Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 19, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a11 Erik May 2000 backlash generation could propel us Briard by Jane Eisner the Young women wore their privilege it fit As snugly As a North Star As Natu rally As the multiple holes in their twelve of these women and i had convened for another meeting of women studies the women his tory class i took on a semester Long Fellowship at the University of their privilege Lay not Only in what they were students who made it to Penn but what they were Likely to become elite Young women with the class and clout to fill up their electronic Date books Well into the which made it All the More Surpris ing to learn How some defined them selves the backlash the generation pummelled by the problems that accompanied the Promise of 1970s feminism absent conflicted broken jumbled families and a culture obsessed with they reject superwoman but Arent sure what other clothes Wear to As Kandice observed weve come so but is it really in the direction we wanted to go twelve is a Small but the backlash they spoke of is reflected in data on the attitudes of Young women toward work and what my generation used to Call feminism is just Plain life to these its the air they there in College not to meet a mate but to prepare for a they dont see themselves on the barricades fighting for a room of their own they expect to buy the whole but Many women of my generation also thought that we could have it All work and family at these Penn students came of age with some of the bruising consequences of that and they Are Dana a smart said she already knows she will go to Law school even though Shes got two More years of College she already knows that Shell marry and have children even though she has no partner in and she is determined that the Type of Law she practises will be influenced by her decision not to let anyone else raise my Zeman was the first to mention the backlash generation in class a reaction to the life Shes seen her Mother Lead after her parents divorced when she was in Grade once her family had two cars and a vacation every summer her mom works three jobs just to get her friends in Rural Montana Are marrying and at she sees a different self selection women Are making a career Choice before they even have to make a there thinking about family ahead of time and preparing for it Mollie Rubins path to Penn was less after dropping out of High coming to terms with being a she shares the anxiety about even though her future family will defy i think about it a she said Over Coffee one afternoon in one of the Cam pus ubiquitous i want to be a i want to Traye and i want to spend time with my How do i be a Good Mother and work what new generation int a backlash generation we rent the suffragettes a backlash against the Victo Rian cult of domesticity want the second wave of feminism in the 1970s a reaction to postwar passivity and traditionalism but this is no mild rebellion among a privileged and its not Only against militant feminism its also against the assumptions in the male dominated world of like other these women refuse to pledge allegiance to unbridled women Are in the work Force in the greatest numbers but the Structure of the traditional work Day is hardly and these Young women know they want to have work and a reports Paula director of the Radcliff Public policy who has studied these but there not willing to do what my generation did try to be Bath Ozzie and they want another but they Haven defined what that is help May come from another Radclif f Center showing that a Large Are a pig to Trade Money at work for tip Jiff with flip Why a backlash like this could propel us a Forward Jane Eisner is a t v struggle to Lead the right Wing the fight for the political right Long Days journey into night a poet Matthew say viewing the present tumult on Canadas political right might Well observe Are As on a darkling with confused alarms of struggle and Igno rant armies clash by we Are certainly observing confused struggles Over the future and legitimacy of two political Par prudence should therefore make one cautious about interpreting single events recent Days offer intriguing insights into the Strug Gle for the the tory policy conference in Quebec was approached by political opponents and much of the righting Media rather in the manner of vultures approaching the Prospect of Carrion that with the benevolent thought that a party imploding or engaged in fratricide would provide Large opportunities to feast on what this did not the conference was Well the presence of recruiters for Tom Long and Stockwell Day both candidates for the Leader ship of Reform ii appeared to anger tory Dele Gates and stiffen their and the party endorsed a policy package for All its ambiguities and nonetheless indicated where it seeks to position itself on the being both progressive and the conference was followed immediately by the Johns West this was by politics and pundits As providing another possibility for an that did not happen it was close for any a narrow win is infinitely better than a narrow with the added Bonus Here that the Reform ii currently running under the Alliance won less than five per cent of the nothing Here Guaran tees the tories for they face formidable but this week is too Early for condolences or ordering the last few suggest several possibilities or probabilities Reform ii or whatever the Alliance ends up calling itself can land hard blows on the tory party but seems unable to kill the on the other seem unable to land hard blows on Reform but Reform ii could kill one phenomenon of these weeks has been the resurfacing of a number of members of the old Brian Mulroney Many of whom had largely gone to some of including Joe Clark Are attempting to Rescue their party from the near oblivion that has proved the chief political dimension of Mulroney More Are the number of Mulroney ites now gravitating to Reform ii or its leadership some like Jake Epp committed like former transport minister Jean Are committed Only if their preferred candidate such tepid pledges of allegiance Are understandably and legitimately irritating to Reform ii and particularly to erstwhile Reform i Clement Alund Canadian press conservative Leader Jde Clark walks about with his daughter Catherine at tory what these might be recruits seem to be saying to reformers is we will join your regional party provided our Guy can take it direct it and run this would be irritating under any but for reformers who remain unreformed and unrepentant in their hostility to Mulroney and his this is not Surpris it is causing recriminations within the some of these would be or might be recruits May end up playing an unusual unique historical role having contributed to the near destruction of their own they could be about to Poison a these folks May be a Bacillus or the Politi Cal equivalent of the Ilov Eyou computer another manifestation of this phenomenon is suggested by news reports that significant persons in the business Community Are now raising Money for Tom the Lon term message is the same Money will be there if Long May be there with and not there with though Many business leaders applaud the Feder al liberals elimination of the Federal Many of them do not that the liberals Are reducing taxes quickly and though Many genuinely espouse tax cuts on policy it would be Narve not to recognize that Many Are also animated by a wish to reduce their own person al the personal tax woes of the most affluent in society would bring a tear to the eyes of All but the most the Globe and mail informs that Many of these business leaders Are prepared to take a flyer on Long has no experience of Public no experience in mediating the diverse and conflicting claims associated with governing in a pluralistic no known political skills except tactical no knowledge of the French language and simplistic views about the position of Quebec in Cana instead of these he brings a righting there was a time when one could Point to business leaders pos Sessing Broad conceptions of the National but the current perspective seems mightily skewed by corporate and individual conveying Little sense of vision beyond considerations of their own Long favours lower taxes and a Flat tax that will provide some tax Relief for income people and huge tax savings for the a flu Long is their kind of Man and Stockwell Day in the Prospect of a conservatives and Bay Street magnates taking control of a populist party certainly makes for not Only on a dark Ling but with a possible outcome a dramatist Eugene say might describe As a Long Days journey into William Neville is a Winnipeg his column appears on letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email . Tax Cut mania not the answer As a Young i am increasingly bothered by the tax Cut rhetoric that lower taxes Are needed to keep Mobile Young people in when this is Only a Small part of the As a prospective Law Mani Toba offers me the most value for my Money because of its Low Cost of Liv Low tuition fees now made lower by the provincial rebate and learning tax contrast this with tax cutting where tuition is twice the rate of Manitoba and the Cost of Resi Dence also much kudos to finance minister Greg Selinger for resisting the tax Cut after what Good is a tax Cut to me if i cant afford to get an Educa Tion and a Good Job in the first place Gordon Buck Winnipeg careful spending cuts deficit in reviewing the budget delivered by the nip government on May Many questions Are left unanswered and should be no the new additional funding for health and education will help improve ser vices in these departments to some will bring these services Back to the higher standards enjoyed before such funding was Cut in the first place the modest income tax reductions announced Over the next two years May help lower income yet does not present any incentive to higher income earners or businesses to remain in now about the highest taxed province in rather than move to another province with a lower tax while the additional property tax credit for the next two years May be a positive step to reduce property this will Only be effective if the Winnipeg school Board is prevented from increasing the education tax collected together with property the increase in fund ing for health is is there any indication that Pha Macare will receive any Small part of this increase to help pay for some of the medications used by the sick and a service that was taken away when government Cut these benefits we Are told that after this lion the government May still expect a not considering that million will be drawn from the nearly depleted Rainy Day without this the government actually have an deficit would the proper solution not be More careful management of government expenditures Issie Oiring Winnipeg no Rainy Day no its according to news the Mani Toba Rainy Day swelled by the receipts from the Sale of is being soon there will be no More Rainy Day Money and no its Joan Nicolas Winnipeg politicians forget too too soon do politicians remember or even understand who they represent How soon they Knock on some take a poll and quickly you will rediscover that the massive majority of people have very Clear and simple expectations of their elected representatives wants and needs that you so deeply under stood when you courted their vote in your election time of we expect you to reduce taxes in our province and country to a reasonable with this yet we expect you to administer our affairs sensibly and we have told you to make our communities safer and we expect you to further legislate an effective balance of punishment for violent and repeated crimes against we expect you to carry out the elec Tion promises and pledges that you made when we very clearly prioritized for you our concerns on health we have an expectation that you will our police and ambulance services and we Are thankful that these heroes remain committed in the face of growing lawlessness and Dan Gers due to your Lack of legislation and funding because you Are not Santa we expect you to Stop giving away our Money As though it were you Are expected to seek our approval before you give away a billion dollars of our wages unaccounted no you have not been listening to us if you feel it is acceptable to give con sent for casinos in our communities without consulting no we Are a sophisticated Bunch and expect you to reject these endeavours As the employment opportunities they Are when we collectively reject such foolishness on the grounds of morality and principle for the larger social we expect you to speak for us against empty accusations of should this or any other group of peo ple propose to establish a True Busi Ness or economic Opportunity in our they would obviously be is it not fraud when a politician wins office with a platform of i will get rid of the much hated get and then simply does not How soon we allow them to a new and encouraging political party has been born from these frustrations and we now have a Chance for the necessary and Funda mental political changes that Are s Winnipeg doonesbury by Garr Trudeau ;