We’re less than a month away from Pride Week in Toronto, which kicks off with the Dyke March — also known as the Saturday when thousands of half-naked queer women take to the streets between Church and Yonge. Lately, I’ve been wondering if this mass shedding of clothes isn’t really about celebrating our sexuality and […] More »
With minimum wage raising at a snail’s pace as compared to tuition fees (not to mention rent and groceries) and student loan agencies notoriously random with handouts, student across the country submit to myriad wacky plans to keep their cupboards stocked with tomato soup and ramen noodles. I, myself, have been known to dole out […] More »
I am caged in this corner full of melancholy and sorrow … my wings are closed and I cannot fly … I am an Afghan woman and so must wail. – Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005. One hundred and sixty-five. That’s how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in […] More »
As Canadians, most of us have learned about such nation-defining events as the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada or the Red River Rebellion, but in the next issue of This, we chronicle four under-appreciated rebellions that explode the myth of Canada as a place with a peaceful (and boring) history. The July/August issue of […] More »
Whenever I hear media commentators bemoaning the scourge of childhood obesity, I always wince a little bit. Even though I understand how important it is for kids to get active (and for parents to help them eat nutritious, unprocessed food), the reality is that there are many factors that affect a person’s weight and girth. […] More »
On Sunday, This Magazine writer Jennifer O’Connor participated in a march for social housing leading up to the takeover of an abandoned house in Toronto. Here is her account of the action. (PHOTO: KRISZTINA KUN) “How would you like to live with roaches, no heat, no water and no money to cover basic necessities?” asked […] More »
Just a quick follow up to Shawn’s posting below. I’m not sure anymore which wave of feminism we’re in, and this, um, intriguing Locher’s clothing line is not helping clear up my confusion. Do I give the “Will f*** for shoes” shirt with irony, or sincerity? Someone help me out here. (image courtesy lochers.com) Thanks […] More »
Getting the word out about a free hospital for pregnant Haitian women (photo by Isabelle Jeanson for Médecins sans Frontières) The poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, Haiti has suffered as a result of international intervention for over five hundred years. The damage continues to this day, in the form of desperate poverty and extreme […] More »
In honour of International Women’s Day tomorrow, I would like to designate today as “The Day in Honour of Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson.” These gutsy gals have just been suspended from a Cross, River, N.Y. high school for defying their principal’s orders, and reading out the following passage (in unison!) during a […] More »