***NEW DATE. Sorry folks. I double-booked myself that day so I have moved it to one week later.***
Back by popular demand! This was a book featured at a previous bookclub meeting but when I asked about titles people were interested in, this was the one title the majority was in favour of. I thought i'd try something different this time and go for brunch. Look forward to discussing the book. Please find a description below.

"Meet the Female Chauvinist Pig--the new brand of ""empowered woman"" who wears the Playboy bunny as a talisman, bares all for Girls Gone Wild, pursues casual sex as if it were a sport, and embraces ""raunch culture"" wherever she finds it. If male chauvinist pigs of years past thought of women as pieces of meat, Female Chauvinist Pigs of today are doing them one better, making sex objects of other women--and of themselves. They think they're being brave, they think they're being funny, but in Female Chauvinist Pigs, New York magazine writer Ariel Levy asks if the joke is on them. In her quest to uncover why this is happening, Levy interviews college women who flash for the cameras on spring break and teens raised on Paris Hilton and breast implants. She examines a culture in which every music video seems to feature a stripper on a pole, the memoirs of porn stars are climbing the best-seller lists, Olympic athletes parade their Brazilian bikini waxes in the pages of Playboy, and thongs are marketed to prepubescent girls. Levy meets the high-powered women who create raunch culture--the new oinking women warriors of the corporate and entertainment worlds who eagerly defend their efforts to be ""one of the guys."" And she traces the history of this trend back to conflicts between the women's movement and the sexual revolution long left unresolved. In the tradition of Susan Faludi's Backlash and Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, Levy pulls apart the myth of the Female Chauvinist Pig and argues that what has come to pass for liberating rebellion is actually a kind of limiting conformity. Irresistibly witty and wickedly intelligent, Female Chauvinist Pigs makes the case that the rise of raunch does not represent how far women have come, it only proves how far they have left to go. "

The full title is: Taking responsibility, taking direction : white anti-racism in Canada and it is by Sheila Wilmot.
22 copies are available through the Toronto library system.

Why this book? I took a course with the author through the Toronto Women's Bookstore and have always wanted to read the full book. Anti-racism and anti-oppression is an integral part of what I believe feminism is about. I'm hoping others of you feel the same way and are interested in this topic.

For those of you who may be short on time and may not get a chance to read the entire book, my suggestion is to read Chapter 3 'An Anti-Racist Feminist Look at Canadian Racism's History.

Please find a description of the book below:

"Wilmot argues that the participation of white progressives in anti-racist movements and organizations in Canada badly needs an overhaul. With this thesis, she begins her assessment of anti-racist movements in Canada by guiding the reader through a summary of the ugly history and legacy of Canada's racist colonial past, and reveals that racism remains an urgent problem today, despite the passing of centuries. Racism in Canada is inextricably linked with capitalism, class, and sexism, and the state promotes it with its laws that systemically exploit Aboriginals and people of color, and privilege whites, despite its claim that Canada is a multicultural and democratic nation.

Using concrete examples from her extensive activist experiences, Wilmot illustrates her argument that white progressives who aim to unite with people of color against racist oppression must examine and possibly challenge their personal, political, and theoretical ideologies and acknowledge their privileged societal position, if they are to translate anti-racist ideas into effective action, and furthermore, help educate other "white folks" into taking up the cause in an informed manner. White leftists must cast aside political sectarianism and engage with Aboriginals and people of color as equals when they assist with organizing constructive anti-racist organizations and movements. The balance between taking responsibility and taking direction is oftentimes tenuous at best, Wilmot suggests, but it is essential that in the fight against white oppression, white leftists come to the table in solidarity, rather than come as silent aides, or the opposite—come and paternalistically and patronizingly appropriate the organization. Wilmot devotes a significant section of her book to highlighting and evaluating various anti-racist organizations and anti-racist educational resources in Canada, and she expounds on the various academic approaches to anti-racism: this portion of the book is a valuable tool for both novice and experienced anti-racist activists, and for a general or academic reader."

Feminist Bookclub: He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know, by Jessica Valenti

Double standards are nothing new. Women deal with them every day. Take the common truism that women who sleep around are sluts while men are studs. Why is it that men grow distinguished and sexily gray as they age while women just get saggy and haggard? Have you ever wondered how a young woman is supposed to both virginal and provocatively enticing at the same time? Isn’t it unfair that working moms are labeled “bad” for focusing on their careers while we shake our heads in disbelief when we hear about the occasional stay-at-home dad?

In 50 Double Standards Every Woman Should Know, Jessica Valenti, author of Full Frontal Feminism, calls out the double standards that affect every woman. Whether Jessica is pointing out the wage earning discrepancies between men and women or revealing all of the places that women still aren’t equal to their male counterparts—be it in the workplace, courtroom, bedroom, or home—she maintains her signature wittily sarcastic tone. With sass, humor, and in-your-face facts, this book informs and equips women with the tools they need to combat sexist comments, topple ridiculous stereotypes (girls aren’t good at math?), and end the promotion of lame double standards.

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-This event is being hosted by Nora -the location will be announced closer to the date of the event.

Hey hey, it's the big day!

This is a 3-parter and all of it should be pretty cool, so come out to some or all of it!

11 am - rally at OISE auditorium

1 pm - march

1:30 on - fair at Ryerson, 55 Gould St.

It's worth knowing that this is likely to run on Activists' Standard Time: things are most likely to start late and run long. Which makes meeting times a bit gnarly. So, what I'd suggest is arriving between 11 and 1 at the auditorium (it's the kind of thing where you don't need to be on time, and you can walk around), scope us out, and come sit with us! If you'll definitely be coming later, lemme know and we'll see if we can arrange a plan.

Fun things at a rally: noisemakers, whistles, signs, banners, decorate yourself with streamers - have fun! Just listen, dress warm. No joke. Last year was a crazy windy blizzard and it's a long enough march from OISE to Ryerson!

Feminist Bookclub: Woman's Inhumanity to Woman, by Phyllis Chesler.

From Publishers Weekly
Chesler, author of the bestselling Woman and Madness, explores the "shadow side" of sisterhood: women treating each other badly. How could her own mother have been so mean to her? How could someone who "borrowed" published ideas from her not acknowledge her or say "thank you"? In this treatise on breaking the "cycle of cruelty" between women, controversial feminist Chesler addresses why sisters fight, why some women prefer to work for men rather than for women, and other highly subjective cases of woman/woman cruelty. From the "demented Demeters" and "murderous Electras" of Greek mythology to modern-day Mommie Dearest, Chesler warns, mothers and daughters are doomed. Whether they acknowledge their mothers' viciousness, as Chesler does, or whether they're "unconscious" and suffer "amnesia" about the hurt, she says, the patterns are set. Throughout girlhood and into adult life, women repeat the basic lesson in Chesler's words, "maternal envy teaches daughters to be passive, fearful, conformist, obedient as well as similarly cruel to other women." Thus, she says, "an assertive woman manager might be viewed as bitchy and non-maternal." This comment is certainly more digestible than, say, "what complicates the aging process is a woman's life-long experience of all other women as rivals and potential replacements." Chesler draws her evidence from interviews with an unspecified group of women with horror stories: backstabbing by feminist colleagues, sadistic gynecologists, battering lesbians, etc. Needless to say, her book sometimes comes off as quite cynical, despite her claim that "I would like women to treat each other in good ways." (Mar.)Forecast: It's prickly and contentious, but it's Chesler so expect some buzz in the academic feminist circles she inhabits.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/Womans-Inhumanity-Woman-Phyllis-Chesler/dp/0452284082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230993250&sr=1-1
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This was another suggestion for the bookclub, I'm intrigued because of the description and a little info about the author's intentions. So I'm really looking forward to this discussion -make sure to read some of the book and come out for what promises to be a fascinating talk!

-Nichole