A Little Lesson About History

I heard somewhere one time that the reason we study our past is to make sure we know ourselves as a race so well, we stop making the same mistakes over and over. However in reality that is not the case, no, in reality history just keeps repeating itself. Our legacy as a race so far is a never-ending vicious cycle. All the wars, conflicts, acts of terrorism, it’s all the same in its core. Time only changes the people involved and maybe, sometimes, the circumstances, but the rest stays still. Whatever the time period or the place in the world, the situation is the same: Those in power use it to stay that way, and chase and discard of whatever threatens it or doesn’t serve their purpose, and of course, those who think differently won’t give up that easily. And yes, I realize I sound a lot like Karl Marx, but I do believe he had a point in his conflict theory. I find amazing how, despite all the evidence and people that have stated the same thing, we still keep on tripping over the same stone. Talk about not recognizing something even if it’s staring at us in the face, because believe me… It’s staring, for some time now.

Twisted Origins of International Women’s Day

Yesterday we celebrated International Women’s Day, key word: Celebrated.

Social Networks were filled with congratulatory messages towards “the best thing God ever created”, thanking them for “everything they do”. Women tirelessly posted how appreciated they felt when they found a flower or some kind of gift left for them.

However, I think that before indulging in all kinds of self-rewards just one day out of the year, we should take a moment to remember the real meaning behind this day: The struggle millions of women all over the world went through to fight for the rights we easily take for granted today.

This internationally observed day had its origins in the United States of America, back in 1820. Little strikes of working women started happening in the New England area in Massachusetts. However it wasn’t until march 8th, 1857, that larger strikes took place and caught the attention of men and larger masses. Garment workers marched in New York City to demand an improvement in their working conditions, a ten hour day (To think that we’re now complaining about our 8 hour day jobs, sitting in an office!), and equal rights for women. The police intervened and shut down the whole thing.

50 Shades of What, you said?

So, it’s been around two weeks since this “acclaimed” movie started to brake ticketing records all over the country. Women are secretly wishing they meet a man just like Christian Grey, and men are discreetly taking notes to bring a little more excitement to the equation the next time they find themselves about to engage in one of those various physical activities.

Top 9 ways to NOT get raped

We live in a world were losing your phone is a bigger deal than losing your virginity, were women are taught it is their responsibility not to get themselves in a situation were someone might hurt them, and were campaigns like #ItAintRape exists.

So naturally, we need to “be smart” and know how to protect ourselves. In that spirit, Farrah Khan teamed up with Sasha Elford, and Shannon Giannitsopolou to come up with the BEST safety tips to NOT get raped, the smart way.  

Tu derecho se termina donde empieza el de los demás

I know this is a controversial topic, so I’d appreciate if everyone respects my opinion the same way I do others. And please, ready everything before making any assumptions.

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Yes, I am a Feminist. I believe in gender equality, that women have the right to earn the same amount of pay for an amount of work as men do. I think that society gender roles are stupid, and we all can pitch in with expenses and house chores regardless of sex.

I am also against abortion.

Being a feminist I’ve struggled for years feeling that it meant I needed to be pro-choice… Except I’m not.

Self Portrait

With a cup of coffee in my hand a cautious step, I approached the full-length mirror that morning. I wondered how she would look this time, would our troubled roots be so deep down we’d need more time to reconcile?

You can only be genuinely happy when you’re free, and you can only be completely free when you are yourself. Because if you are not being yourself then you are dragging that around, with that weight holding you back you can’t be truly free, and if you don’t feel free, how can you be happy?

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Solo se puede ser genuinamente feliz cuando se es libre, y solo se puede ser completamente libre cuando se es uno mismo. Porque si no estás siendo tu mismo entonces cargas ese peso en tus hombros, con ese peso impidiéndote seguir adelante no puedes ser verdaderamente libre, y si no te sientes libre, ¿Cómo puedes ser feliz?

You should definitely add this to your to-watch-list.

Netflix, the home of binge-watching, is often just praised for it’s always growing selection of movies and TV shows. But did you know they also have AWESOME documentaries? I know, right? amazing.

2 of the great titles included in this category I personally recommend are:

• The Kennedys.

 

From The History Channel, the “Twentieth-century America’s most storied political family gets the epic treatment in this miniseries that spans three decades of Kennedy history.” Starting Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Tom Wilkinson and Katie Holmes (Yes!), this 8-part movie event gets 4 3/4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

 

• Mankind: The Story of All of Us.

Also from The History Channel, this 12-part documentary features, as its name suggests, the story of mankind right from the beginning in Africa, to our time. Honestly, where else can you learn about how we all came to be, in such a great way?

It gets 4 1/3, out of 5 stars.

 

How I became a Feminist

It is greatly known that Latin American culture is mainly characterized by being very family oriented (very being an understatement in comparison to the north american ways). The family interactions are not limited to your immediate household, but you are constantly engaging with cousins and uncles and aunts and grandparents and their families, which to us, are our family too. And ever since I was a child growing up on the tropical Santo Domingo, I saw that most of them, and all around me, followed the same guideline: Men work and women take care of the house and their children. From that, I quickly picked up that there was a difference between how boys and girls were expected to act. Basically, one was taught to act and the other one to react, one to lead and the other one to follow… Can you guess who was which?  

Ideal Body Types Through History Could Teach Us All Something About Women’s Bodies

This sharing is for those who swear to have a stereotypical “perfect” body, for those who suffer for not having it, and for those who still believe such thing actually exists.

Comparto ésto para quienes aseguran tener un cuerpo estereotípicamente “perfecto”, para quienes sufren por no tenerlo, y para quienes todavia piensan que existe tal cosa.

#‎Effyourbeautystandards

—Via The Huffington Post