https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/20a909bb837f24ab7d894090b9c2100a.pdf?Expires=1785369600&Signature=J%7EFAOu1mt1SlVZaMq11FhVM2QOP6fjwimMXG5gOA3YS1atMElaOeFHv-9hGoenPNpXYsUvdWpYiXdCwjXB%7Ef-TdpJLLXveqLz4JFQGHTB7CvrGPDLbdCoCKnCf-gJs3U3EoJ7k2eFqz-UieyOZK3oaqTBmnQoBOXunN2HRaoKMHNC59z8SO8CphUH2aaO2hsI7uj3BFrlWsFySHrCWVriKHGNnJ-tBLuBNiHOCA6SSu81yi-oHsTx0KKgdqzCQ7Ux9hy4jc06pRYVp793BAiCYMUpgezKY1PzOTmdCRHL1BRYmQgSLHpsqfAQ2ZtHtQtXPMcP-ZkYwGecw7xgRLlNw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM a544fa7d5b8e8216cbaeb350bc72b0f0 PDF Text Text Commentary The McGill Daily, Thursday, February 4, 2010 5 In which I deconstruct the family jewels Dignity needs defending Radically reread Lisa Miatello T his past summer, I found myself at a party and in a bit of a sticky situation. Here’s the story: As I was walking down the hallway, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small chalkboard hanging on the wall. Taking a closer look, its title read, “House Rules.” Here we go, I thought bitterly. Scanning the rules quickly, my eyes fell upon Rule #3: “No fat chicks.” And to drive this point home, #3 was accompanied by Rule #5: “Remember, no fat chicks.” Disgusted, I didn’t think twice before furiously rubbing that shit out with my palm. Meanwhile, some dude (let’s call him Dude for the sake of simplicity) had seen what I had done and didn’t take too kindly to it. So Dude started talking smack. He told me that I have “no right” to erase their house rules, about this being private property, that we live in a free country, and that everyone’s entitled to their (bullshit) opinions. Blah blah blah, enter ways to justify oppressive behaviour here. True to form, I started arguing with him. Our dispute rapidly descended into a series of verbal cheap shots aimed by Dude at yours truly. In a matter of minutes, I learned about his contempt for women, his aversion to fat people, and his distaste for lesbians. To add insult to injury, during his diatribe, he mocked me, mimicked me, and waved a pair of drumsticks in my face. It was straight up disrespect, and it infuriated me. This brief but heated interaction tapped into years and years of anger I had felt – still feel – toward our society’s homophobia, sexism, and fatphobia. Dude’s words and behaviour threw me back to the hordes of boys and men that I have known whose reactions toward women run the gamut from subtle disdain to sexual violence. I considered all the ways I had reacted to this sort of treatment in the past. Submitting to this disrespect had meant accepting the idea that women are inferior, worthless, stupid, and weak. It had meant internalizing the devaluation that men like this had impressed on me. Talking back when disrespected had meant being called a crazy bitch, being dismissed, getting reprimanded and punished, or being ostracized. It’s only through laboured politicization that I have come to understand the roots of this sort of violence and the anger it generates. We grow up learning that entire groups of people are deemed less valuable and less human than others. It sucks, to the say the least. With this truism in tow, I’ve become more and more convinced that when all else is lost, all we have left is our dignity. For that reason, preserving it, defending it, and fighting for it has become central to my actions. So how did this altercation with Dude end? I grabbed hold of his drumsticks and kicked the douchebag in the nuts. If I could do it again, the only thing I would do differently would be to kick him harder. Militant feminist: 1. Patriarchy: 0. A ill D aily LI’L HYDE PARK Setting the record straight on the Bookstore fter reading “Haven Books: a cheap alternative” by Ben Paris (Commentary, January 11), my staff and I felt compelled to address the errors and misinformation throughout the article. We think that this misinformation serves to hurt both the McGill Bookstore and the community at large. First, the McGill Bookstore is fully owned and operated by McGill University. It was, at one point, run by Chapters/Indigo for a five-year period that ended in May 2003. Since that time, the Bookstore has been self-financed and is not subsidized by the University. Not only do we autonomously finance all operating expenses of the Bookstore, but regularly deliver year-end surpluses to the University. Over the last three years alone, $1,125,000 ($375,000 per annum) has been transferred to Student Life and Learning and has been used for student financial support. We also support students sig- L McG Lisa Miatello pens a column on this parchment every second week. Dignify her at radicallyreread@ mcgilldaily.com. HYDE PARK David Strutz Sally he in | T nificantly in other ways. For example, we currently employ approximately 60 McGill students, and do so in a work environment that is sensitive to student schedules and academic work loads. Second, the mark-up charged on textbooks is not “huge.” Bookstores do not set textbook prices – publishers do. Our profit on the sale of each textbook is not 40 per cent, but substantially lower at an average of 23 per cent. That is, on a $100 book, the publisher receives $77, and the Bookstore, $23. Furthermore, a portion of this $23 is used to cover the day-to-day expenses involved in operating a bookstore; for example, shipping charges on received merchandise, salaries and benefits, and mortgage payments. Third, we offer students the opportunity to sell their used textbooks back to the bookstore year-round not only to meet our needs but also on behalf of some 20 other Canadian campuses. Although our cash-upfront buyback model differs from the one offered at Haven Books, students should be aware that the option to both sell and buy used textbooks exists here as well. Students are free to choose the option that best suits their needs. Finally, the restriction on advertising by Haven Books is related to a restriction on the use of University resources (such as email) to promote a commercial endeavour. However, nothing prevents Haven Books from buying ads in The Daily, the McGill Tribune, or other media. The McGill Bookstore is in a competitive market, and students will decide where to buy their new and used books. However, it is important for students to know the facts: the McGill Bookstore is here to support the academic mission of the University, is committed to serving student needs, and contributes to student financial support by transferring surpluses to Student Life and Learning. David Strutz is the Associate Director (Retail & Parking) of Ancillary Services. Write him at david.strutz@mcgill.ca. Stay classy, pro-choice crowd Dear campus activists who’ve opposed Choose Life this year: The kids behind Choose Life are in the minority here. They are small in numbers and, as events on campus have shown in recent months, there’s a strong consensus against their tactics and the way they do business. Even people who are generally opposed to abortion wrote into The Daily saying that Choose Life and their affiliates give the prolife movement a bad name, and are, on the whole, kind of tacky. Don’t encourage them. Given their numbers and the scale of their actions, without all the hype, the wind would have gone out of their sails a long time ago. Which is why I find this GA motion to categorically ban any pro-life group from SSMU particularly distressing. The wording of the motion defines groups with a pro-life ideology as inherently oppressive, a leap of logic that ploughs over any differentiation between all the people out there who aren’t too keen on the idea of abortion: “The SSMU further resolves to condemn any group, student association, or organiza- tion whose goals and methods compromise the safety and health of any person or engage in acts of discrimination such as but not limited to pro-life groups.” You are only giving the people behind Choose Life ammunition and legitimizing their claim to being oppressed by the Left. This idea is central to the way they’re framing themselves as conservative underdogs being put down by an intolerant pro-abortion majority. You glorify Choose Life by providing them with the epic, forceful opposition their self-image requires. Meet their actions with disregard and disinterest instead of indignation, and this self-image won’t hold water. If you think their tactics are beneath your dignity, do not dignify them. The best way to oppose people you violently disagree with is to put them in their place. You can achieve this, first, by staying classy and keeping your place firmly in the moral high ground. Proposing censorship has you losing it pretty fast. Please don’t let this lapse pass into policy. —Braden Goyette � 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 99 Issue 30 Page Number(s) 5 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 Stay classy, pro-choice crowd Description An account of the resource A writer urges pro-choice individuals to stop giving attention to a small anti-abortion group on campus. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Braden Goyette 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 2010/02/04 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life op-ed reproductive health reproductive justice