It's International Women's Day, and the theme for this year is #EachforEqual. THE IWD website has this to say about this year's theme: "An equal world is an enabled world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden … Continue reading International Women’s Day #EachforEqual
This came up in a recent post by Kacha of Food.for.thought – a therapist had pointed out the privilege that came with her being white and educated, as if that somehow made her less entitled to have a mental illness. So what does it mean to have privilege? And can you have privilege but still … Continue reading Social Privilege and the Underprivileged
It's disturbing but also fascinating to watch the political goings-on south of the border from up here in Canada. This is democracy at work, but is this what democracy is supposed to be? From what I understand, the American constitution has a process (i.e. impeachment) whereby the House of Representatives can essentially put forward an … Continue reading Democracy In Action
We're all familiar, at least to some extent, with the sex trade. If nothing else, you may have seen the movie Pretty Woman. The level of desperation in the survival sex trade, though, is galaxies removed from what's portrayed in Pretty Woman. I used to work at a community mental health team in Vancouver's downtown … Continue reading The Survival Sex Trade
I got thinking about this is a little while back when Michelle of Michelle Writer Blog did a post about National Period Day, which falls on October 19. It's expensive to be a woman! Menstrual products First you've got the cost of menstrual products. In some areas, including 36 American states as of 2018 as … Continue reading The Cost of Being a Woman
I love a good toilet joke, but this actually isn't one. World Toilet Day is an initiative of UN-Water, the United Nations agency that deals with sanitation. This year's theme is leaving no one behind, which speaks to the 4.2 billion people worldwide who don't have access to safe sanitation. The numbers are astonishing. Open defecation … Continue reading It’s World Toilet Day – and Yes, That’s a Thing
In 2017, during Jeff Session's confirmation hearing to be attorney general, Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns about Sessions' civil rights record. After quoting a statement made by former Senator Ted Kennedy in 1986, that Sessions was a disgrace to the Justice Department, Senator Warren proceeded to read a letter from Coretta Scott King that was written … Continue reading Nevertheless, she persisted
Not long ago, a photo was forwarded to Time.com from a 2001 yearbook of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who was a teacher at the time, dressed in an Aladdin costume that included brownface makeup. It caused quite a stir, with some people criticizing him as being racist. Since it's Halloween, it seems like a … Continue reading Halloween, Blackface, and Cultural Appropriation
With all the craziness going on in the world, elections have been on a lot of people's minds lately. The other day I started watching Chelsea Handler's new documentary special on Netflix called Hello, Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea. The focus was on white privilege, but one of the things it touched on is the issue … Continue reading Voter ID Laws as a Form of Voter Suppression
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is sometimes referred to euphemistically as female circumcision, but it is very different from male circumcision in both form and function. FGM involves cutting or removing parts of the external female genitalia, including some or all of the clitoral glans and clitoral hood, inner labia, and outer labia. The diagram below … Continue reading The Tragedy of Female Genital Mutilation
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1948. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the articles contained in it from the perspective of someone with mental illness, and throw in some assorted other observations as well. Text in italic font is the actual … Continue reading Human Rights and Mental Illness
The concept of intersectionality was first proposed in 1989 by black feminist researcher Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to represent the many different layers of social stratification that can combine to disadvantage people. This includes factors like race, sexual orientation, social class, age, disability, and gender. Expanding on this concept, sociologist Patricia Hill Collins described the intersectional points … Continue reading Intersectionality and what it means for mental health
Employers aren't supposed to discriminate against people with mental illness. In fact, it's often against the law. Yet employment discrimination happens, so what do we do about it when it does? Canadian human rights legislation In Canada, provincial human rights legislation requires equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. People … Continue reading Mental Illness and Employment Discrimination
If you were around in the 80's, you are probably very familiar with the message to "just say no" to drugs. In 1991, Saved By The Bell got on board with an episode that told viewers "there's no hope with dope." There was also the classic egg in a frying pan PSA: The beginnings of … Continue reading The Failure of the War on Drugs
NIMBYism is a fascinating phenomenon. NIMBYs, or people think that something is okay just as long as it's Not In My BackYard, cover discrimination with a thin veneer of civility and acceptability. Among the many manifestations of this is with regards to social housing, including supported housing for people with mental illness. NIMBYs' arguments may … Continue reading NIMBYism and Mental Health Housing