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"How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life, by feminist author Lyz Lenz. In this breezy but thought-provoking book, Lenz demolishes the standard view that divorce is a tragedy, especially for women. Instead, she shares the dirty little secret many ex-wives come to know: Divorce can be freedom. The harried and sexless divorced mother stereotype is used to scare women, Lenz argues, but for many, reality looks much different with more free time, more control over life, and, blessedly, a cleaner house." https://www.salon.com/2024/02/20/a-man-will-say-hes-afeminist-but-he-doesnt-wipe-the-counters-lyz-lenz-celebrates/?s=09

"It's a heartbreaking story that ends with a very uplifting message. The idea being that miracles are everywhere, even if it's just someone helping you out in a tough situation. It's the little things in life that make the big things possible. Watch the movie, and get inspired." Watch on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/watch/80081151?trackId=255824129&tctx=0%2C0%2C17063983-46dd-4231-b578-08333ad8acb5-88573830%2C17063983-46dd-4231-b578-08333ad8acb5-88573830%7C2%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2CtitlesResults%2C80081151%2CVideo%3A80081151%2CminiDpPlayButton

Is this you? Could it be you? Women's Resource Centers and Support groups provide the opportunity to move beyond what is dragging you down. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3hDLL4uPPo/?igsh=MTA5eG1vbm05MGl3bA==

Cyrus speaks for thousands of women, myself included, that we find happiness within ourselves, not needing to look elsewhere, particularly a man.

I know not all women are going to agree with this but I see Cyrus' comments proactive for women's rights. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0l9ukMAN_t/?igsh=enpkYTdscm15NHFs&fbclid=IwAR2aGDaKanfd1pdKlOzKAQvzD6Gs51KUWdNlyz-PIw_jTZtBjH1gCDn3BnM(https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0l9ukMAN_t/?igsh=enpkYTdscm15NHFs&fbclid=IwAR2aGDaKanfd1pdKlOzKAQvzD6Gs51KUWdNlyz-PIw_jTZtBjH1gCDn3BnM)

"Narges Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars. She has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests, sparked by the death last year of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. Those demonstrations grew into one of the most intense challenges ever to Iran's theocratic government." READ HER REMARKABLE STORY https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/jailed-iranian-activist-narges-mohammadi-wins-the-nobel-peace-prize-for-fighting-women-s-oppression-1.6591395 Photo credit to CBC

"U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992 in the "Year of the Woman" and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90." Watch the video summarizing her impressive career. Thank you senator for your years of leadership. Your talent and courage will be missed. We'll meet you at the next rally on the other side. https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/dianne-feinstein-longest-serving-female-u-s-senator-in-history-dies-at-90-1.6582783

"Take a hard look at how living under a constant cloud of patriarchal violence affects women’s lives every day.”  "So, ask yourself: Are you better off hoping that you'll be one of the lucky women to escape abuse, or will you be better off being part of a system in which women have actual rights and present a united front?" Diane L. Rosenfeld "The Bonobo Sisterhood." "The Bonobo Sisterhood Versus White Supremacist Patriarchy" Male violence is not inevitable. “...share 98.7 percent of our DNA” and live free of male sexual violence. She highlights how bonobos connect and support one another outside the bounds of kinship ties. Judd praises Rosenfeld’s assertion that the bonobos can show humans a new way forward and calls the book “a fiercely intelligent analysis of patriarchy and sexual violence.” Ashely Judd Read more of Jennifer Fischer's piece for Ms. Magazine on Dr. Rosenfeld and the Bonobo Sisterhood https://msmagazine.com/2022/10/19/diane-rosenfeld-bonobo-sisterhood-female-alliance-patriarchy/(https://msmagazine.com/2022/10/19/diane-rosenfeld-bonobo-sisterhood-female-alliance-patriarchy/)

Baseball bat, golf club or a firearm? This attorney speaks to the issue using a citizen charged with second degree murder as an example of the convuluted justice system. There was an incident in Port Alberni, BC a few years ago where two armed men entered a jewelery store and threatened the female owner with a firearm. Her husband heard the commotion, grabbed his handgun from the safe, loaded it, entered the store from the back and shot one of the suspects. The RCMP detachment commander was quoted as saying, "We have to charge him (the owner) with something.) The flack from the community prevented the police from laying charges but the thieves had the audacity to file a civil lawsuite against the owner.

I remember vividly the moronic boys who thought they could out-ride me, out-rope me and do everything better. Didn't take them long to stop trying. Many of them assumed I would lose at bullriding to allow them to act macho etc. They never beat me at high school rodeos. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwCs6hYv4ch/(https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwCs6hYv4ch/) And yes, I had a foul mouth too because it pissed me off all the time.

What perfect timing for Penelope and I to immigrate to Canada! We are looking foreward to these games. Loved the World Championship this past spring. Canada forward Marie-Philip Poulin (29) celebrates after her goal against the United States during the first period of the women's world hockey championships in Brampton, Ontario, Sunday, April 16, 2023. Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin and their United States and Canadian national hockey team contemporaries now have a firm idea of where they’ll be playing in January. The newly founded Professional Women's Hockey League unveiled its Original Six franchises on Tuesday, Aug. 29. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, File) https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/women-s-pro-hockey-league-coming-to-toronto-montreal-ottawa-1.6539308(https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/women-s-pro-hockey-league-coming-to-toronto-montreal-ottawa-1.6539308)

Wake up and focus on the good in your life. Look in the mirror and smile. It's the little things we do every morning that help shape our day into a great day. Shelly D. Photo is mine.

"'L’Oréal takes corporate responsibility very seriously. It’s not just about selling makeup; it’s about really showing women their worth and helping them recognize that worth in every aspect of their lives, whether it’s in their career, relationship or family. This campaign is also about that.' Now, the brand is boosting efforts within Canada to stop street harassment in its tracks, and Longoria remains steadfast in the fight every step of the way." "Around 80 percent of Canadian women have experienced public street harassment at some point in their lives, yet only six percent report that a bystander stopped to help them. And similar stats are true across the globe; according to a study done by L’Oréal Paris (https://www.ellecanada.com/beauty/makeup-and-nails/celine-dion-on-what-it-means-to-be-a-loreal-paris-ambassador)and market-research firm Ipsos, street harassment is the biggest issue women of all ages and backgrounds face in their daily lives. That’s why, in 2020, the beauty brand launched its Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign, which includes a training program that aims to equip people with the skills and confidence to safely intervene when they see street harassment happening. “It doesn’t matter if you’re from Brazil, Canada, the United States or China—street harassment is the number one problem women face,” says actor, filmmaker and L’Oréal Paris ambassador Eva Longoria,(https://www.ellecanada.com/culture/celebrity/eva-longoria-on-the-cannes-women-in-film-and-her-red-carpet-beauty-tips) who has helped host anti-street-harassment training sessions with partner NGO Right to Be. https://www.ellecanada.com/beauty/makeup-and-nails/eva-longoria-interview Our appreciation to Ms. Longoria and Elle for the above.

Our appreciation to Netflix for this information highlighting the ongoing failure of the American health care system. Do you know what happens within the systems you rely on as a citizen? What would you do if you found out your co-worker, and almost best friend, might be a criminal? Or even worse, a murderer? This happened to Amy Loughren in 2003 while working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Somerset Hospital in New Jersey.  “The Good Nurse” is the new Netflix true-story-based thriller directed by Tobias Lindholm and starring Oscar winners Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. Dividing opinions, the film launched at the end of October and has received various reviews, remaining in Netflix’s top 10.  Protagonist Loughren is a nurse and single mother struggling with her demanding life and night shifts at the ICU. Charlie Cullen arrives and becomes her helper and confidante. While sharing long nights at the hospital, the two quickly develop a deep friendship.  After a series of mysterious patient deaths with sketchy medical reports, an investigation begins, and Cullen quickly becomes the prime suspect. Due to their closeness, the situation forces Loughren to risk everything to uncover the truth. Based on Loughren’s interview with The Guardian,(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer) “The Good Nurse” seems to have followed the timeline of events very accurately. The film is based on detailed research and interviews with Cullen and Loughren run by journalist Charles Graeber, which resulted in his 2013 book, “The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness and Murder.” “In director Tobias Lindholm’s hands, the film, based on a script by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, is a powerful portrayal of Loughren’s heroism, side-stepping the modern true crime obsession with sensationalizing the evil killer at the center of the story,” Yohana Desta said in Vanity Fair.(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/the-good-nurse-true-story-fact-v-fiction)  A third character in this story deserves your attention: the American healthcare system.  “[The film] is a study not only in a mass murderer’s ultimately unknowable motivations but also an indictment of a profit-driven American healthcare system that turned a blind eye even when red flags were raised,” David Smith said in The Guardian.(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer)  In “The Good Nurse,” the U.S. healthcare system fails not only Cullen’s victims, but also Loughren — and at a certain level, even Cullen.  Remember, this is a true story. Loughren is the hero of this story, but is also a victim of how the system works. Her friendship with Cullen got so deep, so fast, mainly for one reason: her disease. Before him, she was hiding from the medical center she worked that she suffered from cardiomyopathy, a condition of the heart muscle. Throughout the film, she explains that even if she was too ill to work, she could not qualify for health insurance until she had worked at the hospital for one year. She had to keep working against medical advice to take care of her family and pay for her medical care. Cullen would help her to take care of her children or to avoid heavy work on days she was not feeling healthy enough.  According to the U.S. Census,(https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-274.html) in 2020, 8.6 percent of people, or 28 million, did not have health insurance at any point during the year. Loughren was not the first and will not be the last to live through a situation like the one she survived.  Spoilers Lindholm and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the film’s director and scriptwriter, were both raised in countries with nationalized health care. “[They] view the United States medical system as a business centered on having patients, not helping them,” Amy Nicholson said in The New York Times. “Nearly every scene is an indignity: corpses left neglected in beds, loved ones grieving next to the sickly glow of a vending machine, managers haranguing their exhausted staff about the cost of coffee filters […].” The film exposes various facets of the American healthcare system, most of which are not good. Patient negligence, workers’ exploitation and lack of care, blind eye for unlawful practices, valorization of profit over patients and neutrality over accountability — the list of problematic aspects go on.  “[Cullen] felt that this dereliction of duty exposed a hypocrisy in his employers that he himself highlighted, as if he was almost a critique of the system,” Charles Graeber said in his book about Cullen. “He would never say it in this way, but he felt, in some way, justified.” Over a 16-year career, Cullen always found re-employment. When asked about his motivations, Cullen’s character in the film replies: “They didn’t stop me.” “This is in the context of a notoriously laissez-faire US healthcare system that sees an estimated 68,000 people die each year because they cannot afford the help they need,” David Smith said to The Guardian.(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer) Loughren, who retired as a nurse last year, commented on where the system went wrong. “Once we started capitalizing on people’s suffering, we lost our soul and those patients stopped being human,” Loughren said to The Guardian.(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer) “Those patients became a dollar sign. […] The decision-makers are so far away from the bedside now they don’t care. It is definitely a symptom of the dark capitalism that is our healthcare system.” The film does not focus on why Cullen is the person he is. Almost nothing is exposed besides his unstable and unusual behavior when he is arrested.  Still, in her interview for The Guardian, (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer)Loughren points out that the system also failed him.  “I also believe that he had mental illness that went unchecked and he cried out for help so many times and was not given the help that he needed, which also says a lot for our healthcare system,” she said to The Guardian.(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer) Cullen was convicted of killing people through overdoses of medications such as insulin and digoxin. Many described his crimes as “bloodless yet excruciating.”  He was arrested in 2003, at 44 years old. In 2006, he was convicted of 29 murders and sentenced to 11 life terms.  Investigators and specialists believe the real number of patients Cullen murdered between the nine hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over his 16-year career could be up to 400. “Today, [Cullen] remains, by some estimates, the most prolific serial killer in American history,” David Smith said in The Guardian.(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/03/the-good-nurse-true-story-netflix-serial-killer)  Cullen is serving his multiple life sentences at New Jersey State Prison and still has not fully admitted his motives. “‘The Good Nurse’ offers no assurances that its danger is safely locked away,” Nicholson said in The New York Times.(https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/movies/the-good-nurse-review.html) “In the judgment of the film, Cullen is just a side effect of an institutional cancer.”

Half of the world’s population believes that men make better political and business leaders than women.” Is this a quote from a 1950s newspaper article? Unfortunately, no. This is the conclusion from the latest United Nations Development Programme Gender Social Norms Index report, published in 2023. According to the survey, 25 percent of people around the world think that it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife. In a post-#MeToo world, words fail me. And we can’t forget to mention that, globally, men still earn an average of 30 percent more than women. Who says we no longer need feminism? We have won a few battles, but we are far from claiming victory. And to get to the finish line—a more just and egalitarian society—we’re going to have to team up with men. Recently, during a conversation I had with friends (who are all educated and knowledgeable about the state of the world) about discrimination against women in the workplace, one of them—a father of two teenage girls—asked, “Is this going too far?” As in, are we giving too much power to workers by allowing them to file a complaint about the slightest misconduct of their peers or superiors? I saw red. This is a trivial example, but it’s one that illustrates what is going on behind the scenes in most environments. Guys, we need your help. Feminism is a universal movement that we all need to be part of. Be active allies. Rather than trying to find flaws in the movement, be the bearers of the message. Analyze opinions, be critical and do not remain silent when you witness the inappropriate words and behaviours of other men. Never hesitate to point out that there are not enough women sitting on boards or around the bargaining table. Be brave. Fight for colleagues to receive equal salaries and for friends to feel safe when going home late at night so that all our daughters, sisters and nieces can enjoy the same opportunities as men—economically, socially, culturally and legally. The patriarchy hurts everyone, and it can only be dismantled if we build a strong team.

"Women and girls are socialized to depend on males for protection to compete against one another for this protection. But the fallacy of this protection racket is that what we need protection from is other men! When we delegate our self-proection to men, we give them the power to decide who among us is worth protecting." Diane Rosenfeld Ms. Magazine Summer 2023 Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Photo courtesy Unsplash

Believing you're exceptional. "This was one of my key takeaways from Mark Manson’s bestselling book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.  We, humans, are curious creatures. Many of us lack the self-confidence to follow our dreams and do what we know we should.  But at the same time, we believe that we are special or destined for great things.  It seems counterintuitive, but when we believe deep down that we are special, it can make us a lot unhappier.  Of course, you should have goals, and you should strive to be a better you. However, taking the burden of being exceptional off your shoulders can make it a lot easier to live your days and weeks with more contentment.  Funnily, this is probably quite exceptional nowadays." READ THE REST OF THE SUGGESTTIONS! Photo credit to Unsplash

Read how our sisters are dealing with this issue, the harassment they endure...a lot from family. Photo credit to Unsplash https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0JeGA9pSu9soHCdK6xYJQTigQwiystAEZfFhHMqoar8vbw5qyEQMZXJzpXpQDuhuGl&id=100064529988474&mibextid=qC1gEa