Once heard or read, never forgotten. That voice -- measured, steady, powerfully persistent, kindly and yet devastatingly frank -- was unlike anything most young women had ever heard in Canada in the 1950s or 1960s.
If ever any editor or publisher in this country earned the epithet "legendary," it was Doris Anderson, who died yesterday in Toronto at the age of eighty-five. Among the (still too few) women who have broken through glass ceilings to become power-brokers on their own, Anderson was unique. She was obviously propelled by an unshakeable faith in the dignity and competence of women, grounded in her own sense of self-esteem, but she ran as well on just the right level of piss and vinegar to wake up some of the boys in the backrooms and to give heart to a lot of women who hadn't yet found the kind of courage she had.
Sandra Martin's fine obit in yesterday's Globe and Mail tells such a story. Many people will remember Anderson best as the editor who turned a women's magazine into a journalistic powerhouse in the fifties, sixties, and seventies:
As editor of Chatelaine, Ms. Anderson wanted to give readers what they expected in the way of recipes, beauty and parenting tips, but she also wanted to give them “something serious to think about” and to “shake them up a bit” with well-written, hard-hitting investigative pieces on abortion, birth control, discriminatory divorce laws and the wage gap.And she hired excellent journalists to write them, including June Callwood, Christina McCall (later Newman) Michele Landsberg, Barbara Frum and Sylvia Fraser. “I had fabulous women,” she said later, explaining that many of them came to her because they couldn't find places to write elsewhere.
One of her first editorials was an appeal for more women in Parliament -- there were only two female MPs in 1958 --another early one was for reform of the draconian abortion laws. She quickly learned that effecting social change meant frequently revisiting issues in editorials and articles and so she devoted lots of space over the years to push for a Royal Commission on the status of women, and to expose horrors such as child battering, racism and the plight of Canada's Native peoples. Some readers felt that she was turning "a nice wholesome Canadian magazine into a feminist rag." However, circulation, which was 480,000 when she became editor, had increased by the late 1960s to 1.8 million readers, the equivalent of one out of every three women in Canada.
[My emphasis. Gee: how the world hasn't changed.]
Anderson walked away from the flaccid boy-publishers, though, when she realized that they were never going to give her an even break, no matter how successful she was. She charged into politics, and then she charged into making our Charter a serious declaration of human rights and freedoms.
Reading over some of that history as Martin has summarized it, I can still feel the old anger rising. Younger people should know how recently even Liberal politicians we have come to think of fondly as, well, liberal, were pulling stunts like this on feminists:
Ms. Anderson saw the constitutional talks as an opportunity to lobby for strong wording on women's equality. Under her leadership the advisory council planned a conference, but it was delayed because of a translator's strike.Meanwhile the Charter was drafted and an equality clause was formulated which prohibited discrimination on a number of grounds including sex, but it didn't go far enough in Ms. Anderson's opinion because it “was exactly the same wording as in the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights,” which she argued had “been tested ten times in the courts between 1870 and 1980, and had been found to be useless as a legal tool to help women.”
She criticized the wording publicly and sent a detailed critique to Lloyd Axworthy, then minister responsible for the status of women. She also hired feminist lawyer Mary Eberts, a constitutional expert, to write a brief which was presented to a Parliamentary committee hearing.
But Ms. Anderson's conference on women's equality and the constitution was cancelled in a move that appeared to many to have been orchestrated by Mr. Axworthy in tandem with members of her own board. Ms. Anderson resigned in protest, in what was played as a story about women fighting not only each other, but the minister in charge of the Status of Women. “Every time Lloyd Axworthy opens his mouth, one hundred more women become feminists,” said Ms. Anderson in a comment that was widely quoted.
“She was relatively easy going and ready to compromise,” said her friend, journalist Rosemary Spiers about the furor at the Status of Women, “but when things really get up against the wall, then she won't and she is very tough.”
Flora MacDonald agreed. “When Pauline Jewett and I were in the House, she in the NDP and me for the Progressive Conservatives, we were questioning Mr. Axworthy in the house every day about why was this conference going to be postponed and so on,” Flora MacDonald said recently. “I don't think he has ever forgiven me.”
A small group of self-organizing feminists decided to hold a conference anyway. Helped by Ms. MacDonald, who booked a meeting room on Parliament Hill, more than 1,300 women from across the country arrived in Ottawa on Feb. 14, 1981 to hold what became known as the “Ad Hoc Conference.” Eventually a new clause was added to the Charter, Section 28, which states: “Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.”
The fallout was bitter. Mr. Axworthy appointed Lucie Pepin, one of the women on the CACSW board who had voted against holding the conference, as Ms. Anderson's successor.
Anderson became an activist for proportional representation, a cause she was still speaking to in the last months of her life, because she recognized that there are some power structures some of us are never going to break through unless we address the structures.
When I read over the frank talk that Martin has quoted and when I remember the voice I heard several times years ago, I could weep to think that a woman who talks as tough as Doris Anderson did for eighty-five years would still shock a lot of Canadians. She spoke the truth as she saw it and she worked hard to promote any other woman who would do that. Many of the women she supported went on to marvellous careers in their own right.
And yet we have the backlash. Doris Anderson still sounds shocking to many people, fifty years later, because she would not curb her tongue. Some of us lapsed into believing that we had won the fights for equality. It has been shocking for some of us to learn just how far we've regressed.
What can I say? In memory of Doris and in tribute to her: Girls! Sharpen your tongues! Give 'em hell! And don't quit.
Great piece, skdadl! :)
I'm only uncertain about that last line - "don't quit". Looking at Anderson's life I see a lot of quitting - strategic quitting however. Walking away when necessary to do better things.
What an inspirational life, though. I'd like to see her featured in any history of Alberta, if we may claim her. ;)
Oh, for sure she was Alberta, kuri. You should have heard that voice. Martin is right to say that it was flat, but it was flat in a good way, if you see what I mean -- it just drove forward, like a good pick-up truck.
I was lucky enough to meet her several times in the 1970s, and she was a joy to meet, one of those people who was just always herself and always spoke her mind, let the chips fall where they may. I think those people give the rest of us a lot of strength, even when we can't be quite that brave.
Doris was and remains an inspirational figure. The last time I heard her speak was in favour of proportinal representation - she was a strong and passionate figure in support of this much needed change. I remember her as The energetic and committed Chancellor at The University of Prince Edward Island where she strongly advocated positive changes like the formation of The Women's Centre on Campus. The local Shelter for women bears the name Anderson House in her honour. We all will miss such insightful and dynmaic journalism as the mainstream press has become more "People"ized.
As a committed Fair Voter, it was sad to hear of Doris' passing. All those concerned about Canadian democracy owe her a debt.
As a male feminist, raised by another smart woman who spoke her mind, I can't help but think that a great woman like Doris has allowed more space for strong Canadian women I admire to improve our country.
Finally, as a native Islander, I appreciate how she improved UPEI, strengthened the women's movement in her summer home and the support she led to the fight for PR on the Island.
As a woman who came of age in the '70s, reading my mothers Chatelaine, I remember the admiration I felt for this wonderful woman, who was obviously very brave and strong, and who would challenge the ideas and social structures that seemed to be causing so much tension in my parents marriage. As I grew older, so too did my sense of awe of this powerhouse of a woman. RIP, Doris, I'm sure you're shakin' things up in that better place!