Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Fearless Friday: Casey O'Higgins, Casey O'Higgins

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This week is Spirit week. Because of this, today’s Fearless Friday honors a student who has worked tirelessly to promote education around LGBTQ issues.

Casey O’Higgins is a senior from Detriot, Michigan, who is majoring in Women & Gender Studies and minoring in English. He is the President of Outerspace, an LGBTQ organization on campus that provides a safe, social space for students in the LGBTQ community and allies to socialize. Casey also works at the Office of LGBTQA Advocacy and Education as one of their program coordinators. In this role, he is responsible for organizing campus events that are …

Fearless Friday: Tiffany Lane, Tiffany Lane

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This week, SURGE is highlighting the fearless work of Tiffany Lane, the new director of the Women’s and LGBTQ Resource Center on campus.

Although she is a new addition to the Gettysburg community, Tiffany has been working with issues of systemic injustice for much of her life. Her social justice journey began when she was an undergrad at Michigan State University (MSU), where she began to accept her identity as a queer woman. Tiffany was a student leader and activist at MSU and became so passionate about this work that she decided to make a career out of her activism. …

Fearless Friday: Julie Davin, Julie E. Davin

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In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, SURGE is honoring all of the amazing work that Julie Davin ’17 does for our community.

Julie, originally from Newtown, Connecticut, is currently a senior at Gettysburg College majoring in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and minoring in English and Philosophy. Over the course of her college career, Julie has been involved with the Gettysburg Anti-Capitalist Collective (GACC), Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA), Outerspace (formerly Friend or Foe), SURGE, Gettysburg Cares, and the annual Vagina Monologues. This long list of activities does not faze Julie; she cares deeply about each and every cause …

A Targeted Existence, Melissa J. Lauro

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Over the summer, I visited a friend from Gettysburg who was having a party. The party was fun for the first half, and I was having a good time, so I decided to stay the night instead of walk in the dark to the bus. This is what parents and educators and older sisters and women everywhere had taught me: stay with people you know; clutch your keys in your hand; don’t walk alone. I was staying with my friend from school; I was safe. [excerpt]

In God We Trust, Andrew C. Nosti

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Almost everywhere I turn I can hear someone saying, “America is a Christian nation!” likely yelled or grumbled with impressive, and sometimes concerning, aggression. I can’t go through a week without this phrase popping up, usually closely accompanied by the notion that America’s founding has roots in Christian principles. [excerpt]

Fearless Friday: Friend Or Foe, Christina L. Bassler

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Friend or FOE, a recent addition to our campus offers queer students and their allies an opportunity to connect more socially and establish a mutual understanding of their experiences on campus. The group defines itself as having a less activist approach, rather, their main focus is to create a medium for students who feel that while their sexual orientation is important it is not necessarily something they want to be defined by. [excerpt]

Judgy Eyes, Stephany W. Harrington

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I can feel them watching me, examining me. I try not to look directly at them for fear that they might see right through me.

For so long I’ve walked amongst them and have tried to somewhat assimilate into their culture. But even then, I’m certain they feel something off about me, something that just doesn’t fit. And they’d be right to assume that, because I am different from so many of them. [excerpt]

Fearless Friday: Chelsea Broe, Chelsea E. Broe

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Consistently speaking up for social justice issues around campus, finding innovative ways to promote peer understanding, and making our campus a more welcoming, accepting, and open place, Chelsea Broe ’14 is a fearless leader who advocates for others.

Bending The Binary, Chelsea E. Broe

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Friend: “Are you going to the Gender Bender Dance?”

Me: “I think so. I probably won’t dress up though; I figure I already bend gender enough every day.”

Friend: “What do you mean? Like you’re not feminine?”

Me: “Yeah!”

Friend: “No, Chelsea! Of course you are!”

Wait, what? I understand that this person meant no harm; if anything, my friend probably interpreted my remark as a self-deprecating comment uttered with the hopes that someone would reassure my femininity. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Fearless: Josh Griffiths, Joshua M. Griffiths

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Continually a strong voice for the underrepresented on campus, working with other students and faculty to take initiative in changing campus policy and culture toward the LGBTQ community, and serving as a leader in multiple groups and organizations on campus, Josh Griffiths ’14 fearlessly advocates for members of our campus community, making Gettysburg a more open and welcoming space. [excerpt]

"A" Is Not For Ally, Ellen I. Henry

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Most people can recall their first crush. They think fondly back to age ten or eleven when they first “went boy-crazy” or couldn’t focus on sixth-grade English because that cute girl was in their class.

This did not happen for me. I do, however, vividly remember it happening for everyone around me. [excerpt]

I Watch Porn, Chelsea E. Broe

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I started watching porn when I was 16.

The first thing I noticed was the porn actresses’ vulvas. They were hairless, perfectly symmetrical, with beautiful folds of labia. This being my only venue to see other female bodies, I assumed what I saw was normal (after all, they all looked pretty similar to each other) and that my own body, not looking like those of these women, was flawed. [excerpt]

Paradoxes Of Porn, Jessie M. Pierce

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So I have a confession: I’m kind of obsessed with porn. Which is weird considering that I have never actually seen any. [excerpt]

My (Not So) Angry Vagina, Mary E. Maloney

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Why is feminism a dirty word? Why are celebrities from Susan Sarandon to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry explicitly rejecting the feminist label? And why is Carrie Underwood saying, “I wouldn’t go so far as to say I am a feminist, that can come off as a negative connotation.”

Since when was there a negativity surrounding feminism? Well, basically since forever. [excerpt]

Fearless: The Vagina Monologues, Center For Public Service

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Performed annually around the world to celebrate womanhood, empower survivors of sexual assault and abuse, and create an open forum for challenging cultural attitudes toward women, the Vagina Monologues will be performed by Gettysburg College students next Thursday and Friday (February 20 & 21). [excerpt]

Maybe I'M The Problem, Chelsea E. Broe

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Being raised in the United States, I internalized racist, sexist, transphobic, heterosexist, classist, ableist, and faithist ways of thinking. And by this, I do not simply mean that I was taught to hate people of color, queer individuals, working class people, or people of different religions. This indoctrination runs much deeper than that. [excerpt]

Fearless: Kaleigh Sosa, Kathryn E. Bucolo

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Fearlessly organizing events on campus addressing issues of sexual assault, serving the campus community by raising awareness of gender, bias, and violence issues, and helping first-years and sophomores as part of Residence Life staff, Kaleigh Sosa ’14 passionately leads her peers toward understanding. [excerpt]

Twice As Likely To..., Adrienne M. Ellis

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TRIGGER WARNING!

I am white. I am bisexual. I am female. I have been sexually assaulted. Three times. [excerpt]

Fearless: Sexual Assault Survivors, Kathryn E. Bucolo

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TRIGGER WARNING!

Raped, abused, molested, assaulted. Every other day on this campus.

Grabbed, touched, hit, down. Not a person. Skirt going down, shirt coming up.

Led behind locked doors, poured another drink.

“Not sure if it counted as assault.”

Every. other. day. [excerpt]

Gay After Graduation, Laura J. Koenig

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I first went public with my sexual orientation over Surge last spring–my last semester at Gettysburg before graduation. I was scared, but ultimately lucky to be met with support from my friends and family. People generally accepted my sexuality and then moved on. Actually, life went on so quickly that it took me some time to catch up. [excerpt]

Bi The Way, I'M Queer, Chelsea E. Broe

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363 days ago, on October 11, 2012, I came out as bisexual.

Every year, the queer community observes October 11th as National Coming Out Day, a day when queers of all kinds can openly acknowledge and celebrate their sexual orientation and gender identity. [excerpt]

I Don't Want To Save Second Base, Chelsea E. Broe

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Tomorrow kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I have one request: This October, let’s not save second base.

I know, I know, you probably think this month is a good thing. If not for all of those T-shirts demanding every female-bodied person to feel their boobies, or the bracelets simply proclaiming “I love boobies,” people with breasts might forget that they even have them, or at the very least might start to think that their breasts are their own business. But the female body seems to be an object owned by the public, so we must always be reminded …

Brooks Better Not Come Back, Helena E. Yang

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Every time a new season of the Bachelorette starts, I tell myself that I won’t watch this season—that I won’t give in to the trashiness and the petty drama which is the Bachelor. But I can’t help it. Season after season I’m hooked and 17 seasons later… here I am. [excerpt]

Does My Hair Bother You? Part 2, Adrienne M. Ellis

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I stopped shaving my legs in May. The decision to quit shaving was part social experiment, but a lot of it had to do with NOT HAVING TO SHAVE MY LEGS ANYMORE.

Honestly I didn’t make the decision to stop shaving my leg hair as some sort of feminist statement. I really just found it stupid how society pressures women to have smooth “sexy” legs. How did this pressure begin? Historically women didn’t shave their legs or underarms in the United States; however, hair removal was a common cultural practice in many other parts of the world such as …

Does My Hair Bother You? Part 1, Nadejiah Z. Towns

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“It’s AMAZING that it’s considered revolutionary to wear my hair the way it grows out of my head…” – Tracie Thoms

I don’t wear my natural hair because I want to join the “revolutionary movement” that has recently swept across our nation. I’m not desperately seeking to get in touch with my roots. Nor do I desire to be acknowledged as the soulful “sista” that eats, sleeps and breathes “Black Power“. I wear my natural hair because I was naive enough to ignore warnings of the effects that Gettysburg’s harsh water would have on my “black hair”. So …

Fearless: Gettysburg Allies, Gettysburg Allies

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In celebration of the Supreme Court’s decision to declare DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)unconstitutional, the revocation of Prop 8, and Hershel Genfer’s fantastic blog, we’d like to highlights Gettysburg’s fearless ALLies Club headed by Ann Sasala ’15 and Adrienne Ellis ’14. This past year Erin Duran, the Residence Life Coordinator for West Quad, also began his partnership with ALLies as the college’s first LGBTQA advisor. [excerpt]

The Paradox Of Feeling Invisible Yet Overly-Visible, Hershel Genfer

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A personal reflection on being transgender at Gettysburg College:

When I came out to myself, my friends, and Gettysburg’s ALLies Club as transgender in the spring of 2012, I was one of only a very small handful of out trans* students on campus. There were so few of us, in fact, that you could probably count us on the fingers of one hand, and the issues surrounding the “T” in “LGBT,” while important, seemed to affect other people in other places rather than the people in our own community. [excerpt]

In Defense Of Feminists Who Like Fashion, Margarita C. Delgado

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I’m sitting on the downtown R train one night in Manhattan, a copy of Vogue resting on my crossed legs. It is late and I am clearly unwinding peacefully as I thumb through page after glamorous page of my magazine. The train stops at Prince Street and there’s the usual flux of people in and out. Those left inside settle as the train pulls out of the station.

“Ugh. Fashion is stupid,” remarks one young man to another, both of whom are sitting diagonally from me and well within earshot. He’s watching me ignore him as I continue enjoying my …

Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be..., Rashida Aluko-Roberts

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Lets talk about sex.

Well not really, just the double standard that comes with the topic. It’s no secret that men and women are taught to think about sex differently. While there are many (myself included) who fail to accept these culturally imposed ideas and attitudes about sex, it would be incredibly naïve to not acknowledge the existence of the double standard that exists. [excerpt]

Sexism - Lmfao, Katherine M. Patterson

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So I have a confession to make, one that I’m really not proud of, but part of being a mature person is acknowledging, accepting, and learning from your past mistakes. Here it is:

I told a sexist joke. [excerpt]