Feminism | Posted by LW on 03/8/2011
Guy Friends and Double Standards
As a girl with several, older male friends I am constantly around sexism. I spend nearly all my free time with them as I don’t see them at school. Their favourite name for me is ‘woman’ and the number of times I am asked why I’m not in the kitchen, making them sandwiches, is getting ridiculous. And while I know it’s just a bit of banter, I know that by not saying anything I am being a bad feminist. But to be honest with you, I don’t really mind. I’m usually the only girl and they allow me to be who I need to be without judgement. They are the people who make me feel truly at home, which is ironic as my mother hates them and thinks they are …
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Feminism | Posted by Valentina V. on 02/18/2011
Silvio Berlusconi and Italian Women
You may have heard about the private behaviour of Silvio Berlusconi – the male chauvinist politician that opened his door to protégées and lovers. Add this to Italian culture of degrading media and the poor opportunities women have for careers and the world must be wondering how we can accept all this madness. A lot of Italian women are trying to find the answers to the complicated question (our reality), “Why do women always have to find a solution to excesses of male privilege? Why do we put up with it?”
For a young woman like me, who was born in and has always lived in Italy, the recent political incident that has shocked society seems to be the last chapter of a long tradition of a corrupted generation. I’m …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 01/14/2011
Snooki: An Emblem of Female Polarization
There is probably nothing that depresses me more than walking into a bookstore – to me, a sacred institution – and coming face to face with the most recent attempt of a starlet to write a book (because apparently literacy is now the only requirement for authorship). First there was Nicole Richie with The Truth About Diamonds, who, even though she wrote a “novel,” couldn’t help but put her own image on the cover. Then Lauren Conrad (who I still don’t get. Like…as a person) wrote L.A. Candy. After those two made their way to shelves across America, my eyes would always travel in bookstores from Twilight to these winners and a sob would inevitably rise in my chest. I considered wearing black and prostrating myself on the ground …
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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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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 11/11/2010
Not So Gleeful: What’s Wrong With GQ’s Latest Shoot
So, I know this is kind of dated, but please make fun of me, consider my humble excuse of being a senior coming up on college application deadlines, and then attempt to enjoy!
The reaction from feminists to the “Glee” themed photo shoot in the newest issue of GQ – a popular men’s magazine – wasn’t exactly surprising. The shot, which was done by infamous photographer Terry Richardson (no stranger to overtly sexual photo shoots and even sexual harassment claims) features three of the main stars of the Fox TV show in almost pornographic poses. Of course, there has been plenty of uproar concerning the fact that these overtly sexual images are borderline pedophilic – due to the fact that these actors portray teenaged characters and cater to a …
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Feminism | Posted by Alice P on 11/1/2010
Teenagers and Double Standards
I know it’s been said before but, as a teenage girl with friends of both genders, double standards are a massive issue for me. It’s come to a head recently, because of two entirely unrelated events.
Exhibit A – Female Friend, post feminist with spells of Female Chauvinist Pig.
Female Friend recently broke up with Older Boyfriend after a long term relationship (for a 16 year old). She was recently reintroduced to a long lost childhood friend, and she’s In Love. It’s great, she’s happy and the feeling seems to be mutual.
So what’s the problem?
Well, there’s been uproar among the other girls in my year. It’s too soon after her last breakup, she broke Older Boyfriend’s heart – she didn’t, it ended amicably and they’d been on/off for …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Asasia R on 10/25/2010
Too Sexual or Not Sexual Enough?
I recently saw a commercial for lingerie football. Basically, it’s a bunch of “hot”women running around playing tackle football in their underwear. At first I was appalled. Why is it that women don’t get to play football normally in the league and often at most high schools but they get the chance only when they’re doing it half naked? You don’t see men playing football in their underwear, so why do you see women? Isn’t that exploitation? Then, I realized that it’s their choice. If they feel confident in their sexuality and want to play football in their lingerie, that’s okay, they have the right. They are people, they are women, and they can do what they want with their bodies.
I saw something similar but had a …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Alec A on 10/13/2010
Being A Gay Teen at Homecoming
I was at homecoming this past weekend and, given my miraculously heightened sense of male gender roles, I made a few interesting observations that I would like to share with the wild internet west. Alright, I have taken a sip of coffee, so here we go.
There is no such thing as a male dance move. I noticed this as I was trying to dance to various rap and pop songs. I would sort of try and get into it and then I would grudgingly realize that I really had no dance repertoire to draw on for that selection. I had two options: either dance like a heterosexual douchebag or dance like a flaming homosexual.
Let us look at the dance routine of the douchebag. Put yourself in the scene. The lights …
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