Never Said. Always Assumed.

I come from a long line of feisty, intelligent, motivated women.  My great grandmother divorced her husband and denied the Catholic church (in Ireland of all places).  My grandmother divorced her husband and raised her kids herself.  My mother was out earning a solid living as a salesperson when other women were talking about refusing to pick up their husbands' socks.

But we live in a society full of conceits (underlying assumptions) about gender - a society that has trouble categorizing women like those from my family.  Conceits that insist women should be subject to men, that men are better and stronger people than women, that constant trivializing of the female point of view is not only appropriate but, somehow, part of our DNA, thus right and good. In a society like this one, we are assailed from all sides by messages that women are somewhat lesser beings and really only physical beings at that.  We can achieve; we can be successful.  But one of the worst underlying perceptions of our success suggests that a male version of ourselves could have done much better.

I get this all the time.  I was a stage manager for a few years and, arguably, did a solid job in the role.  However, I actually had an actor turn to me and tell me that men iron better than women.  Huh?  True story.  Underlying assumption:  no matter how well I performed in the task a motivated man would always do better.

When I was a kid, we had a substitute teacher come into our grade six class.  He thought he was pretty hot, this guy, and kept talking about a book he wrote about Transylvania.  And, very quickly, he decided to do a social experiment.  His premise was this:  the boys would always do much better than the girls in a random general knowledge test.  We played the game.  I was neck and neck with the other top student all the way through the game -- he a little ahead and, then, me a little ahead.

But when the time ran out, the teacher turned around and said, "See?  John is clearly the winner."  At that moment, John was one point ahead of me.  When a number of kids in the class came to my defense, he looked at me, grimaced and said the world 'well' implying that because I am a little funny looking and I limp, I am not female anyway. So his premise could remain intact despite evidence sitting right in front of him that he was wrong. Absolutely inappropriate behaviour, now, but acceptable then.

That was a while ago, you say?  Yes, a long while ago, and things should have changed by now.  But, still, in discussions about how women and men fare, folks constantly call me the exception that proves the rule.  This is clearly not the case.  There are tons of strong, intelligent, motivated women out there.  We can't all be exceptions.

And, so, along comes my little girl.  Unsurprisingly, she's a lot like me.  She's smart and geeky and loves things that little girls are expected to spurn.  But she's tall and gorgeous.

I wonder how they are going to try to explain away her.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  



Want to contact me?
Jacqui Burke
Artistic Director
Jaybird Productions
talk/text:  647-292-0210
twitter:  @jaybird01
skype:   Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/

Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camps for Kids.  Two installments in 2012:  The Homeschoolers` Version:  11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $155.  Premium Full Day Summer Camp:  9:00 am – 4:00 pm, July 16-20, 2012 for only $200.  Both prices hold until May 15th, 2012.  Spots are going fast.  Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca

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The Emperor's New Jacket

I have this jean jacket.  It's super old and fraying at the wrists.  There's a hole in the right shoulder. It will never be truly clean again.  I love this jacket.  It came as a very nice gift from a company that I worked for a long time ago and it came at a time when I was hankering for a new jean jacket.  I have worn it for something like fifteen years.  Maybe more.

But you know, it was never that flattering, though I felt good when I wore it.  And it doesn't really suit who I have become.  Even the company I got it from is gone.  Things change.  We change.  I've changed.  Maybe it's time to stop wearing that jacket.

Funny.  I think that the conservatives of this world might need a change of jacket, too.  Their jacket requires a particular stance about the environment, a particular opinion about criminality, a particular belief about values, a particular assumption about reproductive rights.

But what if things have changed?

What if the world could be a better place if it were cleaner, moving away from fossil fuels as a primary energy source?  What if the world is, inexplicably, safer?  What if values have changed intrinsically?  What if the world has more than enough people?  We don't need to pollute more than we already do.  We don't need more prisons at a time in which crime rates have dropped consistently for decades.  We don't need to be told what to think.  We don't need to count every sperm as sacred.

We do need to vouchsafe this planet for our children's children. We do need to vouchsafe our way of life for them, too.

The brand spanking new jacket with the maple leaf on the back is hanging in your closet, Mr. Harper. It's there. You've shoved it aside for what I can only assume is your understanding of current values, trends, and needs.

I would never want to accuse you of wearing your jacket just because it makes you feel more popular to wear it. I would never want to accuse you of wearing your current jacket out of sentiment. I would certainly never want to accuse you of wearing your current, frayed, hole-ridden jacket to further your political ends.  Even you have to say:  it's really not that flattering.




Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing Kidsplay 2012:  The Mayan Prediction opening June 20. 2012 at the Palmerston Library Theatre for one night only, and The Last Five Years for TOKL Productions running July 20-21st, 2012 at the Alum Studio.  Next year, she is looking forward to producing/directing her own show in the fall, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  She is preparing for two Shakespeare is Boffo! summer camp sessions for 2012.

Want to contact me?

Jacqui Burke
Artistic Director
Jaybird Productions
talk/text:  647-292-0210
twitter:  @jaybird01
skype:   Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/

Ask me about Shakespeare is Boffo! Premium Summer Camps for Kids.  Two installments in 2012:  The Homeschoolers` Version:  11:00 am – 3:30 pm, August 13-17, 2012 for only $155.  Premium Full Day Summer Camp:  9:00 am – 4:00 pm, July 16-20, 2012 for only $200.  Both prices hold until May 15th, 2012.  Spots are going fast.  Register, now at www.shakespeareisboffo.ca

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