GWST Student Kelly Martin Broderick makes national headlines

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:20:06 -0400

After learning that an anonymous person used her profile picture to create a mean-spirited meme online, Kelly first tried to retrieve her image and stop the spread of the photo online. When those attempts were unsuccessful, she decided instead to respond publicly.

She wrote about her story, critiquing the systems of oppression at work in this cyberbulling episode, which you can read online at xoJane: "My Picture Was Stolen And Turned Into A Fat-Shaming Anti-Feminist Meme on Facebook: At first I was in shock. Then I got angry. Then I decided to do something about it." This story has been picked up by additional news outlets, including Cosmo (http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/what-feminists-look-like).

Kelly took this experience one step further and created a tumblr where folks can submit pictures of themselves, to help prove her point, "Feminists are not a monolith. We are diverse and unique. We don’t fit into every stereotype." Check out her tumblr and submit your photo to this project here: http://wearewhatfeministslooklike.tumblr.com/

The Department of Gender and Women's Studies applauds Kelly's activism, leadership, courage, and quick wit. We look forward to seeing what Kelly will do next, and you should too.