I mixed up my blogpost last week and did it on Chapter 12, so this week I did it on Chapter 11. Clearly it’s end of semester and I’m a mess.

In class we discussed that virtually anyone can start and maintain a legitimate political party. As I scrolled through BC’s political parties, I found the “Sex-Party”. I did some research and on this site I discovered their political platform. Though they seem to have a real affect on particular individuals, their platform is entirely irrelevant. Maybe based on my own beliefs and concerns, I am biased to think that this is entirely ridiculous to advocate for increased public nudity, legalizing prostitution and allowing sexually explicit events to occur within the city. My traditionalist views may keep me from voting for this party, but my reasoning makes me want to shout from the rooftops that this party is harmful. I know I’m writing entirely about my opinion, but I also feel it’s valid for this topic. When it’s in our Charter to have the freedom of speech, I take advantage of it and promote my hypocrisy when trying to shut this group up. However, one part of this political party’s platform is based on trying to promote public education on sex and sexuality. All is good and well, but when public, government-funded institutions start including classes on the promotion of adolescent sex, I think we hit a barrier and a major one. This, among many of the other regulations that this party is advocating for, is significantly ignorant to the diversities of the youth and their families. When hot topics, such as these, are institutionalized, it creates a “norm” that require people to act within. I think enough young teens are having sex without our political help, lets help protect them, their bodies, and their futures, and not deceive them into thinking that sex creates our identity.

The New Political Norm: Flash-Mob Activism

Within a day the Kony2012 campaign went viral. A San Diego based non-profit organization called, Invisible Children, put out a 30-minute video advocating the need to end Kony’s child soldier empire and what us as individuals of our state can do.

Never before has civil society made such a loud outcry in such a short amount of time. Overnight policy makers and political leaders are forced to reconsider and redirect their political campaigns. The realization that came with this “flash-mob activism” changed the focus of political leaders on who they address and the platforms in which they create their campaigns. As the video mentions, there are more people on Facebook right now than there were people on earth two hundred years ago. The rise of social media has made personal contact instant, regardless of where you are on the planet. Because of this, public initiative has the potential to boom. The ability for individuals to be political participants is increasing rapidly. Even those without the right to vote, have a voice – and a loud one at that. Civil society is taking part in political activism in ways that they may or may not deem as “political” but definitely hold the same advantages.

Kony2012 offers a way for people to get involved with activism for the first time. This article highlights how many individual’s excitement and eagerness to get on board with this campaign, shows the naivety and proof of introduction into the public consciousness. Anyone on Facebook has most likely watched the Kony2012 video or at least heard of it. That demographic ranges from children as young as 8 – years old to seniors. With the “you” focused video produced by Invisible Children, people are driven and inspired to take action to stop Kony. How that looks could be as simple as reposting the video on Facebook or other social networking sites, writing letters and calling parliament demanding answers and action, or being apart of the awareness campaign of covering cities in Kony’s face. With slogan’s like, ”Don’t study history. Make History,” who wouldn’t want to be apart of it?

The initiative that the public has taken on this topic, demonstrates a huge movement in politics. Political participation is no longer limited to writing letters to parliament, or standing on streets with signs and a couple thousand people. Political participation has moved to global lengths with almost 72 million people having viewed this video and ready to take action. That’s more than double the total national population of Canada.

What this will do for Canadian and US government in terms of action they take, or the change in momentum in political campaigns is unforeseeable, regardless is will require major modifications.

Does anything-you-can-get-away-with mentality foster Tory cheaters?

In terms of the “Paradox of Voting” this article really puts the emphasis on there being more risk in heading to the polls to vote than is worth the outcome. Going beyond the whole “risks” that are more likely to occur than a single vote having significant influence, the manipulation tactics that politicians are using make the vote itself fairly worthless. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are being accused of misleading voters in Guelph, Ontario to keep them from being able to vote on election day. Another form of voter suppression is when a party uses vulgar advertisements against another party in order disgust people enough with politics to stay away from the polls. We can imagine that election day is nerve-racking for Harper, but to resort to “anything-he-can-get-away-with” is immature and unprofessional. Stephen Harper denied the allegations, but as a politician he must be good at lying. So the problem remains unsolved, “is voting worth the risk?”. How do we, as Canadian citizens, make our vote count? How do we reach beyond the overwhelming power of our head of government? Is it possible and is it worth it?

Canada’s Charter of Rights: a global model

Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedom has been an international model for common-wealth countries. This has been the main solid ground Canadians find themselves standing upon. Because of many diversities within Canada, people have sought justice and freedom through this piece of Canadian Constitution. Canada’s gay marriage laws came under scrutiny because of Section 15 , the equality-rights section and successfully passed legislation. Canada has a history of groups of people challenging Canadian law with the Charter to back them up. It has been a piece of pride for Canadians and now seems to be a representative of a country advocating for human rights. As the article mentions, we may not be a military superpower, but we have international support from countries whom look up to us as a moral leader.

The B-word – whose is it, anyway?

Jay-Z’s promise to cut-out the “the B-word” from his lyrics has not only outraged some of his fans, but has highlighted a greater issue of American culture (ultimately North American culture) degrading women. Jay-Z made this promise after the birth of his child, Blue Ivy (poor child) and now many fans are scrambling to find new ways to justify the term.

“Hip-hop culture is no longer an isolated subcategory of culture. It is American culture now, and so it’s a much larger question of how are women represented,” Samhita Mukhopadhyay said from Brooklyn.

The article lays out a number of different ways the term is used. Some are cheeky or friendly, but most are derogatory ways to describe women as

… “money-hungry, scandalous, manipulating, and demanding woman,” according to a 2006 paper published in the Journal of Black Studies.

To many this may be just another ridiculous obsession about arbitrary societal concerns, but to others, myself included, find the use of this term particularly offensive and a contributor to the permission of men to treat women on a whole as objects. Objects to consume, purchase, offend, use, dispose of, blame, neglect, beat, break, and ultimately gain fame as men. It’s interesting how the birth of Jay-Z’s daughter, not the marriage to his wife, Beyonce, is the reason he is willing to give some credit to women as persons to be respected.

“More than in any other genre in the history of black music, commercially celebrated hip-hop swagger depends on a brand of manhood that consistently defines black women as disrespected objects,” Tricia Rose, professor at Brown University and author of TheHip Hop Wars, wrote in The Guardian on Tuesday.

“And fans of all racial backgrounds, but especially young white males, who make up the bulk of U.S. consumers, eat it up.”

To a typical person in my generation, the use of the “B-word”, wouldn’t reek havoc. There’d be no question of the underlying connotations. But this isn’t because we are genuinely okay with it, it’s apathy. The fact that the use of this term is generally uttered by males with the harshest intentions in mind, have led females to “accept” it by putting it into play in their own vocabulary. The societal belief that men are superior to women, dates back to before Christ, to think it’s not still around is absolute ludicrous. In 2012, our laws may allow women the right to abort, take contraceptives, sleep with whom they choose (male or female), vote, enter the public sphere, keep their maiden name after marriage, have children out of wedlock, run for office etc. In no way does this mean that women aren’t subjected to oppression within these rights. Gender inequality throughout the state is an official part of our culture. It’s written in our history, our songs, our movies and television shows, our elites, our politics, and our industries.

There is this belief that women should be quiet, gentle, passive, submissive, delicate creatures. So when a woman stands up for what she believes in, or is in the least bit aggressive to go up on the economic ladder, or decides her purpose in life isn’t primarily to be a homemaker or please her husband, she gets slapped with the “B-word” all over the place. Men, like Jay-Z, feed off the oppression of women in the most literal of ways. Wait a second. A man is making millions of dollars by screaming to the world he’s got “99 problems but a bitch ain’t one of them”?! That’s a new one. Or is it? For centuries women have gone unheard and unnoticed because in this world where “sex sells” our value is based on a man’s pleasure. “Bitch” is not a generic word with no connotations, it’s a word that holds power and with the help of a desensitized culture, women all over the world are so subtly being objectified by the most powerful men.

 

 

 

P.S. Here are my Political Compass Test results

“No strings attached” hurts governance.

It seems the Harper government is making attempts to resolve the issues of Aboriginal self-government, or possibly just trying to discreetly fuel the fire. With the First Nations Property Ownership Initiative, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is proposing to increase wealth on reserves by offering a “no strings attached” approach to private property to promote non-Aboriginal buyers. As this article mentions, this will inhibit self-government on reserves even further. Because FNPO doesn’t offer formalized leasing contracts, Aboriginal peoples will be restrained from enforcing proper land management, and unable to have effective land planning. The Harper government fails to see the core issues of the First Nations people and continues to dig our nation into greater pit of lost dignity. If this initiative goes further without the adequate recognition of Aboriginal self-governance, Canada could be beginning another hair-tangler that won’t be untangled for decades to come.

It may embarrassingly enforce my femininity, but I can’t get enough of:

As well as:

Just a great appreciation of holistic musical talent.