A few weeks ago, I came across a clip on YouTube that made me pause and reconsider everything I’d ever thought about “beauty.” Up until then, I found good looks quite admirable. I reveled in the relief of watching TV shows where people morphed into creatures that more closely fit society’s definition of “pretty”. I… Continue Reading →
American Apparel: v-necks and sexual exploitation
As the media coverage dies down regarding American Apparel’s knack for remarkably misogynistic and overtly sexual advertising (check out Nancy Upton’s hilarious/courageous spoof), and CEO Dov Charney’s nefarious past, the company reports an increase in net sales for the first quarter in 2013. This is a remarkable turnaround for the company who faced potential bankruptcy… Continue Reading →
Lean In and keep the conversation going
I know I’m a little late to the Lean In conversation but luckily the conversation has not stopped since the publication of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In in March 2013. Hitting New York Times’ bestseller list and selling more than 600,000 copies in three months is no small accomplishment. Sandberg received a lot of mixed responses… Continue Reading →
Fun, games, and misogyny at E3
E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is meant to highlight upcoming video games and advances in game technology. But this year’s event, which took place from June 11-13th, was overshadowed by a few unfortunate incidents that highlighted the still-present sexism in video game culture instead. On the first day of E3, feminist video game critic, Anita Sarkeesian, tweeted… Continue Reading →
The “Nu” image of woman
Editor’s note: Images contain nudity, potentially NSFW. The Nu Project is a series of photographs that exposes the great diversity of women’s bodies. Nude, in their homes, and happy, each woman photographed exudes an infectious sort of confidence, a silent declaration: “Here I am! This is simply how I am.” The photographer, Matt Blum, began… Continue Reading →
Stop hating on Anne Hathaway and start realizing that we’re all each other has got
Celebrity hate is nothing new. I mean, who can blame us? These are people that are thrust into our lives, our living rooms, our movie screens. Their publicists want us to be interested in their personal lives. They are commodities, only worth as much as their popularity. Interestingly, hating these people we hardly know seems… Continue Reading →
How low can you go? Scouting for talent at eating disorder treatment clinics
Recently, as I was scrolling through news articles on my cell phone, I came across an article that caught my eye. The article was on the scouting of new talent by model agencies at the one place that they should NEVER be looking for talent: an eating disorder treatment clinic. As someone who is in… Continue Reading →
Pop artists that say I’m sexy because I’m insecure: please stop
Since I commute two hours daily to and from my high school, I spend more than my fair share of time listening to “top 40” songs on the radio. In the past, I have been relatively oblivious during the time I have spent jamming to songs during my carpool. That is, besides generic rappers declaring… Continue Reading →
Never Did I Think I Would Be Standing on the Street Half-Naked: A recap of About-Face’s most recent and gutsiest action yet
On Saturday, June 15th, 2013, I was with About-Face and supporters as we stood scantily clad in front of Victoria’s Secret on Powell in San Francisco for our latest action, called Operation Real Bodies Real Love. Wearing only our bras and underwear, we were making a statement about what real bodies look like (and how… Continue Reading →