Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 01/12/2013
Saturday Vids: Girls Season 2
Season 2 of Lena Dunham’s Girls premieres tomorrow. Feminists have had some pretty varied responses to Dunham’s show…but what do you think? Will you be watching?
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Feminism | Posted by Talia on 12/10/2012
Eve Ensler’s Emotional Creature
At the NOW conference in June, playwright Eve Ensler delivered the keynote speech. She was a riveting speaker whose passionate words truly rallied me to action. I’d been hoping to see one of her plays ever since and, luckily, her newest show Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World is now playing Off-Broadway, and I was able to get tickets!
The sheer awesomeness of Emotional Creature truly floored me. Walking out of the theater, I was at a loss for words and just kept repeating, “That was brilliant. That was brilliant. That was brilliant.” The play certainly was absolutely brilliant, and extremely well-made. It featured six extremely talented women actors, all of whom played different characters in various scenes. They delivered a powerful message about the state …
Pop-Culture | Posted by Carolina G on 10/8/2012
Ladies Abound On The Small Screen–But Not Behind It
Mindy Kaling, breakout star of the Emmy-winning TV show, The Office, garners a lot of attention for her wit and comedic timing as Kelly Kapoor, Dunder Mifflin’s token mean girl and general hot mess. Eventually, Kaling became the only female writer on the hit NBC series, writing and directing numerous episodes before ultimately being promoted to Executive Producer. This season, FOX gave Kaling a seven-figure deal to create her own pilot. The Mindy Project, which premiered on September 25th, is an ingenious blend of Kaling’s typical humor: girly naïveté mixed with feminism, a different take on the modern woman looking for love.
In an interview with New York Magazine, Kevin Reilly, an executive at FOX, said of Kaling: “She has a very contemporary voice. She’s really smart about how open …
Feminism | Posted by Talia on 08/2/2011
Like When We Were Eight
A little while ago, I was at my friend’s house for the weekend. Her younger sister, who was in second grade, had a friend over (let’s call her T) on Saturday night. According to today’s beauty standards, T is absolutely gorgeous, despite the fact that she is only eight years old. In addition to being physically appealing, her personality is totally adorable.
The thing I remember T most for, however, is the fact that she laughed. That is, that she laughed despite the big gap between her two front teeth.
It struck me that this little girl wasn’t afraid to laugh out loud, that she wasn’t afraid to smile. She wasn’t trying to hide her “imperfect” teeth. She didn’t feel self-conscious about it. She just didn’t care that her teeth …
Feminism | Posted by Izzi S on 07/28/2011
A Lifetime of Leg Hating
I can remember the exact moment I became self conscious of my body. I was 12 and walking home from school when a boy I knew pointed at me, laughed, and said “Look how fat your legs are!”
I looked down at them and for the first time in my life I felt that my body was inadequate.
That moment has stayed with me forever, because that comment sparked a huge complex I had about my legs, something which still bothers me today. For years I only wore trousers and when I finally began wearing skirts and dresses, I always made sure I had tights or leggings on underneath, even in the Summer.
In fact, this Summer is the first since I was 12 that I have gone completely bare …
Pop-Culture | Posted by Becka W on 07/20/2011
Revisiting Eloise (At The Plaza, Of Course)
We all have a favorite children’s picture book – one we read over and over, or that our parents did funny voices for. After revisiting my childhood and experiences growing up through Harry Potter, I wanted to look to some of my earlier literary experiences.
When I was in my local bookstore last week, I perused through the Children’s section and picked up some books clearly aimed towards girls. One, the Girls’ Doodle Book, included pictures you could finish – mostly structured around things like butterflies, flowers, baking, and nesting. Boys, on the other hand, had a doodle book where they drew inventions, action scenes, machinery. The other was geared towards “tomboys”, showing that it’s OK to like worms and sports and hate wearing dresses – but in that …
Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 05/28/2011
Saturday Vids: Educate Girls in Malawi
Statistically, according to UNESCO’s 2005 Education For All monitoring report, only 31% of adult women can read and write in Malawi. This is shocking when compared to men – 80% of whom are literate. Kasungu district in Malawi, where the Join My Village project is taking place is no exception in terms of prioritizing boys when it comes to education. Kasungu is among the top list of districts where literacy levels are very low in women.
Once educated, a girl child is more capable of helping the greater family as she is the one that spends more time with them and so can act as a good mentor. An educated girl can easily manage to start a small business that can help the family financially. It is only through education …
Feminism | Posted by A. on 03/23/2011
What Exactly Are We Saying? An Analysis of Today’s Derogatory Slang for Girls
There are lots of dirty words reserved for females, particularly those of high school age. But there are three words that, arguably, epitomize them all. Some are considered to be profane; others are not. As has been shouted down many a junior high hallway: “You are just a fat, slutty, lesbian.” This is enough to make some girls cry, others defiant. Still, they have an immeasurably notable effect on girls of this generation as a whole.
“Being” one of these words is, essentially, one of the worst things a teen girl could be branded as. Many of these words are used also as terms of endearment amongst certain clans of females; others find them dreadfully offensive. The words’ meanings fluctuate extremely based on by and to whom it is said. …
