Pop-Culture | Posted by Celeste D on 10/24/2012
On Cougars, Catfights and Cows
Fox, cow, bitch, vixen, cougar, whale, chick. What do these terms have in common? They refer to animals. Anything else? They also refer to women.
As someone who learned to speak English as a second language and was not surrounded by these colloquialisms at an early age, I remember being puzzled when I first heard a woman called a “cougar” or “fox.” I remember finding the terms “cow” and “whale” particularly jarring and harsh, though the person who uttered them didn’t give it a second thought.
Admittedly, all human beings are sometimes associated with animals. Someone who eats quickly “wolfs down” their food, someone who is bossy “barks orders,” and someone who is dangerous is “animal.” (Not to mention the animal metaphors referring to sex or the organs associated with …
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Feminism | Posted by Dana B on 09/10/2012
The Wage Gap: It’s Personal
I remember looking at the male intern sitting beside me and being angry.
It was May 30, 2012, the second day of my summer internship. I was at the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing on the Paycheck Fairness Act. A woman was testifying to members of Congress about how she was continually paid thousands of dollars less than her male coworker.
Let me remind you: it was May 2012. Not 1960.
The woman testifying was AnnMarie Duchon. She said, “I have a daughter and when she grows up and looks back at how Mommy didn’t have fair pay, I want her to think it was some historical event that was eradicated years ago.”
I looked at the male intern sitting next to me and wondered how it could …
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Awareness, Feminism | Posted by Molly W on 08/31/2012
Ann Romney’s Appeal to Women
More than ever, the women’s vote is important in the 2012 Presidential Election. All of the attention around the politics of health care for women had made the Republican Party and the Romney campaign acutely aware that they must work to engage the female voting population and to convince them to vote Republican in November.
So on the first night for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, Ann Romney stepped up to make an extended appeal to women. Her speech touched on her relationship with her husband, her struggles raising five children, and her belief that America would flourish under her husband’s direction. All of those appeals though rested on the idea that women – mothers and wives in particular – are the true backbone of this nation.…
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Becka W on 08/29/2012
Bic for Her Pens: A Pointless Gender Stereotype
So, Bic has come out with a pen specifically suited to our needs as ladies. It writes smoother, has a gel grip – you know, for our delicate lady hands – and, I’m assuming, massages my shoulders after a long day of putting on makeup and popping out babies.
I’m sure you’ve heard about this by now, since there’s loads of hilarious posts with snarky reviews of the pen all over the internet and this ridiculous TV ad:
(Is it just me, or is this chick RIDICULOUSLY picky? If you’re screaming in the middle of the hallway that you need a pen, you probably just realized you have a HUGE test in World Civ next period, and you can’t ask the girl who sits behind you for a writing utensil …
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Feminism | Posted by Jenny S on 08/10/2012
Olympics Sexism Overload
Like many of you, I have spent the past week or so essentially glued to my television, watching the Olympics. I love sports—playing and watching—and I love this celebration of human spirit and achievement that comes every 4 years. So I don’t know why it took me so long to see the gender imbalances in sport.
Many other people have focused on the athletes themselves, whether it be the requirement for beach volleyball players to compete in bikinis, or the fact that Saudi Arabia finally sent its first female athletes to the Games (awesome!). What I’m talking about is the announcing, officiating and coaching.
Men have no problem commenting on women’s sports, be it soccer or swimming or gymnastics. In fact, I don’t think I have ever heard a women’s …
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Feminism | Posted by Molly W on 08/8/2012
Chick-Fil-A: Not For Feminists, Either
If you’re like me, your Facebook newsfeed, your Twitter stream and your local news is surprisingly loaded with stories about fast food purveyor, Chik-fil-a. All kinds of opinions about Christianity, the definition of “family” or corporate executives using their millions to support anti-gay marriage organizations have sprouted into an extremely spirited debate.
As a gay lady myself though, all of this hubbub isn’t surprising. It was an open secret of sorts that the organization wasn’t exactly a friend of the LGBT community – they are closed on Sundays in observance of the Christian sabbath, which is uncommon now in most places. Rather, the news of a lawsuit against the company from a former employee alleging gender discrimination is what has me particularly irked.
Brenda Honeycutt’s suit for wrongful termination states …
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Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 07/27/2012
Can Guys and Girls REALLY Be Just Friends?
It’s always pissed me off that I can’t seem to hang out with any one of my guy friends without the nature of that relationship being called into question. You talk all the time and you have so much in common, my female friends have pointed out about these friendships past and present, as if these qualities automatically meant a romantic relationship had to follow. On some level I understand it – after all, teenagers have formed and continue to form romantic relationships on the basis of much less. But I always found it interesting how when people are presented with a friendship between a man and a woman that is actually based on commonality and equality, they feel they must manipulate it in order to fit their ideas about …
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Feminism | Posted by Crystal on 04/25/2012
How Do I Deal With Sexual Harassment?
I work as a bagger in a grocery store where the majority of my co-workers are male. Ever heard someone say something like, “To him, women are just a piece of meat?” Well, that’s the mentality of most guys at my work place.
The men at my workplace discuss women a lot. They have a phrase for them even: they call women “burgers.” Often when a few guys are on break or about to get off work, they talk with the other guys about how they are going to go get some “burgers.” Then they discuss what they want on their “burgers.” Lettuce for pubic hair. Bacon for under age of consent. Toasted bun if they want the girl to be intoxicated. And so on. If they do something to …
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