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Kinesis
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October 1988 South Africa's decades of resistance cppa $1.75 Books...movies...concerts...theatre..,albums.. STAFF BOX Kinesis welcomes volunteers to work on all aspects of the paper. Call us at 255-5499. Our next News Group is Tues. Oct.ll at 3:00pm at Kinesis, #301-1720 Grant St. All women welcome even if you don't have experience. PRODUCTION THIS ISSUE: Marsha Arbour, Gwen Bird, Lea Dawson, Patty Gibson, Susan Lash, Andrea Lowe, Le- anne Macdonnell, Allisa McDonald, Joni Miller, Sarah Or- lowski, Nancy Pollak, Cathy Stonehouse, Sonia Marino, Yvonne Van Ruskenveld. Cookies from Elsie. FRONT COVER: Photos from Analisis, a Chilean periodical: "Freedom for political prisoners." BACK COVER: We don't usually feature Mila's husband, but who could resist? EDITORIAL BOARD: Marsha Arbour, Pat Feindel, Allisa McDonald, Nancy Pollak, Noreen Shanahan, Esther Shannon, Michele Valiquette. CIRCULATION AND DISTRIBUTION: Gwen Bird, Cat L'Hirondelle. ADVERTISING: Marsha Arbour. OFFICE: Cat L'Hirondelle. Kinesis Is published 10 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 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 Board. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions to Kinesis are $17.50 per year or what you can afford. Membership in the Vancouver Status of Women is $25.50 or what you can afford, includes subscription to Kinesis. SUBMISSIONS: All submissions are welcome. We reserve the right to edit and submission does not guarantee publication. All submissions should be typed double spaced and must be signed and include an address and phone number. Please note Kinesis does not accept poetry or fiction contributions. For material to be returned, a SASE must be included. Editorial guidelines are available on request. ADVERTISING: For information about display advertising rates, please contact Kinesis. For information about classifieds, please see the classified page in this issue. DEADLINE: For features and reviews the 10th of the month preceding publication; news copy, 15th; letters and Bulletin Board listings 18th. Display advertising: camera ready, 18th; design required, 12th. Kinesis is a member of the Canadian Periodical Publishers Association and is indexed in the Alternative Press Index. CORRESPONDENCE: Kinesis, Vancouver Status of Women, 301-1720 Grant St., Vancouver, B.C. V5L 2Y6 Battered women feel they are "looking in a mirror" when the VOICE troupe performs 7 The White Spot menu now features union-busting 5 INSIDE fiBtfttM. ? 0WX BCGEU gets a new contract ....3 Feminists won't network with REAL Women .. .... 3 Everywoman's Health Centre opens soon 4 Movement Matters ... .. 2 B.C. Woman's Housing Coalition active 4 Assault trial leads to lenient sentence ....5 Whats's News .. 6 Wife assault gets big bucks by Noreen Shanahan 7 Beans by Nora D. Randall .10 In South Africa: picking up the spears by Sadie Kuehn Whether to play Pinochet's game by Carmen Rodriguez .... 8 ....9 Commentary by Anne Innis Dagg and Pat Davis . 11 Moving the censor in women's film by Duane Burton ...12 Natural Causes by Heather Herington . 14 flfvf <~> Feminists Organizing for Change in review ... by Frances Wasserlein Uncluttered by the language of Art ...15 ... 16 In Other Worlds by Melanie Conn . 20 by Pam Galloway Miriam Makeba: determination and hope by Maura Volante ...17 Letters . 21 Fringe Festival: laughs and laundry by Yvonne Van Ruskenveld ... 19 Bulletin Board compiled by Sonia Mai . 21 7/70 1 r Camera work by Northwest Graphics. Laser printing by Each Time and Eastside Data Graphics. Printing by Web Press Graphics. Second class mail #6426 ISSN 0317-9095 KINESIS Movement Matters Movement matters listings information Movement Matters is designed to be a network of newt, updates and information of special interest to the women's movement. Submissions to Movement Matters should be no more than 500 words, typed, doable-spaced on eight and a half by eleven paper. Submissions may be edited for length. Deadline is the 18th of the month preceding publication. Outreach to Caribbean women Words of Women is an ambitious project aiming to promote the exchange of writings between Canadian and Third World women. In its initial stage, WOW is activating a program of contact and exchange between English-language feminist publishing groups in Canada and the Caribbean. Canadian women's groups can become active participants by linking (via WOW) with a Caribbean women's group, providing that group with a continuous supply of feminist literature. Similarly, individuals are invited to form local WOW committees and forge a connection. WOW has asked book and periodical publishers to supply them with feminist literature which they will then distribute to Caribbean women's organizations; Caribbean publishers will make a similar exchange to Canadian groups. WOW is coordinated by MATCH International, a Canadian-based women's organization committed to working with Third World women for a feminist vision of development. Contact WOW at Northern Woman's Bookstore, 184 Camelot St., Thunder Bay Ont. P7A 4A9, or at MATCH, 1102-200 Elgin St., Ottawa Ont. K2P 1L5 LEAF offers speakers West Coast LEAF and the Charter of Rights Coalition (Vancouver) have created a Speakers' Bureau which will provide volunteer speakers to address groups on equality rights for women. LEAF—the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund—is a national organization which supports court test cases to advance women's equahty under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their goal is to help women use the law to effectively redress inequality. Besides offering the speaker service, West Coast LEAF is interested in hearing from members of the community about potential equahty rights cases. Groups who would hke a speaker to address either equality rights in general or some specific application (e.g. workplace issues) are welcome to contact coordinator Susan Hayne at 733-3382 or the West Coast LEAF office at 684-8772. Low-cost health booklets Health Press The Montreal Health Press is a non-profit women's publishing house which has distributed over 18 million copies of their booklets in the past 20 years. They are committed to producing low cost, mass distribution texts that both inform and encourage people to make their own health decisions. Their most recent publication, A Book About Menopause, is now available. It provides details on all aspects of menopause: body changes, sexuahty and strategies for dealing with this mid-life stage. The publication is illustrated with medical diagrams and photographs, and is available in both English and French for $4. (Bulk orders available.) VANCOUVER WOMEN'S BOOKSTORE 315 Cambie Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B2N4 684-0523 Hours: Monday - Saturday 11:00-5:30 pm Maureen McEvoy ba ma (Cand.) Counselling Psychology 732-3227 Areas of expertise: sexual abuse, relationships, sexuality, depression, ACOA Nancy Steele Res. (604) 254-0941 Champlain Realty Ltd. Bus. (604)438-7117 m REALTY WORLDTM 'i.. Marlene Holt Res. (604) 255-5027 We'll help you make a good move. To obtain this booklet, information about bulk orders and the Health Press' publication and poster hst, write to C.P. Box 1000, Station Place du Pare, Montreal PQ, Canada H2W 2N1. New books on women/feminism New Books on Women and Feminism is one of the regular offerings from the Women's Studies Librarian for the University of Wisconsin System. An impressive bibliography of English- language publications, New Books is divided into topic areas (Film Criticism, Humour, Spirituality, Economics ... ) and includes subject and author indices. The Women's Studies Librarian generates other bibliographies and directories throughout the year. For information about these publications and how to order them, write to Susan E. Searing, 112A Memorial Library, 728 State St., Madison WI53706 Ukrainian women meet The Second Wreath Cultural Society is a Toronto-based Ukrainian feminist collective. On Oct 28-30, they will hold a conference in Toronto entitled "Ukrainian Women: Tradition and Change", an event they describe as an opportunity to explore the themes of feminism and ethnicity. Workshops and presentations will examine Ukrainian women's historical and current status, their contribution to the arts, and their role in the community and family. English will be the primary language of the conference, which is wheelchair accessible and offers daycare through advance registration. (Travel subsidies and billets also available.) Registration is limited, and the fees are $45, $35 students/seniors. Make cheques payable to Second Wreath, Box 340, Stn D, Toronto Ont. M6P 3T9. Off to Nicaragua Members of the women's sector of B.C. Nic are planning a three week tour of Nicaragua during November. The tour organizers are hoping to gain exposure to women's health issues, cooperatively- run businesses, women artists, writers and artisans, and the many other women participating in building Nicaragua's new society. The tour will maintain a record of their activities, via slides and audio tapes, and plan to share their experience upon their return. Any form of assistance is welcomed by the organizers (there might even be tour spaces still available) who may be contacted at: Second Women's Tour to Nicaragua, 9 W.Broadway, Vancouver B.C. V5Y 1P1 Corrections In "Retribution ... and the Party of God" in September's Kinesis, Zaynab should have been described as the granddaughter of the prophet Mohammed. Also, in last month's listing of resources for incest survivors, the telephone number for the Vancouver Incest and Sexual Assault Centre (VISAC) should have been 738-3512. Display Advertising: This space is yours for only $23. Ask us about discounts. Phone 255-5499 Wor A new feminist newspaper distributed nationally 6 issues/year: • $5-$10 individual • $25 sustaining •$15 institution The Womanist P.O. Box 76, Stn B, Ottawa, Ont K1P6C3 (613)230-0590 CCEC CREDIT UNION "Keeping our money working in our community." When you bank at CCEC, you are investing in a neighbourhood business, in the co-op down the street, and in the whole community's growth. CCEC CREDIT UNION 33 EAST BROADWAY VANCOUVER, B.C. VST 1V4 MON. & WED. 11 am-5 pm FRIDAY 1pm-7pm 876-2123 KINESIS ////////////////////^^^^^ /////////////////^^^^ NEWS BCGEU Workers ratify good-news, bad-news contract by Elizabeth Briemberg Following a one week strike in September, the B.C. government employees ratified a new contract. The union has a high proportion of women workers jeopardized by privatization and victims of low wages, both of which were major issues in the strike. BCGEU workers are between a rock and a hard place in contract negotiations or on strike. The media jeers them or pities them and the government virtuously pretends to be protecting the taxpayer. Respect for their work, done under harassing conditions due to government pohcies, is rarely forthcoming. Workers become confused over what union tactics will be most effective. It is in this context the ratification should be placed. The new contract strengthens and extends protections for workers whose jobs are to be privatized, and includes job options, severance pay and pension protection. The contract places limitations on the use of temporary workers too. Now the government will have to hire office workers and pay union wages and benefits rather . ,., ,ITDP And What A Night It Was ... Vancouver's Take Back The Night march got an assist from Mother Nature this year in the form of outraged thunder claps and lightening bolts ... and rain that wouldn't go away. Close to 125 women took over Hastings Street on September 16 and, with an enthusiasm undampened by dampness, reminded passers-by, motorists—and each other—that the night also belongs to us. Take Back The Night has been marked across Canada for a decade now. In Toronto this year, the theme was "Women Fighting Rape: Our Lives, Our Action." Feminists refuse to network with R.E.A.L. Women by Nancy Pollak Organizers of a Vancouver networking event not only invited the anti-feminist R.E.A.L. Women, they structured the event so no effective protest could be launched. Women in Celebration was held September 10 at a local community centre. Several feminist groups were so outraged by the presence of R.E.A.L. Women and two other anti-choice groups (including Nurses For Life), they left in protest. The DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN), Press Gang Printers and the Vancouver Status of Women left the gathering not simply angry, but surprised and dismayed. The event was organized by an ad-hoc committee of volunteer representatives from various women's organizations in the lower mainland. Funding was provided by the Secretary of State Women's Program whose local officer, Carol Anne Soong, was involved in the event's organizing from the start. According to organizer JoAn Maurer, "the mandate from Sec State was to include all women's groups." Maurer is the Vancouver rep for the government- appointed Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. The seed for Women in Celebration was planted at a January networking meeting called by Pat Cooper, western vice- president of CACSW. "About 15 women's groups—transition houses, the YWCA, the University Women's Club, housing groups and others— were kicking around ideas," said Maurer. They decided on an "inclusive" day-long event for groups and individuals. R.E.A.L. Women attended one planning meeting. "It was awkward," said Maurer."We knew an event in Vancouver would be controversial ... and the only way to bring together such a diverse group was in celebration." To avoid what Maurer described as a "soap-box environment" ... there would be no mikes—networking, but no speaking out." Maurer cited the 1983 Women Against the Budget coalition meetings as the kind of atmosphere they didn't want. "There, some groups were 'in' and others were 'out.'" Women in Celebration's agenda included addresses by Rosemary Brown and Sylvia Gold (President of CACSW), a panel of "Women Speaking Out," film screenings, and formal and informal net working sessions. Over a hundred women attended. Each group was given a numbered balloon-on-a-string to be worn on their representative's wrist. The numbers corresponded to the group's name in the program. By this means, women could seek each other out to network. "We were not prepared to network with women who are fighting to destroy everything we've been working for," said Joan Meister of DAWN Canada. "By virtue of our disability we are denied choices, and that makes us emphatic about choice. They [R.E.A.L.] Women aren't going to allow us to choose." Besides being anti-choice on abortion, R.E.A.L. Women opposes equal pay for work of equal value and the gender equahty provision in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They are also virulently homophobic. Sec State's Soong appeared to have no difficulty with the participation of anti-feminist groups. "We left it at, invite groups, you [the organizers] have your agenda." Soong believes that agenda—"to look at women's accomplishments around equahty, past, present and future"—was strong and clear. See Refuse page 4 than go to Kelly services. Further improvements are in adoption leave benefits and clauses concerning VDT's, giving pregnant women more options for protection. Auxiliary workers will now be able to specify days and times of availability for recall. That's the good news. The bad news is the wage settlement. On the surface, an average wage increase of 20 percent over three years sounds reasonable. It has been compared favourably to 1988 forest industry settlements of 19 percent. If you look closer it does not impress. Nineteen percent of $15/hour is much greater than of $10/hour. Office workers, about 25 percent of the union membership, and financial assistance workers who process applications for welfare will continue to receive wages lower than poverty level. Almost all these workers are women, many are single parents. Despite Vander Zalm's statement that he agreed to improving the wage of the lowest paid, his ne gotiators did not adequately do so because they said they have no difficulty hiring women at such wages. No one is happy with the settlement, not even the union president. The union's alternatives were limited and difficult. Ii the membership stayed on strike, a renewed injunction probably would have led to the permanent denial of right to strike for corrections workers and to the signing of highways privatization contracts that would have left those workers unprotected. The new protection clauses in the face of privatization are of great importance to most members and could have been lost if this contract was not signed. The protections will cost the government and are therefore impediments to further privatization. Given that the B.C. Federation of Labour's pohtical battle to stop privatization has gone nowhere, this was the most many union members felt could be achieved. Kinesis survey results now in by Allisa McDonald Over 260 Kinesis readers responded to the Reader Survey included in the June 1988 issue—a return rate of more than 16 percent! Thanks to all those who took the time to give us their feedback. Thanks also to the volunteers who helped tabulate the results. Due to the unprecedented response, we have not been able to tabulate every reply. The results here are drawn from a sample of 100 replies received before July 15. Of course there's no such thing as an "average" Kinesis reader. However, based on the data, we can begin to sketch a profile of a "typical" survey respondent. Let me introduce you. The typical respondent is a thirty-nine year old, white woman, university educated, earning around $ 22,000/year. If she is currently employed (we didn't ask) she's either a professional or involved in some kind of artistic or creative work. She hves in a large city—most likely Vancouver. She is probably a tenant but has a good chance (44 percent) of owning her own home. She shares her home with one other adult and has no dependents. Besides Kinesis, she reads The Vancouver Sun, McLean's, Ms., and The Globe & Mail. So, how do we rate? Most readers we heard from seemed to hke the paper. Enough so that 95 percent get it every month and share it with one or two other people. The large majority feel Kinesis is priced fairly (78 percent) and 13 percent feel it's a bargain. The most popular part of the paper was the "Across B.C." section, with "Arts" and "Movement Matters" in close pursuit. A frequent gripe was how late in the month Kinesis reaches some subscribers. We're working on that, has anybody noticed? There were requests for more investigative reporting, as well as analysis and commentary. And while 5 percent want more fashion articles, 4 percent don't want fashion at all. Readers were asked to rate Kinesis coverage of sixteen different topics. Coverage of abortion got the highest rating (39 percent said Excellent, 37 percent said Good) and coverage of the environment the lowest (35 percent said it was Fair). Nearly half the respondents (49 percent) use Kinesis for research, mostly on women's sexual and reproductive rights, but also on a wide range of issues, including daycare, health, pornography, sexual and physical violence, and human rights here and abroad. Kinesis is often used for statistical, see Survey page 6 "That's 3 concerts, 1 conference and a poetry reading that happened before we got our Kinesis. Wow, VSW just saved us another $85." KINESIS Across B.C. Housing for women Coalition active as watchdog by Barbara Wild "Pretty desperate" is how Joan LeClair, spokeswoman for the recently-formed British Columbia Women's Housing Coalition, describes the current housing situation for women in Vancouver. "Some studies show more than 17,000 people on massive waiting hsts for non-profit and co-op housing, with the hsts consisting mostly of single mothers and single mature women," says LeClair. The B.C. Women's Housing Coalition came out of the Women and Housing Forum held last May in Vancouver. Composed of women from women's centres, housing groups and concerned individuals, the Coalition's agenda is twofold: to educate both themselves and the public around the issue of housing as a right, and to address any immediate situations in the Lower Mainland affecting housing for women. Eventually, BCWHC hopes to involve all of B.C., perhaps assisting other groups in getting started. The Coalition's concerns were made known at recent Vancouver City Council hearings regarding the Pacific Place (False Creek) development. Marlene Healy, on behalf of the Coalition, called for 50 percent social housing. ("Social housing," also known as non-profit housing, affordable housing, and public housing, usually means housing that is government subsidized and not intended for profit-making. Co-op housing is one form of social housing.) Speaking to Council, Healy said her group's concerns centered on housing mix, livability and public amenities, creek and soil toxicity, and community consultation. The guidelines subsequently passed by Council fell far short of those put forward by the Coalition. Also of interest to BCWHC is the non-criteria women's shelter being proposed by the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre. Most shelters or hostels, such as transition houses for battered women, drug and alcohol or mental health facilities, are designed for people who fall into specific "categories." A non-criteria women's shelter would open its doors to any woman in need of a place to stay. In the week preceding the issue of welfare cheques, DEWC— which is not a residential facility— has up to 100 women coming in every day. When staff goes home at 5 o'clock, the women are forced to leave. Many of them are homeless, sleeping outside, in hotel rooms, at friends.' H anything goes wrong— and it often does—they have no place to go. The proposed shelter would alleviate this situation. However, as far as the planning goes, "we still don't have a core group," said staffer Pam Cooley. "Nothing has been decided yet, location, funding, etc ... The staff of DEWC does not have the womanpower to provide leadership for this project. We need all the help we can get, especially people who are good at fund-raising." BCWHC is also paying attention to events in Surrey. The Red Door Housing Society re- see Housing page 6 Giving ourselves credit Joy Thompson of the clinic coalition Everywoman's Health Centre opens soon by Diane Strandberg Women's community-based businesses are finally going to get the credit they deserve. The Community Economic Options group of WomenSkills has established a loan guarantee fund to help groups of women start enterprises. Called WomenFutures, the fund is being launched October 24 at a community dinner event at Isadora's Restaurant on Granville Island. According to fund organizer Lucy Alderson, WomenFutures has arrived not a moment too soon. This year Alderson and her colleagues talked with groups of women starting community enterprises to find out their needs. They found financing to be a major barrier to developing new enterprises, particularly those which operate as a collective. "Our work with community- based business has shown us how httle infrastructure there is to encourage this kind of development, especially when compared to the encouragement of individually- owned enterprises," Alderson said. Conventional banks just don't acknowledge the principle of collective decision-making. They also don't understand a business that would focus on creating jobs with good working conditions as its first priority, rather than increasing profits. "As we visited enterprises that grew out of women's centres, transition houses and kitchen table conversations, we found women were trying to create jobs for themselves and a way of working that made sense to them," said Alderson. These groups turned to creative ways to raise money because they found banks, conventional loaning agencies and so-called "last resort funders" such as the Federal Business Development Bank unresponsive. But they were often unsuccessful in their attempts. WomenFutures' Melanie Conn explains the purpose of the WomenFutures fund is to make it easier for groups to access credit so they can get their projects up and running. "Groups will find it much easier to get a loan from a financial institution because WomenFutures will guarantee a portion of the loan. Of course," Conn adds, "we'll require a business plan from the group which demonstrates the project's feasibility." The heart of WomenFutures is a pool of returnable contributions and donations available for use as guarantees for women's economic projects. Although fund organizers do not anticipate that guarantees will be called in to cover by Lea Dawson At a news conference September 10, the B.C. Coalition of Abortion Clinics announced they had used a $50,000 privately raised fund to purchase a medical building in Vancouver to house a clinic. CaUed "Everywoman's Health Centre," the clinic is close to major hospitals, is wheelchair and ambulance accessible, and can be secured against violent attacks. The organizers of the centre have a feminist basis of unity and a vision of a community-based, community-run facility that provides a variety of health services, including abortion. While the centre board is presently made up of the BCCAC steering committee and clinic staff, their goal is to integrate volunteers from as many different backgrounds as possible. The exact location of the clinic and opening date remain confidential at present to protect women who will use the service. Joy Thompson of the BCCAC hopes "the anti-choice lobby will respect the chnic," but anticipates picketing and protests. The chnic building was selected with security in mind, and has been described as "not unlike a wartime bunker." A security service will be hired and volunteers trained to escort women and to protect the site. According to Thompson, the chnic location will be disclosed at a public opening in October. Women's organizations and the medical community will also be informed of the location to ensure a comprehensive referral system. After the announcement of the clinic's purchase, the B.C. Ministry of Health said they would not cover the costs of the abortion procedure in the clinic under the Medical Services Plan. (Estimated at $200 per abortion, these costs are covered in hospitals). Should the clinic charge women for procedural costs, the Ministry would consider it "extra-billing" and has threatened to refuse to pay doctors' fees (estimated at $106 for a pregnancy under 14 weeks). The clinic organizers reassure women that no one will be turned Lend the clinic a hand... If you want to ensure the chnic is a success, contact the B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics at 873-5455. Leave your name, phone number and indicate what work you are interested in undertaking. • Be an escort (training will be provided) • Defend the chnic site (training will be provided) • Work to obtain full funding for the clinic under MSP. For example: write letters, lobby, make phone calls. • Provide translation for women using the service. For example: Cantonese, Punjabi, Spanish, Greek, French • Raise funds by all available means • Gather and/or produce educational materials for use in the clinic • Help recruit members and supporters away from the chnic because she cannot afford an abortion. Hilda Thomas of the BCCAC has called on the provincial government "to provide full coverage under MSP for the Everywoman's Health Centre," and the Coalition has approached both the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) to take on their case for full funding. Since the Supreme Court decision this winter, the focus of the BCCAC has been to raise funds for a free-standing chnic, and this work continues. More money is needed to cover insurance, salaries, security services, etc. The clinic also needs volunteers (see Box), and encourages women to contribute their energy and their skills. loans, only a portion of the money in the fund will be used for guarantees. The WomenFutures account will be housed at CCEC Credit Union, which has a commitment to support community-based business projects. Call 430-0450 for information, and see Bulletin Board re: the launch. Refuse from page 3 "Some people thought, maybe naively, that maybe we can give them [R.E.A.L. Women] some education," said Soong. "I'm the perpetual optimist—maybe some people will learn something." VSW's Janet Shaw arrived at the event and was immediately alarmed by R.E.A.L. Women and the anti-abortion groups' "visible presence—they had tables, posters, literature." VSW had previously been told there would be no tables for displays. Dismay at the presence of right- wing groups wasn't the day's only disappointment. Said Darsnin Mann of the India Mahila Association, "There was nothing of use there for immigrant women. The whole thing was very organized, very pre-planned. I felt it was hopeless from a feminist point of view." KINESIS Across B.C. Workers get Triple-O's at White Spot by Terrie Hamazaki Bill 19, B.C.'s Industrial Relations Reform Act is undermining collective bargaining and contributing to union-busting at White Spot, say striking restaurant workers. Strike action commenced August 27 when the Canadian Association of Industrial, Mechanical and Allied Workers Local 112 rejected the company's final contract offer by 87 percent. After two weeks on the picket hne, workers were compelled under the terms of BUI 19 to vote again after the company applied to the Industrial Relations Coun- cU (IRC) for a final offer vote. The second vote, taken by a smaUer membership, resulted in 67 percent in favour of rejection. "Votes are taken by how many come out to the meetings. The second final offer vote was very significant because 658 of 970 people voted 'no,' even after the company did a campaign on people saying 'this is as far as we're going, this is fair'," said Denise CaUaghan, National Union Staff Representative of CAIMAW. "The IRC did not do anything to assist in proper negotiations," said Maggie Morris of CAIMAW. The union has applied to the Ombudsman (sic) for an internal investigation after a sworn affidavit by one of the members cites Ken Albertini, IRC Acting Commissioner, as trying to influence final offer voting. "Scheduhng by seniority, protection against contracting out, and management doing excessive bargaining-unit work have been union demands. Monetary issues had never been discussed in bargaining," said CaUaghan. "Wages only became an issue when the company dropped their final offer on the table and ... left. Our position had never even been discussed." "The company would always schedule the junior person ahead of the senior, give them more hours, call them in for any overtime," said LiUian Baron, waitress at White Spot since 1971. Contracting out is a major problem. "There are three janitors with 25 years seniority among them, and they're given two days notice that they're being demoted to dishwasher because of nonunion outfitting coming in," said CaUaghan. "Also, managers would frequently hostess at the front door for three hours, when the hostess' hours are being cut back." "BiU 19 got us here," said Morris. "Everyone [employers] tries to e. keep the union out. We set the -I standard for other restaurants. If gi we get nothing, then the others get T?| nothing." According to Baron, a union is definitely needed. "Especially with different changes in management and owners," she said. The White Spot chain (19 unionized and 11 non-unionized restaurants) is owned by Peter Toigo, a close associate of premier Vander Zalm. For Local 112, whose members are primarUy women, the dispute has only strengthened their resolve to defend their union rights. Their concern is not only for themselves. "The company compares us aU the time with unorganized restaurants," said CaUaghan. "The hospitality industry is one of the largest industries in the province. People within should be organized and it's our goal to see that even- tuaUy they are." "We are prepared to bargain," said CaUaghan. As Kinesis goes to press, the company staUs and the strike continues. Walking the line at White Spot, September 1988 Sensational assault trial leads to lenient sentence Where to get help Family Maintenance Enforcement Program \ * *JL'/ j "Ms?"* ■~~«h / j —- Howtorcjjtitcr. */ \ \ \ > (•8G0-64S-9666 families are the strength of cur future. Last month Kinesis reported on new Ministry of Social Services and Housing regulations that compel people on welfare to pursue support payments from their ex-husbands (including common- law), regardless of whether or not they wish to do so. People can get cut off social assistance for refusing to cooperate in this program. U you are on welfare and your worker has told you to 'participate' in the program or face being cut off, you may appeal this decision. For information about appeals, or to find out whether or not this program may affect you and your chUdren, contact the fohow- ing groups: • legal Services Society 191 Alexander St., Van. Tel: 687- 1831 for info, about times. • First United Church Advocacy Centre 320 E. Hastings St., Van. 9am-l 1:30am, Mon — Fri. • B.C. Coalition of the Disabled 211-456 W. Broadway, Van. Teh 875-0188 • Legal Information Counsellor 1060 Roosevelt Cresc., N. Van. Tel: 985-7138 • Outside Vancouver; Contact your local Legal or Community Services Society by Marrianne van Loon It was an event the media wouldn't have missed for the world. As the trial drew to a close, T.V., radio and newspaper reporters crammed into the Toronto courtroom, spiUing out into the lobby and the shopping maU and underground parking lot below. The reporters were jockeying for position to cover the conclusion of the trial of Kirby Inwood, former advertising executive, now convicted wife and chUd assaulter. After a lengthy trial, provincial court Judge Gordon Hachborn had been convinced Inwood was guilty of assault causing bodUy harm to his wife Tatyana Sidorova, and of a lesser charge of common assault to their infant son Misha. Hachborn then sentenced Inwood to a mere 30 days in jaU for the assault on Misha—Inwood could be out in as few as 10—and required him to undergo psychiatric treatment. As far as the media was concerned, it couldn't have been a better story. Inwood met and "feU in love" with Sidorova whUe trav- eUing to the Soviet Union several years ago and they married. Upon his return, alone, to Canada, he mounted a publicity campaign to have her released from the USSR In September of 1987 she arrived with their baby. Ten days later, Inwood was arrested for assault after attacking Sidorova and among other things, twice dropping Misha on his head. For Sidorova, it could be argued the worst was yet to come. "The legal system protects the defendant to a much greater extent than the woman who is the victim," says Paula Klein of the Barbra Schhfer Chnic, provider of legal services for assaulted women. During the trial, Sidorova was viciously interrogated by Inwood's lawyer Edward Greenspan who did everything possible to try and destroy her credibility. Klein says this is typical of such cases. And although Judge Hachborn aUowed Greenspan to licized. But it can and does happen that women feel hke they are on trial. The damage is done in cases hke this before the verdict ever comes down. It is not only a horrendous experience in court, but somehow it validates the abuse a woman receives in the first place to experience how society accepts and condones the victimization of women in court." More happUy, the media's zealous coverage did make more people aware of the issue, Don says. "Not aU coverage was positive, but it got public attention and made More happily, the media's zealous coverage did make more people aware of the issue question Sidorova's character and past Ufe, he would not aUow the testimony of five women who had also been brutaUy assaulted by Inwood untU the sentencing hearing. Trudy Don of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses said, "We were absolutely horrified with the way Greenspan prosecuted the victim. Because of the way she was treated, women may be frightened from going through with court proceedings." Klein concurs. "In reality most trials don't last for weeks and months and aren't so highly pub- more people aware that wife assault is a criminal offence." Klein hopes that this increased awareness wUl cause people to change the legal system. Most women don't even want a heavy verdict, she says, they just want the abuse to stop. And now what of Sidorova? A strong woman, she has survived and returned to school so she can get a good job and raise her son. But she is stiU afraid of Inwood and wants the laws to change. "Somebody must protect women," said Sidorova, KINESIS Across Canada WHAT' S NEWS? by Gwen Bird Deported woman blames unfair recruitment A Filipina woman who came to Canada in 1980 after being recruited as a seamstress by a Winnipeg company was deported in late August. Told by recruiters that only single women were eligible for the positions, Sally Espineli Ued about her marital status, got the job and came to Canada. Although marital status is a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Immigration Act, % to m when immigration officials discovered Espineli was married they ordered her deported to ManUa for entering Canada fraudulently. The Canadian Human Rights Commission asked that Espineli be aUowed to remain in Canada un- tU the commission has heard her case, but the request was denied. Espineli hopes the deportation order wUl be reversed on appeal if the commission rules the con- Houslng from page 4 - ceived conditional aUocation from the province for 46 units of social housing in Newton. Although the project was finally passed Sept. 19 by Surrey Municipal CouncU, it had been denied three weeks earlier. Objections to the scheme centered around existing "social problems" in the school closest to the designated site. Some school dition of her recruitment was Ule- gal. Her lawyer says "the government is ignoring its own legislation," and adds that many workers recruited from abroad are told they must be single. Child Care Act roundly panned The federal Conservatives' proposed chUd-care legislation has met with criticism from a wide range of groups Who state the bUl would impede the quality of chUd care. The Canada ChUd Care Act outhnes federal-provincial agreements to provide chUd care, including a complex formula for cost-sharing. A parliamentary committee heard from a variety of groups whose most widespread criticism was the lack of any national standards in the bill. Groups such as the Canadian Teachers Federation, The Canadian Labor Congress, the Canadian Jewish Congress, Anti-Poverty groups, and the Canadian Union of Pub- he Employees aU oppose the legislation. The National Action Committee on the Status of Women told the committee the bUl was so flawed it was unamendable. Native groups were also very critical of the proposal, charging the government is missing a chance to show it is sincere about Indian self-government. Native government is not included as a type of government to be considered in the task of dividing up chUd care responsibilities. The Assembly of First Nations submitted amendments to include Native governments. As Kinesis goes to press, the Tories are trying to push the act through the Commons, whUe the Senate warns it may take up to a month to consider the bUl. Steel-working woman receives settlement An out-of-court settlement has been reached in the case of a HamUton, Ontario woman who filed suit against the Steel Company of Canada (Stelco) citing sexual harassment as a health and safety hazard on the job. Bonita Clark, employed as a pump tender since 1979, had the support of the Ontario Worker's Health Centre in her action against Stelco. As a woman in a traditionally male occupation, she was harassed repeatedly and molested several times by a male supervisor. Clark wanted to quit her job due to the resulting stress, so she set out to establish sexual harassment as a health and safety issue for employees. Clark filed complaints with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Labor Relations Board. She received help from Toronto lawyer Mary Cornish, and a group of supporters who raised over $25,000 to defray legal costs. The terms of the settlement are confidential. Although no OLRB ruling was made on the health and safety matter, Cornish stated that the case, its proceedings and publicity aU constituted good progress on the issue. In Quebec, the workers compensation board recognizes sexual harassment as a health and safety hazard. Legal abuses tackled by lesbians, gays An Ottawa-based lobby group has been awarded $25,000 to fight cases of discrimination against lesbian and gay Canadians. Equahty for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE) has begun work in five areas of federal law "that may discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation." EGALE received five $5,000 case development grants from the federal Secretary of State-funded Court Challenges Program. board members pointed to the single working mother as a source of these problems and questioned whether they wanted more of these women (and their chUdren) in the community. Pat McClain, executive-director of Red Door, calls this attitude "blatant stereotyping ... discriminating against the lower income famines." McClain is "sick of this Survey from page 3 analytical and summary information on historic and current events. The three most important pohtical issues for those who answered the survey are abortion, "free" trade and peace, in that order. Over 199 different concerns were raised, with many overlapping. The issues ranged from acid rain to fish farms and from techno- facism to violence against chUdren. These Kinesis readers are not only concerned but they're out there doing something about it. Half said they have been inspired by Kinesis to attend a rally or pohtical event. Another 73 percent said they were involved in some community group or organization. When asked to be more specific, they came up with 108 different groups or kinds of groups in which they are active. We also asked some questions for our ad department. One of these was about leisure time activities. Restaurants are very popular with this group. Movies are another favourite pastime. Sports events are the least popular activity. They buy lots of books and magazines and, on average, get their hair cut or coloured at least every two months. Apparently the hardest question was the one thrown in for fun. Readers were asked to write a punch hne caption for a cartoon contributed by Etta. (Thanks Etta') Although at least 34 percent of the respondents said they would hke to see more humour in Kinesis, only 23 percent were able to come up with a punch hne. Obviously, writing humour is no lark. Hats off to Judith Quinlan for writing the winning caption! attitude to social housing. When people think of social housing, they think of the massive structures put up in the 50's and 60's without proper management ... Under the new program projects are designed to blend in with the community." Red Door is the only one of five social housing applicants in Surrey to have been successful. Two others were turned down, a third has gone to Langley, and the fifth has been tabled. "It's hard to change public thinking," said McClain. "People need to be pressuring governments, both provincial and federal to buUd more social housing. If people would come forward when issues hke this come up it would help a lot." Anyone interested in supporting the DEWC's plan for a women's non-criteria emergency shelter, contact Pam or Kate at 681-8480. The centre is located at 44 ■&• Cordova and is open Monday-Friday, 10-5. Visitors are welcome. For information regarding the B.C. Women's Housing Coalition, contact Joan LeClair at 738-9247. Their next meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 4> 7 pm, at 133 Powell St. All wel- The Criminal Code of Canada wUl be the subject of two cases, one dealing with the faUure of "hate laws" to protect lesbians and gays, and the other to examine the defence of provocation (in this case, sexual advances by a lesbian or gay) in charges of murder. The Canada Health Act wUl be examined for ways in which it may aUow discrimination, "particulary in fight of the many abuses AIDS has brought to light." The Canadian Human Rights Act wUl be challenged for its faUure to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the Immigration Act wUl be contested in a number of areas. The group states that although the federal funding wUl not cover nearly the full cost of the project, this acknowledgement of the importance of lesbian and gay rights by a respected group of legal and human rights experts is a significant advance in itself. Privacy measure upheld The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a law prohibiting the publication of names of sexual assault victims is constitutional. The decision came after a hearing in which freedom of the press, open justice and the victim's right to privacy were the main issues. The court's ruling acknowledged that sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes and that fear of publicity and embarrassment are two of the main reasons women give for not reporting this offence. Section 442.3 of the Criminal Code, which women's groups had fought long and hard for, requires a judge to prohibit publication of a complainant's name—or clues to her identity—when requested to do so during a trial. The Ontario Supreme Court ordered such a ban in a 1983 case in Thunder Bay, and a newspaper successfuUy appealed the decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The federal Justice Department then appealed that ruhng to the Supreme Court of Canada. Reproductive technology report A government-sponsored report on new reproductive technologies criticizes surrogate-mother contracts for focusing on property rights and paternity instead of "women's health, women's relationship to chUdren or women's reproductive choice." Women and Reproductive Technologies was produced for the federal ministry responsible for the status of women. Although it was intended to stimulate public debate, the study has been kept under wraps. Written by Somer Brodrib of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the report looks at surrogacy, gender selection, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization and at how these changes in technology are affecting women. It states that most of the work in this area has been to assert men's ownership and paternity rights and that chUdren are commodified by the process. The report also notes that the channelling of funds into high- tech procedures on behalf of the economically advantaged infertUe is a dangerous trend. It asks "wUl the poor and less privUeged be unable to choose to bear their own chUdren?" if funds for day care and other parental support services are not made a priority. KINESIS Across Canada Still not enough Big bucks and plenty of pamphlets by Noreen Shanahan Wife Assault—two words liberally sprinkled around Toronto these days. Pamphlets containing them can be found in liquor and grocery stores as weU as medical offices, with translations in Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Greek and Spanish. Eleven provincial ministries, forming the Interministerial Committee on Services Related to Wife Assault, have targeted part of their 1988 budgets for this education package, produced by the Ontario Women's Directorate. The package includes wider pamphlet distribution (of "Wife Assault: It is a Crime" and "Let's Break the SUence"), T.V. ads in French and English, posters aimed at men who batter, and outreach to various ethnic communities. November wUl be "FamUy Violence Prevention Month" in Ontario, with grants provided for local public education. "Most projects involve a steering committee rep- &es*ence WIFE ASSAULT: ft is a ciime. resenting several women's organizations knowledgeable about the issue and for the culture and language," said Betty Notar, poUcy analyst for the Directorate. While many women might appreciate their realities being addressed, Kate Clark of Toronto's Education Wife Assault (EWA)—a non-profit feminist group providing information, training and education—says this campaign is doing battered women more harm than good. She's In A Jam ... "It's huge. They're putting millions of dollars into this media blitz, and you see these brochures everywhere, but at the same time they're not putting more money into services." For instance, the Assaulted Women's Crisis hne phone number is weU-puDlicized, she said, but there aren't enough people or services to deal with the increased number of women calling. (Despite repeated efforts Kinesis was unable to reach anyone at this Une.) Wendy Barrett, an instructor at Toronto's George Brown CoUege and battered women's activist, is also critical of the Ontario government. She says they're taking money out of battered women's shelters and advising the women to use mental health centres instead, for counselling. "It's another example of professionaliza- tion [of assaulted women's services]; the money is going to social workers instead of shelter workers." The result of this shift, she says, is fewer safe places to refer women. According to Barrett, the government is also considering limiting a woman's stay in a shelter to six weeks, which would create in effect a "bed-and-breakfast" situation for battered women. This restriction would hit Toronto women, who are already experiencing a severe housing shortage, particularly hard. Faced with the Toronto housing crisis, some shelters are forming alliances with co-operative housing developments where a percentage of crisis units are specificaUy al- loted battered women and their chUdren. There are five shelters in Metro Toronto accommodating approximately one hundred women and chUdren. For every woman provided for, nine others are turned away, according to EWA's Clark. "Not a lot of women go through the shelters," she said. "People focus on shelters, but millions haven't [gone to them]. In many cases, if a woman has no accommodation with friends or family, she's in a jam." Alone and Unfamiliar Almost immediately after leaving Nigeria in 1987 to join her husband in Toronto, two things happened to Roselynn Aina: she became pregnant with her first chUd and her husband began to beat her. Alone and unfamiliar with the city, Aina was nine months pregnant before neighbours called the pohce and she was brought to Shirley Samaroo House, the only immigrant women's shelter in Canada. Escaping the violence at home, she'd ride the subway back and forth untU her hus band would either calm down, faU asleep or leave for work. "One night I come back at midnight, and he just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk ... I said stop it!" said Aina. "He wouldn't stop, so he beat me. I took my clothes, ran out, he come after me and beat me." Before arriving at the shelter, another woman, Ahn Iran, took her baby and Please see Pamphlets pg.10 "As though looking in a mirror" It was the first time this reporter embraced strangers she was interviewing—but we three held tight, promising to meet again backstage in some Vancouver venue. The women are Linda Danniels and Ana Maria Santinoli, actors in Fires of Transformation, a play written and performed by survivors of wife assault, for survivors of wife assault (and also to give the general audiences a chance to hear their stories and watch their strengths). Fires is a two act, ten actor play, born in the livingrooms of Toronto transition houses, where the women first used improvisation to script their experiences. Calling themselves the VOICE troupe (Violence Overcome In Creative Ensemble) the play explores and exposes domestic violence—from which these women escaped—and the insidious societal violence each continues to face. "The group wanted to deal with what happens to a woman after she leaves the violent (home) situation," said director/producer Katherine MarieUe. "They often face more abuse from the legal system. Lawyers, judges, psychiatrists and others subject women to character defamation. The women are put on trial though they are the victims of crime." One poignant role, created and performed by Santolini, is of a transient 'bag lady' who appears as a guiding Ught throughout both acts. "I was fascinated by bag ladies," said Santolini. "Very strong women who want absolute freedom. They rebel against the system— but there is also something frightening about it. You have to give up everything." She says this character was a middle class woman who lost everything as a result of abuse, was institutionalized and ended up alone in the street. "This character gave us a chance to exercise our own feehngs about her: why do we identify with or reject her? I had felt I could be her," said Santolini. Fires began performing last May primarUy in Toronto transition houses where the women responded "as though looking in a mirror," said MarieUe. An overwhelming message to the troupe was "take it to the government!" It later premiered for general audiences in Toronto's New Theatre Centre. Future VOICE plans tentatively include producing an educational kit for transition houses, encouraging other women to bring their experiences to hfe; the kit would include a video on the making of Fires. Other plans involve re-staging Fires in Toronto this faU, forming a new troupe and mounting a national caravan tour (including chUdren) to both rural and urban audiences. " MarieUe says during upcoming performances added emphasis wUl be put on audience 3 participation in the form of pohtical action. "It's wonderful opening people's eyes by hav- « ing them hear women speak for themselves, but we'll also encourage people to act on this ■g new awareness in the form of petitions, letters ..." £ The VOICES troupe decorates theatre lobbies with weU-publicized newspaper articles | exposing the injustices of wife assault. Kirby Inwood (see story page 5jwUl be hung open- E ing night, they assure me. KINESIS International South Africa A long history of "picking up the spears 95 by Sadie Kuehn A packed house of 250 gathered at the Vancouver YWCA on Sunday, August 7 to join with women around the world in celebrating South African Women's Day. The date of South African Women's Day was chosen to celebrate the 1956 march on Pretoria by 20,000 women of aU races to protest the South African government's pass laws. The keynote speaker for the Vancouver celebration was Susan Mnumzana, an African National Congress (ANC) representative to the United Nations. Sadie: Could you give us an overview of the events of 1956 and the impact it has had on the situation in general in South Africa. Susan: 1956 was the cUmax of a very involved, protracted struggle. When South Africa was a British colony—and it stiU was in 1956—the British introduced the pass system as early as 1913. They wanted aU Black South Africans in particular Africans, to carry passes. Women resisted, in Bloom- fontein, as early as 1913. This law was relaxed to a certain extent untU after the [Second World] War when the Nationalist party in 1948 took over power. Strijdom, who was then Prime Minister, wanted to extend the pass laws to women. Women—having seen the devastation and misery that goes together with the arrest of husbands, fathers, brothers and serv- m ing long jaU sentences and their famines not even being told where these people are held—felt this was going to have a really devastating effect on the family, the fabric of chUd-rearing. As you can weU imagine, if both mother and father are arrested and, in the extended family, aunts and uncles are arrested for pass law offences, then the chUdren are left on their own. This prompted women—of aU races—in South Africa to protest against these passes. It is important to give a brief background to what led South Africans of aU races to march on Pretoria. The 1950's saw a new era in the struggle against apartheid—against colonialism in general— where the different racial groups organized themselves, together with the African majority. The Indian People's Congress (IPC) was formed, the Coloured People's Congress (CPC), and the Congress of Democrats (CD)—that was a white organization—and the African National Congress (ANC) came together. This is the period of the defiance campaign in 1952 that lasted up to 1956, with the clampdown on the leadership. In 1956, 156 leaders of the Congress alliance were arrested. It was during this period that women in the ANC Women's League and the people in the CPC, IPC and CD came together and decided on a march to Pretoria, protesting not only against the pass laws—although those laws were the major issue of the time—but really it was a protest against apartheid and the oppression of Black people in general. It was very significant because for the i first time, South Africa was united as South Africa with aU its people protesting against an unjust system. Thus, you found 20,000 women of aU races marching on Pretoria to register their protest against the extension of the pass laws. Campaign of Defiance This had a tremendous impact on South Africans of all walks of hfe. They realized for the first time that not only have women got the power, but the majority of the people of South Africa could flex their muscle and they could bring down the government. The result of this campaign and this march was that for the next two or three years the extension of the passes stopped. When they eventuaUy did extend the passes, it generated protests that ch- maxed with the 1960 SharpeviUe massacre, the outlawing of the ANC and the Congress alliance, and the movement going underground. The Federation of South African Women, (the organizers of the march), was an umbreUa group that embraced the ANC Women's League, the Coloured people, the Indians and the whites. That's why you see that the leaders of this demonstration were Lihian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Shanthie Naidoo, Deborah Mabale. All of these women have a history behind them. Helen Joseph, for example, was the first woman in South Africa to be held under house arrest in 1952. That is when the defiance campaign against the pass laws was beginning. COMMU NITY HALLOWEEN dance Roots Roundup" & '"Hard Rock Miners" Britannia Community Centre Gym Saturday, October 29 , tO lam On Site Facepainting, Childcare Susan Mnumzana in Vancouver It thus became a lesson—the slogan or the maxim—that "united we stand, divided we fall" was proved. The regime actually felt the effect of these operations. Hence, they were looking for excuses to outlaw the movement. They tried it with the treason trial, which dragged on for four years, after which aU charges against aU defendants were dropped. Then the SharpeviUe massacre came, and they found reason to outlaw the ANC. The Federation of Women was not banned as such. The same applies to the other Congresses. They weren't really banned, but because the leadership was arrested and forced into exile, these movements became defunct to a considerable degree. For some time you could say there was a pohtical lull, if not a pohtical vacuum, because it was very difficult to organize underground at the time. Sadie: Has that changed at present? Susan: The people themselves in South Africa have forced a change through struggles. 1967-68 saw the birth of what is now it, every demonstration, every riot was attacked violently and there were casualties. I am not talking about people just being wounded or arrested; people were shot dead. The climax came with the Soweto uprising when school chUdren took to the streets, demonstrating against apartheid, against the imposition of Afrikaans as a language of instruction. Their protest ended in a bloodbath. The struggle has not stopped since then. People have learned new tactics and with the heightening pohtical consciousness, our people began to realize that it is not the white skin that is a problem—it's the system. You found an increasing number of white people also joining the struggle. And those activists who became inactive as a result of the repression foUowing the SharpeviUe massacre also came back to continue with the struggle. Today we find legal, multiracial organizations hke the United Democratic Front The unity among Black people has cost the government a lot... it is expensive to maintain the repressive machinery called the Black Consciousness Movement. This was a very necessary development. The aim of the Black Consciousness Movement was to reactivate the fighting spirit in the Black masses. Not only that, but to teach Black people again that they were worth being human beings and that what the South African government was doing— dehumanizing them—was not right. So the Black Consciousness Movement was very positive. It did not even see itself as a hberation movement. I was a part of the Black Consciousness Movement, and we didn't realize and accept that people hke Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Bram Fischer were our leaders. What we were doing was picking up their spears and continuing the fight. We may have used different methods—because already the ANC had decided to embark on armed struggle—but as a legal organization inside South Africa it was risky to start advocating armed struggle. Complete Chaos But because the regime is always frightened when it sees people being organized against (UDF) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and this is an achievement considering the efforts of the government through legislation hke the Group Areas Act and others to really polarize the different racial groups in South Africa This unity among Black people, among the democratic forces in the country, has cost the government a lot in terms of pohtical disorganization, in terms of money, because it is expensive to maintain the repressive machinery. There is also the war they are waging against Angola, against Mozambique, and other front Une States. And so you find complete chaos in the South African ruhng circles. Of course, this makes them even more aggressive, as you have seen on television screens, especiaUy during 1984-85. And the people are fighting back, and because they are fighting back and there are casualties on both sides, the government decides to impose the state of emergency, restrictions on the press, and so on. So the world does not know what is ac- tuaUy happening in South Africa KINESIS International ///////////////a In Chile Whether or not to play Pinochet's game by Carmen Rodriguez In late August, General Augusto Pinochet was nominated by the Chilean armed forces and police as their candidate for another eight-year term as president. Pinochet is the sole runner in the "yes-no" plebiscite which, even if he loses, will allow him another year of power. His military dictatorship commenced September 11, 1973 when a U.S.-backed coup ousted the elected socialist government. Pinochet and his foUowers probably had the picture of a peaceful ChUe in mind when mounting their farcical plebiscite. They probably thought the event itself and its surrounding activities would confuse people enough to keep them at home; or that this beginning of the "democratic process" would make everybody happy. They were probably right when thinking of confusion, but they were certainly mistaken to think people would happUy stay home. The announcement of the plebiscite and, more specifically, the announcement of the "candidate" has brought the people of ChUe to a state of pohtical effervescence not seen for years. August 29 to September 4 saw massive protests in downtown Santiago and other cities, whUe smaUer demonstrations have been happening almost everyday, everywhere in the country. At the same time, the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front and other armed groups have increased their operations during this period. Right wing groups reacted to the plebiscite with a certain degree of rehef. Finally, they thought, civUians could become active participants in the government. However, when it became clear that Pinochet would be the only candidate, some groups decided to vote, "no" on October 5. The Christian Democratic Party and the social-democratic forces were clear about a "no" vote from the very beginning and prompted their foUowers to put their names in the official registry. If the "no" wins, they wUl be weU equipped to negotiate with both the U.S. administration and the ChUean military whUe playing a prominent role in a subsequent "opening" of the pohtical scene. The powerful movement created by these two pohtical forces convinced an important sector of the left to join their campaign for the "no" at a fairly early stage in the process. In the meantime, the Communist Party, an important organization of the ChUean working class, continued to deliberate. Finally, in early September, the CP decided to join the "no" forces. However, a smaU but important part of the left, including a sector of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), has decided to boycott the plebiscite and denounce it as another one of Pinochet's games." Since Pinochet holds aU the cards, they claim, they are not playing. They were mistaken to think people would happily stay home Women Take The Lead Monday August 29: more than one thousand women took over CaUe Ahumada, Santiago's busiest boulevard. They carried black human sUhouettes with the names of victims of the dictatorship. People on the street were initiaUy puzzled by these women and their companions, but as soon as they understood the meaning of the sUent march, they started to applaud. The women, belonging to the organization "Women for Life," were clear in their message: the "disappeared," the executed, the pohtical prisoners and the exUes were walking through downtown Santiago again, even if it was just symbolically. It did not take long for the carabineros (mUitary poUce) to show up and fiU the air with tear gas. The water cannon tank made its way through the march and kept on attacking the black sUhouettes, now leaning against the trees, as if they were also a "danger to society." At one point, Carmen Gloria Quintana attempted to march again holding up the By now, thousands of protesters ] joined the students and the women, including the CUT (Unified Labour Federation) and other organizations. That evening, the protesters not only clashed with the pohce but also with some 8,000 Pinochet supporters who had also made it to the streets. As twilight approached, the barrios got ready. When 8:00 struck, people with pots and pans made their way onto the streets and out of doors and windows, and the banging began. The young and the old gathered old chairs, pieces of wood, tires, baskets and the bonfires were fit. The atmosphere was one of a feast, of a noisy feast. The fight of the barricades in aU of the Santiago barrios fit the sky and the marches continued. The massive demonstrations of Septem ber would seem to say it is not possible. But the regime could resort to fraud, given that it owns the rules of the game and has total control over the process. And, if the "no" actuaUy wins: what changes wUl that bring about? Hasn't the dictatorship already set the itinerary to follow if this is the case? Doesn't that itinerary state that the armed forces wUl stiU play a key role in the years to come? What wUl happen with the people's demands of justice in the case of the assassinated and the missing? Won't the economic model remain the same, favouring in Santiago, August 29. The silhouettes ask, Did you forget me? silhouette of Rodrigo Rojas Denegri. (Carmen Gloria and Rodrigo were burnt alive by the military during a street demonstration in Santiago two years ago. Carmen Gloria survived but Rodrigo died.) She was able to go on for only a few meters before the deluge of water reached her. As twilight approaches, the barrios got ready At this point, it was not only women who were attempting to march again. Men had joined in and everybody was shouting "asesinos, asesinos" (murderers, murderers). The protest lasted for more than an hour and 26 people were arrested. Birth Of A New Spirit Tuesday, August 30: the candidate was to be announced. Everybody knew it would be Pinochet, but stiU ... Since early morning the carabineros patroUed the city centre. They knew the atmosphere of expectancy could turn into one of protest at any moment. Shortly after 11 am students left their schools and began to gather. The organization "Agrupacion de FamUiares de De- tenidos Desaparecidos" (Relatives of Disap- peared-Pohtical Prisoners) left the Vicariate of Solidarity office and started leafletting. Shortly after 12 the first confrontations between the carabineros and the protesters be- gan. For many, this was their first protest in 15 years; there were so many people the carabineros and all their fancy equipment could not stop them. That August 30, three people were kUled by the pohce, 121 were wounded and 847 detained. However, the end result of this extraordinary day was the birth of a new spirit. "People are not scared any more," said one of the young shanty-town dweUers. His statement was to be confirmed over and over again in the next few days. September 4, 1970 was the day that Salvador AUende was elected President of ChUe. September 4, 1988 hundreds of thousands fiUed the streets to commemorate the anniversary and demand the dictator leave. October 5: And Then What? In spite of the visible opposition and resistance to the dictatorship, it is evident the Pinochet regime is stiU very strong. In addition to its repressive strength, its economic model has found support not only in the upper classes but also in some middle sectors who, enjoying some economic stabUity, fear a pohtical upheaval. At the same time, the regime has developed an intelligent ideological machinery that has been brain-washing the ChUean population for 15 years. Pinochet has not only played with the "fear factor" but has also utUized the most effective mass media communicator: television. It is not surprising, then, that Pinochet would want to govern by consensus instead of by imposition. But, is this feasible? Could the "yes" possibly win? ternational corporations, big land-owners bankers, etc.? And ... will the dictator actuaUy leave? In the last few weeks the people of ChUe have taken to the streets to say "no" to the dictatorship. In a couple of weeks they wU say "no" again, by voting in a plebiscite weU-staged by that very same dictatorship They wUl say "no" on October 5 and wU continue to say "no" in the many ways they have invented in the last 15 years. But then ... what? KINESIS LIFE STORIES XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXNXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX^ by Nora D. Randall Coupon-clipping your way to heaven (and prosperity) You never know when you're going to have a revelation. It could happen any time, under the most bizarre or the most mundane circumstances. Take, for example, my latest revelation. I got a coupon book through my maU slot the other day and, looking through it, I realized why the Socreds continue to have so many supporters. It was there. You might say it was written in invisible ink under the receipt for stir-fry cucumber. It leapt out at me, it embraced me, we danced around the room. Oh boy, I thought, this is it, no more isolation, no more feehngs of being ineffective. Right there in the front of the coupon book was a letter from the premier of the province offering me a chance to contribute to the future prosperity of the economy in British Columbia. The truth is, I am dying to contribute. And what the Socreds do that's so successful, so simple, so brilliant, is they make it easy for you to contribute. Frankly, the problem with the left, ah of it—the women's movement, the unions, even the NDP—is that it's just too hard. They've aU got things that need to be done that are nearly impossible to do. For example, the farmworkers. The Canadian Farmworkers Union has been working for eight years to get agriculture covered by Occupational Health and Safety Regu lations. It's a simple thing, most industries have it. It just means there is government regulation of safety conditions in the work place. It seems hke a totally reasonable thing to want in a work place where poisonous chemicals are routinely used on the food we eat. The union has written briefs, gone to meetings, demonstrated, talked to the me- next year—I imagine a Socred grower or maybe a bunch of them phoned up their Socred MLA's and said, "Hey, we don't want this to happen." And I bet the MLA's said, "No problem, we'll take care of it." Then they just announced the regulations wouldn't be covering agriculture after aU—and they don't to this day. Now, isn't that easy? ON WONDER* BREAD SAVE A WONDERFUL 25 CENTS ^ 25* dia, worked and worked on this issue. Farmworkers have died and the coroner's juries have recommended there be regulation. Lots of people have worked on this and what have they managed? Nothing. This is too hard, too discouraging. My guess is the Socreds have made it much easier for their people. In fact, I imagine what happened in 1983—when the Worker's Compensation Board announced it was going to cover agriculture starting (any variety) Look at the White Spot strikers. I was on their picket Une the other day and they were working hard. People were on the picket hne wearing signs, singing songs, talking to people. There was even a man who'd made a big puppet of Peter Toigo (White Spot's owner). He gathered aU the workers around and told them what a big man he was, a friend of the premier's, even. No-Zero-Zip I talked to one of the waitresses. She said White Spot wanted to cut her hours back from 35 to 25, and she couldn't afford to hve on that. EspeciaUy since White Spot was offering her no-zero-zip increase in the first year, 10 cents/hr in the second and 10 cents/hr in the third for a grand total of a 20 cent increase over three years. This from a guy who was wilUng to pay $500 million for the Expo lands. Here's this woman out on this Une, she's worried, she's nervous and she's working her buns off. The management team, they don't bother working hke that. They just walked into negotiations, put their one-and-only offer on the table, said it was their final offer and walked out. Then leaflets started appearing in the restaurants from the company's negotiating committee saying the "union wUl have caUed a strike without wages and benefits even being discussed ... "We don't know for sure that all the guys on this negotiating committee are Socreds, but we know Toigo is. And I bet they are, 'cause things are easy for them. It's easy to be a Socred and it's hard to be anything else. Maybe some of you are stiU wondering what the heU Premier Vander Zalm offered me in the coupon book that lead to all this. The answer is a 25 cent coupon on any variety of Wonder Bread. There were other coupons as weU, but this is the one that captured my heart and mind. He promised me that by using this coupon I could "contribute to an even more vital, prosperous economy in our province" and "have the satisfaction of knowing you are providing jobs for those in our province who work on farms, in manufacturing and processing plants, and in the packaging industry." Who could resist such a deal? UPRISING BREADS BAKERY NOW OPEN LONGER Mon. - Fri. 8:30 - 6:00 Sat. 9:00 - 5:30 1697 Venables Street Vancouver 254-5635 A part of CRS Workers' Co-op , KINESIS /////////////////////^^^^^ ///////////////////////^^^^^ Commentary In education, sports Going "co-ed" spells trouble for the women by Anne Innis Dagg and Pat Davis Everyone knows that "Separate But Equal" is a bad thing. This was a slogan trumpeted 30 years ago in the southern United States to ensure that integration between Blacks and whites would not occur and that equahty between the races would not take place. Two women have recently chaUenged this "Separate But Equal" phUosophy on behalf of women. Margaret Tomen, an elementary school principal, has chaUenged in court the bylaw which forces male and female elementary school teachers in Ontario to belong to different unions. She feels such separation is not needed today, the way it may have been in the past. If aU elementary school teachers belonged to a single union, it would presumably have more power when dealing with the province's school boards. In a paraUel case, a young teenage hockey player, Justine Blainey, has successfuUy petitioned the Ontario Human Rights Commission for the right to play ice hockey on a boys' team, since no girls' team offers her the same high level of competition. Girls in Ontario have their own hockey leagues entirely separate from those of the boys, but compared to the boys' teams, the few girls' teams have httle encouragement, much less funding, and worse practice and game times. Can one blame Blainey for wanting the equahty that can apparently only come from some amalgamation of the two groups? As things are now, there is httle to challenge her on the girls' teams, whereas she could become a far better hockey player if she could train and play with the boys. Separate is certainly not equal. So far it would seem- that two separate but paraUel groups, in the examples above, would benefit members if they joined to form one entity. We don't yet know if these groups themselves would also benefit, but we can consider what has happened in the past to groups which have joined together for a better future. One such example is the amalgamation in 1969 of the Macdonald Institute in Guelph, Ontario with the University of Guelph. In 1948, when this Institute became a college, it catered to women's concerns, with departments- of Foods and Nutrition; Tex- tUes, Clothing and Design; and Home Management. The principal was a woman, the faculty were women and the students were Run By Men After amalgamation, the thrust of the institute changed somewhat with the three new departmental components focusing on hotel and food administration, the famUy and the consumer. These entities conjure up visions of management, sociology and economics rather than of women's matters, which is perhaps what was intended because soon more and more men were being hired and promoted whUe some women lost their jobs. At present, the dean of what was once Macdonald Institute is a man, the heads of the three departments are men, and nearly half the teachers are men too. The student body remains almost entirely women. they do, that faculty members make sexist comments, and that women are omitted from academic course content. UNCG may claim that women and men are now equal on its "up-graded" campus, but women were much better off when UNCG was for women only. Drastic Effect Sports groups have also been mesmerized by the concepts of efficiency and progress. In an effort to streamline their organizations, women interuniversity athletic groups Examples show that women's groups function well on their own, envisioning their own future and working toward that ideal. Whereas 20 years ago, women ran the institute the way they felt it should be run and had academic power that was rare for women, now men are in the positions of power which makes this college no different from any other. This same debasement of women's autonomy and concerns also occurs when women's colleges become coeducational, as many have done recently in the United States. In 1931, when the North Carolina CoUege for Women became a fuU-fledged university of the state system, it catered to women students, with the administration and teachers almost aU women. In 1963, because of external pressure, it became coeducational as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). In the Mowing years, many men teachers were hired and promoted, often in the guise of "upgrading" the university, and high administrative positions were created of which 90 percent went to men. The student body is now two-thirds female, but UNCG is run almost entirely by men, as are aU other coeducational universities. The student leaders are mostly men, whUe women, compared to men, receive fewer grants than loans (which must be repaid), lower loans, lower earnings for their work, and less institutional employment. Women students complain that the men receive more attention from teachers than Desktop Publishing Design, iactoutandcoordination A o/('your arapkic needs\ li/e kefy uou produce ad insertions, irockuree, farms andaiimanner in Canada have been joining with those of men. In 1969, four of the five regional conferences had separate organizations for women and men, and 40 universities Usted a woman as the Women's Athletic Director. By 1978, four of the five conferences—aU but Ontario—had become coeducational in their administrative structure with a drastic effect on the female organizers: the number of female Women's Athletic Directors had dropped from 40 to 19. Only in Ontario, where the men's and women's structures remained separate, has the women's interuniversity sport organization retained a broad base program. And only in Ontario, where the separate but paraUel administrations remain, do the women assume association responsibilities and authority on a par with men. Few people apparently noticed the loss of women's authority during this ten-year period, because in 1978 the Canadian women's Interuniversity Athletic Union joined with the men's national body to become the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU). Again, the pattern of women often losing out because of amalgamation was repeated. Progressively fewer women attended annual meetings of the CIAU to vote on women's issues, untU in 1985 special legislation had to be passed to help correct the imbalance between men and women voting delegates. Far fewer women compared to men are now coaching women's university teams, whUe almost no women coach men's teams. This is so even though more women than men study physical education at Canadian universities. Is "Separate But Equal" reaUy a bad slogan as we have been taught to beheve? The examples from academic institutions and university athletic groups would seem to indicate not. They show that women's groups function weU on their own, envisioning their own future and working toward that ideal. When such groups give up their female-identification, however, women soon lose their authority if these examples are typical, as they seem to be. Anecdotal evidence indicates why women lose out—if there is only one head or one representative for a group, it seems to many more "natural" this should be man; if a woman takes leave from a job to have a baby, she is often considered not dedicated to her work; if she changes jobs because of her husband's relocation, she is unlikely to be seen as leadership material. Men move in and up in the new amalgamation, whUe women too often stay put or move out. These examples are a warning to women. Amalgamation of two entities in theory may seem an ideal way to gain their common ends with an increase in power. But if either entity has its own additional agenda (such as keeping women in partial control) that is also important, and if one entity has more clout in the larger society (the men's or mixed group), then women should beware of the future of the combined group. It won't be separate, but for women it almost certainly won't be equal. Pamphlets from page 7 hid at a friends' home for three months. It was only when her lawyer contacted her husband—inadvertently revealing her address—that the violence began again. She and her daughter have Uved at Shirley Samaroo House since July. According to shelter worker Isabel Saez, there is a forty woman waiting hst at this year-old house. "We only let women jump ahead of this hst in extreme emergencies.'' Myths concerning battered women are plentiful, says Clark. A common one is the 'why-do-they-stay?' myth. "First of ah— why shouldn't they be aUowed to stay? In any event, one third of aU women already leave when the abuse begins," she said. "And if not, they are actively struggling to leave one way or another, by accessing money or a place to hve." She knew of one woman "who had money but not access to it, so she would buy extra cans of coffee and then return them, thereby accumulating the refund money. George Brown CoUege opened its doors early September to a pUot course, the only one of its kind in Canada: Assaulted Women's and ChUdren's Coun- seUor/Advocate Program. "This program is grounded in feminist phUosophy which analyzes those social, cultural, pohtical and economic conditions which predispose women and chUdren to become victims of violence," the course description reads. According to instructor Sandra Fishleigh, a course objective is to counter the professionalism of women's services. "We think professionalism and government control are happening anyway so we want to do what we can to fight it, by preparing women with a feminist background and content there are concrete skiUs developed over 15 years [in the women's movement]. Now it's time to pass them on." AU instructors have done front hne work with assault survivors. Course content includes: the nature, causes, and effects of sexual abuse; feminist counselling; racism and ethnicity; legislation and social policy analysis; social action; prevention, advocacy and public education. "Seventy percent of the students are [assault] survivors weU along in their own healing who want to work with other women," said Fishleigh. "The other 30 percent have background volunteering in shelters and a growing awareness of women's issues." Fishleigh doubted the course would create a hierarchy between newly certified counseUors and the women they counsel— thereby adding to the professionalism. "H we achieve the feminist goals then that won't happen." Graduates expect to find jobs in transition houses and sexual assault centres, incest counselling, women's shelters, legal clinics, health and housing ser- Says Fishleigh, "Any place where there are women and chUdren ... she'U bring her feminist consciousness." KINESIS by Duane Burton In the spring of 1987 Rina Frati- celh became Studio D's second executive producer—almost midway through its second decade. If You Love This Planet, Not A Love Story: A Film About Pornography, Beyond The Veil, Abortion: Stories from North and South, I'll Find A Way and on and on—some 80 plus films within 14 short years. Nowhere else in the world wUl you find a studio hke the National Film Board of Canada's Studio D: the women's unit. The quality and number of films Studio D's produced is incredible; their focus and perspectives moving, disturbing, compelling. That Studio D consistently speaks to people with a voice that comes from outside the dominant culture is a measure of a particular kind of professional integrity: We do not set ourselves apart from our audience as an elite of 'professional film makers.' We are in continual communication with other women. Our primary identity is that we are women, living in Canada at this time in history. We put our professional skills to work towards the goals we share with other women. This is our interpretation of professionalism. Kathleen Shannon, founder of Studio D. It is sobering to realize that Shannon, Studio D's founder and executive producer for 13 years, made such quality films with so few resources. Consider for a moment that Studio D has won a third of the NFB's Academy Awards and its films are used three to five times more often than any sim- Uar group of English language films. Yet the studio has never received more than three percent of the film board's resources (at the best of times). When Shannon stepped aside in 1987, she left a legacy to be reckoned with, of , women speaking out through a powerful media against violent, sexist and racist domination; of breaking new ground in ways women work with each other; of a commitment to the ongoing development of women " THE WOMEN'S u STUDIO OF THE NATIONAL " FILM BOARD - OF CANADA and feminist analysis. Now it is up to Rina FraticeUi to continue the chaUenge. Fraticelli is unintentionaUy very late: our meeting is preempted by a last minute NFB meeting and another interview. While I wait I think back to my last night shift at the battered women's shelter. There, five women from aU walks of hfe were gathered in the shelter's hving room watching a video. The woman on the screen describes her isolation and years of brutal victimization at the hands of her husband. The watching women respond with laughter, and commentary—bitter laughter, intimate and witty commentary. I think to myself "this is a good one; we need more such films and videos." I know it's good because these women (five of the best critics you'U find anywhere) had connected with each other's pain and isolation watching this video and had stayed up very late talking with each other. Suddenly, I realize why Rina FraticeUi is important to me. I begin to understand why I want to interview her and what I want to know. I want to know her politics and what kind of experience she has had in working with women? What criteria wUl she be using to determine exceUence and what films wUl get made? How wUl she use this position's power? And finaUy, can I simply ask these questions up front? You bet I can. FraticeUi is not only open and direct—she is also very generous with her time and talk. Duane: What were the feminist markers in your life? Rina: For me, hke a lot of women, The Feminine Mystique was a real marker in Moving the censor: the balancing act of women's film I was continuing with my arts work, teaching theatre at Concordia and the University of Montreal, and had started a women's performance group to work out of Powerhouse GaUery. Working artistically gave me the chance to remove myself from one-on-one casework—but in the arts I was also frustrated that the context wasn't there. Duane: Where did that frustration lead you? Rina: I moved to Toronto knowing that I wanted to be involved in feminist activity and knowing that I wanted to work with women in the arts. I also had a Uttle time, and so I approached the women in the Fireweed collective to be one of their volunteers (it was aU volunteers). It was among the most important experiences in my hfe. Duane: What was so special about this small feminist literary publication? Rina: As the Fireweed collective we re- aUy grappled with how to balance the needs of a feminist pubhcation with the various kinds of material we were getting. How to get material of very good quality and yet how not to privUege those who were already privUeged? How to say, "Come in, we are looking to hear your work," and to suspend our patriarchal-defined values of artistic qualities so that we could hear the work? Duane: Would you call this 'analyzing oppression'? Rina: Yes. You see the first few steps are big and easy, and Uberating. And then you have to deal with: how does discrimination work when it's hot blatantly "no women Women were present in inverse proportion to the money and status involved in the work my hfe. When I read it, the penny dropped. I had just graduated from coUege and was running a halfway house for teenagers in Montreal. At the same time, one particular group of very strong women started Montreal's first consciousness raising group. It was hke the mother of them aU, and I was the beneficiary of a lot of their very crucial organizations. One in particular was a httle store called The Flaming Apron. It took anything a woman made and sold it for her, and I ended up volunteering there. Then they started a gaUery called Powerhouse GaUery which is now one of the leading feminist organizations in Montreal. Powerhouse GaUery spun off into a women's performance space. At that point I was finishing up my Master's degree (in Enghsh) and involved in running a community clinic called Head and Hands. We were a staff of about six or seven—aU women, it just so happened. It was a real model of women's community organizing. That was a tremendous politicising experience. We had the theory and we were trying to figure out how you apply that to buUding structures that really work. There were a lot of meetings—coUective meetings. need apply here?" How do you get at the roots of that sort of thing? Two activities reaUy solidified for me how systemic discrimination works. One was working on Fireweed where at every collective meeting aU of us read all of the submissions, and we debated and soul-searched late into the night. You have a submission here from a renowned woman artist who is going to bring credibility to the newspaper, who is going to validate the struggles of the women who are reading the magazine. On the other hand you have something rough, somebody writing for the first time—and that's Uberating. How do you work with both those things? How do you frame each of them so it's clear they both came out of very distinct, very real, very important contexts? Is there a difference between communication and artistic creation?. Is content everything? With any artistic activity that's politically conscious, you're always trying to balance artistry (by which I mean how adept you are at using the language of your medium to speak as articulately as possible), and the content about which you are speaking, and the poUtical analysis that feeds into the ways in which you approach that content. How do you value form without excluding people who are separate from that formal language? How are we establishing what's good? From Aristotle down is gender-based. How do we step outside of it so we are moving this male censor which we have taken into ourselves? Through Fireweed I started to understand a httle bit about systemic discrimination. I was aware of the fact that I simply wasn't seeing very many plays by women. So I organized a national women's playwright- ing competition with Fireweed. It started me thinking—if women are po- tentiaUy 52 percent of the creative pool, but we're only seeing 10 percent of them with submissions—then where is the block? Duane: What was the other activity that solidified for you how systemic discrimination works? Rina: This was at the time of the Applebaum Hebert Commission which reevaluated the Canadian Commission on Culture. Status of Women in Canada commissioned a number of reports from women in the various artistic fields—and they commissioned a theatre study from me on the status of women. It was a very important experience. I looked at every theatre across Canada which got any funding from the Canada CouncU, and I looked at the numbers of women. My grid at the time was whose version of reality is being propagated in the culture? It was the issue I had been dealing with in Fireweed. Whose version of reality was being put on the stage? Of about 130 theatres, for a three year period of time, how many plays by women had they produced? How many women had directed them, and how many of the artistic directors were women? I discovered a rule that worked across the country: women were present in inverse proportion to the money and status involved in the work. The other thing that amazed me and proved to be a very good lobbying force later was the realization that, where women were artistic directors, significantly more women's plays were selected and women directors hired than in the national average— and more Canadian content done. Whose version of reality is being propagated? So I was able to turn around and say— aU right, we're paying the boys to do foreign work, to hire male directors to do plays by men; and in plays by men there are 70 percent roles for men and in plays by women there are 50 percent roles for women. Duane: Were you able to look at the numbers of women trying to get into theatre ? Rina: I looked to theatre schools where I found women were applying in equal or greater numbers. Women's educational success rates are just as high or higher, but they can't get that first job. That was re- aUy interesting for me because, for years when people found out I was a feminist, they would teU me that no discrimination existed in their particular artistic field. "I'd love to have a woman working here," says the male artistic director. But in fact there was no money where the rhetoric was. The boards of directors were aU male and hired aU male artistic directors. We knew what we had to do was to get women on Canada CouncU juries. You've got to go to the source of the power. Now we're sophisticated enough to know that we're not just talking about an issue of women, but an issue of other. What single small minority group hogs the power? Who's making the decisions? Who decides what reality is, what legitimacy is, what quality is? Who has the authority? The authority question became very central to me when I started to work with writers as a dramaturge because the amount of internal censorship women have is tremendous. Their internalized male voice of authority is always judging them to be inadequate. There's a tremendous amount of psychological undoing and redoing that has to be done. Duane: What did you do with this new understanding? Rina: The theatre commission was great for me. I felt much less vulnerable. It didn't give me aU the answers as to "how" systemic discrimination works, but I certainly knew "why" I could look at a situation where there were no overt signs and see how discrimination can he very clearly in so-caUed equal circles. What is equal about a situation where a room is fiUed with men, and a few women in subordinate positions? Art has no gender, but juries have gender, artistic directors have gender, boards of directors have gender, and you can certainly insure that the people making the decisions represent the community you teU me they are representing. Twenty years ago we had to fight a battle—an artistic battle—to argue that Canadians were the people who should determine Canadian culture. The Canada CouncU would never be expected or permitted to fund any film, theatre or hterary project produced entirely by foreigners. You know that it's got to be a majority, at the very least, of Canadians. I'm saying Canadians are not aU male and so if we're going to be putting in our tax dollars, it has got to reflect the reality of women as weU. That's exactly the struggle that feminism is going through now in terms of our 'racial' inequality. We have to be responsible for the fact that aU women are not white and not aU women are from western European origin. We simply have to grapple with our limited resources. How are we going to become accountable? Duane: Is that something you can address using film, and as the executive producer of Studio D? Rina: The position I have the privUege of representing at the moment is one that is very important and very vulnerable. We're so desperately under-financed. With any artistic activity that's pohticaUy conscious, one is always trying to balance artistry and the poUtical understanding that feeds into the ways in which you approach content. We have a struggle to balance aU of those things to get the women involved in those issues to speak on their own behalf, and bring to them the most subtle, sophisticated, articulate film language we can so we can speak to as many women as possible and as eloquently as possible. To balance the need of generating strong content with the need of generating strong film makers. Duane: Can you give me an example? Rina: The Studio D film To A Safer Place (a film on incest) for me reflects very weU how you need to balance real filmmaking skUls and decisions, with the issue that must be addressed. I don't think this film could have been made the way it was anywhere but at NFB Studio D. You know, among the first things you do when you start with a documentary film is you get people to sign consent forms giving you permission—in advance—to use their presence. WeU, with this film we didn't, and I don't think this film could have been made on any other basis. We said to Shirley, "At any stage you can say, 'I don't hke this,' or 'I can't five with this' and we'U say okay and destroy the originals." It was a real collaborative effort. Duane: What is your hope for Studio D? Rina: To bridge the isolation and share power with women. I think now that Kathleen Shannon's unmatchable legacy—Studio D—is in good hands. PMS Women-talking-to-women strength of this film by Suzanne Fournier In a packed movie theatre in downtown Vancouver, women discuss with intensity a set of medical symptoms fully 80 percent of women experience on a regular basis. It is the premiere of a film on premenstrual changes and it draws women from every walk of hfe, some with their male partners. Yet the event, and the good, honest documentary film that has sparked the discussion are largely ignored by the mainstream media. Even though PMS has come out of the closet and is being sold in magazines and medical journals as a hot new medical condition, it's stiU an issue that mainly women are deeply concerned about. And this film's approach to coping with the condition chiefly through self-help and intel- Ugent research Ukely doesn't sit weU with those who want to exploit the more sensational aspects of PMS as an excuse for murder, or a disabling condition that should be treated with profitable mood-altering drugs. What People Are Calling PMS is the name of the 28-minute documentary film by Vancouver film maker Haida Paul, the latest in a series of exceUent films on women's health issues produced by the National Film Board. Its Vancouver premiere on Sept. 8 was co-sponsored by the Vancouver Women's Health CoUective. The Health CoUective also played a central role in facilitating the discussion by a women's self-help group that forms the centerpiece of the film. CoUective member Anne Fraser leads the group's discussion in the film in a skUlful, warm and understated way. Paul acknowledges the group of women in the film "had never met and were brought together for American Cousin. The NFB's Jennifer Torrance, producer of the film, acknowl edges the board's recent series of film on women's health (and other) issues has been achieved in remarkably consistent fashion "by and for women." Torrance points out the film wasn't a creature of the Montreal-based NFB Studio D. It was produced out of the NFB's Vancouver office, Pacific Centre, and that's as it should be, says Torrance. "Every NFB outlet across the country, in each province, should be producing films that address women's issues." Paul acknowledges she had to handle carefully the double-edged sword that is premenstrual syndrome. Her goal was to vaUdate the set of physiological and psychological changes most women experience just before the onset of menstruation—and to discuss the experience of the approximately 40 percent of women with accentuated symptoms such as breast tenderness, mood swings, bloating and a craving for sugar. Paul also wanted to touch on the experience of women whose symptoms are so extreme their abUity to cope is severely tested. In the film, Fraser raises with the support group her concern that PMS wUl become an official medical diagnosis such as those adopted by the American Medical Association. Fraser points out that the "psychia- trization" of PMS could affect the ability of this film" but once they were introduced, the discussion about PMS "flowed spontaneously." Paul, whose most recent film was Is It Hot In Here? A Film About Menopause is a seasoned film maker with 20 years' experience with the NFB and in television production with the CBC. She received a Genie Award in 1986 for her editing of My Please see PMS page 14 AINESIS KINESIS KINESIS KINESIS Health xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx^ Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is an infection of the faUopian tubes, although it can be used as an umbreUa term for a number of pelvic infections. Symptoms include low abdominal pain which can spread into the thighs, anus and lower back; low grade or high fever with flu-like symptoms, abdominal bloating and sensitivity to touch, increased menstrual pain, vaginal discharge with unpleasant odour, pain on intercourse, irregular bleeding, painful urination and painful bowel movements. The pelvic exam can be quite painful, especiaUy if the cervix is touched. PID is a serious disease and is considered to be the most frequent cause of infertUity in women. About 15 percent of women have decreased fertility after a single episode of PH). PH) occurs predominantly in women under 25 years. It rarely occurs before the first menses, after menopause or during pregnancy. It is most often the result of infection from sexuaUy transmitted diseases such as chlamydia or gonorrhea, but it can also be caused by birth complications, septic abortion or IUD use. iCjausesi 1 U LU UU ' Treating P.I.D. by Heather Herington N.D. Infection usuaUy begins in the vagina, then spreads upward to the uterus and the faUopian tubes. Most often both tubes are affected although symptoms may predominate on one side. The tubal infection with its pus-like secretions may lead to obstruction of the tubes and create an abscess in the tubes and/or ovaries, although the whole pelvic cavity can be affected. The danger of a ruptured tube and the subsequent spread of infection can lead to the possibUity of sterUity because of the formation of adhesions and extensive scar tissue. PID is a good example of a disease where naturopathic medicine and conventional treatment work weU together. The goal of naturopathic medicine is to support the immune system and promote drainage in the pelvic area whUe conventional medicine offers antibiotics if the offending bacteria is gonorrhea or chlamydia—both difficult to treat naturaUy. Also, to determine the extent of infection, a laparoscopy can be performed which will aUow a look at the pelvic cavity. Chiropractic or naturopathic manipulation and acupuncture wUl help reheve congestion and pain in the pelvic area. Castor oU packs with heat can be put over the ab domen or back. Hot Sitz baths are comforting and relaxing. Hot foot baths may assist the body in fighting infection. Here's how: wrap the woman in blankets to keep her body warm. Have a container of ice water and washcloth for cool applications to keep her head cool. After she puts her feet in the water, keep the water as hot as can be tolerated for 20- 30 minutes. At the completion of the treatment, lift her feet out of the hot water and pour over them the cold water used for the head compresses. Dry her feet thoroughly. Rest in bed untU sweating stops. Another method is using a hot foot bath whUe placing ice packs to the lower abdomen every four hours for 30 minutes fol lowed by 30 minutes of bed rest. This can increase the rate of healing, often dramatically. PID can become chronic if initial therapy was inadequate or begun too late. Some women with chronic PID have constant pain whUe others have a periodic recurrence of their symptoms, usuaUy when run down. For this reason, it's very important to stay away from junk food, to get plenty of rest and exercise and to support the immune system through nutrition, botanical medicine and hydrotherapy. Eliminate the intake of coffee, black tea, sweets, alcohol and tobacco. Visuahzation and stress reduction techniques can decrease the frequency and severity of recurrence. In chronic PH), naturopathic physicians use the vaginal depletion pack. These are herbal drawing packs that help establish drainage from the infected area. Reinfection is a common complication of PH), thus making the identification and treatment of possibly infected sexual partners mandatory for effective treatment. Abstinence is recommended untU treatment is complete. It is possible, especiaUy in chlamydia infection, for there to be no symptoms, and recurrence after therapy is common. Careful lab monitoring is important to ensure eradication of the infection. Another angle on PH) is that pelvic congestion is the holding of emotional pain. The book Healing into Life and Death by Stephen and Ondrea Levine has an excellent visualization on "Healing the Heart of the Womb." As in any disease, it's important to look at the cause from many angles. With acute PH), chlamydia or gonorrhea—if present- need to be treated with antibiotics, as the complications are too serious to use slower treatments. H you have any of the symptoms hsted above make sure to: 1. Get a lab test and take appropriate antibiotics, 2. Support your immune system, and, 3. Be aware of the emotional connection to your physical body. The Canadian PID Society is holding PID: A One-Day Discussion on Sat. Nov. 5 at the Thunderbird Community Centre. For full details about the day's events, see Bulletin Board this issue. PMS from page 13 those diagnosed with PMS to hold a job, get hfe insurance and control their own treatment by the medical profession. This serious consequence of the "selling" of PMS is just tantalizingly touched on; those who have PMS and have done basic research may find it frustrating not to hear more discussion. But Paul stresses her film wUl be reaching communities where women can barely get their doctors or families to recognize that PMS exists, let alone treat it itively with recommended diet changes, vitamins and counselling, instead of mood- altering drugs and progesterone. The use of physicians JerUynn Prior and Diane Rothon to give a lot of information itraight from the shoulder is a handy tool, but it's also intrusive. Both seem to have been garbed by Central Casting in neat blouses with bow ties at the front that suggest sympathetic authority. Dr. Prior's admission that her own experience of PMS was made more difficult to cope with during a period of stressful separation and divorce is a nice touch, and both women are engaging speakers. The two doctors, however, stand out as a "talking heads" format that interrupts the easy flow of the film. Their use as authority figures is curious in a film based on a self-help women's support group. That returns us to the real strength of the film: It's women talking to women, giving each other—and us—immense support and comfort as they do so. Listen to what they say: "I would go through anxiety attacks ... I went to my doctor and at first he tried giving me Valium. It just made me feel worse and I ended up going back into his office nearly hysterical. He said 'I think you need to go to the hospital and have a couple of days rest.' I went to the hospital and got checked in and the next thing I knew I was on the psychiatric ward! I'm not crazy!" "I'm tired of [people] using my PMS as a crutch when I want to talk about what's reaUy bugging me." Sensitive To Criticisms Paul has had to answer criticism the film ignored women whose coping mechanisms, however enlightened, are seriously challenged by severe PMS. Said one audience member at the premiere: "If I just had to cope with a httle bloating or craving chocolate, I'd be grateful. That's not PMS to who feel they are incapacitated, Paul hopes the film wUl give them tools to take with them when they seek medical help. But in the final analysis, it's perhaps left again to the real women speaking about themselves to educate us about PMS. The support group in the film is a nice cross- section of women of varying age, race and TIRED OF BEING TIRED? Yeast overgrowth may be the culprit. And Candida Albicans is its name. CANDIDA may be the precursor to allergies, chemical sensitivity and general health deterioration. Once you understand the effects of environmental pollutants, prescription drugs, X-rays, and the vast use of food preservatives and additives, you can begin to make responsible decisions to ensure a more healthwise future. • DIETARY EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS • SPECIALIZED CANDIDA and ALLERGY-FREE MENU PLANNING • NUTRITIONAL & HERBAL REMEDIES. Founder, Lea Parkhurst, invites you to hear her speak, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18 at 9:00 p.m. at the World of Women Show at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. P.O. Box 1105 - 439 Metrotown, 4800 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC. V5H 4J8 Director Haida Paul Another woman suggested to Paul that in attempting to appeal to a mainstream audience with an "upbeat" message about PMS, the film had sacrificed or trivialized the truly disabling effects of PMS. Paul is sensitive to those criticisms. "I wasn't saying to women if they just shape up and eat their greens they'll be aU right," said Paul. "On the other hand, I don't want to see PMS used as a term for any woman who makes some kind of emotional gesture in the world, to have her dismissed as un- reUable." Paul also notes that perhaps film can't address the fuU range of symptoms individual women experience and for those Would women watching the empowering support group in the film know how to set up their own? Or how to get in touch with the Vancouver Women's Health CoUective or its resources? Paul concedes they might not. But whether it's copying down the collective's phone number or putting up a notice on a community buUetin board that helps a woman break out of her own isolation and seek support, this film makes clear that's a step that has to be taken. What People Are Calling PMS: A Film About Premenstrual Changes is available in 16 mm, | inch VHS or Beta from the NFB at 1045 Howe St., Vancouver, 666-0716. Also from the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, #302-1720 Grant St., Vancouver, 255-8285. .KINESIS Arts xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ^SSxxxxx^xxxxSxxxxSSxxx^^ Ontario centered Valuable analysis, historically weak by Frances Wasserlein FEMINIST ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE: The Contemporary Women's Movement in Canada by Nancy Adamson, Linda Briskin, and Margaret McPhaU Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988 $19.95 Sometime last year I heard this book was coming out. It would be a history of the contemporary women's movement written by socialist feminists in Toronto. I thought then, ah, another book which wUl pretend Ontario is Canada and socialist feminism is "correct" feminism. After reading the book, it turns out my first assumption was largely borne out, and my second was—sorry to say—also weU- founded. At $19.95, this book is less expensive than many books of its kind, but stiU costly. Libraries wUl get copies. The extensive bibliography and footnotes wUl be a boon to those seeking more, and this book has an index, enabhng the reader who Ukes to read around in a book to do so and easing the task of the researcher. Fifteen documents from the Canadian Women's Movement Archives (CWMA) have been included, providing further examples of the poUtical points raised and critiqued in the text, as weU as offering some of the flavour of writing from the women's movement in the last two decades. The "Selective Chronology, 1867-1988" wUl be very useful to the reader unfamUiar with the progress of the women's movement in Canada, from the demand for suffrage to the removal of abortion from the Criminal Code. After denning their terms (with the notable exception of "class") the authors set out to answer the central question of the book, "How do feminists work to change the society we hve in?" They begin with the context, an account of the history of There are [no] examples from the Maritimes... the Canadian women's movement, describing both its institutionalized and grassroots bases. Here's where my first assumption was proved: with a heavy reliance on the CWMA in Toronto, this history is Umited to examples form Ontario and other organizations whose papers are in the CWMA. As a consequence, there are only a few examples from outside Ontario, e.g., Women Against the Budget, Bread and Roses (from B.C.), the Saskatoon Women's Liberation Group, and none from the Maritimes, Alberta or Manitoba. And, as the authors themselves point out, this book is about the anglophone Canadian women's movement. The authors are present in this history, labeUed as Voice 1, 2, and 3. Although Voice 1 had hved in Montreal, and was involved with the women's movement there, only this chapter mentions Quebec. THE CONTEMPORARY WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN CANADA NANCY ADAMSON LINDA BRISKIN MARGARET McPHAIL Good true-life adventure, but politically oblivious by Nym Hughes GOING OUT OF OUR MINDS: The Metaphysics of Liberation by Sonia Johnson Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1987 $10.95 Both Sonia Johnson and her book Going Out Of Our Minds are enjoying great popularity. The book is seUing fast and Johnson is in demand to lecture to large audiences at coUeges and universities across North America. I read the book to try and find out why. Johnson is a white, middle-class, ex- Mormon, American radical feminist. Going Out Of Our Minds is a combination of autobiography and theoretical conclusions about feminism, the oppression of (all) women and the right way to bring about a feminist future. Critical Mass = Planetary Change Johnson holds a very traditional radical feminist position: the oppression of women is the primary oppression and aU other oppressions are sub-sets of gender oppression: "One of the basic tenets of radical feminism is that any woman in the world has more in common with any other woman— regardless of class, race, age, ethnic group, nationality—than any woman has with any man." These are not new ideas. What Johnson contributes that I, at least, hadn't read before is that the purpose of the women's She describes fasting, running for president, giving speeches As a true-Ufe adventure story, the book is fascinating. Johnson describes fighting for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the U.S., including her disagreements with the leadership of the National Organization for Women (NOW) over the legitimacy of civU disobedience as a strategy. She also describes doing civU disobedience, fasting, running for president of the United States in the '84 election, organizing women's gatherings and giving speeches. It's the content of the speeches—the theoretical insights—that are the problem. movement is to save the planet from destruction. What wUl save the planet is the end of the patriarchy. The reason patriarchy continues to exist is that women collaborate with pa triarchy. Patriarchy wUl cease to exist when women stop coUaborating. In order to stop collaborating women should 1) stop being afraid and 2) feel, moment-by-moment, how it (they, we) would feel post-patriarchy. Not aU women need to do this, just enough. When an unspecified number of women are feeling post-patriarchy in-the- moment, a critical mass wUl be reached and planetary change wUl occur. Organizing for the passage of the ERA seems to have been Johnson's introduction to and main experience with feminist activism and I guess she was pretty disappointed when the ERA didn't pass. She now beUeves, "What you resist, persists" and any working within the system, including mainstream electoral pohtics, demonstrations, civU disobedience and even organizing rape crisis centres is strengthening patriarchy. I like her insistence on self-healing However, she thinks the women's health movement is a good thing and we should aU learn to do abortions. Contradictions hke this abound. The strength of the book lies in Johnson's * descriptions of tools and techniques she has used to work with her internalized oppression as a woman. I like her insistence on self-healing, the importance of women seeing ourselves as courageous and powerful. She is thorough and befievable in her descriptions of herself as oppressed. Her fatal flaw is her complete unawareness of herself as oppressor. She writes from a place of unexamined white middle-class American dominance. She is consistently and, I think, unawarely racist. For example, she uses the word slavery on virtuaUy every second page, not as a metaphor, but as a literal description of "all" women's fives. She identifies Black Please see Oblivious page 18 As for the omissions, here's just one example: the B.C. Federation of Women is not mentioned. BCFW was one of the longer lasting coahtions of women's groups in the country, but its history is not weU known. This absence, and that of other B.C. groups, points out how Uttle of our history is written and how much needs to be done. The most successful sections of this book are those which deal with the pohtics and practices of making change, or not. Using "disengagement and mainstreaming: the two pohtics of feminist practice" as a framework, the authors examine the practice of the three currents of feminism—hberal (or institutionalized), radical and socialist— and evaluate the potential of each for making change. Disengagement is "that part of feminist practice that speaks our critique of the existing society, whatever the nature of that critique may be." Mainstreaming is "the ... attempts to engage with women around concrete issues arising directly out of their personal experience." It is the varying weight given to these two pohtics which make differences among currents of feminism visible. A focus on disengagement can lead to marginalization (invisibUity), and on mainstreaming to institutionalization (co- optation). The authors contend "in the context of our model for making change, only socialist feminism calls for combining the elements of mainstreaming and disengagement. In fact, the success of its vision depends on successfuUy finking the two." "The personal is pohtical" and "sisterhood is powerful" are the ideas at the centre of the "ideology of the women's movement." This ideology is examined through the lens of the pohtics of disengagement and mainstreaming, and their inherent dangers, marginalization and institutionalization. Because the "personal" has become the individual, and "sisterhood" masks differences of class, race and sexual orientation among women, and poses an autonomous women's movement too narrow in its focus, socialist feminists do not subscribe to the analysis or "strategic orientation" arising from this ideology. While it operated as a powerful force to begin and sustain the women's hberation movement and its activists, the ideology of the women's movement is found lacking, specificaUy because it does not offer "an adequate analysis of power relations under patriarchal capital- The organizational structures used in the women's liberation movement and the issues which arise from them—"leadership, membership, voting procedures, committee structure and education of new members"— are the topic of the second-last chapter. This section could be required reading for any group. It might be used at the beginning of organizing, or at the point of questioning already existing structure and practice. It is a useful summary of what we have learned over the last two decades about how we can, and cannot, work together to make change. The authors contend that, though the theory of feminist organizational structures was based on disengagement from traditional forms, the practice often resulted in feminist organizations being marginalized or made invisible and hence, ineffective at making change. Coalition and alliance buUding are proposed as organizational forms with more potential, because they are less isolating. This is a book that should be read, by anyone who is interested in the Canadian women's hberation movement. I have one reservation though. Anyone who has ever been talked at by a socialist, of any description, may recognize a particular tone in this writing. What is implied, but not expressed, is indeed that socialist feminists who agree with Adamson, Briskin and McPhaU are the only members of the feminist branch of the Correct Line Holding Company. KINESIS .xxx*KSS*5xxxx^SSSx^^ Arts Gallerie Uncluttered by the complex language of Art by Pam Galloway A paper-cast woman stands pressed against a waU, her thoughts about hfe in jaU scratched on the surface beside her. Tall, pagoda-Uke architectural structures echoing natural and fabricated forms loom almost to the gallery ceiling. Persimmon Blackbridge's "Solitary" and Lylian Klimek's "Atvan" are just two images from the rich display of women's art presented in the Gallerie Annual, published this summer. An inviting, soft-bound book, Gallerie presents the work of 45 women artists in hundreds of photographs, along with a description of their work or phUosophy—or both—written by the artists themselves. The book explores the visual images which are immensely varied and represent almost aU art forms: drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, film, installation, U- lustration, etching and so on. There are direct expressions of the oppression of women, as in Persimmon Black- bridge's jail series, as weU as insights into the complexities inherent in developing an- awareness of self. In Anne Bolivar's dynamic sculpture "Confrontation," female and androgynous forms move around and interact with a waU representing the emotional conflict in confronting sexuality as a lesbian. Symbolic representations of injustice are found in, for example, Sue Coe's narrative Ulustrations of the life of a pig, bred for food. Though the images remain focused on the animals, there is always a haunting resemblance to the human condition. Lylian Klimek's huge sculptures in wood relate more to the physical world and have, in her words, "multiple meanings and associations." Turning the pages, absorbing image after image, we are inevitably drawn into the artists' written accompaniments. It is enlightening and enjoyable to be brought close to these women, to understand what motivates them to create art and to get glimpses of their personal hves. There is the explanation and elaboration of the art work which Please see Gallerie page 18 Moving through the desert's immense space by Betsy Nuse DOUBLE NEGATIVE by Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland Charlottetown: gynergy books, 1988 I encourage adventurous readers to sample Double Negative, the wonderful recent coUaboration between Vancouver writers Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland. The book came out of a trip the two women took to Australia in 1986. "We were invited to do f •*:« 12 lectures and readings throughout the country," explained Warland. "We needed to go from Sydney to Perth and were anxious to see the land. We had heard about how wonderful the desert was and love trains. So we decide to travel across Australia by train." Countless vivid impressions from the 3961 km journey are the heart of Double Negative. Descriptions of scenery, evocations of Aboriginal history and white set tlement, protests relating to weapons testing and uranium mining are aU offered to the reader like changing views through the windows of a train. Memorable smaU incidents which personalize the experience also abound: "when we get out and walk/ ground rises to meet our feet/ in unexpected ways." They are asked when they arrive in the diner "Are you ladies alone?" But it is the immense space, unfamiliar plants and animals and tenuous human settlements of the NuUarbor desert which impinge most on the women's i look out the window deja vu: nothing looking at nothing two women outback down under add it up - two negatives make a positive ' 1 Tanya Morand's "Learning How To Be A Warrior" Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland In the centre section of the book—a discussion about the trip after their return to Canada—Warland connects their fascination with the desert to Jane Rule's Desert of the Heart and Nicole Brossard's Le desert mauve: "... i began to have a sense that there is some kind of a North American lesbian tradition of exploring the feminine in relation to the desert ... I find it quite exciting that there's this female movement into the desert saying, 'this is mine too and i relate to it in a different way'." The book was a completely coUabora- tive effort. "We bought a special journal for the trip," Warland explained. "One person would write and then hand it over, the other would read what the first had written and then write her own material in response. The whole first section of the book—the poetry section—was written that way on the train. We edited the poems on our return to Canada and decided to write the third— prose—section." The prose pieces, whose titles are taken from the poems, reconsider and interpret the images and experiences of the journey further. Double Negative includes great word play: Peterborough, Jamestown, Gladstone, Port Pirie anglo overlays in the name of "I see-viU(ain)-I-say-tion 3 stiff upper lip a thin line noosing the 1 coast of "£ (ab)original country 1 £ and streams of associative language to swim along in: ... she wants to migrate she wants to mutate she wants to have no natural predators be nothing looking at nothing thrive in her own absence be out of focus out of range of The Gaze hide out from The Law under assumed names. Describing the end of their journey, Marlatt and Warland write: and now you unzip unfold hang up in a room three times as large and suddenly we feel cramped in someone else's house. Which brings me to this book's most wonderful quality: its eroticism. By this I mean not only sexiness (there's that, to be sure!), but the "erotic" Audre Lorde has written about: sensory, sensuous feelings ... the connectedness of hving things with the power of hfe in each of us. Double Negative evokes this erotic power: each woman attuning to the other, both absorbing impressions of the landscape and people they encounter. Their journey is romantic and self-absorbed but also—in the tradition of fine travel writing—neither "exotic" nor exploitative but respectful and appreciative of new experiences. Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland will read from Double Negative at its Vancouver launch: Thursday, October 20 at Octopus Books, 1146 Commercial Drive. The launching party will be from 7:30 pm to 10; the reading will be from 8:30 to 9. The book, illustrated with striking negative collages by Cheryl Sourkes, looks great: don't miss it in print or in person! J<INESIS Arts /////////////////////^^^^^ Miriam Makeba A woman of hope, determination and song by Maura Volante Thirty years ago, Miriam Makeba brought the sound of South Africa to North American audiences, singing her infectious Xhosa and Zulu songs with a wonderfully elastic and expressive voice. Now, at 52, "Mama Africa" as she has been called by fans—is back in North America, with a voice as wide-ranging and powerful as ever, carrying with it an extra measure of authority and wisdom. Her show with Hugh Masakela (composer, flugelhorn/cornetist and ex-husband) at Vancouver's Orpheum in September was a nonstop buUdup of energy, musically and emotionally. It contained far more overtly pohtical work than she did in the early days with Belafonte, reflecting the escalation of the struggle in South Africa, homeland to both these exiles. While the eight-piece international band was onstage virtually the whole two-and- a-half hours, Makeba and her backup vocalists—Felicia Marion, Thoko Mdlozi and SteUa Zulu, aU from South Africa— came and left three times, wearing three strikingly different sets of clothing which dovetaUed with the music they were doing. In the first set, Makeba did a medley of her old hits such as "Malaika," "Click Song" (an American term for the title of a Xhosa song which is unpronounceable in EngUsh) and her 1967 hit, "Phata Phata." These are aU bouncy and swinging, good examples of the Afro-Pop that has been undergoing a massive revival in North America. The next song, "Meet Me At the River," was a lyrical love song in Enghsh, showing off her soprano-to-tenor range. With "La Lutta Continua," a celebration of Mozambican independence written by her daughter Bongi, Makeba introduced the more pohtical material in the show. Her next set was aU traditional songs from her recent album Sangoma, the first released in North America in a long time. In her introduction to this section, she said, "A sangoma is a traditional healer, or what has been called a witch doctor. But I faU to see how the words witch and doctor can be used in the same sentence." Though some of us would put more faith in a witch as a healer than a doctor, most people using the term 'witch' see it as a derogatory word. In bringing to western audiences these songs from the African healing tradition, she is adding to the power of that tradition, for no one could hear these haunting melodies, sung in rich harmony with sparse rhythmic accompaniment, without feehng their magic. She is also paying tribute to her mother, who was a sangoma (she died in 1960), using herbs and trance work to heal her community of physical and mental ailments. This part of the show was impressive, vi- suaUy as weU as musicaUy. The four women wore colourful print wrapped dresses and headscarves, dancing barefoot to the complex rhythms which showed the roots of the jazzy modern compositions. The final part of the evening was the most hard-hitting, politicaUy. Songs of the conscript labour trains, the Mandelas and the chUdren of Soweto were presented in lush, fuU arrangements, at times a httle syrupy but full of energy and emotionaUy very powerful. The words spoke of a desperate situation, but the tone was one of hope and determination, something Makeba chngs to despite a hfe fuU of setbacks to herself and her people in South Africa. In Exiles Miriam ZenzUe Makeba spent most of the first six months of her Ufe in jaU with her mother who was imprisoned for making homebrew. So she got an early taste of the repressive regime which was later to deny her re-entry when she wanted to return from the United States to her mother's funeral. Exiled from her homeland, she settled in the States and continued a thriving singing career, untU she married Black Panther Stokely Carmichael in 1968. At this point she experienced the subtle but equaUy effective American-style repression. Concerts were canceUed, recording contracts disappeared and, though no official action was taken, it became impossible for her to work in the U.S. So, if you were wondering why you hadn't heard about Miriam Makeba since the 60's, the reason is that she has been elsewhere. Not, as some have assumed, that she has retired from public fife. "I have been working!" she said in a recent Seattle interview. "Americans tend to think America is the whole world, but it's just one Uttle part of the world. I mean, I've been singing all these years since I left, but because people didn't see me on their television, they figure my career is over." In fact, she has been working the African, European and Asian concert circuit, trav- eUing from her home in Guinea, West Africa As weU, she has been an eloquent spokeswoman for her people in many poUtical contexts, including the United Nations, when she served as delegate from Guinea in 75 and '76. In her personal Ufe she has had turbulent years, too. She has survived five marriages, aU of them now over. "You go into a marriage thinking this is it, but if it doesn't work, I don't think I should make anybody's chUd miserable, and vice versa, I don't think anybody else's chUd should make me miserable. Hit doesn't work, we get together and talk about it, we resolve it and we remain friends." She has also survived a bout of cancer, now also in the past. But perhaps her worst misfortune was the death in 1985 of her only daughter, during the birth of a stiUbom chUd. She now looks after her two teenaged grandchUdren, who are both in school in Washington, D.C. Makeba's recent breakthrough into the American scene again came as a result of her participation in Paul Simon's Graceland tour, though as Hugh Masakela pointed out, "It is Miriam that gave credibility to him, not the other way around." This tour also connected her with Warner Brothers recording company. Hence, Sangoma which was released this year to critical acclaim, though you would be advised to pick it up quickly, as the company has already dropped the album and the option to produce another with Makeba With the success of the current tour, however, I can't imagine she'U be without a North American contract for long. She's been selling out aU along the tour, reacquainting herself with her old fans and establishing a new audience among those whose parents remember her. And whUe many of her fans have only been aware of the situation in South Africa for a few years, Miriam Makeba is continuing a campaign of political education she began over 30 years ago. "I know my songs wUl never free my country and change apartheid." she said. "But what they do is raise the consciousness of those who want their consciousness raised to the problems of my country. I do have hope, determination and song. If I ever lost hope, I think I'd die." Quebecoise singer inspiring by Sheila E. Morrison LUCIE BLUE TREMBLAY Olivia Records, 1986 Lucie Blue Tremblay possesses a voice which caresses her hsteners with warmth, like the fingers of a lover massaging away your pain and worries. OriginaUy from Quebec, Tremblay has traveUed to venues in Canada and the United States, performing either as an opening act for a "big name" in women's music, or as the main attraction. For her debut, a band of Quebecois musicians and some notable feminist vocal chords lend their talents. On one face of the album, recorded five in San Francisco, Tremblay graciously thanks the audience for their "receptivity to (her) culture." The response is a sweU of women's whoops and whistles. At times Tremblay tends to be too "at peace with herself." One can almost taste the tofu and feel the Birkenstocks flopping on your feet when she addresses her audience in a nasal "spirituaUy-empowered-like- you-know" voice. Half the album is en francais, the other half in English. Tremblay is at ease singing in both languages, but naturaUy she shines brightest in French. "Laissez-moi sortir," about women in prison, is given its pensive quality as much by Pierre Niquette's guitar playing as by Tremblay's lyrics. She beckons us to realize that "it's hard being inside and so hard coming out... may our prison conditions change wherever we are." For "St. Jean Port Jolie," Tremblay plays the tin whistle and the audience, Cris WUliamson, Diedre McCaUa, Teresa TruU et al, join in singing. Included is a French version of Ferron's "Ain't Life A Brook," and "MademoiseUe," about romance at a women's music festival. Walking on the land with my red arm-band Smiling till my cheeks got so sore I was alone till you held my hand Don't wanna go home no more. "Voix d'enfant" uncovers the hotbed topic of incest. "So Lucky," previously re leased as a single on the Demies-Soeurs label, is a love song which speaks of sharing and commitment in relationships; sentimental but empowering. So lovely And I can teU just by your smUe And in your eyes That keep my heart so warm, Like you do hke you do I'm rising in love with you. Tremblay's greatest strength as an artist is her songwriting. A lyric sheet is included; for every French song EngUsh lyrics are given. Tremblay utilizes her bUinguahsm to move freely in and out of the constraints of a sole language. Tremblay exudes a wise sensuality—a precious match; she is an inspiration to women. Lucie Blue Tremblay and Faith Nolan will appear in concert at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Nov. IS. Tickets $10. KINESIS Oct. 88 17 .xxx**SS*Sxxx*xxx*Sxxx*S^^ ARTS Dreaming of a women's culture 7:45 pm Tuesday, August 23, four days before the First Vancouver Women's Music Festival. This is the last volunteer's meeting before the event. Twenty-five women are present. First on the agenda: Are we in a position to go ahead with the festival? We are clearly behind schedule and this festival runs the risk of sloppy production. Ad hoc coordinator Carol Street strongly suggests this event be postponed, then re- announced when it has been better organized. Nadine Davenport and Vicky Gibson have hned up performers and publicized the event. However, the main organizational work now was to get together funds and volunteers. A $2000 start-up demand loan was arranged. StiU not enough to carry us into the event. Where were the women needed to puU this off? Nadine proceeded to outUne the tasks ahead. StiU to secure were: 1) two sound systems, 2) stage instruments, 3) fencing, 4) transportation, and 5) stages. We needed at least five coordinators, plus volunteers to get the equipment on site. By this time, many of us were on overload. How were we going to secure the site? Did we have the crew to put a fence up? If we did stop now and postpone, what would it mean in terms of credibihty? What was each woman here able to contribute? Did we, as a group, have enough energy and commitment to carry on? A deficit of $2100 already existed. The publicity and Vancouver's Music Festival by The Festival Coordinators performer hne-up would ah be lost. Many women were already en route. It was not a long or detaUed discussion, but it was heartfelt and energized and led to the decision to continue. Sunday was phenomenal. A team of women, most of whom had never met before, bonded, to hve out their dream. 6 am Saturday: the site crew is waiting. The stage was buUt overnight by an emer- fundraiser to meet our responsibiUties. A deficit of $3600 exists. We are working on a new group structure for next year's women's music festival. This year's event was not the best, but we joined together and succeeded. Some of us came up with skiUs we thought we had lost; others discovered skiU previously unknown. All of us grew in ways that were important and empowering to us aU. The dream of a women's culture was renewed when a dynamic group of sisters came together and shared the reality of the First Vancouver Women's Music Festival. Thank you to aU volunteer, crew, coordinators and women who extended themselves beyond and into one of the miracles of 1988. Let's give a great idea a fighting chance. Please share your feedback and/or your energy. A questionnaire wUl soon circulate and we invite you to contact us. VWMF, #1, 1325 Barclay St., Vancouver, B.C. V6E 1H6 Tel: (604) 681- 8617 Many women dream of a women's culture, a place in this world where women's voices are clear, loud and powerful. This dream of a women's music festival had many obstacles. The commitment and drive shown on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and NEW FROM £t\ VLOfrK | A PARTICULAR CLASS OF WOMEN B9F|P|I Janet Feindel L^f^^^H When a stripper was raped in an Ontario town in 1985, the I judge advised the jury that it should keep in mind that the I '^^H woman belonged to "a particular class of women who were ^^ t jH paid to incite lust." The author, an actress and writer who also V/^^H worked as a stripper in Toronto for eight years, has written a ^-^^H play which is an oral history about strippers. The author calls it I "a love poem to women in the business." "There is not a single gratuitous reference in the piece, simply an accurate rendering of the kind of raw sexuality that exists in that part of our society where sex is honestly for sale in one form or another." -- The Edmonton Sun 0-920999-10-7 LAZARA PUBLICATIONS Box 2269, VMPO Vancouver, BC V6B 3W2 GaiIs* Dinner/Theatre/Dance NIGHT UT *Gala Appreciation for Lesbians SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15,1988 CRYSTAL GARDEN BALLROOM 713 Douglas St. Victoria | 6 pm -1 am (Dance starts at 9:30) & Tickets on sale in Victoria at: &W.A.G., 381-1012 I in Vancouver at: Ariel Books, 733-3511 ( Vancouver Women's I gency crew and is now set up, but no fence! No sound equipment! Now the reality is hitting home and we refuse to panic. At 11 am, by sheer determination and wUl power, we had sound. The performers made their way to the stage and we had a Women's Music Festival. There's also the bear that came to visit, but we're going to jump to the bottom line. Where do we go from here? We are committed to pay aU performers and bUls. Our intent is to organize a Oblivious from page 15 women as Black, but never identifies women as white. She makes sweeping generalizations about the universality of women's experiences which deny the hves and analyses of women of colour. Messianic Fervour I was amazed reading this book, published in 1987, to find absolutely no mention of the writings of American feminists who are women of colour, who are Jewish, who are disabled. There is no mention of the debates about sexuahty and sexual representation. Reading Going Out Of Our Minds you would not know any of these major writings existed. Johnson is either completely unaware of them, which makes one wonder, or she is completely ignoring them which also makes one wonder. In fact, this whole book made me wonder. So why is Going Out Of Our Minds so popular? Johnson speaks from a rather Messianic place and she speaks with a rather Messianic fervour. Her voice is lyrical, passionate and very seductive. She paints aUuring word pictures of a world free from oppression, free from fear, free from patriarchy. And aU we have to do to get there is believe. There's no need to think, or read, or work, or organize. There's no need to compromise and mess with complexities. There's no need to struggle against racism, or try to equahze economic and educational privUege or confront anti-Semitism. Johnson's feminism is nice and simple. None of that matters. We're aU women together and aU we have to do is believe and we—and the planet—shall be saved. Johnson has no experience of oppression other than gender. Radical feminism and personal hberation no doubt make sense to her. For the rest of us, however, her feminism is just another version of white middle- class America reigning supreme. Gallerie from page 16 can be found in aU art magazines but, by asking the women to speak for themselves, Gallerie presents more directly meaningful information uncluttered with the complex, unclear language of "Art." Women tell stories of how they became artists; some realised it early in life, others discovered their potential and their skiUs much later. They tell about their families, present and past, the importance of feminism as an influence in their work and of broader influences. Gallerie has an introduction by editor Caffyn KeUey who explains her own motivation in creating space for each woman "to present her art, her story, her own sense of significance." KeUey's commitment to the recognition of women's art is underlined in an amusing, yet eloquent, presentation by the Guerilla Girls. This group of women who disguise their identities by wearing gorilla costumes, pubUcise sexism and racism in the established art world through statistics which document discrimination against women and artists of colour. The Gallerie Annual also has essays by Judy Grahn and Bettina Aptheker which describe the empowering quality and movement in women's art in the last two decades. Aptheker speaks of some artists in particular—Judy Chicago, Mayumi Oda and Betye Saar—but her words apply to many of Gallerie's artists. "Each moves to reclaim a core female imagery, a core female identity rooted in her ancestral ground," says Aptheker. "Each, standing on her own ground, provides aU of us together, with new ways of visioning ourselves as women." Gallerie Annual marks the launching of a quarterly publication which wUl document the art of women across North America today. Gallerie magazine wUl include the work of nine artists in a similar format to the annual and wUl be published in September, December and March. (The September issue is now avaUable.) KeUey hopes to attract guest editors to add new perspectives and perhaps to focus on different areas or media in art. She believes the magazine "wUl be of value to keep the discourse going," and stresses she stiU needs artists to submit their work. Gallerie is distributed across Canada and the U.S. In Vancouver, it is available through book stores or directly from Gallerie Publications. A $20 subscription now will cover the current issue of GaUerie magazine and two more magazines plus the 1989 GaUerie Annual. The 1988 GaUerie Annual is still available for $12. Write 2901 Panorama Dr., North Vancouver, B.C. V7G 2A4. .KINESIS Arts ////////////////////////^^^^^ The Fourth Fringe Risks, humour and (lots of) laundry by Yvonne Van Ruskenveld The Fourth Annual Fringe Festival was a feast of women's theatre. You could have spent the entire 10 days seeing only plays written, performed and/or directed by women. As it was, I started late, but somehow managed to fit 18 performances into six days, spread over eight of the 11 venues. These 18 did not by any means cover aU the productions by or about women. I tried to focus on those that might have something special to say about women's hves. There was so much to choose from: comedies, dramas, revues, one-woman shows, story-telling, musicals ... There were stories about outstanding women who strove to succeed in areas closed to women (How She Played the Game), about women whose talent and success couldn't save them from self-destruction (Letters Home, Spend the Night), about women just getting through ordinary hves the best way they could (Portrait of a Lady, Female Parts). There was also a Fringe Forum on "Assessing the Future: Women in the Arts," with panelists Nicola Cavendish, Judith Marcuse, Shari Ulrich and Barbara Janes, gj This forum was sponsored by VIEW, the g performing arts association for women. £ Overall the quality of the productions ° throughout the festival was high. With such f a large number to choose from, some to- J tally unknown and written specifically for the occasion, one might expect to see as many misses as hits. Perhaps my choices were lucky, but most of the productions I saw were good and in some cases exceUent. However, none of my favourites made it to The Pick of the Fringe at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. A few lingering images of women's fives have stayed with me from the festival: > laundry, especially ironing seems to be a universal symbol of domestic bondage. I saw more ironing in one week than I do in a whole year. Talking With • our great sense of humour: we can use it to skewer the institutions that try to victimize us and to make hfe seem a little brighter during, for instance, the dreary days of PMS. • we are risk takers: in art and in hfe— desperate situations call for desperate measures. Silver Screen Goes Sapphic Vancouver's first Lesbian Film Festival will soon grace the screen with an array of short and feature-length works by women from Canada, Great Britain, the U.S., Argentina and W. Germany. Highlights of the festival include Sheila McLaughlin's She Must Be Seeing Things (pictured here), Kamikaze Hearts ("a raw docu-drama") and two documentaries profiling jazz women of the 40's: International Sweethearts of Rhythm and Tiny and Ruby: Hell Divin' Women. Running from Oct. 24—27 at the Vancouver East Cinema, the festival is a fitting prelude to International Lesbian Week in early November. See Bulletin Board for details. The one type of production that seems hardest to produce and maintain quality in, is the one-person show. It must be very difficult to be the author, performer and director and not fall into the trap of believing So much to choose from: comedies, revues, musicals... *+++/+++/+++++* aU the songs and skits are good and absolutely essential. Revue-type shows need impartial editing. Despite the obvious talent, these shows were the ones that most often disappointed. Here are some highlights of the productions by and about women at the Fringe. They appear in the order I saw them. Letters Home Directed by Tessa Mendel. Sylvia Plath wrote 696 letters to her family during her short Ufetime. The author, Rose Leiman Goldemberg, has fashioned from these letters an affecting story of a mother/daughter relationship. Joadie Newcomb as Sylvia and Nicki St. John as Aurelia, her mother, were both good, although at times Sylvia's hysteria was at odds with the seemingly happy tone of some of her letters. Occasionally Aureha's soft voice was overpowered by traffic noise. The grunt gallery where this performance took place was not sound proof, which was a problem for aU the productions there. Female Parts Directed by Michael Bur- reU. Anna Barry, an accomplished actor, brought this play from London, England, to the Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria j Fringe Festivals. The production consists of * two completely separate parts related only <* by their subject being women. The complete * play has more than the two parts shown ] here and is to be presented in full at the a Vancouver Little Theatre this season. The first act, "Woman Alone," has a woman locked in her apartment every day by her husband as he goes off to work, in punishment for her love affair with a much younger man. In the apartment, though, she is surrounded by males—her infant son, her lecherous brother-in-law, the peeping torn in the buUding across the street, the obscene telephone caller. Although she is a sympathetic character (with aU that ironing to do), I found this act too frantic and too long. The second act, "Mama Fricchetona," was much better. A woman hiding from the pohce in a church goes to confession for the first time in 20 years and tells the story of "how love has betrayed [her]." It's amusing and touching, ending with her being arrested for "abandonment of the conjugal bed." The play portrays marriage as complete subjugation for women, forcing a woman to desperate measures for escape. Gertrude BeU: the Desert and the Sown Directed by Belinda Earle. This was great theatre, one of my "picks of the Fringe." Pam Howard-Jones portrayed the intrepid Gertrude Bell who traveUed alone through Arabia in the early part of this century. She was a woman I would hke to have met. The production used dance, shdes and Gertrude Bell herself reading from her diaries and letters to convey the feehng of those times and places. We experienced the thrilling sensations of a woman unafraid, seeking out distant lands and cultures alien to her. I found myself holding my breath, hanging on her words. At only 30 minutes, the show was too short a visit to such an exotic hfe. Potatoheads Among Us Coordinated by Kimelly Anne Warren. This was the best of the revue-type shows I saw. Not afraid to deal seriously with hard subjects (wife abuse and incest), but also showing a deft touch with comedy, Warren was a treat to watch. Her anti-war, anti-nuclear message came across strongly and clearly. Stay Fresh Special Rags to Rituals Coop. I almost missed this one because the description in the festival program was so vague; somebody must have been too afraid of the M word to print it. It would be hard to imagine from the dreary depths of PMS that menstruation could be funny, but this show was hUarious. It combined sharp digs at the companies who market so- called feminine hygiene products ("if [the product] were dangerous it would be at the Stay Fresh Third World testing site") with broad jokes on that wonderful time of the month we aU love. Allison KeUy and Deborah WUliams caught the mood and atmosphere of a self-help/product promoting seminar perfectly. Stay Fresh Special Laundry and Bourbon Directed by Sue Lister. Theatre Terrific is a company of disabled actors creating opportunities for actors to appear in roles not normally cast for the disabled. The director chose James McLure's play because it was "a one-act comedy with roles for three strong women that combines wit with reality." The actors physical disabihties were totally irrelevant to the success of the play; only their acting abilities mattered. The acting was good and the play was funny. How She Played the Game Directed by Garry Davey. Another one of my picks of the Fringe. Marilyn Norry portrayed six exceptional women athletes in a series of weU written profiles by Cynthia L. Cooper. These women were amazing—so much determination and commitment in their struggles against the prejudices of what women should and could be. Shdes were used effectively between characters to set the time period and show us the women themselves. But it was MarUyn Norry who made the show. She really became different people, making us see how each woman dealt with her own successes and set backs. Talking With Directed by MicheUe Allen. The best production I saw; deservedly sold out. This was superb theatre. Eight vignettes were presented by eight different women. Each vignette was totaUy unrelated to the others and none of the characters portrayed was repeated. Some were hilarious, others dramatic and moving. Some were bizarre—it's not often we see a hve snake on stage. But they aU expressed feelings so clearly and cleanly that the audience could empathize with every character. KINESIS Oct. 88 19 <SSSSSS^*KSS*SSK^^ ARTS /N^o>v\e* Kassandra's version, & the mystery of masks by Melanie Conn THE BEST OF PAMELA SARGENT Ed. by Martin Greenberg Chicago: Academy of Chicago, 1987 $8.95 Pamela Sargent burst into my awareness about 10 years ago when she edited Women of Wonder, an anthology of SF stories by women. In addition to introducing some new writers, the book explicitly acknowledged the existence of a stream of SF that focused on women's experience as perceived by women. There must have been many women as thriUed as I was with the anthology because it was soon foUowed by More Women of Wonder and The New Women of Wonder. Sargent herself is a prolific short story writer and noveUst whose most recent book is The Shore of Women, reviewed in this column last March. EquaUy at home in both fantasy and science fiction, Sargent is at her best when she locates her stories in the not- too-distant future. In The Best of Pamela Sargent, "Fears" is a perfect example of her abihty to present a bleak account of a foreseeable future. In "Fears," genetic engineering has created a world mainly of men. The few women are breeders and public mother figures, unable to move freely in public without being hunted down. The story focuses on a few chUhng hours in the fife of Joe, a woman who has ventured out from the refuge she shares with another woman. Disguised as a man, Joe had almost completed her errands when she was run off the road by a couple of joy-riders. The task of getting her car repaired is fraught with tension as she is forced to spend the afternoon in the company of men. Exquisitely conscious of every gesture, she is fearful of giving herself away with the wrong cues: when the mechanic names a price that seems excessive, she wants to object, but "worried that argument might only provoke him, then worried stiU more that I would look odd if I didn't dicker with him, I settled for frowning ..." Despite the extreme nature of the almost- aU-male world, Joe's behaviour is painfuUy familiar as she carefully manipulates her way through the hours. As one elderly man explains, things aren't really so different from the old days because "men always ... ...the legendary women's basketball team of the 1920's and '30's. STARS ***** Free admission The Amazing Story of the Edmonton Grads! The National Film Board and Basketball B.C. invite you to a special screening 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 19 Robson Square Media Centre 800 Robson St. - Meet former Edmonton Grads -Door Prizes - Reception to follow Info: 666-3838 had aU the real power—sometimes they'd dole a httle of it out to the girls ... Now we don't have to anymore." The theme of freedom vs. confinement permeates Sargent's writing. Sometimes, as in "Fears," there's only a ghmpse of hope that external conditions wUl change because of proud and fighting women whose spirits are stUl strong. In other stories, the picture is brighter. "The Mountain Cage" is an unusual perspective on fascism through the eyes of a cat. Hrurr (the cat) observes the mysterious comings and goings on a mountainside cave, soon revealed as Adolph Hitler's bunker. As Hrurr attempts to make contact with the Fuhrer's pet dog, hoping to lure her back to freedom, he learns how seductive the promise of security can be. In the very admiring introduction to this book, Michael Bishop speculates that one reason Sargent has been unacknowledged by the various SF annual awards is her reputation as a feminist. These stories reinforce that reputation, and may supply some of the credibility she deserves. The Best of Pamela Sargent is the third in a series featuring work by outstanding women SF writers, both weU-known and "unfairly neglected." The first two volumes were The Best of Marian Zimmer Bradley and The Best of Margaret St. Clair. THE FIREBRAND by Marian Zimmer Bradley New York: Simon and Shuster, 1987 A few years back, many of us enjoyed Bradley's Mists of Avalon, a wonderful re-imagining of the King Arthur legend from the perspective of Morgan La Fay. The Firebrand is the story of the Trojan War, but retold by Kassandra, the future- seeing sister of Paris whose affair with Helen started the whole conflict. On one level, The Firebrand foUows the traditional Greek legend about Troy, complete with the human heroes and immortal interventions remembered from high school texts. But despite the vivid descriptions of place and the exceUent dialogue, Bradley's attempt to bring the story to Ufe seems somewhat wooden. Maybe the plot is just too predictable, even though a few new twists are supphed. But the book was saved, at least for this determined fan, by the steady stream of conversation between women about their hves. Every interaction Kassandra has with women provides more detaU about the hardships of women's hves, about the choices they make and about their capacity for self- fulfillment. It's Bradley's special talent to make her women speak so intimately that we are wUhng to Mow them on their adventures. The Firebrand wUl disappoint readers, though, who expect to be swept away as they were by the magic of The Mists of Avalon. FIREBRAND' fflioNaiS A11THQRQPTHEMI5TS0FAVAL0N A MASK FOR THE GENERAL by Lisa Goldstein New York: Bantam Books, 1987 Compared to Bradley and Sargent, Lisa Goldstein is a newcomer to SF with only two previously published novels. A Mask For The General portrays hfe in Berkeley in the grim world after The CoUapse. The year is 2021 and the United States is under mUitary rule; curfews, rations and identification passes are the controlling factors of everyday life; rehab centres suppress rebeUious citizens. The story focuses on a group of students who have created their own culture of resistance through tribal rituals. Unity is maintained through drumming and dancing whUe individuality is symbohzed by wearing one's animal spirit mask. When The General outlaws masks, a crisis ensues within the community. As debates about strategy (direct action versus "foUowing a different path") rage through the Berkeley campus, the power of mask-making is also explored. As one beautiful mask makes its inexorable way through enemy fines, it becomes clear that if artistic expression is not controlled, "then people can do and say anything they want." Goldstein is very skUled at moving from mundane details such as figuring out how to make a cake with rationed ingredients to the mysterious practice of mask-making. The result is a book that feels down-to-earth and at the same time has considerable depth. .KINESIS ////////////////^^^^^^ ///////////////////^^^^ Bulletin Board Read this AU listings must be received no later than the 18th of the month preceding pubUca- tion. Listings are limited to 75 words and should include a contact name and telephone number for any clarification that may be required. Listings should be typed or neatly handwritten, double-spaced on 8 ± by 11 paper. Listings wUl not be accepted over the telephone. Groups, organizations and individuals eligible for free space in the BuUetin Board must be, or have, non-profit objectives. Other free notices wiU be items of general pubhc interest and wiU appear at the discretion of Kinesis. Classified are $6 for the first 75 words or portion thereof, $2 for each additional 25 words or portion thereof. Deadline for classifieds is the 18th of the month preceding pubhcation. Kinesis wUl not accept classifieds over the telephone. AU classifieds must be prepaid. For BuUetin Board submissions send copy to Kinesis Attn: Bulletin Board, 301- 1720 Grant Street, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 2Y6. For more information caU 255-5499. EVENT SIE VENT SIE VENTS FAMILY SERVICES Family Services, New Westminster, is offering new programs during month of October. Topics include: Dealing With Anger, Oct. 13; Exploring New Attitudes Towards Healing, Oct. 17; Confidence Building for Women, Oct. 19. Subsidies available. For detailed info on these and other courses and to pre-register, call 525-9144. WAXING MOON HEALING VILLAGE First AGM of the Waxing Moon Healing Village Society will be Saturday Oct. 15 at noon at Sitka Co-op, 1550 Woodland. Potluck lunch. All members and members-to-be welcome. For info call Brenda or Jan 732-8927. ATTN: SINGLE MOTHERS 10th Annual Single Mothers Conference will be held Oct 15- 16 at YWCA, 580 Burrard St. Workshops, resource tables, lunch and childcare provided. Costs $35. Subsidy info available for women on low income. Call 683-2531. VLC LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC Ruth Lea Taylor holds a free clinic at the VLC, 876 Commercial Drive, on the last Saturday of each month. October's clinic is Oct. 29, 9 am till 12 noon. All women welcome. YARD SALE!! Women of Colour group fundraiser for Unlearning Racism Workshops. Drop off your junk at 1003 East 11th Ave on Sundays from 10 am-12 noon before Nov. 6 or arrange a time with Sharon or Margaret at 876-7152. Yard Sale is Nov. 6, 10-4 pm, 1003 East 11th Ave. INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN WEEK VLC celebrates International Lesbian Week on Nov. 6, 7 pm. This special coffeehouse will feature live local entertainers. Please note November Coffeehouse is not on the 2nd Sunday night but on the 1st this month only. Call 254-8458 for info. ///////////////////^^^^^ //////////////////^^^^ "Nothing made us feel less like celebrating..." An open letter to the organizers of "Women in Celebration": Press Gang Printers is a feminist organization which has provided printing services and information about printing production to women's and progressive groups in Vancouver since 1972. Our interest as feminists is to produce printed materials that reflect positive change for women and other oppressed groups. In keeping with this goal, it is our poficy not to print any material which opposes the advancement of women. We were pleased to print the "Directory of Women's Groups" for your organization. We were also looking forward to participating in the "Women in Celebration" networking day you organized September 10, for which the directories were produced. Nothing made us feel less hke celebrating, however, than to discover when we arrived that anti-choice groups were participating in the event, including R.E.A.L. Women, a prominent anti-feminist organization! We were further appaUed to discover that you had added pages to the directories after they were dehvered to you, one of them for R.E.A.L. Women. This event was advertised as a chance for women's groups to 'network.' Networking means groups and individuals with common interests get together to talk and find ways to work together. This is not possible with a group whose purpose is to severely restrict the rights and freedoms of women. The presence of R.E.A.L. Women was an insult to every group that has ever struggled for women's rights on any issue. We feel we were misled about the nature of the event by not being informed of their participation. We left because we could not pretend sisterhood or common cause with such an organization, nor could we ignore the significance of their presence. We are incensed that you added this group's information page to the Directory which bears our logo. "Printed by Press Gang" has, for 16 years, been a symbol of our pride and support for the work we produce. We would not have agreed to print information about this group under any circumstances. Since it now appears as if we had done so, and we feel that this reflects on our reputation, we ask that you remove them from the Directory, or replace the page which bears our logo. Yours truly, The Press Gang CoUective Kinesis: To the Women's Program, Dept. of the Secretary of State, Vancouver: We are writing to voice our strong opposition to the presence of R.E.A.L. Women and other anti-choice groups at the "Women in Celebration" day held in Vancouver on September 10, a networking event for women's groups, which was funded by your program. It is our understanding that pressure from your office prevented their exclusion. The mandate of the Secretary of State Women's Program is to fund groups working to advance the equality of women. R.E.A.L. Women is not a group which advances the cause of women's rights, and it should not have been present at an event which purports to be a networking event for women's rights groups in this province. Yours truly, Jane MacDermot, Press Gang Printers Check this out Kinesis: Clear your calendars this October for the Lesbian Film Festival and for Celebration 1990's fundraiser "A Trip Through the Celluloid Closet with Vito Russo." Since I am part of bringing Vito from New York to Vancouver I want to inform Kinesis readers about The Celluloid Closet which has been reissued and updated. OriginaUy published in 1981, Vito toured with his book then as he is now, and his book continues to be the landmark study of how lesbians and gay men are depicted in film. Being a lesbian feminist, I find Vito's analysis particularly fascinating. I happened to see his presentation in Toronto this June and the experience of being in a packed movie theatre on Bloor Street with hundreds and hundreds of lesbians and gay men was exhUarating. Alternating screenings of "the world's best selection of lesbian and gay film clips" with thought-provoking commentary, the presen- HUMAN RIGHTS LECTURE Oct. 17 The United Nations Assoc, in Canada and the BC Human Rights Coalition present a lecture entitled International Human Rights: Indigenous People's Perspective featuring Chief George Manuel, Herb George and Marie Small- face Marule. Robson Square Media Centre at 7:30 pm. Cost is $5. Call 736-8965 or 736-8963 for info. WOMENFUTURES WomenSkills Development Society is holding a benefit dinner on Oct. 24, 7 pm at Isadora's Cooperative Restaurant., 1540 Old Bridge on Granville Island. Co- sponsored by CCEC Credit Union. Tix are $35-$15. Proceeds will be used to establish WomenFutures, a non-profit society to help women get financing for cooperative and non-profit enterprises. Send cheque to 4340 Carson St., Vancouver, V5J 2X9 or call 430-0453 for other tix locations. CONTINUED NEXT PAGE LETTERS tation covers sUent films to current films. Not only does Vito prompt us to see the representation (which is usually misrepresentation) of gays in film, he also provokes us to examine our own political/ethical attitudes which work to collude with our repression. I found that I walked out of that movie theatre with a feehng I never have quite felt before. It was the feehng that aU of me had been engaged and addressed. When we do see the rare film about lesbians' lives, it seems we often leave the theatre with mixed feehngs: pleased to have been present on the screen but frustrated that those lesbian characters' fives are so unhke our own. There's seldom a context for their hves (other than breaking up with men and being isolated), no herstory, no feminist community (no meetings!)—at best there might be a fake lesbian bar. The amazing thing for me about Vito's commentary is that he has incorporated an authentic feminist analysis. He pointed out that when a woman appears in drag in a movie she is stiU seen as provocative and desirable, but when a man appears in drag, he is seen as a fop and undesirable. Why? Because the woman enhances herself with a male persona whUe a man weakens himself with a female persona: he's a joke. Few men would ever really want to be a woman. This unveUed sexism caused some of the gay men in the audience to shift in their seats but Vito is determined to "wake people up to the images on the screen ... I want us to see what's being done to us." Get your tickets early as it's bound to seU out. Betsy Warland Vancouver, B.C. Note: See Bulletin Board and ads this issue for details about The Celluloid Closet and the Lesbian Film Festival. Handmade SHOES (604) 255-4388 Naturopathic Physician 216-2760 W. BROADWAY VANCOUVER. B.C. V6K 2G4 (604) 732-4328 WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE HOMEOPATHY COLON THERAPY KINESIS Oct. 88 21 Bulletin Board FROM PREVIOUS PAGE EVENTS EVENT SIE VENT SIE VENTS VLC HALLOWEEN DANCE VLC is holding annual Halloween Dance on Oct. 28, 8 pm, at Capri Hall, 3925 Fraser St. Dress up or come as you are! Tix are sliding scale $4-$6. Wheelchair accessible and childcare is available. For info call 254-8458. EAST END HALLOWEEN DANCE With Roots Round-up. Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 pm-1, Britannia Community Centre Gym. $6 employed/$3 underemployed. On site childcare, face-painting. Silent auction. Dress-up or come as you are. CANADIAN PID SOCIETY One-day discussion on pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) on Saturday Nov. 5 at Thunderbird Community Ctr., 2311 Cassiar St., including presentation on chlamydia. Also, the AGM of the Canadian PID Society. From 10:30 am (register)-4 pm. Free, including lunch. Call in advance if couches, transport, signing, etc. required. 684-5704. GALS NIGHT OUT SWAG and the Hot Flashes Coffee House are co-sponsoring a dinner-entertainment- dance extravaganza on Saturday Oct. 15 at the Crystal Garden Ballroom in Victoria. Limited admission, advance tix only. For tix info contact Ariel Books or Vancouver Women's Books. Victoria residents can call 381-1012. All women wel- cpme. TELLING IT: WOMEN AND LANGUAGE ACROSS CULTURES A conference sponsored by the Ruth Wynn Woodward Endowed Chair in Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University will be held Nov. 25th and 26th at the Downtown Centre, 549 Howe St. Featuring Native, Asian Canadian, and lesbian women writers and story tellers, this conference offers a unique opportunity to hear women speaking from a variety of cultures and experiences. Readings, panel discussions and workshops will examine the following issues: PANELS: "Across the Cultural Gap" (Friday); 'The Writer's Role in the Community" (Saturday); WORKSHOPS: "Getting Published: Mainstream vs. Alternative Views of the Market," "Interfacing the Oral and Writing," "Living a Great Novel vs. Writing One," and "What Do They Mean by 'Too Political'?" (Saturday). Conference participants are: Jeanette Armstrong, Barbara Herringer, Surjeet Kalsey, Joy Kogawa, Louise Profeit LeBlanc, Sky Lee, Lee Maracle and Betsy Warland. The Friday evening reading will also feature a performance piece by Vancouver Sath. Registration fees: $3 unemployed, $5 employed. Travel subsidies may be possible. For further information and how to register, please contact the Women's Studies Program at SFU, 291- 3593. WRITERS FESTIVAL In Vancouver, Oct. 26-30. Featuring readings and performances by Ursula K. LeGuin, Judith Merril, Anne Cameron, Angela Carter, Ruby Slipperjack, Margaret Atwood and others. Granville Island. For tix info call 280-3311. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Beginning Saturday, Sept. 24, 10:30- 12:30 noon. Gym B at Britannia Community Centre. Great fun, great exercise. Call 254-9963 for more info. SACRED TIES THAT BIND is the title of Margo Farr's newest art works in handmade paper, on display Oct. 2-16 at Fettucini's Cafe, 1179 Commercial Dr. Artist will be in attendance on Oct. 2, 8-10 pm. Regular menu served. All welcome. More info at 254-3042. MILITARISM IN CANADA An education series on effects of militarism and underdevelopment in Canada, Africa and Latin America. Every Tuesday, 7:30 pm. Oct. 4, 11, 18 and Nov. 1. $3/$2 per session. At St. Stephen's United Church, 7025 Granville St. Sponsored by OXFAM, Project Ploughshares, and the United Church Division of Global Concerns. Info: 736-7678. FEMALE PARTS A play by Dario Fo and Franca Rame about what women have always faced and what we face today. Runs Oct 5-8 with a special preview on Oct. 4, 8 pm, at Vancouver Little Theatre, 3102 Main St. For info call Lynda 876-4165. WOMEN'S STUDIES UBC Centre for Continuing Ed. Oct. 19: "Images of Women, Power and Powerful Women," 7:30-9:30 pm, Rm 205. Anthropology and Sociology Bldg., 6303 NW Marine, UBC. $10. Info: 222-5261. Starting Oct. 26 (5 Wednesdays): "Up and Down from the Pedestal—The Status of Women Through the Ages in Europe and North America," 7:30-9 pm, Rm 50, School of Family and Nutritional Sciences, 2205 East Mall, UBC. $50, seniors $25. Info: 222-5273. SEX AND POLITICS IN ARTS The Women's Studies Program, Langara Campus, is holding a series of panel discussions featuring local artists on the relationships among feminism, creativity, social change and sexuality. Oct. 6: Women in Theatre; Oct. 13: Women in Film; Oct. 20: Women in Visual Arts; Oct. 27: Women Writers. 7:30 pm in Rm A136. For details call 324-5379. INFANT FEEDING ACTION Betty Sterken, national coordinator of INFACT Canada, will give a talk on promoting and protecting breast-feeding at St. Giles United Church, 305 West 41st Ave., on World Food Day, Oct 16 at 7:30 pm. Call 263-4684 for info. A VISION FOR WOMEN The 5th annual Alcoholics Anonymous Women's Conference is being held Friday evening, Oct. 7 and all day Saturday, Oct. 8 at Simon Fraser University, Multipurpose Complex. Al-Anon is invited. Cost is $8. For tix and info call 879-5727 or 734-7427. DOUBLE NEGATIVE LAUNCHED Daphne Marlatt and Betsy Warland's new poetry/prose work will be launched Oct. 20, 7:30-10 pm (reading at 8:30) at Octopus Books, 1146 Commercial Dr. SWEET NECTAR WATERCOLOURS Brie Flanagan announces the opening of her show Oct. 1, 7:30-9:30 pm at VLC, 876 Commercial Dr. Refreshments will be served. Show runs till Oct 29. For info call Jo-Ann 251-4841. WORKSHOPS VIDEO WORKSHOPS Women in Focus presents 3 skill development video workshops at #204- 456 W. Broadway. SOUND: Oct. 8- 10, $40/$65; DIRECTING: Oct. 14- 16, $40/$65; LIGHTING: Nov. 4-6, $50/$75. Workshops are limited to 12 participants. For info and registration call Poyin 872-2250. WOMEN WHO LOVE TOO MUCH Vancouver YWCA is offering a session based on Robin Norwood's book "Women Who Love Too Much." Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, Oct. 5-26. For info call 683-2531, ext. 305. Ml S C . EDITOR WANTED Vancouver-based (f)lip, a newsletter of feminist innovative writing, is looking for a Managing Editor to join editorial group. Marketing and magazine experience preferred. Call Betsy Warland at 731-0744 for more details. ATTN: IMMIGRANT WOMEN Do you want to work? Register your skill and hourly rate with a computerized Job Skills Directory. Phone the Vancouver Society on Immigrant Women, 731-9108 after 4 pm. NEEDS DRIVING LESSONS Anyone willing to trade driving lessons for Shiatsu therapy? Call Astarte at 251- 5409. X&* ■eO* ^ MID LIFE ** ^ <*% % WOMENS TIME HAS COME *%* ^ «** $& * GROUP MEETINGS for women 45 and better to celebrate ourselves and talk about our concerns * THURSDAY EVENINGS 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm, October 20th to December 8th * FREE call VSW to preregister. We welcome suggestions for topics to discuss. a9eisrn VANCOUVER STATUS OF WOMEN: 255 - 5511 AINESIS ////////////////////^^^^^^ ////////////////////////^^^^^ BULLETIN BOARD FILMS ^CLASSIFIED SHOOTING STARS An NFB docudrama about Edmonton's world-famous women's basketball team of the 1920's and 30's, will be screened on Wed. Oct. 19, 7:30 pm at the Robson Square Media Centre, (see ad elsewhere in this issue) LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL Vancouver's first! Oct. 24-27 at Van. East Cinema, 2290 Commercial Dr. Dramas and documentaries from around the world. Tix $3-$6 night of the film, or series passes in advance from VLC, VGLC or the Van. East Cinema $24-$50. Call 874-2151 or 253-4198. THE CELLULOID CLOSET Film documentary by Vito Russo about 4he way lesbians and gay men have been portrayed in mainstream American films. Sun. Oct. 16 at Ridge Theatre, 9:30 pm. Cost is $10. Advance tix at Ridge, VGLC, Little Sisters and Ariel Books. Sponsored by Celebration 90/Gay Games and Cultural Festival. GROUPS SINGLE MOTHER'S SERVICES Weekly support groups in 14 locations, childcare available. Bi-annual newsletter written by and for single mothers (contributions welcome), annual conference— organized by single mothers, seasonal events throughout the year. For more information call Single Mother's Services 683-2531 ext. 316. SUBMISSIONS BISEXUAL FEMINISTS Writings by bisexual feminists are being collected for anthology to reflect growing visibility of bisexual community. Essays, articles, prose, interviews and poetry welcome. Write Lani Kaahumanu, 20 Cumberland, San Francisco, CA 94110 and Loraine Hutchins, 1113 Fairmont NW, Washington, D.C. 2009 for info. Deadline Oct 15, 1988 (extension possible) CLASSIFIED GOLDEN THREADS A contact publication for lesbians over 50 and women who love older women. Canada and U.S. Confidential, warm, reliable. For free info send self-addressed envelope (U.S. residents please stamp it). Sample copy mailed discreetly. $5 (U.S.) Golden Threads, PO Box 3177, Burlington VT, 05401. CHEAP FLIGHT TO TORONTO One way ticket to Toronto. Flight departs Vancouver at 4:25 pm on Oct. 28. $150. Call Noreen at 254-1876 or 255-5499. ALCHERINGA Come to Salt Spring Island and stay in a very special guest cabin for women where privacy and accessibility blend with rustic charm and convenience to create an atmosphere of Old Mexico. Walk to the beach and popular Vesuvius pub, sunbathe nude in the private patio, and take a sauna and shower under the stars. There is electric heat, TV and tapedeck, double bed and single futon, the neatest outhouse on the island, and the furnishings combine antiques and collectibles with Ikea and funk. Treat yourself! Summer rates (til Nov. 1) are $50 double, $40 single, with the seventh night free. Phyllis Tatum, PO 1332, Ganges, B.C. VOS 1E0; 537-4315. MAYNE ISLAND CABIN CO-OP ] We are looking for women to buy into & a cooperatively owned time-sharing cabin | on Mayne Island. Fully equipped. Right is near bay. Please call 251-6429 or 253- § 0239 for more info. J "3 DOWNTOWN OFFICE TO SHARE f Office in funky old building on West Pen- 8 der. Great location, close to everything. I Approx. 200 sq. ft. You get half. Must £ be able to tolerate smoke (will be kept to a minimum). $135. Call Jackie at 684- 9901. WOMEN'S COUNSELLING My specializations include depression, sexuality, sexual and emotional abuse, adult women survivors of childhood sexual abuse, identity issues, self-awareness, relationship issues, decision-making and career explorations. I work using verbal and expressive therapies, gestalt and guided imagery. Sliding fee scale. Janet Lichty. B.A., M.Ed. Counselling Psychology. 874-2593. CO-OP HOUSEMATE WANTED We are looking for a woman, feminist, non-smoker without pets to share a warm home. We are 3 working adults (leftish), a considerate 13 year old and a baby. We share meals, chores and good humour. The house is near Commercial and William, a freshly renovated older house with fireplace, sunny backyard and laundry. Available room is in the basement. $225 plus | utilities. 255-4988. Frankie Armstrong is coming to town and she's coming to sing. A native of England, Armstrong is known for her passionate a cappella renditions of both traditional and contemporary songs ... and she's political. Frankie Armstrong will appear at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, October 23 at 8 pm. Tix $10. Call 254-9578 for reservations. CLASS IFIEDICLASSIFIED PAINTER NEEDED I'd like to find a woman painter with a few years experience for part time or full time position usually 8-4:30 pm. Mostly I do interiors; some wallpprg. experience helpful but not necessary. Wages $8- $15/hr depending on experience. Arlene 327-3244. GALLERIE: WOMEN'S ART Quarterly needs a local representative to contact artists, subscribers, bookstores and advertisers. Payment is a percentage of sales. Gallerie also needs volunteers who can help in any way! Please reply in writing to Gallerie Publications, 2901 Panorama Drive, North Vancouver, B.C. V7G 2A4. HOUSE WANTED Quiet, non-smoking woman seeks roomy, self-contained apartment or house on Salt Spring Island; winter sublet or longer. Must be very reasonable rent. For November, (flexible). Please call Andrea, 253-1678 (Vancouver); or leave message at 537-9355 (SSI). FINDING SELF RAISING SPIRIT How many times have you wished you could change your life? How often have you thought-l wish I knew what this feeling is about?-or-Why am I doing this again and again? You want to know but the circumstances seem too overwhelming. Fear, anger and depression keep you distant from your understanding. There are simple, direct and grounded ways to help yourself. You can develop new skills. Using a few new tools, your ability to take charge will be in your own hands. There is no miracle. It is a step by step process that starts now. I am offering a 10 week workshop in Finding Self-Raising Spirit. Designed for the participants, we will focus on goal-setting, body-mind integration, creative visualization and much more. I am a feminist working for social change by supporting the individual woman to find her inner light. I also work on a wide range of political issues as a cultural/community worker, and I am a certified Hypnotist and Polarity Therapist. For more info call Brenda R. Bryan 732- 8927. ATTENTION ALU pET OWNERS ^THJJ^BOoK Ccoulp £ftv£ YOUR MFE"! ! KI40W \Mr\UKE YOUR ^ CftT GOES ATN\Grl7? • H/VS VOllR 000 EVER BhKKEP /YTWTrMhT » OoGS mjb&z Put \mt SPftG&eEfoRetWfV CO-INClpENCBjOR A-LIEN fLf\K? • 6lRt> cfiLLS~ofZ SECREj k/V-ieN communication; ECOGMCZ.E TttJLMOPEK BOW 0 0 vouR Goldfish Survive? WHEN SOU HARDLY FfVE^ REMEMBER to ^ep TneNi? TttZZZ QUESTIONS fll\}P MOKE" A-RE ftLL AK1SWEREP IKJTttlS ft- MAZING 60CKL_J pdtft DCL/rV.'/rCTNOiof KINESIS Oct. 88 23 ... what's more, he doesn't have a Kinesis subscription. Published 10 times a year by Vancou vcr Status of Women #301,-1720 Grant St, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 2Y6 □ VSW Membership-$25.50 (or what you can afford)-includes Kinesis subscription □ Kinesis subscription only - $17.50 □ Sustainers - $75 □ Institutions - $45 □ New □ Here's my cheque □ Renewal D BUI me Q Gift subscription for a friend LIBRARY PROCESSING CENTRE-SERIALS 2206 EAST HALL, U.B.C. VANCOUVER , B.C. V6T 1Z8 INV-E
Preceding title: Vancouver Status of Women. Newsletter. Date of publication: 1974-2001. Frequency: Monthly.
Periodicals
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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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