SPOILER ALERT: Maybe the finest, most feminist, moment in Mad Max: Fury Road comes when Max, with only three bullets in his rifle, misses the mark twice; rather than taking a third and final shot, full of masculine hubris, hands the rifle over to Furiosa, who not only hits the mark on the first try,… Keep reading...
Undoing our culture of sexual and emotional violence requires a return to basics, reevaluating of the values and lessons we convey to children. Through stereotypical gender roles, pop culture, and even our language, boys are taught that they have a right to women’s bodies and sexuality; that their value is correlated with sexual experience, while… Keep reading...
Consent is fundamental and foundational. Its also a lot less complicated than many want to make it seem. Consent is about dialogue, and respecting the needs, agency, and autonomy of other people. Consent is the foundation of healthy, happy relationships, and fun, pleasurable sexual encounters. It truly is as simple as offering someone a cup… Keep reading...
Sex Ed in the United States is often mediocre at best, and in the instance of abstinence-only education, harmful at worst. Children must be provided with accurate, honest, and upfront information about sexual activities, their bodies, consent, dialogue, pleasure, sexual and reproductive justice, and yes, even human rights, in an environment that is safe and… Keep reading...
In the United States, gender defines far more than how people dress, or the roles they must assume in their intimate relationships. Gender socialization sets the stage for how individuals think and interact with the world around them. In the United States, male gendering socializes aggression, domination, and hatred for women. This paper examines the… Keep reading...
“The rule against using singular they is enforced neither because it preserves some consistent, objective grammatical standard, nor because it serves our communication needs. It is enforced because enforcing language norms is a way of enforcing power structures. Our pronoun problem isn’t just about gender — it’s about power.” Language is both a reflection of… Keep reading...
What if instead of being another young-adult novel told from the perspective of an entitled young white male with a savior complex, the Harry Potter series had been given a different type of narrator? We all know that without Hermione, Harry and Ron would have died in Book One allowing Voldemort to prevailed. Featuring fire,… Keep reading...
Role-reversal is an effective tool in working to understand why an action, behavior, or cultural dynamic is problematic. When it comes to street harassment, Twitter user @ElonJames created the hashtag #DudesGreetingDudes to highlight the absurdity of men who argue that their behavior isn’t sexually motivated, isn’t intended to bother women, and should be taken as… Keep reading...