It’s a common presumption in our society that if you’re female, tall and skinny, you have it all. You are the perfect woman: you have the attributes of a high fashion model, and you should be extremel...
While I understand that there is humour in provocation, this meme (the picture to the left) that's been making the rounds on websites like 9gag and We Know Memes made me throw up in my mouth a little....
I can honestly say I’m sick of hearing about, talking about and thinking about fat. And yet it's everywhere – whether it’s the fear-mongering headlines that claim our country has been consumed by an o...
Political disagreements aside, I have to respect Meghan McCain's recent discussion about her body: specifically her criticism of the way the media has responded to her body and her refusal to change a...
If you had asked me six months ago if I was affected by the media’s presentation of women, I would have responded with an unequivocal no. Yes, TV and magazines bombard us with horribly warped images o...
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...
Femicidio. Femicide. The female counterpart to homicide. It is a concept our country has been less exposed to than, for example, Mexico, Honduras or Guatemala, where the word femicidio is seen on the front pages of newspapers much too often.
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. Contempora...
Recently, I participated, in a willing, great hook-up. The week before I participated in a willing make-out session. I just moved to a new town. I don't know anyone around here that well, and the unfo...
Let’s face it: hatred on the internet is big. Hatred of all varieties including sexism, racism and homophobia (etc.) are found everywhere online, and some sites in particular are known as a breeding g...
I've always wanted to be a historian, and not just your run of the mill historian but one that changes the study and review of the discipline. But I've faced a problem, it's such a subtle problem that...
You see a body; not a person,
Mind you, that’s above your comprehension
But a body-strike that-an object, a plaything
A dish to be sampled to satisfy some sick craving
Never mind that you don’t ev...
I've always hated chain letters. They're never nice, like, 'Just for receiving this, you get a free puppy'. No, it's always, 'If you don't forward this to ten people you're going to die alone and ge...
A few months ago I was watching TV while running on my basement treadmill when a news story flashed across the screen. The breaking story? Bikinis for babies.
Needless to say the feminist in me was f...
There has been too much sexism is surrounding me this week and it's really getting me down.
To start, a boy I know who I considered one of my friends and who knew about my intolerance for sexism thou...
A few months ago, I had the privilege of interviewing Jessica Valenti - founder of Feministing, author of Full Frontal Feminism and awesome person all around.
For those not in the know, Jessica is th...
Procrastinating is always loads of fun, and thanks to the Internet, it’s really easy to do. One such time that I was putting off doing something important, I noticed this picture (embedded in this pos...
You've seen the signs I mean – silhouette figures of two children about to cross the road: one boy, one girl. (How do we tell? One's wearing a skirt.) (That'd be the girl.) (Really, do most girls ...
Probably the most common thing I hear regarding my collegiate matriculation selection is one of a pejorative why I would ever, in-the-name-of-sanity, select to attend an all-female institution. Unsurp...
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 an...
This past weekend, I went to Slutwalk NYC. I could talk about what an incredible, inspiring experience it was. I could talk about how I did feel conflicted about what I saw as certain gaps between the...
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 unfortunate...
Jane had pretty poetry
And hands the size of shoes
And swirling inky look-at-me tattoos
On the trophy shelves of her skin
And Jane never thought twice about you
And nor did she digress;
Don’t help me ...
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...