexualist, sexual invert; fairy, queer, nance, fag, faggot, swish (all slang) ; sodomist or sodomite, bugger, pederast; Lesbian, Sapphist, tri- bade ; bisexual; third sex. [others] fetishist, masochist, flagellator, sadist, exhibitionist, voyeur, Peeping Tom, transvestite, frotteur. hermaphrodite, gynandroid, androgyne. harem, seraglio, zenana. aphrodisiac, love potion, philter, stimulant, Spanish fly, blister beetle, cantharis, fetish. erotica, esoterica, curlosa, pornography, scatology. V. sexualize, eroticize, libidinize. desire sexually, desire, want, make advances to, lust for (or after) ; [of animals] rut, oestruate, be in heat. excite sexually, excite, titillate, stimulate, inflame. copulate, cohabit, conjugate, couple, have intercourse, sleep together, be intimate, make love, consummate a marriage; go to bed with, go to sleep with, sleep with, bed, know (archaic), deflower, possess, have; [of animals] mate, fornicate, fraternize, debauch, October ^6 Kinesis 21 !P^ Heterosexual women talk about their Sex between women by Helen Dixon The power dynamics of the society in which we live can and do become played out in . our psyches and sex. Who we choose to have sex with, and how, is central to how we see ourselves for ourselves and in the world. Kinesis held conversations with two women who agreed to speak out- of what is all too often a silent discourse. How do power relationships work in sex between men and women? Is there" something we can call heterosexual sex? Does the act name itself one way or the other? What do women like and dislike about sex with men? The following passages are only a place to begin a longer 'and more complex discussion, but this can only be advanced if we confront what women themselves say and have said about sex. Liz: Well, I almost always want more fore- play than men do. When I say that I mean, I haven't had a particular problem with premature ejaculation or whatever, where they just can't wait and it just happens and I have had relationships with men where they have been quite happy to take a very long time. But I like a slower build-up. That's where I've often found it difficult with men. I always, and this is my own particular sexual psyche, I like a long seduction process. I know that's not true for all women, and it's certainly not something that's particular to male psyches. They may like to be seduced but it's not a long seduction process. I like the idea of being able to show the person what it is, step by step, the kinds of ways you want it men could, with their fingers, touch me very^ very well around the clitoris. Occasionally it's been good but that's rare. In terms of oral sex, too, I've constantly had to say you know..."You've got to go lighter." Jeanne: Often I find when it's not really satisfying, it does seem to be when it's with men who are quite penis-centred. I like to kiss a lot. Usually I think this kind of penis-centred stuff is with men who aren't really competent. Either they haven't taken the time to learn or they're too goal-oriented as if the male orgasm was all that mattered, and the getting there isn't important, it's just the goal. I don't think that's necessarily satisfying for either. • What kinds of social pressures or dynamics have you perceived as affecting the way you relate to men or'they relate to you sexually? Jeanne: I've been called over-sexed by a couple of men, and it's like "Oh, you're always ready, don't you ever say no?" Somebody was once fondling me for a while and then said, "You're always lubricated" and I said, "Well I'm human, right? You've been stroking me for a while, what do you expect?" I think some men are threatened by that. They're actually frightened by it, if your desire is very strong. Not all men but some. And then you feel really put down and hurt. I suppose it has to do with the general insults you hear about ways you want it to be done really slowly. women in literature. "Oh, you're like a cat in heat." And that sort of thing. I think there is a myth of uncontrollable female sexuality that some men find frightening. Liz: I think it's really difficult for men to get into being sexy about their bodies. If I'm making love and I'm on top, which is my favourite position usually, I like how my breasts are, I like how my body is and I get into being sort of brazen about it, or whatever. And they like it and I like it. But men don't get into being tha.t way about to be done really slowly. I like to be built their own bodies very much. They're not up like that to the edge and be kept on the edge for a really long time. I haven't had that with women either, so I don't identify it as a particularly heterosexual problem, although I guess I tend to think of it that way just because I think of men as being more goal-oriented. Secondly, it's fine with me at times to feel sensual and a bit sexual not to come. Say late at night if I'm tired, I like to touch and have some sexual feelings but I don't really want to go all the way. Whereas in my experience with men, once they get going, they have to complete it at some point. Another thing is I don't think I've found very many relationships where I felt that 22 Kinesis October ^ allowed, because men are not the object of the gaze, they therefore don't allow themselves to be that to themselves either. So their sexuality is a lot more repressed in that sense. I like seeing a man lying on a bed touching himself. I think that's great. I love to watch men doing that. . I like to watch women doing that, it's not a distinction that I make, I just think that's nice, and I wish more men got into their bodies that way. That's one of the things I like about a lot of gay men is that yeah, they're more into themselves as sexual beings. What about looking and being looked at while you 're having sex? Jeanne: Yes I like to look. I mean I've often thought I must be superficial because I do like to look at people that I find physically attractive. I mean, maybe it's only me that finds them attractive, but yes, I like looking at mouths a lot and eyes and I like bodies. I like to look at legs and penises too. In a lot of ways it's curiousity; there's such a variety. If I feel secure I like to be looked at. I often don't feel secure. I'm only very recently learning not to get that feeling of "stop it! because you're going to find all the flaws"...and realize that they're not gazing at you for that, but because they like what they see. If you're very self-conscious that ruins a lot of enjoyment. I remember one relationship I had where the man used to like to watch as he entered. That usually wouldn't be the conventional missionary position, but kneeling or standing or something, and then I started to and, yeah, it's really exciting because then you've got sight and feeling all mingling in together. What do you like about penetration—what has your experience been? - Jeanne: It's like total bodily contact. But it depends on the mood. Sometimes I like it because it can be really tender and gentle and loving, but other times I like it sort of harder. When that happens it usually then a very active encounter, not just lying around and wumpf wumpf it's over; there's a lot of rolling around and moving. When I get a big surge of desire (for penetration) I don't exactly know what the physical mechanism is that happens, but I always feel that my womb drops, there's this real tightening and then a dropping and I feel it. And my vaginal muscles flex by • themselves...I don't do it. they do, and I get lubricated. And so there's a lot of sensation for me in my vagina and it seems to want something there. Now I don't know if that's because of everything I've read that says that's what it is, or if it's simply the feeling. I don't know why, but I do want something there. But because of a number of factors « sexual relationships I've had, and the women's movement — I got more confident. Liz: When I was first getting into sex, I think we all learned the missionary position first before we learned everything else. But because of a number of factors—sexual relationships I'd had, and the women's movement, everything that was changing and making me think about my sexuality...1 got more confident. I became more interested in finding out how to get as much pleasure out of it as I could, and I found that being on top of a man was a lot more satisfying than being on the bottom because I had more control...over my vaginal muscles and also because I can be touched. | relationships and men Sometimes I like it when they're on top and from behind...it's partly because I like my bum being touched, but also there's a certain way in which that's just kind of fucking and I like that feeling of being fucked if I've got enough control. I never like just being fucked in the sense that I don't move...because I never come that way; I have to be able to get my own muscle movement going. What about oral sex and touching with men? Jeanne: When I first learned and started to do oral sex I found it difficult. I But then I've had others (relationships) where men have been pretty good good even if they do feel goal oriented. They're still there to hug. And especially afterwords. men and women. But most of the time I don't feel guilty about those because I think you work with the material you were given as you grow. And it will be other generations where women are raised in really different ways that will begin to change those things. those things. What about the surrender of power in sex with men? Liz: In terms of role stuff, some of the most exciting things for me can be when I'll play either of the extremes where he kept gagging and thought I wasn't doing it right and that was one of the reasons why initially I didn't like it. I felt that I wasn't good a.t it. I felt—"I can't do this And then with people who are sensitive to you...they'll sort of help you or say it's okay don't worry...or you can do this or... I like that, it feels great...or mind your teeth (laughs). Liz: I like oral sex plenty. Now I've had relationships with men where they were just totally hopeless in terms of oral sex and then I don't really like it because if they don't know how to do it, it's just a drag. But I've also had relationships with men who have been, I think, consummate artists and that's helped me explore orgasmic potential. Sometimes with my current relationship, sometimes he's on and sometimes he's not on. When they're not on I get frustrated, I think..."Why can't they understand, why can't they know...why can't you tell what my response is?"...and so I try to explain... What about the role of fantasy in your sexuality? Jeanne: I don't fantasize during sex usually. Mostly when I masturbate, I do. I'm not proud of my fantasies so I find them very difficult to talk about. They mostly have to do with situations where the power of my desire will lead me into having sex with people whom I normally would have nothing to do with...and it's not the man's control over me, it's my own sexual urges overcoming me and leading me into situations that I realistically wouldn't want to be in. Liz: I had a rape fantasy...when I first got into the women's movement I thought, "oh god, why do I have this?" Well I don't feel that at all anymore...it didn't take me long to realize that I didn't have any desire to be raped at all. I thought, "How would I feel if I was raped?" and I concluded that I'd feel terrible. I wouldn't be turned on at all." So it's not the physical act...it's the combination of not having any control in the situation which has the flip side of not letting go of control. That's part of it. The other one is being desired so much that you're absolutely irresistible I don't consider those to be ultimate sexual psychic feelings. I think there are others that would be more growing for peo- ple...feelings that would take them further... says "Ok, I want to be completely dominated tonight" and I just get to do whatever I want and I'll take him to the edge and I'll '•let it go'down again and I'll take him to the edge and keep doing it and I get very excited by that...or the other way around.. I like to have my hands tied up, or my legs...not that I do it very often, but I like it because I'm not convinced there's anything wrong with it at all. I like it because it's a way of completely giving over the power which is of course what I'm doing, and then I can get completely into letting go...it helps me let go...and for someone like me control is pretty strong, but I can identify with both positions. What sort of comfort and personal reaffirmation have you experienced in sexual relationships with Jeanne: Some men have been able to express their tenderness equally, not all but some...there's just little gestures like the way they touch you when it's finished, or when you say goodbye and they stroke your face. Some men are very tender. I sometimes think my need for these gestures is an indication of a certain dependence. You don't just want to have been a body, or what, (when I'm feeling really cynical) I've called a sperm recepticle. I mean you want to feel that there's something else as well, and usually the tenderness comes when there is a pleasure in each other as people. Liz: I've had all kinds of sexual connections with men ranging from ones that I've felt really rotten about, to ones where the next day I just wished it had never happened, through relationships that I've had where it didn't feel like the men were, very much there either—before or after their own particular goal satisfaction. . But then I've had others where men have been pretty good even if they do feel goal oriented. They're still there to hug. And especially afterwards. But I would think that the man who knows how to hug well is the exception. But when I have had it, it's been pretty well given, and in a good spirit, meeting some of their needs too and not just mine. October ^6 Kinesis 23 T -iW*L W^ by Johanna Quakenbush, Sharon Hounsell, and Wendy Frost Wendy: I think I would make a distinction between defining myself as bisexual and identifying as bisexual. To me the second implies that there is actually a kind of political movement or a publicly agreed upon definition. I don't think that there is an agreed upon definition within the women's movement. With that distinction, I' say I define myself as bisexual because I feel sexually attracted toward both men and women, and I feel like acting on both of those attractions. I can't see defining myself as either heterosexual or lesbian. At the moment, I'm involved in a primary relationship with a man and not with anyone else. So I probably look straight. People I know may think I'm straight. People who have seen me more involved with women probably think that I've now decided I'm straight. I don't think of it that way. I think that I've been bisexual for a long time. Part of that time was spend wondering if I was actually a lesbian or thinking I was on my way to being a lesbian. It's not that I rejected the possibility of being in lesbian relationships. It's just that I decided that what I am is bisexual; whatever I'm doing, whoever I'm involved with—that's the best description of my sexuality. Johanna: I think of myself as bisexual because I have feelings for both men and women in my sexuality and have acted upon those feelings in the past. Whatever relationship I'm in, I don't consider I've changed from the other side. I haven't given up the love and feelings I have for women if I'm with a man, or the love and feeling I have for men if I'm with a woman. It doesn't mean that I'm missing something if I'm not with one or the other. I'm very attracted to both sexes, and I could never commit myself to saying that • I was not going to be attracted to the other sex and become exclusively hetero- , sexual or lesbian. Sharon: For me it's simply that I can see . myself in a relationship with either right now and as a single person, I feel attractions to both-women and men and have fantasies involving men or women. In terms of the distinction that Wendy spoke of, I think that I do identity as bisexual. I j do beg to differ. Part of that is wanting there to be a visible political identification and coming out as bisexual. That's really important to me. 5jfi&&'p There are lesbian political events, organizations, spaces, etc. in which I don't feel there's room for bisexual women. I feel a lot of contradiction about that; on the one hand I think that's perfectly acceptable, that lesbians organize with lesbians. I think that self-organization | is a really important political principle. Yet on the other hand, I think there is some overlap between political concerns of bisexual women and lesbians. Shouldn't there be some political intersection? Johanna: For me visibility is a little bit different because I'm not very active in the lesbian community since I've been back in Vancouver. It hasn't really drawn me to it because I'm in a primary relationship with a man. I've felt hesitant because of the mixed feelings that I get from the feminist community about bisexuals. The feelings of political lesbians and separatists make me more reluctant to become involved in the women's movment because somehow, as a bisexual, I feel that I have to justify my sexuality before they even have a chance to know me or to regard me as my own person. Bisexuality: sexual definition Right now I deal more' with the heterosexual women. I find that bisexuality is rarely even talked about in the heterosexual community. When I have talked about it with friends who are heterosexual or with men friends it's always looked upon as "okay". It's actually pretty well accepted. I would think some even think it's erotic, which doesn't give me the feeling that they really understand. It gives me the feeling that they think bisexuals are people who like to dabble. There's no clear understanding of bisexuals in the heterosexual community either. Bisexual women are seen as straight, but adventurous. From Boaistuau's Histories Prodigeuses, Paris, 1573. Sharon: My experience was a lot different from Johanna's although we both arrived in Vancouver and started putting down roots here about the same time. One of the first things that I did, and certainly it's been my primary focus, was to seek out the women's community. I was really surprised to find that I was feeling challenged. Not overtly. It's not that anyone approached me and started ranting and raving, in fact it was very subtle. Somehow I felt that I had to make a choice about whether I was lesbian or heterosexual, which, when I examined it I found that that was unrealistic. My choice was that I was bisexual. I felt challenged by a lot of politics that I had never had direct contact with before; basically regarding putting any amount of energy into men. They were healthy challenges because they made me look at my own heterosexism, my own homophobia, and made me re-examine my choices. In the process of doing that I grew more sure of myself as a bisexual. I realized that it is important that bisexual women be visible within the women's community. I think that a lot of women assume that I'm a lesbian. I find myself in groups of women and somebody will make a blanket statement like "all of us dykes", and I feel like saying "excuse me, but —". I feel that I'm having to fight for visibility within the women's community in the same way that lesbians have had to fight for visibility. I expect them to understand that. I expect recognition for my own choice. I expect to be allowed to make that choice. Wendy: I found similar things when I was less primarily involved with a man and more involved with women. I found with lesbians who knew me that there was an assumption—and I think I even had it myself—that I was an apprentice lesbian or something, that I was on my way to being a lesbian. As such I could be accepted provisionally, as if to say, "she's probably going to turn out to be one of us, eventually she'll get rid of this man and really all it will take will be having a successful relationship with a woman and once she gets that she'll shed all the rest of it." Sharon: I've run across that same attitude of bisexuality being a phase between heterosexuality and lesbianism. I find that attitude really patronizing. It doesn't give me any credit for the choice I'm making now. It says that the choice I'm making is not quite legitimate. It also says there's no halfway. It says you're either straight or you're lesbian. Wendy: There's a sense of orthodoxy, of correct line sexuality about the women's movement. And feminism to me is much more about rebellion—it's about not falling for or into correct lines. I think the fact that there has been a strong lesbian-feminist movement makes bisexuality more possible than it was before. So they should be seen as acting together, rather than as acting in opposition. Part of the strength of lesbian-feminism has been the emphasis on woman-identification. But in terms of sexuality, what I've found daunting is the sense that you could only be a true and perfect feminist if you were lesbian, and your sexual feelings for women could only be best and truly expressed if you had nothing to do g with men. I fincL&hat,attitude an. under--:: current of a lot of lesbian-feminist writing, but not often really clearly stated. Sharon: I want more than the right to be bisexual. I want to be valued for my perspective as a bisexual. As a bisexual I have some understanding of, what it is like to be involved with a man and of what it is to be involved with a woman, and it's not everybody who has that perspective. It has a-unique and important role in the women's movement in terms of moving^discussion beyond the stuck place where we are at in terms of our sexual politics. i Until three years ago, I considered myself ' heterosexual and most of my sexual relationships were with men. Then I started to find myself being attracted to women. I was involved in a friendship with a woman which grew over the course of the summer, to a point where I realized that the love that I felt for her could be expressed sexually. I grew to desire that although I never acted on that. That whole process really made me examine how I recognize feelings of attraction. It happened so differently than the attractions I'd felt to men. I began to look at my own conditioning in terms of sexual attractions. I started to recognize patterns. Working it out has been good for me. I've unravelled some of the conditioning and can now make more honest choices about when to act on attrat- ions. I'm attracted to people who are at ease with themselves, at ease in their own bodies, who move with a certain amount of fluidity, who have a joy for life, who laugh easily, who communicate well, people with whom I share a political perspective or values. Wendy: I find that my attractions to men and to women are really different. The first time I felt sexually attracted to a woman was very similar to what Sharon described; it grew out of a very close friend- 24 Kinesis October TO or political identity? ship. I came to realize that I was sexually attracted to her, that I could feel sexual toward a woman. In the course of realizing that, I felt that I was expressing my sexuality in a more real way than I had before. I was feeling desire in myself for someone else. My attractions to men had been more based on their desire in relation to me. I don't think I had actually felt physical lust for men. I was feeling this in relation to this woman. My feelings for women are much more direct, in-the-body feelings. My attraction to men is much more image- based. It's about a tension between us, often even a combativeness, like being able to verbally duel. It's the tension in the interplay that draws me to men. With women it very much is physical attraction to their bodies. Women's bodies answer something in my eroticism much more than men's bodies do. It feels to me like my attractions to men are a lot less healthy than my attractions to women. I'm suspicious of that combativeness, that tension; that attraction to image. I haven't really worked out yet where all that comes from. Johanna: Throughout my life I've always had more in common.with and more communication with women. I always had really close and good relationships with women. The first time that I was able to express that physically was when I was about 18. I met a woman through some friends and was surprised to find myself physically attracted to her as well as liking her. She was a very vibrant, out-going, humourous woman. A lot of things that I found attractive about her—beautiful body, nice soft brown hair—were things that I hadn't really noticed in my other women friends. Lots of ; times that I've been attracted to women it's been on instinct, on impulse. When I first meet them, something intrigues me. I like the same qualities in men and women. With men the physical attraction doesn't happen first. I may find a man interesting but it's not enough to make me physically desire him. It's only after I've talked with him and have got to know him that I may become attracted physically. With a woman I may see her and fantasize, a little and have that desire immediately. Sharon: I am attracted to both men and women who love women. I've met a few men who, I think, love women—love "the woman within them". They have some empathy with women, with feminism and with the oppressions that women feel. They are men who reject machismo. With women it's women-oriented women who attract me, women-positive women who are struggling to re-define what being a woman is, to challenge the status quo. In terms of sexual desire as Opposed to attraction: the relationships I've had that have been the most special are relationships where the sexual desire is intense and strong; where I feel free to experience and express my passions wholly. That happens within a safe relationship where we have some sort of understanding. What I feel when I get close to someone, or when the chemistry is right in terms of making love, is that I physically want to bond with them, I can't get close enough. That's wrapped up in my sexual desire. It's physically expressed differently with men and women, but the intent, the desire is the same. With men the chemistry is different because we're different. It seems that what feeds that desire with men is the polarity—the differences in our bodies and in our beings. The polarity creates a kind of tautness which heightens it. What feeds my desire for women is the sameness in our bodies. The way -our bodies fit together, whether we're sleeping together or making love; the way we intertwine, wrap around each other. It's a different expression of a similar desire. Wendy: I make a distinction between sexual desire and sexual attraction as well. What I find sexually satisfying or pleasing is really pretty much the same between men and women. I worry a bit that my attractions to women are based on appearances, that because I'm playing into something about the way we are all in this culture taught to objectify women and think of women's beauty and sexual attractiveness. That bothers me a little. It's funny ~ you almost feel that you should apply for duel citizenship. Yet I get attracted to women who love themselves and who are at home in themselves, who live in their faces and live in their bodies. I'm not attracted to what is stereo- typically beautiful but to women who project a physical assurance. Johanna: I was just drifting off, thinking who have I been attracted to recently. There's this woman who rides the bus. She's already on the bus when I get on. We've made eye contact now and then. She's very interesting looking and attractive. Sometimes I even kind of fantasize about her in a simple way. It's not just lpj^s-r-it's the type of person she looks like she is. She s>fDfeJ?eally sel£s||esured and ^fee-spirited. Now that I'm in a rel^^ohship I don't really'look for attractions. I notice women more than men. Maybe if I was in a relationship with a woman I would notice men more. But I.do pick up on women that I'n^.attracted to, but it's nothing that I would act upon. It's just that I appreciate them, probably because I'm not around women as much. Wendy: There are feminist assumptions about the difference between being in relationships with men and with women, some of which are true and some of which aren't. I have found, for instance, that" I am much more able to assert myself and make my own demands known with men. That probably means that I don;t get what I want with women—because I'm not speaking up. I'm much more into meeting their needs. Partly, it's probably that I feel that women need more looking after. Partly, I feel that I don't need to protect men against my needs. It's an assumption that women are going to deal with eaeh othor in an egalitarian way and so you don't set out to start building patterns of. asserting your own needs. A major difference in my relationships with men and women is the amount that we do together, especially at home. When I was with a woman there were so many things we would do—going thorugh the closest to get dressed to go out for the evening, gossiping, cooking together. It seems to happen more easily in more of a cooperative way. In relationships with men, there's been more of a male role of protection around the house. I never had that feeling with women, except that we could be safe together. Sharon: For me in terms of nurturing or the little touches: a hot towel after a bath or a massage—I'm far more willing to do those things for a woman because I'm not worried about falling into a mothering role. I assume that it will be reciprocated. I've got myself into trouble with that assumption. But still, with men I hold back longer. Communicating with women is easier because we share more experiences and our perceptions are more likely to coincide. For example, I never feel with a woman that I have to explain how I am when I menstruate. A man may be accepting and willing to understand but he will never know it from experience. Wendy: There's also ways that women share cultural references which they don't share with men. Things like your relationship to clothes or makeup or to women's magazines, that level of mass culture and how women are acculturated is something that is part of most women's experience. . Even if we've become feminist and chucked out a lot of that stuff, we've probably all felt that at some point. The first time you got your period, the first time you used eyeshadow, the bust development ads in the back of the women's magazines, all those kinds of things are common references for women, and they're not for men. I don't think men can pick up easily on the importance of those kinds of experiences for building female identity. Sharon: Similarly, feminist sub-culture is something you can't share so intimately with a man. Often, with men, when I tell the story of my day and I'm relating something Intolerable that happened, I have to start at the beginning with the theory and talk it through to the experience. Then I can get to, "Okay, so now do you understand why this was difficult for me to handle today? Now will you give me a hug?" But the difficulty in a situation like this is partly overcome by their commitment to understanding. They know it's important to me, they can sense my passion for it and then they want to understand. My experience with men has been that in the end, the effort to communicate is gratifying. They have told me that they've learned more about what it is to be a woman and they are grateful for it. It seems to have enriched their lives somehow. ~tjjgSj^;£ ■£ -£\*-3 ~ What's difficult about being bisexual is that there are two worlds. There's a lesbian community and a heterosexual community. I don't feel that I can move completely at ease in the lesbian community or in "the heterosexual world. But I re-fuse to allow that to be a barrier. I'm trying very hard to be myself wherever I am. As a bisexual who moves in the heterosexual world, I'm in a position of being able to identify heterosexism, and I don't like it. I don't like seeing heterosexism within the lesbian community either, and I do see it. Johanna: It's funny—you almost feel that you should apply for dual citizenship! Wendy: I feel clear about bisexuality as a sexual choice. But sexual choices have social choices along with them. I feel some what excluded from the women's community now because I'm involved with a man. And I feel that, therefore, the woman-loving side of me doesn't get any social affirmation. One of the things I think that is important about doing this article is the whole question of bisexual visibility. But I also think it's the question of the relation of sexual preference to feminist politics. I really take the position that your feminist politics are based on your commitment to the liberation of women, not based on who your sexual partners are, and I would like to see that much more clearly understood and accepted and affirmed within the women's movement. Talking about bisexuality is one way of moving toward that. October TO Kinesis 25 by Wendy Frost The following is a selection of some useful books and articles on feminist approaches to sexuality. It's not meant to be exhaustive, but to provide some starting point into the issues and debates. I haven't included discussions that focus specifically on pornography, partly for space reasons, partly because feminist treatments of sexuality that don't focus on porn are rarer, more recent, and probably less well known. Some_ of the anthologies and special issues here can provide extensive resource lists for further reading on all aspects of feminist work on sexuality, including pornography. Books Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality. Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell and Sharon Thompson, eds. New York: New Feminist Library/Monthly Review Press, 1983. A groundbreaking anthology of historical and analytical articles, which include some short fiction and poetry. The editors' introduc- . tory essay provides an excellent history of feminist sexual politics over the last two centuries. Other highlights include Adrienne Rich's classic essay, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence", Amber Hollibaugh and Cherrie Moraga's dialogue on butch-femme roles. "What We're Rollin Around in Bed With:^ Sexual Silences in Feminism", and lesbian activist Joan Nestle's memoir, "My Mother Liked to Fuck". Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality. Carole S. Vance, ed. Boston/London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984. A collection bringing together the papers and talks given at the 1982 Barnard College Scholar and Feminist IX Conference, "To ward a Politics of Sexuality5'," this book "explores the double meaning of sexuality for women—sexual danger and sexual pleas- Among many excellent and provocative pieces, Gayle Rubin's' article "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" and Amber Hollibaugh's closing remarks, "Desire for the Future: Radical Hope in Passion and Pleasure", together are worth the price of the book. (The controversy that erupted when the Barnard Conference was picketed by Women Against Pornography is .documented in Feminist Studies, IX.1., 1983, 177-83, which prints the leaflet distributed by WAP and a petition signed in protest of their actions, and in Feminist Studies, IX, 3, 1983, 589-602, which includes responses from six of the women named in the WAP leaflet.) Sex and Love: New Thoughts on Old Contradictions. Sue Cartledge and Joanna Ryan, eds. London: The Women's Press, 1983. The essays here explore women's sexual love relationships in all their diversity, and the social construction of women's sexuality. Chapters range from mainly historical and theoretical to specifically autobiographical. Sex, Power and Pleasure. Mariana Valverde. Toronto: The Women's Press, 1985. An exploration of the theoretical issues underlying .current feminist debates on sexuality. The final chapter, "Pleasure and Ethics", argues for a community-based ethnics of sexuality. Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts. Joanna Russ. Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1985. Several of the six essays collected here, most of which originally appeared in Thirteenth Moon or Sinister Wisdom, use current feminist debates on pornography as a jumping- off point for exploring questions of sexuality. Personal, vigorous, and highly readable. "Not for Years but for Decades", reprinted from The Coming Out Stories, is especially recommended. Women: Sex and Sexuality. Catharine Stimp- son and Ethel Spector Person, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. A selection of articles from the women's studies journal Signs. Heavily academic but useful as an overview of some of the major issues. Journal Articles and Special Issues Heresies #12: The Sex Issue (III.4, 1981). Jump Cut, 24/25, 1981. Film journal's special lesbian-feminist issue. Dierdre English, Amber Hollibaugh and Gayle Rubin. "Talking Sex: A Conversation on Sexuality and Feminism", Feminist Review, 11, 1982, 40-52. (Also in Socialist Review, XI. 4, 1981). "Sexual Violence and Sexuality", Feminist Review, 11, 1982, 9-22. Rosalind Coward. "The Complexity of Desire: Conversations on Sexuality and Difference", Barbara T. Kerr and Mirtha N. Quintanales. Conditions: Eight, 1982, 52-71. "Subverting Power in Sexuality", Socialist Review, 75/76, 1984, 139-57. (This issue also includes two other articles, "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones and; I'm Not Sure How I Feel About It: Pornography and the Feminist Imagination", by Kate Ellis, and "Beyond the Virgin and the Whore", by Ilene Philipson, whose focus is primarily on the feminist pornography debate.) "Knowledge is Power: A Few Thoughts about Lesbian Sex, Politics and Community Standards", Fireweed, 13, 1982, 80-100. Sue Golding. "A Feminist Sexual Politics: Now You See It j Now You Don't," Feminist Review, 5, 1980, 1-18. Beatrix Campbell. "No Apologies", Body Politic, 123, February 1986, 26-29. Discussions with women on sex workers. Chris Bearchell. "Freedom, Sex and Power", Fuse, Jan/Feb 1983, 251-54. Varda Burstyn. "And Now for the Hard Questions...", Sinister Wisdom, 15, 1980, 99-104. Discussion of lesbian eroticism. Julia Penelope. "Histories of the Orgasm: Feminism and Sexual Desire", New Socialist, 34, Jan. 1986, 7-10. Barbara Sichterman. "Perils of Desire", Voice Literary Supplement: 33, March 1985, 1, 12-15.- Judith Levine. Disabled women and sex from page 19 "I think we are back to the media issue. Images of disabled women should be incorporated into all existing social systems eg. fashion shows, travelling, dining." "It accumulates. I am also single, lonely. I never quite allow myself to love myself." "I want to try to speak as an able-woman. What I hear here is what I feel myself. I have the same terrible feelings about my body. I have been wasting my life feeling negative. "You recommend just getting on with life, but it's hard...and even harder for the disabled.1 "There are problems with women's self-image in general: we are who others think we are." "I got asked out and I was shocked! I thought—why?" "Maybe we are doing ourselves a disservice. We can react to a normal invitation in the normal way." "There are some fun ways to break barriers. How about throwing your crutches on the floor and saying "I'm all yours!" 26 Kinesis October TO "There is a negative side to being seen as sexual. We could be raped a lot more." "Rape is not a sexual issue, it is a violent crime." "I have been hit on by men who obviously think I would take whatever they offered." "Potential partners are afraid that we are psycholigically and physically frail— they think we couldn't take a breakup. But I don't want to get married. I just want a date." "People are afraid disability is catching. Afraid it will happen to them. They withdraw...or become excessively polite." "Our society is geared to acute rather than chronic illness. Even family are not always prepared to deal with it." "I have heard this from both men and women— that they don't know how to handle me. And it is a relief because at least they are articulating it." "It is up to us, because we are not, say 'normal', to speak up and we are learning to vocalise." "Disabled women have to teach ables how to make the world accessible." "I am a person with an interesting background] but now...(pat on head) I don't have the time or energy to deal with other people's ignorance." "We must reinforce the 'able' in disabled." "I prefer 'handicapped'". l&M^klk "Disabled refers to functional loss. We are disabled—they make us handicapped." "Another issue—services relating to sexuality are not available. Transition houses for example." "Hugs being replaced by pats. How do you tell people you want a hug—to give a hug?" "Denying sexuality is tantamount to deny- ■ ing personhood." Being denied sexuality is as damaging and insidious as having a disease. We can change the attitudes of ourselves; we can change the attitudes of others. We have successes and failures. Our bodies only seem to dispute that our hearts and minds desire lovers, flirtation, lascivi- ousness, sensuality—the deeply felt and the frivolous. Man crazy dyke? by Pixie Woods One of the many advantages of coming out at an early age is, that with any luck, you might never sleep with a man. Imagine that. The number of women for whom this is true would astound the world if the figures were made public. There is in fact a loosely knit group of 'virgin' lesbians, nationwide, who can lay claim to this honourable distinction. The one disadvantage of belonging .to this select group is the nagging curiosity that lurks dangerously, impelling one to try it—just once. Coupled with this latent desire comes a host of fantasies to confuse the mind of the committed lesbian. Imagine being entangled in a passionate embrace, breast to breast, thigh to cunt: when your mind takes you travelling to another universe where manly arms enfold you you and his stiff member probes the nether reaches of the warm moist cavern between your legs. Not surprisingly, the language will remind you of the trashy novels we all read as teens that were full of lusty sex scenes, usually badly written. Those novels were my original source of fantasies. Happily I have developed my own repertoire of hot scenes with huriky men that I replay endlessly at my pleasure. I can add or subtract characters, change the locale, screw the fellas silly or leave the poor boys panting for more. It's almost too much fun to handle. And best of all, I don't have to make him breakfast in the morning. Reading this, don't think I've lost touch with my natural desires. Fantasies are fun, but in the flesh it's the female form I prefer. I've never needed much encouragement to invite a woman home to my bed; it's over inviting her into my fantasies that's been difficult. So, just as I came out in. real life years ago, I think it's time to come out in my fantasy sex life today. Too bad those lesbian sex magazines are all getting stopped at the border. I dream of performing ■ •... in public by Vicky B. Goode For too long, lesbians have had the reputation of being unadventurous stick in the muds when it comes to sex. It is common knowledge that we have the innate desire to settle down in long-term monogamous relationships and live happily ever after in domestic bliss. And who is to say this vision of the ideal lesbian state is untrue. But why just domestic bliss? Why not sexual bliss? Even if we do meet the girl of our^ dreams and live happily ever after, can't we have wild sex parties, too? Can't we play with vegetableSf-iSr bed as well as in the^g.t- . chen? jpTan't we have sex-^B$|gf^i<3r^laees? There, I've said it. I confess. That's what I really want to do. I want to have sex in public places. What a relief just to say it out loud. I wonder if this is what Catholics feel like? The allure of public sex has been with me a long time but I have never acted on it. I dream of sex on the beach by moonlight, but I forget how cold it gets by the water My nipples retreat...my shame grows by Micki Prude This is a very sensitive subject for me to touch upon in public. My nipples. Not sensitive in the usual sense of nipples bursting through shirtfronts with the slightest provocation at the most inopportune moments, just the opposite. Instead of poking skyward like glorious mountain peaks, my nipples invert like twin Mount Saint Helen's. It's no laughing matter. It's quite embar- assing in fact. One evening when I seductively slipped into crotehless panties and a black lace uplift brassiere with low cut cups, I glanced down to find that my breasts, so brazenly presented, were fronted by a pair of shy buds demurely receding like night flowers at daybreak. The mood of the evening was saved by my lover's prominent pupillas standing in, or rather standing out, in my stead. My doctor tells me that this condition is nothing to worry about. Medically speaking I'm sure he's right. But what does he know about a lesbian's sex life or the teenage trauma of being the only girl in the locker room with disappearing, nipples Lucky for me I was on the basketball team and not a cheerleader where big pointy nipples are a major qualification. My lover also tells me not to worry. She tells me that mountains look pretty but it's the volcanoes that erupt with fiery passions. Big deal, that's what I say. Big tits without nipples is like sizzle without the steak. at night and I find myself never quite prepared for the occasion. My lust for sex in a car in a supermarket parking lot has been thwarted by«-an even more practical dilemma. I don't have one. And buses are a bit too public. I've heard that people often have sex in cabs in New York City, but not even sex in a taxi could entice me to go to New York City. I personally think that the best option for sex in a public place Is in a movie theatre But even there one must make certain prepar-l ations to ensure a successful foray. First, don't choose a foreign film. Certainly Hanna Schygulla singing "Tonight You're Mine Completely" will make your knees weak, but foreign films are too intellectually compelling. And you'll miss all the subtitles and lose track of the storyline. It's best to pick a piece of Hollywood fluffy Something that is light-hearted and romantic with the occasional slow fade to long grasses blowing in the wind. This will suggest the appropriate mood without getting you too entangled in a plot which might otherwise offend your feminist sensibilitieal The funnest part, besides the actual sex, | j will be assembling your easy access ward- - robe. In the summer a pair of baggy shorts will probably do the trick. Or, indulge your passion for lingerie and wear a garter belt and stockings and nothing else under your favourite dress. And once prepared, don't spoil the evening by inadvertently wandering into the season's box office smash. Sex in public yes. But sex in a fishbowl? It might just cramp your style. | See you at the movies. Your Face Is Your Fortune ^^^^^^^^^^» ^^^^^^^B Crooked Spines STRWGHIMI5 October TO Kinesis 27 -Q Hear Ye i Hear Ye! This space available -only$l 1 a month Advertise now! You'll find Kinesis and great service at these locations —VANCOUVER WOMEN'S BOOKSTORE Hours: Monday-Saturday ll:00-5:30pm 684-0523 315 Cambie Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B 2N4 POUTlCS»ART HISTORY* PERIODICALS FEMINISM • THIRD WORLD PEACE Spartacus Books 311 West Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. 688-6138 Planning a party C^ ^\/^s^ to celebrate f?f^W^ the end of Expo? V. b^<=<> Let us help with your posters and j ] leaflets. '' Call Press Gang Printers at 253-1224 gyyw;MS4t; OCTOPUS BOOKS INIXMNSIVI QUALITY BOOKS ■AM TO CIT AST, SOCIAL* LITIS AS Y M A* AZIHIC A JOURNALS 2250 W. 4th 732-8721 1146COMMERCIAL 253-0913 Ariel - Books Ii Open 10 -6 pm Monday to Saturday Sunday 1-5 pm 2766 W. 4th Ave. 733-3511 NOW OPEN EVERY DAY 10 am to 7:30 pm • KIDS'play space ;Lf|§^ ♦ CONVENIENT location • FRESH produce - incl. organic • 10#OFF for Seniors, Wed. & Thurs. 1034 COMMERCIAL 254-5044 L 28 Kinesis October ^6 ////////////////////^^^^ //////////////////M^^^ Arts by Maura Volante The second annual Fringe Festival caught me (among others) at a husy time, what with all the musical and social buzz of the fall. However, I did catch a few shows, and was very impressed with the organizational accomplishment of such a large-scale event. Produced and directed by Joanna Maratta of Theatrespace, this year's festival presented over eighty shows at nine locations. All the venues are located within walking distance in the Mount Pleasant area, so that a true devotee could have spent ten days wandering from one venue to another, \ ...taking in alternative theatre, music and performance art from noon to two in the ;" ..morning. I frequented,the fringe of the Fringe, ingoing to the performances I felt connected S8py| in content and/or performers.. These ' /were mainly the pieces that were focussed ".on women's issues, with women forming all j -xpv a large part of each group. It was en- | 'eouraging to see that many more women- oriented shows were on the program this j/year than last, and more women in roles of director and producer in shows of general interesl^s^-O*: «, Here; then, is what I thought of the four shows that I saw-^-all.of which held my interest, "if not always my whole attention. Immediate Family When a lesbian is hospitalized with3aiieei'£ slips into a coma and is kept alive with a respirator, what happens to her lover who visits every day but is forced to leave at 6:45 pm because she is not considered part of the immediate family? UPRISING BREADS BAKEBY Vancouver's Best Wholegrain Breads 1697 VENABLES ST. VANCOUVER, BC V5L2H1 (604)254-5635 Part ol CRS Workers' Co-op Alternative theatre breaks norms and smashes plates This question is examined by Women on Cue theatre group from Nelson, in a monologue play by Terry Buam. Alternately played by Adrienne Duncan and Kasey Roy, the excellent writing carries us along from humour, tenderness, sadness, anger and release. Virginia speaks to Rose, who can neither hear nor respond. She tells her about her day, and her frustrations with the hospital . She considers their relationship, and eventually speaks about her anger at the situation. Underneath these words is the steady sound of the respirator. You forget it's there until, when it is finally turned off in an act of ultimate bravery, you almost stop breathing yourself. A sixty minute monologue is an enormous challenge for an actor, but Adrienne Duncan pulled it off very well. The build-up of tension is smooth and subtle, as a result the explosion of anger is not a total surprise, though no' less powerful for it. I didn't see Kasey Roy in the play, although I heard she was also impressive in the role. Recognition must also go to Nicola Harwood for directing two distinct players in this demanding piece. He asked me what caused CLAIRE SIGNPAINTER GRAPHIC TECHNICIAN .COMMUNICATING DESIGN 254 •8892 my malaise This play, written and directed by Marion Barling, employs slides and voice-over as well as scenes of dialogue between Ms. Blank and various people, all played by one male and one female. She whines on about her problem, making sense of her course,, while everybody tries|to reassure her that she'll 'get it' in time. The slides present dolls, with voice-over comments on the traditional life of females. Eventually Ms. Blank connects with some of the specifics-■oi^hW. '.'malaise'!., pointing to the invisibility of women and consequently herself, in the course mat- • erial. But rather than follow through on " ' that discovery, however, and speak to feminists, Ms. Blank continues to wallow in angst until she crashes her car and.is left alive but her condition is questionable. A bleak scenario, this one. Though there may be many women like the protagonist walking the halls of Uii^lrsity of British Columbia even today, it's depressing to see this woman fail to make connections with anyone likely to validate her perceptions. Does she ever read feminist writing? Isn't it in her course material? Is this 1986? Though smoothly put together, I found this play far tooji&ssimis-. tic to deserve my sympathies. • f > ~ -f Smash the Plates - g-^k >'.f; Lorna Boschman*s new video productioM^p4|; j its debut in fro^^t a live audi^ffl^b^1'^. with the final ^s^^fe an invita^bfllip^lii ? in a frenzy of plate-smashing".b3Sil; ^deo is done in a documentary style, outlining ' the growth of a social movement which has ' ' at its centre the ritual of plate smashr- ing. Beginning with Sava Ti, a self-described "housecleaner from Hell", the practice spreads to her circle of friends and outward to supermarket parking lots, all the while tailed by a hilarious,, bumbling, cloak-and-dagger "crimestopper" - convinced that there must be more to this' than simply smashing plates. Lorna is great doing monologues, particularly in an evangelical mode during the parking lot scene. Fruma also did well as: the deadpan "lifestyle reporter" documenting this phenomenon. I was less comfortable with the scenes of the three women in Lighthouse Park. Here the acting was stiff and painfully slow. (Lorna tells me that this scene is to be re-edited, which should improve it immensely). For those who find it disturbingly decadent to encourage the smashing of plates, Sava is quick to point out that the plates to smash are not the ones you like and use, but that pile in the back cup- Leith Harris in "Smash the Plates" board that you hate and never eat from. She's poking fun at the decadence of having a second set of dishes, which are never used, and the tendency of many to' save useless-, ugly things—just in case. But let me assure you, when ay-turn came to smash a plate I did, ^nd,Ift fe,lt'dually good! fclaii^^^^^.;?^^..:^^ This is the second produetiOnlolsLRed Heart Theatre Collective, a mixed group based on Denmaii Island. The the^e%o£this play is the transformative effect of islands. From the script it seems that all islands contain this magic, but the four yuppies who vacation together end up somewhere in the south seas, though even the area;itself is never directly identified;- "^f'^s Interspersed with musical and political .•^granentary by Felix and Fam, two elfin V7rag^e5SJlead.the characters through their L/^^fij^es, and the materialistic and soffie- .what, somnambulant city-dwellers; experience life-changing shifts;in their perceptions. They confront their scripts, in the form of alter-egos corresponding, to aspects of their personalities. Some good lines here, great music and the : acting carries the show admirably. The script is a little repititious however, particularly in using the word "islands" and the assumed magical properties found. there. Otherwise it's a thought-provoking and entertaining piece of theatre. October TO Kinesis 29 saaassssssi^^ ARTS Anti - apartheid films: White privilege, black scars hv Nora TV Randall -■- ^—' by Nora D. Randall I think everyone should see the films Winnie and Nelson Mandela and Witness to Apartheid. The black people of South Africa need us to know what is going on in their country. Except for remaining ignorant, it is the very least we can do. What these two films show us is two generations of black people who've had to say, my whole life and everything and everyone in it must go to the fight to get, rid of apartheid. Imagine for a minute what it might feel like to have to decide that whatever is left of your life will have to be lived in a war in which the other side has tanks, planes, guns, tear gas, whips, dogs, prisons, and torture. And you have your friends, your children, stones and world opinion. I read in the Vancouver Sun that when the protestors broke the South African wine bottles, other customers in the liquor store got angry and shouted, "We want the right to decide for ourselves." Those people should see these films. I somehow doubt that they'll bother because I suspect that what they really meant is "I want the right not to know or care". These films don't allow you that. The most striking thing for me in the Winnie and Nelson Mandela film was Winnie's face. It wasn't immobile. I had to think about it a lot, different expressions did cross her face and there were times—when she talked about the effects that sixteen months of solitary confinement can have on the human mind—when her eyes and mouth got very nervous and there was a hitch in her voice. But the overall expression on her face is one of solid calm. boarding school. (They had to go out of the country to school because the local schools were too afraid to have them. ) Some people may think that their lives are like this because they are trouble makers, but one thing these films make clear is that black people in South Africa have trouble whether or not they try to change it. In Witness to Avartheid we hear Rev. Desmond Tutu say he doesn't understand why people still consider him a leader because in all the years he's worked for peaceful change he's been able to deliver nothing. He says that people often think of what the black South Africans are going through as similar to the civil rights movement in the United States. He says the thing we have to remember is that the American black people had the law on their side. In South Africa, the law is against them. This seems like an understatement as we see to what depths the white government is prepared to sink to protect their privilege. We see the scars from torture on children. We listen to the parents of a young boy who was shot in the head at school. We see the poverty in the black townships. Then we go to the cities and interview the white people on the streets. One white woman who was interviewed said that she had never had any reason to visit the townships, and she thought the blacks were just confused by the communists. That they had a pure white race there and they were prepared to wipe out all the black people to maintain it, otherwise "we would all be chocolate coloured." The other whites interviewed on the streets had similar views. Winnie Mandela returns home from solitary confinement to her daughters Zenzi (left) and Zinzi, 1970 It occurred to me after a while that she looks like a person who has, had to give up living on the surface and retreat to a place deep inside herself where she nurtures a flame. Of Nelson we see only pictures because he's been in jail since 1961. This is a victory. According to the narration, world opinion kept the government from executing Nelson and the other men who were tried at the same time. That there is such a strong bond between these two people is a tribute to the human spirit because the government has kept them apart most of their lives. They write but many of the. letters have been destroyed—seized when the police searched her house or burned when it was firebombed. Winnie also tells how the police separated her from her children by arresting her just when they were about to come home from 30 Kinesis October TO Nelson and Winnie Mandela in the early 1960's. There were also interviews with white people who are working with black people against apartheid and a picture of the bombed out home of one of them. There's a war going on in South Africa and we're not seeing it on the news. Not the way we saw the civil rights movment in the United States, not the way we saw the Vietnam War. When it comes to what's going on in South Africa or Central or South America, we're being tranquilized. If you want to kick the habit, you can still get information. These two films can be ordered from Idera, 2524 Cypress St., Vancouver, BC, (604) 738-8815. Winnie and Nelson Mandela is available in 16mm film and 3/4 inch video for approximately $75- 110. Witness to Apartheid is available in 16mm for approximately $125. It's easier not to know,'but it's little enough for us to do when thousands of black South Africans are giving their lives. I came out of these films afraid. Not only for the South Africans, but for all of us. What kind of world will we be living in if they do not succeed in destroying apartheid? They must succeed. Marianne and Juliane headline benefit Marianne and Juliane, Margarethe von Trotta's first film about two political sisters in the 1970s will be a major feature of the Women and Words Societies' fundraiser at the Ridge Theatre at 2 pm on Sunday, November 2. The film is based onthe true story of two daughters of a protestant minister. One is a political activist, terrorist, the other devotes herself to social work and working on a feminist magazine. Their differing paths cause strife and lead to tragic consequences but the bond between them remains intractable. Von Trotta says this film is her attempt to look at both the interior and the exterior of the sisters' lives. Another feature of the afternoon will be the premier of Sara Diamond's video of the Womens' Voices: A Vancouver Mosiac project. This video, which will run in the lobby, includes segments of Kandace Kerr's Her- story workshop; interviews with women who gave their oral histories to the project; and, a short scene from The Lost and Found, a play by Nora D. Randall. The money raised will be used to pay off the debts of the Women's Voices project. Admission is $4.00 for employed, $2.00 for seniors, children and unemployed. For further information call the Women and Words office, 872-8014. Arts /////////////////////////M^^^ Jamie Sieber and Charlie Murphy Making music and breaking boundaries by Marrianne van Loon See the war planes of the peace protectors Why do they darken the tropic sky? See the angry ships of empire stretched across the horizon line There is no victory waiting for the asking No one can bring in the harvest alone The hour is late and demands hard questions Gonna take a fierce love to get us home Before the sun goes down —Fierce Love Jamie Sieber and Charlie Murphy returned to Vancouver with their band, rumours of the Big Wave, this summer for the folk- fest. Dynamic and danceable, they had the audience up and moving when they opened the main stage at the festival's final night. Charlie and Jamie are the band's leaders. Jamie is a lesbian and Charlie is gay and both believe in the importance of working together. Obviously, for them, it is a partnership that works. Jamie is a fine cellist, and Charlie plays guitar and sings. Their music runs a wide range from loud and fun to thoughtful and haunting. Charlie and Jamie are up front about what they believe, and are trying to get their music across to a diversity of people. The lyrics, based in earth centred spirituality, are highly political. Charlie, the writer, creatively avoids the tone of a political lecture giving his lyrics poetry and reality. Their music is entertaining and enjoyable, ranging from softer melodies featuring Jamie's cello, to hard driving, rythmic dance tunes. What do you see is the role of your music? Jamie: Our music has several roles; to inspire people, and put across stories that we've heard. Charlie's the songwriter, so a lot of his experiences and perceptions come through the music. One of the things the band has allowed us to do is get people up and moving. It's brought us into a realm of performance that political music usually doesn't reach—bars and clubs. Charlie: Hopefully.we serve several political functions 'at once. One is the politics of what we talk about. We've been really inspired by a visit to Nicaragua and some of the songs we do are about Central America. Some of the songs express a broader world view, an earth centred spirituality, and try to do that in a way that doesn't create a lot of unnecessary boundaries. In Seattle our audiences tend to be a mixture of gay people, straight people, men and women, which is my goal. If there was ever a time not to ghettoize our consciousness it is now. Particularly because the gay community is so much under attack and the Right, in the US, is so active. It's really a time not to internalize that and retreat, it's a time to get out there and to acknowledge that "hey, we're not strange", and the message that we have is something that a lot of people, can hear. One of the many political purposes of the band is to take the music beyond the circles of the already convinced. We played a gig at a college that was into a frat scene, and we were really apprehensive about it, and here were these typical macho guys dancing up a storm to the song "Gay Spirit". There's something of value here that I take special.delight in. Jamie: I think that there is a growing number of people who do not want to hear lyrics talking about "poor me" or women who are oppressed or whatever negative message is being put out by a lot of music today. A lot of people want to hear music that they can listen to and feel good about, and dance to. The first time I heard your music was at a women's party. We were listening and dancing to typical women's music a la California^ and someone put on .some of your songs—and. here was this man singing songs about things which spoke to us as women. Charlie: A large part of our really strong support is the women's community, they've responded more than gay men have. At the same time I'm happy for the support that we get, I think it's emblematic of where the men are—gay or straight—that it's taken them longer. Do you think it 's important that gay and straight people work together? Jamie: Yeah, I think also that we do'let prospective members know that we are gay, and won't work with anyone who is homophobic. There are certain political morals or beliefs that people have to live to play with our band. How do you see yourselves accountable or responsible to your audience as performers? Charlie: You would get a different answer if you asked that question in Nicaragua, where the cultural movement is very much supported by the government and the government understands the transformative power of art. mm •;yi In this country artists are victims of the market economy. In order to make a living beyond your values and ideals, you've got to be able to pay the rent. That takes a whole other level of accountability. And we don't really have a cultural movement here. We have networks of artists and there's a real difference between a network and a movement. When something becomes a movement, that's where holding each other accountable comes into play. We really don't have that here. What sorts of barriers do you run into, and what have you accomplished despite them? Charlie: One of the biggest stumbling blocks is always money. We're really undercapitalized . We get as far as we can on what we have. We're able to work a lot of regular clubs in Seattle and we're getting airplay for our record, but we really don't have the set-up to promote it on a mass scale. So we go on gradually building our audience and that feels good because what we do have is really solid and growing. Are you able to support your music by playing, or do you have to have outside-jobs? Jamie: At this point we all have outside jobs At certain times of the year we're able to take a bit of time off to tour and to rehearse more, but we're all working right now. What sorts of plans do you have for the future? Charlie: We're working on a video project about Central America, that not only talks about what's happening there, but about the political situation in the US that creates the conditions of war in Nicaragua. Hopefully our first segment will be finished in December. We're working on fund- raising for another record. We have enough material for another two or three. We'll probably do another west coast tour and we hope to get up to Vancouver more often. Jamie: I'm going to be putting out a cello focused- solo album, and I think the band as a whole is going to be exploring vari- • eties of music. We're a band that isn't pegged in one certain style. We do dance music, and yet we also have acoustic music that's softer. We'll be focusing more on our direction in the future. discography: Catch the Fire: Good Fairy Productions 1001, July 1981, (LP); Canticles of Light: 1984; Fierce Love: With Rumours of the Big Wave, (EP). Outfront Music. Charlie and Jamie October TO Kinesis 31 ssssaassss^^ ARTS by Melanie Conn Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee Charnas. A Berkeley Book, New York, 1974, 246 pages. Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin, Daw Books, New York, 1984, 301 pages. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret'Atwood, McLelland and Stewart, 1985. A world where the oppression of women is .as extreme as our worst nightmares—the subject holds a kind of grim fascination for feminist readers. How b&d'could it get? These three books present a desolate picture of women's, lives in the future. They are not easy to read. What makes them exciting is their portrayal of women as resilient, and sometimes .even uppity, in horrifying circumstances. The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's first foray into speculative fiction. In many ways the most plausible of the three books, the story takes place just a few years from now, perhaps before the end of this century. As the unnamed heroine recalls everyday life as a college student in a New England town, her current existence as a surrogate mother in a rigid, sexist society seems all the more terrifying. Women's political and economic rights have been eliminated by law in the blink of an eye. Women are not permitted to vote, to work in paid employment or even to handle money. (In a radio interview, Atwood said that everything in the book had a basis in fact and the one scenario she thought she'd invented—the funeral for a foetus—was depicted in a newspaper clipping someone sent to her recently.) Along with powerful and very painful scenes of women's lives as the world closes in on them, Atwood also examines the subtleties of sexual politics, including "good" men's enjoyment of their superior status. But in The Handmaid's Tale, sisterhood is not a tool for liberation. Generally women are seen to collude in the oppression of each other, especially along class lines. The heroine becomes increasingly dependent on men for support and for that reason I was somewhat disappointed in the book, though I loved Atwood's spare style and her ability to make her characters' experiences tangible. Native Tongue was a good antidote. It also tells the story of a society rigidly structured by gender, but in family groupings (the Lines) where women serve men in ways that are guaranteed to appall you. The difference is that the women have organized themselves to create their own world under the very noses of their oppressors. Not that the men aren't suspicious. As one explains: The women had a tendency to accomplish changes by altering things one infinitesimal fraction at a time, spread over months and months, so that you never saw it happening until suddenly it was just there... he well remembered a rock garden that had- appeared once, complete with three giant boulders that seemingly sprung instantaneously from the earth... The extra twist to Native Tongue has to do with the author's occupation. Suzette Haden Elgin is a linguist, and the power of language is a central theme of the story. The people of the Lines have a special expertise in acquiring languages. Since life in the twenty-third century revolves around earth's trading relationships*with innumerable alien cultures, the livelihood of the Lines is wrapped up in their indispensable service as interpreters. ....^.j^*'*^. The. women carry a double load, working full- time in the interpreter's booth and doing all the household work. (Imagine our surprise'.) The joy in their lives comes from their secret project: the women of the Lines are slowly and meticulously creating a language for women, using their remarkable skills for their own enjoyment. But how will they know when the time is right to bring their language to life by beginning to speak it? Their struggle to decide makes engrossing reading for anyone who has ever had an intense opinion about political strategy. And the unpredictable results of their decision can remind us (as it teaches them) about the remarkable power of collective action. Walk To The End Of The World is the first in a series of books Suzy Charnas has written about the ferns, a society of women in a world ruled by men. This book sets the stage, introducing us to life after the Wasting, a nuclear-ecological disaster. For sixty pages Charnas describes the Holdings, peopled entirely by men. Any references to women are in the form of " curses or insults; to be "unmanly" is almost a crime in a sharp-edged world where men conspire against each other for power, and open violence is the major mode of social control. When the story-line eventually leads to the ferns, the portrayal of their degradation borders on gruesome. Women are "unmen"— not people. They are used as drudges and breeders; many never learn to speak and some live their lives as beasts of burden, replacing the. animals eliminated by, J.feC^ Wasting. I knew"Charnas' images would haunt me. The only thing that kept me reading was the back cover's promise that "there were rebel ferns planning revenge". When finally the story shifts to Alldera, a fem who has seemed incidental to the ! plot, we learn how women have worked together to survive despite repeated attempts by men to exterminate them. The self- serving ignorance of the men who blame the women for every disaster, including the Wasting, is juxtaposed with the bitter intelligence of Alldera. She knows the true story: how the military leaders who "murdered the world" emerged from the safety of their bunkers to dominate the few survivors. As the story proceeds, Alldera experiences a kind of consciousness-raising, and by the end of the book, she's on her way to the rebel womenI These books said a lot to me, especially about how oblivious the oppressor can be to the pain of the oppressed. But when I finished reading them, I was glad J knew where to find some rebel women too! **>. vsn mmm "CCEC invests in cooperation. We feel comfortable knowing that our money earns interest and meets our principles." Isadora's Cooperative Restaurant *«<& ■&<* *? JmBm mms, tcJ& yfr^ CCEC Credit Union 33 East Broadway Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1V4 Mon. & Wed. 11 am-5 pm. Friday 1pm-7 pm 876-2123 32 Kinesis October *86 ////////////////////^^^^^ //////////////////////^^^^ Letters CRon abortion struggles Kinesis: I would like to comment on the use of the term "pro-life" which is often used to describe those who are against abortion (E. Brooks' article "American Pro-Lifers open 3,000 pseudo-abortion clinics", Sept. '86). This terminology infers that those of us who are not "pro-life" are "anti-life" or "pro-abortion". I believe it is no accident that anti-abortionists have adopted the "pro-life" handle. They are aware of the multiple messages inherent in those words: that the anti-abortionists support and protect life, while pro-choice supporters destroy or do not value life. These messages are simplistic, inaccurate and misleading. Those of us who support a woman's right to reproductive freedom are not "pro-abortion". We believe that the power to choose should be in the hands of the individual woman, not the state, the church, or any other group or institution. In accurate, honest and clear terms, then, someone who supports a woman's right to choose when or whether to give birth is pro-choice; those who do not are anti- abortionists. Mary Hackney those who act to solve problems one small step at a time will make the decade a success, not those who spend their time planning and programming the sector. It is our belief that why our rural women and girls are suffering from barbaric, dehumanized and superstitious age-long traditions such as the so-called female circumcision is because of a lack of practical information which could change their lives. We salute your courage in helping us for not all our womenfolk who are aware of our plights are courageous to take the decision of donating to our cause. We implore you to note that circumcision is not a practice one can eradicate overnight. It has evolved over centuries and has links with control over sexuality. Therefore you should explore all avenues for continuous financial support for us to continue in our campaign until the total victory is won.. Thank you for your support and please tell anyone you come in contact with of our plight and call on them to come to our aid in the interest of international feminism. We love you. In sisterhood, Hannah Edemikpong Women's Centre P.O. Box 185, EKET Cross River State, Nigeria West Africa Unfair picture of women's conference Nigeria women's centre stays in touch Kinesis: In a spring issue of Kinesis there was a short note requesting financial support to the Eket Women's Centre in their campaign to educate against female circumcision. Enclosed is the letter that I received from them in response to my sending a donation. I thought it would be an interesting, informative addition to the next issue of Kinesis as well as function as yet another plea for money to be sent to the Women's Centre. Daphne Hnatiuk My Dear Daphne Hnatiuk: I am delightful to recieve your letter and a cheque of $20 as your donation towards our massive education campaign against female circumcision. Our women have long been suffering from the agony of this outrageous and dehumanizing tradition for too long and our campaign is, obviously, the first local initiative towards the emancipation of women from this situation. Although we are being threatened by traditionalists for female circumcision and we are being labelled as traitors to our people for exposing the dirty linen of our people to the outside world, we are unshaken in our efforts. So far, we have received only $212 from our worldwide appeal for funds, and although the fund so far derived for the campaign is too small, comparing with the multitude of programs that need funds for execution, we are undaunted in pursuing our goals. Our government and its agencies consider the subject too sensitive to assist education programs with funding, but we of this Centre are resolute that in spite of serious financial constraints arising from our poor funding the campaign shall continue. We believe, and sincerely too, that Kinesis: \r The BC-Yukon Association of Women's Centres was pleased that Kinesis was present at the birth of our association at Nara- mata in May. The achievement of the eighty-six women present is significant as BC is only the second province to form a much needed provincial association. Quebec women recently celebrated the first anniversary of the forming of their association. While we were happy to see much of the Association press release appear in the June Kinesis, we must respond to the somewhat negative and inaccurate reporting of some of the conference proceedings. Women were definitely not in disagreement that BC women's centres should and do work from a feminist perspective. The question of applying a feminist perspective in our centres was not an issue. What did occur was a discussion of the impact of the word feminism in some communities and among some women not yet involved in the centres. I believe all delegates consider themselves feminists and the Association is most definitely working from and within a feminist perspective. Women struggled to come up with a definition to be adopted by the Association. Following much discussion, however, it was agreed time restraints would not permit an adequate analysis of the term, and that feminism would be included in our constitution . The discussion around the name of our association hardly constituted real "political differences". While no doubt many ideologies were represented (as would be expected with a delegation of 86) there was not argument ("after much argument") but good honest debate. The name chosen for an association is vital to the cohe- siveness and progress of the- group. And as such, we believed the time spent considering "association" or "coalition" was worthwhile. It is worth noting that 22 women convinced 26 women that the term association would enable them to better carry out our work in their respective For the good of the group and the association, women accepted this—signalling our solidarity and the need for a strong provincial lobby group. Finally, the repeated use of the words arguing and argument in the page one article paints an unfair picture of the arduous four days work. The negative connotation the words project is something we have come to expect in the mainstream press. I think all in attendance would agree the conference was the success we had hoped for And, our success was largely the result of the continuous discussion, consultation and debate among us. Jean Kavanagh, spokesperson BC-Yukon Association of Women's Centres ,*l II < Ifc «■ * * THEATRE .• • ^B For the best in Foreign Films and Independent Quality Films Non-Sexist, Coffee Bar, Crying Room for parents with small children 16th and ARBUTUS STREET Phone 738-6311 $2.99 on Tuesday $4 Students with valid cards WESTCOAST TRAINING WESTCOASTTRAINING presents Workshops with Sandra Butler: Author of Conspiracy of Silence: The Trauma of Incest, and international speaker and educator on sexual assault. Nov. 18 & 19: Writing As healing—"Healing the Healers" (women only) This 2 day retreat is limited to 13 participants. The workshop will explore the use of writing as therapy and the relationship of one's own creative processes and self-healing. fee $185.00 Nov. 20: Counselling Adolescent Victims of Sexual Assault This one day workshop will focus on adolescent disclosure, treatment and gender based differences between male and female victims. cost $60.00 Nov. 21: Counselling Adult Women Survivors of Sexual Assault This workshop will focus on the social and emotional difficulties experienced by survivors, the link between current problems and earlier abuse and treatment approaches including group work, cost $60.00 Nov 22: Women, Sexuality, Terrorism and the State This workshop between all forms < developmental and women and female self Workshop location: Vancouver. cost $60.00 for further information and registration contact: vill cover the interrelationship s of violence against women. The mplications for the lives of girls i the social construction of the i act of survival and resistance. >n: Graduate Student Centre, UBC, 2196 W.46th, VAN. B.C. V6M2LI. (604)266-21^ October ^6 Kinesis 33 — ^ Bulletin Board EVENTS EVENTS EVENTS W.E.S.T. TEACHES AWARENESS, avoidance and action against attacks in a program developed by the women who teach it. Basic classes are slated for: Oct. 9 at Thompson Community College, Richmond and Oct. 18 at BCIT, Burnaby. Intermediate classes, open to women who have completed basic held on Mondays, Trout Lake Community Centre, 7 pm. $5. per session. For info, on slated courses, including times and costs contact WEST at 234-9 St. Catherine St. Vancouver or call 876-6390. COMING TOGETHER AGAIN: A Women's Sexuality Conference November 7-9, 1986, Toronto, Ontario. Includes opening evening of conference. For registration information, contact: Side by Side: Canadian Feminist Research Group, Box 85, 275 King St. E. Toronto M5A 1K2 (4-16) 626-5465. ges of the last 25 years. Explore the history and diversity of the Chinese community Saltwater City will be on display from Oct. 3rd to Dec. 21. Hours Wed. through Sun. from 11 am to 6 pm, at the Chinese Cultural Centre, 50 East Pender, Vancouver. For more info, call 687-0729. THE VANCOUVER LESBIAN CONNECTION presents our annual Hallowe'en bash Friday, October 31 at Capri Hall, 3925 Fraser Street, 8 pm to 1 am. Tickets $4 to $6 available at VLC, Ariel Books, Womens Bookstore and Little Sisters. Childcare offsite. Wheelchair accessible. CELEBRATION—SINGLE MOTHERS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA—Friday, Oct. 10, La Quena Coffee House, 1111 Commercial Drive, Tickets at door, $2. per person. Latino music, "variety entertainment", raffles, auctions, door prize. Inquiries call 896-7601. We are two single mothers support groups with unique needs originating out of East Vancouver. WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY: Building our own agenda. November 21,22, 23 at Douglas College in New Westminster. This conference is being planned by women in member.groups of the National Action Council on the Status of Women (NAC). It is open to all women in BC. For more information call WomenSkills 430-0450. MARGO ADAIR, author of Working Inside Out: Tools for Change will be in Vancouver for a series of workshops. Visualization and AIDS/ ARC: healing skills'for people with AIDS or ARC, Fri. Oct. 24, 7-10 pm. Tapping Deeper Resources: skills to empower us to deal with AIDS/ARC; for caregivers, friends and families of people with AIDS/ARC, Sat. Oct 25 10-6 pm. Keeping the Faith: healing self and organization, transforming personal and political burnout. Sat. Oct. 26, 10 am- 6 pm. Information and registration phone 254-2627, sliding scale, wheelchair accessible, childcare available. THEATRE FOR THE TERRIFIED: Mondays 8-10 pm at the Vancouver Lesbian Connection's Centre, 876 Commercial Drive. Starting October 20th for six weeks. Have fun and laugh from the belly. Call Valerie 732-1829; after October 1, 732-8927. Cost $3-$5. SUNRAY PEACEKEEPER WORKSHOP and public lecture. Lecture Oct. 17. Workshop Oct. 18 and 19, times and places to be announced. Sunray Mediation Society is an international society rooted in native Indian wisdom and Tibetan Buddhist principles and dedicated to planetary peace, For more info. phone 253-0145 or 255-6026. THE BC COALITION OF THE DISABLED1s fourth annual celebrity and goods action has something for world travellers, homeowners, kids, parents, autograph hounds, business . people, collectors, and everyone else. Come to the CNIB, 350 East 36th, on Saturday October 18th and get some good stuff. For details call 875-0188. ON PACIFIC GROUNDS presented by the Vancouver Folk Song Society brings together folk musicians from across the country to celebrate the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Folk Music Society on November 1. Free workshops and concerts in the UBC Education Building continue from 11 am to 4 pm including themes such as Women's struggles, women's songs; songs of political protest in BC; songs of work and working people; the song making/writing process; Young Eagles Drum Group with the Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House dancers. In the evening from 9 pm there will be a concert, "Songs from Sea to Sea" followed by called dances at the ANZA Club 8th Avenue and Ontario Street, $5 employed; $3.50 otherwise.. For info, phone 734-9179. 34 Kinesis October'86 IT IS THE LAST FOUR DAYS OF THE MARCOS DICTATORSHIP. Millions barricade a military camp outside Manila to deliver the final blows to a dying regime. A group of Filipinos huddle around a bonfire. Waiting to face the tanks of the dictator, they tell their story... PETA (The Philippine Educational Theatre Association) will be performing An Oath to Freedom on 17 and 18 October at 8 pm at the Waterfront Theatre. The twenty-six member company will also be offering a series of workshops on 14 and 15 October. For information about workshops or the performances please contact: Leith Harris, 879-4315. WOMEN EDUCATING FOR UNITY AGAINST VIOLENCE a group of women's organizations and individuals is sponsoring a series of community forums: Our Bodies, Our Disabilities, Oct. 2, 7-10 pm; Abortion, Adoption and Other Choices, Oct. 9, 7-10 pm; Rape, Woman Battering and Child Abuse—How Far Have We Come, Oct. 16, 7-10 pm; Pornography and the Question of Censorship, Oct. ■26, 11 am-5 pm; Teenage Women Speak Out, Oct, 30, 7-10 pm; Immigrant Women—Legal and Social Discrimination, Nov. 6, 7-10 pm. All events at the Langara Campus, Student Union Building, 100 W. 49th, Vancouver. Wheelchair accessible, childcare and assistance for the hearing impaired on request.. For information call 879-3246, 874-1538, 291-4360.- 0PEN HOUSE AT SITKA HOUSING CO-OP: Five years organizing, lobbying, building, and we're in'. Satisfy your curiosity, come and celebrate with us. Sunday, Oct. 19, 1-4 pm at 2160 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. TW^ -a^ * iOVM^o U^J vvo sv^w^ ?*<**•* t>i/f wt c-ar>'~lr J;s csrn - Sen>\t. r\e. ver \t?rr\ WOMEN'S HALLOWE'EN MASQUERADE BALL: with musicians Amy Bozart, sponsored by Spin- stervale Sisters, October 31, 8 pm., Parksville Community Centre (sleeping bag space call 752-5380 a.m., 752-6679). IN THE GALLERY at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre an exhibition of photos by Karie Garnier and quotations from over 24 native elders from the mainland Salish region. Sponsored by the Professional'Native Women's Association, Oct. 26-Nov. 23, 1895 Venables St. DOMESTIC WORKERS: DO YOU KNOW YOUR RIGHTS? You are invited to a meeting where lawyers and domestic workers will talk about your employment and immigration rights. Special guest speaker is Rosemary Brown. Sunday October 19, 2-4pm, Women in Focus, 456 W. Broadway. For more info, call 731-3786. CHANGE AND CHALLENGE, strategies for success, the eighth annual YWCA sponsored single mothers weekend conference, Oct. 18 and 19 at the Downtown YWCA, 580 Burrard St., Vancouver. Workshops, speakers etc. Childcare is provided as well as a program of events for older children. Pre-registration for childcare a must. A $10 registration fee covers childcare and transportation is available. For info, call 683-2521. SALTWATER CITY: THE CHINESE IN VANCOUVER, 1886-1986—to celebrate Vancouver's Centennial the Chinese Cultural Centre is holding a multi-media exhibition. (Saltwater City is the original Chinese name for Vancouver). The exhibit ranges from the early immigrant days to the growth of Vancouver's Chinatown through the depression and the second world war to family life in the fifties and ends with new immigration and the challen- VIDE0 SCHOOL: Upcoming workshops in the Women In Focus series. Script Writing for Video, Lisa Steele, Oct. 10-12. A comprehensive script writing workshop for the video medium. Cost $30 members/$40 non- members. Workshop limited to ten participants, register early. Also: Pure Virtue by Tanya Mars, screening and social open to the public. Sun, Oct. 12, 5:30. All events at Women In Focus, Suite 204-456 W. Broadway, Vancouver, V5Y 1R3. For further information or to register contact Kellie Marlowe, 872-4332 or 872-2250. SUBMISSIONS WOMEN WRITE FOR THEATRE: Women on Cue, a non-professional women's theatre collective, Is inviting original scripts to be submitted for production in Nelson B.C. and Vancouver B.C. All roles will be female. Submit entries and inquiries to: Women On Cue Theatre, 1123 Cedar St., Nelson, B.C.' VIL 2E3 ///////////////////^^^^^ //////////////////////^^^^^ Bulletin Board l MISCELLANEOUS SHARING POWER, a political skills handbook by Josephine Payne-0'Connor is based on. interviews with Vancouver Island women who have been active in politics and contains information on many aspects of political organizing including women's role in politics, organizing pressure.groups, lobbying, fundraising etc. A thirty minute educational video, Vancouver Island Women in Politics is also available. Cost for the book is $8.95, for the video $35. Order from Victoria Status of Women Action Group, P.O. Box G, 296. Stn. C, Victoria, BC, V8P 5L5. CROUPS THE VANCOUVER OUTDOOR CLUB FOR.WOMEN offers a wide variety of recreational pursuits for women of all ages and abilities. Hiking, cycling, rock climbing, canoeing," kayaking, backpacking, are some of the activities you can get involved in this fall. For more information on the Club call Linda at 876- 3506, or Kate at 988-2733 or write c/o P.O. Box 2640, Main Post Office, Vancouver, BC V6B 3W8. PRESS GANG PRINTERS is looking for women interested in volunteering, primarily to do bindery work. We are asking for a minimum four month commitment of one day a week. We will provide five or six evening training sessions, which will include a discussion of Press Gang's history and politics, an overview of the printing process, and a more detailed training in bindery and some aspects of'pre-press work. Training will take place in November. If interested, please call Marilyn at 253-1224. WOMEN'S COLLECTIVE A CaPELLA group (Aya) needs fifth member to sing lead and backup, wide vocal range (preferably low), write, arrange—one year commitment. Audience: feminist, political activist, peace, anti-nuke, and Central American. WOMAN TO WOMAN FRIENDSHIP NETWORK is a nonprofit service for women. A registration fee of $5 or donation is required. Pick up a brochure and application at the Vancouver Lesbian Centre or send to P.O. Box 46232, Station G, Vancouver, BC V6R 4G5. THE LESBIAN SHOW, CFRO 102.7 FM, Thurs. 8:30-9:30 pm is now in its 9th year and is an integral part of the lesbian feminist community. Our collective at present consists of a small number of members. We need you to help. You can learn new skills, how to operate, interview, host, write and produce for radio; meet interesting women and be part of the lesbian community as it happens. Why not check out this opportunity—come down on Thurs. evenings to 337 Carrall St., or leave a message for us at Co-op Radio 684-8494. Help keep this voice of the lesbian community alive and vital. NEW WOMEN OF COLOUR group is looking for members. For information please call 254- 3209 or 874-4713. GROUPS LESBIAN MOTHERS OF TEENS invites lesbians living with and mothering teenagers to come to our regular meetings held irregularly every 2 or 3 weeks. For information or to find out when the next meeting is, call 876-8446 or 255-7363. WOMEN'S BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP is looking for new members. Monthly meetings for informal discussion of our selection of fiction, feminist theory and politics, etc. Next meeting Tues. Oct. 14th. Book: Herland by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman, and other feminist Utopias you have read. Contact Kitty Bernick 873-5958. GOOD, CLEAN...BUSINESS! If you'd like to work with other women to make safe biodegradable cleansers easy to get, come to a meeting on Monday October 27th at 7:30 pm. at 831 Commercial Drive (beside Uprising) This is a new project, not a franchise. For info, call 255-7172 (Angela Price) or 736- 0935 (Melanie Conn). CLASSIFIED ROOM AVAILABLE IN WOMEN'S SHARED HOUSE at Victoria and 34th. Musicians in residence. Call: 327-8534. Available immediately. EMILY'S PLACE: Women's retreat and vacation getaway on Vancouver Island. Enjoy a fully equipped cabin located on French Creek in the Parksville Qualicum area. Lots of space available for camping. Share a picnic shelter cooking facility. Daily rates: Cabin: $20. first woman, $10 each additional woman. The cabin can accomodate group events: planning sessions, annual meetings, celebrations. Bunkhouse (under construction) $10/woman. The Emily's Place Society directs all user's fees to the continued growth of the project. Reservations and bookings: 248-5410, Cindy or Cait. WILL TYPE RESUMES, CORRESPONDENCE, MAILING LISTS, reports, proposals, books, insurance, engineering, medical, legal documentation— your office/my residence—highly qualified. Khadijeh Hoseyni 876-6857. SURVIVING PROCEDURES AFTER A SEXUAL ASSAULT by Megan Ellis is an invaluable guide to the legal system as it pertains to survivors or sexual assault. Ask your bookseller or order from Press Gang Publishers, 603 Powell St., Vancouver, BC $6.95 plus $1.50 handling. INFORMATION RE: KURDISTAN'S CULTURE, self- determination, movement, political aspirations . Send $2 SASE Manilla for literature list. Khadijeh Huseyni, MP0, P.O. Box 3475 Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3Y4 VIEWC0URT HOUSING CO-OP: located in Mount Pleasant, is looking for people interested in co-op living. The building, built in 1912, has bachelor suites for $325 and one bedroom units for $378 and $410. If you are interested in participating apply in writing to the Membership Committee, #5- 12 W. 10th Ave.- Vancouver, BC V5Y 1R6. Enclose SASE please. ROOM IN FEMINIST TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT IN HOUSING COOP: available November 1. Maximum $250, inclusive, depending on income. Call Monika or Ingrid at 251-3857. feoptes T^Courier Service ■tr CLASSIFIED BED AND BREAKFAST for women on Quadra Island. Yes, we are open during the fall. Only five hours from Vancouver, Quadra provides a wonderful break from city living and we offer a spacious room with ocean and mountain view, private bath and full breakfast. Write Box 119, Quathiaski Cove, BC V0P 1N0 or call Susan or Carolyn at 285- 3632. EMPLOYMENT: Wanted personal care attendant for three physically handicapped people in False Creek area. Domestic chores, valid driver's licence required. Must be able to work on their own. Approximately $60/day. Contact evenings: 732-1694, 736-7107. MUSIC FOR NICARAGUA, a component of Tools for Peace, was founded last year by a group of Vancouver cultural workers to collect musical instruments, sound equipment and funds for use in Nicaragua. If you have instruments of any description in repairable shape, audio equipment or sound equipment, please bring it to: Folk Festival Office, 3271 Main St., Vancouver. Get involved. The people of Nicaragua need your aid. ROOM FOR RENT: The Vancouver Women's Health Collective has a 10x10 space for rent for a women's organization. The rent is $150. per month, or less rent for less days per week. Phone 682-4805 for more information. RESPONSIBLE, MATURE WOMAN WANTED to share three bedroom house in the east end with one other woman on a one year sublet basis, The house is in the Robson Park Housing Co-op and rent is based on 25 percent income but not less than $250 per month. Single mother and child also welcome. Call Jessie 874-1387. NAME ACT (SECTION 5(1) Notice of Application for change of name. Notice is hereby given that an application will be made to the Director of Vital Statistics for a change of name, pursuant to the provisions of the "Name Act" by me—Leah Fredrica Ann Glencross of 2148 Kitchener Street, Vancouver, BC to change my name from Leah Fredrica Ann Glencross to Leah Fredrica Georgia. Dated this 19th day of September A.D. 1986. Leah Fredricka Glencross SEX THERAPY/COUNSELLING: I work with people with these concerns: avoidance of sexual activity; guilt; sexual enhancement; differences in sexual interest between partners; sexual dysfunctions (i.e. pain during sex, arousal difficulties, etc.) difficulty initiating sexual activity with a partner; monogamy/non-monogamy; coming out; incest; sexual assault; all sexual orientations. Individuals, couples and small groups. Sliding scale. Lori Van Hum-' beet, MSW, Clinical Intern in Sex Therapy. Call 224-3356 & i October ^6 Kinesis 35 We've fee^flL^orking hard (^tjyfjSs^design for Kin'03isx ^r^N|)vemb^i^^^e;|^tf reveal "^}f Cifpe and celebrate witfr.$$/tes/s,400A West 5th, Vancouver. $twcr ;4'^ Published 10 times a year by Vancouver Status of Women 400A West 5th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5Y 1J8 □: VSW Membership- $25.50 (or what you can afford) ^tociSijs' D Kinesis subscription only - $17.50 D Institutions - $45 □ Sustainers - $75 D Here's my cheque D New D Bill me □ Renewal D Gift subscription for a friend
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
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Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. HQ1101.V24 N49
Women--Social and moral questions
Feminism--Periodicals
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