Chief Theresa Spence and Bill C45

           Chief Theresa Spence, of Attawapiskat First Nation, is currently undergoing a hunger strike in Ottawa as a protest to the passing of Bill C45, which includes changes to the Indian Act and treaty issues between the government and Indigenous people of Canada. I chose to talk about this issue for my final blog post, as it is something that affects all of us as Canadians, whether we are men or women, or First Nations. I myself am someone of mixed European and Anishinaabe descent, and the fact that our government, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is proposing such changes, is frustrating and sickening. First Nation's people in our country are subjected to unfair treatment, and are often not even given the same rights as other Canadian citizens. Attawapiskat, which is not that far from where we are today, has been in frightening conditions for years, with the Harper government not doing anything about it. In fact, the Prime Minister has refused to visit Attawapiskat and is now refusing to meet with Chief Spence. The situation which is happening now in Ottawa, with Chief Spence underway with her hunger strike, and Bill C45, is something that I think is important for everyone to become aware of. This is something that is not just a First Nation issue, but affects all Canadian citizens. As social work students especially, we have to be aware of these political issues, and understand the unfairness that our government is showing.

Jessica

Image source: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1073806!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpeg

The Pressure to be Beautiful in Western Society

After a generation of action to define social roles and to gain rights and freedoms of women, are we really free?  

In the book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, she states that “We are in the midst of a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women’s advancement.” She is referring to the contemporary ideal of what society believes women should look like; tall, thin, flawless skin, beautiful hair, and dressed to impress. This is surrounding us so much so that we have become desensitized to it. It is argued that women's obsession with their appearance comes out of social pressure and leads to psychological consequences such as decreased self-esteem, distorted body image, and feelings of helplessness and frustration in response to unsuccessful dieting efforts. In today’s society, women are expected to gain an education, become successful, be a wife and be a mother all while maintaining their appearance. These are the western society’s cultural norms.

When we open a magazine, we never see a woman with curves on the first page. Instead we see a woman who is 23% skinnier than the average woman. Advertisers show stunning models living the perfect life to try and entice us into buying their product. They give the illusion that if we buy their product, we will become beautiful and have the desired life. When writing this blog, it brought me to analyze the TV shows I find entertaining to watch. We have all heard of the show What Not to Wear; a TV show where two fashion stylists and a team of hair and makeup professionals help revamp the look of individuals due to their “undesirable” appearance. On the majority of the episodes I have seen, they are assisting women with vast ranges of education or work experience, but are having a difficult time finding employment or gaining a promotion. The show presents the idea that you can have 10 different degrees or 20 years work experience, but if you do not dress to impress you are less likely to become successful. Therefore, the appearance of women now is becoming a barrier for employment. These ideals are what further oppress women, as a society we all contribute by watching certain TV shows and idolizing celebrities, partaking in materialism and defining ourselves by the brands we buy, and striving to look like what society thinks we should look like. As long as these ideals exist, I believe women will continue to be objectified and categorized regardless of the feats we have overcome throughout the decades.

Alexandra

References

Wolf, N. (n.d.). The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. Google Books. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YD56gICSRk0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=the+beauty+myth+naoimi&ots=mDIpWsLVKp&sig=LkaulQGQHOKwnvPaMv7CKxTSSrU#v=onepage&q=the%20beauty%20myth%20naoimi&f=false   

Aboriginal Women & HIV/AIDS: Part II

New studies indicate that the contraction of HIV/AIDS is on an alarming high ride amongst aboriginal women. These studies have concluded that aboriginal women make up 49.6 percent of newly diagnosed cases of HIV/AIDS in Canada; this is an extremely high number (Benoit et al., 2003). There is such a great lack of social services for these women as funding continues to get cut.  
 

British Columbia is a very industrialized region of Canada, and until 2001 had a social demographic government; tailoring to the needs of the individuals in the region. This province also used to have the greatest number of human service funding in Canada, however, in 2001 “an explicitly anti-welfare state, neoliberal government was elected, proposing and implementing the deepest cuts to social programs in Canada” ( Baines, 2006. p.22).   

A neo-liberal approach is merely economically based, and has no regard for the social aspects of society or the bettering of their people. The neo-liberal ideology is very much to the right side of things; and greatly capitalist. With a neo-liberal government in charge social service funding will continue to get cut, as people are responsible to make changes on their own and take care of themselves. The Native Women’s Association of Canada did exactly that; self organized a program tailor to the needs of these women.  

The Native Women’s Association of Canada is launching a program during Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week (Dec 1-5th) called TIPI: Transforming Indigenous Power Inside-out, a new HIV prevention and stigma reduction tool for young women and girls which will be launched in Victoria, British Columbia. The NWAC’s executive director stated that  in order to reduce the risk of these women contracting HIV/AIDS we need to get the core of their issues. I quote,  “we need to invest in eradicating the roots of poverty, gender violence and discrimination, while also stepping up support for culturally appropriate health prevention and care” (Dumont-Smith, 2012).  

When reflecting on the statistics, to me, this is a clear indicator that services addressing the needs of these women are not being met. I am so absolutely discouraged by the number of social services that continue to get funding cuts, leaving help sparse for individuals who may seek it. However, I keep getting inspired by individuals in society who take it upon themselves to ensure people get the help they deserve. 

Cassandra

References

Baines, D. (2006). ‘If You Could Change One Thing’: Social Service Workers and Restructuring. Australian Social Work, 59(1), 20-34. doi:10.1080/03124070500449754 Retrieved from: //www.googlescholar.com

Cecilia Benoit., Dena Carroll., & Munaza Chaudhry. (2003). In search of a Healing Place: Aboriginal women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Social Science & Medicine (56), 821-833. 

Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com

Claudette Dumont-Smith. (November 30, 2012). Native’s Women Association of Canada: Still far from zero.  Retrieved from: //www.googlescholar.com