Author Archives: Kat

Selling Sex: Abolition vs Regulation

Many people were introduced to the concept of Human Trafficking via the movie Taken where Bryan Mills’ (played by Liam Neeson) daughter is kidnapped and groomed for prostitution and he has to save her by killing everyone who has an accent.

Good Luck

Around the same time I watched the movie Taken I read a book called Invisible Chains by Benjamin Perrin. The book is a well documented account of Perrin’s investigation into human trafficking in Canada, an investigation that began internationally but ended up in his own backyard when he was “shocked to learn of a case of human trafficking in his hometown.” The book delves into several specific cases, and by specific, I mean horrific: “a 14-year-old from Ontario sold for sex on Craigslist; young women from the war-torn Congo and Colombia trafficked to brothels and massage parlours in Canada; a 21-year-old from Alberta who went missing in Las Vegas in 2006.”

Continue reading

Pinteresting Jennifer Lawrence… and diets

Pinterest. What is it you ask? Well, it’s a virtual bulletin board where you can find interesting pictures and articles and “pin them” for later. It’s essentially virtual hoarding, but not just hoarding of stuff, but also craft ideas, photography, tattoos, cool houses and much, much more.

Some people seem to think Pinterest is limited to women who are focused on one thing.

I’m pretty sure this only shows the men who are openly on Pinterest, ’cause John pinterests from my account all the time.

Continue reading

Shame Day: Sex, Money and the Canadian Senate

What do the following senators Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy have in common?

They are both under scrutiny for wasting government money. Wallin, for charging 300,000 dollars of travel expenses to the Canadian Government under what she claims to have been “an accounting error” and Duffy for billing “both the Senate and the Conservative Party on the days that he campaigned for the Tory candidates.

But that’s not all. Continue reading

Feminism, Homemakers, and Stepford Wives

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say the words “wife and homemaker”?

Exactly.

Now as you probably know by now I’m getting married this summer. I’m super stoked about spending the rest of my life with John because he is my best friend and we have awesome adventures, but I’ve been struggling with what it means to become a wife within our cultural context.

Look at us! We’re married! Now we can jump on the bed!

Continue reading