Posts by Nicole Cohen
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In the Blog
Working overtime
I love the way this story, from the Globe and Mail, starts: Dara Fresco took a day off from her job as head teller at a Toronto branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Tuesday, dropped her toddler at daycare, and launched a $600-million class-action lawsuit against her employer. Fresco, who has worked at CIBC as a teller and personal banker for 10 years, says the bank owes her about $50,000 in unpaid overtime. Her statement … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Women’s Housing Takeover
An important housing action is taking place tomorrow in Toronto, organized by the Women Against Poverty Collective (WPAC). According to the WPAC’s website, “Low income women are forced to raise their children in unsafe neighbourhoods where apartments are often overcrowded, in need of major repairs, and vermin infested. Poverty, lack of housing and fear of losing their children to child protection agencies are among the biggest concerns of women living with violence who want to leave.” After … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Congrats, Thea!
Shameless blogger and contributor Thea Lim has just published her first novel, The Same Woman (Invisible Publishing). There’s a great interview with her by another Shameless blogger and contributor, Stacey May Fowles, over at Until Monday. Way to go, Thea! We’re proud of you. … READ MORE
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In the Blog
A little context, people
One of the more thoughtful responses to the horrible shootings at Virginia Tech comes from Mark Ames at Alternet. The piece, based on the arguments he makes in his book Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan’s Workplaces to Clinton’s Columbine and Beyond (available from Soft Skull Press) can be summed up like this: Media: Cho Seung-Hui did it because he was crazy and “evil.” History: Schoolyard massacres are rebellions against oppressive and bullying environments … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Video camp
Concordia University TeleVision (CUTV) in Montreal is offering a two-week summer day camp in July for youth ages 14 to 19 to learn filming techniques (shooting, editing, directing, etc). At the end of the camp, you’ll have made your own short film! The fee is $150 or pay-what-you-can. The only criteria is enthusiasm, and preference will be given to youth who come from low-income situations. If you’re interested contact Jason: jason at geek4hire dot ca. … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Spoof not so funny
The comment in the post below deserves more attention, thanks to soapboxspinster for letting us know what’s going on. Last week, The Gazette, a student newspaper at The University of Western Ontario, published a violent, misogynist article in its “spoof” issue that, thanks to online activism and attention, is shedding light on the paper’s problematic practices. The article, titled “Labia Majora Carnage,” is about a “Take Back The Nightie” march, trying (pretty pathetically) to poke fun at … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Speaking up
Our Spring 2007 issue, which will be out in a couple of weeks, features a fantastic story by Liz Springate on the power storytelling holds to resist violence against women. Without giving too much away, the piece tells inspiring tales of small acts women can do to contribute to a culture of resisting violence, the most important of which is sharing stories. I watched one of these moments last night on the news, and was reminded … READ MORE
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In the Blog
And even MORE glamourized violence against women!
Seems we just can’t get enough of glamourizing or ridiculing violence against women these days. The latest episode people are buzzing about is the rape-as-fantasy ad pulled by Dolce & Gabanna (thanks to my fellow Media Watch board members and Feministing.com for the tip). D&G defended the ad as “artistic,” meant to “recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.” Doesn’t look like a lot of fun to me. Update: I bet it doesn’t look like fun to … READ MORE
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In the Blog
From the department of WTF?
According to this story at CBC Arts, three high school students in Cross River, New York were suspended from school for saying the word vagina! Amazing. The students were doing a reading of – wait for it – THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, and were ordered by their principal, Richard Leprine, to not use the word vagina! This is taking our hatred towards women’s bodies a little too far, don’t you think? … READ MORE
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In the Blog
International women’s day events
Following up Allison’s post below: if International Women’s Day, as Zoe Williams aptly puts it, isn’t about “fun-packed dancing from around the world, spice workshops and fashion shows,” (which I mostly agree with, although I do think protests/actions/events can and should be fun), then what is it about? In Toronto, this year’s IWD is about continuing the struggle to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, which would be enough to see a person who … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Trailblazing feminist Doris Anderson dies
I woke up this morning to the sad news that Doris Anderson, who was the editor of Chatelaine mag in its heady feminist days, has died. Among her accomplishments included ensuring women’s politics were on the public agenda through magazine and newspaper articles, helping create the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, running for Parliament and advocating for proportional representation in federal elections (she was recently active with Equal Voice, a multi-partisan group pushing … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Shameless is the magazine all of Canada should skim!
I thought I was still dreamining on Saturday morning, when my alarm went off during an episode of the CBC’s show GO. The show’s concept was a contest called “Canada Skims Magazines,” a riff on the broadcaster’s Canada Reads literary contest, where celebrity panelists defend books they think the entire country should be reading. On Saturday, GO invited four panelists to defend the magazine they think the entire country should skim. The lovely Jean Yoon was … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Calling all ladyfesters
Ladyfest Toronto is being organized for the last weekend of September and is looking for performers: We are a DIY, grassroots, inclusive, pro-feminist, pro-diversity festival that will showcase women in art and music. We are looking for feminist: - visual artists - musicians - spokenword - performance artists - filmmakers - volunteers - people to help with poster/web design For more information please contact ladyfesttoronto at gmail dot com. … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Do you have a facebook?
I signed up for Facebook, partly to see what the hype was all about, partly for “research” purposes (I’m a graduate student in communications, after all), and partly from buckling under the pressure of being asked every day for a week, “are you on Facebook?” I stayed on Facebook because it’s fascinating: people compare the site to highly addictive drugs for a reason. I’ve spent hours sifting through profiles of old high school friends and random … READ MORE
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In the Blog
the women are angry
I received a lovely email from a group calling themselves The Women Are Angry, which is worth cutting and pasting here (the Women are angry – as we all should be – about the Harper government’s cuts to Status of Women Canada): “Last year on Valentine’s Day, we asked the Prime Minister to forget about the chocolates and the flowers. Instead, he forgot about WOMEN. And now The Women Are Angry. This year, we’re asking you to … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Get off the internet! I’ll meet you in the streets.
If you don’t spend much time on a university campus you may not have noticed the posters covering hallways urging students (and supporters!) to join the Student Day of Action Against Rising Tuition Fees on Feb 7th. Here’s the info for the Toronto demo, but the above link has info for events across Canada and excellent background info, so I urge you to check out and hit the streets on Wednesday. Ryerson Rally: 10:30 a.m.- Ryerson rally at … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Remember sex ed?
The Sense Project team is looking for volunteers and submissions for its sex ed zine project: “Everybody has a story of wooden penises, condom jokes, STI villains and awkward silences. Some might even have vivid memories filled with clinical details of genital anatomy, or a really hot sex ed teacher. Since sexual education mysteriously vanished with the 2005 educational reform, how will it be remembered? How will it be re-imagined? We want to know.” “This zine is … READ MORE
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In the Blog
RECLAIMING HISTORY FROM MEL GIBSON
Hip-hop crew El Vuh has posted a track called Apocalypto, named for Mel Gibsons most recent epic. The track addresses the racism in the film, which portrays Maya people as brutally savage, and depicts them killing each other before the Europeans arrived, essentially justifying colonialism’s “saving” of the Mayans from themselves. The track is a good challenge to the overwhelmingly apolitical reviews of the film. As Juan Santos writes in an excellent piece that exposes the … READ MORE
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In the Blog
on ugly betty
My limited TV-watching schedule means I haven’t seen much of Ugly Betty, still, I was pretty moved when its lead actor America Ferrera won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Her teary speech about being a role model for young women was inspiring, especially since it is so rare to see a working-class, Mexican-American character in such a prominent role on TV, particularly a normal-looking, smart young woman whose father is an illegal immigrant! This open … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Pickton trial begins
The first part of the trial of Robert Pickton, a B.C. pig farmer charged with six counts of first-degree murder, begins today. According to the Toronto Star, Pickton is charged with the murder of 26 women, all sex-trade workers who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (investigators have found DNA from seven other women on his farm so far, which would significantly increase his murder charge). As Rosie DiManno writes, “If found guilty on all charges, … READ MORE
