by Annemarie McDaniel As the nation watched the Steubenville rape case come to a close, we also watched something else happen: the coverage of multiple news sources sympathized with the convicted rapists while ignoring the narrative of Jane Doe. The good old Internet has exploded, calling out how media’s coverage was offensive to the victim…
by Anya Josephs Seth McFarlane has been repeatedly called an “edgy” choice for an Oscars host. The Onion brands itself as a daring, controversial form of satire, steadfastly refusing ‘to knuckle under to pressure from the community.’ Unfortunately, there is nothing edgy, nothing daring, and nothing unique about an hours-long fest of sexist, racist, and objectifying “jokes,” comments,…
From Beyonce to Rihanna to Taylor Swift to Adele, the pop music landscape is not exactly hurting for women right now. But we could always use a few more ladies killin’ it in the music scene, right?! Some of the SPARKteam came together to talk about their fave female musicians, songwriters, singers, and female-fronted bands,…
By Madeleine Nesbitt Ah, yes, the Doctor. He’s a time-travelling alien (Time Lord, to be precise) who has been hanging around on the BBC since the 1960s. Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, and the 21st century version of the show continues the unfortunate tradition of the Doctor’s companion being female, subordinate, and often…
By Crystal Ogar There are a number of issues when it comes to the casting of The Hunger Games. When we first meet Katniss, the main character in the books, she is described as having straight black hair, usually in a braid down her back, olive skin, and gray eyes. Funnily enough, Gale (her best…
The “Barbie: I Can Be…” series of dolls is an admirable project if you look at its mission statement alone: “Barbie® I Can Be…™ dolls and accessories empower girls to play out different roles and “try on” fabulous careers.” Awesome, right? Who wouldn’t be behind diversifying the career pool in girls’ minds in their crucial…
By Caroline Framke The newest high school comedy to attempt Mean Girls status is Easy A, which takes the plotline of moral righteousness from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s nineteenth century novel The Scarlet Letter and transplants it to a present-day California high school. Olive Pendergast (the seriously likable Emma Stone) is a nonentity at her high school,…
This summer I traveled to Colombia and stayed in Cali, a city known for being the country’s “capital of beautiful women.” Knowing this I was even more intrigued to see how gender roles and representation play themselves out.…