Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Viva.
The Craft of Contemporary Plus-Size Criticism
“You’re so brave.” “You’re pretty for a bigger woman.” Sadly, I’ve come across these double-edged comments and many more on plus-size women’s pictures way too often since I joined the social media community. They’re described as double-edged because although they appear to be compliments they are in fact hurtful to most. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for what us curvy femmes are used to hearing, or reading on an everyday basis from our followers, friends, and family, and bluntly, it has to stop.
By Nicole Enid8 years ago in Viva
Owning The Space
A friend of mine just set out for a day’s shopping, but returned unexpectedly soon after having gotten splashed by a vehicle driving through a puddle. This has happened to me, and in similar circumstances. My friend saw the vehicle coming, and noticed how the driver sped up and swerved into the puddle. There was no doubt about it; this was a deliberate act.
By Katy Preen8 years ago in Viva
Sexual Harassment and the Male Gaze: How the Objectification of Women Obstruct Social Relations and How Women are Beginning to Challenge These Issues
In recent news and according to the New York Times article written by Jessica Bennett titled "The ‘Click’ Moment: How the Weinstien Scandal Unleashed a Tsunami," scandals of sexual harassment are becoming larger and frequent. This issue is not new and the outing of such experiences are also not recent. If our culture respected and integrated social laws that defended woman against social predators, this would not be accurate. Unfortunately, the hegemonic Euro-centric standard is what ultimately leads to a standard of beauty and allows women of color — specifically, darker skinned woman — to have less power and status to that of a lighter skinned woman, who faces her own prejudices. These standards are stereotypical of your Eurocentric features and lead to the obscurity of the relationships between men and women of color particularly of darker complexion.
By Traveling From Heavenly Places8 years ago in Viva
Baby Driver: Sensational, Superb, Sexist?
Spoilers Warning!!! With it’s explosive scenes, witty repartee, and revolutionary soundtrack, there’s no doubt that this new Edgar Wright flick is one of the best films released in theatres over the past few years. The movie centres around Baby (Ansel Elgort), a personal getaway driver for the Kingpin of the Atlanta underworld, Doc (Kevin Spacey), as he prepares for his ‘final job’ in order to keep his newfound love interest safe.
By Joe Jenkins8 years ago in Viva
Should Clothing Chains Charge More to Plus Size Consumers?
Already starting this week, there are shoppers out there that are complaining on social media along with their discovery that a well-known British retailer is deliberately charging higher prices for plus-size clothing items. It’s been found that there are two clothing items that are identical except for the fact that they are different sizes. The smaller one reflects one price and the other one that is plus-sized displays a price that is nearly doubled. Is it fair and legal for this company or any other clothing retailer to do this?
By Kathy Lester8 years ago in Viva
The Male Feminist
Feminism, by definition, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” I recently read a few interesting articles which pointed out a series of rules and guidelines about being a male feminist, most of which made a lot of sense and can basically be summed up to, “don’t claim to be a male feminist to get girl’s attention, then turn around and act like a jerk towards them.” Pretty simple, basic, “be a decent human being” type of thing, if you ask my opinion.
By Pierre-Paul Couronne8 years ago in Viva
When Is Makeup Sexist?
I woke up this morning feeling today would be a makeup-free day. Days like these are not unusual for me, since I usually see makeup as an unnecessary task or a painfully boring chore with mediocre results. I am friends with people who do makeup professionally, they don’t share the same view of cosmetics as I do. This always felt natural to me; some people like makeup, some people do not. On one side of the spectrum, I recall remarks on how tired I must be, or how confident I must be, simply because I don’t wear makeup. On the other end, my friends who enjoy makeup can always recount a time when someone told them, “you don’t need to try so hard.” The distinction society makes between a “naked” face and a “done-up” face is, arguably, one of the most visible signs of sexism in our culture.
By Adriana Jurado8 years ago in Viva
The State
The irony was evident: head drowning in a toilet, the burning of acid made its way up my throat and crawled out of my mouth, its bitter kiss lingered on my tongue. Of course, I would've longed to stay in bed. My intervals of heavy heaving came and went in quick succession. There was no time for reflection as the acid creeped its way back up, this time, wrenching last night's dinner from its imprisonment and straight to freedom where it layed dormant, floating on the surface of toilet water.
By Tabitha Odutayo8 years ago in Viva
