we are told 2nd wave is dead. we are told our young fem rejects. i see no evidence

that is true. as a matter of fact, i am seeing our young feminists address exactly what we are. their voice gets to be heard. and the men that are speaking for them, protecting their misogyny toward women in the name of feminism need to be called out. it is reminding me of the rw. to repeatedly present nontruths, as if that will make it a truth. and, just as we see with fox, that becomes our reality.


A Teen Feminist Gives New Meaning To 'A Little F'd Up'

1) What inspired the FBomb and how old were you?

I started the FBomb the summer after my sophomore year of high school, but I had become interested in feminism a couple years before that in middle school. Everybody in my middle school was required to give a speech in order to graduate, and through my research for that speech I came across the world of women’s rights, global misogyny and feminism. I was completely blown away by all of the atrocities happening to women across the world and in my own backyard, and began to align myself with the fight for women’s rights and feminism. I started reading feminist blogs like Feministing and Jezebel at the beginning of high school and, although I loved them, I wondered why there wasn’t a similar space for high school and college-aged feminists. I felt there was a need for a blog and community for young feminists, so I decided to start one.

2) When I was writing my post about the media’s assault on Ashley Judd’s “puffy” appearance, I sent you an email: “We know what adults are saying, but what does this mean to a young woman – what is your take?” During a 45-minute break between classes, you penned a 700-word essay that was intelligent and thoughtful – amazing. Ashley Judd tweeted: “A must-read by a college student…” You didn’t have time to plan – it was your “head to paper” response. Where did your thoughts and inspiration come from?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/deniserestauri/2012/04/19/a-teen-feminist-gives-new-meaning-to-a-little-fd-up/

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http://thefbomb.org/


The Headline Project

As a little project, I recently decided to compile the gender presentation as depicted in the headlines on various popular ‘news’ websites over 3 days. Having rolled my eyes so strenuously as to pop several blood vessels at the ridiculous scandals I’m subjected to each time I checked my email, I decided to monitor sites like AOL, Yahoo, and MSN News to dissect how they depict famous women.

Day 1

AOL’s headlines regarding famous women:

“Brittany Spears flaunts assets”
“See what (Kate Middleton’s sister) Pippa’s wearing at Wimbledon”
“Who’s the British beauty showing off her armpits?” (No, I’m not kidding…)
“Miley Cyrus wears daring LBD”
“Megan shows off baby bump in bikini” – (Translation: “show off” = wearing a biking while pregnant and famous).

MSN messenger news:

“Katy …



How the Media Sells Pimp Culture

As I sit here trying to figure out how to explain my experience while reading Girls Like Us, watching “Very Young Girls” and speaking to Rachel Lloyd, all I can say is guilt. Learning about girls who are sold and abused every day while I sit in my home with my parents—pang of guilt. Thinking about when I used to sing “Hard Out Here For A Pimp” with my friends when I was in fifth grade while there were girls who weren’t that much older than me who were being abused by these pimps who had a so-called hard life—explosion of guilt. This “Rachel Lloyd packaged experience” further opened my eyes to the corrupted media-filled society that we live in today and ignited a fire in me. After she signed my book with the message: “Stay strong & focused & remember that the world doesn’t always like bold women—but that’s ok—be bold anyway!!” I realized that Rachel Lloyd isn’t just creating a fire to burn down the existence of CSEC and sex trafficking but is also passing the torch for future generations to do so too.

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A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word, Julie Zeilinger

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Beyond what it says, however, A Little F’d Up serves as a revolutionary force, simply by being (as the jacket reads) “the first book about feminism for young women in their teens and twenties to actually be written by one of their peers.” Zeilinger wants her readers to understand feminism as a lens and lifestyle, not as a theory or a cult. She creates a playful rapport with her reader, presenting feminism almost as a form of self-help. The book is divided into sections with titles like “Feminism Helped Me, And it Can Help You Too” and “Teenage Problem #1: Girls With Fangs.”

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Once she provides a foundation, both historical and contemporary, she eventually gets to the meat of gender roles in high school, dating, and hooking up. Zeilinger focuses on dehumanization as a way to understand how strict, polarized gender roles restrict personal development. “When you become your gender stereotype, you never have to question who you actually are as an individual human being” (85). Zeilinger also writes about bullying in a way that is particularly relevant to this moment in time, when school and cyberbullying have become ubiquitous. “I believe that bullying is a feminist issue and should be treated as such,” writes Zeilinger. “A movement that seeks to achieve equality should, by its nature, combat any actions that promote inequality” (152). Here, here.

One of my favorite parts of this book comes in Part 2, entitled “Please Stop Calling me a Feminazi,” when Zeilinger openly admits that “finding” feminism can be alienating. This is something I rarely see discussed in feminist texts or in the feminist blogosphere. It’s the other side of waking up to a new way of viewing the universe: “It can feel like you’ve seen the real state of the world, and realized that it’s downright repulsive” (114). I think it’s extremely important to include potential feelings of isolation and depression into any discussion of finding feminism. That Zeilinger does so in an honest and clear way is refreshing and hopefully indicative of a trend. When we exclude discourse about the negatives (even of feminism), we are missing a great opportunity for growth.

I would absolutely recommend this book, particularly to young people, for whom it should be required high school reading. Zeilinger articulates a form of feminism that is current, relevant, and rooted in self-expression. Who can argue with that?

http://ecuabookblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/a-little-fd-up-why-feminism-is-not-a-dirty-word-julie-zeilinger/

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3 Reasons 'Feminism' Is Not A Dirty Word


1) Feminism Is About Making The World A Better Place
Feminism is about equality. At its core, feminism is a movement based on the belief that all people -- no matter their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.--are equal, and deserve to live their lives free from discrimination. And yet so many times when I tell people this they look at me with the same level of doubt and disbelief as if I'd just stated that The Hunger Games is loosely based on my own life (despite the fact that should I somehow become the figurehead of a rebel movement in a post-apocalyptic society, I'd probably hide in a corner crying and hoarding chocolate rather than run the world, Katniss and I totally have a lot in common--but I digress). It's always been confusing to me how so many people can vilify a movement that really does have noble and positive goals. There may be feminist extremists, just as there are extremists in most organized groups, but the heart of this movement is the goal of allowing people to realize their full potential. How could anybody argue with that?

2) Feminism Is Still Relevant (And Very Much Needed)
It seems that many people are under the impression that the need for feminism was buried right alongside Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (the creators of the original girlmance, I'm just saying) and that Gloria Steinem and co. resolved any lingering issues in the '70s. And while that's a pretty little picture some people are painting, frankly, it's bullshit. Unfortunately, sexism is alive and well -- even if it may take a different form than concrete issues like being denied voting rights or limiting the ability of an unmarried woman to buy her own car (believe it or not, it was incredibly difficult for a woman to make any major purchase without her husband's permission until relatively recently).

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3) Feminism Is Your Key To Surviving High School
Beyond the aforementioned serious and widespread issues feminism tries to combat, feminism can also be an essential key to surviving high school. It helped me. Ever wonder why girl-on-girl crime is so rampant in high schools? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch Mean Girls. Then watch it again, just because.) I believe it's a result of the immense pressure young women are put under and the competition they feel they must engage in to be the "best." Know a great solution to that? The confidence and community feminism promotes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-zeilinger/3-reasons-feminism-is-not_b_1522088.html

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i love this gal. and already, so directed and focused. i had to keep posting on her for a true picture of what she is accomplishing.