Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been reading applications for Shameless Wire with rising excitement. We don’t have any shortage of applicants, but a local organization has requested some more time to spread the word to their participants. That sounds like a great idea to us, so we’ve extended our deadline to December 31st.

If you have already applied, thank you! You will hear back from us shortly after the new deadline. If you are interested in the program but haven’t applied, there is still time to send us an email. If you are in the GTA, a young woman or trans youth, and 20 or under as of January 1st, we’d love to hear from you!

If you work with youth, or know anyone who works with youth, there is also still time to let them know about the project. Details about the program and how to apply are posted here. (Note that the PDF poster still has the old deadline on it - we will fix that as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you would like an updated poster, you can email us.) We’d especially appreciate it if you could get in touch with any teachers in your lives, but remember that there are only a few days of school left before the holidays. Depending on her schedule, our coordinator Allison Martell is available to drop by classrooms and youth groups to talk about the program.

It’s also not too late to donate to the program. While we’ve raised enough money to go ahead with the project, we still don’t have the capacity to take in as many participants as we’d like. Just $500 is the difference between running the program with 10 youth, and expanding to take 15. Every donation makes a difference.

A few weeks ago I posted about the return of Lilith Fair. Well, here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

Lilith Fair has announced the first round of artists confirmed for Lilith 2010.

Here they are…
(more inside…)

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Jennifer Cowan…

photo credit: Kevin Konnyu

Having written professionally for the past two decades, chances are you’ve seen something Jennifer Cowan has been a part of. With television credits that include writer and Executive Story Editor of Producing Parker, Show Me Yours, Traders and Big Sound; she also has written multiple scripts for the CBC/FoxKids teen soap, Edgemont, The Saddle Club, The Zack Files, Quads, and Ready or Not. On top of that, Jennifer has produced arts, pop culture and entertainment magazine programs and documentaries for CBC, CBC Newsworld, CTV, TVOntario and CityTV.

Her most recent accomplishment is the novel *earthgirl*, which follows the eco-evolution of 16-year-old Sabine Solomon, as well as a blog that is written in the character’s voice so that readers have an opportunity to explore the ideas in the book. As this week’s Shameless Woman Jennifer tells us about figuring out what needs to be done to make things happen.

(more inside…)

Today is December 6th, the anniversary of the murder of 14 young women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique, by a man acting out of hatred of women and feminism. A lot has been said and written in the past week about the event; I have to admit at the moment I don’t feel up to a clear-headed and incisive journalistic analysis of violence against women, the importance of feminism, or the need to remember this day in history. Instead I want to offer two things: the names of the women killed. And Choeur Maha, the Montreal women’s choir, singing Warrior by the Wyrd Sisters. Sometimes a little peace and a little hope are all you can ask for.

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

For lyrics to the song, go here.

The holidays are approaching and if you celebrate by exchanging gifts, some of you might be wondering what to ask for.

In my never-ending quest to see more women significantly recognized in the music world, I’ve put together a little gift guide for all you awesome girls who rock.

(more inside…)

Many thanks to Shameless for inviting me to guest-blog this month. I hope that I’ve helped you to learn a bit more about a new topic, and perhaps inspired you to do a little more thinking about why so many of us believe that fat is bad.

Questioning commonly-held perceptions, and even changing your attitude, is only one step. I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to accept others’ bodies than it is to accept my own. I can look at a fat woman and think she’s beautiful, but look at myself and criticize my flabby stomach. I can understand that my body size is not a direct reflection of my health status, but feel like I “need” to work out more than others to “make up” for my size. I can know that diets don’t work, but be tempted to try again anyway. I can know that I’m actually barely over the size of the average North American woman, but still feel unacceptably fat.

Accepting yourself doesn’t just happen overnight, and it requires constant effort. If you’re able to find a support system, you’re much more likely to have more good days than bad. Whether it be friends who respect that your body is not a topic for discussion, a hobby or activity you love, or a bunch of resources to fall back on when you can’t remember why you’re allowed to trust your body and eat what you like, find something to support you. Some of the resources I turn to regularly include:

The Fat Nutritionist (a Toronto-based nutrition student who studies, practices and teaches intuitive eating and Health at Every Size)
Kate Harding’s Shapely Prose, the blog that introduced me to fat acceptance
Fatshionista, a plus-size fashion and size acceptance community

If you taking nothing else from learning a bit about size acceptance, I hope you’ll be willing to consider that everyone, regardless of their body size, is deserving of respect and autonomy regarding what they do with their bodies. That includes yourself. Cheers!

AQSAzine, a grassroots zine for 16-35 year-old women and trans people who identify as Muslim, is launching its second issue at a free event hosted in partnership with The AGO Youth Council. The event is also a launch for Making Noise! Muslim women and trans people video project, and Jasmine Magazine, the first Palestinian Magazine in Toronto.

Making Noise! is an exciting hands-on media arts training that addresses the invisibility and negative portrayals of young Muslim women and trans people in the media, supported by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.

The event will showcase videos, visual art, and readings by Azza Abbaro, Shadi Eskandani, Sidrah Ladin, Sara Mir, Samira Mohyeddin, Shara Mohammed, Golie Moulaie, and Sahar Rizi.

Musical performances by Farheen Beg & Arun Chaudhuri and Tanya Jacobs.

Dance performance by Raja Jalebi and Sheesha YaDil.

Plus: silk screening and zine-making workshops.

This event is part of the 16 Days to THRIVE! Challenging Violence Against Racialized Women and Our Communities.

Friday Dec. 4th, 6-8 p.m.
Art Gallery of Ontario
Anne Tannenbaum Gallery School
317 Dundas Street W., Toronto

Something that often gets lost in the “healthy fat person/unhealthy fat person” discussion (see my previous post) is a discussion about who gets to decide what “healthy” behaviours are, and who has and does not have the ability to practice those behaviours.

The cost of “healthy living” is prohibitive for a great many people. A diet rich in fresh produce, whole grains, lean meats or alternatives, etc., is quite expensive. For many, the choice between a box of white pasta or a package of brown rice isn’t based on nutrition value, but on cost. Fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly out of season, when prices skyrocket? Forget it. Cheap and filling are the important factors. For someone who can’t afford to buy “healthier” foods, I’d argue that the decision to buy what they can to feed themselves to the best of their ability is the healthy choice.

As for the recommended levels of exercise: a gym membership? Not accessible to all. But you don’t need a gym membership to work out – you can run around the block. Sure, if you don’t have to go home after working overtime in order to care for your child. You get the picture. It’s not a coincidence that obesity is often associated with poverty, and thinness with affluence. It is a privilege to have the time and money to invest in practicing “healthy” behaviours.

Another issue that is often overlooked in the “healthy living” paradigm is disability, whether visible or invisible, physical or mental. It isn’t possible for everyone to run several miles per week. While those with visible physical disabilities might sometimes (but by no means always) be given a free pass against judgment for not performing the prescribed behaviours, those with invisible disabilities like fibromyalgia, chronic diseases, or metal disabilities that mean their healthy behaviours are different are often ignored. Chronic pain might make jogging or weight lifting impossible. Depression might mean that different activities are more or less pleasurable. For those with visible physical disabilities, prescribed activities might take on a clinical angle and be boring or unsatisfying.

Why not allow everyone, regardless of ability, to choose to (or choose not to) participate in activities that are enjoyable? When particular behaviours are lauded as “good” – and who hasn’t met someone who hates going to the gym, but does it because they’re being “good”? – then other behaviours automatically lower in value, even if they’re very enjoyable, beneficial, and accessible. Personally, I think that keeping an eye on your mental health is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than paying attention to the physical. Skipping a run to push a child on a swing and then read a book together isn’t going to burn too many calories, but who says it’s worth less? If you are unable to perform high-intensity cardio at all, should that mean you are worth less? If you also happen to be fat, some people might think so.

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Amy Sedgwick…

Amy Sedgwick has a passion for women’s health and wants them to be informed. With a goal “to provide a home, a safe space for women to develop a positive and healthy relationship to their bodies - a task that is becoming increasingly challenging in our culture,” Amy, along with her sister Kimberley, started Red Tent Sisters. Combining their visions to offer women services, programs, and a retail store, Amy takes time to answer our questions as this week’s Shameless Woman.

(more inside…)