Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Francheska De La Cruz on 09/28/2011
When History Repeats Itself
You know the saying that history can repeat itself? It sounds cliche, but it’s kind of shocking when it happens to you in real life.
Before I was a proud feminist/atheist/vegetarian I was unfortunately anorexic. Yet no one in my family seemed to notice the signs, even though when I think back they were pretty obvious. I would constantly check myself in the mirror and talk about dieting and weight loss. I would secretly go online and read fasting tips on anorexia sights. When my family discovered my notebook full of “thinsperation” I had a total meltdown and decided those days were over and I would come to respect my body and those of others for what they were.
Lately I’ve been noticing the first signs of anorexia in my …
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Feminism | Posted by Katherine C on 07/27/2011
A Feminist Image In The Eye Of The Beholder
I don’t remember how I set out to do this painting. What I do know is that it was the first non-commissioned artwork I’ve sold, and that is was my first explicitly feminist-based painting that got any attention.
Beyond Betty, named after Betty Freidan, author of the second-wave feminist classic The Feminine Mystique, was exhibied twice at a local retirement community gallery- once as part of a group show for high school seniors, and once as part of my International Baccalaureate candidate show. In the small town where I live, people who had seen it came up to me in the street and, even more frequently, at church. “What were you trying to say?” “Is it making fun of Christianity?” “Is it about eating disorders?” “Is it about world …
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Feminism | Posted by Alexa S on 06/8/2011
Breaking My Rules
For over a year not very long ago, I had a plethora of very strange rules for myself to follow. I could only eat certain things at certain times. I had numbers that dictated my actions, numbers of calories and daily intake percentages and pounds. It was a suffocating process; luckily, I never followed my regulations enough for it to impact my health. Still, it affected my mind quite a bit.
Perhaps more damaging to my self-esteem was my body image. Unlike the majority of the population, especially teenagers, I really don’t enjoy food very much. This made any disordered eating-type behaviors extremely easy for me.
Most of my friends are exceptionally thin, as in magazine-ad thin. Most of them are athletic and/or naturally thin; as far as I know, …
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Feminism | Posted by Chelsea B on 05/25/2011
Fat Is Not A Personality Trait
It sickens me that one of the most common issues plaguing young females today is that of body image distortion.
I say this as a person who once hated her body so much she welcomed the idea of going to extremes to obtain perfection. Whether it was by starving, purging, or over-exercising, if it “guaranteed” perfection, I would do it. It never occurred to me that the perfection I had in mind would never be obtainable. Nor did I realize that recovery would be a life-long struggle to relearn what it felt like to be full.
A year ago, I decided it was time that self-loathing relinquished its firm grip on my life. I did not consult a psychologist because I thought of my recovery as a journey I would …
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Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 05/17/2011
Looking Back: Advice For Teenage Feminists
Technically, I am done with high school. My classes are over. My AP tests have been taken (just barely…I pity the person grading my Stats AP). I am just a few weeks and random final presentations away from the day I actually graduate. My high school experience was less than ideal (and, really, whose isn’t?) but a funny thing happens when you reach this point in time (or, at least, a funny thing is happening to me). You start to feel nostalgic and sentimental anyway.
Maybe it’s the constant stream of slide shows consisting of childhood pictures that are presented. Maybe it was the bonding our senior class experience while planning senior pranks. Maybe it was the realization, every time I talked with somebody, that, “Huh, I didn’t realize how …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/29/2011
Endangered Species Summit: Our Generation and Body Image
The Endangered Species Summit – an international movement focused on improving the way women around the world view and treat their bodies, in the media and beyond – took place last month. There were branches in London, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Sao Paul and New York. I was lucky enough to be involved with the New York branch thanks to the incomparable Courtney Martin, who is a goddess (and who flawlessly planned the NYC summit). I had the daunting task of representing our generation on the Intergenerational Panel, which also included such amazing women as Jean Kilbourne, Erica Watson and Rachel Simmons. So, you know. No pressure or anything.
Needless to say, it was an incredible experience, but more than talking about my impressions, I figured I’d share …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Cherokee S on 01/20/2011
Get Thin or Die Trying
In outrage, my mum showed me an article in UK newspaper The Evening Standard and told me to read it. More or less, after finishing the article, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I had just read. What was it about, you ask? Well, if you have been alive on Twitter over the past week, the online universe has blown up over one certain former Big Brother contestant, Kenneth Tong.
Young, impressionable girls already have enough pressure on them as it is when it comes to their bodies and being deemed ‘beautiful’ and ‘attractive’ in the eyes of society, but when Kenneth Tong, with his idea of introducing a ‘Size-Zero Pill,’ fires attack after attack, claiming that girls who aren’t a size-zero are “disgusting,” and, “to be skinny …
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Feminism | Posted by Emily S on 11/15/2010
Reclaiming The Night
On Thursday, November 11, 2010, I took back the night. Joined by a small group of passionate college women, I marched across my campus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to protest the perpetuation of sexual violence against women and to raise awareness regarding the rising seriousness of this issue on college campuses. Proudly walking down busy Franklin Street, we blew rape whistles, chanted verses that asserted our rights to safety at all times, and, most importantly, we walked into the night without fear. For the first time in a while, I wasn’t looking over my shoulder. I didn’t have to carry a can of pepper spray, get out my cell phone and pretend to be talking to my mom, or avoid streets on which I ordinarily …
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