What is the role of a feminist blog? Do these blogs exists to simply educate followers or can they also be used to create social change?<\/p>\n
One of the more popular blogs that comes to mind is Lipstick Feminists<\/a> on tumblr (click\u00a0here<\/a> for another entry discussing gender and tumblr). Under the description of Lipsticks Feminists, it states:<\/p>\n This is a feminist blog focusing on current events, pop culture, queer and race issues, and sex. We smash patriarchy and the gender binary here. <\/em> Lipstick Feminists covers a lot of different topics in politics, media, and everyday life. Some of the entries address more subtle forms of inequality whereas other entries tackle more obvious forms of inequality. An example of a subtle form can be seen in some of the more recent blog posts. Recently, some of these posts have been discussing inequality in regard to the block-buster hit movie,\u00a0The Hunger Games<\/a>. One post<\/a> in particular examines\u00a0critics’ discussions of the physique of the\u00a0lead actor and actress .\u00a0Before reading this entry, one may not see the inequality that exists, but after examining these posts it becomes more evident that, yes, inequality likely does exist in regard to this popular movie.<\/p>\n Some entries take on a more serious undertone and address issues such as sexual assault and rape. For example, one blog entry<\/a> begins with multiple pictures of the same woman with different writing on her face in each picture. In one picture, the writing says, \u201cYou\u2019re just over-reacting;\u201d while another states, \u201cShort skirt. Tits out. What do you expect?\u201d This entry (although reblogged from another user) is tagged as Rape, Rape Culture, and Victim Blaming and attempts to address the common misconceptions about rape (i.e. it is the victim’s fault rather than the perpetrator’s).<\/p>\n One thing that is particularly fascinating about this blog is that it works to end the myth that feminists believe\u00a0that all men are misogynistic and sexist. On March 22nd<\/sup>, the video Shit Men Say To Men Who Say Shit to Women on the Street<\/a><\/em> was reblogged from another user (see here<\/a>). The video title is pretty self-explanatory in that it addresses street harassment and the role that men can play in ending this\u00a0harassment. The part that resonates the most is the quote at the end of the post \u2013 \u201cMen can smash patriarchy too.\u201d<\/p>\n For the past two years that I have been on tumblr, I have been following Lipstick Feminists. I can only truly speak subjectively about this, but the context that is discussed has really opened my eyes to a lot of issues that are not typically discussed in other forms of media. Before following this blog, I identified as a feminist and that was all. I would occasionally cite material that I had learned in some of my gender and psychology courses, but that was as far as my knowledge went. After a couple years of following this blog, I believe I am more well-versed on gender issues and am able to identify myself as a third-wave feminist who can honestly say that I care about achieving equality and social change (and have taken action on those beliefs).<\/p>\n That is why I believe blogs like this are so important. Not only have I, as well as many others, learned more about feminism as a whole, but many people have been able to learn more about the current events that occur that involve the feminist movement as a whole. With this knowledge, people like myself have been able to re-direct their thinking and dedicate their time to help end inequality. Ultimately, I really do believe that a blog like this can be used to educate and <\/em>empower women and men to strive for social change and equality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is the role of a feminist blog? Do these blogs exists to simply educate followers or can they also be used to create social change? One of the more popular blogs that comes to mind is Lipstick Feminists on … Continue reading
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