relationships
Trace the link between feminism and relationships from outdated norms to modern conventions including chivalry, working mothers, splitting the bill and beyond.
No longer waiting for Doomsday
As the game of life transcends into multidimensional facets; the rises and falls of my relational realms shifted yet again. The first glance of Farzin remained an encapsulation of years of longing arms wrapped in a demure smile. It was the beginning of December in 2019 and at that trivial time; I was taking care of my dad due to his recent stroke sand the dissolution of his restaurant. At the time, I was residing at the house with my dad and Farzin rented the extra room; (my old room) to be exact.
By Aiyan Turley5 years ago in Viva
Giving up on Shaving Doesn't Mean You're Giving up on Yourself
Why Do We Shave? Ever since I started growing hair anywhere other than my head, I've been shaving it off, or waxing it off, creaming it off, threading it off, basically trying anything that would keep those nasty hairs away. I bloomed early so my razor journey started when I was around eleven. I didn't understand why I felt this need to get rid of the hair, it was instinctual. Of course now I understand that it mostly had to do with the fact that I had access to a television. Every Saturday when I sat down to my cartoons on Milkshake, Channel 5, the advert breaks would bring with them countless beautiful women gliding pink razors up their legs and then stroking their perfect, blemish and cellulite free legs, ohing and ahing at the silky smoothness. So, it was obvious that female hair, unless growing luxuriously atop your head and flowing down ones back in a seductive manner, just wasn't meant to be there.
By Clara Elizabeth Hamilton Orr Burns5 years ago in Viva
Black Women Can't Be Frenemies
I remember being around 14 years old, in a "fight" with some friends and saying to my mom, "Who needs friends anyway?" She laughed at me and said "Girl, every woman needs a good group of girlfriends. You'll see." At 38 years old, that was probably the truest thing I've been told. I have always been what you could call a "serial friend audition-er"; meaning anyone could get a shot, but the likelihood of survival was slim. My personality is complex and thus requires connections with simple but varying personalities that share, well, anything in common with one of the people living in my head.
By Tiffany FC6 years ago in Viva
Don't Kiss Frogs
It’s easy to get caught up in the magic and nostalgia of old-fashioned fairytales without considering what underlying messages they may convey. Of course parents aren’t telling their kids stories with the intention of giving them an unhealthy idea of relationships. Regardless, this may be what is happening. There is a stereotype of women getting into relationships with toxic men in the hopes of “fixing” them. Many of us saw a great example of this shortly after the release of the film Joker (2019) in the form of a meme, a tweet by @TamiDaBushPilot that read “*watching the Joker movie* (under breath) …I could fix him”. Just like most stereotypes, this was derived from a real-life pattern. This begs the question of just why so many women find themselves drawn to troubled men. For the purposes of this article, we’ll stick with the example of a heterosexual relationship wherein the woman wants to “fix” the man, simply because that’s what the stereotype commonly refers to.
By Lucky Moon6 years ago in Viva
Stolen Kisses
A kiss used to mean something to me. This time last year, I had only ever kissed three people. I say I kissed them because I was a happy, active participant. I can't count the men who have kissed me that way anymore, and while that slight change in language could probably be easily overlooked, that realization hurts me more than I can explain.
By Kay Husnick6 years ago in Viva
Misrepresentation of Women as Repair Tools for Broken Men:
The cultural mainstream relentlessly promotes the extremely toxic concept of women as saviors for broken men, glorifying gender-based violence in the process. “After” by Anna Todd is yet another infuriating example.
By Salomea Becquerel6 years ago in Viva
