Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Viva.
From Savior to Destroyer
I am a military brat. I have never been in one place long enough to forge relationships with people. I was born on one coast and moved to another in my early childhood and that is when my life began to spiral downwards. My mother is a raging alcoholic. Whenever my father was away, she would beat my older sister for any reason she could find. My sister protected me from the physical harm but there is only so much shielding possible from the psychological and emotional wounds that have long since turned into scars. One night after my sister was nearly choked to death she ran away only to be found hours later by California police, despite the bruising already forming on her neck in the shape of hands, the countless scratch marks on her arms and face, her clothes being torn from the struggle, the police reprimanded her for running away. They never said a word to my mother who was still drunk even at that point. Fast forward two years and my sixteen-year-old sister admits to having a drug issue in order to be sent back to our home on the east coast when in reality her drug problem didn't begin until she was home.
By Celest Nyte8 years ago in Viva
LunaPads: How to Choose
So, you've decided to make the switch to reusable cloth pads—congratulations! Or maybe you're curious about switching, but still trying to decide if it's right for you. Either way, this post will help you to choose which LunaPads will work best for your flow and your lifestyle.
By Hazel Williams8 years ago in Viva
Famous Female Lawyers Who Have Blazed Trails
There are many male-dominated areas in the world of politics. Just a low percentage make up the women working in that field. But those hardworking women never allow the men to talk them down, even if they're working in the same field. Believe it or not, no matter how high of a position that woman is working in, she'll still be viewed by many people as an uneducated and irrelevant individual compared to a man in the same exact position. That's just how society works these days, and it's truly upsetting, because gender stereotypes shouldn't exist anymore.
By Jennifer Violet8 years ago in Viva
Feminist Documentaries All Women Should See
Feminists are truly the most passionate and courageous individuals who believe in equality and demolishing stereotypes in the world. They fight for all opportunities be given to women including equal income pay and education. While many of them are involved in protests, clubs, and other rallies to express their beliefs and attempt to fight inequality, many feminists out there go even further to spread the word.
By Jacqueline Hanikeh8 years ago in Viva
Overcoming Domestic Violence
A few years ago, I started dating this guy. I had my eyes on him for a while. I thought he was everything I wanted. He treated me really well, for a really long time. But, one day, he stopped treating me so well. We were on my couch, my mom had run to the store to get some groceries, my little brother was asleep in the other room. He said something that upset me, and I decided I was going to the just sit there in silence for a minute, to really take in what had just said to me. I didn’t really want to talk him in that moment. He didn’t like that I wasn’t answering him when he was speaking to me, so he hit me in my arm, pretty hard. I had a bruise the next day. I asked him why he did that later on, and he told me I shouldn’t have ignored him and made him mad. He hit me on a few other occasions. However, one that really sticks out to me would be the time he did it in front of my friends. We were outside of the school, and he wanted to fight this other boy. I didn’t want him to though, because I didn’t want him to get suspended. So I tried to hug him, and reach up to kiss him. When I did, he grabbed me really hard and threw me to the ground. My very best friend and my other friend where there. I cried so hard, and almost immediately, my arm starting bruising where he had grabbed me. My friends just told me to come on, and they both walked me to the bus. As I said before, those weren’t the only two times it happened, but those are the times that stick out the most to me. The first time and the time my friends were there. He has hit me in my face on multiple occasions as well. Domestic violence is definitely something that’s really hard to go through. For me, I didn’t even really know why he was doing it to me. I loved him more than anything. I thought he was the love of my life. He not only hurt me physically, but emotionally as well. He made me feel useless, and he made me feel like it was always my fault, or that he wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t deserve it. He always came up with some reason why he had done it, and usually it was that I “deserved it.” Eventually after almost four years of dating, and around two years of abuse, he broke up with me. He cheated on me with a girl in middle school, and when I found out about it, he broke up with me. Today, I’m glad that he broke up with me. However, when it happened, I was broken, I was sad, and I felt like I would never be enough for anymore. I thought to myself, “You gave him everything you had to offer in the world, and you still weren’t enough for him, how could you be enough for anyone else?” I went into a really deep depression for a few months after he left. But, after those few months were over, I started to realize what I lost, but also what I gained. Sure, I may have lost what I thought was my “first love.” However, I also lost the abuse, I lost the hurt, I lost the pain, and I lost the bruises. In the end of it all, I gained strength and self-confidence. Strength came before self-confidence of course. I gained strength only a few months after realizing that the pain and bruises were gone for good. I knew that if I could stay strong through that much hurt, and I could have put up with it for as long as I did, than I could handle my own, and I could be strong. The day I realized I was strong was the day I started to stand up for myself. I stopped letting people walk all over me. I stopped letting people talk about me without ever saying anything back or defending myself. I stopped being weak. I stood strong. However, gaining self-confidence took a lot longer. He had put me down so much, that I didn’t see a lot of good in myself. I knew I was strong, but that was about it. He made fun of my looks, my weight, my height, and pretty much everything else. By the time the relationship was over, I didn’t see a lot of good in myself, I looked in the mirror and felt disgusted. Some days I would even cry because I felt so ugly. It took me about a year and a half to really even start to feel a little bit of self confidence. I met a guy, a guy that I am now engaged to. He started telling me every single day how beautiful I am. I almost pushed him away, because I didn’t believe anything he said. I thought he was only telling me those things, because it’s what I “wanted to hear.” However, it turns out that he really meant everything he said. So, the more he would tell me how beautiful I was, the more I began to see it. I would ask him, “What’s beautiful about me?” and he would say something like everything about you is beautiful, or well I love your eyes and your smile. He would just name different things about me that made me beautiful. My self-confidence really started to build up, and I really started to see the beauty in myself. Today, I am stronger than I have ever been. Today, I see that I am beautiful. Today, I see that I am good enough. And today, I don’t even shed a tear when I think about what happened to me. I thank him for it, because he hurt me, but he also made me strong. He made me self-confident. He made me realize my worth. Because of him, I am a wonderful, and beautiful person, and I truly see it now.
By Catherine Johnson8 years ago in Viva
Reflection on Self-Esteem. Top Story - February 2018.
Most women (and girls) have found themselves trapped in a negative mindset, criticizing their imperfections, the flawed put on a spotlight, or have even made a thoughtless remark about someone else. Carving out more reason to distrust the good and the beautiful still there in the mirror. This is where to seek mindfulness, learn to push past that negative voice, and accept the beautifully imperfect and love the soul beneath! Cherishing it slowly and with time, heal the misconception that only outward beauty determines respect and esteem.
By Melissa Johnson8 years ago in Viva
Female Genital Mutilation Is a Woman's Health Issue
Female Genital Mutilation, or FGM for short, dates back about 2000 years. It is a practice that involves removing all or most of the clitoris, the labia minora, or both. This is an international practice that has received pushback from mostly feminist groups in the early 1990s, which led to an official FGM ban called the Female Genital Mutilation Act in 1996 stating the following: “Whoever knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minor or clitoris of another person who has not attained the age of eighteen years shall be fined under this title or imprisoned...” (Chase). This act made it illegal to continue the practice of FGM in the United States; however, the act is still prominent in other countries, especially in the horn of Africa. Although the practice is unlawful, including twenty-six states that have added specific laws that prohibit FGM, it is discreetly practiced among intersex infants and internationally.
By Zuleika Bravo8 years ago in Viva
Cloth Pads: Making the Switch
I had been thinking about making the switch from disposable menstrual pads to reusable cloth pads for quite a while—probably nearly a whole year. From the moment I first discovered them, I was intrigued. I wanted to be rid of the uncomfortable, irritating plastic feeling that made me dread my period and had wished for an alternative to feeling so gross for a week every month. Here it was, but I was still hesitant to make the investment.
By Hazel Williams8 years ago in Viva
