Browsing Tag

Western

Does Dressing Up Require Social Commentary?

I don’t usually like when people expect listeners to pay attention to their every word as they read aloud long passages of text, but on Monday afternoon, I was captivated by a TA who shared a newsworthy blog post circa November 2010.

Two days after Halloween, Trick or Treating may still be trending on Twitter, but most people are more concerned about finding discounts on candy and the latest gossip about the Kardashians than discussing who cross-dressed over the weekend.

Nevertheless, when a 5 year old boy begged his mom to order a costume resembling Daphne from Scooby Doo for him two years ago, this caused a huge commotion. Uptight mothers in their community were outraged, even though their children seemed unfazed by his costume choice.

                             

The bottom line is that costume choices shouldn’t be a big issue at all, unless of course they are outright offensive or obscene. The boy didn’t dress up as a Disney Princess anxiously awaiting Prince Charming’s arrival at his doorstep; he dressed up as one of his favourite animated TV characters – so what?

In her blog post, the mother (who coincidentally is another Sarah) mentions that her son’s “best friend is a little girl.” When it comes to trick or treating, those kids will remember spending the night or school festivities with their best friend. Early childhood friendships don’t always extend into adulthood or even the teenage years, but if the friends lose touch, they’ll remember who it was running up neighbours’ front steps beside them to collect candy. That’s the memory for him to cherish – friendship and fun, not that a Halloween costume he wanted to wear sparked an online debate about gender and sexuality.

It is one thing to document your children’s funny musings or share advice about parenting, but it is quite another to turn an innocent child’s desire to have fun dressing up into a rant about attitudes towards gender norms. Sometimes I think that moms should just take photos to capture their kids growing up and leave it at that. After all, “it’s just a costume.”

Surely there is a better way to become famous than starring in a controversial blog post.

November 2, 2011 by

Concert Review: Freedom or Death & Shout Out Out Out Out

Stepping inside Call The Office can feel like taking a gigantic step outside the Western bubble, but it’s one worth taking, especially when you walk away with a renewed sense of appreciation for Canadian talent.

The disco ball hanging from the ceiling near the stage was hardly indicative of the alternative and electronic sounds heard Tuesday night from Toronto’s Freedom or Death and Edmonton’s Shout Out Out Out Out.

When Freedom or Death’s lead singer Sway took to the microphone, he teased the crowd that it was a sound check, during which he wanted to gauge reactions from everyone in the “party town.” Before long though, people left their barstools to hear the as-of-yet unsigned band perform tracks from their album, Ego. Within their 40-minute set, their engaging stage presence quickly transformed young patrons into fans who yearned for an encore, some of whom found a spot near the stage to dance with friends.

While the headliners set up their gear, Sway chatted outside with some audience members who compared his guitar skills to Prince and overall style to Mars Volta. Suddenly Freedom or Death had acquired fan girls, who barely looked of legal age, anxiously wanting to dance with the singer during Shout Out Out Out Out’s performance.

As soon as Shout Out Out Out Out took to the stage, they attracted more people to the dance floor, including Sway. Their music sounds similar to recordings by Hot Chip, a band with whom they could definitely produce a great collaboration. The Edmonton rockers shared little commentary, except to introduce some new tunes, including a track called “Total Loss.”

The lack of lyrics in their songs drew focus to the band members’ onstage nuances and attire, particularly the keyboardist’s patent leather red brogue shoes.

Regardless of how you access music, be sure to add these Canadians to your playlists—your friends will be glad you did.

Originally published in The Gazette.

October 28, 2011 by

The Stereotypical Western Girl on Twitter

I’ve been thinking about the new Rewd blog at Western and Ryan Dergy’s quest to learn who is behind the @wstrngrl Twitter account. In his article, he proposes that perhaps it is run by Gazette staff because he finds it suspicious “that they got an exclusive interview with @wstrngirl a few months ago.”

Most of the Gazette’s editorial staff identifies themselves as multimedia journalists. Any driven journalist will make optimal use of their resources to get the dirt on an upcoming story when needed and interviewing @wstrngirl is no exception. The creator of the account could easily create an anonymous e-mail to exchange messages with a reporter while maintaining ‘her’ mysterious identity.

Moreover, the Gazette staff operates Canada’s only daily student newspaper and many of its writers are full-time students who write personal blogs. They already have plenty of fun in their office on the third floor of the UCC, while writing editorial pieces and debating each other about hot topics. As for participating in Western’s Twitter community, they share links to new articles, monitor the #uwo hashtag and laugh at what fellow students are sharing.

As a spokesperson for the stereotypical female Western student who wishes Weldon washrooms had full-length mirrors, @wstrngrl has plenty of fame online and offline. Likewise, Gazette writers already have a large readership and do not have the same motivation as the average attention-seeking Western student or business-savvy Ivey folks who want to experiment with social media.

Stereotypical Western Girl

@wstrngirl is a conversation starter and a comedian. The account’s followers don’t need to probe for more info about the person behind the computer screen or BlackBerry. Just read, tweet, and enjoy.

March 25, 2011 by

Weight Discrimination is Something to Size Up

In preparation for my presentation at Western’s ‘Flaunting It’ conference next Friday, I revisited a paper I wrote last year about weight discrimination. My research focuses on how this affects hiring practices and employment, but it certainly affects overweight people on a larger scale.

In some developing countries, people are starving and malnourished due to poverty, but obesity rates are increasing around the world exponentially. Fortunately, people are taking note of these statistics, such as the producers of MTV’s I Used To Be Fat. The show completed its first season earlier this month after introducing viewers to nine high school graduates who devoted their summer to losing weight. Motivating viewers to meet their weight loss goals is a positive step forward, but it does not change the fact that far too many youth are binge eating, out of shape and lazy.

Before reading Barry Popkin’s The World Is Fat, it never occurred to me that people have developed such a sweet tooth that youth are not only overindulging in soft drinks, but also adding additional sugar. For many overweight people, being weight is not a conscious choice; sometimes it’s merely a matter of genetics. Deliberately sweetening drinks like that is outrageous though. Even after government regulations ensured that all food and beverage packing include nutritional information people are ignoring this data, or at least dismissing it as unimportant. Education is an essential tool to discourage such unhealthy lifestyle choices. This is important for not only nutritionists, doctors, and food manufacturers to reiterate, but also fashion designers and advertisers.

On Tuesday afternoon, I had the privilege of listening to the inspirational entrepreneur, Ben Barry, who spearheaded the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, once again. Ben’s tenacity helped him convince Sears Canada to include models in their catalogue that resemble their customers, unlike the twigs who typically posed for their glossy pages. Since then, he continues liaising with fashion and marketing executives to help them sell products to their target demographic by hiring models who customers can identify with. The average soccer mom does not look like a toned size 2 woman with flawless skin and Ben asks advertisers to recognize that and promote their products accordingly.

As someone who started a business at age 14, Ben strongly believes in the potential of youth entrepreneurship and youth’s ability to inspire others and make great changes in the world. With Ben’s message in mind, I have changed my opinion about the MTV reality show because even if those nine kids inspired 100 people to start exercising, that’s better than nothing. Their reunion episode for the season finale allowed the participants to reflect on the show and prove to audiences that they have since created a social network amongst themselves and offer each other ongoing support. This is what people truly need: support, friendship and motivation. Whether this comes in the form of fat acceptance amongst hiring managers who should change their attitudes about candidates’ physical appearances, or clothing manufacturers that should produce high quality clothing that flatters overweight people, everything counts.

Ben Barry, November 2008, Queen’s University

 

March 19, 2011 by

Come Laugh, It’s For Charity!

Several Western students and their families from Toronto bundled up for a great night of comedy on Sunday to support hungry, underprivileged children. Thanks to the UWO chapter of Canadian Feed the Children, comics Arthur Simeon, Marty Adams, Jeff Leeson, Lars Classington, and host Al Val offered patrons plenty of reasons to laugh and forget about the shivering temperature outside, until Arthur joked about Canadian winters, that is.

Opening acts Jeff Leeson and Lars Classington, from late night comedy talk show London Tonight with Jeff Leeson, both enjoyed poking fun at the elderly. Jeff shared an amusing anecdote about a man who mistook a portable phone for a cell phone and brought it on a road trip, then acted out an old woman counting her change at a grocery store checkout. Lars entertained the crowd by sharing his “million dollar idea” for a new poutine diet, whereby cheese and gravy shall be added to every meal. The Poutine Zero diet is his solution to making weight loss a new year’s resolution.

Second City alum Marty Adams offered the most interactive performance, by asking audience members to write down pet peeves and things that annoy them. Chewing loudly is clearly something that gets on everyone’s nerves, but almost nothing compares to the frustration of watching someone text while you’re in the middle of a conversation. I’ve read books and heard songs about nut allergies, but I have never heard someone put such a hysterical twist on them before Marty. One can only imagine what Letterman would say in a top ten list about people like the girl in the front row who are allergic to fruit.

While Lars concluded his time on stage by conducting a symphony of sex noises, thus distinguishing who was shy in the audience, Arthur sure knew how to end the show. With his candid discussion about racist stereotypes, including a funny story about a late night on the TTC, among other tales about dating, living in Africa, and celebrating Christmas, Arthur ensured that it was a memorable evening for everyone at London Music Hall.

January 24, 2011 by