Our final lecture took place somewhere surprisingly different. While walking to the location I wasn’t sure what to expect, as this was one of my first feminist bar I’ve attended. Once entering the Laboratory of the feminist bar at the Glad day book shop I was so captured by the posters and the “Glad Day Bookshop” neon sigh. The event showed the class different feminist pieces, achievements as well as a variety of art pieces. This not only showcased the topic of discussion but also introduced the idea of how there are many identities in the feminist world.
Discussing the topic of power in feminism was hard for me at first. I didn’t understand too much about the topic at hand and never had no prior knowledge on what the meaning of a feminist really was. However, beginning to understand the topic from different perspectives allowed me to open the door in meeting many women who had a powerful passion for it. Hearing the emotions and travails in their stories showed how proud they were to be called a feminist. I was more intrigued in how some of the speakers were able to incorporate the historical negative judgment feminist received, while sharing the positives.
Out of the speakers Meg Mackay really stood out for me. Even though she had discussed the serious issues about feminist, she still made her topic of discussing interested by keeping such high energy and enthusiasm with the crowd. The topic of love had a connection with me and I was surprised that a women spoke words that I was feeling. Throughout my years I’ve had my struggles in love and friendships and to hear Meg talk about her struggles allowed me to create a connection. Growing up as child it was hard for me to open up about my emotions. I never felt comfortable with the idea of telling someone how I felt or even getting advice on how to handle different situations, as I felt I would have been judged. However, after hearing Meg freely open up about her life struggles I felt such a strong emotional bon
Even thought the topic was serious, the speakers tied in the use of comedy. This really stood out for me as my group had added the idea of comedy in our presentation. When organizing our group project, we wanted to appeal to everyone. Comedy has the ability to engage everyone in some type of way. Knowing this we made sure to include our major content, as well as making it more engaging to the students around us. Overall, the presentation went well as the entire class was able to engage and relate to the topic in some kind of way.
I just want to take the time to say how much I appreciated this class. Growing up in a family that works with the Toronto School Board, I’ve always been taught about different issues in social justice and social equality. This class has allowed me to get a better understanding of different issues I didn’t even know our world was facing. Not only was I able to speak on my own knowledge but also, I was able to hear other students perspectives on what they knew about social justice.