women Archives - Queen's Journal

Dear Body Shamers: A woman’s weight is not indicative of her health

Written on April 2, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

In a society that privileges toxic, Eurocentric ideals of thin bodies, women—particularly women of colour—suffer. Society likes to equate health with weight. Yet that toxic logic is what allows eating disorders, particularly in larger body types, to go overlooked. When women lose weight, they’re praised—even...

Women deserve to run without fear

Written on March 19, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I’m an avid distance runner—a slow but steady tortoise on the move. My evening runs are the few moments of peace and silence squeezed in between busy days of virtual meetings. The other day, I was a woman on a mission running just outside of campus....

Women aren’t suffering ‘imposter syndrome.’ They’re experiencing workplace discrimination.

Written on March 2, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Too often, the phrase “imposter syndrome” is thrown around to describe women’s feelings of inadequacy in the workplace. In many cases, the words shield a much larger problem: discrimination in the workplace. Western conceptions of leadership often centre on masculine ideals of tough bosses characterized...

We need more nuanced representations of Muslim women

Written on February 26, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Whenever we talk about representation of a minority group, we always talk about how to do it ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ It’s no different for Muslim characters—we need them to be perfectly imperfect. We need them to represent us in the way that brings us tolerance and acceptance. This often means that we’re...

Lower financial literacy for women is a problem that must be addressed

Written on February 2, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

Closing the financial literacy gap is a necessary step towards equality. Women, specifically women of colour, consistently report less confidence in their finances and economic future than their male counterparts. This is an alarming statistic considering financial literacy rates are correlated with...

Women in Music president discusses organization’s push beyond gender equity to other areas of diversity

Written on November 20, 2020. Posted in Arts.

According to its president, Nicole Barsalona, the Women in Music (WIM) organization encourages storytelling as a way to inspire younger musicians and show them what’s possible. “We hope to empower women in their roles to feel more comfortable and confident and give them that network,” she said in...

Working moms deserve more support in the workplace

Written on November 3, 2020. Posted in Editorials.

According to a 2020 survey, one in four women are thinking about quitting their jobs. This isn’t because they can’t handle the work—it’s because women are expected to be both mothers and model employees, without the leeway to do both. For centuries, women have been considered the primary caretakers....

What being a woman means to us this International Women’s Day

Written on March 10, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

This International Women’s Day, we had 23 hours—thanks, Daylight Savings—to think about the contributions and wonderful qualities of women in our lives. From relatives, to friends, to public figures, we are surrounded by incredible women who persist in a world that limits them. While it’s impossible...

Chair in Women in Engineering position approved by Board of Trustees

Written on January 14, 2020. Posted in News.

At its December meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a new position for a Chair in Women in Engineering. The position will be in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. The appointment for the position is a five-year term. The proposal...

Apologizing to the women of pop culture

Written on November 22, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Women in pop culture have always been subject to overwhelming (and, frankly, stupid) criticism for absolutely everything they do. What follows is a list of women and genderqueer people that society tried to convince me were monsters by incorrectly labelling them ‘sluts,’ ‘traitors,’ and ‘idiots.’ Some...

Women in national sports deserve better recognition

Written on November 15, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

Publications such as Sports Illustrated have hundreds of staff members. However, scrolling through their masthead, it’s abundantly clear that a disparity remains in the ratio of men to women at large sports publications. You’d be hard-pressed to find a woman’s byline or opinion piece published...

How research at Queen’s is helping female veterans

Written on November 8, 2019. Posted in Features.

Brittany Laramie joined the Canadian Armed Forces in the summer of 2008. At age 17, she was the first woman in her family to serve in the military. A regular force infantrywoman, Laramie served in the second battalion Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry. “I had a long family history of military...

Canadian female politicians deserve better recognition and support

Written on October 29, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

Based on the rate at which women are being elected to Canadian Parliament, it’ll be another 83 years before the House of Commons achieves gender parity. This is because, despite marginal increases in representation, women still aren’t given the voices they deserve in Canadian politics—which hurts...

Women at work weighed down by social norms

Written on October 1, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

Working women suffer from the burden of traditional gendered expectations—and it’s destroying their health. A recent study by the Australian National University found that when combining time spent at work, performing household domestic labour, and caregiving, women are exceeding their “work hour-health...

Women in the workplace deserve better recognition

Written on February 1, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

Just because women are being hired in rigorous professional fields, doesn’t mean they’re being treated equally. From engineering to economics, logical and data-driven disciplines remain traditionally male-dominated due to men’s supposedly superior intellectual rigour. Even now, with women entering...

Menstrual product pilot deserves wider implementation

Written on January 11, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

In 2016, women made up just over half the population in Canada—and many of them, whether willingly or otherwise, live with monthly menstrual cycles. But despite this high proportion, products like tampons and pads remain expensive and sometimes inaccessible. In large part, this can be credited to...

Mind the confidence gap

Written on January 11, 2019. Posted in Features, Investigations.

The confidence gap is 40 per cent—the difference between the 100 per cent qualifications women feel they need for a job and the 60 per cent men do, according to a Harvard Business Review study. Whether it’s finance or physics, women can be reluctant to push for advancement, especially as they enter...

Simons’ lingerie line trivializes Canadian women’s success

Written on September 21, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

Naming lingerie after an accomplished woman without her permission diminishes her success instead of celebrating it. However, that’s exactly how Quebec-based retailer La Maison Simons has treated Canadian female trailblazers. From suffragette Nellie McClung to Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, the...

Women's magazines promote women's public health

Written on September 7, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

Women’s health and government policy go hand-in-hand. In a year that highlighted gendered abuses, women’s magazines have provided essential information. In the past year, the value of women’s magazines has become more evident than ever. The volatile political climate in the United States has seeped...

Other women’s successes aren’t your failures

Written on March 23, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

I firmly believe female friendships are one of the greatest gifts the world can offer. Despite their value, there’s a culture of resentment amongst women that can make it harder to form and develop relationships, be it friendly or professional. Why is this resentment such an automatic reaction to...

Finding inspiration outside of normal confines

Written on March 9, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

Despite living in a world where men dominate politics, engineering and other powerful societal roles, my own personal world growing up taught me to not think for a second that there was anything a woman couldn’t do. When someone looks at a summary of my life up until where I am now, they would likely...

Your 20s don’t need to be spent worrying about having children

Written on February 13, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

Even though I’m only 21 years old, I’ve already been told several times that my biological clock is ticking. Today, women have better access to birth control, more representation in different career fields and a stronger presence in politics than ever before. Despite this, one thing hasn’t changed....

Queen’s medical school’s prejudicial past

Written on February 6, 2018. Posted in Features.

Although Queen’s was one of the first schools in Canada to accept women into their medical school, they were also the first to systemically expel them. The climate on Queen’s campus was particularly inhospitable to women in the 1880s. According to a 1997 article by the Canadian Medical Association...

Taking my seat: 2018 is the year of woman

Written on January 12, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

Let’s claim it now – 2018 is the year of the woman. It’s our turn. Issues of sexual violence, gender inequality and race inequality are all at the top of our minds and the media is actually taking significant steps to report on it, thanks to the perseverance of a lot of tired advocates who have put...

Queen’s grad supporting female programmers in Kingston

Written on July 31, 2017. Posted in News.

When Queen’s graduate Melissa Mangos attended the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing conference in January 2016, she noticed a lack of initiatives available for female computer programmers in Kingston. To remedy the lack of female involvement, Sudo was born four months later. Launched by Mangos,...

From silent sisterhood to outspoken alliance

Written on May 28, 2017. Posted in Features.

There were five women in the class of 1884. While each would go on to have a prosperous career — a writer, a medical missionary, a teacher, a professor and a doctor — their journeys were not without struggle. Their graduation marked an important moment in history and the beginning of a new era for...

One step forward, two steps back

Written on March 31, 2017. Posted in Editorials.

Arguments about how men are impacted by gender equality don’t have to tear down women to be valid. An opinion piece published in CBC, written by Neil Macdonald, argues that the 2017 federal budget, with its focus on gender equity, excluded men in its emphasis on women’s issues, such as the wage gap...

Creative writing illuminated from the other side

Written on June 27, 2016. Posted in Arts.

“Language, which is useful in the province of the intellect is a relatively clumsy vehicle in the expression of emotion and of narrative movement,” Carol Shields wrote in her work Narrative Hunger and the Possibilities of Fiction. I had never heard of Carol Shields before I held her latest work....

Four indie films on womanhood available on Netflix

Written on March 31, 2016. Posted in Arts.

If you’re not a straight white male, the journey to have your work in film respected can be a tumultuous one. A study conducted by the University of Southern California last year found that females made up roughly 34 per cent of speaking roles in movies and scripted series produced in 2014 and...

Kasa-vubu a versatile talent

Written on February 9, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

When committing to Queen’s, Geneviève Kasa-vubu admitted that the university’s lack of diversity made her hesitate. “I kind of just took it as a challenge,” she said. “Sometimes it [the lack of diversity] does bother you, but I’m too busy to feed myself into that.” Read more at QJLongform.com.

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