12

The Sputnik // Wednesday September 28

OPINION
Lin Abdul Rahman Opinion Editor

Lin Abdul Rahman // opinion@thesputnik.ca

The evolution of the F word

I used to cringe at the sound of the F word. It is a word exclaimed not just said under the most undesirable circumstances, such as when your finger gets caught in the door. When a group of Laurier Brantford students and faculty formed the F-Word Committee last year, they gave the phrase Fword a whole new meaning one that has made the word a proud member of students daily lexicon. No, Im not talking about the four-letter expletive. Neither am I talking about Steve Andersons documentary in which various people experimented with pronouncing the afore-mentioned word in different ways (and do little else, I might add). Im talking about feminism. The feminist movement is said to have begun around the 18th century when middle- to upper-class women started demanding suffrage and political rights. The movement has since gone through several waves and different phases of development. There are now a myriad different feminist groups advocating for a nuanced range of rights for women. Although I was vaguely familiar with their history, the issues and rights advocated by these groups always remained at a distance from me. The feminist ideology was a very cerebral concept; it brought to mind images of butch women sporting crew cuts and shouting Equality for both sexes! I cant imagine how their crusade could possibly have anything to do with 2 student news ad student, sept immigrant my life, be it as a 242 4X7.5as an11 or as a Muslim minority. Then the Harper government introduced tax-cuts that substantially reduced the financial support formerly afforded to women in Canada; this includes womens groups dealing with immigrant women, aboriginal women, victims of abuse and seniors, to name a few. The F-Word Committee members organized themselves and sprang into action. They might not have been able to reach as far as Queens Park (or can they?), so they decided to do something at the local level. They held seminars, workshops and movie nights that, for me at least, effectively transformed the feminist movement from an ambiguous ideology into something more concrete. I have since come to appreciate the causes championed by feminists of the past; I realized that their

The F-Word. (Art by Bridget Parker)

successes will have an influence on my paycheque when I graduate. I learned that my male counterparts have an equally large role in the feminist movement; their insights taught me that the conversations I have with my brothers can determine the way they treat the women in their lives. I also discovered the on-going struggle happening right next door to Brantford the aboriginal women whose identities hinge upon who their mothers chose to marry, thanks to the archaic laws laid down by British colonials centuries ago. Lastly and this is by far the most interesting dis-

covery for me I learned that there is a slew of Muslim feminists who draw their inspiration from the teachings of Islam, the faith that I claim to be so passionate about. The single-syllable expletive is now the farthest thing on my mind when I mention the phrase the F word. Even better, Im starting to hear the terms feminism, feminist or feministic echoing in classrooms and in unofficial circles on campus. I wonder if there are there other words or expressions that could benefit from a similar transformation.

There is no fair
Leisha Senko Staff My grandfather used to say to my mother, There is no fair. It wasnt an old adage or a philosophy to live by, but rather a sign of exasperation at the state of the world. I laughed when my mother told me this. Wheres the other half? I asked her more than once. I couldnt fathom a phrase like that working without at least a glimmer of hope at the end. I didnt believe her when she said that that was it; at least, not until last Wednesday anyway. That was the day Troy Davis died by lethal injection. Davis was a black man convicted in 1989 of murdering a police officer, in a case which is often described as being mired by racial tension and unreliable circumstantial evidence. No murder weapon was ever found. Witnesses recanted statements under cross-examination, one even stating in court that he had been coerced into testimony with threats of prison if he did not do as police said. This single person, with a groundswell of protesting supporters, was denied for the last time the request to be retried when the Supreme Court of the United States of America set out their statement this June. Without a flicker of consideration, a human being who had maintained his innocence in the midst of formerly damning witnesses recanting their statements, was suddenly told that there would be no further interest in his situation legally. So he died or, rather, he was killed. Whether innocent or guilty, we dont really know, but its certainly clear that justice wasnt done. This is a case where every possible bias came into play. Furthermore, when select members of the country cried out for a correction, nothing changed this is possibly the most disheartening fact of all. For the supporters who have been protesting his arrest for years, attending rallies and pickets, it must burn like crazy. One writer for The Nation, Dave Zirin, asks pointedly, Why does this hurt so much? He wonders tragically how hes going to tell his young daughter, whose been fighting this battle with him since she was in a stroller, about the death. For those people it must feel like losing a piece of themselves. And so that old phrase again pops into my head; there is no fair. It rings true now, but we can all feel in our guts that it isnt. Just because Davis may not have gotten justice and may not have been treated fairly, it doesnt mean we shouldnt recognize the way he was treated as wrong. We must sing it aloud along with the chorus of voices out there decrying this abomination and every other abomination we see. So then, it is left up to us to write the second half to the phrase my grandfather so sadly stated. It must be understood that, although life isnt fair, we have a responsibility to work damn hard to make things better in the future, because giving up isnt an option.

Soar at Brock
Let the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Brock University take you to new heights. Our 42 dynamic programs offer you the opportunity to work side by side with some of Canadas brightest researchers and faculty members. Stimulate both sides of your brain at Brock personally and academically just like graduate student Lisa Neville did. She researched the remediation of the Alberta oilsands ecosystem, which included habitats for animals like the peregrine falcon. The other side of Lisas brain focused on teaching local cadets how to y. She soared at Brock. So can you. Apply online today at brocku.ca Visit the Brock University booth at the upcoming Graduate School Fair on your campus. To check the date of our visit go to brocku.ca and click on Future Graduate Students.