Feminism | Posted by Emma on 12/21/2011

Pride and Prejudice: A Firsthand Account of Literary Sexism

Books: not for guys, apparently

Flashback: It is the first week of 11th Grade. Having gone to the same school since kindergarten, I have no need for first day back-jitters or thinking what to wear to impress my peers. I wear what I like and that usually ends up being some lurid mod dress I bought at a thrift store because I enjoy wearing happy clothes when I seem endlessly angsty.

There is a new kid in our grade. Let’s call him Andrew. I do not make any effort to talk to him because, honestly, I generally don’t talk to people outside of the small set of friends that I already have. Perhaps this is due to my aspirations as a fashion journalist or the fact that growing up an only child…

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Feminism | Posted by Marie B on 12/16/2011

“I Only Asked You Out Because You’re Pretty”

the best thing to come out of this date

…But you’re actually really funny, too!” Well no shit, asshole. In addition to a sense of humor, I also possess opinions, aspirations, and a black belt, but since we only made it to gelato and Gas USA for your cigarettes, I guess I shouldn’t expect you to know that. That is the sad unfortunate reality that is dating.

While it’s cliché, it’s also completely true that for whatever reason people love to be told that they’re attractive. This is not meant to necessarily be an attack on the “oppressive bonds of beauty forced upon women by society.” I think it’s more complicated than that. Rather this is me trying to figure out exactly why a statement that praised my looks but clearly undermined…

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Feminism | Posted by Holly Grigg-Spall on 12/12/2011

Ms-guided: I Was A Teen On Drugs

what do you really know about the Pill?

When I was 17 years-old I was put on the birth control pill. I had painful, heavy periods that would get me out of gym class, but that wasn’t the only reason I was taken to the doctor. My mum, who became an adult in the 1960s, just as the Pill was introduced as a tool for female liberation, was afraid I would get pregnant. Not that I had a boyfriend, or even had sex – and, in fact, I wouldn’t for another four years. It was just the responsible thing to do, the right thing to do, and I swallowed that, quite literally, without question. I had no idea how the Pill worked, nor even how my own body worked. Aside from…

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Feminism | Posted by Christina B on 12/9/2011

Chicks Before Dicks

who will you be left with when you break up?

In high school (and in life) people learn that they have to have priorities. Do grades come before sports? Do friends come before family? Does my boyfriend come before everyone/everything else? After a year and a half of high school (only two and a half left – yippie!) I feel that I have a pretty good sense of how high school relationships function. Many of my friends, teammate and classmates have had boyfriends or girlfriends and so have I and what has become very obvious is that people more often than not choose their boyfriend/girlfriend over their friends, which I think is really damaging.

It’s not secret that teenagers’ hormones are raging all the time. Walking into a high school is basically…

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Feminism | Posted by Melanie Butler on 12/7/2011

Are We Bonobos or Chimpanzees? Evolution and Occupy Wall Street

The Divine Feminine at Occupy Wall Street

Bonobos and chimpanzees, our closest animal relatives, are almost exactly the same type of monkey. They are so similar, in fact, they only became distinguished as separate species in 1929. But chimpanzee and bonobo societies are dramatically different. In chimpanzee culture, males dominate, sex is strictly for reproduction and violence and infanticide are common. Bonobo society, on the other hand, is remarkably peaceful and is characterized by an abundance of recreational sex and strong female bonding. This marked difference is inextricably linked to the relative levels of female interaction in each society. In chimpanzee habitats, where food is difficult to obtain, females spend their time isolated from one another, gathering food and caring for their offspring. Their seclusion leaves them susceptible to violence and…

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Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 12/5/2011

The Anita Hill 20: Sexual Harassment and Teens

Anita Hill

On October 15th, I had the honor of participating in the “Sex, Power and Speaking the Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later” conference. I spoke on an intergenerational panel that also featured speakers Kimberle Crenshaw, Virginia Valian, Gloria Steinem and Devon Carbado, which was terrifying and beyond humbling, but also probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do. Using your feedback about sexual harassment and my own observations, I pulled together a speech that I thought reflected our generation’s attitudes towards sexual harassment.

I’m beyond late sharing this with the FBomb community, but I hope you enjoy it and would still love to hear your reactions to my speech or any of the other panelists’ speeches and your thoughts about sexual harassment today.

The whole conference was televised…

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Feminism | Posted by Fiona L on 11/30/2011

Gaddafi: An Unexpected Advocate for Libyan Women?

When I first heard about the death of Libyan Dictator, Moammar Gaddafi (who seems to be America’s favorite frenemy) my thoughts went to the women of Libya: what would it mean for them? I quickly realized I had no idea. I searched my mind, trying to remember what I’d heard about Libyan women in the news in the past months.

The fact is, I hadn’t heard much at all about Libyan women, because Libyan women are complicated. Okay, all women are complicated (I feel like this could be the title of a book), but the women’s rights situation in Libya is especially complex, because it turns out, Gaddafi was in many ways a supporter of women’s rights—and yes I cringe a little when I say something as general as this…after all,…

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Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 11/28/2011

Reading Women Writers

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: just trust me, she was a 17th century badass

Like many other college freshmen across the country, I enrolled in a prerequisite, required English class for my first semester of school. Unlike most other college freshmen, though, I wasn’t stuck reading the immortal words of old, dead White dudes. Instead, I enrolled in a course called “Women and Culture” which was, predictably, all about female writers and female-centric works.

Yeah, I know – a feminist blogger at a women’s college enrolled in “Women and Culture.” I am a walking, talking feminist stereotype. But in actuality, my thought process behind choosing that course over courses that focused on the literature of South America or the Mediterranean (my other choices) wasn’t exactly rooted in my feminist identity (at…

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