Why do you have a beauty blog?

So I found this video and thought it just resonated really well with the idea that women and girls shouldn't be less than men and that the language we use actually contradicts this idea.  He makes a really a good point about how people use the term "girl" as a negative or weaker identity.  That guys who aren't strong are "girls" or "girly" and contradictory women get criticized for "not being girly" and that even girls use these terms when talking to each other or men. Femininity does not equal lesser nor should it carry connotations of weakness, frailty, incapability, or any negative identifications. In a world where people are so diverse and the variety withing a group is so great I find it ridiculous to assign blanket attributes to these people within them.

I personally am going to stop using the term "grow some balls" or "man up" for situations that require courage, and may instead use "grow some balls" when someone needs to be more sensitive because they are, after all, one of the weakest parts of a man.

bell hooks--Feminism is For Everybody

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/09/07/10-years-of-feminism-is-for-everybody/

So, I've more recently become comfortable and proud of being a feminist. This summer I was alllll over the internet reading all sorts of things that just made me mad. One day a cool thing happened when one of my friends posted a picture of her newest read on Instagram. It was a book with an almost laughably simple title. "Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics". So I googled it, and the author bell hooks seemed pretty cool and dedicated to the cause (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks  --she doesn't capitalize her name because she wants the focus to be on her work, not herself). I checked it out from the library as soon as possible (it's at Pius!), and eventually bought my own copy.  As the article I linked above explains, it is an incredibly cool, quick crash course in feminism. She defines feminism simply as, "Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression", which I love for its inclusiveness. This book is cool since it's not so academic and fairly jargon-free, as its meant to be accessible to, well, everybody, not matter their education level or background or whatever.

So if you've been looking for some interesting contemporary feminists, I think bell hooks is a cool one, she has written a ton of books, which I can't wait to get into. She's written things on masculinity and as a black feminist, she writes a lot about racial issues and how they deal with feminism.

One last little tidbit from her:

Imagine living in a world where there is no domination, where females and males are not alike or even always equal, but where a vision of mutuality is the ethos shaping our interaction. Imagine living in a world where we can all be who we are, a world of peace and possibility.

:)

Women as "Sexy" in the Media

Recently, I watched this YouTube video as a commercial on tv. Even after I first viewed the video, I felt appaled. I remember thinking to myself, "Well of course you think women are getting hotter, they are wearing less and less clothes!" I have always found it irritating that in order to be "hot," women typically have to wear as little and/or short of clothes as possible. Personally, I would rather be covered more fully because I am more comfortable that way. What I find humorous is that even if I look pretty in my non-revealing clothes, by the way I have interpreted the video, I may not be seen as "sexy" by the media's standards. Too often, the media associates "sexy" with wearing tight and tiny clothes that barely cover the body; however, I find this type of image rather degrading and representative of women as sex objects. I feel that sexy women should be represented as women who wear clothing that covers the body and makes them feel pretty and confident. The portal of women as sex objects in the media needs to go away, so the true "sexy" and confident covered-up woman may come forth and shine.

"AXE Black Chill" - YouTube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU-5cBVUYvw

"Frailty, thy name is woman"

 

 

 

I recently read the book Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. While reading, I realized these five mere words "frailty, thy name is woman",  Shakespeare truly underestimates the importance of woman. I am writing to state that Hamlet is wrong.  The women in the story,  Gertrude and Ophelia, are simply "drowning in a pool of men", how can they express themselves. Ophelia knows no other way to act because there is no women in her life to show her. Conversely, Gertrude is stuck between the most two important men in her life: Hamlet and King Claudius. Both women live in this so called men's world. They constantly have to depend on the men in their lives because they don't have certain rights as men. Ophelia and Gertrude lacked ways to express themselves and had no outlet to show their emotions like sorrow, fear, and anger. Nevertheless, this led to their madness. This applies to todays society. Woman have to fight for certain rights. Its been hundreds of years since Shakespeare time and the attitude towards women still have not changed. Women are seen as frail and meaningless. We need to change this attitude. 

Gender & Women's Studies as a College Degree

I was recently browsing the internet (in all the free time I don’t have), and came across this “confession bear” meme.

http://9gag.com/gag/amXzDp4

I actually found this before we’d even had our first class, but for some reason, it was very upsetting to me. I’ll admit that I don’t have much knowledge about gender and women’s studies at all, but that’s why I signed up for this course. I’m obviously very interested in learning more about it, and seeing this made me feel as though I was being discouraged from exploring the subject before I’d even begun. By the time I had read though a few of the comments on this photo, I was more than a little angry. In fact, I couldn’t bring myself to finish reading them. While a few people (both men and women) were defending the study as a legitimate one, the majority of people were in agreement with the person who posted the meme. Two of the comments with the most “likes” included: “Why not? We need people to work at fastfoods and it won't be those with proper studies,” and “Yah I agree. If you want something to be equal don't point out how it's different.” Unfortunately for the people who were arguing in favor of this viewpoint, these two comments were probably the most intelligent sounding ones. In fact, if you take a look at the comments, you will probably notice that most of the people making the arguments against women's studies come off as being extremely narrow-minded and uneducated on the subject. I find it tremendously sad that so many people are comfortable with being totally ignorant on such an important and interesting subject, but it’s a reality that I’m beginning to face. Hopefully there will come a day when this will no longer be the case, but for now we can all just read this article to cheer us up- http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/5-reasons-you-should-major-in-womens-studies/ J