Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Viva.
That Morning on The Bathroom Floor
I’ll be the first to admit it — I was a real slut in high school. Heck, I was a slut after high school and continue to be a slut to this day. I’m damn proud of it too. I can give a blowjob that’ll have you gushing in mere minutes. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. Or rather, write about.
By Little Wanderer8 years ago in Viva
It's Not Okay to Say 'Hi' to Women Anymore
Fair warning, males! If you see a woman on the street who's clearly distressed, do not attempt to approach. You have got to first hand in a handwritten application soaked in some magical dust that'll make it okay for them upon inhalation to speak to this superior race.
By Maura Dudas8 years ago in Viva
The Evolution of Hidden Fertility
We are the only female primates that do not undergo estrus—a time when the anogenital areas turn red and swell signaling receptivity for sex. The obvious bright swellings also indicate the female is fertile. This is also referred to as sexual heat. Science is a male-dominated occupation, full of bias in assessing the role of women in evolution. Nowhere is this seen so acutely as it is in considering why human females do not undergo estrus. Many of my male counterparts see the loss of sexual heat as simply the evolution of continual receptivity that benefitted the males of our species., and others believe sexual heat still exists in more subtle ways. Some of the current thinking on the end of estrus can be summed up as follows:
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Viva
Menstrual Cups
This might seem like a peculiar first article to post as a creative writing student. After all, menstruation isn’t usually the first thing to get people’s imagination going, and it’s regarded as taboo by some. However, the more I think about it, the more I realise they encompass many of my beliefs: they are vegan and environmentally friendly, economical, and hold a lot of menstruation, giving people with periods more time and freedom to do what they want (such as jogging, swimming, or sleeping).
By 8 years ago in Viva
10 Things Every Woman Thinks About Their VaJJ
A vagina is so many things. Mysterious. Magical. Beautiful. Like an enchanting unicorn. However, it's also a giant pain in the ass or more like a pain next to your ass. Unlike man parts which can be lifted, flipped, and flopped, a woman's "secret garden" requires so much more love, attention, and upkeep. Located and designed to make it near impossible to see it yourself, it is hands down the most confusing and complicated part of the human body.
By Jus L'amore8 years ago in Viva
The Glass Ceiling
As of 2017, women make-up just over 50 percent of the population, and yet we still haven't reached equality in either pay rate or job status. Women earn 60 percent of all four-year college degrees and 60 percent of all Master's degrees. Law degrees? We earn 47 percent of MBA's and 48 percent of all medical degrees. and 47 percent of other specialized Master's. We comprise 47 percent of the general workforce and 49 percent of the college-educated workforce, yet we are poorly represented in the upper echelons of nearly every possible field. The massive progress of the last few decades of the 20th century has all but come to a standstill. As of 2011, we hold only nine percent of top management positions in S & P 1500 companies. As of 2016, women hold just 18 percent of S&P 1500 board seats.They are just 25 percent of executive and senior officials and managers, 9.5 percent of top earners, and 6 percent of CEOs in S&P 500 companies. Women don't fare better in law or medicine. Although females make up 45 percent of lawyers, we only make-up 22 percent of law firm partners. In medicine, we represent 37 percent of all physicians and surgeons, but only 16 percent of medical school deans. In television and film, the results are equally dismal. Women accounted for just 17 percent of all the directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors who worked on the top-grossing 250 domestic films of 2016. Many films are designed to get female viewers and yet they have only a small hand in creating them. Women were just 26 percent of all off-screen talent on broadcast networks, cable, and streaming programs during the 2015-16 season. Women of color were only 3.9 percent of the executive or senior-level officials and managers and 0.4 percent of CEOs in the companies that produce our entertainment. In 2017, after the departure of Ursula Burns as CEO of Xerox Corp., there were no African American women heading Fortune 500 companies. As recently as 2013, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies had no women of color as board directors at all. So what can be done to eliminate the ceiling?
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Viva
To the Girl Struggling With Body Image
To the girl struggling with body image, One of the most important things I have learned in my short 19 years on this earth, is that loving yourself is 100 percent unnegotiable and necessary if you ever want to be happy. Truly happy. If you were to ask 12-year-old me to name anything about herself that she unconditionally loved, her list would consist of absolutely nothing. Granted, 12 is a hard age for just about anyone, but the idea that the entirety of your worth came solely from your physical appearance was so engrained into 12-year-old Grace’s head, that it stuck, and unfortunately followed her everywhere for a long time. For everything and anything that went wrong in my life throughout my middle/high school years, I somehow found a way to blame it on the way I looked. I would avoid meeting new people for the fear that they would think I was ugly. I would avoid standing up for myself for the fear that someone might use the word fat as a comeback, and slowly but surely, my obsession with being as beautiful as I thought I should have been completely overrode the outgoing, smart person that was underneath. This mindset later developed into an eating disorder known as bulimia nervosa. For a long time, my relationship with food, my body, and self-control was not only unhealthy, but it hindered me completely from seeing everything in my life that I should have been thankful for. After being in recovery from my eating disorder for almost two years now, I like to keep a journal to be able to look back on the lessons that stood out to me the most when it came to really changing the way I viewed the world. These are a few of the most important ones:
By Grace D'Aprile8 years ago in Viva
Just to Be Happy
As most little girls are bred to want the perfect family at a young age, many may go about it the wrong way. Knowing the yellow house with the white picket fence, beautiful children, and a faithful husband would bring happiness, nobody told the truth about it being a fairytale. Playing with our favorite dollhouse and Barbie dolls, we are able to build imaginary lives. The expensive modern home, fancy car, and a man who brought home the "bread and butter" molded young girls thinking of what life should and will be.
By Pinned2 Paper8 years ago in Viva
#Me Too
ME TOO! I was debating writing this but my story should be heard and I'm using real names. When I was 12/13, my first boyfriend, David, physically, mentally, and sexually assaulted me. I didn't want or was ready having sex. But he was so manipulative. He would constantly tell me how hideous I was, that no one would want me but him. He controlled how I wore my hair and makeup and who I hung out with. So he finally talked me into giving him a hand job, I hated every second of it and hated myself. This became a regular thing. One night he wanted head and I refused and he held a knife to my throat, convinced I didn't trust him or was cheating on him. I didn't have to do it. We went to different high schools and the last thing he said to me was have fun getting rapped in Abington (Abington is a really nice town).
By Kaitlyn Parker8 years ago in Viva
What I Learned by Leaving My Abuser
For the longest time I was in denial about being a victim of domestic violence. When I finally came to accept it, escape seemed dangerous and impossible. It was anything but easy, however walking away taught me much more than I had anticipated.
By Kody Kline8 years ago in Viva
The Post Marriage Name Change: Outdated Tradition or a Matter of Personal Choice?
I sit across from my mother’s oldest and dearest friend; Louise, a woman of 42 who considers it an achievement to have avoided marriage for almost four and a half decades. During a family gathering and midway through a passionate feminist speech, she declares she has no intention of taking her fiancé’s surname. “You bloody well will! It's tradition!” This threatening statement came from a feisty 82-year-old lady who had, so far not uttered a word from the recliner in which she slumped: the soon-to-be bride’s grandmother. Her reanimation at the mere mention of opposing this custom sparked a debate in my mind. Has the tradition of name-taking dissipated under the bright, white spotlight of feminism, individualism, and our pre-conceived notions of gender stereotypes?
By A. Andrews8 years ago in Viva
