Are feminists forcing women to achieve a higher standard than men? Pharrell Williams, wearer of Arby’s-shaped hats and the artist behind one of the biggest hits of the moment, Happy, has recently declared himself a feminist and received a fairly warm welcome compared to his fellow feminist, Beyoncé Knowles. Celebrity feminists like Williams and Knowles have… Continue Reading →
This statement is bound to shock you for no good reason
“Women aren’t funny.” Consistently repeated and supported by journalists, comedians, and researchers, this statement is an old standby whenever someone wants to shock an audience and spark heated conversation. Though it is constantly refuted — by funny women, progressives, and common sense — this easily defeated opinion refuses to die. At lunch recently, I was seated near… Continue Reading →
Beauty doesn’t need to be bliss
Let’s stop redefining beauty and start redefining what matters. Celebrating “real beauty” once or twice a year with a size 10 cover model or a star without makeup in order to sell more magazines or make noise around an ad campaign has been a growing trend. Dove kicked it into overdrive with their Real Beauty… Continue Reading →
Biased blox: the real heroes of the gendered toy war
Recently, the internet has blown up in praise of GoldieBlox — a construction toy designed to improve spatial skills and encourage a different kind of play in girls. Why is such a toy necessary? According to the Kickstarter page that made the project possible, only 11% of engineers are women and according to a study… Continue Reading →
Let’s see those tummies: stretch marks, scars, fat rolls, and all!
Google image search “belly” and you will find: 1) Perfectly flat, bikini-clad bellies and model men with six-packs. 2) People woefully grasping at or measuring their belly fat. 3) Pregnant bellies. It’s no wonder that when I found a stretch mark on my belly (after a particularly delicious summer feasting on Afghan food at family… Continue Reading →
Fuzzy wuzzy was a feminist?
Melanie Engle, an aesthetician in Philadelphia, was shocked when a mother booked a bikini wax appointment for her 8-year-old. Though statistics are hard to come by due to the client’s age, Melanie isn’t the first to experience this. Many in the beauty industry are witnessing a growing trend of pre-teens getting waxed. Modern media is… Continue Reading →
Narcissism in numbers: what our sizes say about us
I’ve felt that all-too-familiar terror of walking into a store and wondering what size I’m going to be this time around, or worse, if anything will fit at all. There’s a bit of buzz right now in the media around “vanity sizing” or “size inflation.” Vanity sizing refers to the trend of clothing measurements getting… Continue Reading →