So it begins… the debates, the attack ads, the speeches, and the misspoken moments played over and over again on our television screens. Sometimes it seems easier just to stay out of all the political drama that consumes our nation from now until November 2016. Here’s why you definitely shouldn’t: Your voice is powerful. Speak [...]
My parents deny the existence of the patriarchy. When I first mentioned the word to my dad, he immediately became offended, thinking that I was directly criticizing him and all other men by using the term. I tried to explain to him that the patriarchy is a system in which we live; we are all [...]
During my past 14 years as a student, I have struggled with my writing. I would try with all my might to write these amazing papers, but I would never see the payoff with my grades. I was placed in the second-to-lowest English class from fourth through eighth grades. Writing and I had a love/hate [...]
I am a fat girl. Strictly speaking from the perspective of the fashion industry and mass media, of course. If there is anything I’ve learned from being a young woman living in this society, it is that there are a plethora of meanings and implications assigned to the way a body looks. There are size [...]
Personally, I have struggled with the way I perceive my body from the time I was allowed to choose my own clothes. This loss of confidence occurred the moment I couldn’t fit into the popular clothing that all of my friends were wearing. There had to be something wrong with my body. The way the [...]
Whether it is washing a car in a bikini or crawling across a sandy beach, it’s clear that the world of media represents the phony idea that women are always sexual and that we are constantly seeking sexual attention. Women are too often painted like desperate trolls continually trying to scheme up ways to get [...]
Whether you see it coming or it happens out of nowhere, a breakup can shake you to your core. A shock wave floods your body and you become numb to the world around you. You're hyper-focused on your internal pain, your ego screams out for justice, and your heart is in ruins. Pages upon pages [...]
When I was in the seventh grade, I took a trip to India. It was a place of rich cultural contradiction, which I chose to take no part in; I was only twelve. Holed up in my Aji’s apartment watching the Disney channel, one day I saw an ad for Fair and Lovely cream, which [...]
Before Nicky Costabile was a YouTube sensation she was a high school girl with a heart of gold. I had the pleasure of working with her in several service efforts as one of the faculty members at Immaculate Heart Academy in Bergen County, NJ. Check her out below jamming at a dance for special needs [...]
