A sneak peak at my book shelf, by the way…

One of the UK’s leading websites for English teachers, teachit.co.uk, is doling out gendered teaching advice in a pretty misguided way. They’ve created a recommended reading list for teens that is split between the sexes:

The boys list contains no books written by women, and tales of adventure, fantasy, and political intrigue…The list for girls reads rather differently. It is full of love stories, and rather short on books with political relevance or even wit and humour.

Books for the boys include works by Huxley and Hemingway, while the girls are reading Chocolat. Boys love shotguns and politics, while girls love food and romance? Collected Voices sums up why this is problematic for both boys and girls:

This does a disservice to both girls and boys, and to literature itself. I read Brave New World when I was around that age, and enjoyed both the science fiction and the political message, despite being a girl! And why should boys miss out on reading Ian McEwan or Iris Murdoch? These lists play into outdated stereotypes and limit the horizons of young people who should be encouraged to explore the world, and widen their literary experiences.

I know, I know, I used the dreaded p-word. But if you can see your way past this vocab transgression, read on.

I just stumbled across an article detailing a previously-unbeknownst (at least to me) method of protest activism: intimidating the Burmese government by mailing ladies’ gotch to its embassies.

The Panties for Peace campaign rests on what is apparently a cultural taboo: the more superstitious of the Burmese junta members associating touching ladies’ garments with weakness and loss of power. Causing them to come into contact with Hanes Her Ways is probably more of an insult than a direct action, but when diplomacy fails, I guess you have to hit, um, below the belt, as they say.

The new Molotov cocktail?

To add your knickers to the growing movement, check out details of the campaign online.

damazine is a new online literary journal publishing fiction, poetry, and essays. Its focus is the Muslim world, whether it forms the background of the writer, or an aspect of the piece itself. Within that space, we strive to present a rainbow of themes and writing styles. Our biggest criterion is quality. We are looking for powerful, well-crafted pieces that throb with meaning.

The planned publication date for the first issue is January 31, 2008. To receive notice when the first issue comes out, add yourself to our mailing list below.

Poetry may be rhyme or free verse. No more than five poems per submission. Send poetry to poetry@damazine.com.

Fiction should have vivid characters and an original plot. Length should be 1,000-5,000 words. Send fiction to fiction@damazine.com.

Essays should be immediate and draw the reader in. We are not looking for political analysis or abstract theory. Length should be 1,000-5,000 words. Send essays to essays@damazine.com.

(more inside…)

I have been meaning to link to this excellent article by Rebecca Traister at salon.com for months: Women are the new men on TV.

Traister runs through more than 5 new TV shows for this fall, and they all seem to have the same basic bizarre premise: in this “post-feminist” age (please draw your attention to quotation marks, if you look closely you will notice they are dripping with sarcasm), women have all the financial and emotional power, and men either have to do what their women want, or hit the road. In Traister’s words:

“Welcome to the new world on television, where the women are strong, and the men are cavemen…all [of this fall’s shows] seem to be expressing an anxiety about what on earth is going to happen to American men now that their women are not simply competing at work, sex, friendship, money and politics, but sometimes winning.”

If you read the whole article, the number of storylines Traister finds that contain a successful woman and an emasculated man is shocking.

You’d think that a fall line-up filled with sisters doing it for themselves would be a good thing. After all Catherine’s already talked about the dismal state of women in film today, compared to what once was. So what’s my beef?

(more inside…)

Okay, so I watch Oprah. Occasionally. I go to the gym around 4:00 PM, it’s on, and I watch it. There, I said it.

Yesterday Bill Cosby was on Oprah talking about his new book, Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Over the past year Cosby traveled the country to spread the word about the violence and lack of education faced by minority youth in the United States. The campaign in principle is a noble one (although he has faced criticism,) but for me it was something that Cosby said at the end of the show that I found particularily worrisome:

From Oprah.com:

(Cosby) says he has a friend who thinks parents can keep track of their kids by adopting the “shake down” philosophy used by prison guards. “He talks to his congregation, telling parents why they don’t have to knock on a door…a bedroom door…of a child, and say, ‘May I come in?’” Bill says. “Why? Because you don’t pay any rent. This is not your place.” Parents need to know all about what their children are doing—they should look under beds, monitor Internet usage, know who their friends are, Bill says.

While I completely agree that parents should be aware of their children’s lives, there is something to be said for privacy and respect, and how vital those two things are in the raising of a child. (more inside…)

To make up for the fact that I have no sweeping insight into a particular film to offer you today (the horror!), I’m instead writing two little blurbs. Presenting #1: Superbad.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see this movie when I heard about it. I knew producer Judd Apatow was one of the people behind The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. I seemed to be the only person in my city who actually didn’t really like The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Knocked Up, with its seemingly weirdo take on reproductive health was so unappealing that I didn’t even see it. (Unrelated note: several people have told me that they genuinely liked Knocked Up so maybe I will see it.)

But most of all, from the way the film was marketed, I wondered if I really needed to see another high school boy flick about a bunch of buddies trynna get laid, a la American Pie (haha! pun intended!).

But on a lonely Friday night I decided to take myself out on a date to see it, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I really loved this movie for a lot of reasons (even though there was a certain scene involving menstruation that I coulda done without), most of all for its genuine celebration of how important male friendship is.

It made me think of Anna’s thoughtful post on the value of every kind of love, and how we make such a big deal over couplehood that we neglect and abuse other just as vital forms of love.

And whether or not Superbad intended to, I really felt like it criticised - in a very moving and effective way - the fact that men in our culture aren’t allowed to tell each other that they love each other, and how that like totally sucks, bro.

I could go on about this for a while, but our friend Tuval has already done it for us on The White Ribbon Campaign blog. See his critique right here.

Okay, stay tuned for #2. The suspense!

Hey, maybe this is just too much attention on one issue but I found this too interesting to ignore. Dove, as we’ve seen here and here, is the creator of some very interesting ads that challenge mainstream ideas of beauty.

In India, writes Munisha Tumato for Vancouver’s Mehfil magazine, Dove’s parent company is taking a different approach. Unilever is staging a massive campaign to promote their skin whitening product, shamefully dubbed “Fair and Lovely.”

This is so offensive I don’t even know what to say. It is problematic on so many levels, globalisation, colonialism, racism, sexism…the list goes on. I invite you to read Tumato’s original article and tell Shameless what you think.

Since we like talking about language here at Shameless, let me share something that bothered me today:

Bizarre assaults hit quiet town
(from the Toronto Star)

“Asian-Canadians report being shoved into water while fishing near Sutton; police deny racial link
…
Since April there have been three cases of assault, mischief and theft against the mostly Asian-Canadian fishermen in the area.
…
Local youth call it “nippertipping.”
…
“Nip” is a derogatory word for Japanese, apparently used in this context for anyone of Asian descent. “Tipping” refers to a rural prank known as cow tipping. Some townspeople say it’s been happening for decades, occasionally triggering gossip but nothing more…”

I don’t think I need to comment on how horrifying the content of this newspiece is - what aggravated me about it was the use of the word “nippertipping.” I have to say I was a little shocked to see that phrase reprinted, and I wonder what value there is to be had in repeating it.

I feel that simply stating “Local youth use racial slurs to cheerfully describe the assaults” would be enough to convey the going-ons. After all, you’d never see the N-word reprinted in a mainstream North American newspaper, even if the word was central to a newspiece. [And yes, I recognise I just re-reprinted the term, and perhaps that’s problematic…]

It reminds me very distantly of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, when newspapers across the world escalated an already sticky situation to the max by reprinting racist cartoon representations of the Prophet Mohammed.

Tell me, am I being too politically correct in objecting to this? You wouldn’t be the first to say it…

Toronto Women’s Bookstore
http://www.womensbookstore.com
416-922-8744

Join us for the screening of Finding Dawn directed by Christine Welsh

* followed by an on-stage interview

THURSDAY OCTOBER 25, 7:30 pm
Koffler Auditorium
569 Spadina Avenue
wheelchair accessible
admission: $3 to $10 sliding scale, at the door

Dawn Crey. Ramona Wilson. Daleen Kay Bosse. These are just three of the
estimated 500 Aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in
Canada over the past thirty years. Directed by acclaimed Métis filmmaker
Christine Welsh, Finding Dawn is a compelling documentary that puts a human face to this national tragedy.

This is an epic journey into the dark heart of Native women’s experience in Canada. From Vancouver’s skid row, where more than 60 women are missing, we travel to the “Highway of Tears” in northern British Columbia, and onward to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of Native women remain unresolved.

Along the road to honour those who have passed, we uncover reason for hope. It lives in Native rights activists Professor Janice Acoose and Fay Blaney. It drives events such as the annual Women’s Memorial March in Vancouver and inspires communities all along the length of Highway 16 to come together to demand change.

Finding Dawn illustrates the deep historical, social and economic factors that contribute to the epidemic of violence against Native women in this country. It goes further to present the ultimate message that stopping the violence is everyone’s responsibility.

Opening and closing songs by Manitou Kwe Singer Amber O’Hara.

Onstage interview with director Christine Welsh and Robyn Bourgeois.

(more inside…)