YWCA of Central Massachusetts

This blog aims to spread the word about the YWCA of Central Massachusetts. So give us a follow and help us to eliminate racism and empower women!

[cartoonpolitics]

"I know it’s a really hard concept to process, but the fact that the Government accuses someone of being a Terrorist doesn’t mean they are." .. (Glenn Greenwald)

[seenbydarci]

Examples Of White Privilege

[centralma-ywca]

And this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

[humanrightswatch]

What’s so scary about smart girls?

The question was posed by a donor representative speaking at the Girl Summit 2014 this week in London. The speaker’s answer to his own question – that smart girls can change the world – matched the mood of the event, which was upbeat, energetic, and ambitious in its goals. 

Girl Summit Should Lead to Action

(via humanrightswatch)

[thisiseverydayracism]

Even friends may turn on you

First off, I am a black 13 year old female and I’m proud of my heritage,  culture and race

Although some, even friends, may bring me down.

Throughout the first quarter of this year, two of my best friends refused to speak to me just because I was black. The one was of Taiwanese descent and the other an Indian.  They would torment me and bully me to the point where I would cry myself to sleep or refuse to go to school.  These people had been like brothers to me and they were now turning on me.

On one occasion,  the one had asked to use my dictionary in the English class. I handed it to him and watched as he flipped through it, finally landing on the letter “B”.

I soon turned away and continued doing my work when the dictionary was placed open in front of me. He had written my name next to the word “black” and was chuckling with tears in his eyes. He then continued to read thw definition,  which is true but a bit offending, as he chocked on his laughter. I lost my temper and before I knew it, the dictionary was out of my hands and in his face. 

On another ocassion, we were in drama and had to do a play on slavery. As we were deciding on costume, he had suggested that we where traditional Zulu(African culture) attire. On several more ocassions, I would often find my journal in bins. 

On several more occasions (sorry for dragging on… I talk too much I know) I’ve been asked if my afro is my real hair, people have repeatedly asked to touch it or place pencils in it to see how long it would stay there before falling out. They’d called me “carpet hair” and although it was only intended as a joke (which was funny to all including me in the beginning) it still hit a little soft spot.

What is sad is also seeing some people broadcast other people’s pins on BBM and putting “white people only” in brackets next to the pin. I have been deleted several times just because of my race. We bleed thw same blood, people.

On kik, some have actually asked me what the colour of my skin is. Some( White boys) people have also asked if I have interest in them. I responded calmly, telling them that I didn’t care about race.

It makes me wonder if this whole “Unity in Diversity” motto actually means something.  Do we abide by it?

I hope that one day my children will be as blind to race as I am and will communicate with people of all races and cultures without any racist comments involved. 

[minus18]

For me and my friends growing up, being told things like ‘you have to wear this because that’s what boys wear” or “dresses are for not for your body type” was frustrating and a pretty bad time.




The bottom line for me is, if someone feels happier and more comfortable in a particular ‘type’ of uniform, then that’s something that should be encouraged, not punished. Students have enough to focus on at school, having to fight to be yourself shouldn’t be added to that.



That’s why we’ve launched a new campaign called Gender is Not Uniform.

[centralma-ywca]

Something to think about with the school year starting up!

[simonbaz-deactivated20160110]

[natalie-banaszczyk]

"If I was a man…" Photo Series, 2014

Equipment: Nikon D3200 Camera, Fabulous Models, Female Empowerment

If you manage to get me started on gender inequality in this world you will find that a) I am ridiculously passionate about this issue and b) I will take no excuses as to why we should not have gender equality in societies today.

This project, like many others, looks to highlight the inequality women experience on a day to day basis. This inequality will be shown by dressing up female models like their male-alter ego and having the model write down what she could do if she was in fact a man, thus showing what women cannot do/achieve in today’s modern society.

Gender inequality, in this country at least, ranges from sexual harassment on the street, in the office, and sometimes at home to having a corporation decide what birth control it can provide its female employees (Burwell v Hobby Lobby). Gender inequality also stems from such simple acts as calling someone a “pussy,” thus associating the vagina as “weak”, or shaming someone for how many or how little people they’ve slept with.

In working on this project, I hope to change a few opinions on how necessary gender equality is. To me it is absurd that I, as a woman, even entertain the idea that my life would be better if I was the opposite gender. What gender we, as humans, identify with should never negatively affect our lives.

-Natalia

[thecityscholar-deactivated20241]

We need to teach girls they can become the next presidents, and it’s not about beauty all the time.

Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes on how she wants to teach her newborn daughter to choose brains over beauty. (via thecityscholar)

[centralma-ywca]

Movie Night: Miss Representation and Changing the Way Women view themselves.

Wednesday night about ten girls from various YWCA groups got together and watched the movie Miss Representation. Although we had some technical difficulties and had to stop the movie about half way through our discussion was riveting.  Please note that if you have not seen the movie the trailer is here and you can watch it is available on Netflix. 

Before the movie we went over the following:

Name, Grade, School, Program

How do you think women are portrayed in the media?

I was one of the two facilitators for this event and as all of the girls went over the above question I wrote some words down on a flip chart. These words included: white washing, fetishizing, whore, double standards, race, the perfect woman (bleach blonde, skinny, white). As we watched the movie, these things became even more apparent to us. 

After the movie we had another discussion with the following questions:

What kind of messages do you think the media sends about women and their bodies? Intelligence? Physical ability? Race? Age?

Do you see women being portrayed in a positive or negative light? What are examples of women being portrayed positively? Negatively?

Moving forward, how can we guard ourselves from falling prey to these negative, often hurtful, images in the media? What can we do as a community to combat this? On a micro and macro level?

The first two questions led to all sorts of discussions on how women are portrayed in a negative way and when we tried to think of women portrayed in a positive way...well it wasn't pretty. Over all everyone in that room realized that the media is not showing us real women, they're showing us what they want us to be - and we were not happy about this.

As for the last question we realized that we need to educate people. Education on this is everything, you have to know about the issue to fight it after all. We decided that all women need to be educated about this and that we then need to create safe spaces to talk about the issues. My personal favorite idea was a body positivity party. Where women get together and talk and hang out and do things to feel good about themselves.

But first things first, we need to get the word out there about this worldwide issue. So if you so happen to read this article, sit down with your friends, watch Miss Representation, and spread the word. 

[thebootyrevolution]

Daily inspiration :) #bootyrevolution

[centralma-ywca]

To Leila: The Radest Program Leader Ever and a True Sister

Leila,

First off happy birthday! You turn 24 today which is pretty awesome. I hope that you have an amazing day and spend it with people that care about you. I know that this isn't a conventional birthday card, but I think that it works anyways. 

Here are 24 things to celebrate about you for your 24th birthday:

Your intelligence

Your willingness to help others

Your desire to change the world

Being an amazing program director

You always make time to talk to us 

Your kind heart and loving demeanor

You have an amazing sense of style

Your acceptance of everyone just the way they are

Your ability to motivate those around you

Your beauty-both outer and inner-is that of a Goddess

Your ability to change the life of every young girl you work with

Your passion for reproductive rights and women's rights

Your listening skills and comforting skills are outstanding and people always feel safe talking to you

An ability to keep your spirit high even on the darkest of days

Your humor

You're a warrior that fights for women and women of color everywhere

Your strong beliefs and willingness to act on them

Your organizational skills

A unique insight on various situations

Your desire to learn

Your innovative personality is always pushing you to do new things and find new ways to fight for what you believe in

Your willingness to educate others

You give young women hope

You are a true sister to us all

Love,

Your PEARLs girls and the YWCA

[rebeccacohenart]

http://vitaminw.co/culture-society/womens-history-questions-and-facts

Just a fraction of the cool stuff I learned when researching women’s history.

Check out the revised (more accurate) version here: http://rebeccacohenart.tumblr.com/post/79399896965/http-vitaminw-co-culture-society-womens-history-q

[centralma-ywca]

Understanding Feminism

I recently discovered that a tumblr exists called Women Against Feminism. I have a few very important things to say about this.

Feminism is about gender equality

Feminism helps men and women

Feminism spans across all races and ages

Feminists are not feminzais and should not be equated to Hitler

And most important: feminists do not hate men

[im-a-m0therfucking-monster]

9 clueless things white people say when confronted with racism

News flash: Reverse racism doesn’t exist.

1) “You’re racist for making this an issue of race.”

2) “I don’t see race. I only see the human race.”

3) “Talking about issues in terms of ‘white people’ and ‘white privilege’ is reverse racism.”

4) “You [person of color] clearly don’t know what racism is. According to Webster’s Dictionary…”

5) “You [person of color] said something about white people doing racist things, so I demand you explain this to me right now.”

6) “But my [person of color] friend said it was OK if I did it [racially problematic thing].”

7) “Stop attacking me for having privileges just because I’m white. It’s racist and hurtful.”

8) “I’m sick of pretending that [people of color] need special rights and programs just because they aren’t white. We have problems too, you know.”

9) [Insert tear-filled expression of white privilege guilt or denial here.]

[pancakelanding]

New Doc Looks at Vietnamese Workers in the Nail Industry - COLORLINES

“Nailed it” seeks to uncover the fascinating but little known history of Vietnamese immigrants in America’s hazardous beauty industry.

This looks amazing.

[centralma-ywca]

18 Empowering Illustrations to Remind Everyone Who's Really in Charge of Women's Bodies

And that women are so much more than what they look like.

Wow words cannot describe how much I love this.

[centralma-ywca]

LOOK: Children's Clothing Company Sparks Outrage With 'Racist' Shirt Display

If you were hoping the Obama-banana image scandal and the Brazil soccer team monkey taunt were going to be the last racist monkey comparisons, sorry to disappoint you. This week, the children's clothing company Just Add A Kid was accused of racism...