Feminism | Posted by Evelyn T on 05/31/2011
The Slut Walks and Victim Blaming
So recently the feminist community has been rallying around the SlutWalks. Personally, I’m beginning to feel a tad sorry for the poorly spoken police officer who instigated all of this as he’s probably (hopefully) feeling like an idiot right about now. But not too sorry.
Recently the topic was brought up in my calculus class, and although most students didn’t know about it, the ones that did all said the same thing: “Well, you wouldn’t leave your garage door open and expect someone not to steal your car, would you?” I was surprised that so many people thought this, as I was under some sort of impression that victim blaming was only for serious misogynists. I was clearly wrong; it’s more subtle and widespread than that.
I think the …
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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 05/30/2011
Feminism and Education: The Truth About Student Loans
I would argue that the most difficult thing about the entire process of higher level, collegiate education is not getting in, though that is what the public conversation at large is about. The most difficult, troubling part of higher education is paying for it once you do get in. Even with financial aid, even with other scholarships, so many people end up with crippling debt by the end of their college years.
These past few months, I’ve watched my class celebrate getting into college. Then I’ve watched everybody have an “Oh, shit” moment trying to figure out where the money is going to come from to fund the next four years of their life. I’ve watched brilliant people decide to go to schools they are beyond over-qualified for because they …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Brian C on 05/29/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: The Ettes
Ever wonder what Heart wouid sound like had it been a punk band? Welcome to The Ettes.
The Ettes are a rock band consisting of Lindsay “Coco” Hames, Maria “Poni” Silver, and Jeremy “Jem” Cohen. The Ettes are currently based in Nashville, Tennessee and formed in 2004 in Los Angeles, California.The Ettes released their first album Shake The Dust on Sympathy For The Record Industry in the USA and 2Fer Records in Spain in 2006. Shake The Dust was produced/mixed by Liam Watson and recorded at Toe Rag Studios in London, UK.The Ettes’ second album Look At Life Again Soon released by Take Root Records in the USA, 2Fer Records in Spain and KNTRST in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 2008. Look At Life Again Soon was also produced and …
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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 05/28/2011
Saturday Vids: Educate Girls in Malawi
Statistically, according to UNESCO’s 2005 Education For All monitoring report, only 31% of adult women can read and write in Malawi. This is shocking when compared to men – 80% of whom are literate. Kasungu district in Malawi, where the Join My Village project is taking place is no exception in terms of prioritizing boys when it comes to education. Kasungu is among the top list of districts where literacy levels are very low in women.
Once educated, a girl child is more capable of helping the greater family as she is the one that spends more time with them and so can act as a good mentor. An educated girl can easily manage to start a small business that can help the family financially. It is only through education …
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Creative | Posted by Tesneem A on 05/27/2011
No Body Is Perfect
Colour me flawless, colour me pretty,
Isn’t it enough that I’m smart, caring and witty?
I have my scars and I have my scratches,
I even have my fair share of bulges,
I wish that the skeletons would stay in their closets,
And that those cans of worms would remain closed,
But I can’t deny that I’ve had my woes,
For perfection for me is a far away dream,
Unattainable and ever elusively seen,
I know that life goes on, but I still despair,
No matter how much it looks like I don’t care,
But I wish it wasn’t so hard for me to let go,
It’s time to be resilient and live again, to be emancipated and elated,
Because if it’s true that the sky is the limit and …
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Feminism | Posted by Alexa S on 05/26/2011
The Girls At The Table
I am not easily affected by other people’s opinions. Maybe I was at some point, but I rarely value my worth by how others perceive me. So I don’t understand how I can still feel so awfully judged by someone else without her saying a word.
If asked if I were ever explicitly bullied I would probably say no. But when I recently sat at a table among eight of my peers, all girls within a year of my age, many of whom I’ve been acquainted with for years, I positively felt like crap. One of the other girls at this table, one of my close friends, visibly hunched over as we sat down.
My friend and I are intellectual. We have truckloads of aspirations and are not afraid to …
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Feminism | Posted by Chelsea B on 05/25/2011
Fat Is Not A Personality Trait
It sickens me that one of the most common issues plaguing young females today is that of body image distortion.
I say this as a person who once hated her body so much she welcomed the idea of going to extremes to obtain perfection. Whether it was by starving, purging, or over-exercising, if it “guaranteed” perfection, I would do it. It never occurred to me that the perfection I had in mind would never be obtainable. Nor did I realize that recovery would be a life-long struggle to relearn what it felt like to be full.
A year ago, I decided it was time that self-loathing relinquished its firm grip on my life. I did not consult a psychologist because I thought of my recovery as a journey I would …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Becka W on 05/24/2011
Bossypants: Why We Should All Bask In The Wisdom Of Tina Fey
Tina Fey is awesome. This is not new information. She’s hilarious, successful, and still dedicated to her family. Fey seems genuine and grounded, which is always nice to see in famous people, who I typically imagine snapping for servants on a beach in Cabo, drinking some sort of pink-colored beverage. I read her memoir (of life so far), Bossypants, like, as Mindy Kaling said, “a grown woman’s Twilight” – before I knew it, it was 5 AM, I was giggling to myself surrounded by Diet Coke cans, and my roommate had her pillow over her face, attempting to block out the light from my lamp.
Aside from being insomnia-inducing, Bossypants has some awesome nuggets of genius-wisdom about growing up, womanhood, feminism, motherhood, and women in the workplace without feeling preachy …
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