Silence… A woman sleeps soundly peacefully in her dream house. She loved her life: she lived happily with her beloved husband and raised wonderful children. Suddenly, the tranquility shattered. A phone call. Half asleep, the woman stood up. For a second her heart skipped a beat, as if it sensed something was wrong. But she brushed aside her doubts. Silence… The surprisingly calm and peaceful atmosphere is broken by a loud cry. Her husband and son run up to her in bewilderment. Silence. Again. But this silence is different: there is no peace in it. Soon there will be crying again, and it will remain in this house for many years. Who would have thought that this end is actually a new beginning, that this crying is the first step towards stopping other people's mourning? Silence… The world has lost another young beautiful girl, and the parents have lost their only daughter that day. 128 mothers felt the same pain as that woman that day. Another 128 families were stabbed in the back by their loved ones. Time has stopped. Happy moments with her daughter kept flying in front of mother's eyes. She felt deep sadness, rage towards her son-in-law, and guilt for letting her daughter die; emotions were eating her up. Silence… Everyone fell asleep from powerlessness. And even sleep did not bring peace. Now, the woman was thinking about her future. But this time, she looked at it with an empty, hopeless gaze. Funeral… A cry was heard in the dead silence. Everyone immediately understood what kind of crying it was. The mother was in disbelief. “It wasn't supposed to be like this,” she repeated. It is the daughter who should bury her parents, and not the other way around. It wasn't supposed to happen. Gathering her emotions, she went to honor her mercilessly killed daughter. Silence… Court. Sadness still filled the mother's heart. The family waited for this trial for more than 4 months. The trial was already a victory. The trial was a ray of hope that justice would prevail and the killer would be punished as he deserved. An influential rich man could not hush up the matter with bribes. “It is indeed a victory,” she thought. Thanks to the wide publicity of the case, the mother felt not only the support of the public, but also an obligation to remain strong for the sake of her daughter and other women subjected to domestic violence. The judge asked the court to stand up. Silence… Court. It has already lasted 20 days. Looking at the imperturbable face of her daughter's husband and her killer, the woman felt a surge of rage. She wanted to bring him the same pain that he brought to her daughter and the whole family. The rage turned into despondency. It seemed that all the jurors and the judge had already received their bribes, so the killer sat smugly. But looking into the eyes of one of the jurors, the woman realized that the efforts made to conduct this trial were not in vain. On the same day, the president signed the law, popularly named after her daughter. It is designed to protect women and children from domestic violence. For a second the woman thought about the absurdity of the situation. A person had to die painfully for a law to be passed to criminalize beatings, for support centers against domestic violence to operate, for inducement to suicide to be criminally punished, and even for the introduction of criminal liability for sexual harassment of children. The woman felt anger towards the tyrants and sympathy for the victims. But these feelings quickly gave way to mental pain. Only one question was in her head: “Why my daughter?” The woman became pensive and there was silence… Silence was only in her head. A wave of hope swept across the country. The only thing that bothered people was that the trial was not over. Silence… Court… Jury… Judge… Killer… Media… Everything seemed too surreal. It seemed to the woman that she was not in that room. She wished this was a dream. For 2 months now, the whole country has been discussing the life of her daughter. Some even blamed her daughter for what happened. Tears welled up in her eyes. A couple of minutes later, the judge announced a 24-year sentence for the killer (there were cases when wife killers were given only 1.5 years). The country rejoiced. But a storm raged in the woman's heart. All emotions were mixed. This is a victory and a defeat at the same time. This is joy, but at the same time, sadness. Silence… There are different emotions hanging in the air. But most importantly, justice to some extent triumphed. A new era of the country's development has begun. The killers realized that they would be punished for what they had done, and the victims would stop keeping silent about it. People felt safe. However, the grief of the family of the deceased girl cannot be expressed in words. This time, the silence was interrupted by the carefree laughter of children and the silent smile of a woman, satisfied with her life without a tyrant.

Feminism- A term which is widely misunderstood. Some people believe that feminism is synonymous with the upliftment of women. In actual it is the belief which is related to equality where everyone is having the same rights and opportunities irrespective of their genders. Feminism is not something where you focus on females only. Males should not be neglected either. In actual they are the ones who need to be 'empowered' and taken care of more. When you are sending your daughter to school, to self defence classes, music classes, sports events, etc. don't pat yourself on the back just yet. That is you doing your bit to 'normalise' the idea of women in traditionally male spaces. You need to do the reverse as well. Make your son do the dishes, fold the clothes, arrange things and cook a basic meal. This will 'normalise' the idea of men in traditionally female spaces too. This is something which is far more important. You see chauvinistic men in the society? They all are there because of their third class upbringing. Males especially young boys should be given more attention so that they grow up to become better human beings with gender equality in their mind and respect for everyone in their heart.

When I was in college here in Kentucky, I became Known on campus, or at least in the English Department. I wasn't the most punctual or active student, so I was not infamous for that. No, I was Known for a piece I wrote. I have ever been an opportunist. I wrote this piece about a negative experience I had with another student in the class: The Masturbator. I remember printing and stapling the piece- a 12 page masterpiece of vitriol and punishment- before handing it out that fateful Friday. He took one and I smiled at him. I wonder if he remembers that, as well. Here is, largely, the piece that slayed a man. Anytime I stroll into a classroom and it's outfitted with actual tables and chairs I unabashedly revel in the opportunity to have a place to comfortably put my belongings. I hate the cramped, little wrap-around desks that NKU seems to think are “efficient.” A tall, tanned fellow approached the chair beside me and paused. I flicked my blue eyes up to his dark ones and was rewarded with a smile from him. Not a bad smile, I guess, but boys' smiles don't affect me like they used to. It could have been an award-winning eligible bachelor smile for all I know. He asked tentatively, “Can I sit here?” His question struck me as odd—it's not like we were at a wedding or a school dance or something. I don't care where you sit in class. Honestly, I'm not the best conversationalist. I'm a passing fair smiler-and-giggler, but the truth of my social success, such as it is, is my arrogant meanness. My most recent nickname is “The Eviscerator,” for I often disembowel my male friends in semi-playful banter. I'm extremely awkward if I'm not being a heinous bitch. Class began and I remained basking in the glory of a separate chair from desk situation—arm hooked over the back, right leg crossed over my left, shoulders back. I spared my neighbor a glance and realized he was “arranging himself,” which I contend as the most distracting thing a guy can do, for all parties involved. Quickly, I realized he was arranging a boner. Fuck. I moved to shift in my seat, but hesitated. I decided to be cool, like I hadn't noticed. I figured it was embarrassing for most boys and it wasn't like he could help it. I decided to take it as a compliment and hoped it went away. Soon. A few minutes later, I'll admit, I peeked. I wanted to know if we were in the clear and nothing weird was going on, but there he was, long olive fingers wrapped around his dick, squeezing it rhythmically. He stroked it, moved it and squeezed it again. I don't own a penis, but I'm pretty sure this is not the recommended method for getting rid of an inappropriate woody. Upon this discovery, there were many words to describe my reaction, including, but not limited to: abhorred, disgusted, enraged, betrayed and revolted. We were thirty minutes into class when I noticed he had started pinching the head of his cock, still habitually looking at me. I was hoping to get out of class as fast as possible, but before I could skedaddle he asked about my tattoos. “Yeah, sure,” I said, which was not an answer. My eyes narrowed and all I saw was the door. I was angry. I had done nothing, which was the worst thing I could have done. He was momentarily rebuffed but smiled and purred, “I really like that dress.” I hope my eyes flashed as venomously as I think they did. An Evisceration was on my lips as I hefted my purse to my shoulder, but all I said was, “Yeah. I bet you do.” I saw the opportunity to tell him what I thought of his actions that day. I couldn't let him get away with it, and live his life without knowing. Dear Reader, I gave The Masturbator his own story. The day of my workshop I could not shake my nerves, I jittered and skittered through the entire day. I saw my friend, C, hanging in the hall, a text perched on her knees. “He's pretty mad, huh?” She asked. “Who?” I wanted to know. I was scared the teacher would consider my story highly inappropriate, or worse, side with the Masturbator. “You ought to check the blackboard,” she said, eyes wide behind her metal framed glasses. It was gold. A treasure trove of insults and accusations and acknowledgement. He admitted it happened. I did not name him, but he outed himself. I was elated. I floated to class that day. He didn't come to my critique. During my workshop, my professor asked me why I was the Wimp, not the Eviscerator. It was a shame, to listen to the professor tell on himself, as well. It was clear that he did not look at the Blackboard, that he did not click the little hypertext links to peruse his students' reviews. When I turned in my final draft I explained myself. The professor read my portfolio, complete with the ending of the Masturbator's tale, and emailed me. He said he would take it up with the Dean. I shrugged it off. The next semester, C, who worked in the Office, let me know she'd looked at the student files. They expelled the Masturbator. Eviscerated.

I graduated high school back in 2011, and have been attending community college ever since. At the time I was not interested in continuing with school but my older sister forced me to enroll because education was and is the only tool that many of us have. The only tool to work our way out of being poor for the rest of our lives. I attended classes but I had no direction, no passion, but I still tried anyway, I changed my major several times and for a while it seemed like maybe I could make a career out of being an American Sign Language interpreter because it didn't seem too bad, but after four semesters of that I knew I couldn't continue studying something I didn't have a passion for. I made a D in ASL 4, and thought maybe school wasn't for me, so I decided not to return. That only lasted a semester because I fell into a deep depression and my family made it their business to make me go back to school. So when I began to look at what classes I could take, I noticed that I had taken many of the core classes along with some developmental classes that I didn't need to take, and had avoided the upper sciences and math. At a quick glance, what seemed to be the “easiest” class to me was Stellar Astronomy, and that was the only class I took in Spring 2016. That one class changed everything for me. All my insecurities and complaints that I had about every little thing became superficial after taking that class. Out there - time and space become one, there is a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, dark matter etc. it all fascinated me, caught my attention. Earth, the only known planetary body to harbor life and we are a part of that, a part of the Universe. Suddenly I didn't hate school anymore and even though I originally wanted to become an astronomer because of that course, I knew the only career options for me were to either work for NASA or work at a planetarium which both seemed extremely unlikely because of limited opportunities and the competition. Through my searching I chose environmental sciences as an alternative, which seemed general enough because I began to appreciate every subject. My next step was to take more science and math, which I did and it was not easy. Spring 2017 I took Trigonometry and once again I made another D. That was personally crushing for me as well as for my gpa. I thought life was supposed to become easier when you found your passion but instead I left that class defeated. As a result, six weeks of my Summer I spent retaking Trig and made a B. In the Fall I took a Biology and a Geology course. I believe that it was somewhere around this time that I stopped receiving financial aid because for one I had become an independent student and two I had exceeded the time-frame given to students to complete their degree. I now had to pay tuition myself with the help of my family. My gpa wasn't the best, I had no achievements, no honors, no extracurriculars, so even though I had help with money I felt like I squandered so much of my time in school and I had no achievements. I had an idea of what I wanted to study but I began to wonder if it was too late for me. Everyday I felt an enormous amount of pressure from my family to finish school because I kept not graduating, and everyone thought I'd change my major again, and I needed to stop wasting my time so I could begin working to make big money. I was told to go back and finish my ASL interpreter training because I was halfway done with that degree. My family's worries were and are completely understandable but I did not want to settle because that's what so many people around me did and many of them are miserable. That one semester I took off was enough to keep me going - I never wanted to feel that way again. Spring 2018 I decided to go back to math and take Precal, and once again my life changed. The professor told the class about an opportunity called NCAS which was an acronym for “NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars” and I couldn't believe what I heard. Almost immediately I applied early and spent several agonizing weeks waiting to hear back. When I did hear back via email, I was accepted into the program! There was no way I was going to squander this opportunity. The online program lasted 5 weeks and was actually a competition with about 400 students from across the US who participated. Students who did well were going to be given a four day onsite visit for FREE as long as we earned a B to be considered. I made a 100% and after some paperwork I visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. NCAS Summer Class of 2018. One year later and I am currently participating in NASA's Lucy Student Pipeline Accelerator & Competency Enabler or L'SPACE for short. I don't worry about my future as much anymore. I tried, failed many times, kept going and had to learn to become relentless with my goals and aspirations. I can't wait to see what my future holds. Just a little bit longer. But how much longer?

Essay for the Biopage Mini-Essay Writing Contest “Rapunzel let down thy golden hair! So I may save you from the clutches of the evil witch!” pipes the Prince from below, at the fair maiden who indifferently stares at him from atop the impenetrable tower. Imagine if Rapunzel was a fourth wave feminist blogger, tapping away on a smart screen. Offended by the Prince's advances on the simple basis that he is a man offering her, a woman, assistance from a rather unfortunate circumstance, Rapunzel would update her Facebook status for the world to see. “Oh men are such chauvinistic beasts! He is totally offering to help me down from this tower because he thinks that I will return the favour.” The dilemma associated with modern feminism is aptly captured in the above scenario of when Rapunzel refused, because the Feminist movement has manifested through the ages into a modern day force led by social activists looking upon the world from their ivory towers. It has also become the controversial subject of many social debates. The rudimentary questions that are often asked with regards to modern feminism is whether the current “bra burning, anti-man” movement embodies the vision of the founders, whether fourth wave feminism is effective in advancing women's rights in status quo and whether or not current manifestations of feminism is doing more harm than good towards achieving gender equity and empowerment of the female sex. What perhaps adds to the misdirection provided by modern feminism is the constant efforts of extremist feminists to portray women as being a better sex than the male counterpart; where statements by radical feminists such as “man-hating is an honourable and political act” deteriorates the confidence of society on the true potential of the women's rights movement and discourages the emergence of male feminists. Though we live in a world with a severely fractured glass ceiling; where women have and continue to emerge as leaders in every industry and pursuit, it is obvious that gender empowerment is not universally spread out across all countries. Hence a question we must ask is whether such a potent union of activists and leaders, are still on the right track and if the ideologies propagated under the slogan of feminism represent the average man and woman who supports gender empowerment. Though there is no blanket definition for Feminism, when taking into consideration all these viewpoints, one may observe a recurring basic expectation from feminism, which is for both the ideology and the movement to actively promote the creation of an environment where a woman is not restricted on the basis of her biological sex and gender, from realising her full potential through the exercise of human rights, so that she may experience a high standard of living. The word ‘modern' in this term, refers to the Third and Fourth waves of feminism. When discussing why the modern take on feminism maybe one that is self-threatening and self-defeating, three predominant reasons can be identified. One reason why this may be so, is because modern feminism is highly selective. It can be clearly observed that modern feminism has unconsciously adopted a dissimilar form of selectiveness, where a liberal woman who believes in a progressive lifestyle which is devoid of motherhood and even marriage, is celebrated as a hero while another who seeks to lead a more conservative way of life, is victimised to be a sob story of the patriarchal society. Another reason is the unsavoury demonification of men as a lesser and barbaric sex, where every single act of a man is easily portrayed to be a sexual chauvinistic advance: may it be the chivalrous act of opening a door. The third reason is the inherent ‘Philosophical Paradox' of the modern feministic interpretation. The sad truth is that none of the above reasons are the sole factors that lead to discrimination of the female sex. When analysing the gamut of literature, it is obvious that what fuels the existence of gender inequality and suppression of the woman, is a whole concoction of socio-economic, historical and political causes which are inter-dependent on one another. Yet one thing is for certain. A necessary force for the empowerment of female kind is the Feminist movement. The effectiveness and validity of this social front, depends heavily on the leaders as well as the members of modern feminism bearing a correct vision on what constitutes the Feminist Theory. This interpretation, though dissimilar, must be one that is in line with the goals and aims of the movement which were set out by its founders. Hence, for modern feminism to be truly successful, it is essential that the Rapunzel's step down from their ivory towers with the help of the Princes, so that they may better realise, accurately identify and achieve the potential of feminism, which is to create a world where no woman is judged or labelled on her womanhood.

You hear the phrase every day. When a father throws a baseball with his son, and his son doesn't throw the ball hard enough. “You throw like a girl!” When a boy is running track and can hardly keep up with his teammates? “You run like a girl!” From these examples, we gather that this phrase is generally used as an insult. Women drivers are considered to be worse than male drivers. Women are confusing, and emotional, and cry – they aren't as rational as men. Right? These are common ideas in today's society, something we don't even think twice about before saying. Why does a woman's ability to address her feelings and emotions make her lose her credibility and reasoning? Is there something ingrained in the female sex that makes being associated with them insulting? The last time I checked, a woman's insurance costs less than a man's. When was the last time you heard of a woman murdering a man because he refused to go on a date with her? The media often reports on stories of men murdering women after the men are denied something by the woman; and yet, women are stereotyped as emotional and irrational. Hearing these reports and stories -daily- you would think demeaning phrases including “like a girl” wouldn't be commonly used. But when was the last time you heard someone insult another person by calling them a boy? Personally I have never heard the phrase, “You're such a boy!” as an insult. When somebody is aiming to insult someone verbally, they always associate their insult with a woman. Why is this? The insult itself doesn't actually make sense, because there are many women that are physically stronger than men. In a sport that is dominated by strong, physically built men, Ronda Rousey has emerged as one of the biggest stars in MMA. When there are many famous women out there, like Ronda Rousey, who can dominate in a physical fight, why do people still continue to use the phrase “like a girl” as an insult? With women like Ronda Rousey, who needs Mike Tyson? She could easily put him and any professional football player in the hospital. With powerful women like Ronda Rousey, and honored soldiers like Leigh Ann Hester – who received a silver star for her heroic actions in Iraq–it doesn't make sense for women to still be the subject of degrading insults and jokes. Many women join the military every year; they receive the same training, go through the same tests, and fight the same people as men. I'm sure the men that fight in the army and alongside those women wouldn't use “You fight like a girl” as an insult with their comrades. Another phrase, one that has since been banned in many schools, that used to be used as an insult is “You're retarded”. Many people used the adjective in order to insult or shame another person. When it was brought to light that the insult is demeaning and offensive towards people that are actually mentally retarded, the phrase was no longer acceptable as an insult, and teachers in schools began to discipline children for using it. That insult was offensive towards a group of people, and it was disbanded, as it should have been. The insult “like a girl” is offensive towards a group of people, and yet it is still widely used. Unfortunately it is impossible to change everyone's opinions on the phrase “like a girl”. A single person can't force millions of people, and several generations, to stop using the phrase. However, maybe I can be one person that begins to shine a light on the subject.