Week 12 Secondary Post: Drawing Conclusions

(Picture/Event & Description)

As INI101 comes to an end, I think its important to recognize the major themes that occurred over the course of this semester. The most important being that nothing is linear or simply black and white. Although this can be applied to many different aspects of society, I found that studying the city allowed me to see that there is more to it than just the name Toronto. The parts of Toronto that are great, shiny, and renewed are not necessarily composed of purely wonderful things. And the same can be said for what is characterized as the ‘rougher’ areas of the city, they are not solely bad or horrible.

I saw this the most with the case of Regent Park – if preconceptions could kill I would probably already be dead. A section of the city I had never been to before and I thought would be scary or unwelcoming was, in actuality, the exact opposite. At the centre of the district was Daniels Spectrum, a place where art, community, support, and opportunity all thrived.

These photos were taken on April 4, 2016 while on a psycho-geographic walk. To the North West of the annex, this area of the city begins to get somewhat industrial, what many would characterize as a less visually appealing part of the city. While walking across a bridge that went alongside a road and under railway tracks I saw this mural. These photos only caption a portion of the brightly decorated wall in what seemed to be a grey area, but it was just a small reminder that things aren’t always what we assume they are, and we need to be cautious when making judgements and preconceptions.

“You never really understand a person” or in this case a place, a part of the city, “until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird).

Week 12 Comment

Via Melissa’s blog.

I really enjoy how you incorporated a story telling aspect to the problems today revolving around youth un/employment. We’re often referred to as ‘generation jobless’ and I feel that many people around our age have experienced this in both mild and severe forms. Most recently, I was lucky enough to find a job for the summer, but prior to this I had sent around 30 applications only to have one interview and one offer. A friend of mine told me she applied 75 places for a part time job before getting two interviews and receiving the position she has now at a grocery store working night shifts. Employers are becoming evermore demanding of the people they hire and expecting their employees to be extremely flexible. You said it best, how can they expect us to already have experience if it is through these unattainable jobs we need to gain the experience?

Week 12 Main Post: Go Forth and Blog

Through the creation of my blog and the duration of this course I learned many important things, but of all these things I would say 3 stuck with me the most.
1. Writers go through hell. The stories from Renee Sylvestre Williams, Shawn, and my own classmates made me recognize that pursuing a career in something you love can often create many problems, like having to settle for editing of your piece that does not reflect your own work, or writing pieces that are not necessarily what you desire to write about because often these are the ones that have to be done in order to establish a name for yourself or make a paycheque.
2. Issues related to social justice linger all around us. Whether it is in schools and on campuses in regards to mental health and the stigmas that surround them, in the streets where homeless shelters are being closed down and moved to the edges of Toronto creating a larger gap between the homeless population and the downtown services they need, or in regards to public space becoming increasingly privatized and pushing out ‘unwanted’ people.
3. Never offer your work for free, it devalues it. Although Renee S-Williams said this to our class in regards to writing, this can be applied to anything and everything we produce in life. I believe it is a good rule to go by because you are not only devaluing your own work but you are also devaluing what other people in the same field as you produce.

5 years from now, I hope I will remember the larger idea of recognizing the good and positivity in situations or stories that can often seem gloomy. Yorkville and other parts of Toronto have been heavily renewed, and sometimes businesses and residents have to deal with the consequences of it, however, activists like Ursula Forster (in relation to Hazleton Lanes) create an opposition to this renewal and provide support for the locals. Moreover, the proposed demolition of Union Station in the 1960s for something modern and new did not go through, and today we have a historic piece of architecture at the heart of our city, for many it is the first thing they see when arriving to Toronto by train or bus or staying at a nearby hotel.

Will I be continuing my blog? I don’t think so, at least, not on this specific platform. But I will definitely continue to write, explore our great city, and use social media as a globally connected tool to share information and create understanding. Ending on the same note I started my blog with – as citizens, we all share and hold a power, and as writers we allow our voices to be heard. By writing about the city we can be advocates for change and push for the development of a greater city for all.

Week 12 Link: Know Your Society, Know Your Terms

Not everything in this world is black and white – people’s sexualities are not simply male or female, and their attraction is not simply gender specific. As global connectedness grows and information becomes broader and more accessible, more people find themselves not having to face as much confusion with expressing or explaining what they naturally feel. I say as much because although we are progressing, there are still many flaws in our society in regards to social norms and acceptance.

This article, by Lauren Booker of CNN, outlines the various terms that are becoming more commonly used by the people around us and in our daily lives, such as: gender fluidity, pansexual, transgender, asexual, and much more. I believe this article is important because it can allow others to further understand the non-linear society in which we live.

Week 11 Comment

Via Natalina’s blog.

I really love this article and how it defines the difference between simply following a trend while sort of disregarding the culture, and actually appreciating the various aspects of a culture and wanting to spread what you have learned to others. There is a distinct difference between small businesses and shops creating garments that are directly linked to the ethnicity of the owner VS large brands like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters creating pieces that are ‘inspired by’ aspects of certain cultures. I also think acknowledging what celebrities have done is a great way to help people further understand the difference between appropriation and appreciation. Rihanna, while visiting Abu Dhabi in 2013, wore something the local women from that city would wear, but contrast this to Katy Perry who takes on corn rows, defined baby hairs, and long nails just to film a music video.

Week 11 Main Post: Privatized Public Space

Our last Thursday trip through private-public Toronto really made me question what is public and what is private. I think the definition of public space varies from person to person and depends how an individual interprets a certain space. For me, Robarts Library feels like public space because there are different activities going on and lots of people around, but to someone who isn’t a U of T student, you would consider that private since you are not part of the university and can’t use that space (even though technically you still could as long as you try to blend in). I don’t think people fully understand what public space is in the city and what space is private, it is extremely difficult to tell sometimes. When in the Eaton Centre, it was interesting to find out that although the 2 ‘right of ways’ that continue through the mall are public space, people can often get asked what they are doing there, told to move along, or sometimes the doors to these right of ways may even be locked.

Additionally, I do not think public space is being used properly in Toronto, or even to its full capability. Looking at Yonge and Dundas square, when there are no events going on or people in the square it just looks bare – an urban field of cement. The space has a cold ambience to it and looks uninviting, it is both, literally in colour and figuratively in how people perceive it, one of the ‘grey’ spaces of Toronto.

One of the problems in relation to public space is not knowing what is public and what is private. A solution to this could be mapping the various publicly accessible spaces across the city, which the city of Toronto has done. This is part of “an effort to clarify the use of these spaces — an effort that now includes posting welcome signs at all new POPS in the city,” allowing public spaces to be acknowledged, filled with people, and actually used (via Toronto Star). However, there is a problem with this solution, these are privately owned public spaces, which means “undesirable” people may not be welcomed by the owners of the space. This could include the exclusion of minorities, homeless people, or people of lower-incomes, therefore leading to a further segregation or divide of Toronto’s residents.

Week 11 Link: A Town Lives On

Below is a short tour of a city in Iraq which was destroyed back in 2014 from attacks by ISIS. Today the city survives, not with residents, but as a symbol as resistance by Peshmerga military forces. These soldiers boobytrap and guard the city protecting it from nearby ISIS forces.

Week 11 Secondary Post: Article

It’s all over social media, we hear of it from certain friends and family members, and it’s even portrayed in commercials and advertising. Eating Clean.

From juice cleanses to colon cleanses, kidney detoxes to tea-toxes, this lifestyle is anywhere and everywhere in our society. I am all for eating healthy, exercising, and trying to put the best things possible into your body in order to live life to its fullest and healthiest, but there is one problem, this lifestyle is elitist.

The article “Why ‘Clean Eating’ Is Total BS” by Jaclyn London has an interesting take on this food fad. She notes that eating clean started off as “eating lots of whole, real foods — veggies and fruit, whole-grains, animal and plant-based protein, nuts, seeds, and oils…what you eat should be as close to nature as possible — minimally processed, not packaged, or originating from a factory. Cooking at home and finding good ingredients” (Via Good Housekeeping). But today this has become very difficult especially in regards to access. Many of us with our busy schedules do not have the time to dedicate to a perfectly clean lifestyle and, of greater important, many do not have the means to access this clean eating.

Abiding by this lifestyle could get very expensive; by simply comparing an organic vegetable in the supermarket to one without that bright yellow label is where you can see the divide. Upwards of $2.50 more for broccoli that is organic compared to the other brands, and $1.00-2.00 more for an organic avocado. This means to avoid things like “synthetic additives…pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and dyes…process[ing] using industrial solvents, irradiation, or genetic engineering” (via Alan Henry) I must pay more.

Further, time is something we do not all have lots to spare. Sometimes we must take what is most convenient and readily available for us which could result in your dinner being a bag of chips at the convenience store across the street if you’re late for a meeting. People can live in food deserts or food swamps, typically in lower income regions, which both pose problems for access to food. A food desert is an urban area with minimal access to quality or affordable food (via American Nutrition Association), while a food swamp is an area with an abundance of unhealthy foods, but very little nutritious ones (via Rebecca Ryan).

The article continues to say that beyond the problems with access to this lifestyle is the problems with the lifestyle itself. People become upset when they cannot find the time to prepare this type of food, or find the money to live this food lifestyle, it becomes “Not only…a hierarchical model for eating well,” but it also becomes just “yet another medium for food-shaming” (Via Good Housekeeping).

To eat clean, in a sense, becomes a societal expectation to live clean, and living this lifestyle is not attainable to all. London closes her article on a positive note with a list of a few things to keep in mind while making healthful, rather than just healthy choices.

Week 10 Comment

Via Alyssa’s blog.

Coming from the same small town, I feel the exact same way as you Alyssa! When you take apart and analyze the TTC, yes in the hustle and bustle of this busy city there are many flaws, but I think its great that you brought in a very positive outlook on the aspects of the transit system. Because we come from a small town, we find the subway and streetcar system absolutely amazing (we must be new here), but for daily commuters and residents of suburbs beyond North York, there is definitely a lot for them to complain about. This really makes me appreciate U of T being in the heart of downtown.

Week 10 Secondary Post: News Article

Last Thursday, March 24, Jian Ghomeshi arrived at a courthouse in Toronto to await the verdict of his trial. Charged with 4 counts of sexual assault and 1 count of choking, Ghomeshi confusingly got acquitted of all charges. The details on the verdict of the trial can be found here, but what resonated with me a lot deeper was an article by Sarah Boesveld as told to by the first witness, Lucy DeCoutere on what she wished she knew before testifying in the trial.

DeCoutere wished she sought a lawyer first, rather than the police because their job is often to focus on the accused and the charges against them. She felt that when she came forward to the police there wasn’t much direction in how she should be recalling what happened. She wished she knew how harsh the court room was once she took the stand. She stated it felt as though she was being verbally abused, mocked, and yelled at. DeCoutere wished she knew that her behaviour outside of the assault would be scrutinized, put on the stand, and not forgotten. Finally, she wished she knew who to turn to or even where to turn to in order to get through this entire process.

This article told by Lucy DeCoutere to Boesveld is an interesting one. I think it shows more than the other articles which simply state the charges, trials, and verdict. For victims, the act of coming forward is, in itself, a difficult task. Additionally, testifying in court is more than simply ‘telling a story’, it takes a toll on your emotions and mental health.

Ghomeshi committing the assaults was horrifying, and the women whose lives are forever effected by these incidents is absolutely saddening, but sometimes the system that is in place to protect us, does not do so, and that is possibly the most terrifying aspect of this whole situation.