Christine Stoddard

Christine Stoddard

Bio

Originally from Virginia, Christine Stoddard is a Salvadoran-Scottish-American writer and artist. She also is the founding editor of Quail Bell Magazine, a place for real and unreal stories from around the world. Her art and stories have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Bustle,The Huffington Post, Vivala, The Feminist Wire, the New York Transit Museum, Philly Fringe Fest, and beyond. She also is the author of Hispanic and Latino Heritage in Virginia (The History Press, 2016). In 2014, Folio Magazine named Christine one of the media industry's top visionaries in their 20s.

Christine Stoddard Articles

Patsy Cline and husband Charlie Dick's graves in Shenandoah Memorial Park, VA. Image: Sarah Stierch (CC BY 4.0)

Visiting The Grave Of Patsy Cline, A Hero I Didn't Know I Had

[CN: mention of intimate partner violence] Patsy Cline sang with such a beautiful range of emotion because she had experienced so many ups and downs in her own life.

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Social media notoriously gives its users the opportunity to present their lives as perfect and conflict-free. Image: Thinkstock.

My Friend's Instagram Post About Her Miscarriage Changed How I See Social Media

I scrolled through my Instagram feed to catch a photo of a friend’s first tattoo. It was an abstract design that paid homage to her wedding venue, a distinctive historic site in her home state. The tattoo seemed sweet at first, but then I read the photo caption. My friend had gotten inked to honor the child she lost in miscarriage.

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We need to make women of all faiths feel included. (Image:Thinkstock)

I'm A Non-Religious Woman, But I Respect Religious Women 

Though I was raised in an interdenominational household, my upbringing could at best be described as vaguely Christian.

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All illustrations by Kristen Rebelo

My Encounter with a 'Non-Racist' in Fear of a Black Neighborhood

Black—the whispered word in educated, politically correct, upper middle class society.

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I want to see the place that shaped my mother and her earliest memories because she shaped me and my earliest memories.

When Your Mother's Land Isn't Your  Motherland

Immigrants are pushed out of their home countries due to social, political, or economic forces beyond their control — poverty, genocide, wartime.... I doubt many Salvadorans of my mother's generation fled El Salvador to go “find themselves.”

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What we cannot afford to do is spread more hate, especially among our own people.

I Won’t Resent The Latinx Folks Who Voted For Trump

In the weeks since Election Day, I’ve come to realize that while I’m entitled to my feelings, resenting the Latinx folks who voted for Trump is not a productive use of my time.

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These days, I shave most of my body hair by choice. On the days (or weeks) that I don't, that decision is just as much my choice. Image: Thinkstock.

Why I Was Late To The Shaving Game

I tapped the razor on the side of the sink and inspected my smooth legs for any missed spots. Then I rinsed the blade, washed my hands, and put on my outfit: a long-sleeved black top, a knee-length denim skirt, tall black boots, and a silver dragon necklace for good measure.

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If someone doesn’t want to have sex, now or ever, that is her choice.

We Can Respect Virginity & Celibacy Without Supporting Purity Culture

I eventually began to accept that truly being a feminist means embracing the idea of “my body, my choice” in all its incarnations. If I truly believe that women have the right to accessible birth control, the right to safe abortions, the right to consent to sex, and the right to make any decision regarding their own body, it also means I should believe women have the right to decide to never, ever have sex. There are two things that made it hard for me to come to that realization: virgin-shaming and purity culture.

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Photo: courtesy of the author.

How Drag Queens Like Lady Bunny Inspire A Straight Biracial Woman Like Me

Drag queens, like Lady Bunny, teach outsiders to embrace ourselves and to embrace others. That means doing more than demonstrating tolerance.

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We can proud of our ancestors without claiming to be them. Image: Isaias Silva Pinto/Pixabay.

I Have Indigenous Blood — But I'm Not Indigenous

Indigenous people throughout the world already face so many challenges; they don’t need non-Indigenous people appropriating their cultures and championing family lore as fact. The genocide of Indigenous people is an ongoing travesty throughout the world

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