You’ve probably read the Aziz Ansari story that broke last weekend, as well as the many subsequent pieces that have been written about the story. Here are a few we liked:
- Lindy West in “Aziz, We Tried to Warn You” writes that “Nuanced conversations about consent and gendered socialization have been happening every single day that Aziz Ansari has spent as a living, sentient human on this earth. The reason they feel foreign to so many men is that so many men never felt like they needed to listen.”
- “consenting to normal” by Hyejin Shim discusses why we need to move past binary frameworks of sexual violence.
- “On Sexual Consent, From a Woman Who Used to Be a Man” by Meredith Talusan offers an important and unique angle.
- “Why is pleasure important? Because asking for what we want and saying no to what we don’t want is a direct rebellion against the patriarchy.” Andrea Barrica on “How Can We Teach Consent If We Don’t Teach About Pleasure?”
Margaret Atwood’s recent column in The Globe and Mail, “Am I a bad feminist?”, has led to several great pieces this week about the need to change the landscape of Canlit. Some of our favourites are Jen Sookfong Lee’s “On Margaret Atwood and the new Canlit” and Chantal Braganza’s “Margaret Atwood’s failure of imagination.”
On a related note, I am happy about the “Publishing Unbound” event happening at Simon Fraser University! This event “brings together authors, activists, scholars, and publishing professionals from across Canada for a conversation about systemic barriers to accessing Canadian publishing and the often-exclusive world of Canadian writing known as CanLit.”
Here are 30 Books by 30 Queer Canadian Writers for your reading list.
Lena Waithe talks about wanting to make Hollywood blacker.
An excerpt from Ijeoma Oluo’s book, So You Want to Talk About Race, on speaking with her white mother about race.
This is USA gymnast Aly Raisman’s to her abuser and former gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar.
Read this perspective from S.T. Holloway on why she did not return to the Women’s March this year.
Also very important:
White feminists will organize on our lands without talking about how the women Indigenous to this land face the highest rates of sexual assault, murder, rape,and to go missing.
— Carpet Weed (@Olivia_Graciela) January 20, 2018
Read “Reconciliation and Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples: The Pathway Ahead” by Anne Levesque and Cindy Blackstock.
“Having, sort of, that top-down structure from the government, versus having a grassroots perspective coming from the victims’ families and loved ones I think has been very detrimental to the process.” Listen to Lori Campbell’s interview on the inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
Check out this link fundraising for scholarships for Native Studies students – including Black students in Native Studies.
The Woodland Cultural Centre is raising funds to Save the Evidence of the history of residential schooling.
“Though it might be better to realize my worth outside of productivity, I continue to live in a society that praises the art of getting things done over all else—including wellness and rest—and these are values I can’t seem to shake.” Esmé Weijun Wang in “I’m Chronically Ill and Afraid of Being Lazy.”
How a Blind University Professor is Helping Other Sight-Impaired Museum Visitors Experience Art.
And finally, Masha Gessen’s “To Be, or Not to Be” is a really compelling article about choice.
