As part of its package on Maria Shriver's A Woman's Nation, which I blogged about last week, Time Magazine's Nancy Gibbs recalls a time when women were identified by their marital status.
It's an object lesson in the systemic sexism that used to exist.
Because words shape our world. Ms. is not some trendy modern social contraption. It was
first spotted on the tombstone of Ms. Sarah Spooner in 1767, the handiwork, perhaps, of a frugal stone carver. For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Mrs. and Miss were deployed to signal age, not marital status. Both were derived from Mistress, a word that, before it put on its feather boa and fishnet stockings, was the title for any woman with authority over a household.
As a handy form of address, Ms. found a foothold in the 1952 guidelines of the National Office Management Association: they suggested using it to avoid any confusion over a woman's marital state. Twenty years later, when Ms. magazine was born, the editors explained, "Ms. is being adopted as a standard form of address by women who want to be recognized as individuals, rather than being identified by their relationship with a man." That same year, the U.S. Government Printing Office approved using Ms. in official government documents.Such developments left the New York Times — which that year ran a story headlined IN SMALL TOWN, U.S.A., WOMEN'S LIBERATION IS EITHER A JOKE OR A BORE — in the awkward position of identifying Gloria Steinem as "Miss Steinem, editor of Ms. magazine." At that point, even the late language guru William Safire called for surrender. The Times refused on the grounds that the title had not passed into common usage. "We reconsider it from time to time," the editors mused, but "to our ear, it still sounds too contrived for news writing." Only in 1986 did the Times relent; the editors at Ms. sent flowers.
It's true that not all that many women passed on the Mrs. form of address once they married -- a move that seems to be making a comeback.
I doubt many Broadsides readers would be surprised to learn that I was one of the earliest Ms. adopters. Despite two marriages, I never played Mrs. Anybody except when dealing with the phone company because the bills were always addressed to the husbands' names -- plus their names were simpler than mine.
Some women went the hyphenated route. This was not an option for me, even if I had chosen it. Too many freaking letters!
The irony, of course, is that Zerbisias was my Dad's name, not my Mom's. Now, in Quebec, women are legally called by their birth names, so, when she is addressed by the name she gave up when she married in 1938, my mother thinks there's been some mistake.
Incidentally, when my Canadian-born mom married my father, who was not yet a naturalized "British subject'' (Canadian), she lost her citizenship because that's what happened to women who married foreigners. But not vice versa.
Just a reminder of the not-so-golden olden days.
Five women won Nobel prizes this year, making it ''a record year'' for women.
On Monday, Elinor Ostrom of the United States became the first woman to win the Economics Prize.
How sad is that? Not that she won but that, well into the 21st Century, we're still saying ''the first woman to ..."
And, to think we still have. ''the first woman president'' and ''the first woman vice-president'' of the US ahead of us -- although I would gladly pass on both as long as it keeps Sarah Palin from winning either office.
Anyway, last week, Romanian-born German author Herta Mueller won the Nobel Literature Prize, while Israel's Ada Yonath was one of three scientists recognised for chemistry.
Two other women, Australian-American Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider of the United States, were both awarded the Nobel Medicine Prize.
Since the life of the prize, women have managed to win 40 times -- and that includes two-time winner Marie Curie.
That's out of some 820+ awards.
Note that most women have won since we feminazis have taken over the world and forced our sisters into the workplace and the abortion abattoirs.
(That's a joke, kids.)
We're just crowding out deserving men from the prize race.
Yeah. Right.
Oh, and by the way? While on the subject of herstory, I am pleased to note that ''The Famous Five,'' the women who fought to get women recognized as actual ''persons'' in Canada, were made honourary senators.
Posthumously, of course. Wouldn't want them getting too big for their bustles or anything.
Here's Pale Cold on the subject.
You know what I like best about these stories?
They allow me to post photos of unBotoxed women who don't look like they've been put through the Photoshop of Horrors.
Sez who?
Click here for a gallery of cartoons on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tour of Africa.
Here's a sample, from The Star's very own Theo Moudakis.
Because, you know, there was nothing else in the news, or worth commenting on.
I'm a little late getting to this but ...
Marilyn French, one of feminism’s leading writers and theorists, died of heart failure last weekend at age 79. French, along with Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greer, was a major influence on boomer feminists like me.
It was her 1977 debut novel “The Women’s Room’’ which catapulted her into the public eye.
About fictional feminists in the 1950s and 60s, the 20-million-plus bestseller was best known for one of the characters claiming that “All men are rapists.’’ Needless to say, that phrase ended up being attributed to French herself, mostly by those who fought women’s attempts to gain equality in the U.S.
Here's a great analysis of her work, ironically by a man:
Much has been made in the obituaries of French’s anger, and there’s little doubt that in many respects “The Women’s Room” is an angry novel. But righteous anger in the face of blind privilege, reckless entitlement, and crushing social norms is no vice — and I found French’s work to be a powerful and damning indictment. At 19, I recognized aspects of myself in some of her less sympathetic male characters — and in no small way, the book contributed to the beginning of my intellectual journey to (at least attempt to) become a different sort of man.
Also misinterpreted was her declaration that her "goal in life is to change the entire social and economic structure of Western civilization, to make it a feminist world.’’
To those who would eventually refer to feminists as “femi-nazis,’’ that was twisted to mean that French and her cohorts wanted to squash men.
That must sound awfully familiar to regular readers of the comments section in this blog.
In a tribute to French, Carol Jenkins, president of the New York City-based Women’s Media Center, wrote:
She was dedicated to making sure women understood their compromised position, and that men could see their part in the domination — historically and currently. She denied that made her a man-hater, and never altered her position. Marilyn had witnessed, recorded, interpreted, and predicted the condition of women in the world for most of her life. I can’t say that near the end she was overly optimistic about our progress and our future. But once again, Marilyn left the lasting impression. And, the Goddess knows, she tried.
The gravelly-voiced performer won Emmys for her role on both series, which were also critically acclaimed.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, but gave no other details.
"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years.
<SNIP>
Arthur first appeared on TV in the landmark comedy series All in the Family as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin Maude Findlay.
In 1972, Arthur took that character to a spinoff series, Maude. Maude lived in an affluent community with her husband Walter (Bill Macy) and divorced daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) .
I don't normally mark the passing of sitcom stars but Arthur was a true doorkicker for the Maude episodes she did on alcoholism, divorce and, most bravely, abortion back in a time when women were supposed to shut up and stand behind their man. Everything about her Maude Finlay was controversial. She was not afraid to speak her mind, she didn't sit at home vacuuming in pearls and high heels, and denounced Republicans in the Nixon era.
That despite her own political leanings.
In real life, Bea Arthur’s attitude toward feminism was much more ambivalent than that of her alter ego. In the early 1970s, Arthur insisted that she did not understand the women’s movement: “I’ve never felt that being a wife and mother isn’t enough.” Interviews portrayed her as a gentle, unpretentious woman deeply tied to her husband and two adopted sons, and nothing like the threatening Maude. By 1978, however, the series had produced tensions that shattered Arthur’s longtime marriage to Gene Saks, and in later interviews, Arthur actually adopted the language of the women’s movement: “I don’t think I ever truly believed in marriage anyway,” she told an interviewer in 1985. “I guess marriage means that you’re a woman and not a . . . person.”
On the show, Maude was constantly admonishing her adversaries and those who angered her with her stock phrase, ''God will get you for that.''
Bet God, if there is such a thing, has Bea Arthur now.
UPPITY WOMAN DATE: The wonders of YouTube.
Via Salon's Broadsheet, this good news story, and good on so many fronts.
Many girls and women here think they have it bad that time of the month when they're feeling boated, cranky, sleepless, crampy and find themselves checking the backs of their skirts every few minutes. (As for their partners who think they are suffering through this too, my heart bleeds.)
But give me a break. Aside from the fact that the feds charge GST for tampons and other such products, menstruating is no great hardship. I mean, walk into any drugstore and you'll see entire aisles devoted to mini this and maxi that.
In my time I have even bought black pads made for thong panties.
Nowadays you can even skip the whole deal with certain pills.
What's more, period talk is common. Who hasn't heard a co-working kvetching about her PMS? There's no shame in it. And even commercials are pretty blatant nowadays, going way beyond animated cotton doves with wings floating around a girl's head.
Case in point:
So anyway, in some places, women don't have it so (relatively) easy.
Which is where the good news comes in:
Elizabeth Scharpf (MBA 2007) has been named the first Harvard Business School Social Entrepreneurship Fellow for her work in launching Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE). SHE is a platform for starting businesses that use innovative, market-based approaches to tackle socio-economic and public health problems in developing countries. Scharpf started SHE in late 2007 based on the belief that charitable efforts alone are not enough to address the breadth and complexity of socio-economic and health problems that exist in developing countries.
The HBS Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship program is designed to support the efforts of recent HBS graduates who are launching social enterprises - nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid organizations - with a central focus on the creation of social value. This pilot program provides seed funding support to one recent graduate each year through a $25,000 fellowship.
The first SHE venture addresses the widespread phenomenon of girls and women missing school or work when they are menstruating because they lack access to affordable sanitary pads. Currently working in Rwanda, SHE is developing a sanitary pad sourced from local materials to be sold for 30 percent less than currently available brands. Local Rwandan women will manufacture and market these pads and gradually become owners of the business through microfinance loans.
"In interviews with more than 500 women and girls in Rwanda, we found that half of the girls interviewed are missing school due to menstruation, primarily because sanitary pads are too expensive," said Scharpf. "Lack of access to pads affects not only the prospects of girls and women, it also has significant macro-economic consequences for countries - in fact, we estimate a $115 million loss in GDP per year in Rwanda alone.
"SHE expects that this rate is comparable in other resource-poor countries and we plan to undertake similar efforts in those countries," Scharpf continued. "It is an honor to be Harvard Business School's first Social Entrepreneurship Fellow. These resources will help SHE succeed during this critical phase of our pilot roll-out."
So, not only do Rwandan women and girls get cheaper pads, they get jobs, businesses and educations. This means that they're less likely to start having children at young ages, which reduces the stress on the planet.
It's a win-win-win.
As for Scharpf, she makes money in an ethical way, giving back to where she takes from.
And Harvard? Well, as an MBA myself (Concordia 1985), I have to say that, if social entrepreneurship was on the curricula of B-schools long ago, we would not be in the economic and environmental mess we are now in.
Antonia Zerbisias has been a Star columnist since 1989 but has been telling people what she thinks ever since she could open her mouth. Her career ambition as an opinionator dates back to Grade 9 when a cartoon commentary on a teacher resulted in her suspension from high school. The principal sent her home with a note calling her "rude, obstreperous and bold." Her parents were neither amused, nor surprised. Once she was punished for being that way. Now she makes it pay. And, because she can take it as well as dish it out, she wants to hear what you have to say. Fire away!
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