Sarah Ettritch » Lesbian

Herstory: Women’s History Sites

Sarah — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:44:58 +0000

If you’re interested in women and history, check out the following two websites:

1. Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project: To gain an appreciation for how much things have changed for lesbians over the past century, visit this site and listen to older lesbians tell their stories. Uplifting and heartbreaking.

2. History and Women: Meet “wonderful, wanton, and wild women of history!” Read about women through the ages, from heroines to queens to a noble who used the blood of virgins to stay young (read the hair-raising post about Elizabeth Bathory. The YouTube video is worth watching too). Those profiled so far include Sappho and Radclyffe Hall.

If you know of other good history sites related to women, please let me know.

Enjoy your weekend.

Same-Sex Marriage and Divorce

Sarah — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:57:16 +0000

So I was reading the freebie Metro newspaper this morning, as I do every morning on the Red Rocket (aka Toronto Transit). One of the filler blurbs caught my eye. It was about a lesbian couple in Indiana who were married in Toronto in 2005 and now want a divorce. But there’s a problem: Indiana doesn’t recognize their marriage, so it won’t grant them a divorce.

So just ask Ontario for a divorce, right? Unfortunately it’s not that simple. There isn’t a residency requirement to get married, but there is to get a divorce. One of the partners must have resided in Ontario for at least a year. Note that the residency requirement for a divorce applies everywhere in Canada.

This reminded me of the case of M.M. and J.H., the first same-sex couple in Canada to ask for a divorce. Again, a problem. Canada had made same-sex marriage legal, but it hadn’t considered divorce. When it came to divorce, a marriage was still defined as being between a man and a woman. Oops. Fortunately the government remedied the situation.

Moral of the story: If you’re thinking of getting married away from home because same-sex marriages aren’t performed in your jurisdiction, make sure you can get a divorce! Yeah, I know, you and your partner are in love and will never get a divorce. Well, check into it, anyway. Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect.

Toronto Film Fest 2009

Sarah — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:13:02 +0000

Every year my partner and I take in a few movies at the film fest, and this year was no exception. We’re not true festers, since we don’t take time off work to see 50 movies in 10 days. We see five movies and only go on the weekends, but they’ll likely be the only movies we see in theatres until next year’s fest. Movies come out so quickly on DVD that we usually watch them in the comfort of our own home. No dreaded seat-kickers, no buffoons texting in front of you, and nobody chewing their popcorn too loudly. Plus, at home you have that great “pause-to-pee” feature!

Today is the last day of the fest. As usual, we saw five movies. I’ll list four of them. The fifth was a documentary that in my opinion didn’t cast its subject in a flattering light. I don’t think the director intended it that way, but that’s how it came across. I know I wasn’t alone in how I felt because there was only a smattering of applause as the credits rolled. Usually people are more enthusiastic. Anyway, since I’d have to say some not so nice things about a real person if I were to talk about the movie, I’ll refrain.

So what about the other four? I’ve linked to the movie trailers below, except for Triage, since I couldn’t find it. They’re all good and worth seeing:

The Informant!: This one is now out in wide release. Based on a true story, it’s about corporate whistle-blower, Mark Whitacre. It was entertaining and funny. Matt Damon did a good job—thirty pounds heavier and in a hair-piece and fake nose. I won’t say much more because there are already plenty of reviews around the net.

Triage: Colin Farrell stars in this one. Since the showing we attended was the North American premiere, he showed up for it. He was walking the red carpet as they were letting us peasants in. The route to get into the theatre ran parallel to the red carpet, so we had a pretty good look at him. He also spoke after the movie and answered questions, quite intelligently, I thought. Sometimes during these Q&A’s, the stars don’t quite answer what was asked, or they *gasp* ramble. But his answers were direct and relevant to the questions asked. Anyway, he played a war photographer and the movie was about issues around that.

The Topp Twins – Untouchable Girls: We’d never heard of them, but how could we pass up a documentary about country-singing, yodelling, comedic, farm girl, lesbian twins? Hmm, let me read that sentence a few more times. It’s probably the only time in my life I’ll read all those words in the same sentence in a way that makes sense and isn’t in a bad p*-*rn story. Apparently the Topp Twins are all the rage in New Zealand. The twins are 50 now, and one of them has battled breast cancer. They started out by busking, then performed at political rallies. Their popularity grew, to the point that they had their own TV show for a few years. They’ve been publicly out the whole time, so it’s wonderful that their native land has embraced them. They were at the showing and answered questions after the movie. One of them also yodelled for us!

Good Hair: This documentary was a real eye-opener. Chris Rock focuses on black women’s hair and its care. Weaves, relaxant, the Indian hair industry—I had no idea. It’s one of those documentaries that’s light and funny, but at the same time raises serious issues that really make you think. It’s going into wide release in October.

Overall, a good fest for us.