During my third year of university at Concordia I took a philosophy of feminism course. My professor was brilliant, approachable and had the refreshing ability to bring academic texts down to earth by connecting them to real-life experiences.
During my 3rd year at Concordia University I took a course in feature writing. By the end of term each student was expected to hand in a full-length feature on a subject of their choice. I still don’t know what possessed me at the time, but I didn’t end up writing a feature. Instead, I produced a 2000 word rant detailing my frustration with misunderstandings and false stereotypes surrounding the word “feminism”.
The on-going conflict in Syria has become a black hole of violence. As the death toll reaches 40 000, it is increasingly clear that we do not have the full picture of the crimes occurring within Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“Think like a man, act like a lady.”
This gendered line is problematic for so many reasons, yet every time I sign on to Facebook or Twitter these days someone is quoting it, or alluding to it indirectly.
Have you ever been the only female in a room full of men making sexist jokes? Everyone else is laughing, but you’re offended and not sure how to react about it; you want to say something, but you’re afraid that if you do you might be told that you take things too seriously, don’t have a sense of humor, and need to lighten up.
