THEVOICE |

6

Native
culture
not for
show

ow much can I learn and
connect with the peoples of
Canada simply by watching

a performance or purchasing artifacts
they produce?

The annual Coastal First Nations
Dance Festival will quietly celebrate
a 10-year partnership with the UBC
Museum of Anthropology at the end
of this month, while the country marks
its 150th anniversary and ponders the
recommendations handed down by the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Anniversary celebrations are already
underway. Many of them include First
Nations and aboriginal dance, art, and
cultural performance. It seems odd that
the events that mark Canada’s establish-
ment come at a time when the country
is also trying to heal. The presentations
of a unified history of Canada do not
not reflect the ex-
periences of many
Canadians. People
are calling out that
history because it
does not respect all

the peoples who |) J
live within it’s bor- \\ Nees

_ OPINION

ders.
Odder still
the sense that the RONNIELEE
dances, the art
LA MADELEINE

and the storytell-
ing feel more like a
grab for tourism than a desire to build
inclusive community in Canada. At
least, that was how I felt after watch-
ing a presentation at a Vancouver City
Council meeting on Jan. 24 that out-
lined a year of First Nations and aborig-
inal events the city has planned for the
country’s celebrations. It was partially
sponsored by national and provincial

“The art and
storytelling feel
more like a grab for
tourism.”

tourism boards.

My misgivings may also come from
a conversation I had last October with
Aaron Nelson-Moody, a master carver
and instructor at Langara, who is teach-
ing the reconciliation carving course.
During our conversation, he talked
about the goal of carving in his com-
munity: to carry a tradition from one
generation to the next.

“You have to re-carve [the totem] ev-
ery generation,” he said. “Its being part
of a continuum of carving 'and ceremo-
ny that has been going on for 12,000
years here.”

If he is right, then learning and un-
derstanding is participatory, then the

THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 2017

EDITOR BONNIE LEE LA MADELEINE

Viewpoints

Wanted: real gentlemen

hivalry is dead, hopefully.

When the provincial
government mandates that
all B.C. campuses must

P

educate their stu-
dents on what is
sexual consent
and what is rape,
it suggests that
something must
be going horribly
wrong in the way
boys and young
men learn about
empathy, sympa-
thy, and physical
boundaries.
What we can

hd
OPINION

SASHA
LAKIC

tell from numbers released by Statis-
tics Canada is that the assailant in 94
per cent of the sexual assaults reported.
in 2014 were male. What’s worse,
StatCan found that the number of
reported sexual assaults has remained.
stable compared to the relative decline
in other violent crimes since 2004.
The key word here is reported. Men
are also victims of sexual assault, but
they are much more reluctant to report
than even women are, for fear of ridi-
cule or disbelief according to StatCan.
Despite the reluctance of both men
and women to report the true numbers
of sexual assault, the troubling lopsid-
edness of StatCan’s findings demands
that everyone, and men in particular,

must re-examine their place in adult
relationships.

Men look to the socially constructed
“gentleman” -—
to guide their
attitudes and
behaviour to-
wards women.

Chivalrous
brutes like
James Bond
and Dan Bil-
zerian come to mind, who, when revis-
ited, set normative male standards by
manhandling, belittling and objectify-
ing most women they encounter.

For generations, we have rarely
questioned the protector and warrior

“[M]en in particular
must re-examine
their place in adult
relationships.”

roles that are almost universally ex-
pected to be filled by “good men.” Is it
a surprise that rape culture continues
— to shape the be-
haviors of young
men today?
Although Lan-
gara’s new sexual
consent policy is
taking the male
perspective into
account in a very
exemplary manner, as it does with

the rest of the gender spectrum, it is
equally important that we teach young
males, that growing up means ques-
tioning and rooting out the archaic
ways of the men before us.

CONCEPT: LAUREN BOOTHBY; COMIC: CASS LUCKE

Veggie-only love breeds narrow minds

eeking out people who already
S think like you might help to en-

sure a sort of stability in your rela-
tionship, but it can also mean depriving
yourself of new ideas.

For example, Vancouver vegetarians
can now find love partners who share
their values by participating in veggie
speed dating.

These veggie dating groups appear
to have one goal: to help people find

new friends and partners with common

limits your social circles. Yet, most peo-
ple don’t willingly
seek out people
who don’t share
their values.

I was speaking
to a vegetarian
friend, who is con-
sidering veganism,
about this new
dating trend and
about inter-foodie

OPINION

avid meat-eater.

The vegetarian argued that food
preferences come from people’s moral
position, making it impossible to date
someone who has a different phi-
losophy. Being a vegan is a statement
of identity, and thus plays a big role
in their love-choices. Going to such
groups or websites just increases the
chances of finding someone who shares
a compatible moral position.

‘The meat-eater, however, said that

ing sites for specific groups limits op-
tions, he thinks. He said letting such a
small aspect of someone’s lifestyle influ-
ence who a person dates is shallow.

Limiting your social circle to those
who think like you could lead to apathy
in the future as you fail to grow and be
challenged by the differing opinions of
those around you.

A person might start thinking that
everyone shares his beliefs. Over time
this may make it harder to be open to

gateway to connecting with all Canadi- | interests. By limiting your exposure to VIOLETTA relationships. We food preferences have nothing to do chance encounters, and that would be a
ans starts by entering into each others’ | only people with ideas identical to yours KRYAK were joined by an with someone’s love-life. Going on dat- _ big mistake.
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