A friend of mine has a young son. She recently asked me, and other men, to write a letter to our sons who exist or have yet to be born that she could show to her own child, someday. This is my letter.
Dear Son,
If you’re reading this, you are now set to embark on a journey into that wonderful, stressful, often-sticky phase we call “young adulthood”.
I want you to know that my love for you, my personal stake in your existence, could never be adequately measured.
As you have grown over the last 18 years, all I have ever sought to do is give you the best possible start on happiness in life and to respect and love others as equals.
Taking A Stand: Why I’m Fighting For Sexual Assault Education
My name is Michayla Owens. I’m sixteen years old, and I attend Columbia High School in Mississippi. I was fifteen when I was sexually assaulted by two boys at my high school.
The sexual assault took place on November 11th, 2012 after a positive incentive trip for good students at Columbia High School. It happened right on school grounds, in one of the school bathrooms. After the field trip, the bus returned us to the school. After getting off the bus, I entered the building. I was forced into a bathroom stall. My pants were removed, and I was sexually assaulted. One of the boys is a football player and one used to play football. Three boys were arrested that night, but only two are being charged. A rape kit …
On the media coverage of the Steubenville and Delhi Rape Cases
Over the past several months, two rape cases have received widespread media attention. While the media could have used these cases as an opportunity to educate people and condemn the crime of rape, the media has instead reinforced rape culture.
The first case is the Steubenville Rape Case. On March 17, two Ohio high school students, Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays, were sentenced to Juvenile Detention in Steubenville, Ohio for raping a sixteen-year-old girl. What I find most disturbing about this case is that a number of the rapists’ friends knew about this rape and yet didn’t think the rapists had done anything wrong and failed to speak up about it.
When the judge found the two young men guilty, neither of them apologized. In fact, their complete lack of …
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 …
Checking In On DSK: Why The Case’s Dismissal Is Bad News For All Of Us
I’ll admit, I had never heard of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn – or DSK as he’s been dubbed – before this year. I had, however, heard of the International Monetary Fund, and although I’m not an economics student, I do read the news, and I have the vague knowledge that the IMF is big and important. Its decisions can have consequences for all of us, so having the right person to head the organisation is vital.
That’s why the scandal that engulfed Strauss-Kahn in May of this year was huge. To recap, whilst staying in New York, a maid at his hotel alleged that he had sexually assaulted her. He was arrested, pleaded not guilty, and was bailed after his supportive family paid out a huge sum. Meanwhile, the world’s media …
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. …
DSK the Woman Hater and That Hooker Maid: A Gender Story
Unless you’ve taken to your fallout shelter in tepid anticipation of the national default – which has for the moment been averted – you’ve undoubtedly caught wind of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn maid bashing that has shot vitriol all over the court like a Sharapova tennis match.
Let’s recap. During May this year DSK – until recently the managing director of the International Monetary Fund – checked into the swanky Sofitel hotel in New York City. A thirty-two year-old maid – Nafissatou Diallo of Guinea – alleged that she was assaulted upon entering the financial giant’s hotel room in order to perform …
