Spectrum (E-Journal)
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Maternal Divinity, Fetishised Commodity: The Multifaceted Symbolism of Breasts in Mahasweta Devi’s “Breast-Giver”
Get PDFWomen’s bodies in postcolonial Indian society are interpreted and utilised to serve multiple systems of oppression, as examined in the work of writer Mahasweta Devi. Her short story “Breast-Giver” is about a professional wet-nurse named Jashoda, whose breasts and body are continually exploited until she succumbs to breast cancer. By engaging with several conceptual frameworks, including Marxist, subaltern, feminist, and psychoanalytic theories, I examine how the symbolism of Jashoda’s breasts changes throughout Devi’s story. In the first half of the story, Jashoda’s breasts are objectified in sexual and consumerist terms by her husband, while her body is perceived by her employers as a tool of labour. Since she produces a surplus of breast milk for her employers’ children and grandchildren, Jashoda’s exploitation is venerated through frequent comparisons to Hindu goddesses. In the second half of the story, Jashoda’s inability to lactate and her subsequent cancer completely invalidate her existence and reduce her to an expendable and discarded body, especially in the juxtaposition between her desirable breast milk and the abject pus from her cancer sores. Therefore, religious veneration and sexual attention awarded to Jashoda’s breasts are relevant only as long as they can be exploited to produce milk for the capitalist enterprise of her employers. Devi’s story thus uses the imagery of Jashoda’s breasts to conceptualise the effects of the intersecting oppressive systems of patriarchy and neoliberal capitalism on the subaltern woman in postcolonial Indian society
Stigma Cultures in Healthcare Scale – Qualitative Findings in an Emergency Department Setting
Get PDFOne in five Canadians will experience a mental illness. Stigma poses a significant barrier for those with mental illness trying to access treatment. The Exploring Mental health Barriers in Emergency Rooms Study (EMBER) study aims to better understand stigma experienced by those with mental health and addiction concerns in emergency department (ED) settings. For this stage of the study, participants were asked to complete a survey detailing their visit to an ED in a hospital in Southern Alberta. Two scales were used to measure the presence of structural stigma in the ED: the Stigma Cultures in Healthcare Scale (SCHS) and an adapted version of the Patient Experiences of Mental Healthcare (PEMHC) scale. Results showed differential treatment experienced by those with mental health concerns as well as structural changes that could be made to ameliorate the experience of patients with mental health concerns. 
The Situation of Mothers Impacted by Albinism in sub-Saharan Africa: A Video Analysis
Get PDFBackground and Aim: First-hand accounts of human rights violations are increasingly being shared in video format, and researchers are steadily tapping into these mainstream videos as sources of research data. A population group facing stigma, trafficking, mutilation and killings is persons with albinism (a rare genetic condition) in Africa. Mothers of children with albinism carry a disproportionate burden in protecting and providing for their families, often in life circumstances of stigma and poverty. The Mothering and Albinism project was established to address their experiences.
Methods: Our international team of multidisciplinary undergraduate students conducted content analyses on fourteen videos that feature and described mothers and their experiences of giving birth to a child with albinism and how they navigated their lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Findings: The videos were thematically characterised by the varying experiences of mothers and the prominent responses of fathers, families, healthcare providers and the community that impact how mothers then move forward in raising their children with albinism. Factors such as the unavailability of health information and persisting misunderstandings about the condition accounted for the negative experiences of mothers and families.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that public education is needed to improve responses of families, healthcare providers and the community, allowing for referral to local resources, improved management of the health issues faced by persons with albinism, and less blame attributed to mothers for their child’s albinism
Beyond Consent: Rethinking Approaches to Sex Tourism in the Global South
Get PDFSex tourism is a complex, multi-billion-dollar industry entangled with issues of consent, exploitation, and power imbalances. Traditional frameworks for understanding consent — dominance feminism and sex-positive feminism — offer limited insights into the nuances of sex tourism. In this paper, I argue that the concept of consent is too narrow to embody the social, political, and economic complexities of agency, sex work, and exploitation within the realm of sex tourism in the Global South specifically. Additionally, I seek to establish an alternative framework for understanding sexual relations within the realm of sex tourism, encouraging divestment from and addressing the lack of applicability of conventional consent frameworks. In this paper, I apply dominance feminism and sex-positive feminism frameworks to the context of sex tourism and discuss their implications and shortcomings. Following this, I expand upon Daniel Loick’s (2017) politics of forms of life to establish a more holistic approach to understanding and addressing the complexities of sex tourism. I intend for this paper to serve as a starting point for an approach to sex work and agency in the context of sex tourism that does not simply rely on a rigid, binary framework of consensual or non-consensual as a measure of goodness and to build upon literature that seeks to recognize the agency of sex workers while also recognizing the broader social, political, and economic contexts in which sexual encounters occur within this realm
Autoethnography of a Queer Racialized Athlete
Get PDFOver four decades of research has suggested that there is a high prevalence of homophobia and transphobic attitudes, behaviors, policies, and practices within sport and physical activity. These realities serve as barriers or deterrents to participation for many 2SLGBTQIA+ people and groups and can also make sport and physical activity unwelcoming and even unsafe for those who choose to participate. In this important body of work, there remains a glaring absence of racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ athletes’ experiences. To help to address this gap, the primary purpose of my research was to explore how marginalized communities experience overlapping forms of discrimination in sport. Adopting an autoethnographic methodological approach, I wrote a series of vignettes about my own experiences as a queer racialized athlete in Western Canada. While writing the vignettes was a reflective process in and of itself, I also followed the tenets of critical discourse analysis to think about my experiences in relation to the broader cultural context. This resulted in the creation of three themes: intersectionality, microaggressions, and homophobia. Each worked independently and together to create an unsafe space for me, impacting my athletic experiences and life more broadly in negative ways. Reflecting on my experiences critically, however, also allowed me to think about resistance and resiliency. My hope is that my work contributes to existing literature and provide insight for other queer racialized athletes who may have had similar experiences in sport
"As Long as the Grass Grows, and the Sun Walks": Finding Discomfort in Land Acknowledgements
Get PDFWe all have a shared history of Land Acknowledgements. Settler Canadians are familiar with their use, but they may not understand their meaning. This essay stems from a collective frustration with improper Land Acknowledgments, and how they now produce more harm than good. This essay asks, what do Land Acknowledgements within Treaty 6 achieve in terms of reconciliation for Indigenous peoples? By looking at specific acknowledgements from organizations in Edmonton, I argue that these institutional acknowledgements are not rooted in reconciliation, but rather they are based upon false allyship with Indigenous Peoples. These rather script-like texts teach us that Land Acknowledgements have been re-imagined in a colonial view. By promoting settler discomfort within Land Acknowledgements, Canadians can begin to educate themselves on the basis of land and what the words within these acknowledgements mean for Indigenous reconciliation
Reconciliation or Colonial Continuity? A Critical Perspective from a Newcomer
Get PDFThis paper critically examines the concept of reconciliation in Canada from a newcomer\u27s perspective, interrogating its role in disrupting or perpetuating colonial continuity. Drawing on personal and political reflections, this analysis challenges the narrative of Canada as a reconciler and highlights the state’s historical and ongoing role in Indigenous dispossession and cultural erasure. By engaging thinkers such as Glen Coulthard, Romeo Saganash, Norma Dunning and Elders, the paper critiques settler policies and further investigates how recognition policies reassert colonial authority under the guise of reconciliation. The paper concludes by advocating for a shift beyond symbolic gestures toward structural transformation that centers Indigenous determinations and worldviews. In doing so, it calls on non-Indigenous individuals to move beyond passive solidarity and engage critically and responsibly in the work of decolonization
Broad-spectrum antibacterial properties of a Pseudomonas field isolate and potential rhizomicrobiome implications
Get PDFPlant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) such as Pseudomonas have been widely acclaimed for their roles in sustainable food production and consumption of pollutants in contaminated soils. Yet, we still have much to learn about how dynamics of highly diverse microbial communities are influenced by PGPBs capable of antibacterial activity. This article characterizes the antimicrobial profile of an Indiana Pseudomonas field isolate. To our knowledge, this work is the first to demonstrate Pseudomonas-induced inhibition of the PGPB Serratia marcescens, as well as Pseudomonas-induced inhibition and/or color change of Kocuria rhizophila. These data raise intriguing questions about how best to maximize the efficacy of biofertilizers containing multiple different organisms while minimizing unintended disruption of soil microbiomes. In addition, similar to previously published Pseudomonas strains, our isolate inhibited growth of clinically relevant bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium, and Sarcina. Future studies thus should investigate whether Pseudomonas-derived antibiotics could have novel applications in treating opportunistic Serratia, Kocuria, or Sarcina human infections.
Exterior and Interior Injustice and Selfhood in the Poetry of Mary Robinson
Get PDFMary Robinson was a writer who made important contributions to the earliest phases of the Romantic movement. Infamous in her own time for having been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but soon forgotten after her death, her work is largely understudied. Seeking to understand the work of this writer, this paper explores the theme of justice in Robinson’s work through a close reading of her poetry and finds her understanding of this theme shifts through her career, but is always connected to identity and selfhood. Her earlier poems suggest injustice is exterior to one’s sense of self and does not inhibit one’s ability to autonomously actualize their identity, while her later views suggest that injustice is interior to the self and can permanently inhibit the formation and actualization of the victim’s identity. Further, this paper connects events in Robinson’s life during the earlier and later phases of her writing that might have resulted in this shift in her views. In light of this research, further investigation of Robinson’s writing is necessary to advance an understanding of her unique voice in particular and the Romantic movement as a whole
The Decline of the Hard Bodied Action Hero: - or Peter Parker as a Contemporary Action Hero in Marvel\u27s Spider-Man Far From Home (2019)
Get PDFOver the last few decades, action cinema has become more technologically and narratively complex, allowing for more extraordinary on-screen spectacles that leave audiences at the edge of their seats. However, throughout all these transformations, one aspect of the action film has always remained consistent: the emphasis on the strapping male hero. The fearless male heroes we know today, like Rambo and John McClane, were developed during the 1980s and 1990s pure action cycle, where heroes had to embody idealized qualities of masculinity, such as physical strength, courage, and determination. These hard-bodied heroes established a generic standard for decades, creating an unattainable and disconnected standard of masculinity. Contemporary action films, like Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), have begun countering these exaggerated portrayals of masculinity, presenting new action heroes who deviate from the generic convention to embody more nuanced representations of masculinity