In January, the documentary Surviving R. Kelly aired on Lifetime. It presented a searing look at how the singer and songwriter has allegedly sexually abused dozens of teenage girls over the course of his career. In its final episode, the docuseries examined how Kelly is alleged to be holding several women captive through a combination of emotional and physical abuse. Surviving R. Kelly exposes an uncomfortable truth about American society. Although celebrities are often ab

A little over a week ago, the nation watched in horror as a collection of neo Nazis and white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. Chanting Nazi slogans and “you will not replace us,” the alleged rally to protest the removal of a Confederate war statue quickly descended into violence and chaos. One of the white supremacists attending the rally rammed his car into counter protesters, killing 32 year old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. We have written befo

Over the past month, we have explored one particular aspect of intersectionality: race. But race is just one way that women can experience either further oppression or greater privilege. Intersectionality, a concept first introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, encourages feminists to consider how there are many issues that impact women on top of sexism — including race, sexuality, gender identity, religion, disability status, and age. To include all women in our st

Sojourner Truth, a civil and women's rights activist, delivered a speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851 that has come to be known as, “Ain’t I a Woman?” In her address, Truth pointed out the inconsistency of claiming that women were physically inferior to men when female slaves were forced to do backbreaking labor that was supposedly “men’s work.” Truth not only critiqued both racism and sexism in one speech, but she also did so through connecting these two for

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate and acknowledge the accomplishments of Black Americans throughout history. It is also a time where we should consider our own role in the fight for racial justice and equality in this country. Feminism is rooted in the idea of equality: that men and women should be equal, and that women should be afforded the same basic rights as men. While gender equality is an important aspect of feminism, it isn’t and should not be the

When the reboot of the 1980’s classic Ghostbusters was announced last year, the backlash was immediate. Many proclaimed that this remake would “ruin their childhood,” in large part because the main characters in the 2016 version are all women. The trailer for the movie is the most disliked video on YouTube, thanks to a coordinated campaign by Men’s Rights Activists to slam the film. But for one of the movie’s stars, Leslie Jones, the criticism has taken an especially hatef