Attention of Toronto feminists of UofT, regarding yesterday's protest:

• Instead of forming a physical wall preventing those interested in civil discussion from getting to a talk...
• Instead of calling us rape apologists, rape supporters, rapists, and perverts...
• Instead of violently assaulting people attending the talk, neutral journalists, and the cops trying to protect us...
• Instead of screaming at all of us that we perpetuate rape culture...
• Instead of yelling that a centre dedicated to the gendered issues that males face in school is a danger to all women in the university...
• Instead of claiming that we are all sexist, homophobic, racist, horrible and evil people...

...consider actually joining in the conversation.

Yesterday, November 16th, 2012, at the Medical Sciences Building of University of Toronto, Dr Warren Farrell held a talk focused on why boys are dropping out of school more, failing school more, applying for school less, committing suicide at higher rates, etc. This talk was not an anti-feminist speech in the least.

Once we finally got to start the talk (over an hour late, due to the blockade), Warren praised feminism and the womens rights movement in 5 separate occasions. He delivered a message of peace, compassion, love, and interest in our society's boys. By all accounts, he was undeserving of all of the hate he received outside. He is a caring, soft-spoken man, and he did his best to answer any question that were asked of him.

If any of you had the patience to actually listen to what he had to say, you'd have felt like fools. When I was denied entry by those of you linking arms, I was able to talk to many of you. With almost every single point I made about mens issues, we reached agreement - but you insisted that any discussion of male issues outside of what feminism allows is hate speech, and firmly believed that you should be able to stop us from taking part.

Just because there are more of you, and you are stronger and louder, does not mean what you are doing is right.

If you want feminism to remain as a movement for equality, you seriously might want to reconsider your anti-male stances. And before anyone here claims "Not all feminists are like that", I'm not saying that they are. But I am saying that these people identify themselves with a term that you hold dear. If you are letting them take feminism and twist it into a violently sexist movement of oppression and censorship, as we saw yesterday, then that's on you, not on us.

I know many of you who were there truly believe in equality. Take a second and actually consider what you are standing for when you protest a conversation simply because boys are the focus and not girls. It is both hilarious and sad that we have come to this.

Misandry: The other side of sexism

Misandry is the hate of men.  It's counterpart, misogyny, the hate of women, is much better known.  Some people call this "reverse sexism", but they do not understand the term.  This is not a reversal of sexism but sexism itself.  Today, many people think there is no such thing as a systematic oppression of males in our society, some people think such a thing could never happen, and some have never even thought of the idea.

Sadly, after exploring the reactions to similar topics, I have little faith in people and their ability to see either the main points or the bigger picture, and I feel as though I need to blatantly defend myself with this disclaimer to spare myself a lot of hateful comments:
I do not intend to belittle the issues women face every day due to our patriarchy, neither do I intend to deny any privileges that men may have in society.  I intend to draw attention to issues that men face, and suggest the possibility that women are privileged in their own way in the same society.  The two statements are not at all exclusive.  I do not consider myself feminist nor masculinist, but humanist: I aim for women's rights just as I aim for men's rights, with equality between all sexes and other categorizations of people, be they in gender, sexuality, race, etc.  Finally, I do not at all claim that we are at an equality where we are now, just that equality is the ideal goal.

I have collected 4 major recent cases that easily display the misandry in today's society, and each one will cover a topic of flirting/being sexualized, exhibitionism/voyeurism, rape, and genital mutilation.  With these few cases, I hope to bring to light some of the unfairness that men deal with.  Each case will be presented objectively, then presented again with reversed gender roles to further push objectivity, followed by my own analysis of the situation.  Please read about each case and look up more about it if you'd like to know more.

Zombies overtaking Toronto

There were zombies walking the streets of my city on saturday!  Real live zombies!  Okay, they weren't living zombies... Well, actually, they were!

The annual zombie walk is the best event, ever.  Hundreds of people, maybe over a thousand, get together dressed as the undead, and shamble down the streets, wreaking terror and havoc unto the city.  I wish I was able to take pictures, but my phone is still dead.

There were zombie brides, zombie grooms, zombie teddy bears, zombie dogs, Mario and Luigi zombies, princess zombies, construction worker zombies, zombie police, prisoner zombies, zombies eating limbs, dragon ball Z zombies, zombies with intestines falling out, hockey player zombies with hockey sticks through their hearts, and maybe my favourite: Jesus zombies complete with his cross.

IGDA meeting

Last night I went to my first IGDA meeting.  For those that don't know, it stands for the International Game Developers Association.  I've wanted to go to one of their meetings before, but I was too nervous. I thought there was nothing that anyone there would be interested in, but I was wrong.

There are tons of artists, tons of programmers, tons of students, and tons of hobbyists that all want to get their foot in the door.  It takes a bit of confidence to throw yourself out there, but it is worth it, all the way.  Last night, I went looking for artists to help with my current project, Quarantine: T.O. and I met everyone I was looking for.  I gave my name to dozens of people, and I collected dozens more.

Seeing the industry from the inside is really helpful.  No matter what your industry is, I'm sure the same rule applies.  Get out there!

~ John Adam

Occupy Toronto, Occupy Everywhere

Yesterday, I went to the protests in St James Park.  There I saw many people concerned of the way things are going.  The signs were so much fun.  The internet references made me laugh.  There was a medic tent, an open library set up, and a food bank giving food to all the hungry people staying overnight (a bank that supplies you with something of value?  Who knew such a thing could exist these days!)


The news reporters were there, and chatting with the people.  The police were there, constantly on patrol, but they seemed to be pretty calm.  The scariest thing I saw was this black unmarked van with tinted windows, and what appeared to be a boat rack on the roof.  I almost took it for just a normal vehicle, but when I looked at the rack closely, I saw that it had a huge dark camera built into the top.  It was pointed right at the middle of the protest.  It was just then that I realized I could see into the dark windows: two men, in black suits, black ties, and black shades, staring me down.  It honestly freaked me out quite a bit.  I bet they were getting payed hundreds of dollars an hour to be there.  Tax payer's money, of course.

What I do not pay for - a manifesto

As a student without a job, I have a hard time making ends meet, and when I have to pay for something, lots of stress works its way into my mind.   Focusing on all the things I do buy makes me freak out, so I've created this list of items that I can be proud of for being able to resist.  When temptation strikes, this list helps keep me on track.

Keep in mind that I am not against using all of these things.  There are quite a few items on the list that I'll happily accept or try to get for free.  Some examples: someone buys me a game as a present, the news is readily available on the internet, or I find a copy of a textbook I need online.

Samsung sph m540 evdo pcs - an epitaph

My cell phone, my poor little cell phone, has died.  Despite the fact that it's been dying since the day I got it, it's served me pretty well over the 2 years.

I'm going to start off by saying that it was not a smart phone.  Not in the least.  I guess since it had a capable keyboard, you could place it on the phone intelligence scale, but it would be set right at the bottom, next to rocks.

As far as I know, it was called the Samsung Rant.  Now please allow me to rant.