Feminism | Posted by Jocelyn S on 05/10/2013
Rachel Simmons at the Omega Institute
I would jump at any opportunity to participate in another workshop with Rachel Simmons, who is someone I’ve admired since her first book, Odd Girl Out, came out back in 2002. I got the opportunity to be a part of one of Rachel’s workshops during my time at the Omega Institute. I participated in the Say What You Mean, Be Who You Are workshop, which Rachel managed to cram with a ton of valuable lessons. Taking any workshop at Omega is incredible — it’s a truly magnificent place where people from all over can reflect and learn in a peaceful and nurturing environment that feeds the mind, body, and soul in more ways than you could imagine — but I especially loved the engaging ways Rachel taught us to advocate …
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Feminism | Posted by Charles Clymer on 05/8/2013
A Letter To My Future Son
A friend of mine has a young son. She recently asked me, and other men, to write a letter to our sons who exist or have yet to be born that she could show to her own child, someday. This is my letter.
Dear Son,
If you’re reading this, you are now set to embark on a journey into that wonderful, stressful, often-sticky phase we call “young adulthood”.
I want you to know that my love for you, my personal stake in your existence, could never be adequately measured.
As you have grown over the last 18 years, all I have ever sought to do is give you the best possible start on happiness in life and to respect and love others as equals.
You are a man in our …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Shavon M on 05/6/2013
Bright Like a Diamond, White Like a Princess
In recent years, Disney has been toying around with their “Princess” brand, making their popular films and characters even more marketable to children–namely, to young girls. This isn’t really new: Disney has changed the designs of their princesses to fit with market trends numerous times since the first princess, Snow White, debuted in 1937. Controversy arose, however, when Disney began retooling their princess brand for new products last summer, tweaking their make-up and outfits, and changing other, more integral aspects of their characters.
The redesigns are noticeably more glamorous and more bedazzled. Princess Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty, 1959) and Belle (Beauty and the Beast, 1991) no longer have the visually-flat hair of their movie counterparts, and are instead featured with the shimmering, flowing locks frequently seen in magazine …
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Feminism | Posted by Dani R on 04/29/2013
On Fat-Shaming
I thought I would stop being defined by my weight after middle school. When it kept happening, I thought, Okay, maybe after high school people will leave me alone. Again, I haven’t been so lucky and something that happened today only emphasizes that. While this incident is hard for me to repeat, I want everyone to know that even as an adult, I am still defined by my weight.
I went to the Pin Up BOOtique today in Ontario Mills, California and I spotted a really cute halter top that I wanted to try on. I asked a girl working there if she could get it for me in an XL and she said, “It runs small, so it’s not going to fit you.” I told her I wanted …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/24/2013
Why The New Dove Real Beauty Campaign Video Is Less Than Perfect
I (reluctantly) admit it: I am one of the many women who teared up watching the new Dove Real Beauty campaign’s “Beauty Sketches” video:
As a 20-year-old college student who, like many (most? All?) other women my age, has struggled with body image for years, the prevailing message of the video – you are more beautiful than you think and other people think so, too – was too enticing to resist. Under the influence of this video, I immediately began calculating how many minutes of time spent putting on make up I could reappropriate for sleeping now that I am apparently more beautiful than I think I am. Because, yes, as a college student that’s where my mind went first.
But more than that, watching that video I just felt…relieved. …
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Feminism | Posted by Talia on 04/22/2013
My Name is Not Baby
My name is not Baby. I have not been an infant for about 17 years. I am not an immobile, helpless being incapable of taking care of myself, dependent on others to ensure that my basic needs are met. I am, if not a grown woman, getting to be a young adult. Certainly not a baby.
My name is not Shorty. Yes, I am a mere 4”11, and I have always been happy to be a short person. However, my height or the pride I take in it does not determine what nickname I go by. Even if it did, you are a stranger, and have no right to be so familiar with me.
My name is not Bitch. The last time I checked, I was human, not canine. And …
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Feminism | Posted by Michayla Owens on 04/19/2013
Taking A Stand: Why I’m Fighting For Sexual Assault Education
My name is Michayla Owens. I’m sixteen years old, and I attend Columbia High School in Mississippi. I was fifteen when I was sexually assaulted by two boys at my high school.
The sexual assault took place on November 11th, 2012 after a positive incentive trip for good students at Columbia High School. It happened right on school grounds, in one of the school bathrooms. After the field trip, the bus returned us to the school. After getting off the bus, I entered the building. I was forced into a bathroom stall. My pants were removed, and I was sexually assaulted. One of the boys is a football player and one used to play football. Three boys were arrested that night, but only two are being charged. A rape kit …
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Feminism | Posted by Jenny P on 04/15/2013
Time to Talk
*Trigger warning: This blog post is about intimate partner violence*
Over fall break, my mom made an unexpected visit from California to New York City, where I go to school. She had been called the night before, told that her daughter was expressing suicidal thoughts, and asked to please come pick her up from the Metropolitan Hospital emergency psych ward as soon as possible.
“You know,” Mom began, “you didn’t really look scared or angry or anything when you were in there.”
A good observation. I wasn’t scared or angry. I was mostly just tired.
“You looked like you were thinking, ‘One day, I’m going to write a book about this,’ and like you were already writing it in your mind,” she said.
In a way, I was. That night, …
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