The Satellite Sex: The Media and Women's Issues in English Canada, 1966-1971

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

In exploring how the media covered women’s issues in English Canada
between 1966 and 1971, the author focuses on the activities of the Royal
Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW), which was appointed in
February 1967 by Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Chaired by Mrs. Florence
Bird, herself a former journalist, the RCSW consisted of six other
commissioners, two of them men. Over the next couple of years, the RCSW
traveled across the land, receiving many briefs and letters. Its report,
released in early December 1970, contained 167 recommendations.

Throughout its existence, the RCSW’s activities were tracked by
journalists, editorial writers, and cartoonists. Their response to the
RCSW, and to the issues brought before it (equality of women in
education, the role of working women, reproductive rights, Native women,
etc.) form the focus of this well-researched and deeply thoughtful book.
Freeman, a former journalist affiliated with journalism faculty at
Carleton University, challenges the view that journalists were
“objective” in their coverage. Some of the journalists were working
wives or mothers, and their interpretation of events was often affected
by their own personal situation.

This is an important book, not just because it breaks new ground in its
focus on the media, but because many of the issues that gave rise to the
RCSW remain unresolved to this day, while others—such as gay
rights—have been added to the plate. The Satellite Sex is a must-read
for journalism students, historians, and sociologists.