Who I am
Hello. I’m currently a social media & content manager for a health services company called Enthrive.
I also put words together. They’re usually about feminism, media and politics. I have a book coming out with Between the Lines, which is pretty exciting.
Sometimes I talk about things. I’ve appeared on BBC’s World Have Your Say, CBC’s Metro Morning, and TVO’s The Agenda. Along those lines, I occasionally tells stories to rooms full of people, like here and here.
Passions include social justice, activism, anything space-related, health, peer counselling, mental health and animals. I’m also really into bad jokes, live music, wine, comics, board games, sci-fi, coffee and all things Joss Whedon.
When not engaging in such things, I’m probably riding my bike, cuddling my cats, playing Mass Effect or volunteering at a crisis centre.
Emma,
You were absolutely fantastic on The Agenda tonight. My younger brother showed first symptoms of schizophrenia during his time at college and it was almost a decade before he was able to get the help he needed.
I am a Mom of four and my oldest son is in grade 11 so tonight’s chat hit home.
I greatly appreciate your candor and wish you all the best.
Kim
Kim, thank you. That means a lot. I’m hoping that programs like this can help us get the funding and services we need to treat mental health issues effectively. All the best to your son! Hopefully he *does* have the greatest time of his life.
I agree with Kim, Emma. You appear to have a very sound head on your shoulder, albeit ‘scrambled’ in past times. As someone who has had bouts of depression and decades of anxiety/panic attacks along with running the compulsive-obsessive treadmill, I know that someone who has never experienced it just has no idea what it’s like to have your brain turn against you. I can say that because before ‘stuff’ happened, I thought I knew about it, but you can never really know until it happens to you. There are truly two worlds out there that people live in – the world of those that have had mental illness, and the world of those that think they know what it is.
Emma,
I will be giving a presentation on ‘Student anxiety and the media’ tommorow for a York University seminar, and I plan on using your discussion on The Agenda as an example of how students can come together to help remove the stigma from mental illness and thus help shape political agenda and remove public prejudice. That this particular episode leapt to mind as a valuable resource (nearly three months after it originally aired) is a testament to the profound clarity and resonance of your ideas (as well as those of your fellow panelists). I just wanted to take this moment to commend you, and express my admiration for your willingness to come forward to address an issue that affects so many students, myself included.
Noam, thanks so much. I’m beyond flattered. Let me know how it went!
Emma, I read your article about what it’s like being a teen girl. In your comments about male entitlement I noticed extreme parallels between that behaviour and that of the male animals on my farm. all the males act as if they are entitled to the females. Usually ONLY when the females are in heat. the power of the endocrine system is unbelievable. when the females turn down the males, in some cases (mostly the horses) they are subject to tantrums/and outbursts of rage, not so much with the goats, cats, dogs. the roosters mainly go after the hens at a certain time of day, must be the optimum time to fertilize an egg. if human males are subject to the same drives due to the release of chemicals by their glands, I think we have a huge steep hill to climb in changing that behaviour. and my next comment is ‘somewhat’ tongue in cheek, but it’s the truth. to change the animal behaviour the options are electronic training collars for the dogs, castration for the male horses and goats. I’d like to hear about examples of societies where this issue is successfully handled.
I should also list separating the males and females as a management option for the animals.
Emma – i LOVE your work. i’d like to talk to you about my work and how we can interface/support share…check out: http://www.safeteen.ca
and you can check out my TEDtalk: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxIsfeld-Anita-Roberts-The-Tr;search%3Atag%3A%22TEDxIsfeld%22
and where in the world are you? we are always looking for strong women, “agents for change” to facilitate our empowerment programs for girls. Anita Roberts, founder: SafeTeen International.
keep up the outrage sister!
ps…how can i get permission to use the story of being a teen girl in our boy’s workshops? it would be a great lead-in for our piece on consent and sexual harassment. we have a brilliant boy’s program facilitated by a team of beautiful men who “get it”. check out SafeTeens lead facilitator and trainer doing a TEDtalk: Bill Pozzobon TEDtalk:
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/browse/talks-by-event/TEDxIsfeld
and to see some live video of myself and Yvette (lead trainer) – check out our utube site (don’t miss yvette singing her body/rap song!)
SafeTeen UTube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/safeteencanada?feature=mhsn#p/u