(no subject)
In a couple of weeks, it will be the 20th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.
A quick history lesson for those who havent heard of it - On December 6th, 1989, Marc Lépine murdered 14 women and injured 4 men and 10 women at an engineering school called École Polytechnique de Montréal. Lépine, the son of a mysonginistic father, had long complained about women moving into non-traditional roles, and, as he seperated out and shot the women in the classroom, claimed he was "Fighting feminism". His spree targeted women, and his suicide note blamed feminists for ruining his life.
From this massacre sprung the Canadian National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, held on December 6th. On the second anniversary of this awful event, a group of Canadian men began the White Ribbon campaign, which urges men to speak out, and do something about, violence against women. This quickly became an international event. White Ribbon Day in Australia is November 25th.
Unlike so many other campaigns to 'help' women (dont get me started on the 'save the boobies!' breast cancer campaign held recently, or the victim-blaming of the teenage binge drinking campaigns, or *any* rape prevention campaign...), this one focuses squarely on changing the behaviour of the perpetrators, not the victims. This is no 'dont walk down dark alleyways' campaign, instead giving men the opportunity and responsibility to speak up amongst their peers, and change the culture that gives permission to men to hurt women. This isnt well-intentioned men saying 'hey ladies, you need to do XYZ to be safe', it's men saying to other men 'This is wrong. This is not OK. We will not make a place for this kind of behaviour or attitude in society'.
I linked to this last year, but I'm going to do so again, because it's a good little piece (Andrew O'Keefe is the chairman of the White Ribbon Foundation in Australia), and is a great example of how to go about being a good ally.
I also like that the campaign goes beyond 'buy this $2 ribbon one day a year' and promotes social change through ongoing projects.
So if you see one of the ribbon sellers over the next week, it's a good place to direct your spare change. Teaspoons. We'll get there in the end.
A quick history lesson for those who havent heard of it - On December 6th, 1989, Marc Lépine murdered 14 women and injured 4 men and 10 women at an engineering school called École Polytechnique de Montréal. Lépine, the son of a mysonginistic father, had long complained about women moving into non-traditional roles, and, as he seperated out and shot the women in the classroom, claimed he was "Fighting feminism". His spree targeted women, and his suicide note blamed feminists for ruining his life.
From this massacre sprung the Canadian National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, held on December 6th. On the second anniversary of this awful event, a group of Canadian men began the White Ribbon campaign, which urges men to speak out, and do something about, violence against women. This quickly became an international event. White Ribbon Day in Australia is November 25th.
Unlike so many other campaigns to 'help' women (dont get me started on the 'save the boobies!' breast cancer campaign held recently, or the victim-blaming of the teenage binge drinking campaigns, or *any* rape prevention campaign...), this one focuses squarely on changing the behaviour of the perpetrators, not the victims. This is no 'dont walk down dark alleyways' campaign, instead giving men the opportunity and responsibility to speak up amongst their peers, and change the culture that gives permission to men to hurt women. This isnt well-intentioned men saying 'hey ladies, you need to do XYZ to be safe', it's men saying to other men 'This is wrong. This is not OK. We will not make a place for this kind of behaviour or attitude in society'.
I linked to this last year, but I'm going to do so again, because it's a good little piece (Andrew O'Keefe is the chairman of the White Ribbon Foundation in Australia), and is a great example of how to go about being a good ally.
I also like that the campaign goes beyond 'buy this $2 ribbon one day a year' and promotes social change through ongoing projects.
So if you see one of the ribbon sellers over the next week, it's a good place to direct your spare change. Teaspoons. We'll get there in the end.