The horrifying middle school classroom paranoia that your period has started fades away mostly in high school, and nearly completely at an institution like Smith. However, I think we need to do more than simply remove the stigma around periods. Smith College, which has posited itself as a progressive institution for gender and sexuality has to understand that accessibility remains a serious issue for menstrual hygiene.
Posts published in “Opinions”
Universities often talk about providing support to international students, particularly because many of us have flown halfway across the world to a foreign place where nothing feels familiar. This year, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, this feeling is even more intense.
This Tuesday, I, a twenty-something lesbian, got my first brazilian wax. I reached this decision after a great deal of deliberation — is it “un-feminist” to get a bikini wax? By paying someone to tear out my pubic hair, am I perpetuating pedophilic Eurocentric beauty standards? Will it hurt a lot and just lead to me getting a bunch of ingrown hairs? But eventually I decided that getting waxed is an experience, and I’ll try anything once.
The highly anticipated 2021 GRAMMY awards took place last March, but the much less hyped up Latin GRAMMY nominations were announced last Tuesday for their Nov. award ceremony. Nominees include fan favorites like Karol G and Rauw Alejandro alongside newer artists like Paloma Mami and Bizarrap; a fine lineup that makes me wonder why none of our favorite Latinx artists can make it onto the “real” GRAMMYs.
This September, I was lucky enough to be the breaker-upper or the broken-up-ee three times. This has jump started my romantic career. I went from having one breakup under my belt to four, all in the course of four weeks. I can now scientifically declare myself the Breakup Queen.
My last relationship ended a few months before the pandemic started. Just as I decided to “put myself back out there,” suddenly there was nowhere to go. But now, as the “unprecedented times” excuse looks increasingly flimsy, I am forced to confront the harsh reality that if I want to date someone again I need to do the unthinkable: go on dates.
In mid-September, more than 10,000 Haitians appeared at the U.S.-Mexico border to seek refuge in the U.S. from their unstable country. Images circulated online of U.S. border agents on horseback, whipping migrants as if they are herding cattle. As they attempt to ward off and punish the refugees for presuming that they have any right to belong on American land, it enrages me to see such a horrifying and irredeemable act of violence directed towards migrants who are simply searching for safety and stability.
R&B music star R. Kelly was finally convicted for sexual assault, sex trafficking and sexual abuse of underage women Sept. 27 of this year. He faces life in prison and although it appears some justice has been served, I’m still skeptical. If this case is like so many others, the reality of this sentence will probably be a short period of public punishment before he’s given an ankle bracelet and sent home.
How do you begin the opinion piece about sexual assault on a college campus? Maybe, if you’re like me, you’ve had a decade or so of practice in the area. You know the talking points by heart– you know that assault is especially pervasive among college students. That universities tend to prioritize their donors, not their survivors. Maybe you’re like 27% of my peers: you’re practiced at managing the aftershocks of your own assault as you navigate higher education.
Every September I become acutely aware of my Jewish identity. I have to make the choice between my religion and my academic career. Every year academics win.