you know what the woman who isn’t afraid of anything…
is afraid of?
The Woman Who Isn’t Afraid of Anything… by Adina Taralik Leger
28 Sunday Feb 2010
Posted women's issues
in28 Sunday Feb 2010
Posted women's issues
inyou know what the woman who isn’t afraid of anything…
is afraid of?
28 Sunday Feb 2010
Posted UN, Women and politics, women's issues
inThis post is part of a series on the 54th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Click on a link to read further.
Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10
This morning Minister of State, Junior Cabinet Minister for the Status of Women met with Canadian NGOs who are here in New York for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
I was able to attend a meeting with Minister Guergis along with KateMcInturff of the Feminist Alliance for International Action. Kate made a verbal presentation to the Minister on the three pillars that the Minister has been stressing in her position directing the focus of the Status of Women Canada.
The Three Pillars as identified by the Status are…
28 Sunday Feb 2010
Posted UN, Women and politics, women's issues
inThis post is part of a series on the 54th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Click on a link to read further.
Part 1 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10
Before I start blogging, I just wanted to take a moment to mention the Chilean earthquake disaster. I have caught tidbits through the news as I’ve hopped through the airports and wanted to say that my thoughts are with the victims of this disaster.
Knowing the complete devastation that has been visited upon Chile and other countries who have (or may soon) suffer the fallout of the earth quake made the fact that Air Canada lost my luggage AGAIN seem kind of trivial.
24 Wednesday Feb 2010
Posted female politicians, Women and politics, women in politics
inTags
Introducing, Suzanne Anton, a member of the Vancouver City Council! She took some time to answer a few questions for us. An avid volunteer, athlete, mother, math teacher and Crown prosecutor, Councillor Suzanne Anton clearly has a broad set of skills that she brings to the political arena. Before her position as Councillor, Suzanne served on many committees, boards, and associations, as well as a Park Board Commissioner. She has had several different roles on the Vancouver City Council; you can get a full biography, more information, updates and a view of her goals at her website: http://www.suzanneanton.ca
Q: How and why did you get involved in politics?
A: I was president of our local community soccer club and advocated for facilities and programs. One day a light went on, and I realised I could run for the Vancouver Park Board and accomplish these things at the political level. Until that moment (1999), it had never once in my life crossed my mind that I might go into politics.
Q: Why do you think women should get involved in politics?
A: Everyone who is interested should get involved in politics. Women are underrepresented at most levels of government and most elected bodies; there is always a need for good women candidates.
Q: Have you ever experienced any discrimination as a woman in politics? If so, describe your experiences and how you handled them.
A: Some writers are particularly harsh – and only about women. People are much more willing to comment on women’s looks and demeanor.
Q: What issues are you passionate about?
A: As a civic politician, I am most passionate about issues around how we build a better city – better for the environment, for families, and for businesses and the economy.
Q: If you could change one thing about politics, what would it be?
A: It is said women are more collaborative. That is something I would love to see but do not. All politics are intensely political, which seems as though it might be self-evident. However policy should come first and politics second.
Q: Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?
A: I am indeed a feminist. Women and girls do well in many areas, but there are still gaps, and politics is one of them.
23 Tuesday Feb 2010
Posted UN, Women and politics, women's issues
inThis post is part of a series on the 54th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Click on a link to read further.
Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10
A few years back I met the amazing Amanda Reaume in New York City while attending the 52nd UNCSW. During this experience I blogged (via facebook) and the blogs were re-published to Antigone. I’ve been meaning ever since to blog on Antigone about my experiences as a Northern Feminist, but I haven’t been great about the consistency. I just found out today that FAFIA is generously providing me with another opportunity to attend the UNCSW (because they received an unexpected donation) and I am goign to be re-posting my blog over here. so voila, here it is cut and pasted for your enjoyment!
At the opening of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) training session that happened in Yellowknife a few weeks back, Nancy Baroni of FAFIA (the Feminist Alliance for International Action) presented the following tale:
Continue reading
22 Monday Feb 2010
Posted Diary of an Activist, women's issues
inWe can do better. That is the hymn that my brain began to sing when I was a young girl. To the eyes of a child inequality doesn’t really make sense. When people ask me what caused me to lose all ‘reason’ (and fiscal sense) and decide to be an activist, I always refer back to the time when I was 11 and was reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Ms. Harper Lee had a huge impact on my young imagination.
To this day, I still say that if I ever have a boy I will name him Atticus. And this isn’t because Atticus is a popular name among toddlers these days (it isn’t). Continue reading
06 Saturday Feb 2010
Posted Dreams for women, women's issues
inIt’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
06 Saturday Feb 2010
Posted Some Leaders are Born Women
inTags
adranka kosor, book proposal, book publishing, han myung sook, jadranka kosor, johanna sigurdardottir, kids can press, luisa dias diogo, new market press, orca books, portia simpson-miller, seal press
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?
05 Friday Feb 2010
Posted women's issues
inThis 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.
02 Tuesday Feb 2010
Posted women's issues
inIt’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
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