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Saturday, 04 April 2009

Thesis Defense

Totally passed it. . . unanimously. Seriously.
I have a plethora of typos to fix, but that's all. Next step: marking your papers. . .

Thursday, 02 April 2009

Superpowers

Have you ever noticed that girl superheros generally get the lamest super powers? Take Rogue for example--she can take anyone else's power temporarily or suck out all of their life force to kill them. Meanwhile Wolverine gets awesome claws that come out--easy attack move. Rogue really has no defense unless she can get close enough to a person to steal their power. Wolverine can attack and heal, making him virtually indestructible. Storm can control weather (okay, this one is kind of cool), but when she does it she has to look positively other-worldly. But controlling the weather isn't going to help much if she's locked in a prison cell somewhere. Professor X is so powerful he can control minds. Jean-Grey has a similar power, but when she yields it she goes crazy and turns on all of her friends. . . are you seeing a pattern here. Basically women can't have "good" powers.
That's I think why I enjoyed Monsters vs. Aliens. Susan is strong on her own.

Monday, 23 March 2009

Murdered Sex Trade Workers

I had the pleasure of partaking in a research presentation day at the university which I technically attend. I shared my research, but also got to hear about the projects some of my peers are working on. One in particular seemed relevant to this class as well as to some news (that I will discuss towards the end of this blog).
Anyways, one particular colleague of mine is conducting a discourse analysis of newspapers covering the murders of sex trade workers in Edmonton. Have you ever read an article about a murdered sex trade worker? Well depending on the editor of the print it's generally vague, and merely describes the victims as "sex trade workers," unimportant in every other way. It's depressing to know that thirty-some female sex-trade workers have gone missing. The situation is to the point that police working for operation CARE--a special task force devoted to solving sex-trade related deaths in Edmonton--have a program where sex trade workers can willingly give over their fingerprints and DNA in the event that they die (to aid identification).
It used to be that sex trade workers operated in pairs. One would go with a John while the other recorded the make/model/license plate number of the vehicle in the event that something would go wrong. Alberta has since made this practice illegal. Ironically it's not technically illegal to sell/buy sex in Canada; it is illegal to solicit for sex. That's why so many escort services can exist under the pretense that people are paying for the "date", not the "turn a blind eye" sex afterwards.
I know I promised a personal story, but every time I type it, I feel a bit depressed. And considering the content of this entry. . . it's depressing enough as is without a teacher-anecdote. . .

Monday, 16 March 2009

Is Sadness Considered Feminine?

It's been a weekend. I won't go into many details here, but through a [very] recent tragedy, I've come to realize that men and women generally express sadness very differently. Women/girls can cry relatively freely. We can hug each other when we're sad. We can openly cry and not worry about any kind of ridicule. The men I've seen throughout this whole ordeal have maintained a very different expression of sadness: they have introverted into themselves, don't want to talk about it, and get angry when pressed to discuss it.
It reminds me of the first time I ever saw my dad cry. It was at my great grandmother's funeral. I was four, and I really didn't understand what was going on. I remember feeling fine up until the moment I saw dad cry. I didn't really understand any of it until that moment: something really sad must have happened to make my dad cry. The only other time I've seen him cry was when he and my mom walked me down the aisle on my wedding day. Of couse, we were all crying then (me, mom, dad, Rob, and Rob's parents).
So is sadness considered feminine? I suppose that is the question I'm trying to postulate through my vague rant. Are tears ultimately immasculating?