WMC FBomb
"I'm Not A Boy."
Every Shabbat (Sabbath), I volunteer at the kids’ group at my shul (synagogue). After we finish the service, Shabbat lunch is served. Traditionally, kiddush is made over wine or grape juice before th...
WMC FBomb
August 29, 2013 | Riya S |
Arts and culture,
Feminism
The Universal Sisterhood of Puberty
Pain dripping down my legs.
Bumps growing from my chest.
Doubled up. Feel the heat.
Mum, I NEED something to eat!
Checking out the guys,
Just when did they turn out so nice?
Look at myself in mirror ...
WMC FBomb
Body Positivity: A Primer
Let’s face it: our society is full of messed up messages about our bodies. We are told that we are too fat, too old, too short, too hairy, toosaggy…and the list never ends. Our culture doesn’t embrace...
WMC FBomb
Attention People With Body Parts
My name is Lexie and I am the Founder and Creative Director of Attention: People With Body Parts, an international body-positive initiative with an emphasis on book-making, letter-writing, and collabo...
WMC FBomb
Your Body Is Too Distracting: School Dress Codes and Slut Shaming
I've always hated the idea of dress codes. As a teen, I felt like it was an assault on my personal freedom. Unlike the rebellious stereotype however, I wore as many layers as I could. I frequently wor...
WMC FBomb
On Having Big Boobs: My Anatomy Has Nothing To Do With My Morality
As a kid, I was taught to believe many restricting things about my body, but one stuck with me more than others: the bigger your boobs, the better -- but they better be covered. I accepted that. Then,...
WMC FBomb
What If I AM Like The Feminist Stereotype?
Am I giving feminism a bad rap by not shaving my armpits? I worry that people will take one look at my pits, label me as “one of those feminists” (the only kind they think exists), and dismiss what I ...
WMC FBomb
Tomboy Exceptionalism: “I’m Not Like The Other Girls”
I grew up a tomboy. That meant no dresses, no dolls, and even biting my kindergarten boyfriend who dared to give me a party favour bag at his birthday that was princess themed. It meant playing in the...
WMC FBomb
In Defense of "Freshperson"
Next Fall, I’ll be enrolling in my first year of college. I'll be a freshman - a concept that's giving me pause not just because I'm questioning the existentialist quality of being a freshman, but bec...
WMC FBomb
On Fat-Shaming
I thought I would stop being defined by my weight after middle school. When it kept happening, I thought, Okay, maybe after high school people will leave me alone. Again, I haven't been so lucky and s...
WMC FBomb
April 14, 2013 | Jenny P |
Disability,
Feminism,
Gender-based violence,
Girls,
Health,
Violence against women,
WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Time to Talk
*Trigger warning: This blog post is about intimate partner violence*
Over fall break, my mom made an unexpected visit from California to New York City, where I go to school. She had been called the n...
WMC FBomb
The Straight and the Narrow
Sometimes I look at the pieces of my chemically-straightened hair that are scattered around my bathroom floor, and I wonder what it would be like if things were different. What if relaxers were never ...
WMC FBomb
Pink Or Blue: It's Up To You
“It’s a boy.” My soon-to-be father beamed.
“How do you know?” My young, twenty-two year old mother asked, rubbing her growing belly.
“I just know,” he stated so full of confidence in his twenty-thre...
WMC FBomb
I Don't Know How I Feel About My Body
I was getting ready for my birthday dinner. I was wearing my new favorite dress, with a sort of waffle-velvet thing going on, which was sleeveless and beautiful. As I put on my tiara (because, you kno...
WMC FBomb
Saturday Vids: End The Silence - National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, here's one young woman's message about having an eating disorder. To learn more, visit the NEDA website.
...
WMC FBomb
February 12, 2013 | Mansi K |
Feminism
I'm Not Sorry I'm A Girl. I'm Sorry You Care.
How are you supposed to feel the first time you realize your grandparents wish you had been born a boy? I’m still not sure. I do know, however, that if my paternal grandparents had the option to trans...
WMC FBomb
Your Happiness Is Not A Competition
Most of us tend to compare ourselves to others and then determine our self worth depending on how we measure up. This habit of comparing and competing might be addictive, but it can also be very harmf...
WMC FBomb
The Red Menace?
When it comes to competitiveness, I am the winner. I choose to be ridiculously competitive about certain things, and my fight to beat everyone else is bloody, bitter, and vaguely worrying. Of all the ...
WMC FBomb
A Boob In My Bonnet
In the United Kingdom (where I live), there is a daily national tabloid newspaper called The Sun. In it's own words, The Sun provides readers with "the latest news and features - Showbiz, babes, celeb...
WMC FBomb
An Interview with Peta Lindsay
Over the past few months, we have been inundated with news about Obama and Romney -- especially about their policies in terms of women. But did you know that there's a woman running for president? You...
WMC FBomb
On Cougars, Catfights and Cows
Fox, cow, bitch, vixen, cougar, whale, chick. What do these terms have in common? They refer to animals. Anything else? They also refer to women.
As someone who learned to speak English as a second l...
WMC Women Under Siege
It’s not what women wear, it’s how we treat them: Revisiting the hijab
In September, I wrote a piece for WMC’s Women Under Siege about the hijab, or headscarf, and sexual assault against women in conservative Muslim societies. I chronicled the experiences of my sister Neelo, who experienced sharp harassment as a young girl while wearing a hijab in Pakistan. The premise of the piece was simple enough.
WMC FBomb
September 16, 2012 | Emily Jane G |
Feminism
Dealing With A New Type of Feminist Stereotype
Traditionally, feminists were stereotyped as single, lesbian, non-shaving, bra burning, angry women and while to an extent the feminists of today have this pre-notion of what a feminist looks like to ...
WMC Women Under Siege
The myth of how the hijab protects women against sexual assault
I was only 6 years old when my family was forced to flee the civil war in Afghanistan for Pakistan in the late 1980s. My sister, Neelo, who is five years older than me, was enrolled in a Saudi-funded Muslim Brotherhood-inspired public school for Afghan refugees. She, like many Muslim women, wore a simple headscarf.
WMC Women Under Siege
Forced sterilization: Big media stories versus the big picture
Sweden. California. Peru. All three make lovely vacation spots, sure, but they share something more sinister, too: a state-sponsored violence so furtive, even victims don’t always know it’s taking place. Add to that list Norway, Finland, Kenya, Venezuela, and 31 more U.S. states, and you begin to see the scope of forced sterilization.