https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/81f53ec333912a627fc02d8e1f19962e.pdf?Expires=1785369600&Signature=u-qw%7ECuI9qyQfBLczQcE8pUIE34qLwQ%7EkDIwVXLfyDHjDSmJxKEX3Rh65XYPuWDO8grzZJjqV-m%7EzvPxFEFmm6wTjnpXHvRzr8tyfjr2Pe5P8uDHtxb0d0QWFoktUwktTJLH%7ENt7SRkPR5TigDURuccca5h%7EtXkkGjJ0XvNYLucV83rDdd4wmNowYTATaQmee9UVsLxY-%7EuXEdKIDKx84h6yv3suA2y6bj%7EPUzzy80eETZULIvN2z3qI8YT0Jd9MnUxUOiq5aSPFEORqRtF-qNbNs1NtZgUfqM322mgLfOLIVW08j6wsKE0T19xbTo5jw7rMPPajLOQCc8t3S2qYhw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 21e7126c537c287ebe19bedcfefb42b5 PDF Text Text 20 Culture The McGill Daily, Thursday, February 19, 2009 Hands off! Speakers at McGill stress our right to take control of our bodies Shea Sinnott Culture Writer B odily self-determination is the idea that you, and no one else, decide what your body is and what you do with it. Four women gathered at McGill last week for a panel discussion entitled “Bodily Self-Determination: Reimagining a Feminist Framework,” and each speaker discussed the importance of bodily self-determination within feminist, trans, and disability rights theory and practice. According to Indu Vashist, one of the head organizers of the panel, the impetus for holding the talk grew from the feelings of some that the “battle is not yet won,” in light of recent “neo-conservative” tendencies that pose a threat to the bodily sov- ereignty many of us take for granted. Vashist cited legislation such as Bill C-484 that reminds us “we need to be constant in our vigilance in keeping these rights.” Counselor and former abortionclinic worker Maryruth Stine began by discussing the history of the prochoice movement. She framed the criminalization of abortion within the context of 19th century industrialization in an attempt to offset the tendency to “de-historicize” and “deradicalize” abortion issues. Rather than solely being a question of morality, Stine claimed, the criminalization of abortion stemmed largely from the desire to control bodies and people for socioeconomic purposes. In this way, Stine illustrated the importance of bodily sovereignty as a possible “through line” or means of connection between the pro-choice movement and other human rights struggles. Nora Butler Burke works at Action Sante Travesties et Transsexuelles du Quebec, a Montreal organization which aims to promote the health and well-being of trans people in Quebec. Burke took a more concrete approach to the panel’s themes, as she spoke about the institutional barriers that “criminalize, police, and medicalize our bodies.” Above all, she stressed the importance of access to hormones, government identification, detox centers, and shelters as one of the central issues that shape and define the lives, and bodies, of trans people. Nonetheless, Burke proffered these institutional barriers as the “strategic places where we can make alliances.” Next, Toronto-based artist and author Anne K. Abbott spoke about the difficulties she faced growing up with a disability. Abbott recounted chilling memories of doctors poking and probing her body – times when she recalled feeling that “[her] body was not quite [her] own.” She also spoke about her family, friends, and careworkers dismissing her childhood dream of becoming a mother, claiming she was “too delicate and unprepared to have children.” And though she proved them wrong by having kids after all, Abbott pointed to the infamous “Ashley X” case as an example of the ongoing sterilization of disabled people. Ultimately, she called for the need to “take control of our own bodies” and subsequently “be in control of our destinies.” Similarly, A.J. Withers – an author and activist on radical disability politics – spoke about the widespread misuse of pre-natal testing. Often, pregnant women are encouraged or pressured to abort disabled foetuses, yet these egregious violations of bodily self-determination go unchallenged. In these cases, as she emphatically argued, this is “not choice, it’s coercion.” Thus, Withers stressed the need for women to have the necessary opportunity and support, whether they decide to terminate the pregnancy or not. Withers ended with a rallying call akin to that of the other speakers – asserting that “we all must work to tear down [conceptions of] certain types of bodies and minds that have more value than others,” align ourselves with all those who suffer from oppression, and “recognize the tremendous commonalities between us.” In so doing, we can reimagine a feminist framework premised upon inclusion, solidarity, and unified action. my descent into hipster fashion was gradual, and I did not consciously appropriate all geek fashion possible, but I did purposefully seek out clothing that was less mainstream and more unique. Now, my “unique” fashion follows me everywhere; at least with hipster fashion in its most extreme form, you rarely find someone wearing the exact same vintage eighties cardigan. That only happens with American Apparel, the store that brought hipsterdom to the masses. The fact that hipsters identify with geeks, the traditional outcasts of society, reflects that those who truly rock hipster fashion see themselves as outsiders. Unable to identify with the mainstream trends of the time, hipsters took something old and lame and made it new and cool again. And so the circle of fashion goes, what is old must be new again at some point. Go forth, hipsters, and rock the geek fashion, but please, if you don’t need glasses, don’t wear fake ones. That’s one trend too excessive and unnecessary, even for a clothes and accessories whore like myself. From high-waisted to high fashion Erin O'Callaghan The McGill Daily L Lucca Townsend for The McGill Daily ook up from your paper right now. Chances are, if you’re on campus or in a café somewhere, you can spot one. That guy sitting beside you, wearing the faded, skinny blue jeans with obnoxiously bright neon shoes, a tight buttondown plaid shirt and a leather jacket, he’s one of them. The girl walking toward you with a baggy t-shirt from the eighties tucked into a high-waisted denim skirt, sporting lace-up granny booties and oversized reading glasses is another. These people fall into the class of hipsters, and in this city, on this campus, they are everywhere. Hipster fashion is ubiquitous: suspenders, high-waisted skirts and skinny jeans, over-sized sweaters, vintage t-shirts, and unnecessarily big glasses that serve absolutely no purpose to your eyesight whatsoever. There are the vests, bright accessories, party dresses – some that resemble ones I wore as a child, others that resemble my grandmother’s – and an inordinate amount of revamped eighties workout clothing: American Apparel. I am not saying this fashion is ugly, or commenting on the people that swear by it; in fact, I myself am a part of the hipster fashion world, though perhaps not to the same extent as the diehards. Take a moment to examine the next true hipster that walks by, someone straight out off of pregnantgoldfish.wordpress.com, a blog dedicated entirely to hipsterdom and all its wonders. Do they resemble anyone, perhaps a stereotype that has existed for decades? Hipsters seem to have appropriated all fashion that society has traditionally associated with geeks, and reworked it to make it cool and “hip.” The high-waisted pants, button down shirt combo is a classic for geeks, but also for hipsters. So are hipsters merely geeks revamped? Are hipsters poking fun at the traditional geek, or by creating a hybrid of geekism and trendiness, are they creating a brand new stereotype of the hipster? When you walk by the next girl wearing glasses, a cardigan belted over top of a high-waisted skinny jeans, and lace-up ankle boots, ignore the vintage cool of the pieces and really examine them. They are the clothes that we have always associated geeks with, decon- structed and combined with some old-school class and modern-day cool. Without the alligator skin belt, the cardigan is just a plain cream wool sweater, a little too short and buttoned awkwardly over jeans that cover more than half a girl’s body. The little hand-me-down boots are simply substitutes for the “it” shoe of the last five years, Uggs. Geeks have always been the outcasts of society. In TV shows like Screech from Saved by the Bell or Steve Urkel from Family Matters, they are lovable, but unfashionable and out of touch with the trends. Hipsters have taken this traditionally outcast fashion and brought it out into the limelight, showing that which was once uncool and lame can be turned into a major fashion statement. However, what does this really say about hipsters? By creating a new version of the geek style, have they eradicated the traditional stereotype? Personally, Hilary Mordon for The McGill Daily Hipster appropriation of nerdy style leaves no pants behind � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 36 Page Number(s) 20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hands Off! Description An account of the resource An article covering an event surrounding the topic of bodily self-determination. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Shea Sinnott Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/02/19 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English events reproductive health reproductive justice