Here's the Amplify Profile for
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Today when I heard that Angelina Jolie had recently undergone a double masectomy, I just KNEW that somewhere on teh interwebs, there were some really dumb men completely missing the point and making ignorant comments about her.
Angelina made her decision after doctors told her she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer, and a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer. Her mother died of cancer at 56 and she decided she would rather begin to minimize the risk than have her children have to deal with her …
Hi!
My name is Karachi and I am here to share with you the wondrously-baffling gospel of Tyler Perry. Ladies, Mr. Perry would like you to know that if you cheat on your God-fearing, hardworking, high school sweetheart husband, you WILL feel the wrath of the almighty. This wrath will come in the form of HIV, which will be transmitted by the most evil man ever – the HIV-positive, craptastic, psycho of a man whom no woman would fall for…unless of course she was a character in a Tyler …
So far, I have refrained from blogging about the Boston Marathon bombings lest I explode into a ball of fire from the rage I feel. It’s always interesting to see the way that mainstream media latches onto stories about tragedy. Before it’s all over, the story has been told one million different ways, with everybody and their mother having been invited to weigh in. I kid you not, last Friday, every time I tuned the radio to NPR, someone was spouting some kind of analysis or the other. It’s …
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Netherlands on Monday to promote the growing economic ties between the two countries. Apparently, the Netherlands has replaced Germany as Russia’s #1 trading partner in Europe, and the second largest globally after China.
In response to Russia’s pending anti-gay legislation which would make public events and dissemination of information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000, the city of Amsterdam put rainbow flags up all over the city. The city also put up …
I found a photo of a woman holding up a placard asking for greater coverage of a suspected murder. In Valdosta, GA, 17 year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a pile of mats at his high school. The photo I found on Facebook however, tells a different story.
Accompanying text reads, “His name is Kendrick Kj Johnson he was beaten to death at his High School here in Valdosta Ga the police is covering up his story by saying there was no foul play but clearly you
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Tomorrow is the first ever National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. Why is it important you ask? Here’s why…
April is Autism Awareness Month, and although most of us would like to think that organizations like Autism Speaks are doing autistic people a world of good, it turns out that may not be true. I came across a post on Tumblr, written by an autistic individual, who finds fault with the way that Autism Speaks portrays the people it is supposedly advocating for.
April, as you might know, is Autism Awareness month. If you want to help, I’d urge you to follow Autism Acceptance Day, check
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“Put molly all in her champagne, she aint even know it. I took her home and I enjoyed that, she aint even know it,”
These are some of the lyrics to a new Rick Ross song titled, “You Don’t Even Know It”. What’s “molly” you ask? Well that isn’t the focus here. The focus is the fact that Ross is endorsing date rape. Between the Steubenville trials, current trends in abortion rights and this, it’s like women woke up one morning to an alternate, utterly sh*tty universe, and things …
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Just when you start to forget what about what a messed up world we live in, someone out there decides to do s0mething that makes you wonder just what kind of people exist on this planet. Remember two years ago when Dutch Magazine Jackie wrote an article about copying Rihanna’s style, in which they called her the ultimate “ni**a b*tch” with a “ghetto *ss”? Well the Dutch are at it again.
This time, the racism is courtesy of PowNed, a Dutch broadcaster on the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. I …
The ‘Harlem Shake’ phenomenon seems to be the new ‘Gangnam Style’. Everyone and their Gran is making one. We’ve seen the college versions, office versions, and others. Everyone tries to make theirs a little more creative. So far my favorites are the ‘Slender Shake’ and the DramaFever version. But I digress.
You know when everyone’s carrying on and having fun then someone comes and ruins it all? Y’know, the party pooper. We have a ‘Harlem Shake’ party pooper. The shake, albeit completely different from the original hip-hop version, …
The comic below has been circulating on Tumblr for a few days. It appeared on my dashboard so many times and I reblogged it because I felt that Malala’s story should be shared. But then, there came posts indicating that the comic was perhaps a danger to Malala’s life, and that she herself had requested not to be the face of empowerment for Muslim women.
You can read the rest of the comic here
Even though Malala survived the shooting and is in recovery, there is still much fear; …
“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights” Gloria Steinem
Today, International Women’s Day, let us remember women and girls around the world who are not as free as some of us are. Being a foreign national, I can speak on this lack of freedom. Although I was born in to modern times, decades after it was thought a waste to educate the girl child, in my culture, …
Refusing to learn how to pronounce Quvenzhané’s name says, pointedly, you are not worth the effort. The problem is not that she has an unpronounceable name, because she doesn’t. The problem is that white Hollywood, from Ryan Seacrest and his homies to the AP reporter who decided to call her “Annie” rather than her real name, doesn’t deem her as important as, say, Renee Zellweger, or Zach Galifianakis, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, all of whom have names that are difficult to pronounce–
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In January, Maryland lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban anti-transgender discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations. When I received a call from Equality Maryland urging me to take action, I was shocked because I had no idea that this was going on. In my opinion, such rights are a given. But I guess that’s not the case at all if a person can be turned away from housing or a job for being transgender.
Maryland is apparently one of the 21 states and D.C. that have …
Yesterday I came upon a story that warmed the cockles of my heart. Phi Beta Tau, an Emerson College fraternity, banded together to raise money for a transitioning brother. The money will go towards top surgery for Donnie Collins’ FTM transition. Collins, a sophomore, came out as transgender at the age of 17, after a harrowing experience in an all-girls dorm at boarding school.
Having been barred from using his mother’s insurance, with only trans-exclusionary insurance from his college, Donnie’s options were running out. So what did his wonderful …
In other words, what have you been doing with YOUR life? Kidding! I feel like this happened just in time for International Women’s Day (March 8th people!).
Park Geun-Hye is now the first female president of Asia’s fourth-largest economy. And let me tell you, she hit the ground running. She has already called on North Korea to “abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay”.
“North Korea’s recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest …
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I have ABSOLUTELY NO WORDS – well some words – for the enormous loogie hocked in the faces of ethnic minorities in the form of the SI Swimsuit Edition.
“We need a fresh idea for the shoot”, said the head honcho. “I know! We’ll use people of color as PROPS! I am so going to win an award for this.”
How about we clap you in irons and pelt tomatoes at you?
JUST…
WHAT
IS
THIS?
As usual, there are people who think that labeling these photos as …
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Flex your femininity with a colour collection that’s fearless, elegant and strong. Strike a powerful pose, stand out, redefine the notion of beauty – and do it with strength too irresistible to ignore.
Kudos to M.A.C for its Strength campaign, a statement against the conventional, stereotypical definitions of beauty and feminity. The model is Jelena Abbou, a Serbian bodybuilder. Compared to all the images we see of “beautiful” women in the media, this is refreshing. Usually, women as fit as she is are considered mannish and not at all …
In the days leading up to the Superbowl, automobile manufacturer Volkswagen released its gameday spot. The commercial depicted a white man going about his business at work. But wait! It’s not THAT simple, he was speaking patois. Or at least what can be deemed as patois while blurring the lines between linguistics and accentual comprehension. New York Times columnist Charles Blow has compared it to blackface in audio form and I wholeheartedly agree.
So far, most of the people I’ve talked to and almost all the comments I’ve …
Due to a number of factors including my laziness, lack of interest and a lack of mastery of the art of tv show recaps, this is my first post about American Horror Story: Asylum. If you haven’t seen any of the seasons, put that at the top of your to-do list. It will BLOW. YOUR. MIND. Most things that fall into the horror category don’t scare me unless they are about twisted humans of the “Human Centipede”/”A Serbian Film” variety. That stuff makes me want to build a colony …
Let’s take a look at a bunch of racist people, doing their best to cancel out the kind of progress that Volvo tried to make when they put Jeremy Lin in a commercial for one of their cars shall we?
*sigh*…
I was riding in a car headed towards Philly a couple weeks ago, when I saw a pro-life billboard. On it, there was a baby with a speech bubble above its head which read, “What about my choice?”
The situation struck me as a little funny, given that babies in utero can’t talk, let alone fetuses. The pro-life movement constantly uses visual imagery to try to win people over and I wonder if they would be as successful without said imagery. They use words like “murder” and “extermination”,painting women …
Once in a while I listen to music by an artist who is so well-rounded that I can’t help but write a post about him/her. This time, that artist is Macklemore. I came across his video for “Thrift Shop” on one of the rare occasions when I just so happened to tune in to MTV. “Thrift Shop” is basically a song about shopping at thrift shops. It’s catchy, has a nice beat to it, and is kinda funny in some places (“…Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin’ …
I just wanted to share something I found this morning. Tumblr user Soycrates, created this awesome dialogue between an LGBT person and a bigot claiming that gay marriage was bad because it exposed little kids to sex way too early.
Them: I don’t think kids should be exposed to gay relationships.You: Why not?Them: It’s introducing children to sexuality! They’re too young for that!You: So when a prince and princess kiss in a Disney movie, are they introduced to sexuality? When the prince and the princess
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Axe body spray is like that one person we all know who just goes around saying really dumb stuff. It’s either stories about angels falling from heaven or even ghosts haunting a man because he has that glorified toilet water on. Yes, why don’t we all portray women like dim-witted sheep who blindly follow scent-covered shepherds. Because that’s the only way to sell body spray.
This time, DDB Latina Puerto Rico, an advertising agency, decided to be a little more sexist. The commercial, which you can watch here, …
Good Afternoon and welcome to Irony News International!
Today, we shall be discussing the decision made by the government to ban the Church of England and the Church of Wales from performing same-sex marriages.
But wait! Hold your horses. Other religious institutions will be allowed to opt-in, but due to strong opposition from the Church of England and of course, ye olde Roman Catholics, same-sex marriages will be illegal in those churches.
How interesting to see that a church whose shining moment in history is being King Henry VIII’s …
Looking for a comic to read but tired of all the heterosexual characters and overall lack of le sexy times, emotional angst and slice-of-life realness? Look no further! Khaoscomix has your answer.
I’m an avid comic reader, and as much as I love me some Ultimate Avengers, New X-Men, and Cyanide & Happiness, sometimes I just want to read something I can sink my teeth into. I did a quick search online for queer comics and most online users vouched for Khaoscomix. I began to read, and I. Was. …
In today’s news about innovation, here’s an awesome post I found on Tumblr today. The poster Jane, came up with the most interesting way to come out to one’s parents that I’ve ever heard of.
So I’ve been planning since summer to come out to my parents over thanksgiving break (it gives them a month-long grace period, and then home for the holidays). I figure that I won’t be able to explain it all too well, so I made em a booklet.
I shared this with a few friends
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Oh you hate the word “Queer” because you think it’s meaningless and an identity for posers? Let me tell you exactly what I think about that.
Mind Your Ps & Qs- Mac and PC.mp4 from Karachi [MyNameisHachi] on Vimeo.…
In the awesome section today of nerd news today, here is a post I found on Tumblr, critiquing the less than realistic posing on the cover issue of Amazing Spider-Man #601 by J Scott Campbell. I’ve seen a lot of threads discussing the rampant sexualization of female comic characters and superheroes through posing and costuming, but I really like this one because there are men joining in on the conversation. My Spider senses are tingling and I can sense some people telling me to go natter about something else.
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Blow up all the balloons! Pour the bubbly! Women FINALLY have the beginnings of protection against female genital mutilation.
The United Nations General Assembly’s human rights committee has voted unanimously to enact a global ban against female circumcision. The committee has instructed all 193 UN member states to take direct action by enacting legislation and leading education campaigns for both young women and men in order to penalize violators and protect women and girls from mutilation as a recognized form of violence.
“FGM is an indictment of us all …
Remember back in 2011 when a fetus “testified” in court in order to pass the “Heartbeat Bill” ? The bill, if passed would have required the abortion provider (whom the pro-life tools call “abortionists” smh) to check for a heart beat, inform the mother of said heartbeat if one is found, therefore preventing the abortion from taking place – the tightest and most absurd abortion restriction ever. Ohio’s Republican House passed the bill, while the house tabled it.
Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus seemingly came to his …
In today’s disturbing news, a man in Oregon had his daughter pose with a car he was trying to sell on ebay, in hopes of boosting the sales. It sounds pretty harmless when it’s phrased that way. “Awwww she’s helping her Daddy sell stuff!” NOPE. Wait until you see the snaps.
Yup. That’s his daughter. The dad in question, one mister Ridley, told Adfreak that he often uses “sexy photos” of his daughter and her friends in advertising for his products, in order to move business along …
The first time I ever read about Metrosexuality I was in high school. A popular modern women’s magazine in Nigeria discussed the topic on the very last page of one month’s issue, pointing out that metrosexuality was simply a case where men developed better grooming habits and dressed more sharply. From my perspective, the western concept of metrosexuality has slowly shifted to become the norm. Well, not completely. There are still those people who insist on classifying others by the way that they dress. Fashion still plays a big …
Up until last week Tuesday, this is where I resided. I don’t think I have ever had so many feelings during an election. Mostly, I was cross as a bag of weasels. Boy! Was I mad! I couldn’t believe that there were ACTUALLY people out there who supported Romney. And not just that, but also the fact that the race was such a close one. There was so much at stake and as much as I joked about packing my bags and heading home to Nigeria if Romney won, …
First off, I love “The New Normal”; partially because it’s gay TV (duh!) and also because it does what “Husbands” the web-series attempted/is attempting to do – to put gay people on TV and make that a normative experience. For those of you who don’t know about this show, it’s about the intersected lives of a gay, un-married couple and young, single mother who fled her old life, taking with her, an eight-year old daughter called Shania. The couple Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha) audition for …
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone comes along and totally blows your mind. By this I mean the now non-functioning "Save the Boobies!" October campaign run by porn-streaming site, "Pornhub". The site promised to donate one cent for every 30 clicks on videos featuring adjectivally specific descriptions of breasts e.g. "big jugs", "small jugs" (Oy vey!). One cent though?
The Komen foundation has ordered the site to stop using its name in the campaign because it doesn’t intend to take any of the money generated. One …
For you, Halloween might mean trick or treating, candy binges, fun parties in costumes, pumpkin-flavored stuff, and scary movie marathons. It also means that somewhere out there, there are people whose "Eureka!" moments are kinda dumb, and consist of trying to make a buck off everything. I’m sure you’ve all been to costume store websites and have seen some of the ridiculous ways in which items and people from popular culture are "sexified". What’s that? You haven’t? Well let me show you what I’m talking about.
So here’s one thing I don’t get about the whole Rihanna mishigas – why do people constantly try to quantify the situation, telling her what she should and shouldn’t do with her feelings? She’s the one who suffered the abuse, she made her peace with it decided to forgive Brown, and has moved on with her life. It’s a hot button issue that might never be forgotten, so it’s constantly brought up and she’s constantly asked about her relationship with him. When she does answer, there are people out …
“Turn to the person next to you, and for thirty seconds each, describe the best meal you have ever had.”
Detailed descriptions of meals consumed ensued, with participants employing every adjective they could think of to describe the sensual meal experiences they had had.
“Now turn to the same partner, and once again, for thirty seconds each, describe the best sexual experience you have ever had”. Murmurs rippled across the room and looking at my discussion partner – a man who looked to be well into his sixties …
The world is ending, you’ve got a boat, and the 13 people listed below are around you, but you can only put 8 people on the boat. Who would you pick and why? GO!!! Leave your answers in the form of comments.
• Black pregnant woman
• HIV+ person who is sexually active
• 17yr-old convicted felon
• Exotic dancer
• Famous singer
• Rich white man
• Korean store owner
• Muslim male
• Advocate for LGBTQ youth
• Person in wheelchair
• Drag Queen
• Person struggling …
From a youth standpoint, Tuesday has been the most youth-centric day so far at the IAC. From a rap cipher, to the “We Can End AIDS” march, the youth were well represented in many capacities. It’s a joy to see so many educated and committed youth transcending language and cultural barriers to communicate their support for the great work that everyone has done so far.
It seems as though I discover a favorite booth every day. On Monday, it was the Body & Soul charity from the UK, an …
It’s a beautiful week in Washington, DC because the International AIDS conference is back in the United States after being away for 20 years. It’s wonderful to see so many people from all over the world, united here by one cause. It feels kind of like a mini TED conference. There are all these great people here sharing their ideas and showcasing all the wonderful work they have done in the fight to beat AIDS.
I spent today in the Global Village and the Youth Pavillion, drawn by the …
Almost everyone knows about the general state of LGBTQ rights and issues, but few know what really goes on underneath the surface. It seems as though with every major issue, there is always a mini-war going on with sub-divided factions. For example, there’s racism on a larger scale, and then there’s a skin-color debate on a smaller scale – darker skinned people against lighter skinned ones, the former claiming that the latter has it easy because the color of their skin is a hue that affords them the ability …
"Annex Products, who previously brought you an iPhone case that has a beer bottle opener on it, are out with their latest bit of protection for the iPhone: It’s called the Playa Case, and it features a sliding hidden compartment in which you are meant to store condoms."
Thus reads an article from Huffington Post, heralding the arrival of the latest piece of gadgety goodness.
That’s a misfire if I ever saw one. Companies need to hire someone just to listen to all their ideas. So that …
Nearly 300,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS and they continue to face gaps in access to care. Women are the foundations of many families, but we often place the needs of others before our own. National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day asks individuals and organizations across the country to increase the overall knowledge of HIV/AIDS among women and girls and improve access to care. – Nancy C. Lee, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women’s Health
This week two important things are taking place. It’s …
If you haven’t seen “Circumstance” yet, you’re seriously missing out. Either that or you’re just being smart and averting the heartache that you will undoubtedly feel while and after you watch this. It’s a beautifully written and directed movie, showing viewers what youth culture is like in Tehran, while exploring the issue of homosexuality in Iran. The story follows two friends, Atafeh, the teenage daughter of a wealthy Iranian family; and her friend Shireen, who is an orphan.
The movie depicts various scenes where the girls attend secret parties …
PA·RI·AH [puh-rahy-uh]
noun
1. an outcast.
2. any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.Synonyms:
bum, castaway, deportee, derelict, displaced person, exile, expatriate, fugitive, hobo*, leper, outsider, persona non grata, rascal, refugee, tramp, undesirable, vagabond, vagrant, waif, ne’er-do-well, outcast , prodigal, reject, reprobate, bandit, brigand, con, criminal, crook, desperado, drifter, ex-con, fugitive, gangster, gunslinger, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, jailbird, marauder, mobster, mug, outcast, pariah , racketeer, robber, wrong number etc.
I write this from my bubble of quiet lightening, a phenomenon that took place after I saw the American adaptation of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. I was hit by many things as I watched that movie, amongst which, of course are the thrill of solving the mystery, and the intricacy of the plot. The most impressing of them all however, was Rooney Mara’s portrayal of Lisbeth Salander, the computer-hacking social misfit. By appearance alone, she is infinitely different from the European version of the character, which was …
It seems pretty ludicrous that Syd ‘tha’ Kid of the infamous, controversial group OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) would dare to openly criticize others about their lifestyle choices. Syd recently revealed her sexual orientation in the music video for ‘Cocaine’, one of the collaborations between herself and Matt Martians, the second half of the sub-group ‘The Internet’.
In an interview for LA Weekly, Syd shared some unsolicited information about the sexual orientation of certain celebrities.
"There’s Alicia Keys, who’s married to Swizz Beatz – we know…
While myself and the rest of the world were busy expressing our outrage over the disturbing sexualization of boom boom-shaking Jenna Rose and the stripperfied little girls from ‘Dance Moms’, there was a team somewhere putting together the boy band from hell. Ok, maybe not quite so hellish, but a nightmare nonetheless. This new group is called ‘Mindless Behavior’.
At first when iTunes gave out their music video on ‘free-music Tuesday’, I took a look at the screenshot and left it alone, never checking it out until it …
It’s hard to dislike a movie like "The Help." Yes, it depicts black people in a way that many would rather not see, but it’s full of romantic hope about the possibility of racial co-existence. This is what has people ooh-ing and aah-ing over the book and movie. It does a very good job of glossing over the bad parts, leaving people with memories of funny lines rather than a recollection of what it was possibly like to be black and living in Jackson, Mississippi during the era of …
I know I have posted previously on feminism and its tendency to be misconstrued as a gaggle of angry man-hating women with unshaven armpits and hairy legs, who determinedly do away with anything remotely feminine. In that post, I also discussed the possibility that men could be feminists as well, since feminism should be a predominant, recurrent way of thinking rather than a political movement. Youtube user ‘Battlefield315’ does not share my sentiments. And since the idea is to pull stupid arguments and stereotypes out of the air, I …
If you haven’t heard of Jenna Rose or the little ‘Single Ladies’ from last year’s World of Dance hip-hop competition, the girls from the tv show ‘Dance Moms’ are here to remind you. It’s a show on Lifetime and is set in Pittsburgh’s Abby Lee Dance Company, where little girls’ collective innocence come to die. The show follows a cast of seven girls ranging in age from 6 ½ to 13, their “doting” mothers, and the very tasking Abby Lee.
With girls in skimpy costumes doing age-inappropriate dance moves, …
Just as there’s a disconnect between how much young people are inundated with sexual messages and imagery and the provision of information and resources to support said imagery, there’s a key part of thinking missing from the advocacy process. Thanks to programs and initiatives run by organizations like Advocates and various state Health Departments, there are a lot more condoms available on college campuses. During the school year, students can get condoms and perhaps other forms of contraception from the health center and RAs. But what happens when the …
Pardon me for being culturally sensitive and whatnot but Ad agencies need to start firing some people. How hard is it to make a commercial that doesn’t offend the people it’s directed at. I’m so sick and tired of watching telly and seeing all the rubbish that’s being passed off as quality advertising. I’m torn between the urge to march into an agency as the herald of the ‘rubbish apocalypse’ and my need to stay away from working in an agency after I graduate; I just might throw coffee …
Usually, I have a GIANT problem with MTV due to its popularity as a ratings-whore and producer of utterly shitty programs. Three shows about teen pregnancy are supposed to help reduce the epidemic huh? I guess an hour-long documentary wouldn’t have been enough. One show that I pay a little attention to SOMETIMES is ‘True Life’. There are a lot of useless episodes about teens wanting to become popular or a rock star which usually leave me wishing that the subjects would get a life and move on …
If you, like hundreds of thousands of Nigerian elementary school children, were spoon-fed idioms as part of the daily ritual of knowledge impartment, you should be familiar with the phrase “Every cloud has a silver lining.” This is the case with “Kiss & Tell”, an HIV prevention campaign launched by GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis) which was derived from the homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which is blessedly no longer legal.
The campaign encourages all black and Latino young men who have sex with men, to have open …
Lately, I have observed a very disappointing and disturbing culture of sexism and misogyny. Since I spend half my life on buses and trains (kidding!), I see and hear lots of interesting things. There’s never a day when I don’t have a story to tell. For the most part, these stories are outrageous and funny; situations when addled individuals try to kiss strangers, crazy people talk to the air and break dance, or ‘hustlin’ brothas’ brag about how they made $15000 on their first drug run at the age …
Every time I talk about Robin Miriam Carlsson (otherwise known as Robyn), I introduce her as “the most underrated pop star ever.” I might constantly say a lot of things like, “that has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard” or “it was the most hilarious thing ever!”, but I guarantee that I am not exaggerating when I bestow her with the aforementioned honorable title. I discovered and fell in love with her sound in my freshman year. I’d seen the video for “Konnichiwa Bitches” on …
Kanye West’s video for ‘Monster’ is finally out, and it’s no better than the leaked version from December that inspired a wave of anti-misogynist comments. A lot has been said about the video, and there are only so many different ways to deconstruct it. What caught my attention was the disclaimer that came with the video - "The following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any group of people. It is an art piece and it shall be taken as such." He’s …
I’ve got one word for Marsha Ambrosius’s album, ‘Late Nights and Early Mornings’ – Real. The entire record says plain and simple, “This is how It really is. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This is what I really mean”. What makes it so good is that her message of safe sex enhances the music rather than taking away from it. Bryce Westervelt in an article for examiner.com questioned the video’s motive, raising the possibility that the safe-sex advocacy will come off as preachy to her fans. Well, …
The years during which the complexities of HIV and AIDS were revealed to me stand out in my memory. They were particularly somber years. Not only had I just lost my father at the age of nine, now there was this new disease that I could contract without even knowing it; at least not until it was too late. It made me very scared to know that I could be very careful, playing the part of the immaculate virgin until marriage and staying away from drugs, and still I …
As much as I understand that fandom is all about loving an artist’s sound no matter what kind of music he or she puts out, I tip my hat to Beyonce fans for insisting that her relatively-new single, ‘Run the World (Girls)’ is an awesome song. A friend of mine heard it first and text me to tell me how busy it was – “I heard like 30 different instruments in the first 30 seconds. I swear I even heard a light saber in there somewhere”. For someone who’s …
After watching 23 episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, I am as confused as I was when I began watching episode 1. The show’s a jumble of bad acting, craftily-hidden agendas, ridiculous teenage emotions, and frustratingly immature characters and filled with religious. There are however, a few that I really like. Like Grace, the blonde, ever perky, Christian girl who’s so innocent and unwavering in her faith, yet non-judgmental and extremely straightforward. There’s also Ashley Juergens, Amy Juergens 13 year-old sister, who is so delightfully wise …
Men and Birth Control. Even the subject matter sounds funny. So you can imagine the hilarity that ensued when Amanda Hess of the Washington City Paper’s ‘The Sexist’ blog took it upon herself to find out exactly what men thought birth control was. In her blog post titled ‘Rubber Barons: Why Doesn’t Your Boyfriend Know Jack About Birth Control’, she explores the ‘magical’ perception of birth control by men, the general lack of knowledge, and sprinkles it with hilarity in the form of anecdotes and direct quotes from …
The Real World: Las Vegas just gets more and more interesting. I’m thinking seriously about keeping up with it until the end of the season. I’m not a big fan of reality shows but we’ll see. This week’s episode featured two major events: an STD/pregnancy scare and a girl-on-girl hookup/make-out session. I’m really glad about the way the STD issue played out.
For those of you who don’t watch, two of the cast members — Leroy and Naomi — are friends with benefits. Concerns were voiced about the probability …
It’s National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month! Write a blog post, tweet a teen pregnancy fact, conduct a forum. There’s a bunch of stuff that you could do. Add one more thing to your list — don’t forget to fight the stigma of teen pregnancy.
Most of us might be hardwired to think that teen pregnancy is BAD and this is the reason why we fight so hard for sex-ed funding and contraceptive access. This doesn’t necessarily make us judgmental; I just think that on some subconscious level, there might …
This post is brought to you courtesy of the careless speech of one particular individual who shall remain unnamed. This is the story of how it all began – I was sitting at a computer in the resource center where I work on campus, trying to do some work. One young man, whom I shall refer to as X, asked if he could print off something from the university’s website. He glanced at a sheet of paper on the table next to me which happened to have the Advocates …
Doesn’t it seem absurd that sexual activity is still somewhat of a taboo when everything in the media and out of it is overly sexualized? Sex has long been the staple tool for selling products; even when playing the sex card is obviously absurd. And now we wonder why there are kids running around singing about shaking their boom-booms. There exists this constant pressure to be perfect, beautiful, sexy; being simply oneself is not enough anymore. We’ve all gotta have that ‘bang! Factor’; stand out, make heads turn and …
If you’re a big fan of ‘The Real World’ then it must be old news to you that there has been a lot of hoopla recently about cast member Dustin Zito’s past affiliation with FratPad – “an interactive website frequented by gay men. It consists of 14 hours of live, daily content, and takes place from Monday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. P.D.T.” There’s been a lot of commentary from the fans and people in general; a lot of mixed feelings about his past. I’m not a …
Let’s start off with a couple of quotes shall we?
ELLE: “If you walked into a woman’s house, what one item would convince you that you weren’t compatible?”
Will.i.am: “If she had condoms in her house, that would just f***in’ throw me off. That’s just tacky.”ELLE: “Well, okay, I could see if she had a candy bowl full of them on the coffee table. But if she’s got a few in a drawer, wouldn’t that simply suggest she’s health-conscious?”
Will.i.am: “I just think, like, if you’re into someone
…
We’ve all heard the ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ spiel over and over again. According to general consensus, the differences between the two sexes are irreconcilable. Women are the crazy ones who blow everything out of proportion, creating drama where there is none; while men are the evasive ne’er do wells who aren’t emotionally available and won’t make commitments. And let’s forget that they won’t put the toilet seat down or put the cap back on the toothpaste. Growing up, I watched American movies where couples …
No matter where women are in the world, the struggle for reproductive justice is the same. Some suffer more than others because their societies are not equipped with supportive infrastructure. The stories share a defining thread – they are all saddening reports about women who are not allowed to decide what’s best for their bodies. It is getting harder every day, with people in government pulling various stunts. Like last Thursday when the NAF (National Abortion Fund) had to scramble for funds to assist 28 women who had abortions …
It’s like Beyoncé once sang, “O-M-G! You done lost yo motherf**king mind!” Certain people are just so totally out of control that it’s impossible not to comment. There are so many things wrong with the comments that have been made about the recent JCrew Ad which features president and creative director Jenna Lyons painting the toenails of her son Beckett hot pink. It is my highly esteemed opinion, that everyone who has made a negative comment about this is a raging pin-head of epic proportions. Yes I’m talking about …
I’m not really sure how I feel about People Magazine’s new issue featuring Jennifer Lopez on the cover as the “most beautiful woman in the world”. What exactly is it that makes her so beautiful? Surely this is an exaggeration since everyone she was pitted against is a celebrity just like her. What about us common folk? I demand a rewrite. She’s beautiful definitely, but I don’t know about being #1. Call her the ‘most beautiful female celebrity in the world’ or something. Women have enough trouble living up …
Before I go any further, I’d like to make a few things clear.
• This post is not in defense of Chris Brown
• I am not #teambreezy or in any way attracted to the dude.
• I do not endorse or condone violence against women. To do that would be not only stupid, but also irresponsible.
• I am not ‘victim-blaming’ or a ‘rape apologist’ or whatever else I might have been called last time I tried to write a post on the issue.
• My issue is …
I saw this and thought to myself, "There’s NO WAY IN HELL I’m passing this up. Futhamuckers lost their minds." I’m still struggling to wrap my head around this. Is this even legal? Before I blather on any further, I should probably explain what the Zeus I’m talking about right? Pipedream Products, makers of sex toys I assume, just released a ‘Finally Mylie’ sex doll which comes with "3 aching love holes". Excuse me while I lose my lunch. *hurl*
The doll is completely sold out just 48 …
Two things I saw in the news in the past 24 hours are of great interest to me – Wonder Woman and ‘Cat Calling Revenge’. Completely coincidentally, they are both related to women challenging the norm and fighting to gain equal footing by changing the way that society dictates female sexuality.
First, I’ll tell you a bit about an interesting new website started by a Baltimore resident, Shawna Potter. It’s called ‘Hollaback Baltimore!’ and it was created to send a message to all the men who harass women on …
These days, there are more and more manifestations of a phenomenon that I like to call ‘The Other Side of Bieber Fever’. From what I know, the regular kind of ‘Bieber Fever’ is the crazy kind where little girls lose every ounce of sense they previously possessed and start to foam at the mouth like rabid dogs at the very mention or appearance of Justin Bieber. I’ve got nothing against the dude. I like a couple songs of his but no matter what angle I cock my head at, …
There seems to be a recurring theme in HIV/AIDS advocacy; at least as far as governmental organizations and big-shot state departments are concerned. Reading the Washington Post article on DC’s disappointing HIV/AIDS strategies, I am reminded of a conference/plenary I attended about a year ago. At that particular gathering, there was a lot of talking about the seriousness and significance of the disease/virus and the need to create greater awareness; in addition of course to possible strategies that could be implemented to make sure that the statistics were greatly …
I’m not sure if the word ‘pre-abortive’ is legit, or if it’s just another attempt to coin an expression that will stick in people’s heads and make them think that birth control is bad. One thing I am concerned with however, is the perception of the pro-choice faction by others. We have been made out to be devils and baby killers simply because we advocate for women’s reproductive rights; the freedom to make choices instead of having choices made on their behalf. I cannot stress enough, the fact that …
To say that there is a disconnect between Kanye West’s brain and his mouth would simply be stating the obvious. From his comments about George Bush being racist, to his antics at the MTV awards, the word vomit is outrageous. Sometimes I wish he would tweet something so controversial that Twitter would be forced to close his account. I swear the BS he spews is enough to rot a person’s brain. But then, at the same time, I am entertained by his stupidity. Plus, there’s also freedom of speech …
Today, I write this post with mixed feelings about the state of things in my community. I am an international student from Nigeria, and I attend Morgan State University, an HBCU located in Baltimore, MD. Lately, I have looked out at a community that seems to be stagnant in many ways. It seems to me, like the right decisions are not being made, especially when it comes to student welfare. But I could be wrong. After all, I spend as little time as I possibly can amongst other students. …
I hate to say this, because this is a harsh statement to make, but hey! I get like this when I’m really passionate about something. I am surrounded by, wait for it, IDIOTS. There, It’s out of the bag now. Now that Maryland is in the process of legalizing same-sex marriage, the ignoramuses are beginning to crawl out from under their various rocks. Their arguments are as usual, a brand of nonsensical that I like to call ‘ridonkulous’.
This morning in the B, a free Baltimore daily, there were …
I think the fair sex sometimes forget, in the race to overthrow the patriarchy, that not all men are chauvinist misogynists. I have been especially reminded of this lately as I have been collecting signatures for the birth control petition. I think that women forget because our male counterparts do not always actively voice their support. I feel that women are as much of a minority as every other targeted group around the world. There is a war going on, only much quieter and staged in our individual homes …
There really is no end to this craziness. A new bill has been introduced by House Representative Bobby Franklin of Georgia which aims to make abortion the legal equivalent of murder as well as require miscarriages to be investigated. How do people like this get elected? Who agrees to even contemplate passing this kind of legislative nonsense? Hasn’t enough been done already? pro-lifers, especially those of you who base your opinions on religion, don’t you think this has gone too far? I have tried to imagine a conversation between …
It seems like the world gets more and more complicated each and every day. There are so many issues, both psychological and physical that cannot be viewed simply as black and white. It’s a crazy, shaken AND stirred cocktail of a world out there and not everyone knows how to deal. Just like I discussed how sexual abuse is difficult for some women to point out, there is also a thin line between abuse and trash talk. Depending on the culture one was raised in, it is easier or …
To be honest, I’m getting tired of opening magazines and newspapers only to find endless opinion editorials and columns about why Skins US is a bad, bad show. The word ‘bulwark’ has been used so many times that it’s stuck in my head and keeps popping up at random moments. My mind works in funny ways, yes I know. I am a proud ‘Skinhead’; for Skins UK that is. I can’t stand the US version. I can’t think of a better word to describe how I feel about Skins. I could …
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