WMC News & Features
Katniss and Merida—Year of the Heroic Archer?
Having consulted Geena Davis, who has played her share of strong female characters, the author asks, are two successful female-driven action movies released in one year a sign of good times to come for heroic women on screen?
WMC News & Features
UK Moves to Criminalize Forced Marriage
Forced marriage, an oppression particularly targeting girls in South Asian cultures, must be addressed by Western governments as well, argues author Shiuan Butler.
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The Feminist Dilemma of Rap
Lately, I have been struggling with music -- specifically, rap. I am an African-American girl and rap is very popular not just in my culture but in my own family. I recently realized that the struggle...
WMC FBomb
Perfectly Normal
I don’t have a diagnosed eating disorder and that makes me sad. That might sound like a strange thing to say, but what I mean is that I think it's wrong that my daily obsession with counting calories,...
WMC Women Under Siege
Swept under the pew: Stories of sexualized violence in the Mennonite community
Silence: A symptom that plagues all scenarios of sexualized violence, rape, and abuse, no matter what communities we’re addressing. In the Sudan conflict, rape was used to silence women. When a woman named Safiya Ishaq unashamedly spoke about her rape, she was forced to flee the country for fear of retribution. The potential of being stigmatized has prevented women in the Democratic Republic of Congo from seeking medical treatment for rape.
WMC FBomb
Geek Culture and Male Privilege
Spend any time on website like 9Gag or Memebase (and you know you do), and you’ll quickly realize that most of these websites are populated by guys. Men are both the readers and the ones creating and ...
WMC News & Features
Ms. Is Celebrated in the City of its Birth
Four decades after its birth as the nation's first feminist mass-market magazine, Ms. was honored this week by the New York City Council. Shelby Knox writes of its continuing advocacy.
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Teen Sex and Feminism
What issue is ever quite as controversial as sex? How to have it, why to have it, who’s having it, who shouldn’t be, what should happen afterwards. Sex is always divisive to begin with; it’s one of th...
WMC Women Under Siege
Seeking justice for girl child soldiers in the Lubanga case
“I sometimes heard the cries of the girls with my own ears…there were girls who made food that I saw, but also sometimes at night there were commanders…and you could see the girls prepare the food, and at night you could listen to the girls even saying, ‘I don’t want to.’”
WMC FBomb
An Interview with Michael Kimmel
Michael Kimmel is among the leading researchers and writers on men and masculinity in the world today. The author or editor of more than twenty volumes, his books include Changing Men: New Directions ...
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The Problem with "Hot Problems"
I would be lying if I said that while watching the recent viral video “Hot Problems” (or, to be accurate, about 45 seconds of “Hot Problems” before I gave up), I didn’t blankly stare in disbelief, the...
WMC News & Features
Why Bad Sex Is Good—On HBO's "Girls"
WMC's Madeleine Gyory argues that the new HBO show makes room for realistic complications of forging sexual relationships.
WMC News & Features
Young Women's Caucus—A Promising Sign at UN Commission Meeting
While the recent UN Status of Women Commission sessions failed to reach consensus on recommendations for rural women, young women moved forward, impressing the author with their leadership potential.
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Girls Leadership Institute: The Summer That Changed Me
A-woo, GLI, that is my heart’s desire!
A-woo, GLI, I love it, I love it, I love it!
So goes the celebratory chant of the Girls Leadership Institute. For three weeks over the summer of 2011, GLI was m...
WMC FBomb
The Color Pink
I volunteer at the children’s service at my synagogue on Shabbat (the Sabbath). Every week, the kids walk around with kid-sized Torahs, some of which are stuffed toys. The Torahs are red, yellow, blue...
WMC News & Features
The Feminicide Debate
The author, who has been researching feminicide for the past three years, explores how language—the use of a term—can affect resources and state policies in fighting violence in Juárez, Mexico.
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Growing Up A Tomboy
I never thought much of gender construction as a child. I just knew what I wanted to wear, how my hair should be cut, and what interested me. Did I want to proudly wear my new matching dragon shirt an...
WMC News & Features
Katniss and Bella—Getting to the Heart of the Matter
The author, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, argues that the distance between the teen heroes in "The Twilight Saga" and "The Hunger Games Trilogy" may not be as great as it seems.
WMC News & Features
Gender Is Key to the Bullying Culture
To reduce bullying and its deadly consequences, argues Jessie Klein, author of the "Bully Society," schools must make the gender connection.
WMC Women Under Siege
13-year-old rape survivor struggles to care for baby in Malawi
“I have lost hope,” a 13-year-old rape survivor tells Inter Press Service. After fleeing war in Congo, she was attacked by her own stepfather in a Malawi refugee camp, where she lives with 11,000 others. Now, she must care for the baby produced by the rape.
WMC FBomb
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...
WMC Women Under Siege
Ask before you tell: How to make the world better for girls in conflict areas
The most positive, most productive way to improve the lives of girls in conflict areas may appear to be to sharply steer them away from stigma and violence. But as researchers and fieldworkers, advocates and policymakers, we have to consider the pitfalls of thinking we know best.
WMC FBomb
Saturday Vids: Dear 16-Year-Old Me
HEY EVERYBODY. Watch this video. And even if it might be around 25 degrees where you are, just remember the message is always important (and it also applies to tanning!).
...
WMC News & Features
Girls Get Called “Slut” Everyday—They Could Be Making Friends Instead
Jessie Klein, author of "The Bully Society," writes that girls need help in building trusting relationships.
WMC FBomb
Maybe SHE'S Just Not That Into You
A friend of mine recently created a zine about the slut/stud double standard for a electives course called Feminisms that she’s taking. She included various fairy-tale-esque ads she found in magazines...