Top Stories
Stories in Viva that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
The Funeral Industry
What’s a woman’s role in the funeral industry? From my view, nothing of any respect. That probably sounds a little harsh, and granted, I am speaking from my own personal experiences (which are many and varied)—but from what I’ve witnessed, the funeral industry is one of the last bastions of ‘Good ole boy’ chauvinism.
By Andrea Van Scoyoc8 years ago in Viva
A Lesson in Feminism and Adult Entertainment for Rudy Giuliani
It’s hard to hold my tongue when I hear people, particularly men, claim that a female who has worked in the sex industry is not allowed an opinion, certain rights, or is not a ‘credible’ source of information.
By Samantha Bentley8 years ago in Viva
I'm Not the Pretty Girl
Do you ever feel like you're not going to find your soulmate? I definitely know that feeling. I also know the feeling of thinking that you're not enough for someone. I know the feeling when your mom or dad says, "You would be one hell of a catch," but I know that I wouldn't be. I know the feeling of being crazy excited when you're finally talking to a hot guy and then you feel like you're worth something because someone like him wants you. I used to know these feelings. Not anymore.
By Madison Rheam, B.A.8 years ago in Viva
Feminism
You hear "feminism" and your mind instantly goes into arguing mode. Stop. "Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." This movement is entirely about equality. Not about women being better than men or vice versa. All women want is equality. In the job world, women still get paid less for doing the same job as a man simply because they are women. We get told we can't do certain jobs because it's not what a woman should do. What exactly is a woman meant to do? Has that been set in stone? No. We are all able to do whatever we want. A lot of people still believe women shouldn't be the breadwinner or earn more than a man. Some even still believe women shouldn't be in certain job roles because it's "too much" for them. I say screw all those opinions. I class myself as a strong, independent woman who can achieve anything she puts her mind to. I have massive goals for my lifetime in a field that is mainly male dominated, but I intend to work hard and make my way to the top. Hard work is what is needed to get to where we all want to be. If I work hard enough to get to the position I want to be in, then who on this earth has the right to take that away from me? I try to encourage my friends to work just as hard and achieve everything they want. Positive enforcement is sometimes all that's needed to trigger something in someone's mind to make them believe they can do anything in this world.
By Annica Webb8 years ago in Viva
Ode to a Time When Justice Looks Different, We Listen to Women and Survivors, and Blackness Is Not Used as a Means to Support Serial Rapists
All over social media, Cosby rape apologists are passionately decrying his conviction. It doesn’t seem to matter that he admitted to putting Quaaludes in the drinks of the 62 women he violated. He framed drugging the women in a cavalier manner because apparently everyone used to do ‘ludes in the 60s. You know, no big deal. He just forgot that really essential part of allowing the women to consent to drugs and sex before chemically rendering them immobile and unable to say yes or no. He even joked about slipping mickeys in women’s drinks in a 1969 comedy routine. He clearly felt an unquestioned entitlement to these women’s bodies. And somehow, the voices of 62 women are eclipsed to many by the perspectives of one powerful man who wanted to drug women and assault them, but not have any consequences for those actions.
By Richard Wright, MA8 years ago in Viva
10 Inspiring Female Journalists
Compared to how it is today, in the past, the majority of women weren't taken seriously in their professions. In fact, it was pretty difficult for women to obtain higher and professional jobs, because men believed that they weren't properly equipped for them. But when women do work as professionals, they're still not being taken seriously.
By Lilliana Backman8 years ago in Viva
Things Women Should Stop Saying to Each Other IMMEDIATELY
OK, I’m just going to put this out there, I am guilty of most of these at some point or another in my life, and I’m pretty sure most of the girls I know are too, but that doesn’t make it OK. I noticed a couple of years ago how toxic some of my friendships with my girlfriends were. We compete, we compare, we bitch, we moan, we attention seek.
By Samantha Bentley8 years ago in Viva
Wronged Women
In my time learning history from the Ancient Greeks to the Tudors, I have begun to notice in a pattern in how the history that we know is far from the actual truth. History is not a new subject, History and Classics were being taught in Oxford and Cambridge at the time of Henry VIII and before. The Renaissance, in short, came about as a rebirth of these classical ideas and philosophies which so fascinated the medieval world. However, only until recently did we finally have female voices in history. Women were not allowed admittance to universities, not to say that they were not educated but the average Tudor woman's grasp of Latin would be constrained to that of the church, it would be unlikely that she had an opinion on the rights and wrongs of Helen of Troy. This lack of female voice in history has all too often polluted the vision that we have of women from our past, often coloured with outdated misogynistic lenses. Taking the fiction away from the facts of the events can be hard, as so often historical figures are clouded with myths about them, as I will go on to discuss. As students, as people, we owe these women, who usually changed the world we live in through their existence, the comfort of having their stories told for what they were.
By Beth Haywood8 years ago in Viva
