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By Marisa Ragonese I had a baby three summers ago, and she’s been hanging around me a lot ever since. One of the best parts about this whole kid thing, at least for me, is the radical shift from how men used to look at and treat me, and the way they do now. Most notably, the dudes I encounter in the day-to-day have generally stopped ogling my body, complimenting my body, insulting my body or otherwise harassing me. NOW they either look me in the eye when they talk to me or, i

By Marisa Ragonese *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement Halloween—obviously the best holiday in the history of the world—is coming our way. Let’s talk about some recent heart-racing research, which is almost as fun as peeking under that thinned-out curtain between the living and the dead, or, let’s be real, trick-or-treating (My guess is most of u

By Jenn Chmielewski *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement Okay, I admit it. As much as I would love to say that I was a little feminist socialist as a child, impervious to the sexualized gendered marketing scheme that is Barbie, I cannot. I was one of the 99% of girls that played with that skinny, large-breasted, blond haired plastic toy[1] and I t

By Marisa Ragonese Illustration by Neil Webb I had a baby three summers ago, and she’s been hanging around me a lot ever since. One of the best parts about this whole kid thing, at least for me, is the radical shift from how men used to look at and treat me, and the way they do now. Most notably, the dudes I encounter in the day-to-day have generally stopped ogling my body, complimenting my body, insulting my body or otherwise harassing me. NOW they either look me in the eye

By Jenn Chmielewski *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement Okay, let me get real with you when it comes to my perspective on how sexualized girls are in the media and advertising. Just a couple weeks ago, I was shopping online trying to find some leggings to keep me warm before spring finally came. As I sat browsing through images of models wearing

By Laura Hooberman At a recent family event, I was talking to a twelve-year old relative, who asked me, unprompted, if I had seen the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. I said that I hadn’t, and he proceeded, of course, to immediately and gleefully spoil the episode for me. I was less concerned about the spoiler (as a weirdo, I actively enjoy spoilers and sometimes even seek them out) than I was about the fact that a child in his early adolescence had just casually discl

By Marisa Ragonese *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement Not too long ago, I worked at a drop-in center for LGBT youth in Queens. Every summer we participated in an activist “boot camp” for youth organizations all across NYC. We would plan workshops and lots of other activities for camp during the school year and then trek out to the country for a

by Jenn Chmielewski *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement Getting guys’ attention can be tough. I’m smart, friendly, and can bring down the house with my rendition of Lady Gaga – yes, I’m a little monster. But if you take a look at magazines and TV these days, you’d think that the only thing guys are after is super-sexy-looking gals who act in supe

by Jenn Chmielewski *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement It’s that time of year when I start seeing photo after photo on Facebook of people vacationing in awesome (warm) locations. While I am still cold in New York City, I see them lounging on beautiful beaches in bikinis or partying like rock stars in crop tops at Coachella. I will admit, as I si

by Marisa Ragonese *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement What a year for talk about racism in the US. No criminal charges for Darren Wilson, the police officer in Furguson, MO who shot unarmed Black teenager Mike Brown last August. Or Daniel Panteleo, the cop in NYC caught on video putting Eric Garner, Black father of six, in a fatal chokehold on a

by Jenn Chmielewski I was seventeen when I started my first and only waitressing job. It didn’t take long before I started to feel uncomfortable with the way some customers were treating me. At first it was the men who would call me honey or cutie with a creepy smile. Rather than remind the customer that my name was Jenn and that I was not sweet and did not find their comments cute, I sucked it up and smiled. After all, I needed my tip. I didn’t like it but I chalked it up to

by Christin Bowman *From the SPARK Research! Blog Archive: This blog was originally written for SPARK, a girl-fueled organization working to ignite an anti-racist gender justice movement It was on a hot summer day a few weeks ago that I decided to sit outside in a park to do some writing. Ninety-degree heat isn’t for the faint of heart, and the only sane thing to wear on a day like that is shorts and a tank top. What can I say? I like it hot. I set myself up under a sprawling