Author Archives: Aleisha Larsen

Over the weekend I decided to pull out the ol’ road bike and take it for a spin. As my tires began hugging the pavement harder and faster I couldn’t help but notice the sense of freedom the bike provides. Is bicycling inherently feminist? How has the bike influenced women?

No worries, friends! I will answer these questions for you!

The bicycle as we know it often lends itself to associations with recreation. Though thoughts on ecofeminism hold place to the idea of recreation as essential, the bike has ultimately acted as a tool of emancipation and activism for women time and time again. Just as Feminist Fatale has done, I feel it essential to make mention to Susan B. Anthony. She stated “I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows that she can’t give into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” As I read her paramount words, bleeding the times of then and now, I can’t help but feel need to embrace that rapid spin on my two wheeled monster immediately.  Read more... (267 words, 1 image, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

This week I’m switching things up a bit. Instead of an empowered female/feminist artist, you’ll be hearing a lil’ roots.

Playing for Change started out as a small group of documentary film makers that sprouted into an international foundation. The mission of PFC is to give anyone around the globe the opportunity to experience and play music. The foundation also believes that music is a universal language that may be the only way to influence change where it’s needed.

With ideas of peace and global change akin, Playing for Change offers a buffet for the ears presented by all and everyone. Enjoy this interpretation of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’!

Welcome to Spring!

This quarter brings many changes for the WGS Blog! I am pleased to tell you that not only will I have a co-editor this quarter, but two writers on staff as well! Stay tuned for more updates and introductions.

-Aleisha Larsen

When people think of a feminist they always think of a wild lesbian
woman who hates men, and doesn’t shave. This sign really made me
analyze, evaluate myself, and realize that feminist are more than crazy
screaming women who don’t shave. They are women who are passionate
about defending equal political, economic and social rights for women
and devote so much time to try and fulfill their goal. Their needs to be more education about what a feminist really is because we all have a stereotype of what a feminist is and its completely wrong. Feminism is mainly focused on women’s issues they have managed to change society by working to protect women and advocating for women’s rights.

Like most artists, inspired by passion, Alicia Jo Robins plays her fiddle to lyrics of lives experienced by women of the bible. Her new solo project , Girls In Trouble, highlights the exploration of her jewish heritage and interest in implications of being a woman.

In the clip below she confesses to sneaking out as a teen to experience women’s rock culture and follows by playing a lovely tune. Her old-timey sound, accompanied by raw lyrics, makes for a treat.

Check it out!

There are certainly some within the feminist movement who argue that men cannot be feminists. There is a persuasive argument to be made that since men are often the ones
most responsible for oppressing womyn that they have no business calling themselves feminists. In this article, I will argue in favor of allowing men to call themselves feminists and proffer reasons why this might actually make the feminist movement stronger.

 
If we define feminism as a belief in equality between genders and a desire to fight against the logic of domination inherent in patriarchy, then it is not necessarily inconsistent for men to consider themselves feminists. Following this logic through, it could be argued that it is somewhat antithetical to notions of equality which many feminists strive for to exclude a group from being allowed to self-identify as feminists. I am not attempting to discount feminist arguments against men considering themselves feminists, because I deeply believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions and it isn’t up to me to persuade everyone. Rather, I am merely attempting to show that if feminists actively seek to exclude a group of people based on something which they cannot control, they run the risk of generating a system of exclusion similar to the way patriarchy seeks to exclude and marginalize the contributions to society made by womyn.  Read more... (778 words, 1 image, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)

I was on facebook the other day and I saw this photo. This is photo that a friend posted having to do with hiv/aids. I was shocked at the idea of facebook icons being used as a way to state who had been with this girl and the fact that she may or may not have hiv/aids or the people that she was with had it.

Then the idea of how it posted to the right of the picture of the young woman who had “checked in” at her vagina. I found this a very disgusting way to “advertise” for this disease and for female sexuality.

In last weeks article, I wrote about the implications of gendered language. It seems that the next logical step in this examination of feminist issues is the spelling of the word womyn. Zora Neal Hurston writes,

“Anyone who is literate, can see from the spelling that the word ‘man’ is present in ‘woman.’ Once again ‘man’ has found a way to make its presence known. In order to completely emancipate themselves from the other sex, womyn should try to make the alternative spelling change permanent.”[1]

Just as gendered language is an attempt to blur womyn into the background, some feminists argue that the traditional spelling of the word women is yet another insidious extension of patriarchy.  Sue Moore writes, “The ‘wo’ in women comes from the Greek or Latin meaning ‘lesser’. ‘Women – woman’ is by traditional definition the ‘wife of man’, ‘woe of man’, ‘female-man’ or ‘womb-man.’”[2] Hurston goes on to write, “To some it may seem quite trivial and pointless, but that is due to their lack of understanding about the great struggles that womyn have overcome throughout history. It is a way of combating patriarchy. Believe it or not, it is a way for womyn to assert their independence and strengthen their unity!”[3]   Read more... (428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)