Sex and Truth Francine Pelletier s documentary is a frank discussion of women's sexuality Misha Warbanski, The Link (Concordia University) Francine Pelletier MONTREAL (CUP)—Montréal broad- caster and feminist Francine Pelletier is trying to turn women’s sexual stereotypes on their heads with her new six-part doc- umentary, Sex, Truth and Videotape. Interestingly enough, the documentary was inspired by images of war. “It took the war in Afghanistan for us, on this side of the planet, to be immersed in, at least, the imagery of Muslim women,” Pelletier explains. “The image of them veiled from head to foot is such a powerful and a dis- turbing one.” She added that the contrast between Afghani and North American women is especially stark. those women “On one hand, you’ve got women who are totally covered up, and on the other, you’ve got women who are totally uncov- ered, and it seemed to me that there was a dissonance there.” Pelletier sought out a wide variety of Canadian women from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. “I just decided [to] interview women—I mean, really interview them. To just have them talk, which is not exactly a recipe these days for sexy TV.” Perhaps not sexy television, but it és real television. From actors to homemak- ers to sex workers, the documentary creates a very frank discussion about many aspects of sex. Pelletier she could have explored the differences between cultures more. But while she didn’t explicitly ask questions about cultural or religious iden- tity, she able to find commonality. “I think what happens very quickly, admits was some from what I can see [with] women from 10 | www.theotherpress.ca different ethnic backgrounds, [is that] the minute they're second generation [they] kind of toe the western line,’ Pelletier says. “I remember one of our interview- ees grew up Muslim, but she doesn’t nec- She’s religious. She’s a stand-up comic. She’s essary feel Muslim now. not also still a virgin, and she’s hitting 20 soon, which in this day and age is kind of old. “So in a very indirect way, I think the reason she’s still a virgin is she doesn’t like the idea of just doing it, getting it over with. She has a career and is into other stuff. I think she’s waiting for the right guy, which a lot of women are. I think maybe her cultural background has some- thing to do with it, but that would be the last thing she would acknowledge.” A believer that prostitution should be legalized, Pelletier says that while she does not doubt sex workers are often in diffi- cult situations, it is not an excuse to write them off as poor, deluded women. While sex workers are often left out of the dis- cussion altogether, Pelletier made sure to include their voice in her documentary. “Anastasia, who is a sex worker, is so articulate. I made a point of her pointing out her background because she does come from a broken home and was sexu- ally assaulted and there are all those things. But at the same time it’s something I honestly think she wants to do. She feels, rightly or wrongly, that it empowers her,” Pelletier says. “I don’t know if this is true of every sex worker, [but] I tend to believe her when she says she still likes sex at the end of the day. I believe that if sex workers want to organize, or want to tell us themselves how it is, it can only be a good thing.” In general, Pelletier sees women’s sex- ual liberation as something very positive. For women who were involved in femi- nism in the ’70s and ’80s, sex was sort of the gift you were handed, in the same way women of preceding generations were handed education or the right to vote, she says. Pelletier says, overall, sex has gotten better. The feminist movement allowed women to take ownership and under- standing of their bodies, she argues. Better education, more respect and the freedom the birth-control pill afforded women, she says, have all contributed to women’s increased enjoyment of sex. But not everything is perfect in this sexually liberated age. “IT think that one woman [I inter- viewed] said it best of all. The sex generally has gotten better, and it is some- thing that is generally a positive force in most women’s lives. But at the same time, there is a terrible bullying aspect to sexu- ality these days. Every woman, no matter who she is, is under some kind of order to be a sexual conqueror; you will, as this woman says, you will be a hottie.” Pelletier that younger women found their looks intimi- found while some dated men, or felt societal pressures to be a certain way, others felt the pressure to be perfect increased with age. And while women arte expected to be sexual con- querors, the men Pelletier interviewed felt overly sexual women to be a turnoff. “Despite all the gains we’ve made— and we’ve come a long way—women still have such trouble accepting themselves, liking themselves and not beating up on themselves, feeling sure of themselves,” Pelletier says. While blatant oppression is no longer prevalent and women are, by and large, given opportunities equal to men, the work that still needs to be done is the most difficult of all because, as Pelletier says, the problems are invisible. It’s easier to tackle a brick wall because you can look at the brick wall and say, “We have to tear it down.” But when there’s nothing to really point at except attitudes, or things that go unsaid, subtle nuances, it’s harder to tackle. But I think women should just look inside and see if they feel perfectly happy with themselves. Sex, Truth and Videotape airs Mondays at 10pm on CBC Newsworld. You are not alone The Students’ Union’s Pride Collective provides resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students at the college. The Collective meets Thursdays at 3:00 in room 328 in the students’ union building at the New Westminster Campus. All lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, questioning and allied students are welcome. Douglas Students’ Union Canadian Federation of Students Local 18 March 2/2005