Barack Obama was my sisters 2010 University of Michigan commencement speaker. He was incredible, but he said one thing that I immediately had a negative reaction to. He said, “Through periods of great social and economic unrest, from civil rights to women’s rights, it has allowed us slowly, sometimes painfully, to move towards a more perfect union.” I turned to my sister and said “Excuse me…Women’s Rights ARE Civil Rights.”
It was something that seemed so ridiculously obvious too me, but clearly Obama, and his speech writers, did not catch it. Why should Women’s Rights be considered as any different than Civil Rights as a whole? CIVIL rights should encompass all rights because they are HUMAN rights and we are all human. Yet, when referring to the these achievements of equality,…
Emilie Autumn is an American singer-songwriter, poet and musician. The Los Angeles-born musician is also eccentric and label-defying in the best possible way.
As a young girl, it was Emilie´s dream to become a top-notch violinst. At fourteen, she entered the Music Conservatory at Indiana University, but she left after two years because her opinions on individuality in classical music clashed with those of The Powers That Be. Emilie contributed backing vocals and violin to Courtney Love and Billy Corgan´s 2003 and 2004 albums, respictively. 2003 she released a full-length album called Enchant, which was re-released in 2007 and is now available on iTunes. Her songs have also been featured on the Saw 3 and Saw 4 soundtracks. She has been named one of “14 Artists to Watch” by Interview…
Maren H. wrote a great piece on the importance of feminism and focused on gender discrimination in hiring. It coincided with something that ticked me off today so here is my rant.
As my tradition-bound boarding school continues to figure things (substitute with race, gender, sexuality, etc.) out, the issue of gender disparity arose in Academic Council, a committee of department chairs and major school authorities. Of course, as a student, I am not supposed to know about this but let’s just say that I have my ways.
A lot of faculty members are leaving the school this year, which means that our only female academic department chair, an English teacher, will be leaving as well. As a result, the Academic Council—composed of the movers and shakers of the school—has become…
female/male brains – really just a way to promote sexism?
When I took an online ‘female/male brain’ quiz for class, it told me I have a male brain. I have a strong visuospatial sketchpad – I got nearly 100% on both an angles task and a rotation one. This is an easy thing to explain away culturally: I love cars, speak loudly and frequently in male-dominated conversation, want to be a scientist when I grow up – I may as well be XY. But I got “female” results too – excellent at verbal tasks, ring and pointer fingers are the same length, prefer traditionally masculine faces. It appears that my ability to spin blocks in my head is the only indicator of my so-called masculinity. That it is so strongly…
As a senior in high school, I am less than ecstatic about senior year and its attendant rites. That’s right: it’s prom time.
It’s a fortuitous year to be queer and prom-bound, as Constance McMillen has brought the issue to the forefront of America’s pop culturally-inclined social consciousness. You may have heard this already: McMillen asked to take her girlfriend to prom. School went nuts, canceled their prom, then sent Constance to a fake prom with other excluded kids while the rest of the class partied in secret. The one-two punch of bigotry and cruelty sent buzz not just through the gay community but the media at large. Impassioned Facebook groups such as “Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!” sprouted up, along with offers of an alternate prom paid…
23 year old singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding recently topped the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll and won the Critics Choice Awards at the BRITs and is tipped for big things. After learning to play folk music on her guitar while growing up in Hereford she found that her best work was made with, her now chief collaborator, electro expert Starsmith. She released a taster single Under the Sheets on the brilliant Neon Gold record label in November. Her first proper single Starry Eyed was released in February which preceded her debut album, Lights, which debuted at No.1 in the UK. It combines folky songwriting with synth pop production to make heartfelt, catchy ballads and big singles.
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