Posts Tagged youth

girl scouts is for every girl

Girl Scouts group returns $100K after donor demands they exclude trans girls

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington recently received a generous gift of $100,000 with a shitty stipulation from the donor: “Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls.” If you can’t, please return the money.” 

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington recently received a generous gift of $100,000 with a shitty stipulation from the donor: “Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls.” If you can’t, please ...

The Kids Were Always Alright: Breaking the Spell of Ageless Ageism

The belief that the world is bad and getting worse is one of the most venerable motifs of human civilization, appearing as far back as our record of written language exists. There are even Egyptian hieroglyphs suggesting that our next stop on this handbasket trip is Hell. Consider some of the guiding myths of our age that have been with us since time immemorial: even if you are not Christian, something about the myth of Eden and the Fall stays with you, guiding that pessimistic sense that we’ve declined ever more precipitously from a state of grace. Although the Fall myth is about a collapse from a very ancient grace that is firmly in the past, I’d argue the very idea ...

The belief that the world is bad and getting worse is one of the most venerable motifs of human civilization, appearing as far back as our record of written language exists. There are even Egyptian hieroglyphs suggesting ...

Watch: High school boys talk about why they are feminists

In my opinion, the only thing more tiresome than a conversation about women identifying as feminists is one about men doing so. But after Pharrell said he doesn’t “think it’s possible” for him to be a feminist since he’s a dude — and in the wake of #notallmen, #yesallwomen, and #allmencanThe New York Times is (as always) asking the tough obvious questions: “Is it possible to be a male feminist?”

In my opinion, the only thing more tiresome than a conversation about women identifying as feminists is one about men doing so. But after Pharrell said he doesn’t “think it’s possible” for him to be a feminist ...

High school student’s “rape culture” artwork banned from showcase for being “inappropriate”

Censoring a student’s artwork exploring rape culture out of a concern for “the children”? Yep, that sounds about par for the course for the US educational system.

Gracie Holtzclaw, a high school senior in South Carolina, was one of the young artists selected to display her work at the Greenville County Schools Art Exhibition this month. She told local outlet WYFF that she was really “excited” to be part of the event. But just a few days later, 18-year-old Holtzclaw was informed that her submission, which is entitled “Rape Culture,” wouldn’t be permitted to appear in the show.

“This piece, for both title and content, was determined to be inappropriate for the District Show because the artwork is on ...

Censoring a student’s artwork exploring rape culture out of a concern for “the children”? Yep, that sounds about par for the course for the US educational system.

Gracie Holtzclaw, a high school senior in South ...

Not Oprah’s Book Club: College 101: A Girl’s Guide to Freshman Year

Julie Zeilinger’s College 101: A Girl’s Guide to Freshman Year is the book I wish I read four years ago when I started college. The guide advises incoming freshman on how to navigate the confusing new experiences that come with being a freshman and a woman in college — namely, the ways in which tricky roommates, demanding academics, rising debt, insufficient mental health resources, and unfamiliar social pressures interact and intersect with sexism. But even as a soon-to-be-graduate entering the Adult World, the guide gave me tips I wish I had known three months ago, when I entered the second semester of my senior year. It also kindly reminded me, in a chatty voice, of the many lessons ...

Julie Zeilinger’s College 101: A Girl’s Guide to Freshman Year is the book I wish I read four years ago when I started college. The guide advises incoming freshman on how to navigate the confusing ...

Student kicked out of her prom for wearing pants

Ah, the prom. That awkward night of teenagers dressing up and pretending to be adults remains one of our most long-standing and universal rites of passage. As such, it often seems to reveal a lot about how far we have — and haven’t — come in breaking down traditional norms around gender and sexuality. For every trailblazing trans teen who runs for prom king, or cross-dressing boy who wins prom king, or gay boy who wins prom queen,  you’ve got teachers lobbying for LGBTQ-free proms and lesbian couples prohibited from attending or sent to a fake prom instead.

The latest tale of gender policing at prom comes from Cherryville High School in North ...

Ah, the prom. That awkward night of teenagers dressing up and pretending to be adults remains one of our most long-standing and universal rites of passage. As such, it often seems to reveal a lot about how ...

“What you’re doing is attempting to limit my choices, and I don’t appreciate that.”

Phyllis Schlafly has made a long and successful career for herself by telling other women to get back in the kitchen. At this point, the fact that she’s been singing the same anti-feminist tune for decades — not to mention her apparently shameless hypocrisy — makes it a little hard to take her seriously anymore. So I couldn’t get too worked up when she wrote an op-ed last week claiming that closing the gender pay gap would prevent women from finding a “suitable mate.”

Thankfully, the youth of America don’t have such Schlafly fatigue. In an open letter, 12-year-old Madison Kimrey offers “the perspective of one of the young women who will be taking ...

Phyllis Schlafly has made a long and successful career for herself by telling other women to get back in the kitchen. At this point, the fact that she’s been singing the ...

CLPP 2014: Young Activists Gettin’ It Done!

Ed note: This is a guest post by Zoë Boyle and Jennifer Su, CLPP Lead Student Organizers pictured below. 

Almost a year ago, TIME magazine published a now notorious cover story by Joel Stein accusing millennials of being the “Me Me Me!” generation. Describing us as lazy, selfish, and glued to our iPhones, the article painted a picture of wasted youth. Since the publication, there has been no shortage of responses to the article. Yet no amount of op-ed pieces can disguise the fact that we are a generation of action. Youth activists in the reproductive justice movement have come out swinging in the last year, proving ourselves as a powerful force to be reckoned ...

Ed note: This is a guest post by Zoë Boyle and Jennifer Su, CLPP Lead Student Organizers pictured below. 

Almost a year ago, TIME magazine published a now notorious cover story by ...

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