Even though Vancouver is a highly multicultural place, it is known for being “queer” friendly. For example, British became the second Canadian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage in 2003. Conversely, the downtown Vancouver has a substantial number of gay individual individuals occupying the space and as a result of queer events such as Pride Parade, many immigrants (especially Asians travel there. Whats interesting is that Vancouver is but on the Coast of Salish Territory where many East Asians live and has all become a popular place for Easy Asian filmmakers from abroad to find inspiration. Most of these queer Asian filmmakers working in Vancouver have not yet received that necessary exposure or funding to support their content,
inspire of the maximizing work they create. I believe the reason for this is that their output both individual and collectively challenged that status quo and goes against the western ideology of what it means to be “Chinese," “Queer” and a woman. However, Vancouver’s reputation as queer-friendly has attracted many indecent filmmakers (both male and female queer East Asians) who aims to tell their story from a “Chinese” and Canadian perspective. This also means that they can experience many repercussions for this since Vancouver has a colonial history—e.I Chinese railway workers. Because there is lack of support and funding for these experimental films from the NFB, most of these women queer filmmakers tend to work collaboratively to produce hybrid cross-cultural content and even share studio space to cut down on the cost of producing. This can be seen as a hindrance, but these individual are able to share and ideas to create an accurate representation of sexuality in their films.
Vancouver currently maintains an image as a sort of maternal ethnic melting pot, a region rich in cultural diversity and with a municipality that is both tolerant and welcoming of various displays and traditions. However, upon closer examination of recent history, it becomes clear that the concept of the city embracing minorities with a warm liberal hug is both incorrect and a form of manipulation in itself. The articles Erasing Indigenous Indigeneity in Vancouver and The Idea of Chinatown unravel the cultural sanitization that occurred in Vancouver at the turn of the nineteenth century as a means of state domination. Through careful synthesis of primary documents, the articles piece together the systematic oppression suffered by BC indigenous people and Chinese immigrants, reformulating our perception of the interests of the Canadian government.
During the time period of 1880 - 1885 approximately 17,000 Chinese immigrants immigrated to Canada in the hopes of better work, and improved living conditions. These immigrants were sadly disappointed as they were met throughout Canada with resentment and racist views. After the completion of the Canadian transcontinental railway the mainly Chinese population that had been employed as works began to disperse throughout Canada. This dispersion created “Chinatowns”, generally located within British Columbia and Vancouver. This time period of prejudice and hate becomes extremely significant as it shows the way that Canada overlo...
Vancouver is well known as the expensive city around the world: "The city has just been ranked the third most unaffordable housing market in the entire world" (Matheson 2016). There are a lot of young professionals
Sexuality in Canada has been a huge battle for women, especially in the 1990's. Instead of sexuality being a personal issue to some people, it became a huge political problem for the whole country. There were issues involved equality rights for the lesbian community and the rights for same sex couples to get married. In both the United States and Canada, a majority of people see sexuality as negative, instead of positive. Although, most people have learned to just accept it. They both feel the need to educate people on making the right choices no matter what they race, gender, or sexuality is. Researchers are trying to promote these issues in a positive manner by the sharing of the knowledge of that in terms of a woman's attitude or behavior, they are going to feel and think in different ways than the others. Everyone is their own person, and we instead of trying to change their sexuality, we should just accept it.
Queer ecology is a bridge between ecological criticism and queer theory. The word ecology is derived from the Greek word oikos, which means ‘home’ or ‘surroundings’ and summed as the study of organisms relationship to each other and to their physical, environmental surroundings. The word queer is derived from the German word quer, which means ‘transverse’, ‘oblique’, ‘sideways’, or more understandably “a moment of unfamiliarity” or not at home. These two words based on those definitions seem like they would seldom correlate. However the fact of the matter is that we would normally want to separate the two based on our foundations in understanding nature, the human experience, environmentalism, and gender and sex. This is even more of an imperative reason as to why Queer ecology needs to exist. As Morton said, “Ecology is Queer Theory and Queer Theory is Queer Ecology.”
In every walk of life, people seek refuge from the judgmental perception of their contemporaries. Thus, many people live in secrecy. For them, secrecy is an absolute necessity in dodging undesired scrutiny and maintaining normalcy in public. When it comes to gender and the expression of it, lines are often blurred. While some hide, others brazenly parade their sexuality in public and their alternative perspectives on gender roles. In “The Bowery as Haven and Spectacle” from Gay New York, by George Chauncey, explores the emergence of the Bowery “fairy” bars, and how they became a sanctuary for the queer and working-class of New York City. He discusses in great length the tension that arises between the middle-class and working-class, the bars as a spectacle and a place to be entertained, the solicitation of sex work, and the makings of gay culture in the bar scene. The lines of gender were blurred when men took up cross dressing and the mannerisms normally associated with women. On the other hand, Merril Mushroom, writer of "How to Engage in Courting Rituals 1950's Butch-Style in the Bar", complies a laundry list of rules for butch lesbians on methods of attracting other women. Here, females cross gender boundaries and take on masculine personas. With this said, both pieces show the development of alternative gender identities. However, this switch in gender roles seldom occur outside the bar scene. Despite the semi-public gender blurring, those who identify with this lifestyle still feel the need to express themselves in an environment most accommodating to their blatant disregard of gender norms. The aforementioned pieces answer questions in regards to why one must live in secrecy, and how this secrecy gives way to the developme...
There are 1.1 million Aboriginal peoples living in Canada as of 1996 and 408,100 of them are women (Statistics Canada, 2000; Dion Stout et al, 2001). More than half live in urban centres and two thirds of those reside in Western Canada (Hanselmann, 2001). Vancouver is comprised of 28,000 Aboriginal people representing 7% of the population (Joseph, 1999). Of this total population, 70% live in Vancouver’s poorest neighbourhood which is the Downtown Eastside (DTES).
One of the world’s greatest social movements known as the Gay Rights Movement stemmed in the late 1960’s in America. After events known as the Stonewall riots, the Gay Rights Movement gradually became increasingly influential and empowering for all sexual minorities and gender identities.
was considered a filthy sin, mentally dysfunctional behavior, or a temporary phase to name a
Eng, David L. Hom, Alice Y.. Q & A: queer in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. Print.
However, as time progresses, our society has become more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and this change in eligibility criteria, as there are other alternatives (such as behaviour-based screening) and the scientific evidence is not in line with the criteria, can be seen as hindering that social progression. This inclusivity may, in part, be attributed to the more liberal political and cultural views that have been expressed in Canada in recent
Religious life has spawned times of war and times of peace and it has been responsible for changes in the human condition and even the course of human history. Professed beliefs are passed down by religious traditions, ideally speaking, these beliefs have consequences effecting social behavior. This analysis is particularly evident when examining the critiques of some Chris-tian [traditionalist] interpretations that take exception to gay culture. The underlined message to these persons arguments seem to be that condemning homosexuality in society is not about deny-ing ones rightful place in the world, but rather about steering people away from the nature of sin that is associated with undercurrents of its practice. The logic behind such a message is that all human beings are natural sinners however, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual (LGBT) community just happens to be engaged in a more critical form of that sin through the activities surrounding their homosexual life-style. This understanding is, to Christian traditionalists, the Word of God and being such, they consider it to be a moral law. Adhering to this rule of under-standing often allows its believers a certain elitist justification that they consider to be beyond reproach. There are a few problems with many of the claims that support what these proponents of interpreted religious scripture and doctrine hold as sacred. The purpose of this paper means to challenge the social behavior and rhetoric stemming from Christian conservatives aimed at homo-sexuality, as well as, to exam the current state of affairs existing in gay culture as it pertains to religion, society, and the argu...
The 1990s saw a surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,’ to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek
Our understanding of the way we think is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of understanding our own society. It is for this reason that the fields of psychotherapy, psychology, psychiatry, and sociology are so incredibly important. Within these areas of study, the boundaries of normative life must fall away in order for us to truly understand our minds. When there is discrimination in a field as extensive as the understanding of the human psyche, we run the risk of wholly alienating entire segments of the population. Until about the 1980s, there was systematic and overt discrimination against gay members of the psychological field who wanted to either get help, or pursue a career. A major advocate for LGBTQ acceptance into this arena,
A community according to Webster’s dictionary is “a social group of any size, where members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common culture and historical heritage”. There are many different types of communities, but all have the same premise and that is to support one another within that community. LGBTQ communities let individuals talk openly about their feelings without being discriminated against. These communities have allowed an escape for its members from the stigma of the still largely ignorant society towards the LGBTQ community. Communities are a positive thing as long as animosity does not exist within these communities. Rancor within an LGBQT community diminishes the ability of that community to effectively provide for those who identify as LGBTQ and seek its support.