a real attack

i can’t not weigh in any longer. at first, i thought the dirt being kicked up by a group called ‘real’ women about the status of women canada would just fade on its own. i mean, more high-brow rhetoric like references to the gov't department as SOW (classy, ladies) surely wouldn’t travel anywhere, right? their nonsense just isn’t worth the time of those of us more interested in doing actual work than criticizing others’. but now they're upset that so many letters have been "pouring" in to offices of Ministers and Prime Ministers to challenge their 'analysis' of the situation and support the existence of swc.

they are pretty zealous about shutting down swc and the standing committee on the status of women. the potential closure of swc is mighty serious, at least to the organizations likely to be affected by it’s demise [btw, swc (pronounced SWICK) is the acronym commonly used by government and ngo types]. whether or not women’s groups will decide to resist by waging an attack on the conservatives remains to be seen. in the meantime, some folks outside the ottawa bubble seem to have deemed this a Very Important Issue. i wasn’t sure if it would become a hot-button topic with the public-at-large. folks (read: taxpayers) tend to get up in arms about boondoggles, kyoto, military spending, health care, etc. that's the irony of this tragedy - the amount of spending swc represents is but a drop in the proverbial bucket. but then canadian press ran a piece yesterday, then the prez of ‘real’ women was the lone guest this afternoon on cbc's ontario today, and now i wonder if media are looking for something salacious in this to off-set the perpetual news of wars in the middle east.

the comfortable members of ‘real’ women get off on painting swc-funded groups as whacko radical feminazis who are whining victims out to lambaste men. the fact is that swc funds all kinds of pro-equality, anti-violence, anti-poverty, pro-diversity, empowerment, women's health, research, family-oriented projects that serve People, not just Women. and framing matters within a women's context isn't a radical thing to do, it's a wholly natural one. but to remind them that the gov’t agency in question is pursuing a mandate that’s in line with UN conventions on women’s rights would be like tossing another drumstick into the cage. [they are pleased to refer to themselves as having special consultative status with the UN, but probably only use it to go to geneva and challenge globally-accepted definitions to 'equality' there too].

the most incensing of their arguments is the tax-payer one. as if justice doesn’t fund some so-called crime prevention initiatives that i disagree with. as if hrsd doesn’t provide grants to some projects that go against my approach to employment and economic development strategies. and helloooo, as if i wouldn’t prefer that the entire canadian military get taken off the so-called public teat (a disgusting term that our family values colleagues are always giddy to use).

opponents of a granting agency like swc demonstrate such a lack of intellectual heft, it’s virtually impossible to mount a rational argument with them. these self-righteous tax-payers are the same people who municipally grumble about having to pay school taxes if they don’t have kids or about the money that goes to community beautification if you never use parks. jesus.

if its about what your tax dollars fund, then how about channelling your ideology into a ballot… oh wait, we already have that system and it’s called democracy and you are encouraged to vote accordingly. in the meantime, the work of long-standing government departments that have the audacity to pursue questions of equality shouldn’t concern you. there are lots of people committed to your right to the workforce, education, safety, services, health care, justice, community involvement, and we’ll continue advocating on your behalf, even if you’d rather we didn’t. because it’s Not About Just You. it’s about everybody. see, that’s the way we whacky equality-seekers are: we seek ways to ensure access for all women to pursue anything they want, not ways to discredit them or keep them down.

thanks to audra for compiling the info vault on this. and to other bloggers who know better and are trying to say so. let's brace ourselves, shall we?