Active Authors
Deena Goodrunning
Deena is a currently majoring in East Asian Studies though she might end up switching to history. She is excited to be a blog writer since shes hopes to spread more awareness on topics she is passionate about and to also hopefully spotlight women who are doing amazing things in the local community. A fun fact about her is that she really loves the Little Nightmares video games and she spends too much time browsing the internet to read Little Nightmares theories and lore.
Deena’s latest posts:
I had to go through years of speech therapy in order to better assimilate my tongue so that it could properly speak English, but why don’t settler-Canadians even try to learn one native word?
I think all the jobs in the beauty services industry are a form of art. Styling hair, painting nails, applying makeup, threading and tinting brows, applying eyelash extensions —- all of these practices are forms of art. They all require incredible skill and eyes for detail and beauty, and I really dislike this idea that people who have beauty tech jobs must be unskilled and that the prices they charge for their services are too expensive.
Emily Pauline Johnson, more well known as Pauline Johnson or Tekahionwake, was a famous Indigenous performer and writer in Canadian history. Over the course of Pauline’s literary career she wrote several short stories, poems and essays that contributed greatly to the literary narrative of Canada.
See all of Deena’s posts here.
Brynn Niblett
Brynn is a current third year student majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies, with interest in film, theatre, feminism, and social justice. Blog writing provides Brynn with the perfect opportunity to combine all of the aforementioned passions. We are super excited to have Brynn on the blogs committee this year!
Brynn’s latest posts:
Though they have recently been gaining traction due to highly publicized events, international movements which stand in solidarity with Palestinian freedom and resistance are anything but new. Though modern political discourse attempts to frame this issue as too complex for the average person to understand or comment upon, it really isn’t.
About a year ago, my mental health was the worst it's ever been. Looking back on that time in my life, I credit three things with pulling me out of my despair: my community of loved ones, my therapist, and hockey.
As goofy as it sounds, children’s media can be particularly helpful, because it is a complete change of pace from the expectations of adult/academic life. I find that the simplicity of children’s media can be its greatest strength, revealing profound lessons and truths in a simple, comforting package. Lately, my comfort food of choice has been a junior graphic novel by Misty Wilson called Play Like a Girl.
See all of Brynn’s posts here.
Megan Gervais
Megan is a current fourth year student majoring in English. This is her first year with WEW. Some of Megan’s favourite things to do in her free time include reading, watching movies, and baking. We’re looking forward to all of Megan’s posts this upcomming year!
Megan’s latest posts
Heartstopper is one of the most important shows airing today because of its relatability, its diverse cast of characters, and its resistance to shy away from topics that other shows may be weary to address.
Often when women are fans of something that has a predominantly male fanbase, they are made to prove themselves worthy of being a fan. For some reason, women gaining an interest in something that is typically liked by men raises tensions within the fandom communities.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community have been part of the music industry forever, but just in the past decade we have seen a rise in the popularity of queer women making chart toppers. From massively popular artists to newcomers, queer women have been dominating the music market more than ever before.
See all of Megan’s posts here.
Tiana Effon
Tiana is a current third year student taking a Bachelor’s of Science specializing in Immunology and Infection. This is her first year with WEW. Some of Tiana’s favourite things to do in her free time include baking, drinking coffee, and doing sudoku puzzles. We’re excited to have her on the team!
Tiana’s latest posts:
There’s a conversation that I’m sure many others who identify as feminists have had. It goes something like this: “Are you a feminist?” “Yes.” “Oh, I’m not because feminists are so…” followed by many things that aren’t true about or believed by most feminists.
Hip hop has a bad reputation. Many people view it as promoting misogyny and violence, and have a specific type of person in mind when they think of hip hop listeners.
As women, we are often pushed to be the best version of ourselves 100% of the time. While it is good to strive to be the best version of yourself, operating as your best self all day everyday is not possible. Everyone has bad moments, makes questionable decisions, and has those days where everything feels like too much, and that’s just life.
See all of Tiana’s posts here.
Salamat Ibrahim
Salamat is a current first year student majoring in Biology. She loves reading books (Animal Farm is her favourite) and watching movies. She strongly believes you can never go wrong with Wes Anderson! She is looking forward to inform and increase interest in important topics! We can’t wait to read her blogs!
Salamat’s latest posts:
With the history of cinema over the years, the need for strong female characters has never been more apparent. It is integral …
By creating a conversation around patriarchy and the effects it has on individuals, Barbie (2023) subsequently begins a smaller, lesser explored conversation surrounding the concept of antagonism. Barbie (2023) has brought to light how eager we, as a community, are to establish a black and white narrative and label people “villains” and “heroes” despite obvious attempts of storytellers, like Greta Gerwig to emphasise the lack of a villain/heroes.
There hasn’t been a case in which there seemed to be a unification amongst the internet regarding this “Eat The Rich” rhetoric until very recently. It was on June 19th that news of a missing submersible reached public ears, most people hearing about it on public platforms such as TikTok.
See all of Salamat’s posts here.
Previous Authors
Priscilla Ojomu
Priscilla Ojomu is a Nigerian-Canadian 3rd-Year BA student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology at UAlberta. Priscilla’s work at WEW is fuelled by her passion for promoting awareness of the experiences of marginalized communities through accessible information and resources. Literature, tea, podcasts, Studio Ghibli movies (Fun fact: she has 100+ collectible postcards of the feature films from 1984 – 2014), art, volunteering and advocating for equity keep her busy.
Priscilla’s latest posts:
I would like to share that story with you and dedicate a love letter to my younger self and all the young Black girls reading this.
causes, and social movements, the movement to achieve gender equality experienced some progress and regress in 2021. I’m sure we’re all too familiar with the 2021 news stories of worsened gender inequalities in many parts of the world, so instead, I’ll be focusing on what often gets disregarded or neglected - the moments that furthered gender equality.
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t …
See all of Priscilla’s posts here.
Eman Ahmed
Women's clothing, fashion and dress have been ridiculed for decades. The focus on what we wear and its messages constantly are the basis of how people, specifically women, are judged and controlled within society.
Trigger Warning: Discussion of Cycles of Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence Cycles of abuse and intimate partner violence are both topics …
Art in itself is a reflection of the individual who creates it. While we can include certain exceptions, putting your name alongside …
See all of Eman’s posts here.
Abigail Isaac
Abby (she/her) is a first-generation Ethiopian-Eritrean student in her last year of a degree in Political Science and Economics where she is researching the intersection of international migrant rights, border studies, and climate displacement. A community organizer and lifelong writer, Abby is especially passionate about making creative space for marginalized folks where they feel safe and seen. Abby loves looking at mountains, eating literally anything mango flavoured (debatably in excess), and adding to reading lists she will never get to the bottom of.
Abby’s latest posts:
While the carefully curated ‘informality' and intimacy of celeb social media accounts seem to close the gap between their lives and ours, the dysfunction that comes from divesting from our immediate relationships into fictional ones is real.
Jia Tolentino asked herself, “how do I have a personal relationship with my face wash?,” so I asked myself the same question, and began thinking more critically about the commodification of “self-care.”
This recognition is important, but I would like us to think a bit more critically about the ways in which we are perceived. For those of us with intersecting identities, the “male gaze” is far too limited a term to capture how we have been surveilled. So, I put to you: the white gaze.
See all of Abby’s posts here.
Autumn Victoria
I am a fourth year Bachelor of Education Secondary student with a major in English and minor in Social Studies. Before my degree I worked as a cosmetologist and have been a certified makeup artist for the past 8 years. I am a Lebanese Canadian and writing has always been my biggest passion! I love to explore and research women’s issues both on a local and an international level and am very excited for the opportunity to research and write about those issues on a monthly basis!
For many of us, celebrating and empowering women is a task that we’d like to feel accomplished throughout our daily lives. Annually …
The truth is that it’s not harmless and the way that it’s treated without seriousness is a large problem for women all over the world. One of the first ways that we can fix the issue and begin treating catcalling as what it is: sexual harassment.
If you’ve been using Instagram religiously over the past few years, you’ve probably had at least a couple posts promoting a level …
See all of Autumn’s posts here.