So, you spent last week cramming for midterms and consuming more coffee than you knew you’d be physically capable of. Then the weekend came, bringing with it your parents, your siblings, and a taste of what you’ve been missing at home this fall. Between meeting your parents for breakfast (and pretending you get up that early every weekend), shopping for new purple gear at the Bookstore, introducing them to your professors, hoping they never learn how behind you are on your reading, and eating something–anything–that came from somewhere other than Peirce, you couldn’t possibly have had the time to stay up to date on current events. Have no fear, this week’s Women in the News is here!
Here’s what you might’ve missed:
1. 100 Men On The Importance of Vaginas
Connecticut College’s has a new organization called V Men, a group of college men banding together to support women and to “stand against gender-based violence.” Here’s what happened when they were asked “why are vaginas important to you?”
2. Female Director Diablo Cody Discusses The Double Standard
Diablo Cody, a prominent young screenwriter and film director (Juno, Jennifer’s Body) spoke at an event to promote her new film, Paradise. Cody explained that a gender-based double standard is prominent and problematic for women in the entertainment industry.
3. The UN Harnesses Google To Highlight Prejudices
What happens when you type “women can’t…” into a Google search? The results are terrifying. Some marketing genius at the United Nations made use of Google’s automatic fill-in feature to illustrate sexism.
4. Slate’s Emily Yoffe Wrote “College Women: Stop Getting Drunk” As A Means of Ending Rape….And EVERYONE Responded
Emily Yoffe, a writer at Slate, recently published an article she admitted she knew would be scandalous. In it, she basically posits that college women need to stop drinking so much to help prevent rape. Within minutes, there were responses by bloggers everywhere who called her article “victim-shaming.”
5. Lily Myers’ Upworthy Video On “Shrinking Women” Went Viral
Every single woman should watch this. Enough said.
6. Sarah McMane Wrote A Beautiful Poem Titled “For My Daughter”
Sarah McMane’s poem, based on the epithet “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be,” is beautiful. McMane tells daughters everywhere to “chase dragons” and “tramp muddly through the house.” Need inspiration? Read on.
7. ABC’s Once Upon A Time Says Mulan Is Bisexual
ABC is at it again! Ever since they had to deal with homophobic drama on the set of Grey’s Anatomy (back when Burke was still a character,) they’ve been breaking down stereotypes show after show. Most recently, Mulan almost revealed her romantic interest in Aurora in last week’s episode of Once Upon A Time.
8. HuffPo’s Laura Bassett Says “Men Got Us Into The Shutdown, Women Got Us Out”
Bassett claims that, though male members of Senate and Congress were behind the recent Government Shutdown, it was “leadership” from female Senators that ultimately brought them back to business. She even cites inter-governmental female friendships as being largely responsible for their ability to get things done (now a Washington rarity.)