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Feminism 101

Feminism 101: What is Himpathy?

Himpathy is a term for the cultural backlash that sympathizes with powerful men accused of sexual assault.
Feminism 101: What is Orientalism?

By relegating the East to a submissive, homogenous caricature of otherness, Orientalism has served as a device for the West to preserve its role at the top of the global hierarchy, engendering imperialism and violent…
Feminism 101: What is the Gender Binary?

Design by Elizabeth Gomez The strict dichotomy of male and female may seem to be the natural way of organizing gender, as this is the system that most of us grew up with. We were…
Feminism 101: What is Pinkwashing?

Image by Emily Farag. Pinkwashing is a term with multiple meanings, but most commonly refers to the deliberate appropriation of sexual liberation movements towards regressive political ends. The first use of “pinkwashing” is credited to Breast…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Mitsuye Yamada

Mitsuye Yamada is a Japanese American writer, educator, and activist. Her works expose the discrimination faced by Japanese Americans during and after World War II,…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Angela Davis

Davis has since become the figurehead for the prison abolition movement, a movement that calls into question what it means to be a criminal within…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Patricia Hill Collins

Patricia Hill Collins is an acclaimed social theorist known for her intersectional approach to the sociologies of feminism, Black liberation, and nationalism.

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Gayatri Spivak

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is an Indian scholar who continues to add to many academic disciplines. She is known mainly for her work in post-colonial studies,…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Simone de Beauvoir

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” This provocative assertion from Simone de Beauvoir’s acclaimed book, “The Second Sex,” helped destroy the notion…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Adrienne Rich

In her letter to the NEA chair, Rich stated: “There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Gloria Anzaldúa

Throughout her lifetime of writing, Anzaldúa consistently contributed to theories countering social oppression, spanning topics that encompassed her intersectional identities. She let her spirituality and…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Assata Shakur

A teacher, healer, freedom fighter, and aunt to hip hop legend Tupac, Assata Shakur has organized against the prison-industrial complex, police brutality, discriminatory education, poverty,…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Adichie, a Nigerian novelist, is one of the latest women to join the lineage of iconic feminist writers like Maya Angelou, Adrienne Rich and Toni…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Judith Butler

In her 1988 essay “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution,” Judith Butler—philosopher, gender theorist, and professor at UC Berkeley—proposed the theory that gender is behavior, rather…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Kimberlé Crenshaw

Crenshaw’s great theoretical contribution, that of intersectionality, is a call to action at every moment. In light of the Trump regime’s past few weeks in…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Susan McClary

Susan McClary is one of the most important musicologists responsible for introducing feminist critique to musicology. Her work, though controversial, was some of the first…

Feminist Theorist Thursdays: Cynthia Enloe

Cynthia Enloe’s book was and is part of the movement to open political spaces to women, deconstructing the exclusionary structure of international relations. This remains…

Gendertainment

‘Someone Great’: Applauding Female Friendship and Queer Relationships

In almost all of the romantic comedies I’ve watched since childhood, the female protagonist’s friendships always took a backseat to the swoon-worthy love interest.
Superheroes Should Come In All Sizes, Not Just in ‘Thin Straight Male’

By having superheroes be depicted with highly unrealistic but conventionally attractive bodies, fatness is presented as antithetical to the very notion of heroism.
Not Everything is Love: Why We Need to Kill the “Ride or Die” Chick

America is a motherfucka to Black women just as much as it is to Black men. Perhaps even more so seeing as Black women sit…
Hey Netflix, Cancelling Good Shows Won’t Make Us Love You

Netflix canceled “One Day at a Time” after three seasons, and that’s a problem.
‘The Curse of La Llorona’ Deserves La Chancla

Here’s a hypothetical: if you were given the task of crafting a movie centered around a myth from Latinx culture, what would you do? Would…
‘Captain Marvel’: Feminism Lacking in Intersectionality

We can ask a new question: is “Captain Marvel” really all that intersectional?

Campus Life

No Diet, More Love: International No Diet Day & Be You Festival

It was a day of creativeness and self-empowerment. It was a celebration of diversity and love.
“Stacies!” Is a Grim Yet Honest Look at Adolescence in the Digital Age

A magical realism play that explores how to come of age while bathed in the light of a screen.
The Diversity of UCLA’s Diversity Requirement

The following article provides a brief commentary on UCLA’s diversity requirement and looks at one class offered through the program.
I Researched USAC and Here is What I Found

UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council elections are here, beginning Monday of Week 5, April 29. If you are anything like me, then you probably have…
What “Operation Varsity Blues” Reveals About Systemic Privilege in College Admissions

As students approach high school, a meritocratic arms race begins. Elite college preparatory schools, private tutors and college counselors, and expensive abroad programs and extracurriculars…
Events on Campus April 29 – May 9

UCLA is a campus full of diverse events, art exhibitions, and speakers. Here are some upcoming events that FEM’s Campus Life staff is looking forward…

Politics

The Crisis in Venezuela, and the Self-Determination of the Venezuelan People

The people of Venezuela have long awaited an opportunity to elect a leader through fair, democratic elections to the Presidency of Venezuela. On January 23,…
The New Pedagogy: Dangerous Changes in the Brazilian Education System

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has introduced new reforms to the national education system that could have dangerous consequences for the future of the country.
The Border Wall Conflict is Far From Over

It is unconstitutional and dangerous for Trump to declare a national emergency when no such one exists.
Shamila Batohi: To What Extent Can The Experienced Female Advocate Help South African Women Strengthen Feminism

Shamila Batohi was appointed as the new head of South African National Prosecuting Authority on December 4 by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The experienced advocate, who…
UTLA Strike: Wins and What Comes Next

It will continue to be students, teachers, psychologists, nurses, librarians, and custodians who show up for public education, within a district which is paid for…
Justices of Injustice: Supreme Court Approves Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

The Court’s approval of Trump’s ban further perpetuates the hateful perception of trans people as burdens. To refuse to hear cases against the ban and…

Dialogue and Opinion

Free, Free Palestine: The History and Implications of Israeli Occupation

As a community, we must start to inform the general public about the implications of Israeli apartheid and standing in solidarity with Palestinian-led movements for…
The Failed Revolution Club

The Revolution Club, a communist organization in the school of Bob Avakian, uses the tactics of protest and disruption to advance its goal of radical…
Ecofeminism: An Incomplete Analysis of Climate Change

Ecofeminism is a form of white feminism, which relies too heavily on a single axis of patriarchy and fails to view environmental issues through an…
Feminist Theorist Thursdays: bell hooks

Image from Wikimedia Commons. bell hooks is a Black feminist theorist, professor, and cultural critic who has authored over 30 books, in addition to dozens…
It’s Time to Stop Turning a Blind Eye Toward Sweatshop Labor

Image by Jenny Dodge. When Nike released its controversial advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick, the NFL player who began kneeling during national anthems to protest racial…
Piercing Politics: Deconstructing Beauty Norms

Design by Emily Farag. “Are we actually going through with this?” asked my longtime partner in crime, Kelli Hsu, as we strutted into Santa Monica’s Ancient…

Arts and Creative

Iranian Artist Shirin Neshat to Open Exhibition at the Broad

The exhibition opening at the Broad, Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun Again, will be a chronological display of Neshat’s artistic career. It will…
Day

Image by Emma Lehman some days, I swing in loveI wake up and paint sunshine on my bedroom wallsI hold her hand and what I…
An Artist’s Inspiration: When Hispanic and Rock Culture Mix

I interviewed Grace, a young Chicana artist, seeking to gain an understanding on her source of inspiration for her sketches and paintings. She explains how…
Vulnerability Is Pleasure Is Pleasure Is Pain

what do you want them to feel you ask as i rip out clumped thoughts from my hairbrush it doesn’t matter i say this is…
Remembering Baya, the Algerian Artist Who Inspired Picasso

Her work caught the attention of the surrealists, who claimed her dreamlike art as part of their movement, as well as the fascination of Pablo…
Twisted Roots

Image by Melissa Niles To those who can pass on byEverything seems the sameStucco and picket fences all alignedThe same thoughts wired in our brains…