Feminism

• Sponsored by City National Bank and benefitting the GRAMMY Museum®, this year's awards will honor nine-time GRAMMY® winner Sheryl Crow and Sens.
• John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for their contributions to support music creators.
• From left to right: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); nine-time GRAMMY Award winner Sheryl Crow; Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
• Crow is a nine-time GRAMMY winner and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

• Poetry by Wordsworth, Yeats and the only woman poet on our school curriculum, Emily Dickinson, became my sustenance.
• In my teens, I was deeply affected by the plight of Ann Lovett.
• My most recent collection, Conditional Perfect (2019), offers a broader emotional range, including anger about many forms of oppression.
• I recognise that poetry can indeed be “the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness”, as the author Alice Walker once stated.

Poetry for social change

• In a world teeming with injustice, it is more urgent than ever to read (and write) poetry that engages with social realities and inequities.
• Poetry, as Audre Lorde memorably stated, “is a vital necessity of our existence.
• In our social media-driven era, where it often feels as if nuance is in jeopardy, it is timely to think about how poetry can embrace the political while not succumbing to the lure of rhetoric.
• During the Arab Spring in 2010, Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabi’s poem The Will to Life captured the emotions of Tunisian protesters in their struggle for democracy and change.

Writing political poetry

• What are the skills writers need to enable them to speak out, while avoiding the didactic and over-simplistic meaning?
• These are some of the questions my colleague, poet Eoin Devereux, and I are discussing today with special guest poet and renowned activist Sarah Clancy, in a unique online event for this year’s Poetry Day Ireland.
• To quote American poet Joy Harjo:
  Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too.

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Emily Cullen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• “Peace and prosperity are every person’s birthright.” So opened then Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland’s introduction to Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP).
• Launched in 2017, the policy stated that Canada would take an explicitly feminist approach to international assistance, including a commitment to protecting women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
• Many considered it to be a forward-thinking policy that builds on the past work of NGOs and other international partners.
• In addition to funding, Joly also offered RCMP support to help investigate the crimes of sexual violence against Israeli women.

Palestinian women’s rights long ignored

• Her statement came after United Nations experts expressed alarm over “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” They cited reports of arbitrary executions, killings, detentions and sexual abuse of Palestinian women and girls by Israeli forces.
• Even before the current escalation of violence, Canada’s support of Israel’s actions have long been identified as a significant limitation of FIAP.
• Palestinian women also face increased risk of sexual violence.
• There are credible reports of sexual violence being used as a tool of war against both Israeli and Palestinian women.

Reproductive health in Gaza in a dire state

• An estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are at increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and maternal death.
• The widespread food crisis has also had dire implications for reproductive and maternal health.
• Malnutrition affects maternal health, and can also have long-term consequences for the health of mothers and their children.

Canada must act

• Meanwhile, Canadian exports of military equipment to Israel have not only continued, but have increased since October.
• Global Affairs Canada claims these exports are only for non-lethal equipment.
• Canada’s delayed and inconsistent response to Israel’s military violence in Gaza represents a failure to evenly apply its own foreign policy.
• If Canada truly wants to create a more peaceful and prosperous world, they must not leave Palestinian women behind.

Jacqueline Potvin previously received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Mayme Lefurgey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• In the 1980s, companies co-opted messaging about female autonomy to encourage women’s consumption of unhealthy commodities, such as tobacco and alcohol.
• Today, feminist narratives around empowerment and women’s rights are being co-opted to market interventions that are not backed by evidence across many areas of women’s health.
• Some of these health technologies, tests and treatments are useful in certain situations and can be very beneficial to some women.

The AMH test

• The AMH test is a blood test associated with the number of eggs in a woman’s ovaries and is sometimes referred to as the “egg timer” test.
• Although often used in fertility treatment, the AMH test cannot reliably predict the likelihood of pregnancy, timing to pregnancy or specific age of menopause.

• Despite this, several fertility clinics and online companies market the AMH test to women not even trying to get pregnant.
• Some use feminist rhetoric promising empowerment, selling the test as a way to gain personalised insights into your fertility.
• 'Egg timer' tests can't reliably predict your chance of conceiving or menopause timing

  Our recent study found around 30% of women having an AMH test in Australia may be having it for these reasons.

Breast density notification

Breast density is one of several independent risk factors for breast cancer. It’s also harder to see cancer on a mammogram image of breasts with high amounts of dense tissue than breasts with a greater proportion of fatty tissue. While estimates vary, approximately 25–50% of women in the breast screening population have dense breasts.

• Stemming from valid concerns about the increased risk of cancer, advocacy efforts have used feminist language around women’s right to know such as “women need to know the truth” and “women can handle the truth” to argue for widespread breast density notification.
• Yet, there is no or little mention of the lack of robust evidence showing that it prevents breast cancer deaths.
• While stronger patient autonomy is vital, campaigning for breast density notification without stating the limitations or unclear evidence of benefit may go against the empowerment being sought.

Ensuring feminism isn’t hijacked

• But we need to ensure the goals of feminist health advocacy aren’t undermined through commercially driven use of feminist language pushing care that isn’t based on evidence.
• Health professionals and governments must also ensure that easily understood, balanced information based on high quality scientific evidence is available.

Brooke Nickel receives fellowship funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). She is on the Scientific Committee of the Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference. Tessa Copp receives fellowship funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). She is also on the Scientific Committee of the Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference.