This week Shameless was lucky enough to catch Jessica Valenti, author of Full Frontal Feminism and founding editor of Feministing, while she was in Toronto this week. Here’s what she had to say.

Tell me a bit about the new book [He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know].
The new book basically came about because a lot of the response I got from Full Frontal was that what resonated with people, especially with younger women who didn’t really know anything about feminism or never had taken a Women’s Studies class, was the everyday inequities, the kind of everyday discrimination that all women face but don’t necessarily think about under a feminist framework, like the pay inequalities or the stud/slut double standard.

So I was talking to my editor and we were like, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do a double standard book, almost like a sexism handbook so when you’re out at the bar and someone says something ridiculous and sexist you can pull it out and be like, ‘That’s totally sexist and here’s why and here’s something you can do about it.’”

And also with Full Frontal Feminism obviously “feminism” was in the title and it did reach out to a lot of women who didn’t consider themselves feminist, so this one we went super commercial and marketable and didn’t put “feminist” in the title so we thought we could subversively get more women into it and then hit them with the message once they were in the book. Sneakiness was the general theme of the book idea.

(more inside…)

Canadians for Choice Toronto crew at the International Women’s Day rally

Yep, it’ll be a full six months that we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of abortion legalization in Canada tomorrow, June 28th!

20 years and 6 months ago, Dr. Henry Morgentaler won the Supreme Court of Canada case striking down the abortion law that criminalized women who exercised their inherent reproductive rights.

And since it’s Pride weekend in Toronto, what better way to go out and PARTAY for our bodies to be with whomever we want, than to honour and remember the hard-fought battle that now legally guarantees women the right to choose what we want to DO with our bodies in Canada! (Actually accessing abortion services and quality of care though is a whole other story, you need look no further than at the 2006 REALITY CHECK report we did at Canadians for Choice to see that.)

We are one of the few nations in the world with no legal restrictions on abortion, and we should be damn proud that choice is an important matter generations young and old are continuing to fight for. It’s estimated that approximately 80,000 women die every year around the world due to complications from botched illegal abortions.

It’s been one helluva year defending choice in this country that I’ll actually detail when my latest Rabble article comes out soon, but for now I’m going to march with Pride this weekend that I live in Canada, and that I’m pro-choice.

(We’d love to have you join us at Canadians for Choice marching at the Dyke march, click here for the Facebook listing!)

Some Shameless self-promotion, I’ll be doing an interview on CIUT Radio 89.5 FM in Toronto this Thursday, June 26th in regards to the 20th anniversary of abortion legalization this year and what this means for young activists involved in the pro-choice movement now.

I’m on at 9:40 a.m. You can listen live here.

Wish me luck!

So now that I’ve crossed the border back to my friendly, eccentric home in Kensington Market, Toronto (although not for long) I’m having some pensive reflections on the awesomeness that is the ACLU Minnesota and Wisconsin that I had the honour of discovering at this year’s membership conference.

A 24-hour bus ride to and from Washington D.C. and shared hostel saw both our groups intermingling and activisting to the max. Most of us didn’t know each other and I can safely say now that in just four days we’ve not only learned a lot, but been sincerely inspired and greatly moved by each other’s presence and being.

I heard tales of prejudice, realities of oppression, and musings of forward-thinking by these brilliantly tuned-in young people. Interesting nights out coupled with ridiculously fun “truth-telling” games were the recipe for some of the best activist times had by all.

I want to thank all the participants for their honesty, candor, and all-around amazing selves that definitely made this trip an adventure I’ll never forget. We write off the US too often in Canada for the backwards policies that obstruct their international image and forget about how much good work is going on there by determined people like these who are refusing to give up and fighting back for what they believe is right.

More partnerships can be made across our borders and we’d be crazy not to remember that the extreme U.S. right-wingers have a direct affect on Canada (ahem, Bill C484, no-fly list anyone??) This is a great example of how we can get together and make change happen, even if it’s just amongst ourselves.

It’s important to recognize when cool young people you’ve just met are inspiring you, that’s definitely news I want to hear more often.

Anyone do that to you lately?

The “best group” as named by attendees of the 2008 ACLU membership conference!

I don’t actually know anything about this performer. This video was sent to me and I thought it was touching and funny and furious.
The Revolution Will Not Be Masculinized

I’m here in Washington D.C. reporting live from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 2008 Membership Conference!

If you’ve never heard of the ACLU, they are a kick-ass national organization here in the United States that protects the civil rights and freedoms of our neighbours south of the border.

It’s 2:42 a.m. and I’m here in the youth hostel where I’m staying with the Minnesota and Wisconsin crowd, listening to a debate on public health systems for food and childcare. It’s hardcore activism, upping the political ante by the minute.

“STAND UP FOR FREEDOM” is the motto, with the focus on mobilizing youth under the age of 25. We will be blogging here on the conference space to give you the hottest news and events served up fresh from the progressive whisims we are cooking up.

Be sure to check the blog out this Tuesday which is LOBBY DAY, where many of us will be meeting face-to-face with state representatives and hitting the ground running for change.

We need more of these kind of partnerships across our borders, especially when the current leader of Canada often tries to copy the right-wing agenda next door to us.

If I get a chance (and that means if I decide to forgo more sleep) I’ll post more stuff and a wrap-up on Shameless.

So for now I’ll leave you with some timeless Bob Marley:

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!

I’m up late and watching what girls can do on the Internet. Check this out to inspire you for the week ahead!!!

The Good For Her Sexual Health, Education & Pleasure Project (SHEPP) is a new not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide free pleasure based sexual health education workshops to youth and other marginalized communities. These workshops are available throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

We come to your organization or group to provide information on a wide spectrum of issues regarding sex, sexuality, health and pleasure. This includes topics such as healthy relationships, HIV/AIDS and other STI preventions, pregnancy, sexuality, communication and all kinds of different sex. Our focus is on inclusion and the promotion and respect for diversity.

We will be hosting a youth focus group on Thursday June 5 for all youth under 24 to assist us in developing relevant curriculum for the project. We want to hear the perspectives of youth on what pleasure based sexual education means to them, what they would like to learn about, and other opinions on sexual health and sexuality. This will ensure the creation of accurate materials and information for the efficacy of the project to empower youth.

Venue information and details:

Metro Hall
55 John Street
Room 302
(South-east corner of King and John, two blocks east of Spadina)
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Public Transit: subway to St. Andrew, then walk through “PATH” to Metro Hall or walk above ground 2 blocks west.

Time: 5:00pm to 7:00pm.

Dinner (including vegetarian options) and TTC tickets will be provided for participation. Door prizes will also be given away!

We ask that interested participants RSVP to Carlyle Jansen at carlyle@rogers.com

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

So it’s no secret that I really hate that Canadian Club ad and have from the start. It’s also pretty clear that I’m not alone.

Good news is, there are some fantastic bloggers on the interwebs who turned their distaste for this ad into something fantastic and subversive. Michelle Schwartz has a great critique of the campaign:

Apparently, the only people invited to the Canadian Club Club are White Males, Ages 18-30, women and people of color need not apply. It’s not that surprising to me that a company is aiming at that small demographic, but the way they’re doing it is truly offensive. Basically, they are appealing to men who miss the days (whether or not they were born yet) of grabbing the asses of their secretaries, playing a few rounds at the all-white private golf club, and then going home to their wives, the happy homemakers who would mix them drinks, cook them dinner, and wait on them hand and foot. None of this women’s lib, civil rights, limp-wristed liberal bullshit that men are expected to follow these days. No, let’s go back to the days of rampant sexual harassment, before women could expect to be seen as equals and before the gays turned all those masculine men into pansies with waxed eyebrows. Let’s return to the days when men were men. Please.

Her thoughts are accompanied by some of her own (feminist) spoof ads that kick the campaign in the ass. There’s a whole series of them that include “Your Mom Wasn’t a Stepford” and “Your Mom Played Sports.” My fave? “Your Mom Had Groupies.”

As part of the project, Stark brings us this fantastic gem:

Thanks to Michele for alerting us to her great project!