Canada 50th in participation by women in politics

Just in time for International Women's Day we have this embarrassment:

Canada now ranks 50th on the world scale of women's participation in politics, trailing Pakistan, Bolivia and the United Arab Emirates.

"It isn't that we're electing fewer, but other countries are electing more," says Trimble. "Across Canada, women have 23 per cent of the legislative positions."

Stack that against a formidable 57 per cent in Rwanda, 47 per cent in Sweden and 45 per cent in South Africa.

From the Star.

Quebec blogger surprises by revealing he's a she

Interesting:

A well-known Quebec blogger has revealed she's actually a woman who took a male name because she suspected it would be better for her web-development and copywriting business.

Her decision proved correct.

James Chartrand, who operates the website Men with Pens, said that when she wrote as a woman, she struggled to get freelance jobs and found herself making less than minimum wage.

In 2006, the single-mother of two decided she needed a new start, and that included a new name — a male name. She chose the nom de plume James Chartrand, because it had a nice corporate ring to it, she said. The result was surprising, even for her.

From the CBC. Suggests that our culture hasn't advanced as much as we might like to think...

Never forget...

Today is the 20th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal. Devin Johnson has some comments; I don't have much to add, except that we should all take a moment to remember, and remind ourselves to work for change.

What, you mean they don't hate me??

It seems that, contrary to popular belief, women who self-identify as feminists actually are less likely to have hostile attitudes towards men than those who do not:

From here, via martin dufresne in this babble thread. No doubt some heads will explode as a result of this... or would, at least, if the mainstream media picked up the story.