So much has been said about Sarah Palin since the 2008 elections. Few people outside of Alaska knew much about her prior to the VP bid that made her an instant celebrity. Now she’s a media sensation with more than 610,000 Twitter followers.

Palin did one good thing for women (and coincidentally, for herself) by calling attention to sexism during her 2008 campaign. Who could have guessed that Fox news would ever care about double standards, however briefly? But let’s be clear, taking upskirt photos of a female politician is sexist. Questioning her credentials is not.

The problem with Sarah Palin is that though she markets herself as the ideal modern woman, she advocates policies that limit our rights. She is the perfect example of a why a woman candidate is not necessarily a woman’s candidate. Feminism advocates the right for women to be treated as men’s intellectual and professional equals. Based on this criteria, Sarah Palin is a major league anti-feminist. Here are the top 3 reasons why Sarah Palin is bad news for young women. Read More »

Recently, a few of my friends and I got into a bit of a disagreement over who pays on a date. Although a few people agreed with me that if the relationship is long-term, the couple should split the costs for practical reasons (after all, especially if you’re on a college budget, it’s hard to bear the burden of all expenses), the overall consensus was that the guy should always pay at first. Some said the first date, some the first three dates, and others advocated up to the first year. My friends argued that if he’s trying to win the girl over, this is the way to do it. Some even joked that it was payment in exchange for what they hoped would be a different type of payment later on.

Personally, I’m still in disagreement with the others on this one. The idea of letting anyone pay for me is just. . . wrong. It makes me feel uncomfortable and goes against every fiber of my feminist being. I’m a strong, self-sufficient woman; I work and take care of my own personal expenses, so why should I have a guy do it for me? And, even more to the point, why should I allow him to pay for me if I can’t pay for him? If we’re going for equality, then why is he footing the bill every time?

At the same time, I can see my friends’ point: the way our society functions, refusing to let a guy pay is usually a girl’s way of expressing disinterest. Social protocol practically dictates that if you like the guy, you let him pay.

Which, to me anyway, is a little twisted.

It’s not just paying though. There are plenty of cases in which being a feminist – or even just embracing feminist ideologies – makes things all the more difficult to figure out. We all know the whole career versus family scenario; since the woman’s place used to be the home, now that we’re in the workforce we’re always trying to balance both. But what about life goals and focuses, especially in college?

The two things that seem to dominate my life, my thoughts, and my conversations are school and boys. Everything is about one thing or the other. But the former always takes priority – it has to, right? We’re in college for education and a chance at our dream careers first, and romance second. That’s why so many people I know are so upset over a friend of mine choosing to graduate early and just work until her boyfriend’s business has taken off so she can become a wife and woman of leisure. She’s throwing away her entire potential for a guy and an old-fashioned idea that women are defined in society by their husbands’ successes rather than their own.

But, on the other hand, she’s not constantly talking herself out of liking a guy or making a move. Another friend and I have been talking about how she needs to hold off on figuring out her guy issues until after her MCAT. And yeah, that’s a life-directing test, but I’ve put off confronting a guy until after my debate competition, after a paper, after an exam- there’s always something academic to justify why dealing with romantic problems has to wait. And wait. Because school always comes first, should always be the focus, and I should never, ever let a boy sway my focus. On anything. Not even the optional one-paragraph writing assignment for the class in which I’m pulling an A.

Part of it, obviously, is the drive to do well. But part of it is also a reflection of the roots of that family versus career conundrum. You want to have the success and happiness that women fought for- and that you genuinely want and have worked for- but you can’t figure out how to balance that with the hormones and the simple desire to have someone in your life. Anytime you start to focus on guys, it feels like you’re sacrificing part of yourself, of your work. But how much are we sacrificing for this idea that career is everything?

Don’t get me wrong- I work hard, and I have a strong sense of where I want to be in five years. I have a career and a life all planned out. I want to work in international human rights, travel, save the world and the people living in it. But I can’t, for the life of me, figure out where a guy would fit in. And even now in college, I have my classes, my thesis, a job, clubs, projects- things that will help me achieve. But at what cost? I feel like I’ve been so worried about betraying my feminist ideologies that I’ve purposely pushed any chance at romance not just to the backseat, but hanging out of the trunk.

And sure, even if I were to make concessions I’d still have issues letting a guy pay for me. But does it really have to be that strict of a trade-off? Or is there a balance we’re just not seeing?

[This story was originally posted by Rachael - University of Miami.]

"I wish I had breasts. Waaaahhh"

Last week’s Dude’s List was all about why he likes to be a him rather than a her. However, I not so subtly hinted in that article that every advantage reflects a disadvantage, every strength hides a weakness, and so, this Dude’s List I turn the tables on the boys. This time I go over the top dozen reasons you’ve got it over us. That’s right, I actually went 1 further!

Show Emotion
Let’s get the cliché out of the way. Yes, men are encouraged still to be more emotionally repressed. We are incorrigible due to the idea of having to be stronger, not to allow vulnerability, programmed to withhold because to be taken care of is weak and a sign of failure. I tread the line of the double standard but the standard is still the standard. I only wish this imbalance could get leveled out at long f*cking last.

Live Longer
So this is me sorta, kinda, maybe, backtracking on one of the perks I talked about last time. The fact we’ve got shorter life expectancies is really a blessing AND a curse. Who the heck really wants to die? Immortality’s the vainest but most common dream there is. We want to see the iPad 3! We want to see the AIDS vaccine reach the market! We want to watch “Batman 100: The Dark Knight Never Dies!” Enjoy those extra years, ladies. Enjoy knowing what comes next.

Have Better Sex
Multiple. Orgasms. We fire them off one at a time. Then, in general (there is the occasional Kryptonian) we have to wait at LEAST 18 minutes before we’re ready to go again. But you gals can work yourselves up to being the Energizer Bunny and just keep going and going and going and going… All those thousands of extra nerve endings you possess can take you to places we’re not fit to travel to. I made a woman meow once. Know how many times I’ve meowed? A big, fat, doughnut hole, THAT’S HOW MANY!

Masturbate More Discreetly
Please argue this one the comments section below. Diagrams, visual aids, and philosophical citations are encouraged. Read More »

It’s 2011, right? Um, so can anyone tell me why women are STILL getting paid less than men for equal work? Because, as a newly minted college grad looking to jump start my career (and pay off my loans), I’d really like to know.

In a study of nearly 13,000 graduating seniors last fall, researchers discovered that the median starting salary for female college graduates with bachelor’s degrees was $36,451. Not bad, right? Except that the median salary for male college graduates with a bachelor’s degree was $7,708 more. For the same job.

So, apparently having a penis gets you a pay raise? I guess all of those nights I spent praying for boobs in 7th grade would’ve been better spent asking for something else.

The statistics are sad and infuriating. After all, women make up over 50% of university classes! We’re being educated like never before, so it’s not like that’s working against our changes. And the study could not find a correlation between college major and earning, meaning that it’s not like guys are making more money because they tend to pursue a field that pays more. They’re just getting paying more…because they’re men. And keep in mind this is before the company sees any type of job performance.

That sounds fair and equal. Read More »

I wear push-up bras and high heels. I go gaga for lip gloss and lipstick, nail polish, and heavy eye-make up . And I’m not even going to lie, I’m a sucker for pouty boys that call me ma’am. But besides my affinity for sundresses, pearls, and men in ties, I’m a feminist. In fact, I’ve always considered myself to be one. But despite my own declaration in the fight for gender equality, this doesn’t seem possible to people.

“How can you be a feminist?” I’m asked all the time. “Do you even know what that means?”

While feminism can mean different things to different people, I’ve often felt like I didn’t fit the mold — like I wasn’t the ideal. Like I couldn’t claim it. And then it hit me: Feminism can be whatever you need it to be. And sometimes, what you need it to be will change from time to time.

This powerful realization hit me as an 18-year-old young woman sitting in on my first Women’s Studies class at a small, private, all-women university. This moment of feminist clarity has always stuck with me, and now as a 23-year-old post-grad, I am constantly revisiting feminism and its applicability in my ever changing life. Although feminism, even in 2011, often still sounds like a dirty word with a negative connotation, I’m constantly surprised at the way feminism finds itself in my day to day life — it really does come in all shapes, sizes, issues, prospects, and in all kinds of different people. And despite being so diverse and so varying from time to time, I’m still relieved that I can make feminism something all my own.

Read More »

One of the easiest ways to send me into a rage blackout is to start slut shaming anyone.

Our society has incredibly dysfunctional, scary, and repressive ways of approaching sexuality, especially female sexuality. If we dare to step outside those narrowly defined boundaries, society finds it completely acceptable to hurl words like “slut” and “whore” at us. We’re called sluts for endless reasons: our hair is too big, our nails are too red, we wear too much glitter, our skirts are too short, we look like we may enjoy giving blow jobs, we dance too suggestively, our sense is humor is too raunchy, we like casual sex, we talk about sex, we’re not ashamed of our breasts and vaginas…the list could go on for ever. We all know a lot of men who hate women, and will find any excuse to brand women as sluts.

But there are far too many women who openly buy into those standards and hyper-judge other women.

The other day, I read a CC article giving advice on how to be sexy and not whorey. This attitude merely perpetuates the idea that women can’t openly enjoy sex. Indicating you enjoy sex doesn’t mean you want to have sex with everyone, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re reckless and riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. (Sidebar: 80 percent of sexually active adults will contract at least one STD in their lifetime, so maybe we should stop stigmatizing them). And maybe women wear high heels because they make our legs look long and give us an extra boost of fierce confidence, not because we’re walking street corners hoping to lure some sucker into paying $50 for a BJ. And perhaps we wear cropped shirts because our stomachs may never be this flat and toned again, so why not relish it and show it off? Read More »

In honor of Women’s History Month, CollegeCandy has decided to spotlight some of the world’s most influential women. Last week we focused on the women from our generation and this week, we pay attention to some of the most spectacular thirty-somethings. These are the women that show us life really does get interesting in your 30s, whether you’re a famous movie star or activist. Anything can happen, and just like these women have done in their 30s, we can make a difference in the world at any age. Read More »

So I don’t know if you ladies have heard yet but a couple of frat boys didn’t heed CollegeCandy’s expert advice about being careful of what you post on the internet. And now we all get to read just what one member of USC’s Kappa Sigma chapter thinks about women, while being simultaneously insulted and disgusted by the rating system, code names, and vocabulary lesson he gives his brothers on what it takes to be an effective “cocksman” (read: someone who it taught to live by the two most applicable principles I know: The Pie [the vagina] and the Gullet [the mouth]).

Annoyed already? But oh, it get’s so much better…

I will refer to females as “targets”. They aren’t actual people like us men. Consequently, giving them a certain name or distinction is pointless.

I have to give these guys some credit. They make no attempt to hide what misogynistic, sexist, racist, horrible human beings they actually are from the very beginning, when they tilt the world backwards on its axis with this comment. I mean, really? Was there ever even a time when women weren’t at least viewed as human beings? Read More »

Women are responsible for 2/3 of the work done worldwide but earn only 10% of the income and 1% of the property.

Each year 70 million girls are deprived of a basic education and 60 million girls are assaulted on their way to school.

1 in 4 women are victims are domestic violence. And every week 2 women in the UK are killed by a current or former partner.

I know this now. But I didn’t know it before Daniel Craig dressed up as a woman and stood in front of a black backdrop and was told this information.

Are we equal, he was asked.

But I have a different question for CollegeCandy readers. Why did it take Daniel Craig dressing up like a woman to get people to notice this? March 8 is International Women’s Day and I didn’t know that, either. And I know it’s Women’s History month because CollegeCandy told me it is. But what about the rest of the world? What about every other day? Why are we not more aware of the fact that women have yet to be able to hear the question “are we equals?” and answer “yes”?

Read More »

So it’s Monday morning. You’re already late. There are a million things you should be doing right now. But really, you just want to sip your latte until you’re more awake and hold off on starting this week a little bit longer, right? Right.

Well, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. If there’s one thing us college girls are good at it’s procrastination. And if there’s one thing that never fails to provide the perfect means to procrastinate it’s YouTube. Whether you want to watch laughing babies or fuzzy animals, crazy teens, or talented pre-teens, YouTube has it all. The perfect way to kill time, to brighten your mood, and to make your Monday better.

This weekend, I had a lot of reasons to procrastinate. So I put my free time to good use and compliled a list of my top ten favorite YouTube sensations. Enjoy. Read More »