Flower Crown Issue 3

Table of Contents
Letter from the Editor
Every town has an Elm Street by Tionni Warren
Chicago by Sara Geiger
Slutshaming During Halloween: Don’t Do It
Tread Lightly:
Respect Makes the Difference Between Exchange
and Appropriation
by Kesia Webster
Feminist Vlogger of the Month by Sara Geiger
Misogynoir: A 101 by Michelle Emile
Feminist Book of the Month by Shanice Brim
Submission Call
Page 3
Page 4
Page 8
Page 11
Page 13
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18

Letter From the Editor
by Shanice Brim
Hello,
This issue is short and sweet as a lot has been happening with Flower Crown. We’ve launched an indiegogo
campaign. We’re about to launch a new and improved site. We’ll be looking for additional staff after this issue and
with fall’s arrival we’ve been dealing with school and work. The articles here are what represent so much of the
heart of Flower Crown. You’ll find a mixture of the things we love and the things we worry about. You’ll read as
some of us try to make sense of our lives and environments. It’s a more intimate issue but we still hold tight our dedication
to education as the issue is, as per, filled feminist info. We can’t wait to present our next issue to you which
we will begin working on after this issue hits the internet. Look for a fuller issue in November.
Thanks for all the love.
Shanice
Here are issues 1 and 2.

Every Town Has
an Elm Street
A Tribute to my Favorite Horror icon of all time
by tionni Warren
Robert Englund
Excuse me while I geek out for a minute: Freddy Krueger is my favorite horror movie icon of all time.
His background story is pretty messed up but somehow the people behind these films and Robert
Englund made Krueger into a loveable slasher. Nobody loves or even likes Michael Myers (Halloween)
and Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) - they don’t even
talk. I used to despise the Nightmare movies because
they scared the bejeezus out of me as a kid, but once I
got older I learned to love Freddy’s terrible but funny
one liners. The films became a form of horror comedy
rather than just horror to me. It’s weird but it feels
like most Nightmare fans love Freddy the villain, more
than the actors or the heroines/hero in the movies. A
lot of people think these movies are pretty cheesy but
there is still some sort of strange, weird brilliance to all
of them - even the really bad ones. They’ve also have
helped to kick start the careers of very talented actors
like Johnny Depp, Patricia Arquette, and Breckin
Meyer. As you will see below, I do not rank the original
Nightmare on Elm Street as the best or my favorite
one. I tend to enjoy the Dream Master and Dream Warriors more because they bring in Freddy’s
humor and creativity. It’s like how you know that the Batman movies by Tim Burton are not as perfect
and cinematically satisfying & impressive as Christopher Nolan’s Batman films but for some reason
you gravitate towards those anyway because they’re more fun. To me, the original is too serious but
is still a great film directed by horror master, Wes Craven. If I had to choose the scariest installment
in the franchise, it would definitely be a tie between the original and New Nightmare, both are Wes
Craven directed.
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Master
(1988) This is definitely my favorite because
it’s so fun. This installment of the series was
also the one that made the most money at the
box office. The scenes are ridiculous, colorful,
and the lines are extra silly. Nightmare 4
follows the last of the Elm Street children who
were spared in the previous film (Dream Warriors)
after conquering Freddy Krueger.
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger and Lisa Wilcox as Alice

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors (1987) A
young teenager named Kristen is committed to a mental hospital
by her mother after she appears to have attempted suicide,
but actually the event has everything to do with Freddy
Krueger. In the mental hospital, she befriends a group of teens
that also believe that Krueger is haunting their dreams. This
film also marks the return of Nancy (Heather Lagenkamp)
from the original and introduces a new actress, Patricia Arquette.
Patricia Arquette as Kristen
Johnny Depp as Glen and Heather Lagenkamp
as
realizes.
Nancy.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - The original is definitely
what put Krueger on the pop culture map. This film
is about a high school girl named Nancy that begins to see
Krueger in her dreams and quickly realizes that he has more
of a history in her town and with family then she initially
4. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) - This movie is
kind of like a prequel, meta, real life type of film that acts
as if Freddy Krueger is a real entity that has taken over the
filmmakers and the actors’ lives. Both Robert Englund and
Heather Langenkamp play themselves. There is something
about this film that makes Krueger so much more creepy and
the idea of him being real is horrific. This film was also the
most critically acclaimed next to the original A Nightmare
Elm Street film.
Heather Langenkamp as Heather Langenkamp
Freddy Krueger playing video games.
5. Freddy’s Dead (1991) - Obviously this is when Freddy
Krueger is supposed to officially be sent back to
hell. A group of teenagers in a foster home for problem
kids encounter Freddy Krueger and must figure
out how to get him out of their lives for good. We also
find out a little bit more about his backstory in this
movie. This movie also has a section that is in...3-D!
Very unnecessary. Haha. This film includes Breckin
Meyer and a cameo from Nightmare alum, Johnny
Depp listed in the credits as Oprah Noodlemantra.

Every Town Has an Elm Street
cont.
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street:Freddy’s Revenge
(1985) - Seen as the worst film of series
by critics and fans alike because it doesn’t stay
Mark Patton as Jesse
true to form, Nightmare is the only film of the series to
focus on a male lead the whole time. Jesse’s body is in
danger of being used as Krueger’s hub for doing evil in
the outside world. This film is also famous for having
obvious gay undertones and themes.
Whit Herford as Jacob as Freddy Krueger child.
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Child (1989) -
This film is definitely the weirdest of the bunch and very gothic in terms of style. In this film, Krueger
decides the haunt the dreams of the heroine’s unborn child. Like I said, it’s weird. And has some of
the creepiest, f’ed death scenes that I still struggle watching to this day.
*Dishonorable Mention: The remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - All I can say is
BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Try again...or don’t try again.
Silliest Death Scenes (Ranked from Pretty Bad to Just Plain Dumb):
SPOILER ALERT: but really these are old as hell and they’re not about
spoiling anything
Rick in Dream Master Freddy kills off Rick...karate style?
Will in Dream Warriors The Wizard Master thinks he might be a match for Freddy Krueger.
Spencer in Freddy’s Dead Spencer plays his very last video game.
Mark in Dream Child Mark finally becomes the super hero he writes about...but it doesn’t last long.

Every Town Has an Elm
Street
cont.
Scenes That I still can’t watch completely: (VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED)
Just remember I have trouble watching these scenes and I love these movies. If you don’t think you
can handle it, please don’t watch. To this day, I believe that these scenes are very close to crossing the
line and is the reason why I find this franchise to be one of my problematic faves - especially when it
comes to the Carlos, Taryn, and Greta deaths who have to work through real issues like body image,
heroin addiction, and hearing disabilities - and these movies just completely make fun of them.
Carlos in Freddy’s Dead Freddy taunts a kid that needs a hearing aid
Greta in Dream Child Freddy force feeds a model.
Dan in Dream Child Krueger makes Dan become one with a motorcycle. That’s all I need to say.
Taryn in Dream Warriors Freddy torments a woman that has struggled with drugs in the past.
Most Famous Death:
Johnny Depp gets sucked into the bed
So Bad its good lines uttered by Freddy Krueger:
“I’ll get you my pretty and your little soul too”
“Wanna suck face?”
“How sweet. Fresh meat.”
“Every town has an Elm Street!”
Also listen to these pretty ridiculous songs inspired by the Nightmare series:
Dokken - Dream Warriors
Fat Boys - Are You Ready for Freddy?

Chicago by Sara Geiger
with photos by Sara Geiger and Glenda Villalon
Chicago’s reputation has been modified
across the nation and on a global scale. To the
rest of the world, the general view of the city is
a dangerous one. Often when people encounter
Chicago natives, they approach and treat them
with caution. The false portrayals of our city has
been dictated mainly by the idea of ‘Chiraq’. To
outsiders, it looks as if there are only two parts to
the city- a downtown, tourist
area and then a side of mass
violence and poverty.
The truth? Chicago is
not a black and white world.
As a whole, it’s diverse yet
segregated. There is a class
divide among neighborhoods,
this plays into people of color
being marginalized.
The youth living under circumstances
that differ on opposite
ends cause segregation
on a societal level, not just an
economic one as well. Public
space that’s free and accessible
to Chicago’s adolescent
community intentionally provides a safe place.
However, the socioeconomically disadvantaged
neighborhoods and park districts have an overwhelming
impact on childhood development.
I grew up in a neighborhood called Hermosa-
meaning beautiful in Spanish. Although
it perhaps did not live up to this name, regardless
it has been the love-hate relationship in my
life. My parents would often discourage me from
going outside- especially our local park, due to
the crime rates. When I did visit Hermosa Park,
around the corner from our apartment, it was
with my mother or father. It has always been
surrounded by factories with barbed wire, one
of them being a bakery and causing a fresh poptart
smell. I remember once my father had taken
me to home depot and in order to get there, we
crossed railroad tracks in the back of the park.
Beyond the rusted, old and broken playground
equipment, past the empty baseball field,
was a large gate bent inwards. A pole, meant to
hold together the fencing, was broken in two,
leading to a path of broken glass and the railroad.
I should not forget to mention the immense,
never ending heaps of trashmostly
beer cans, bottles, etc.
I even found an old pregnancy
test box with roaches in
it- a new record.
My childhood park
was small, eerie, and overall
no place a child should consider
safe. To me, however,
it was beautiful- due to the
memories I made there.
My story is just one of hundreds
of others; buried under
rust slides and busted swing
sets. In order to get some
perspective on the class
divide in Chicago, I wanted
to utilize childhood playgrounds as a narrative.
I interviewed Chicago natives about their most
significant memories from theirs.
Jamila Woods
“It’s [childhood park] in the neighborhood where
I grew up, Beverly, on 100th & Longwood right by
the Metra Station.
When I think of the park I remember the way it
used to be before it was renovated. It used to have
a really unique set-up, with a giant wooden pirate
ship you could climb on and hide inside. It used
to have a lot of personality and I used to go there
with my siblings & whoever was watching us a lot

growing up. There was a rope bridge where my
brother fell off and my grandma had to rush him
to the hospital to get stitches in his eyebrow. I
remember my sister’s friend eating a worm there
once. When I got older I used to go there after
dark with friends to hang out after the movies
or whatever we were doing. To me the park as it
used to be brings up a lot of nostalgia, both good
and bad memories, but when I look at it today
I don’t feel much because it’s been renovated to
look similar to any other generic park in the city.
Best memories would probably be during high
school, stopping at the park on my walk home
from the train to swing on the swing set. In high
school fall was my favorite season & I loved being
on the swings in the fall
weather at night. My
worst memory is probably
the time my brother
fell off the bridge.
The architecture of the
park has changed a lot
since I was younger.
The changes got rid of
the park’s personality so
I think change has made
it worse in some ways.
I guess the city wanted
to make standard architecture for park structures
because some of them were unsafe. I can see that
point, but I think there could have been ways to
keep the unique elements of parks like Hurley so
that not so many park in the city look the same. I
really appreciated how the pirate ship was made
out of wood. As a kid that made it seem a lot more
cool and real. Everything in the park is metal and
plastic now. Everything kids play with these days
is basically plastic, and that’s kind of sad.”
Silvia Gonzalez
Silvia grew up in León, Guanajuato in México.
However, in Chicago, the parks she remembers
are near Ogden school, along with Goudy Park in
the Gold Coast area.
“I think of Goudy Square Park in Chicago on
Goethe Street in the Gold Coast. I think of swinging
as a high as I could to try to envision myself
above the tall buildings in Chicago.
Motion and imagination were my favorite mode
of play. Play felt a bit more independent. It could
also be because I didn’t speak as much English
yet and none of the kids in this neighborhood
spoke Spanish. That park itself always felt like
a whole new world to me, a giant world; it was a
magical space in the middle of a lot of tall buildings
near the lake. I also think of my school playground,
at Ogden school.
This playground also marks a space where I first
encountered racism. I learned what it meant to
be “different” but also what it meant to bond with
others that could understand me. My first friend
was in my ESL class and she spoke Yugoslavian
but I always had a feeling of being understood by
her. She was one of my
many new friends and
playmates.
As far as my own feelings
in this space: I remember
most being able to see the
skyline and feeling so attached
to the idea of playing
in the middle of the
city. Like the playground
was a mini model of my
new giant home/city.”
Jesus Montoya
“[My childhood park] is near Addison and Kennedy
express.
The place is horrible the ground is bad and it’s
dirty with glass and the staff there is bad
Best memory is going with my sister to play soccer...
Worst is when my elementary school lost there.
The park has changed me in learning how to be a
leader when I was younger I was in a small soccer
team and we played there against 3 others. The
park isn’t the same every time I pass by I see kids
only 5 of them playing soccer it’s sad to me how
much it downgraded”

Caro Gallo
“The name of my [childhood] park (and still) is
Marquette Park.
It’s huge and surrounds two neighborhoods the
end of Chicago Lawn where I live in Marquette
Park. It’s like walking around different worlds
because in one side it’s everyone like mostly Mexicans
Middle Eastern and Black and on the other
side it’s like over 90% Black.
The main street I accessed through is through 67
and Marquette.
It’s a love and hate relationship because it’s not
exactly safe but it’s beautiful. Yet scary that so
many people have died in the park.
My best memory is when my junior year in high
school me and my friends stayed at the park past
7 and watched the eclipse on the bridge looking
over the lagoon in back of the field house. My
worst memory I think is when I would find weave
and what seem to be blood stains in the hidden
grass areas and my friends and I would make
up stories about who it belong to and what had
happened.
The park has changed there is a new playground
and the garden got some vegetables growing.
Other than not really. Well maybe the fact that
City Year is in Marquette Park helping the community
and that brings more possible diversity to
the park, yet I haven’t seen anything first hand.”
Worst memory... I don’t really have a worst memory.
It’s somewhat changed but they took away a
giant boat thing which was always fun so that
makes me sad.
There’s another park by Monroe elementary
school that I used to go to sometimes.
It has a pretty bad connotation because of gang
stuff
I remember going there with my grandparents
and my brothers and running around it was a lot
of fun and I don’t personally have bad memories
of it, just remember my mom telling me about all
of the gang activity there
I haven’t been there in a while so I don’t know if
it’s changed good or bad.”
Clarke’s story involves a park close by Kelvyn
Park High School, in my neighborhood. I was
raised on different sides of Hermosa. This included
the hipster-gentrified community; where nicer
and safer parks were, and the majority Hispanic
populated community; where public spaces were
neglected and of lesser value due to perceived
high-crime rate.
Through the use of public, free, and safe spaces
communities across Chicago can take advantage
of what is offered. From this, ideally, integration
would become a more common concept. The idea
of a classless desegregation process for Chicago
youth begins with providing safe environments to
do so. After school programs and parks provide
the community involvement that build strong
character and can protect the young people. If the
park district’s quality in wealthier communities
was enforced in all parks across the city, stories
of fear could be eliminated and more stories of
development could flourish from the woodchips.
Clarke White
“Unity Park near Wrightwood and Diversey - Logan
Square, was my childhood park.
It has a good connotation, love that park.
My best memory is when I brought my brother
there and we played and climbed on the net thing.

Slutshaming During Halloween:
During Halloween
many women choose to
dress in costumes or outfits
that are considered by
mainstream society to be
revealing or even promiscuous.
Slut-shaming, or
the act of trying to make
a woman feel inferior for
embracing her sexuality
in a way that goes against
the traditional construct of
respectable femininity, is a
common reaction to these
costumes. It’s a method of
social control used to convince women that their
sexuality is inherently inappropriate or deviant
(with a few notable exceptions, such as when
female sexuality is used to sell a product).
Don’t Do It.
by Liz. D
In general, rather than directly telling
women that their costumes are “slutty”, most
people tend to perpetrate sexist microagressions
instead, defined by Professor Derald Wing Sue of
Columbia University as “brief, everyday exchanges
that send denigrating messages to certain
individuals because of their group membership.”
Commentary about the amount of skin a woman
is showing, the appropriateness of her clothing,
or admonishing her to “cover up” are all versions
of sexist microagressions that target women
simple for being assigned a certain gender at
birth. Microagressions like these, and more direct
forms of slut-shaming contribute to rape culture
in society as a whole.
Rape culture occurs in a society when
sexual violence is normalized. When women are
slut-shamed, not only are they told that their
sexuality is inappropriate, also that their sexuality
is not their own to
determine or control;
that they should define
themselves by society’s
politics of respectability,
rather than their own.
However this message
isn’t exclusive to women;
men are also aware of the
perception that female
sexuality isn’t owned by
women. Operating within
the gender binary, the
Source
only other people that
could own female sexuality
are, through process of elimination, men. This
encourages the mode of thinking that women are
nothing more than sexual objects for men and
that “No” doesn’t really mean “No” because women
aren’t mens’ equals and don’t have control
over how their bodies are represented in society.
This mode of thinking denies women their basic
humanity, and encourages other to do so as well.
Basically men, or on a larger level, the
cisheteropatriarchy and the culture it creates, feel
uncomfortable with women who try to take agency
over their own sexuality. There are plenty of
women in magazines, commercials, and plastered
over billboards who are casually objectified and
viewed as less than human.
The difference with these women is that
they have already been commodified, turned into
little more than sexual objects used to sell a product,
because that’s the only way our society feels
comfortable embracing female sexuality. The
portrayals of women in the media and the limited
ways in which women are allowed to express
their sexuality emphasize the gender binary and
the constructs of masculinity as an uncontrollable

aggressive entitlement
of the female
body and femininity
as passive
and always receptive.
These views
carry over into the
costume options
women have
during Halloween,
and into the way
people respond to
their costumes.
When everyday
women choose to
dress in a “provocative”
manner From a 2010 BMW campaign.
during Halloween,
society has a difficult time reconciling the idea of
a woman who embraces her sexuality for her own
benefit, and not for a man’s. Because of this they
feel the need to shame these women for this, and
to act as if they don’t have the right to embrace
their own bodies if they aren’t doing it to sell a
product or be objectified. The main issue here is
that our society can’t reconcile the idea of a woman
using her sexuality for her own benefit. Society
can’t accept a woman directly profiting off of her
sexuality, and in the process rebelling against everything
our society has constructed around the
cult of femininity.
On the other hand, the people that make
costumes purposefully create different outfits
for men and women, women are looked at as
sex symbols, and their costumes are disproportionately
sexualized. The act of embracing one’s
sexuality can take many different forms; some
women enjoy wearing more revealing costumes,
and other women don’t. It’s a matter of personal
preference, however the costume industry, like
the advertising industry, often doesn’t give women
the option to wear less sexual costumes.
Source
Women have the right to express their sexuality
however they see fit, and they should be given
options within which to express themselves.
Shaming a woman for her particular choice to
wear a revealing costume during Halloween isn’t
just rude; it actively supports a system that encourages
abuse, assault, and victim-blaming on
a nationwide scale. Whether it’s a comment or
a microagressions, instead of slut-shaming this
October 31st, encourage women to express themselves
however they choose.

Tread Lightly:
Respect makes the difference between exchange
and appropriation
by Kesia Webster
My junior year of college I decided to take advantage
of the African Language Center to
fulfill my language requirement. There were
an abundance of options that I had never been
presented with before including Amharic and
Swahili. It was a difficult choice to make but
ultimately I signed up for Wolof, the language
of Senegal. Having taken a few Black History
courses I was familiar with the Wolof as (and
only as) one of the tribes from
which the future population of
Black America and the Caribbean
was purchased, stolen or
otherwise extracted.
On the first day of class I
walked into a room of two Asian
students and a white student.
Maybe this shouldn’t have been
surprising because my university
is mostly white people and
Asian people. Most of my classes
looked like this. But I had
assumed more Black students
would take advantage of the African
Language Center for the
same reason I did. The shock
didn’t end there, however. A few minutes later
the professor walked in and he was also white.
I wasn’t sure what to make of it. How could a
classroom full of non-Senegalese people navigate
this culture properly? How could a classroom
full of non-Black people foster a genuine
appreciation without appropriating the culture?
As time in the class passed and we began
to learn the language, history, food and clothing
of Senegal and also about each other there was
something I began to understand. We were all
guests to Senegalese culture. Although I was the
only black student, the culture was not mine. I
realized quickly that the students in this class
were there at out of genuine interest which led
them to a genuine appreciation. Though the
source of our interest may have been different,
and while I still can’t deny that I wish more
Black students seized the rare opportunity of
studying and African language, I don’t know if I
could have had a better start to my journey into
learning about Senegalese culture.
As it goes, education and
respect seem to be necessary
elements to avoiding cultural
appropriation. Working with
children, I see how the desire
for knowledge and understanding
of differences works wonders
everyday. I have a responsibility
to these children to help
them be respectful scholars.
When they understand that
significance of a particular
article of traditional clothing,
for instance, that item is not a
costume to them but something
of intellectual and spiritual
significance. It is part of my
duty to help them see how we are all connected-
they are not removed from that child they
see on television with his hand out. That everything
they have was built on his back. It is only
through these type of thorough teaching that
we can begin to reverse the damage done to our
delicate planet.
In an ideal world we would all be able to
visit each others religions and cultures with only
compassion and respect in our hearts and this
would lead to a greater understanding of each
other. But as it stands, at least for now, that is not
the world we live in. And what do we do when

there’s no classroom
to foster these lessons
and no obligation on
It’s true that
anyone’s part to do
American culture
supports the
so?
Cultural appropriation
is as easy
of marginalized
dehumanization
to commit as stopping
at Chipotle for
cultures and re-
ethnic groups,
a burrito. It would be
ligions but that
excessive not to mention
impossible to ask
we as individu-
doesn’t mean that
everyone to police
als have to. Tread
their every move to
delicately when
avoid appropriating
exploring cultures
another culture. Cultural
appropriation
own. Acknowledge
Source
that are not your
may be evident in one white person “dreading” that even if you are a member of a marginalized
their hair or a girl at Afro Punk sporting a bindi group, that doesn’t give you free reign to borrow
but the damage inevitably surpasses that individual,
whether she intended for it to or not. to become a part of another culture or religion
from other groups. Realize that there are ways
When people speak out against cultural appropriation
it is similar to calling out other forms ignorance. Understand the paradox of respect:
but the path is never lined with mocking and
of racism. In it’s most effective form, the person that it means the world when you receive it but
doing the calling out is less interested in that does not take much to give.
particular person’s racism but in dismantling
the system of racism that governs so many of
our lives.

Feminist Vlogger of the Month
by
Sara Geiger
Anna Akana is primarily known for her
work as a short-film maker on YouTube, however,
her videos regarding the self-esteem and
mental health on young girls has been the most
influential to me. Videos such as “Thing Every
Girl Should Know”, “on burning bras”, and “How
to put on your face” have all played significant
to my development. I’ve gotten countless sayings
about ‘following my aspirations’ from family,
but I suppose I needed someone relatable
to affirm what that truly means. Anna displays
herself as no perfect human being either, In fact,
she portrays herself as the multi-faceted, emotional,
and yes- flawed person that pretty much
all of us are. Her advice on life management
inspire me to the fullest, but her commentary on
social perceptions does as well.
In her video “Who Is A Slut?”, Anna
examines the concept of sexual promiscuity
stigma revolving around young women. Her
feminist themes don’t stop there, in “Why Guys
Like Asian Girls”, she rips apart the stereotype of
Asian women being submissive and the fetishization
of race. Not to mention, her acting skills
and humour, along with the editing and visual
effects make her videos even more enjoyable.
The effort Anna Akana devotes to her videos
and her messages has a greater impact than just
views or the number of likes.

What Is Misogynoir?
misogynoir:101
By
Michelle Emile
It is a word that
describes the sexism
and anti blackness Black
women experience. This
word does suggest that
Black women do have a
different experience with
gender, racism, and anti
blackness, from White
and non-black women of
color. Trudy, from Gradient
Lair, explained the difference in the experience
that Black women deal with that explains
the specific struggle that anti blackness deals
with. “This misogyny is informed by a specifically
Black experience, not just because of racism and
White supremacy, but because of anti-Black projections
from non-Black people onto Black people
and thereby internalized and proliferated by
Black people. […]Thus, this anti-Black misogyny
or misogynoir is something Black women experience
intraracially (within the race) and interracially
(between races, including other people of
color).”
Who Coined The Term?
Moya Bailey, a queer Black woman, created the
term and first introduced it in an article called
They Aren’t Talking About Me… on the Crunk
Feminist Collective. Wanting to describe the
unique struggles Black women deal with in pop
culture, which has grown into a term used to
describe the experience within and outside of
media.
Lily Allen using Black women’s bodies, aesthetics, and AAVE to
make her point in “Hard Out Here” a song in which she slutshames
in the name of feminism. Source
What are examples of the anti Blackness
and misogyny
that Black women
face?
Black women deal with
a number of issues that
have ostracized them
from other women of
color and white women.
They are seen as the least
attractive women and
are stigmatized harshly
with stereotypes. We are
taken out of our gender
as non-woman, which allows for violence against
Black women to happen and to be normalized.
We are at greater risk for Domestic Violence,
in the Huffington Post they showed a
statistic that “black females were murdered by
males at a rate of 2.61 per 100,000 in single victim/single
offender incidents. For white women,
the rate was 0.99 per 100,000.” And Black trans
women face an unmatched violence rate of any in
the LGBTQ community adding the combination
tranmisogynoir attitude.
Just looking at the way Black women are
treated in music videos, portrayed in reality tv,
degraded by other men and white feminists who
try to use Black culture against us as what is
or what isn’t feminism (twerking.) Many Black
women are ignored when others take them to
be angry, removing any validation they have for
their feelings.
In this way Black (cis and trans) women in American
culture have aa unparalleled experience
with misogyny and it is great to have a term that
pinpoints the combination of sexism, racism, and
anti-Blackness.

Feminist Book of The Month
by Shanice Brim
Ok, I’ll come clean- my initial interest in
reading The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
was because I saw Cassie reading it in an episode
of Skins and wondered if it might explain
the character more. I had read The Handmaid’s
Tale and loved it so I went out and got the book
immediately. This is the book that put Atwood on
the map. She does an excellent job of exploring
gender roles and what they do to people through
each of her characters. The thing I love about
feminist fiction is that it explains what we are so
prone to academicizing in a way people can feel
and experience. By working through feminist
thought in a way that people can visualize in the
everyday, instead of simply presenting the issues
in academic terms, people can recognize the sexism
that is all around them in their daily lives.
The book centers around Marian who
slowly loses grip on reality after becoming engaged.
The entire book is a metaphor for the ways
in which society devours women by constantly
having them give up so much of themselves as
they attempt to live up to impossible standards.
The book is considered to be a work of protofeminism
as it predates the second wave of the movement.
Atwood herself sort of dances around when
it comes to claiming the word feminism. At times
she agrees with it but at others she seems to take
issue with the idea of movement representing
women who aren’t all starting on an even playing
field to begin with. (“Who is the “we” we are
talking about feminism? Are we talking about the
children who are involved in sex trafficing or the
women in Bangladesh? Are we talking about the
Eastern European women who are promised a
place in the West and end up as sex slaves? Feminism
is a big term.”) Though she has her criticisms
I still believe The Edible Woman is a book
feminists should read which is why we are giving
away a copy. Please check our tumblr for details.