We know it’s hard to believe, but This Magazine just turned 49! We wish you could be here to help us celebrate and blow out the candles on our birthday cake (this year we went with a lovely Fudgie the Whale inspired ice cream cake). Since 1966, This Magazine has been bringing Canadians the best […] More »
Last week the United Nations took a look at Canada’s human rights record. This has not been done since 2006, making this the first review since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister. A Globe and Mail article written by Alex Neve, the secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, is currently circulating. Right away it quotes British member of the UN […] More »
“Don’t worry,” they often tell me. “You’re a real feminist.” In earlier days I was alright with this statement. “OK,” I’d think, “They’re taking me seriously and are willing to listen.” But really, what they mean is that since I’m not wearing army boots and wishing death upon men, I’m a feminist unicorn. In other words, […] More »
Lately, it seems anytime feminism is mentioned there are many people ready to point out how unnecessary it is: You know, that if women wanted to work they would, but they choose to have families; that if women didn’t want predatory sexual advances they wouldn’t welcome them through their behaviour and clothing; that if a […] More »
Popular opinion says that when Montreal Canadiens fans at the Bell centre harassed two Ottawa Senators fans during Friday night’s game, it was wrong. Social media saw comments on how this is typical behaviour for Montreal fans or how Montreal fans were embarrassed on behalf of the Canadiens and their fandom. Less popular topic of […] More »
Unless you don’t use social media (which you totally do and probably have at least once since clicking this link) you have heard about Patricia Arquette’s that-went-downhill-fast Oscars moment. During her acceptance speech, after winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in Boyhood, she spoke about gender equality, “To every woman who gave birth to […] More »
Late last January a man in Winnipeg tweeted that the bar he was at was displaying a sexist poster. The bar agreed, and thanked him for calling it out. This constructive back-and-forth did not, however, stop the onslaught of tweets calling the man, Ben Wickstrom, a “pussy” and other predictably homophobic slurs. Despite the online […] More »
In this Oh, The Horror, I share some excellent, and undeniably scary, horror films with women of colour in the lead. This was, by far, the most challenging Oh, The Horror post I’ve ever written. The truth is, finding notable mainstream Western horror films for this list wasn’t easy. Several films that popped up in […] More »
I decided I need to become better at public speaking so I’ve started subjecting myself to the horror of, well, public speaking. I started as a guest speaker at a Durham Rape Crisis Centre volunteer training session, my second and most recent attempt was a literary reading at Oshawa, Ont.’s The LivingRoom Community Art Studio. […] More »
While most horror movies have problematic elements, the ones below are the worst. Unlike others, there’s simply no merit in them to overpower the awful parts of the film. 1. Hostel (2005): The Hostel franchise is problematic for a variety of reasons. First and foremost it’s part of the torture porn or “gorno” subgenre and […] More »
Grotesque deformities and burlap sack masks: these are the faces of physical disabilities in horror. Horror does not do disability well. Most “good” characters are able-bodied, whereas many villains in horror wear masks to cover birth defects, which the audience is supposed to find frightening. We’re supposed to learn that these faces are ones we […] More »