After two-and-a-half years the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its final report June 3, laying out the role that all levels of Canadian government play in the race-and-gender-based crisis that is facing and has faced Indigenous and Inuit women. It calls for immediate transformative legal and social changes to […]
Sexism
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hiring white men in Toronto to tell our stories: A part of our heritage
Heritage Minutes: If you lived in Canada in the ’90s and had a TV, you’re probably familiar with them. Closing with the tagline “a part of our heritage,” the Minutes’ subjects include the invention of basketball, the origin of the word ‘Canada,’ the Halifax Explosion, the Underground Railroad and many more. Historica Canada began to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Politics and misogyny at the Nova Scotia Legislature
It is 1990. I am so young that my face looks like a blank slate in my official Legislature ID photo. I am so excited about this part-time job. I am a student of history and journalism, and being on the floor of the Legislature as a page will let me feel like I’m part […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax council to undergo cultural sensitivity training
In the fallout from several racially charged statements made by elected officials and more than a dozen conduct complaints submitted to city hall, Halifax Regional Council has agreed to collectively take part in cultural sensitivity training. The idea was unanimously approved Tuesday night after three hours of in-camera discussion. “We could all use a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ellen Page details abuse, harassment from director Brett Ratner and others
Ellen Page has become the latest in a perpetually expanding list of female actors to describe the harassment, sexual abuse and horrific experience of being a woman in Hollywood. The Halifax-born Page begins a lengthy Facebook post published Friday afternoon with an anecdote about working with alleged serial harasser of women Brett Ratner during 2006’s X-men: […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What’s asked of women in the film industry
If I decide not to report someone when they make an inappropriate comment, does it make me an enabler? If I continue to work with someone who I’ve heard rumours about does it make me complicit? If I post this sexy photo on my social media, does it make me more of a target? I […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hands off, music dudes
Allow me to set the scene: I work on the industry side of music. While being introduced in a line with my male co-workers, hands are extended. Jovial “good to meet you” and other pleasantries are exchanged. And then it comes to me. My boss is great at introducing me, which I appreciate wholeheartedly, but […]
Posted inArts + Music
Long live the female king, Real Eyez
“It started in junior high,” explains Halifax rapper and singer RealEyez (AKA Erin Dorrington). “They’d always say, ‘You’re too real for your own good,’ you know? I’m very outspoken and I’d rather tell people the truth.” And the truth is—RealEyez has big dreams. Along with starting an independent label, Confiscated Records, she will release her second […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
7 things you need to know Monday
1 If you missed it, NSCC photography instructor and bike enthusiast Ingram Barss took over The Coast’s Instagram account this weekend. Saturday didn’t provide the best weather to document the great things happening during Bike Week/Doors Open/100 in 1 Day, but Barss still ended up with some amazing shots (like the one above). If you […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The casual sexism of being a female journalist
[Image-1] Once upon a time, I visited a government building with a couple female colleagues. Between us, we had six degrees and worked for almost every major print and broadcast chain in the country. We were all under 30. The security guard didn’t believe us when we identified as media. He laughed and said he […]
Posted inLove the Way We Bitch/Love
SEXIST BEER ADS
This may come as a shock to beer companies but women (gasp!) drink beer too!!! Why then, are beer companies flogging their products with scantilly clad ‘beer babes’ who are clearly designed to appeal to hetero men or lesbians? Where are the scantlly clad young men for the women beer drinkers to ogle? Seriously! If […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Seven human rights complaints involve HRM or its employees
Last week constable Charles Bruce, who is black, filed a complaint against the Halifax Police Department with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. In the complaint, Bruce alleges that he was passed over for promotion on account of his race. Bruce’s complaint is just the latest to arise in the ranks of HRM. Sergeant Robyn […]