Things that Puzzle Me: Why do we say young people don’t “bother” to vote?

I just read this news article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/higher-youth-turnout-could-change-tone-outcome-of-elections-1.2582855

In summary, it talks about some of the reasons why voter turnout is so low among young people and Kevin Page’s “I Vote” event intent on engaging youth.

I think this new article simultaneously addresses the problem of youth and voting and is an example of why the problem persists.

“Just over 60 per cent of eligible voters actually cast ballots in 2011. Among those under 30, fewer than 40 per cent bothered to vote.”

This line in the article is particularly glaring. It says that 60% of the people voted, it doesn’t mention that 40% of the general population didn’t vote. Meanwhile in the second sentence, the statistic it’s trying to present is that 40% of young people voted. But instead of saying, “Among those under 30, less than 40% voted”, it says less than 40% bothered.

Youth that don’t vote are not “youth who aren’t bothered” – they are youth who don’t vote. Just like 40% of Canadians.

I think it’s frustrating that youth are constantly being told that they don’t care. Because tells the youth that do care that they are alone, they are different, and that it’s pointless to even try.

It’s easy for a bunch of old people to dismiss an entire generation and say they don’t care, but they don’t give us anything to care about. The article does good point about catch-22 faced by politicians: the message of politicians aren’t being directed at young people, so young people don’t want to vote. Young people don’t vote, so politicians don’t direct their message at young people.

I point to Egypt’s election following the revolution. The young people responsible for the revolution were given two candidates that they could not get behind. So they voted for batman instead.

So maybe this is our bat signal to our politicians.

Give us someone we can stand behind. Give us a reason to be bothered.

For Your Reading Pleasure: Are women disengaged or engaged different?

Just wanted to share two studies/articles that I found really interesting in the course of my research for the representation of women in Cdn politics paper:

First, “Invisible Feminists? Social Media and Young Women’s Political Participation” by Julia Schuster. She interviews 40 women of all ages and she found that there’s a generational divide between “young” (under 30 years) feminist  (some didn’t self-identify as such) and “old”. Basically the old women thought the there aren’t really anymore feminists because these politically active communities online were not visible to those who didn’t know where to look for them (ie. young people who regularly used the internet).

I always get a kick out of formal academic studies which back up what my friends and I talk about conversationally. I mean we sort of gently rib the SJW on Tumblr, but some of the older women they interviewed were genuinely concerned that there was no one to carry on their legacy.

On a daily basis, I am barraged by people sharing links to the site “upworthy”, and I personally follow many facebook pages which talk about issues of feminism, politics, equality of opportunity etc. This has been called “slacktivism” because people simply clicked a button to showed they cared without taking concrete IRL action. I just thought this had an interesting take on the whole online political engagement.

Anyways I’m using the above article to talk about how women are becoming differently engaged because online and informal forms of political participation are simply cheaper, more accessible, and give you the ability to find those with common belief and ideas. Whereas “institutionalized” forms of political participation are time consuming, expensive, and often require specific skillsets.

Another article is “Same Game, Different Rules? Gender Differences in Political Participation” by Hilde Coffe and Catherine Bolzendahl. It hypothesized the same general idea: that women are engaged differently then men. It’s also interesting how she talks about previous studies indicating that women were less engaged in politics and point out that they base their definition of political participation on institutionalized forms, such as voting, campaigning, etc.

Canadian Politics: (by the numbers) Representation of Women in Canadian Parliament and a boring lesson in the First Past the Post System

Not a very sexy table, but it serves its purpose.

Do women simply not get elected?

Here is a table of figures created for my term paper in my Canadian Politics class.

What this says to me is that the low representation of women in Canadian politics is not a matter of women being unpopular as candidates. This says to me that despite that overall disparity in representation (75% men and 25% women), the success rates of women are not a lot lower than men. This is particularly clear in the NDP, who had the largest proportion of female candidates. They lost 66% of their men and 68% of their women, and won 33% and 34%. In the parties with more female candidates, there wasn’t a voting preference for male candidates. Thus the issue of underrepresentative of women can be attributed in part to simply the lack of female candidates.

So getting to the root of the problem: the first past the post system. This system is known for creating majority governments because it amplifies the advantage of parties. How it works:

A candidate simply needs a plurality of the votes (not the majority) in order to gain office. This means that say in all 308 ridings the results are thus:

Conservatives 35%
Liberals 32%
NDP 28%
Green 5%

The majority of people in these three ridings voted against the Conservatives, 65%. But the Conservatives have 308 seats, or 100% because they received the most votes in all 308 ridings. The system inherently inflates the number of seats received by a party.

Now let’s look at it in terms of women.

Around 900 males ran for election while 400 women ran for election. There are only 308 ridings so that means that there are about 100 ridings with multiple women and 600 ridings with multiple men. That means, by the numbers, women are just less likely to be elected because there are less of them nominated in the first place. Only one candidate can win per riding, so if 3 male candidates and 1 female are running, she is more likely to be lost in the crowd, especially because there were more women in the parties that won less seats.

The Conservatives won the most seats, but had the least amount of women. Out of their 307 candidates, only 68 of them were women. That means that even if they won every single seat by the same margins that I presented above. Women would only occupy 68 of those seats while the men would have received 239. In contrast, the official opposition, the NDP had nominated 124 women candidates, increasing the likelihood of women being elected. However, as the election results stand, the Conservatives won the most seats, decreasing the likelihood of women’s election.

However, the fact that the party with the second most seats nominated so many female candidates speaks to why the 2011 election has been touted as the most successful for women to date. More women nominated, the more likely it is that they are elected.

The lack of women can also be attributed to ridings with a concentration of women, here is another area where female candidates can be lost because the system utilized many small races where one candidate comes out on top.

From: http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/women.html

So we see the province with the most female candidates is Quebec. But there are 64 ridings, but 125 female candidates. That means that only 64 females can win out of 125 even if every single one of them win. And in total there are 249 ridings and 452 candidates, so we are losing around half the women no matter what the outcome.

Of course I acknowledge that these are the numbers from one single election cycle, but due to time constraints and the fact that I already spent like 3 hours playing with these numbers because I found it interesting, kind of limits me to just this election cycle.

The solution to this has been proposed by a lot of other people, particularly to resolve the issue the FTP system raises in terms of party representation.

Proportional representation. A list system with a quota, for example, can ensure that an equal amount women and men are being put forward and election.

Ex. Conservatives received 30% of the vote or 92 seats. Quota is set at 50% female. They can just fill seats half from a female list of candidates and a male list of candidate until there is gender parity.

*note I’ll probably be using a lot of this in my term paper so if the TA, for example, decides to do a google search and this comes up, I didn’t plagarize from myself: my full name is Wei-Ju Wang and this is for Luc Turgeon’s POL2101D

Was going to present counterargument, but I’m lazy and I should be writing my actual paper. So feel free to poke many holes in this post. Might post the other 2 sections of my essay which argue that women are less likely to nominate themselves and are less likely to be nominated. (This above only addresses the institutional causes of the underrepresentation of women. I hope that’s apparent, because I feel like I kind of just rambled for a bit.)

Knitting: Headband, so many headbands

Haha, I don’t know what I’m doing to myself. The I’ve knitted too much in the past few days pain is back in my fingers. I’ve made so many of these headbands in the last few weeks. I’ve really been trying to push them and sell them. Money is money I guess. But I really need to find something new to make… jeez.

Here the etsy listing though: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/173619058/twisted-and-ribbed?

I actually really like making these though. I really like the texture of ribbing. I don’t know why I don’t use the stitch more, maybe because I’ve tried really hard to find patterns that were more and more challenging. Currently I’m going back to basics. Because these are the classic knitted looks. My love affair with cables are still going strong. But I’m fairly into the big twist in the middle of this headband.

Yeah I think I love knitting too much. I’ve seen more yarn than humans in the last week.

I can feel the changes

It’s been 5 months since I’ve posted in this blog and everything has changed.

I think I will make a stab at renewing this blog, but I hate looking back at the old posts. But they are good and bad… They remind me just how much I’ve changed, but I also don’t want to look backwards.

I’m at university now. Public administration and political science. In Ottawa.

I’m at home at the moment though…

but it’s a significant transition point. This is the last time I’ll be here for a few years.

cost of travel, boredom, life, I guess prevents me from coming back here.

Actually I’ve been here for a week and I want to leave. It might have something to do with the lack of things to do, its distance from downtown, the lack of people I like anymore, I hate it here for the moment.

I’m going to a birthday party tonight. Maybe that’ll change things, maybe I’ve just not gone out enough, seen enough people, seen the beautiful city that I love.

I can feel the changes, but everything feel the same too.

Knitting: The end of The Road or What I Learn from and by knitting

The title is a inside joke (not that funny) between me and myself for the novel )The Road) that I have an in-class write on tomorrow morning that I may or may not have read.

Today I have at last finished my Gryffindor House scarf.

I’m pretty excited. I also will never take it off. No big deal.

But on a more serious note, I did learned one thing from this project: I have a hard time sitting still and I’m easily bored.

This particular knitting project, though extremely time consuming, was pretty mindless. I am “good” enough at knitting that I can do it by feel and muscle memory. This means that I am free to occupy my mind with other things. Going back to the original point, I usually operate with a certain level of distraction – clicking pens, doodling, twirling pens, playing with my phone… – in class. I just can’t sit still that long. Especially not for 75 minute blocks. What this means is I need something to do that occupies my hands so I don’t fiddle with everything around me, but still enables me to listen at the same time. This was a perfect project for doing this.

History class is a class where we are mostly listening because we discuss events in a much more “storytelling way”, which doesn’t really lend itself to notes. We also watch a lot of videos. I noticed that once I started knitting in class I actually listened a lot better. For two reasons, one I feel slightly guilty that it looks like I’m not paying attention so I pay extra attention to prove myself by answering a lot of questions. And two, I am fully awake because I’m constantly moving. This is a big deal when half the class passes out the moment the lights go out for a movie.

In Geography class, I was asked to put my knitting away. And I proceeded to be restless for the rest of class. I personally notice these differences in myself, but the teacher did not permit it even when I explained that it helped me listen. On one hand, yeah, it’s perfectly understandable that he asked me to put it away because he thinks I’m not paying attention. But on the otherhand, super annoying because I proceeded to be bored for the rest of class and twirling and twitching my pen, whereas the knitting would have kept me reasonably entertained while still being able to listen.

But still. It wasn’t that unreasonable to ask me to put it away.

I’m just saying that I learned more in the last two weeks through knitting and listening to history podcasts than I usually do having to sit still for 75 minutes straight.

Also, I have a hypothesis that the rhythm or pattern that I fall into while knitting that later helps in recalling knowledge that I’ve gained while knitting. Like learning through association. Here is a summary of a study that I found.

Perhaps it works in the same way music works in this article.

Well, as much as I say that it has benefits, again, can’t blame teachers when they ask me to stop.

Although I am a bit annoyed by the fact that this particular teacher did not take me seriously when I tried to explain that knitting helps me listen. He acted like I was just making up an excuse to keep doing what I want.

More annoying is the fact that oftentimes people are on Facebook, texting, or even gaming and I am the one that gets told off when I make an effort to listen by finding something that allows me to focus.

But you know, perfectly understandable that he asked me to stop.

Here are two great history podcasts that I love and have learned tons from as I knit and listen:

The History Chicks

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Oh and I’ve been getting a lot of reading done for history class because the textbooks are heavy enough that I don’t have to hold it down with my hands allowing me to read and knit at the same time.

I’m currently finishing another project though. It’s the 4th Doctor’s scarf:

It needs 3 more stripes.

There’s a rather long story behind why I knitted this scarf. The most important part you need to know is:

I don’t actually watch Doctor Who. I am not a fan. (But I might be in future, if I ever decide to watch it) I have a friend who is a crazy fan and she freaks out when people are ignorant about the franchise. So long story short, I made this scarf to er… Troll someone, to use a Internet term. Because it would be funny to see how she would react when someone who is not a real fan (and will still call the title character “Doctor Who” rather than “the doctor” and the scarf “The Doctor Who Scarf” rather than a “4th doctor scarf”) parades a icon like that around.

Knitting: Recycling Yarn – the poor student chronicles

 

 

 

 

This really was a labour of love. This bundle of yarn got itself tangled and took me an hour to untangle and wind. And I have so many more to go.

In my endeavor to get yarn with money I don’t have. Students budget, you know. (“student’s budget” is my favourite euphemism)

I scoured the Share Thrift Store and it so happened to be half off day, so I got a green sweater for $2.25. I underestimated the time it would take to undo it, however. I spent an entire 4 hours taking it apart and frogging half of the sweater. I have to say, while this does save money, it is completely time consuming and inefficient. Time is galleons and all that.

This sweater happened to be a 10% wool and 90% acrylic blend. For $2.25 and a whole sweater’s worth of worsted weight yarn, that’s pretty darn good.

I got two other sweaters too.

This is the one I take apart next. On a side note, this one made me sneeze like crazy. I suspect the angora hair that floated through the air as I pulled apart the seams. This might be the end of my dreams to get an Angora rabbit. 

BUT IT’S SO CUTE.

Well anyways, I frogged the sweater onto a chair and then soaked it in warm water.

There it is on the last panel hanging to dry. And that’s how we got to the first photo. Don’t get your yarn tangled, children, it makes for preventable headaches.

 

 

 

Knitting: Potter Mania

 

Now that winter break’s here, I’ve done nothing but knit. Yes, I’m feeling considerable guilt because there’s a bunch of things I should be doing, but I’ve had absolutely no motivation for anything recently – well, since grade 9 really. It’s a bit late to fix the problem, eh? (an excuse for laziness, of course).

It is supremely relaxing, though it’s actually pretty hard on my fingers since I have literally been knitting all day. It’s not really worth a repetitive stress injury for so I should really watch out for that.

While I knit, I really hate the silence, so I’ve been listening to Harry Potter audiobooks. So I’ve really gotten back into the whole Harry Potter business. It’s funny, Harry Potter has been the one thing that I’ve stuck with consistently. I’ve tried to get into these other fandoms, but none of those works ever engage me enough. I leap to tell people how underwhelmed I am by the Hunger Games. I think it has to do with the rave reviews that I’ve heard for it and the hype that surrounded it. It was built up so high by the people around me that the actual thing itself could never live up to it. It also had to do with the writing. No one can pull off first person (great sweeping generalization…) – except for Nick Carraway. Personal bias, sure, but The Great Gatsby is gorgeous.  Anyways, I thought The Hunger Games was entertaining enough, but I didn’t fall in love with it. Not like I fell in love with The Great Gatsby, with the Potter series, with The Little Prince.

In my view, it’s along the line of Twilight. I see why people like it, I just don’t. Although, I actually found Twilight a bit more engaging to read, I suppose because I read it in my 12/13 year old days. I fell out of that fandom quickly enough. Any form of extreme behaviour turns me off. Rabid fan girls fall into that perfectly.

But even with Potter I like to stay away from the “crazies”.

So I had a hankering to make a house scarf because I’m reliving my childhood through the audiobooks. For some reason, Harry Potter is the thing that has stuck with me. I tried to get into all these other things that have giant followings and I haven’t really felt anything for them. Like Doctor Who. Yeah, I’m ready for what attacks come my way. But I also have a hard time getting that enthusiastic for anything. Even with say, the Canucks and Potter, I love to discuss, but I would not defend to death. I think you know what I mean.

“J.K. ROWLING IS A GODDESS AMONG US.” “HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER WRITTEN.” That sort of thing.

I’m perfectly happy criticizing it. It’s still mainstream fiction and it does read like it. I think it has it’s place in the culture and in my generation and it will survive to be studied at the elementary and even up to the high school level. But I don’t think it’s even to merit real Potter scholars, people who get PhD in literature studying Potter, I mean.

I mean… I’m fairly exasperated by the “essays” on Potter (ie. symbol hunting sessions) and even that new podcast by MuggleNet that claims to provide “comprehensive insight into the literary thematic elements and scholastic endeavors that author J.K. Rowling has provided in her writings of the Harry Potter series.” All I can think of is my English teacher saying, “You guys have good ideas, but they just need to be developed.” They certainly don’t say anything revolutionary. But again… target audience.

Anyway, here’s my WIP Gryffindor scarf. It’s taking forever because it is double knitted, but it’ll be super warm. Worth it.

 

One of my friends requested a house circle scarf and since I realized I didn’t have enough time or yarn to make a full-fledged Ravenclaw scarf, I decided to do a trial run of a circle house scarf.

I chose the book colours because I an a nationalist (or a … um… bookist?) after all.

Project 366: Dancing for a Guest when there Wasn’t Much other than Lunch Time Shenanigans, a Job Interview, and a Hat.

On Monday, there was dancing. 

Because she lost a bet. So she performed some highland dance for us in Biology class. It was pretty fantastic.

 

On Tuesday, there was a guest. 

His name is Gwynne Dyer. He talked to us about Arab Spring and then extended his talk to non-violent revolutions in general.

 

On Wednesday, there wasn’t much. 

So this is a fun photo of our Biology powerpoint presentation. The caption in the top right hand corner says, “Don’t forget to put a shirt on when cooking (no one cares about your six pack)”.

On Thursday, there was lunch time shenanigans. 

Here is Andrew getting slapped by Lisa. And Cynthia wearing a mustache. Would you believe me if I told you both of these things were for cancer awareness?

 

On Friday, there was a job interview.

Cross my fingers, I think I did well. All I need now is my criminal record check and references. I’m cautiously optimistic.

 

On Saturday, there was a hat. 

A magnificent hat. HOLD YOUR CAULFIELDS, EVERYONE, I’VE FINALLY FOUND IT. It’s the hunting cap that I’ve been hunting since September. The infamous, the symbolic, the red, it’s Holden Caulfield’s hat from Catcher in the Rye.

Some reflection on the week. 

It’s been painful trying to get back into the Project 366. It really isn’t that difficult to take a photo a day and upload it, but in my mind it became this monumental task that was insurmountable. I really had to force myself this week to take a photo a day. I literally put it on my To-Do List every single day so I wouldn’t forget it. I would like to think that this shows some perseverance, but I don’t think I can really say that until I’ve started to do this on the regular again. This is why I’m going to continue the Project into the new year, until I’ve reached the 366 photo mark. I know it’s cheating, but my focus is now on finishing, not on following the rules.

 

Author’s Note: Apocalypse

A new story is up on Figment called Apocalypse.

I was not high on any sort of mind bending drugs when I wrote this, bath salts or otherwise. It’s just a really lame attempt on my part to be funny. It ended up being weird I think.

I wrote this in response to the prompt, “In 100 words or fewer write about a character who can’t function before that first cup.” for the Handsome Coffee Flash Fiction Contest Day 1.

I may have cheated a little bit, I didn’t really write about a single character.

This one had absolutely no meaning behind it. It just amused me when I got this image in my mind of what would happen if a coffee shop on an university campus were to run out of coffee on a Monday morning.

Hell hath no wrath like a bunch of sleep deprived students without coffee?