by Alice Wilder Once upon a time, my friends and I had to deal with a male teacher who liked to tell girls what to do with their bodies. One of my friends got a “talking to” about her dress, even though she was within the dress code, because–and this is a direct quote–“teenage boys…
by Alice Wilder Last week, I was invited to a screening of the documentary Miss Representation at Queens University in Charlotte. Before the event, I got a chance to interview Dr. Alexis Carreiro, a professor at Queens and the editor of the Journal of Digital and Media Literacy. Before the screening we talked about reality…
by Alice Wilder Happy Galentine’s Day everyone! On the absolute best day of the year, my gift to you is an interview with Aisha Muharrar, a truly awesome lady. Aisha was a published author at 17 with More than a Label, a book about the effects of social labels on teens. She went on to…
Ed. note: in honor of this season of Thanksgiving, some members of the SPARKteam asked to take this week to publicly reflect on their experiences with SPARK and their fellow activists. We cried a lot reading these. We love you, SPARKteam. xoxo by Alice Wilder This Thanksgiving, I’m giving thanks for many of the incredible…
Our fourth Teen Vogue homework assignment comes from SPARK blogger Ria, who analyzed the March 2008 issue of Teen Vogue. Seem kind of in the distant past? NAH–when we met with them, they gave us issues dating back to 2008 to study up on, so we figure this is fair game! Here’s what she found,…
As promised, this week we’re bringing you our “homework” as requested by Teen Vogue. Today, SPARK activist Alice looks through the September issue of Teen Vogue for diverse, unretouched photos of models and girls. But even with Selena Gomez on the cover, this issue just doesn’t quite make the grade: Counting repeat images (so, multiple…
by Alice Wilder When an assistant principal at my school said that wearing leggings might prompt construction workers to sexually assault us, my friend Catherine stood up and called him out. Instead of having a dialogue, he took her aside and told her she was wrong. He wanted her to stop speaking out. But she…
Is the word “bitch” acceptable? Kanye West posted a flurry of tweets on September 2nd examining his use of the word. He just wanted to think out loud with us today. So Kanye, here’s what we, the girls of SPARK, think about the word “bitch.” YingYing: As with any other word, “bitch” can only have…