The backlash from Rick Ross’ rape rap and Lil Wayne’s “Emmett Till” lyrics shows us that people are finally paying attention to the need for social responsibility in hip hop. But today’s wave of immoral rappers isn’t the first. Before Rick Ross and Lil Wayne picked up a mic, rappers on Dame Dash’s Roc-a-fella Records,…
The Ford Motor Company has issued a “my bad” for an extraordinarily distasteful advertisement that was “leaked” online last week. The ad featured a cartoon drawing of former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi smiling in the driver’s seat of a Ford Figo (a hatchback made in India). Three bound and gagged, scantily clad women…
The war against women continues as more of our bright, courageous voices are deliberately shamed into silence. Adria Richards lost her job and became the target of death and rape threats for simply reporting sexual harassment at the PyCon tech conference on Twitter and her blog. Blogger and web developer Adria Richards, one of the few…
It struck a chord to hear Esquire editor, Alex Bilmes, refer to women as pure “ornamental,” and “objects” to his racy hetero male magazine. Bilmes was frighteningly comfortable enough in his sexist position to openly associate women as “ornaments” to be “objectified.” The editor of the trendy Mens magazine admitted: “We use pretty girls in…
Last Friday, female students at Queen Of Peace High School in North Arlington, NJ pledged not to curse for 30 days because “We want ladies to act like ladies.” During homeroom, students said the following: “I do solemnly swear not to use profanities of any kind within the walls and properties of Queen of Peace High School….
The top job for women in 1950 was a secretary position. The top job for women today? A secretary position. Although the title of “secretary” has evolved into administrative staff and executive assistant roles, the duties and laborers have remained the same for more than 50 years. According to the U.S. Census, nearly 4 million…
We see them every day, magazine covers with beautiful faces lining newsstands across the globe. From ELLE to VOGUE and beyond, the faces that grace these magazine covers are everything they should be, they are successful, good-looking and well-known. The one thing these faces are not, however, is the faces of models. We are long…
I love a good debate. I love to pick apart other people’s points, state my case, and vigorously argue my point of view, hopefully winning someone over to my side. If it doesn’t happen, so be it, but I love to exchange ideas with others in a respectful way. But debating others—as a black women—is…
