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by Daphne

What a strange concept virginity is. The idea behind such a status can be mind-boggling. How do we give meaning to virginity individually? There are a multitude of differing notions on which activities one can lose their virginity doing. The dictionary defines virginity as never having experienced intercourse. However, many would interpret it otherwise. Certain sexual acts would be included and others would be excluded. The definition of virginity is socially and contextually constructed, therefore the very conception of virginity is culturally based, not something one can reliably base on fact or certainty.

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by Talia Jae Potter

–verb (used with object), -dled, -dling.
1. to handle roughly.
2. to move by human strength, without the use of mechanical appliances.
(Dictionary.com)

Pronunciation: \ˈman-ˌhan-dəl\
Function: transitive verb
Date: 1851
1 : to handle roughly
2 : to move or manage by human force
(Merriam-Webster dictionary)

Wow. I was just pondering the word manhandle. What does it mean, where does it come from, why do we use it. I have used it. I looked the word up in a few dictionaries and found approximately the same answer in every one. “To handle roughly.”

What does this mean? It’s a very simple example of ways that society have used a term to consciously, or subconsciously, ingrain the idea of what a man should be. I know it may seem completely ridiculous to look at a word like this and analyze it but I do. This is telling men, yet again, that to be a man you must be rough, strong, dominating, etc… At least this is my perspective of what it is saying in the undertones. The fact that this word has been in the dictionary and used commonly for over 150 years is amazing.

I believe men have so much to live up to in order to fit into society’s idea of what a man should be that it is really detrimental to men as much as to women. If a man isn’t overtly strong, rough-and-tough, dominating, overt, boastful, then is he not a man? Of course not. But what does that tell men anyway? That in order to be seen as a man in society as well as to women they must fit into this very tight, tiny box.

Sexism is hurting women in so many ways but it is also hurting men just the same. It is a shame.

To members of the student body, student groups, and community of Portland State University:

Consolidate Women’s Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, Native American Studies, and Black studies into one school?

As you may know, Portland State administrators are potentially planning to merge our departments. Many of us have been receiving conflicting information and some of us have received none at all. It is time for us to come together as students in coalition and stand up for our rights!

Come get the facts, come share your voice, and come to unite in action to keep our four departments strong!

What: PSU Community Meeting
When: Friday May 8th, 2:00-4:00PM
Where: PSU Women’s Resource Center (1802 SW 10th & Montgomery)
Why: Our money, our education, our departments. Coalition not consolidation!

Whether or not you are a student of Women’s Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, Native American Studies, Black Studies, or simply concerned about this situation, we invite you to be part of this dialogue.

Please check out our blog for updates regarding this situation:
http://www.autonomypsu.blogspot.com/

by Talia Jae Potter

The measure of a woman?

I walked into the Women’s Center a week ago with Ellie and Deborah and our director pulled us over to the computer to show us a video. She told us how they had been talking about it on The Today Show or some other morning entertainment/news show. Apparently Burger King is promoting Spongebob Squarepants and has released a new commercial to hype the toys they pass out with their version of a happy meal. Spongebob is one of my daughter’s favorite cartoons.

We pulled up the video and hit play. Read the rest of this entry »

by Abby Yates

As many of you know I have been looking forward to Bike Back The Night (BBTN) for…well, since last year’s bike ride. For those of you who don’t know what BBTN is, it’s an annual social justice community bike ride held on the same night as Take Back The Night (a world-wide rally/vigil/march) and is hosted by Portland Women’s Crisis Line to raise awareness about sexual assault. Read the rest of this entry »

by Talia Jae Potter

As an active student leader on my campus at PCC I have noticed quite a few interesting responses to our activities and use of words. Our director told us this job wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, she straight out said it would be hard and there would be name-calling, stereotypes, and general repercussions for working at a Women’s Center.

People like to take what they think they know and fill in the blanks. A center full of girls that promotes women and has clubs such as Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) and United Sexualities? They must be a bunch of crazy lesbians who burn bras and hate men. The Vagina Monologues?? Or more likely they would say, “The uh… the …. those monologues?? What is it called??” Is the play just talking vaginas? Is it women dressed as vaginas? Are men allowed? I have actually been asked all these questions. Read the rest of this entry »

by Talia Jae Potter

At PCC we have made T-shirts to hang in the main walkway for a week. The t-shirts are messages by women about their own personal experience with some form of sexual abuse or for someone close to them who has had an experience, surviver or not. Its an amazing project to be a part of and I used some club time to make t-shirts with my fellow student parents. It was moving, overwhelming, and cathartic to be a part of these women expressing themselves. I also made my own t-shirt about my own experience with sexual assault. Read the rest of this entry »

by mae stephenson

This is sort of cheating. I actually snapped this picture (but still with my cell phone!) months ago because I just couldn’t believe the sexism before my eyes and wanted to show it to everyone I knew. You could call it my original Snapshot. Nonetheless, this was snapped downtown, near PSU, on 4th Ave. It’s an ad that actually extends into the window of a Trimet bus– something I’d never seen before– depicting a woman desperately reaching for a giant diamond ring; it almost appears as though the woman is reaching from a seat inside of the bus.

The first university I ever went to was a private Christian school in Seattle, where a common phrase to hear around the dorm, in which everyone under 21 was mandated to live, was “Ring by Spring!” This was what I remembered when I saw this ad.

This ad not only perpetuates negative stereotypes about women desiring eternal attachment to men and a materialistic obsession with a diamond ring, but in turn, perpetuates the stereotype that men have no interest in commitment and that it’s a woman’s job to tame them into civilized, religiously sanctioned marriages. These things are not only sexist, but grossly heterocentric. Read the rest of this entry »

by Talia Jae Potter

You all amaze me. Even if you’re not on the tree you are part of my strength.

I wrote this for a class final. The photo is the tree I had to create, then write a short summary about what it meant to me. This is as short as I could get.

When I learned that we would be making a kinship tree about important women to us I was ecstatic. I love art, powerful women, and self expression. Once I started making mine though, I was having a hard time narrowing down who would actually be on my tree. There are so many women in history, in my past, and in the present that inspire, motivate and move me. After a bit of research and deep thought I narrowed it down. Read the rest of this entry »

Radical Ecofeminist Lecture/ Workshop is coming the PSU’s Women’s Resource Center!
Where: PSU’s Women’s Resource Center on 10th & Montgomery
When: April 21st, 2009 5-8pm

What: Last Spring, two womyn activists from the Portland Animal Defense League,
Rising Tide North America and Cascadia Earth First! went on a westcoast
feminist tour with an interactive and engaging presentation, with a stop
at Portland State University, booked by campus activists. Because of the
dialogue from this specific stop, we were asked to re-engage with the
presentation, this time with the Women’s Resource Center.

We are offering a two hour presentation on radical
eco-feminism and environmental ethics. Eco-feminism is the social movement
that regards the oppression of women and nature as interconnected. Radical
ecofeminist theorists have extended their analysis to consider the
interconnections between sexism, the domination of nature (including
animals), and also racism and social inequalities. Consequently it is now
better understood as a movement working against the interconnected
oppressions of gender, race, class and nature.

This is a two part workshop which dives into recognizing the need for
radical analysis over reformist thinking- working to drastically change
the system rather than working within it. The workshop employs current
feminist pedagogy-such as a mind map, and is dependent on audience
participation.

wrc@pdx.edu
www.wrc.pdx.edu
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