Does She Know Who Rosa Parks Is?

Being a trailing edge Baby Boomer, my memories of the early days of Women's Lib are somewhat sketchy.

On the one hand, I knew it was important, ranking up there with the "big issues" of the day including Viet Nam, hippies and drugs and the suburban moms in my neighbourhood who were trading in their house dresses for polyester pant suits.

But at the tender age of 10 or so, I was somewhat confused as to why my elder "sisters" in the movement would want to burn their bras when I was dying to fit into one.

I didn't know it at the time but these early feminists blazed the trail that gave me access to so many of the rights I conveniently take for granted today.

Fortunately for me, university exposed me to the bigger picture of Feminism, compliments of the Women's Studies department. Two lectures and a "Meet and Greet" later, and I could argue fervently with the best of them - or so I thought - over a coffee (pre-exam) or beer (post-exam) at the campus pub.

But somewhere between now and those years of passionate debate, I've become complacent again. While still a believer in Feminism in principle, I was reminded last week that actions speak louder than words.

The person doing the reminding was Antonia Zerbisias, newspaper columnist, blogger and feminist. I interviewed her recently for an upcoming article on The Best Kept Secret website.

During our free-ranging conversation about men, dogs, diets and feminism, there is a comment she made that I can't get out of my head.

It's Black History Month and I happened to mention that my seven year old daughter had recently learned about Martin Luther King in school. Antonia threw me a wry smile and asked, "Does she know who Rosa Parks is?"

Good question.

It's no surprise that today's youth know the intimate details of the life and times of pill-popping, trashy dressing, MTV stars. But ask them who Gloria Steinem is and they couldn't tell you to save their lives.

I didn't know if the school board curriculum covers influential women leaders but I was chagrined to admit that her mother certainly wasn't.

Antonia's comment served as a subtle reminder that part of my job in raising my daughters is to make them aware of the strong role models that exist for women.

So that is why last night, as we sat down to dinner, I spoke with my daughters of June Callwood, the Toronto social activist who died last year.

My eldest daughter was somber, her eyes fixed on her plate. When I asked her what she was thinking, she looked up and replied, "Why do you think this crouton in my salad is so soggy?" Not the reply I was hoping for but hey, we're just getting started.

As for my seven year old, I asked her if she knew who Rosa Parks is. Happily she did.

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