A poem by my sister.

As the title of this post suggests, my sister Liz Ryan (soon to be Gibson!!) wrote this today and sent it to me after a conversation about my blog and related things :) She's pretty awesome, and a great writer! She's also spot on with this gem. You can find more of her awesomeness here: lizryan4.wordpress.com

Enjoy!

I am a woman
and I cry.
A lot.
These two things may seem unrelated
(or maybe not)
but for me they're intimately 
connected.
Historically, women are known for it.

Crying, feeling too deeply,

they were (or are) feminine trademarks

which made females prone to  hysteria,

the weaker sex. 

A woman in my class

said that because of the changing focus of society,

towards strength,

women can be just as strong as men

and need not be ruled by their emotions.

According to her, women are embracing

a sense of strength typically seen as ‘masculine’.

They are reclaiming strength for themselves.

She was a strong person, she said.

Someone closing the gap.

She celebrated. I grieved.

In light of this new shift

I am the weakest person I know.

I was not the only one,

a voice behind me, female,

‘That’s not strength.’

I saw a ray of hope.
I am a woman.
I cry.
A lot. 
And maybe it's not weakness.
If I embrace this 'masculine strength'
I feel as though my heart would become dry
nothing would be able to grow
nothing good or bad

a wasteland.
I feel things too sharply. 
My emotions bowl me over,
overwhelm me,
refuse to be controlled,
contained.
But I'd rather feel too strongly
than feel nothing at all. 

I am a woman.
With years streaming down my face
I may seem weak.
But I am stronger than I look.
I am filled with oceans,
yet I am able to keep that from destroying me.
My emotions may rule me, tide like,
but they also drive me to care,

to see what's happening to other people,
to better myself,
to reach out,
to give myself to changing what I can

for those who need it.

I am a woman.
I cry. 
A lot. 
But with each tear I hope to carve
a new path for the world.

 

How Women's issues just became Men's issues

Hi guys! I wrote this for a magazine at my university, but I thought I'd post it here as well :)

    I recently asked some people what they thought of when they heard the word 'feminism', and what they think is the main obstacle for women in our society - of the many responses I got, one included a link to a TED talk by Jackson Katz, PhD. An anti-sexism activist, his talk is about how men are cut off from the conversation about violence against women when they should be an integral part of it - not only because the majority of aggressors are male, but also because men are victims too. He emphasises shifting the focus from the female victims of gender violence to the changing of the aspects of our society that allow some men to think hurting and degrading others is acceptable. Just like rape culture, those issues need to be approached on an every day, social level. Talking about the bystander approach, he challenges men to say something when a friend or colleague says something degrading about women. He challenges men to be leaders in how other people, especially women, should be treated.

    Then, I came across an article about the recent rapes and murders of young women and girls in India, written by Mallika Dutt, the president and CEO of Breakthrough. In contrast with a huge focus on the legislative and judicial aspects of these cases, this article stated that "we need to understand violence against women and girls not as a “shocking” problem in a faraway place, but as the global pandemic that it is, affecting cities, towns, neighborhoods, and families everywhere. We need to understand violence against women and girls—in all its forms and degrees—as an expression of the status of women, worldwide, as second-class citizens. Bottom line, we need to create the political and social will not only to protect women and girls—and not only to empower them, but to fully value them as human beings."

    Both Katz and Dutt end with the idea that "men of all stripes—from poor communities to places of power—need to be engaged as leaders and allies in demanding an end to discrimination and violence." Both argue that our society's idea of 'masculinity' needs to be challenged just as much as society's view of women's identity and their roles. There needs to be a shift from thinking of a man as a tough, dominating character to a protective, supporting person. There needs to be a shift from thinking of a woman as a weak commodity to a valued and strong person.

    This is my idea of feminism - the issues we deal with are not just women's issues or men's issues, but problems we all have a responsibility to acknowledge and try to change. Problems we're all involved in and effect, often without knowing it. Rape culture, sexism, gender discrimination and unfair, hostile social constructs all fundamentally involve both men and women. If feminism is about equality, that involves men. 

Link to the TED talk:

http://youtu.be/KTvSfeCRxe8

Link to the article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/05/05/mallika-dutt-a-better-response-is-needed-to-stop-crimes-like-rape-of-5-year-old-child-in-india.html?source=upworthy1