Age

I found the article in salon.com to be very interesting. It was shocking to hear that the judge in Montana claimed that the 14-year old young girl was in as much control of the situation as her 49-year old rapist. It doesn’t make the crime OK because the girl was 14 years old; no matter how old you are rape is not acceptable. It’s shocking to hear the judge reduced the rapist’s sentence from 15-years to 30 days. The trauma that these young girls go through at such a young age is heart breaking and for their rapists to get off because the young girl is considered almost equally guilty is ridiculous. A judge should not say that because she’s old enough to give consent, it’s no longer the rapist’s fault. In all, this article was truly eye opening and I strongly protest against any judge who uses age in a way to justify rape.

2013 Miss Teen USA Illinois

Okay so.. It was terrifying to admit to you all about that pageant, but it had to be done. Hi, my name is Jayde Rose and I’ve been in a ‘beauty pageant’. I am a privileged, young, white woman who does indeed love make up, shoes, and LOTS of clothes. Hopefully someday I’ll get married and have 5 (maybe 6 or 7) children. Some of my favorite TV shows are Say Yes To the Dress and Gossip Girl. And while all this may be settling off alarm bells and red flags in your head I would also like to say that I AM A FEMINIST! I worked three jobs in high school so I could support my own interests, someday I really want to adopt children from India or Cambodia, and some of my #1 career interests involve the oppression of women. Yet when I admit to appreciating any of the “girly” things in life I am immediately shoved into the same Barbie box on the shelf that most feminists claim they are attempting to eliminate… SO WHY ARE YOU SHOVING ME BACK INTO IT?!?!?!?! I thought feminism was about equality and eliminating oppression and stereotypes, so why am I so readily stereotyped against because of who I was born to be? I met girls at this pageant who blew my mind.. They’re going to be doctors studying at Harvard, they’ve been to World’s for skiing, they’re accepted into military academies on the East Coast, they have GPAs of 4.5, and they want to work to make the world a better place. In my small hometown of 6,000 people we have a past Miss America. It was the year of her crowning that feminists protested outside the building, at times getting violent. Today she is always smiling, volunteering 6 days out of the week to work one on one with mentally and physically handicapped elementary schoolers. Without her many of them would be unable to move past the 5th grade. Why must we insist upon tearing each other down instead of building each other up for our many strengths and talents? My name is Jayde Rose, I am a woman, a pageant contestant, an Honors scholar, a sorority girl, a writer, an artist, a horseback rider, a Christian, a book worm, a soccer player, and a feminist. But don’t box me up, because I’m NOT a Barbie.

Reverse Gender Stereotypes at the Gym

At first, I was going to post about the readings from last week and the week before last, but I saw everyone else posting videos and such. And I was saving this for show and tell, but I figured I might as well show it now.

This video is basically reversing the gender stereotypes at the gym. I don’t know how to explain it more than that.

Male Feminism

Male Feminism

This is a really interesting article I found on Stumleupon.  It was written by Byron Hurt and was published in the Root.  It gives a really interesting look in the male feminist perspective.

Phenomenal Woman

I’ve been reading a lot of Maya Angelou’s work recently and came across one of my favorite poems of hers, “Phenomenal Woman”. I feel that it’s very empowering, so if you haven’t heard it or read it already, you should listen to her recite it. 

Blurred Lines Parody

I know we’re going to talk about this song later in the semester, but I’ve seen this video so many times I felt as if I should share. Should definitely give it a watch.

London Fashion Week

So I’m not really sure how this relates to Women’s studies, but I always love looking at pictures of designers fall lines during fashion week. My favorite part about being a women is expressing yourself though fashion. Even though most of us don’t look like models, I still enjoy watching fashion shows. This pictures of the Burberry show from today.

Post for Week 3: Miss America

So I just saw Miss America 2013 crowned; Miss New York! So I’ll admit that I don’t take those girls seriously. At all. I mean granted its gotten better trough the years, and now there is a talent competition and the questions are usually pretty good, but I think its a beauty pageant. I for one can’t stand watching a bunch of seemingly intelligent and talented girls sway with vapid expressions and caked on makeup; don’t even get me started on the swimsuit competition. Don’t get me wrong! If you got if, flaunt it! But it drives me crazy to know that there are bunches of girls out there thinking; “There’s something wrong with me. I don’t look anything like that.” And there are plenty of people out there who just watch it for a bunch of scantily clad beautiful women. I feel like Miss America should have feature the real women of America. The hard workers who truly represent what America is supposed to be about; opprotunity and hard work. Not spray tan, formal gowns and swimsuits. Because what does that say about America? Beauty will get you places in life. But beauty is only skin deep. And there were plenty of talented women, intelligent, hard working girls on there. I guess what I’m trying to articulate is I want more of questions, talents, and finding out about who these women are; not what they would look like in underwear. More substance, because as a woman, I want to be valued more for who I am, not what I look like.