A steady diet of exploitative, sexually provocative depictions of women feeds a poisonous trend in women’s and girls’ perceptions of their bodies. A strategy to counter one’s own tendency to self-objectify is to make a point of buying products, watching programs and reading publications that promote more authentic women’s empowerment
Author: Caroline Heldman
Masculinity and Mass Shootings
While mass shooters typically share some of the same individual traits, we must name toxic masculinity as a factor that is often overlooked in many public discussions about these events.
Blowing the Whistle on Campus Rape
This March, for Women’s History Month, the Ms. Blog is profiling Wonder Women who have made history—and those who are making history right now. Join us each day as we bring […]
Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?
College administrators have known about the campus rape problem for three decades, and they have been mandated to address it for two decades. So why has so little been done? […]
Why Schools—Not Law Enforcement—Should Investigate Campus Rapes
There’s one question about campus rape that comes up again and again: Why isn’t the crime handled exclusively by law enforcement? In a perfect world, the legal system would effectively […]
Why Colleges Won’t (Really) Address Rape Culture
One in five women and 6 percent of men will face sexual assault/rape during their time in college. But no college in the U.S. has come up with a plan […]
Sounding the Alarm on Campus Rape
Bloomberg News took the campus sexual assault backlash to a new low last week with a piece describing how “hook-up culture” is on the decline at elite colleges now that there’s a […]
The Second Wave of Backlash Against Anti-Rape Activism
In the past two years, anti-rape activists have put campus sexual assault on the national policy agenda—but in recent months, the backlash against these efforts has intensified. A band of […]
A Brief History of Sexual Violence Activism in the U.S.
In the past year, survivor-activists and allies have effectively put sexual violence on the national agenda, spurring White House, congressional, and state-level policy action. Movement leaders have worked tirelessly to make this happen, namely, Wendy Murphy, Alexandra Brodsky, Wagatwe […]
Blowing the Whistle on Campus Rape
Campus rape has recently become a mainstream issue. And there’s hope and evidence that this situation is changing, as a reinvigorated campus anti-rape movement is burgeoning across the country.