The Laboratory of Feminist Bar was a great night and perfect way to end off Social Justice Media. What a great semester it’s been. It was lovely to see the diverse arrange of women who shared their work, activism, and inspiration with all of us. In an environment full of like minded individuals, what they said was very relevant and relatable. Glad Day was a great location to host the event, a well suited location to match the vibes.
All of the women who were speakers all had something different to offer and the wide array is what really made the night.
What stood out to me and really inspired me was actually the first piece, Ten Cents a Dance (Parrallax). Midi Onodera is such a talented woman and it was amazing seeing an asian woman as a filmmaker in Canada, even at a time in the past. On top of that, making a film that caused a stir, got recognition, and really analyzed the relationship dynamics between different sex couples. I just thought the way she did it was amazing and I’ve always been drawn to the use of actual film so hearing about how she did it on two 16mm film cameras simultaneously was amazing. Everything about it was really inspirational, especially when it came to the social issue that she mentioned, I had vaguely heard of the bathhouse raids but I wasn’t completely educated on the matter. Though I now have many tabs open on my browser, ready to read up.
It was also really great to see the audiences take on Aisha Afzal’s Think About It. She’s a really great activist and such a kind person. It was so great to get to help on the show and it was interesting seeing the older audiences take on a show that deals with very millennial topics. The same could be said about Grace Lao, when she talked about Things Feminist Activists Wrote (Or Did) When They were Younger, but instead she looked at different tweets that she retweeted and shared. I thought that was an interesting take.
I was also great seeing the students in our class remediate the Curfew for Men in their assignment, seeing how they stood and held their ground around the other feminist presenters. It was lovely to see that they could do that and hopefully will continue to do so.
Lastly, I wanted to talk Kativa Dogra who talked about her privilege based on her parents liberal views and her living situation. I really related to that being the child of Indian immigrants as well, knowingly growing up around people who had parents who were strict and held negative beliefs. Ones who knew sexism all to well, ones who grew up in religion, and ones who wouldn’t dare be themselves. That’s something I didn’t have to experience because my parents have always been liberal minded, even when they were raised in a country that didn’t strongly lean left. It was nice to hear that someone else felt that guilt of seeing their friends experience that and I see that privilege everyday.
All in all, it was amazing hearing from feminists from different backgrounds, their shared experiences, and differences a like :)!