Criticism of a recent article by Katie Roiphe on new motherhood is making the rounds in feminist blog-land. Basic premise is that Roiphe looks at her first six weeks of motherhood with a post-feminist lens that conflates motherhood with addiction: new mothers are addicted to both their babies and motherhood. So much so that they’re (she’s) reduced to tears about being separated from her new child.

While nurses, mothers, ECE providers, and academics could go on-and-on about attachment theory and practice, what strikes me most about Roiphe’s article is how flippant she is about feminism and the possible realities for other new moms. Also, she pitches herself against feminists, rather than discuss complexities within feminism and her privilege and access to the feminism she enjoys.

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Today’s post is on Ellie Greenwich, the songwriter who was behind some of the biggest girl group hits of the 1960s, including Be My Baby (The Ronettes) and Leader of the Pack (The Shangri-Las).

Greenwich passed away yesterday at the age of 68, but she’s left behind a huge legacy of rock solid tunes that have shaped the way pop music is made. She was also a female pioneer, one of the few women to work in the famous Brill Building (Carole King was another), that epicentre of pop hits that churned out hand-claps, rhymes involving “maybe” and “baby”, and some of the sweetest songs ever like they were Kraft Dinner.

It’s sad but unsurprising that Phil Spector is often credited as the architect of all those great 60s girl groups (The Crystals, The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las, The Dixie Cups), when in fact it was Greenwich doing most of the songwriting. Phil may have built the Wall of Sound, but it was Ellie who constructed the bricks. Oh yeah, and she never murdered anyone either.

When I was a kid I choreographed a dance to Be My Baby that I would routinely force my parents to watch and admire (they obliged), and I still count on so many of these songs for their ability to make me feel good without going overboard into the land of saccharine mush. They’re so much more than just pop songs, though - they encompass a whole era, a whole style, a whole movement. Big hair! Sincerity to the max! Tragedy with a four-four beat! Dramatic voice-overs! Black women on mainstream radio!

Here are The Crystals with one of my favourite songs of the era, Da Do Ron Ron. Thank you, Ellie Greenwich. You’ll be in my heart heart heart, with your art art art.

More tributes here and here.

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Jordan-na Belle-Isle…

The unstoppable force behind Canadian Invasion, a music management, publicity and touring company, Jordan-na Belle-Isle is managing the music business her way. Driven by a “sheer love of Canadian music”, Jordan-na now handles a roster of varied musicians and bands while continuing to learn everything she can about the business she loves and finding a way to take the industry to the next stage. Jordan-na’s tune is the new sound of the music biz, so listen up!

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Props to Glamour magazine for recognizing a smart move, and going with it.

This September in an article titled What Everyone But You Sees About Your Body Glamour writer Akiba Solomon discusses what frontline workers in the fashion and beauty industry notice about women harshing on their bodies:

“Terms like chunky, huge and gross don’t belong in my store. It’s partly selfish: I don’t want to be influenced by their negativity. Besides, if someone came in and started beating up my customer, I would intervene. The same goes for verbal self-bashing.” - Gyasi Atkins, Saks Fifth Avenue sales associate

The article features this pic of plus-size (size 12) model Lizzi Miller.

Lizzie Miller fills us with joy and shows off her adorable belly. (Walter Chin (Glamour Magazine))

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I thought the answer was “never.”

But a hotel chain and a Canadian university seem to think otherwise.

A woman who was raped in front of her children in the parking garage of a Connecticut Marriott is being called “careless and negligent” in her own rape after filing a lawsuit against the hotel.

Despite being held at gunpoint, and having her children threatened if she didn’t comply with her attacker, the firm that manages the hotel chain said the woman “failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children.”

Earlier in the month , a female student at Carlton University in Ottawa was assaulted after leaving a chemistry lab at night. She is now suing the school for more than half a million dollars.

The school claims that the student was negligent in her safety, and didn’t keep a good lookout for danger. Carlton officials also defended its stance by adding that the woman did not register with the school’s safety department and failed to lock the door after her professor had left the room.

It is frightening to know that a victim of rape and assault can be considered at fault for her own attack, and that these alarming notions are recognized in court. In the Marriott case, the perpetrator confessed immediately, so it wasn’t a question of whether or not the attack occurred. Still, the hotel chose to shift the blame onto the victim.

Hopefully a judge will see through these disturbing defences, but stories like this are what may one day cause another woman to hesitate before reporting abuse.

Girls from the PG Roller Derby Brat Camp 2009 show off their shirts. (ohsweetie)

This past weekend I got to participate in a teen girl roller derby camp that my place of employment, the YMCA, threw with a handful of other local agencies and businesses. One of the girls’ main projects was DIY-ing their camp t-shirts into derby dresses/shirts of wonder. They used lace, glitter, markers, and general deconstruction techniques to turn their men’s cut tees into the sassy piece they desired.

The fun part was that even though a lot of the girls were crafty, a number of them had never hand sewn before. Even basic techniques like how much thread you need, threading a needle, and tying a knot. It was exciting to be able to teach these girls basic sewing skills and it even erupted into a bit of feministy conversation:

Me: “Can you believe that once upon a time people argued that women were naturally inclined to do this [sew]?”

Pink Ink: *groan*

Zero: “Nuh, uh! They were forced to!”

Basic sewing tutorials:

Three techniques for basic hand sewing
Securing a knot and tying off thread
How to hem jeans in three easy steps.

The New York Times has published a really interesting article called The Women’s Crusade, as part of a special issue called Saving the World’s Women: How changing the lives of women and girls in the developing world can change everything. It’s a thorough and informative take on the oppressions faced by women worldwide, especially, as the title suggests, in developing countries, and how these problems might be remedied by foreign aid and investment. The authors suggest that by supporting women and girls in areas like education, healthcare, and small business, not only the lives of those women may be changed for the better, but the quality of life in society, and the world, at large. To which I say: hear, hear. And also: No duh.

The article is not without its problems, but it’s a worthwhile read, especially for those of us in the Western world who may not always have much insight into women’s struggles globally. It’s also a potent reminder that feminism is not, and is very far from being, “over,” as some of us in North America seem to want to tell ourselves.

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At this point criticsising PETA’s tactics might might seem like beating a dead horse (is that considered animal abuse?); we’ve already seen evidence of their gross, misogynist tendencies in the name of getting people to go veg and be nice to bunnies.

But come on. Really?

Animals: 1. Women: 0. Thanks, PETA.

Just for that, PETA, I’m going to go out and harass a gerbil. Then I’ma eat a steak. Rare. Take that, dirtbags.

Our long-anticipated issue #13 is finally here!

Now hitting newsstands and mailboxes near you!

Inside:
* Cut your own hair! Our love letter to DIY, plus some great projects to get you started
* Unpack before you pack! What you need to know before volunteering abroad
* The history and politics of hoodies
* The skinny on the word “skinny”
* Why campus radio is an important feminist space
* Why boys need a Shameless of their own
plus comics, reviews and more!
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