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NDP leadership campaign: feminist perspectives
Thu, 2011-12-29 14:15
#1
writer
NDP leadership campaign: feminist perspectives
Thu, 2011-12-29 14:26
#2
writer
I find myself mulling over a lot that ottawaobserver has recently posted.
Particularly:
http://rabble.ca/comment/1304800
http://rabble.ca/comment/1304831
Perhaps we're due for an explicitly feminist discussion of the race, the candidates, the debates, etc. Does anyone agree?
Thu, 2011-12-29 23:16
#3
RevolutionPlease
Thanks writer, I won't contribute but I'm very appreciative of the educational opportunity. Much more needs to be said about this. Perhaps I will contribute but I feel the analysis about the alpha male dominance is neccesary.
Thu, 2011-12-29 23:23
#4
RevolutionPlease
And perhaps you can help me? I'm pretty sure you're liking Romeo Saganash. I have him, Peggy Nash and Nikki Ashton top 3 on my ballot. I feel like a bad feminist for liking Romeo first, Nikki second and Peggy third.
I really should keep my mouth shut for awhile.
Thu, 2011-12-29 23:29
#5
writer
Thanks for the positive vibes, RP! I'm liking all 3, but yes, Romeo is my first pick. Not sure if I'll be getting into why right off the bat.
Right now I'm wrapping my head around the latest Globe and Mail article, with Topp ripping into Mulcair.
Thu, 2011-12-29 23:48
#6
RevolutionPlease
I'd say do tell writer with a link (Topp & Mulcair) but I'm not up for that catfight.
There will be plenty of grist to chew on if they ever give the females a chance.
And then that'll easily change to BUT Alexa McDonough or whomever, I'm almost young.
I'm just an optimist and naive but I believe in the vision of Saganash, Ashton and Nash.
I'm sick of the old tired white males.
My justification for Saganash in the feminist forum is that I think he is the only Quebecois candidate speaking for women and everyone. Some of these men need to realize that the NDP's strength is borne from women.
And I think it's important to choose a leader who can resonate with Quebec.
Fri, 2011-12-30 00:09
#7
RevolutionPlease
Ya. Overidden by males over there. Phew, I just got back. I apologize immensely for any intrusion.
But I really need THIS particular discussion to take off. I'm not so invested in the swinging contest over there.
Fri, 2011-12-30 00:51
#8
Speaking as a man raised in a rather feminist family, I'd be interested in seeing what comes up here too. Most if not all the men in this contest have certainly been influenced by strong, successful women in their lives as well - Paul Dewar's mother comes to mind, for example.
Fri, 2011-12-30 01:00
#9
RevolutionPlease
Bah! Strong mother. More mysoginist claptrap. I say that with a strong mother! ;)
Fri, 2011-12-30 01:08
#10
RevolutionPlease
And forgive me for sounding rude. The campaign rhetoric set me off. Are you really going to rally for guys in the feminism forum?
Fri, 2011-12-30 11:12
#11
Bah! Strong mother. More mysoginist claptrap. I say that with a strong mother! ;)
Well not just any strong mother - a mayor, activist and MP. That's got to be a big influence.
And forgive me for sounding rude. The campaign rhetoric set me off. Are you really going to rally for guys in the feminism forum?
No, because I am not well-versed on how to argue anything from a feminist perspective. I'm sure there are arguments that could promote the candidacy of any of the 8, but I'm just here to listen.
After all, I wouldn't want to come across as this guy: http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-finally-put-in-charge-of-struggling-feminist-m,2338/
Fri, 2011-12-30 13:43
#12
laine lowe
Marion Dewar was never an MP. She was the President of the NDP and she ran in Ottawa Centre for the Ontario NDP in the 1995 election. Despite her great credentials, she was soundly defeated in the massive backlash against Bob Rae.
My order of preference has Romeo first, followed by Nikki and Peggy.
Fri, 2011-12-30 13:55
#13
writer
What role, if any, is feminism playing as you assess the candidates, laine? ottawaobserver has commented on the gender gap, and how it might apply to each hopeful. Any thoughts?
Fri, 2011-12-30 14:30
#14
Marion Dewar was never an MP.
Hamilton-Mountain 1987-1988
Fri, 2011-12-30 15:08
#15
I would think that if you put a premium on candidates who at least eschew conventional competitiveness, then Dewar belongs in there with the other three.
This would not drop them out of my top consideration, but I can see that the other 4 guys do not make the cut.
I would suggest that feminists who have a disinclination to Paul Dewar- it is likely on other grounds. Like, but not necessarily limited to, his foreign policy role. In other words, premium on some combination of feminist criteria notwithstanding, do not like Dewar's politics.
Does that sound reasonable?
Fri, 2011-12-30 16:06
#16
Any impressions of Cullen from a feminist perspective? I remember when I saw him speak in Vancouver it was the night the Gitxan/Enbridge deal had been announced, and he talked about the feedback he'd had from several aboriginal communities in his riding on this issue and others, with a particular emphasis on women and how they are affected by poverty and environmental degradation. Then again, Cullen says he wouldn't bring back the gun registry... (but nor would Ashton).
Fri, 2011-12-30 16:08
#17
writer
A tip: I feel pretty much squeezed out of this thread. "Feminist" isn't code for "needs direction and prompting from the guys." Thanks.
Fri, 2011-12-30 16:17
#18
laine lowe
What role, if any, is feminism playing as you assess the candidates, laine? ottawaobserver has commented on the gender gap, and how it might apply to each hopeful. Any thoughts?
For me, it's not just a question of gender gap, although that is always a consideration.
There's something about Romeo's world view that strikes me as very compassionate and contemplative. I also appreciate his non-aggressive approach to speaking his mind. Some of have criticized this as being down to his being a poor debater or lacking proficiency in English. I don't see it that way at all.
He reminds me of a well respected Elder I know who has the heart of a giant, a brilliant mind and an incredible wit. In the latter's case, you listen to each word because they are all chosen carefully, and often what strikes you as a story, comes full circle with the most salient point punctuating it. If the policies Romeo proposes are beneficial to women, children and others marginalized by our current political and economic structures, I will continue to support him.
One concern I do have for both Romeo and Nikki is their position on the gun registry or the need for gun control.
Fri, 2011-12-30 16:18
#19
laine lowe
Marion Dewar was never an MP.
Hamilton-Mountain 1987-1988
Really? That was a brief stint. I didn't even know she moved to Hamilton.
Fri, 2011-12-30 19:43
#20
A tip: I feel pretty much squeezed out of this thread. "Feminist" isn't code for "needs direction and prompting from the guys." Thanks.
Entirely valid. I don't have any answers for this thread but I thought it relevant to ask a question. There's only so much I can learn about feminism by only asking men about it :)
Fri, 2011-12-30 20:06
#21
writer
Listening. Simply listening. And patience. Simply patience.
These are excellent and rewarding skills.
Fri, 2011-12-30 21:16
#22
laine lowe
I really have to add that I don't think any of the candidates' positions have actually fleshed out issues that are of interest from a feminist perspective. Once again, items like pay equity, safeguarding reproductive rights, going to bat for immigrant women, addressing domestic abuse and access to weapons, addressing income disparaity from how it impacts women, etc seem to have been heaved into the dump pile of secondary issues.
Fri, 2011-12-30 21:38
#23
writer
Housing, child care, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ... CRIAW has a fact sheet on Women and Restructuring in Canada. Gosh, it would be great to get these issues back into the conversation.
Sat, 2011-12-31 08:21
#24
Writer and laine, would you please explain to me why/how those issues have been dropped from the conversation. Feminism has lost a lot of support in the process.
Sat, 2011-12-31 10:29
#25
writer
You seem to misunderstand the mandate of this forum. I repeat:
A tip: I feel pretty much squeezed out of this thread. "Feminist" isn't code for "needs direction and prompting from the guys." Thanks.
At what point does it get despressing? I'd say right about now.
Sat, 2011-12-31 12:38
#26
Writer and laine, would you please explain to me why/how those issues have been dropped from the conversation. Feminism has lost a lot of support in the process.
Gaian, to you and the other men who feel a need to contribute in the feminist forum without understanding its mandate, this would be my advice:
Listen. Then listen some more. Resist the urge to frame things in the male perspective and listen a bit more. If after repeatedly listening you still don't understand, then understand this: you do not belong in any feminist discussion in the feminist forum. Go back to dominating the rest of the board and leave feminism to feminists.
Sat, 2011-12-31 13:07
#27
Maysie
Thanks for this, writer.
Housing, child care, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ... CRIAW has a fact sheet on Women and Restructuring in Canada. Gosh, it would be great to get these issues back into the conversation.
Ahem (back on topic).
All issues are women's issues, even if the actual voices of women or the lives of women don't get accounted for in the discussion.
Ya think the economy has nothing to do with women? Or Canada's role in various imperialist wars around the globe? The environment? Employment insurance? Ya think?
As an anti-oppression feminist, my feminism is against kyriarchy. For that and for numerous other reasons, I like Saganash the best for the NDP.
But in truth we need a revolution of thinking, a revolution of action and a paradigm shift of massive proportions to get us out of this mess. I realize that's a bit beyond the federal NDP's leadership search mandate. But, then, why is that so?
Thu, 2012-01-05 01:38
#28
RevolutionPlease
A bit too much too quick for me Maysie. ;) (kyriarchy)
So why don't we ask that and DEMAND it?
And I'm so conflicted with my mutual support for Romeo as a feminist beacon. Perhaps, we're just suckers for fairy tales.
Fri, 2012-01-20 17:13
#29
I'd like to see any discussion of reproductive freedom, of misogyny that's not just limited to the cis, including by NDP governments, of how to narrow all manners of workplace disparities, including the ones where the menz don't do so well on, like worplace fatalities and overtime and employer inflexibility, since, well, you can't fix the pay gap without focusing on the remaining things that drive the pay gap. I don't think that's going to happen though... I think Janice Raymond still has more pull than Julia Serano, but then Flaherty has more pull in the other movement of which I am a disappointed member than Flora MacDonald does. I want a discussion about how to make C-389 law, instead of just passing it to look good and then posturing on heating oil. And if you think that preventing some of the most virulent and naked misogyny that remains in Canadian public life isn't a feminist issue, well, I can only disagree in full-throated terms.
I don't know who I like... because, after the last decade, I don't know who I trust.