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Mike Colwell
C o m m e m o ra tin g v ic tim s o f m is o g y n y
Even rats need th e lo ve o f a m o th e r
1 0 y e a r s a f t e r t h e D e c e m b e r 6 s h o o t in g s , M o n t r e a l f ig h t s v io le n c e a g a in s t w o m e n By Laura M ac N eil
S tu d y d e m o n stra te s th e la s tin g b e ha v io u ra l e ffe c ts o f m a te rn a l n u rtu rin g
This December 6 marks ten years since Marc Lepine walked into the Ecole Polytechnique and murdered fourteen women. December 6 is now Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The murders at Ecole Polytechnique were not unique examples of misogyny, but some of the most chilling and blatant. Ten years later, how do we remember those events, and what actions have we taken to prevent them from ever occur ring again? It is far easier to disclaim the deaths of those female engineering students as casualties of a madman, rather than a manifestation of an underlying violence against women so pervasive in our soci ety. Premier Robert Bourassa, after all, tried to assert that the Polytechnique shootings had no larger societal signifi cance when he was quoted as saying “it was not a matter of deliberate acts of political violence.” That interpretation of events omits the crucial aspects of the
By Julia C arbone __________________________________
Are our personalities genetically pre-determined ? Maybe it is the way in which we are cared for as babies that determine which genes will be expressed in us. Can parenting be learned ? Is it affected by environment or is it also genetically pre-determined? A team of researchers led by Dr. Michael J. Meaney, a professor of Psychology and Neurological Sciences at McGill University, has tackled this exact question. In examining the maternal behaviour in Norway rats, researchers found significant proof to support the idea that nurturing affects personality and that behaviour is learned. The recently released results of the study show that the maternal care received by the pups (baby rats) as well as the environment in which they were raised ultimately influenced their parenting behaviour. It also affected the development of behavioural and endocrine (release of hormones) response to stress. This behaviour was then passed down through the generations. The question of the inheritability of mater nal care and the impact of environment on maternal care are not new questions. However, as Meaney said, “ The question is to identify how this occurs”.
crime that first, Lepine shot only females and second, the man screamed “I hate feminists!” before pulling the trigger.
G u n C o n tro l In reaction to the events at the Montreal engineering school, one of the survivors, Heidi Rathjen, co-founded the Coalition for Gun Control, which over hauled Canada’s gun control policies first in 1991, and then again in 1995. As the Canadian law now stands, Bill C-17 and the Firearms Act require: all firearms to be registered, strict screening licenses for all gun owners, a national informa tion system with data on who owns what guns, a ban on semi-automatic military assault weapons and short-barreled hand guns, controls on the sales of ammuni tion, more strict controls on import, export and tracking of guns, and more stricter penalties for firearms misuse. Rathjen just wrote a novel called D ecem ber 6, of her journey from hiding in an empty classroom at Polytechnique the night of the shootings to her gun-con
trol activism. Gun lobbies are still fierce ly resistant to the two bills she helped pass through Parliament, so much so that both the Conservative and Reform par ties have vowed to repeal them if elected. At 2 p.m. on December 6, the Coalition for Gun Control will hold a press confer ence at which the parents of the victims and public health and safety experts will provide an update on the status of gun control in Canada, The conference takes place at 3725 St. Denis, room 514.
W h ite R ib b o n C a m p a ig n The violence displayed that December 6 sparked activism on the part of men as well. The White Ribbon Campaign was founded in 1991 as a world-wide effort by men working to end men’s violence against women. For the days between the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women on November 25, and Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and C o n tin u e d on Page 2 2
C o n tin u e d o n Page 7
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