Oil of OMG you must be joking...

This may surprise you, but I wasn't born yesterday. I say this because I want to establish that I am not naive, nor am I new to the ways of the world. I'm a feminist, after all. I'm well versed in the reality of our media saturated society and our quest to buy, buy, buy.

But for some reason, a commercial I saw last night for this really struck a nerve.

I had heard of womyn wanting to "plump" up their lips with collagen because it is a scientific fact that womyn's lips thin with age. Full lips translate into youth and fertility and therefore thin lips = old hag. And in our youth obsessed culture, this makes sense (in a tragic, tragic way).

But this Oil of Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Lip Treatment doesn't plump up your lips. It gets rid of the wrinkles on your lips. Yes that's right ladies. The "vertical lines" to be more precise. There is only one thing to say to that: Good Lord Have Mercy.

It's bad enough that "pro-beauty" Dove advertised deodorant for womyn that "smoothed" their underarms so that they were no longer ashamed to wear tanktops and show them off. Thanks to Oil of Olay, your armpits are the least of your problems.

Add that to the lovely statistic that the average womyn will consume 4 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime and you've got yourself a sticky situation.

Moral of the story: Embrace your "wrinkled" lips. When your tas-tas are down to your knees, they'll be the least of your worries anyway.

&*@# Weather vane!

As a powernerd extraordinaire, I love nothing more than to watch Question Period. You know, those few hours in the middle of the afternoon when a bunch of grown men (and let's face it, womyn only represent 21% of Parliament) yell at each other across a room and pound on their desks like imbeciles. The truth is, I love to watch it for the content because I'm a politics buff (Shocking, I know) but the immaturity grates on my nerves.

These are grown adults who are democratically elected to represent US. I don't know about you, but when I disagree with someone, I don't pound on a table while yelling "SHAME"! But hey, maybe that's just me.

The maturity level is so low in Quebec, for instance, that certain words have been banned from question period. Classy words such as "pig", "buffoon" and "liar" apparently, but I doubt that last one is enforced because sometimes, you just call a spade a spade. Now when grown men need to be legally sanctionned not to call another grown man a pig, there's a problem. But that's not the problem that politicians in Quebec are currently upset about. No no. Politicians in Quebec are upset about weather vanes.

That's right. Weather vanes.

It seems the Liberal premier of Quebec has referred to ADQ leader Mario Dumont as a "weather vane" or "girouette" in French. Reason? The guy is about as consistent as the weather. Clever? I thought so. Hey, this is the same party that refers to the economic development minister as "Good Time Charlie" because of his too-good-to-be-true outlook. But apparently, Quebec legislature president Michel Bissonnet isn't down with their sense of humour.

So what are they doing? Instead of concentrating on where Canada stands in Iraq, our killing of Mother Nature, the rise of fundamentalism in Quebec, racism, world peace, etc the Quebec legislature has just banned the word weather vane from Question Period. But no worries, it's only banned from Question Period. So he can still call him that in interviews or on the street.

That's right ladies and gentlemen of Quebec. Your hard earned tax dollars are being spent on disciplining a bunch of immature old dudes who use meteorological terms inappropriately.

A slap on the wrist for you Mr. Charest and an Oh SNAP from me.


P.S As I've said before, sometimes these people make it too easy for me...

The times, they are NOT a changin'

Sorry to let you down Bob Dylan but it appears to be business as usual in Ontario today. Instead of giving skeaze bag McGuinty the boot, Ontarians thought "Hey, let's give him more power instead!" giving the Liberals a majority government. And then if that weren't enough, they decided to vote against the MMP voting system, futhering the chances of same-old, same-old. Although I live in Ontario, I say they because I did not in fact, vote this way at all. As someone who not only lives in Ontario but in Dalton McGuinty's very riding, I had a lot to lose yesterday and lose I did.

Even beloved New Democrat MPP Will Murray didn't win a seat; although it was said he would and results showed that he almost won. But almost only counts for horseshoes and car accidents and politics are more of the train wreck variety.

And so today is a solemn day as I hang my head in sadness at the thought that I live in a province that is apparently in love with high tuition fees, measly benefits for the differently-abled and a pathetic record of dealing with gun violence, gender equality and poverty.

Maybe what I need to get through the next four years is less Bob Dylan and more Puff the Magic Dragon...

Trauma-Rama

There's a story of intense complexity emerging out of Manitoba right now.

It's incredibly complicated but what I wish to focus on here is this: A former soldier, who had served in Bosnia, admitted to having sexually assaulted a 14 year old girl upon his return to Canada. He was let off without jail time because his lawyers argued that he suffered from post-traumatic-stress disorder (Good o'l PTSD). Now, they are ordering a new trial because apparently his previous lawyers had failed to prove that he did in fact suffer from PTSD. So right now there's a re-trial.

This case is important because it's the first time someone successfully used war-related PTSD as a defense and won. This is important to note because:

In 2003, an Alberta judge rejected PTDS as a defence for a former soldier who rammed his sport-utility vehicle into a military office and assaulted a military police officer.

Now... I have many many critiques of the medical model of care, especially in issues of sexual assault. But those are for another time and another day. My issue here is hum...

- Man comes back from war, rams his car into a military structure and assaults an officer and this is deemed NOT RELATED TO HIS TIME AT WAR

- But, buddy sexually assaults his friend's 14 year old daughter and that is deemed completely related to PTSD.

Someone stop this train wreck and explain that to me.

Now I'm not naive and I do know quite a bit about PTSD and even more about the critiques of it (mostly how it's a giant umbrella term thrown over everything that ranges from war to incest). But I have a really, really hard time understanding how this guy was able to prove that going to war, and in this case Bosnia which relatively speaking, was pretty tame for the Canadian soldiers, made him sexually assault an innocent Canadian girl. Especially considering the events he said led him to become so scarred for life are now being dis-proven. Buddy didn't even have proof that the events he claimed made him go loco even occurred.

This case is so unbelievably complicated. Did he, in fact suffer from PTSD? Can PTSD make you sexually assault someone, considering the trauma this man claims to have been suffering from was not in fact sexual in nature? As in, he didn't suffer PTSD from ritual abuse or incest, he witnessed the desolation of Bosnia. And if he did suffer from PTSD and it was (although I highly doubt it) the reason for his assault, who's responsible? The Canadian government for sending him there? The military recruitment office, for encouraging him to be there in the first place?

Who is truly responsible in this case? And is that what even matters?

*ponder*

Not just for Gramma's candy dish

When I think of the colour pink, I think of those round pink mint candies that used to reside in my nanna's crystal candy dish. You know, the ones that taste like Pepto-Bismol? Well now, the colour pink has taken on a whole new meaning for yours truly.

Two male high school students heard about a grade 9 student at their school who got picked on for wearing a pink polo shirt the first day of school. The usual male target insults of "fag" and "pussy" because pink is for the ladies only, don't you know? Not content to stand back and let the homophobic (and misogynistic) insults fly, they decided to take action.

The next day, they showed up with 50 pink shirts and handed them out to students all over the school. They decided to take a stand against bullying and no doubt, the kid who was bullied was overwhelmed at the outcry his abuse was getting.

Alright, this story is the shit on its own. Hello awesome! However, it gets better because the story has caught on and schools all over are having "Pink Days". And I mean, let's face it, it's a brilliant idea. It's cheap, easy and something that doesn't require much work or resources. One simple action creates a ripple effect and sets a tone for bullies out there.

Of course the cynic in me is bitter that there's no direct gender component to this activism and no challenge to the idea of pink = womyn = bad, but baby steps I say, baby steps.

And here you were, thinking I was Debbie Downer who always focused on the negative. *tisk* *tisk* I say.

Screw the night, let's take back everything!

Tonight is the annual Take Back the Night March here in Canada's capital of O-Town. And it's a damn good thing. Because one look at the local newspapers makes me sick to my stomach.

- We have the trial of a Nunavut womyn who was sexually assaulted when visiting Ottawa.

- We finally have a suspect in the gang rapes of two university students at York University.

- We have a strange turn of events where the investigation into one student's vicious stabbing death in Toronto uncovers the story of a grade 9 student who was sexually assaulted.

- We have a 15 yr old boy on trial for viciously murdering a 14 year old Montreal girl.

- We have the trial of a man who ran an underage prostitution ring.

- We have the crown seeking the "dangerous offender" label for a teacher who has sexually assaulted his young female students. This is not the first time he is being charged with this crime.

- We have a new composite sketch in the murder of 7 month pregnant Kelly Morrisseau.

Oh and just yesterday, two womyn in separate instances were abducted and sexually assaulted in Ottawa. And, we're still looking for the scumbag that sexually assaulted and left for dead a Carleton University student.

And yet people question why I am a feminist. They question the Take Back the Night March. Myself, I question why we're settling for taking back the night. Logistically, only 3 of the above cases occurred at night. In the case of the womyn abducted just yesterday in Ottawa, a 14 year old girl was abducted at 7:45Am in front of Parliament Hill.

So tonight, I shall march side by side with others who understand that THIS IS NOT OKAY.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

What time is that you ask? Election Time of course!

Usually we are hounded with ridiculous attack ads and broken promises. But this year, all that jolly good stuff is drowned out by the debate on Muslim womyn. Yes, muslim womyn.

Now usually I would say "YEAH! Womyn are making the issues during election time!" but alas, not this time around. Instead, there has been a hell storm of a recent decision by Elections Quebec to allow Muslim womyn to keep their faces concealed while going to the polling stations. This inflamed o'le Stevie Harper and he shot back that it was against Parliamentary rules, it reduces the democratic process, same rules for everyone, etc.

He claims that his biggest beef is that everyone else has to show proper ID and so why the preferential treatment? Well, apparently Mr Harper isn't totally aware of the rules himself because you can vote through the mail, which obviously doesn't require that you show your face, right? So when it comes to this issue, Harper is obviously not wanting to keep the rules equal for everyone, he's just not content with lady folk. Muslim lady folk in particular.

However, believe it or not, this isn't my issue here. What strikes me the most is that this story is everywhere. Everyone and their neighbour (and their neighbour's blind dog) is getting in on this story, reporting it like crazy. Yet hum... anyone think of asking Muslim womyn what they think? Well after hunting and hunting, it was the beloved institution that is the Canadian Broadcasting Commission that came through for me.

Sarah Elgazzar, spokeswoman with The Council on American Islamic Relations Canada says only a small number of Muslim women wear the niqab or burka, and they have never asked for special treatment, Elgazzar said.

Afifa Naz, an engineer in Montreal, wears a niqab but uderstands there are situations in which she must unveil. "This is not something we demand," she told CBC News. "We can accommodate the needs of society while practising our religion." Naz said she's always taken off her niqab to identify herself before voting, and also removes it when passing through airport security or border crossings.

Oh and the best of all,

The majority of Muslim women in Quebec don't wear niqabs, and none are on record as asking Elections Quebec for the right to vote without showing their faces.

So let me get this straight: Muslim womyn who wear burqas and niqabs, the womyn in question in this situation, had no problem with the status quo but everyone else apparently felt like their opinion meant something. Apparently, the white man knows more about Muslim womyn's needs than Muslim womyn themselves. So they created a shit storm that is now affecting everyone but helping no one.

My head hurts.

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss tacky attack ads. At least their lunacy and lack of importance was blatant.