Posts Tagged: education
Reading Black Feminism
Historically, the feminist movement has been centralized around white women. From the perspective of a privileged white person, I have been fed a very mainstream version of feminism. I have a lot of anxiety about talking about and publishing words about people of color as a white person, but I feel like it is important for other white feminists to self-educate on this topic because it is so important to try to understand that the intersections of oppression can alter peoples experiences of it. I tried to compile a reading list that includes an overview of black feminist texts from courses I’ve taken at Oberlin, as well as including recommendations from friends who identify as black feminists: Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women & Feminism – bell hooks Arrested Justice: Black… Read more »
“Wait…THAT’s What Assault Looks Like?”
One of those funny things that’s sometimes forgotten about being young is that you’ll pretty much take what you see at face value. Not that we don’t question the world around us, but if something is happening all around young people, every weekend, and people call it hooking up or they call it dancing or they call it flirting, it’s pretty easy to simply believe them. So when I was 18 and dancing with a boy at that party and he moved quickly to put his hands up my skirt without even showing me his face, I thought that’s just what happened when you “accepted” (read: didn’t reject) a dance partner. When at age 19 a guy I worked with got me alone and asked for “just one touch,” then… Read more »
The Real Reason Students Are Fighting for Leggings
Most middle school girls learn the tricks of avoiding being sent home because of their clothing choices. They can scrunch up shoulders to avoid the fingertip rule, hide from the teacher that walks around with a ruler to measure tank top strap width, or sneak a sweater in a backpack for when the principal is around. Schools have had the right to implement dress codes since Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. Dress codes are put in place to decrease class room distractions. They also can help students from a lower-income background receive less shame if they cannot afford the expensive popular clothing brands. However, the intentions have mutated to have sexist connotations and lower a student’s self-esteem. Two years ago a principal in Minnetonka, Minnesota sent an… Read more »
How Sex Education Failed Me
Sex education in schools has been a contentious topic for a long time. A poster in a Kansas middle school brought up it up again after a parent became enrage that his child was being educated about “explicit” topics . Many schools in the country are failing to correctly teach children about contraceptives and safe sex, defaulting to the “Abstinence is King” philosophy. This led me to examine how the education I received about sex affected my relationships. When I was in eighth grade, my parents were given the option of letting me take an Abstinence-Based Health class or Abstinence until Marriage. Both of them focused on abstinence being the best method of preventing unintended pregnancies. The only difference was that when contraceptives were discussed in the Abstinence until Marriage… Read more »
Why Anti-Choice Groups are Afraid of Students…and They Should Be
Yesterday, the University of Central Florida (UCF) was paid a visit by the not so pleasant anti-choice organization Created Equal. They came toting large A-frames of doctored and extremely graphic images that they claimed to be “real abortions”, and literature urging women to bring a stop to this “modern Holocaust”. Now, personally the second I hear some compare anything to the Holocaust that isn’t…you know…THE HOLOCAUST I tune out and write them off. But it pained me to watch my fellow students
An Open Letter to Abigail Fisher
Abigail Fisher was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin and is currently suing the school because she believes she was a victim of racial discrimination. Abigail Fisher is white. In 2012, the Supreme Court took up her challenge to the equal opportunity laws that govern a small percentage of admissions to the UT system (three-quarters of students are admitted automatically for graduating in the top 10 percent of their Senior class). The justices then sent the case to be reheard by the lower courts. However, in October 2015, The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, it’s first major affirmative action case since 2003.* Abigail missed the 10 percent cutoff and was evaluated based on UT’s criteria which includes academic achievements, community service, and life circumstances, including… Read more »
Emergency Contraception in Public Schools and the concept of “Parental Rights”
Well, color me surprised. New York City has started expanding its contraceptive offerings (emergency contraception, birth control, condoms, pregnancy tests) in city schools. I was honestly ignorant to the fact that any high school provided these services to teens. I obviously think it’s a great thing but there are good points from both sides, so let’s talk about it! First we will get some figures out of the way, thanks to NYC Health Department: 7,000 girls under age 17 got pregnant last year in the city (Wow, that’s it?) 90% of those pregnancies were unplanned (I really hope the other 700 were well capable of taking care of another human being.) 64% were aborted (That’s 4480 preventable abortions) 2,200 became moms by age 17. About 70 percent drop out of… Read more »
Being a Young Black Woman in the Reproductive Justice Movement
I must’ve been in 4th grade when I received my first exposure to “sex education.” This came in the form of my class touring the male and female restrooms and receiving a rudimentary lesson on the vagina and the penis, complete with textbook graphics. Ever since then I was hooked. I was the little girl lecturing her friends on the correct way to use feminine hygiene products and explaining exactly what sexually transmitted diseases are. As a teen I was in an organization, Mother Wit, and I spread comprehensive sexual education, health and awareness to other young people of many backgrounds and from walks of life very similar to my own. I’ve grown up having to battle the stereotypes of being a woman of color which everyone made me feel… Read more »
Who I am, and How and Why I Write
I have embarked on a journey unlike any I’ve been faced with before. A journey begins with a single step… right? Well, here I go. Hello and Good Vibes. My name is Lauren M. Hannigan. I was born under the sun sign Aries and my yin sign is Leo (if you’re unfamiliar with astrology, this means my personality is fire-y, very proud, and I love to be the center of attention). I study Literature and Women’s Studies (I like to call it Chick Lit) at California State University, Long Beach. Louisville, home to the Kentucky Derby and Hunter S. Thompson, was where I was born and raised. I attended Assumption High School — a girl’s school like no other. I always dreamed about being able to escape and go to… Read more »
