Feminism | Posted by Toni FG on 01/23/2012

I Am A Huge Slut

Recently, I participated, in a willing, great hook-up. The week before I participated in a willing make-out session. I just moved to a new town. I don’t know anyone around here that well, and the unfortunate thing about that is that I don’t know who knows who — for instance how close hook-up A is to hook-up B. This is where my story really starts.

Let’s call the two guys I’ve hooked up with Boy A and Boy B. Boy A had a crush on me. Since I had only known him for about a week, I assumed it was casual. I was wrong. At some point during our short time together, he decided we were in a relationship. Now, we’re talking about a guy that I’ve probably seen four times…

More >

Feminism | Posted by Amber Q on 01/11/2012

FWD: How To Prevent Rape

I’ve always hated chain letters. They’re never nice, like, ‘Just for receiving this, you get a free puppy’. No, it’s always, ‘If you don’t forward this to ten people you’re going to die alone and get eaten by worms.’ Most of them are, obviously enough, completely bogus, appealing to the superstitious side of us that, despite all that science has proven, never really dies. They’re annoying, but little more. You delete them after a brief glance and get on with your day.

However, I recently got an email forward that wasn’t quite so innocent. You’ve probably received one at some point yourself. The subject was something attention grabbing, but legitimate enough: Important Safety Warning, Please Read (or something to that effect.) When you open the email, there’s information about the latest method…

More >

Feminism | Posted by Bryan N on 12/26/2011

Why I’m So Passionate About Women’s Rights

a message from a male feminist

People often ask me why, as a man, I am so passionate about women’s rights. The answer is that I got into women’s rights because I have seen so many women put through so many horrible things. There is so much that women go through that most men don’t have to worry about.

I have dated survivors of abuse and sexual violence. I have many friends who are survivors of assault. I have seen the way it destroys their lives. Almost every girl I know has been cat called and verbally harassed on the street. Almost every girl I know feels or has felt ugly because of the media and society setting impossible standards of beauty. It hurts me seeing such naturally beautiful women constantly feel…

More >

Feminism | Posted by Brenna McCaffrey on 11/25/2011

Saying No To Rape Culture

boycotting Women's magazines is my way of saying no to rape culture

My name is Brenna, I’m eighteen, and I’ve been glossy-magazine-free for nine months now. That’s right. Back at the advent of 2011, I decided to eschew Cosmo, Glamour, Seventeen, Vogue, Marie Claire, Lucky, etc., in hopes of escaping a culture that I continually noticed was telling me how to dress, how to look, how to act, and how to spend my money. I began to get more and more skeptical about this form of media which I had previously deemed as harmless.

I’ve had a handful of close encounters– an innocent trip to the magazine racks to find the latest issue of Ms. that quickly turns into a desire to peek and see some pretty picture of pretty clothes…

More >

Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 10/5/2011

Slutwalk NYC

This past weekend, I went to Slutwalk NYC. I could talk about what an incredible, inspiring experience it was. I could talk about how I did feel conflicted about what I saw as certain gaps between theory and practice of the movement. I could write a lot of things about the experience. But there has already been a lot written about Slutwalk – on this blog and many, many others.

So, instead of writing about Slutwalk, I want to show you. I want to share the pictures I took there, so if you didn’t get a chance to attend a Slutwalk,  you might be able to get an idea of what it was like.

Keep in mind I’m short, so these aren’t the best shots ever, but I tried my best.

#gallery-1 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-1…

More >

Pop-Culture | Posted by Emma E on 08/10/2011

Why I Won’t Be Seeing 30 Minutes Or Less

A few weeks ago, I went to see the movie Bad Teacher (not my choice, okay?). A preview for the movie 30 Minutes or Less came on. The movie is about a guy who gets a bomb strapped to his chest by guys in gorilla suits and is forced to rob a bank. It stars Jesse Eisenberg, AKA The Guy Who Played The Guy Who Created Facebook. I was putting the movie into my “Not exactly a must-see, but if someone else was insistent on seeing it with me, it wouldn’t be the end of the world” category, when I was hit with a joke that was distinctly unfunny.

The two main characters were at the supermarket, buying some supplies for their bank robbery, which include masks, duct tape, etc. As their…

More >

Feminism | Posted by Kelsie M on 08/5/2011

Thank You, Slutwalk

July 31 marks the one-year anniversary of the night I was raped. On August 6, I will be participating in Slutwalk when it comes to Philly. They could not have picked a better date. I find it ironic that the very word that kept me from getting any help that night a year ago is now the very same word that is saving me.

I know that Slutwalk has many critics, and in a way I think that most of it may stem from simple ignorance. I don’t mean this as an insult, but rather that until someone is in the situation of rape, they simply can never understand.

You will never understand the 3 am feeling of laying on the cool tile of the bathroom floor after puking up every last…

More >

Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 06/14/2011

#YASaves

YA Saves

I have been an avid fan of Young Adult fiction since the third grade. I vividly remember standing in the library check out line with the rest of my class during “Library Time” eagerly digging into my Judy Blume while my classmates palmed their Judy Moody books. I think that moment can also be pointed to as the precursor to my reading Anna Karenina in eighth grade when my classmates were reading…well, they weren’t reading. But that’s a self-indulgent admittedly pretentious digression.

I think it’s this deeply ingrained love of YA that caused the low grade rage I felt when reading the recent Wall Street Journal article by Meghan Cox Gurdon. It’s worth reading (in that it’s a piece of crap but will make the rest of this post make…

More >