by GUTS
- “Today is the day we become the boss bitches that we are in our minds.” Amy Pohler’s Broad City is by far one of the funniest shows we’ve seen in a while, but are Abbi and Illana radical female characters? Check out Anne Helen Petertsen’s thoughts on London Review of Books.
- “Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it be spring.” This from Margaret Atwood’s poem “February,” included in poetry project, “April Is.” Sign up to receive your daily poem via email throughout National Poetry Month.
- Queens University faculty made a statement in support of feminist activism this week in response to the attack on student Danielle d’Entremont. The threat of violence against feminist activists is clearly a growing trend that needs to be taken seriously.
- Indigenous people have been subsidizing Canada for a very long time.
- Rae Spoon recounts explaining their gender to a Calgary talk radio host. Check out Rae Spoon and Ivan E. Coyote’s new book, Gender Failure, a collaborative exploration of the gendered binaries that, argue Rae and Ivan, fail us all.
- Vice talked to the Inuit women behind the “Sealfie” hashtag this week. In response to southerners’ criticisms of the Inuit seal hunt, the sealfie celebrates Inuit culture and promotes positive self esteem. Filmmaker and member of the Iqaluit sealfie group Alethea Arnaquq-Baril explains: “we’re the poorest population in North America by far. Seven in ten kids go to school hungry, the majority of kids skip meals or go an entire day without food at times. So with that in mind, seal hunting is absolutely critical, literally for the survival of our people still to this day.”
- “If we never discussed our backgrounds and the privileges and hardships they’ve granted us, we’d be willfully choosing to ignore the effects that culture and class have on people’s lives, which leads to some of the worst kinds of prejudice, oppression, and resentment.” Rookie staff talk openly with each other about money and privilege in “Class Discussion.”
- “Girl, you have always done too much or too little, and you are always too much or too little already.” This from Hannah Black’s thought-provoking reading of the Overly Attached Girlfriend as a manifestation of the strange contemporary intensification
of the couple form: “You Are Too Much” - GUTS editor Cynthia Spring wrote about her experiences as an unpaid intern this week. In 2012, Greig de Peuter, Nicole Cohen, and Enda Brophy’s brilliantly articulated the contradictions and systemic injustices that internships are founded on: “Under capitalism, all workers endure the problem of unpaid labour, or those parts of our days, weeks, or lives that generate economic value but for which we receive no payment in return. So although interns are canaries in the coal mine of the austerity economy, the message of the intern activists, boiled down, has 99% relevance: Don’t be undersold.” For more bold and moving commentary, see Briarpatch‘s “Interns Unite.“
- As the Quebec provincial election quickly approaches, thousands took to control of the streets in Montreal on Thursday in an “open rejection of austerity, a mass rally in discord with corporate capitalism, an urgent call for radical economic revisioning and social justice.” Read more about the inspiring action being taken to build a grassroots movement against the violence of austerity economics on The Media Co-op.
- “It’s this double-edged sword where you say ‘sure, I’m multicultural, give me the sword.’ But then it’s way too heavy to carry because it means too many things and you can’t put it down because it’s too dangerous.” This from Alaska B., a founding member of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Read more about the dangers of buying into multiculturalism when promoting Canadian music.
- And finally, what’s behind a cheerleader’s smile? Exploitation. Find out why Raiderette LACY T. is filing a lawsuit against her employers in Amanda Hess’s “Just Cheer, Baby.”
