Category: Opinions

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An open letter to Jean-François Roberge, Quebec’s minister of the French language

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Tuition hikes for out-of-province students like me will not solve the decline of the French language.

My name is Lucas-Matthew Marsh.

I am the Managing Editor of the Concordian, News Director for CJLO radio, and one of the  English-speaking out-of-province students that would be affected by the Quebec government’s decision to increase tuition rates. Had this policy been implemented a semester earlier, I would not have been able to complete my undergraduate degree due to financial constraints.

When I immigrated to Quebec in the fall of 2018, I did so with the intention of staying in the province after I graduated. I remember the night of my first snowfall in Montreal. I walked down Joseph St. and looked into the warmly lit townhouses. I fantasised about buying one of those houses and the future that awaited me here.

Six years later, this announcement has only solidified my decision to leave the province after I graduate in the spring of 2024, to start fresh where life doesn’t have to be so unnecessarily difficult.

When it comes to preserving the French language, I am probably the most sympathetic anglophone there is. Time and time again, I have defended this province to my so-called Quebec-bashing friends and family. However, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to do so when legislation such as this makes it explicitly clear that I am no longer welcome here.

For as long as I have lived in Montreal, it’s been a hallmark of your administration to play on longstanding language divides for political gain. The CAQ has avoided full scale sovereignist rhetoric while making life for its anglophone and non French-speaking citizens as difficult as possible. I am tired of having to work twice as hard to get my foot in the door when my limited French skills would be an incredible asset anywhere else.

During my undergraduate degree, I have worked as a meat clerk, call centre agent, jeweller’s assistant and barback. At each of these positions, within a month I learned enough French to sufficiently communicate with my clientele. I am among the thousands of other English-speaking out of province students in Montreal that are a vital fabric of this province’s economy. If you push us out, you will miss out on some of the most hardworking and determined workforce in the country. 

Imposing financial constraints on hardworking students such as myself will not solve the decline of the French language in the province. The only impact that these policies will have is discouraging a large number of young people from studying in the province. It also forces those who are already here to spend their invaluable time doing low paying menial labour—time that would better be spent studying, working internships, contributing to the province’s artistic community and most importantly, learning the French language.

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War is not a soccer game

Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys

When it comes to war, we should not be divided.

Almost two weeks ago, I woke up to my phone flooded with news, messages and post notifications about the Israeli airstrike in Palestine. Later, pro-Palestine marches were held in downtown Montreal. On the other side, Israel’s supporters also organized a rally in front of the Israeli Consulate in Westmount. Both groups want to end the war. Both are against killing innocent souls. 

Before expressing my own view on the Israel-Hamas war, let me tell you my own war story. In the summer of 2006, I went to Lebanon for vacation. Two weeks in, Israel started throwing bombs on South Lebanon, which was where I was staying at the time. My mom received phone calls from several family members urging her to find shelter because a war was about to begin. 

We quickly packed up and went to my aunt’s house. That night was the beginning of a living hell. All we would hear was a helicopter, followed by a loud explosion. Both felt like thunder and an earthquake at the same time. Every second felt like playing Russian roulette. Is our building next? Am I next? Will my family and I be alive tomorrow? 

Our nights were dark. A light turned on at night would signify the presence of civilians in that building. I remember being afraid of lighting a candle to find my way to the bathroom.

We spent the rest of the war at my grandparent’s house on the sixth floor. I clearly remember how I would see the bomb dropping and a building collapsing before my eyes. My heart used to beat so fast that I felt it was physically going to burst out of my chest. No one and nothing can erase those memories that I will always fall short of describing.

During the period when I used to live in Lebanon, I learned to think of Israelis as our enemies. I also learned to look down on people with different religious beliefs and sexual orientations. As I grew up and eventually moved to Canada, I un-learned everything that I know now is wrong. I started loving people for who they are, regardless of our differences. The world is already full of hatred, so why can’t we be the ones spreading love and acceptance?

For this war, I will not support one country over the other. What I choose to support is ending violence against the unarmed population. I believe innocent souls do not deserve to be taken because of a war between governments. It is crucial to remember that they are all humans in the end and it is our responsibility to show each other solidarity. To me, anything that does not support peacemaking for both countries is simply unethical.

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Sanctioning independent news: brought to you by big tech

Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys

Dissenting journalists are being severed from their financial lifelines.

In late August, The Grayzone, an investigative journalism site, began a fundraising effort to provide full time positions for three of its contributing journalists. After raising over $90,000 using the popular fundraising site GoFundMe, they received a notice from the platform stating that their donations were being held pending a “review,” prompted by “some external concerns.”

There is a disturbing trend emerging in the independent media space as tech platforms and government agencies continue to crush dissent and free speech on the internet. One method they have successfully harnessed is preventing independent voices and news sites from collecting donations from their supporters. Crowdfunding and payment processing platforms offer vague explanations for this and are almost never held accountable.

Among other dissenting voices (on the right and the left), anti-war and anti-imperialist journalists are being targeted with financial sanctioning. Investigative site MintPress News had a similar experience with GoFundMe in March 2022, and along with Consortium News, it was suspended from PayPal in the months that followed. Wyatt Reid, one of the three journalists The Grayzone sought to hire full-time, was also banned from PayPal and its subsidiary Venmo last year, likely due to his on-the-ground reporting in the eastern provinces of Ukraine.

By challenging conventional narratives about war and exposing what Western leaders would rather keep hidden, the above-mentioned outlets surely evoke the ire of governments and their security services—the likely parties expressing “concerns” to tech platforms. While The Grayzone’s supporters were inevitably able to receive refunds and the campaign was able to continue on another platform, questions remain about GoFundMe’s actions and the broader implications of the incident. 

Outlets like The Grayzone, MintPress and Consortium News are primarily supported by their audiences, allowing them to provide their sites to the public free of cost, advertisements and editorial constraints. In the times we’re living in, this model appears both as a strength and a vulnerability: streams of grassroots funding can be switched off in a keystroke. Though the frequency of this kind of financial sanctioning has recently increased, it isn’t a new tactic. After releasing a tranche of US diplomatic cables in late 2010, WikiLeaks was subjected to a banking blockade by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Bank of America and Western Union, preventing the transfer of donations to the controversial publisher.

Sanctioning journalism through online financial service providers has already become a weapon against freedom of speech on the internet. It is a concerted effort to take the legs out from underneath independent news organizations that challenge official narratives and orthodoxies.

We are subjected to a barrage of propaganda and disinformation daily from mainstream media outlets and Western governments. Especially with the recent eruption of violence in Israel and Palestine, the essential role of independent journalism—telling the truth about what is (and what has been) happening—has become abundantly clear.

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Open letter to my Jewish community

Graphic by Avery Monette

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war*, it is more important than ever to educate ourselves on the full scope of the conflict* and perspectives beyond our own.

This is a difficult letter to write. Not only is the subject matter so complex, but the delicacy it takes to address an entire group of individuals—especially a group that I belong to—is immense. My intention is not to instigate, rather to share my thoughts and remark on what I’ve noticed in the wake of recent events. 

Following the break-out of war in Israel, people have taken adamant and fervent stances. I have seen many members of my Jewish community sharing Zionist views—that is to say, standing firmly with Israel and advocating for the nation’s protection at all costs. In the process, this rhetoric fails to acknowledge Palestinian experiences and the full scope of the war. Though distress at the Hamas killings is more than understandable, failing to acknowledge the immense Palestinian death toll and the inhumane conditions for civilians in Gaza is not. As Jewish people, and within the context of our complex relationship with Israel, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves on the issue from an unbiased perspective. We cannot use our own suffering to justify violence. 

Education on the issue is an ongoing process that takes on many forms, but it includes doing research into the harsh realities of the war and the history of the ongoing conflict, seeking out and listening to Palestinian voices, and having difficult conversations about Israel and what it means to be Jewish, especially in this moment. 

I understand that the Jewish relationship can vary widely. Some Jews may have been raised to believe that God gave Israel to the Jewish people and may now exist in a Zionist echo chamber. On the other end of the spectrum, many Jews are adamantly anti-Zionist yet may know Zionist community members or have Israeli relatives. I believe you can acknowledge these nuances while also condemning a corrupt government and the actions it has taken.

That being said, I also understand the frustration of constantly being conflated with Israel and being held accountable for the actions of the Israeli government. Though anti-Zionism does not equal antisemitism and one can absolutely criticize Israel without being antisemitic, these views are often used to justify antisemitism. This is in large part to blame for the dramatic rise in antisemitic hate crimes throughout North America, which is dismaying and frightening to see. Yet again, we must not use these examples of violence to diminish Palestinian experiences. There has been a serious increase in anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hate crimes as well, which is not to compare experiences or play games of “who has it worse,” but rather to point out a universal lack of humanity in regards to this issue. Suffering is not mutually exclusive—as Jews, we absolutely can (and should) mourn our own losses while also acknowledging the experiences of other groups and condemning all violence toward them. 

Though I am specifically addressing my own Jewish community in this letter, its basic concept extends universally. Everyone is raised with a distinct set of values, which become more complicated once religion and culture are involved. However, we do not exist in a vacuum with our own people, and our perspective on the world often fails to reflect that. To stand obstinately with one’s values despite evidence from the opposition is not admirable, it is only damaging. How can humans progress if we don’t educate ourselves and make an active effort toward evolving? Every case of positive progress—civil rights, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, women’s rights—is only hindered by people who refuse to reevaluate the ideas they so firmly believe in. 

We cannot choose what set of beliefs we are born into, and we cannot control the information we are raised with. What we can control is the information we seek out, and what we choose to do about it.

__

*Edit, March 31 2024: I would like to make a long overdue correction to the language I used in this letter at the time of publication. It is abundantly clear that this is not a war, but rather a genocide of the Palestinian people. It is not an ongoing conflict, but rather an ongoing occupation. As such, much of the wording used here is inadequate for communicating the true devastation of Israeli occupation and the impacts of Zionism. As the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza continues to rise, there is less and less place for “nuance” in these discussions.

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    The (back)stage of gaming community moderation

    Graphic by Keven Vaillancourt @kindaokev

    The gaming industry has done so much more than you think to keep the game community a better and safer place to be.

    While the pandemic had a negative impact on various industries, the gaming industry was not only resilient but also consolidated itself in a growing profit loop. Even throughout the lockdowns, it stood out with revenues exceeding USD $174 billion, according to Newzoo.

    As the gaming industry thrived, it created new job opportunities to meet the demands of a growing online audience. To understand the magnitude of this growth, Steam recorded an all-time high of 23.6 million average users in April 2020. Today, the gaming platform reported 33 million peak concurrent players. In 2022, at the tail end of the pandemic, streaming platform Twitch’s audience watched approximately 1.3 trillion minutes of video content, which is double the amount of time spent in 2019. With such rapid growth, commercial community moderators are essential to ensure safety and enjoyment in the virtual universe.

    Monitoring progress, maintaining stability and ensuring the safety of those who publish and consume content on a digital gaming platform is a social and mental challenge. These people work to guarantee a healthy space for those who turn on their consoles and PCs to distract themselves. 

    During the pandemic, commercial community moderators who were previously incognito on social media were called to the stage and the world learned about their valiant activities. In the post-pandemic era, the discussion surrounding the future of commercial community moderation has shifted with the arrival of the new act: the impact of artificial intelligence. As AI becomes a significant player in various sectors, including gaming community moderation, a careful and strategic approach is needed to balance the unique contributions of human moderators with the growing role of AI.

    The tool seems to emerge more as a support rather than a replacement. The ability to understand contexts, judge critically, and discern terms, dialects, and distinct uses of language is better left to the human mind, but this does not erase the countless skills and contributions that AI can bring. The best match would be combining AI with human activity in game moderation, as AI could be used to lessen the burden placed on gaming moderators and optimize their work. Montreal is one of the hubs of gaming community moderation, and the companies based here have a unique perspective on the valuable activity of the moderators. Thinking about sharing the stage with AI could make their show even greater knowing that the tools can improve their activity and ensure a better place to be and play. 

    In the evolving landscape of the gaming industry, the symbiotic relationship between human moderators and AI emerges as the key to maintaining an enjoyable virtual universe. As the sector continues to flourish, it’s clear that while AI is a valuable ally, it’s the harmonious fusion of human expertise and the tool capabilities that will shape the future of commercial community moderation in gaming.

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    Sounding Griffintown: where the streets tell stories

    William Street, just past Dow Brewery. Photo by Emma Wallace/ The Concordian

    Through an immersive sound walk, Griffintown refuses to be forgotten.

    Griffintown is a shadow of what it used to be. The once vibrant Montreal neighbourhood transformed into a bleak industrial area in the 70s before becoming the seemingly hip sector it is today. This new look comes with the weight of yet another unique community that fell victim to the city’s gentrification. Thankfully, there is a way to experience the neighbourhood as it used to be: by checking out “Sounding Griffintown.” 

    “Sounding Griffintown: A Listening Guide of a Montreal Neighbourhood” is the thesis project of Concordia graduate Lisa Gasior. It consists of nine tracks that vary in length from under a minute to 10 minutes; each one immerses the listener in sounds of Griffintown as they follow a map of the streets. The tracks incorporate interviews from people who grew up in the area, recounting stories of their upbringing in rich detail and personal anecdotes. Through sound and the visual landscape, a vivid picture is painted. All you need is a pair of headphones, a phone, and a data connection. Anyone can access “Sounding Griffintown” by checking out the webpage.

    The walk begins at the busy corner of Peel and Notre-Dame. From there, listeners are invited to follow the pace set by an echo of footsteps in the background of the soundscape. 

    Intimate details are offered like precious heirlooms. At the Dow Brewery, for example, a man’s voice explains how he and his friends used to sneak up on the roof and dangle from the edge. Later, another voice speaks about the lively community of the Griffintown Girls and Boys Club where all the teenagers would hang out. While there were good times, there are difficult memories too. On Shannon street, the interviewees recount the event of the 1944 plane crash that destroyed a three-storey building and killed 15 people; later, we are told about the brutal murder of Mary Gallagher, whose ghost allegedly still roams the streets. The walk ends on a bittersweet note at the ruins of St Ann’s church, which was a community hub until its demolition in 1970. 

    When neighbourhoods are forced to develop, their rich history often gets swept away. It’s important to uncover these histories and explore the backstories of our neighbourhoods in order to better understand the context of our living situations and how we got to the place we are now. 

    The deterioration of Griffintown was no accident. In the early 20th century, the neighbourhood consisted of predominantly working-class Irish and Southern European immigrants. In preparation for Expo ‘67, the city made an active effort to push out these communities to eliminate what they viewed as an ‘eyesore’. The Bonaventure Expressway was extended and hundreds of homes were demolished, which turned Griffintown into a lifeless industrial sector in the 70s . The landscape changed again in 2013, when the Quartier Innovation Montréal project launched an effort to revitalize the neighbourhood and introduce new artistic and economic developments. 

    As a result, Griffintown is now considered up-and-coming—but at what cost? The Griffintown of today may be shiny, but its rich history has been buried under condo developments and swanky restaurants. The gentrification of Montreal neighbourhoods is a major issue, and Griffintown is just one example. 

    Unfortunately we can’t reverse time, but we can always learn the backstories of the spaces we inhabit. We should of course delve deeper as well, as Sounding Griffintown fails to include Indigenous perspectives and only spotlights certain voices; the soundwalk is a place to start, but definitely not a comprehensive history.

     If you’re curious or if you simply want to know a bit more about the city, I suggest taking some time out of your day to check out “Sounding Griffintown.” Grab a pair of headphones and listen to what the streets are telling you. 

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    Martin Scorsese is wrong about Marvel, but he’s right about Hollywood

    Graphic by Lewis Badun

    There’s a cry for artistic freedom in the Academy-Award-winning director’s latest rant that sympathizers and dissenters alike should find common ground with.

    Martin Scorsese is yet again bemoaning the sweeping influence and thronging presence of Marvel movies in the modern cinema. In pre-pandemic years, Scorsese had lamented that the characters in these films lack complexity, the plot stakes are illegitimate, and that they provoke neither novel reflection nor genuine emotion for the viewer. In a recent interview with British GQ, Scorsese reiterated with more grave urgency the need for a radical upheaval in the industry. 

    As he sees it, true cinema is a dwindling art form—surviving only by virtue of legacy filmmakers, like the Safdie brothers and Christopher Nolan—that must be rescued from the grips of increasingly parochial executives lest a new generation come to view blockbusters as the cinematic standard. 

    It is far too tempting to dismiss his polemic as yet another quasi-existential fret on the part of an octogenarian who refuses to come to terms with changing tides and generational proclivities. And this would be in many ways correct. Scorsese’s assessment of Marvel movies crowding local theaters is largely exaggerated—we typically receive only a couple of them each year. His casual assumption that all films within the genre are essentially indistinguishable from one another is demonstrably crass, for there are notable character-driven complexities to be found in Marvel’s cinematic universe when we pay close attention. While there is something to be said for the lack of “real danger” posed to many of Marvel’s heroes, the happily-ever-after eludes many of them, as evidenced by the bittersweet conclusions to Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    Scorsese himself is renowned for directing several classic gangster movies. Prior to The Godfather, the predominant view of these films was equally as dismal as Scorsese’s perception of the superhero genre, as they were commonly decried for their glorification of crime and even denied the honorific of “art.” Coppola, Scorsese, and others in that lineage redefined what “real” cinema came to be understood as. 

    If Scorsese’s gripe with superhero movies has to do with a perceived simplicity of character and narrative, we would need to throw out a great deal of films produced every year. And even so, who should we then designate as the arbiter for the requisite degree of sophistication a production must exhibit to qualify as “true cinema?”

    Yet Scorsese’s sorrow is not unjustified. It is incontestably true that filmmakers are being constricted and prodded to respond to market interests in increasingly narrower ways. Even as decorated a filmmaker as Scorsese himself was left with no other resort than releasing The Irishman as a Netflix exclusive, for no other outlet would grant him the big screen while producing the film in the manner he intended – that is, to have the freedom to make creative decisions without having to consider the needs of an endless franchise. Scorsese lamented to British GQ about his experience with Warner Brothers when producing The Departed, noting that executives were more concerned with the potential for sequels than the integrity of the story Scorcese wanted to tell. 

    Increasingly intolerant attention spans have exacerbated the demand for fast-paced plots instead of character-driven narratives—something that, as Endgame’s director Joe Russo acknowledged, has impacted the direction of the Marvel franchise. James Gunn, who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, expressed similar laments, saying that “Movies in general are not as good as they used to be” as a result of the creative inhibitions that film executives have saddled writers with. 

    It is, therefore, not strictly Scorsese versus Marvel, but rather a clash between creatives and an industry that seeks to commodify art. It is pointless to engage in semantic gatekeeping over what constitutes “true cinema,” and one need not agree with Scorsese on every level—he is in many ways mistaken—to recognize in his words a plea for upholding cinema as an art form instead of an adaptive commodity.

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    Is TikTok’s “healing era” trend empowering?

    Graphic by Fin Grosu @tesdoncbenfinn

    TikTok’s “healing era” trend helped me become a better version of myself.

    What’s TikTok’s “healing era” all about? The healing era is when someone decides to prioritize themselves, stay away from toxicity, and do introspection through journaling, going to the gym, engaging in fun activities, and doing all they can to develop better life habits. 

    Last year before the #healingera went viral, I deactivated all my social media accounts. I wanted to focus on myself and eliminate distractions. I started working on projects I had been postponing and was quite productive. However, this did not last long. I started feeling isolated and felt like I did not have the tools to navigate my healing. It was just me getting lost in my thoughts.

    Later, I decided to go back and re-activate my accounts. I downloaded TikTok again, and since I was searching for self-love quotes all the time, the algorithm started bombarding me with “healing era” videos. I discovered that an entire group of people in this world are going through exactly what I am going through. Knowing that you’re not alone is comforting. 

    After watching tons of those videos, I became inspired and hopeful. I started seeing progress in those young women’s lives, which motivated me to work on myself. I started journaling and took a boxing class, and as hard as it once felt, I started taking myself on dates without feeling lonely.

    For the longest time, I thought choosing myself and prioritizing my mental health was selfish. It took learning from other people’s journeys worldwide to realize that choosing yourself is self-love and self-care, not selfishness. 

    After the healing era, women enter their villain era, another TikTok trend. Despite the name, the villain era is not about being mean or hurting others. The villain era is when a woman sets boundaries, stops being a people-pleaser and continues to choose herself unapologetically. 

    In the #villainera, you often see before and after videos of how a woman who was once broken and crying turns into a confident woman who is unshakeable. I find the villain era trend to be empowering because it motivates those going through their healing era and shows them what’s waiting at the end of the tunnel. 

    As much as I despise TikTok for making me doom scroll, I am still thankful for the app and those creators for teaching me ways to love myself and to not give up in the middle of my healing journey. The ‘healing era’ trend taught me how to be gentle with myself, and the ‘villain era’ trend has helped me visualize the version of myself I want to become.

    Regardless of any TikTok trend, healing is a long process, and we should not rush through it. There is no deadline for when the healing era has to stop and the villain era must begin. We should take things slow and not be hard on ourselves if our healing takes longer than people online. We all have our pace, and eventually, we can all get there.

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    Eliminating flavours won’t eliminate vaping—nothing can.

    Flavoured STLTH Vapes. Photo by Emma Wallace/The Concordian

    Will Quebec’s vaping regulations work?

    On Oct. 31, Quebec will officially ban flavoured e-cigarettes. After that point, only tobacco and unflavoured vapes will be sold. The move, intended to make nicotine products less appealing to youth and diminish vaping habits, has sparked a debate in Quebec. Is the province justified in their decision, or will the black market fill the demand once people are lacking legal means for their nicotine fix?

    The government’s intentions are well-founded, but I do believe that vaping will continue to be an issue, especially amongst youth. Removing flavoured vapes will improve the situation in a superficial sense, but nicotine abuse in general will likely never go away entirely. 

    However, the removal of flavoured products is long overdue. While cigarettes have been required to advertise warning labels on their packaging since 2001, the packaging of e-cigarettes could not be more different. Walk into any vape shop and you’ll think it’s a candy store with their rows of brightly coloured boxes and endless list of absurd flavours. The fun fruity flavours can make a smoker forget what they’re actually doing. Being able to discreetly carry it anywhere makes vaping almost too easy, which can create a false sense of security and absent mindedness. Though vapes allegedly pose a lower risk due to the absence of tobacco, the chemicals in these products still have a negative effect on lung tissue. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health reported that vapers are more likely to become tobacco smokers. 

    The marketing and accessibility of vapes has undoubtedly led to an increase in nicotine consumption in young people. According to Health Canada, young Canadians aged 15-24 are more likely to vape than those 25 and older. I’m sure most young people can attest to this, whether they themselves vape or whether they have vivid memories of their high school bathrooms being filled with Watermelon Ice or Cotton Candy clouds. 

    You won’t stop seeing flavoured vapes just because they’re illegal—they’re too popular. I’m sure nearly everyone knows at least one person with a secret stash and stubborn teenagers will be crossing the border into Ontario just to stock up. It seems that smoking—and now vaping—will inevitably remain mainstream. Various authorities on the issue cited similar perspectives and the CDVQ, a coalition dedicated to vaping rights in Quebec, warned that vapers would either return to tobacco or else obtain vapes through illegal (and therefore unregulated) means. 

    As is true in many cases of substance regulation, the government’s intentions may not have their expected effect. Changing the legal age for cannabis consumption to 21 may have had seemingly logical reasons, but it certainly did not prevent youth from sourcing pot illegally. We can hope that the issue of nicotine abuse will improve, but I wouldn’t count on it. 

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    What even is a V-6?

    Graphic by Callum Ellis-Mennie

    Demystifying the strange culture of indoor bouldering and the notorious bouldering bro.

    First impression: it smells like feet in here. 

    Walking into an indoor climbing gym is a bit like stepping off the spaceship onto another planet. The air is heavy with the unmistakable odour of sweaty feet, the walls are adorned with brightly coloured holds in all shapes and sizes, and—hey, what’s up with all the man buns? 

    Even if you’ve never experienced the climbing gym first-hand, chances are high you’ve heard about indoor bouldering. It’s inescapable: Brie Larson is doing it, the guy behind you in class can’t stop talking about it, and climbing wall photos seem to have replaced the Tinder fish photo (if you don’t know what fish photo I’m referring to, consider yourself lucky.)

    For those who have managed to escape the discourse, indoor bouldering refers to free-climbing artificial rock walls on which “problems” have been set. These problems are graded on a V-scale of difficulty from V-0 to V-17, hence why you might hear someone bragging about the crazy V-6 they flashed last weekend.

    As bouldering takes the spotlight, so does a very specific archetype: the bouldering bro. Who is this notorious figure, and does he bring a bad name to the climbing community?

    “When I picture somebody who boulders, it’s the beanies, man buns and skinny, patchwork-tattooed arms that come to mind first, as you will never enter a bouldering gym and not see that guy,” said Simon Bowrin, a first-year Concordia student who has been climbing for roughly a year. 

    There’s a certain mentality that can accompany climbing, a pretentiousness that is prevalent in any scene. Like film bros and skater boys, the archetype goes beyond the “look.” There’s also that attachment to obscure jargon, a set of overlapping interests, and immense bravado. Bouldering bros are the ones squinting up at the wall with their hands coated in chalk, talking loudly about their life-changing hiking trek and their ever-growing Nalgene collection.

    Those archetypes are real, although their existence doesn’t consume the scene.  “Like every subculture, there’s the stereotypical people out there ruining the reputation of the sport for the 90 per cent of kind people who participate,” said Bowrin.

    In truth, the vast majority of the scene is welcoming and non-judgemental. People of all demographics intermingle, and you might see someone attempting their first V-0 right beside someone jumping for a V-8. This can be intimidating, but also inspiring; bouldering is unique in that it’s an extremely easy sport to break into. Most gyms provide shoe rentals, and bouldering can be quite social as people observe each other’s technique and chat about how best to complete a problem. There are also countless physical and mental benefits of the sport itself, as it provides a full-body workout with problem-solving aspects involved. 

    In each Concordia Student Union agenda (distributed at the beginning of the year), there are coupons for a free try at Café Bloc, a climbing gym on St Laurent. So bring a friend and go check it out—beware of the bouldering bro, but keep in mind he doesn’t define the culture. 

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    Girl math versus my accountant boyfriend

    Graphic by Henry Richa

    While girl math is fun, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation.

    Girl math is one of the funniest and most ridiculously relatable concepts I’ve encountered on social media recently. In case you haven’t heard of it, girl math is a mindset where women conceptualize money differently to justify their spending, however illogical these explanations may be.

    Here are some examples of how it goes. Anything under $5 is basically free. If I pre-paid a membership card and use it now, it’s free. If I don’t buy something, I make money. Anything purchased with cash is free. If I use this $100 bag 20 times, it only costs $5 per wear, which is free. Basically, girl math gives us excuses to indulge in our retail therapy or buy that $8 Starbucks drink.

    A revolutionary concept, I know. Now, here’s where things get complicated: I’m in a relationship with a future accountant, and he is bamboozled by girl math. 

    Just a couple of weeks ago, I was browsing at Indigo when I spotted their weekend sales. I’d be losing money by not getting a book, right? My boyfriend—let’s call him The Accountant—didn’t have an issue with me buying books, but he was confused by how I was rationalizing it. I decided it was time: The Accountant needed a girl math initiation.

    After listening intently, he concluded that girl math essentially trivializes expenses by putting more value on how the purchase makes you feel rather than what it does to your bank account. While that can be okay in some circumstances, the issue for him is the lack of mathematical logic. It’s possible that the girlies on social media are just messing with men, playing on the age-old stereotype that women are bad at math—a bit like when they say “Why don’t we just print more money?” to provoke them. But if taken too seriously, it might become a mindset we should worry about.

    While I am an avid girl math practitioner, I must admit he has a point. I am lucky (in most cases) to be in a relationship with someone who is good at math and money, because school certainly didn’t teach me any money management skills or financial literacy. Both are crucial in this cutthroat world, yet they aren’t so common. I don’t like to admit that before The Accountant stormed into my life with his spreadsheets and numbers, I didn’t grasp what a Tax Free Savings Account , First Home Savings Account or Registered Retirement Savings Plan was.

    My point is that girl math is all fun and games until we realize it isn’t. We also have the responsibility to consider the environmental impact of our girl math-induced consumption, not only the financial impact. It works as long as it’s reasonably done. My boyfriend and I agree that there’s nothing wrong with indulging in the things that make us happy sometimes, whether that looks like a pumpkin spice latte for you, yet another rom-com book for me, or a golf game for him. 

    It’s important that money makes you happy, but to find that balance, we need to work with it, learn about it and plan it out. Make an aesthetic little budgeting spreadsheet or better yet, find yourself an Accountant (mine is spoken for, but he has friends).

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    The indefensible defense of Russell Brand

    Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys

    Russell Brand’s lies fuel backlash against sexual abuse victims, driven by paranoia and populism.

    On Sept. 18, The Onion, a satirical news organization, reported “Nation Could Have Sworn Russell Brand Was Already Convicted Sex Offender.” To those familiar with Brand’s past, a report detailing years of sexual violence was hardly surprising. His controversial rise to stardom was based on him being an objectifying womanizer. 

    Russel Brand’s trial in the court of public opinion has become a dire warning for the state of women’s rights in America, and an alarming example of how blind partisan loyalty has taken precedence in the American right-wing. 

    In recent years, Brand, an established comedian, transformed himself into a beacon of misinformation for the alt-right, and this status has become his lifeline. His anti-media rhetoric, defined by conspiracy theories and a persecution complex, has cultivated a base with an unshakable conviction of his integrity.

    A day before YouTube demonetized Brand’s content, he addressed the allegations for his over 6.6 million subscribers. Understanding his paranoia-filled response—and why it worked—can shed light on the American underbelly we often struggle to accept: the growing world of online conspiracy theorists.

    Heavy with misinformation, Brand’s two-minute response could be Russell Brand the actor grifting to an audience disillusioned by political institutions. Or it could be Russell Brand the YouTube conspiracist paranoid of the shadowy machinations of mainstream outlets. Or even a calculated mix of the two. 

    But his outlandish statements were not discarded as such. American TV host Greg Gutfeld doubted the victims’ intentions saying, “People don’t go to the cops for their own reasons.” Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, and Tucker Carlson all came out with similar statements. Elon Musk tweeted: “I support Russell Brand.”

    The evidence and interviews assembled by journalists detail the stories of four women Brand sexually abused, and the report is as jarring as it is conclusive: Russell Brand is a serial sexual predator. But for the millions of Americans who consume right-wing media, Brand is the victim of a witch hunt. Being demonized by the left and demonetized by YouTube energizes his base all the more, and proves to them the accuracy of his narrative. His skillful villainizing of the system makes him the victim. 

    What Brand’s supporters discredit as woke media lies are in fact the horrible, pervasive realities of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. And while it is easy to disregard them as radical, fringe, or downright crazy, Brand’s resilience is proof that they wield true power at the heart of American institutions. 

    This story is as much about party loyalty as it is about the persistence of the patriarchy. It is no coincidence that when the crime is objectifying and degrading women, the punishment is suddenly lax. This lenience towards Brand could not have occurred if rampant media skepticism and alt-right misogyny were not already commonplace in the conservative mainstream. 

    As partisan loyalties overshadow deep-seated misogynistic issues, the messaging from the post-Trump right is increasingly clear: fight the noble fight and you will find support from a powerful network of conservative influences. Feign conspiracy and rape allegations carry no weight. 

    The case of Russell Brand is a damning indictment of the American political landscape, and a terrifying alarm in the fight for women’s rights. Russell Brand is an alleged rapist and confirmed conspiracy theorist but to the American right, the latter has proven more important than the former.

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