Tagged: women

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

The Unachievable Body Ideal Revisited: Fitspiration and “Everyone is Beautiful” Campaigns and the Regulation of Women’s Bodies

When I really want to procrastinate doing my work, I like to visit some of my favorite websites and catch up on the latest trends and news. Recently, on one my favorite sites, I have noticed an increase in “Fitspiration Porn” right next to messages of pro-fat, pro- everybody type of images saying “Everyone is beautiful in their own way.” These also speak to the increase in celebrities with curvier bodies (e.g. Beyoncé, Iggy Azalea, Jennifer Lawrence, Nikki Minaj, and...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

"Women are bitches", and other obvious tales from the Sociological front line

  Words excite me. I can’t help it, words are all I have really: they are my bread and butter and what keeps the wolves from the door, and what gets me up in the morning. And a lot of the time that means that I have a propensity to use long words when short words would definitely do. (See, I did it there with propensity. ‘Tendency’ would have worked, ‘habit’ would have done, too. It’s a sickness really.) Every...

Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

How About "Just Don't Rape?": On the Invention of Date Rape Nail Polish, Preventive Advice, and Women's Subordination (or Men's Empowerment)

It is the same old tale, just spun with a different color thread: “Women: don’t get raped.” Recently, four students (note that they are all male) invented Undercover Colors, a nail polish for women that changes color (like a mood ring) when it touches rape drugs commonly slipped into drinks. Now,  I do applaud the men for recognizing the all-too-common issue of rape and taking the initiative to do something about it. Only, what they did still places the blame...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

Women’s Intimate Friendships, Forging Feminist Kinship

A recent article in Marie Claire magazine caught my eye. The title asks, “Are girlfriends the new husbands?” As the article explains, young adult women are increasingly turning to best friends for the kind of support that one might expect only from a romantic partner. As they choose to remain single later into life, women’s best friends become intimate partners (though not sexual ones). Cohabitation, “family” vacations, even some type of co-parenting between best friends is becoming more common. I...

Opinion

Event Clusters and Social Change – Women in Positions of Political Power

Hillary Clinton ran to be the democratic nominee for president. Sarah Palin ran to be the vice president. There are more women than ever before running for governor (e.g. Whitman, Haley, Hutchison and Brewer, to name a few), for the senate, and for all levels of political office. Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as a supreme court justice and this week, Elena Kagan may become the fourth woman to sit on the supreme court. Surely, over the last several decades, women...

Opinion

Breaking through Barriers Only to Find More

With the election of an American president committed to the expansion and endowment of the sciences, a recent New York Times article posed the question asked by many scientists: how to attract women into the sciences. However, as the article later touches on, women’s entrance into the fields of science involve much more than making a career in science appear attractive for women. Women working in scientific career’s must be “attracted” to science as young children, made to feel comfortable...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture

Is Palin a Feminist Icon?

by P Threlfall The questions raised from the sudden rise of Sarah Palin to political prominence has forced many, who consider themselves feminist, to re-examine the definition of feminist and construct some baseline idea of what constitutes carrying the moniker.  This isn’t a new struggle, but it’s one that has primarily been confined to the halls of Women’s Studies departments and the pages of social journals for many years.  Enter Palin and all bets are off.  Suddenly feminists are forced...