One of the easiest places to find stereotypical women is in cartoons.
It’s hard to find women featured in them in the first place, but when they are, they’re portrayed as weak, vulnerable or subservient. From Disney movies to comics to cartoon shows, the media’s construction of women is everywhere. And they paint an unrealistic picture of who they are in general.
Even from the early to mid 1900s, female Disney cartoon characters are mere objects of affection. They are usually helpless when it comes to defending themselves. Sometimes they are nothing more than just decoration. Many of the Disney women have stereotypical female roles like the housemaid. In most instances, however, they don’t have any role but to support the leading male characters. Most of them are written as princesses who need to be saved from the “wicked witch” and then who fall in love with the handsome prince. It’s very rare to see women take charge in Disney films, with the exception of Mulan (1998).
The launch party is tonight! 9 p.m. College St. Bar (in Little Italy 574 College Street) $5 at the door – DJ Lucie Tic is headlining with tha 1 who Trevs (barnburnaz) opening and closing – see you there!
Nathalie-Roze Fischer and Caroline Shaheed are two exceptional multi-taskers who know how to get things done. Although the women have completely different jobs and live at opposite ends of the city, they each decided to do their part and organize two unique fundraising events with all proceeds going to Haiti relief.
“Like many people, I’ve been deeply saddened by the news of the disaster in Haiti and I wanted to do something concrete to help,” said Fischer, owner of the trendy Queen St. East boutique, Nathalie-Roze & Co. “Women and children are the most vulnerable targets of violence and corruption in a chaotic, lawless environment. Many children have been orphaned by this disaster. …At the same time, women and kids are often the most resilient, driven and resourceful in any community— particularly in a crisis. I’ve heard that very young Haitian women are already mobilizing make-shift care centres for the sick,” said Fischer, who is part Haitian and who still has family there. (more…)
It’s the fierce biggest movie of the year, filled with fantasy, romance and subtext relating to the environment and corporate greed. But that’s not all Avatar has to offer. I’m not talking about the fact that it has the best graphics or plot.Avatar is full of strong, inspiring women. I’m willing to bet that many viewers didn’t even notice. I know I didn’t.
When you walk out of the theatre, the presence of strong, capable and independent women doesn’t stand out because the characters fit into the plot of the movie like puzzle pieces.
The story and the visuals never compete against each other for attention. The film encompassed so many underlying messages that somehow managed not to overwhelm the plot. The concept that the human race is continually destroying Mother Nature due to corporate greed is a biggie. But the fact that all of the main female characters were strong women portrayed as heroes as opposed to victims, fit seamlessly into the storyline and didn’t seem like a new concept, something that is rare in mainstream films. (more…)
Selling baked goods and samosas Photo by Sara Faruqi
Today, McClung’s Magazine, Journalists for Human Rights and the Verse City Journalism Program, all from Ryerson University raised $1074 from baked goods, samosas and donations.
The university, Ryerson Students’ Union, CESAR and the university’s president Sheldon Levy has generously offered to match our total funds by four.
All of today’s proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross, which then the Canadian government will also match our donations by two.
What do you think about the movie poster for "Bitch Slap"
Chicks kick ass in Bitch Slap. But as per usual, the film, released January 8th, is neither unique nor empowering to women. The film is described on the website as “an explosive mélange of near-naked, weapon-slinging, grab-assing, hard-riding, profundity-spewing, sex bomb bad girls out for a score… [equipped with] gigantic jugs.” It certainly delivers on those counts.
Julia Voth, Erin Cummings, and America Olivo, are the lucky actors who get to play the three bodacious characters created by, surprise, surprise, two men, Rick Jacobson and Eric Gruendemann. The idea came about at a dinner party when the question, “what’s the most outrageous place you’ve ever been keyholed?” was asked. Urbandictionary.com has yet to define what exactly ‘keyholed’ means, but I’m sure you can all take a guess.
So, I can only assume that Bitch Slap, set in large part in the desert, was the fantasy answer to that question. And like the notorious Girls Gone Wild franchise, the film sure has enough cleavage, wet T-shirt and girl-on-girl kissing scenes to get that key in the hole.
McClung’s has teamed up with Verse City and Journalists for Human Rights to throw a samosa/bake sale tomorrow from 1-4 p.m. in the lobby of Ryerson’s Rogers Communication Centre. All proceeds are going to Red Cross’ disaster relief programs in Haiti. Come out and show your support!
