All posts published in June 2008

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• • Comics are for Everybody

  Blog About It

  June 30, 2008 • Tiina Johns

  Your average comic blog is easy to find in this crazy world called the internet. Just google “Final Crisis,” and you’ll find pages and pages of boys talking about comics. But there’s one that outblogs all the other blogs ever blogged.

  

  (Matt Reid)

  
  Living Between Wednesdays is the best, most hilarious, funnest comics blog out there. It’s written by my co-worker/band-mate/BFF, Rachelle Goguen, but personal bias aside, it totally rules.

  Rachelle has a deep, undying love of comics, coupled with a critical eye for sexism.

  She is also hilarious. This is one for my favourite posts, about an Archie comic where Dilton starts a band.

  Living Between Wednesdays might be best known for Rachelle’s Rating the Super Hunks posts. This is where she posts pictures and rates super hero guys on personality, sexiness of powers, costume, etc. My favourites are Daredevil and Iron Man. The comments page often turns in to a debate between readers who are outraged that like, Cyclops only got 7/10 on personality or whatever.

  Rachelle also posts about the sexist crap that so often appears in comics. Her post about the now infamous Mary Jane statue started a huge inter-debate. The statue was of Spider-man’s wife, Mary Jane, looking anatomically insane, bent over with her boobs hanging out and a thonged butt, washing Spider-man’s suit in a bucket. Totally gross. Lots of people were outraged, while others argued that it was not sexist, but just “fantasy” so it’s okay to be totally unrealistic.

  You can count on Rachelle to point out sexism in comics in the most hilarious, snarky way possible. I think she’s really part of a driving force that’s changing women and comics. It’s like, you know how when some dude says something creepy to you, and you’re by yourself, you feel all angry, and sad and scared? But when you’re with your friends, and a dude says something creepy, you can laugh at what a total idiot he is and basically think of the meanest possible things you can say about him? Yeah, that’s how Rachelle is making ladies feel in the comic world. Totally BACKED!

• • Body Politics

  The stress case

  June 30, 2008 • Megan Griffith-Greene

  I have a lot of stress. I have a day job, a secret identity as the editor of this very fine magazine, a whack of hobbies (some of which, like making wedding cakes, are a lot of work), a ton of great friends, a fantastic relationship, and at the end of the day, I still have to find time to cook, do laundry, and, once in a while, sleep. I’ve always been a “workaholic”, and so have many amazing, super-accomplished women I know. Leisure time, what’s that?

  Of course, society has taught us all to believe that stress is harming us: it makes us more likely to get sick, and less likely to get a good night’s sleep, conceive a child and all kinds of good, healthy things. Which is why I enjoyed Peggy Orenstein’s column in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine. It makes the case that some of what we believe about stress is anti-feminist crap.

  (more inside…)

• • Activist Report
  • In My Opinion...
  • Race and Racism

  Borderline racism……..

  June 30, 2008 • Jessica Yee

  I’m back in the US but not without a story to tell yet again from what it was like to cross the U.S. border as a Native-black-haired-darker skinned-young-woman-travelling-alone.

  To give you some background, I have been stopped and questioned repeatedly in higher security levels when I bothered to tell the whole truth about why I was crossing. And let me tell you, they sure don’t like fighting for reproductive freedom or working for Native American rights.

  In fact, last year when I actually said that I was going to do some work with the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center, I was told to move to the next security level where I was fingerprinted, photographed, and had to explain my ancestry and why I would want to do “work like that”.

  So I’ve learned to say the lesser activist reasons as to why I’m going to be in the US.

  This time around I’m driving, and what do I see when get down to the long lineups for border crossing but 3 border patrol officials who are standing around amongst the plethora of cars, looking all stern and serious. This is new to me, I thought if you were going to be “randomly searched” it would happen when you at least get to the official in the booth.

  Not anymore.

  (more inside…)

• • DIY

  Turn that “shoulder pad” feminism into a hat!

  June 29, 2008 • Diandra Jurkic-Walls

  

  DIY shoulder-pad hat over at The Coveted. (The Coveted)

  Pop quiz!

  You might be a shoulder pad feminist if:

  a) your messenger bag sports a “Vote Clinton” pin
  b) you “do it all”
  c) you came of age in the era of shoulder pads and still see sexism everywhere.

  But, if you’re like me and you don’t like to wear your shoulder pads in your thrifted blazers, cutting them out doesn’t have to mean more garbage: you can now wear those shoulder pads on your head!

  Jennine over at The Coveted and the absolutely amazing Coveted Shoppe recycled her found shoulder pads and created beautiful hats! There’s no tutorial, but you could probably take some elastic, sew it on to wear under the back of your head, and glue on some tassle-y things. Sequins, those little fabric birds, sparkles, and trinkets can also be hot glued wherever needed.

  So rock that shoulder pad in a way that makes you feel confident and thrifty: bringing the brawn of the shoulder pad back to your head.

• • Shameless Behaviour

  Q&A with Jessica Valenti

  June 29, 2008 • Cate Simpson

  This week Shameless was lucky enough to catch Jessica Valenti, author of Full Frontal Feminism and founding editor of Feministing, while she was in Toronto this week. Here’s what she had to say.

  Tell me a bit about the new book [He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know].
  The new book basically came about because a lot of the response I got from Full Frontal was that what resonated with people, especially with younger women who didn’t really know anything about feminism or never had taken a Women’s Studies class, was the everyday inequities, the kind of everyday discrimination that all women face but don’t necessarily think about under a feminist framework, like the pay inequalities or the stud/slut double standard.

  So I was talking to my editor and we were like, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do a double standard book, almost like a sexism handbook so when you’re out at the bar and someone says something ridiculous and sexist you can pull it out and be like, ‘That’s totally sexist and here’s why and here’s something you can do about it.’”

  And also with Full Frontal Feminism obviously “feminism” was in the title and it did reach out to a lot of women who didn’t consider themselves feminist, so this one we went super commercial and marketable and didn’t put “feminist” in the title so we thought we could subversively get more women into it and then hit them with the message once they were in the book. Sneakiness was the general theme of the book idea.

  (more inside…)

• • Geek Chic
  • In My Opinion...

  Little what?

  June 28, 2008 • Mir Verburg

  So this is a new charitable organization called Little Geeks: “Little Geeks is a philanthropic organization and registered Canadian charity that collects, refurbishes and re-distributes donated home computers to children in need.” How about that graphic design - like Toys R’Us on poppers. I feel like Joe Matt must have done the illustrations since no-one has eyeballs. Seriously though, “Little Geeks”? I can’t say I like it.

  Though it may seem harsh to take shots at a good-hearted enterprise, I strongly believe that people from the corporate sector, (and take a look at the board of directors if you want to know who’s backing this project) need as much educating about social change as people who barter for used monitors need educating about interest rates and borrowing to save.

  (more inside…)

• • Body Politics
  • Laugh Track

  Your Face Looks Weird

  June 27, 2008 • Stacey May Fowles

  Oh, Sarah Haskins. I crush on you.
  

• • Film Fridays
  • Geek Chic

  What you watch when you’re not watching anything

  June 27, 2008 • Catherine Hayday

  Until I get off (on?) my ass and see some movies, I really should get myself removed from the Film Friday rotation.

  For popcorny movies I have a big backlog of last-in-a-series movies to see. Like the most recent Bourne Identity and the most recent Bond. Then there’s the new stuff that I’ve been waiting for, like Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E (hello? Short Circuit? Anyone?).

  When I do want to curl up (who am I kidding) lie flat and drooling on the couch at the end of a long day, I put in something short and/or episodic from the private stash.

  Recently, that has meant watching my mini-library of Siggraph Animation Theater Program DVDs.
  (more inside…)

• • Sporting Goods

  Shout Out to the The Bike Joint

  June 27, 2008 • Stacey May Fowles

  I just want to give a quick shout out to the friendly people at The Bike Joint for getting my bike going again when my chain jumped ship yesterday. I was stranded at a stoplight with a mere 15 minutes to get to my appointment and low and behold, The Bike Joint was there to help. Thanks for the bonus of pumping up my tires and giving me the phone number for the Community Bicycle Network so I can learn how to do all of these things myself and not feel so helpless.

  Last year Catherine wrote a piece on the Community Bicycle Network and most notably, Wenches with Wrenches - “an ongoing program of CBN volunteers who host bicycle repair workshops run by and for women in downtown Toronto. The idea has been to make basic bicycle repair skills accessible to women in the hope that participants will then share their knowledge and their confidence with others in the community.” Registration is now open for September 2008 classes.

  The skill set that WWW offers would have come in handy yesterday, but at least I had the very friendly and helpful folks at The Bike Joint to save the day. If you need a tune-up, brake change or a gear adjust, I highly recommend them.

• • Laugh Track
  • Queeriosities

  Tila Tequila Takes Credit for Gay Marriage

  June 27, 2008 • Stacey May Fowles

  Because sometimes what we all need on a Friday is a good laugh.

  According to US Weekly, Tila Tequila (of Shot at Love fame) believes that Gays can now marry in California all thanks to her:

  MTV reality queen Tila Tequila says she played a part in California recently dropping its ban on gay marriage.

  “It is because of me — I definitely think [my show] has helped the movement,” she told Usmagazine.com at the Hollywood premiere of The Love Guru on Wednesday.

  “Before it came out, everyone was still a little apprehensive about [same sex relationships],” she said. “Then they realized, ‘Wow, everyone is really into this stuff, and it is fine.’ The next thing you know, [gay marriage] is legal.”

  I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

  While I’m here, I’d just like to congratulate all of the Californians who’ve made their marriages legal since June 16th, and say a big ol’ F you to McCain for endorsing the ballot initiative that seeks to ban same-sex marriage. (Too bad Obama’s not much better.)

  Whether Tila takes credit or Obama endorses it, it is a victory and I’m happy to celebrate it. Regardless of your views on marriage, I think we can all appreciate how important it is that we’re all granted equal rights under the law.

  Happy Friday!

  Hat tip to Bitch.

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