I recently saw this sign walking out of an interstate road stop.

I was one of three lone persons of colour in the place and when we walked by, stopped to look at it, made some snarky comments that included shock and dismay, we turned around. Staring back at us were “suspicious” faces (that’s what they uttered) who looked us up and down, looked back at the sign, and then turned to each other with a “well what should do we do now?” kind of sentiment.

What does this all mean? You tell me.

(I mean, I always thought that the real threat of terrorism was right here at home, with the Conservatives, antis, racists, and other oppressors, but hey, that’s just me).

I have to give a loud and proud shout-out to Anti-dote, the amazing Multiracial Women’s and Girl’s Network, since I just got done talking about doing more programming with them.

If you’ve never heard of Anti-dote, mosey yourself on over to their website and check out their fabulousness. Not only do there need to be more opportunities for those of us in communities of colour to exist in safe spaces where we can just be our authentic ourselves and talk about the ongoing issues so many of us are facing, but growing up in this multi-layered racist, classist, and otherwise oppressive world is still a tough thing. Anti-dote has circles of aunties, grandmothers, and sistahs who provide the familial mentorship we all need to carry on and just be!

They are based in Victoria, but hey, it’s all about unity across lands right? So let’s join in and keep these kinds of circles going!

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Yesterday I was at The Hillside Music Festival, “a celebration of music and community” that happens annually at Guelph Lake conservation area on an “island” connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. Hillside is a not-for-profit corporation, administered by a board of directors, a small year-round staff, and more than 1,000 volunteers, and it is unlike other music festivals because it doesn’t focus on corporate advertising in order to sustain itself. And speaking of sustainability, Hillside focuses heavily on reducing the impact of the event on the environment by doing things like reusing cups and plates, and incorporating solar power.

Did I mention that the music is fantastic? This year’s headliners included my teenage crush Hayden, The Cowboy Junkies, Hawksley Workman, The Sadies, and Broken Social Scene (I thought this song was an appropriate one to post):

Anyone who has ever attended the festival will attest to the fact that it is a haven far from commercialism, consumerism, waste, and, well, jerks. The entire event is a real testament to the fact that something can be (easily) done to protect and preserve and enjoy the world around us. We may have gotten rained on, but it was the good time I look forward to every year. I just wanted to shout out to any Shameless readers in attendance. See you again next year!

The upside to rain at Hillside.

There is nothing worse than being fat.

That’s the message we get from every magazine that obsesses over the weight of (mostly female) celebrities, and every movie that places someone heavy in the leading role only to make them ridiculous and asexual (again, this mostly applies to women: think chubby teenage Monica from Friends, who miraculously stops being a total spaz about dating once she loses the fat suit).

Now there’s a special boarding school opening in England for kids aged 11-18 who are more than 20lbs overweight. In addition to the regular high school curriculum, there’s a regime of “intense physical activity”, and a strict diet of 1,500 calories a day and 12g of fat.
According to the UK programme director of an existing British “fat camp” at which participants are allowed 1,200 calories a day, the average weight loss is 10lbs a week.

I am concerned.

Isn’t the consensus that the best way to lose weight is slowly? Haven’t studies suggested that overweight people do more long-term damage to their health through dramatic yo-yoing than they would by keeping their weight high but steady?

I can see what they’re trying to achieve. It’s seriously tough being heavy in school, and it’s also tough to start exercising when you feel like everyone’s staring at you, so maybe getting to play soccer with other kids who look like you isn’t such a bad thing.

But why is it only the fat kids who are singled out for nutritional boot camp? What about those skinny girls who, like many I went to school with, are so obsessed with their weight they skip lunch every day? Is that setting up healthier patterns for life than having an extra serving? Wouldn’t it be better to just teach healthy balanced eating in schools, all schools?

I worry that this school will only succeed in teaching young people to hate the way they look at an early age, precipitating a struggle with their bodies that will likely go on for the rest of their lives.

Maybe we should stop screaming about the dangers of obesity for a second and spend some time talking about emotional health.

Modofly is an artists’ collaborative run by “jack of all trade artists/designers” Jordan and Kevin. They make these hip-looking notebooks and are currently seeking submissions for new artwork for their next run of notebooks. And this time they’re requesting art within two themes, “Girly” and “Femme”.

We are looking for work that women and girls alike will gush over. We have been accused by some of the female folk of being weak on the feminine front with our books, so we want you to help us solve this (Okay, we get it! Kez and I are boy nerds full of tech lust, and you need to show us the way). So send us work that your girlfriend will gush over, your mom will kiss you for, your wife will give you some marital points, or a new mom will get down to filling with all the details of life.

My response is as follows:

First, recognizing you have a “gap” might be the first step, but asking for “girly” art does not necessarily make you any more inclusive.

Second, not all women and girls in the art and craft world are the same. It might not happen that “women and girls alike will gush over” the work.

Third, I’m kind of happy you’ve been accused of being too masculine in your work and art. I just wish you had chosen a word other than “accused”, which makes it sound like you’re the victim.

Fourth, it’s not our job to “show you the way”.

Fifth, your final sentence makes it sound like you want boys to send you work that the women and girls in their lives will buy. That’s so progressive guys!

Mounties pinned me down in cell and tasered me, Manitoba girl says.

Yep you read that right: ‘tasered’. That means a machine named after a comic book hero and meant to be used as an alternative to deadly force when apprehending someone armed or otherwise dangerous was used on an un-armed 16 year old girl, in her cell, BY FOUR COPS WHILE THEY HELD HER DOWN.

Oh sorry, was I yelling?

Tasers are already getting enough bad press what with the alarming number of taser deaths in Canada to date. Why not add a few child-abusing cops with tasers to the mix?

The girl decided to report the incident following the death on Tuesday of a Métis youth who was also shot with a taser. In the Globe article she describes her experience at the hands of Manitoba’s finest:

“She was held down by four officers, one for each limb, while a taser was used on her legs and groin area. She said the third shock lasted between five and eight seconds and left her screaming in pain.”

I am going to let Jessica take a crack at dealing with the fact that both of the youth tasered in Manitoba were of Native descent, I feel I have said all I can say without resorting to more all-caps.

One of our readers, Danielle, was outraged enough by Catherine’s post about a ridiculously over-the-top anti-condom poster, that she was inspired to create this pro-contraception t-shirt:

Who says we can’t fight back and have a sense of humour about it?

Check out Danielle’s blog here.

I’ll admit I’ve been quiet on the whole Morgentaler receiving the order of Canada here on the blog, but rest assured it was because I was fending off some media I really didn’t want to deal with, and fighting back on some websites for my pro-choice positions that are attacking me for a new reason as of late…..my culture.

Oh yes. It’s true.

A good one I was sent recently as to why I shouldn’t support abortion rights goes a little something like this:

“(Because we’d be borrowing) from our sordid history of legally defining Jews, blacks, women and aboriginals as non-persons by defining the fetus as such. Astonishingly this approach is supported by Jews (Morgentaler, a holocaust survivor), blacks (Barack Obama), women (Hilary Clinton), and aboriginals (Jessica Yee, Chair, Aboriginal Realities, Aboriginal Choices, and Toronto Action Committee, Canadians for Choice) who ought to know better.”

Wtf?

I usually let stuff like this go since this is certainly not the first website that exists against the work I do, and I’m not going to even give this person the time of my day, but I thought I’d share it with all y’all.

Since it’s that much more offensive when someone is calling out my culture to denounce why I believe people should decide what’s best for their own bodies.

I guess if they actually knew anything my culture, they’d know that we’ve had the notion of reproductive rights way before the word “pro-choice”.