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News

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

3

Principal takes time to talk to students Kartiga Thiyagarajah The McGill Daily

P

rincipal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum hosted a town hall Tuesday in order to openly discuss issues of concern within the McGill community.

One of the main issues addressed was McGill’s budgetary restraints,and the low level of support for competitive grants to scholars and researchers.

“McGill is currently facing a tight budget,” explained Munroe-Blum.

“We are working hard, however, to protect jobs and have done considerably well compared to other research-intensive universities in Canada and the United States.”

The principal added that while budgetary restraints have required the University to make cuts, the protection of jobs would remain a priority.

Others expressed concern with the University’s policy on faculty absence, which requires professors who fall sick with the H1N1 flu virus to find and pay their own replacement, and worried that the policy creates disincentives that would discourage faculty from staying home when ill.

The principal was also asked to comment on the administration’s support for a controversial event organized by Choose Life McGill earlier this fall. SSMU VP External Affairs Sebastian Ronderos-Morgan wanted to know whether there is a standard that the University uses to decide if any event is deemed appropriate.

Munroe-Blum responded that she chose to respect the club’s

freedom of speech because she felt that no laws had been broken. Ronderos-Morgan felt that the principal’s response did not address his concern that the University has not provided a standard on issues involving freedom of expression.

“She didn’t address the question. She talked about the Choose Life event, and how she was disappointed that the event had been protested, and therefore not gone ahead as planned,” said RonderosMorgan.

He added, however, that “it was definitely clear that [Munroe-Blum] was informed of certain things over the course of the town hall, through the questions asked of her, and that, I think, is valuable.”

Joël Pedneault, the Arts Representative to SSMU, felt that Munroe-Blum’s response to a question on the high cost of international tuition was also inadequate.

“Principal Munroe-Blum claimed that tuition fees are based on public policy decisions and did not take responsibility for the high international fees,” said Pedneault.

“However, she is a member of the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities and therefore does have a certain amount of say in this matter.”

Despite the principal’s limited responses, Pedneault still encouraged students to attend town hall meetings.

“There were several moments when no one had a question to ask. Also, many of the questions did not apply directly to students,” Pedneault explained. “If more

Hristo Vassilev for The McGill Daily

Vague answers disappoint those in attendance

Munroe-Blum was frustrated that she couldn’t communicate more often with staff and students. students showed up, more issues regarding students would be addressed.”

Munroe-Blum was also asked to comment on the extensive construction taking place on campus, and how the construction has been funded.

According to Munroe-Blum, a great deal of the construction has been maintenance-related, such as tunnel work and renovations to the parts of buildings that pose safety hazards. The construction has been paid in large part by funds provided by the federal and provincial governments.

“McGill received $300-million

from the province of Quebec and the federal government to improve its infrastructure, thus creating economic opportunities,” MunroeBlum explained.

“The University is currently undergoing more construction than it has ever before,” she added. “There has been a longstanding need for renovations on campus.”

The federal stimulus money is also being used for academic purposes, such as infrastructure development for the chemistry department and research funding for the faculties of medicine, science, and engineering.

Munroe-Blum expressed her gratitude to those who attended the meeting and raised questions.

“There are no unacceptable views,” Munroe-Blum concluded.

“We need a candid exchange of views in order to work together more effectively and make McGill an even better place.”

“My main frustration is not having enough time to meet with students, faculty members, and other members of this community [with] whom I do not interact with regularly,” Munroe-Blum said. “I feel it is important to hear a wide range of voices on matters of concern.”

Speakers confront HIV apathy McGill Global AIDS Coalition hosts panel of researchers and activists for World Aids Week.

Melissa Wils-Owens News Writer

O

n Tuesday evening, the McGill Global AIDS Coalition hosted a panel discussion regarding HIV in the Montreal community as part of a series of events the group held last week for World AIDS Week.

Bluma Brenner, a researcher for the Jewish General Hospital’s McGill AIDS Centre, opened the discussion by emphasizing the importance of developing an HIV test that could detect the virus within the first three weeks of infection.

Brenner explained the importance of maximizing awareness of HIV infection, and stated that there are 15,000 HIV-positive people in Montreal, one-fifth of whom are not aware that they

are infected. She added that studies have proven that unprotected sex and needle-sharing decreases once individuals know they are infected.

Brenner is currently working to develop a test for the antigens, rather than the antibodies, so that the early stages of the virus can be detected. She stated that in 1984, there was a peak in the HIV/AIDS infection rate, followed by a dramatic decline, which she attributed to a growing fear surrounding the virus.

There are many sites throughout the city where individuals can anonymously get tested for HIV, which is slowly increasing the rate of diagnoses, but Brenner expressed her frustration that a means of testing for the virus within the first three weeks of infection remains unavailable to these clinics.

Since the epidemic became a chronic illness in 1996, and improvements in antiretroviral treatment enabled victims to live up to 30 years once infected, there has been a decrease in immediate action implemented by both the citizens and government of Canada.

Brenner stated, “I get very excited because, as a scientist, my experiences with AIDS research have changed from merely doing an essay to working with actual people.

I have begun to feel like I am actually making a difference.”

Michael Foster, of AIDS Community Care Montreal, and Jean-Francois Mary, an active member of the non-profit organization Cactus Montreal, later discussed the politics behind the lack of funding for HIV prevention programs, and current methods for eradicat-

ing new strains of HIV/AIDS in Montreal.

Foster and Mary both discussed their attempts to reinvent the public perception of HIV by discussing the virus at high schools, and through a variety of outreach programs.

Mary said that from the mideighties to the present, perception of those infected with HIV has evolved from regarding them as “non-human diseases of society,” to a more recent apathetic perception that HIV only afflicts homosexuals or intravenous drug users.

Mary went on to discuss his organization’s approach to HIV/AIDS among the drug-using community in Montreal. Cactus Montreal attempts to curb the rate of HIV infection within Montreal by creating a needle exchange and a program called Street Walks, which entails regular

visits to bars, sex clubs, and drug sites where they provide sterile needles and refer people to clinics for anonymous HIV testing.

Mary and his coworkers at Cactus have also established a program to professionally train Montreal’s underprivileged youth on HIV prevention. Preventive strategies such as these, Mary said, “can thwart and eradicate new infections by preventing the spread of HIV strains.”

When the floor was opened to questions, one student asked why local and federal governments are so hesitant to fund HIV organizations Cactus. All three speakers agreed that politicians tend to view HIV/AIDS with apathy.

“HIV/AIDS isn’t an issue that’s in fashion for politicians, who respond purely to public pressure,” Foster said.

4 News

Abousfian Abdelrazik: terror, torture, and return A discussion of Abdelrazik’s six-year exile in Sudan, and Canada’s complicity in his imprisonment and interrogation

Abousfian Abdelrazik is a Sudanese-born Canadian citizen who recently returned to Canada after being stranded in Sudan from 2003 to 2009.

Detained, interrogated, and tortured by Sudanese authorities in Khartoum after being profiled by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Abdelrazik was denied the right to return to Canada by successive governments – a clear violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which outlines that “every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.”

Barred from returning to Canada, Abdelrazik’s six years in exile point to a wider context in which multiple Canadian citizens, including Maher Arar in Syria, faced torture and imprisonment abroad resulting from racial profiling by Canadian and U.S. security and intelligence agencies. In Sudan, Canadian CSIS agents interrogated Abdelrazik in the very same Sudanese prison where Sudanese military officials carried out violent torture against him.

In 2008, he took refuge in the Canadian embassy in Khartoum in coordination with an Ottawa-based legal support team, while a grassroots campaign for Abdelrazik’s return quickly spread to communities across Canada lead by the Montreal-based Project Fly Home.

A solidarity campaign with Abdelrazik quickly developed across Canada to apply pressure on the Conservative government to immediately return Abdelrazik to Cana-

Stefan Christoff News writer

Stefan Christoff: It was a long struggle to force the Canadian government to respect your right to return to Canada and today your struggle is not over. Can you explain?

Abousfian Abdelrazik: Absolutely.

It is not over because still I am on the UN 1267 list. Now it is a huge struggle to fight to be removed from that list as it prevents me from living as a normal person, a normal citizen.

SC: Being on the UN 1267 list means you face a complete asset freeze, barring you from receiving a salary for your work, accessing social assistance or medical care, things that many take for granted in Montreal. Can you explain how the UN 1267 list is impacting your life in Canada despite returning to Canada after exile in Sudan?

A A: Canada’s government should help me to be removed from this list.

Actually it is the responsibility for the government in Ottawa to appeal for me to be removed from this list after every-

da, culminating in April 2009, when activists purchased a return ticket for Abdelrazik, a condition fixed by the Conservative government in order for emergency travel documents to be issued for Abdelrazik to travel home to Canada. Conservative foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon went back on the previously expressed conditions for Abdelrazik’s return – refusing to issue an emergency passport – a move that led a Federal Court judge to order the government to return Abdelrazik to Canada in a landmark decision in June 2009.

In the Federal Court decision that forced the Conservatives to issue emergency travel documents to Abdelrazik, Judge Russel Zinn described him as a “prisoner in a foreign land” and “as much a victim of international terrorism as the innocent persons whose lives have been taken by recent barbaric acts of terrorists.” Zinn also highlighted the direct involvement of CSIS in Abdelrazik’s arrest, detention, and torture in Sudan.

Today, Abdelrazik continues to struggle for justice, and is calling for his name to be removed from the 1267 UN terror watch list, a list basued not on law but on association and profiling administered by the UN Security Council, to which Abdelrazik was added at the request of the Bush administration without evidence or trial in 2006. Although Abdelrazik has returned to Canada, regular citizenship rights, including social services, education, and health care are not accessible to him due to Canada’s enforcement of the UN 1267 list.

thing that happened in Sudan.

Although I am back in Montreal, I am not free. I can walk on the streets in Montreal but it is not possible for me to live a normal life. The 1267 list puts me in another prison. I can’t work and I can’t access health care. Today I continue to face injustice. Canada needs to appeal for me to be de-listed immediately from the UN 1267 list. I want my full human rights.

SC: For many, the fact that CSIS has a direct responsibility to your imprisonment and torture in Sudan is surprising.

Throughout your recent speaking tour across Canada, you have spoken very openly on the direct role the CSIS and the government of Canada played in your imprisonment and torture in Sudan. Can you explain?

AA: After my lawyers received government documents on my case, it became totally clear that the Canadian government in Ottawa and CSIS were directly involved in my detention without trial or charge in Sudan. I was jailed in Sudan because of CSIS; my torture is directly tied to the Canadian government.

SC: Canadian officials visited you dur-

ing the very same period that you were in prison and facing torture in Sudan. What did these Canadian officials do to assist you?

AA: I was actually interrogated by two CSIS agents in prison in Sudan, in the same prison where I was being tortured, hung from the door frame, beaten with a rubber hose, slapped, and punched. CSIS interrogated me, asking the very same questions as the Sudanese secret police. The CSIS officials knew about my torture and were directly linked to it.

SC: Do you feel that the Canadian government officials involved in your case need to be held accountable?

AA: All those people who played a role in this matter, in my exile in Sudan, in my torture and imprisonment, must face justice.

SC: It must be difficult for you to put into words what you experienced in Sudan.

I remember right after you returned from Sudan, you explained that you wanted to make sure no one else experiences what you experienced, that your experience shouldn’t happen to anyone else ever again. Is this why you continue to campaign today?

AA: Really I want to end torture and prisons; I want to be the last victim that experienced such horrible things. I must struggle for this to be reality.

SC: Some who experience torture take years to gather the courage to speak out and campaign publicly, but you chose to speak out on the very same night that you returned to Canada and continue to campaign for justice; explain why.

AA: The experiences that I went though in Sudan were really awful. It is so hard to describe; I want to make sure that no one experiences the same thing ever again. I will continue with my tour across Canada this winter; I will continue to tell people across Canada my story. I want torture to stop completely, for it to never happen to anyone else anywhere in the world.

SC: Canada is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture, a very important piece of international legislation, but instead of defending your rights in the Sudanese prison where you were tortured, CSIS agents interrogated you in the very same prison in which you were being tortured. At one point in

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dominic Popowich/ The McGill Daily

Khartoum, a Conservative MP, Deepak Obhrai, also interrogated you. What do you have to stay to the Conservative government in Ottawa after your experiences?

AA: Representatives from the Conservative government came to Sudan and interrogated me in the Canadian embassy – which is horrible. MP Deepak Obhrai interrogated me rather than helping a fellow Canadian citizen. This is horrible behaviour from the government and must be stopped.

SC: How did this experience make you feel while being stranded in Sudan?

AA: Actually I expected the government to come to help me after being released from prison in Sudan and living at the Canadian embassy struggling to go back to Canada. I expected the MPs who visited to help me, not to interrogate me.

I felt that all hope was gone at that time, because the people who were supposed to help me, the Canadian government, instead interrogated me, which actually made me lose all hope. Obhrai asked me my opinion on Palestine, on Israel, on bin Laden – not talking to me about my own situation as a Canadian stranded in Sudan.

SC: You lived many months in the Canadian embassy in Khartoum. Can you explain this period?

AA: It was very difficult to stay in the Canadian embassy - very, very difficult. Cameras watching you all day and all night, monitoring every movement.

Having your life monitored at the embassy and not being able to go anywhere was so difficult, just staying night after night at the embassy compound without any support from the Canadian government to return. For me, staying at the embassy was like another prison because I had to stay 24 hours a day within the embassy compound.

Staying at the embassy was mental torture; embassy staff were always pressuring me to leave. Actually the embassy staff who tried to help me were fired, especially the local staff from Sudan. [They were] fired for just bringing some food for me to eat.

SC: When you made that choice to enter the Canadian embassy in Sudan, you were looking for protection?

AA: Yes, absolutely. After I entered the embassy in Khartoum, from the moment that I told the embassy staff that I was staying and gave them a letter from my lawyer

in Canada, they treated me very badly, especially the consular official Eric O’Connor.

SC: In April 2009 many people across the country came together, buying you a plane ticket back to Canada, a condition issued by the government for you to return to Canada, for you to secure your own ticket. Although the ticket was secured by activists in Canada, your hopes were dashed – as the government didn’t issue you travel documents. Can you talk about how you felt following the pressure from the grassroots in Canada calling on the government to return you to Canada?

AA: [I spoke] with my lawyers and supporters quite often over the phone. I heard about the protests in Montreal and other cities in Canada. Actually it is hard for me to describe how much this meant to me.

SC: Back in Canada, you have had an opportunity to connect with the grassroots activists who worked to educate people about your forced exile in Sudan and held street protests while you were in Khartoum. How has it been for you to connect with the people in Canada who fought for your return?

AA: Actually I am very glad to meet the

people who supported me across Canada.

While living at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum, activists from Montreal called me, expressing their support. This gave me strength to continue to remain at the embassy and fight to return.

Officials at the Canadian embassy really pressured me to leave and treated me badly, but knowing that the people of Canada were supporting me gave me spirit to continue. I slept in the bathroom at the embassy for many months. This was so difficult and humiliating. The bathroom at the embassy was my room after years in prison and torture in Sudan.

After coming back to Montreal I have connected with the activists that supported me. I am so glad to see them and to know them today.

Stefan Christoff is a Montreal-based journalist and community organizer. Contact Stefan at christoff@resist.ca. For more information on Project Fly Home visit peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik/.

A solidarity rally for Abdelrazik will be held December 12, at 1 p.m. in Phillips Square, on the corner of Ste. Catherine and Union, near McGill metro.

5

Commentary

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

7

Femininity is fucking fierce The feminine shouldn’t have to bow before the masculine

Radically reread Lisa Miatello

T

he Montreal queer community is often heralded as a hotbed of gender fucking, fluidity, and acceptance. It’s imagined as a place where oppressive gender norms go to die painful (and fabulous) deaths. And if the women’s movement of the sixties and seventies is invoked on the queer scene, it’s to position it as retrograde politics, made reference to only to congratulate ourselves on how far we’ve come. When this bolsters a claim to a feminist identity that only seems to require tits and a desire for women as pre-reqs, you know something’s gone awry.

I have an affinity for challenging queers’ (mis)conceptions of femininity. I’m over being called androgynous as a compliment, being told that people don’t see masculinity or femininity, and having my gender presentation read and treated as normative and apolitical. Meanwhile, my lips are smeared with bright pink lipstick, my ass is hanging out of my black satin skirt, and I talk queer and gender politics a mile a minute.

The worst, though, is when folks arbitrarily femme it up to celebrate the boundlessness that is the gender galaxy, only to deride femininity as backward and vacant in the next breath.

Let me offer a few caveats to start. Ensuring the “natural formation” of proper femininity in girls is an ongoing societal project. It is annoying at best, and violent at worst. When something like femininity is considered to be developmentally natural in women, it follows that biological aberrations will always be possible. And they must be avoided at all costs. This expectation and enforcement of femininity can feel suffocating, unchosen, and incredibly disempowering. I’m not interested in denying the harsh ways that this can go down and play out in someone’s life. What I am interested in is thinking about the variability of folks’ experiences with femininity.

The century prior to the second-wave women’s movement saw generations of sexologists, psychoanalysts, and biomedical scientists “discovering” and “proving” the naturalness of femininity in women.

Combined with the resurgence of the repressive domestic ideal of the fifties, white middle-class women began reacting to these institutionally supported and culturally expected roles with a vengeance.

And they did so in droves. One of

the most fundamental signs of a feminist consciousness became the enlightened recognition of femininity as inherently oppressive.

Tool of the patriarchy?

More like a program instituted to establish the complete colonization of women by men. The deployment of femininity as the primary and overriding target of the feminist movement hinged on a strict distinction between sex and gender. While claiming sex (femaleness) as a natural, discrete, and immutable category, they claimed gender (feminine expression, behaviour, and values) as a socially constructed and imposed phenomenon.

This claim had destructive implications and disastrous effects. And let me tell you, the reverberations are palpable. Two broad lines of thought came from the assertion of femininity as an enforced, topdown program used to keep women subordinate.

On the one hand, some feminists advocated for a return to the pure, natural, and androgynous femaleness that the patriarchy had butchered and silenced.

Sounds a lot like today’s cult of andro queers that snub my unapologetic femme styles. Others sought the explicit rejection of femininity

and elaborate mask that could, and should, be taken off – without hesitation. Blush, heels, and miniskirts?

Say goodbye to your liberation.

In fighting for a liberalist bastardization of equality – where freedom for women meant being like hyperprivileged men – feminists failed to engage in the strenuous work required to empty the vat of negativity that femininity was soaked in. They reinforced it as inherently weak and inferior, its expression as artificial and confining, and lambasted it as definitively infantilizing, incapacitating, and debilitating.

This failure to interrogate the cultural connotation and denigration of femininity proves to be especially problematic when “in its broadest sense, femininity refers to the behaviours, mannerisms, interests, and ways of presenting oneself that are typically associated with those who are female,” as Julia Serano defines it in her book Whipping Girl.

Insofar as a large amount of women are feminine, most women come to stand as antifeminist victims who are affected by a false consciousness imposed by patriarchal society.

Ironically, despite the women’s movement’s keen interest Sally Lin / The McGill Daily in empowering women, they reproduced the notion that most women are, in fact, by oodles of lusting respect in uncritical, masochistic, and unrequeer spaces. All in all, femininity sisting dupes. If anything, these was conceived of as an oppressive in place of masculine values and behaviours that were imagined as superior and more humane.

Reminds me of the bois, butches, and (trans)masculine heroes greeted

sentiments seem quite sexist and misogynistic for a movement that claimed to fight the oppression of women.

In feminist evaluations of femininity, the invisible norm that has and continues to plague the analyses of these arbiters of oppression is the middle-class, cis-gendered, thin, and white abled body. This body cannot serve as a model upon which all experiences of, and relationships to, femininity can be productively judged. Patriarchy is not a uniform and discrete system of power. To isolate patriarchy from other systems of privilege and oppression is to efface and misunderstand the complex ways people interface with society. If misogyny is differentiated and complicated by its interaction with other systems of domination, then how can we even continue to hold onto a critique of femininity that treats it as inherently patriarchal, regressive, and apolitical?

Femininity is an incoherent and non-cohesive set of connected characteristics, behaviours, values, mannerisms, and embodiments.

Many of them can be dominated by patriarchal meanings. Many of them are deeply imbued with constellations of inferiority and powerlessness. Many of them are categorically denied to those who are people of colour, working class, fat, disabled, trans, male-assigned, and/or male-identified. If this is a transgressive feminist community chock full of queers, we need to start living up to that title with something substantive.

The most salient point is this: femininity is not a stable or singular entity. If we’re going to call ourselves feminists, we need to recognize that there is always room for resistance and that everyone can engage in it. Taking on femininity when you’re not supposed to is an act of power. Embodying femininity in a culture that disparages it is an act of power. Loving femininity when you’re taught to hate it is an act of power. Doing femininity with a confrontational, take-no-shit attitude is an act of power. These actions arm femininity: they make it political, they make it critical, and they make it fucking fierce.

Lisa Miatello writes in this space every other week. She’ll be returning after winter break. If you miss her, tell her: radicallyreread@ mcgilldaily.com.

8 Commentary

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

HYDE PARK

The normalization of state violence Rachael Graber

I

was thoroughly pleased to notice the absence of neon-clad security guards as I biked past McConnell Engineering the morning of November 11. My joy was short lived, however, as I turned the corner and saw that McGill security had been replaced by the Royal Canadian Legion, replete with four cannons occupying the centre of campus. I had arrived just in time for the 21-gun salute in honour of Remembrance Day. In a dramatic step up from the rifles used in last year’s ceremony, the cannon blasts seemed to reverberate through all of downtown, setting off car alarms and encasing Lower Field in a layer of white smoke through which I could just make out the figures of men in camouflage assembled around the weapons.

My accidental run-in with the Montreal Remembrance Day ceremony seemed a perfect compliment to the talk I had attended the previous night by King Downing, an anti-police brutality activist from New York. Throughout his discussion, Downing stressed the connection between racial profiling in the policing of citizens and larger national discourses, such as the War on Terror, that ostensibly rest on the geographical separation between the nation and the Other. Downing cited the increasing militarization of police forces, as well as colonialist legacies of racism that blur national borders and inform both police and military brutality in North America.

As you might imagine, the sight of camouflage and cannons on Lower Field the very next morning made me pretty upset.

Many friends I’ve discussed the ceremony with have become defensive upon hearing about my discomfort. The importance of remembering veterans, the merits of a startling ceremony to remind civilians of the horrors of war, Canada’s role as a global peacekeeper – all have been cited in defence of the tradition. And don’t get me wrong: I’m all for remembering and honouring sacrifices, and whether or not

Matt Kay / The McGill Daily

I agree with any given war, I don’t blame soldiers for the messes that governments create. That being said, is there no room for a critical look at the ceremony as an establishment and legitimization of national identity?

The Government of Canada’s web site expounds many of the sentiments I’ve heard around campus in defence of the ceremony. Writing as a monolithic Canadian “we,” the web site ties the act of remembering to a notion of Canadian citizenship as a national identity that supersedes all other identities (the web site lists age, race, and social class; I would throw gender, sexuality, ability, and religion into the mix), and binds these homogenized Canadians together as a nation marked by “our commitment and skills as peacekeepers.”

Canada as peacekeeper? I’m skeptical. In an article on Canadian nationalism, Université de Montréal

professor Heike Härting debunks the peacekeeper myth, citing the 1993 Somalia scandal, Canada’s “failure to intervene effectively” in the Rwandan genocide, and the recent foray into Afghanistan, events which compromise this narrative. But beyond the ambiguity of the peacekeeper claim, Härting and others point to ways in which “Canada as peacekeeper” can translate into racist, exclusionary practises both abroad and at home. In other words, who is included in the Canadian “We”?

The nationalist rhetoric displayed on the government’s web site falls in line with other forms of multicultural discourse that, though they appear to celebrate diversity, serve in fact to erase legacies of discrimination that factor into the lived experiences of many Canadians.

For example, the web site’s statement that “for those of us born during peacetime, all wars seem

far removed from our daily lives,” lumps all Canadian citizens together in a common experience of “daily life,” and refuses any discussion of the violence that many citizens experience on Canadian soil. Nonnormative Canadian citizens are policed all the time through a variety of media; whether it be at the hands of racist police forces or exploitative neo-liberal economic policies, through journalism that conflates the words “Arab,” “Muslim,” and “terrorist” in the name of national security, or through ethnocentric claims to a gender equality that Canada has never seen, a chimerical gender equality that justifies military involvement in Afghanistan to liberate poor women in burqas. Canada is not a homogeneous nation, and state violence against non-normative citizens must be viewed as an effect and foundation of Canadian nationalist discourse that reverberates onto the international stage.

But back to the bombs on Lower Field. There is something unsettling about the Remembrance Day ceremony for some people beyond the waves each blast sends through digestive tracts. For me, almost more startling than the event itself was to hear so many students legitimize the presence of a violent institution on our campus in the name of tradition. Narratives of national identity have clearly succeeded in obscuring the militaristic and homogenizing forces that marked the ceremony. The complicit reaction of many McGill students to such a hypocritical, militaristic celebration of Canadian nationalism contributes to the exclusion of, and legitimated violence against, Others both inside and outside Canada.

was surprised to know that in this day and age, immigrants still make less than the average white person.

Another one equated socialism to equal salaries for doctors and janitors. These graduate students are researchers who are supposed to do thorough work before coming to any conclusions. They are future McGill graduates who will most likely become the leaders of tomorrow.

We live in a society which is not interested in teaching us how to connect dots because the connected dots might point to a conclusion which is dangerous for those in power. We are taught to be formalistic in our way of think-

ing, educated enough just to turn the wheels but not smart enough to question what is wrong in our society. Some on the Left complain about how the apathetic and ignorant students of McGill will never change. I’d say: be patient.

The task of smashing ignorance out of the skull of the people is long and arduous, as it is a product of conditioning. But there is no other way. The first struggle which has to be fought is against ignorance.

Rachael Graber is a U3 Geography and Women’s Studies student.

Write her at rachael.graber@mail. mcgill.ca.

HYDE PARK

The long fight against ignorance Ted Sprague

T

here is nothing more diabolical than a system that makes you believe you know what there is to know.

Years of being in Canada, in this “advanced” country, has shown me just that. In Indonesia, my comrades and I, and many others who passed before us, have been fighting against ignorance, superstition, and rampant backward prejudice among the Indonesian workers, peasants, and the urban poor, which are perpetuated by chronic poverty. This struggle against ignorance is as important

as the struggle to put food on our table. The people have to free themselves from oppression since there is no messiah they can rely on; for that, they must first free their minds from the chains that keep them down.

The ignorance in Indonesia is very vulgar. It is a sore thumb.

However, what I have seen here, in this land of milk and honey, is an ignorance so subtle that it must be the worst kind I have seen. This advanced capitalist country boasts that it is an example of human progress, the pinnacle of culture and knowledge. However, lurking behind this façade is backwardness among the people: racism

cloaked under multiculturalism, oppression of women’s rights justified by freedom of expression. For example: Choose Life, and Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Mendelson’s outright defense of the club.

Here at McGill, this institution of higher learning, there is no lack of brilliant individuals. Many have read stacks of books and are well versed in their respective majors and minors. However, it is baffling that many students cannot put their knowledge into one coherent system that has a material basis in reality. I am not just talking about the freshmen but also my fellow graduate students. One of my colleagues

Ted Sprague is the pseudonym of a McGill Master’s student. You can reach him at ted_sprague@yahoo. com.

Commentary

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

9

HYDE PARK

Nazis in Montreal German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop lived, banked here I am quite well again myself. I am exercising my left arm a lot, which is still weak from a wound.

The bullet caught the nerve.

However it is better and it doesn’t prevent me from riding etc. – I will stop now, because long letters take such ages to get to you. – Give my love to your mother and all your family and write soon!

Love Rib P.S. Don’t forget to send your pictures Am expecting to go to the mountains for some weeks to recover before returning to the front.

Robert Lawson

M

any Montrealers are unaware that the notorious Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop once resided in their city. Convicted at Nuremberg for his role in the Holocaust, Ribbentrop was executed on October 16, 1946.

In his memoirs, Ribbentrop describes his arrival in Canada down the St. Lawrence on a “fine autumn day” in 1910 to Montreal, where he was “cordially received” by “Canadian friends.” These friends may have been the family of Katharine Hamilton Ewing, a girl that author Michael Bloch claims Joachim and his brother Lothar had met in Switzerland.

Katharine, born on December 1, 1893, was by all accounts exceptionally beautiful. The Ewings were a prominent Irish-Canadian family, whose patriarch Samuel Hamilton Ewing (born 1834) presided over the family firm Samuel Hamilton Ewing and Sons until his death in 1923.

In addition to the importation and manufacture of spices, teas, and coffees, S.H. Ewing and Sons also had an interest in the Molson’s Bank, a prominent Canadian financial institution until it was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal in the twenties. Ewing was the vice president.

Ribbentrop began working for the Molson’s Bank on the corner of Stanley and Ste. Catherine in Montreal on October 4, 1910. The 1911 Canadian census records Joachim Ribbentrop as an occupant of 103 Stanley, boarding at the home of John and Christina Reid.

Ribbentrop fulfilled his bank apprenticeship and was promoted from junior to clerk. Fellow employee Walter Boucher later recorded his memories of Ribbentrop in the Canadian Paper Money Journal: “Von Ribbentrop was a young man of outstanding ability. He was so anxious to learn the Canadian banking system that he used to stay until the last man left the office at night. He spoke immaculate English, and gained the confidence of all with whom he came into contact.”

Records show that Ribbentrop resigned from the Molson’s Bank on May 28, 1912, citing “ill health” and his unsuitability for “inside work.” Prone to the dreaded tuberculosis that had claimed his mother in 1902, and that would later claim his brother Lothar, Ribbentrop may have felt that vigorous physical labour would provide him with both fresh air and the opportunity to strengthen his constitution.

After leaving the bank, Ribbentrop returned to a sight he had witnessed during his initial voyage down the St. Lawrence almost two years earlier: the remains of the Quebec Bridge. In the summer of

Joachim von Ribbentrop in Montreal, 1911.

1912, he joined the firm of J.T. and M.P. Davis, an engineering company that the government had commissioned to design the bridge’s substructure – concrete piers on the north and south shores. James Thomas Davis was one of the wealthiest men in Montreal and his home, which now houses McGill’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, was a lavish mansion on Drummond Street constructed in 1909 by the esteemed Maxwell brothers. James Davis’s second oldest son Harry eventually married Katharine Hamilton Ewing.

Ribbentrop was often invited to dine at the Davis home. Davis descendant Diana Treco told me that her mother Gertrude, born in 1900, was quite “taken by him.” As

she writes: “She often spoke to me of von Ribbentrop, how dashing and polite he was during a period when he lived at 308 Drummond Street.”

She kept original letters that were sent by “Rib” to Gertrude, whom he nicknamed Tommy because she was something of a tomboy, after he had fled Canada in 1914 to fight for the Germans in Russia. The following is an example: Naumburg-Saale 28 April 1916 My dear little Tommy, I sent you a letter about 6 weeks ago in answer to your letter of the 18. Jan. but it came back, because it was too long. So I will only write a short letter to-day.

I was awfully glad to hear from you and that you are all well! – I

Courtesy of the McCord Museum

never knew Harry + K. had a boy.

How is your mother? You don’t write anything about her. – You tell me Tommy that you have changed such a lot. Now do send me a picture, will you? I would love to have it. That you are studying so hard is wonderful of you. Also piano?

– I guess I have changed in many ways too, but in one way I have not changed, little Tommy!

I will send you a picture some time soon. When will I see you again? Heaven knows, Tommy!

– I shall not write anything about the war, you must not to me eather [sic], all right? – You must write to me over Dr. Schäuble, Arosa Switzerland from now on, as Lothar is in Germany now for some time.

This letter from Joachim von Ribbentrop to Gertrude Davis, number M2009.32.2, can be found in the McCord Museum.

After working for the TransContinental Railway and as a journalist in New York City, Ribbentrop settled in Ottawa in 1913, a city where he became a prominent figure on the social scene. When war broke out, he returned to Germany.

In October of 1914, Beck’s Weekly, a Montreal publication, reported that he had been detained as a spy. In his memoirs, Ribbentrop rejects the spying allegations as a “fairy tale.” However, Chief Justice Sir Charles Fitzpatrick certainly had suspicions about his family “friend” in Ottawa. Having noticed Ribbentrop’s appointment as ambassador to England in 1936, Fitzpatrick dispatched a note to former prime minister Robert Borden, in which he recalled the time when his house guest Ribbentrop betrayed his trust: “May I draw your attention to the enclosed. The German Ambassador mentioned in this clipping lived in my house at Ottawa for almost a month in the Spring of 1914, when I discovered he played the part of a spy.”

Following Ribbentrop’s departure Fitzpatrick “could get no further trace of him.” Fitzpatrick’s note confirms the Ottawa rumour that Ribbentrop would feign sickness at parties, retreat to his host’s study to “recuperate,” and view private documents. Perhaps he was overly curious. Historian Guido Knopp has found no evidence in German archives to indicate that he had been employed as a spy.

Having learnt valuable lessons in social climbing during his time in Canada, Ribbentrop settled in Berlin after World War I and became a successful liquor salesman. After meeting Adolf Hitler in 1932, he made the fateful decision to join the Nazi Party. Following World War I, Canadians in Montreal and Ottawa were shocked to discover that their one-time friend had become complicit in mass murder.

Robert Lawson holds a Ph.D. in German and has taught at Memorial University.

Letters

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

10

Re: “Not Jewish like you” | Commentary | November 16

To those from Long Island who object, I wholeheartedly apologize – for everything Ricky Kreitner U1 Philosophy & Political Science, Tribune columnist, former Daily columnist

Car-free AND bike-free?!

McGill’s anti-bike and anti-car plan is certainly a big step in environmental stewardship, but it seems counterproductive in the long run.

I can understand implementing a strategy to eliminate automobiles from the campus for the sake of the environment, but I’m not entirely sure why the administration does not allow bikers to ride freely on campus. If the policy is a pedestrian safety issue, then why not establish a system within the campus perimeter that is similar to Montreal’s own bicycle network? The current plan of adding bike lock spaces and promoting the Flat will increase incentives to utilize bicycles, yes, but this will undoubtedly come at the cost of the patience of McGill security guards in charge of getting bicyclists to walk on campus.

The University should consider creating its own network of bike paths parallel to the eventually car-free paved roads within McGill boundaries. Imagine a campus that could soon be car-free, bike-friendly, pedestrian-safe, and environmentally-conscious through the efficiency of one simple bike route system. I don’t pretend that such a plan won’t create some construction blockages within the campus, but I think it’s safe to say that given the amount of construction now in progress, the students have acclimated themselves to the inconvenience. After walking past the Milton Gates and the McConnell Engineering building every day for the past three months, many find that the renovations are hardly more than a slight eyesore and minor detour within a day’s trek across campus. Why not include such a bicycle system in the school’s $100-million renovation plan?

Sing it!

Oh no she di’n’!!

Facts is facts

Re: “Queer faith” | Commentary | November 16

Re: “Not Jewish like you” | Commentary | November 16

Re: “In denial” | Features | November 16

I just wanted to show my appreciation of Quinn Albaugh’s “Queer faith” installment of Binary is for computers in Monday’s Daily.

The piece was one of the most incisive pieces to come out of the Commentary section in a while.

Having spent plenty of time in leftleaning churches, I was excited by Albaugh’s righteous effort at smashing the right-religious versus leftatheist binary into tiny, tiny bits.

Riva Gold recently criticized a column I wrote in the Tribune, “A Sketch of My Jewish Identity,” for “including factually incorrect and derogatory assertions about a major religious denomination,” that being the watered-down, self-satisfying, superficial Reform Judaism of my maternal relatives and my “shallow,” extortionist fellow b’nai and b’not mitzvah in Wayne, New Jersey.

Gold argued that I shouldn’t consider them “emblematic of the movement as a whole.”

She claimed I did this in the following line, which I completely forgive her for amputating from its original context: “My mother grew up in the Long Island tradition of Reform Judaism, which essentially reduces religious observance to thrice yearly family gatherings in vague recognition of what ancestors considered major holidays” (the italics being, of course, the parts of my original sentence Gold chose to include in her recent article). It is only Gold’s deliberate mutilation of my sentence that she objects to. Were it what the Tribune published, I would certainly agree with her criticism of both that fine newspaper and its “ever-controversial columnist.”

As a former Daily columnist, I trust your newspaper’s audience is capable of noting on its own that the original sentence implies something distinctly less than the “universalization” Ms. Gold critiqued. To those from Long Island who object, I wholeheartedly apologize – for everything.

I readily admit disrespect toward the half-assed religiosity of those among whom I was reared. However, as my article’s title and narrative form illustrated, I never express it as anything more than my personal opinion, one Tribune readers are free to accept or reject as their various personal experiences implore them to.

Bonne chance with your mitzvoth though, Gold.

Michael Lee-Murphy U2 English Literature and Political Science Daily staff member

Nick Petrillo U0 Arts

Errata In the article “In Denial” (Features, November 16), the disease Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia was incorrectly called pneumocystis pneumonia.

In the article “An ode to black sheep” (Culture, November 12), it was said that Jessica Kostuck played Yitzhak in the Players’ Theatre production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

In fact, the actress playing Yitzhak was Elizabeth Conway.

The Daily regrets the errors.

HIV causes AIDS. This is proven through science and is indisputable, as Stephanie Law says in her article. However, she misinterprets science when she says that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS, which she does repeatedly and with great emphasis. She offers no proof of this, as none exists. The way AIDS is described, it requires only that your immune system be sufficiently compromised (CD4+ levels be sufficiently low or certain exceptions).

HIV does this; however, nothing (particularly, science) says that something else couldn’t do this as well. For example, a genetic abnormality that results in unstable CD4+ cells could theoretically result in AIDS. In addition, the argument against the syphilis equivalent of HIV (the bacteria Treponema pallidum) causing AIDS does not hold water. If HIV infection was curable, as T. pallidum infection is, then we

would expect the exact same trends: increasing HIV infection rates and decreasing AIDS rates. Not that I’m saying syphilis causes AIDS; I have no idea (though I do think it’s pretty far-fetched), but neither Scythes nor Law offers any real evidence one way or the other. However, I agree that searching for alternate causes of AIDS is a waste of time, money, and lives. HIV is the only known cause of AIDS, and many people have looked.

There is no doubt that HIV infection is the cause of the AIDS epidemic.

My point may seem like a small one, but when railing against pseudoscience and the misinterpretation of facts, it is important to get the facts right, especially ones emphasized so prominently. Using misinterpreted science and statistics to fight the good fight gives ammunition to those who spread lies, deception, and false hope. Law should stick to the facts: HIV causes AIDS. Daniel Hoops McGill alumnus

Ricky Kreitner U1 Philosophy & Political Science Tribune columnist Former Daily columnist Rebeccah Hartz / The McGill Daily

The Daily wants to hear what you have to say. Send your letters to letters@ mcgilldaily.com from your McGill email address, and keep them to 300 words. The Daily does not print letters that are sexist, transphobic, or otherwise hateful.

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

America Nate Mosseau

Photo Essay

11

Surface blackness

12Features

Tiana Reid challenges recen

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lackface is the new black. The theatrical darky blackface caricatures that portrayed blacks as dimwitted coons and loyal Uncle Toms and advanced whiteness as the norm are generally thought of as a thing of the past, a tragic but far-off memory of racism in North America.

But no, blackface is the new black in contemporary media. From fashion editorials to television shows, images of white people with painted-on black faces and/or bodies create new images of and resurrect the old minstrel blackface from racist history. In August, the television series Mad Men, which is known for playing with historically racist and sexist depictions, featured character Roger Sterling in blackface serenading his wife. And back in 2006, a blackened Kate Moss was featured on the cover of the Independent for an initiative to draw attention to HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Nonetheless, this past month of October may have been the blackest of them all. First came model Lara Stone whose entire body was painted black in the October issue of French Vogue. Then, on the Australian variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday a group of blackfaced contestants frolicked around in the “Jackson Jive,” a parody of the Jackson Five. Finally, supermodel and talk show host Tyra Banks transformed her America’s Next Top Model contestants into different ethnicities during a “biracial” photo shoot.

Don’t be mistaken that these are simply elusive publicity stunts in the far-off world that is entertainment. Post-Halloween, it’s not hard to come across blackface right here at home in your friends-of-friends’ Facebook photos.

Whether or not these Halloween costumes are innocent fun or racist appropriation has also been all over the media. Namely, white University of Toronto students dressed up as the Jamaican bobsled team, and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Whitney Isleib showed up at a party as Lil Wayne.

When did this become fair game? When did it become okay to trivialize race and identity by flirting with skin colour? McGill Ph.D.candidate in Communications Studies Cheryl Thompson says that “There is a perception of racial equilibrium.” With post-race as the current buzzword in race relations and a black man in the White House, it may seem that it’s not a big stretch to create the fantastical idea that we live in a colour-blind society.

were standard.

There’s a disconnect in the fashion industry when white models’ bodies are painted black as the latest trend and, at the same time, black models have a hard time getting hired. It’s no secret that the fashion industry lacks diversity and representations of different ethnicities. A crucial question arises: why not hire a black model instead? Interestingly, the same issue that featured a faux-black Lara Stone had not one black model, despite the fact that this was French Vogue’s “supermodel” issue.

The consumption of blackness by white people perpetuates the appropriation of black culture. “When you look at racial identification as purely style, what does that say about experience and difference? It erases it,” says Rentschler. Sporting black like it’s the latest fashion statement adds fuel to the fire of an already fragile media environment that has a documented lack of black representations.

Blackface in fashion magazines is often dismissed as neither racist nor offensive, but rather as a case of art for art’s sake. For some, it’s difficult to dismiss that white people painted black is a controlling image that shadows minstrel-

W

hereas the reactio ion editorials was Jive” skit immediately obvious racist represen and mostly because gues judge Harry Connick Jr. spoke on air of his disapproval.

“We’ve spent so

T

he response to white-as-black representations has been far from outrage. In French Vogue, the white Dutch model, Lara Stone, was painted black for a fashion editorial. The reactions that whirled around the media and blogosphere were mostly raised eyebrows, not outright offense. Not too long after, the November issue of V Magazine also featured Russian model Sasha Pivovarova in blackface.

White models in blackface are racist depictions that go beyond cultural insensitivity. These socalled fashion-forward magazines are heading back to the pre-Civil Rights era – and hardly anyone is complaining.

Painting white models black for the entertainment of a majority white audience is more than distasteful. McGill Communications Studies professor Carrie Rentschler affirms that “These are racist forms of representations because of the pasts they draw on.” By depicting blackface in fashion, the media is drudging up historical racist imagery of buffoonery that dates back to a time when political inequalities

sy. “These are harmful representations because they are part of a social order that punishes blackness and values whiteness as supreme,” says Rentschler. Blackface in magazines “decontextualizes race and difference and turns it into something to play with and to consume. It’s using blackness as a signifier of playfulness and exoticism.”

Whitne

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/ The M cGill

Daily

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

nt black representations in the media

on to blackface in fashminimal, the “Jackson received flack for its ntations, st

much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that, we take it really to heart,” said Connick Jr. The “Jackson Jive” skit could have fit into a 19th-century Deep South minstrel show – and in this case, that was recognized.

However, the fashion editorials in French Vogue and V were considered ambiguous images and thus not publicly viewed as explicitly racist. Rentschler explains: “It’s hard to critique these images because the response is turned around. It’s you that’s the racist because you see racism in these images. Racism becomes a problem of one’s consciousness.”

Why then are these representations of blackface in fashion not being challenged more vigorously? When it comes to outrage over the “Jackson Jive” skit and relative indifference toward models in blackface, Thompson thinks gender has something to do with it. “It makes a difference that these were white males. White women can get away with a lot,” says Thompson.

These representations of blackness are hardly being criticized as much as they should. In Spike Lee’s 2000

satirical film Bamboozled, which explores the impact of a modern minstrel blackface television show, Lee comments on our present-day apathetic culture.

White performers used blackface in minstrel acts to ridicule black culture and blackness, and to humili-

ate and demoralize black people as a whole.

The main aim was to entertain by emphasizing black inferiority and perpetuating negative black stereotypes. From the Tom, to the tragic mulatto, to the mammy, to the coon, onscreen representations of black people have been downright disgusting. A quick Google Image search will reveal the traditional and mortifying blackface caricatures with exaggeratedly plump fire-engine red lips, bright white teeth, black paint, and wide googly-eyes.

What may be more revealing as an explanation for insouciant responses to contemporary blackface is the lack of historical reference points for many people. Thompson sees a generational divide as one reason for the lack of awareness. Youth today, not having grown up experiencing the overt racism that she did, have “no sense of history, no sense of that struggle.”

Not enough critical attention is directed at popular entertainment, including what is produced, written, and directed by and for blacks, for example Tyler Perry’s work. Lee sees a hairraising similarity between the black television shows of today and the racist ones of the past.

“I think there’s a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery. I see ads for Meet the Browns and House of Payne and I’m scratching my head. We’ve got a black president and we’re going back. The image is troubling and harkens back to Amos ‘n’ Andy,” says Lee. What’s troubling is that Perry’s success, as a black film producer, is unparalleled, yet his regressive images of plump mammy characters and stammering black men have striking comparisons to minstrelsy.

I

n conjunction with the reemergence of blackface in the media, there has also been renewed interest in the commercial recognition and representation of blackness in mainstream media. Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair attempts to address issues concerning black hair practices. At first glance, it seems promising that the dialogue is even taking place at all. But Rock’s infotainment skims the surface and misses the opportunity to discuss, among others, issues of economic oppression, racial identity, and the cultural, social, familial, and community-based importance of grooming.

Similarly, Disney is set to release the animated film The Princess and The Frog, featuring the first black princess in its 86-year history. While it seems like a long overdue and positive event, the film is already receiving criticism due in part to Disney’s record of racist and sexist stereotyping.

In the New York Times article by Brookes Barnes, “Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too,” the princess’s prince is denounced for not being black, because for some, this is Disney’s way of saying that a black man is not worthy of princedom. William Blackburn, a former columnist at the Charlotte Observer said, “Disney should be ashamed. This princess story is set in New Orleans, the setting of one of the most devastating tragedies to beset a black community.” Barnes also notes a key drawback: “We finally get a black princess and she spends the majority of her time on screen as a frog?”

Like Disney, Mattel has also found a way to capitalize on black identity. The recently released black Barbies from Mattel have curlier hair, fuller lips, different skin colours, and wider noses, which to some, is an improvement from the first black Barbie, Christie, who was introduced in the sixties and was basically a white Barbie painted black.

Representations like Mattel’s new black Barbies and the black Disney princess are important because “commercial culture is the place at which we look to find ourselves,” says Rentschler. But do these representations challenge stereotypes or simply reinforce them? “Is this recognition of black femininity or is it the same hypercommodified and hypersexualized representations?” asks Rentschler. Because of the magnitude of control and power at play in media representations, Thompson takes a stance that is very anti-representation. “The more something is commodified, the more it doesn’t mean anything,” says Thompson.

The struggle to find an authentic racial identity is exacerbated when corporations and media conglomerations are the ones constructing blackness and commercializing race. Why are corporations shaping the black narrative and experience? Thompson laments that “[The black community is] not defining black. You have to tell your own stories. We’re allowing someone else to give us a representation instead of us trying to form our own.”

How then are we to understand black identity in the media? In the past, when black people struggled to find any representations of themselves in the media, they had to make a grassroots, community-based definition of blackness. In the present-day, however, even representations coming from the black community itself, such as Rock’s documentary, can limit other dialogue. Because racism is so pervasive, and exists within a dominating power structure, it can become a way of thought that black people themselves can perpetuate through their own narratives.

Beware of seeing the potential progress in increased black representations because they tend to mask the truth. The fundamental issues are those that deal with the racialized class politics of our society. The real indication is systemic and deals with over-incarceration, violence, criminalization, unemployment, and poverty, all factors of daily life for the black and disenfranchised. A 2008 New York Times article affirmed that more than one in 100 American adults and one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are behind bars.

Concordantly, incarceration rates for black women overwhelmingly surpass the rates for white women. “There is a history of public discourse of deviance in the black family,” says Rentschler.

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hat you choose to consume sends a message to the producers of these black representations. Corporations won’t produce what isn’t being sold. Although capitalism can lead to the commodification of black identity, it also gives the consumer the power to influence what’s being produced. Our intertwined histories, realities, and lived experiences cannot be ignored. Acknowledging racism in our lives, and being critical of mass culture, rather than turning a blind eye to racist representations, is one part of the larger struggle for equality.

13

Mind&Body

Leave no taboo unturned

Sally Lin / The McGill Daily

To raise HIV/AIDS awareness, Cinéma L’Amour goes back to its grindhouse roots Erin O'Callaghan The McGill Daily

O

ver-the-top gore, outrageous sex scenes, rockabilly music, cheap beer, and HIV/AIDS awareness education – these things are not usually mentioned in the same breath, let alone as ingredients for a night of raucous partying. However, that is exactly what Grindhouse Wednesdays is all about.

Beginning Wednesday, December 2, and continuing on the first Wednesday of every month, Cinéma L’Amour is hosting an evening of sexploitation and music to celebrate its 40th anniversary and to provide a safe space to discuss HIV/AIDS. On December 2, Grindhouse Wednesdays will be showing Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, a classic Russ Meyer film. The Hellbound Hepcats, a rockabilly band, will be playing live music and cheap beer will be flowing. Each month a different genre band will be featured to complement the movie of choice.

Cinéma L’Amour opened 40 years ago in 1969 as Le Pussycat, and began showing grindhouse films.

Later it moved to showing the hardcore porn it is now known for, and is the last remaining theatre in the city where one can view porn in public. For the 40th anniversary, the classic theatre is giving a nod to its grindhouse beginnings.

“There’s a huge taboo about watching porn in public,” says Aaron Hancox, filmmaker and organizer of Grindhouse Wednesdays. “I don’t think we’re going to change the world [with Grindhouse Wednesdays], but I think it will soften the idea [of

watching porn in public] and break down some of the mystery [surrounding Cinéma L’Amour].”

Cinéma L’Amour is working in tandem with Head and Hands, a youth support group that is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The connection between HIV/AIDS awareness and grindhouse films is not explicit, especially in content. However, both are taboo in society and the goal of Grindhouse Wednesdays is to generate discussion about issues that society generally ignores.

“HIV awareness is still in many circles a taboo subject,” explains Hancox, “so we’re just trying to tackle the issue in a really direct and in-your-face way.”

Daniel Allen Cox, the MC for the evening, is an author published by Arsenal Pulp Press, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and former porn performer. He believes that this event will be instrumental in breaking down barriers surrounding things that make society uncomfortable.

“The amazing thing about grindhouse films is that no matter how cheesy or violent, they break taboos and they open conversation,” says Cox, “and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing at this event. We’ll be talking about HIV/AIDS openly, frankly, in a sex-friendly atmosphere.”

There is a lot of buzz surrounding the event already, and Cox has high hopes for the night.

“Lonely Planet just ranked Montreal the number 2 party city on earth, and it’s because of events like this,” states Cox. “Where else could you get free condoms, Johnny Cash tunes, and [a party] in the first cinema to ever show porn in Montreal? This new series has a cult following already and it hasn’t even begun, so we’re really

excited about it.”

Cinéma L’Amour can be an intimidating place to enter because of its association with hardcore porn and the stigma surrounding public viewing of porn. To those who have never entered the hallowed halls of Cinéma L’Amour, Hancox offers this advice.

“Expect a culturally enriching experience on a number of levels. [You’re] going to a wacky place and [you’re] going to see something equally crazy.

This film is over the top. Russ Meyer makes crazy, crazy films. Beer is going to be really cheap, and [the night] is going to be a lot of fun.”

This event is about watching some crazy movies, listening to some amazing music, having an awesome time, and raising money for HIV/AIDS awareness programs.

Ultimately, however, “[the] very important goal here is to get people talking more openly, more frankly about HIV/AIDS so we can all play a part to remove the stigma that sadly is associated with it,” notes Cox. The connection between sexploitation films, HIV/AIDS awareness, and taboos is not often made, but the ingenuity and individuality of the event makes it stand out from traditional HIV/AIDS awareness events. It lends the event strength to not only survive, but also prosper and make a real difference in the way society talks about sex, HIV/AIDS and porn.

For more information about the event, which begins at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, visit thegrindhouse.ca and become a fan of the Facebook page.

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

15

(re)Doing It! week

Sex outside the box McGill’s (re)Doing It! week brings you the sex ed you didn’t get in high school

Sex talks Maddie Guerlain and Amanda Unruh

Q

ueer McGill is dedicating this week to sex re-education, with events ranging from a series of workshops on BDSM, polyamory, and phone sex, to talks about transgender issues, reproductive autonomy, and body image. Titled (re)Doing It! week, the series will explore our attitudes and assumptions about sexuality, pushing people to question value judgments and stereotypes. As the Facebook group puts it: “How much of what we know about sex is taken for granted? What’s hot, or normal, or disgusting, and where do these assumptions come from? This isn’t your high school sex ed class.”

To get a better sense of what the events are about, we sat down wi eth Queer McGill’s political action coordinator, Adam Wheeler.

He explained that “sex negativity leads to so much of queer oppression, so engaging in open and honest discussion to promote sex positivity is one of our main goals.”

But QM isn’t doing it alone. QPIRG McGill, the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy, the Union for Gender Empowerment, the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office, and FAKE (Fetish and Kink Enthusiasts) McGill are co-sponsoring different events.

FAKE McGill is a new club on campus whose mandate is still evolving, but was established in hopes of creating a non-judgmental, sex-positive space for education and open dialogue about fetish and kink issues.

While the events are mostly designed

How much are we limited by mainstream attitudes on sex? Andrea Zanin breaks it down. for students, Wheeler stressed that “the harmful assumptions that we hope to uncover are structural. McGill is one context where we have the opportunity to challenge this, through different groups and resources.”

QM and its collaborators have certainly broken the McGill and Montreal bubble, bringing in presenters from Boston, Toronto, and even the Bay Area, where keynote Pat Califia has been a writer and activist since the seventies. After attending a few events, it is

clear that they are attracting a wide audience, both from within the McGill community and greater Montreal.

The events offer a large variety of topics and different opportunities for participation, with a cabaret comedy night about phone sex on Monday, a discussion about the abortion debate on campus Tuesday, the keynote on Wednesday, a historical porn film on Thursday, and a hands-on BDSM workshop for Friday – plus a few more, and of course, the after-party. With such a diversity of issues

Dominic Popowich / The McGill Daily

covered, we had to ask Wheeler what exactly he hoped people could take away from the week.

“Hopefully, people will try new things and have better sex, but ultimately reflect on things we take for granted for sex, how they can be harmful, how sex can be pleasurable and political.” So far it’s been an awesome combination of laughter, education, and eye-opening moments, so be sure to check out what’s going on today and tomorrow!

(re)Doing It! week

Flipping the fisting script Andrea Zanin’s workshop challenges conventional attitudes about sex and sexuality Ingram Hill Mind&Body Writer

I

attended Andrea Zanin’s workshop “Take Five: The Pleasures of Fisting” on Tuesday evening as part of (re)Doing It! week. In Shatner’s Lev Bukhman room, about 60 people waited patiently in a circle in anticipation for what they thought they might get out of the workshop. Co-presented by Queer McGill and FAKE (Fetish and Kink Enthusiasts) McGill, the title of the presentation had me slightly worried. As someone with a fantastic interest in sexuality and sexual health, fisting sounds like it could be harmful, not to mention nearly impossible. Numerous images from a variety of porn films ran through my mind, as I envisioned multiple fists pumping in and out of some sort of orifice.

The outline of the workshop put me at ease slightly, stating, “It may seem extreme, but fisting – inserting an entire hand into a welcoming vagina – is in fact one of the most

intimate and sensual kinds of penetration two people can enjoy. Anyone who loves vaginas is welcome to come, whether they have one of their own or not.” The workshop was just as welcoming, and attended by all genders. Upon seeing the large group of people, Zanin enthusiastically said, “So all of you want to be fisting…okay!” The presenter, a selfdescribed “sex geek” (she blogs at sexgeek. wordpress.com), speaks and gives workshops about alternative sexuality – queer, polyamory, and BDSM/leather issues – for universities, colleges, sex shops, community groups, and conferences in Canada and internationally.

After an apology for not having a live demo, she immediately put to rest any fears I had about being overwhelmed by the material, and made the group feel comfortable with jokes and easy steps to remember. The group laughed, focused, and – speaking for myself – learned a lot. With half of us in chairs in a circle around the room, and the other half sitting in the middle on the floor in front of the

presenter, Zanin enlightened us on the anatomy of the vulva and internal organs using a plush vulva-shaped puppet and technique on how to properly and safely fist a vagina. Zanin joked her way through a topic that she is obviously knowledgeable and passionate about other people knowing.

Some of the tips on how to properly put your fist into a vagina could as well be tips for having overall good sex. Don’t go too fast – it can take a long time; make sure you can communicate with your partner about what feels good; if someone says stop, stop! This leads me to wonder about how our Canadian society tends to think about sex.

Activities like fisting, BDSM, or having multiple partners are rarely talked about, and largely do not exist within a mainstream definition of sex. The point of the (re)Doing It! sex education week, according to the organizer, Adam Wheeler, is to cause people who attend to explore their attitudes, and their assumptions about what’s “normal.” These assump-

tions can lead to negatively stereotyping certain “kinds of people” who practice and enjoy activities outside our spectrum of “regular” sex or writing them off entirely. Many people might think of fisting as something that they would never consider for themselves, but throughout the workshop, Zanin explained the unique sensations that are offered by a fist or the shape of a hand. By thinking about other types of activity outside of the tiny box that mainstream society often thinks of as “sex,” we can all offer ourselves more ways to express and feel our bodies sexually. Wheeler stated that part of putting on this (re)education week is the belief that “everyone has the right to have good sex” – and, through her workshop, Zanin gave everyone in that room one more option of how to do that.

Why would you want to fist someone?

When you have your hand inside a vagina and they orgasm it is, Zanin explained, “like their whole body is having a conversation with you.”

16Mind&Body

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

(re)Doing It! week

Good dirty fun Tips for successful play parties, and enjoying your sexy self Kay De Monet The McGill Daily

Remember, safety always comes first. A great idea on Nora’s part was to have a “skillshare.” Knowledge is power, so use it. You might like that someone can suspend you from the ceiling, or that they have a lot of role-play experience. It’s also important that you define who does what.

In most parties, you need a supervisor, a doorperson, a dungeon monitor, security, and possibly a DJ. Nora also suggested a listener-volunteer for those who are uncomfortable.

And finally, be polite. And you’ll make lots of friends.

Last but not least: legalities.

Large swinger parties get around the laws with documentation.

Simply put, your event has to be for private members who are aware of what they are getting into. Nora can provide a waiver and consent form to sign upon arriving. Also, don’t sell alcohol – police don’t put such a priority in busting up a bunch of naked people. Whether it’s at the next Against-the-Wall party, a local dungeon, or your own house, remember to be safe, be sexy, and be yourself.

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Br

L

eading a pack of interested kinky and queer folk, Miss Nora R facilitated a play party workshop on Monday afternoon.

Play parties are gatherings of people who practice bondage and dominance, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism (BDSM).

Her take on play parties was the header in a series of workshops in the framework of (re)Doing It!, a week-long series of workshops designed to challenge our perceptions of sex.

In a nondescript basement student space on campus, Nora (of the Against-the-Wall collective) reanimated her experiences in throwing play parties and really filled the room. She welcomed us by saying, “Play parties are places to learn!”

Nora gave lots of examples and ideas about throwing a play party, what a party needs, and what challenges might be involved in organizing specifically queer play parties.

First off, what do we mean by

“play”? Playing is perceived by the more experienced players as consensual, public, sexy fun.

You might walk into a play space and find an array of neat furniture to maneuver your partner(s) onto, sexy performances to see on stages, plenty of darling faces to voyeur and learn from, and a wide variety of BDSM toys to play with. And of course, you can always bring your own toys.

What to wear, you ask? Typical themes are: drag, burlesque, masks, medical, leather and lace, neon, and all black. Party organizers work hard on getting the right mood. For the more explorative exhibitionist, the Against-the-Wall party has a fantastic live porn feed. Slip in behind the screen and be filmed. Being a porn star isn’t your thing? There are plenty of other spaces: a dance floor of course, and a social area where you can break the ice. If you want privacy, that’s there too. Pop a tent like Nora does, and turn the lights low. Writing about parties can’t do them justice – so go out and try one!

MIND&BODY BRIEF Busting binaries Pat Califia is a prominent queer activist and author from San Francisco, who has been pushing the boundaries of queer cultures, addressing marginal identities, and promoting sexual variation since the seventies. Califia is a bisexual transman, and much of his work is about breaking down dichotomies, whether it’s between man and woman, spirit and body, pain and pleasure, or abled and disabled bodies.

While in Montreal, Califia is hosting two workshops presented

by Queer McGill. The first, titled “FTM body image and sexuality,” takes place today at 6 p.m. in the SSMU Clubs Lounge on the fourth floor of Shatner (3480 McTavish).

Much of the workshop will focus on creating new definitions of masculinity for female-to-male transsexu-

al folks. Although the workshop will be anchored in discussion of one group of transgendered people, many of the topics of discussion – relationships, body image, fantasies, lovemaking, and the pressures of conformity – apply to everyone.

The second workshop, titled “The Psychology and Spirituality of Erotic Pain” will take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. in room B-30 in Shatner. In this session, Califia will provide basic info on bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism (BDSM).

Most of the presentation will feature a live exploration of the top/bottom dynamic – with the help of a brave volunteer. Do not attend this workshop if explicit BDSM play offends you. For more information on these events, visit queermcgill.ca.

—Whitney Mallett

(body and mind)

In this world all I got (body and mind)

In the end all I got is

STARTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27 !

Come by the McGill Daily Office (Shatner B-26) and get a free double pass to The Road. First come, first served. Student ID required.

(body and mind)

Body and mind (body and mind, body and mind) mindnbody@mcgilldaily.com

Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

17

Choose not to choose life Players’ Theatre portrays life in between the needle and the dregs Aaron Vansintjan The McGill Daily

T

hree years ago, I was on the dingiest train in the U.K., and it was packed with Scottish people. Many were shouting, babies were crying, and tempers were flaring.

I finally managed to fight my way to a seat by the window. A boy was sitting on his mother’s lap next to me, and while he was screeching and pulling hair and ripping up paper, I was trying to look out the window at the stretches of landfill and suburbia rolling by, smothered by grey clouds overhead. The seven-yearold, after getting tired of annoying his mom, turned to me.

“Wharr ye off ta?”

“What, sorry?”

“Wharrr ye off ta?”

“Um, sorry?”

“Wharrrrrrrr ye off ta?”

“Oh, um, Edinburgh.”

“What d’ye want ta go ta Edinburgh fer?” he asked incredulously.

I don’t really need to tell you about the rest of that train ride, because I want to tell you about Trainspotting, directed by Joel Burford, adapted by Harry Gibson and based on the novel by Irvine Welsh. But that trip serves as a good picture of the Scottish to the outsider: you can’t understand them, you can’t ignore them, and you should think twice about going to Edinburgh. It’s a gloomy place.

It’s been a while since I saw the movie, and I’ve never read the novel, but that didn’t stop me from having preconceptions. The movie’s currency is “coolness,” reflected by the posters pasted around campus and all over Facebook. But the play is not cool, because drugs, let’s face it, aren’t cool. “We really tried to stay away from the stylized,” said Daniel Sorger, who plays Tommy. So while Burford held on to the “dark comedy” aspect of the novel, he did away with the romanticization of heroin that made the film so successful.

And that makes the play excellent. It’s an attempt to bring home the life of Scottish junkies, and it’s an honest attempt. But it’s also more than that. The energy of the actors and the meticulous directing style produces a finished story with a very raw dynamic.

Expect hilarious moments, but expect the awkward and painful reality of life on smack in one of the gloomiest cities in the world.

The actors were astounding. With a fourperson cast, no stage hands, and simple props, they transformed the Theatre’s unusual stage set-up into a Scottish reality. Perfect accents, relentless acting, and vivid storytelling were

All photos by Ariel Appel / The McGill Daily

key ingredients for the most tantalizing play at McGill you’ll see in a while. “We watched a lot of documentaries and read a lot of William S. Burroughs,” Burford said. After perfecting the Scottish accent, the cast created original characters with the ability to draw in the audience. Through great storytelling and all-tooreal movements, their characters were able to sketch the city and the life that they had chosen.

Obviously, there were kinks. I almost wish Burford were more liberal with the script; some parts really needed to be cut out. One scene, for example, was a weird story of the three junkies going to some kind of festival, which turned into an extremely strange party of rubbing each other’s nipples. Don’t ask me.

These were mostly problems of language; Burford consciously sacrificed clarity for setting. A play set in Edinburgh is going to be hard to comprehend, and trying to understand the life of a junkie is, as Burford put it,

“foreign to most people.”

The final scene also leaves the audience with loose threads. I’ve never let a lack of resolution bother me, but ending a play by leaving the audience confused (Wait...who are they kicking? And why are they pissing on him?) is not the best way to go. Again, my problem is with the certain choices that Gibson made and not with the performance; the kicking and the pissing were very well executed.

And if you’ve seen the posters and you’re confused about the Choose Life part, don’t worry. It’s not just sensationalist; it pertains to the play more than it does to recent campus events. As Martin Law, who plays Marco, the central character, explained, “If you Google ‘choose life’ you get Trainspotting scripts, rather than certain McGill societies.”

The most famous quote from the film (“Ah choose not to choose life, ah choose somethin’ else....”) is essential to the play. It’s the junkie’s rationalization of his choices, but it’s also an acknowledgment of the inhuman-

ity and amorality that he lives through every day.

Then again, if you do choose to see Trainspotting, be prepared for a possible moral assault. Aside from the normative gender roles, the disrespect, and the hateful speech, you’ll see dead babies, people kicking pregnant women, and ruined lives.

But the play is more than piss, blood, puke, and verbal abuse blended into a nasty immoral smoothie. A kick in the gut, a punch to the face, a disgusting toilet bowl, syringes, and puke-buckets – all these are the parts that make the whole. According to Gibson, the play becomes a “rough sketch of a rough life”: it’s an unresolved study of some fuckedup people. It’s also a visceral blend that won’t just make you laugh – it will tantalize, shock, and engage.

Trainspotting plays at Players’ Theatre November 18-21 and 25-28 at 8 p.m.

18Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

Jacques of all trades Solo dance performance denies audience passive role Naomi Endicott The McGill Daily

C

ible de Dieu – Université de Montreal graduate Jacques Poulin-Denis’s latest project – is as hard to define as its creator.

Poulin-Denis has training in music, theatre, and dance; all these art forms are used equally in his new show to convey “ruin and defeat” through humour, raw sincerity, and the simplicity of the human form.

Despite Poulin-Denis’s extensive range of previous work – including co-directing Ekumen (an organization dedicated to the creation and production of sound art), producing two albums, and working with director Denis Marleau and choreographer Ginette Laurin – it is only this year that Poulin-Denis founded his own company, called Grand Poney. Recent work has included dance piece Practices, and Domestik, an experimental concert featuring music for 18 household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. Of his latest dance project, Cible de Dieu, PoulinDenis says, “Creating stagework is my favourite career…. Music and stagework are fairly equal in my activity.… [At the moment] I think I’m more fond of dancing, but it changes on a yearly basis.”

Cible De Dieu is Poulin-Denis’s first solo show. Discussing the challenges of working solo, PoulinDenis emphasized the importance

of sensation over sight – when other dancers aren’t around, you cannot see their movements and have only the sensation of your own self. “It is more of an impression,” he said. It’s also a challenge for motivation: “Instead of practicing, I would often just lie on the floor thinking about the show,” he remembers. However, there are benefits to going solo: “By being solo I can really put an emphasis on connecting with the audience.

That intention is also there with group work, but I really want to communicate since I am all by myself.”

A marked change in creative direction is visible as a result of Poulin-Denis’s move to solo work. A main goal was to “set aside embellishments to make way for the vulnerability of man and purity of gesture” – an aim starkly evident in the variety of his performance. Cible de Dieu is a dance piece, but one that takes our expectations of what dance should be and turns them on their head.

One of the most interesting aspects of the show is PoulinDenis’s interaction with the audience. Though the show is at times humourous and light-hearted, watching Cible de Dieu is not just a sit-back-and-relax experience.

“The most important part of the project for me is the relationship with the audience,” Poulin-Denis says. “I’m always trying to ask [the audience] to adapt…. This antihero is always having to work double-time to make things work and

Olivia Messer / The McGill Daily

Jacques Poulin-Denis’s first solo show emphasizes the imortance of sensation over sight.

I’m asking the audience to take part the same way”.

This idea of the protagonist as an anti-hero is integral to the relationship between character and audience. Poulin-Denis “wanted a character the audience can relate to,” and although he didn’t set out to embody this in the form of an

anti-hero, “it sort of turned out that way.”

Cible de Dieu demands something from its audience. Its central character will challenge spectators’ perception of humanity. Despite the humour and lightheartedness, fundamentally, Poulin-Denis says that “I’m hoping it’s more

their thought process that’s being asked to take part” when watching his performance.

graphs, and tables. The level of scientific work that went into this study may or may not be astounding; however, if you see someone reading The Future Hygienic and laughing to him or herself, there is a good chance that they are reading Newman’s piece. It’s not prose, it’s not poetry – it’s fake science.

The contributors to The Future Hygienic are at the start of their literary careers, and even though they may not all exhibit brilliance yet, they all show promise. PistolPress plays a significant and essential role in the publishing world, giving new talent a medium; they publish novels and anthologies like this one that would not be published by a large press but still have a market and artistic merit.

Uniting many of the writers featured in the anthology is their common maintenance of blogs

or presence in online literary journals. Schwartz is the editor of DOGZPLOT. Five of the contributors have their own personal blogs. Through these online sources, we can access the work of all of the writers featured in The Future Hygienic without buying the book or using any paper; the entire anthology is even available online for free download. This follows a larger trend, bred by applications like Google Reader and RSS feeds, which give readers the capability to easily access the work of a diverse selection of artists.

The Future Hygienic is an entertaining and interesting collection of many genres and forms of literature, and maintains continuity in the concept of a far away place that can only be accessed through the pages of a book.

Cible de Dieu runs at Espace Tangente (840 Cherrier) from November 19-22. For more information, visit tangente.qc.ca

A clean literary future PistolPress releases cross-genre anthology of nascent talents Jaime MacLean Culture Writer

I

n early 2008, a call for submissions was sent out from PistolPress, a young publisher managed from Montreal and Toronto, “seek[ing] reports on the imaginary, the made-up, the falsified and the absurd.” Their call was answered and resulted in an anthology called The Future Hygienic, comprising the work of 20 different writers in a book of 177 pages.

The name comes from Tristan Tzara, one of the founders of the Dada movement, who wrote in his Sept manifestes Dada, “Is poetry necessary? I know that those who shout loudest against it are actually preparing a comfortable perfection for it; they call it the

Future Hygienic.” A portion of this is quoted on the copyright page of the book, which does not resemble a conventional copyright page.

Not only does it list the editors and tell the reader that the copyright on the book is for 2009, but it also informs the reader that the book was made over the course of one and one-sixth of a year in seven different apartments in Montreal and that “those with hooves are most likely to enjoy this book.”

The unconventional nature of this one page alone sets a tone for the rest of the book.

The Future Hygienic is an acute, and in many instances funny, anthology. The works contained are not limited to poetry or prose, or to any other restrictions; on page 153, the recognizable rhyme and metre dotting Ian Goodman’s poem “Acheron” is almost shock-

ing, though not unwelcome. In many instances, a piece transcends a particular form.

Peter Schwartz’s four contributions – “Call Me Radio,” “Natural Causes,” “Degeneration,” and “Catapult” – are prose poetry. In the first of these he writes: “Wrap the radio in newspaper. Mix mediums; all you’re risking is your loneliness and shirtsleeves;” in the last he describes a “catapult made of night waiting this whole time to be filled.”

In these short pieces, he beautifully captures images of modern, future, or non-existent worlds.

Daniel Aureliano Newman’s piece in the anthology, “The Coolidge Effect in Gallus gallus: Implications for Human Demography,” is a report on the breeding habits of chickens and how this behaviour relates to humans, complete with footnotes,

Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

19

Tour d’Espagne Eric Andrew-Gee recalls biking the Camino de Santiago

Rebeccah Hartz / The McGill Daily

I

learned to ride a bike when I was 12.

Until I was about 16, I still had nervous fits about biking through traffic in downtown Toronto, where I live. Right after my 18th birthday, I decided to bike across Spain, certainly not as part of any natural progression, nor an advisable choice. I suspect I must have carried a suicidal impulse at the time; certainly, that sensible part of my mind that speaks up against stupid ideas had fluttered off. But stupid as it was, I did bike across Spain, the famous 700 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago, damning myself the whole way.

In the winter of 2008, I was lounging around Barcelona, thinking how sophisticated I was – studying Spanish, drinking absinthe, and smoking cheap tobacco. It was really wonderful, in that uniquely selfindulgent way that only people taking a year off can appreciate. But part of me felt guilty.

So I decided to do something difficult. I told my Spanish teacher that I was going to bike from Barcelona to Seville – about 1,000 kilometres. He laughed at me, sending me back to the planning stages. A bit of research later, I found out about the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage route roughly 700 kilometres long, extending from Roncesvalles in France to Santiago in northwestern Spain.

I’ve never been one to go to the gym, nor to attempt to stay in shape – in fact, staying on my feet has usually been enough for me. So I started running along the beach in Barcelona to get fit, working myself up 10 kilometres at a time. Unfortunately, this attempt at fitness was short-lived. When my girlfriend came to visit in the two weeks before Christmas, I lost my form in a flurry of wine, sleep, and cured Spanish ham.

Though distraction had claimed my physi-

cal shape, it had left my resolve intact. The day she left, I bought a bike – a horrible city-road hybrid with thick tires from a run-of-the-mill sporting goods store. And on Christmas Eve, I left Barcelona with the bike and my huge Mountain Equipment Co-op knapsack. I had bought a pair of black synthetic parachute pants to ride in comfortably; these, along with my yellow plastic raincoat and a pair of tattered blue Vans, was to be my uniform for the next three weeks.

Jack McGuire, in a recent issue of The Daily, wrote an article in the Culture section about his time on the Appalachian Trail. He called his desire to hike the trail, “an incomparable dream.” I would call my desire to bike the Camino de Santiago something more like a “misbegotten dream.” Who was I to think I could take my shitty, 150-dollar bike across this enormous, mountainous country without more than a couple of weeks of exercise and no serious cycling experience?

Nevertheless, I took to the road on , setting out from Pamplona, a big town about 40 kilometres west of the classic starting point at Roncesvalles. It was snowing. I remember the first hill I laboured up, just outside of town; for a couple of seconds I thought of turning back, as my heart and lungs struggled to click into gear and sweat flooded my raincoat. But for some reason – I’ll call it Providence, since the Camino is a Catholic pilgrimage – the pain subsided and a kind of resigned peace ran through me. Three more weeks of abject suffering, I thought: no problem.

The first stretch of the route goes through Navarre, a province of the Basque country, which houses the foothills that build up into the Pyrenees. I spent a lot of time in the gear 1-1, going forward only so I didn’t start rolling back. With the cold, I also spent a lot of

time blowing my nose. In order that to keep moving, I would plug one nostril with the yellow calfskin mittens my girlfriend had given me during her visit and blow. Usually a pale strand of mucus would linger and, subverting the sense of dignity the Spanish are reputed to feel so strongly, I would shake my head until the culprit fell to the road, then wipe my messy face with the cold leather mitten.

The Navarrese countryside in December is steep and cold, but also incredibly barren: empty in a chilling, haunted sort of way, like a battlefield from the first World War. Fogs would roll in before I woke up, and thicken throughout the day, so biking along the highway I could often barely see five feet in front of me. A convergence of all these factors makes the early part of the trip vivid for me, in a way that is usually reserved for nightmares.

From Navarre, the Camino flattens out into a vast tableland called la meseta. This stretch begins roughly at the medieval city of Burgos, the headquarters of Franco’s fascists during the Spanish Civil War. The number of plump, fur coat-wearing citizens of Burgos suggests many miss those good old days. The next town I stopped at, Castrojeriz, had none of that right-wing grandeur. It was lodged into a big hill, and I remember everything in it being precariously slanted as a result. Or maybe it was just the disorienting night I spent getting drunk and eating chocolate with a middleaged Irish anti-Semite with one painted fingernail, a bearded and virulently nun-hating hombre, the manager of the hostel, and an Austrian vegan who looked like Sinead O’Connor and told me she thought people could learn a lot about life from studying trees.

I was told by experienced Camino walkers – and the route is more traditionally for walking than for cycling – that the next 300 kilometres or so of wheatfields and sky can be incredibly boring. Some people even hop a bus and fast-forward to the more exciting bits. But I was just grateful to not have to climb all day, to not have my every muscle rebel against this insane project I had taken on. Alas, my muscles would not be quiet for long.

Galicia is the final, western-most province of the Camino. It is also the most beautiful.

Unfortunately for me, its beauty is derived from its mountains – massive, sudden, steep mountains matted in trees. Twice I had to spend almost 10 kilometres climbing their near-sheer faces. I thought of all kinds of ways to distract myself from the pain – the most effective one, ultimately, consisted of inventing my own lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall.”

The one benefit to scaling these behemoths was going down the other side. Usually, after an eight-K climb, there would be about 20 kilometres downhill, and I would just fly.

It’s a miracle I didn’t fall over my handlebars, or skid off the side of the mountain – the roads were full of holes and my bag, full of heavy books and thick sweaters, made me uniquely unbalanced on a bike. But it was on one of these fast rides down a mountain that I barreled into Santiago de Compostela: the end of the road, a pilgrim’s destination for a millennium. I was stunned to have made it the whole way in one piece; I almost wept.

As I rolled past the sign saying “Bienvenido a Santiago,” I tried to let out a triumphant howl. Instead, with the ocean wind blowing into my face, all I could manage was a tiny croak. I did the Camino, all right – but I never said I did it in style.

20Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

Deflowering the opera

The McGill Daily

T

his weekend, the music production company Chants Libres will be premiering its opera – L’Eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l’oiseau qui dit la vérité. Described as an Opéra Féerie, or “Enchanted Opera,” this work combines an atonal composition by Gilles Tremblay with the fairy tale libretto of Pierre Morency.

This is the 13th original opera the Montreal-based organization has put on in the past 20 years. The founder of Chants Libres, Pauline Vaillancourt, says their goal is “to create new forms of opera.” The organization gives contemporary composers the opportunity to reinvent a genre of music typically associated with the obstinately antique decorum of the opera house.

Tremblay’s musical composition is macabre. An untraditional and dissonant orchestra creates narrative through a linear exploration of mood. The violin section undulates with sparse but frenetic chromaticism, and melds into a brass section emitting an undergrowth of swollen arhythmic chords, parsed only

by the melodic intervention of a French horn. A chorus of glockenspiels, marimbas, chimes, piano, and Asiatic percussion occasionally flood the hall and illustrate their own nocturnal punctuation. At times, the cacophony bleeds away, revealing four double-basses playing slowly dissonant harmonies.

The intricacies of this orchestral backdrop relate to the opera’s singers as a Greek chorus to the other actors. The orchestra responds to the isolated melodies of the singers, creating a powerful emotional undercurrent. The arias themselves are melodically much closer to traditional opera. Tremblay’s musical exploration of mood intertwines Western operatic tradition with contemporary atonality and “Oriental” instrumentation.

The tale is typical: several royal children are exiled as infants from the City of Wonders by an evil queen, and must undergo trials on a voyage of self-discovery. The motifs of dancing water, a singing apple, and a bird that only speaks the truth hammer home the expected dramatic

action – the children find their way home, and then find love. The story, however, is subordinated to the operatic medium; the simplicity of the journey-to-adulthood motif is splattered by the darker gravity of its music and staging.

Robert Bellefeuille, the stage director, tells me that L’Eau qui danse is a complete departure from the traditional opera. “This opera,” he says, “is virginal.” The sombre conversation between the different elements of the composition reveals natural, though idiosyncratic, undertones. This simplicity compelled Bellefeuille to use nature as an inspiration for his mise en scène.

He tells me the colours on the stage are meant to reproduce the aurora borealis; he sought to create a “theatre of shadow” that is at once simple and evocative. The images

on the stage unify the dark music with the light, fantastical libretto.

“Everything is calculated,” declares Bellefeuille as he describes the shadows carpeting the stage of the first scene. The shadows, he says, are the connection between reality and magic – they explore the limits of the work, and unify the music and the story.

L’Eau qui danse’s departure from tradition and unique exploration of chromaticism and instrumentation makes this opera worth hearing.

The Opéra Féerie runs this Thursday, November 19 through Saturday, November 21 in Salle Ludger-Duvernay at the MonumentNational.

Vox angeli

Do you really want to hurt me?

Student a capella group Effusion celebrates 10-year anniversary Tamara Kit Culture Writer

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here’s something magical about hearing a group of voices melding together as one. I had such an experience one blistery September evening when I came to experience Effusion: A Cappella in their 10th-anniversary concert. They have the perfect joyful, energized vibe that can warmly fill a theatre of mesmerized spectators. You literally cannot listen to these songs, a mix of pop, urban, R&B, folk, jazz, gospel, and soul without the urge to stand up and get your groove on.

As soon as the group sings their first note, a personable energy is felt. Enhancing Effusion’s perfect harmonies is the palpable cohesive relationship the members have with each other. Each performer makes direct eye contact with the others and the audience, expressing a deep sense of dependence and confidence. Their songs set the

Matthew Milne / The McGill Daily

Luke Naima

Matthew Milne / The McGill Daily

Chants Libres’s latest production parts with operatic tradition

audience in motion, allowing them to partake in a journey of vibrant emotion. “We see ‘effusion’ as the outward pouring of love and emotion,” says Michael Dyck, the musical director, who takes pride in having vigorously led Effusion for the past three years.

Don’t be fooled; among those angelic voices, there is definitely a subtle competitive attitude that adds to their energy. Effusion was created in 1999 by Jon Day, who wanted to distinguish it from the other two a cappella clubs already on campus. “Effusion has definitively gained a high standing professional status compared to Tonal Ecstasy and Solstice,” Dyck boasts at the group’s rehearsal.

Effusion has also earned their reputation while representing McGill at renowned competitions, placing second in the Northeast division at the International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella and placing first overall at the Cultural Centre’s Making the Band ’09. They’ve travelled to countless music festivals and

gigs, such as one at Smith College and Festival 500 in Newfoundland.

Compared to their first gigs that took place in the Diocesian College, the McGill Bookstore, and the Birks Chapel, Effusion has beautifully evolved into a synchronous, talented voice. “We really have become about expansion,” states Effusion’s president, Hannah Wilson, a fourthyear psych student from Vancouver who has been a member for four years. “Because we are comfortable as a group and we trust each other,” she adds, “the audience can then trust us in our performance.”

You can tell, Effusion dreams big.

As they embark on the future, Dyck reveals that there are some exciting plans in the works for Effusion: “I’d like to see us break out of the McGill bubble and perform at larger music festivals and on radio stations.”

“We have the capacity to cater to audiences of all ages on an international scale,” Coleman adds.

She also notes that Effusion has most recently been selected to sing

for the Olympic Torch Passing in Montreal, coming up in December.

Effusion still takes time to coach their few select new members. The audition process is intense, with around 150 students trying out this year. Rowan Spencer, a second-year Arts student from Berkley, California, was surprised to see how far he had come. “I was really drawn to the intense group dynamic Effusion had and really wanted to have the honour of being part of something big like this. I look forward to developing as a singer as well as bonding with this amazing group of people.”

You can look forward to the debut of the new members at their annual Fall concert. It’s the best way to unwind after a long period of midterms! So grab your friends and get ready to be blown away by the easy, breezy harmonies of Effusion.

Effusion’s annual Fall concert will be held on Sunday, November 22 at the Just For Laughs Studio (2021 St. Laurent).

Do you really want to make me cry?

Words are few, I have spoken.

I could waste a thousand years.

Listen to Boy George.

Don’t hurt us.

Writing for Culture means that we will not cry and you will not be wasting a thousand years. Double win.

culture@mcgilldaily.com

Culture

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

21

Thinking inside the box Avant-garde art publication appeals to more senses than one Chelsea Blazer The McGill Daily

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f you’re going to launch a new magazine in today’s Internet age and deteriorated economy, you better make it stand out. Palimpsest Magazine, a newly-released art publication, does just that, offering an unconventional approach that brings together diverse media such as postcards, posters, cassettes, and DVDs, and packages them in the form of a small box.

Created by Danielle St. Amour and Tess Edmonson, Palimpsest exists in an exclusive run of 50 issues, which St. Amour hopes to increase with the success of the magazine. The result is a visually unique and distinct magazine, which she claims “reflects the flexibility and tactility of an art object in a way that reveals it as non-linear and heterogeneous.” The manner of viewing art encouraged by Palimpsest becomes less about its visual aesthetics. Instead, it presents the artwork in a way where the sensory aspects of touch and sound are just as significant as sight.

The magazine’s appeal derives from the fact that its form seems to offer more depth and artistic availability than a conventional magazine. It digs deeper, moving away from a magazine culture that is already saturated with an excess of visual arts. According to St. Amour, however, the magazine’s inspiration stems from a similarly fashioned magazine, Aspen, which existed throughout the sixties. Aspen’s contributors were leading figures in the contemporary North American and British art scenes and included cultural heroes, such as Roland Barthes and Andy Warhol. Unfortunately, much of Aspen’s content and memory has been lost throughout history – with Palimpsest, St. Amour and Edmonson hope to bring its memory back into the present. The problems that affected Aspen over

Olivia Messer / The McGill Daily

40 years ago, however, still seem to prevail in today’s publishing world.

With the current state of the economy, it’s a huge accomplishment to overcome the obstacles of financing an independently published magazine. “The biggest limit was definitely funding,” St. Amour admits, clarifying, “This is a project that was completely independently funded and so the hardest part was applying for grants.” St. Amour described a long process of applying for grants and being rejected based on the unique traits of her work. The bottom line: St. Amour and her coworkers were dedicated to achieving their goal. What they have to show is an excellent magazine that is geared toward others who love art just as much as they do.

Beyond this, the biggest limitation affecting St. Amour and Edmonson was the size of the box that was to contain Palimpsest.

While packaging material in a box may offer possibilities of including different media, the form had distinct drawbacks as well. According to St. Amour, the cloth included in the magazine was originally in a larger box but needed to be more small and compact. As a result, the textile had to be reinvented to fit the dimensions of a smaller box.

Nonetheless, it is apparent that the art was not compromised and the smaller size of the box still succeeds in capturing the magazine’s content in a more practical and efficient way.

Palimpsest Magazine, which hopes to solidify itself as a home for art and the avant-garde, is just beginning. With its unique array of media, Palimpsest brings new and innovative ideas to the mainstream conception of a magazine. Despite all the risks in developing a magazine so unconventional, St. Amour’s advice for those wanting to produce a magazine is simple: “Keep trying.

No matter how hard it seems at the time there is always something out there for you to succeed at.”

Sex, drugs, and the opera Opera McGill radically reinterprets Handel’s Agrippina for student audience Emilio Comay del Junco The McGill Daily

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ext-messaging, lavish apartments, and shouting matches between cocktail-clasping women in silk robes and men in business suits are pretty standard fare in the average soap opera, but it’s quite disconcerting to see them incorporated into an opera written 300 years ago.

Opera McGill has done exactly that in their production of Georg Friedrich Handel’s Agrippina, which opens Friday at Pollack Hall.

Written in 1709 for the amusement of the Venetian aristocracy, the opera dramatizes its titular character’s successful and vicious plot

to install her son Nero as Roman emperor. Rather than setting the opera in its original ancient time and place, director Hank Knox has updated it into the 21st century, drawing direct inspiration from the short-lived television series Dirty Sexy Money.

The libretto and music remain faithful to Handel’s original, but following their aesthetic reinterpretation, Agrippina’s characters appear as “greedy CEOs…modernday Lady Gaga-type pop divas…or modern-day lawyers,” according to the stage director Patrick Hansen’s introduction in the program.

At a dress rehearsal on Tuesday evening, Knox jokingly described the production as “very téléroman style,” about “rich nasty people who

bitch at each other for three hours.”

While obviously something of an exaggeration, Knox’s description conveys the overall effect of the changes.

Whatever one’s view of the merits or drawbacks of radical reinterpretations and modernization, the production unquestionably offers extremely strong performances – the cast is made up of postgraduate music students, many of whose voices are on par with professional singers. As Estelí Gomez, who plays the eponymous lead character, stressed: “Musically, we’ve attempted to stay true to Handel’s direction in the score, especially in recitative [text-heavy portions of music that are more speech-like than arias]. I believe the modern

re-interpretation of Agrippina works…but we are definitely not attempting to modernize the style of the music.”

Jana Miller, whose character, Poppea, was remodelled on pop singer Lady Gaga, explained the thinking behind the modernization. “The music is beautiful, and in Handel’s day it was pop music,” she observed, “so when you really get that style into your ear it can be amazing and I love singing it.

But it’s so ancient and disconnected from our music today, so I think updating it is a good idea.” Miller said that the updating makes “it an accessible opera,” especially in light of the perceived isolation of music students within the University, which she called

“a problem of the music school being kind of separated. McGill is a great school and the music school is part of that – we should all support each other.”

Opera can be a daunting form of entertainment. It can also be undeniably beautiful, and, despite its reputation for seriousness and length, very amusing. Less wellknown than later 19th-century works by composers like Puccini and Wagner, Baroque operas like Agrippina offer a mix of melodrama, levity, and accessibly melodious music.

Agrippina will play at Pollack Hall at 7:30 p.m., Friday, November 20 and Saturday, November 21 and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 22.

Compendium!

22

The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 19, 2009

Lies, half-truths, and the body of Christ

Corpus Christi bonanza!!!

These comics originally appeared on yourcorpuschristi.blogspot.com.

Dan Hawkins for The McGill Daily

He felte a thyng al rough and long yherd How fucking obnoxious can one classmate be? This asshole begins the class (an intimate 45-ish medieval job, mind you) by eating intense-smelling food (Midnight Kitchen probably). Then he leaves his cell phone on the table, and the fucking thing is vibrating all through the fucking lecture.

Now he’s laughing out loud at his own stupid inside-joke doodles, and he’s seriously trying to flirt with the girl next to him, in the middle of the goddamn lecture. God, I hate this guy. Fucking the Canterbury Tales is difficult enough to be interested in without this fucking jerkoff. [10 mins later] Now he’s fucking fast asleep. Catatonic. Reminds me of my four-year-old brother, making all this noise for attention and wearing himself out.

Fuck This! is a therapeutic anonymous rant column, not necessarily about medieval literature. Send your 200-word-or-less harangues every week to fuckthis@mcgilldaily.com. Anonymity guaranteed, but nothing hateful, please – just frustrated!

Mallory Bey / The McGill Daily

You can find more of Mal’s work at malbouge.blogspot.com.

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