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work![]() ![]() FED UP WITH FAT BIASIt’s bad enough that women have to contend with a glass ceiling that limits their advancement at work, not to mention a wage gap that translates into 73 cents being paid to women for every dollar paid to men—and less for women of colour. But for women who don’t fit in to society’s confines of acceptable body size, weight stigma is another bias that makes it more challenging to be treated equitably, let alone get ahead. ![]() ![]() Are Emoticons a Woman Thing?They’re everywhere you look: winking in text messages, slipping into corporate emails, littering Facebook news feeds. They stare up from computer screens, those frozen grins begging for approval. They are emoticons, and research suggests their use is highly gendered. The first emoticon was the digitized smiley. It gained popularity in the 1980s after computer scientist Scott Fahlman suggested to participants on a message board at Carnegie Mellon University that they should use :( and :) to distinguish their serious posts from those that were jokes. ![]() ![]() Domestic ProblemsBY SANDHYA SINGH “Here, in Canada, in the 21st century, we have a program that is clearly violating human rights.” So says Cecilia Diocson, executive director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC). ![]() ![]() Art Agencies to the RescueWhen Kelly Thornton became the artistic director of Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre in 2002, she was often asked why there was a need for a women’s theatre company. ![]() ![]() The Women of Casa Xochiquetzal
Xochiquetzal (pronounced So-chi-ke-chal) is an Aztec goddess whose name means flower-feather. She represents the divine and spiritual side of the pleasures of the flesh. Xochiquetzal was adored by the ahuianime, the pre- Hispanic prostitutes. ![]() ![]() Serena Ryder Rides High on SuccessIt’s a couple of days after the U.S. election and Serena Ryder is still enraptured by U.S. president Barack Obama’s victory. ![]() ![]() Shock DocNaomi Klein has a remedy for the injustices of neo-liberal policies. Read her new book and call your member of parliament in the morning. It’s not easy talking about the excesses of capitalism, even when you’ve got an army of facts to back you up and a reputation for having inspired an entire generation to take up activism against global capital’s greedy excesses. ![]() ![]() Tattoos More than Skin DeepWhen Patricia Roe was 46, her 20-year-old son, Adam, died while mountain climbing in Guatemala. Several of Adam’s friends got tattoos to mark the loss of their friend. A few weeks later, Roe got the same design tattooed a few inches above her knee, while Adam’s father had the tattoo applied to his shoulder. The design is an impala—a type of deer—surrounded by a sun. The deer was an important symbol for Roe’s son, who loved speed, movement and freedom; he also loved the sun. ![]() ![]() Temporary Workers, Permanent ProblemsLaura came to Canada from Mexico to work as a seasonal apple picker under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. She fell on the job, and her legs were crushed by a tractor. ![]() ![]() Time to Slay the Perfect-Mother MythA generation ago, middle-class women grew up with the understanding that it was possible to have it all: healthy, well-adjusted children, successful careers and fulfilling personal relationships. ![]() |
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