Mes Pieds Me Portent

Magic Mike, Same Old Tricks

2012-08-07T10:30:00.004-04:00

[Original post was written on August 2nd for Powered By Girl and can be seen on SPARK a Movement's website.] After my eyes adjusted to the deluge of perfect pecs and smooth bodies gyrating in athletic finesse, I saw past the blinding stage lights, past the penis pump, past the sleaze-ball that is Matthew McConaughey — and was left with a sorry representation of the male stripper industry. I

First Month's Reflection

2012-07-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

Today marks the one-month anniversary of kissing Pittsburgh goodbye and making the physical transition down to Hendersonville, NC to begin a year-long stint as an Americorps VISTA service worker. The settling in was seamless, thanks to the many generous donations provided by my organization's staff, board members, and friends. And the stereotyped social graciousness of people in the South cannot

KEEP IT REAL

2012-06-27T16:58:00.000-04:00

No one told me I was smart when I was a child; they only said I was pretty. At 10, I never read books with strong female leads like Junie B. Jones or Stargirl; I was too busy learning the best ab work-outs and how to apply mascara from the articles in Seventeen. I’m turning 23 in one week and to this day, I wake up every morning to see how my belly juts out against my pants. I still feel like

What a Man, What a Man, What a Mighty Confused Man.

2012-06-12T15:42:00.000-04:00

The pattern couldn't have been more obvious if it were featured on Good Morning America as a breaking trend. A few days ago BBC listed two reports back-to-back on their US & Canada headline stream (coincidentally?) that featured a common theme among adult males in combat and on the football field: Suicide. The manliest men on the Masculine Persona spectrum (not a real spectrum, don't look it

Thai Government needs a Makeover

2011-05-02T01:21:00.001-04:00

At this point, less than two months before elections, there is still no guarantee that the outcome will not result in massive-scale of protests, violent or otherwise - this cycle of political instability stirring unrest after close-call elections will repeat itself over and over again, unless Thailand recognizes the missing element needed to form an actual democracy: women. In Thailand's

Counteracting Globalization and Development with Globalization and Development

2011-04-30T13:39:00.000-04:00

The following was my entry to our program's blog, Human Perspective on Development and Environment. Each of us students had to write our reflections about our past unit and what it meant in the greater picture. Bogged down with two essays and two huge final Thai class projects, my mind has been in condition to analyze heavily as to what our actions mean in terms of development and globalization

A Survivor's Path to Leading a Movement

2011-04-23T13:25:00.004-04:00

Mukhtar Mai, a strong women's rights advocate after having been gang-raped back in 2002, fears for her safety after 5 of her 6 attackers were released after the Pakistani Supreme Court upheld their 2005 decision to acquit the suspects. (Photo source: BBC) On Thursday, the Pakistani court upheld their 2005 statement to acquit all but one of Mukhtar Mai's 6 suspected attackers. Mukhtar Mai

Laying the Foundation with Tepid Tools

2011-04-07T16:19:00.001-04:00

I feel a little ill when I think about how long it has been since I wrote last. But to all those who think I cut ties, my mind has been busy trying to cope with, well, itself. And only recently did I finally feel compelled to sit down and share. It came to my attention sometime a couple weeks ago that there was confusion by some folks back home concerning my reasons for being in Thailand. And

Reflections

2011-03-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

A few days ago we returned from a 5-day homestay in the village of Yassothahn, getting a chance to meet organic farmers- some who under contract by a sugarcane factory, and some acknowledging the last generation of farmers on their land -and hearing their stories as they pertain to the issue of sustainable agriculture in a globalized market. We had the chance to meet with the aforementioned

Raising Money, Raising Hands for Justice

2011-02-20T06:50:00.004-05:00

Last night I had the serendipitous opportunity to witness a Red Shirt rally being held to raise money for victims, detainees, and those hospitalized from last year's crackdown in Bangkok. Our Proagram Director, Ajaan Dave, casually walked up to where me and my friend, Patty, were sitting outside our Student Activity Room, and were furiously reading a packet containing 36 articles of background

Thais & Americans: Compatibly Clean and Filthy

2011-02-07T09:29:00.004-05:00

The sun was still up when my two CIEE sisters and I were ushered inside our Meh’s (Thai word for "mother") house after an intensive jaunt around the village. We stood in the threshold of our Meh's high-reaching living room as she disappeared into a side room speaking to us in Thai, despite her being fully aware of our humbling inability to comprehend anything she said. However, the three of us

Hong Kong Airport = CULTURAL FUZION TYME

2011-01-19T07:55:00.000-05:00

*cue bass-thumping House music here* Oh god, too early (late?) for that. I've arrived at Hong Kong airport after what felt like a two-day flight from New York. That was the worst. We were served our first meal two hours after boarding, I cued up The Social Network, and then proceeded to sleep for two hours. I woke up, read a little, and thought, OK, glad I killed most of this trip. I looked

MY MOMENT IS IN - THANK YOU!

2011-01-10T11:45:00.002-05:00

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! !!! ~@"#LIW#$Q#$@)(&&$($!!?>!@!!@!!???>""+_{ ..... Ok. I think I'm composed now. Wait... !*+ Alright. This is insane. Two and a half years of wanting nothing more than to go to Thailand, it's finally on deck. I have 6 MORE DAYS until I'm on a bus to New York and then ONE HALF DAY until I'm on a plane to Bangkok!! I can't believe this is actually happening. Now that the

Hell's Rising

2010-12-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

Many, if not all, my friends and family recently received my pleas for assistance in the form of a facebook message. As if their newsfeed didn't bug them enough with constant updates of their friends' banal thoughts, here's one with the gull to ask for money. It took a lot for me to reach the point of having to ask my friends for help like this, even if it was asking for a couple of bucks. I'm

Find the Cost of Freedom

2010-11-08T03:51:00.004-05:00

"Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity." -Hannah Arendt, political theorist. We've all heard the old-age adage "Freedom comes at a cost," a tired phrase that implies an individual's agency is dependent on her/his collateral paid to the powers that be.

Forget Women's Studies, Major in Rhetoric

2010-10-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

The trouble with having to major in only one or two subjects is that your perceptions of the world, and everything that happens in it, are skewed by the theories of prominent thinkers in your respective field(s), ones with which you are bludgeoned throughout years spent in academia. Not only does having a limited field of knowledge flatten your world views, but it makes impromptu discussions and

The Distribution of Gender over Sexuality? Or Vis-a-versa?

2010-09-20T14:59:00.000-04:00

Reading an article for my Human Sexuality in Cross Cultures class on the transformation of homosexuality, I couldn't help but laugh. Not at homosexuality or those who subscribe to the delineation. It was the faction of "homosexuality" that had me shaking my head. I find it mildly comical that as our Western society developed intellectually, the more distinguishing categories and sub-categories

N00blogger in Tahn!

2010-07-20T05:34:00.001-04:00

My moment is in. I have finally succombed to the technilogical desires and pomposity that has already infected the minds of millions around me: I have started a blog. And by god, it's going to be a great one. Why now, though? Peer pressure? Bordem? Overwhelming need to have opinions recognized and reaffirmed (read: not getting enough attention)? All of the above? Perhaps. No matter what