Technolandy

Day 27 (of 2026/27) Fridays are for: Option 5 – bringing attention to special days – Persons Day

After last weeks Saturday Night Live monologue by Shane Gillis, I think it’s important to once again remind people that oppression based on gender is long standing and continues to need attention brought to it…

https://apple.news/AWug-hljGS_-xvS_Xh8WyLA

In Canada, October 18 is Persons Day 

To denote the day in 1929

When women (well most of them)

…specifically not Indigenous nor asian-heritage… 

Were defined as people under our National Act

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And could hold public office

Attend schools

Get PhDs

Have rights enshrined in our charter

And start the movement for other minorities

Many of which continue to struggle today

(Thus October is deemed the History Month for Women AND 2SLGBTQIA+ )

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To edit Lord Sankeys’ comment:

“And to those who would ask why the word ‘person’ should include females (or any gender), the obvious answer is, why should it not?”

Now I am a fan of a variety of comedies

Especially dark humour that not all boy, but I do wonder…

Comedy has a place in these conversations…

It can challenge authority
Expose hypocrisy
And make us uncomfortable enough to think.

But perhaps we should also ask:

Who is the target of the joke?

Who gets to laugh?

And whose dignity becomes the price of the punchline?

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Shane Gillis’ jokes came across as mean

And cruel.

And very generalizing and stereotyping.

And misogynistic 

And it didn’t need to be.

He’s a better comedian that that.

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While freedom of expression matters.

So does the freedom to challenge
What we hear
What we see
And what we choose to normalize.

Persons Day reminds us
That rights we take for granted
Were once rights people had to fight for.

And that the work of equality
Was never finished
Just because the law changed.

Why should it not?

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After all, a lot of men wear a lot less and show a lot more in those same gyms that Shane Gillis seems to be fascinated by… and that has been brought up by many, so maybe we can see the cup as half full and maybe Shane hoped to generate this dialogue?
I hope so

I don’t think so though.

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And tell me… What does equality look like when the law says we are equal, but our everyday experiences tell a different story?