Tag: racialization

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Intersectionality Matters!

Both Asian Canadians and LGBTQ+ Canadians are facing increasing rates of discrimination and violence

Author:
Tsuba Shima (she/her)

Health is a huge issue when it comes to the Asian diaspora for numerous reasons – cultural barriers, traditional systems of medicine, discrimination, and other factors all play an important role. The discussion that needs to take place with greater prominence is understanding how racialization, gender, and sexual orientation all intersect with each other to better explain and account for variability in health. Tsuba conducts a comprehensive review to examine whether or not such intersectionality matters when examining health disparities. In particular, do conventional health trends regarding racialized settlers in Canada replicate for racialized LGBTQ+ folks, and what implications does this have for future research involving this topic?

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Voices of Queer Asian Canadians

Voices of Queer Asian Canadians: Identity and Belonging for the Queer Asian Diaspora in Vancouver

Author:
Alger Liang 梁家傑

Queerness is a set of identities that many individuals in Asian diasporic communities still face barriers over due to a combination of the perceived clashes between queerness and Asian cultural traditions/concepts, and a lack of understanding/discussion on the part of friends, families, and family members from older generations. This is compounded by the racism that queer Asian Canadians experience in the face of a predominantly White queer scene in Canada, compelling queer Asian Canadians to create communities by themselves for themselves. Read as Liang summarizes some important themes underlying three queer Asian Canadians’ experience as they explore what it means to be a queer Asian for them. “Identity” is a complex issue, especially when it exists at the intersection of multiple dimensions of marginalization. Can better understanding of these intersections allow for a better equipped society to helping each other achieve liberation?

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Suck on an egg

I think the Western system can go and suck on an egg

Host:
Sameen Niazi ثمين نیازی (she/hers)

Guests:
Nami Azizi نامى ءزيزي (Afghan heritage, medical laboratory assistant)
Charmain Laride (Filipina-Latinx heritage, doula)
Dr. Nazia Niazi نازیہ نیازی (Pakistani heritage, family physician)

In this podcast submission, Niazi interviews three Asian Canadians who interface with various facets of the medical system in Canada. They all express different levels of frustration in their experiences with the Canadian medical system, centring on their identities as Asian diaspora in Canada. The guests speak of systemic issues like the lack of language-accessible services, insufficient representation of diverse cultural identities in childbirth support service providers (e.g. midwives and doulas), and the problematic stereotypes and cultural assumptions healthcare providers have that are harmful for racialized communities. Niazi and her guests also talk about the difficulties of discussing about racism in Canada when the predominant conceptualization of racism requires that it be clear and explicit, making more implicit behaviours like biases and microagressions more difficult to critique despite the negative impact they have on the receiver. What steps are needed to tackle the racism and discrimination that’s built into the healthcare system in Canada?

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