Blog
  • Posted June 14, 2013

Are You Kidding Me?

Pop culture has always been chock full of nonsensical theories about the bodies of women both young and old, but the last week’s news has offered up two very special doozies.  The common thread: female bodies across the lifespan are assumed to have an awful lot to do with men‘s desires and decisions.  What gives? Absurd item #1: Radio host Laura Ingraham argues that allowing […]
  • Posted June 11, 2013

Beyond Consent

Guest post by Pragya S, WAVAW Relief Staff Yes means yes.  Consent is sexy.  Don’t be that guy. It seems that, lately, whenever talk of sexualized violence comes up, we turn to consent. In many ways, this makes sense.  In Canada, our Criminal Code defines sexual assault as any type of sexual contact without voluntary […]
  • Posted June 7, 2013

Are You Kidding Me?!

  A hit song and music video came to our attention recently and sickened us so much with its racism, objectification of women’s bodies, and exploitation of rape imagery for ‘humour’ and ‘thrill value’ that we don’t even want to name the song here.  We want to interrupt rather than promote the song’s appalling rise […]
  • Posted May 31, 2013

Are You Kidding Me?

Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) has been added to the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).  Well, this is progress!  Way back in 1843, Dr. William DeWees of University of Pennsylvania  lamented what he called the “melancholies of menstruation” and argued “that the uterus exerts a power over every body […]
  • Posted May 29, 2013

SlutWalk Vancouver: A march to end rape culture

Guest post by SlutWalk Vancouver 2013 SlutWalk Vancouver is a march to end rape culture. Our march this year is on June 2nd, at 12pm starting at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Our focus is to end victim-blaming and slut-shaming of sexual assault victims. Recently the national media has focused on bullying as a pervasive issue […]
  • Posted May 17, 2013

Job Posting – Administrative Assistant – Student Opportunity

Are you a registered full-time student intending to return to full-time studies in Fall of  2013? Do you want to work in an organization where your ideas are valued and used? Are you a Feminist? Do you want to have a say in fundraising and administrative projects and be trusted to develop and implement entire […]
  • Posted April 24, 2013

Dedicated, Talented, Caring Women

Dedicated, Talented, Caring Women These are just a few of the words that describe our volunteers. April 21-27 is National Volunteer Week and we’re taking this opportunity to honour our brilliant, talented, creative, caring, and beautiful volunteers! We don’t mean to brag (ok, maybe we do), but these women are phenomenal! They provide leadership and […]
  • Posted April 18, 2013

Rape Culture is Real—And Yes, We’ve Had Enough

Rape Culture is Real—And Yes, We’ve Had Enough In 2012 a group calling itself Vancouver MRA (Men’s Rights Activists) plastered our fair city with hundreds of posters. Oh, the bottomless, slimy layers of messed up.  Where to begin? Well, there’s the (deliberately?) misleading lumping-together of three very different ideas about rape.  The first and most provoking […]