tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86422800157809305212024-03-06T00:56:23.961-03:30of sugar-baited wordsA slight bit of ado about something (feminism, gender, literature, culture).Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-73632858081991058162018-01-16T22:09:00.000-03:302018-01-16T22:42:51.854-03:30This aggressive sexual culture is sadly banal<style>
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-</style><span style="font-size: small;">The Aziz Ansari bad, coercive date <b><a href="https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355" target="_blank">account</a> </b>makes me really sad. Not even specifically in the larger context of the deluge of allegations and revelations about famous, powerful men who – not surprisingly, but sadly – have abused power. While men are, willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, the beneficiaries of patriarchy and sexism, it’s not surprising that celebrities may leverage male privilege on a disproportionate scale: <b>if sexism and patriarchy has made men feel entitled and immune, it follows that more powerful, wealthy, famous men may feel even more entitled and immune. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyCfQhV06zq7W_5RWuC1jDCMoIcmgWWmryOtTbkYiIdpRcP3oD_gIyD68m9lyJB-siBUpjyNdzgBhSPZWcg8xccz5kvYoJiWV4jyI50wxAiIyK9aJI0aYXTgQhjyzIDHUmG5h5PgSujw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-01-16+at+10.06.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="717" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyCfQhV06zq7W_5RWuC1jDCMoIcmgWWmryOtTbkYiIdpRcP3oD_gIyD68m9lyJB-siBUpjyNdzgBhSPZWcg8xccz5kvYoJiWV4jyI50wxAiIyK9aJI0aYXTgQhjyzIDHUmG5h5PgSujw/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-01-16+at+10.06.32+PM.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Image of statement from <a href="https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355" target="_blank">babe.net</a></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">It’s because, more so than other publicized accounts of sexual misconduct, it feels so sadly mundane.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">For many people, the shock of what is often being referred to as the <b>#metoo</b> movement isn’t specifically the nature of the revelations and allegations themselves, it’s simply that they’re actually, finally being disclosed, and that harassment, assault, abuse of power, and rape are being revealed and discussed openly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">It’s that no matter how much any of us – women of varying intersecting social positions and identities and levels of privilege – were taught to internalize guilt and shame and socialized to take undue responsibility for things done to us, slowly but surely we’re unlearning internalized misogyny and toxic gender norms and discovering that mistreatment and pain and close calls aren’t due to our shortcomings and failures. That the amount we’ve been taught to be vigilant and safeguard ourselves from inevitable sexual attack has normalized the expectation that sexual violence is inevitable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">And what’s the alternative – abandon vigilance? Just because sexual violence and harassment shouldn’t be ubiquitous, ever-looming threats doesn’t change the practical, immediate, safety and well-being concerns for women’s physical and emotional survival.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In a post in late 2016 called <b><a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2016/10/the-continuum-of-consent.html">the continuum of consent</a> </b>I finally articulated my thoughts on what I might now, wryly, also call <b>consent relativism.</b> I was thinking about how I had learned to feel lucky I’d never been raped. So many experience I’d had, I decided were Not That Bad. In that post, I grappled with realizing, in hindsight, what events I understood to be consensual, as in not blatantly and completely forcible and non-consensual, were not that consensual at all based on an ever-expanding, feminist definition that pivots around the revolutionary notion of consent as enthusiastic and continuous.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In writing that post, I tried to understand why we’re so afraid to risk presenting an experience as Yes, That Bad and why our minds work so relentlessly to rationalize horrific predatory behaviour (something I dug into in <b><a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2017/11/fearing-for-mens-feelings-aggression.html">this post</a></b>).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">As I was thinking about my own gut reactions to the Ansari story, I came across <b><a href="http://www.katykatikate.com/2018/01/not-that-bad_15.html?m=1">this post </a></b>by Katie Anthony on <a href="http://www.katykatikate.com/" target="_blank"><b>katykatikate</b></a>, aptly titled “not that bad,” that so perfectly encapsulated and enlightened my complicated feelings about how we characterize, understand, and file away these kind of encounters:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">“I have had my fair share of what I'd call 'crappy dates.' And what I call crappy dates looks an awful lot like what Grace calls sexual assault. It's like we went on the same dates, wrote down the same details, and told two very different stories.” </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">and </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">“And yes, guys, what Grace described is totally normal for a woman. This is a normal sex encounter. The women that you're seeing scoff at her? They aren't scoffing because they think a guy would never do that. They're scoffing because they believe every single word she said. They don't have to imagine it either.” </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">… </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"> “What I'm realizing now, after reading Grace's story and the responses to it, is that when I shrink my own pain, I also shrink my empathy for women who feel the same pain and feel it full-size. I resent Grace for talking about her hookup as if it's an assault. I'm mad at her for talking about it at all.” </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">As Anthony so astutely synthesizes elsewhere in the post and I’ll paraphrase here: bad, presumptive, non-communicative, heteronormative sex needs to be analyzed in the context of sexism, patriarchy, gender norms, and our sad, aggressive, masculinist sexual culture that exalts men’s needs and tramples on women’s.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I can think of so many experiences that were bad dates in my more formative years of dating guys outside those I grew up with and trusted, because my fear of embarrassing the man, looking inexperienced, or escalating an uncomfortable situation made me inclined to comply and get through it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I think of how this conversation wasn’t on my radar in 2004, 2005, or 2006. How two girlfriends drove to a house where I was on a bad, weird date and showed up after getting my text SOS. How, daring to let my guard down once, I was once almost dragged away from a party by a stranger when vigilant and loving friends, male and female, physically intervened (you know who you are – thank you). How for a long time I was more embarrassed about this situation than being enraged by a potential close call with date rape.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2005, I only knew “no means no” and that was about it. I was a fairly empowered young person with a lot of access to education and access to the reinforcement of good self-esteem, but <b>I didn’t know consent should be explicitly given, and could be withdrawn.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Still, my mind knows others have experienced worse, and tries to file these under Not That Bad.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Women’s experiences of heterosexual sex that is aggressive, uncomfortable, dismissive of needs, non-communicative and that privileges men’s expectation and desires may be what women know as simply, <b>regular sex</b>, particularly while dating/ hooking up or at the start of a relationship. To men, this may just be sex. This is a problem and it is unacceptable. <b>Men have defined the terms for too long.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">…</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">As I was writing this my partner, who is a man, looked over my shoulder and said he felt exhausted by what I was writing, but also said he recognized and understood that it wasn’t his place to be exhausted. In other words, this topic, while exhausting, is not his exhausting everyday reality, an exhausting reality that disproportionately affects women depending on race, class, ability, and other intersecting identities and privileges or lack of privileges that impact safety, wellness, and access to supports.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I said, yes – having this self-awareness on this topic is not the arena for men to strive for bonus points and extras and leverage their feminism for social capital and praise, but rather we should expect men to participate in such a way that to support, champion, self-analyze, and make strides of sincere and dedicated allyship gets them up to zero.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>A solid baseline. </b>Strive to show up, and be there.</span>Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-76134938944362399232017-11-12T14:19:00.003-03:302018-01-16T22:10:28.229-03:30Fearing for men’s feelings: Aggression, abuse, and embarrassment<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzUm7LfpGyn6L5wowQXwmHH670UpkxFmA7DX4E7s8gJdrIy5bIKKxLfqES0sgb-wpw2LTSupTYuIQh5cvhA4khVKa13-0ZQsf-oOBMa-A9doxVn9RTrAAm0ai6rA-fAUwTkKCbB62U64/s1600/image-uploaded-from-ios1-e1510341595146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzUm7LfpGyn6L5wowQXwmHH670UpkxFmA7DX4E7s8gJdrIy5bIKKxLfqES0sgb-wpw2LTSupTYuIQh5cvhA4khVKa13-0ZQsf-oOBMa-A9doxVn9RTrAAm0ai6rA-fAUwTkKCbB62U64/s640/image-uploaded-from-ios1-e1510341595146.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Via%20https://qz.com/1126593/we-edited-louis-cks-statement-on-sexual-misconduct-to-make-it-a-real-apology/" target="_blank">qz.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That men would ever show women their penis and/or masturbate
in front of them as an act of power and sexual aggression is not something I
remember having to discover.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don’t recall getting to <i><b>discover </b></i>or <i><b>learn</b></i> this fact
because I was five-years-old when a boy showed me his penis on the
playground at daycare. I remember, even then, already, even with other kids
around, even knowing nothing about gender and power, feeling embarrassed and
uncomfortable. How did I know to feel this way?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, in this same era, I recall getting admonished by
a daycare worker for <i>saying</i> the word penis.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, in this same era, I recall daycare workers
passing off boys being inappropriate and invasive towards girls as “childhood
curiosity.” Well, at the time I didn’t understand. Later, that’s how I learned
they explained it.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">…</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That men and boys would do this to women and girls isn’t
something we usually get to discover, in a shocking or alarming way, because
this insidious dynamic simply becomes <i><b>known</b></i>, slowly and quietly, through daily
actions, aggressions big and small, and immersion in a culture informed by
patriarchy, victim-blaming, and veneration for men’s feelings.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter what happens, no matter what they do, you are not
to sexually embarrass the man. At five-years-old, having barely learned
anything about gender and sex and power, I knew to be embarrassed that a kid
was running around showing his penis to other kids, notably girls, on the
playground. Our culture had already taught me that. This indoctrination, of
knowing to be afraid to embarrass men, doesn’t go away easily.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In response to the admitted revelations of Louis C.K.’s
abusive behaviour, feminist writer Clementine Ford succinctly summed up the experience of
women assessing and trying to prevent escalation in threatening situations in a series of tweets, and then in <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/news-and-views/opinion/why-women-dont-leave-when-men-like-louis-ck-commit-lewd-acts-20171111-gzjidr.html" target="_blank">this article</a>:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Women are taught from such a young age to preserve men's
egos, particularly when it comes to sex.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lot is said about women going along with certain
behaviours out of shock or fear. These are both true statements. Sometimes we
can't believe that what's happening is happening (such as a man suddenly
masturbating in front of us). Other times we are genuinely fearful for our
safety and so plan our response according to what will prove less harmful to us
(how do I stop this man suddenly masturbating in front of me from escalating
his behaviour and physically harming me).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[…]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Women might unwillingly stay in rooms with men committing
egregious or sordid acts of abuse for reasons related to their own shock or
fear, but one reason we definitely stay in those rooms is to preserve the male
ego. We have spent our whole lives learning not to embarrass men, and our
education has been so effective that not even them repeatedly embarrassing us
seems to be able to shake those lessons off.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C.K.’s admitted actions get to the horrifying reality of
this issue: that men think they can get away with abuse and aggression while
women have been socialized to</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) fear for their safety for good reason,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) immediately assess threatening scenarios to attempt to
calculate the safest (for their bodies, for their minds, for their careers) way
out or way through the situation while,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3) working through disbelief, self-doubt, and ingrained fear
of embarrassing the perpetrator.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wondering why a woman wouldn’t leave, “walk away” or “fight
back” shows a lack of understanding of how deeply ingrained socialization under
patriarchy is, how <i><b>often </b></i>women are forced to do a million, split-second
calculations in their minds to figure out the best way to endure an abusive or
harassing situation, and how terrified we were taught to be of embarrassing
men, let along exposing actual abuse and misconduct against a powerful person
amidst the expected reaction of shaming, victim-blaming, and doubt.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most women have a private list of instances in which they've assessed the situation and, whether consciously or not, made decisions based on being afraid to embarrass a man. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And while we’re considering the gravity of actions and
grappling with whether or not something was “that bad,” it’s crucial that we
not hierarchalize sexual misconduct and gender-based harassment. I know, in my
own mind, there is an automatic process that occurs, in which I attempt to
understand or assess the severity of something. It's part of how we process and
understand what is happening.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I’ve come to believe that there is a line that is
crossed when a person takes advantage of power, privilege, and position to
hurt, intimidate, or abuse women. Whether they cross it by “a little” or “a
lot” doesn’t matter. <i><b>Abuse of power is abuse of power.</b></i> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C.K. felt both physically safe as well as socially <i><b>entitled
</b></i>to act in a sexually inappropriate manner towards women (and women colleagues).
It doesn't matter if his abuse didn't have physical contact.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And while it’s disappointing to many people, especially men,
who enjoyed and admired Louis C.K., to discover this icon definitely did these
inappropriate and abusive actions towards women, and women colleagues he met
through professional situations, I urge them to resist prioritizing their
disappointment, their <i><b>sense of loss </b></i>over a male public figure, over considering the women who endured these experiences, and who endure experiences like
this every day, for one second.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your sense of loss is simply unimportant compared to the
reinforcement of the fact that women have one more example of power abuse and
sexual misconduct to add to the list.</span></span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-47344549040592363772017-01-25T12:47:00.000-03:302017-01-25T13:09:35.419-03:30When talking hurtsPersonal disclosure is necessary, but can still disadvantage us.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By disclosing we help each other and we make it OK to talk. But stigma can’t be solved by disclosure alone. It’s unrealistic to believe there aren’t still personal risks to disclosure, no matter how much we want it to be otherwise. It can still disadvantage us. “Us” being the nebulous, diverse, extremely varying body of people affected by mental health issues. Or depending on how you prefer to frame it, the mentally ill. </div>
<div>
<br />
The hardest thing to convey about mental illness is that illness, like health, is a continuum. It is not a binary state – well or not, ill or not. How do we compare health? How do we compare and evaluate sickness? What does it meant to be diagnosed? Is “diagnosis” a static state? We know that a lack of diagnosis does not mean a lack of illness.<br />
<br />
I’ve been fairly fortunate and feel privileged to have not experienced as much stigma or discrimination as others have related to their mental illness. I know there are a variety of intsercting reasons for this. I have always been pretty open with my struggles and have attempted, at least, to be frank and offer disclosure slightly ahead of the curve of increasing social acceptance and mainstream discourse of mental health issues. A friend, someone I really admire when it comes to her disclosure about mental illness, called me a pioneer once. That meant a lot to me. Still, I find myself holding back a lot of the time. I find myself unable to disclose or share with the frankness of some in my network, some whose disclosure I admire, and empathize with, and have received real and tangible comfort from. Because the stigma is very, very real. <br />
<br />
And while I hesitate to align myself in a facile way with the new wave of discourse on “what it’s like to be high functioning” or brand myself as someone who “you wouldn’t believe is ill!” because the last thing I want is to promote and perpetuate a dichotomy: a dichotomy between those who experience illness but not so much stigma, and those who, because of the nature and severity of their experiences and/or various intersecting ways they are marginalized, truly bear the brunt of societal stigma. The fact that people have been surprised when I disclosed I experienced illness was intended to be read, by me, as some sort of compliment. I get the intention, and appreciate how you see me, but it’s a weird experience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But we cannot hierarchialize levels of “functioning” among ourselves, which can serve to compound the stigma for those who are, at times, “low functioning,” whatever that means.<br />
<br />
We’ve all been there. Illness is fluid.<br />
<br />
<b>How do we, who experience illness, show compassion and allyship with those who also experience illness but experience levels and impacts of stigma in different ways?</b><br />
<br />
I’m thinking about this because I recently felt extreme and upsetting discrimination as a result of bureaucratic, institutional stigma. The kind of stigma we justify and protect because “well, that’s just the way it is, the way it has to be!” Within our mechanisms of evaluating and understanding health and risk, we have not erased mental illness stigma. We have not found a way to bring nuance into rubrics and standardized forms. Without delving too deep into an experience that was truly triggering (a phrase I don’t use lightly), I did an insurance related interview and disclosed my experiences with mental illness.<br />
<br />
I disclosed because my illnesses – depression and anxiety – are well documented within the medical industrial complex. I’ve lived more than half my life somewhere on the continuum – being treated, not being treated, feeling ill, feeling well, feeling like my illnesses are latent or in remission. How do you answer yes or no questions about mental illness and treatment? What is “being treated?” <br />
<br />
<i>When was your last episode?<br /><br />How frequent are your episodes?<br /><br />Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?</i><br />
<br />
Plus complete disclosure on medications, frequency, dosages, etc.<br />
<br />
Once you’ve been sick, are you always just post-sickness? A mental illness survivor? Do I ever get to reset, or will my medical history haunt me forever? </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>How come we often don’t see mental illness as on par with physical illness when it comes to support and access to care, yet we conflate it with physical health when convenient?</b><br />
<br />
I disclosed I have a prescription – primarily used for insomnia these days – that I use infrequently. It takes me about <i>a year </i>to use 20. Doesn’t matter – that means I’m medicated.<br />
<br />
I disclosed that, after almost two years without daily medication, I asked my doc to try a new prescription. I went so far as to fill it a few <i>months</i> after getting the prescription, and ultimately decided not to use it. I’m very, very pro medication and think it can be a great help. It has been for me at various times. But it didn’t feel right for me now. Yet I disclosed. I tried to convey the nuance. But there is no room for nuance when it comes to standardized evaluations of sickness or health, so it counted against me. As did the mere two months of free, sporadic, university counselling centre counselling sessions that I undertook before I finished my latest academic program.<br />
<br />
Undertaking medication and or counselling should be viewed as indicative of healing. Of trying. Of taking action. Of wellness! Yet for this purpose, disclosing meant I was sick. And within this institutionalized framework of assessing my health, it was allowed, it was OK, it was even legislated, to stigmatize me. So I was declined this insurance. Even though my illnesses are (gratefully) not affecting my ability to work and participate. Because being anywhere on that illness spectrum made me risky, even though, we know that mental health is a fluid, every changing state, something we all, with or without diagnoses, need to work at and maintain. There is no 100 per cent mentally healthy person to compare ourselves to, is there?</div>
<div>
<br />
It hurt because I’ve been so fortunate to almost never, in almost 30 years, feel dehumanized because of my mental illness. I’ve had friends and bosses and coworkers and professors who saw me as a whole person, a dynamic, strong, resilient, motivated person. I’ve been so privileged to go through stretches where my illnesses have not needed to be a part of my identity in any public, social way – where they were under the radar. Not concealed, just not relevant. My illnesses have very, very rarely affected my motivation, concentration, and ability to work and complete my post-secondary education. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I know I am fortunate. Still, sometimes they affect various aspects of my life. Sometimes I have no energy at all. Could it be the staggeringly challenging and frequently forgotten-about physical symptoms of depression? Or my anemia and vitamin deficiency? Or a long history of simply being really busy and doing a lot of stuff and exhausting my body? Who knows?! <br />
<br />
We have to talk about mental health. I, like many of you, feel a responsibility to disclose, especially if sharing the knowledge of my experiences, my ebb and flow, and my various recoveries, helps someone feel less alone and more hopeful. We need to remember that many among us feel they cannot disclose and share. </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>When encouraging people to talk, we need to remember that talking can hurt. It can hurt some of us more than others. But not talking is not the solution.</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And if we ask people to talk, we have to be prepared to listen.</div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-45472779220101268782016-12-14T10:30:00.000-03:302016-12-14T11:52:00.971-03:30Women online: Sexist harassment is not inevitable<i>The first in a series of posts about different facets of feminist activism online, the disturbing pitfalls of being a woman on the Internet, and how being online has reinforced to many the work that still needs to be done.</i><br />
<br />
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--></style>We all know how dismally toxic the Internet and social media can be for women. What worries me is how banal this knowledge has become. This knowledge is so self-evident, so widely known, so relatively undisputed (save for the self-appointed, mansplaining Devil’s Advocates among us who are likely to downplay or deny) that the harassment of women begins to feel naturalized. Even though sexism and misogyny are systemic, structural, and deeply engrained, and need to be acknowledged and recognized as such, it is extremely dangerous to begin to see the tormenting of women in virtual spaces as inevitable <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">–</span> or worse still, a necessary byproduct of being a woman online that women have to accept and cope with if they want to participate.<br />
<br />
It is so bad that we have all kinds of comparative mechanisms for evaluating gendered harassment and sexist attacks <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">–</span> “it’s not <i>that</i> bad, ” “it’s not as bad <i>as</i> _______,” “it’s not like what________ experienced.” What level of<i> online abuse and harassment and/or threats based on gender</i> is acceptable?<br />
<br />
As women, our expectations can become so low that we feel grateful to have evaded online abuse, rather than feeling that getting to<br />
<b>1. exist, 2. participate online and (if applicable) 3. present ourselves as feminists without being attacked is a basic entitlemen</b>t.<br />
<br />
Of course, these pitfalls can affect women through online channels regardless of how much they put themselves out there online. It’s not just the most social media active and outspoken people <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">–</span> women who have any online presence, or who must use social media for their work, or who simply have an email address, can be targets.<br />
<br />
The ease and inextricability of digital communications gives an enormous amount of 24/7 access to strangers and public figures and have emboldened many with an enormous sense of entitlement to this access.<br />
<br />
I often refer to discussion of this topic as “women online” because as many woman identified or otherwise socially marginalized people know, just being online, taking up virtual space and existing, let alone using platforms for feminist messages, can be dangerous. By being online, we rebel and claim space for our thoughts, voices, and lives. And not everyone wants us to be in these spaces. We need to be, because:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Activism and campaigns that occur online and through digital platforms in virtual spaces are meaningful forms of tackling current issues and contributing to feminist projects.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>There is great potential for online spaces and communities to be an important frontier for women’s rights and feminism due to the ability to self-publish and access discourse directly, but</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Like the broader, non-virtual world, the Internet can be a dismal, <b>toxic hellscape</b> for women’s voices.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUYBlqupABqa4sjy9ZW7QD0J4L9MkU-yZ4gZKoghFceEelGaxg2rwKHnVroYQ_6FWnbl51qXyQa5murKZeffjJlKByoybbPUFuwvodYB-Ple1wkp6tuPAxBYIl58NSlqtlrIKIm1PHwc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-12-12+at+10.04.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUYBlqupABqa4sjy9ZW7QD0J4L9MkU-yZ4gZKoghFceEelGaxg2rwKHnVroYQ_6FWnbl51qXyQa5murKZeffjJlKByoybbPUFuwvodYB-Ple1wkp6tuPAxBYIl58NSlqtlrIKIm1PHwc/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-12-12+at+10.04.52+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Trolling. Personal insults. Misogyny. Rape threats. Death threats. This toxic hellscape can be a reality for any woman or marginalized person, not necessarily those who identify as feminists or are doing overtly feminist work online.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, the issue of online hostility and harassment of women and other marginalized people has only intensified as online platforms have become increasingly employed in social justice and activist work.<br />
<br />
The sexism that percolates in the non-virtual world often translates into virtual spheres as unfettered and anonymous access to harass and abuse women. The argument that actions in virtual realms are less significant or meaningful than in the so called “real world” is often used to dismiss the abuse that occurs there. What happens to women online matters and has real effects, not least of all because of the fact that online harassment and abuse often contain real, offline threats. With rapid and increasing integration of digital technologies and platforms into every aspect of our lives, it’s unrealistic to expect women – or anyone – to be able to ignore what occurs there.<br />
<br />
It strikes me what gargantuan expectations we have for women’s resilience in an increasingly hostile climate where the sexist status quo is critiqued but remains resistant to radical upheaval. How could we possibly expect women to ignore and not feel threatened and terrified by misogynist abuse, and rape and death threats?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Male privilege can be an incredible shield to feeling truly threatened by cruel comments and attacks.</b><br />
<br />
I believe that online dialogue and activism are powerful ways to provoke cultural norms and beliefs to change and evolve. I know for myself, my feminist consciousness really arose in the age of blogs and Internet content because I felt able to learn more about different experiences and issues I wouldn’t otherwise have access too. For me, online writing and using Twitter and Facebook to discuss feminist issues and concern is interwoven with my experience of feminist activism. But our cultural contributions are hampered by toxic, sexist online spaces.<br />
<br />
I’m reminded today of a status I posted two years ago while working as a web and social media editor and comment moderator:<br />
<br />
“Today in the wild world of news website comment moderation: Moderator is accused of being a woman because someone’s comment supposedly wasn’t posted.”<br />
<br />
(The actual comment was much cruder).<br />
<br />
We can’t accept the toxic hellscape. When I feel discouraged, I think of this quote from a great, feminist friend who told me this after some disappointing experience online that I can’t even remember:<br />
<br />
<b>“Remember that the Internet is a Mad Max-esque place. And you are Imperator Furiosa.” </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFl4Q27TWRUXvmmB5Uf40dJih6ktDQBtWUjmDfsPu4ybe5hPBLLedPdqjaV6NDUKjk6uKPkV2ugVYgg1lvGlszwrMnz0bH6rG866x2hzrirfVzDfM9Q9eOhPPrL6Dej0nbZJbY28YoVjM/s1600/furiosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFl4Q27TWRUXvmmB5Uf40dJih6ktDQBtWUjmDfsPu4ybe5hPBLLedPdqjaV6NDUKjk6uKPkV2ugVYgg1lvGlszwrMnz0bH6rG866x2hzrirfVzDfM9Q9eOhPPrL6Dej0nbZJbY28YoVjM/s640/furiosa.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-16388740424851365822016-10-13T20:44:00.002-02:302016-10-13T21:30:30.748-02:30The continuum of consent<style>
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<span lang="EN-US">Not unlike most weeks, this last week
there’s been a lot of discussion about sexual assault, consent, and male entitlement
to women’s bodies in the wake of the Trump Tapes. Of course, few people are
surprised that Donald Trump would boast about touching and kissing women
without their willing participation (and if it</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s a rich, powerful, famous man initiating outside of a mutually agreed upon relationship, or in a semi-public context, could any reciprocity really be called </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">“</span>willing?</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">”</span>) What’s sad is our lack of surprise.
Trump’s repeated degradation and outright contempt for women is not new. What
frightens me is normalizing these low expectations. I am sad that I’m not
shocked about how deep this (rich, privileged, white) man’s sense of
entitlement and disregard for women’s personhood goes. I want to believe that Trump is an extreme outlier, a caricature of outlandish misogyny, but I know that</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s not true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I was five-years-old the first time someone
– another child, a boy – touched my body invasively. I won’t say where it
happened or the context, in order to protect those involved because, of course,
as a girl and a woman I’ve been socialized to feel bad about other people
making bad decisions and I struggle to hold people rightfully accountable. The
point is, at least one adult knew about it and minimized and dismissed it,
because “children are curious.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">They are, but they also need to be told to
keep their goddamn hands to themselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That was the first of many implicit and
accidental lessons I was taught about my general lack of bodily autonomy. It was
the first of many lessons on the fact that I couldn’t truly expect boys to
leave <i>it</i> – my body – alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s taken a long time – my life thus far –
to slowly understand what I call <b>the continuum of consent</b>. For several years as
I became more engaged in feminist and anti-violence advocacy it dawned on me
that I was “lucky” I’d never been raped. I remember thinking, wow, how <i>lucky </i>am
I to have made it to 25 or 27 or now, 29, without having been raped. Then I
realized how sad it was to live in a culture in which sexual violence is so
pervasive, and feels so inevitable, that I felt I was <i>fortunate </i>to have enjoyed
a relative absence of sexual violence. As if I had gained access to something
extra, something special, as opposed to the bare minimum of what I should
expect and deserve as a human person.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">As I started to really dig into my
experiences socialized female within this culture, I started to realize there
was a lot more to it – that women’s experiences around consent and non-consent
were more complex than two camps – those who have been raped and those who have
not been raped.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The continuum of consent. Whether or not a
woman has experienced rape, she’s absolutely had experiences that range from
completely consensual to non-consensual. Once I started to imagine consent
around sexual contact as a continuum, I realized how many of my sexual
experiences hadn’t been completely consensual after all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I think of all the times a man has touched
me without my permission, and I have ignored, deflected, or wriggled out of the
situation rather than confront. Sometimes, it’s been because confrontation
hasn’t been physically safe. Sometimes, it’d been because the power dynamics of
the situation made it unsafe or threatening. Other times, it’s been because I
simply didn’t want to embarrass the man. How did I learn to value a man’s
<i>potential embarrassment </i>over my bodily autonomy? Where did that come from?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve beat myself up over missed
opportunities to call out sexist behaviour and unwanted attention. Sometimes I
am able – I’ve felt able to resist, to call out the situation when it’s been
more than warranted. There are other times I felt the only course of action was
to simply endure. I’ve felt sad and enraged afterward, but the deck is stacked
against women trying to confront. It’s OK, even socially sanctioned, for our
bodily autonomy to be invaded and disrespected, but not OK to resist it
vocally. Don’t we all just have to learn to take a joke, after all?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It takes a long time to unlearn what is so readily and purposefully taught socially. It has taken a long time for me to learn, to really understand, that you can consent to one thing and not another. That consent can have conditions. That consent can be withdrawn. How did we learn that sexual violence is our fault? How did we learn to be ashamed of what other people have done to us? And how did we learn not to talk about it?</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-45529326350629047312016-06-08T18:24:00.000-02:302016-06-08T18:45:58.184-02:30What we mean when we say rape culture<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">“<b>There's no such thing as rape culture. Rape is illegal, prosecutable under law, and everyone hates rapists!</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Yeaaaah OK so no one who calls out, and lives under the threat of, rape culture has suggested that, universally, rape is formally, openly condoned and accepted. If we say rape is<i> normalized</i>,
we don’t mean that society isn’t upset about it or that individual
people don’t challenge or condemn it. We mean that male physical and
sexual aggression feels socially inevitable because it has always
happened and seems to keep happening. We worry about how to report it,
how to support victims, and how to punish or deter perpetrators because
the idea of it not happening again seems wholly unlikely. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><b>We
are so used to it, we are unable to defamiliarize rape and
remember that it exists within a cultural framework that sustains its
continuation.</b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMFFjioJaC0vpjV6mKvnTvWDvABGb6QZdIbab61MLLXa2Io2q-AWE8X9vgMYJuwLwDD7J6ECjUXEo8m0_R94viCm4Li2Qaiq6F8LzBQF9V12q0a8MAM-CgaC3TyHdXKbqpeZhUwau7GY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-08+at+6.37.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMFFjioJaC0vpjV6mKvnTvWDvABGb6QZdIbab61MLLXa2Io2q-AWE8X9vgMYJuwLwDD7J6ECjUXEo8m0_R94viCm4Li2Qaiq6F8LzBQF9V12q0a8MAM-CgaC3TyHdXKbqpeZhUwau7GY/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-06-08+at+6.37.47+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Related links:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.yhVVN4pJ8j#.uh8pwPQoZ4" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></div>
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.yhVVN4pJ8j#.uh8pwPQoZ4" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here Is The Powerful Letter The Stanford Victim Read Aloud To Her Attacker</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/stanford-swimmer-brock-turner-sexual-assault-father-reacts-1.3618571" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stanford rape case: Sex offender's dad says 6 months is too harsh for '20 minutes of action'</span></a><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because the <i>Onion</i>'s satirization of the case is on point: </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<a href="http://www.theonion.com/video/college-basketball-star-heroically-overcomes-tragi-19097" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">College Basketball Star Heroically Overcomes Tragic Rape He Committed</span></a><br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Those
who ignorantly deny the world as it is and claim that rape culture is a
fabrication are usually so stupefied by the embeddedness of this
culture that it’s invisible to them. The same people who deny that a
culture is flawed and problematic are usually those benefitting the most
from that status quo. The people who insert themselves into arguments
decrying feminism and claiming sexism isn’t <i>so bad</i>, really, are
usually the most privileged, most immune, and the least likely to become
victims. Like any social ill that disproportionately affects a
marginalized group that people don</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">t care that much about anyway, society throws up its hands.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Which begs the question – where does an incessant need to argue against the existence of something <b>a person hasn’t experienced </b>come from? What causes some boys and men to be adamant that a <i><b>phenomenon they have no lenses through which to glimpse firsthand</b></i> couldn’t possibly exist. Because it doesn’t happen to them. If it
doesn’t happen to them, it can’t be real. Because patriarchy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">If
I say, according to my embodied experiences and knowledges as a
woman in the world, that rape culture exists and is interwoven in a
given society, culture or space (physical or virtual), I am not saying
that <i>everyone</i>, or even <i>anyone specifically</i>, is openly, self-consciously promoting sexual assault and/or boasting about it (although, let</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">s
face it, those things actually do happen in certain instances, notably
when perpetrators or bystanders have bragged about or even shared photos
of women being assaulted). It</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">s
about naming and describing a larger, amorphous, invisible, systemic
structure of sexism and denigration of women that guides and informs
society. It</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">s a byproduct of societies that are undeniably patriarchal and sexist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">You didn</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’t</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> personally
marginalize or devalue a woman on the basis of her gender or treat her
with explicit, self-conscious bias? Congratulations. Sexism still
exists. It’s crucial that people – especially those with male privilege –
learn to see outside themselves and the bigger picture. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Society is still sexist – that doesn’t mean I’m saying that you, Individual Man, are sexist. Be calm.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">This article</span> by <span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://gutsmagazine.ca/blog/rape-culture-101" target="_blank">Rebecca Blakey of <i>GUTS</i></a> really strikes at the heart of defining this nebulous idea that women find themselves having to explain over and over again:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">“Rape
culture is an environment in which rape is presumed to be inevitable
and certain people are taught to fear rape and certain people are not.
Rape persists because rape is related to the universal devaluing of
people and behaviour deemed to be feminine. Rape persists because we
ceaselessly conceive of rape as related to our conceptions of what is
strange, or alien, to humanity. Rape persists because the language we
ascribe to sex facilitates the weaponization of sex into rape.”</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Do
we live in societies in which rape is construed as a constant
risk/possibility, in which women are taught they have to be safe and
learn to avoid risk and protect themselves, and in which people, even
people whose own child would do this, deny and downplay the trauma and
seriousness of the offence? Do we grill and analyze victims/complainants
and hold them accountable for something that was outside their control?
Do we deny that certain coercive interactions <b><i>weren’t really rape</i></b> because
there wasn’t a physical injury or it didn’t unfold according to a
predetermined script of what constitutes legitimate assault? These <i><b>realities</b></i> are all symptoms of rape culture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">So
no, no one is claiming that rape is openly sanctioned and permitted and
that we don’t loathe rapists. But no sexist, racist, patriarchal,
oppressive social structure or system acknowledges itself as such. No
one admits “yes, we treat a certain group poorly and systemically
marginalize them because we are indeed, racist. Racism is, indeed, the
lens that guides us.” Rather, they <b><i>know</i> </b>(read: believe) a certain group to be inferior and their lives to matter less. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">If
you argue that sexual assault stats “aren’t that bad” and lots of
rapists do receive punishment, and you personally dislike rape and think
it’s bad – you’re still operating within the ideological framework that
rape is inevitable, a.k.a., you are operating within the reality of
rape culture. Even if you claim to not blame victims, and not hold women
as responsible for rape avoidance, you’re still accepting that rape
happens and cannot be eradicated. We are so unfamiliar with the idea of
world without sexual assault that having it happen less than it could or less than somewhere
else feels like something to gloat about. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Look how good we are. Look how we are raping women less than we could be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">It strikes me that the people claiming rape culture doesn</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">t exist don</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’t</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> usually argue that rape doesn</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">t
happen. Sure, the statistics and news stories and (few) arrests are
there. The research to convey that sexual assaults are underreported – it’s
all there. So why the resistance to acknowledging that </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">“</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">our</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">” </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">society
treats women, their bodies, and their sexualities in a way that blames victims for their assaults while finding insidious ways to explain and excuse
male behaviour? Once again, because patriarchy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Rapists
(especially economically privileged, white men) rape and often get away
with. Because of all the systems that make it hard for victims to
report, let alone pursue the unforgiving and traumatizing legal/court
system, and all the systems that make it especially easy for men to
bounce back. No one is more resilient against lasting repercussions than a
privileged, heterosexual, cisgender, white man.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Rape
culture shows us that the problem isn’t that there are a tonne of
“sociopaths” running around, and that only strange, aberrant, messed up men would be so sick and misguided to commit assault. No. The problem is
that otherwise <b>normal </b>guys do it, because they grew up and grew into
their toxic masculinity, the flames fanned by rape culture, and they
think they can have what they want, when they want it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Because if he is anything like Brock Turner, whose <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/father-stanford-university-student-brock-turner-sexual-assault-statement" target="_blank">father</a> evidently
thinks raping an unconscious woman is a pretty minor college faux pas,
he’s probably used to getting his way and feeling invincible. <b>Because,
explicitly or implicitly, he’s been taught that respecting a woman’s
personal and bodily autonomy is not a priority. More of an
inconvenience.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Until we begin to worry about the future of a survivor as much as the future of a convicted perpetrator, rape culture reigns.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">Rape
culture is felt – deeply felt – and its toxic symptoms are experienced
daily by the woman identified among us. It is not the place of men to
claim women are just imagining it while doing nothing to improve the
world around them. Take a step back. Listen. Learn.</span></div>
</div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-62817344150489002802016-03-25T16:11:00.003-02:302016-04-07T16:36:45.237-02:30The law, the courts do not operate outside patriarchy<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifE_J8FQpLBhF1cu3qWyWLh7H019nhSH77AhiUVhHWMulJneTEipKOPlSElQj77v9WpWBb3RI-oOwDnruw7BiEN7sl0JFdBRCELKRdidbPuBVyvKsZNA_r9oAqZpRiryEJ-QlvGsGkPzo/s1600/jian-ghomeshi1201410290817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifE_J8FQpLBhF1cu3qWyWLh7H019nhSH77AhiUVhHWMulJneTEipKOPlSElQj77v9WpWBb3RI-oOwDnruw7BiEN7sl0JFdBRCELKRdidbPuBVyvKsZNA_r9oAqZpRiryEJ-QlvGsGkPzo/s320/jian-ghomeshi1201410290817.jpg" width="320" /></a>Regardless of whether or not you think Jian Ghomeshi is guilty of sexual assault and violent behaviour towards women, and whether or not you think the witnesses’ testimonies were “credible” or “consistent” or “trustworthy,” as defined by the law, it’s necessary to reconsider how we imagine and discuss the law, the courts, and justice.<br />
<br />
<i>Background:</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://news.vice.com/article/former-canadian-radio-star-jian-ghomeshi-acquitted-of-all-charges-in-sex-assault-trial">Former Canadian Radio Star Jian Ghomeshi Acquitted of All Charges in Sex Assault Trial</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/jian-ghomeshi/2016/03/24/jian-ghomeshi-verdict.html">Jian Ghomeshi acquitted on basis of ‘inconsistencies’ and ‘deception</a><br />
<br />
None of us, except the women and Ghomeshi, know exactly what happened in the situations described. I wasn’t in the courtroom, and so, like most of us, I don’t know precisely how every aspect of the proceedings unfolded. Criticizing the structure and manner of sexual assault trials is not the same as claiming that we shouldn’t presume innocence until guilt can be determined beyond a reasonable doubt. And of course, an acquittal doesn’t mean that nothing wrong – or criminal – actually happened.<br />
<br />
So, sure, based on the existing structure in place, in which the complainants bear the burden of proving and defending their allegations while the accused can choose to remain silent and avoid having to create and defend a “credible,” “consistent,” “trustworthy” story, I suppose the proceedings unfolded in a manner that supports the way criminal justice is administered. In the judge’s mind, there was obviously reasonable doubt and not enough evidence to convict.<br />
<br />
I’m not going to analyze the witnesses’ testimonies and the ensuing criticism or deconstruct the judge’s written decision. An excellent and detailed response to individual sections of the decision and overall analysis of this issue can be found in <a href="http://theindependent.ca/2016/03/25/futile-fight-in-a-broken-system/">Michelle Keep’s article here</a>. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>All I can say is that I believe the survivors.</b> I also believe we have extensive research and knowledge on the traumatic psychological effects of sexual assault, abuse, and rape in a potently sexist society that is incredibly unforgiving to survivors at every stage of the process. There is lots of work that supports the challenges for people to recollect sequences of events, duration of time, and precise details during periods of stress and trauma, not least of all after more than 10 years have passed. <br />
<br />
Combine this with the many strategies survivors take – and have always undertaken – to survive. There are strategies survivors may subconsciously undertake to not only get through the moment or event, but to reconstruct it in their minds, to remember it less painfully, to pretend it happened differently.<br />
<br />
<b>Many women want very badly to believe a rape was consensual.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsr3y0XJ_Kb94P6DOahfsa5oPDzWPLXaqtkb4Em0CdTKb-jekF3rmC9_TFqh3o8IRDvOoKxkGacUP6doUVOyQvcXJK0FSK4aOEL9CyR3uAlCuw_S2BxmzZIdsZK_Kt2xp5-elH__rW1I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-03-25+at+3.55.31+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsr3y0XJ_Kb94P6DOahfsa5oPDzWPLXaqtkb4Em0CdTKb-jekF3rmC9_TFqh3o8IRDvOoKxkGacUP6doUVOyQvcXJK0FSK4aOEL9CyR3uAlCuw_S2BxmzZIdsZK_Kt2xp5-elH__rW1I/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-03-25+at+3.55.31+PM.png" width="227" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Read the illustrated story “Trigger Warning: Breakfast” <a href="http://here./">here.</a></i><br />
<br />
We socialize women to behave in certain ways in order to cope with the persistent likelihood of sexual violence, to even be friendly or benevolent to the abuser in order to neutralize or better endure the situation, and then in turn we condemn them for acting in an “odd” manner – a manner not befitting a “victim.”<br />
<br />
We know this. But this knowledge doesn’t make it very far in the logic of the courts. Why is that? Why does everything we know about how society has always treated women and how women have adapted to survive have little impact on how we administer justice?<br />
<br />
<b>The core issue: people defend the integrity, neutrality, and sanctity of the court of law as though it is not historically bound up in the same sexist superstructures that have shaped human existence and gender relations. </b><br />
<br />
The law has a conception of how crimes should be reported, victims should behave, and how memories should be recollected. Correspondence between survivors and completely justifiable and psychologically normal anger, frustration, and bitterness is deemed as conspiratorial rather than an indication of support and solidarity while enduring immense stress. Women continue to be maligned and discredited if they dare to be bitter.<br />
<br />
<b>The criminal justice system does not exist in some alternate dimension of reality in which society has not been shaped by male supremacy, sexism, and misogyny. </b>We do not enter the court and step into a neutral, benevolent state where patriarchal attitudes and deeply entrenched stereotypes and prejudices fade away and evaluation of testimony operates apart from biases about how women do and should behave.<br />
<br />
Yes, read the decision. Recognize that the proceedings unfolded how they were designed to occur, and that the presumption of innocence remains intact. Also recognize that the justice system and the law’s antagonism towards marginalized groups and sexual assault survivors remains intact. The Ghomeshi verdict is a good time to consider how privilege factors into strident defences of the law and social structures. It’s often those least impacted or disadvantaged by an event or social ill who feel most compelled to weigh in critically. If this is you, I encourage you to consider if your opinion needs to be expressed <i>today.</i><br />
<br />
The system doesn’t need your defence, but there are many survivors and women reliving trauma, abuse, and harassment during this trial and verdict, who could really use your support and careful listening.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-90184846115667588422016-02-09T18:59:00.002-03:302016-02-10T18:01:17.155-03:30Constant vigilance<style>
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<span lang="EN-US">One of the first things I remember learning
as a child was that people, likely men, might try to hurt me. It was all around
me. From learning about sexual abuse and inappropriate touching in elementary
school, to absorbing the cultural reality of the prevalence of sexual abuse and
assault, it seemed inevitable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I was about five years old when my father
started teaching me self-defence. Just little things, such as using the palm of
my hand to strike an attacker in the face. But beyond basic strategies, what he
actually taught five-year-old me wasn’t <i>how </i>to fight, but that there might be a
need to fight and defend myself. There is a distinct moment when a child
discovers the possibility of violence in their lives. I learned it was connected
to the fact that I was a girl, and people could try to take me or hold me down
or hurt me. I knew then that it would be wrong, but that it was still possible, even
<i>likely</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvg-Zfew9h6U-WZSuWO92EZdHpfkFRsEa71u-rjqYy7wxFuGrFx4OPS26OIaJXoPNCS62eLSMN5z8JFAwJfNL61YLZ7PHeaZXmg2ikv82hjPlPY0OFW2-WV_Z2oVumMXyOt_I2I3dpR3s/s1600/34856_409899097895_4765332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvg-Zfew9h6U-WZSuWO92EZdHpfkFRsEa71u-rjqYy7wxFuGrFx4OPS26OIaJXoPNCS62eLSMN5z8JFAwJfNL61YLZ7PHeaZXmg2ikv82hjPlPY0OFW2-WV_Z2oVumMXyOt_I2I3dpR3s/s400/34856_409899097895_4765332_n.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author, age 5.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My dad told me of a family friend’s child
who outran a man who tried to grab her. I started running. By age 9 or 10 I
was really into track and other sports. I was faster than all the boys, and
felt I had to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In grade 3 a boy in my class told people that
we had sex. Obviously this wasn’t true. But I learned that something that made
this boy sound cool and grown-up made me look bad, that the same thing affected
us differently. I learned then that my reputation was something else I was expected to
protect.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In grade 9 I starred in the school play.
Boys talked about catching a glimpse
of my exposed body during a scene. It spread around the whole school that
people saw my body, even though I knew it was made up. Still, I felt mocked and
embarrassed. I learned then I had to be constantly vigilant about covering my
body from leering eyes, should they try to humiliate me. I learned people would
try to make my body something to be embarrassed about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When I was 25, I finally revisited driving
lessons in order to get my licence after years of not even practicing. The first (male) driving instructor sat so
unnecessarily close to me, I was uncomfortable and couldn’t relax and focus. I
was so embarrassed I got my mother to call on my behalf and request a new
instructor without specifying why. The second (male) instructor started out OK
for the first few sessions. Leading up to my road test, he was so vocally
delighted to be teaching an adult, as opposed to the typical 16 and
17-year-olds, he thought this was a great opportunity to make sexual remarks, random
strange and inappropriate comments, and generally make me extremely
uncomfortable. He also interrogated me on why I changed instructors. I learned to stay silent to cope. I needed to get through this and get my licence and be done. He had all
the power, and I needed to get this over with. I got my licence on the first
try, and was free. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It wasn’t until 2-3 years later that I
really thought through how it was sexual harassment, and I should have
complained about him to his company. I learned how we, as women, often stay
silent because we need to achieve something and can’t take on the fear and
emotional burden of a confrontation. We</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>re just trying to live our lives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When I’ve travelled and when I lived in a
bigger city for a year, I’ve been constantly vigilant. I know many boys and men
have not been successfully taught to respect women, value consent, and resist
entitlement to women’s bodies, as much as I’ve been taught to be vigilant and
safe. We continue to teach women it’s their responsibility to avoid violence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">These are just a few things I learned, as a
girl and a woman, in my society in which patriarchy and rape culture continue to have a foothold. There are other things I</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’ve</span> learned and close calls I</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’ve </span>had, too
personal to discuss.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Now, at age 28, I’ve learned that,
statistically, I’m so fortunate I haven’t had worse experiences. I see aspects
of my gendered experiences as things to be <i>grateful for</i>, rather that deserving
of.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">What is it like to not have to be
constantly vigilant?</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-261045154760541622016-01-21T17:06:00.000-03:302016-01-21T20:01:10.970-03:30Whose job is it to call out workplace sexism and harassment?Whose responsibility is it to make things better for everyone? Whose responsibility is it to make personal sacrifices and endure hardship to fight injustice?<br />
<br />
For background, familiarize yourself with news stories of a Newfoundland and Labrador fire department’s lone female firefighter facing sexual harassment in the workplace from her male peers, including the alleged use of a pornographic video in an instruction session with a male firefighter instructor. The problems have resulted in mass resignations. She’s since <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com//news/canada/crashed-trucks-dead-mice-and-porn-inside-the-firefighting-scandal-tearing-apart-a-newfoundland-town" target="_blank">been accused</a> of trying to turn it into a “gender issue.” (I’ll just leave that here).<br />
<br />
My interest in this post is not about analyzing the horrible allegations of harassment that have surfaced and arguing all the reasons why this kind of treatment of women in male dominated professions is sickening, as this will likely be evident and agreed upon by the kind of people who will read this post, but rather thinking about the responsibility we implicitly place upon those facing harassment and discrimination to solve problems themselves. Read a previous post I wrote about workplace toxicity and gender <a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2014/11/beyond-bottom-pinches-and-sexist-jokes.html" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
If you’re like me, you’ve felt in the past that you failed: you failed as a feminist, or an advocate, or a person who stands up. I speak out. I have shut down sexist comments face-to-face. I have been the one to stand up and school people. I’ve also been the one who was unable to fight back, especially when the sexism or mistreatment was directed at me.<br />
<br />
It’s a horrible feeling, to think you could have done more, or should have done more, to call out injustice, double standards, or mistreatment against yourself or someone else.<br />
<br />
<b>But justice cannot be led by the victims or survivors alone.</b><br />
<br />
When we hear stories of someone who did speak up, who faced the scrutiny of friends, peers, the media, the public, to call out mistreatment, harassment, or discrimination, at great personal and emotional cost, that’s amazing. Those people deserve to be applauded. It takes a lot of strength and courage to put yourself in the spotlight, either solely within a workplace or organization, or within the larger public eye, in order to draw attention to what you’ve experienced. Because we have so much admiration (or disdain and criticism, if you’re a victim-blaming sexist) for people who speak out about sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour, we then tend to sometimes question why someone wouldn’t speak out.<br />
<br />
We ask: <i>why didn’t she go to her boss? Why didn’t she tell someone? Why didn’t she confront?</i><br />
<br />
Women have enough working against them, especially in male-dominated fields and workplaces, without getting the charge of “hysterical woman overreacting” or “angry feminist” levelled against them. And yes, someone will paint their rebuttal in that light. The only thing sexists like more than putting down women is doubly putting them down for speaking out.<br />
<br />
Sometimes people experiencing sexual or gender-based harassment and a hostile work environment are just trying to survive. Living your life, going to work, and doing your job can be challenging enough without being tense and stressed at very moment about inappropriate comments and actions you’re expecting to reoccur, and worried about becoming alienated, overlooked for opportunities and promotions, or even losing your job for speaking out or accusing someone. The perpetrators of sexism, double standards for women and men, and general maintenance of the sanctity of patriarchy are typically<i> not that open</i> to criticism on their perpetuation of those very problems.<br />
<br />
<b>The targets of harassment may just want to get through the day. </b>To blame them for not wanting to take on the burden and stress of fighting the issue just exacerbates the abuse and alienation they’ve already endured.<br />
<br />
Often a woman’s, silence, awkward laughter, or reluctant participation are taken as cues (by the perpetrator or sexual harassment apologists) that she was not subjected to harassment or a toxic workplace. Imagine being that person. Imagine being surrounded by peers (and likely superiors) and subjected to inappropriate experiences and misconduct. Imagine not expecting it.<br />
<br />
I can attest: the utter shock and surprise of an inappropriate comment, gesture, or action has been enough to make me quiet, awkwardly laugh, or try to joke my way out of the situation before. Sometimes the full impact is not even apparent until later. There are long reaching reverberations to bad treatment. Blaming a woman for going along with a threatening, alienating, or off-putting “joke,” in the moment after being blind-sided, is unacceptable.<br />
<br />
I applaud a woman who feels able to make public the unfair treatment and hostility she has endured in the workplace and in a male dominated field. Her actions not only hold the perpetrators accountable, but work to <i>hopefully</i> help prevent future misconduct, or, if nothing else, make the public aware of the reprehensible behaviour. But at the same time, we can’t blame the woman who chooses not to take that route.<br />
<br />
Yes, victims or survivors often drive change and awareness, but the burden of providing a safe, fair, accommodating workplace must fall on the employer and be shared by all employees. It’s not up to the target of harassment to fight for the right to be employed, given fair opportunity, and treated with respect<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-16834121873340734402015-12-22T23:56:00.001-03:302015-12-23T12:12:27.872-03:30Force-ful Woman: Star Wars and Gender<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m hesitant to
call any piece of media straight up “feminist” without a lot of thought. There
are so many ways a cultural product can uphold feminist values and do feminist
work – from content and character portrayals to the role of women and
marginalized people working on the writing, direction, and production side. It</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s not just a film</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span></span>s content, but how the story is created and crafted, that can have
feminist aspects and be informed by feminist ideas. There are, of course, so many ways to engage with feminism in
media and fiction, but nothing about the original <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> films, or the prequels, really screamed feminist
trailblazers. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWntxKxVSPJPVqpOtX56UjZDBAgmpydxZ6FZ1Gz_Qe-CdphRVwBEaaTDsbCLmv5JJ30kzotYNHixIKjv3j_Oj_pmw8uxEzPbUbETZ0jZqQs6_cY6089CV_se8HZSoUZpmS-eOt-gK5b4s/s1600/Running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWntxKxVSPJPVqpOtX56UjZDBAgmpydxZ6FZ1Gz_Qe-CdphRVwBEaaTDsbCLmv5JJ30kzotYNHixIKjv3j_Oj_pmw8uxEzPbUbETZ0jZqQs6_cY6089CV_se8HZSoUZpmS-eOt-gK5b4s/s640/Running.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">As this article
so brilliantly assesses, <a href="http://themuse.jezebel.com/finally-women-do-more-than-give-birth-die-in-star-wa-1748930943" target="_blank">“Finally, Women Do More Than Give Birth & Die in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">And yes, doing
more than giving birth and dying isn’t enough to make a film a feminist
paragon, but it’s a start. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force
Awakens </i>does do more. SO MUCH MORE.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US">***some spoilers
ahead, obviously***</span></b><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">While I love
science fiction, science fantasy, and everything to do with space, the
original films appealed to me more as a child because of adorable beeping droids and Ewoks than
because of female role models. Watching the original films as a kid, I didn</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span></span>t really imagine women Jedis. I thought Leia was cool and I understood her </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> she was, to me, a Warrior Princess. I loved She-Ra. I watched Xena. Warrior Princess fit a larger script. But, to me, she was a Princess first.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Having avoided looking too deeply into previews
or speculation on the new film, I glimpsed a lot of imagery around the new
character Rey (played by Daisey Ridley), but I didn’t dare to hope that she would
actually be the main character, a skilled pilot and mechanic, a natural
fighter, and a <b>~*JEDI*~</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> movie...with a main character
who is a woman...and has the Force.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">What does it
means that I was genuinely surprised?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">There is nothing
surprising about male heroes. In fact, we don’t typically even need to qualify
their gender except in this context – they are just heroes. They are
unremarkable and normalized. No one questions if Luke</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s use of the Force is *real* </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> real, genuine, manly Force-use is presumed.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">As Stassa
Edwards explains in the above mentioned article:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
franchise has always fundamentally been a story of a battle between fathers (or
father figures) and sons recast and expanded into the universal theme of
clashes between good and evil, light and darkness, all with intergalactic
consequences. Yet in the world of <i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Star Wars</span></i>,
women had little to no access to controlling those forces. That Leia was
capable of wielding the elusive but powerful “Force,” yet never did (at least
in the films), was a defining aspect of her character. She was powerful, but
her power was best used in the service of others.”</span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
way I see it, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> franchise
is all about <b>The Patriarchy </b>– in the literal sense. At its core, it’s a story
about lineages, of various sorts: fathers and sons and (male) Jedi masters and
(male) student Jedis. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Empire Strikes Back</i>’s big reveal is
basically an elaborate paternity test result. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker’s
estrangement on opposing sides of Light and Dark is a major arc,
repeated and reimagined through the relationship of Han Solo and his son with
(now General) Leia, Ben Solo, who becomes Kylo Ren of the First Order and is
well on his way to following in the footsteps of grandpa Vader.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With
the release of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Max: Fury Road</i> (read my feminist discussion of this film <a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2015/05/woman-saves-women-furiosa-runs-down_18.html" target="_blank">here</a>) earlier this year and the incomparable Imperator Furiosa, not to mention the recent final<i> Hunger Games</i> film installment and my deep appreciation for Katniss Everdeen,
I didn’t dare expect that <i>The Force Awakens</i> would have such an important
female lead. But maybe I should have, as films pivoting around powerful women characters become less atypical.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
we can recall, Luke and Leia were poised as potential love interests back in
the day before it was determined that – oops, siblings! – and then she was
quickly paired up with Han. It’s still too early to see how Rey’s story evolves, but those of us attuned to watching closely for gender conventions
(and shouldn’t we all be watching!) noticed how Rey and Finn are depicted as
close, caring, devoted teammates, but not as explicitly romantically interested
in each other. Rather, more importantly, while I at times anticipated some
interest in Rey on the part of Finn, Rey was clearly portrayed as having other,
larger preoccupations than romance. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She’s
also not interested in being saved, coddled, or led, made explicit in her
exclaimed command “stop taking my hand!”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And then...and then: Just when I started to panic that the major lightsaber duel would play out between Kylo Ren (who looks like an Evil Justin Trudeau circa 2011, right?) and Finn, Finn gets knocked out and Rey takes up, like, uses her Force Power Seize Telekinesis, to use Skywalker</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s lightsaber to battle. How compelling to see such a fight scene.</span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvGDjeW8bUsK6IIyJPlFGgOp7gAJ2xqVBj_eOo2B2iegNfAlRJMYiVFSGoQ0KBBaATITf1LadhfRsDk9xlm6RZAovqCI694h0BDvxu0XXoKOLhzrZgYqUFwGO_5jqXI8oWPCHLXOILkA/s1600/BB8-and-rey-Movie-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awaken-Wallpaper-HD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvGDjeW8bUsK6IIyJPlFGgOp7gAJ2xqVBj_eOo2B2iegNfAlRJMYiVFSGoQ0KBBaATITf1LadhfRsDk9xlm6RZAovqCI694h0BDvxu0XXoKOLhzrZgYqUFwGO_5jqXI8oWPCHLXOILkA/s640/BB8-and-rey-Movie-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awaken-Wallpaper-HD.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
while I’m sure there are ample criticisms of the film for its female
Jedi-in-training lead character lurking around the Internet and comments sections, I have
yet to hear much criticism grounded in frantic cries of “OH NO FEMINISM!” As <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/19/10626896/star-wars-the-force-awakens-rey-mary-sue-feminist" target="_blank">Tasha Robinson</a> writes </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>It<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span>s inevitable: The anti-Rey backlash is coming<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.” Strong female characters, like strong actual women, tend to be very threatening to The Patriarchy, it would appear.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I spoke too soon: it seems there’s been a lot of discussion critiquing Rey, as a character, for being a Mary Sue, a </span>“term... rooted in a long history of dismissing female characters and holding them to absurd double standards” (read this great overview of the issue by Nico Lang for Salon <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/12/23/star_wars_doesnt_have_a_heroine_problem_arguing_over_whether_reys_a_mary_sue_is_missing_the_point/" target="_blank">here</a>).</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Still, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">overwhelmingly, critical reception has been positive and fanfare has been
deafening. Unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Max: Fury Road,</i>
and the widespread discussion of the film’s “feminist propaganda” as a
detriment (to a few dudes, anyway), I haven’t heard much in the way of claims
of feminist propaganda for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force
Awakens</i>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 160.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are
we starting to just accept good films with excellent, smart, strong, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">powerful</i> women as just good films? Are
we there yet?</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-23821566686273534392015-11-11T22:09:00.004-03:302015-11-12T10:05:18.659-03:30That time 15 men managed to get appointed to cabinet despite a gender parity quota<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamjjeqoMBAK1w-AuN-63QENUgdMyAB5fSLOod3Ha_HZcKLA3e61izG29cRTPz15q-vQfv5wVTM9kXBTja3PtVTNiT6gAqSYCP0-Rw-g2zMESdtbhCyVEGHf1eroKb9gaSYoNNuC2y6rQ/s1600/Cabinet.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamjjeqoMBAK1w-AuN-63QENUgdMyAB5fSLOod3Ha_HZcKLA3e61izG29cRTPz15q-vQfv5wVTM9kXBTja3PtVTNiT6gAqSYCP0-Rw-g2zMESdtbhCyVEGHf1eroKb9gaSYoNNuC2y6rQ/s400/Cabinet.jpg" /></a>With the advent of our new federal government in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed through on his election promise of gender parity in cabinet. For the first time, an equal balance of women and men was achieved, and it was conscious and deliberate.<br />
<br />
While, encouragingly, it seems like a lot of people are on board (but that may be the view from inside my shiny feminist bubble, aka, circle of equality valuing, open minded people), for everyone who just <b><i>understood</i></b> the need to make promoting women in politics a conscious and deliberate priority, there have been many others complaining about gender quotas and “merit.” In light of this topic, here are a few observations and key points from how I see it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Promoting the success of women in politics is not about asking the electorate to choose women just because they are women.</b></span><br />
<br />
Whenever gender representation and balance comes up, there’s always someone who says “I’m going to vote for the person who is most qualified, not a woman just because she’s a woman!” Calm down. I have yet to encounter anyone who supports women in politics who is asking people to do this.<br />
<br />
Promoting women in politics is about undoing and working against the long standing, deeply entrenched history in which 1) women couldn’t vote 2) women couldn’t or didn’t run and 3) women run but still less than men. It’s about acknowledging systemic barriers that keep women from getting to run in the first place or feeling that they could. There are lingering biases in which “we” (the nebulous masses) still tend to automatically consider men more appropriate, inclined, or qualified for political office. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(Yes, I understand that you may have a few examples of some woman politicians you know who handily beat out male opposing candidates and blah blah blah sexism isn’t a thing. Lots of women <i>are</i> successful getting in but what about all the barriers and biases that keep many other women from putting their name forth and securing the nomination in the first place? Or ever considering themselves to be potential politicians because they were never encouraged to try it? Gender biases aren’t about, in all situations, every single person considering any given woman a less qualified politician than any given man, of course. It’s about – overall – a complex of factors causing women to have to work harder to be taken seriously, manage to make the personal, social, financial, and professional commitment to running, and how <i><b>unremarkable</b></i> the male politician is. We rarely have to specify the <b><i>male</i></b> politician – the male politician has always been there and has never had to justify his existence).</blockquote>
In other words, advocates want more women in politics because there was nothing “natural” about their exclusion and lack of participation in the first place. Patriarchy and sexism are to thank for that. The systems that have marginalized women must be actively undone.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. Gender parity efforts don’t suddenly exclude “merit” and qualifications.</b></span><br />
<br />
First of all, “merit” is not straightforward and unproblematic as a concept. How merit is constructed and imagined has a lot to do with privilege, access, and different value systems. Further, gender parity efforts actively resist and work against the unequal conditions that made “being a (white) man” appear to be a qualification. Gender parity efforts aren’t about taking “unqualified” women and plunking them into leadership roles; it’s about understanding that women have always been qualified, capable, and good potential leaders. It’s also about recognizing the inherent benefits of diverse representation in terms of policy and decision making.<br />
<br />
And to those who downplay the issues of underrepresentation and say there are already lots of women involved in politics - don’t prop up women’s behind-the-scenes, supportive, often <b><i>unpaid</i></b> labour as evidence of full participation in politics. We all know women have always worked tirelessly to help get men elected. That’s nothing new, and it doesn’t mean we are doing enough to put women in elected positions.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. Not just because “it’s 2015.”</b></span><br />
<br />
While the PM’s response to why he achieved gender parity in cabinet was pithy, memorable, meme-able, and a veritable mic drop, it doesn’t capture the larger picture. The idea that the year alone necessitates efforts towards fairness sort of presumes that we live in a society in which gender quality has been reached, sexism is over, and we have to construct our political representation to reflect that. But since none of that is true, I’d say gender parity in cabinet matters to set an example for the larger society we want to create.<br />
<br />
Caucuses and cabinets should represent the diversity of the actual population. Women belong there not just because the year, presuming the present moment is always more progressive than any given moment in the past. The reason is, truly, because it’s long overdue. Women didn’t become capable of political office in 2015 – 2015 is just the year a Canadian PM decided to consciously acknowledge sexism in politics.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>4. Working on creating spaces for women isn’t taking anything away from men.</b></span><br />
<br />
Reserving 15 seats (half) for women isn’t taking positions from men. The presumption that men belong there, or “own” those spots, is the legacy of male privilege and entitlement. Whenever women make gains, people (often men) complain about what men are losing, rather than considering how men’s presumed appropriateness and qualification for political office unfairly benefited them for eons. When we talk about gender in politics, we squabble about how terrible it would be for affirmative action to get women elected unfairly. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Yet men’s genders have unfairly allowed them to succeed, rise to power, and earn more money since...forever.</b><br />
<br />
As <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2015/09/diversity-quotas-are-meritocracy-action">Laurie Penney</a> puts it brilliantly, “We would do well to recall that for centuries, there was a quota for representation of men in politics and the press, sometimes legally enforced, sometimes so universally accepted that it didn’t have to be codified in law. The quota was 100 per cent.”<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>5. There was a quota for men, too: it was 15.</b></span><br />
<br />
While it’s not as much discussed in relation to Trudeau’s cabinet, the gender quota worked both ways. The aim was to make it balanced, not wipe out men. There were 15 seats for women, and 15 seats (and the top job, Prime Minister) for men. So it looks like men benefited from a quota too. 15 seats were saved for them. Who knows – without that implied quota, presumably based on “merit,” perhaps there would have been more than 15 women appointed. Imagine that.Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-12390150201779693702015-09-01T16:02:00.004-02:302015-09-01T17:15:14.040-02:30Scholarships for women are good, debates about issues affecting women that don’t include women are not<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debate is great and there are many topics in which I would
be greatly supportive of the conversation focusing on men’s voices and
involving two male perspectives. Like the rhetoric around prostate cancer
screening. You know the idea – some variation of “man up, get checked.” I know
what these ads are trying to do, save men’s lives, but personally, I dislike
the idea of turning the fear of a loss of hegemonic masculinity into a health
incentive. It</span>’s also super cissexist.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> How we construct masculinity in public discourse needs to be
discussed and reimagined. So that, for instance, is a topic I’d love to hear
more about from men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3vl0jvtbfUCtBZaF-C3-ERFJT0t3v8yZuuF1VtvoailnnI6D3lkEzmx2QMicK0gnnTMClbBPJ7wIjopncc4qGPb5AC8FHw-nm8_E-Fyx1PKjB1wDtxHQo1wsyFWElhz1xON1L7AzMRA/s1600/11138594_10153731986325757_86644371257214617_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3vl0jvtbfUCtBZaF-C3-ERFJT0t3v8yZuuF1VtvoailnnI6D3lkEzmx2QMicK0gnnTMClbBPJ7wIjopncc4qGPb5AC8FHw-nm8_E-Fyx1PKjB1wDtxHQo1wsyFWElhz1xON1L7AzMRA/s640/11138594_10153731986325757_86644371257214617_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whether or not scholarships designated to support woman identified
students is “sexist” towards men is not a topic I’m eager to see “debated,” let
alone by two men. There are many great web articles that can more thoroughly
explain why </span>“<span style="font-family: inherit;">reverse sexism,</span>” <span style="font-family: inherit;"> like </span>“<span style="font-family: inherit;">reverse racism,</span>”<span style="font-family: inherit;"> is not a thing. It has to do
with power dynamics. </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Sexism requires
prejudice or discrimination + </b><i style="font-family: inherit;"><b>power</b>.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So I was confused to see a “Point/Counterpoint” opinion
article in the August 27 issue of the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Muse
</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">newspaper, titled <b>“Do female-only scholarships promote or undermine
equality and fairness? Does reserving some scholarships for women prevent or
encourage equal and just relations between genders?”</b> argued by two men. And I’m
not assuming their gender identities based on their names – each writer
identifies themselves as male in their writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is never a valid reason to put forth a discussion or
debate around a topic that specifically impacts women – and specifically invokes
theories of what is or isn’t good for women, as a group, and good for feminism,
as a movement – and not involve women. Even constructing this topic as
something to be debated is evidence of shortsightedness around the topic and
the advocacy that underpins equity-oriented action and policies, but to pursue
the debate in a student newspaper and not ensure to find at least one woman
writer is inherently flawed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a friend said in relation to this topic, “This isn't good
enou</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">gh, folks. And neither is the excuse that ‘no women wanted to write it.’”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe there were no women, working or volunteering for the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">paper, that were interested or came forward with gusto. But that doesn’t mean
someone didn’t want to write it. The challenges of being a feminist, an
outspoken feminist, in public and online are many. Ignoring the barriers that
could make a woman disinclined or even <i>afraid</i> to step up to an argument
involving feminism only perpetuates the problem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s like when we see committees or panels full of men and
don’t question them. Nothing strange here! Men as experts, authorities,
respected leaders – normalized. It doesn’t mean there aren’t women who are equally (or more!)
qualified to participate. We need to continually remember that the system that
normalizes male participation as <i>unnoticed
</i>needs to be challenged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, for whatever reason, there are no female voices in this
published debate. Not even, say, one tackling one side or the other. The “counterpoint”
author does a great job explaining the many valid reasons why we should
designate certain supports for marginalized groups, particularly around access
to post-secondary education and further career advancement. He recognizes and
explains how regardless of perceived inherent aptitude between different
genders, people of different genders may be encouraged, supported, and promoted
differently. He even contextualizes practical, daily life barriers and
challenges that can adversely impact women’s actual experiences in
post-secondary classrooms and on campuses. Have you asked any women what it’s
like to be the only woman in a given trades program, for example?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While this writer does a really nice job, it wasn’t really
his place. Since his points are good and appreciated, though, let’s talk about
the argument against scholarships designated for women students.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The writer states “this scholarship is undeniably sexist.”
No it’s not – please familiarize yourself with the definition of the term, the
role of male supremacy in shaping society, and the necessity of oppressive
power dynamics to make something sexist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The writer states, “This scholarship does not help women
achieve equality, it only acts to subvert their self-respect as able-bodied
humans and corrupt impartiality for everyone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nope. I’m a female student who, for my Master of Gender
Studies degree, received a $2,000 scholarship earmarked for women in the
program. It didn’t subvert my self-respect. And while this particular scholarship
was specific to my individual program, in which there are typically more women
studying, it doesn’t make me feel like I only received it because men weren’t eligible.
Why? Because it has nothing to do with men! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m also really uncomfortable with
the term able-bodied here. Perhaps he meant “capable” humans. I have no idea what able-bodiedness has to do with feeling deserving of a scholarship. Women, like men,
in post-secondary may face a variety of intersecting challenges that further
compound the need for equity and support. Further, my femaleness or femininity is not a disability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s exceptionally patronizing for a man to suggest women
supporting scholarships might undermine our collective womanly self-respect. My
self-respect remains entirely intact, but thanks for your concern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The writer also contextualizes his interest in the topic
through the lens of his own perceived disadvantage, being a male student interested
in a scholarship that is earmarked for female students. The worst, basest argument
against feminism would have to be “men will have to give up their power” or, a
variation, “efforts to help women gain equity and the advantages men have long
taken for granted will hurt me, as a man.” Key terms here would have to be male
privilege and entitlement. You haven’t lost anything; something just exists
that is actually foregrounding the educational needs of women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I care about this as a woman in post-secondary who has
benefited from scholarships, specifically ones that have been designated for
people facing challenges like “financial need” or “being a woman.” I also care
about it having been a volunteer or employee of the <i>Muse</i> for four years several
years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A student newspaper has a responsibility to not just promote
and discuss topics of importance to women, but to promote and encourage, rather
than further stifle, women’s representation in their coverage. It</span>’<span style="font-family: inherit;">s also really key to involve the voices of people with actual stakes in the discussion.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-7704655185778589112015-07-28T22:56:00.000-02:302015-07-28T23:16:53.410-02:30"Taking" nature: Cecil the lion, trophy hunting, and humanity's desire to dominate<style>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today the world learned a wealthy American dentist (with clearly nothing better to do, as
in, productive and useful for society and the planet) went on a “professional”
hunting excursion in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park earlier this month and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/11767119/Cecil-the-lions-killer-revealed-as-American-dentist.html" target="_blank">lured, shot, and killed a beloved local icon</a>, 13-year-old lion Cecil. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
dentist from Minnesota, Walter Palmer, who paid $55,000 USD for the excursion, has
since pseudo-apologized; rather, Palmer stated he’s sorry it was a beloved local
favourite that he killed. Mainly, he just denied wrongdoing and insisted he
was under the impression all aspects of the hunt were legal.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYhPFBST-hyNMS3I3_FVKTSvBVgnUEaLiEjuGYIPimIatGQ5q0P43K2d_OQcIv1fLfTFRYiw0B8KiXywBjOIGHxSthesJcOaDLD8DY5JXLBNWlM9qcWkFh9CIWOyfRAJVWKEmyqeHYkA/s1600/cecil-the-lion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYhPFBST-hyNMS3I3_FVKTSvBVgnUEaLiEjuGYIPimIatGQ5q0P43K2d_OQcIv1fLfTFRYiw0B8KiXywBjOIGHxSthesJcOaDLD8DY5JXLBNWlM9qcWkFh9CIWOyfRAJVWKEmyqeHYkA/s640/cecil-the-lion.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
not interested in whether or not this was “poaching” or “hunting” or whether or
not Palmer believed his expedition was <i>legal </i>or not. He clearly does not actually </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span>deeply regret</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">” </span>what he did, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/read-the-full-statement-from-walter-palmer/318947551/" target="_blank">as his statement claims</a>, since he has trophy hunted many other
large animals all over the place and posted triumphant photos of his conquests with a beaming, pearly white smile. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Again,
I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly
and legally resulted in the taking of this lion.”</span></b></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Non-apology.
Tantamount to “I’m sorry you’re upset” rather than “I’m actually sorry.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
lion wasn’t yours to “take.” That lion wasn’t anyone’s to <b>“take.”</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Organizing,
paying for, and undertaking a hunting expedition to Zimbabwe clearly takes a
lot of resources, effort, and thought so it’s not like Palmer didn</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span>t have the chance to learn
more about the area, learn about the lions there, and reconsider this idea. He’s now claiming ignorance of the particulars of the hunt and the prey,
deferring blame to his local guides. Palmer is only sorry he’s in trouble and taking heat for the death of this <i>particular</i> animal. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m more concerned about what motivates a human to pursue
trophy hunting in the first place. What feeling is a person who trophy hunts <i>actually paying for</i>?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
isn’t hunting for food, or killing for survival or self-defence. This isn’t
hunting to promote and ensure sustainable, local, non-factory farmed meat
harvesting. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is killing to feel powerful, to feel important, to dominate
“the king of the jungle.” To take its head and hang it on your wall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s not just pointless hunting,</span> it’s deeply inhumane. It’s sadistic to use a bow and arrow, for the
challenge, I suppose, only to miss a fatal shot and cause the animal to suffer and die slowly. Cecil reportedly took 40
hours to die. If the thrill of a clean, quick kill is what Palmer is after, it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s hard to fathom how baiting, luring, and failing to successfully shoot the animal could make him feel powerful. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To inflict that kind of needless, purposeless pain and suffering
on a living creature for no other reason than to know it</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span>s within your
power to kill it is unconscionable. </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
not about whether or not the proper permits were secured, whether or not it was
on nature reserve property, whether or not the hunt was “legal.” It’s not about
this particular beloved and well-known lion as more valuable or deserving of
life than another lion, or any other less revered animal. It’s not even just
about the fact that the hunt was inherently inhumane and drawn out, causing the animal to suffer while injured for almost two days before it was finally shot fatally. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s about
the fact that humans desire to inflict this kind of violence on other creatures
at all. It’s about recognizing the deep and disturbing horror of that fact.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">***</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
few weeks ago, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/conservation-officer-suspended-for-refusing-to-kill-bear-cubs-1.3141652" target="_blank">a conservation officer in British Columbia was suspended</a> without
pay for refusing to kill two black bear cubs. Their mother was killed by
officers after breaking into and raiding a freezer filled with salmon and meat
near Port Hardy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As reported by several
news outlets, the officer in question, Bryce Casavant, refused to destroy the
now orphaned cubs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result, the two
cubs are now at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association in Errington,
BC.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Imagine
if more people, with direct access to animals and the ability to affect animal
welfare, were equally insubordinate? Imagine if we, as humans, didn’t take our
own supremacy for granted, as some kind of foregone conclusion, and worked a
bit harder to co-exist in harmony with the animals whose habitats and food
sources we’re routinely impacting and degrading.<br />
<br />
Loving and respecting animals has always been a
cornerstone of my life since I was a child. I have a lot of mixed feelings about my access,
as a human, to “own” animals as pets. I believe deeply in the value of animal
companions, and the potential for human and non-human animals to co-exist as
companions in domestic settings. But as I work with more animals I become more
resistant to considering myself a pet “owner.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
primarily work with/ take care of small animals and have an ambivalent
relationship to pet stores. I dislike and am wary of the commoditization of
animals, yet without such establishments (as well as breeders) it wouldn’t be
possible to have the chance to live with animals as pets. Yes I primarily take
in animals via a rescue, but most of those same animals originally came from
pet stores. They were bred to be possessions. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stores and breeders are a part of the commodity machine that provides us the chance to know and love and care for domestic animals, but it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span>s also part of the problem because too many animals are
bred, and they’re too easy to purchase, too accessible. Yet, I wouldn’t want to
give up the joy I get through caring for rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other critters. I wouldn</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’t want cats and dogs to not exist as pets and companions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
need to move away from the view of animals as objects and property to “own” and
reorient ourselves as stewards with immense responsibility to the creatures we
have domesticated. I don’t want to be a pet owner, rather a pet “keeper.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From pet </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“owning</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">”</span> </span>to trophy hunting we,
as humans, have a fundamentally flawed perception of our entitlement to animals’
bodies and a frightening desire to dominate nature. To exert our power and flaunt our status as top of the food chain. Only we don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span>t have better teeth and claws and we aren</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span>t faster and stronger. We need so many inventions to even compete.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We,
as humans, have evolved to be dominant over other species and, to hold on to that dominance, we conceptualize
our needs and <i>whims</i> as inherently superior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
we are the species that demonstrates malice and a will to kill and destroy that
is not in any way connected to survival or sustenance. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How,
then, can we be the <b><i>superior</i> </b>creature?</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-47245356918517920112015-06-21T16:15:00.002-02:302015-06-22T12:08:11.761-02:30Don't be 'politically correct' for the sake of political correctness - respect and value people<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I recently had the opportunity to think
through the notion of “political correctness,” and how the term is often used
pejoratively against people, ideas, and ways of doing things, for a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/a-debate-over-first-past-the-post-bounties-for-whistleblowers-and-why-we-re-doing-monuments-wrong-1.3118677/opinion-political-correctness-makes-university-education-better-1.3119056" target="_blank">radio interview</a>. I have a lot of ideas on this topic, and wanted to elaborate upon
them there.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">First of all, I don’t think anyone should
do anything because it is politically correct, whatever that means. If I had to
define what is, at its core, the set of behaviours and attitudes that
constitute political correctness, I would say it means being sensitive,
empathetic and in tune with issues around oppression and marginalization. These
are the principles that often undergird so-called political correctness. <b>But
political correctness is not an end in itself.</b> To do something solely in order
to fit a subjective idea of political correctness, and not to value the
underlying principles of that idea, defeats the purpose.</span><br />
<br />
Sure, to be sexist is often seen as not
politically correct. But I don’t want you to <i>not</i> be sexist in order to be
adequately PC; I just want you to <b><i>not be sexist</i></b>. We need to strip away the
connotations of the term, as shutting down debate, and get to the bottom of the
issues we’re actually trying to have informed conversations about.<br />
<br />
I come to this topic because people
(interestingly, often privileged people with a lot of access to resources and
platforms to espouse their ways) are complaining that things are “too PC.” They
think upholding political correctness as a goal interferes with free speech,
diversity of opinion, and stunts the intellectual growth that comes from
unrestricted viewpoints circulating in public discourse. Many people think this
is especially a problem on university campuses, where students are increasingly
“sensitive” and find everything “offensive.” Rather than imagine that students
may be getting more involved in social justice and responsible discourse as
part of their education, as well as speaking up for their own rights as
embodied subjects and citizens, critics depict vocal students as sheltered and
fragile victim wannabes.<br />
<br />
Strangely enough, the people arguing for
free speech and diversity of opinion are <i>not at all pleased</i> with the diversity
of opinion that has come from increased access to the public domain for
formerly silenced and marginalized voices. So basically, they want access to
<b><i>their</i></b> free speech, likely, the free speech they’ve always had.<br />
<br />
When critics say an issue is merely a
matter of political correctness, they are basically saying “this is silly.
You’re overreacting. This topic doesn’t matter to me, I’m not negatively
impacted by it, so we shouldn’t think twice about it.” It’s a tactic to
delegitimize arguments and shut people up, which completely contradicts the
argument that being “too PC” hampers productive debate.<br />
<br />
Here’s an example: British scientist <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/catferguson/nobel-prize-winner-is-a-sexist" target="_blank">Tim Hunt</a> recently said he would prefer labs to be segregated by gender and that
there are issues working with women, because we, women, are so excessively
emotional and we cry if criticized. Objectively, these comments are absolutely
sexist. That’s not my opinion; that’s knowing the definition of the term
“sexist.” They aren’t the worst comments ever uttered, and I don’t think anyone
tried to argue they were. But they’re still not OK and simply irresponsible for
a person in his position.<br />
<br />
Well, women reacted, all over the world,
and, wonderfully, women scientists starting tweeting photos of them in their
labs, doing their work, with the hashtag #distractinglysexy. The reaction
testified to the challenges women already have in traditionally male-defined
and male-dominated fields, without a high profile Noble laureate going and
perpetuating the idea of women are unpredictable, hormonal powder kegs who are
a liability to SCIENCE! SCIENCE is serious business and must be protected, by
the mens!!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Science cannot be seen as neutral, devoid
of human politics and interaction. Science, and men’s roles within its various
disciplines, is of course linked to men’s historical supremacy over women. How
can a person, in a high profile honourary professorship, make comments that are
damaging to the strides women have made and are making in STEM fields, and
expect not to get called out? That just shows this man could have benefited
from some education in addition to biochemistry. You’re allowed to slip up,
reflect, and profusely apologize. This isn’t a “witch hunt.” But people in
certain public platforms also have responsibilities for public good. If you’re
not going to actively promote social improvement, progress, and tolerance, at
least don’t hamper it, Sir Hunt.<br />
<br />
While people devoted to the noble fight of
ensuring old, white, privileged men should be able to say whatever they want
were quick to blame the uproar on “political correctness,” they’re missing the
point. From my perspective, I don’t want this scientist to simply not say these
things, I don’t want him to think them! And before you go try to call the
thought police, hear me out: Anti-sexism, anti-misogyny work isn’t just about
getting men to resist sexist making comments and suppress their misogynistic impulses.
<b>It’s about teaching boys and men to actually value girls and women as people
and respect their inherent dignity. </b>Convincing people to speak and act
appropriately is only one small aspect of an overall social justice project.<br />
<br />
Politically correctness, as a term, has
gained traction as a way to convince people they are overreacting. For example,
if someone asks a government or a media outlet to, say, use the term sex worker
instead of “prostitute,” a deeply stigmatized and antiquated term, or to check
their language<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ask for feedback around
some other topic in order to convey it responsibly and with empathy, others cry
“you can’t say anything anymore.” They eulogize some lost utopia where you
could further marginalize and stigmatize minorities by voicing your opinion.<br />
<br />
When confronted with this complaint, I ask
you to stop and ask who feels their ability to speak is being threatened? Is it
a person who has, historically, benefited from saying and doing whatever they
want, at the expense of others?<br />
<br />
It seems to me that people who champion the
claim that society has become too PC may be, ironically enough, uncomfortable
that their way of thinking is finally being challenged. Shouldn’t the champions
of free speech and diversity of opinion be happy that other voices are speaking
up? That women, gender and sexual minorities, marginalized races and
ethnicities, and people facing an array of marginalizations are having a say?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So, while showing themselves as heralding
free speech and difference of opinion, the anti-political correctness people
are actually trying to suppress dissent and critique.</span><br />
<br />
When people bemoan that spaces, such as
universities, are too politically correct, it seems to me they’re lamenting
that they can’t get away with being ignorant, uniformed, and offensive. It’s
inconvenient to be socially conscious and empathetic. It takes time and energy.
People cry political correctness foul because they have an investment in
keeping things unequal. People in positions of privilege and power don’t want
to relinquish that privilege and power, and they don’t want to accommodate
others.<br />
<br />
I mean, why has gender inequality been so
hard to change? <b>Because one group benefits from the inequality. </b>Patriarchy is
easy for the patriarchs.<br />
<br />
I love intellectual challenge, argument,
and productive debate. I think political correctness or, rather, caring about
people and respecting their experiences, identities, and challenges as
individuals is not at all the same as censorship. But when we argue about
protecting someone’s right to voice their opinion without fear of “getting in
trouble,” we need to ask what that opinion is. Is it sexist? Racist? Prejudice?
Hurtful? Society isn’t filled with easily offended, over-sensitive victims,
rather people who have benefited from not being challenged or held accountable,
and who are now threatened by a loss of power and impunity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Don’t learn respect, empathy, and take care
with language in order to be “politically correct” – learn respect, empathy,
and take care with language for the fundamental importance of valuing the
rights and dignity of people.</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-64825735318915828392015-06-06T14:53:00.000-02:302015-06-06T15:03:20.769-02:30Fashionista Manifesta: Fashion as Radical Visibility and Embodiment<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoVPCvc80I3UrkG6EMJflwGyzhYtdC0xI3leimgk0KBR1_GCEqzl9kuh3zrvPozXFvjpms5JqJQ8dFhq4KVAMYrIUG829zdJ3iw9zvgkEHZSZzXiwegy6K8Z3yPEqHlXIGrmGqdhfcLw/s1600/1499425_10151883148472896_680548493_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoVPCvc80I3UrkG6EMJflwGyzhYtdC0xI3leimgk0KBR1_GCEqzl9kuh3zrvPozXFvjpms5JqJQ8dFhq4KVAMYrIUG829zdJ3iw9zvgkEHZSZzXiwegy6K8Z3yPEqHlXIGrmGqdhfcLw/s400/1499425_10151883148472896_680548493_n.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mostly my own clothes, costumified.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">I am
using “fashion” inclusively to mean all aspects of bodily self-presentation:
clothing, accessories, hair, make-up, etc., rather than to suggest what is
“fashionable” or “in fashion.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I am a feminist researcher, student, and
blogger and also a fashionista. I imagine most readers will not assume this to
be a problematic link, as contemporary feminisms have helped many to unlearn
assumptions about feminist praxis as unilateral and singular in focus and
method. While some people think devoting any time to the argument that women*
should be able to wear makeup and “feminine” clothing (and be taken seriously
amongst the prevailing, deeply entrenched false correlation between
feminine-ness and artificiality) is meaningless compared to other more
fundamental feminist concerns (such as reproductive justice and freedom, to
name one), I operate from a feminist viewpoint that seeks to avoid ranking or
hierarchializing feminist issues.</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">*When
I say women, I always mean </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><b>all women</b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, cis and trans.</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">My right to access safe and legal abortion <i><b>is </b></i>more valuable, on an immediate, visceral, life changing level, than my right
to walk down the street, as a person with feminine or female-appearing body,
safe from catcalling, yet both inform and shape my embodied experience of life
as a woman under heteropatriarchy.<b> </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Isn’t feminism, at its core, part of a
movement to dismantle social hierarchies? </b>In a sexist culture, there is no
shortage of concerns facing women to choose from.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">So while widespread knowledge of feminism
as a lived, daily, meaningful praxis continues to increase (thanks, in large
part I believe, to the continued seepage of feminist scholarship and activism
into other, primarily online, spheres and outside of strictly academic
circles), there is so much to discuss and consider in terms of lived realities
for embodied subjects presenting their gender as female/feminine.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">What we wear on these gendered bodies may
seem trivial at first glance, but I believe a lot can be learned about how we
judge, respond to, and interact with bodies. In my experience – in a northern
region of a northern country in the West – clothing and self-styling are hugely
important. In the societies I’ve lived in, my body must be clothed. If bodies
are so integral (even if, often, because of our rejection of the physical body’s
centrality to gendered embodiment) to our understanding of self, others, and
gender relations, how can we dismiss clothing, hairstyling, accessories,
make-up, and other mediations of self-presentation to the world, as trivial
and peripheral.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Fashion
is just one aspect of how we self-present, but it’s a hypervisible one.</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">For me, clothing is not apolitical.
Clothing is not simply about utility, or comfort, or warmth, or adhering to the
public nudity taboo. Clothing has always been part of my praxis, described as
self-expression on a basic level and radical visibility on a more theoretical
level, even before I had the words and knowledge to recognize it as such. At its
core, it connects to visibility. I am a woman, and women are often told –
through many different means – to blend in, to not take up space. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlHnTYwVMHwnUg7MVVbmTnN6VhXM6EpcPdLx8CXGvgzyD1SPe0UQaTPBnZBjhQCYXD_8nFfLUSKHTez99UNdg6poWTEygwlrPNia-heo_xdz5Wx3_bJIKbzqFtsT7dCPiE8X-Kg4GKig/s1600/10400561_20228532895_6332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlHnTYwVMHwnUg7MVVbmTnN6VhXM6EpcPdLx8CXGvgzyD1SPe0UQaTPBnZBjhQCYXD_8nFfLUSKHTez99UNdg6poWTEygwlrPNia-heo_xdz5Wx3_bJIKbzqFtsT7dCPiE8X-Kg4GKig/s400/10400561_20228532895_6332_n.jpg" width="313" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Women’s
appearances in societies are regulated. </b>Many social influences, including the
beauty industries that I both participate in and critique, tell us to fit in by
ensuring we are fashionable, trendy, and properly dressed and coiffed. The
weight loss and fitness industries teach us to aim to shrink our bodies into
invisibility. It’s long been examined and critiqued (by books like Naomi Wolf’s <i>The Beauty Myth</i>, which I both agree and disagree with, in different facets)
that if women are busy worrying about appearance, beauty, and weight, we won’t
notice our systemic inequality.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I also recognize how class operates in
mediating participation in clothing and beauty industries. Having grown up with
minimal disposable income, and having often had to shop at thrift stores out of
necessity, rather than because it was cool and trendy to do so, I feel that I
can work within this framework to an extent. Still, my experience of
class-based lack of access to clothing and fashion doesn’t compare to the
experiences of many others. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It’s also worth noting, that self-styling,
fashionableness, and self-presentation were priorities. My mother didn’t force
me into narrow boxes of self-expression, a wonderful, incredible thing for any
mother to do, even (especially) if it means weathering the myriad bizarre
phases of child and teenage self-expression.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Still, my desire to self-present was
obliged. I was able to start colouring my hair as early as age 11 (and I’ve
never looked back). So even with limited means, my mother and I valued fashion,
hairstyling, and accessories, and thus I believe that we “passed” as having
more means than we did. Conveying more wealth and disposable income than I had
was never a conscious goal for me, and certainly isn’t now, but it’s
fascinating to me how that aspect was at work as well.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I would say how I have dressed myself
throughout my teen and adult years has been helpful, in terms of social
capital, both in terms of standing out and fitting in. While I have often
benefited from the self-esteem boosting that corresponds to compliments on
one’s clothing and hairstyling, 90 per cent of the interactive feedback I’ve
ever received (usually unsolicited) on my self-presentation has been that it is
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">different</i>. I’m not sure what it’s
different from, or why, as I feel conservative compared to many alternative
forms of self-styling I’ve witnessed. </span></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Nevertheless, I never underestimate the
productive utility that standing out has afforded me, personally and as a woman
in a sexist world.</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I find great productive feminist potential
in the radical visibility brought about by daring to be seen. I had the great
fortune of taking in a panel by gender studies students working on fat*
acceptance and activism at the recent Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches
Feministes conference in Ottawa. One presenter in particular linked fashion
and, what she called, (super)fatness in terms of radical visibility, a
connection that spurred self-reflection on my own fashion practices and how I
conceptualize them similarly. To paraphrase her work (less eloquently than she
presented it), fat women are hypervisible and deal with constant visual scrutiny.
Further, there is a persistent belief in the correlation between body size and
self-respect; we often continue to conceptualize fat people as lazy and
disinterested in their appearance. Thus, to be a fashionable fat feminist can
be a radical practice.</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">*I’m
not going to use euphemisms like larger, bigger, plus-sized, or “medical” terms
like obese.</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">So, as an “average” sized woman, in terms
of body fat, with a petite frame, in terms of height and overall stature, I
recognize that I undertake radical fashion visibility in a different way and
with different considerations than the kind of work this scholar is doing. I am
also white, able bodied, and fit many normative assumptions for feminine
gender, such as long hair, for instance. I recognize that, because of various systemic prejudices, my body has been deemed more acceptable than others, an oppressive reality that we must continue to consider and challenge.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I propose a revisioning and
reconceptualization for anyone who has dismissed or ignored fashion and
self-presentation as artificial, superficial, meaningless, and normative, in essence.
Fashion and beauty are capitalist industries, but that doesn’t mean we are all mindless
consumers. There can be as much meaning in participating in these industries, as in rejecting them outright. There are valid and important critiques of women’s participation in
regimes of fashion, beauty, body modification, and body improvement/
maintenance, but to continue to strip women’s agency and assume false
consciousness when they choose to participate in projects of self-presentation,
is futile and harmful.</span><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US">My fashion is only one small aspect of my
feminist work as an agentive, embodied being, but it is a radical one.</span></b></span></div>
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Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-90095073788751327172015-05-18T11:43:00.004-02:302015-05-18T12:06:59.745-02:30Woman Saves Women: Furiosa Runs Down the Patriarchy in Mad Max: Fury Road<style>
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</style><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Never, in a work of fiction that I can
recall, have I witnessed such a brutal and desperately tenacious depiction of
characters defending female bodily autonomy and freedom. <i>Max Max: Fury Road </i>is,
at its core, nestled among retina-burning explosions and hypnotically
nightmarish visuals, about freeing five wives/sex slaves/offspring incubators
from a repugnant, patriarchal despot.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><i>Fury Road </i>is a stunning action film, two
straight hours of relentless pursuit, spinning tires, sandstorms, and blood
spatter, but the immediate plot is fairly simple, although set in such a
well-established dystopic wasteland that it’s easy to immediately feel immersed
and invested in the plight of the protagonists.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The virtues of Charlize Theron’s Imperator
Furiosa, as a fearless, cunning, resourceful, and definitively badass War Rig
driving heroine, have been extolled in various reviews. She’s a woman who uses
her rank, command of (male) underlings, and access to resources to smuggle five
young women, selected to be breeders and kept in chastity-belted captivity as
wives of the leader Immortan Joe, out of the Citadel and on a mission to
freedom.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Along the way they team up with Max, who
has escaped from also being held captive as a human blood bag for sick War Boys
in need of transfusions. After a terrifying stint chained and manacled to a
pursuing vehicle’s hood like an ornamental figurehead, simultaneously
transfusing blood to its driver, he survives, becomes free, and meets the group
of women.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">While Tom Hardy’s Mad Max is a skilled
fighter and a useful ally, he is not a savior and he does not drive the action.
Max does not rescue these women – it is not his plan to lead them to safety,
and even when he joins the effort, he does not approach them as a paternalistic
protector rising to some inborn duty of helping the helpless.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvyTu7jk3_yk7JT4-tq4O-JcT-gRNoXaiYitzPaA0eP_WALEFOT9q0FZl8aSQj6oBqR5wTwr2zf-1XrEuceCP6nab0yU0CorijcLcziv5f0h5Ltnkw_bWdtgwWnJu427BGxiQ5LS11IQ/s1600/30-mad-max-1.w529.h352.2x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvyTu7jk3_yk7JT4-tq4O-JcT-gRNoXaiYitzPaA0eP_WALEFOT9q0FZl8aSQj6oBqR5wTwr2zf-1XrEuceCP6nab0yU0CorijcLcziv5f0h5Ltnkw_bWdtgwWnJu427BGxiQ5LS11IQ/s320/30-mad-max-1.w529.h352.2x.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Furiosa is far from helpless. When Max
first crosses paths with Furiosa and the five wives, during a brief respite
from being pursued by Immortan Joe’s vast vehicular army, he is afraid and
distrustful. Having been alone, taken captive, branded and tattooed, enslaved,
and hung upside down for blood, Max is scarred, desperate, and focused solely
on his own survival. Even when he gets control of the War Rig and tries to
drive away, leaving Furiosa and her gang in the desert, he doesn’t make it far
– she is too clever, too well-prepared, and has rigged the vehicle to shut down
if she’s not driving. With no other way to flee, he is helpless without her
knowledge and skill.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">So Max, while a great action character,
never falls into the formulaic trappings of a machismo-fuelled warrior-saviour.
He can fight, he can shoot, he can drive, and he makes an excellent co-pilot.
During the opening title credits, Hardy’s and Theron’s names appear
simultaneously – while Hardy plays the titular character of this well-known
franchise reboot, it is clear, from marketing posters to trailers to opening
credits, that Theron’s Furiosa is an equal, or more important, hero figure.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">And while the wives are scantily clad in
gauzy, billowy, white rags (this is a movie, after all), this rather
titillating costuming can be justified considered they have just been smuggled
directly from life in a tyrant’s sex cave. Furiosa, on the other hand, isn’t
sporting short shorts (no matter how much <i>Tomb Raider</i> tried to convince us they
were practical for archaeology and ass-kicking). There is no bare midriff, no
conveniently misplaced bra – Charlize Theron is gorgeous even (especially?)
with a shaved head, a face covered in axel grease and a mechanical, prosthetic
arm, but Furiosa isn’t here to look pretty.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The wives aren’t helpless either.
Considering they’re half naked, were kept in captivity, and (at least) one is
pregnant, they earn their keep on board the War Rig and do their part during
battle-chases.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Without any significant spoilage, just when
you think you couldn’t enjoy the film’s depiction of female autonomy,
resilience, and power any more, you stumble across a motorcycle gang of
militant matriarchs in the desert – the Vuvalini/ Many Mothers. They are old,
they are fierce, and they are women.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This is important. Reviewers and critics
analyze female action heroes in film and television a lot. We have teenage to
early 20s Buffy (<i>the Vampire Slayer</i>). We have teenage Katniss Everdeen. We have
(somewhat) older heroines like <i>Alien</i>’s Ellen Ripley (like, before she goes into
cryosleep and lives a million years) and the <i>Terminator</i> franchise’s Sarah
Connor. We have the horror/action/sci-fi likes of Alice (<i>Resident Evil</i>), Selene
(<i>Underworld</i>), <i>Kill Bill</i>’s Beatrix Kiddo, a whole bunch of X-(Wo)Men and a
scattered Avenger. What do they all have in common? They are young. Even if
they aren’t teenage or depicted as particularly young, they are usually of
indeterminate age and rarely depicted as “old.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Men, on the other hand, keep on fighting
into old age. Male action characters, from Obi-Wan Kenobi to James Bond, can be
older. Gandalf gets older, almost dies, and only becomes more powerful and
awesome. Liam Neeson has vitalized the “dad” action hero.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Movies like <i>The Expendables</i> are completely
premised upon older dudes (characters and actors) continuing to fight, blow
shit up, and have wild adventures while being older. Sylvester Stallone was
like “I’m old and still wanna be an action hero!” so started a new film
franchise for him and his buddies. Not unlike the situation for women actors
generally, as women age the roles are fewer and different. Action and related
filmic genres certainly haven’t maintained or developed roles for older women. We need to see strong, awesome women on screen, and we need to see them continue to be strong and awesome at later ages.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">While the Many Mothers clan is not the
focus of <i>Mad Max</i>, its warrior women are important, notably aged (for the most
part), extremely wise, skilled in battle, and integral to the movie’s
culminating battle-chase. Although I’m impressed with the actual portrayals of
women characters in Fury Road, what strikes me as more significant is the fact
that the action pivots around a story about freedom, specifically, women’s
freedom. Women aren’t just depicted as strong and self-reliant, their actions
drive the entire film.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcC-PPSMe3vtJUd39t4O4Oyic53B_C4hQfSz4G306Vjfyxx78C7PXe2nKrgbM_85R6lE8P2CI_fOYUSQ0apc2yeClF8aWicIlAvAomq9eHU0GEMViKZsII-7-U6o9px46hrUOxjkZizDE/s1600/Imperator_furiosa2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcC-PPSMe3vtJUd39t4O4Oyic53B_C4hQfSz4G306Vjfyxx78C7PXe2nKrgbM_85R6lE8P2CI_fOYUSQ0apc2yeClF8aWicIlAvAomq9eHU0GEMViKZsII-7-U6o9px46hrUOxjkZizDE/s640/Imperator_furiosa2.PNG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">So there you have it – a film chock full of
post-apocalyptic car chases, brutal violence, and explosions, but the
underlying driving plot revolves around a woman rescuing women, previously
treated as object/possessions for the sole utility of sex and spawning, from a
tyrannical patriarch. She steals his wives and liberates them. Furiosa
literally fights the patriarchy.</span></span></span>Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-80747756363245884942015-05-16T00:11:00.003-02:302015-05-16T12:18:30.665-02:30Schools have a responsibility to create anti-sexist environments<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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--></style><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since last week, renewed focus has been devoted to the issue of school dress codes and the
potential for sexism in schools here in Newfoundland and Labrador (and everywhere) regarding how we respond to the bodies of both
girl and boy children and teens. Most importantly, the issue is connected to
our extremely problematic societal tendency to tell girls that they need to
dress a certain way because their bodies may be “distracting” to boys.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Related from last year: <a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2014/05/breasts-of-burden-wear-bra-but-wear-it.html" target="_blank">Breasts of Burden: Wear a Bra, but Wear it Secretly </a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Similar stories </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">– </span>of students speaking out against the oppressive nature of dress codes steeped in sexism </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">– are popping up all over the place. I don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">’</span>t know if I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">’</span>m paying more attention, more closely following such reports than I did years ago, more in touch due to the greater connectivity of social media, or if, perhaps, young people are speaking out more.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
group of girls at Beaconsfield Junior High in St. John’s spoke out using typed
signs – with impressive articulation and poise – about their frustrations with
feeling that their bodies are sexualized and their clothing choices deemed
inappropriate in a way that, they feel, is not the same as how their male
classmates are treated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While
this event has raised many discussion points ranging from the problem of
negative messages directed at girls about their bodies, to calls for the
implementation of school uniforms as a potential answer to the problem, it’s
crucial to analyze how bodies, clothing, and appearances are judged,
scrutinized, and evaluated in a way that continues to be inherently sexist and
marginalizing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
all have deeply fixed convictions about what is and is not appropriate, and a
lot of it is absolutely rooted in notions of propriety around sexuality and sexual
expression, whether you’re willing to admit it or not. <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>You cannot separate
notions of attire and “respectability” from the social imperative against
public nudity; there are parts of the body we’ve all been socialized to conceal
in public.</b> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of us would agree that an elbow is fine to be seen in school,
but an entire breast may not be fine. Sure. But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i>? Where do our ideas and assumptions come from? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>We
need to be critical thinkers when negotiating clothing and bodies around
regimes of “appropriateness” and “professionalism.”</b></span> These are not fixed
absolutes. They are entirely deserving of challenge, and, when considering a
multi-generational environment such as a school, we need to consider how ideas
that have never been challenged have the potential to be damaging to kids and
teens.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s
always been that way” and “we all know dressing a certain way makes people
think you’re a certain kind of girl” are not valid justifications for a sexist
dress code. Telling girls parts of their body “invite” male attention, and
normalizing that boys “can’t help themselves,”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> are
horribly uncritical messages to send to girls. </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On
another note, most of the discourse around school dress codes and discouraging
sexual attraction or “distraction” among students is extremely heterosexist.
Kids have same-gender attractions at many different ages, and it should never
be assumed the attractions being discussed are all heterosexual in nature. <b><span style="color: #674ea7;">Any
notion of a dress code must also consider how to legislate the “appropriate”
clothing for different genders in a way that is not cissexist and exclusionary</span>
</b>– trans and non-binary kids need to be supported and have their needs and
concerns approached in a way that is educated and sensitive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here
are some things to consider when discussing teens’ bodies, attire, and notions
of appropriateness:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">Teachers
and administrators should consider all the ways they can react to a situation
in order to respect and centre the needs, thoughts, feelings, and experiences
of the students actually involved.</span> </b></span>There is a range of ways to approach,
consider, and reflect upon clothing norms and sexualization of pre/teen bodies
without threatening suspension. I think teachers have a responsibility to
conduct all aspects of their job in a way that actively challenges sexism and
prejudice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>There
is inherent sexism and oppression in how female/feminine bodies have more “no
show zones” than male/masculine bodies</b>. </span>To pretend that patriarchy isn’t a
thing, that there isn’t a long and deeply entrenched legacy of the
marginalization of women, and that many of our contemporary ideas about female
bodies are not intertwined with a history of suppressing and controlling
women’s sexuality from earlier eras, is foolish and shortsighted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>Having
been a teenage girl, I can attest to the negativity of early sexualization
imposed upon me by others and the reinforcement of my developing body as
aberran</b>t.</span> It’s embarrassing to have your body constantly scrutinized just for daring
to wear something that fits your body better than a burlap sack. Until you know
what it feels like to be in this position, from a young age, it’s important to
ask those who can tell you about it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Schools should be <span style="color: #674ea7;"><b>anti-sexist. </b></span>Not just non-sexist </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">– there is a subtle, but significant, ideological difference. </span>Schools
need to do more than just passively<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> not</i>
perpetuate sexism – they should actively work to create environments that
challenge sexism everyday.</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-82760162933929458872015-04-25T15:05:00.001-02:302015-05-16T00:21:36.817-02:30What is a slut?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
old were you the first time you were called a slut?</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I ask
it this way because, if you’re gendered female, I’m assuming you’ve been called
a slut. I’m banking on the fact that, at some point in your life, maybe even
young life, someone has used this word against you or, at the very least,
implied its meaning using some other word or insinuation. I assume you’ve been
called a slut because, if you’re a girl or woman, that seems to be enough.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I was
14 or 15 the first time I remember being called a slut. It wasn’t said to my
face – it was said about me, by a boy the same age, at school. It was said to
others and quickly repeated back to me. Why? I recall it had something to do
with wearing black tights with a pink skirt. Not fishnets, not that that should
make a difference, but it’s worth mentioning the subtle distinction since
certain clothing items have become so irrationality iconized to represent
certain forms of sexuality. Black patterned tights, perhaps with a criss-cross
or lace pattern, and a pale pink mini skirt. The words “skank” and “stripper”
may also have been used.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Not
surprisingly to those who know me, even as a weird, high strung, perfectionist ninth grader,
with a fraction of the self-confidence I have now in my late twenties, I wasn’t
really upset. I remember feeling uncomfortable, like my body was being
evaluated, appraised, and dissected, without my permission. But I wasn’t ashamed. I
was mad.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It’s
an early memory that has stayed with me in the ~ 13 years since. I was fortunately able to recognize how preposterous, stupid, and unfair
the words were. Some girls don’t. They may internalize and even believe it. Luckily, it had the opposite effect on me. I didn</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>t then have the language and knowledge to describe what I felt, but I later found it, through feminism. In this way, I don</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>t think I put on the mantle of feminism so much as I found it through having other mantles </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> identities, names </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> forced upon me.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>
</b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span lang="EN-US">What
is a slut?</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Any
dictionary will show you its origin as a pejorative for female promiscuity. A
slut is a “loose</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">” woman, </span>a woman with “too many” sexual partners. Its original usage
is also linked to a description of women as dirty or unclean, especially
servants and maids.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YtH-TuAK2k6TzoSgNRd_lK-TmVgd_wsc1rxqy7eBukd0YOUhyCBJcPms7AsX6j_SLDxmW6dwKELq74VdewJPjrMsoY3aaabpknAQI_XLgz3nkJYW8Xwcg02eMnaMh8J3C-uJekyK61c/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-25+at+12.35.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YtH-TuAK2k6TzoSgNRd_lK-TmVgd_wsc1rxqy7eBukd0YOUhyCBJcPms7AsX6j_SLDxmW6dwKELq74VdewJPjrMsoY3aaabpknAQI_XLgz3nkJYW8Xwcg02eMnaMh8J3C-uJekyK61c/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-25+at+12.35.49+PM.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">So we
have two separate but intertwined definitions of slut: sexual woman, and dirty
woman.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’s n</span>ot
surprising, then, the deeply entrenched conflation of female sexuality with
uncleanliness and transgression.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">If
you’re at all familiar with the trajectory of ideas about women’s sexuality
that evolved throughout the nineteenth-century, you’ll know there have always
been extreme anxieties about 1) the mere existence of women’s sexuality and
pleasure in sex, and 2) fears about how it could be expressed. Women’s
sexuality was dangerous: something to be controlled, yet something that could be </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">– </span>and was, and is </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">– </span>used against them when convenient to maintaining the status quo.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">To
borrow from some of my own work on depictions of female sexuality as transgressive and criminal in
nineteenth-century literature: Although one prevalent nineteenth-century
ideology held that women were naturally “passionless,” Nancy Cott explains that
“views of female sexuality were also double edged: notions of women’s inherent
licentiousness persisted, to be wielded against women manifesting any form of
deviance under the reign of passionlessness” (220-221).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">We
only need to look to how narratives portray female sexual appetite and
experience to see the long history of emphasizing its corruptive potential;
women who excessively seek pleasure, especially
at criminal costs, are depicted as reaping shameful and violent consequences.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">This
was true of how authors depicted sex workers in the Victorian era, and it’s
terrifying to think of how these narratives have likely served to reinforce
anti-sex work rhetoric today: the idea that the work is inherently bad, immoral, and dangerous,
and that no other outcome is imaginable. The
nineteenth-century popularized the moralized narrative of a prostitute’s
inevitable ignominious downfall, demise, and likely death, a trope that Karen
J. Renner refers to as “the harlot’s progress”: “a slow decline from brothel to
street eventually ending in death” (236).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Let’s
not pretend that, in 2015, we have nothing remaining in common with the 1800s.
Beyond the everyday microaggressions, condemning women’s sexual autonomy is still
wielded on larger scales when convenient.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It
was only a couple of years ago (2012) that conservative dingbat Rush Limbaugh
called an outspoken student advocating for contraception coverage a slut.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">All a
woman has to do is <i>think</i> about having sex – let alone enjoy it – to risk being
called a slut.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">In an immediately contemporary media example, Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans (who
portray Hawkeye and Captain America in <i>The Avengers</i> movies) this week <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/chris-evans-and-jeremy-renner-say-sorry-for-calling-black-widow-a-whore-1.3046169" target="_blank">referred
to character Black Widow (played by</a></span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/chris-evans-and-jeremy-renner-say-sorry-for-calling-black-widow-a-whore-1.3046169" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/chris-evans-and-jeremy-renner-say-sorry-for-calling-black-widow-a-whore-1.3046169" target="_blank">Scarlett Johansson) as a“slut” and a “whore” in an interview</a>. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acJzw2NlmmA" width="560"></iframe></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The interviewer
asked them to talk about the character’s relationships, and how Black Widow didn’t end
up with either one of their characters. Renner replies “she’s a slut” prompting exuberant
laughter and chest clutching from Evans who chimes in with “complete whore.”
Awkwardly, the female interviewer goes on to call her “the sidekick...flirting away.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been
great if Evans had reacted to Renner’s initial comment with some disapproving
side-eye and shut it down but he didn’t because…bros. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Great.
Girls and women have few female superheroes to look to in media anyway, and we
all already know how they’re excessively sexualized and treated primarily as love
interests and sidekicks as it is. You only need to look at the spoof
illustrations of what it would look like if all the Avengers were depicted like
Black Widow to see the issues.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVsgh6o8y2VVvozL0-eBDBqa2ziPT1ZrGlI-vMbCsEvd9gg5lq3SqmgtBIcWoFH0RTij3_be8suBPXQA0sRzIxb12XYmjsiu7UJ-dFDQomNTQ_hd7PwYWxXJPPfpObxMf83sScdDkDL8/s1600/16yGO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVsgh6o8y2VVvozL0-eBDBqa2ziPT1ZrGlI-vMbCsEvd9gg5lq3SqmgtBIcWoFH0RTij3_be8suBPXQA0sRzIxb12XYmjsiu7UJ-dFDQomNTQ_hd7PwYWxXJPPfpObxMf83sScdDkDL8/s1600/16yGO.jpg" width="419" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Source:
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://imgur.com/gallery/16yGO">http://imgur.com/gallery/16yGO</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Here’s
a <a href="http://nerdist.com/yes-jeremy-renner-and-chris-evans-black-widow-comments-are-problematic/" target="_blank">good article </a>about precisely why Renner</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s and Evans</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s comments are problematic, even though
they were discussing a fictional character.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">They’ve
since apologized.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The
history, evolution, and current deployment of the word slut is too complex for
this single post. I don</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>t intend to do a thorough reading of how the word is being used by women as part of a reclamation </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> my interest here is how the word has been deployed against women.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I am, though, particularly fascinated by, and will continue to read
more perspectives on, issues surrounding the reclamation of the word slut as
well as the ideologies and goals underpinning Slut Walks and other
demonstrations. While I absolutely agree with a march focused on how feminized
bodies should be able to wear anything, or nothing, and walk down the street
free from harassment and the insidious impacts of rape culture, there is a
larger and deeper conversation around the function of privilege involved in reclaiming the
word (and great articles online arguing all sides if you want further reading).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It seems slut often has very little to do with actual sexuality in
terms of how the word is used. I was called a slut in Grade 9 for wearing black
tights; it certainly had nothing to do with my sexual history (which was
virtually non-existent beyond some steamy make-outs and over-the-clothes
groping). I had no reputation. I wore clothing, and I wore it confidently. I
put fabric on my body, which, by cut, pattern, or colour, someone decided was
indicative of sexuality.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">It was around this time, in junior high, that my body truly became, at times, unbearable </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span></span> not intolerable, but <b>un<i>bear</i>able</b>, in the sense of feeling the weight of having a body gendered female (see Susan Bordo</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span></span>s </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">“</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unbearable-Weight-Feminism-Western-Anniversary/dp/0520240545" target="_blank">Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body</a></span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">”</span></span>). And no, it wasn</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span></span></span>t puberty </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">–</span> I got that glorious (read: horrendous) metamorphosis out of the way very young. I mean, due to my own maturation and the </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">“</span>maturation</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">”</span> of those (especially boys) around me, my body started to be on display in a way I wasn</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’t</span> used to. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Around the same time as the slut comments, I was playing Juliet in the school play. Between being talked about and mocked after a pantyline (gasp!) was visible in one white nightdress costume, to when the school rumour mill decided that my boob </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">“</span>popped out</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">”</span> (yes, flew right out without my knowledge!) of my shirt during Juliet</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">’</span>s suicide, my body felt analyzed, critiqued, and no longer my own. Perhaps not surprisingly, I had at eating disorder and was limiting my eating at this same time.</span><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Would my body ever be my own again?</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">We
need to think about the messaging involved when we: send (girl) kids home for
exposed bra straps (here’s a previous <a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2014/05/breasts-of-burden-wear-bra-but-wear-it.html" target="_blank">blog post by me</a> on that topic); continue
to perpetuate that female breasts and nipples are inappropriate and sexual,
when men’s are not, even in the act of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/freethenipple-facebook-changes_b_5473467.html" target="_blank">breastfeeding</a> and ban those images; use <a href="http://petapixel.com/2014/05/29/utah-school-photoshopped-girls-yearbook-photos-make-look-modest/" target="_blank">PhotoShop on teens’ yearbook photos to change their clothing</a>, and all the other myriad ways we
police bodies. How we police bodies is not uniform among all bodies – close attention
to the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and size are absolutely required
here.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">You only need to read up on the times <a href="http://jezebel.com/instagram-apologizes-for-deleting-plus-size-womans-acco-1605831194" target="_blank">Instagram has deemed fat uncovered bodies as inappropriate nudity</a>, while slim, fit, exposed bodies are deemed inoffensive.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Women’s
bodies are sexualized – for no logically justifiable reason – every single day.</span></span><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Naked
– sexualized. Clothed – sexualized. Uncovered, too covered – it’ll always be
wrong to someone.</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US">Suggested Further Reading: </span></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/2011/09/23/an-open-letter-from-black-women-to-the-slutwalk/" target="_blank">"An Open Letter from Black Women to the SlutWalk."</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/20/word-slut-feminists-efforts-reclaim-it" target="_blank">"Will the awful power of the word 'slut' defeat feminists' efforts to reclaim it?"</a> by Jessica Valenti</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://feministfrequency.com/2011/05/16/link-round-up-feminist-critiques-of-slutwalk/" target="_blank">"Link Round Up: Feminist Critiques of SlutWalk" </a>by Feminist Frequency</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2088234,00.html" target="_blank">"Will SlutWalks Change the Meaning of the Word Slut?"</a> by Megan Gibson </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US">Works Cited:</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Cott, Nancy F. “Passionless: An Interpretation of Victorian Sexual Ideology, 1790-1850.” <i>Signs.</i><br />4 (1978): 210-36. Web. 25 April 2012.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Renner, Karen J. <i>Perverse subjects: Drunks, gamblers, prostitutes, and murderers in antebellum<br />America. </i>Diss. University of Connecticut, 2010. AAI 3420173. Print. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="content__headline content__headline--byline"><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="tone-colour" data-link-name="auto tag link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/jessicavalenti" itemprop="url name" rel="author"></a></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-86688542917798325792015-03-27T19:02:00.000-02:302015-03-28T14:49:40.239-02:30Depressed people should not be cast as an invisible threat<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, we are gleaning more information about the cause of
the devastating Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps on Tuesday. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32081681" target="_blank">Reports</a> indicate that 28-year-old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was depressed and being
treated for depression. As the <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/world/europe/germanwings-crash-andreas-lubitz.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1" target="_blank">New York Times</a></i> reports today</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Prosecutors
said on Friday that among the items found at Mr. Lubitz’s home were several
doctors’ notes stating that he was too ill to work, including on the day of the
crash; one of the notes had been torn up. These documents “support the
preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and
colleagues,” the prosecutors said in a statement.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>But
there remained considerable confusion about the precise nature and severity of
his psychiatric condition. A German hospital said it had evaluated Mr. Lubitz
twice in the past two months but added that he had not been there for
assessment or treatment of depression.</i></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-qfibWtivu5and41UvEhNKexEetvg5HX3NhbPvppjnAS48F7Jg0NhwaJsGct4aUUqHuPriyEUgF1XoQLo7u-yNgoydXyRet74gLbzMn343BjBwWx56Q1C9arGAOfgjWHWC08htzGiFY/s1600/800px-Airbus_A319-132_D-AGWJ_Germanwings_(3448150953).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-qfibWtivu5and41UvEhNKexEetvg5HX3NhbPvppjnAS48F7Jg0NhwaJsGct4aUUqHuPriyEUgF1XoQLo7u-yNgoydXyRet74gLbzMn343BjBwWx56Q1C9arGAOfgjWHWC08htzGiFY/s1600/800px-Airbus_A319-132_D-AGWJ_Germanwings_(3448150953).jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we know more about this pilot. We know that the plane was
intentionally downed. We know that the pilot had some history of illness and
some degree of psychiatric diagnosis. That does not explain <i>why.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Piers Morgan has written a piece with the headline <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3015033/PIERS-MORGAN-Depressed-pilots-like-Germanwings-Andreas-Lubitz-medication-mental-illness-not-flying-passenger-planes-s-not-insensitive-s-protecting-lives.html" target="_blank">“Depressed pilots on medication for mental illness should not be flying passenger planes. That's not insensitive - it's protecting lives.”</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually, it is insensitive and shortsighted. This
perspective absolutely stigmatizes the mentally ill and lumps everyone with any
degree of mental illness into the same unfit, <i><b>untrustworthy </b></i>category. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying mental health and fitness
should not be criteria for certain high stress, high responsibility
occupations, but a designation of <b><i>mentally ill</i></b> – without context, without
evaluative criteria that provides a nuanced understanding of the individual’s
level of functioning and capacity – should not sideline people from being participating
members of society in whatever form they aspire to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This bothers me, a lot, as a person who was diagnosed with
depression and anxiety as a young teen and who happens to be very high
functioning, if you want to put it that way. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I consider my depression to be
quite latent at the moment and for the last several years (I have used the term
“in remission,” to borrow from the language around cancer, to describe it) and
yet, on paper, in my medical history, in my pharmacy file, and in the records
at the MUN Counselling Centre, you could clearly find documents to depict me as
“depressed” even if I have had very few and infrequent symptoms for the last five
years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Clearly “depressed” is not enough to account for the extreme variety of
experience that those carrying the burden of the label may have.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a person with anxiety who, interestingly, thrives in fast paced, high stress, multitasking environments and looks for, even requires, a lot of stimulation
and many activities, I worry about the assumptions around anxiety
as presumably debilitating to certain roles or jobs. It can be, but it is not necessarily.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On a local level, <i><a href="http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2015-02-07/article-4034735/Young-man-questions-recruitment-policies-for-anxiety-and-depression/1" target="_blank">The Telegram</a></i> carried a story last month
about a 17-year-old who was rejected from the Canadian Forces due to his
anxiety diagnosis. I haven’t been in the Forces, but I was in the Canadian
Cadet movement for nine years, and not only did I thrive in the environment(s)
I experienced because of Sea Cadets, I credit the movement with not only
helping me with my depression and anxiety, but also turning around the early
stages of a very destructive eating disorder when I was 15. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying Cadets and the actual Forces are the same, but it’s heartbreaking to me that
someone could be flat out rejected simply for ticking a box that says “anxiety”
without further, and much more personal and nuanced, evaluation. <b>This is where
consulting with people with the actual lived experience of mental illness could
be helpful.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the wake of the Germanwings crash, I’m seeing the notion that depressed people should be precluded from certain
occupations and responsibilities circulating online. This is a gross
over-generalization of what it means to be designated by society as “mentally
ill.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And while it is clear, now, that Lubitz shouldn’t have been a co-pilot on
this plane on this day, let alone left alone in the cockpit, it’s not because he had
depression and may have wanted to die. It’s because he had the will and ability
to kill 149 people and himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How do airlines and other employers screen for homicidal
tendencies? There are, clearly, limits to reliably ever testing for certain future actions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As my friend posted online in a comment response to a brief
status I wrote on this topic, while it’s important that people in certain jobs
have clean bills of mental health, fear of job loss – not to mention stigma –
isn’t going to encourage people to seek the help and treatment they need.
Instead, they may refuse treatment, hide their illness, and a tragedy could
occur.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What bothers me most about blanket statements suggesting depressed people can’t be pilots is the easy and flawed public linking of mental illness and
morality. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Most depressed people, even severely depressed people, would never kill
others, let alone 149 others, as part of their plan to kill themselves. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s irresponsible and shortsighted to form an opinion on the general capacities, trustworthiness, and morality of depressed or mentally ill people based on this atrocity. We need to encourage treatment, not propagate stigma.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This tragedy needs to be framed as a mass murder, that is, unthinkable and horrific – as all mass murders are – not indicative of the “threat”
of the mentally ill walking and hiding among us. We already have enough stigma, thanks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-40101411513579512622015-02-19T10:38:00.001-03:302015-02-19T18:09:00.868-03:3050 Questions Shaded: Ambiguity and the Ethics of Fiction<style>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Browsing in a bookstore in the Montreal airport
during an extensive travel delay this week I noticed the French title of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey</i>: “Cinquante nuances
de Grey.” There’s something about the translation, and the
use of the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nuance</i>, that really
highlights the sheer range of reactions to the phenomenally popular book
trilogy and, now, the first film. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpe3w5retpd4GEZrDa1IGOluzdbd5ytYLVYbi6KzKq4bXX4vA7LA4hHwEUz6QRDysv4Yzr75a5ZOWTrmfcKmXbUV-nj0rQgrZn4oFEfqxfxeRHj45PVevpZaAzh_XvqCGcNB2l3UOF4s/s1600/50ShadesofGreyCoverArt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpe3w5retpd4GEZrDa1IGOluzdbd5ytYLVYbi6KzKq4bXX4vA7LA4hHwEUz6QRDysv4Yzr75a5ZOWTrmfcKmXbUV-nj0rQgrZn4oFEfqxfxeRHj45PVevpZaAzh_XvqCGcNB2l3UOF4s/s1600/50ShadesofGreyCoverArt.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While reacting to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> in a 2012 blog post was actually the writing
experience that got me interested in critical blogging, I’ve been reticent to
immediately chime in on the renewed surge of chatter and criticism related to
the film’s release. I’ve deliberately let my thoughts and observations simmer
and percolate, while trying to read widely what others have been writing
(without going cross-eyed – there is a saturation point, even for voracious
Internet readers).</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What interests me most about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey</i> as a fictional
entity (literary and filmic) is how it prompts us to think about how and why
fiction matters.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Having studied English literature, I’m the first
to say that fiction matters. Fiction, evidently, teaches us a lot about
ourselves and what we desire, what we value, what we fear. If fiction didn’t
matter, no one would care whether or not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty
Shades</i> glamorizes unhealthy relationships, for instance. Certainly, I think
caring about what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i>
depicts and the themes that emerge from the works is valid and valuable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I
also wonder what we expect from fiction and if it has any value if it only
depicts the world as it should be. I’m thinking not. And when I look to the
books, films, and television series that have captivated and provoked audiences
in different eras, I think we can agree that it is often the dark, deviant, or
pessimistic depictions of life, society, and human nature that we crave. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since I have no resolved, neat and tidy position
on the books, their content, and their reception, and since I haven’t yet
watched the film, I’d rather blog some questions I think the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> franchise elicits. I think
focusing on one’s own questions can sometimes be more helpful than focusing on
taking a strict, unambiguous position. If there’s one thing I feel the books
can provoke us to discuss, it is ambiguity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vEPPIeWkPpJS7dYYvma5_MDsvwdWeA5t7wuU2jYYyZ_vLHz2INWU2H3CWSMv-tocZUUAPxCfgXMTbmypX-36Q3whDczwjLIiE8afKuHzs4_QrNVFNY8JNv4KTKw616GrATY9qbxWI60/s1600/fifty-shades-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vEPPIeWkPpJS7dYYvma5_MDsvwdWeA5t7wuU2jYYyZ_vLHz2INWU2H3CWSMv-tocZUUAPxCfgXMTbmypX-36Q3whDczwjLIiE8afKuHzs4_QrNVFNY8JNv4KTKw616GrATY9qbxWI60/s1600/fifty-shades-thumb.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">So, for the love of nuance, </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">here are 50
questions.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span>
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> so controversial because
it’s low/popular culture?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Imagine
a similar set of books, content wise, executed with exemplary prose, fewer
repetitive clichés, and less popular with adult women and “moms”
(notwithstanding the fact that moms can belong to a wide variety of age groups,
let’s face it: the fact that older adult women have apparently liked the books
has been used to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invalidate </i>the books
as legitimate cultural products). Would this hypothetical book be treated the
same way?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">How
does it impact our critical reception of the book when we see it called “mommy
porn?”</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Albeit
inaccurately (according to many experts and community members) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> has apparently introduced a
lot of people to the concept of BDSM who previously couldn’t break down the
acronym. Is that good?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What
are the harms and pitfalls of inaccurately depicting BDSM?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Christian
Grey is depicted simultaneously as a sexy anti-hero portrayed positively and
alluringly and pathologized as ill and “fucked up.” Mental health implications?
Implications for how we view practitioners of BDSM and kink? Might people
misunderstand and thus believe that all BDSM practitioners had traumatic
childhoods, can’t have emotional intimacies, and are control freaks?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Anastasia
Steele – setting unrealistic expectations for otherwise average college
graduates. OK that was a statement but the previous one was multi-part.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">E.
L. James depicts female sexuality as latent and dormant until awakened by a
sexually experienced man. How does this reify misconceptions about gendered
sexuality and women as passive and passionless until initiated into sexdom by a
man?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">How
does James potentially royally mess up girls’ and women’s views on their own
orgasm?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Why
do you think she chose to write Christian Grey as all kinds of things AND a
billionaire? Why the connection between wealth/power and sexual power?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What
might young women learn about sex from the books? Young men? Are there any
positive takeaways?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">If
you read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i>, did you find
it arousing or not? In other words, did it fulfill a practical function as
pornography?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
the fact that Christian was introduced to BDSM and dom-sub relationships by an
older woman change the gender dynamics? Does it impact how we view his relationship
with Ana?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey </i>even about sex?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What
is the genre of the book(s)? Romance? Erotica? Porn? Science Fiction? Dystopia?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What
would the book have been like if Ana was assertive, experienced, and into it
from the start?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">If
Christian is so rich and famous, how is it remotely plausible no one knows his
secrets?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What
did you think of the fact that Ana doesn’t have an e-mail address at the start
of the book (in 2011) but plans to pursue a career in publishing?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
Christian have 50 shades? Or one? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl86JLPupoaIW86aXbNasBVVz9irE23mJZhVVMFCbT-l1bvhUa8QLzN9SK_w4yGBaJOxAz9cwDmDJBNH7-735Q4aq5ocbFkkTgcmVH5PYT60AlYGXdkOfjskfYqLDv792B3ynvQ4wcfGs/s1600/tumblr_inline_njt2iuaDB51t85175.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl86JLPupoaIW86aXbNasBVVz9irE23mJZhVVMFCbT-l1bvhUa8QLzN9SK_w4yGBaJOxAz9cwDmDJBNH7-735Q4aq5ocbFkkTgcmVH5PYT60AlYGXdkOfjskfYqLDv792B3ynvQ4wcfGs/s1600/tumblr_inline_njt2iuaDB51t85175.png" height="246" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
there an argument for the book(s) as positively depicting female sexuality and
freedom?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
there an argument for the book(s) enforcing a restrictive, hegemonic view of
male sexuality?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Would
the book have been less successful/ popular if it was more moderate and less
over the top?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Why
do you think so many people read it and liked it?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">How
does the knowledge that James’ writing started as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight </i>fan fiction play into our perceptions?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Why
is Christian depicted as having such a disconnect between sex/physicality and
emotional intimacy? Is this in any way realistic?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">How
do you think the books treat consent?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Doesn’t
Ana technically (and deliberately) conse</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">nt? Does the argument that she was coerced deny her agency?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">How
do we read the book critically somewhere between assuming Ana’s character is
coerced and has no agency on one hand, and assuming sex equals liberation on
the other?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Yes
James attempts to neutralize the critique of gender dynamics (man = dom, woman
= sub) by ensuring we know (over and over and over again) about Christian’s
previous relationship with Elena Lincoln, but still, she chose to write the
actual story depicting a young, virginal woman and older, experienced, powerful
man. What would a book be like with the genders swapped?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Would
you REALLY not even tell your best friend if you were having a secret, kinky
affair with a famous dude?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">A
lot of critiques about the fictional relationship depicted focus less on the
dynamics within the Red Room of Pain and more on Christian’s attempts to
control all other aspects of Anastasia’s life. Implications? What could this
tell us about sexual violence and domestic abuse in real life?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">A
lot of critiques talk about the risk of pathologizing and reinforcing stigma of
BDSM, while other critiques declare Christian and Ana’s relationship to be
“unhealthy.” If we don’t want to pathologize certain ways of being as deviant,
and consent is given (coerced or not), how can we decide what is healthy or
unhealthy?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
it easier to talk about sex generally and sexual preferences, specifically,
since the publication of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i>?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Where
did E. L. James get all her info / ideas to write the (again, wildly
misrepresentative according to many critics) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby-Dick</i> of BDSM?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Writing:
“My inner goddess is doing the merengue with some salsa moves” – what.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">I
saw a tweet that suggested <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i>
is not promoting sexual violence and control over women any more than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hunger Games </i>is promoting the
slaughter of innocent children (paraphrased). While I think it’s abundantly
clear within the logic of <i>The Hunger Games</i> trilogy that the characters we are
meant to empathize with are rejecting and rebelling against the Capitol, and
thus are against the violence, whereas we are meant to empathize with Christian
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i>, it is an interesting
idea. What does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> promote?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breaking Bad</i> promote / endorse drug manufacturing
and killing people? Or do I feel less inclined to start cooking meth based on lessons
learned from the series?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
depiction = promotion and endorsement?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
this argument matter more or less depending on the depictions in question and
their connection to real world systemic issues of inequality and oppression?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">While
it’s been called a <i>fantasy </i>based on its sexual content, “fantasy” is not the
genre of the books (see question #15). If it was written as a fantasy or
science fiction text set in an alternate world or time, would that cause a
different reading?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">If
the books are so bad (and I do think they are poorly written, in terms of
content, diction, style, and narratology) then why do so many people like them?
Do people like bad books? Who gets to say they are bad? Can we not trust the
opinions of so many readers?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades</i> promote women’s
submission to men, sexually or otherwise?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Many
have pointed out that the narrative itself is old and often told – we see
similar tales everywhere throughout literature (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty and the Beast</i> is an interesting connection). So why all the
fuss about THIS incarnation?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Do
we treat high culture better in terms of moral accountability?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
fiction have a responsibility to promote behaviour and ideals? Does it, rather,
have a responsibility to show alternatives?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Is
E.L. James a feminist? Should we even be able to deduce that from fiction
writing?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Thought
experiment: Maybe James wrote the books to show girls and women all the reasons
NOT to get caught up with a rich, powerful, control-freak billionaire dude bro.
Do you think aspects of the book may serve to caution against certain kinds of
relationships?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">Does
the author’s intentions matter? Her morality? Her gender?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;">What would happen if people cared as much about real-life examples of sexual violence and domination of women as they do about fictional ones?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">...</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: xx-small; mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Should
I see the movie?<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-36461913569711974402015-02-05T19:50:00.002-03:302015-02-05T19:56:50.642-03:30Bruce Jenner’s possible gender transition is not a public spectacle<style>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Speculation
about Bruce Jenner’s gender transition is in celebrity news a lot lately and
I’m disturbed by how most of these articles are treating them. As Jenner was
assigned the male gender at birth and is possibly now identifying as a woman
(frankly, I don’t know this for a fact, nor do many of the articles describing
them as transitioning) I will refer to Jenner as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">them </i>throughout
this article. Pronouns matter, so let’s talk about them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOocnV0RRGKKZkn5obrtls9Mn3TKmO5jhnmuXH3hGNaMcOGiy0L-bgKYJLOo5aIak6laKMUClNB0Ff14g93Q9BDTazkuA3aza-zsGJFE7iiKPzs9t36nZrLiWHe7Ojb21-RYT4fqlIDS0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-02-05+at+7.47.55+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOocnV0RRGKKZkn5obrtls9Mn3TKmO5jhnmuXH3hGNaMcOGiy0L-bgKYJLOo5aIak6laKMUClNB0Ff14g93Q9BDTazkuA3aza-zsGJFE7iiKPzs9t36nZrLiWHe7Ojb21-RYT4fqlIDS0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-02-05+at+7.47.55+PM.png" height="384" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
recently read another article that depicts Jenner as transitioning to a
feminine identity and it consistently refers to Jenner as “he” and “him.” The </span><a href="http://www.people.com/article/bruce-jenner-transitioning-woman" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">recent article in People</span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.people.com/article/bruce-jenner-transitioning-woman" target="_blank"> </a>begins with “His changing look.”
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His.</i> The first word in the article is
“his.” </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">(And for anyone thinking </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>It</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span>s just celebrity gossip, ignore it!</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">” </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">– </span>you may be underestimating the power of this kind of tabloid-y mainstream media to have quite an influence on what people think and feel. The influence is vast </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> just look at the number of shares on the People article).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘“Bruce
is transitioning to a woman,” says a source close to the family. “He is finally
happy and his family is accepting of what he’s doing. He’s in such a great space.
That’s why it’s the perfect time to do something like this.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
it’s amazing and inspiring that their family is supporting them, even the
“family insider” is referring to them as “he” and “him.” As a result, so does
the writer of the article (and many others). The article has a veneer of trans
acceptance and respect for Jenner’s choices while taking no care to justify the
use of the male pronouns or explain the disjunction between the fact that they
are going to live as a woman, as reported, and continually describing Jenner in
male terms.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
kind of approach – treating a transitioning gender identity or expression as
something put on or added, superficially, like clothing or make-up, to a base
identity that hasn’t actually changed – is
not respectful of trans people and identities.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
other side of this is, perhaps, that Jenner is expressing their gender in a
different way lately that is more on the spectrum of feminine expression. That
doesn’t necessarily mean they are a trans woman, and readers should be mindful not
to assume that every man who expresses things traditionally linked to
femininity, or every woman that expresses things traditionally linked to
masculinity, is trans or has the intention to transition to living as a
different gender. Gender identity and gender expression are linked but are,
indeed, two different concepts. There is no single or “right” way to express
gender.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
other issue here is how our society doesn’t seem to know how to deal with a person
in transition. The last few years have involved a great deal of increased
awareness of transgender issues and trans visibility. There is a growing
contingent of trans celebrities. A lot of publications covering stories about
trans people on a superficial level don’t seem to know what to do when their
gender isn’t conforming to the gender binary. They can figure out “woman who
was assigned male at birth” (often explained, horribly, as “biologically
male”). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So while people seem to be getting over their prejudicial hang-ups and
at least accepting, if not understanding, trans identities, comprehending the
potential transition of a 65-year-old, who has long been known in the public
eye as male, is somehow baffling. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">People
in transition deserve the same respect as someone who has already transitioned
– not that transitioning is necessarily some sort of Point A to Point B finite
process for many people.</span><br />
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If
you wouldn’t call a transwoman celebrity who has been living as a woman for 10
years “he” or “him,” why is Jenner being treated differently? Because they are
transitioning later in life? Because they haven’t (yet or publicly anyway)
changed their name to something that screams woman? Because you knew them as
Kim Kardashian’s stepfather?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rule
number 1 for me as a writer is to respect and honour the preferred pronouns of
the person in question, and to ask respectful questions to seek direction on
how to best and most accurately portray the person’s identity and expression. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bruce
Jenner’s gender identity and expression may not be obvious or neat and tidy at
the moment, and it doesn’t need to be. They may identify within the binary as a
woman, or maybe more gender fluidly. Either way, if their preferred pronouns
cannot be gleaned directly from them, writers should take care to reflect on
how to most respectfully describe Jenner, and note that pronouns should reflect
a current gender identity, not the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
until Bruce Jenner discusses their gender identity and possible transition
publicly, it’s really none of our business and the speculation pieces really
should give it up. Their gender transition is not a spectacle for our consumption.</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-22100720331513529082015-01-28T12:23:00.001-03:302015-02-05T19:42:18.989-03:30Where art thou summer? : Surviving the winter semester with Seasonal Affective Disorder<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This piece was written for a newsletter for the Memorial University student group MUN Minds and is reproduced here on my blog. </i><br />
<br />
I live on a rock in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean. If you’re currently attending Memorial University and reading this newsletter, so do you. Having lived most of my life in Newfoundland and Labrador, you get comfortable with winter. You may even learn to embrace it. But for some of us, the symptoms of our seasonal affective disorder are a daunting, yearly, inevitable reality.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEl4dr1Bcw4C521cLSclHTT5V6XjnkIWF4iyo7GWyyOCmnhU7CLhR6OU0Bg-MYGvxHEMc6gXrh4zK0Om8NobLOkPu4JLjB8p8zqK2DMvv3AaNPKCL2zP9i_tE5HtLG3uJRUXIo5ZwLig/s1600/pin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEl4dr1Bcw4C521cLSclHTT5V6XjnkIWF4iyo7GWyyOCmnhU7CLhR6OU0Bg-MYGvxHEMc6gXrh4zK0Om8NobLOkPu4JLjB8p8zqK2DMvv3AaNPKCL2zP9i_tE5HtLG3uJRUXIo5ZwLig/s1600/pin.png" height="295" width="320" /></a></div>
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I’m a current graduate student in my ninth year of post-secondary education. I’m currently working on my Master of Gender Studies degree. I also have anxiety-depression. I deliberately hyphenate those words because, for me, they are so linked and intertwined they are one illness. My anxiety is the more prevalent, manifest part of my situation, and the depression is the latent part. But it’s still there. I just don’t seem or act much like a depressed person, in the way many people imagine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most of us have probably experienced something that feels like the “winter blues.” The days get shorter, the darkness comes early, and it is perpetually cold. We may feel restricted by the snow and deprived of the sun. Seasonal affective disorder, as I understand it, is a subtype of major depression.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Maybe you will only experience symptoms related to your seasonal depression, or maybe you experience elements of depression </span>year-round that are exacerbated with the seasonal change. This is the case for me.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In hindsight, I recall growing up and dreading the winter with a fear bordering on superstition. While I was diagnosed with anxiety-depression at a very young age, no one really talked to me about how I may experience my symptoms differently at different times. Maybe, in this province, we come to accept or expect a certain amount of winter sadness and lethargy. Looking back now, I can see that many of my mood issues were aggravated in the winter, especially starting in January. I always disliked January – the hype of Christmas is over and winter is getting into full swing. Winter 2014, a.k.a the Neverending Story, was a particularly harsh one. Growing plants is an example of something that makes me happy. Here’s how my plants were doing last winter:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWM4sxAkQjslLy5dTkkSUZMSOsybp0HSX5GXc4QVfUO3GGpB8n2FCKG15PNi55CQpAdYJGG2Sy4-6HdRltE_wPABXyWrH3KZmjbJCkljGXNkq-ljYA_9bO75tvKqwo4NTKkfcOcXChuoo/s1600/plants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWM4sxAkQjslLy5dTkkSUZMSOsybp0HSX5GXc4QVfUO3GGpB8n2FCKG15PNi55CQpAdYJGG2Sy4-6HdRltE_wPABXyWrH3KZmjbJCkljGXNkq-ljYA_9bO75tvKqwo4NTKkfcOcXChuoo/s1600/plants.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I don't think this is how photosynthesis works.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I felt so trapped, as though I was suffocating in the snow. I started plotting all the places I could move away to in order to never see snow again. I know a lot of people felt this way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s important to note, though, that not all seasonal affective disorders are winter-based, and some people may experience the symptoms of seasonal depression in the summer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, being a long-time student and seasonally affected, how did I handle winter semesters? It was often tough, especially in my undergrad. Had I been fully cognizant of my seasonal issues when I first started university, I may have planned better supports – perhaps a lighter course load in the winters, or a more dedicated plan to attend counselling.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Alas, I suffered through many challenging winter semesters with little to no extra empathy for myself. I was late for so many morning classes because I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Too cold, too tired. And I didn’t tell anyone who I should have, such as, perhaps, some professors. Again, I’m in year nine of university now. That’s a lot of winter semesters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By contrast, I often took summer courses – while working full-time – and found myself to be so much more capable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have to get to know our own bodies and minds and understand how to support ourselves through different periods.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I say <i>bodies </i>because, regardless of the emphasis on “minds” in mental health, I will emphatically argue the interconnectedness between mind and body and how integral it is to look at how your body (as a result of your brain) is coping. One of the real challenges of my seasonal affective disorder is sleepiness. I am so tired! Of course, because one of the aspects of my anxiety is a fear of failure and not accomplishing things, I’m pretty much always tired because I’m always trying to juggle a thousand things. Slowing down may not be an option – some people with anxiety-depression are go-go-go because they are terrified of stopping.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s what makes it hard to understand symptoms versus causes. Is my depression making me exhausted? Am I exhausted because I should be because I’ve taken on too much to alleviate my anxiety? I also have b12 and iron deficiencies, the symptoms of which can include fatigue and low mood. GREAT. THANKS BODY.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is all a way of saying that, while it can be so hard to understand which aspect of our mind/body is causing each symptom, we can still find ways to cope with the symptoms while pursuing our studies in non-ideal seasons. Here are some ideas if you think you’re coping with seasonal affective:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Make sleep a big priority.</b> It’s amazing what a good night of sleep can do. Many students underestimate this – we have papers to write, exams to study for, no time to sleep! I was like this. I thought, “sleep is for the weak” and all the other foolishness we tell ourselves to bolster our sleep-deprived bravado.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once I started making sleep a priority – more important than getting work done or finishing reading that last article – my life improved a lot. When we deprive ourselves of sleep we can’t possibly be as well equipped to cope with the other challenges we may face while awake. If insomnia is an element of your depression, talk to a qualified professional about different options.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2;">Exercise is a wonderful anti-depressant.</span> </b>Move your body when you can. It won’t simply cure all your problems, but it definitely helps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Try to get fresh air and sunlight when you can</b><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2;">.</span> I love the outdoors, and during the winter I tend to retreat to my burrow and wait for it to be over, like a badger in a bomb shelter. This is not good! Whether it be taking a walk or trying to find winter activities to enjoy, you can train your brain to feel less apprehensive. This isn’t to say that getting over mental illness is as simple as being positive – um, no. But, for me, working on thinking of things I may enjoy about the winter has been therapeutic. You can also look into light therapy lamps and see if that might work for you.</div>
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<b>As a student, strategize options to plan your courses around your better seasons</b><span style="color: #c0504d;">.</span> School is important, but make time for activities that make you really happy and excited, too. During a winter depression is NOT the time to cut back on things that give you joy. Also, go to the Counselling Centre. They are great.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2;">Remember, summer will come bac</span><span style="color: #c0504d;">k</span>.</b> I know last April when we had<i> another</i> snowstorm and I had to shovel out my unplowed cul-de-sac it didn’t feel like it ever would, but it came back.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JFXd-YiG_CuFAqmRwk0uyKl_jnRavhCO4wTSBZcuersr70L_QfVoBE4VrD03sbQ_7aqLQLshrpKJKspxdzOCXq91HhU6Hd5Y4kTgRym-GlUnBptXwtqD5F_Ueur1FPXgYela61VU9To/s1600/car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JFXd-YiG_CuFAqmRwk0uyKl_jnRavhCO4wTSBZcuersr70L_QfVoBE4VrD03sbQ_7aqLQLshrpKJKspxdzOCXq91HhU6Hd5Y4kTgRym-GlUnBptXwtqD5F_Ueur1FPXgYela61VU9To/s1600/car.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-51495232795203145482015-01-20T12:58:00.003-03:302015-01-20T22:10:30.131-03:30A Response to "Pathetic in Pink"<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> This was originally a stream of consciousness Facebook post but I have reproduced it here.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-iO_chl6VJ8kg_x3hYXJXXLn2rw3VwJXcNoG_xh92op14bIZncJUdPE7wSMlx4a1GWZtUwddmuRn4jy0Z44IIobxgmgD22AaMrAdnvM0aD5-NaDbT8L_SXs6rMbo04Z_vUikWkGfYnE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-20+at+12.57.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-iO_chl6VJ8kg_x3hYXJXXLn2rw3VwJXcNoG_xh92op14bIZncJUdPE7wSMlx4a1GWZtUwddmuRn4jy0Z44IIobxgmgD22AaMrAdnvM0aD5-NaDbT8L_SXs6rMbo04Z_vUikWkGfYnE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-20+at+12.57.19+PM.png" height="440" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>NOTE: This is an image of the article that was circulated online - I</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b> did not make the highlights myself.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
lot of people are commenting on Robin McGrath’s bizarre column in the
<i>Northeast Avalon Times </i>“Pathetic in Pink.” Here are some thoughts:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As you may know or assume, I am indeed against excessive reinforcement
of gender norms for children. To me, telling a little girl she can’t
play with “boy toys” or a little boy that he can’t play with “girl toys”
is on the same continuum that found trans teen Leelah Alcorn’s parents
forcing “conversion therapy” to try to make her live as the gender she
was assigned at birth.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is because, 1, I think kids should
experiment with their gender identity and expression to find a gendered
way of being in the world that suits them and feels right. 2, because
playing with toys marketed towards one gender or the other shouldn’t
even be imagined as experimentation – they’re toys! There is not
necessarily a correlation between make-believe and play and gender
identity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was assigned female at birth, I always played as a
prince, soldier, knight, warrior as a kid, and I still identity as
female. I played with medieval Legos and Barbies side by side. Let kids
play with any toys but encourage them to not believe their assigned
gender restricts their creativity and play.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Next, this column
isn’t just suggesting the more liberal minded perspective that girls
need not only play with Barbies and butterfly wings to be girls. It’s
depicting the things long associated with femininity (for better or
worse!) as inherently bad, lesser, “pathetic.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a very
misogynistic sentiment. Instead of criticizing the systems that
invalidate or restrict femininity, that make it into something perceived
to be lesser, she is attacking femininity and feminine expression
itself.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As Julia Serano writes, “We must move beyond seeing femininity
as helpless and dependent, or merely as masculinity's sidekick, and
instead acknowledge that feminine expression exists of its own accord
and brings its own rewards to those who naturally gravitate toward it.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The mental illness / eating disorder shaming of Princess Diana is
disgusting and hateful. People with mental illness, who have battled
eating disorders, can't be good role models? Thanks for that.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">You
can dislike the social imperative to change hair colours and the fact
that many people have taken on the hair colour “blonde” when few have
it, in adulthood, “naturally.” But don’t shame blondes, least of all
children who haven’t made a choice what hair colour to have!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I colour my
hair blonde and started doing it at age 11. I’ve lived more than half
my life with blonde hair. I guess I’m a “fake blonde” and it’s important
to you that I know it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, as Kelly Rippa says, “some of us were born blonde, and some of us were born to <i>be</i> blonde.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Part 2</span></b></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I had to write my initial reaction in a
hurry, but would now like to further respond to some problematic elements of
McGrath’s opinion piece.</span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: magenta;">Pink <b><span style="color: black;">does not send the wrong message to
small girls, as she suggests.</span></b></span><b> </b><span style="color: magenta;">Pink</span> is a colour, a variety of shades on a
spectrum that we have labeled <span style="color: magenta;">pink</span>. It is red + white together. <span style="color: magenta;">Pink</span> is nothing
in and of itself. Perhaps she could make an argument that a sense of
entitlement could be taught to children through princess make-believe, but I
think that’s pretty weak too. I think, even as kids, most little girls know
they are not princesses and probably quickly grow out of any desire to be. They
also probably make-believe they are other characters, animals, and people just as
much.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I also want to emphasize that, in my
opinion, being open minded about gender and how children play isn’t about
permitting the girl to play with cars and the boy to play with dolls –
it’s moving beyond the gendered association with toys and forms of play
altogether. My partner and I recently got our nephew toy food to put in his toy
kitchen. Males use kitchens too, right? Break down the idea of forms of play and gender, and promote all
genders to play with all or any toys, games, and imaginative scenarios. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Yes, Robin
McGrath, let’s not limit our girl children to thinking it’s <span style="color: magenta;">pretty princess or
bust</span>, but let’s also not invalidate or belittle the fun and creative play of
wings and a fairy wand. Also, boys play with wands too – have you heard of <i>Harry
Potter</i>?</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">By vilifying pink, linked most
superficially and yet pervasively to femininity, you’re vilifying femininity
itself. We can be critical of gender norms and the social strictures that
dictate and regulate “proper” expression of gender without denouncing feminine
expression as inadequate, lesser, or wrong. <b>That is just about the worst
message I can think of sending to any feminine identified child.</b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I sense that underneath McGrath’s
abrasive approach to this topic, there is a modicum of sense that could be
elaborated upon. I sense that she worries that pink, princessy things may be
harmful and teach girls that they are weak and reliant. But I also think she
needs to update her “Princesses of Pop Culture” library to get a viable sense
of what’s out there currently. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">There are many problematic elements in the
character princesses of yesteryear – Ariel is willing to give up her voice and
become mute to meet her prince, wtf? But look at all the role models that have
come out in more recent Disney films, from <i>Mulan
</i>(not that recent – 1998) to <i>Brave </i>and
<i>Frozen.</i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">On a separate and yet intertwined
thread, McGrath ridicules blondness. Now, the white, blonde haired and blue eyed
people of the world hardly need an advocate and no, this isn’t “reverse
racism.” It is, however, prejudicial and frankly nasty. Being a (fake) blond
haired, (naturally) blue eyed woman I am used to the cultural concepts of </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">“</span></span></span>bimbos</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">”</span></span></span>
and </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">“</span></span></span>dumb blondes.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">”</span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I don’t even entertain that nonsense, but I do have a certain
amount of educational privilege that allows me to feel invincible to such
stereotypes, and the verbal capacity to shut down anyone who tries to ridicule
or provoke me in this terrain. Not everyone does. Whether you’re a little kid
who can’t help having light hair, or an adult who is blonde or chose to be
blonde with hair colour (she deliberately writes “the peroxide” to try to
diminish and ridicule the choice of colouring one’s hair), you are not
(necessarily) an attention craving narcissist. <b>There is no correlation. </b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">McGrath has a real hate on for blonde
women. It’s a prime example of women against women sexism. But remember, anyone can be blonde; get out <i>the peroxide</i> - you can be blonde too!</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">I don’t know, but I imagine, on some
level, McGrath considers herself a feminist. Degrading or invalidating
femininity is not feminist.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<a class="UFILikeLink" data-ft="{"tn":">"}" data-reactid=".9w" href="https://www.facebook.com/zaren.white/posts/10152638725442896?notif_t=like#" role="button" title="Like this"><span data-reactid=".9w.1"></span></a><label class="uiLinkButton comment_link" title="Leave a comment"></label>Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-60763354619713129412015-01-16T18:12:00.000-03:302015-01-18T14:40:55.055-03:30I'm OK with Being an "Angry Feminist"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Anger gets a bad name. We live in a world that often
equates anger with irrationality, lack of control, lack of restraint. We teach
kids and adults alike to manage their anger and move past their anger. Calmness
and emotionless ha<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ve</span> become over associated with being logical, educated, and
diplomatic. We are a culture of post-Enlightenment rational subjects who have
been taught that anger solves nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKF-jp0WwS7jcQVWP9rt84RkqlOY6wg39P49ow463b-Vy7DCvQTNhr8pdQFxSmdtzmoKDZv1yjnRbYtnkMLmLaBjvWpGycMCM-6aFlcsVFwCziTQilFMZODeO_5wG2IJf7RbyxaphUdg/s1600/Angry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKF-jp0WwS7jcQVWP9rt84RkqlOY6wg39P49ow463b-Vy7DCvQTNhr8pdQFxSmdtzmoKDZv1yjnRbYtnkMLmLaBjvWpGycMCM-6aFlcsVFwCziTQilFMZODeO_5wG2IJf7RbyxaphUdg/s1600/Angry.jpg" height="212" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">This is sometimes, maybe often, true. Anger <i>can </i>be
destructive and harmful. Most of us have probably witnessed anger problems in
those around us, the kind of anger that is persistent, maybe without an
identifiable, “valid” reason, and likely damaging to the person and those
around them. We know anger can hurt both the angry and the angry-at. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">But anger can also be useful, motivational, and I
would argue, necessary, for social change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Anger is often dismissed in social justice
movements. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Who hasn’t heard the pejorative <b>“angry feminist” </b>used to dismiss
gender inequality and the work of feminism? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Who, among the feminists reading
this, hasn’t at some point feared being thought of as an angry feminist?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Well, I am a feminist and, sometimes, I get angry.
Maybe that makes me an angry feminist. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b>And that’s OK. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Believe it or not, I can be angry and level-headed,
diplomatic, and rational at the same time. Anger does not necessarily eradicate
rationality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Women have a lot of valid things to be angry about.
LGBTQ* people have a lot of valid things to be angry about. People of colour
have a lot of valid things to be angry about. Anyone who has been marginalized
or discriminated against because of systemic social injustice isn’t being “oversensitive”
or “irrational” when they speak up, make calls to action, or feel anger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Trying to make outspoken advocates for change feel
ashamed or irrational for feeling angry is just another tactic of silencing, erasing,
and controlling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Which leads me to my point: This headline in <i>VICE</i>: <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/no-jail-time-for-man-who-texted-photo-of-himself-penetrating-rehtaeh-parsons-while-she-vomited-273?utm_source=vicetwitterca" target="_blank">“No Jail for the Man Who Texted Photo of Himself Penetrating Rehtaeh Parsons as She Vomited.”</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">It’s not specifically this headline; this headline
is just particularly raw and direct in portraying the crux of this horrendous
story (and I think we should be forced to remember just how disgusting this act
was). It’s everything to do with Rehtaeh (whose name we can now say once again after
the revocation of the publication ban, as a direct result of much protest by
many people and supporters, including her parents). It’s the fact that this
happened, the fact that this perpetrator isn’t being treated as a criminal, but
as an adolescent who made a mistake and now we’re supposed to feel bad for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I’m angry that I see more questioning of <i>why</i> she was drinking, <i>why</i> she didn’t leave the party, <i>how</i> she let this happen, than what, in society,
has gone <i>so wrong</i> to make teen boys
feel compelled to not only rape a drunk 15-year-old, but to photograph it and
share it with others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I don’t know if any word really encompasses how
horrific this is. Sickening is a start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Not just that it happened, not just that her life
was made unbearable because of the shame of being a victim of a sex crime, but
that she is gone now, and there is no tangible justice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Maybe the “accused” will live the rest of his life
in agony and remorse. Maybe he will never get over what he did. But our justice
system isn’t designed based on the <i>promise</i>
of remorse. There needs to be something better. If morality – or whatever you
want to call the individual impulse to consider the humanity of other people –
isn’t enough to keep sexual assault, rape, and online harassment from happening,
then properly punish the perpetrators. Full stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I’m angry because, as a woman, I still have to
convince some people that my brain is not controlled by my uterus. That I
deserve respect and equality on the basis on my <i>person</i>hood. I’m angry that some think that if I defend women and
denounce sexism it’s because I’m a woman, as opposed to a decent, thinking
human. And yet, I have many privileges that others lack, of which I am fully
aware.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Feminists are often faced with a desire for a calm,
collected, <i><b>palatable </b></i>feminism – in which one critiques, but has to be
ultimately fair, cool, and sensitive to the oppressors. I do this – a lot. I
naturally usually take an approach to speaking and writing that is balanced and
respectful. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be angry, or shouldn’t be angry, or
that anger isn’t a part of my politics. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b>Anger doesn’t make me “crazy.” Anger
makes me committed and steadfast.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I’m angry about Jian Ghomeshi. I’m angry about the
Dalhousie “gentlemen.” I’m angry about Rehtaeh’s rapist.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.4px;">I’m </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">angry that Margaret Wente still writes a column. I’m angry about
missing and murdered aboriginal women in this country. I’m angry about all the
lives that are hurt or lost due to sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">What are you angry about today?</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8642280015780930521.post-66966462545971828692015-01-06T21:46:00.003-03:302015-01-06T23:02:55.130-03:30Get a grip! Margaret Wente says we're overreacting about the Dalhousie Dentistry students<style>
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<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
not biased against Margaret Wente. I just happen to find all of her writing equally
disturbing.</span></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
was mid December when news first broke about the Dalhousie dentistry Facebook
group and misogynistic, hateful, rape fantasy jokes contained within (see my
previous <a href="http://www.ofsugar-baitedwords.com/2014/12/hating-women-together-and-for-sport.html" target="_blank">blog post here</a>). Yesterday, news broke that 13 male, fourth-year
dentistry students have been indefinitely suspended from clinical activities
(ostensibly fairly crucial to their program and ultimate graduation).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of
course, it was only a matter of time before the oracle herself weighed in on
the situation. Margaret Wente has spoken, and it turns out we all need to get a
grip.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw99MUJUOzhOiFeOraWGTMNZbtk5nTRNIhagUJJqarO0eNoiANde-kLLdfDVBEHRRDC2FAEw-WIT0LPRRgN6r0ZHJKXKPlFqKo7gV0TpMb-e0fvC-avAMvWU3dwgz77TwL7JTS7WJBPro/s1600/DAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw99MUJUOzhOiFeOraWGTMNZbtk5nTRNIhagUJJqarO0eNoiANde-kLLdfDVBEHRRDC2FAEw-WIT0LPRRgN6r0ZHJKXKPlFqKo7gV0TpMb-e0fvC-avAMvWU3dwgz77TwL7JTS7WJBPro/s1600/DAL.jpg" height="224" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Normally
I might contextualize Wente’s latest column in relation to her larger body of
work, but Wente needs no introduction (least of all to Newfoundlanders). Most
people are fairly familiar with her views from dismissing the
legitimacy of <a href="http://www.donotlink.com/d4gl" target="_blank">rape culture on campus </a>to intimating that <a href="http://www.donotlink.com/gP2" target="_blank">student debt is a myth and all in our imaginations.</a> As such, I didn’t expect to be enlightened by her contribution to
the Dalhousie discussion. I also didn’t expect it to be quite so regressive. To
call Wente a rape culture apologist is not an exaggeration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">First
of all, her column’s title is <a href="http://www.donotlink.com/d49l" target="_blank">“Dalhousie’s dental hysteria,”</a> which elicited an “I
can’t even” moment from me. OK, I will: The deliberate and calculated use of
hysteria over, say, “uproar,” “furor,” “fuss,” is <i>so</i> Wente. Choose <b>hysteria</b>, a
word with long and persistent associations with female (sexual) dysfunction, volatility,
and emotional excess, to further belittle and invalidate the reactions of
people (including women) who have been calling for action on these students.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
only need to read that title to know where the column is going, but here are
some choice quotes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quote
#1</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Stupid, juvenile and way out of
line? Undoubtedly. Should there be serious consequences? Yes. But let’s get a
grip. Such coarse talk is not atypical of young male group behaviour. It does
not mean that they actually wanted to assault chloroformed women.”</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is an extremely disconcerting
normalization of male sexual aggression. Because it is <i><b>not atypical </b></i>does not
make it OK. In fact, it makes it more urgently a problem that needs to be
addressed. I imagine Wente, the ethnographer, peering at a group of male
students with binoculars through the bushes: <b><i>“on the university campus, the
dentistry students form a pack and butt heads to display dominance, as is
typical of young male group behaviour.” </i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fact that young men (ones
nearing completion of professional degrees, no less) talking to each other about
women this way is considered <i><b>typical,</b></i> rather than outrageous, is a symptom of a
much larger problem. Wente seems to have a lot of sympathy for the “poor saps”
whose careers may be ruined and very little sympathy for the women who may have
been the target (directly or indirectly) of their gentlemanly banter. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quote #2</span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>
</b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“So
now they are the latest villains in the ‘rape culture’ witch hunt that has
gripped universities across North America.”</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 –
<b>“Villains.”</b> Deliberate word choice to show you think they’ve been unfairly
vilified, and a whimsical word to show your lack of conviction in portraying them as having committed actual transgressions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>“</b></span>Rape culture</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>”</b></span> </b>in scare quotes because it’s not real (see previous Wente
treatises).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 –
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>“</b></span>Witch hunt.</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>”</b></span> </b>Yes. Equate rapists and sexual violence perpetrators (which are
real) with the victims of the witch hunts (which we know was insane because
witches weren’t real). Tell all the rape victims that persecuting rapists is akin to witch hunting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
that one short sentence she has packed in so much flagrant disrespect for
victims of sexual violence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quote
#3</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“[Joan
Rush, professor of health law and ethics] blames white men, who still run most
dental schools and professional associations, for the “culture of hatred and
chauvinism.” Personally, I doubt dentistry is quite that bad. Besides, the men
are in decline. Like pharmacy and veterinary medicine, the profession is
experiencing a huge influx of women.”</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everyone
– relax. Rape culture isn’t real, systemic misogyny isn’t a problem, and women
have nothing to worry about, because Margaret Wente doubts dentistry is <i><b>that</b>
</i>bad. Of all the disciplines and faculties across the country, I’d say we have
some fairly reliable evidence that dentistry is, or at least can be, <i><b>that </b></i>bad. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not that all male dental students are chauvinists or that Dalhousie is worse
than any other school, not at all. But we know this gentlemen club existed, and
run by Dalhousie dentistry students. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sadly, it could be a tiny glimpse into
just how bad it is.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also,
womenfolk – fear not! Because we’ve made so many strides in the post-secondary
system generally and professional schools, specifically, chauvinism is dead! We
don’t need men to change and think and behave better, we don’t need them to
respect us – we’ll just bulldoze them with our sheer numbers! We’ll fight
harder for opportunities while they don’t have to face the burden of changing!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wente
thinks everyone has overreacted. <b>I think they reacted – just the right amount</b>.</span></div>
Zaren Healey Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04518674362108341977noreply@blogger.com6