Perspectives

Memes and the Vilification of Modern Feminism

From voting to reproductive rights, the feminist movement has made major leaps over the last few decades. But the fight for gender equality is not over. Women continue to face new challenges each day, juggling issues like workplace sexism and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. These struggles are compounded by social media, […]

Diamonds, Discourse, and the Indian Diaspora

Every spring, the Hollywood elite gets dressed for the Met Gala—an exclusive fundraising and fashion event dating back to the late 1940s. Their stylists carefully craft looks to push them outside the box of conventional attire. For the 2022 Met Gala, Emma Chamberlain’s stylists found what they thought was the perfect accessory: an eight-pendant heavyset […]

What makes a Republican

Picture this: you are a young adult going to college in Boston. Maybe your parents are conservative and you have a Trump flag in your house. Maybe they aren’t, but you’ve always seen your parents as bleeding hearts. You love your country—this is the place where freedom is key. You can speak ill of your […]

Appropriating Apartheid is Social Injustice

“Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination,” reads Amnesty International’s recent report. With their statement, Amnesty International joined forces with Human Rights Watch, which claimed last year that Israel is guilty of the “Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.”  Make no mistake, there is certainly discrimination in Israel, as there is in every country […]

Nevertheless, She Persisted: A Conservative Perspective on Feminism

I am a Republican feminist. In saying so, I know I will receive scorn from both sides of the political spectrum; some conservatives will conflate my belief that the sexes are inherently equal with the progressive allegation that they are the same. Conversely, some liberals will posit that my acceptance of traditional family structures, individual […]

Jewish Women: Intersectionality of Race, Class, and Gender

Every morning while reading the Torah, traditional Jewish men thank God, “who has not made [them] a woman,” as part of their daily prayers. This phrase is representative of the quintessential misogyny that lies at the core of extreme Judaism.  The United States is a hodgepodge of different ethnicities and religions, and their coexistence has […]

On Being a Mexican-American in a time of Humanitarian Crisis

Contrary to the one hundred thousand migrants who crossed the United States’ southern border in February alone, I didn’t have to work, starve, or risk my or my children’s life for opportunity. And yet, as a politically active and aware Mexican-American woman, I struggle to find ways to cope with feeling helpless as two parts […]

Invisible Man and the Twenty-First Century Black Bildungsroman

Last summer, as I processed the news of the murder of George Floyd, I felt like I could keep it together. I was eighteen; the past decade saw numerous police killings that drew national attention. I had no illusions about any of this. Yet something felt different.  It might have been the sheer barbarity, the […]

Petruchio, Peterson, and The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is widely considered a misogynistic play, a relic of a time best forgotten. And while its sexist themes cannot be dismissed, a reimagining is possible and necessary—lest today’s reactionaries get to it first.

The Blackface Spectrum

What race should I be today?  This is what YouTuber, model, and makeup mogul Nikita Dragun “jokingly” asked her Twitter followers in response to her history of racial insensitivity. She has repeatedly tried to appear Black—one day her skin is pale, the next it’s dark. She has also worn box braids, twists, cornrows, and durags […]