TLDR

In my first post, I gave a brief overview and a brief history of feminism. Feminism has come a long way and accomplished a lot. There is still a lot of work to be done though. Until women and men are seen and treated as equals in every country the feminist's job isn't over.

In my second post, I talked about the phrase "like a girl." When using that phrase as an insult you are implying that being a girl is inherently bad. This is not true of course. But it makes you think about what society is telling people, particularly children.

The next week, I talked about meninism and how dumb it is. To reiterate: meninism is dumb. One more time: meninism is dumb.

The following week, I discussed beauty standards. The standards for beauty that society and culture is pushing on to people is equally damaging for both men and women. It's time we get rid of these damaging views on beauty and adopt the idea that everyone is beautiful. Or better yet, completely drop the idea that physical appearance is the most important thing.

My next post was related to the beauty standards post, I talked about skinny shaming and "real women have curves." I love the reason this meme was started, but skinny shaming won't end fat shaming. Hate won't end hate. So love your body whether it's curvy or not, but remember you aren't defined by just your appearance.

In my sixth post, I talked about the state of women and women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The condition of women's rights in Saudi Arabia is absolutely despicable. Women only recently got the right to vote. They still can't drive or go anywhere without a male chaperone. And to top things off, they get punished and blamed for their own rape.

The next week, I talked about the phrase "I have a boyfriend." I know a lot of men who don't know why women use this phrase and are often offended by it. Women use this as a gentle way of rejecting a man's romantic/sexual advances. In a lot of cases, men won't take "No thanks, I'm not interested" as the final answer. And in some cases this ends with casualties.

After that, I gave the history of a feminist icon: Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter started off as World War II propaganda to get women into the workforce. It became a feminist icon in the 1980s.

My last content post, I talked about justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She is seriously badass. She's both accomplished and overcome a lot in her life time. You should look her up she's awesome.

Tldr: I summarized my previous posts.

Feminist Hero: Notorious R.B.G

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given the nickname Notorious R.B.G. for being a fierce advocate for feminism and liberal opinions. Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by former president Bill Clinton in 1993. She has recently garnered a lot of media and internet attention for her dissenting opinions on controversial cases like the Hobby Lobby case. She worked incredibly hard to get where she is and is an inspiration to many.

Ginsburg was born Ruth Joan Bader in March 15, 1933 to a working class family. Her mother worked long hours in a clothing factory to finance her and her sibling's education. Ginsburg graduated top of her class from James Madison High School. Sadly, her mother died of cancer the day before her graduation. Ginsburg went on to graduate first in her class from Cornell University in 1954. Also in 1954, Ruth Bader married Martin Ginsburg. Ruth Ginsburg has said "[Martin] was the first boy I knew who cared that I had a brain." One year later they had their first child. 

In 1956, Ginsburg enrolled in Harvard Law School where she was one of nine women in a class of over five hundred. She was once asked by the dean to defend her right to attend Harvard when her spot could have gone to a man. In addition to discrimination, Ginsburg faced a stressful home life as well. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer. So in her free time, Ginsburg cared for their one year old daughter, took notes for her husband (also a law student), and typed his papers. Despite the gender discrimination, Ginsburg rose to the top of her class and held a spot on the prestigious Harvard Law Review. 

She transferred to Columbia Law School when her husband got a job in New York. While here, she also held a spot on the Columbia Law Review. She was the first woman to hold a spot on two major law reviews. She graduated from Columbia in 1959 tied for first in her class.

Ginsburg as a teacher at Columbia University.

After graduation, Ginsburg applied to clerk for Justice Felix Frankfurter. Despite a strong recommendation from the dean of Harvard Law School, she was turned down because she was a woman. But she didn't let that stop her. She clerked for U.S District Judge Edmund Palmieri (1959-1961), taught law at Rutgers University (1963-1972), and became the first women to be tenured at Columbia University (1972-1980).

The 1970s were a very busy time for Ginsburg.  In 1970, she co-founded The Women's Rights Law Reporter, a law journal focused on women's rights. This was the first journal of its kind. Ginsburg wrote a textbook titled Text, Cases, and Materials on Sex-Based Discrimination published in 1974. Throughout the 70s she was the the director of the American Civil Liberties Union. During this time she argued six cases before the Supreme Court, winning five.

Cases argued: 

• Frontiero v. Richardson - 1973
• Kahn v. Shevin - 1974
• Edwards v. Healy - 1975
• Weinburger v. Weisenfeld - 1975
• Califano v. Goldfarb - 1977
• Duren v. Missouri - 1979

Ruth Ginsburg being sworn onto the Supreme Court by her husband.

In 1980, former president Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. After serving thirteen years there, former president Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S Supreme Court. Ginsburg became the second women to ever be a Supreme Court justice and the first Jewish woman. Ginsburg often is called to rule on cases involving gender equality, notably United States v. Virginia, Stenberg v. Carhart, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire, and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Inc.

The only women to serve on the Supreme Court.
Sandra Day O'Conner, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Ginsburg, Elana Kagan

At 82 years old, Ginsburg has gone through a lot. She has faced discrimmination at many points  in her journey to the top, but she never let that stop her. And despite her age, Ginsburg shows no signs of slowing down. When asked about her retirement Ginsburg said "As long as I can do the job full steam, I will stay here."

TLDR: Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an amazing women who has both accomplished and overcome a lot.

Rosie the Riveter

Rosie the Riveter is one of the most famous feminist icon. Nearly everyone has seen the famous poster, but few people know the history behind it. 

Because of the massive draft during World War II, there was a shortage of men in the workforce. Before this time many women didn't work because society claimed the working world was no place for women. The shortage of men in the workforce left employees scrambling to find workers. With no other options, employers were forced to higher female employees. But because of the social stigma around leaving the home to engage in wage work, women were a bit reluctant to seek employment. 

This is where Rosie the Riveter comes in. The Rosie the Riveter campaign started to convince women to leave the home to work for the war effort. J. Howard Miller is the artist who created the most iconic version of Rosie. This poster actually wasn't very popular during the war but resurfaced during the 1980's where it became a feminist icon. 

Geraldine Hoff is the face behind Rosie the Riveter. She inspired two different versions of Rosie. The first, mentioned above, was the "We Can Do It" poster created by J. Howard Miller. Hoff also inspired Norman Rockwell to create another Rosie later.

According to the myth, Hoff was a 19 year old telephone operator when Norman Rockwell asked her to model for him. He stated that she was "The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen." Hoff had no idea her image was going to be famous until she saw her picture on the cover of The Saturday Post.

Although the term "Rosie the Riveter" wasn't associated with Hoff's likeness at first. The name came from the song "Rosie the Riveter" by Redd Evans and John Jacobs Loeb. Rockwell had heard the song and decided to put the name Rosie on the lunch pail in his image. The term "Rosie the Riveter" was then applied to pretty much everything involving women involved in the war effort. She is still used today a symbol of the feminist movement and as a reminder that we can do whatever we set our minds to.

"I have a boyfriend"

I'm sure any ladies reading this are familiar with this phrase. It's when you go out with friends or to class or just go out in public and some guy starts hitting on you and he won't take no for an answer. So you tell him "I have a boyfriend," sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not. This sentence will shut most guys up and get them to leave you alone. 

A lot of people, both men and women, wonder why women keep saying this. It's because usually saying "No thanks, not interested" isn't enough to get a guy to leave you alone. They think that the ONLY reason you would turn them down is because you already have a boyfriend. It's because they think they deserve or have the right to date you and that your opinions and preferences don't matter.

Claiming to have a boyfriend can also be much safer than just saying no and directly refusing a man's advances. There have been a large number of stories about women being attacked or killed for turning men down. There is a Tumblr blog, When Women Refuse, dedicated to news stories and personal stories of people who have been injured or killed for telling someone no or breaking up with their boyfriend. The blog started in May 2014 and already has 525 posts. 

Marren Sanchez in what would have been her prom dress.

Last year, Marren Sanchez in New York turned down a prom invitation. In response the boy stabbed her in the neck because, you know, that's the most logical and sane response. The stabbing occurred in the high school building a few days before prom.

But sometimes saying you have a boyfriend still doesn't work. Last October, Mary "Unique" Spears turned down a stranger who approached her in the streets asking for her name and number. The man hit Spears and her fiance got involved. The man then pulled a gun shot Spears twice in the head and fired shots into the crowd that had gathered to watch the scene. Spears' fiance and four of her family members were hit. 

Gabriel Ervie's dog Oliver

Also last year, after Gabriel Ervie turned down an ex's sexual advances the man, William Rabourn left a threatening message on her phone. He then broke into her apartment and threw Ervie's dog, Oliver, out of a third story window. The dog died when he hit the ground. Ervie said she is glad that her daughter wasn't home when Brabourn broke into her apartment because things could have been much worse. If this isn't terrifying enough, this happened in Springfield, Missouri. The police arrested Brabourn on the Missouri State University campus.

Despite all of this, some people think we should stop saying "I have a boyfriend." They say we need to keep telling persistent men that we aren't interested, no matter how many times we have to say it. There aren't very many people that think this but this article pretty much sums up their views. Be sure to read the comments.

TL;DR: Women say "I have a boyfriend" because it can be dangerous to turn men down. 

Feminism Around the World: Saudi Arabia

I've mostly been talking about feminism in the United States because as Americans we normally only concern ourselves with issues that affect us. But today I want to talk about feminism outside of the United States. Feminism and the issues women face are different in parts of the world. In much of the Middle East women have very limited rights, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

In Saudi Arabia, women have just recently gained the right to vote. 2015 is the first year women are allowed to vote. But that right came with conditions. Women are only allowed to vote in elections at a local level.

Women still don't have the right to drive. They just recently were allowed to ride bicycle. Even now women can't ride for transportation, only for "entertainment." Whatever that means. And if they go out they have to go out with their male chaperone.

There is a new movement called "Women2Drive" that is advocating the right for women to drive. There has been some interesting opposition to this movement. A lot of it has come from women themselves, both old and young. Many women feel that driving isn't a necessity. This article does a really good job at showing the women's opinion on the movement.

The chaperone thing is pretty messed up. Women can only leave the house with their male "protectors" permission. They can't go anywhere alone or without a male relative present. I'm not an expert in the Saudi Arabian culture, but the idea of this disgusts me. I am a very independent person I am used to doing things by myself, and sometimes prefer it that way. If I had to go everywhere with my dad, I mean I love my dad, but that would just be too much.

But what really pisses me off is the messed up laws on rape. If a women is raped she is usually punished more than the rapists. A rape victim can be punished with jail time and lashes for going out without a male chaperone and dishonoring her family. There was a rape case that came to light in 2006. The Girl of Qatif is a case where a girl was gang-raped by seven men. The victim was sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes. Yes you read that right, the victim of rape was sentenced to time in jail and 200 lashes. The reason? Not obeying the segregation of the sexes and bringing shame to her family. This really pisses me off. They physically punished the victim of rape.

This is completely unacceptable, yet not much has changed. Those laws are still in effect. The only good thing is people were outraged by this ruling. Outrage means people see the problem and care enough to begin to change things. This gives hope for the future. Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz wrote a list of things she would like to see changed in her country.

Tldr: Women have few rights in Saudi Arabia and the rape laws are fucked up. But things might be getting better. Tell me what you think in the comments.

Real Women Have Curves

I have love/hate relationship with this meme. I love the reason it started. It started as a way to boost the confidence of girls who carry a few extra pounds and to end fat shaming. It was a way to remind them that they are beautiful too. I think this is important in a society that glorifies skinny over healthy.

What I hate is that it uses the phrase "real women." A woman is any person who identifies as female. So don't tell me girls who aren't curvy aren't "real" and aren't beautiful. Skinny shaming won't end fat shaming. Tumblr user 365reasonstobeafeminist sums up the issue very well,

"[People who say this] fail to see that the biggest problem isn't what our beauty norm is, but the fact that we as a society have a beauty norm and women feel obliged to adapt to it. So, establishing a 'curvy beauty norm' is really just an extension of the problem, not a solution. What is and is not attractive should be up to the individual to decide." 

A similar movement has been to preach that "zero is not a size." This is similar to the "real women have curves" thing because it was started with a good purpose but ultimately it leaves some women feeling like they aren't good enough. This was started with the goal of telling women and girls that eating disorders are not good and their goal isn't realistic. But what these people forgot is that zero actually is a size. People have different body types. Some people are born with a natural slim physique.

 

Women are not defined by their body type, we are more than that. We are our body, our mind, our opinions, our likes and dislikes, our passions, our past, and so much more. It is impossible to define us by just our bodies.

Tldr: Women are beautiful regardless of body type. Just please stay healthy. Let me know wha toyu think in the comments.

Beauty Standards

Beauty standards are the guidelines for men and women in order to be deemed beautiful by society. Beauty standards are rather complex, they're different based on time period, gender, geographic region, race and many other factors. 

Currently, women are expected to look like Barbie. We're supposed to be tall, thin, and white, but not pale. We're supposed to have flawless skin without make up. We're supposed to have gorgeous hair without styling it. And if we are caught using make up or styling our hair, we're told we're vain. Bur if we don't we are told we don't care enough about ourselves.

Men also have it bad. They are expected to be taller than 6 feet, super buff, perfect hair, perfect complexion, and tan. And it's even worse if men are caught using make up or hair styling products, they are made fun of for being 'girly.' (More on why this is stupid later.)

The feminist movement has brought to light the consequences of telling men, women, boys, and girls that they are ugly if they don't fit within a very small constraints of socially accepted beauty.

 Most girls develop negative body image before they graduate high school. 

But boys are affected too. In high school a lot of boys are bullied and teased for being too small or not muscular enough. 

To promote positive body images, they had their employees model their new line of swimsuits.

There have been many different campaigns helping girls prove that their beauty isn't defined by society. It helps girls realize that they are beautiful no matter what society tells them about their body. There has been a more recent movement for girls to love their natural hair. There's also another movement that has been going on concurrently with both of these, a movement that tells women of color that they are beautiful too. It tells them that even with the majority of media being whitewashed, they are beautiful.

Sadly there isn't a huge movement that promotes positive body image for men and boys. There is a movement online for boys and men, but it mostly stays online and hasn't really gained much attention by many large social media outlets. But it is getting out there and becoming more popular. 

All of these movements are important. It is very important to tell people, especially young people, that they're beautiful and can be confident even if they don't fit into the socially accepted ideal of beauty. These movements tell people that they can define what beauty is and they can be happy and confident with the way they look no matter what other people think. Because above all else its about what makes you and what makes you feel beautiful in your skin. 

Tl;dr You are beautiful, no matter what. Let me know what you think in the comments.