Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Historic Queen West...Down In Flames...
CBC's coverage:Queen Street Fire
I know this isn't a particularly feminist issue, but damn, this fire hits close to home. Not only does the boy and a couple of other friends of mine actually only live a block away from where the six alarm fire broke out at 5:30 in the morning, but I spent my teen years (and still spend quite a bit of time there) in that neighbourhood. It's one of my favourites. The boy says that his apartment hallway is covered in black ash, and there are still cops and fire officials all over the block. The area of downtown Toronto had just been declared an historical conservation site last fall as well.
14 addresses affected...at least five small businesses gutted...gutted...and when I think if that fire had leaped one more block west...
No one was seriously injured...thank god/dess...but it seems like everyone in the buildings affected lost everything...
I know I just have memories on this strip...but it's like watching a loved one get hurt, you know?
I know this isn't a particularly feminist issue, but damn, this fire hits close to home. Not only does the boy and a couple of other friends of mine actually only live a block away from where the six alarm fire broke out at 5:30 in the morning, but I spent my teen years (and still spend quite a bit of time there) in that neighbourhood. It's one of my favourites. The boy says that his apartment hallway is covered in black ash, and there are still cops and fire officials all over the block. The area of downtown Toronto had just been declared an historical conservation site last fall as well.
14 addresses affected...at least five small businesses gutted...gutted...and when I think if that fire had leaped one more block west...
No one was seriously injured...thank god/dess...but it seems like everyone in the buildings affected lost everything...
I know I just have memories on this strip...but it's like watching a loved one get hurt, you know?
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Eating Disorder Awareness Week
Upcoming at York is Eating Disorder Awareness Week, running from February 4th to February 8th. All sorts of interesting talks and events are scheduled, and I would encourage those of us who do not have pesky classes and work obligations in the way, to check them out. Here are a few presentations:
I wrote an article for the school's paper, Excalibur, about using gender as a lens of analysis in discussing eating disorders. I may post it up later this week. Writing it was quite challenging because I wasn't sure how to talk about eating disorders in the first place. Its a difficult, and important subject matter that I didn't want to take lightly. Hopefully I can catch one of these lectures this week.
"It’s Not our Bodies That Need Changing, It's Our Attitude"
Eating Disorders Awareness Week Speaker Series
Monday, February 4th, 7:00pm<>
Harry Crowe Room, Rm. 109, Atkinson Building
Michael Atkinson, PhD, presents:
Physical Cultural Studies: Bodies and Body Modification in Late Modernity
In this talk, Michael Atkinson engages a physical cultural studies analysis of radical forms of body modification such as tattooing, cosmetic surgery and dramatic forms of dieting. Based on first-hand research he has gathered on the socio-cultural meanings of these body projects and others, Dr. Atkinson addresses how and why radical physical cultural practices are growing in number in Western societies. Specifically, he discusses what it is like to experience radical body modification, how radical body modification shifts one’s sense of self-identity over time, and how body modification practitioners often walk fine lines between heath and illness through their flesh journeys.
Michael Atkinson, PhD is with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, U.K. For his contributions to the Canadian social sciences, Michael was recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's prestigious Aurora Award in 2004. Michael is the associate editor of Deviant Behaviour Journal as well as a Member of the editorial board of the Qualitative Sociology Review, Sociology of Sport Journal, and Sport in Society. Michael is the author of Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art.
Tuesday, February 5th, 7:00pm
Harry Crowe Room, Rm. 109, Atkinson Building.
Dr. Gail McVey, C. Psych presents,
Promoting Positive Body image and Healthy eating in a Diet-Crazy World: Findings from School- and University Based Prevention Programs.
In this presentation, Gail McVey will provide an overview of the factors that influence the development of body image concerns and eating-related problems. Strategies designed to help improve body satisfaction and prevent disordered eating will be discussed. Updated research findings concerning school- and university-based interventions designed to prevent disordered eating will be presented. The program is provided through Dr. McVey’s work as a Health Systems Research Scientist in the Community Health Systems Resource Group at the Hospital for Sick Children and Director of the Ontario Community Outreach Program for Eating Disorders.
A special program in recognition of Eating Disorders Awareness Week is being organized by the Counselling and Development Centre, the Atkinson Counselling and Supervision Centre, Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Fine Arts, and Faculty of Arts. Also generously supported by the Student & Alumni Relations Unit, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.
All events are free and open to all members of the York University community.
I wrote an article for the school's paper, Excalibur, about using gender as a lens of analysis in discussing eating disorders. I may post it up later this week. Writing it was quite challenging because I wasn't sure how to talk about eating disorders in the first place. Its a difficult, and important subject matter that I didn't want to take lightly. Hopefully I can catch one of these lectures this week.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Groundhog Day
It's February 2nd, which means it's Groundhound day. Them good old critters are gonna predict for us whether we'll have six more weeks of winter hell, which we usually do. Last night's storm does not bode well for an early spring...
Don't you wish there was a similiar groundhog system for social justice? You know, just have some cute little animal pop its head out, and say, "Yup, all this bullshit is gonna end early this year! No more misogyny, racism, capitalist exploitation, violence, homophobia, transphobia, and general world unfairness. Time to celebrate!"
Sigh. I have a feeling that even such a thing existed, it wouldn't be good news.
Back to the grind.
Don't you wish there was a similiar groundhog system for social justice? You know, just have some cute little animal pop its head out, and say, "Yup, all this bullshit is gonna end early this year! No more misogyny, racism, capitalist exploitation, violence, homophobia, transphobia, and general world unfairness. Time to celebrate!"
Sigh. I have a feeling that even such a thing existed, it wouldn't be good news.
Back to the grind.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Student Body Drives Me Nuts
In an earlier post, I wrote about how much I loved my progressive school. I may have spoke to soon.
I forget how much the student body doesn't reflect the politics of my studies.
The YorkU livejournal community provides AMPLE evidence of this. In a post initially speaking about some recent racist graffiti, the thread suddenly became about the "wrongs" of affirmative action, and of course all the whining coming from people who feel cheated by it (ie white people who are automatically qualified for the job, whereas people who are systemically discriminated against are CLEARLY questionable).
There are usually few dissenting voices to the right-wing-ism displayed in this community, and so I get tired of arguing and feel like I just want this conversation to be OVER. So I sent a letter to Carmen at Racialicious, most of which I'll repost here.
I hope she can address it there on her blog, mostly because my blog here is so tiny, and I really want these issues brought up in that thread to be made visible. Also, I don't feel nearly as qualified or confident to address it with the vehemence it deserves. So here it is:
I wonder at times like this if I am even strong enough to fight.
Sigh.
Edit: I had heard conflicting reports about what was sprayed across the walls...I think the graffiti I had quoted to Carmen was a response to either racist graffiti sprayed across the walls of Black student organizations. Just wanted to clarify.
I forget how much the student body doesn't reflect the politics of my studies.
The YorkU livejournal community provides AMPLE evidence of this. In a post initially speaking about some recent racist graffiti, the thread suddenly became about the "wrongs" of affirmative action, and of course all the whining coming from people who feel cheated by it (ie white people who are automatically qualified for the job, whereas people who are systemically discriminated against are CLEARLY questionable).
There are usually few dissenting voices to the right-wing-ism displayed in this community, and so I get tired of arguing and feel like I just want this conversation to be OVER. So I sent a letter to Carmen at Racialicious, most of which I'll repost here.
I hope she can address it there on her blog, mostly because my blog here is so tiny, and I really want these issues brought up in that thread to be made visible. Also, I don't feel nearly as qualified or confident to address it with the vehemence it deserves. So here it is:
Hi Carmen
I've written to you before, and got lots of great feedback on a project I'm still working on. But I was wondering if maybe you could address this sometime on Racialicious:
http://community.livejournal.com/yorku/1406833.html
I hope that link works.
York University is generally considered a very left and progressive liberal arts school in Toronto. You can see this reflected particularly in the Women's Studies program and various others. However, it is NOT always reflected in the student body itself nor in the addressing of certain issues that arise on campus. This particular linked post in the YorkU Livejournal community was in reference to grafitti that had been sprayed something along the lines of 'death to white supremecy' across the walls of a very public part of campus. I never got to see it myself, as it was removed before I got to campus quickly after the story broke out.
What irks me about this thread is how it was used as a jumping point to discredit affirmative actions programs, not for their effectiveness but rather for how "perfectly qualified white people" are left out of the jobs they are so CLEARLY entitled to. Then the justification becomes that people should just all be equally considered without issues of race, gender, or sexuality "getting in the way" as if those very things have never been used against people who fall under those categories in the first place. As if those things have been resolved in the slightest. ARGH!
I'm writing to you because I feel so frustrated, as these type of right-wing threads pop up often in the community and I'll start to argue, but then I end up backing down and feeling tired and hopeless against so many people who are so sure I'm just a radical left-wing nut. I feel like everything I have to say about this is better argued and with more strength and visibility on racialicious...and quite frankly, I really want the YorkU student body to publically called out on this shit. I'm so tired of it. It's so disappointing to attend a school that doesn't live up to its reputation. I want there to be a link that discusses things like affirmative action intelligently and not like some spoiled brat who didn't get what he wanted when he wanted it. ARGH! again!
[...]
with deep lamentations...
I wonder at times like this if I am even strong enough to fight.
Sigh.
Edit: I had heard conflicting reports about what was sprayed across the walls...I think the graffiti I had quoted to Carmen was a response to either racist graffiti sprayed across the walls of Black student organizations. Just wanted to clarify.
What the?!
This Just In over at Racialicious and Shakespeare's Sister:
"Canadian" As A Racial Slur
Is this for real? Not just some internet hoax of some disgusting proportion?
Well, I'll be damned...
and pretty pissed, too...I would prefer not to have my Canadian identity serve as a euphemism for a racial slur, its true form which shall NEVER see the light of day at this blog.
Now, my definition of a Canadian has always meant to encompass a wider variety of identificatons and histories. HOWEVER...hate-terms never really fell under my umbrella. As well, the implications for how it damages the diversity of who Canadians are and can be are disturbing...
The post at Shakes quotes a speculation that the use reflects a sense of "othering". I think too perhaps that the people who came up with it thought it'd make a good cover, thinking that no one would suspect the appropriated term of its new meaning. Good Old Canadians--you'd NEVER guess what I'm really talking about, eh *wink wink*!
I guess I'll just have to comfort myself with "maple syrup" and "Molson" while watching some "hockey". Who knows what I really meant in that last sentence.
I am offended on so many levels. Do NOT use my name to spew your hate.
"Canadian" As A Racial Slur
Is this for real? Not just some internet hoax of some disgusting proportion?
Well, I'll be damned...
and pretty pissed, too...I would prefer not to have my Canadian identity serve as a euphemism for a racial slur, its true form which shall NEVER see the light of day at this blog.
Now, my definition of a Canadian has always meant to encompass a wider variety of identificatons and histories. HOWEVER...hate-terms never really fell under my umbrella. As well, the implications for how it damages the diversity of who Canadians are and can be are disturbing...
The post at Shakes quotes a speculation that the use reflects a sense of "othering". I think too perhaps that the people who came up with it thought it'd make a good cover, thinking that no one would suspect the appropriated term of its new meaning. Good Old Canadians--you'd NEVER guess what I'm really talking about, eh *wink wink*!
I guess I'll just have to comfort myself with "maple syrup" and "Molson" while watching some "hockey". Who knows what I really meant in that last sentence.
I am offended on so many levels. Do NOT use my name to spew your hate.
Literary Release of BIG BIG SKY!
I am very excited to announce the release of my good friend Miss Kitty Galore, aka Kristyn Dunnion's latest novel. She has garnered rave reviews for her previous work in the Young Adult fiction category for 'Missing Matthew' and 'Mosh Pit', as well as various compilations she has contributed to. Hard-working, fun-loving, and my favourite, ass-kicking, Ms. Dunnion is offering the world her take on woman-identified apocalyptic science fiction. I love that shit!
From her own words:
I have cool friends :)
From her own words:
Finally - you Canadians can get your hot little hands on a copy of BIG BIG SKY starting FEB 15th, 2008!
You non-Canadians can probably order it online starting then, too. Why wait for the big chain stores to suck it up?
If you like apocalyptic bedtime stories, anarchic fables, and futuristic, queer, female Assassin Warriors, then I'm pretty sure you'll like BIG BIG SKY. Give'r a read and tell me what you think. Seriously. I'm waiting .....
DECLINE, DEFORM, DISOBEY.
Order your copy now from any fine bookseller, especially maybe a local independent one, huh? Or a biggie, if that's all you got in your town. Or online (www.amazon.ca) if you're grounded. BIG BIG SKY is published by Red Deer Press and distributed by Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Ask nicely and your local hot public librarian will order it in and you can read it for free.
I have cool friends :)
From the Inbox: Upcoming Rally
This is being circulated in my Gender and Development class:
Sounds like the way to be spending my Valentine's Day this year.
STOP THE IMPUNITY SURROUNDING THE MURDER AND DISAPPEARANCE OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN CANADA!!
3rd Annual Rally To Honour Our Missing Sisters Thursday, February 14, 2008, 12 noon, Outside Police Headquarters at Bay and College
Strawberry Ceremony in Honor of our Missing Sisters - Speakers and drumming Gathering with food immediately to follow at U of T's Centre for Women and Trans People (563 Spadina Ave).
Hundreds of Indigenous women have been murdered or have gone missing over the last 30years.
Today we join women in Vancouver, Edmonton, Sudbury and Winnipeg coming together in defense of our lives and to demonstrate the complicity of the colonizer state and its institutions - police, RCMP,coroner's offices and the courts, in the on going genocide against First Nations people. Indigenous communities are over policed and Indigenous girls make up the fastest growing prison population yet their deaths go uninvestigated and their killers unpunished. We call on all people in this country to take a stand - NO MORE SILENCE!! Bring your drums!
No More Silence aims to develop a national network of local coalitions comprised of Indigenous women and allies working together to support the initiatives of independent Indigenous women working to stop the disappearances and end impunity.
Endorsed by: CUPE-SCFP; METRAC; Brampton Coalition for Peace and Justice;Parkdale Community Legal Services; The Humanist Centre of Cultures; Not In Our Name; Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP); The Centre for Women and Trans People at the University of Toronto; Canadian Chiapanecas Justice for Women; Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid; Canadian Arab Federation; No One Is Illegal Toronto; The Ontario Women's Health Network; CAW-Sam Gindin Chairin Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson; Toronto Haiti Action Committee,Students Against Israeli Apartheid.
Sounds like the way to be spending my Valentine's Day this year.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
From the Inbox: Upcoming Events
I've been crazy busy with school and work, which has caused me to be a lazy fuck with this blog, but the Women's Studies department is far more diligent about putting out content, events, and opportunities. And so I bring you, curtesy of the School of Women's Studies at York, this awesome list of upcoming events in Toronto:
Jan 28:
Film screening - Thirst for Profit: A Story of Privatization of Water
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#fernando
Jan 30:
Neoliberal Oligarchs: Central American Power Structures after the Wars
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#oligarchs
Jan 31:
Book Launch! Organizing the Transnational & Development’s Displacements
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#transnational
Feb 7:
How About a Little Bronze Virgin? Mestiza Nationalism in Cuba and Brazil
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#gena
Wednesdays:
Colloquium on the Global South
http://www.yorku.ca/ucgs
Alternate Wednesdays:
Brazilian Studies Seminar Series
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/BRAZIL2008.pdf
Alternate Wednesdays:
CERLAC Gender & Politics Study Group
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/genderpolitics.htm
Ta-da! My school is so involved...*proud grin*
Jan 28:
Film screening - Thirst for Profit: A Story of Privatization of Water
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#fernando
Jan 30:
Neoliberal Oligarchs: Central American Power Structures after the Wars
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#oligarchs
Jan 31:
Book Launch! Organizing the Transnational & Development’s Displacements
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#transnational
Feb 7:
How About a Little Bronze Virgin? Mestiza Nationalism in Cuba and Brazil
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#gena
Wednesdays:
Colloquium on the Global South
http://www.yorku.ca/ucgs
Alternate Wednesdays:
Brazilian Studies Seminar Series
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/BRAZIL2008.pdf
Alternate Wednesdays:
CERLAC Gender & Politics Study Group
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/genderpolitics.htm
Ta-da! My school is so involved...*proud grin*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
