The “Take Back the Night” campaign to end sexual assault and abuse has the best intentions. But it is problematic because it perpetuates the idea that women’s sexual assault and abuse follows the dark night, man-behind-the bushes-with-a-knife narrative. In reality, the “night” is a constructed demon. All too often abusers closely mimic the warmth and appearance of sunshine.

Traditional stereotypes for profiling bad guys completely fail us when it comes to identifying abusers. Abusers come in all shapes and sizes, and oftentimes they capitalize on their normal appearance and normative success in order to persuade us of their goodness. The “Take Back the Night” campaign is a symbolic reduction—an oversimplification—of the experience of assault and abuse. It implies that women are assaulted suddenly by a stranger when they are alone at night.  In reality assault and abuse can be short to long term projects where the predator chips away at the victim’s protective walls. According to Statistics Canada, 80% of sexual assault survivors knew their abusers (Statistics Canada 2003). Assault and abuse are usually psychological as well as physical projects, leaving the victim distressed with complicated grief.

So it isn’t a particular profile or scene we need to avoid in order to protect ourselves. Instead, it is a particular pattern within our existing relationships that we need to look for: a pattern of power asymmetry. Sexual assault and abuse is a function of unequal pattern relations; it happens when the abuser establishes dominance over you. We need to work on strengthening our discriminatory power until we become pros at identifying the problematic power structures that constitute assault or abuse. The fact is that women are not educated enough about their rights. Certainly, we are familiar with and celebrate the equality we are entitled to in politics and law, but many of us forget that we are entitled to the same equality in the relationships that comprise our everyday lives.

Inequality in romantic relationships has become so normalized in our culture that we now romanticize the idea of the man that yields power over us. The popular Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer portrays power asymmetry as an enviable relationship dynamic. Bella’s obsession with Edward shows that he yields enormous power over her, and his paternalistic babysitting is patronizing. The idealization of an unequal power relationship sends a negative message to women. Women today should be taught that a healthy relationship should leave them feeling empowered, not disempowered.

In preparation for the traditional rape narrative we have rape whistles. But there is no simple tool for blowing the whistle on everyday toxic relationships. We want to ask you if you have any ideas on how we can help facilitate a better understanding of the importance of power symmetry in relationships. You can suggest a conceptual theory, a slogan, or even a symbolic artefact.

Dear AMS Council

Students with disabilities are an often overlooked segment of the UBC population and Antigone Magazine would like to endorse and support any efforts to include people with disabilities into student politics and the AMS by creating a specific position to represent students with disabilities. While not all students with disabilities experience the same types of marginalization and challenges, having a student to represent students with disabilities on the AMS Council would be an important step in the direction of rectifying the civic disempowerment that students with disabilities face in campus politics.

According to Disability Theory by Tobin Siebers: “Disability marks the last frontier of unquestioned inferiority because the preference for able-bodiedness makes it extremely difficult to embrace disabled people and to recognize their unnecessary and violent exclusion from society.” As a University and as a student society, we should work to ensure that this discrimination is eradicated by ensuring that we include people with disabilities. Indeed, disability is often described as the “product of a disabling social and built environment” (Tobin). Disability is indeed an important part of the human condition.

Because the AMS is supposed to serve all students and constituencies on campus, it is important to have the voices of all communities on the AMS council. Ensuring that students with disabilities are adequately represented will help ensure that AMS Council makes decisions and designs programs with students with disabilities in mind. People with disabilities are very strongly needed at all stages of the planning of the AMS in order to ensure that accessibility issues are not forgotten and that the needs and wants of students with disabilities are taken into account and addressed.

Our club has a number of students with what many refer to as ‘invisible’ disabilities involved and we believe that it is important to create a safe and supportive environment where people with disabilities can participate and contribute to our work.

Next year, we will also be working with DAWN Canada to put out an issue of Antigone Magazine on Women with Disabilities. Having women with disabilities involved in our organization has greatly impacted how we operate and what issues we see as important. We believe that the AMS will also see these benefits.

Thank you,

Antigone Magazine

Hello!

I am Megan, a brand new face to Antigone, but excited to be starting up a new column here focusing on the female political leaders. Political Mavens will be talking to the women who are hard working within government to get something done about feminist issues, among many other things.

Introducing our first change-maker: Mira Hall

Mira Hall (Yellowknife, NT – pictured RIGHT) is studying political economics and pursuing a career in policy development relating to food security and affordable housing.  Mira is employed at the Centre for Northern Families where she provides a range of family support and community outreach services. Mira was once roommates with Antigone Magazine Editor Amanda Reaume when they were both delegates to the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women. This past fall, Mira ran for School Trustee in Yellowknife District 1 and won!

1. How and why did you get involved in politics?

I have always been politically active. My mother is an activist and she always encouraged me to be involved in the work that she was doing, or work that she saw others doing that she supported. I think that I was reluctant for a long time out of rebelliousness. At the end of the day I really care about community, about reducing marginalization, and I’m too passionate to stay away from politics.

2. Why do you think women should get involved in politics?

I think that women are the best qualified to represent women’s perspectives in government. For too long we have trusted that our male counterparts could represent our interests when they shape the policy that shapes our lives, but they haven’t been women so they couldn’t possibly have as deep an understanding of what our interests are as we do.

This was illustrated to me vividly during a forum during the last territorial election. Candidates were asked why they thought women weren’t participating in trades and non-traditional employment and how they as MLAs would encourage women’s economic participation in the lucrative employment opportunities provided by mining, oil and gas. The only candidate who pointed out that mothers aren’t often able to find childcare for the full two weeks that a standard camp rotation would be and that many mothers be unwilling to leave their children for two weeks out of every month was a mother of three.

3. What issue do you see as particularly important for women?

I think women’s economic independence is the number one issue for me, and that many other issues that women face are a direct result of their economic dependence. There is a persistent wage gap between men and women in Canada, and women are still structurally excluded from some types of employment.

The other issues that rank highly for me are violence against women, child apprehension, and the feminization of poverty.

4. Have you ever experienced any discrimination as a woman in politics? If so, describe your experiences and how you handled them.

Any discrimination that I notice is pretty subversive, and is rarely directed right at me in my presence. Although I notice that it seems to be women who are hardest on me and on other female candidates. I hear women calling female candidates things like “bitch,” “crazy,” “slut” and “shit-disturber,” generally when I hear the comments about male politicians and candidates the worst is “crazy” or “useless.” It makes me sad that women aren’t more supportive of each other.

It reminds me (as someone who is not affiliated to any party) of how leftists cling to the idea that Conservatives are “anti-woman” but in Canada they can claim the first female Prime Minister, and in the US they ran Sarah Palin. Leftist women are the first to say “well, they don’t really count” for whatever reason, and yet the “pro-woman” parties don’t even give us women “who don’t count.” They just keep feeding us “pro-woman” men. I’m really hoping that there is drastic change coming and that women step up and are supported by their parties and their communities.

5. What issues are you passionate about?

I suspect that all of my passions can be boiled down to “reducing marginalization.” I think that every school should be reflective of all the populations that share our community. Every school should be inclusive for girls and boys, for people with varying “ability,” for a variety of ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds, and for fluid identities within those demographics. And not only should our schools be reflective of our multifaceted society, but our neighborhoods too, and our workplaces!

6. What is your dream for women?

My dream is to live in a world where each person can be both proud of their own culture, identity, and place in society as well as be loving and accepting of those who are different.

7. What advice do you have for young women?

Keep your chin up and know that no one can represent you or your demographic better than you! Change the world, and keep pushing!

Do you have dreams for women?

Send it to:

Antigone Magazine
C/O WILLA
Box 61 – 6138 SUB Blvd
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1
OR antigonemagazine(at)hotmail.com

Discuss in the comments below or see more postcards.

Welcome to the first post of Feminists Who Totally Rock!

 Today I am pleased to present two interviews, one with Rebeca Monzo and one with Terrie Chan. Read on and enjoy!

 Rebeca Monzo is one of the head co-ordinators of the Beautiful One Conference as well as an ordained minister!

 What was it that inspired you to become a feminist?

To be honest I have never really thought of myself as a feminist.  That being said I have always had a strong desire to work with teen girls.  That desire was inspired by the obvious need to shine a light on the unrealistic standards and expectations that are placed on girls by pop culture. I want to encourage, empower and equip teenage girls to live their life to its potential.

What kind of work do you do?

I work with youth both in the church setting as well as in the community where I mentor teen girls and help coach a Sr. Girl’s volleyball team.  I also work with girls through the Beautiful One Conference which is a faith based yearly event designed to empower, equip and encourage teen girls.  

What feminist issue is particularly important to you?

I believe that every girl should be afforded the opportunity to pursue education allowing them to achieve their goals and live out their dreams no matter where they live.

 What is your dream for Women?

My dream for women is that they would be confident in who they are and live out that confidence in every area of their life. 

Which unknown or young feminist would you like the world to know about?

This is a tough one.  I know a lot of strong women who are actively making a difference in the lives of girls and women.        

Terrie Chan is a student at UBC Vancouver. This summer she worked for a non-governmental organization in Hong Kong called The Women’s Foundation.

1) What was it that inspired you to become a feminist?

I was inspired to become a feminist for many reasons. The most prominent reason being that women are not, no matter how many people say that we have, won our equal standing in society- or at least in Canada. There are [still] many [areas] in life that women can[not] participate fully [in], or be treated as an equal. There are also many things to be done in order to protect the safety of girls and women, or simply  to be viewed just as valuable as a male counterpart. 

 2) What kind of work do you do?

I try to fit in feminism in my life and to reflect this to my friends and family. Whenever I get the chance, I talk about the situation of women and girls around the world, which I think is an issue needing attention. In terms of work with credentials, I spent one month in Hong Kong this summer with an NGO named The Women’s Foundation for an internship. That was my first experience with a NGO with a focus on women and girls.

3) Which feminist issue is particularly important to you?

I am most interested in sex trafficking, domestic violence, and women within law. 

 4) What is your Dream for Women:

 My dream for women is for all women to understand their self-worth and that it is not okay when a man treats you as his possession or simply in a bad way, and for all women to understand they deserve respect. It is my hope that all women will have that self-confidence, and that they will stop blaming themselves when a man does them harm. I also hope that women can finally see that they can be just as successful as any man or woman on the planet. Finally, I think we need to accept a norm wherein women do not feel pressured to be sexy or possess a certain ‘male trait’ to be successful. Hopefully this will allow men who have this attitude to discover something other than their present normative thinking-that women are somehow of lesser value compared to men.

This fall, we are launching a number of exciting blog features and  columns! They are designed to engage in important conversations and to introduce you to amazing women. Over the years, we have met a lot of fabulous female politicians and feminists and we have unfortunately not been able to include them all in our print magazine.

And then we realized that we had a blog and could features whomever we wanted!

So, please welcome our new columns and columnists! They will be posting bi-weekly so look out for their content!

Political Mavens
By Megan Ryland
This column will feature interviews with awesome female politicians and candidates!

Feminists Who Totally Rock
By Emily Yakashiro
This column will feature interviews with awesome feminists who totally rock!

The Feminist Scholar
By Kaitlin Blanchard
This column will feature discussion of ongoing issues in feminist academia!

The Cultural Critic
By Raquel Baldwinson
This column will feature criticism of culture!

We will also be offering other blogs the opportunity to syndicate these columns on their blogs for free! To learn more about how you can publish one of these great columns on your blog (or Dreams for Women!) e-mail us at antigonemagazine@hotmail.com!

If you are interested in starting your own weekly or bi-weekly column we would LOVE to have you! E-mail us at antigonemagazine@hotmail.com

Ashley Wagner, U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Team

Robbi Weldon, Canadian Para-Nordic Skiing Team

Virginia Johnston, First Nations Snowboard Team

Katie Willis, Canadian Women’s Ski Jumpers Team

Sara Renner, Canada Women’s Cross Country Team

Angela Ruggiero, U.S. Women’s Hockey Team

These are just a sampling of the beautiful postcards that are featured in the 2010 Dreams for Women Calendar featuring North American female athletes who will be competing in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games!

As an organization based in Vancouver, we wanted to highlight the powerful women who will be competing in the Games and work with them to bring attention to the importance of women’s leadership and women’s equality! We believe that these women are fabulous role models for young women and we wanted to work with them to ensure that the Vancouver Olympics has a legacy of leadership for young Canadian women!

The amazing athletes who are featured are:

Pre-Order your calendar today and save 20% (Until November 15th!). Calendars are only $16 for quantities under 7 and $8 for quantities over 7! Learn how you can use the calendar to fundraise for your group!

BUY YOUR CALENDAR TODAY – CLICK HERE

Check out I.M.O.W.’s latest exhibition Economica: Women and the Global Economy.

Economica travels the world and asks, “What difference do women make in the world’s economy?” A series of evocative audio slideshows give the answers by showing women’s experiences from Morocco, China, Egypt, Bolivia, and beyond. These powerful visual stories provide entry points for examining different economic systems and values. Also check out their resources page for podcasts and an awesome book and film list.

Our goal in creating the Economica exhibition is to showcase women’s broad experiences as well as their exceptional expertise. We aim to illuminate what is going on in different corners of the world, why and what can be done to make things better. We want to acknowledge that women are a powerful engine of economic growth, but also help visitors dive beneath the jargon of economics to discover deeper causes and effects and probe how things might be different. Through women’s stories, we pose questions that do not have ready answers and we offer alternatives from those working locally and globally, not only to empower women, but also to transform the economy.

- Masum Momaya, Curator

Affecting Others: The Passionate Feminist (A Fairy Story)

I’m going to start this entry with a personal anecdote because it touched me, and this, as I will argue, is part of my point. Sitting having tea with a former professor of mine the other day, she told me a fairy story which she had heard when she was young in order to illustrate a small, but not insignificant, story about being-with-others. The story tells the tale of a young knight who unknowingly falls in love with a fairy. The woman disappears during the night and always comes back disheveled and bearing traces of her adventures. He follows her into the woods one night and comes upon her in a fairy circle, whereupon he is told that because he has done this and violated her trust he has to give her up entirely. Walking home dejected, he sees a cloaked figure ahead of him in the road. The figure turns and it is the woman: he had to give her up to win her back.

While seemingly a very quaint and archetypal tale, the story illustrates a vital point, one which I think much theory has lost sight of. That is, in trying to master its objects, theory often reproduces the same divides it criticizes. It reifies the structure of binary oppositions that it seeks to undermine, leaving very little room for growth or contingency. So while it may be a necessary, and potent force, the theory we produce is not always palatable. Unlike the knight who loses the “fight” for love in a binary relation, only to win it back because he has grown, theory and correspondingly its practioners tend to embrace rather rigid formulae for their analyses. I want to suggest that perhaps we, as feminist critics, like the knight, need to give something up in order to win it back.

The Dali Lama came to UBC in September and spoke to a select audience. He called himself a feminist. Many celebrated this. However, he also said that “many feminists have too much emotion, and that he doesn’t like…” (September 28, 2009). This statement rankles as many as his previous statement enheartened. I am not a buddhist so I will not pretend to analyze the statement within its context, but I would like to perhaps infer that when he says emotion he means a certain kind of passion. Passion, as we understand it now, is, I believe, a kind of feverish identification with a particular affective state. It is, in all cases, exorbitant, overwhelming, powerful, and compelling. However, and this may seem rather facile for now, I think there is a kind of passion we can embrace as indeed rational in itself.

Anyone who has graduated from theory kindergarten will easily disassemble the claims I’m going to make as essentialisms, at the very least, but bear with me. I’m wondering why it is that passion has been characterized as “excessive” and used more commonly as a pejorative qualifier in relation to the affective states it describes. In other words, have we cordoned off excess in the same way we have cordoned off the subject? Radical feminists, those who practice a kind of reverse sexism have long been rejected by the movement at large, and I think largely for good reason, but not because they are passionate. Rather, because they are not being “rational” or perhaps more accurately reasonable. Reasonable is a good word to focus on here because it connotes a kind of moderateness, an Aristotelian mean, of sorts sans the classicist consequences. However, it also signifies a capacity for reason, but not necessarily the practice of it. Reason itself, on the other hand, recalls perhaps the most insidious and pervasive binary of all: logic and passion. I want to suggest that passion itself can in fact be reasonable; that is, capable of acting according to a logic or following a series of syllogisms. Passion, can be, in other words not restrained, but moderate and most importantly careful and caring.

I do not seek here to limit the rapturous and the sublime as impossibilities, but I want to suggest that passion, as a practice, is valuable when it takes its actions into account, when it makes a narrative of its feelings–the affects it discerns from others and the environment.(I borrow here from Teresa Brennan). The Freudian ego has long been touted as the mediator between the persuasive social conscience of the superego and the willful and desirous id. Really, this account of human subjectivity leaves no room for feeling: the ego is structured as a rational entity, one which carries out decisions according to their positive value to the subject. And this is my point, the ego is a primarily reactionary, and dare I say fearfully anxious conscience whose purpose is to preserve the status quo of the subject or advance its safety and prosperity. Are not anxiety and fear affects–and negative affects at that? Maybe then, when the Dali Lama says he does not like feminists who have too much emotion, we might understand that statement, not in its buddhist context, but as a maxim which warns against being possessed by the negative affects.

To bring this all back down to the ground again, in practice this would mean for feminism, a much more organic kind of theorizing, one much closer to the kinds of grassroots activism which brings communities together to form a common front. It means taking account of the affects in the air which carry us beyond ourselves, beyond the moment of feeling and into the uncertain future of anxiety. No movement which takes as its goal the furtherance of human rights and equality should embrace a modality which is fundamentally fearful.

Of course, there will always be some degree of the subjunctive in feminism, the “if’s” contain as much hope as they can fear. My point is that perhaps we ought to begin to let go of these structures of deconstruction, which have served us so well, in order to embrace the roots of our movement more firmly. Maybe we need to give up our objects in order to lose the fear and anxiety which colours our thinking about them. We need to let go of the self-centered and passifying affects of fear and anxiety in order to begin to analyzing our struggles in their moment. We need to mourn our relationships in order to re-order them; we need to feel others, rather than fear for them. This may mean giving up “women’s” studies, but certainly not the intent of feminisms. Maybe, just maybe, we need to let go of our’selves’ in order to realize just who and what has affected them and then, maybe then, we can begin to really affect the change we need to as caring and careful theorists….

I was in Montreal this weekend attending a training session as a Regional Network Leader for the Women’s Worlds 2011 conference (find out more here www.womensworlds.ca). The organizing committee chose two representatives from six regions across Canada to help coordinate the participation of grassroots women’s groups (particularly those from groups that are typically excluded) in the International Conference in Ottawa in 2011. The goal of the network leaders is also to assist in creating a regional network that will continue on after the conference and strengthen women’s organizing in the region. The video above is the work that two of the women present are doing with aboriginal youth. I have one word for that video and the amazing women who helped make it: wow.

But, there are not even words to describe my experience this weekend. Not only did I have the privilege and the honor of sharing in the Women’s Worlds vision, conceptualized by a number of activists and academics and sheparded by women like the fabulous Lise Martin and Pam Kapoor, but I also had the opportunity to connect with The Girls Action Foundation, RebELLES and with the fabulous women that will be working as Regional Leaders across Canada.

I cannot truly encompass the experience in this short blog post but you will be hearing far more about this team of amazing people as we get closer to the 2011 conference. I can only say that I have never before had a weekend as filled with laughter, feminism, fun, stimulating conversation and concerted planning. Despite my inevitable jetlag (which we BCers experience in any of our trips to East) I enjoyed every minute of it.

I feel like I have begun a journey with these fellow feminists that will only snowball as more women are brought together. I strongly believe that this conference will be an important moment in Canadian feminism and I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of it. The women that I met this weekend have become a part of my heart and they have informed and strengthened my activism. I hope to share many of their stories with you and in turn the stories of the women they work with. We are going to be launching a series of interviews with Canadian feminists called Feminists Who Totally Rock! You WILL be hearing more about these women and their work.

If the spirit and love that radiated through our meeting is any indication of what Women’s World will bring, this amazing conference WILL have a lasting and transformative effect on women’s activism and organizing in Canada.

With love,

AR