Shameless

The holidays are approaching and if you celebrate by exchanging gifts, some of you might be wondering what to ask for.

In my never-ending quest to see more women significantly recognized in the music world, I’ve put together a little gift guide for all you awesome girls who rock.

1. The Girls' Guide to Rocking: How to Start a Band, Book Gigs, and Get Rolling to Rock Stardom

The Girls' Guide to Rocking is a book that definitely would have come in handy when my sixteen year old self was sitting in my room in the oh-so-typical suburban town I grew up in, with no clue how to get started in the vast musical world. A straightforward yet fun guide to the basics with tons of practical advice from women who are actually out there playing music and working within the industry. Tips on everything from choosing an instrument to booking gigs, it’s a great gift for a beginning rock-star.

2. Daisy Rock Guitars

I have tried many times to learn to play guitar and the one thing that continually frustrates me is the size of them. Thought it’s not a problem for all ladies, it’s a problem for me and many other women. I’m not petite, however I struggle with the weight of my guitar and after practicing my chords for a short time my fingers are in scorching pain from trying to stretch them and keep them on the strings.

The solution and possible gift?

A Daisy Rock Guitar. Made with a lightweight design and a thinner neck, the hardest thing about playing a Daisy Rock guitar is deciding which super-stylish one to get. Acoustic, electric, acoustic / electric, bass guitar, left-handed guitars, amps and accessories, Daisy Rock has what you need. With a quality and sound that matches the pro guitars on the market, Daisy Rock is not to be taken lightly. Having lines for both the junior rocker and the grown-up rock-goddess, they’re reasonably priced and available online as well as various music stores in Canada.

3. “What would Joan Jett do?” shirt

Navigating the music biz can be difficult and sometimes you need a little advice from someone who’s been there and done that. If you don’t have a direct-line to a rock-star mentor, try channeling the guidance of the always amazing Joan Jett with the “What would Joan Jett Do?” shirt from BUST Magazine’s Boobtique. Available in red and pink.

* * *

These are just a few suggestions, but trust me, there are plenty of other amazing items out there made specifically for you vixens of verse and beats.

Have any suggestions of your own of awesome gifts to give?

What are YOU hoping to graciously receive this year?

Rock on, ladies! And Happy Holidays!

Many thanks to Shameless for inviting me to guest-blog this month. I hope that I've helped you to learn a bit more about a new topic, and perhaps inspired you to do a little more thinking about why so many of us believe that fat is bad.

Questioning commonly-held perceptions, and even changing your attitude, is only one step. I've found that it's a lot easier to accept others' bodies than it is to accept my own. I can look at a fat woman and think she's beautiful, but look at myself and criticize my flabby stomach. I can understand that my body size is not a direct reflection of my health status, but feel like I "need" to work out more than others to "make up" for my size. I can know that diets don't work, but be tempted to try again anyway. I can know that I'm actually barely over the size of the average North American woman, but still feel unacceptably fat.

Accepting yourself doesn't just happen overnight, and it requires constant effort. If you're able to find a support system, you're much more likely to have more good days than bad. Whether it be friends who respect that your body is not a topic for discussion, a hobby or activity you love, or a bunch of resources to fall back on when you can't remember why you're allowed to trust your body and eat what you like, find something to support you. Some of the resources I turn to regularly include:

The Fat Nutritionist (a Toronto-based nutrition student who studies, practices and teaches intuitive eating and Health at Every Size)
Kate Harding's Shapely Prose, the blog that introduced me to fat acceptance
Fatshionista, a plus-size fashion and size acceptance community

If you taking nothing else from learning a bit about size acceptance, I hope you'll be willing to consider that everyone, regardless of their body size, is deserving of respect and autonomy regarding what they do with their bodies. That includes yourself.

Cheers!

AQSAzine, a grassroots zine for 16-35 year-old women and trans people who identify as Muslim, is launching its second issue at a free event hosted in partnership with The AGO Youth Council. The event is also a launch for Making Noise! Muslim women and trans people video project, and Jasmine Magazine, the first Palestinian Magazine in Toronto.

Making Noise! is an exciting hands-on media arts training that addresses the invisibility and negative portrayals of young Muslim women and trans people in the media, supported by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.

The event will showcase videos, visual art, and readings by Azza Abbaro, Shadi Eskandani, Sidrah Ladin, Sara Mir, Samira Mohyeddin, Shara Mohammed, Golie Moulaie, and Sahar Rizi.

Musical performances by Farheen Beg & Arun Chaudhuri and Tanya Jacobs.

Dance performance by Raja Jalebi and Sheesha YaDil.

Plus: silk screening and zine-making workshops.

This event is part of the 16 Days to THRIVE! Challenging Violence Against Racialized Women and Our Communities.

Friday Dec. 4th, 6-8 p.m.
Art Gallery of Ontario
Anne Tannenbaum Gallery School
317 Dundas Street W., Toronto

Something that often gets lost in the "healthy fat person/unhealthy fat person" discussion (see my previous post) is a discussion about who gets to decide what "healthy" behaviours are, and who has and does not have the ability to practice those behaviours.

The cost of "healthy living" is prohibitive for a great many people. A diet rich in fresh produce, whole grains, lean meats or alternatives, etc., is quite expensive. For many, the choice between a box of white pasta or a package of brown rice isn't based on nutrition value, but on cost. Fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly out of season, when prices skyrocket? Forget it. Cheap and filling are the important factors. For someone who can't afford to buy "healthier" foods, I'd argue that the decision to buy what they can to feed themselves to the best of their ability is the healthy choice.

As for the recommended levels of exercise: a gym membership? Not accessible to all. But you don't need a gym membership to work out – you can run around the block. Sure, if you don't have to go home after working overtime in order to care for your child. You get the picture. It's not a coincidence that obesity is often associated with poverty, and thinness with affluence. It is a privilege to have the time and money to invest in practicing "healthy" behaviours.

Another issue that is often overlooked in the "healthy living" paradigm is disability, whether visible or invisible, physical or mental. It isn't possible for everyone to run several miles per week. While those with visible physical disabilities might sometimes (but by no means always) be given a free pass against judgment for not performing the prescribed behaviours, those with invisible disabilities like fibromyalgia, chronic diseases, or metal disabilities that mean their healthy behaviours are different are often ignored. Chronic pain might make jogging or weight lifting impossible. Depression might mean that different activities are more or less pleasurable. For those with visible physical disabilities, prescribed activities might take on a clinical angle and be boring or unsatisfying.

Why not allow everyone, regardless of ability, to choose to (or choose not to) participate in activities that are enjoyable? When particular behaviours are lauded as "good" – and who hasn't met someone who hates going to the gym, but does it because they're being "good"? – then other behaviours automatically lower in value, even if they're very enjoyable, beneficial, and accessible. Personally, I think that keeping an eye on your mental health is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than paying attention to the physical. Skipping a run to push a child on a swing and then read a book together isn't going to burn too many calories, but who says it's worth less? If you are unable to perform high-intensity cardio at all, should that mean you are worth less? If you also happen to be fat, some people might think so.

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Amy Sedgwick…

Amy Sedgwick has a passion for women's health and wants them to be informed. With a goal “to provide a home, a safe space for women to develop a positive and healthy relationship to their bodies - a task that is becoming increasingly challenging in our culture,” Amy, along with her sister Kimberley, started Red Tent Sisters. Combining their visions to offer women services, programs, and a retail store, Amy takes time to answer our questions as this week’s Shameless Woman.

What drives you to do what you do?

The desire to ensure women, especially young women, know their options when it comes to reproductive health. Many women are put on pharmaceuticals at a young age to address reproductive or contraceptive concerns. It is my personal and clinical experience that these drugs have adverse short-term and long-term effects on women’s physical and emotional health and I want women to know there are other options. Or, at the very least, I want women to come to their decisions from a place of informed consent. I regret many of the decisions I made as a young woman with respect to my health and my work comes from a desire to heal the part of myself that was dishonoured by those choices.

How does being a woman empower / challenge you?

Being a woman empowers me because women are by nature creative. Our ability to create life extends to giving birth to community and ideas and our cyclical nature ties us deeply to the earth, the seasons, and the moon so that we feel like co-creators in the cycle of life. Being a woman challenges me because our society as it stands does not honour this constant movement – the naturalness of birth and death – we tend to fight it all the way. We want things to be always the same – predictable, controlled, constant - always in a state of “full bloom,” “optimal performance,” and “utter perfection.” Being true to our womanhood is hard in this context and challenges us to work hard at continually remembering who we are. Honouring the dark because it gives rise to the light. Honouring the inward as it brings a more authentic self outward.

What advice would you give to young women who want to follow in your footsteps?

Follow your intuition. There is no other way. Be true to your deepest most authentic self and you won’t go wrong.

Name one person, place, or thing every young woman should know about?

Every woman should know the events of her menstrual cycle like she knows the details of her own face. Whether you read the Justisse Guide to Fertility Management, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, or Cycle Savvy, you should be able to know how, why and when we ovulate, how, why and when we menstruate, how, why and when we can get pregnant – and when we cannot. We should use this intimate knowledge the way we use an awareness of our heart rate or our breath – as an indicator of our general state of health and wellbeing. Having charted my cycles in detail for over three years, I can now recognize hidden signs of stress, nutritional deprivation, self-love or lack thereof, and more. No woman, in my opinion, should be without this sacred and intimate knowledge.

What is the most important thing we can do in order to change the world?

Follow your intuition. When you are in a doctor’s office and they say you need something and a voice in your heart says “why?” or “that doesn’t feel right” – listen. As much as possible be aware of where your decisions are coming from – decisions about your spending, your health choices, your career choices – are they coming from society (commercial advertising, family members, friends, the government) or are they coming from your authentic self? I honestly believe most of the world’s pain comes simply from people not listening to their own authentic wisdom. Surround yourself with friends, professionals and practitioners who will validate your inner voice.

You can find out more about Amy and Red Tent Sisters at www.redtentsisters.com.

Canice Leung, fantastic feminist columnist for The Metro, wrote a terrific piece about our exciting new project, the Shameless Wire.

Help us make this project happen. Donate today.

Full text of Canice's column:

As many women do in university, I took a few women’s studies classes. I remember in one mostly female class of 40, the teacher asked who was feminist; my hand was among a sparse few that went up. But in class discussions, my classmates’ thoughts on gender roles or reproductive rights made clear that’s exactly what they were.

It’s an apt example of how necessary gender studies are; that young adults can dismiss feminism as radical yet recognize the cornerstones of the movement is evidence of this.

Fortunately, two initiatives are underway to change that.

Ontario’s education ministry announced earlier this month that a gender studies class would be offered beginning in September 2011 — a crucial lesson for young men and women just starting to learn how to relate to one other.

Shameless Magazine, a Canadian feminist magazine, has launched free weekend workshops on journalism for teen girls called Shameless Wire. By teaching them the fundamentals of the trade — reporting, interviewing, copy editing, fact checking — Shameless hopes to introduce more voices to tell the story of our diverse society.

As it is, degrees and unpaid internships are practically prerogatives to become a journalist, limiting the field to those who can pay their way in. Women comprise the majority of the incoming talent pool (two in three journalism students are women, according to a 2003 U.S. study), but men hold 65 per cent of supervising positions at newspapers, a 2006 study says.

Perhaps the simplest, most important reason is this: “Very few other industries would consider this kind of model acceptable,” said freelance journalist Allison Martell, one of two women who created Shameless Wire. “It’s not because I think we need to be a token, I just think we’re going to have the best workforce if we make sure it’s open to everyone.”

The lesson holds true outside the newsroom, too. What we absorb in our daily lives shapes our identities. As writer Emily Gould wrote on moreintelligentlife.com: “Women have not yet come so far that we can shrug off worries about being misrepresented.”

The messages that bombard us daily can be relentless: Pop culture is littered with stereotypes and unrealistic standards: Ugly Bettys and Top Model Tyras, Biggest Losers and flabby runners-up, and men and boys.

My hope is these two programs will offer a lesson not to just to young adults, but to all of us: There is nuance in the world, and by acknowledging it, we’re better for it.

Thanks, Canice!

Read more about the Wire.

Apply to be one of our participants. (We strongly encourage all eligible youth to apply, especially transgendered and queer youth, youth with disabilities, immigrant youth, youth of colour and First Nations youth.)

Donate, and help make this program a success! (We can't do it without you!)

A month ago we posted about an exciting new project called Shameless Wire, and we are now ready to accept applications! Details are below, and the deadline for applications is December 20, 2009.

SHAMELESS WIRE CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: A FREE HANDS-ON PROGRAM FOR WOMEN AND TRANS YOUTH INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM

YOU ARE...
...interested in learning how to how to report, write, and get published in magazines, newspapers, or online.
...committed to using the media to improve your community and the world.
...20 or younger as of January 1, 2010, identify as female and/or trans, and are not enrolled in university or college.

WE ARE...
... a progressive magazine for teen girls and young women that has been publishing in Toronto for more than five years. Learn more about us at www.shamelessmag.com/about.

TOGETHER, WE WILL...
...meet every second Saturday afternoon from January to April 2010.
...learn the basics of reporting, writing and editing.
...learn how to come up with story ideas, pitch them to editors, and get published.
...meet and learn from professional journalists.

SHAMELESS WIRE IS FREE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS. WE WILL PROVIDE TTC TOKENS AND LUNCH FOR EACH MEETING.

TO APPLY: Email wire@shamelessmag.com with your full name, date of birth, and answers to the following questions. Each answer should be 200 words or less – much less is fine. There are no right or wrong answers. We aren’t your teachers, and we don’t care whether you like school – we’re more interested in how you express yourself.

1. Why do you want to be part of Shameless Wire?
2. If you are in high school, what school do you go to? Do you like it? Tell us why or why not. If you are not in high school, tell us why that is, and a bit about how you spend your time.
3. Do you speak, read and/or write in any languages other than English? Explain briefly.

We strongly encourage all eligible youth to apply, especially transgendered and queer youth, youth with disabilities, immigrant youth, youth of colour and First Nations youth.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 20, 2009

A PDF of the Shameless Wire call for participants is available here. Please feel free to put it up in your schools/libraries/community centres/etc.