Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 08/31/2009

(500) Days of Summer is revenge disguised as a cute, indie movie

I enjoyed (500) Days of Summer. It had its moments despite the fact that the entire film was essentially an extended explanation for the writer’s hatred of one woman, because she was crazy enough not to feel the same way about him as he did about her. Yes – a woman who makes herself clear in that she has no intention of making a relationship serious and doesn’t want to use labels is made out to be a bitch, because she resists the guy forcing these things on her. Which is really just lovely when you think about it. 

Interestingly enough when I talked to my friends about how I thought the movie had some underlying girl hate, they all countered that it was feminist in that for once the guy was…

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Pop-Culture | Posted by Danielle C on 08/30/2009

Support Women Artists Sunday: Porcelain and the Tramps

Alaina Beaton

The first time I ever heard the name ‘Porcelain and the Tramps’, I was randomly searching YouTube (as one does on a boring Saturday morning) and their song Gasoline popped up in that Related Videos bar on the side of the page. I clicked on it, figuring that a girl with electric purple hair and a gas mask on couldn’t be half bad. What I didn’t expect was that instead of the pretty, sugar sweet voice that most female singers seem to have nowadays, this girl (who I later discovered was called Alaina Beaton) snarled, screamed and at times crooned her way through a collection of songs that literally blew me away.

I instantly fell in love with her aggressive, at times violent and usually explicit lyrics, and in a…

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Pop-Culture | Posted by Becka W on 08/29/2009

Mad Men Puts Things in Perspective

So recently on my Netflix account (how did we ever live without this miraculous invention?), I’ve been taking out every DVD of the TV show Mad Men and watching them incessantly with my roommate. Aside from just being an AWESOME TV Show (seriously, rent it on Netflix – it’s captivating), it’s actually a fairly interesting peek into life in the 1960’s – and the way women were perceived, treated, and the way they behaved back then.

See, while there was a revolution of ideas about women’s role in society with the second wave of the feminist movement and a struggle for women to get back into the workforce in the way they were during WWII; many women struggled to cope with the “boys’ world” that dominated many industries and offices around…

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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 08/28/2009

RIP Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

This past Tuesday night, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts died at 77. 

Ted Kennedy really was a great senator, and accomplished some really incredible things. He authored more than 2,500 bills, several hundred of which have become Public Law. He was a huge fighter for quality, affordable health care, including the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990, the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997, and the Children’s Health Act of 2000 in addition to many others. 

Kennedy also played a role in providing better programs for women, specifically helping to establish the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), which offers food, nutrition counseling, and access to health services for low-income women, infants and children. In it’s first year, 88,000 women and children participated in…

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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 08/27/2009

Target Women: You’re Old

I love Target Women. Here’s the latest gem from Sarah Haskins, in honor of her 30th birthday.

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Feminism | Posted by Jessica S on 08/26/2009

Go Topless Day?

Did you know that August 23rd is Go Topless Day?

David Beckham is ALWAYS taking his shirt off (not that I'm complaining about that), so why can't we?

While browsing the internet today, I came upon an interesting website: gotopless.org

They are a US organization claiming that women have the same constitutional right to be bare chested in public places as men. The founder of the organization, Maitreya Rael, says that “as long as men as long as men can be topless, constitutionally women should have the same right, or men should also be forced to wear something hiding their chest.”

They hold an annual protest every year, the next being next year in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the 19th amendment and Women’s Equality Day.

This is from their site:
Why a National GoTopless Protest…

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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 08/25/2009

The New Miss Universe Thinks We’re Post-Feminism

Stefania Fernandez, the 18-year-old Miss. Venezuela, won the 2009 Miss Universe crown on Sunday. 

Normally, I’d probably just sigh and say something sassy. To me, the reasons why beauty pageants are sexist/anti-feminist and just plain stupid are pretty freakin obvious– such as blatant objectification and valuing beauty above all else. Again, the self-esteem excuse is complete crap. If being judged almost entirely on the way you look is building your self-esteem, well all I’ll say is there’s a hella lot more you could be proud of yourself for than something (like looks) that is mostly beyond your control. I say mostly because I guess starvation, hair removal, and the use of excessive makeup could be in your control, but that’s a WHOLE other story. 

I didn’t watch the pageant. So when…

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Awareness, Feminism | Posted by Becka W on 08/24/2009

The Right to Choose vs. The Right to Survival

I was recently in China from 7/17 – 8/2 on a family vacation (we take some pretty unique vacations, haha). We went on this fabulous tour from Shanghai to Wuhan to a 5-day Cruise down the Yangtze River, and then Chongquing; Xian; Beijing; Guilan, and finally Hong Kong.

 Aside from really and truly learning how wonderful A/C is (when the high temp for the day is 101 degrees Fahrenheit; it truly is wonderful!), I tried to learn as much as I could about the Chinese culture and government and how they intertwine while I was there. As a US History, Politics, Society & Culture minor I’ve always been fascinated by how all of these things often intersect and reflect off of one another even when we think they don’t. So when…

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