Fourth Wave Feminists

Back in September my lacrosse team had to attend a mandated public speaker that was coming. All we were told was that she was going to speak about sexual assault. I figured that it would be the same old thing, someone standing up on a stage shouting out statistics and helpful phone numbers. I did not expect to be able to remember her talk still so vividly months later. Brenda Tracy told a story that I do not think I will ever forget. Brenda spoke to a full auditorium of student-athletes, both men and women; however, I wish that everyone could have heard her story. She told a powerful, heart-breaking, and inspirational story of the time that she was drugged and gang-raped by 3 football players while visiting a friend at her university. After attempting to report her assault to the police, Brenda Tracy was told that she should not press charges and that she would not even have a shot at a fair trial. The rape took over her life and pushed her into a sever depression. She revealed

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/12/world/feminism-merriam-webster-year-trnd/index.html I recently saw this announcement of the word "feminism" being Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2017. I the saw this next article (below) written by a woman who makes an interesting argument from an opposing side. She is calling attention to the exclusion of some women who would like to call themselves feminists, but do not hold all of the same beliefs. She makes some interesting points...Thought I would share! https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2017-12-15/a-compromise-on-abortion-so-more-women-can-be-feminists natalie

When Alice Sebold began her speech, I felt as if I was meeting a celebrity. I have both read her book the Lovely Bones and I have seen the movie adaptation. Alice Sebold's speech was about her personal brutal experience with rape on a college campus during her freshman year.  During this discussion, I was really surprised to hear some of the questions asked by the audience. Quite frankly, a couple of the questions seemed very inconsiderate.  Alice Sebold’s speech was both touching and haunting. Sebold was very particular during her speech when talking about rape language and how she does not like to be called either a survivor or victim or rape. I think this distinction is very important because it is important to be conscientious of our language. Before Sebold's speech I had never thought of rape language before and how different words used to describe a persons experience with rape can be offensive. I am now more conscientious of the language I use and how

For my final blog post I would like to focus solely on the Ted Talk that we watched and the speech given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Personally, I really enjoyed it and thought that everything she had to say really encompassed some of the most important themes that we have discussed throughout the course.  In the very beginning of her speech Adichie said something that really stuck out to me; She acknowledged the negative baggage that is ultimately attached to the word "feminist." I found this part to be undeniably true and related it to my own life. When I talk to my parents or friends about feminist issues I am rarely taken seriously. They assume that I am joking around because there is no way that I could actually be a feminist. We have grown to associate so many stereotypes with the title that its meaning has been distorted entirely. A feminist is not a man-hating, obnoxious, strict and power-greedy woman. A feminist is anyone who recognizes that there is a problem w

I still remember reading parts from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short book “Why We Should All Be Feminists” during my junior of high school because her words deeply resonated with me. I have to say, however, that her words had even more of an impact when heard allowed rather than in writing.  I think it is so important when she points out that even she makes the mistake of thinking that something that is obvious to her is just as obvious to everyone else”. This made me realize that I too make this assumption and need to be more understanding of others' opinions. I think the most important part of her speech is that she demands that women be acknowledged and respected. Adichie keeps a humorous tone when talking about serious topics which helps keep people engaged the whole time.  Despite the numerous people from her home town criticizing her for being feminist because it is “un-African”, Adichie maintained her composure and decided not to care what others thought. This and

There seems to be a general lack of knowledge of what makes someone a feminist. Chimamanda Adichie, in her TedTalk “ We Should All Be Feminist ”, discussed common misconceptions of feminists held by the people she grew up with. Someone once told her that a feminist is a woman who is unhappy because she cannot find a man to marry. Similarly, in earlier readings the term feminist was associated with a woman who is ugly, hairy, unladylike, comparing them to witches in the sense that feminists are evil women who hate all things male. Adichie goes on to discuss how her identity as a feminist had to be redefined because of the negative connotations that came along with the term feminist. A feminist is a person who believes in equality and equal opportunities no matter the race, gender, ethnicity, age etc. of a person. A feminist can be male or female or gender nonconforming, basically any human being can be a feminist. A feminist woman doesn’t have to give up doing things that are con

I attended the LatinX brown bag and was absolutely blown away! This was one of my very first brown bags and I was amazed at how crowded it was. In all honestly, I was expecting there to be only a group of 8-10 people and was blown away when I walked in and could barely find a place to sit. It was truly heartwarming to see parts of the Colgate community come together to listen to this brown bag. The LatinX brown bag began with a panel of Colgate students being asked a serious of questions from the host then followed by questions from the audience. I found in fact that my favorite part was not the questions from the host, but questions from the audience. Before attending this brown bag, I did not really have any background on the Latin community and was educated on the lack of diversity here at Colgate. After this brown bag, I too began seeing the lack of representation of all minority groups here at Colgate. Everywhere I look, I can find people who look like me and come from simila