Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/30/2010
How Are Teenage Girls Supposed to Identify as Feminists With These Role Models?
She’s staring at me like I’ve just insinuated she embodies the anti-Christ. “A feminist? No, I’m not a feminist. Oh my God.” Despite the fact that this classmate of mine just spent ten minutes ranting about how a woman has the right to choose and thinks anybody who disagrees is archaic, she is equally appalled at the thought of labeling herself as a feminist. Am I frustrated? Yes. But as a teenage feminist, I’m used to it.
Teenage feminists are a mighty minority. You may find us in the malls, mingling amongst girls who carry bags plastered with the image of a naked torso and the word “Abercrombie.” We’re even at football games, willingly crushed between excited pubescent bodies. Maybe we’re the girls in the hoodies rolling our eyes as …
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Feminism | Posted by Jaded16 on 04/29/2010
Being Indian AND A Feminist? Has The World As I Know It Come To An End?
I’m fairly new to this space called the “feminist blogosphere”. My blog is just shy of being six months old and has recently become a tad bit famous over the last month or so. With this e-fame (however brief or slight) comes a bigger responsibility : handling trolls who infest my space everyday. My troll-mail isn’t that different from most of your troll-mail (with the ever-charming photographs of their boners, neatly listed reasons why I suck and need to put my head in the oven, how my writing is so deeply unoriginal that it makes the troll cry etc you know the sort) However, one thing all my trolls point out is — how am I an Indian and a Feminist? Isn’t there a law or something against it? My …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Laura H on 04/28/2010
Prom, Dresses and Body Image Issues
I’m looking for a prom dress at the moment. Okay, maybe I’m not. Perhaps a more accurate description of my current activities is that I’m writing this lot a rambling spiel, whilst conveniently skiving off looking for prom dresses on the internet. Well, shoot me.
To tell you the truth, going to the prom is pretty high on my scale of “things I don’t really want to do but feel I really should”. I have never expressed a burning desire to dress up like some sort of tragically imperfect reject Barbie doll and totter around in heels that I can’t even walk in, trying to give the impression that my lumbering around the dance floor is not an inept stagger, but a waltz, and nor am I ever likely to. …
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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 04/27/2010
Being An Ally
In December, I attended the National Association for Independent Schools’ Student Diversity Leadership Conference, which I blogged about here. This conference, which brought together high school students from across the country to talk about diversity, inspired a friend of mine and I to start a diversity club at our school. We had no idea how hard pulling this off would be.
While there were teachers at our school who had attended the conference with us and who completely supported us, our efforts at starting a club were completely ignored by the student body. We concluded that much of the disinterest had to do with the fact that our school is overwhelmingly white and pretty much conforming to stereotypes across the board.
Getting kids at our school to understand that …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Jessie W on 04/26/2010
Prom and New Opportunities: Setting Ourselves Up To Fail?
My mother is a wonderful, funny woman. She has several interesting stories from her past which she shares with me, including one about prom. For her prom, she decided to go dressed in a long, powder blue dress. Her date somehow managed to catch his matching powder blue jacket in the car door and was a half hour late because his mother attempted to get the tar out by bleaching it, turning the entire side of the jacket white. My mother and her date went to a fancy restaurant and her date began to scream that he was dying due to a small piece of glass in his Boston cream pie. As if the night couldn’t get any more exciting, another girl at the prom wore the same dress as …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/25/2010
Support Women Artists Sunday: Ellen Page
A lot of people may criticize Juno, saying that it’s an unrealistic portrayal of teen pregnancy (and these are valid claims) – but it’s hard to deny how awesome Ellen Page was in that movie. She’s funny, clearly smart and a very talented actress and she definitely deserves some FBomb love.
Born Ellen Philpotts-Page on February 21, 1987 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The daughter of a teacher and a graphic designer, Ellen Page took an interest in theater from a young age. She performed in her first local production in the fifth grade and won Canada’s prestigious Gemini nomination for her role in the made-for-TV movie Pit Pony in 1997. The busy actress went on to appear in several Canadian television series, including the Pit Pony spin-off, Trailer Park …
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Feminism | Posted by Jessica S on 04/23/2010
Nicaraguan Government and Restrictive Abortion Laws
I recently read an article about how the Nicaraguan government is denying cancer treatment to a women because she is pregnant. This is only the latest outrage in a country that has the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. The case concerns a 27-year-old woman who has cancer that is suspected to have spread to her brain, lungs and breasts. But Nicaraguan authorities have withheld life-saving treatment from her because it could harm the fetus and violate the country’s total ban on abortion.
Nicaragua has one of the most draconian abortion laws in the world. It is one of the few countries to prohibit abortion under any circumstances. Girls and women who seek an abortion — as well as health professionals who provide health services associated with abortion — …
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Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 04/22/2010
Bunnies and The Morning After Pill
March 23rd was the one year anniversary of a major victory the Center for Reproductive Rights won against the FDA. A federal court rule that the FDA “acted in bad faith and in response to political pressure” when it decided to restrict Emergency Contraception (EC) based on a directive from the Bush administration.
Although EC is now available without a prescription, the FDA has completely stalled on removing remaining restrictions – even though its own scientists declared the restrictions unnecessary. Currently, pharmacies and clinics must keep EC behind the counter and anyone who wants it must prove they’re 17 or older by showing ID in order to buy it without a prescription.
As a teenager myself, I have to be honest and say that by doing this, the FDA is …
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