Have you ever wondered where our slogan “Women Can’t Be Beat” comes from? To many, this slogan is an empowering testament to the strength of women. To others, the slogan may come across as crass or jarring. Both opinions may be true. “The slogan was meant to be supportive to women,” says Fern Martin, Founding Mother of LCIHCS and creator of the slogan, “to increase their stature”. The slogan still reigns true as a statement of strength and resiliency; the uncomfortableness a reminder of the unfortunate reality that violence against women is very much a reality in our community.
The slogan has a strong historical significance for LCIHCS as well.
LCIHCS got its beginning following a 1978 Canada Works study sponsored by The Hub in Almonte which determined women in Lanark County needed protection from abusive partners. In December of that year, a public meeting was held in Carleton Place with the initial goal of securing a house for women in need of safe shelter – the community pushed back.
Championed by a group of fierce, visionary women, a home on Mary Street was secured despite resistance from the community; doors to the shelter opened in May of 1979. One of these brave and determined feminists, who we call our Founding Mothers, was Fern Martin.
A writer, knowledge keeper and force to be reckoned with, Fern is in the fabric of the foundation of the work of LCIHCS; Fern worked fearlessly to advocate for the rights of women and children in our community. Her leadership and tenacity are something we still share with women regularly as we know if it can be done, it will be.
Fern explained the shelter was initially opened to give women who had separated from their husbands a place to live as landlords wouldn’t rent to single women with children. “In 1978, when we started working towards the shelter, [the women] didn’t talk about abuse. We knew there was a problem once we opened. This was meant to give women an option – I had no idea. It was mind boggling, really, for all of us to see what was happening,” Fern said. “I didn’t think there were any abused women in Lanark County. I was wrong. I thought, we’ll just tell people about this and in ten years, we’ll be done. That was in 1979.”
Fern remembers the desperate financial situation LCIHCS was in in 1981. To counter this, Fern created a t-shirt with the simple, yet powerful words “Women Can’t Be Beat” across the front.
“The first time I wore my shirt to a party, a fellow suggested that it was poor English. His wife, a local doctor, immediately took him to task saying that wasn’t the point,” Fern remembered.
The slogan was revived in 2018. In celebration of all of Fern’s hard work, The Hub relaunched the shirt and LCIHCS reinstated the slogan in honour of 40-years of open doors for women. Next time you see someone wearing a Women Can’t Be Beat t-shirt or, now, face mask, let it remind you of our history, how far we have come and how far we have yet to go to end violence against women, the positive change that group of fierce feminists made for our community, and, most importantly, the strength and power of women and the collective desire of our community to rally around women in need.
If you would like to purchase a Women Can’t Be Beat t-shirt or face mask, please visit our As Good As New thrift store at 33 Bridge Street in Carleton Place. All proceeds support LCIHCS.
A Women Can't Be Beat banner is displayed at a march for LCIHCS' 10 year anniversary
