Xicanista

by: Alejandra Ramos

Womyn of color feminism has been placed under third wave feminist movement; the push and struggle of womyn of color to have their voices heard and their experiences validated by the white feminist movement is a continuous one. From Colonize This! a lense of womyn of color feminism is presented from perpective in which the experiences of womyn are intertwined initmately with colonization. Rehman and Hernandez state, 'colonize means "to create a settlement". It sounds simple and peaceful. We rewrote the defenition. To colonize is to strip a people of their culture, language, land, family structure, who they are as a person and as a people."...We can't have someone else defining our lives or our feminism." Feminism as taught in the academia continues to be from a very white-middle class persepective and as a womon of color I want to identify as a feminist but the fact that stories of womyn like myself are like chocolate sprinkles on vanilla ice cream makes it hard, but it continues to prove that my presence is necessary in these circles. The urgency and importance of womyn of color voices within this movement to end sexisim in our community will not come if we don't also eliminate racism and other forms of oppression too. As womyn of color redifining feminism and making it our own is essential. Redefining my identiy withing the White/Black spectrum of feminism is an act of resitance itself. Claming the identity of Xicanista as coined by Ana Castillo, refereing to her identity within the chicana feminist movement as an act of decolonization she states, “A crucial distinction between labels we have been given by officials of the state and our own self-naming process is that only doing the latter serves us.  The very act of self-definition is a rejection of colonization.” Rewriting our herstories  a nuestra manera, "...is our task as Xicanistas, to not only reclaim our indigenismo-but also to reinsert the forsaken feminine into our consciousness.”(Castillo). Not only is our task to reclaim or indigenous roots, but with that the feminine power within us from our abuelas, to bring forth the otrocities of what colonialism has done to ours spirits, memories and experiences.

http://web.utah.edu/venceremos/Xicanisma.html 

Women’s Rights: Who Defines What Women’s Rights Are and What Is Feminism?

By: Stephanie C. Martyr

            Learning about third wave feminism is very interesting to me because it is so current and also is continuing to develop with our contributions added. Taking from the introduction in “Colonize This!”, Women who have been taught by “white feminism” in universities are now understanding their mothers’ choices for motherhood, and are currently carving out schools in feminism for particular sects for women belonging to certain races (Rehman & Hernandez xx-xxiv). What is I find striking is that while the current (third) wave of feminists are criticizing the second wave feminists for having a dominant voice (the white suburban housewife), the same group of women is now missing from the dominant message and literature. This message of stereotyping also pits women from different schools of feminist thought against one another, and could this approach be leaving some women (those who do not want to identify as a feminist) out of the feminist club entirely? I have observed that feminists use rhetoric such as “Are you a feminist? If not, you’re a bigot.” –Gloria Allred (from the youtube.com). These types of fallacies ultimately turn women off from identifying as feminists- when they should learn that as a woman you are a feminist because every woman has the basic right to be- like a citizenship to a country. Asking a woman what her ideas about feminism are should not always be reduced to a rhetorical question meant to trip one up and make an example out of. Are you a feminist? Yes. We all are, in fact. If I answer no, I understand that I still am because (Insert any reason here since it IS valid). Women need to be delicate in bringing resistant women into the sphere of knowledge feminists are aware of; this is not an arms race for which group privileged or not can get the most rights first- feminism is about empowering each other as women and seeing each other finding our own paths and succeeding.

As an Irish-Native American woman, I enjoy having my individual story, and I agree with the authors in “Colonize This!” that there has been a white wash of culture in America, and as a result people have lost a sense of their identities and heritage. Feminist theory seeks to rectify this by establishing women as individuals, with their own struggles, stories, and rights. However, feminist theory also seeks to deconstruct gender, which tends to exclude issues such as labor and breastfeeding, a highly gendered womanly activity. Therefore, this “choice” (to be a mother or not, to be gay or straight, to abort or not, to use birth control or sterilization or not) suggests sexism is within the very content of feminism. I personally see this inner division of feminists into self-labels for the purpose of saying, “I’m not that kind of woman, I’m this kind of woman” and that should no longer be any kind of accepted form of feminist thought. Because third wave feminism is our generation, it is up to us to further women’s rights and power in society by defining what feminism is. I appreciate the women from the 1^st and 2^nd waves of feminism for fighting for the right to choose. I like how the 3^rd wave feminists are diverse, individualized, and fight for everybody’s rights. However, I am dropping the attitude that feminists are a separate group of women. All women are feminists whether they claim to be or not, all women have an equal voice- a woman’s right is to choose anything and it be allowed, and she will have her sisters to support her. Feminists should not criticize women who deny being feminist, since we know that society constructed them that way anyhow. When it comes to my understanding about the history of feminism, I know that all women were fighting for rights any way that worked and as long as we continue to have a history of pitting certain women against each other (mothers and non-mothers, white women and women of color, gay women and straight women), then it is impossible to achieve equality for all.

Works Cited:

Rehman, Bushra; & Hernandez, Daisy “Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism” Introduction. Seal Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dddgkEg2XSA&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Carolee and interior knowledge

By: Nichole Jones

Carolee Second Wave Feminism flourished during the 1960’s and was a time when women really came together to strive for improvements in the treatment of women and the discrimination of women in the world. I recall my mother-in-law telling me that as a young mother of two boys, she found herself divorced and seeking her independence. She was no longer going to be the typical housewife and needed to find a job and make a living for herself as a single parent. She went to get car insurance and was told she needed to have a husband to sign the contracts. The 1960’s were fueled with anti-war demonstrations and civil right movements and women were a great part of that. I believe we are all familiar with the statement that it was a time when women burned their bras. However, women band together to protest the 1968 Miss America pageant by trashing their bras, girdles and nylons. They threw them away as a symbol of the binds that society has on women to look pretty. This is taken from an article written by Jone Johnson Lewis entitled, Bra Burning Feminists NOT. I read from our course reader and found myself bothered yet intrigued by the Carolee Schneemann piece, More than Meat Joy and the Interior Scroll selections. This woman seems very controversial and for some reason reminded me of Frida Kahlo, the famous female Mexican painter. She was something the world was not quite ready for during her lifetime. The photos of Carolee seemed strange and I found a youtube video of her from 2008 where she discusses where the idea of the scroll came from and why she choice to do the piece. Her work was on display in the Brooklyn Museum entitled “Burning Down the House” Building of Feminist Art Collection. Here is the link for the video, Carolee says that “the scroll represents interior knowledge” and it is represented by pulling the scroll out of her body and she reads what it written on it. One of the things on the scroll is the statement “Be prepared”. That sort of made me laugh, because that is the Boy Scout’s National Motto. Anyway, she did find that some viewers of her performance art found it very confusing and felt that it may have played into men’s fantasies of women. She saw it in a different light. She was a huge inspiration for our recent readings and classroom activities, the Vagina Monologues. 

the “proper role” for a woman

By: Malynn Robbinson

In the reading The Problem that has No Name by Betty Friedan, the author entertains her readers by pulling them through the emotions that many housewives of the 20th century were experiencing. The emotion of emptiness and dissatisfaction was actually the result of a woman who has experienced the thirst of knowledge and want more. These women have been to college and dreamt of becoming something and being someone but are forced to face the bitter reality that the “proper role” for a woman is to take care of the house. This “problem that has no name”, is the outcome of their restlessness and their yearning to grow more. These women did not realize that was what they wanted because society had told them that this was their dream life and that was the best thing for them. 

Many people already know about the controversy about Rush Limbaugh media broadcast concern women’s contraceptives. I believe that it relates to the reading assignment The Problem that has No Name because in that article society was telling women that they should be happy and this is the life they should want while Limbaugh was saying women shouldn’t use contraceptives to sleep around (although he completely ignored the context of stance the college student was making). There is a similar theme of society (male) control over women and they are both coming from a male perspective.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/rush-limbaugh-sandra-fluke-a-slut-and-prostitute/ 

 Friedan, Betty. "The Problem that has No Name." Issues in Feminism. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999. Print.

Limbaugh, R. (Actor). (2012). Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down On Sandra Flu [Motion picture]. ABC news.

Those "ridiculous" anti-housewife thoughts..

By: Caroline Crandall

My understanding about The Problem That Has No Name by Betty Friedan is that the problem is the fact that women in the 1950’s and early 60’s had no say in how they wanted to live out their lives. The purpose of a woman’s being then was to get married, have children and then do all housing tasks.  They really had no choice and if they did begin to question why their life was the way that it was or if that was what they really wanted, they would be frowned upon.  The article stated that in that time period, if a woman was feeling unhappy with her life, it was commonly thought that there must have been problems in her marriage or that she had something wrong with her. This caused Women to feel confused and alone, even though there was a large number of women who felt the exact same way. People who were against these ideas of women being something other than a house wife tried to come up with excuses as to why women could be having these “ridiculous” anti-housewife thoughts. The article said that women being educating was causing ideas to be put in their head. It also said, “ the problem was dismissed by telling the house wife how luck she is-her own boss, no time clock, no junior executive gunning for her job. “  First of all, she is not her own boss because she has to take commands form her husband and cater to her children. Second, she does have to follow a time clock because she has a time schedule to get all her daily house chores done. And third, she doesn’t have a junior executive gunning for her job, because no one else wants to have her job!

I enjoyed this quote that I found that pretty much sums up this problem that has no name.

“It is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities - is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=EZiKAskjPF8&feature=endscreenZ

Wake Up in the Morning

by: Lindsey Ritter

Wake up in the morning go wake up the kids.

Make sure the kids are fed and clothed.

Take out the dogs.

Make sure that their lunches are prepared and packed.

Take the kids to school make sure you are on time!

Hope the kids are on time for school that way you can go to class on time.

Go to class then go to work.

(Make sure work and school fit around the kids schedule in order to pick up the kids for practices and school)

Leave work and pick up the kids.

Take one kid to his baseball practice tonight and then remember tomorrow it is wrestling, then again baseball game and then wrestling match!

Get home and cook a healthy dinner. Because we all know we don’t want our kids to be unhealthy or obese, so something with chicken…I wonder when the kids will get tired of chicken?

Make sure the kids do their homework and then it is off to a shower, brush teeth and BED!

Take out the dogs.

Kids are in bed. Time to go for a run

All sweaty and icky so shower time a must!

Homework time,

Goodnight!

OHH no only 4 hours of sleep AGAIN??

After doing the reading on second wave feminism I started to think to myself is this all for me as well? Now I love my life but constantly feel that I am moving and going this was my week with the kids, I do have help from my significant other but only during the night. The women during the break between the first and second wave were caught in a state of confusion about why they were feeling like something was missing in their lives. That was the freedom of being able to be someone besides a housewife and feeling like there was no choice but to be a housewife. I am not saying there is anything wrong with being a housewife but as we read in the readings “The Problem That Has No Name” women were feeling that something was missing or something was wrong and they were unsure what it was and I believe that most had to do with not having their freedom and not understanding or remembering that women were fighting for their rights and fighting for equality before and that “the chains that bind her in her trap are chains in her own mind and spirit. They are chains made up of mistaken ideas and misinterpreted facts, of incomplete truths and unreal choices,” (290).  If we as women have been told something by the dominating society and Capitalism they want us to continue feeling trapped and put under his thumb, the problem is seeing past those lines and seeing the truth, not feeling tied down in chains or wondering is this it? I also question where we are with society today since women have taken on more roles and many still believe should be the main house keeper and take care of the children. Women now have a job because it is difficult to maintain life without two incomes and many women have to still come home and cook or clean. I am lucky and have a significant other who does help me out (when I ask for it because I am very stubborn and feel that I can take on the world…because I am after all a woman and am very proud!).  However, most men still have the ideology that women need to come home and clean, cook, and take care of the children even after being at work.  So my question then is have we come far enough as some would say we have?

I like to take the example of the original stepford wives because it brought the “concerns and ideologies of second-wave feminism to popular culture, particularly, a woman’s control over her own body,” (Silver, 2002). When Friedan wrote about the women in “the Problem That Has No Name” those concerns that were expressed are replicated in Forbes The Stepford Wives by the two main characters who are fighting Stepford and fighting their inner feelings and their confusion about their town, and the literally interpretation of “fetishizing housework turns women from individuals with goals and ambitions into cleaning appliances: robots,” (Silver, 26).

The original stepford wives trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zUWOeNfa6Y

The original stepford wives entire movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuG8D8oUn_8

Ain't I a Woman

By: Brenna Norris

This wasn’t the first time I have read Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” and it definitely won’t be the last time.  This speech is so powerful for multiple reasons.  Women had finally started breaking the gender norms and began speaking out about inequality.  Sojourner Truth’s courage and determination is so powerful because not only is she making a very strong statement as a woman, but also as an African American. 

She is making a statement to society saying that if men think that women should get special privileges, that ALL women deserve those privileges.  She gives power to women as a whole saying even though we worship Christ, who is a man, without God and A WOMAN there would be no Christ.  She calls to women saying that if the first woman that God created was able to “turn the world upside down,” then so can we. Her speech isn’t just about being treated like “a woman,” but about stopping the inequality within the sexes.  Her speech, or performance, is so powerful and inspiring that we are still acknowledging, respecting and learning about it today.

Feminism has come such a long way since Sojourner Truth’s performance and this courage that she displayed has given other women courage to follow in her footsteps.  The feminist movement has been such a public outcry full of different forms of public performances, and these performances have slowly started breaking down social gender norms and stereotypes.

Below is a video of a woman named Alice Walker performing Sojourner Truth’s speech.  Watching someone else perform her same speech gives a new understanding and sense of power that continues to inspire women to continue to fight for change today.

Check out Alice Walkers reading here

We are all women,

we all deserve respect,

and we all deserve equal rights.

Together we are powerful.

First Wave Feminism

by: Norma Sevilla


Throughout time, women's feminist movements for social justice and equality have been divided into three waves. First-Wave feminism, which is our main focus for this week, flourished during the mid 19th and early 20th century. Their main focus during that time was women's emancipation from political restrictions, such as women's suffrage (women's right to vote).The reading that stood out to me the most from this week was "The Freedom of Woman" by Isadora Duncan. I really liked her interpretation of the body and I liked how she sees it as something beautiful and pure. She goes on to explain how exposing one’s body, while performing, is beautiful and pure. Throughout time people have created social taboos against women’s bodies so I think it’s crucial to have articles like “The Freedom of Woman” that tell us that bodies are beautiful and they are nothing to be ashamed of. As Duncan puts it herself, “the body is beautiful; it’s real, true, untrammeled. It should arouse not horror, but reverence” (Duncan 1992, 48-49). As I was reading "The Freedom of Woman," it reminded me of Pina Bausch's "Cafe Muller" (1978) and the trailer from the documentary "Pina Bausch: Dancing Dreams" we saw in class. Duncan's and Bausch's choreography is so different from the kind of dances I’m used to seeing but they are so unique and fascinating. I love how their choreography isn't just simply dance but art, theater, and different representations of life

My Granny

by: Jasmine Morrow

This past week, my granny passed away. This entire week has been extremely difficult for me, but I am trying to find ways to remember the great things about her life and how she has impacted mine. When I was younger I was the ultimate “tom boy”. I wanted to do everything the boys did. I wanted to play football, skateboard, climb trees, play video games, everything. I can remember one time I was sitting, slouched over, legs open and my granny hollered at me. She told me that I was a young lady and ladies don’t sit and act like little boys. I remember crying to my mom and my granny told me that I would thank her later.

Well that later has come. I am still a “tom boy” at heart, but I have learned throughout my life what my granny was really trying to tell me. She was born during a time where people of color were not allowed to do much of anything. She grew up in the country of Georgia. She has seen Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. She was able to grow up in a time when she was able to see real change taking place. She wanted me to understand that as a Black woman in this country we at one point were the lowest of the low. She wanted me to understand just how much oppression Black women have endured so that in my lifetime I could continue to make a change.

My granny is the reason why I am the feminist I am today. That is why the monologue about the woman who had a good experience with a man reminds me so much of her. When I was reading that monologue, Because He Liked to Look at It, I was instantly touched. This woman did not truly understand her worth as a woman. She did not see her true beauty within herself. Although I am sad it took a man to be able to open her eyes, I am happy she was finally able to see. My granny wanted me to always understand that I was beautiful and strong. She wanted me to understand to that I could do anything because I was a woman.

I was there in the room

By: Patrisha Wright 

While reading The Vagina Monologues, the monologue that struck me the most: “I Was There in The Room” because it accentuated a birthing video called Lady Giving Birth. When I saw the vagina giving birth to a baby, I asked myself why in the world I started watching it. I threw my hands up in the air and asked aloud “why are there videos like this on Youtube?” I felt a little disgusted as I trudged on with the clip and horrified at the thought of scissors cutting at the vagina. I shiver at the thought and am amazed at the woman giving birth, because afterwards, her vagina will be in enormous pain. I hope someday I will never need to experience an abnormal birth, because in the clip, her baby is facing downwards when it should be up, hence, the need for cutting the vagina. At the end of the clip, she delivers a healthy baby. Eve Ensler points out that she saw her all spread out, “mutilated, swollen and torn, bleeding all over the doctor’s hands that was calmly sewing up her vagina” (Ensler 121-125). Ensler illustrates the abuse that a woman’s body is inundated with during child birth but also the beautiful blessings bestowed upon them. The vagina is a powerful thing because it is capable of giving life, and men are unwilling to understand, appreciate, and demonstrate respect towards women’s bodies. As a result, they take women for granted-turn them into objects, and playthings without any regard to the consequences women will face. Women sacrifice their vaginas to bring life into the world. The vagina needs love. There are women who are victims of rape and their vaginas should never need to tell a story of violence. This monologue is empowering to women’s vaginas and also voices a demand that women be respected. 

I Call it CUNT

By: Krista Ahlgrim

I am rejecting the negative connotations you have put on it and reclaiming it for the sexual, powerful, vital, word that it is. CUNT. It is beautiful really. I don't know why in hell anyone would use it in a negative manner. Everyone likes them. Boys are fascinated by them, men cant get enough of them, women spend a good amount of time with it. I like to call it "me" time. Cunt Time. Personal time with me, myself, and my cunt.

When I hear the word thrown around in such a horrible way I always think to myself,

has a cunt really ever done anything bad?

What did a cunt ever do to you besides give you extreme pleasure, warmth, electricity through your entire body, love, tingling sensations..... hmmm now I am confused.

Maybe your missing the cunt?

Not getting the cunt?

Jealous of the cunt?

Abusing the cunt?

Hiding from the cunt? (you scared, scared thing)

Go ahead, call me a cunt. I like the word.

C U N T

cunt.

Found this video of this monologue and I fell in love with her. Enjoy Friends

Sth about Gender

By: Huixian

This week we will learn the construction of gender. Actually, I feel interested after I read Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streets by Elaine Sciolino with Nazila Fathi. In the article, it said “ Some girls have taken to disguising themselves as boys. They cut their hair short, wear loose-fitting clothes and speak as little as possible. It is a growing phenomenon mainly among lower-class runaways who believe that the disguise gives them a degree of freedom and protection they could not enjoy as girls. Posing as boys on the streets makes it easier to avoid rape and falling victim to prostitution rings.” As female, we definitely do not want to pretend as a male. However, I believe, the girls in Tehran’s have no choice. In order to be in safe, posing as boys is the only way to protect themselves. Male plays a dominant role all the time. Sometimes I wonder, can boys understand the pain that girls suffer? Do they willing to pretend as a girl everyday?


On the other hand, I remember back there’s a film “ It’s a Boy Girl Thing”. It talked about sworn enemies find themselves in each other's bodies, and use this to ruin each other's lives. They had to learn how to control an opposite gender’s body. They need to imitate each other’s acts, gesture, the way they speak, and so on. It is funny and worth to see! I recommend it.




Tomorrow, we will have a little “Drag King” party. As an international student, to be honest, I have no idea about what “Drag King” is when I heard it first time. But now, I am kinda get the idea about drag king. I am looking forward about it.




Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streets


http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/19/international/middleeast/19IRAN.html






It’s a Boy Girl Thing


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482527/

drag king-ing it...

by: Veronica Silveyra


Reading "Girls Find Safety Posing as Boys on Tehran's Mean Streats" by Elaine Sciolino reminded me a lot of myself. When I was younger, about 8-13 years old, I was such a tomboy. I loved wearing loose shirts or baggy sweatshirts, hair always pulled back in a pony tail, wearing boys skating shoes. And I felt comfortable. I felt safe. Even though I still wasn't fully developed, I knew that just because of the simple fact that I was a girl, my body was going to be looked at. So I covered up. Did anything possible NOT to look like a girl. And most of the time it worked. I hung out with the guys and they treated me like I was one of them. And I was hardly ever looked at as a piece of meat.

The lines "posing as boys on the streets makes it easier to avoid rape and falling victim to prostitution rings..." (Sciolino, 2003:1) and "no one bothered me. I wouldn't have been able to survive in women's dress. I would have been finished by now..." (Sciolino, 2003:2) is a reminder of how much pressure women go through everyday of their lives. Not being able to dress a certain way or wear certain clothes because of fear. Its insane that women have to dress in clothes of the opposite sex to gain respect. "What is a Drag King?" by Susie Bright was a nice way to lighten up the mood a little after reading Sciolino's article... I think. I thought it was a fun and healthy way to express oneself in a setting or space where no one is judging. Here was a short youtube video I found to show an example of a Drag King performance...

Allowing Ourselves To Be Too Much

 By: Carly

A few years ago, a lovely feminist friend of mine introduced me to Succulent Wild Woman- a playful, doodle-filled, and entirely hand-written book by Sark (check out her website here). Written in a style that is part journal, part memoir, Sark teaches readers to embrace the richness and fullness that comes along with being a female. In one of her stories, she writes about a common fear instilled in womyn- being “too much”. Sark iterates that much of her life has consisted of being told she is “too loud, too outrageous, too emotional, too sensitive, too needy, too much.”  This week, I have begun studying the relationship between between feminism and performance, and have read articles where “too much-ness” as a topic has re-emerged.

In “Never Just Pictures”, Susan Bordo examines  female reactions to waif-thin models such as Kate Moss. When her female student reacts to a photo of Moss as seeming “so cool”, and “not so needy, like me,” Bordo develops a possible explanation for the public’s fascination with photographed skeletal figures. She explains, “If the thin body represents a triumph over need and want, a stripping down to some clear, distinct, essence of self, fat represents just the opposite- the shame of being too present, too hungry, to overbearing, too needy, overflowing with unsightly desire, or simply ‘too much.’”

In my life, it has been all too easy to witness the fear of being “too much.” There was my high school friend who decided to cut her beloved pasta from her diet because she wanted to attract a crush, and then there were the womyn in my college course who quietly commented to me that they felt “so bad for the guys in the class for having to talk so much about menstruation.” Conversely, I can think of the womyn in my life who aren’t afraid to dance in a grocery store aisle, who proudly challenge ignorant remarks made by peers, or who hold honest and enthusiastic conversations about their their orgasms. Loudly. In public.

While Bordo tactfully explains this fear and how it is represented, Sark offers a solution- let’s all embrace being too much! She writes, “We’ll start a society! The Too Much Society! We’ll have too much parades! Certainly, we’ll wear hats that are too much, and eat too much chocolate...and then we’ll take too many naps!”

As for myself- I laugh too loud, I joke around too frequently, I sing too freely, I wear a necklace that says “Cunt”, and I apply glitter to my hair very, very liberally. I’m happy to be too much.

How are you “too much”?

my own fucking business.

By: Alisha 

My menstruation cycle is not anyones fucking business but my own. Women and men may be different in some ways, but that doesn't mean that discrimination is okay.

Yesterday we had a lively discussion in class about feminism, it's definitions, and what it means to people. Similar to what normally happens in an intro to WMST classroom, most people are shocked by the simple definition of feminism, especially considering all of the stereotypes that normally come to mind when using the "f-word". One of my favorite authors, Jessica Valenti states in her book Full Frontal Feminism that feminism is simply "Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; the movement that surrounds this belief” (13). While feminist ideology is a complex idea, the definition really is pretty simple and hard to argue with. 

That being said, there still is a lot to learn and a lot of discrimination out there. This article, Why Do Women Still Earn Less than Men? by Time Magazine just goes to show that feminism is still needed, and change still needs to happen. So the next time someone tells you feminism is dead, speak your mind, voice your opinion, and show them what's up!

Reading Response

By: Jacqueline 


After learning the definition of feminism from Merriam-Webster “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes or an organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests”, it was very disappointing to be in a women’s studies class and be assigned reading material that did not discuss much about feminism. These articles are an example of how, I believe, feminism is looked at by the majority of society today. The article “Never Just Pictures” talks about females being under pressure and having problems with their ideas of the ideal body size. It seems that if there is anything that deals with women it is considered feminism. This article fails to try and connect to feminists by saying pornography is sexist because of males ejaculating on women. Women are not forced into pornography, these have chosen for themselves to be put into situations as such. Pornography is a filmed based industry and thus has a contract for men and women to sign that they will perform on stage based on a script just like every other actor in Hollywood or Broadway. Also these ideas that women are the only victims to self-consciousness can be countered with the fact that men are also body conscious. “Unlimited Partnership” simply describes how to analysis information without ever actually analyzing females from history. “From ways of seeing” once again has nothing to do with feminism but describes the idea that women let men think they are in charge, “Everything must appear to be the result of his being there.” The article “What is Women’s studies” is the only one that talks about feminism, and how different cultures have handled female oppression. 

Body Image in the Media

By: Starr


During class, I realized how the media can create a negative impact on our society. The most obvious is by painting a perfect picture of what a woman’s face and body should look like. What I was moved by the most was the video we watched in class of the model, not only was she altered with styled hair and make-up, but also with computer software. I am totally aware that they use software in the business to alter the fairness of skin and adjust sizing of the body a bit, but never did I imagine them going to the extreme of extending the length of the neck or even the eyelids. This irritated me so much because how do we even know what is real!? The most terrible consequence I find out of this is the pressure that is created towards models to be thinner, which then influences the rest of our population.


One of my good friends in high school suffered from anorexia. Sadly, even after completing therapy she still claimed to be proud and happy of the decision that she made. She stated that if she hadn’t been anorexic she would still be fat and not have the gorgeous body she has today.  Truth is she was never fat! Yes, as mentioned in Susan Bordos, Never just pictures, clinicians link anorexia to psychological issues, but maybe if the media did not have an influence there would not be so much pressure to fit into this perfect category. Maybe the thought of being perfect and extremely skinny would not have crossed her mind. Today, I am happy to see Dove creating a movement and being honest with sharing reality that not all women are skinny and use everyday women in their advertisements. Have you or anyone you know been severely affected by fitting into a “perfect” mold?  This youtube clip is a great visual for the medias affects on body image. Check it out.