REAL Women of Canada
Abbreviation | RWOC |
---|---|
Formation | 1983 |
Type | activist organization in Canada . |
Legal status | Active |
Purpose | Advocate Group and Public Voice, Educator and Network |
Headquarters | English French |
Affiliations | An official sponsor of World Congress of Families |
Website | Official website of REAL Women of Canada |
REAL Women of Canada (French: Vraies Femmes du Canada) is a socially conservative advocacy group in Canada. The organization was founded in 1983.
REAL stands for "Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life". The group believes that the
Interventions
The group has intervened in
and the only thing different between a fetus and a baby is a short amount of time.Objectives
According to its website, its aims are to emphasize the importance of the family and legally promote what it refers to as a "Judeo-Christian" understanding of marriage and a nuclear family, to promote homemaking, and to oppose abortion and assisted suicide.
Part of their economic policies to help meet their objectives are increased tax relief for single-income families, families with children, and individuals with children.
REAL Women is similar in political and social outlook to Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum and to Concerned Women for America in the United States.
The organization has also criticized individuals who have spoken out against
History
In January 1983,
REAL Women said it represented a silent majority of women within Canada. They promoted male-led, single-breadwinner families, and believed that women should be homemakers, mothers and wives.[3] Their views and beliefs greatly differed from the stance taken by the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and its umbrella organizations, and the group argued against the equality guarantees already enacted in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:[8] they denounce the equal rights clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and feminist movements and organizations, and they argue that government spending and funding of these feminist organizations is undermining traditional gender and family relations.[3] 1987 its president Lynne Scime stated that "REAL women want to look at issues such as how a woman can pick a husband to fulfill her needs".[3] They believed that women are naturally nurturing, emotional and dependent beings, suited to motherhood. They use the slogan "equal but different" while pushing for increased tax credits for stay-at-home mothers, .[3] and have made suggestions on how to augment the options and resources available to families.[3]
REAL is directly opposed to issues that organizations such as the National Action Committee advocatet. One is abortion, which REAL opposes, claiming it is murder. In addition, the group opposes the idea of the universal childcare model, as they believe that governmental childcare represents a loss of parental control and increases the influence of the state on the family. They argue that the funding would be better spent on things such as courses on parenting skills.
REAL Women of Canada endorsed Derek Sloan as candidate in the 2020 Conservative leadership election.[9]
Archives
There is a REAL Women of Canada archival deposit at Library and Archives Canada.[10] The archival reference number is R11007. The deposit covers the date range 1970 to 2015. It contains 16.7 meters of textual records; 2 videocassettes; 5 photographs.
References
- ^ "Women's group slams Baird over anti-gay laws stance". CBC News. Aug 7, 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- ^ "John Baird’s defence of gay rights ‘offensive,’ women’s group says". Toronto Star, August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Erwin, Lorna. "R.E.A.L. Women, Anti-feminism and the Welfare State." Resources for Feminist Research 17 (1988): 147-49. Print.
- ^ a b c d e Pal, Leslie A. Interests of the State. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University, 1993. Print. p144
- ^ a b MacIvor, Heather. Women and Politics in Canada. Broadview, 2001. Print. p145
- ISBN 9780774858342. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
Groups such as REAL Women (Realistic, Equal, Active for Life) in Canada and Women Who Want to Be Women in Australia (now Endeavor Forum) highlighted through their names an implied contrast with equality seekers, who were not real women. Although the initial impetus for the formation of such groups was opposition to abortion, they have taken up a much broader range of issues, opposing feminist influence on government and promoting "family values."
- ISBN 9780802084606. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
They swiftly branched out into Canada to assert a leadership role in the family values movement in this country. Following groups led by Schlafly and Bryant, anti-feminist women in Canada created REAL Women (Realistic, Equal, Active for Life) in 1983. It believes the 'family is the most important unit in Canadian society,' the fragmentation of which 'is one of the major causes of disorder in society today.' Among REAL Women's stated objectives have been support for 'legislation which upholds the Judeo-Christian values of marriage and family life' and for the 'right to life of all innocent individuals from conception to natural death.'
- ^ a b Vickers, Jill, Pauline Rankin, and Christine Appelle. Politics as If Women Mattered: a Political p240
- ^ Sloan, Derek. "Real Women of Canada Endorses Derek Sloan as #1 choice for CPC leader". Twitter. @DerekSloanCPC. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "REAL Women of Canada fond description at Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved June 22, 2020.