Feminism | Posted by Bre K on 04/27/2012
One In Five Women
There you are at three in the morning, sprawled out on someone else’s bed in a foreign room that smells like sex. Your body doesn’t even feel like yours — it feels like you’re standing over yourself, watching something happen to you. You’re not quite able to explain what’s going on. Confused. Dissembled. Disgusted. Shocked. So many feelings you can’t quite put together to equate to that word. And yet there it is: Rape. It finally pops up into your head three weeks later after you come back from Thanksgiving break — your first break during your first term in college.
No this wasn’t me. This was an 18-year-old freshmen living a couple doors down from me. Let’s say her name is Barbara.
The worst part is Barbara and I …
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Feminism | Posted by Rachel D on 03/14/2012
You Do Have A Voice
When I was 13 years old, I was raped by my then 15 year old boyfriend. For years, I held back from telling anyone except for some of my closest male friends. Why did I hold back from telling anyone? I felt it was my fault. We had gone on one date, and his parents invited me to visit at his house. At some point, his parents left without me being aware; and unfortunately I was unable to escape.
I was so terrified of my female friends disowning me or making fun of me after this incident that I held back and didn’t tell any of them. The reaction I got from my male friends was what did me in. They didn’t seem to care, and gave me the advice …
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Feminism | Posted by Colleen L on 02/13/2012
I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours
In its formative days (in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then in the 1960s and ‘70s), feminism was, above all, about promoting equal social and political citizenship for women. Contemporary feminism – the “third wave” – is, like today’s world, far more complex than its predecessors. It’s not just about equality anymore (though this is and always will be an issue). To me, today’s feminism is less about getting equal pay and spouting catchy phrases (“down with the patriarchy!”) and more about fostering a world in which women, men, and transgendered people all have the opportunity to live healthy, happy lives as whole and fully valued human beings. To me, feminism is about turning current concepts of gender, sexuality, rape, and more completely on their heads. I …
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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 …
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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 …
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Feminism | Posted by Bryan N on 12/26/2011
Why I’m So Passionate About Women’s Rights
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 fat and ugly. Some …
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Feminism | Posted by Brenna McCaffrey on 11/25/2011
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 and pretty nail polish and pretty people. I haven’t caved, however, …
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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 …
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