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 me about what is going to happen to the FBomb in about a month (eek) when I go to college, and especially as I rapidly lose my “teen” status.

I have previously said that I’d love to hand the FBomb off to still-teens who are interested in taking it over. And hypothetically, I’d still love to do that. But in running the FBomb for the past two years, it’s become clear that that may not be the best option, especially since I have no idea who exactly I’d give it to. I think ideally, down the line, I’d love to hand it off to multiple teenagers. I think maybe that could take the form of an application process, or possibly just a few submitters really distinguishing themselves in the number of posts they submit, the quality of those posts, and their overall demonstrated dedication to the site.

For now, though, I think the best solution is going to be for me to keep editing/running the FBomb. I want to do this to keep the FBomb alive, obviously, but also because I want to extend the FBomb to college-aged readers. I think the FBomb already has a lot of feminists that would be more accurately classified as “young” rather than “teen” anyway, and want to be as inclusive of all of our readers as possible. And while there might be a significant difference between what feminists experience in high school as opposed to college, I think we’re still all part of the same generation/wave of feminism, and we certainly can learn from each other.

Since I am starting college, though, and dealing with my book and generally living my life, I think the frequency with which the FBomb publishes posts is going to have to change. I love that the FBomb is able to put up new content every day (with only a few exceptions), but I just don’t think it’s going to be realistic from now on. I plan to post submissions as I receive them – definitely at least a few times a week – and will write my own posts when I feel I have time and am able to write posts that meet my own standards content-wise.

All of that being said, I’d love to get your opinions on this. What do you think should happen to the FBomb now? Are there things we can take this opportunity to change up? Would you be interested in having an application process to create a board of FBomb editors, while still retaining a submissions feature? I want to hear from YOU.

Oh, and by the way, you’re all wonderful and I love you all and wish I could stay a teenager forever for the sole purpose of running this blog. Thanks for making the FBomb what it is today.

Seal Press

When I was a freshman in high school, I read Jessica Valenti’s book Full Frontal Feminism and it changed my life. It’s what sent me to Feministing, which introduced me to the feminist blogosphere, which in turn inspired me to start a blog for teenage feminists. Because just like Feministing, Full Frontal Feminism can be applicable to the lives of teenagers in many ways, and has been passed around plenty amongst teen feminists, but ultimately Full Frontal is geared towards women in their 20’s and 30’s.

And as absolutely fabulous as Full Frontal is, I think we can all agree that it’s about time that teenage feminists have a book that is really ours – about and relevant to our lives and written from a teenage perspective. We’ve proven we exist through the FBomb; thousands of teenage girls visit this blog every month, writing incredibly brilliant posts and comments every week. We need a book to represent that.

It just so happens that I’m writing that book. In fact, Seal Press- the lovely publisher of Full Frontal Feminism– is publishing it. Which is incredibly mind-blowing and awesome. And I’m having the best time in the world writing this, especially since I get to incorporate all of my experiences with the FBomb and everything this community has taught me into every page.

I’m still in the process of writing this book, but here’s the basic idea: this book will be a handbook for teenage feminism, accessible to teenagers of all levels of feminist identification. It’s as much for teens who are constantly using the phrase, “I’m not a feminist, but… [insert feminist belief here]” as it is for the FBomb warriors who are well versed in their feminist texts and are on this website posting and commenting up a storm. It’s a critical look at feminism and it’s a manifesto for our generation – what we believe and how we’re going to change this movement (and the world). It covers serious topics, but in the vein of the FBomb, I promise it’s going to be fun. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (you probably won’t cry), you’ll learn. It’ll be great.

But I’m not here to gush about it. I’m not a gusher. No, this is serious business. I might be the only one writing this book (a fact that, when it truly hits me, kind of makes my heart stop) but the FBomb obviously has to be included somehow. I mean, duh, you’re all a huge reason why this book will exist at all.

Here’s the deal. This book doesn’t have a title yet. And I’ve been keeping this fact in the back of my mind for months, trying to think of something, but I keep coming up with “The FBomb” which is a name I happen to have used already, so that’s a no-go. Then I realized that FBomb contributors and commenters are writing brilliant, hilarious, awesome things every day. You’re a freakin amazing group of brilliant young women and you deserve to be a part of this, somehow. So I think you guys should title this book.

But, I mean, thinking of a title just for the hell of it isn’t really fun. So we’re going to make this a contest.

You have two weeks from today (May 23rd – June 6th) to submit an idea (or multiple ideas) for consideration to fbombsubmissions@gmail.com. A technicality: please title the email submission “FBomb Title Contest” and include your name. The prize is a book package from Seal Press, which will include a book bag with 5 free books (to get an idea, here’s a list of the books Seal Press has put out into the world). Some of my Seal Press faves? Full Frontal Feminism (obviously), Click! When We Knew We Were Feminists and Reality Bites Back just to name a few. Pretty cool, right?

Let the games begin!

College Femme

Do you know what a Fauxmance is?

Do you need college-student-affordable vegetarian recipes?

Would you prefer some Janis Joplin playing as you read style tips for your next interview?

We do!

Here at College Femme we’ve created a community of college-aged women (and men!) who get to reflect about their lives and make all our journeys that much easier. Our writers are interested in all sorts of subjects, and so we have articles about school, music, literature, fashion, relationships, college-life, politics, and all sorts of other topics. Everything that’s ever posted up on College Femme boils down to one belief we share: Be More. Be Yourself. Be Beautiful.

We envision a community where we can celebrate ourselves and the potential we have to do great things, and we support each other in the process! This is the goal of College Femme, and since its inception, the freedom and encouragement we give each other has enabled us to bring that vision to life.

Always looking for passionate writers, we are constantly growing and adding new features. If you find something that is missing but would like to share with our family, please contact our Editor Kristyn Potter at editor@collegefemme.com

Happy Thanksgiving F-Bombers (and to my international readers…happy Thursday, November 25th!). The FBomb is going to take a break from posting today through Sunday. Here are some things you can do while I selfishly stuff myself with food and sleep instead of running this blog:

- Read some back posts. Here are a few of my faves:

Justin Bieber and Double Standards

A Feminist Goes to the Ballet (by Nellie B.)

Proclaiming Oneself as a Male Teenage Feminist (by Paul S.)

Corduroy Skirts are a Sin

Pretty Little Liars and Teen Sexuality (by Anna S.)

- Submit an Article!

Take this time off to write a post! Just to remind you, posts should be about 300-600 words (although I’m flexible on length) and they can be about anything feminist or teen related! Rants, musings, thoughts on current events and feminist diatribes are all welcome. Send submissions to fbombsubmissions@gmail.com

- Pat Yourselves on the Back

for being the best feminist, teen community out there. Your support – especially recently – has meant so much to me and you guys are amazing.

Chelsea Baker

I remember one day in 5th grade during P.E. class, a particularly douchey male classmate of mine turned to me completely unsolicited and said, “Boys are better than girls at sports, you know.” Now, if this had happened today, you better believe I would have smacked the dodgeball or whiffle ball or whatever sports accessory I may have been holding at the time into his righteous face (just kidding, violence is bad). But I was ten, and even though his statement didn’t seem true to me I just let him get away with it. I mean I personally fail miserably at sports, but that’s due to complete indifference and laziness, neither of which I attribute to my gender or even physical ability. And now that I think about it, this kid wasn’t exactly an athletic prodigy himself. But maybe if I Chelsea Baker had been around then to look up to I would have rolled my eyes and told him off.

13-year-old Chelsea Baker was recently recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for pitching two perfect games – something that is apparently a very notable accomplishment in the realm of baseball. And she did it playing against boys in Little League. Not only is this awesome for the obvious reason that it’s making America question our perceptions of gender norms, especially when it comes to girls and physical ability, but I think it’s great that she felt assertive enough to play with the boys in the first place. While Chelsea is clearly incredibly talented, who knows how many girls out there who love baseball, or other sports for that matter, feel held back from joining the boys (and beating them) because of their gender?

Chelsea with her teammates

Playing sports has actually been proven to be incredibly beneficial for girls on many levels, including promoting higher self esteem, lower prevalence of sexual risk-taking behavior, and camaraderie and teamwork amongst girls. As Chelsea Baker herself said, “When I strike them (boys) out with the knuckleball, sometimes they’ll throw their helmets and start crying. It’s just really funny to watch.” How’s that for self-esteem? Plus, those boys seem like they need to be taught that they’re on equal grounds with girls: being defeated by one shouldn’t be any less honorable than being defeated by a guy.

So, Chelsea, the FBomb salutes you for being a fantastic role model and showing America that girls CAN play sports.

Hear Chelsea tell her story below in a (slightly condescending on the part of the correspondent) CNN interview:

Every year my best friend and I always watch Love Actually around the holidays. If you haven’t seen it, it’s basically the perfect Christmas movie: good actors, sappy story, lots of love. There are also a couple of musical gems in there.

Olivia Olson singing All I Want for Christmas better than Mariah (in my opinion):

and Bill Nighy’s “Christmas is All Around”

Take it easy. And if you’re like me and aren’t celebrating…go see Avatar (awesome female characterization)…or It’s Complicated (support Meryl at the box office)!