relationships
Trace the link between feminism and relationships from outdated norms to modern conventions including chivalry, working mothers, splitting the bill and beyond.
The First Time
His hands around my throat, gasping, scratching, pushing at him but, I couldn't get away. I could hear my daughter crying. Too young to understand but, she knew he was hurting me. When did it get this bad, why did I keep allowing it to happen? I am smarter than this. It wasn't always like this. We use to be semi happy. Two small children, a marriage, a life I thought would be mine. Was I ever good enough?
By Aleea Whitmire8 years ago in Viva
My Experience With Sexual Harassment: A Message to the Fearful
He asked me at least once every shift if I wanted to go out with him. No. I did not. First of all, I was dating at the time, second of all, I was just plain not interested in this flirtatious boy I worked with three times a week but knew next to nothing about. But, and here's a phrase I'm sure you wish you could just stop hearing, he wouldn't take no for an answer.
By Lucy Sammons8 years ago in Viva
An Open Letter to a Victim of Abuse
The word abuse is a very serious one and is not to be taken lightly. It usually takes an awful lot of courage to use it. Abuse is when a person repeatedly/regularly mistreats you. It is cruel, and can often involve manipulation, control, blackmail, etc. It is a misuse of power and ill treatment of a persons vulnerability. Often, the person being abused will end up feeling as though they are worthless, overreacting, stuck, and like there is nothing they can do. It is like you are the only one with a problem, and it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that you are the problem.
By Rebecca McPhillips8 years ago in Viva
A Minor Incident Can Ruin a Lot
I learned from this experience and to all the ones who have gone through this, you do not have to face it alone. Just around this time last year, I decided to visit my boyfriend at the time, as for he was leaving to basic training for the military in a week. Little did I know he was going to do something so horrid.
By Elieza Pereira8 years ago in Viva
Me Too
You are told through scrolling videos on Facebook that automatically play while you sit in the bathroom at work “taking a shit,” but your pants are still up, buckled, and zipped, that if you have been cat called while walking home from a bar that you should be part of the “me too” movement, and you feel obligated to give your statement because what girl hasn’t been walking in the dead winter of Michigan, with her bare legs showing, toes sticking out of the tips of her booties, and nothing but a light jacket on your arms because she didn’t want to get her two hundred dollar down coat stolen when she wanted to dance instead of sitting at the bar and getting hit on and still manage to get a whistle or two from a drunk homeless man on the way back to the car? The snow lightly falling on your face, and it wouldn’t be so bad if the wind would just chill for the five minutes it takes you to walk to your car. But you grew up waking up early on Sundays to put on a dress and some flats to be early to bible quiz so you can practice your speed at the buzzer, answering questions on break point, attend adult service for two hours, and from December through April, you spend your Sundays from 12:30 to at least 6 backstage preparing for play productions, wearing old english costumes, or costumes from the middle east during the time of Jesus’s life while playing James Bond with your friends in the bathroom. We sat in the back rooms of the church putting together skits, human videos, choir practice, using each other as props, bouncing ideas off of each other, and finally finishing with ensemble practice. On Wednesdays, you brought your quarters, signed in, you did your lessons, memorized the bible verses, participated in the projects, and by the time you graduated high school, you had whispered repeatedly underneath your breath all the things that cannot separate you from the Love of God in your sleep, feeling the heat radiating off of the iron barrel every morning as you curled your hair and enunciated each syllable, covered your hand over papers and repeating to the “s” every word on the yellow pages of the twenty point questions.
By Bella Harris8 years ago in Viva
From Weakness Comes Strength: Part Two
If you haven't read my "Part One," certain references used throughout this Part Two will be confused. I suggest reading Part One to understand this part fully. However, a small recap: I was bullied horribly in 8th grade, so much so that I decided I wanted a fresh start somewhere else and chose to go to a catholic high school a few towns over. I lost many friends, stopped eating, and was extremely depressed. Going into high school, I was entirely anxious, but wanted to make a good impression on what would hopefully be new friends and become a happy person again.
By Paranneting/Anne Reboa8 years ago in Viva
Afraid of Intimacy
His name was Jeremiah and I met him when I lived in Australia. He was the second of twelve children, 24-years-old, and born into a conservative family. I was close to his younger sisters, my brother was close to his younger brothers, my mom was close to his mom. We went to his house all the time. I was 13 and he was 24.
By Mathilda Burton8 years ago in Viva
How Does This Grab You?
I have written and re-written … re-thought this article over and over again. I've been trying to figure out how to dive in and more importantly unravel the feelings that a man who crossed the line on a date caused. As a victim/survivor of sexual assault I don’t know if how I feel and felt about the moment he went in for a grab is a “normal” feeling. I feel a sense of frustration at not knowing how my reaction and feeling would have been different had I never been victimized; I guess I will have to tackle this article on two fronts.
By Marnie Grundman8 years ago in Viva
I Did It for Me
I was late. It wasn't a cause for concern. My cycle was pretty irregular, I was stressed out between work, my relationship, and other life spheres, and I had an upcoming vacation I was making sure I was prepared for. Honestly, it didn't really hit me until I realized, "Hey, am I going to have to pack tampons?"
By Lauren Charles8 years ago in Viva
My Worst Date
After already having used the app for a year, I went on my very first Tinder date. I use the term “date” semi-loosely, because it definitely wasn’t your classic dinner-and-a-movie. He came to campus, to my dorm room, where we proceeded to hang out with a movie. I distinctly remember him arriving with a whole binder-full of DVD selections, but ultimately we went with Mean Girls on Netflix. As these activities usually go, it led to him predictably putting his arm around me, itself alone an act suggesting we do more. And we did hook up, short of actually sleeping together. It was literally Netflix and Chill. Not unusual behavior. Except I was nervous, and said I had changed my mind about potentially doing any of “that.”But I ended up taking part anyway, albeit not too enthusiastically.
By Ashley Cataquet8 years ago in Viva
