As promised, here is the little radio piece I put together about the convention. It contains a bit of Jim Sinclair’s speech and part of an interview with MLA Gregor Robertson. If it’s a little rough, it’s because it’s my first.
Archive for the 'feminism' Category
18
Nov
BC NDP Convention
This afternoon I attended the British Columbia NDP convention in Vancouver for an assignment. The big story of the day was the resolution to increase female representation in the party by making sure that a certain percentage of candidates in the next election are women. The resolution itself is a little more complex, but that’s its essential part. I thought it an interesting move for a political party - to basically integrate an affirmative action policy. This is done informally on every level of government, I suspect, but to make it official policy is a big step.
The resolution was passed with a significant majority. I’m sure if you look it up tomorrow morning, exact numbers will be all over the papers. Frankly, I don’t know how people managed to count. We all popped up from our little media corner to see, but all I could get was a rough estimate of 4/5 or so of the candidates. Then again, I’m pretty short. The next election should be worth watching to see how successfully this policy gets carried out.
The NDP also voted and approved their environmental policy package, which was roundly endorsed by visiting speaker Thomas Homer Dixon . This could have a significant impact in the years to come as well, though it is probably less interesting from a purely political standpoint.
I managed to grab some fun audio, including an interview with MLA Gregor Robertson, which I might post up here once it’s all downloaded and packaged. I’ll probably post the story I do anyway - assuming it gets a good mark.
EDIT: Here’s the link to my post with that bit of audio.
18
Jul
Girls Gone Mild
“Traditional feminism has been utterly incapable of dealing with problems that girls are facing. They are so committed to the idea that that we have to be like men and that any differences between the sexes are socially constructed the result has been extremely unhealthy for girls. Let’s be clear: A lot of men are wonderful, but it’s the adolescent male that the third-wave feminists are now imitating.”
This quote comes from an article in today’s Toronto Star that profiles Wendy Shalit, author of a new and somewhat controversial book, Girls Gone Mild. This book seems to be getting a lot of attention (and marketing!) with several articles, a website, and even a blogged debate featuring Shalit and sex columnist Dan Savage, among others.
In her books, Shalit encourages young women to embrace modesty and expresses doubts with what she thinks is the feminist belief that being overtly sexual empowers women.
Okay, I haven’t read the book. I have taken a look at the various websites. I don’t think I agree with her overall message, but she probably makes a few good points. I do think girls are over-sexualized these days and, as she says, it is very likely that a few of them aren’t comfortable with it. I’m sure too though that there are those who are quite comfortable, and also that there are those who find their own happy medium and don’t buy in to either extreme: extreme modesty or extreme sexuality.
Anyway, in the interest of exposing people to various viewpoints, I’m writing this blog entry and providing all the links above. Take a look if you’re so inclined. I promise, if I find a really good sex-positive story in the news I’ll feature it in the blog too. Help is always appreciated, as I don’t see many in the mainstream media. I am an avid reader of Dan Savage’s weekly column though, so that blog linked above (and here too, why not) was pretty interesting to me.
