On Triggers

From the creator of the t-shirt...

I’ve read about how any survivor who wears this is being a terrible person to other abuse or rape survivors who might be triggered by it. However, I never see the same concerns voiced about, oh, many media representations of sex or romance, people verbally abusing their children in grocery stores, people who enforce ideas that sex is a duty people owe one another in certain social contexts, people using the word “rape” applied in scenarios like “The IRS just raped me,” or… hey, wait! People deciding to verbally abuse a survivor because she breaks silence in a way they don’t like or wouldn’t choose for themselves. Just a word on that? I feel pretty confident saying that most of us who are survivors are not likely to be triggered by another survivor saying he or she was raped, or having that voiced on a piece of clothing. More to the point, if you think this is the only way in any given day we might be reminded of our rapes, you’ve got to be kidding yourself. The most benign aspects of daily life are often triggers: groups of men crowding close to us in a bus, the street we have to walk down to get home which was the one we were raped on, being quickly grabbed by the shoulder from someone who had no idea that was a trigger, a chair, a doorknob, a broom handle, someone’s hand, a belt, a given way the light looks at a certain time of day, the smell of a cologne, the very skin we inhabit, or someone, perchance, saying something about rape to us like “Don’t tell a soul.”

Pretty Babies

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/pretty_babies/page1

This article explores the latest fad of taking young girls for spa treatments - including bikini waxes. Thoughts?

TMI?

A shirt causing controversy? I’ve come across this phenomenon before. However this seems a lot more “out there” than when my high school principle demanded I not wear my favourite shirt because it said “ass” and subsequently taped over one of the “s’s” in Ass when I refused.

Anyway, the shirt in question is one with an open safe on the front, inside the safe is a simple note saying “I was raped”.

This rape shirt is an interesting concept. I’m really not sure how I feel about it. Part of me feels like it’s just an attention grabber for rape victims. It’s horrible that people get raped, however publicizing it on a t-shirt might be going a little far with it. There is also a “I had an abortion t-shirt” as I understand it. My feelings for that shirt are the same as my feelings for the rape shirt.

I think deep down I feel like this shirt doesn’t need to exist. I’m not saying rape is something that should be swept under the rug ; far from it. I think rape victims should talk about their experience, and should own that heavy burden. But a t-shirt isn’t the right way to do so.

What happens when the nut bars out there start wearing it as a novelty or a joke. I’ve seen people walking around in shirts that say “pervert” on them like it’s a badge of honour or some big joke. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that people would do the same with these shirts.

I don’t like it, I understand its point, but I don’t think it’s needed.

-Dion-

TMI?

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/this-t-shirt-is-about-rape/

A shirt to start conversations. Take a look at the article - READ THE COMMENTS at the bottom of the article and post on your blog your thoughts about this t-shirt.

Jill

P.S. Here's one person's response... http://blogwonks.com/2008/04/05/more-liberals-playing-the-victim/

Tuition Freeze Lifted - Yet Another Sign of Global Warming?

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/04/07/tuition-freeze.html

Two days in advance of the budget, the Doer government has announced the end of the provincial tuition freeze for post-secondary students.

In your blogs, I want you to calculate what you feel is the actual cost of attending post-secondary school and whether or not you agree with the lifting of the freeze. Please take into account cost of living, books, entertainment, etc. when you make your argument. We will read and discuss each one in class.

Peace Tower Motion

The minority Canadian government has passed a resolution to lower the flag on the Peace Tower whenever a Canadian soldier or government worker is killed in a foreign land. As this is a non-binding resolution the Harper government has decided to ignore this resolution and only lower the flag on Rememberance Day.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/02/flag-motion.html

Tell me your thoughts on this motion - do you think it is important to recognize individual deaths or rather, should they be recognized enmasse in a special day of rememberance. More importantly, do you feel the Harper government's unwillingness to recognize a passed parliamentary motion is indicative of their policies and view of democracy.

This Tears Me Apart

I found out last night my father has a tumour growing on his spinal cord. If work and life allowed, I would return to Manitoulin to take his picture today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2008/mar/31/lifebeforedeath?picture=333325401

Tell me how the pictures affect you.