First Wave Feminism
Early Canadian Female Activist Groups
With the introduction of manufactured clothes, food-stuffs, household products, and the tendency toward smaller families educating children in public schools, much of what was considered "women's work" was moved outside of the home. However, because social norms indicated that men and women's spheres must remain separate, a variety of female voluntary organizations began to develop. Initially, many were formed to spread the morals and beliefs of their religious group. However, many of these groups soon began to focus on issues of women's rights.
Women's Missionary Aid Societies
In the 1870's, Women's Missionary Aid societies sprouted in various Protestant Churches. Designed to spread the gospel at home and abroad, missionary aid societies sponsored single women for overseas service in countries such as India, China, and Korea and taught women valuable organizational skills. While consistent with women's longstanding role in charitable activities, missionary work provided a source of employment for women in the public sphere, often in areas such as medicine and administration, which were often denied to them at home.
Young Women's Christian Association
Founded in Great Britain as a counterpart to the the YMCA, the Canadian YWCA was first established in Saint John in 1870. The "Y" provided lodging and job training, largely in the domestic service, for girls arriving for the first time into the "dangerous" urban environment. Initially intended to provide young women with both social and spiritual support, the YWCA has grown to become the largest women's organization in the world, advocating for the empowerment of women and girls in a safe, and equitable society.
YWCA Website
National Council of Women in Canada
The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) was founded in 1893, in a period when women were beginning to organize themselves for effective community action. The NCWC began cautiously but soon encompassed a wide range of organizations and causes, including temperance, child welfare, and professional advancement of women. Through local councils, they mobilized the volunteer energies of women across the country. In 1910, the NCWC endorsed women's suffrage, the final step in recognizing women have public power in their own right.
NCWC Website
Canadian Encyclopedia Article
Early Female Education
Grace Annie Lockhart
When Grace Annie Lockhart graduated from Mount Allison University, the first University to admit women, in 1875, she became the first woman in the British Empire to receive a University Degree. By the 1880's, many other University's had followed Mount Allison's lead, although the number of women who registered for classes remained low until the 20th century. Even their numbers increased, women tended to be channeled into arts programs, steered away from science courses, and excluded completely from professional schools offering degrees in law, medicine, engineering, and theology.
Biography
Emily Howard Stowe & Jennie Trout
Because men held a monopoly on the professions and because Canadian Medical schools would not admit women, Emily Howard Stowe and Jennie Trout were forced to train as physicians in the United States. Upon their return to Canada, they successfully pressured Queen's University and the University of Toronto to open facilities to train women doctors in 1883. The administrators of these Universities responded by creating separate female medical colleges.
Women's College Hospital in Toronto became the base for many women doctors as most other hospital would not hire women.
Emily Howard Stowe Biography
Jennie Trout Biography
Suffrage
By the 1890's, many reformers supported what was known at the time as "women's suffrage," which called for the equal voting rights between men and women. Two feminist perspectives were evident in the suffragists' argument: equal rights and maternal, or social, feminism. Equal rights advocates hoped to sweep away the unfair laws and attitudes that encouraged discrimination against women. Maternal feminists wanted special laws to support women in their roles as wives and as mothers. Maternal feminists also argued that women's special qualities hitherto practiced in the private sphere were increasingly needed in the public sphere to reform the abuses of the industrial system. In both lines of thinking, women's suffrage became a key element in the struggle for reform.
Misogyny and anti-feminist ideals were widely expressed both orally, and in print by people determined to keep women in their place. This forced some suffragists to fear making their political affiliations known. For instance, Dr. Emily Howard Stowe created the first Women's Suffrage Organization in 1876, but concealed their purpose under the name The Toronto Woman's Literary Club. Unfortunately, by the end of the century it looked as though the suffragist movement had failed due to many reforms, including prohibition, most likely succeeding if women were given the right to vote.
Catherine L. Cleverdon, The Woman Suffrage Movement in Canada. 2nd Ed. (1950; repr., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974).
Liberation Deferred: The ideas of the English-Canadian suffragists, 1877-1918, by Carol Lee Bacchi
Misogyny and anti-feminist ideals were widely expressed both orally, and in print by people determined to keep women in their place. This forced some suffragists to fear making their political affiliations known. For instance, Dr. Emily Howard Stowe created the first Women's Suffrage Organization in 1876, but concealed their purpose under the name The Toronto Woman's Literary Club. Unfortunately, by the end of the century it looked as though the suffragist movement had failed due to many reforms, including prohibition, most likely succeeding if women were given the right to vote.
Catherine L. Cleverdon, The Woman Suffrage Movement in Canada. 2nd Ed. (1950; repr., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974).
Liberation Deferred: The ideas of the English-Canadian suffragists, 1877-1918, by Carol Lee Bacchi
Nellie McClung
Nellie McClung emerged as Canada's most prominent leader of the suffrage cause. She was a teacher, best selling author and noted speech-maker, famous for her quotable remarks. In 1914 she helped defeat theManitoba Conservative government which had opposed giving women the vote. In 1916, women won the right to vote in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta legislature.
Nellie McClung Biography
Nellie McClung emerged as Canada's most prominent leader of the suffrage cause. She was a teacher, best selling author and noted speech-maker, famous for her quotable remarks. In 1914 she helped defeat theManitoba Conservative government which had opposed giving women the vote. In 1916, women won the right to vote in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta legislature.
Nellie McClung Biography
Persons Case
The BNA Act of 1867, created the Dominion of Canada and provided many of its governing principles. The BNA Act used the word "persons" to refer to more than one person, and "he" to refer to one person. A ruling in British common law in 1876 emphasized the problem for Canadian women by saying "Women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges."
When Alberta social activist Emily Murphy was appointed in 1916 as the first woman police magistrate in Alberta, her appointment was challenged on the grounds that women were not persons under the BNA Act. In 1917, the Alberta Supreme Court ruled that women were persons. That ruling only applied within the province of Alberta however, so Emily Murphy allowed her name to be put forward as a candidate for the Senate, at the federal level of government. Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden turned her down, once again because she was not considered a person under the BNA Act.
For years women's groups in Canada signed petitions and appealed to the federal government to open the Senate to women. By 1927, Emily Murphy decided to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada for clarification. She and four other prominent Alberta women's rights activists, now known as the Famous Five, signed a petition to the Senate. The question asked was "Does the word "persons" in Section 24, of The British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?"
On April 24, 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada answered "no." The court decision said that in 1867 when the BNA Act was written, women did not vote, run for office, nor serve as elected officials; only male nouns and pronouns were used in the BNA Act; and since the British House of Lords did not have a woman member, Canada should not change the tradition for its Senate.
With the help of Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the Famous Five appealed the Supreme Court of Canada decision to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, at the time the highest court of appeal for Canada.
On October 18, 1929, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council, announced the British Privy Council decision that "yes, women are persons ... and eligible to be summoned and may become Members of the Senate of Canada." The Privy Council decision also said that "the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word "persons" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?"
In 1930, just a few months after the Persons Case, Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed Cairine Wilson to the Canadian Senate. Many expected Emily Murphy, a Conservative, to become the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate because of her leadership role in the Persons Case, but Cairine Wilson's work in Liberal party political organization took precedence with the Liberal prime minister.
The Famous Five: Five Canadian Women and their Fight to Become Persons, by Nancy Millar
Lesson activity based on Emily Murphy
When Alberta social activist Emily Murphy was appointed in 1916 as the first woman police magistrate in Alberta, her appointment was challenged on the grounds that women were not persons under the BNA Act. In 1917, the Alberta Supreme Court ruled that women were persons. That ruling only applied within the province of Alberta however, so Emily Murphy allowed her name to be put forward as a candidate for the Senate, at the federal level of government. Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden turned her down, once again because she was not considered a person under the BNA Act.
For years women's groups in Canada signed petitions and appealed to the federal government to open the Senate to women. By 1927, Emily Murphy decided to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada for clarification. She and four other prominent Alberta women's rights activists, now known as the Famous Five, signed a petition to the Senate. The question asked was "Does the word "persons" in Section 24, of The British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?"
On April 24, 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada answered "no." The court decision said that in 1867 when the BNA Act was written, women did not vote, run for office, nor serve as elected officials; only male nouns and pronouns were used in the BNA Act; and since the British House of Lords did not have a woman member, Canada should not change the tradition for its Senate.
With the help of Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the Famous Five appealed the Supreme Court of Canada decision to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, at the time the highest court of appeal for Canada.
On October 18, 1929, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council, announced the British Privy Council decision that "yes, women are persons ... and eligible to be summoned and may become Members of the Senate of Canada." The Privy Council decision also said that "the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word "persons" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?"
In 1930, just a few months after the Persons Case, Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed Cairine Wilson to the Canadian Senate. Many expected Emily Murphy, a Conservative, to become the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate because of her leadership role in the Persons Case, but Cairine Wilson's work in Liberal party political organization took precedence with the Liberal prime minister.
The Famous Five: Five Canadian Women and their Fight to Become Persons, by Nancy Millar
Lesson activity based on Emily Murphy
Anges Macphail
Agnes Macphail began her career as a country schoolteacher. Interested in agricultural problems, she became a member and active spokesperson for the United Farmers of Ontario. Her move into politics stemmed from her desire to represent the farmers of her region. In 1919 women gained the right to run for Parliament, and Macphail was elected in 1921, the first federal election in which women had the vote. A courageous and dedicated champion of human rights, Macphail successfully fought for old-age pensions, prison reform, and farmers' co-operatives. In office she also came to see herself as representing women's issues and founded the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada. She had strong views about war, urging total disarmament for Canada. In 1929, she became the first Canadian woman to be sent as a delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, where she was an active member of the World Disarmament Committee. It took political stamina and dogged persistence to see her ideas through, and Macphail credited both her parents for her character strengths. As she once said, "I owed it to my father that I was elected to Parliament in the first place, but I owed it to my mother that I stuck it out once I got there." Agnes Macphail died in 1954. One of her final political achievements occurred in the Ontario legislature in 1951, when she championed legislation that mandated equal pay for equal work for Ontario women.
Agnes Macphail began her career as a country schoolteacher. Interested in agricultural problems, she became a member and active spokesperson for the United Farmers of Ontario. Her move into politics stemmed from her desire to represent the farmers of her region. In 1919 women gained the right to run for Parliament, and Macphail was elected in 1921, the first federal election in which women had the vote. A courageous and dedicated champion of human rights, Macphail successfully fought for old-age pensions, prison reform, and farmers' co-operatives. In office she also came to see herself as representing women's issues and founded the Elizabeth Fry Society of Canada. She had strong views about war, urging total disarmament for Canada. In 1929, she became the first Canadian woman to be sent as a delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, where she was an active member of the World Disarmament Committee. It took political stamina and dogged persistence to see her ideas through, and Macphail credited both her parents for her character strengths. As she once said, "I owed it to my father that I was elected to Parliament in the first place, but I owed it to my mother that I stuck it out once I got there." Agnes Macphail died in 1954. One of her final political achievements occurred in the Ontario legislature in 1951, when she championed legislation that mandated equal pay for equal work for Ontario women.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
In 1851, American Elizabeth Cady Stanton started working with Susan B. Anthony, a well-known abolitionist. The two women are seen as the two most influential leaders in American Women's Rights movement. Anthony managed the business affairs of the women's rights movement while Stanton did most of the writing. Together they edited and published a woman's newspaper, the Revolution, from 1868 to 1870. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. They traveled all over the United States of America and abroad, giving hundreds of speeches and advocating for woman's rights. Together they are remembered as fore-mothers of American Women's Rights.
PBS Documentary: Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Detailed Website of Stanton & Anthony's Efforts
Short YouTube Video
In 1851, American Elizabeth Cady Stanton started working with Susan B. Anthony, a well-known abolitionist. The two women are seen as the two most influential leaders in American Women's Rights movement. Anthony managed the business affairs of the women's rights movement while Stanton did most of the writing. Together they edited and published a woman's newspaper, the Revolution, from 1868 to 1870. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. They traveled all over the United States of America and abroad, giving hundreds of speeches and advocating for woman's rights. Together they are remembered as fore-mothers of American Women's Rights.
PBS Documentary: Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Detailed Website of Stanton & Anthony's Efforts
Short YouTube Video
Early Women's Labour
In the early 19th century cities, most women were housewives. However some were employed, chiefly as domestic laborers, and unskilled workers, prostitutes, nuns (in Catholic areas), and teachers; a few were governesses, washerwomen, midwives, dressmakers or innkeepers. The great majority of Canadian women lived in rural areas, where they worked at home, or as domestic servants until they married and became housewives.
However, over 4000 women served as nurses in uniform in the Canadian Armed Forces during the war. They were called "Nursing Sisters." They had already been professionally trained in civilian life, but in military service they achieved an elite status well above what they had experienced as civilians. The Nursing Sisters had much more responsibility and autonomy, and had more opportunity to use their expertise, then civilian nurses. They were often close to the front lines, and the military doctors – all men – delegated significant responsibility to the nurses because of the high level of casualties, the shortages of physicians, and extreme working conditions.
Denyse Baillargeon. Rethinking Canada (2006). "Indispensable but not a citizen : the housewife in the Great Depression".
Cynthia Toman, An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War (2007)
Necessary for Survival: Woman and Children's Labour on Prairie Homesteads, 1871-1911, by S. Rollings-Magnusson
In the early 19th century cities, most women were housewives. However some were employed, chiefly as domestic laborers, and unskilled workers, prostitutes, nuns (in Catholic areas), and teachers; a few were governesses, washerwomen, midwives, dressmakers or innkeepers. The great majority of Canadian women lived in rural areas, where they worked at home, or as domestic servants until they married and became housewives.
However, over 4000 women served as nurses in uniform in the Canadian Armed Forces during the war. They were called "Nursing Sisters." They had already been professionally trained in civilian life, but in military service they achieved an elite status well above what they had experienced as civilians. The Nursing Sisters had much more responsibility and autonomy, and had more opportunity to use their expertise, then civilian nurses. They were often close to the front lines, and the military doctors – all men – delegated significant responsibility to the nurses because of the high level of casualties, the shortages of physicians, and extreme working conditions.
Denyse Baillargeon. Rethinking Canada (2006). "Indispensable but not a citizen : the housewife in the Great Depression".
Cynthia Toman, An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War (2007)
Necessary for Survival: Woman and Children's Labour on Prairie Homesteads, 1871-1911, by S. Rollings-Magnusson
Second Wave
Though feminism in Canada continued after the work of the Famous Five, during the Depression and the Second World War, feminist activism in Canada was not as clear to see as it was during the fight for suffrage and thereafter. However, women’s engagement in the workforce during the Second World War would bring about a new consciousness in women about their place in public life, that led to a public inquiry on the status of women, as well as new campaigns and organizing for equal rights. Whereas the first wave was organized around access to education, and training, the second wave of Canadian feminism focused on women’s role in the workforce, the need for equal pay for equal work, a desire to address violence against women, and concerns about women’s reproductive rights.
PBS: Women Who Make America
PBS: Women Who Make America
Women in the Workforce
The Second World War
During the Second World War, Canadian women were actively pursued by the Canadian government to contribute to the war effort. One of the ways in which women contributed to the war effort was by joining the workforce. Prior to the war, some young and unmarried women had already joined the workforce, but during the war an increased need for female workers arose in many industries due to the depleted pool of male workers who had largely been mobilized to fight in the war. Although women continued to work in their pre-war traditional fields of employment such as textile manufacturing, retail, nursing, and homecare services, as the demand for labour intensified in all industries, women became employed in many non-traditional fields including: manufacturing, trade, finance, transportation, communication, and construction.
The inclusion of women with children into the workforce led the federal government to develop a program known as the Dominion-Provincial Wartime Day Nurseries Agreement in order to assist working mothers with childcare during the duration of the war. Under the Agreement, the federal government offered to help the provinces subsidize childcare programs. Quebec and Ontario took advantage of the agreement and developed childcare facilities such as nurseries and after school programs.
In the final years of the war, the Canadian government expected women to return to their roles in the home once the war ended. In 1941, the government created an Advisory Committee on Reconstruction (composed entirely of prominent Canadian men) to deal with the post-war reconstruction issues. Shortly after its creation, some Canadian women advocated for female representation within the Committee due to the vital contribution of women to the war effort. Consequently, in 1943, the government created a subcommittee to deal with issues women would encounter once the war ended. The subcommittee was headed by Margaret McWilliams, a journalist and notable women’s organization activist, and consisted of nine other women from across the country. The subcommittee produced a report with a number of recommendations including that women should be trained or retrained for jobs on the same basis as men and that household workers should receive labour benefits like unemployment insurance. The report received little public attention and ultimately failed to achieve any of its recommendations. However, many of its recommendations were discussed once again, decades later in the 1970 report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.
American Women in WW2 - U.S. Army Girls - It's Your War Too
Post-War
After the war concluded, the men returned home from fighting and expected to have their jobs back. Many women had come to enjoy employment, but many sacrificed their work for the fighting men. However, the idea of women in the workplace became more accepted by society, and the amount of women in the workplace began to steadily rise. In fact, statistics showed that by the early 60's there were more women in the workplace than ever before.
Women After the War
Postwar Role of Women
During the Second World War, Canadian women were actively pursued by the Canadian government to contribute to the war effort. One of the ways in which women contributed to the war effort was by joining the workforce. Prior to the war, some young and unmarried women had already joined the workforce, but during the war an increased need for female workers arose in many industries due to the depleted pool of male workers who had largely been mobilized to fight in the war. Although women continued to work in their pre-war traditional fields of employment such as textile manufacturing, retail, nursing, and homecare services, as the demand for labour intensified in all industries, women became employed in many non-traditional fields including: manufacturing, trade, finance, transportation, communication, and construction.
The inclusion of women with children into the workforce led the federal government to develop a program known as the Dominion-Provincial Wartime Day Nurseries Agreement in order to assist working mothers with childcare during the duration of the war. Under the Agreement, the federal government offered to help the provinces subsidize childcare programs. Quebec and Ontario took advantage of the agreement and developed childcare facilities such as nurseries and after school programs.
In the final years of the war, the Canadian government expected women to return to their roles in the home once the war ended. In 1941, the government created an Advisory Committee on Reconstruction (composed entirely of prominent Canadian men) to deal with the post-war reconstruction issues. Shortly after its creation, some Canadian women advocated for female representation within the Committee due to the vital contribution of women to the war effort. Consequently, in 1943, the government created a subcommittee to deal with issues women would encounter once the war ended. The subcommittee was headed by Margaret McWilliams, a journalist and notable women’s organization activist, and consisted of nine other women from across the country. The subcommittee produced a report with a number of recommendations including that women should be trained or retrained for jobs on the same basis as men and that household workers should receive labour benefits like unemployment insurance. The report received little public attention and ultimately failed to achieve any of its recommendations. However, many of its recommendations were discussed once again, decades later in the 1970 report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.
American Women in WW2 - U.S. Army Girls - It's Your War Too
Post-War
After the war concluded, the men returned home from fighting and expected to have their jobs back. Many women had come to enjoy employment, but many sacrificed their work for the fighting men. However, the idea of women in the workplace became more accepted by society, and the amount of women in the workplace began to steadily rise. In fact, statistics showed that by the early 60's there were more women in the workplace than ever before.
Women After the War
Postwar Role of Women
Canadian Human Rights Act
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity, such as equal opportunity for employment, promotion, and pay equality, for individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set of prohibited grounds such as sex, disability, or religion. It applies throughout Canada, but only to federally regulated activities; each province and territory has its own anti-discrimination law that applies to activities that are not federally regulated.The Canadian Human Rights Act created the Canadian Human Rights Commission that investigates claims of discrimination as well as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to judge the cases
Women after the War: Equal Pay
"Women Forced to Work Longer, Harder, for Less Pay", (2010). By Pat Armstrong
"Women Still Denied Equality in the Workplace", Elizabeth Quinlan & Qianru She
"The Division of Labor Between the Sexes", by Marielouise Janssen-Jurriet
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity, such as equal opportunity for employment, promotion, and pay equality, for individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set of prohibited grounds such as sex, disability, or religion. It applies throughout Canada, but only to federally regulated activities; each province and territory has its own anti-discrimination law that applies to activities that are not federally regulated.The Canadian Human Rights Act created the Canadian Human Rights Commission that investigates claims of discrimination as well as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to judge the cases
Women after the War: Equal Pay
"Women Forced to Work Longer, Harder, for Less Pay", (2010). By Pat Armstrong
"Women Still Denied Equality in the Workplace", Elizabeth Quinlan & Qianru She
"The Division of Labor Between the Sexes", by Marielouise Janssen-Jurriet
Social Change
The nuclear family, consisting of a husband, wife, and several children, remained the ideal of most Canadians, but with each census, it accounted for a noticeably smaller proportion of households. Divorce laws were liberalized in 1969, allowing for more unhappy marriages to be dissolved and increasing the number of single family households. Birth control pills were becoming more and more common, allowing women the choice to delay childbirth, or not having children at all. Surveys also showed that the majority of college students were becoming more and more sexually active, and a decade later the same would be true for high school students.
Psychology and the Construction of the "Normal" Family in Postwar Canada, 1945-1960, by Mona Gleason
"Home Sweet Home?" By Susan G. Cole.
"The Home: A contested Terrain". By Meg Luxton.
"Dictated Roles," by Marielouise Janssen-Jurriet
Suburbs
With cities continually growing, and a high demand for better housing, the advent of suburbs began. Initially, many of these suburbs lacked shopping centers, community centers, theaters, taverns, sport complexes, and other recreational areas. People were forced to travel into the city center to find entertainment. This often led to privacy being forced upon the women. Women experienced this privatization most directly, sometimes with devastating psychological consequences. Many women remained in their homes all day and had little connection with the world beyond their families. Some women, particularly those with older children, sought refuge in paid work; others focused their energies on voluntary activities with in the community. A surprisingly large number of women developed various nervous disorders for which a male dominated medical profession would prescribe tranquilizers such as Valium that often created long-term addictions and left the underlying problems unresolved.
CBC Footage Documenting Suburbs Across Canada
The nuclear family, consisting of a husband, wife, and several children, remained the ideal of most Canadians, but with each census, it accounted for a noticeably smaller proportion of households. Divorce laws were liberalized in 1969, allowing for more unhappy marriages to be dissolved and increasing the number of single family households. Birth control pills were becoming more and more common, allowing women the choice to delay childbirth, or not having children at all. Surveys also showed that the majority of college students were becoming more and more sexually active, and a decade later the same would be true for high school students.
Psychology and the Construction of the "Normal" Family in Postwar Canada, 1945-1960, by Mona Gleason
"Home Sweet Home?" By Susan G. Cole.
"The Home: A contested Terrain". By Meg Luxton.
"Dictated Roles," by Marielouise Janssen-Jurriet
Suburbs
With cities continually growing, and a high demand for better housing, the advent of suburbs began. Initially, many of these suburbs lacked shopping centers, community centers, theaters, taverns, sport complexes, and other recreational areas. People were forced to travel into the city center to find entertainment. This often led to privacy being forced upon the women. Women experienced this privatization most directly, sometimes with devastating psychological consequences. Many women remained in their homes all day and had little connection with the world beyond their families. Some women, particularly those with older children, sought refuge in paid work; others focused their energies on voluntary activities with in the community. A surprisingly large number of women developed various nervous disorders for which a male dominated medical profession would prescribe tranquilizers such as Valium that often created long-term addictions and left the underlying problems unresolved.
CBC Footage Documenting Suburbs Across Canada
Birth Control
Birth control became legal in Canada in 1969. Before that is was illegal to sell, distribute or purchase any form of birth control. The same law also made abortions legal in Canada if approved by a hospital medical committee as necessary to preserve the pregnant woman's life or health. During this period, Pierre Trudeau made his famous statement, "the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation".
The pill was the brainchild of Margaret Sanger, a lifelong champion of women's rights and birth control. She blamed her mother's death on her frequent pregnancies. Sanger worked well into her 80's to raise money for research that would ultimately lead to a universal contraceptive.
Early in Canadian history, all abortions were illegal. The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 introduced by Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government, legalized abortion as long as a committee of doctors signed off that it was necessary for the physical or mental well-being of the mother. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Morgentaler that the existing laws were unconstitutional and struck down the 1969 law. The then governing Progressive Conservatives attempted, but failed, to pass a new abortion law, and since then Canada has had no criminal laws governing the subject and abortion is a decision made by a woman with her doctor. Without legal delays, most abortions are done at a very early stage.
"Once More with Feeling: Heterosexuality and Feminist Consciousness," by Joanne Kates
"Whose Body? Whose Self? Beyond Pornography," by Myrna Kostash
CBC: The Birth Control Pill
The Royal Commission on the Status of Women
Laura Sabia led a six month campaign to bring the women of Canada to Ottawa to protest that the Prime Minister should grant a Royal Commission on the status of women. On February 16, 1967 Lester B. Pearson appointed Florence Bird as the chair of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. The RCSW was given the mandate to to investigate and report on all matters pertaining to the status of women in those areas which fell within the jurisdiction of the federal government. The commission focused its attention on women's grievances, recommended changes to eliminate sexual inequality by means of a social policy, and mobilized a constituency of of women's groups to press for implementation of the commission's recommendations. By the early 1980's, many of the 167 recommendations in the RCSW report were partially implemented, many were fully implemented, and a few controversial recommendations were not implemented at all.
RCSW
CBC Audio Clip
Birth control became legal in Canada in 1969. Before that is was illegal to sell, distribute or purchase any form of birth control. The same law also made abortions legal in Canada if approved by a hospital medical committee as necessary to preserve the pregnant woman's life or health. During this period, Pierre Trudeau made his famous statement, "the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation".
The pill was the brainchild of Margaret Sanger, a lifelong champion of women's rights and birth control. She blamed her mother's death on her frequent pregnancies. Sanger worked well into her 80's to raise money for research that would ultimately lead to a universal contraceptive.
Early in Canadian history, all abortions were illegal. The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 introduced by Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government, legalized abortion as long as a committee of doctors signed off that it was necessary for the physical or mental well-being of the mother. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Morgentaler that the existing laws were unconstitutional and struck down the 1969 law. The then governing Progressive Conservatives attempted, but failed, to pass a new abortion law, and since then Canada has had no criminal laws governing the subject and abortion is a decision made by a woman with her doctor. Without legal delays, most abortions are done at a very early stage.
"Once More with Feeling: Heterosexuality and Feminist Consciousness," by Joanne Kates
"Whose Body? Whose Self? Beyond Pornography," by Myrna Kostash
CBC: The Birth Control Pill
The Royal Commission on the Status of Women
Laura Sabia led a six month campaign to bring the women of Canada to Ottawa to protest that the Prime Minister should grant a Royal Commission on the status of women. On February 16, 1967 Lester B. Pearson appointed Florence Bird as the chair of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. The RCSW was given the mandate to to investigate and report on all matters pertaining to the status of women in those areas which fell within the jurisdiction of the federal government. The commission focused its attention on women's grievances, recommended changes to eliminate sexual inequality by means of a social policy, and mobilized a constituency of of women's groups to press for implementation of the commission's recommendations. By the early 1980's, many of the 167 recommendations in the RCSW report were partially implemented, many were fully implemented, and a few controversial recommendations were not implemented at all.
RCSW
CBC Audio Clip
Third Wave Feminism
The Third Wave of Feminism often marked as beginning in the early 1990s and continuing to the present. The movement arose as a response to the perceived failures of and backlash against initiatives and movements created by Second-wave feminism during the 1960s to 1980s, and the realization that women are of "many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds". The third wave embraces diversity and change. In this wave, as in previous ones, there is no all-encompassing single feminist idea. Many of the prominent issues third wave feminism focused on was gender violence, reproductive rights, reclaiming derogatory terms, and rape.
'Third wave' of feminism urged by prominent Canadian women
'Third wave' of feminism urged by prominent Canadian women
Reclaiming Derogatory Terms
English-speakers continue to use words such as spinster, bitch, whore, and cunt to refer to women in derogatory ways. Inga Muscio writes, "I posit that we're free to seize a word that was kidnapped and co-opted in a pain-filled, distant, past, with a ransom that cost our grandmothers' freedom, children, traditions, pride, and land." Third-wave feminists prefer to change the connotation of a sexist word rather than censor it from speech.
Bitch and Other Misogynist Language
English-speakers continue to use words such as spinster, bitch, whore, and cunt to refer to women in derogatory ways. Inga Muscio writes, "I posit that we're free to seize a word that was kidnapped and co-opted in a pain-filled, distant, past, with a ransom that cost our grandmothers' freedom, children, traditions, pride, and land." Third-wave feminists prefer to change the connotation of a sexist word rather than censor it from speech.
Bitch and Other Misogynist Language
Gender Violence
Gender violence has become a central issue for third-wave feminists. Organizations such as V-Day, have formed with the goal of ending gender violence, and artistic expressions such as The Vagina Monologues have generated awareness and action around issues relating to women's sexuality. Third-wave feminists want to transform the traditional notions of sexuality and embrace “an exploration of women’s feelings about sexuality that included vagina-centred topics as diverse as orgasm, birth, and rape.
Naming the Problem: Feminists Frame Violence against Women
Gender violence has become a central issue for third-wave feminists. Organizations such as V-Day, have formed with the goal of ending gender violence, and artistic expressions such as The Vagina Monologues have generated awareness and action around issues relating to women's sexuality. Third-wave feminists want to transform the traditional notions of sexuality and embrace “an exploration of women’s feelings about sexuality that included vagina-centred topics as diverse as orgasm, birth, and rape.
Naming the Problem: Feminists Frame Violence against Women