By Emily

In theory, the caucus system is a good idea. Before I participated, it reminded me of Athenian democracy, where everyone’s voice counted at a grand assembly. In practice, however, the process makes you wonder how the Athenians ever got anything done. I attended my first caucus in Brunswick on February 10th, and while I expected an interesting democratic experience, I was not prepared to attend the gathering and without caucusing at all. 

By ma.

The West Bath Town Hall is a small, white building that sits back a little from Foster’s Point Road. The Hall is the town’s only central point. Driving along the road, one passes large farmhouses, water-side cottages and trailers. West Bath’s population is an eclectic mix of retirees, “summa” people, lobsterman, craftsman, teachers, and local businesspeople. When I found I could switch my registration as unaffiliated to democrat the day of the primaries, I was overjoyed. Even better, I got to vote in the town hall. Although I was slightly concerned how we would fit inside, I was still excited to vote.

 Proud- Tegan and Sara
Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple
I Believe in You- Cat Power
Go Places- The New Pornographers
Walk the Walk- Poe

By Jenny Lee 

There are days when I don’t consider myself a feminist. Just as the golden days of classical rock cannot return, I sometimes feel that it is too late for me to become a true-blue feminist. As a modern-day individual, the term “feminist” needs an further explanation – am I a third-wave feminist, a post-feminist, a post-modern feminist, an Asian feminist, or an individualist feminist? 

Despite such doubts, I – being a proud Fabulous Feminist Friend – pushed my friends into going to the Vagina Monologues with me. Having dutifully attended last year’s performance, I was all alight with expectations of what I assured them would be an amazing experience. The show proved to be as popular as last year’s, at least: it was hard for a trio to find a place to squeeze together! The curtain lifted at last, and I contracted into a mere being of two eyes, a mouth, and a beating heart throughout the panorama of narratives of sex, love, rape, menstruation, mutilation, masturbation, birth, and orgasm.

Even as the show made me chuckle and smile, as I felt uncomfortable and stunned, I realized one thing:  the red, pulsating, raw, vagina that revealed itself to the audience in each story was not only a physical part of the female body but a representation of womanhood, both vulnerable and vital.  Every year a new monologue is added to highlight a current issue affecting women around the world. This year, the narrative of comfort women was brought to light, a story that brought me to actual tears (I who didn’t cry even while watching Titanic) in part because I could have been any one of the victimized “comfort women,” had I lived fifty years ago. At the end of every show the performers ask how many people know survivors of sexual assault or violation, then how many are willing to help the fight to end violence against women and girls; it was a moving sight to see each and every one in the audience come together as a whole not only in spectatorship but also in action. 

There are critics far and wide who disparage the show, and their opinions are not without logic. However, I personally feel that Eve Ensler’s goal to “celebrate the vagina,” and later to “start a movement to stop violence against women,” has been achieved simply by beginning a discussion of vaginas, by throwing the vagina into the public sphere which no one has done before as she has done, by creating a ripple that is continuously spreading out onto the social consciousness – and this indeed is no simple task. 

Now That U Got It - Gwen Stefani
Cosmic Girl - Jamiroquai
(She’s Got) The Look - Roxette
Lady - Lenny Kravitz
Trouble - Pink
Trick Me - Kelis
I Want To Break Free - Queen
I Don’t Need A Man - The Pussycat Dolls
First - Lindsay Lohan
Making Out - No Doubt
Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna
This Is My Time - Raven Symone

By Davia 

The Revolution is the one I’m fighting for,

Within myself,

Against the world,

And for the people. 

But I’m here,

And I’m living,

So I’m fighting for a reason. 

By W.H.

When Imus called last year’s Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed hos” He was not simply dissin’ them for their hairstyle, but rather was pointing to larger systems of race and gender identity.

“Black hair,” referring to the hair of women from the African Diaspora, has taken on many forms. From afros and dreadlocks to curly and straightened hair, Black women have revolutionized “Black hair” throughout time, giving themselves various hairstyles to show uniqueness in their being. However, the controversy about “Black hair” seems to lie in whether or not Black women should have natural or chemically treated hair. On one side of the argument, you have people believing that Black women’s hair should remain natural; they view wanting to have chemically treated hair is wanting to feel white, beautiful, and/or more accepted by their culture, especially in the United States. On the other side of the debate, you have people who believe that Black women should be able to do whatever they want to do with their hair, whether it be natural or permed.

By Crystal Queer                                                                                                

One of my friends approached me the other day with a burning question: “What does a winking emoticon mean??” She had received one in an email from a certain gentleman and was anxious as to its significance. Was it just friendly? Or was it flirtatious?

Even with the vast wisdom that I have automatically acquired by becoming a sex columnist, this question is a difficult one. Identifying flirting for what it is can be tricky. There are, however, several common types of flirting that are fairly easy to spot—if you know what you’re looking for.

 

By Maggie and Gemma

In September 2006, Abhijeet Jha ‘08 launched Aashraya, a non-government organization in Nepal dedicated to providing funds and support to orphan children and children from disadvantaged families and communities. With the help of two Bowdoin fellowships and over the course of two summers, Jha was able to realize these goals.

 

He named the organization Aashraya a Sanskrit word that mirrors its mission. “Aashraya means to shelter or the act of sheltering…I think it’s a beautiful word,” said Jha. “Our motto or company line is “sheltering hopes.”

By Jeongmin Jenny Lee

Wanda Webber Snyder, a member of the Brunswick community recently opened a gelato ice cream shop named Hattie’s in memory of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

What motivated you to start Hattie’s?

About ten years ago, there was a Ben & Jerry’s down the street, the only one in town, and my family used to go there in the evening whenever we went to see the movies. But it closed down, and there’s never been an ice cream parlor that people could hang out in after a late movie since. Since no one seemed to be up for the job, I said, ‘I’ll just have to do it myself!’

How did you decide on the name Hattie’s?

Brunswick has had its notable citizens from Chamberlain to Hawthorne, Longfellow and Peary. But there isn’t even a plaque commemorating one of the nation’s memorable female citizens who lived less than two miles from the Bowdoin campus in the 1850s: Harriet Beecher Stowe.