Interviews
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An Interview With Judy Rebick

By: Kelly Mackie
I have had the fortunate oppurtunity of meeting Judy Rebick. She is an amazing womyn who has been involved in many revolutionary changes related to womyn's emancipation. She struggled with the law on abortion, which advanced the further legalization by many years; without her hard work and dedication, abortion still might have been a giant that we would have to overcome. She was also the president of the National Action Commitee on the Status of Womyn (N.A.C), and an accomplished writer of the book Imagine Democracy (an enlightning look at bringing our democratical governement back into the hands of the people. Imagine Democracy is available at all Chapters book stores. Either by order or on the shelf.


Kelly: What do you feel were your biggest influences/inspirations to be an activist on womyn's rights?

Judy: Wow, that is a good question. Nobody has asked me that before. I think it was mostly that when I was young I didn't have any role models in terms of womyn. I sort of railed against limitations put on me. I wanted to be a doctor; they told me I couldn't be a doctor. I wanted to to travel' they told me womyn couldn't travel alone. So I think I was kind of a rebel, you know. And I rebelled against limitations that were placed on me as a womyn, and I think that was one of the main reasons I became a feminist. I guess there is a story. When I was nine years old my father decided to move to canada. We had an extended family in new york, I didn't want to go, and my mother didn't want to go. But my mother said, "Well you have to do what the husband wants", and I think that was the first time I felt that I wasn't going to do that. So I think it was a numerous amount of things. I didn't have a female role model, except for one. When I was at McGill University the editor of the student newspaper was a womyn, and so I saw a womyn in a leadership role there.

K: What have you felt has been your greatest accomplishment related to womyn's issues?

J: I think defeating the abortion law was probably the greatest single accomplishment. I worked in the pro-choice movement, and we made abortion legal in Canada. Yes, I think that was my greatest achievement.

K: Do you think you feel more accomplished being a womyn and have had written a book, rather than perhaps having been a man?

J: (laughter) No, I don't think so. I think writing a book is a pretty big accomplishment, whether you are a man or a womyn.

K: Do you feel as though you have received more recognition as a writer, because of being a womyn?

J: No. Firstly, I don't think the major recognition I get is as a writer. Maybe in the future, but I don't think that is true now. I think at one time it would have been an extraordinary thing, but I think it is pretty common now. Lot's of womyn are writing book, fiction and non-fiction.

K: what do you have to say to young womyn who are unsure about keeping touch with their womyn-hood?

J: How do you mean with their "womyn-hood"?

K: If they are unsure about how to go about supporting womyn's issues, or knowing that having a womyn's spirit is something special.


J: Well, I don't think I am the best person to answer this question, because I think that one of the ways in which I was oppressed in my life was that I acted like a man for a good part of my life which is why I am such a good debater, and why I am so aggressive. I think for me the struggle to become liberated was the struggle to find the female part of myself, and to value it. I think that in a society stereotypes of males are valued more than stereotypical female values. So I think that it is important that womyn value each other, their company, the sensibility of other womyn, and that you stay true to yourself. I think that is the most important thing. Like the struggle for social justice. A lot of people put their own needs aside, and sometimes you have to do that. Although I don't think it is a good idea for womyn. I think that for womyn you need to also look inside yourself, and to value who you are. I think that is an important part of womyn's liberation. Oh yes, and don't ever put up with men putting you down!