The Feminism Star

There's nothing like a gay effete to pronounce feminism dead, but, months ago I declared that 2007 was the year of living dangerously [so dangerous that I spent an afternoon at the Finch Subway Station park and ride on Friday...] so straight from the horses mouth: is feminism still alive? Does anyone still care?

I spent a fair bit of time thinking about feminism over the weekend as I sat entrapped on a "boys-only" bonding trip with my dad and his high school buddies. Let me tell you - my concept of boys only and bonding includes less flatulence, less bleching and more gay sex.

But back onto feminism... for those who have been reading the Globe and Mail, the paper is practically tripping over itself to report on the grusome death of a family from Medicine Hat, purportedly murdered by their 12 year-old daughter and her twenty-something year-old boyfriend. The defense, as is their want, have chosen to portray J.R. (the daughter protected by the young offenders act) as the victim of the persuasive power of her much older boyfriend. No matter that witnesses have stated that J.R. was overheard as saying that she murdered her family for her boyfriend. Shades of Karla Homolka have obviously been drawn. Yet the overarching theme of the defense is quite clear: the woman in question is portrayed as a defenceless victim ruined by her unscrupulous older boyfriend.

Now that, one may argue, is a Medicine Hat murder trial, where an intelligent lawyer is simply trying to get his client, a poor defenceless victim herself, off. And certainly a poor and innocent female is better representation then the press portraying her as evil Eve to a hapless Adam. But wait... can't we be equal opportunists when it comes to serial killer's too?

But back to the Faux, where the bra burning ancestors of yesteryear reside in their "what me worry?" state.

Recently the Globe and Mail featured an unintentionally hilarious story about a missing 16 year-old. The teen supposedly a distant daughter of the city's beloved robber barron Eaton family. There are hundreds of missing people a year in Canada [ I actually looked at the stats can statistics before I almost got fired for not doing work at work...], over 40 missing females were killed by a serial killer in Vancouver, however, they were prostitutes so who the fuck cares, right? But the case of a missing teen and a distant relative of Canadian retail royalty gets a full page story in the Globe and Mail. Hilarious!

Even better were the accompanying quotes. The missing teen's father was quoted as saying about her apparent hideout at Bathurst and Steeles, "That's a long, long way from Forest Hill in more ways than one." He said he and his wife, Mary, were worried that someone might prey on his daughter because of her family's wealth. "Fifteen-year-old girls from this part of town are vulnerable." Once again: poor, innocent defenceless female, bad bad men.

So if teenage girls around the Faux are vulnerable because of their wealth and sex, then what are their mothers like? Well - if the mummies I see lingering round the ravine every morning are any indication - vulnerability isn't a word I'd use to describe them, and I'm not sure Gloria Steinham would be a huge fan either.

To call a spade a spade - woman (and heck a lot of men in the Faux) don't work. This is fine. The old adage being that parenthood is the most important job of your life and blah blah blah. Feminism of course taught us all that women could be just as powerful and important as men in whatever their chosen field.

But what if their chosen field is sitting at Starbucks? Isn't that indicative that Faux Hill Feminism is DOA?

Once I overheard a group of mothers sit on the patio describing their disastisfaction with the lunch served at their children's private school. "You should see the crap they're serving at lunch."

Hmm... here's a thought, actually two suggestions:
1) You make the lunch yourself
2) Your child makes their own lunch

This was the same group that offered this nugget of wisdom: "Judith, hire your nanny before you give birth. It's easier to train them when you're still pregnant. Once the baby comes you won't have to do anything."

Am I being jaded or has privilege killed the Femisinism Star, we can't rewind we've gone to far.

(please direct hate mail to my manager Sarah Gold)