Recently, I have been exposed to the “traditional” expectations of women in their twenties. As a graduating senior, every question I receive revolves around a love interest or the eventual existence of children. These questions are then followed by congratulatory remarks of getting this far without offspring or disappointment for my lack of immediate interest […]
Read More More Than Marriage and MotherhoodIn light of the modern day #MeToo movement centered around the hashtag and survivors standing up together and sharing their stories, I wanted some deeper insight. Last year around this time I wrote a news article for one of my journalism classes in which I tried to capture the essence of the #MeToo movement, its […]
Read More #MeToo – Moment or Movement? A conversation with Dr. Matthew EzzellAccording to a poll taken by the Washington Post, only 43% of American women consider themselves to be feminists. Unsurprisingly, the rates of men who consider themselves feminists are even lower, sitting at a mere 23%. So whats the sitch? Do a majority of Americans actually refute the concept of equality of the sexes? I think […]
Read More If You Don’t Consider Yourself a Feminist, Are You Anti-Equality?For the second year in a row, Virginia is placing a focus on our nation’s female heroes. This weeklong event (March 17-March 23) strategically occurs during Women’s History Month and is meant to recognize the women who have sacrificed and served in the armed forces. This goes along with Women’s History Month, where we recognize […]
Read More Women Veterans Week: Honoring Our SHE-roes@EndlessRipples and @LivingHumanGirl coming at you live from NEWSROOM!
Read More March Madness! News EditionDisclaimer: This topic is serious and heavy. I am by no means an expert but I stand by my words and opinions. I am not Muslim nor from the Middle East, but this topic affects many that are close to me. To read more opinions on this topic from previous shoutout bloggers, Click Here. In […]
Read More Where Terror LivesHappy St. Patty’s friends! Today I want to talk a little bit about a class discussion I participated in this past Monday. We were blessed to be around the presence of Cate Palczewski, as she informed us about the positives and negatives of pornography. When I reflect back on the reading (Palczewski Reading.pdf), I dive […]
Read More Sexualizing, Objectifying, and Disrespecting Women DOESN’T Make You LUCKYSaoirse Ronan (1994 – present) Born to Irish immigrants in New York, Ronan moved to Dublin, Ireland at the age of three and was raised Irish. This young actress has the impressive accomplishment under her belt of having earned three Oscar nominations by the age of 23. Saoirse shared her thoughts on Feminism at this […]
Read More 5 Badass Irish Women to Celebrate This St. Patrick’s DayWe’re only a week away from the seasons officially changing. Spring is coming and the sun’s energy and warmth is finally pushing through. With this change it feels like I’m being dragged out of that deep, dark tunnel I’ve unfortunately had to dwell in these past few months. This tunnel is figurative of course. […]
Read More The Sun Will Set Only to Rise Again: Battling Seasonal Affective DisorderICYMI: JMU Student Government Association’s Diversity Committee put on their third annual “I, Too, Am JMU” inclusion event this past Tuesday, March 11th, 2019. The event was first started in the spring semester of 2017 by previous Diversity Ad-Hoc Committee* Chair, Jewel Hurt, who based it off of “I, Too, Am Harvard,” which was a […]
Read More I, too, am JMU: Student Government Diversity Committee’s 3rd Annual Inclusion Event* Disclaimer: The term “coming out” is extremely problematic, but for this post, it is used for clarity. * There seems to be this misconception that “coming out” is this grand finale of self-evaluation that involves a proclamation of identity. However, that idea could not be farther from the truth. In recent years, I have […]
Read More The Process of Coming Out to Yourself and OthersI just transferred to JMU this semester from Blue Ridge Community College. Last semester I was constantly anxious about getting into JMU, making good grades, and (ironically enough) not getting too anxious. I had to put in a lot of effort to raise my GPA to get into JMU. I didn’t do well my freshman […]
Read More Spring Cleaning My MindPlease enjoy me pretending I have extensive musical knowledge as I share three of my rockin’ femme-faves of the modern day.
Read More Powerful Feminist Musicians to Save Our SoulsIn honor of International Women’s Day, here are a few impactful and influential women from around the world.
Read More In Honor of International Women’s DayHey, you! It’s you…from the future. Here to offer you a bit of advice, hope, and overall real-ness. It’s March, which means your freshman year is just about to end. You’re celebrating spring break and you’re probably reflecting on how fast this first year of college went by. It feels good to be home, doesn’t […]
Read More A Letter to My Freshman SelfThis weekend has been a whirlwind of events to say the least. Possibly the biggest adventure three suburban girls could take during Spring Break. We have been through the wringer and back and not only did we survive, but we have emerged as braver-ish, smarter-ish, and grown-ish young women. Okay, shall we start from the […]
Read More New York New PhoneHealth care costs in the United States are through the roof. It’s hard enough trying to survive when hospitals, routine procedures, and medications are increasingly becoming inaccessible.
Add an oppressed identity to the mix and shake well to create a whole new type of barrier.
Read More Trans-parency in Health CareYou may have seen posts on social media this past week about National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. For me, personally, I learned that some people I knew had been silently struggling. I even saw one girl repost a photo that she had originally posted over a year ago saying how she had felt fat in […]
Read More Post National Eating Disorder Awareness Week: Signs of Eating DisordersIt is no surprise that gender inequality has followed women into their occupation. From pay gaps, to unequal opportunity, to a lack of benefits for mothers, women face a lot of gender inequality in the workplace. Picture this: you work your ass off putting together a pitch you have to deliver next week. Your male […]
Read More Gender Inequality in the WorkplaceMy favorite YouTube show is Hot Ones, a celebrity interview series where guests answer questions while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings. Despite the gimmicky premise (which does inspire some fantastic content, like this Terry Crews battle cry), the well-researched questions can lead to some surprisingly insightful answers. The latest Hot Ones guest, Offset, offered an […]
Read More Let’s Talk Masculinity and Hip-HopFinally Spring break, the time for beaches, cruises, sleeping, and something a little more serious… Mental Health awareness. It’s a time to talk about taking a break from what causes you stress, relaxing after a hard day, and learning a little bit about what can cause people to become less in control of their lives. […]
Read More Take a Break From What Gives You a Headache!Have you ever seen a trailer for a new movie based on a book and immediately needed to read the book? No? Well, I did. Last Thursday, I was on Instagram and I had a trailer come across my feed. I was absolutely hooked, and I read the book in like three days. This book […]
Read More Feminist Perspective of “After” by Anna ToddHave you ever thought to yourself, “You know what we need more of in this country? Men’s rights!” You haven’t? Well lucky for you, someone did. The National Coalition For Men (NCFM), based out of California, is a volunteer law firm whose mission is to change legislation that they consider to be discriminatory towards men in […]
Read More Who is the National Coalition For Men?So here I am, acknowledging that I am not okay, and accepting that it is okay to not be okay.
Read More An Ode to Feelings, Both Good and Bad.When Migrant Children Turn 18 – the story doesn’t end with simply reaching America. Migrant children who cross the border without their parents are sent to a federal shelter UNTIL their 18th birthday. After this date they are typically then sent to detention centers and treated like criminals. NPR reported this on their Morning Edition by […]
Read More Keeping You Up to Date – NEWS!Some good news is headed your way! Feminist protests and all around feminine bad-ass-ness seems to be finally forming some good in the world! In the past, power influence and societal structures have been taken over by males but not for long! There are women leaders of course, but there are a lot fewer than […]
Read More Are Feminists and Survivors Finally Benefitting from Speaking Up?In the midst of all the 2020 announcements, political turmoil seems to be quite a hot subject. Instead of diving into the far-in-the-future race, I’d like to take some time to dedicate a post to my favorite politician, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Via @ocasio on Instagram If you […]
Read More Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Appreciation PostBiology does NOT give you an excuse to treat the ones you love like shit. Family members are supposed to be there for you – through everything. They’re the forever-kind of relationships. The ones that last you far past your friends and partners. But blood does not give you a reason to treat me like […]
Read More Biology Isn’t An Excuse To Treat Someone Like ShitYour weekly update on what’s happening locally, nationally, and internationally. What’s the news this time?
Read More ShoutOut!, ShoutOut!, Read All About It!Let’s talk about books, better yet let’s talk about voices. To be perfectly honest with you I still don’t openly call myself a feminist, because I can’t seem to privately call myself one without feeling a bit of unrest. In order to pinpoint the reason for this unrest and try to see if I can […]
Read More Their Eloquent Rage: Voices of the “Angry” WomanExisting in spaces not necessarily created for you tends to be synonymous with fighting for recognition. That’s a reality known all too well by the multicultural fraternities and sororities at predominantly white institutions, or PWIs. In general, Greek-life is stigmatized as a choice for drunken and dangerous college experiences. This comes from the historical truths […]
Read More Oblivion: Greek-life EditionI know the New York abortion law that allows abortions past 24 weeks for specific reasons came out about a month ago, but I am still seeing talk about it on Facebook every day. I have seen people say that abortion is not okay in cases of rape, incest, when the mother is in danger, […]
Read More The Truth About Why We Need Abortion8 times Donald Trump has respected women more than anyone.
Read More Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody.I am a Christian. To me, there is no purpose without the Lord and based on my experiences, I’ve seen and felt the presence of God in my heart. There’s no changing my mind on that. I am a Christian… woman. Now, that? That’s harder. It’s hard to be surrounded by male leadership in the […]
Read More Searching for Equality in the ChurchWe all know smoking is bad, yet it is still increasingly popular especially since Juuls and other vaping products became mainstream and yet not much is being done about it. I mean yeah, they took some of the Juul flavors off shelves and places are really cracking down on IDing people, especially kids, but is […]
Read More Tobacco, Vaping, and New LawsLast week I stumbled across the Victoria’s Secret PINK GRL PWR event at Grafton-Stovall Theatre. It featured a panel of strong likeminded women with the common goal to celebrate, support, and inspire girls everywhere. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into before walking through those huge movie theatre doors, but let me […]
Read More If You Want It, Take ItHello my friends! It’s that time of year, again. Valentines Day! It’s all about a day of getting flowers, chocolates, and diamond rings… Well, not exactly. Today, it’s a day for me to talk to you all about Instagram and the negative effects social media can have on us, and […]
Read More Am I Getting “Liked” On Valentine’s Day?!“Self-love.” How can I define it? When do I know that I truly, properly love myself? When I put on a crop top regardless of what I ate for dinner? When someone calls me a bitch and I take it as a compliment? When I adopt a “thank u, next” attitude towards life’s hardships? When […]
Read More Spilling the candy hearts on self-love: “ily even when u don’t luv urself”James Madison University Administration announced on February 8, 2019 that they will be naming the newest residence hall after Paul Jennings, a former slave of James Madison. This is a huge step in the right direction for our predominantly white institution. We are making strides in ending the long-standing and problematic tradition of white-washing our […]
Read More New dorm named after former slave of James MadisonHow many UPB-chosen movies pass the Bechdel test?
Read More Is UPB Bringing Gender Inclusive Movies to JMU?With the click of a button or the tap of a screen, women can edit themselves. With the popularity of selfies, not only do we control the picture to perfection, but we filter and edit them to create our own unattainable beauty standards.
Read More #selfienationWhen I was twelve-years-old I went to a pool party, I was always ahead of girls my age so I had wide hips, C-cups, and a full belly. The mother of the birthday girl asked me if I could call my mom to bring me a one-piece bathing suit because I was making others uncomfortable. […]
Read More Big Girls Are Not Here to Fulfill Your Sexual FantasiesTrigger Warning: Mentions of physical abuse and sexual assault. It is common knowledge that women in the workplace are treated differently than their male counterparts. The prevalence of unequal pay, barriers to career advancement, and the tendency of women’s contributions to be devalued are just a few of the issues we face, and that doesn’t […]
Read More Stop canceling women, start canceling double standardsWhy do people get their panties in a twist when someone calls them a bitch? That word can have too much negative connotation surrounding it. Honestly, the highest form of flattery can derive from being a bitch. Women have it tough because if you are too forward and assertive, you are “bossy” but if you […]
Read More YOU SAY I AM A BITCH LIKE IT IS A BAD THING—–That’s 30+ classes, 30+ professors that I’ve been exposed to and only TWO were black women… Now, as a senior at James Madison University who has been an advocate for diversity and deeply involved in the Center for Multicultural Student Services, the lack of diversity on this campus isn’t a new topic for me. Quite […]
Read More How Many Black Female Professors Have You Had? 4 Years & I’ve Had 2.Friday, February 1 marked the start of Black History Month, a tribute to the African American men and women who have made contributions to America and the rest of the world. Here are some ways that white people can celebrate Black History Month. Donate money to an organization that fights against injustice and racism and […]
Read More 5 Ways White People Can Celebrate Black History MonthOn the evening of the day we recognize and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, James Madison University welcomed Dr. Brittney Cooper to speak. As a Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies professor at Rutgers University, Dr. Cooper was quite different from past guests of honor. Her message was deeply rooted […]
Read More Dr. Brittney Cooper: the SuperwomanA lot is happening in the news – both nationally and globally. Here are a few key stories this week… Green Book wins “Top Feature Film” The 2018 comedy-drama won a “Top Feature Film” award! Green Book is based on the true 1960s story of a blue-collared Italian-American bouncer and an African American classical […]
Read More Your News for THIS WEEK!Since 2011, The Lady Jane has been a staple of Historic Downtown Harrisonburg, and at the helm is Sara Christensen, local small business owner. I got her to spill the tea about life, passion, intersectionality, and entrepreneurship. Find out what advice she has for young ambitious women based on her personal experiences. (Via @theladyjaneshop on […]
Read More Entrepreneurial Empowerment: An Interview with the Lady JaneTo start Black History Month off on the wrong foot, a photo of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam dressed either in blackface or as a Ku Klux Klan member in his 1984 medical school yearbook has surfaced. Black face has a long history of being used to dehumanize people of color by exaggerating stereotypes of looks […]
Read More Racism has no place in our government: a call for Ralph Northam to resign
