Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Viva.

Not Living Up to Someone Else's Ideal of Beauty...
For too many years I have attempted to live up to someone else's ideals of what I should look like. "But Tiffany, you look better slim."
By Tiffany Allen8 years ago in Viva
Grateful for the Pain
Sometimes being protected is the very thing that gets us hurt. I grew up in a rather strict and devoutly religious home. We still acted like normal people, watching movies and spraying whipped cream into our mouths, but a few key things were different. I didn't have a curfew because I had to have permission to leave the house in the first place, and breaking a rule felt like breaking a law. My parents gave me or my two older sisters "the talk," because they thought that something that wouldn't happen had no reason to be talked about. All you needed to know was "no," and the rest would come at marriage.
By Mikaela Merritt8 years ago in Viva
Can Discussion of Domestic Abuse Be “Sexist?”
Last week, I wrote an article about how abusive fathers are using the family courts to continue to abuse and control their victims. The courts award them custody and contact with their children and accuse the mothers of coaching the children to lie about the abuse. The point of the article was to show how the family courts minimise domestic abuse and that abusive fathers are rewarded rather than mothers and their children being protected.
By Clare Scanlan8 years ago in Viva
The 'Feminist Agenda' in the Modern World
It has become important to dissociate the word feminine with feminism. Over the years, feminism has been given a negative connotation by society. It has been misinterpreted as a fight for a civilization where women dominate men. However, it is important to think logically and realize that this is not the case. Feminism simply means political, economic, social, and cultural equality amongst both men and women. Radical feminism is, a lot of the time, used as a representation of the feminist movement. However, this is fallacious thinking in the sense that we cannot allow unfortunate occurrences to represent a whole movement of individuals, each with their own different interpretation of what this movement means to them while sharing the common idea of equality. Women fear to associate themselves with the term because of the trail of negativity that comes along with it. Modern feminism is complex in every sense of intersectionality. I will admit, I too have thought about the negative implication that comes with the label of a feminist, and have asked myself if that is the message I want to send, and it is. It is because I do not allow popular opinion and ignorance to influence my beliefs in something that is greater than one individual’s perception. Unfortunately, there are several isolated matters that, one could argue, have faulty reasoning and rationale. This does not necessarily mean that all feminists agree, or even tolerate the issue, and that is what is being overlooked. Do not let poor judgment of a situation overcome one's logic and common sense.
By Vanessa Cid8 years ago in Viva
Screw Your Timeline
The other day, I was sitting on my front porch talking with my best friend, when she brought up the subject of the life timeline. You know, the timeline for when society thinks people should accomplish goals, hit life milestones, stuff like that, and in her case that means when she and her boyfriend are going to get married.
By Shana Nizeul8 years ago in Viva
Body Positive?
I like to think of myself as outwardly accepting of others, regardless of my thoughts and feelings on their behaviors, beliefs, and beings. But there are three things that truly dishearten me about humans, myself included, I hasten to add and they’ve slotted themselves nicely into the unique-little-snowflake culture that has engulfed us millennials. They call themselves, in the style of a generation raised on spasmodic adspeak “body positive,” “you do you,” and “intellectual differences.” I’ve talked about the second and third before and intend to do so again in the near future but, for now, I’m going to focus on the first one.
By Avi Sato8 years ago in Viva
I'm a 27-Year-Old White Male and I've Never Sexually Harassed a Woman
Sexual harassment lately has been overwhelmingly a part of our daily reads, and has made headlines across media sources across the nation. The #MeToo movement will accordingly go down in history as one of the most eye opening civil movements in my generation's days of yore, and rightfully so. Many women across the country finally must no longer be afraid to step forward about the abuse and bedevilment they have experienced from men that they work alongside, live with, or encounter in day to day activities. From politicians, to an overabundance of male Hollywood celebrities, to Olympic trainers; it finally seems as if men of high profile can no longer get a way with petty actions of sexual objectification and perversion, which we should all applaud!
By J.D. stroud8 years ago in Viva
Yes, #MeToo
Will I give out names in this story? No. Nor will I allude to any places or milestones that could be traced back to its characters. That’s not why I’m choosing to write this. I’m not a victim, I’m not a survivor. I’m just a writer, and this is just another one of my stories.
By something wilde8 years ago in Viva
Woman to Woman, What Can You Learn from Someone You Don’t Like?
I must admit, the news that two of Sex and the City’s most loved actresses have a lot of issues, animosity, and possibly hatred between them, really broke my heart.
By Verity Brown8 years ago in Viva
Spectrums, Harassment, Assault, and Sexism
Generally speaking you are born with XX or XY chromosomes. This means biologically and anatomically you are either male or female. However, there is a difference between gender/sex and sexual preferences. As you are developing in the womb, you start out as female. As you develop more you may stay a female, or become a male. The brain develops before the genitals, so it is possible to be born with a male brain but female genitals or vice versa. Hence, the sexual spectrum which we all fall somewhere on to.
By James Howell8 years ago in Viva
Why We Need to Stop Using the Word "Mansplaining"
I am a feminist and I hate the word “mansplaining.” According to Google dictionary, mansplain is an informal verb used to describe a man explaining something to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing. So basically it means a man is explaining something to a woman and she perceives it as being condescending. CONDESCENDING. PATRONIZING. Gender-neutral words. Words that could describe an annoying way of speaking by any gender. Why are we not just using those words? Why have we created a derogatory, gender-based insult specifically for men?
By Jessica Rowe8 years ago in Viva
Women Feeling Less About Themselves
This upsets me the most, having a friend of mine telling me how she doesn’t feel pretty enough or good enough or plain and simple enough, because a guy did not see her worth. Ladies do not ever let any man make you feel less about yourself because he thinks more with his bottom head, then with his actual brain. Believe me I know it is hard to not let a guy get in your head, I have been there, but I am here to tell you that you are not the problem. He was the problem.
By Manhatten J. Spangler8 years ago in Viva