16 Days of Activism: Montreal Massacre

It was December 6, 1989.  It was the first time I felt the wrath of antifeminism when I learned of what later became known as the Montreal Massacre.  A very sick man, whose name I will not glorify, entered École Polytechnique with mass murder as his intent.  The school, associated with Université de Montréal, ranks …

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and in Canada November is Woman Abuse Month.  In Canada, we seem to be moving forward – internationally not so.  I am concerned about the United States.  Why?  The United States are seen as the forefront of women’s rights and, like it or not, …

Baby It’s Cold Outside Controversy – Let It Go

By now you may have heard of the controversy over John Legend’s new version of ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’.  You may not know, however, that last year CBC and other radio stations in Canada as well as some U.S. stations actually banned the original song citing the uproar over its interpretation as a precursor to …

Shine The Light On Woman Abuse

I don’t know what I was thinking. No, that’s not true. As I parked my car a few blocks away and walked to the downtown square where they would soon be lighting a large fir tree with purple lights to ‘shine the light on woman abuse’ for the month of November; I was thinking “I’ve …

Shedding Light on a Very Dark Topic – Part 2

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States.  It’s November in Canada.  I don’t know why the difference, but it lends itself to me writing about it for the next few weeks.  In the U.S. statistics say that three out of four people know someone who is or has been a victim of …

Margaret Atwood Says It’s Time to Bother

Canadian poet and author of fiction, children’s fiction and best-selling novels, Margaret Atwood is most recently best known as the creator of The Handmaid’s Tale – original book published in 1983 and transformed in the popular Hulu TV series (2017 – present) of the same name.  She is deeply involved in the development of the …

Serena Williams Shines the Light on Abuse

Serena Williams is the ambassador for the Allstate Foundation’s Purple Purse program that focuses on the issue of abuse via financial control.  “One in four women will experience domestic violence,” she says, “and this is to help woman and communities throughout America find a way (out of) abuse through financial education and empowerment. That’s my big message.’’  …

Women Supporting Women – what real stars do

This week Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu took the Rogers Cup against Serena Williams who retired from the final with an injury. It’s not how Bianca wanted to win and Serena was clearly unhappy. Watch what happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20kt-wAXQOQ The headlines read that this is the first time a Canadian has won the Rogers Cup in 50 …

Women’s Liberation – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The other day while soaking up the sunshine treading water in the local outdoor pool, my friend asked, “What ever happened to Women’s Lib?”  I don’t remember what we were talking about that spurred the discussion, but we often touch on serious topics when waiting for our aquatics class to begin.  Many of the participants …