Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Sarah M on 10/14/2011
Sluts and Whores
You know that scene in Mean Girls where Tina Fey’s character tells all the girls that they need to stop calling each other sluts and whores because it only makes it okay for guys to call them sluts and whores?
I wish Fey would tell that to girls everywhere.
There’s pretty much two types of that sort of name-calling and they both piss me off.
First, there’s the casual, “Hey, slut, what’s up?” or “Hey there, ho!” that friends say to each other. Now, this would be one thing if they were trying to reclaim the word, if this was some sort of movement or statement – but in the vast majority of cases, it’s not. These girls are just trying to fit in with the patriarchal bullshit that tells …
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Feminism | Posted by Harriet S. Hughes on 10/12/2011
London Calling: Feminism Across The Pond
The political terrain of Britain is shifting beneath our feet. Children of the ‘80s and ‘90s will have no memory of anything comparable to the dramatic, fundamental transformation of our nation that’s currently taking place. In an atmosphere of such instability, where the media’s frantically trying to keep pace, women’s issues – sidelined at the best of times – are slipping further and further down the agenda. That’s where we come in: YouFem is a London-based feminist organisation, aiming to harness the political power of young people and draw women’s issues back into the light…and to have fun doing it.
The elections of 2010 landed us with a Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition. Since then, Britain has been made to swallow a manifesto that no-one voted for; we’re facing a tsunami of …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Susannah F on 09/30/2011
The Art of the Text
In our world of technology and instant communication, sentiments often get lost in cyberspace. In fact, there’s a whole website devoted to some of the crazy mishaps that can occur during texting. But when texting is successful, I can confidently say that one of its most common (and more recent) uses is as a means of hooking up and conducting relationships.
Some of my friends use text messaging in order to conduct their booty calls in college. If you meet someone at a party and exchange numbers, a text conversation is sure to ensue in the hopes of ultimately having a sexual encounter. One of my friends told me that if she is planning on meeting up with someone that she has been casually texting, she will continue to text …
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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Francheska De La Cruz on 09/28/2011
When History Repeats Itself
You know the saying that history can repeat itself? It sounds cliche, but it’s kind of shocking when it happens to you in real life.
Before I was a proud feminist/atheist/vegetarian I was unfortunately anorexic. Yet no one in my family seemed to notice the signs, even though when I think back they were pretty obvious. I would constantly check myself in the mirror and talk about dieting and weight loss. I would secretly go online and read fasting tips on anorexia sights. When my family discovered my notebook full of “thinsperation” I had a total meltdown and decided those days were over and I would come to respect my body and those of others for what they were.
Lately I’ve been noticing the first signs of anorexia in my …
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Feminism | Posted by Sari S on 09/26/2011
Some Thoughts on Feminism in Sweden
What grieves me most as a Swedish feminist is hearing that our movement is dead or that it is only a trend. I’ve argued with anti-feminists, whose best argument nowadays is that feminism advocates female supremacy. If this group of anti-feminists were small, I would not worry about their opinions because there will always be people who disagree with you. What troubles me, however, is that this way of viewing feminists seems to be mainstream in Sweden.
The Swedish media thrives on stories about feminists, who, the media says, claim that “men are animals” and that “any man would rape any woman at any time.” Hardly anyone seems to know what feminism is really about.
As a socialist-feminist I think that laws could help our society become more equal. I …
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Feminism | Posted by Hannah R on 09/19/2011
Youth and Feminism: Ignorance Is Bliss
Today’s youth culture encourages females and males alike to embrace their sexuality and allows a freedom of expression. But it seems this freedom of sexual expression has ended up glamorising the idea that females are nothing more than sexual objects. Or at least, it seems that’s what girls our age think.
I have to wonder – how have girls our age not heard of the efforts made by Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes at the beginning of the 20th century? Or the women’s liberation protest demonstration at the 1969 Miss World beauty contest? I have discovered that there are very few teenage girls out there who fully comprehend the feminist movement and its effects on society, and, more importantly, its hopes and aspirations for the future generations of women.
I …
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Feminism | Posted by Talia on 09/14/2011
Title IX and Teen Pregnancy
I recently attended a conference call through the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) titled “Know Your Rights: A Conference Call for Pregnant and Parenting Students.” It was moderated by Melanie Ross Levin, NWLC’s senior outreach manager, and the two presenters were Jeannette Pai-Espinosa (president of the National Crittenton Foundation) and Lara Kaufmann (NWLC’s senior counsel).
You can read my full notes here, or listen to the actual call here. In short, the conference call discussed the rights that pregnant and parenting women have with regard to education. Lara Kaufmann explained how Title IX protects students, faculty, and staff at schools with federal funding from sex discrimination and how it applies to pregnant and parenting students. Jeannette Pai-Espinosa introduced her organization, explaining how it provides trauma-informed services to …
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Feminism | Posted by Marie B on 09/5/2011
Introducing “FBomb Talks Sex”
Sex is probably one of the most taboo, yet most highly discussed topic in any teenager’s life. If you’re not talking about sex, you’re probably thinking about sex. Even if you manage to push all sexual thoughts from your head for a minute — something I’m still working on — you’re bound to be bombarded with some sex-laced commercial, reading, or comment. Regardless of the position you take on sex, it exists and that’s why each and every one of us is here.
We deal with slut shaming, virgin shaming and everything in-between on a daily basis. Now more than ever in a sex obsessed world girls need to own the fact that we are sexual beings. I’m neither encouraging people to sleep around or to keep their legs shut …
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