A social group for men

South Vancouver Neighbourhood House program aims to provide a space for men to support each other

By HENRI NGIMBIS

upport programs focused

on helping men are partic-

ularly important in the era

of modern technology

when families don't interact with real conversations, according to the coor- dinator of a South Vancouver group. Eric Lau is the coordinator of the South Vancouver Neighbour- hood Centre’s Man-Up community programs, which are a series of social groups focused around supporting men and those who identify as men.

“Key social issues like children education... must be supported by men and fathers.”

—ALILADAL, ENGINEER

Lau said men who attend the meetings support each other on developing relationships.

“In some families, the interac- tion between children and parents do not exist anymore due to the lack of conversation caused by smart- phones,” Lau said.

“Parents must spend more time with their children during the week- end and limit the screen time for children.”

Another participant, Ryan Brown supported this point of view. Brown said that although Canada has had a long tradition of democracy and free thinking, parents must sometimes behave in an autocratic manner to

ts

BIS PHOTO

preserve family cohesion.

The drop-in groups meet regu- larly in three community centres, at Sunset Community Centre, South Hill Neighbourhood Centre and South Vancouver Neighbourhood House. Topics at the support group include a book brigade, conversa- tions over coffee, story circle, job search sessions and movies.

At the recent meeting on Octo-

Participants Ali Ladal and Ryan Brown at the Cinemates

ber 16, the group watched the movie The Sisters Brothers and then had a discussion on debt and family rela- tionships.

Lau said the group, which began in the summer, was needed because there were many programs for women and families, but not enough for men to support each other.

Ali Ladal, an engineer who came to Canada as a permanent resi-

(Short Films & Social Issues) meeting on the 14th. HEA! ver.

dent from India twenty years ago, attended the meeting, praising the initiative of men’s groups like Man-Up.

“Key social issues like children education and family peace must thoroughly be supported by men and fathers,” Ladal said. “There are many families deeply indebted in this country because parents are

lackadaisical with children.”

A pure critique of marriage

Forum examines the use of mar- riage as a tool against women

By ANITA ZHU

arriage as an illegiti- mate concept that was forced upon women by

men to diminish their authority was the subject of a philosophical forum Thursday.

Kelin Emmett, an assistant profes- sor at UBC, spoke on the nature of marriage at the Philosophers’ Jam forum on Thursday, sharing documents from her postdoctoral research about early modern women philosophers.

One of them was a writing called Giustizia delle donne by Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi (pen name Moder- ata Fonte), a 16th century Veni- cian writer who wrote outside of the genre norms that were expected for women at the time.

In the literary dialogue that was published by her children after her death, Fonte writes about two groups of women who debate the nature of men.

“The questions of what modern readers are to make of the dialogue invites further philosophical consid- erations of the dialogue’s most inter- esting passages, many of which quite lucidly portray women’s equality and

the tyranny of men over them as an artificial and indefen- sible develop- ment,” Emmett said at the forum.

“Fonte's treatment of marriage... one that was degrading to women's political,

Emily McBrayan, who attended the forum, suggested that marriage could some- times be a net

“Fonte’s * benefit for trearmen, | moralandeconomic | 3070") of marriage ” "Some specifically agency. women indicates that it — KELIN EMMETT, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR financially

can be viewed as a political institution as opposed to a natural institution, and one that was degrading to women's political, moral and economic agency.”

women writers. 4N/7A ZHU PHOTO

benefit from

marriage,” McBrayan said. “If divorce happens, women are usually the ones end up getting men’s pension.”

Kelin Emett at the Philosophers’ Jam Thursday, where she talked about the portrayal of marriage by early modern

Katharine Browne, the coordi- nator for Philosophers’ Jams, said she thought Emmett’s focus on early modern women was a needed addition to their open forums that philosophy lacked.

“Philosophy suffers from an underrepresentation of women in the field, and I thought that a Jam that highlighted women’s contri- bution to the discipline would be a welcome and important addition to our schedule,” Browne said.

“As with all of our Jams, I hope that the talk will prompt reflec- tion and discussion on issues that are philosophically interesting and socially significant.”

Why women dont bike

Research suggests

less than half of cy-

clists are women By PALAK KLAIRE

omen make up just 38 per cent of cyclists in Vancouver, said a

graduate student who is conducting research into the reasons behind the gender disparity.

Anjela Godber, a graduate student from Athabasca University and an avid cyclist, said her research suggests that men make up most of the cyclists who are on the road.

Godber said some of the impacts on the number of women cyclists she had seen is when Vancouver started building more separated cycling lanes.

"About 25 per cent of the cyclists were women, then it jumped to 38 per cent,” Godber said.

“That's a jump but still isn't half of the male cyclists.”

Stephanie Sersli, a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University who studies on the gender difference in

“T belong here, the road belongs to everybody. It's a public space.”

—ANJELA GODBER, GRADUATE STUDENT

cycling, suggested that many women are not prepared to travel along car- shared roads and have unique mobil- ity habits.

"We live in a car-dominated envi- ronment, and our cities are literally designed around cars,” she said.

“Many people associate biking with being assertive, you need to pick your space and being assertive are things that women are told not to do.”

Godber herself said she has encountered male behaviour on her routes.

"I've definitely had odd expe- riences, and it all unfortunately involved men, it could be male driv- ers, it could be male cyclists, they are very odd experiences."

It is essential to create a healthy bicycling atmosphere, and safety is a fundamental concern for women, according to Godber.

“Women have identified why finding maps and trying to navigate through the cycling routes can be somewhat challenging," said Godber.

Godber encouraged women to not be deterred by any of the challenges they might face.

“I think the more you bike, the more confidence you end up getting,” Godber said, suggesting they remind themselves that, "I belong here, the road belongs to everybody. It's a public space."

With Bike to Work week start- ing on the 21st, Sersli says it’s a great time to start supporting everyone's right to bike, regardless of gender in Vancouver.

“Bike to Work Week is a great way to show support and celebrate people who bike to work,” Sersli said.

“As a society, we really need to start thinking about how we can change our physical and social environment so that women continue biking."