Bread and roses still the goal on 30th International Women's Day
Vancouver Sun
March 8, 2007
By: Jeff Lee and Glenn Bohn

On the 30th anniversary today of International Women's Day, Canada has come a long way from the days when women didn't have equal rights, weren't protected from abuse, and didn't enjoy the stability of education and business opportunities.

But that rosy picture conflicts against a wider world where in some places women still are treated as chattel, are deliberate targets of warfare, or are kept from schools or employment.

Lara Campbell, an assistant professor of women's studies at Simon Fraser University, says society is still a long way from forgoing the need to honour women during an international day of recognition.

"I think women will stop celebrating (International Women's Day) when they feel that full equality has been achieved for women," she said.

"I think women have made some significant gains in terms of formal equality, but a lot of inequality still exists, particularly in regards to racism and poverty."

Campbell said she still sees a continuing relevance for the day.

"Even though it would be nice if we paid attention to these issues throughout the course of the year it does still allow us to get some publicity around issues of importance to women."...

"As we approach International Women's Day, it is good for us to reflect on these accomplishments -- even as we know that not every woman's situation is without challenges," she wrote.

...according to Daisy Kler, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter.

Kler said this is "a day when women continue to demand bread and roses. Women are fighting for both.

Bread is a symbol for economic security, and roses a symbol for a better life. Certainly we're still in this political climate right now, fighting for those things." But she said recent cutbacks by the federal government in areas of child care and status to women, including the removal of advocacy as an objective of government funding, continue to hurt women.

Women "are demanding some of the same things that the garment workers were demanding in 1908. Child care, equal pay, those kinds of basic things that allow women equal access in society," Kler said. "How, in a society where women are unequal, can you not be advocating if you think that's what needs to be done?"