Pop-Culture | Posted by Elinor K on 07/22/2010
Femme Toxic: How To Be a Healthy & Environmentally Friendly Consumer
My name is Elinor Keshet and I’ve been an intern at FemmeToxic over the past several months. What’s FemmeToxic? Well, it’s a project that was started by Breast Cancer Montreal in partnership with Girls Action/Fille d’Action. It is a feminist, youth-oriented, and environmentally safe cosmetics movement with a focus on changing federal regulations.
FemmeToxic combines a feminist outlook with environmental ethics. It demands structural change and encourages its members and participants to question the products advertised to them and consumed by them. It is a unique cancer movement in that it caters to a younger audience of women unlike mainstream breast cancer movements. FemmeToxic believes:
“Every woman’s body is toxic, but it’s not our choice! FemmeToxic aims to raise awareness about the potential dangers of cosmetics and personal care …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 07/21/2010
Forever 21′s Materntiy Line and the Normalization of Teen Pregnancy
I am 17, and when I close my eyes and think of what my life would be like if I were to become pregnant in the near future, my cynical mind goes here: I am holding a tiny child that is crying and spitting something that was probably at one time the baby food I bought instead of those jeans I *really fricken wanted* as I am on the computer, turning down the college of my dreams in favor of an educational option that will allow me to raise my little bundle of joy. I haven’t slept more than 3 hours at a time in a few months, and sleep ranks right below eating and right above breathing on my list of general priorities. I call the father of little …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Danielle B on 07/20/2010
“Phat” Girl in a Skinny World
When you’re the only fat girl in your 2nd grade class, kids can be pretty mercilous. As someone who’s been overweight their entire life I’ve heard every joke and jab imaginable: ugly, fat-ass, puffer fish, ugly fat-ass puffer fish. And even when some of the other kids would try to make me feel better, sometimes saying I was just “big-boned,” that never did any good because I still knew 99% of the kids in my class – probably my school – were looking at me and seeing “the fat girl.” Not Danielle. Not me.
I don’t think people realize how hard it is to grow up fat. There seems to be this underlying hostility towards overweight people, and in many cases, it’s worse against overweight girls. After all, I’m supposed …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 07/18/2010
Support Women Artists Sunday: Pat Benatar
In 1971, Pat married her High School sweetheart, GI Dennis Benatar, and they moved to Virginia where he was stationed. Working as a bank clerk and a waitress, Pat began to sing in a Roaring Twenties theme restaurant and in hotel lounges.
On her return to New York, Pat divorced and started to take her singing seriously. From musicals she moved on to the cabaret circuit, her voice developing into a hard pop/rock sound.
At an open mike night in the New York City club, Catch a Rising Star, the owner liked Pat’s look and sound, and gave her a regular slot. Chrysallis Records signed her and, in 1979, she released million-selling ‘In The Heat Of The Night’. She followed it with multi-platinum ‘Crimes Of Passion’ the next year.
The …
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Creative | Posted by Freddy-May A. on 07/16/2010
Tomorrow
Tomorrow,
I will sit silently as I hear another rape joke,
letting it hit the wall I’ve put up,
blinking hard when my eyes start to prickle.
Tomorrow,
I will wait until I’m around people who agree with me
to vent my discontent
at the way we’re treated.
Tomorrow,
I will pretend not to notice the hilarious comment
about domestic abuse
from my classmate.
I’ll tell myself,
“tomorrow I’ll say something,”
“if he does it again I’ll call him on it,”
but I don’t.
I never do.
For all my words, all my critical thinking—
(what good does critical thinking do?)—
I rarely say anything
when it really matters.
Later I will cry to someone, my big sister,
my friend, my RA, and they’ll assure me
I’m not overreacting.
But …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Shanminio D on 07/15/2010
Sparknotes Gender Test and Gender Stereotypes
Ok, the gender test on the Sparknotes website really pisses me off.
Their claim: “Guys and girls are different in ways only we realize. In fact, without asking about your clohtes, grooming, or chest, our Gender Test will predict, with 100% accuracy, whether you’re a guy or a girl. This test’s patented Geni-Tell technology has gotten smarter with every taker. Finally, witness the true power of the Internet.”
I took the test and, apparently, I am a man:
“Well, deep down, your gender affects everything about you, from your favorite number to your views on Canada. Many men who took the test think and act just like you, as you can see from the graph above. Statistically speaking, you are a man—whether you know it or not.”
I’m not offended. But …
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Feminism | Posted by Kirsten M on 07/14/2010
Unnatural Causes: Feminism and Health Care
Health care reform is on everyone’s radar these days after we’ve watched Obama’s plan go through change after change before being passed this year. It’s been on my radar as a feminist because of the ways that it affects women and their bodies, especially pertaining to the right to choose. Recently, though, a new aspect of healthcare in the U.S. has been brought to my attention that I’m very concerned about, and I was looking for the feminist community’s reaction.
The disturbing aspect is this: unequal societies have worse health outcomes than healthier societies no matter their health care systems. Unequal is defined as having a larger gap between the rich and the poor. The data are represented in a bazillion places – life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality, the …
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Creative | Posted by Emily B on 07/13/2010
Another Night
Before the sky empties of truth, she
tells him. He peels apart dollar bills like clammy thighs as
the faucet drips out a heartbeat
Or maybe it was tears.
She wishes she could turn up his love like
the air conditioning.
As the constellations of his breaths emerge
and her anger throbbing like the
underside of tongues, like the shifting of traffic lights
she screams
to just throw her fucking
love in the trash
and he tells her it can go in the recyclables.
…
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