Femininity is policed enough already by society at large. Women attacking other women isn’t helping. “She dresses like a slut.” “She’s such a bimbo.” “She might find someone if she wasn’t so fat.” While sexism and gender-based prejudice can work in many different directions, when people hear “sexism” they usually imagine ways in which women, […]
Eight women have come forward with sexual assault allegations against Canadian radio celebrity Jian Ghomeshi, and yet the public is still hesitant to believe them. Until this past Sunday, Jian Ghomeshi was Canada’s boyfriend. The co-creator and longtime host of ‘Q,’ an immensely popular radio program with CBC, 47-year-old Ghomeshi was respected and admired nationally […]
It’s not that she got plastic surgery. It’s that she made it so obvious. I just Googled “Renée Zellweger.” “Is that really Renée Zellweger?” “Renée Zellweger: What has happened to her face?” “What HAS Renée Zellweger done to her face? Bridget actress looks utterly unrecognizable as she steps out with her boyfriend in L.A.” These […]
At age 10, I was already reflecting on the fact that some of my earliest, definitive memories were of my parents fighting. Unhappily partnered parents: Please don’t stay together “for the kids.” I’m not married and I’m not a parent. Granted, should I eventually be married and have children with that partner and be contemplating […]
I don’t feel delight being noticed. I feel on display. I feel fear. When a strange man leers at me, or worse, goes so far as to speak to me, to “compliment” me, to comment on my body, my clothing, my hair, my shape, my “attractiveness,” I don’t get a little surge of delight, or […]
I shouldn’t live in a world where rape is not only a reality but a likely possibility. But I do. So I need to know how to defend myself. Following the shooting spree in Isla Vista, California that killed six people in May, an international conversation emerged on Twitter signaled by the hashtag #YesAllWomen. My contribution to […]
Nothing on the female body is as contested and controlled as The Breasts. Every day, my various newsfeeds are filled with stories of controversy surrounding what female persons, usually young ones, are wearing or not wearing. From a Quebec teen being sent home for “too-short” shorts to a Virginia high school student being sent home […]
This originally appeared on Of Sugar-Baited Words. Republished here with permission. We all say things offhandedly that we don’t mean or wouldn’t want to communicate if we thought more about the implications of those words and phrases. Here are a few. Words matter. I spent seven years studying English literature and I really, really believe […]
If I choose to wear a low cut top, it shouldn’t impact how you perceive me. My breasts are still there, and you still know about them, whether I’m wearing a v-neck or a turtleneck. Once upon a time, a younger me was prompted to transform from a wild, multi-colored student caterpillar to a monochromatic […]
