So it's women's history month

[iverglas]

In Canada, one of the things that will be made much of is the story of the Famous Five.

http://victoria.tc.ca/Community/Whist/

This year's theme is: Yes, We Are Persons! Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Persons Case

Led by Emily Murphy, the first woman in the British Comonwealth to be appointed a magistrate, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Edwards, challenged the Supreme Court of Canada to assert that women were persons. The women lost. They then appealed to the British Privy Council. The Council described the exclusion of women as "a relic of days more barbarous than ours" and overturned the Canadian decision. On October 18, 1929, Canadian women became persons at last!

That's actually stretching it a bit. The decision related solely to the meaning of "persons" in one provision of the 1867 constitution relating to appointment to the Senate. Women were already voting and getting elected all over.

That decision has had very far-reaching effects, and I thought you foreigners might be interested in this little tale about the inter-connectedness of it all.

I am going to reproduce something I posted in the Canada forum some time ago, just because it's easy. The original thread is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=190x21654

and the opening post was as follows.



So this is my thread. It's about me.

Hey, if I knew how, I'd make it a poll. ;)

No, actually, it's about Canadian constitutional history. And me.

Anybody here know Viscount Sankey? Well, be not embarrassed. *I* was, that I didn't recognize the name when I was sent an email about him this week. I should know these things; it's actually kinda my job. I'm enormously embarrassed. And not just because ... but wait, more on that after.

The email I was sent explained how Viscount Sankey was the one who wrote the line about "The Golden Thread that runs through English law" that Rumpole was so fond of quoting at the Bailey -- about the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof and all that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolmington_v._DPP

In articulating the ruling, Viscount Sankey made his famous "Golden thread" speech:

Throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner's guilt subject to what I have already said as to the defence of insanity and subject also to any statutory exception. If, at the end of and on the whole of the case, there is a reasonable doubt, created by the evidence given by either the prosecution or the prisoner, as to whether the prisoner killed the deceased with a malicious intention, the prosecution has not made out the case and the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal. No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained. When dealing with a murder case the Crown must prove (a) death as the result of a voluntary act of the accused and (b) malice of the accused.

But after getting the email, I googled a bit more, and smacked my forehead and hung my head in shame at my negligent memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sankey,_1st_Viscount_Sankey

Several of his judgments in the House of Lords have landmark statements of law. Of particular note are his statements in Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) in which a case was held about women being allowed in the senate. In the end, women were allowed being senators.

He wrote the decision in the Persons Case -- the Famous Five and all that.

And not only that -- I just don't seem to have realized the extent to which our whole Canadian universe revolves around that case, completely apart from the question of women's equality itself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_v._Canada_%28Attorney_General%29

Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) <1930> A.C. 124 – also known as the Persons Case – is a famous Canadian/British constitutional case where it was first decided that women were eligible to sit in the Senate. The case, put forward by the Famous Five, went all the way to the Privy Council and was a landmark case in many respects.

Opinion of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Viscount Sankey, writing for the committee, found that the meaning of "qualified persons" could be read broadly to include women, reversing the decision of the Supreme Court. The landmark ruling was handed down on October 29, 1929.

Living tree doctrine

To arrive that his conclusion, Sankey proposed an entirely new approach to constitutional interpretation that has since become one of the core principles of constitutional law in Canada.

The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. The object of the Act was to grant a Constitution to Canada. Like all written constitutions it has been subject to development through usage and convention.

Their Lordships do not conceive it to be the duty of this Board -- it is certainly not their desire -- to cut down the provisions of the Act by a narrow and technical construction, but rather to give it a large and liberal interpretation so that the Dominion to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, may be mistress in her own house, as the provinces to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, are mistresses in theirs.

From this the approach became known as the living tree doctrine which requires "large and liberal" interpretation.

Viscount Sankey invented the "living tree", along with the large-and-liberal approach to constitutional interpretation. (All of which I work with daily ...)

And this is why we have, oh, same-sex marriage and minority language rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_tree_doctrine

In Canadian law, the living tree doctrine is a doctrine of constitutional interpretation that says that a constitution is organic and must be read in a broad and liberal manner so as to adapt it to the changing times.

This is known as the Doctrine of Progressive Interpretation. This means that the Constitution cannot be interpreted in the same way as an ordinary statute. Rather, it must be read within the context of society to ensure that it adapts and reflects changes. If constitutional interpretation adheres to the Framer's Intent and remains rooted in the past, the Constitution would not be reflective of society and eventually fall into disuse.

The "frozen concepts" reasoning runs contrary to one of the most fundamental principles of Canadian constitutional interpretation: that our Constitution is a living tree which, by way of progressive interpretation, accommodates and addresses the realities of modern life. (from the same-sex marriage reference)

Of course, the right wing in the US hates us for our living tree:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/050718/18john.htm

It's almost impossible to read much commentary about the role of the courts without stumbling across arguments for more judge-made law, often couched in fancy rhetoric about "a living Constitution" or the alleged need to read the Constitution "in light of societal needs and evolving legal policy." (U.S. liberals aren't unique: In approving gay marriage, Canada's Supreme Court said, "Our Constitution is a living tree, which, by way of progressive interpretation, accommodates and addresses the realities of modern life.")

So ... talk about yer civics lessons, eh?

But no; remember, this thread is about me.

I am the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Viscount Sankey's great-grandparents. My greatx4 grandmother and his grandfather were brother and sister.

So he is my second cousin four times removed. (I think.) Different generation, same set of ancestors. Butchers, they were.

My nephew’s mother (he’s my brother’s kid) didn’t seem too impressed when I told her the tale of her son’s greatx5 grandparents’ illustrious great-grandson, and how he was the one who started the ball rolling that ended up with her marrying her partner a few years ago. I thought a forelock tug might have been in order.

Oh, he was a Labour peer (not hereditary) -- also served as Lord Chancellor under the Labour government 1929-35. And was apparently regarded as a class traitor in some quarters.

Now just exactly how cool is that??

[Shakespeare]

1. For those who've never seen it, HBO did an excellent movie on the National Women's Party.

Iron-Jawed Angels, adapted from Linda Ford's excellent book of the same title, recreates the story of Paul's formation of the NWP and the hideous torture she and her comrades endured while fighting for the right to vote. If you've never seen it, or have a young woman in your life who hasn't seen it (and who may not know that bit of history), a copy of the DVD would be an excellent gift, for her or for yourself.

So much of the history we're taught in public schools is limited to Susan B. Anthony and the more "subdued" suffragists--very, very little is taught about Paul and the torture she endured at the Occoquan women's prison at the hands of our government. I've lost count of the number of adult women friends I've shown this movie to who'd never even heard of Paul, much less heard of the violence our government inflicted on her. They were shocked and outraged after seeing the movie--it's quite moving and motivating (and Hillary Swank and Frances O'Connor, as Paul and Lucy Burns, respectively, give wonderful performances).



The film is available through Netflix, and Amazon carries it for purchase; HBO usually re-airs it during women's history month, but it doesn't show up on the schedule (yet).

[Captain Hilts]

2. The NWP headquarters is right next to the Hart Senate Office Building. It's neat. nt

[Shakespeare]

4. I used to live a couple of blocks away from it.

Walked past it every morning on my way to the subway to get to work. It is neat, indeed.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Have you been in the library. VERY cool! nt

[iverglas]

9. I taped it because I quite wanted to watch it

and it's got buried in the videotape piles ...


Glad I could give you the opportunity to talk about some thing US having nothing to do with the subject matter of the thread, though!

[Shakespeare]

11. JFC.

Sorry for posting in your thread, in that case. I thought I was adding something positive to the discussion; my mistake.

[iverglas]

10. I hope this link works ...

http://books.google.ca/books?id=x-k6iTc9zEMC&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=%22treatment+of+working-class+suffragettes+in+the+prison%22&source=bl&ots=ofcCcPWQ0A&sig=zo1e2V731FnU8BCtrR2IYd4xUXs&hl=en&ei=fJ6wSfqSDpfIM-P__O8E&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA44,M1

If not, google "treatment of working-class suffragettes in the prison".

Starting at the paragraph with the highlighted phrase, it describes the brutal treatment of suffragists in prison in England, specifically force-feeding; the author describes the process and the effect on the women as similar to sexual assault. There's an excerpt from a letter written by Sylvia Pankhurst from prison describing her experiences.


We in Canada just did it in our Canadian way.

http://canadianhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/womens_voting_rights_movement

Canadian suffragettes were inspired by British activists whose campaigns to get women the vote dated back to about 1860. They also had contact with American suffragettes whose successes in many states as early as 1869 gave them inspiration and hope.

The suffragettes knew they had to obtain support from many organizations in order to have their voice heard. They attained this support from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Grain Growers’ Association and the Young Women’s Christian Association. The memberships of these organizations were overwhelmingly women. These groups were concerned with promoting family and community health through legislated changes such as prohibition, labour, property and dower laws. Therefore, a woman gaining the right to vote was a very important to these organizations.

... The relentless campaign of petitions, lectures and demonstrations spanned over four decades. Undeterred by hostile politicians and public opinion these women overcame enormous obstacles. Manitoba was the first province to allow women to vote.

Regardless of women being able to vote provincially or not, on May 24, 1918, the Canada Elections Act enfranchised all Canadian women 21 years of age and over for federal elections.

Dates When Women Gained the Right to Vote

* January 28, 1916 Manitoba
* March 14, 1916 Saskatchewan * April 19, 1916 Alberta
* April 5, 1917 British Columbia
* April 12, 1917 Ontario
* April 26, 1918 Nova Scotia
* May 24, 1918 Canada
* April 17, 1919 New Brunswick
* May 20, 1919 Yukon
* May 3, 1922 Prince Edward Island
* April 3, 1925 Newfoundland and Labrador
* April 25, 1940 Quebec
* June 12, 1951 Northwest Territories

Compared to the flamboyance and on occasion violent suffrage campaigns in England, France and the United States, Canada’s campaign was peaceable. At times there was humour and a lot of frustration.

Why did the Canadian cross the street? To get to the middle of the road!


How many Canadians does it take to change a light bulb?

1. None. Canadians don’t change light bulbs; we accept them as they are.

2. variant (a): We won't know until the commission releases its findings.

2. variang (b): A Royal Commission will be appointed, and after spending $100 million studying the issue, will decide that the light bulb is fine where it is and doesn't need to be changed.


Petitions, lectures and Royal Commissions of Inquiry for us.

And we got the vote (federally) two years before you all did. ;)


edited to add missing link

[LostinVA]

15. GREAT MOVIE

[Shakespeare]

16. I watched it again night before last.

Good and motivating and upsetting and inspiring.

[LostinVA]

17. The force-feeding was even more horrific than shown

And, just like in Britian, the specter of this torture happening to "ladies" was probably the tipping point that won woman's suffrage.

[Captain Hilts]

3. I didn't realize that Canada marginalized women's history by giving it a month also.

I lived there - Toronto - for 5 years. I didn't know.

Still, if it makes me aware of these women, I guess it serves a purpose. They sound pretty neat.

[iverglas]

6. sorry, not really taking the point

but if you say so.

[Captain Hilts]

7. I'm an idealist. I want women's history part of a general curriculum/culture.

You in Canada?

I spent about 5 years in Tee Oh. I'll be back up there this month.

[iverglas]

8. well, the Famous Five certainly are

or so I expect. It's been several decades since I was in pre-post-secondary school.

I firmly believe in affirmative action, myself.

Yup, I'm in Canada. I spent about 10 months in TO a long time ago. Wimps. They call the army out when it snows.

[ismnotwasm]

12. Extremely cool

I come from Swedish peasants. This isn't Canadian, and I promise I'll have a bit of time to research tomorrow and I'll post something, (Really!)but given any kind of history month and all that-


One of the areas I love to browse is the "Women and Social movements in the United States 1600-2000" It's part of a University access so I can't link, but it covers everything from sufferage to birth control to labor. In the age of letter writing, how and what women communicated is enlightening. These short summaries lead to links of letters and meeting minutes as well as historical photo's hundreds of documents.

(I will now and go research Canada, or as soon as I can, this one I know where it is and is full of info)

Or the work they did. A lot of it had it's roots in the Christain religion, and "morality" was often a keyword

American Female Moral Reform Society

The Society emerged in 1839 out of the New York Female Moral Reform Society and organized women to reform sexual mores and behavior. The organization published the Advocate of Moral Reform and sought to reform prostitutes and provide them training and occupational options. The group attacked the sexual double standard by exposing men who seduced women or frequented brothels. The Society was one of the leading organizations within the Female Moral Reform Movement (see below). In 1849 it was charted by the New York state legislature as the American Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendless and continues in existence, though with a name change, as a neighborhood social service organization in the Bronx, New York.

But not always;
Dress Reform, 1840-1880

The dress reform movement of the 1840s and 50s responded to the fact that, while men's clothing had become more restrained and utilitarian in the decades before 1840, women's clothing became more ornamental and dysfunctional. Reformers promoted the wearing of trousers (popularly known as “Bloomers”) among women. Three different strands of reformers can be distinguished within this social movement: the water curists, the Oneida Community, and woman's rights reformers. Notable figures in this movement include John Humphrey Noyes of the Oneida community, and the women’s rights activists Elizabeth Smith Miller, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Amelia Bloomer.

There was some bad blood between differnt women's right's movements and abolitionists movements at times, but these orgainization is example of broader thinking

Women's Rights within the Anti-Slavery Movement, 1830 to 1850

Historians have traditionally dated the beginning of the women’s rights movement to the 1840 London World Anti-Slavery Convention, where Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton first formulated the idea for a woman’s rights convention. But the connections between anti-slavery and women’s rights flourished even before this meeting through the activism of Lucretia Mott, and Angelina and Sarah Grimke, leading anti-slavery advocates. Mott’s interest in women’s rights also predated her involvement in the anti-slavery movement, as she committed herself to women’s emancipation early on in her public career as a Quaker minister and reformer.


Anti-Slavery Movement, 1820-1860

From the second decade of the nineteenth century until the abolition of black slavery in the United States in the 1860s, black and white women were significant actors in the anti-slavery movement. Women helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) in 1833 as well as their own societies, such as the Oberlin Female Anti-Slavery Society. The status of women in the movement was often contentious and in 1839 the AASS divided in part because of the election of a woman, Abby Kelley Foster, to its business committee. The anti-slavery movement provided the setting for the emergence of the women’s rights movement as women abolitionists created new public spaces for themselves as public speakers. Notable women abolitionists include Lucretia Mott, Sarah and Angela Grimké, Abby Kelley Foster, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

There is a book I used to have, called "The Masculization of Medicine" basicly a story of how women ended up in a caretaker role rather than an authoritive one. So I kinda admire this group;

Water Curists, 19th Century
Hydropathy was one of the most popular forms of medical care in the United States in the nineteenth century, particularly among women. Water-cure therapists rejected heroic treatments (such as bloodletting and purging to rid the body of “ill humors”) and emphasized healthy living practices: drinking plenty of water, application of cold water to the body, exposure to sunshine and fresh air, adequate physical exercise, and adoption of a simple diet and loose-fitting clothing.

And a bit more recent (And I bet they're in Canada)
Guerrilla Girls, 1985-
A group of women artists whose membership remains anonymous, the Guerrilla Girls grew out of the women’s art movement of the 1970s. In April 1985 the Guerrilla Girls began displaying posters that scolded art galleries, museums and critics for ignoring women artists and artists of color. Styling themselves as the gendered conscience of the art world the highly successful Guerrilla Girls presented themselves to the public in a unique way using gorilla masks, expressing their ideas clearly on black and white posters that listed the hard facts of sexism and racism in the art world, and used humor to show that feminists can be funny.

[iverglas]

13. I actually come from English ag labs

and miners and shoe factory workers. ;) (Although possibly a mine owner too; that one's a mystery.) My gr-grandmother in the family in question married a cabinetmaker -- whose father died in the workhouse after living there for 20 years. They bin rich, they bin poor -- right down to the present time.

I'm going to read through yours for more detail tomorrow.

The social reform movements of a century and more ago are interesting studies in paradoxes.

A couple of the Famous Five are also famous for being atrocious racists, on the question of Chinese immigration to Canada, and the fact that cannabis is illegal in North America can actually be laid in large part at the doorstep of one of them.

I'm always unimpressed by the vitriol heaped on prohibitionist women though. The WCTU was actually in the forefront of the struggle to improve the welfare of women, and men's alcoholism really was a significant factor in the poverty and violence women and children suffered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union
(the US angle)

The purpose of the WCTU was to combat the influence of alcohol on families and society. The first president was Annie Wittenmyer. Frances Willard, a noted feminist, was its second president, and made the greatest leaps for the group. They were inspired by the Greek writer Xenophon who defined temperance as "moderation in all things healthful; total abstinence from all things harmful." In other words, should something be good, it should not be indulged in to excess. Should something be bad for you, it should be avoided altogether; thus their attempts to rid their surroundings of what they saw (and still see) as the dangers of alcohol. The WCTU perceived alcoholism as a consequence of larger social problems rather than as a personal weakness or failing.

Thus the WCTU was very interested in a number of social reform issues including: labor, prostitution, public health, sanitation and international peace. As the movement grew in numbers and strength, members of the WCTU also focused on suffrage. The WCTU was instrumental in organizing woman's suffrage leaders and in helping more women become involved in American politics. Local chapters, known as “unions”, were largely autonomous though linked to state and national headquarters. The WCTU was instrumental in organizing woman's suffrage leaders and in helping more women become involved in American politics. Willard pushed for the "Home Protection" ballot, arguing that women, being the superior sex morally, needed the vote in order to act as "citizen-mothers" and protect their homes and cure society's ills. At a time when suffragists still alienated most American women, who viewed them as radicals, the WCTU offered a more traditionally feminine and appropriate organization for women to join.

Although the WCTU had chapters throughout North America and had hundreds of thousands of members, it did not initially accept Catholic, Jewish, or African-American women, or women who had not been born in North America. ...

Hey, how about woman suffrage in Japan?

http://www.springerlink.com/content/7rp03606747j3627/

[Captain Hilts]

14. The anti-alcohol campaign in India was the first time women of different castes...

actually sat down together and talked of fighting this problem that was a threat to women of all castes.

[ismnotwasm]

18. Well well

Since we evidently don't have a nice synopsis of women's movements in Canada, I've actually had to do a bit of work here. Articles from Journals. Some of the articles are doubled in french. Oy vey.

I found it interesting how many have to do with a passion of mine, Aboriginal rights. I don't bother posting about it at DU, there is more outright antagonism to the issue than interest. Not surprising. I have posted about rejection of traditional feminism by certain Native women's activists because as stated by one Native author, there WAS no patriarchy in her culture.

Canada is a different world in more ways than I realized. I won't put too much here, but I'm enjoying my little project at home.

ANYway I'm looking through Project Muse, and again I can't link, but here's a couple I found of interest.

Evolving Racial Identity and the Consolidation of Men's Authority in Early Twentieth-Century Quebec

This article explores the evolution of 'racial' identity in Quebec and the ways in which it was intertwined with considerations about manhood. It suggests that growing concerns about manhood in an urban and industrial environment, coupled with the suspicion that women were turning their backs on motherhood, led some French-Canadian men to redefine their racial identity in ways that would bolster their masculine and patriarchal authority. So long as blood was said to be central to French-Canadian racial identity, women, in their roles as child-bearers, and thus physical reproducers of the race, could expect to exert at least a symbolic influence over the direction of the race. But as traditional gender roles appeared to come under attack in the 1920s and 1930s, some men grew increasingly uncomfortable with the 'revenge of the cradle' ideology that tied men's political and economic influence to women's ability to produce as many children as possible. Anxious about becoming too dependent on women's bodies and armed with international developments in race theory, French-Canadian men began to downplay the role that biology played in one's racial identity and to promote a cultural definition of racial belonging. In this way, men diminished women's role in racial regeneration, and in the process regained control over their economic, political, and 'racial' destinies

Sentencing Circles and Intimate Violence:
A Canadian Feminist Perspective
The core values and goals of restorative justice in the criminal context are
generally considered laudable and progressive. Restorative justice claims to
support and heal the survivor, the offender, and the community, while holding
offenders accountable for their wrong doing. In many cases, those who
support and practice restorative justice claim that it can effectively address
social injustice and inequality, particularly that which is experienced within
groups who have been criminalized and racialized, such as Aboriginal
peoples. Advocates of restorative justice state also that it is superior to the
conventional criminal justice system (CJS) in that it allows both survivor and
offender to avoid the trauma and revictimization that is consistently inflicted
upon both of them by the CJS.3 These claims extend to cases of intimate
violence.

Memories of Internment: Narrating Japanese Canadian Women’s Life Stories

Abstract: This paper attempts to bridge the dichotomy of “historical truth” and personal recollection
by exploring the sociological concept of memory. Drawing on 30 oral testimonies of Nisei (second
generation) Japanese Canadian women, I explore the diverse and often complex ways in which Nisei
women remember the internment, with particular attention to the intermingling of past and present,
the relationship between teller and listener, as well as the layering of personal and public narratives,
in the construction of these memories. The theme of silence and telling is also explored, with the
understanding that the literacization of memories is always a political act.

This last one is excellent, BTW
Sugiman, Pamela H. (Pamela Haruchiyo), 1958-

The Canadian Journal of Sociology, Volume 29, Number 3, Summer 2004, pp. 359-388 (Article)

So, I find I know exactly nothing about Canada, much less Canadian women's history. I cringe to admit it, but I probably fell into that arrogant American trap of thinking Canada a big Northern extension of the US. I'm completely embarassed. I know more about Mexico than Canada. (One of those horrid personal momements when I ask myself well why exactly is THAT ism?