objectification

When I was 16 years old I took a hostess job at a breastaurant. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

What I Learned About Feminism While Working At A Breastaurant

When I was 16 years old I took a hostess job at a breastaurant — one of those chain restaurants, like Hooters, known for large-breasted servers.

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"We’re painfully aware of the fact that we’re “the only one” in the room, or one of very few. Don’t make it worse." Image: Author

3 Ways To Avoid Tokenizing People (Because I'm Sick Of It)

It’s like being a deer in the headlights. You’re in imminent danger. You know it. But you can’t move. You can’t speak. No reaction whatsoever. You just stand or sit there, frozen in time, waiting for the crash.

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The reason I love and respect the women of the show is their openness and hilariousness about sex. Image: MTV UK.

The Girls Of Geordie Shore: Unlikely Paragons Of Sex Positivity

Many criticize Geordie Shore as entertainment in its lowest form: fights, drinking, people falling over, nudity, swearing, and “bucking” (sexual intercourse). Yet, to me, it is so much more than that. As a fully qualified human woman, I can’t help myself analyzing the show through feminist-tinted glasses. The decisions and attitudes of the “family” represent, to me, a new kind of feminism.

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I don't want to be that good girl anymore. I don't want to feel ashamed or shamed by someone else's shame. Image: Farah Beaini.

I've Been Harassed Again And Again. Being A 'Good Girl' Stops Me From Calling It Out.

In my sickest moments, supposedly in the safe hands of health care professionals, I have had a chiro compare helping me undress to ‘unwrapping a gift’; a physio make sexual innuendos about the stockings I had to slip out of for treatment. Again, despite the shame, I remained polite, paying the receptionist for a transaction that left me sick to the core.

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I somehow manage to forget from one summer to the next just how frustrating it can be to merely exist in public spaces when it’s warm outside. Image: Yegide Matthews/ Unsplash.

Summer Shouldn't Be Open Season On Women's Bodies

I decided to spend a few hours running errands in the summer sunshine while audaciously wearing a loose-fitting baby doll dress, comfy flats, and a denim vest. Apparently my need to keep my legs ventilated served as a Bat-Signal to the fine men of Gotham, who were drawn by its golden glow to yell stuff at me every five minutes.

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I wasn’t simply an accessory to misogynistic behavior — I was actively participating in it. Image: Thinkstock.

'One Of The Guys': On Cool Girls And Internalized Misogyny

I felt unique in my passion for martial arts, my affinity for Call of Duty, my go-with-the-flow attitude toward boyish adventures. I wanted to be “one of the guys,” while still retaining the distinction of my sexuality. I longed to be the quintessential cool girl — desirable yet approachable. But in retrospect, all that really amounted to internalized misogyny.

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What's worse than being ostracized or criticized because you look a certain way is when others form extremely biased judgments on your character or reinforce stereotypes or double-standards because of how you present yourself. Image: Valerie Bevilacqua.

I'm Body-Shamed For Wearing The EXACT Same Clothes As Thin Women

As a curvaceous 27-year-old who developed early, I was constantly reprimanded for my selection in attire. Whether I was complimented by strangers or nagged by loved ones, one thing was made certain: my well-endowed "assets" caught both positive and negative attention, even when it was out of my control.

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Oh Hell No! Caitlin Stasey Shamed For Refusing To Pose In Underwear

Need a publication to boycott?

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