tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-81247710532704011 2013-05-14T10:34:50-05:00 Feminists Connecting Across Minnesota Campuses TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e201910220ca80970c 2013-05-14T10:34:50-05:00 2013-05-14T10:34:50-05:00

Female masturbation is perhaps the “last sexual taboo,” according to Globe writer Zosia Bielski. Whereas male masturbation is often the butt of jokes, is part of a coming-of-age process in movies and literature, and even has its own physical hand signal, many consider self-stimulation of the female genitals to be shocking and sickening. Society has created excuses for the male's need to ejaculate, as demonstrated in Bielski's research, whether for biological reasons or due to the claimed "superior male sex drive." Oppositely, many works of literature and film such as Goobie's Hello Groin and Apatow's The 40 Year Old Virgin...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/05/embracing-female-masturbation-by-chloe-vraney-also-last-week-was-clitoris-awareness-week.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2019101e1cc80970c 2013-05-07T23:00:00-05:00 2013-05-07T23:00:00-05:00

My internship with CFC is ending, and I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on this semester. I like to think of my feminist beliefs and general perspective as always being in flux. They are ephemeral parts of my identity, anchored in my self-understanding and acceptance that I will never stop having questions, that there is no end goal, and that I will always remain self-critical. So, what have I learned this semester? I have learned that being a feminist is hard. Maintaining your passion and gumption about deeply intimate themes (gender, sexuality, race) in a culture that...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/05/goodbye-cfc-love-kelsey-the-intern.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017eea5e04d1970d 2013-04-18T12:03:19-05:00 2013-04-18T12:03:19-05:00

Here is a really interesting article to read concerning the new ad campaign put out by Dove. Before you read it I just want to make one thing clear: I really despise the language "REAL beauty" or "REAL women". To me this comes across as an unintentional form of misogyny. Every woman is a real woman. No women are lesser women than others. To make the assumption that models, women who wear makeup, women who get plastic surgery, etc, are not "real women" isn't combatting the right issues at hand, it's perpetuating what patriarchy wants us to believe, what it...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/04/regarding-doves-real-beauty-video.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017c388ac5ae970b 2013-04-11T19:35:38-05:00 2013-04-11T19:35:55-05:00

I just finished Whores' Glory (2011), wow. The documentary is filmically beautiful, and I appreciated its fly-on-the-wall approach to such personal, emotional, and controversial topics of gender, sexuality, economy, and globalization. The expose lets the material and women speak for themselves, with absolutely no commentary or voice from the filmmakers. It follows the story of prostitues in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico - highlighting the tricky business of professionalism involved in sex work as well as the spirituality, religion, and personal preferences of the women. There are women who express enjoying what they do, women who are angry but feel as...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/04/whores-glory-2011-documentary.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017c387a07e2970b 2013-04-09T14:06:49-05:00 2013-04-09T14:06:49-05:00

Women's Scholarships due April 25, 2013 Below you will find information about specific scholarships and how to apply for them. If you have questions please call 507-389-6146, or email sandra.bunde@mnsu.edu Mary Jane Young Scholarship for Re-Entry Women Learn about Mary Jane Young These scholarships are for $1,000 each. The number of awards varies from year to year. The deadline for this scholarship is April 25, 2013. Eligibility requirements: Re-entry, single student with custody of children; or re-entry, married who have delayed their own education to raise a family with an inadequate income of their own, from their partner's income, or...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/04/awesome-scholarships-for-mankato-state-university-students.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017c382c16f2970b 2013-03-28T13:32:34-05:00 2013-03-28T13:43:48-05:00

This might not be the best week to argue with the terminology "equal rights", considering what is going on within the government. However, it might also be the best week to do so. So I'm going to go ahead and do it. When making an argument against "Equal Rights", I want to stress the fact that I am not complaining about the matters and issues that "Equal Rights" is fighting for but, rather, I am critiquing the term "Equal" itself. To me, equal rights is a very westernized idea. It is a concept that does not encompass a universal, global...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/03/my-argument-regarding-equality-and-marriage.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017ee9c3bbe1970d 2013-03-26T16:50:35-05:00 2013-03-26T16:50:35-05:00

As I shared in a previous post, I have been reading Colonize This! with fervor and enthusiasm for a couple of weeks now. In my WGSS Senior Seminar, we have discussed extensively the complications of reading this text as a white-identified person; I am not the intended audience as outlined in the essays, nor as defined in most women of color feminisms. However, I struggle with my alienation from these texts, because on emotionally real and visceral levels, they resonate with day-to-day experiences I have had as a feminist, as a student, and as a woman. It is too simple...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/03/toward-feminist-accountability.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017ee98e2945970d 2013-03-19T12:09:37-05:00 2013-03-19T12:09:37-05:00

*****An Article on Hyper-Toxic-Masculinity and how it is played out in our rape culture****** Like with this cover image for Vogue magazine, where we have societal constructs of what Masculinity (angry, muscular, athletic, strong, lacking sensitivity) and Femininity (frail, wispy, porcelain, leaning on Lebron's shoulder, him supporting her) entail. Negative stereotypes, negative because they are the onl things we are allowed to be depending on our sex/gender. Teaching boys and girls that they are only given these characteristics and any other trait outside of these confines is wrong. -Anna

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/03/regarding-the-steubenville-rape-case-an-article-on-hyper-masculinity.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017ee98e1505970d 2013-03-19T12:00:49-05:00 2013-03-25T10:31:40-05:00

"The Trans* Awareness Project is a poster and digital media campaign that attempts to challenge stereotypes and cultivate an environment which celebrates and respects people of all genders. This campaign aims to break down barriers between communities and establish positive social change by showcasing empowering snapshots of local trans* communities and bringing attention to the challenges that many trans* people face in daily life. The Trans* Awareness Project website has electronic versions of all the campaign's posters as well as biographies for each participant. The website also has a ton of resources including worksheets, book recommendations, and a streamlined FAQ...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/03/wrac-l-fyi-trans-awareness-project.html tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83452918269e2017c37b07944970b 2013-03-14T20:54:26-05:00 2013-03-14T20:55:19-05:00

Today I had the interesting and rare opportunity to take an hour social dance lesson at a neighborhood studio,Cinema Ballroom in Saint Paul. A couple of weeks ago, my professor for my WGSS Senior Seminar revealed that she has been taking dance classes, and that a Macalester professor invited her and our class to join his Behavioral Neuroscience class in a dance lesson; his students were discussing the neuroscience of dance. We enthusiastically RSVPed YES, thinking it would be a nice break from heavy theory and talking about gender - wow, were we wrong. First, when my professor responded that...

Minnesota Women's Consortium http://www.collegefeministsconnect.org/2013/03/the-gender-politics-of-ballroom-dance-.html