- We have been getting a whole lot of media attention for our Dreams for Women calendar and we hope to get a lot more. Check out our links after the jump! If you are a member of the media and would like an interview (or to interview some of our athletes), please e-mail antigonemagazine@hotmail.com. read more…
It’s been a while! Please enjoy this installment of Dreams for Women and remember to check out the 2010 Dreams for Women Calendar if you haven’t already. Proceeds from the calendar go directly to the Dreams for Women project and the Antigone Foundation. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
What are your dreams for women?
Discuss in the comments below or send them to:
Antigone Magazine
C/O WILLA
Box 61 – 6138 SUB Blvd
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1
OR antigonemagazine(at)hotmail.com
This week, I finally sent out the book proposal to 4 publishers (two US and two Canadian publishers). I had been working on this proposal for about a year and a half now. In the fall, I sent out a query to a number of agents and got no bites – but I did get one helpful response by an agent directing me to a particular publisher. The book industry is tough to crack into and I’m not discouraged! Just keep spreading the word about my blog to your friends and I’m sure that we will get this on the desk of an agent or publisher who will see the value in a book featuring female world leaders telling their stories and giving their advice to young women and girls!
The publishers that I targeted in this initial send off were mid-size publishers, as many of the larger ones don’t accept unsolicited works! I contacted:
- Seal Press, US
- Newmarket Press, US
- Orca Publishing, Canada
- Kids Can Press, Canada
If you know of any other publishers that you think I should send a proposal to, let me know! I should hear from them withing 6-8 weeks and so I am keeping my fingers crossed. It would be nice to get a publisher from this round of queries, but I am not holding my breath!
In the meantime, I will distract myself by starting to contact the politicians’ offices and develop the questions that I would like to ask the politicians!
Particularly, I want to know what advice they have for young women and girls. Here is the list of women I want to interview:
1. Kim Campbell, First Female Prime Minister of Canada
2. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, First Female Liberian President
3. Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
4. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland
5. Margaret Thatcher, First Female Prime Minister of the UK
6. Mary Robinson, First Female President of Ireland
7. Tarja Halonen, First Female Prime Minister of Finland
8. Angela Merkel, First Female Chancellor of Germany
9. Michelle Bachelet, First Female President of Chile
10. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, First Elected Female President of Argentina
11. Yulia Tymoshenko, First Female Prime Minister of the Ukraine
12. Luisa Dias Diogo, First Female Prime Minister of Mozambique
13. Jadranka Kosor, First Female Prime Minister of Croatia
14. Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland
15. Han Myung Sook, Prime Minister of South Korea
16. Portia Simpson-Miller, First Female Prime Minister of Jamaica
What would YOU want to ask these women?
This week for Feminisits Who Totally Rock we are featuring the amazing artist Joyce Polance. Working with various mediums, she usually paints, “women naked to suggest their willingness to change and be vulnerable, while simultaneously embracing their sexuality and bodies. The women take ownership of both their femininity and their power. My objective is to challenge the viewers to question their own assumptions about strength and beauty” (from her website). Awesome, no?
1. What was it that inspired you to become a feminist?
For me, it’s more of a series of smaller things – not one event. Things like hearing about women in other countries constantly getting violated, incorrectly saying rape victims asked for it. Or the abortion debate and its surrounding issues, like the idea of people wanting to control other women’s bodies. On a personal level, I have my own journey around the messages I’ve heard in society about powerful women being labelled as bitches. As I’ve become a more assertive adult, I’ve experienced my own conflicts about owning power vs. being nice. Sometimes, I think I am too nice to get ahead, but when I’m being direct, it’s easy to think I’m too mean. I hate that women have to struggle with this, and I want us all to have peace around who we are.
2. What kind of work do you do?
I’m an artist. I do large oil paintings of women. I paint them in situations where they are becoming empowered through owning their beauty, strength and sexuality, and/or taking in support from other women. The figures in my work are nude - because I love painting flesh, and because I feel it shows the women as willing to be vulnerable while they embrace both a nurturing role and power.
3. What feminist issue is particularly important to you?
It’s hard to pick just one. Right now, I have so many friends that are pregnant or who have children. They all struggle with the working at home / working away from their kids/ being home/ contributing money to the household. Those types of issues are of interest to me. I want women to understand that these decisions are all so personal, and there isn’t a ‘right way’. So many of us struggle with constant comparisons to others (both in body image and how we live our lives,) and I’d like to see (and have) a freedom from those comparisons. I’d like us to celebrate following our own visions without feeling like we have to sacrifice our femininity.
4. What would you like the future of feminism to look like?
I’d like the word ‘feminism’ to become almost unnecessary - meaning that a world exists wherein everyone is equal and women are treasured. In the interim, I’d like ‘feminism’ to lose its negative connotations, (probably not possible while there are Rush Limbaughs out there, but I can dream) so women don’t feel conflicted about self-empowerment or about working on behalf of other women. I also love all the blogs out there – it’s so cool to see the information that’s available now, and the women airing their voices. It’s so far-reaching and yet subtle (the solitude of one’s computer) at the same time.
5. How can people get involved with your work or in touch with you?
Through my website, http://www.joycepolance.com, or email me at joyce.polance@gmail.com
6. What is your Dream for Women?
As an artist, I would like to live in a world where there are as many women in galleries and museums as men- a world where women don’t have to wonder where their work would be if they weren’t women. In any profession, women should never have this question. I once did a painting of a woman with a skirt made of penises. An artist friend summed it up by asking if she needed a dick to make it in the art world. That’s obviously a generalization, as there are wonderfully successful women in most professions, but there is still an apparent bias that applies more than it should.
7. What are the aspects of the feminist movement that you are most proud of or most ashamed of?
It’s hard to put judgment on things, particularly when I haven’t been a part of them. I was only a baby when people were burning bras. It was clearly right for the times. I’m proud of so many of the strides women have made and worked so hard for. Also, while I think this is rare, I don’t support putting down men as a way to empower women.
8. Which unknown or young feminist would you like the world to know about?
I have a friend, Janet Bloch, who’s a wonderful artist. She co-founded Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, which is a fabulous venue for women. She paints, teaches, and consults with artists. Years ago, she designed a fabulous T-shirt, “Her Story of Art,” featuring women artists throughout history. Her work has changed a lot over the years. It used to be fairly dark. Her recent paintings can be seen at http://www.janetbloch.womanmade.net/gallery.html.
It’s a new decade, and the International Museum of Women is looking to the future with a new strategic plan for the organization—but they need your help! Please take the survey and help them determine the future of I.M.O.W.’s Web site and community.
For every person who completes the survey, I.M.O.W.’s board will donate $1 to the Global Fund for Women’s Crisis Fund to support our sisters in Haiti.*
The survey should take less than 10 minutes. Please help a good cause and support I.M.O.W.!
* For at least the first 2,000 respondents
I have started a new blog and a new Antigone series about my attempts to write a book of interviews with female world leaders! Check it out at www.someleadersarebornwomen.wordpress.com!
Some Leaders are Born Women: What Young Women Should Know, is a project that I have been working on for over two and a half years. The idea first came to me when I contacted the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, Canada’s first female Prime Minister for an interview for Antigone Magazine, the magazine about women, politics, and the politics of being a woman that I founded and edit. That night, lying awake unable to sleep (I am a recovering insomniac!) I thought about how remarkable it would be to interview female world leaders about their experiences in politics and their advice to young women today and collect those interviews into one book that could inspire a generation of young female politicians.
I was 22 at the time, and the type of person who is often swept away by the excitement of an idea. Of course, I would do this! It was a great idea! And, as a young woman myself, I was in a great position to be able to ask the type of questions that young women would want answers and advice on! The next morning I woke up and e-mailed a number of organizations working with women world leaders to ask them if any of them were interested in collaborating with me on the book. I did not get very many responses.
The ones that I got were encouraging but apologetic, they could not get involved with the project but wished me the best. This is, of course, very typical. I get carried away with my own ideas and assume that other people will get swept away by them as well. But that is not always the case. I have been very lucky at certain points in my life to find the right person to help me nurture the right idea, but usually I have faced an uphill battle, obstacles, or even outright opposition. Like everyone, I find it hard sometimes to keep going in the face of that opposition. After a certain point, you begin to question yourself and wonder whether you are doing the right thing, whether you are capable of making your idea into reality. That is always the most difficult part of the journey.
This time, I want to invite the world along on my journey. In setting out to interview 14 women world leaders, I know that there will be some difficult and trying times along the way. There will be language barriers, emails that get unanswered, meetings that get rescheduled and politicians that are just unreachable. And in setting out to find publishers that will bring these interviews and the advice of these women to young women around the world, I know that there will likewise be setbacks. I will get rejections, I will be asked to change the scope or focus of the book, and I will have my emails or queries ignored. But I will not give up.
That was, after all, how I finally got my interview with the Right Honourable Kim Campbell. It took about 8 months from when I sent the first request to when I actually interviewed the former Prime Minister. First, my email was sent to the wrong address, and then I finally found the right address and it turned out they had already responded to me… and I hadn’t received it. Even on the day of the interview, things were constantly changing as the Right Honourable Kim Campbell’s schedule was in flux. There was even the suggestion that I try interviewing her while chauffeuring her between two other interviews, a scenario which was shot down given that I did not have a car. But just as I finally found my 30 minutes to an hour with Ms. Campbell, I will most likely finally be able to interview the women on my list if I remain persistent and strategic!
And it is worth it that I do remain persistent because I truly believe that this book will be an important addition to the libraries of young women around the world. We all need people to look up to. Research shows that young women display greater interest in politics when they see women running or leading. I truly believe that we need more young women involved in politics. If I can help spark the interest of one young women by writing this book, so much the better!
So, join me for the ride. Subscribe to the blog. Register for my mailing list. The more people who come here and support this project, the more likely I will be able to get the attention of the women politicians and the publishing industry. Or people who know how to get in touch with the women themselves!
We can do this together.
Another round of endorsements for this year’s election. As we have been busy, we weren’t able to send the candidates questions like we did last year, but we did inspect their platforms and ask around to determine who cared the most about the issues we hold dear: namely child care, equity issues, tuition and sustainability. We give you our endorsements!
President:
Natalie swift:
We heart her. First of all, it is nice to see a woman running for President of the AMS. But, obviously, her gender isn`t the only reason why we like her. We sat down with her last week and discussed child care, equity and tuition and found the majority of her positions on these subjects to be encouraging and definitely closer to our views about the importance of taking action on these issues than any of her opponents. Natalie was very enthusiastic about the Child Care Conference that we are helping to organize and takes child care seriously. She is also a supporter of UBC Farm, and she feels like the AMS needs to bring in equity experts to deal with the problems regarding equity issues and find a way for students from marginalized groups to have representation. VOTE! VOTE! VOTE for her!
Bijan Ahmadian:
We don`t trust that Bijan has student`s best interests at heart. He seems to be in student politics as a means to propel him to greater things, and we don`t really think that is the kind of politician that UBC needs. There are also concerns regarding his opinion that AMS services like SASC (the Sexual Assault Support Center) be cut back in order to save money. Views like that are not acceptable. He gets a definitely NOT from us!
Sean Kim:
We think this is a two pony race and haven`t seen anything in Kim that would make us hopeful of what he could bring to the position in support of the issues that we care about. Since we`ve already endorsed our Pony, we are passing on rating the other candidates (including joke candidate Pak Ho Leung).
VP Administration:
Michael Haack:
We like Haack`s emphasis on sustainability and working with clubs to streamline processes.
Ekaterina Dovjenko:
We like Ekaterina`s attempts to create more inter-club networking.
We can’t choose!
Vice President External:
Tim Chu
While this might be our most controversial endorsement, we endorse Chu. We have worked with Chu in the last year and can testify to his passion for issues like child care and equity issues. We think he has done a great job and sticking up for the issues he ran on and was elected for. We do know that everyone does not agree with this. We therefore encourage those who appreciate what Chu has done to vote Chu as a protest vote. He probably won`t win, but we love him. He`s so cute and supportive of equity issues.
Jeremy McElroy
We like Jeremy but not as much as we like Chu. Still, we think he would work well and effectively with Natalie if she were elected as their goals of creating a provincial lobbying group of post-secondary groups are in alignment.
Stas Pavlov and Aaron Palm
They seem like decent guys, but they haven`t really given us anything substantial that we like. Sorry!
VP Academic and University Affairs:
Rodrigo Ferrari –Nunes
Nunes has a lot of experience at UBC, having spent 7 years here. Nunes is extremely dedicated to social justice and we really like that about him. We think he would be a very sympathetic force on equity issues and be a great advocate within the university for attention to these issues. We would vote for him.
Ben Capellacci
While Ben seems earnest, his platform gives us feminist, child care advocates, minority rights activists nothing to really sink our teeth into. The thing he seems most excited about seems to be the ability to improve communication between the University Neighbourhood Association and the Greek system. That`s not really on our priorities list.
Global warming. Pollution. Deforestation. Species extinction. We are in environmental crisis right now. But how is this a women’s issue?
Well, for starters, women and nature share the same historical origins of oppression. The Great Chain of Being—the hierarchical ordering of beings from greater to lesser value—has always placed man at the top, and women, animals and nature at the bottom. This belief has been integral in the development of Western philosophy. There is a logic of domination at work here: men are associated with reason and women are associated with emotion. Reason is thought to be greater then emotion. Therefore men are thought better then women. Animals are subordinated according to the same logic. They are thought to be incapable of rational thought, and are therefore of little value.
Val Plumwood writes that she sees more and more people stepping outside the influences of this philosophy and recognizing the logic of domination. In “Women, Humanity and Nature” she observes “a growing awareness that the Western philosophical tradition which has identified, on the one hand, maleness with the sphere of rationality, and on the other hand, femaleness with the sphere of nature, has provided one of the main intellectual bases for the domination of women in Western culture.” (qtd. in Warren)
The ecofeminist has many objections to this hierarchical ordering of beings. Why is there are hierarchy at all? Why can’t there just be a diversity of beings? Are women emotional? Do animals have a strictly physical existence? If this is all true, why do we look down upon the emotional and the physical? Why the historical subordination of the physical to the intellectual, the emotional to the logical in the first place?
Ecofeminism is a highly relevant theoretical answer to our culture’s tendency to subordinate the other- both woman and nature. The Great Chain of Being is the philosophy that underlies much of what we do. It is at work in the way we value nature only as “resources.” It is at work in the way that we care not about the preservation of nature as an end in and of itself—but only for the sustained provision of resources for culture. It is at work in the way we treat our women. In our slang we equate women to animals while simultaneously subordinating both: Bitch. Pussy. Beaver. Cow. Yes, these words are artefacts of the Great Chain of Being. So are the words wo-man, and fe-male: through these words we regard woman literally as subsets of the male, in keeping with the hierarchy. Our culture is ripe with artefacts of the Great Chain of Being.
So ecofeminists object to this conceptual, philosophical subordination of women and nature. But ecofeminism is also grounded on the very real way that women and the cultural other are affected by irresponsible development. In “The Power and the Promise of Ecological Feminism,” Karen J Warren talks about how the domination of Aboriginal land in the Americas has destroyed the mode of living for Aboriginal people. In “Development, Ecology and Women”. Vandana Shiva talks about how Western development in third world countries “destroys wholesome and sustainable lifestyles and creates real material poverty, or misery” with the colonial domination of, or the resource exploitation of their environments. “The needs of the Amazonian tribes are more than satisfied by the rich rainforest; their poverty begins with its destruction” (qtd. in Warren). The key here is that feminists, who deny the logic of domination behind sexism, cannot deny the logic of domination that is ripe beneath naturism. The feminist who premises her ideology on a criticism of oppressive logic and systems cannot be indifferent to the exploitation and subordination of ecosystems and the societies that depend on them.
In “In and Out of Harm’s Way: Arrogance and Love,” Feminist Marilyn Frye writes: “the loving eye is a contrary of the arrogant eye. The loving eye knows the independence of the other.” This view proposes that there are two ways to perceive—to see—the other. First, there is the arrogant eye, which is quick to subordinate and dominate the other. Alternatively, there is the loving eye, which recognises and appreciates the other’s differences and does not seek to control the other. The loving eye is the ecofeminist alternative to the Great Chain of Being.
Ecocritic Don MacKay defines ethics as “the calling-into-question of our freedom to control, process, or reduce the other.” Ecofeminism employs this ethic in matters of culture, the environment, and gender relations.
One day, saying someone plays like a girl will be a compliment,” reads the cover of the 2010 Dreams for Women calendar.
Inside, each month features a “postcard” of a different world-class female athlete and her dreams for change — on everything from the environment to body image and double standards.
Amanda Reaume, the 25-year-old Vancouver woman behind the Dreams for Women calendar, said her goal was to challenge people. “We’re just trying to get people to think,” she said.
We’ve uploaded two new videos about the calendar. Feel free to distribute them to help spread the word or show your support for all 2010 Women Athletes!
Jacqueline Biollo is our second Political Maven! She is a Councillor for the town of Beaumont, Alberta. As an elected official, she wishes to educate and inform herself and her constituents about the issues, advocating for action, and ensuring transparency and accountability, sound judgment, integrity, conviction and passion to inspire. She is also the Executive Director for A Songbird’s Solo and boasts a variety of accomplishments, including founding an initiative called ArtStart, which was developed to give children in the inner city the opportunity to be exposed to the arts as well as the opportunity to develop their talents by establishing a multi-disciplinary arts education program. She took some time with us to talk about women in politics.
Q: How and why did you get involved in politics?
A: Always having been involved and engaged with matters of the community at large, and in some cases, for specific initiatives, it seemed a complimentary role that I might be approached and asked to run in an upcoming political election. Having a young family, a solid career and other interests and hobbies, I took some time to weigh the pros and cons of an endeavour such as politics, whilst aligning myself with more community groups and becoming more self-educated on local issues and municipal governance.
Q: Why do you think women should get involved in politics?
A: Women should get involved with politics because they want to, because they have self confidence, a strong dedication to research and a belief in the democratic system. Although many (both men and women) get involved with politics perhaps initially because of a particular cause/issue, I applaud individuals who are able to actively engage themselves in all agenda items and remain open to options and alternatives within the appropriate legislative proceedings.
Q: What issue do you see as particularly important for women?
A: Issues of importance to women should be no different than they are for a man – although I acknowledge that we may come at it from a different angle, or pose different questions, raise concerns, or champion something more intensely because of our natural tendency to seek collaborative solutions, put human attributes into perspective where applicable, and typically work towards a win-win solution rather than a one-upmanship or self-motivated one.
Q: Have you ever experienced any discrimination as a woman in politics? If so, describe your experiences and how you handled them.
A: Discrimination is also self-destructive (if you let it get the better of you) but that doesn’t mean it should be tolerated… so although there have been some obvious (or underlying) challenges in my political career, I have met each as a stand-alone situation, and if/when required, sought the support and advice of others within my network of colleagues, friends and family to pull me through. My slogan has been to focus on the People ~ Possibility ~ and Potential of things (including myself), so I look at hurdles as simply something I need to overcome, work to educate myself better on, and ensure a similar situation doesn’t lend itself to happening again.
Q: What issues are you passionate about?
A: I’m passionate about encouraging and empowering others, about positive thinking, and about “thinking outside the box.” I’m a risk taker, one with compassion and understanding… and although many might say my slogan SHOULD be “go big or go home.” What’s life if you’re not having a bit of fun in it as well?
Q: If you could change one thing about politics, what would it be?
A: That we get back to the knowledge and understanding (and appreciation for) the democratic system; that politicians are people too – and that although we do make mistakes, we have the best interest of the electorate at hand, have tried to educate ourselves to the best of our abilities with the resources available, and progress at times can be steady and slow.
Q: What is your Dream for Women?
A: My Dream for Women is that they will find confidence in themselves (even when they think no one else does) and that they too champion something they are passionate about. Seek to leave your own legacy.
Q: Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?
A: Although not a feminist, I do applaud women who have been able to find their niche within the seemingly untraditional roles or professions. Further, I applaud ongoing efforts to allow any select group (visible minorities, persons with disabilities, women, etc.) to obtain additional (educational) resources which might allow them to be (more) successful and/or open new door of opportunity for them… in my opinion a ‘battle’ of the sexes does not seem productive now or with sustainability for the future.
Q: What advice do you have for young women?
A: My advice for young women is to believe in yourself, chart your path, take and acknowledge small opportunities and ‘wins’ to advance you further, give of yourself freely, volunteer, and seek out individuals to whom you respect and ask them to mentor you.
