How is it that you never really appreciate someone until they’re gone?
When Michael Jackson died, I heard a lot of his music via the radio, and I thought, “We lost such a great talent. I can’t believe I never listened to his music before.” Now Amy Winehouse is dead, and I’m suddenly looking past all her troubles and seeing her soaring voice and strong spirit instead. So, in honor of a woman whose death was tragic and untimely, here’s a biography of Amy Winehouse.
Amy Winehouse was born in Southgate, North London, to Jewish parents. She had a brother, Alex. She would constantly sing in class, much to the annoyance of her teachers. When she was nine, her grandmother suggested that she attend theater school. At ten, she joined a …
My friend is obsessed with the YouTube star Jenna Marbles, and forced me to watch about fifteen of her videos in one sitting. At first, I was skeptical. I usually don’t find YouTube performers all that funny. But there’s just something about Jenna Marbles. Is she feminist? I mean…meh. What I do know about her latest video is that the blatant sarcasm mixed with gender commentary had me laughing, and that’s good enough for me.
[WARNING: this video contains profanity, sexual references and all that fucking shit]
Whether we like it or not, we all have to go through a long list of “firsts” in life: first kiss, first date, first “serious” relationship, first time you have sex, and the first serious breakup (which is never, ever, an easy thing to go through), to name a few. But being a feminist definitely made it easier for me to make a dreaded and life-altering first decision.
I had my first serious boyfriend right at the end of high school when I was 18. I was young, naive, sheltered, and completely confused about what I wanted in life. He was an amazing first boyfriend, though. He respected me, we were very compatible, and most importantly, he was always supportive of all the changes I went through (the best boyfriend …
I can remember the exact moment I became self conscious of my body. I was 12 and walking home from school when a boy I knew pointed at me, laughed, and said “Look how fat your legs are!”
I looked down at them and for the first time in my life I felt that my body was inadequate.
That moment has stayed with me forever, because that comment sparked a huge complex I had about my legs, something which still bothers me today. For years I only wore trousers and when I finally began wearing skirts and dresses, I always made sure I had tights or leggings on underneath, even in the Summer.
In fact, this Summer is the first since I was 12 that I have gone completely bare …
I don’t remember how I set out to do this painting. What I do know is that it was the first non-commissioned artwork I’ve sold, and that is was my first explicitly feminist-based painting that got any attention.
Beyond Betty, named after Betty Freidan, author of the second-wave feminist classic The Feminine Mystique, was exhibied twice at a local retirement community gallery- once as part of a group show for high school seniors, and once as part of my International Baccalaureate candidate show. In the small town where I live, people who had seen it came up to me in the street and, even more frequently, at church. “What were you trying to say?” “Is it making fun of Christianity?” “Is it about eating disorders?” “Is it about world …
In my eyes, he was perfect in every way. Dreamboy was smart, interesting, had beautiful brown eyes, a charming smile. He was genuinely more interested in girls’ personality than their breasts or butts. I thought Dreamboy was a perfect gentleman, and I loved him more than I’d loved anyone.
Dreamboy had, in his words, “exponentially more” experience than I did. He was a ladykiller, but was friends with many of the girls he’d had relations with. I respected that; he didn’t just “bump and dump” but rather actually took the time to get to know the girls and to keep knowing them after they’d hooked up. Dreamboy was different than any of the other guys I’d known in high school.
Then I told him that I’d hooked up (just kissing!) …
Public Service Announcements: FBomb Book Title and the Future of the FBomb
So, you may remember about a thousand years ago when I announced the FBomb’s title contest. WELL we have a winning title. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, my book will have a title and it won’t just be a series of symbols that I refuse to reveal the meaning and purpose of or explain how to pronounce.
The winning title is *drum roll please* ….
A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word
I’m so happy with this title and hope that you guys like it, too! I’m also going to try to keep you all updated on the book’s status as it progresses and try to include all of you in any way that I can.
On another note, a lot of people have been asking …
Nikki & Rich are Nikki Leonti, a California-born pastor’s daughter who grew up singing in church, and Rich Velonskis, a Queens, NY-born established hip-hop/R&B producer and former DJ who got his start spinning in New York City clubs as a teenager. These two seemingly opposite characters first met in 2007. After leaving a successful career as a Gospel artist, Nikki then based in Nashville, worked as a background singer for Carrie Underwood while pursuing a career in singing and songwriting. Rich was in Los Angeles producing tracks for Robin Thicke, Game, TI, Mel-B, Hayes, Vi, Missy Elliot, Mario, Eve and Ludacris, under his moniker Rich Skillz. (A track he produced on Ludacris’ No. 1 album Release Therapy earned Rich a “Best Rap Album” Grammy.) Rich was looking for a strong …
