Search results for ""Author Arielle Aaronson""

When it comes to sex and desire, women are screwed. In film, on the page, in fashion, and in everyday life, women’s desire is routinely shown as subordinate to men’s — when it isn’t suppressed altogether. Lili Boisvert argues that there is one dominant principle behind heterosexual encounters: that desire is a male phenomenon and women are merely its object. To change this alienating system, she contends, we must start by facing it head-on.From clothing to flirting, from our fascination with youth and innocence to the orgasm gap, every aspect of women’s lives is dictated by their status as sex objects. Is it any wonder that they are feeling sexually unfulfilled? In a series of explorations of what desire looks like under patriarchy, Screwed sketches the contours of what could be true sexual liberation for women, inside — and outside — the bedroom.

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Contracting surrogate mothers is no longer marginal. Nor is it secret. Surrogacy is growing rapidly even though no informed debate on the social impacts of its normalization has been conducted. It is even regarded as socially progressive, while those who question it are considered to be opposed to progress. The 'surrogacy process' - commissioning a woman to bear and give birth to a child and then surrender it - is vitiated by its contractual nature, be it in its so-called altruistic form (i.e., no exchange of money) or the straight-forward commercial form. It is an attack on the human dignity and equal gender rights of surrogate mothers, but also a denial of the rights of the contracted child to come, who is so often forgotten in the 'process.' Current inconsistent or contradictory legislation has led to a fait accompli approach to the question. It's being done, so let's just regulate it, say its defenders. Other countries that have followed that logic have seen an increase in both demand for surrogates and recourse to shrewd international brokers. In many cases, international simply means the surrogate mother is from a poor country with lax legislation, the commissioning parents, from rich countries. By examining the 'surrogacy process' and all its implications, Maria De Koninck reaches the conclusion that the best way forward is an international ban on surrogacy.

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Bestselling author of Autopsy of a Boring Wife Marie-Renée Lavoie is a master of making us fall in love with her characters. She does it again with the tender coming-of-age story Some Maintenance Required. It is 1993, the last year of school and Laurie’s final spring before adulthood. She works part time at a restaurant and looks after Cindy, her neglected, potty-mouthed little neighbour. Like her mother, Laurie devours books and dreams big. Her father works at a garage, where Laurie constantly struggles to keep her car running. It is here that a budding romance intensifies Laurie’s understanding of class differences, and opens her eyes to a more complicated world. With her big heart, she takes Cindy globe-trotting without even leaving town, and learns how to come to terms with circumstances beyond her control. Life teaches Laurie that everyone requires some maintenance sometimes. A story of taking responsibility and coming into adulthood, Some Maintenance Required is as funny and as impressive as its main character.

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Like a Québécois Bridget Jones’s Diary, Autopsy of a Boring Wife tells the hysterically funny and ultimately touching tale of forty-eight-year-old Diane, a woman whose husband is having an affair because, he says, she bores him. Diane takes the change to heart and undertakes an often ribald, highly entertaining journey to restore trust in herself--and others--that offers an astute commentary on women and girls, gender differences, and the curious institution of twenty-first century marriage. All the details are up for scrutiny in this brisk, yet tender story of a path to recovery. Autopsy of a Boring Wife is a wonderfully fresh novel of the pitfalls of an apparently “boring” life that could be any of ours.

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An honest exploration of climate anxiety, for kids 8+ and the adults who love them.When ten-year-old Florent overhears his mothers discussing the possibility of having another baby—and expressing their reluctance due to fears about the planet—his mind races off into a spiral of fear and guilt. Is the planet suffering because there are too many children—children like him? Do his parents think they made a mistake by bringing him into the world?One night, Florent dreams that the forests have all burned to the ground and that his parents are flying away on a spaceship, abandoning him on a ruined planet. When he wakes up, he decides to stop talking… until a discussion with his mothers changes everything.At a time when climate change is negatively impacting kids' mental health, Butterfly Wings provides: Anxiety relief: provides a safe space for kids to process their anxiety, fear, and other emotions about the climate A social-emotional learning tool for parents and teachers to talk about climate change with kids through a gentle and hopeful lens Through thoughtful words and gorgeous illustrations, this compassionate story confronts the very real challenge of climate anxiety in a way that is accessible to young readers. Butterfly Wings provides children with a way to understand their feelings, while also offering hope for a different future.

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Quebec spoils its families, according to some, with those “long” parental leaves—a full year for mothers—well-subsidized childcare, and more. Marilyse Hamelin challenges that restrictive view. But she adds that although progress has been made compared to other places in North America, stop-gap measures are not the answer. Women deserve and expect more. And the fight for women’s rights and equality is taking place here and now, in Canada and the US, and not in some distant Third World country. Why can’t woman have it all? Why can’t the labor market and the entire infrastructure that sustains it be adapted to meet the needs of mothers—and fathers? What does that mean in practice? What are the causes of the lasting inequality between men and women? Why does our radar blank out women working at minimum wage or less? Marilyse Hamelin answers those questions and proposes solutions, bringing to bear numerous studies, statistics, and interviews.

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An artful and timeless exploration of love, loss, grief, and family, How Jack Lost Time will appeal to readers of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, and other picture books for older readers and adults. Jack is not like other sea captains. Fishermen say he’s weird, but Jack only cares about one thing: the grey whale with the scarred dorsal fin, the one who swallowed up his son, Julos, years before. Jack promises he will not come home without Julos, even if it means losing himself in the process. Then, on a night like any other, Jack sees something lurking around his boat. He throws himself into the whale’s dark mouth. But is he too late? Will his son recognize him after years of being alone? Poignant, original, and vibrant, this contemporary nautical fable journeys into the heart of the human spirit, and will move readers young and old. Winner of the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Youth Literature—French Language

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