Call Out: Waves of Resistance: Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering

Hey PRD, are you attending the Young Feminists' [url=http://www.rebelles2008.org/en/node]'Waves of Resistance' Gathering[/url] this weekend in Montreal? Any chance that you - or someone else - will keep us updated daily?
The buzz around town is that it's going to be AWESOME, with already 600 confirmed attendants from all over Canada and dozens of bilingual workshops ([url=http://www.tcmfm.ca/fichiers_tcmfm/documents/Ateliers_th%E9matiques.doc]... descriptions[/url] and [url=http://www.rebelles2008.org/en/program]English program[/url]), over 3 days!...
Great weather too and a kickass music evening at the Medley bar downtown Sunday evening, with Anglo and Franco performers!!!

quote:

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Grand spectacle fйministe

DIMANCHE 12 OCTOBRE POUR LE RASSEMBLEMENT PANCANADIEN DES JEUNES
FЙMINISTES Toujours RebELLEs!

Chиres fйministes de tous вges, de toutes rйgions et de tout acabit !

Vous кtes toutes cordialement invitйes au grand spectacle fйministe non-mixte le dimanche 12 octobre lors de la fin de semaine du Rassemblement pancanadien des jeunes fйministes Toujours RebELLEs! qui aura lieu а Montrйal.

Ce spectacle haut en couleur et en talent permettra а toutes les participantes de Toujours RebELLEs! et leurs alliйes de 35 ans et plus de faire la fкte ensemble ! Sur scиne vous retrouverez des artistes de la scиne canadienne en danse, en chant, en thйвtre et en poйsie ! Sous peu, vous recevrez la programmation de cette soirйe inoubliable.
OЩ : Medley, 1170 rue St-Denis а Montrйal - 514-842-6557

QUAND : Dimanche 12 octobre; Les portes ouvrent а 18h30; Le spectacle commence а 20h

QUI : Toutes femmes s'intйressant de prиs ou de loin aux valeurs fйministes

COMBIEN : Les billets seront en vente а la porte en contribution volontaire suggйrйe de 11.50$, mais toutes femmes йtant dans l'impossibilitй de fournir le montant demandй peuvent faire une contribution volontaire du montant qu'elles dйsirent.

А noter que toutes les participantes йtant inscrites au rassemblement ne paieront pas l'entrйe pour le spectacle, les frais d'inscription comprennent les frais d'entrйe au spectacle !

Si vous avez des questions, n'hйsitez pas а nous contacter au 514-876-0166, poste 262.

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There is even car pooling from various regions like GTA and billeting so wimmyn folks have no excuse for not showing up!!!

[ 09 October 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]

BCG- weren't you going to volunteer ?

[b]Sunday[/b]

On Sunday morning we started off with some radical cheerleaders leading a cheer (AWESOME AND FUN !). After, the international speakers began. The guests were from the Philippines,Brazil and South African, and spoke about the situation in their countries, then a question period. The Philippina spoke about issues surrounding poverty, US army bases and their negative effects on neighborhoods and women, professionals leaving the country to become domestic workers in Canada and the resulting lack of professionals to run schools, hospitals & difficulties/abuse they sometimes suffer. The Brazilian guest spoke about the sexual objectification of Latina women and its effects, the general political situation of Latin America, the fact that abortion is illegal in Brazil. The South African guest spoke of the fact that although apartheid is gone, there are still division between the different groups (ethnic, gender), the fact that there are young women getting pregnant on purpose because there is a tradition that if a man gets a woman pregnant he has to pay her family- before in livestock but now in money. She also translated a kick ass expression- I don't recall it exactly, but it was something about slapping a woman is like slapping a rock- in other words, they are determined to make change, they will succeed regardless. I apologize for the fast description- I feel I should have taken notes now. However then entire thing was filmed, and maybe it will be available somewhere, it's really worth watching.
After a 15 minute break ( we were always slightly off schedule despite best efforts and the use of a time keeper due to the discussions were good!) we all went to our individual workshops on the rise of the right.My group discussed what the right wing was (Harper was mentioned of course), and its effects. We brought up abortion rights and access, the content of education, the authoritarian nature of the way kids are taught (I speak you listen), alternative education. A woman from the Miss G project was there and brought up the important related point that the way teachers are trained has to be changed as well. The subject of the right wing media was also brought up, and the value of alternative news media was brought up (i.e sites like rabble !). As for strategies for action- we definitely all agreed to vote !It was a good discussion, and I think I put in some good points [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
After lunch, we reconvened all together on the same topic, and what to do with the manifesto.

[b]Monday[/b]

Monday morning started with the manifesto committee presented the draft of the rebelles 2008 manifesto. The rest of the conference was dedicated to making the manifesto as inclusive as possible via input from discussion in Anglo/francophone groups and then coming back together after lunch going paragraphs by paragraph. There was allot of discussion and dissent, and we finished 2 hours late. The document as I understand it should be on the website, in French and English by the end of this week.

One of the main challenges of this conference i think was the English/French translation issues provided some real difficulties. I wouldn't have thought that there was such and English/French divide in Canada in 2008, or even Quebec but this conference has convinced me otherwise. Another challenge I think was time- would that the conference had been a day or two longer, or even in the summer would have been great, our discussions would not have been so rushed, and there would have been more participants, although of course those registered already exceed expectations. The gathering was pretty diverse, and the final version of the manifesto hopefully reflects that- if it is to be the voice of young feminists across and a political tool in Canada, it must be.
This conference was great, it enabled me to talk to to other young feminists whom I would otherwise never have met, and exchange emails with one or two that may be useful later on. I really hope that the website of this conference becomes a meeting place of discussion as planned, an information exchange on organizations and actions to keep things going.

[ 14 October 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]

[ 14 October 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]

The Manifesto!

We are the young RebELLEs who have answered a feminist call and we are proud to call ourselves feminists. We recognize that there are multiple interpretations of feminism and we celebrate and integrate this diversity. We are committed to the continual expansion of the plurality of our voices. We are committed to an ongoing process of critical self-reflection to inform and transform our movement. We acknowledge the historical exclusion of "Othered" women by the majority Western feminist movement. We strive to learn from the past, honour the struggles of our foremothers and continue to dream for the future. We value the allies of feminism who support us in our fight for equity and justice.
We are women of diverse abilities, ethnicities, origins, sexualities, identities, class backgrounds, ages and races. Among us are employed, underemployed and unemployed women, mothers, students, dropouts, artists, musicians and women in the sex trade. We state that transfolks, two-spirited and intersexed people are integral to our movement and recognize and respect gender fluidity and support the right to self-identify. Our women-only spaces include everyone who self-identifies and lives as a woman in society.
We are told that feminism is over and outdated. If this were true then we wouldn't need to denounce the fact that:
In reality, many of the demands of our feminist mothers and grandmothers remain unmet. Women continue to be the victims of sexual violence. Our communities are haunted by the silence that follows these assaults. Throughout Canada, in spite of our right to it, access to abortion services remains insufficient. Across Canada as well, colonized, marginalized, racialized and disabled women are coerced and/or forced to undergo unwanted or uninformed abortions, forced to use contraception and are subjected to forced sterilization. The hyper-sexualization of women in the media has taught us to view women as sexual objects rather than complete human beings. Getting off, lesbianism and being queer are taboo and a women's choice to seek sexual pleasure is seen as negative. Our identities are eroded as we are taught, from the time we are children, and through television and magazines, that how we should look, dress, and act is determined by our sex. Violence is normalized, sexual abuse eroticized. Our sexual health education is inadequate and our reproductive rights are disrespected. Our needs are not being met.
In reality, women still represent the majority of the underprivileged. Our government steals children from poor and Aboriginal women. Capitalism exploits working-class women and confines middle- and upper-class women to "consumer" roles. We are told that equality has been achieved, but still the wage gap persists. Immigrant women are denied acknowledgment of their academic credentials and are forced to endure intolerable work environments in order to stay on Canadian soil. We lack affordable and accessible childcare. Women remain underpaid, underappreciated, and undervalued in the work force. We have gained the right to vote, yet gender-based discrimination keeps women virtually unrepresented in political office.
In this globalized world, we must construct international feminist solidarity. The actions of Canadian political and economic elites harm women around the world, and in a way that is specifically gender-related. War, genocide and militarization are characterized by the use of rape as a war weapon, femicide, and the sexual exploitation of thousands of our sisters. Free trade contributes to women's increasing social, economic and cultural insecurity. In response to Canadian imperialism, we will globalize our feminist solidarity.
In this so-called post-feminist world, our roles in society are still defined by traditional views on gender. Religious and political forces aimed at maintaining the pillars of power in our society silence us from voicing our rights. We denounce the current rise of right-wing ideology in Canadian society and the steps backward in women's rights that this has caused. We are being stripped of rights for which those who came before us fought hard. Geography marginalizes women, with remote, northern and rural women lacking access to basic services. Showing solidarity with our sisters means trying to understand all of the issues we face - including race, class and gender - and standing together against oppression.
Finally, we denounce the dismissal of the feminist movement as redundant. Our struggle is not over. We will be post-feminists when we have post-patriarchy.
Feminists Unite!
DOWN WITH the colonial legacy of genocide and assimilation of Aboriginal peoples, particularly of Aboriginal women
DOWN WITH the sexism and racism of the Indian Act
DOWN WITH dishonoured treaties
DOWN WITH assimilation
DOWN WITH racial profiling
DOWN WITH Canada's fake multicultural policy
DOWN WITH warmongers & military power
DOWN WITH racist child welfare policies
DOWN WITH stereotypes in the media
DOWN WITH genocide and femicide
DOWN WITH stealing women and children
DOWN WITH COLONIALISM
RebELLEs AGAINST banks for hijacking the world
RebELLEs AGAINST drug companies for institutionalizing women's health
RebELLEs AGAINST public spaces that don't accommodate all bodies
RebELLEs AGAINST development that destroys nature
RebELLEs AGAINST the class system that keeps us impoverished and deprives us of safe, affordable housing
RebELLEs AGAINST the state that forces other countries to adopt the capitalist system
RebELLEs AGAINST the devaluation of women's paid and unpaid work
RebELLEs AGAINST corporations for making money off our backs
RebELLEs AGAINST the advertisers who destroy our self- esteem and then sell it back to us
RebELLEs AGAINST CAPITALISM
RISE AGAINST the industries that cause us to hate our bodies and our sexuality
RISE AGAINST heterosexism that makes it seem that there is only one way of living, loving and being sexual
RISE AGAINST the socialization of children in gender binaries, race categories and colonial erasures
RISE AGAINST the education that reinforces the heteronormative nuclear family
RISE AGAINST the religious Right and its influence on State policy and legislation
RISE AGAINST rape and violence against women
RISE AGAINST the objectification and control of women's bodies
RISE AGAINST all anti-choice bills, laws and strategies
RISE AGAINST the sexual division of labour
RISE AGAINST poverty and women's economic disadvantage and dependency
RISE AGAINST income support programs based on family status instead of individual status
RISE AGAINST masculinists, their false claims and demagogic arguments
RISE AGAINST sexual exploitation
RISE AGAINST PATRIARCHY
We envision communities committed to:
Ю Eradicating all forms of violence – including sexual, institutional, emotional, economic, physical, cultural, racial, colonial, ageist and ableist
Ю Challenging all forms of oppression, power and privilege
Ю Recognizing that others' struggles against oppression cannot be separated from one's own, because all people are intrinsically; and being conscious of how one fits into the different structures of oppression while fighting to eliminate them all
Ю Freeing our children and ourselves from the gender binary
Ю Building institutions and structures that promote the principles of Justice, Peace & Equality
Ю Eliminating economic inequality
Ю Funding and supporting affordable, accessible childcare, and the economic freedom to mother in the way we choose
Ю Learning and teaching true herstory and histories of our victories and struggles, especially those of women of colour and Aboriginal women
Ю Fighting the stigma and shame of mental health and psychiatric survivors and supporting their struggles

We will: Change our attitude: get pissed off, refuse, resist, walk out, speak up!
We will: Transform our daily lives and relationships: actions can take place in small interactions
We will: Encourage people to learn about, care for and love themselves and their bodies
We will: Support safe and accessible space for individuals to define and express themselves without fear of judgement
We will: Create alternatives, write poetry, articles, letters, make art
We will: Join with others, find common ground, build community, create feminist spaces and gatherings, raise awareness, educate, spread the word
We will: Believe that a better world is possible and work to achieve it

We will: Organize and struggle: build alliances with existing feminist groups and create new ones, fight together in solidarity, be seen and be heard, disrupt, trouble, destabilize established powers, become culture jammers
We will: Build solidarity based on the commonality of our diverse struggles and perspectives
We will: Value people rather than profits
We will: Demand massive State reinvestment in social programs and the end of privatization
We will: Organize pan-Canadian decentralized days of feminist action against the rise of the Right
We will: Protest and resist sexist bills and laws that threaten our reproductive rights, racist immigration laws, war, free trade, repression, the criminalization of political movements, corporate exploitation and plunder of the earth, and violence against women
We will: Champion safety, respect, justice, freedom, equality and SOLIDARITY!

This manifesto was adopted at the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering Toujours RebELLEs / Waves of Resistance, Montreal, October 13, 2008.
It is a call to action!
Find out more, get involved!
[url=http://www.rebelles2008.org]www.rebelles2008.org[/url]
[email protected]

Not my call - but you could send it to editor AT rabble DOT ca with your suggestion. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]

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The feminist movement in Canada recently got a new boost of energy and inspiration from the Waves of Resistance Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering which took place from October 10-13, 2008 in Montreal. Over five hundred young women from Canada and Quebec gathered to discuss, share, and organize collectively against sexism, racism, and the rise of the right.

During workshops at the gathering young women explored a wide range of issues that affect their lives from the intersections of sexism and racism to motherhood and feminism to women‘s sexuality. Every workshop was followed by a creative resistance workshop, in which the participants planned – and undertook – a public direct action The actions ranged from street theatre to sidewalk chalk denouncing lack of access to abortion to radical cheerleading. The streets of Montreal crackled that evening with the energy of feminist action.

The gathering also featured representatives of World March of Women from South Africa, the Philippines, and Brazil. One of the strongest messages that came from the international speakers was the need for international solidarity between feminists. When asked how white women from North American can be allies of women of the south, the speaker from Brazil responded, “Don’t feel guilty feel indignant!”

One of the most important things to come from the gathering was a strong commitment and desire from the participants to continue the work of the gathering. A Young Feminist Manifesto was adopted by participants which declared (among other things) “Down with Colonialism, Rebelles against capitalism, Rise against Patriarchy”. The specific demands of the manifesto were drawn from in-depth discussions held at the gatherings about the way participants lives have been affected by the rise of anti-feminism and the growing strength of the political right. An overwhelming message from the discussion groups was that in order to change our lives, we must work to change the world. - [url=http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=1740]Source[/url]

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Hey PRD, sorry I was away... In reponse to your question, when you want to put something up on Netfemmes, you can either subscribe at [url=http://netfemmes.cdeacf.ca/les_listes/listes.php?laliste=netfemmes]http:... or send your material to Katherine McNaughton-Osler at [email protected]
The French version of the Manifesto was posted on Netfemmes on October 23rd, along with the [url=http://www.rebelles2008.org/fr]Rebelles 2008[/url] URL.

Never mind

[ 31 October 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]

Isn't that the same document [url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=24&t=001365#0... posted[/url]?

PRD asked: "There's no english equivalent of netfemmes in quebec is there ?"
Hey, any chance of you volunteering to start one? It is a rather simple task and would fill a big need. The only equivalent is PAR-L ([email protected]), for all of Canada, and less grassrootsy.