Your Favorite Feminist

  Summer’s come to a close and I’m starting to miss checking out surfers at the beach and looking for my next fling at an ice cream stand. But thankfully, fall is in full swing and it’s time to be on the lookout for the stars of the season: goths. It's October, so here’s a list of the most underrated gothic hotties in movies and tv shows. Kicking us off at number 5 is Morpheus from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman on Netflix. I’ll be candid, I haven’t watched the show yet. But my own mother called me and told me that this adaptation of Sandman featured a hot goth, so he obviously had to make the list. I’ve seen enough screenshots to know that he’s a looker. Mr. Sandman, you are a dream. Number 4 is Dr. Frankenstein. No, not the white-haired mad scientist with his ugly little assistant. I’m talking about Victor Frankenstein, the mysterious and brooding college student who spends his time holed up in his room reading. He is the ultimate dark academia boyfriend. He’s depressed and going insane; ...

When I was in high school, I went to see a local theatre’s production of The Pirates of Penzance. I have never wanted to walk out of a theatre more in my life. Everything was sexist to its core. The pirates were comedically assaulting women, a woman was belittled and humiliated for being old, and all of the young women were flirty and ditzy. It was foul. Two semesters ago, I took a History of Musical Theatre class. One of our assignments was to watch the Pirates of Penzance movie from the early 80s. I rolled my eyes the moment I read that on the syllabus. I couldn’t believe I was going to be forced to watch this outdated misogyny fest for a second time in my life. Begrudgingly, I watched that movie. I fell in love. So what changed between then and now? One major difference between that production and the movie was the acting. Kevin Kline as the Pirate King delivers one of the greatest comedic performances that I have ever seen. Rex Smith is a fantastic Frederic and Linda Ronstadt is ...

     I had about 6 Barbie dolls when I was growing up. Birthday Barbie, fairy Barbie, ballet Barbie, fashion design Barbie, and a few cute little Barbie kids. They were never really at the top of my toybox. I paid so much more attention to my Polly Pockets and Calico Critters. Little feminist me would be kicking herself right now if she knew that I was ignoring one of the greatest fictional feminist icons of my generation.      Older feminists have a lot to say about the beauty standards that Barbie has imposed on little girls. To be fair to them, Barbie was definitely less diverse when I was growing up. She was pretty much always white and skinny and blonde. Feminists like my mom (shoutout to the woman I love most in the world) were worried that constantly bombarding impressionable children with dolls that only showcased one standard of beauty would make children who didn't look like her feel insecure. Honestly, I agree. Barbie's body type was definitely ...

   "Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" This is a very popular phrase amongst the youth today. I'm guilty of using it myself from time to time. Much like millenials decide whether they are a Ron, Harry or Hermione, I truly enjoy deciding if I am a gaslight, gatekeep, or a girlboss (I'm more of a gaslight, in case you were wondering). But does the term "girlboss" ultimately do more harm than good for the working women of today?         Let's start with a quick dive into the origin of the term. "Girlboss" was coined in 2014 by Sophia Amoruso, a businesswoman with a thriving online clothing business. Her autobiography, titled #Girlboss, focuses on the story of the founding of her company NastyGal. My congrats to Sophia, truly. I am so proud of all self-made career women. I'm jealous that they are competent enough to run a business (which is more competent than I'll ever be) but ultimately I am so happy for them.           But wha...

 Hello everyone! It is quite an honor that you have taken the time to read the words on this page that I wrote with my cute little brain and my average appropriately-sized hands. As the title of this blog so eloquently explains, I am a feminist. I believe in gender equality, the fall of the patriarchy, blah blah blah. And of course, my feminism is intersectional .  Let's backtrack a little bit. I've been a raging feminist since the wee age of 7 or 8. My mom was giving me picture books of the suffragettes and I was fighting with my friends for entertaining sexist tropes in movies. Not my finest moment. But I was able to take that rage against society and channel it into something productive and effective: learning. I spend a lot of free time researching social oppression, listening to diverse experiences from my peers, and advocating for marginalized groups. As a feminist, it is so incredibly important to understand the changing vocabulary and needs of other people and to never...