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By: Mitali Chaudhary
Recently, the market for the Young Adult literary genre has ballooned. Geared mostly towards the mid-teen to early adult demographic, their popularity is attested by the large number of movie adaptations, which become widely successful due to the huge fan base that the books amass.
Unfortunately, publishers know that any book labelled “YA” will sell well, regardless of the quality of the story. This has yielded a slew of cookie-cutter novels with the same paranormal/romantic/dystopian plots and one-dimensional characters facing the most overdone conflicts, all within the span of 350 pages.
The most disappointing aspect of these novels is the incredibly flat, teenage female lead. It’s as if authors flip a coin to pick which mould the character will be shaped from — either a dopey damsel who’s constantly in distress, or a hardened unsentimental woman who lives only to bring down the patriarchy.
I remember reading dialogue from Graceling by Kristen Cashore (which made it to Publisher Weekly’s “Best Books of the Year”) in which the main character, Katsa, states proudly that she hates dresses, and can’t imagine why others wear them. To provide further context, this came from an individual that spent the entire novel looking down on other women. These other ladies were always portrayed as dress wearing and meeker than Katsa; they worked menial jobs to make ends meet because they were meek and wore dresses and therefore were less than men.
Making that first statement in itself isn’t a crime (I can understand if dresses are just not for some people) but it does not immediately make one a feminist, as this novel would suggest. Another issue is how ‘tough’ some of these women are created — after a while, it becomes borderline creepy when the character doesn’t react to a given situation as you would expect a human to react. Moreover, authors don’t seem to realize that it doesn’t make a woman automatically stronger if she is ultra independent, sullen, sulky and refuses to show emotion or rely on anyone else for help even in the most extreme of situations.
In fact, crafting these overly “tough” female characters does nothing to help the feminist cause, as it just sends the message that you need to act less feminine and show less emotion to deserve the same respect as men. That makes absolutely no sense, and sends a very negative message about what the spirit of feminism is. Why can’t you wear a floral skirt and still care about pay equality?
Even worse is the portrayal of the weak, helpless girl. Another very popular novel, The Elite by Kiera Cass, starred one such teen, America Singer, who cried at the end of every other chapter. This is not an exaggeration. Most of her tears, of course, involved the state of her cringe-worthy love triangle (another annoying trend in YA literature). Both of the boys she’s “in love with” break her heart (and she theirs), but she never grows enough of a spine to break it off with either of them, choose which one treats her best, or refuse both of them (how about working to develop your own personality, America?). Such characters also consistently mope, run away from mental or physical work and require the constant support of a man, without whom they are useless — I’m looking at you, Bella Swan.
It’s unfortunate that these books are only a tiny sample of what fills up shelves across the country. The worst part about this trend is that these novels get insanely publicized, and are read by thousands of young girls that are forming their identities in a society that already popularises unhealthy depictions of women. Why make it more confusing for them by creating these unrealistic characters, which reduce complex individuals to black and white cardboard cut-outs? They are difficult to identify with because they’re not real.
Women can be strong and shed tears and wear pretty dresses and be scared and need validation and be feminists and get angry and be shy. One woman can be all of these things. It’s time authors start creating characters in YA that are realistic and multifaceted.
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Erica Greaves / Silhouette Intern
As a high school student, I see transgender discrimination everywhere I go. An exaggeration, perhaps?
Take this for example. at my school there are girls washrooms and boys washrooms. Does this sound normal? It is. But I encourage you to imagine being a transgender youth and having to choose which washroom you’ll enter. Those of us who prefer not to identify as either gender aren’t considered. Some students might not be comfortable expressing which gender they truly identify as by entering a certain washroom.
A legal form of any sort requires you to face the infamous gender boxes; you have the opportunity to check off either female or male, and there is no other option. Every time you create an account on the Internet, fill out a questionnaire or sign government papers, you are only given the options of female or male – it’s a stab to your self-esteem.
It’s not true that, because transgender individuals might identify as a certain gender, they can enter the corresponding washroom or check the corresponding box. Some transgender individuals may prefer to identify as simply transgender. With no option for an unspecified gender category, an unfair practice is still taking place in our community.
Speaking of self-esteem, it is incredible how often I hear transgender-related insults. If comments like “Ew, is he a cross dresser?” and “That’s totally a tranny” in the hallways make me uncomfortable, I cannot begin to imagine how it makes my transgender peers feel. Comments like this aren’t “just a joke;” since when did a kick to someone’s gender identity become an acceptable form of humour?
By allowing these slurs to pass, we allow discrimination, and sometimes hate, towards transgender/transsexual persons. We encourage fear and anxiety in transgender/transsexual people. We turn a blind eye to those suffering as a result of transphobia.
The Hamilton community must work in unison to stop the stigma.
We need to recognize inequality among the genders, realize the way in which it affects the transgender/transsexual community and reiterate that the deliberate and non-deliberate discrimination is not acceptable and only makes society weaker.
Karen Wang / Graphics Editor
The first things I noticed about Peggy-Anne when I met her on orientation night were her twinkling eyes and her radiant smile. Jet-black hair, pearly white skin and rosy cheeks, she appeared to be in her fifties, but she spoke with the energy and exuberance of a five-year-old. Her smile lines gave the effect of effervescence instead of old age, her shrunken physique a sense of childish vivacity rather than fragility. As she introduced herself, her voice bounced off the walls and her legs – too short to reach the carpet – kicked in the air emphatically.
Peggy-Anne is one of eighteen participants of McMaster University’s Voicing Hamilton Discovery Program this year. In step with Patrick Deane’s Forward With Integrity initiative to strengthen intercommunity relationships, the program offers a twelve-week course on the history of Hamilton to local Hamiltonians encountering barriers to education.
“I just want to learn,” Peggy-Anne said simply as to why she signed up for the program. The genuine desire to learn defined the energy at our weekly Saturday classes and is what I find awe-inspiring as a Support Team member of the program. This array of adult students – despite differences in age, background and enduring difficulties in life, whether monetary, linguistic, cultural or medical – all share the simple excitement to engage in a purely educational environment.
At the graduation ceremony four months after we first met, Peggy-Anne recounted her struggle in entering an academic setting as a big, scary step; one that she is ever so glad she took. Having led a difficult life, it wasn’t until a decade ago that she recognized herself as a victim of family violence and childhood sexual abuse. The program gave her a newfound confidence and a sense that she is allowed to have a voice, to take up space.
The program isn’t just about the spirit of learning, or the history of Hamilton for that matter. It is an opportunity to reach out and make connections; it is about searching for a sense of self and identity. In short, it is about finding your place in society.
Every Saturday morning Peggy-Anne comes to class bearing Tim Horton’s coffee and breakfast for herself and Lina, another student that she has grown close to. Through discussions on local activism and controversial topics, despite occasional opposing opinions, the class members have shown tolerance, respect and intelligence. By sharing stories, ideas and inside jokes, the class of the Discovery Program has become family.
As university students, we have become sheltered in our university life. Often at 2 a.m. when an essay due the next day is still waiting to be started, I wonder ironically why we often feel trapped in this system of deadlines and morning lectures and where our sense of adventure and excitement is that the students of the Discovery Program effortless find in learning.
“Why we are all here?” I often find myself wondering about the mass of students in lectures and tutorials waiting for the proverbial bell to ring, the students who join clubs to fill resumes (we all do it). I am talking about myself, my roommates and the many people I see around campus.
I suppose we are here for an education. For a degree. For a future career. Most of us look at school like an assignment, an obligation to check off the grand To-Do list of life. I realize that in the path of finding a future, we’ve lost something important in the present.
We are becoming robots in an educational system. Yes, we are students. But before that, we are members of larger communities – the McMaster community, the Hamilton community, the global community. We need to remember that.
I am grateful to the 18 creative, intelligent, resilient people who have reminded me of this by sharing their stories and their presence.
By Jaslyn English
On September 27, 2012 the provincial government cut the Ontario Ranger Program, a summer employment program for 17-year-olds to work outside in the provincial parks around Ontario.
The Ontario Ranger program has been going on for just under 70 years, and has approximately 15 camps across Ontario, employing over 300 teens as well as 45 supervisors every summer.
“My summer as an Ontario Ranger was one of my best. The experiences that I was lucky enough to have will stay with me for the rest of my life. It is unbelievable that such an incredible program was cut,” said Hilary Walton, a second year McMaster student who participated in the program in 2010.
This loss of youth programs is especially significant since unemployment rates for between 15-24 year old Canadians are currently soaring at double the national average.
Though the national average for unemployment, at 7.4 per cent, is currently lower than other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes the Unites States, France, and Great Britain, our youth unemployment rate is one of the highest and was hit the hardest during the recent recession.
“The global economic crisis has hit youth very hard,” OECD employment division head Stefano Scarpetta told the CBC. “Governments should intervene quickly to provide adequate support to them.”
The lack of support from the government is evident when the testimonies of people who have participated in this program are taken into consideration, and what these same Canadians are now doing to try and stop the cutbacks from coming into effect.
“To fellow rangers, no explanation necessary. To those who aren’t, no explanation possible,” wrote previous participant on the online petition to stop the end of the program, summarizing the incredible opportunity that programs such as the Ontario Ranger Program provides for our youth.
The closure of these camps coincides with the federal government’s closing of the volunteer program, Katimavik, which creates volunteer opportunities for young Canadians all across the nation. Over 30,000 Canadian youth have volunteered with this organization, since it began during Pierre Trudeau’s government in the ‘70s.
These programs highlight the ability of youth to give back to the community and show them how to do so in a way unique to the programs themselves. In no other program can a group of 17-year-old girls canoe through northern Ontario and cut a government approved canoe trail through the wilderness. And, likewise, with Katimavik, where the volunteer opportunities are found only in this program, are young Canadians able to give back in a well-organized way that benefits society.
“Katimavik is an experience that can never be bound by a straight definition - it is a program where youth are given the tools to better themselves; to grow, learn, make friends and connect to new communities … while learning about and gaining a new perspective on the Canadian cultural and geo-physical landscape,” claims the blog Spokes & Spice, one of the many online forms of petitioning the cutbacks.
The elimination of these two programs is just the tip of the iceberg in youth funding cuts. Across the country, both the provincial and federal governments are tightening the portion of the budget spent on programs dedicated to youth employment and community outreach.
“In defunding Katimavik, the Conservative government is ignoring its own evidence of the organization’s benefits to youth and Canadian communities. For every dollar the organization spends, about $2.20 is generated for the host community. The program is a fiscally prudent way of getting young people to become active, engaged citizens, but these irresponsible Conservative budget cuts will kill it,” Liberal MP Justin Trudeau said in a press release about Katimavik cuts.
The only program that hasn’t seen any cut backs, is the cadet program under the Department of Defense, which costs twice as much per month as the Katimavik project did.
“We know that this government doesn’t care about empowering or investing in our youth,” Trudeau argued in parliament, while defending the program earlier on this year.
Through this lack of attention paid by the government, the past year has seen the loss of one third of the jobs for students that came from the main federal program, FSWEP, which fits post-secondary students with temporary employment.
Not only this, but because of the takeoff of tuition rates, less Canadian youth are in school than any other of the top five educated “first world” countries, including France, the United States, Germany and Italy, and is tied with the last, Great Britain.
The average student debt is $30,000 dollars, which converts to a sizeable down payment on a house or almost two extra years studying at an undergraduate level.
What this means, for all McMaster students, and those youth pursuing both educational and employment opportunities across Canada, is that, essentially, we have been forgotten.
With budget cuts across two tiers of our three-tier system, and a continuous loss of both jobs and educational opportunities for youth, it is incontrovertible that the needs of young Canadians are simply not being met on either the provincial or federal level.
With what even the federal government’s budget admits as being an “uncertain job market” for those looking for first time employment, it is hardly an overstatement to say that youth today need a helping hand integrating into the Canadian work force. The lack of programs, like Katimavik and the Ontario Ranger Program, that give Canadians both insight into their selves and their work ethic can only hinder the integration and motivation of young Canadians into a society that continuously neglects them.
In a time where it seems as though our government is in a competition with itself to cut corners in budgets at every turn no matter what cost to its citizens, it would seem appropriate if not necessary for it to throw a bone to its youth who has so often been refused on the steps of parliament hill.
