Let’s get pretty
By: Aleysha Haniff
Well, golly, I just love being a woman.
I mean, if I go to the National Women’s Show, which runs Nov. 7 to 9 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, I’ll get to go shopping! And according to the website, there will be tips for staying healthy, free makeovers, and tips for home décor and entertainment.
And some hunky soap opera star is making a guest appearance. Totally OMG.
But I’d like to think that something billed as a national show for women would offer something with a little more substance, like a birth control workshop. Even after poking though the show schedules, I was disappointed to find nothing about feminist issues.
Don’t get me wrong, I love makeup and bargain buys, but a women’s show should be more than just corporations hawking their expensive treatments and beauty tips.
It seems that feminism, unfortunately, has no place among the other activities that are used to define today’s woman. The “ultimate girl’s day out,” which the show claims to offer, doesn’t feature hard-hitting information about real issues like female genital mutilation or sexual harassment in the workplace. The closest thing I could find to an empowering workshop was one that teaches women to make confident choices about managing their money.
If you want to “detox your thoughts with colour,” however, this expo is the place to be.
I really don’t have a problem with the concept of a show featuring products geared towards females who fill traditional gender roles. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to embrace traditional “girly” behaviour, if it represents what you are. But the National Women’s Show needs a different name, because it’s definitely misleading.
The “Sell-The-Conventional-Idea-Of-Beauty-To-Women Show,” maybe?
