Can you see me now?

Here's my latest CBC article:
Can you see me now? Time to stop judging each other and value middle-age women
(Note: This ridiculous photo from the article is it's exactly how I don't want to look!)
Also? Happy May Long Weekend, Canadians!  We're getting in a lot of dog walks and play time...but it's definitely not warm enough yet to plant a garden in Winnipeg or anything crazy like that.  Maybe in June...

Supporting change through knitting

At the beginning of August, our family took a trip together.  We flew to Montreal and saw some good friends there. They were just returning overseas from a sabbatical (with a two year old) and our flight left Winnipeg at 5AM, so we were all sort of a mess, but had a big meal together and enjoyed seeing each other very much.

Then, we headed to northern Vermont, to a big family& friend celebration.  My best friend from childhood got married quietly last year, but we all gathered for an informal weekend to celebrate their big decision.  It was held at her folks' farm, and we picked many many raspberries and blueberries, played in the apple orchard treehouse, swam in the farm pond, and had fun together.  We stayed at a hotel near a glacial lake...and had a fairly big canoe tip over, too.  (All was fine, only parents fell out and it was still shallow where it happened!)  I'd seen the farm in winter  and in May, and maybe other times, too, but every season is a stunner on a well-maintained farm! (click on the links for more photos)

After that, we drove to upstate NY and visited the Professor's family vacation place, an old dairy farm.  While there, we shot more photos of Fissure.  I now wish I'd waited to release the pattern until I had these photos as I think they are much better than the first ones I featured in the pattern.  However, something more important followed.

My sister-in-law bought me this lovely yak yarn as a present a while ago.  She lives in Manhattan, and lovely high-end yarns are not hard to come by there!  However, in the meanwhile, she has been working very hard.  She is a lawyer, and is about to become a judge in New York City.

I'm enormously proud of her.  It's so important to have women in democratically elected positions of authority in our society.  Women are half of our population, but often never manage to get into positions where they can make such a big difference in the lives of others.

 While we were at the farm, our nephew, age 1, got sick with a virus and she took him home-so I could not feature her in the photos.  We stayed on with our niece (the same age as our twins), brother-in-law, the Professor's father and his wife, and spent a day or two more out and about.  Climbing on hay bales, going to Lake George, and hanging out.  We also caught a few more glimpses of Fissure before it went off to its new big city Manhattan home.

 I finish things very slowly these days...so I have only turned out one of these...but was so pleased to find out that the second completed version of this pattern is going to support Chase the Chill, a charity that donates hand knits scarves to people in Winnipeg who might need them.

I wanted to say in words how important and exciting it was to me that my (younger) relative will take on such an important and powerful position in the near future.  Words failed me, and anyway, there were three 6 and 7 year olds racing around, a toddler crying, and well, too much noise for adult communication.  Instead, I could hand her something I'd made.  So I did.

The pattern for knitting Fissure is now available on both Ravelry and Loveknitting.com.  
Let's make a break (a fissure?!) for good....making change is important.

Handmade Resistance--it's much older than a 'buycott'

Here is my latest article...
 This one just went live this morning on the Daily Forward's Sisterhood Blog:

Ethical fashion is about more than boycotts--and it has been for a very long time. We can create great change through the work of our hands.

Curious to read more?  Here's the link:

Jewish Handmade Resistance

Women's Health: Hysteria and illness

Here's a link to my latest CBC article--it came out this morning:
Hysteria, medical mysteries, and bias:sometimes unversity helps with life

The brief summary is that although hysteria is no longer a valid medical diagnosis--medical professionals still discount women's illness...and disregard the risks of Lyme disease, which is now prevalent in many places.  I felt relieved that this got published; I hope it brings attention to a real issue of concern.

It was my second "advocacy" post of the week; My current column for the Jewish Post & News is also about how women can make change during times of political unrest.  I related it to Yocheved, Moses, and her handmade, waterproofed baby basket.  My mom knit pussy hats instead...but these were both lawful and powerful, skillful ways of speaking up during a difficult time.

My mom, dad, sister-in-law, and many others marched in Washington, D.C. today, and I am so proud of them and glad that they represented us.  If we can remind the world and the U.S. political powers that be that women's rights are human rights and that women's bodies, health and well-being are human bodies, health and well-being--well, that is a huge and important step.  It's a necessary step, and it seems like one we keep having to mention.  (Oh, Doctor, do you think this could possibly be Lyme?  --I can't tell you frustrated I felt to be dismissed out of hand so often, without being offered any viable solutions for how to get better.)

Winnipeggers had a march here, as they did in Yellowknife, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto...and in many other places around the world.  We weren't there...because we're still fighting this endless twin stomach bug.  It's lasting forever!

Towards the late afternoon, my husband and one of our twins (the healthier one) decided to go out yarn shopping for Mommy.  They set out through the back gate and faced a woman whose car was absolutely stuck in the deep slushy ruts of snow in our back lane...and blocking our cars' exit.  Our temperatures have gone from frigid to crazy warm for January.  As a result, everything is melting.  It took the Professor an hour of effort to try to get this car out, and finally, another man with a truck came along and pulled her out...it took team work.

Nobody got out to buy a yarn treat, but that was just fine!  I won't be running out any time soon. :)
  It was the thought that counted, and the hope that someday, someone might help me just this way if I were stuck in the snow.  Let's hope so.

women's health...and August

August is here, and I alternate between being very busy with twins and completely stalling out.  This past weekend, I came down with laryngitis that incapacitated me for an entire day.  (I had no idea I had such a vocal parenting style until I could not talk!)  We also had a heatwave (for Winnipeg) which made life steamy for a few days.  It is now sunny, crisp and cool again and I have a brief moment to post one of my recent articles.  This came out on the CBC Manitoba website this past weekend:

Should Kim Kardashian be giving women medical advice?

This is already sounding funny for those who know me....I don't watch reality TV or have time to follow much via social media.  However, the issue at stake is really about how drug companies advertise, and whether women have access to good medical support and information about the right medications when they need them.  Particularly, it is about Diclectin, (Diclegis, in the US), an anti-nausea drug that helped me get through twin pregnancy.  Yes, I was stoned, unable to drive, and fuzzy all the time, but it helped me keep food down...and I was lucky to have it.

There are no weird photos of drugs here or of me, trying desperately to talk to 4 year olds and only squeaks coming out...but alas, we've been back from the lake for 2 weeks now, so it was time for a real-life update!  How are you?  How's August treating you?

poke in the eye?

My letter to the editor appeared today here in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.
For those who haven't heard about this case, recently a judge decided that a Manitoba rape victim's clothing implied "consent" and decided not to assign the rapist ANY jail time. Here's the latest on the case.

Unfortunately, one of the newspaper columnists had some convoluted reasoning when it came to this case. Her conclusions involved thinking that knitters were safe from sexual assault. I wish it were so...but alas, that is just not the case.

On a lighter note, I have more to post this week--the professor took some lovely photos of Festival du Voyageur. He went with some friends last weekend. --I stayed home as the windchills were -40 this year. However, I look forward to sharing the photos with you!

Social History #3

The professor and I saw this car one day in August, along the route we usually walk our dogs. It was gone (towed away) by the time we came back down that block. I've been waiting for a time to post this photo for a while--unfortunately, I think I've found it.

This Research Note from the National Endowment of the Arts fits perfectly with an image of an old, rusted out antique car.

Why, you ask? Well, according to this research on women artists in the United States from 1990-2005, women will have to work 25% longer to earn what male artists earn. Worse, the pay disparity becomes worse as women artists age...so the older women artists become, the less likely they'll be to catch up to male artists. Women artists will have to work until they are perhaps as beat up as this jalopy and---still don't earn what male artists earn.

If you're up on your feminist statistics, this seems like old news. In fact, the current statistic for women nationally is that women in the United States earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. (working full time, at comparable professions.) However, for women artists, it's 75 cents to every dollar a male artist earns. If you read the research note in detail (and I encourage that, it's not long and it's enlightening) it indicates that there are exceptions. Younger women (18-24) earn up to 95 cents for every dollar men earn, while older women earn 67 cents for every dollar men earn. The findings are not radically different when compared to other labor markets...but overall, it's bad news for women artists in the workforce.

In particular, it indicates that women artists may marry but don't have children with the frequency of the national average. I wonder, is that because it's very hard to have health insurance or provide it to your children as an artist who is self-employed? There are also interesting statistics that indicate that women earn more in Kentucky than the average--but I daresay that is because the overall average for men's salaries is lower here. State by state statistics for this can be illuminating.

What does this have to do with social history and the phrase "and she knits?" Social history often looks at the underclass...and if the research starts with 1990, we're looking at historical data from 3 to 18 years ago. Knitwear designers and writers are part of this overall labor category of "artist." Fiber artists, of course, fit in the category. Until we find a way to value women's work and women -- knitted work, written work, design work... the way we value traditionally male work and men-- women artists will be undervalued. Many talented female writers/designers/artists who do not rely on spousal support end up needing to change fields just to support themselves. Alas, even 2 cents on the dollar makes a big difference.

What a miracle it would be if women in the United States earned equal wages for equal work. That's part of this mystical thing that we call equality, part of the parity refered to by feminists like me. I know that I earned more the year before marrying than I've ever earned in the ten years since--almost a penalty for wedlock...and yes, that's with two graduate degrees. (not lacking in the education or experience department...)

To read the whole report rather than just the summary above, Click here to download the pdf. (it takes a bit to download--warranted, given the weighty topic.)

So, don't like being compared to a Tin Lizzie? What do you think about the NEA's research note? What are good solutions?