These are a few obscure laws such as making it legal to drink a glass of wine while on a winery tour, or for makers of beer, wine and liquor to sell samples of their drinks on their premises. That one's odd because they appear to do that now.
The central idea of the changes, however, is rape prevention. New laws would make it legal for people in bars to take their drinks into the washroom with them, rather than leave their drink unattended. Anything that brings awareness to the terrible problem of Rohypnol-induced rape is a good thing. I would hope by now women (especially college-aged women) know not to leave their drinks unattended, and if anything prevents them from taking drinks into the washroom, they are either flouting the law or throwing away their drinks.
I'm sorry, though, to see the Star consistently use the phrase "date rape" as if it's something other than rape. Letter-writing time. Information on Rohypnol here.
Also in this morning's paper, I saw a terrific photo of Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion decked out in a gorgeous purple sari.
At Trillium Health Centre's Maharani and Maharaja Gala, an extravagant evening featuring indoor fireworks and South Asian food and entertainment, an 85-year-old gori (white woman) named Hazel was belle of the ball.Talk has already started in Mississauga about who will possibly follow - for no one will replace - the mighty McCallion. She's 85 years old, on her 10th term as mayor, and she runs Mississauga like a well-oiled machine.
As in Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, a.k.a. the Energizer Bunny. Arriving fashionably late, she made a grand entrance, drop-dead gorgeous in a fuchsia chiffon sari edged with silver thread, complete with a bindi dot on her forehead and matching silver bangles. All night long, people were coming up to the mayor to offer compliments and request photos.
Although I had my fears about living in the suburbs, Mississauga is a great place to live in many ways. Services are amazing, and property taxes are among the lowest in the GTA, thanks to all the corporate headquarters here. I love that our mayor was a pioneer of women's hockey.
9 comments:
I was surprised to see the phrase "date rape" used so often too, but I didn't even get as far as thinking about whether it's an expression we should be using or not - I was surprised because it doesn't mean what the Star was using it to mean. (Insert Inigo Montoya here.)
The term "date rape" obviously implies that there's some sort of relationship between the rapist and the victim - there is nothing unclear about this meaning. However, this entire article was about preventing rapes where the rapist is a stranger who drugs the victim. It has nothing to do at all with date rape except that the phrase appears in the slang name of the drugs.
I'm really surprised that the article could be written by a professional journalist and undergo whatever the standard editing process is without anyone noticing that a term is used incorrectly so many times.
Rohypnol is often called the "date rape drug". The victim in Rohypnol-aided often does have a marginal relationship with the assailant. The assailant has taken her out to this bar, then drugs her and rapes her.
Obviously the drug could also be used under other circumstances. So the "date rape drug" is a stupid name in the first place.
My problem with any of these expressions - date rape, acquaintance rape - is that it's a qualifer, as if it's somehow not really rape, it's something less than rape. I would prefer rape be called rape without any qualifiers.
On Mayor (Hurricane) Hazel... she's the reason I will never support term limits. Term limits in our system of government are specifically anti-democratic, removing an option that the public may well feel.
They are needed in some systems where there is a signifigant institutional bias towards incumbents. While that may apply in part to some municipal races, no one could say that's true at the Provincial or Federal levels.
I agree that term limits are anti-democratic. In a functioning democracy, term limits are built in, through the voters. No need for artificial limits.
On the US Presidency, surely. In normal situations, no.
Seriously? It's common for them to go to a bar when they already know their victim? Rapists must be stupider than I thought then.
My problem with any of these expressions - date rape, acquaintance rape - is that it's a qualifer, as if it's somehow not really rape, it's something less than rape. I would prefer rape be called rape without any qualifiers.
I don't know. When I hear "date rape", I don't think of it as any less of a rape. In fact, I think it underlines the fact that you should still be cautious on a "date" as rape doesn't just happen to women who walk home at night alone.
Scott, I'm glad to hear that. Truly, it's a relief to me.
Scott, I'm glad to hear that. Truly, it's a relief to me.
I agree with Scott. It's a qualifier than specifies the circumstances, not lessens the significance. Like "drive-by shooting" and "shooting" -- there's nothing "less bad" about a drive-by shooting; the adjective just gives you more information about what happened.
I agree with Scott. It's a qualifier than specifies the circumstances, not lessens the significance.
Cool. I hope that perception is shared more than I thought.
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