Canadian Woman Studies / les cahiers de la femme (E-Journal, York University)

Cox, Susan

Ceux qui doivent se servir des banques
d'alimentation connaissent trop bien les
mauxde lapauvrete : le stress, lapeur de
ne pas pouvoir subvenir aux besoins de
lafamille, lafaim et la malnutrition. Une
employee de la Daily Bread Food Bank
de Toronto nous fait part des resultats
d'un sondage d'opinion de ceux qui ont
eu recours aux services de cette banque
enfevrier1992, c'est-a-dire au milieu de
la crise economique. En comparant les
reponses des femmes et des hommes,
I'auteure conclut que les meres seules et
leurs enfants sont les plus vulnerables et
que ce groupe, qui s'efforce de survivre
tant bien que mal, merite d'itre mieux
protege.
Food bank need is a measure of absolute
poverty. Those who use food banks can
afford neither food nor shelter-the basic
necessities of life. They know the human
costs of poverty: stress, fear of being
unable to afford sufficient food, hunger,
poor nutrition.
Twice a year, the Daily Bread Food
Bank in Toronto conducts surveys of its
users. In February 1992, we interviewed
849 people, asking them questions about
themselves, their families, their health,
their work history, and their children.
The most remarkable difference be-
tween the men and women we interview is
the presence of children in the family.
Only one in 10 women, compared to four
in 10 men, are coming to pick up food for
themselves alone. When a woman ap-
pears at the food bank door, nine times out
of ten she is asking for food for herselfand
another. Half of all women using food
banks are single mothers with children;
only ten per cent of the men are single
fathers.
The trend away from the predominance
of single parent families in food banks is
remarkable. Fifty-five per cent of house-
holds using food relief programmes in
Toronto currently have children. In 1992,
exactly halfare two parent families. Three
years ago, there were almost twice as
many single parent households as two
parent households.
Less than a quarter of the women we
interviewed-and one-third of the single
mothers-were living in subsidized hous-
ing. Seventeen per cent of the women
were on waiting lists.
More women were receiving Family
Women
Using
Food
Banks
BySusanCox
Benefits than men: being a sole-support
parent tends to gain one the classification
"unemployable." More women were on
Unemployment Benefits, too.
As a general rule, women using food
banks are less well educated than men
using food banks. Seventeen per cent of
the women we interviewed had only grade
school educations, compared to 13.3 per
cent of the men. Only 44 per cent of the
women were high school graduates, com-
pared to 50 per cent of the men. Only 3.6
per cent of the women were university
graduates. Almost a quarter were attend-
ing school full or part-time.
More women than men were likely to
be working, although twice as many men
had lost a job in the past six months.
Women were also twice as likely to have
worked part time. One woman in ten had
never worked, as opposed to one in 20 for
the men. Among single mothers, almost
six per cent were working. Fewer than
one per cent of the women were in gov-
ernment training programmes.
Previous jobs cited by food bank users
were predominantlyfactory, food and res-
taurant, and office work. The primary
difference between women and men here
was that women were more than five
times more likely to have lost office jobs,
and twice as likely to have worked in the
food and restaurant sector.
More than one-third of the women de-
scribed their activities in the past year as
"keeping house." Fourteen per cent said
they hadmainly beenseekingwork. Forty-
two per cent of men said they had been
looking for work, but only two per cent of
men said they had been keeping house!
Women seemed to be more aware of
health issues than men. Sixty per cent said
they could improve their health by eating
better, but were unable to afford proper
food. Only 55 per cent of the men identi-
fied a more nutritious diet as a factor that
might improve one's health.
Three times as many women as men
identified a family breakdown as the rea-
son for their needing a food bank. With
only one exception, all female food bank
users had children. Among the women
there was a fairly even three-way split
between those who were single, those
married, and those formerly-married (di-
vorced, separated, or widowed). Only 14
per centofmale food bank recipients were
formerly married: the breakdown of a
relationship is clearly more likely to cause
food bankneed amongwomen than among
men.
What conclusions can be drawn about
women and food bank use? The hardship
endured by women and their children
reflects the overall breakdown of Cana-
da's social safety net. As a general rule,
the larger the family, the more likely the
household will have less money than is
needed to buy food according to Agricul-
ture Canada's pricing of a nutritious diet.
One person households are virtually all
male households. Any family of more
than two persons has less after-rent money
for food. All but a tiny per centage of
larger food bank-using households in-
clude women, and these families, by defi-
nition, suffer greater hardship.
Single mothers and their children en-
counter extremely high risks ofacute pov-
erty. Fewer than 15 per cent of the single
mothers we interviewed were receiving
child support payments.
Eighty per cent of all food recipients
had gone without food at least once a
month because they could not afford it.
Thirteen per cent ofthe single mothers did
so once a day. Almost one-third of the
single mothers had done so at least once a
week. They are the victims of society's
48 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
failure to care for its most vulnerable
citizens.
The safety net fails in several ways.
Two-thirds of single parent households
are not in subsidized housing, although
half of these are on waiting lists. Many
have been waiting for more than two
years. Social assistance payments-
either general welfare or Family Ben-
efits-fail to provide for basic needs.
What do these women really want?
Popular wisdom has it they want to stay
home, have babies, and be supported. But
73 per cent of women surveyed said the
thing that would make the greatest differ-
ence in their lives was ajob. Seventy-five
per cent wanted cheaper housing. Sixty-
three per cent wanted more education or
job training. This is a picture of people
struggling to survive in a society where
they are given less opportunities.
Let us hope that when this recession
ends we will never again stand for the
erosion ofprogrammes designed to main-
tain people in health and dignity through
rough periods in their lives. In the mean-
time, during this recession, we need a
great public outcry against governments
that put deficit reduction before hungry
people, and blame those very people for
their hunger while balancing budgets on
their backs.
Susan Cox is Assistant Executive Direc-
tor of the Daily Bread Food Bank in
Toronto.
Three new booklets
on the subject of
CHILDHOOD
SEXUAL ABUSE
A Booklet for Adult Survivors
A Booklet for First Nations
Adult Survivors
A Booklet for Partners and Friends
•For information contact:
The Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Centre
306 - 620 View Street Victoria BC V8W IJ6
Tel: (604)383-5370 Fax: (604)383-6112
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
HEATHER PYRCZ
Talking
I am learning
to listen
to myself
and watch while I
say poverty for property
not missing a beat
I expose myself
like an Ihalmuit shaman
to howling winds and unfathomable
hunger
to gainsay
Heather Pyrcz is a writer who lives in Wolfuille, Nova Scotia.
Her work has been published in Fiddlehead, West Coast Line,
and Pottersfield Portfolio.
MAURA STOREY
Chasm
They get in through the walls
the cracks in the foundation
and floor the chasm under
the livingroom windows where
Summers a sow-thistle grows
blooms if tended toward
Fall inside my house mice
don't need much space even less
for going out again mornings I
find them cringing near my pillow
or in fractions
in miscellaneous, amputated bits
half-eaten twice now they've left
their precisely abandoned faces on
my carpet: whiskers taut, tiny
clenched teeth, eyes bulging alert
watching waiting for my house
to crumble.
Maura Storey lives on afarm north ofSaskatoon, Saskatchewan,
and works on contract as an educational consultant.
49


Women Using Food Banks

Bhandar, Davina

married sister. Her insight comes pain-
fully on her "death day." Implicit is the
suggestion that she has to be attuned to the
wisdom she has left behind in her old
homeland and must recover it through a
painful struggle.
The concluding story in this collection,
"Dusty Distance," is by Suniti Namjoshi,
yet another diasporic writer. The desire of
the Blue Donkey to be a writer is held in
scorn by the male poet whose aggressive-
ness and magnificent confidence frighten
her away. Next she encounters a Beautiful
Lady who loves poetry but cannot under-
stand "Blue Donkese" and although the
Blue Donkey protests vehemently that
she writes in English the Lady insists that
their two worlds are very different-
"What have a Lady and a donkey in com-
mon?" and the donkey turns away rue-
fully into the "dusty distance."
This fable serves as a comment on The
Inner Courtyard. These voices-all In-
dian, all women, speaking in multitudi-
nous tongues, articulating manifold expe-
riences, might not belong to the Highway
road of the "Poet" or the "immaculate
woods" of the "Beautiful Lady". Yet-
whether, they speak English or "Blue
Donkese", these writers will not "sadly
retrace" their steps into the "dusty dis-
tance." Instead, they will speak insist-
ently from that distance, whether or not
they are heeded.
1The Naxalite Movement was a peasant
uprising in 1972atNaxalbari in Bengal. It
was supported by communist revolution-
aries, and was followed by similar upris-
ings elsewhere.
2Chauti Ka Jaura is the dress worn on the
fourth day ofwedding celebrations. Itwas
believed that during the preparation of the
trousseau, if even one piece of the elabo-
rate dress was cut inexactly, something
would go wrong with the marriage.
GENDER AND TRffiE:
WOMEN, LAND AND
FORESTSINJHARKHAND
Govind Kelkar & Dev Nathan. New
Delhi: Kali for Women, 1991.
by Sujata Ramachandran
This interesting study documents the gen-
der role transformations that occur in a
tribal society, and the formation of patri-
archy in the present context the continu-
ing loss ofcontrol over land and forests on
thepartoftheJharkhandadivasis(tribals).
It further looks at their resistance to this
change in the form of a political move-
ment for a Jharlchand state. The authors
contrast the greater political and manage-
ment participation of women in foraging
tribes (as the Birhor) with the lesser posi-
tion of women in the mainly agricultural-
ist tribes (as Santhal, Ho, Munda and
Oraon). Kelkar and Nathan argue that the
introduction of settled agriculture within
the tribal situation had led to the
propertylessness of women, and ensured
patrilocality and the political
marginalization of tribal women.
They claim that the origins of male
dominance are connected with the strug-
gle to control women's labour and the
products of women's labour, not neces-
sarilythelabourofreproduction,butwom-
en's labour as a whole. Thus, thesubordi-
nation of women precedes the formation
ofclass society, in the conventional sense.
The seeds ofgender inequality have been
present in adivasi society, although not in
a developed form of full control over all
aspects of a woman's existence as found
in caste/class society. Itis, however, in the
interactionofJharlchandi society with state
formations of the plains-initially with
the Mughal Raj and much more so with
British colonialism-that this society has
evolved in the direction of patriarchy. In
this context, the evolution of patrilineal
rights and the riseofvarious taboos against
women's participation in some key types
oflabour such as ploughing are discussed.
The study also considers the growingphe-
nomenon of witch hunting as an attempt
to establish the authority of men. Gender
inequality has gradually extended to gen-
eral social life and the authors cite the
example of the following joke to reflect
prevalent attitudes. "Why do women use
both hands to wash their face and men
only one?" The answer is, "Because
women have two lords, singabonga and
their husbands."
As yet, women in these tribes have not
been completely devalued. The alienation
of women's labour within the family is
still partial, owing to the continuation of
forms of communal property in land, the
importance of gathering, and women's
control over consumption and income.
However, further development along the
same patriarchal lines, the introduction of
capitalism, and the rapid destruction of
natural resources in the Jharkhand region
would destroy the existing rights of the
adivasi women and result in a situation no
different from that which comes about in
"mainstream" society. The authors con-
clude that if the ecological balance of the
region is to be maintained and the patriar-
chal intent checked, then economic and
other activities have to be organized on
the basis of the community, and land
rights given to individual women, as well
as men, through allocation of means of
production.
WESTERN WOMEN
AND IMPERIALISM:
COMPLICITY AND
RESISTANCE
Edited by Nupur Chaudhuri and
Margaret Strobel. Indiana: Indiana
University Press, 1992
by Davina Bhandar
Western Women and Imperialism: Com-
plicity and Resistance, edited by Nupur
Chaudhuri and Margaret Strobel, is a di-
verse collection of essays detailing the
102 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAlITERS DE LA FEMME
colonial experiences and relationships of
western women in European colonies
during the middle to late nineteenth cen-
tury. Because this collection of essays is
quite various, I will attempt merely to
provide general impressionsofthecollec-
tion on the whole, rather than comment-
ing on specific debates and issues.
In the introduction to the essays, the
editors begin by stating that the collection
focuses on the "interactions between gen-
der, race and class." Yet, in my reading, it
is exactly this naturalized or
unproblematical use of the terms of"gen-
der, race and class" that provides me with
my first opportunity to challenge criti-
cism based on such frrst premises, and
thus provides me with a pointof interven-
tion into this collection.
My fundamental point of contention is
that the process through which the rela-
tionships between gender, race and class
are analyzed is not made explicit. That is,
the methodology underlying the analysis
of the colonial relationships between
"western" women and colonized subjects
is one that is not fully explored in many of
the essays. This lack of a clear methodo-
logical perspective leaves many of the
essays devoid of a critical strength that
would have been necessary in order to
fulfil the laudable purpose outlined in the
introduction of the collection. According
to the introduction, the essays "juxtapose
feminists and social reformers of varying
stripes and pro-imperialist women ofdif-
ferent levelsofconsciousness and thereby
offer the reader many important insights
into the workings ofrace and class ideolo-
gies within imperialism."
As a student who is interested in both
anti-imperialism and feminism, I have
found it difficult to discover much work
that involves an integrated approach to
these issues. While it is true that within
the past ten to fifteen years there has been
a growing number of publications spot-
lighting the category of imperialism and
feminist studies, it is also true that the
construction and discourse of race is of-
ten-paradoxically-left intact. In this
collection, I found that the lack of a criti-
cal examination of the power ofcolonial-
ism, whether male or female, in relation to
the histories which are presented as veriti
orauthentic, was veryproblematic. I found
that the category of "woman" remained
unproblematically "white" due to the fail-
VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1
ure to cast a critical eye towards the con-
struction of race through the articulation
of this history. That is, the notions of
"western," "female," and "other" have
once again remained entrenched as per-
fectly organic and theoretically operant
terms. Instead I was left wondering what
the underlying politics of such a re-pres-
entation of colonization actually sought.
In present academic and political circles
where "voices of multiplicity" are mak-
ing some intervention, I find this repre-
sentation of a "woman's" history to be
disappointing and dangerous.
In conclusion, I would have to reiterate
that although the articulation of differ-
ence amongst the western colonizer is the
purpose of this project, the result of the
homogenization or outright silencing of
the "other" colonized subject, which is
implicitly a part of this process, only
reestablishes imperial structuresofpower.
I also feel that any critical project of
imperialism and gender must do more
than simply analyze the "difference" be-
tween male and female "white" authority;
it should seek to examine this fundamen-
tal category of"white" as a pointofbegin-
ning.
WE WERE MAKING
HISTORY: LIFE STORIES
OF WOMEN IN THE
TELANGANA PEOPLE'S
STRUGGLE
Stree Shakti Shanghatana. New Delhi:
Kali for Women, 1989.
by Shirin Kudchedkar
The whole place was surrounded by
hundreds of military police.... All
thewomen werewhispering loudly-
she is going to be arrested; she fed the
communists. So I leftwith the clothes
I was wearing.... I had to go into the
forests .... Over there was a madiga
(untouchable caste) house .... I
jumped across the wall and hid in the
nichewhere thecowdungcakes lay....
In the evening again Razakars (fun-
damentalist para-military forces in
the Nizam's time) came.... The
madiga said that bitch is not in this
house oreven in this village-and all
the time I was hiding in his very
house.... Then the squad came and I
left with them.
DudalaSalamma, whoseaccount is quoted
above, is one of the women who 'were
making history' through their participa-
tion in thepeasantmovementinTelangana,
the Telugu-speaking area of the former
Hyderabad State in South India, now part
of Andhra Pradesh. A team of six women
belonging to the women's organization,
Stree Shakti Sanghatana interviewed
women who had taken part in this strug-
gle-peasant women in remote forest vil-
lages, middle class women, even some
women born in landlords' families-and
used sixteenof the interviews to make this
book.
Theintroductionprovides a background
to the story, detailing the land ownership
system in the princely stateofHyderabad,
the forms of oppression-forced labour,
bonded labour, the feudal right of the first
night-and the stages of the people's
movement. Via the nationalistmovement,
the women's movement and the commu-
nist movement, the women were led to
join the anti-landlord struggle. After In-
dependence, the CommunistParty sought
to bring about a revolution through armed
103


Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance

Tastsoglou, Evangelia

have indicated that some collections may
be restricted while others may contain
material that is yet to be processed, since
additions to collections are acquired regu-
larly through individuals and donor or-
ganizations. The suggestion to write prior
to visiting Ottawa is good counsel and
will save researchers time and effort upon
arrival at the NAC. Material available on
microfiche or microfilm may be borrowed
through the Interlibrary Department of
university libraries.
A Bibliography included at the end of
the Guide is particularly helpful to schol-
ars who are pursuing work on women in
Canada and who may be unaware of the
breadth of the NAC's holdings. I would
like to single outfor special mention Jeanne
L'Esperance's The Widening Sphere:
Women in Canada, 1870-1940, a cata-
logue of an exhibit mounted in 1982 by
the NAC. The catalogue charts the lives of
Canadian women during this period in our
national history and its materials are drawn
from the NAC's collections. Such publi-
cations ensure that further work in the
largely unexplored field ofCanadianwom-
en's studies will continue to be under-
taken by researchers and scholars at all
levels. The NAC is to be commended on
its publicationofWomen'sArchivesGuide
and for its ongoing commitment to ad-
vancing the study of women in this coun-
try.
AMERICAN APHRODITE:
BECOMING FEMALE IN
GREEK AMERICA
Constance Callinicos. New York: Pella
Publishing Company, 1990.
By Evangelia Tastsoglou
AmericanAphrodite:BecomingFemale
in GreekAmerica is an important, candid
book of Greek American women's voices
as they struggle with Greek patriarchal
legacies and the contemporary realities of
their lives. The "Greek experience in
America" has been one mostly written by
men and about men's experiences. It is
time therefore that we tune in to the Greek-
American woman's voice, as she tries to
make sense of her own experience grow-
ing up as a female, caught between two
cultures. It is especially time that we hear
thatvoice coupled with an explicitly femi-
nist analysis.
American Aphrodite is a book of oral
histories, interspersed with the writer's
autobiographical memories and experi-
ence. As well as feminist analysis, there
are popular poetry and songs from differ-
ent regions of Greece illustrating folk
beliefs about women, and beautiful old
wedding and family photographs.
In "Search for Beginnings" Callinicos
traces the origins ofa problematic in child-
hood memories of her grandmother and
mother. Through their stories as well as
those of others, four types of female reac-
tion to the "Greek village mentality" of
immigrants clearly emerge. First, there is
the frustrated, bitter matriarch, very de-
manding of her children and at the same
time terrified of being abandoned. Then,
there is the woman who unquestioningly
accepts her 'fate' and passes on the 'Greek
heritage' to her daughters. These daugh-
ters end up living an almost schizophrenic
existence, with several personalities, de-
pending upon the sex, age and ethnic
identity of the people they happen to be
with at a given time. Finally, there is a
defiant, angry and proud woman, who
rejects the stereotypical role she is as-
signed by her culture and strives to create
a place for herself in the world. One won-
ders here whether the last two 'types' are
more frequently to be found among
younger generation, American-born
women.
In "Mama Transplanted: Our Role
Model for Learned Helplessness,"
Callinicos describes thevoyage toAmerica
and the social world of the Greek immi-
grant woman. Being given in marriage by
her father to a stranger who crossed the
Atlantic to fetch a Greek wife, she goes
through the traumas of separation from
her family and her tightly-knit village
community, and of isolation in strange,
new surroundings. The boundaries of her
social world in America are defined by
her family and church. She possesses a
great deal of power within the domestic
sphere, "lobbying in the bedroom." How-
ever, she is not allowed to make contacts
and friendships with outsiders lest her
morals be endangered. Her behaviour is
closely monitored by the Greek commu-
nity, effectively curtailed and controlled
through gossip.
In "The Teenage Years: Becoming Fe-
male in Greek America," women recount
their memories ofgrowing up: the obliga-
tory, parallel education in the Greek lan-
guage and culture, embarassment at the
rude behaviour of parents toward their
'foreigner' classmates, training in serving
the males of the family, prohibitions
against dating, restrictions on free
movment lest the young woman lose the
appearance of purity and become less
marriageable. With menstruation, she is
set permanently apart in the ghetto of the
"filthy," the "weak," and the evil power-
possessing (because of an ancient fear of
the powerful Vagina, symbol of Death).
She is trained to feel contempt towards
what is most 'womanly' about her; she
becomes acceptable only by adopting a
'virginal'demeanor.
There is of course a double standard in
the upbringing of boys and girls. While
the woman should not even come into
contact withAmerican women, the man is
given unlimited freedom to date as many
as possible, in order to prove his 'man-
hood.' Education, one of the most re-
spected values in the Greek culture, is
reserved for sons. It is unthinkable for
young women to leave home to pursue
higher education. Parents and family start
making sure very early that their girls will
never develop serious intellectual inter-
ests.
"An Arranged Wedding Day: Greece
1977" relates the stories of young women
shipped to Greece to meet their prospec-
tive husbands, chosen by their fathers in
advance. There is tragedy in the simplic-
ity, impersonality, and repetition of the
basic plot. Women stoically accept their
'fate.' When life turns sour, they have
already internalized so much blame and
guilt that they see suicide as the only way
out. The shame of the 'used' woman after
divorce is a control mechanism sufficient
to keep some of the most compromising
marriages intact.
A growth-limiting relationship for the
Greek-American girl, according to
Callinicos, is that with her mother. This
tends to be a relationship of cultivated
dependency, a culturally conditionted in-
ability to live without Mama and outside
of the family. The daughter is notencour-
aged to grow, but simply to move from
106 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
membership in her father's blood clan to
membership in another clan of Greek ori-
gin.
Callinicos concludes optimisticallywith
storiesofdefiant Greek-American women
who are struggling to live meaningful
lives, "peeling off, layer by layer," the
Good Greek Girl, coping with their cul-
turally ingrained fears of being outsiders
and alone. In the writer's analysis, "Sleep-
ing Aphrodite must be her own Kiss of
Life." She has to re-invent herself, to kill
the fearful child she has been taught to be.
There are some important questions
that Callinicos either leaves unanswered
or fails to raise at all. Can gender oppres-
sion be accounted for by the Greek culture
exclusively? How have the structural-his-
torical conditions of Greek emigration
(isolation, language difficulties, chain
migration, scarcity ofwomen among early
immigrants) contributed to the transfer
and maintenance of the "Greek village
mentality?" In her life histories there is
always a suggestion of violence, but she
does not point explicitly in her analysis to
the threat of violence as a factor in the
oppression ofwomen. Her vision is that of
individual self-realization in so far as this
is what her "defiant" women are striving
for. But how is this self-realization to be
achieved? What are the responsibilities of
these "defiant" women towards their less
fortunate sisters? Where does the wom-
en's movement come in? Finally, in this
analysis there is an absence ofdifferentia-
tion in terms of class, sexual orientation
and generation among Greek-American
women.
Despite these shortcomingsAmerican
Aphrodite makes an interesting read. To
Greek-American and immigrant Greek
women in particular, the book may offer a
painful and much needed catharsis.
NO ROOMS OF THEIR
OWN: WOMEN WRITERS
OF EARLY CALIFORNIA
Edited by Ida Rae Egli. Berkeley:
Heydays Books, 1992.
By Fairlie Ritchie
A pioneer who undertook the arduous,
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
exciting trek across the United States with
her husband in a lone covered wagon. A
Lassik tribal matriarch who fled Euro-
American onslaughts as a girl and lived
into her nineties. A Black woman who
went to court for her right to use Califor-
nia streetcars. All of these women lived in
California during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. And all of them were
writers in that milieu. In bringing their
work together in this anthology, Ida Rae
Egli shares with readers a stimulating
array of individuals.
In her Introduction, Egli sets the scene
by telling us what kind of women inhab-
ited California in that era, and how their
experiences there affected them. The dis-
cussion is divided into three historical
phases: "First Contact," "MakingRoom,"
and "Questioning Roles."
NO ROOMS OFTHEiR OWN
. WoMWtilflSof~CaliIoniu
"First Contact" was spawned by the
1848 Gold Rush. Women who came in
that flood were generally of an adventur-
ous mien and shed many social norms as
they approached the new environment.
Native Americans, African-Americans,
people ofSpanish, Chinese and European
descent were all here, and for many of
those from the eastern states the move was
a baptism into multiculturalism.
Fuelled by wealth from gold, Califor-
nians undertook farming and business
endeavours. For a long time California
retained a free spirit of its own. Women
could pursue careers and lifestyles which
were closed to them elsewhere; they could
run boarding houses, be doctors, artists,
and writers. Californians as a whole hun-
gered for a literature of their own, to help
them define this unique culture. Authors
of both sexes found an eager audience
open to ground-breaking creative prac-
tices. A distinctive literary genre called
the SagebrushSchoolemerged, comprised
of "storytellers who mixed reality with a
little western mythology and a bonanza
hyperbole."
The "Questioning Roles" phase gradu-
ally appeared in this setting. When the
1869Transcontinental Railway connected
California with the east, however, the
state was also linked up with a conserva-
tive trend that would stifle some of Cali-
fornia's cultural independence. At this
point, Egli writes, "the golden era of the
California frontier was dead, and buried
with itwere the budding lives ofSagebrush
Realism andfrontier California literature."
The diversity of genre gives us a very
wide range ofwritings, from SarahEleanor
Royce's memoir of her trek west, to the
legal testimony of Charlotte Brown, to
Adah Isaacs Menken's probing poetry.
Egli provides an introduction and a bibli-
ography for each writer, in which she
warmly invites us into their lives and
works; photographs accompany all but
one of the selections.
The collection also presents a multitude
of perspectives. Lucy Young's Native
witness, for instance, declares: "I hear
people tell 'bout what Inyan do early days
to white man. Nobody ever tell what white
man do to Inyan. That reason I tell it.
That's history. I seen it myself." Others
see differently: Jessie Benton Fremort,
for instance, who writes condescendingly
of the young Native women in her em-
ploy. Or Ella Sterling Cummins Mighels,
who says of women that "they have no
caution, no principles, when it comes to
voting." (This writer of editorials and
essays also found occasion to invoke the
"purity of the white race" and the "benign
dominance of men.")
One wonders whether the title of this
book-alluding to Virginia Woolf's well-
known essay-is appropriate. True, few
of these women had rooms of their own
for writing, or for anything else. But while
Woolf's women lacked their own rooms
in a social structure which provided such
sanctuaries for men, in early California
neither men nor women were likely to
have a room to themselves. Instead, they
had open horizons, new freedoms and
adventures.
107


American Aphrodite: Becoming Female in Greek America

Conlogue, Clare

CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME128
Book Reviews
In Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two 
Missing Girls, Their Families, and 
How Canada Has Failed Indigenous 
Women, Walker explores the dis-
appearance of Maisy Odjick and 
Shannon Alexander as a window into 
the Canada-wide crisis of missing 
and murdered Indigenous women. 
She identifies colonialism and an-
ti-Indigenous racism as underlying 
causes, and suggests that a feminicide 
is taking place, “a twofold phenom-
enon whereby countless women are 
murdered solely because of their 
gender, and government negligence 
further exacerbates the impact” (15). 
Overarchingly, she investigates the 
disproportionate and unique ways 
that violence against women man-
ifests in Indigenous communities 
and among Indigenous women 
throughout Canada.
Since 1980, over 1,200 Indige-
nous women have gone missing or 
been murdered in Canada. Walker 
pays homage to them throughout 
Stolen Sisters. She assesses how an-
ti-Indigenous racism is entrenched 
in Canadian society, including the 
police and government, and cites it 
as the primary reason why Indigenous 
women are disproportionately likely 
to go missing or be murdered, and 
to have their cases go unsolved. Al-
though only 4.3 percent of all women 
in Canada are Indigenous, they repre-
sent approximately 25 percent of all 
cases of missing or murdered women 
(Pearce as cited in Walker, 2015). In 
2012, 23 percent of female homicide 
victims were Indigenous women. 
Walker overviews Canada’s co-
lonial history to contextualize the 
discrimination that Indigenous 
communities continue to face. She 
documents how settlers murdered 
Indigenous people in cold blood, 
including over 4,000 children via 
residential schools. Those who 
survived the genocide were deemed 
second-class citizens, and the social 
and political marginalization borne 
of this time continue to be felt today. 
Indigenous communities experience 
health disparities comparable to 
“third-world” countries, in addition 
to severely limited employment and 
education opportunities. Walker ar-
gues that the Canadian government 
is complicit in this marginalization 
and directly discriminates against 
Indigenous communities. 
Stolen Sisters also aims to commem-
orate Maisy and Shannon. Maisy 
lived on the Algonquin reserve of 
Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (KZA), 
which sits just outside Maniwaki, 
the Quebec town where Shannon 
resided. In September 2008, the girls 
went missing. Police and the media 
victim-blamed them for supposedly 
living “at-risk lifestyles,” and blamed 
their families for supposedly failing 
to protect them. By contrast, Walker 
asserts that police negligence, based 
in anti-Indigenous racism, was the 
primary reason why they were never 
found. 
Stolen Sisters makes a significant 
contribution to the limited body 
of literature addressing the crisis of 
missing and murdered Indigenous 
women in Canada. Walker offers a 
wide range of evidence to demon-
strate that this crisis is the direct 
result of gender inequality and lack 
of access to institutional account-
ability and justice within Indigenous 
communities. She frames the plight 
of Indigenous women in Canada as 
inextricable from that of Indigenous 
women worldwide.
Institutional accountability is 
chronically lacking in cases of missing 
and murdered Indigenous women. 
Shannon’s disappearance was re-
ported to the Maniwaki police, the 
Sûreté du Québec (SQ). Maisy’s was 
reported to the reserve police, Kitigan 
Zibi police services (KZPS). Based 
on racist stereotypes, both forces 
initially assumed— despite ample 
evidence to the contrary—that the 
girls had run away. Maisy’s mother 
Laurie expressed that the KZPS 
was “incompetent and quick to lay 
blame” (66), while Shannon’s father 
Bryan felt “neglected and scorned 
by the SQ” (68), which his mother 
attributed to their Indigeneity. 
The cases were handled separately 
and wholly incompetently for the 
first two months, losing invaluable 
investigation time. Once sightings 
were reported outside the region, 
the OPP and the RCMP became 
involved. Of all four police forces 
involved, not one took the lead or 
gathered basic clues. Laurie received 
little to no information concerning 
her daughter’s case, and ultimately felt 
that she did the police’s job for them. 
Maisy’s aunt, Maria Jacko, was inde-
pendently responsible for getting the 
girls featured on the RCMP website 
of missing children and organizing 
the first ground search. It is appalling 
that tasks such as these were neglected 
by police.
STOLEN SISTERS: 
THE STORY OF TWO 
MISSING GIRLS, 
THEIR FAMILIES, 
AND HOW CANADA 
HAS FAILED 
INDIGENOUS WOMEN
Emmanuelle Walter
Toronto: Harper Collins, 2015
reviewed by clare 
conlogue
VOLUME 32, NUMBERS 1,2 129
Police forces respond vastly differ-
ently when non-Indigenous women 
go missing as compared to non-In-
digenous women. Pearce, referring 
to women in Vancouver, asserts 
that “Racism, apathy, and blatant 
disdain… led to [police] inaction. 
These women were not afforded… 
the same concern, time and resources 
after they had gone missing that 
would have been afforded to citizens 
deemed more worthy” (as cited in 
Walker  72). In May 2014, an RCMP 
report cited a solve rate of eighty-eight 
percent for homicides of Indigenous 
women, only one percent lower than 
that of non-Indigenous women. 
However, this statistic exaggerated 
police effectiveness. It did not include 
suspicious deaths mistakenly ruled 
accidental or the countless long-term 
missing persons cases that may have 
been homicides. 
With respect to gender inequality, 
it must be acknowledged that the 
1,200 cases of murdered or missing 
Indigenous women in Canada are 
not a series of isolated incidents. 
As asserted by Walker, they are 
examples of gender-based violence 
and collectively constitute a femini-
cide. Gender inequality made these 
women vulnerable to violence. These 
instances of explicit violence and 
neglect are further contextualized by 
daily experiences of marginalization. 
As compared to their non-Indigenous 
counterparts, Indigenous women 
have a dramatically shorter life expec-
tancy and thirty percent lower average 
income. “Twice as many are single 
parents; twice as many unemployed. 
Three times as many are victims of 
domestic abuse; three times as many 
likely to contract AIDS” (47). Most 
alarmingly, their chance of being 
murdered is seven times higher. 
Young Indigenous women and girls 
are faced with unique vulnerability 
factors. One of the most concern-
ing examples is evidenced by their 
overrepresentation among underage 
(exploited) sex trade workers: ninety 
percent of these workers are Indig-
enous. Walker notes that because 
Canada often associates Indigenous 
women with the sex trade, traffick-
ing them is less conspicuous than 
trafficking other minorities. Thus, 
they become targeted. 
Walker emphasizes that the ex-
treme gender inequality experienced 
by Indigenous women in Canada is 
largely a result of colonization. Prior 
to the 1876 Indian Act, Indigenous 
communities benefitted from much 
greater equality, but “In the space of 
a century, women were reduced to an 
underclass in their own communi-
ties” (102). The Act severely limited 
the power and rights of Indigenous 
women and forced those who married 
non-Indigenous men to surrender 
their cultural identity and the re-
sources they were previously entitled 
to. Colonizers created “the fiction of 
the depraved ‘squaw,’” falsely portray-
ing Indigenous women as “lustful, 
immoral, unfeeling and dirty” and 
rendering them “vulnerable to gross 
physical, psychological and sexual 
violence” (Laroque cited in Walker, 
102) not only by outsiders but by 
Indigenous men as well. 
Although Stolen Sisters makes a 
valuable contribution to our knowl-
edge base, Walker’s own anti-Indig-
enous racism still presents itself in 
the form of demeaning stereotypes, 
pathologization, and essentialization. 
The “drug addict” is one of the 
most prominent stereotypes applied 
to Indigenous people in Canada. 
Walker fixates on Shannon’s father’s 
drinking: “I hadn’t dared approach 
Bryan when I saw him … beer can 
in hand, his head shaved, the ravaged 
features of someone whose life is no 
life” (26). Instantaneously, readers 
are made to picture the stereotypi-
cal alcoholic indigenous man who, 
dishevelled and subhuman, deserves 
nothing more than perpetual pity 
and reprimand. She initially fears 
him, “…leery of his alcoholism, his 
rage…” (35), which she may not have 
had he been white. Walker problema-
tizes and pathologizes substance use 
and links it directly to Indigeneity. 
When describing Maisy and 
Shannon, Walker refers to their tra-
ditionally “deviant” behaviours with 
a negative connotation, particularly 
in the case of substance use. In doing 
so, she implies that they are morally 
reprehensible, that they miscon-
ducted themselves, and that they 
“suffer[ed] the consequences” (47). 
Thus, Walker actively participates in 
the victim-blaming that Indigenous 
women are so often subject to.
These racist ideas are shared by 
many Canadians. It would be dishon-
est for Walker to deny that she holds 
some of these prejudices, but they 
had no place in Stolen Sisters, unless 
they had themselves been subject to 
critical analysis. Although she speaks 
at length about racism, she does not 
once refer to whiteness. One cannot 
not exist without the other, and fail-
ing to address the latter is deceptive. 
To remedy these omissions, Walker 
should have explicitly stated that 
she was non-Indigenous, critically 
assessed her biases, and considered 
seeking out an indigenous co-author. 
As a white woman, I recognize that re-
sponsible authorship includes being 
explicit and transparent about one’s 
social location with respect to one’s 
subject of study. This is especially 
crucial in the context of working with 
indigenous communities, or other 
communities of which one is not a 
member, because this work tends to 
be somewhat more intrusive and to 
have a higher potential to cause harm. 
If someone were to read Stolen 
Sisters with no prior knowledge of 
the subject matter, their most basic 
prejudices may not be challenged. 
This could limit Walker’s ability to 
achieve one of her central goals: to 
alleviate ignorance by targeting the 
subtlest, most elusive forms of an-
CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME130
ti-Indigenous racism as they exist in 
the Canadian conscience. That said, 
the book is still an excellent example 
of how ideology functions. Despite 
intending to protest racial injustice, 
at times, Walker reproduces white 
supremacist ideology throughout 
the book.
Stolen Sisters recognizes the dis-
appearance of Maisy Odjick and 
Shannon Alexander as an example 
of the Canada-wide phenomenon 
of missing and murdered Indigenous 
women. Walker deems the latter a 
feminicide and illustrates the impact 
of gender inequality and lack of insti-
tutional justice on the safety of Indig-
enous women. Despite reinforcing 
anti-Indigenous racism in a number 
of ways, Walker makes a substantial 
and highly necessary contribution to 
the body of literature documenting 
this crisis. She demonstrates that 
as long as Indigenous women are 
denied the right to gender equality 
and institutional accountability, 
disproportionate levels of violence 
will continue to be inflicted upon 
them. Demanding governmental 
response to such violence requires 
a concerted international effort; a 
stand in solidarity with Indigenous 
women worldwide.
Clare Conlogue is a fourth year Social 
Work student at Ryerson University. 
As an intersectional feminist with 
an anti-oppressive practice focus, her 
primary research interests include 
poverty reduction and prevention and 
violence against women. She hopes to 
work within housing and homelessness.
References
United Nations (2015). Transforming 
Our World: The 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development. Web.
ABOUT CANADA: 
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Penni Mitchell
Halifax: Fernwood, 2015
reviewed by amanda le 
rougetel
If history is the study of the past 
as it relates to human beings, then 
About Canada: Women’s Rights brings 
150 years of that past vividly to life 
through the names and stories of 
the countless women whose courage 
and hard work helped shape Canada 
into the country of essential, if not 
always actual, equality, justice and 
caring it is today. Using secondary 
sources, Penni Mitchell, editor of 
Winnipeg-based Herizons magazine, 
succeeds admirably in her objective to 
shine a spotlight on “just some of the 
women who climbed on soapboxes 
and defied the limitations of their 
gender” to bring about change. 
Beginning in the mid-1800s and 
following through to 1999 (with a 
nod to First Nation and colonial era 
women before those dates), Mitchell 
tells the stories of the many firsts by 
women. New France (today’s Qué-
bec) had no shortage of such firsts: 
It saw the first hospital in 1645, the 
first school for girls in 1676, and 
the first recorded public protest by 
women in 1757 against the governor’s 
proposed reduction in public rations 
of bread and meat. The first female 
principal in Canada was Emily Stowe 
of Ontario; in 1867, she became the 
first woman to practice medicine in 
Canada, after having had to train in 
the U.S. because she was denied entry 
to the U of T’s medical school on 
the basis of her sex. In 1921, Agnes 
Macphail became the first woman 
elected as a member of parliament. 
The list of women with impact – 
first or otherwise – goes on: You’ll 
read about familiar names, including 
Nellie McClung, Madeleine Parent, 
Muriel Duckworth, and Judy Rebick, 
to name just four. But you’ll also read 
about women you’ve likely never 
heard of, including Thanadelthur, 
a young Dene woman in 1713 who 
was an instrumental negotiator in 
the fur trade in northern Manitoba; 
Agathe de Saint-Père, a successful 
businesswoman in early 1700s Qué-
bec; Mary Ann Shadd, active in the 
Underground Railway in the early 
1800s, a proponent of integration, 
an author and a newspaper publish-
er; Margaret Bulkley, who assumed 
a male identity and practiced as a 
surgeon in the mid-1800s; Elsie 
Gregory MacGill, North America’s 
first female aeronautical engineer 
(1927); and many more. 
The individual women’s stories are 
fascinating, and when woven together 
they tell the larger story of social 
change effected through collective 
action. Women worked together 
in clubs, institutes, councils, action 
committees, funds, and leagues. For 
example, women gathered in the 
guise of ‘literary’ clubs to organize 
politically; the National Council 
of Women was founded in 1893 
to fight for equal wages and public 
health services; in the early 1900s, 
university women’s clubs advocated 
for equal pay and suffrage; in 1904, 
the Canadian Women’s Press Club 
brought together women reformers 
who were earning their living as 
published writers. Fast forward over 
the decades to the late 20th century 
and you’ll learn about the work of the 
National Action Committee on the 
Status of Women (NAC), the Cana-
dian Abortion Rights Action League 
(CARAL), the Legal Education and 
Action Fund (LEAF), the DisAbled 
Women’s Network (DAWN), Le 
front de libération des femmes du 
Québec, and others. 
Read the book linearly from start 
to end to experience the sense of 
evolving rights over the decades – and 


English

Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families, and how Canada has Failed Indigenous Women. Emmanuelle Walter. Toronto: Harper Collins, 2015

Oliver, Catherine

By Catherine Oliver
Le centre de soins communautaires peut se reve/er une fat;on de
rejoindre les femmes pauvres et de les reunir afin de traiter les
causes de leurpauvrete. L 'article decrit une visite type au centre
de soins et certaines des caracteristiques organisationnelles qui
facilitent ce processus.
" Davenport-Perth Community Health Centre.
Is this where I can see a doctor? My daughter is sick.
Yes, we have doctors and nursepractitioners here. Would you
like to make an appointment?
Many times each day at the health centre the phone rings and
the receptionist answers to initiate a conversation like this one.
Let's follow Moira, a single mom with two children, as she visits
the centre for the first time.'
Moira enters the health centre, a clean, bright, welcoming
space, pushing a stroller and leading her three year-old daughter
by the hand. She is attracted by the noise of children playing and
wonders what that has to do with visiting the doctor. The
receptionist greets the family, takes information, and shows
Moira the toys and colouring materials for her children. Moira
wonders how long she'll have to wait and is surprised to hear her
daughter's name called quite soon.
Hello, my name is Susan. I'm a nurse practitioner, and I'll be
seeing your daughter today.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
Community
Health
Care
A Strategy
for Bringing
Wo.men Together
Moira hurries into the room with the two children. She states
her problem rapidly.
She's sick. Last night she had a fever, and she's had a lot ofear
infections.
Moira is surprised at Susan's relaxed attitude as Susan spends
time reviewing past health and carries out a complete examina-
tion. Susan explains
All our new patients get a complete exam on their first visit.
Susan asks Moira about where they are living.
We moved in there just last week. It's awful. There are roaches
everywhere-but it's all I can afford. I'm not working. I'm on
mother's allowance. I'd like to get a job, but... What are you
asking me all these questions for anyway?
This is Moira's first encounter with a different kind of health
care. Moira expects to spend quite a lot of time waiting to see the
doctor and then having a very short visit ending with a prescrip-
tion. She is surprised to find that waiting time is kept as short as
possible. Moira is even more surprised by the length of the visit,
with the nurse and the questions the nurse asks, which go beyond
the usual medical focus.
I'm asking these questions because I know that housing,
89
NAME
Room of One's Own. p.a. Box 46160. Station G
Vancouver. B.C. V6R 4G5 CANADA GST #Rl19292423
_ One year $15 _ Two years $25 Institutions $20
In Canada. please add 7% GST to these prices.
Outside Canada. please add $5 per year for postage.
POSTAL CODE
in 1973 and interned in Halifax, Nova
Scotia. She has workedas a CUSO volun-
teer teaching medical assistants in Tan-
zania and as a family physician in Wawa,
Ontario, Moose Factory, Ontario, and
more recently inprivatepractice and two
community health centres in Toronto. She
is a member of the Interim Regulatory
Council on Midwifery in Ontario, and of
the College ofFamily Physicians and the
Medical Reform Group.
ADDRESS
CIIT/PROVINCE
Room aJOne's Own
is a Canadian feminist
quarterly of literature
and reviews that
publishes fiction.
poetry. and essays by.
for. and about women.
For exciting. thought-
provoking writing
from Canadian and
international writers.
subscribe to Room.
Subscriptions
* The views published in this article are
those of the author and not those of the
Davenport-Perth CommunityHealth Cen-
tre. The encounter described in the article
has beenfictionalized andthe names have
been changed to protect individuals' pri-
vacy.
Catherine Oliver is a family physician
practising at the Davenport-Perth Com-
munity Health Centre in Toronto. She
graduated M.D. from McGill University
At the community health centre, Moira
gets a prescription for her daughter's ear
infection-which is what she came for-
but she also finds out about those voices
of children playing she heard on the way.
Susan introduces Moira and her children
to the parent/child drop-in down the hall.
There, Moira will meet other moms and
caregivers in the neighbourhood, and her
children will make friends. A food buying
club has just been started by the commu-
nity organizer for health promotion, and
Moira mightjoin that. Susanand the health
counsellor have organized a group ofpeo-
ple who want to work on quitting smok-
ing. The focus shifts from treating the ear
infection (although this will always be
important) to involving Moira with other
women working on the causes of their ill-
health.
Certain characteristics of community
health centres, such as community boards
and staff on salaries, account for some of
the things that Moira found unique in this
experience of medical care. At Daven-
port-Perth, at least one community mem-
ber sits on each hiring committee. The
hiring committee asks candidates ques-
tions to determine that they are aware of
the wider causes of ill-health, beyond the
strictly medical model, and that the candi-
dates will be able and willing to work in a
team with other health practitioners and
staff of the neighbourhood centre.
Physicians and nurse practitioners at
the health centre are paid by salary, rather
thanfee-for-service, as physicians are paid
in private practice. This way, the health
practitioners are able to take the time
necessary to get to know their patients in
some detail, to do the necessary counsel-
ling, and link them to other programmes
in the centre.
Moira will come back, and as soon as
she becomes involved in the activities of
the centre, she will link up with other
women working with the staff of the cen-
tre. The challenge is to develop these
linkages into effective attacks on the causes
of ill-health.
employment, income, and lots of other
things affect your health and your chil-
dren's health. Here at the health centre,
we believe that there is more topromoting
good health than prescribing drugs and
referring you to medical specialists,
though wecertainlydo bothofthose things
when necessary.
90 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME


Community Health Care: A Strategy for Bringing Women Together

O'Neill, Dominique

La poétesse

Pastakia, Firuza

A Question of Rights
By Firuza Pastakia
Cet article decrit le travail accompli par le Women Workers'
Centre, une organisation syndicale communautaire quifournit
des conseils juridiques et de l' aide aux femmes travailleuses de
Karachi auPakistan.L'organisationaide lesfemmesacombattre
la discrimination en milieu de travail etas'organiserpour creer
de meilleures conditions de travail. Les efforts de l' organisation
ont donne de bons resultats, mais elle tente toujours d' atteindre
un niveau plus eleve de soutien et de reconnaissance aupres du
public.
"Before these women came here," says one resident ofShershah
Colony, Karachi, who works in a pharmaceuticals factory, "we
had to go searching for someone who would listen to our
problems, and could give us some advice. Now we don't have to
go very far."
The Women Workers' Centre (wwc) operates part-time from
a small room in the Shershah Colony offices of the Mutahidda
Labour Federation. Everyone in the vicinity knows who the
women who work here are, and many children play noisily in the
courtyard of the building. Most women living in the area go out
to work, and are grateful for the wwc's presence here to deal with
their problems.
The wwc was set up as a result of the fmdings ofa 1988 survey
conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and
Research (PILER) that drew attention to the exploitation ofwomen
workers. It aims, in its modest way, to redress some of the terrible
injustices women are subjected to at their workplaces. It provides
legal advice and assistance to women in order to solve work-
related problems, and facilitates their participation in collective
bargaining.
Women now constitute a significant proportion of the labour
force in the country, but their labour continues to be exploited.
Industry in Pakistan has long been segregated-with certain
types of industry employing only women-and women workers
are generally much worse off than men.
This became clear in the 1988 survey. What seemed to be rare
cases ofexploitation were actually quite common, if not the rule,
in most industrial sectors in the country. The survey showed that
the majority of women workers do not know what their rights are
under existing labour laws. Those who do are not likely to take
any action against theiremployers ifthese rightsareviolated. The
survey also showed that women are more reluctant than men to
form unions, or to participate actively in unions if they already
exist. They have no access to a forum in which to voice their
complaints. Moreover, women have no knowledge of govem-
88
ment departments and institutions that implement labour laws,
and no means of access to them.
Since its inception, the wwc has been besieged by women
victims of all kinds of discrimination and mistreatment at work.
The first case to be brought before the wwc was of three women
at Shahbaz Garments, Karachi, who felt they had been unfairly
dismissed. Thewwc helped these women-who would otherwise
have simply sought alternative employment-to take their case
to court.
As a result of their meetings with the workers at the Centre,
other women at the same factory decided to form a union.
Management, however, tried its best to prevent this from happen-
ing. Work was withheld from the women; their guardians were
called to the factory and told that their women were undermining
the family's izzat (dignity), and would be better off within the
chardiwari; union officials were offered bribes. The manage-
ment also allegedly managed to get an illegal stay order from a
civil court in order to prevent the union from being registered.
Theircase, with the helpofthewwc andNabi Ahmed's Mutahedda
Labour Federation, has also been taken to court.
Amma Hawwa had been working at Freshwater Fisheries for
fifteen years when some women from the PILER survey inter-
viewed her. Some time later, she was dismissed, and no official
reason for her dismissal was given. She turned to the wwc for
assistance, and her case was taken to the labour court. She was
offered her job back, but she turned it down.
There are many other women like Amma Hawwa and the
women at Shahbaz Garments, who are employed in small and
large industry in the country. And their seemingly isolated cases
of unfair treatment are actually common practice.
The PILER survey results reflected the need to teach workers
about labour laws, and the rights that these laws guarantee them.
The wwc publishes a pamphlet, Raushni, in which these laws are
discussed at length. Case studies are also printed, to show how
these laws can be implemented. Apart from publishing Raushni
as often as their meagre funding allows, the wwc also regularly
holds workshops and seminars related to these issues. Meetings
have also been held, but they are poorly attended. "We contacted
other women's organizations, we met them personally, but
everyone there has somereason orother for notshowing up," said
a worker at the Centre.
Despite the lack of cooperation, however, the wwc has man-
aged to make its mark. Apart from labour-related cases like those
of Amma Hawwa or the workers at Shahbaz Garments, the wwc
has also assisted women in matters of health care and personal
CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
law. "There was this woman who had been divorced by her
husband, but he refused to let her remarry. He would threaten her;
he made her life a misery. She came to us, and we put her in touch
with some lawyers, and her problem was sorted out."
The Women Workers' Centre has also helped to legitimize
working for the rights of women workers. "When we frrst started
up, people thought these are women, they will just talk, but they
won't do anything." says a wwc employee. But now they know
that we are serious. Now we are not even allowed to enter many
factories, because the management fears that we might start
union trouble.
Women, however, have generally had a poor record offorming
and running their own labour unions. Apart from the fact that
many are unaware of their right to unionize, most women
workers are afraid to get involved. For most, it is easier to take
home a smaller wage than to create a fuss and face losing that
wage altogether. It is for this reason that most women labour
activists like Kaneez Fatima and Gulzar Begum, come from
outside the labour force. No woman worker has become involved
at that level. "That makes solving women's problems very
difficult," said a wwc representative. Solving the problems of
women workers is made even more difficult by the fact that the
special nature of these problems is not recognized. Although
women now make up a very large proportion of the labour force,
they are still treated as second-class, cheap labour. And because
industry in the country has been strictly segregated, it is difficult
to make a concrete case for equal pay for equal work. Industries
like garment manufacturing, fisheries and pharmaceuticals em-
ploy only women in certain sectors of their production process,
making a comparison almost impossible.
Even today, in most cases, a woman's wage is half of what a
man would be paid to do the same work. And because women
have not created a strong enough lobby against this kind of
discrimination, the exploitation continues unabated. Laws do
exist to prevent the blatant exploitation ofall workers, including
women. There is, however, no foolproof method to implement
these laws, and there are, it seems, very few people who really
care.
Although several women's organizations exist in the country,
few of them have addressed the issue of women workers. Fewer
still have taken up the cause seriously. "Perhaps it is the long
hours that one has to put in," says one wwc employee, "or the
unglamourous nature of the work involved." Whatever the rea-
son, the wwc continues to operate in virtual isolation, with very
little public recognition, and almost no support. It is perhaps only
in the Shershah Colony, where women flock to its offices for
guidance, or just a chat-or in the minds of a handful of people
who are aware of the work that it does-that the Women
Workers' Centre really exists.
Women's organizations have taken on several other issues
such as rape and the Hudood Ordinances in the past. In their
widely publicized campaigns, however, they have somehow
overlooked the rights ofwomen workers. And, they have ignored
the women who have chosen to take on this task.
The original version ofthis article originally appeared in The
Herald Annual in January 1991. Reprinted with permission.
~
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VOLUME 13, NUMBER I 89


A Question of Rights

Grant-Oyeye, Lind

28 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME
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LIND GRANT-OYEYE
Walking under water
They gather yet again in this aged city square –
They gather under
Old wells our grandmother’s rugged hands 
carved
underneath our grandfather’s foul-mouthed 
land.
Rumor has it that it was borrowed while
he danced to tempered beats of hokey village 
drums.
How these new ones also come together in 
fogged out city
lights to retell a story trapped in the trials
of dead beat winds –
The Story of dried up bones. 
Their yearning 
to rise one more time above cloudy waters –
To rise
How these new ones gather one more time –
Dressed in double-breasted coats, 
under murky moons to speak
of brittle bosoms
of buried bones
of borrowed lands – To rise
Lind Grant-Oyeye is an award-winning poet of African-
Irish descent. Her work has appeared in literary magazines 
and anthologies world-wide. 


Walking under water

Walker, Anne F.

meconnue, Quebec, 1988, 44 p.
eeeesF,J'ai des choses adire... ecoutez-
moi : sondage aupres des adolescentes
du Canada, Ottawa, 1992, 114 p.
Forgetetal.,S'exprimerpourunesexualite
responsable, un projet pilote sur la
communication parents adolescents et
son evaluation, Communication au 3e
Congres international de recherches en
education familiale, Paris, mai 1991,
17 p.
Gauthier, Madeleine (sous la direction
de), Les Nouveaux Visages de la
pauvreM, colI. Questions de culture,
IQRe, Quebec, 1987,258 p.
Guilbert et al., « Etre adolescent et fer-
tile: une responsabilite personnelle et
sociale », dans Contraception-fertilite-
sexualite, vol. 16, nO 11, 1988, p. 977-
981.
Langlois, Richard, S'appauvrir dans un
pays riche, Albert St-Martin, Montreal,
1990.
MSSS, La Perinatalite au Quebec: naftre
egaux eten sante, Quebec, 1989, 151 p.
Rochon, Madeleine, Meres de moins de
20 ans au 1er janvier 1987, Services
des etudes socio-sanitaires, MSSS, 1987.
Secretariat d'Etat du Canada, Profil de
l'enseignement superieur au Canada,
Ottawa, 1991, 54 p.
Pierrette Bouchard est professeure au
Departementd'administration etpolitique
scolaires, de la Faculte des sciences de
I'education de I'Universite Laval, depuis
1982. Elle a obtenu son doctorat dans le
domaine des sciencespolitiques. Elle dis-
pense presentement un cours, au niveau
de la formation des maftres qui s'intitule
Education et Milieux defavorises, dont le
contenu touche les differentes facettes de
la pauvrete.
Pierrette Bouchard est egalement
coordinatrice du Groupe de recherche
multidisciplinairefeministe (GREMF) de
l'Universite Laval. Elle participe aune
recherche sur laprevention des grossesses
precoces chez les jeunes Amerindiennes
avec Le Conseil en education des
Premieres nations et fait partie d'une
equipe responsable d'une recherche sur
I'abandon scolaire et les pratiques de
raccrochage au Quebec.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
CHRONIQUE FEMINISTE N° 34
La question du voile
Femmes palestiniennes
Deux themes principaux de reflexion:
Le voile : reflexions sur le sexisme patriarcal, liberal
ici, integriste la-bas
Femmes palestiniennes : I'histoire de la participation
de ces femmes a la lutte depuis I'origine a I'lntafada
En plus, ce numero contient aussi les rubriques
habituelles, des informations venues d'ailleurs et des
lectures commentees.
Le nO : 200 FB - Abonn. 5 nO : 700 FB a regler en FB par mandat postal
international- Universite des Femmes, 1a, Place Quetelet, 1030
Bruxeiles. Tal : 02{219.61.07
ANNE F. WALKER
Constricts (for Susan Swan)
Skim milk cough breaks.
Mercury a quick silver
running in the cracks of your palm,
never Hermes, or an abstraction loosed.
Sustaining hand to mouth awareness declines,
set in material lack.
Everything can be expressed in words,
fleeting expansive thought under language expelled
just to be able to curl up
inside anywhere protected
for just long enough.
Anne F. Walker has had two books of poetry published by
Black Moss Press. Her work has also appeared in several
anthologies and numerous literary magazines.
37


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