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 ...
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...
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...
*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...
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...
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...
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...
Many people probably think France is a feminist-friendly country. My experience as an activist with the international feminist organization Femen has taught me that this is not the case. I've found th...
Close your eyes for a second and think about depression. What comes to mind? Chances are, it’s a girl (maybe with her head in her hands). Perhaps she appears as a dark silhouette, curled up in the fet...
The “ideal figure” of a woman has changed a lot over the years. But beauty has undeniably always been determined in relation to patriarchal standards.
During the Italian Renaissance, fuller figures w...
When exactly do you become a woman? I've received a few different answers to this question that I think are worth exploring.
My elementary school nurse told me in fifth grade I would become a woman w...
Do you ever feel like you owe something to second wave feminists? I do and often think of these women who changed the world before I act. I wonder if someone who lived through some of the most revolut...
I was 11 years old when I succumbed to buying my first tube of "fairness" cream. It was right after a popular boy teased me by calling out "Weh blackie" to me.
Before he teased me, I internalized mos...
Female professional athletes in this nation do not get the recognition they deserve. As a female athlete who competes at the collegiate level, I know first hand that women's sports just do not get the...
As of 2014, women earn 82.55 percent of what men do in full-time wage and salary jobs. That's a five percent increase from the 77 percent statistic often cited by the media and some clear progress tow...
I am the proud graduate of an all-girls high school. While some of my peers sought boys out, spending time at our brother school down the road, I ended up having limited contact with the opposite sex,...
A few weeks ago, I was at a party with a few of my friends. I had been casually using a new dating app and had been talking to a guy that seemed pretty nice. He mentioned that he happened to be out in...
I’m literally the best male feminist. You want to break down patriarchy? I do it and I’ve been doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well.
You wanna analyze the paradox of American society's definition ...
Last night, students shuffled in and out of the audition room for a production I’m working on, frantically asking about pronunciation and deciding whether to use or ignore the chairs we’d provided the...
Many people have praised the effort made to raise awareness about domestic violence at the Grammys. Yet plenty have also noted the irony of the same organization that nominated Chris Brown acknowledgi...
Like countless aspects of the women’s movement before it, MAKERS, the renowned digital and video storytelling platform of women’s stories, started with Gloria Steinem. More accurately, it started when...
When my sister came home from college the first time, I had so many questions. How were the dorms? How were her friends? Had she met anybody special? She answered them all honestly and had mostly good...
Lammily, a crowdfunded plastic doll based on the proportions of an average 19-year-old girl (according to CDC data), has been named the new Barbie by dozens of top publications. Trading a tiny waist a...
The mannequin has been a popular topic for debate for years, but has recently reached the headlines once again. Specifically, Topshop stores across the UK are under scrutiny for mannequins that appear...
Before I took a gender psychology class, I assumed that the field was pro-feminist. I was not so pleasantly surprised to learn how little the field has done to promote gender equality. For example, th...