Misogynism at the Cannes Film Festival

ENTERTAINMENT - Want to see a movie that is rather... misogynistic?

The "Antichrist" is a horror film starring William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg and is rather graphic... featuring a scene in which she lops off her clitoris with a pair of rusty scissors.

I shit you not. Thats pretty graphic.

The film was recently shown at the Cannes Film Fest... and festival chief Thierry Frémaux remarked that the Cannes jury made "a ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship" when the primarily Christian jury gave the film the "anti-prize" for being "the most misogynistic movie" at the fest.

Now evidently people are going to get upset about this film. The name "Antichrist" alone is sure to offend some religious folks and create confusion about what the film is about.

The film wasn't the only film at Cannes that was anti-woman. Its actually a theme this year. "Kinatay" features the kidnapping, rape, torture, murder and dismemberment of a prostitute.

"Enter the Void" is about a Tokyo stripper named Linda who is haunted by the spirit of her recently murdered brother, and the end of the film features a rape scene viewed from inside the vagina.

"The White Ribbon" is set in a remote German village just before World War I, where the village elders variously commit incest with their daughters, physically and emotionally abuse their spouses and lovers and treat women like slaves.

Then there's the opening scene in "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo" about a female fish cutter who moonlights as a hit-woman. In the scene a group of Japanese businessmen sitting around eating sushi off the torsos of naked women who lie before them, all the while making sexist and racist remarks.

So what is the point of these films? Well, you might say they are to provoke the audience in the hope that people realize times are changing, but in some cases they really haven't changed that much. Women are still seen as sexual playthings by many men.

Thus these films are just a wake up call to women. I am not saying we should start burning bras again (thats just silly in my opinion), but it is certainly past time that many women start taking a more active role in promoting equality.

The Truth about Satellite Babies

CANADA/FEMINISM - No, we're not launching babies into outer space. If you're confused about the name satellite babies, we should best start you off on the right foot so you know what it is we are talking about.

Satellite Babies is the unusual but growing practice of immigrant women (often single mothers) sending their babies to live with their grandparents or aunts/uncles overseas so they can focus on school or career here in North America.

Its a tough decision to make. It can be very difficult to raise a child all by yourself, even if you do live in a wealthy nation like Canada or the United States. Sending your baby overseas to China, India or wherever to be raised by the relatives isn't really a right or wrong decision. Its a very gray area and its up to the individual to decide what is best for their baby and for themselves.

During a recession or during times of financial peril it does make a lot of sense.

According to a Canadian study published in the Infant Mental Health Journal, an increasing number of immigrants to Canada and the U.S. are shipping infants to their home country to be raised by extended families. In Greater Toronto alone an estimated 2,000 Canadian-born kids of Chinese parents are sent back to mainland China each year, then returned to Canada when they reach school age.

"These parents are completely torn by the decision, but they believe in this collectivist value that their own pain of separating from their child will be a greater good for the family (later on)," says researcher Professor Yvonne Bohr. "The family system is the building block of a community. When it is changed, compressed and stressed, it could create problems in relationships."

"Serial family separations are common in countries that welcome immigrants, and could be but one of many repercussions of globalization for parents and their children," says the 22-page article. There's even support groups in Toronto that help guide parents through the pros and cons of sending their children home.

"I've built this bonding with my baby boy, seeing him grow every day. It is hard to be separated from him," says one mother with two kids. "But to keep him here, I can't go to English classes or get a job. I really don't know what to do."

"It's too expensive to put two kids in daycare. I don't have any support," she says.

All of the families interviewed for the study cited the necessity to retrain or to develop their careers and the high cost of child care as reasons that would make it impossible to keep their baby in Canada. Some said they tried to bring the grandparents to help babysit in Canada, but were caught up in government bureaucracy.

More than half said their own grandparents had taken care of them, so having their children raised by their own parents feels very traditional. Returning the child to the old culture seemed to be an acceptable solution, the report found.

The parents are also really torn by their decision. Its a decision of necessity because there isn't a lot of support for immigrant mothers. The parents also expressed "sorrow, hardship and guilt" for the "abdication of responsibility and of letting the baby down."

Professor Bohr says parents also raise concerns over the returning school-age kids' adjustment to a new place, as well as depression at being separated from their grandparents.

Some people will no doubt say that these women are bad mothers, but such naysayers have never been in such a position of poverty and doubt about their future, or the future of their children.

Technically the practice of sending children to live with their grandparents does happen frequently in North America, its just that we're not used to sending them overseas.

We Boobed, admits Marks & Spencer

FASHION - Marks & Spencer (M&S) has admitted it was wrong to charge a £2 ($3) surcharge on larger bra sizes, after months of campaigning on Facebook and Twitter by large-breasted activists who felt they were being discriminated against. M&S is Britain's largest retailer of bras and lingerie.

Marks & Spencer has placed full-page ads in newspapers today stating "We boobed". The ad reads: "It’s true our fantastic quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged. Well, we were wrong, so as of Saturday 9 May, the storm in a D cup is over!"

M&S said it will reduce the price of its bras over a size DD by up to £2 and for two weeks from Saturday (today), it will also reduce all prices for bras (regardless of size) by 25 per cent. The retailer said: "Every woman can now experience the difference a well-made quality bra will make."

M&S came under fire from The Busts 4 Justice campaign group for applying the £2 surcharge. One campaigner bought one share in the company so she could confront boss Sir Stuart Rose at the company’s Annual General Meeting.

M&S had said that bigger bras needed more work to develop a greater level of support and therefore the cost was justified, but ignored the fact that under that logic smaller bras are more profitable because they take less material/work, and therefore it all evens out in the end.

Busts 4 Justice has more than 8,000 members and the group's co-founder, Beckie Williams – a 34E – argues that just as fat or tall people don't have to spend extra on larger clothes, so women with bigger breasts should not have to pay more for larger bras.

"We've won, and we never thought it would happen so quickly," said Becky Mount, also a co-founder. "They didn't want a lot of big-breasted women storming their meeting."

British celebrity Ulrika Jonsson has been scathing of the £2 surcharge. She said: "This is nothing short of a tax on bigger breasts." Ulrika Jonsson had breast reduction surgery when after 4 kids her breasts ballooned to size 34I. The surgery decreased her breast size to 34C.

Having naturally large breasts is more of a curse for many women. They're uncomfortable, they become deformed and lumpy (and unsexy) and they make it difficult to purchase clothing that fits properly. There's also numerous health hazards, the least of which is chronic back pain.

Some women may revel in having large breasts, but its a double-edged sword.

"It's really awful, actually. I get terrible back pain," says one woman. "And I can never find a bra that fits, or doesn't look like a piece of building equipment or surgical dressing. Also, people just stare at them all the time. It's as if I'm not a person – I'm just a giant pair of boobs."

"People may joke about it, but bras are a sensitive subject," says Williams. "It just shows how much of an emotional issue having big boobs is for a lot of women."

See Also:
The History of the Bra
The History of the Corset & Brassiere
Open-Cup Bras
Sports Bras

The Truth about Teenagers and Oral Sex

FEMINISM/SEX - There is a new book out called "Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss", by documentary filmmaker Sharlene Azam. She also made a documentary with the same title, in which she interviews teenage girls in Canada and the United States about oral sex.

While there is nothing wrong with sex itself (its certainly not a sin), the disturbing trend is that these teenage girls are incredibly young. Some of them aren't even teenagers yet, which is even more disturbing.

And then there's also a growing trend of middle-class girls who are giving oral sex after school so that they have money to go shopping or buy drugs. Its essentially prostitution, but the girls often see it as nothing more than easy money.

Worlds away from the poverty, neglect and desperation that are the hallmarks of prostitution, these teenagers may appear bright and well-adjusted but the interviews in the book and in the film show that for teenage girls, oral sex is now quite socially accepted, hence the title "Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss", which implies a new way to say good-bye to their boyfriend every night.

Azam also interviewed their parents of the girls involved in the survey who had been discovered by school officials to be involved in sexual activity with groups of boys, as well as girls charged by police for prostitution. Several of them were from a teenage prostitution ring at an Edmonton high school.

The parents admit they were not paying close enough attention to their daughters and had just assumed they were completely innocent.

Azam met several of the girls while researching sexual attitudes and was asked to talk to the students in the Flex Program. "The Flex kids have been out of school for various problems. In that class, I met a lovely blond girl with perfect makeup and a Louis Vuitton bag who seemed completely out of place. I asked the teacher about her and was told that she had been recruited by a girl at school and trafficked to a small town where she was kept in a motel. That was the beginning of my research into teenage recruiters and the middle-class girls they target. This was a new kind of predator," says Azam.

"Getting the releases was not difficult because the parents wanted to talk about this. There is no forum for them. There is no counseling. There is no social group for a mother whose teenage daughter is having sex with five men a night. The difficulty ... is for the mothers to finally take responsibility for what has happened to their daughters."

"The girls were okay talking about giving oral sex to a number of boys – they didn't stumble with the words or appear shy or ashamed. The reason they speak about it unflinchingly is because it has become as benign and as acceptable as kissing. This is what our culture has become. Think back to the '80s when girls would blush when talking about their first kiss. We are way past that point with blowjobs. The real question is, 'What's next?'" explains Azam

"I began to associate my own personal power with giving a man pleasure. I liked hearing them make noises because it made me feel powerful to be able to affect someone in that way. I didn't know I had so much power." - Heather, Age 16.

"We have let Girls Gone Wild and the media culture define them," says Azam. "It is important to remember that the responsibility lies with parents, teachers and adults.... Boys are downloading pornography on their cellphones. This is how they are learning how they are supposed to treat girls."

Azam also goes on to say that young girls need a public voice speaking up for them and their rights, instead of being force-fed what the media wants them to act like.

HOWEVER, and I want to stress this, these days girls are at risk to a lot worse than mere oral sex. With pregnancy, AIDS, a variety of other STDs out there, date rape drugs, and the internet giving them the power to meet all sorts of men... that is a lot for young girls to handle.

See Also:
Teen Sex Obsession and Sex Education
The Lolita Complex: Sex in Hollywood
Your Kids Vs Pornography
Sixteen and ready for sex?

The Truth about Sex and Advertising

SEX - I was visiting my local Toronto bicycle mechanic when he showed me the video below (he knew I'd like it and want to talk about it):

You see when I first saw the video... my first words was "What is this advertising?" I had immediately jumped to that conclusion, and then taken the next step, if its not advertising, it would certainly make good advertising online. It is apparently a clip from a German film, but I immediately thought of the advertising potential of a clip like this. Not for TV obviously (because then children would see it), but as internet advertising.

And I realized, and admonished myself for doing so, that I had immediately jumped to the conclusion that this would make good advertising because as we all know sex sells. Ergo... I thought sexually charged advertising = good advertising.

And in this era of internet advertising (and the increasing obsoleteness of television) this just made sense.

However... its not like we don't already have sexually charged advertising on TV. Check out this Marca Bavaria beer ad from 2003:



Or this ad from Nintendo Wii:



And we're more or less used to seeing such things on TV or the internet these days (although online you can get a lot more raunchy because there is no one looking over the advertiser's shoulder to see if they follow any ethical standards or show nudity).

The trick I think I should point out is that these ads aren't just sexually charged... they're smart and witty. Like this one for Diet Coca-Cola:



Advertisers seem to have mastered the ability of balancing sexuality and wittiness in their ads... Why? Because they know we'd get offended if the ad was blatantly offensive and had no wit involved.

We all know sexually charged advertising is here to stay, but what we have to watch out for is the ones that present an offensive stereotype. The trick after that is to let the company know we will be boycotting their product until after the ads are pulled (hopefully without letting the media know, because mass media attention is probably what they are looking for anyway).

I also want to take this moment to say kudos to the good people at South Park for making their new episode "The Ring", which depicts how the Walt Disney Corporation uses sex to sell their movies, music and products to little girls. I strongly recommend people watch the episode.

See Also
Advertising Sexploitation

Orgasm Inc and Women's Viagra

HEALTH/SEX - Elizabeth Canner's sexy, feature-length documentary about Big Pharma is premiering this weekend at Toronto's Hot Docs Festival... its name? Orgasm Inc.

The film is sure to have you laughing, but it may make you pretty upset too about the leaps and bounds (and sexual double standards) that the pharmaceutical industry in their quest for women's viagra... and a greater understanding of the female orgasm.

As a bio-chemist I barely understand it myself... and female scientists, from a variety of different fields barely understand the how's and why's of the female orgasm either... and the male scientists don't stand a chance of ever understanding it beyond a vague idea at best.

Much of the film deals with "female sexual dysfunction", a fancy term for "not tonight dear, I have a headache"... or otherwise known as "I just don't feel like it."

Its also caused by being tired at the end of the day, recent arguments, feeling fat and undesirable and husbands cruising Internet porn. When you think about it... is that really a physiological ailment that can be treated by a pill? I think not, its much more a problem for a psychologist.

Director Elizabeth Canner says "I find it very curious that they're working on a desire drug. Would anybody be working on a desire drug for men?"

So... is not being horny all the time (aka a nympho) really a medical condition? No. Its the opposite. Being horny all the time indicates there's something wrong with you... and possibly indicative that you might be more likely to cheat (although I found no statistics to support that idea). Assuming being horny more often increased your chances of cheating, would husbands really want their wives popping horny pills all the time?

Probably not. And while we're at it, why would a woman want to take such a pill unless she was already in the mood for some action? If so, it seems more like a placebo than an actual reaction to the chemicals inside the pill.

Maybe that is why they're having so much trouble trying to create a women's Viagra pill... its all in our heads, not in the chemicals we put into it.

If a guy take a gal out for dinner, treat her nice, is devilishly handsome and charming and she likes him (for whatever reasons), chances are likely that after 2 or 3 dates she's likely to get into the mood. Depending on the girl, she might be in the mood on the first date or the fifth date, or never at all.

We could assume, for experimentation purposes, that most women don't sleep with the man on the first date, but really judge their potential sex partner based on feelings of intimacy, likability, overall-handsomeness, humour, etc. and when that quote is filled, she feels comfortable having sex with him.

So if you're already in a relationship, possibly married, why should she feel like bouncing up and down on the proverbial bed every night or every morning? Maybe the husband hasn't shaved recently. Maybe he's gotten fat, has bad breath or is otherwise unattractive? Maybe she just doesn't feel well? There is many physical, social and psychological reasons for why a woman (or a man) may decide they don't feel like sex.

Also, it doesn't make evolutionary sense for women to be in a constant state of desire. How healthy would it be to be getting constantly pregnant? And why did Mother Nature construct the female anatomy such that orgasm is not essential to creating a baby?

"Want better orgasms? Skip the drugs, buy a vibrator."

"There are theories that the clitoris is placed where it is because it allows women to choose a good mate," Canner explains. "He would be a man interested in her pleasure, he would be caring and loving, and, if he wants to give her an orgasm, then he is probably somebody she wants to be with... If he ignores her side of the whole thing, well, then maybe he's not the right mate."

As a film, Orgasm Inc., took nine years to make, covers how the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry have attempted to understand and control the female orgasm, including the Victorian era's notion of "female hysteria" which was 'cured' by regular genital massage at the doctor's office.

"Then, when electricity was invented, the vibrator was one of the earliest electrified appliances because doctors' hands were becoming very tired," jokes Canner. "I don't know how common they were, but they certainly were used by some doctors to give women orgasms. And, in some cases, these were weekly treatments."

Makes you wonder how many children out there have a doctor daddy or grand-daddy, doesn't it? Did these women really need treatment or were they seeing the doc regularly just to get their jollies?

"The idea that there's a sexual dysfunction (for women) implies that there's a norm," says Canner. "But there is nothing that says what functional is. There is no norm, no medical study that says that woman should be having five orgasms a month or 10 sexual encounters. So this idea that you can be dysfunctional is problematic."

"If you create something that appears that there is a function that women should be living up to, it's quite dangerous and inaccurate."

Thanks to the modern porn industry, the female orgasm is increasingly a big thing... women are expected to have them. If they don't, well apparently there's something wrong with us... we're frigid. Or maybe the man just isn't doing a very good job.

For example, I know quite a few women who only have orgasms during oral sex. The penis doesn't seem to do dick all for them.

"Orgasms are all in your head. The penis doesn't do dick all."

And it's just one more way women are made to feel inadequate by media and medical types who seized upon a 1994 sociological study to spread the false information that 43 per cent of women suffer from FSD. Even Oprah Winfrey called it an "epidemic" in the nation's bedrooms... more misinformation saying there's something wrong with us.

Its bad enough we're being told to get bigger breasts, slimmer waists, tighter/rounder asses... now we're being told we're just not doing it right.

Canner calls this "disease-mongering," a way of creating a perception there is a need for a cure when there is no problem to begin with. Hardly the first time they've done this either. There a plenty of products out there on the market now, from anti-itch creams we don't need to, to miracle hair growth formulas and even anti-fat creams that claim they can melt away the fat. Just watch for the TV commercials that are advertising the latest snake oil for $19.99 and you will see what I mean.

According to the pharmaceutical industry 70% of women aren't horny enough to meet the sexual demands of men. What does this tell us? It means women just naturally aren't that horny... and that men... well, they're just plain horny (which explains the porn industry's popularity).

According to a Men's Health survey, two-thirds of women report they have faked it at least once. Hmm... probably because he just wasn't doing it right.

I swear (and many other women will attest to this), there's a lot of men out there who don't have the foggiest clue of how to pleasure a woman. What they really need is some romance and kama sutra lessons. I am hardly alone in this idea.

"Based on my research, we don't have comprehensive sex education in the U.S., and very rarely is the clitoris even taught in general anatomy in sex education," says Canner. "There is a real lack of knowledge."

But we're forgetting this is America. Americans don't exercise and become fit and healthy. They eat themselves silly and get liposuction after they have a heart attack. Americans crave instant gratification without all the work.

Americans, who make up 5% of the world's population, account for 42% of the spending on prescription drugs... and most of these drugs aren't even necessary, they're just there to make Americans feel happier.

"There is a lot more money to be made in lifestyle drugs than in a cure for malaria," Canner concludes. "We are putting a tremendous amount of resources into drugs for the healthy and wealthy."

In Toronto, Orgasm Inc. screens at 1 p.m. this Saturday at the Bloor Cinema and at 1:30 on Tuesday at the Isabel Bader Theatre. The film will also be touring the rest of Canada and the United States.

Prostitution: Criminalizing the Men

FEMINISM/SEX - What is the point in arresting prostitutes? We charge them, fine them and release them back on to the street within 48 hours.

But the Johns and pimps on the other hand... to say nothing of sex traffickers who smuggle children into sex-slavery. Those are the people we should be worried about.

"89% of prostitutes desperately want out"

In the world of international exploitation and sex trafficking, it's men, the customers and the people pushing the women into into sex, who should be charged and tossed in prison.

Some women choose to work as prostitutes, but many admits its "the ultimate act of humiliation and desperation". They do it to survive and put food on the table. Studies show that 89% of prostitutes desperately want out. They're hungry, need to feed children or give health care to aging parents, and the only alternative is to take their clothes off and service a line-up of willing men.

In some countries there's really no other kind of work for young women to do, especially in countries with struggling economies. Its not like the United States or Canada or other western countries where prostitution is largely a choice. In many countries they don't have other options available.

And even here in Canada there is surprising results for the makeup of prostitutes. Many of them are immigrants with poor English, struggling in this new place. In Vancouver many of them are Native Canadians who were raised on reserves and are now being controlled by pimps who pay them with drugs.

The drugs keeps them controlled and coming back for more.

The pimps are the root of the problem and the Johns seeking a "moment of bliss" are the demand. So how do we cut off that demand?

"These men never ask how she is, how did she get here, is she being forced. They don't look into her eyes beyond the veneer of gaudy makeup, stiletto heels and cheap clothes. They just want to get their rocks off. When money changes hands, it's the ultimate conscience pacifier. They don't have to deal with guilt," says investigative reporter Victor Malarek, author of "The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men who Buy It".

"They delude themselves into believing that every moan and groan is because of their magnetic masculinity. They want to believe it, and the women are trained to do this," says Malarek.

And the type of men who use women in this way, they're not exactly pro-women, just pro-sex. "When anyone on the... sex sites raises the question about conscience, they are immediately asked, "Are you a feminist, a fem-Nazi, a fundamentalist? Who are you?" They don't want anyone to raise the question," says Malarek.

Then there's the STDs, the beatings, the men who pay extra for strange services (including having sex without a condom)... and even murders. Legalized prostitution comes with all the same risks as illegal prostitution, the problem is its giving men a green light to do whatever they want, without fear of police looking over their shoulders.

Even in drug-and-sex-crazed Amsterdam, the mayor is saying, "What a big fricking mistake." Women there are still controlled by pimps, beaten, trafficked, forced and controlled with drugs. There is almost no measures to protect women and organized crime is rampant. The government there has essentially becomes pimps and pushers.

Prostitutes in Sweden have been reduced by half.

So what would happen if we started having sting operations and charging Johns?

Well, theoretically we could get that 89% of women out of the business and doing something else. Give them job training so they can find jobs and create careers with a future.

In Sweden the government decriminalized the women and criminalized the men. Since then the number of prostituted women has been reduced by half. Norway just introduced identical legislation in January 2009.

So would it work in Canada and the United States?

"I believe it would. We have a mishmash of laws that don't seem to make sense. Sweden is concerned with equality of women ... and an option for women to be retrained, to seek psychological help, all the safety valves. Here, there is certainly no protection for women," says Victor Malarek.

Laziness seems to be the key for some of these men. They say they don't want the drama, they don't want to invest in relationships, because it takes too much time, effort and emotional strain.

But if it was illegal for men, if the police did a lot more sting operations to catch Johns, it would cause men to be more worried about getting caught with their pants down and their balls on the chopping block.

If its proven to work in Sweden and Norway, why can't we do it here?

Feminist killed in Afghanistan

POLITICS - Sitara Achakzai, a female provincial official known for fighting for women's rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Sitara Achakzai as she was getting out of her car, just outside her home in Kandahar city and then rode off.

Sitara Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country to fight for women's rights, says Shahida Bibi, who worked with Achakzai as a member of the Kandahar women's association.

A member of Kandahar's provincial council, Achakzai was vocal in encouraging women to take jobs and encouraging them to fight for equal rights. According to relatives she also has a 99-year-old mother and sister living in Markham Canada.

Canada's First Female Warship Commander

CANADA - Commander Josee Kurtz of the HMCS Halifax is taking on a historic role for the Canadian navy. She's the first female commander of a warship.

The veteran navigator became the first woman to command one of Canada's legendary warships, a development she said highlights the progress females have made since they won the right to serve on naval vessels 20 years ago.

"Twenty years ago, having a woman commanding officer was not on the radar screen of any leadership," says Commander Kurtz as her sailors readied the ship for a brief run through Halifax harbour to mark the change of command. "I think it's a tremendous achievement that here we are, 20 years later, and somebody has been able to demonstrate that a woman can do the job equally as well as her male counterparts."

Kurtz downplayed the significance of her gender to the 225 crew on board the navy frigate, who she claimed cared little about whether their commander was a man or woman. She did however acknowledged that her appointment as commander of the HMCS Halifax might inspire the two dozen female crew members and others who may be new to the Canadian Forces.

Women in the Canadian navy were traditional given communications and nursing roles, fulfilling stereotypes that women should be given roles assisting the men.

"I see myself as no different," she said. "I do realize, however, that because of who I am and because of my place in time, my position is significant to many women... They look up to what I have done," says Commander Kurtz.

Six years ago Lt.-Cmdr. Marta Mulkins became the first commanding officer of a Canadian naval ship, aboard the HMCS Kingston, a much smaller vessel (55 meters) with less armaments (1x Bofors 40 mm 60 MK 5C cannon and 2x M2 Machine Guns) assigned to the Canadian Coast Guard.

Kurtz signed up when the navy was just opening its doors to women on a trial basis after a discrimination complaint led the Human Rights Commission to order the Forces to integrate females in all occupations.

Kurtz admits that she's had to prove herself over and over again as she's moved up through the chain of command, from a weapons officer and then combat officer to the executive officer on HMCS Ville de Quebec. "You are tested and you are scrutinized," Kurtz says. "There was some reluctance when we first joined . . . but when they realize you can do the job just as well, that scrutiny goes away."

Kurtz served on the Ville de Quebec when it was deployed to Somalia last year to participate in anti-piracy and escort duties through the United Nations World Food Programme.

After signing up in 1989 in her hometown of Joliette in Quebec, Kurtz knew then that she was entering a profession dominated by men, but insists the navy has evolved into an organization that accommodates anyone regardless of race or gender.

Kurtz's husband was in the navy for 20 years but is now home taking care of their seven-year-old daughter.

So will there be more female commanders? Canada's navy has 33 warships and submarines. When will we see the first female submarine commander? Or the first battleship?

On May 17th 2006, Captain Nichola Goddard, (Canadian Forces Land Force Command), became the first Canadian woman to be killed in action since World War II, and the first Canadian female combat soldier to be killed on the front lines.

Who says women aren't ready to fight and die for their countries?

ABOUT THE HMCS HALIFAX:

The 4,770-tonne, 134-metre vessel is the lead ship in her class, can clock over 30 knots/hour and is equipped with 1x Sea King helicopter, 24x Honeywell MK 46 Torpedos, 16x Sea Sparrow Surface to Air Missiles, 8x Harpoon Surface-to-Surface Missiles, 1x 57 mm Bofors Gun, 1x 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx Close in Weapons System (CIWS) and 6x .50 Calibre Machine Guns. The ship's most recent combat mission was patrolling the Persian Gulf off the coasts of Iraq and Iran after September 11th, from 2001 to 2004. It returned to Canada for a major weapons refit in 2004.

The HMCS Halifax will spend roughly two years undergoing a modernization and technical program to get the new crew combat ready.