Feminism | Posted by Audrey S on 04/12/2011
The Opposite of a Crush
Once, for an Introductory Sociology course, I gave a lecture about social oppression. It was fairly abstract. I didn’t talk about any specific kind of social oppression, like gender oppression or racial oppression or sexual oppression. I just talked about oppression, like what it is and how it works and what it feels like or rather what the philosopher Marilyn Frye says it is and how it works and what it feels like.
Using her classic metaphor I paraphrased that oppression was like, as Frye describes it, the “wires of a birdcage,” as she writes:
“Cages … Consider a birdcage … If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires … If your conception of what is before you is …
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Articles | Posted by Julie Z on 04/6/2011
An Interview with Zach Wahls
Zach Wahls is a nineteen-year-old Engineering student at the University of Iowa. He is also a staunch gay-rights advocate who bravely and eloquently testified before the Iowa House of Representatives on behalf of his mothers, the video of which currently has over 1.7 million views.
Zach graciously agreed to answer some questions for the FBomb, and, believe me, if you don’t already have a crush on him, you’re about to.
You have been called the new “poster-child for straight allies who support marriage equality.” How do you feel about this title?
To be honest, I really don’t like being thought of as a “straight ally,” so to speak, because it implies that I’m somehow separate from the community, which is simply not the case. Gay rights are my rights as …
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Feminism | Posted by Alec A on 04/1/2011
Why Homosexuality Is Perfectly Natural
A miniature Wild West town served as a backdrop to a very interesting thought. There is a scene in Rango where the eponymous character kisses his love interest, the sassy lizard named Beans. The two perform a perfectly heteronormative act in a theater packed with young children, and I thought about how they were all passively learning to recognize this as suitable conduct. I realized that I had been taught the exact same thing. Then I realized:
As a young boy, I was never taught to be attracted to men as a child. And yet now, as a teen, I identify as gay.
This may not seem particularly insightful in its condensed state, but this led me to ruminate further on how attraction could be taught to young children. Within …
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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. …
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Feminism | Posted by Sophie T.B. on 03/16/2011
The Hidden Difficulties of a Bisexual Teen
In my time as a semi-out bisexual teenager, I’ve encountered plenty of supportive, kind, loving people who have not cared about my sexuality or have been able to relate to me because of it. I’ve met plenty of people who don’t know much about bisexuality, but aren’t really against it either.
Those people I can deal with.
It’s the few people I’ve met who have prejudices against bisexual people, have huge misconceptions about us, or are very nervous around us because of above said misconceptions or prejudices that irk me greatly.
Its difficult being a bisexual teenager, and many straight individuals aren’t aware of or just don’t understand these difficulties. So, I’d like to let you into my world a little bit, so that the next time you encounter a bisexual …
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Feminism | Posted by Sarah T. on 12/9/2010
Where are the Girls?
Recently, my high school Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) had an unofficial “Big Gay Movie Day.” It was wonderful. I got to spend time with my fabulous, accepting friends and drink copious amounts of Mountain Dew. But there was something about it that disappointed me.
The first movie we watched was the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now, while Dr. Frank-n-Furter is a wonderful, awkward, completely mad transvestite, he’s a man. A terrific, diabolical man, but still. A man.
Once we had got all of our giggling and time-warping out of the way, we moved on to a more serious movie, Prayers for Bobby. Prayers for Bobby is a phenomenal and touching movie about religious hatred and its dire consequences. Sadly, it is based on a true story, the story of …
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Feminism | Posted by Nellie B on 05/24/2010
Prom and Assimilation
As a senior in high school, I am less than ecstatic about senior year and its attendant rites. That’s right: it’s prom time.
It’s a fortuitous year to be queer and prom-bound, as Constance McMillen has brought the issue to the forefront of America’s pop culturally-inclined social consciousness. You may have heard this already: McMillen asked to take her girlfriend to prom. School went nuts, canceled their prom, then sent Constance to a fake prom with other excluded kids while the rest of the class partied in secret. The one-two punch of bigotry and cruelty sent buzz not just through the gay community but the media at large. Impassioned Facebook groups such as “Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!” sprouted up, along with offers of an alternate prom paid for by LGBT grande dame …
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Feminism | Posted by Steph on 01/2/2010
Why I Don’t Like Pride
But Steph, you may say: you’re trans, and sort of a lesbian – queer as hell! You should love pride!
And yes, I should. But I don’t. There are a few reasons, all compelling.
1) Transphobia. Full stop. Pride organizations worldwide ignore trans people and their individual struggles, choosing instead to focus on the needs of the (cis) white middle class men(and it is overwhelmingly gay men, and not lesbians)Source 1Source 2. Groups like the HRC and EGALE Canada have tried to distance themselves from trans communities(source), in order to make themselves more palatable to their intended heterosexual audiences. Which brings me to
2) Assimilation.
It seems that a lot of the goals of the modern pride movement are concerned with fitting in and being …
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