Do you have role-models? Mentors? A woman you look up to for some reason or other?

Every other week I profile “positive female role models for young women” in my Shameless Women column. They are amazing ladies that I hope inspire the women who read each interview. However, the women I interview tend to be “regular” people.

Back in December, columnist Kate Carraway wrote in her article, “What’s next for sex? Feminism didn’t really work. Oopsie!” that the reason for the lack of motivation and accomplishment (and in her opinion, the failure) of the “third-wave” of feminism is because we have no visible leaders:
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Did you watch the Golden Globes this year? Were you moved by Mo’Nique’s emotional speech? Were you caught up in the “issue” of her leg hair?

Wait…what?!!

Yes, that’s right, because there are those who insist on anally analyzing every aspect of women’s bodies (especially those on red carpets) NYDailyNews.com went ahead with a story titled, “Mo’Nique: least superficial actress ever? Before Golden Globes most moving speech, flaunts leg hair”.

Yeesh.

Here’s a bit of the article…and make sure to watch out for some of my favourite bits, like…

“And if she was at all embarrassed by her shaggy state…”

“..she picked up the skirt of her long gown on the red carpet, exposing the issue.”

“A long dress covers a multitude of personal appearance sins…”

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Just the title makes me feel nauseated, now that I know what it refers to.

I was alerted to this horrifying product last week by Amy Sedgwick, aka @UterusLover (profiled here on Shameless by D. Cole). “My New Pink Button” is a “beauty product” designed to be used on the female genitals to temporarily dye the inner labia to turn them pink.

Yes, really.

From the FAQ section of the product’s website:

Q. “I used to be so “Pink” and healthy looking on my inside Labia Lip area. Now I am losing that fresh look. Is there anything I can do”?
A. Yes, now there is a solution! “My New Pink Button” is a Cosmetic Dye especially for the woman’s genital area, to help restore that healthy vibrant Rosy color. Until now there has never been a solution for restoring natural pigment. This is a concern with many women and more than you can even imagine, and a frequent question that Physicians are asked. Check out the blogs on the Internet. You are not alone! This is a common problem and we now have a simple and safe solution, restoring sexual confidence to Women everywhere!

[I want to get snarky all over the site for its random use of capital letters (Rosy colour! Women everywhere!), but that’s beside the point.]

I’m sure I don’t even have to point out the problems with this product, but I’ll throw out a few and you can have at it in comments:

• the idea that only very young-looking genitals are appealing
• the acknowledgement that pigment changes are common, but insisting it’s still a problem to be fixed
• the fact that no equivalent “problem” for men is suggested
• the racism inherent in privileging certain skin shades
• um, putting chemical dye on your labia …

There’s a lot of information circulating from organizations accepting money for relief efforts in Port-au-Prince. Rather than going through giant communications corporations, why not donate directly to groups on the ground in Haiti?

In my search for social-justice oriented organizations, I’ve come up with the women’s organization Madre and The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. The Nation’s list of grassroots and progressive organizations is here.

Where will you be donating?

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 awesome Lizzie Renaud…

Photo credit: Vanessa Hines

Lizzie Renaud is a 27 year old Toronto-based tattoo artist and owner of Speakeasy Tattoo. After an on/off apprenticeship, she has now been tattooing for more than 6 years and has worked in various countries including England, Belgium, Canada, USA, Netherlands, and France.

After opening Speakeasy Tattoo, her custom art studio, in July of 2009 to great initial success and participating in dozens of art shows around the city, her future plans are to travel to as many conventions as her “little hands can handle, find the time to paint every day, learn the fine art of scotch and bourbon appreciation, study crochet, and finally pick up where I left off at with my piano studies” and she’s this week’s Shameless Woman.

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Candy Bags! (So You Think You’re Crafty?)

Recently my partner and I relocated to Vancouver Island from the wintery north to take a new-ish life: long growing seasons for gardening, future island hopping, and new jobs! Little did I know that by relocating from an amazing job where I felt I was actually making a difference in my community to a smaller island community meant that jobs are actually few and far between. In desperation to ensure I could pay my bills I’ve taken a job working in a call centre for an American cell phone company.

While I do refer to this time in my life as “just another chapter in a forthcoming memoir” or “all great Canadian authors have worked a rather strange job once upon a time!” I still can’t get over the fact I’m not allowed to have food at my desk: except for hard candy. Then along came this tutorial! I have purchased pouches for dry snacks at craft fairs and have a pile of pouches I made before the holidays and use them often to house York Bites, Yoghurt Raisins, and Nibs (or even almonds if I didn’t work in a nut-free environment). This Candy Bag Tutorial by “So You Think You’re Crafty” is great and easy to follow (so many pictures, step by step instructions). It includes how-tos for both fabric lined pouches (for pre-wrapped candies) and vinyl-lined pouches for every other candy or dry snack you’d want to put in there. The fabric lined ones can usually be thrown in the washer and the vinyl just wiped out with a damp cloth.

So if you do find yourself “working for the man” and really want to get your hands on some wildberry twizzlers at your desk, or even while studying Death of a Salesman in High School English, these pouches can hide your goodies and reduce plastic consumption!

A conversation I had with a friend this week sparked a few questions around bisexuality – concerning the label itself, people’s acceptance of bisexuality, and more.

Here are a few bi-curiosities we pondered…
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