Author Archives: caniceleung

On douches, douchebag advertisers, and selling uncleanliness to women

Just last night I was watching Killing Us Softly 3, a documentary (really, a videotaped speech before a college audience) by media/advertising activist Jean Kilbourne in which she breaks down the messages, trends and symbolism in beauty, clothing, alcohol and cigarette advertisements geared towards women — specifically, under-30 women. It was made in the early [...]
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Berry foraging, and Peach-Mulberry Boy Bait

I love fruit. I also love fruit-picking, and I especially love it when both of these things are free. It’s my second year as a volunteer for Not Far From the Tree, a wonderful group that seeks to share the bounty of the many backyard fruit trees within downtown Toronto. My experience with them has [...]
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Things I believed in when I was 12 — but no longer do

Writing a feminist column, I got the occasional irate reader. Most of them are nitpicky and miss the point, while others are straight up incomprehensible. Up until this point, my favourite one was a rambling, angsty Facebook message from a first-year male, white, university student from Calgary, who said there should be men’s studies if [...]
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R.I.P. Cynthia Brouse

Going into fourth year, we had been warned by older students that our copy editing and fact-checking instructor Cynthia Brouse was a little strange — her obsession with Paul Gross, an (overly?) honest admission to the previous year’s group that she lay somewhere between fag hag and celibate — but for a nascent feminist such as [...]
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Lady Gaga’s feminist call to arms

You should watch this uncut, two-hour Q&A on showstudio.com with Lady Gaga. At the 21:30 mark, Mario Testino asks: “Your looks are so extreme. Is this a reaction to something? Are you questioning or altering the status quo of women’s style?” Yes, yes I am. I am a feminist. I reject wholeheartedly the way we are taught to [...]
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