somethingtomakeyousmile

could you imagine if you went on chatroulette and looked like this?


that's "me" and "my sister"
happy studying to all you students

Tonight's Show: Polygamy

Tonight on the show, Jennie and Geea discuss polygamy in Canada, America, and other parts of the world. In particular we'll focus on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints (FLDS). The FLDS's are branch of Mormonism that is not accepted by the 'regular' Mormon church because they practice Polygamy - the type of marriage that involves one husband and multiple wives. Groups of FLDS's live mostly in Texas, Utah and Arizona, but there is also a small group in Bountiful, BC.



Some of the questions we pose tonight...

• Is polygamy inherently anti-feminist?
• What are the social, economic or cultural reasons for polygamy?
• How are women treated in in the Church of FLDS?
• Are there any societies that practice polyandry (one wife, multiple husbands)?

Here are some links to articles we will reference throughout the show.



Mormon polygamy in Canada among the FLDS - ReligiousTolerance.org

Lost boys are the forgotten polygamy victims - The Vancouver Sun

Bountiful - CBC, The Fifth Estate





Tune in tonight from 8:00 to 8:30 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm, or at cjsw.com.

If you miss our live show, be sure to check out our podcast!

Sleazy Advertisement Pulled in Calgary

Have you seen these ads on Calgary's C-Train for Midtown condos? I have never seen this exact one until now, but I'd seen others and always been kinda confused by them. This one here was apparently pulled because people complained about it (Yay! That kinda thing always gives me hope!).



But apparently there was yet another sexist ad in this same series. It read: "A $20,000 down payment is easier than scoring on a four-minute 5 on 3. And way, way easier than scoring with your waitress."



According to the blog Change Marketing, the ads were produced by Calgary's Watermark Advertising, who recently apologized following all the negative attention and critizism their advertisement received. A statement from the company read:

"As creators of the Midtown condo campaign, Watermark Advertising apologizes unreservedly for any offence these washroom ads may have caused. Obviously our idea of fun isn't funny to the audience we are attempting to engage — which immediately makes the communication wrong, so of course just as immediately, they will be removed."

But the condo developer was less apologetic (and more stupid):

"It wasn't our intention to offend anybody. We took it as tongue-in-cheek. We were trying to address a target audience. But obviously we've offended 25-year-olds."

No, you idiots, you didn't offend 25 year olds. You offended women.

Is Iceland the world's most feminist country?

The Guardian reports that Iceland has just banned strip clubs and is "on the brink of achieving what many considered to be impossible: closing down its sex industry." Every strip club in the country will be shut down, and the new law will make it illegal for a business to profit from the nudity of its employees.



Iceland is the first country in the world to ban stripping for feminist reasons (it is usually banned for religious reasons). Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, the politician who first proposed the ban, firmly told the national press on Wednesday, "It is not acceptable that women or people in general are a product to be sold." Right on, sister.



This is really quite a revolutionary new law!

Calgary Aboriginal Women's Group presents: The Vagina Monologues

Tomorrow night the Calgary Aboriginal Women's Group presents Eve Ensler's THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES.



Saturday March 27

7:00pm - 10:30pm

4825 Mount Royal Gate SW



Tickets: $15.00 in advance or $20.00 at the door

Tickets available at:

Blame Betty 17th ave SW

Mikey's Juke Joint 11th ave SW



Proceeds to benefit the Awo'taan Healing Lodge (90%) & the Vday Campaign Spotlight : Women's Congo project (10%).



For more information contact: 403-481-4962

Ann Coulter to Speak at U of C Tomorrow

Right-wing US pundit, Ann Coulter, will be speaking at the University of Calgary tomorrow. She was also scheduled to speak at the University of Ottawa on Tuesday, but her event was canceled after thousands protested, leaving Coulter feeling unsafe.



Coulter's visit to Canada has sparked lots of debate about free speech in this country. Many feel she shouldn't be welcome here because of the racist, sexist and hateful remarks she is famous for making. Others feel that everyone has the right to free speech - and those who disagree with it have the right to protest.



For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ann Coulter, here's a sample of some of her thoughts on women voting, single mothers and Muslims:

"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen."



Coulter referred to single motherhood as "a recipe to create criminals, strippers, rapists, murderers," echoing her statement in Guilty that "[s]ingle motherhood is like a farm team for future criminals and social outcasts."



"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

So... how do I feel about Ms. Coulter visiting Calgary? Well, I have to agree that free speech is of utmost importance in a democratic society, so I wouldn't necessarily want her to be banned from speaking here. However, I think it reflects poorly on the University of Calgary that they've invited her to speak at their institution. I dislike and disrespect her not because she's a right-wing conservative, but because she's sexist, racist, homophobic and downright nasty. Any person who displays these qualities should be shamed rather than promoted by our academic institutions.

it's always nice to have a study buddy

this is what my study area looks like today:
(missing from picture is my cup of coffee, water, vitamin water and smoothie!)
d-man on my lap keeping my warm and getting lots of kisses and rubs
laptop
and papers scattered around me. oh how fun.
follow me on twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/aylawhite

back to the books... done university in one weekkkkk!!!!
cheers loves.

100th POST!!!!!

holy mother of toilets....
i just realized this is my 100th post and i don't even have a picture to post or anything. ........ that is unless i find one. give me a minute here...
its almost 1 AM did i add? what the hell am i doing awake right now? i have to be up early and write write write write write fmljgsjfjdfkldf. FML
ok so as my photos are uploading i will tell you a little bit about my crazy life in the past month because i do believe its been about a month since i wrote....
went to cancun, fell even more in love with mexican/spanish culture. would love to go back and just live in an all inclusive resort --- i highly recommend cancun palace to anyone traveling to cancun area. great food, great service, jacuzzi tub in the room... 24 hour room service (bad idea when drunk, take note)...
i am finishing university in less than 2 weeks... april 1st... no joke my friends! what am i gonna do with myself? will someone out there pay me to post pictures of my fabulous friends and write silly descriptions? 25cents per word? 25 dollars? wish i would have won the 41 million... that would have been a little nice; just a little.
so here are 2 pictures from my st patrick's day celebrations... was a random day/night of lines and drunk men. i pictured myself waltzing into any bar i decided on and having numerous green beers passed my way by attractive men but... toronto didn't exactly have that in store for me this year. instead i got tired from drinking at 4 in the afternoon and after two stops at pubs (foggy dew & the madison) called it a night by 11. AND had to do a presentation the next day. hmm..... at least one good thing about being done school soon is that i won't have to worry about those presentations. but i enjoy the adrenaline kick from speaking in front of people. if only i had more to say, maybe someone would pay me to say something? nah. ok here are the pictures, enough of my rambling. time to hit the HAY!


green used to be my favorite color. what's yours?

Old Spice's Steamy Super Bowl Ad: WTF?

So, I guess I'm kinda late on posting this video, but this is Old Spice's Super Bowl advertisement. Ladies, what do we think?

A tampon ad that's actually kinda cool

Kotex recently launched a new ad campaign for tampons. It's actually kinda smart because it pokes fun at the way that tampons have been advertised for the last few decades. It parodies the ridiculousness of the "blue liquid" that's always used in maxi pad commercials, as well as images of women exercising in white spandex (you know, cos their tampons are so good they don't have to worry about leakage!)



Check out the commercial and see what you think!

Little [Photo]Shop of Horrors

Ok, so this is not current news by any means... but I just had to post this because it's really been bothering me.



A few months ago I discovered this Photoshop disaster from Ralph Lauren. This image, which I believe was only used in a store in Japan, exploded into the blog-o-sphere in October 2009. The image has been so horrifically distorted that the model's head is larger than her waist and pelvis. Her arms are freakishly thin and her hips are... well... there aren't any.



Shortly after this image gained so much attention on the net, Ralph Lauren was forced to apologize and admit that "we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body."



But wait! The drama doesn't end there. Next, the model who was so distorted in this ad - Filippa Hamilton - was fired from Ralph Lauren for apparently being too fat.



Check out the video.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Excuse my language, but that is some fucked up shit. I may have just lost my faith in humanity.

Tonight's Show: Feminist Curriculum at The Calgary Girls School!

Join us tonight for an interview with The Calgary Girls School (CGS) - a public school for girls in grades 4-9. What's really unique about the CGS is that it has some pretty progressive - even feminist(!) - curriculum.



In addition to teaching standard Alberta curriculum, the CGS has a program called "Go Grrrls" which helps young girls transition into successful, healthy women. The curriculum has several goals which are really cool - some of the most interesting ones include:

• Achieving a competent gender-role identification
• Establishing a healthy body image
• Developing a positive self-image
  
  
• Understanding sexuality

Join us tonight from 8:00 to 8:30 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm for this awesome interview! As always, if you miss our live show you can download our podcast.

Median Wealth for Single Black Women: $100, Single Hispanic Women: $120, Single White Women: $41,000 (in the US)

An interesting study was done recently by the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development - it turns out that in the US, the median wealth for single black women is $100, $120 for single Hispanic women, and $41,000 for single white women. Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! covered this story, which can be found by clicking the title above. I wonder how applicable this study is to Canadian women?

Tonight's Show: International Women's Day!

International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8th. It is a day to look back and realize how far women have come, but it's also a day to reflect on improvements that need to be made in the future.



The United Nation's theme for International Women's Day 2010 is "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities. Progress for All." We will be discussing this tonight on our radio program - please tune in from 8:00 to 8:30 pm.



We will also be interviewing some ladies from a fair trade organization called Minkha Sweaters. Minkha sells alpaca sweaters that are hand made by female artisans in Bolivia. 70% of Fair Trade artisans are women, so on our show we'll be discussing how purchasing fair trade products can help women in developing nations. When women have the opportunity to earn an income, they gain increased control over their family's spending priorities. Studies show that when women earn money, they most often use this income to improve the lives of their children. This results in better schooling, healthier food and improved health care for families, which helps to directly end the cycle of poverty.



HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY to everyone out there!

Who Had the REAL Weapons of Mass Destruction?

In the Iraqi city of Fallujah there has been a recent increase in the levels of birth defects. Some are blaming weapons used by the United States after the Iraq invasion. The city was heavily bombed in 2004, and ruble from bombed buildings was dumped into the river. Citizens use that river for drinking water, which some suspect may be the cause of the birth defects.

A doctor reports that she is seeing 2 or 3 cases a day of serious birth defects in children. Some are born with too many fingers and toes, some are brain damaged or paralyzed, many have cardiac defects, one was born with three heads, and other problems are so graphic and horrible that media outlets, such as the BBC, couldn't bear to show the images.

The birth defects are so common and horrific that officials are now advising women not to have children.

An independent investigation is required to determine if the cause of the birth defects is in fact from the American bombs. Although it has yet to be proven, many in the city of Fallujah blame the Americans. And if that's true, it begs the question: Who had the REAL weapons of mass destruction?

The BBC has a short video documentary about this, which I highly recommend. A warning though, the images are very graphic and the story is extremely sad.

Tonight's Show: Female Athletes and the Olympics

On tonight's show we'll take a look at some of the amazing accomplishments of our female athletes, and we'll also uncover some sexism and controversy surrounding certain women's sports.



Please note that the time slot for our show has changed! We now broadcast from 8:00 to 8:30 pm on Monday nights - a half hour earlier than we used to. If you miss our live show tonight, be sure to download our podcast!



Here are links to a few articles that we will be referencing on tonight's show:

• Sexist coverage of female Olympic athletes
• Canada women's hockey team apologizes after smokin' and drinkin' celebrations
• North American dominance of women's hockey means the sport may be cut from the Olympic games