In a bit of a F-U to heteronormative cultural norms, I replace most instances of the term “premarital sex” in my thesis with “non-marital sex”. Because who the hell says that the sex my friends and I are having now is pre-anything?
(Especially when some of them can’t get married.)
Harvard's New Policy Covers Transgender Health -
In 2006, Harvard University modified its non-discrimination policy to include gender identity and expression (the latter protects EVERYONE on campus, not just those who identify as transgender). Four years later, the school is taking a must-needed step forward by covering top surgeries for transgender employees and students. Before this, trans members of the Harvard community were much like women under a Stupak-ized version of healthcare: equal payers, but not equal beneficiaries. Of course, there is still so much more work to be done, but this move is a great step forward.
Shoutouts to the amazing Trans Task Force and UHS’ Sara Kimmel, who were the powerhouses behind this change!
Currently thesising from bed. I have to turn this in 48 hours from … now. Oh. My. God.
Feminism Goes on Display in Adams -
The Crimson writes up a rundown of Harvard’s first-ever Feminist Coming Out Day, which kicked off Women’s Week 2010. It was awesome, and I’m sure someone has photos of me running around wildly and being super frazzled. (I have done far more articulate interviews when my brain wasn’t thesis-fried.)
Happy Women’s Week!
Tomorrow is Harvard University’s first-ever Feminist Coming Out Day!
I wish I could tell you what the heck I was thinking when I thought it’d be a good idea to plan an event for THREE DAYS before my thesis deadline. Yeah, I know. Nonetheless, I will be donning my “This Is What A Feminist Looks Like” shirt and button with pride tomorrow.
Come and check out the reception we’ll be hosting for the Feminist Portrait Project, featuring the many faces of feminism at Harvard. It takes place at Adams Art Space from 8-10pm.
(Brought to you by the awesome kids in the Radcliffe Union of Students and the Queer Students & Allies)
On my list of travel-related things to look forward to post-thesis:
And that’s it! I probably won’t leave town again for the rest of the semester, since this is my last chance to fully indulge in being a college student. I really look forward to getting shit-faced with friends for the remainder of senior spring.
The first empirical chapter of my thesis is entitled “From Veiled Virgins To ‘Zipless Fucks’: The Historical Evolution of Sexual Norms.”
I kind of want to make this the title of my actual thesis, but I’m not really sure how that’ll go over.
P.S. I totally just checked to see if Erica Jong is on Twitter. Alas, she is not.
Oxytocin: The Pseudoscience of the Hook-Up Hormone -
In which I explain how abstinence proponents turn completely legit scientific studies into junk science. Their conclusions? Don’t have sex.
This article is amazing and going in my thesis.
In light of Women’s Week at Harvard, I wanted to share this fascinating article, titled “Birth of a Feminist”, from the Harvard Gazette written in 2005 by Ann Shapiro, Radcliffe Class of 1958.
I think we rarely hear about Harvard’s rich history — nevertheless the history of Radcliffe (what is now the Quad) — so reading this article was very illuminating. There are some great lines - the author is a great narrator - so below are some gems I particularly enjoyed:“Both Harvard and Radcliffe had elaborate parietal rules to assist us. At Radcliffe we had a limited number of ‘one o’clocks’ and we dutifully signed in at the end of the evening. It is hard to imagine what lewd activities all this prevented, but there seemed to be tacit agreement that as long as we were locked in the dormitories by 1 a.m., all would be well.”“Although I became fairly adept at keeping my blouse buttoned even amidst the periodic fumblings in the back seat of a car, I was almost defeated one warm spring evening by a wise Harvard junior who accused me of ‘bourgeois morality.’ Having just read Karl Marx, I knew enough to eschew everything bourgeois, but my mother had not lectured me in vain about used women. I won the debate in the back seat of the car, but I lost my Harvard junior.”“Those of us who forgot that we were not permitted to enter Lamont, the undergraduate library in Harvard Yard, were unceremoniously expelled from the premises as ‘trespassers.’”“At Harvard, the B School was the only one that actually closed its doors to women, although the Harvard Business School Wives Club awarded its members a Ph.T. (Putting Hubby Through) diploma, a mimeographed document suitable for display on the refrigerator, not in the executive suite.”