Be the Change You Wish to See in the World...

Today I was thinking about writing more about the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion" bill, but, once again, something else dropped into my lap. Gotta love Facebook.

I found out that Ithaca is on the MTV website! Check it out and watch the video first because it is absolutely adorable.

But how is this a women's studies topic, you might ask? Well, here's why.

After an 75 minutes of exciting discussion in class on Thursday, our teacher told us, "Okay, you've talked about all this, now go out and do something about it!" I thought...I've considered myself a feminist for years and I really haven't done anything about it besides throw a hissy fit after every family holiday after watching my female relatives do nothing while the men sit in the living room chatting. I'm definitely not setting the world on fire here.

Watching this video, which is made to raise money for the Trevor Project, a group dedicated to "crisis and suicide prevention amond lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth," made me feel really proud to be a member of Ithaca College, specifically a music major. I know Adiza and almost every one of the members of Ithacapella. And watching the kids, they seemed like they were having so much fun and feeling so empowered that they're wonderful just the way they are.

Bell Hooks talks often in her book about creating a dialoge about feminism at a young age. How wonderful would it be if every girl from now on grew up in even a slightly less culture than we did? If going through puberty was a little bit easier, if dating was a little bit easier and safer, if girls could dream about being whatever they wanted to be and doing just as well as the boys.

I think that music can do this, and it's one of the reasons I stick with being a music major even when it really sucks (which is more often than some might think). Music can touch people in a way that I don't think anything else can. It can reach out to people no matter where they come from or what they believe, it can bring people together for a common goal and it can empower people in wonderful, unexpected ways. Maybe if more girls grow up listening to (and singing!) more songs like this, it will break some of the barriers of sexism which leads to poor self esteem.

The LGBTQ community is out there doing it, why aren't we as women?