Em-URGE-ing Voices

Age: 21

School: Scripps College

Major: Political Science and French Studies

Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Favorite writer: Sloane Crosby, Lemony Snicket, Margaret Atwood, John Darnielle

Favorite sex scene from a movie/TV/book: When Daenerys actually bonds with Drogo and proceeds to rock his world in the Game of Thrones show. Sexy and sweet too! :)

Hidden talent: Eating excessive amounts of Pad Thai and then going out for ice cream.

Posts By: Summer

A New Top Priority for College Campuses: Why Your College Needs to Advocate for Survivors

This weekend, my college lost an important part of our community with the passing of our Dean of Students, Bekki Lee.  Bekki was a kind and compassionate listener and activist and the epitome of an advocate for students.  As I sat down to brainstorm for my ChoiceWords post this week I couldn’t bring myself to leave her out.  This week’s post is in honor of Bekki Lee and the vital support she provided which enabled my peers to found the Scripps College Advocates for Survivors of Sexual Assault and her work to help end the proliferation of sexual violence that is too common on residential college campuses. 

Why I Won’t Shut Up About the Shutdown

So let’s get a couple of things straight. The politicians who refuse to pass a federal budget in protest of the Affordable Care Act are withholding government services from millions of Americans who need them.  Some of these services include: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) which provides pregnant women, women who recently gave birth, and their families with federal assistance through food stamps, especially targeting those children who can’t get the early-childhood nutrition they need because they are living in poverty Head Start programs that provide early-childhood education to low-income families. Domestic violence and rape crisis centers funded through the Violence Against Women Act. It is predicted that 70,120 fewer victims will have access to recovery programs and shelters as a direct result of the… Read more »

On Being A Woman and Afraid

“Men are afraid that women will laugh at them.  Women are afraid that men will kill them.” – Margaret Atwood I’m pro-choice. I believe in a woman’s right to choose all kinds of things, things like: what she wants in a partner what she wears what she studies (or if she wants to study at all) what she does for a living whether or not to have children and with whom where to live how to live what to eat who to love how to present herself what strangers she wants to talk to how much alcohol she wants to drink what she values who to sleep with and when and how and why where to be and at what time

Five Ways the California Bill to Provide Condoms in Prison Falls Short

The California State Senate recently approved a bill to provide condoms to currently incarcerated adult prisoners. The controversial piece of legislation would require five adult prisons to have condoms available by 2015 and the other 33 by 2020. If passed, California would become the second state in the union to provide condoms in prison, next to Vermont. The legislation would provide an important resource to incarcerated people and help to protect those in incarceration from the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections Nonetheless, the initiative to provide condoms to prisoners is merely a band-aid solution to a much bigger problem. Here are five additional things California needs to do in order to fully protect vulnerable prison populations.

Assembly Bill 154 and Young Californians: Increasing Access to Safe Abortion Care

California is nationally recognized as one of the most progressive states in the Union and a national trendsetter for progressive issues, including reproductive justice.  In fact, I am proud to report that the Golden State has none of the major types of abortion restrictions, such as waiting periods, mandated parental involvement or limitations on publicly funded abortions, in place. However, our lack of legal roadblocks to safe, affordable, and accessible abortion care do not mean that every Californian has the same kind of access or that access is uninhibited.  In fact, my home state is the perfect example of why the fight for reproductive justice is always important and never finished.  Assembly Bill 154, or the Early Access to Abortion Bill, is the next piece of vital legislation for Californians,… Read more »