Feminism Ideology And The Wrath It Attracts: What Happened When I started A Feminist Society At School

I am 17 years old and I am a feminist. I believe in gender equality, and am under no illusion about how far we are from achieving it. Identifying as a feminist has become particularly important to me since a school trip I took to Cambridge last year.

A group of men in a car started wolf-whistling and shouting sexual remarks at my friends and me. I asked the men if they thought it was appropriate for them to be abusing a group of 17-year-old girls. The response was furious. The men started swearing at me, called me a bitch and threw a cup coffee over me.

For those men we were just legs, breasts and pretty faces. Speaking up shattered their fantasy, and they responded violently to my voice.
Shockingly, the boys in my peer group have responded in exactly the same way to my feminism.
After returning from this school trip I started to notice how much the girls at my school suffer because of the pressures associated with our gender. Many of the girls have eating disorders, some have had peers heavily pressure them into sexual acts, others suffer in emotionally abusive relationships where they are constantly told they are worthless.

I decided to set up a feminist society at my school, which has previously been named one of "the best schools in the country", to try to tackle these issues. However, this was more difficult than I imagined as my all-girls school was hesitant to allow the society. After a year-long struggle, the feminist society was finally ratified.
What I hadn't anticipated on setting up the feminist society was a massive backlash from the boys in my wider peer circle. They took to Twitter and started a campaign of abuse against me. I was called a "feminist bitch", accused of "feeding [girls] bullshit", and in a particularly racist comment was told "all this feminism bull won't stop uncle Sanjit from marrying you when you leave school".

Our feminist society was derided with retorts such as, "FemSoc, is that for real? #DPMO" [don't piss me off] and every attempt we made to start a serious debate was met with responses such as "feminism and rape are both ridiculously tiring".
The more girls started to voice their opinions about gender issues, the more vitriolic the boys' abuse became. One boy declared that "bitches should keep their bitchiness to their bitch-selves #BITCH" and another smugly quipped, "feminism doesn't mean they don't like the D, they just haven't found one to satisfy them yet." Any attempt we made to stick up for each other was aggressively shot down with "get in your lane before I par [ridicule] you too", or belittled with remarks like "cute, they got offended".

I fear that many boys of my age fundamentally don't respect women. They want us around for parties, banter and most of all sex. But they don't think of us as intellectual equals, highlighted by accusations of being hysterical and over sensitive when we attempted to discuss serious issues facing women.
The situation recently reached a crescendo when our feminist society decided to take part in a national project called Who Needs Feminism. We took photos of girls standing with a whiteboard on which they completed the sentence "I need feminism because...", often delving into painful personal experiences to articulate why feminism was important to them.
When we posted these pictures online we were subject to a torrent of degrading and explicitly sexual comments.

We were told that our "militant vaginas" were "as dry as the Sahara desert", girls who complained of sexual objectification in their photos were given ratings out of 10, details of the sex lives of some of the girls were posted beside their photos, and others were sent threatening messages warning them that things would soon "get personal".

We, a group of 16-, 17- and 18-year-old girls, have made ourselves vulnerable by talking about our experiences of sexual and gender oppression only to elicit the wrath of our male peer group. Instead of our school taking action against such intimidating behaviour, it insisted that we remove the pictures. Without the support from our school, girls who had participated in the campaign were isolated, facing a great deal of verbal abuse with the full knowledge that there would be no repercussions for the perpetrators.

It's been over a century since the birth of the suffragette movement and boys are still not being brought up to believe that women are their equals. Instead we have a whole new battleground opening up online where boys can attack, humiliate, belittle us and do everything in their power to destroy our confidence before we even leave high school.

It is appalling that an institution responsible for preparing young women for adult life has actively opposed our feminist work. I feel like the school is not supporting its girls in a crucial part of their evolution into being strong, assertive, confident women. If that's the case for a well-established girls' school, what hope does this generation of women have in challenging the misogyny that still pervades our society?

If you thought the fight for female equality was over, I'm sorry to tell you that a whole new round is only just beginning.
• Altrincham Grammar made the following comment about the feminist society:
"Altrincham Grammar School for Girls has supported Jinan in setting up the society, providing administrative assistance, guidance and proactively suggesting opportunities to help members to explore this issue which they feel passionately about.

"We are committed to protecting the safety and welfare of our students, which extends to their safety online. We consider very carefully any societies that the school gives its name and support to.
"As such, we will take steps to recommend students remove words or images that they place online that could compromise their safety or that of other students at the school."

Personality Of The Week: Natalie Dormer

Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress of film, television, and theatre. She is best known for her roles as Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors and as Margaery Tyrell in the 2011 HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.

Six months after graduating from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Dormer auditioned and won the role of Victoria in Casanova with Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller. This was her film debut and it was released in 2005. The director, Lasse Hallström, was so impressed with Dormer's comedic timing that he had the script writer expand her part. On the strength of her audition for the role and her performance, she secured a three-film deal with Disney Touchstone which was never exercised.
In 2005, Dormer also had a bit part in Distant Shores playing that of a Mobile Woman. After the filming of Casanova, Dormer was out of work for nine months and has said that "It was the best lesson I could have had in the first 12 months of my career". In 2006, Dormer guest-starred in an episode of Rebus entitled "The Falls", playing the character Phillippa Balfour.

In 2007 and 2008, she played Anne Boleyn in the first two seasons of The Tudors, for which she received positive reviews. Robert Abele of LA Weekly wrote, "Natalie Dormer presents a painterly exquisiteness and complexity in her portrayal of Anne Boleyn...[her] enigmatic, time-halting loveliness is a boon for The Tudors, and damn near worth losing your head over." After her character's death at the end of the second season, The Boston Herald noted that "Dormer's departure from 'The Tudors' leaves a void." Dormer is, in fact, descended of the British noblewoman Jane Dormer, a lady-in-waiting to Mary I. Jane Dormer's memoirs contain some evidence on Boleyn's actual age, which is still a source of much academic dispute.

A self-proclaimed poker lover, Dormer took part in the 2008 PartyPoker.com Women's World Open in London, where she came in second to Emma Kennedy in the Celebrity Heat. Dormer has stated that Cate Blanchett has been an influence in her career as an actress. On the subject of supernatural beliefs, she was quoted as saying: "I've got an open mind. I say I'm an atheist but I wouldn't mind being visited by a ghost". She is also a member of the London Fencing Academy. FOR MORE ON HER AND TO VIEW MORE OF HER SEXY, BEAUTIFUL AND VERY ATTRACTIVE PHOTOS, CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW

Lamar Odom’s Mistress Apologizes To Khloe Kardashian, But Gives Advice: Get A Divorce, I’m Not The Only Woman!

Lamar Odom‘s mistress has some advice for his wife Khloe Kardashian: Divorce him!Jennifer Richardson — who claims she held a year long affair with Lamar — opened up to Star magazine about her relationship with the NBA pro, and even offered up an apology to Khloe because she says she can sympathize with her.“I’m sorry,” Jennifer, 29, said.

Lamar Odom‘s mistress has some advice for his wife Khloe Kardashian: Divorce him!
Jennifer Richardson — who claims she held a yearlong affair with Lamar — opened up to Star magazine about her relationship with the NBA pro, and even offered up an apology to Khloe because she says she can sympathize with her.
“I’m sorry,” Jennifer, 29, said.
“Lamar led me to believe his marriage was just a business arrangement.”


“Lamar led me to believe his marriage was just a business arrangement.”
Even worse, Jennifer claims she’s not the only woman that Lamar has cheated on Khloe with, and she wants her to know it.

“I can tell Khloe that I’m not the only woman; there have been many. I just happened to be around the longest,” Jennifer told the magazine.

“My advice for Khloe would be to get a divorce. If she thinks he’s going to change, she’s mistaken.”
As RadarOnline.com exclusively reported, despite the explosive news of Jennifer’s affair with Lamar, Khloe still wants to have a baby with him.

Lemar Odom And Khloe KArdashian

The cheating allegations, “of course bother Khloe tremendously. She has trust issues with Lamar and was absolutely livid when he went to a strip joint earlier this year. However, Khloe still wants to have a baby with him. She feels that once they have a baby together, it will just bring them closer,” a source told Radar.

“The fertility issues have definitely taken a toll on the couple’s sex life because Khloe is really strict about having sex when she is ovulating. It’s become clinical, and the romance is on the back burner because Khloe is having a very hard time getting pregnant.”

Khloe, in a very un-Kardashian move, has remained silent about the affair allegations.

Magnificient: Facebook pioneer, Sean Parker Marries Singer In Dramatic $9 Million Wedding (PHOTOS)

MARK SELIGER

Alexandra Helen Lenas and Sean Nicholas Parker pose for their wedding photo in a romantic, magical setting at The Ventana Inn in Big Sur, Calif.
He’s gone from Facebook to a wedding book.

Social media genius Sean Parker, who created Napster and was founding president of Facebook en route to amassing a $2 billion fortune, permanently friended Alexandra Helen Lenas Saturday, tying the knot in front of 300 close friends and family members in what one Parker associate described as a “romantic, magical” setting in a forest behind the Ventana Inn in Big Sur.

“People entered down a long trail and came to a big gate and entered this other world in a forest there,” says one insider of the $9 million affair attended by Sting and Trudie Styler, Sean Lennon, Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell, Newark mayor Cory Booker and actress Allison Williams.
“It was almost out of a fairy tale,” another attendee gushed.

JASONNNNNN93 VIA INSTAGRAM

“Aftermath of Sean Parker’s Rehearsal dinner”

Sky-high redwoods served as a backdrop for the fancy fete, which was rumored to have been medieval-themed, though our insider assures us that was not the case at all. Instead, we’re told the entire ceremony was quite tasteful and elegant.

“It started late afternoon, then there was a sunset, then it went into dark,” says our spy. “There was extraordinary lighting. They made the forest come alive.”
The bride wore Elie Saab while the groom was outfitted by Academy Award winner Ngila Dickson, best known for her Oscar-winning work on “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”

 

 

MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES FOR SXSW

Sean Parker (left) has tied the knot with singer-songwriter Alexandra Helen Lenas at a magical ceremony in California.

Dickson also dressed the flower girls and Parker and Lenas’ 5-month-old daughter Winter. The ceremony was officiated by Unitarian Universalist minister John A. Buehrens and coordinated by a team including celebrity party planner Preston Bailey — who made headlines in February when he got married in a “King Kong”-themed ceremony that took place atop the Empire State Building and was presided over by Joan Rivers.
Parker, 33, and Lenas, 24, had been engaged for two years before officially changing their status to married. The pair maintain a residence on W. 10th St., but insiders say they were intent on marrying in Big Sur, where one of their wedding speakers, a local resident, thanked them for breathing needed revenue into the local economy.
TATUM DATUM: THEY’RE PARENTS
People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” is now also the sexiest dad alive. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum became proud parents on May 30 in London according to rival Us Weekly. Tatum, 33, and Dewan-Tatum, 32, reportedly met on the set of “Step Up” in 2006 and married in 2009. The mag was unable to confirm the newborn’s gender Sunday and reps for the pair didn’t respond to our request for comment.

KHLOE TRIMS HER SAILS
Why does Khloe Kardashian look so fit, trim and happy these days? We’re going to assume it’s due to a healthy diet of Confidenti@l. Sure we question her sister Kim’s bizarre “maternity wear” from time to time (as in almost every single day), but her big sis didn’t seem to hold any grudges May 29 while reading our Kimsanity! item about Kim K retweeting old photos of herself that were submitted by fans.

WE’RE SURE THERE WAS PUNCH
British boxing champion Amir Khan and his fiancée, Faryal Makhdoom, got hitched in New York Saturday in an extravagant wedding where guests were banned from taking photos. Sources tell Confidenti@l that all cell phones were confiscated when guests entered the Waldorf-Astoria for the $1 million ceremony. Khan wore a gold robe and carried a gold sword. He was later seen pulling the sword out to show boxing promoter Richard Schaefer. The couple will return to England for a second wedding before flying out to Kuala Lumpur for their honeymoon.

NO HORSING AROUND
New York’s beautiful set flocked to New Jersey for Saturday’s Sixth Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, which polo stud Nacho Figueras co-hosted, but couldn’t play, due to a recent injury. “It’s tough but so is life,” he told Confidenti@l. Adding sobriety to injury, Figueras couldn’t drink the sponsor’s free Champagne either. Citing his crutches, the Argentine jock joked, “I have to stay awake.” Matthew McConaughey, Ashley Olsen and Rosario Dawson were among the crowd of 7,000 that crossed the Hudson.

 

She Just Won't Stop! Kim Kardashian Plans To Eat Her Placenta To Look Younger!!!

Kim O' Kim. Kim Kardashian  is proving just how far she’ll go to keep that youthful glow.

She is all about keeping up with the trends and has taken many liberties in the name of staying young and beautiful.
Read further after the cut....


From acupuncture needles in her face to a vampire facial, this time the 32-year-old reality star said she’s interested in eating her placenta.

She made her intention known on the family show when she asked her Doctor: 
“Don’t you think it makes you look younger?” she asked her doctor on the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” season 8 premiere. “I really want to do it.”
Following stars like January Jones and Holly Madison, who also ate their placenta, Kardashian wants in on the after-birth practice that’s becoming increasingly more common.

The practice also reportedly helps with fighting postpartum depression and increasing milk production.

In her final phase of pregnancy, Kardashian also revealed that she’s having a baby girl with boyfriend Kanye West.

“I’m so excited I’m having a girl,” she said. “I know that’s really what Kanye wants — he wanted a little girl.”
Kardashian shared the good news at her “garden brunch” star-studded baby shower with celebs like Melanie Brown, Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, Nene Leaks and Maria Menounos in attendance.

It’s A girl! See Inside Kim Kardashian’s Star-Studded Baby Shower (PHOTOS)

Kim Kardashian celebrated impending motherhood with a star-studded baby shower in Beverly Hills on June 2, 2013. With celebrity friends, and the entire Kardashian brood on hand, the 32-year-old reality TV star partied with a “garden brunch.” The mom-to-be, who revealed on her show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” she is expecting a girl, mingled at the party in an ivory, flowing maternity dress.

 

 

 

Personality Of The Week: Chinedu Okoli a.k.a. Flavour N'abania

Chinedu Okoli a.k.a. Flavour N'abania who is well known for his ability to sing fluently in the Igbo language, was born in Enugu State, Nigeria on the 23rd of November 1983. His family is originally from Umunze in Orumba South LGA, Anambra State, Nigeria. He is currently signed to 2nite Entertainment Music Label and in 2010, released his second album, Uplifted which contains some of his biggest hits including the popular track Nwa Baby (Ashawo).

Flavour kicked off his music career at the age of 13 when he started playing the drums for his church choir in Enugu. The resident pastor in his church introduced him to a friend, Chris I Ordor, the CEO of SoundCity Communications. Mr Ordor had then just launched a musical company aimed at training young musicians on the basics of music and nurturing them all the way to a professional level. In 1996, Flavour was invited to join the company on an educational scholarship to study music. After 3 years, he became a professional drummer. In 1999, he then moved on to playing the keyboard as well as providing back-up vocals for other musicians at SoundCity.

More of Flavour's Photos