activism
Feminist activists are not deterred by the daunting statistics so much as they're fueled by them.
Story of the Alternative Black Girl
The historical and systematic policing of black women’s bodies has not stopped at the legislative level, where rich, old, white men pass laws denying us the right to choose. It has not stopped with the trauma of police brutality and the catcalling in the streets. Black women are scrutinized even in the intricacies of their lifestyle choices, and it comes from all angles.
By Jessica Galloway7 years ago in Viva
Pro-Choice VS Pro-Life
Pro-choice versus pro-life has been a continuous debate for years. The pro-life movement believes that human life begins at fertilization and that abortion is the killing of an innocent human being; on the other hand, the pro-choice movement holds the position that the women who are pregnant should decide whether or not they want to give birth. This debate is worldwide and abortion has different laws/regulations in every country. The rightful answer between this argument is the pro-choice movement; this is illustrated by the subjugation of women, sexual liberation, men, religion/politics, the pro-life movement, rape, forced abortions, financial need, women’s health and rights, and science.
By Selena Vazquez7 years ago in Viva
Sex! Stigma! Shame!
Could the above picture be the reason why sometimes these words are associated with each other? I remember when I was younger, and was sat watching TV with my parents, and my niece who is seven years my junior (Hi Sam), and a sex scene would come on during the film or programme. Sam and I would look at each other with a mix of sheer embarrassment and wonder, as in I wonder what Dad is gonna do now? I can still feel the heat in my cheeks as I remember.
By Gillian Foster7 years ago in Viva
A Movement and a Celebrity
As a consultant my role changed drastically from that of a court advocate. I still felt I was speaking to a system on behalf of survivors of intimate partner violence. Recently my role as a consultant is placing me in a position to educate, change minds, and create culture. It is very different from engaging a system that already is to actively create teaching moments to change a system. However, change and growth is part and parcel of this work. How else are we going to eradicate gender-based violence? Change and growth in my path have not been easy and have not been without mistakes. What has helped me is to be humble, sit down with the people who started doing this work before me, read the foundational and theoretical work, and be close to the communities and people affected by intimate partner violence. And always, always feel a dedication and a responsibility to the people I am serving. Not as numbers and statistics, but the people I dedicated years to sit across and besides, hearing their stories every day, witnessing trauma, being a steward to witnessed pain.
By Shanali Inchaustegui7 years ago in Viva
I'm Tired and Angry
Capitalism and patriarchy played, and still play, a major role in sex inequality. However, some Marxists would argue that patriarchy, the unequal power relationship between men and women, has been around long before capitalism. Therefore, how could capitalism play a role? Easy, capitalism is controlled by private owners for profit instead of the sate. Which means, like capitalism’s private owners, the men of high stature in a patriarchal society are the “controllers” of the inequalities happening between the sexes. As these men continue to obtain power, the inequalities between females and males continue to grow, as do the generations to fuel capitalism. Socialist-feminist theorists say that patriarchy reenforces the idea that women are to be housewives and mothers, while capitalism reenforces the idea that men are to be the breadwinners of their families. They say, the division of labor, as it were, brings the private-domestic, and public-economic spheres into contact.
By Taylor Kelly7 years ago in Viva
I Own My Body
I don't even know where to start this. I have been so disgusted today with the news about new abortion laws and the continued efforts that Old White Men continue to put in policing MY body and the bodies of other individuals with the same reproductive organs as myself. I'm sick to my stomach when I think about the actual CHILDREN who will now be forced to carry fetuses that they a) cannot raise, b) do not want, and c) should not have to risk their life bringing into a world that doesn't care about them after they take their first breath.
By Cassie Valencia7 years ago in Viva
A Letter to Men, and Probably Some Women Too
Do you know what it’s like to be terrified of entitled men and what they are capable of if they want something? That something being your body, specifically. A man in a room full of women is excited and lucky, a women in a room full of men would be absolutely terrified—surely, you can see that something is obviously not right there? Ever since I was young enough to understand the way "men" work in this world, I have been subjected to the dehumanising and gross behaviour of them. I remember on my 16th birthday, I was in York with my mum. On the way back, a man who must have been at least 65, stared me down whilst licking his lips as we were waiting for the train, before going on to make comments: "Wouldn’t you like to come home with me darling?" "I’ll show you a lovely time sweetheart." Even when my mum physically stood in front of me, he continued. I remember exactly what I was wearing that day, skinny jeans that were too big for me and a massive hoodie—I looked like a child. I was a child. I remember exactly how I felt on the train home after, a feeling that I had felt many times before, and a feeling that would and has stuck with me until this day. It's a horrendous feeling. Imagine fear, helplessness, disgust, a sickness in the bottom of your stomach, and a crawling under your skin all mixed into one. It’s a feeling that too many girls know all too well.
By Izzy Galloway7 years ago in Viva
A Feminist Call to Arms
The news lately is rife with five states that are proposing anti-abortion laws dictating that abortions cannot be performed past the six week mark. These laws have been dubbed "Heartbeat Bills," because an embryo develops a heartbeat around the five-week mark. (Please note that I said embryo, and not fetus, or baby. In the stages of development, an embryo is considered a fetus around the eight-week mark.) Many women don't even know they're pregnant until after six weeks. Furthermore, Georgia is proposing laws that would criminalize women that plan to go out of state to get an abortion, and cause this act to be a punishable offense that could result in imprisonment. This also makes women that experience a miscarriage vulnerable to possible murder charges.
By Diane Nivens7 years ago in Viva
Teach Us Not to Rape!
Throughout the years, rape is a topic which is on headlines, mainly because of the increasing rates of rape. It is quite normal that when society is confronted with a social ill, society will construct mechanisms which help us from being victims of rape. However, we often forget to teach ourselves not to rape.
By Dimpho Moepane7 years ago in Viva
Never That Kind of Beautiful
Beauty standards. They travel, they change, but really, they stay the same: so hard to achieve. However, for some they are easier to reach. People with money, able-bodied people and also, you guessed it, White people. European or Eurocentric beauty standards are a very strange concept when you sit down and think about it. This idea that people from multiple ends of the world are desperately trying to look like the sometimes opposite of what they naturally look like, is quite absurd. I also think this topic is interesting because for White people, it is something they most likely will never think about before hearing it from the mouth of people of colour. This article will give, hopefully, a voice to women who have been affected by this very racially narrow vision of female beauty, and how they learned to find beauty in themselves regardless. This article is about the ones who have been told they were beautiful… but never that kind of beautiful.
By Allie Pauld7 years ago in Viva
