Feminist Fare Friday: Edition #8
I am very sorry, it's been two weeks since I've served up some yummy feminist fare for you. As you can imagine, a lot has been going on in the feminist realm and I'll do my best to get myself {and you} up to speed and back on track. This is what happens when a certain 41-year old goes to a blogging conference and stays up carousing until 2 AM for three nights in a row. At my age, it takes exactly 10 days to recover and get one's head out of the fog that those three days created!! But, I did have a REALLY, really good time and you can read all about it here. Now, onto the good stuff.
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1. Last week the internet was all up in arms about a T-shirt. Granted it was a masturbating, menstruating vagina t-shirt from American Apparel and artist Petra Collins, but still a simple t-shirt none the less. And while I am not about to go out and buy this particular t-shirt, I do get that it is art and art is meant to provoke. And really folks, there are a lot more crazy and WAY more offensive things put on t-shirts these days than a depiction of someone's lady parts. Now, if it wasn't enough that the internet went all bat-shit-crazy on Petra over her t-shirt, her Instagram account was recently deleted as well. Why exactly is still not clear, but Petra herself has some thoughts on why an image of part of her unaltered body (that contains no nudity) may have caused this level of online censorship to occur and it is making me feel very, very angry.
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2. And while we are on the topic of the female body, I came across this powerful poetry reading last night from Lily Myers called "Shrinking Woman".
[youtube]http://youtu.be/zQucWXWXp3k[/youtube]
This piece really gave me pause, especially because I have a daughter and I don't want her to absorb that kind of "accidental inheritance" from me about food, about my body or hers or about how much space women are "allowed" to occupy in this world.
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3. It is that time of year yet again. Halloween. Or as I like to call it at our house, "Hallo-avoid every commercial store and costume EVER because MY 5 YEAR OLD IS NOT SEXY AND SPIDERGIRL DOESN'T WEAR A PINK TUTU-ween". Beth Greenfield at Yahoo Shine examines what kind of messages these over-prettified and hypersexualized costumes send to our children. HINT-not good ones!
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4. Privilege. It's a word we hear a lot these days. Gender privilege, race privilege, socio-ecomonic privilege, it's out there people and for a lot of folks, privilege is a really hard thing to truly grasp. Which when you think about it, is incredibly ironic and sad. I had an interesting experience last week talking to a middle-aged, middle-class white man about women being shamed for breastfeeding in public. Do you know what he said to me? He interrupted me, told me he can't even believe that this is an issue in our day and age and dismissed the problem outright. Here's the thing. I am a white, cis-gendered, middle-class woman. I HAVE privilege up the ying-yang! But not until that very moment when my experiences and that of so many other breastfeeding mothers was so summarily dismissed by someone who has privilege that I do not, did the whole concept of PRIVILEGE come to full fruition in my brain.
In feminism, no talk of privilege can exist without intersectionality coming into play and I know that for some this can seem like some kind of high-level academic feminist balderdash. I assure you it is not and in this incredibly honest piece from Winona Dimeo-Edigar at The Frisky, you will see why it's as fundamental to feminism as the basic premise that "Feminism is the radical idea that women are people".
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5. And finally, it's October, or "Pinktober" according to KFC, the NFL, Chambord, Pilsbury and a whole slew of other brands and retailers cashing in on "raising awareness" for breast cancer and donating a mere pittance of the proceeds from all their pink merchandise to actual cancer research. Cancer is not pretty. It is not pink. It is not about "setting the tatas free" on a ridiculous no-bra day campaign. It is painful and devastating and life-altering and women young and old are fighting for their lives against this beast. The public needs to see this side of breast cancer and that is what The Scar Project is doing with this striking photography series of young breast cancer survivors shot by fashion photographer David Jay. It's not easy to look at these photos, but it puts a reality to breast cancer that the general public needs to see before heading out to buy another big pink garbage bin. Please donate directly to your local cancer societies or to any number of organizations that directly help cancer patients and survivors and avoid all the "pinkwashing" of this terrible disease.
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On that note, I wish you all a safe and wonderful weekend!
Peace,
natasha~
Somewhere in the world it is "Wine O'clock".
I like wine. Have for a very long time actually. And before I liked wine, I liked Strongbow and before that Traditional Ale and before that (well, to this day, to be perfectly honest) gin and tonic. I even like a few shots of tequila now and then.
Just no sambuca! NEVER, ever, any more sambuca! Or GoldSchlager. That stuff is just wrong.
I've liked booze for a long time. I REALLY liked it one particular year in university that is very much a blur to me and could explain why I just barely passed English Lit. that year (it was an 8 AM class people!).
There was always some kind of alcohol in our house growing up. It was my grandmother's drink. She liked gin. And whisky. And vodka. And beer. And I may have inadvertently sipped a few of her tumblers in my young life having mistaken them for glasses of orange or apple juice.
We also grew up with my very French Godparents who would offer everyone, kids included, an aperitif -a tiny glass of Dubonnet- before dinners at their place. I can remember feeling so grown up sipping that sweet red liquid out of my tiny little glass at these special celebrations.
So, just so we are clear, I like a good drink and have been a social drinker for most of my life.
Why all this booze talk you ask?
Because I have a bit of a rant in me that I must get out.
THIS IS DRIVING ME BATTY!
I can not stand all of the websites, twitter hashtags and chats, Facebook pages, memes, and yes, even books about mothers and their NEED to drink, their REASONS to drink, and all the ways that motherhood seemingly makes women RUSH for a bottle of booze to cope with all of it!
Maybe I am being too sensitive. Or maybe this is just another form of brilliant marketing on the part of the wine makers and sellers of the world. I mean seriously people, there are wines called "Layered Cake" and yes, even one that is actually called "MommyJuice". And let's not forget the "you can drink as much of this as you want because it's called Skinny Girl" creation (which I do also enjoy every now and then).
And these so-called reasons that moms need to drink? The implication is that it is our kids and the daily drudgery of caring for our babies. Of doing laundry and chauffeuring and making lunches and wiping snotty noses and breaking up fights and picking up toys and stepping on teeny tiny Lego pieces and finding glitter glue in our favourite pair of shoes and reading Good Night Moon ONE MORE FREAKING TIME. It is hard some days, that is for sure.
But...
I find the whole idea of marketing booze specifically to the "mommy" crowd condescending and belittling. And yes, I am throwing this beef of mine in there with all the other mommy-fying of words and concepts that the world continues to come up with simply because some women also happen to be mothers (you know my all-time faves - mompreneur and mommy blogger).
I also think this epidemic of memes and the cultural trope that is the frazzled mom and her glass of wine that we see all over the internet sometimes hides a darker underside of self-medication, alcohol dependence and addiction. I also worry about what kind of message this sends to our kids about responsible drinking. Mommy needs her 'special juice' to relax, to get through the day, to DEAL with all of it! What kind of example are we setting when what they see is Mama seemingly using alcohol to blur the lines of reality a bit so that all will be good in the world again.
Hmmm....
I repeat. I LIKE WINE.
I like it with a nice meal. I like it after a long day. I like it while I am sitting in a bubble bath with my special candle burning and some soft music playing. I like it at book club with my ladies while we spend about 15 minutes talking about the book and the other hour and 45 on just about everything else in our lives. I like it while I am sitting at my laptop writing and I like it on beautiful days enjoying my backyard and the view from the comfort of my deck chair.
What I don't like it this feeling that somehow mothers need a reason to have a drink, that we are only drinking our "mommy juice" as a form of coping with the stress of everyday life and not a way of celebrating or even just enjoying our lives. And I especially don't like that for some women who may be excessively drinking and putting their health or the safety of others in danger, all of these memes and Facebook pages and books serve as a way to sanction what could potentially be harmful behaviour.
What it all boils down to is this. The message that I hear in all of these memes and themes of mommy needing booze is that a woman can't just enjoy a nice glass of wine BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO. Nope, she has to have a good reason to drink. And it's her children, those evil little beasts of burden, that are just that reason!
And for me, that is just wrong.
Please tell me that I am not the only one who feels this way?
Now....
Where did I put my coffee.....?
Natasha~
Knock Knock Little Sucker: aka 'What I learned at Blissdom Canada.'
Blogging conferences are funny things. They are full of opportunity. They are fun. They are chalk full of women {and men} who are looking for connections and who are, for the most part, notorious over-sharers and gregarious huggers.
They are also terrifying and overwhelming and can send even the most seemingly extroverted person off to a far corner to hide from the hulabaloo and constant "who, what, where, when and why"?
Four weeks ago I made a snap decision to go to Blissdom Canada this year. The stars aligned one day and within 24 hours I had a conference pass, a roommate and a plane ticket booked. I guess it was a kind of conference kismet.
And then ALL of the self-doubt started to seep into me.
Why was I going this year? What did I hope to get out of it? I don't really fit the blogger target market of conferences like these and the sponsors who support them, so again, what was the point of me going exactly?
I convinced myself that this was going to be a glorified girls weekend with some fabulous women that 95% of the time I only connect with online. I registered for all the required sessions at the conference and chose the Creative and Change tracks versus the Business ones. I didn't even bother getting business cards made, since I don't really see what I do as "business" anymore.
With all of that done and a typed-out, page-long "how to be me for four days" instruction sheet for my husband taped to the refrigerator, on October 3rd, I packed my suitcase, valet parked my car at the fancy lot at the airport and hopped on a plane to Toronto.
Maybe it was because I did not have a lot of expectations going into this conference. Maybe it was because I was being more of an observer and listener than a talker this time around (I know, I know. WHAT??). Maybe it was because I avoided the whole monetizing side of things and spent time spending money at the Handmade Market instead. Or maybe it was because I wasn't worried so much about what people thought of me and I was just being me. Unapologetically Moi. Whatever it was, in the end, I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the conference, getting to meet so many new faces and spending time with my beautiful peeps, Annie and Alex and Tillie!
One moment truly defined the conference for me. No, it was not the opening keynote, although Eric Alper's ability to make everything and anything relate back to music is simply amazing and somewhat uncanny. It wasn't the incredibly powerful "Social Media Etiquette" panel, that included the stupendous {in my squealing fan-girl opinion} Glennon Melton of Momastery fame and the quiet strength of Rehteah Parson's dad Glen Canning, even though that session did make everyone in the room think REALLY HARD about what they put out there (online) and what the universe inevitably gives back.
My moment came during the aptly-called "Power Hour". An hour of mini presentations à-la-TED-style that were inspirational (@Schmutzie), motivational (@CanadianDad) and hilarious (@sharonDV). I was standing at the back of the room absentmindedly scrolling though my Twitter feed when a speaker I had not heard of before was introduced.
I was still engrossed in some silly Twitter convo, when this speaker's words started to register in my brain and they pulled me away from my phone:
She wasn't giving the usual kind of presentation. She wasn't telling everyone in the room to be authentic and to find our voices and to tell our own stories. SHE WAS TELLING US ONE OF HER STORIES.
A story that she had written. On her blog. A story that was at once hilarious and crazy and so incredibly vivid and beautiful, that she had a whole standing-room-only conference room hanging on her every word.
And it was this moment, the simple act of Shannon Fisher telling us her crazy pig story that made my whole Blissdom Canada experience worthwhile. Her words sucked me right in and I felt like I was on that cold snowy road with her and the asshole pig. And having found the post afterwards, I have read it no less than three times already.
Then it hit me, a full week AFTER the conference ended. Why I went, what I needed from this conference and why I still want to continue over-sharing in this wacky world we call the 'Blogosphere".
I needed to redefine what blogging was for me. I needed to know that it is OK to be the blogger who doesn't work with brands, that it is OK that I am not blogging for the almighty dollar or the not so mighty, yet still lovely box of nice smelling bum wipes. I needed to know that MY stories matter. That my stories ARE making a difference for someone out there.
And the way that I learned that was through listening to someone else tell one of their stories. A big bonus was getting to sit down with Shannon at the after-after party on Saturday night to get to know her a bit too. She really is one cool chickita and I feel like I should leave you with another of her posts to read, just in case the pig story didn't already hook you.
Shannon's reading of her post out loud, the actual embodiment of the advice we often hear at blogging conferences about finding and using our authentic voices, THAT was my Lollipop Moment at Blissdom Canada.
And it took me this long to actually realize it!
Oh, and second epiphany...
@clippo and I take awesome Half-Ducky selfies!!
natasha~
P.S. You really need to watch this video and listen to Drew Dudley, who had the original Lollipop Moment, and hear his message. He was the amazing closing key note speaker at Blissdom Canada this year and blew us all away with his message about true leadership!
If it bleeds, it leads. Or we'll just pick at the healing scab. Again.
I was at the Blissdom Canada conference this past weekend. I had a wonderful time and will tell you all more about it in a different post. This post though, is about what happened on Thursday at Concordia University in Montreal. I am sure you are all racking your brains right now trying to think of the news Friday morning and what, if anything, you read or heard about Montreal or Concordia University. Can't think of anything right? Didn't think so.
Friday was the day that I met an incredible man. A man who is has been through what can only be described as a parents worst nightmare. A father working to change our world, who has taken what has happened to him and his family and is working to make the world safer for our daughters and sons. Friday afternoon, I met Rehtaeh Parson's dad, Glen Canning.
Friday afternoon I also learned just how much of what we read (or don't read) in our newspapers and online publications is manipulated by those behind the scenes. Friday afternoon the concept of "if it bleeds, it leads" hit me harder than ever before. So much so that I asked Glen if I could write about it and share his (and Rehtaeh's) continuing story. He agreed and here is what happened.
..........
On Thursday, October 3rd, Glen Canning was at Concordia's Centre for Gender Advocacy to celebrate the university's new Sexual Assault Resource Centre. It's a program and resource that students and the centre have been campaigning for since April of 2011 and with the recent hiring of a full-time social worker and program coordinator, the Sexual Assault Resource Centre is finally ready to open its doors to students and the community at large.
This kind of service is much needed at universities across the country and a big step for Concordia University and the Montreal community at large. One in four students will experience some form of sexual assault during their post-secondary years and 80% of those are women.
The problem however was that the imminent opening of the Centre and these much-needed services and resources was not the story that was published on Friday morning.
On Friday morning, the headlines that were all over national media publications said this:
Rehtaeh Parsons wanted to go to media before
her suicide, father says (Toronto Star)
Rehtaeh Parsons’ father says daughter wanted to
go to the media before her death (National Post)
Rehtaeh Parsons' father says she wanted to go to
media before her suicide (CTV news)
Any mention of the Centre for Gender Advocacy and the new sexual assault centre were lost in the media's headline hunger and frenzy over one or two things that Glen had said during the hour long press conference. The news outlets sensationalized his words even more by reporting that Rethaeh had "hatched a plan" to go to the media, using language that, in my opinion, sounded dangerously close to blaming her for wanting to speak out.
I had a chance to ask Glen how he felt about the press conference and the media's reporting of this event and here is what he had to say:
"I was really disappointed actually, the story was about the Centre for Gender Advocacy. It was about opening a service for women in Montreal. I was asked a quick question about my daughter and what parents would do if they were in my shoes and I said that if you are there and you have done everything you can, don't hesitate to go to the media if you don't think you are getting results. Make your story known. Looking back I wish I had done that and actually, Rehtaeh wanted to do that.
They took that as the headline for the entire event, they didn't really say a whole lot about something that was really really important. I got up this morning and read it and I felt disappointed. My daughter was used by four people, her photo was shared and used by a lot of people, it's been on a dating website and now, if that's not bad enough, the media is using her name for a headline. That is just so unfair, they should have reported on what the whole event was about and what it covered, because that was the big story there. And that's what I feel about it."
I get that "the news" is a cut-throat business and that yes, more often than not, if it bleeds it is going to lead. That's the news that makes people want to watch or click or pick up a paper or retweet or share. And really, that's all the newsmakers want, because that is what puts money in their pockets. The even sadder part of it is that they work hard to create the content that WE want. They KNOW how easily we all get sucked in.
Until we can change the landscape of our desires, our need for "blood", for sensationalized stories about tragic events and all the details of the affected people's lives, the real stories, the not-so-sexy stories, the stories about how to prevent more "blood", will always get buried underneath the catchy, click-bait-y, bleeding headlines.
I am disappointed too. That every national publication in this country chose to use Rehtaeh's name and tragic story once again for a front page headline on Friday morning. I am disappointed, that after a two-year campaign by STUDENTS to open a sexual assault centre on their campus, that these efforts where not deemed the newsworthy piece of the day. And ultimately, I am extremely disappointed that mainstream media refuses to acknowledge how complicit it is in the narrative of the culture of rape that exists in our world and chooses to take the road of victim-blaming language and sensationalism once again and not the one of social and cultural change.
It's a good thing we have awe-inspiring and incredibly resilient people like Glen Canning around to help lead the way down that far less travelled road. Even when that road is riddled with potholes big enough to swallow him whole, this is one man who will not let his daughter's life and the memory of her be one without purpose and without hope for a better future for all of our children.
And I have to believe that no matter how far off base the news headlines may try to steer us, the truth will emerge and prevail and change will happen.
natasha~
Feminist Fare Friday: Edition #7.
Todays feminist fare is brought to you by boobs. Why? Because God knows that the sight of any part of one gets the whole damn internet/media/complete strangers in a crazy uproar! So without further ado. I give you the boobs of....
1. Amanda Palmer. This past June, the UK's Daily Mail reported on her little nip slip (and practically nothing else) after her show at Glastonbury. Amanda wrote this lovely little ditty for them.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/RRWp4B0qsW8[/youtube]
2. Tina Fey. It seems that last weeks Emmy's were so far from exciting that the only thing anyone wanted to talk about the next day, aside from Bryan Cranston being ROBBED, was Tina's nipple. So, talk all you want people, IT'S JUST A BOOB!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/NEqG---qVp0[/youtube]
3. Breastfeeding Moms Everywhere. It is World MilkSharing Week and human milk donations all over the world are helping to feed babies. Whether it is in our own informal milk sharing mother communities or through donations to milk banks, for some of these babes, every drop counts and is a labour of life and love! In honour of that, and for breastfeeding in general, I'd like to re-post this beautiful spoken word poetry from Hollie McNish.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/KiS8q_fifa0[/youtube]
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
XO
natasha~
To tweet or not to tweet: That is the question.
I have been active on Twitter for almost 4 years. I was @naturalurbanmom for most of that, @SAHFeminist for a bit and now you can find me @NatashaChiam. I have sent almost 28,000 tweets in that time, have just over 4000 followers and am following ~1900 folks myself. I use Twitter in a few different ways. It is a way for me to stay up to date with news and world events (I follow a few trusted news agencies), to know what's going on in circles that matter to me (feminism, parenting, #YEG), to share my writing and blog with a larger audience and to stay in contact with friends near and far.
I LIKE Twitter. A LOT. I like that it is a real-time social tool and I like a lot of the people I have "met" via this platform. And on Twitter, I am ME. Yes, it also says Stay@HomeFeminist on my profile, and I live that reality every day, online and off.
But like anything in our highly digital world these days, Twitter has an ugly side. Or rather, Twitter allows for the ugly side of humanity to manifest itself a little bit easier.
We see it time and time again. A beautiful woman of colour wins the Miss America pageant and BOOM! The VERY ugly side of Twitter erupts. A woman wants to talk about Tropes in video games/pop culture and her life is threatened. And you can find countless awful examples of sexism and racism all over social media. These days Twitter is the no-holds-barred medium of the troll, the bully, the poor-priveledged-me's and the NIMBY's of the world and you can actually fit quite a few mean and hateful words into 140 characters.
Twitter seems to also be the place for people to have "personas". There is a whole subculture of Twitter, the so-called 'Weird Twitter', where people have anonymous accounts to which they can post all kinds of wacky, often highly inappropriate for everyday conversation things and they get to be all, well... weird. I am not knocking it, I just really don't get it.
And then there are the people who are "really nice IRL (in real life) or offline, but assholes online." To be perfectly honest, these are the ones that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around and the ones that piss me off the most. These are the subtweeters, the "I am not saying anything directly to you, or about you, but I'll just tweet MY OPINION about this topic and you can't get offended because it is only my opinion and it's not my fault if you don't like it." These online assholes are the subtle or not so subtle mockers of the internet. The ones that for some reason actually believe that their ONLINE personas do not represent the 'real' them and because of this and to keep up the act, think that it is totally acceptable for them to be assholes online.
The problem as I see it is this. An asshole is an asshole is an asshole. Whether you are online or off, 140 characters or 1200 words or face-to-face. And you can replace asshole with bully, or someone who plays the victim all the time, or any number of folks who insist on maintaining that their online 'personas' are separate from the real them.
This clip from Louis CK on Conan has been making the rounds this week and I am going to post it again. And while he is talking about why cell phones (and by extension what kids are doing on said cell phones) are toxic for our children, I think that too much of anything is toxic for ANYONE and that too much social media puts us all at risk of losing some of our empathy and turning into the "stupid kids".
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5HbYScltf1c[/youtube]
The validation that people get with a RT or an LMAO or a 'LIKE' is NOT real. The mean words that people write on any social media platform are and can have profound effects on others and for the most part, there are no real world consequences for them. Often these exchanges get chalked up to, "You misinterpreted my TONE' , and/or the apology of the bully, 'I'm sorry you felt bad and misunderstood my words, but that is on you, not me'. Yeah, online or IRL, that shit doesn't fly with me (and for me that kind of behaviour online often results in an unfollow and/or block).
Like she was reading my mind today, Glennon at The Momastery wrote about the dangers of social media (and cereal). She took a 40 day hiatus from social media and learned some life lessons that I definitely needed reminding of today.
And I'd go one step further and say that social media is also a breeding ground for those that like to bulldoze over others in the name of "having an opinion" and for people to let their inner asshole out to play with little to no regard for others or the consequences of their 140 characters.
It's enough to make a girl want to go on an internet fast of her own.
Which is what I just might do.
Maybe.
Starting in about 10 days.
You know, after I get back from that, ahem... social media/blogging conference thing.
{I know, I know, I have a problem.}
Signing off
{for today},
natasha~
Feminist Fare Friday: On Saturday (again). Edition #6
I think from now on I should just take all of September off from everything else except getting everyone (especially ME) established into our school and activity routines. All this lunch making, homework doing, form after form after form-filling out and timing dinner just right on our extracurricular activity days is exhausting. Needless to say, this stay at home gig of mine is actually feeling very much like a 'job' these days! But feminism and the internet wait for now woman. And this week there a couple of DOOZIES out there!
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1. "There she is.... Miss America...." Oh, wait, what?? She is NOT WHITE! Oh, hell NO!!
That unfortunately was the response of a lot of hateful, racist, disgusting people after the very beautiful Nina Davuluri, Miss New York, was given the ultimate in beauty pageantry bling last Sunday. I have to say that I did not watch the pageant, as I kind of have a rule about these things (as in, I would rather watch a 'Lady Hoggers" marathon before I ever watch a beauty pageant again!), but I was on Twitter that night and saw some of the tweets on the #MissAmerica hashtag. After a night of everything being about beauty and glamour, what happened on Twitter after the fact was like night and day, if day was a terrible racist with no ability to spell and an irrational fear of all things NOT WHITE!
There is more to the whole Miss America pageant that is disconcerting to me and I am not the only one. Elizabeth Plank at PolicyMic had this to say:
Yeah, why is that??
2. Oh and while one organization is awarding scholarships for women to go to college (albeit based on how they look in their bikinis and ball gowns), over here on the FAR, FAR, right, (and under the guise of some sect of Catholicism that they forgot to teach me at Sunday School), we have this guy telling girls that they should NOT be going to college at all! I know, I know, it really is all a bit baffling for us women-folk.
But just so our younger generation doesn't get all caught up in the confusion, Lindy West at Jezebel is having none of this ridiculousness and has something to say to all the "Good Catholic Girls" out there!
There is more. A lot more. It's a good read and Lindy, well, I really really dig her!
3. Since you are probably sick and tired of me going on on an about Blurred Lines, I thought I would share this little gem I found about the lyrics of a different song. Baby got (respect) Back!! Of course, now I can't get that song out of my head!
4. And this may not have much to do with feminism, but that damn Louis CK. He is SO right about so many things...
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5HbYScltf1c[/youtube]
Have a great weekend everyone! September is almost over and I'll get back on schedule soon. Right?
Cheers,
Natasha~
On transparency: More thoughts on our municipal election.
One of my favourite movies of the past few years is 'Get him to the Greek'. I am pretty sure I did not stop laughing for the whole 109 minutes of it's raunchy, terribly inappropriate, sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll-over-the-topness. It is also the movie that made me fall in love with Russell Brand. Who, despite what his appearance and general demeanor might convey, is probably one of the most eloquent social commentators of our current time. Watch a few episodes of his talk show Brand X (on YouTube now, the show was cancelled earlier this year), read his blog posts or even better, if you are in one of the lucky cities, snag some tickets to his world tour, and you will see what I mean. He's a comedian who says what a lot of us are thinking, but does so with an extra dose of perspective that makes us really think on what he is saying about our world long after we have stopped laughing about it.
Last week, Russell wrote a very interesting post for the Guardian, after he allegedly got kicked out of a GQ Fashion Awards after-party over some comments he made in his acceptance speech. I highly suggest you read his post and also watch the video of his speech for more of the back-story, but why this post is relevant here is because of his comments about the relationship between industry, politicians and the media.
"Why are public officials, paid by us, turning up at events for fashion magazines? Well, the reason I was there was because I have a tour on and I was advised it would be good publicity. What are the politicians selling? How are they managing our perception of them with their attendance of these sequin-encrusted corporate balls?
We witness that there is a relationship between government, media and industry that is evident even at this most spurious and superficial level. These three institutions support one another. We know that however cool a media outlet may purport to be, their primary loyalty is to their corporate backers. We know also that you cannot criticize the corporate backers openly without censorship and subsequent manipulation of this information."
I read this post after having two separate and interesting conversations about these very relationships, first with one of my local city council candidates and then again on the topic of campaign donations with some involved Edmontonians on Twitter. As you can imagine, there are mixed feelings on this topic.
Some believe that knowledge of campaign contributors BEFORE an election places undue blame and 'guilt by association' on candidates and takes the conversation away from the issues that really matter for voters. Perhaps this is true to some extent. This kind of information could sway votes away from candidates who seem to be heavily funded by corporations or individuals with a special interest in having some kind of influence on politicians and their decision making.
My response to this kind of thinking is this; if politicians claim that they are NOT being unduly influenced by these contributions, then there should be no issue with disclosing who and where the money is coming from before they are in office. In light of the kinds of corruption and financial abuse that we have seen in this country from politicians at all levels of government, transparency in politics and in the economics of public service is becoming more and more one of the issues that really does matter for a lot of voters.
Yesterday, Karen Leibovici, my outgoing city councillor and one of the front runners in our mayoral race released her fundraising details and the list of all of her up-to-date campaign contributors. Our other mayoral hopeful, Don Iveson, has also committed to releasing his details next week.
I am not surprised by Ms. Leibovici's list of contributors (especially the corporate donors) and I suspect that Mr. Iveson's list will be quite similar (campaign contributions for certain kinds of companies are often seen as a general cost of doing business). The big question now is, how do I feel about Ms. Leibovici (or any candidate) now that I know who is "backing" her?
The answer to that is that I applaud her forthrightness in this regard and her willingness to show a level of transparency that has not been seen (in my voting lifetime) in municipal elections. I too look forward to others in this election following her lead. Do I also think this was a smart political move? Absolutely. This is an election people. EVERYTHING is a political move right now.
The one thing that this information hasn't done in regards to my vote or decision-making process is make me look at Ms. Leibovici with a sense of "oh, so THAT's who you are 'working' for" that many think this kind of disclosure inevitably leads to.
I am still an undecided voter in this municipal election and am looking forward to the next month of campaigning to hear more from all of the candidates. Is there going to be that one person that fits all my criteria and will be the perfect representative for ME, Citizen Natasha of Edmonton? No, of course not. That would be silly and unrealistic of me to expect that. What I do expect from my elected representative(s) is someone whose opinions and integrity are not for sale, who is a true representative for the people of Edmonton, who is willing to make decisions for our city that have sound backing and are forward thinking and who has a vision for our city that goes beyond, "fix the damn potholes" and let's all just sit back and watch us spread out like a BP oil spill (and we'll just fix it all later).
I want more from my political leaders and transparency is a BIG part of that. Is it too much to ask? Maybe. I guess in that way I am still a little bit enamoured with the spectacle of it all and not feeling quite as jaded as Russell was after that night at the GQ Awards:
We all know it, we already know all the important stuff, like: don't trust politicians, don't trust big business and don't trust the media. Trust your own heart and each other. When you take a breath and look away from the spectacle it's amazing how absurd it seems when you look back.
Optimistically yours,
natasha~
The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win
without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
~Adlai E. Stevenson