When I entered this crowded historical bookstore for the first time, I felt a sense of closeness. I can’t quite say what I expected to feel, but I can say that I was sort of surprised by my initial emotion. I looked around and was surrounded by people who all seemed to not only know each other, but care about each other. People I had never met had approached me to start conversations, and I found myself feeling a sort of solitude.
I think that there is a power in feminism that is hard to match. Understanding feminist thought and diving into feminist memory opens the door to meeting many other women who have powerful emotions that they want to share. It is not a community of judgement and limits. It is a community where everyone is welcome. For this reason, hearing the many speakers address a history of oppression, sadness, and judgement, while still remaining positive and comical, is amazing. There is no stopping women in this fight.
Something that really stood out for me in the night was the use of comedy. In my group project, we chose to take a satirical approach to our assignment because we felt that comedy has the ability to reach all people as a sort of distraction to the punchline. Similarly, when Curfew For Men came up, I found myself laughing at the sort of ridiculousness of it all. How can a room of people come together and laugh at how silly some of these judgmental and inaccurate statements sound? It can only mean that we have come so far.
Meg Mackay stood out for me because she was able to portray the seriousness of the night while still remaining upbeat and fun. I think she perfected the idea of not taking herself too seriously for the audience’s enjoyment. When she began to talk about herself and her love life, I felt connected to her in ways that I was surprised to feel. As a straight white woman, I have a privilege that I try to understand and recognize on a regular basis. However it is difficult to understand other people’s struggle’s if you have never experienced them. For this reason, I found myself surprised to feel the emotion in the room so strongly. It was a moving experience.
I also felt that the location of the event was perfect. As a child, I escaped my darkest days with reading. I worked at a bookstore for 5 years and saw how books had the ability to transform a person and allow them to relate so strongly to what was sometimes a fictional story. That’s the best part about reading- you can see yourself in another person and begin to feel a little less alone. I loved how there were books for all ages because it allows for both children and young adults to seek refuge in a novel that could potentially save their lives. When I was growing up, I read my favourite books “Magic Tree House” over and over again because I felt like I was escaping to a different world with the characters.
Finally, I would like to point out that as a whole, this class has allowed me to understand social justice in a way that I had not had the opportunity to understand before. I am grateful to have had a place that not everybody has the opportunity to experience. This was a great way to end my experience at Ryerson University, as it was my very last elective to take towards graduating this Spring. I am grateful.