Behind the Music: A Look at Female Musicians

“We take female musicians just seriously enough not to notice that we don’t actually take them seriously enough. They matter in the present,” Wesley Morris wrote in “Should Women Make Their Own Pop Music Canon?” in the New York Times, “but posterity is another matter. Posterity is keeping them down in the basement…” While reading the article, this quote sparked an idea in my brain that currently, most of the “popping” musicians are men. I am a heavy Hip-Hop/Rap listener, […]

Let’s Ruffle the Silence

Gender-based violence is a human right issue. World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself.” Violence has caused devastation to societies for centuries and it is still occurring today. It is not something that’s just happening now, but centuries ago, where people used violence just for one reason, power. In Australia alone, violence against women and children costs an estimated US$11.38 billion per year, according to the United […]

Why She Leaves: Music for Advocacy

This is an anthem for women who’ve made up their minds. They’ve had enough of putting up with a relationship that was emotionally, physically, sexually or financially abusive. Maybe it was all of those things. Or maybe their partners were dismissive and unloving, depleting rather than strengthening them. Maybe it was just too much work. In any case, these women are tired, they’ve given too much and they’re fed up of being disrespected. The title of ANML’s song says it all – It’s […]

How People “Act Like a Man” or “Act Like a Lady”

WikiHow teaches us “how to be a lady” and “how to act like a man” with explicit steps. By the look of it, this is CLEARLY the only way. Man is “an adult male with masculine characteristics that involve action.” Ladies are those who contain “ladylike behavior that is undying: elegance, courteousness, and sense of respect for oneself and others,” WikiHow continued on saying. Society has influenced so many people to act and think a certain way, setting boundaries and […]

Men Don’t Cry

Why do we teach boys not to cry? Emotion is an astonishing ability that nature has given to us, that made us superior to other animals and organisms. They allow us to understand other and other to understand us. So, why should we teach boys not to cry? We allow ourselves and our people to lose this wonderful connection, to enclose ourselves in our own little worlds where we forget, or chose not to feel those emotions, not appreciating all […]

Poem: “The House” – WARSAN SHIRE

i   Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women; kitchen of lust, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. Sometimes the men – they come with keys, and sometimes, the men – they come with hammers.   ii   Nin soo joog laga waayo, soo jiifso aa laga helaa,  I said Stop, I said No and he did not listen.   iii   Perhaps she has a plan, perhaps she takes him back to hers only for him to wake up hours […]

Access to Education is not Enough

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And I strongly agree with his speech. And I also believe that education is the pillar of women’s empowerment. It has the ability to fight for gender equity by unlocking opportunities for girls. Throughout Cambodian history, we, girls, had very limited options due to our “gender.” We were forbidden to make loud noise while walking because it was seen as disrespectful to […]

Gender Summit Overview

Over the past seven weeks, a group of twelve students and two facilitators at Liger Leadership Academy investigated a variety of topics related to gender as part of an exploration entitled “Gender Equity.” As our final product, we decided to organize a gender summit to raise awareness and create dialogue about these very important global issues.  Approximately 100 high school students from around the country attended this event on January 27th and 28th. The event was conducted in both English […]