Children Are Critical Thinkers: It's You That Isn't

For all of the haters who believe primary-aged children are too young to learn complex concepts such as race, gender & class, I have found a little woman who wants to prove you wrong -- because, quite simply, you are.

Fluid Hair Salon: hates women but loves their money.

This ad has been facing some controversy. Some quick details: it's for an Edmonton hair salon and they have "apologized". Hmm where to begin...

The ad itself: This ad features a woman who has been beaten by her partner. Her partner is now offering her a diamond necklace. Now let's consider the things so very wrong with this picture:

1) The ad normalizes domestic violence: that this ad makes light of a very serious, painful, and illegal sickness that is part of our society suggests that it isn't a real problem that still exists. The problem does exist, and it isn't funny and it shouldn't be used to advertise a salon. Ever. Every 6 days in Canada a woman is KILLED by her intimate partner, this is not a joke, this is an epidemic.

2) The ad suggests that women are petty enough to be bought off: To suggest to men, or women, or anyone, that money can buy-off all your problems, including beating your partner is so completely sick it makes me physically ill. It suggests that if I was to be beaten by my partner, I am so incapable and shallow that a diamond necklace would qualm all my problems and I would smile and then probably get my hair done (and make him pay). This is OFFENSIVE to ALL of us, men and women alike.

3) The ad suggests that women are required to look "good" all of the time: Of course, this includes while you are being beaten. Do I have to explain this one?

4) All three of these factors create an ad that is in itself violent towards women. It is media depictions such as the above that not only prove an imbalance of power in our society, but that simultaneously hold up the structure that ensures a continuation of this violence. By simply looking at it, I am to pick up on cultural cues and narratives that tell the story of the beaten housewife, and then I am to understand that she can be bought off. Then I am to understand that a woman should always look good, and well, that is supposed to be the funny part. PARDON ME FOR MISSING THE JOKE HERE.... This is not a joke, this is not okay, and I am sorry I am not going to sit down, shut up, and get my hair done!

And as if I wasn't pissed off enough already, perhaps what is even more offensive than the ad itself is the hair salon's press release in response to the ad. Let me pick out some key phrases:

"Edmonton is presently the murder capital of Canada. Media’s energy and time may be better spent boycotting dangerous areas, gangs, guns, other street weapons, or a sick justice system, which unfortunately is still sadly lacking when it comes to punishing abusers or any kind."

You are part of the media, Fluid Hair Salon. You became that when you chose to advertise. And you also just became a contributor to the violence you are suggesting is a problem in Edmonton. And, as mentioned above, domestic abuse and the home can be a "dangerous area", and yes "guns and other street weapons" are used against women... by their partners.

"If survivors of abuse interpret this ad to make light of any abusive situation, we sincerely apologize, that was never our intent as there are people that worked on this campaign who are survivors of abuse."

Oh, are there? How kind of you to consult survivors of abuse before putting out an ad that draws light on their situation. I bet you're not racist either, you probably have a black friend, don't you?

"To the rest of you who this has so deeply affected, we truly hope you do something to help stop domestic violence. Truly honor the survivors that you are standing up for. Unfortunately boycotting a hair salon will not accomplish this."

ARE YOU REALLY PATRONIZING ME NOW? Are you for real? You hope I "do something" to help stop domestic violence? Uh, how about I don't put out terrible ads that treat women like they are petty, shallow pieces of garbage that deserve to "look good" while being beaten? Oh wait, I never did that - YOU DID! Why the hell are you telling me to "honour survivors"?? You just took a survivor and told her to get her HAIR DONE?! PLEASE DIRECT ME TO YOUR HONOUR! Are you really going to sit back and play mind games with me? Are you trying to convince me and my allies that we won't solve domestic violence by boycotting your hair salon? Well, that's just stupid. We KNOW that.

NEWSFLASH!!!

We aren't boycotting you to stop domestic violence, we are boycotting you because you treat us like dirt, you think that women are mindless, you think that domestic violence is a joke, and your ridiculous, sick ad contributes to the very violence in our culture that leads to deaths EVERY 6 DAYS! And if you think "artistic expression is your right", well then perhaps you should be a god damned artist, not a hair salon, and certainly not a propagator of violence towards the clientele you are trying to reach.

When white kids riot: The London Riots

When white western kids riot it's easy not to understand. What do they have to complain about? What is their cause? Speculations regarding the "trigger" for the London riots has gone from pegging it to a reaction to the Mark Duggan killing last week, to more recent accounts that it started when police beat a 16-year-old girl. Despite your reactions to these two theories, these were only surface events to a much larger systematic problem.

As touched on in an article by Penny Red, the London Riots are "viral civil unrest" and it absolutely and completely demands attention. As easy as it is to watch and chastise young, white, youth for their violent rage it begs the question: what is so bad about a white kid's life that would make them so angry? And as Penny Red says, they have "nothing to do and little to lose". Unfortunately, underneath racism's mechanisms, economic shortcomings like job losses and cuts to social programs affect the entire working-class population of a country. Divisions of race mask a smaller upper echelon of power who don't care about your race, as long as those at the bottom are distracting themselves with it.

Class oppression is hard to identify, because it crosses and spans and confounds all other power mechanisms such as gender, race, sexuality, ablism and ageism. That white youth are angry suggests that the class oppression has gotten to a boiling point where even white straight males feel that something's wrong, even if they can't quite identify it. And so maybe that's why they have taken to the streets to express rage. Because for years there has been a gross feeling stirring deep within them of things not being right. And despite being white and young, they still don't have jobs, and their government isn't doing much to help them. And the cuts that have kept coming have gotten deep enough to really hurt, and it seems worth it to just destroy anything the minute someone is paying attention.

These are young people with crippling student debt, people who have been turned into demographics and marketing brackets and not much else, people who have lost the will to fight after being told countless times to sit-down and shut-up. If they choose to say something peacefully they are told, "Protests will never amount to anything!".

I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard people complain about the "apathy of young people today" (myself included), and yet the minute young people get some attention (inevitably through destruction), they are immediately demonized by the media as criminals who are anti-democratic. People act as if these events are coming from absolutely nowhere and cannot be explained. The truth is this: when young white people are angry, it means something is terribly, terribly wrong. These are not people held back by race, but rather those who privilege from it. When the privileged are angry it means everyone else has already been close to silenced.

Twitter: the not-so-silent Serial Apathy Killer

You know, I often find myself in debates with friends, family and random strangers regarding my various views on politics, feminism, anti-racism, queer rights, conspiracy theories, social programs, education, curriculum, etc. As someone who feels I spend a lot of time explaining my viewpoints it would be somewhat unbelievable to say that I find people apathetic. And yet, I do. Because for every worthwhile debate or discussion I have, there are at least three that don't happen. Usually it happens like this: I say something and immediately the witness' (because they are not participant) eyes start to gloss over and roll up, darting around for something more interesting than this annoying pent-up left-wing rager who is about to rant about something.

For instance, just today, someone on facebook posted a comment about welfare recipients potentially being required to submit a blood test to prove they are not drug users. Responses from "Big Brother!" to "damn right!" were brought up and I decided to weigh-in. I targeted one responder in particular, and following my response she semi-agreed (or at least acknowledged I made some valiant points) and then said, "I dunno... This is getting to in depth for me! Lol!". I'm not sure this can be considered apathetic (as she did have an original point), or more so an example of how the internet gives everyone a voice, if sometimes perhaps hastily thought-through before it is articulated.

But that, I suppose was not my point... I meant to talk about apathy. And although this blog generally serves as a vessel for me to voice anger, today it serves something different. Today I witnessed the true anti-apathy of Toronto citizens via social media, in particular twitter. Today, from glorious Sudbury (home to Science North), I was able to watch Torontonians get angry, get heard, get tired and stay strong at City Hall. Bodies, such as mine, that were not there in physicality have sat peeled to their computers watching live-feed of what has occurred, who is saying what, and voicing what truly matters to them in their own city. Hundreds of citizens made it to City Hall before 10am to sign-up to speak to Rob Ford, the mayor directly. I'd suggest that hundreds (if not thousands) more are attending in web-spirit, broadcasting what is wrong with cutting social services that benefit us all as citizens of this city.

And how thankful I am to be apart of it, even if it is behind this cyberscreen. Because from behind this cyberscreen I have been granted the power of a voice. The brief dances of twitter allow small glimpses into the citizen's spirit, and this spirit is viral. Let this entry serve as a tribute to those who have proven today not to be apathetic. Thank you. There is nothing more inspiring than knowing there is a discussion occurring -- always. There is nothing more refreshing than knowing we aren't all averting our eyes to the ceiling wishing that concerned person over there would shut the hell up.