In all thy sons command

Well the Olympics are over, and now that the shiny distractions have been put away out of sight, the government can finally get back to work. And what fresh, innovative ideas have our fearless leaders, the Theocons, come up with? Why, they're going to change the lyrics to our National Anthem.

First of all, I agree with JJ. This is just the Conservatives' pathetic attempt to appear to be a champion of women's rights. This is Harper saying, "See? I'm hip to the ladies. I'm a modern man. I think women are equal." But it's an empty gesture. Cuz, guess what? Changing the lyrics to a song is NOT going to magically make gender inequality disappear. They're attempting to paint a veneer over top of Harper's actual record on this topic. Hmm, let's see now... Killed the national daycare program and instead decided to send every mother in Canada a few hundred bucks a year... Gee thanks Harper you sexist pig, it's good to know how much you think women are really worth. And then the Status of Women Canada dropped the word "equality" from its mandate under the Harper government. Can it get more obvious?

And if you're really being paranoid, you could see how this might also be an attempt for Harper to get Canadians riled up and angry at "them damn feminists who're always whining about something, leave our beautiful anthem alone!" And then we won't concentrate on things like... oh, the fact that the government is running a huge deficit, has no plan to get out of it, and still won't hand over the documents about torture in Afghanistan.

Some brainless twits have already fallen for Harper's ploy and are already breathing fire about the horrible feminists. Naomi you fuckwit, it doesn't matter whether the word is "sons", "son's" or "sons'", it still says SONS as opposed to just people. And yes, it is sexist to refer to an entire nation as "sons". Just as saying "mankind" to refer to all of humanity is sexist. Yes, it's just a word, but words don't exist in a vacuum. They have connotations and historical context. And no Naomi, I wouldn't think that men do get jealous because things like countries and boats are referred to as "she". Because these are objects, property that belongs to other people, and is a leftover remnant of the time when women were also considered property.

Let me be clear. I am a feminist. And yes, I do believe that "sons" should be changed to something more inclusive. (I also think they should remove the reference to God, but that's another discussion altogether). HOWEVER. On my list of priorities of all the things that need to change in this country, that is pretty close to the bottom. I am content to leave the anthem alone for now, and work on more important issues.

Do you hear that Harper? I am not fooled. Your record on women's rights is appalling, and this will do nothing to change it.