Saudi Arabia’s anti-women laws require a swift dose of economic freedom, and they’re not alone
The Canada-Saudi Arabia diplomatic dispute appears to have calmed – for now – but the issue at the heart of the dispute remains. The dispute peaked in August after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted her support for women’s rights activist Samar Badawi. That prompted Saudi Arabia to pull its students from Canadian colleges and universities…
The feminist war against men isn't only against bad men. It’s a war is against all men
It’s become a regular experience in Canada and the United States for a man to be accused of sexual misconduct and for an almost immediate pile-on of haters adding every accusation the mind can imagine. Contemporary feminists have done a brilliant job in their war against men. Unsubstantiated accusations are treated as proven guilt. Due…
The best way to reduce the possibility of more alt-right-inspired violence is to confront its narratives head on
By John Grant Western University and Fiona MacDonald University of the Fraser Valley One year since the violent alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and months since the Toronto van attack, Canadians can legitimately worry about increased political violence. The images of angry white men marching openly in Nazi regalia loom large alongside the revelation that…
Feminism today is simply a reversal of anti-female sexism. All males are reduced to a common set of evil characteristics
Feminism began as a challenge to male domination and female subordination. It could have become a champion of equality and the dignity of individuals. Unfortunately, contemporary feminism is not a liberation from sexism. It’s true that feminism rejects anti-female sexism. But in place of anti-female sexism, it doesn’t advocate gender-blind standards; it doesn’t advocate treating…
The focus on consent has made men all over the world stop and think. Am I one of those men?
Strangely, this weird moment in history is a good time to be alive. I've been a feminist most of my adult life, at least since I realized power imbalances were rampant in present and past societies. After dedicating most of the 1990s and 2000s to fighting the good fight in the trenches, I burned out and left…
Forty years after its release, the movie poses a conundrum for those disposed to view everything through an ideologically-tinted lens
Believe it or not, the movie musical Grease turns 40 this summer. It’s no exaggeration to say that it took the 1978 box office by storm. Indeed, the radio-ubiquitous title song caught the mood of the moment perfectly: Grease is the word. Alas, the simple joys can never stay simple. In the fraught temper of…
Allocating and denying benefits on the basis of race undermines the integrity and the autonomy of individuals
What would the death of six million people look like in the Canadian population? A loss of that number would be equivalent to the annihilation of every person in Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London and Halifax. Or the death of every person in British Columbia and Manitoba. For Canadians, such numbers are impossible to imagine.…
Canadian families need affordable, accessible child care to effectively address gender equity issues
There were a lot of old ghosts haunting the Liberal government when it tabled its budget on Feb. 27. But have these spectres brought change to women’s lives in the wake of the recent International Women’s Day? Not likely. The budget announced proactive pay equity for workers in federally regulated sectors (banking, communication, transportation, Crown…
As Canadians try desperately to prove we’re not Trump’s America, we make grievous social and political errors
The election of President Donald Trump in the United States is changing the political world in Canada. To his critics, Trump’s the worst of everything a human being can be. His detractors call him names that would have been considered extreme even for a president as divisive as Richard Nixon. According to his supporters, he…
There are limits on what removing discrimination can do: fair taxation, fewer regulations and infrastructure should be the focus of the next federal budget
I am a woman and I have faced discrimination. After I got my first degree, leading my university class in economics, I was told that a woman could never be considered for a man’s job. The job was market research. Quietly, confidentially, one on one, I was reminded that I was a married woman with…