Melissa

A 28-year-old writer who enjoys long walks on the beach, romantic candlelit dinners, and... wait. Scratch that. What I meant to say was, just a chick who watches things.

Apr 152010

Heard about the proposed law to make “coercing a woman to terminate her pregnancy” illegal?

Let’s call it what it is: silly, transparent, and unnecessary.

Put forth by Tory pro-life caucus member Rod Bruinooge, the proposed legislation is dubbed “Roxanne’s Law,” after a young Winnipeg woman who was brutally murdered in 2007. After Roxanne Fernando chose to continue her pregnancy, her boyfriend, Nathanael Plourde, and two accomplices took her to the outskirts of Winnipeg, beat her almost to death, and then buried her under rocks in a snowbank and left her to die.

I may be missing something crucial here, but I would say the bigger problem than Plourde’s urging Fernando to have an abortion is that his plan B was brutally destroying her. Maybe Bruinooge thinks that beating Fernando to death was an attempt at coercing her to have an abortion, in which case… sure, let’s prevent that. Come to think of it, we might already have a law against it. Someone should check.

How exactly would Roxanne Fernando’s life been saved by the law proposed in her name? There is no evidence that Plourde coerced or intimidated Fernando to abort, though he has agreed the couple discussed it. Granted, this is the word of a convicted killer… which underscores how it would difficult it would be to police this law. Where do you draw the line between sharing your opinion, perhaps even begging, and coercion?

Furthermore, what exactly would be the punishment for this? In the Fernando case, if Plourde had been found to be attempting to coerce her to abort, would he have been placed into jail for the duration of her pregnancy? Realistically, given the pace of the court system, would the case even be heard in that time?

In all matters, the safety of women should be paramount. And it’s well-known and supported by statistics that women are at their most vulnerable when our reproductive realities come into play; a pregnant woman is substantially more likely to be murdered than a non-pregnant woman.

But the key elements that might be included in any attempt to coerce or intimidate a woman into getting an abortion are already illegal. Physical assault? Illegal. Uttering threats? Illegal. Harassment? Illegal. If a woman fears for her safety while a partner attempts to force her to have an abortion, she can file for a restraining order.

So what exactly will “Roxanne’s law” accomplish? (Well, besides giving Bruinooge a chance to sign a bright new patch onto his Pro-Life Scout sash.) Answer: nothing. It’s just another legislative attempt to paint a publicly tragic picture of abortion… a tragic picture that at best accounts for a tiny fraction of the otherwise valuable system of abortion access in Canada.

I can only draw one conclusion from this little fracas: that Bruinooge’s law is simply another step in the fetishizing of pregnancy and paternalistic coddling of pregnant women that runs rampant throughout the pro-life movement. “The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized… ‘It is difficult to imagine a human condition that is more important to society (than pregnancy),’” Bruinooge said in a statement, and added “Canadian law, however, provides no specific protection for pregnant women.”

That’s probably because a pregnant woman has all the same rights to freedom from violence and harassment as anyone else. Pregnant women do not need “specific protections,” because there is nothing about the status of being pregnant that imparts on us special rights or needs. If you beat, murder or harass us when we’re pregnant, it’s illegal.

Really, when Bruinooge et. al. say “special protections,” they mean that the law, the courts, and the health care system should treat women, and especially pregnant women, as if they were fragile creatures that are desperately in need of a loving but firm hand to keep them from danger. Okay dad, I won’t stay out late at night. And I won’t have an abortion and I won’t take emergency contraception.

Oh, shove it.

Another point to consider. Abortion isn’t the only thing women are coerced into when pregnant. It is well documented, for instance, that abusers attempt to force a woman to become and stay pregnant by refusing to allow contraception and preventing access to abortion. I have met women who were terrified for their lives if their partner found out they had been seeking abortion.

And it’s also not unheard-of for parents of pregnant teens to force, coerce or threaten their daughters not to have a wanted abortion due to the parents’ views on the procedure.

So what about these women: women who are coerced or intimidated into keeping a pregnancy, when they would rather choose abortion? Do they not deserve the same ”special protections” against being forced into a choice against their will that women who are being coerced or intimidated into having an abortion do?

Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question. We all know Bruinooge et. al. don’t really care about what happens to women who desperately want abortions and can’t get them.

I am a lifelong, diehard supporter of free, legal, safe and accessible abortion. I believe that access to abortion is a crucial right of women in a free society. I am deeply engaged in reproductive rights issues at every level of my life.

So this is not about being insensitive to the needs of women who have been coerced into having an abortion. I’ve known them. I’ve wept with them. In my volunteer work as an unplanned pregnancy counselor, I have listened as women have told me what they’ve told nobody else: their partner hurts them. Their partner will not allow them to continue the pregnancy, even though they don’t want an abortion. They are scared.

It seems like Rod Bruinooge’s concept is that we then go, “oh, that sucks. Well, let’s get you scheduled in then, so he doesn’t beat you further.” This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead, we work with them to build a safety plan. To get out. To get the resources they need to continue their pregnancy and raise their child, if they choose to do so.

At all facilities that provide abortion, there are policies that ensure that trained counselors meet with women choosing abortion alone, without anyone else present. These trained counselors know what to look for. They know what to ask. And the question always comes down to this: are you making this decision of your free will?

If the answer is ever, ever “no” – or even if it just seems like a hesitant “yes” – we swing into action. And this system protects women better than any almost unenforceable law ever could.

We don’t need a new law that will slap people on the wrist for trying to push someone to have an abortion. What we need is better resources to help women facing an unplanned pregnancy get out of a threatening situation, safely, and get on their feet.  

For that, we need housing, we need shelters, we need outreach workers. We need a faith that women are strong enough and smart enough to choose their lives, to rise from darkness, to stand on their own too feet.

I have that faith. Rod Bruinooge doesn’t. And that’s the difference between us.

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Mar 022010

Nothing in Winnipeg will be resurrected from its temporary ashes within the month of March. As some of you know, I’ve been wrassling with a big fancy shiny new job in the hustle-bustle hurky-jurky news world, and that’s been my focus.

Also, a camera. Buying a new camera. Til then. Before March is over. Mark my words.

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Jan 172010

Hello!

Disappointing career news was replaced by very exciting career news. Nothing will be back blogging this week, as soon as I get over the hump of some really busy stuff.

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Jan 112010

Nothing in Winnipeg really is nothing, in Winnipeg, for me, right now.

I had some minor but very disappointing career-related news recently which has left me feeling entirely unfestive and a bit loathe to venture into the outdoors and, y’know, do something, something that doesn’t involve eating half of the four dozen cookies Mr. Nothing made last night and sprawling out on the couch and reading blogs about celebrities without makeup.

I’m sure I’ll be recovered and back to my normal self shortly, but in the meantime, please do leave suggestions about your tried-and-true methods for overcoming a total and complete letdown.

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Jan 092010

Things that should make you go “ooh”:

+ Free Press photog extraordinaire Mike Deal made a time lapse video of the Freep’s photo desk Mac during an average workday. Very cool behind-the-scenes of the work they do.

+ Klez rebel Geoff Berner is coming back to Winnipeg, with Rae Spoon, on Jan. 30 at the WECC. Wonder if any major auto manufacturers are planning on attending. Either way, hot, hot show.

+ SPIN Magazine is giving away a free download of the top artists to watch in 2010. Owen Pallett is on there, and is the only Canadian to boot.

+ It seems there are several million new online media ventures launching in Winnipeg. Not sure what to think of all of them just yet, but here’s Manitoba 1000.

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Jan 092010

This afternoon, Mr. Nothing and I were on our way to document the rally at the Windsor Hotel, which as been transformed from a valiant attempt to save it from civic demolition to a grassroots movement to get the ol’ dear listed as a municipal heritage building.

Then we realized we were an hour late (whoops!) and there were only about 10 people of the original 80 left, so we kept driving…

Out to the (relatively) new Berns & Black, which not only is the co-brainchild of Winnipeg hair whisperer Kitty Berns, but also home to the satellite location of ooh-la-la Lilac boutique, Cha-Cha Palace. (Need I remind of this coat?)

Located, perhaps somewhat incongruously, next to the good ol’ Woodbine Hotel on Main Street, the salon and shop sits in what used to be Birt Saddelry, which I remember as a place of pony-lovin’ fantasy from my early childhood.

We had been told by staff at the Lilac Cha Cha that the Main Street shop had a wider selection of men’s shoes. Since Mr. Nothing has a hunger for Fluevogs (and really, who among us doesn’t?), of which Cha Cha Palace is one of the very few carriers in Winnipeg, we figured it was time to pay a visit.

We were a little disappointed that the stock was much smaller than we had assumed: just a few dozen shoe styles and some accessories. (If you’re in the market for some distressed-leather biker boots, though, they had a sick pair, as well as a nice selection of Fly London.)

But all was not lost.

As it turns out, one of Berns & Black’s stylists (either Lori or Laurie, I decided to take my weekend off work for all its worth and refrain from asking for the spelling) also makes some pretty damn adorable hair accessories.

See? How cute are these?

Headbands with lace and feathers; headbands with flowers; and that sweet little crimson velveteen headband witht the flat bow, at left.

The same creator also made a selection of pretty feather and peacock earrings.

Best part? The headbands were a very reasonable $15. And they look very, very cute.

Proof:

But we weren’t done there.

I’ve already written in praise of Vintage Glory on Albert Street, so I won’t belabour the point. We stopped at F&Q, the sister store of Osborne Village staple ParaMix, for jeans and a floral quilted jacket… thing, a thing that shall undoubtedly feature in future What I Wore episodes.

And then I found these.

Modelled here by the dessicated corpse of our white pine Christmas tree, these earmuffs are one of a delightfully varied series at Ragpickers.

Made, apparently out of recycled materials, by a local imprint called D&Y (which I can’t find any reference to online: does anyone know who these guys are?), this pair — a candy-coloured plaid — were only $16.

Other prints included red houndstooth and black houndstooth… and if you’re looking for earmuffs that aren’t tacky, fluffy and strapped by chintzy plastic, I must insist you go buy a pair.

And yes, they are quite warm.

To close today’s edition of shopping success in downtown Winnipeg, a What I Wore. I seriously dig this outfit, and it marks the debut for the red plaid skirt:

Hat: Not mine! It’s a delectable black, blue and red feather contraption at Vintage Glory for $30.

Tank: American Apparel, the world’s best basic cotton tank. Washed at least 100 times, has kept its black and its shape.

Waist cincher: Lucy’s Hidden Closet.

Plaid skirt: Vintage Glory

Buckled stiletto boots: ParaMix

Chain necklaces: Set from ParaMix from last year… that they had back in the store last week!

Scarf: Silk scarf that was used as a bag by Dahlia Drive, the most incredible dress designer in Canada

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Jan 082010

It’s nap time, and then laundry day at the NiW household, and so there will be no updates of sexiness today, unless Greg Selinger shows up at Mystique wearing those reptilian Alexander McQueen shoes and starts dancing on the bar or something. (Now that… that I would kill to see.)

But tomorrow I have many fun events planned, during which Mr. Nothing and I will be taking pictures and making notes, so I hope to resume my normally scheduled blogging tomorrow.

In the meantime, stay well, friends.

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Jan 072010

Hello, I’m Joe Winnipeg.

You know what grinds my gears? When the government gives money to the arts in Winnipeg. Money, jerkwads. To the arts. What the deuce is that? To that I say, look here assholes, I got a pothole in my back lane you could hide a German Shepherd in. The sewer backs up the first week in May.

I got problems, people. And the gov’ment’s just flippin’ around, spending my taxpayer dollars on some hoity-toit longhairs and their fingerpainting. It makes me sick.

And now, I get this damn missive from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. An arts organization, people. That gets my taxpayer dollars and spends it on music.

What is this garbage? Lemme tell ya. See, the Folk Fest folks emailed me to say that their last private fundraiser, the Winter Wassail in November, raised $40,000 for their community work. I ain’t got no problem with that, see. That there is private dollars.

But what I do got a problem with is the other facts they included in their email, like their economic impact report from 2008. We’re talking about the  government giving them my money to cover about 8% of their artsy-fartsy $3.8-million annual budget.  And I takes a big issue with that.

Okay, true, the Festival brings a few thousand Americans, and a thousand or so people from elsewhere in Canada, to Manitoba, where they spent about $4.1 million on hotel rooms and food and travel. But I can’t care about that. I also don’t give a hootenanny that the Festival was found to generate a net $9.7 million in gross domestic product for Manitoba or create 167 jobs per year.

Because I got problems, folks. I got a pothole. And unless these artsy-fartsy musicians wanna grind up their guitars to fill it in, I ain’t gonna change my mind about spending my tax dollars on the arts. Fah!

Sorry, Joe’s been bugging me for months for some space. The comment section of the Winnipeg Sun website wasn’t cutting it for him anymore. Now that he’s said his piece, back to your original programming.

+ For those who don’t know, the Winnipeg Arts Council Billboard is one of the most informative, useful mailing lists in the city, especially if you’re hoping to penetrate what can sometimes be an intimidating arts scene. Upcoming events, job postings, news bits and calls for submission from Manitoba and beyond.

+ As far as nightclubs go, I dig Mystique. Downtown nightclubs have had a rocky history, often punctuated by the threat (and, too often, reality) of violence. But the vibe at the former Desire is pretty clean, and a ton of fun. Now, I’m giving Mystique my new weekly award for best nightclub offering.

On Saturday, the club is debuting a new format for its I (Heart) Saturdays: “drums and keyboards versus turntables and hip-hop, with party rock.” I am entirely uncertain what that is going to end up sounding like, but I do know it sounds like the kind of mash-up of styles that I’ve been fruitlessly lobbying for for years in this city. I may, in fact, have to visit it on Saturday night to see if it’s as juicy as it sounds.

+ Just came back from a screening of Superbad Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist Juno Youth in Revolt, or, as my friend Josh so aptly put it, “that one where Michael Cera plays an awkward virgin.” Ah yes, that one. Now, I’m no Randall King - actually, nobody is Randall King, except Randall King. I’m serious. We in Winnipeg are lucky to have a locally-based movie reviewer as talented, and as prolific, as Mr. King. To quote my husband, circa summer 2008, “Who is this Randall King guy? He wrote the entire Thursday paper himself,” and anyway what was I saying?

Oh yes. I am no Randall King. But Youth in Revolt was a solid two hours of comedy. It doesn’t come close to Superbad — it gets maybe 3.5 stars to Superbad’s five — but plenty of good chuckles. If you’re bored this weekend, it won’t be a waste of $12.

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Jan 072010

It’s interesting how many people are ending up on this blog because they Google-searched, and I kid you not, “nothing in Winnipeg.”

Maybe, just maybe, some of them are searching it with capital letters… “Nothing in Winnipeg”… because some friend told them about the blog. Maybe.

Just as likely, they really are just Googling, well, ”nothing in Winnipeg.”

Either way, every time I see that referring link pop up on my StatCounter, I giggle.

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Jan 062010

The first few days of Nothing in Winnipeg were a blogging triumph. Then today…. *whooooooCRASH*.

I blame the day job.

But while I angle to get myself back on track for tomorrow, I want to make a personal note, from me to you.

This blog has been getting great traffic for a newborn. Lots of people are checking it out, and what’s more amazing, lots of people are coming back, even without me flogging my own posts on Twitter or Facebook. 

That means a lot. I’ve written a lot of things that people have read, but I’ve usually hid behind a byline and a publication brand. I’ve never been in a position where I’ve had to promote myself, and I keep waiting for someone to yell “arrr, shut up, dumbass.” But in today’s market, if you don’t claw open a space for yourself to be heard, you won’t be.

So I decided, at the end of last year, I wanted to try and open up that space. 

Why? Because I love this city. Because I couldn’t do anything else in my life but write. Because I’m not a supermodel, or an international woman of means, but I like to think that doesn’t need to stop me from taking inspiration to seek out style in Winnipeg — in whatever form that takes - and supporting others doing the same.

So thank you for your support.

————

Here’s a great story.

Two Winnipeg moms, who know nothing about footwear, start a  kids’ footwear business. Two years later, they’re taking it to Hollywood: next week, the pair at Sweet Pedtooties is heading to the Golden Globes, where they were invited to share their ”modern mukluks” at the celebrity gift lounge. 

So, will we see one of Angelina’s forty children wearing these in 2010? I wouldn’t be surprised: their children’s mukluks  just make you scream “awwww.” 

But beneath the cutesy-poo brand name, I was shocked to discover they are selling some fine adult products as well. Soft footwear for adults is usually more ugly (or, ahem, Uggly) than warm, but the sleek shape on these white bombshells is just plain hot. I think I may be in love.

The company’s online store is slated to be up soon: I might have to order myself a pair. And blog about it.

 + The West End Cultural Centre is introducing a new music series: Melodies on Mercredi, which pairs up’n'coming artists with visual art from youth. This is a bang-on idea: I’ve been hearing a lot of frustration about a lack of stages for emerging artists in Winnipeg. The series kicks off on Feb. 3.

+ The protest to save the Windsor Hotel is going ahead on Saturday at 2 p.m., despite the fact that the illustrious Morley Walker summed up what we know about what’s happening: almost nothing. I’m definitely going, because community support for something like this is not to be missed, even if its direction is uncertain.

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