Shortly after starting classes at the University of Cincinnati, Cortnie Owens was stuck trying to decide what her path in college would be. So, she simply typed the word “sex” into the search bar on the University of Cincinnati website. When the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program showed up, she did a little investigating and decided it would be the perfect place for her.
Owens, 24, began her college career as a fashion design major in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. She quickly dropped that program, though, as she became more interested in English, Philosophy and even Astro-Physics before she finally settled comfortably into WGSS.
An activism class inspired her to add her voice to campus issues, and she wound up working for UC’s Women’s Center, coordinating is varied social media platforms.
Working at the center inspired Owens’ first vlog, “Corting Feminism.”
She interviewed people about their feelings on the new pink Ohio driver’s licenses. Her brief exposure with social media and journalism gave her the idea to start her own web-log, “That Cortnie Girl.”
She calls the blog her own “radical, fat, body positive, sex-positive, queer, feminist’s blog.”
Owens would prefer a life filled with “writing meaningful things that actually impacts people… Be the voice for the people that are unheard… I’d like to sit on the couch with my cats writing about stuff. Overall, just having an impact and making change.”
So her blog focuses on positivity, which has led to both good and bad feedback.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re writing for no one,” she says. “It would be nice to know that people are reading it.”
Her most recent project was a body positivity workshop through
GLSEN for high-school aged students.
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