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All posts in Event Listings

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- Eco Speak
- Event Listings
Toronto event: UberSWAP clothing swap

January 9, 2012 • Julia Horel

Shameless is excited to be attending this event – look for Julia and Sarah at the Shameless table and come say hi, buy a magazine and check out some merch!

PLEASE NOTE: The venue has a few stairs leading to the entrance and is not wheelchair-accessible.
–––-

Join 100+ stylish scavengers in Leslieville for the next edition of Uber-SWAP, our used & vintage clothing exchange! (Facebook event page here.)

Expect a thriftshop-style swap boasting a tempting stash of gently used, vintage & even some new clothing, accessories & footwear.

Bring a bag, take a bag!
NOTE: The main focus is on women’s fashions, but men’s items are also very welcome (no kid’s clothing or toys, please).

Save-the-date & please help spread the word re: this eco-fab & frugal event!

Saturday, January 21
11am-2pm
Queen St East Presbyterian Church
947 Queen St East at Carlaw, Toronto, ON

ADMISSION:
$6 for Advance/Early-Bird tickets + your swap loot (limited number avail.)
OR
$10 at the door
(+ your bag of gently used/vintage clothing)

Note: Those who contribute their loot in advance will be entered into a draw for a $50 Nathalie-Roze & Co. store credit!
–––––––––––––-

UBER-SWAP RULES:

1. Participants are expected to contribute a minimum of 1 tote bag of decent cast-offs (8 to 10 items). Swap loot must be dropped off by Jan, 20th, in order to purchase a $6 advance ticket (vs. $10 at the door day-of).

2. No damaged or dirty items, please ~ only bring clean/decent quality clothing & accessories to the SWAP

3. Each participant can leave with 1 large tote or 2 grocery bags of wearables (a significant haul per person!). Bags will be provided.

(Nathalie-Roze Fischer)

===========
SWEET CHARITY:
1. All leftover items will be donated to Double-Take, the Yonge Street Mission’s thrift shop at 310 Gerrard St. East (near Parliament), which raises money for various East-End social service programs.
2. A portion of the admission fee will benefit our underwear drive for Red Door Shelter & South Riverdale Health Centre.
===

Key Swappables:
~ Tons of clothing, shoes, bags & accessories (incl. some vintage & maternity items)
~ A table of fabric & craft supplies
~ A few *new* indie designer gems hidden in the piles from our shop (yay!)
––––––––––––––—

What You Can Expect:
~ clothing & accessories divided into categories (eg. tops, shoes, coats, etc.)
~ a bit of chaos, but lots of fun too
~ mirrors on-site, but no private change rooms, so please dress accordingly (wear leggings or layers)
===========

DO BRING this kind of stuff:
~ jackets ~ tops ~ sweaters ~ skirts ~ jeans ~ dresses ~ hats ~ scarves ~ bags ~ PJs ~ shoes & boots ~ belts ~ active wear ~ purses ~ pants
~ costume jewellery ~ fabric & craft supplies

PLEASE DO NOT BRING:
~ home decor ~ books & mags ~ baby or kid stuff ~ furniture ~ toys
===========

QUESTIONS?
Feel free to post any queries on the event wall or call the shop at:
416-792-1699
***********

See you at Uber-SWAP on January 21st for some eco-friendly fun!
Bye for now,
Nathalie-Roze, Ashleigh, Shannon, Laura & Anneke :]
- Event Listings
- Queeriosities
Call for Volunteers: Dyke March Toronto 2012

January 9, 2012 • Julia Horel

The Toronto Dyke March is ramping up for 2012 and we need your help!

We are seeking dykes who would like to help organise this year’s March and affiliated events, including parties, panels, political actions, community art projects.

We are seeking queer women and dyke-identified trans people who would like to help organise this year’s March and affiliated events, including parties, panels, political actions, community art projects.

We need both experienced members and those seeking to develop new skills. We need help with event coordination, fund-raising and budgeting, graphic and web design, social media, marketing, blogging, community outreach, volunteer coordination, and political action.

There is more than one way to be involved:

1) Join the committee! DEADLINE: January 16, 2012
Send us a brief explanation of 1) why you would like to be involved, 2) your qualities and experience as well as 3) the skills you would like to develop and your areas of interest. [dykemarchto@gmail.com]
Feel free to follow this template: http://docs.com/G187
Applicants are encouraged to self identity. Queers of colour, Indigenous dykes and trans folk strongly encouraged to apply.

2) Join the street team! Ongoing sign up January through June 2012.
Email us to sign up and we’ll add you to the list. [dykemarchto@gmail.com]
Help us when you can with postering, baking, running and attending events, and marshalling the March.
Come to our open committee meetings, bring a friend, see what we’re up to, and share your thoughts. Help us plan and develop our mission statement and goals.
Allies welcome!

3) Join our online community!
Follow us on twitter (@dykemarchto). Help us by retweeting.
Like our Facebook community page (DykeMarch Toronto) and comment on, like and share our postings.
Get in the loop on Toronto’s hottest queer events by checking the calendar on our Facebook page.
Tweet, email, holler your ideas and comments to us!

4) Celebrate Pride with us!
MARCH! Come to the Rally and Dyke March on June 30, 2012! March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance your way through the city streets. Take up space. Take a stand. Share some time with friends and make some new ones.
Come to the other Dyke Pride events we are running or supporting.

(Jocelyn Reynolds)

Questions? Get in touch anytime! We’d LOVE to hear your ideas, concerns, musings.

In solidarity,

The 2012 Dyke March Team

Email dykemarchto@gmail.com
Twitter @dykemarchto
Facebook DykeMarch Toronto
Call for volunteers: Documenting and creating South Asian history in Canada

December 14, 2011 • Ronak Ghorbani

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS - DOCUMENTING AND CREATING SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY IN
CANADA:
WHEN: Thursday, December 15, 6-8pm
WHERE: 2401 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 212 (South-West Corner of Kennedy
and Eglinton, Kennedy Station)
WHAT TO BRING: ideas and enthusiasm!
RSVP to: shaunga@cassa.on.ca

CASSA is currently recruiting a team of volunteers to help out in our
‘Brown Canada’ project dedicated to documenting and exploring South
Asian histories in Canada. This overall project will run for two years
and aims to connect with diverse individuals and groups of South Asians
in a number of ways, including setting up a memorial and participatory
website, creative writing and digital storytelling workshops, a stage
play revolving around the Komagata Maru historical event, a photography
competition, art projects, intergenerational and cross-cultural
dialogue and more.

We are looking to get in touch with excited youth to take part and lead
projects of their interest, as well as others of all ages: researchers,
writers, scholars, community organizers, artists, educators, activists,
and any group or individual who is interested in exploring a specific
aspect of South Asian history, or contribute/expand on work they are
already doing. We invite anyone interested to attend a dinner and
informal get together to eat, get to know each other and discuss where
want to see this project going.

Please RSVP your attendance to this dinner or get in touch with any
questions, concerns, comments to: shaunga@cassa.on.ca
- Event Listings
- Indigenous
Toronto event: Public launch of Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization

December 8, 2011 • Julia Horel

When: Saturday December 10th 5pm to 7pm
Where: Toronto Women’s Bookstore, 73 Harbord Street

Co-sponsored by the Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Join us for the first public launch of Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization! Corn soup and bannock will also be served!

This special event will feature speakers and presentations from members of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Percy Lezard of 2 Spirited People of the 1st Nations, as well as a reading by author Scott L. Morgensen. More speakers to be announced soon.

More information about the book and author:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/spaces-between-us
http://www.facebook.com/events/209764279098889/
- Event Listings
- Media Savvy
Toronto event: Screening of Miss Representation

November 22, 2011 • Julia Horel

What: Screening of documentary Miss Representation
Who: Ryerson Students’ Union Equity Committee, Women’s Centre, Nursing Course Union, Students Against Racism, and Social Work Anti-Oppression Coalition
Date: Friday, November 25th
Time: 6 PM until 8 PM
Place: Thomas Lounge, Student Campus Centre, 55 Gould Street, Toronto, Ontario

Plus, your friends from Shameless will be on-site with a table of magazines, merch and smiles!

From the film’s website:

About The Film
Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation (90 min; TV-14 DL) uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.

Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.

Check out missrepresentation.org for more information on the film.
- Event Listings
- Indigenous
Indigenous Sovereignty Week 2011 - Toronto

November 18, 2011 • Julia Horel

Please see here for the full schedule and details of each event.

Shameless is seeking writers who have attended/will attend any of these events to blog for us and let us know how they went! Contact Julia if you’re interested.

NOTE: Because of the move of the pow-wow back to Toronto on Nov. 19-20, ISW will be spread out over 2 weeks this year.

We missed the first two events of the week, but there are plenty more to come!

Friday, November 18
7pm – 9pm
@ Room 2215, OISE. 252 Bloor Street W, at Bedford exit of St. George subway (NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE)
Celebrating Community Victories - Standing up to the Harper Threat
Panel organized by: Defenders of the Land supporters

Tuesday, November 22nd
12:00-3:00 pm
@ York University, Room 242, York Lanes.
Deconstructing Identity Barriers: Aboriginal Women’s Sharing Circle

7:00 p.m.
@Ryerson Student Centre (55 Gould St.) room: SCC 115
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Speak About Their Struggle to Protect Scared Areas From Mining Exploration

(more inside…)
- Event Listings
- Reproductive Justice
Saying the “A” word: Breaking the Silence about Reproductive Rights in PEI

November 18, 2011 • Guest Blogger

Reproductive rights – specifically access to abortion – are finally being demanded by the women of Prince Edward Island. Following 25 years of silence, and two weeks of media circus, the first rally for reproductive rights is scheduled for this Saturday, November 19th, 2011.

Kandace Hagen co-founded the PEI Reproductive Rights Organization (PRRO) after being given incomplete and misleading information by her doctor. PRRO was the catalyst that broke the silence surrounding PEI’s lack of access: PEI is the only province in Canada in which women cannot access abortion.

The government and Health PEI does not provide information about the options that do exist for women in need of abortion, and this lack of access to basic facts is incredibly detrimental to PEI women. Women in PEI seeking access to this service must travel to other provinces. They must either pay $650-800 for the service in a private clinic in Fredericton, New Brunswick, or find a doctor willing to provide a referral for the service at a hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In both cases, women must cover their own travel and accommodation expenses, and have someone accompany them. For young women and women without access to funds, that is simply not possible, and stories of isolated and desperation abound.

(more inside…)
Free film festival screenings: Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories

November 2, 2011 • Ronak Ghorbani

In April I made a short film for a class project exploring my love for moustaches and the pressure I feel to remove my natural facial hair. It was quite possibly one of the most empowering things I have ever done: to pick up a camera, create a narrative, edit film and have my own self-told-story shown on a TV screen.

When a professor at Ryerson (where I go to school) got wind of the film she asked to see it. As the coordinator of the Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories, which is part of the International Diaspora Film Festival, the professor, Dr. Nima Naghibi, encouraged me to submit my film.

My film Sibil (the Farsi word for moustache) is now part of the Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories.

The Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories features free screenings of six feature-length films and is co-sponsored by various Ryerson University departments and faculties.

Some of the other screenings include:

• Unveiled Views – Muslim Women Artists Speak Out (2009, Director: Alba Sotorra), a documentary that follows five Muslim women artists from Turkey, Bosnia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran as they discuss their aspirations and the rights and status of women in their countries.
• Round Trip (2010, Director: Golkou Parhizgar), a documentary inspired by director’s experience of returning to Iran after 11 years of living in the UK and rediscovering relationships of those left behind. All of the films are being screened at Toronto’s Carlton Cinemas (20 Carlton St.).

One of the best things about the Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories is that all of the film screenings are free. All you have to do is e-mail info@diasporafilmfest.com to reserve a seat. Click here for a complete schedule.

To kick-start the festivities, there’s a free film event at Carleton Cinemas on Thursday starting at 5 p.m., featuring a screening of the film Forget Baghdad, a documentary following four Iraqi Jews living in exile in Israel who negotiate between their Arab and Jewish cultures. The screening is followed by a talk by academic Dr. Ella Shohat, from New York University.

To say I’m excited to be a part of this roster of amazing films and women directors is an understatement. My short film is being screened twice, once on Friday at 9 p.m. before the documentary Les Secrets and on Sunday at 6 p.m. before the documentary Round Trip .

Check out this preview of Unveiled Views – Muslim Women Artists Speak Out:
Toronto event today: Making Noise Media Launch!

October 24, 2011 • Ronak Ghorbani

Hey Shameless readers! Check out this great event happening today in Toronto:

Let’s Speak Up, Let’s Make Noise!

For the last year and a half the Urban Alliance on Race Relation’s Making Noise GV CAMP has been working with organizations across the city to hold conversations with young racialized women and LGBTQ youth about gender-based violence, community accountability, media literacy and creation. Making Noise! is proud to present the stories, photos, poetry, plays, videos, podcasts, and articles created by these women on October 24, 2011.

Come listen to the voices of youth which often go unheard. The youth are from YWCA, Scadding Court Community Centre, Be Scene, Flemingdon Health Centre, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Offices, Mujer, Lawrence Heights, For Youth Initiative, and Sister 2 Sister. The launch will feature an all-youth panel discussion addressing the topic: “What Messages do We Receive on Being a Girl?” as they relate to gender-based violence, bullying, and homophobia, and racism.

UARR’s Making Noise! project grew out of the need for racialized youth to speak up and change attitudes about important issues that affect their lives and communities as well as to build awareness around gender-based violence. Since 2008 Making Noise! has been conducting workshops on anti-oppression, gender-based violence, media literacy and media production for youth across the GTA to build skills and awareness around gender-based violence in our city.

Monday, October 24, 2010
ING DIRECT Cafe
221 Yonge Street
(Orange building, South of Dundas Street)
5:00 to 8:00pm

Visit our websites: www.makingnoisemedia.com and www.urbanalliance.ca

For more information please contact:
Ashley 416-703-6607 x 3 ashley@urbanalliance.ca
Nayani 647-898-9718 nayani@urbanalliance.ca

Special Thanks to our Funders: The City of Toronto, The Trillium Foundation, Status of Women Canada
- Event Listings
Shameless Presents: Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour Documentary

October 22, 2011 • Julia de Laurentiis Johnson

This rockumentary of the seminal feminist electro-clash band Le Tigre follows them on tour as they promote their last album (This Island) and gives viewers a chance to see just what it’s like to be a touring all-female rock band.

The doc has plenty of concert footage, backstage antics and archival interviews. But JD Samson, Johanna Fateman and Kathleen Hanna (formerly of Bikini Kill) also talk about some of the challenges they’ve faced being an all-girl rock band, how they deal with being labelled as icons for queer communities and the stuggles to uphold their visions for publicity.

This film came to Toronto with Hot Docs in May and ran for only three screenings. If you missed it or if you want to see it again, Shameless is running a once-only screening in Toronto with special guest speakers Tara-Michelle Ziniuk and Sarah Liss!

What: Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour Shameless fundraiser screening with special guests
When: November 6th, 2pm
Where: The Projection Booth (1035 Gerrard St E.), a beautifully refurbished old cinema near Little India

Tickets are $10 adv. Get them at Toronto’s Women Bookstore or right here online!
$15 at the door.

If you’d love to attend the screening but can’t make it, consider choosing the There in Spirit option on our ticket page. Your donation will go a long way to help support Shameless!

All ages, accessible space, subtitles provided.

About our speakers:

Tara-Michelle Ziniuk is a writer, activist and media-maker who has lived in Montreal, Toronto, Guelph, Florida and a bunch of suburbs (against her will.) She has a 1-year old named Anna Francis, who is not named after Anne Frank or Frances Bean (or the Bedtime for Frances badger, for that matter.) She is author of the poetry books Emergency Contact (queer angst, McGilligan Books, 2006) and Somewhere To Run From (slightly more mature queer angst, Tightrope Books, 2009.) She really wants to write a) a Young Adult novel about the on-again, off-again relationship between a girl, a gender-complicated person and the local activist scene b) a kids’ book about kitchen parties and how being poor is sometimes alright c) a graphic novel and d) a poetic prose book about one of her brothers. She apparently likes brackets, lists and run-on sentences.

Sarah Liss is an associate editor at The Grid and a staunch and hardy feminist who has been writing about music and various other elements of pop culture since the turn of the millennium. She’s written for Maisonneuve, Toronto Life, The Grid, CBC, FLARE and various other publications. Likes: Bulleit bourbon, cultural theory, the Vaselines, rescue dogs, Robyn. Dislikes: “Stereo Love,” bro culture, beef jerky, Matthew McConaughey.

What people are saying about the documentary:

“We get to enjoy the distinct novelty of a bunch of girls (who seems as close as sisters) goofing around and having fun on the road as well as fighting for the politics of what Le Tigre is all about, both on stage and off.” - Samantha Chater, Indiewire.com

“I’ve seen this doc and it’s AWESOME! le tigre rock.” - Twin Sister, Nerd Alert

“We’re so excited for this screening!” - Shameless Team

See you there!