The women’s rights movement has been great, right?

In many ways, yes. In many ways women are much closer to equal income and in some college programs there are more women that men. All in all, women have been making strides over the years. But this isn’t the case for all women. While rich and middle-class women have been climbing all sorts of ladders, less fortunate women have the same amount of equality as back in the 1970s.

Economic Professor Nancy Folbre wrote for the New York Times’ blog, Economix, that 18 percent of women with only a high school diploma are granted paid maternity leave. This is in contrast to the 66 percent of women with a college degree, and just up from the 1970s when 16 per cent of high school grads received paid mat leave. Read More »

So the economy sucks. Graduating with a university degree no longer means you’re a catch when it comes to job hunting, meaning more grads are moving in with their parents. Moving in with your parents and not having money means you’re taking longer to settle into relationships and therefore get married. For a lot of people this will also mean you’re taking longer to have kids, if at all. And everyone seems to be holding this against women.

A study done by Australian researchers shows women who do not have children are at a greater risk for poor health than mothers. Some women with pre-existing health conditions that would discourage them from having children were included in this survey, therefore increasing the number of childless women with poor health. However, overall, women who have not popped out children may have trouble with social functioning and mental health as a result of societal pressures to have children. I’m sure you could relate if you sat next to your old aunt at Thanksgiving that measures accomplishments by the presence of a ring on your finger and a stroller in front of you. Read More »

Obama has endured a ton of criticism in his presidency. His push for health care reform was socialist. His health care reform wasn’t socialist enough. He doesn’t know how to stand up to Republicans. He’s too passive. He’s trying to run our country into the ground by spending too much money. He’s not spending enough to assist the poor. He’s too soft on terrorism. Osama Bin Laden shouldn’t have been killed before having a trial. The list could go on, and on, and on. While I proudly voted for him in 2008, I will freely admit that I feel he’s dropped the ball on important issues. That said, today is his birthday, and I’d like to take a moment to point out some of the great things he has done in the last 2.5 years.

1. Fought for children to have access to their parents’ insurance plan until they’re 26.
This is near and very dear to my heart. I hadn’t been to a doctor in years. I made it through college with nothing more severe than a cold and a bruised ego from too many bad decisions. Naturally, 2.5 seconds after graduating, I got hit with a gnarly kidney infection. Pre-Obama, this would have meant that I was SOL because I was no longer a student. Luckily, that is no longer the case. Especially in this rough economic climate where millions and millions of people are unemployed or in jobs that offer no benefits, this is a great law that protects so many of us.

2. Cracked down on aggressive marketing of credit cards to college students.
We all know the danger of credit cards, but the lure of having hundreds (or thousands) of dollars at your immediate disposal can be great…but not if you lack the means to pay the bill every month. Credit card companies used to actively push credit cards onto students, who usually don’t have enough funds to be responsible credit card owners. So it was not uncommon to graduate college with thousands of dollars in credit debt in addition to student loan debt — making it easier for companies to justify raising interest rates (more debt = higher risk). Now anyone under 21 must have a co-signer and/or verification of independent income. Credit card debt can have a harrowing effect on one’s financial status for many, many years  and Obama’s emphasis on protecting college consumers is definitely admirable.
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 »

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 »

Happy (almost) Independence Day, people! It’s time to bust out the sparklers and consume massive amounts of grilled meat, all in the name of this here country.

While there are many things about America that are less than lovable – Nascar, the current economy, the fact that Heidi Montag makes millions of dollars – we live in a pretty awesome country. And most of us don’t really appreciate all that we’ve got, like free education, freedom of speech… and Miley Cyrus.

So I thought it was about time for all of us to take a moment to reflect on what we love most about being Americans. Get your American Pride on in the comments below.

Katherine – University of Delaware: I love being an American because you can experience completely different lifesyles without ever leaving the country’s borders. Yet whether you’re from the south, the midwest, or the coasts, you still share a common bond.

Sara C – Fordham: What do I love about being American? Being able to be a woman who can speak her mind if she so desires. Being able to go for a run in a sports bra and compression shorts on a hot summer day. And Ben & Jerry’s. God bless Chunky Monkey.

Kari – Florida State: I love being an American most when I’m milling around a bar at Happy Hour and I can yell “F**K YEA, AMERICA!” Which will spark warm sentiments of agreement from other bar patrons. Not much more American than profanity and self-promotion!

Ricki – University of Michigan: The fact that I can wear whatever I want in the summer.  Can you imagine a country where women can’t wear shorts?  Read More »

It happened suddenly. I was doing some work in my living room while one of my roommates watched The Bachelor in the background. I needed a break from all the writing so I joined her on the couch. Ten minutes later, I was hooked.

Now my Monday nights have been taken over by this cheesy sh*tshow that I wish I wasn’t so damn addicted to, and my Tuesdays are spent hashing out all the crazy-girl drama with my friends.

Today’s topic: Ali, obvi. Read More »

While us girls may not have the upper hand in dating right now, once college ends and the real world begins, guys are the real victims of the hookup culture.

And according to Charlotte Allen, it’s because all women are sluts.

In her recent essay The New Dating Game, Allen tries to communicate the message that because women now have the power to choose who they date (and sleep with), males, particularly beta-males, are being pushed to the back burner.  In the “New Paleolithic Age,” alpha males are “dragging women by the hair into their caves– and the women love every minute of it.” According to Allen, all women spend the better part of their 20′s dressing like hookers and going out to clubs to try and take home the most desirable dudes. That is until they get dried-up (at the ripe old age of 28) and are forced to settle for a less-than-stellar guy so they can get married and pop out a few babies.

Yeah, a woman actually wrote all that.
And now let me react. Read More »

There is no doubt that Tim Tebow is an outstanding athlete, a two time Heisman winner who will automatically enter the 2010 NFL Draft. But did you know that the world might never have known that?  In 1987, Pam Tebow was urged by doctors in the Phillipines to abort her pregnancy, because they feared that not only would the baby be stillborn but that her life might be in danger as well.  Pam decided to go against the suggestions of her doctors and carried the baby to term, producing one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time.

And now, Tim Tebow is sharing that story and speaking out against abortion in a 30 second spot for a Christian group called “Focus on Family” during the Super Bowl.

The media is buzzing, the NFL is talking and women’s rights groups nationwide are in a tizzy.

But why?
Why does anyone care?
Why does it matter that Tim Tebow is speaking out on a political cause?

The answer to that is: it doesn’t.  Everyone needs to stop making such a huge fuss about Tim Tebow participating in a pro-life ad. I mean, really, did this take anyone by surprise?  Tebow is the son of two Christian missionaries and has always been known for being a conservative who has religious standings.  He has been criticized for being preachy before, and is often outspoken on issues like this. Read More »

In the midst of all the hilarious, cute, and often bizarre videos the Internet has to offer, there are many disgusting ones that make you nearly question your faith in humanity. When the news about the Erin Andrews video first broke, my stomach turned: how could people do such a thing to a person, a woman, after we’ve come so far over the past few decades?

A video recently surfaced on the Internet featuring ESPN reporter Erin Andrews nude, filmed from a peephole into her hotel room. ESPN is, understandingly, furious, and any person with a shred of decency should find such a thing revolting. And yet, many people in cyberspace find it a) funny, b) hot, c) an acceptable way to treat a woman, or d) all of the above. As much as I love the Internet and am amazed by what it is capable of, I also can’t believe how cruel and sick people can be.

But the reaction to the Erin Andrews video is the least of our concerns. The fact that someone actually created the video in the first place is thoroughly upsetting. Are women never safe from voyeurs and perverts, not even in the privacy of a hotel room?

This extends beyond just women, as well. As a journalist, a professional, Andrews was humiliated in front of viewers and colleagues. Her career is in jeopardy, and although we cannot know what the future holds, ESPN viewers will never be able to look at her the same way. Her name will be forever tied to this incident, no matter how professional she is. No one recovers from something so humiliating and sickening. Read More »