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By that-girl • 13 years ago

A train, a living room, and why I’m fighting

Scene I: Five American students who are studying abroad in Europe are on a train back from a festival. The ride is pretty long, so they exchange stories to pass the time. Four are math majors, one is an English major. The English major K* is particularly excited by the storytelling, and is the most frequent contributor. She calls her first story her “stalker story” (“Everyone has a stalker story.”). She talks about a disturbed boy at her school who was put into a mental hospital after intentionally flooding an entire dorm, but was released and returned to campus. This boy had developed an obsession with her, secretly videotaping her conversations with friends and posting these on YouTube, alongside his own masturbatory fantasies and rants. He slept outside her door and once came into her room covered in blood after intentionally smashing his head on a water fountain. After he forced her into his room and threatened to kill her, she went to her campus security for help.

By that-girl • 14 years ago

On Being A Grown-up

As I near the official end of my teens (to the immense chagrin of my older sister, who claims she’s not old enough for me to be twenty), the prospect of becoming a bonafide adult keeps encroaching on my consciousness.

But what does it mean to become a female grown-up in 2009? I’ve always assumed that ‘growing up’ mean settling in to who you are. For women, though, it seems that ‘growing up’ means finding more and more things to worry you when you look in the mirror.

A few days ago, I looked in the mirror and noticed for the first time in my life that my face was, gasp, shiny! Now, not too long ago, I don’t think I would ...

As I near the official end of my teens (to the immense chagrin of my older sister, who claims she’s not old enough for me to be twenty), the prospect of becoming a bonafide adult keeps encroaching ...
By that-girl • 14 years ago

Is There Such a Thing as Pre-Abusive Behavior?

The story that prompted the titular question:
S*, D* and I are all members of an inter-collegiate sports team. About a year ago, S* and D* began dating. I never liked D* since we had worked together and he had been horribly condescending and rude to me, but S liked him so I tried to keep my mouth shut. I hung out with S* for part of the summer and she seemed happy. She was working closely with another friend, A* (male). By the end of the summer, S* and D* had broken up. D* told anothe friend of ours that S* had cheated on him with A*.
S* told me a different story: While she and D* started out ...

The story that prompted the titular question:
S*, D* and I are all members of an inter-collegiate sports team. About a year ago, S* and D* began dating. I never liked D* since we had worked together ...
By that-girl • 15 years ago

Dear Bush Cabinet,

Dear members of the Bush Cabinet,

Recently, I understand you’ve been considering regulations that would prevent women’s health centers from "discriminating" against those who, based on religious affiliations, do not believe in allowing women access to birth control. Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea! Since when have we Americans stopped people from exercising their rights to religious freedom in the public sphere? (except those pesky Native Americans. What did they think they were doing, building sacred sites in the middle of prime logging terroritory?).

Anyway, I was thinking maybe you could implement this idea in the other departments besides HHS too. I’ve always wanted to work for the military, but the trouble is, my religion specifically forbids fighting or helping ...

Dear members of the Bush Cabinet,

Recently, I understand you’ve been considering regulations that would prevent women’s health centers from "discriminating" against those who, based on religious affiliations, do not believe in allowing women access to birth control. ...
By that-girl • 15 years ago

The Feminist Filmgoer

Forget Sarah Palin (oh how I wish I could), Hollywood has given us angry women a new, easy-on-the-eyes ‘feminist’ role model.

Meet Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Played by Keira Knightly in the cleverly-named "The Duchess," this woman is truly the old-time "new face of feminism." I mean, she’s played by Keira Knightly! And she makes witty comments! What more could you ask for?

Quite a lot, it turns out. See, take "The Duchess," translate it forward by 300 years or so, and it’s no longer a sexy period piece, it’s a case study:

Forget Sarah Palin (oh how I wish I could), Hollywood has given us angry women a new, easy-on-the-eyes ‘feminist’ role model.

Meet Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Played by Keira Knightly in the cleverly-named "The Duchess," this woman is ...