Posts by Raisa Bhuiyan
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In the Blog
Dressing for Work
For some women-identified and femme folks, deciding what to wear to work is a deliberate and thoughtful decision. For others, deciding what to wear to work is a quick process often determined by whatever article of clothing is readily available. For many, deciding what to wear to work is a complicated process. An overlooked fact about professional dressing is that for many people, decisions about professional dressing involves untangling mainstream, Eurocentric ideas of what women … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Reflections on the Mainstream Organic Movement in Canada
A critical reflection on the often murky ethics of the organic ‘foodie’ movement in Canada and cultural appropriation. READ MORE
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In the Blog
The Entrepreneurial Activist of 2015
The term entrepreneur is difficult to understand, especially because it can contain multiple meanings. For the purpose of this post, I define an entrepreneur as someone who establishes a new initiative, business or company. An entrepreneur possesses an interior fuel and stamina that drives their actions; this energy helps to overtake and surpass the different challenges they face and injects strength to continue pursuing goals when difficulties arise. Anyone can be an entrepreneur and behave like one. After speaking to some friends, many of whom organize various activist events and initiatives across Toronto, it has become clear that that being an activist in 2015 means something different than being an activist in 2010. Being an activist in 2015 means being an entrepreneurial activist! READ MORE
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In the Blog
Leveraging Procrastination
No matter how old you are or whether or not you feel that you’ve kicked the habit, chances are you have experienced the feeling of procrastination. Procrastination refers to the behaviour of avoiding doing something that needs to be done because, in the current moment, it feels better not to confront the task. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Scandal and Emotional Abuse
If there is one thing that is for sure on ABC’s hit TV show, Scandal, it is that Olivia Pope is one of the bravest people ever. She is brave not only because of the daily struggles that she negotiates everyday as one of the most powerful fictional women in US politics, but also because of the strength that she displays in dealing with her father, Rowan Pope, a source of toxicity in her life. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Trickle Down Community Engagement and Grassroots Activism
A January 2015 article by Vu [(https://twitter.com/nonprofitwballs)]) of the blog website, ‘Nonprofit with Balls’ defined the term Trickle-Down Community Engagement (TDCE) as, ‘when we (not-for-profit organizations) bypass the people who are most affected by issues, engage and fund larger organizations to tackle these issues, and hope that miraculously the people most affected will help out in the effort, usually for free.’ That is to say, TDCE is a system that many funders of not-for-profit organizations adopt … READ MORE
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In the Blog
The Feminist Politics of Sailor Moon
“Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight.” Many young people who were of elementary school age during the mid to late 1990’s will most likely have the remainder of following lyrics memorized. These lyrics were the first few lines of the opening song for the English dubbed Sailor Moon anime television show READ MORE
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Blog Series
Ten Years of Talking Back: Raisa Bhuiyan
Shameless writer and blogger Raisa Bhuiyan shares why Shameless is important and needs your support. READ MORE
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In the Blog
On Tumblr, groupthink, and the glorification of Internet celebrity cultures
Four years ago one of my friends asked me if I would share my Tumblr url with her. I had no idea what she meant, but the name Tumblr sounded whimsical like a Dr. Suess rhyme scheme. I signed up immediately and have been tumbling ever since. It is not a joke to say that once you start a Tumblr, you can never go back. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Not your ‘Fashion Dots’: The Continuous Appropriation of Bindis
In the latest slew of North American women pop stars to don the bindi, white-passing Selena Gomez clocked in at number 10 for her MTV Movie Awards performance of “Come and Get It.” While it can only be assumed that Selena probably didn’t think this move through, the question remains as to why popular pop stars such as Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Shakira, Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Nicole Scherzinger, Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks have … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Journey Inward: A Profile of Anna Berankova
I recently had the pleasure of having a chat with Anna Berankova, who has recently facilitated a series of free, women’s sexual-exploration workshops at the 519 and is preparing for the launch of her memoir due out this spring, which looks into the interconnectedness of sex to the physical, spiritual and mental realms of being. While there are a bevy of wonderful angles that could be taken to describe her body of work, I was most … READ MORE
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In the Blog
That’s Rockist! A racialized experience of listening to western rock music Part I
Worn out leather jackets. Black skinny pants. Studded accessories. Groupies. Lots of groupies. Cowboy boots. Unkempt hair. Glamourous makeup. Despair. Joy. Smashing guitars in hotel rooms and getting caught in Tokyo for trying to smuggle marijuana into Japan. These terms and phrases reflect only some of the things that have come to inform the public imagination about what makes up the image of a rock star. While a careful and thoughtful analysis of pinpointing the precise social, economic and cultural factors for why rock music in … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Eat, Travel, Oppress: Travel Discourse and Imperialist Nostalgia
In an inspiration-intended to-do list aptly titled “25 things to do before you’re 25,” I read the following suggestion, 16. Identify your fears and instead of letting them dictate your every move, find and talk to people who have overcome them. Don’t settle for experiencing .000002% of what the world has to offer because you’re afraid of getting on a plane. I thought it was imperative to bold the second sentence of that suggestion for two main … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Hold Ya Head: What will grab our attention after Jun Lin’s head is recovered?
I remembered Yoshihiro Hattori when I first read about the murder of Trayvon Martin this past March. Yoshihiro was a 16-year old Japanese exchange student who was fatally shot by a man in 1992 when he had knocked on his door in search of directions to a Halloween party. Upon his arrest, the killer Rodney Peairs claimed that he was only ‘defending’ his home from the ‘intruder’ who was ‘was acting in a menacing, … READ MORE
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In the Blog
I can’t get no representation: whitewashing storytelling in popular media
Dear Shameless reader, I’ve just come home from watching popular film of the week The Hunger Games with a sour taste in my mouth and an angry grumbling motion vibrating through my intestines. It seems as though the white-washing of Hunger Games protagonist Katniss has given me yet another case of racial indigestion. In fact, I’m currently cursing myself for being hopeful in thinking that some satisfaction could be had with regards to how people of … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Hello! From a New Shameless Blogger.
Hi everyone, My name’s Raisa and I’m bopping and hopping off the walls to have joined the sassy team of bloggers at Shameless! I’ve been writing short stories about my experiences growing up as a North-Americanized, Midwestern-American-lingo-loving, South-Asian woman for my own personal perks on the back of receipts, flyers, envelopes and half-used hilroy notebook sheets for the past few years. Because of this, blogging comes to me as an amazing extension of that hobby. Except this … READ MORE
