Sexual Violence and the Porn Industry

Trigger warning: This content deals with accounts of misogyny, harrassment and sexual violence, and may be triggering to some readers. For all the energy devoted to fighting sexual assault on this campus, from the bystander training during Orientation to the numerous SHE workshops discussing safe sex to the posters explaining Title IX that adorn the walls of our dorms, I am troubled that porn — sexual violence filmed and repackaged for male pleasure — is so seldom discussed. Just this Monday th

Misogyny through the Years: From Puberty to Adulthood

Trigger warning: This content deals with accounts of misogyny, harassment and sexual violence and may be triggering to some readers. In fifth grade, we learned that our periods might cause some mild discomfort. When I finally got mine, nearly four years later, I felt a little deceived. Mild discomfort, as far as I knew it, meant a stomachache, a bruise on the knee, or soreness after a hard workout, and my first ever period was much more uncomfortable than any of those things. But none of my fri

So Many Essays, No Time to Learn

Like so many Amherst students, I am all too familiar with 4 a.m. The kind of 4 a.m. where you’re hunched over a desk, accompanied only by your notes and a mug of lukewarm coffee. You’ve stared at a computer so long you can’t tell what the words you wrote just a few hours ago even mean. You’ve refreshed Facebook for the 80th time. I’ve been at Amherst for three months, and I’ve already had my share of those nights. Upperclassmen assure me it gets worse. So, on Monday, Oct. 6, the morning after