March 5, 1990

OMEN’S DAY

 
 
     

    

 
  

For years, European sociali
e set aside March as "Interna
al Working Women’s Day”. If
n’t until the late~1960’s that
erican and Canadian women
ed celebrating the day, enlarg-
the day’s focus to include all
en and the issues that concern

 
 
   

      

  
         
        
    

  

         
   
 

  

In the last few years, IWD has
ed up momentum as women
utbacks in social services ang
es.To date, victories in th
of abortion, government
ed childcare and equal o;
ties in employm
ppearing as "prog
ernments come

  
    
 
            
    

  

      
   
   
  
 
   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
     
    
  
 

p Goddess Remembered
Pacific Cinematheque,
nings are free.

 
 
  

 

  

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ual IWD Celebration at
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men’s Day
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Women’s

h 8th

 

 

 

 

REJOICING

Continuing the Struggle

 

by Jessie Sutherland
Courtesy the Gleaner

While the media has long for-
gotten the murder of fourteen
women in Montreal, the mourning
continues. I spent an afternoon in
Montreal with Deirdre Fowles,
who is 52 years old and has worked
all around the world for twenty-five
years.

What disturbs Fowles is how
young women today often do not
consider themselves feminists.

"How can they not call them-
selves feminists? It makes me
angry because these same women
take for granted much of what we
have fought for - the vote, educa-
tion and reproductive rights!"

The murder of the fourteen
women is a reflection of society.
Misogyny is still present, although
it is not as noticeable. There is still
much to be done."

As a woman who has lived in
many different countries around
the world, Fowles knows and has
experienced patriarchy in many
different forms: be it unequal
property laws, laws that restrict the
reproductive rights of women, or
female ghetto jobs.

"Patriarchy is global and to
maintain it, misogyny is practiced,"

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Fowles said.

Fowles went on to say, "It’s
everywhere - as a woman there is
nowhere to go....And it’s not just
men that contribute to it, women do
too - every time we tell our
daughters they must lose weight or
we tell them they are inadequate we
perpetuate patriarchy. Indeed it is
misogyny that leads to women
hating themselves. Look at the in-
creasing incidence of anorexia and
women staying in battered relation-
ships."

While women also perpetuate
patriarchy, we have to question
who benefits.

"This is not to blame men, but
that’s how things are. We as
women must take a look at how we
contribute to patriarchy. For
women, contributing to misogyny
and patriarchy is often a way of
survival. For example staying in a
battered relationship can be a way
of surviving economically. In addi-
tion, eating disorders are a way of
fulfilling society’s image of what
women should look like," Fowles
explained.

“"Contrastingly, when men
contribute to patriarchy they
benefit. For example, men benefit
from rape, whether they rape or not.
Rape keeps women off the streets

 

and dependent on men for protec-
tion."

People in Montreal are in
mourning. Women have identified
strongly with this misogynist act of
murder. All women have ex-
perienced misogyny in one form or
another - be it sexual harassment,
rape, the fear of being raped, dif-
ferential pay or treatment due to
their gender, or verbal abuse.

Some men have been looking
at ways they contribute to patriar-
chy. "They are looking at sexism -
working to identify it and change
it," Fowles said.

According to Fowles, the only
way to change misogyny is for both
men and women to engage in cross-
gender dialogue and self-analysis.

Women must look at their
sexism because they too have
learned to value men more than
women. They must also be willing
to communicate to men about
sexism - how they perceive it and
how it affects their lives.

"Men must begin to really look
at themselves honestly and be will-
ing to listen and learn from women.
That is not to mean that women are
to continually educate men. Men
must learn to educate themselves
too."

 

 

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