Upcoming Events!

Feminist Friday - Feb 17th - come by the Centre between noon and 2 to hang out, chow down on lunch and feminist ideas! Student Centre 526, hope to see you there. Open to students, faculty, staff and community members.

Film Screening of Searching for Angela Shelton
SMU Art Gallery, Tuesday March 7th, 7:30pm. Free.
Co-sponsored by the Women's Centre and the Conflict Resolution Office
Angela Shelton is an award-winning independent film maker. She found all the other Angela Sheltons in the US, and went on a road trip to visit them as a way to survey how many women had experiences violence, sexual assault or abuse. 28 out of 52 had -- by the time the film was ready, that number had risen to 32.

Come see the film, stick around for discussion after if you are able. If you are with an organization that is working to stop violence against women and would like to set up a table/bring information, please contact jennifer.crawford@smu.ca.

Halifax's International Women's Day Celebration
Saint Mary's University, Gorsebrook Lounge, Wednesday March 8th, 6pm. Free.
Saint Mary's University has the honour of hosting the Halifax-wide International Women's Day celebration! At 6pm-7pm, at the Gorsebrook lounge, we'll kick off with a potluck. Bring a treat, and chow down!

From 7pm-9pm, there will be oodles (yes, oodles!) of entertainment - singing, spoken word, skits, and more! Alexa McDonough, the Raging Grannies, our very own Christy Lopez and even more special guests will be performing. Buy a "candle" to honour the special women who "light up your life"! Proceeds raised will benefit the Single Parent's Centre in Spryfield.

Self-Defense for Women
Hosted by Alana Green, Thursday March 9th, Courtside Lounge, 7pm. Free.
Another session with the lovely Alana Green, as she teaches us how to keep ourselves strong and safe. Wear comfy clothes, bring a bottle of water. If you have any questions, please contact greencdk@hotmail.com

The Vagina Monologues

For the third year in a row, Saint Mary’s University will present a benefit production of “The Vagina Monologues” at McNally Theatre Auditorium on Friday, February 10th and Saturday, February 11th, 2006 at 7:00pm.

In the past two years, the Saint Mary’s University’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” has raised nearly $4000 for Bryony House, a Halifax women’s shelter. This year, the goal is to exceed a donation of $2000.

This benefit production is sponsored by the SMU Women’s Centre, and is made possible by the work of numerous volunteers who work tirelessly to end violence against women. The women involved are not your traditional actresses – most have never acted before, or if they have, it was in a previous performance of The Vagina Monologues. These are women who want to end the violence that women experience every day – to give voice to the stories of other women as honestly and accurately as they can.

There are two beneficiaries of the 2006 production. Halifax’s Bryony House is the main beneficiary for this year’s event. Bryony House provides housing, safety and comfort to over 450 women each year, and answers over 4500 distress calls. What these women have in common is that they are suffering the effects of an abusive intimate relationship. The presence of violence against women in our own Halifax community is undeniable – Bryony House is a necessary and crucial service.

10% of our funds will be going to the “Justice to Comfort Women” campaign. Between 1932-1945, during the Asia/Pacific wars, thousands of women were either coerced, lied to, or abducted and sold into “comfort stations” for the Japanese army. Here, the ‘comfort women’ were raped by the men for weeks on end, sometimes upwards of fifty times per day. Now in their eighties and nineties, these women have protested for years for a simple acknowledgement and apology from the Japanese government. Many of them have died; the Japanese government continues to maintain that it did not happen.

Tickets for the 2006 production of “The Vagina Monologues” will be available Feb 7th and 8th in the Loyola Colonnade, and at the door. They are $5 for students/seniors/unwaged, and $10 for all else.

For further information about the event, please email jennifer.crawford@smu.ca, or phone 496-8722.

What it means to be a feminist

From January 4th to January 31st, the Saint Mary’s University Women’s Centre posed this question to the campus community – “What does it mean to be a feminist?” We asked you to answer this question in 500-1000 words. Sincere thanks to all those who submitted entries – we appreciate all of the effort you put into them.

Our winner this year is Lydia O’Regan, who is a SMU student and Arts Psychology major. She will receive 2 tickets to attend The Vagina Monologues and a $50 gift certificate to Venus Envy. She will be performing excerpts from her essay at the Friday production of The Vagina Monologues – congratulations Lydia, from everyone at the Women’s Centre.

What it means to be a feminist
By Lydia O’Regan
Feminists are extraordinary people. They are people with jobs, kids, families and friends. They are women as well as men. They are heroic reminders of the past and fighters of the future. What makes them different is their enduring passion for equality, the persistent reminders of hope, and their demand for respect even if the odds are completely against them.

Women owe much of our freedom to feminists. They have stood up for us when no one else had the courage to, and have changed the world for the better. These daring human being have given us hope and opportunities that are irreplaceable. They have given us the freedom to be women in any way we please, the freedom to say what we wish to say, and have the opportunities to pursue any of our dreams without limitations. They have, and continue to, beat the odds so that women around the world can feel protected, empowered and egalitarian.

Feminists have the courage to fight for women, even if they stand alone and outnumbered. They allow us the chance to dream of a better future, then making it a reality through hard work and determination. They stand up for what’s right and never back down. They have inspired women around the world to realize their potential and to fight for what they believe in.

Being a feminist means you are fighting for women to have a fair chance. A fair chance to work where we want to work, marry or divorce whomever we wish, vote for whichever candidate we prefer, wear what we want to wear, and many other basic rights that have been allowed to men for centuries. Feminists fight for chances and choices. It is not a horrible thing to be a feminist. As was said by Cheris Kramerae, “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” They believe in the strength of women and their abilities to learn, teach, work and love with as much force, knowledge and power as anybody else.

Feminists are brave people who attempt to destroy societal norms that oppress and discriminate against women, and they are succeeding. Feminists attempt to make changes happen, acting as valiant revolutionaries, in a world where it is constantly shown by the media and our societal norms that women should be seen and not heard.

Any person fighting for what we deserve as humans, to be equal and given a fair chance, should be proud to be considered a feminist – it is they who change the world for the better.