by Culley Schultz The 1964 children’s film Mary Poppins featured children acting like children. Nowadays, it can be difficult to find a child or young woman in a movie that is acting true to herself, yet also embodying the character she plays. Often, these young actresses get swept up in show business politics, paparazzi shots,…
by Diana Martinez This may be a touchy subject for many of our SPARK readers, since Glee is a popular favorite amongst many of us. I, too, am a fan of Glee. I love musicals, I love drama, and above all, I LOVE Jane Lynch. But after the recent episode featuring alcohol use and abuse,…
by Melissa Campbell Last month, thousands of people gathered in NYC’s Foley Square to rally against HR 3, the bill that calls for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. HR 3 is not just an attack on Planned Parenthood, but on the health of women and girls across the United States. The crowd was, to say…
By Stephanie Cole In September 2010, TLC unveiled a new domestic reality show called “Sister Wives.” TLC seems to have hit on an exploitive niche. The network is the most consistent source of reality shows that showcase families or people whose domestic lives are hardly very interesting beyond their defining quirk. “Sister Wives” is no…
Nadia Bourne is a slam poet and activist currently studying at St. John’s University in New York. Catoptrophobia: Fear of Mirrors was written for her younger sister, Jasmin, a high school freshman. “She represents, for me, the very audience we are attempting to affect: the cost, the risk, the worth in this effort,” Bourne said.…
Our names are Olivia and Elizabeth. In December, our class launched a social justice project and divided into small groups to learn about and work on behalf of important civil and human rights issues in our world. Our group chose women’s rights with a focus on the prostitution and sexualization of women in our media.…
by Melissa Campbell Let me tell you a story: I was sitting in my school’s café the other day, dutifully shoveling a Chipotle vegetarian burrito into my face (you gotta get the vegetarian because it comes with free guac!) when I overheard a girl at the end of my table say to her companion, “I…
by Stephanie Cole The edgy clothing company Diesel launched a new ad campaign this summer titled “Be Stupid,” showing models in new and “creative” ways to expose their bodies. One shows a woman lifting her shirt for a security camera. Another had a model sitting in a sort-of reverse piggyback on a man’s shoulders, so…