Category Archives: Gender Issues

Goodbye, Politics, Re-Spun! Hello, WePivot.net!

pivot“Politics, Re-Spun” is now WePivot.net!

but why, you scream in horror!

next month is the 14th anniversary of Politics, Re-Spun…it’s time for a reframing/rebranding/pivot to something more…betterer, or more bigly, if you will.

14 years ago, in the twisted Orwellian months after 9/11 where words did not mean what words are, it was important to de-spin the political and re-spin it for political, economic, social and environmental justice.

but re-spinning isn’t enough, godammit!

we need to pivot

into a new world, a new era

into a new reconciliation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit

into a recognition that male supremacy and rape culture need to end yesterday

into a dynamic where white supremacy and colonial physical, economic, political and social occupations are acknowledged, addressed, reparations defined and issued, and TRC’d to a new sense of nationhood

into a new interdependent, symbiotic relationship with the environment

into a new relationship with systems theory and radical things like evidence-based policy

onto a train that ET3s/Hyperloops down the track laid by the Leap Manifesto

into a speedy embrace of the post-carbon energy infrastructure

into a realm where we practice sociology with glee

and where we intentionally, proactively and collectively build the society we want

because we’re running out of time before our future grandchildren condemn all of us for being useless tools and dinosaurs

it’s time to being!

isn’t it?

THAT is why We Pivot!

and in moments, it will happen at http://WePivot.net

What the BC Premier’s Reconciliation Smells Like

Kitimat Terminal Information | Kitimat Shipping Agencies || North ...

Quite simply, if a politician dangles child welfare money to anyone, but makes it contingent on embracing a sick LNG plant, what does that smell like to you?

I think it smells the same as when she tells a school board to close schools or else they don’t get seismic upgrading money.

I think you know what that smells like too.

We must completely obliterate the BC Liberal Party. Because children aren’t pawns, except to the BC Liberal Party.

First Nation rejects province’s Pacific Trail cheque after child welfare program hitched to pipeline offer

A ham-fisted attempt to win First Nations support for the province’s liquefied natural gas ambitions has backfired, threatening support for the Pacific Trail pipeline needed to bring natural gas to Kitimat for a proposed LNG plant.

The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have returned a cheque to the province and have backed away from a proposed agreement on the pipeline after the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation linked its LNG offer to continued funding for vulnerable children in the northern coastal community.

“When we saw that they had rolled up our child welfare program in the LNG offer, we were dismayed. This is an absolute proof of the sharp dealings across this province to get this LNG initiative,” said Debbie Pierre, executive director for the Office of the Wet’suwet’en.

Source: B.C. child welfare program offer to First Nation backfires over LNG ties – The Globe and Mail

A Glimpse of Last Week in White, Male Supremacy

People, especially people who are white and male: we need to drastically up our game if we are going to move towards equity and away from the increasingly brutal white male backlash that’s been growing.

Last week a number of things happened that reinforce the supremacy of white men, but also the rise in those who challenge it. We need to join the challenge:

  1. Racists are selling t-shirts with an image of Colin Kaepernick in rifle crosshairs.
  2. Ben Carson, while speaking positively about Donald Trump [I know, right?], couldn’t handle a challenging MSNBC female reporter and demanded that her own network cut off her mic.
  3. Lou Dobbs, despite not being a clear supporter of Anonymous, used one of their tactics of distributing and amplifying a phone number and address on the internet. He did it, however, to a woman who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. Dobbs later apologized, but it was unclear why he felt he needed to apologize.
  4. The Nova Scotia premier dug deep to pull out dripping sarcasm, condescension and mansplaining when a female TV reporter questioned him on environmental policy.

White men have basked in entitlements for centuries. We need to call them on this nonsense: all of us, especially perhaps, other white men.

Let’s make this a more enlightened week!

The War on Women…Which Side Are You On?

But it’s not JUST a war on women. It’s on everyone who isn’t overflowing with entitlements, and it’s largely being waged by white men, who seek to perpetuate male and white supremacy.

You are either actively on the side of the oppressed, or the oppressor. And if you’re silent, you’re with the oppressor.

Let’s up our game for justice and dignity:

“Last night, as the news swarmed online, a friend texted me: ‘There’s a war out there against us.’

“I think she’s right. I think there is a war. I think we’ve been fighting it for some time. I think it’s reached a breaking point.

“This war is not about men and women. This war is about those who believe people of all races, cultures, sexes, genders, classes, and religions deserve kindness and respect, and those who don’t. We have to speak out, for ourselves and for each other.”

How Far Will Men Go to Keep Their Entitlements?

How can you tell that America is suffering from a vast, intense, rageful male backlash against feminism?

How can you tell men are struggling brutally hard to hold onto their entitlements?

[And don’t be too complacent Canadian men; are we really different?]

Well, while this electoral analysis can’t actually manifest next month, when we look at what would happen if only men  or only women voted for president next month, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Read, soak this in, close your gaping jaw and get busy seeking social peace and  reconciliation!

menvote

womenvote

One Million Vaginas Helps Us With Trump

grabhim

 

The wise, inspiring folks at One Million Vaginas have done it again, helping reframe Trump’s attempt to disempower women into an empowerment meme.

Feel free to sprinkle these hashtags as well!

#GrabHimByTheBallot #NeverTrump #RapeCulture #SexualAssault

So please, all my American friends/readers, and all YOUR American friends, help the world out by grabbing November 8th by the ballot:

  1. Don’t vote for Trump.
  2. Don’t vote for Republicans, who have brutally disrespected women for far too long.
  3. If you’re living where a Democracy for America [Bernie Sanders] endorsed candidate is running, support them.

Because it’s 2016…and we still have lots of work to do to fuck the patriarchy.

Lean in! 🙂

 

 

When Misogynists Are So Bold, They Skip Anonymity

The state of backlash against feminism has become newly bold. Likely because feminists are gaining traction in society, so men are doubling down on their fight to keep their sick entitlements.

The fact that most of the guys hurling the abuse used their real names, showing a passion and conviction in their argument that’s not there with anonymous comments, is unsettling and shows the depth of their misogyny. I don’t think they even realize it’s there.

Click the Tara Bradbury quote above, read the article, and boldly declare your feminism! In any way you like. In person, at coffee shops, at work, in social media, on patios. Whatever. Be the change!

Spring: the Season of Sexism and Dress Codes

Over the years we have written about sexist school and sports dress codes.

But since it’s spring, we should expect a great deal of attention in the non-progressive media to what is either inappropriately dressed teen girls, or the increasingly less subtle slutshaming and sexism that we heap on women.

Sydney Bear
Sydney Bear, 14, is calling into question a dress code at her school that she says objectifies young women. (CBC)

This year’s keynote is from Manitoba, where schools are once again covering up the girls because of boy hormones.

We know this idiotic school behaviour needs to stop, but I read the CBC comments section anyway. Mistake.

The most bothersome on the first screen [I declined to click NEXT] is this full-bloom piece of fail:

I find it very hard to take seriously a fourteen year old girl who says, “as a feminist…”

Frankly, if your kids aren’t feminists BY the age of 14, you need to step up your game.

And for those of you at home keeping count, I’ve now trashed 14 sickly misogynist comments on this year’s Ghomeshi and IWD posts. Start your own blogs you sickos; you won’t pollute this one with your filth!

It’s time to have discussions in our families, schools, community and nation about consent and respecting others. Can you imagine if we lived in a country where consent were an actual norm, would we be dealing with the width of shoulder straps?

Ghomeshi and Canada’s New Criminal Code

Clearly, we need an overhaul of Canada’s criminal code, with a feminist lens.

Men sure get off easy, right Mr. Ghomeshi.

Ghomeshi, Bill Cosby, rape culture should be helping guide us to what kind of criminal code can produce justice.

Seven Tips for Feminist Men

I know already. You’re a feminist. And a man. But I’m not going to pat you on the back for that because we need to do better.

We may think we’ve already earned all the male-feminist scout badges. We may subscribe to the male-feminist version of the doctors’ maxim ‘first, do no harm.’ But that’s not enough. We need to actively change our world.

So here are seven ways to improve.

1. Switch from Passive to Active

Men need to move past a place of neutrality to actively supporting feminist actions that make a real difference in people’s lives.

This may feel risky, and it should, because some men will interpret our actions as betraying our gender. We need to call that out.

If you aren’t comfortable pondering all this, keep reading anyway.

2. Seed Your Life with Feminist Inspiration

In February, Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films) announced she was going to take a year off of acting to pursue activism and personal development. She is already the global face of the UN’s HeForShe gender equality campaign. Be inspired by following her and that campaign on whatever social media platforms you are on.

As of a few weeks ago, fewer than 18,000 Canadian men had committed to gender equality actions at HeForShe.org. Add your name there and explore the website to learn about innovative ways to pursue more equality. One in 18 Icelandic men have made that pledge. To match that rate, a million Canadian men need to sign up. Get busy and tell your friends!

Watson has also started “Our Shared Shelf,” a global online feminist book club. Join it. Why not? There are already over 119,000 members.

Also, read and subscribe to Gender-Focus.com, an exceptional Canadian (and labour-friendly) website exploring equality. We need to be challenged out of our complacency with new ideas; see #1 above.

Also, go back into your favourite social media platforms and follow Buffy Sainte-Marie, Margaret Atwood, Pam Palmater, Nora Loreto, bell hooks, Tantoo Cardinal, Geena Davis, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, and the Idle No More movement. That’s a good start!

3. Be Quiet

Men talk too much. We hog airtime in meetings, mindlessly exercise our illegitimate entitlement to talk first in mixed groups, and we interrupt women reflexively. A lot. We need to get over ourselves and recognize that for women to have more influence we need to create that space by being quiet more. It’s amazing what we can learn when our mouths are closed!

Here’s a fun exercise: while being quiet, count how many times women say, “I just wanted to say . . .” before sharing their idea. Where does that come from?

Being quiet also means not agreeing to be on or attend all-white or all-male panels or committees.

4. Raise Feminist Sons

Our boys are growing up with an opportunity to interact with girls in more progressive ways than when we were growing up. From a healthier understanding of consent to new norms of collaboration, our job is to model feminist actions, and to talk about why we’re doing that.

We also need to tell our sons stories about our own experiences — when we saw inequality and either did or didn’t do something about it. Our stories carry the wisdom we need to share.

And when progressive groups at our sons’ schools have a feminist bake sale and charge boys $1 and girls only $0.72, we need to applaud that.

5. Sacrifice, and Promote Pay Equity

Here’s a badge no one will give us: the badge of suffering. Men must give up some of our entitlements, including financial, for women to get more.

We already know that solidarity means supporting each other, but it really means doing so until it hurts. Last month, Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association in BC settled a collective agreement that explicitly earmarked extra funds for their precarious contract professors. That’s sacrifice, but it’s still far too rare, in post-secondary or any sector.

We also need to promote pay-equity language and funding in collective bargaining so that people in female-dominated jobs can earn comparable pay. And that means people in male-dominated jobs will have to seek smaller raises.

6. Abandon the Meritocracy Myth

People often object to quota positions on committees and boards because of this myth of meritocracy. Let it go.

In 2016, we can no longer accept the idea that all people have had equal access to education, opportunities and political influence, and therefore no one has any unearned advantages over anyone else. It’s just not true.

Meritocracy is a myth often used as an excuse to keep marginalized groups away from men’s entitlement zones. And merit is itself arbitrary and defined by people already representing demographics in power.

7. Promote Talented Women

Since we’re being more quiet (see #3 above), we should spend some of our newly found reflective time to carefully watch the women around us to see who we can encourage and promote.

We need to talk to them and ask what they want to accomplish in work and life. Then we should help them do that. And we need to remember that being a good ally means doing what people need us to do. Resist the urge to practise paternalism; let people guide us in helping them.

There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?