Annemarie McDaniel

In progress: learning to focus on happiness, not fitness

This post contains descriptions of disordered exercising and may be triggering to some readers. by Annemarie McDaniel Every Thanksgiving during middle school, my evening was broken down into two parts: the meal and the post-meal workout. The first half of the evening was like most typical Thanksgivings, filled with scarfing down turkey and mashed potatoes…

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SPARK Artists: Weaving as art, not just "women's work"

by Annemarie McDaniel This interview is part of our ongoing SPARK Artists series.  Dianne Lake is a current college student at Yale University, involved with consent and sexual respect education and a campus a capella group Shades, which sings music of the African diaspora. I have known Dianne for years, but I first learned about…

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SPARK Summer Reading: The girl protagonist who inspired me to code

by Annemarie McDaniel Growing up, I had always been plugged into the computer. I still love the baby photo of me where I’m hunched over my giant desktop screen before age 5, playing some educational CD-ROM game. I loved computers from a very young age, but I didn’t realize how much I creative I could…

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"If I don't say anything, I feel rude," and other experiences of street harassment in Paris

by Annemarie McDaniel and Anya Josephs Annemarie and Anya are both SPARK bloggers, in Paris studying abroad for the summer! We’ve both had magical experiences here, but we’ve also noticed significant street harassment. We wanted to write this blog together to talk about the ways we’ve experienced harassment here differently than back home in the…

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I'm a Girls State alum, and the sexism at Texas Boys State 2014 is not OK

by Annemarie McDaniel What do astronaut Neil Armstrong, President Bill Clinton, basketball star Michael Jordan, and singer Bon Jovi all have in common? When they were juniors in high school, they all attended a prestigious but little-known program called Boys State. That’s just the beginning of the incredibly long list of famous Boys State alumni,…

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America voted for Laverne Cox, but TIME Magazine didn't listen

by Annemarie McDaniel When I was in 12th grade, I asked my parents to buy me a subscription to TIME Magazine so I could learn more about current events before heading off to college. I still remember when the TIME 100 Most Influential came in the mail, and the glossy collage of famous faces on…

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My hardest New Year's resolution? Embracing my curls.

by Annemarie McDaniel On the first day of the New Year, I wore my hair down. All the way down. For girls with straight hair, this would just be a normal day, but for me–a girl with wild, curly hair–it felt monumental. The next day, and again the day after that, I let my curls…

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Women's History Year: Powerpuff Girls to Amelia Earhart

by Annemarie McDaniel For the October installment of Women’s History Year, I sat down and spent a few minutes talking about women in family, in media, and in history that have inspired me. These role models—my mother, the Powerpuff Girls, Nancy Drew, and Amelia Earhart—each had a unique way of teaching me what being a…

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