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November-December 2014

Stereotypes and the city

Alexandra Molotkow@alexmolotkow

The importance of confronting pop culture nostalgia Recently, a Vulture story listed “the seven most messed-up things about Sex and the City.” There are more than seven, of course, but one of the most egregious is a season three episode in which Samantha dates a music executive named Chivon. Samantha is white, Chivon is black, […] More »

Oh, The Horror: Allure of the asylum

Hana Shafi

Strait jackets. Lobotomies. Scary nurses reminiscent of Nurse Ratched. Audiences are both freaked out and captivated by psychiatric hospitals. That’s probably why it’s one of the most popular settings for a horror movie—even when not set in one, raging axe-toting chainsaw-waving murderers often seem to be escapees from them. From the fictional Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, […] More »

Oh, The Horror: Demons and women’s sexuality

Hana Shafi

Exorcisms are a distinct, massive subgenre in horror films for good reason. There’s just something about watching a good ol’ demonic possession movie that always hits the spot for horror movie cravings, mine especially. Even though the subgenre tends to recycle the same essential plot, it somehow never fails to frighten. Besides, it’s always interesting […] More »
July-August 2014

Screen saver

Laura TretheweyWebsite@ltrethew

The importance of thinking before you click Online media has monetized humanity’s rubbernecking reflex like never before. “Clickbait,” as defined by Urban Dictionary, is an “eye-catching link on a website which encourages people to read on. It is often paid for by the advertiser or generates income on the number of clicks.” Clickbait is now […] More »

Throwback Thursday: The Death of Public Broadcasting

Kelsey Braithwaite

We were told that journalism was in a bad place. Just not this bad. CBC News recently announced it will cut $130 million from its budget this year, which will eliminate about 660 jobs within two years. This is because of “funding shortfalls and revenue losses,” says the CBC article. This Throwback Thursday looks back […] More »

Gender Block: advertising’s wolf in sheep’s clothing

Hillary Di Menna

Imagine having your waist measured with measuring tape and being a size “passionate.” Or stepping on a scale to see, not a number, but the word “perfect.” Body positive activists already have—and Special K has mysteriously come up with these same ideas to put in their ad campaigns. On August 21, a commercial for the […] More »

Wednesday WTF: For Whom the Bell Sold

Vincent Colistro

You’ve got nothing to hide. You’re an upstanding, shoes-wearing citizen who smells like soap and carries good conversations. You haven’t a single thing to hide. What does it matter if Bell Canada, this past week, announced that it will track their customers’ location, media habits, search activity, website interests, and application usage? You’re a modern […] More »

WTF Wednesday: Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente steps up to defend David Gilmour

Vincent Colistro

By the time Friday rolled around last week there was a veritable anthology of jokes to which “David Gilmour” was the punch line. The paper-bag jowls and complacent half-smile of his face pasted on News Feeds and blogs like an advert for a public flogging. Everywhere that CanLit went, so too went the name David […] More »

Gender Block: news flash – women care about the world’s happenings too!

Hillary Di Menna

When I tell people I’m a journalist I get a lot of, “Ooh, you can be Carrie Bradshaw!” Not Christina McCall or Gloria Steinem . I am sometimes told I’ll be the next Rosie DiManno, not due to sharing a similar writing style—because we don’t—but because our last names are similar. Only the people who know me know […] More »

FTW Friday: Facebook regulates gender-based hate speech

Hillary Di Menna

Last month a photo depicting a dead woman, head destroyed, body surrounded by her own blood with the caption “I like her for her brains,” would be A-OK with Facebook.   Women, Action and the Media (WAM) published Facebook’s response to a user who reported the image, which was pretty much along the lines of: the […] More »

This Magazine needs your help!

Sara Harowitz

Readers, friends, and supporters: It’s with a lot of excitement and pride that we announce This Magazine‘s first-ever Year in Review. This magazine, a special seventh issue, will be unlike anything you’ve read before. There won’t be articles on celebrities, trends, or the top newsmakers. Instead, what you’ll find is the top 25 stories you […] More »