WMC FBomb
How One Anti-Body Shaming Campaign Actually Reinforced Beauty Standards
I have a mole on my right cheek. As a child, it was the physical feature about which I felt the most insecure. For years, however, my mother insisted that what I considered a flaw was actually a "beau...
WMC News & Features
July 15, 2015 | Carol Jenkins |
Steinem and Mankiller School for Organizers
A new program, conceived by Gloria Steinem and Wilma Mankiller, brings together scholars and activists who are making history every day.
WMC FBomb
HelloFlo, Hello Naama: An Interview With HelloFlo Founder, Naama Bloom
You may be familiar with HelloFlo from their viral videos that buck period-related stigmas and feature boisterous young girls celebrating their time of month. But this company is much more than these ...
WMC FBomb
July 13, 2015 | Eliza V |
Feminism
The Importance of Embracing Change
When I was sixteen my parents and I packed up and moved from Australia to New York. I left behind my school, the place I grew up, some friends, and many family members. It was a big change, but one th...
WMC FBomb
Why What We Wear To Work Actually Matters
I remember watching my mother get ready for work in the mornings as a little girl. Every day she went through the careful, time-consuming process of doing her makeup and selecting a button down shirt ...
WMC News & Features
July 09, 2015 | Kristal Brent Zook |
Meet the woman journalist behind early US-Cuba talks
As the United States and Cuba reopen embassies this month, we remember Lisa Howard, a little-known television journalist who played a key role in secret talks between the Kennedy and Castro governments.
WMC FBomb
'Miss USA' Switched Networks, But Should It Be Retired Altogether?
NBC recently dropped the Miss USA Pageant, but the pageant quickly found a new home with cable network REELZ. However, it seems like this could have been a good time to stop televising the pageant alt...
WMC Women Under Siege
The refugee girl I barely met in Lampedusa
The end of June was hot and dry in Lampedusa, as summer always is. The week I spent on the island of an estimated 5,000-6,000 Italians there was a very separate center of town for a population of 771 people.
WMC FBomb
We Need To Talk About The True Definition of Sexual Assault
*Trigger warning*
I have been sexually assaulted twice, although I didn't recognize either event as such at the time.
The first time, I was 18, asleep next to my boyfriend. I had passed out almost i...
WMC FBomb
Why I'm Happy Clinton and Fiorina Are Both Running for President
It’s clear that women are severely underrepresented in U.S. politics: Currently, only 20% of the seats in Congress, and 25% of the seats in state legislators are held by women. The fact that Hillary C...
WMC FBomb
The Complexity of Being A Black Feminist in a Relationship
It’s hard being alone after having been with someone for a long time. It’s hard to detach from your first love, to not have that person on whom you can rely for comfort, happiness and safety. You miss...
WMC News & Features
July 02, 2015 | Danielle Moodie-Mills |
LGBTQIA
The Supreme Court’s marriage ruling was about rights—and about love
For author Danielle Moody-Mills, it was stories of love and commitment, not statistics and poll numbers, that changed hearts and minds.
WMC FBomb
July 01, 2015 | Hannah B |
Arts and culture,
Feminism,
Gender-based violence,
Media,
Violence against women
The Problem With The Supposed Feminist 'Comeback'
Much lip service has been paid to feminism's supposed comeback — especially in terms of more authentic representations of women in pop culture. Charlize Theron's recent portrayal of the badass protago...
WMC Women Under Siege
This is what a Mediterranean refugee boat landing looks like
Often stories on the “Mediterranean migrant crisis” use shots of the rescue at sea: A rickety boat overfilled with desperate people wait to board some kind of Navy boat. But what happens to them next?
WMC FBomb
June 30, 2015 | Kathleen M |
Feminism,
Violence against women
A Young Feminist's Thoughts On 'The Hunting Ground'
“Two of us were sexually assaulted before class even started,” activist Annie Clark says in the recently released documentary The Hunting Ground. “I thought if I told [administrators] they would take ...
WMC FBomb
Why A 10-Year-Old Paraguayan Girl Not Being Able to Access Abortion Terrifies Me
Like many other privileged American kids, my biggest concerns at ten years old were whether or not I could finish my homework before soccer practice or if my dad was going to buy me the new marine bio...
WMC FBomb
“Hot Girls Wanted”: White Respectability and the Erasure of Men
Hot Girls Wanted — a new documentary produced by actress Rashida Jones — follows five amateur porn actresses between the ages of 18 to 25 and details their experiences filming porn and living togethe...
WMC FBomb
June 24, 2015 | Alexis T |
Body image and body standards,
Education,
Feminism,
Violence against women
10 Lessons For Young Feminists
I was a teen in the '90s, and heavily influenced by Riot Grrrl feminism. Everything was DIY, dress how you want, and live with a militant independence. My feminism was raw, precocious, and wild. Now t...
WMC FBomb
5 Ways to Shut Down Sexist Comments at School and Work
Although we have made a lot of progress towards achieving gender equality, there is still much work to be done. One still-pervasive form of sexism women face is being subjected to sexist comments whil...
WMC FBomb
Does That T-shirt Match Her Headscarf?
In 2008, 17-year-old Samantha Elauf was denied a job at a Tulsa, Oklahoma Abercrombie Kids store. Why? The retailer believed her hijab did not comply with their “look policy.” Her headscarf was appare...
WMC News & Features
June 22, 2015 | Mary C. Curtis |
Race/Ethnicity
Sorry, grown-ups. Young people can’t solve America’s race challenges alone
As the Emanuel Church shooting makes painfully clear, the young generation has learned many of the same lessons about race as their elders.
WMC FBomb
Get #Cliterate: Overcoming Socially Constructed Ignorance
Think you know the clitoris? Brooklyn-based artist Sophia Wallace wants you to think again. In fact, she's showing the world just how much they don't know about this powerful organ through her multime...
WMC News & Features
June 18, 2015 | Shazia Z. Rafi |
Taking stock of women in media globally
The UN and other international groups are taking a look at the status of women in the media at a time of crisis for freedom of expression and journalist safety.
WMC FBomb
The Truth About Women and Mental Illness: Are We Medicating the Condition or the Gender?
As the end of my senior year of high school drew to a close, my life began to change — not because I was starting a new chapter in my life, but because I was beginning a two-year struggle with what I ...
WMC FBomb
Are Nigeria's Steps Towards Eliminating FGM Enough?
In her 2014 TED Talk, Khadija Gbla expresses the cultural friction she felt between two very different definitions of what it means to be “empowered.” Gbla recounts her experience growing up in Sierra...