Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Viva.
You Don't Know Until You Know
Growing up as a girl, you're taught to live in fear. You're told not to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and never walk around alone at night. Don't drink, otherwise there might just be a man hiding in the bushes in a dark alley way just waiting to attack. Always make sure someone knows where you are, where you are going, and what time you will be home.
By Letitia Lou8 years ago in Viva
The “R” Word
Some of you may know what “r” word I will be referring to, and for those of you who don’t, you’ll pick up on it. May 2017, I was home, waiting for my parents to leave the house so I’d be able to sneak out and go see a boy I had a crush on. I was 14 at the time and dumber than ever. It took 30 minutes to convince my parents that I’d be fine at home by myself and when they finally left, it felt like the biggest accomplishment I’d ever achieved. As they left the driveway, I quickly grabbed my phone and opened snapchat to tell the guy that he should start driving to my house. This was the first time I lied to my parents face like that. I hated it. I didn’t want to in the first place, but the guy convinced me we’d have a great time and I wouldn’t regret lying to them. He had my 14-year-old naive self convinced. He told me the plan was to jam out in his car and smoke some pot. A few minutes before he arrived, I texted our mutual friend whom also introduced the boy and I to each other and told her I was seeing him again. She immediately responded telling me to not see him and that I’m stupid for wanting to see him again. I kept asking her why and she never answered me. I was still texting her as I stepped into his car. I put my phone up and there wasn’t much talk at all, he just asked where to park and I led him to a dead end by my house. Once he parked, he pulled my shirt and shoved his lips on mine and bit my lip so hard I thought I was bleeding. Before I could even process what was happening he pulled me on top of him, he then unbuttoned his pants and said he liked the way I looked at it. He pushed my head down and wouldn’t stop until I was choking on him. He hit the right side of my back and butt multiple times, with me trying to scream every hit. He pulled me up and choked me with his hand. He whispered “this is what you get for making me wait to see you” He kept a tight hold on my neck until my eyes started to water. The said, “I want to stick my d*ck in you.” I closed my eyes and was waiting for me to wake up from this nightmare. I heard him keep calling me beautiful and wouldn’t stop trying to convince me to have sex with him. Before I said anything he told me to get in the back seat, already pushing through the space between the two front seats. Thinking back, I could have left then, I could have ran and none of what happened next would have happened. He took advantage of me. The whole time he switched from intercourse to oral on him. He was very forceful. He kept hitting my back and bottom every chance he got. I had bruises for days. He told me to call him daddy and talk dirty to him. When I refused, he choked me until my neck was sore. He told me to turn around with my back to him. He told me that he was going to put his penis into my butt. I finally got the courage to say “no, no, no, please, stop, I don’t want this, stop, it hurts, it hurts.” He didn’t even hesitate. he kept going. Somehow I eventually pushed him off. I started to cry. I could hear the anger and frustration in his voice. I knew to be careful. He kept saying that he was sorry and to let him finish. He kept trying to get me to swallow his semen. He tried to push my head on him but I resisted and shut my mouth. He grabbed my hair and forced my head in from of him and finished on my chest. I was so weak. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to breathe. I wish he would have brought a gun and killed me right then. He asked me if I was going to leave or just stay in his car like the lazy slut I was. I got out of the car and started to walk home, crying. As soon as I got home, I saw my parents. They asked me where I was and I told them I went for a walk. I quickly ran to my bathroom telling them that I slipped in mud and felt gross. I took a shower, even though I already took one earlier that day and scrubbed my body until my skin was red, but nothing seemed to rub the dirt he left that would be on my skin for the rest of my life.
By Kaeleigh Miracle8 years ago in Viva
I'm Standing Here Naked
No, but seriously. I stood there naked. Let me explain. I have allowed the idea of love into my head three times in the life I've lived so far. Three times I got burned, but each time I learned something new about myself and about life. I'm a firm believer in taking the most out of a bad situation and turning it into something good. I learned a long time ago that that's the only way to stay positive about life. For all the ladies that read this, the lesson I learned here was to never let someone manipulate you into something you don't want. Never let them hurt you, hurt your feelings, hurt you soul. Never let them speak to you like you are nothing more than the scum on the bottom of a dirty shoe. And NEVER stop believing how truly beautiful and wonderful you are.
By Bryanna Burshnick8 years ago in Viva
The First Lady of American Cinema
Miss Lillian Gish was a pioneer in film. A natural-born actress by heart, she lent her talents to the stage before transitioning to film. Upon its creation, she was quickly introduced to this new platform, which they called "moving pictures" at the time. Little did she know, one hundred years later, she would still make an impact on audiences today.
By Lainey Miller8 years ago in Viva
I wrote a feminist speech titled "Our Differences Make Us Stronger, WE are Survivors"
So I took two summer classes in the second half of the semester at Carleton. One of my classes required me to write a feminist speech that addressed issues about intersectionality so here's my speech titled "Our Differences Make Us Stronger. WE are Survivors," enjoy! Let me know your feedback and if you think I missed important aspects of intersectionality!
By Marissa Matthews8 years ago in Viva
Girl Guides
We are judgemental creatures, we all have those moments where we say or think something that projects unnecessary negativity towards someone unsuspecting but is that a matter of nature or nurture? Someone once told me that the first thing you think about someone is often the voice of society and if you think something different afterwards, that is your personal voice. This has given me comfort when I have been judgmental towards others but that voice in my mind tells me "Who are you to think that?" This helps me believe that I am not a bad person, driven by bitterness, but that perhaps, that's just my programming. I want to talk about this from a point of view I understand, as my capacity to speak for anyone else is limited from my experience. I want to talk about the women who knock down other women for no reason. I don't believe that this is a natural state of being, that it is written into our DNA. I believe it is a learned trait that needs to be "unlearned."In my experience, this tends to happen with beauty and body image a lot, but can also include (but not be limited to) sexual freedom, work, relationships, recognition and attention. "She is too fat/thin/built, she isn't a real woman, someone her size/age shouldn't be wearing that, she's a bit of a slut, she's begging for attention" The list could go on. In a world where the majority of advertising campaigns are based around subtly telling us that we are not good enough without their product, with unrealistic images smiling at us through glossy pages in fashion magazines that are eighty percent advertising and twenty percent puff pieces, it is hard to not become image-obsessed. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others and it seems that the more you fit the conventional mould of beauty, the higher you can climb in life, such is our aesthetic society. Beauty is a commodity in a capitalist society. I wonder, perhaps if our preoccupation with knocking each other down is part of this construct. Since beauty is often shown to equal success, is there a belittlement to the venom that is shared between some women? Is this a situation that seems threatening to ones own success? Everybody enjoys a certain amount of attention. It is psychologically gratifying to receive positive attention, yet there is such a huge stigma to the words "attention seeker." It is a term that is only ever used in a negative sense and whilst there are many forms of negative attention seeking, some can be wholly positive. Attention can be a very natural and enjoyable experience, yet we are always quick to call it out as something else. In no way am I saying that every woman should get your wholehearted support for every action, simply because you share a gender identity. There can be personal reasons for dislike, damaging attitudes involved or things that you simply disagree with. That is fine, you have a right to disagree with people. What I am talking about is the onslaught of random attacks that women make on other women, even the ones said in silence in their minds, without reason. Why are we still doing this? I've been making a pact with myself recently, to allow that little voice in my mind to second guess any judgement that I make, to stand up for other women more and to try and be more supportive because I have been on both sides of this bitter coin. I have been the girl judged harshly by strangers and I have done this myself. I am not proud of the latter. Since I have made that pact, I have actually found that my interactions with the females in my life and those who are strangers to me, have been so much more rewarding. I've stopped myself looking through the gauze of convention and started seeing beauty in a broader spectrum, started empowering the women I see making moves in business and supporting those who need it. I wouldn't have said that I was a judgemental person but taking some time to reflect, I have to admit that I was and sometimes still can be, though I am working on that every day. Now I'm not saying this to toot my own proverbial horn, I truly have found that the rewards of this change of mentality have been entirely beneficial. They have even changed the way that I look at myself. Whilst still plagued with image doubts, I am now able to stop making comparisons as often. To settle into who I am a little more. There have been many shifts recently that have seen women banding together more (the #metoo campaign springs to mind) over shared hardship and whilst it was simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking to watch the support that poured out in these situations. It shouldn't only be in issues of hardship that we lend each other that support. Taking a little time to offer a "pick me up" in the day can be a matter of a few words that make a huge difference and can cause a chain reaction. This goes for anybody, not just woman to woman. When we support each other, we can achieve more. When we band together, we are more powerful. When we offer compliments, we give weapons against insecurity. There are large changes we can make when united or there are small, personal changes, both are of equal merit. Being on either side of negativity is not a good feeling. Negativity breeds more of the same and whilst we may think that toxic comments will make us feel better, all they do is open us up to an equally toxic rebuttal. This competition is something that none of us signed up for. It was in place when we were born and slowly trickled into our collective psyche but that doesn't mean that it is a real and tangible thing. The competition only exists whilst we are competing. According to the Ekman emotion theory, we have six innate emotions: Fear, anger, happiness, sadness, surprise and disgust. Within these categories there are many nuances and intensities. Jealousy and insecurity sit together as a nuance of threat and anger. Judgement and loathing are products of disgust. If we are to look at this theory, it presents a fairly bleak outlook, since the majority of the innate emotions are negative ones. When broken down this makes sense, since negative emotions are often tools for learning and protecting oneself but it does make it seem like our chances of positive emotions run fairly slim. So what are the nuances of happiness according to this theory? To cherry pick some, they include: Open, hopeful, loving, courageous, respected, fulfilled, confident, important and liberated. Are these not all things that we would like to be able to feel? These are things we are all capable of helping each other feel. When we support someone and show our loving and caring to them, when we pick them up on a dark day and show them hope or fill them with courage, when we respect them or their work and when we don't deny them their rights. I truly believe that we could achieve so much more happiness if we broke this cycle of competition. This article may be about women supporting women but it works on a wider spectrum too and actually isn't difficult to do. It takes some practice, something I am still working on but it opens doors to healthier and more nurturing relationships and society. Next time that unprompted negativity springs to mind, ask yourself why you are thinking this?Where is this coming from and do you truly believe it? Whilst you may find me sanctimonious, this comes from a place of hope. An idealistic place but one with a very achievable goal. There are people who have worded this much better than I and those articles can be found with a swift search but I wanted to add my name to the pile in my own show of support. After all, this is what this whole tome has been about.
By Sahala Smith8 years ago in Viva
#Me Too
I sat at my computer innocently scrolling through Facebook when I see the first signs of a movement. #MeToo written on status after status after status of my female friends and comments following made by men telling them that no one wants to hear it or they're making it up. That they should be glad they got the attention they did. A comment on every status I saw and I felt my anger rising, opening my status bar and typing in the hashtag to lend my voice to the movement sweeping the nation and I stopped... erasing the words and clicking to a different screen. A movement for women to shock people with the rates of sexual assault or harassment that I could lend my voice to but all I could think of was what speaking out cost me.
By Lilli Behom8 years ago in Viva
Why I Don’t Shave
I don’t shave my underarms. Right now some of you are mentally giving me high fives, raising your fist to cheer me on and cursing the beauty standards that making shaving your underarms so important. Others literally gagged a little and may have stopped reading because you think this is another stand against the patriarchy and their beauty standards. It’s not.
By Kathryn Brown8 years ago in Viva
