Pop Culture Tuesday - I Am More Than A Distraction

It's no secret that dress codes are pretty much a necessity for every school even they don't have a uniform. It's also not a secret that these dess codes and 'uniform policies' police women's bodies. It seems to be every other day that I read some article about a teenage girl sent home in disgrace becausue her shoulders were showing and that would 'distract the male students'.

Here's why that's problematic:

1) It enforces the idea that 'boys will be boys' and can't be held responsible for their actions if a girl is wearing revealing clothing and she is sexually assaulted. This promotes victim blaming.
2) It promotes the concept that what a girl wears is more important than how she uses her brain. This objectifies women.
3) It's humiliating - especially if you're a teenage girl. You're going though puberty - breasts are developing for one thing and a top you wore 2 months ago when you were still an A-cup now just accentuates your chest and some 'teachers' see that as inappropriate and vilify you for having a body that is going through female puberty and is a fact of life.
4) IT PROMOTES THE IDEA THAT A BOY'S EDUCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A GIRL'S.

It is blatant sexism and everyone knows it. It's gender discrimantion in most cases, a typical male versus female debate in which the man almost always comes out on top because society is so deeply rooted within the patriarchy that we value a boy's education over a girl's.

My favourite reason though has to be when a teenage girl at a public high school in America got sent home after her t-shirt was 'distracting' to male teachers because it was deemed 'too revealing' and by that they mean 'it didn't cover every part of her bare skin'. Surely a teacher is professional enough not to be distracted by a teenage girl's body?

In retaliation to these incidents, a twitter hashtag #IAmMoreThanADistraction was trending and set tongues wagging - because girls are more than a distraction. We are human beings with developing bodies, a brain like any other person on the planet and a voice to speak out on any discrimination - gender or otherwise.

Pop Culture Tuesday - Stop Victim Blaming

In light of Chrissy Hynde's comments about rape victims and that f they "dress provocatively" or they're "drunk" then it's their fault if they are raped or sexually assaulted. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Blaming victims of sexual assault for their actions before the assault took place i.e. drinking alcohol is common practice. The victim is rarely believed in a court of law if they had been drinking because many defence lawyers will use that as an excuse - that the victim is most likely ashamed of having had sex while drunk and their testimonies are sometimes shaky as opposed to the perpetrator's.

Another incident where people love to blame the victim of sexual assault is when it comes down to what the victim was wearing -  especially if the victim was, as Chrissy Hynde put it, "dressed provocatively" and an ide is passed and believed that the victim was 'asking for it' - that they were asking to be raped!

NO ONE IS ASKING TO BE RAPED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.

No one ever puts on a low cut top or short/short skirt thinking "I'm definitely asking to be raped today!" Do you know why? Because no one should ever have to think like that! Why do we insist on judging the victim's actions previously, instead of judging - and condemning - the rapist?! They are the one(s) who committed the crime and surely we should be asking ourselves "why did they rape?" instead of "well they were asking for it in those clothes". It's absurd! We would never say to a victim of a mugging "you shouldn't have had your wallet on you" - because we view mugging as a CRIME and blaming the victim is WRONG. So why do we do that with victims of sexual assault and rape? It causes severe emotional and psychological trauma as well as physical trauma to the victims so why don't we treat it seriously?

Chrissy Hynde's comments were just the latest in a society full of rape culture and victim blaming. It's time to stop.

Pop Culture Tuesday - Highlighting the Hollywood Gender Pay Gap

Last Thursday, Forbes Magazine released their lost of the top-earning actresses of 2015, a few days after they released the actor list. Only the top 3 actresses earned over $20 million while the top 21 men earned over that amount.

Do you want to know why? Because as long as Hollywood and the entertainment industry, women have seriously been underappreciated and underrepresented. Leading roles for women that don't require women to be overtly sexualised or play the uptight 'mum' like figure to the fun-loving 'dad' are incredibly few and far between.

It also highlights that if an actor and actress have the roughly the exact amount of screen time - the man is given a bigger cut, showcased in David O. Russell's film American Hustle in which the female lead, Amy Adams, earned less than Jeremy Renner, who was a supporting member of the cast. WHY!? But in a normal Hollywood film, the male lead earns more than the female supporter, so why on earth wasn't that the case in this instance!? All that was different was the that the gender roles were reversed!

However, in all the  actresses in Hollywood, women of colour are the most affected. They are the most likely to not have speaking parts, be sexualised & fetishized (particularly Latinx women) and earn the least amount. How is that fair!? Hollywood preaches diversity in the films they deem to be 'good' but they never seem to put it into practice.


The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap has long been showcased, from the 'silent movie' era to the rise of the 'talkies' and it's only been over these past few years, that women are fighting back. Charlize Theron recently revealed that she demanded she was given the same cut as he male co-star Chris Hemsworth, in their upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman 2 so should she! I am sick of seeing women constantly undermined in the entertainment industry because of gender. The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap isn't directly linked to the Gender Pay Gap in other industries, but more so in the lack of strong, complex roles for women and as a result, many actresses find themselves drawn to the 'typical' roles out of fear of becoming irrelevant and many just want to have a good income.

Why Intersectionality Matters #2 - Barriers Facing Women of Colour that Are Invisible to White Women

This is 2nd Intersectionality Matters post and today I'm going to be discussing how White Feminism comes from a place of white privilege and supremacy and as a result is internalised racism. I'm going to be talking about the barriers that women of colour face that white women will never have to face and the fact that a lot of those barriers aren't highlighted in mainstream media.

1) The Pay Gap - It's no secret that there is still a wage gap in most industries and companies between men and women. White women earn 78 cents to the dollar that white men earn and that has been long argued about for decades. However, very few people discuss the fact that Hispanic women earn on average 54 cents, black women earn 64 cents and Native American earn 65 cents. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that more WOC could only find part-time jobs than white women.

2) Beauty Standards - I know that every woman (and man) faces standards of beauty that are impossible to attain, but WOC face the fact that models of their skin colour are rarely seen in mainstream fashion media and messages are sent out (whether unintentionally or not) that if you're white then you can easily be beautiful. In fact, some magazines have even gone so far as to promote 'new trends' for white women to follow that have been used in various cultures for years.

3) Lack of Media Representation - Following on from my last point, there is a distinct lack of cultural diversity in pretty much all aspects of the media, whether it be film or TV etc., and I know that there is a lack of female representation overall, it's more so for WOC. While there has been a surge of more culturally diverse programmes being produced, Hispanic  actors make up 12.5% of characters, black actors make up 4.9% and Asian actors make up 5.3% yet they all account for around 50% of the movie tickets.

4) Racial Discrimination -   As you'll have seen in the news recently, more and more ethnic minorities are being killed in acts of police brutality, are being discriminated against in the workforce, and are being verbally and physically abused in the street. White people rarely face that on a daily basis, if at all.

And White Feminism chooses to erase all these things from their agenda and act like everyone started from the same point. But we didn't - some people are still a bit behind. So let's make a change. Feminism is for everyone - not just the elite.

Pop Culture Tuesday - Stop the Period Shaming

This week's Pop Culture Tuesday was inspired by 2 articles I saw over last week. The first one was Donald Trump making offensive comments about Megyn Kelly during the GOP debate, implying she was menstruating at the time because she dared to challenge him. The second one was that a woman ran the London Marathon without a tampon in to take a stand against period shaming and to highlight what many young girls in underdeveloped countries have to do.

Firstly though, I'm going to talk about the misogynist that is Donald Trump. Because he had to answer such 'tough questions' during the GOP Debate he blamed the anchor for being on her period!? So just because he couldn't answer some political questions, he decided to lash out at a cisgender woman for that and blames a process she can't help but do? That is never appropriate! In fact, periods aren't even an insult anyway, they happen, so everyone that thinks it's an insult needs to get over themselves, and fast.

Secondly, I respect Kiran Gandhi (the woman who ran the London Marathon without a tampon) so much. You might not think it takes guts to run 26 miles without a tampon in to make a political statement, but I do. Not only was she fighting back against periods shamers, who say that it's disgusting and unnatural, but she was pointing out that many young girls and trans boys, don't have any access to sanitary products while they're menstruating, or if they do they only have a few and have to reuse them, making them at risk for bacterial infection. The time has passed since cis women and trans men were told to keep their mouth shut about the menstrual cycle and now it's time to speak out about the tax they carry, the lack of availability of sanitary products in underdeveloped countries and that having a periods is no big deal - it's a natural part of life.

Why Intersectionality Matters #1 - Gender isn't defined by Biology

Over the next few weeks, for my Feminist Fridays, I'm going to be discussing why we need to be incorporating intersectionality into feminism - I know a lot of people are doing this (me included)because we need to acknowledge that gender isn't the only factor in deciding what inequality is. And many people, prominent figures or not, are simply believing that every woman starts at the same point in life and marginalise many minorities i.e. Women Of Colour, Transgender Women, Queer Women, Disabled Women etc. and as a result Feminism is increasingly seen as this 'elite' movement (more on that another time) which we need to change now because it's socially harmful.

This week, I am going to write about the marginalisation of transgender people.

From an early age, and as we get older, we are taught what makes a boy and what makes a boy - a girl has a vagina and a boy has a penis. However, if you have a penis but identify as a female, like transgender women, than as far as I'm concerned, they're a female - just like if you have a vagina but identify as a male, then you're a male.

Biology should not be the defining factor in someone's gender, it's about what gender you identify with, and want to be and eventually become. And if you're cisgender i.e. you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, you have privileges that transgender people can only hope for.

If you are cisgender, then you are statistically less likely to be verbally abused on the street, physically attacked, raped, killed and face discrimination. But you already knew that (it's common knowledge) and particularly if you are also a trans woman of colour, or disabled, or queer then you are at even more at risk.

Feminists haven't been the best advocate for transgender equality under the Feminist Umbrella of 'Issues We Need to Tackle' but it is changing, slowly. So let's speed it up.

Pop Culture Tuesday - The Growing Up A Boy Hashtag

Last week for PCT, I wrote a post about the Twitter hashtag 'Growing Up A Girl' so today I'm writing one up about its male counterpart - #GrowingUpABoy - because the patriarchy and sexism still affects boys/men too.

From an early age boys, like girls, are instilled with their stereotypical gender roles whether from family or the media. Boys clothes are typically blue, emblazoned with little trucks, sports equipment etc. in hope that they will grow up to be a stereotypical boy who loves cars and sports and everything else in our society typical men like to showcase their masculinity. It's been that way for thousands of years, and while the activities may have changed, the concept remains the same.

Then, if boys do not like to take part in these activities or wearing blue etc. they are bombarded with insults that hurt their masculinity e.g. 'pussy', 'don't be such a girl', 'man up' etc. all of which portray any sign of sensitivity in a man/boy as shameful and feminine - which men can never be. (Myself and other feminists think they can, but society seems to have a louder voice than we do). As a result of this, the highest percentage of people that commit suicide are young men. This is because they feel that they can't ask for help for fear of being ridiculed and/or just being told to 'man up'. Because boys are supposed to be the strong ones, the ones who hold everything together and that is deeply rooted in our psyche and so embedded in our culture that digging it up takes a hell of a lot of work -but we're digging, and changing.

I am also aware that boys, if sexually assaulted or abused by either another man or a woman, they are less likely to have their claim taken seriously or might not even admit at all (for reasons see above) because for years we are taught that the male is stereotypically the abuser - but that's not true - anyone can be the abuser, just like anyone can be the victim.

But feminism is working to change these things - just like it's working to change the problems girls face.

What are your thoughts on the Growing Up A Boy Hashtag?

The Double Standard of How We Treat Male and Female Feminists

We live in a society where double standards are a common frequency. Example: If a woman has a lot of sex, she is a 'slut' and condemned, if a man does it, he is a 'lad' and congratulated. But what has come to my attention in the past few months is quite a significant double standard in feminism. What I've noticed is that we tend to treat male and female feminists very differently. If a woman declares herself a feminist and makes a stand about it, there are people watching her every move, ready to criticise. If a man declares himself a feminist, he is more often than not lauded with praise and declared a 'hero'.

Exhibit A: Emma Watson made a valid speech about gender equality for the United Nations and yes, there was a distinct lack of intersectionality mentioned but nonetheless it was still a damn good speech. However, in the days that followed it seemed that for every article praising her, there were 3 more criticising her. They claimed it 'wasn't a game changer' and then went on to tear her speech apart, overanalysing it and looking at it under a microscope. Okay, it wasn't a game changer, but what speech ever has been? Then, when Mark Ruffalo declared himself a feminist and published an essay he was a 'hero'. His essay was quite good I'll give him that but like Watson's speech, lacked mention of intersectionality and just went on to say why you should be a feminist. There have been plenty of articles and essays about why we should call ourselves feminists, so why was Mark Ruffalo's deemed to be the best?

I'll tell you why. For years feminism has been seen as exclusive to women, that it only benefits women. But it doesn't. Feminism is working to de-stigmatise male sexual assault, to ensure that custody battles aren't gender biased and is redefining masculinity among other things. But people don't see that. They only see how feminism benefits women, and more often than not, showcase misandry. So when a big shot Hollywood actor declares himself a feminist, everyone goes wild and when an equally successful actress declares herself a feminist, people criticise and think 'what's new?'. But we should be celebrating anyone who has that big of a reach to various people who then not only declares themselves a fighter for equal rights but actually puts that into practice and as a result is able to influence others.

Pop Culture Tuesday - The Growing Up A Girl Hashtag

A few days ago I came across the brilliant, and incredibly truthful Twitter hashtag #GrowingUpAGirl. It addresses issues such as being told to cover up if your bra strap is showing but yet boys can walk around with their underpants showing. It highlights how we tell women to be comfortable in their own skin, yet magazines continue to publish articles about female celebrities gaining weight, wearing what they deem to be 'inappropriate' clothing because they are plus size etc. And it's true.

When we grow up, we are indoctrinated by the media, even as young girls, to want our prince charming, to love pink and dresses. We watch programmes where the mother stays home and 'looks after baby' while the father goes off to work, which is highlighted when you see young children playing 'Mummies and Daddies' in school playgrounds, endorsing these gender roles. I know not every child takes part in this activity, but a scarily large amount do.

Growing up a girl, we are taught that our periods are shameful and disgusting and should never be talked about. Just look at the packaging for sanitary products! They are wrapped like sweets, in different colours, packaged in 'feminine' boxes to show how discreet they are, because god forbid a tampon falls out of your bag when you're at school. And actually, periods aren't shameful (they can be pretty disgusting sometimes though) they are what allows us to reproduce (you don't have to obviously - that is a person's choice) so no periods - no babies, and no babies = no future. And then if we're the slightest bit moody, boys the think it's acceptable to ask us if we're on our period. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that all my mood changes are due to my menstrual cycle.

Growing up a girl, we are either portrayed in the media as crazy hormonal bitches who have gone off the rails or sugary sweet Disney princesses. There is no in-between. Look at the TV programmes, there is a stereotypical pretty one who is also incredibly dumb, and the smart nerd who looks like she'll never get a boyfriend. Can we just stop with this please! We are more than this - so stop treating us like we are.

Growing up a girl, we are taught to be afraid of strange men, for fear of getting raped/sexually assaulted. We are taught that we have to wear clothing that society deems acceptable so as to even avoid these situations because we live in a society where the victim continues to be blamed.

Growing up a girl, we are taught to accept inferiority because if we stand up to this inequality we are labelled a crazy social justice warrior and we're taught that if we stand up, and are anything other than meek and docile then we are being too 'masculine' or 'bossy' or a 'bitch'.

Growing up a girl, we are lectured on what's ladylike and what's not. Example: "Don't sit with your legs apart, that's not ladylike". Actually, since I am a lady, everything I do is technically ladylike.

Growing up a girl, we are taught that if we engage in sexual activity we are a slut/whore/slag/tart etc. but if we don't we are a prude. Can you think of the male equivalent to those words? The closest I've ever seen is probably "man-whore" but again "man" has been put in front of it because the word "whore" is usually only applicable to women.

Growing up a girl, we told to take catcalling as a compliment. Whenever we would meet people as young girls, more often than not we would be told "don't you look pretty?" which just reinforces the idea that for girls, beauty is better than brains. And then. if we answered a maths/science/any stereotypical 'male' subject correctly, *some* boys will mutter under their breath "what a show off".

Isn't it time we changed this? Isn't this problematic?

*I know this post only really refers to 'First World Feminism' but I'm going to be writing up posts about 3rd World Feminism soon*

*Note: This post is applicable to cisgender girls - some parts may apply to transgender girls and the period section does apply to transgender boys*

I'm a Feminist Babysitter

I'm sure many of you have seen the recent essay Mark Ruffalo published, in which he said 'To quote an old friend "I'm not the feminist babysitter". While I respect a feminist's right to say that - I want you to know that I am a feminist babysitter. I want to educate people about feminism because that's where the hatred for feminism comes from - misunderstanding and ignorance. I would love for people to ask me questions about feminism and to engage in healthy debate to encourage support, or at the very least tolerance, for feminism. Because that is how we change the conversation and people's perspectives - through education.

I think it's important that more of us (if you want to) try to be feminist babysitters teachers to those who don't understand it, rather than ignoring them. I never had anyone explain feminism to me, I had to figure it out for myself through social media threads, articles from Everyday Feminist etc. and various YouTube videos. I'm still figuring it out now.

I don't anyone to feel like they are isolated - to ignore feminism because they can't understand it - and as a result turn their back on feminism. We need to change that and even though 'independent research' to form your own opinions is necessary, we need to teach, not tut, at people who mix up the definitions of feminism and misandry (even though it kills me every time I hear the at feminism is "man hating".)

Obviously though, if you don't want to and think people should educate themselves then I respect your right to do so, Equally, if like me, you want to help people understand the true meaning of feminism, then that's okay too.

Pop Culture Tuesday - Stop Defending Carter Reynolds

A few days ago, a video emerged online of 19 year old Vine star Carter Reynolds trying to force his 16 year old (UNDERAGE) ex-girlfriend into oral sex. If that wasn't bad enough, Reynolds then had the audacity to not even apologise himself, but had to be forced to!

Undoubtedly, as anyone would in that situation, his ex-girlfriend suffered a nervous breakdown and is currently receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital. Reynolds then mocked her breakdown calling her 'psychotic' over Twitter not only showing no remorse for his actions but mocking the trauma she suffered.

If that wasn't disgusting enough, Reynolds played the victim card.. despite the fact he wasn't the victim. claiming the video was an invasion of his privacy! Too right it was because can you imagine if that video hadn't been posted? People would still be in love with Reynolds, slaves to the lies he tells, that he is an ordinary guy. Call me old fashioned but I didn't think ordinary people tried to pressure their exes into sexual acts. Now he has been exposed as a horrific person who shouldn't be given the time of day.

However, even with the video evidence and his tasteless tweets, his legion of fans have started using the hashtag #weloveyoucarter claiming that 'he made a mistake'. PRESSURING SOMEONE INTO PERFORMING A SEXUAL ACT (especially when they're underage!) IS NOT A MISTAKE. It is despicable, and our support should lie with his ex, Maggie, rather than this monster she previously dated.

Pop Culture Tuesday - Go home meninism, you're drunk.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you've probably heard about the latest Internet movement against feminism: meninism.

Meninism is a men's rights movement that claims to campaign for men to have the same equality as women. Okay then. If you want to be equal to women then be prepared to be paid 23% less, be prepared to be blamed for your sexual assault because your clothes were too revealing, be prepared to have society define you by your ability to reproduce and be prepared to have your hygiene products taxed as luxuries. Because that is what being a woman means more or less. (I know there are a lot more issues affecting women but I didn't have time to list them all.) While I am aware that there are women meninists, the majority are men hence, my points are aimed at men.


One point I don't think you're aware of though is that while you're tweeting that you're a meninist because "Women need to start appreciating us for MORE than just our hot bodies... " think about this: feminism does that. Feminism is trying to prevent body objectification of both men and women full stop. Feminism is promoting the idea that men shouldn't have to pay on the first date, be the breadwinner etc. Feminism is redefining masculinity to mean that if you cry that doesn't mean that you lose your masculinity. So before you moan on twitter, maybe you should research what feminism is doing for everyone (including you) before you start mocking awful issues such as abortion and domestic violence.

And female meninists, see above. Have you seen what feminism has done for you over the past century? It has gotten us the right to vote, the right to work and the right to be more than society's stereotypes. So before you mock it and claim that it's "man hating" please consult a dictionary and history textbook. Thanks.

Pop Culture Tuesday: Body Objectification

This is my first PCT post and today I'm going to be looking at Chris Pratt's comment that “I think it’s appalling that for a long time only women were objectified, but I think if we really want to really advocate for equality, it’s important to not objectify women less, but objectify men as often as we objectify women.”
Slight problem there Chris. Equality doesn't mean objectifying people more, but less. Equality means to stop treating everyone like they're a piece of meat to be savoured. Equality is fighting to stop valuing others based on just looks but personality, intelligence etc. We need to stop placing so much on face body value and concentrate on what's really important: the people we are and the people we hope to become.
I mean, let's face it, while men haven't been objectified as much as women (not by a long shot). they're still objectified. We need to stop admiring people based on looks and physique and concentrate on spreading the word of feminism and fighting towards the common goal of gender equality. Objectification is inequality because the person being objectified doesn't really have a choice on whether they're objectified or not (no matter what they're wearing) and the power is in the hands of the objectifier.
What do you guys think? Do you think Chris was right or wrong? Comment below.

My Feminist Awakening

Seeing as this is my first post, I thought I'd start at the beginning: the moment I realised I was a feminist.

It began in a seemingly unordinary Games lesson when a thought occurred to me, why did all us girls seem to only ever do dance and gymnastics, when the boys always did football and rugby? Why couldn't we ever do football or rugby? So, in awkward 13 year old fashion, I asked my teacher. Her reply is something I will never forget. It changed my perspective on the society I lived in and how I viewed myself. She replied "Well, you girls have got a special job later on in life haven't you? You're going to have babies, we do this to protect you." My little world, the world I had so carefully cultivated around me, came crashing down and I entered a deep existential crisis. This would be my first, and certainly not my last, encounter with sexism. Growing up, I had never felt like I wasn't equal to the boys so this came as a shock to me. Was that all I was to the people who were supposed to encourage me, guide me and help me become ready for the adult world? Just a host for a future I wasn't even sure I wanted? Was this how the people close to me viewed me as? So I did what any teenager with unanswered questions would do. I turned to Google. While lots of articles popped up telling me I should want to be a mother because that's what girls are supposed to be, I found my safe haven in a no-nonsense post talking about stopping gender roles which led me into the wonderful world of feminism, a world which would let me know that my uterus does not define who I am and who I want to be.

Since then, I have redefined my definition of what it means to be a woman and taken an interest in lots of other issues that I didn't even know were issues to begin with because they had been ingrained in me since the day I was born.

So that's my 'awakening'. What was yours?