Feminism | Posted by Chloe H on 12/31/2012
The Opportunities and Perils of Being A North Korean Woman
While in the car I recently listened to an NPR story by Louisa Lim called Out of Desperation, North Korean Women become Breadwinners. Although considering North Korea’s traditionally patriarchal society this rise in female power and responsibility may seem like a positive step, a disturbing rise in domestic abuse has occurred alongside it.
As the lives of all North Koreans have become more difficult, it has been up to women to keep their families alive. Men in North Korea are trapped in state-mandated jobs that often pay nothing or, incredibly, force them to pay the government. As one North Korean woman told NPR, her husband “had to pay not to work for about six months of last year. You have to pay, even if you can’t afford to eat. …
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Feminism | Posted by Kate S on 04/13/2012
You Don’t Have To Walk In High Heels To Protect Me From Sexual Violence
Recently, there was a heated discussion over the International Women’s Rights Collective (IWRC) email thread. It started when a member posted an article from the Huffington Post about 50 members of a fraternity in Western Kentucky University raising awareness about violence against women by walking around the campus in five-inch red heels. And yesterday, there were great articles from the New York Times and the New Yorker about the inefficacy and fallacy of social media as a form of activism. So I’ve been thinking…
I have always been critical of “conscious-raising efforts,” partly from my own experience in high school. Immature attempts to send provocative emails with graphic pictures—the so-called fetishization of otherness, of victimhood—have taught me that these implications do matter. The point of organizing a hunger banquet, for …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Katie E on 05/18/2011
Wanna Be A Victim? No Thanks.
I love music. From Tchaikovsky to T-Pain, my iPod has it all. I also love to sing. I’m not all that good at it, and my off-key crooning is usually confined to my shower or car, but nevertheless I enjoy it. It puts me in a good mood.
On my way home this afternoon, I was listening to my usual pre-set pop radio station when a relatively new song called Extraterrestrial by Katy Perry and Kanye West came on. I’d heard it before, but never paid much attention to anything other than the catchy beat. It wasn’t until today that I realized what the lyrics were actually saying. For those of you who aren’t fans of top-40 radio, here’s a partial transcript. You can also listen to the song here…
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Feminism | Posted by Alli B on 04/5/2011
Racism and Sexism: Are Both Still Problems?
I recently heard some of my classmates talking about how sexism really isn’t as big a problem today as racism is. They said that racism is on a different level and that all the feminists need to shut their mouths and just get over it. On Women’s Day, one student stated that the day shouldn’t be a big deal because women’s struggles are not the same, or as serious, as racial ones. I didn’t say anything, but I was upset by what he said. I do not agree with this, and it hurts me that people feel that way.
I feel that sexism and racism are both equally horrible in their own right, and to separate or rank them doesn’t do anybody any good. I really do believe that we have …
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Feminism | Posted by Rosamund C on 03/15/2011
Why Do We Still Need International Women’s Day?
A week ago today (March 8th), countries around the world celebrated the hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day. But surely, one hundred years after its conception, women don’t need their own special day anymore? What about an International Men’s Day, hmm?
The answer is that the 364 other days of the year belong to men. It’s more important than ever that a day specifically for women is celebrated: to see how far we have come, and to see how far we have to go.
No one can deny that in one hundred years, huge amounts have been achieved. When I woke up on Tuesday, I was proud to be an independent woman, able to live, work and travel freely, able to study at a university and be awarded a degree …
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Feminism | Posted by Rosamund C on 01/17/2011
When the Perpetrator Goes Free and the Victim Is Imprisoned
It seems impossible but it’s true: although her sentence has just been overturned, in Britain recently, a woman was sent to jail for accusing her husband of rape, then retracting the accusation.
Although this story has received little coverage except in The Guardian, a left-wing daily national, it caught my eye at once. The story goes like this: the woman, ‘Sarah’, was being repeatedly abused by her husband. One night, after brutally raping her, she summoned up the courage to dial 999 and her husband, ‘Ray’, was arrested. However, one year on, it was Sarah who was sent to prison and Ray who walked free.
After Ray was arrested, Sarah was put under increasing pressure to retract the rape allegation. This she did, after emotional blackmail from both Ray …
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Feminism | Posted by Lily N on 01/6/2011
Good Girls Don’t Go To Jail
I hit him out of frustration, or maybe out of love. I hit him because I was scared and confused and hurting, but none of that mattered. The part that mattered is that I hit him. I found out that jail was exactly what I thought it would be. It was the stale cold from a poorly heated building in a Colorado winter and the pinching of the handcuffs on my outer wrists and heels. It was the pit in my stomach as I held back the tears in my mug shot and the hard cringe as I stripped my clothes off for the female officer. Mostly it was the rush of disappointment and confusion as I removed the pink bow from my hair. It reminded me that good girls …
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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 12/21/2010
11 for ’11: Eleven Ways to Fight for Human Rights and Social Justice in 2011
Human rights org Breakthrough has announced eleven ways that individuals can help fight for human rights in 2011, recommending eleven unique actions, many supported by activist and nonprofit organizations. The Breakthrough eleven for eleven range from encouraging acceptance and tolerance among children, to helping to end violence against women, to participating in Breakthrough’s video and Twitter contest, I AM THIS LAND, looking for new visions of a more tolerant and accepting America, going on now atwww.iamthisland.org.
The Breakthrough eleven for eleven are below:
1. Read for Good: Take a cue from Reading to End Racism of Colorado and talk to your local library about volunteering to host a reading group for kids. Choose books with a positive message of acceptance and encourage dialogue about their experiences.…
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