Earlier this year a coalition of students and faculty at my institution, Occidental College in Los Angeles (an alma mater of President Obama), convinced the administration to make several changes to its sexual assault policy. One of these changes involved adding sexual assault reports to our OxyAlert system. This meant that any time there was […]
Month: March 2013
Of Jane Austen, the Bennet Sisters… and VAWA?
“I let him film us having sex, Lizzie. I let him do that. … He never made me do anything, so just tell me that I didn’t get what I had coming Lizzie, just try to tell me that!” A sobbing and self-abusive young woman named Lydia Bennet is speaking to her older sister Lizzie […]
Don’t Miss Muslima
In an effort to break stereotypes about Muslim women, The International Museum of Women (IMOW) has debuted the online exhibition Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices. It showcases stories, artwork and ideas from leading artists and women’s rights advocates in Iran, Afghanistan, Bosnia and elsewhere in the world. Including a collection of mini-memoirs called “Muslima Stories,” […]
Tunisia Opens Its First Domestic Violence Shelter
Sihem Badi, Tunisia’s minister of women’s affairs, admits there’s something wrong, at this date, in talking about the country’s first public shelter for victims of domestic violence. “We’re late,” she says. “Look at Morocco. They have tens of shelters for women. Here it’s the civil society who used to deal with victims and it’s the […]
The 100-Year March: Celebrating Delta Sigma Theta and Alice Paul
While celebrating the past this weekend at the Suffrage Centennial Celebration, women were also looking toward the future, as “there is still more to accomplish.” Or, as members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority say, “We’ve got work to do.” The Deltas were commemorating their own 100-year anniversary while hosting a re-enactment of Alice Paul’s […]
States Continue to Threaten Abortion Rights
The past two weeks have not been very good for Team Pro-Choice. If you had any doubt about the War on Women continuing into 2013, look no further. Women’s reproductive rights continue to be eroded in Republican state legislatures across the nation. A list of the anti-abortion legislation passed recently: South Dakota: The South Dakota […]
We Heart: Feminists of Generation Now
Most Pinterest users pin DIY inspiration, vacation ideas and delicious recipes to their boards. Shelby Knox and Steph Herold pin feminists. Their board, “Feminists of Generation Now,” is an ever-growing response to a CNN piece published last fall titled “Where Are All The Millenial Feminists?” The CNN article claimed that women today are shying away […]
Marriage Equality Wins Friends–Will They Influence the Court?
If all the supporters of marriage equality who sent briefs to the Supreme Court attended a wedding, the seating plan would be a challenge. Could Clint Eastwood sit in an actual chair next to President Barack Obama without hurling insults? Would footballers Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo bring their NFL teams? And how do you […]
#SheDocs Online Film Festival Has Launched!
In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Women and Girls Lead is launching #SheDocs, an online film festival that gives people everywhere the opportunity to watch gripping, women-centric documentaries from their computers. Ten acclaimed independent documentaries will be available online free during the month of March. One of the most prominent films […]
Speak Up About Rape? Get Expelled.
University of North Carolina (UNC) sophomore Landen Gambill may be kicked out of school for speaking to the press about her rape. Gambill was one of five women (including the former assistant dean of students) who filed a complaint against the university in January calling for an investigation into what they described as a hostile […]