“Wow!”
I have to start this blog with an interjection to express my genuine feelings on the event, before I came to the event, I imagined it to be a scholarly panel talk, speakers read out their research paper and express their ideology behind the scenes. I never imagine it to be such a vibrant and lit series.
As I walked into the crowded bookstore, I was immediately attracted by those bookshelves. It got me thinking when is the last time I picked up a paperbacked book, and I can’t remember. (Irrelevant to the topic, just want to express that little thought)
As the event started, with all the films, research projects and experiences being presented and shared with us, I began to develop some serious thoughts on the topic. The host lovely Meg Mackay opened the event with some of her personal stories, including coming out and her love life.
The most impressive presentation for me personally was when Anna Willats sharing her experiences of having a kid as a lesbian couple during the 1980s in Canada. Underlying the historical issues for LGBTQ community back in the 80s, and comparing and relating situations today, I found it very touching in a nonverbal way. While Anna said her grandson will have 60 grandmothers, it really got me laughed and thinking, does gender really matter? Unfortunately, I came up with an answer ‘yes, it does.” All the speakers today shared their previous work on feminism, and some of them really had some hard times in making their films and other types of artworks.
Comparing to other feminism topics we discussed in class, today’s event was more about LGBTQ issues, and problems they had faced in their old times. Stonewall Riots and Proposition 8 were two typical time frames which gathered LGBTQ activists and stand up for their rights.
Recognizing all of these speakers’ work contributed and had played a big part of the feminist movement, I really believed that human can make changes, it is a theory I did not have the interest before. But, seeing their exhibitions tonight, especially Thirza Cuthand’s 3 minutes short-film ‘Lessons in Baby Dyke Theory’. The idea of a 15-year girl of finding lesbians of her age back in 1995, inspired me. The ideaology behind her work is so simple and genuine, which gave me the feeling that this does not have to be so profound and academic. Simple things like that could really inspire people.
Another project I would like to mention is the ‘Think About It Show’ which produced by RTA students from our university. They utilized the satire to express their thoughts, through a fake news style, they managed to take lead into popular discussions among the modern society which really got me ‘think about it’. It made me realized that we are too familiar with the way certain things are nowadays which we forgot to think.
I’ve written a blog on how we entered a post-truth era where everyone stopped caring, “living in a post-truth era, we developed a special pattern to deal with various events and situations. This pattern is: react instantly, then, forget immediately.” Now I feel like we have the power to change things up.