THE REDISTRIBUTION OF POWER THROUGH ARTS (Part II: Film)

By Maria Marti and Jessica Schwarz As the month of June is Pride Month commemorating the impact and importance of the LGBTQ+ community, we thought it fitting to make everyone aware of the brilliant lesbian romance that is Rafiki (2018). In line with our series on altering the distribution of narrative power in media, Rafiki…

Re-readdressing intersectional feminism

by Mia Martí About a year ago, I wrote an article for this blog discussing the term ‘intersectionality’ and the need to incorporate it in our understandings of feminism. The term has travelled a lot since I last discussed it. It now almost appears to be a buzzword, regularly discussed in mainstream media, and central…

THE REDISTRIBUTION OF POWER THROUGH ARTS (Part I: Literature)

By Maria Marti and Jessica Schwarz Both in the past and present, most spaces have been dominated by men, typically white, and their Westernised narratives. An article by The Guardian addressed this asymmetry, discussing that organisations as Vida, an American organisation for women in the literary arts, has inquired the reviews and bylines in a…

Calling the Strong and the Beautiful: On Mental Health, Coming Forward and Sisterhood

by Hillary (Sonny) Hurst   Women. We are strong. We are beautiful. We need each other. The feminist movement is powerful and has taken the world by storm in recent months, but while we are busy in this noble and necessary pursuit of advocating for women’s rights and equality, let’s all take a second to…

The Whistleblower: The UN and Systemic Sexual Abuse

by Mia Martí and Jessica Schwarz There is a certain empathic yet frightful element that arises after seeing a good —and by good, I mean accurate— film or documentary, especially when it comprehends such realistic depictions of abuse and bodily colonisation. The Whistleblower is a film about that most degenerate of crimes: trafficking women for…

On Breaking the Silence

by Jessica Schwarz   Silence around the topic of violence against women, be it domestic abuse or sexual assault, remains prevalent in society. With recent movements such as #MeToo women are slowly beginning to find their voices, letting the world know of the injustices committed against them. As noble and needed as these movements are,…

It’s time to readdress our feminism

Maria Martí   We can all agree by now that women across the world encounter countless challenges to achieving the same rights and chances as their male counterparts. Challenges that emerge in the form of deep rage inside of women all around the globe, and that have been recently taking shape in the fourth-wave feminism…

When photographs speak: To be a woman in Afghanistan

Maria Martí     To find the remains of the Buddhist monastery at the Orange Hill, you have to travel to Kabul’s largest cemetery, Shuhada e Saliheen. To experience a stiff reminder of Afghan history, you must visit the Darul Aman Palace, the optimal metaphor for the spirit of the country: once sumptuous and noble,…

Happy New Year everyone!

Rebecca McGarry     Let’s look back on 2017 in women’s history. The Women’s March took place around the world on 21st January 2017 to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights, the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community, reproductive rights, racial equality and freedom of religion. It was the largest single-day protest in…