A True Cottage Caper
After my mother's funeral last summer, we headed back to our rented cottage several miles outside the tiny Quebec municipality of Mandeville in the Lanaudiere Region. We were relieved to get off the highway and travel through the rolling hills on the shores of the Maskinonge River. We were in dire need of some rest and relaxation, and our kids needed to be outside instead of cooped up in hotel rooms and waiting in hospitals.
As we turned down the last stretch of dirt road leading to our cottage, we saw a large group of young men between the ages of 16 and 19 coming down a trail and onto the shoulder of the road. As we passed, I saw my husband glance into the rearview mirror for a better look.
"That does not look good," he said.
"Why not?" I asked. "It just looks like a group of kids on holiday."
"They look a bit old for summer camp," my husband replied.
We continued a little bit further until we arrived at our cottage.It felt wonderful to be at our destination and relax. The purple phlox had bloomed while we were away, and the calmness of the pond made everything seem peaceful. As our children ran around outside, happy to finally stretch their legs, we unpacked the car. Half-watching the kids, I saw my husband try to unlock the door, but mysteriously, it was unlocked. I then saw him bend over and pick up a bread knife between the doors. He walked into the cottage and emerged a few minutes later.
"Someone's been in there," he said when he came out.
I could feel dread in the pit of my stomach."I really don't need this," I said.
"I know," he said."My feelings exactly."
We got the kids, and we went into the house to check if anything was missing. As I walked into the house, I had the eerie feeling that strangers had indeed been there. I remembered my father's girlfriend, Shelley, telling me what it felt like after their house had been broken into, cringing at the thought that someone had gone through her personal belongings. I also remembered her saying that it had taken months before they realized all the things that had been stolen.
"If anything is missing, our homeowner's insurance will cover it, but we'll have to file a police report," I said.
I sat with my kids in the living room, while my husband called the police. It was very unsettling to think that someone had broken into the cottage. It made me feel anxious and unable to sit still. But how could someone break in with a bread knife, particularly one that came from inside the cottage. It didn't make sense. Even stranger, the lock had not been broken and showed no signs of tampering.
My husband came back. He'd spoken with the police who instructed him to contact the owner. He called the owner and learned that neither she, nor anyone else she knew, would have gone into the cottage while it was rented. My husband also asked if there was anything of any value in the cottage that could have been stolen. Apparently, the only thing of any value was the TV and satellite system, both of which were still there. By this time, I'd checked all our valuables, and we had taken them all with us.
As the day wore on, we tried to remember if we had taken the bread knife out of the kitchen for any reason on the day we left. If I'd needed to cut something, I would have used scissors, not a knife, let alone a bread knife. Anyway, I would have put the knife back and not left it between the two doors. But what about the unlocked door? Were we in such a hurry to get to the hospital that we forgot to lock it?
By nightfall, we started to assume that we'd forgotten to lock the door. We couldn't explain the bread knife, but we decided to forget about the whole thing and get on with our holiday. Sleep, however, was not to be had that night. Our neighbours, as we discovered, were the group of 16 to 19 year olds we'd seen on the road the day before, and they kept us up most of the night.
We left early the next morning for the beach. My children were dying for a swim in Lac Maskinonge. After some beach fun, we headed back to the cottage. When we walked through the door, I again had the distinct feeling that someone had been there, but I said nothing. We were just settling in to watch a movie when we heard someone calling from outside the cottage. The accent sounded like someone from Montreal, but there was a hint of something else. My husband and daughter went out to see who it was. A few minutes later, my daughter came running back into the house.
"Who was it, honey?" I asked.
"A really big man, and he had your computers," she said.
"What!?"
My husband walked through the door a few minutes later with our computers.
"Well, it looks like the party animals are also a bunch of juvenile delinquents. We're going to have to check our things to see if they stole anything else."
"What kind of delinquents are we talking here? Violent offenders who are too young to prosecute or neighbourhood vandals?"
"I'm not sure. The co-ordinator just said that they were 'at risk' youth."
After looking through our stuff, we discovered that our DVD player was missing. Our anger was building. How were we supposed to be on holiday with a bunch of "at risk" youth next door who'd already broken in at least once, but probably twice?
In the meantime, my husband had called the owner who was going to report the neighbouring cottage owner to the municipality. In order to house at risk youth or delinquents, cottage owners had to obtain a special permit, something she was sure the owner didn't have.
We were in a very uncomfortable situation. We'd spent a lot of money to rent this cottage, but for reasons beyond our control, we hadn't been able to use it. When we finally could spend some time there, we were getting broken into whenever we left. If we were heartless, we could just call the police. But we wondered if pressing charges would teach these boys a lesson or just turn them into criminals. Even though they returned some of the things they stole, they hadn't returned it all. Someone who was truly repentant, we reasoned, would return everything. Clearly, they had learned nothing from this and would probably be back.
What would you have done reader? Would you have called the police?
With a full head of steam, my husband marched over to retrieve our DVD player. A few moments later, I could hear his loud, but controlled voice. After 10 minutes, he emerged from the woods with our DVD player and some DVDs that we hadn't even noticed were missing. When he came in, I asked him what he said.
He told the co-ordinator that we wanted all our stuff back and that he wanted to speak directly to the pair who'd broken in. When he had both of them in front of him, he told them that it was too bad that two people had to ruin everyone's holidays, theirs and ours. He added that we were still debating whether to call the police and press charges. Clearly, by not returning all our things, they were not sorry for what they did. Afraid for his job, the co-ordinator then jumped in and announced that the entire group was leaving the next morning.
My husband was still sweating and angry when he retold the story, but I could see that he was as relieved as I was that they
were leaving."I guess my mother was looking out for us," I said.
"Someone was. It's rare that you ever get stolen items back, and it's even rarer to have the chance to tell the thieves what you think of them to their face."
"I wonder if you're T-shirt drove the message home to those two?"
My husband looked down at his shirt, and we both laughed.
On his blue T-shirt, NEVER WRONG was written in large navy letters.
Fun Way to Track Bike Use and Carbon Footprint
Montreal's bike-taxi or Bixi was definitely this summer's shining star, and Bixi fever is spreading fast. Both London and Boston have signed agreements to use the Bixi in their future city bike-share programs. Effective, September 28, 2009, there were 10,297 regular users and 103,209 occasional users in Montreal after just four months in operation. A resounding success!
Faced with a mysterious flat tire in September and my son changing daycares, I decided to put my regular bike into retirement and subscribe to Montreal's Bixi. Four days after signing on, I received my key in the mail. Not only does the Bixi web site keep track of my stats, such as the distance I travel and how many litres of gas I save, but it also allows me to keep track of activity at my favourite docking stations. Yes, we are still talking about bikes.
As you may already know, Bixi is not a bike rental program. In other words, you never have to return the bike to its starting point. Instead you drop your Bixi off at the closest station to your destination. However, if the docking station is full, you have to find another one. Sounds simple enough...right? At a cost of $78 a year, you get a Bixi membership and the first half-hour of cycling is free. Therefore, if your trip takes 29 minutes and the docking station at your destination is full, then you will probably have to pay $1.50 for the next hour.
Knowing the location and the status of the Bixi docking station closest to your destination is therefore key to saving on any additional charges. I learned the hard way this week when I ventured into unfamiliar terrain, the Centre-Sud neighbourhood of Montreal. (Photo on left: funky Centre-Sud organic fairtrade café that I happened upon while searching for a docking station.)
Because I live on the Plateau, I assumed that Bixi stations were as ubiquitous as they are in my hood. Wrong. As I was driving around the Centre-Sud trying to find an obscure side street by the name of Provencale, I noticed very few stations.
I eventually asked someone who gave me directions to one nearby. Unfortunately, when I arrived, the station was full. I had to pedal a fair distance and incur the additional charge before finding an available dock. As you can see in the capture below, I have started keeping track of dock availability close to home.
Other than this problemcita, I have been very pleased with my first week of bixiing to work. I no longer have the hassle of removing my seat or child carrier and lugging them around downtown with me. I also don't have to find a safe place to lock my bike up, as there is a huge Bixi docking station close to work. But the best part is, if it rains, I can take the metro home and don't have to worry about having my bike stolen overnight.
BTW, you may remember from my post in August that bixi users had travelled enough kilometres to go around the world 57 times. This dizzying globetrotting has now surpassed 87 times.
Related Posts:
3 Compelling Reason For A Bike-Share Program in Your City
City Cycling: Why Renting Beats Owning
A Review of Montreal's Bixi Rental Bike
.
Read more »
Faced with a mysterious flat tire in September and my son changing daycares, I decided to put my regular bike into retirement and subscribe to Montreal's Bixi. Four days after signing on, I received my key in the mail. Not only does the Bixi web site keep track of my stats, such as the distance I travel and how many litres of gas I save, but it also allows me to keep track of activity at my favourite docking stations. Yes, we are still talking about bikes.As you may already know, Bixi is not a bike rental program. In other words, you never have to return the bike to its starting point. Instead you drop your Bixi off at the closest station to your destination. However, if the docking station is full, you have to find another one. Sounds simple enough...right? At a cost of $78 a year, you get a Bixi membership and the first half-hour of cycling is free. Therefore, if your trip takes 29 minutes and the docking station at your destination is full, then you will probably have to pay $1.50 for the next hour.
Because I live on the Plateau, I assumed that Bixi stations were as ubiquitous as they are in my hood. Wrong. As I was driving around the Centre-Sud trying to find an obscure side street by the name of Provencale, I noticed very few stations.
I eventually asked someone who gave me directions to one nearby. Unfortunately, when I arrived, the station was full. I had to pedal a fair distance and incur the additional charge before finding an available dock. As you can see in the capture below, I have started keeping track of dock availability close to home.
BTW, you may remember from my post in August that bixi users had travelled enough kilometres to go around the world 57 times. This dizzying globetrotting has now surpassed 87 times.
Related Posts:
3 Compelling Reason For A Bike-Share Program in Your City
City Cycling: Why Renting Beats Owning
A Review of Montreal's Bixi Rental Bike
.
Harvest at the De Facto Delinelle Community Park and Garden
I arrived at the start of the party, and there were already about 20 people, complete with music, barbecues, and from what I could see, plenty of food. I was introduced to a few of the gardeners and met up with Carlos Robinson-Alvarez again. His wife Miriam had joined Torsten's gardening group this year. Robinson-Alvarez told me that he had moved to this neighbourhood 15 years ago from a very clean suburb. He said that the first thing that he and his wife saw was a women throwing her garbage out of her third-floor window onto the street on a non-garbage day. He said that his wife cried for a week afterwards. The couple, who lives very close to the lot, also had a lot of problems in the past with seasonal allergies. It was only once Torsten and Fraser cleared the lot that their allergies magically disappeared.
The gathering on this sunless afternoon was surprisingly intergenerational and multilingual. There were neighbours in their sixties and some very young children from the hood. Torsten explained to me that just this week he had been approached by a few 7- and 8-year-olds who wanted to plant something. Torsten seems to have become the go-to man for gardening guidance. I reminded Torsten that when I had dropped by for the first time more than a year ago, this had been one of their initial goals--to get neighbourhood children involved in gardening and to start a daycare. It looks like they are close to reaching that goal.
The boys' guerrilla gardening project has been a resounding success in terms of bringing people together, creating a sense of community and beautifying a neighbourhood that was indeed in need of some TLC. Torsten told me that when he moved into this neighbourhood 15 years ago, there was a strong police presence.
When I asked him what his plans were for next year, he said that they still planned to expand the existing garden if other gardeners wanted to join their group. Judging by the number of people joining the party on that cloud-covered fall day, I expect there will be a few more.
Previous posts on the Delinelle Community Park and Garden:
Delinelle Park and Garden: Adjectival Transgression
The Fate of the Delinelle Community Garden and Park
More on Guerrilla-ing in NYC and St. Henri
Trespassers in St. Henri Win City Gardening Contest
Related posts:
Liz Christy Seed Bombs and Some Not So Covert Bombing
Attention Guerrilla Gardeners: the Liz Christy Seed Bomb (a how-to)
What Exactly is Guerrilla Gardening?
Guerrilla Gardening: Tips for the Novice
A Sense of Humour With the Wilensky Special Please!
I went for the first time 8 years ago on a frigid day in December. The most striking aspect is the decor, or the lack thereof. The nine vintage stools that line the thin counter top, the cabinets, machines, dishes, signs, even the font, give the restaurant the look and feel of 1954. There is also an endless array of laminated newspaper reviews of Wilensky's over the years and several yellowing photos of former patrons and employees along the walls. The lunch-hour crowd has access to quite a bit of reading material. There are even some bookshelves with some paperbacks from the 70s. I should have taken this as a hint.
As I ate my Wilensky special on this cold day, I attempted to find out more about the restaurant from the man behind the counter, who wasn't particularly keen on small talk. When it came time to pay the bill, I laughed at how little it cost and how ridiculous it seemed to be calculating a 15% tip. I realize that a 15% does not sound particularly generous, but given the decor, the uncomfortable stool and the server's aversion to conversation, even 16% would have been folly.
The man behind the counter asked me why I was laughing. I said, "At these prices, it must be hard to make a living."
"We don't make tips here. They all go to the heart and stroke fund," he said.
Unfortunately, this only made me laugh harder. Again, he asked me, "What's so funny?"
I was at a loss for words, but because he had asked me so directly, I thought he would be able to handle my answer.
"Well, uh, I just find it ironic. After all, doesn't the cholesterol in salami and bologna sandwiches cause heart disease and strokes?"
He said nothing. He glared at me until I packed up my stuff and left. Unsurprisingly, it seemed much warmer outside than it had in my final seconds at Wilensky's.
As I was researching the restaurant, I came across a review from Frommer's. They had this to say,
Wilensky's has been a Montréal tradition since 1932, and has its share of regular pilgrims nostalgic for its grilled-meat sandwiches, low prices, curt service, and utter lack of decor...After reading this, I realized that I had had a true Wilensky experience.
I went back one other time with my daughter who was then in pre-school. The decor remained unchanged, but this time the server, a woman, was much warmer. This may have been because I knew better than to ask too many questions. The sandwich was fine, just as I remembered it. My daughter, however, was unimpressed and demanded to go to a "real" restaurant.
Photo-Voice: Girl Behind the Camera
Images can give us information about the outside world without requiring us to read any words or use our imaginations. We often see photos as concrete proof of a reality and rarely read any bias into them. We forget that the person behind the camera uses his/her own subjectivity to decide what is beautiful, what is photo-worthy and what will draw our attention. We are not seeing the world, but rather the world from that photographer's perspective. This is his or her photo-voice.
A professor at the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Claudia Mitchell uses photo-voice as a methodology for gathering information and finding solutions to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. As you may know, the primary transmission of HIV in Africa is through unprotected sex, and because of the widespread belief that sex with a virgin is a cure for sexually transmitted diseases, young girls are often the victims of rape.
Working predominately in Rwanda and South Africa, two countries in the throes of dramatic change with legacies of violence, Mitchell has chosen to teach young girls how to use a camera in order to find out how they see the world around them.
I had the opportunity to hear Claudia Mitchell speak at the YWCA's International Conference on Youth, Media and Sexualization last May, and her presentation was powerful. After gaining the trust of a group of girls living in a rural area and teaching them how to use the technology, Mitchell asked them to go around their village and school and take pictures of "feeling strong" and "not so strong."
When young girls control the gaze
After viewing the pictures the girls had taken and asking them a few questions, Mitchell and her colleagues made some important discoveries. Girls had taken pictures of a broken bathroom door at their school. This was a place where the girls felt vulnerable or "not so strong." Mitchell and teachers were also surprised to see a picture of the door to the home of a local soccer star. One of the girls later spoke of a close call with this individual. There were also photos of an isolated path used to go to school and transport water. This was another place where the girls "felt not so strong." Unsurprisingly, several of the girls had taken pictures of themselves and their friends in their classroom as a place where they "felt strong" and safe.
These photos helped Mitchell and the community devise some measures to make the girls safer, such as allowing them to go to the washroom with a friend, fixing the bathroom door and having them walk to school and transport water with an adult. At the conference, Mitchell did not say whether any action was taken against the soccer star.
The next step was to raise awareness in the community about child safety. The girls' photos were posted at a central location on market day to ensure that a large number of local residents would see the pictures. At the conference, we had the opportunity to see all these photos and even a picture of the photos posted in the village.
Not only did these girls have the opportunity to learn how to work with technology, they were also given an opportunity to voice their fears without actually having to find the words. This meant that the girls were able to raise awareness about their own safety amongst themselves and the community as a whole.
This was the first time that I had ever heard of the concept of photo-voice. After some research, I learned that both photo-voice and participatory video were often used with marginalized people in order to see how they viewed the world. The information culled from the photos and video are often used to develop policies to help better integrate these groups into society.
I can easily see a number of applications for photo-voice here in North America. Investigating racism, discrimination and sexual harassment immediately come to mind. But specifically with respect to girls, I think getting them behind a camera has many educational benefits. First of all, it affords them the opportunity to use a new technology and gain confidence in using it. Secondly, producing their own videos and photos is very empowering, particularly if they learn about perspective and bias in the media. And finally, photo-voice allows young girls to become active participants in media by producing content from their perspective rather than being passive consumers and accepting the views of others.
What about you reader? Can you think of any other applications?
For further information on Claudia Mitchell and her research projects click here.
Read more »
A professor at the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Claudia Mitchell uses photo-voice as a methodology for gathering information and finding solutions to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. As you may know, the primary transmission of HIV in Africa is through unprotected sex, and because of the widespread belief that sex with a virgin is a cure for sexually transmitted diseases, young girls are often the victims of rape.
Working predominately in Rwanda and South Africa, two countries in the throes of dramatic change with legacies of violence, Mitchell has chosen to teach young girls how to use a camera in order to find out how they see the world around them.
I had the opportunity to hear Claudia Mitchell speak at the YWCA's International Conference on Youth, Media and Sexualization last May, and her presentation was powerful. After gaining the trust of a group of girls living in a rural area and teaching them how to use the technology, Mitchell asked them to go around their village and school and take pictures of "feeling strong" and "not so strong."
After viewing the pictures the girls had taken and asking them a few questions, Mitchell and her colleagues made some important discoveries. Girls had taken pictures of a broken bathroom door at their school. This was a place where the girls felt vulnerable or "not so strong." Mitchell and teachers were also surprised to see a picture of the door to the home of a local soccer star. One of the girls later spoke of a close call with this individual. There were also photos of an isolated path used to go to school and transport water. This was another place where the girls "felt not so strong." Unsurprisingly, several of the girls had taken pictures of themselves and their friends in their classroom as a place where they "felt strong" and safe.
These photos helped Mitchell and the community devise some measures to make the girls safer, such as allowing them to go to the washroom with a friend, fixing the bathroom door and having them walk to school and transport water with an adult. At the conference, Mitchell did not say whether any action was taken against the soccer star.
The next step was to raise awareness in the community about child safety. The girls' photos were posted at a central location on market day to ensure that a large number of local residents would see the pictures. At the conference, we had the opportunity to see all these photos and even a picture of the photos posted in the village.
Not only did these girls have the opportunity to learn how to work with technology, they were also given an opportunity to voice their fears without actually having to find the words. This meant that the girls were able to raise awareness about their own safety amongst themselves and the community as a whole.
This was the first time that I had ever heard of the concept of photo-voice. After some research, I learned that both photo-voice and participatory video were often used with marginalized people in order to see how they viewed the world. The information culled from the photos and video are often used to develop policies to help better integrate these groups into society.
I can easily see a number of applications for photo-voice here in North America. Investigating racism, discrimination and sexual harassment immediately come to mind. But specifically with respect to girls, I think getting them behind a camera has many educational benefits. First of all, it affords them the opportunity to use a new technology and gain confidence in using it. Secondly, producing their own videos and photos is very empowering, particularly if they learn about perspective and bias in the media. And finally, photo-voice allows young girls to become active participants in media by producing content from their perspective rather than being passive consumers and accepting the views of others.
What about you reader? Can you think of any other applications?
For further information on Claudia Mitchell and her research projects click here.
MomActivism: In Praise of O'Sole Mio
Mr Napolitano wrote back to me a few days later to inform me that the issue had been addressed and that the recycling symbols and RICs would appear on their products in their next production cycle. He also informed me that the plastics used were number 5 (the pesto container) and number 7 (the agnolotti dish). Partial success!
Although both of these plastics are recycled in my area, which is welcome news, I wrote back to Mr. Napolitano to find out whether the number 7 plastic used in the company's fresh pasta dishes contained bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone disruptor. In scientific studies, BPA has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, learning disabilities and obesity.* Those at greatest risk are fetuses, infants and children entering puberty.
Many number 7 plastic products are manufactured with BPA. Some are not. I hypothesized that food retailers were probably just as confused about plastics and BPA as consumers. After all, this confusion translates into success for the public relations specialists hired by BPA manufacturers, some of the largest companies in the world. To see an article published in the Washington Post on big plastic's most recent PR campaign to spin the dangers of BPA click here.
Mr Napolitano promptly replied to my inquiry. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that he had attached a technical data sheet to show that the company's pasta dishes did not contain BPA (Click to enlarge). In addition, these pasta dishes complied with the European Union's regulations, which are much more stringent than those of the US FDA.
Mr Napolitano also asked me to give him a call. He wanted to know more about my concerns. I explained that I was contacting companies whose products we enjoyed to get further information on their packaging practices. I told him that whenever possible, we try to avoid plastics that are not recycled in our area. We also avoid number 7 plastic unless it is indicated that the product packaging is BPA free. I also explained to him that his market segment was probably made up of people like us--professionals with children and busy lives.
In a nutshell, I told him that I wanted to be able to go into the supermarket and leave with products that were environmentally friendly and would not compromise my children's health.
And I got the answers I was looking for.
My first foray into raising retail awareness about eco-friendly packaging was indeed positive, and I invite you all to sing O'Sole Mio from the rooftops. I will be a loyal O'Sole Mio customer...as soon as I see the recycling symbols.
**Slow Death By Rubber Duck, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, Knopf Canada, 2009 pp. 220, 232-235.
Related posts
MomActivism: Raising Retail Awareness About Eco Friendly Packaging. (1)
MomActivism: Reply from O'Sole Mio (2)
Plastics: Of The Three Rs, Your Best Bet Is To REDUCE
So Glad I'm Not 18
The song played in my head until the next day when I looked up the lyrics. Of course, I'd remembered the music and refrain, but, I confess, not the lyrics.
I got a baby´s brain and an old man´s heart
Took eighteen years to get this far
Don´t always know what I´m talkin´ about
Feels like I´m livin´ in the middle of doubt
Cause I´m eighteen
I get confused every day
Eighteen
I just don´t know what to say
Eighteen
I gotta get away
Was it because I was too involved with being 18 to understand, or was it because I couldn't relate to Alice Cooper, an old guy, telling me what it was like to be 18?
At any rate, I may not have remembered the lyrics, but I certainly recall how important music was to me when I was growing up. Whether it was folk, new wave or progressive rock, music was my way to discover life and the outside world while growing up in a conservative small town. I was more inclined, however, to listen to the music rather than the lyrics, and I just recently discovered why.
I thought about the general theme of love and relationships in mainstream music, as they are often on the minds of young adults, and decided to research some of the lyrics to songs about hooking up when I was a teen. I was both amused and repulsed by what I discovered.
The first song that came to mind was an old folk rock tune, which probably still plays ad nauseum on classic rock stations. This song must have turned off a lot of women in search of a monogamous relationship.
Love the One You're With (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
If you're down and confused
And you don't remember who you're talkin' to
Concentration slip away
Cause your baby is so far away.
Well, there's a rose in a fisted glove
And the eagle flies with the dove
And if you can't be with the one you love
Love the one you're with
Love the one you're with
I had a good laugh at the "rose in a fisted glove." The rose, a symbol of love, but in a fisted glove. Scuse me, what's with the glove? Anyway...Correct me if you disagree, but I can't imagine a woman writing a song about a moment of weakness and it still getting airtime 40 years later. Some will say it was a time of free love...Whatever!
The other song that came to mind took me back to my early teens, and again, it received airtime for years after it was initially released in 1979-- You're All I've Got Tonight (the Cars). Here's some of it:
i don't care if you hurt me some more
i don't care if you even the score
you can knock me and i don't care
you can mock me and i don't care
you can rock me just about anywhere
it's alright
'cus you're all i've got tonight
you're all i've got tonight
you're all i've got tonight
Now, as I recall, a lot of women liked the Cars and new wave music. However, this song did not offer a very appealing picture of hooking up for either party. I'm starting to see why I remembered the music, but not the lyrics.
The next song, a progressive rock tune by the hugely popular Supertramp, was loved by everyone. Even our parents used to sing along to these songs on AM radio, but listen to the opener of the title song from Breakfast in America.
Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get enough
Hello! Sounds to me like love and relationships were strictly male focused, and these three songs were tame AM radio material. Wait a minute? Weren't most of the musicians and songwriters male? Yep. The record producers? Yep. The people who decided how much airtime these songs received? Yep. No wonder I couldn't remember the lyrics. I couldn't relate to the point of view.
Have things changed since then? Not according to Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown, the authors of Packaging Girlhood:Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes. To counter the objectifying and degrading portrayal of women in pop music, they suggest that parents explain to their daughters that the music industry is overwhelmingly made up of men.
Point out the maleness of the world of pop music. For the most part, men own the companies and produce the artists and the CDs, control what gets airtime, and film the MTV videos. They're also overwhelmingly the ones in bands (U2, Green Day, Simple Plan, Yellowcard, Death Cab for Cutie, Maroon 5, Korn, and so on). (p.154)
Yes, there were women in pop music when I was a teen, but they were not nearly as successful or had the same longevity or amount of airtime as their male counterparts. There are, however, more women making money and enjoying success in the music industry today. The Madonnas, Christinas, Brittneys and Avrils have indeed become superstars, but how many of their equally successful male counterparts have had to sex it up, take off some clothes or go blond to maintain their market shares? Ah, none.
But this post was about lyrics wasn't it? Are there lyrics about love in mainstream music today that are written from a woman's perspective? Are these lyrics sex-positive without objectifying women? Please tell me about them. Maybe I will be able to remember them for once.
Related posts:
More Impossible Beauty Standards
What if Bill Gates Had Been Born A Poor Black Girl
Our Hypersexualized Media: How to Help Our Children
The Gold Standard of Beauty: Targetting Insecurities
Dora the Explorer: The Power of A Petition
Cookie-Cutter Plain
Strawberries: Organic vs. Local
My husband did the grocery shopping this week and came home with three baskets of locally grown strawberries. He told me that the organic variety was three times the price of the locally grown and unsurprisingly came from California. It came down to the old organic vs. local dilemma.
First and foremost, I want to point out we are not perfect and do not suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. We're just trying to choose the best food available. But like every other working couple with two kids, we have very (berry?) busy lives and cannot spend our days grocery shopping for local, organic produce. It often comes down to choosing between local and organic.
This executive decision is made during the hour we spend grocery shopping. As strawberries are number 6 on the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen, the fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels, I opt for organic. To see the EWG's dirty dozen click here.
My husband is a greater proponent of buying local than I am, as it supports local farmers, reduces green house gas emissions and ensures fresher, tastier (he says) produce. As I have mentioned in a previous post, produce shipped from California is picked and shipped before it ever reaches peak ripeness or contains all its nutrients. It further loses these nutrients on the haul north. In addition, in last year's Green Guide, David Suzuki advocated buying local over organic.
However, because I have read about pesticides, which are carcinogenic and wreak havoc on children's developing neurological and reproductive systems, I tend to buy organic over local. Opting for local produce over organic is fine if you are an adult, but children are at greater risk because they cannot metabolize or inactivate toxins the way adults can. I opt for local if the fruit or veg is on the EWG's clean 15, a list of conventionally grown produce with the lowest pesticide levels.
But as in all couples, compromises have to be made, and in our organic vs. local debate, life eventually takes over. When you walk into a grocery store, you have to come out with something, or else chaos awaits you in the days ahead. I shop weekly for vegetables at a small organic shop, and between the two of us, we eat quite a mix of local and organic produce.
I must admit that this week I was won over by the locally grown strawberries. They were delicious! In addition, their baskets were made from number 1 plastic, which is both safe and recycled in our borough. This was as close as we could get to the perfect strawberry.
Food for thought: a geneticist's perfect strawberry
If you buy conventionally grown fresh strawberries from California throughout the winter, you may want to freeze your own locally grown berries after viewing this short video.Although it is being phased out, methyl bromide is the fumigant used to treat the soil on strawberry factory farms in California. It is a suspected carcinogen and has been responsible for numerous deaths.
NB: I have checked, and this fumigant is used much less in Canada.
After seeing the video, I have a much greater appreciation for the organic farmer.
Related Posts:
Meet the Clean 15 (Produce with lowest pesticide levels)
Evironmental Working Group Updates its Dirty Dozen (12 fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels)
Buying Local: Vegetables Year Round
3 Simple Q&As about Children and Pesticides
A Welcome Type of Advertising
In previous posts, I have written about how advertisers target insecurities in order to sell their products. If advertisements are not making mothers feel guilty, then they're making women feel fat, old and otherwise unappealing.
Well, recently I came across just the opposite--an advertisement for an ice cream store that made me feel great about not being rail thin and 20 years old. What's surprising is that I have walked past this ice cream store thousands of times without ever seeing the sign.
My husband and I decided to meet up here with our two kids. I knew that the gelato and sorbets were expensive but made from natural ingredients, so I relented. When I took a look at the flavours, I was mesmerized. They were all so appealing. I felt like a kid again....The final decision--espresso and chai Masala, and they were heavenly! So heavenly, in fact, that I decided on seconds. Now, I can see you all cringing, but eat your heart out! THE SECOND WAS EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST! Grapefruit sorbet and coconut gelato! Thanks for asking.
I did, however, explain to the owner that I was slightly embarrassed to be bellying up to the counter a second time, and she said, "I chose my sign for a reason."
I looked up to see a picture of a woman who was neither thin nor young, but unique, happy and elegantly dressed. Oh yeah, she's also wagging her finger to show her indifference to the weight scale at her feet.
The name of the ice cream store is "Plus que Parfait," which translates into "More than Perfect." It's up to you to decide whether the more refers to your weight or just how freakin' great you are.
I've been back since...
Related posts:
Gold Standard of Beauty: Targetting Insecurities
In Response to Impossible Beauty Standards
More Impossible Beauty Standards
Read more »
Well, recently I came across just the opposite--an advertisement for an ice cream store that made me feel great about not being rail thin and 20 years old. What's surprising is that I have walked past this ice cream store thousands of times without ever seeing the sign.
My husband and I decided to meet up here with our two kids. I knew that the gelato and sorbets were expensive but made from natural ingredients, so I relented. When I took a look at the flavours, I was mesmerized. They were all so appealing. I felt like a kid again....The final decision--espresso and chai Masala, and they were heavenly! So heavenly, in fact, that I decided on seconds. Now, I can see you all cringing, but eat your heart out! THE SECOND WAS EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST! Grapefruit sorbet and coconut gelato! Thanks for asking.
I looked up to see a picture of a woman who was neither thin nor young, but unique, happy and elegantly dressed. Oh yeah, she's also wagging her finger to show her indifference to the weight scale at her feet.
The name of the ice cream store is "Plus que Parfait," which translates into "More than Perfect." It's up to you to decide whether the more refers to your weight or just how freakin' great you are.
I've been back since...
Related posts:
Gold Standard of Beauty: Targetting Insecurities
In Response to Impossible Beauty Standards
More Impossible Beauty Standards
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