PPO Reflects: Growing up with Maureen McTeer

 Maureen McTeer's Magic Box

And some thoughts by our director Jeanette...

Full disclosure – I’m pushing 40. When I was a little girl growing up in Acadian Cape Breton, there wasn’t much talk about women’s equality. The girls at our elementary school were made to clean and wash the tables and sweep the floor once lunch was over. The boys were free to play. In grade ten, our English teacher showed us the short anti-choice film, The Silent Scream, and we never questioned his right to launch what I’ve come to realize was such an assault on the young psyches with which he was entrusted.

Yet throughout these formative years, I would occasionally read Chatelaine magazine. Throughout these years, there was Maureen McTeer. She had a regular column in the magazine and often wrote on themes of gender equality that, admittedly, I was barely able to grasp. Yet, there was Maureen McTeer. I could have sworn that she was the woman who was married to Joe Clark, our prime minister. It couldn’t be she, her name was different then his.

There was Maureen McTeer.

Throughout my formative years, although only peripherally aware of Ms McTeer, I knew that she was a feminist, although I wasn’t sure what a feminist was. What I did know for sure, was that she stood for something important…that she was important. Looking back, I understand just how important she was.

Today, I sit here a proud feminist. Many of the younger women I speak with don’t know who Maureen McTeer is and what she represents for women my age. Yes, for those of us who grew amid the neon shirts and big hair of the 80s, the name Maureen McTeer stands for gender equality in a time when our rights as women were far less entrenched than they are today.

And now we get to celebrate Planned Parenthood Ottawa’s birthday with her! How incredibly cool is that?

Tell us about who inspired you to support sexual and reproductive health in the comments!