In the West, many people view Islam as being inherently oppressive towards women and LGBTQIA+ people. Certainly some Muslim people use their religion to validate their prejudices. But as many Muslim feminists have been saying, while Islam has some such oppressive teachings, it more asks for compassion, acceptance, and love from us. Let’s question this monolithic view of Islam that hurts Muslim women and LGBTQIA+ folks and alienates Muslim feminists.

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There are so many harmful, violent, and oppressive messages in the media about Black women. Those messages can harmfully inform how Black women think about themselves, as well as how they are perceived by society and within their communities. Check out this article to learn how to replace toxic media messages with self-love, self-efficacy, healing, and liberation.

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Character assassination, stalking, rape and death threats — all directed at women in the video game industry. Where is this deep hatred coming from? Who does it affect? And what can be done about it? These are questions that deserve answers. Instead of ignoring the problem, as it has been ignored before, we have a duty to investigate this war on women in gaming.

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There is a long and troubled history of white feminists in the movement asking women of color to not focus on race. “Why do you need to divide us like that? Feminism is about ALL women, so we shouldn’t focus on one particular group!” But there’s a big flaw in that logic. Check out this comic for a wake-up call about how hypocritical it is to white-wash feminism.

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White people have a pretty substantial track record of reducing people different races and ethnicities down to whatever tired stereotypes they think are relevant. White women and Latinas are no exception. Check out this hilarious video from comedian Christina Igaraividez compiling some of the most common stereotypical comments Latinas hear from white women.

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Many women can tell you that being alone, outside, after dark is something they avoid doing whenever possible. But if you’ve never been a woman walking alone at night, you may not understand how scary it can be and how powerless you can feel. Check out this video in which six women talk openly about what they’ve experienced and felt while out alone after dark.

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The “War on Women” is a war on me, but I’m not a woman. I’m trans, and I am personally affected by anti-choice legislation. Changing the cis-nomative atmosphere is difficult, but there are some steps that individuals and organizations can take to improve this lack of intersectionality. Women, after all, aren’t the only people who need access to abortions.

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When we pair the entitlement that men too often feel with the everyday misogyny that women face, we have a dangerous combination. And we cannot expect women to be the only ones leading men to change. If we do, then we are surely contributing to the wider problem. So here are 10 simple ways that men can combat sexist entitlement in public.

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Rape culture is the culture which tells women not to get raped, rather than telling men not to rape, and it can only be stopped if men take responsibility for the disproportionate amount of violence they inflict upon women. Check out this week’s video for an impassioned spoken word poem by Jeremy Loveday, calling men to speak up about and against gender violence!

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Our media is saturated with images that sexually objectify women. The explanation for this phenomenon? “Sex sells.” But is it really sex that these ads are implying? Caroline Heldman doesn’t think so. Check out her TED Talk about the overwhelming sexual objectification of women in our media, and how something a lot more sinister than sex appeal is at work.

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A lot of pornography is proudly misogynistic, but it doesn’t have to be like that. There’s no reason a video can’t be sexually explicit and still present women as human beings who have an equal right to sexual desire, pleasure, and satisfaction. There’s no reason that porn can’t present women as sexual collaborators with men rather than as sexual conquests of men.

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Jenna Marbles posted a video expressing her opinions about women who she referred to as “sluts.” In a response to this, popular vlogger Hayley Hoover explains how the video could negatively affect Jenna’s audience of primarily young women. Watch Hayley explain how setting up a dichotomy between “sluts” and “regular girls” leads to rape, and the internalization of blame on the part of rape victims.

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Street harassment is a phenomenon all too familiar to most women, but it’s something they often feel powerless to stop. Kat Lazo addresses male feminist allies as well as the women who encounter street harassment and explains what each can do to fight this pervasive form of misogyny. Watch as she shares her own story of street harassment, and ways she recommends handling similar situations.

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If there are women in the room, their objectification seems to be a bonding mechanism for butches and men. The patriarchy barters and trades with women as currency, and in those moments, we’re doing the same thing. But I know that we can be empowered without using our power in a way that hurts people. Our masculinity doesn’t have to turn femmes into objects whenever our masculinity is questioned.

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Exposure to toxic chemicals has contributed to reproductive health decline in the US. Almost everyone has some level of toxic chemicals in their bodies, but the impact and burden is certainly not shared equally. Low-income women, who are disproportionately women of color, shoulder far more than their fair share. The reality is that we need chemical policy reform to protect all people.

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Sometimes I get asked, ‘How do I approach a fat girl?’ Just like ANY other woman! We’re real people with real personalities and feelings, like anyone else – except as fat women, we spend a lot of our lives being treated differently, usually not in a good way. This includes when people try to date us. So here are some tips to help you respectfully approach and date larger women.

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There’s been much talk about modesty being “better.” But when we judge girls and women for the skin they are or are not showing, we are minimizing them to their bodies and repeating the shame-inducing belief that female bodies must be covered to protect boys and men who can’t be held responsible for their thoughts or actions. Women and girls are more than just bodies – let’s treat them like that.

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Society doesn’t want to blame men for making the choice to rape women. It wants to blame women for enabling men to make that choice and usually it succeeds. Rapists very rarely get to accept responsibility for their choice to rape. Even rape victims blame themselves for their rapist’s choice to rape them. So I spent between two or three decades feeling unable to tell anyone in case they wouldn’t believe me. (Trigger warning.)

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