Encouraging Women in Politics: Singing “The Ballad of Ellen Woodsworth”
Very fun evening.
It opened with Ellen Woodsworth and Libby Davies speaking about their
experiences in politics, and wanting to encourage more women in
politics.

I was a featured guest performer too!
I joked that I was the token male.
…that the qualifications were a male had to wear a “skirt”, have
attended a women's studies course, and spoke about women's health
issues on the CBC Radio. Thankfully I qualified for all of the above
(cheers and applause).

As an Asian male, I could relate to the challenges that women faced in
politics. Afterall politics is dominated by white males… and Asian
males are a minority. And like women, Asian males are taken less
seriously than White males. Asian males, like women, also are slightly
smaller than white males. We also have less body hair too!

I performed “The Ballad of Ellen Woodsworth” in honour of her birthday.
Earlier in the month, I had talked with Ellen about the importance for
Vancouver to have its own Poet Laureate – someone who could imortalize
the current events, or mark special events for Vancouver history for
posterity.


So… for her birthday celebration I volunteered to write something
special for Ellen. I scoured the internet for biographical material and
asked her questions about her values and her life. Then I carefully
documented the significant achievements of her life, identified her
values, her goals and her dreams… and crafted the words to fit the
rhythm of my chosen form.
Basically, I took the tune of “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”
and added my own verses. It was fun.
I will add it here tomorrow… so stay tuned.