March 8th, is International Women’s Day; a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This years’ theme is #BreakTheBias. Staff and board members of IWAV (Islanders Working Against Violence) and The Circle Education have picked their favourite books and movies that fit the theme.
Janine Fernandes-Hayden, executive director at The Circle Education: Skater Girl
“Saturday night movie is a family tradition in our home. With six people and a wide range of ages, it can be challenging to find a movie that everyone can enjoy. Recently, when it was my night to choose, I went with this film. I was keen to share with my kids a dramatic portrayal of gender bias and stereotypes. In more Westernized societies, gender bias can be less overt and therefore more easily minimized or overlooked, as compared to countries such as India, and especially in rural regions, which is the setting for this film.
Skater Girl is set in a remote village in Rajasthan, India. Prerna is a local teen living a life bound by tradition and duty to her parents, who discovers a life-changing passion for skateboarding. When she follows her dream to compete, she faces a rough road.”
Janine #BeatTheBias
Sophie Jackson, IWAV's board chair: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado Perez.
“In this book Perez examines the bias against women in every kind of data collected from health care to safety guidelines, from economic development to policy making. IIt's easy to read science writing that touches all aspects of women’s lives. It opens our eyes to how the exclusion of women from the data collected affects women’s health and wellbeing, their safety and economic prosperity, their ability to participate in the world.”
James Cowan, board member at The Circle Education and manager of the Salt Spring Film Festival: Precious Leader Woman
“Precious Leader Woman would have been the Opening Gala film this year if the Film Festival was able to have a gala film night. The film highlights a first nations woman from Alert Bay who becomes an Olympic snowboarder amongst other accolades and trophies from around the globe.”
If you missed Precious Leader Woman at the Film Festival, it will be available online soon.
Jayne Lloyd-Jones, IWAV board member: Educated by Tara Westover
"In this memoir, Tara grows up in a Mormon family of seven children. She and her siblings are supposed to be home-schooled, but they are mostly neglected and expected to work in the family scrap metal business.
After years of being neglected, verbally abused and narrowly escaping with her life after some hair-raising accidents among the scrap metal, Tara eventually gets up the courage to escape her family and go to college. After many attempts to ask her parents to approve of her decision, she realizes they will never accept her back in the fold and have blocked her out.
Meanwhile, she has become a brilliant student and receives her PhD from Cambridge. She says goodbye to her family one last time. It took tremendous bravery to finally separate herself from her family and rebuild her self-worth so that she could be in charge of her own life."
Heidi Cowan, vice chair at The Circle Education: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
"Braiding Sweetgrass is written by a woman who broke into the field of University Science professors in a time when the majority of her colleagues were older white men. She brings to her teaching the deeper understanding and storytelling of indigenous wisdom and culture. She partners science with the natural world. She passionately shows the intertwined connections of humans, other animals, and plants all while holding a deep reverence for the planet. She helps the reader learn about the generosity of the earth and shows us how we can in a reciprocal manner give thanks for all it offers us. And it is all written in a very beautiful and poetical way.”
Heather Picotte, IWAV's Transition House Manager and Interim Program Manager: The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction by Emily Martin
"Considered one of anthropology’s most groundbreaking feminist texts, The Woman in the Body (1987) is an engaging book that will #breakthebias for readers who have accepted Western medicine’s traditional construction of the female reproductive system as passive, fragile, and inhospitable.
Emily Martin counters these myths with sound research, detailed analysis, wry wit, and the voices of real women — showing our bodies to be active, resilient, and responsive. More than 30 years after its original publication, The Woman in the Body continues to change how society sees women’s bodies, and how women see themselves."
Marcia Jansen, communication and event coordinator at The Circle Education: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women.
“My girls are in high school now, but when they were younger, I loved to read them the stories of heroic women – queens, artists, pirates, activists, scientists and athletes - portrayed in Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.
This is not only a fun and inspiring read it is also a feast for the eyes as each story is accompanied by a full-page, full-colour portrait, made by sixty female artists from every corner of the world. Even now my kids are older, I still like to flip through the book every once in a while. It gives me hope for a world where gender will not define how big you can dream and how far you can go.”
Kisae Petersen, executive director at IWAV: The Break and The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
“Katherena Vermette is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis nation – Winnipeg, Manitoba. Each book tells the stories of two interconnected families in Winnipeg and shares intimate glimpses into the lives of several generations of indigenous women ~ their love, trauma, hopes, tragedies, resilience and healing. This is a must-read for all people who seek to better understand the human experience of colonialism and the impact this has on indigenous women.”
Kisae #BreakTheBias
