
The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at the University of Connecticut applauds Ms. Luby for creating an open dialogue about the relationship among the UConn brand, discourses of masculinity, systems of violence, and the responsibility of the University to create civil and welcoming environments for all students. We are appalled at the threatening...
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Tags: Academica, Activism, feminism, Masculinity, Sport, UConn
Posted in Academia, Activism, Feminism, masculinity, Sports, Violence | 1 Comment »

By Soraya L. Chemaly Two days ago, Carolyn Luby, an undergraduate at University of Connecticut published a remarkable open letter to the school’s president, Susan Herbst, in The Feminist Wire. In the letter she made her case and argued persuasively that the school’s new mascot and branding should be reconsidered. The school had decided as part of...
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Tags: Activism, feminism, misogyny, sexism, Sports, UConn, Violence
Posted in Activism, Feminism, Sports, Violence | 4 Comments »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 26, 2013 In light of the recent vitriolic, anti-feminist, misogynist, and malevolent backlash directed at UConn senior Carolyn Luby in response to her courageous Op-Ed, “An Open Letter to UConn President Susan Herbst,” published in The Feminist Wire’s College column last Tuesday, we want to express our unequivocal support for...
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Tags: Academia, Activism, sexism, Sports, Violence
Posted in Academia, Activism, Feminism, Press Releases, Sports, Violence | 37 Comments »

Dear President Susan Herbst, I write to you today as a UConn student, but more specifically as a UConn woman and feminist. I want to first express my admiration for you as a woman who has made it in a “man’s” world, who has faced the odds and done the seemingly unthinkable; become the...
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Tags: Academia, Activism, feminism, Masculinity, Sports, Violence
Posted in Academia, Activism, College Feminisms, Feminism, masculinity, Sports, Violence | 40 Comments »

By Allison Javors and Wade Davis, II I fell in love with Women’s College Basketball in 1993. I can remember watching Sheryl Swoopes score 47 points leading the Texas Tech Lady Raiders over the Ohio State Lady Buckeyes. Sheryl Swoopes was like nothing I had ever seen before and she single-handedly dominated the lady...
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Tags: basketball, Brittney Griner, Chamique Holdsclaw, Gender, Nikki McCray, Pat Summit, Sheryl Swoopes, Skylar Diggins, Sports
Posted in Sexuality, Sports, U.S. | 2 Comments »

By Lisa Factora-Borchers I usually beam when Ohio makes news. Usually. In presidential election years, the inner grin shows its teeth when I hear the famous phrase, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.” Over the past several months however, as a writer living in the Buckeye state, I have found this saying applicable...
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Tags: Lisa Factora-Borchers, rape, rape culture, sexual assault, sexual violence, Steubenville Ohio, Transforming Rape Culture
Posted in Activism, masculinity, Sports, U.S., Violence, White Women, Women of Color | 1 Comment »

On March 5, U.S. Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), John McCain (R-AZ), William “Mo” Cowan (D-MA) and U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) put forth a resolution to pardon Jack Johnson, the first-ever black world heavyweight champion from 1908 to 1915. The legislation calls on President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon Johnson for his unjust conviction...
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Tags: boxing, Harry Reid, Jack Johnson, John McCain, Mann Act, Masculinity, New Negro, Peter King, racism, Sports, U.S., William Cowan, World
Posted in masculinity, Op-Ed, Racism, Sports, U.S., World | 1 Comment »

An activist, commentator, and change agent, Davis has emerged as one of the most prominent voices of his generation. Davis is a former NFL football player who played for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks, as well as two different teams within the NFL Europe league. Since retiring, he’s owned a media...
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Tags: Masculinity, Sports, Wade Davis
Posted in masculinity, Sports | 2 Comments »

By C. Richard King When we talk about Native American mascots, we are talking about the entanglements of race and gender. It is easy to forget this, to prize race and racism over gender, sexuality, and (hetero)sexism. In fact, most media coverage and nearly every public conversation about the subject let gender slip, typically...
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Tags: C. Richard King, Indigenous rights, mascots, Masculinity, Native Americans, Sports
Posted in Academia, Culture, Sports, U.S. | 1 Comment »

That prosecutors have charged double-amputee track athlete Oscar Pistorius with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has made headlines throughout the world. Together with fellow South Africans and many others, I have been attempting to make sense of the unfolding tragedy. From the vantage point of a black crip feminist, I am both...
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Tags: "blade runner", disability, disability studies, domestic violence, gun violence, Oscar Pistorius, Reeva Steenkamp, South Africa, Sports, Violence, violence against women, World
Posted in Disability, Sports, Violence, World | 4 Comments »