Curator of Dialogue

"Why Society Still Needs Feminism Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women,..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:40:53 -0400

“

Why Society Still Needs Feminism

Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women, it’s a weapon we hold between our fingers when we’re walking alone at night.

Because the biggest insult for a guy is to be called a “pussy,” a “little bitch” or a “girl.” From here on out, being called a “pussy” is an effing badge of honor.

Because last month, my politics professor asked the class if women should have equal representation in the Supreme Court, and only three out of 42 people raised their hands.

Because rape jokes are still a thing.

Because despite being equally broke college kids, guys are still expected to pay for dates, drinks and flowers.

Because as a legit student group, Campus Fellowship does not allow women to lead anything involving men. Look, I know Eve was dumb about the whole apple and snake thing, but I think we can agree having a vagina does not directly impact your ability to lead a
college organization.

Because it’s assumed that if you are nice to a girl, she owes you sex — therefore, if she turns you down, she’s a bitch who’s put you in the “friend zone.” Sorry, bro, women are not machines you put kindness coins into until sex falls out.

Because only 29 percent of American women identify as feminist, and in the words of author Caitlin Moran, “What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? Did all that good shit get on your nerves? Or were you just drunk at the time
of the survey?”

Because when people hear the term feminist, they honestly think of women burning bras. Dude, have you ever bought a bra? No one would burn them because they’re freaking
expensive.

Because Rush Limbaugh.

Because we now have a record number of women in the Senate … which is a measly 20 out of 100. Congrats, USA, we’ve gone up to 78th place for women’s political representation, still below China, Rwanda and Iraq.

Because recently I had a discussion with a couple of well-meaning Drake University guys, and they literally could not fathom how catcalling a woman walking down University Avenue is creepy and sexist.
Could. Not. Fathom.

Because on average, the tenured male professors at Drake make more than the tenured female professors.

Because more people on campus complain about chalked statistics regarding sexual assault than complain about the existence of sexual assault. Priorities? Have them.

Because 138 House Republicans voted against the Violence Against Women Act. All 138 felt it shouldn’t provide support for Native women, LGBT people or immigrant women. I’m kind of confused by this, because I thought LGBT people and women of color were also human beings.
Weird, right?

Because a girl was roofied last semester at a local campus bar, and I heard someone say they think she should have been more careful. Being drugged is her fault, not the fault of the person who put drugs in her drink?

Because Chris Brown beat Rihanna so badly she was hospitalized, yet he still has fans and bestselling songs and a tattoo of an abused woman on his neck.

Because out of 7 billion people on the planet, more than 1 billion women will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. Women and girls have their clitorises cut out, acid thrown on them and broken bottles shoved up them as an act of war. Every second of every day. Every corner of the Earth.

Because the other day, another friend of mine told me she was raped, and I can no longer count on both my hands the number of friends who have told me they’ve been sexually assaulted. Words can’t express how scared I am that I’m getting used to this.

Because a brief survey of reality will tell you that we do not live in a world that values all people equally and that sucks in real, very scary ways. Because you know we live in a sexist world when an awesome thing with the name “feminism” has a weird connotation. Because if I have kids someday, I want my son to be able to have emotions and play dress up, and I want my daughter to climb trees and care more about what’s in her head than what’s on it. Because I don’t want her to carry keys between her fingers at night to
protect herself.

Because feminism is for everybody, and this is your official invitation.

”

- Caitlin O’Donnell, Drake University. (via on-another-note)

An Open Letter to Facebook

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:06:11 -0400

An Open Letter to Facebook

RocketHub Gazette: Join the Popular Science #CrowdGrant Challenge And Do Something Amazing

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:35:26 -0400

RocketHub Gazette: Join the Popular Science #CrowdGrant Challenge And Do Something Amazing:

rockethub:

Submit your project before June 15 for a shot at crowdfunding with the help of Popular Science and RocketHub.

Popular Science has celebrated the world-changing work of scientists, thinkers, and makers for more than 140 years. We’re always tickled to learn how many of these great…

#26in2013 Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. Chock full of research,...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:42:33 -0400

#26in2013 Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. Chock full of research, personal, encouraging, practical.

#26in2013 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Having only...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:01:14 -0400

#26in2013 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Having only watched the first three films, now having a wonderful time reading them for the first time with my 8 yr old boys. Powerful, exciting, emotional, fun.

#26in2013 Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeanette...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:58:00 -0400

#26in2013 Why be happy when you could be normal? by Jeanette Winterson. Sad, complex, insightful, vulnerable, brave.

Julie P.: My experiences in tech: Death by 1000 paper cuts

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:57:17 -0400

Julie P.: My experiences in tech: Death by 1000 paper cuts:

juliepagano:

In Once Upon an Internship, I learned early that sometimes being a software engineer means death by 1000 cuts because you don’t have the power to make it stop. Even the tiniest little things add up to something big – sometimes it’s really death by 1000 paper cuts.

The cuts started early. I’m…

explore-blog: In which a brilliant feminist Senator – New...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:34:20 -0400

explore-blog:

In which a brilliant feminist Senator – New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand – stands up against rape and schools a U. S. General on how to do his job.

As we know, thousands of rapes are reported in the military each year, manifold more go unreported, and a female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

You can’t be what you can’t seeOriginally posted on the MaRS...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:14:27 -0500

You can’t be what you can’t see

Originally posted on the MaRS blog:

Language and imagery are important. These two inputs impact…

View Post

This young artist is brilliant…and is surely going...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:55:06 -0500

This young artist is brilliant…and is surely going places…!

roseaposey:

“Judgments”

I took this last year, but in retrospect, I think it’s my strongest piece from high school.

Working on this project really made me examine my own opinions, preconceptions and prejudices about “slutty” women and women who choose to cover all of their skin alike. I used to assume that all women who wore Hijabs were being oppressed, slut-shame, and look down on and judge any woman who didn’t express her sexuality in a way that I found appropriate.

I’d like to think I’m more open now.

#26in2013 Gawd love ya @CaitlinMoran. Great way to start the...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:58:58 -0500

#26in2013 Gawd love ya @CaitlinMoran. Great way to start the year! How To Be A Woman #highlyrecommended

"The overwhelming majority of those children would have been saved with effective gun control. We..."

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 10:09:44 -0500

“

The overwhelming majority of those children would have been saved with effective gun control. We know that this is so, because, in societies that have effective gun control, children rarely, rarely, rarely die of gunshots. Let’s worry tomorrow about the problem of Evil. Let’s worry more about making sure that when the Problem of Evil appears in a first-grade classroom, it is armed with a penknife.

[…]

On gun violence and how to end it, the facts are all in, the evidence is clear, the truth there for all who care to know it—indeed, a global consensus is in place, which, in disbelief and now in disgust, the planet waits for us to us to join. Those who fight against gun control, actively or passively, with a shrug of helplessness, are dooming more kids to horrible deaths and more parents to unspeakable grief just as surely as are those who fight against pediatric medicine or childhood vaccination. It’s really, and inarguably, just as simple as that.

”

- The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik on the science of and the simple truth about gun control (via explore-blog)

dear-photograph: Thinking of you Newtown.Hug someone today.

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 10:46:38 -0500

dear-photograph:

Thinking of you Newtown.
Hug someone today.

Now all we need is the snow…

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:35:40 -0500

Now all we need is the snow…

Mornings of perfection. (at Sans Dire)

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:05:44 -0500

Mornings of perfection. (at Sans Dire)

Getting ahead with a little help from our friends Originally...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:46:13 -0500

Getting ahead with a little help from our friends

Originally posted on the MaRS blog on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.

Years ago, while…

View Post

shared via WordPress.com

16/26 #26in2012 Forgot what it’s like to plow through 500+...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:32:06 -0500

16/26 #26in2012 Forgot what it’s like to plow through 500+ pages for fun. Jodi Picoult, House Rules

"Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one..."

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:30:37 -0500

“Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”. Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others.”

- Timothy Leary via rachieeeee (via falsified)

14/26 #26in2012 Now the boys get to watch The Chamber of Secrets...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:41:54 -0500

14/26 #26in2012 Now the boys get to watch The Chamber of Secrets for their movie night tonight, and mum gets to add this book to her list.

14/26 #26in2012 1982 by Jian Ghomeshi. A thoroughly...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:33:44 -0500

14/26 #26in2012 1982 by Jian Ghomeshi. A thoroughly enjoyable read with a great soundtrack.