Cute (Irrelevant ) Picture of the Day

(Yoshi the cat as Elizabeth I)

Yoshi also dresses up as 11 other famous women for her 2008 calendar (her impersonations range from Jane Goodall to Oprah and Jackie Kennedy). Yoshi's work is available online here. 100% of the benefits go to the BC SPCA.

From the same (brilliant) folks who brought you Kitty Wigs.

Elizabethan Match-Making

"European Queen, single, still capable of child-bearing, red head, youthful look, seeks blue-blooded bachelor, to stabilize her country and produce a male heir. Love is optional."

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A rare contemporary portrait of Queen Elizabeth I was sold today for 5,3 million $ in England. It is believed that this portrait was ordered by Elizabeth as a form of publicity to help her find a royal husband.

Isn't it absolutely beautiful?

"The heart and stomach of a King..."

A new film on the life of Queen Elizabeth I, called Elizabeth: The Golden Age, was released today theaters today. Starring Cate Blanchett as the Virgin Queen, this "sequel" to the 1998 Elizabeth (with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes) focuses on the struggles of the Queen with continental political powers (namely, Spain) and with her adversarial cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots.

Although the critics were disappointing so far (namely because of the numerous and egregious historical inaccuracies of the script), it is apparently as visually breathtaking as the first movie.

Even though this new movie will probably not be as accurate and beautifully rendered as the HBO mini-series on the same topic featuring Helen Mirren in the title role, I am definitely going to see it, just because Queen Elizabeth is such a fascinating historical figure - not to mention a savvy ruler and a groundbreaking woman.

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I have just finished a great book titled Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens, by Jane Dunn. This book is a thoroughly researched and beautifully written comparative biography of Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin and contemporary, Mary, Queen of Scots. The lives of the two Queens are compared from the (politcal) circumstances of their birth, through their childhood, education and accession to the throne, up to their deadly rivalry and Mary's demise.

Among the main themes of this book, two strike me as being of a particular interest for the feminist reader. First, the author dissects at length Elizabeth's obstinate refusal to marry, and her desire to "keep her options open" by remaining single (which is quite an unusual feat for a 16th century woman and monarch).

Secondly, Dunn attribute the political success of Elizabeth and the political failures of Mary to gender expectations: while Mary was raised as a quiet and loveable princess at the French court, Elizabeth's childhood and education were more masculine, in the sense that she was raised primarily as an intellectual, almost asexual, person, and was taught from a very early age that political survival depends on such "manly" virtues as rationality, courage and occasional ruthlessness. Dunn also details Elizabeth's eagerness to show that a woman could be a dispassionate, just and successful monarch, and her lifelong struggle to show her court, her people, her enemies and the whole world, that, although she was physically a woman, she was, above all, a Queen.

Queen Elizabeth I, in her coronation robes

Bertha Wilson (1923-2007)

(1923-2007)

Bertha Wilson, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, passed away on April 28:


OTTAWA, April 30, 2007 – The Supreme Court of Canada issued the following press release today:

The Honourable Bertha Wilson, formerly a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, passed away in Ottawa on April 28, 2007 after a prolonged illness. Justice Wilson attended the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and graduated with an M.A. in 1944. She continued her education at the Training College for Teachers in Aberdeen, obtaining her diploma in 1945. She married the Reverend John Wilson in December 1945 and they emigrated to Canada in 1949. In 1955, Bertha Wilson enrolled at Dalhousie University to study law, and in 1957 she completed her LL.B. and was called to the bar of Nova Scotia. In 1959 she was called to the bar of Ontario. She practised law in Toronto with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt for 17 years.


Bertha Wilson broke ground in 1975 as the first woman appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and again in 1982 when she became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. She retired from the Court in 1991.


Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, on behalf of the members of the Supreme Court of Canada, lamented Justice Wilson’s passing, “Bertha Wilson was known for her generosity of spirit and originality of thought. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada the same year the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted. As a member of this Court, she was a pioneer in Charter jurisprudence and made an outstanding contribution to the administration of justice. She will be sorely missed by all who were privileged to know her.”


A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wellington and Kent Streets, Ottawa.


Wilson J.’s most famous opinions include R. v. Morgentaler, [1988] 1 S.C.R. 30, the decision that decriminalized abortion in Canada, and R. v. Lavallée, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 852, which allowed the defence of self-defence in a case where the accused, a young woman who had been abused by her partner for a number of years, was suffering from the “battered wife syndrome”.

Wilson J. was also criticized for a speech about the role and influence of women in legal professions and the judiciary, aptly titled “Will Women Judges Really Make a Difference?”



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See also: “Bertha Wilson: Law as Large as Life” by Eileen Anderson.



Official Supreme Court bio



Wikipedia bio


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UPDATE (2007-05-03):

More on Wilson J.'s work and legacy:

• "Madam Justice", by zuzu at Feministe;
• "Bertha Wilson (1923-2007)", by Scott Lemieux at Lawyers Guns and Money;
• "Bertha Wilson 1923-2007", by Pithlord at Pith and Substance;
• "First Woman Named to the Supreme Court was a 'Lawyer's Lawyer'", by Sandra Martin, from the Globe and Mail.