To the Max at the Gladstone Hotel
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By: Margaret LaPierre
On opening night at Ryerson’s school of Image Art’s year-end show Maximum Exposure, the gallery space at the Gladstone Hotel shimmered with a certain kind of exuberance. Small groups of students flitted from room to room. Avid art admirers pored over the pieces. Pictures were taken. Sunlight spilled in through the open windows. A string trio played appropriately stirring music while a bartender sloshed out glasses of wine at a makeshift bar.
Maximum Exposure’s opening night turned out the way a good photograph should: it was the product of perfect timing and a strong sense of focus.
The exhibition took place over the course of four days, April 16 to April 19, at two different venues, the Gladstone Hotel and the Lennox Contemporary Gallery. The space at the Gladstone featured the thesis work of the fourth-year graduating class while Lennox Contemporary played host to the works of first, second, and third-year students. Although the students weren’t prescribed a particular theme with which to guide their work, there was nonetheless a synergy to the exhibition that made its impact that much stronger.
Themes of self-awareness, voyeurism, absence, and the feminine ideal surfaced throughout the show. The recurrence of themes was engaging rather than monotonous due to the range of style and artistic methods that were used.
Several students chose to photograph houses.
One series showed houses lit up and on display; another series featured houses with blank windows trapped behind fences. Both would have the viewer peering in on a space totally void of people, essentially focusing on the absence.
Another student produced chromogenic photographs of luridly coloured thongs.
It seems to me that a question was being posed. Thongs, houses—what have these common subjects of voyeurism have to offer when there’s no one in them to spy on?
A standout piece of the exhibition was a short film by Elena Potter. The film was downright haunting, showing the shifting space of the interior of an old house occupied by a woman whose presence was spelled out as an absence. The images were blurred, transposed and always changing, kind of like an old memory.
It’s funny to think that this show was entirely made up of the work of Ryerson’s own students.
I’ve seen a number of exhibits at the Gladstone by established artists and the work at this year’s Maximum Exposure easily rivaled many past shows in this venue. The exhibition was thoughtful and fresh, with an eye for detail that showed that Ryerson’s Image Arts students aren’t just playing around.
Ryan Van Der Hout, who has been exhibiting his work for the past four years in both Toronto and New York City, said, “It’s been great getting to see everyone’s work in a professional context like this.”
It’s true, too—these artists have proven themselves to be nothing less than professionals. Van Der Hout—as well as about fifty other fourth-year Image Arts students—have worked intimately together over the past year to produce the work shown at Maximum Exposure. It will be interesting to see if they maintain the intensity and professionalism on their own in the art world.
Who knows, maybe some of them will even garner a little fame. We all know Ryerson could use the exposure.
From body slamming in Afghanistan, to metal heads in Cairo
The Sheikh’s Batmobile: In Pursuit of American Pop Culture in the Muslim World examines how American pop culture impacts culture in the Middle East
By Farrahnaz Merali
Under the thick of the Mediterranean sun, Richard Poplak is wandering in a desultory fashion through the streets of Tripoli. Though his route is unplanned, his motive is calculated. He is trying to experience the city infused with a particularly kitschy Lionel Richie song, all the while dodging the perils of Tripolian traffic. “Hello” is fastened on repeat. And he will listen to it 16 times before he hangs up his iPod, and curiosity, to rest.
For two years Poplak wandered through the streets of 17 other countries in the Middle East in search of something we all routinely digest: American pop culture. The fruit of which is his latest book The Sheikh’s Batmobile. In that previous scene in Libya, Poplak investigates the country’s supposed fascination with Richie, and attempts to confirm a rumour that involves Libyan children re-enacting the video-clip of the smash hit “Hello” for Richie during his 2006 visit to the country. The video, of course, centres around Richie’s beautiful love interest, who is blind, but somehow manages to mould a perfect sculpture of Richie’s face.
And so Poplak continues on his quest to observe and comment on presence of North American pop culture in the region. Each chapter is broken down into locales and mini-themes where he concocts an engaging mix of commentary, scene setting, and interviews—and even the odd history lesson. Whether it’s pop songs or professional wrestling, Poplak introduces an assortment of intriguing characters that consume—and sometimes reinterpret—aspects of American pop culture. He passes his time with metalheads in Cairo, Palestinian Hip Hop artists in Israel, and manages to squeeze in a bowling match in an obscure village somewhere in Kazakhstan.
The title of the novel is drawn from Poplak’s peculiar experience at a car factory situated in a desert well-outside the heart of Dubai. Run by an Oklahoman with a southern-twang and a penchant for imported A&W root beer (incidentally you cannot find root beer in Dubai) the factory assembles wildly expensive custom-designed cars such as chrome-laced vintage Cadillacs, Corvettes—and yes, batmobiles—for Sheikhs and Emirs of the region.
Naturally, the idea of examining American pop culture in the Middle East is a little strange, given the western world’s conception of the two cultures as antithetical. But it is precisely this claim that actually inspired Poplak to pursue the mission three years ago:
“It’s 2006 and really, the flashpoint, the point when our culture is supposedly at war with the Muslim world. There is a clash of civilizations. But my question was, ‘is there really?’” he said .
And so he seeks to re-examine Samuel Huntington’s famous thesis by highlighting the curious side effects of cultural exchange. For some of the subjects he interviews, American pop culture is something that is very real to them.
“What a lot of these kids feel, the kids that I met, is an immense connection to hip hop, or the Golden Girls, or Magnum [P.I.] or whatever you want to call it. And that immense connection, I believe, comes from the fact that they can express their individuality in the paradigm of the pop cultural construct,” he said. Poplak added that the connection goes beyond politics or academics.
Poplak, who grew up in South Africa, personally relates to this fascination and imbuing of North American pop culture. At points in the novel, he offers personal anecdotes from his own childhood in which he was profoundly influenced by the culture.
The book offers veritable proof of the heavy consumption and influence of American pop culture throughout the region. Along the way, he encounters individuals who believe the culture is the root of all evil, and others who believe it defines who they are. It’s worth noting that Poplak conducted over 200 interviews for the novel—an impressive feat for a guy who says his Arabic is “not very good.”
While Poplak sincerely did his homework in putting together The Sheikh’s Batmobile, his writing style is what makes the book so readable. Poplak offers plenty of history for those unfamiliar with the politics of the region. But he pulls it off in such a way that the reader never feels like they’re being deluged with stark facts out of a history textbook. His wit is oddly contagious, injecting just the right amount of personality into the narrative. He has that enviable ability of describing things in a corporeal manner; instead of saying that the gets body slammed by an 11-year-old WWE fan in Afghanistan, he tells you what it feels like when your face hits the ground that’s covered in razor-sharp pebbles.
But what resonates the most are the questions that Poplak forces us to ask about culture and our own preconceptions of a society that we are consistently told is antithetical to ours. Which effectively makes the Batmobile ride as continuously stimulating as it is entertaining.
RECORD REVIEWS
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By: Stephen Carlick
DOOM – Born Like This
Rating: C+
Born Like This couldn’t possibly have been as good as it was supposed to be. After waiting for more than four years since Mf Doom (now under the moniker DOOM) last released a full-length piece of new material (2005’s Mouse & the Mask with Danger Mouse being the last), fans had become restless until sometime in late September when a promotional PDF appeared on the website of Lex records announcing an Oct. 28 album release date for what they called DOOM’s “definitive album, encapsulating but surpassing all of his previous work.” The finished product was finally released on March 24, and it hardly delivers on the promise of his promotional poster. If anything, Born Like This sounds like it should’ve come out prior to his other work. The production sounds overwhelmingly tinny and sparse, rather than intentionally minimalist. DOOM’s tracks sound generally half-baked and unfinished and many of them sound grating, as evidenced by overly noisy tracks such as “Batty Boyz” and “Cellz,” the latter of which dams the album’s flow by spending its first two minutes sampling a dry, crackling reading of a Bukowski poem. The unfinished nature of the tracks is compounded by the fact that only four of the seventeen surpass the three minute mark, making the album come off more like a pastiche of short song ideas that happened to be lying around, rather than a cohesive whole album. Indeed, Born Like This is made up largely of scraps, so to speak: “Gazillion Ear” uses samples that De La Soul used in later years, “Angelz” has been kicking around as a beacon that Ghostface and DOOM might record an LP together for nearly two years, and “Lightworks” is built on the most overused J. Dilla track of his discography (although don’t get me wrong, Dilla’s beat is mesmerizing – just overused), reflecting the notion that DOOM doesn’t seem to be trying anymore. Even DOOM’s voice is beginning to sound scratchy, diminutive and tired, which after a four-year hiatus is surprising; shouldn’t he be back and raring to go? Unfortunately, he isn’t, and Born Like This makes it obvious. The album is consistent, sure, but none of the tracks stand out. Nobody wants consistent mediocrity, especially from an artist who blew our minds on four separate albums between 2003 and 2005.
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Rating: C
The Decemberists typically surprise me. I really enjoyed 2005’s Picaresque, but a year later, when The Crane Wife was announced for release, I thought I was over them; I didn’t care. A couple of weeks after being released, I purchased it, their most ambitious and interesting album to date, and decided that when they next released an album, I would give the Decemberists the benefit of the doubt. This time around, they finally disappointed. Part of the reason is because Colin Meloy’s voice hasn’t changed an ounce since the band started; it’s also because the album is repetitive, and since the album is supposed to play like a rock opera, actually features multiple reprises that don’t quite work on a text that doesn’t entertain visually at the same time. However, the main reason that Hazards of Love falls flat is because it’s the most boring and the least evolved the Decemberists have ever sounded. This album was supposed to be the Decemberists’ most outrageous effort to date, calling itself a rock opera and promising previously-unheard-of bombast from the band. Instead, the album is a largely mid-tempo affair, suffering not only from repetition, but from any sort of musical complexity that made The Crane Wife so likeable. None of Hazards is as pretty, as loud, as epic, or generally as interesting as on their previous album, and having been promised something different, I was disappointed. Interestingly, the decision to give the album a cohesive theme actually hurt the album’s musical flow, as the songs are all split up by the multiple reprises and melodic repetitions, creating a sense that for every musical step forward the album takes, it takes two steps back. Even Meloy’s melodies seem to suffer here, but that may also be attributable to the repetitive nature of Hazards, if not to the generally simplicity of the music itself. Gone are the mildly interesting time signatures and instrumentation of older albums; the drumming is yawn-worthy and the guitars are only safely distorted. Hazards of Love is the sound of a band playing it too comfortably and sacrificing the interest and individual beauty of each of the songs for the album as a whole, forcing me to wait another couple of years before I keep my word and give the Decemberists the benefit of the doubt one last time.
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Rating: A
There’s nothing better than finding a gem in a genre you aren’t well affiliated with. When I heard Mastodon was releasing a new album I was in a musical drought and figuring I had nothing to lose, found my way to their MySpace and their first single from Crack the Skye, “Divinations.” It was heavy, of course, but there was a complexity and depth to the music that many people fail to recognize in any form of metal. Troy Sanders and Brett Hinds have deep baritone voices. Their mix of emphatic growling and screaming and atmospheric wailing gives their lyrics added emotional intensity, although it is the music being played that makes Crack the Skye so amazing. Finding a perfect balance between distortion and clean guitar, between prog and heavy metal, between singing and screaming, and most importantly, between melody and screaming/distorted emphasis, Crack the Skye is a complete album from beginning to end. There is no real album highlight; all of the songs are equally important and enjoyable. Six of seven of the songs here surpass five minutes, but none of them feel forced or pretentious, even 13-minute album closer “The Last Baron” and 10-minute centerpiece “The Czar,” both of which contain many of the albums musical highlights (when the guitarist plucks his flanged and delayed strings out of the atmosphere in quickened rhythm at 7:10 of the latter, your face may actually melt). While each of the instruments employed are played with passion and dynamism (see the pummelling bass on the title track and the banjo that begins “Divinations”), it is truly the guitar work that makes Crack the Skye. The solos never become cheesy or overwrought, but showcase the work of musicians in a genre where proficiency and creativity go hand in hand; rock musicians today simply don’t (and largely, can’t) play like this anymore. It’s refreshing as a music listener unfamiliar with metal to hear something so relatively new, complex, and emotional. Any album that can turn you onto an entire genre is surely deserving of acclaim, even if aficionados of the genre may not approve. Consider this album whether or not you like metal; it’s one of the best albums of the year so far.
Few risks taken at this year’s Mass Ex
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
But the risks taken made the show
By: Maiya Keidan
I remember, at 16, staring wide-eyed at the vibrant colours and fabrics splayed on models who strode down the runway.
It was my first trip to the Ryerson fashion show; a field trip with a grade 11 fashion class. I was impressed by the creativity of Ryerson students and have returned for two more shows since.
It’s not just the fourth-year fashion design students who put in a lot of time and hard work. The show took months of planning on behalf of many Ryerson students from across campus, including fashion communication, theatre, and even image arts and radio and television students. My roommate is a fashion communication student responsible for the public relations side of the show and I can testify that she’s given the show countless hours of her life.
So, when the lights dimmed at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, I was poised, unsure of what to expect given the current economic crisis. Fear won out in several cases. Many designers played it safe with designs you’d swear you’d seen in store windows already. However, that doesn’t mean they weren’t good or unwearable.
Some were brave, catering to their own imaginations.
Martha Sharpe presented a more edgy collection, using linear patterns in her garments. Conkrete Jungle, by Kirsten Landry, featured an array of unique jumpsuits. With the lights down, the neon-coloured graffiti-style patterns looked even more startling.
I also loved Meghan Roche’s designs, for her experimentation with lines and pastels in above-the-knee dresses, though I must admit I’m partial to pastels.
One thing many Ryerson designers succeeded at this year was mastering the dress. Laura George created a beautiful bridal collection, combining shiny gold fabric with classic white in elegant patterns.
Wedding gowns can’t be mentioned without discussing the dress, unveiled at the end of the show, from Revelation by Sheila Lam. The train was roughly three metres wide, spreading almost entirely across the runway’s breadth. Though the model shuffled rather than walked in the restrictive dress, she looked like a Greek statue. The whole collection, with other fantastically creative costumes forming the remainder of the set, was the perfect and most beautiful way to end the show.
At the end of Revelation, the swinging light bulb background that began the show was once again displayed on the screen and the model in the long, flowing dress swung her upper body back and forth, in timing with the bulb, until it exploded and the stage returned to darkness. After the thundering applause, the lights flickered on and everyone in the audience sat in their seats for a few seconds before finally peeling themselves from their chairs and rising.
Dog Sees God more than just teen angst
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By: Amanda Cupido
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead captured teen drama, dilemmas and sexual confusion in a way that was humorous, yet hard-hitting.
The play opened with a monologue from the protagonist, CB, who was meant to represent Charlie Brown from the Peanuts gang. Characters and references were tied to the cartoon throughout. CB was played by Jake Epstein from Degrassi: The Next Generation, who stole the show with his leading role. The audience followed CB who started contemplating life and afterlife when his dog had to be put to sleep. It takes the audience through his school-life where issues like homosexuality, suicide and bullying are prominent.
Although sounding like a typical story about teen angst, the play took high-school drama to a new level. The climax came when CB shares a passionate kiss with the school geek, Beethoven, at a party. Onlookers become frustrated, angry and shocked at the display of homosexuality. The deep plot was laced with powerful lines that forced the audience to think about their role in the world.
The technical direction was phenomenal with every sound cue synched with the actors on stage. Lighting effects were also well done, allowing for smooth transitions and serious scenes to be accompanied by a dimly lit atmosphere.
The set was simple, but used well. The cast worked around a piece with two doors and a panel that turned into a table. With the use of block stools and some caging, the space was able to transform into six different settings.
Although the venue, Six Degrees, is typically a club and party room, it provided the audience with a different atmosphere. With couches in the front two rows and chairs lined up behind, it was a lounge meets black-box theatre feel.
Since half the cast work together on Degrassi: The Next Generation, it was evident that there was on-stage chemistry. With a tight cast and a solid script, the play had a strong impact. Even to those who didn’t pick up on all the Peanuts references weren’t confused.
The play hits home and leaves the audience in awe.
ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
More heart than you’d expect from a band with song titles like and “Show us your tits”
By: Rich Williamson
“How many bands stay together for 30 years?” asks former Guns’n’Roses shredder Slash.
He and a panel of rock mavericks including Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Motorhead’s Lemmy pose this question early in Sasha Gervasi’s metal doc-with-a-heart, Anvil: The Story of Anvil playing at the AMC at Yonge and Dundas.
“You’ve got U2, The Stones, and Anvil.” But wait. Who is Anvil?
“Anvil,” we learn, were one of the hardest rocking metal acts of the early 80s. Touring the world with rock-juggernaughts like Bon Jovi and The Scorpions, Anvil was just as likely to succeed as the rest.
Fusing electric guitars with buzzing vibrators, they were considered revolutionary in a time when shock rock was king. Belting out tunes aptly titled the likes of “Thumb Hang,” and “Show us Your Tits,” Anvil made no gripes about their intentions to rock, and were poised to take the world by storm.
Fast-forward 25 years.
Fifty-something metal-heads Lips Kudlow and Robb Reiner of Anvil still long for rock stardom. Instead of touring the world, Reiner and Lips haul-ass, performing mundane occupations knowing full well of the dreams left unfulfilled. Braving the snowy roads of Ontario delivering food to cafeterias, Lips pathetically cries, “When I work at Choice Children’s catering, they don’t even know that my band exists!”
It wasn’t drugs or sex that defeated the rock dinosaur; success just happened to pass them by.
While the two struggle to make ends meet, they are excited to learn that an old fan, Tiziana Arrigoni of Sweden has booked a year-long tour across Europe. Before long, missed trains, tardy venues and overall mismanagement hinder a once-promising tour.
Gig after gig, less people show up. Anvil plays their hearts out to a crowd fewer than 10 people. “How much more love could one person put into something?” asks Lips. One would be hard-pressed to argue.
Despite pitfalls, Lips’ die-hard integrity prevails. Returning to Canada from the failed tour he exclaims proudly that, even though everything went drastically wrong, “at least there was a tour for it to go drastically wrong on!” No doubt this blind enthusiasm has kept the old beast that is Anvil chugging along for so long.
Regrouping, Reiner and Lips decide to all-in, pouring their savings into producing the Anvil album to end all Anvil albums, This is 13, their thirteenth effort. This is their last chance to do it right.
Told with sharp comedic timing, Gervasi’s storytelling technique harkens back to classic mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap. At times the character are so outrageous, the actions so unbelievable that one would be lead to believe the story fiction.
Watching Lips and Reiner trudge down College Street reminiscing over hard-rock memories quickly reminds us that these guys are real people. They’re the guys who busted their asses playing hard rock in their basements ’till four in the morning, raising the one-finger salute at anyone standing in the way of their unrelenting ambition. Those guys you called the cops on.
This was my second viewing of Anvil. Last summer I watched it while working as an usher at the Hot Docs film festival. The crowd was split in three. Everyday folks, film critics, and some guys with pink mohawks, multiple piercings and jean jackets. Everyone came in with preconceptions about the music. Some find it irritating; others worship its mighty tune. Some grew up with metal, others didn’t.
When the film ended, it wasn’t the music so much as the passion exhibited by Anvil’s Robb Reiner and Lips Kudlow that infected us all. The passion was contagious. People who looked like they’d never be into metal were officially metal heads, tapping away to the beat of Anvil’s classic tune “Metal on Metal” as the credits rolled right to the end, asses still glued to the seat.
Go see it.
Wen-Do self-defence worth defending
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By: Adriana Rolston
Genevieve Weigel was skipping class, riding the deserted subway back and forth between Kipling and Kennedy when three older male teens entered her car. One sat beside her. When he asked the 15-year-old for her phone number she didn’t feel threatened, but then he placed his hand on her thigh.
Weigel shoved it off and rose to leave, standing taller than the trio. When the groper blocked her way and told her she wasn’t going anywhere she responded with the angry, gut wrenching yell she learned in Wen-Do. “Back off!” She struck him in the gut and he buckled to the floor.
Another guy wrapped his arms around her from behind. She instinctively shoved her body backwards, smashing him into the connecting subway door, and rammed her heel up into his groin. He collapsed. The third did nothing as she pressed the yellow emergency strip, the doors closing behind her as she walked out of the subway car, which had just arrived at a station. Shaken, she told the conductor what had occurred, and left.
Weigel, who served as this year’s events coordinator for Ryerson’s Women’s Centre, took her first Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence class when she was 12-years old.
What she experienced on public transit is the kind of success story that women share in Wen-Do.
Growing up she was usually stronger than the boys in her classes and often beat them in arm wrestling matches. When she was told that girls are weaker than boys she knew otherwise. “That always seemed like bullshit to me,” said Weigel.
Wen-Do exposed Weigel to her first feminist framework. “It was almost a revelation, like ‘Oh my God, I’m not by myself in this, and women are powerful and I knew somebody knew that,” she said loudly, her crimson lips parting in a broad smile.
Wen-Do originated in 1972 and is Canada’s longest running women’s self defence organization, as well as a registered charity. It was developed in Toronto by Ned and Ann Paige in response to the murder of Catherine Genovese in New York, who was stabbed and killed in 1964 within earshot of 38 neighbours, none of which called the police.
Wen-Do is endorsed by the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre and taught entirely by women, for women and girls (ages 10 and up) of all ages, sizes, physical and mental abilities. Physical and verbal techniques are interspersed with open discussion of violence against women and girls from an anti-oppressive, feminist perspective. Wen-Do emphasizes three goals: awareness, avoidance and action.
Deb Chard has been teaching Wen-Do full-time for 20 years, and taught Weigel’s first introductory course. She explains that self-defence means surviving and doesn’t always require punching or kicking.
She leans forward, elbows resting on her knees, her pale blonde hair short and textured. “We’re looking at doing the least amount of self defence possible to run away,” she said, hands clasped, eyes fixed on each of us intently. “That’s what this is all about. I hope I never have to do this but these are some tools that I have in my tool box.”
After centuries of being told certain outfits and behaviour cause harassment and abuse women accept it as truth, said Chard. It’s common to hear, “But I was asking for it.” If you wear those revealing clothes, drink, or go out alone late at night and something happens it’s your fault. From childhood we are taught to modify our behaviour but in Wen-Do we discuss how skimpy skirts have nothing to do with it.
“Women have been raped in every imaginable article of clothing that you can think of,” said Chard. Clothing becomes the justification, diverting attention from where the real responsibility lies.
Chard explains that when womanized men experience sexual assault in prison it indicates the reality of rape power dynamics over a group. Suggesting that low cut prison outfits instigate rape is ridiculous. If we can understand this about men, why can’t we understand it about women?
Our Wen-Do instructor Denise Handlarski is lying on her back as a woman in a loose, pink t-shirt is bent over the face, straddling her waist and clasping her wrists down against the carpeted floor. It’s April 5 and I’m taking a free 15-hour Wen-Do course at York University, organized by York’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Support Line (SASSL). Eleven of us are seated in a circle on the floor of a brightly lit room in the student centre, watching Handlarski demonstrate a defence manoeuvre for a pinned scenario.
Anne Rajesparam, an officer and training coordinator for SASSL, stands bent over facing the woman in the pink, arms hooked under her armpits in preparation to support her. When each woman confirms they are ready Handlarski pulls her heels against her butt and digs them into the floor while quickly snapping up her hips.
She simultaneously slides her arms down to her sides, resembling a snow angel motion as her “attacker” is launched forward over her head and into Rajesparam’s arms, emitting a loud gasp. Realistically, if an attacker pinned you while in bed the “bump” might send them headfirst into the headboard or the wall.
Over the course of the weekend we alternate between practicing physical techniques, verbal tactics and group discussions with breaks in between. In pairs we repeat hits into cushions, focussing on tightening our hands, breathing and yelling. We learn a variety of strikes, kicks and blocks in addition to wrist and choke releases, defence against weapons, and group attack strategies.
Handlarski’s dark, defined curls hang at the nape of her neck and she wears thin black glasses when she isn’t demonstrating attack defences. She instructs us to inhale and exhale while executing defensive attacks, saying “hut.” The “h” breath opens up the diaphragm ending with a “t” sound that prevents us from biting our tongues.
Yelling during a strike enables adrenaline and oxygen to fuse in the bloodstream, preventing us from freezing when afraid. It also provides a rush of energy and can surprise the attacker.
Handlarski reiterates that we’re not using strength against strength but using our larger body parts against the attacker’s weaker, smaller targets, such as a heel palm strike to the nose, a low kick to the shin, or a hammer fist to the collar bone.
These attacks are all examples of soft Wen-Do, which are not likely to cause permanent damage to most healthy individuals. Hard Wen-Do is a technique that could be fatal or cause permanent damage, such as knuckle jab to the windpipe or a strike to the temple.
Learning the differences between soft and hard Wen-Do is important in the context of the Canadian legal system, according to Sue Kernoham, a detective and coordinator at Toronto’s Sexual Assault Crimes Unit. Although every woman has the right to fight back, they have to work within the law and use reasonable force, says Kernoham.
If an attacker punches you and you retaliate by stabbing them that is excessive force. “It’s a really grey area, and all situations are unique. You need to be able to articulate why you used as much force as you did (in court),” she said.
Handlarski gestures to the white calligraphy on her black tank top representing the Wen-Do symbol. In the centre is the Japanese character for “woman” surrounded by a circle, which she calls the line of justice. Women need to trust their instincts and give themselves permission to act, which can also mean escaping a dangerous situation. “I want you to believe you’re worth defending,” Handlarski said, looking around the circle at us.
Weigel thinks it could be realistic for the Women’s Centre to ensure that a full, 15-hour Wen-Do course is available to women at Ryerson. She hopes to volunteer with next year’s coordinators and gain support from the Office of Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services and the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) to subsidize expenses.
Full Wen-Do workshops regularly cost $100 a person, which the Women’s Centres’ budget can’t currently cover.
Toby Whitfield, the RSU vice-president of finances and services says that if the Women’s Centre requires additional funding for a student event, the Board of Directors will decide whether or not to incorporate it into next year’s budget. “If the priority for the Women’s Centre is to do something like this we would work to see if we could make that happen,” said Whitfield.
Another option for women on campus is Rape Aggression Defence for Women, a free, four-day course taught by Ryerson’s Security and Emergency Services Team. R.A.D. classes run once a semester but additional classes can be requested, says instructor Tanya Fermin-Poppleton.
Workshops focus on avoidance of threats in daily surroundings, like walking to and from the subway. Up to 12 women can attend R.A.D. and upcoming sessions are posted on the Security Services website as well as security bulletins around campus.
Having experienced sexual violence, Weigel wants to use Wen-Do as a way of regaining her voice and hopes to become an instructor someday. She feels that Wen-Do empowers women by discussing and experiencing what we can do as opposed to what we can’t.
“It really deals with how women are powerful, not just that they are oppressed and victims. Most of the time we resist and most of the time we’re successful and I think that needs to be something that women are taught.”
MAY DAY: A History of Resistance
May 14, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Jesse McLaren examines the roots of May Day, its history of resistance to capitalism, and its links to today’s struggles for peace and justice
For more than 120 years, workers of the world have united to celebrate May Day. The size and scope of events has been a barometer of the constant struggle for a better world. With a new economic crisis and growing movements of resistance, May Day is re-emerging as an important day for solidarity and action.
Eight-hour workday
May Day emerged in the United States in the campaign to shorten the workday. At its annual convention in Chicago in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labour Unions (the future American Federation of Labor) declared that the eight-hour workday would begin May 1, 1886, and that it would be enforced with strikes and demonstrations. As one pamphlet proclaimed at the time:
“Lay down your tools on May 1, 1886. Cease your labour, close the factories, mills, and mines – for one day in the year… one day of revolt – not of rest… a day on which labour makes its own laws and has the power to execute them!”
This outlined the May Day tradition that continues today: workers using their labour power, regardless of state sanction, to fight for economic and political demands.
On May Day 1886, half a million workers went on strike across the US. In Chicago, the strikes brought renewed energy to workers at McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, who had been locked out for months. A garrison of police was sent to protect strike-breakers, and when the workers confronted them, police opened fire, killing two.
At a rally the next day in Haymarket Square, a bomb went off and police again opened fire, killing more. Then police arrested eight anarchist trade unionists, who were sentenced to death at a rigged trial.
This severe repression sent a chill through the nascent labour movement, but it reasserted itself a few years later. The Second International, an organization of workers around the world, adopted the motion for “a great international demonstration,” and in 1890, May Day went global.
In London, Friedrich Engels addressed a rally of 300,000. May Day, originally intended as a one-time event to demand an eight-hour workday, has continued beyond this victory, adapting to specific campaigns and reaffirming international solidarity and workers’ power.
Peace and revolution
In 1916, May Day in Germany became the focus of anti-war opposition. When the socialist Karl Liebknecht was arrested for his speech, “Down with the government, down with the war,” 50,000 metal workers struck for his release. At the same time, May Day celebrations in Russia served to gauge the militancy of the working class in the lead-up to the revolution that won peace and democracy. In the brief years of socialism in Russia, May Day became a rallying point for workers around the world to try to break Russia’s isolation by spreading the revolution in their own countries.
In response, states across Europe that sent armies abroad to crush the Russian Revolution also undermined May Day at home. The French government called for May Day to celebrate national unity rather than international workers’ solidarity, while fascist Italy banned May Day and substituted a day to celebrate the Roman Empire.
May Day suppression has continued in various ways ever since. Nazi Germany declared May Day a day of work, and the next day banned unions and arrested their leaders. At the height of McCarthyism in the US, the state called May Day “Loyalty Day” and then “Law Day” in an attempt to purge its radical nature. On the other side of the Cold War divide, state capitalist regimes turned May Day into a bureaucratized media stunt for Russia and China to parade their nuclear arsenals.
Defeating the Tories
But workers have defiantly continued to assert May Day and use it as a focal point for organizing. During the Depression, Conservative Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s response to unemployment was to create militarized work camps that paid 20 cents a day.
In April 1935 in British Columbia, 1,500 unemployed workers in government relief camps walked off the job and made their way to Vancouver. There they staged marches, protests and occupations to protest the government’s unemployment policies, and to demand aid. Workers formed a Relief Camp Workers’ Union, and demanded better wages, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, an end to police repression, and democratically elected committees.
Labour organizer and socialist Arthur Evans also argued for the broader labour movement to call for solidarity strikes and demonstrations for May 1.
May Day 1935 featured strikes by miners and longshore workers across the province, while restaurant workers and students walked out to join a march of 20,000 in downtown Vancouver. This mobilized support for the “On to Ottawa Trek” the following month, when a thousand relief camp workers boarded freight trains to take their demands directly to Ottawa. Though they were violently stopped at Regina, workers’ resistance helped bring down Bennett in elections a few months later, and close the camps.
Workers’ power
During the upsurge of struggles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, May Day coincided with a number of important events. Through March and April 1968, French students protested against codes of conduct and the Vietnam War.
In early May, university administrator and police repression radicalized a much wider layer of students, who erected barricades in Paris. A student occupation of the élite Sorbonne university led to an intellectual, cultural and political explosion critiquing all aspects of society.
The student spark ignited the worker flame. When trade unions called for a general strike, political demands against police violence spilled over to economic demands over wages, retirement age and labour rights. Then workers began occupying their factories and briefly running society, while their president hid in Germany fearing another French revolution.
In Portugal in 1974, May Day occurred a week after the fall of the nearly half-century dictatorship. That day, 100,000 people marched in Lisbon, many on their first May Day celebration, waving red flags and hearing from left-wing leaders returned from exile. This became a launching pad for strike waves, which involved 200,000 workers in more than 150 workplaces that month, and a progressive movement in the armed forces.
Ending apartheid
In 1985, South African workers formed the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which became the backbone of the fight against Apartheid. Because the regime depended on exploiting the Black working class, workers collectively withdrew their labour power became a powerful weapon for struggle.
On May Day 1986, COSATU called a strike that involved one and-a-half million workers, the first of many major strikes that ultimately ended Apartheid. On April 27, 1994, South Africans voted in their first multiracial democratic elections, and a few days later, May Day was declared a national holiday to honour the role workers played in defeating Apartheid.
May Day remains a rallying point to celebrate this victory, and to continue to connect economic and political issues - from demands for a living wage to the fight against HIV/AIDS. As COSATU declared on May Day 2007:
“In the dark days of Apartheid, South African workers proudly adopted 1 May as their day, and staged some of their biggest stay-aways and demonstrations to support the demand for it to be a public holiday. These played a major part in bringing down the old regime and winning the democratic rights we enjoy today. That is why it is a day to be treasured and must never be lost.”
Resisting neo-liberalism
In recent years May Day has resurfaced across Canada and Quebec as a rallying point against neo-liberalism. In 2004, an illegal strike by hospital workers in British Columbia galvanized years of opposition to neo-liberalism.
On May Day, hospital workers led a march of 15,000 in Vancouver, the air filled with calls for a general strike. Had the trade union bureaucracy not sold out the strike the following day, the province would have ground to a halt and dealt a blow to Premier Gordon Campbell.
In 2003, Quebec trade unions were central to mobilizing 250,000 people in Montreal against the Iraq War, a key event in stopping the Liberals from joining the war. This political radicalization fed into economic battles: the following year, 100,000 marched in Montreal for May Day, targeting the neo-liberal policies of Jean Charest. In 2007, a right-wing backlash spearheaded by the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) party saw May Day attendance drop to 3,000. But last year, May Day participation surged back up to 50,000, accompanying the collapse of the ADQ and the growth of left-wing party Québec solidaire.
Fighting racism and war
May Day is now returning to its roots. In the US, the re-emergence of workers’ confidence is reflected by May Day events that have used strikes as collective weapons against racism and war.
In 2005, the US government began passing a bill that would further criminalize undocumented workers, in order to increase their exploitation and create racist hysteria. But immigrant workers and their allies fought back. In March 2006, a coalition of Catholic groups, immigrant advocacy groups and labour unions organized a series of massive rallies, including half a million in Los Angeles. Reviving the labour drives and boycott campaigns of Cesar Chavez, the protest wave became a launching pad for strikes on May Day 2006, dubbed “The Great American Boycott” and “A Day Without an Immigrant.”
To show how much the US economy depends on migrant workers, organizers called on their supporters to not buy, sell, work or attend school. Millions of people took part in strikes, demonstrations and walkouts, which called for amnesty and legalization of undocumented workers and their families. Marches featured national flags from across the Americas mingling with red flags and portraits of Che Guevara. In a show of solidarity, trade unions in Mexico and Central America called for a boycott of American products on May Day. These mobilizations succeeded in defeating the racist bill.
Last May Day, 25,000 longshore workers in the US shut down 29 ports on the west coast to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to demand the withdrawal of troops. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has a history of shutting down the ports in solidarity actions: against the Pinochet dictatorship, Apartheid South Africa, and the incarceration of Mumia Abu Jamal. This was the first time an American union has taken job action against an ongoing US war.
ILWU Vietnam veterans led the drive to declare May Day a “No Peace, No Work Holiday,” to recognize that working-class families bear the brunt of US militarism. As ILWU Local 34 President Richard Cavalli told a rally: “George Bush’s daughters get married in the White House, and our sons and daughters get buried in Iraq.”
Because of their strategic role in the economy, the longshore workers were able to paralyze the ports that process $1 billion of cargo daily, fighting back against the corporate warmongers. At a forum in Toronto the following month organized by the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Canadian Labour Congress, strike organizer Clarence Thomas explained:
“The working class can speak for itself and that is why it is so critical for us to take action at the point of production: at the workplace. This is where we have our muscle, this is where we have our leverage and we need to use it.”
In response, the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq issued a statement of solidarity:
“The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.”
Economic crisis
This year’s May Day takes place in the context of the worst economic crisis since the Depression, which is increasing attacks on workers at home and abroad. But it is also in the context of growing radicalization and confidence to fight back, from the left-wing governments sweeping Latin America to the strike waves across Europe raising the hopes of a new May 1968.
Gaining inspiration and insight from previous May Days, we can see how workers activity has been central to struggles for a better world: winning the eight-hour workday, ending Apartheid in South Africa and Tory rule in Canada, fighting racism and war, and raising the possibility of socialism.
As the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg wrote a century ago:
“The first of May demanded the introduction of the eight-hour day. But even after this goal was reached, May Day was not given up. As long as the struggle of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands. And, when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance, then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honour of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past.”
This feature originally appeared in issue 505 of Socialist Worker, April 14, 2009.
Eating clean in a world of dirty food
How one woman’s diet is helping people to eat, look and feel better. But there are some problems with the diet. Vanessa Santilli investigates
Two women are at the checkout counter at a bookstore. One makes a purchase while the other talks animatedly. As the cashier rings the items through, the talkative one grabs a book from a nearby display, places it with the rest of her friend’s items and continues chatting.
“What’s this?” she asks, cutting in.
“Trust me, you’ll love it.”
“Then why don’t you buy it?”
“Oh, I already have it, hun. Works like a dream.”
“I’ll take this too,” the woman says, pushing the book toward the cashier.
The book is Tosca Reno’s the Eat Clean Diet which, as she puts it, “transformed a formerly fat and desperate housewife” into a cover girl and swimsuit model, all after she turned 40. When the millennium arrived, Reno was depressed and weighed just over 200 pounds. She also suffered from low blood sugar levels, called hypoglycemia. Her worst hypoglycemic attack, as she recounts in her book, left her passed out, face down in the dairy case at a grocery store. But once she started eating clean, everything changed. “My weight remained steady. I no longer craved foods, especially sugar and starchy ones. My blood-glucose stabilized, so that I no longer suffered from the horrible hypoglygemic attacks that left me sweating and breathless. Literally, from the very day I changed my eating habits, I felt and looked better. It wasn’t long before I had reshaped my health and my physique.”
Published in January 2007, the Eat Clean Diet guarantees healthy, steady weight loss. Reno’s latest book in her clean eating empire, the Eat Clean Diet for Men, is being released at the end of May.
The eating plan combines plenty of food from all food groups to give you “the body of your dreams” without going hungry, she says. Along with the physical benefits, Reno promises that your self-esteem will soar, depression will vanish and energy levels will rise. “Unanimously, people tell me they don’t have the need to overeat when they eat clean. There is just a better understanding of what they’re eating and why they’re eating it,” Reno says. “It’s not fad diet, so I’m not asking people to do a ridiculous restriction-type diet. What I’m advocating with clean eating are habits that drive and merit a healthy body.”
With the fundamentals of the diet on the table, the Eat Clean Diet resembles more of a healthy approach to weight loss than a money-making fad diet.
So, what habits drive a healthy body exactly? The basics of the diet are as follows: eat five or six small meals every day, combining lean protein (such as chicken breast or egg whites) with complex carbohydrates (fruits and veggies). Eating clean, which has its roots in the world of bodybuilding, requires dieters to eat every two to three hours for a very important reason, says Ottawa-based personal trainer Robert Lagana. “Bodybuilders need a lot of protein. However, some studies say that you can only digest 30 grams of protein per meal. To increase the amount of protein, they would eat more with their carbs, using a protein/carb meal combo five to six times a day.” The next element of the diet involves kissing over-processed foods goodbye and embracing “clean foods:” fresh produce, whole grains, vegetables and lean meats. Sugar-loaded pop, juices and alcohol are replaced with at least two litres of water daily, which Reno credits for her radiant skin. As well, dieters should avoid all foods high in calories but low in nutritional value, usually those high in sugar or “the white poison,” as Reno calls it.
“Its emphasis on eating unprocessed whole foods and getting away from the sugar and high fat convenient ones is certainly good,” says Toronto-based Registered Dietician Susie Langley. However, a main flaw in the diet is that it’s low in calcium. “Adults between 19 and 50 need three servings (or 1,000 mg) of calcium per day to stay healthy,” something which she says the two-week menu plan falls short of. Ottawa-based Registered Dietician Helene Charlebois agrees. “It is a good nutritious diet with mainly three food groups,” she says. “The dairy is mostly missing, so I would suggest a calcium supplement with Vitamin D be taken. The principles are great and the diet is balanced, but adding more dairy would make it complete.”
Another important aspect of the diet to assess, says Charlebois, is the level of freedom one is given while eating clean. “It can become a lifestyle and not a fad diet as long as cheating is allowed. Dieticians only ask for 70 to 80 percent compliance. When there is a high percentage of compliance you just set yourself up for failure. Dieters may have to cheat on special occasions, when PMS strikes or in highly stressful situations.”
Chantel Prashad was in one such highly stressful situation. Last year, as a fourth-year Art History and English major at the University of Toronto, Prashad found the Eat Clean Diet extremely difficult to fit into her hectic schedule. She was scheduled to start work at her part-time job at 11 a.m. one morning and overslept. She had no time to prepare a “clean” dish before hopping on the bus so ate nothing. The food that she had prepared for work was not a dish you could eat on the bus, so again, she ate nothing. When she got to work, there was no time to eat, so she didn’t have any food until her first break at 2 p.m.
“I don’t have enough time,” she says. “I go to school in the morning and then work an eight-hour shift at night. I only have so much time to eat in between classes and breaks at work.” The impracticality of the diet can be found within the book’s glossy pages, she adds. “There’s a picture of a woman walking around with a huge cooler filled with fruits and vegetables,” she describes. “Walking around campus with a huge cooler on my arm and my backpack and all my books? It’s not going to happen.” Prashad strongly disliked the emphasized breakfast choice of oatmeal (which she dubs healthy glue), the higher cost of specialty foods, such as almond butter, and the copious amounts of water (which had her escaping to the ladies room four times during a lecture, she recalls).
Sharon Tuck, a mother and owner of a residential cleaning service in Milton, Ontario, found the diet extremely easy to follow. “I made a shopping list, eating schedule, list of ‘don’t eat foods,’ bought a little travel cooler and stocked my fridge and pantry. I carried the book with me for encouragement in case I had questions,” she says. Tuck has been on numerous diets since she was a teenager. Over the years, she’s been to Dr. Bernstein’s clinic (where she lost 40 pounds), took Proenzi 99 Ephedra pills (losing 85 pounds, most of which she managed to keep off) and also tried Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and the Zone Diet. The difference between all of those diets and the Eat Clean Diet, Tuck says, is that “Tosca’s diet didn’t feel like a diet. I was never hungry. I chose what food to eat from the list in her book so it was all food I liked. I got to eat every few hours so cheating never entered my mind. I was energetic, had regular bowel movements and slept better. I was always hungry with other programmes.”
One such program was the Grapefruit Diet, a restrictive seven-day diet that advocates eating a grapefruit, or grapefruit juice, with every meal in order to speed up fat loss. “One day is lots of hardboiled eggs, but no fruit. The next would be lots of grapefruit, but not protein. I was able to have a lot of salad, which was the only good thing. It was tough to follow because it wasn’t real eating, and I was craving so many things like carbs and sugar. Every day I ate specific things at specific meals, yet each day was a completely different menu, no variances allowed,” she says. “I felt hungry on this diet but I refused to eat after six o’clock. Sometimes I’d go to bed early to avoid the temptations of popcorn or ice cream.”
Belleville-based Registered Dietician Heather Williams praises the diet for the numerous healthy habits it promotes. Williams likes the frequent small meals, emphasis on portion control, eating lots of fruits and veggies and staying away from processed foods. “Incorporating more fish fats and omega three from flax seeds, walnuts and canola oil is also a great idea,” she says. “All in all, this programme looks very healthy to me. Although,” she adds, “it really isn’t anything new. It promotes a lot of the same things that we as dieticians promote. It’s a good idea to limit processed foods and get back closer to the farm.”
Last summer while training for three 10-kilometre runs, Candice Sells went on Reno’s plan as she wanted a healthy eating regimen to follow. Sells, who has done herbal detoxes before, says she felt energized and cleansed on the diet. During her first week, she craved lots of junk food. “After the first week, she says, “my body adjusted to eating clean foods and the cravings lessened. My mood improved and my general attitude towards life was more positive. I felt like I was doing something good for my body. I’d recommend this diet to anyone, especially people that don’t know how to eat healthy foods. I feel like it has changed the way I think about food. Now, I try to squeeze as much healthy food into my diet as I can.”
The section on supplements, on the other hand, is a different story. “I would never recommend all the supplements she mentions to my clients and definitely would not take them myself,” says Williams. “The scariest one is the Human Growth Hormone.” Human Growth Hormone (hGH) increases our ability to burn fat faster. Reno recommends a non-prescription product called pro-hGH that stimulates natural hormone production and mentions that actual hGH is available only by prescription, as an injectable, and costs US $600 per injection (which you must take daily). She adds that you must see a doctor throughout the course of your therapy. “Human Growth Hormone is a banned substance,” says Langley. “And since its illegal, there should be no MD who’d prescribe it unless there was a very special medical need for it.” With regard to the diet’s pro-hGH stance, Langley doesn’t believe they are effective and says that even mentioning it in her book reduces the author’s credibility. While Langley agrees with Reno’s view that some of the most effective ways to produce this hormone naturally are through sleep, exercise and protein, she adds, “It’s not just about protein, there must be enough calories as well.”
Without a doubt, this diet is packed with nutrient-rich, natural food and is based on many tried and true healthy eating principles such as portion control, frequent eating and drinking plenty of water. After eating clean myself for three weeks, I felt great, my cravings disappeared and the structured meals ensured that I was never reaching for the nearest chocolate bar. The Eat Clean Diet goes against the implied mantra of most diets: to be skinny you must not eat. Instead, clean eating promotes a healthy relationship between food and your body as you come to understand that in order to have a beautiful body, you must nourish it with the right foods. If you forget the recommended supplements, opting for a multivitamin instead, the strict guidelines about eating unclean foods and use the food lists she provides to suit your own tastes (as opposed to following her two-week menu plan), the Eat Clean Diet offers a health-centred way of eating that is guaranteed to optimize health in the long run.
Culture Shock
By: Mark Naser
Like a sea of giant black waves, the crowds trudge through the ticket gates and beyond, waiting in line at escalators that would be much quicker to walk up. When the train finally zooms in and its steel doors part in synchronized order, the dark-suited bodies relentlessly shove their way in before the doors hiss shut. After all, the train has somewhere to go, too.
From afar, you observe with the eyes of someone who’s witnessing something otherworldly and unique, as though it were the Running of the Bulls in Spain or Antarctica’s annual march of the penguins. But this is Japan, and when you are amongst the crowds en route to your job, as they are, your perspective invariably changes.
The scene above was an instance when one of the major train lines in Tokyo was stalled, likely due to a “jumper,” which you become desensitized to after living there for a month. Tens of thousands had to alter their paths to reach their destinations, and I was among them, wide-eyed in astonishment and unable to replicate the purposefulness with which everyone was walking.
Even to someone who’s never stepped foot in Japan, it may sound familiar. Much has been written on its idiosyncratic culture. We can picture Shinjuku station and its millions of daily commuters because the image has been seared into our minds since childhood. We are frequently exposed to such iconic brands as Toyota, Pikachu and Hello Kitty, as well as to some of Japan’s traditional symbols - karaoke, sake and samurai. We’re aware that they boast a pioneering fashion sense, they’re keen on baseball and they’ve produced some of the best high-tech gadgetry in the world. Yes, that’s right. Some stereotypes are true.
But to gain a true appreciation for the profundity of Japanese culture, it is often best to step into the shoes of the Japanese themselves, or perhaps more fittingly, the zori of a geisha.
For instance, did you know that many “salarymen” the typical Japanese company employees typified by indistinctive black suits and ties, often get less than five hours of sleep a night? Or that over 30,000 Japanese commit suicide every year? You very well might, but living or even travelling there would provide some insight into the reasons behind these social concerns.
Whereas Western society espouses individuality as an ideal, Japan champions social harmony. This takes on a much more personal meaning when you interact with the culture on a daily basis.
As an English teacher in Tokyo, I would often encourage my students to debate each other on contentious topics. While “Natto* is delicious” would elicit unanimous murmurs of agreement, a more polarizing declaration should have sparked debate.
It took serious effort to spark even the slightest discussion, because it all inevitably came down to some variation of “I don’t want to offend you by saying anything to the contrary.” As I was wholly involved in the cultural anomaly, I grew frustrated and desperate. How could my students learn the nuances of disagreement if the very concept of debate was eschewed by their cultural identity? This obstacle, unpleasant as it was, forced me to appreciate how the Western standard is not the way, but a way, neither being right or wrong.
As it turns out, suicide and extreme devotion to one’s work are both traceable to their root cause of social harmony. The typical Japanese worker learns to shun any feelings that he ought to be home with his family for dinner, as cultural standards dictate that loyalty to one’s company trumps family affairs. Any overtime work is unpaid, and insisting on leaving unless it’s granted affords one the same kind of stigma as going AWOL from military service. In David Suzuki and Keibo Oiwa’s book “The Japan We Never Knew,” they recall journalist Hiroshi Ishi’s likening of salarymen to drones on the battlefield, who “travel, uncomplaining, in jam-packed subways to reach the battlefront” and “when the battle is finished at the end of the day, then the men confirm their solidarity and fraternity at the bar.” That they don’t complain is an understatement, as challenging the harmony of the group is considered an unconscionable act that would significantly damage that individual’s reputation. Workers are so loyal to their companies that it’s not uncommon for some to simply drop dead. The word “karoshi” has even been introduced to the Japanese lexicon to indicate the sudden death of a healthy individual by working too much.
This militaristic behaviour is also evident in the early years of Japanese. Ishi speculates that “Japanese boys go to school in military-like uniforms and short haircuts.” It’s no surprise, then, that the multitudes of workers rushing to the trains also bears elements of this strict uniformity in appearance and behaviour. The military must adhere to a particular code of dress and conduct, and so must schoolboys and salarymen.
Of course, part of the reason Japan bounced back from a poor economy in the 1970s was due to their efficiency as a group. Just as each part of a car fulfills its duties and the vehicle as an entire unit accelerates, Japanese workers function with the entire unit in mind. Certainly the individual ends up the casualty of this convention, but society as a whole prospers. One glance at the cars surrounding you at a red light is more than enough evidence of Japan’s industrial strength.
Group harmony is evident when you witness Japanese waiting in line at an escalator that would be much quicker to walk up. Even though most people are clambering to get to work, they’re reluctant to be the only ones walking up when everyone else is waiting in line to simply stand. And while Canadians stand on the right side and walk on the left, it’s exactly the opposite in Kanto, the region of Honshu whose central hub is Tokyo. If ever you’ve felt Western and Asian culture to be diametrically opposed, there’s an example in the most banal of senses.
So ingrained is the notion of harmony in Japanese culture that outsiders, or “gaijin,” are often regarded with distrust. Far from suggesting that Japanese harbour any true hostility for foreigners, Japanese are some of the most hospitable, polite people on the planet. But they are a homogenous society, and only fellow Japanese are considered true citizens of the country. Having one-sixteenth Chinese blood has in some cases disqualified otherwise Japanese individuals from promotion to political positions.
Unless you’re particularly attractive, it’s unlikely that train passengers will want to sit beside you. From personal experience, a person boarding a train would rather sit beside a slobbering old man than me, provided that slobbering old man was Japanese. Experiencing firsthand the difference between Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and Tokyo, one of the most homogenous, can often be disquieting.
The somewhat xenophobic attitude towards foreigners often carries some frustrating consequences. Some of my English-teaching friends were often stopped by police for random alien registration card checks. Some bars and clubs choose not to allow any Westerners, or simply enforce a rule whereby foreigners can only come if accompanied by an equal number of Japanese. Politicians don’t exactly intend on changing the status quo, either. Shintaro Ishihara, the long-standing mayor of Tokyo, has often made racist remarks regarding foreigners living in Tokyo, suggesting that a perfectly homogenous city would be preferable to one tainted by Koreans, Chinese and people of other non-Japanese ethnicities. Crime has also been blamed on foreigners in an effort to galvanize public opinion against them, which for the most part works because of the trust Japanese citizens have in their leaders.
No civilization is exempt from criminal behaviour, of course, and that includes Japan. In June of 2008, a man went on a murder rampage in a popular Tokyo district, killing seven and injuring ten. That man was Japanese, and he claimed to have committed the crime because he felt severely unrecognized by those around him. If he felt there was an outlet for his grievances, he might have dealt with his pain differently. Similarly, if the 2,645 Japanese who committed suicide this past January felt they had an outlet for their grief, perhaps they’d still be alive. Silent cries for sympathy often remain just that – silent - and even though there are people and organizations willing to listen, many suffering Japanese are left with the impression that their complaints aren’t welcome.
There is strong evidence though to suggest that Japanese society lacks the sort of crime we read about happening in Toronto – gang-related murders, aggravated assault, theft and the like. When my parents visited me in the fall of 2007, their first impression was not one of disdain but of deep admiration. In their fatigue from enduring an international flight, they left a black bag on a train on the way back to their hotel. When we arrived at the station, they realized their oversight and panicked, understandable given that inside the bag were their passports and digital camera. I told them not to worry. Japanese are more likely to turn the bag in to authorities out of a sense of appreciation for the established order of society than to appropriate it for personal profit. Sure enough, we called the Japan Rail Lost and Found a few days later and found that it had been turned in. Not only had nothing been taken, but the camera had been mindfully bubble-wrapped lest it somehow incurred damage in the meantime. We knew that to expect that kind of selfless behaviour in our own urban centres would be foolish.
The same decent standards of conduct can be contributed to the cleanliness of the streets. Even major areas of the city are appallingly litter-free, despite Tokyo having a population over four-times greater than Toronto and lacking a credible number of waste disposal bins. Oftentimes in my afternoon haste to get to work I would grab a can of coffee from the nearest vending machine, and when finished, would look for somewhere to toss it out. This was in vain. Even the train stations themselves seldom have anywhere to dispose of trash; you’re just expected to hold onto it until you find one somewhere. After all, it’s considered ill-mannered to eat or drink on the train, although doing so – even alcohol – is not illegal.
Drinking on the streets is also tolerated, and yet it’s rare to see someone fiendishly imbibing on public property. If done, it’s done tastefully so, and not likely in an irresponsible manner one might imagine if a law were passed in Canada permitting alcohol consumption on public property.
Apart from appreciating cultural differences, living in a foreign country also helps you to appreciate the intricacies of language. Kana is a Japanese written form composed to two syllabaries: katakana and hiragana. The former is used for foreign words, whereas the latter is used in all other cases where simple Japanese ought to be used. Kanji, however, is severely complex and takes a lot of practice to master. In fact, the average person must acquire at least 2,000 characters over the course of their lifetime to be able to read the daily newspaper.
I would often tell my students, though, that despite the complexity of kanji, Japanese is altogether a much simpler language than English, and who would be able to predict that without being exposed to it on a daily basis? With Japanese, what you see is what you get. Each syllable has only one way of being pronounced, and so you won’t need to grapple with pronunciation if you can read the kana characters in front of you. Hearing the Western pronuncation of sake as “sah-kee” becomes a laughing matter.
Further, Japanese grammar rules don’t have heaps of exceptions attached to them like English does. And witnessing the common mistakes of Japanese English students firsthand will really expose you to the intricacies of speaking English well in a way that you wouldn’t necessarily get by way of sheer imagination. It’s no surprise then that we mock something known as “Engrish,” a collection of misspelled, ill-grammared sentences that often say something completely different from what was intended.
Japan is a country unique in its uniqueness, one that provides a refreshing alternative from the Western mode for those who are brave enough to step out of their lives of comfort and routine. It’s always possible to read a book on Japan or watch an anime, but firsthand experience makes a world of difference. So if ever faced with a sea of black waves, take the plunge. After all, Lost in Translation can only teach you so much.
*Natto is fermented soy beans, an extremely popular Japanese dish. To the average foreigner, it’s the most nauseating item in Japanese cuisine.
