Here’s a glimpse so far:

Up for Debate

Wouldn’t it be handy if there were a debate specifically about women’s issues? There hasn’t been one since 1984. That means there has not been a debate focused on women’s issues in my lifetime. Up for Debate, an alliance of over 175 national women’s organizations, invited Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair, Justin Trudeau, and Elizabeth May to debate such issues. Mulcair was proud of the fact that he was the first to accept the invitation. Trudeau and May also accepted, and Harper did not. When the time came, Mulcair backed out. If Harper wasn’t doing it, neither would he. As a result, because two men didn’t want to play, organizers canceled the event. Up for Debate went ahead with Plan B, where one-on-one interviews with the politicians were arranged. Mulcair—the guy who backed out of the debate last second—took this opportunity to identify as a feminist. Trudeau also says that he is a proud feminist. Harper did not participate in the interviews.

I was looking forward to this debate. Very disappointed it had to be cancelled. https://t.co/q2Awq4iQcX

—    Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 24, 2015

Where did our debate go, @ThomasMulcair? And @pmharper? #women #GPC http://t.co/iSLL9pN4Ue pic.twitter.com/m1cQArPhnZ

— Green Party Canada (@CanadianGreens) August 24, 2015

Transcripts of full interviews:

Mulcair

Trudeau

May

Munk debate

The Munk debate is a charitable initiative of the Aurea Foundation, a right-wing organization founded by Peter and Melanie Munk of Barrick Gold. The September debate was on Canada’s foreign policy. Unlike the women’s issues debate, RSVPs to to the invitation of right-wing millionaires were quickly accepted, disheartening to say the least. May was not allowed to attend. The Munk Debates reasoning is the Green Party does not have party status. However, as a charity they are not legally allowed to support or oppose a political party. So the reason is official, not because of the boys-only nature of the Munk Debates. In the end, May used Twitter to participate in the debate. Trudeau said May should have been able to attend. Yet, he still attended, as did Mulcair and Harper.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Harper has said there really isn’t an issue around the fact that Indigenous women are over-represented among Canada’s missing and murdered women. For him, it is a non-issue that does not rank high on the Conservative radar. Not all candidates agree with him. “”Do you think that if 1,200 women who had been murdered or had gone missing in Ottawa, we’d need the United Nations to tell us to have an inquiry?” Mulcair asked at an August rally. “It would have happened a long time ago. This is about racism, that’s what this is about.” The NDP leader says he will launch a national inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women. May has said the same and Trudeau has committed to support indigenous advocacy groups.

Childcare

Women today can work! Just for less money. Oh, and often only within daycare hours—which usually do not reflect the precarious shift work so many women undertake. Currently, Harper maintains he will slash all benefits for low-income earners, including childcare. Trudeau says he will end this trend and help families with lower incomes. Mulcair promises affordable childcare, saying, like healthcare, childcare is worth the money. May agrees that childcare is kind of a big deal.

Sex Work and Bill C-36

Harper passed Bill C-36 into law, further endangering the lives of women in sex work. But actually, he is saving them, because these women need to be saved by the morals of rich white men, as do we all. (Sarcasm intended.) May says the Green Party will repeal C-36, and Trudeau said, last year, that his party would be looking at the Nordic Model. More information about parties’ positions on sex work can be found here.

Domestic Violence

Those who participated in the Up for Debate interviews touched on this subject. Prior to the debate, the only thing the Green Party addressed in terms of domestic violence, according to a Toronto Metro article published August 26, was that “false allegations” were common. OK. At least, by the time the interviews were done May, a self-described feminist changed her tune, saying Canada needs a national strategy to confront domestic violence against women. Both Mulcair and Trudeau spoke about Parliament being a boys’ club and that they will lead by example there to make it less so.And money for shelters is a good idea, says Trudeau, but it isn’t up to the federal government to create them because municipalities, he believes, should do it. So, someone is going to do something, don’t worry about it.

Abortion

Pro-choice, anti-choice, reproductive rights. Light stuff, right? Harper doesn’t actually come out and say he is anti-abortion rights. Instead he says that abortion should not be discussed within politics because it is a matter of faith and morals. And although his own faith condemns these rights, he isn’t in the good books of anti-abortion group Campaign Life Coalition (CPL). The Conservative party is, though. At least there is someone out there ready to police women’s bodies. Phew. The CPL hates Trudeau, so that’s a good sign for the Liberals. Mulcair’s NDP is also pro-abortion rights: “A New Democrat government will increase funding for women’s organizations, particularly women’s rights organizations. Family planning, reproductive and sexual health, including access to abortion services, must be included in Canada’s approach to maternal and child health.” May is also on Team Abortion Rights.

The Niqab

Conservatives were getting attention for doing things like peeing in people’s mugs, and that was weird. So, a distraction—I mean, very important issue—was created by the Harper government. The niqab is a veil that covers part of the face and a sign of faith worn by some Muslim women. It is also being attacked for being anti-Canadian—as decided after settler colonialism. The argument goes something like this: “My white grandparents knew what it was to be Canadian (after white folk made what it is to be Canadian tailored to said grandparents) why can’t everyone else?!”

While fostering xenophobia the Conservative party is saving women by oppressing women. Anti-Muslim propaganda is being circulated on social media and women are being attacked because of this federally accepted hatred of the “Other.”

Mulcair says this is wrong. Like, no one likes the niqab, he says, but we need to trust the authority of tribunal decisions. Trudeau is also opposed to Harper’s stance. At a Maclean’s sponsored debate the Liberal leader said:  “You can dislike the niqab. You can hold it up it is a symbol of oppression. You can try to convince your fellow citizens that it is a choice they ought not to make. This is a free country. Those are your rights. But those who would use the state’s power to restrict women’s religious freedom and freedom of expression indulge the very same repressive impulse that they profess to condemn. It is a cruel joke to claim you are liberating people from oppression by dictating in law what they can and cannot wear.” As for May, at a televised French debate she said, “It’s a false debate . . . What is the impact of the niqab on the economy, what is the impact of the niqab on climate change, what is the impact of the niqab on the unemployed?”

Fun Facts

• Trudeau addresses misogyny, in certain communities.
• May re-started a women’s caucus in Parliament.

A former This intern, Hillary Di Menna is in her second year of the gender and women’s studies program at York University. She also maintains an online feminist resource directory, FIRE- Feminist Internet Resource Exchange.

It isn’t only men who shy away from the term; some women do too. And some men, like Kimmel, do say they are feminists. Yet Perera can’t help but notice the sour faces he sees some other men make when feminism comes up. Language is intricate enough that words can serve as bridges, but if a word serves as a type of barrier, Perera asks why, “If the word feminism is a barrier for a guy, meet them where they’re at. Talk about sports, talk about being a dad, talk about dating.” Which is what he does with his writing in Higher Unlearning. He doesn’t do this to be sneaky or water feminism down, but to be approachable and start that dialogue, “I’m serving lasagna stuffed with feminism,” he says. “People are saying it’s delicious, and I say, “You like it? It’s actually stuffed with feminism.”

Kimmel shares a similar sentiment, “When people say ‘I’m not a feminist but,’ we tend to focus on ‘I’m not a feminist’ when we should be listening to the ‘but.’” If someone embraces that women are human and deserve human rights, Kimmel suggests self-identifying as feminist isn’t important. Even Perera doesn’t identify as a feminist based on his own principles regarding respect. He identifies as a person striving to be an ally toward woman identified people.

Though society is shifting and more people are “getting it” Perera understands feminist is a loaded term.  With such a spectrum of types of feminism, and the way mainstream media portrays the politic, he says, “Some guys see all the chaos and avoid it.” And in the end, “Feminism isn’t a sexy sell.”

“You don’t want to be the party pooper,” says Perera. “To be the guy to call out the cool guy [who is making sexist remarks]” With this social scenario, however, he says a male doesn’t have to go into a big feminist lecture, instead he can roll his eyes and walk away commenting, “That’s not cool man.” He says it is all about getting comfortable with the discomfort, to realize that feminism is not about who has it worse or shaming men, but is very much about men.

“The beauty of patriarchy is it divides us so much,” he says. Men are supposed to have expensive cars and acquire women, they aren’t supposed to go home alone ever, they are supposed to be strong and tough—never vulnerable.  And when guys are trying to figure all of this out, it is at the expense of women and girls, he says, like they’re dolls. “The world we live in codes [men and boys] that way,” says Perera. “But we have the responsibility to reject it.” With his work Perera talks to men and boys about this binary idea of the roles of men and women, “Let’s talk about us.” He doesn’t make it aggressive and he isn’t trying to convert men’s rights activists, or preach to the choir: He is talking to the guys in the middle.

“It sucks, men won’t listen to women,” he says. “So it’s my responsibility to direct the right conversation.” Taking a cue from the business world, Perera is trying to find innovative ways to explain how feminism is about all people: it isn’t about men losing any of their privilege, but for humans to grow. It is about creating a dynamic environment where everyone can be who they are. “It’s not easy being a guy,” Perera says. So when being a guy means being having it all together without any emotion, “Stop trying to be a guy.” Feminism means freedom, he says. “A respect for women and girls means guys can be themselves.”

When we all talk about feminism more and more, more people will have our back. And if a guy does call out those sexist jokes, people will respect them—even if it isn’t said aloud.

Another part of Perera’s work is about getting men to understand. I met Perera at SlutWalk Toronto 2014.  The event created a safe place for women. But, as he points out, when the event was over, he and other male allies simply went home. Whereas women returned to a world where they continue to be slut-shamed and harassed.

An activity Perera does with White Ribbon is having guys tape $100 to their chest and go through their day. These men and boys reported feeling anxiety wherever they went. People were staring and it was hard to focus at work and/or school. Solace could not be found in being with friends because they didn’t know if their friends would take the money from them. He knows this doesn’t give the full experience of what a woman goes through in her day to day, but it does help when everyday sexism is invisible to so many men as they do not experience it.

Some are uncomfortable with the word feminist—with the female part of the word it sounds like a female only movement. “What, like mankind?” laughs Kimmel. “The word humanist isn’t identifying anything,” says Perera. “It’s the ideal, but we aren’t there yet.” The term feminist exists because “We can’t simply erase people’s experiences and pretend we live in a world where everything is resolved.”